Part the First.

I Shall divide my Work into four Parts: The first will represent the Manners I. of the Christians of Jerusalem, to the The divi­sion of the whole. Destruction of that City, under Vespasian. This first state of Christianity, though but of a short continuance, was so su­pereminent in its Perfection, that it will deserves a separate Consideration.

The second will take in all the Time of the Persecution; that is the entire space of three Centuries.

In the third I shall describe the State of the Church in its Liberty, which Com­menced in the fourth Age. And

In the last consider the Changes it af­terwards underwent; and endeavour to discover the Causes of them.

The Christian Religion, as it was not the Invention of Man, but the Work of II. God; so like the Universe, it had its full The first part, the Church of Jeru­lem. Perfection in its first Birth, and was most Glorious in its earliest Productions. It is not to be imagined, saith Tertullian, that the Apostles were ignorant of any Truth, pro­fitable to Salvation, or that the Invention of Tertul. Praescript. C. 22. after Ages hath found out any new Rule of Living more perfect, or more Sublime than what Jesus Christ taught his Disciples. But this Heavenly Doctrine did not always pro­duce the like effects, but had its different Operations according to the different Dis­positions of those that received it, or the different measures of Grace, with which God was pleased to Accompany it. The true Israelites, who had by the Tradition of their Fathers, and the use of the Holy Scriptures, been bred up in the knowlege of the true God, and from their Infancy inured to the observation of his Laws; the Gospel found them well prepared for that higher Perfection it required, when that perfection should be discovered unto them, and they should be made to understand, what kind of Salvation that was, which their Messiah was to bring them, and what kind of Kingdom, his Kingdom was to be. [Page 3] But as for the Gentiles, who had hitherto Eph. 2. 12 lived without God, and without Law, trained up (according to the custom of the then Deluded World) in the most horrid 1 Cor. 12. 2 Superstitions; Worshiping (with as little understanding as the Beasts of their Sacri­fice) dumb Idols, plunged in sensuality, and habituated to all sorts of Impieties and Impurities, it was far more difficult for them to Rise to the same Perfection. So that 'tis among the Christians of this first Church of Jerusalem, we must look for an Example of a Life, the most perfectly Christian, and consequently the most per­fectly happy, that Mortality is capable of.

We must begin with the Life of Jesus Christ himself, who is both the Origi­nal, and the Model of all perfection. He Jo. 13. 15. hath given us an Example that as he hath done, so should we do. And this is one of the grand Advantages we receive by the Incarnation, that thereby the Word be­came sensible, and by conversing with Man, as Man rendred himself the Object, not only of our Admiration and Adoration, but of our Imitation also; having in his Life set us that perfect Exemplar, in con­formity to which, we are to Regulate ours. I know very well, that a Life so Divine cannot he worthily described, but by those who have seen with their Eyes and heard with 1 Jo. 1. 1. their Ears, and whose hands have handled the [Page 4] Word of Life, and who were themselves acted by his Spirit. Yet may every Man accord­ing to the measure of his Capacity, em­ploy his thoughts and meditations upon it, and point out some of the particulars which he Judges more proper for our Imi­tation; leaving it to others more advan­ced in the exercises of Devotion and the practice of Christian Vertues to make still farther Discoveries in so Inexhaustible a Subject.

In the Life of Jesus Christ we cannot go too far back. He was an Example from the Cradle, and in his first Years set us a Copy of the first Vertues we are capable of Learning, that is, the Vertues of Child­hood. He shewed himself in that Age Docile, Tractable and Submissive towards his Parents, and of such a sweetness of Temper and Behaviour, that rendred him amiable in the sight of all that beheld him. For thus saith the Scripture; As he In­creased Luk. 2. 40. 52. in Stature, so he increased in Wis­dom, and in favour with God and Man. As for all the rest of his Youth till he came to be thirty Years of Age; we have no o­ther Account of it, but that he abode in the little City of Nazareth, passing there Matt. 3. 5 [...]. for the Son of a Carpenter, and was a Carpenter himself. This Silence of Hi­story Mar. 6. 3. expresses better than any Words could have done, the State of Privacy in [Page 5] which as yet he lived. Jesus Christ him­self (He who came to be the light of the World) passed the greatest part of his Days upon earth in obscurity. He spent thirty years in the condition of a private Life, and only three or four in Preaching, and the publick exercise of his Ministry, to shew that 'tis the duty of the generality of men to keep themselves within a private Station, and labour in silence, and that 'tis only for some few persons to put them­selves upon publick Functions, and that only so far forth as they shall be by the Designation of God, or by Charity toward their Neighbour, obliged thereunto.

The Occupation which he chose to fol­low is also worthy our Reflexion. To live by the labour of ones Hands, is a state of Life more Poor, than to have Lands to Till or Cattle to Feed. Whether his Trade of a Carpenter was to build Houses, or (as ancient Tradition reports) to make Justin in Tryph. Plows and other Instruments of Husban­dry; 'tis certain 'twas a mean and la­borious employment: but at the same time a very useful and necessary one to So­ciety, and such without which there would scarce be any living in the World; and therefore a more laudable way of getting a lively-hood than any of those that Mini­ster only to Pleasure and Vanity. Thus he passed his younger days in the Family [Page 6] of his Father, and place of his Educa­tion, leading a life not slavish or reproach­ful, nor trifling and insignificant; but serious, employed, and laborious, submit­ting to the Penalty imposed upon the Posterity of Adam, of earning their Bread with the sweat of their Brows, and shew­ing himself an Example of those two Vir­tues he so much recommended to others, Ma. 11. 27 Meekness and Humility.

Before he ent'red upon the execution of his Mission, he prepared himself for it by Baptism, Prayer and Fasting; not that Luk. 3. 21. he had any need of these Preparatories, but that he might (as he himself expresses it) fulfil all Righteousness, and give us an Ex­ample. Mat. 3. 15. His Fast of forty Days and forty Nights, and subsisting so long without Food, is ordinarily look'd upon as a Mi­racle, as well as the like in Moses and Elias. But I know not whether we do in this matter sufficiently under­stand the strength of Nature it self. St. Simeon Stylites did more than once pass Theodor. Hist. Relig. P. an whole Lent together without Eating, having by degrees brought himself to so prodigious an Abstinence. And at this Day there are Idolaters in India, who can pass twenty days or more, without tasting a bit all that while.

During this Fast, and all his long abode in the hideous solitude of the Wilderness; [Page 7] in what can we imagine he employ'd his Time but in Prayer? But who dares pretend to describe the Praying of Jesus Christ? Let us humbly Meditate upon what the Scripture hath left to us con­cerning it; and more especially upon that Heavenly Prayer, recorded by St. John: Joh. 17. Nay, let not the Manner after which he prayed, nor the Circumstances, of it escape our Observation. He prayed in the darkness of the Night, and sometimes whole Nights together. He Prayed in Publick, and he Prayed in Private; in the Garden, in the Mountains, in the Wilderness, removed out of the noise of the World, where no mortal Eye could see him. He lift up his Eyes and his Hands to Heaven, he cast himself upon his bended Knees; He pros­trated his Body on the Earth; testifying by all this his profound Veneration and Submission to his Heavenly Father.

He suffered himself to be tempted, to animate us after his Example, couragiously to resist the evil one. He repelled every assault by Scripture instances, to teach us among other things, to be always Medi­tating upon these sacred Writings, to have recourse to them upon all occasions, and to regulate every Action according to their Directions.

After that he takes upon him his Cha­racter, and makes his Publick Appearance [Page 8] in the World; beginning from that time to lead a Life which is the Model, after which Priests, Bishops, and all publick Persons ought to form theirs. His princi­pal employment was the Instruction of Mankind, and the Conversion of Sinners. Luk. 19. 10. He came (as he himself declares) to seek, and to save that which was lost. To that end, by the Miraculous Cure of Diseases, and his many other Works, he drew the Eyes of all the World upon him; thus at the same time convincing their Judgments by the Proof of his Power, and gaining their Affections by instances of his Good­ness. For Miracles as they were necessary establish his Mission, so were they of no less Efficacy to recommend his Doctrine: And 'tis in this, that the holy Bishops of old, tho' without the gift of Miracles, knew how to imitate their Master; they knew what weight their Works would add to their Doctrine; and therefore by the large­ness of their Alms, the Protection of the Oppressed, the Reconciliation of Diffe­rances, and other such like good Ser­vices they did to Mankind, endeavoured to recommend themselves to the World, and gain Respect and Love to their Per­sons; though even the Works themselves of Jesus Christ; as to the manner of them, are not altogether above our imitation, for they may serve to teach us the Vertues of [Page 9] Simplicity, Humility, and Patience. He did his Miracles without Affection, without any thing of Ostentation or Vain-Glory, and without so much as being en­treated, unless sometimes when he found it necessary, either to exercise the Faith of those who wanted his help, or to disco­ver it, and make it the more Exemplary to others. He generally concealed his glo­rious Performances, with as much care as others do their disgraces. He seems to attribute them rather to the Faith of the Patients, than to his own Power. And this is given as the reason, why he did so few of them at Nazareth, because of their Mar. 6. 6. unbelief, at which 'tis said, he himself mar­velled. He ascribed all to the Glory of his Father, I can of mine own self do nothing, Joh. 5. 30. saith he, my Father that dwelleth in me, it is Joh. 14. 10 he that doeth the works.

He must needs have had a wonderful Patience to endure that incredible mul­titude; and the greatest part of them Di­seased, Poor and miserable Creatures, that continually crouded after him, and pressed with that violence to come with­in the reach of him, that they even threw themselves upon him, as appears when he healed the Woman who laboured under Mar. 5. 24. Mar. 3. 9. the Issue of Blood; and when he bad his Disciples provide a small Ship to wait on him, to save himself from the Throng. [Page 10] When he was in any House, all the City Mar. 1. 33. and 3. 20. crowded to the Doors, as it were besieg­ing him, and not giving him time to eat; so that he could not so much as enter into the Cities but by stealth, and was fain to Mat. 1. 45. abide without in the desart places; and yet even there the People in vast multi­tudes flocked after him; as appears by the five thousand Men he fed in the Wilder­ness; so that he was forced to retire to the Mountains for Prayer, to spend whole Nights there, and sleep only at broken intervals, passing from place to place; as appears by his sound sleep in the Ship, when in the midst of a tempest at Sea. Mat. 8. 24.

His Life was far more painful now, than it was when he lived by the Labours of his Hands; for now it appears he had none of his former leisure, by his permit­ing some Women to follow after him to Luke 8. 2 supply him with Necessaries, and by his keeping some mony by him, of which Joh. 12. 6. Joh. 13. 29 Judas had the charge; which shews how little he valued his Money by the choice he made of its Keeper. He is observed to have given Alms; and yet at the same time he wanted himself; so that he was forced upon working a Miracle, to pay for himself and St. Peter, the Tribute of the first born, which was but half a Shekel, that is of our Coin about fifteen Pence.

And indeed, he always lived in great Po­verty. He saith himself, That he had not Mat. 8. 20. where to lay his Head. He had no habita­tion of his own, nor so much as a place to lodge in but upon courtesy. At his Death we do not find that he had any thing to leave behind him but only his Garments, He saith, that he came not to be Ministred unto, but to Minister. He Journied from Ma. 10. 45. place to place on Foot; and when he made his entrance into Jerusalem riding upon an Ass; it is plain that was an extra­ordinary Action. He travelled in the heat of the Day. When he met the Woman of Samaria, tis said, that was about the sixth Jo. 4. 6. Hour, that is, about Noon, and that he rested himself by the Well, being wearied with his Journy: For though he was the Lord of Nature; yet we do not find that ever he wrought a Miracle for his own pri­vate Benefit, or to save himself any Labour. 'Tis once said, that the Angels came and Mat. 4. 11. Ministred to him, to shew the right he had to command them, had he been pleas­ed to have made use of it.

In this same instance of his meeting with the Woman of Samaria, we see his wonderful Modesty, for 'tis said, That his Disciples marvelled that he talked with a Jo. 4. 27. Woman. And his very Enemies them­selves had never the Face to invent any Calumny against him that could call his [Page 12] Chastity into Question. Nor was this a forced Modesty? There was nothing streined nor Affected in him, who was the declared enemy of Hypocrisy, and who was the very Truth it self. His Conversa­tion was simple, easy, Natural; yet live­ly and Affecting. He observed the Coun­tenances of People, as when 'tis said that he beheld the Rich young Man, and lov­ed him, Cherishing with a Compassion­ate look the very first beginnings of good­ness in him, how weak and Imperfect so ever they were. He is often observed to have Stretched forth his Hands, and used other such like expressive Gestures. Some­times by his Looks, and by his Words, He discovered the Sentiments of Admiration, Indignation, Anger, and of that uneasi­ness which the unbelief of Men put him to. At other times again, he Expressed the softest Affections of Tenderness and Indul­gence; as when he caused the little Chil­dren to be brought unto him; laid his Mar. 9. 46. and 10. 14. Hands upon them, Embraced them in his Arms, and Recommended to his Disci­ples the Imitation of their Innocency and Humility.

As to his outward Appearance, there was nothing singular or Extraordinary in it. He conformed himself to the same way of Living with the other Jews, ap­peared as a private Person, and had no [Page 13] External Marks to Distinguish him from the Common People; one of whom he makes himself, by the name of the Son of Man; for that's the meaning of that Appellation. He led a Life full of Hardship and very Laborious, but with­out any singular Austerity. He Fed as others did, he abstained not from Wine, nor made any Scruple of being seen at great Entertainments; as at the Marriage in Cana, and at St. Matthews's Feast. Luk. 5. 29. And yet he so little regarded Eating, that his Disciples once putting him in mind taking some Food; when he had mani­festly occasion enough for it, his answer was, I have other Meat to Eat that ye Jo. 4. 32. 34. know not of: My Meat is to do the will of my Father.

Yet notwithstanding this mean and simple outward Appearance, he maintain­ed a Marvellous Dignity, and kept him­self far above Contempt. His Deport­ment was always serious, Grave and Com­posed. Upon two Several occasions it is taken Notice of him that he Wept; but not at all that he Laughed; nay or ever so In Matt. Hom. 6. Mar. much as Smiled, at least, as St. Chrysostom observes. He never asked any Man a Farthen, choseing rather to Work a Mi­racle than be beholden to any Body for a piece of Mony, to pay his Tribute with. But when he sent his Disciples to seek an [Page 14] Ass to make his Entrance into Jerusalem, and to take up for him an upper Room where he might keep the Passover; he shews by his manner of Speaking that he well knew no Man could have denied him any thing he should have asked. He proved his own saying by his Actions. That it is more blessed to Give than to Re­ceive, Act 20. 35. since continually dispencing so many benefits to others he received so little from them. All the World sought to him and ran after him, and he sought to no Man; but going from City to City, Exhorted all Men every where to Repentance. He was free of Access to all Persons that were any way Diseased, and to all Sin­ners whom he found disposed for Conver­sion. To these last sort he shewed him­self so easy and Familar as even to Eat with them, and Lodge in their Houses. So that upon this occasion he suffered a certain Woman to kiss his Feet and Anoint Luk. 7. 38. them with Ointment; a sort of Indulgence, which might otherwise have seemed very opposite to that Poverty and Mortification he always Professed.

As he came into the World for the In­struction of all Mankind, he was continu­ally upon his Work of Teaching both in Publick and Private. On the Sabbath Days, he used (according to the custom of Luk. 4. 16. the Jewish Doctors) to Expound the Scrip­tures [Page 15] in their Synagogues; and thence they gave him the Title of Master or Rab­bi. But he had a peculiar Air of Autho­rity which sufficiently distinguished him from their Doctors. He taught them Mat. 7. 29. as one having Authority, saith the Evange­list, and they wondered at the Gracious Luk. 4. 22. Words which proceeded out of his Mouth.

His discourse was plain and clear, with­out any other Ornament than those lively and natural Figures, which are never wanting to a man fully perswaded and affected within himself, and which are therefore the most powerful to perswade and affect others. He spake much in a lit­tle, and sometimes answered Questions put to him, more by his Actions than by his Words, as when he saith to the Disciples of St. John the Baptist, Go and shew John Mat. 11. 4. again those things which you do hear and see. He lays down great Principles without shewing himself much concerned to de­monstrate them, or to draw any Conse­quences from them. These Principles carry in themselves such a light of Truth, that if any Man withstand them, 'tis be­cause he is wilfully Blind. And 'twas to punish this Depravity of their Hearts, that sometimes he spake to them in Pa­rables and dark sayings. If at any time he made use of Proofs and Arguments, they were generally simple and natural, [Page 16] taken from sensible Objects and Familiar Comparisons. His Miracles and his Vir­tues were of all others the most Powerful Proofs, and which he most insisted on, as being adapted to all sorts of Capacities, and therefore far more Convincing than all the Syllogisms of Philosophers. The learned, as Nicodemus, and the unlearned as the Man that was born blind, were equally affected with this way of Proof. To this he often joins the Testimonies of the Law and the Prophets, demonstrating that his Doctrine proceeded from the same Wis­dom, and his Miracles from the same Power, and that the Old and New-Testa­ment are both founded upon the same Divine Authority. 'Tis to this purpose, he so often makes use of the writings of Joh. 2. 3. Joh. 9. 31. the Old-Testament, either by express Quotations of the very Letter of it, or by manifest Allusions to it.

'Twas in this Spirit of Submission to Divine Authority, that he Nurtured up his Disciples; afar different method from what the Philosophers took with theirs; who under the pretence of seeking after the Truth, encouraged nothing more in their Pupils than a Spirit of Disputation and Contention. But Jesus Christ came not to seek the Truth, but to discover it, in such measure as he (who had the full possession of all Truth, or rather who was [Page 17] himself the very Truth it self) should think fit: To the intent that they might the more profit, both by his discourses and by his Example; he seldom suffered them to be long out of his Sight, living in common with them, and making of Tertul. de praes [...]r. C. 22. all but one Family. They accompanied him whether soever he went, they eat and lodged together with him; so that they had the opportunity of being conti­nually taught by him and learning every Moment. He inured them to the imitation of his Poverty, sending them abroad with out furnishing them either with money or any other sorts of Provisions; nay, and when he kept them with him, hunger sometimes forced them to take up with what they could meet with in the Fields; as when they plucked the Ears of Corn on the Sabbath-Day.

He took great care to Instruct them; Mat. 13. 11. 15, 16. what they understood not of his Publick Discourses he explained to them in Pri­vate, using them as his Friends and Com­panions, and making known to them Jo. 15. 15. whatsoever he had learned of the Father; that is, so far as they were Able to bear it. And yet he did not fondly humour them in their vain Curiosity: On the con­trary, we sometimes find him expressly Re­primanding them for their bold Enquiries, both before and after his Resurrection; [Page 16] [...] [Page 17] [...] [Page 18] as when they Questioned him concerning Mat. 24. 36. the End of the World, and when St. Pe­ter would have known what was to be­come Act. 1. 7. Jo. 21. 22. of St, John. At other times, he con­tented himself with passing by their Ques­tions and giving no answer to them; as when St. Jude asked him why he would Jo. 14. 22. not Manifest himself to the World. He patiently bore with the slowness of their Apprehension, their Ignorance, their Va­nity and Emulation, with all their other Weaknesses, and never ceased Labouring to correct them.

By his Disciples, I here understand those Twelve he had chosen to be always with him. But the Scripture gives the name Mar. 3. 14. of Disciples also to all those that had Em­braced his Doctrine and received his Bap­tism, of whom there were a great Num­ber, since there were an hundred and twenty of them met together in the same Room with the Apostles at the Election Act. 1. 15. of St. Matthias, and there were more than five hundred of them together who 1 Cor. 15. 6. all at the same time saw Jesus Christ af­ter his Resurrection. This Church there­fore consisted of two Parts; The common sort of Believers who are simply called Disciples, or the Brethren; and of those whom Jesus Christ had chosen out for the Publick Ministry, as the twelve Apost­les, and the seventy two Disciples, whom [Page 19] he sent before him by two and two together Luk. 10. 1. into every Place where he himself was to follow. By these Distinctions we have set before us the several Degrees of Charity worth our Observation: Jesus Christ hath taught us, that we are to look upon every Man Luk. 10. 29. as our Neighbour, whom we ought to Love as our selves; as indeed he himself laid down his Life for all Men: Yet he had a more particular Kindness for his Disciples, and amongst them for his Apo­stles, and amongst them for St. Peter and the two Brothers the Sons of Zebedee; and for St. John above all the Rest. I shall nor here enquire into the Reasons of this Distinction, or why St. Peter and St. John should have received such especial Marks of his Favour? I shall onely observe, that he hath by this his Example, Au­thorised and Sanctifyed the Relations of Friendship, and those closer Bands of Amity which natural Affection or speci­al Inclination may form between parti­cular Persons without any Prejudice to a General Charity. He had other Friends besides his Apostles. He loved Lazarus Jo. 11. 5. 11. 35. and his two Sisters, he himself calls him his Friend; he expressed a very sensible Grief at his Death, and Wept as he was going to raise him out of the Grave.

Who can doubt but that he had a most tender Affection for his Holy Mo­ther, [Page 20] especially if we consider the care he took of her when he was Dying? And yet he seems some times to have express­ed himself somewhat Harshly towards her: As when she found him Disputing in the midst of the Doctors, and when at Luk. 2. 49. the Marriage-Feast she told him that their Wine failed them. He reproved the Wo­man that Blessed her barely upon the ac­count of her being his Mother, and decla­red, Jo. 2. 4. that he knew no other for his Mother or Kindred but they that did the will Luk. 11. 28. of his Father. He well knew, what that strong Soul was able to bear, and was willing to let the World see that Flesh Mat. 12. 48. and Blood had no share in his Affections.

His Charity extended to al lthe World. Come unto me, saith he, all ye that Labour Mat. 11. 28. and are heavy Laden and I will give you Rest. It is said, that seeing the Multitude that followed him, he was moved with Com­passion Mat. 9. 36. on them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad as Sheep without a Shepherd. 'Twas this his Compassion Ma. 14. 14. that forced him at two Several times to multiply the Loaves of Bread; 'twas this his Compassion that forced him to raise Luk. 7. 13. from the Dead the Son of the Widow of Naim. He was a true Lover of his Country, and deeply concerned for the Welfare of the People of Israel, and Ci­ty of Jerusalem. In the midst of his Tri­umph [Page 21] he took up a sad Lamentation o­ver Luk. 19. 41. her, as foreseeing the direful Calami­ties she was by her own Guilt drawing upon her self. He taught Men their Duty of Obedience to their Prince, Reverence to the Priests and Doctors of the Law how corrupt soever they might be; and he himself paid an Exact Observance to the Laws and Ceremonies of the Jewish Re­ligion, though at the same time he was come to put an end to those Ceremonies, being Master both of the Sabbath and of all the Laws. Yet would he never Mat. 12. 8. take upon him to exercise any Authority as to Civil affairs, no not so much as to Arbitrate a Difference between two Bro­thers. Luk. 12. 14. Being Interrogated by Authority, he severally answered his Judges accor­ding to what Properly fell under their Cognisance. To the High Priest, concern­ing his professing himself Christ and the Son of God; and to Pilate, concerning the Title of a King. He declared that his Kingdom was not of this World, and consequently that his Doctrine threat­ned no danger to the Publick, but as to Civil Government left all things as it found them. It would be too Presumptu­ous an Undertaking to pretend to display all his Vertues and Excellencies. 'Tis a subject in which thought could never come to an end, and those Pious Souls [Page 22] who apply themselves to a close and in­tent Meditation upon the Gospel, do still discover fresh Wonders in it. Let me just add a Word or two concern­ing his Passion, where as the example was singularly Great and Extraordinary, so are we nearly concerned in the Ver­tues it teaches; the Vertues of knowing how to bear Sufferings; a Tryal we can scarce live in the World and Escape.

The Sorrowful Estate into which Jesus Christ was reduced in the Garden of Olives, Sufficiently proves that he was Subject to the like Natural Passions of Fear and Grief with other Men, and that therefore 'twas not Insensibility but Reso­lution that carryed him through his Suf­ferings. He bore them all with an In­vincible Constancy, without making any Defence, without Resisting, without Re­fusing to submit to whatsoever his Tor­menters laid upon him: Immovable as a Rock he received all their Scourgings and Outrages. His Silence was such as made his Persecutors themselves admire. He who with a Word Speaking could have confounded his Accusers, the false Witnesses, and his Judges themselves; yet he opened not his Mouth, and that because he knew they were not disposed to hear any thing in his Justification. Upon the Cross it self, and under the last [Page 23] Agonies of his Suffering, he still Main­tains the same firmness of mind, the same Freedome, nay the same Tranquillity of Spirit. He Prayed for them that put him to Death; he recompenced the Faith of the good Thief; he took care to provide for his disconsolate Mother; he fully ac­complished the Prophecies; he recom­mended his Spirit to God.

The Apostles after their having receiv'd the Holy Ghost appeared in the World as so many Living Images of Jesus Christ, and as it were Transcripts of that Origi­nal, according to which the Faithful were to form themselves. Nor do they stick to declare as much. Be ye followers of me saith St. Paul even as I am of Christ, 1 Cor. 11. 1. and again. Be followers together of me and mark them which walk so as ye have us for Phil. 3. 17 an ensample.

So that though they diligently applyed themselves to Teaching, they did it more by their Examples than by their Discour­ses. Among the Faithful the Apostles chose out some select Persons whom they made their Disciples, and upon whom they bestowed more full and distinct Instructi­ons, using them as they themselves had been used by Jesus Christ. These their Disciples in particular, always attended their Persons, living in the same House with them, Eating at the same Table, [Page 24] and Lodging in the same Room: At least tis after this manner, that the Author of the Recognitions describes St. Peter to have Lived with his Disciples. Nor is this Tradition (as will afterwards ap­pear) lightly to be rejected. These Dis­ciples accompanied the Apostles in their Travels, and as new Churches were esta­blished had the Government of them com­mitted into their Hands

Thus we find St. Peter attended by St. Mark whom he calls his Son; by St. Clement, so famous throughout all the 1 Pet. 5. 13. Churches; St Evodius who succeeded him at Antioch; St. Linus and St. Cletus who succeeded him at Rome. With St. Paul we find St. Luke, St. Titus, St. Timothy, and the same St. Clement. With the A­postle St. John, we find St. Polycarp and Euseb. 3. hist c. 38. St. Papias. These Saints took care to pre­serve the Doctrine of the Apostles, rather in their Memory than in writing, and to teach it more by their Practices than by their Discourses. And thus imitating their Masters, they made themselves as St. Paul expresses it, the examples of Belie­vers, 1 Tim. 4. 12. Tit. 2. 7. in Word, in Works, in Faith, in Cha­rity, in Purity, in Gravity, and in all man­ner of holy Conversation. Besides these Dis­ciples, after the same manner took to them­selves other Disciples, whom they form­ed and Disciplined as they themselves had [Page 25] been by the Apostles; Qualifying and Ca­pacitating them also to do the like to others. This is the charge given by St. Paul to Timothy. The things which thou hast heard of me, among many Witnesses; the 2 Tim. 2. 2 same commit thou to faithful Men, who shall be able to teach others also.

But to return to those that were taught and governed immediately by the Apostles themselves; and particularly, to this Church of Jerusalem; which Jesus Christ had begun with his own Hands, to build upon the Foundation of the Synagogue, and which was not only the Example but also the root and Original of all others: Let us see therefore after what manner the Scripture describes unto us these first Be­lievers.

They continued stedfastly in the Apostles Act. 2. 42. Ibid. 43. Doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of Bread, and in Prayers. All that believed were together, and had all things common, and sold their Possessions and Goods, and parted them to all Men, as every Man had need. They continued daily with one accord in the Temple, and breaking bread from House to House, they did eat their Meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people; and again, The multitude of them that believed, were of Act. 4. 35. one Heart, and of one Soul: Neither said any of them, that ought of the things he pos­sed [Page 26] was his own, but they had all things in common. Neither was there any among them Ibid. 34, &c. that lacked: for as many as had Possessions of Lands or Houses, sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the Apostles Feet: and distri­bution was made unto every Man according as he need. And by the Hands of the Apo­stles Acts 5. 12. were many Signs and Wonders wrought amongst the People: and they were all with one accord in Solomon's Porch. And of the rest durst no Man join himself to them: but the People magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of Men and Women.

The summ of which description may be reduced to these following Heads; a­mongst themselves, Preaching, Praying, Communion, mutual Affection, Commu­nication of Goods, inward Satisfaction; and from without, the Respect, Esteem and Favour of the People. This first Church was composed of Persons of every Sex and Condition, and grew quickly very numerous: For there were three thousand Converted at the first preaching of St. Pe­ter, and five thousand at a second. It is said more than once, that the number of Believers encreased every Day; and one Acts 21. 20 many thou­sand, 'tis [...]n the Origi­nal Myri­ads. passage there is, that seems to imply, as if there were many ten thousands of them. They were the greatest part of them mar­ried [Page 27] Persons. (absolute Continence being a thing rarely practiced in those Days) They lived separately; for 'tis said, they went from house to house breaking bread, that is, Consecrating and distributing the Holy Eucharist; yet they lived in com­mon, reducing all they had into ready mo­ny which at first the Apostles, and after­wards the seven Deacons distributed to every one according to his need; and with such fidelity and discretion did they man­age this affair, that there were no Poor amongst them.

Here therefore was to be seen a visible and real Example of that Communication of Goods, and living in common, which the old Legislators and Philosophers looked upon as the most proper means of making mankind happy; but without ever being able to bring it into practice: 'Twas to Arist. polit. lib. 2. compass this, and that Minos in the first times of Greece would have established in Creet his Tabulae Communes, and that Ly­curgus took such Precautions to banish from among the Lacedoemonians all excess, and the use of Riches. But Plato pushes his Idea of Community a little too far, when to leave nothing uncommon, he was for taking away the distinction of Families. They well saw, that to make a perfect Society, there must be left no Me­um and Tuum, no room for private and se­parate [Page 28] Interests. But they could onely make use of Penalties to constrain, or Ar­guments to perswade Men to accept of their Regulations; and therefore all their labour was in vain. 'Twas only the Grace of Jesus Christ that could change the Hearts of Men, and cure the corrup­tion of their Natures.

Thus this Communication of Goods a­mong these Christians of Jerusalem, was the pure effect of that singular Charity with which the Gospel had inspired them, which made them all Brethren to each other, and as it were of one and the same Family; where out of one and the same Estate, the Father provides for all his Children, and loving them all equally, suffers none of them to want. They had always before their Eyes the Commandment of Jesus Christ, of loving one another, so often re­peated by him, and particularly the night before he suffered, making this the distin­guishing Character by which all men were to know that they were his Disciples. But that which obliged them to sell their Pos­sessions, and reduce all into ready Mony, Joh. 13 35. was our Saviour's Command of forsaking all that they had; which they practised not only in the inward disposition of the Heart, in which terminates the obligati­on of this Precept, but in reality of Fact, according to that Counsel of our Saviour [Page 29] If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell all that Ma. 12. 21. thou hast, and come and follow me. For a Aug. de Catech. Rud. C. 23. man more effectually secures himself from being incumbred with the things of this Life, if he really parts with them, than he can be while he keeps them in his Hands. Besides they considered that our Saviour had foretold the Destruction of Jerusalem, Ma. 24. 34. and that he had limited the time of it to be before that Generation should pass a­way; which made them willingly clear themselves of all the concerns they had, either in that accursed City it self, or in the Country belonging to it, devoted to Destruction.

So that the Believers living in common, was a practice peculiar to the first Church of Jerusalem, and suitable to the conditi­on of those times and Persons. For it would have been an hard matter, at least Humanly speaking, for so numerous a Church to have long Subsisted without the support of some fixed Fund and Reve­nues that were certain; and by the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of St. Paul we see, that during the short time of its con­tinuance, Act. 24. 17. it stood in need of Relief from other Churches, and that out of all the 1 Cor. 16. 3. Provinces there were remitted conside­rable summs for the use of the Saints at Jerusalem, And yet St. Chrysostom so Hom. 11. in Act. long time after sticks not to propose this [Page 30] Example of Believers living in Common as a thing still Practicable, and as a means of converting all the Infidels. 'Tis to be supposed that these Saints of Jerusalem Laboured with their own Hands, since in so doing they did but follow the most perfect examples of Jesus Christ and his Apostles; nor can we suppose any thing too perfect of them: And this was also a considerable means of supplying their want of fixed Revenues.

'Tis said that they continued stedfast in the Doctrine of the Apostles, and they are commonly called by the Name of Dis­ciples, from their applying themselves to the Learning of the Doctrine of Salvation; both by hearing the Apostles, who made frequent Discourses to them, and diligently Instructed them both in Publick and Pri­vate, delivering to them the same saving Truths, they themselves had received from the Lord: And likewise in reading the Holy Scriptures and conferring upon them among themselves, 'Tis added that they continued in Prayer, and that they went Dayly to the Temple, assembling them­selves in Solomon's Porch, and there with Act. 3. 1. one accord joyning in Prayer. The Example of St. Peter and St. John going up together into the Temple at the hour of Prayer, being the Ninth hour, makes it probable, that they then observed the same [Page 31] hours of Prayers which the Church hath Baron. an. 34. 12. 250. always since kept to. As to their outward way of living, they conformed themselves to the rest of the Jews, observing all the Ce­remonies of the Law, even to the Offering of Sacrifices; which they continued to do as long as the Temple was standing: And this is what the Fathers called, Giving the Synagogue an honourable Inter­ment. Aug. ep. 19.

After Prayer the Scripture takes notice of the breaking of Bread, by which there, as in several other Places of the New-Testament, is signifyed the Eucharist. They Celebrated this Mystery not in the Temple, where they could not be at li­berty enough to do it, and where the Christians were intermixed with the Jews; but in private Houses with onely the Faith­ful amongst themselves. It was attended, as the Peace-Offerings under the Law, with a Repast; the use of which conti­nued for a long time amongst Christians under the Name of Agapae, which Word signifies Love, as much as to say, Love-Feasts. It is said, that these Feasts were accompanyed with Gladness and sing­leness of Heart. And indeed all the Faith­ful by their Humility, Simplicity and Pu­rity of Heart were as so many little Chil­dren; Innocent and Inoffensive. And by their renouncing the vain hopes and En­joyments [Page 32] of this Life, they cut off all occa­sions of Vexatious and Disquieting Pas­sions, as leaving no matter for them to work upon, and having their Thoughts wholly taken up with the hopes of Hea­ven, and the expectation of the King­dom of Christ, which they looked upon as very near at hand. And if we can­not without wonder so much as Read that little which the Scripture hath left to us in Writing concerning the first Church, we may easily imagine how much they must have been beloved and ad­mired by those who were the Spectators of their Vertues.

This first Church Subsisted at Jerusa­lem for near the space of forty Years under the Direction of the Apostles, and par­ticularly of St. James their Bishop; till the Christians seeing, according to the Pre­dictions of our Saviour, the Judgments de­nounced against that unhappy City near approaching, Seperated themselves from the Unbelieving Jews, and retired to the little City of Pella, where they enjoyed a safe retreat, during the Siege of Jerusa­lem.

II. PART.

IN the mean time there were formed several other Churches in divers parts of the World, Composed both of Jews and Gentiles; which though they came not up The time of the Per­secutions. The state of the Gen­tiles before their Con­version. to this height of Perfection, yet were great Examples of Vertue and Holiness; espe­cially if we consider the state of the Gen­tiles before their Conversion.

They who are unacquainted with the History of past Ages are apt to imagine, that the Men who lived in the World sixteen hundred Years ago were more simple, more innocent, and more easily nstruc­ted than are the Men of this Generation: And that because they have heard say, that the World is in a state of Declension and grows worse and worse; and because they still see the marks of the Simplicity and easie Temper of our honest Fore-Fathers. But they who have made any Reflection on the Writings left us by the Greeks and Romans, plainly see the contrary. The Preaching of the Gospel began under the Reigns of the Emperors Claudius and Nero. What kind of Courts these Emperors had, and the Vices that there Reigned we may see in Tacitus: The Manners and practices of the same Age are to be seen in Horace, in Juvenal, in Martial, and in Petronius. That these Authors blushed not at the Infamous Impurities with which they have stuffed [Page 34] their Writings, is because the Men of that Age blushed not to commit them. They thought they might take the Liberty of Publickly exposing what others as Pub­lickly practised. And there seems to be a special Providence in it that these Books, otherwise so pernicious, should be pre­served to us, to shew out of what an Abyss of Corruption, Jesus Christ reco­vered Mankind. We find the same Or­dures in Suetonius, in the other Writers of the Historia Augusta for the two Ages following, in Lucian, in Apuleius, in A­theneus, in a Word, in all the Authors who give us an account of their Manners. Aug. Civit. ii. C. iv. Cypr. ep. i. Clem. Alex, Paedag. lib. ii. The Fathers themselves upon this Sub­ject are forced to use great openness and freedom of Speech, as amongst the rest St. Austin, Tertullian, St. Clemens Alex­andrinus; so that, that frightful Cata­logue of the Vices of the Heathen World, which St. Paul hath given us in the be­ginning of his Epistle to the Romans will not appear strange.

This Corruption of Manners took its course through Greece, Aegypt, and the East to Rome. 'Tis but casting ones Eyes upon Aristophanes to see to what height of Dissolution the Greeks were even in those Days arrived; and 'tis a thing but too certain that they did not after his time become more Wise; on the contrary, they [Page 35] made still farther Improvements in Lux­ury and Effeminacy. The Lives of the Kings of Macedonia, of Aegypt, and Syria furnished History with a New stock and variety of examples of the most mon­strous Vices and Impurities. 'Tis well known for what Alexandria, Antioch and Corinth were famed, and how noted for their Voluptousness and Effeminacy were the Cities of Jonia and the Lesser Asia: Yet in the midst of this general Corrupti­on was it, that Christianity took its Birth: 'twas in the midst of these very Cities that the most famous Churches were foun­ded. This Dissolution was not onely Uni­verfal, overspreading the whole Roman Empire; but publick, open, avowed and Authorised, nay even Consecrated by their Religion its self. Learned Men know what were the Ceremonies of Bac­chus, and Cybele. Wherever one passed one met with a Venus, an Adonis, a Gany­mede, and a Jupiter in all Disguises. There was not a Garden or Orchard without the Idol of that Ridiculous God whom they made the Guardian of the Place. Their common Songs and Poems were upon the Amours of their Gods, and most of their Publick Spectacles, were abominable Scenes either of Impurity or Cruelty.

The ordinary Divertisements of the Roman People were to force Men to fight and Murder one another, or to see them torn to pieces by Wild Beasts: Frequently upon the most trifling occa­sions, they put their Slaves to the Rack, and to the most horrible Tortures. The Governours of Provinces did often exer­cise excessive Cruelties upon such as were not Romans. The Emperors put to Death whomsoever they pleased, without any Form of Law, so that bad Princes spilt a great deal of Blood, even of the most Noble Romane themselves. Nor was their Avarice inferior to their Cruelty. All the World Groaned under their Frauds, Perjuries, Falsities, unjust prosecutions and violent Oppressions; of all which, we need no other proof than Cicero's Ora­tions. If in the time of the Republick, Verres in one Province, in the space of three Years, committed so many Enormi­ties, V. Juv. Sat. viii. what must have been done through­out the whole Empire under Nero or Do­mitian by the many Governours, chosen out of their own Favourites, who were in no fear of being called to account, but on the contrary, both encouraged by the Example and supported by the Au­thority of their Princes? But I fear I spend too many Words upon a thing too evident in its self.

Such then were those out of whom were made those Christians I am going to describe. When once they were wash­ed and Sanctifyed, they were no longer I Cor. vi. xi. the same Creatures they had been before: Yet not to conceal that Good that was in them, we must not disown but that there were in many of the Greeks and Romans, some kind of hopeful Dispositions and Tendencies towards Vertue.

In the first place, they had much of that Politeness that necessarily carries along with it many good qualities, which we may call superficial Vertues as Gravity, Pacience and Obligingness in Conversati­on, Complaisance, Chearfulness, and a lively way of expressing their Esteem or Affection, with a true sence of Decorum and decency in every Action, of which the Greeks were compleat Masters. All this a Man may have without solid Ver­tue, or be wanting in these things with­out being an ill Man, or a vicious Per­son: And yet Vertue seems not Com­pleatly perfect without this exteriour Dress to recommend her Beauty, and set her off to advantage. Besides this, there were a­mongst them, the Greeks especially, many true Philosophers, that is to say, Persons who did in good earnest, and with the utmost powers of their Reason seek after the means of becoming Happy; who se­riously [Page 38] laboured to come to the Know­ledge Recognit. Clem. init. of the Truth, who honestly apply­ed themselves to the practice of Vertue Justin. in. Tryph. init. according to the best of their knowledge; and who to pursue this study, renounced all other Interests and Engagments, spar­ing neither Cost, nor Labour, nor Tra­vails to attain to the knowledge of those things which they accounted the most ex­cellent. Nor were the Romans so uni­versally Degenerate, but that there were many among them who maintained that Generosity, that Greatness of Soul, that Constancy and firmness of Mind, and other such like Vertues for which their Ancestors were so Renowned,

The Grace of the Gospel being super­added to these happy dispositions of Na­ture, could not but produce admirable Effects. St. Cornelius, the first of the Gen­tiles that teceived this Grace, was a Ro­man Captain. The bravery of the Roman spirit appears in many of the glorious Mar­tyrs, as St. Laurence, St. Vincent, St. Se­bastian, and in many great Bishops; as St. Cyprian, St. Ambrose, St. Leo, &c. As for the Gravity of the Greek Philosophers, one may see it in the Acts of S. Polycarp, in those of St Pionius, Priest of Smyrna; and in the Writings of St. Justin and St. Clemens Alexandrinus, and in the same writings we also find a vast reach of Learning, joined [Page 39] with the finest Politeness. The Humility of a Christian having qualified the haughty Air of the Romans, and the scornful Pride of the Philosophers, made of them true Sages: Faith having once discovered to them the true end upon which they ought to fix, from that time forward they mind­ed nothing else. These Persons (even in their Gentile state) so improved, and refin'd being now by the grace of the Gospel fur­ther cleansed from all their Impurities, and having learnt to be sincere, became also Gentle, Meek and Peaceable, with­out Artifice and Disguise.

Thus the Christian Religion established its self in the midst of the Roman Empire, and in Rome its self, when it was in its most flourishing Condition, in the most enlightened Age that ever was; and at the same time the most corrupt. Nor could the Divinity of the Gospel more glo­riously have displayed its Power, than in triumphing over those two dispositions in Man, that are most opposite to it; that is Vanity of Knowledge and Corruption of Manners; so victoriously carrying on its Progresse in the World; while on the one hand Science, an exalted Under­standing resisted the simplicity of its Doc­trine; and the Humility of Faith, on the other, Depravity of Heart, and corruption of Manners, opposed the purity of its Mo­rals, [Page 40] and the severity of its practices. This was necessary to be the more parti­cularly insisted on, that none may imagine as if the Apostles had to do with only a Gross heavy sort of People, that might easily be made to believe any thing that was told them. And this Consideration hath Tertullian long since urged against the Heathens 'Twas not (says he) with Jesus Apolo. c. 21. Christ as with Numa. He had a rough unhewn sort of People to deal with, stupid and easy be to imposed on; and therefore to tame and break them into some kind of Discipline, invented a Religion suited to their gross Capacities, and proper to serve his ends; embarressed them with a multitude of Deities, and prescrib­ing a number of Ceremonies, by which he as­sured them of their Favour. But Jesus Christ coming into the World, when Learning was at its height, when Men were blinded with too much Wisdom, and Knowledge was their Diseaes; even then opened their Eyes to the discerning of the Truth, and made Faith to Triumph over Philosophy.

THE Method they used in Preaching IV. Preach­ing, teach­ing and Baptism. the Gospel, was different, according to the different Dispositions of the Persons they had to deal with. The Jews they pressed with the Prophecies, and other proofs tak­en Ambros in Luc 9. 21. lib. 6. c. ult. from the Scripture, and with their own Traditions. The Gentiles they mana­ged [Page 41] by Arguments and Ratiocinations; and those sometimes more plain and sim­ple, sometimes more subtil and elabo­rate, variously Accommodating them­selves to their Capacities; and therefore frequently urging against them the Au­thorities of their own admired Poets and Philosophers. Miracles raised the atten­tion, and had equal force upon both Jews Act. ii. xiv. iii. xii. xiii. xvi. xiv. xiv. xvii. xxii. and Gentiles. The Acts of the Apostles furnished us with Examples of all these different kinds of Preaching. They spoke of the things of God only to those that Cle. Recog. I. Just. in Tryph. heard them with seriousness and atten­tion. As soon as they perceived the Infi­dels to grow weary of their Discourses, or (as it often happened) begin to laugh at them; the Christians presently broke off, and said no more; least they should profane Holy things, and give occasion to the Heathen to Blaspheme. In time they began to publish some Writings, to shew the Heathens upon what weak Founda­tions the Pagan Worship stood, and dis­engage them from their Prejudices; such are St. Justin Martyr's Admonition to the Gentiles, and that of St. Clemens Alexan­drinus. But that by which they most pre­vailed, was Miracles, (yet frequently in the Church) the holy Lives of Christians, and their constancy in suffering Martyr­dom.

When any one desired to become a Christian, they lead him to the Bishop, or to some Priest, who in the first place took him into Examination, to see whether his Profession was sincere and well ground­ed: Acta. S. S. Hippol. & Eus. ap. ba­ron. an. n. xii. For sometimes they were imposed up­on by Impostors, who pretended them­selves Converts only to ensnare the Chri­stians, and betray them to their Persecu­tors. Besides they were afraid of charg­ing themselves with weak and unstable Souls, who might by their falling away upon the first Tryal of Persecution, dis­honour Orig. Contr Cels. 8. the Church. After all these pre­cautions, they carefully instructed the Catechumen in all the Principles of Re­ligion, but chiefly in the Practices of it; that he might know before Hand how he was to govern himself after his Baptism. To teach these Rules of good Living, is the subject of the Paedagogues of St. Cle­mens, who succeeded St. Pantenus the Phi­losopher, in the School of Alexandria; that is, in the Office of Instructing those who were disposed to turn Christians. St. Clemens was succeeded in the same charge by Origen; who to ease himself of part of Euseb. 6. Hist. 15. the burden, took to his assistance St. He­raclas, committing to his care the new comers to be initiated in the first Rudi­ments of Religion.

When the Bishop judged the Catechu­mens sufficiently instructed and approv­ed, he admitted them to Baptism; this was done (if they could chuse the time) on Easter or Whitsunday Eve: But if there were any pressing Occasions, (as when the Persecution was on foot,) they Acta. S. Cornelii P. ap. Bar. an. 255. n. 60. Acta. SS. Hippoly. & Eus. sup. n. x, xi. Baptised at any time; yet they had then also their Baptisteries Consecrated to this use, and took care to prepare the Cate­chumen; obliging him to fast the whole Day before he was Baptized, Interrogat­ing him, and making him give an account of his Faith. After Baptism, the Bishop Acta. S. Steph. P. P. ap. Bar. an. 259. n. 2. immediately Confirmed him; and at the same time offered the holy Sacrifice, and gave him the Communion; and caused Acta. S. Sus. an. 194 9. 12. Tertuli­in Marci­on. c. xiv. him to eat of the Blessed Milk and Hony, in token of his Spiritual Infancy, and entrance into the true Land of Pro­mise; that is the Church. They Bapti­sed the Children of Believers, whensoever their Parents presented them, tho' under S. Cypr. the years of Discretion, and even before the eighth Day; and generally chose to give them the Names of the Apostles, or of o­ther Dionys. Al. ap Eus. lib. 7. c. 20. Persons that had been remarkable for their Piety. But as for Persons Adult it doth not appear that they changed their names; since we meet with so many Saints, whose names came from the false Gods, as Dionysius, Martinus, Bacchus, [Page 44] Demetrius. The new Baptised were af­terwards assisted by those who had pre­sented them to Baptism; as also by the Priests, who for a long time after, over­looked them that they might improve in the practice of Christianity.

AND now they began a new Life, a Life V. The Christian Life. Prayer. 1 Tim. 2. 8. altogether Spiritual and super-natural. The first and principal thing to which they applied themselves was Prayer, as being that which St. Paul also in the first place recommended. And as the Apostle ac­cording to the Precept of Jesus Christ, ex­horts Christians to pray without ceasing; i Thes. v. xvii. so they avoided as much as was possible all Avocations that might interrupt their Devotions, or take off the Soul from God and Heavenly things. They Prayed as Ignat. Ep. ad Ephes. & al. Tertul. Apol. c. 39. often as they could in Common; as believ­ing that the more they were, who joined to­gether in puting up the same Petitions to God, the more prevailing would they prove to obtain the grant of them; accord­ing to that saying of our Saviour, If two Mat. xviii. xviii, xix. of you shall agree on Earth, as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven: For where two or three are gathered together in my name; there am I in the midst of them. Be­sides, the presence of their Pastors gave more solemnity to their Prayers, and the [Page 45] reciprocal Examples of each others Fer­vour and Humility, mutually heightned their Devotions.

Of their Publick Prayers, the most u­sual and most frequented were those of Morning and Evening; now called Ma­tins and Vespers. Thus were they taught Const. Ap. 2. 59. to sancti [...]fy the beginning and ending of the Day, and not allowed to excuse them­selves upon the pretence of Business; these Spiritual concerns being a business of that Importance, that all other ought to give place to it. The Matins or Morning ser­vice, now called Lauds from those Hymns there rehearsed, that seem to have succeed­ed in the room of the Morning Sacrifice of the old Law: It still continues one of the most solemn Parts of the Office, as ap­pears by the Commemorations, the Lumi­ary, and the Incense. The Vespers stand in stead of the Evening Sacrifice, and were appointed to Sanctify the beginning of the Night. They are sometimes called the Lucerna­rium. Prayer of the Lamps, being performed at the close of the Day, or toward Can­dle-light: O Lux. beata Tri­nit. Lucis Cre­ator Opt. Conditor alme sid. Verg. mun­di vespere. Ad caen­am Agni prov. And in the Hymns yet used in these Vespers, we find mention of Light, and of Supper, which generally followed soon after the end of these Prayers. Such as could not pay their attendance upon the Publick Prayers of the Church, as Persons Sick, Imprisoned, or Travelling [Page 46] met together as many as could in Private; or if they were wholly alone; yet every one observed to make his Prayers at the stated Hours.

