A treatise of the sibyls so highly celebrated, as well by the antient heathens, as the holy fathers of the church : giving an accompt of the names, and number of the sibyls, of their qualities, the form and matter of their verses : as also of the books now extant under their names, and the errours crept into Christian religion, from the impostures contained therein, particularly, concerning the state of the just, and unjust after death / written originally by David Blondel ; Englished by J.D.

OF THE SIBYLS. The Second Book. (Book 2)

Of the CONSEQUENCES arising upon the Supposititi∣ousness of the Writing pretended to be Sibylline. (Book 2)

ADVERTISEMENT.

TO revenge the antient Injury done to the Church (in whose Bosom it is now above fifteen hundred years, that some have been willing to fasten the Supposititious Work of the Sibylline Writing) and to Truth, which hath been miserably disguised thereby; and lastly to the Fathers, who have been surprised by the unheard∣of Impudence of the Impostour; who, presenting them with a counterfeit Jewel, instead of a right Diamond, made them take Coals out of Hell-fire for a Divine Treasure: I have been forced to search into the very Roots of so deep an Imposture, as such, as whereto many of our Time (even among the Protestants) are still inclined to give Credit. And in what I have done out of this Design, I have cherished a certain Hope; that those, who shall be any way offend∣ed at the seeming Novelty of my Sentiment, will vouch∣safe

to consider it without Prejudice: that, upon their ac∣knowledgment of the solidity of its Grounds, they may ac∣quiesce therein; or, if they think otherwise of it, with Rea∣son correct it. In the Interim (presupposing it as well, and sufficiently, proved) I shall intreat the Reader's Attention, to consider the Consequences of the Doctrine unjustly attributed to the Counterfeit Sibyl, and, to proceed therein with some Order, Observe,

First, In what Year precisely the Apocalyps (whereof the false Prophetess attempts to wrest the true Sence) was writ∣ten by the Apostle Saint John.

Secondly, About what time the extravagant Imaginati∣ons of the pretended Sibylline Writings came first abroad.

Thirdly, By how strong a Prejudice they were possessed, who were (out of an excessive Easiness of Belief) induced to admit them.

A TREATISE OF THE SIBYLS.

BOOK II.

CHAP. I. An Enquiry thout the Time, wherein Saint John wrote his REVELATION.

AS we have, on the one side, the Consent of Antiquity, assigning the Life of Saint John to have ended on Sunday, the 27^th of December, in the third year of Trajan; coincident with the hundredth year af∣ter the Birth of our Saviour, according to the Com∣putation now used: so have we, on the other, Saint Irenaeus, who suffered Martyrdom in the one hun∣dred, ninety, and eighth year of Christ, affirming in the thirtieth Chapter of his fifth Book, cited by Eusebius (both in the eighth Chapter of the third Book, and the eighth Chapter of the fifth Book of his History) that the Apocalyps was written a 1.1 about the end of Domitian's Reign: which is confirmed by Clemens Alexandrinus about the year 200. writing at the place, Copied out by Eusebius, that St. John b 1.2 returned from Patmos, after the Tyrant's Death; that is to say, after the eighteenth of Septem∣ber, in the year ninety six, on which Domitian was Assassinated. Eusebius seems the more absolutely to acquiess in their Sentiment, in that,

having further published, and observed, in the seventeenth Chapter of his third Book, that Domitian, c 1.3 towards the end of his Reign, became the Successour of Nero in his enmity, and War, against God, he certifies in the nineteenth Chapter, that Domitilla was Banished for the Profession of Christianity in the fifteenth, and last, year of that Prince's Reign, which falls in with the ninety sixth of our Saviour. Further, that the d 1.4 Tra∣dition of the Antients affirmed; that St. John was called back from Patmos by Nerva; and in his Chronicle (upon the fourteenth year of Domitian, which he makes coincident with the second of the two hundred and eighteenth Olympiad) that e 1.5 Domitian was the second after Nero, who persecuted the Christians; and that, in his Reign, the Apostle St. John, then banished to Patmos, had seen the Apocalyps, as Irenaeus declares. Which words manifestly relate to the place of that holy Prelate, which he had Transcribed twice in his History, and which yet St. Hierome, as well in his Version of Eusebius's Chronicle, as in his Catalogue, wrests to another sence, turning it, f 1.6 Which Irenaeus interprets; as if Euschius had written, not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. and his intention had been to tell us; that Saint Irenaeus declared the Apocalyps; rather then to give us to understand, that (according to the Declaration of that great Martyr) St. John saw his Apocalyps, not onely under Domitian, but the fourteenth year of that Prince, or (to express it in his own Terms) towards the end of his Reign. But with this little distortion of the words of Eusebius, St. Hierome, in his Catalogue, expresses their true sence, saying, g 1.7 Do∣mitian in his fourteenth year, raising, after Nero, the second Persecution, John (banished to the Isle of Patmos) writ the Apocalyps; which Justin Martyr interprets, and Irenaeus. So that we must not, with h 1.8 Cardinal Baronius, give that Interpretation to his Discourse; as if Domitian had began his Reign fourteeen years after Nero. For, though it be indeed true; since Nero died the tenth of June, 68. and Domitian came into his Brother's place on the eighteenth of September, 81. thirteen years, three moneths, and eight days after the unfortunate End of Nero; and consequently about the beginning of the fourteenth year: yet was it not the intention of St. Hierome to acquaint us, what number of years had passed between the Reign of Domitian and that of Nero; but that Domitian, in the four∣teenth year of his Reign, (which was the twenty seventh after Nero's Death) raised the second Persecution against the Church. So that it was inconsiderately done of him, who Translated the Greek Version of So∣phronius, the antient Interpreter of St. Hierome's Catalogue, into Latine, to make him say, as he fancied, i 1.9 The fourteenth year after the Death of Nero, instead of turning it (according to the proper expressions as well of St. Hierome, as k 1.10 Sophronius) l 1.11 The fourteenth year, Domitian raising, after Nero, the second Persecution: nor indeed could it have been without contradiction to St. Irenaeus, Clemens Alexandrinus, and Eusebius, nay, to himself; and that so much the more notorious, by how much the more he pretended to follow the last; whose Discourse he hath Transla∣ted, in a manner, word for word. The Arabian Prolegomena upon the Gospels, published by Peter de Kirstein, have these words in them; John made his aboad at Ephesus seven and twenty years; that is to say, six under Nero, ten under Vespasian, two under Titus, and nine under Domitian: then

was he Banished by Domitian into the Isle of Patmos, where he stayed seven years, till such time, as he was called back by Nero the younger; that is to say, Nerva.

By this account, the Apostle of God should have retired out of Pa∣laestine into the Proconsulary Asia; not (as the Greek Fasti very probably suppose) in the 68. of our Saviour, because of the Revolt of the Jews from the Empire, and the Eruption of the War brought into the Heart of their Country by Vespasian; immediately upon the retreat of the Church of Jerusalem to Pella: but in the year sixty three, concurrent with the ninth of Nero, and the time of St. John's Abode, both at Ephesus, and Patmos, should have been thirty four years, comprehending six years of Nero, and the whole Reigns of Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. For Nero killed himself (as hath been already observed) the tenth of June, 68. Vespasian (having news brought him in Palaestina of the Mur∣thering of Galba; which happened on the sixteenth of January, 69. as also of the Tragical End of Otho on the twentieth of April following, and of the Rising of his Friends in Rome) assumed the Empire, and kept it till the twenty fourth of June, 79. and Domitian, who had succeeded his Brother Titus, dying the 13^th of September, in the year 81. was violently forced out of the world on the 18^th of September, in the year 96. leaving the Empire vacant to Nerva; who nulled all his Acts, and by that means, gave St. John the Liberty to return to Ephesus. But if this Calculation be receivable, in as much as it maintains the common Sentiment of the Fa∣thers, concerning the time of St. John's return, yet can it not agree with the Relation of St. Irenaeus, affirming; that, m 1.12 almost in his time, Do∣mitian began the Persecution, towards the end of his Reign, and leaving it to be inferred, that the Persecution was of no long continuance: which could not be said, if (according to the account of the Arabians) we must assign it seven years; that is to say, a full half of Domitian's Reign, and not onely the End: whereto St. Irenaeus, Eusébius, and all the Fathers, strictly limit themselves; among whom n 1.13 Tertullian, Contemporary with St. Irenaeus, expresly observing the Violence of that Persecution to have made no great Havock, says; Domitian, an Imp of Nero, as to cru∣elty, had designed a Persecution; but, being also himself a man, he easily smo∣thered what he had begun, having re-established those, whom he had Banished. So that, according to his Opinion, the mischief was stayed by his very Order, who had occasioned it. But, whereas by attributing to him the Re-establishment of the Banished, he derogates from the Authority of the Tradition of the Antients, which (according to Eusebius) delayed it till the Reign of Nerva, whom the Prolegomena (I know not why) call Nero the younger, I shall, by no means, presume so much upon his par∣ticular Opinion, as to oppose it to the common belief of all the Fathers. Which having forced us to reduce onely to one the seven years assigned by the Prolegomena, for the Banishment of St. John, imposes upon us yet a greater necessity to quit the Opinion of the Greek Fasti; which place the return of St. John under the twelfth year of Domitian, coincident with the ninety third of our Saviour, and commit therein an Errour so much the more unmaintainable; in that they make the Persecution cease, as also the effect it had (by the confession of all) caused two years be∣fore

it began, and ridiculously presuppose, that St. John was (by the Decree for his Release) restored to his former Liberty, before he had been in a capacity to lose it, by the unjust Decree for his Banishment.

He, who hath busied himself in writing a Synopsis of the Lives of the Prophets and Apostles, under the Name of o 1.14 Dorotheus, having, by mixture of his own Conceptions, corrupted the words of the Synopsis of St. Athanasius, imagines; that St. John was Banished by Trajan; that he lived one hundred, and twenty years, and returned from Patmos to Ephesus after Trajan's Death. But all (yet followed, as it should seem, by Suidas) is contrary both to Tradition, and the Truth; since

First, Trajan came not to the Empire, till the twenty eighth of July, in the year 98. the very next to that, wherein St. John was restored by Nerva.

Secondly, St. John was (according to the Opinion of St. Hierome) honoured with the Apostleship p 1.15 in his Youth, and while he was yet a Boy; so that the hundredth year of our Saviour, wherein he was Translated to Celestial glory, could not have been much beyond the ninetieth of his Age, (to which St. Epiphanius confines himself) nor coincident with the ninety eighth, chosen by Beda; nor with the ninety ninth, which Usuard hath taken; nor yet with the hundredth, which Ce∣drenus (for some reason unknown to us) thought most worthy his Choice; And

Thirdly, the Death of St. John was seventeen years before that of Trajan; who dyed of a Flux at Selinuntium in Cilicia, on the tenth of August, in the year 117.

CHAP. II. The Sentiment of St. Epiphanius, concerning the Time of the Apo∣calyps, refuted.

I Have hitherto given an account of their Opinions, who (dissenting from the common Tradition) thought, that St. John had writ his Apo∣calyps, either before the twelfth year of Domitian; about four years sooner, then he did: or under the Reign of Trajan; much later, then is consistent with the Truth. I now come to prove the mistake of Saint Epiphanius, who (contrary to the Opinion of all precedent Antiquity) going back to the Reign of Claudius, would needs make that Prince Authour of St. John's Banishment to Patmos. a 1.16 The Holy Spirit (saith he) necessitates John; who, out of a Religious, and humble respect, refused to Evangelize in his old Age, after the ninetieth year of his Life; b 1.17 after his return from Patmos, happening under Claudius Caesar, and after an aboad of many years in Asia. And towards the End of the same Treatise; c 1.18 The Holy Spirit Prophetically foretells, by the mouth of St. John, what happened after his decease; d 1.19 he himself having in the Time of Claudius Caesar long before, when he was in the Isle Patmos (for they themselves [that

is to say, the Alogians] acknowledg, that these things have been accomplished in Thyatira) written, through the Spirit of Prophecy, to those, who professed Christianity there at that time; that a Woman should call her self a Pro∣phetess.

This Venerable man, pressed to Ward off the Objections of the He∣reticks alledging the Supposititiousness of the Apocalyps, in that it pre∣supposed, as extant, Churches, that were not in the Time of St. John (as, for instance, that of Thyatira) admits, without any necessity, the Ob∣jection of those troublesom Spirits, as if it had been out of all Questi∣on: then Answers; That John spoke by Prophecy, not of the Church, which was then; but of that, which should be planted some time after at Thyatira: where the People, seduced by the Alogians, and Mon∣tanists, should, after the ninety third year from our Saviour's Ascension, or the one hundred twenty sixth from his Birth, according to the ac∣count of St. Epiphanius, corrupt that wretched City with their Errour; and, having cited the Text of the Apostle, makes Application of it in these Terms; Do you not see, that he speaks of Women, who, having been seduced with an Imagination, that they had the Gift of Prophecy, have se∣duced many others? Now I speak of Priscilla, and Maximilla, and Quintilla; whose Seduction hath not been hidden from the Holy Spirit. In fine, after he had searched into the time, when he thought John Banished to Patmos, he shuts up his Discourse with this Conclusion; that is to say, That in Thyatira a Woman should call her self a Prophetess.

But, the more I consider this Answer, the less I finde it (without pre∣judice to the respect due to its Authour) capable of giving satisfaction to judicious Persons. For,

First, Is there any likelyhood, that the Holy Spirit should direct Let∣ters from the Son of God to Churches, which had no being, when it dictated them, and that we must understand these words, Unto the An∣gel of the Church, which is in Thyatira, write these things, I know thy works, &c. The last are more then the first, &c. I have a few things against thee; because thou sufferest the woman Jezabel, who calleth her self a Prophetess, to teach, and seduce, &c. in this sence, Write to the Angel of the Church, which shall be in Thyatira, I know the works thou shalt do; the last shall be more then the first; I shall have some few things against thee; thou shalt suffer the woman Jezabel, who shall call her self a Prophetess, to teach, &c? It was no hard matter for St. Epiphanius to write it; but whom hath he hitherto convinced of it, besides himself? This manner of Interpretation being such, as that not any one of either the Antients, or Modern, hath followed it, the very Singularity thereof should be suf∣ficient, not onely to bring it into suspicion; but also to represent it as so much the more unmaintainable, in as much as all, that professed Christianity from St. John to St. Epiphanius, (that is, from the year 100. to the year 375. wherein the later wrote against the Alogians had held the contrary to what it supposes, and took it for a thing indisputable, that the seven Churches, to whom our Saviour directed his Epistles, had been planted by the Ministery of Saint John before his Banishment to Patmos.

Secondly, Contradicting his own Hypothesis, to wit, that Thyatira

had not had any Church in the Time of St. John, he comes, for want of re∣flection, to maintain the opposite Affirmative, saying, Then the whole Church (of Thyatira was wholly degenerated into the Sect of the Cataphrygians [or Montanists] accordingly the holy Spirit would needs reveal unto you how it should come to pass, that the Church should be seduced after the time of the Apostles, and St. John, and those who came after; it was about ninety three years after the Assumption of our Saviour, that the Church of that place, (to wit, Thyatira) should be seduced, and fall into the Heresie of the Cataphrygi∣ans. For, if the Church were planted at Thyatira, it necessarily follows, it was there: the Allegation of the destruction of a thing containing the formal presupposition of its precedent existence.

Thirdly, But, not to meddle any further with that contradiction of St. Epiphanius, nor the supposition, which he granted the Hereticks, as ac∣knowledged by all, he advances a new one against the express Text of St. John; for he writes expresly, that the whole Church of Thyatira was degenerated into the Sect of the Cataphrygians; whereas the Holy Spirit, on the contrary, says it was not the whole Church of Thyatira, that had committed Adultery with Jezabel, and received her Doctrine; but that, in Thyatira, there were some Members of that Church, which were not fallen into those Errours; as it expresly declares, speaking To the rest in Thyatira, who had not received that Doctrine, nor known the depth of Satan, I say, &c.

Fourthly, Saint Epiphanius, himself, does further destroy the Com∣putation he had taken to denote the falling-away of the Church of Thya∣tira. For whereas, in his Dispute against the Alogians, he affirms, that, in the ninety third year after the Ascension (and consequently the one hundred, twenty sixth after the Birth of our Saviour) this Revolt hap∣pened; in the fourty eighth Heresie, where he particularly refutes the Montanists, he comes thirty years later, then that Date, saying; These, (to wit, the Montanists) were about the twenty fifth year of Antoninus Pius, after Adrian: which (according to our Computation) cannot concur, but with the year 156. and is necessarily false, as to their Judgment, who preceded in Time. For Claudius Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, limits the first eruption of the Montanists to the Proconsulship of Gratus, which is consonant to the year 142. or thereabouts: and Apolionius, the Romane Senatour, who suffered Martyrdom under Peren∣nius, on the eighteenth of April, 181. observes, that, fourty years before, that Sect pretended to a Prophetick Spirit; thereby insinuating, that it had broke forth about the year 139, or 140. not much differing from the time assigned by Apollinaris, but three years later, then St Epipha∣nius would have it, in his Dispute against the Alogians, and thirty six years sooner, then he said in his Treatise against the Montanists.

Fifthly, This Sect rose up particularly in Phrygia at a little Village, called Pepuzium, which the Inhabitants (upon occasion of their pre∣tended Prophets, who were Natives thereof) named Jerusalem, and not (as Epiphanius imagined) in Thyatira in Lydia; which, though adjacent indeed, and lying upon the Frontiers of Phrygia, yet made a Province of it self, as appears by the Testimony of Strabo (in his thirteenth Book) by Ptolomy (in the second Chapter of his first Book) by the Councel of Nice,

Assembled by the Emperour Constantine the Great, in the year 325. and by that of Lydia, convened by Order of the Emperour Leo the First, in the year 450. where the Bishops of Thyatira subscribed. with the Lydians, as being of the same Division. Nay, though there were onely to satisfie us, but the very Denominations of Cataphrygians, Phrygastae, and Pepu∣ziani, given by the Catholicks to the Montanists, they might suffice to make us apprehend, that we are not to look for their extraction in Thya∣tira, out of Phrygia, from which they are specifically denominated.

Sixthly, From the application of the Name Jezabel arises a new Dif∣ficulty against the Sentiment of St. Epiphanius. For whether we read with St. Cyprian, in his fifty second Epistle, and with Primasius, Andrew of Caesarea, and Aretas, e 1.20 Thy Wife Jezabel, which is consonant to the Reading as well of the antient Copy of Alexandria, wrote above thirteen hundred years since by Thecla, and given to King James of Great Britain by the Patriarch Cyril; as of that of the French King's Library, followed by Robert Stephen, in the Edition of the New Testament in folio; that of Alcala de Henares; and that, which was followed in the Edition of the great Bible of Andwerp; and other Impressions of Plantine: Or simply f 1.21 The Woman Jezabel; as is done by Hilary the Deacon, upon the eleventh Chapter of the second Epistle to the Corinthians; Tychonius, (in the Homilies unjustly attributed to St. Augustine) Beda, Ansbert (who joyns the two different Lections) and Berengandus, whose Commentary was published by Cuthbert Tonstal, Bishop of Durham, under the Name of St. Ambrose: Or, lastly, take the Names of Woman, and Jezabel proper∣ly, to attribute either to the Wife of the Pastour of Thyatira, or of some other particular Person subject to his Government: Or whether, lastly, they be understood Figuratively of the Heresie; as most of the antient Interpeters do: we shall not finde any reason to apply them (as St. Epi∣phanius does) to the three Prophetesses of the Montanists, Prisca, or Priscilla, Maximilla, and Quintilla put together, nor to any one of them in particular: not onely because they were neither born at, nor Inhabi∣tants of Thyatira, but Phrygians, Natives of Pepuzium; but also because the reprehension of the Son of God, charging the Jezabel of the Thyati∣rians with Adultery, and the use of things sacrificed to Idols, can no way be said either of those Women, whom Saint Epiphanius would have de∣signed by the Name of Jezabel, or to any of the Montanists, persisting in the strict observation of the corrupt Maxims, which made them to err. For those People were so far from introducing Licentiousness, and Dissolution, into life, and (as g 1.22 Tertullian speaks) unbuckling the Thong of Christian Discipline, to give way to crimes; that they passed to the other extreme of the most scrupulous, and superstitious Austerity, con∣demning h 1.23 Second marriages, the Use of things sacrificed to Idols, i 1.24 the Eating of juycie flesh, and meats, during the time of Fasting, k 1.25 Flight in time of Persecution, and much more the denial of Christianity, Adultery, and Idolatry, from which (as indeed from all impurity of life, which they reproached the Catholicks with, attributing to them a l 1.26 Beastial faith, and upon that acount, crying out against them by the Name of Psychici) they thought themselves so free, that they called themselves m 1.27 the Spiritualized, n 1.28 followers of the Discipline of the Spirit, which endea∣voured

(after the Example of St. Paul) to o 1.29 smother all the lusts of the Flesh, and which, to subdue it, proposed those p 1.30 burthen, om things, which the Son of God meant, when he said to his Disciples, q 1.31 I have yet many things to tell you; but you cannot now bear them. But the crimes of the Jezabel of the Thyatirians were remarkable in the Sects of the Gno∣sticks, Nicolaitans, and others, whom St. Irenaeus, Tertullian, Saint Epi∣phanius himself, St. Augustine, and all the Heresiologists that came after, charge with the commission of them, so far, that Tertullian (a Montanist, and admirer of those Women, whom St. Epiphanius pretends to have been designed by Jezabel) engages agaiust the Gnosticks, because they were guilty of the crimes mentioned by Saint John; as his Scorpiacum, and his other Writings justify. This, I say, demonstratively proves against St. Epiphanius; that we must seek out the Jezabel of the Thyatiri∣ans elsewhere, then among the Montanists, and mildly interpret what seems harsh in the Discourse of that good man, wherein, after he had said, that the Apostle speaks (under the Name of Jezabel) of the seduced, and seducing Women of the Montanists, he adds, that, in that place, St. John wrote, that a Woman should call her self a Prophetess. For one Woman, (to take the word strictly) is not Women; but I am rather apt to suppose, he took the word Woman collectively; and in that comply with his meaning.

As to his maintaining, that the Holy Apostle was Banished to Patmos, and there writ his Apocalyps under the Reign of Claudius, at least fourty two years sooner, then is held by the common Tradition of the Truth; I desire the Reader to see him refuted by the very Acts of the Apostles, where he may finde in the eighteenth and nineteenth Chapters, that Saint Paul, having (in the year of our Lord 51. coincident with the eleventh of Claudius) sowed the first Seeds of Christianity at Ephesus, departed thence, to go and keep Easter at Hierusalem, and that, after his Return, he continued constantly at Ephesus two years; that is to say, the fifty second, and fifty third of our Saviour, concurrent with the twelfth and thirteenth of Claudius, who died on the thirteenth of October, 54. on the twentieth day of the ninth Moneth of his fourteenth year. For, since Saint Paul was the Founder of that famous Church, which hath been, as it were, the Mother of all her Neighbours; that it is not likely, St. John, who seems to have been then teaching the Parthians, to whom his first Epistle was (according to the Opinion of some Antients) directed, should come thither, during the aboad of Saint Paul; and that, after the De∣parture of Saint Paul, hastened by the Insurrection of Demetrius, Clau∣dius Reigned but nine Moneths; there is no likelyhood to presume, that, in so short a space of time, there should come to pass all those things, which Antiquity assures us happened to Saint John; that is to say, that he Confirmed the Church of Ephesus, and Planted the Neigh∣bour-Churches, and Confessed the Name of Christ at Rome; where, r 1.32 ha∣ving been cast into a Vessel of seething Oil, he came forth more fair, and more vigorous then he was, when he went into it, anointed indeed, and no way burnt; That s 1.33 afterwards, pressing forward, as a Champion of Christ, to receive the Crown, he was immediately Banished to the Isle of Patmos; and that, during the Time of his Banishment, he was honoured with Visions from God.

Secondly, Though a man should run the hazard of imagining, that all these Accidents, which require much longer time, happened in the turning of his hand, yet could he not thereby shift off the difficulty; in asmuch as all Antiquity, attributing the Banishment of St. John to Domiti∣tian, who assumed the Empire twenty six years, and eleven Moneths pre∣cisely, after the Death of Cla•…•…us, does, as it were, by an unanimous con∣sent, contradict the particular Sentiment of Epiphanius, which ought not (what esteem soever we may have for him) to be opposed either to Pro∣bability, universal Tradition, or the Authority of such, as are more anti∣ent, and more creditable, then he, upon this account, that they lived nearer the Age of Saint John, and might be more easily informed of the Truth.

Thirdly, For that the Church hath always held it for certain;

First, That, full eleven years after the Death of Claudius, the first Per∣secution was raised by Nero, to derive upon the innocent Christians the Indignation of the Romanes, exasperated by the resentment of their own Losses, in the firing of the City, which that Monster, himself, com∣manded to be done.

Secondly, That the Banishment of St. John was consequent to some Persecution: St. Hierome, Contemporary with St. Epiphanius, and his fa∣miliar Friend, assuring us, that, because of the Martyrdom, St. John, imme∣diately before his Transportation to Patmos, was at Rome, cast into the vessel of seething Oyl.

Thirdly, That all (Epiphanius onely excepted) reduce the Banish∣ment of St. John to the second Persecution; which they would have break forth towards the end of Domitian's Reign.

Fourthly, That, with the same unanimity of Sentiments, they attri∣bute to Nerva, who nulled the Acts of his Predecessour, the calling back of St. John, and that not any one (no, not St. Epiphanius himself) ever charged Claudius (whose Acts were confirmed by his Apotheosis) with having ill-entreated the Christians. Whence it must of necessity follow, that the Banishment of St. John, could not have been under his Reign, and consequently, that the Opinion of St. Epiphanius, which we have demonstrated not to be maintainable in any of its parts, neither can, nor ought, in this, to be followed by any one.

CHAP. III. The Sentiment of the late Grotius, concerning the time of the Apoca∣lyps, refuted.

FRom the year, 375. wherein St. Epiphanius writ against the Alogians, to the year 1640. the Opinion of that Father was not embraced, but onely by one Person, that made Profession of Letters; a man indeed of extraordinary Endowments, whether we consider the transcendency of his Wit, the Universality of his Knowledg, which cannot be too highly esteemed, and the diversity of his Writings, or reflect on the

greatness of his Employments; but still a Man, and, upon that account, not free from the hazard of misapprehension, and sometimes making the worst choice. This man, having published a little Treatise in Latine, entituled, Commentatio ad loca quaedam Novi Teslamenti, quae de Antichristo agunt, aut agere putantur, expendenda eruditis, makes this Remark, well worth our Notice, on the ninth Verse of •…•…e seventeenth Chapter of the Apocalyps; John went first to Patmos, and began to be illuminated by Visions from God, in the Time of Claudius, which is the Sentiment of the more Antient Christians; and not in the Time of Domitian, as others would have it. See Epiphanius in the Heresie of the Alogians. Claudius had (as appears by Acts xviii. 2.) forced out of Rome the Jews, among whom, at that time, the Christians were also numbered, as hath been observed by many learned men. Which example, there is no doubt, but divers Governours of the Romane Pro∣vinces imitated; by which means John was forced to leave Ephesus.

But I maintain, in opposition to the Prejudice of this Great man,

First, That not any one of the Antient Christians, nor yet of the Mo∣dern, either were of the Opinion of St. Epiphanius, or favoured it.

Secondly, That St. Epiphanius (who was neither preceded, nor fol∣lowed by any one in his Sentiment) says not any thing, that is maintain∣able, and is not peremptorily refuted, as well by the Tradition univer∣sally received in the Church, as by Reason it self.

Thirdly, That the Singularity, and Novelty, of that Father's Senti∣ment, being contrary to those of all the rest, and in some manner to himself, should rather have raised his Distrust, then prepossessed him.

Fourthly, That it cannot, by any Monument of Antiquity, be made good, that the mistake of the Heathen, taking the Christians for Jews, had reduced (in the Time of the Emperour Claudius, under whom the Jews were the onely Persecutours of the Church) any one of the Faithfull to suffer Banishment, upon the account of his being of the Faithfull, or a Christian; and that to presuppose it onely by way of simple Conjecture, without any Proof, is no other, then openly to prejudice one's credit, and to abuse their plain dealing, and easiness of perswasion, who might comply therewith.

Fifthly, That it is impossible to make it good, that the Edict of Clau∣dius, which Banished the Jews onely out of Rome, had been, or could have been, imitated by any of the Governours of the Romane Provinces, who knew there was but one Rome in the World, and that it was not within any of their Jurisdictions.

Sixthly, That, by the History of the Acts, it is evident, that, after the Edict of Claudius, the Jews enjoyed, in all other places of the Empire, as absolute Freedom, and Toleration, as they could have done before; since St. Paul, and Silas, and Aquila, and Priscilla, his Wife, lived with∣out any trouble at Corinth, where those of their Nation had their Synagogue, and assembled, as they were wont, without any Disturbance.

Seventhly, That though the Governours of the Romane Provinces should have been enclined (in imitation of their Emperour) to pack the Jews out of their Jurisdictions, yet would it not be just to imagine any such thing of the Proconsul of Asia; nor to presuppose, that, to com∣ply with that Extravagance, he had driven St. John (who was not with∣in

his Jurisdiction) from any place; when at the same time, that the Jews were forced to depart Rome, St. Paul, Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos (who were no less of Jewish Extraction, then John) sojourned at Ephesus without disturbance, their Brethren according to the Flesh enjoyed there as much li∣berty as ever: nay, even when Demetrius had (with those of his Profession) made an Insurrection in the City against Saint Paul, they thought themselves sufficiently Authorised to pacifie the Tumult, thrusting out Alexander their Brother out of the Multitude, and charging him to speak to the enraged People; for, if it were to no purpose, that they at∣tempted it, it was at least without apprehension of any danger, either to themselves, or him.

Whence it follows, that, not onely without any necessity, but also without any ground, it is imagined, that St. John (who was not yet come to Ephesus, when the Edict of Claudius came forth against the Jews) was driven thence by Virtue of that Edict, which no way concerned him; and that, if there never could be any excuse to introduce Novelties into the Business of Religion, we should be much further from advancing ruinous Hypotheses, to maintain the more ruinous Design of opposing common Sentiments. So that no man should think it strange, if (through the just Judgment of God) those, who take a pleasure in contradicting things, that are most evident, unadvisedly engage them∣selves in inconsistent Opinions, to the prejudice of their Reputation, and such, as are more apt to raise Compassion for their Weakness, then Jealousie upon account of the great Esteem due to them.

CHAP. IV. A Refutation of the Sentiment of Johannes Hentenius of Mae∣chlin, concerning the Time of the Apocalyps.

HAving demonstrated the Improbability of the Sentiment, as well of St. Epiphanius, as of him, who would needs make it his ground to build upon, not considering he should do himself a thousand times more injury by following it, contrary to the Truth, then he could have done, by contradicting it, to promote the Truth he made it his Design to establish, I conceive it lies upon me, to discover the absurdity of another fond Conceit, which (to bring, with less inconvenience, the Tradition of the Church into Dispute) about the year 1545. hath re∣ferred the writing of the Apocalyps to the Time of Nero, ten years, and more, later, then according to the Computation of Saint Epiphanius. Johannes Hentenius, an Hieronymite, born at Maechlin, who is the Au∣thour of it, would needs, in his Preface upon the Commentary of Arethas, entertain us with the following Discourse. It seems to me, that John the Apostle, and Evangelist, who is also called the Divine, was Banished to Patmos by Nero, at the very same time, that he put to death at Rome the blessed Apostles of Christ, Peter, and Paul. Tertullian, who lived near the Times of the Apostles, affirms as much in two several places. Eusebius also

treats of the same thing, in his Book of Evangelical Preparation, though in his Chronicle, and Ecclesiastical History, he saith it happened under Domi∣tian, which St. Hierome, and divers others follow. But to these last mentioned Books, as such as were written some years before, there is not so much Authority attributed, as to that of Evangelical Preparation; which was an after Work, on which more care, and exactness was bestowed.

Thus are we furnished by this man with a third Opinion, inconsistent as well with the two precedent, as the Truth it self, which declares onely for the first, confirmed by St. Irenaeus, and others of the Antients; and what should make this new Production the more contemptible, is, that it will be found grounded onely upon Chimaerical Suppositions, and, taking it at the best advantage, speaks nothing positively Affirma∣tive. For, whereas it is confidently affirmed, that Tertullian assures us in two several places, that Saint John was Banished at the time of the Martyrdom of the Holy Apostles, Peter, and Paul, it is ab∣solutely false; that Father, who makes mention of the Sufferings of the Saints, Peter, Paul, and John, jointly all together in one onely place, to wit, in the thirty sixth of his Praescriptions, expressing it onely in these Terms: a 1.34 That Church (to wit, that of Rome) is very happy, for which the Apostles spent their Doctrine, and spilled their Blood; where Peter was equalled to the Passion of his Lord (that is to say, Crucified) where Paul was crowned with the same way of Departure, as John (that is to say, Be∣headed, as St. John Baptist was) where the Apostle John, after he had been cast into the seething Oil, yet suffered nothing, was Banished into the Isle. Whence it is evident, that his Design was, to shew, that St. John was per∣secuted not at the same Time, but at the same Place, where St. Peter, and St. Paul were: so that his Discourse (which proves nothing of what is in Question) abates nought of its Truth, though it be believed, that Saint John's Banishment happened under Domitian, and that, eight and twenty years after the Martyrdom of the Holy Apostles, Peter, and Paul, under Nero. Besides the place before cited, there is, in all the Works of Tertullian, no more mention of the Writing of St. John, then there is of the Discovery of the West-Indies; so that Hentenius, who brags, that he had read, what he says, in them, must needs read it in his Sleep.

Nor is there less Imposture in what he attributes to E••sebius, who in his third Book of Evangelical Preparation, and the seventh Chapter, having spoken of the Imprisonment of all the Apostles by the High-Priests of Jerusalem, and afterwards of their Scourging, of the Stoning of St. Stephen, of the Decollation of St. James the Son of Zebedaeus, of the Restraint of St. Peter, and the Stoning of St. James the Brother of our Lord, adds, Peter was crucified at Rome, with his Head downwards; Paul had his Head cut off, and John was Banished into an Isle. For it is manifest, that this Discourse, designing neither the Place, nor the Time of the Sufferings of these Holy men, cannot oblige any Body to believe, that they were persecuted by the same Tyrant, and at the same Time; and that nothing hinders, but that (according to Eusebius himself, as well in his Chronicle, as History) the two former were put to Death by the command of Nero, and the last Banished, eight and twenty years after, by Virtue of a De∣cree

of Domitian's. So that for a man to imagine the contrary from Euse∣bius, cannot be without wresting his Words, and to think to deduce it from the same words, by the force of Ratiocination, will amount to as much, as a discovery of want of Reason, and argue, that the Person, who attempts it, dreams waking.

The said Authour thinks to give us a third Proof for confirmation of his Opinion, when (relying on a wrong Interpretation of the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which is equivocal he supposes the Chronicle of Eusebius, and his History, were written before his Work of Evangelical Demonstration, and, as less elaborate, were of less Authority. For whence does he inferr it? Eusebius in the thirteenth Chapter of his sixth Book of his Evangelical Demonstration had used these worrds; b 1.35 And, if our own enquiry into things, that concern our selves, is of any account, we have seen with our own eyes Sion, which was of old so celebrious, plowed up with Oxen, and subjected to the Romanes. And every one knows, that Eusebius, who lived not far from Sion, and was a Native of the Countrey, might dis∣course to that effect with the more certainty, by reason of his having had the opportunity to go thousands of times to the Place; nay, what is more, that at this day (as in the Time of Adrian, who re-edified Jerusalem, under the Name of Aelia) Sion, which in our Saviour's Time was within its Walls, and the Fortess thereof, is wholly out of the Com∣pass of it, and in a manner uninhabited, so that the ground thereof is, and may be, cultivated by the labour of Oxen. But Hentenius, imagining that the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 could not signifie any thing, but his Ecclesiastical History, suffered to slip out of his Memory what the Place of the Au∣thour he had in hand should have suggested to him, to wit, that that very word is there (as frequently in other good Writers) used to denote an enquiry, a survey, a visit; as when c 1.36 Plutarch in his Book Of the Cessation of Oracles, and d 1.37 Theodoret in the second Chapter of the first Book of his Ecclesiastical History, make use of it; and when Suidas ex∣plicates the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 by 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Nay further, though we were apt to understand it otherwise, Eusebius, himself, would not permit it, nor yet, that we should suppose, his Evangelical Demonstration was, or was written after, or of greater account, or more elaborate and correct, then his History; since that, in the third Chapter of the first Book of his History, he cites the Demonstration, saying, Having disposed into Commentaries, pur∣posely designed for that end, the Extracts of the Prophets concerning our Sa∣viour Jesus Christ, and in others demonstratively confirmed the things, which have been declared of him, and clearly proves that he had written it before; and it follows not, that, if he had writ it afterwards, it should be ever the more elaborate, for as much as The Life of Constantine, whereof (contrary to what many at this day think) he declares himself the Authour, e 1.38 was written after the year 337. long after his Ecclesiasti∣cal History, yet was never the more elaborate; since that, what it hath common with the History, is alleged in express Terms in several places: which shews, that Eusebius had not any thing better to entertain us with, nor could have expressed himself in better Terms, then he had done in his History, which he carried on but to the the year 325.

The same may be said of his Chronicle, which being cited as well in

the Evangelical Praeparation, as in his Ecclesiastical History, must of neces∣sity have been written first. For it is so far upon that account from be∣ing less correct, and elaborate; that, on the contrary, we must necessarily by it correct several Passages, which he hath, without sufficient recol∣lection, thrust into his History; which in that regard is the less elaborate. Add to this the likelyhood there is, that the Chronicle (which at present makes mention, not onely of the Death of Licinius, of the Councel of Nice, and the wretched end of Crispus, killed in the year 326.) was re∣viewed by him, after the setting forth of his History, and consequently more elaborate, then any other of his Works: which Consideration contributes as much, or more, then any thing hath been said, to the con∣viction of Hentenius of mistake, and to the making of his imagina∣tion of no account.

It is therefore manifest, by the Testimonies of St. Irenaeus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, Eusebius, and St. Hi••rome, in the places alleged, as also by Severus Sulpitius, in the second Book of his Sacred History, by Paulus Orosius, in the tenth Chapter of the seventh Book of his Hi∣story, by Primasius, Bishop of Adrumetum, in his Commentary upon the Apocalyps, by Jornandes in his Book De Regn. success▪ by Isidore of Sevil in his Chronicle, and his Book of the Death of the Saints, by the Authour of the Preface put before the Treatises of St. Augustine upon St. John, by Maximus on Dionysius his tenth Epistle, by the Counterfeit Abdias, and Prochorus in the Life of St. John, by Bede on the Apocalyps, and Of the six Ages, by Him who wrote Of the Martyrdom of St. Timothy, by Am∣brose Ansbert upon the Apocalyps, by Paul the Deacon in Miscelia, by Freculsius of Lizieux, Tom. 2. Book 2. Chap. 7, and 8. by the Romane Martyrologies of Bede, Usuard, Ado, Notker, &c. by Michael Syncellus in Encomio Dionysii, by Regino, by Arothas Arch-Bishop of Caesarea in Cappa∣docia, by Simeon Metaphrastes, by the Greek Fasti, by the Arabian Prole∣gomena, by Hermannus, sirnamed Contractus, by Lambert of Schaffnabourg, by Marianus Scotus, by Zonaras, by Cedrenus, by Nicephorus Callistus (in the eleventh Chapter of his first Book, and the fourty second Chapter of his second Book) by Georgius Paechymerius on ••ionysius his Episiles, and by almost all those, that have written since the Time of St. John, that that great Apostle received the Revelations from God under Domitian, near the end of his Reign; that he was recalled from Pa••mos by Nerva, and writ his Gospel after his return to Ephesus, and ended this Life in the third year of Trajan: so that whosoever will have the Obstinacy to maintain the contrary, must needs, before he pretend to have any cre∣dit given himself, wholly take away that of all Antiquity.

Fourty two years after the re-establishment of Saint John at Ephe∣sus, and thirty eight years after his Death, the Emperour Adrian, troubled with a mortal Disease, and without Issue, did upon the five and twen∣tieth of February in the year 138. adopt Antoninus, sirnamed The De∣bonnaire, conditionally, that the Adoption should be extended to Mar∣cus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus, the Sons of his former adopted Son, who died on the first of January, in the year 137. and he, himself, coming to die the 12^th of July following, immediately thereupon came abroad the Poem attributed to the Sibyls; wherein the Authour, who, towards

the end of the 8^th Book, assigned the utter destruction of Rome to happen in the four hundred, ninety eighth year after its Foundation, coincident with the year 195. of our Saviour, upon this very account, that, giving two several times a List of the Emperours, he reckons, after Adrian, An∣toninus, and his two adopted Sons, evidently shews, that he lived, and writ after their Adoption. His own words make it manifest.

f 1.39 After him (that is to say, Trajan) another, one with a Silver Head, (that is to say, Grey-haired) shall reign, who shall derive his Name (Adrian) from the (Adriatick) Sea. There shall be another Person absolutely good, who shall know all things (that is to say, Antoninus the Affable:) and under thee, O most Excellent, and best of men, who art Brown-haired, and under thy Branches, (to wit, Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus) will come the time of the accomplishment of all things. Three shall reign; and the third shall have the government after all the rest. And elsewhere, speaking to Rome, he says, g 1.40 After that three times five Kings (that is to say, Julius, Au∣gustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Piso, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian, Nerva, and Trajan) shall have reigned in Thee, and subdued the World from East to West, there shall be a King with an Hoary head, taking his Name (to wit, Adrian) from the Sea (Adriatick) &c. Besides him, there shall reign (to wit, Antoninus, Marcus Aurelius, and Verus) under whom shall be the last of Times, and by the Name they all shall have (of Antoninus) fill the Name of the celestical God, (to wit, Adonai) whose Power is now, and will be for ever.

CHAP. V. A Refutation of Possevinus concerning the Time, when the Sibyl∣line Writing came first abroad.

IT must therefore of necessity follow, that the Impostour, who, to draw up Catalogues of the Emperours, had borrowed the Name of the Sibyl, put that Cheat upon the World, since the year 138. let us now see how long after. Possevin, in his Apparatus Sacer, upon an imagi∣nation, that he speaks of the second Conflagration of the Temple of Vesta, makes him live after that Accident, and thereupon is mistaken in four several respects. For

First, he makes an ill concurrence between the year, 199. with the Empire of Commodus, Assassinated the 31^th of December, 192.

Secondly, he, no less unjustly, assigns the Conflagration of Vesta's Temple in the year 199. since that (according to Dion, in his seventy second Book, Herodian, in his first Book, and Orosius, in the sixteenth Chapter of his seventh Book) it happened toward the end of Commodus's Reign; who left this world seven years before. To which may be added, that Eusebius, whose Authority he notoriously abuses, deter∣mines the time of that ruinous Accident; affirming it to have happen∣ed in the third year of the 242. Olympiad, and the twelfth of Commodus: which concurr onely with the 191. year of our Saviour.

Thirdly, When he designs the three Successours of Adrian, omitting Verus taken into Partnership of the Empire by Marcus Aurelius, he reckons in his stead Commodus, on whom the pretended Sibyl neither thought, nor could have thought, since she writ her Poem above fifteen years before the Birth of that Prince, which was on the thirty first of August, 161. and above thirty years before his association in the Empire, happening on the twenty seventh of November, 176.

Fourthly, Though the Authour of that Romance might have spoken somewhat of the Conflagration of Vesta's Temple; since that upon the very account of his having supposed, that Rome should be burned in the year after its Foundation, 948. concurrent with the year 195. of Christ, and the third of Severus, he would insinuate, that all the Temples of that City (that of Vesta among the rest) should be consumed by Fire, and could not (as being dead before) either see the Conflagration of it, or (according to his own Hypotheses) say, that he had seen it; yet how, after he had measured the duration of Rome by the Lives of Antoninus, and his two Adopted Sons, Marcus Aurelius, and Verus (shewing there∣by he writ in their Times, and consequently, before the year of Christ 160.) could he have been in a capacity to speak of commodus, who was born the last of August, 161. five Moneths, and twenty four days after the Death of Antoninus, and affirm he had seen the second Conflagrati∣on of Vesta's Temple; which came not to pass till the year, 191. and the twelfth year after the Death of Marcus, with whom he seemed to ima∣gine that Rome, and the whole World, should perish?

For instance, in the third Book (page 27.) he had written, that Rome should become 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that is to say, a Village; which he had done in imi∣tation of the Apocalyps, Chap. xvii. Verse 16. and Chap. xviii. Verse 8. and Chap. xix. Verse 3. openly threatening it with a final destruction by Fire, saying in the second Book, (page 14.)

Rome's seven-hill'd People God shall shake; And Fire of much Wealth shall destruction make, Snatch'd up by Vulcan's ravenous Flames—

And page 20.

—By a sad Fate, There shall be three will lay Rome desolate: All men shall in their Houses be destroy'd, By Cataracts of Fire from Heav'n—

And in the fifth Book, (page 40.)

Surrounded with a burning Fire, go dwell In the dreadfull aboad of lowest Hell.

And in the eighth Book, (page 58.)

—To Naphta thou, Bitumen, Sulphur, Fire reduc'd shalt be: But Ashes to be burnt t'eternity.

Nay, that there should not be the least difficulty, as to what concerns the Time of that Catastrophe, he had declared himself in these Terms, page 59.

—Thou shalt compleat Three times three hundred years, and fourty eight:

Of thy Name then the Number being past, Thy wretched Fate shall Thee surprize in haste.

That is to say, the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, whereof the Letters produce the Number 948. thus; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 100. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 800. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 40. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 8.

But could he, without being ridiculous, and passing for a Fool, brag, that he had survived those, under whom Rome, and the World, should come to its Period; but also, that he had been Spectatour of an Acci∣dent, which but four years preceeded the day, he had assigned for that utter desolation? Or could he, with any countenance, have acknow∣ledged, that he had out-lived the Time, which he had assigned for the determination of the Empire, and the Universe? But he hath not shewed himself so much a Fool, as a confident Impostour, and his words, which Possevin thought might be applied to the second Conflagration of Vesta's Temple, relate onely to the final Destruction of that of Jerusalem; which he calls the Amiable House, the Guardian-Temple of the Divinity: an Elogie, which could not be given the Temple of Vesta by him, who under∣took to dispute against the Idolatry of the Heathen, for the worship of one God. Besides the Remark, which Possevin makes of the Authour of the second Conflagration of that Temple, which the Counterfeit Sibyl meant, saying; That he had, with an impious hand, attempted, clearly discovers, that he reflected on the Hand of that Infidel Souldier, who had fired the Temple of Jerusalem, and was declared impious by the Judg∣ment of Titus, General of the Romane Army. For the Counterfeit Pro∣phetess might well brag of the sight of that horrid Accident; since it had happened in the year of our Lord 76. sixty eight years full before the reign of the Antonini; under whom she writ; though it was no less, then the height of impertinence in her, to call her self (as she did) Noah's Daugh∣ter-in-law, and to boast, that she had seen a ruin 2068. later then the death of Noah, and 2427. years after the Deluge; as if (according to the Fable advanced by Ovid, in the thirteenth Book of his Metamorphoses) that pretended Prophetess, having obtained the Privilege of living as many years, as there were Grains in the heap of Sand shewed by the Cu∣maean Sibyl to Apollo, she had (at the time of her Writing) already passed not 700. years, as that Prophetess of Ovid, but above 2400. and expected to continue till the end of the World; whereas the Cumaean Sibyl (as is re∣ported of her) thought she was to become, at the end of a thousand, so wasted, as not to have any Body at all; having after the dissolution of her precedent Form, onely her voice left her to foretell what was to come. Her words, taken out of the fifth Book (page 49.) are these:

〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Nor longer shall in Thee the Virgin quire The Fuel finde of their perpetual Fire. The Amiable House long since by thee Hath been destroy'd. The second I did see, The guardian-Temple o'th' Divinity, That ever flourishing house, in 'ts Ashes lie Fir'd by an impious hand, &c.

Which Discourse cannot clearly relate to any thing, but the Confla∣gration

of the Temple of Jerusalem by the Romane Army; as a Punish∣ment for which act, the Authour of the Sibylline Oracles pretends, that Rome should be lai'd desolate, in such manner, as that the Vestals should not any longer keep in the Fire, which they called Sacred, and Divine.

CHAP. VI. Of the Time, when the Sibylline Books were written.

FRom what hath been said, is manifest, that the Opinion of Possevin, concerning the Time, wherein the Person, who counterfeited the Sibyl, lived, is ill grounded; and our Method now calls upon us to make enquiry, how many years we must ascend, assuredly to finde it out. That he Writ under Antoninus, his own words were sufficient to con∣vince any man, that should well consider them; but his credit, sequester∣ed from the things, which may otherwise keep it up, being with good reason, of no account, his sincerity is greatly to be suspected, and his discourse requiring much caution, it is necessary we finde other helps to confirm what is advanced, and preferr the Testimonies of those, whom his Imposture hath circumvented, before any thing he could have represented of himself.

Theophilus of Antioch, who died on the thirteenth of October, in the year 180. in regard he hath inserted into his Books To Autolycus divers things taken out of the Sibylline Writings, does irrefragably prove; that they were before him in Time; and that (contrary to the con∣jecture of Possevin) the Authour, who first writ them, reached not the Reign of Commodus; who, when Theophilus died, onely began the eighth Moneth of his Reign. Athenagoras, who (in his Embassy to the Emperours, Marcus Aurelius, and Verus, on the behalf of the Christians) copied six Verses out of the second Book, shews, that this counterfeit Prophecy was in Vogue some time before the year 170. in which Verus died. Hermas, (whom a 1.41 Tertullian affirms to have been Brother to Pope Pius the First, who took the Chair on Sunday, the seventh of March, 146. under the Con∣sulship of Clarus, and Severus, and died on the eleventh of July, 150. under the Consulship of Gallicanus, and Vetus) discovers, that he had a particular knowledg of the said Writings; since that, in his Work, entituled, The Pastour, he hath not onely shuffled many fantastick Imaginations, suit∣able to those of the pretended Sibyl; but designed the Authour by the very Name he would go under: For as much as in the second Vision of the first Book, having imagined that an Aged Woman had, while he was in Ecstasie, given him a little Book to transcribe, containing Ex∣hortations to Penance, he expressed what he seemed to believe of it in these Terms; Brethren, it hath been revealed to me in my Sleep, by a Young man of a goodly appearance, and saying to me, Who do you think this Aged Wo∣man is, of whom you received the Book? and I said, The Sibyl.

Whence it follows; That, before the year, 150. this Opinion had gained Footing at Rome, among the Christians; That a Sibyl, much un∣like

that of the Heathens, gave Sinners wholesom Instructions in order to the Exercises of Penance, and true Piety. And whereas Pope Pius, in his second Epistle to Justus of Vienna, makes mention of the Death of his Brother; saying, The Priest, called The Pastour, hath founded a Title, and is worthily departed in the Lord, it justifies, that between the year 146. and 150. Hermas had maintained the Suppostion of the Sibyl, and that the Authour of the Books attributed to her must be yet more antient. St. Justin, a Christian Philosopher, a Native of Neapolis in Palaestina, some∣time called Sichem, and who afterwards suffered Martyrdom at Rome, on the first of June, 163. does in his First Apologie, presented to the Em∣perour Antoninus his Adopted Sons, and the People (before Marcus Au∣relius had been received into Partnership of the Empire, and consequent∣ly, about the year 141, or 142.) complain of the Prohibition had been made, that none upon pain of Death should read the Books of Hystaspes, and the Sibyl, which he presented to the Princes, and Senate, as things deserving to be highly esteemed: and it is not to be doubted, but that Holy Person spoke of those, which are come to our hands; since that in his Exhortation to the Greeks he copied three Verses out of his Preface, three out of the third Book, and Seaven out of the Fourth; a manifest Argument, that they were already published; since they had passed through his Hands, and that he objected them (as Pieces gene∣rally known) to the Heathen themselves; whose Errours he opposed.