For besides these Matins and Vespers, v. Baron. an 34. n. 251, &c. Const. Ap. 8. 34, 35, &c. Tert. adv. Psych. c. 10. Cypr. de Orat. dom. in fine. Athan. de virg. they had their Prayers also at the Third, Sixth, and Ninth Hours, and within Night. Tertullian, St. Cyprian, and St. Athanasius make express mention of all these Prayers, founding them upon Ex­amples taken out of the Old and New-Testaments, and giving Mysterious Rea­sons for the several Appointments. These Hours were reckoned according to the usage of the Romans, who divided the whole Day from Sun-rising to Sun-setting into twelve Hours, equal in every Day; but unequal in the course of the Year, al­ways changing their Proportions accord­ing to the length or shortness of the Days. The Night they also divided into twelve Hours, and four Parts, which they nam­ed watches or Stations; because in their Armies, the Guards were relieved but four times a Night; so that reducing their Hours to the present computation, and taking an Aequinoctial Day to do it by; the Prime or first Hour of the Day with them, begins at our Six at Morning, their Third at our Ninth, their Sixth at our Twelvth, their Ninth at our Three in the Afternoon, and their Twelvth at our Six [Page 47] at Night: So that their daily Prayers re­turned every third Hour.

They had also their Midnight Prayers, Bar. an. 51. n. 68, &c. Ps. 119. 62. Act. 16. 25. Tertul. 2. ad uxor. c. 4. Cypr. de Or. in fine. Cle. Alex. 2 paed. c. 9. Chry. Hem. 26. in Ac­ta. 14. in ep. Rom. according to the president set them by the Psalmist, and by St. Paul and Silas, who after having been Scourged and cast into Prison, were heard Praying and Singing Praises unto God at Midnight. Turtullian makes mention of this Night Prayer, St. Cyprian highly applauds it; and this prac­tice of Watching unto Prayer, is recom­mended by all the Fathers as an excellent means of Mortifying the Flesh, and of lifting up the Soul to God more freely in that still Season. They were also taught to make the best use of their waking In­tervals, in Meditating upon the Psalms and the Lord's Prayer; and every Morn­ing, or when ever they were threatned with any danger, to repeat the Creed.

In a Word, to take all occasions of making still fresh and fresh Applications to God, and to come as near as possibly they could, to the rule of Praying al­ways; they had their particular Prayers for every action, taking their rule from Col. iii. vii. the Words of St. Paul; ‘whatsoever ye do in Word or Deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giv [...]ing thanks to God the Father by him.’ Thus all their Country labours, as Plowing the Ground, Sowing it, Reaping their Corn; gather­ing [Page 48] their Fruits, were all begun and en­ded with Prayer. The building of an House; the entring to inhabit it; the making a piece of Cloath, or Suit of Cloths; the putting it on, and so of the rest; even the most common Actions of Life were in like manner begun with Prayer. We have still remaining in the Chrys. Hom v in Ep. ad Thess. Rituals, some of those Prayers in several sorts of Benedictions. The Salutation at the beginning of an Epistle, at the first Interview, or upon other such like occa­sions, was not only a Testimony of Friend­ship, but also a real Prayer. Upon all the most inconsiderabe occasions, they Tertul. de. Cor. c. iii. made use of the sign of the Cross, as be­ing a more compendious way of a Prayer and Blessing. They Crossed themselves St. Cyr. Hi­erosol. Ca­tech. iv. de. Aseens. et xiii. circa. fin. Tertull ad uxor. v. Martyrol. Rom. xii. Janu. de. S. Satyro. upon the Forehead, and that almost every Minute; at every coming in, and going out; beginning a walk, sitting down, rising up, going to Bed at Night, dressing themselves in the Morning, put­ting on their Shoos, Eating, Drinking, &c. Upon any Temptation, they added to it the Sufflation, to drive away the Devil.

THE greatest part of their Prayers was VI. The Stu­dy of the holy Scrip­tures. made up of the Psalms, which being Pro­nounced with a Grave and distinct Voice were highly Instructive, as containing [Page 49] in them a kind of summary or Abridg­ment of what lyes more dispers'd in the other sacred Books, and supplying a col­lection of those thoughts and reflexions which a Man should make in every con­dition Athanas. Epist. ad Maroellin. of Life and upon every Emergen­cy. With the Psalms they always joyned the reading of some other parts of Scrip­ture, and from thence came in the little Chapters of the Hours. As the Night Prayers were always the Longest, so they had more Lessons belonging to them: And as the Mass is the most solemn part of all the Office, so it is that which had more of the Instructive part mixed with the Devotional. Nothing was read in the Church as Scripture and of Divine In­spiration but what was received into the Canon; that is to say, such as the Con­stant Tradition of the Churches had Au­thorised. Those other Writings which some Private Persons would have introdu­ced where called Apocryphal, that is, hid­den or obscure. To secure the Ecclesias­tical Books from all change, and that nei­ther the Boldness nor carelessness of the Transcribers, might make any Alterati­ons in them, there was sometimes Joyn­ed to them a Protestation Conjuring in the name of God, whosoever should Tran­scribe the Writing to do it Faithfully. Such an one did St. Irenaeus add to the [Page 50] end of his Epistle to Florinus, and of the Euseb. Hist. v. xx. the like nature is that Menacing Clause affixed to the Apocalyps. Apoc. xxii. 18.

The Church therefore was not only the House of Prayer, but the School of Salvation. The Bishops expounded to the People the Gospel and the other sacred Books, with the diligence of a publick Professor, but with far greater Authority. And therefore in the Stile of the Ancients the Title of Doctor, that is Teacher, is scarce given to any but Bishops. They Instructed their Flock both Publickly in the Congregation of the Faithful, and Privately, going (as was St. Pauls own Act. xx. 20. Practise) from House to House: And as the same Apostle directs in his Epistles to Titus and Timothy, they variously ap­plyed their Instructions to the several con­ditions Ignat. Ep. ad Polycarp. of Men. They professed that they Spake nothing of themselves, that they Tertull. Pres [...]r. c. viii. kept to what was revealed; not pretend­ing to make new discoveries after the Gospel, but Faithfully to Deliver to others what they themselves had received from St, iren. ad Florin. ap. Eus. v. Hist. 20. St. Clem. Al. Strom. init. their Fathers, that is, from the most An­cient Priests and Bishops living within the memory of Man, and they in like man­ner from others before them, and so back­ward by an uninterrupted Tradition, ascending up to the Apostles themselves. They Imprinted in the minds of the Faith­ful, [Page 51] an Abhorrence for all kind of No­velties, Pap. apud Eus. Hist. iii. c. 38. more Especially in the Doctrinals of Religion: So that if any private Per­sons heard any thing contrary to the Faith, they never amused themselves a­bout contradicting or confuting it; that care they left to their Pastors: They only stopped their Ears against it, and would have nothing to do with it. And this is the reason why so many Heresies, Ignat. ep. ad Trall. et al. which started up in the first Ages, were silenced and came to nothing without the Interposing of Councils, or any for­mal proceedings of the Church against them. The Catholick Pastors unani­mously consented in the same Traditions, and the People inviolably adhered to the Doctrine of their Pastors.

The Faithful studyed the Word of God in private every one by him self, me­ditating upon it both Day and Night. They used to read over again in their Houses what they had heard read at the Church, to fix in their Memories the expositions of the Pastors, and to discourse them over among themselves. Above Const. A­post. iv. c. 10. all, the Fathers of Families took care to make these Repetitions to their Domes­ticks. For every Master of a Family was within the Walls of his own House as it were a private Pastor, keeping up therein a regular Course of Praying and [Page 52] Reading; instructing his Wife, Children and Servants; and in a plain and familiar way Administring proper Exhortations to them; and thus preserving all that be­longed to him in the Unity of the Church, by the entire Submission, he himself paid to his Pastor. What I have said of Fa­thers is also to be understood of Mothers, who took the same Religious care of their Children. St. Basil, and his Bro­ther Basil. Epist. Lxiv. Lxxv. Lxxix. Greg. Vita Macr. [...]un. St. Gregory Nyssene, Glory in their having kept the Faith, which they re­ceived from their Grand-Mother Macrina, and she from St. Gregory Thaumaturgus. And it seems to be upon this account that St. Paul gives so particular a Character of the Faith of the Mother and Grand-Mother of St. Timothy. One proof of the 2 Tim. i. 5. special care that Parents took in the well instructing their Families, is that we do not find in all Antiquity any such thing as a Catechism for little Children, nor any publick provision made for the In­struction of those that were Baptised be­fore they came to Years of Discretion. Chrys. Hom. xxxvi. in Ep. ad Cor. Every private House was then, saith St. Chrysostom, as a Church to it self.

There were even many Lay Christians that had the Holy Scripture by heart; so constant were they in the Reading of it. They generally carryed a Bible about them, making it their Companion where [Page 53] ever they went; and many Saints have been found Buryed with the Gospel ly­ing on their Breasts. St. Chrysostom tells In Mat. Hom. Lxxii. us that in his time, many Women wore it hanging at their Necks: That they washed their Hands, when they receiv­ed those Holy Books: That every one expressed his inward Regard for them by the tokens of external Reverence, at the In Jo. Hom. Liii. Mor. Reading and Hearing of them, the Men uncovering their Heads, and the Women (such was their way of expressing Re­verence) covering theirs. For Women read the Scriptures no less then Men. We find some of those Holy Female Acta SS. Agapes, &c ap Bar. an. 304. n. 46. Martyrs, who in the Diocletian Perse­cution having been forced to quit all they had, and hide themselves in Caves, Re­gretted nothing else but the loss of their Bibles, and their being thereby deprived of those Blessed Consolations which they before enjoyed in exercising themselves Day and Night, in those sacred Writings.

Besides the Scriptures themselves, the Christians had also for their reading the Writings of their Bishops and other Ec­clesiastical Authors; plenty of whom, and those of great Note, these first Ages produced. Eusebius gives us an account Euseb. iv. et v. Hist. of about forty by name, besides those whose Works came forth without the name of the Author, and those whom he [Page 54] only mentions in general. Not but that the greatest part of the Bishops of these times, declined Writing Books, out of Modesty, for fear of divulging the Mysteries of their Religion, for want of Leisure, and by reason of the Persecuti­ons, which suffered but a few of them, to Live any great Age. But many oc­casions there were that forced some of them upon Writing, both concerning the affairs of the Churches, and in the defence of Religion against the Hereticks and Pa­gans. Besides, there were so many Per­sons of learning, so many Philosophers and Orators, throughout the whole Empi­re, especially in Greece and the East, that there were always found among the Chris­tians a great number of good Writers.

The Faithful were Advised to abstain from reading the Books of the Heathens, since they might possibly overthrow the Faith of the Weak, and at best signified Const. A­post. i. 5. little. For what, faith an ancient Author, would you have, which you may not meet with in the Word of God? If you are for His­tory; you have the Books of the Kings: If for Philosophy and Poetry; you have the Prophets, the Book of Job, and the Proverbs of Solomon; where you will find more true Wit and Spirit, than in all the Poets and Philosophers, because they are the Words of God, who is Wisedom its slef: If for Songs; [Page 55] you have the Psalms: If for Antiquities; Geneses; In a Word, the Glorious Law of the Lord, furnishes you with all necessary, precepts and useful Directions. Yet the Bishops and Priests found it to their pur­pose, to read the profane Authors, and made good use of them in their Contests with the Gentiles, Fighting them with their own Weapons, the Authorities of their Poets and Philosophers. They pro­fessed to embrace all Truth, whence so­ever it came; and wheresoever they found it, they challenged it for their own, as being the Disciples of Jesus Christ who Logos St. Clem. Al. I. Strom. is the Word, that is to say, the sovereign Reason.

'T WAS principally to the Rich that VII. Their Employ­ments, Oc­cupations, and Pro­fessions. they recommended the reading of the Scrip­ture as their constant Employment, and a proper Remedy against the Sins of Idleness and Curiosity. As for others, they fol­lowed every one his Calling, that they might have where withal to maintain Const. A­post. i. iv. themselves, pay their Debts, and give Alms. And they took care to chuse such callings as were most consistent with Re­tirement and Humility. Many of their Rich ones reduced themselves to a volun­tary Poverty by distributing what they had among the Poor; especially in times of Persecution, thereby to put themselves [Page 56] in a readiness for Martyrdom. The first Disciples of the Apostles, who laboured together with them in the Propagation of the Gospel, practiced the same Method; but for a nobler end. They sold their Posse­ssions, and gave the price of them to Eus. iii. 17. the Poor, that so they might be more disengaged, and at liberty to quit their Country, Travel abroad, and carry the Gospel into the most distant parts of the World. Many Christians laboured with ii Thes. iii. 6, &c. Cass. de Sp. Acced. c. vii. Const. Ap. i. iv. ii. ult. Clem. Pae­dag. iii. c. x. their Hands only to avoid the Sin of Idle­ness. For they were earnestly exhorted to shun this particular Vice among many others, the inseparable Companions of it; as a restless temper, Curiosity, Dectrac­tion, insignificant Visits, Gadding and Rambling, Prying into and Censuring the Actions of their Neighbours. On the contrary, all Persons were advised to keep themselves quiet and not meddle in other Mens matters, and to be employed up­on some useful Business, but principally in the Works of Charity toward the Sick, the Poor, and all others whose Condition required their Assistance.

The Christians Life therefore, was a continued course of Prayer, Reading and Labour, which regularly succeeded one the other in their proper Hours, and suf­fered no other interuptions than just what the necessities of Life required. But what [Page 57] Occupation soever they followed, they al­ways made it but as by-work in compa­rison of Religion, which they look'd up­on Const. Ap. ii. 61. 63. as their main concern, and that one thing needful about which they were to be imployed all the Days of their Life. They pretended not to any particular Profession or Denomination; but purely and simply to be Christians. They owned no other Title or Character but that; and when the Judge Interroga­ted them concerning their name, their Country, their Quality; their answer to all was, I am a Christian.

They liked not such Employments as too much busy and dissipate the Thoughts, as Merchandizing, Soliciting of Business, bearing Publick Offices: Yet they always continued in the Callings they followed Orig. Cont. Cels. viii. in fin. I Cor. vii. xx. Tertul. de Cor. c. xii. Tert. Apol. c. xxxvii. before their Baptism, if there were no­thing in them inconsistent with Religion. Thus Soldiers were not upon their turning Christians obliged to quit the Service; they were only taught to observe the Soldier's Rule laid down in the Gospel; to be content with their Wages, and to Luk. iii. 13. abstain from Fraud and Violence. There were a great number of Christians that bore Arms; Witness the Legio Fulminans in the time of Marcus Aurelius, and the Theban Legion, who all of them, toge­gether with their Tribune St. Mauritius, [Page 58] Patiently submitted to Martyrdom; tho' with their Swords in their Hands. The old Military Discipline of the Romans, as yet continued in force, which consisted principally in Frugality, in Labour, in Obedience, in Patience; all of them Ver­tues proper for a Christian to be Exerci­sed in: Yet some of them refused to list Acta Mar. Theb. ap. Baron. an. ccxcvii. Acta St. Marcelli. Centur. ap. Bar. an. ccxcviii. n. ii. themselves, and others, already engaged quitted the Service, to avoid the joining with the Infidels in their Superstitions; as the Eating of things Offered to Idols, the adoring the Ensingns, and in them the false Gods, whose Images they bore; the Swear­ing by the Genius of the Emperor, and Crowining themselves with Flowers at Tertul. de Corona. their profane Solemnities.

THE Christians Fasted often, accord­ing VIII. Their Fasts. Mat. ix. xv. to what our Saviour had said; That after he should be taken from them, his Disciples should Fast. From the very first Ages of Christianity in Remembrance of this; that is, of the Passion of Jesus Christ, they had their fixed and solemn Fasts; as that of Lent for every Year; and of Wednesday and Friday for every Week: They Fasted also for the Ordinations; and upon several other occasions, when the Bishops prescribed Fasts for the pub­lick Necessities; tosay nothing now [Page 59] of their Pennances and particular Devotions.

On their Fasts they eat but once a Day, and that not till towards the Evening; that is, in Lent, not till after the Vespers, toward the beginning of the Night; and on other Days not till after three a Clock; and such were their ordinary Fasts. They had also their greater Fasts; as that of the holy Week, the whole of v. Ep. Can. Dion. alex. which, many amonst them passed with­out eating, at least the three last Days of it. Many also out of their private Devo­tion kept their particular Fasts to them­selves, and abstained from eating for two or three Days together; especially upon great Occasions, as when they prepared themselves for Martyrdom: Some there were who passed whole Weeks or ten Luc. in Philopatr. Days without taking any Food, as Lucian (an unsuspected Witness in this Matter) assures us. All in general on their Fast-Days abstained from drinking Wine and eating Flesh; the greatest part fed only on Herbs or Pulse, with a little Bread, others allowed themselves little Fishes; but on those Days never use any sort of high Sauces or relishing Delicacies: They confined themselves to cheap and Ordi­nary Diet, always expending less upon their Tables on Fast-Days, then at other Seasons. Some observed Omophagy; that [Page 60] is to say, eating their Food raw and un­dressed; others Xerophagy; that is, feed­ing only upon dry Diets, as Nuts, Al­monds and such like Fruits; and others confined themselves only to Bread and Water.

I know that Men will now a Days think themselves little concerned with these Examples: They imagin that these ancient Austerities are now become im­practicable. The strength of Nature, say they, is impaired by the course of so many Years: Men do not live so long now as they did of old; nor are their Bodies so Robust. But I would fain have them give some Proofs of this alteration; for we are not here speaking of the Hero­ick times of antient Greece, nor of the Lives of the Patriarches, nor of those who lived before the Flood: We are upon the times of the first Roman Emperors, and of the other Greek and Latin Writers, sufficiently known to us. Let them drive the matter as far as they please, they will not be able to shew that the Life of Man hath been shortned for sixteen hundred Years: From thence, and from a long time before, the Age of Man was limit­ed to Threescore and ten, or fourscore Ps. xc. x. Years. In the first Age of Christianity, though there were as yet some Greeks and [Page 61] Romans who practiced the Gymnastick Exercises to preserve their Bodies in good Health; yet there were more who enfeeb­led them by their excesses; particularly by those kind of Debauches which tend most to the ruin of Health, and which still make so many of the Eastern People grow old so long before their time. In the mean time, out of these most corrup­ted places, as Aegypt and Syria, came the greatest Fasters, and these Persons pro­longed the term of their Lives beyond other Men. 'Tis true such Fasting was a thing more easily practiced by the Peo­ple of those hot Countries, than it can be by us. And yet we find great Exam­ples of Abstinence, even in Gaul, and o­ther colder Regions; and that more than a Thousand Years after the Apostles; for the ancient Rule of Fasting (as we shall see hereafter) continued down to the time of St. Bernard.

The Christians, as well as Jews, consi­dered Fasting as a State of Affliction: 'Tis true, the Jews applied it to the satis­fying the natural Passion of Grief; as when they fasted upon the loss of some dear Friend or Relation; or upon any other misfortune purely Temporal: To the same purpose was it practiced by other Nations. And we find that the Greeks and Romans, together with other signs [Page 62] of Mourning, joined that of Fasting. But the Christians applied all to a Spiri­tual end; using these exteriour Testifica­tions of Grief only as they tended to excite in them that Godly sorrow that worketh 2 Cor. vii. x. Repentance to Salvation; that is, to give them Compunction for their Sins. A sin­ner saith St. Cyprian, ought to lament the Cypr. de Laps. Chrys. de Compunct. Death of his Soul, at least as much as the loss of a Friend; and St. Chrysostom makes use of the same Comparison. They consider­ed Fasting also as a Preservative against Temptation by weakning the Flesh, and and bringing it into Subjection to the Spirit; and therefore with their Fastings, they Joyned the Abstaining from all sorts of Pleasures even the most Innocent. Marryed Persons during those Seasons, ob­served Continence. They all in general lived in greater Silence and Solitude, were more frequent in visiting the Churches, and spent more of their Hours in Reading and Praying on their Fast-Days than at other times.

IN their Diet, and way of Eating, IX. Their Eating. the Christians alwaies (even out of their Fast-Days) observed great Frugality and Moderation. They were taught not St. Clem. Alex. ii. Paedag. i. to Live to Eat, but to Eat to Live. That the end of Food being Health and Strength, and the keeping the Body in a condition [Page 63] fit for Labour; all bcyond this was Superfluous and Excessive. Twas not therefore for a Christian to Study the Art of Eating, or to Indulge the wantonness of the Appetite; to hanker after curious Dishes, sumptuous Feasts, or those de­licacies of the Palate which could not come to the Table, without the Assis­tance of skilful Cooks and the Science of the Kitchen. They applyed to themselves that saying of St. Paul in a literal Sence, and made a general Rule of it: It is good 1 Rom. xiv. xxi. Hier. ad Furiam. Clem. 2. Paedag. 2. Rud. Hymn ante cih. neither to eat Flesh nor to drink Wine. Twas more especially to Women, and all young People; they prescribed the abstaining from Wine; and as for them that Drank it, they alwaies qualifyed it with Water. If they fed on Liveing Creatures, it was rather of Fish or Fowls, than of the grosser Substance of four-foot­ed Tertul. Ap. c. ix. Beasts, which they looked upon as too Succulent and over Nourishing. But they alwaies abstained from Blood, and Acts xv. xxix. from things Strangled, according to the Decision of the Council of the Apostles Min. Fael. which continued to be observed for many Ages; so that many of them lived only upon Sallads, Fruits or Pulse: Nay far­ther yet, many there were, who finding Pulse (as Peas, Beans and Lentils) too nourishing for them that would subdue the Flesh, reduced themselves to the liv­ing [Page 64] simply on Herbs with a little Bread Olus. Rom. xiv. ii. and Salt, taking the Words of St. Paul in a litteral Sence, Another who is weak eat­eth Herbs.

'Tis true, this Abstinence was not a thing so Extraordinary in their Days as it would be in ours: For though the Lux­ury of the Table was then grown to great Excess, as one may see in the Greek and Latin Writers of those times, parti­cularly in Athenaeus; yet it fell short of that extravagance to which we have now ad­vanced it. The Aegyptians and many o­ther Orientalists still kept up their Religi­ous Abstinences. The Abstinence of the Pythagoreans was in great reputation, as appears by the Example of Apollonius Ty­anaeus, Inde do­mum me Ad porri & ciceris refero laga­nique cati­num. lib. i. Sat. 6. Nec mo­dica caena­re times olus omne patella. i. ep. v. Suet. in Aug. 76. and by the Writings of Porphyry. Horace, as great an Epicurean as he was, names only some Pulse and Herbs as his ordinary Diet, and inviting his Friend to Supper, Promises him no better Chear. The Emperor Augustus lived mostly on Brown-Bread, Cheese, Figs, Dates, Rai­sons, and small Fish. One might produce a Multitude of like Examples. Their common usage was to make but one set Meal a Day; and that at Night when all the Business of the Day was over, and every one was retired to his Home; this was their Supper or Caena: For as for that which they called Prandium, it was [Page 65] rather a Breakfast than a set Dinner, af­ter the manner of our Dinners, since it Pransus non avide quintum interpellet inani ven­tre diem durare. Hor. i. lat. vi. was only a light repast to support Nature throughout the whole Day following; and many made no Dinner at all. 'Tis reckoned as an high instance of the Intem­perance of the Emperor Vitellius, that he often made four Meals a Day, but always Suet in Vi­tel. c. 13. three.

The Christians lived at least as regular­ly as the Heathens; I mean as the wisest among them, and used only a very simple Diet; rather of such things as did not require Fire or much dressing, than such as could not be eaten without being first prepared by Fire. They made at most but two Meals a Day; absolutely Gal. v. 21. condemning (according to what the A­postles had taught them) those Revellings Rom. xiii. 13. or Collations after Supper which were called Comessations; by means of which, i Pet. iv. 3. the Nights were commonly passed away in Debauches. The Meal how simple and light soever it might be, both began and ended with long Prayers; And Pruden­tius Cathemer iii, iv. hath composed two Hymns to this purpose; in which we may see the Spirit of these first Ages set forth in lively Co­lours.

It was in these times, a common Cus­tome to have something read to them as Pli. iii. ep. v. Sat. xi. they sat at Meals. Pliny always used it, [Page 66] and Juvenal inviting one of his Friends to sup with him, promises that he should have Homer and Virgil Read to him at Table. Instead of those profane Songs and Buf­fooneries with which the Heathens height­ned Clem. ii. Paedag. iv. the Pleasure of their Entertainments. The Christians at theirs, had the Holy Scriptures read to them, and the Singing of Spiritual Hymns, sett to Grave and Com­posed Airs: For they were not against Musick, nor did they condemn Mirth, provided it was an holy Joy and had God for its Object. They never eat together with Hereticks, or Persons Excommuni­cated, i Cor. v. 10. 11. ibid. x. 27. nor so much as with the Catechu­mens: But with the Infidels they some­times did Eat and Converse.

THE same Modesty and Moderation X. The Mo­desty, Gra­vity, and Serious­ness of Christians did the Christians maintain in all their Actions, and throughout the whole Course of their Lives. They sought after no o­ther greateness but the greateness and nobleness of Spirit, coveted no other Riches but their Spiritual Treasure, the Riches of the inner Man. They could not approve of those profuse Extrava­gances which had been introduced into the World by the Prodigious Wealth of the Roman Empire, as the vast expen­ces of their stately Buildings, and costly [Page 67] Furniture; their Tables of Ivory, Bed­steads Clem. Alex. ii. Paedag. iii. of Silver, and Hangings of Purple and Gold, Gold, and Silver Plate, encha­sed and ornamented with Precious Stones. When the Persecutors searched the Lodg­ings Acta. Mar­tyr. Nicom. ap. Bar. an 293. where St. Domna, a vast rich Virgin of Nicomedia, kept her self, and together with the Eunuch St. Indus, were shut up from the rest of the World; this was the rich Furniture they found in it: a Cross, the Acts of the Apostles, two Mats lying upon the Ground, an earthen Censer, a Lamp, a little Wooden-box where they kept the Holy Sacrament to Communicate themselves.

With the like Modesty did the Christi­ans decline all gaudy Habits, and above all the wearing of Silk; a Commodity in those Days so precious, that it was Sold for its weight in Gold: All over-costly Ornaments, as Rings beset with precious Clem. Alex. ii. Paedag. S. xi. xii. and iii. i. ii. iii. Const. Ap. i. c. iii. and v. c. ix. Stones, Jewels, and the like; Curled Locks, Perfumes and Unguents; the too frequent use of the Bath; and the too great Affec­tation of Modishness; in a Word, all that might tend to excite sensual desires, or gratify a voluptuous Inclination. Pru­dentius, as one of the first marks of the Peri. steph▪ Hymn. xiii. Conversion of St. Cyprian, observes the change of his outward Deportment, and the Neglect of his Dress. Apollonius, an [Page 68] ancient Ecclesiastical Author, Writing a­gainst the Montanists, and speaking of Ap. Euseb. v. Hist. xviii. their pretended Prophets, thus reproves them. Tell me, saith he, doth a Pro­phet Dye his Hair? Doth he Paint his Eye-Brows? Doth he love gay Cloaths? Doth he play at Dice? Doth he lend upon Usury? Let them Speak. Are these things Justifiable? For I can prove that they Practise them. An Act. St. Se­bast. apud Baron. an. 289. n. xvi. xvii. Holy Martyr to prove by matter of Fact, that a certain Impostor, who took upon him the name of a Christian was no bet­ter than a Cheat; Represented to the Judges that this pretender Curled his Locks, Haunted the Barbers-Shops, look­ed too Affectingly upon the Women; Fed high, and smelt of Wine: Suffici­ent evidence that he could be no Chris­tian. As for their whole outward Garb, and what Figure they made in the World; the Christians shewed themselves very indifferent and Incurious, at least very plain and Grave. Some of them quitted the common Habit, to take upon them that of the Philosophers, as Tertullian and Tertull. de Pall Eureb. vi. Hist. xx. St. Heraclas, the Disciple of Origen.

There were but few Divertisements, which they would allow themselves the use of. They were obliged to shun all the Publick Shews, whether of the Thea­tre, of the Amphitheatre, or of the Circus. [Page 69] At the Theatre were acted Tragedies and Comedies, on the Amphitheatre were seen the Combating of the Gladiators, and the Fighting with Wild-Beasts, the Circus, was for the Racing of Chariots. All these Const. A post. ii. Lxii Tertull. do Spect. Spectacles with the Heathens, made part of the Worship of the false Gods; which had been of its self sufficient to have kept the Christians from coming near them. But they considered them also as a Poiso­nous Fountain of Debauchery and Disso­luteness, that tended only to the Corrup­tion of Manners. The Theatre was a School of Immodesty, the Amphitheatre of Cruelty; and the Plays fomented all Augus. vi. Confes. cap. vii. sort of Passions. Even those of the Cir­cus, which appeared the most Innocent, were detested by all the Fathers because of the Factions that there Reigned, and the Quarrels and Animosities every Day created by them, which often ended in Bloody Frayes. In short, they could not Clem. iii. Paedag. ii. but disapprove of the vast Expences thrown a way upon these Spectacles, the Idleness Cypr. de o­per et Clem. they cherished, the Indiscriminate Herd­ing together of Men and Women at these publick Entertainments, and the suspici­ous Consequences of so Promiscuous and familiar an Interview.

The Christians condemned also Dice, Clem. Paed iii. c. xi. and other such like sedentary Plays, look­ing upon the loss of time as but one of the [Page 70] least of the Mischiefs that attend them. Apollon. ap. Euseb. lib. v. c. xviii. They censured intemperate Fits of Laugh­ter and every thing that tended to raise Idem. ii. Paedag. v. vi. vii. them; as ridiculous Words or Actions, merry Tales, Buffoonerys, foolish Jes­tings, fantastick Tricks and Gambols. Ambros. i. Off. xxiii. Much more did they Loath all kind of unseemly Words or Gestures, or such Const. A­post. v. c. ix. which might savour of Immodesty. They were for having a Christian maintain the Eph. v. 4. Scurrilitas. Dignity of his Character, and that there­fore he should take care in all his Behavi­our, to discover nothing Indecent, Base or Unbecoming an Ingenuous Person: nor did they allow of those unsavoury Dis­courses, and unprofitable Tattle to which the meaner sort of People, and especially the Female Sex, are so much addicted; expressly condemned by St. Paul, when he directs that our Speech should be al­ways Col. iv. 6. seasoned with the salt of Grace. 'Twas to cut off these Excesses of the Tongue that silence was so highly recom­mended to Christians.

This Discipline would appear now a Days very Severe. Yet why should it? If we consider how expressly Scoffers and Scorners are condemned in the Scriptures, Prov. iii. 34. ix. 7. 12. xii. xxix. 9. and the theatning Denounced against them; and how Grave and Serious was the Life of Jesus Christ and his Disciples. Be­sides, Chrysost. Hom. vi. in Matt. Mor the tasting pleasure in the things I [Page 71] have mentioned is Vicious, or at least Dangerous; and a Christian even in the most Innocent matters ought to Regulate himself with the greatest Sobriety and Moderation. Indeed the whole Life of a Christian should be taken up in little else, than in expiating his past Sins by Repen­tance, and in Guarding himself against the like for the future by the Mortifica­tion of his Passions. The true penitent to Chastise himself for having Abused the Pleasures, of sence, must begin by denying himself even the Lawful use of them, and to extinguish, or at least weak­en natural Concupiscence, must (as much as is possible) deny all its Cravings. So that a true Christian must never make it his business to seek the pleasures of Sence, but just take somuch of them as the necessities of Life require, and which cannot be withheld; as Eating, Drink­ing, and necessary Repose; if ever he take any Recreation, it must be a Recre­ation properly so called, that is to say a Refreshment and Ease, to Recreate or relieve the weakness of Nature, which would sink under the weight were the Body always kept up to hard Labours, or the Mind always bent upon close Thinking. But to seek Pleasure for Plea­sures Sake, and as making it our end: Nothing can be more contrary to the O­bligation [Page 72] we lye under of Renouncing our selves, which is the very Life and Soul of all Christian Vertues.

This Serious and mortifyed Disposition of the true Christians appears even from the Genius of the Heresies of these first times, which for the most part were oc­casioned by an excess of Discipline and corporal Austerity. The Marcionites, and after them the Manichees, held that the Flesh was an Evil thing, as being the work of the evil Principle, and therefore concluded that it was not lawful either to eat Flesh, or to multiply it by Pro­creation, and that the Resurrection of the Flesh, was a thing neither to be ex­pected nor desired. This contempt of the Body, this Abstinence and Continence made a very specious Appearance. The Montanists added many other Fasts as of necessary Obligation to those apoin­ted by the Church; condemned second Marriages, and wholy disallowed of Pen­nance, as not granting that the Church had Power to restore them who had, af­ter their Baptism fallen into the commis­sion of any grievous Sin. He that should now a Days advance Errors of thsi Na­ture would scarce gain many Proselytes.

But how severe soever the Life of those Primitive Christians may appear to have been; yet we are not to imagine it was [Page 73] sad and Melancholy. St. Paul required no Phil. iii. 1. & iv. iv. impossible thing of them, when he bid them rejoyce; if they denied themselves those Excesses of Pleasure which other Men hunt after, they were freed also from all that Chagrin and other Passions which are so very troublesom; leading a Life free from Ambition, from Covetousness, and all Fond doating upon the things of this Life. They enjoyed the Peace of a good Conscience, the Reflexions of a well spent Life; and the assurance there­upon following of their being in the Fa­vour of God; and above all, the blessed hopes of the Life to come, which they al­ways looked upon as near at Hand: For they knew that this World must sudden­ly pass away; and the Persecutions seem­ed to be but forerunners of the universal Judgment.

So that they little troubled their Thoughts about what would become of their Families after their Death: If they left their Children Orphans, as was often the Case of the Martyrs, they knew that the Church would be their Mother, and that they should want for nothing. They lived for the most part only from Hand to Mouth, upon their Labour, or upon their Estates, which they divided among the Poor, without distraction of Thought, without the hurry of Business; standing [Page 74] off not only from all sordid Methods of Gain, or whatsoever might bear the least suspicion of injustice, but also from the ve­ry desire of heaping up Treasures and en­riching themselves; so that the Prelates complain of it as a great disorder, and a Cpyr. de Laps. new thing among Christians, that in the intervals of the Persecutions, they began to forget themselves, and fell to getting Estates; as if they were for establish­ing to themselves Mansions upon Earth. And they that stood thus indifferent to Earthly Possessions, could have no great hankering after sensual Pleasures: and if in these things we do not at least in the sin­cerity of our Desires emulate them, we are no good Christians.

WITH all this indifferency to the things XI. Marria­ges. of this Life; yet the Christians generally made choice of the Married State: They could have no good opinion of the Celi­bacy of the Heathens; since they saw it founded only upon Licentiousness and Debauchery. So that the Civil Laws themselves aimed at the restraint of it, both by affixing some kind of Penalties Tac. An. iii. v tit. cod. de infirm. paen. coelib. v. Baron. an. 57. n. 44, &c. upon those who continued unmarried after such a Term of Years; and re­wards to those who in lawful Matrimo­ny encreased the number of the People. The Christians knew but two states; that [Page 75] of Marriage, or Continence. They pre­ferred the latter, as knowing its Excel­lencies, and they often found the means Tertul. ad uxor. c. vi. & de Resur. car. c. 8. of Reconciling them both in one; for there were many Married Persons who yet lived in Continence. But all Christi­ans in general abstained from the use of the Bed on the Feasts and Fasts of the Cypr. de sing. Cle. Church, as well as at other times, when (according to the Apostles Rule) they were disposed more Freely to give Cor. vii. themselves to Prayer: Second Marriages were looked upon as a weakness: inso­much as in some Churches they enjoined Hier. ad Salvin in fi. the Persons so remarrying, Penance.

But how highly soever they esteemed Continence, they had an esteem for Mar­riage, as being a great Sacrament: They had honourable Thoughts of it, consi­dering it as an Emblem of that Union which is between Christ and his Church, and that Blessing Pronounced by God up­on Mankind at the first Creation; which Orat. in Bened. Spons. neither Original Sin nor the Deluge hath taken away; that is, of encreasing and multiplying. They knew that the rela­tion of Father and Mother was an high Clem. Alex. ii. Paedag. c. x. and honourable Character; as being the Images of God in a more peculiar man­ner, and Co-operating with him in the Production of Men. 'Tis certain by the Gospel, that St. Peter was a Married [Page 76] Man; and Tradition, (as St. Clemens Alexandrinus relates it) tells the same of Clem. iii. strom. the Apostle St. Philip, that they had both of them Children; and particularly of Euseb. iii. Hist. 30. St. Philip, 'tis observed that he gave his Daughters in Marriage.

Among other Directions, for the Edu­cation Const. Ap. iv. c. x. of Children, this is one, That they should (to secure their Vertue) timely dispose of them in Marriage; and they who had Charity enough to take upon them the charge of breeding up Orphans, were advised to Match them as soon as Ibid. c, i. they came of Age; and rather to their own Children than to Strangers: a Proof, how little the Christians of those days Ignat. Ep. ad Polycar. regarded Worldly Interest in the matter of Marriage. They advised with their Bishop about Marriages (as indeed they did about all Affairs of greater Import­ance) that so, saith Ignatius, they might be made according to God, and not according to Concupiscence. When the Parties were agreed, the Marriage was publickly and solemnly performed in the Church, and Tertul. ii. ad ux. in fi. there Consecrated by the Benediction of the Pastor, and Confirmed by the Obla­tion of the holy Sacrifice. The Bride­groom gave his Hand to the Bride, and the Bride received from her Husband a Ring engraved with the Sign of the Cross, or at least having on it some Symbolical Fi­gure [Page 77] representing some Christian Vertue; as a Dove, an Anchor, or a Fish, for of such Clem. Alex. iii. Paedag. c. xi. Figures did the Christians make their Seals; and among the Antients their Rings were also their Seals or Signets.

HITHERTO have we considered XII The Uni­on of Chri­stians. Christians in their Private Capacities; let us now take a view of them as United in­to a Body and making a Church. The name of Ecclesia, i. e. Church, signifies no more than an Assembly, and was ta­ken in the Cities of Greece for a meeting of the People, who commonly came to­gether in the Theatre, for the dispatch of Publick Affairs. We have in the Acts of the Apostles an Example of this pro­fane Acts xix. 32 Ecclesia or Assembly in the City of Ephesus; and therefore the Christians by way of distinction from these profane Ec­clesias, where called the Ecclesia or Church of God. Origen in his Dispute against Celsus, compares these two sorts of Assem­blies together, and lays it down as a thing certain and manifest, that the less Zeal of the Christians (who were but few in comparison of the rest) did somuch excel other Men, That the Christian As­semblies appeared in the World like Stars in the Firmament. The Christians there­fore of every City made up but one Body; and this was one principal pretence of [Page 78] Persecuting them. Their Assemblies were represented as Illegal Meetings, not being Authorized by the Laws of the State. Their Unity and Love passed fot a Crime, and was Objected against them as a dangerous Confederacy.

And indeed all the Christians living in the same Place were well known to each other; as it could not be otherwise, consi­dering how often they joined in Prayer, and other exercises of Religion, upon which occasions they met together almost every Day. They all maintained a Friend­ly Correspondence among themselves; often met and conferred together, and even in indifferent matters conformed to one another. Their Joys and their Griefs were in common: If any one had received of God any particular Bles­sing, they all shared the satisfaction. If any one were under Pennance, they all Interceeded on his behalf, and beg­ged that Mercy might be shewn him. They lived together as kindred of the same Family, calling one another by the Name of Father or Child, Brother or Si­ster, according to the difference of Age or Sex.

This Unity was maintained by that Au­thority which every Master of a Family had over those of his own House; and by the Submission that all of them paid to the [Page 79] Priests and their Bishops; a Duty so ear­nestly recommended to Christians in the Epistles of the holy Martyr St. Ignatius: But above all, the Bishops were most closely United▪ among themselves. They all knew one another, at least by their Names and Characters, and held a con­stant Epistolary Correspondence; which was easy to be done at that time, by rea­son of the vast extent of the Roman Em­pire; Bardesan. apud Euseb. vi. Praepar. c. 8. which God in his Providence seems to have so ordered, as it were on pur­pose for the Propagation of the Gospel. But as the Church was extended far wider than the Empire, reaching to all the Na­tions round about it; that uniformity of Faith and Manners, which was found among all the Christians was still the more wonderful, considering the Diversity of Nations among whom they were scatter­ed. And herein appeared the Power of true Religion, Correcting in all that em­braced it, all those Barbarous and unrea­sonable Euseb. i. Praep. c. iv. Customs in which they had been educated: In short, the universal Church was in reality but one Body, all the Mem­bers whereof were United to each other; not only by the same Faith, but also by the same most Comprehensive Cha­rity.

EVERY Particular Church met to­gether XIII. Their Church Assembly's Liturgy, and out­ward form of Wor­ship. Justin. ii. Apol. in fi. on the Lord's-Day, which the Heathens called Sunday, and which the Christians honoured above all Days, in the Memory of the Creation of Light, and of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The place of their Assembly, was gene­rally some private House, where they chose for this purpose one of the dining Rooms, which the Latins called Caenacu­la, and which were the upper Chambers of the House; such was that upper Room Act. xx. 7, &c. from whence fell the young Man Euty­chus whom St. Paul recovered to Life, which we find was three Stories high, en­lightned with many Lamps, where the Faithful were met together on the Night of the Lord's-Day for the Breaking of Bread; that is, for the Celebration of the Mysteries which was followed with a re­past, viz. the Love-Feast. In the Perse­cutions they were often forced to hide themselves in the Cryptae or Hollow places v. Baron. an lvii. n. xcix. under Ground, without the Cities; like the Catacombs still to be seen at Rome. When they had more Liberty, they met in Publick Places, known by all to be the Idem. an. ccxxiv. n. iii. an. 245 n. 302. Euseb. viii Hist. c. iii. Churches of Christians. We see Exam­ples thereof in the reigns of the Emperors Alexander and Gordianus. The Emperor Gallienus causing a stop to be put to the Persecutions, gave order that the Chri­stians [Page 81] should have their Cemiteries resto­red to them; near which commonly stood their Churches; and when Paulus Samo­satenus was deposed, the Emperor Aure­lian commanded the Church, viz. the Ibid 30. Material Church of the place, to be restor­ed to those who continued in Commu­nion with the Bishop of Rome. Some of these publick Churches had been before Private Houses; as that of the Senator St. Martyr. Rom. xx. Jun. Pudens, the happy Father of so many blessed Children, St. Novatus and St. Ti­motheus the Priest, and the Virgins St. Pudentiana and St. Praxeda. This illu­strious Family had been instructed in the Faith by the Apostles themselves; and their House was turned into a Church by the Priest St. Pastor. There were often also new Buildings erected on purpose for this use: A little before the Dioclesian Persecu­tion, they had in all Cities Churches new built from the Ground; so mightily was the number of the Faithful encreased; and the Persecution began by the pul­ling Euseb. viii. Hist. c. iii. down these Churches.

In these Assemblies they said their Prayers before mentioned, at the stated Hours of the Day and Night: But the chief work of their meeting together was to offer the Sacrifice, which could not be done without a Priest. They called it either by the Scripture names of the Sup­per, [Page 82] the breaking of Bread, the Oblation; or by the names afterward received in the Church, as the Synaxis; that is to say, As­sembly, Domini­oum. Col­lecta. Cypr. Ep. lxiii ad Cae­cil. in Latin Collecta: the Eucharist; that is, Thanksgiving; the Liturgy; that is, the Publick Service. In the time of the Persecutions, for fear of meeting with disturbance from the Infidels, they some­times administred it before Day. There was but one Sacrifice in each Church; that is, in each Diocess: 'Twas the Bi­shop that Offered it; nor did the Priests do it, but in case of the absence or In­disposition of the Bishop. But they as­sisted him in performing the Service, and all of them Offered together with him. The Order of the Liturgy hath been changed according to the difference of Times and Places: Some Indifferent Cere­monies have been added to it, and some others retrenched; but the Essentials have remained always the same. The Ac­count we find of it in the first Times, is this;

After some Prayers, followed the rea­ding St. Just. ii. Apol. in fi. of the Holy Scriptures, first out of the Old Testament, and then out of the New. They always concluded with a Lesson out of the Gospel, which when Read the Bishop Expounded, adding there­to some proper Exhortation suited to the occasions of his Flock. That ended, they [Page 83] all rose up, and turning their Faces to the East, with hands lift up to Heaven, they Prayed for all sorts and Conditions of Men, for Christians and Infidels, great and small; particularly for all that were any ways afflicted or distressed in Mind, Body, or Estate. A Deacon called upon them to Pray, a Priest pronounced the Words of Prayer, and the People gave their Assent by answering, Amen. Then Cypr. Ep. lxiii. the Gifts were offered, that is the Bread and Wine, mingled with Water, which was to be the matter of the Sacrifice. The People gave the Kiss of Peace, Men to Men, and Women to Women in token of their perfect Unity. After that every one gave his Offerings to the Priest, and he in the name of them all offered them up to God. Then he began the solemni­ty Cypr. de. Orat. of the Sacrifice, calling upon the Peo­ple to lift up their Hearts to God, and with the Angels and all the Heavenly powers to Laud and Magnifie his glori­ous Name; next he proceeded to repeat the History of the Institution, and pro­noucing the Words of our Saviour, he St. Just. made the Consecration; after that to­gether with the People he rehearsed the Lords-Prayer, and having himself received the Communion, he gave it the Deacons for the rest of the Congregation. For Regularly all those that entred the [Page 84] Church were to Communicate, especi­ally Can. Apost. ix. 10. all that Ministred at the Altar.

As for those who had not the oppor­tunity of assisting at the Sacrifice in Per­son, the Eucharist was sent to them by the Hands of Deacons or the Acolythi. They reserved part of it also to be al­ways in readiness for the Viaticum for Dying Persons, as a provision for their Journy. They permitted the Faithful to carry it Home; to take it every morn­ing before they touched any other Food, Tertull. i. ad uxor. c. v. or upon sudden occasions in case of Dan­ger; as when they should be called to suf­fer Martyrdom. These things were ad­mitted in those Days. For they had not then the liberty of meeting together and celebrating the Mysteries when they plea­sed. That which was thus carryed abroad was onely the Bread. Though in their publick Assemblies all in General com­municated under both kinds, excepting little Children, to whom was given on­ly the Wine. The Agapa or Love-Feast, which in these first times followed the Communion, was a Repast of ordinary Food, which they took altogether in the same place, where they had Communi­cated. In after times it was given only Const. A­post. ii. c. xxviii. to the Widows and the Poor. There was always set aside a Portion for the Pastor though Absent. The Priests and [Page 85] Deacons had a double Portion. Every one also of the Readers, Singers, and Door-Keepers had their share of it.

'TWAS in these same Assemblies that XIV. The se­cret of the Mysteries. (as far as was possible) they Admini­stred the other Sacraments, which was the cause of the special care they took not to admit any Infidel. For they in­violably observed that command of our Saviour, of not giving Holy things to Mat. vii. 6. v. Methode des peres. ch. viii. Dogs, or casting Pearl before Swine. This is the reason why they called Sacra­ments by the name of Mysteries, that is to say things Concealed, and that they kept them to themselves with a sacred secresy. They kept them concealed not only from the Infidels, but from the Cate­chumens also. They not only declined to Celebrate the Mysteries before them, but would not so much as inform them what was done at the Celebration, nor pro­nounce in their presence the solemn words, nor Speak a syllable in their Hearing con­cerning the nature of the Sacraments. Much less did they Write upon this Sub­ject. And if in their publick Discourse, or in any Writing which might fall into profane Hands, they were obliged to Speak of the Eucharist, or of any other Mystery, they did it in obscure and Aenigmatical Act. ii. 42. 46. Act. xx. 7. 11. Terms. So in the New Testament to [Page 86] break Bread, signifies to consecrate and distribute the Eucharist, a Phrase by which the Infidels could not guess what was meant. This Discipline of the Church Continued for many Ages after the Per­secutions ceased.

'Twas not strange to the Heathens to see Mysteries in Religion: They themselves observed the like in their Profane Ceremo­nies. They who were Initiated into the Mysteries of Isis, or Osiris, or Ceres E­leusinia, or Cybele, or the Samothracian Gods, or other such like, were bound under the most dreadful Maledictions to conceal the secret of the Mysteries; and he that should have divulged them, would have been looked upon as a most accursed Wretch. Hereof Apuleius gives us a Apul. Asin. lib. xi. lively Instance; and tis upon this account that Herodotus as he is speaking of the divers ceremonies of the Religion of the Aegyptians, or other People, often adds: I know the reason of these things, but I dare not tell it.

YET this secret of the Mysteries gave XV. The rea­sons of the general O­dium a­gainst the Christians. accasion to many false and scandalous Reports against the Christians. For Men generally conceal themselves rather for Hurt than Good. And 'twas a thing but too Notorious, that in other Religions, the Mysteries which they took such care [Page 87] to Conceal were indeed no better than a Orig. in Cels. i. Ter­tull. Apol. vii. Cover for the most infamous Practises; as in the ceremonies of Ceres and Cybele, and in the Sacrifices of Bacchus, which were forbidden at Rome, by a Decree of the Se­nate A. Ʋ. C. 568. in which were Per­petrated Liv. lix. c. 9. most horrid Cruelties. The Pre­judice they had against the Christians made them readily Imagin, that what they kept so secret, was something of the like Nature. And these suspicions were Castor. ap. Euseb. iv. Hist. c. vii. Bar. an. cxx. n. 22. &c. Epiph. Hares. xx. and xxvii. Iren. lib. i. c. xxiv. supported by the destable Villanies com­mitted in their Conventicles by the Gnos­tick, the Carpocratians, and other He­reticks, which indeed were such that one would scarce beleive the account the Fa­thers give us of them. Now all these Hereticks went under the Common De­nomination of Christians, Besides, from among the Catholicks themselves, there were always some Apostates who Revol­ted to Paganism; eithere out of levity of Mind, or refusing to submit to Pennance after the Commission of some grievous Sin, or as not being able to bear Persecu­tion. These Apostates in their own De­fence, Invented Calumnies against the Christians, or at least confirmed and heightned those that were already forg­ed against them: And having been them­selves Initiated in the Mysteries of the [Page 88] Christians their Testimony passed for Undoubted.

Thus came to be spread that Lye, that the Christians in the Night assem­blies, cut the Throat of a young Child to dip their Bread in his Blood, and after that Roasted him, covered him over with Flower and so fed upon his Flesh: Which false Report plainly arose from the Mys­teries of the Eucharist Misrepresented: To this they Farther added, that after having taken together their common Re­past, in which they eat and drank to Ex­cess, they cast a bit of Meat to a Dog who was tyed to a Candlestick, so that the Dog leaping at the Bait threw down the Candle, after which being now in the Min. Fael. Dark all the Men and Women were Promiscuously together, like so many Beasts without any choice or Distincti­on as it happened. How absurd so­ever these Fables were, yet the People believed them, and the Christian Apo­logists, Ter [...]ll. A­pol. c. vii. 8. 9. Orig. Contr. Cels. vi. p. 293. were obliged to bestow a se­rious Answer upon them. The Example of the Bacchanals in Rome about two Hundred Years before, in which were Discovered such horrid Villanies, had taught them to believe in general that there could be nothing so Abominable that might not be Introduced under the colour of Religion.

The Christians were also charged with being Enemies to all Mankind, and to the Roman Power in particular. That they rejoiced at the disasters of the Publick; Luc. in Philopat. were grieved at its Successes, and wished the ruin of the Empire. That which gave occasion to all those Surmi­ses was, That they heard the Christians talk so much of the Vanity of all Earthly Glories, of the end of the World, and of the last Judgment; or perhaps they were somewhat Allarmed from what some indiscreet or malicious Persons might have told them, concerning the Tertul. Ap. c. xxxv. Punishments denounced in the Apocalyps, against Idolatrous Rome, and the Ven­geance which God would one Day take on her for the Blood of the Martyrs, which she had spilt. That which further encreased these Suspicions against the Christians, was their not joining with their Neighbours in their Publick Rejoy­ings, which consisted in Sacrifices, Pro­fane Feasts, and Spectacles full of Idola­try Const. Ap. v. c. 9. Clem. ii. Paedag. Ambros. Serm. xvii. deCal. Jan. Aug. in Ps. xcviii. n. v. and Dissoluteness. On the contrary, they rather chose to pass those Days in Penance and Mortification, in considerati­on of the numberless Sins and Provocations then committed against God, and they rejoiced on those Days which the Superst­tion of the Pagans had marked for Calami­tous and unfortunate. They avoided [Page 90] their Fairs because of the profane Plays there Acted. If ever they went to them, it was only just to provide themselves necessaries, or to buy some Slave, in or­der Const. Ap. ii. c. xxvi. to convert him.

And indeed this one thing was sufficient to render them odious to the People, their openly declaring against all the established Religions. 'Twas to no purpose to tell them that they worshiped the only true God, maker of Heaven and Earth, and that they worshiped him in Spirit, daily offering up to him the Sacrifices of their Prayers. This was a sort of Language these blind Idolaters knew not what to make of. They demanded of the Chri­stians to tell them the name of their God; and called them down-right Atheists, be­cause they Worshiped none of the Gods that stood in their Temples: had no burn­ing Altars, nor Bloody Sacrifices. The Sacrificing Priests, the Augurs, the Aru­spices, the Diviners of all sorts; in a Word, all those whose Employment and dependance was upon the Idola­trous worship, spared not to foment, and blow up the Rage of the People against them: To that purpose they made use of pretended Prodigies, accusing the Christians as the Causes of all the Publick Calamities that befel them; when they were plagued with Famine, Pes­tilence, [Page 91] War, or the like; all was char­ged upon the score of the Christians, by means of whom, said they, the Wrath of Tertul. Ap. xl. Arnob. init. the Gods is drawn down upon places where they are suffered to live.

These violent Prejudices against the Christians, made them fly in the Face of their very Vertues, and turn them to their reproach. The Love they bore to one another was scandalously Inter­preted; the common Appellation used Tertul. Ap. c. xxxix. Petro. amongst themselves of Brother and Sister, were wrested to an ill sence; as indeed the Heathens had abused those Names in their infamous Amours. The large Alms they distributed were Censured to be done with an evil Design, to seduce the Poorer sort Acta S S. Hippolyti. &c. apud Baron. an. 259. n. xiii. of People, and strengthen their Faction; or as a contrivance of the covetous Bishops to draw into their Churches vast heaps of Treasure to lye at their disposal. As for Miracles, they said, they were only pieces of Sorcery and Magical Impostures: And Prud. hymn S. Laurent. indeed the World was then over run with cheating Quacks, Jugglers and Fortune Tellers, who had their several ways of Divination, by which they pretended to foretell things to come; and by Vertue of their Spells and Charms, by the Power of some Barbarous and unintelligible Words, and Fantastick Figures and Characters, to be able to cure Diseases. And whether [Page 92] it were all done by trick, or whether they were really assisted by some evil Spirit; they imposed upon the Eye sight, and did actually perform many strange Feats, to the Amazement of the Beholders; so that 'twas no new thing to hear talk of Mi­racles; nay, nor to see them. They confounded the true with the false, and equally despised all pretenders to them. And the Country out of which the Apo­stles and first Christians came, encreased this contempt of them. For the greatest part of these kind of Imposters came out of the East.

The Persecutions themselves were a sufficient Ground of hatred against the Christians; People supposed them Crimi­nals, because they were every where treated as such, and judged of the great­ness of their Crime by the severity of their Punishment. Thus they were looked upon as an accursed Race of Mor­tals, Tertul. Ap. c. l. Baron an. cxxxviii an. v. devoted to destruction, and marked out for Flames and Gibbets. And to add contumely to Injustice, they branded them with ill Names. And these are those mighty things which rendered the Christians so odious to the ignorant and unthinking Multitude. Upon these wild and general Notions, Suetonius and Tacitus, following common Fame, found all they say concerning the Christians. [Page 93] The Emperor Claudius (saith Suetonius) Judaeos impulsore Chresto as­siduè tu­multuantes Româ ex­pulit. banished the Jews from Rome; who at the Instigation of Chrestus, were always making disturbances; as if Jesus Christ had been then living, and the Head of a party a­mong the Jews. The same Author reck­ons Suet. Ner. n. 16. Af­fecti suppli­ciis Chri­stiani, gen­us. Homi­num Super­stitionn no­vae & ma­leficae. among the good Actions of Nero his having caused the Christians to be brought to Punishment, A Sect, saith he, of a new and dangerous Superstition. Tacitus speaking of Nero's having fired Rome only to divert himself with the sight, saith that he char­ged it upon those who were commonly Tac. xv. annal. quos per stagitia invisos vul­gus Christi­anos appel­labet. called Christians, a sort of People who were generally hated for their Practices. After which he adds, They took their Name from a certain Person called Christ, who in the reign of Tiberius Caesar, was put to Death by Pontius Pilate. But this Pernicious Su­perstition, Repressa (que) in praesens exitiabilis Superstitio, &c. after having suffered some little check, brake forth a new, and spread it self not only throughout all Judea, where it took Birth; but also to Rome its self, the place where every thing that is black and infamous Quo omnia undique a­trociā & pudenda confluun [...] celebrant­urque. seems to Center and Rendesvouse: First, there were some seized who confessed, and upon their discovery vast numbers were Condemned, not so much upon the account of the Fire, as being a Sacrifice to the common Odium. He treats them afterward as a Mischievous sort of People, and such as well deserved the most Exemplary Punish­ments.

Even the Men of Learning and Inge­nuity among them, that would Vouchsafe to enter into any examination of the matter, were not without their aversions against the Christians. Those persons of Learning were either Greeks or Romans, who used to dispise other Nations under the notion of Barbarians, and above all People the Jews; a Nation that had for a long time made but a Despicable Ap­pearance in the World, and stood par­ticularly Branded for a People of a ridicu­lous Superstition and sottish Credulity. This may a Jew believe, not I; saith Horace Credat Ju­daeus Apel­la, non ego. Hor. i. Sat v. speaking of a Prodigy. When therefore they were told that there were some Jews who adored as the Son of God, a Per­son that had been publickly put to Death upon the Cross, and that the grand Con­troversy between them and the other Jews was, whether this Person was Act. xxv. 19. yet Living after his Death, and whe­ther he were the true King of the Jews; one may readily imagin how Ridiculous these Disputes would appear to the Hea­thens. They saw that those of this new Act. xxviii. 22. Sect were hated and Persecuted by all the other Jews, so that it often proved an occasion of great Commotions among them, and therefore they concluded that these were a worse sort of Jews than all the rest.

They further Objected, that those of this new Religion used neither arguments nor Eloquence to convince Mens Understand­ing, but barely bad them Believe what was told them without disputing it, pre­tending Miracles for all they said. That the Greatest part of them were poor ig­norant Souls, that never looked into any Books, but the Writings of the Jews. That they set up for Teachers and Instructers, but 'twas only of People Simple and Igno­rant Orig. Com. Cels. like themselves, as Women and little People; finding them more forward to receive their Doctrine, then Persons of Sence and Learning. And indeed this was a thing altogether new to them. For there was no Provision made by the Aug. de ve­ra Rel init. Heathens for the Instruction of the com­mon People in matters of Religion. They had only the Lectures of their Philoso­phers, who Read to them the precepts of Orig Contr. Cels. Morality, but never meddled with the proper Offices of Religion. Besides, as all the Hereticks passed under the name of Christians, they ascribed to the whole Body of Christians all the Wild Fancies of the Velentinians and the other such like Visionaries encountred by Irenaeus. The Heathens confounded all these Extra­vagancies with the Catholick Faith; so that the Religion of the Christians ap­peared V. Baron. an. cl xxix. n. 17. and 28. to them a meer mess of Infatua­tions, [Page 96] vented by a parcel of Ignorant Crack-Brain'd Fools.

For what reason, said they, can you Euseb. Prae­par. i. cap. ii. give us why we should quit the establish­ed Religions, Pleading so long a Pres­cription of Time, recommended with such a pomp of Ceremonies, confirmed by the Authority of so many Kings and Legislators, and received by the Consent of all People, both Greeks and Barbarians; and that to embrace a Novel Invention of we know not who, and run our selves a ground upon the Jewish Fables: Or if you have a mind to turn Jews, why are you not Jews thorow out? But your Extravagancy is unaccountable in Wor­shiping the God of the Jews whether they will or no, and in Worshipping him in such a manner as the Jews themselves Condemn as much as we, and in pretend­ing to their Law with which you have nothing to do.

'Tis true the Morals of Christians were very Exact, and their Practises answered their Principles. But all the World was then full of Philosophers, who pretended no less than the Christians both to the teaching of Vertue, and to the Practising of it. There were among them also many who in the first Ages of the Church, (per­haps in Imitation of the Christians) ran about the World from Place to Place [Page 97] pretending to make it their business to reform Mankind, and thereupon sub­mitting themselves to many Hardships, and undergoing a kind of Persecution by the ill Treatment they sometimes met with, as Apollonius Tyanaeus Musonius, V. Baron an. l xxv. n. 6. Damis, Epictetus, and some others. The Philosophers had for many Ages before been in great Reputation. 'Twas taken Orig. Con. Cels. for granted that nothing more could be added to what had already been said by some of them. They could not imagin that Barbarians should have any thing better to offer than Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, or Zeno. They concluded that if these new Pretenders had any thing that was good in them, 'twas but somewhat which they had borrowed from those Old Sages.

Besides, the Philosophers were a more Agreeable sort of Professors, and their Principles better Accommodated to the inclinations of Mankind, than those of the Christians. The greatest part of them did not condemn Pleasure, nay some of them made Pleasure the Sovereign good. They left every one to enjoy his own O­pinion, and take his own way of Living. If they could not perswade Men, their method was to rally and dispise them; and that was all the trouble they gave them. But above all they took care not [Page 98] to pick Quarrels with the established Re­ligions. Some believed them, and gave Mystical Explications of the most Ridi­culous Fables. Others troubled their Heads no farther about matters of Religion, then to Acknowledge some first being, the Author of Nature, leaving the publick Superstitions to those whom they believed incapable of higher attainments. Even the Epicureans, who of all others disco­vered themselves the most Openly against the popular opinions concerning the Gods, Assisto Di­vinis Ho­rat. yet freely Assisted at the Sacrifices, and in what part of the World So ever they were, joyned with the rest in the outward Forms of Religious Worship there Prac­tised. In this all their Wise Men agreed, not to oppose the Customes established either by the Laws of the Countrey or Prescription of Time.

Their Belief of a Plurality of Gods went so far that they imagined every Nation, every City, every Family had Gods of its own, who took a more peculiar care of them, and whom therefore they were to Worship after a more peculiar Manner. So that they counted all Re­ligions good in such Places where they had been of a long time Received. But the Superstitious Women among them, and other Weak and Ignorant People were always hunting after new Religions, [Page 99] imagining that the more Gods and God­desses they worshipped, and the grea­ter number and varietie of Ceremonies they observed, the more Devout and Re­ligious they were. The Wise Men a­mong Liv. xxix. them and their Politicians did what they could to Restrain this restless Humour and keep it within some Bounds; and therefore were against all Innovations in matters of this Nature. Above all they Forbad all strange and Forreign Religions; and this the Romans made a Fundamental Principle of their Politicks. To perswade their People to believe that 'twas to the Beneficence of their Tit­lar Deitys that Rome was beholding for all its Glorious Successes, and the Gran­deur of its Empire. That their Gods must needs have been more Puissant Deitys than any of the rest, since they had brought under their Subjection all the Nations of the World. Thus when the Christian Religion was entirely esta­blished, the Pagans failed not to Im­pute to this Change of Religion, the Fall of the Empire which Succeeded soon upon it. And to answer these False Sug­gestions, was St. Augustin obliged to com­pose his large Treatise entituled De Ci­vitate Dei.

The Contempt the Christians had of Death, was not by the Heathens looked [Page 100] upon as any great matter. They saw every Day their voluntier Gladiators, who for some inconsiderable Reward, or perhaps for just nothing at all but to shew their own Bravery, fearlessly exposed them­selves to the Swords of their Antagonists, and ventured having their Throats Cut in the open Amphitheatre. They had Dayly examples before them of Persons (and those of the best sort) who upon any little Disgust would fairly Dispatch themselves out of the World. Some of Vel jacta­tione ut quidam Philosophi. l. vi. §. vii. F. de injusto rump. & ire. their Philosophers (as the Lawyers report of them) did the like purely out of Va­nity, of which Lucian's Peregrinus is a famous Instance. And therefore seeing the Christians Prosessing a Renunciation of the Enjoyments of this Life, and placing all their happiness in that to come; they rather wondered that they did not kill themselves. They tell us, Saith St. Justin, Justin. Ap. [...]. init. Go then kill your selves without any more ado, get you gone to your God, and let us hear no more of you. And Antoninus, Pro-Consul of Asia, seeing the Christians Crowding the Court, and offering themselves to Martyrdom, cryed out to them, Ah! Tertul. ad Scap. c. ult. Wretched Creatures as you are; if you are so fond of dying, can you not find Ropes to hang your selves, or Praecipices from whence you may break your Necks.

Thus all the World were set against the Christians; the People and the Magi­strates, the Ignorant and the Wise. By the one they were abhorred as Impostors and abominable Impious Wretches; by the other they were dispised as a company of Man haters, Visionary, Foolish and Me­lancholick People. Intoxicated with an unaccountable Frenzy of throwing away their Lives for nothing: So Odious and Despicable were they in the sight of the World, that scarce any one would vouch­safe somuch as to change a Word with them; such was the Prejudice all Men had conceived against the Christians, that the very Name of Christians was sufficient for their Condemnation, and destroyed BonusV [...] C. Seius tantum qùod Chri­stianus. Tertul. Ap. c. iii. whatsoever else of good was found to be in them. Such a one (was their common saying) is an Honest Man, were it not for the misfortune of his being a Christian.

THAT the Christians being so univer­sally XVI. The Per­secutions. the maner of proceed­ing against them. Their Pu­nishments. hated, should be Persecuted is not strange, but this one may justly wonder at, That the Romans, who in their Laws and Government, and in their other Conduct gave such Proofs of their Wisdom and Equity, should practice against their fel­low Romans; or indeed against any hu­man Creatures, such cruelties as we read of in the History of the Martyrs: That [Page 102] the Judges should cause the Person accu­sed to be put to the Torment in their own Presence, in open Court, in the view of the whole World; that they should employ such different sorts of Tortures upon them, and that (as for all that ap­pears) meerly Arbitrary. It may be worth our while therefore, to observe in all this, what was owing to the standing Customs and Constitutions of their Go­vernment: and what was supperadded thereto by a false Zeal for Religion, and Reasons of State.

The Romans tried all Causes in open Court; all their Processes as well Crimi­nal as Civil, the Charge as well as the Sentence was given in some publick place, where under a covered Gallery the Magi­strate Cic. iv. Ver. i. l. c. xl. seated himself in his Tribunal, rais­ed on high above the rest of the People, and surrounded with the Officers of the Court; the Lictors with Axes and Bund­les of Rods in their Hands attending him, and the Soldiers standing by, always in a readiness to execute his Orders: For the Roman Magistrates had in their own Hands the Power of the Sword, as well as the Administration of Justice. The Penalties for every Crime where fixed by [...]. 6. § 2. F [...]de Paen. l. 9 §. 11. l. x. l. xxviii. &c. ibid. the Laws; but so as to vary according to the Quality of the Offenders; and al­ways more rigorous against Slaves than [Page 103] against Freemen; against Foreigners than against the Roman Citizens: Therefore St Paul was Beheaded, as being a Denizen of Rome, and St. Peter Crucified as a Jew. The Cross was the most infamous of all their Punishments; and they that suffered that Death, were generally first beaten with Rods, and had their sides burned with red hot Irons, or flaming Torches, before they were nailed to the Cross; their putting to the Rack was done in Publick, and the manner of it was ex­treamly Cruel; but it was seldom exerci­sed Cic. ver. ult. n. lxiii. upon any save Slaves or Persons of the lowest consideration. The Martyrology Martyrol. Rom. xii. Janu. observes it as a thing Extraordinary, that St. Marinus being one of the Senatc [...]ian Order, was put upon the Eouleus and Tor­mented with the Ʋngulae Ferreae, or Iron Pincers, with which they pinched or burnt the sides of Malefactors upon the Rack. And yet 'twas after this way of Proceeding that most of the Martyrs were Tormented. The Roman Laws as well as ours of France, permitted none to be put to the Rack, save only for Exa­mination sake. But they used the same means to make Christians deny their pre­tended Crimes, as they did to make others confess their real ones. The same man­ner of trying Criminals by putting them to the Rack, of stretching out their Limbs [Page 104] with Pullies, whipping them, tearing and Searing their Flesh; continued in use un­der Christian Emperors; as appears by the Examples of St. Eutropius and St. Tig­rius, who were thus Tortured, under o­ther Sozom. viii. Hist. c. xxiv. pretences, but really out of spight to St. Chrysostom.

It was an ordinary thing to condemn l. viii. §. iv. v &c. §. xi. F. de paen. the meaner and more infamous sort of People to the Mines, as now to the Gal­lies; or to expose them to be torn to peices by wild Beasts in the Amphitheatre, for the diversion of the People. 'Tis not unlikely but that there were several other kinds of Punishments used in the Provinces; nor can it be denied, but that the Magistrates invented several new ones against the Christians; especially in the latter Perse­cutions, when their vexation to see the number of Christians still multiplying up­on them doubled their Fury; and when the Devil Suggested to them the means of destroying rather their Souls than Martyr. Rom. xxviii. Jul. their Bodies. I believe the being Con­demned to Prostitution is a kind of Pu­nishment never thought of in the World, but against the Christian Virgins. The ex­traordinary Admiration which they saw the Christians had for Chastity, put them upon that lewd of Persecution. And of the like nature was that which St. Jerome Hier. init. vitae S Paul. relates of a young Martyr, whom they [Page 105] gently tied to a Bed of Roses, and under the most delightsome Circumstances, with an Immodest Harlot placed by his side; but so far was he from being overcome with the Temptation, that he bit of his Ton­gue and spit in her Face; in short, there were a multitude of Martyrs Massacred or put to Torments, without any form of Justice; either by the Fury of the en­raged Populace, or by the revenge of their particular Enemies.

The Persecution generally opened with some Edict, forbidding the Assemblies of the Christians, and condeming to certain Penalties all those who refused to Sacrifice to the Gods. The Bishops presently gave Cypr. Ep. xv, &c. notice thereof, Exhorting each other both to redouble their Prayers to God, and to Encourage their People. Many of the Christians hereupon took the advice given by Jesus Chrst to his Disciples, and fled Mat. x. 23. for it. The Pastors and Priests divided themselves; the one part withdrew, the other part remained with the People; they kept themselves concealed with great care; for they were the Persons the most sought after, as being those upon whose loss the Flock would be scattered. Some of them Acta. S. Pion. Bar. an. 254. n. x. Can. xii. Petri Alex. to. i. Concil. the better to keep themselves unknown, changed their Names; others were con­tent to purchase their quiet, and to give Money to save themselves from being [Page 106] Persecuted: And thus by suffering in their Estates, they shewed how much less they valued their Temporal concerns than their Spiritual. But if any one gave Mony to pro­cure Cypr. Ep. lii. ad An­conian. Libellatici. false Certificates, that he had obey­ed the Emperors Edicts, he was counted in the number of Apostates; this being a tacit owning of himself an Idolater. The Rules of the Church forbad a Man vo­luntarily to expose himself to Martyrdom, or the doing any thing which might pro­voke the Heathens, and occasion Persecu­tion; as the overthrowing their Idols, Firing their Temples, speaking Contemp­tuously Orig. Cels. viii. of their Gods, or publickly oppo­sing their Superstitions: Not but that there are Examples of holy Mattyrs that have done such like things, and of many others who declared themselves, and own­ed their Religion: But those extraordi­nary Persons we must suppose to have been acted by a special impulse; so that their singular Examples are not to be drawn into Precedent. The general Const. Ap. v. c. v. Rule was not to tempt God, but to wait with Patience till one was Discovered, and called upon by Authority to give an account of his Faith. In this matter there were two opposite Haeresies to be avoided, the Gnosticks on the one hand, and the Marcionites on the other; the Gnosticks and Valentinians decried the suffering of [Page 107] Martyrdom as a needless thing, alleadg­ing Baron. an. cxlv. n. iii. &c. x. an. ccv. n. xii. &c. that Christ had died to save us from Death; not distinguishing what kind of Death it was that Christ died to save us from. They pretended also, that fling­ing away our Lives, was to affront God; who since he refused the Blood of Bulls and Goats, it was not likely that he should delight in the Blood of Men. The Marcionites on the other hand cause­lesly Bar. an. cxlvi n. xii. ran themselves upon Martyrdom, out of their hatred of the Flesh, and of the maker of it, who they said was the evil Principle: So that the Church found it necessary to make inquiry into the Prin­ciples of those that had suffered Death for the Faith, to know upon what Grounds they proceeded, and whether they deser­ved to be Honoured as Martyrs; and Bar. an. cccii. n. c. xxvi. this seems to have given the Original to Canonisations.

When the Christians were Apprehend­ed, they were caried before the the Ma­gistrate, and by him Interrogated in open Court. If they denied themselves to be Christians, they were generally dismissed upon their own bare Word: For they knew that those who were true Chri­stians would never deny their Faith, or that if they did once deny themselves to be Christians, they would effectually cease to be so. Yet sometimes for greater [Page 108] Assurance they made them do upon the spot some act of Idolatry, or utter some Contumelious Word against Jesus Christ. If they confessed themselves to be Christians, then they endeavoured to beat them off from their Constancy, first by Perswasions or Promises, then by threatnings, or if neither of those pre­vailed, at last by Torments. They tried also to surprize them into the involun­tary Commission of some Impiety; and then to make them believe that they had already Renounced their Religion; and that 'twas now too late to Recant. As they were brought upon their Trials in the Court, there were always stand­ing near them some Idol and Altar: There the Heathens offered Victims in their Presence, and tried to make them eat some part of the Sacrifice; wrench­ing open their Mouths, and forcing down their Throats some bit of Flesh or at v Can. xiv. Petr. Alex. to i- Conc. p. 967. Acta. SS. Tharaci Probi & Andron. an. 290. Mat. xv. ii. 18. least some drops of Wine offered to the false Gods: And though the Christians well knew that not that which goeth into the Mouth defileth a Man, but that which proceedeth out of the Heart; yet for fear of giving the least occasion of Offence to those that were weak in the Faith they re­sisted with all their Might. Some hav­ing live Coals and Incence clapped into St. Cyrilla Martyr. v. Jul. their Hands together, held them burning [Page 109] there for a long time, least in throwing away the Coals they should at the same time seem to offer the Incence.

The most usual Tortures they were put to was, to stretch them out at Length Eqvuleus. upon the Rack or Wooden Horse, with Cords tyed to their Feet and Hands, and drawn at both ends with Pullies, or to Hang them up by the Hands with heavy weights fastned to their Feet: to beat them with Rods or great Clubs, or with Whips stuck with sharp peices of Iron, which they called Scorpions, or with Thongs of raw Leather, or Leather loa­ded with Balls of Lead; so that many of them Dyed under the Blows. Others they stretched out at Length; Burnt and tore their Flesh and Skin asunder, either with Pincers, or Iron Curry-Combs; so that they often Bared them to the very Ribs, and opened the Hollow of their Bowels till, the Fire pierced into their Entrails and Choaked them to Death. To make their wounds yet more intole­rable, they some times rubbed them over with Salt and Uinegar, and as they be­gan to close up Rip't them open again.

During all the time of their Torments they were still putting Questions to them, and every thing that was Spoken either by the Judge or by the party Suffering, was taken down in writing Word for [Page 110] Word, by the publick Notaires: So that upon every Tryal there was left upon Record a verbal Process far more exact than any of those made now a Days, by the Officers of our Courts of Justice. For as the Ancients had the Art of Writing by Abreviatures, or a sort of short Notes where every single Character stood for a word, they wrote as fast as they Spake. and took down precisely the very self same Words that were Utter'd, making every one Speak directly and in his own Person, whereas in our verbal Processes all the Discourse runs in the Third-person, and the whole is put into order, and worded by the Register.

These verbal Processes were what they called Acts. The Christians were very careful to get Copies of these Processes a­gainst their Brethren: And out of those Acts, as well as from what they them­selves, who were present farther obser­ved, were the Passions of the Martyrs reduce into Writing, and thus Authen­tically engrossed and preserved in the Churches. At Rome St. Clement set up Lib. Pon­cif. in Clem. seven Notaries, every one of which had the Charge of this Affair, and two Quar­ters of the City assigned him: And St. Cyprian gives it as a special Direction to Cypr. ep. xxxvi. his Priests and Deacons, that they should [Page 111] carefully note the particular Day on which every one suffered Martyrdom. The greatest part of these Acts of the Martyrs were lost in the Diocletian Persecution, and though Eusebius Cesariensis had made a great Collection of them, yet that is lost too. So that we have but few of them now remaining. Yet the Names of the most eminent Martyrs are pre­served in the Menologies and Martyrologies, which set down for every Day the Mar­tyrs, of the Day and the Place, where their Feasts are Colebrated; to which were afterwards added the other Saints.

During these Interrogatories, they were Pressed to Discover their Complices, that is the other Christians, and Particularly the Bishops and Priests who Instructed them in their Religion, and the Deacons who assisted them; as also to Deliver up the Holy Scriptures. Twas in the Dio­cletian Persecution, that the Heathens were more particularly bent upon destroying the Books of the Christians, looking up­on that as the most Effectual means of destroying their Religion it self. They sought after them with the utmost Dili­gence, and burned all they could Seize. Acta. C. tens. an. 303. They searched the Churches for them, the Lodgings of the Readers, and all pri­vate Houses. Upon all these Queries the Acta Mar. Alutin a­pud Bar. An. 303. n. 35, &c. Christians kept their secrets as Inviolable [Page 112] as they did their Mysteries. They never Acta S S. Agapes &c apud Bar. an. 304. n. 40, &c. named any Man's Person; they answered that they were Taught of God, they were assisted of God, they carryed the Holy Scriptures engraven on their Hearts. They who were so Cowardly to Deli­ver up their Bibles, or Discover their Brethren or their Priests, were Branded with the Odious name of Traitors, If the Martyrs under their Torments uttered any Words at all, they sel­dom were upon any other Subject than that of Glorifying the goodness of God and Imploring his Mercy and Assist­ance.

AFTER this cruel Examination they XVII. Prisons, who still persisted in the profession of Christianity, were dilivered over to Pu­nishment; but they were often remand­ed to Prison, to be kept yet longer upon trial of their Patience, and reserved for fresh Torments; and indeed, the Prisons themselves were but another sort of Tor­ment. These Confessors of Jesus Christ were thrown into the Darkest and most Infectious Dungeons, their Hands and Feet loaded with Irons, heavy clogs of Wood hanging upon their Necks, or Fet­ters with cross Bolts, contrived so as either to keep them standing, or their legs distended if they lay. Sometimes they [Page 113] strewed the Dungeon with little pieces of Pot-sherds or broken Glass; and there Prudent PaeriSteph. 4 de S. Vin. & al. they forced them to lye Naked, all full of Cuts and Wounds. Sometimes they left their Wounds to fester and putrify upon Mart. xvi. April. de S Encratide. them, and in that condition suffered them to dye, with Hunger and Thirst. Some­times they carefully fed and tended them but only to keep them in Heart for fresh Torments. They were generally denied the liberty of speaking one Word to any Person living; it having been found by experience, That under that Condition they had Converted many of the Infidels, even to the very Goalers and Soldiers themselves that guarded them. Sometimes they ordered to be brought unto them Act. SS. Perpet. & Felic. such Persons as they thought most likely to shake their Constancy; as their Fathers, their Mothers, their Wives, their Chil­dren; whose Tears and melting Discourses were another sort of Temptation; and many times of more dangerous Conse­quence than their Torments. If a Martyr Martyr. 31. Aug. were with Child they deferred her Execu­tion till she was Delivered; for so the Law required. Thus the famous Martyr St. Mamas, was born in Prison of his Mo­ther Martyr St. Rufina.

In the mean time the Church took a Const. Ap. v. c. ii. Cyp. Ep. xi. Martyr. xxiii. Dec. particular care of these Holy Prisoners. The Deacons often visited them, to do [Page 114] them all the Service they could, to go on de Diaco­no S. An­thimii. their Errands, and to supply them with Necessaries. Their Brethren also fre­quently waited upon them, to support and encourage them to Suffer: They Con­gratulated their Torments, and wished to have a share in them; they kissed their Martyr. iii. Jun. de S. Zena. Tertul. ii. ad uxor. c. iv. Tertul. de jejun. c. xii. Martyr. xi. Dec. de S. Thrason. Chains, looked after their Wounded and supplied them with all Conveniencies, as Beds, Cloaths, Diet, and other refresh­ments; insomuch, that Tertullian com­plained that they fared but too well in the Prisons; the Faithful spared no costs up­on these Occasions. If they were denied entrance, they freely gave large Bribes to the Keepers and Soldiers to gain Access; nor would they be repulsed by their rude­ness. They submitted to Blows and Con­tumelies, put up all Affronts and Injuries, patiently waited at the Prison Doors whole Nights together, in hopes of gaining the favourable Minute of satisfying their Charity. Whenever they could gain ad­mittance, they looked upon the Prison as v Cypr. Ep. v. and vi. a Church, Consecrated by the presence of the Saints; there they made their Prayers, and thither the Priests resorted to Celebrate the Sacrifice, and afford the Confessors the blessed Consolation of not going out of the World without the Pro­tection of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. But if it were a Bishop or Priest [Page 115] that was in Prison, the Faithful there As­sembled themselves together, that they might not lose the Opportunity of receiv­ing the Eucharist, and carrying it home with them to their Houses; and in such Cases as these, they made use of any means they could. Sometimes the Priests for want of Altars, made the Consecration upon the hands of the Deacons; and that Illustri­ous Martyr St. Lucian of Antioch, being so staked down that he could not stir, Acta apud Bar. anno 311. made the Consecration on his own Breast. One may well imagin with what force of Exhortation these Administrations were attended. All the Church look'd upon these holy Prisoners as it were alrea­dy Crowned in Heaven. They had a great influence upon the Prelates to ob­tain favour on the behalf of those whose weakness had betrayed them into Idola­try; insomuch, that it was found neces­sary to prescribe some Cautions and Limi­tations Cypr. de Laps. & ep. x. xi. xii, &c. against the indiscreet Recommen­dations of some of the Confessors.

WHITHERSOEVER the Persecutors XVIII. Their eare of Reliques. carried the Martyrs, the rest of the Faithful followed them; whether it were to the Rack or to the Execution: For the places of Execution were generally with­out the Walls of the City, and there the greatest part of the Martyrs, having [Page 116] either by the strength of Nature, or by Miracle out lived their Torments, were beheaded; thither did the faithful in vast numbers follow them, crowding the Streets as they passed along, and standing by them to the last, both to admire their Constancy, and by their Examples to for­tify themselves against the like Trials. They carefully observed the last Words that came from their Mouths, which generally were Prayers: as that of St. Polycarp, recorded in the Epistle of the Church of Smirna; as also the Hymn of St. Athenogenes, an old Divine of the same Ap. Euseb. 4. Hist. 15. Martyrol. xviii. Janu­ar. Age, which he sung with a Joyful Heart just as he was entring into the Flames, and left a Copy of it to his Disciples. Many times also the standers by encour­aged Euseb. vi. Hist. 3. the Martyrs. Origen often hazard­ed his Life upon such Occasions; and there are many Examples of those who suffered Martyrdom themselves, for hav­ing exhorted others to it, as those menti­oned Ap. Euseb. iv. Hist. 34. in the Epistle of St. Dionysius of Alexandria, and in the famous Epistle of Ap. Eus. v. Hist. i. the Church of Vienna.

The Faithful undauntedly stood by their Martyrs while they were under their Torments, to receive in Spunges or pieces of Linnen, the Blood that streamed from Martyrrol. Rom. iii. Fib. idem. iii. Jun. de S. Paula. their Wounds, and to preserve it in Vials and put it in the Sepulchres with their Bo­dies. [Page 117] Seven Women were put to Death for having thus gathered up the drops of the Blood of St. Blaesus. And when St. Pont. Diac. Cyprian was Beheaded, the Faithful spread pieces of Linnen Cloth all about V Acta. SS. Thara. &c. an. 290. & St. Bonif. an. 505. Martyr. Rom. xxi. Aug. de S. Paterno. him, to receive his Blood: They were no less careful to carry off the Bodies of the Martyrs, or gather up the remainders of them; for there was often nothing left of them but Bones or Ashes; as when they were burnt to Death or devoured by wild Beasts: And thence came the name of Reliques. They spared no expences to redeem them out of the Hands of the Executioner, and give them an honour­able Interment: And this very thing cost many of them their own Lives. There are many Examples of those who Martyr. Rom. xvii. Feb. de S. Juliano vii Dec. de. S. Agathone. v. Mart. de S. Ni­candro. xxi. Aug. de S. Paterno. iii. Mart. de S. A [...]e­rio. xvii. Dec. xxvi. Aug. de S. Irenaeo & Abundio. suffered Martyrdom themselves, for hav­ing kissed the dead Bodies of the Martyrs, or for having hindered others from insult­ing them after their Death, or for having searched for their Corps, to give them Christian Burial. Some have been thrown into the Common Shoars for having drawn out of them the Bodies of the Saints. St. Asterius the Senator, gained to himself the Crown of Martyrdom, by his having been seen to carry on his Should­ers the Dead Body of a Martyr. The Disciples of St. Ignatius carried his Reli­ques as far as from Rome to Antioch.

This care which the Christians shewed Roma. Sub­terran. l. i. c. ii. iii. Epist. Ec­cles vien. apud. Eus. v. c. i. to preserve the Reliques of the Saints, made their Persecutors on the other side as careful to mangle and tear asunder the Bodies of the Martyrs after their Death, and scatter abroad every part, and par­ticle of them: And thus they thought they should lessen their Hopes of a future Resur­rection. You do but abuse your selves, (said they) with false hopes, in imagining that your Bodies shall be preserved to that Day; you expect to receive them again; you think to have them embalmed and wrapt up in the rich dresses those Women infatuated with your idle Fancies, designed to bestow upon them; but leave that care to us, we'll see your Bodies fairly disposed of. They cast them to be devoured by wild Beasts: they threw their Corps among those of the Gladiators, Acta S. Tharaci. &c. Prudent. de S. Vinc. or other Malefactors; they tied great Stones to their Bodies, and so cast them into deep Rivers; they burnt them and scattered their Ashes in the Air. But for all these Precautions, the greatest part of their Reliques were preserved, either by the extraordinary Zeal of the Faithful, or by the Miracles which God himself often wrought upon these Occasions.

As soon as they had laid the Bones of the Martyrs in their Tombs, they paid great Honours to the Tombs themselves, Ap. Bar. in Martyr. ix. Aug. where they lay. After they had put S. Lau­rence [Page 119] in the Grave, (saith the Acts) They Martyr. xvii. Janu: de S. S. Di­odoro &c. xii. Aug. de S. Hilaria. xiv. Febr. de S. S. Pro­culo &c. xxiii. Janu. de S. Eme­rent. Tertull. de Coronâ. c. iii. Cypr. Ep. xxxiv. Fasted and watched there three Nights toge­ther, with a vast concourse of Christians. The Priest St. Justin offered the Sacrifice, and they all Communicated. Many Saints have suffered Martyrdom for being taken Watching or Praying at the Sepulchres of the Martyrs, or Celebrating their Feasts; which was Annually done, as appaers by the Testimonies of Tertullian and Cyprian.

THEY whose Lives they spared were either Banished at large or else obliged to XIX. The Con­fessors. suffer that which the Roman's called De­portation, which was a more Rigorous sort of Banishment, and accounted a Civil Death. These Exiles were sent either in­to the less Inhabited Islands, or into Bar­barous Countries, upon the Frontiers of the Empire. Banishment at large was for Persons of the best Quallities; Depor­tation for those of a lower Condition: but the meanest of all were commonly condemned to labour in the publick V. Serm. Cypr. ad Martyr. Works, especially in the Mines. They were made Slave to the states, and there­fore generally had a mark Branded on Inscripti. their Forehead with a Red-Hot-Iron, by which they might be known if they made their escape. They had always Iron on their Leggs, were poorly Fed, pitifully Clad, often Beaten and wretchedly abu­sed; [Page 120] in short, their Condition was at least as miserable, as is now that of Gally-Slaves. Const. A­post. v. c. i. 3. Their Fellow Christians took great care to Relieve them, and as much as was possible to make the hardships put upon them more Tolerable. All those that Dyed in this condition, for the Faith, were Martyr. xi Dec. de S. Thrasone. counted in the number of Martyrs: And they who ever returned out of their Exile or Slavery, were placed in the Rank of Confessors: For this was a Name given in Common to all those who had under­gon any Suffering for the Faith, and ge­nerally to all those who had made a pub­lick Confession of their Faith before the Judges. They had great Honours paid them all the rest of their Lives, and were often Advanced to Holy Orders for their Constancy.

BUT as for such who had been O­vercome XX. Excom­municati­on and Pennance. by Persecution, So as to have Renounced their Faith, though it were Purely out of Weakness and under the Violence of Torments, yet unless they Submitted to do publick Pennance, they were Excommunicated. Excommunica­tion deprived them not onely of the use of the Sacraments, but also debarred them Const. A­post. v. c. ii. from entring the Church, or holding any correspondence with the Faithful. No Man would Eat with them or so much as [Page 121] speak to them; every one shunned them, as one would do Persons infected with the Plague. And so St. Paul commands 1 Cor. v. 9. 10. that wicked Christians should be more shun'd than even the Heathens themselves; for from the Heathens they could not ab­solutely Separate without going out of the World. Nor were the Apostates to Idolatry the onely Persons thus used: The same Discipline passed upon Here­ticks, Schismaticks and all notorious Of­fenders. For there were some bad Chris­tians even in the best Times of the Church. St. Paul writing to the Corinthians, com­plains 2. Cor. xii. 21. that there were among them many Persons guilty of Gross Uncleaness, who had not done Pennance for their Sins: And to the Philippians, that there were many among them whom he calls Ene­mies to the Cross of Christ. Such as Phil. iii. 18. these were cut off from the Congregati­on of the Faithful. There were scarce Epist. Cleri Rom ad Cy­pr. xxxi. any but Bishops or Priests that might Converse with them, and they onely in order to bring them to Repentance, so long as there was any hopes of it. Besides they did not cease to Pray for them. And thus they treated those who did not offer themselves to Pennance.

As for those that did, they were re­ceived with a great Compassion, but tempered with Discretion. They were [Page 122] made to understand that this was a favour not over hastily to be granted, and there­fore they commonly took some time to try whether their Return was hearty and sincere. Pennance was Imposed publick­ly in the Church; where the Offender Clothed in Sackcloth, and covered with Ashes, threw himself down in the midst of the Congregation; embraced the Knees Tertull. de Poenitent. c. xi. & de Pudic. c. xiii. of the Faithful, and kissed their Feet, to move their Compassion and obtain their Prayers; to which the Bishop also Exhorted them in a discourse particularly made upon that occasion. The Penitent was still kept upon Tryal, and enjoyned many Laborious Exercises. They obliged him to Fast either constantly, or at least very often, and live only on Bread and Water or some such hard Fare; pro­portioning his Abstinence according to the strength of his Nature, the grievousness of his Sin, and the fervour of his Re­pentance. They caused him to continue in Prayer for a long time together, either kneeling upon his Knees, or lying flat upon the Ground: To watch, to lye up­on the bare Ground, to give Alms accord­ing to his Abillity. During the time of his Pennance, he was to abstaine not only from all Recreations, but also from or­dinary Conversation to keep no Compa­ny, meddle with no Business, nor have any [Page 123] communication somuch as with the Faith­ful themselves, except in Cases of great Necessity. He went to the Church, but twas only to hear the Sermon and Pray­ers, and was not admitted to the Sa­crament.

In the mean time the Bishop, either in Const. A­post. lib. 2. c. 61. 7, &c. his own Person, Visited the Penitents, or sent some Priest to Examin and deal with them according to the Dispositions he found in them, upon which he was very exact in making his Observations: Some he awakened with Terrors, and to others Ibid. xli. he administred Consolations; variously Chrysost. ii. Sacerd. init. accommodating his Applications to the quality of the Patient and the symptoms of the Distemper. For the Prelats looked upon the discipline of Pennance as a sort of Spiritual Phisick, and concluded that Ambros. in Psalm. 37. & 3. E­pist. xix. the Cure of a Diseased Soul required at least as much Skill, and Management, and Patience, and Attendance as that of the Body: For they knew that vici­ous Habits are not to be removed but by a long Course of time and a most exact Regimen. Thus in time Pennance came Epist Can. S. Greg. Thaum Epist. Can. Petr. Alex. to be distinguished into its different De­grees, and to have the term of its Con­tinuance Stated. But all that depended much upon the Descreton of the Bishops. As they were careful not to discourage Cypr. Ep. 52. ad Antonian. their Penitents by too excessive a Severity [Page 124] which might make them become Des­perate, and prove a Temptation to them to Relinquish the Faith, and to Revolt to Paganism: So on the other hand they found it necessary to check their Impa­tience; Cler. Rom. ep. 31 as knowing that nothing could be more Hurtful to them than too early an Absolution. Aperfect Reconciliation was never granted till they saw it sought Cypr. Ep. Iv. ad Corn. for with Tears, and Merited by an Ef­fectual Reformation of their Manners. There was nothing to be got by Impor­tunities, much less by Menaces. Those Bishops who outbraved the Persecutions of the Heathens, were not to be fright­ned with Words from their own Chil­dren. The time of Pennance was al­ways long, at least, unless there were some special Reason for the shortning of it; as the Extraordinary fervour of the Peni­tent, a mortal Distemper, or present Per­secution: V. S. Cypr. Ep. li. E­pist. 3. a­pud Cypr, &c. For in such a Cases they were careful not to let them Dye without the Sacraments. This Dispensation which shorten'd the Regular Pennance was called Indulgence, and was often gran­ted upon the request of Confessors in Pri­son or Exile.

If the Penitent during the time of his Pennance, committed any new Crime, he was obliged to begin his Pennance a­gain. If they saw his Punishment did no [Page 125] good upon him, nor produced any change in his Life, they let him continue in that State; not admitting him to the Sacra­ments; and if after having received Ab­solution, he relapsed into any hanious Sin, there were no more Sacraments for him: S. August. Epist. liv. ad Maced. c. vii. For publick Pennance was never granted for more than one time: All they could now do, was to pray for him, and to Exhort him to Repentance and newness of Life, and to bid him have hope in the Mercies of God, which are boundless. There were some Sins, for which, the Pennance how sincerely and fully soever performed, was to continue one's whole Life time; after the Commission of which the Communion was never to be given, but upon the point of Death. Apostates Cypr ep. liii. ad Anton. Conc. Arel. i. c. xxii. who never prayed, Pennance till they saw themselves in danger of Death, were not then admitted to it: And though it was granted in that Extremity to other sorts of Sinners; yet they did but little depend upon that Repentance, which look'd as if it had been forced upon Men only by the present dread of Punish­ment. They who had been once placed among the Penitents, though Absolved and Reconciled; yet could never after that be capable of receiving holy Orders, or of being advanced to any Ecclesiasti­cal Ministry. And if a Priest or any [Page 126] Clerk had committed a Sin deserving publick Pennance; he only lost his station in the Church; that is, he was for ever after Interdicted the Exercise of his Function, and reduced to the state of a simple Laick. But that they might not Can. Apost. xxiv. punish the same fault twice over, and out of Reverence to the Sacrament of Orders, they imposed on him no other Pennance.

If any one shall wonder at this Dis­cipline of the Ancients, let him consi­der that the Sins to which Pennance was due, were in those Days rarely known among Christians; for as with us, Per­sons of Honour, who are well Educated and setled in the World, seldom fall in­to those Crimes which bring them so far under the lash of the Law, as to make them liable to the infamy of Publick Punishments; so of old, it did not often happen that Christians so carefully admit­ted, and so well instructed, should be guilty of Adultery, Homicide, or other such like hanious Sins which deserved Death. Tertullian declares that the Ca­tholicks were easily distinguished from De praes­cript. c. xli. xlii. Apol. c. iv. v. the Hereticks, by the difference of their Behaviour; and he boldly upbraids the Heathen, that their Goals were filled with none but Heathens like themselves; or if any Christians were there, it was upon [Page 127] no other account but barely for their be­ing Christians: Or if (saith he) any other Crime can be baid to their charge, they are no longer Christians. Innocence with us is a necessary Vertue; we understand it perfect­ly, as having learned it of God who is the best Master, and we practice it with the greatest Care, as being obliged to it by that Judge whom we must not dispise.

THERE were some Christians who XXI. Asceticks, Virgins, Widows, Deacones­ses. Practiced all the Exercises of Pennance without being obliged to them, and without being excluded the Sacraments; but then it was out of their own volunta­ry Devotion, in imitation of the Lives of the Prophets and St. John the Baptist, and following the Councils of St. Paul, for Exercising themselves unto Godliness, and 1 Tim. iv. 7. 1 Cor. ix. 27. keeping under the Body to bring it into Sub­jection. These were called Asceticks; that is to say, Exercisants. They gene­rally kept themselves close shut up in their own Houses, where they lived in great retirement; adding to the usual Frugality of Christians, some extraordi­nary Fasts and Abstinences. They kept themselves to what they called Xerophagy, that is feeding only upon dry Diets, and held out their Fasts to two or three Days together, or some times longer. They accustomed themselves to wear Sack­cloth, [Page 128] to walk Bare-Foot, to sleep upon the Ground, to Watch the greatest part af the Night, to be constantly reading the holy Scriptures, and as much as was possible to Pray without ceasing. Ori­gen Euseb. Hist. vi. c. iii. for some time led this Life; and many of these Asceticks became great Bishops Hier. de Script. 87. in pierio. and Doctors.

All the Asceticks lived in great Conti­nence, and all Christians in general high­ly admired that Vertue so much recom­mended by Jesus Christ and his Apostles. Just. Orat. ad Anton. Pium. A young Man of Alexandria, under the reign of the Emperor Antonine, present­ed a Petition to the Governour of that City, that he might have a Surgeon al­lowed him to make him an Eunuch; and many there were who did so in good ear­nest; Can. Nic. i. so that the Church was obliged to make a Law on purpose to repress that indiscreet Zeal.