CHAP. VII. A Conjecture concerning the Authour of the Sibylline Writings.

IT were at this Day impossible for any man to be so happy in the dis∣covery of the Authour of that Imposture, as that he might, without any fear of Mistake, make his Name publike, to be covered with the shame, and enormity of his sacrilegious attempt, against the sincerity of the Church. But methinks there is some ground to charge, if not as the principal advancer of the Cheat, at least as a complice of his crime, Hermas, who (as hath been observed) spoke of the Sibyl in the year 148, or 149. and who was grown infamous for another kind of Suppo∣sititious dealing, whereby he presumed to feign Apparitions of Women, and Angels, disguised like Shepherds; who furnished him with Instructi∣ons of Penance, pestered with fantastick Imaginations, which he hath ex∣pressed in as wretched Greek, as that of the Sibylline Writings, and such as (equally with the other) deserves perpetual dishonour. Though he were a Native of Aquileia, yet was his residence, with his Brother Pope Pius, at Rome, that is, in the Heart of that place, which (for the space of seven hundred and tweny years) had pretended to the custody of the Sibylline, and Prophetical Books, dictated by the Spirit of Im∣piety, and Lying, to the Heathens; in the same City, and at the same time, that Justin Martyr (as a 1.42 Eusebius hath observed) made his Ex∣ercises;

so that he was present at the first production of the abortive Issue of the Counterfeit Sibyl, and had been one of the most ready to take care of it. But when I consider, on the one side, that the Adulter∣ous Father of the Poem pretendedly Sibylline, insinuating that he was a Phrygian by extraction, represents Phrygia, as the first of the habitable parts of the Earth after the Deluge, calls it, upon that occasion, b 1.43 Life∣bringing, and Antient, introduces, in the first Book of his pretended Oracles, (page 9.) Noah, making this Discourse,

—Above the Floods T'appear, thou Phrygia first shalt strive; That so a second Race thou mayst derive Of men, and be the common Nurse of all.

and adds presently after;

In Phrygia's Confines a black Mountain is, Call'd Ararat, high, reaching to the Skies:

Translating Ararat out of Armenia into Phrygia: it may be, because he found there, between the Mountain Taurus, and the Maeander, the City of Apamaea, sirnamed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Cibotos, scituated at the foot of the Mountain Signias in the midst of the Rivers of Marsyas, Obrima, and Orga, all falling into the neighbouring Maeander, and imagined, that it was called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which signifies an Ark, in memory of Noah's Ark, which he supposed to have rested on the Mountain Signias; never considering, that that Moun∣tain is not of such height, and extent, as to bear the Epithets he gives it, nor that c 1.44 Josephus, whose Writings he might have read, and whose per∣son he might have seen, affirms from Berosus, Hierome of Egypt, Mnase∣as, and Nicholas of Damascus) that Noah's Ark rested in Armenia upon the Mountain Baris, in the Countrey of the Cordueni, above Minyas; that the Ruins of it were there preserved, and that the Inhabitants were wont to scrape off bitumen, to use as a Preservative; which is also confirmed by d 1.45 Eusebius, from Abydenus: and on the other, that, just at the time that the Counterfeit Sibyl came first abroad, Claudius Apollinaris, Bi∣shop of Hierapolis in Phrygia, and Apollonius, the Romane Senatour, and Martyr, affirmed (as hath been already observed) that Montanus, a Phry∣gian, and their Contemporary, took upon him to act the Prophet; I finde so much the more likelyhood to lay this Bastard to him, the more free I find it (as the Pastour of Hermas) from containing any Passage, that might displease the Montanists; but I determine nothing, and am very willing to resign to any one, that shall take the trouble upon him, the task of teaching us better things.

CHAP. VIII. Divers Extravagances remarkable in the Sibylline Writing.

IN the beginning of this Treatise, I gave several Instances of the fond Imaginations observable in that Work, most part whereof are either without order, and coherence, or no way prejudiced the Truth. I might

further reduce to this Head an affectation of the Authour sufficiently im∣portunate, and no way suitable to the end, he seemed to propose to him∣self namely, that of shuffling into his Discourse most of those terms, which the Heathens in their Mythologie had used for the Description of Hell, and Infernal places, as if he had made it his Business to bring it into reputati∣on. Such are, for instance, that of ••rinnys, used by him, lib 3. page 38. Styx, lib. 3. pag. 22. that of Tartarus, lib. 1. pag. 7, 8. lib. 2. pag. 18. lib. 5. pag. 44. lib. 8. pag. 61. that of Frebus, lib. 1. pag. 7. lib. 3. pag. 33. that of Acheron, lib. 1. page 11. lib. 2. page 18. lib. 5. page 51. that of Flysium, lib. 2. page 18. lib. 3. page 32, 34. his licentiousness of expression, not well suiting with Christianity, taken in good part by the Fathers, hath been constantly dissembled by them, in like manner as were the Fables of the Titans, Saturn, and others; which were of no small account in the pretended Sibylline Poem: but there are some other Passages scatter∣ed up and down in it of a much greater concern, and such as have occa∣sioned Consequences of far greater importance. I shall not insist on the Authour's having thrust into his eighth Book an Acrostick made up of these five words, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 whereof the initial Let∣ters, put together, made up the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which signifies a Fish; from which supposition Tertullian, (in his Book De Baptismo) Zeno de Verone, (Serm. 5. ad Neophytos) Optatus Milevitanus, (lib. 3.) St. Augustine (De Civit. Dei, lib. 18. cap. 23) and others, have derived so great prejudice; that they have, with a certain emulation, made a noise about it; calling the Lord Jesus, Piscem nostrum, that is to say, our Fish; the Christians, re∣generated by Holy Baptism, pisciculos, little fishes; the Baptismal Font, piscinam, the fish-pond, or place where the Fishes are kept: in consequence whereof a pleasant Humour took them of Allegorizing upon the Pisci∣na, or Pool, mentioned in the Latine Version of the fifth Chapter of Saint John's Gospel.

CHAP. IX. The first Principal Tenet of the Sibylline Writing.

THe same Authour, having fondly derived from a 1.46 Adam, which is originally Hebrew, that of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Hades, which is purely Greek (and signifies in the New Testament, either Hell, as in Matth. xvi. 18. Luke x. 15. and xvi. 23. or the Sepulchre, and State of the departed in respect of their Bodies, as Acts ii. 27, 31. 1 Cor. xv. 55. Apocal. i. 18. and vi. 8. and xx. 13, 14.) lays it down, as a thing manifest; that all men from Adam are (after their death) confined in Hell, till the time of their resurrection; saying in the first Book (pag. 7.) All men, who have been Inhabitants of the earth, are commanded (or said) to go to the habitations of Hell: and page 11. where he speaks of the three Sons of Noah, whom he feigns never to have been sick, or troubled with the inconveniences of Old-age;

They by a certain sleep o'recome shall die; And gone to Ach'ron there in honour be:

For, happy, they were of the blessed Race, In whom (God) Sabaoth did his Wisdom place. His will to these he ever did declare; To these, who, though in Hell, yet happy are.

He lays it down, I say, as a thing manifest; That all men, from Adam, descend into hell, and there expect their Resurrection: a Supposition re∣futed by the History of Eliah, b 1.47 whom Elizeus saw ascending into Hea∣ven in a Whirl-winde; and by the Gospel, which assures us, that the Thief, converted upon the Cross, was the same day, that he died, c 1.48 with the LORD in Paradise; and by St. Paul, who teaches; that, as being in the body, we are absent from the Lord, so d 1.49 being absent from the body, we are present with the Lord; and protests that e 1.50 his desire is to depart, and to be with Christ; shewing, that, on the one side, these things, to be abjent from the body, or from the Lord, and being in the body, or with the Lord, are irreconcileably opposite; on the other side these, to be absent from the body, and to be with the Lord, and on the contrary, to be present in the body, and to be absent from the Lord, are inseparably conjoined; so that the very f 1.51 act of the separation of the body necessarily translates the Faithfull into the presence of the Lord, of which their presence in the body de∣prives them. Yet this Supposition, though refuted, as aforesaid, had such a strange influence upon the spirits of many great Church-men in the Second, and Third Age; that they outvied one another, in the main∣taining of it.

Thus Hermas (at the same time, that the Counterfeit Sibyl made her first attempt upon the sincerity of the Christians) became the Patron, and Propagatour of it, writing of the Apostles, and Faithfull departed be∣fore; The Apostles, and Doctours, who have preached the Name of the Son of God, and are dead, by the power (of God) and by Faith, preached to those, who were dead before, and gave them the Seal of preaching. They are descended with them into the water, and they ascended again out of it; but those, who were dead before, descended dead, and ascended living. Which words are so much the more observable, in that they have been subscribed by Clemens Alexandrinus, (Strom. 2, and 6.) inferring from them, that the Apostles (conformably to what had been done by our Saviour) preached the Gospel to those, who were in Hell, and that it was necessary, that the best of the Disciples should be imitatours of their Master there, as they had been here; supposing, after Justin Martyr, and St. Irenae∣us, that our Saviour being descended into hell, after his Passion, had preached the Gospel to those, who were detained there, in which Opi∣nion he hath been followed by St. Athanasius, St. Hilary of Poictiers, Hi∣lary, Deacon of the Romane Church, St. Epiphanius, St. Hierome, St. Cy∣ril of Alexandria, Oecumenius, &c. And secondly, for that they insi∣nuate not onely, that the Apostles descended into hell after their death, for to preach there, but that the Faithfull, departed after the Passion of our Saviour, had been there, taught, and converted; and consequently, that all, without any exception, were there detained.

Presently after the publication of Hermas's Writings, Pope Pius the First, Brother to that pretended Prophet, complies with him, in his first Epistle to Justus of Vienna; saying, The Priests, who (having been nourish∣ed

by the Apostles) have lived to our days, with whom we have divided together the word of Faith, being called hence by the Lord, are detained, shut up in eternal Repositories; sufficiently discovering (by these words, which denote a per∣petual detention, if not absolutely, at least in some respect) that he had embraced the same Opinion. Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew (writ some years after the presentation of his Apologie, where he makes mention of the Sibyl) endeavours, all he can, to maintain it, as well by his Hypothesis of the Souls of the Just being exposed to the rage of evil Spirits, as by an Apocryphal Passage he attributes to Jeremy (and which Irenaeus, sometime after, cites, h 1.52 one while under the name of Esay, i 1.53 another, under that of Jeremy, and certainly with as little reason one, as the other) in these Terms, The God of Israel hath remembred his dead, lying in the slimy earth; and descended to them to preach his salvation among them. Which St. Irenaeus does five several times apply k 1.54 to the descent of our Saviour into hell after his Passion; saying, If the Lord, that he might be∣come the first-fruits from the dead (Col. i. 18.) observed the Law of the dead, and continued to the third day in the lower parts of the Earth (Ephes. iv. 9.) &c. since he went to the valley of the shadow of death (Psal. xxiii. 4) where the souls of the dead were, &c. it is manifest, that the souls of his Di∣sciples (for whose sake the Lord did those things) shall also go to the invisible place designed them by God, and remain there (expecting the Resurrection) till the Resurrection. Whence it must needs be, that the Latine Interpreter, having found in the Original Text the word 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, (which properly signi∣fies Invisible, and hath been taken by all the Heathens either for Hell, or the God, which they imagined presided there) Literally translated 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Into an invisible place. By which place, the lovers of Truth are not (as many at this day, who, to free St. Irenaeus form the Errour first proposed in the Sibylline Writing, attribute to him Conceptions he nei∣ther ever had, nor could have had) to understand the State of the souls of the Saints departed, which those Gentlemen conceive might be ex∣pressed by the Term of invisible place, because l 1.55 Eye hath not seen the things, which God hath prepared for those, that love him, wherever they may be laid up for them, rather then the place, properly so called, where they effectually enjoy them. For St. Irenaeus his manner of reasoning, and the contexture of his Discourse expresly refutes their Glosses, in as much, as if the Disciples (whom the Gospel assures us m 1.56 not to have been above their Master) ought both in life, and death, to imitate him; and if the Master (according to the sentiment of St. Irenaeus, and the Church of Rome at this day) passed from the Cross n 1.57 to the lower parts of the earth, and o 1.58 to the valley of the shadow of death; that is to say, to hell, properly so called, and remained there all the time, from his Passion, to his Resurrection: it must of necessity follow; that by the invisible place, whither the Disciples go after their Death, should (according to the said Father) be understood hell, scituated in the lower parts of the earth, and in the Valley of the shadow of Death, and that they remain there, till the time of their Resurrection.

It is apparent from the words before transcribed, that Clemens Alex∣andrinus, Contemporary with St. Irenaeus, was of the same Opinion. And Tertullian (whom St. Cyprian acknowledges for his Master, and whom

Saint Hierome affirms to have died about the year 217. being arrived to a very great Age) discovers in many places, that all the Montanist Par∣ty had embraced it. For instance, in the seventh Chapter of his Book Of the Soul; After the divorce, saith he, (or separation) of the body, the soul is transferred to hell, she is there detained, she is there reserved, ••ill the day of Judgment, &c. Christ, at his Death, descended to the souls of the Patriarchs. And in the ninth Chapter; The souls of Martyrs are understood to be under the Altar. And in fifty fifth Chapter; Hell is in an hollowness of the earth, a vast space, as to its depth, and there is an undiscovered profundity in its en∣trails, &c. Christ descended into the lowest parts of the earth, to the end, that be might there communicate his presence to the Patriarchs, and Prophets, &c. You have enough to put by those, who, insolently enough, think not, that the souls of the Faithfull justly go to hell, by telling them they are Servants above their Master; conceiving it not much, it may be, in the bosom of Abraham, to reap the comfort of the resurrection, which is to be expected, &c. Heaven is not opened to any one, while the Earth is entire, &c. We have (in our Book Of Paradise) made it good, that every soul is sequestred in hell, till the day of the Lord. And in the fifty sixth Chapter; Why do you not judge worthy hell those souls; which are pure, and innocent? And in the fifty eighth Chapter; All souls, say you, are (whether you will, or no) in hell: there you have already both the Punishments, and the Refreshments; there you have the poor man, and the rich, &c. By that prison, we mean hell, which also the Gospel shews: and the utmost farthing, we interpret to be any light offence, which is to be pu∣nished there, by the delay of the resurrection. And in his third Book Against Marcion, and the twenty fourth Chapter; Marcion having said, that he expected (after this life ended) Refreshment in hell, in the bosom of Abraham, Tertullian inferrs thence against him, that God is mercifull, and makes this Exclamation, Oh God! mercifull even in hell! And in the thirty fourth Chapter of the fourth Book; I say, that Abraham's Bosom is a Region, though not celestial, yet higher then hell; which in the interim shall afford re∣freshment to the souls of the Just, till such time, as, all things being accom∣plished, all receive the fulness of their reward at the general resurrection, &c. And in his Scorpiacum, in the twelfth Chapter; In the mean time, the souls of the Martyrs rest quietly under the Altar, &c.

Novatian, that famous Priest of the Romane Church, who, in the year 250. was opposed to Pope Cornelius, doth in the first Chapter of his Book Of the Trinity, follow the Track of Tertullian; saying, That even those very things, which lie under the earth, are not void of certain powers; being placed, every one according to its rank, and order: for there is one place, into which are brought the souls, as well of the godly, as the wicked, feeling before-hand the sentence of the future Judgment.

Lastly, Origen, that famous Priest of Caesarea, whom St. Hierome, in his Preface before his Interpretation of Hebrew Names, sometime ac∣knowledged Master of the Churches after the Apostles, and whom he ob∣serves to have departed this life in the year 254. or thereabouts, ex∣presses himself to the same effect; saying in his fourth Book Of Prin∣ciples; Those, who withdraw out of this world, according to the death common to all, are disposed of, according to their acts, and merits, as they shall be judged worthy; some to the place which is called Hell; others into Abraham's Bo∣som,

into several Mansions. Where it is to be noted, that by Hell he means the lower parts of Hell, and by Abraham's Bosom the place of se∣questration, where the dead (in his judgment) are detained before the final Judgment, and not celestial glory; which, in his seventh Homily up∣on Leviticus, he pretends, that none of the Saints are admitted to: since he formally excludes from the enjoyment thereof the Patriarchs, Pro∣phets, and Apostles; saying, that they have not yet received their joy; that they expect ours, and that they mourn for our sins.

It is therefore manifest, from the unanimous consent of the pre∣cedent Testimonies; that all the Authours we have left us of the second, and, as far as the middle, of the third Age, were all of the same Opini∣on, as being imbued with the Doctrine contained in the Sibylline Books, and proposed by each of them, as the common sentiment of the whole Church. Somewhat to the same purpose may analogically be said of those, who followed them in the after-ages; as, for instance, of the Authour of the Constitutions attributed to St. Clement, in the fourty second Chapter of his eighth Book; of the Authour of the Recognitions, in his first Book; of the Authour of the Liturgie, which goes under the Name of St. James; of Victorinus, Bishop of Poictiers, and Martyr, upon the sixth Chapter of the Apocalyps; of Lactantius, in the twenty first Chapter of his seventh Book; of St. Ambrose, in the second Chapter of his second Book of Cain, and Abel, and the tenth Chapter of his Book De bono Mortis; of Saint Chrysostome, in his fourth Homily upon Genesis, and the thirty ninth Ho∣mily upon the first Epistle to the Corinthians, and the seventh, and twenty eighth Homilies upon the Epistle to the Hebrews; of Prudentius in his Hymn upon the Obsequies of the dead, and of the eighteen Martyrs of Saragossa; of St. Augustine, upon the thirty sixth Psalm, and the seventh Chapter of the eleventh Book De Genesi ad Literam, and the thirty fifth Chapter of the twelfth Book, and in the hundred and eighth Chapter of his Enchiridion, and in the ninth Chapter of his twelfth Book Of the City of God, and the fourteenth Chapter of the first Book of his Retractations; of the Authour of the Questions attributed to Justin Martyr, in the sixtieth, and seventy sixth Question; of Basil of Seleucia, in his tenth Oration; of Theodoret, Theophylact, and Oecumenius upon the eleventh Chapter to the Hebrews; of Andrew, and Aretas of Caesarea in Cappadocia, upon the sixth Chapter of the Apocalyps; of Euthymius upon the twenty third Chapter of Saint Luke; of the Authour of the Imperfect Work upon Saint Matthew, in the thirty fourth Homily; of St. Bernard, in his third, and fourth Sermon upon the Feast of All-Saints, and of Pope John the two and twentieth. For though many of these later, moderating (after their manner) the Opinion of those, who preceeded the year 300. do either forbear making any specifical designation of the place, where the Saints are entertained after their death, contenting themselves to call it indefinite∣ly, with St. Augustine, p 1.59 secret and, hidden receptacles, or, with Prima∣sius, the secret of God, as it were to insinuate, that it is known to God only; or are so confident, as to affirm it to be out of Hell, not precisely de∣termining, what other habitation it pleased God to assign them: yet all agree in this; that they often make use of those Expressions, which seem to defer the Glory, and Beatitude of their souls till the Day of the general Resurrection.

CHAP. X. The second capital Tenet of the Sibylline Writings.

THe second Point of Doctrine advanced by the Author of the Sibyl∣line Writings, concerning the State of the dead, is, that all, without any exception, shall pass through the last Conflagration of the Universe, which shall purge the just, and shall refine them, in such, as we say, that Gold is melt∣ed, or refined in the Crucible. To this effect is what we read in the second Book (page 17.) And then shall all pass through the burning, River, and the un∣extinguishable Flame: all the just shall be saved; but the wicked shall perish to all ages, &c. The Angels carrying them through the burning River, shall bring them into Light, &c. He will give men the power to save themselves from the burning fire, and eternal gnashings of Teeth, &c. And then shall God send from heaven the King, and shall judge every man by blood, and the splendour of Fire.

This Imagination, considered by the most antient of the Fathers, as taken out of a Book of divine Authority, made so strong an Impres∣sion upon them; that they took it for an infallible Lesson. Hence Saint Irenaeus, in the ninth Chapter of his Book, having applied to the end of the world those words of Malachy, a 1.60 The day of the Lord shall burn as an Oven, adds, John the Baptist tells us who that Lord is, at whose coming there shall be such a day, saying of Christ, He shall baptise you with the ho∣ly Ghost, and with Fire, having his Fan in his hand to cleanse his Floor; and he will put up the Corn into his Garner; but shall burn the Chaff in unquenchable Fire. He therefore, who made the corn, is no other, then he, who made the chaff; but one, and the same, judging those things, and separating them.

Origen, in his third Homily upon the thirty sixth Psalm. If in this life we slight the words of the Scripture, admonishing us, and will not be either healed, or amended by the reprehensions thereof, it is certain, we must come to the Fire, which is prepared for sinners, even to that Fire, [1 Cor. iii. 13.] which shall try every mans work of what sort it is. And (as I conceive) it is ne∣cessary, that we all come to that fire, though one be a Paul, or a Peter, he will nevertheless come to that fire. But those, who are such, shall hear, Though thou walkest through the Fire, the Flame shall not kindle upon thee. [Isa. xliii. 2.] But if any one be a sinner, as my self, he shall indeed come to that Fire, as well as Peter, and Paul. And as the Hebrews came to the Red Sea, so did also the Egyptians; but the Isralites passed through the Red Sea, and the Egyptians were overwhelmed therein. In like manner we, if we are Egyptians, and follow Pharao, who is the Devil, obeying his commandments, shall be overwhelmed in that fiery Lake, or River, when we shall be guilty of the sins, which we are addicted to, no doubt, through the commandment of Pha∣rao. But if we are Israelites, and redeemed by the blood of the b 1.61 Lamb without spot; if we carry not about us the c 1.62 leaven of malice, and wickedness, we also must enter into the fiery River: but as the Waters were, to the Israelites, d 1.63 a wall on the right hand, and on the left, so shall the

Fire be as a Wall, if we do, as it is reported of them, that is to say, that they e 1.64 believed the Lord, and his servant Moses, that is to say, his Law, and Commandments, and by that means follow f 1.65 the Pillar of Fire, and the Pil∣lar of the Cloud. And in his fourteenth Homily upon Saint Luke; I think, that even after the Resurrection of the dead, we shall stand in need of the Sacrament to cleanse, and purge us; for none will be able to rise again with∣out Filth.

Lactantius, in the twenty first Chapter of his seventh Book. When he shall judge the just, he shall also try them by Fire; then shall those, whose sins have prevailed, either as to their weight, or number, be smitten by the Fire, and burnt; but those, whom a fulness of Justice, and maturity of Virtue shall have hardned, shall not be sensible of that Fire.

Saint Hilary, who, in the second of his Canons upon Saint Matthew, had observed in general, that it lies even upon those, who are baptised with the Holy Spirit to be consummated [or accomplished] by the Fire of the (last) Judgment, in his third Sermon, upon the one hundred and eigh∣teenth Psalm, according to the Greeks, applies it particularly to the blessed Virgin; to shew, that, in his judgment, it cannot admit any ex∣ception, saying; Since we are to give an account [Matthew xii. 36.] for every idle word, do we desire to come to the day of Judgment, wherein we are to pass through that indefatigable Fire, wherein we are to suffer those grievous Tor∣ments, which tend to the expiation of the soul from its sins? g 1.66 If a sword did pierce through the soul of the Blessed Mary, that the thoughts of many hearts might be revealed; if that Virgin, who was capable of receiving God, was to come to the severity of Judgment, who will presume to desire to be judged of God?

Saint Gregory Nazianzene, Orat. 26. The day of the revelation will de∣clare manifestly, whether it be through a sound Ratiocination, that I please not: as also the last Fire, by which all our works shall be judged, and purged. And in the thirty ninth, speaking of those, who think themselves so pure; that they think they have reason to bid their Brethren, Stand at a distance from them; It may be that there [to wit, at the end of the world] they shall be baptized by Fire with the final Baptism, which is the most grievous, and most long, which feeds on the matter, as on grass, and consumes the vanity of all wickedness. And in the fourtieth, where he bewails his own imperfecti∣on; Who will secure me, that I shall be saved at the end, and that the judicial seat will not look upon me still, as a debtour, and one that stands in need of the Cons••agration, which shall be then?

Saint Basil, upon the 4^th of Esay, Verse 4^th, where the Prophet treats of the cleansing of Jerusalem, hath this consideration; Are there not three Notions of Baptism? The Purgation of the Filth, the Regeneration by the Spirit, and the Examination by the fire of Judgment? And upon these words of the Tenth, Howl, for the day of the Lord is at hand: by the day of the Lord he means that of the last Judgment. Then adds, If none be pure, in respect of the works, that are forbidden; let every one fear that day: for saith he [to wit Saint Paul, 1 Cor. iii. 15.] If any man's work shall be burnt, he shall suffer loss; but he, himself, shall be saved; yet so, as by Fire. And in the fifteenth Chapter of his Book Of the holy Ghost; Saint John calleth Baptism of Fire the Trial, which shall be made at the day of Judgment, according to what the

Apostle saith, The Fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it is. And in the nine and twentieth, speaking of Athenogenes, a Man famous among the Antient Christians, he says; That he strove to arrive at the con∣summation, or accomplishment, which shall be made by Fire.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Brother to St. Basil, in his Oration upon the eight and twentieth Verse of the fifteenth Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians. All the wickedness, which, as so much false Alloy, is mixed among the things that are, being taken away by the melting of the Purgative Fire, what∣soever drew its Original from God, shall become such, as it was at the beginning, before it had received the tincture of that wickedness.

Saint Ambrose, in his Sermon upon the thirty sixth Psalm according to the Greeks. By Fire therefore shall the Sons of Levi be purged, by Fire Eze∣chiel, by Fire Daniel: but though they are tried by Fire, yet shall they say, We have passed through the Fire, and through the Water; others shall remain in the Fire, upon these the Fire shall fall down like dew, as upon the Hebrew children, &c. We shall be saved by Faith, yet shall we be saved so as by Fire: though we shall not be absolutely burnt up, yet shall we burn; and the Holy Scripture teacheth us, how some continue in the Fire, others pass through it, to wit; as the Egyptians were overwhelmed in the Red Sea; through which the children of Israel had passed before them, &c. And on the twentieth Section of the hundred and eighteenth Psalm according to the Greeks. It is ne∣cessary, that all those, who desire to return to Paradise, be tried by Fire: for it is not without reason written, that Adam, and Eve, being thrust out of the seat of Paradise, God placed at the entrance of Paradise a flaming Sword, which turned every way. All therefore must pass through the Flames, whether it be Saint John the Evangelist (whom the Lord loved so dearly, that he said of him to Peter; If I would have him to stay, what is that to thee? Fol∣low thou me: some have doubted of his death; of his passage through the Fire we cannot doubt) or whether he be Peter, who was entrusted with the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, he must say, We have passed through the Fire, &c. One onely, who is the Justice of God, was not subject to the sense of that Fire; to wit, Christ, who hath committed no sin; for the Fire found not in him, what it might have burned. And in his Book Of Widows. God requires not of thee the price of a glittering Metal; but the Gold, which the Fire cannot burn at the day of Judgment.

Saint Hierome, towards the end of the sixty sixth Chapter of Esay, dis∣puting against those, who denied the perpetuity of Torments suffered by the Damned, proposes his sentiment in these Terms; which suppose a ge∣neral examination by Fire at the last day: As we believe the Torments of the Devil, and of all such, as deny God, and of wicked men, who have said in their heart There is no God, to be eternal; so do we believe moderated, and capable of compassion, the Sentence of the Judg concerning those, who, though sinners, and wicked, are yet Christians; whose Works are to be tried, and purged by Fire.

Saint Augustine, in the four and twentieth Chapter of his sixteenth Book Of the City of God; where he speaks of the Vision of Abraham, mentioned in the fifteenth Chapter of Genesis; By that Fire (which Abra∣ham saw) is signified The Day of Judgment, distinguishing between those, who are to be saved by the Fire, and those, who are to be condemned to the Fire.

And in the five and twentieth Chapter of the twentieth Book, where he explicates the second and third Verses of the third Chapter of Malachy. By the things, which have been said, it seems to be very manifest; that in that Judg∣ment (that is, the Last) some are to undergo Purgatory pains, &c. We are to take the Sons of Levi, Juda, and Jerusalem, for the Church of God, as∣sembled, not onely among the Hebrews, but also among other Nations; not such, as it is at the present, where, if we say, h 1.67 We have no sin, we de∣ceive our selves, and the Truth is not in us: but such, as it it shall be then; cleansed by the last Judgment, as a floor, that is swept: those, to whom such a cleansing is necessary, having been also cleansed by the fire.

The Authour of the third Homily upon the Epiphany, unjustly attri∣buted to Eusebius Emissenus; since it seems to have been written either by Eucherius of Lyons, or by Faustus of Rhegium. There (that is, at the last Day) Conflagrations changing their nature, the Just shall pass through horrid Gulfs. Their Bodies, which are to derive Glory from their pains, because they are not burthened by sins, shall not be touched by the Fires; for the cruel Burnings shall prevail nothing on those, whom the Flames of sinfull lusts had not overcome before: and the rational heat shall not be able to injure those; on whom Purity hath conferred reverence. Otherwise, avoiding wrath, it shall make way for the vapours; and will of its own accord obey: because it shall not finde any thing, on which, it may be necessary, it should exercise Judgment.

Diadochus, Bishop of Photica in the Antient Epirus, in the last Chapter of his Book Of Spiritual perfection. Those, who at their death shall express ever so little fear, shall be left in the multitude of all other men; as undergoing the Judgment, to the end, that, being examined by the Fire of Judgment, they may receive from the All-good God, and the King Jesus Christ, the reward due unto them, according to their Works.

From the joynt Testimony of these twelve Witnesses now produced, it is apparent; that the second head of the Opinions proposed by the Si∣bylline Writing, was (equally with the former) constantly maintained by the most eminent Prelates of both the Greek, and Latine Churches; till after the year 459. wherein Diadochus subscribed (with the Councel of the Antient Epirus) the Letter written to the Emperour Leo the First, concern∣ing the proceeding of Timothy, surnamed Aelurus, Usurper of the Chair of Alexandria against Proterius, whom he had Assassinated. Nay, it further appears from the Epitaph of Vilithut••, a Parisian Lady, writ in the year 560. by Venantius Fortunatus, afterwards Bishop of Poictiers, that the Church of that Time was not free from that Opinion; which he expresses in these Terms;

Digni lumen habent, damnati incendia deflent: Illos splendor alit; hos vapor igne coquit. Res est una quidem; duplici sed finditur actu: Nam cremat indignos, quo probat igne pios.

"The Blest have Light, the Damn'd their Fires bewail: "Those are in Bliss; o're these the Flames prevail. "The same thing doth t'a double Act divide: "The Bad i'th Fire are Burn'd, the Just are Try'd.

CHAP. XI. The Third main Tenet proposed by the Sibylline Writing.

THe third Head of Doctrine proposed by the Sibylline Writing con∣cerning the State of the Dead, is; that The Saints, after their Resur∣rection, are to be reconducted to live in that Paradise, of the possession whereof Adam, and Eve, were, for their disobedience, deprived. For the Authour of that Romance, having taken literally, and understood carnally, what he had read, Luke xxiii. 43. 2 Cor. xii. 4. Apoc. ii. 7. concerning Para∣dise; and John vi. 31. concerning the Bread of heaven, and Apocal. ii. 17. concerning the Hidden Manna, tells us in his Preface, copied out by Theo∣philus of Antioch, and Lactantius, that, Those, who honour God, inherit the true, and eternal Life; that is to say, the time of Eternity, having their abode in Paradise, the flourishing Garden, and eating the delicious Bread of heaven; which, at the end of the seventh Book, (page 56.) he means of Manna; saying, All together eat of the bedewing Manna with their white Teeth.

This Doctrine was so much the more acceptable to the Fathers, the more they thought themselves obliged to conceive an aversion for the extravagant Imagination of the Gnosticks; who transformed Paradise into an Archangel, and assigned for its station the fourth Heaven. Thus Theophilus (who gave Paradise the qualification of perpetual, and hanging in the midst, between heaven and the world) a 1.68 grounded the perswasion, he would give of it to Autolycus, on the Authority of the pretended Sibyl; and, after his Example, Lactantius, in the twelfth Chapter of his second Book. St. Irenaeus, having (in the thirty sixth Chapter of his fifth Book) alledged these words of Esay, (out of the two and twentieth Verse of the sixty sixth Chapter) As the new heavens, and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, assigns to each of them its Inha∣bitants; saying, Then shall those, who are worthy the conversation of heaven, pass thither; others shall enjoy the pleasures of Paradise; and others shall possess the Holy earth, and the splendour of the City, that is to say, Jerusalem.

Tertullian, in the fourty seventh Chapter of his Apologetick: We know Paradise to be a place of Divine pleasure, destined for the reception of the spirits of the Saints, and separated from the knowledg of the common world by a cer∣tain inclosure of that fiery Zone. And, in the eighth Chapter of his Poem of the Last Judgment: There is a place in the Eastern Parts, wherein the Lord takes great delig•…•… where there is a clear Light, &c. it is a Region most rich in Fields, &c. thither comes every godly man. But, in the fifty fifth Chapter of his Book Of the Soul, this Great man, dazled by the delusions of the Montanists, moderates the Opinion he had taken out of the Books of the Counterfeit Sibyl, and reserving Paradise for the entertainment of the Martyrs onely, excludes out of it all the rest of the Faithfull; say∣ing, You say, that our Sleep (that is to say, the place of our Repose) is in Pa∣radise, whither the Patriarchs, and Prophets, upon the Resurrection of our Lord, being Appendages thereof, passed from Hell; but how comes it, that that

Region of Paradise, which is under the Altar, revealed to St. John, discovered no Souls, but those of the Martyrs? How came Perpetua, that most couragious Martyr, in the Revelation, which was made to her of Paradise, not long before her Suffering, to see there onely her companions in Martyrdom; but that the Sword, which keeps the Entrance of Paradise, suffers none to get in, but those, who are departed in Christ, not in Adam?

Saint Cyprian, after the Example of his Master Tertullian, speaking of our Lord to Demetrian, Proconsul of Africk, a passionate Enemy of Christianity, hath this expression; He opens to us the way of Life; he is the Authour of our return into Paradise. And in his Book Of Mortality, towards the end; We account Paradise (saith he) to be our Country, we have already begun to have for our Fathers the Patriarchs. And, in the Chap∣ter of Exhortation to Martyrdom. If it be glorious for the Souldiers, engaged in common Wars, after the Conquest of their Enemies, to return Triumphant in∣to their Country; how much a nobler, and greater Glory is it to return Trium∣phant to Paradise, after we have overcome the Devil, and to carry away victo∣rious Trophies, after we have subdued him, who had foiled us before, to the place, whence the Sinner Adam had been thrust out.

Lactantius, in the place above cited. God, having pronounced his Sen∣tence against Sinners, that every one should work out his own livelihood, cast man out of Paradise, and encompassed Paradise round about with Fire; that man might not approach it, till he had exercised sovereign Judgment upon Earth, and recalled to the same place those Just men, that worshipped him; Death be∣ing taken away.

Saint Athanasius, in his Treatise upon these Words, (Matth. xii. 27.) All things are given to me, &c. Death prevailed from Adam to Christ, the Earth was cursed, and Hell opened, and Paradise shut, &c. But assoon as all things were given to him, and that he was made man, all was amended, and accomplished. The Earth, in stead of the Curse it lay under before, was blessed; and Paradise opened; and Hell daunted. And in his Exposition of Faith: Christ shewed the entrance into Paradise, whence Adam had been thrust out; and into which he is again entred by the Thief, according to what our Saviour said, This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise: whither Paul also is entred.

Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, in his Mystagogical Instruction. The Paradise of God, which he had planted towards the East, is open to thee: whence our first Parent was banished, because of his Transgression. And this is signified by thy turning from the West to the East, the place of Light.

Saint Basil, in his Treatise Of Paradise. How shall I be able to bring thee into sight of thy Country, to the end thou mayst recall thy self from banish∣ment? &c. If thou art carnal, thou hast the description of him, that is corpo∣ral. And in the seven and twentieth Chapter of his Book Of the Holy Ghost. We all, in our Prayers, look towards the East: but there are few of us, that know, we thereby seek our antient Country, that is to say, the Paradise, which God planted in Eden.

Saint Gregory of Nyssa, in his Oration of the fourty Martyrs. That then, which is demanded, is; Whether Paradise, because of the Turning Sword, is also inaccessible to the Saints: and, If the Champions (of Christ) are excluded Paradise, what Promise there remains, upon which they should undertake Com∣bats for Piety: and whether they should obtain less, then the Thief, to whom

the Lord said, This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise; though the Thief came not voluntarily to the Cross; but, when he was come near Salvation, that Eagle-sighted, and generous Thief saw the Treasure, and, finding an op∣portunity, stole Life, honourably, and happily abusing the nature of Theft, and saying, Lord, have me in remembrance, when thou comest into thy Kingdom. He was honoured with Paradise, and does the Flaming Sword keep the entrance of Paradise against the Saints? But the Question resolves it self. For thence it is, that the Word hath not represented the Sword always placed against those, that enter; but Turning, that it might be opposite to the un∣worthy, and be behinde the worthy, opening unto them the not-forbidden entrance of Life, into which those (that is to say, the fourty Martyrs) are entred, in the assurance of their Combats; having, without suffering, passed through the Flame: which we also having, undaunted, passed through, may be received in∣to Paradise. And thence it comes, that in his Funeral Orations upon Pul∣cheria, and Flacilla, her Mother, he says of the former, The Plant hath been removed hence; but it hath been replanted in Paradise: and of the la∣ter, By that (that is, by Faith) was she carried hence into the Bosom of the Fa∣ther of Faith, Abraham, near the Fountain of Paradise.

Saint Ambrose, upon the twentieth Section of the hundred and eigh∣teenth Psalm according to the Greeks, lays it down (as hath been alrea∣dy shewed) for certain, that it is necessary those, who desire to return into the Paradise, out of which Adam had been driven, should pass through the Fire of Judgment.

Paulinus, having forsaken the World, to lead a Religious Life, after∣wards Bishop of Nola, in his second Fpistle to Severus his intimate Friend. This is acceptable, and well-pleasing, in the sight of God; that our good should be voluntarily, that we might receive the things, which are ours; that is to say, the house of Paradise, and eternal Life, wherein we were crea∣ted; and which, if we, purged from the possession of this earth, whereinto we came through condemnation, regain; then may we, as truly recalled from Ba∣nishment into our Country, or returned after a long Pilgrimage into the house we were born in, say, God is our Portion in the land of the living, &c.

Prudentius, in the tenth of his Hymns. While thou (O God) recallest, and reformest thy body, subject to dissolution, in what Region wilt thou com∣mand the pure Soul to rest it self? Hidden in the bosom of the Blessed Old man, it shall lodge there, where Eleazar is; whom the rich man burning sees, from afar off, encompassed with flowers all about. O Redeemer, we follow thy Say∣ings, whereby, Triumphing over black Death, Thou commandest the Thief, who was Companion of thy Cross, to come after thee. Behold already the lightsom way of spacious Paradise opened to the Faithfull; and it is lawfull to go into that Grove, of which man had been deprived by the Serpent.

The Authour of the Homily upon the Thief, unjustly attributed to Euse∣bius Emissenus. This day shalt thou be with me in Paradise; as in thy he∣reditary, and paternal seat; which at thy entrance shall be opened; though, up∣on the expulsion thence of Adam, nay of two (to wit, Adam, and Eve) it had been shut up to innumerable people. Enter thou therefore the first of all; but with a happier entrance, then the first into Paradise; it being not required, thou shouldest with Adam see hell. Fear not thou shalt there meet with any mortal Viand, any Law, any Tree. I will be to thee both Food, and Life. And, that

thou mayst not have the least apprehension, that there may haply be some enemy, in that blessed Grove, and that the antient Thief may lay Ambushes for thee; I will bring thee into it, and confirm the possession thereof to thee.

The Authour of the Questions attributed to Justin Martyr, in the se∣venty fifth Question. The souls of the Just are carried into Paradise, where they have the conversation and sight of the Angels, and Archangels, and the Vision of Christ our Saviour. And in the seventy sixth Question. It was profit∣able for the Thief, at his entrance into Paradise, to learn, by the effects, the advantage of Faith, by which he had the honour to be admitted into the Assem∣bly of the Saints; where he is kept till the day of the Resurrection, and retribu∣tion. Now he hath that Sentiment of Paradise, which is called Cogitative; according to which the Souls see, themselves, the things, that are below them, and moreover the Angels, and Daemons.

It were no hard matter to add to this number those Authours; who have followed the same prejudicate Opinion: as the Monk Caesarius in his third Dialogue; St. Hierome, in his hundred twenty ninth Epistle, &c. But the fourteen before cited are sufficient, to shew, that, till after the year 450 their Opinion, which had its first rise from the pretended Sibyl∣line Books, was so common in the Church, that it met not with any Contradiction.

CHAP. XII. The fourth Capital Tenet proposed by the Sibylline Writing.

THe fourth Supposition, advanced by the Authour of that Counter∣feit Piece, concerning the State of the departed, is; That, Jerusa∣salem, rebuilt, and made more glorious, then ever, the Son of God, being descend∣ed from heaven, shall establish a reign of a thousand years; full of sensible enjoy∣ments, and a miraculous fertlity, and abundance of corporal goods. He spreads his Fiction before us, in these Terms, in the second Book (page 14.) The fruitfull earth shall again bring forth several Fruits. And page 18. The Angels, raising (the Good) out of the midst of the burning River, shall convey them into light, and bring them to a life free from care. There is the immortal way of the great God, and three Fountains, of Wine, Honey, and Milk; the earth also common to all, and being divided by neither walls, nor hedges, shall then, of it self, bring forth several Fruits. And in the third Book (page 32.) Then shall God give uno men a very great joy. For the earth, the Trees, and the innumerable flocks of Sheep, shall furnish men with the true fruit of Wine, sweet Honey, white Milk, and the best Corn, that ever mortals had. And page 35. The Wolves, upon the Mountains, shall eat grass with the Lambs; the spotted Lynxes shall feed with the Goats; the Bears with the Calves, and all Mortals; the flesh-devouring Lion shall eat straw in the Manger, &c. And the Dragons shall rest themselves with the motherless little ones. And in the six and four∣tieth page of the fifth Book. The Land of the Hebrews shall be holy, and bring forth all things; (viz.) the River of the Rock, that distills Honey, and the immortal Milk shall fall down upon the tongues of all the Just. And in

the fourtieth page. All those, who live a godly life, shall live again upon the earth. And in page the nine and fourtieth, God hath made the City, he de∣lighted in, more bright, then the Stars, the Sun, and the Moon. So, that it is without all question, it was the design of this Impostour, who (in imitation of the second Book of Esdras, in the 19^th Verse of the second Chapter, and the 35^th Verse of the fourteenth Chapter) would needs entertain us with such extravagant Narrations, to abuse the words of Esay, and Saint John; who, in the twentieth, and one and twentieth Chapters of his Apocalyps, mystically represents the Church, under the Name of a 1.69 the holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven; b 1.70 built of Gold, and precious Stones; c 1.71 having no need of Sun, or Moon; d 1.72 and in the midst of it, and of either side of the River, was there the Tree of Life, which bare twelve manner of Fruits, yielding its fruit every Moneth: and the leaves of the Tree were for the healing of the Nations.

The same Imagination so gained upon the holy Fathers, that lived after the middle of the second Age; that those good Souls, prepossessed by the Opinion they had conceived of the pretended Sibylline Writing, took literally, and apprehended, after the Jewish sence, whatever they met with in Esay, and Saint John, concerning the First Raesurrection of those, who died for the Testimony of Jesus, their reign of a thousand years, and all the glory of the celestial Jerusalem. Thus Justin Martyr, in his Dialogue against Trypho, answering that Jew, who (page 306) had asked him, Whether he acknowledged, that Jerusalem should be rebuilt, and the Christians assemble there, and rejoyce with Christ, in the company of the Patriarchs, Pro∣phets, &c. not onely confesses it; but maintains further, that he had already averred it: reflecting, no doubt, on those words, of page 271. where he saith, that Christ, being raised, should come again in•••• Jerusalem, and then drink anew, and eat, with his Disciples. And secondly, that he had signified unto him, that Many among those, who were not of the pure, and re∣ligious sentiment of the Christians, acknowledged it not: whereupon he adds; I, and as many others, as are of the right, and truly Christian, sentiment in all things, know, that there must be a Resurrection of the Flesh; and the Pro∣phets, Ezechiel, Esay, and others confess, that after Jerusalem shall be built, adorned, and amplified, a thousand years shall be spent there: alledging, to that purpose, the sixty fifth Chapter of Esay, and the twentieth of the Apocalyps. And reinculcating it, page 340. where he says, He (viz. Jesus) is the eternal Light, which is to shine in Jerusalem; and page 369. where he writes of the Christians, that they know with whom (Christ) they shall be in that Land (viz. Judaea) which he had called the Land of all the Saints; and that they shall inherit eternal, and incorruptible goods.

Eusebius, in the nine and thirtieth Chapter of the third Book of his Ecclefiastical History, attributing the same opinion to Papias, Bishop of Hierapolis, who had been a follower of the Disciples of Saint John, hath this Discourse. He affirms also many other things, that are more fabulous: among which he saith, that there are a certain thousand of years to pass after the Resurrection; and that Christ shall reign corporally in the same Land. Things; which, I think, he hath onely imagined upon a misapprehension of the Apostolical Expositions.

Saint Irenaeus, in the thirty fifth Chapter of his fifth Book, does not one∣ly

agree with Papias; but relyes upon his authority: citing out of his fourth Book these words, which Papias attributed to Saint John. The daies shall come, wherein there shall grow up Vines, having each of them ten thousand Branches; and upon every Branch ten thousand Boughs; and on every Bough ten thousand Buds; and on every Bud ten thousand Bunches; and on every Bunch ten thousand Grapes; and every Grape, pressed, shall yield twenty five Measures of Wine: And, when any one of the Saints shall take one of the Grapes, another shall cry, I am a better Grape, take me, and bless God by me. In like manner, one Corn of Wheat shall bring forth ten thousand Ears; and every Ear shall have ten thousand Crains; and every Grain shall give ten Pounds of clear and fine Flower; and all other Fruits, Seeds, and Herbs, pro∣portionably. Was ever the Synagogue, cut off from the Covenant of God, delivered of an Extravagance, more deserving contempt, then this: which feigns Bunches of Grapes speaking; and Vines yielding (infinitely beyond all imaginable force of Nature) millions of millions of measures of Wine? And yet, the Holy Martyr, Saint Irenaeus (out of an excess of re∣spect, by no means, excusable in him, preferring the authority of Papias, deceived by the counterfeit Sibyl, before all reason) blindly swallowed it, and, in his two and thirtieth Chapter, inferred from it, that The Just shall reign here below before the day of Judgment; that, on the day of the Sab∣bath of the Just, they shall have a Table furnished from God, e 1.73 who shall re∣plenish them with all manner of Viands. That The Wolves shall feed with the Lambs, and the Lyon shall live on Straw: and, in the thirty fifth Chapter, that The Just shall reign on earth; in the thirty sixth, that (proportionably to the fruit they have brought forth an hundred, sixty, or thirty for one) they shall be placed either in Heaven, or in Paradise, or in Jerusalem; and that In that regard it was, that the Son of God said, f 1.74 In my Father's House are many Mansions.

Tertullian, who lived near the same time, to shew us, that he was car∣ryed away with the same Prejudice, cryes out in the twenty fourth Cha∣pter of his third Book Against Marcion; We confess, that the Kingdom is pro∣mised us upon Earth, for a thousand years, after the Resurrection, in the City of Divine workmanship, g 1.75 Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven. There is some ground to think that Meliton, Bishop of Sardes, Contem∣porary with Justin Martyr, was of the same Opinion with him concern∣ing the temporal Reign of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem; in asmuch as (to maintain it) he writ upon the Revelation of Saint John: the words whereof have been extreamly wrested by the Patrones of that Imagina∣tion; but, in regard I am nothing pressed, and have onely Conjecture to inferr it from, I shall forbear to urge it.

I come to Nepos, the Aegyptian Bishop, reverenced by Dionysius of Alexandria for his Faith, and great Learning, in the attainment whereof he had spent himself to the Last. Of this Prelate h 1.76 Eusebius saies, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Teaching, that the Promises, made to the Saints in the Holy Scriptures, were to be accomplished after the manner conceived by the Jews; supposing, that there were to pass a certain thousand of Years in the pursuit of corporal Enjoyments upon Earth: and being of opinion, he might confirm his Supposition by the Revelation of John. He writ, concern∣ing the said Revelation, a certain Discourse, entituled A Reprehension of

the Allegorists, as not able to endure, that men should take otherwise, then Lite∣rally, the Promises proposed by the Holy Spirit for the comfort of the Church; nor that they should be understood mystically.

About fifty years after appeared our Victorinus, Bishop of Poictiers, who suffered Martyrdom on the second day of November in the year 303. after he had composed divers Treatises, great indeed in respect of the sense, and slight in respect of the contexture of the Words, according to the ob∣servation of i 1.77 Saint Hierome: which cannot be contradicted; since there is nothing left of them, and that the Commentary upon the Apoca∣lyps, which goeth under his name, contains, at this day, nothing of what the Antients had read in it. But, k 1.78 Saint Hierome assuring us, that he was of the number of those, who expected l 1.79 to come from Heaven a Jerusalem, adorned with precious Stones, and Gold: we need not fear, up∣on his Affirmation, to put him into the Catalogue of the Millenaries.

Not long after came Lactantius; who, in magnificent Terms, enter∣tains us with all the particulars of their Opinion; saying, m 1.80 Cum dele∣verit injustitiam, &c. When God shall have taken away Injustice, and kept Sovereign Judgment, and restrored to life the Just, who were from the beginning; he will converse among men, for the space of a thousand years, and shall rule over them with Justice. Which is no more, then what the prophecying, and distract∣ed Sibyl somewhere proclaims;

Mortals attend, th'eternal King does reign.

And then those, who shall be found alive in their Bodies, shall not dy; but, during the said thousand years shall propogate an infinite multitude, and their progeny shall be holy, and dear to God. Those also, who shall be raised out of Hell, shall, as Judges, command the living, &c. The holy City shall be establish∣ed in the midst of the earth: in which God, the Founder thereof, shall make his abode with the Just, who govern. After which; he supposes all we have said of the fruitfulness of the earth, of the peace, which there shall be in it, and of the change of the natures of cruel, and savage Beasts; alledging to that purpose (though with some little diversity) the words of the third Book of the pretended Sibyl, in the thirty second, and thirty fifth pages, and those of the fifth Book in the fourty sixth page, cited by us already.

Dionysius of Alexandria (who had undertaken the Refutation, not of Saint Irenaeus (as n 1.81 Saint Hierome thought) but of Nepos, in two Books, entituled Of the Promises o 1.82 was (about one hundred years after) enga∣ged by Apollinarius of Laodicea; as we learn from the same Saint Hierome saying, Duobus voluminibus respondit Apollinarius, &c. That is to say, Apollinarius answered in two Volumes; whom follow not onely the men of his own Sect, but also a great multitude of ours as to that particular onely. So, that I now see, with a spirit foreseeing what will happen, what considerable Persons will be exasperated against me.