There were a great number also of young Persons of the Female Sex, who Consecrated their Virginity to God either by the Advice of their Parents, or of their own proper Motion: These Virgins led the Ascetick Life; for they did not look upon Virginity as any thing, if it v Hier. Ep. de Asellâ. were not attended with great Mortifica­tion, with Silence, Retirement, Poverty, Labour, Fastings, Watchings, and con­tinual Praying. They were not esteem­ed [Page 129] as Virgins who would not deny them­selves the common Diversions of the World, even the most Innocent; as the taking too great a delight in Conversation, the affecting a Pleasantness and agreeable­ness of Humour and Discourse, so as to make a shew of their Wit and Ingenuity; much less would they endure those that set up for Bells, for Dressing, Perfuming Long-Trains, and moving with an affec­ted Air. St. Cyprian recommends scarce Cypr. de Hab. Virg. any thing else to Christian Virgins but the renouncing all the vain Ornaments of the Body and Ostentation of Beauty. He well knew how fond young Women are of such gaudy Trifles, and of how perni­cious a Consequence they might prove to those of their Profession. In the first Ages the Virgins Consecrated to God, ge­nerally lived at home with their Parents, or in private by themselves, two and two together, never going abroad but when they went to Church, where they had a place allotted them to sit by themselves, separate from the rest of the Women. If Ambros de virg laps. c. vi. any one violated her Holy Resolution and Married, she was enjoined Pennance.

The Widows who renounced second Marriage, passed their time much after the same manner as the Virgins, in Fast­ings, v Heir. in Ep. Paulae. Praying, and the other Exercises of the Ascetick Life; but they did not keep [Page 130] themselves so close shut up, as being more employed in the outward Acts of Chari­ty, as in visiting and relieving the Sick and Imprisoned, and more especially the Martyrs and Confessors; in taking care of the Poor, in entertaining and attend­ing upon Strangers, in burying the Dead, and generally in the Offices of Charity: And indeed all Christian Women, whe­ther Married or Widows, made these kind of Works the greatest of their Em­ployment, rarely appearing abroad, but upon the doing of some good Office, or when they went to Church. But the Widows being more at liberty from o­ther Engagements, didicated themselves Tertul. ad [...]xor. c. iv. wholly to these Services: If they were Rich, they liberally Distributed their Alms; if they were Poor, the Church maintained them. They chose for their Deaconesses the most Aged of their Wi­dows, 1 Tim. v. 9. of Sixty years or upward; the most v Const. Apost. l. iii. discreet, and those who had best approv'd themselves in all the Exercises of Charity: This Office was also sometimes assigned to Const. Apos. vi. c. xvi. Virgins. They were called Deaconesses, not as if they were counted of the Clergy; for Women cannot partake of any part of the Priest-hood; but because they exerci­sed toward the Women some part of the Deacons Office. Their business was to visit those of their own Sex, whom Po­verty, [Page 131] Sickness, or any other distress rendred proper Objects of the Churches care; to instruct the Female Catechumens, Con. Apost. iii. or rather to repeat to them the Instructi­ons of the Catechist. They presented them to Baptism; and upon that occasion assisted them in dressing and undressing them, and for sometime after overlooked these new Converts, to break and Disci­pline them into a Christian Behaviour. In the Church, they kept the doors on the Womens side, took care to see every one seated in her proper place, and that all behaved themselves there with a Si­lence and Modesty becoming the Place. The Deaconesses gave an account of e­very thing they did to the Bishop, or by his Order to the Priests or Deacons. They served Principally to inform the Church of the Necessaries of the other Women, and to do for them by their di­rections, those things which they could not with decency perform in their own Persons.

There was required a more than Ordi­nary share of Patience and Discretion in the Prelates to Govern all these Women. To keep up these Deaconesses to that So­briety and Industry, which was so neces­sary for their Office, but difficult for their Age; to keep them from growing either too easie and credulous in their charge, [Page 132] or from being troublesome, maliciously curious, Cholerick and excessively Severe. Care also was to be taken lest under the Const. Apo. iii. c. v. 67. pretence of Catechising, they should set up themselves for Spiritual Directresses and Judges; lest they should speak in­discreetly concerning the Mysteries; lest they should misreport matters, and spread abroad Errors and Falsities; lest they should prove great Talkers, and giddy Ramblers and busey-bodies. There was required also a wonderful gentleness of Spirit, to bear with the Infirmities of the Chrys. iii. de Sacerd. other Women and Widows, besides Dea­conesses. and to cure them of their weak­nesses, as Sadness, Emulation, Envy, E­vil-speaking, Exceptiousness, and Mur­muring, even against their Pastors them­selves; in a Word, all those ill Disposi­tions usually attending their Sex and Age; especially when 'tis attended with Poverty, Sickness, or any other such like uneasy pressure.

THE Church took care of all her XXII. Their care of the Poor. Poor, of what Age or Sex so ever; but they did not count those Poor that were able to work for their living; because they were in a Condition of not being burdensom to any, and in a Capacity of assisting the other Poor: Nor did they think it sufficient for a Christian to labour [Page 133] just enough for his own Subsistence, but that he ought also to contribute toward v. Basil. Reg. fus. inter al. xlii, &c. the maintaining of those who could do nothing for themselves: Besides, the Civil Law had made Provision against lusty Beggars and Vagrants. For as slavery L. vii. Cod. de Mend valid. l. xi. was as yet in use; if they were free, they were forced to serve the Publick, and labour in tilling the Earth as Slaves to the Colonatu perpetuo fulciatur. State, or if they were Slaves before, any one that would, might seize them. It was the same case with exposed Children or Foundlings. They belonged to any one that would take them and be at the Argument: l. iii. Cod. de inf. expos. Charge of bringing them up; so that there were scarce any other Beggars but old Slaves, whose Masters were Inhu­man enough to cast them off, when they were past their Labour; or those that were Blind, Maimed, or otherwise disabled.

And these the Christians took into their Peristeph. 2. Care. Prudentius hath given us a draught of them in the Description he makes of those which St. Laurence presented to the Praefect of Rome as the Treasures of the Church. They took care of Children also: as in the first place, the Orphans of Chri­stian Parents, and especially the Martyrs; Const. Apost. iv. c. i, ii. next they took into their keeping, Child­ren exposed, and all others they could get into their Hands, to breed them up in the true Religion: For in all this care they [Page 134] took of the Poor, their principal regard was to their Spiritual Concerns, and to their Temporal Welfare only in order to their Spiritual. Therefore in their Cha­rity, they always preferred Christians be­fore Infidels; and among Christians, those that were most remarkable for Ver­tue were taken care of first; but as for the incorrigible, they left them to shift for themselves. They would not so much as receive Alms indifferently from any one that offered it: They would not accept of it from Persons Excommunicated, or from Publick and Notorious Sinners; as Usurers and Adulterers. They chose ra­ther Const. Apost. iv. c. v, vi, vii. ix. to expose their Poor to the want of Necessaries; or more properly speaking, to trust divine Providence with them, which could otherwise provide for them.

Every Church raised a good Fund for v. Bar. an. 44. n. lxviii. &c. Tertull. Apol. c. xxxix. the subsisting of its Poor, entertaining Strangers, Burying of the Dead, and o­ther such like common Expences, as the providing for its Clerks, the Luminary, the sacred Vessels, and all the rest. The Church of Rome, under the Pope St. Cor­nelius, Euseb. lib. vi. c. xliii. An. 250. maintained one hundred and fifty four Clerks, and more then fif­teen hundred Poor; and besides that, from its first Foundation during all the time of the Persecutions, it always took care to send large Supplies to the Poor [Page 135] Churches of the Provinces, and to the Epist. Dion Corinth. ap Euseb. iv. c. xxiii. Confessors condemned to the Mines: The common Goods of the Church for the three first Ages, consisted in few things else but Moveables, in Provisions, v Acta Co­lonCirtens. an. xxx. Cloaths and ready Money; all which arose out of the Offerings made by the Faithful Weekly or Monthly, or as every one was pleased to make of himself: For Tertull. Apol. c. 39. in these Offerings there was nothing fix'd or Constrained. As for Lands, the Per­secution made both the purchase and the keeping of them any long time Imprac­ticable.

And these were the Treasures of the Church the Heathens were so eager to get into their own Hands, and which often proved one principal cause of the Persecutions; as appears by the example Prudent. peri. Steph. Hymn ii. of St. Laurence: It belonged to the Dea­cons to take care of all these things. It was their business to receive all that was offered for the common uses of the Church, v. Bar. an. xxxiv. n. 227. to see it carefully laid up, and safely kept, and to distribute it according to the di­rection of the Bishop, who ordered the disposal of it according to the account he received from them of the particular oc­casions of those that wanted Relief: They were to inform themselves of these Parti­culars, and report them to the Bishop; and to keep exact Lists both of the Clerks [Page 136] the Virgins, the Widows, and all the o­ther Poor, whose dependance was on the Church; to enquire into all Persons when Const. Apost. iii. c. xix. they first presented themselves to the Churches Charity, and to inspect the Be­haviour of those already received into it; to observe whether thy were worthy of that relief; to provide Lodgings for Stran­gers, and to consider by whom and how those Expences should be defraied. Upon all occasions the Laicks had either to de­sire any thing of the Bishop, or to Com­municate any thing to him, they first Ad­dressed themselves to the Deacons, for Const. Apost. ii. c. 28. they would not press and intrude upon the Bishop himself, both out of respect to his Person, and for fear of being troublesom; So that the Deacons led a very busy, Ac­tive Life. It was necessary for them to walk much about the Town; and some­times they were obliged to take longer Journies and Travail abroad; and for that reason, they had neither Cloaks, nor any Const. Apost. ii. c. lvii. of the larger sort of Garments worn by the Priests; but only Tuniques and Dal­maticks to be always more at liberty, for Action and Motion.

HOSPITALITY was commonly XXIII. Their Hospitali­ty. used even amongst the Heathens them­selves. Among the Greeks and Romans, their Inns and Publick-Houses of Enter­tainments [Page 137] were rarely frequented by Per­sons of any Fashion or Quality. In every Town where their Concerns might lead Vide Tho­massin de Tesser. Hos­pital. them, they took care to make themselves some particular Friend; in whose Fami­ly they might be entertained during their Abode in that Place; repaying their Friend who entertained them the like Kindness at their own Houses, if his oc­casions ever brought him that way. This usage grew to Prescription in Families. It was the principal cement of Friend­ship and Correspondence between the Cities of Greece and Italy; and after­ward spread over the whole Roman Em­pire. Nay so sacred was this Priviledge of Entertainment, that they made it a part of their Religion. Jupiter, said they, Presided over the Affair; both the Persons entertained, and the Table at which they Eate were counted Sacred.

'Tis no wonder then that the Christi­ans should be so forward in Exercising Hospitality, who lookd upon themselves as Friends and Brothers to one another; and who knew that Jesus Christ had re­commended Hospitality, as one of the Mat. xxv. 35. most Meritorious Performances. If a Sranger discovered to them that he made Profession of the Orthodox Faith, and lived in the Communion of the Church, they received him with open Arms. He [Page 138] that should have shut his Doors against such an One, would have been thought to have shut out Jesus Christ himself. But first they Expected that he should make himself fully known. To that pur­pose those that Travailed, took with them Letters from their Bishop: And V. Baron An. 142. n. 7. V. Prior. de Lit. Ca­non. these Letters had certain Marks, known only to Christians among themselves. These Letters gave an account of the Qua­lity and Condition of the Bearer; whe­ther he was a Catholick; whether after having been an Heretick or Excommu­nicate he was again Reconciled; whe­ther a Catechumen or a Penitent; whe­ther in Holy Orders, and in what Degree of Orders: For the Clergy never Tra­vailed without Dimissory Letters from their Bishops. They had also their Re­commendatory Letters to Distinguish Persons of Merit; as Confessors, or Doc­tors, or those who stood in need of any particular Assistance.

The first Act of Hospitality was to wash the Feet of their Guests. Instan­ces of which we meet with often in Scripture. And this was but a necessary Manners of the Israe­lites. in English. Pag. 77. 1 Tim. v. 10. Refreshment, considering what sort of Shoes they anciently Wore. And there­fore St. Paul joyns the Lodging of Stran­gers and the washing of their Feet toge­ther. If the Guest was in full Commu­nion [Page 139] with the Church, they joyned in Prayer, and gave him all the respect of the House: As to Pray before them, to sit uppermost at Table, to Instruct the Family. They counted themselves Hap­py in having his Company, and looked upon their Meat as in some sort Sancti­fyed by his taking part with them. The Clergy were every where Honoured pro­portionably to the Station they held in the Church. If a Bishop Traveled, he was in all places where he passed, invited to perform the Office, and to Preach among Const. Ap. ii. c. 58. them; shewing thereby the Unity of the Priest-hood and of the Church. There have been some Saints to whom their Hos­pitality in entertaining the Clergy or such others as came to preach the Gospel, pro­ved the occasion of their Martyrdom; as Martyr. xxii. Jun. id. 11. Decem. the Famous St. Alban in England and St. Gentian at Amiens.

The Christians were Hospitable even toward the Infidels themselves. Thus they Executed with a great Forwardness of Affection, the orders of their Prince, obliging them to Lodge his Soldiers, Of­ficers, or others Travailing upon the Ser­vice of the State, and to furnish them Vie de St. Pacomre. c. iv. with Provisions. St. Pacomus having Lis­ted himself very Young into the Roman Army, he and the Party to which he be­longed were Embarqued on Ship board, [Page 140] and Landed at a certain little City: were he was amazed to see with what Civili­ties the Inhabitants received them; Treat­ing them not like Soldiers, but as if they had been their Old Friends and Acquain­tance. And upon inquiry who they were, he was told they were a People of a par­ticular Religion, called Christians. From that time he informed himself of their Doctrine; and this was the Occasion of his Conversion.

THE Christians took great care to visit XXIV. Their Care of the Sick and Buri­al of the Dead. Mat. xxv. 36. Dionys. A­lex. ap. Eu­seb. 7. Hist. c. 22. the Sick, an Office of Charity, so much Recommended in the Gospel. The City of Alexandria being afflicted with a great Mortality under the Emperor Valerian, The Christians readily took that oppor­tunity of shewing their Charity even to­wards their Persecutors. They so freely offered themselves to assist the Sick under their Extremities; that many both of the Clergy and Laicks Dyed themselves of the common Distemper, and were hon­oured as Martyrs. The Priests visited such Christians as were Sick to Comfort them, to Pray by them, and Administer to them the Sacraments. In such Cases the Viaticum was given only under the Species of Bread, and in case of Necessity might be carryed to them by a Laick, as appears by the History of Old Serapion. [Page 141] Besides the unction of the Consecrated Euseb. vi. Hist. xliv. Jam. 5. 14. Oil, administred by the authority of St. James, Sick Persons were often recove­red by the Application of another Oil, called the Oleum Benedictum or Blessed Oil, which was Indifferently applyed ei­ther to the Faithful or Infidels, either by V. Baron. an. lxiii. n. 16. Priests or Laicks, according as they had received the gift of Miracles; some times they made use of the Oil of the Lamps for this purpose, which were kept Burn­ing before the Tombs of the Martyrs.

The Heathen having no hopes after this Life ended, looked upon Death either purely as an Evil which deprived them of the Enjoyments of this World, or as Adeone me delirare censes, ut ista cre­dam? Cic. Tus. Quest. l. i. n. vi. Nec Pueri credunt. Juven. an Aunihilation that Delivere them from all the Sufferings of it. There were scarce any among them that gave any Credit to the Fabulous Tales of the Poets concern­ing the Punishments and Rewards of a­nother Life. So that as for Dying Per­sons their Business with them was not to Instruct or Exhort, but to Divert them; and as for themselves, their only care was to prolong as far as was pos­sible the Pleasures of Life. The only Rule they had to goe by was, as St. Paul after the Prophet Isaia Expresses it, Let Is. xxii. 13. 1 Cor. xv. 31. us Eat and Drink for to Morrow we Dye. And this is the Point in which Horace Terminates all his Morals. And the [Page 142] Death of Petronius under Nero is one of Tacit. An­nal. xvi. the fullest Instances I have met with of these Principles reduced into Practice. Those that were more Grave and Serious endeavoured to Support themselvs by the Maxims of Philosophy, seeking thereby to Banish out of their Minds the Terrors of Death, and to learn the Art of being willing to Dye.

The Christians proceeding upon other Principles, looked upon Death only as an Entrance upon Eternity. So that leading good Lives, as most of them did, they saw cause rather to wish for Death than to Dread it; and the present loss of their Friends or Relations, was the less afflict­ing, for the hopes of their Happiness; and the expectation of seeing them in Heaven, made their Satisfacton excel their Grief. They looked upon Death to be only in the Language of the Scripture, a 1. King. ii. 10. 11. xliii. 14. 20, &c. Sleep; and thence comes the Name which they gave their Places of Buryal, a Ce­mitery, which in Greek signifies a Dor­mitory. In farther Testimony of their Be­lief of the Resurrection of the Flesh, they took great care about the Sepulchres of the Dead; and according to their several Abilities, were at great Expences upon them. They did not burn the Bodies of their Dead as the Greeks and Romans; and as little did they approve of the Cu­riosity [Page 143] of the Aegyptians, who Embalmed the Bodies of their Dead, and kept them by them in their Houses lying upon Beds exposed to open View. St. Antony Vi­gorously Vie S. Ant. c. xxxi. opposed this Custome which con­tinued in use to his time.

The Christians buryed their Dead after V. Baron. an. xxxiv. n. 310. &c. the manner of the Jews. They first wash­ed, then Embalmed them; Employing (saith Tertullian) more Perfumes and Aromatick Gums in this use, than the Apol c. xlii. Heathens did in their Sacrifices. They Wrapped them up in fine Linnen, or Silk, and some times put them on rich Habits. They laid them forth for the space of three Days; during which time they con­stantly attended the Dead Body, and pas­sed those Days in Watching and Praying by it. Then they carryed it to the Grave, accompanying the Corps with Torches Const. A­pos. vi. c. ult. viii. c. xli. 42. &c. Prud. Hym. in Exeq. and Flambeaus, with singing of Psalms and Hymns to the Praise of God, and in Testimony of their Hope of the Resur­rection. They made Prayers also on their behalf; offered the Sacrifice, and made their Agape or Love-Feast for the Poor, distributing likewise other Alms Tertul. de. Cor Mil. c. iii. Orig. in Job. Hem. iii. Cypr. ep. lxvi. among them. At the end of the Year they made a fresh Commemoration for them, and so from Year to Year, besides the standing Commemoration for the dead always joined with the Sacrifice.

The Church had Officers appointed on purpose for the Burying of their Dead, Fossores. laborantes. vid. Bar. an. xiv. n. 288. who were called Grave-makers or La­bourers, and who are sometimes reck­oned among the Clergy. The Priests and Bishops themselves looked upon the Employment as an Honour; and St. Eu­tychian the Pope, who was himself a Martyr. vjii. Dec. Martyr, is reported to have Interred with his own Hands the Bodies of three hund­red and forty two Martyrs. There were often together with the Body put into the Sepulchre several other things, either as marks of honour to the deceased, or to preserve his Memory; as the Badges of his Dignity, the Instruments of his Mar­tyrdom, Vials or Spunges filled with his Blood, the Acts of his Martyrdom, an Epitaph on him, or at least his Name, Medals, Leaves of Laurel or of some o­ther Ever-green, some Crosses and the Gospel. They used to lay the Body on its Back, the Face turned to the Fast. The Heathens, to preserve the Memory V. Tim isa. Disc. p. ii. liv. iii. c. xiii. xiv. of their Dead, Built stately Sepulchres over them; either by the sides of the great Roads, or in the open Fields. The Christans on the contrary, removed their Dead out of Sight, either after the com­mon way of Interment, or laying them in Vaults under Ground; such as were the Tombs or Catacombs near Rome.

These Catacombs were places under Ground, cut out of Quarries of soft and brittle Stone, or hollowed out of the Beds of Sand; thus contrived by the Christians for their Burying Places: There are wind­ing Staires leading down to them, and long Walks or Streets which have on each side of them, cut into the Earth two or three rows of deep Nitches, in which the Bodies were placed at first; for now the greatest part of them are taken away. At certain distances from each other, are spacious Chambers, vaulted over and Solid as the rest, having also Nitches cut in them like those of the Walks. The greatest part of these Chambers are paint­ed with divers Histories of the old and new Testament; as their Churches also were wont to be. And in some of these Caemi­teries, there are Subterranean Churches: In many of them there have been found Marble Coffins, adorned with Figures of Bass Relief, representing the same His­tories as the Paintings do. These were the Sepulchres of the most considerable Persons; every one of these Caemiteries is like a City under Ground, and some of them two or three Stories deep: In them the Christians found a place of retreat during the Persecutions; there they kept the Reliques of the Martyrs; there they met and Celebrated the holy Offices; nay, [Page 146] and there some of them constantly resided, as is written of many of the Popes. The Book called Roma Subterranea, is a descrip­tion of these ancient Caemiteries: They remained the greatest part of them, for a long time unknown; the entrance into them having been stopped up; and 'twas but about the end of the last Century that they were discovered. These Caemiteries Baron. ad Martyr. iii. Jan. xxiii. Jun. & iii. Sep. Arena. Sand. are sometimes called the Councils of the Martyrs; their Bodies being there Assem­bled together; or Arenarea from the San­dy Soil where they were generally placed. In Africa they were also called Areae.

They had of old a Religious ambition Thomass. Disc. p. i. liv. i. c. lv. n. ii. &c. Const. Apost. vi. c. ult. of being buried near to the Bodies of the Martyrs; and this is that which at last brought so many Graves and Tombs into the Churches: For it was of a long time observed not to bury the Dead but with­out the Walls of Cities. The Venera­tion they had for Reliques, and their distinct Belief of the Resurrection, wore out that Aversion among the Christians which the ancients, even the Israelites themselves had for dead Bodies and Graves.

TO finish the Character of these first XXV. Their Bishops, Priests, & Clerks. Times, I must necessarily add a Word or two concerning the Pastors and Ministers of the Church. Origen making the Com­parison [Page 147] before mentioned of the profane Contr. Cels. iii. p. 130. Ecclesias with the Christian Churches, openly Avers it as a thing undeniable, That those who preside over the Christian Churches, had in reality that Eminency of worth and Vertue above others, which the Magistrates of Cities had only in Name and shew; and this he speaks in his Book against Celsus, where he had ri­diculously exposed himself to the Heathens had not the thing been manifestly So. 'Tis indeed plain Matter of Fact: The one and thirty Popes who filled up the three first Ages, were all but two of them Martyrs; and during the six Ages follow­ing to the ninth Century, there are not above three or four of them whom the Church hath not acknowledged for Saints. Most of the Bishops mentioned in History for the three first Ages, stand upon Re­cord for singular Examples of Vertue and Piety; so that the Emperor Alexander Se­verus Lamprid in Alex. proposes the Christians Method of chusing their Clergy as an Example of the Care which ought to be taken of enquir­ing into the Manners and Qualifications of all Persons to be admitted into pub­lick Employments. They chose there­fore Tertul. Ap. c xxxix. v. Orig. Contr. Cels. lib. 8. in fi. Cypr. Ep. 33, 34, 35. to put into the sacred Functions those Christians whose Sanctity was more Emi­nently remarkable, and whose Vertue was the most approved: This honour [Page 148] was ordinarily the recompence of such Confessors whose Faith had been suffici­ently proved by Torments; such were Aurelius and Celerinus, whom St. Cyprian made Readers; the last of whom, had his Body deeply marked with many Scarrs, for the Testimony of his Constancy; besides that, his Grandmother and his two Un­ckles were glorious Martyrs. Such was Numidicus the Priest, who exhorted and perswaded many others to suffer Martyr­dom, and his own Wise among the rest, was himself led with them to the place of Execution, and there left for Dead. Cypr. Ep. xxxiii.

The Bishop often chose his Clerks at the instance of the People, at least not with­out their Knowledge, and always with the advice of his Clergy. But whether the Persons themselves to be Ordained were desirous of it or not; that they lit­tle regarded. They did not only not wait till they should offer themselves to Ordination; but many times, partly by force, partly by Artifice, constrained them to take holy Orders upon them, even a­gainst their own Will; so that some Per­sons so ordained, could never prevail with themselves to exercise their Functions. Cypr. ep. 68. The Bishop was chosen in the presence of the People by the Bishops of the Pro­vince, Assembled together in the vacant Con. Ap. viii. [...]. 4, &c. Church, at least to the number of two or [Page 149] three of them; for it was not easy in those times to hold great Synods, unless in the Intervals of the Persecution; and therefore sometimes the Sees of the an­cient Greg. Tur. x. hist. c. 31. Churches have continued vacant a long time together.

The Ordinations were always preceeded Act. xiii. 2, 3. v. Bar. an. xliv. n. 74. by a Fast, and accompanied with Prayers: These Prayers were generally continued from the Saturday-Eve to the Sunday following; all that Night they passed in Watching and Praying, and the next Day came on the Ordination; the prin­cipal Ceremony whereof hath always been the Imposition of Hands. The Or­dination was followed by the Sacrifice.

The Bishop ordained no more Priests, Deacons, or other Clerks, then just so many as were necessary for the Service of his Church; that is to say, for all his Diocess. This number was not great, since in the time of the Pope St. Cornelius, Euseb. vi. Hist. c. 43. Anno Christi 250, the Church of Rome had but forty six Priests, and but one hundred fity four Clergy of all sorts; though the People belonging to it were vastly numerous. The Bishops were Lib. Ponti­fical. much more numerous in Proportion; every City that had any considerable number of Christians in it, had also its Bishop. Hence it is, that in the Lives of the first Popes, we find more Bishops or­dained [Page 150] by them than Priests: They or­dained Priests only for their own Diocess, but made Bishops for the greatest part of Italy. The Clergy depended entirely up­on the Bishop, living under his direction in the nature of Disciples; and 'twas his business to instruct and Discipline them; to advance them from one Degree to a­nother, and allot to every one their dif­ferent Functions, according to the diffe­rent Talents he found in them. The young Martyrs that suffered with St. Ba­bylas, Martyr. xxiv. Jan. iii. Feb. xxx. Apr. de S. Laurent. xi. Mai. de S. Valente. St. Blaesus, and with some other Saints, were manifestly some of those which were breeding up for holy Orders. The Clergy ordained by one Bishop, could not without his permission quit him to go serve under another; and one Bi­shops so receiving another Bishops Clergy, would have been condemned as a kind of Can. Apost. xiv. Theft.

Yet this Authority of the Bishops over their Clergy was no Arbritrary and Des­potick 1 Pet. v. 3. Power, but a Government mixed with Love. The Ecclesiasticks shared some part of the Authority with the Bishop, since he did nothing of Impor­tance without their Advice: The Priests especially were consulted with, who made as it were the Churche's Senate. The Priests were so Venerable and the Bishops so Humble, that to common appearance [Page 151] there was but little difference between them. Nay the Clergy had some kind of Authority over the Bishop himself, being the continual Inspectors both of his Life and Doctrine. They attended on Const. A­pos. ii. c. 28. him in all his Publick Functions as Officers do on the Magistrate, or rather as Dis­ciples on their Master. For the Clerks were to the Bishops as the Apostles to Jesus Christ, his constant Attendants. If therefore any Bishop should have pre­sumed either to Teach or Practise any thing contrary to Apostolical Tradition; the more elderly of the Priests and Dea­cons would presently have Remonstrated against it. They would first in a Friend­ly manner have Advertised him of his Error; if that took no effect, they would have made their complaints against him to the other Bishops, or at last have ac­cused him before a Council.

The greatest part of the Clergy led the Ascetique Life, feeding onely on Pulse or dry Dyets; Fasting often, and prac­tising other such like Austerities as far as the great Labours of their Callings would admit of. Above all Continence was in a more especial manner required of Bish­ops, Priests, and Deacons. Not but that Marryed Persons were often advanced to these Orders; For how could they have found amonst the Jews and Hea­thens [Page 152] that were Dayly Converted to Christianity any considerable number of Persons that had preserved an absolute Continence to their advanced Years. It was much to find those that had confin­ed 1 Tim. iii. 2. themselves only to one Wife, in that liberty which the Jews and other Eastern People took, of having many Wives at once, and the custom of Di­vorce Universally admitted, which put them often upon changing their Wives. But when a Marryed Person was made a Bishop, he began from that time for­ward to look upon his Wife only as his Sister: And to the same Rule hath the Ep. Dccret. Siricij ad Himer. c. vii. Can. Apos. vi. Latin Church all ways kept her Priests and Deacons. Yet they were still oblig­ed to provide for their Wives, and not to cast them off as Strangers. And the Women out of Regard to the Dignity of their Husbands, were somtimes called Presbyterae. by the Name of Priestesses. In Greece and the East, this strict Rule of Conti­nence Episcopae. came in Course of time to be less and less regarded. But in no place what­soever Can. Neo­cae [...]. i. did the Catholick Church ever al­low a Priest to Marry after his Ordina­tion: If he did, he was for his Inconti­nence Degraded of his Order, and redu­ced to the State of a simple Laick. As for the Inferior Clerks, as Readers and Door­keepers, they were commonly Marryed [Page 153] Persons, and Cohabited with their Wives. So that a great part of them passed their whole Lives in these lower Orders, at least they continued in them for many Years, till they either lost their Wives, or else by mutual Consent, they agreed to Separate from each other, in order to the leading a more perfect Life: Yet was Marriage always spoken of by Chris­tians as an Honourable State: And that the rather, because there were some He­reticks who professed an Abhorrence of it, and others who Absolutely condemn­ed all second Marriages as Unlawful.

All the Clergy even to the Bishops them­selves, Lived after a Poor, at least a Plain and Ordinary manner; having no thing as to outward appearance to Distinguish them from the common People. In the Persecutions, as they were the Persons, the most sought after, they had no mind to make themselves known by their Ha­bit or any other marke of their Profes­sion. If in any thing they Differed from the common People, twas in appearing more like the Philosophers. Many of them had parted with all their Tem­poral Possessions to the Poor, before their being advanced to Holy Orders; and many of them again after their Ordination still continued, like St. Paul, to Live by the Labour of their Hands. [Page 154] Not that they were obliged so to do. The Church always took care of her Clergy, supplying them with all Necessaries out S. Cypr. Ep. xxxiv. of her common Treasure. And accord­ingly, every Clerk received either Week­ly or Monthly, a certain Distribution, either in Money or of Provisions in Spe­cie, answerable to the Exigencies of their Condition, or the Quality of their Office. For the Clerks of an higher Station, and consequently charged with greater La­bours, received (according to the pre­cept of St. Paul) more liberal Allowances. 1 Tim. v. 17. Some there were also that kept their own temporal Estate, together with their Spiritual Dignity. St. Cyprian at the Pont. Diac. Hortos. time of his Martyrdom, had still left him a little Country-Farm, the only Re­serve he made to himself out of the vast Possessions he had quitted.

The Pastors and Clerks rendred them­selves no less amiable by their Charity and their Application to the Services of Religion, than they were Venerable for other Excellencies. The Bishop dispen­ced not with himself from performing the Dutyes of his Place in Person; pre­siding always at the publick Prayers; Expounding the Holy Scriptures, and Of­fering the Sacrifice on all Sundays and Stationary Days. He and his Priests found themselves always fully Employed, and [Page 155] never wanted Work; to Instruct the Catechumens, Comfort the Sick, Exhort the Penitents, and Reconcile such as were at Variance: For to them it belonged to make up all Differences. They would Const. A­post. ii. c. xlv. 46, &c. 1 Cor. vi. by no means allow what St. Paul had expresly Forbidden, that Christians should bring their Causes before the Heathen Courts; and they that would not Sub­mit V. Patres apud Baron an. lvii. n. 37. 38, &c. Tertul. A­pol. c. xxxix. to the Arbitration of the Bishops were Excommunicated for Impenitent and Incorrigible. But such Disputes could not often happen among Christians so Disinteressed, so Humble, and Pati­ent as they were. Munday was ordina­rily the Day which the Bishop took to determine Differences; so that if the Par­ties should not readily Acquiesse in the Sentence, they might yet have time be­fore them to Moderate matters and bring them to a Right understanding before the Sunday following; when they were all to meet again in the Church, and Pray and Communicate together. On the Day of Hearing, the Bishop seated in his Chair, the Priests sitting down by him, and the Deacons attending; the Parties Presented themselves before him, respectfully standing on their Legs, in the midst of the place of Audience. After having heard the Cause, he first did all that was possible to Reconcile [Page 156] them each other, and to perswade them to make up the Difference in a Friendly manner between themselves before he pronounced Sentence. At the same time also they heard Complaints and received Informations against Persons accused of not leading their Lives like Christians.

The Bishop was fully entrusted with Const. A­post. ii. c. xxiv. 25. the Churches Treasure, all which lay absolutely at his Disposal. Nor were they under the least Apprehension of its being Misapplyed. Had they had the least sus­picion of his Integrity and Uprightness, they would never have committed to his Care the Government of Souls, a con­cern of Infinitely greater Moment than Const. A­post. xli. all Earthly Treasure. Twas to him therefore that all who stood in need of Relief, were to apply themselves. He was the Father of the Poor and the Refuge for all in Misery and Distress.

After all this what Wonder is it that their Prelates should be so beloved and Respected by the Faithful as they were? 'Tis observed of St. Polycarp that he had not for many Years together pulled off his own Shoes; the Faithful that were Epist. Ec­cles. Smyrn. near him always offering themselves and Ambitiously Courting the Honour of that humble Office. So that he had not of a long time before done it with his own Hands, till at his Martyrdom, as he un­drest [Page 157] himself and prepared for the Stake. Acta. S. S. Hippolyti, &c. Apud. Baron. an. 259. n. viii. Acta. S. Sus. an. 294. n. viii. 10. 12. Their usual way of Approaching their Priest was to Prostrate themselves be­fore them; Kiss their Feet, and in that Supplicating Posture crave their Blessing: And the first Words the Priest gave them were some short Prayers like the Collects of the Mass or Office. Happy was the Man that could have but somuch as a Deacon lodging in his House, or eating at his Table. They never entred upon any Important Affair, with out taking Ignat. Pas­sim in E­pist. the advice of the Pastor, who was the sole Director of his whole Flock. They loked upon him as a Man of God, and as the Vicegerent of Jesus Christ. So that they were not without some fears, Const. A­post. viii. c. i. upon the account of their Priests and Bishops, least they should not be Able to withstand the great Temptation they lay under, of the Pride and contempt of others. They were apprehensive of the same Miscarriage in those that had the gift of Prophecy, or working Miracles; for these gifts were as yet common in the Church. 'Twas the filial Love and Respect, which their Flock bare to them that made their Pastors so well obeyed. Chrysost. Sacerd. lib. ii. For they had no other way of Com­manding their Obedience but the methods of Perswasion, or Spiritual Penalties. They could use no other Constraint upon them [Page 158] then to over awe their Consciences; and they who were Impious enough to des­pise their Censures, were in no danger of any Temporal Corrections.

THUS upon the matter the Christians XXVI. The Dis­cretion, & Patience of the Christians. Lived during the times of Paganism and Persecution. This condition obliged them for the most part to great Circumspec­tion; to be always waiting upon God, and watching over themselves. For when once the Persecution began, a Man had nothing else to expect but to be the next hour Impeached, even by his own Wife, or by his nearest Relation; who either out of Covetousness to get his Estate, or out of a bigotted Zeal for their Idolatries, might be prompted to Betray them. This Martyr. xxx. Jul de S. Julitea. was a ready way for Debtors to get rid of their Creditors; or Slaves, of their Masters. If a Pagan fell in Love with the Daughter of a Christian, he either put her upon the sad necessity of com­pliance or of exposing her self to Tor­ment. St. Justin gives us an In­stance of a Wife that was informed against, Just. i. A­pol. init. by her own Husband, only be­cause she would no longer be a party to his Wickedness; and of another who was put to Death Himself for daring to ask the Judge why he Sentenced another Man. (who was the Person had Con­verted [Page 159] that Woman) Barely upon the name of a Christian, without any other Accusation, somuch as pretended against him. Though the Church had its short Intervals of Peace, yet they were always in expectation of the War breaking out again. Nor was the Peace ever so enti­re; but that in the most Quiet times, many Christians suffered either by Po­pular Commotions or other means. For we find a great number of Martyrs even under the Emperors who would not be ingaged in Persecuting the Church. St. Melito complains to the Emperor Antonine, Ap. Euseb. 4. Hist. xxvi. that the Christians were without con­troul; Robb'd and Plunder'd at Noon­day, under pretence of an Order from the Emperor when he knew nothing of the matter. Or if they did enjoy some little Respite from Persecution, and open Vi­olence, yet they still were exposed to the utmost contempt and Hatred. Every one had the liberty of Speaking against the Christians, whatever he pleased, True or False; of Discoursing and Writ­ing against them, of Ridiculing and ex­posing them and their Religion, upon the open Theatre. All this was not only Connived at, but Authorised and Encou­raged. And the passages of Celsus quo­ted by Origen, are sufficient proofs, with what Scorn they were Treated. They [Page 160] could not avoid seeing the profane Cere­monies of the Pagans every Day, meet­ing where ever they went, with their Infamous Statues and publick Places of Debauchery; having their Ears filled with their Lewd and Impious Discourses. The Christians of these times must of necessity have had a more then ordinary Strength, and firmness of Mind, in the Midst of so many Difficulties and Temp­tations to keep up their Faith and Practice so lively and Unexceptionable.

It required also agreat Discretion to Moderate themselves, and to keep with­in due Bounds, that liberty of the Chil­dren of God, and that Boldness of Spirit 1 Pet. ii. 16. which arises from the Testimony of a good Conscience. They knew how to Contemn, Contempt unjustly cast upon them, to bear the most Injurious Calumnies without quarreling; those that aspersed them without either hatred or Complaint. They were very cautious of doing any thing that might draw Persecution upon them. They Rom. xii. 18. 1 Pet. ii. 15. Studyed as far as was possible, and as much as in them lay, to Live Peaceably with all Men, and by well doing to put to Sil­ence the Ignorance of Foolish Men. To this End they found it necessary to refrain from all things, (the Indis­pensable Duties of their Religion Ex­cepted) which might give occasion of [Page 161] Offence to the Heathens, or Provoke their Displeasure; and on the contrary, to study all Honest means of obliging them. The Necessary Practices of a Christian Life, did sufficiently Distinguish them from the rest of the World, without their Affecting any Superfluous Singula­rities. So that as to their outward Form of Living, in all things not contrary to Piety and good manners, they conform­ed themselves to the Customs and Man­ners of the Romans or Greeks, or the Peo­ple of the other Countrys, where they Lived. They never forced themselves upon Disputing or Preaching to those whom they found not Disposed to Re­gard them. They contented themselves with Praying for them, and strove to Edi­fye them by the Example of their Patience Epist. ad Rom. and good Works; never ceasing to re­turn Good for Evil. St. Ignatius Speak­ing of the Soldiers who were his Keepers, I am, saith he, Tied to ten Leopards, who are the Worse for being obliged. But their Malice is my Instruction. St. Polycarp Epist. Ec­cles. Smyrn. gave a friendly Welcome to those who came to Apprehend him; made them Sup and Lodge with him, and entertained them with all manner of Civility and Re­spect. St. Cyprian ordered twenty pieces of Gold to be given to the Executioner, Martyr. vii. Sept. de. S. Eupsychio. that was to Strike off his Head. Another [Page 162] Ancient Martyr, having been accused of being a Christian, and thereupon cast into Prison, upon his Discharge, Sold all that he had, and gave it part to the Poor, and part to his Enemies, as if they had been his Benefactors. Another being Condemned to lose his Head, desired xxv. [...]ul. de S. Paulo. some little time to Pray; which was granted, and he Pray'd to God for his Friends and Neighbours; for the Jews, for the Gentiles, for all the Spectators; and in the last place, for the Judge who had Condemned him, and the Executi­oner who was to give the Stroak.

But more remarkable was their Patience towards their Princes, Magistrates, and the secular Authority: They were never heard complaning against the Govern­ment, nor ever spake contemptuously of the Civil Power. They gave them all the honour and obedience they could on this side Idolatry; they paid their Tributes not only without resisting, but without repin­ing; and rather then defraud them of their Rights, if they had not otherwise to ans­wer; they made it up out of the labour of their Hands.

So far were they from raising Sedition Tertul. Apol. c. xxxv, xxxvi xxxvil. or Rebellions, that in all the many Con­spiracies which were formed against the Emperors, one after another, for the space of three hundred years, no Christian was [Page 163] ever found to have had an Hand in any of them; tho' the Emperors were never so bad, and the Persecutors never so cruel. The Christians were the only Persons who did not make it their business to get rid of Nero, Domitian, Commodus, Caracalla and so many other Tyrants; Opprest, and Harrassed as they were with all sorts of in­juries, and groaning under the most un­heard of Cruelties: Yet it never entered into their Thoughts to resist the Powers, or to take up Arms in their own Defence, though they were numerous enough to have made up a greater Body of Men, than any of the Nations could, that made War against the Romans: Nay, more than that of so many Christian Soldiers, with which the Roman Armies were filled; none ever made use of the Sword they had in their Hands, but to Execute the Orders of their Prince or their Commanders; and we read of entire Legions, (as that of St. Mauritius) that without the lest resistance suffered themselves to be cut to pieces, rather than to fail of doing their Duty either to God or Caesar.

Scarce could they perswade themselves so much as to open their Mouths in their own Defence, and Publish some answers to those horrid Calumnies most wrong­fully laid to their Charge. For near the Orig. Cont. Cels. init. space of an Age, they were content to [Page 164] suffer with silence, after the Example of their Master, who answered nothing to his Accusers, but without resistance sub­mitted himself to the unrighteous Judge. v. 1 Pet. ii. 21. They were content to be justifyed by their works, and let their Actions plead their Cause. 'Twas not till the Emperor A­drian, that they began to Write some A­pologies; but those in so respectful a man­ner, so Solid and so Grave, as made it v. Euseb. iv. Hist. iii. & xxv. plainly appear, that it was only Zeal for the Truth made them take Pen in Hand.

This invincible Patience at last sur­mounted all opposition, and forced the Powers of this World to submit to the Power of the Gospel. Even under the Persecutions, the number of Christians was grown Prodigiously great. We are (saith Tertullian,) but of Yesterday, and Apol. c. xxxvii. yet the World is filled with us; your Cities, your Houses, your Garrisons, your Villages, your Colonies, your very Camps, your Tribes, your Pallaces, your Senate, your Courts of Justice. And indeed there were Christi­ans of all Degrees, and some of the first Martyrol. 18. Apr. x. &c. 19 Ma. xix. Aug. xiii. Sept. viii. Oct. Martyrol. Martii. xii xxvi. Mai. xvii. xix. Jun. xx Jul. Quality. We see in the Martyrology, Senators, Prefects, Proconsuls, Tribunes, Quaestors and even Consuls themselves; we find Christians in the Court, and a­mong the Domesticks, and principal Of­ficers of the Emperors, as under Nero, Tra­jan, Alexander, Decius, Valerian, Diocle­tian. [Page 165] The Court of Diocletian served al­so iii. Sept. v. Oct. xviii. Euseb. vi. Hist. xxviii. Act. S. Se­bast. & S. Susan. sometimes for a safe retreat to the most Zealous Confessors of Rome. The Pope St. Gaius, and St. Gabinius, the Fa­ther of St. Susanna, were his own Nep­hews; and St. Serena his Empress was a Martyr.

The People affected with these vertues of the Christians, and with the many Mi­racles wrought among them, began at length to do them Justice, loudly declar­ing that great was the God of the Chri­stians, Acta S. Bo­nif, an. 305 Martyrol Ja. iii. Feb. xvi. xvii. xxvii. Mar. ix. xxvii. 30. Mai. 31. Jun. 30 Jul. 7. Aug. 21. Sept. 20 25. Oct. 10. 19. Nov. 26. Dec. 3. and that the Christians were In­nocent Persons. It sometimes happened that as they were Tormenting the Mar­tyrs, the common People themselves whom this sight had drawn together, took part with the Christians on their own ac­cord, and Pelted the Magistrate with Stones off this Tribunal, and made him fly the Court. The Clerks of the Court, the Goalers, the Soldiers, the Executioners, were many times all on a suddain Con­verted; openly calling out that they were Christians too, and offering themselves to the same Punishments. Even Comaedians themselves, as they were in Derision Martyrol. 25. Aug. 15 Sept. Baron. an. 303. n. 118 acting upon the Stage the sacred My ste­ries, have been Converted on the spot, and made Illustrious Martyrs: Hence proceeded the extream violence of the last Persecution. They saw the whole [Page 166] World turning Christian: And this last Persecution also, as all the former had done, served only to spread it farther and give it the deeper Rooting: So that all the World bare a favourable Aspect to­ward Religion, when Constantine declared himself the Protector of it.

Part III.

I AM now come to the third part of my Work, where I am to represent the XXVII. The Church out of Per­secution. Behaviour of the Christians, when the Church came to be in a state of Peace and Liberty. For three hundred years they had been longing and sighing after these hap­py Days of serving God without any lett or hindrance: But experience as sad as it was, taught them that Persecution was more for the advantage of Religion than Liberty: Not but that the same Manners before described, continued yet a long time after. So that I have nothing to do here but to observe those differences which the free exercise of Religion forthwith produced.

Though they had always used great The Exa­mination and Prepa­ration for Baptism. care in Examining such as demanded Baptism; yet there was now required a far greater Circumspection, when there was no longer any danger to become a Christian: For Worldly Interest and di­verse other bad Motives might make Men desirous of taking upon them that Name: [Page 167] Therefore every one that presented him­self v. Methode­dos Pere. c. iii. ix. to Baptism, was in the first place ta­ken into strict Examination, and obliged to give an account of the causes of his Conversion, of his Condition in the World; whether he was a Slave or a Freeman; of his Behaviour, and of his past Life. They who lived in any un­lawful Const. Ap. viii. c. 32. S. Aug. xi. de serm. dom. in. mont. Calling, or in a customary way of Sinning, were not admitted till they had actually renounced that course of Life. Thus they rejected all common Women, and those that made a Trade of Prostitu­ting their Bodies; Actors upon the Stage, Gladiators, Racers in the Circus, those whose Employment it was to Dance or Sing in Publick; in a Word, all retainers to the Theatre; all who had any part in, or were much addicted to the publick Shews; all Jugglers, Enchanters and Di­viners of what sort soever; all dealers in Charms or Spells, used either by way of Cure or Preservative; all that exercised any sort of Heathenish Superstitions; none of these sort of People were received into the Church till they had first quitted their evil Practices; nor were their bare words taken for it, till they had given substan­tial Proofs of the sincerity of their Con­version, and that for some considerable time.

When a Person was judged duly qua­lified The Cate­chumens. to become a Christian, he was made a Catechumen; which was done by the Imposition of Hands, either of the Bishop himself, or of some other Priest by him appointed to that Office, who at the same time, signed him with the sign of the Cross, and Prayed over him, That God would grant him the Grace to benefit by the Instructions should be given him, and to behave himself so as to be become fit to receive Holy Baptism. He continued two or three years in this State of a Ca­techumen, which is a kind of Probationer­ship: He was present at the Publick Ser­mons of the Church; to which even the Infidels were admitted. But besides the publick Preaching, there was an Order of Catechists, whose proper business it was to inspect the Catechumens, and instruct them in the first Rudiments of Faith, without entering into deeper Mysteries, which these Novices were not yet judged able to bear. The time allowed for this institution of them, was longer or shor­ter, according to the Proficiency of the Catechumen: Nor did they regard only his understanding in the Doctrinals of Re­ligion, but marked whether he mended his Manners, and they let him continue in this State; till they saw he was perfect­ly become a new Man. Hence it came [Page 169] to pass that many deferred their Baptism till they were at the point of Death: For they never gave it but upon Desire, tho' they often exhorted People to ask it. They who desired Baptism, and were thought qualified at the beginning of Lent, gave in their Names to be entred in the Roll of Competents or Illuminated; for these Competents were distinguished from the o­ther Tertul. de paenit. init. Hier. ad­vers. Jo. Hier. Photizom­eni. Catechumens: They fasted the forty Days as the rest of the Faithful; and then they were more fully instructed, and the Creed was explained to them, and parti­cularly the Mysteries of the Trinity and the Incarnation. They were from time to time brought to the Church, to be there publickly examined in the presence of the Faithful, to have the Exorcisms made over them, and the Prayers of the Church on their behalf: This is it they call the Scrutiny, which continued to be observ'd v. God Sa­cram. edit. Rom. 1680. ord. Rom. Missa. Fer. iv. post. Do­min. iv. Quadrag & ibi. durand for many Ages; even toward little Chil­dren; and some traces of it appear still in the Office of the Church. At the end of Lent, they were taught the Lord's Prayer and well informed of the Nature of the Sacraments they were then about to re­ceive; which were afterward to be ex­plicated to them more at large. This order of Instruction plainly appears in the Catechisms of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, and in one of Fulgentius's Sermons. Fulg. Serm 78.

After all these Preparations, they were at last solemnly Baptized; either on Easter-Eve, to put them in mind of rising up with Christ to newness of Life: or on the Eve of Pentecost, that they might then with the Apostles receive the Gift of the Holy-Ghost: For at the same time that they received Baptism, they had Confir­mation also. Baptism was regularly Ad­ministred only upon those two Feasts; but in case of danger, they Baptized at any time. The new Baptized, of what Age soever they were, were called by the name of Children. They wore during the whole first Week the white Robe they had received at their Baptism, in token of the Innocence wherein they were to walk all the Days of their Life: Nor might Tertul. de cor. c. iii. they during that time, wash themselves in any of the ordinary Baths. From that time forward they were freely admitted to all the parts of the Church service.

Constantine having put an end to the Eus. x. Hist. c. iii. Persecution, one might have seen (as Eu­sebius relates it) in all Parts of the World Dedications of Churches, and Assemblies of Bishops. The dispersed Christians now meet together again. The Churches were now in all places frequented more than ever: The Psalmody, the Celebration of the Mysteries, and all the Ceremonies of Religion were performed with greater [Page 171] Solemnity then ever: So that this is the proper place to speak of their outward form of Worship. Let us begin with the Description of the ancient Churches; ac­cording to the best Account we can ga­ther both out of the oldest Writings, and the oldest Buildings that are left us.