Much about the same time lived Tychonius, the learned African of the Donatist Party; of whom Gennadius writes, in his Catalogue, p 1.83 Mille annorum quo{que} regni, in terra Justorum, post resurrectionem futuri, suspicionem intulit, &c. He also gave some suspicion of imagining a Reign of the Just upon Earth, for the space of a thousand years, after the Resurrection. To which may be added, that in the confused Collection of Homilies, which is attri∣buted to Saint Augustine, and was indeed extracted out of the Writings

of Tychonius upon the Apocalyps, we read these words, q 1.84 Retulit Spiri∣tus (dum haec scriberet) regnaturam Ecclesiam mille annos in hoc saeculo usque ad finem mundi. That is to say, The Spirit (while he writ these things) delive∣red, that the Church should reign a thousand years upon Earth, even to the end of the World.

The same Gennadius observes of one Commodianus; r 1.85 De divinis re∣promissionibus adversùs illos (Paganos) agens, vili satis, & crasso (ut ità dixerim) sensu disseruit: illis stuporem, nobis desperationem incutiens; Ter∣tullianum, & Lactantium, & Papiam sequutus, &c. Treating against the Heathens concerning the divine Promises, he discoursed thereof in a sence suffici∣ently flat, and unpolished: casting them into Insensibility, us into Despair; where∣in he followed Tertullian, Lactantius, and Papias for his Authours.

We have it also upon the account of s 1.86 St. Hierome, that our Seve∣rus Sulpitius, who writ the Life of St. Martin, had committed the same Errour in his Dialogue, entituled Gallus; wherein yet there is not, at this day, any thing of that nature to be found.

Nay, the same St. Hierome, himself (though not chargeable with the Errour; which, to his grief, he saw generally followed by the Christians of the fifth Age) betrays himself guilty of so great a respect towards those, who first maintained it, that he dares not condemn it; saying, about the year 415. t 1.87 Licet non sequamur; tamen damnare non possumus: quia multi Ecclesiasticorum virorum, & Martyres ista dixerunt; & unus∣quisque in suo sensu abundat, & Domini cuncta judicio reservantur, &c. In regard many Ecclesiastical Persons, and Martyrs have said these things; as also that every man aboundeth in his own sence, and that all is reserved for the Judgment of the Lord: though I do not follow them; yet can I not condemn them.

CHAP. XIII. Inducements of Praying for the Dead, arising from the Hypothe∣ses proposed in the pretended Sibylline Writing.

BY this means had the Opinion of the Millenaries (with a success equal to that of the other Supposi•…•…s of the pretended Sibylline Wri∣ting) not onely found Partisans among the Christians; but also gained the applause of many of the most eminent among them: and all had conceived this apprehension thereof; that it was impossible to main∣tain all the Hypotheses contained in it, without inducing, by a necessary consequence, Prayer for the Dead: whom they imagined to stand so much the more in need of the Assistances of the living; by how much they imagined them exposed, as well to the disturbances, which those might be subject to, who are reduced to the expectation of their Hap∣piness, as to the Temptations, and Assaults, which the Faithfull are ex∣ercised with, through the implacable malice of Evil Spirits; and are ob∣liged, at last, to stand to the rigorous Judgment of the God of glory.

We cannot make a better representation of the State, whereto the Chri∣stians of that Time conceived their deceased Brethren to be reduced; then by copying-out what Justin Martyr, who had seen the Eruption of the first Sibylline Imposture) hath written of the condition of our Saviour himself, to whom he very justly applied those words of the two and twentieth Psalm (according to the Hebrews) a 1.88 Save me from the Lyon's Mouth. That he prayed his Soul might be delivered from the Sword, from the Lyon's Mouth, and the Paw of the Dog, was a request, that none should prevail over his Soul; to the end, that, when we come to depart this life, we should desire the same things, as he did of Almighty God; that every wicked bold Spirit may be prevented from taking our Souls, as being what the Souls ex∣pect. I have shewn as much, in that Saul required, that the Soul of Samuel might be evocated by the Witch. It appears also, that the Souls of all those, who have been Just, and Prophets, are subject to such Powers, as (by the effect) it is manifest, was that, wherewith the Witch was Possessed. Whence it is, that he teacheth us by his Son, that we (for whose sake it is clear, that that was done) should Fight all manner of waies, and desire, at our Departure out of this life, that our Souls may not fall under any such Powers, for as much, as when he gave up the Ghost upon the Cross, he said b 1.89 Father, into thy hands I commend my Spirit.

From which Discourse we learn; that he had a certain persuasion of four things;

1. That our Saviour, at the time of his Passion for our salvation, pray∣ed, that his Soul might not fall under the power of the Devils.

2. That we are obliged, upon our approaches to Death, to imitate his Example.

3. That the Prophets were, after death, exposed to the insolencies of Evil Spirits, in such manner, that the Soul of Samuel could be evocated by the Witch of Endor.

4. That the Souls, of the Faithfull, who dayly depart this world, are subject to the same inconveniences; and, consequently, do all stand in extraordinary need of being relieved by the Prayers of the Living.

In like manner do we see, that upon this mold must needs be fashioned those Antient Prayers, which the Church of Rome makes, at this day, for the Faithfull departed; saying, Domine Jesu Christe, Rex gloriae, libera ani∣mas omnium Fidelium defunctorum de manu Inferni, & de profundo lacu. Libe∣ra eas de ore Leonis; nè absorbeat eas Tartarus; nè cadant in obscura Tenebrarum loca. Fac eas, Doni•…•… transire te de morte ad vitam San ctam, &c. Liberatae de principibus Tenebrarum, & locis paena rum, &c. Repelle, quaesumus, Domine, ab ea omnes Principe Tenebrarum, &c. That is to say; O Lord, Jesus Christ, King of Glory, deliver out of the hand of Hell, and from the deep Lake, the souls of all the Faithfull departed. Save them from the mouth of the Lyon; that Hell do not swallow them up; and that they may not fall into the obscure places of Darkeness, &c. Lord make them to pass from Death to an Holy Life, &c. may they be delivered from the Princes of Darkness, and the places of Torments, &c. Drive away from them all the Princes of Darkness, O Lord we beseech thee. Nay the ten∣der Saint Augustine had such a kind of Letany in his Imagination; when, celebrating, in his Confessions, the Memory of Saint Monica his

Mother, who was c 1.90 dead at least six years before, he hath this Lan∣guage. d 1.91 Nemo à protectione tua dirumpat eam: non se interponat, nec vi, nec insidiis, Leo, & Draco; nec enim respondebit illa, nihil se debere, nè convin∣catur, & obtineatur ab Accusatore callido, &c. Let no body snatch her out of thy protection: let not the Lion, or the Dragon interpose themselves, either by force, or by ambush; for she will not answer, that she ows nothing, lest she be convicted, and carried away by the crafty Accuser.

CHAP. XIV. The Motives, proposed by Justin Martyr, disallowed; and those, which St. Epiphanius had to pray for the Dead, taken into Con∣sideration.

BUt since the Hypothesis of Justin Martyr was not embraced by all Antiquity; Tertullian telling us in general, Absit, ut animam cujus∣libet Sancti, nedum Prophetae à Daemonio credamus extractam, &c. Far be it from us, to believe, that the Soul of any Saint whatsoever, much less of a Pro∣phet, hath been extracted by the Devil; and Pionius Metaphrastes, upon the first of February; Methodius, in a particular Treatise against Origen; St. Basil, upon the eighth Chapter of Esay, and in an Epistle to Eusta∣thius; Saint Gregory of Nyssa, in an Epistle to Theodosius; Saint Grego∣ry Nazianzene, in the second Invective against Julian; Saint Hierome, upon the sixth Chapter of Saint Matthew; St. Cyril of Alexandria, in the sixth Book of Adoration in Spirit and Truth; Procopius of Gaza, upon the eight and twentieth Chapter of the first Book of Kings; Georgius Syncellus, in his History; and others, particularly charging with Im∣posture the pretended Evocation of Samuel; and Philastrius numbring it expressly among Heresies: we are now to examine, upon what reasons, Praying for the Dead hath been since grounded, and to hear, upon this Point, St. Epiphanius disputing in the year 376. against Aerius; who, thinking it not enough to deny, that there accrewed any advantage to the deceased from the Prayers made, on their behalf, by the living, had withall, upon that account, left the Church of Sebaste. He engages against him with these Considerations; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Those, who are here, believe, that those, who are departed this world, live: and that they are not deprived of being; but that they both are, and live to the Lord. And to the end, that this excellent Doctrine may be explained; that there is an hope for those, who pray for their Brethren, as for persons in their journey; the prayer made for them is also profitable, although it does not cut all, that may be alledged against them: but (in as much, as, many times, while we are in this world, we sin voluntarily, and involuntarily) to signisie what is accomplished. For we make mention of the Just, and pray for sinners; for sinners, directing our Eyes to the mercy of God, which they have obtained; for the Just, for the Fathers, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, Martyrs, Confessours, Bi∣shops, Anachorets, and the whole Battalion, to the end, that we might make a distinction between the rank of men, and the Lord Jesus Christ; because of the honour, which is due to him, and render him convenient Veneration, as having

this apprehension, that our Lord is not to be parallelled with any of man∣kinde, though every one of mankinde were possessed of Justice ten thousand times, and more.

It is evident, that the first Consideration of Saint Epiphanius could make nothing against Aërius; who denyed the advantage of Prayer for the Faithfull departed: the Ratiocination, or Argument of this Fa∣ther being not necessary, either absolutely, or in respect of his Adversary He is living, Therefore he must be prayed for; since that, if this were allow∣ed, Prayers should be made for all the living Creatures that are, Angels, Men, and Beasts, without any exception; and that for this reason, that all these, every one of these kindes is possessed of Being, and Life, in some degree. Besides the Consequence of such a way of reasoning would go much beyond, as well the intention of its Authour, as the practice of the Church of Pontus; in vindication whereof he had framed it: since that no Community of Christians ever did, or thought it self obliged to communicate its Suffrages to the Angels, who live, and stand in the pre∣sence of the Lord; as supposing that Office could not be due to them, nor be conceived a rational service, in regard they neither stand in need thereof, nor can receive any advantage thereby.

The second Consideration, which concerns the Hope the Christians of the fourth Age conceived of the effect of their Prayers for their deceased Brethren, could not be of greater weight, then the former, as far as it concerned Aërius; who denyed, not that the Faithfull of his Time, had a certain hope of profiting the Dead by their Prayers (for that they had, was manifest) but that their hope was well grounded, and that their Prayers for the Dead were, or could be, of any advantage. But, as I cannot, without some trouble, reflect, that a Person so great (as Saint Epiphanius) should be (through I know not what forgetfulness) redu∣ced to alledg for a reason to his Adversary the very thing he put in question, and which had most need of proof; so I think my self ob∣liged to make this Observation;

That the Christians at that time used their hope concerning the communication of their Suffrages to the Dead, with so much indulgence; that they extended it even to those, whom they thought dead in mortal sin, and out of the communion of the Church.

CHAP. XV. Of the Prayers made, and Alms given heretofore by the Christians for the damned.

NOt to bring upon the Stage the vain imaginations of Origen, and his Party; who conceived no other Punishments to be inflicted on either men, or Devils, then such, as were Purgatory, and for a time; nor yet much to urge, that some very Great Person (as St. Gregory Nyssen, in his great Catechistical Oration, in his Treatise Of the Soul, and in that which he made upon the eight and twentieth Verse of the fifteenth

Chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians; and St. Hierome, in the eighteenth Book upon Isaiah (Chap. lxvi. 24.) seem to have some time countenanced it: I shall insist on this, that some others, no less eminent, were of Opinion, that there might be obtained some diminu∣tion of the Torments of the Damned; and that they might be relieved by Prayers, and Alms. Hence St. Chrysostome, in his third Homily upon the Epistle to the Philippians, speaking of those, who thought it much to dispose of their wealth to Good Uses, cryes out, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Let us bewail them; let us assist them according to our power; let us finde out some little relief for them: little indeed; yet let us help them that little. And how shall we do it? By praying our selves, and exhorting others to pray for them; giving frequently for their sakes to the poor. That brings some comfort. The same St. Chrysostome, affirming that the Catechumens have no part in the publick Prayers made for the Faithfull departed, adds, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. The Catechumens are not honoured with that consolation; but are deprived of all assistance of that nature, one onely excepted. What is that? It is in your power to give to the poor for them; and that gives them some refreshment. And, in the sixty second Homily upon the Gospel of St. John, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. If he, who is dead, were a sinner, and had many ways offended God, it is requisite we weep, for that would be of no advantage to him, but do that which may pro∣cure him some consolation; viz. give Alms, and Offerings. This also we are to rejoyce at; that he is deprived the opportunities of commiting wickedness.

Prudentius, in the fifth of his Hymns, upon a Supposition, that the Night between Easter-Eve, and Easter-Day, the Souls of the Damned receive some ease, and remission of their pains, saith;

Sunt & spiritibus saepe nocentibus Poenarum celebres sub Styge Feriae. Illâ nocte, sacer quâ rediit Deus, Stagnis ad Superos ex Acheronticis, &c. Marcent suppliciis Tartara mitibus, Exultátque sui carceris otio Umbrarum populus, liber ab ignibus; Nec fervent solito flumina sulphure, &c.

That is,

Th' Infernal Spirits sometimes gain An intermission of their pain. That Night, when God, from Acheron, Ascended to his heav'nly Throne, &c. A milder torture reigns in Hell, The Ghosts in Flames no longer dwell, Proud that their bonds were eas'd awhile; The streams of Sulphur cease to boil, &c:

The same Prudentius, at the end of his Hamartigenia, numbring him∣self among the Damned, hath this Discourse,

Esto, cavernoso (quia sic pro labe necesse est Corporeâ) tristis me sorbeat ignis Averno; Saltem mitificos incendia lenta vapores Exhalent, aestúque calor languente tepescat.

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Lux immensa alios, & Tempora vincta coronis Glorificent; me poena levis clementer adurat, &c.

If (since our Stains corporeal so require) I shall be swallom'd by Avernal Fire, Yet may (at least) those Flames a gentler heat Exhale, and Vapours less intense beget. Whilest others glorious Crowns of Light obtain, Let me but have a gentler heat, and pain.

And in the Hymn of St. Fructuosus, Bishop of Tarragone; Fors digna∣bitur, & meis medelam, tormentis dare, prosperante Christo, &c. It may be al∣so he will give ease to my Torments, Christ granting the good success. For, re∣ferring the giving of that ease to the a 1.92 Destruction of the World, he shews, it was not his meaning to speak of Purgatory such, as the Church of Rome conceives it at this day; but of the final condition of Souls at the last Judgment.

Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, applying to himself the Parable of the six∣teenth of Luke, and imagining himself in the place of the wicked rich man, whom the Gospel represents as damned, says to Nicetas, Bishop of Da∣cia, beyond Danubius, which we now call Transsylvania;

Nos locis, quantum meritis, dirempti, Eminus celsis humiles patronis, Te procul sacris socium catervis Suspiciemus. Quis die nobis dabit hoc in illa, Ut tui stemus lateris sub umbra, Et tuae nobis requietis aura Temperet ignem. Tunc, precor, nostri nimium memento, Et patris sancti gremio recumbens, Roscido nobis digito furentem Discute flammam.

We, who in place from thee as far, As in our merits, distant are, From our Abyss to thee on high Direct our cry. Who is't, when that day comes, will yield, Thy shade may serve us for a shield, And some cool air from thy blest seat May fan our heat? Ah! then preserve us in thy mind, And, on thy Father's Breast reclin'd, But one drop from thy finger shake, Our thirst to slake.

Saint Augustine, in the four and twentieth Chapter of his one and twen∣tieth Book Of the City of God, professes; that he does not oppose such as applied, to the damned, those words of the seventy seventh Psalm ac∣cording to the Greeks, b 1.93 Hath God forgotten to be gracious? saying,

Quibus placet istam sententiam us{que} ad illa impiorum tormenta protendere, &c. I would have those, who are pleased to extend that Sentence even to the Torments of the damned, understand it at least in this manner; that the c 1.94 Wrath of God, which was pronounced against them for their eternal punishment, still re∣maining upon them, d 1.95 God shuts not up in anger his tender mercies, and causes them not to be tormented with so much rigour, as they deserve; not so as they should never undergo those pains, or that a time should come, when they should be determined; but to the end they should suffer them more remissly, then their deserts might require. For by that means, both the Wrath of God shall remain, and he shall not withhold his compassions even in his wrath, which I confirm not, though I do not oppose. But in the tenth Chapter of his Ma∣nual copied-out by Isidorus, Arch-Bishop of Sevil (Offic. lib. 1. Chap. 18.) by Julian, Arch-Bishop of Toledo, (Prognost. lib. 1. Chap. 21.) by Bede, (in 2 Cor. v.) by Eterius, Bishop of Osmo, (Adversùs Elipand. lib. 1.) he makes a clearer discovery of his sentiment; writing, Cùm sacrificia sive Altaris, sive quarumcunque Eleemosynarum pro Baptizatis defunctis omnibus offeruntur, &c. When the Sacrifices, whether of the Altar, or of Alms, of what kinde soever they be, are offered for all the Faithfull departed, they are acts of thanksgiving for those, that have been very good, Propitiations for those, who have not been very Bad, consolations in some sort to the living for those, who have been very wicked, though there are no assistances of the dead; and as for those, who reap advantage by them, they benefit them in this, that either their sins are fully remitted, or their damnation made more supportable. The result whereof is, that (according to the Opinion of this Father, whom so many others have followed, as their Guid, and Directour) it was not impossible, but that Alms might pro∣cure an Alleviation of the Torments of the damned, for whom they had been offered to God by the Living.

Athanasius of Antioch, in his Answer to the thirty fourth Question of Antiochus, asking, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. How then, do not the Souls even of Sinners re∣ceive some benefit, when Assemblies meet, Good Deeds are done, and Offerings are offered for them? concludes, that they do, and says, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. If they reap no good thereby, there would be no mention made of them at their Intorment. And note, that he speaks of the Souls of those Sinners, of whom he had said in his Answer to the two and thirty Question, that they minded nothing, but their punishment; and in that to the thirty third, that they could do nei∣ther good, nor ill, opposing them to the Souls of the Saints, which, e 1.96 seized by the Angels, praise God.

From this Source sprang several ill-digested Stories, and Relations about the year 416. Vincent Rogatista objected to St. Augustine, that St. Perpetua had by her Prayers obtained the dismission of Dinocrates, her Brother, out of the place of Torments. Nay, after the year 730. Damascene undertook to deliver out three thence upon his Warrant; the first taken out of the Legend of St. Thecla, converted in Iconia by Saint Paul; where the Authour (who seems to have been very desirous to take upon him the Name of Basil, Bishop of Seleucia, upon this account, that in his City rested the body of that Blessed Virgin) says, that Tryphaena, a Kinswoman to the Emperour; who, after the death of her Daughter

Falconilla, though dead in the darkness of Paganism, had entertained at her house Thecla, persecuted by Alexander, and, upon his prosecution, condemned to be torn in pieces by the Beasts in the Theatre of Antioch; that this Tryphaena, I say, in a Dream saw her Daughter Falconilla, earnest∣ly begging of her to implore the assistance of the Saints Prayers, that by her intercession she might be f 1.97 transferred into the abode of the Just; and that her desire was immediately granted.

The Second is taken out of the History of Palladius, Bishop of Heleno∣polis (where there is no Track of any such thing to be found now) to this effect; that Saint Macarius the Hermite, having made some questi∣on to the dry Skull of a certain Heathen, God inspired that dry Bone with this true Discourse, by way of Answer, When thou offerest thy Prayers for the Dead, we receive some little consolation.

The Third, attested (as he saies) by g 1.98 the East, and West (though not any one of the Latines speak of it) attributes to Saint Gregory the Great the deliverance of Trajan's Soul; who was not onely an Infidel, but a Persecutour also, 470. years, and above, after his death, and detenti∣on in Hell. But it is to litle purpose to disturb the dust of an old Ima∣gination, frivolous enough, and disclamed even by those, who are at this day the most earnest Patrones of Prayer for the Dead.

CHAP. XVI. The Third, and Fourth Motives of Saint Epiphanius taken into consideration.

THe third Consideration of Saint Epiphanius to confirm the custom of Praying for the Dead: viz. That the departed are (in relation to the living) as persons that Travell, seems to presuppose the first Hypothe∣sis of the pretended Sibylline Writing, which gives occasion to imagine, that those, who dy, arrive, upon the dissolution of the Body, not at the place of their sovereign Happiness; but are transferred to some unplea∣sing receptacle under the earth, where their patience is no less exercised, then that of Travellers, who have a long and tedious Journey to go through. This Hypothesis indeed (if so be it were maintained by Aërius) might justly have been objected to him, to induce him to admit Prayer for the Dead? since it is evident, that those, who are at a di∣stance from their Happiness, and languish in the expectation of it, stand in need of comfort, and the Prayers requisite to obtain grace of him, who is the author of Grace. But it cannot be of any consideration, as to what concerns the Protestants, who unanimously Impugn it, and constantly teach, that the Souls of men, at the very departure out of their Bodies, enter either into Eternal fire, whence there is no deliver∣ance, and where there is no comfort; or into the Glory of God, which for ever exempts them from all those exigencies, which they are Subject to, who are deprived thereof, while they endeavour to attain it.

The fourth Consideration of the same Father, to wit, that those, who dy, have, during the time of their Pilgrimage in this world, Sinned both voluntarily, and involuntarily, is very Just, and as Aërius never had any rea∣son to deny it, so is it not at all contradicted by any of the Protestants; who, by that which they have learnt of Saint John, that those men, who (at any assignable time of their Life) say they have no sin, deceive them∣selves, make God a Lyar, and have neither his word, nor truth in them, do very well comprehend, that it must of necessity follow, that those, who should deny they had any till the hour of Death, would deceive them∣selves no less then others, and with equal presumption charg with false∣hood the God of truth. But (omitting what Aerius might have said according to his Hypothesis, of which we have nothing certain) the Pro∣testants hold, that there is no necessity of this consequence, he hath (whe∣ther voluntarily, or involuntarily, it matters not) sinned during his life: there∣fore we must Pray for him after his death.

Secondly, that the Church of Rome grants it, inasmuch as she, ac∣knowledging that this Antecedent, he hath sinned, is and shall eternally be as undeniably true in respect of the Saints, which are, and ever shall be in the Glory of God, and the Damned, who shall never come out of Hell torments, as of the living, who aspire to felicity, and desire to escape Damnation: she, I say, neither prays, nor thinks she ought to pray, for either the Saints Glorified, nor the Sinners Condemned, but onely for the Faithfull, whom she presupposes to expect their Glorification, and that onely for a certain time.

Thirdly, that if from this antecedent, he hath sinned, it did of necessi∣ty always follow, We must Pray for him, the Church of Rome would be obliged to Pray; First, For the Apostatized Angels, who, having quit∣ted their first station, sinned no less then men do, but in such manner, that their offence condemned by an irrevocable decree is absolutely incapable of remedy. Secondly, For the Damned, who are not in a state capable of amendment. Thirdly, For those, that are Glorified, who have not any good to obtain, and that as well after, as before, the last Judgment; since that after the Pronuntiation of it, this truth, that men, and Devils have sinned, will remain evident, and irrefragable as be∣fore, though that after the retribution, which shall be for ever made to every one according to his works, it will not be any longer either necessary, or convenient, or rational to pray for him.

CHAP. XVII. Saint Epiphanius's fift Motive considered.

FOr a fifth consideration Saint Epiphanius alledges, that Prayers for the Dead are made by the surviving, out of a design to signifie what is ac∣complished; & thereby insinuates, that he conceived the state of the Faith∣full, from the moment of their death, to the time of their resurrection,

to be imperfect, and capable of melioration; it is possible Aerius might have been of the same Sentiment, and upon that account have been forced to acknowledg some necessity of praying for them, untill the absolute accomplishment of their Glory. But this imagination neither hath, nor can have, any force against the Protestants; who believe, that the Faithfull, at the very demolition of the a 1.99 earthly Tabernacles of their bodies, are received (according to the saying of St. Paul) into their celestial habitations, and that, at the very instant of their putting-off of Flesh, God cloaths their souls with the glory, which they are eternally to enjoy; so that what till then was b 1.100 in part, and imperfect in them, is from thence absolutely abolished; and that these Considerations, that the Prayer does not cut off all, that is layed in charge against the dead, and that it is made to signifie what is accomplished, cannot be any way season∣able in respect of those, who (as they) are perswaded by the Scripture, that to no purpose are alledged, either the need, which the Faithfull de∣parted stand in of their accomplishment; since they are already in actual possession thereof, c 1.101 being present with the Lord, and absent from the body particularly, to that end: or the charges, which are pretended to re∣main against them after death, since there can be no d 1.102 accusation, nor any one to lay ought to their charge, who are justified by the Lord, who protesteth (according to the tenour of his own Covenant) that he e 1.103 will be mercifull to their unrighteousness, and their sins, and ini∣quities will he remember no more.

CHAP. XVIII. Saint Epiphanius's sixth Motive Considered.

IN the sixth place, St. Epiphanius tells us, That some, in his Time, prayed for Sinners departed, having a respect, or recourse, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, to the Mercy of God; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, imploring the Mercy of God; and it may be said, that upon this ground, That sinners continued charged with sins, and im∣perfections after their decease, Antiquity was induced to demand, by Prayers, the remission of their sins, and consequently their establishment in a place of rest. To this purpose is what we read in the one and four∣tieth Chapter of the eighth Book of the Constitutions, attributed to Saint Clement; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. That God, the lover of men, having re∣ceived his soul, would turn away his face from all his sins voluntary, and un∣voluntary, and out of his Graciousness, and Mercy, place him in the Region of the godly, who enjoy themselves in the Bosom of Abraham, &c. whence trouble, sadness, and sighing are departed, &c. Look upon this thy servant, whom thou hast chosen, and taken to thy self, to receive another lot, and pardon him what he hath (voluntarily, or involuntarily) sinned, and place about him good Angels, and dispose of him into the Bosom of the Patriarchs, &c. where there is neither sadness, nor trouble, nor sighing, &c.

In the Liturgie of the Armenians. Memento, Domine, miserere, & fac gra∣tiam animabus requiescentibus, pacifica, illumina eas, &c. Remember, O Lord,

shew Mercy, and be Gracious unto the souls, which are in rest, pacify them, and illuminate them, &c.

In the Liturgy of St. Basily 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. For the repose, and remission of thy Servant.

In the Anaphora, or Liturgie, translated out of the Syriack, and attri∣buted to St. Basil, whereof the Summary is alledged by Cassander; That God would conduct the departed through the horrid receptacles, and place them in habitations of light. That God would deliver them out of the thick darkness of tribulation, and grief, that he would not enter into judgement with them, &c. If they have sinned in any manner, as men clad in flesh, that he would pardon them.

In the Missal of the Latine Church. Animabus famulorum, famularum{que} tuarum, remissionem cunctorum tribue peccatorum; ut indulgentiam, quam sem∣per optaverunt, piis supplicationibus consequantur, &c. Grant (O Lord) unto the souls of thy Servants, of what Sex soever, the remission of all their sins; that, by devout supplications, they may obtain that indulgence, which they have al∣ways desired, &c. Do away, by the pardon of thy most mercifull Piety, the sins, which he hath committed through the frailty of worldly conversation, &c. Do thou (O God) mercifully, out of thy wonted Goodness, wipe away the stains, which the souls have contracted from the contagion of the World, Amen. Mercifully pardon them, &c. put them into perpetual oblivion, Amen, &c. O Lord, enter not into judgment with thy Servants; for no man shall be justifyed in thy sight; deliver their souls from the Gates of Hell, &c. Grant them the remission of all their sins, &c. free them from all their sins, &c. We beseech thee, that thy ju∣dicial sentence fall not heavy upon them, &c. That what vices soever she hath, through the subtlety of the Devil contracted, thou wouldest, out of thy compassion, and mercy, indulgently do away, &c. Free, O Lord, we beseech thee, the soul of thy Servant from all chains of sin. Which Prayers are for the most part repeated in the first Book of Sacred Ceremonies, (Sect. 15. chap. 1.) * 1.104 and the ensuing is there added, over and above, by a late Cardinal; Non intres in judicium tu∣um, Domine, cum servo tuo, &c. O Lord, enter not into judgment with thy servant: for no man shall be justifyed in thy sight; if the remission of his sins be not granted him by thee. We therefore beseech thee, O Lord, that thy Judgments may not by strange Sentences be rigorous towards him, whom the true supplication of Chri∣stian faith recommends to thee; but that, through the assistance of thy grace, he may be thought worthy to escape the Judgment of eternal vengeance, he, who, while living, was honoured with the Seal of the Holy Trinity, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.

Upon some such considerations was it that St. Cyril of Jerusalem, in his fifth Mystagogical Catechesis, speaking of the departed, said, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. We offer prayers to God for the de∣parted: and, if they are sinners, we do not weave Crowns for them; but offer up Christ sacrificed for our sins: appeasing on their behalf, and our own, him, who is the Lover of mankind. Upon which passage it is to be noted by the way; that the Text is disordered by the Transcriber; who, having found in his Copy, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. thrust in a whole line after 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, writing, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.

From the same Hypothesis also St. Augustine, in the forecited place of

his Confessions, took occasion to make these Prayers for his Mother, Di∣mitte illi & tu debitu sua; non intres cum ea in judicium; superexaltet mise∣ricordia tua judicium, &c. Do thou also forgive her her Trespasses, enter not into judgment with her; Let thy mercy be above thy judgment, &c. But though it were granted, this Hypothesis might do somewhat against Aëri∣us; who might have been drawn into the common Opinion; that the departed, being after death in an imperfect State, were detained, in a place by themselves, till their resurrection; yet does it not amount to any thing against the Protestants, who are of a different Opinion; since that, if it be always lawfull to conclude, He was guilty of sin, Therefore we must pray for him, the Church would be obliged to pray eternally for all its Members, even after their Resurrection, and the last Judgment; which none hitherto hath conceived she ought to practise.

CHAP. XIX. Saint Epiphanius's seventh Motive Considered.

IN the last place, St. Epiphanius affirms, that, in his Time, Men prayed for the Saints, and the Just, whoever they were, upon this accompt, that there might be a distinction made between them, and our Saviour; who, in∣terceding for all, does not stand in need of any one's intercession: and to shew, that there ought not to be parallelled with him any of those, who were most recommendable for their Piety. Upon which last Hypothesis it may be said; that from most certain Principles, to wit, that we must be tender of the honour of Jesus Christ, and distinguish him from the men redeemed by him, and by no means suffer, that any one compare them to their Saviour; it draws a false Consequence, to wit, that we must pray for them. For, if it were admitted, it were also necessary to pray for the Faithfull, as well after their Resurrection, and the last Judgment, as before; since the honour proper to the Son of God, will be no less due after the Resurrection, then before, and that it will be, at all times, impiously done to take away the distinction there is between him, and men, for whom he died, and inter∣ceded, by making any one equal to him.

Thence it appears, how weak St. Epiphanius's Reason is, even from this; that it proves more, then he had proposed to himself; nay, more, then the Church of Rome at this day desires: the Church of Rome, I say; which hath not onely for the space of 1200. years past, left off Praying for the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, Martyrs, &c. but would look on that kinde of Devotion as injurious, having grounded her proceed∣ing on this Discourse of St. Augustine, copied by Beda, upon the twelfth Chapter a 1.105 to the Hebrews, and others. Habet Disciplina Ecclesi∣astica, &c. It is according to Ecclesiastical Discipline, as the Faithfull know; that, when [the Names of] the Martyrs are recited before the Altar of God, men pray not for them; but for all others, that are Commemora∣ted, Prayers are made. For it is an injury to pray for the Martyr, by whose Prayers we are to be recommended. And yet what (to use the Terms of this

Father) the Ecclesiastical Discipline of the Christians of Africk, Rome, and in a word, of all the West, thrust, as injurious, and ill-grounded, out of the both Publick, and Private Service; after they had quitted the Hypotheses of those, that had preceeded them, is continued in the Offices of many other Churches. Whence we read, in the Liturgie of the Arme∣nians, Da aeternam pacem omnibus, qui nos praecesserunt in fide Christi, San∣ctis Patribus, Patriarchis, Apostolis, Prophetis, Martyribus, &c. Give eter∣nal peace to the holy Fathers, Patriarchs, Apostles, Prophets, Martyrs, who have preceeded us in the Faith of Christ.

In that, which goes under the Name of Saint Mark, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. O Lord, our God, give rest unto the Souls of our Fathers, and Brethren, who are departed before us in the Faith of Christ; being mindfull of the first Fathers, who lived in the beginning of the World, the Fathers, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessours, Bishops, Saints, Just men, the spirits of all those, that have had their accomplishment in the Faith of Christ, of whom we this day make Commemoration, as also of our holy Fa∣ther, the Apostle, and Evangelist St. Mark, who hath shewn us the way of Salvation.

In that of St. Chrysostome, though very much altered, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. We offer unto thee this reasonable service for those, who rest in Faith, our Ancestours, Fathers, Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Preachers, Evangelists, Martyrs, Confessours, continent persons, and every spi∣rit accomplished in Faith, especially for the absolutely-holy, undefiled, blessed above all things, our glorious Lady, the Mother of God, and ever Virgin, Mary.

In the Sacramentary of St. Gregory; Divina mysteria Sanctis tuis prosint ad gloriam, &c. Let the divine Mysteries be profitable to thy Saints for their glory.

We might finde as much in that, which St. Epiphanius had seen in use among the Christians of Cyprus, Palestine, Syria, and all the other Provinces; not excepting even Africk it self: if we had them at present, since that in the year 250. St. Cyprian in his 34^th Epistle, speaking of Celerina, Grand∣mother to Laurentinus, Uncle by the Father's side, and of Ignatius, Uncle by the Mother-side to Celerinus, Confessour, and Reader in the Church of Carthage, said, Palmas à Domino, & coronas illustri passione meruerunt; sacri∣ficia pro eis semper (ut meministis) offerimus, quoties Martyrum passiones, & dies, anniversariâ commemoratione celebramus, &c. They have, by their illustrious suf∣ferings, obtained of the Lord Palms, and Crowns. We dayly offer sacrifices for them (as you remember) as often, as we celebrate the Anniversaries of the Passions, and Days of the Martyrs. But they have been either abolished, or so altered; that they contain not any thing of what was in them before, of greatest consideration. And thence it is come to pass, that in those, who go under the name of St. James, St. Peter, St. Basil, and St. Gregory, we meet not with (as in the first) Prayers to God for the Saints, but Prayers to the Saints; the fear of making them equal with Jesus Christ being by degrees vanished, and experience forcing us to acknowledg, that all the imaginations of men, as well what are good, as what bad, pass away; but that Jesus Christ, alone, is, and shall be the same eternally; as St. Paul, to our comfort, gives us to observe in the 8^th Verse of the 13^th Chapter to the Hebrews.

CHAP. XX. The Motive of Dionysius, the pretended Areopagite, taken into consideration.

HE, who about the year 490. took upon him the name of St. Denys the Areopagite, to gain the greater credit to his Books Of the Cele∣stial and Ecclesiastical Hierarchies, grounds, upon one onely considerati∣on, the Commemoration of the departed, which was made in his time in the Publick Service, and declares his sentiment with the ordinary o∣stentation, in these Termes, a 1.106 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. The recitation of the sacred Rolls, which is made after the kissing of the Pax, declares the names of those, who have lived holily, and who are irreturnably gone to the perfection of virtuous life, exhorting, and leading us to the most blessed and Godlike conditi∣on by resemblance of them, and pronouncing them, as it were living, and (as Theo∣logy expresses it) not dead, but b 1.107 passed from death to a most divine life. But withall observe, that they are reposited by sacred Memorials in the Remembrance of the Deity, and not according to the manner of men transmitted from the fancy to the memory, (but to speak suitably to God) according to the venerable, and irre∣coverable knowledg of the God-like deceased, which is in God. For (as the O∣racles say) c 1.108 he knows those, who are his, and d 1.109 The death of his Saints is precious in his sight; the death of the Saints being named, instead of their accomplishment in sanctity. Think devoutly upon this; viz. that the venerable Signs, whereby Christ is signified, and participated, having been pla∣ced upon the divine Altar, immediately after follows the Description of the Saints; declaring thus much, that they are inseparably conjoyned by the super∣celestial, and sacred union, which is between them.

This Discourse, which makes no mention of any thing, but the reci∣tal of the Names of the Departed, denoting the perpetuity of the bles∣sed life they enjoy, in consequence of their living conformably to the will of God, might stand, without the use of any Prayer, made on their behalf by the living. But, in the seventh Chapter, he not onely speaks ve∣ry clearly; but expresses his meaning of it thus: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 &c. The divine Hierarch (or Presi∣dent over things sacred) advancing, makes the holy Prayer for the Person de∣parted; and, after the Prayer, the same Hierarch kisseth him; and afterwards all, that are present, do the like. Now the prayer requires of that Goodness, which divinely governs all things; that whatsoever sin the departed hath, through hu∣mane frailty, committed, might be forgiven him; and that he might be placed in Light, and in the Region of the Living, in the Bosoms of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whence trouble and e 1.110 sorrow, and sighing shall flee away.

Thus does this learned, but insincere Authour, ground what he says on the sixty of St. Epiphanius's Motives, as the most rational of all, and hath perswaded thereto all the Modern Greeks. And, as St. Epiphanius's alledging of several other Considerations argues, he writ before the

pretended Areopagite ever thought of his Supposition: so this latter's copying the words of the Constitutions, attributed to St. Clement, and a∣bove transcribed, and not allowing of Prayer for the damned, shews, that his work is later, and of as little authority.

CHAP. XXI. The Motives of Tertullian examined.

TErtullian, before any of these Authours, alledged two Motives of praying for the Dead; that is to say, their refreshment, and the hasten∣ing, or advancement of their Resurrection. For this Great man (I know not how) bewitched by the pretended Sibylline Writing, supposed, that, be∣fore the last Judgment, the Son of God, being descended upon Earth, to establish a new Kingdom in Jerusalem, and to govern it himself, should bring together all his Faithfull, and should there fill them with all de∣lights, even corporeal, for the space of a thousand years. And, whereas St. John had foretold in his Apocalyps, that, the Old Serpent being bound for a thousand years, there should be a first Resurrection, in favour of their Souls, who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, he, with Justin Martyr, Pa∣pias, St. Irenaeus, and all those, who have since gone under the name of Millenaries, took that Praediction literally, and, wresting it to a contrary sence, imagined, that, during the thousand years of Jesus Christ's Reign, which he pretended should be in Jerusalem, the most eminent for Sancti∣ty, among the Faithfull departed, should rise again before the rest of mankind; but successively, and every one at this appointed time; so as that, if one took possession of his body in the first of the thousand years, another should not have that privilege, till a hundred, two, or three hun∣dred years after, and so to the end of that period of ten Ages; and that those should have least advantage thereof, whose Resurrection should be either delayed, till near the end of the thousand years, or put off till after it, and referred to the last day assigned for the general Resurrecti∣on, as well of the rest of the Just, as the Wicked. To induce us to em∣brace that Opinion, St. Irenaeus, in the thirty fourth Chapter of his fifth Book, making a coherence between the words of St. John in the twen∣tieth Chapter of the Apocalyps, and those of the Son of God in the twelfth of St. Luke, said, Hoc est, quod à Domino dictum est, &c.

This is it, which is said by our Saviour; a 1.111 Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching: Verily, I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and, will still come forth and serve them: and, if he come in the Evening-Watch, and finde them so doing, they are blessed; because he shall make them sit down, and shall serve them; nay, though it be in the second, or the third Watch, they are blessed.

The same thing saith also John in the Apocalyps, b 1.112 Blessed, and holy, is he, that hath part in the first Resurrection. For, comparing the Faithfull departed to the Servants, that wait for the return of their Lord, he would have those, that are raised the first; those, who next to them; and those, who after

them; designed by those, who are visited at the first, second, and third watch. And Tertullian, having embraced the same Opinion, presupposes; that the Faithfull might, either by their own Devotions, or those of their surviving Friends, have the honour of rising, if not the first, at least before the expiration of the thousand years. And thence takes occasion to exhort the Husband, that hath lost his Wife, not to propose to himself any change of condition; but affectionatly to preserve the remem∣brance of his deceased Consort, and to do, upon her account, all possible Offices; saying, (e) Pro anima ejus orat, & refrigerium interim adpostulat * 1.113 ei, & in prima Resurrectione consortium, &c. He prays for her Soul, and in the mean time wishes her, by his Prayers, refreshment, and a society with her in the first Resurrection; as if he had said,

Let him wish, that she be of the num ber of those, who shall rise again, during the thousand years of the Saints in Jerusalem; and that in expectation of that Resurrection, hastened by his Prayers, she might receive those con∣solations from God, which should refresh her Soul, languishing in expectation of her Happiness.

CHAP. XXII. The Sentiment of St. Ambrose brought to the Test.

ACcording to this Pattern was drawn the Antient Gothick Liturgie, containing these words; Quiescentium animas in sinu Abrahae collo∣care dignetur, & in partem primae Resurrectionis admittat, per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, &c. That the Lord would vouchsafe to dispose the Souls of those, that rest, into the Bosom of Abraham, and admit them to a participation of the first Resurrection, through Jesus Christ our Lord.

It might seem (and there want not Great men, who have thought so) that St. Ambrose was of the same Sentiment; when, closing up his Funeral Oration upon the Death of Valentinian the Second, he writ in the year 392. Te quaeso, &c. I beseech thee, Sovereign God, that, by an hastened Resurrection, thou wouldest awake, and raise up these most dear young men (Gratian, and Valentinian) so as that thou recompense by an advanced Re∣surrection the course of this life, which they have terminated, before it was come to its perfection: as if by the hastened, or advanced Resurrection, which he desired, he had meant the first Resurrection, which the Millenaries ima∣gined to themselves; and had begged it, as well for Gratian, who was born on the eighteenth of April, 359. and had been murthered twenty four years, four Moneths, and seven days after, that is to say, on the twenty fifth day of August, 383. as for Valentinian, whose birth, happening on the eighteenth of January 370. had not preceeded his death (falling on Whitsun-Eve, May the fifteenth, 392) but twenty two years, three Moneths, and twenty seven days: upon which account he called them both Young men, and bemoaned them, that the course of their Life had been cut off before its maturity, and just perfection.

But neither the Expression of Resurrectio matura, &c. Hastened Resur∣rection,

upon which this Imagination was grounded, does necessarily imply any thing, whence such a Conceit might be induced, nor can the Explication, which St. Ambrose made of his Faith, nine years before, per∣mit it. For in his Treatise concerning the Faith of the Resurrection (writ im∣mediately upon the Death of his Brother Satyrus, which happened on the seventeenth of September 383.) supposing that the sound of many Trumpets shall awake the dead at the Last day, he hath this Discourse, absolutely incompatible with the Opinion of the Millenaries; Adverte, juxta Typum Legis, ordinem Gratiae, &c. Consider, according to the Type of the Law, the order of Grace. When the first Trumpet shall have sounded, it ga∣thers together those towards the East, as the Principal, and Elect. When the se∣cond, those, who are nearest in point of Merit, such, as, being scituated towards Libanus, have forsaken the vanities of the Nations. When the third, those, who tossed, as it were, in the Sea, by the Wind of this World, have been over∣whelmed with the Waves of the present Time. When the fourth, those, who could not sufficiently soften the hardness of their understandings, by the Precept of the spiritual Word; and are, for that reason, called Those towards the North; for a 1.114 Boreas (according to Salomon) is an hard Wind. Although there∣fore b 1.115 all shall be raised again in a moment, and the twinkling of an Eye, yet are all raised according to the order of their Merits, and thereupon those shall be raised first; who, by an early Advancement of Devotion, and a certain dawn∣ing of Faith, have entertained the Raies of the eternal Sun rising upon them, as I may justly instance (according to the Tenour of the Old Testament) in the Patriarchs, or (according to the Gospel) in the Apostles. But the second are those, who, quitting the Custom of the Nations, are passed from the sacrile∣gious Errour, to the Discipline of the Church, and for that reason those first are of the Fathers; those next, from among the Gentiles.

This Discourse of St. Ambrose is an allusion to the Ordinance contained in the tenth of Numbers, concerning the c 1.116 Assembling of the people of Israel; and he applies, to the Resurrection of the Dead, what is said d 1.117 of the calling of those, who possessed the Quarter towards the East.

Secondly, Of those who were Quartered towards the e 1.118 South, and, as it was in his Translation, towards Libs: which he mistaking, con∣founded with Libanus; making, for want of reflection, a Mountain of a Wind; and changing the South-Quarter, whence Libs blows, into that of the North, on which side Libanus is, in respect of the Desart.

Thirdly, Of those, who were disposed towards the Sea.

Fourthly, Of those, who were towards the Quarter of the North, or of Boreas.

And, as he applied the calling together of these several Quarters to the last Resurrection; so he acknowledged, withall, it should be general; and that all should rise, not onely the same day, but in the same moment. Which Assertion of his was grounded on the express Declaration of Saint Paul in his first Epistle to the f 1.119 Corinthians, and absolutely destroyed the Hypothesis of the Millenaries; who believed there would be two Resurrecti∣ons, one preceding the other by above a thousand years: but he supposed, that in that moment of the general Resurrection, there would be several di∣visions, and a certain precedence of order among those Divisions, ac∣cording to the dispositions of each of them.

Next he pretended, that the first Class of those, that were raised, should be that of the Patriarchs, and Apostles; who had never been in∣fected with the Sacrilegious Errour of the Gentiles, but were come, by an early advancement, and as it were at a start, into the light: and in that he also opposed the Errour of the Millenaries; who imagined, that the Pa∣triarchs were risen with our Saviour; that the Apostles, and others of the most Eminent among the Saints should rise, when (according to their Opinion) he should come to establish a Kingdom of a thousand years ••t Jeru∣salem; and the rest of the Dead (after the determination of the thousand years) at the last Day.

When therefore he desires, for Gratian, and Valentinian, that God would grant them an early Resurrection, as a recompense for their short Life, his meaning was not to require, that they should rise before the Last Day, but in the same moment with others; but, as to order, in the most worthy, and first in excellence, viz. that of the Patriarchs, and Apostles; and that, because those Princes were descended of a Christian Father; be∣cause they had from their Mother's Breasts been imbued with Piety, and had never (no more then the Patriarchs, and Apostles) been defiled with the Superstition of the Heathen, out of which most of the Christians of their time had been delivered.

CHAP. XXIII. The Time, when Praying for the Dead was first introduced into the Service of the Church.

HAving given an accompt of the Motives, which the Antients had to Pray for the Dead, it may, haply, be questioned by some, When this kind of Office, which is not grounded upon any Precept, or Example, of either Old, or New Testament, came to be used in the Church? In answer to which, I make no difficulty to affirm, That it might be practised some time before the year 200. in as much as Tertullian, the most Antient of all those, that say any thing of it, numbred it, even then, among the Cu∣stoms received in his Time; writing in the year 199. a 1.120 Oblationes pro Defunctis, pro Natalitiis, annua die facimus, &c. Upon a certain Anniversary-day we make Oblations for the Dead, and for Birth-days: meaning by those Birth-days, the days of the Passions of the Martyrs; on which, putting a Period to their Lives, and Combats, they entred, as it were, by a second-Birth, into the enjoyment of their true Life, and their Glory. And in ano∣ther place, treating of the Duties of the Surviving Husband towards his deceased Wife; b 1.121 Pro anima ejus orat, & refrigerium interim adpostulat ei, & in prima Resurrectione consortium, & offert annuis diebus dormitionis ejus, &c. He prays for her Soul, and, in the mean time, begs she may finde refresh∣ment, and that he might enjoy her Society at the first Resurrection; and offers upon the Anniversary-days of her falling-asleep, that is to say, of her departure. Again; c 1.122 Jam repete apud Deum, pro cujus Spiritu postules, pro qua Obla∣tiones

annuas reddas. Stabis ergò ad Deum cum tot uxoribus, quot illas ora∣tione commemoras, & offeres pro duabus, & commemoras alias duas per Sacer∣dotem, de Monogamia, ob pristinum de virginitate sancitum, circumdatum vir∣ginibus, & univiris? &c. Consider now well, for whose Spirit thou makest thy Addresses to God, for whom thou dost return annual Oblations. Wilt thou there∣fore stand before God with as many Wives, as thou dost in thy Prayers com∣memorate, and wilt thou offer for two, and dost thou make Commemorati∣on of those two by the Priest, who, after his once marrying, because of the precedent Ordinance concerning Virginity, is encompassed with Virgins, and Women, that have had but one Husband?

From the things, which this Great Person, the most Antient, and most Learned of all the Latines, that we have remaining, does advance, as to matter of fact, concerning the Oblations, which were publick∣ly made, and the employment of Priests, the onely Ministers of the Publick service, as a thing ordinary, and grown into Custom, it is manifest; that Praying for the Dead was, in his Time, used, not one∣ly by particular Persons, but also in the Body of the Church; and that the Liturgies thereof were full of it. So that, if we admit, as equally, if not more, antient then Tertullian, the Formularies of his Service, such as we have them now, we should not, upon that ac∣compt, have any Inconvenience to fear. But, seeing that Tertullian, who (the first of all the Authours we have remaining) gives us occasion to observe what the Practice of the Christians of his Time was, relyed (as well for the Prayers, as the Offerings) upon no other Hypotheses, then those proposed by the Authour of the pretended Sibylline Writing; and that he had reverenced it, as a Piece not to be charged with any insinceri∣ty (alledging it with this Elogie in the year 208. d 1.123 Et Sibylla, non mendax, that is, And the Sibyl, no Lyar) I finde my self forced to believe, that, from that Sink, over-easily taken by Antiquity, for a pure and sacred Source, was (from the midst of the second Age) derived the Custom, which had already gained strength, when Tertullian writ the Books we have cited. I think also, that who will but consider, that there are threescore years, a••d above, between the year 138. wherein the Ro∣mance of the Counterfeit Sibyl seems to have come first abroad, and the year 199. in which Tertullian writ his Book De Corona, and that the Books De exhortatione Castitatis, and De Monogamia are yet later, will easily judge that space of Time, more then sufficient, to give Birth un∣to, spread, and confirm, as well by solemn Formularies, as by constant Practice, the Custom, which (though with great alterations) hath con∣tinued even to this day.

Add to this, that as none of the Antients, who in the second Age made mention of the State of the Dead, either writ before the year 138. or made any difficulty to go upon the Hypotheses of the Counterfeit Pro∣phetess, who hath described it according to her Fancy, or thought it much sometimes to have recourse to her Authority; so all those, who (after Tertullian, and the use confirmed in his Time) spoke of Prayers for the Dead, have built upon the same Foundations; some (as Lactantius) have alledged her pretended Oracles, and not any one would presume to derogate from the Reputation, which she had but too too easily acquired.