THE Church was separated as much XXVIII The form of the Churches & their or­naments. as possibly they could, from all profane Buildings, and placed at a distance from noise; surrouuded on every side with Courts, Gardens, or Buildings belonging to the Church. At the first enterance, v. Euseb. Hist. Eccle. x. c. iv. de vita Const. lib. iii. cap. 34, 35, &c. 50 lib. iv. c. 58. Propylaeum Paulin. ep. xii & Na­tal. x. S. Greg. iv. Dialog. c. xiv. you saw the Porch or outer Vestibulam, which led you into the Peristilium or square Court, surrounded with covered Galleries standing upon Pillars; such as the Cloysters of our Monasteries are at this Day: Under these Galleries stood the Poor, that were permitted to Beg at the Door of the Church; and in the middle of the Court were several Fountains for them to wash their Hands and Faces at, before Prayers; in the room of these Foun­tains, succeeded afterward the Holy-Water Pots. At the farther end of this Court, was a double Porch; and through it there was a passage by three Doors in­to the Hall or Basilique, which was the Body of the Church. I call it Double, because there was one without, and ano­there [Page 172] within, which the Greeks called the Narthex. Near the Basilique on the in­side, were generally two Buildings; the Baptistery at the Entry; and at the other end the Sacristry or Treasury, called also Cellae. the Secretarium or Diaconium. Along the sides of the Church, were often placed Exhedrae. little Chambers or Cells, for the con­venience of them that had a mind to retire, and meditate or Pray by them­selves: So that they were in effect, so ma­ny little Chappels.

The Basilique or Church was Parted into three Divisions, proportionable to its Largeness, by two rows of Pillars sup­porting the Galleries on each side, and the Middle between these Galleries was the Nave, as we see it in all Old Churches. Toward the East end was the Altar; and behind that, the Presbytery or Sanctuary, where the Priests sat in time of Divine Service, with their Bishop in the Middle of them, whose Chair was at the very end of the Basilique, and terminated the prospect of them that came in at the prin­cipal Door. There was before the Altar, a Partition enclosed within Balasters, which we may call the Choir or Chancel; Cancelli. and in the Middle of the Entrance into it, stood the Pulpit or Ambo for the Read­ing the publick lessons; which was a kind of Tribunal Seat, Erected on high [Page 173] above the rest of the Congregation, and had a pair of By-Staires on each side. Sometimes they made two of these Pul­pits, Deser. S. Mar. Mai. over against one another, with a little void Space between them, so as to leave the Middle open, that the Altar might not be out of Sight. On the right Hand of the Bishop and the left of the Peo­ple stood the Desk for the Gospel; and on the other side, that for the Epistle. Behind the Pulpit, up to the Altar, was the place for the Singing Men; who were Clerks also, but Ordained only to this Office.

The Altar was a rich Table of Gold or Silver, Ornamented with precious Stones. It was at worst of Marble or Porphyry, for they thought they could never em­ploy matter good enough for the bearing of the Holy of Holies; and the Ceremo­nies they used in the Consecration of Al­tars, sufficiently declare in what Vene­ration they held them. The Holy Table was always kept uncovered, but at the time of the Sacrifice. It stood upon four Feet, or little Pillars as rich in proportion as the Table its self, and it was Placed, if possible, over the Grave of some Martyr. For as they had been formerly accustomed to meet at their Tombs, so now they built their Churches there, or else Translated their Bodies to the Places where they built them: And thence it came to be a sta­ted [Page 174] Rule, never to Consecrate an Altar without putting Reliques under it. And these Tombs of the Saints they called Memoriae or Confessions. They were layd under Ground, and there was a way Baron. in Martyr. 6. Jul. down to them, opening before the Altar, which stood directly over them. There was nothing standing inmediately upon the Altar it self, but it was surrounded with four Pillars at the four corners of it, Supporting a kind of Tabernacle, that covered the whole Compass of the Altar, and was called the Cupelo from its resem­ling in figure a Cup revers't.

Behind the Altar (as I said before) was the place for the Priests. And here the roof was built lower than the rest of the Church, and was called the Concha, as being in the form of a Scallop-shell, or the Absis from the Arch, with which the Front of it was Terminated. This end of the Church was also called the Tribunal, because in the Heathen Pa­laces it was the place where the Magis­trate, with his Officers about him sat in Judicature. This part of the Church was raised somewhat higher than the rest, so that the Bishop came down some Ordo Rom. steps from thence to the Altar.

All this was set off with Magnificent Ornaments. The Cupelo, and the Pil­lars that susteined it, were often all of [Page 175] Silver; some of them weighed three Anast. in Silvest. & in Leone iii. &c. Id. in Steph. iv. thousand Marks. Between these Pillars hung Curtains of the Richest Stuffe, drawn on all sides to keep the Altar from being seen. The Cupelo was adorned with several Images and other pieces of Art wrought in Gold or Silver, and the top of it was made in Resemblance of the Cross. There were hanging also over the Altar, Gold or Silver Doves, to Conc. Con­stantin. an. 536. Act. v. Represent the Holy Ghost: Here some times they laid up the Eucharist for the Sick, and sometimes kept it in plain Boxes like our Pixes. Sometimes the whole Absis was all overlaid with Silver, or at least faced with Marble, as was also the Concha. The Pillars that Supported the Church were of Marble, with Capi­tals of Brass guilt with Gold. It was Paved with Marble, and many times the inside of the Walls was Rough cast with polished Stones.

They most affected in their Churches (especially in the following Ages) the Mo­saick-work, Opus Mu­sivum. which is a kind of inlaying with little peices of Glass, painted with divers Colours; and thus they could make all sorts of Figures, that would never fade or decay. Not but that their Churches had other sorts of Paintings besides this. v. Roma Subterr. lib. iv cap. 6. 7. &c. Their Walls were all covered with them: There were to be seen on them divers [Page 176] Histories of the old Testament, and more especially such as were Types of the My­steries of the New; As Noah's Ark, Abra­ham's Sacrifice, the passage thorough the red Sea, Jonas cast into the Sea, Daniel among the Lions. Our Saviours Picture was in several places of the Church, and the re­presentation of some of his Miracles, as the Multiplication of the Loaves, the Resur­rection of Lazarus. Eusebius assures us, Euseb. vii. Hist. c. 18. That from the very first times there were some who had the Pictures of St. Peter, St. Paul, and our Saviour himself drawn in Colours. The way of Honouring Be­nefactors by preserving their Pictures, having been (as he observes) a custome of a long standing in the World; besides this, every Church had in particular, painted upon its Walls the History of the Martyr, whose Reliques were thereun­der deposited; of which Prudentius gives Prud. Pe­risteph. ix. de S. Cass. ibid xi. de S. Hippoli. us two lively Representations in the Ex­amples of St. Cassian and St. Hyppolytus. These Paintings were designed chiefly for the use of the more Ignorant; to whom they served instead of Books, as Pope Gregory the second Argues on their be­half, Greg. ii. ep. i. in Conc. Nic. ii. in his Epistle to the Emperor Leo. The Author of the opinion of the Iconocla­sts, Men and Women (saith he) holding in their Arms their New Baptized Children, point out to them those Painted Histories, [Page 177] shew them to other young People, or to the Gentile Strangers; and thus they Instruct and edify them, and raise up their Thoughts and Hearts to God. The Doors of the Church were adorned with Ivory, Silver or Gold, and were always furnished with Curtains. At the Principal Gates were Hieron. ad Demetr. Paul. Na­tal. iii. and vi. Anast. in Leon. iii. Baron. ad marty. xviii Nov. placed some Reliques: And that's the Reason why the faithful always expressed some particular marks of respect upon their entering in at the Doors of the Church.

The Diaconicum, or Sacristy was a con­siderable building adjoining to the Church. It was the Repository for the Consecra­ted Vessels; the Books, the Habits of the Priests, and the other choicest Furniture of the Church. The Oblations of the faithful were also kept there, and some­time the Eucharist. There it was that the Bishop and his Clergy usually met to consult together about the affairs of the Church, or to prepare themselves for the Sacrifice. As it was St. Martin's Custom Sever. de vita S. Mart. to pass three Hours in praying by himself in the Sacristy before Mass. And from this use of it, we find it took the name of Secretarium: Some of them were so Conc. Car­thag. Con. Agath can 66. spacious that Councils have been held in them. None but Persons in holy Orders might go into them, or touch the Conse­crated Vessels. In some Churches there [Page 178] were two different Apartments for these Paul. ep. xii. two several uses, one to lock up the Con­secrated Vessels in, and the other for the Ministers to retire into and meditate there or to meet together and Consult.

They had a great number of Calices and Patins, which in the first times were often of no better Materials than Glass; but sometimes also of Silver or Gold, even during the Persecutions. Their Calices Lib. Pont. in Mar. & alibi pas­sim lib. 30 lib. 20. were like the ordinary drinking Cups among the Romans, as their Patins, the Dishes in which they served up their Meats to Table. The Calices of the Church were generally of about the weight of three A Mark weighs 8 Ounces. Marks, but their Pa­tins were large deep Dishes weighing some of them forty five Marks, but com­monly about thirty: 'Twas in these times that they brought into the Church the use of Wax Tapers, great numbers of 'em always kept burning together, and that V. Hier. in Vigilant. c. iii. even at Noon-day, and at the same time also many lighted Lamps: Light and Fire were the old Symbols of Joy. They car­ried Fire before the Roman Magistrates: Horace to Redicule the vanity of the Prae­tor of the little Town of Fundi, very plea­santly Prun. eque batillum. 1 Sat. v. describes him with his Chaffing-Dish of Coals carried before him. And the Notitia Imperii informs us that among the other Badges of Honour, generally be [Page 179] longing to the principal Officers of State, there was a Table had upon it a Book lying on a Cushion; sometimes covered over with alarge Veil, sometimes uncovered, and two Candlesticks standing by with light­ed Tapers in them; which nearly resem­bles our Altars. We find that there were in the Primitive times Golden Candlesticks of thirty seven Marks weight a peice, and Silver ones of forty five given to some Churches: And in the Provinces we find also mention made of perfumed Tapers, as at the Baptism of Clovis.

The Baptistery was generally built in Anastas in Sylvestr. Greg. Tur. lib. ii. a round form, having within it a place sunk into the Ground (after the manner of a Well) with some steps down to the Water: For indeed it was properly a Bath. In After-times they contented themselves with a large Cistern of Mar­ble or Porphyry, as a kind of Baignoire, and at last they reduced it to a large Bason much like our present Fonts. The Bap­tistery was always beautified with Paint­ings agreeable to that Sacrament, and furnished with a great deal of Gold and Silver Plate to keep both the Consecrated Oyls in, and the Water: These were of­ten Paulin. ep. xii. Lib. Pont. in Innoc. i. & at Psal. xlii. 1. made in the form of Lambs or Harts, to represent the Lamb of God, by whose Blood we are washed, and to signify the longings of devout Souls after God, as to [Page 180] use the Expression of the Psalmist, The thirsty Hart panteth after the Water Brooks. There was also to be seen the Image of St. John Baptist, and a Gold or Silver Dove hovering over the sacred Bagnio, to represent to the Eye the History of the Baptism of Jesus Christ, and the Power of the holy Ghost descending upon the Baptismal Water; and in allusion to the same History, we find the Font called by Conc. Con­stantin. an. 535. the name of the Jordan.

Much after this manner (generally Speaking) did the Ancients Contrive their Churches, and the buildings be­longing to them; not to speak here of the Bishops House and the Lodgings for his Clergy, whence came in after Ages the Cloisters of the Cannons; nor to men­tion the Hospitals of divers sorts, which were commonly seated near the principal Church.

In the mean time, the Gentiles upbraid­ed the Christians for having neither Tem­ples, nor Altars, nor Images, nor Sacri­fices, nor Feasts. To which the Chris­tians Orig. in Cels. lib. viii. made no other answer, but that neither Temples, nor material Altars, nor Bloody Sacrifices were worthy of the Majesty of God: That God could have no other Image but his own Son, and reasonable Souls, who by Imitating the Son rendred themselves like unto the Fa­ther. [Page 181] That they did at all times, and in all places offer up to God the Sacrifice of Praise, upon the Altars of their Hearts; burning with the fire of Charity. In fine that the true Christians do keep every Day a Feast, by their disengagement from the Affairs of this World; by the rest of a good Conscience, and their Rejoyc­ings in the hope of Heaven. This was the Defence the Christians made for them­selves against the reproaches of the Hea­thens. They did not pretend to say, we have Temples and Altars as well as you, though not of the same form and Figure.

To have said so, would have given the Heathens quite different Conceptions con­cerning our Religion, from what it is in Reality. An Altar with them, was a Fire-hearth of Stone Erected either before some Idol or before some Temple, but always in the open Air, designed for the Burning of their Victims, and to pour Wine, Milk, Hony or other sort of Li­bations upon it. A Temple was a round or oblong Building, where the Bigness, Figure and Proportion were particular according to the different Divinities to which they were Consecrated; as one may see in Vitruvius. They were for Vitruv. the most part of small Extent, made with­out Windows, or at least admitting little Light; nor did they contain any thing [Page 182] in them, but the Idols and things offered to them. The People never entered them, but remained without Surrounding the Altar.

Our Churches were more like the publick Schools, or Town-Halls designed for bu­siness, which the Ancients called Basilicae; Virtruv. lib. v. c i. Baron. ad Martyr. v. Aug. and the Description of them is also given us by Vitruvius. They saw in our Church­es a Tribunal raised up on High, with a Chair for him that Presided in the Assem­bly, a Desk for the Reader, Benches for the Auditors; Books, Presses, Lamps and Candlesticks; and amongst other things a Table, the use of which, they that were Strangers to our Religion could not tell what to make of; only conclud­ing in general, that it was for taking some kind of Repast upon among our selves. The Christians did not agree in the same Names with the Heathens. They gave to the places of their publick Assem­bly, the Name of Ecclesia, Basilica, O­ratorie, Martyriam, Titulus, the House of God, or the House of the Lord; they rare­ly made use of the name of Temple, and never (within the Compas of my read­ing) of Delubrum or Fanum. The names of Particular Churches were often taken from their Founders, as at Rome, the Ti­tulus Pastoris, the Basilica of Liberius or Sixtus, which is now St. Mary the [Page 183] great; or from the Ancient Name of the House, as Basilica Laterana. Afterwards they came also to make use of Churches built by the Heathens; when they found them fit for the use of Religion. So in Rome they Converted the Pantheon, the Tem­ple of Minerva, of Fortuna Virilis with some others into Christian Churches.

The Churches were not only large and Beautiful as to the make of them, but also looked after with great care, and always kept Neat and Clean. St. Jero­me Epist. de fun. Nepot. gives a special Commendation of Ne­potian the Priest, for the care he took of, keeping his Church in good order: The Walls dry and free from Smut and Mould; the Pavements rubbed, the Sacristy clean, the Vessels shining, the Door-keeper al­ways upon his Office. This was the bu­sines of the inferior Officers, under what Name soever they went, as Door-keepers, Mansionaries, Camerarii, Sacristans; and Cubiculari Aeditui. there was a great number of these Officers in the larger Churches. We may see Pontific. Rom. V. Baron. an. lviii. n. 102. yet in the form of Ordination what was the proper charge of the Ostiaries. They were at the Regular Hours to give notice for Prayers, and consequently it belonged to them to Ring the Bells, when once the use of Bells was brought into the Church, which was about the seventh Age. It was their business to open the [Page 184] Church Doors at the usual time, and to stand at them upon their Duty, to keep Infidels or Excommunicated Persons from Entring. They kept the Keys, and took care that nothing was lost. We find in Dial. i. c. v. & iii. c. xxiv. Paul. Nat. iii. & vi. the Dialogues of St. Gregory that the Man­sionaries had the charge of the Lamps. 'Twas these Inferior Officers that Dres't up the Church against the more solemn Festivals, either with Silk Tapesteries or other rich Hangings, or only with Boughs and Flowers. In a Word, they were to do every thing that was necessary to keep the Holy Place fit for making Impressions of Reverence and Piety upon those who approached it. All these Functions ap­peared too Considerable to be permitted to pure Laicks. So that 'twas thought necessary to Establish these new Orders of Minor Clerks on purpose to ease the Deacons, and to take off some part of their Charge.

THOUGH t'is true, the Christian XXIX. Devotion assisted by Sense. Religion is altogether Inward and Spiri­tual; yet Christians are Men as well as others, and therefore not above the power of Sence and Imagination. Nay, we may say that the greatest part of Man-kind scarce Act or Live upon any other Prin­ciple. How few apply themselves to Operations purely Intellectual; and they [Page 185] that do so, find their thoughts easyly Di­verted from Spiritual Objects. Devotion therefore must be assisted by the Impres­sions of Sense. Were we Angels, we might Pray in all places alike, in the hur­ry of the Roads, in the Crowd of the Streets, in the Noise of the Guard-Cham­ber, in the Roaring and Riots of a Ta­vern; over the Stenches of a Common-Shore. Why then do we shun these pla­ces of Distraction; and when we would be Devout, seek after Silence and retired­ness, but only as a Remedy against the Impotence of Sense and Imagination? 'Tis not God that hath need of Temples and Oratories, but We. He is equally present in all Places, and always equally ready to hear us everywhere, but we are not always in a frame of Spirit fit to Speak to him. So that 'tis a needless and use­less peice of Work to Consecrate parti­cular places to his Service, unless they be also put into a Condition proper to assist our Devotion.

Let us Suppose for Example, that which we see too often in these later Times, a Church so ill Scituated, that it Ecchoes with the Noises of an Adjacent Street or a Neighbouring Market; and so nastily kept that one can scarce sit down or kneel in it for Dirt; suppose it thron'd with such a Herd of People promiscuously [Page 186] crowded together, that, they who attend upon Prayer, are every Moment justled and trampled upon by others pushing on their way through them, and continually inter­rupted with Children's Crying or Playing, Loud Beggars Bawling about their Ears: Add to this, that you have nothing before your Eyes but disagreable Objects, the Walls covered over with a filthy Smut and Mouldiness, the Pictures disfigur'd with Dust and Cobwebbs, and placed in an ill Light; the statues of a deformed Make, or half of them broken off, and the other Ornaments in as ill a condition. In fine, to omit nothing offensive to sense; for Incense an horrid fume of stinking Vapours; and for Musick, a multitude of untuned Voices jumbled together in Croaking Sounds: It will be much easy­er for a Man to Pray in an open Field, or in a lone uninhabited House then in such a Church as this. On the contrary, let a Man go into a Church well built, beautifully adorned, and neatly Kept; where all things are still and quiet, the People well placed, and the Clergy per­forming the Office in a regular manner, and with a becoming Reverence and Hu­mility; he will find himself insensibly En­gaged to attend the Service he is upon with a composedness of Thought, and be [Page 187] able to Pray with the Heart at the same 1 Cor. xiv. 14. time he speaks with his Lips.

Of this the Bishops of the First Ages were very sensible. Those Holy Persons were either Greeks or Romans, many of them great Philosophers, all of them train­ep up in the nicest observance of all the Rules of Decency. They knew that the order, Grandeur and agreeableness of ex­teriour Objects, have a natural Efficacy in them of exciting in the mind Noble, pure, and well regulated Thoughts; and that the Affections follow those Thoughts: But that 'tis next to impossible to keep the Soul Intent upon that which is good, while the Body is uneasy or the Imagina­tion disobliged: They thought Devoti­on a matter of that Importance that it required all the assistance which could handsomly be given it; and therefore took care to have the publick Services of the Church, especially that of the Sacrifice, Celebrated with all possible Majesty, and the People assisting at it, accommodated with all imaginable Conveniencies, that so they might be brought on to take de­light in the House of Prayer and to ap­proach it with Reverence. And they were at the same time sufficiently Cautions also to keep out of the Holy Places, all the Ex­travagances of a Worldly Pomp; all the appearances of a wanton Vanity, or [Page 188] whatsoever might have a tendency to Ef­feminate the mind or strike the Senses with dangerous Impressions. 'Twas not their design to Flatter Sense, but to as­sist it. This will better appear in des­cribing the whole Form and Manner of their Outward Worship.

THEY offered the Sacrifice every Sun­day, XXX. Their Li­turgy and outward Form of Worship. V. S. Epiph. haeres in fi. Bona i. Li­turg. c. xviii on all the Feasts of the Martyrs, on all Fast Days, or oftner as the Custom of every Church in particular required. They had also both upon Publick and Private occasions, their Votive Masses; Sometimes they had many Masses [...] the same Day, as when the Office of a Saint fell upon some other Festival, or when there was a Burial. It was always [...]her the Bishop himself, or one and the [...] Priest that performed them all; as it is still observed by us on Christmas-Day. On Sundays and the other Festivals, Mass was said about nine or ten of the Clock in the Morning; on Fast Days later, for V. Cod. Sa­cram. edit. Rom. 1680. they were not to eat on those Days till after Evening Service, past three of the Clock in the Afternoon. The Hour be­ing come, the People met together at the principal Church, to attend the Bishop with all his Clergy to the place where the Station for that Day was appointed. And after this manner the Bishop took his V. Ord. Ro. [Page 189] round, and visited all his Churches one by one, every one in its Course: And that this Progress might be orderly made, and in a full Body, Processions were Instituted.

As they were entring the Church and taking their places, the Choir sung a Psalm with its Anthem; which from thence took its name of the Introit. The Const. Ap. ii. c. lvii. Deacons and their assistants, the Subdea­cons and Door keepers gave every one his place in order as they came; so that all was done without any thing of Confusion; being all seated there, they prayed for some time in Silence, every Man to him­self; then the Bishop Saluted the People, and put an end to their private Prayers, Pronouncing with a lowd Voice his pub­lick Prayer, which from thence took its name of the Collect.

Then the Bishop seated himself on his Throne that stood at the very end of the Church, and terminated the prospect of the whole Congregation. Thus every Bishop was as it were the visible Image of 1 Cor. xi. 1. 1 Tim. iv. 12. Tit. ii. 7. God in his Church, placed there eminent­ly, as St. Paul expresses it, to be the pa­tern to his own Flock, as Jesus Christ was to him. The Priests were seated on each side about him, some on the right hand, and others on the left, in the Semicircle of the Absis; and next to them stood the Deacons: Thus the Church seemed to [Page 190] resemble that Image of Paradise given us Apoc. iv. by St. John in the Apocalypse.

The Bishop on his Throne with a Book in his Hand, as the Fathers are common­ly painted, represented that Figure of a Man under which God appeared; the Priests were that August Senate designed by the four and twenty Elders; the Dea­cons and other Officers were the Angels standing always in a readiness to receive Ordo. Rom. Apoc. viii. iii. and execute the Orders of God. Before the Bishops Throne stood seven Candle­sticks, and the Altar on which they offer­ed the Incence (that Symbol of Prayer) Apoc. v. where they were afterward, tho' under a borrowed form, to offer the unspotted Lamb of God. Under the same Altar were the Bodies of the Martyrs, as under that St. John saw were the Souls of those to whom it was said, That they should rest Apoc. vi. ix. Baron. ad Martyr. vi. Jul. yet for a little Season. And lastly, the number of the Faithful which filled the other part of the Church, represented the innumerable Multitude of the Blessed, who being Clothed in white Robes, and Apoc. vii. 9. with Palms in their Hands, sung with a loud Voice the Praises of their Marker: Such was the Face then of their Church-Assemblies.

The whole Congregation being seated, the Reader went up to the Desk and read a Lesson, first out of the Old-Testament, [Page 191] and after that another out of the new; that is, out of the Acts or Epistles of the Apostles; for the reading of the Gospel was reserved to some Priest or Deacon. To render these Lessons the more agree­able, and to give the People leisure to me­ditate upon them, and the Readers some respite, there were intermingled with them Psalms, Anthems, and the singing of Allelujas; which were afterwards pla­ced before the Gospel. All these Lessons of the Scripture, were read in the vulgar Language; that is, in the Language spoken by the better sort of People in every Coun­try: For though in Africa the Punick Language was vulgarly spoken among the inferior sort of People in the time of St. Austin; yet we do not find that it was used in the Church. But in Thebais the Scriptures must needs have been read in the Aegyptian Language since St. Antony, Vi. S. Ant. c. i. who understood no other, was converted by his having heard the Gospel read in the Church. In the upper Syria, the greatest part of the Bishops understood nothing of Greek, nor of any other Language but the Syriack, as it appears by the Councils, where they were forced to make use of Concil. eph. Concil. Cal. ced Act. x. Interpreters.

AFTER the Lessons, the Sermon be­gun, XXXI. Their Ser­mon. the Bishop Expounded the Gospel or some other part of Scripture, and often continued a course of Expositions upon some entire Book of the Bible, from the beginning to the end, or else passing over some part of it, he made choice of the most important Subjects. Of these con­tinued Expositions we have Examples in many of St. Chrysostom's Homilies, in St. Au­stin upon the Psalms, upon St. John, and upon the Epistles of St. Paul. In St. Am­brose we have a selected Argument, which begins with the six Days work, in imita­tion of St. Basil; then the Exposition pro­ceeds to the History of Noah, Abraham, and the other more Illustrious Saints of the Old Testament; but still observing the Order of the Holy Bible. The greatest part of those Tracts and Commentaries of the Fathers upon the Scriptures are no­thing else but Sermons preached to their People; which they afterward reduced into Form, or were taken down in Wri­ting as they spake them by the Art of short Hand before mentioned.

These holy Preachers were none of your idle Haranguers, like the Sophists of the Profane Schools, who filled the World with endless disputes only out of a vain Emulation of Contradicting and refining upon each others Notions; or like those [Page 193] who laboured in their Closet to shew their Learning and fine Parts: These Prelates v. Aug. de oper. Mo­nach c. 29. & Epis. ad Diosc. v. Synes. Ep. 55. were laborious Pastors, who had always their Hands full of business, and were too intent upon the works of Charity, to spend all their time in their Studies; and they were principally employed upon that necessary Office of reconciling Differences and making up the Breaches of Friends Yet did they not suffer their other En­gagements to take them off from Preaching, and that very often too; as thinking that they could not otherwise discharge the Duty of their Place, and looking upon the work of Preaching as one of the most Essential parts of their Mi­nistry: For in the first Age all Bishops were Preachers, and scarce were there any other Preachers besides them. 'Twas in the East they first began to make here, and there, a Priest of an extraordinary Ta­lent, Euseb. vi. Hist. 20. a Preacher, as Origen; nay, and sometimes the Laicks themselves, when they found them very understanding Men. We find also in the West, during the Per­secutions, S. Paulin. not. that St. Felix, though no more then a Priest, was a Preacher at Nola. But these Examples were so unfrequent, that many have taken St. John Chryso­stome and St. Austin to have been the first Priests, to whom the Bishops entrusted this Ministry.

Hence it is that our Modern Preachers find the Sermons of the Fathers so different from that Idea of Preaching which they have formed to themselves. Their Dis­courses are plain, without any appearance of Art, without the exactness of Method, without the subtilties of Ratiocination, without the curiosity of Learning; nay, some of them without any Pathos, and the greatest part of them very short. And 'tis true, these holy Bishops did not set up for Oratory and Harranguing: They pretend­ed to no more than to instruct their People in a plain and Familiar way, as Parents speak to their Children, or Masters to their Scholars. And therefore their Pul­pit Discourses were called in Latin, Ser­mons, and in Greek, Homilies, which words note such kind of Discourse as is used in common Conversation. Their busines in expounding the Scripture, was to handle it after such a manner as might prove most to the edification of their Hearers; so that they did not pretend to examin every Word and Phrase with the exactness of a Critick, or to Lanch out into curious Enquiries, as the Gramma­rians explained Homer and Virgil in their Schools. They expounded the Scriptures according to the Tradition of the Fathers; so as they might tend most to the Confir­mation of Faith, and the Reformation of [Page 195] Manners. They endeavoured to work upon the Affections, not so much by the vehemence of Figures and the force of De­clamation, as by the weight and Impor­tance of the Truths they delivered, by the Authority of their Office, by the Sanctity of their Lives and the Exemplariness of their good Works.

As for their Stile, That they suited to the capacity of their hearers. The Ser­mons of St. Austin are the plainest of all his Works; the Stile of them is much shorter and much easier than that of his Epistles; because he Preached in a little City to Labourers, Traders, and Seamen; but in his Tracts of Controversy, especi­ally in his Books against Julian, one may see that he had not forgot his Art of Rhe­torick, which he was Professor of for so long a time: On the contrary, St. Cy­prian, St. Ambrose, and St. Leo, who preached in great Cities, delivered them­selves with more of pomp and Ornament. Yet their stiles vary according to the Par­ticularity of their Genius, or the relish of the Ages they lived in. But we must observe that the faults with which the modern Humanists reproach the Fathers, are not to be attributed to the subject of Religion. These Criticks charge the Fathers with Impropriety of Language; making use of feeble Arguments, poor [Page 196] Ornaments, farfetch'd Allegories, playing with Words, and Chiming of Syllables. These were the faults of the Age, not of the Men. Had they lived in the Age of Cicero or Terence, they had spoken as Ci­cero and Terence.

The Greek Fathers come nearer to the Ancient Authors. Language had not undergone so great a change in the East, nor had the Studies of Polite Learning been there so much neglected. The works of these Fathers are for the most part ve­ry Solid and very entertaining: And a­mong the rest St. John Chrysostom is to my thinking, the compleat Pattern of a Preacher. His usual method was to be­gin with explaining the Scripture, verse by verse as pronounced by the Reader, keeping himself always to the most lite­rel, Sense, and that which most tended to Practice. He concluded with a general Exhortation, which hath many times lit­tle relation to the foregoing part of his Discourse, but was proportioned to the present Exigencies of his Flock, and di­rectly applyed to his Auditors them­selves, as so prudent and vigilant a Pastor saw their Case required. We may ob­serve also that it was his way to encoun­ter Vices Singly, one by one, and when he began with any one, he never gave over the Pursuit till it was either [Page 197] entirely Routed, or at least very much disabled.

These Holy Preachers did not pro­pose either Fame or Profit to themselves by Preaching, but the Conversion of their Hearers. That was the only thing they aimed at, and that they pursued with all their Might, and never thought they had done enough till they had effectually wrought the Change they desired. Thus St. Austin, undertook to abolish the Practise Epist. xxix. his People had taken up of making enter­tainments, on the Feasts of the Martyrs, which were degenerated into Debauches; but notwithstanding the strength and prevalence of the custome, he broke it off. He shewed the People the Evil of that Practise, from express Texts of Scripture condemning the sinfulness of immoderate Eating and Drinking, and with Tears in his Eyes exhorted and intreated for two Days together till he had effectually pre­vailed. There was no danger then of having different Doctrines taught in one and the same Church, for there was no other Preacher or Teacher, but the Bishop himself, or some Priest chosen by him, who Preached there only by his apoint­ment, and generally in his presence.

In Sermon time the Church was open to all comers, even to the Infidels: Which Meth. de [...] Peres c. xii. is the reason that the Fathers were so [Page 198] cautions in keeping the Mysteries Secret to themselves, never speaking of them from the Pulpit, save only in an Aenig­matical way. Hence also it is that we often find in their Sermons some part of the Discourse directed to the Heathens to Const. Ap. ii. c. lvii. draw them to the Faith. During the time of the Lessons and Sermon the Au­dience were regularly seated, the Men on one side of the Church and the Women on the other; and to be separate and at a greater distance from the rest of the Congregation, the Women went up into the Galeries where there were any. The more elderly Persons sat in the uppermost Seats; their Fathers or Mothers held the little Children before them; for they car­ryed them to Church with them, provid­ed they were Baptized. When all the seats were filled, the younger People con­tinued standing on their Feet. There were Deacons appointed on purpose to see this order observed, and to take care that every one heard with attention, not to suffer any body to Sleep, Laugh, Whis­per or make Signes; in a Word, to keep every body silent, Regular and Well be­hav'd. In Africa St. Austin takes notice that the People Stood all Sermon time, but August. de Catechiz. rud. c. xxiii. he himself better approved the custom of the Transmarine Churches, as he calls them, where they Heard, Sitting.

The Sermon being over, the Deacons Const. A­post. viii. c. vi Conc. Laod. c. xix. obliged all those who were not to receive the Sacrament to depart. And in the first place the Audientes and Infidels: Afterwards they made their Prayers for the Catechumens, and caused them to Dionys. Hier. Eccl. c. iii. Chrysost. hom. iii. in ep. ad Ephes. depart; then they Prayed for the Ener­gumeni, or those that were Possessed with Evil Spirits, and caused them to go out; after that they did the like for the Com­petentes, and at last also for those under, Penance. Thus there remaining in the Church only the Faithful without any mixture, they made their Prayers for the whole state of Christ's Church; for all Orders and conditions of Men whether Ecclesiastical or Civil; for all that were any ways Afflicted or Distressed; for their Enemies, and for their Persecutors. The Deacon put them in mind whom they were then to Pray for, and the Bishop pronounced the Words of Prayer, after the same form and manner as is still ob­served in our Churches on Good-friday. At other Masses we now supply these Prayers by those of the Prone. Then the Bishop Saluted the People again, and the Deacon said with a loud Voice, Has any one any thing to object against any Man? Is there here any one not heartily Reconciled? Embrace one another. Then as a sign of their being all in perfect Cha­rity, [Page 200] they gave each other the Kiss of Peace; the Clergy, by themselves, and amongst the Layety, the Men by them­selves, and the Women by themselves.

AFTER all these preparatorys be­gan XXXII. The Sa­crifice and Sacred Habits. the Sacrifice. The Deacons assisted by the Subdeacons, spread the Cloath on the Altar, and upon another Table, (now called the Credence, from that Italian Word signifying a Cupboard) they set in order the Communion Plate, and amongst the rest, the Patens and Calices, and for De­cency and Cleanliness sake covered them with a Cloath over them. Then, as the Author of the Apostolical Constitutions Const. A­post. viii. c. xii. informs us, the Bishop came to the Altar in a rich Habit. Which shews that they had even in those Days particular Habits for the Altar.

Not that those Habits had any thing singular in the make or Figure of them. The Chasuble was a common wearing Habit in the time of St. Austin, and the August. 22. Civit. c. viii. de Floren­tio Sartore Hippon. V. ff. deves­tim. leg. like we find of the Dalmatick in the time of the Emperror Valerian. The Stole was a kind of Cloak, and worn by Women as well as Men; we have now confoun­ded it with the Orarium, which was a kind of Linnen Handkerchief, worn by V. Thomass. Discipl. P. i. l. i. c. 31. & P. ii. l. i. c. xxiii. those who affected Neatness, to wipe the Sweat off their Necks and Faces: And [Page 201] the Maniple was only a Napkin hanging Mappula. cross their Arms, for their more decent serving at the Holy Table. The Albe it Surplice. self, that is the White Robe of either Linnen or Woollen, was not at the begin­ning an Habit peculiar to Clerks, since the Emperor Aurelian gave the People of Vopis. Aur. Rome a largess of these kind of Tunicks, as well as of those large Handkerchiefs which they called Oraria.

But as afterwards when the Albe was the common Habit of the Clergy in which they allways appeared, the Priests were enjoyned to have by them one particular Hom. Leon. P. iv. to viii. Conc. P. xxxiv. Constit. Ri­culfi. Suess. c. 7. an. 589. to ix. Conc. Albe, never to be put on, but at the Altar, that they might then appear unfullied. So tis probable that when they commoly wore the Chasuble and the Dalmatick, they had particular ones for the use of the Al­tar, not differing in Shape from the com­mon sort, but of richer Stuffs and Live­lyer Colours, Above all the Canons re­quire of the Priests and Deacons never to Conc. Brae. iv. c. iii. an. 675. Conc. Laod. c. xii. 13. perform the publick Offices of the Church without having on their Orarium; the use of which was at the same time forbidden to the Inferiour Ministers.

They were willing that the Clergy even by their Figure and Appearance, should give the People a great notion of their Character. That their Faces, their Hands and their Cloaths appearing clean [Page 202] and without spots might be a sign of an inward Purity and Innocence; that the Modesty and Gravity of their Looks, their Air and Motion might command Respect and excite Religion. The Prelates were so Nice herein, that St. Ambrose turned out of the number of the Clergy two Per­sons, Amb. ii. off. c. 19. the one for an Indecent Mien, and the other for an unseemly way of Walk­ing. And the event justifyed the judg­ment he made both upon the one and the other. But here it must still be remem­bred that those Fathers were Greeks and Romans, who had the highest Ideas of true Decorum, and were polished to the greatest exactness.

The Bishop standing at the Altar, took from the Hands of the Deacons the Obla­tions they had received from the People; but in some Churches the Bishop himself Ordo. Rom. went to receive the Offerings of the more honourable Persons, such as the Senators and their Wives at Rome: For all Per­sons Great and Small, the Magistrates and Princes themselves Communicated to­gether. On the Altar was placed only Can. Apost. iii, iv. the Bread and Wine, which was to be the matter of the Sacrifice. As for all o­ther sorts of Oblations, the Luminary, the Money in Specie, and whatsoever else the Faithful offered for the Occasions of the Church, the Deacons received those and [Page 203] laid them up in Places appointed for that purpose: 'Tis true, they laid upon the Al­tar the new Fruits to have a Benediction pronounced over them at the end of the Sacrifice.

They used for the Eucharist no other Bread but what was offered by the Peo­ple, and blessed by the Bishop; and as a sign of Communion with those that were Epist. deer. Inocenti. ad decentium. absent, they sent to them some of the Bread blessed, but not Consecrated. All the faithfull were obliged to offer, at least all that were to Communicate; nor was it thought reasonable that the Rich should Communicate of that which the poor of­fered. The Bishop himself made his of­fering; and to that purpose there was at Ordo. Rom. Rome the Bishops Oblationary Subdeacon. So that the Loaves of Bread came in there in such vast Numbers, that the Altar was (as is expressed in some of the ancient Pray­ers) Sacr. in na­tiv. S. Jo. & in vig. omn. S S. Ordo. Rom. as it were overloaded with them. The Corporal was a large Table Cloth stretch­ed out at length, and held by two Dea­cons at the two ends of the Altar, to re­ceive these Oblations. It belonged to the Componere altare. Arch-Deacon to place these Loaves decent­ly on the Altar, and to set the Calice of Wine there, which was to be Consecrat­ed; and to be better assured, there was nothing in it, they strained it through a Silver Cullander.

The Pastor after the Oblation of the Bread and Wine, offered also the Incense which was to represent the Prayers of the faithfull; as St. John in the Apocalyps, Apoc. viii. 3, 4, 5. saw an Angel employed at the Altar in offering up to God these spiritual Odors. They fumed with the Incense (as is still done) the Altar, the Oblations, the Cler­gy, and the People; and to this use they apply'd none but right Perfumes, the best Franckincence, and other Aromatick Gums, the richest then known in the World; and that with such a Magnifi­cence too, that the Church of Rome had Lands in Syria and other Provinces of the East appropriated for supplying the Altar with these Perfumes. During the Offer­tory, was sung a Psalm; of which there is now left only a Versicle, which was with them the Anthem.

AFTER the Offerings were perform­ed, XXXIII, Consecra­tion, Com­munion. Const. Apo. viii. xi. the Doors of the Church were shut and carefully Guarded by some of the Deacons or Ostiaries, placed there for that purpose, who might not open them even to the Faithful themselves, till the Com­munion was over. Other Deacons therewere walking softly about the Church to see that no body made the least noise; and it was the peculiar business of one, or the least sign of them to keep an Eye over the Chil­dren: [Page 205] They had a place assigned them near the Bishop's Chair; and as for those that were very small, their Mothers were ordered to take them into their Arms: Thus all the People were kept to a deep silence, and heard with a profound Reve­rence and Attention, the Prayers of the Preface, and of that part of the Service which we now call the Canon. The Bishop Pronounced the Words with a loud Voice, and all the People said Amen, as they did at the end of all other Prayers. These Prayers were much longer than they are now, as is still to be seen in the Oriental Li­turgies. The Church of Rome retained hath Const. Apo. viii. 12. nothing of this form but the Essentials; formerly this Canon was an Abridgment of the History of Religion, Praising God for the Creation of the World, for restoring it after the Deluge, for the call of Abra­ham; for the special Favours vouchsafed to the Children of Israel; and lastly, for the Incarnation of his Son, and the Re­demption of Mankind.

After the Consecration, the Bishop Const. Apo. viii. 13. took the Communion himself first; then he gave it to the Priests, then to the Dea­cons and other Clerks, after them to the Asceticks or Monks, to the Deaconnesses, to the Virgins and other Religious Persons, to Children, and at last to all the People. To shorten this Service, which was al­ways [Page 206] very long; many of the Priests as­sisted at the same time, in distributing the Body of our Lord; and many of the Deacons in Administering of the Cup: And to avoid Confusion, the Priest and Deacons carried the Communion walk­ing through the ranks of the People, in the same Order as they had before re­ceived the Offerings; none of the Com­municants stirring out of his place. The Men received the Body of Jesus Christ in their Hands; and the Women in peices of Linnen made on purpose for that use. The Crumbs and Fragments that were left of the Eucharist, they gave to little Children; and the rest of the Bread of­fered, but not Consecrated, was distri­buted among those who did not Commu­nicate: Ord. Rom. And from hence came the Panis Benedictus or the Blessed Bread. During the Communion they sung a Psalm; of which we have now nothing left but the Anthem. In the Fourth Age the Com­munion began to be less frequented than Hom. iii. in ep. ad Eph. formerly. St. Chrysostom complains that many came to the sacred Mysteries and did not Communicate; and that many o­thers Hom. 17. in ep. ad Heb. Communicated only on the Festivals, and others again that Communicated but once or twice a Year.

From all this it follows, that their Li­turgy must needs have been long: Nor [Page 207] indeed did Christians then think they had any thing else to do on Sundays but to serve God. St. Gregory to shew how his Lib. viii. ep. xxxv. Infirmities were increased upon him, complains that he was scarce able to stand upon his Legs for those three Hours while he performed the Office of the Church. And yet the Canon of the Mass was much the same then as it is now; and those Ser­mons of his which are left us are very short.

ALL the Publick Service of the Church XXXIV. The Chant and Mag­nificence of the pub­lick Ser­vice. was accompanied with Singing. The same hath been observed of the former times; but 'tis to be supposed this publick Singing grew much more in use upon the Churches being freed from Persecution: St. Austin ascribes to St. Ambrose the hav­ing Auguct. ix. Confess. vii. introduced into the West the use of Singing the Psalms in imitation of the Churches of the East, and it is about the same time that we find St. Damasus the Lib. Pontif in Damaso Pope enjoining it. St. Basil tells us, that in his time the Psalms were sung both in Private Houses and in publick Places; and that the singing was so agreeable, that the Basil. in Psalm. i. pleasure help'd to convey the Religion of the Hymn into the minds of the People with more advantage: And this was the true design of Musick.

The Antient Musick was not yet lost, which was diversifyed into several kinds of Harmony, variously applyed as the Nature of the Subject did require, Soft or V. Platon. iii. de Re­pub. Strong, Gay or Sad, Grave or Passionate. And we may conclude that in the Ser­vices of the Church, they made choice of that which agreed best with the Ma­jesty and Purity of Religion; and that they carefully avoided to apply to the sa­cred Mysteries, and the praysing of God Soft and Estaeminate Airs, or such as might tend to affect the Heart with too sensible a Tenderness, or put the Spirits into any 1. Conf 33. dangerous Commotion. However St. Aus­tin thought the Singing in the West some­what too Soft and Secular; and judged the Practise of St. Athanasius more Safe, who caused the Psalms to be pronounced by the Reader with so small an alteration of Voice, that it was rather plain speak­ing then singing. I leave it to those who understand this Science to inquire whe­ther we have not some remains of this Antiquity in our Plein Chant or Church Musick brought in by St. Gregory. For what we now call Musick, is certainly a clearly Different thing and altogether Mo­dern. As for the Chanting of the Pray­ers and Lessons, that we see consists but of very few Notes, only to help to keep up the Voice, and mark the distinction [Page 209] of the Periods. I think I have said enough to shew how well the Bishops of these first times, understood to manage the ob­jects of Sense, so as to make them subser­vient to the end of Religion, and by their help to make Impressions of Piety even upon the most heavy and Illiterate. For Instance let us suppose the solemn manner of their Celebrating the Vigil of Easter at Rome, under the Pope St. Leo. The Faithful V. Euseb. vi. Hist. c. ix on that Holy Night (with their reverend Bishop at the Head of them) Assembled to­gether in a Body in the Lateran Church. In the first place immediately upon the Benediction of the new Fire, an incre­dible number of Lights made the Holy Night look as glorious as a fine Day. We may imagin what a charming Sight it must needs have been to see this August Magnificent Church filled with such a Numerous Assembly and yet in so vast a Multitude of People nothing of Noise, Tumult or Confusion; but every one Regularly disposed and Ranged according to the Quality of their Age and Sex, and the station they held in the Church. And especially distinguish'd from the rest were those who were to receive Baptism that very Night, together with those who had accomplished their Pennance and had been but two Days before Readmitted in­to the Church. Their Eyes were enter­tained [Page 210] on every side with the Marbles and Paintings, the glittering of the Gold, Silver and Precious Stones that Sparkled upon the Consecrated Plate, and especial­ly near the Holy Altar. The silence of the Night admitted of no other Interrup­tion, but the Lessons out of the Prophets Pronounced with a clear distinct and in­telligible Voice, and intermixt with the Singing of the Versicles; that so this Variety might make both of them more agreeable. So many grand and delight­ful Objects presenting themselves at one and the same time, could not but awaken the Soul and inspire her with Vigour both to attend to those Holy Lessons and profit by them, especially being prepared for them before hand, by continual exer­cises in the Word of God. What must the Gravity and Modesty of the Deacons and other sacred Ministers have needs been, who were made choice of, and bred by such a Prelate, and serv'd in his presence, or rather in the presence of God, whom their own thoughts represented to them always before their Eyes? But a­bove all, How Majestick must the Pope himself appear, so venerable for his Learn­ing, his Elocution, his Zeal, his Courage, and all his other Vertues? With what an awefull Reverence, with how Af­fectionate a Piety must he have pronoun­ced [Page 211] over the Sacred Fonts, those Prayers which he himself first Composed; and which his successors have found so Pious, that they have still preserved the same for us the space of twelve hundred Years? I can no longer Wonder that on these occasions and under such helps of Devotion, the Christians of those Days should quite forget their Body; and hav­ing Fasted all the Day before, should pass this Holy Night of the Resurrection also in Watching and Prayer without eating a bitt till the Day following.

BUT this great Day being come, and XXXV. The So­lemnity of Feasts of the Church. Pilgrima­ges. the time of their Fasts expired, the grea­test Saints did not only allow, but also en­joyn the refreshing of the Body. How profitable soever Fasting might be to raise up the Soul to God, and Facilitate the Duty of Prayer, for which exercise of Devotion the Feasts of the Church were chiefly designed; yet it was forbidden to fast on Sundays, or on the Festival Days, or throughout the whole Quinquagesima. So they called it, not as we do now, the fifty Days before Easter, but the fifty Days between Easter and Whitsunday. 'Tis true the Monks of Egypt used great pre­cautions Cass. Collat xxi. de re­miss quinq. least they should by this little Relaxation lose the fruit of their past Abstinence. But at last they observed [Page 212] the Church Distinction. St. Pacomus ac­cording Vie de saint Pacome. c. viii. to the direction of St. Palemon his Master on Easter-day Eat a Sallet of Herbs and Oil instead of dry Bread only, which was their usual Dyet at other times. A cer­tain Holy Priest, as God had put it into S. Greg. ii. Dial. c. i. his mind, on an Easter Day carryed to St. Benet a present of Provisions for him to make better Cheer at that time than ordinary, and to express a more sensible rejoycing on the same Occasion. St An­thony was wont on Easter and Whitsun­day to put on his Coat of Palmtree-leaves, which was left him by St. Paul the first Hermite, and St. Athanasius at the same time appeared clad in the Cloak St. An­thony had left to him. And from that time S. Leo. Serm. iii. de Quadrages. forward, it was an established custom among Christians to apparel themselves on the Festivals in their Richest Habits, and to make better Fare than ordinary on those Days.

The Feasts of the Martyrs had pro­portionable honours paid to them, and were Celebrated with a great Concourse of People. On Sundays and other Feasts, common to the whole Church, every one was content to stay at home with his own Bishop. But on these special Feasts, they ran from all parts to celebrate the Memory of the Saints; so that upon these occasions many of the Bishops themselves [Page 213] often met together at their Tombs. By one example, we may judge of the rest. St. Paulinus reckons up more then twen­ty Natali. 3. names, as well of Cities as Provinces in Italy, whose Inhabitants did every Year assemble together in vast Troops with their Wives and Children to Cele­brate the Feast of St. Felix; notwith­standing the Rigor of the Season, it being kept on the fourteenth of January: And all this only for one single confessor in that single City of Nola. What then must have been done throughout the. whole Christian World? What at Rome, upon Prud. Pe­risteph. ii. 11, 12. Martyr. Jun. xxix. de S. Cassio. the Feast of St. Hippolytus, of St. Laurence, of the Apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul? They flocked to Rome from the most dis­tant places, and at all times: And that was the Rise of Pilgrimages. In the time of the Persecution under the Emperor Claudius the second, St. Marius together with St. Martha his Wife and Children, Martyrol. xix. Janu. took a jorney to Rome on purpose to per­form their Devotions there; and upon that occasion they there suffered Martyrdome. The same hapned not long after to St. Maurus, who came out of Affrica to visit Ibid. xxii. Novem. the Sepulchers of the Apostles. And be­fore St. Alexander was chosen Bishop of Jerusalem and joyned with Narcissus in the Administration of the same See, he took a Pilgrimage from Cappadocia to Jerusalem [Page 214] on purpose to see the Holy City, there and Euseb. vi. hist. ii. visit the Celebrated Places of Devotion thereabouts.