I could wish, for their sakes, who (after they had disclaimed the first causes, for which Tertullian, St. Epiphanius, and others of the Antients, thought it necessary to Pray for the Dead) are yet resolved to retain the Custom of Praying for them, that it were in their power, to discover a beter ground, whence their Observation might derive its Origine. I should entertain with joy, and respect, what they might have to acquaint me with in recommendation thereof, and would freely subscribe what satisfactory Testimony can be produced; but I hope they will bear with me, if (taking the liberty to discover my Thoughts) I say, they have not any thing of greater weight, then the Custom alledged by Tertullian, and introduced by those, who, for the space of threescore years together, had been deceived by the Writing, unjustly called the Sibylline. I am not ignorant how that St. Chrysostom, two hundred years after Tertullian, spoke advantageously of this Custom, writing in the twenty first Homily upon the Acts of the Apostles, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 &c. It is not in vain, that the Deacon crys for those, who rest in Christ, and those, who make Com∣memorations for them, &c. the Spirit hath ordained all these things, &c. it is not the Deacon, which utters that voice, but the Spirit. And in the fourty first Homily upon the first Epistle to the Corinthians, where he speaks of Prayers, Offerings, and Alms for the Dead, and says, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 All these things are done by the direction of the Spirit. For what other Judgment could he have made of a Custom, which he ap∣proved, and admired, the more he saw it confirmed by the Practice of those, who had preceded him, and for whom he had an high esteem, as Persons truly taught of God? With the same confidence did he al∣ledge the Authority of the Apostles, writing in the third Homily upon the Epistle to the Philippians, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 It is not in vain, that the Apostles have made Laws concerning these things. For though he found not so much as one Iota in their Writings, that might invite him to that perswasion; yet, according to the prejudgment of St. Hierome in his Epistle to Licinius, e 1.124 Unaquaeque Provincia abundet in suo sensu, & praecepta Majorum Leges Apostolicas arbitretur, &c. Let every Province abound in its own sense, and account the Precepts of our An∣cestours as Apostolical Laws, he presumed, that what ••ad been practised by men, that had lived near the Apostles Times, and were famous for their Piety, came from the Apostles themselves; and indeed, it were impossible to conceive any thing more plausible, then to attribute to the Apostles the Custom, which men, reputed Apostolical, had intro∣duced. For who would have thought upon the first Start, that Pa∣pias, that Antient Bishop of Hierapolis, whom St. Irenaeus in the thirty third Chapter of his fifth Book, Eusebius in the nine and thirtieth Cha∣pter of the third Book, St. Hierome in his Catalogue, and the Martyro∣logies upon the two and twentieth of February, have (with an excess of sincerity) qualified f 1.125 Auditour of St. John, and Companion of Saint Polycarp, and whom St. Hierome assures us to have given out the Apostles for Authours of his Relations, was such as Eusebius qualifies him 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. a man of little understanding, apt to circumvent, and to scatter abroad, under venerable Names, as of our Saviour, or his Disciples, or of Aristion, and John, their Auditours, all the feigned Stories he had

either dream'd, or heard of? And who could have imagined, that Saint Irenaeus, of whom St. Basil, in his Book Of the Holy Ghost, in the nine and twentieth Chapter says, that he was, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. A neigh∣bour of the Apostles; and St Epiphanius, in his twenty fourth Haeresie, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Successour of the Apostles; and Tertullian, in the fifth chapter of his Book Against the Valentinians, Omnium doctrinarum curiosissimus explorator, &c. The most diligent Inquisitour of all Doctrines; and St. Hierome, in his twenty ninth Epistle, Vir Apostolicorum temporum, &c. A man of the Apostolical Times; and upon the sixty fourth Chapter of Esay, Vir Apostolicus, &c, An Apostolical man, who writ with great di∣ligence; and St. Augustine, in his first Book Against Julian, Antiquus homo Dei, &c. The antient man of God: who, I say, could have imagined, that this Great man should suffer himself to be so far surprized by the fond Conceits of Papias, as to have (as we have already made appear by what is above alledged out of the thirty fifth Chapter of his fifth Book) embraced them, and given occasion to St. Hierome to write, that he was Papiae discipulus, &c. the Disciple of Papias, &c. from whose hands he re∣ceived the Principal Hypotheses of the Sibylline Writing, concerning the State of the departed? Yet hath he done it, with all those, who were his Contemporaries, of whom we have any thing left; and though they might all, or most of them, in some respect, have attributed to them the Name of Apostolicks, Lights of the Church, and Martyrs of God, yet have they cast Shadows, and furnished Posterity with examples of Infirmity, which oblige it, and all Christians religiously to practise the advice of St. Paul, g 1.126 Prove all things, hold fast to that, which is good, and to con∣clude with the Prophet, h 1.127 It is better to trust in the Lord, then to put con∣fidence in man. But since St. Chrysostom•• ••th thought fit, to deduce the Original of Praying for the dead, from I know not what Law, and Or∣dinance of the Apostles; whereof there is no Track to be found in their Writings; since that, of this kinde of Office, which he pretended prescribed by such a Law, no Christian Authour, of whom we have ought, truly Authentick, remaining, hath made any mention before Tertullian, who first spoke of it in the year 199. and continued till about the year 212. And lastly, since that there are, at this day, some Persons, who will needs ascend much higher, and derive (as to this particular) the Christian Liturgie from the Custom they are pleased to attribute to the Jews, as if the shame they conceive it to acknowledg (as they are obliged to do) Tertul∣lian, a Montanist, a Millenary, and Admirer of the pretended Sibyl, to have been the first certifier of one of their Principal Observations, had reduced them to a necessity of appealing to the Synagogue, and taking up its Authority for a Buckler against the Protestants; who do not think themselves any way obliged to the admission of any Worship proceeding from the Will of man, without the Word of God. we come now to see what probability there may be in their Opinion.

CHAP. XXIV. Whether the Prayers made by Christians for the Dead, are indeed grounded on the Second of the Maccabees, and the Examples of the Jews.

THey affirm then, that there was no necessity of making any Re∣gulations in the Church concerning the Offices of the living towards the dead, in as much as the Faithfull, being at first called from among the Jews, had learned the necessity thereof even in the Synagogue, before they were admitted into the Society of the Christians. They further hold, that it is manifest from the Sentiment of the Jews under the Old Testament, by the Example of Judas their General, who (as we finde it in the twelfth Chapter of the second Book of Maccabees) caused Sacrifices to be offer∣ed, and Prayers to be made for those of his Army, who had been killed in the fight against Gorgias. In answer to which, not to insist on the Con∣siderations, which might be made, as well on the difference there is be∣tween the States of the Synagogue, and the Church, as the remarkable di∣versity of the Legal Administration, and Evangelical Grace, which is enoug to hinder a man from concluding necessarily, This was practised under the Old Testament, Therefore it ought to be under the New, I make in the first place this Observation;

That those, who have recoursee to this kinde of Defence, make a formal disacknowledgment of St. Chrysostome, who, grounding his Hy∣pothesis onely upon the Law of the Apostles, under the New Testament, hath even in that discovered, how vain and frivolous, he thought their undertaking, who would prove their Custom out of the Old, in the same manner, as these later disclaim all the advantage, which St. Chry∣sostom had promised himself in the allegation of the Apostolical Law.

Secondly, That it argues want of circumspection, to suppose, as acknowledged, what is in Question; viz. That the Synagogue under the Old Testament made any Prayers for the dead, and that their Practice can be justified by Writings either precedent, or immediately subsequent to the Birth of Christianity. For, since the Hierosolymitane Talmud was not (by the Confession even of the Jews themselves) began till one hundred sixty two years after the Destruction of both Jerusalem and its Temple, and consequently fifteen years at least after the Death of Tertullian, which happened (as S. Hierome would have it) under Caracalla, Assassinated on the eighth of April, in the year 217. seventy nine years after the first littering of the pretended Sibylline Writings; that the compilation of the Babylonian Talmud began not, till the 476. year after the final De∣struction of the Temple, that is to say, in the year of our Lord, 546. that it took up an hundred years to finish it, that these two Collections were made by the implacable enemies of the Gospel, and its Truth, such as have thrust together, without either sincerity, or judgment, all the

Extravagancies, that ever troubled the Brains of their Ancestours, deli∣vered over (as themselves) into a reprobate sence; and that their Opinions concerning the State of the dead hold correspondence, neither with the Sentiment of the Fathers, nor with that of the Greeks, nor lastly with that, which the Church of Rome holds at present; there cannot with reason any certa in relyance be made thereon.

Thirdly, That to no purpose is alledged the seventeenth Verse of the fourth Chapter of Tobit, which runs thus, Pour out thy Bread (the old Latine Version, made according to the Chaldee, adds and thy Wine) on the Burial of the Just, but give nothing to the wicked: because, First, it is not manifest, that there ever was really such a man as Tobit, and that the Relation of his Adventures smell (as much as may be) of a Romance. Secondly, That the Jews, as well Antient, as Modern, have not attributed any authority thereto. Thirdly, That all the Greek Fathers unanimously, and many of the Latine, have held it to be Apocryphal. Fourthly, That though of all the Canonical Books it were the most Canonical, yet neither ought the words alledged out of it to be taken literally, since they are notoriously figurative, nor could they have any relation to the Custom either of pray∣ing, or making Offerings for the Dead; but, according to the use of Funeral Entertainments, or Banquets, ordained, not to procure ease to the Depart∣ed; but to relieve the kindred he had left, to induce them to an obli∣vion of their mourning, and to comfort them. For, as the Prophet Je∣remy, threatning the Jews with the Judgment of God, which was likely to deprive them of all means of comforting one another, said, a 1.128 Neither shall men break Bread for them in mourning to comfort them for the Dead; nei∣ther shall men give them the Cup of consolation to drink for their Father, or for their Mother; so Tobit, exhorting his Son to the Offices of Charity to∣wards his afflicted Brethren, orders him to Pour out his Bread, and his Wine on the Burial of the dead, and (by a kind of speaking) to fill it, by kindly treating those, that were in mourning, upon their accompt, and raising them out of their Heaviness; which does not inferr either Prayer, or Offering, for the dead; but onely a charitable care, and tenderness to∣wards the living.

Fourthly, That the words of the Son of Sirach, in the thirty third Verse of the seventh Chapter of his Ecclesiasticus, A gift hath grace in the sight of every man Living, and for the Dead detain it not, make nothing to the Business of Offerings, and Prayers for the Dead, to which some would have them relate: in as much as that Authour, who made his Collection of Sentences in the year 247. before the Birth of our Saviour, is so far from saying, that the gift, which was to be given upon the accompt of the dead, was to be exercised towards the departed Person himself, that he ex∣presly declares, it was so done upon the accompt of the dead, that it referred, as to its proper object, to the surviving, adding in the next verse, b 1.129 Fail not to be with them, that weep, and mourn with them, that mourn; as if he said,

That that kindness, which he desired should not be detained for the dead, consists not in praying for the dead; but in having a sympathy for their affliction, who bewail him, and endeavouring to comfort them. Besides it is to be noted by the way, that the Book of Ecclesia∣sticus

(though very antient, since it was written 247. years before the

Birth of our Saviour, and very full of good Doctrine, upon which ac∣compt it hath been cited by the Fathers) was never enrolled among the Canonical Books, neither by the Jews, nor by any of the Greek Fathers, nor by most of the Latines.

Fifthly, That there cannot be a clearer Evidence, to convince those of Errour, who suppose that the Custom of Praying for the Dead was an∣tiently among the Jews, then to urge, that there is not the least track of it in those, who were Contemporary with the Apostles, viz. Philo, who had made himself Master of all prophane Wisdom, and the Philosophy of Plato, and who was (in Caligula's Time) reputed the Glory of his Nati∣on; and Josephus, who was one of the chief Commanders of the Jewish War under Nero, and the most diligent searcher into the Antiquities of his Nation under Domitian. So that the later Jews must needs have bor∣rowed the Custom they still continue, either from some piece of Hea∣thenish superstition, or from the Opinions crept into Christianity, through their means, who were admirers of the pretended Sibylline Writing.

Sixthly, That the second Book of the Maccabees was neither known, nor of any accompt among the Jews. For, as it is manifest, that it hath no coherence with the first, neither in respect of the observations of time, nor in respect of events, and their circumstances; so we both may, and ought to hold it for certain, that Josephus, who very strictly fol∣lowed the first, either had not any knowledg of it, or (if he had) made no accompt of it; since that even when it was his business to represent some History, whereof there was also a relation in that Book, he hath not onely related it according to his own way; but hath often laid it down in circumstances, as to the matter of fact, incompatible with what was reported thereof in the said Book. Whereto may be added the strange obscurity of it: which is such, that it is not known, neither who they were, nor about what Time flourished either Jason the Cyrenian, the first Au∣thour; or the Abbreviator, who reduced into a small Epitome the five Books of Jason; nor yet in what Language Jason had first writ them; nor whether he was more antient, then Josephus, who finished his Work Of the Antiquities, in the year of our Lord 94. concurrent with the thirteenth of Domitian, and the fourty fourth before the Forgeries of the counter∣feit Sibyl appeared; nor lastly, whether that Abridgment came betimes into the hands of the Christians; it appearing not, that any of them had seen it before the year of our Lo••d 200.

Seventhly, That it is absolutely impossible, that any of the Christians of the second, third, and fourth Ages, should, in their Prayers for the dead, have proposed to themselves, for a Pattern, the Example of Judas Mac∣cabaeus, and the Judgment, which either Jason the Cyrenian, or his A∣bridger made of it. And that for these reasons;

First, Because it was not cited by any of the Fathers till 280. years after the first coming abroad of the pretended Sibylline Writing. For, St. c 1.130 Augustine, having first cited it in the year 416. d 1.131 Prosper Afri∣canus followed him, about the year 450. It was afterwards cited by Bac∣chiarius, in his Epistle to Januarius, about the year 460. and Julian of Toledo, about the year 680. in the one and twentieth Chapter of the first

Book of his Prognosticks; and Damascene, about the year 760. in his Ora∣tion De d•…•…nctis; and Peter, sirnamed the Venerable, Abbot of Clugny, a∣bout the year, 1150. in the second Epistle of his first Book; and Ecbert, a Priest of Bonne, near Cullen, about the year 1160. Adversus Cathar. serm. and Guy of Perpignan, first General of the Order of the Carmelites, after∣wards Bishop of Majorca, about the year 1318. De Haeresibus.

Secondly, Because we do not finde, that any of the Fathers have ci∣ted, or so much as made the least discovery, that they had seen the second Book of the Maccabees, before Clemens Alexandrinus, and Origene among the Greeks, about the year 200, and 240. (the former in the fifth of his Stromata, and the later in the first Chapter of the second Book De Princi∣piis, and his third Homily upon Solomon's Song, and his eighteenth Tome upon St. John, and upon the fifth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romanes) and St. Cyprian among the Latines, in the year 252. in his four hundred, and fifty sixth Epistle, De exhortatione Martyrii, the eleventh Chapter, and Zeno of Verona, about the year 360. Sermone de Resurrectione, & De Sancto Arcadio.

Thirdly, In regard that, as not any one of the Greek Fathers, either in Councel, or in any particular Writing held the second Book of the Maccabees for Canonical; so many of the Latines, for instance, Tertullian in his fourth Book Adversùs Marcionem carmine scripto, cap. 7. St. Hilary in his Prologue upon the Psalms; Philastrius, Bishop of Brescia, in the Chapter de Apocryphis; St. Hierome, in his seventh Epistle, and the one hundred and third, and his Prologue upon the Book of Kings, and Solomon; Ruffinus, upon the Crede; the Priests of Marseille, Hilary's Epistle to St. Augustine; Primasius, Bishop of Adrumetum, in Apocal. lib. 1. cap. 4. Junilius, another African Prelate, in the seventh Chapter of his first Book De partitione Di∣vinae Legis; St. Gregory, in the seventeenth Chapter of the nineteenth Book of his Morals upon Job; the Authour of the Book, De mirabilibus Sanctae Scripturae, lib. 2. cap. 33. Beda, De sex aetatibus, & In Reg. lib. 4. In A∣pocal. cap. 4. Ambrose Ansbert, In Apoc. lib. 3. cap. 4. Alcuinus, Adversùs. Elipand. lib. 1. Charle-Maigne in his Capitulary of the year 789. cap. 10. and the Commentaries attributed to St. Victorinus Bi∣shop of Poictiers, those to St. Ambrose, Bishop of Millain, and those to St. Augustine, upon the fourth Chapter of the Apocalyps, have all (in imitation of the Greeks, especially of the Councel of Laodicea) put this Book out of the Canon, that is, out of the List of the Writings inspired by God, to be received as a Rule of Faith.

And this Remark seems to be the more necessary, in as much as it con∣tributes to the reconciling with the Greek Fathers, and with the Latines, that have been of the same Opinion, those others of the Latine Church, who have comprehended within the Canon of the Holy Scriptures, as well the Maccabees, as the other Books accounted Apocryphal by the Jews, and several of the Christians. For, if the Councel met at Carthage on the twenty fifth of August, 397. during the Popedom of Siricius, and since adapted, by I know not what Rhapsodist, under the Name of the Sixth Councel of Carthage, to the twenty fifth of May, 419. under the Papacy of Boniface the First; if St. Augustine, in the eighth Chapter of his Second Book Of Christian Doctrine, writ immediately after the Councel of the year 397. if

Innocent, in his Epistle written to Exuperus Bishop of Tolosa, on the twen∣tieth of February, 405. if the Councel assembled at Rome in the year 494. under Pope Gelasius; and, if Isidore Arch-Bishop of Sevil, in the sixth Chapter of his first Book of his Etymologies, sent to Braulio Bishop of Sa∣ragossa, after the year 626. inserting the Books of the Maccabees into the Canon of the Scriptures, had taken the words Canon, and Holy Scriptures, in the same sence, as the Jews, the Greeks, and the Latines, adhering to their Sentiment, concerning the List of the Books bestowed on the Church for a Rule of Faith, since they have esteemed Canonical the Books, which the rest of the Fathers formally excluded out of the Canon, and that holding in appearance, one the affirmative, the other the negative of the same Proposition, they seem to be formally contradictory, it were absolutely impossible to reconcile them all, and there would be a necessity of char∣ging with prevarication (contrary to the judgment of the Romane Church, declared by Innocent the First, and the Councel assembled under Gelasius) Gregory the Great, who expresly qualified not-canonical the Macca∣bees received into the Canon of the Holy Scriptures by Innocent, and numbred by the Councel, under Gelasius, among the Prophetical Scriptures, & Histories of the old Testament. Nay, it would be contrary also to that of the African Church, declared by the Councel of Carthage, and by St. Augustine, Prima∣sius, and Junilius, Africans; who formally confined themselves to the Canon of the Jews; nay it were hard to avoid making St. Augustine con∣tradict himself, in as much as, after he had affirmed, that the Maccabees were held by the Church to be Canonical, he presently adds, That they are not among the Holy Scriptures called Canonical; saying e 1.132 Supputatio Temporum non in Scripturis sanctis, quae Canonicae appellantur, sed in aliis invenitur, in quibus sunt & Maccabaeorum libri, quos, non Judaei; sed Ecclesia fro Cano∣nicis habet, &c. The computation of Times is not found in the Holy Scriptures, which are called Canonical; but in the others, among which are also the Books of the Maccabees, which are held to be Canonical by the Church, but not by the Jews. Whereby it clearly appears, that he (and, no doubt, with him, the Councels of Rome, and Carthage, and Pope Innocent) admitted two Ca∣nons, or Catalogues, of the Holy Scriptures; one more strict, viz. that of the Jews, whereto all the Greeks, and some of the Latines confined them∣selves, and to which he thought himself obliged particularly to submit, holding for a Rule of Faith, and Canonical, the Books contained therein; and another larger, proposed as well by him, and Pope Innocent, as by the Councels of Carthage, and Rome, as comprehending the Books, which (in some certain respect, viz. the publick reading thereof in the Church, and the common Edification arising from them, though they were not esteemed to appertain to the Rule of Faith) were called Canonical, Sacred, and Ecclesiastical by the Latines. And indeed, to make his meaning more obvious to the meaner Capacities, he saies, that the Church holds the Books of the Maccabees to be Canonical, not as absolutely, and properly, as those comprehended in the Canon of the Jews, and Greeks, which con∣tained the Rule of Faith; but improperly, and taking the word Canoni∣cal in a larger signification; which the better to insinuate, he saies, They are held to be Canonical, propter quorundam Martyrum passiones vehe∣mentes, atque mirabiles, &c, because of the grievous, and miraculous Sufferings

of some Martyrs: and, in the three and twentieth Chapter of his second Book Against Gaudentius, that the writing of the Maccabees recepta est ab Eccle∣sia, non inutiliter, si sobriè legatur, vel audiatur, &c. is received by the Church, not without profit, if it be read, or heard soberly; as if he had said in terminis, that she accounted it among the Canonical, in a certain respect onely, not through an obedience of Faith, but out of a desire of Edification, and upon that accompt was it to to be read, and understood soberly; with∣out which caution, the admission of it into the Canon, or Catalogue of Ec∣clesiastical Books would not have been profitable.

Consonantly to this sence, Ruffinus, after he had proposed Secundùm Traditionem Majorum, &c. according to the Tradition of our Ancestours, the Catalogue of the Books truly, and properly Divine, and Canonical, con∣cludes it in these Terms, Haec sunt, quae Patres inter Canonem concluserunt, ex quibus Fidei nostrae assertiones constare voluerunt. These are the Books, which the Fathers have comprehended in the Canon, out of which they would have the Assertions of our Faith to be made manifest. To which he immediately adds; Sciendum tamen est, quòd & alii Libri sunt; qui non Canonici, sed Ecclesiastici à Majoribus appellati sunt, &c. quae omnia Legi quidem in Ec∣clesiis voluerunt, non tamen proferri ad authoritatem ex his Fidei confirman∣dam, &c. Yet is it to be known, that there are also other Books; which were called by our Ancestours, not Canonical, but Ecclesiastical, &c. all which they were willing should be read in the Churches, but not cited to confirm the authority of Faith.

Upon which it may be noted, that this Sentiment, being revived by Cardinal Cajetan, was so stiffly maintained in the f 1.133 Councel of Trent; that, from the two and twentieth of February 1546. to the ninth of March, the Assembly continued divided into three Opinions; some desiring, that the Scriptures might be distinguished into three Classes, of different Authori∣ty; others, that they should be disposed into two; and the third Party, which prevailed on the fifteenth of March, requiring, that a Catalogue should be drawn up, without any Distinction, apparent in the Decree. By which Decree the Councel, intending to thunder-strike (at least in ap∣pearance) the Sentiment of the Protestants, though they saw it strongly maintained by many of their own Body, declared, that they compre∣hended in the Index of Sacred Books those, which the Protestants (in imi∣tation of the Greeks, and most of the Latine Fathers) admitted not into the Canon; which might be understood in the sence proposed by Ruffinus, and without any derogation from those, which the Church ever held properly, and absolutely Canonical.

In the next place the Councel anathematized those, who would not receive them for Sacred, and Canonical: which might also very well be; observing the Distinction of Ruffinus, and Cajetan, which makes no∣thing against the Protestants. And, at last, they, declare their Anathema is discharged to let the World know, g 1.134 what Testimonies, and Argu∣ments, principally, they should make use of, to confirm Tenents, and regulate Morality in the Church; insinuating further, in favour of the Partizans of Cardinal Cajetan, who, as to the main Ground, agreed with the Pro∣testants, the distinction, which they had made, after Ruffinus, of the Books properly Canonical, subservient as well to the Confirmation of Faith,

as restauration of Manners; and the improperly, and in a certain respect, Ca∣nonical, appointed onely for the restauration of Manners.

This presupposed, it clearly appears, that the Fathers, who had any knowledg of the second Book of the Maccabees, upon this very ac∣compt, that they either absolutely denied it, or onely half-granted it, and upon great Qualifications, the Title of Canonical, could not any way ground upon the report of it, the right, which the Church of Rome pre∣tends to at this day for Praying for the dead; and that that Report could not be urged any further, then to an Attestation, that it had really been in use, from the Time of the Maccabees. And indeed, St. Augustine, the first who cited it to that purpose, and at the very place where he alledged it, pretended not to go any further; for his Discouse, cited by Julian of Toledo, runs thus; In Maccabeorum libris, legimus oblatum pro mortuis sacrificium. Sed etsi nusquam in Scripturis veteribus omnino lege∣retur, non parva est universae Ecclesiae, quae in hâc consuetudine claret, autho∣ritas, &c. We read in the Book of Maccabees, that Sacrifice was offered for the dead; but though there should be no such thing any where in the antient Scriptures, yet is the authority of the universal Church, which shines in that Custom, not of little weight.

Fourthly, Besides the precedent Reasons which demonstrate the im∣possibility of deriving the Original of Oblations and Prayers for departed Christians, from the pretended Example of Judas Maccabaeus, and the Application which the Abridger of Jason the Cyrenian conceived he ought to make of it; this (no less considerable then the rest) is to be added, viz. that the first, who undertook the Patronage of such a Custom, built very much upon the not-written Tradition onely, and by that means, acknowledged, and professed, that neither they, nor (in their Judgment) their Predecessours, had any ground to recurr to the Authori∣ty of any Scripture, either properly, or improperly said to be Canonical; and consequently, that their imagination is absolutely Erroneous, who believe that the Antients grounded their Custom on the fourth of Tobit, or on the seventh of Ecclesiasticus; or lastly, on the twelfth of the se∣cond of Maccabees. Thus Tertullian, in the year 199. in the third Chapter of his Book De Corona, tells us, Quaramus an & Traditio, &c. Let us enquire, whether the not-written Tradition is not also to be received? No doubt we shall deny that it ought to be received; if no prejudice arise from the Examples of other Observations, which we challenge to our selves, without any recommendation from Scripture, onely upon the accompt of Tradition, fortified by the Patronage of Custom, &c. Upon anniversary-days, we make Oblations for the departed, and for their Birth-days, &c. viz. Of the departure of Martyrs.

In like manner, St. Epiphanius in the year 376. concludes his Disputa∣tion against Aërius with the Allegation of Tradition, saying; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Next I shall again take the consequence of this, that the Church accomplishes this thing necessarily, having taken the Tradition of the Fa∣thers. Now, who can violate the Ordinance of his Mother, or the Law of his Father? according to the words of Salomon h 1.135 My Son, hear the In∣struction of thy Father, and forsake not the Law of thy Mother, shew∣ing, that the Father, that is to say, God, the onely Son, and the Holy Spirit,

hath taught as well by writing, as without writing, and that our Mother the Church, hath Laws made in her self, such as are indissoluble, and cannot be destroyed.

Denys, the pretended Areopagite, about the year 490. follows the same track, in the seventh Chapter of his Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, saying; It is necessary to speak of the Tradition come even to us from our conductours inspired by God, concerning the said Prayer, which the Hierarch pronounces over the De∣ceased. The like may be said of St. Augustine, who had first of any al∣ledged the pretended example of the Maccabees; for, distrusting what Arguments might be drawn thence, he flies to the Authority of the Church, and thereby shews his main strength lay on that side.

The same thing is further insinuated as well by the ingenuous confes∣sion, which the Fathers make of the doubts of many of the Christians in their times, concerning the advantage of Prayer for the dead, as by the answers given by them thereto. For Aërius, in St. Epiphanius, in the year 376. put this difficulty; asking, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Upon what accompt do you name after their death those, who are dead? For whether the surviving prays, or dispenses his goods, what advantage accrews thereby to the deceased? If the Prayers of those, who are here, be any way benefi∣cial to those, who are there, let not any one live religiously, nor do well, but so be∣have himself, as he would have Friends, whether it be by procuring them for ma∣ny, or intreating them at his death to pray for him, to the end he may not suffer there, and that there be no inquisition made into the incurable sins he hath com∣mitted. Some twenty years before, St. Cyril of Jerusalem had acknow∣ledged, in his fifth Mystagogical Catechesis, that in Palaestine, there were many persons troubled about the difficulty made by Aërius in Armenià, crying out, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. I know many say thus, What advantage is it to the Soul transported out of this World with sins, or without sins, that you re∣member her in your Prayers? And, about one hundred years after, Denys, the pretended Areopagite, writing in the seventh Chapter of his Ecclesia∣stical Hierarchy, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. It may be (will you say) that these things are well said by us; but that you are in doubt as to the Hierarch's desiring of the Sovereign goodness of God, for the deceased, the remission of his Sins, and the portion of light assigned for those, who are like God. For, if every one shall receive from the justice of God the reward of all the good things, and others, which he hath done in this life, and the deceased hath accomplished all Functions suitable to the life, which is led here, by what Hierarchical Prayer shall he be transferred (beyond his merit, and the reward due to the life he hath led here) in∣to another lot?

From this diversity of Questions, renewed from time to time, it is ap∣parent, that the first answers made to those, who could not conceive any benefit arising from Prayer for the dead, had not given them satisfaction; and that neither they, nor those, who answered them, saw any Text of Scripture that could decide the difficulty proposed by them. For who could expect from a Christian, that he durst bring into question what he knew to have been resolved by the Oracles of God? On the contrary, who will not be easily induced to doubt of things, whereof he findes no o∣ther confirmation, then that of Custom, and that not fortified by any Command of God, to whose Worship, it is pretended, that Custome re∣lates?

Nay, when we do not finde, in the Fathers Answers to the Obje∣ctions, whereby that Custom was opposed, any mention either of the second of the Maccabees, or of any place of Scripture, concerning the State of the dead, ought we not, of necessity, to conclude, that not one∣ly they had not any to alledge, but also that they made not, in their Offi∣ces for the dead, any reflection on the second of the Maccabees, or any of the Books, justly, or unjustly reputed Canonical, but onely on the example of their Predecessours?

CHAP. XXV. Whether there be any reason to ground Prayer for the Dead upon the Second Book of the Maccabees.

I Have hitherto made it my business onely to prove, that praying for the Dead never was, as to matter of fact, grounded by the first that practi∣sed it among the Christians, upon the second of the Maccabees, nor a∣ny other Book, either Canonical, or Apocryphal. I am to shew, that, as to matter of right, it could not have been grounded thereon; and to that purpose, I am in the first place to give a relation of the fact of Judas Maccabaeus, and secondly, an accompt of the application made of it by Jason the Cyrenian, or his Abridger. The fact is set down in these Terms.

So Judas gathered his Host, and came into the a 1.136 City of Odollam, and when the seventh day came, they purified themselves (as the Custom was) and kept the Sabbath in the same place.

And upon the day following, as the use had been, Judas, and his Company came to take up the Bodies of them, that were slain, and to bury them with their Kins∣men in their Father's Graves.

Now, under the Coats of every one that was slain, they found things consecra∣ted to the Idols of the Jamnites, which is forbidden the Jews by the Law. Then every man saw that this was the cause, wherefore they were slain.

All men therefore, praysing the Lord, the righteous Judg, who had opened the things that were hid,

Betook themselves unto Prayer, and besought him, that the sin committed might wholly be put out of remembrance. Besides, the noble Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves from sin; for so much as they saw before their eyes, the things that came to pass for the sin of those, that were slain.

And when he had made a gathering throughout the Company, to the sum of two thousand Drachms of silver, he sent it to Jerusalem to offer a sin-offering.

In this Relation we are to observe, 1. The crime of the Persons killed, condemned in the seventh of Deuteronomy, verse 25. in these Terms: The Graven Images of their Gods shall ye burn with fire, thou shalt not desire the Silver, or Gold, that is on them, nor take it unto thee, lest thou be snared therein; for it is an abhomination to the Lord thy God.

2. The judgment of all the people, acknowledging that they had been punished according to their sin.

3. The procedure as well of Judas, as the whole Army thereupon, in praying, that the sin might be forgotten, and pardoned, not to the dead, who had perished upon that occasion, but to the Army, which had been infected therewith, as with a pestilent contagion; in like manner, as when, upon the sacrilege of Achan, God said to Joshua, b 1.137 Israel hath sin∣ned, and they have also transgressed my Covenant which I commanded them; for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stollen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even amongst their own stuff. Therefore the Children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed, &c. There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel, thou canst not stand before thine Enemies, till ye take away the accursed thing from among you. As also when God, having sent a Famine of three years, answered David, c 1.138 It is for Saul, and for his bloody House, because he slew the Gibeonites. And when some years after, God, upon David's pride, slew in one day d 1.139 seventy thousand persons. For the people had not contributed to the sin of Achan, nor to that of Saul; nor lastly, to that of David, who, acknowledging them no way charge∣able therewith, made this observable reflection on it, e 1.140 Lo, I have sin∣ned, and done wickedly; but these sheep, what have they done?

To prevent the like misfortunes, God had made these Ordinances, And f 1.141 if the whole Congregation of Israel sin through ignorance, and the thing be hid from the eyes of the Assembly, and they have done somewhat against the Commandements of the Lord, concerning things, which should not be done, and are guilty. When the sin, which they have sinned against it, is known, then the Congregation shall offer a young Bullock for the Sin, and bring him before the Tabernacle of the Congregation. And the Elders of the Congregation shall lay their hands upon the Head of the Bullock before the Lord; and the Bullock shall be killed before the Lord, &c. And the Priest shall make an atonement for them, and it shall be forgiven them. Again, g 1.142 If one be found slain in the Land, which the Lord thy God giveth thee to possess, lying in the field, and it be not known who hath slain him; Then thy Elders and thy Judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the Cities, which are round about him that is slain; And it shall be, that the City, which is next unto the slain man, even the Elders of the said City, shall take an Heifer, which hath not been wrought with, and which hath not drawn in the Yoke. And the Elders of that City shall bring down the Heifer unto a rough Valley, which is neither eared, nor sowen, and shall strike off the Heifer's neck there in the Valley. And the Priests, the Sons of Levi, shall come near (for them the Lord thy God hath chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the Name of the Lord) and by their Word shall every Con∣troversie, and every stroak be tryed. And all the Elders of that City, that are next unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the Heifer, that is beheaded in the Valley. And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it shed; Be mercifull, O Lord, unto thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto thy people of Israel's charge; and the blood shall be forgiven them.

If the Elders of the People were obliged, in their own Names, to beg pardon for the evil, which had been committed without their know∣ledg,

as soon as they had discovered it, if there was a necessity, that the Priests should make an atonement for the whole Body of the Congre∣gation, whereof some Members onely had been guilty; and if the City, in the Confines whereof a Murther had been committed, though the Authours of it had not been known, stood in need of purification, and the Elders, innocent of the Crime, were, not to pray for the dead Person murthered, but to make a publick Protestation of their innocence, and to beg of God, that he would be pleased to turn away, from the inno∣cent Community, the miseries, where with the Murther seemed to threa∣ten it; how should not Judas, and all the Army, acknowledging, that the hand of God had been upon many of the Souldiery, who had some days before lost their lives, for the sacrilege committed by them, and whereof they were found seized, think it necessary to pray, not for those wretches that died in their sin, but for the whole Body of the Army, which they had (as much as lay in them) prophaned, and deprived of the protection of God? He therefore (according to the Law) makes Prayers immediately for himself, and for all the people, that were left; and because Jerusalem was the onely place, where the Expiatory Victims were to be sacrificed, and that the urgency of Affairs permitted him not to go thither in Person with the Army, he sends thither, and raises a Contribution for the Sacrifice of two thousand h 1.143 Drachms, amount∣ing to about fourty two Marks of Silver; after he had exhorted the people, not to Pray for the dead, but to beware of doing that, which was evil, and take example from the calamity of those, who came to de∣struction through their own fault.

As therefore it is manifest, from what we have observed, that the pro∣cedure of Judas Maccabaeus was most conformable to the Law; and that it may be conceived such without any difficulty: so it will be most easie to deduce, that the same thing cannot be said of the Application, which Jason, the Cyrenaean, or his Abridger, would have made thereof, since it disguizes the Intention of that Prince, under pretence of making a natural representation of it. Having then related how he had sent two thousand Drachms to Jerusalem for the Sin-offering, the Historian adds of his own, these words; Doing therein very well, and i 1.144 civilly, in that he was mindfull of the Resurrection. (For, if he had not hoped, that they, that were slain should have risen again, it had been superfluous, and vain to pray for the dead.) And also in that he perceived, that there was great favour laid up for those, that died godly (it was an holy and good thought) whereupon he made a Reconciliation for the dead, that they might be delivered from sin: supposing of his own head; First, what could not justly be inferred from any part of the precedent Relation, viz. that Judas had prayed, and given order for the offering of Sacrifices at Jerusalem; not for himself, and his Army (as the History teaches) but for those, who had been slain before, because of their prophane covetousness. And secondly, that Judas, and his Army, conceived those Wretches to have died godly, and in a capacity to receive the Favours reserved for those, who die godly, since that it is evident from the Historian's own words, that they were destroyed in the midst of their wickedness, and not departed in godliness; that every one had known it, and, from that knowledg, taken occasion to bless the Lord, who

had by a just Judgment discovered their secret Impiety, beseeching him not to impute it to the Army, whereof they had been a part; and lastly, that Judas had exhorted every one to be carefull of himself, learning Prudence at their cost, who had so justly received the punish∣ment due to their sin.

All which premised, it naturally follows, that whether we stick to the Consideration of Judas, such as it hath been related to us by the Abridger of Jason; or represent to our selves the accompt, which the Fathers made of his Abridgment, thrust out by them among Apocryphal Writings, and consequently of too weak Authority to serve for the foundation of a Religious Custom; or lastly, keep to the Declaration of the same Fathers, deriving their Custom purely from Tradition; there is no ground at all to alledge the History of the Maccabees, for a reason of what the Antient Christians practised, and much of what the Modern practise at this day, as well in the East (where Prayers are made, not simply for the Resur∣rection of the dead, as the Authour of the second of the Maccabees would have it, presupposing with the Jews at present, that the Wicked rise not again, and that Judas had prayed for the remission of the Sin committed by those sacrilegious Persons, to the end, they might be raised again, as those, who die godly, but for the dayly consolation of those, who are sup∣posed, in some manner, to languish in expectation of their Happiness) as in the West, where men propose to themselves onely the obtaining their deliverance out of the Pains of Purgatory. But it may with very great probability, or rather evident necessity, be believed, that the first Custom of praying for the Dead, was a consequence drawn by the Fathers from the Sup∣positions contained in the Writing by them pretended to be Sibylline. For the first minute of its coming abroad, they not onely entertained it with∣out contradiction, but as a divine Piece, the most antient of all the Prophe∣cies; that of Enoch onely excepted, the Contriver of that Imposture having cunningly put it out under the Name of one of the Daughter-in-law's of Noe; the most ample, since it gives an accompt of the principal Heads of the Evangelical History, and extends its Predictions to the end of the World; the most clear, since it presents us with the Acrostick of the Names, and Titles of the Son of God; and the most advantageous against the Errour of the Heathens; since that those among the Christians, who first cited it, ima∣gined they had it from them, and were come to the knowledg of it through their means. Which very Considerations might haply have mo∣ved k 1.145 Clemens Alexandrinus, when he promised them the allegation of the Prophecies, to place that, which he conceived to be the Sibyl's, before all, and afterwards speak of Esaiah, Jeremy, &c. as less antient, and many times less clear. And thence also it seems to have come to pass; that those who quitted (if not absolutely, at least in some measure) the Hypotheses of the pretended Sibyl, either dissembled the Imperfections of the Prophetess, and forbore to charge her with Imposture, treating her in that particular with more regard, then they did some of the Books divinely-inspired, or openly payed her the accustomed respect•…•… continuing a reverence to her Work, notwithstanding it betrayed it self a thousand ways unwor∣thy their esteem.

CHAP. XXVI. That divers of the Fathers have expressed more respect towards the Book attributed to the Sibyl, then to the Apocalyps.

TO make this the more clear, I shall onely make a short recapitulati∣on of the heads of Imposture I have already observed, in which any one might have seen, that the counterfeit Sibyl, taking carnally whate∣ver she had read in the Prophecies, and particularly in the Revelation of St. John, concerning the glory, and happiness of the mystical Jerusalem, had imagined, and perswaded Papias, and St. Irenaeus, and all the Mille∣naries, that our Saviour, before the last Judgment, should establish a Kingdom abounding with corporeal delights in the earthly Jerusalem, laid desolate by Titus. This fond Imagination met with, about the begin∣ning of the third Age, such as stiffly opposed it; but who can forbear de∣ploring the miscarriages of humane Infirmity? The first, that took this task upon them, engaged in it with a Judgment so prepossessed, that, proposing to themselves to confute a palpable Errour, they ran them∣selves (for want of circumspection) into a kind of Treason against God, and so unworthily treated the Apocalyps, wherewith he had honoured his beloved Apostle, that they presumed to cry it down, as a counterfeit Piece, composed, and published by the Heretick Cerinthus, under the name of St. John, while they suffered to spread up, and down, unquesti∣oned, uncensured, the Romance attributed to the Sibyl with the strangest impudence, that ever was heard of.

Thus Caius, an Ecclesiastical Person, whom a 1.146 Eusebius, and b 1.147 St. Hierome observe to have been contemporary with Pope Zephyrinus, and consequently to have written his Disputation against the Montanist Procu∣lus, between Sunday, August the seventh, 197. on which day Zephyrinus succeeded Victor, and August the twenty sixth, 217. on which God took the said Zephyrinus to himself; this Caius, I say, made no difficulty to disburthen his stomach of this injurious Discourse against the Apocalyps: c 1.148 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Cerinthus also by Revelations, pre∣tended to be written by a great Apostle, endeavours to introduce monstrous Discourses, feigning, that they were shewn him by the Angels, and saying that, d 1.149 after the Resurrection, the Royal Palace of Christ shall be Terrestrial, and that the flesh conversing in Jerusalem shall be again subject to sensual ap∣petites, and pleasures; being also in opposition to the Divine Writings, and, out of a desire to deceive, he saith e 1.150 that the term of a thousand years shall be spent in f 1.151 Nuptial Entertainments.

Indeed, some thirty years after, Denys of Alexandria passed a more sound Judgment, condemning the Imaginations of Cerinhhus, after whose Example the coun•…•…feit Sibyl had wrested; to an ill sence, the Predictions of St. John; and acknowledging the Apocalyps (which he con∣fessed to be above his understanding; and conceived to have been the

work of some other Authour, then the Apostle St. John) should be un∣derstood in a more spiritual way, then Cerinthus, the pretended Sibyl, and the Millenaries had conceived. In so much that in the year 380. or there∣abouts, g 1.152 Philastrius, Bishop of Brescia, put into the Catalogue of Here∣sies the Sentiment of Caius; saying, Sunt Haeretici, qui Evangelium Jo∣annis, & Apocalypsim non accipiunt; & non intelligunt virtutem Scripturae, &c. Audent dicere Apocalypsim non Beati Joannis Evangelistae & Apo∣stoli, sed Cerinthi Haeretici, qui, tunc ab Apostolis Beatis Haereticus manifesta∣tus, abjectus est ab Ecclesia, &c. There are certain Hereticks, who receive not the Gospel of St. John, and his Revelation, and understand not the efficacy of Scripture, &c. They presumptuously affirm, that the Apocalyps is not the Work of the Blessed John the Evangelist, and Apostle, but of the Heretick Cerinthus; who, having been then discovered to be an Heretick by the Blessed Apostles, was cast out of the Church. And yet some sixteen years before, the Councel of h 1.153 Laodicea, and that in the Time of Philastrius, i 1.154 Gregory Nazianzene, and k 1.155 Amphilochius of Iconia, and most of the Greeks, though they were not so unreasonable, as to follow the Sentiment of Caius, in making Cerinthus Authour of the Apocalyps, did nevertheless incline so far to his side; that they denied the said Book the Title of Ca∣nonical; not vouchsafing to afford it any place among the Divine Wri∣tings. Which obliged St. Hierome to write to Dardanus, l 1.156 That as the Custom of the Latines admitted not the Epistle to the Hebrews among the Scriptures, so the Greek Churches, with the same liberty, admitted not the A∣pocalyps of St. John. Upon which may be noted; that none of them, who expressed so much distaste towards those two Sacred Books (for ought we know at this day) discovered any aversion against the Impo∣stures of the pretended Sibyl; which shews, that as the Spirit of man is of it self inclined to love, and admire its own Inventions (let me not say, Recreations) in the things, that are most serious, and sacred; so is it natu∣rally backward, as to the obedience of Faith in respect of the Divine, which would not make any Impression upon him, if God himself, pressing them internally, did not efficaciously insinuate the Truth thereof. To be short, the Errour of the Millenaries, opposed from the beginning of the third Age, being to be weeded out of the Sentiments of Christians, those, who first refuted it (to compass their design) engaged against, not the Writing pretended to be Sibylline, which formally contained what was most obviously reprovable therein; but the Apocalyps, which, well considered, had ever been free from all suspicion of affording it any countenance; and it was the good pleasure of God, that divers Great Men should rise up; who, to pull down that erroneous Opinion, should knock against one of the most remarkable parts of that Rule, which condemns them all, and be so unfortunate, as to spare a Fabulous Piece, no way deserving their support; while they deprived one of the most Divine of the honour, and acknowledgement, due thereto.

CHAP. XXVII. That the third Hypothesis of the Sibylline Writing so called is, at this day, abandoned by all Christians.

THe third Hypothesis before extracted out of the Sibylline Writing so called, and relating to the conservation of the Terrestrial Pa∣radise, and the establishment of the Saints after their Resurrection in that blessed habitation, out of which the First-man had been driven, was so far from having given Antiquity any trouble; that, though it sup∣posed what was false, it found favour, and countenance, from Age to Age, the Paradise mentioned in the New Testament neither being to be understood carnally, nor having any thing common with the other, whereof the keeping, and culture, had been at first committed to Adam. And, as to this particular, I conceive that, without any in∣jury done to the Holy Fathers, who (as it were with a certain emulati∣on) presupposed the Introduction of the Blessed into that Paradise towards the East, where, after the fall of Adam, the Cherubims were placed to keep the way of the Tree of Life, it may be confidently said of the Christians of all Nations, that they have at the present (as it were with an unanimous consent) embraced a belief more conformable to the Truth, then their Ancestours had; since that there is not at this day (that I know of) any Church in the Universe, which proposes to the Hope and Faith of Believers any other Paradise, then the Celestial, and which makes mention of that planted by the hand of God in the Gar∣den of Eden, out of any other Design, then to recommend it to their consideration as a Type, representing the Spiritual Paradise with the same imperfection, according to which the first Adam, who had been driven out of the Paradise of Eden, was the a 1.157 Figure of the second, who was to come, to open unto us the entrance into the Holy places b 1.158 by his precious blood, and the sword of the Cherubim, a representation of the c 1.159 curse of the Law, remains, in respect of the Sinner, onely. d 1.160 the ministration of Death. However it be, the Supposition of the Counter∣feit Sibyl is, as to this respect, insensibly vanished; so as, that it is quite discarded.

CHAP. XXVIII. That the second Hypothesis of the Sibylline Writing so called made way for the new Opinion of Purgatory.

THe second Hypothesis, which taught, that the fire of the general Conflagration of the Universe should at the last day purge the Bo∣dies of the Saints, had not been long e're it opened a Gap to imagina∣tions yet more Fantastick, and irrational; among others, that of the cessation of all Infernal pains; an Opinion taken out of the Schole of Plato into the Bosom of the Church by Origen, and his Party, to which (not to mention the multitude, that had followed it from the year 250. to the year 399.) stuck the most eminent among the Fathers, as Saint Gregory Nyssenus, Didymus, and (in his Youth) St. Hierome. But the Coun∣cels of Alexandria, Cyprus, and Rome, having almost at the same time issu∣ed out their Decrees against that inveterate corruption of Christian Do∣ctrine, and the fifth General Councel having solemnly fulminated it in the year 553. it, by little and little, vanished, to make way for an Opinion be∣fore unknown to all Antiquity, and which drew its origine; First, from the prejudication, which the Christians of the sixth Age conceived of the ne∣cessity of their proper satisfactions to appease the wrath of God.

Secondly, From the design, which many among them had to reform the Custom of their Predecessours, praying even for those, whom they pre∣supposed Damned, as we have seen before.

Thirdly, From the New Philosophy, which some Melancholy Spirits, apt upon any occasion to conceive Horrours, began to advance in the West, about the time of St. Gregory. For some persons, having observed, that the Heathens called by the Name of Ollas Vulcanias, or Kettles of Vulcan, the a 1.161 gaping places, through which the Mountains of Gibel, Vesuvium, Lipara, Strongoli, and other places, full of sulphur, disburthen themselves of the Flames, which (either by intervals, or a constant burning) devour their Entrails, and taken (either out of astonishment, or of set purpose) the crakings of those subterranean Fires, for the groans, and crys of Tor∣mented persons; and lastly met with men, who had the confidence, either out of the excess of their malice against some Persons Departed, or a desire to make their advantage of the credulous simplicity of the Living, to compose Histories of the Apparitions of Souls separated by Death from the Bodies, which they had animated before, would needs (without any Oracle of Scripture, or Tradition of the first Ages of the Church, and without the Example of any of the Saints, that lived in them) suppose, that the Souls of those Christians; which, during their life-time, had been defiled with Sin, were after their death, as it were melted again in a subterranean Fire, where they were purified, some sooner, others la∣ter, and all before the Last Day. And as we finde the Poet Dante (by a Li∣berty truly Poetical) confined to the Hell, where the Damned were, all his enemies; advanced into Paradise the best of his Friends, and reduced

the rest to be content with Purgatory; so were there about the midst of the sixth Age, a sort of People, that had the boldness to affirm (up∣on the Authority of their own pretended Visions) the damnation of the Greatest men. About that time was it, that the b 1.162 Hermit of Lipara had perswaded the Father of the Step-father of Julian, one of the Agents of the Romane Church, that he had seen Theodoric, King of the Ostro∣goths, who died on the one and thirtieth of August, 536. led between Pope John the First, and Symmachus, without a Girdle, without Shoes, his hands tyed, and, at last, cast into the next Vulcanian Cauldron; whence honest c 1.163 St. Gregory inferred, in the year 593. that, by the Eructa∣tions of Fire, which happened many times in Sicily, and other adjacent Islands, the d 1.164 tormenting Cauldrons were discovered. Thus also came it to pass, that, after the Death of Charles Martel, which happened on the two and twentieth of October, 741. the Monks of St. Tron, having published, that Eucherius, Bishop of Orleans, had seen in a Vision the eternal Torments of that Prince, who had dealt very roughly with him, and given Ecclesiastical Revenues to those, who had assisted him in the War; and that thereupon, there had been found in his Sepulchre one∣ly a Dragon, with the visible marks of his Body's being Divinely con∣sumed by Fire; the Story (though so much the more evidently false, in as much as the Death of Eucherius, who died the fifteenth of Fe∣bruary, 727. preceded, by fifteen years, eight Moneths, and two days, that of Charles Martel, whom he is ridiculously supposed to have sur∣vived) was so pleasing to the humour of the Clergie, that the Writers of the Legends of Rigobert of Rheims, of Eucherius, and Peter the Library∣keeper, and Flodoard, undertook the dispersing of it; and in the year 858. in November, the e 1.165 Prelats of the Provinces of Rheims, and Rouēn, gave it for certain to Lewis King of Germany, whom they knew to be descended of Martel, by Pipin, his second Son (who, upon the twenty ninth of July, 753. concurrent with the fourth of his Reign, f 1.166 gave, for his Father's sake, Saint Michael's-Mount in Verdunois to the Abbey of Saint Denys, and by Lewis the Debonnaire, Grand-Son of Pipin, g 1.167 who Writ in the year 836. to Hilduin, Abbot of Saint Denys) that Charles, his Great-grandfather, had religiously recommended himself, and had for that end principally shewn his Devotion, and confidence towards that his particular Patron; a manifest Argument, that the Fable of his Damnati∣on was not yet invented; and that those Gentlemen, who two and twen∣ty years before bragged, they had heard the Relation of it from Lewis, imposed upon him, and very boldly abused the credulity of Lewis King of Germany, and Charles the Bald his children. And in the year 1090. h 1.168 In Saxony, a Clergy-man (Dead, as was conceived) dragged into Hell, and returning thence, three days after, confirmed by the Prediction of his own Death, and the discoveries of other things, the Judgment he had before given concerning the Torments of Pope Gregory the Seventh, and the Petty Kings, i 1.169 Rodolph, and Herman: the first of whom died the twenty fourth of May, 1085. the second, the fifteenth of October, 1080. and the third, in the year, 1088.

These three Examples (whereto a thousand others of equal authority might be added) are sufficient to make it appear, what a strange power

malice hath over those, who are once infected with its venome. There may be produced also such, as shall demonstrate what Impressions Inte∣rest can give; for, to raise an horrour against Schism, there was spread up and down Rome k 1.170 this Discourse concerning Paschasius Deacon of the Romane Church, who had been, to his death, engaged in the Party of the Anti-Pope Laurence, put by his pretences the 23 of October 501. That, notwithstanding the merit of his Person, being such, that the very touch∣ing of the Surplice placed upon his biere had, while he was carrying to the ground, healed a possessed person; yet had his soul been condemned to endure the ardors of the boyling-waters in the Baths surnamed the An∣gulani, whence it was afterwards delivered upon the Prayers of Germa∣nus Bishop of l 1.171 Capua. And to encourage men to liberality, it was said of Dagobert, who died January 19. 644. that the Devils beating him as they were carrying him away in a Boat towards the Isles of Vulcan, St. Denys, St. Maurice, and St. Martin, whom he continually called to his re∣lief, came with Thunder and Tempest to his rescue, and disposed him afterwards into Abraham's Bosom; all which passages John the Hermite, who lived in a little Isle not far thence, saw in a Vision, and gave the Re∣lation of it to Anseald then Agent, and afterwards Bishop of the Church of Poictiers. In like manner, the Impostor, who took upon him the name of Turpin, for that of Tilpin, Arch-Bishop of Rheims, who died the third of September 789. (never considering that Wolfarius, Successour to Tilpin, did in the year 811. subscribe the Testament of Charle-maigne) feigned, that that Prince dying on Saturday, Jan. 28. 814. and Canonized by Paschal the Third, Anti-Pope, in the year 1166. had m 1.172 been carried up to the Celestial Kingdom by the assistance of St. James, to whom he had built many Churches, and that a certain Devil, whom he had seen running after the Troops of his Companions, and drawing towards Aix la Chapelle, whither they were all going, in hope to be present at Charles's death, and afterwards to carry away his Soul to Hell, had told him at his return, that the headless n 1.173 Galician had put into the ballance so many stones, and pieces of Timber, out of his Churches, that the good works of Charles had out-weighed the evil, and that notwithstanding he had taken away his Soul from them. And lastly, towards the declination of the tenth Age, to advance the reputa∣tion of the Order of Clugni; and indeed, of all the Religious Orders in general, Peter Damiani, Cardinal of Ostia, and from him o 1.174 Sigebert, have left in writing, That a Religious man, by Country, of Rouërgue, coming from Jerusalem, entertained for some time in Sicily by the kindness of a certain Monk, was told by him, that in the Neighbour-hood there were certain places casting up flames of fire, and called by the Inhabitants the Cauldrons of Vulcan, in which the Souls of the departed endured several punishments, according to their deserts; and that there were in those places certain Devils appointed to see the execution done. Of whom he said, that he had often heard their voices, indignation, and terrours; as also their lamentations, when they com∣plained, that the souls were taken out of their hands, by the Alms and Prayers of the Faithfull, and especially (at that time) by the devotions of those of Clugni, who incessantly prayed for the repose of the deceased. That the Abbot Odilo, re∣ceiving this information from him, ordained, in the year 998. through all the Monasteries subject to his Order, that as the solemnity of All-Saints is observed

on the first of November, so the next day should be celebrated the memory of all those, that rest in Christ: which Custom, passing to several Churches, proved the ground of solemnizing the memory of the faithful departed.

Hence then came it, 1. That, Princes and the People, moved with compassion for their kindred, and friends, and conceiving a fear of them∣selves, with Consciences disturbed and racked with amazement, multi∣plied their Donations to Churches, and Monasteries, even to infinite. 2. That in the Instruments of those Donations, they began to insert, as necessary and essential, this President, whereof it were hard to produce many Examples more antient, pro remedio animae, & animae parentum, &c. for the relief of my soul, and the souls of my kindred. And 3. That, whereas Antiquity would hardly have been brought to grant any true and real apparition of souls, some endeavoured to perswade people they are so common, that they happen every minute. To be short, they thought they might with some probability introduce into the Church what the Platonick Philosophy had suggested to Virgil, who gives us this draught of the state of separated Souls, and of what he conceived of Hell.

Quin & supremo cùm lumine vita reliquit, * 1.175 Non tamen omne malum, miseris nec funditùs omnes Corporeae excedunt pestes, penitúsq necesse est Multa diu concreta modis inolescere miris. Ergò exercentur poenis, veterúm{que} malorum Supplicia expendunt; aliae panduntur, inanes Suspensae ad ventos; aliis sub gurgite vasto Infectum eluitur scelus, aut exuritur igni, &c.

Nor when (poor souls) they leave this wretched life, * 1.176 Do all their evils cease, all plagues, all strife Contracted in the body: many a stain Long time inur'd needs must, ev'n then, remain; For which sharp Torments are to be endur'd, That vice invet'rate may, at last, be cur'd. Some empty souls are to the piercing winds Expos'd, whilst others, in their sev'ral kinds, Are plung'd in Icy, or sulphureous Lakes, &c.

For, according to the Visions of Germanus, Bishop of Capua, and the Hermite of Sicily, it would be insinuated, that the Souls might be purged by Baths and subterranean fires, and there remained onely (to make it absolutely Heathenish Mythologie) to feign some exposed to the Winds, and hung up in smoak, for which the Councel of Florence (as it were to excuse p 1.177 Dante and q 1.178 Ariosto) hath taken care, supplying what the precedent Theologie of the Cloisters, to whose advantages all these Relations do ever contribute, seemed to have omitted.

CHAP. XXIX. Proofs of the Novelty of the precedent Opinion of Purgatory.

THe precedent opinion concerning Purgatory came so lately into play, that in the year 593. Petrus Diaconus, astonished at the novel∣ty of it, was in a manner forced to make this question to St. Gregory, a 1.179 Quid hoc est, quaeso te, qùod in his extremis temporibus tam multa de ani∣mabus clarescunt, quae antè latuerunt, ità ut apertis Revelationibus atque osten∣sionibus venturum saeculum inferre se nobis, atque aperire videatur? &c. What means it, I pray thee, that in these last times so many things, which before were hidden, are now become so manifest concerning souls, that the world to come seems, by clear Revelations, and Declarations, to bring and discover it self to us? And as by what we have heard of Odilo, Abbot of Clugny, it might be evident, that at the expiration of the tenth Age, but 400 years after St. Gregory, b 1.180 that Religious man (by Country of Auvergne) extreamly moved at the discourse of I know not what Pilgrim of Rouërgue, had the confi∣dence to put the last hand to the draught of Purgatory, which the first Antiquity had been ignorant of for five whole Ages; so from this very Position, that it was not believed from the beginning, it follows, that it nei∣ther is, nor can be a Catholick Tenet.

But this hath appeared also by other means, viz. First, by the oppo∣sition of the Greeks, and all the East, which was no less constant and ear∣nest, then that of Peter De Bruis, Henry his Disciple, the Waldenses, and the Albigenses, and at the present all the Protestants in the West.

Secondly, By the falling off of the Latines, who have in some mea∣sure quitted the Sentiment of St. Gregory, and Odilo, which was restrained onely to the pain of fire, when upon the ninth of June 1439. (but some few hours before Joseph Patriarch of the Greeks, then dying had signed his last Declaration running in general Terms, c 1.181 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. I confess the Purgatory of Souls) they thought good to declare themselves by this indefinite expression, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. The Souls of a middle condition, between the just and sinners, are in a place of tor∣ments, and whether it be fire, or darkness, or tempest, or some other thing, we differ not about it.

Thirdly, By the Concordate signed by them on Sunday July the fifth, and published the next day under the name of Pope Eugenius, in these words, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. We decree, that if those, who have un∣feignedly repented them of their sins, die in charity towards God, before they had, by works worthy repentance, made satisfaction for their sins, as well those of Commission, as Omission, the Souls of such are after death purged by Purgatory pains.

Fourthly, By the formal disallowance, and Protestation of the Greeks,

immediately after their return, against what ever extreme necessity had extorted from those of their Nation at Florence, maintained by pub∣lick Writings, by Mark Arch-Bishop of Ephesus, and Nilus.

And lastly, by the Answer, which the Greeks of the State of Venice made in the year 1560. to the fourteenth of the Questions proposed by the Cardinal of Guise, in these Terms; Eorum hominum animae, quorum quasi media quaedam conditio est, &c. The Souls of those men, that are, as it were, in a middle condition, between the just and the unjust, that is to say, those, who gave not up their last breath in mortal Sins, yet were not absolutely free from guilt, nor manifested the Fruits of Repentance, the Souls, I say, of such are thought by ours to be purged in this manner, not by any Purgatory Fire, or by any determinate Punishment in some certain place, but some by pure fear, at the very separation from the Body; others, after the separation, it may be also detained in Hell, not so, as if they were in Fire, or Punishment, but as if they were kept in Prison, and Chains. Of which Sentiment though there is as little ground, either in Scripture, or Reason, as there is for the Fire generally believed by most of the Church of Rome; yet may it suffice to force her to acknowledge, that her Supposition, advanced after the year 500. and consequently New, and not Catholick, nor was, nor is avowed, neither every where, nor by all People; whereof the Inference again is, that it neither is, nor can be Catholick, by her own Confession, since that, in imitation of Vincentius Lirinensis, (whose words she per∣petually abuses against the Protestants) it may be said d 1.182 Quod ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus creditum est, hoc verè propriéque Catholi∣cum, &c. What hath been believed in all places, at all times, and by all people, that is truly, and properly Catholick. Besides that, it is impossible, that the in∣definite and doubtfull Proposition of the Councel of Florence, declaring that they admit for Purgatory, either fire, or darkness, or tempest, or any thing else, as if they would have said expressly, that they were content with any thing, provided it had some appearance of conformity with their Opinion, should serve to any other end, then to shew, that they knew not what to fasten on, and found in their consciences, that their Purgatory, which they neither durst, nor could determine, could not any way be an Article of Faith.

Nor hath the Councel of Trent been more fortunate in the business, then the other; for though the Prelates there began their Decree on the fourth of December, 1563. in very magnificent Terms, saying, Cùm Catholica Ecclesia, Spiritu Sancto edocta, & sacris literis, & antiqua Pa∣trum Traditione, in sacris Conciliis, & novissimè in hâc Oecumenic â Synodo, docuerit Purgatorium esse, animasque ibi detentas fidelium suffragiis, potissi∣mùm verò acceptabili Altaris sacrificio, juvari, praecipit sancta Synodus Epi∣scopis, ut sanam de Purgatorio Doctrinam, à Sanctis Patribus, & sacris Con∣ciliis traditam, à Christi fidelibus credi, teneri, doceri, & ubique praedicari di∣ligenter studeant, &c. Whereas the Catholick Church, taught by the Holy Spirit, the divine Scriptures, and the antient Tradition of the Fathers, in Sacred Councels, and lately in this Oecumenical Synod, hath taught that there is a Purgatory; and that the souls there detained, are by the Suffrages of the Faith∣full, but especially by the acceptable sacrifice of the Altar, relieved, the holy Synod enjoyns the Bishops, that they endeavour, that the sound. Doctrine of Pur∣gatory,

delivered by the holy Fathers, and sacred Councels, may be believed by the faithfull, maintained, taught, and preached in all places. Yet all this well considered comes to nothing, since the Scripture does not any where teach there is either any subterranean Fire, that purges the sepa∣rated souls, or any place, where they are purged; since that not any one of the Fathers, before St. Gregory, either durst define, that there was any place of Torment appointed for the purgation of Souls after this life, or positively affirmed, that they pass through any subterraneous Pur∣gatory fire; since that no Councel (no not even that of Lateran, under Innocent the Third: whereto nevertheless Cardinal Bellarmine, e 1.183 either deceived himself by others, or not caring much how he deceives us, is pleased to referr us) no Councel, I say, before that of Florence, af∣firmatively assigned any Purgative place, after any manner whatsoever, for the Souls of the Faithfull departed; and consequently, that the Coun∣cel of Trent, which had (though it boasted as much) neither Scripture, nor Fathers of the first five Ages nor Councel, before that of Florence, from which it might derive ought in the Question of Purgatory, a thing unknown to Antiquity, hath taught us, not what it had learned from an∣tient Tradition, but what it pleased it self; and purely upon its own Authority. As to what the Councel adds, concerning what it had, it self, taught before, as if it had taken it, either out of the antient Tradition of the Fathers, or their Councels, 'tis a pure Illusion; for before the twenty fifth Session, we have not in all its Decrees, and Anathematisms, but two words, whence any supposition of Purgatory may be deduced, and those, without any proof of Declaration of what it is: the Former in the thirtieth Anathematism, fulminated on the seventeenth of January, 1547. in the sixth Session, where it pronounces Anathema, Si quis it à reatum Poenae aeternae deleri dixerit; ut nullus remaneat reatus poenae Tempora∣lis exsolvendo, vel in hoc saeculo, vel in futuro Purgatorio, &c: If any one shall affirm, that the guilt of eternal Punishment is so forgiven, as that there remains no guilt of Temporal Punishment to be paid, either in this life, or hereaf∣ter in Purgatory, &c. The later in the twenty second Chapter of the Decree of the Mass, drawn up on the seventeenth of September, 1562. in the two and twentieth Session, where it says again, that the Sacrifice of the Mass is offered, pro defunctis in Christo, nondum ad plenum purgatis, &c. for the departed in Christ, not yet fully purged.

Having therefore heard the Councel referring, at its last Session, to the precedent, if you pretend to finde therein any allegation, either of Scripture, or Tradition for Purgatory, or any Reason insinuating it, or any Declaration, expressing the nature of it with any satisfaction, you will make no great advantage of the Allegations; they containing in ef∣fect, but a simple, and naked description, and no more. And whereas the Councel thinks it enough, by its Decree, to say, that it is, without declaring, in what manner, and whether it does, or does not, consist in Fire, such as Saint Gregory, and Odilo, conceived it, and the common Opinion seems to insinuate; it is thence apparent, that it knew no more of it, then other Councels, and that its Exhortation to the Bishops, to observe, and cause to be observed the sound Doctrine thereof, is, and shall ever be a sound without signification, while there shall onely be an Osten∣tation

to name it and men shall wave to express the Nature of it, to give the Eastern Greeks, and the Protestants, who absolutely deny it, some proof of the Tradition, which they pretend to produce for the Confir∣mation thereof.

CHAP. XXX. Shewing, that the first Hypothesis proposed by the Sibylline Wri∣ting, so called is generally disclaimed.

AS to the first Hypothesis, which concerns The detention of all souls whatsoever, in Hell, from their separation from the Bodies, which they had animated, to their Resurrection; though it were in such high esteem that it induced the Christians of the second and third Ages to compose the ibera, and the other Prayers, in which the departed Per∣son is introduced, desiring to be delivered from eternal Death, and the Living require that he be delivered from the Gates of Hell, and preserved from the places of Torment, Tartarus, the deep Lake, from the pains of Darkness, from the mouth of the Lion; yet was it at the very beginning moderated by those, who seemed to have embraced it with greatest resolution. For Tertullian, perswaded by the Relation had been made to him of the Vi∣sions of St. Perpetua, was of Opinion (as we have already observed) that the Souls of Martyrs were, by way of preference, placed in the Terrestrial Paradise, and the rest confined in Hell. And since, it hath, by little and little, been abandoned; yet so, as that those, who quitted it, would not be obliged either to the rejection of the Sibylline Wri∣ting, which had occasioned the production of it, or to a change of the Prayers introduced into the Publick Service, which presupposed it. For many (making no mention of Hell) contented themselves to as∣sign (at least in words) the souls of the Faithfull a certain sequestred place, as under the Altars, and Holy Tables, appointed for the conserva∣tion, and distribution of the Eucharist; and upon that accompt (if we may rely on the Judgment of the late Bishop of Orleans, a 1.184 Gabriel de l'Aubespine) the Councel Assembled about the year 305. from all Parts of Spain, at Elvira, near Granada, had drawn up its thirty fourth Canon in these Terms; Cereos per diem placuit in Coemeterio non incendi: inquietandi enim spiritus Sanctorum non sunt, &c. It is thought good, that, in the day-time, no Wax-candles should be lighted in the Church-yard: for the spirits of the Saints are not to be disturbed. In effect, it might seem; that (the Christi∣ans at that time meeting in Coemeteries, or Church-yards, the Altars be∣ing, upon that occasion, placed there, and many believing, that the An∣gels, and separated souls were disposed into some subtile Bodies, capable, as ours, of resenting strong Perfumes) Prohibition was made by the Spanish Prelates, That Wax-candles should be lighted in the day-time; lest the smoak of them might prove offensive to the spirits of the Faithfull, whose Bo∣dies had been there interred.

It might also be thought that Vigilantius, by Birth indeed of Aquitain, but a Priest of Barcelona, who had, with all Spain, re∣ceived the Decree of Elvira, Disputing, in the year 406. viz. an hun∣dred

years precisely after the said Decree, against the Maintainers of the Worship done (according to the Custom of that Time) to the Reliques of the Saints whom he justly conceived b 1.185 illuminated by the Majesty of the Lamb sitting in the midst of the Throne of God, crushed them with the In∣convenience, which he found in their Opinion; saying, Ergò cineres suos amant animae Martyrum, & circumvolant eos, sempérque praesentes sunt; nè fortè, si aliquis Precator advenerit, absentes audire non possint, &c. The Souls therefore of the Martyrs are in love with their own dust, and fly about it, and are ever at hand; lest, if any one comes to pray, they should not, being absent, hear him. For this Argument makes onely against those, who assigned, at least in appearance, the Souls of the Faithfull departed, for their habitation, the Place under the Altars, that were near their Sepulchres.

There is also some Ground to number, among the Followers of this strange Opinion, those, who had been so confident, as to give it for cer∣tain to the good St. Augustine, that St. John, having caused himself to be buried alive at Ephesus, c 1.186 the Earth continually sprung up, and boyled, as it were over the place of his Interment. For, if they thought it no In∣convenience to say of our Saviour's Beloved Apostle, that he was confi∣ned to his Sepulchre, there to expect, in Body, and Soul, the Day of Judg∣ment; how much less would they have thought it, to reduce the Souls of other Saints departed to the same condition? St. Augustine thought it better d 1.187 to comply with the Opinion, which he conceived could not be refu∣ted by certain Proofs. But it is so vanished of it self, that, being at this day generally declined, we need not trouble our selves with the Confutati∣on thereof, no more, then of that of Justine Martyr; who, from the Hy∣pothesis of the pretended Sibylline Writing, and the Story of the Witch of Endor, inferred, that all Souls, without any exception, either of Saints, or Patriarchs, or Prophets, are in Hell under the power of the Devils. For though the Prayers, whereby it is, even to this day, required in the Church of Rome, that God would deliver the Souls of the Faithfull departed from the power of Hell, from the Mouth of the Lion, from the Pains of Darkness, and that he would put away far from them the Princes of darkness, do notoriously discover they drew their Original from such a presupposition; yet hath it nevertheless so absolutely lost all Credit, that even in the year 380. Phi∣lastrius, Bishop of Brescia, charged it with Heresie; saying, e 1.188 Alia est Haeresis de Pythonissa, &c. There is another kind of Heresie concerning the Witch; whereby some, covering a Woman with Cloaths, hoped they might ob∣tain certain Answers from her, whence it is said, that that Witch raised, out of Hell, the Soul of the blessed Samuel: and for that reason is it principally, that many men, even to this Day, suspect; that she might be believed, especially for that it is known, that she (as it were a second time) gave in that excitation true Answers of those things, which the blessed Prophet had said to King Saul: and because many are content to acquiesce in a Ly, they descend into perpetual death; since the Prophet saith, f 1.189 The Souls of the Just are in the hand of the Lord, and Death toucheth them not. How then could an impious Soul raise out of Hell a pious, and holy one, especially that of a Prophet?

But what a strange astonishment must we necessarily conceive at this, that the Opinion of Justine Martyr, concerning the State of Souls, should displease the whole Church; which yet, in her Service, presupposed some

such thing? For, if it be Heresie to think, that the Souls of the ••aithfull, after their retirement out of this World, should be in danger of being exposed to the Rage of Devils, what pretence can there be to continue the Prayers, which infinuate such a perswasion? And, if the Ground∣work of such Prayers be taken away, what reason can be alledged suffi∣cient to authorise the continuance of them? Can it be said, It is lawful, and consistent with the Piety of the Church to put up to God Requests, that are erroneous according to her own Sentiment, and impossible accord∣ing to the perswasion she hath of the merciful disposal of her Saviour in respect of his Elect; whom he hath g 1.190 taken away from the Evil to come, h 1.191 to sleep in a sleep of Peace, and i 1.192 to rest from their Labours? And, supposing these things grounded upon the express Text of the Scripture, and the k 1.193 Canon of the Mass, wh••ch makes commemoration to God onely of those, who, sleeping a sleep of Peace, are accordingly in Peace, should not men think themselves obliged, either to discard those Prayers, which contain a formal expression of what is contrary to Peace, in respect of those, for whom they are made, and prove so much the more fruit∣less, and inconvenient, by how much the Foundations thereof are un∣dermined, by rejecting the Hypotheses, as well of the pretended Sibyl∣lm•• Writing, as of Justine Martyr; or, by retaining them, to run into the Inconvenience of a Contradiction; and that so much the more inevita∣ble, the more unadvisedly they engage themselves upon the maintain∣ing of both the Terms of it at the same time; affirming on the one side, that those, who are to be delivered out of the Bonds of a dreadful death, and from the Gates of Hell, a place of Trouble, and (as the Text of the Prayer bears it) of Pains, are neither in Death, nor in Bonds, nor in Hell; that those, far from whom must be driven away the Princes of Darkness, are not onely not engaged in any War against them; but are in a condition to sleep the sleep of Peace, to be in possession of Peace, to rest, in the enjoyment of that Peace, from their Labours: And on the other side, that those, who are taken away from the evil to come, so as they sleep in Peace, and rest from their Labours, are in the most dreadful Abyss of Miseries, in the horrour of the most irrevocable War, and the extremity of Troubles? And what does this amount to less, then to affirm, that they are, and are not, either in Peace, and Rest, or in Trouble, and War; and consequently, that they both can, and cannot, be delivered out of them? Time was, when those, who followed the Party of the Millenaries, imagining, that during the term of a thousand years, which they assigned for the Earthly Kingdom of our Saviour in Jerusalem, there should be a Resurrection preceding the general one of the Last-day, and upon that accompt be called the First, thought they had just ground to beg, that their deceased Friends might have their part in that first Resurrection: But as soon as their Imagination, lost to all credit, came of it self to be absolutely laid aside, the use of that kind of Prayers came, upon this very score, that every one thought them ill-grounded 〈◊〉〈◊〉 to be so far abolished; that there is no Track of them in any of the Formularies, that are come to us, but onely in the ••••o∣thick, Which if who sees not there is the same Obligation to ••br••g••te the Pra••ers, which are (as hath been clearly demonstrated) formally con∣tradicted by the Canon of the Mass, whereby the Church of Rome is wholly directed at the present?

CHAP. XXXI. That the Passage in the twelfth Chapter of the second Book of the Maccabees hath no relation to the Opinion of Purgatory, nor to the Service of the Churches.

THe Doctours of the Romane Communion pretend, that the Christians of the second Age grounded their Prayers for the Dead upon the Authority of the second Book of the Maccabees, unknown (as we have observed) to the Jews; who were contemporary with the Apostles, or at least, slighted by them, and looked upon with so much indignation by the Christians, that not any one of them, before St. Augustine, cited it with any respect to the Offices rendred by the surviving Faithfull to their de∣parted Brethren. Nay, indeed, none among them could (without de∣stroying his own presuppositions concerning the State of the Dead) make any advantage of that Testimony, which notoriously wrests the action, and intention of Judas Maccabaeus to a wrong sence, and applies it to the false Hypothesis, which the Jews of the last times did, and do still main∣tain, so much the more obstinately, the more they are perswaded, that it may be derived from the words of the first Psalm, in the fifth Verse; say∣ing, that the wicked shall not stand, or (as the Greek Version, and the antient Latine hath it) shall not rise up, in Judgment. Since therefore they were of this extravagant Opinion, that the Resurrection of the Last-day should be onely for the Just, and that those, who had concluded a criminal Life in the Wrath of God, should not participate thereof, it must needs be, that, having perswaded thereto either Jason the Cyrenaean, or his A∣bridger, the said Jason, or other man, had conceived it necessa∣ry, that Judas should make a Prayer for a sort of unhappy wretches, whom he acknowledged destroyed in their Sacrilege, to the end that (being freed from their sin) they might be made capable of the Resurrection; which (according to their prejudicated judgment) was to be peculiar onely to those, who had continued, and concluded their lives in piety. This Imagination could not relate to any of the Opi∣nions of the antient Christians, assured by St. Paul, a 1.194 that every one should appear before the Judgment-seat of Christ, to receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good, or bad, and unanimously presupposing, b 1.195 that Judgment should be given of all, good, and bad, according to their works, and consequently believing, that there would be a double Resurrection, that is to say, that of the righteous c 1.196 to eternal life, and glory, and that of the wicked to death, and shame, and everlasting contempt.

But let us put the Case, that the Sentiment, whether of the Authour of the Second Book of the Maccabees, or of his Abridger, was absolutely con∣formable to so manifest, and so known a Truth, and that he alledged this onely end of the Prayer attributed by him to Judas, that the Dead, for whom onely he pretends, that he made it, being freed from their sins, were

thereupon conveyed to the enjoyment of Beatitude, which shall have its full accomplishment in the Resurrection, which the Fathers call the proper Faith of Christians, and the consummation of the glory, which they expect. Nay, let us put the Case, that the Latine Church had, from the beginning, a great esteem for the Testimony of that Person, if (as is supposed) she drew up her Service according to the President of Judas Maccabaeus, whence comes it, that, in the Canon of the Mass, she hath made no mention of the Resurrection? And, that among the Liturgies of the Greeks, Arme∣nians, &c. there are onely two, viz. those of St. Basil, and St. Chry••ostome, drawn up, one by the other, which have onely this word of it by the way; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Resting in hope of Resur∣rection, and eternal life? Where it is evident, to any one, that hath but common sense, that he, who pronounces the Prayer, desires not for the Dead, either Resurrection, or Life; but onely declares, that both of them have ever been the Object of their hope. To be absolutely silent in it, as the Canon of the Latine Mass is, or to speak uncertainly of it, without making any request, is that proposing to one's self the pretended Ex∣ample of Judas Maccabaeus, and the Tradition of the antient Synagogue? Or can it either enter into any man's Imagination, to say, they imitate, who, neither in their Discourses, nor in their Actions, express any thing of what is contained in the Original? If it be said; that the Latins, in the Office of the Dead added to the Canon, demand the Resurrection of the de∣parted Person, whom they recommend to God in their Prayers; it will be easie to reply; that of three and fourty Prayers, whereof that Office consists, one onely, viz. the fifth, proposes, in one word, that kinde of supplication, saying, Partem Resurrectionis accipiat Anima famuli tui, &c. That the soul of thy servant may participate of the blessed Re∣surrection: three others, which spake of the Resurrection: presuppose it, without making any demand, and amount to no more, then to re∣quire onely the effect of it; as, for instance, the second, layd down in these Terms, Inter Sanctos, & Electos tuos resuscitati, gloriâ manifestae contemplationis perpetuò satientur, &c. That thy servants, being raised again, may be perpetually silled, among the Saints, and Elect, with the glory of a ma∣nifest contemplation: the fourth, which hath, Ad propria corpora quandoque reversuras, Sanctorum tuorum caetibus aggregari praecipias, &c. That thou wouldest command, that the souls of all the Faithfull, which are one day to re∣turn to their bodies, may meet together in the Assemblies of thy Saints: and the nine and thirtieth, which contains these words; In Resurrectionis glo∣ria inter Sanctos, & Electos tuos resuscitati, respirent, &c. That thy servants of both Sexes, being raised up, may live among thy Saints, and Elect, in the glory of the Resurrection.

From all which Forms it necessary follows, that the Latine Church ne∣ver thought of framing her Service according to the Example of Judas Maccabaeus; and that it is vainly, and without any shadow of Proof, that any Venture at this day to maintain it; never considering, that, if the first Authours of Praying for the Dead among Christians had had any de∣sign to build their Form of Service upon the pretended Pattern of the Maccabees, they could not, without prevarication from their own Inten∣tions, fo far have missed the Lineaments thereof, as to have omitted in

their Canon what they had proposed to themselves to put in Practice; or not to insist on it, but obliquely, and perfunctorily; not making it, as they should have done, their Principal business.

CHAP. XXXII. That the Primitive Sence of the Prayers, whereby the Remission of Sins is demanded for the Dead, is not embraced by any.

THe Prayers, which the antient Church made for Remission of Sins on the behalf of the Faithfull departed, did not onely proceed from the Hypothesis of the Sibylline Writing, concerning the consinement of all Souls in Hell, and of Justine Martyr, concerning the power of the Devils, even over those of the greatest Saints; but is also an effect of their Opinion, who imagined, that our Saviour, and his Apostles, after his Example, being, after their departure, descended into Hell, had preached there, and, in effect, converted many of those, who were gone thither in the state of Sin. For, looking upon, as reduced to the Trial of some punishment, those, whose Beatitude was (during their restraint in the common prison of the Dead) deferred, and conceiving that their Condition was capable of being changed into better, they inferred, very suitably to these Opinions, that it was necessary to implore the mercy of God, and to demand, on their be∣half, the forgiveness of their Sins, which for a time kept the Gates of glo∣ry shut against them, and exposed them in some manner to the violences of Evil spirits, till such time, as that, by their own supplications, and the suffrages of their surviving Friends, they might better their Condition.

We have already produced Examples of those Prayers, and there is not any Expression so strong, or efficacious, which we finde not employ∣ed to make us comprehend, that heretofore the surviving Faithfull were of a Belief, that their departed Brethren were treated as Malefactours, and in a manner, covered with the wrath of God. But from the beginning of the Third Age, and afterwards, those among the Fathers, who had more attentively considered the Oracles of God, affirming, That a 1.197 There is no condemnation for those, who are in Christ Jesus; That b 1.198 No man is able to pluck them out of his hand; That c 1.199 They are (at the hour of death) taken away from the evil to come; That d 1.200 They depart out of the Body, to be with the Lord; That e 1.201 Their iniquity shall be sought for, and there shall be none, because God hath pardoned them; That, as soon as they are dead in the Lord, f 1.202 they rest from their labours, and (according to what we finde in express Terms in the Canon of the Mass) sleep a sleep of Peace, as being actually in Peace, and freed from Sin, which de∣prives a man of it, and g 1.203 makes a separation between the Lord, and him, that commits it: the Fathers, I say, not discontinuing (out of the respect they had for their Ancestours) the Prayers inserted by them, up∣on prejudications both ill-grounded, and extremely mistaken, into the Service of the Church, do, by the formal Confession of the insufficiency of those Principles, make a certain disclaim of the Prayers, enough to

justifie, that (according to them) being taken literally, they are ab∣solutely unprofitable, as being destitute of Truth, and a maintainable Foundation.

Hence is it, that in the year 252. St. Cyprian tells us of the advantage, which accrews to the Faithfull at their death, h 1.204 Lucrum maximum jam nullis peccatis, & vitiis carnis, obnoxium fieri, &c. It is a very great gain not to be any longer subject to sins, and the lusts of the flesh. St. Cyril of Jerusalem, i 1.205 about the year 350. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Remission having its Ordinance onely in this life. St. Epiphamus, in the year 375. in the nine and fiftieth Haeresie, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 There is not any progress either of Piety, or Repentance, after death. St. Ambrose, k 1.206 about the year 378. Qui hic non acceperit remissionem, illic non erit, &c. He, who shall not have received remission here, shall not be there; that is, in glory. St. Hierome, l 1.207 in the year 386. Ubicunque tibi locum prae∣paraveris, futurámque sedem, sive ad Austrum, sive ad Boream; ibi, cùm mor∣tuus fueris, permanebis, &c. Mortis tempestate subversus, ubicunque cecideris, ibi jugiter permanebis: sive te rigidum, & trucem, sive clementem, & misericor∣dem, ultimum invenerit tempus, &c. Lignum, quod in hac vita corruerit, & con∣cisione mortalitatis fuerit incisum, aut peccavit, dum staret, & in Boreae parte posteà ponetur, aut, si dignos Austro fructus attulit, in plaga jacebit Australi, &c. Whereever thou shalt have provided a place for thy self, and the seat thou shalt come into, whether it be towards the South, or towards the North, there shalt thou remain after thy death, &c. Being once overwhelmed by the tempest of death, in what place soever thou shalt fall, there shalt thou perpetually re∣main: whether thy last hour have found thee there harsh, and cruel, or mild, and mercifull, &c. The Tree, which shall be faln in this life, and hath been cut down by the stroak of Mortality, or hath sinned, while it stood, shall afterwards be pla∣ced on the North-side; or if it hath brought forth Fruits worthy the South, he shall be disposed into the South-Quarter. St. Chrysostome, m 1.208 in the year 396. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 After we are departed, it is no longer in our power to repent, and to cleanse our selves of the sins, which we have committed. St. Augustine, n 1.209 in the year 420. Qualis in die isto quisque moritur, talis in die illo judicabitur, &c. Such, as every one dyes in this day, as such shall he be judged in that day. Again; o 1.210 Qualis exîeris ex hac vita, talis redderis illi vitae, &c. Such, as thou shalt depart this life, such shalt thou be delivered up to the other. Olympi∣odorus, p 1.211 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 In what place soever a man, at his departure, hath been seized, whether it were of light, or of darkness, as also in what work, whe∣ther of iniquity, or of virtue, he shall remain in the same degree, and rank; ei∣ther in Light, with the just, and Christ the King of all; or in Darkness, with the unjust, and the Prince of this World.

For, if from the very hour of their departure the Faithfull are no longer subject to any sin; if repentance, and remission of sin have place onely in this life; and, if such as men die, such they shall rise again, and be judged at the Last-day, there neither is, nor can be any pardon, either to be asked, or to be obtained for them, after their death. Whereof the

Consequence is, that the Prayers, which are made for them, are (by their very Confession, who have most recommended them) unreasonable, in that they suppose what (according to their own Principles) neither is, nor can be, viz. that the Faithfull departed in Jesus Christ are subject to sin: besides, they are fruitless, in that they demand (according to the same Principles) an effect, which is already fully accomplished, and is to be unchangeably such to all Eternity.

CHAP. XXXIII. The Censures, pronounced by the Doctours of the Church of Rome against the Fathers, taken into Examination.

BY those Prayers it was, and still is demanded, that God would place the Departed in the Bosom of the Patriarchs, in the Society of the Saints, in the Region of the Godly, the Saints, and the Living, in the Pleasures of Paradise, in a place of Refreshment, Light, and Peace; granting them the passage from Death to Life, the participation of the redemption of God, the rest of Beatitude, the opening of the Gates of glory, the Happiness and Joy of an everlasting Light, the fulness of Glory, &c. All these things, I say, are prayed for on the behalf of the departed; as if they were not in the enjoyment of any of them; or as if (it being granted they were) it were convenient to demand for them what they are already in posses∣sion of, as if they were absolutely deprived thereof. This kinde of Of∣fice is very consonant to the first Hypothesis, as well of the pretended Sibylline Writing, as of those, who were of a perswasion, that all Souls were sent to Hell, and there confined till the Resurrection of their Bodies. Nor is it unsuitable to what is told us by several of the Fathers of later Times, who (continuing the Forms of their Ancestours) endeavoured to avoid the inconvenience of the Imagination, which their Predecessours had, as it were, from hand to hand, transmitted to them. Thence comes it, that Stapleton (measuring the more, and the less Antient by the same measure; never considering whether the later any way moderated what had been in high esteem among the former) makes no difficulty to en∣tertain us with this disadvantageous Language; which equally charges them all: a 1.212 Tot illi, & tam celebres, antiqui Patres, Tertullianus, & Irenae∣us, &c. So many antient, and so eminent Fathers, as Tertullian, Irenaeus, Origen, Chrysostome, Theodoret, Oecumenius, Theophylact, Am∣brose, Clemens Romanus, Bernard, were not of that Sentiment, which, at last, after so great Disquisition, was defined to be an Article of Faith in the Councel of Florence, viz. That the Souls of the Just enjoy the Beatifical Vision before the day of Judgment; but delivered the contrary Opinion.

b 1.213 Sixtus Senensis had put also into the same Predicament Justine Martyr, Lactantius, Victorinus of Poictiers, Aretas, and Pope John the Two and Twentieth. Nor do I deny, but that very ill Consequences may be drawn

First, From what St. Ambrose hath written, in the second Chapter of

his second Book Of Cain and Abel. Anima, post finem vitae hujus, adhuc ta∣men futuri Judicii ambiguò suspenditur, &c. After this life ended, the soul is yet in suspense, through the uncertainty of the future Judgment, &c. And elswhere; c 1.214 Videntur, usque ad diem Judicii, per plurimum scilicet tempo∣ribus, debitâ sibi remuneratione fraudari, &c. Satis fuerat dixisse illis, quod li∣beratae animae de corporibus 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 peterent, id est, locum, qui non videtur, quem Latinè Infernum dicimus, &c. Expectant remunerationem debitam, &c. Mens souls, till the day of Judgment, that is to say, for a very long space of time, seem to be defrauded of the remuneration due to them, &c. It had been suf∣ficient to tell them (viz. the Heathens) that the souls, freed from their bodies, go to 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that is to say, to a place, not to be seen, which in Latine we call In∣fernum, Hell, &c. They expect the reward due to them.

Secondly, From what St. Chrysostome says in several places (making use of a Figurative, and ambiguous manner of Expression) when he con∣ceives it enough to call the place, where the souls of the Just are dispo∣sed, Abraham's Bosom; and, in some other Places, seems to deny their Beatitude: writing in the nine and twentieth Homily upon the first Epistle to the Corinthians, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Without the flesh, the soul shall not receive those unspeakable goods; in like manner shall she not also be punished, &c. If the body be not raised again, the soul remains uncrowned, deprived of that Beatitude, which is in the Heavens, &c. And again, d 1.215 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. You also think what, and how great, a thing it is, that Abraham, and the Apostle Paul should sit down till such time, as thou shalt be accomplished, to the end, that then they might receive their reward: for if we also are not ar∣rived, the Saviour hath foretold, that he would not give it, &c. What shall Abel do, who overcame first of all, and is sate down without being Crowned?

Thirdly, From what is said by Prudentius: who, speaking of the Martyrs of Saragossa, seems to deny their Souls admission into Hea∣ven; saying, Sub Altari sita sempiterno turba, &c. The company seated un∣der the Eternal Altar. To which may be added; that St. Augustine, e 1.216 not content to have said, That, after this life ended, we shall not be there, where the Saints shall be, as if he could not have designed by its proper Name the place of the Soul's habitation, is forced in several places to make use of the most general Term of all, viz. that of Receptacles: And to that, that of Paulinus, who, in his Epitaph upon f 1.217 Clarus, as if he knew not where to assign him Entertainment, makes this Discourse to him,

Sive Patrum sinibus recubas, Dominive sub ara Conderis, aut sacro pasceris in nemore, Qualibet in regione Poli situs, aut Paradisi, Clare, sub aeternâ pace quietus agis, &c.

Whether in th' Patriarch's Bosom thou remain, Or under the Lord's Altar art detain d, Or an Aboad i'th' sacred Grove hast gain'd, What part, or place, of Paradise thou hast got, Clarus, eternal Peace, and Rest's thy Lot.

But all this is not enough to induce me to subscribe to the disadvan∣tageous Censure given by Stapleton; who, not making any distincti∣on of either Times, or Persons, or Expressions, durst attribute to all Antiquity, what the Authour of the pretended Sibylline Writing had per∣swaded those, who had first consulted it. Nor do I see, that from the places, above cited, it may rigorously be inferred, that the Fathers, out of whose Writings they are extracted, delayed the Beatitude of the Saints, till after the Day of Judgment. For, though the words of Sain•• Ambrose seem to bear, that they expect their Happiness with uncer∣tainty, and doubtfully; yet he neither understood, nor could have un∣derstood it so; since that, in the second of the places objected to him, he writes, that the Soul of the Faithfull Person departed, Non busto te∣netur, sed quiete piâ fungitur, &c. is not detained upon the Funeral Pile, where the Body had been consumed, but enjoys a pious Rest. His de∣sign then (as it was also St. Chrysostom's, who means, by the Bosom of the Fathers, the Kingdom of Heaven) was to have it understood, that the su∣preme Happiness, and absolute accomplishment of the glory of the Saints departed, was to be a Consequence of the Resurrection, and Last Judgment, at which time the souls already in Glory shall receive their true Crowns, in the remuneration promised to compleat Persons, whereof they before made the principal part; and that, in expectation of the Judgment, which shall fully consummate their Glory, they remain in sus∣pense, not as uncertain of the effect it shall produce; but as ignorant of the time, when it shall please God, that so admirable an Event shall come to pass: So that his particular Judgment reaches no further, then that the souls, freed from their bodies, are transmitted to Hell; but simply sup∣poses, that, as to the Heathen, it was enough to say so much.

As for Prudentius, and Paulinus, their conception of the Eternal Al∣tar is not after a gross, but after a refined, and mystical manner: Pru∣dentius saying of the blessed souls, that they shall rest in the g 1.218 Bosom of the blessed Old man, where Lazarus is, and in Paradise: And Paulinus expressly declaring of Clarus;

Libera corporeo, mens, carcere, gaudet in Astris, Pura probatorum sedem sortita piorum, &c. —Spiritus aethere gaudet, Discipulúmque pari sociat super astra Magistro, &c.

Among the Just his Habitation is, Of Body freed, possess'd of Heav'nly Bliss, &c. —His soul to Heav'n is gone, The Scholar to the Master's equal grown.

So that, according to these two Authours, to rest under the Eternal Altar, in the Bosom of Abraham, in Paradise, in Heaven, above the Stars, is one, and the same, thing, as to the effect, and design (though by divers expressions) the Beatitude, and Glory of the children of God, as well in ge∣neral, as in particular.

CHAP. XXXIV. The Uniformity of the Sentiment of the Fathers, and of the Protestants.

I Add, that most of the Fathers, who lived after Tertullian (what Ex∣pressions soever they may make use of) were of a Sentiment consonant to what is at the present held by the Protestants, and firmly maintained, that all the Souls of those, of whose Names there was a Commemoration made in the Service of the Church, were, at the very hour of their death, conveyed to the enjoyment of their Rest, and Glory. Hence was it, that St. Cyprian, even in the year 252. resolutely pronounces, a 1.219 De istis mundi turbinibus extracti, &c. Having escaped the Tempests of this World, we make towards the secure Haven of an eternal Mansion, &c. We are not to put on Mourning-Garments here, when they there have already put on their White Robes, &c. It is not a departure, but a passage, and (the Tempo∣ral journey being at an end) a transportation towards the things, That are Eter∣nal, &c. Let us embrace the day, which assigns to every one his own Mansion, which restores us, taken away hence, and disingaged from the snares of this World, to Paradise, and the celestial Kingdom, &c. Again; Lucrum maxi∣mum, &c. exemptum pressuris-urgentibus, & venenatis Diaboli faucibus libera∣tum, ad laetitiam salutis aeternae, Christo vocante, prosicisci, &c. It is an ex∣ceeding great advantage, &c. to go (Christ calling us) to the Joys of Eternal Salvation; after we are freed from those pressures, which lie heavy upon us, and delivered from the poisonous jaws of the Devil.

To the same effect Origene, b 1.220 about fifteen years before, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. We hope to be above the Heavens, after the Combats, and Troubles, which we have run through here.

St. Basil, c 1.221 in the following Age, about the year 370. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 An eternal Rest is proposed to those, who shall have lawfully maintained the Combat of the Life, which is here.

St. Gregory Nazianzene, in his tenth Oration, pronounced about the year 369. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. I am perswaded by the Discourses of Wise men, that every Soul, which is good, and loved of God, after that, being dis∣engaged from the Body, to which she was conjoyned, she is retired hence; that, which clouded her, being, as it were, purged, or layed down, or I know not how to express it, immediately having a resentment of, and in the contemplation of the happiness she is to be advanced to, is in the possession of an admirable Pleasure, and rejoyceth, and joyfully passeth towards her Lord, shunning, as a loathsom Prison, this present Life.

St. Epiphanius, d 1.222 the most zealous Maintainer of Prayer for the Dead, speaking, about the year 375. of the closure of this Life, and the con∣sequences of it, in relation to the Faithfull; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 The time is accomplished, the Combat

is at an end, the Lists are cleared, and the Crowns are bestowed. Again; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 All is manifestly accom∣plished after the departure hence.

St. Chrysostome, e 1.223 between the years 390. and 404. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Those, who have carefully spent their Lives in the exercises of Virtue, after they shall have been transported out of the present life, shall truly be, as if they had obtained a dismission after the Combats, and as delivered out of Bonds: for there is for those, who live virtuously, a certain transportation from worse things to better, and from a temporal to a perpetual, and immortal life, and such as shall have no end. Again, f 1.224 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 The Faithful depart to go with Christ, and are with the King, face to face. Again, g 1.225 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 After Death is once come, then is the Wedding, then is the Spouse. Again, h 1.226 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Be of good courage, when thou art cut off (by death) for it exempts thee not onely from corruption, and trouble; but it also sends thee immediately to the Lord. And elsewhere; i 1.227 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Consider towards whom the departed Person is gone, and take comfort thence; there Paul is, there Peter is, there is the whole Quire of the Saints. Again; k 1.228 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 We give thanks unto God, that he hath moreover crowned him, who is departed hence, that he hath exempted him from all troubles, that, delivering him out of all fear, he keeps him near himself.

St. Augustine, giving an account of the common Sentiment of the Churches of Africk, about the year 400. Moritur aliquis? Dicimus, Bonus homo, fidelis homo; in pace est cum Domino, &c. Does any one dy? We say, The Good man, The Faithfull man, is in Peace with the Lord. Which shews, that the Christians of that Time were fully perswaded of what Pope Pelagius the First, about one hundred and fifty years after, caused to be inserted into the Canon of the Mass, viz. that Those, who die in Christ, sleep in Peace.

The Questions unjustly attributed to Justine Martyr; since the Authour was contemporary with St. Augustine: l 1.229 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 The Souls of the Saints are conveyed to Paradise, there is the conversation, there the sight of the Angels.

St. Cyril of Alexandria about the year, 420. m 1.230 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. I conceive, it ought (and that very probably) to be held for certain, that the Souls of the Saints, leaving their earthly Bodies, are for the most part com∣mitted to the indulgence, and Philanthropie of God, as resigned into the hands of a most loving Father, and not (as some Unbelievers suspect, that they love to walk among dead men's Graves, expecting Sepulchral Libations, much less, that they go (as those of such, as have loved sin) to a place of unmeasurable Torment, that is, to Hell. They rather run to be received into the hands of the Father of all, and our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath also n 1.231 consecrated this way for us, for he o 1.232 commended his Soul into the hands of his Father, that we also, taking Example thence, as in it, and by it, may entertain noble hopes, as being in that firm disposition, and belief; that, having undergone the death of the Flesh, we may be in the hands of God, and in a better condition, then when we were in the Flesh: Whence it also comes, that the wise Paul writes

unto us, p 1.233 that it is far better to be dissolved, and to be with Christ.

Prosper, q 1.234 about the year 450. Post hanc vitam succedit pugnae secura victoria; ut Milites Christi, laboriosâ jam peregrinatione transactâ, regnent felices in patria, &c. After this life ended, certain Victory is consequent to the Combat; that the Souldiers of Christ (their laborious Pilgrimage being o∣ver) might reign happily in their Countrey, &c.

Gennadius, r 1.235 about the year 490. Exeuntes de corpore ad Christum vadunt, &c. The Faithful, dislodging out of the Body, go to Christ.

Andrew of Caesarea, s 1.236 about the year 800. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. The voice from Heaven does not beatifie all the Dead, but those, who die in the Lord, those, who are mortified to the World, and bear in their Bodies the mortification of the Lord Jesus, and who suffer with Christ; for to those the departure out of the body, is truly a releasment from labours.

To conclude, of the same Sentiment was Aretas, about the year 930. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Upon the va∣nishing away of Labours, shall be introduced the reward of Works.

CHAP. XXXV. The Sentiment of the Protestants further proved by the Description, which the Fathers made of Abraham's Bosom.

FRom the Harmony of all the precedent Testimonies, it may justly be inferred, that, according to the constant Doctrine of the Christian Church, from the year 250. those, who die in the Lord, are with him, and that to them the time, which follows this life, is a time of joy, and marri∣age, which, from the moment of their Death, brings them into the compa∣ny of the Saints, and Angels, in the Paradise of God, where they live, and are in peace, and are crowned, and reign with him. The same thing may be also deduced from the Description, which the Fathers unani∣mously make of Abraham's Bosom, the place assigned by all Christian An∣tiquity for the entertainment of the Souls of the Faithful after this Life. For St. Gregory Nazianzene a 1.237 places it in Heaven; saying to his Bro∣ther Caesarius, who had dyed not long before, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Mayst thou go to Heaven, &c. and rest in the Bosom of Abraham. In like manner St. Chrysostome, b 1.238 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 He named Bosom of Abraham for the Kingdom. St. Ambrose tells us, c 1.239 that, Sinus Patriarcharum recessus quidam est requietis aeternae, &c. The Bosom of the Patriarchs is a certain retirement of Eternal Rest. St. Augustine, d 1.240 Sinus Abrahae requies est Beatorum, &c. The Bosom of Abraham is the rest of the Blessed Again, e 1.241 Non utique sinus ille Abrahae, id est, secreta cujusdam quietis habitatio, aliqua pars Inferorum esse credenda est &c. satis apparet non esse quandam partem, & quasi membrum Inferorum, tantae illius felicitatis sinum, &c. Certainly, the Bosom of Abraham, that is to say, the secret habitation of a certain rest, is not to be thought any part of Hell, &c. It is sufficiently mani∣fest,

that the Bosom of so great a felicity is not any certain part, or, as it were, Quarter of Hell. And elsewhere; f 1.242 Post hanc vitam etiam Sinus ille Abrahae Paradisus dici potest; ubi jam nulla temptatio, ubi tanta re∣quies post dolores omnes vitae hujus, &c. After this Life, that Bosom of Abraham may be also called Paradise; where there is not any Tempta∣tion, and where, after all the afflictions of this life, there is so great rest. Dionysius, the pretended Areopagite; g 1.243 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. The Bosom of the Patriarchs are most divine, and most blessed Habitations. Fulgentius; h 1.244 Lazarus in aeterna senis Abrahae quiete se∣curus, &c. Lazarus is in safety, in the eternal rest of the Old man Abraham. If therefore the Bosom of Abraham be a Paradise, a Celestial habitation, an eternal Rest, a most divine, and most blessed portion, and all those, who die in the Lord, go into it, when they die; it is impossible, but they should, from that very minute, be in actual possession of an incomparable felicity, and of a rest so much the more certain, the more free it is from temptation.

CHAP. XXXVI. The same Sentiment confirmed by the Pomp and Ceremonies of the An∣tient Interments.