And indeed this was a proper means of assisting piety by Sense. The sight of the Reliques of a Saint; his Sepulchre, his Prison, his Chains and the Inrstuments of his Martyrdom: All these made a quite different Impression upon the Mind from the bare hearing of these things spo­ken of at a distance. To which add the Miracles frequently wrought at their Tombs, which often made the Infidels themselves glad to visit them, upon the pressing Interests of their Lives and Healths. Every one knows that one of the first effects of the liberty of Christia­nity was St. Helenas care to have due Honours done to the Holy Places of the Ci­ty of Jerusalem, and throughout all the Holy Land: And from that time for­ward, the practise of going in Pilgrimage to those Places of Devotion, became more common than before. And St. Jerome, an eye Witness, assures us that there were always to be seen in the Holy City a vast Hier. ad Marcell. concourse of all sorts of Itinerant People flocking thither from all parts of the World, even Doctors and Bishops them­selves. Nor was it then so difficult a thing to take such long Journeys through the vast extent of the Roman Empire, by [Page 215] reason of the convenience of its situation all round the Mediterranean Sea, and the great Roads they had laid out in all Quar­ters for the passage of their Armies and publick Carriages: So that it was no great adventure now to pass from Spain or Gaul into Aegypt, or Palestine or Asia.

This Honour could be paid to the Mar­tyrs only in the places were they had suf­fered, till they found the way of dividing and Translating their Reliques. The Greeks generally took to that method; but at Rome St. Gregory the Pope declares Greg. iii. ep. 30. Brandea. that to his time, for the Reliques of the holy Apostles, they only sent abroad some peices of Linnen that had touched their Sepulchres, or Golden Keys which had locked up some of the fileings of St. Peter's S. Greg. ep. v. vi. vi. 23. Chains. Every Nation was careful even to a Jealousy, to keep to themselves their Reliques, as Pledges of the Protection of V. Prud. Perist. pas. sim. the Saints, and a Blessing sent from Hea­ven to the City or Province in whose Cu­stody they were lodged: Nor were the Temporal advantages they reaped from them inconsiderable: The Inhabitants were enriched by the concourse of Pilg­rims; and the veneration for the Memory of the Saints often moved the Princes to grant the right of Sanctuary, and exemp­tion from Taxes to the places where their Reliques were deposited. Every one [Page 216] knows the extraordinary Priviledges of St. Greg. Tu­ron. hist. Martin of Tours in France.

'Tis probable also, 'twas not till these Times of the Liberty of the Church that the course of the Ecclesiastical Year was brought to an exact regulation. The Question concerning the Day on which Easter▪ ought to be Celebrated, was not entirely determined till the Council of Nice, as indeed there had not till then been held any Oecumenical Council, because it was a thing impossible under the Heathen Emperors to bring together so great an Assembly of Bishops. It was in these times a received Rule not to Administer Baptism but on Easter or Witsunday, as appears by the Pope St. Leo's condemning Leo. ep. iv. the practice of the Bishops of Sicily who Baptised at Epiphany. In the same Epistle he also gives us the Reasons of the Church for instituting her Feasts, and Ap­propriating them to the different parts of the Ecclesiastical year, and how all this was done for the more solemn Comme­moration of the several Mysteries of the Life of Jesus Christ.

Nor was it till these times of Liberty that the Solemn Fasts of the Church were generally taken notice of; and more es­pecially Basil orat. i [...]. de jejun. Hier, Epi. [...]ii. ad Lae­tam. 22. ad▪ Eustoch. that of Lent Fast. No person whatsoever was dispenced with from keeping the Fast; no Condition, no Age [Page 217] could plead an Exemption. All business was laid a side: One might have seen the Chrysost. in Gen. hom. i. init. most populous Cities as still and quiet as Deserts. The faithful passed the greatest part of the Day in the Churches, praying, Reading the Scriptures, and hearing Ser­mons; whence it comes to pass, that the Office for the days of Lent is always longer than the usual Service at other times. During all that Season, there were Cele­brated no Feasts of the Martyrs, nor any Persons allowed to Marry. To the Ninth Age the Custome continued, forbearing Acts of Hostility all the time of Lent, and neither Armies to March, nor People to Travel, unless upon▪ Extraordinary Occa­sions.

ALL these Observations were but the XXXVI. The Cere­monies of Pennance. Consequences of Pennance, to which those Days of Fasting were peculiarly de­signed; and that is the reason why the Preparation of those who were to receive Baptism was reserved to the time of Lent; as was also the satisfactions which were to be made by those who were fallen after Baptism. The joyful Feasts of Christmas and Epiphany being past, they entred up­on a Course of Praying for the Remission of Sins, and of exciting Sinners to Repen­tance; as we now do from Septuagesima Sunday; for that is manifestly the design [Page 218] of all the Offices proper to that Season. The Lessons out of Genesis represent to us the Power of the Creator, his Justice and his Severity. Here we see Adam driven out of the Terrestial Paradise, the guilty old World destroyed by the Deluge, and those four infamous Cities consumed with Fire from Heaven. They whose Consci­ences were awakened by these Examples, and by the powerful Exhortations of the Prelates, apply'd themselves to them or to their Priests appointed to this Ministry; and after having made sincere Confession of their Sins, received thereupon neces­sary Instructions what they were to to do. For it belonged to the Pastor to Judge whether he who accused himself, was fit to be admitted to Pennane; what Penal­ty should be imposed, and for how long a time; whether his Pennance should be Orig. hom. ii. in ps. 38. Socr. v. hist. c. 19. secret or open, and whether it were proper for the Edification of the Church, that he should make the same Confession in publick. Young Persons were not readily admitted to Pennance by reason of the Frailty of their Age, which made them affraid their Conversion might not hold. Their Conversion was likewise suspected Innoc. i. ad Exup. c. Augu. Ser. 57. detemp. Conc. Ara. i. c. iii. Carth. iv. can. 76. 78. who did not desire Pennance till the Extre­mity of Sickness: These if they recovered were obliged to go thorow their Course of Canonical Pennance.

Many did publick Pennance without any ones knowing the Particular Sins for Aug. Epist. 118. ad Jan. Prospe. con­templ. ii. c. 7 which they did it, and many performed their Pennance in private for great Crimes, as Married Women for Adulteries com­mitted unknown to their Husbands; those S. Leo. Ep. 80. & 92. ad Rustic. c. ii. whose being exposed to publick Pennance would have occasioned too much Scandal, as Priests and others that would have lost their Lives if their Crimes had been made Publick. But to have seen Christians Fasting, Praying, Prostrating themselves upon the Earth, even out of simple Devo­tion, was then so common a sight, that none ever thought of enquiring into the particular occasions of it. The times of Pennance were either longer or shorter, according to the different usages of Churches; and those Penitental Canons which are now remaining, differ very much from one another; but the more ancient generally the more severe. St. Basil allots two years for Theft, seven for Ep. iii. Can. ad Amphi­loch. c. 56. 58, 59. 61. 64. 73. Fornication, eleven for Perjury, fifteen for Adultery, Twenty for Murder, and the whole Life for Apostacy.

They who were enjoined to do publick Pont. Rom. v. Hier. epi­taph. Fabi­olae. Pennance, applied themselves to the Arch-Priest or the Priest Penitentiary, who took down their names in writing; after that, on the first Day of Lent, they presented Sozom. vii. hist. c. 16. themselves at the Door of the Church in [Page 220] a poor and torn Habit; for such with the The Man­ners of the Israelites. in English c. 17. & 19. ancients were their Mourning Dresses: Being entred the Church, they received from the hands of the Bishop ashes to strew on their Heads and Sackcloth to cover their Bodies; thus they remained lying upon the Ground, while the Bishop with the Clergy, and all the People kneeled down and prayed for them. The Bishop made an Exhortation to let them Under­stand that he was going to drive them out of the Church for a time, as God drove Adam out of Paradise for his Transgres­sion, bidding them at the same time be of good courage, and labour in hope of the Mercy of God; then he actually put them out of the Church, and immediate­ly the Door was shut against them. The Penitents generally kept themselves close Lib. sacra­ment. Amb. i. paen. c. 16. paenit Rom. tit. i. c. 11. shut up, passing their time in Praying and mourning, save on the Festival or Station days, on which they presented themselves at the Door of the Church, and this they continued to do for some time: Afterward they were admitted to enter the Church and hear the reading of the Scriptures and the Sermon, but obliged to depart before Prayers began. After that they were admitted to join in Prayer with the faith­ful, but in a posture of Prostration. At last they were admitted to pray standing S. Elig. hom viii. as others tho' yet still they were distin­guished [Page 221] from the rest of the Congrega­tion, Conc. An­cyr. by being placed on the left side of the Church; from hence it appears there were four Orders of Penitents, the Flentes, the Audientes, the Prostrati, and the Consistentes; that is those that Pray­ed Consisten­tes. standing: And the whole course of Pennance was divided into these four States.

As for instance, he that had been guilty of willful Murder, was four years among the Flentes; that is to say, he was to come S. Bas. can. 56. to the Door of the Church at the Hours of Prayer, and to stand there, not so much as in the Porch, but in a place exposed to Ep. S. Greg. Thaum. c. i. the Weather. He was to be cloathed with Sackcloth, to have Ashes on his Head, and not to cut his Hair. Thus he stood beging of the Faithful as they en­tred into the Church to take pity on him and to pray to God for him: And so in­deed Ambros. de paenit. i. c. vii. 15. 2. c. vii. 10. they did; the whole Church in her publick Service always remembring to pray for the Penitents in particular, as she still doth during the time of Lent. The five following years he was in the rank of Auditors, He entered the Church to hear the Instructions there delivered, but so as to remain in the Vestibulum or Porch only, with the Catechumens; and to depart before the Prayers began: From thence he passed to the third Rank, and [Page 222] was admitted to join in Prayers with the Faithful, but in the same place as before, and Prostrate or lying down upon the Floor, and he went out with the Cate­chumens. After having been seven years in this State, he passed to the last, in which he remained four years, joining in Prayer with the Faithful, and standing as they did; but was not permitted to offer or Communicate with them. At last his twenty Years of Pennance being thus ac­complished, he was again received into full Communion with the Church, and admitted to the Participation of Holy things, that is the Eucharist.

The same Proportion was observed in the Fifteen Years Pennace of the Adulterer. He was four Years among the Flentes, five among the Audientes, four with the Pro­strati, and two with the Consistentes. And by this one may judge of the other sort of Offenders. Not that time alone did al­ways S. Basil. ibid. 84, 85 determine the Pennance. The Bi­shops carefully examined the Proficiency of the Penitents, and from thence took their Measures either of using them with a greater indulgence, or of deferring their Reconciliation. Their Fundamental Rule was to labour all they could for the Salvation of their Neighbour; but not so as to destroy themselves together with those who were incorrigible. The Peni­tent [Page 223] therefore did not advance from one Ambr. ii. paenit, c. 9. degree to another, but only by the apoint­ment of the Bishop: But if he dyed du­ring the course of his Pennance, before he Conc. Arel. ii. c. 23. Con. Carth. iv. c. 59. had accomplished it and received Absolu­tion; they had yet good hopes of his Sal­vation. They prayed for him, and of­fered for him the Holy Sacrifice. When the Bishop judged it proper to put a final Period to his Pennance, it was done at the end of Lent, that the Pennitent might reenter upon his Participation of the Holy Mysteries at the Feast of Easter.

On Holy Tursday the Penitents presen­ted Pont. Rom. themselves at the Door of the Church. The Bishop having offered up many Pray­ers to God on their behalf, caused them to enter, at the instances of the Arch Dea­con; representing to him that this was a time proper for Clemency, and that 'twas but reasonable that as the Church encreased the number of her Flock at that time by the new Baptized, she should take also then into her fold again the stray­ed Sheep. The Arch-Priest also interce­ded on behalf of the Penitents, and gave them his Testimonial that they were worthy to be reconciled. For to him it belonged to examine them during the time of their Penance. Then the Bishop made an Exhortation to them, putting them in mind of the mercies of God, [Page 224] and of that newness of life which they ought to live in for the time to come, requiring them in token of their Con­fent S. Elig. hom. viii. & 11. and promise thereunto to hold up their Hands. At length suffering himself to be prevailed upon by the in­treaties of the Church, and being per­swaded of the sincerity of their Conver­sion, he gave them Solemn Absolution. Then they shaved and polled themselves, quitted their Penitential habits and began to live like the other Faithful. There was without doubt great diversity in these outward Ceremonies, according to the difference of times and places. But they all tended to the same end, and had a powerful Effect to make the offender sensible of the Enormity of sin, and of the difficulty of recovering out of it; and to keep those still within bounds who as yet had preserved their Innocence. Should a Man, saith St. Austin, too easily return Serm. xxiv. de divers. to the Happiness of his first Estate, he would look upon the falling into Mortal sin as a meer Triffle.

NO. PERSON how great soever in XXXVII. Christian Princes. the World was exempt from Pennance. Princes were as Subject to it as private Persons; and the Example of Theodosius will never be forgotten in the Church. In the foregoing Ages none could have [Page 225] believed that the great ones would ever have submitted themselves to the severi­ty of the Churches Discipline. They could not possibly conceive how the Hu­mility and Mortification of a Christian could have been reconciled with absolute power and vast possessions, 'Twas this undoubtedly that made Tertullian say that Apol. c. xxi. the Caesars had become Christians long before, if they could have been at the same time Caesars and Christians; and Origen Cont. Cels. L. viii. speaks of it much after the same manner. This strange work hath God at last brought to pass in the sight of the whole World. And this is that mighty Change that gave Date to the Liberty of the Church, that period of time I am now speaking of.

Presently upon the Conversion of Con­stantine the name of Jesus Christ was written upon the Roman Ensigns, and his Cross displayed in the midst of their Ar­mys. That Instrument of the most In­famous Punishment was now turned in­to the most glorious Ornament of the Im­perial Diadem. The Emperor had an Oratory in his Palace, where he shut himself up whole Days together to read the Holy Scriptures: Observing the sta­ted Euseb. iv. vita Const. c. xvii. xxi. hours of Prayer, and more especially on Sundays, upon which he obliged the Heathens themselves to rest from their [Page 226] Labours. He caused to be carryed in his Sozom. i. Hist. c. viii. Army a Tent in the form of a Church, for singing Divine Service in and Admi­nistring the Sacraments to the Faithful; and to that purpose he was always atten­ded by some Priests and Deacons. He Euseb. iii. vita Const. c. xlvii. made Constantinople a City perfectly Chris­tian. The Eve of Easter was Celebra­ted there with a most magnificent Illumi­nation, not only within the Churches, but without. All over the City there were set up lighted Tapers, or rather Pillars of Wax, which gloriously turned the Night into Day. In the principal Squares of the City, one might have seen the Fountains adorned with the Images of the good Shepherd or of Daniel in the Lion's Den. There were no Idols or Temples of the false Gods to be found within her Walls. Who knows not how Magnificenly Con­stantine treated the Fathers of the Ni­cence Council, and the Honours he did them. He furnished them with carri­ages Euseb. iii. Vita Const. c. vi. vii. to bring them from the most Re­mote parts of that vast Empire; he defray­ed their Expences all the time of their Session, and sent them home Loaded with Presents. He burn't the Bills of Accusa­tion that had been preferred to him against the Bishops; he Kissed the Scarrs of the Confessors, that still had upon them the Socrat hist. i. c. v. viiii▪ marks of the Persecution; he entred the [Page 227] Council without his Guards, appeared there with a Modest and Respectful Air, and did not sit down till the Bishops gave him a sign. At the Conclusion of the Council he made a great Feast for them in his Palace, and sate at Table with them. Then it was that Jesus Christ was manifestly seen Reigning over the Kings of the Earth▪

Theodosius the Great, did yet more Ho­nour to Religion, and that by the practice of those vertues it requires: He was much in Prayer, apply'd himself to God in his greatest Affairs, and ascribed to him the success of his Armes: He had suffered him­self to be transported into a Passion a­gainst Theod. hist. Eccle. iv. c. 17. the Inhabitants of Thessalonica. The Sin was great, but his Repentance was Proportionable, and he valued none of the Bishops so highly as St. Ambrose; because he found none that less flattered him. His Empress hath also an high Character given her in History for her Piety, and for her Charity towards the Poor. The same Spi­rit run through the Family, but shined forth most brightly in St. Pulcheria their Grand-daughter; who at the Age of fif­teen (together with her two Sisters) Con­secrated herself to God by a Vow of Vir­ginity, and who without quiting the Court, led a Life in it so retired, so full of Business, so Religious, that the Wri­ters [Page 228] of those times compared the Palace to a Monastery, the Holiest thing they could think of.

In this School of vertue she caused to be brought up the young Emperor Theo­dosius Socr. vii. c. 22. her Brother, making him practice the same exercises of Religion with her self. He rose constantly at the dawn of Sozom. ix. c. i. Theod. iv. c. 36. the Day to join with his Sisters in singing the Praises of God, Prayed often, fre­quented the Churches, and presented them largely: He fasted often, principal­ly on Wednesdays and Fridays: His Palace was furnished with a choice Library of Ecclesiastical Writers. He had the Holy Scripture by Heart, and discoursed of it with the Bishops as readily as if he had been one of them himself. He gave a great respect to them, and had an honour for all good Christians. He caused the Re­liques of many Saints to be translated with great Pomp. He founded many Hospitals and many Monasteries.

His Sister did not only exercise him in the Practices of Religion, but caused him to be taught with the greatest care all the Accomplishments proper for an Em­peror. He had the best Masters to in­struct him in Learning, and others to teach him the Exercises of Riding and Arms. He was used to the bearing of heat and Cold, Hunger and Thirst. She her [Page 229] self Tutored him in all the Rules of De­cency, and Deportment, in his Habits, in his Gestures, in his Gate and Posture of walking: She brake his practice of falling into loud and suddain fits of Laughter; taught him how to appear (as occasion might require) either Terrible or Pleasant, and to hearken with Patience to the mat­ter before him. He was a perfect Master of his Passion, obliging humane and ten­der to a Degree of Compassion.

Such was Theodosius the younger, tho' born into an Empire in the Luxurious East, and in a very corrupt Age. The Emperor Marcian, who after his great ser­vices and long experience succeeded him in the Throne, discovered the same Piety, and the same zeal for Religion; but joined with greater Force and Capacity. There needs no other proof of his Worth than the choice St. Pulcheria made of him, who Mar­ried him only to let him into a Partner­ship with her in the Empire, but upon Condition of keeping her Vow of Virginity.

WHILE the Princes lived at this rate, XXXVIII. The Man­ners of the Clergy. one may easily imagin how eminently holy the Lives of the Bishops and their Clergy were. Yet in the outward Manner of their living, the Liberty of the Church pro­duced V. Thom. Disc. p. ii. l. i. c. 20, &c. some change, which may deserve our Consideration: 'Twas now they began [Page 230] to wear some Exteriour Badges of their pro­fession: Though to speak the Truth, the difference of Habit was scarce perceivable till after the Reign of the Barbarous Princes under whom the Clergy still kept to the Habit of the Romans, as they did to their Laws and Language.

Many embraced the way of Living in common, as being the more perfect Life; and taken from the first Church of Jeru­salem: These as far as possibly they could contrive it, Lodged all in the same House and eat in the same Hall; At least they held nothing in Propriety, subsisting only on what the Church supplied them with; so that they made one large Family, of which the Bishop was the Father: Such were the Clergy under St. Eusebius Vercel­lensis under St. Martin, and St. Austin; and these were called Canonical Clerks or Ca­nons, V. Thom. Disc. p. i. l. i. c. 56. & p. ii. l. i. c. 46. & p. iii. l. c. 28. & 51. by way of distinction from those who did not live up so strictly to the Letter of the Canons, whose service the Church nevertheless accepted of.

They who were not thus embodied, lived at least two or three of them toge­ther. The Priests who were confin'd to Churches in the Country, had with them some young Clerks whom they directed in their Studies, whose Manners they formed, and whom they kept always by them as Witnesses of their own Conversa­tion. [Page 231] Such were those young Readers who suffered Martyrdom in Africa by the Martyrol. Jul. iii. Vandals. The Bishop had also some Priest or Deacon who never stired from him, but lay always in the same Chamber with him: And this was he whom the Greeks called the Syncellus, which afterwards be­came an high Dignity. The Pope St. Gregory had none but Clerks or Monks in his Palace, and this Custom is still observ'd in the Court of Rome, where the Domestick Officers of the Pope are all in Holy Orders.

But whether the Ecclesiasticks lived in Common or separate, they were not al­low'd to have Women lodging in the same Houses with them. Among the Accusa­tions against Paulus Samosatenus, this was Conc. An­tioch. ii. an. 270. Euseb. vii. Hist. c. 10. one, that he kept in the House with him two young handsome Women whom he carried about with him where ever he went: And that he also permitted his Priests and Deacons to entertain that sort of Women whom they called Subintro­ductae. Subintro­ductae. Agae pttae. This was an abuse grown com­mon when the Church was unpersecuted; against which there are extant many Treatises of the Fathers and Regulations of the Councils. It was first Introduced upon the pretence of Charity: For these Persons who lived in this manner with the Clerks were Virgins Consecrated to God, or such others that made a particular pro­fession [Page 232] of Devotion; to whom the Clergy pretended to be instead of Fathers or Bro­thers, managing their Affairs, and doing for them those services which they could not decently do themselves, especially in places where Women rarely appeared in Publick. And these devout Women on their side, performed for their Brothers all those Domestick Offices which were con­sistent with the Honour of their Profession: For notwithstanding their Inhabiting to­gether, they pretended nevertheless to In eos qui tenent sub­intr. keep their Vow of Continence; and St. Chrysostom encountring this abuse, sup­poses that they effectually did so. He ac­cuses them only of being pleased in seeing and discoursing with each other, That the Pleasure of Conversation was more affect­ing between Persons of different Sex, that by this means they were carried on to Scandal and Indecency, and rashly expos­ed themselves to the danger of a Crime. To rectify this disorder, the unmarried V. Thom. p. i. l. i. c. 49. n. ix. V. Mend. in Conc. Elib. c. 27. Conc. Nic. cap. iii. Sev. Sulp. in vita S. Martin. Hier. on ep. ad▪ Nepot. Clerks were absolutely forbidden all habi­tation with Women that were Strangers; that is to say, all that were not very near­ly Related to them; which the Council of Nice restrained to Sisters, Mothers, and Aunts. And besides the point of Cohabi­tation, it was not thought convenient that Ecclesiasticks should have much Conver­sation with Women, though under the [Page 233] pretence of Piety; or that they should re­ceive from them their little presents of Habits, Ornaments, Fruits or other such like Refreshments, serving rather for Delight than use, which had any appearance of Voluptuousness and De­cency.

But upon the main, the Sanctity of the Ecclesiasticks was as yet very great; and though there were always among them Persons who had their weakness, and their Passions, the generality of them led Lives extreamly Virtuous and Exemplary. The World likewise did them Justice, and they were much respected. Though the Bishops made no great figure in the World as to Temporal Authority, and though they lived in a plain way as private Per­sons, without any thing of Worldly Pomp or outside shew of Grandeur; yet they were highly honoured, not only by the People, but also by the Magistrates, and even by the Princes themselves. I have before taken notice of the Honours which Constantine paid to the Fathers Assembled in Council at Nice. The Emperor Maxi­mus made St. Martin with one of his Priests eat at the same Table with him, and the Empress his Wife served them with her own Hands.

As the Custom of the Romans then was to give to all Persons in place, different [Page 234] Titles, as of Illustrious Glorious, Renowned, most Emi­nent. Illustris, Gloriosus, spectabilis, V. Pan [...]ir. in Not. Imp. Clarissimus, which were stated Appellati­ons according to the Rank and Dignity of the Persons to whom they were apply'd; so they gave to the Bishops that of Holy or blessed, to which they added that of Pious, Religious, belov'd of God, and such like. These Titles were so Appro­priated to Bishops, that they were not omitted even in the Processes made against them; as in those against Nestorius in the Council of Ephesus, and against Dioscorus in the Council of Calcedon. They were given to Heretical Bishops; and in the Conference at Carthage, St. Austin makes no scruple of saying, the most Holy Eme­ritus and the most Holy Petiliam, though though they were Donatists. It had been an affront to them to have denied them these Formalities of Respect.

The name of Papa or Pope, that signi­fies V. Bar. Not ad Martyr. x. Jan. Father, which is more especially used when one would express the Endearments of that Relation, was of a long time com­mon to all Bishops of the Latin Church, and in the Greek Church is still given to all Priests: They were treated as Lords, and nothing is more common in the four­th and fifth Ages than such like Super­scriptions as these, To the most Holy, most Pious, and most venerable Lord N. Bishop—It was as I shewed before a common [Page 235] practice for People to prostrate them­selves before them, and kiss their Feet: So that 'tis not a thing so much to be wondered at, that these extraordinary Ho­nours should be performed to the Supream Bishop, to whom the faithful have in all Ages paid a singular deference, since the V. epist. In­noc. i. inter epist. Au­gust. other Bishops treated the Pope as their Fa­ther, and he treated them again but as Brethren; as is still done. For the Church of Rome hath been of all others the most constant in preserving her ancient usages.

The regard which the Temporal Pow­ers had for the Bishops, gave them Authori­ty to take upon them the Protection of Widows, Orphans and all others whose case rendred them Objects of Compassion: Particularly they made use of their In­terest to beg the Lives of Criminals. Not but that those Holy Persons had a Zeal V. Epist. liv. August. ad Maced. for Iustice; but they knew there would be always too many left to be made ex­amples of Severity, and they laboured for the Salvation of Souls. Whether the Condemned had been Christian or not before, the favour procured to them by these hands could not but be a Powerful motive to draw them over both to Re­pentance and Baptism. And this Delight in shewing Mercy made even the Hea­thens themselves in Love with the Church.

The Church interceded also in the be­half August. E­pist 100. 133. 134. 139. edit. Nov. of her own Enemies. We have ma­ny Epistles of St. Austin where he begs the favour of the Magistrate on the be­half of Donatists convicted of horrid Vi­olences and even of Murders committed on the Catholicks. He pleaded that it Epist. 134. n. iii. iv. would dishonour the sufferings of the Murthered to put to Death the Authors of them; and that if they could find no other penalties for them but Death, they would thereby bring things to that pass that the Church, who delighted not in the Blood of her Adversaries, would not dare to demand Justice against them. This was a general Rule, that the Church was never to seek the Death of any Man. August. E­pist. lxxxxiii. ad Vincent. They were content that Christian Prin­ces should correct or overaw Hereticks by Banishment or pecuniary penalties, but they were to spare their Lives: And all the Church declared their Abhorrence of the proceeding of the Bishop Ithacius Sever. Sulp. lib. ii. Ba­ron. an. 385. who prosecuted the Arch-Heretick Pris­cillian to Death. But the Bishops could not always obtain the Pardon they de­sired for these sort of Offenders, no more than they could for others. The Princes to preserve the publick Peace, Enacted the Penalty of Death against Hereticks, and their Laws were sometimes put in L. v. L. xi. Cod. de Hae­ret. Execution.

In the midst of all these honours and the high esteem the Bishops and Clergy then had, it, was still required of them to observe the rule of Poverty. In Africa Conc. iv. Carth. c. lii. the Clergy how eminent soever they might be for their knowledg in the Word of God, were enjoyned to labour with their Hands, to Till the Ground or follow some other honest Employment, whereby they might (without any prejudice to their Function) get enough for their own Sub­sistence, that is to say, a Competency for Food and Rayment. But this one would take to be understood rather of the lesser Clerks than of the Priests and Deacons, who were suffiiciently employed other ways. Though some of them also fol­low'd V. Thomass. Disc. P. i- l. 9. c. ix. x. xi. this Apostolical Counsel. But from what Fund soever the Clergy were sup­ported, they were obliged always to shew themselves examples of a Christian Fru­gality and Moderation. The Same A­ffrican Canons give it in Direction to the Bishops, that they should content them­selves with a moderate Table, and Ordi­nary Furniture. This Rule St. Austin faithfully observed. One may guess what was his ordinary way of living, since Posidius who hath given us the History of his Life, observes this particular of him: That besides Pulse and Herbs, he would sometimes, when he had Strangers to en­tertain, [Page 238] have some Flesh-meat and Wine brought to his Table. St. Paulinus in the Paul. ep. i. in fi. same Age (he who had quitted so vast an Estate) had his Table served with Ear­thern Dishes and Wooden Porringers. Of St. Martin tis observed, that in visi­ting. Sulpit. de vita S. Mart. his Diocese he commonly Rode up­on an Ass, and was but very meanly Ha­bited. St. Lupus of Troy, St. German of Auxerne, St. Lupus of Troy, St. German of Auxerne, St. Hilary of Arles were admir­ed for their Abstinences and Fasting. Of St. Epiphanius of Pavia, 'tis Recorded, that he never used the Bath, Eat no Sup­per, and lived only on Herbs and Pulse. In the East St. Basil Eat only Bread with a little Salt, Drank nothing but Water, and never wore above one Coat. St. Gregory Nazianzen lived much after the same manner. The Enemies of St. Chry­sostom grounded one part of their Calum­nies against him, that he Eat by himself and lived very Reserved. And he him­self Censures a certain Bishop for wear­ing Hom. 9. in Epist. ad Philem. Silks; riding on Horseback, and be­ing attended with a large Retinue of Ser­vants; and that though he had a conve­nient Habitation, he could not yet sor­bear Building. Which were almost the same Accusations with those that had been laid against Paulus Samasotenus in the Age Conc. An­tioch. ii. an 270. before. He was charged with living Vo­luptuously, Eating to Excess, being too [Page 239] richly habited, and that he was attended, as he passed about the City, with a nu­merous Train; more resembing the Pomp of a Magistrate than the Plainess of a Bishop: And yet he was Bishop of An­tioch; the Capital of the East, and the third City in the World. They were so Accustomed to see their Bishops Modest and Humble, that Malicious and Indis­creet People from thence took occasion to pass harsh Censures upon such as were not altogether so reserved. St. Chrysos­tom complaines of too hard measure the Bishops met with upon this account. There are some, saith he, that think much a Bishop should go to the Bath, that he should Eat or Hom. ii. ep. ad Tit. in fi. Dress as other Men do, that he should have a Servant to Wait on him or a Mule to Ride upon. So Ammianus Marcellinus, who Amm. Ma­rc. lib. 27. was a Heathen and strangly devoted to the Old Superstitions of the Pagan Reli­gion, forbears not to expose and aggra­vate the visible difference there was at the end of the fourth Age in the manner of their Living, between the Pope of Rome and the Provincial Bishops. As if it were so strange a thing and so much to be won­dred at, that the Bishop of the Capital City of the World should have his Coach Voiture to carry him from one Quarter to another of so large a City, that he should go well Habited, and keep a good Table, to en­tertain [Page 240] the greatest Persons of the Empire. 'Tis certain however there were at the same time in the Provinces, Bishops who by the Frugallity of their Tables, the Po­verty of their Habits, and Modesty of their Looks rendred themselves amiable both in the sight of God and Man. And thus much doth this Heathen Author him­self own and declare of them; and that there were the like examples in the great Citys, is plain by the Instances I have gi­ven besides many more that might have been added.

THAT which makes this moderati­on XXXIX. The Riches of the Church. of the Bishops yet more remarkable, is the vast Riches of the Church, which immediately followed the ceasing of the Persecutions. One would hardly believe what I shall say on this Head, though the thing its self be never so certain and well attested. All the Lives of the Popes from St. Silzvester and the beginning of the fourth Age to the end of the Ninth are full of Presents made to the Churches of Rome by the Popes, by the Emperors and by some Private Persons. And these were not only guifts of Gold and Silver Plate, but Houses in Rome, and Lands in the Country; and that not only in Italy, but in divers Provinces of the Empire. I shall relate no more than what was offered [Page 241] by Constantine as Anastasius reports it from the Ancient Memoires that remain­ed to his time.

He tells us that the Emperor built and oarnamented many Churches, as first the Constantinian (the same with the Late­ran) where he bestowed these gifts; viz: A Silver Tabernacle of two thousand twenty five pound Weight, having in the front of it our Saviour seated in a Chair, five foot in Heigth, weighing one hundred and twenty pound; and the twelve Apostles each of them five foot high, and weighing fourscore pound a peice, with Crowns of the purest Silver. On the back side was another Image of our Saviour five foot high weighing an hundred and forty pound, and four Sil­ver Angels of five foot each, and an hun­dred and fifteen pound weight, set with with precious Stones. He gave also four Crowns of the purest Gold, that is cir­cles with Candlesticks in them, ornamen­ted with twenty Dolphins of fifteen pound each. Seven Altars of Silver of two hun­dred pound weight, seven Patins of Gold of thirty pound each, forty Calices of Gold of one pound each, five hundred Calices of Silver of two pound each: one hundred sixty Silver Candlestick, forty of which weighed each of them thirty pounds, the rest twenty pound apiece▪ [Page 242] And many other Vessels. In the Baptistery the Cistern or Font was of Porphyry, o­verlaid with Silver to the weight of three thousand and eight pounds. In it was placed a Golden Lamp of thirty pound weight, in which were burning at once two hundred pounds of sweet Oyl; a Golden Lamb of thirty pound weight pouring out the Water; the Image of our Saviour of the purest Silver, five foot high, and of an hundred sixty two pound weight, and on his left Hand a St. John Baptist in Silver of an hundred pound weight, and seven Silver Harts casting forth with Water, each of eight hundred pound, set with two and forty rich Stones. All that he gave to the Church and to the Baptistery amounted to six hundred seventy eight pound weight of Gold, nineteen thousand six hundred seventy three of Silver: And there going but twelve ounces to the Ro­man pound, the whole amounts to one thousand and seventeen Marks of Gold, and twenty nine thousand five hundred Marks of Silver, which comes to about twelve hundred thousand Livers, besides the Make or fashion; counting the Mark of Gold at three hundred Livers, and the Mark of Silver at thirty Livers- Besides all this Constantine gave to the same Church and Baptistery in Houses and Lands to the Yearly value of thirteen [Page 243] thousand nine hundred thirty four Sols of Gold which comes to more than fourscore thousand Livers per. annum. Counting the Golden Sol but at six Livers. And all this was given to that one Church, the Lateran.

He built seven others also at Rome, that of St. Peter, St. Paul, the Holy Cross of Jerusalem, St. Agness, S. Laurence, St. Peter and St. Marcellinus. He made also great presents to that of St. Silvester's founding. He caused to be built also one Church at Ostium, another at Albanum, another at Capua, and another at Naples What he gave to all the Churches in Gold and Silver Plate amounted to one thousand three hundred fifty nine Marks, and four ounces of Gold and twelve thou­sand four hundred thirty seven Marks of Silver, which comes to near upon seven Hundred Fourscore Thousand Livers besides the Make, The Yearly Reve­nues, with which he endowed them a­mounted to seventeen thousand seven hun­dred and seven Solls of Gold, that is, to more than an hundred thousand Livers, and to the value of above twenty thou­sand Livers in divers sorts of Perfumes which the Lands in Egypt were obliged to furnish in Specie, and that counting them, but according to the price they now bear, which is incomparably less [Page 244] than what it was then. The Church of St. Peter, at Rome for example, had Hou­ses in Antioch and the adjacent Country, it had Estates belonging to it at Tarsus in Cilicia, at Alexandria and throughout all Egypt; nay, it had them lying as far distant as in the Province of Euphrates, and part of the Lands stood charged to supply the Church with a certain quan­tity of the Oyl of Nard, Balm, Storax, sweet Cane, Saffron, and other precious Drugs for the use of the Censers and Lamps.

To these we may add the Churches V Euseb. de vitae Const. lib. iii. c. 34. 35, &c. c. 50. lib. iv. c. 58, 59. that Constantine and St. Helena his Mo­ther caused to be built at Jerusalem, at Bethlehem, and over all the Holy-Land. That of the twelve Apostles, and the o­thers which he founded at Constantinople; for he was the Founder of all the Churches there; that at Nicomedia, that at Anti­och which was proportionable to the Grandeur of the City: To these we may subjoin the Liberalities he bestowed on the ibid. iv. 28. Churches throughout the Empire. We may add further the Donations of the fol­lowing Emperors, the Gifts of the Gover­nours of Provinces, and of all the other great Lords who became Christians; the Benefactions of those Religious Matrons who quitted great Estates to embrace Christian Poverty, as St. Paula at Rome, [Page 245] and St. Melania; St. Olympias at Constan­tinople, and many others; to these in the last place we may reckon the Gifts of the Bishops, between whom there was a Pi­ous Emulation of exceeding each other in adorning and enriching their Churches. After all this one may judge how rich the Churches of the Capital Cities were in those large Provinces which we now count for great Kingdoms: Thus we may see that the Church of Alexandria was Pro­digiously rich in the time of St. John the Almoner, by the account we have of his Pious management of those vast Revenues and the large Charities he bestowed out of them. We may see in St. Gregories Epistles what pains and trouble the Patri­monies of the Church of Rome gave him, dispersed abroad in so many Countries, in Sicily, in Spain, in France; the care he took that the Slaves who were employed Vita Greg, per Jo. Di­ac. lib. ii. c. 55, &c. in the Tillage of them should be well used, and the Revenues applied to the Relief of the Poor of the Countries where they lay. Nothing of all this will appear incredible to any one that is the least acquainted with the Grandeur and Wealth of the Roman Empire, where it was a common thing for private Persons to Bequeath to F. de instr. & instrum leg. their Friends whole Towns Inhabitants and all; besides, there were great Estates Appropriated to the Worship and Or­namenting [Page 246] of the Idols. There were great sums yearly expended upon their Sacrifices, Plays and other Ceremonies of the false Religion. It was easy for a Christian Government to enrich the Church with what used to be flung away upon these Vanities. But one of the grand Funds out of which the Churches were endowed, were the Christians Estates Euseb. vita Const. ii. c. 35, &c. which had been Confiscated during the Persecution.

These Goods and great Estates belong­ing Con. Anti­och an. 341 can. ult. to the Church, were entirely at the disposal of the Bishops: But the holy Prelates of those times were so far from be­ing over pleased with their Possessions, that they complained of them, and would Thom. Dis. part i. l. iii. c. xi. have been glad to have seen those Days again in which the Church stood in need of no more than the daily Offerings of the Faithful, for the supporting of their Poor, their Clergy, and for all the other occasions of the Church. St. Austin frequently of­fered to restore his Church-lands, but his People would not accept of them. St. John Chrysostom upbraids the Christians of his Time, that they had by their Co­vetousness and hard Heartedness forced the Bishops to procure settled Revenues to their Churches, least their Virgins, Wi­dows and other Poor should Perish for want, if (as in the Primitive times) they [Page 247] had nothing else to depend upon but ca­sual Alms: From hence (saith he) come Chrysost. in Mat. xxvii. 10. hom. 85. two inconveniencys; You your selves live unprofitably, and the Priests of God are bu­sied in concerns Foreign to their-Function. And a little after. You make Stewards, Far­mers and Overseers of your Bishops; and in­stead of minding nothing but the saving of your Souls, they are every Day disturbed with what ought to be the business of Receivers and Treasurers: And again, Your uncharitable­ness makes us Ridiculous, for we are obliged to leave our Prayers, instructing the People and other Parts of our Holy Employment, to be always treating with Vintners, Corn Mar­chants and those who sell other Provisions. So that People have given us names which are fitter for Men of a Secular Character. Yet they found out ways to disengage them­selves from the trouble of managing their temporal Affairs. They entrusted the care of them at first with Arch-deacons, and af­terwards with Stewards appointed for that very purpose. And to ease themselves even in the works of Charity its self, they procured of their Princes to have estab­lish'd Conc. Car­thag. in every City a defender of the Church and the Poor, whose Office it was to protect the Church, and sollicit for the Poor.

A CONSIDERABLE part of the Goods of the Church was employ'd in the found­ing XL. Hospitals. and maintaining of Hospitals: For now it was they began. The Govern­ment of the Greeks and Romans went a great way in making Laws against Idle­ness, and keeping their Countries clear of sturdy Beggars and Vagrants; but we find no pulick Provision for such poor Creatures as were able to do nothing: They thought it was better for them to dye than live unprofitably and wretched; and that if they had any thing of Spirit or Courage in them, they would fairly dispatch themselves. The Christians aiming principally at the saving Peoples Souls, neglected none of them; and those who were most abandoned by others, they thought best deserving of their Care. They provided not only for their own Poor, but even for those also of the Hea­then. This Julian the Apostate testifies Julian. ep. ult. Asacio. of them, (not without shame) command­ing Hospitals to be erected, and Contri­butions raised for the maintenance of the Poor, after the manner of the Christians. There were two ways of relieving the Poor, the one by distributing Alms among Baron. ad Marryrol. viii. Aug. them, leaving it unto themselves to shift for their Lodgings. To this purpose there was in every quarter of Rome a place called the Diaconium, which was a sort [Page 249] of Office for the management of these Alms. A Deacon always resided there, Greg. ix. epist. 24. and received from time to time a certain sum of Money to be faithfully distribu­ted by him amongst the Poor, for which he was accountable. The other way of relieving the Poor, and that far better too, was both to lodge and to feed them toge­ther in Common: For this purpose as soon as the Church had its Liberty, there were several Houses of Charity built, all which we call by the common name of Hospitals, but in Greek they had different Appellations according to the different Qualities of the Poor for whom they were appointed.

The House for Infants exposed, or o­therwise wanting that Relief, was called V. l. 19. l. 21. Cod. de Sacros. Ec. cl. the Brephotrophium; that of Orphans, Or­phanotrophium, the Nosocomium was an Hospital for the Sick; Xenodochium Log­ings for Strangers or Passengers: And this is that which in Latin is properly called Hospital, an House of Entertainment for Strangers. The Gerontocomium was a retreat for Aged Persons. Ptochotrophium was common to all sorts of Poor: But there were also such Houses of Charity Aug. in Jo. tract. 97. before they had these names given them; There were many of them quickly erected in all great Cities. It was ordinarily some Priest that had the Overseeing of them. [Page 250] As at Alexandria St. Is [...]dorus under the Patriarch Theophilus. At Constantinople St. Baron. ad 31. Dec. & 27. Jun. Zoticus, and after him St. Sampson: There were also some private Persons who erected Hospitals at their own Expences, as St. Pammachius at Porto, and St. Gallicanus at Ostia. This St. Gallicanus was a Patrician, Martyr. 25 Jun. and had been Consul; and 'twas a sight that drew Spectators from all parts to see a Person of his Rank and Quality, one that had worn the Triumphal Ornaments, and could have boasted of his Friendship with the Emperor Constantine, to see I say such a Person washing the Feet and the Hands of the Poor, waiting upon them at Table and giving the Sick all sort of assistance. The holy Bishops thought no expences too great that were bestowed upon so good purposes: Besides, they took great care about the Burial of their Poor, and the Redemption of Captives who had been taken by the Barbarians, as it often hap­pened in the Declension of the Roman Em­pire: For these two last sorts of Charity they sold, even the communion Plate, not­withstanding the Priviledge of Appropria­tion. The instance of St. Exuperius Bi­shop Hiron. ad Rustic. & [...] Sept. of Tholose is very remarkable, who reduced himself upon this score to such a degree of Poverty, that he carried the Bo­dy of our Saviour in a little Basket, and his Blood in a Calice of Glass. And St. [Page 251] Paulinus Bishop of Nola having sold all, Gregor. iii. Dialog. c. i. ii. made himself a Slave to ransom the Son of a certain Widow; so that those vast Treasures of the Churches, the Gold and Silver with which they were Ornament­ed, were deposited in the nature of a Trust till pressing Occasions, as a publick Calamity, a Petilence, a Famine, or the like, should require it; every thing gave place to the providing for the living Tem­ples Jo. Diac. vita S. Greg. lib. iv. cap. xliii. of the Holy Ghost. They redeemed also such as lived in Slavery at home, or within the Empire, especially such as were Christian Slaves to Pagan or Jewish Mas­ters.

IN the last place, it was after the XLI. Monasteries. Church had gained its Liberty, that they began to found Monasteries, Under the Persecutions many Christians had retired into the Deserts: Principally those adjoyn­ing to Aegypt; and some passed the re­mainder Hier. vita. S. Pauli. of their Lives in them, as St. Paul, who is reckoned the first Hermit. St. Anthony having for some time lead the Ascetique life near the place of his Nativity, withdrew himself afterward into the Desert, that he might with grea­ter freedom and security pursue his re­ligious Exercises, upon being removed out of the Reach of all Temptations which might be occasioned by Society. He was [Page 252] the first that gathered Disciples toge­ther in the Wilderness, and there obli­ged them to live in common. They were now no longer called simply Asce­ticks, though in effect they led the same Life; but went by the name of Monks, that is to say, Solitaries, or Hermits, to wit, those that inhabit the Wilderness. Those who lived together were termed Caenobites; and those who having lived a long time in common and there learn't to conquer their Passions, and afterwards retired to a more absolute Solitude they called Anchoretes. And yet the Caenobites themselves lived very Solitary, seeing no Soul but their own Fraternity; being at the distance of many Days Journy from all inhabited Places, in sandy Deserts, whither they were forced to carry all ne­cessaries, even their very Water. Nor did they so much as see one another save only in the evening and in the Night at their stated hours of Prayer, spending all the Day at work in their Cells either a­lone, or two and two together, and al­ways in profound Silence. Besides, as in those vast Solitudes, they were not streightned for want of Room, so their Cells stood at a considerable distance one from another.

St. Anthony, St. Hilarian, St. Paco­mus, and the others that followed their [Page 253] Examples did not pretend to introduce Novelties or outdoe all that ever went be­fore them. Their design was only to keep up the exact practise of the Christi­an Religion which they saw every Day more and more declining. They always proposed the Asceticks that went before them for their Examples. As in Aegypt, those Disciples of St. Mark, who (as Cassian relates) lived in the Suburbs of Cass. ii. Jnst. v. 18, Coll. v. Alexandria, close shut up in their Houses, Spending all their time in Praying and Meditating upon the Holy Scriptures; labouring with their Hands all Day and never eating but at Night. They pro­posed for their imitation the Primitive Church of Jerusalem, the Apostles them­selves and the Prophets. Twas not an Hier. ad Paulin. item ad Rustic. Affectation to make themselves admired for the extraordinariness of their Methods, but an honest intention of leading the li­ves of good Christians. This one may see through the whole Rule of St. Basil, which is indeed no more than an Abridgement of the Duties of a Christian who would lead his Life according to the Precepts of the Gospel, and which he lays down in general to all sorts of Persons. He saith, S. Basil reg. fas. n. xxii. for example, as to Habits, that a Christi­an ought to content himself with such Cloathing as is sufficient for Decency, and to defend the Body against Cold and [Page 254] the other injuries of the Air; but to be as little incumbred as possible: And there­fore to be content with one Garment both for Day and Night, a thing in the Coun­try where he lived not impracticable. There is very little in his Rule which is perculiar to Monks separate from the rest of the World.

That which was singular in the Monks was their Renouncing of Marriage, and Chrysost. ad fidel. patr. the Possession of Temporal goods, and their Separating themselves from conver sation with the rest of the World, either of the Faithful themselves or their nearest Relations. As to the rest they acted but the part of good Laicks living by their Cass. Instit. v. c. 12. 16. &c. & 6. c. 7. Labours, in silence, and exercising them­selves in getting the Mastery over their Passions by degrees: So that having, as 1. Cor. ix. 25. 2 Tim. ii. 5. [...]. Matth. v. viii. St. Paul expresses it, like resolute Com­batants Striven for the Mastery, and Stri­ven Lawfully, they might arrive to that Purity of Heart which might render them fit to see God- Upon these Principles were all their Methods and Practises foun­ded. St. Chrysostom gives us a Memora­ble History of a Young Man, whose Mo­ther Ad fidel. patr. was desirous that he should become a good Christian, and prevailed with a Vertuous Monk to take him into his Tu­ition. This Holy Man to Instruct him more perfectly in the Duties of Religion, [Page 255] causes him to practise in Private all the exercises of the Monastick Life, without making any open Shew or Professi­on of it, and still leading in appearance the common Life. Their continued course of Fastings tended in the first place to Cass. Jn­stit. lib. v. subdue the Sin of Gluttony; and then to prevent the Temptations of Impurity, to render the Soul more free and Serene, and in a proper condition to apply herself to Spiritual things. However they used Jdem. Coll. ii. c. 1. 7. &c. discretion in the matter, and took care to keep the Body in sufficient Plight to bear up with their continual Labours and short Sleeps, without prejudicing their Health; so that they lived to a very great Age without any Sickness or Diseases. In the Lives of the Fathers we meet with a great number of these Monks that lived to fourscore or fourscore and ten Years; some to an hundred, and others more. These examples we chiefly meet with a­mong the Aegyptan Monks, who were the most admired for their Wisdome; and who, after mature Deliberations upon long Experience, came to this conclusion, that the Dyet▪ of the Monks should be Cass. Coll. ii. cap. xix. limited to the eating of only two little Loaves a Day of six ounces a piece, and that not till after three a Clock, and to the drinking of nothing but Water. So­litude they used as a remedy against the [Page 256] Incitements of Impurity and Avarice, en­deavouring as much as was possible to loose the very Remembrance of objects that might excite such Temptations. They also conquered Avarice by their extream Poverty and by sticking close to their Rule of having nothing of their own and of distributing to the Poor out of the gains of every Days Labour, all that remained over and above their own Subsistence. And so considerable were De Mor. Eccl. i. c. lxvii. these Alms (as St. Austin reports) that they Fraighted whole Vessels with them. Lastly, they combated the passion of An­ger by their Silence, and by keeping such Company as obliged them to bear with one another; sloth they encounte­red by continuall Labours; Sadnefs, by Prayer and singing of Psalms; Pride and V. Chrysost. Hom. lxxii. in Matth. Vanity, by the practise of an absolute O­bedience and severe Mortification.