THe same Consequence may also be drawn from the great Solemnities of the Antient Funerals, and the demeanours of Christians pre∣paring themselves for them: which were not indeed without regret for the absence of the Departed Person; but with joy also, and thanksgiving to God for the Felicity, whereto he had advanced him to all Eternity. For as St. Cyprian remonstrated to the Faithfull of his Time, that they should not put on black Garments, to express their Mourning for those, who had already put on their White Robes of Glory; so the Fathers, that came af∣ter, maintained, that men should rejoyce, and not be disconsolate for the retirement of those, whom God was pleased to call out of the Bosom of his Church, to be gathered into his own. Thus St. Chrysostome, a 1.245 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 &c. There are now-a-days, in the Funeral Obsequies of deceased Per∣sons, singing of Hymns, Prayers, and Psalms; all which declare, that there is pleasure in it: for Psalms are a sign of mirth; Is any one among you merry (saith b 1.246 Saint James) Let him sing Psalms. Because we are full of Gladness; for that reason we sing over the Dead such Psalms, as may excite us to take comfort for their departure; for (saith David c 1.247 to us) Return unto thy rest, O my Soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee. Again; d 1.248 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 &c. The singing of Psalms, and Prayers, and the assembling of the Fathers, and the meeting of a great multi∣tude of Brethren, are not to the end, that thou shouldest weep, and lament, and be disconsolate; but that thou mightest give thanks to him, who hath taken the departed Person to himself. And elsewhere; e 1.249 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. What mean these joyfull Torches at the Obsequies of the Dead? Do we not convoy them, as Champions, that have gone through the

Combat? And what mean the Hymns? Do we not thereby glorifie God, and give him thanks, for that he is, at length, pleased to crown him, who is departed, that he hath exempted him from labours, and, having delivered him out of all fear, taken him to himself? Are not the Hymns appointed to signifie so much? Is not the singing of Pslams for the same end? All these things are done by per∣sons, that rejoyce, for (saith f 1.250 Saint James) Is any one merry? let him sing Psalms, &c. Consider what thou singest at that time; g 1.251 Return unto thy rest, O my Soul; for the LORD hath dealt bountifully with thee: and again, h 1.252 Thou art my refuge against the tribulation, that en∣compasseth me: and again, i 1.253 I will not fear any evil; because thou art with me: and again, k 1.254 Thou art my hiding-place, thou shalt pre∣serve me from trouble: consider what is the meaning of these Psalms. Nay, af∣ter so many fair Remonstrances, this Great man threatens with Excommu∣nication those, who being disconsolate, and thereby shewing, that they call in Question the crowning, and blessed State of their Brethren, whom God had called hence, do a signal injury, as well to their Memory in par∣ticular, as to the whole Church in general, which hath so ordered the So∣lemnities of Funeral Obsequies, that she would not have any thing therein, which shou'd not in some manner express joy, and gladness.

The rest of the Fathers maintain his Sentiment with so much the greater earnestness, the more they think the confirmation of it derivable from the common Practice of the Church. Thus St. Gregory Nazianzene, speaking of the Funeral Obsequies of his Brother Caesarius, after he had observed, that his Mother carried a great Wax-candle thereat, adds, that he was, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, l 1.255 carried away with Hymns upon Hymns, &c. the singing of Psalms drowning the noise of the ••amentations; whereas, in the Funeral Solemnitie of Saint Basil, the Resentment which the Church of Caesarea had conceived of its own loss, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, made that m 1.256 the singing of Psalms was smothered by the Lamentations. The same thing is observed by Saint Gregory of Nyssa to have happened at the Interment of the Empress Flac∣cilla, and her Grand-daughter Pulcheria, who had been attended with publick mourning, yet so, as that it came not into any one's Imagination, that their Condition deserved to be deplored, and lamented.

The Same St. Gregory, to comfort the People of Antioch, deprived of the presence of their beloved Pastour, the Great Meletius, speaks to those who accompanied his Corps into Syria, to give them an accompt of the Solemnity of his transportation thither, whereat the concourse of the Populace, and of the Court, the singing of Psalms, and the light of Torches, had, as it were, given an assurance of his Beatitutde; saying to them, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Speak to the People, which is there (viz. at Antioch) relate unto them good News, tell them a Miracle beyond Belief, how that an infinite number of people, crowded together, like the Sea, seemed, as it were, by reason of the Throng, to make but one, and the same, Body, like Water, floating about the Tabernacle (of the departed Person;) how that there reached, as far as Eye could possibly perceive, Chanels of Fire, gliding on each side, by rea∣son of the uninterrupted course of the almost contiguous Torches; tell them of the readiness of all the people, and of the Association (of Meletius) with the Apostles in the same Tabernacle; how the Napkins, that were about his face,

were snatched away to serve for Preservatives to the Faithfull; that the King, putting on a sad Countenance, by reason of the affliction, and rising from his Throne, be added to the Relation, and that the whole City met together at the Obsequies of the Saint. n 1.257 Wherefore comfort one another with these Words, &c.

Saint Hierome represents something of the like Nature at the Inter∣ment of Paula; saying, o 1.258 Exhinc non uluatus, &c. Assoon as she had given up the Ghost, there was no more Bewailing, nor Lamentation heard, as is wont among the men of this World; but the noise of swarms of Psalms resound∣ing in several Languages: and being transported by the Hands of Bishops; and some among the Priests putting their Shoulders to the Bier; whilest others carried Torches, and Wax-Candles before; and others brought up the Quires of those, that sung Psalms, she was carried into the midst of the Church (called) the Grot of our Saviour, a multitude of people, out of the Cities of Palaesti∣na, meeting at her Funeral Obsequies. He says as much of those of Fabi∣ola, dead three years before; writing to Oceanus, Nec dum spiritum, &c. She had not yet given up the Ghost, and recommended to Christ the spirit, she ought him; but Fame, the flying Messenger, publishing beforehand the great Lamen∣tation there should be, brought together all the People of the City to her Funeral; the Psalms resounded, and the cry of Halleluiah, Ecchoing, smote the gilt Roofs of the Temples, &c. Nor is it any wonder, that men should rejoyce for her sal∣vation, for whose conversion the Angels were p 1.259 rejoycing in Heaven.

Eusebius assures us, q 1.260 that threescore and four years before, the same Honour had been done to Constantine the Great; saying of those of his Court, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Lighting Lamps, all about, in Vessels of Gold, they presented an admi∣rable spectacle to the Beholders. And this is enough to justifie, that the Anti∣ent Church exercised, in respect of all those, who died in the faith, the same Offices, whereby she celebrated the Memory of the greatest Martyrs, and Confessours. For what a strange Solemnity was that of the Transporta∣tion of the Reliques of the Prophet Samuel from Palaestine to Constanti∣nople? r 1.261 Omnes Episcopi, &c. All the Bishops (saith St. Hierome) carri∣ed them in Silk, and in a Vessel of Gold, &c. the People of all Churches met them, and (as if they had seen the Prophet present, and alive received them with so great joy, that swarms of people joyned together from Palestine even to Chalcedon, and with one voice celebrated the praises of Christ, &c. Nay, though there be no Reliques of Martyrs, yet when the Gospel is to be read, the Luminaries are lighted through all the Churches of the East, even though the Sun be up: which certainly is not done to chase away the Darkness; but for a sign, and demonstration of Joy. Whence it also came, that when the Body of St. Chrysostome was to be brought, from Comana, to Constantinople, it was received with the same Solemnity; People going in Multitudes to meet it, with lighted Torches in the day-time. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. The Assembly of the Faithfull (says s 1.262 Theodoret) making use of the Sea, (by the convenience of Boats) as they would have done of the Continent, covered with Lights the entrance of the Bosporus towards Propontis.

Thus have we seen there were Assemblies of the Clergie, and of the People, the singing of Halleluiahs, and Psalms, and Lights employed at the Interments of all the Faithfull, without exception; so as that there could

not be observed at the Funerals of the less considerable, and less emi∣nent for Piety, and those of the most celebrious Martyrs, and Confessours, any other difference, then that of more, and less, which never were able to change the nature of the thing in it self, nor hinder, but that it re∣mained in such manner common among all, that the Offices exercised in those Solemnities have been (all together as well, as some one in parti∣cular) so many Discoveries of the joy of the surviving; First, for the Victory, obtained by the Departed over sin, and the world; Secondly, for the Happiness, whereto the Church thought them actually advanced. And thence also it follows; That, in the Office of the dead, she sung, not the Libera, as is done at this day, but Psalms of Instruction, and Thanks∣giving to God, as for instance, the three and twentieth, and the two and thirtieth, and the one hundred and sixteenth, according to the Hebrews, particularly alleged by St. Chrysostome; or haply such other, as the Friends of the Deceased made choice of for their consolation, as the one hundred and first, which Euodius appointed to be sung at the departure of St. Mo∣nica, the Mother of St. Augustine, as that Holy man relates in his Confessions; saying, t 1.263 Cohibito à fletu illo puero, Psalterium aperuit Euodius, &c. The Body being quieted, Euodius opened the Psalter, and began to recite this Psalm, u 1.264 I will sing unto thee, O LORD, Mercy, and Judgment: to which all the House answered. And when the people heard what had happened, many Friers, and Religious Women came thither to us; and particularly they, whose Office it was, taking care for the Burial. I, the whilest, when conveniently I could, did entertain those (who thought it not fit to leave me) with something pertinent to the occasion.

CHAP. XXXVII. A particular consideration of the Sentiment of St. Augustine, and his Prayers for his Mother.

THe particular Relation of all these proceedings concerning departed persons, and their Interments irrefutably proves; That neither St. Augustine, nor his Company, nor those of Ostia, who came to visit him in the time of his Affliction, were any way doubtfull of her felicity, who was then newly departed this life; since that, instead of imagining her detained in any place of Torment, and, upon that accompt, of standing in need of their Tears, and the assistance of their Prayers, necessary (ac∣cording to the presuppositions at present) for her deliverance, they had their thoughts unanimously inclined to Exercises, which presupposed no such thing; as the singing of the one hundred and first Psalm, whence there cannot be any thing inferred, relating to the state of the dead, in as much as it contains onely a Protestation to glorifie God in living well; and, afterwards, to familiar Discourse, such as was suitable to the time, and oc∣casion. Besides, St. Augustine, in the precedent Words, had given an e∣qually-evident Testimony of his intention; when, after he had made a

description of the grief, which had lain so heavy on him, during the A∣gony of his Mother, he had added, a 1.265 Tum, ubi efflavit extremum spi∣ritum, puer Adeodatus exclamavit in planctum, atque ab omnibus nobis coër∣citus tacuit, &c. At the Instant of her giving up the Ghost, the Boy Adeoda∣tus brake forth into a loud lamentation; but, reprehended by us all, he held his peace. I will not argue, whether St. Monica was reduced to the suffer∣ing of some Torment, but onely, if her Beatitude was (in any manner con∣ceiveable) delayed, what could be more just, then the Lamentation of little Adeodatus, or more unjust, and inhumane, then the check given by all the company, to make him forbear lamenting what was truly to be lamented? And what less could be expected of a Son, who was, and would be thought good-natured, then to be guilty of such a flintiness, as not to afford so much as a Tear for so good a Mother; a Mother so much the more deserving his compassion, the further she was (if the Maintain∣ers of Purgatory may be believed) from the attainment of her happiness?

I will not deny, but St. Augustine was overcome with an excessive Grief upon her Departure; but I maintain, from his own Testimony, that his affliction was for himself, and not properly for her. For, after he had said, that the silenced his Son Adeodatus, who broke forth into Lamenta∣tions, he expresses what his own dispositions were in these Terms: b 1.266 Hoc modo meum quiddam puerile, &c. Nay, there did also slip from my self some shew of childishness that way; but I repressed it by the discretion of a man, and held my peace. Nor did we think fit to solemnize that Funeral with weeping, and howling Complaints; because such demonstrations of sorrow are wont to deplore the misfortune, or, as it were, utter destruction of those, who dy miserably: whereas she neither died miserably, nor indeed died at all, as we were assured, both by her true faith, and exemplar Life, and by other certain Reasons. What was then the cause, why inwardly this Green Wound did so extremely grieve me; but onely the sudden breaking off of that Custom, which I had to live in her most sweet, and most dear conversation, &c? Because therefore I was de∣prived of so great a comfort, my Soul was wounded, and my life was, as it were, torn in pieces, which, till then, had consisted of mine, and hers, &c. And, because I was very much troubled, that these humane respects had such power over me; which yet cannot but sometime happen, according to the course of nature, and our condition, I bewailed my former Grief, and was afflicted with a double sor∣row, &c.

He resented then, it seems (by his own confession) two different Af∣flictions: one, the Principal, occasioned by the regret of his loss; the other accessary, arising from the regret he conceived to see himself sub∣ject to that humane Infirmity of bewailing a dead person; and all the day (as he says) he could think of nothing else, though he endeavoured, as much as lay in his power, to conceal it. After the Solemnity was over, he went to the Bath; hoping to rid himself of his Grief by diversion: but he re∣turned also thence as much afflicted, as before; the smart of his Wound admitting no remission, till he had slept. And then, having with a greater settledness of Spirit, called to minde the whole Life of his Mo∣ther, and being exposed to the sight of none, but God onely, he gave way to those Tears, which he had all day, with much violence to himself, kept

in; saying, Libuit flere in conspectu tuo de illa, & pro illa; de me, & pro me: & dimisi lachrymas, quas continebam, ut effluerent quantum vellent, &c. I took pleasure to weep in thy sight concerning her, and for her; and concerning my self, and for my self: and to those Tears, which I had formerly repressed, I gave the liberty to run their full Carriere, &c.

It seems, with some Pretense conclusible from the foregoing words, that he was troubled about the Condition his Mother might be in; but there are Two things oblige us to believe the contrary.

The First is, That, if he had been instructed in the Belief of Purga∣tory, taught by the Church of Rome, he could not, without a kinde of injury to Piety, and Charity, have delayed, till he had slept, the contri∣bution of his Lamentations, and Tears, for the ease, and relief of a Person so dear; and spent the whole Day in Discourses, and Divertisements, which he thought might have disburthened him of his Grief, but proved ineffectual.

The Second, That, considering with himself, that his action might be thought ridiculous, and unreasonable, he accuses it, upon that very ac∣compt, that he thinks himself obliged to excuse it; saying, Legat, qui volet, &c. Let him read it, who will, and interpret it, as pleaseth him; and, if he think it a sin in me, to have bewailed my Mother for a small part of an hour (that Mother, I say, who was dead to my eyes, and had wept for me so many years, that before thine eyes I might live) let him not deride me, but ra∣ther (if he be full of Charity) let him weep for my Sins to Thee, who art the Father of all the Brethren of thy Christ our Lord, &c. If the Opinion of Pur∣gatory had been, at that Time, crept into the Church; who could, with any Justice, either have accused him of having done amiss in deploring, with unfeigned sorrow, and tears, the hard Condition of his Mother, confined (whether for a short, or a long time, it matters not) in a place of Torments? or excuse him, that he had not,

First, Bethought him, assoon as ever the Breath was out of her Body, to assist her with his Suffrages, and quitted all other kinde of Discourse.

Secondly, That (when it came into his minde to discharge that sad Du∣ty) he had bestowed but a small part of an hour in the Exercise of an Of∣fice, then which there could not be any of greater Concernment to her, to whom he ought his Life, and (under God) his Conversion? Would the Church of Rome, which approves of the Reitoration of the Service of the Dead for hundreds of years for the same Person, think it rational at the present, that any one of her children should promise himself the deliver∣ance of his Friends in the turning of a man's Hand, and at so easie a rate, as a short Prayer, or the weeping of a quarter of an hour amounts to?

Thirdly, That he had not been able to forbear spending some part of that little time, which he had designed for his Tears, in fruitless be∣wailings of his own loss; expressing the resentment he had conceived thereof by these words, I took a pleasure to weep concerning my self, and for my self; as if it had been seasonable, even at the very Time, that he was (as is pretended) to represent to himself the extraordinaty Exi∣gences of his Mother, to look another way, and make any reflection on his own concernments?

Fourthly, That he did not (for ought appears to us) engage himself,

to any kinde of continuance, of either his Devotions, or his Tears, which he had kept in from the beginning, with a certain violence; as con∣ceiving an indignation, that the frailty of Nature tempted him to shed them? Is it suitable to the Maxims of the Church of Rome, and the Practice of those of her Communion for some Ages past; that a Childe, not without some trouble induced, either to bewail the misery of his Fa∣ther, or to beg his deliverance out of it, shunning the performance of his Duty, assoon as he were obliged, should forbear applying any remedy thereto? Yet is this the manner of proceeding, which, it seems, may be objected to St. Augustine. He had stay'd till the Night after his Mother's Death, e're he beset himself, either to do his Devotions, or Weep on her behalf; he spent in that Exercise but a small part of an hour, and never (that we could hear of) offered to reiterate it that Night, or the next Day, or the days ensuing, but absolutely gave over, as if he had, with one word speaking, discharged all his Duty. And to represent his Acti∣on more truly, and naturally, I have used several Expressions, attri∣buting to him, either Vows, or Devotions, or Tears; in as much as these words, I took a pleasure to weep concerning her, and for her, do not necessari∣ly signifie, I took a pleasure to pray for her; but may bear this sence, I have wept for her sake, and deplored for her: not onely that she is Dead, but that she was forced to submit to the necessity of Dying, e're she had come near Old Age, viz. in her fifty sixth year: Secondly, That she died out of her Country; and, Thirdly, Without any hope of being disposed into the Sepulchre she had prepared for her self at Tagaste. For, as all these Accidents were prejudicial to him, so might they well occasion Tears, yet he, that shed them, not be engaged to pray for her; and, ac∣cording to the Rule of Contraries, I see no more Reason to conclude, He wept for his Mother, therefore, He prayed for her, then that, when we read, that St. Chrysostome advises in several places to mourn for the Ca∣techumens, who died in their Ignorance, any one should thence think to conclude, that he (contrary to the intention of the Church) ordered, that men should expiate their Crimes by Tears, and Prayers, that is to say, vainly attempt what is impossible.

'Tis true, that most Divines, as well Antient, as Modern, acknowledg that David wept for his Son Absalon, and that so much the more bitter∣ly, in as much as his affliction was (in his judgment, at least) beyond all consolation; since that unhappy Parricide, pursued by the Wrath of God, and taken away by a violent Death, suitable to his Crime, was not capable of any assistance, either by his Prayers, or otherwise. But in regard St. Augustine c 1.267 affirms of himself, that, at the hour of his Mo∣ther's Burial, the accustomed Service of the Church of his Time was ce∣lebrated, and, that he prayed to God, I am willing to grant, that he re∣newed his Supplications the Night following; and that, when he says, He had wept for her, his meaning was to have it understood, that he had prayed for her weeping. So that, without debating the matter of Fact, and presupposing it such, as it may be pretended, it shall be my Business to observe;

First, That he neither thought, there should be any great accompt made of that kinde of Office, since he conceived he had discharged his

Duty in the performance thereof; though he had spent in it but a small part of an hour; nor that there was any great necessity of it, since he continued it not; nor that it was well-grounded, since he conceived there might be Sin in it, in as much as (according to the true Belief of the Church of Rome) he engaged himself to demand a thing already done; praying for her, whom he esteemed (as advanced to Glory) not to stand in need thereof. To give this last Consideration its full Weight, and to raise it to an higher Pitch of Evidence, I am onely to produce what he adds immediately after, fastening his Discourse to the Time, when he Writ his Confessions. d 1.268 Ego autem, &c. But (now my heart being recovered of that Wound, for which it might be blamed of a carnal affection) I pour out to thee, O our God, in the behalf of that thy Servant, a kinde of Tears far different; which flow from a contrite Spirit, out of a consideration of the dan∣ger of every soul, that dies in Adam. Where I intreat the Reader to note, that he attributes to an Heart wounded with carnal affection, and such, as was worthy blame, the Tears he had shed for his Mother, the night after her Decease; and that, making it his Business to give us a Relation of it, he was obliged to change his former Disposition, and all this no less, then nine years after that Accident; in as much as his Mother died at Ostia on the fourth of May, 389. and was interred the same Day.

Secondly, That the Night between the Fourth, and the Fifth, he wept concerning her, and for her.

Thirdly, That in the year 389. (according to the Observation we have of his own, in his Retractations) he writ his Confessions, which he there ac∣knowledges composed after his Questions dedicated to Simplicianus, al∣ready Arch-Bishop of Milan; and who, (according to the Antient Or∣der of Ordinations) could not, before Sunday, April the twelfth, the day of Quasi-modo, have taken the place of St. Ambrose; who departed this World on Easter-Eve, April the fourth, 397.

And whereas, after he had dried up his first Tears; and recovered of the Wound of his Heart, whereof he had been his own accuser, in the beginning of the tenth year after his Mother's Death, he thought good to open another Source of Tears; proposing to himself, with a compas∣sionate Spirit, his deceased Mother exposed to some danger; and with∣all, that it were neither just, nor becoming the respect we ow his Blessed Memory, uncircumspectly to impute to him what the Poet said of Per∣sons in Love, that sibi somnia fingunt; as if this Great Man, merely to ex∣ercise his Wit, coud have taken pleasure in imagining Accidents without any occasion, and feigning (especially speaking to God) what was not; Let us see how far his Discourse may agree with his own Principles, and forbearing to interpose our Judgment in what concerns his man∣ner of proceeding) be content to receive it from himself, and abso∣lutely to submit to his own Rules.

In the first place, it is manifest, he admitted but two Receptacles for the Souls, that had left their Bodies; for thus he determines, in the tenth Treatise upon the First Epistle according to St. John; Ille, qui vixit, & morticus est, rapitur ad alia loca anima ipsius; corpus ipsius ponitur in terra: an fian▪ illa verba, an non fiant, non ad eam pertinet; tamen aliud agit, aliud patitur; aut in sinu Abrahae gaudet, aut in igne aeterno aquae modicum deside∣rat,

&c. He, who hath been alive, is also dead, his Soul is carried away into other places, his Body is put into the Earth; whether those words (which he recommended, expiring) come, or come not, to pass, does not concern him at all; yet he does, or endures something, he either rejoyceth in Abraham's Bo∣som, or he begs a drop of Water in everlasting Fire. Now, as, according to this Doctrine, the two Conditions of eternal misery, and felicity, Abra∣ham's Bosom, and everlasting Fire, are immediately opposite; so is it neces∣sary, that whoever departs this life, must immediately enter either into the Joy, which is unspeakable, and glorious, which shall never be taken away from him, or into a Misery incapable of Comfort, and such, as shall never end.

Secondly, It is no less certain from the Testimony of St. Augustine for∣merly alledged, that Abraham's Bosom is the rest of the Blessed, where there is no place for Temptation.

Thirdly, It is not possible, he should have thought his Mother, after her Departure, any where, but in Abraham's Bosom; since he thought it not fit to celebrate her Funeral with Tears; that he was of this Opinion, that she could not die miserably, or, rather, that she could not die at all; that he ac∣knowledged, that e 1.269 being quickened, and renewed in Christ, she had so lived, as that the Name of God had been praised both in her Belief, and Life; that he thought himself obliged to give God Thanks with Joy for her good actions; that he numbered her among the Children of God, and Inhabitants of the Heavenly Jerusalem, who have the privilege to answer the Accuser, that their Debts are discharged, and who have done works of Mercy, and have freely from their hearts forgiven their Debtours.

All this (which cannot any way be contradicted) presupposed, I ask, what Consideration of danger could prevail upon the Spirit of Saint Augustine to make him shed Tears for a Mother, whom he thought so dead in Adam, as that she rested in the Lord; since that, if he conceived he ought to say, she was dead in Adam, in regard of the dissolution of her Body, he was withall as much obliged to confess, that she was also dead in the Lord, in as much, as she had ended her Life in the Faith of his Name; and that the dissolution of her Body (in some manner, changing its Nature) was become to her an happy passage to the true Life of her Spirit, which he acknowledged had been before quickened in Christ, and by him discharged of all Sins? For, what danger can there be for those, who, dying in the Lord, do (according to the saying of the Holy Spirit) thence∣forth f 1.270 rest from their labours; Are not g 1.271 the Gifts, and Calling of God without repentance? And, as it is not possible h 1.272 to separate from the love of God those, whom he hath loved in Jesus Christ; so is it also true, that i 1.273 None can pluck them out of his hand, nor lay any thing to their charge, nor condemn them; and consequently; that There is no condemnation for tham, that k 1.274 They shall not see death; and that l 1.275 They are already passed from Death to Life. Saint Augustine confesses it, and proclaims it, say∣ing, in the fourty eighth Treatise upon St. John, Quid potest Lupus? &c. What can the Wolf do? What can the Thief, and Robber, do? They destroy onely those, that are predestinated to Death, &c. Of those Sheep (such as was, according to his own description, his good Mother, St. Monica) neither shall they be the prey of the Wolf, nor shall the Thief take them away, nor the Robber

kill any of them; he, who knows what they cost him, is secure as to their Number.

I most willingly acknowledg, that the ensuing Considerations of St. Augustine are most just, and well-grounded; Non audeo dicere, &c. I dare not affirm; that from the time, that thou didst regenerate her by Baptism, there issued no word out of her mouth against thy Commandment; and it is said by thy Son, who is Truth it self, that, If any one call his Brother Fool, he shall be guilty of Hell-fire; nay, wo be even to those, who lead commendable lives, if thou examine them without Mercy. For, since St. John protests of himself, and all the Faithfull, m 1.276 If we say, that we have no sin, we deceive our selves, and the truth is not in us, and we make God a Lyar; since the Prophet (to whose Oracle St. Augustine expresly refers himself) cryes out, n 1.277 Enter not into Judgment with thy Servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be ju∣stified; since Job, a man (according to the judgment of God himself) upright, and just, fearing God, and shunning evil, since Job, I say, being come to himself, found himself obliged to make this humble Confession o 1.278 I have uttered that I understood not, &c. wherefore I abhor my self, that I spoke in that manner, and repent in Dust, and Ashes; who would be so far out of himself as to deny, either of St. Monica, or any other of the Blessed Saints, that he ever sinned in speaking against the Commandment of God, since his Baptism, or imagine, that his Life in the profession of Christianity hath been so perfect, as might stand to the disquisition of a judgment without mercy?

But, allowing all the pious, and necessary Considerations made by St. Augustine upon the course of his Mother's Life, I am still to seek, and cannot finde the reason of the Consequence, he would have drawn thence, to think himself obliged, as one shaken by the fear of some imminent danger, to pray for her, who (by his own confession) had obtained a dis∣charge for all her sins, and (as St. Cyprian said of all the Faithfull) delivered out of the Tempests of this world, had reached the Haven of eternal safety. Nay, what sin soever she might be supposed to have committed after her Baptism, having seriously repented of it, and deplored her condition with a faithfull recourse to the p 1.279 good Ointment of Christ, q 1.280 whose Blood (as St. John declares) cleanseth us from all Sin, her r 1.281 Conscience being purged by that precious Blood, and fully purified from dead Works, is so absolutely discharged in the sight of God, as St. Augustine himself, ex∣pounding the Words of St. John, acknowledges; saying, s 1.282 Magnam securitatem dedit Deus, &c. God hath given us a great assurance, with good reason is it, that we celebrate the Pasch; since the Blood of our Lord, where∣by we are cleansed from all sin hath been shed (for us) let us fear nothing: The Devil kept the Writing of Slavery against us; but it hath been cancelled by the Blood of Christ, &c. If, through the infirmity of Life, sin hath crept unawares upon thee, discover it immediately, be offended at it immediately, con∣demn it immediately, and, when thou shalt have condemned it, thou wilt come confidently before the Judg: there thou hast an Advocate, be not afraid to lose the Cause of thy Confession.

Since then St. Monica expired, t 1.283 recommending her Soul to her faith∣full Creatour, and imploring his Mercy through the eternal Merit of that blessed Blood, the v 1.284 pure Oblation whereof had already washed off her

Original Sin, and consecrated her for ever, nothing could hinder her from going with a joyfull Heart, and certainty of Faith, towards the Holy Places, into which that truly-divine blood had purchased her the Privilege to enter. Nor indeed could St. Augustine, who had not (when she dislodged out of the Body, to be with Christ) any just cause of fear, conceive (nine years after her admittance to the fruition of her happiness) any neces∣sity of requiring on her Behalf; that God would forgive her Sins, that he would not enter into Judgment with her, that he would glorify his Mercy above his Judgment, and, in a word, do what was already done. And indeed he immediately acknowledges as much; ingenuously saying, Et, credo, jam feceris, quod te rogo; sed voluntaria oris mei approba, Domine, &c. And I believe, thou hast already done what I intreat thee to do; but yet approve, O Lord, this Prayer, which so willingly I make.

Thus we see (by his own Confession) what Office St. Augustine un∣dertook to render his Mother; amounting to no more, then a demand, purely arbitrary of what had been accomplished before, and which, for that reason, was not to be demanded. But what moved him, after so long time, to make such earnest, and particular requests for his Mother, who had always, from her Infancy, been an Example of a rare, and con∣stant Virtue; and who had been enflamed with so great Zeal for Piety, that she had gained to the Lord her whole House; not to say ought of his Father, who had been a man of a turbulent Humour, and so little in∣clined to Godliness, that he could not be won to embrace Christianity, till towards his last days? Not to make any mention of him, I say; but onely occasionally, and by the way, with this little Expression, which shews, that he thought him in Happiness, May she be in peace with her Husband; was Patricius more assured in the Possession of Peace, and did he stand less in need of the Suffrages of his Son; then Monica, who had ever excelled him in good Endowments, and had been the Instrument of his Conversion to God? I answer, that St. Augustine, who hath given such a particular accompt of the different Dispositions of his Parents, could not have fallen into so great an Errour, as to imagine his Prayers more necessary for his Mother, then for his Father; who, having been less re∣commendable, should seem to stand in greatest need thereof; and that he was induced to make particular Addresses for his Mother, was not (as might be imagined) out of any compliance with the general Custom of the Church of his Time, which being of equal Obligation towards all) would as well have obliged him to speak of his Father, as to make men∣tion of his Mother; but in obedience to the command, which his Mo∣ther had, expiring, lay'd upon him, and the desire he had to submit to her last Will, whereof he would rather be an Executour, then a Censour. This desire, I say, prevailing with him, above all other Considerations, he not onely thought it a kinde of pleasure to weep for her, the night after her Departure, but nine years after, engaging himself to Write the History thereof, and to give an accompt of her last Words. Which the more fully to satisfy, he gave way to a tenderness so great, as if he represent∣ed her to himself in some danger, that he might accordingly address to God the same Supplications, as might be made for those, who were still engaged in the Combats of this Life; though he confessed withall, they

had already been accomplished. Then calling to minde the last Com∣mand he had received from her, that was long before dead (not questi∣oning, whether it were then seasonable to do what he did) he conform∣ed himself thereto, as before, and at last required his Readers to under∣take (in what time, or place soever) the execution thereof. With a design therefore to give an accompt of his Prayer, viz. that the Lord would vouchsafe to accept the voluntary Words, or Offerings, of his mouth; he adds, Namque illa, imminente die, &c. For she, whom the day of her Death drew near, desired not, that her Body might be sumptuously adorned, or enbalmed with Spices, and Odours; nor desired she any curious, or choice Monument, or cared she to be conveyed into her Native Countrey. These things she recommended not to us; but onely desired to be remembred at thy Altar, &c. Let nothing separate her from thy Protection; Let not the Lion, and Dragon, either by force, or fraud in∣terpose himself between thee, and her. For she will not answer, that she hath no Sin, lest she be convinced, and overcome by that crafty Accuser; but she will answer, that her sins are forgiven by him, to whom no Creature can repay what he lai'd out for us, whilest himself owed nothing. Let her therefore rest in pe••cewith her Hus∣band, &c. And inspire, O Lord, my God, inspire thy servants, my Brethren; thy Children, my Lords (whom with Heart and Tongue, and Pen I serve) that whoso∣ever reads these Confessions, may, at thy Altar, remember thy servant Monica, with Patricius her Husband, through whom thou broughtest me into the world, though in what sort I know not. Let them with a Pious Affection remember those, who were my Parents in this transitory life, and who were my Brethren in respect of thee, who art our common Father in the Catholick Church our Mother, and who are to be my Fellow-Citizens in the eternal Jerusalem; for which the Pil∣grimage of thy People doth groan from their Birth unto her Death; that what she made her last desire to me, may be more abundantly performed to her, through the Prayers of many, as well by means of these my Confessions, as particular Prayers.

I have hitherto alledged the Words of St. Augustine, which justify, in the first Place, That the onely Motive, which had in the year 398. pre∣vailed with him to make Prayers for his Mother, Dead nine years before, and from that time (according to his own Presuppositions) in Happiness, was onely the Injunction she had, at her Death, lai'd upon him to re∣member her.

Secondly, That these Prayers (by his own Confession) neither were, nor could be of any necessity, or benefit to her; for whom they were, or might be made: since she had reason to answer the Accuser, That her Debts were discharged, and accordingly she had nothing to fear, as to the Consequences thereof. For, who can be separated from the Protection of God, but by Sin, which alone (according to the Saying of the Prophet Esay) does properly make a separation between man, and his God; causing him to hide his face, and not to hear, that he might protect? But can Sin (which hath no longer being, assoon as it is once expiated, and dis∣charged) any way prejudice him, who hath been once delivered from it? Or, is any man able to conceive, that what is not, is, or may be cause of any thing: since that to be Cause does not onely imply Being; but, in some manner, both Being, and Activity? Who is so much liable to the interpositi∣on of the Lion, and Dragon, to endure the open Ravage of his Violences, and

the secret mischief of his Ambushes, as he, who (like an undischarged Debtour) is dragged before the dreadfull Tribunal of God's avenging Justice? Can Debts (of what nature soever they are) be Legally exacted of those, who are (by the Acquittance of the Creditour) absolutely dis∣charged? Are they, in fine, to fear any Unhappiness, whose x 1.285 Sins our Lord bore in his own Body upon the Tree, and y 1.286 blotted out the Hand-wri∣ting that was against them?

Thirdly, That the Church of Rome (in whose Communion there is not any one, that prays for St. Monica, whom the said Church hath taken out of their Rank, for whose benefit she designs her Suffrages, to raise her into the Sphear of z 1.287 Glorious Spirits, whose Intercession she begs; how∣ever she may make a great stir about the Example of St. Augustine) does not onely not satisfy the Intreaty of that Great man any more, then the Protestants, whom she accuses, as desertours of the antient Tradition: but conceives it neither just, nor rational, to satisfy it. And, as she does not think her self guilty of any breach of Duty in forbearing to pray for St. Monica; because she accompts her to be in Bliss, and (as such) not in a capacity to receive the assistance of the Living in their Prayers; nor that they should (according to the desire of St. Augustine) expect inspi∣rations from God, such as might incline them to demand things already done, and undertake what she conceives neither rational, nor feasable: so the Protestants (who in this particular are the more willing to follow his Sentiment, the more consonant they finde it to the Word of God, and to Reason) cannot (whatever the Church of Rome may say to insinuate the contrary) be perswaded, they err in not-acknowledging any Object of Religious Adoration (however it may be conceived) other then a 1.288 God alone, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, blessed for ever, according as the Church of Rome, her self, expresses it in the first of her Commandments, b 1.289 One onely God shalt thou adore; nor any Advocate properly so called, other then him, who is proposed to all Christians by St. John, as a c 1.290 pro∣pitiation for the sins of all the World. For, as they have learn'd of St. Paul, that d 1.291 there is one Mediatour between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave himself a ransom for all; whence Avitus, Arch-Bishop of Vienna inferred, e 1.292 That if our Saviour was not, according to his Humane Na∣ture, taken into the Unity of Person, passed into the Nature of Divinity, he could not onely not have cancelled, by any Intercession, the Obligation of man∣kinde, but also had himself born the Forfeiture of his Father's Hand-wri∣ting against us. They religiously stand to the Protestation made by the Primitive Christians concerning their Martyrs, viz. f 1.293 We adore him, who is the Son of God, but we love (according as it is required of us) the Mar∣tyrs, as Disciples, and Imitatours of our Lord, and Saviour: and to that of St. Augustine, g 1.294 We honour the Martyrs by a Worship of Dilection, and Society; by which the Holy men of God are in this life also honoured. Whence they conclude, That (according to the common Sentiment of the purest part of Antiquity) there cannot be done to the Citizens of the Jerusalem, that is on high, any Honour, but what may be called a civil Honour, or of Society, Whether they are actually received into that blessed Habitati∣on, or are in their way thereto; that they have been, and ever shall be, entertained there, immediately upon their departure out of this

World, and that the honourable Solemnities, which accompany their Bodies, when they are deposited in the Earth, never had any Ceremony, which served not to demonstrate the assurance, and joy, which the sur∣viving had conceived of their happy Condition.

CHAP. XXXVIII. The Sentiment of the Protestants confirmed by the Eloges anti∣ently bestowed on the Faithfull departed.

THe same thing may be said of the Eloges, wherewith the worthy Persons of Antiquity have honoured the Memory of those, for whom the Custom would have Prayers made. Eusebius, a 1.295 speaking of the Death of Helene, who died on the eighteenth of August, about the year 330. saith, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. She was called to a better Lot, &c. So that those, who had a right Sentiment, justly conceived, that that thrice-happy (Lady) should not die; (but to say the Truth) expect the Exchange, and Translation of a Terrestrial life into a Celestial. Her Soul therefore returned to the Principle thereof, being received into an incor∣ruptible, and Angelical Essence near her Saviour. And of Constantine, who (preparing himself for Death) protested of himself, that b 1.296 he was ma∣king haste, and that he would no longer delay his departure towards his God, he affirms, that on Sunday, May 22. ^th 337. being Whit sunday, c 1.297 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. He was gathered to God, leaving to Mortals what was of the same Nature with them; and, as for himself, uniting to God what∣ever his Soul had, that was Intellectual, and beloved of God. Then, repre∣senting the common Belief of all the Subjects of the Empire concern∣ing his Beatitude, he adds, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Having framed a figure of Heaven, in a draught, in colours, they painted him above the Celestial Vaults resting in an heavenly Mansion, &c. d 1.298 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. They graved his Effigies upon Medals, having on one side the Pourtraiture of the Blessed (Emperour) with his •…•…ead veiled, and on the Reverse, the same, mount∣ed on a Chariot, drawn by four Horses, as if he drove it, raised into the Seat by an hand reached forth to him from heaven on the right side: which De∣scription might as well relate to the carrying up of Elias, rather then to the Apotheoses of the Heathens; which Constantine, upon his embracing of Christian Religion, had absolutely renounced.

Saint Athanasius, who observes, that St. Anthony had seen the Monk Ammonius 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, raised from the Earth, and the great joy of those, that came to meet him; affirms; that on the seventeenth of January 358. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 As having seen friends coming towards him, and filled with joy because of them, he fainted. The same St. Athanasius (making a Relation of the wicked attempt of Magnentius upon the Life of Con∣stans, who was murthered on the eighteenth of January, 350. and num∣bring that Prince among the Martyrs) hath these remarkable Words, e 1.299 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, That to the Blessed (Man) proved the occasion of his Martyrdom.

St. Gregory Nazianzene represents in Celestial Glory Constantius; who, after he had, through misapprehension, persecuted the Orthodox, died on the third of November, 361. f 1.300 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. I know, that he is above our Reprehension; having obtained a place with God, and possession of the Inheritance of the Glory, which is there, and transported to such a distance from us, as the Translation from one Kingdom to another amounts unto. The same St. Gregory saies of his Brother, Caesarius, who died on the 25.^th of February, about the year 369. g 1.301 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. He re∣ceives the Rewards of his new-created Soul, which the Spirit had reformed by Water. And of his Sister, Gorgonia, who died not long after, viz. on the ninth of December, 372. h 1.302 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. The things, which are now present to thee, are much more precious, then those, which are seen; The noise of those, which make a Feast, the Quires of the Angels, the Order of Heaven, the contemplation of Glory, and, more then all this, the Irradiation of the Trinity, which is above all things, and of all things the most pure, and most per∣fect. And ••f St. Athanasius, who died May the second, 371. i 1.303 That thou wouldest he pleased to look on us from on high. Of Gregory, his Father, who died the year following, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Make known unto us in what place of Glory thou art, and the light, which encompasseth thee. Of his dear Friend, St. Basil, who died January the first, 378. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, He is now in Heaven.

St. Gregory Nyssenus, of St. Ephraim, who died on the 28^th of the same Moneth of January, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. He expired in the quiet Haven of the Eternal Kingdom, and is kindly re∣ceived into it: But where otherwise may it be conjectured, that his Soul hath been deposited, if not (as indeed it is manifest) in the Celestial Tabernacles, where are the Batallions of Angels, a Populace of Patriarchs, Quires of Pro∣phets, the Thrones of the Apostles, the Joy of the Martyrs, the Exultation of Saints, the Splendour of the Doctours, the Assembly of the First-born, the per∣fect Noise of those, that are a Feasting? To those good things, in which the An∣gels desire to rest themselves, that they may see them, into that sacred place, the most blessed in all kinds, and most holy soul of our Blessed, and worthy-to-be-ce∣lebrated Father is passed. Of the great Meletius, Arch-Bishop of Antioch, who died on the twelfth of February, 381. before he could have enjoy∣ed the Communion of Rome; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. No longer, as through a Glass, and obscurely; but face to face, he prays to God. Of Pulcheria, Daughter to the Emperour THEODOSIUS; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 She was transferred from one Kingdom to another. Of Flavilla, first-Wife to the same Prince, who died in the year 385. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Her conversation is in the Royal Palaces of Heaven.

St. Ambrose, of his Brother, Satyrus; who dyed September the seven∣teenth, 383. De istius Beatitudine dubitare nequaquam debemus, &c. We ought not to doubt of his Beatitude. Of the Emperour VALENTINIAN the Second, two Moneths after his Assàssination, which happened on Sa∣turday, Whitsun-Eve, May the fifteenth, 382. before that Prince had re∣ceived Baptism; Ille etiam talis, ut ei nihil timeatis, &c. He is now in such a condition, that you need not fear what may happen to him, as before, &c. I ask, whether there be any Sentiment after death, or not? If there be, he lives; or rather, because he lives, he is already in possession of Eternal Life, &c. That

he was so soon snatched from us, we are to grieve; that he is passed into a better Estate, it should be our comfort, &c. Thou lookest on us, Holy Soul, from an high place, as casting thy sight on things, that are below, &c. Now, borrowing light from the Sun of Righteousness, thou enjoyest a clear day, &c. His going hence was most noble, as a Flight into Heaven, &c. What thou hast sown upon Earth, reap it there, &c. The stain of Sin being done off, he, whom his Faith washed, his Prayer consecrated, is gone up cleansed into Heaven, &c. joyned with his Brother (Gratian) he enjoyes the pleasures of eternal Life, &c. Of the Emperour THEODOSIUS, who dyed January the seventeenth, 395. Regnum non deposuit, sed mutavit, &c. He hath not layd by, but exchanged the Royal Dignity: being admitted, by the Prerogative of Piety, into the Taber∣nacles of Christ, into that Jerusalem, which is above; where being now placed, he saith, k 1.304 As we have heard, so have we seen in the City of the LORD of Hosts, &c. Having gone through a doubtfull combat, Theodo∣sius, of famous Memory, does now enjoy perpetual Light, and a Tranquility of long continuance, and hath the self-satisfaction of what he did in his •…•…ly, in the Fruits of divine remuneration, &c. He hath deserved admittance into the So∣ciety of the Saints, &c. His abode is in light, &c. He is over-joyed to be in the Assemblies of the Saints, &c. There he now embraces Gratian, &c. Who en∣joyes the rest of his Soul, &c. Being pious, he hath passed from the obscurity of this World to eternal Light, &c. Now does he know, that he reigns; since that he is in the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, and considers his Temple, &c. Con∣stantinople, thou art evidently happy, who receivest a Guest of Paradise, and shalt entertain in the narrow Inn of a Sepulchre, an Inhabitant of that City, which is on high, &c. And of Ascholius, Arch-Bishop of Thessalonica, who dyed about the year 385. Est Superorum incola, possessor civitatis aeternae, illius Hierusalem, quae in caelo est, videt illis facie ad faciem, &c. He is an Inhabi∣tant of the places which are above, a Possessour of the Eternal City, of that Je∣rusalem, which is in Heaven, there he sees face to face.

St. Hierome, of Blaesilla, who died in the year 382. l 1.305 Postquam, sar∣cinâ carnis abjectâ, &c. Having layd down its burthen of Flesh, the Soul is fled back to her Authour; after a long Pilgrimage, she is ascended into her antient possession, &c. Me-thought, then (when her Coffin was making ready) she cryed from Heaven, I know not those Garments, that Covering is not mine, &c. Blaesilla now followeth Jesus, she is now in the society of the holy Angels, &c. She is passed from Darkness to Light, &c. She lives with Christ in the Hea∣vens, &c. Of Lea, who died March the two and twentieth, 384. m 1.306 Universorum gaudiis prosequenda, &c. She is to be attended with the joy of all, who, having trod Satan under foot, hath received the Crown of Security, &c. For a short trouble, she now enjoyes eternal Beatitude; she is received into the Quires of Angels, she is cherished in the Bosom of Abraham, &c. she follows Christ, and saith, n 1.307 All the things, which we have heard of, the same we have also seen in the City of our God, &c. Of Nepotianus, a Priest of Altinum, who died in the year 397. o 1.308 Scimus Nepotianum nostrum esse cum Christo, & Sanctorum mixtum Choris, &c. Corpus terra suscepit, anima Christo reddita est, &c. We know that our (Friend) Nepotianus is with Christ, and among the Quires of the Saints, &c. The Earth received his Body, his Soul was restored to Christ, &c. And of Paulina, the Wife of Pamma∣chius, departed this life in the year 393. p 1.309 Illa (Blaesilla) cum sorore

Paulina dulci somno fruitur; tu, duarum medius, leviùs ad Christum subvola∣bis, &c. Blaesilla, with her Sister Paulina, rests in a quiet sleep; thou, being between both, shalt have a more easie flight to Christ, &c. Of Paula, the Mo∣ther of Blaesilla, and Paulina, departed in Beth-lehem, on the twenty eighth of January, 404. q 1.310 Fides, & opera tua, Christo te sociant; praesens quod po∣stulas, facilius impetrabis, &c. Thy Faith, and Works associate thee to Christ; being present (O Paula) thou shalt more easily obtain what thou desirest, &c.

Aspices angustum praecisâ rupe Sepulchrum? Hospitium Paulae coelestia regna tenentis, &c.

Seest thou a Rock t' a narrow Coffin hewn? 'Tis Paula's Mansion, who to Heav'n is flown.

Of Lucinus, departed about the year 410. r 1.311 Obsecro te, &c. I beseech thee, Theodorus, that thou wouldest bewail thy Lucinius as a Brother; yet so, as to rejoyce withall, that he reigns with Christ, &c. Confident, and Con∣querour, he looks from on high, &c. Of Fabiola, departed in the year 401. s 1.312 Depositâ tandem sarcinâ, levior volavit ad Caelum, &c. Having lay'd down her burthen, she is fled with more ease towards heaven.

Saint Chrysostome of Berenice, and Prosdoce, who were drowned during the Persecution; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 More∣over, these were with the Souldiers of Christ, the heavenly Angels. Of Pela∣gia, who had cast her self down Headlong; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. She ran, not towards the top of a mountain, but towards the highest heaven, &c. The threatning of the Judg, &c. pressed her to flie with greater haste towards heaven, &c. She went out of her Chamber, out of the Woman's Closet, into another Chamber, that is to say, heaven, &c. Which is as much, as he could have said, and what he had said in sub∣stance, of the greatest Martyrs, St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Romanus, St. Julian, St. Juventinus, St. Maximus, and others, whose Elogies he writ.

The same St. Chrysostome says also of Philogonius, Arch-Bishop of Anti∣och, deceased the twentieth of December, about the year 322. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Ascending into heaven, he hath no need of the Praises of men; since he is gone to a greater, and more happy portion, &c. He is trans∣ferred to the Society of Angels, &c. Of Eustathius, who had held the same See, and died about the year 359. upon the sixteenth of July, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Transferred to heaven, he is gone towards Jesus, whom he had desired; and almost in the same Terms of Meletius, his Ordinary, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 He is gone towards Jesus, whom he had desired.

St. Augustine, of Verecundus, who had entertained him, and all his Com∣pany, at his Countrey-House, t 1.313 Retribues illi, Domine, in resurrecti∣one Justorum; quia jam ipsam sortem retribuisti ei, &c. O Lord, thou shalt reward him in the Resurrection of the Just; because thou hast already cast that Lot upon him And of Nebridius, who was come out of Africk into Italy, to live with him; Nunc ille vivit in sinu Abrahae, &c. Now he lives in Abraham's Bosom (whatsoever it be, that is understood by that Bosom,) There my Nobridius lives, that dear Friend of mine, and thy adopted Son, O Lord,

who had once been a Bond-slave, but was after freed. There he liveth; for what other place can be fit for such a Soul? In that place he liveth, whereof he was wont to ask me, miserable, and unexperienced man, so many Questions. Now he no longer laies his Ear to my Mouth; but applies his spiritual mouth to thy Spring, and drinks Wisdom after the rate of his greedy Thirst, happy to all E∣ternity.

Paulinus, of Rusina, the Wife of Alethius; Habes jam in Christo ma∣gnum tui pignus, &c. Thou hast already in Christ a great pledge of thy self, an earnest Suffr age, thy. Wife, who prepares as much favour for thee in the Hea∣venly Places, as thou furnishest her with abundance from those upon Earth, &c. She abounds, by the supplies of thy Wealth, being clad in a Golden Vesture, and cloathed all over with variety, viz. precious light, &c.

Paulinus, the African, of St. Ambrose; Ubi corpus Domini accepit, &c. After be had received the u 1.314 Body of our Lord, he gave up the Ghost, taking along with him a good provision, that his Soul, being more refreshed by the strength of that Viand, should be now rejoycing in the Society of Angels, and Elias, whose Life he lived here.

Sulpicius Severus, of St. Martin, who died on Sunday, November the eleventh, 400. Spiritum coelo reddidit, &c. He resigned his Spirit to Hea∣ven, &c. There was an holy rejoycing at his Glory, &c. The Heavenly Com∣pany, singing Hymns, accompanies the Body of the Blessed man to the place of his Enterment, &c. Martin hath the Acclamations of divine Psalms; Martin is honoured with Ecclesiastical Hymns, &c. Martin is entertained with joy in Abraham's Bosom; Martin, who had been here poor; and beggarly, enters Rich into Heaven, &c. And, it is to be noted, by the way, that that Great Man, a little before he gave up the Ghost, had answered those, who would have had him to lie on his side, Sinite me, Fratres, coelum potius respicere, quàm terram, ut suo jam itinere, iturus ad Dominum, Spiritus dirigatur. Suffer me, Brethren, rather to look up towards Heaven, then down upon the ground; that my Spirit, which is now taking its journey to God, may be directed in its way.

Palladius writes of St. Chrysostome, who dyed November the seventh, 407. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Passing hence to Christ, &c.

Ennodius, Bishop of Pavia, of Epiphanius, his Praedecessour, deceased January the twenty first, 496. Cùm beatissimus cerneret Pontifex, &c. The blessed Prelate, seeing, &c. that he was ready to fly to the pure brightness of Heaven, &c. assured of his perfection, he added, My heart is confirmed in the Lord, &c. So, as that heavenly Soul, resounding with Hymns, and Songs, even at the point of Death, returned to her Lord, &c. He, whose departure we bewail upon Earth, is in possession of the high places with God, &c. And of Anthony, the Hermit of Valtelina, afterwards a Monk in the Monastery of Lerina, deceased December the twenty eighth, 488. Mundi istius sarcinam deponens, &c. Laying down the burthen of this World, and having overcome the Ambushes laid by the craft of the old Serpent, he hath exchanged our day, and the light of this present World, for that, which is perpetual.