There were also some Monks that wrought in Husbandry, and for hire in the Harvest and Vintages, promiscuously with other Labourers: But the more perfect of them found their Thoughts too much scat­tered by these Employments, and shut Cass. Col­lat. xxiv. de Mortific. c. iii. iv, &c. themselves up in their Cells making Rush-Mats, Wicker Baskets, and such like things, which did not take them off from Meditating upon the Scriptures, and keep­ing their Souls always intent upon God. [Page 257] There were none of them without some Business or other, and the least was Tran­scribing Books: However the greatest Part of them did not give themselves to Study, and many of them could not so much as Read. This way of living being so poor, so laborious and mean to outward appearance brought them under the con­tempt of Libertines, and even of some Chrysos. ad­vers. vitup. Christians themselves. They made lewd Jests of them; they sometimes proceeded to violence, even so far as to strike the Monks, to drag them out of their Cells, and hawl them before the Magistrates: But all this served only to make their Humility and Patience more remarkable. They were so much loved and respected by all under­derstanding People, and not only by the Vulgar, but even by Persons of Quality; nor by the Laity only, but also by the Priests and Bishops themselves; that those of the greatest Sanctity and Capacity a­mong them were often thought fit to be advanced to some Publick Ministry in the Church, or even to the Episcopal Dignity. Then they quitted their Monastry and re­turned to the Commerce of the World; living the same Life with the rest of the V. Cass. xvii. Collat. 21. ad fidel. pa­tr. Clergy. We see nothing of solemn Vows in these first times. St. Chrysostom speaks of a Monk's returning to the World as a thing of Freedom: He advises a Father to [Page 258] engage his Son in this Holy manner of Life, as soon as he should come to be in a state of Sinning, at about ten Years of Age, and to let him continue in it for the Space of Ten or twenty Years, till he was per­fected and established in goodness. He himself quitted the Monastick Life at the end of five Years, for the recovery of his Health. But one may see by the Repri­mand he gives his Friend Theodorus, how much those were to blame, who through lightness, disgust, or any other unwarant­able motive took leave of their vertue and a Monastick Life together. The Church put them under Pennance, but as for Civil Punishments they had none but the dis­grace of their Inconstancy.

The Sanctity of the Monastick Life ap­peared with such a Lustre, that within V. Chrysost. hom. in ep. ad Timoth. August. de Mor. Eccl. i. c. lxvii. Hier. praef. in reg. S. Pacom. & epist. ad Eustoch. a short time there spread all over the East many thousands of Monks and Monaste­ries. The Rule of St. Pacomus alone had under it fifty thousand Monks, distribu­ted into several Houses under the Govern­ment of one Abbot, who all met together at Easter to Celebrate the Christian Pass­over. The Founding of these kind of Monasteries met with no difficulty; they had neither Lands nor Possessions to make Chrysost. ad fid. patr. them envy'd: There wanted neither Permission, nor Assistance to those that had a mind to forsake all and retire into unin­habited [Page 259] places, and build themselves little Wooden Cells there, or of Reeds, or what the place afforded; to confine themselves to Silence and Labour, and so to live not only not burdensome to any, but to be very serviceable also to the publick, by those good Works and Charities before menti­oned. These Monasteries did in time so Act. Conc. v. can. 53. multiply, and spread themselves, that there were of them also in inhabited places, and in the Neighbourhood of great Gities. Thus it was not thought reasonable that in plentiful Countries, as Italy, Sicily and Greece, they should be debarr'd the Privi­lege. But in what publick places soeve they were, the Monks still kept to their solitary way, confined themselves to their Cloysters, and punctually observed their Rule of Silence.

When they were near enough to the Cities, they came to the publick Church to hear the Instructions of the Bishop, and to participate of the Holy Mysteries. They had their place allotted them separate from the rest of the Congregation, as the Vir­gins and the Widows had theirs: But this Ambros. ad virg. laps. c. vi. hindred them not to have in their own Houses Oratories, where at the stated Hours they all met together and Prayed in common. They that lived farther from Towns, had among them Priests to per­form Divine Service and Administer the [Page 260] Sacraments; and at last it was found con­venient that every Monastery should have in it one Priest at least, and one or two Deacons; and this Priest was often their Abbot. Thus having no occasion to go abroad, they were shut up in their Mo­nasteries as the Dead in their Sepulchres: This was the pretence that Arch-Heretick Eutiches made for his not appearing at the Con. Chalc. Act. Council of Chalcedon.

There were also Monasteries for Women, or Nunneries in the Deserts, where they a­bode within Convenient distance of the Monks to receive mutual assistance from each other by their Neighbourhood, & yet so far asunder as to avoid all danger and Scandal. The Monks built the Nuns their Cells, and helped them in their most labo­rious Works; the Nuns made the Monks Cloaths, and did them other such-like Services. But all this Commerce of Cha­rity was managed by some aged Persons appointed for that purpose; none else be­ing suffered to go near the Nunneries. There were also many of these Nunneries founded in Cities, where all the Virgins Consecrated to God, lived in Communi­ty, who before lived separate in private Houses. The Nuns of Aegypt and Syria Hier. epist. 48. ad Sa­binian. Baron. ad Martyr. 20 Sept. cut off their Hair for cleanliness sake; in other places they kept it on: The practice of Antiquity in these Cases being different.

The Bishops who made their Clergy live in common, took their Method of living from the Monks; and as much as the active Life of the Clergy would permit, they conformed themselves to it, so that these Communities were often called also by the name of Monasteries, and in time they were quite confounded one with the other. In the Fifth Age the greatest part Thom. Disc. ii. part. l. i. c. 34, 35, 36. of the Bishops and Priests of Gaul, and of the West, practiced the Monastick Life and wore the Habit. The Pope St. Gre­gory was taken out of a Monastery, where upon quitting the grandeur of this World Jo. Diac. lib. ii. c. xi. he had shut himelf up; but notwith­standing his Advancement, he still kept to the Monastick Life, and filled his Pa­lace with Pious Monks, out of whom he made many of his great Bishops, and a­mong the rest St. Austin the Monk, with the other Apostles of England.

The true use of the Monastick Life was to improve and perfect such unspotted Souls as had preserved the Innocence of their Baptism; or such Converted Sin­ners as desired to Purify themselves by Repentance. 'Twas for this end they re­ceived into their Monasteries Persons of all Ages and Conditions: Young Children, whom their Parents were for placing early out of the danger of the World; Old Persons, who desired to end their [Page 262] Lives Religiously; Marryed Men, whose Wives also had consented to the same way of Living. In the Rule of St. Fruc­tuosus Cod. Regul. Arch-Bishop of Braga, we find Re­gulations for all these Persons. They who for their Sins were obliged by the Canons to do Penances of many Years, found it undoubtedly much more Commodious to pass them in a Monastery, where the example of Living in Common, and the Consolations received from those more advanced in Years, might somewhat ease their Sorrows; than to Live at large un­der them in the wide World, where they could not avoid being singular and Point­ed at. So that the Monastery became a kind of Prison or Exile, with which great Persons were often punished; of which we have examples in France under the two first Lines of our Kings, and in the East from the sixth Age.

THE Monastick Life is a sensible XLII. The Mo­nastick life com­pared with that of the first Chris­tians. proof of the Providence of God, and of the care he hath taken to preserve in his Church to the end of all Ages, not only purity of Doctrine, but also Holiness of Life. If we call to mind what hath been said of the Christian Life in the second part of this Treatise, and compare it with the Rule of St. Bennet, and with the pre­sent usages of the well-regulated Mo­nasteries, [Page 263] we shall find that there is but little difference between them.

I have prov'd there that those Christ­ians looked upon Religion as their main Concern, making all the Affairs of this Life subservient to it: And thus it is with the Monks who sequester themselves from the world that they may be at more liber­ty to mind the most necessary Poynt. And for this Reason they are called The Reli­gious, a name common at first to all good Christians. The Monks, Asceticks and Virgins had also the name of Devotes giv­en them, from their being entirely De­voted to God.

Those first Christians were very frequent both in Publick and private Prayer, com­ing as near as possibly they could to the Rule of Praying always: the Psalmody is no-where better Regulated, nor more ex­actly observed than in the Monasteries, where it still continues the same as St. Benet set it above eleven hundred Years ago. The Monks having nothing to divert them from the exercises of Reli­gion, have kept up the Practice more ex­actly than even the Clergy themselves. 'Tis supposed they reduced the Office into the form, in which it hath stood now for a long time; at least they added the Prime and Complin, which at first were only private Prayers for every Christian [Page 264] Family, or every Monastery to make use 3 Instit. iv. vi. of at their own Houses, to sanctifie the be­ginning and ending of the Day. Cassian declares that this Establishment was but new in his Days. In all this the Canons are to be esteemed as a sort of Monks; and so indeed in the beginning they were, being then all of them Regulars. The Primitive Christians received the Com­munion very often; fo do the Monks for the most part. Ruffinus tells us the Dis­ciples of St. Apollonius Communicated S. Basil. ep. 289, ad Caesar. Patr. every Day. The Monks kept up for a long time the Ancient custom of having the Eucharist always lying by them to Communicate themselves, when they should want a Priest to Administer it. 'Twas perhaps for want of this Precaution, Chrysost. Hom. xvii. in Epist. ad Hebr. that some continued for the space of two whole Years without receiving the Sa­crament.

Those Primitive Christians spent much of their time in Reading the Holy Scrip­tures: The Rule of St. Benet prescribes Reg. S. Ben. c. xlviii. the same to his Monks, and more parti­cularly that all the time of Lent, and on all Sundays, they should apply themselves wholly to this Exercise. For on other Days, they spent much of their time in the labour of their Hands, of which Pract­ice some traces are still remaining; though [Page 265] it must be confessed, that of all the Mo­nastick customs this is the least continued. Silence was necessary (as is said before) to avoid the common sins of the Tongue, so frequent amongst Men, and yet so much condemned in the Scriptures; as Reviling, evil Reports, indecent Rallery, foolish Jesting, vain, Impertinent and un­profitable Discourses; and 'tis observable that the best-Regulated Monasteries are those wherein the rule of Silence is most rigorously observed. The names of Fa­ther or Brother according to the diffe­rence of Age or Quality, were of Old the common Appellations among Christians. They were very Obedient to their Pre­lates and to those that had an Authority over them; they were closely cemented in Union among themselves; forward in exercising Hospitality towards their Bre­thren and liberal in their Alms to the Poor of what sort soever. All this we see still Practised in the Monasteries.

BUT, mayn't it be said, If the Monks XLIII. The Rea­sons of the External singulari­ties in the Monks. pretend to no more than to live like good Christians, Why do they affect such sin­gularities and distinctions from the rest of the World? Why do they so distinguish themselves from their Neighbours in mat­ters which are Indifferent? What means [Page 266] this singularity in Habit and Figure? Those Peculiarities in their way of Eating, their hours of Sleep, the manner of their Lodging, in a Word, all that which makes them look as if they were a diffe­rent Race of Men from the rest of Man­kind, another sort of Christians scat­tered among all other Christian Nations? And why such Diversities amongst the different Orders of the Religious? And all in matters neither commanded nor forbidden by the Word of God. Doth not all this look as if they had a mind by their Extraordinary out-side, to strike the imagination of the People, thereby the better to gain Respect and Advantage? This is what manye imagin within them­selves, and some speak out expresly. But these Rash Censures proceed from their want of knowledg in Antiquity; for if one will be at the pains of examining in­to these Exteriour Distinctions of the Monks, and the other Religious, he'll find that they are only the remains of ancient Manners which have been throughout the course of many Ages faithfully preserved by them, while in the rest of the World they have undergone wonderful altera­tions.

To begin with their Habits. St. Benet Reg. S. Ben. c. lv. saith that the Monks ought to be content [Page 267] with a Tunique, a Cowl, and a Scapulary Vilia ven­dentem tu­nicato Scru­ta popello, Hor. i. Epist. vii. for them to work in. The Tunique with­out a Cloak had a long time been the Ha­bit of the meaner sort of People; and the Cowl was a kind of Hood worn by Peasants and Poor Labourers. This Accoutrement Pullo Mae­vius alget in cucullo, Mart. for the Head being a good sence against the Cold, became afterwards common to all sorts of Persons, and so continued in these parts of Europe till about two hundred Years ago. Not only the Clergy and Men of Letters, but also the Nobility and Courtiers had their Capuches and Hoods of several sorts and fashions. The Cucullus mentioned in the Rule of St. Be­net served instead of a Cloak. Thus what the Cistertian Monks call the Cowle, (the name importing as much) and the Be­nedictines the Frok, they are of the same Original, being both derived from the Old Cucullus. St. Benet gives them also a Scapulary to work in: It was much wider and shorter than they wear it now, and served, as the name implies, for the carrying burdens upon their shoulders, and to preserve their Tunique. This Scapulary had its Capuche or Hood as well as the Cucullus. And these two Ha­bits were not worn both at the same time; the Scapulary, when they were at Work in their own Monasteries; the Cucullus, or Cowle, at Church, or when they went [Page 268] abroad. Afterwards the Monks came to look upon their Scapulary as the most Essential part of their Habit; so that they they never left it off, but wore their Frock or Cowle over it.

It appears therefore that St. Benet gave his Monks no other Habits, but such as were then commonly worn by the Poor­er sort of People in his Country. They were scarce any other way Distinguisha­ble than by an entire uniformity among themselves, being all of them clothed ex­actly alike; which was but necessary, that so the same Suits might serve indiffe­rently for all the Monks of the same Con­vent. Now 'tis no wonder that in the Course of eleven hundred Years, there should be some Diversity found, as to the colour and shape of their Habits, be­tween the same order of Monks that fol­low the rule of St. Benet; considering the different Countries into which they spread, and the several Reformations made of them in several places. And as for the other Religious Orders that have been founded within five hundred Years last past, they have kept to the same Ha­bits which they found in use in their Times. The greatest part wear no Lin­nen Shirts, which to us now-a-Days seems a severe Prohibition. But the wearing of Linnen Shirts was not of common use till [Page 269] long after St. Benet. In Poland they are not worn to this Day; and throughout all Turkey they use no Sheets, and but half undress for Bed, lying in their Draw­ers; tho' even before the use of Linnen-Sheets, 'twas the common custom to go into the Bed Stark naked, as is still done in Italy. And therefore their Rule obliges the Monks to Sleep in their Cloaths, without putting off so much as their Girdle.

As for their Diet I have before observ'd, that it was an ordinary thing not only for Christians, but also for the most rational Persons among the Heathens themselves to live on Pulse and Fish, and that 'twas a common custom with them to have some Book read to them as they sat at Meals. I have also observed that Christians did keep many private Fasts, besides the more solemn ones of the Church, and that they made long Graces both before and after Meat. So that herein St. Benet hath prescribed nothing singular or extraordi­nary; on the contrary he was so indulg­ent as to permit his Monks two different Dishes of Meat and a little Wine. The Reg. S. Ben. c. 39. & 40. Hours of Eating and Drinking observed by the Monks were the same all the World over, till this last Age. They Dined at Phil. Com. nine or ten in the Morning, as the greatest part of labouring People still do; and Sup't [Page 270] at six at Night. Those civil Regulations Conf. ord. concerning the Couvrefeu, and the limited Hours of working at the Forge, shew that they reckoned the hours of rest and sleep from eight of the Clock at Night to four in the Morning, which is the most equal Rule of taking the middle of the Night for sleep, and losing as little as is possible of the Day.

That the Dormitory should be without Partitions of Cells, as is directed by the Rule of St. Benet, is no more than what their Living-in-common in a strict Sense properly requires; for this is properly to Live in common, to Sleep all in the same Chamber and Dine all in the same Hall: Besides, by this means their Poverty appeared more undisguised, and their Vertue was better guarded. It was easy for their Superior with one Glance of his Eye, to observe whether any thing passed there contrary to Modesty; besides, their Rule farther required, that there should be Lights always in the Dormitory, and that every single Bed which consisted on­ly of a Mat and a Coverlet, should be placed in full view. This fashion is still kept up in Hospitals, and 'tis certain was very ancient among Christians; and the Cells likewise (or every one's having his little Apartment to himself) are of very ancient usage. But with the first [Page 271] Monks of the Deserts, these Cells were only little Hutts or Cottages where they dwelt separately, such as those of the Car­thusians and the Camaldoli, and though there lodged two or three Monks toge­ther under the same Roof, yet they chang­ed not their name; and therefore we find that the lesser Monasteries, which we now commonly call Priories, passed for a long time under the name of Cells; they were also called Casae. Both the one and the other of these names seem to have been taken up from the lodgings of Slaves: For the Monks in their way of living, chose to imitate the condition of the poorest and most despicable of Mankind.

Besides, methinks I can trace in our Monasteries the Model of the old Roman ways of Building, as 'tis described in Vi­truvius and Palladius. Their Church, that it might be free and convenient for Secu­lars, was always in the front of the Mo­nastery, and seems to have succeeded in the stead of the first Hall, which the Ro­mans called the Atrium: From thence you pass into a Court surrounded with cover'd Galleries, to which they ordinarily gave the Greek name of Peristilium; and this is the proper Cloister it self, into which was a passage from the Church, and out of which you are led into the other parts of the House; as the Chapter-house which [Page 272] was for Exedra of the ancients; the Refec­tory or Triclinium, and the Garden which ordinarily stands behind all the rest, which was the way of the ancients.

But let that be as it will, certain it is, that those Holy Persons, who formed their Rules for the Monks, had no design of introducing Novelties, or of distinguish­ing themselves by the singularities of their Methods. That which makes the Monks appear now so strange and extraordinary, is the change of other Mens Manners; as the most ancient buildings are become singular, because they are the only Fa­bricks left us that have stood for so many Ages. And as the more judicious any Architect is, so much the more curious is he in finding out the imperfect remains of those old Buildings, as well knowing that that the Art of Building hath in these last Ages been recovered only by the imitation of these excellent Models: So Christians ought exactly to observe the Practice of the most regular Monasteries, to give them a view of the best examples of a life truly Christian. I know there is scarce any thing which the length of time hath not somewhat impaired; so there is no old building which time hath entirely spar­red, and of many-a-one there remains no­thing but mishapen Ruins; and yet by taking an exact view even of these Ruins, [Page 273] and examining the very least Fragments of these precious Antiquities, and then by comparing them with their Histories in the Books of the Ancients; we come at the same time both to understand the true proportions of the whole Fabrick, and the true sense of the ancient Writings. After the same manner great use might be made of our Enquiries into the Monastick prac­tices, if together with them we also read the Rules of the Founders of the several Orders, the old Canons, the writings of the new Testament, and the lives of the Saints of all Ages. In the mean time it cannot be denied but that the Monasteries have been the Repositories of all sorts of Anti­quities: The greatest part of those old Manuscripts were found in them, by the help of which, Learning hath been restor'd in these last Ages: In them were preserved the Works of the Fathers, and the Canons of the Councils. We discover every day in the Statutes and Customs of ancient Monasteries, Ecclesiastical Antiquities of the greatest Curiosity: In a word, the Evangelical Practice in the Cloysters hath been all along kept up to its primitive Purity, while in the World it hath been every Day changing from worse to worse; and 'tis this Declention of Religion I am now entring upon.

Part IV.

HAVING represented the Beha­viour of the ancient Christians, I think XLIV. The decay of Christi­an Piety in the Fourth and fol­lowing Ages, with the causes of it. my self obliged now to add the principal Causes of the prodigious difference there is between Their way of living and Ours; and so great is that difference, that to ma­ny (I doubt not) this Account will ap­pear as strange as those Relations our Tra­vellers give us of the Indians and Chinese manner of living; and the more Ignorant will scarce have Faith enough to give Credit to it, because every particular is not proved home to them, and the Testi­monies set down at length: But the whole stands upon Authorities well known to Persons of Learning and Reading. We will proceed therefore to take a general view of the progress of this decay.

When Constantine had declared for Christianity, the Converts came into it, in shoals; and what the Prophets had of old Predicted concerning the Church was literally accomplished; that she should be established on the top of the Mountains Is. ii. 3. and that all Nations should flow in unto her, to learn from her the Law of God, and the Rule of living. On the one side men with their own Eyes beheld the ex­traordinary Miracles which were every day wrought at the Tombs of the Mar­tyrs; the holy Lives of the greatest part of Christians, and the invincible force of [Page 275] this Religion, against which three hund­red Years cruel Persecution had prevail'd no farther, than to give it the deeper root­ing. On the other side, Idolatry, and the Fabulous Theology of the Poets was long before so exposed by the Philosophers, that almost all the Men of Wit and Sense a­mong them believed nothing of it, but kept up the Religion of the People only for their own Interests; and therefore they readily quitted it, when it was no longer supported by publick Authority; and most of them turned Christians: Others out of a Libertine Opinion or Practice e'en continued as they were without hav­ing any Religion at all; either because they could not bring their understandings to submit to the obedience of Faith, or that they would not quit their Debauchery or forgo their ill gotten Goods, or the un­just methods of raising their Fortunes.

There were scarce any Pagans left but of these two sorts; the gross ignorant vul­gar, who were governed by Custom only and who were not capable of any thing higher than the impressions of Sense; and some affected Wits who to shew their parts and Learning, and out of a blind Vene­ration for Antiquity, were resolved to maintain the cause of Paganism, and to that end underpropped it with the Allego­rical explications of some Philosophers [Page 276] Fables. These were the Platonicks of those times, far from the good Sense and Solidity of Plato and the ancient Academicks his Disciples: These fanciful Wits picking up what was most weak in the Doctrin of Plato, and mixing it with that of Pythagoras, and with the Mysteries of the Aegyptians, patch't up a kind of Religion, which at the bottom was founded upon Magick, and which under the pretence of Worshiping good or bad Spirits authorized all sorts of Supersti­tions. Such was the Religion of Julian the Apostate, and we see somewhat of it in the Maxims of Apuleius in Porphyry and Jamblichus. But there were few that penetrated into these subtilties, and Pa­ganism sunk every day more and more into Contempt.

Among so great a multitude of new Christians it was impossible that some should not pass in the Crowd, drawn in only by Temporal Considerations, upon the hopes of making their Fortunes under Christian Princes, Complaisance to their Friends and Relations, the fear of displea­sing their Masters; and in a word, upon August. in Jo. vi. 26. tract. ii. all those Motives which now a Days make Hypocrites and false Zealots: But these for the most part contented themselves with the bare Character of Catechumens; and being loath to submit themselves to [Page 277] that strictness of Life which Christianity requires; they were for deferring their Baptism as long as they could, and often to the point of Death, that so they might to the last continue the unhappy liberty of committing Sin, without Subjecting them­selves to the Discipline of Pennance. O­thers proceeded even to Baptism, and were V. Aug. de Catechiz. c. xvii. Cyr. Hier. Pro­catech. not in their Hearts true Converts. Some light inquisitive People were drawn in purely out of a curiosity to know the My­steries which were revealed to none but the Faithful. Their Superstition made them greedy after Religion, and ambitious of being initiated into all sorts of Ceremo­nies, and to participate in every thing which bore the name of Sacred, with­out distinguishing the true God, or the true Religion. Among so many preten­ders to Christianity, what caution soever the Prelates could use; They were but Men, and it was impossible they should not sometimes be mistaken.

Many even of those that were Christi­ans in good earnest, grew every Day more and more remiss. The fear of Martyr­dome Leo. Serm. 6. in Epiph c. iii. Cypr. de Lapsis. Dionys. A­lex. apud Euseb. vi. Hist. 34. Euseb. viii. Hist. c. ii. was removed, and Death did not now appear to them so near at hand. Their security from outward danger betrayed them into that great hazard of Laying aside their Watchfulness. Even in the state of persecution, during the Intervals [Page 278] of their Troubles, there was perceived a sensible abatement of Christian fervour: Of this the Fathers very much complain; ascribing the hottest Persecutions to this remisness of Zeal, when ever they enjoyed the least Respite from their Enemies. How must it then have been with them in a sure and settled Peace, when twas not only not dangerous to be a Christian, but also Honourable and advantageous? The Princes and Magistrates being Converted to the Faith, still maintained their Se­cular Grandeur; and were never the less good Christians for looking after their tem­poral concerns, and exercising their Char­ges: So the common sort of Believers see­ing Religion and Worldly greatness so fairly reconciled in these examples, be­gan to think there was no such great dan­ger in Honours, Riches, and other en­joyments of this Life. Thus the Love of pleasure, Covetousness and Ambition re­vived in them. The World was now become Christian, yet still the World was the same. They began now to Dis­tinguish between Christians, and Saints, and Religious. We find St. John Chry­sostom frequently complayning of it, that Chrysost ad fidel. patr. Idem Hom. i. in Matth. [...]or. in fi. his Hearers, to excuse their Earthly min­dedness and too great Solicitude about the affairs of this World, were wont to tell him; We are no Monks, we have [Page 279] Wives and Children to provide for, and Families to look after: As if the Christi­ans of Rome, or of Corinth, whom St. Paul calls Saints, and to whom he ascri­bes so high a Perfection, were not Mar­ryed Persons, and led in the concerns of this World, the same common life with other Men.

To this, add the Corruption of Nature that turns Food into Poyson. The Church had in her publick Offices some kind of Observances more agreeable to outward Sense. These were easily abu­sed to the Flesh, and applyed to wrong Ends, contrary to the Iustitution of them. The Sunday Rejoycings, and those of the other Grand Solemnyties exceeded sometimes the Bounds of Sobriety and Basil. Orat. de Ebriet. Christian Moderation. So that in the fourth Age they were obliged (as I have Aug. ep. xxix. nov. before observed) to abolish the custome of making Entertainments at the Feasts of the Martyrs, and the Clergy were also Prohibited from being present at those of Marryages. Origen hath well observed Orig. cont. Cels. how difficult a thing it is to reconcile sensible Pleasure with Spiritual joy. The Body is a Slave, which if too much Hu­mour'd and Pamper'd with Food, Sleep, or other such like Indulgences, will pre­sently become Insolent and grow upon us; Usurp upon the better part, take off [Page 280] the mind from applying it self to Spiritual things, and weaken its power of bearing up against Temptation. Nor can the Spirit maintain its dominion over the Flesh, but by a severe Conduct and con­tinual Application. I speak here of the same times I have just now described in the third part; and do rip up in them also the least Faults, that so I may the better trace out the very first beginnings of the Declension of Christian Piety, without designing in the least to invalidate what I there said of the Manners of the Church in general, or of its Discipline, which was still preserved in its full vigor: And above all the Sanctity of their Clergy was extraordinary. However it must be gran­ted there were some Prelates too sensible of the great Honours that were paid them. And some also were accused of hav­ing misemployed the great Estates of which they had the Disposal. One may see what Complaints were preferred to the Council of Chalcedon against Dioscorus and Ibas upon this account. I believe Conc. Chalc. Act. iii. & x. there can scarce be found any of the Or­thodox Bishops of those times justly charg­ed with the same Reproach. But as the Arrians and other Hereticks had also their Bishops and Priests; Their Passionate Conduct lessened in the eyes of the World, the Honour of the order it self. 'Twas [Page 281] a great scandal to the Pagans and weak Christians to see Persons that had such Venerable Titles, Masters of so little Temper, and disputing with such heat against the other Bishops and Priests, out­raging them with Injuries and aspersions both in their Discourses and Writings. Coming to the Court, Solliciting the fa­vour of the Prince to support their Party. For the Hereticks omitted none of these Practises. One might have seen the Monks, transported with a mistaken Zeal, leaving their Solitudes, flocking to the Cities, raising Seditions, and committing unheard of Insolencies. These disorders Reigned pincipally in the East, where the Spirits of Men being generally of a more hot and inflexible Temper, their Passions presently took fire, and carried them to the highest Excesses. In the mean time this mightily sunk in the eyes of the World, the respect due to Persons Con­secrated to Religion, and consequently the honour to Religion it self.

The outward appearance of vertue in the Heathens, was another Stumbling­block to the Weak. For some there were that led lives Morally good: Were true to their Word, Just in their Dealing, ab­horred Fraud and Avarice; in a Word, Aug. in Io. tract. xlv. observed all the Laws and Rules of civil Society. Pretending that it was suffici­ent [Page 282] for a Man to Live up to the light of Nature, and follow the Law of right Rea­son, without troubling themselves with those disputes, which divided the Chris­tians. As if the Christians did not pro­fess to follow the sovereign Reason, that is, the Word Incarnate. These wise-Men of this World looked upon Faith as an instance of weakness a prejudice of the Understanding; and reckoned Mor­tification, a rigorous chastity, forbear­ing of Spectacles and Profane Diversions, as a piece of Superstition. Now, though Christianity was the Religion of the Prince, yet the number of Pagans was still so great that there was no hindering V. Aug. Contra. ad­vers. leg & proph. of them from Writing, and Speaking, and Dogmatising publickly. This free­dom was a remainder of the Antient Pre­tensions of the Philosophers; of which the Hereticks also well knew how to make their advantage. All that the Em­perors could do in these first times, was Cod. de Pagan. to shut up the Temples, prohibit Sacri­fices, and the other publick ceremonies of Idolatrous Worship. Nor could that be done without great Murmurings of the Pagans. We know what Efforts the Senate made under Valentinian the Youn­ger Ambros. ad Valentin. de relat. Symmach. Epist. xxxi. to have the Altar of Victory Restored. Some times they proceeded even to open Violence against the Christians, who pub­lickly [Page 283] opposed their Superstitions: And Martyrol. i. Jan. xvii. Mart. xiv. Aug. therefore we meet with some Martyrs, even under the most Christian Emperors. The Emperors themselves retained some Formalities of Paganism, which in the Baron. an. 312. bottom were no more than empty Titles. As the Name and Habit of the Pontifex Maximus, or High Priest, which gave them a great Authority over all the Magis­trates. So also they had the Title of Divi­nity Numen, domus di­vina, Sa­ [...]rum aera­rium Sa­cr patrim, &c. continued to them, and every thing appertaining to it: As their Palace, their Treasure, their Demesnes, their Letters, their Purple; to all which was common­ly added the Epithet of Sacred and Di­vine. This Stile was necessary to keep up the Veneration of the People, nor did any of the most Holy Christian Bishops ever scruple the use of it. In the mean time the Pagans, as to the generallity of them, grew every Day more and more Corrupt. All that hath been said before of the Vices that Reigned in the World when the Gospel made its first appear­ance, was still the same; and excepting some few of extraordinaty Force and E­levation, and the Philosophers I just men­tioned, there was neither among the Greeks nor the Romans, any remainder of Probity which could come up to a Counter-Bal­lance. Thus matters stood when the Empire sunk in the West; and though it [Page 284] continued longer in the East, yet it was only till it met with the like violent Shock. There was neither Discipline in their Ar­mies, nor Authority in their Comman­ders, nor dispatch in their Councils, nor Conduct in their management, nor Vigor in their Youth, nor Prudence in the Aged, nor Love for their Country, nor any con­cern for the Common-good; every one minded himself only, his own Pleasures and private Interests, and basely either Neglected or Betrayed the Publick. The V. Amm. Maroell. lib. 14. lib. 28. Romans Effeminated by Sloth and Luxury, defended themselves against the Barbari­ans by the help of Barbarians themselves, whom they hired for pay to serve in their Armies: They were Drowned in Pleasures and Delights, and valued themselves upon a false Gallantry, which had nothing solid at the bottom; so that the measures of their Iniquities and Abominations being filled up, God in his righteous Judgment executed upon them that exemplary pu­nishment foretold by St. John. Rome Apoc. 14. &. 18. was often taken and Sacked by the Bar­barians; the Blood of so many Martyrs with which she had made her self Drunk was avenged; and the Empire of the West fell a Prey into the Hands of the People of the North, who divided it into a set of new Kingdoms.

The Christians living among a People so perverse and so extreamly corrupt, I V. Salvian. de gubern. Dei. lib. vi. & vii. mean these later Romans; it was difficult to keep their Vertue from declining, espe­cially being no longer Strangers among the Infidels, as in the times of Persecution, having nothing now to guard against but their Friendship and Caresses: 'Tis no wonder therefore that we find the Fathers of the Fourth Age upbraiding Christians with the grossest Vices. St. Austin dis­sembles August. de Catech. c. v. vii. 17. 25. not the Matter, but plainly lets the Heathens disposed to turn Christians, know before hand how great Sinners they were like to meet with even among the Christians themselves; that so they might be the less surprized at them, and consequently the less Scandal'd. Among the Herd of them, (saith he) that fill our material Churches, you will find some Riotous, some Covetous, some Fraudulent Persons; you will see there some Gamesters, Adulterers, Debauchees, Play-haunters; others who ap­ply themselves to Diabolical remedies, En­chanters, Astrologers, Diviners of all sorts. And yet all these pass for Christians. He frankly confesses to the Manichees that Aug. de Mor. Eccl. c. 34. there were even among the professors of the true Religion some Persons Sottishly Superstitions, others so addicted to their vicious Passions that they never so much as thought of their Vows made to God. [Page 286] He often speaks to the same purpose in many of his tracts against the Donatists, where he clearly proves to them, That the Tares must continue together with the Wheat Aug. in ps. 99. c. 12 &c till the time of Harvest; that is, the Day of Judgment: And elsewhere he censures the Injustice of them who approve or con­demn all Christians and all Monks in ge­general for the good or evil of some par­ticular V. Chrysost. in Matth. hom. 61. Idem de compunct. Idem ad fi­del. patr. Persons. We find the like instances of the corruption of Christians in St. Chry­sostom and the other Fathers of these times; to what purpose then (may it be objected) served the publick Pennances and Excom­munications? To purge the Church of a Aug. En­chirid. c. lxxx. great many Vices though not of all. To the imposing of Pennance it was necessari­ly required that the Offender should desire it, or at least that he should voluntarily submit to it, so that he was obliged to acknowledge his Offence, either by a free Confession of it himself, or by acquiesing in the Accusation of others. Excommu­nication was for those who would not ac­cept of Pennance, though they were con­vict, either by their own Confession or by legal Proofs, or by notoriety of Fact. And yet after all, the Prudent and Chari­table Bishops did not hastily proceed to this last extremity. They often admonish­ed the Convicted Offender, and put him in mind of the desperateness of his Condi­tion [Page 287] upon persisting in Impenitence; they earnestly exhorted him to get out of that dangerous State; they spared neither Threats nor Intreaties to overcome the hardness of his Heart; they lamented over him before God, and obliged the Congregation to Pray for him; they waited in expectation a long time, imita­ting the Patience and long Suffering of Const. A [...]. ii. cap. 41. the Father of Mercies; in a word, 'twas not till they had tried all the Methods of Charity, that they proceeded to this sad Remedy; and that with the grief of a Parent, who to save the Life of his Son is himself forced with his own Hand to cut off his Arm.

But as for those whose Crimes were private and concealed, either known on­ly to God, or impossible to be proved, there was no remedy against them: They could not deny them entrance into the Church, nor participiation of the Sacra­ments, if they were so Sacrilegiously im­pious as to approach the holy Mysteries. In former times the Persecutions were suf­ficient Trials to seperate the Chaff from the Wheat. But when they ceased, Hypo­crisy was carried on to the last breath of Men. In the mean time the Church was a great sufferer by these lukewarm and corrupt Christians; their evil Discourses and evil Examples were a scandal to Re­ligion; [Page 288] and their loose Conduct had a pernicious effect, especially upon their own Families. They did but ill instruct their Children, and yet brought them to Bap­tism: And this defect of Family Educa­tion was of great Consequence in these first Ages, where we cannot find that there was any Catechism publickly ap­pointed for the Instruction of Christian Children.

THE Ravages of the Barbarians who XLV. The In­cursions of the Barba­rians, and their man­ners. overturned the Roman Empire, had as per­nicious an influence upon the Manners of the Church as the Corruption of the later Romans. The Gospel which is the highest Reason, rejects every vicious disposition, as being inconsistent with it: Neither the affectedly Ignorant, the Knavish, the Sa­vage nor the Slothful can be good Christi­ans; Barbarity and Cruelty are as incom­patible with true Religion as Luxury and Effeminacy; Wars and Hostilities are as contrary to Piety, as they are to Justice and all good Order: So that Religion suffer­ed deeply under those horrid Confusions Hier. in. Is­cap. v. in fi. & al. Idem epist. de fun. Ne­potiani in fi. & ad Gerontiam & ad Age­nechiam. brought upon the World by the Savage Nations of the North; who like a Flood breaking in upon the Roman Empire over run it all. St. Jerome and the other Fathers who lived in those times have left us a la­mentable Description of them. A Barba-Enemy [Page 289] destroying all before him, their Towns taken by Storm, and their Coun­tries lying at the Mercy of the rude Sol­diery. 'Tis easy to imagin with what distraction all Mens minds were filled; what would become of their Lives and Fortunes, of themselves and their families; how to secure their Persons from Capti­vity, and their Wives and Daughters from Violation. These were pressing Conside­rations, and violent Temptations to them to neglect their Spiritual concerns: A Man must have been endowed with a very Heroick Resolution to maintain the Con­stancy of his Mind in the midst of the hor­rible Slaughters, the dismal desolations, and all the other terrible Ravages of a Brutish Conqueror. We have still extant the Let­ters of St Basil, and the more ancient ones of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, where we may see into what grievous Crimes the Christians were betrayed by the Incursions of the Barbarians into Cappadocia, and the Pennances thereunpo enjoyned them.

When the Vandals wasted Africa, that which most sensibly affected St. Austin, was as (Possidius relates it) the hazards and loss of Souls by it. He saw (saith that Author) the Churches for saken of their Priests and Ministers; the sacred Virgins and the other Religious scattered abroad in the wide World; some sinking under their Tor­ments, [Page 290] others put to the Sword, others led into Captivity; where having lost the ho­nour of their Chastity, the Integrity of their Conscience, and the Orthodoxy their Faith, they remained Slaves to their Brutal and un­merciful Enemies. He saw the sacred Hymns and Praises of God given over in the Churches, and the very Buildings them­selves in many places levell'd with the ground. That the Sacrifices and Sacraments were no longer sought after; and they that did desire them could not easily meet with any capable of Administring them. That the Bishops and Clergy whom God had graciously preserved from falling into the Hands of the Enemies or gave them the means of an escape after they had been taken were spoild of all, and re­duced to the last degree of Beggery, without any ones being able to relieve them according to their Necessities. By this Instance one may imagin how it was with them in the other great Provinces in Spain, Gaul and V. Conc. i. Bracar. & 411. Illyrium. What means were there left un­der these Confusions either for instructing the People or breeding up Priests and Preachers? How could the Bishops visit their Flocks, or meet in Councils to fill up the vacant Sees, and maintain the re­gularity of Discipline? The Church hath good reason in all her Prayers to beg of God the blessing of Peace and Tranquilli­ty, without which the Publick exercise of [Page 291] Religion must needs fall to the Ground.

'Tis true the Barbarians were conver­ted. The Francs turned Christians, the Goths and the Lombards of Arians became good Catholicks; but still they remained Barbarians: I call Barbarism here, that disposition of Mind by which Men govern themselves not by Reason, but by Passion or by Custom. We have remarkable instances of the Power of Custom in the Iroques and the other People of America, whom we call Savages. We have scarce ever heard of any Nation less given to Women, or less Subject to the Passion of Anger; they are very Patient, great admirers of Justice and Gratitude, Liberal and Hospitable: But to this very Day it hath been almost impossible to make Christians of them, except those who have been brought up among the French, and from their Infan­cy familiarized to our Customs; not that they want Reason or Understanding in those things they are bred to, but they are incapable of receiving new Impressions. They can form to themselves no notion of one God the Creator of the Universe, and Governour over all Nations: They cannot apprehend the reason why there should be but one only Religion in the whole World; they cannot be affected with the hopes of a life to come; nor comprehend what we mean when we tell [Page 292] them of an happiness purely Spiritual; and much less do they understand us when we declare to them the more sublime My­steries of Religion. They will patiently hear what he have to say without contra­dicting us: but when we have said all we can, one may plainly perceive they are nothing moved at it: If we put them up­on Baptism, 'tis an ordinary thing with them to desire it, if they find it will be for their Interest, or if they can but get some little Toy by it; but as soon as they have gained their ends they think no more of their Vows; they return to their own People, follow their old trade of eating the Flesh of Men again, and torturing their Enemies to Death. There are other Bar­barians absolutely stupid, as the Negroes and Cafres, in whom we find no Senti­ments of any Religion at all; such dull heavy Souls that nothing but what is sen­sible and Palpable can enter into their un­derstanding; all these poor Creatures must first be made Men before they can be made Christians.

I will not say that the Franks and o­ther People who Conquered the Romans were Barbarous to this degree; but it is certain that they had nothing of Learning among them, nor any use of Letters; that they apply'd themselves never to Arts nor Agriculture; that they lived by Blood [Page 293] and Plunder, and were so fierce and Sa­vage in their Natures, that the Romans were even scared at the very sight of such horrid Figures. We see a great deal of Inconstancy and Inequality in their Con­duct, which seems to be the proper Cha­racter of Barbarians: For the principal effect of reason is Constancy and Consis­tency in a Man's Designs and Actions; 'tis not to act like Men to be given up to diversity of Passions, as objects shall pre­sent themselves. It must be owned there appears much Irregularity and Self-con­tradiction viz french. in the Lives of Our first Chri­stian Kings; Clovis and his Sons after him discover on the one side much respect and Zeal for Religion; but on the other, they fell into many notorious Acts of Injustice and Cruelty. The good King Gontram Mar. Rom. 28 Mart. whom the Church hath placed in the num­ber of her Saints, amongst many works of Piety, was guilty of gross Faults, and Dagobert that famous Founder of Monas­teries, led a very vicious Life; not but that there were even in those Days Bishops of an Apostolick Sanctity and Vigour; but they chose the lesser evil, and shew'd a better inclination for Christian Princes though weak and imperfect, than for Pa­gans and Persecutors of the Church. One sign that they did not easily confide in the Barbarian Converts is, That for the space [Page 294] Two hundred Years we scarce meet with any Clergy that were not of the Romans, as appears by their Names. We find at Conc. Tolet. iii. an. 589. cap. xi. V. Gregor. Pastor. iii. admon. 31. Isidor. sent. 16. the same time great complaints against the too great easiness of some Priests in admitting People to Penance more than once, which seems to have taken its be­ginning from the Levity and Inconstancy of the Barbarians.

THESE two Nations, the Romans I XLVI. The mix­ture of the Romans and the Barbari­ans. mean and the Barbarians, incorporated by degrees; but as in the mixture of two different Colours, each one loses its pro­perty, and there ariseth a third which rubs out the former, so the Barbarians were softned and Cultivated by their Commerce with the Romans; but the Romans themselves became more gross and ignorant by Conversing with the Bar­barians; so that in the sixth Age we may sensibly perceive a vast change in the Man­ners of the West. The Historians, Poets, and other profane Authors were now but little regarded by them, that they might have more leifure to apply themselves only to Religion, which yet may receive great service from these Foreign Studies, by sup­plying us with Critical Learning, and the knowledge of Antiquity: 'Twas for want of these helps that they were too ready to receive such Supposititious Writings as [Page 295] were imposed upon the World under the specious Names of ancient Ecclesiastical Authors; as also that they became too cre­dulous in the beleiving Miracles. It was a thing so certain that the Apostles and their Disciples had wrought many Mira­cles, and that many true ones were daily performed too at the Tombs of the Mar­tyrs; that they were not now so curious in enquiring into them, as to distinguish the true from the false. The more surprizing Relations of this nature any History con­tained, the more taking it was. Their Ignorance in Philosophy and the little knowledge they had of Nature, made them take all strange Appearances for Pro­digies, and interpret them as the superna­tural Sings of God's Wrath. They be­lieved vita. Lud. Pii. there was something in Astrology, and dreaded Eclipses and Comets as dis­mal Presages.

But what they wanted in knowledge and fineness of Parts, was largely made V. Thomass Discp. ii. l. i c. 16. p. iii. l. i. c. 20. amends for by their Piety and solid Ver­tues. All the Discipline which I have before described in the Third Part con­tinued to the Tenth Age. Christians even to the Princes and Kings themselves, were never more constant in the Psalmody, and all other exercises of Religion, than in those times I am now speaking of; ne­ver more regular in observing the Fasts, [Page 296] and Solemnising the Festivals of the Church. Nothing is more famous in History than the Chappel of Charlemain; as he was for the most part travailing, he caused to he carried along with him Re­liques, sacred Ornaments, and all other things necessary for the performance of the divine Offices, with a numerous train of Clergy made up of selected Persons. In his Travailling Chappel the service was performed with as much magnificence as in any Cathedral Church: His example was followed by the Princes that succeed­ed him; and herein as in every thing else these Princes were imitated by the seve­ral great Lords who built their Fortunes upon the Ruin of this Family: During all these times there were Prelates of a very exemplary Life, constant in Prayer and Zealous for the Conversion of Souls, wit­ness those that planted the Faith in Gallia Belgica, Germany and the other remote Climates of the North. The Bishops in­creased daily in their Authority. Besides the dignity of their Office, and the Sanc­tity of their Lives, their capacity for bu­siness, and their tender Affection for the People doubly recommended them during the incursion of the Barbarians, they of­ten interposed and put a stop to the fury of the Conquerors, to save their Cities from Plunder at the peril of their own [Page 297] Lives. Thus Attila was diverted from entring Rome by Pope St. Leo, and from Troys by St. Lupus, from Orleans by St. Martyr. 23 Mai. 14. Dec. Agnan, but St. Desiderius of Langres and St. Nicasius of Reims, lost their Lives for their Flocks, having their Throats cut by the Vandals. When these Barbarian Kings turned Christians, the Bishops made part of their Councils, and were the most trusty of their Ministers: They did what they could to recommend Gentleness and Clemency to them, often interceding for Criminals, and making use of several me­thods to this purpose: 'Twas for this end they were so very careful to have the rights of Sanctuary maintained; a Privi­lege which at first the Veneration of Mar­tyrs, and afterwards of some illustrious Saints, had procured to the places of their Sepulchre, as in France to that of St. Mar­tin. Hence also ('tis plain) came in the Custom of putting out Peoples Eyes who ought to have suffered Death; they thought to put them out of a capacity of doing more mischief in the World, and yet give them time to Repent; but some­times they shut them up in Monasteries.

The Bishops also made use of the cre­dit they had with their Princes, to restrain them from Acts of Injustice and Oppresi­son, to procure the Relief of the Poor, and the common good. To these ends and [Page 298] purposes they frankly employed the Rich­es of the Church. He that reads what V. Anastas. good Works the Popes have done, from the time of St. Gregory to Charlemain; both in repairing the Ruins of Rome, and Reedifying not only the Churches and Hospitals there, but likewise the Streets and Aquaeducts; as also preserving all Italy from the Violence of the Lombards, and the Avarice of the Greeks: He that reads the Lives of St. Alnulphus, St. Eligius, (St, Audoenus) St. Ligarius, and the other Prelates who had a great hand in the Management of the publick Affairs in those Days: He may see that Chris­tianity is so far from interfering with the Interests of the State, that it is indeed the surest foundation of true Politie, as being the best means of Uniting Men to­gether, and making them serviceable to each other in Society.

This great Reputation of the Bishops and Abbots insensibly drew them in to share in the Temporal Power. They were Lords, and had the same priviledges with Lay-Peers, but still with the same Incumbrances: As to furnish out Soldi­ers for the Service of the State, and often to lead them in Person. The different Nations were in time sufficiently inter­mixed to make the Clergy either of Bar­barians or Romans. But an intire alteration [Page 299] in their Behavior, was much more dif­ficult. 'Twas very hard to restrain them from Hunting, and the exercise of Arms after their Ordination; especially when by the orders of their Prince, they were obliged to appear in the Field. Nor in­deed can it be denyed, but that those Temporal Seigneuries annexed to Spiritual Dignities were a great cause of the decay of Discipline.

IN the East they never had any of XLVII. The Man­ners of the Christians in the East from the fifth Age. these Temporalties. But there were other causes there which produced as bad effects. The great Heresys, which took their Rise and Course in those parts, had set the Wits of many too busily on Work, and shaken the Foundation of their Faith. Nestorius on the one side and Eutiches or rather Dioscorus, on the other, had vast numbers of followers. Their disputes were endless, and from disputing they often fell into Quarrels and Seditions. The Clergy and Monks, who were the most Zealous, brake forth into the greatest Heats; and when these last above all o­thers, espoused the Quarrel, so far as to quit their Solitudes and flock to the Citys to maintain the Cause of God, (as they thought) there were no methods too Law­less or Violent for them. Tis well known what bloody Tragedies were Acted in [Page 300] Aegypt and Syria by the opposers of the Council of Chalcedon.

The Emperors endeavouring by their secular authority to remedy the Evil, did only encrease it. For instead of apply­ing themselves to see the Decisions of the Church put in execution, by Chastising and Suppressing the Obstinate and Seditious by force, they engaged themselves in the Controversy, and to end the Dispute, made use of dangerous Accommodations, determining the Point by their Imperial Edicts. And at length, encouraged by the servile compliances of the Bishops, they undertook the regulation of the Church Discipline, that is to say, they ruined it. For there was now no other rule left but the Emperor's Will and Pleasure.

Though the Roman Empire in the East was yet in Being; yet they were no lon­ger Romans save only in Name, nor Greeks but in Language. 'Twas a meer Hotch Potch of all sorts of Barbarians, Thracians, Illyrians, Isaurians, Armenians, Persians, Scythians, Sarmatians, Bulgarians and Rus­sians. So that in all History we scarce meet with a People more corrupt then these later Greeks. They had the Vices of the Antients, but nothing of their Wit and Ingenuity, or of their Arts and Sci­ences. And yet they were all Christians, and very careful to keep up the outward [Page 301] shew, the pomp and formalities of Re­ligion.

When the Mahometans had made them­selves Masters of the East, the Christians of those parts could not avoid keeping great Commerce with them. Great num­bers of Greeks in Aegypt and Syria liv'd un­der their Subjection. For the Conquest of the Musulmans (as the followers of Mahomet call themselves) established their false Religion, without abolishing the exercise of the Christian, in the places where they found it. Their Religion was too absurd to be received by them who had ever been enlightned with the true Faith, since it taught Men to Be­lieve in a Man that pretended himself to be sent from God, upon his own bare Word; without any Prophecy foretelling his coming, without any Miracle to prove his Mission, or Reason to Support his Doctrine. That which got him followers, was his Addressiing himself to the Arabi­ans, a sort of Barbarians as Ignorant as himself, the happy success of his Arms, and fairly dividing the Spoils with them. The Christians had him in Detestation, and were a long time subject to the Ma­hometans before they could so much as think of being in the least reconciled to their Religion.

But at last they came to it; and at the end of Two hundred Years, the Empire of the Musulmans being now in its full Glory under Califs, their Religion began to ap­pear less frightful to the Christians, who were now grown miserably Ignorant, and had their Spirits broken by a long Servitude. The Original of Mohometism was now grown Old enough to be con­cealed and set off with the Embelishments of a vast many fabulous Stories. The Pompous Gallimafrys of the Alcoran, where the Name of God appearing in every page, enough to impose upon the Igno­rant. It every where Inculcates the Uni­ty of God, and the Abhorrence of Ido­latry: It speaks with great vehemence concerning the last Judgment, Hell, and Paradise; it make honourable mention of Moses and the Prophets, of the Apostles and Martyrs, and gives high Encomi­ums to Jesus Christ himself. Besides it imitates several of the External Parts of Christianity. The Christians Prayed se­ven times a Day, the Musulmans Prayed five: The Christians had their Annual Fast of forty Days, the Musulmans have theirs of twenty nine, keeping always strict Fast till Night, as the Christians then did: The Christians keep Sunday Holy; the Musulmans Friday: We as­semble in our Churches to Pray to God, [Page 303] hear the Reading of the Scriptures and the Instructions of the Priest; they also Pray after their manner, in their Moschs, Read their Alcoran there, and hear the Preach­ings of their Doctors. They make Pil­grimages to the Land which they Esteem Holy, and visit the Tombs of their pre­tended Martyrs. 'They give much Alms, and have Hospitals Founded among them in great numbers. They have also some sorts of Religious Persons, who live in Common, and afflict the Body after a Terrible manner. For there is no sort of Exteriour Austerities which Persons with­out Vertue may not Imitate, either out of Vain Glory or for Interest. But they can never bring themselves to live in Si­lence and Labour without being seen of Men. To do this, a Man must be a Christian.

Our Travellers Bred up in the midst of Christendom, are often affected with this outside of Religion, and those Moral Vertues they meet with amongst the In­fidels; and sometimes return Home stag­gered in their Thoughts, and inclining to believe that all things are indifferent in matters of Religion. Under how great Temptations then must those poor Chris­tians have layn, that were Born under the power of those Insidels, and obliged to pass their whole Lives with them; [Page 304] kept under Oppression by them, and hav­ing no other means of making their con­dition Comfortable in this World, but by quitting the Faith of their Ancestors. 'Tis a wonder they were not all Perver­ted: And the number of Christians still remayning throughout all the Levant af­ter a Thousand Years of Temptation, is a manifest proof of the power of the Gos­pel, and of the weakness of Mahometism.

The Christians also that were subjects to the Emperors of Constantinople might be easily corrupted by their Commerce with the Mahometans, and the several sorts of Hereticks that Infected all the East. The Judgment of the Emperor Leo, Au­thor of the Sect of the Iconoclasts is sup­posed to have been corrupted by the Jews, and Sarasins or the Arabian, Mahometans. The Emperor Michael Balbus passed for no better than half-a- Jew. The Young Emperor Michael the third, with the Lewd Companions of his Debauches, acted over in a most execrable mockery the Holy Ceremonies of our Religion, even to the Tremendous Sacrifice it self; and not long V. Baron. an. 853. Curopal. after him, I meet with another Young Emperor, Alexander the Son of Leo the Philosopher, openly Blaspheming against Christianity, and Regretting the Sup­pression of Idolatry. This makes me sus­pect, that of all Christians, the Greeks [Page 305] were the first Authors of Libertinism in matters of Religion. Not that I would be thought to fix this suspicion on the whole Nation of them, but only upon some of their great ones, and other parti­cular Persons. For in these times, generally speaking, Religion bore up nobly through­out the whole Greek Empire. They had among them great Doctors, great Bishops, and eminent Religious, besides many Mar­tyrs too in defence of the Holy Images.

IN the West the Faith was hitherto XLVIII. The Man­ners of the West. The disorders of the tenth Age. kept Inviolate. It never enter'd into the thoughts of any Man to call the principles of Religion in Question, nor was it here in­fected with Heresy. But Ignorance and Barbarism increased upon it. Charlemain did all he could to re-establish good Lite­rature and Ecclesiastical Discipline: But the following Princes did not pursue his great designs: So that after his Days both Church and State fell into greater Disor­ders then ever. The Faith had been before planted in Saxony, Bavaria, and all the rest of Germany. But to secure it among those rugged Nations, Charlemain was oblig'd to back the Preaching of the Gospel, with the Sword and Temporal Punishments; so that there were many involuntary Con­version, which by the unhappines of the Times was not seconded with that care, [Page 306] which was necessary to have given Reli­gion sure rooting in a new and unbroken Soil; so that one may easily imagin there remained at the bottom, a Core of Igno­rance and Spiritual Insensibility. And this perhaps is one of the Causes why Schism and Heresy have since found so ea­sy an Access, and spread themselves all over the North. The Civil Wars which were carryed on from the Reign of Lewis the Debonnaire, turn'd all things back a­gain, into a state of Ignorance and Con­fusion; even in the soundest parts of the French Empire. And to compleat their misery, the Normans, as yet Pagans, ra­vaged and destroyed it on every side. The Huagarian Pagans also, overran Italy; the Sarasins for a long time hover­ed upon their Coasts, keeping them al­ways upon the Allarm, and at last effec­tually made themselves Masters of Apulia and Sicily, besides Spain which they had now Possessed for more then an Age. So that what Remainders had been hither­to left of the Old Roman Manners, and Po­lite Genius, were now perfectly worn out.

The loss of Arts, Learning, and Civi­lity had been the more Supportable, had not the Interests of Religion been invol­ved in their Fate, which cannot subsist, without both Study and Preaching; the one to preserve in it the Soundness of Doc­trin, [Page 307] the other the purity of its Morals. Religion must necessarily fall into Decay, unless the Holy Scriptures be diligently Read, Taught and Explained to the Peo­ple; unless the Apostolical Traditions be preserved in their Purity, and Purged from time to time of those Spurious Additions, which the Inventions of Men make with­out any just Authority. All this was a thing hard to be done in the miserable times of which we are now speaking. The greatest part of the Layety neither had Books, nor indeed could so much as Read. And if some of the great Lords had amongst their Rarities some Antient Authors, yet they were not able to use them being Written in Latin. The La­tin was now no longer in common use; and in the French and the other Vulgar Languages, which were as yet but in their beginning, and unformed, nothing was Written (So that as they could not un­derstand the one, they had nothing to Read in the other.) But the publick Of­fices of the Church, were performed in Latin; and the Scriptures were Read to the People in the same Language, but seldom Explained. The Lords, by rea­son of the little Wars, they continually had one against another, kept themselves close shut up every one within the Walls of his own Castle, so that they seldom [Page 308] came near the Episcopal City, especially if they chanced to be (as it often hap­ned) at War with the Bishop himself. They were forced therefore to be content with the private Masses of their Chap­lains, or the Office of the Neighbouring Monasteries. But the Monks were ne­ver designed for the business of Preaching, nor could they, without their own Walls, exercise any thing of Discipline or Correc­tion. In the ninth Age we find the Conc. Ticin. an. 855. c. iv. Agob. de priv. Sa­cerd. Theo­dulph. c. xlv. 46. Hom. Leon. P. P. iv. Bishops complaining, that all the People of Estate and Quality had forsaken the Pa­rish Churches, and earnesty pressing it upon them, that they would vouchsase to shew themselves there at least at the so­lemn seasons: So they called those Feasts on which they thought all Christians obliged to Communicate, which were these four viz. Christmas, Holy Thurs­day, Easter. and Whitsontide. Nor were the common People better instructed than their Nobility, except in some Citys where they had good Bishops. For most of the Bishops themselves, Preached so very sel­dom, that we find there were many Ca­nons made, requiring them to explain to the People in the Vulgar Language the Creed and the Lords Prayer, that is to say, the first Rudiments of Religion, or as we now call it, the Catechism. In this gross darkness, who could have ima­gined [Page 309] how far Ignorance and Credulity might improve, but that we have the Marks of it still extant in the Old Legends of those times? The Priests and Clergy were in too mean a Capacity themselves to be able to instruct others. Under those Universal Hostilities with which the World was then Harassed, they were also forced to take up Arms in their own De­fence, and with Sword in Hand to secure the temporalities of the Church by which they Subsisted. Many of them were by their Poverty necessitated to betake themselves to sordid Employments; or else to travel about from Province to Province, till they could meet with some Bishop or Lord to entertain them. Being Reduced to such a Condition, how could they pursue their Studies or lead Lives Conformable to their orders. 'Twas only in some few Cathe­drals and Monasteries, that a regular Course of Studying and the exact Rules of a Religious Life were preserved and maintained. All this while the Monks Conc. A­quisgran. an. 817. and Canons were notoriously degene­rated from their Primitive Constitution, as one may see by those excellent Regula­tions which Lewis the Debonnaire made to reestablish their Discipline. But the Con­fusions following put them into a worse state than they were in before. The great­est part of the Monasteries were Plun­der'd, [Page 310] Burnt and Ruin'd, by the Nor­mans; the Monks and Canons Massacred or dispersed and forced to Live in the World again.

This Ignorance and Poverty to which the Clergy and Monks were reduced, so debased their Spirits, that they soon be­came insensible of the Sufferings of the Church in general, and little minded any thing else than how to secure their own Stakes, and Live at Ease themselves. Thus Simony came to be a common prac­tise, Concubinage was so too, and often maintained with great Impudence; espe­cially in Germany, where Religion ever had a weak footing. These Ignorant Clerks, who never looked upon their Mi­nistry as any thing else than meerly a Trade to get a Livelihood; who Lived every one by themselves, without apply­ing to their Studies or their Prayers, but very much to their secular Affairs; did not uuderstand the reasons of Celibacy, and looked upon the enjoyning it as an In­supportable Tyrany. This was the cause of the Rage they expressed against Pope Gregory the Seventh and all others who were for taking away this occasion of Offence.

Under these Publick Calamities one may easily imagin ho wmiserably the Poor were neglected. How could they be re­leived [Page 311] by the Clergy who had so much a­do to live themselves? or where could they receive Alms in the times of such dreadful Famines as happened in these Ages, where we often read of Mens be­ing reduced to feed on human Flesh? Nor was Commerce in those Days suf­ficiently open to have the wants of one Country supplyed out of the abundance of Conc. Cal­chut. in Ang. 787. Tribur. 89 [...] de consecr. dist. i. c. 45. another. The Church found it difficult to perserve its Consecrated Plate: 'Tis in these times we see the Prohibition of the use of Calices of Horn, Glass, Wood or Copper; and the permission of them of Tin: Not but that the Churches had still vast Patrimonies; but that served only as a Bait to the Princes and Lords the more greedily to invade them. The Bishop­ricks were often usurped by Persons alto­gether unqualified, who seized them by violence: Many times a Neighbouring Lord would by main force of Arms place a Son of his under Age in the Episcopal See, to Plunder the Church under his Name. Rome its self was not secured from these disorders, the Petit Neigh­bouring Tyrants insulted her most; and during the tenth Age we meet with no­thing but violent Intrusions and Expul­sions in this principal See, where till now Ecclesiastical Discipline had been all a­long maintained in its Genuine Purity. [Page 312] Councils were very rarely held by reason of the difficulty of their meeting, and the universal Commotions, which were such that they could not safely pass from one City to another. Thus not only the Diseases of the Church were desperate, but even the Remedies were hard to come at. The Precedents and Rules of the former Ages were by little and little lost and forgotten: by seeing Crimes pass unpunished, Men ventured more boldly upon them; and thus they were at first accustomed to them, and at last hardned in them: It was now no longer an ordinary Distem­per but a plain loss of Sense and a Spiri­tual Lethargy.

Every one was a Christian, but in such a manner as if they had thought it a bare priviledge of Nature, and the Christian and the Man had been the same thing: There was now no longer a distinction. Christianity was little more than a Cu­stom of the Country, and scarce discover­ed it self in any thing else than in some external Formalities. As for Vertues and Vices, there was hardly any difference between Christians and Jews or Infidels, but only in Ceremonies, which have not force sufficient for the reforming Mens Manners.

HAD not the Christian Religion been the work of God, it could never have XLIX. The pre­servation of Religi­on. Ps. xlvi. 5. weathered out so violent a Storm But he hath plainly shewn, That he is in the midst of his Church, and that all the Revolu­tions of Affairs are not able to overthrow her; on the contrary, the power of the Gospel in a most wonderful manner shin­ed forth in these miserable times. How much soever ignorance prevailed, yet all the World acknowledged and adored the one only God, Creator of the universe; and Jesus Christ the Saviour of Mankind: All the World believed a future Judgment and the Life to come; all the great prin­ciples of Morality were every where re­ceived and acknowledged; whereas in the most enlightned times of ancient Greece they were always doubted and disputed even by the Philosophers themselves.

'Tis true, these principles were but ill practiced; and though none called the truth of them into Question, yet few pur­sued them to their necessary Consequences, so as to lead their Lives in conformity to them: But the Morals of Christianity failed not to produce some good effect, even upon those that were no good Chris­tians. It prevented a world of mischief; it softned the most Barbarious People, and V. Euseb. i. Prae. Evan. c. iii, &c. made them more tractable and Humane If they did not avoid all Crimes, yet ma­ny [Page 314] of them repented at least, and did Pen­ance; or if they did not do that, yet in their own Consciences they condemned and disapproved of them: In a Word, Christ­ianity in all places where it prevailed gave a general Tincture of Humanity, Modes­ly, and Decency of Behaviour, not to be met with any where else.

In these times of which I am now speaking, when the Face of the Church appeared so disfigured in general, yet there were great Doctors and great Saints of all Conditions in all parts of the West; in France the Monastick discipline began to raise up its head by the Foundation of the famous Monastery of Cluny, whose first Abbots, St. Odon and St. Majolus are renowned both for their Life and Doct­rine. In Italy St. Romualdus founded the Monastery of Camaldoli with many others, and had many eminent Disciples: We see in the same times many holy Bishops of an extraordinary Zeal for Religion, a St. Dunstan in England, a St. Ʋdalric in Ger­many, a St. Adelbert in Bohemia, the Apos­tle of the Sclavi and a Martyr: We see St. Boniface also a Martyr in Russia, St. Bruno in Prussia, St. Gerard, a noble Vene­tian, Bishop and Martyr in Hungary; and many others who by their Preachings, their Holiness, and their Miracles conti­nued down the Tradition of sound Doc­trine [Page 315] and Ecclesiastical discipline. In the same Age we have amongst the Laity ma­ny Saints, even of the greatest Lords, as St. Gerald Count of Aurillac, St. Stephen King of Hungary, and St. Emeric his Son, the Emperor St. Henry, King Robert.

In these Saints, particularly those of the Nations newly Converted, as St. Henry and St. Stephen, we may see what dispositions towards Vertue were found in those Nations whom the Romans called Bar­barians. They were naturally great obser­vers of common Equity, generously Plain and Open-hearted, Chast, Despisers of Plea­sure and sensual satisfaction; lovers of Just­ice, Hospitality and Alms-giving. When these Serious, Sincere, and Couragious People had once made trial of the Chri­stian Religion, they Embraced it heartily. They never sought after Niceties in the Interpretation of it, nor were they stag­gered at any of the difficulties it contain­ed: 'Tis true their Conduct was not al­ways so consistent and uniform as that of the ancient Greeks and Romans; but then they were greater Strangers to Hypocrisy.

'Twas by the special Care and Autho­rity of these Holy Persons, that the Pub­lick Peace began to be re-established by making all the Lords swear to the Truce Glab. li. v. c. i. an. 1041. of God; so they called the Cessation of all [Page 316] acts of Hostility from Wednesday Night to Munday Morning in every Week; and all that time the Clergy, Monks, Pilgrims and Labourers in Husbandry were to be unmolested. This Truce was established Cap. i. extr. de trev. & pa. in many Councils under the pain of Ex­communication; such force had Religion upon the Minds of Men, when the very Foundations of civil Society were almost overthrown. In these times also we meet with frequent mention of Excommunica­tion against those who should strike a Clergy-man; this was a thing never thought of in the First Ages. Their own Dignity was then thought a sufficient Pro­tection to them; but they were now every Day exposed to the utmost Violences.

THE Normans had destroyed a great L. The re­stablish­ment of Piety and discipline. number of Churches, and others were suffered to run to Ruin upon the false Opinion they had, That the end of the World would be precisely in the Thou­sandth Year of our Lord; but when they Glab. lib. saw that the World still stood after that fa­tal Year, they began every where to build Churches again; and that after the most magnificent manner they were capable of in that Age; always more stately than any dwelling Houses, not only of private Per­sons but of the chiefest Nobility: They annexed to them large Endowments, [Page 317] though for the most part they were no more than the Restitution of Tythes, and the other Gods usurp'd in the late disor­ders. Great care was every where used for the recovery of Relicks, and great cost was spent in adorning them with the most precious Jewels that could be got, as we may still see in the Treasuries of the most ancient Churches. They ap­plyed themselves also at the same time to the restoring of the use of singing in Churches, and the other Solemnities of divine Service: 'Twas in the Eleventh Century that Guido Monk of Arezzo in Tuscany invented the Notes, and intro­duced that Method which is the Founda­tion of all modern Musick. The Religi­ous Princes I have before mentioned, both by their Liberalities and by their Examples, favoured all these good designs. Part of the Responses which are now sung were composed by King Robert, and he Helgand. vit. Rob. thought it an honour to perform the Of­fice of a Chanter publickly in the Church.

I find no Age in which the long Psalmody was more in Vogue, as one may see by the Rule of the Carthusians, and the other Or­ders Baron. ad Martyrol ii. Nov. of those times. The Monks of Cluny brought into common use the Office for the Dead, and soon after commenced the little Office of the Virgin. Many had devo­tion enough to repeat over every Day the Petr. Dam. li. 6. ep. 32. [Page 318] whole Book of Psalms. As the number of their Offices increased, so did also their Masses and Altars. Domestick Chappels were exceeding numerous, every Lord would have one to himself within the Walls of his own Castle; that so he might not in the War-time be without the Mass and other Services of the Church; but there was a mixture of Vanity in the Case, they loved to have Chaplians in their Fa­mily, and disdained the publick Churches where they were undistinguished from the common People. In the mean time it was impossible that this multitude of Offices Celebrated in so many different places should appear with the same ad­vantage as it would have done had there been but one Form or Office performed and directed by the Bishop assisted by all his Clergy; as it was the manner of the Ages foregoing. Besides, the Reason of a great many of the Ceremonies was now forgotten, and yet the Forms were still kept up by Tradition; and the notion of the ancient Politeness was quite lost; so that from these times we see not the same care taken as was formerly, to erect their Churches at a convenient distance from other common Buildings, and out of the noise of publick Places: That they thought in Cities would be to lose too much Ground. We see no more of the [Page 319] Door-keepers, or of the other inferiour Orders of Clerks belonging to the Churches, whose business it was to keep every thing Decent, Orderly and Quiet. These Offices were either turned over to Sextons or Virgers, and other such-like Servants purely Laicks, or else wholly laid aside; so that the Publick Congregations in the Churches became confused and Tu­multuous. The Lords at first began the Custom, and from them the Magistrates and other Laicks of better Quality took it, to seat themselves in the Choire with the Clergy; and the ancient respect being once lost, the whole crowd of the People, Women and all prest up to the Altar. V. Sup. pag.

But in the Eleventh Age there were abuses of far greater importance to be Glab. lib. v. c. iv. V. Petr. Dam. opusc. vi. 17, 18. corrected; Simony and Incontinence. Bishopricks and Benefices were common­ly bought and sold; and a great part of the Clergy publickly entertained Concu­bines; nay some had the Impudence to insult the Law of the Church that re­quir'd the Celibacy of the Clergy, and de­clared against it as an Abuse. In opposi­tion to these disorderly Innovators, St. Peter Damianus vigorously undertakes the Cause, and was supported therein by Patr. Dam opusc. 24. & 27. the Authority of Leo the Ninth, and the other Popes of those times: And the bet­ter to root out these evils, they establish't [Page 320] the Order of Canons Regular, who might shew to the Clergy the Example of living in Common, and observing the Canoni­cal Discipline; and it was out of this Or­der of Men that the Bishops and Pastors were generally taken.

WITH respect to the Laicks it was LI. Alterati­ons in Penance. attempted to re-establish Penances, and agreed upon what Penances should be re­gularly imposed according to the Canons; but many of the greatest Offenders prov'd refractory, and having the Sword in their Hands stood it out against the Discipline of the Church. And many others who were content to submit to Penance, Petr. Dam. opusc. vii. Gomor. cap. 10, 11, 12, &c. would do it yet only after some Inauthen­tick Canons which very much mitigated the Rigor of it. Many that had under­gone their Penance were not a jot amend­ed by it: Nothing was to be seen but Greg. vii. lib. vii. ep. x. Relapses and counterfeit Penances: It is true they reckoned for every Crime a di­stinct Penance; so that a Man who had committed thirty Homicides, and as many Perjuries or Adulteries, had so many Ages of Penance to run through. And from hence came the indulgences of so many Years as we meet with in some Bulls.

As God demands not impossibilities, they who stood charged with Penances for their whole Lives, or even beyond [Page 321] their lives, could do no more than to em­ploy in them the remainder of their days; and to that end for the greater security, to shut themselves up in a Monastery: But sometimes they were relieved by the Commutation of works of Satisfaction; and these were variously changed accord­ing to the Abilities or Zeal of the Penitent. St Peter Damianus informs us that those P. Dam. vi­ta SS. Rod. & Domin. c. 8, 10, &c. equivalent Penances were commonly re­ceived in his time, and gives us also an estimate of them. Three thousand Stripes of Discipline could redeem one Year of ordinary Penance; and the singing of ten Psalms, continuing all the while under the Lash, made a Thousand Stripes; so that the whole Psaltery made up five years of Penance; and as by vertue of the Communion of Saints, we know God sometimes pardons Sinners out of regard to the Prayers and other good works of their Brethren; there were some holy Persons in those time who devoted themselves to the doing of Penance for the sake of others.

Of these the most famous was St. Do­minicus Loricatus, so called because he al­ways Ib. c. 8 wore next to his Skin a coat of Mail, which he never put off but when he gave himself the discipline of the Rod, and that he did so often and so roughly with so many Fastings, Watchings, Ge­nuflexions [Page 322] and all other sorts of Austeri­ties upon it, that we are almost frightned at the very reading of the account St. Pe­ter Damianus who was his Spiritual direc­tor gives us of them: But the niceness and Effeminacy of our living way of finds it hard to comply with so rigorous a Devo­tion, of which notwithstanding we see ma­ny instances in the Saints of those times. But 'tis to be supposed that God inspired them with this extraordinary conduct in compassion to the necessities of that Age: They had to do with a Generation so per­verse and refractory, that 'twas but ne­cessary to strike their Senses with the most affecting objects. Bare reasonings and persw asions would have provedbut weak Arguments to such ignorant and brutish People, bred up in Blood and Rapine; and moderate severities would have been looked upon as nothing by them who had been from their youth inured to the hardships of War, and always walked in Armour: But when they saw a St. Boni­face the Disciple of St. Romualdus going bare foot in the coldest Countries; a St. Domi­nic Loricatus disciplining himfelf till he was all of a gore Blood; they could not imagin but that these holy Saints did indeed love God and hate Sin; They knew not what to make of mental Prayer, but they very well saw that he prayed who repeated [Page 323] the Psaltery, and they could not doubt but that these holy Persons loved their Neighbour when they saw them doing Penance, even for the Sins of other Men: Convinced by these outward and visible Demonstrations of their Zeal, they be­came more Docile and Tractable: They willingly hearkned to the Preachings of these Priests and Monks, whose Lives they could not but admire; and many of them were effectually converted: Though in­deed these Flagellations, going in Iron-Chains, and such like means of mortify­ing the Flesh were not new Inventions. Theodoret gives us a number of like instan­ces in his Religiosa Historia, or the lives of the Religious and Asceticks; and St. Simeon Stilites is alone sufficient to give Authority to all these almost incredible Austerities. The Rule of St. Columbanus who lived about the end of the Sixth Age, kept his Monks under the Discipline of the Rod, prescribing for almost every fault a certain number of Stripes: And we see in the after Ages many Saints giv­ing themselves voluntary Castigations.

Amongst the Instances of discipline which served instead of Canonical Pen­ances, one of the most usual was, That, of taking a Pilgrimage to some of the more Celebrated places of Devotion, as to Jeru­salem, to Rome, to Tours, to Compostella. [Page 324] In the ninth Age the many abuses which Conc. Cabil ii. an. 813. had crept into this practice occasioned great Complaints. If a Priest or other Clerk had been guilty of any notorious Crime, 'twas but taking a Pilgrimage; and by that they pretended to wipe off all blots and requalifie themselves: From hence also the Lords took occasion to lay severe Exactions upon their Subjects, un­der the pretence of defraying their Tra­velling expences; and many that had no­thing of their own to live on, under this colour took the advantage of leading Va­gabond lives in Sloth and Beggary: Others there were that past all their Days in rov­ing Capitul. aquisgran. an. 787. c. 73. about the World, naked and loaded with Chains of Iron, a dismal Spectacle to all that beheld them. And 'tis true that for Murders and other such-like hor­rid Crimes, the Criminals were some­times obliged by way of Penance to spend their Lives in such a manner, to wander about the World, and carry along with them the marks of their misfortune: But never were Pilgrimages so much in vogue as after the end of the Eleventh Age; Wars and publick distractions being now in a great measure abated, and Pilgrims looked upon as Sacred Persons; every one was for visiting the places of Devotion, even Princes and Kings themselves. King Robert passed his Helgaud. [Page 325] Lent in Pilgrimages, and took a Journy to Rome for that purpose. The Bishops Epist. Be­ned. vii. ad opisc. burg. themselves made no difficulty of being ab­sent from their Churches upon this ac­count.

HENCE came the Croisades which LII. Croisades and In­dulgences. were no other than vast Bodies of Armed Pilgrims. These Enterprises were ne­cessary in those times. No one Christian Prince was then of himself Potent enough to put a stop to the Progress of the Maho­metans, the Declared Enemies of all those who would not embrace their Religion. They had then for Two hundred Years Ravaged Italy without Controul; they had made themselves Masters of Sicily and almost all Spain. By the help of these Croisades they were driven out of all these parts of Europe, and had their Power ve­ry much broken in Aegypt and Syria. In the mean time among these Military Pe­nitents, the Discipline of the Church was but poorly Regarded, and these Enterpri­ses how Piously soever designed, proved (as far as I can guess) one of the princi­pal causes of breaking off the force of Pen­ance. Then it was that first came in the Plenary Indulgence, that is to say, a total Remission of all Canonical Penalties to any Man, whatsoever that would undertake the Expedition, and list himself [Page 326] into the Service of God, for so was this Villehard. lib. i. War called. And this extraordinary Par­don drew together vast Numbers. Those of the Nobless who understood nothing but Hunting and Fighting, were very well pleased with the Commutation, of having their irksom Penances of Fastings and Prayings, and above all the use of their Arms and Horses, which were de­barr'd them during their Penance, chan­ged into the making of a Campeign. Their Penance was a pleasure to them; nor was the Fatigue of the March consi­derable to them who had been always used to the Field. New places and new objects were indeed a diversion to them. There was scarce any thing of Trouble in all this, but barely leaving their own Coun­try and being long absent from their Fa­milies. In the mean time great Jour­ney and Company, was no very proper method for the correcting of Sinners. The Spirit of Compunction could scarce subsist with such a Dissipation of Thought as their circumstances necessarily inferred. During these long Travaels, they could not but be for diverting and entertaining each other with pleasant Discourses, as the best way they had to lessen the tediousness of their March; and those that are least wife are every where the greatest Talkers. Their thoughts must needs be always in a [Page 327] hurry about Provisions, Lodgings, and the several Adventures they met with; they could not easily deny themselves the Liberty of eating, and Sleeping too much, as thinking such indulgencies in a man­ner necessary to refresh themselves after their tedious Fatigues. 'Twas impossi­ble under these Circumstances that their Life should be regular or uniform; be­sides the different manners of so many Countries they were to Travers in their march to the Holy-Land: The occasions of Quarrels by reason of the diversity of Humours, Customs and Languages; the Temptations to Luxury and Intempe­rance in plentiful Countries, and by the conversation of People extreamly corrupt. So that it plainly appears in History, That the Armies of the Croisades were not on­ly not better than other Armies, but much worse. That all sorts of Vices reigned there; both those which Pilgrims brought from home with them, and those which they found in Strange Countries: In a word, if these expeditions serv'd for the punishment of any Sins, it was not so much the Sins of the Latin Christians as of the Infidels and Schismatick Christans, to whom they were indeed the terrible Scourges of God.

In these Croisades there were always many Bishops, Priests, and Monks; some were put upon by a true Zeal, but Liber­tinism [Page 328] was a Motive to the greatest part. they thought they might be allowed to bear Arms, and to make use of them a­gainst Infidels. 'Tis easy to imagin what decay in Discipline these lawless courses joined with the ignorance which had then for so long a time prevailed in the World must needs have produced. The Popes themselves, even those that were the best meaning among them, found themselves under a necessity of tolerating a great part of these Abuses. They were forced to connive at many particular disorders to further the grand design in general. They were obliged to bare a great regard to the Heads of the Croisades, since by the con­duct of their Arms they succesfully main­tained the Cause of the Christian Religion, though they themselves by their vicious Lives were a Scandal to it. The Indul­gence of the Holy-war was also extended to such as should take up Arms against the Hereticks, who rebelled not only against the Church but against their own Princes, as the Albigenses in France. And in gene­neral it was granted in all Wars, where­in the Interest of Religion was thought to be concerned: And they judged it hard measure to deny the same favour to Wo­men, or such other Persons whose Age or Condition put them out of a capacity of bearing Arms; and therefore the indul­gence [Page 329] was Communicated to them upon their giving Alms toward defraying the ex­pences of the War; nor only so, but Alms also applyed to other pious Works were likewise judged proper to make satisfac­tion for Sins. They gave either Plenary or limited Indulgences to those who con­tributed toward the building of Churches: And this supplyed the Bishops with the means of erecting those stately Cathedrals so much admired at this Day. The same favour was granted for building and en­dowing Hospitals, especially those two sorts of them which were very frequent in those Days, viz. For Pilgrims and Le­pers. There were also in favour of the Poor, indulgences annexed to other works of Charity. Thus Satisfactions became in a manner Arbitrary. The Penetintial Canons being now no longer kept up in practice, the very knowlege of them was soon after lost; and Penance was now made so gentle a thing, that Confession was the most dreadful part of it.

IN the Thirteenth Century, the An­cient LIII. The great number of Doctors. Discipline received this blow. The Authority of Tradition had carryed it down through the Ages foregoing, and it may be said the Church never was so great a sufferer by simple Ignorance, as by new Speculations. They now began [Page 330] in their Scholastick Disputes to depend too little upon pure Authority and were over fond of working out every thing by their own Reasonings. Aristotle grew much in fashion. And the Subtilties of Logick and Metaphysicks which they borrowed from the Arabians, were in mighty request. The scarcity of Antient Books, and the difficulty of understand­ing them by reason of the change of Lan­guage and Customes, Tempted them so­much the more to apply themselves to Speculations and the Reading of the Mo­derns. Thus the Scholastick Divinity was more valued than the Positive; Gra­tian and the Master of the Sentences were read more than the Fathers; and in the Scriptures, they were more curious in hunting after a Figurative Sense then careful to observe the Literal.

After the Twelvth Age the greatest part of the Bishops applyed themselves but little to Preaching, and the Instruc­tion of their Clergy. They suffered them­selves to be encumbred with Temporal affairs. The Laiety, and especially the Princes being Bred up in Ignorance, knew not how to Manage without the assistanst­ance of the Clergy. 'Twas out of the Bishops and Abbots that they chose their Chancellours and Ministers of State. They were made Judges in almost all [Page 331] Causes. Without going any farther, their Temporal Lordships found them work enough; the Wars in which they were often forced to engage, the fortifying their Garrisons and assembling their Troops. They were obliged to maintain grand Equipages, large Families, and all sort of Officers. In the midst of so much business, the Spiritual part, which ought to have been the chiesest, was too often neglected. Thus Studying, Preaching, and the Administring the Sacraments fell to the Lot of the Doctors, of whom the Universities were full, but chiefly into the Hands of the Religious Mendicants, who came in very seasonably to the Re­lief of the Church in these unhappy Ages.

But these Religious, how holy and how Zealous soever they might be, were not Proper Pastors over any certain people, nor had they any regular Jurisdiction. They were rather a sort of Missionaries; who following the orders of their Superi­ors, travelled throughout all the Dioceses, Labouring in the Conversion of Hereticks and Sinners. Nor were their Labours without Success. But the good services they did the Church took not their full effect for want of power to continue their farther Instructions to those whom they had converted, to correct their Miscar­riages, and compleat their Work, by [Page 332] abiding with them and watching over them till they had established them be­yond relapse in the Right way. All this they could do only to some particular Persons, who voluntarily Resigned them­selves to their Direction. So that the Fruits of their Labours could not be of so general Effect, as when every Bishop closely applyed himself to the Edification of his own Flock.

The Case was much the same with them in respect of Studies. The Doctors whether Seculars or Regulars that were in possession of the Chairs, had scarce any thing of Authority, besides what their personal Merit procured them. It was free for the Students to follow what Pro­fession they liked best. And from hence arose that Diversity of Sects and Opinions, concerning matters that were allowed to be disputed. For as there were a great num­ber of Doctors who were not employed in the Cure of Souls, but spent their whole time in the Schools; they had lea­sure to treat of many Questions more Thomass. discipl. iv. l. 1. c. 69. n. xi. Curious then useful. The Laicks also were left at their own Liberty to follow what Preachers they most Affected, and to chuse to themselves their own Confes­sors, besides their proper Pastors. So that among such a mnltitude of Priests, bad Christians could not fail of meeting [Page 333] with some or other who would give them Absolution upon very easy Terms: And thus such as were willing to be de­ceived themselves, or had a mind to De­ceive others did not forbear, without mending their Manners, to frequent the Churches and come to the Sacraments.

The greatest part of the Doctors them­selves were born down by the Stream of the Corruption of the People, and suffer­ed many considerable Relaxations of Dis­cipline to plead Prescription. The little knowledge they had of the ancient Man­ners of the Church, was the principal cause of this Mischief. The usages intro­duced an Age or two before went down with them for immemorial Customs: It is strange, for instance, that in the Days of St. Thomas Aquinas, they should not re­member how they kept their Fasts in the S. Bern. Serm. in cap. Jejun. Age preceeding; For St. Bernard assures us that in his time all the World without di­stinction, observed in Lent not to break their Fast till Evening. Kings and Princes, Clergy, People, gentle and Simple, Rich and Poor, all of them did so; and yet St. Thomas not only plainly tells us that in his S. Thom. ii. ix. 147. art. 7. ad i. time none Fasted beyond three of the Clock in the Afternoon, but also pre­tends to prove, That Christians ought not to Fast after any other manner; and that Fasting till the Evening was peculiar [Page 334] to the old Law: So easy a thing is it to find arguments to justify all sorts of Prac­tices when one is ignorant of Fact. This Ignorance made them look upon Anti­quity as Novelty, and the Authority of the Moderns as a surer Ground to proceed upon than that of the Antients, of whom they had only a confused notion, that their Manners were altogether different from ours, without sufficiently distin­guishing whether this diversity lay in any of the Essentials of Christianity, or only in such indifferent matters as Habits and Language. And as they gave themselves the liberty of starting every Day new Questions and inventing new Subtilies; there arose at last a set of Casuists who founded their Morals rather upon hu­man Reason, than upon Scripture and Tradition, as if Jesus Christ had not taught us all Truth, as well for Manners as for Faith; but had left us still to seek with the ancient Philosophers.

I SHALL not pretend to give a parti­cular LIV. A succes­sion of found Doctrin and good examples in all times. of the disorders that followed upon these loose Principles which they brought into their new System of Morality; they are but too well known of themselves: Nor is it my design to describe the manners of bad Christians, which are no better than those of other Men; my business is only [Page 335] to represent the manners which distinguish true Christians from the rest of the World. Now God hath never so forsaken his Church, but examples of this kind were always to be found in it: After what manner soever the Church was governed whether immediately by Bishops, or by Priests, either Commissionated by them, or sent abroad by the Popes, whether by Seculars or Regulars, by ordinary Pastors or Foreign Missionaries; it hath always had the same Religion and the same Body of Doctrine. The true Faith has always been preserved in purity, and the grand principles of Morality have always stood firm. It hath been always a thing cer­tain and granted that we ought to observe the Law of God explained according to Tradition, and the Authority of the an­cients; and that we ought to form our Lives after the examples of those holy Per­sons whom the Church hath publickly Honoured for Saints.

And such living Models there have al­ways been; every Age hath had its Apo­stles Serm. de S. Andr. vit. S. Mala. that went to Preach the Faith to In­fidels; every Age hath had its Martyrs; Virgins and true Penitents have always been in great numbers: It was (as St. Bernard observes) the sincere desire of Penitence that after the Eleventh Age in­troduced somany new Orders of Monks. [Page 336] God hath always from time to time raised up extraordinary Persons to maintain his holy Doctrine and revive decaying Piety. What is there comparable to St. Bernard? Hath he not shewn in his own Person the Zeal of the Prophets, the Learning and Eloquence of the greatest Doctors of the Church, and the Mortification of the most perfect Recluses? We are certainly much endebted to Innocent the Third, and the other great and learned Popes of those times, to the Master of the Sentences and St. Thomas and the rest of them who have reduced Divinity into a Method. St. Francis hath given us an eminent Example of the Christian Life, practiced according to the Letter, of an Humility and Mortification worthy of the Apostolick Time: Thus from Age to Age, from Generation to Generation, God hath preserved in his Church the succession of true Doctrine and Holy Life.

It is certain then, That Jesus Christ is Heb. xiii. 8. to Day as well as Yesterday, and will be the same to all Ages. In vain therefore do bad Christians now adays vilify the Ve­neration we justly have for Antiquity, and for the Examples of the Saints; by sup­posing that in the First Ages of Christia­nity Men were clear of another Nature then what we are now; their Bodies ro­bust and better able to bare those Fastings [Page 337] and other such-like Severities; their Spi­rits more Docile and pliable, and there­fore all the practices of Vertue more easy to them: If we tell them that St. Peter and St. Paul lived in Poverty and Labour; V. Chrysost de com­punct. they Answer, They were Apostles; St. An­thony and St. Martin underwent great Mortifications; They were Saints: St. Austin made his Clergy live in Common; and he himself (tho' a great Bishop) liv­ed but very Ordinarily; This might be in those Days: Do you think therefore that these Words, Saintship, Antiquity, and the Primitive Church, are allowable ex­ceptions? That the exercises of Penance; the being continually occupied in the word of God; the renouncing the Plea­sures and Vanities of this wicked World; the Clergies keeping themselves disengag­ed from Secular Affairs, and leading lives singularly Exemplary: That all these things were the extraordinary at­tainments of the Primitive Church, whose excellencies we must not pretend to Rival [...] That to exempt our selves from the obli­gation of following so glorious Presidents, 'tis but to distinguish the Times and the Work's done.

The Church (say they) was strong and vigorous in her Youth, and produced then Heroick Vertues: She is now in her Old Age and Declension; she hath had [Page 338] her Spring and her Summer; and now she is in her Winter: But what mean these Metaphors? Do they pretend that the du­ration of the Church doth in reality re­semble the Changes of the Year, or the course of the Life of Man? will any one dare to say, that she was imperfect in her beginnings, wanted time to give her full Maturity, and must feel her decays; as o­ther transitory things, or like the Producti­ons of Men. But I desire to know in what this change has happened since the Publi­cation of the Gospel; Is it in humane Na­ture? Experience and the Faith of all His­tory assures us the contrary: Is it in the Law of God, or is it in his Grace? Herein there is still the same Power, the same Goodness that ever there was. Jesus Christ hath never told us that his Church must be governed by different Rules ac­cording to the changes of Times. The Abolition of the ancient Law and the A­brogation of Ceremonies was expresly foretold: but as to the Gospel it must be Preached both to the utmost parts of the Earth, and to the end of the World: Let us not therefore deceive our selves with frivolous excuses, nor charge the present corruption of our Manners upon any other fault then that of our Ignorance and Neg­ligence. Apolog. decretor. It is as dangerous (saith Pope Gregory the Seventh) to undermine the [Page 339] Manners and Discipline of the ancient Church as to attack its Faith, since both the one and the other are derived to us from the same Tradition.

IT is true, the Church hath sometimes borh with some Abuses which had taken LV. Some a­buses to le­rated in the Church and how they came to be so. too deep rooting, waiting a favourable Conjuncture to Reform them; and hath sometimes indulged her Children for the hardness of their Hearts in the Relaxation of the ancient Discipline. The Rule of Communicating four times a Year stood in force in the Ninth Age; but in the fol­lowing it was only ill observed. Petrus Blesensis informs us, that in his times in the Petr. Bles. Serm. 16. Twelfth Age, the greatest part of Chri­stians Communicated but once a Year: The Church complied with this usage and put it in the Canons of the Lateran Coun­cil. It was forbidden formerly to say Can. omn. utriusque, 1215. Conc. Rav. iv. 1317. rubr. 12. ii. ii. 9. 147. a. vii. the private Masses during the time of so­lemn Mass, to avoid disturbing that Ser­vice; yet Custom carried it. In the time of St. Thomas; that is a bout Four hundred Years ago, they kept their Fasts till three of the Clock in the Afternoon; and we find no mention but of one eating; after­wards it came to Noon, and a Collation was allowed: Amongst these Mitigations I reckon Penance left to the discretion of the Confessor, and the frequent granting of Indulgencies; as likewise the dispensing [Page 340] with the Rigor of many of the Rules of the Monasticks. They thought that the Re­ligious, though falling short of the utmost Perfection that their Rule required, would yet even under some abatements arrive to an higher Perfection than if they conti­nued in the World, and that it was bet­ter somewhat to soften and qualify the Fast of Lent, than to let it run wholly in­to disuse; but we are not from those Con­descensions to imagine that the way to Heaven is become more easy to Us, than it was to them of Old; that we are more happy than our Fore-fathers; or that the Bishops and Popes of these last Ages thought themselves wiser than their Pre­decessors.

We need only read the Constitutions and Canons which have Authorised the several Relaxations, to see that the Church never did it without Regret. Many De­viations came in only by common usage. In the mean time the Church hath taken special care in such cases, to retain cer­tain Observances in remembrance of the true Practice of Antiquity. Thus the Office for the Noon or Evening Service said on Fast-days before Dinner; All the Formularies of Ordinations and other publick Acts, are as it were so many re­peated Protestations to salve the authori­ty [Page 341] of the ancient Rules, and bar the pre­tence of Prescription against them.

There are other Abuses which the Church hath always condemned; as those absurd Shows which they had the boldness to bring even into the Churches themselves, and which were forbidden in the Council of Basil: And as the pro­fane Conc. Basil. Sess. xii. c. xi. V. Syn. Vigorn. an. 1240. c. iv. Jollity on the Feasts of the Saints, the remains of which wee see in that of St. Martin's Day, of the Kings, and on those of their Patron Saints in the Villages; or Country Wakes: And as the Debauches of the Carnival, which had no other be­ginning than the Reluctance People had about the keeping of Lent, resolving to take their Fill of Pleasure before they be­gan their Fast. Little did the Apostles and their Disciples imagine that this Holy Preparation for the Passover, should one Day have proved an occasion of Disso­lution and Licentiousness.

The Saints and all true Christians have always openly declared against these A­buses. We know with what Vigour St. Charles Borromeus suppressed them, and how Zealously he Laboured to bring back again into the Church the Spirit of Antiquity, even to the lesser matters of Religion. The Council of Trent, and those who were employed to see it put into Execution in the Provinces, aimed [Page 342] at no other end than This. And so ma­ny Reformations that have been made in the Religious Orders since the last Age, were only in order to reduce them to their Primitive Constitution. St. Teresa could Vi. S. Ter [...] c. 27. fin. not endure that under the pretence of Dis­cretion, and for the avoiding of Scandal, there should be Restraints lay'd upon the fervour of those who affected to imitate the Saints of the first Age. She complains that these Discretions have spoiled the World, and maintains that in her Age, which is very near ours, the Vertues of the Primitive Church were not Impracti­cable Lessons. 'Twas upon this occasion she wrote the Life of St. Peter of Alcanta­ [...]a, she herself being an eye Witness to it.

Proceeding upon so good Authorities, LVI. The use of this Work. I thought I might do some service to the World in Representing the Manners of the Ancients, which ought to be the Patterns now of all good Christians. I have said nothing but what is well known to Per­sons of Learning, and taken out of Books with which they are familiarly acquaint­ed. And they will see that much more might have been added to the same Pur­pose. There are many things here not commonly known to every good Christ­ian; and such things too as are fit for their Edification. They will see that [Page 343] the Religion of a Christian consists not altogether (as too many imagine) in some formal performances. To say over every Morning and Night some short Prayers; to assist on Sundays at the Publick Service; to distinguish the Holy Time of Lent, only by abstaining from some certain sort of Dyets, and to dispence with it upon trivial Occasions; to approach the Sacra­ments so Seldom, and with so small af­fection, that they turn Solemn Festivals into Melancholy Days. And as to the common Course of their Lives, to be as much addicted to the Interests and Plea­sures of this World as Pagans themselves could be. These are not the Christians I have been Describing.

I hope also, that the Description I have here given of the Holy Manners of those that were really Christians, may make some Impressions upon such Persons who have no more sense of things, than to confound the true Religion with those false ones which the Error of Ignorant, or Craft of disigning Men have introduc­ed. Let a Man but consider that vast change of Manners which the Gospel hath wrought in all Nations, and the Distin­guishing Characters there have always been between true Christians, and Infi­dels; and he will see that the Christian Re­ligion stands upon a surer Bottom then he [Page 344] thought for. He will be forced to believe that it was at first established by the Pow­er of Miracles, for there can be nothing more Incredible than that such a Change should be wrought without Miracles. These Miracles made so strong an Impres­sion, that it was not till very late any one did so much as think of calling them into Question. To speak no more than what we know, 'tis scarce above Two hun­dred Years since this Libertinism was in­troduced by some Italians, who tho' Men of Wit, were very Ignorant of Religion, and disgusted with these Abuses; then they were charmed with the Beauty of the An­cient Greek and Latin Authors, with the Government of these People and their way of Living: And so much the more be­cause the maxims of those Heathens bet­ter agreed with the Corruption of human Nature, and the general Practices of Man­kind. In short these Modern Italians re­lished nothing else.

This mischief was farther encreased by the new Heresies that were broached in these last Ages. The Disputes upon the very Fundamental Principles of Religion shock't the Faith of many; who yet upon divers Temporal Motives continued in the outward profession of the Catholick Reli­gion: And amongst the Hereticks them­selves were great numbers who being no [Page 345] longer restrained by Authority, have driv­en the Consequences of their ill principles to extremity, and are come to that pass as to look upon Religion it self as no more than a piece of State-Policy. This un­happy notion got ground, and easily spread it self. Young Persons hearing their Pa­rents perhaps, or those whom they looked upon as Men of Wit, making some lewd Jests upon Religion, or it may be ventur­ing to say in plain terms, that there was nothing in it at the bottom, presently took up with that; and finding these notions agreeable to their Passions and Desires, never troubled their thoughts any farther about inquiring into the Merit of the mat­ter. Vanity also came in for its share: They thought by this means to distinguish themselves from the ignorant Vulgar, and appear more discerning than the honest well meaning People of former Ages: besides sloth was another Motive to make them either take matters upon trust, or determine at all Adventures rather than to be at the trouble of examining the Truth; but let Men say what they will, the matters I have here laid down will be always true; what Origen in his Book against Celsus so often inculcates, that Jesus Christ hath reformed the World, and filled it with vertues unknown to for­mer Ages.

And this is what I had to say concern­ing the Manners of the Israelites and of LVII. The Con­clusion. the Christians; such was the outward appearance of the Lives of the faithful of the Old and of the New-Testament. In my Opinion the first Discourse shews us The Man­ners of the Israelites, published also in Eng­lish 1683. but with­out taking any notice of the Au­thor. the best use of Temporal advantages, and the most accountable Methods of living up to Innocence and Nature. In this latter I have endeavoured to shew what was the life of those whose Conversation was in Heaven; and who while they were in the Flesh lived yet by the Spirit. This Life perfectly Spiritual and Supernatural was the peculiar effect of the Grace of Je­sus Christ.

If what I have Written proves Instru­mental to give a right notion of the Life which is truly reasonable and Christian, and to make any one apply himself se­riously to the practice of it: If matters prove thus, I shall not at all be disturbed at the different Censures of the Reader, or the Faults with which the Work may be Charged.