If the Harmony of all these Testimonies, which have been produced, suf∣fice not to satisfie, and perswade the most-prepossessed Spirits, that the most eminent, and best-informed Antiquity (reforming the Opinion, which the Sibylline Writing, falsly so called, had introduced among Christians, hath

unanimously embraced, and constantly taught the Protestants the Senti∣ment, which they, with one accord, follow, concerning the State of the Faithfull departed in Jesus Christ; it were no hard matter for them to make a more ample Production of Instances; since that, in a manner, all we have left, of the Lives of Persons, who have made profession of Piety, as∣sures us, that all, without any distinction; Martyrs, Confessours, Prelates, Religious Persons, Laicks, &c. even to the Catechumens, whom an invin∣cible necessity deprived of the Baptism, they had earnestly desired, were, upon their dissolution translated to Heaven, where they have been, and still are in Rest, Happiness, and Glory, expecting the Resurrecti∣on of the Bodies, they have deposited in Earth. And as we might justly rely on the grave Remonstrance, which Saint Hierome made above one thousand, two hundred, and seventy years ago, even in Rome it self, to Paula, excessively lamenting the death of her Daughter Blaesilla; speaking of himself, and of all Christians in general; x 1.315 Nos, quorum exitum Angelorum turba comitatur, quibus obviam Christus occurrit, gra∣vamur magis, si diutiùs in isto mortis Tabernaculo habitamus, &c. In Jesu mortem gaudia prosequuntur, &c. We, whose Departure the Assem∣blies of Angels accompany, whom Christ comes to meet, are more grieved, that we dwell any longer in this Tabernacle of Death, &c. Joys attend the death, which is in Jesus, &c. So might we, with good reason, summon those, who hold the contrary, to let us know, what they have of greater Consequence, then the unanimous Consent of Eusebi∣us's, Athanasius's, Gregory's, Ambrose's, Hierome's, Chrysostome's, &c. and might induce them not to embrace it, and force us to change our Opinion.

CHAP. XXXIX. The same Sentiment further confirmed from Sepulchral In∣scriptions.

BUt though we should be willing (out of a Design to gratify our Ad∣versaries) not to bring into any accompt at all the Depositions of all these Great Persons, and make a voluntary loss of their Writings, and Judgments, yet would the Epigrams, and Inscriptions of antient Monu∣ments, which Rome, and her Correspondents, preserve for us, be enough to keep us from falling into so great a weakness, as the renouncing of our present Opinion, concerning the State of the Faithfull departed. Nay, though all the Doctours of the Church were silent, and their Testimonies cast out of all respect, the Stones (as long as they shall remain) will not cease publishing, and that very loudly, the truth of the perswasion maintained by us. Let us then consult those half consumed Epitaphs, a 1.316 which the Providence of God hath made to triumph over so many ruins, and make our advantage of the hardness of Marbles, which have hitherto stood out against the injury of Times, to confound the insen∣sibility of those, who seem desirous injuriously to smother a most evi∣dent

Truth. Let us propose it to their own Consciences, whether it be not a very strong presumption against them, that not any one of those Antient Inscriptions, whereof they are the Preservers, and Admirers, can, without violence, be applied to their Sentiment, and that all of them presuppose ours, which yet they charge (I know not upon what accompt) with Novelty. Which to make so much the more manifest, I shall begin with the most simple, which I shall reduce into Classes, al∣ledging of every one some Instance; then conclude with those, which, being of greater length, make a clearer discovery of the Design of their Authours. The Book, entituled Roma Subterranea, in as much as it contains a Description of the Vaults, and Cemiteries, digged under ground in, and about, that City, furnishes us with about ninety Examples of Epitaphs, which say simply, In Pace, &c. In Peace, as that of Proclus, Interred under the eighth Consulship of Honorius, that is to say, in the year 409. that of Hilara, deceased under the Consulship of Opilio, that is to say, in the year 453. those of Crescentina, Honoraius, Pelagia, Ul∣pius Festus, Quartina, &c.

Others had 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, a Place of Rest. As that of Ammonius, and of Eutyches; Locus GerontI Presbyteri, &c. The Place of Gerontius the Priest, deceased the seventeenth of June, under the Consulship of Avitus; that is to say, in the year 456. Hîc habet sedem Leo Presbyter, &c. The Priest Leo hath his Seat here.

Others, which in some sort savour of the Style of the Heavens. As Domus aeterna Ex. & Tyres in Pace, &c. The eternal house of Ex. and Tyre in peace: and that of Valeriana in like manner.

Others had onely this word Quiescit, &c. He rests. As that of Victo∣ria, that of Pancratius the Bishop, deceased in the year 493. and that of Alix, the Daughter of Pipin, Interred at St. Arnoul-de-Mets.

Or Requiescit, which signifies the same thing. As that of Gordianus, Interred the ninth of September, under the Consulship of Symmachus; that is to say, in the year 485. That of Aemiliana, Interred the eleventh of October, under the Consulship of Probinus, viz, in the year 489. That of Pelagius the First, deceased the fourth of March, 558. That of Au∣gustine, Arch-Bishop of Canterbury, deceased the twenty fifth of May, 604. That of Boniface the Fourth, deceased the eighth of May, 614. That of Theodore, who died in the year 619. That of Theobald, Bishop of Ostia. That of Roderick last King of the West-Goths, in Spain, who died on Sunday the eleventh of November, 714. That of Alcuin, deceased the nineteenth of May 804. That of b 1.317 Bernard King of Italy, deceased April the 17^th. 871. and Interred at Milan, that of the Abbot Vintila, deceased at Leon, the three and twentieth of December, in the year 928.

Others, Quievit, &c. He is at rest. As that of Susanna deceased the seven and twentieth of July, under the Consulship of Caesarius, and At∣ticus, in the year 397. Or Requievit: as that of Leo the Neop••yte, de∣ceased the four and twentieth of June, under the Consulship of Philippus, and Sallea, in the year 348. and that of Leontius, the Spanyard, deceased the four and twentieth of June, 510.

Others, Depositus, &c. He is left as a Pledge, &c. As those of Mace∣donia, and Fortunula.

Others, Quiescet in pace, &c. He shall rest in Peace. As that of Mari∣nus, deceased the thirtieth of November, under the Consulship of Arbaethio, and Lollianus, in the year 355. Others, Requiescet in pace; which signi∣fies the same thing: as that of Felix. Others, Requievit in pace, &c. He is at rest in peace: as that of Litorius, deceased at Talabriga, or Talave∣ra della Reina, the four and twentieth of June, in the year of the Aera 548, or 510 of Christ. That of Primus, deceased at Evora, the thir∣teenth of March, according to the Aera 582. or 544 of Christ. That of Paulina, deceased the eighteenth of November, under the Consulship of Datianus, and Cerealis, in the year 318. That of Andrew of Cajeta, de∣ceased the nineteenth of October, 585. That of Ermengarda, deceased the twentieth of March, 852.

Others, Quiescit in pace, &c. He rests in peace. As those of Donatus, Principalis, Januarius, Gabinia, Cutinus, Jobinus; and that of Celerinus, de∣ceased under the seventh Consulship of Valentinian with Avienus, in the year 450. That of Paulus, deceased the twelfth of March, in the year of the Aera 582. which comes to the year of our Saviour 544. The Acrostick of the Epitaph of Florentinus, Abbot of Sainte Croix d'Arles, deceased the twelfth of April, 553.

Others, Requiescit in pace; which is the same: as that of Tarreses, under the fourth Consulship of Theodosius, in the year 411. That of Praetextatus, the eleventh of October, under the Consulship of Festus, in the year 472. That of Paula, under the Consulship of Venantius, in the year 508. That of Processus, the twenty fifth of May, under the Consul∣ship of Probus, in the year 513. That of Petronius, under the Consulship of Probinus, in the year 489. That of Sabinus, under the Consulship of Symmachus, and Boëthius, in the year 522. That of Romulus, the twelfth of September, under the Consulship of Lampadius, and Orestes, in the year 530. That of Thaumasta, December the twelfth, Indict. 11. two years after, viz. 532. That of Dausdet, the seventeenth of April, after the Consulship of Paulinus, in the year 535. That of Fausta, Wife of Cassius, Bishop of Narni, deceased the thirtieth of June, 558. That of Con∣cordia, deceased the thirteenth of September, Indiction 4. in the fourth year of Mauricius; that is to say, in the year 586.

Others, Depositus in pace: He is deposited, or, Left as a Pledge in peace. As that of Susanna, under the Consulship of Bassus, and Philippus, in the year 408. That of Albina, deceased the thirteenth of October, under the Con∣sulship of Taurus, and Felix, in the year 428. That of Timothea, the first of November, under the Consulship of Avitus, in the year 456. That of Petronia, October the fifth, under the Consulship of Festus, in the year 472. That of Exuperantia, under the Consulate of Festus the Younger, in the year 490. That of Boëtius, October 25^th. 557. Those of Simplicius, Veneri∣anus, Paulus, Innocentius, Viventius, Honorius, Quintianus, Alypia, Abundan∣tius, &c. Others, Positus in pace; Lay'd in peace: as that of Bonifacius.

Others, Defunctus in pace, &c. He is deceased in peace: as those of ••lara, and Antiochianus.

Others, Decessit in pace, &c. He is departed in peace: as those of Doxius, and Victorius.

Others, Dormit in pace, &c. He sleepeth in peace: as that of Felici∣tas,

and her Son; those of Sabbatius, Heraclius, Respectus.

Others, Requiescit in somno pacis, &c. Heresteth in the sleep of Peace: as that of Mala, deceased June the tenth, under the Consulship of Aetius, in the year 432.

Others, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Jacet in pace, &c. He is layed in peace: as that of Matrona, deceased May the fourteenth, under the Consulship of Her∣culanus, in the year 452. That of Hygeia, &c.

Others, Requiescit in Domino, &c. He resteth in the Lord: as that of Ge∣rontius the Priest, deceased under the Consulship of Avitus, and cited by Cardinal Baronius, under the year 456. §. 1.

Others, Recessit in pace, &c. He is retired in peace: as that of Alexandria, deceased the twenty third of December, in the year of the Aera 503. con∣current with the year of our Lord 465. That of Paula, deceased January the seventeenth, in the year of the Aera 582. concurrent with the year of our Lord 544. and that of Gregory, deceased the fourth of February following. That of Julian, Bishop of Euora, deceased the first of De∣cember, in the year of the Aera 604. or the 566 of our Saviour.

Others, Requievit in pace Domini, &c. He is at rest in the peace of the Lord: as that of Severus the Priest of Badajox, deceased October the twenty second, in the year of the Aera 622. or 584 of Christ. And that of a certain Inhabitant of Elvas, deceased February the eighteenth, in the year of the Aera 582. or of Christ 544.

Others, Quietem accepit in Deo Patre nostro, & Christo ejus, &c. He hath taken his rest in God our Father, and his Christ: as that of Florentinus, cited by ••asius upon the Dialogues of Severus Sulpicius.

Others, Requiescit, deposita in pace, &c. She rests, laid up as a pledge in peace: as that of Dativa, and Basilia.

Others, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 He goes before in peace: as that of Re∣ceptus.

Others, Bene requiescit in pace, &c. He rests well in peace: as that of Pelagius, and another Anonymous one, to the same sence, Bene requiescit.

Come we now to others, expressing somewhat of a more particular form, and humour; as, Locus Sallii Pontii Jovini in Christo, &c. The place of Sallius Pontius Jovinus in Christ. Hîc pax quiescit Caucaridis, &c. Here resteth the peace of Caucaris. And this other, Expect at refrigeria, He looks for refreshments, &c. Again, Spiritus in bono: The spirit is in the enjoyment of good. Redempta Polyxene: Polyxena redeemed. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Leo victo∣rious in peace. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Here lieth Paulina, in the place of the Blessed, &c. Deo semper unite Luci cum pace: Lucius, who art ever united to God with peace.

There are some also, which contain Wishes: as, for instance, Optatus in pace requiescat; May Optatus rest in peace. Refrigerii tibi donum potitus, &c. May the favour of refreshment be communicated to thee, &c. Regina, vi∣vas in Domino Jesu, &c. Regina, mayest thou live in the Lord Jesus.

Nay there were some contained Imprecations. Among others this, Malè pereat, insepultus jaceat, non resurgat, cum Juda partem habeat; si quis sepulchrum hoc violaverit, &c. May he come to an ill-end, may be lie unburied, may he never rise again, may he have his portion with Judas; whoever shall vio∣late this Sepulchre.

But, from these Wishes, cannot rationally be inferred either the delay, or total privation of their Felicity, on whose behalf they were con∣ceived; and the refreshment, in expectation whereof the Antients thought them to be, did not signifie their consolation in, or after the Pains of Purgatory, which the present Church of Rome imagines; as if he, who said of his Friend, Expectat refrigeria, &c. He expects refreshments, had meant, that he was in hopes to obtain some diminution, or, haply, the absolute cessation of the Torments he endured, with some allusion to those, who, feeling the excessive Heat of Fire, wish, and hope for the re∣spirations of a cooling, and temperate Air. On the contrary, (accord∣ing to the Romane Liturgy, which indefinitely, and without any exception, demands, for the Faithfull departed, locum refrigerii, &c. a place of refresh∣ment; expressly alluding to the Words of St. Peter, who called the Last day, c 1.318 The times of refreshing, and of the restitution of all things:) on the contrary, I say, the Person, so wishing, considered his Frien••, as aspi∣ring to the plenary enjoyment of that happy State, whereof he ex∣pected the absolute accomplishment on the day of the general Resurrecti∣on, at the end of the World; though he were already, by way of ad∣vance, possessed of the Earnest thereof, according to the Saying of the Authour of the Book of Wisdom, who affirms, that, d 1.319 Though the righteous be prevented with death, yet shall he be in rest: where the Latine Version hath it, in refrigerio, &c. in a place of refreshment. Which shews, that the In∣terpreter had found in his Copy, not 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, (as the Text hath it) but 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 so that, in the Discourses of the Antients, the begging of refreshments for their departed Friends could not signifie any other thing, then what is expressed in the Liturgy attributed to Saint James, in these words, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 Do thou cause them to rest there, e 1.320 in the Land of the living, in f 1.321 thy Kingdom, in the g 1.322 Delights of Paradise, in the h 1.323 Bosoms of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our Holy Fathers, i 1.324 where trouble, and sorrow, and Lamentation have no place. Which indeed is no more, then is required in the Liturgy, which goes under the name of Saint Mark, and more at large in that, which is attributed to Saint Clement, and those of Saint Basil, and Saint Chrysostome; all which concur in the demand of the Celestial Beatitude, which they design by the several Expressions u∣sed in the Scripture to represent it, and suppose, that God hath commu∣nicated it 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, even there, where the departed Person, whose Memory is celebrated, hath been already placed. And in this sence is it confirmed by Tertullian, the most antient of the Latines; who, speaking of Prayer for the dead, does, in the fourth Chapter De testimonio animae, call eternal Bea∣titude a refreshment; and saith, Affirmamus expectare diem judicii, proque meritis, aut crucia••ui destinari, aut refrigerio, utrique sempiterno, &c. We affirm, that the Soul expects the day of Judgement, and that, according to her Works, she is destined either to Torment, or to Refreshment; both which are e∣ternal. Which had made so deep an Impression upon some mens spi∣rits; that, about the year 960. Hildegarius, Bishop of Limoges, Founder of the Abbey of St. Peter, protested, that the Motive of his Founding it was, Ut pius, & clementissimus Deus, in Die Judicii, refrigerium praestare digne∣tur,

&c. That God, out of his compassion, and clemency, would be pleased to give (to his own Soul, and those of his Friends) refreshment, at the day of Judgment.

Some conceive, that the Epitaphs, which run thus, In pace, &c. Qui∣escit in pace, &c. Depositus in pace, &c. Dormit in pace, &c. do not signifie, that the Departed Person is in absolute possession of that sovereign Peace, which is that of God; but simply, that he departed in the Peace of the Church. For my part, I am willing to believe; that those, who gave order for such Inscriptions, intended thereby to comprehend the Peace of the Church, remembring, that, as to be grafted into the Body of the visible Church is naturally an external mark of the Believer's admission into the society of the Saints, whose Names are written in Heaven; so the participation of her Peace is many times a Pledge of the Peace of God. But it is impossible, it should be the intention of the Authours of those an••ient Epitaphs, to speak of the Peace of the Church; and to insi∣nuate, that the Faithfull departed were not (when God called them out of this world) excommunicated. And that for these reasons:

First, These very Forms are indifferently used upon the Tombs of Martyrs, little Children, and Persons newly-baptized: who, every one knows, could not have deserved the Censures of the Church; but were, without dispute, passed from the troubles of this life into the rest of Heaven, which onely may be denoted by the name of Peace, inscribed upon their Monuments.

Secondly, It may be said, that neither being possessed of the Peace of the Church is an infallible assurance of the participation of that of God, out of which are excluded Hypocrites, whom the Church must of necessi∣ty entertain in her Communion, as not knowing their interiour; nor does the privation of the Church's peace necessarily infer the denyal of that of God; it being possible, that many good people (through Errour in mat∣ter of Fact) may be treated in the society of the Faithfull otherwise, then they should; as, for Example, a Meletius, whom the Church of Rome never honoured with her Communion, though now she acknowledges, by the Celebration she annually makes of his Memory, that he was most wor∣thy of it, and a Person precious in the sight of God. Whence it follows; that the Faithfull departed should not carry hence with them a truly per∣swasive Testimony of the Piety, in which they ended their dayes; if the surviving, saying onely They died in Peace, thought it enough to attribute to them an advantage, many times common to those, who have, through their own fault, been deprived of the Grace of God to their Dying-day.

Thirdly, Because the Antients have, by several Forms, expressed their Sentiment, and declared, that, when they assigned Peace to their deceased Brethren, they specifically limited themselves to the peace of God; which onely is able to make them happy. Thus (not to mention the Inscripti∣on of the Tombs of Severus of Badajox, and the Inhabitant of Elvas, which hath expresly Pacem Domini, The peace of the Lord) the Epitaph of Junius Bassus, cited by Cardinal Baronius, says, that Neophytus îit ad Deum VIII. Calend. Septemb. Eusebio & Hypatio Coss. &c. Being newly-converted to the Faith, he went to God on the eighth of the Calends of Sep∣tember,

Eusebius and Hypatius being Consuls: that is to say, August the twenty fifth, 359. That of Eusebia, Copied by Father Sirmond, in his Notes upon Sidonius, runs thus, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Here lieth Eusebia, who is in peace, &c. under the eighth Consulship of Honorius, and the first of Constantine, in the year 409. That of Gaudentia, thus; Gabina Gaudentia, &c. per∣petuâ quiescit in pace, &c. Gabina Gaudentia resteth in perpetual peace. That of Timothea, thus; Timothea in pace D. Kal. Nov. Cons. D. N. Aviti, &c. Timothea hath been deposited in the peace of the Lord, Nov. 1. Avitus our Lord being Consul, in the year 456. That of Marius, thus; Satis vixit; dum vitam pro Christo cum signo consumpsit, in pace tandem quievit, &c. He hath lived long enough; since he hath spent his life for Christ, with the Sign (of Faith) and is at length deposed in peace. That of Placidus, thus; Tandem in Caelo quiescit: He is at length rested in Heaven. To the same sense was that of Alexander the Martyr, burnt at Rome on the tenth of July, for the Testimony of Christ.

Alexander mortuus non est; sed vivit super Astra, & corpus in hoc Tumulo quiescit. Vitam explevit cum Antonino Imp. quiubi multum beneficii antevenire praevideret, pro gratia o'dium reddit; genua enim flectens, vero Deo sacrificaturus, ad supplicia ducitur. O témpora infausta, quibus inter sacra, & vota, nè in cavernis quidem salvari possimus▪ Quid miserius vita; sed quid miserius in Morte, cùm ab Amicis, & Parentibus, sepeliri nequeamus. Tandem in Coelo corruscat; pa∣rùm vixit, iv. x. tem........

Alexander is not dead; but lives above the Stars, and his Body rests in this Tomb. He ended his life with the Em∣perour Antoninus; who, foreseeing that much good was to happen to him, re∣turns him Hatred instead of Favour. For, when he had bent his Knees, to sacrifice to the true God, he is led to punishment. O unhappy times, wherein, among sacred Exercises, and Devotions, we cannot be safe, not even in Ca∣verns! What more miserable, then Life? but is there any thing more miserable in Death, then that we cannot be buried by our Friends, and Kindred? At length he shines in heaven; he hath lived but a short time, &c. That of Mala; Re∣quiescit in somno pacis, &c. accepta apud Deum, &c. She rests in a sleep of peace, &c. received near God. That of Marius Innocentius; In pace Dei¦dormit, &c. He sleeps in the Peace of the Lord. That of Paulina; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 She lies in the place of the Blessed. That of Florentius; Requiem accepit in Deo Patre nostro, & Christo ejus, &c. He is at rest in God our Father, and his Christ. That of Lucius; Deo Sancto unite cum pace, &c. Thou united to the Holy God with peace. That of Leo; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 He is Victo∣riour. That of Receptus; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 He goes before in peace. That of Jovinus; Locus Sallii Pontii Jovini in Christo, &c. The place of Sal∣lius Pontius Jovinus in Christ.

Having thus heard the Judgment of Pious Antiquity concerning the State of the Faithfull departed, and learn'd of it, that they go to God, that they are, and go before, in peace; that they are, and sleep, in the peace of the Lord; that they are received to the Lord, and united to him with peace; that they are in the place of the Blessed; that they rest in eternal peace, and in heaven, as Conquerours; which is confirmed by the Figures of Crowns, Palms, and the Dove bringing to Noë the Olive-branch, the Symbol of

the peace of God, graved upon most of the antient Tombs; who can, without renouncing common sence, and opposing the Testimony of his own eys, which read these words, and see these Symbolical Pourtraitures upon the Monuments, where words are wanting, imagine, that the Epitaphs, whereby the Deceased are said to be in peace, &c. in peace, signifie one∣ly, that they died not under Excommunication; and not, that they are (as Combatants retired out of the Field) happy, and triumphant in Ce∣lestical Glory?

CHAP. XL. The same deduced from larger Epitaphs.

WE have not any Epitaph in Verse of more Antient Date, then the Papacy of Damasus, by whose Hand, the first we have were written; but we may confidently affirm, that even those, and almost all, that have been composed from the year 384. in which that Prelate ended his Life, to the year 900. constantly presuppose the Beatitude, and Glory of those, to whose Memory they were Dedicated. Thus that of Irene, Sister to the said Pope;

"Quum sibi eam raperet melior tunc Regia Coeli, "Non timui mortem, Coelos quòd libera adiret; "Sed dolui (fateor) consortia perdere vitae, &c.

Now, that 〈◊〉〈◊〉 a better place she's snatch'd, her death I grieve not, since to heav'n she's freely gone; But that I've lost her conversation, Is my regret.—

That of Projecta, deceased the thirtieth of December, under the Con∣sulship of Merobaudes, and Saturninus, in the year 383.

—"Ex oculis Flori Genitoris abivit, "Aetheream cupiens Coeli conscendere lucem, &c.

—S•••• vanish'd from her Father's sight, Greedy to go to heav'ns aethereal Light.

That of Tigris, Deacon of the Romane Church;

—"Quaeris Plebs sancta redemptum "Levitam? subitò rapuit sibi Regia Coeli, &c. "Nunc Paradisus habet, sumpsit qui ex hoste Trophaea, &c.

—Do you the redeemed Levite seek? Heav'n's Court hath snatch'd him hence.— Who Tropheys from the Enemy did wrest, Of heav'n is now possest.

A manner of speaking used by Pope Damasus in the Epitaph of his sister Irene, and of the Saints, Martyrs; of whom he says,

"Sublimes animas rapuit sibi Regia Coeli, &c.

"To heav'n's Court high souls are carried hence.

And the conclusion of the whole Epigram is,

He, who took Tropheys from the Enemy, In Paradise enjoyes felicity.

That of Tigris, the Priest:

"Sedibus in propriis mens pura, & membra, quiescunt: "Ista jacent Tumulo; gaudet at illa Polo, &c. "Promeruit superas laetior ire domos, &c.

His Minde, and Members, sev'ral seats contain: In Heaven that; these in the Grave remain.

That of Marcellina, Sister of St. Ambrose:

—"Te pia Virgo, supernum "Accipit Imperium, placidae{que} ad munera vitae, "Aeternum Christus pretium tibi destinat Aulae, &c. —"Te, Virgo, tuus transvexit ad aethera Sponsus, &c.

To blessed Life, and a Superual Throne, The just reward of thy Devotion, Does Christ receive thee, Virgin, &c. Virgin, to Heaven thy Spouse does thee transport.

That of Probus, Praefect of the Praetorium;

"Eximii resolutus in aetheris aequore, tutum "Curris iter,—&c. "Nunc propior Christo, Sanctorum sede potitus, "Luce nova frueris, Lux tibi Christus adest, &c. —"Renovatus habes perpetuam requiem, "Candida fuscatus nullâ velamina culpâ, "Et novus insuetis incola luminibus, &c. "Vivit in aeternum Paradisi sede Beatus, "Qui nova decedens muneris aetherii "Vestimenta tulit; quo demigrante, Belial "Cessit, & ingemuit hic nihil esse suum, &c. "Dilectae gremio raptus in astra Probae, &c. "Vivit, & astra tenet,—&c.

Dissolv'd thou safely runst, th' etherial Plain. Near Christ thou of a blessed Seat possest; Christ being thy light, thou a new light enjoy'st, &c. Thou now renew'd perpetuall rest dost gain, Thy snowy Robes of guilt admit no stain, And of an unaocustom'd place thou art A new Inhabitant—&c. He ever-happy lives in Paradise, Who carries hence Robes first, had from the Skies: At his departure Belial complies, And grieves to find in him there's nothing his, &c. In his lov'd Proba's Bosom hee's receiv'd, &c. Possest of Heaven he lives.—

That of Pope SIRICIUS, deceased the 22^th. of February, in the year 398.

"Nunc requiem sentit, coelestia regna potitus, &c.

"Now, got to Heav'n, he does his rest enjoy.

That of Celsus, a young Lad, a Spaniard, deceased about the year 394. and celebrated by Paulinus, since Bishop of Nola:

"Laetor obîsse brevi functum mortalia saec'lo, "Ut citò divinas perfrueretur opes, &c. "Placidam Deus aethere Christus "Arcessens merito sumpsit honore animam, &c. "Spiritus Angelico vectus abit gremio, &c. —"Superno in lumine Celsum "Credite vivorum lacte, favisque, frui, &c.

Glad, that he's soon discharged hence, I am, That sooner he Riches divine might claim, &c. Christ hath his peacefull Soul to Heav'n receiv'd, With its deserved honour.— To Angels Bosoms his spirit is convey'd, &c. Celsus in light above, doubt not (though dead) With living Milk, and Honey-combs, is fed.

That of Clarus, deceased the 8^th of November, about the year 402.

"Libera corporeo mens carcere gauder in astris, "Pura, probatorum sedem sortita piorum, &c. —"Spiritus aethere gaudet, "Discipulúmque pari sociat super astra Magistro, &c. "Emeritus superis Spiritus involitas: "Sive Patrum sinibus recubas, Dominive sub ara "Conderis, aut sacro pasceris in nemore; "Qualibet in regione Poli si••••s, aut Paradisi, "Clare, sub aeterna pace quietus agis, &c.

Among the Just his Habitation is, Of Body free'd, possess'd of Heav'nly bliss, &c. —His Soul to Heav'n is flown, The Scholar to the Master equal grown, &c. Thou a discharged Spirit to Heav'n fly'st, And whether thou i th' Patriarch's Bosom ly'st: Or under the Lord's Altar art detain'd, Or an aboad i th' Sacred Grove hast gain'd; What part, or place of Paradise thou'st got, Eternal Peace, and Rest, is Clarus lot.

That of Paula, deceased in the year 404.

"Aspicis angustum praecisa rupe Sepulchrum, "Hospitium Paulae, coelestia regna tenentis, &c.

Seest thou a Rock into a Coffin hewn, 'Tis Paula's Mansion, who to Heav'n is flown.

That of Concordius of Arles, deceased about the same time.

"Integer, ••tque que pius, vitáque, & corpore purus, "Aeterno, hîc positus, vivit Concordius aevo, &c. "Hunc citò, sideream raptum Omnipotentis in Aulam, "Et Mater bland 〈◊〉〈◊〉 & Fratres in funere quaerunt, &c.

Here, Pious, Good, of Life, and Body pure, Co•…•…dius of Eternity lies sure, &c. Him, snatch'd to the Almighty's starry Hall, A Mother kind, and Brethren, do bewail.

That of Pope BONIFACE the First, deceased the 25^th of October, 423.

—"Membráque clausit, "Certus, in adventu glorificanda Dei, &c. "Quis te, Sancte Parens, cum Christo nesciat esse? &c.

—His Members he did lay, Assur'd of Glory on the last great day, &c. Who doubts thy being with Christ, Great Man?—

That of Pope CELESTINE, gathered to the rest of the LORD, April the 6^th, 432.

—"Vitam migravit in illam, "Debita quae Sanctis aeternos reddit honores, &c. —"Mens, nescia mortis, "Vivit, & aspectu fruitur bene conscia Christi, &c.

—He to that life is gone, Where blessed Saints eternal Honours crown, &c. —The Mind, immortal, lives And, guiltless, Christ contemplates—

That of St. Hilary of Arles, departed this world to a better Life, May the 5^th, 449.

"Hîc carnis spolium liquit, ad astra volans, &c. —"Nec mirum post mortem tua limina, Christe, "Angelicásque domos intravit, & aurea regna, "Divitias, Paradise, tuas, fragrantia semper "Gramina, nitentes divinis floribus hortos, "Subjectásque videt nubes, & sidera coeli, &c.

To Heav'n flown, his Fleshy Robe lies here, &c. —Nor is it much, if, after Death, To Angels Mansions he, admittance hath, And of the Golden Kingdoms is possest, And with thy Wealth, O Paradise, is blest, Where ever-fragrant Verdures he may tread, And Gardens with divinest Flow'rs or'espread, And Clouds, and Stars beneath him, &c.—

That of the Abbot ABRAHAM, deceased the 15^th of June, about the year 480. in Auvergne:

"Jam te circumstant Paradisi millia sacri; "Abraham jam te, comperegrinus, habet; "Jam patriam ingrederis, sede, qua decidit Adam; "Jam potes ad fontem fluminis ire tui, &c.

Thousands of Paradise now round thee are; With Abraham, thy Fellow-traveller, Thou art, possessed of that, whence Adam fell; Thou mayst of thine own Streams go to the Well.

That, which Ennodius the Deacon, and afterwards Bishop of Pavia, made in Honour of Bonus:

"Exemplum terris linquens, ad sidera raptus, &c.

—The World he leaves, Taught by's Example; him the Sky receives.

That of Abundantius, composed by the same Ennodius:

—"Non sentit damna Sepulchri, &c.

—"Feels not the Losses of the Grave.

That of Rustica, writ by the same Hand:

"Purior aethereas graderis sine carne per arces, &c.

Disrob'd of flesh, thou walk'st th' ethereal Tow'rs.

That of Melissa, due to the same Authour:

"De vita ad vitam transitus iste placet, &c.

From life to life to pass is my delight.

That, whereby he celebrated the Memory of Victor, Bishop of Novara:

"Spiritus aetherea congaudet lucidus arce, &c.

His lightsom Soul sports in the Starry Vault.

That, which he hath left in Honour of Euphemia:

—"Mens niveis quàm bene juncta choris? &c.

How well her minde suits with the snowy Quires Of Blessed Spirits?—

That of Atolus of Rheims, Contemporary with Saint Remy:

"Proprium censum coelum transvexit in altum, "In quo suscepit, quod miserendo dedit, &c. —"Praerutilum detinet ipse Polum.

Heav'ns Treasure he to Heav'n ha's reassign'd, Where what he here in pity gave does finde, &c. —Of Heaven he's possest.

That of the Consul BOETHIUS, Beheaded in the year 524. by the command of Thierry, King of the Ostrogoths:

—"Probitas me vexit ad auras, &c. "Ecce! Boethus adest in coelo magnus—&c.

—My piety to Heaven me brought, &c. Behold, in Heav'n the great Boethius is, &c.

That of Petronius:

"Corpus humo, animam Christo, Petroni, dedisti: "Nam justae mentes foventur luce celesti, "Sidereásque colunt sedes, mundóque fruuntur, &c.

—Thy Body earth does finde, Thy Soul, Petronius, th' hast to Christ assign'd: Just minds celestial Light surrounds, the Sky Their Seat; they, onely, what is pure, enjoy.

That of Liberius, Praefect of that Part of the Gauls now called Lan∣guedoc, under Theodorick, King of the Ostrogoths:

—"Cùm membra recedunt, "Nescit fama mori, lucida vita manet, &c.

—Thy Limbs may rot, Thy Fame remains, a brighter Life's thy lot.

That of Pope FELIX the Fourth, deceased February the 29^th 528.

"Certa fides justis coelestia regna patere, "Antistes Felix quae modo laetus habet, &c.

Felix in Heaven hath felicity; Whose Courts unto the Just ev'r openly.

That of Florentinus, Abbot of Saint Croix d'Arles, deceased April the 25^th, Indict. 1. in the 12^th year after the Consulship of Basilius; that is to say in the year 553.

"Fulgida regna petens, coelesti sorte vocatus, "Lucis & aeternae penetrans fastigia laetus, "Optimus, atque pius, nunc Florentinus in isto "Resplendot Tumulo, &c. —"Hinc celsa Poli capiens jam praemia felix, "Sanctorum socius fruitur cum laude coronam, &c.

Good Florentinus, fam'd for Piety, Call'd hence by a celestial Lot, does hy, Joyfull, to th' Palace of eternal Light, Shining ev'n in his Tomb— Heav'n's high rewards he, happy, does obtain, And with the Saints an equal Crown does gain.

That of Pope PELAGIUS the First, deceased March the 2^d, 559.

"Vivit in arce Poli, coelesti luce beatus, &c.

—In th' Starry Tow'rs, Blest with celestial light, he spends his hours.

That of St. Germain of Paris, deceased the 28^th of March, 576.

"Carne tenet Tumulum, mentis honore Polum, &c. "Jure triumphali considet arce Poli, &c.

The Tomb with Flesh he fills, the Heav'n his Mind Adorns, &c. He sits in Heav'n by a Triumphal right.

That of Chlodobert, the Son of King Chilperïcus, and Fredegonda:

"Non fleat ullus amor, quem modo cingit honor, &c. "Perpetui regni se favet arce frui, &c.

Whom Honour now surrounds, no Love bewail, &c. He Joyes, possess'd of the eternal Throne.

That of Dagobert, Brother of Chlodobert:

"Rapte Polis, &c. Lux tenet alta Throno, &c.

To Heav'n snatch'd, &c. an Heav'nly light detains Him on the Throne.—

That of Andrew of Caieta, deceased in the year 585.

"Pande tuas, Paradise, fores, sedémque beatam, "Andreae meritum suscipe Pontificis, &c. "Quae meditata fides, & credita semper, inhaesit; "Haec te usque ad coelos, & super astra, tulit, &c.

For Andrew's Merit open'd Heav'n prepare A blessed Seat— The constant Faith, which ever was in thee, Hath rais'd thee above Heav'n's sublimity.

That of Gregory, Bishop of Langres, deceased January the 4^th, about the year 540.

—"Post Tumulos implet honore Polos, &c. "Nunc super Astra manet, &c.

Death once o'recome, he fills the Heav'n with praise, &c. His Mansion is above the Stars.—

That of Tetricus, Son and Successour of Gregory, deceased about the year 570.

—"Dignus in Astris "Mentis honore nites.—

—Thou, by an exc'llent mind. Among the Stars to shine a place dost finde.

That of Evemerus, Bishop of Nantes, deceased about the year 550.

"Aeternum locum, missus ad Astra, tenet, &c. "Felix ille abîit, &c.

Sent to the Skies, his everlasting Seat, &c. Blest man, he's gone—

That of the two Ruricius's, Bishops of Limoges, Grand-father, & Grand∣childe; the former deceased about the year 500; the later, about the year 550.

"Inter Apostolicos credimus esse Choros, &c.

Among th' Apostles we believe they are.

That of Chronopius, Bishops of Perigueux, deceased about the year 540.

—"Tua Coelis stat sine labe domus, &c. "Nunc tibi, pro meritis, est sine fine dies, &c.

Thy House in Heaven stands, &c. For thy good Works an endless day's thy lot.

That of Chalacterius, or Cales, Bishop of Chartres, deceased the eighth of October, about the year 570.

"Abreptus terris, justus ad Astra redis, &c. "Ad Paradisiacas Epulas te cive reducto, "Unde gemit mundus, gaudet honore Polus, &c.

Snatch'd from the Earth, thou dost to Heav'n retire, &c. While thou at heav'nly Feasts art entertain'd, The Earth bewails what Heaven hence ha's gain'd.

Where, by what makes the Farth bewail, must needs be understood the Translation of that Prelate into Glory.

That of Esocius, Bishop of Limoges, deceased about the year 580.

"Non decet hunc igitur vacuis deflere lamentis; "Post tenebras mundi, quem tenet aula Poli, &c.

Who this world darkness left to heav'n's Court's gone, Needs not our fruitless Lamentation.

That of Victorinus, Abbot of Agaunum, or St. Maurice de Chablais, Contemporary with Esocius:

"Nunc fruitur vultu, quem cupiebat amor, &c.

The Face, which was the Object of his Love, H'as now the Bliss to see—

That of Hilarius the Priest,

"Corpore qui terras, & tenet Astra Fide, &c.

Whose Body Earth, whose Faith the Skie contains.

That of Servilio:

—"Coelis gaudia vera tenet, &c. "Raptus ab Orbe quidem, laetus ad Astra redit, &c.

He's fill'd in Heav'n with certain Joys— Snatch'd hence, he, joyfull, to the Stars returns.

That of Praesidius:

"Inter Angelicos fulget honore Choros, &c.

Mong Quires of Angels he in honour shines, &c.

That of Aegidius:

"Nulli flendus erit, quem Paradisus habet, &c.

Whom Heav'n enjoys, no man needs lament, &c.

That of Basilius:

"Patriam Coeli, dulcis Amice, tenes, &c.

Of heav'n thy Countrey, Friend, thou art possess'd.

That of Avolus:

"Gaudia Lucis habet.— "Felix, post Tumulos, possidet ille Polos, &c. "Luce perenè fruéns, felix cui mortua mors est, &c.

H enjoys the Joys of Light.— To Heav'n after death he, blessed, is transferr'd, &c. —How happy he, Who, blest with light, o're Death hath Victory.

That of Euphrasia, the Wife of Namatius, Bishop of Vienna, deceased the seventeenth of November, about the year 560.

"Inclyta Sydereo radias Euphrasia regno; "Nec mihi flenda manes, nec tibi laeta places: "Terrae terra dedit; sed Spiritus Astra recepit: "Pars jacet haec Tumulo; pars tenet illa Polum, &c.

Thou now, Euphrasia, shin'st in Heaven bright; My grief no longer, nor thy own delight: Earth went to Earth; the Stars her spirit have: This part's in Heav'n; th' other in the Grave.

That of Vilithura, the Wife of Dagulph:

—"Quae larga dedit haec, modò plena metit, &c.

What freely given was she fully reaps.

That of Queen Theodechilda, the Daughter of Thierry, King of Mets, Son to the Great Clodoveus:

"Felix, cui meritis stat sine fine, dies, &c.

Happy, whose Works eternal day attends.

That of Gelesventha, second Wife of King Chilpericus the First:

"Non hunc flere decet, quam Paradisus habet, &c.

Twere ill the Blest in heaven to lament, &c.

That of Eoladius of Nevers, deceased about the year 570.

"Adventum gaudens sustinet hic Domini, &c.

He, glad, expects the coming of the Lord.

That of Pope Gregory the First, deceased the 4^th of March, 604.

"Spiritus Astra petit, &c.— "Mercedem operum jam sine fine tenes, &c.

His spirit to Heaven flies, &c. Thou of thy Works hast now thy endless Meed.

That of Vincent, Abbot, of Leon, deceased the eleventh of March, according to the Julian Period 668. or 630 after Christ,

"Sua sacratenet

anima coeleste; His sacred Soul is in an heavenly Mansion, &c.

"Raptus ad aetherias subitò pervenit ad a 1.325 auras, &c. Snatch'd hence, thou soon t' th' heav'nly parts art fled.

That of Pope Boniface the Fifth, deceased the 25^th. of October, 625.

"Ad magni culmen honoris abit, &c.

He's gone of honour to th' accomplishment.—

That of Pope Honorius, deceased the twelfth of October, 638.

"Aeternae luis, (Christo dignante) perennes, "Cum Patribus sanctis, posside, jámque domos.

Thou, who to' th' holy Sires hast ta'ne thy flight, Enjoy (through Christ) th' eternal Seats of Light.

That of Pope Benedict II. deceased the seventh of May, 685.

"Percipe salvati praemia celsa gregis &c.

The high rewards of those are sav'd receive.

That of Ceadwalla, King of the West-Saxons, deceased the twentieth of April, 689. Indict. 2.

—"Mente superna tenet. "Commutâsse magis sceptrorum Insignia credas, "Quem regnum Chrsti promeruisse vides, &c.

—His spirit in heaven soars. Who to Christ's Throne is raised, may be said, But an exchange of Scepters to have made.

That of Theodore of Canterbury, deceased the 19^th. of September, 690.

"Alma novae scandens felix consortia vitae, "Civibus Angelicis junctus in arce Poli, &c,

Advanc'd to a society of Bliss. With Angel-Citizens h'in heaven is.

That of Wilfrid, Arch-Bishop of York, deceased October the 12^th. 709.

—"Gaudens coelestia regna petivit, &c.

Rejoycing he to heav'n's gone.—

That of Bede, rsinamed Venerable, deceased May 26^th. being Ascension-Day; which argues his death to have happened in the year 735.

"Juni septenis viduatus carne Kalendis, "Angligena Angelicam commeruit Patriam, &c.

May's twenty sixth, of flesh uncloathed, Bede Mongst Angels went to have a heav'nly meed.

That of Richard, King of England, deceased February the 7^th. 750.

—"Regnum tenet ipse Polorum, &c.

Of heav'n's Kingdom he's possess'd.—

That of Fulrad, Abbot of St. Denys, deceased in the year, 784.

"Credimus idcirco Coelo societur ut illis, &c.

—In heav'n we Believe him blest with b 1.326 their society.

That of Meginarius, his Successour:

"Post mortem meliùs vivit in arce Poli, &c.

Death past, he lives in heav'n a better life.

That of Arichis, Duke of Beneventum, deceased the six and twentieth of August, 787.

—"Te pro meritis nunc Paradisus habet, &c.

For thy good Works heaven is thy reward.

That of Tilpin, Arch-Bishop of Rheims, deceased the second of Septem∣ber, 789.

"Mortua quando fuit, mors sibi vita maner, &c.

When Death is dead, Life his Portion is.

That of Pope Adrian the First deceased, the 26^th of December, 795.

—"Mors janua vitae, "Sed melioris, erat—

Death was the entrance of a better Life.

That of Peter, Bishop of Pavia, deceased about the same time;

"Admistus gaudet caetibus Angelicis, &c. —"Retinent te gaudia Coeli, &c.

Rejoycing among Angels, he— Heav'n's joys thy entertainment are.

That of Hildegard, first Wife of Charle-maign, deceased in the year 783. April the thirtieth.

"Pro dignis factis sacra regna tenes—

Thy worthy acts the sacred Kingdom gain'd.

That of Fastrada, second Wife of the same Prince, deceased in the year 794.

"Modò Coelesti nobilior Thalamo, &c.

A heav'nly bed makes her more Noble.—

That of Count Gerald, deceased in the year 799.

"Sideribus animam dedit—

He rendred his Soul to heaven—

That of Hildegard, Daughter by his first Wife:

"Tu nimium felix, gaudia longa petis, &c.

Thou, ever-happy, to long Joys dost go.

That of Charle-maign himself, deceased on Saturday, the eighth of January, 814.

—"Meruit fervida saec'li "Aetherei, &c.—

Aequora transire, & placidum conscendere portum, &c.

That of Adelbard, Abbot of St. Peter of Corbie, deceased the second of January, 822.

—"Paradisi jure colonis, &c.

Inhabitant of Pardise—

That of Ermengard, Wife to the Emperour Lotharius, deceased the twentieth of March, being Good-Friday, in the year 852.

"Linquens regna soli, penetravit regna Polorum, "Cum Christo, & sanctis, gaudia vera tenens, &c.

Leaving Earth's Crowns, to those of Heav'n she's gone, With Christ, and's Saints in exultation.

That of Lewis the Debonnaire, who died on Sunday, the twentieth of June, 840.

"In pacis metas colligit hunc pietas, &c.

Him Piety brings into the land of Peace.

That of Dreux, Bishop of Mets, deceased the eighth of November, 857.

"Spiritus in requie, laetus, ovat Abrahae, &c.

The joyfull spirit exults in Abra'm's Rest.

That of the Emperour Lewis [the Second, deceased the thirteenth of August, 875.

—"Gaudet "Spiritus in Coelis, Corporis extat honos, &c.

—The Body's honour is Apparent, but the spirit's in heave'nly bliss.

That of the Emperour Carolus Calvus, deceased the sixth of Octo∣ber, 877.

—"Spiritum reddidit ille Deo, &c.

—He to God his Spirit return'd.

That of Ansegisus, Arch-Bishop of Sens, deceased the twenty fifth of November, 883.

—"Spiritus Astra tenet, &c.

—Of heav'n his Spirit's possest.

That of John Scotus, dead the same year:

—"Christi conscendere regnum "Quo meruit, sancti regnat per saecula cuncti, &c.

He to ascend Christ's Kingdom did obtain. Where all the Saints eternally do reign.

That of Pope John the Eighth, deceased the fifteenth of December, the year before:

"Et nunc coelicolas cernit super Astra Phalanges, &c.

—Above the Skies Now he the heav'nly Batallions spyes.

That of Ermengard, Daughter of Lewis, King of Germany, deceased the three and twentieth of December, about the same time:

"Bis denos octo vitae compleverat annos, "Migrans ad sponsum Virgo beata suum, &c.

Twice eighteen years this Maid had liv'd compleat, When happy she went hence her Spouse to meet.

That of Bruno, Arch-Bishop of Cullen, deceased the eleventh of Octo∣ber, 969.

"Iam frueris Domino—

Thou now enjoy'st the Lord.

That of Notger, Abbot of St. Gal, deceased the sixth of April, 981.

"Idibus octonis hic carne solutus Aprilis, "Coelis invehitur,—&c.

Having laid down his fleshy burthen, on The sixth of April, he to heav'n is gone.

That of Gonzales, cited by Prudentio de Sandoval, Bishop of Pampe∣luna, to the year of the Julian Period 1030. or of Christ 992.

"A qui reposa y en la gloria goza, &c.

Here rests, and glorious happiness enjoys.

That of Donna Sancia:

"Dio fin glorioso a esta vida, "Par a gozar de la aeterna, &c.

That she might gain eternal life in Bliss, She gave a glorious Period unto this.

That of Sancia, Countess of Castile:

"Bis vinctum Comitem è carcere adduxit, "Coelicas sedes, beata, quae possidet, &c.

She out of Prison twice her Count reliev'd, To heav'nly Seats who, happy, now's receiv'd.

That of Count Fernand, of Gonzalva:

"Belliger invictus ductus ad Astra fuit, &c.

To heav'n th' undaunted Souldier was convey'd.

And Sebastian of Salamanca, speaking of Ordonio the First, places him in Heaven; saying, Felix stat in Coelo, &c. Laetatur cum sanctis Angelis in Coelestibus regnis, &c. He is happy in heaven, &c. He rejoyces with the An∣gels in the Kingdom of heaven.

I acknowledg, that the Opinion of Purgatory crept in among the La∣tines, about the end of the sixth Age, having, by little and little, gained credit, many were easily induced to compose Epitaphs containing cer∣tain Wishes, and Prayers, for the Dead. Yet did not their scrupulous manner of proceeding hinder any, that would, from attributing to them the possession of Celestial glory, immediately upon their departure out of this life. Thus the Epitaph of Pope Stephen the Sixth, deceased the one and twentieth of May, 891. hath these express Terms;

"Aethera scandit spiritus almus ovans, &c.

His milde Spirit ascends heaven triumphing.

That of the Kings, Conrade the First, Otho the First and Second, and Zuentibold, of Adalberon Bishop of Mets, of Count Hugh, and his Wife, of the Countess Eve and her Sons, of Arnoul, and Rembal, of Oudri Arch-Bishop of Rheims, of Beatrix, and Warin, Abbot of Saint Arnoul de Mets, express that their Souls

—"In Coelis aeternâ pace fruuntur, &c.

—In heaven enjoy eternal Peace.

That of Reynold, Abbot of S. Cyprian in Poictiers, deceas'd in the year 1100.

—"Rainaldi pars promptior Astra petivit, &c.

Reynold's more willing part to heav'n is gone.

That of the Nun Benedicta:

—"Spiritus Astra tenet, &c.

—Of heav'n her Spirit's possest.

That of Ranulphus the Priest, her Contemporary:

"Protinus ad Superos, carne solutus, abis, &c. "Spiritus, ecce! tuus gaudens fuper Astra perennat, &c.

Flesh once lay'd by, to heav'n thou streight dost go, &c. Thy Spirit above eternal Joy attends.

Again;

"Dans animam Coelo, reddidit ossa solo, &c.

To heav'n thy soul, to earth thy bones return.

That of King Philip the First, deceased in the year 1108.

"Augusti ternis conscendit in aeth'ra Kalendis, &c.

He on the a 1.327 third of the Calends Of August, unto heav'n ascends.

That of Reynold de Martigni, Arch-Bishop of Rheims, deceased in the year 1137.

"Hunc duodena dies Februi praeeu••do Kalendas, "Destituit mundo, substituitque Polo, &c.

On b 1.328 January's one and twentieth day, He left the world, and went to heav'n to stay.

That of Gerald, first Abbot of Selue-Majour in Bourdelois, deceased in the year 1094. the sixth of April.

"En! felix anima Coeli laetatur in Aula, &c. "Coelorum civis dormîit in Domino, &c. —"Liber Coelos spiritus obtinuit, &c. "Spiritus Abbatis vindicat Astra sibi, &c. —"Spiritus alta tenet, &c.

His blissfull soul in Heav'n rejoycing is, &c. Heav'n's Citizen rests in the Lord, &c. His unconfin'd spirit in Heav'n is fix'd, &c. The Abbot's soul does challenge heav'n,—&c. —His spirit is on high.

That of Berenger, Arch-Deacon of St. Maurice's of Angers, deceased the sixth of January, 1088.

"In Jano patuit tibi Janua vitae, &c.

In Janus Moneth, Life's Gate receiv'd thee.

And again;

—"Coelos animâ, corpore ditat humum, &c.

His Body Earth, his Soul does Heav'n enrich.

That of the Empress Agnes, deceased the 14^th of December, 1077.

Die XIV. Mensis Decembris, animam, bonis operibus foecundam, La∣teranis, Salvatori suo, atque omnium bonorum Authori reddidit: & hic, quintâ die Mensis Januarii, expectans spem Beatae Resurrectionis, & adventum Magni Dei, membra carnis commendavit in pace, Amen.

Vpon the fourteenth of December, at Lateran, she returned to her Saviour, and God the Authour of all good things, her soul, fruitfull in good Works: and, on the fifth of January, she recommended to this place her fleshly Members, ex∣pecting the hope of a blessed Resurrection, and the coming of the Great God, Amen.

That of Bruno, first General of the Carthusians, deceased the sixth of October, 1101.

"Ossa manent Tumulo, Spiritus Astra petit, &c. Earth hath his bones, to heav'n his spirit flies.

That of Geoffrey, Bishop of Amiens, deceased the eighth of Novem∣ber, 1118.

—"Hic jacet. Astra petens, &c.

Here, going to Heav'n, he lies.

That of Peter of Placentia, Cardinal;

"Terra suum Corpus, Animámque recepit Olympus.

The Earth his body, Heav'n his soul receiv'd.

That of Burohard, Arch-Bishop of Vienna, deceased about the year 1035. August the twenty ninth:

"Cum quo perpetuò pace viget placidâ, &c. —"Sanctus Spiritus Astra petit, &c. "Curribus ignicomis ad Superos gereris,—&c.

With c 1.329 him he lives in undisturbed peace, &c. His Holy Spirit to Heav'n flies,—&c.

In fiery Chariots to Heav'n thou'rt convey'd.

That of Alberic, Arch-bishop of Bourges, deceased in the year, 1140.

—"Modò major in arce Polorum, &c.

—In Heav'n he greater is.

That of Peter Leo, in the year 1144.

"Junius in Mundo fulgebat, Sole secundo, "Separat hunc nobis cùm Polus, atque Lapis, &c.

June's second day shone bright, when joyless we Lost him between Earth, and Felicity.

That of Peter, Bishop of Poictiers, deceased in the year 1115. unjustly reduced by Cardinal Baronius, to the year 1130.

"Nunc dives, liber, stabilis, sua praemia, Christum, "Astra, petit, sequitur, possidet, iste Petrus, &c. "Promovit, privavit eum, profugúmque recepit, "Papa, Comes, Christus, ordine, sede, Polo, &c.

This Peter, rich, freed, firm, rewards, Christ, Heav'n, Now seeks, pursues, possesses, freely giv'n, &c. A Pope, Count, Christ, him rais'd, depriv'd, with love Receiv'd, to Prelacy, of's See, above.

That of Thomas, Arch-bishop of Canterbury, Assassinated the nine and twentieth of July, 1170.

—"Ab Orbe "Pellitur, & fructus incipit esse Poli, &c.

Forc'd hence, in Heav'n he begins to grow.

That of Stephen, Bishop of Meaux, deceased the 12^th of January, 1187.

—"Liber vivit, terrâ divisus, & Astris; "Quae dederat Coelum, Terráque, solvit eis, &c.

He freely lives, 'tween Heav'n, and Earth, bestow'd; And pay'd what unto Heaven, and Earth, he ow'd.

That of Robert, Arch-bishop of Vienna, deceased in the year 1195. June the seven and twentieth.

"Junius aethereis mensis te reddidit oris, &c.

Thee to thy Heav'nly Countrey June hath brought.

That of Mauricius, Bishop of Paris, deceased the eleventh of Sep∣tember, 1196.

"Migrat Parisii Pater ad patriam Paradisi, "Mauricius, &c.

Father of Paris, Mauricius, is hence To Paradise transferr'd—

That of Humbert, Arch-bishop of Vienna, deceased the twentieth of November, 1125.

—"Spiritus aeth'ra "Praesulis Umberti petit, &c.

The Prelat Umbert's Soul to Heav'n is gone.

That of Raoul, Bishop of Arras, deceased in the year 1220.

—"Coeli Civis, meritorum pondere vivis, &c.

The weight of thy Good Works do thee sustain, Thou Citizen of Heav'n.—

That of Peter of Doway, Arch-bishop of Sens, deceased the twelfth of June, 1222.

"Qui Spei certae suberat, modò cernit apertè, &c.

Who, what he surely hop'd, now clearly sees.

That of Hervey, Bishop of Troyes, deceased July the second, 1223.

—"Reddo Polo Spiritum, & ossa Solo, &c.

My soul to heav'n, my bones to earth I leave.

That of Bernard of Suilli, Bishop of Auxerre, deceased the sixth of January, 1246.

—"Meruit Christo se reddere Mundum, &c.

He, undefil'd, returns to Christ.—

That of Philip, Arch-bishop of Bourges, deceased the sixth of Janu∣ary, 1260.

—"Sacratâ sede sedentis "Philippi Bituris ossa beata jacent, &c.

Of Philip, Prelate of the sacred See, The blessed Bones at rest in Bourges be.

That of Reinold of Corbeil, Bishop of Paris, deceased the seventh of June, 1268.

"Fatali ad Superos sorte vocatus, obit, &c.

Call'd by the fatal Lot to heav'n, he goes.

That of Guermond de la Boissiere, Bishop of Noyon, deceased in the year 1272.

—"Cum Christo scandit in Astra, &c.

—With Christ he heav'n ascends.

That of William de Chanac, Bishop of Paris, deceased the third of May, 1348.

—"Transivit ad atria lucis, &c.

He to the Courts of Light is gone.—

That of William de Boisratier, Arch-bishop of Bourges, deceased the nineteenth of July, 1421.

"Carne subactus, homo sidera mente rapit, &c.

Who, weak in Flesh, in Spirit the Stars transcends.

That of John Des Charliers, sirnamed Gerson, Chancellour of the Uni∣versity of Paris, deceased the twelfth of July, 1424.

—"Petit Superos—&c.

He goes to them above.—

That of Peter de Fontenay, Bishop of Nevers, deceased the third of June, 1499.

—"Pius aethereo spiritus axe viget, &c.

His pious Soul lives in the Skies.—

That of Peter Carre, deceased after the year 1509. January the fifth:

"Mens fruitur Coelis—&c.

His minde does heav'n enjoy.

It would have been no hard matter to have produced many Epitaphs more to the same Effect; but the precedent may suffice, to force the most prepossessed with their own Apprehensions, to acknowledg, that even those, who lived since the Opinion of Purgatory became more com∣mon, have, upon occasions, by their using the Expression of the more Antient, discovered, that they followed their Sentiment, and were fully perswaded, that as to those, who died in the Profession of Christianity,

and had not lead a wicked Life without Repentance, their Glory, and Fe∣licity, was not any way retarded; but that, immediately upon their de∣parture, they are ascended to heaven, above the Stars, above the Skies, in the Courts of Light and Glory, in Abraham's Bosom, in Eternal Peace, in Pa∣radise, &c. which is as much, as could be said of the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Evangelists, Martyrs, and the most eminent Confessours. So that, as to this particular, there is no Distinction to be made of either Ecclesiasticks, or Laicks; Males, or Females; Kings, Princes, Lords, or private Persons. Which Consideration should, me thinks, have some in∣fluence on their spirits, who, prepossessed with the contrary Sentiment, and carried away with the Torrent of the common Errour, imagine, that an immediate admission to Beatitude is to be restrained onely to those Persons, whose Names (by reason of the great reputation of their Sanctity) are put into the Martyrologies of the Church of Rome, and whose Spirits are by those of her Communion invocated, as Patrons of the Living. For the Epitaphs! of the Prefect Probus, of the Consul Boëthius, of Queen Gelesventha, of the Kings Ceadwalla, Zuentibold, Conrad, Otho, Father and Son, and Philip the First, who never passed in their time for Saints, and such as were Exemplary for Mortification, and extraordinary Piety, justifie, that the conceptions, according to which, some at present would have Christian People directed, either were not then framed, or seemed not such, as deserved great credit. Upon which accompt it is, I should wish, that the maintainers of the Opinion now in vogue would vouchsafe to take the business earnestly into their thoughts, and afford us but one Example, sufficient to satisfie us, that, during the first six Cen∣turies of Christianity, any one had embraced it with so much resolution, as that he durst express his perswasion in the Inscription of the Tombs of his deceased Friends. For though we are not to live by Examples, but by Laws; nor obliged absolutely to depend on the Authority, and Acti∣ons, of any man whatsoever: yet had we such, as were Antient, we nei∣ther might, nor would refuse to entertain them with the esteem due thereto; though it were onely to divert us from speaking so disad∣vantageously in respect of those, who follow them, that we equally de∣ny them both Truth, and Antiquity: not seeing any reason inducing us to grant, that the first Ages were imbued with a Belief, whereof there appears not any Track in the Monuments they have left us; as also supposing (as there seems reason to do) that it is impossible, to per∣swade men, guided by common sense, that the Christians of Anti∣quity should conspire in the same imaginations with those, who live in the Communion of the Modern Church of Rome, and not any one among them (upon any occasion whatsoever) vouchsafe to make the least discovery of what he thought.

CHAP. XLI. Of the Prayers contained in the Epitaphs of the Faithfull, whom the Surviving presupposed already received into Glory.

ALthough the Prayer, which is dayly made at the Celebration of the Mass for the Faithfull departed, cannot any way be accommodated to the Opinion of Purgatory, which the present Church of Rome numbers among the Articles of her Faith; Though there be not any ground to attribute to the State of the Souls, which they pretend confined in a place of extreme Torment, the Name of Sleep; much less to attribute to the conflict of those Souls, condemned by the absolute rigour of Heaven's Justice, to the incomprehensible sufferance of that Torment, which is inflicted on them by way of Punishment for the sins they have committed, meriting, and incurring by those Transgressions the dis∣pleasure of the God of Glory, the Title of Sleeping a Sleep of Peace; Though the dolefull resenting so great Pain, as that of an Infernal Fire, cannot, in those, that are to endure it, consist with any kinde of Sleeping, nor suffer them to be in Peace, while they are overwhelmed by the wrath of the Living God, and by the weight of his Hand, into which, St. Paul tells us, a 1.330 it is a fearfull thing to fall; In a word, though from all what hath been hitherto represented, it necessarily results; that (ac∣cording to the constant Belief of Antiquity for six Ages) the eternal Glory, and Felicity, of the Faithfull b 1.331 dying in the Lord, is not at all deferred after the moment of their departure: Yet, since the Christians, who now live in the Communion of the Church of Rome, might think, that the Prayers, which are found in certain Epitaphs, express something not dissonant from the Sentiment she maintains, it lyes upon us, in order to their undeceiving,

First, To make a report of the said Epitaphs;

Secondly, To make it appear, that there neither follows, nor can follow any thing from them; in as much as those very Epitaphs expresly presupposed the admission of those, to whose Memory they were dedi∣cated, into Life, and celestical Glory. And

Thirdly, To make enquiry into the Motives, which might have indu∣ced the Authours of those Epitaphs to insert into them Prayers for their departed Friends, and to place their Tombs near those of the Martyrs, who had sealed with their Blood the Truth of Christianity.

The most antient Epitaph we finde, containing a mixture of Wishes, and Prayers, is that, which St. Gregory Nazianzene writ in Honour of St. Basil, deceased the twelfth of January, in the year 378. where we read these Words, concerning that Great Prelate gathered to his Fathers, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 God give him Happiness: as if he had not been in the actual possession thereof; and as if St. Gregory had not expresly re∣quired of him before, that he would appear for the World, and offer gifts to God, and that in consequence of his being in Heaven, as he had desired.

Again; That he had quitted his Episcopal See, as Christ would have it, that he might become one among the Inhabitants of Heaven. It seems then he believed him in Heaven, and possessed of the Glory, and Happiness of Heaven, as soon as he had, at his departure out of this World, quitted his Episcopal See; and yet he desires, that God would give him Happiness; meaning, that he would confirm, and improve the gift he had already made him: which hath nothing common with the Hypotheses, maintain∣ed at this day by the Church of Rome.

In the year 395. deceased the Prefect PROBUS, and his Epitaph, which loudly published, that he was in the Plains of Heaven, seated among the Saints, possessed of perpetual Rest, that he lived crowned with bliss in the Everlasting Mansions of Paradise, concludes with this Prayer,

"Hunc tu, Christe, Choris jungas Coelestibus, oro; "Te canat, & placidum jugiter aspiciat: "Quique tuo semper dilectus pendet ab ore, "Auxilium soboli, conjugióque, ferat.

Joyn'd with Celestial Quires, O Christ, may he Thy praises sing, thy constant favour see: Whō, ever-lov'd, did ev'r on thee depend, May he to's Race, and Widow, some help lend.

Shall we say he was in Heaven, and yet not joyned with the Celestical Quires? That he was in any danger to see his Saviour incensed, and that he could be possessed of Paradise without Happiness? If not, it must needs be, that the Authour of his Epitaph prayed, that he might enjoy it without any diminution, and be eternally in the Favour, and Peace of his Saviour, in the Society of the rest of the Blessed Saints; which hath nothing common with what is now desired by the Church of Rome.

We have such another Desire made in the Epitaph of Pope BE∣NEDICT.

"Hic Benedictus adest meritò sub rupe Sepulchri; "Quem tenet Angelicus Chorus in arce Poli: "Aurea saec'la cui pateant sine fine per aevum, "Sorte beatificâ scandat ut aetheria, &c.

Here Benedict, justly, beneath this Stone Is plac'd; whom Angels in the Heav'ns enthrone: To whom be golden Ages without end, That he the Skies may, ever-bless'd, ascend.

For, who sees not, that he, who is enthroned by Angels in Heaven, must, of necessity, be there; and stood not in need of ascending thither; nor that any golden Ages should be desired for him? But in as much, as he was to ascend thither in his Body after the general Resurrection, the Authour of the Epitaph makes a Wish to that purpose, and requires, that the Happiness, which he was then possessed of, as to his Spirit, might be ever continued to him, that he might be eternally filled with Joy, as well in body, as soul: thereby discovering, that he reflected not, in the least, on the Purgatery held by the Church of Rome; which none of her Followers ever yet placed in Heaven; or any way thought on the delay of Be∣nedict's Felicity, whom he esteemed already received into the Society of the Angels.

The same accompt is to be given of the Epitaph of Marinian, Arch-Bishop of Ravenna, deceased in the year 601. where we finde these words:

"Ipsius in locis sit tibi certa quies, &c.

Mayst thou with God assured rest obtain.

As also of that of Venerable Bede, deceased in the year 735.

"Dona, Christe, animam in Coelis gaudere per aevum, &c. "Dáque illum Sophiae inebriari fonte.—

Christ, grant his soul in heav'n eternal joy, &c. And him inebriate with Wisdom's spring:

For it does not thence follow, either that he was, at the hour of his death deprived of the Joy of Heaven; or that Wisdom had not filled him with the Effects of her Virtue; or, lastly, that those, who are once en∣tred into the Joy of Heaven, could ever forfeit it, or be deprived of the communication of eternal Wisdom; but that the Surviving thought they might rationally demand for their deceased Friends the perpetuity of their Happiness, though they certainly knew it could never be taken from them.

That of Pope ADRIAN the First, writ either by Charle-maign, or, in his Name, by Alcuin, notwithstanding he had presupposed, that his Death was the entrance of a better Life, yet forbore not to make these Wishes for him;

"Cum Christo teneas regna beata Poli, &c. "Quique legis Versus devoto pectore supplex, "Amborum mitis dic miserere Deus: "Haec tua nunc requies teneat, charissime, membra; "Cum sanctis Anima gaudeat alma Dei. "Ultima quippe tuas donec Tuba clamet in aures, Principe cum Petro Surge videre Deum; "Auditurus eris vocem (scio) Judicis almam, Intra nunc Domini gaudia magna tui. "Tum memor esto tui Nati—&c.

Mayst thou with Christ a blessed Seat obtain, &c. Who humbly readst this Verse with pious heart, May God his mercy, say, to c 1.332 both impart: May here the precious body finde it's Rest; May the fair soul rejoyce among the blest. Since, when the latest Trump shall summon thee, God, and the great Saint Peter for to see; I know thou'lt hear the Judge's gentle voyce, Of thy Lord enter into the great Joys. Remember then thy Son.—

Now, as the demand he made for Adrian, that he might obtain a blessed seat with Christ in Heaven, did not signify, that he was not yet admitted into the Possession of that better Life, whereof his death was the entrance: so the Invitation to implore for him the Mercy of God was no argument, that he had not obtained it; since that even then he exhorted his Soul to rejoyce with the Saints of God, and shewed, that he thought it not tor∣mented in a Fire, such as were likely to deprive it of all Joy; but that it was in Bliss, reigning in the Company of the Saints, of the Apostle

St. Peter, and our Saviour; a felicity, whereto nothing could be added by desire, but the perpetuity of it: which yet is so much the more cer∣tain, in as much, as it is grounded on the unchangeable counsel of d 1.333 God, whose Gifts, and Calling, are without repentance.

That of Charle-maign, of whom the Authour, viz. Agobard, Arch-Bishop of Lions, said; That he had been admitted to the aetherial Plains; and con∣sequently, that he was entred into Glory: yet recommends it to the Reader's Devotion to pray for him; using these Words,

"Astriferam CAROLI teneat, dic, spiritus Arcem, &c.

—Wish, that Charles's Soul May be possessed of the Starry Pole.

That of Pope Sergius II. deceased April the 12^th, 847.

—"Pro tanto tundamus pectora pugnis, "Pastore amisso, vivat ut axe Poli, &c.

So great a Pastour lost, We are to grieve With beaten Breasts, that he in Heav'n may live.

That of Ermengard, Wife to the Emperour Lotharius, deceased on Fri∣day, March the 20^th, 852. and immediately introduced (as the Authour of it observes) into the Kingdom of Heaven; where she was abundantly filled with the Joy of Christ, &c.

"Hanc, rogo te, Lector, commenda ritè Tonanti, "Assiduis precibus, Christus eam ut habeat: "Cum quo congaudens vivat feliciter ipsa, "Angelicis semper mista beata Choris, &c.

Reader, employ thy daily Pray'rs, I crave, That Christ with him may Ermengarda have: With whom in lasting Joys she may remain, A Saint to live amongst the Heav'nly Train.

Whereupon the Authour, to give us a more particular Accompt of his intention, adds;

"Has ego Rabanus confeci Versibus Odas, "Ex obitu maestus, ex requie & gratulans, &c.

I, Rabanus, this into Verse have drest, Griev'd at her Loss, but glad she is at Rest.

Whence it follows; that all he intreated the Reader to desire, was, not properly the happiness; but the continuance, and eternity of the hap∣piness of that Princess, already glorified with Christ in Heaven. Whereto may be added; that, as Reason requires, that the Gratulations, where∣by we express the good Wishes we have for our Friends, be grounded, not on the imagination of their future-good; but on the advantage they have to be in actual possession of it: so the Authour of this Epitaph had had no great reason to congratulate the Rest of the Empress Ermengard, if she had not been admitted into it.

To the same Predicament may be reduced that of the Emperour CHARLES the Bald, which, after the Authour had observed, that he re∣turned his Soul to God, that is to say, died so piously, that Pope JOHN the Eighth said, he was in Paradise with the Angels, concludes in these Terms;

"Deus excelsus dignetur jungere Turmis, "Sanctorúmque choris consociare piis, &c.

May the high God to the Saints holy Quires Joyn him—

That of Pope STEPHEN the Sixth, whom the Authour had represent∣ed as Triumphantly ascending to Heaven, inviting all, that should read it, to desire pardon for him; saying,

—Dicite, Fratres, Arbiter Omnipotens da veniam Stephano, &c.

Th' Almighty Judge's grace, Brethren, implore For Stephen—

And that of Benedict the Fourth, deceased in the year 907. following the same Track, hath these words, which denote the excessive Charity of the deceased:

Mercatus coelum cuncta sua tribuit, &c.

To purchase Heaven all he had he gave:

And adds immediately this Advertisement,

"Inspector Tumuli compuncto dicito corde, "Cum Christo regnes (O Benedicte) Deo, &c.

Who seest this Tomb, say with a contrite Heart, "May'st thou, O Benedict, with Christ have part.

Which Words proceeded not from the Authour, out of any design he had to insinuate, that Benedict (when he uttered them) had not yet ob∣tained his part, or reigned with God; for what can be imagined more absur'd, then that God should refuse to crown Charity, the greatest of his Gifts, and suspend the Effect of his Promises towards those, who have (as is supposed of Pope Benedict) most conscientiously exercised it: But his intention was to discover, that he thought it, not onely lawfull, but necessary; that the Faithfull surviving should continually desire of God the ratification of the Gifts he had already bestowed on those he had taken to himself. According to this Principle, which seems to have been common to all Antiquity, may be understood in a good sense the Inscription of Amatus's Tomb; which runs thus, Pro animâ Amati poeni∣tentis hîc sepulti Domini misericordiam deprecari digneris, &c. Vouchsafe to implore the Mercy of the Lord for the Soul of penitent Amatus here buried.

But when the Opinion of Purgatory (by the Monks management of the Business) had a little more prepossessed the minds of People, the use of Prayers in Epitaphs became much more frequent, then it had been be∣fore. And, as it were easie to produce Centuries of Instances to that pur∣pose; (as of John, Bishop of Nepete, deceased October the 31^th, in the year 770. of Paul, Arch-Deacon of Pavia, deceased in the year 774. of Alcuin, deceased May the 19^th, 804. of Hincmar, Arch-Bishop of Rheims, deceased December the 21^st, 882. of Boson, King of Provence, deceased January the 11^th, 887. of Fulk, Arch-Bishop of Rheims, deceased June the 17^th, 899. of Pope John IX. deceased September the 23^d, the same year; of Pope Anastasius, 111. deceased in the year 912. of Pope John XIII. deceased September the 6^th, 972. of Pope Benedict VII. deceased July the 10^th, 984. of Pope John XV. deceased May the 7^th, 996. of Gebhard,

Bishop of Constantia, deceased August the 27^th, the same year; of Pope Sylvester II. deceased May the 12^th, 1003. of John, surnamed Capana∣rius, deceased October the 12^th, 1004. of Pope John XIX. deceased Au∣gust the 31. 1009. of Pope Sergius IV. deceased May the 13^th, 1013. of Pope John XX. deceased November the 8^th, 1033. of Teresa, Sister of Alphonsus v. King of Leow, deceased June the 9^th, 1047. of Geffrey, Count of Arles, deceased about the year 1052. of Stephen Cardinal, deceased in the year 1061. of Peter Damiani, Bishop of Ostia, deceased February the 23^d, 1072. of Adam, a Monk of St. Victor's, deceased in the year 1153:) So some might conceive themselves obliged to believe, that all the Prayers we read in such Epitaphs were intended onely to this end, viz. to deliver the Souls of the departed out of the pretended Purgatory; and I am ready to acknowledg, that the intention of the Authours many times was, or might be such: most having, especially from the year 900. either embraced, or countenanced that new Tenet; some, upon account of the profit accrewing thereby; some, upon account of the profit accrewing thereby; some, because it seemed likely to keep mens Con∣sciences in aw, and divert Sinners from their wicked course of Life: but this cannot be either said, or imagined of all. For, with what counte∣nance could they have numbred among the Malefactours racked upon the infernal Engines of Purgatory for their Sins, either Gebhard, whom the Authour of his Life observes to have been conveyed to Heaven by the Hands of Angels, and, at the time of his Enterment, to have wrought Miracles, which demonstrated his being glorified by God in Heaven? Or Peter Damiani, whom in like manner the Authour of his Life affirms to have died on the 23^d of February, being the Festival day of St. Peter at Antioch, to the end, that the celestical Court might receive into the Mansions of the Blessed the Disciple of Peter the same day, on which Peter had deserved to be placed in the Pastoral See? And, indeed, we find, that the former was Canonized by the Church of Rome: and the latter is one of the most eminent among her Saints, to whom she addresses her Prayers, and thinks it were injurious to them to pray for them. After the same man∣ner is to be understood the Epitaph of Peter Leo, which sayes, that Hea∣ven, and Earth, divided him at his death: whence it follows that his Spirit reigned in Glory, as his Body rested in the Grave; which notwith∣standing, the Authour of the Epitaph forbore not to cry out for him,

—"Dei gratia parcat ei.

May God him Pardon grant.

We have abundance of such Passages in the Poems of Baldric, who, af∣ter he had been some time Abbot of Bourgueil, was advanced to the Epi∣scopal See of Dol, in Britany, and co•…•…ued in it from the 25^th of Decem∣ber, 1107. to the 21^st of January, 1131. about which time the Belief of Purgatory seems to have been received over all the West. Yet is it hard to conceive, that he made any great account of it himself; since that, numbring among the Patrones, who were to be invocated, many of those, for whom he put up his Prayers according to the antient Custom, which excepted neither Patriarchs, nor Prophets, nor Apostles, nor Mar∣tyrs, he shews, that his meaning was, to desire of God, not the cessation of their Pains, but the confirmation of their Glory: which the Church of

Rome cannot deny, but she practised a long time; the acknowledgment made of it by e 1.334 Hincmare, and f 1.335 Innocent the Third, assuring us on her behalf, that in the antient Missals was this Prayer for one of the grea∣test, and most eminent Popes, viz. LEO the First, deceased April the 11^th, 461. Annue (quaesumus) Domine, ut animae Beati Leonis haec prosit oblatio. Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that this Oblation may benefit the Soul of Bles∣sed LEO. From which Prayer three things necessarily follow, all which are extreamly contrary to what the said Church teaches at this day.

The First, That she prayed, and presented Oblations for him, whom she acknowledged to be in Bliss, and accordingly glorified for all Eter∣nity with God.

The Second, That the Oblation she then made; and does still dayly make, in the Mass, neither is, nor can be a Propitiatory Sacrifice, properly so called; but a simple Sacrifice of Praise, as it is expresly qualifyed by the Words of the Canon, by which she consecrates, and presents it to God.

The Third, That neither her Prayer, nor her Oblation, could (ac∣cording to her own Sentiment) be of any benefit to Pope Leo, in order to his delivery out of Pain; since she acknowledged him exempted from it, and in Happiness; but to obtain for him what he was most assured of, viz. the Ratification, and Confirmation of his Glory to its full accom∣plishment g 1.336 at the Resurrection of the Just.

But moved, as it should seem, at the apprehension of these three Con∣sequences, which might have forced those of her Communion, not onely to confess (with St. h 1.337 Fulgentius) that the Eucharist is no more, then a Sa∣crifice of Bread and Wine, consecrated to serve as a Memorial of the Body, and Blood, of Jesus Christ, our i 1.338 true Sacrifice, offered up (according to the particular Observation of the Apostle) ONCE upon the Cross; but also to stop up the Mine of her most certain Revenue, by renouncing the Imagination of her Purgatory; the Church of Rome hath raced that antient Prayer out of her Missal; and yet, as if she had been ashamed wholly to take it way, she hath put in another Prayer instead of it, which discovers some remainder of her former Sentiment. The Words of it are these; Sancti Leonis Confessoris tui, atque Pontificis, annua solennitas nos tibi reddat acceptos; ut, per haec Piae placationis Officia, illum beata retri∣butio comitetur, & nobis gratiae tuae dona conciliet: that is to say, May the an∣nual Solennity of Leo thy Confessour, and Pope, render us acceptable to thee; that, by these Offices of pious pacification, a blessed reward may attend him, and confer the Gifts of thy Grace upon us. Where we finde,

First, That St. Leo; for whom 〈◊〉〈◊〉 antient. Prayer was before made, is, in the new, constituted an Intercessour for those, who celebrate his Memory.

Secondly, That the Solennity, and Service of his Festival are called Offices of pious pacification, not onely to shew, that they are accept∣able to God, looking on them with a propitious Eye; but also to insi∣nuate a pretense of offering therein a Propitiatory Sacrifice to God: and yet where in the same Prayer, the Church of Rome desires for Leo, that a blessed reward may attend him, she in some sort expresses the sence of

her precedent Prayer, and shews to what end Antiquity was induced to Pray for the Faithfull departed in the Lord, viz. to desire the perpetual continuance of their Bliss; and not to obtain their entrance thereinto, and much less to deliver them out of any Torments, as is at this day imagined.

But however the Case stand, Baldric, praying even for those of his Friends, whom he believed to be in Happiness, discovers, that he was of the same Opinion with the Church of Rome, when she prayed for Pope LEO the Great. As for instance in the Epitaph of Natalis, Abbot of Saint Nicholas of Angiers, deceased about the year 1097. after he had addressed this Discourse to St. Nicholas,

—"Tuum Deus accersivit alumnum, "Cui dedit aeternum solenni funere somnum, &c.

—Thy Disciple hence The Lord hath called to Eternal rest.

And in another Epitaph;

—"Defunctus sacris k 1.339 hanc ossibus ornat, &c.

This Church his sacred bones adorn:

Signifying, that he believed Natalis glorified in Heaven: He concludes his Epitaphs with these Words;

"Hic modò Natalis pro carne jacet cineratus, "Cui noceat nullus pro carnis sorde reatus:

Natalis here, dissolv'd to Ashes, lyes, Gainst whom no guilt, or stain of flesh arise.

In like manner, in the following Epitaph, recommending him to the Protection of Saint Nicholas, he says to him;

—"Servi nunc memor esto tui, "Christo commenda, quem Mundo Christus ademit. "Húncque Patrocinii jure tuere tui:

—Now mindfull of thy servant be, Whom Christ took hence, to Christ him recommend, And him with thy Protection still attend:

Presupposing, not that he was in any danger, but that he stood in need of Saint Nicholas, to be made fully assured of the perpetual enjoyment of his Felicity. A Conception false indeed in it self, but yet was passed from hand to hand for many Ages before, and might have been con∣firmed by millions of Examples.

In those of Reynold, Arch-Bishop of Rheims, deceased the one and twentieth of January, 1137. after he had ranked him among the Souls Salvandae, that were to be saved, and made this Wish;

"Dispenset veniam cunctipotens animae, &c.

Pardon thy Soul he, whom all things obey;

he takes him for an Intercessour, as he in requital Prays for him; saying,

"Oramus pro te; pro nobis, quaesumus, ora, &c.

We pray for thee, thou us thy Pray'rs afford.

And elsewhere he lays it down as certain, that the one and twentieth of January, the day of his Decease,

"Destituit Mundo, substituitque Polo,

Snatch'd him from hence, to place him in the Skie;

which cannot stand without his being received into Heaven.

In those of Howel, Bishop of Mans, deceased in the year 1129. and of the Abbot Joel, having said,

—"Morte pari modicò Deus attigit ambos, "Ut sint translati, Sidera magna Poli, &c.

In equal death God did them both conjoyn, Translated hence in Heav'n, great Stars, to shine:

A Discourse representing them already possessed of Celestial Glory; and and particularly of the former;

—"Coram Sancto Vota vovent Tumulo, &c.

Before his Tomb their Vows l 1.340 they pour:

Whence it follows, that they took him for their Patron, and must of necessity think him in Happiness: Yet does he, nevertheless, pray for him; saying,

"Praesulis obtineat Spiritus Astra Poli, &c.

May Heav'n the Prelate's Soul obtain:—

as if (contrary to his precedent Protestations) he had thought him at a great distance from it.

In those of Audebert, Abbot of Bourg-dieux, and Arch-Bishop of Bour∣ges, deceased in the year 1098. he is very liberal of his Wishes; as,

"Communem Patrem communi tangite voto, "Ut det Pastori sedem super aethera vestro:

Again;

"Audeberte, vale, sit pax tibi, lúxque perennis:

Again;

"In Domino requiem Spiritus inveniat, &c. "Omnipotens animam Pontificis foveat, &c.

To th' common Father your joynt Vows address, That he your Pastour bring to happiness, &c. Audebert, be well, Eternal peace, and light, Thy Portion be— May's Soul in God finde rest.— Kindely may God the Prelate's soul receive.

Who, hearing him talk after this rate, would not say, that he were out of Heaven, deprived of light, peace, and rest? But look upon the Reverse of the Medal, and you shall finde, he looks on him, as his Patron, alrea∣dy possessed of Heaven, saying,

"Tu Pater à Superis saepe revise tuos, &c. "Vadis, te Christo per idonea signa vocante, "Et velut emerito tibi praemia digna parante: "Omni momento, nostrî, Patrone, memento, "Et succurre gregi, mortali morte redempto.

Again;

"Nunc quoque cum Christo nos saepè revisat ab alto.

Thou, Father, from on high revisit thine, &c. —By Christ hence, As a discharged Champion, thou art Of great rewards call'd to receive thy Part; O Patron, ever-mindfull of us be,

And those relieve, whom mortal death set free. With Christ from Heav'n often revisit us.

What could he have said more to St. Peter, or St. Paul, according to the Theologie of that Time?

In that of William, Bishop of Engoulesm, having invited those of his Diocess to worship his Body, he advises them to pray for him;

—"Artus venerare Paternos, "Dic quoque, Transcendat Gulielmi Spiritus Astra.

Thy Father's body having worship'd, pray, That William's soul to Heav'n may finde the way.

What could have been more ridiculous, then to have perswaded People to the Veneration of a Body, whose Spirit should, at the same time, have been in a place of Pain, and deprived of Glory?

In that of Gerald of Orleans, he says;

—"Datur hîc sua portio Terrae, "Spiritus in tenues vivens elabitur auras, "Cui tamen è rebus lutulentis si quid inhaesit, "Expediat totum clemens miseratio Christi, "His Precibus Lector (Amen adjiciendo) faveto.

—Here Earth hath had her share, The Spirit lives dissolv'd to subtile Air, Which yet, if stain'd with ought terrestrial, May Christ, in his great Mercy, pardon all, T advance these Prayers, Reader, Amen let fall.

Since then he conceived, that, at the fall of the Body, when it became the portion of the Earth, the Spirit lived, and was escaped, who sees not, that he believed it to be in some other place, then that of a griev∣ous punishment, and that the Prayer, he afterward makes, tends rather to assure the Expiation of his Offences, then to implore it for him, in as much as the Mercy of God is not communicated after death, but to those, who obtained it, while they lived?

In that of Durand, Bishop of Cler-mont, deceased the nineteenth of November, 1095. during the time of the Councel, or Croisado for the Conquest of the Holy Sepulchre was published, he exhorts the People of Auvergn to worship him, and thereby declares him to be in Happiness; saying,

"Arvernus sanctos cineres reverenter habeto, "Atque Patrocinio tutior esto suo.

Worship his sacred ashes, Cler-mont, and Thou shalt in his protection safer stand.

In those of Gerald, Abbot of Selue Majour, in Bourdelois, he is yet more excessive, as hath been observed in the precedent Chapter. And though the Prayers he makes in the Epitaphs of his other Friends; as Reynold, Clere, Guy, Raoul, Clerembant, William of Mont-soreau, Berenger, Arch-Dea∣con of Angers, Froden of Angers, Peter, Dean of Dol, Reinould, Canon of Poictiers, Geoffrey of Rheims, Alexander of Tours, Eriland, Peter Prior, Eudes, Abbot of St. John d'Angely, Raoul, Arch-Deacon of Poictiers, Chevalier Bouchard, Chevalier Rahier, the Countess Osanna, Guy Tour∣angeau, William, Abbot of Bourgueil, and Herard of Loudun; though, I say,

those Prayers might presuppose the Belief of Purgatory, yet, since they are consistent with the other Presuppositions, and that Baldric made the like for Persons, whom he believed crowned with Glory in Heaven; it cannot be safely concluded, that he ever intended to apply any one of them to the common Opinion current in his Time, and which the Church of Rome maintains at this day. The same is to be said of those, who, after him, and, to this present, have declared, and do declare (accord∣ing to the Custom of the Church of Rome, and even in her Communion) that the Persons, whose Memory they have celebrated by their Verses, and Se∣pulchral Inscriptions, are in Happiness, and possessed of celestial Glory. For though they do not openly impugn the Opinion of Purgatory, as the Protestants do, and though they use such Expressions, as might seem to maintain it, yet do they not oblige themselves to maintain it in Effect: and (without any injury done them) it may be taken for certain, that they believed no more of it, then the Reverend Peter Chastellain, Bishop of Mascon, who, having on the three and twentieth of May, 1547. ad∣vanced into Glory the great King Francis, and scandalized the College of Sorbonne, which looked on his Discourse, as a Piece of Lutheranism, flat∣ly contradicting the common Opinion of Purgatory, and demanded of him either the formal Retractation, or Explication of it, thought it sa∣tisfaction enough, to give the Complainers (and that in the presence of King Henry the Second, and all his Court) a Jest, instead of an Apologie for his Funeral-Oration, and, to stop their Mouths, tell them, that he de∣nied not, he had been there, but that it was onely k 1.341 to take a Glass of Wine, as he passed by, which Discourse was to them an absolute Put-off, and caused them to be laughed at whereever they came.

CHAP. XLII. Of the true Motives, which the Antients had to Pray for the Blessed Saints in Heaven.

BUt not further to mention Baldric, or the Bishop of Mascon, it will be demanded, what Motive enclined those, who, since the year 500. are found to have made Prayers for the Dead, to do so. And here I am willing to acknowleg, that there was no more noise of the Opinion, which had so much distracted the Spirits of Christians of the Second, and Third Age, deceived by the Pretended Sibylline Writing, and presup∣posing that all Souls, without exception, descended to Hell, were there confined, till the Resurrection of their Bodies, and exposed not onely to the temptations, but also to the violences of Evil Spirits; which to prove, Justine Martyr alledged, to Trypho the Jew, the pretended raising of Samuel by the Witch of En-dor. For, though the most antient Prayers (as, for Instance, those, which St. Augustine made for his Mother) seem to have been drawn up by that Precedent; and that the Libera, if it be appli∣ed to the Departed, rather then to the Faithfull in Agonies, and preparing themselves for death, requires we should think they were; yet had

they, even from the Time of Tertullian, seventy years, or thereabouts, after the first coming abroad of the Sibylline Writing so called, begun to exempt the Martyrs from the necessity of descending into Hell; and so, by little and little, the minds of the Christians strugling with, and overcoming the Imposture, that first Hypothesis was cast out of doors, yet so, as that it was done without a rejection of the Forms, which those, who maintained it, had introduced into the Publick Service of the Church. And thence comes it, that St. Ambrose prays for his Brother Satyrus; say∣ing, Tibi nunc, omnipotens Deus, innoxiam commendo animam, &c. Now, O Almighty God, I recommend unto thee his innocent soul. And for Valentini∣an the Second, and Gratian, in these words, Hîc adhuc intercessionem, &c. Should I still make Intercession here for him, to whom I dare promise a reward? Put into my hands the sacred Mysteries; let us with a devout affection de∣mand rest for him; give me the celestial Sacraments; let us attend his re∣ligious soul with our Oblations. a 1.342 Lift up your hands with me in the Sanctuary, O ye People; to the end, at least, that by this Present we may recompense his merits, &c. No night shall go over my head; but that I will make you some present of my prayers; in all my Visitations I shall remember you, &c. And for the Great Theodosius; Praesumo de Domino &c. I so far presume of the Lord, that he will b 1.343 hear the voyce of my cry, where∣with I attend thy pious soul, &c. c 1.344 Grant perfect rest unto thy servant Theo∣dosius, even that rest, which thou hast prepared for thy Saints. May his soul return thither, whence it descended, where he cannot feel the d 1.345 sting of death, where he may be satisfied, that this death is the end not of Nature, but of sin, &c.

From which Prayers it is to be observed, by the way,

First, That this Holy Prelate, expressing that he considered not his prayers for Valentinian, who died a Catechumen, but a Person very Re∣ligious, and truly inclined to Piety, as an Office, whereof he stood in need; but as a simple Effect of his good Wishes, manifestly discovers, that not any one of the Faithfull, departed in the Lord, stands in any ne∣cessity of the suffrages of the surviving; and accordingly, that the Pro∣testants, who believe, that, in matter of Religion, nothing should be at∣tempted without the express order of God himself, speaking in his Word, cannot be accompted criminals for their declining an act, which is not (even in their Judgment, who practised it) of any necessity, or any way beneficial to those, for whom the voluntary devotion, or Will-worship of men designs it.

Secondly, That St. Ambrose, who calls the Eucharist, celebrated in memory of Valentinian, and, upon his occasion, a Present, which he makes his Friend, and by which he requites him, could not have be∣lieved it to be either the Body of the Son of God, or the Offering-up of that Body, or, in general, a Propitiatory Sacrifice properly so called. For who could (without an impious Absurdity) imagine, that the real Body of our Saviour should be so much at our disposal, as that we might make Pre∣sents of it to our Friends? &c. that the Proper Oblation of the same Bo∣dy, being infinitely more precious, then we, or any thing, that can pro∣ceed from us, is, or could be a supplement, which we adjoyn to our Prayers for our Friends; and that this kind of Present is as the meanest

kindness we can do them, so as that we might say, with St. Ambrose, that, at least, by that Present we requite them? It seems then he pretended not to do what the Church of Rome thinks to do at this day in the Masses of Requiem. For she professes to present the Oblation she makes therein, whatever it may be, not to the deceased, for whom she prays; but onely to God, for, or on the behalf of the deceased. She conceives al∣so, that her Host, which she believes to be properly, and really the Body of the Son of God, surpasses in value, not onely our Prayers; but what ever is most excellent, either in Earth, or in Heaven, among the Angels, and Spirits of the glorified Saints. And though she, who cannot endure the Protestants, because they are unwilling to submit their Consciences to any other Rule, then that of Faith, contained in the Sacred Scriptures, hath born in her Bosom, and suffered unreproved those inconsiderate Children, who have had the boldness to write that the solemn Sacrifice might be offered to Creatures; As when the Authour of the great Chronicle of the Low-Countries thrust in this into his History, that, on the 27^th of October, 1467. Charles, last Duke of Burgundy, who conquered the People about Liege, Ecclesiae Lovaniensis universo Clero commisit, omnipotenti Deo, suaeque sanctae Genitrici offerre suo nomine sacrificium, &c. gave express Order to all the Clergy of the Church of Lovain, to offer unto Almighty God, and to his most Holy Mother, the solemn Sacrifice in his name; never considering, either that the Oblation of the solemn Sacrifice is (by the confession of all) the act of Latria, and sovereign adoration, due to God alone, as being the most proper Object, and most worthy of it; nor that the most Holy Mother of our Lord, though blessed (according to the saying of the Angel) among Women, never ceased being a Creature, and that she is such now in Heaven as much, as she was before she was crowned with Glory; or that to ad∣dress to her, either separately, or joyntly with God Almighty, the solemn Sacrifice, is to serve her with the service of Latria, and to transfer to the Creature the Glory of the Creatour: Or when Jovianus Pontanus, (a Great Person otherwise) Councellour, and Secretary of State to Ferdinand of Ar∣ragon King of Naples, feigned, e 1.346 that St. Michael, the Archangel, appear∣ing to Laurence, Bishop of Sipontum in Apulia, had entertained him with this horrid, and necessarily-false Discourse, concerning the Grot of the Mountain Garganus, now called Mont di S. Angelo; Michael ego sum, qui, hoc excavato saxo, hac antro, hoc habitaculo, his assidue manantibus stillis ablu∣turus sum, ac deleturus meam ad aram confugientium mortalium errata, &c. I am Michael, who, having hollowed this Rock, this Cave, this Habitation, shall, by these perpetually falling drops, wash away, and take off the sins of those, who have recourse to my Altar: as, if ever any one of the blessed Angels of Light, of whom St. Augustine sometime said to the Heathens, f 1.347 Uti∣nam & vos illos colere velletis, facilè enim ab ipsis disceretis non illos colere, &c. I wish you would also attempt to serve them, (as sometime did St. g 1.348 John) for you might learn of them not to serve them; as if, I say, it had been a thing becoming any of the Angels to importune men for Temples, and Altars, or, at least, to erect them to themselves; or, lastly, to attribute to themselves the honour of washing away, and blotting out the sins of men; or, as if any other, then the Son of God h 1.349 had purged our sins, and that i 1.350 by the sacrifice of himself appearing now once for to put away sin,

k 1.351 sanctifying those, who are his, through the offering of his Body once for all, having offered one Sacrifice for sins for ever, and by that offering for ever perfected them, that are sanctified: Upon which accompt St. John says, that he is the Propitiation for our sins, and that his blood cleanseth us from all ••n; yet this very Church of Rome, I say, who hath, in those of her Communion, forborn to take any notice of the wicked, and scandalous Expressions we have even now refuted, made no difficulty, after St. Augustine, to declare those guilty of sacrilege, who should presume to sacrifice to any of the Saints; nor, in imitation of him, to affirm, that it is a less sin to return drunk from the Memorials (or, Sepulchres) of the Martyrs, then to sacrifice to them fasting. But considering, with the whole antient Church in her Liturgies, the things distributed in the Eucharist no otherwise, then as gifts, and presents, which God gives us, and which he creates, and day∣ly leaves to our disposal, though by their consecration we hold, with the Holy Fathers, that they become Religious Sacraments, Figures, Images, Signs, and Similitudes of the Body and Blood of Christ, nay, that very Bo∣dy, and Blood in a Sacramental way, no man ought to think they abso∣lutely cease to be what they were (according to the condition of their nature) before the Consecration, viz. aliments of refection, created for our use, and left to our discretion, to be communicated to those, who are with us, whether effectually, or in outward appearance, in the Communion of the Church. Upon this accompt St. Ambrose might say, that he made a Present of it to Valentinian, a Catechumen indeed, as to outward appearance, but in effect one of the Faithfull, in as much, as he had made a Vow to receive Baptism; much after the same manner, as at this day the Church of Rome, in the distribution of the Bread, which she calls Holy, reserves (even for the absent, that are in Communion with her, whom the Persons, that offer it, are willing to honour) their portion, as a kinde of Honoura∣ry Present.

Thirdly, I intreat the Reader to observe, that St. Ambrose, who had said of the Great Theodosius, that he had attained salvation through his hu∣mility, in imitation of David, that his soul was returned into her rest, &c. that she had made haste to enter into the City of Jerusalem, into true glory, in the Kingdom of the blessed, in the enjoyment of perpetual light, rejoycing in the fruits of the reward for the things he had done in his body, does not, when he concludes his Discourse with this Wish, Grant thy servant perfect rest, that rest, which thou hast prepared for thy Saints, any way insinuate (to the prejudice of what he had said before) that the Soul of that Prince was then (when he spoke) in expectation of her rest; for he adds im∣mediately after, that he remains in light, and is glorified in the Assemblies of the Saints, in the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus, enjoying the society of Gratian his Brother-in-law, of Flaccilla his Daughter, and of the great Constantine: but he desires, on his behalf, not absolutely rest, since he was possessed of it, as to his Soul, but the perfect rest, the possession where∣of he could not arrive to in Body, and Soul, till after the Resurrection, and in comparison to which, what he was then possessed of could not be accompted other, then imperfect, and, as it were, half; since he enjoyed it, but in one of the parts of his Person, the other being to remain un∣der the power of Death, till the Last day, at which time it was to be

rejoyned to the other, that they might be joyntly received into Glory.

Into this Doctrine, which, in the main, presupposes the Hypothesis of the Protestants, concerning the Beatitude of the Faithfull, as to their souls, from the Moment of their Body's dissolution, we finde a little rubbish shuffled; which the Protestants do not conceive any one should force them to take upon their accompt.

In the first place, according to the then Custom, but without any Com∣mand, or Promise of God, and without the Example of the Apostolique Church, (the onely means able to Authorise his Action) St. Ambrose prays for him, whom he acknowledged in Bliss, in the Kingdom of God; a kinde of Office, which he himself, in his Funeral Oration for Valentinian; had de∣clared purely Arbitrary, and proceeding from the Will-worship, whereof St. Paul had, about three hundred and thirty years before, expresly ad∣vertized the Colossians, and by them the whole Church through all Ages, to beware:

And secondly, where he prays, that the Soul of Theodosius might re∣turn into the rest, whence it had descended, he not onely makes a superfluous Wish, and consequently ill-grounded, according to his own confession; since that Soul was already gotten into the place, where he wished it: But he shews further, that he had a little Tincture of Origene's Venom, whose Imagination it was, that the souls, having sinned in Heaven, and being forced to depart thence, were descended, guilty of Crimes, and, as such, had been disposed into Bodies. An Opinion, which was condemned in the year 399. by the unanimous consent of the whole Church; which constantly maintains, even to this day, and that every where, that all Souls are produced by God, at the very instant of their infusion into the Bodies they are to animate; and that, for as much as they were not at all, be∣fore they were united to their Bodies, they could not either be, or sin, in Heaven, or, consequently, descend thence; as St. Ambrose presupposed: that, which is not absolutely, neither having (before it is) any Being, nor pre-existing, nor capable of either Action, or Motion from one place to another, or of any Passion any way conceivable by us.

But as to the main point, it is manifest, that St. Ambrose, and all the Church of his Time, had absolutely rejected the first Hypothesis, derived from the pretended Sibylline Writing, maintaining, that all Souls, with∣out exception, descend into Hell, after their departure out of the Bodies, wherewith they (every one, as to its own particular) constituted humane Persons; and that that other Branch of Errour, which had prepossessed the Spirit of Justine Martyr, and his Contempora∣ries, whereby they imagined, that the Souls of the greatest Saints, during their pretended detention in Hell, were, in some sort, sub∣ject to the power of Evil Spirits, and upon that accompt, stood in need of being relieved by the Prayers of the Living, imploring on their behalf the Protection of God, and his good Angels, was no longer held, it being the perswasion even of those, who continued to make the same Prayers, as they, who had been of that Belief, that the true Christians, departing out of the Body, were with the Lord, in an eternal rest, and absolute safety. In so much, that these, who recommended the Dead to God, grounded not their so doing on either of these two Mo∣tives,

St. Ambrose telling us plainly concerning Valentinian the Se∣cond. Requiescamus (inquit l 1.352 anima pia) in Castellis, ostendens illic esse quietem tutiorem, quae septo Coelestis refugii munita, atque vallata, non ex∣agitatur soecularium incursibus Bestiarum, &c. Let us rest (says the Faith∣full soul) in Towers, shewing that there (where she is received) there is a more assured Repose, which being encompassed, and fortified with the Enclosure of celestial refuge, is not disturbed by the Incursions of the Beasts of this World; that is to say, Evil Spirits, and Wicked Men. And concerning Theodo∣sius; Lapsum sentire non poterit, in illa requie constitutits, &c. Being seated in that Rest, he cannot be subject to fall from it.

And Paulinus, not long before the Death of St. Ambrose, to Pamma∣chius, concerning his Wife Paulina, deceased in the year 396. Satis do∣cuit Rex Propheta, &c. The Royal Prophet hath sufficiently m 1.353 taught us how far we should be troubled at the departure of our Friends, and Kinred, to wit, so, as rather to think of our Journey after them, then of that, which they are already come to the end of. It is indeed an Expression of Piety to be cast down at the taking away hence of Just men; but it is also an Holy thing, to be raised up into Gladness upon the n 1.354 Hope, and Faith of God's Promises, and to say to him, that it is in trouble, o 1.355 Why art thou sad? Be it so, that Piety bewail for a time, yet is it necessary, that Faith should always be joyfull.

Upon this Ground was it, that all those, who, for the space of six hun∣dred years, made it their Business to write the Lives of the Faithfull, ac∣compted them among the Blessed; not admitting any adjournment of their Peace, and Felicity, after their death. In so much as Gregory, Arch-Bishop of Tours, deceased the seventeenth of November, 592. about which time Pope GREGORY, first of that Name, was designing the first-draught of Purgatory, should not have spoken of those Virtuous Persons, whose memory he celebrated, in other Terms, then those, who had preceeded him: saying of Gregory, Bishop of Langres; of Nicetius, Bishop of Lyons; of Porcianus, Ursus, and Caluppa, Religious Men; Migravit ad Dominum, &c. He is gone hence to the Lord: of Gullus, Bishop of Cler-mont; of Nicetius, Bishop of Trier; and of Lupicinus; Spiri∣tum, coelo intentum, proemisit ad Dominum, &c. He sent before (his Body) to the Lord his Soul, imployed in Thoughts of Heaven: of Friard; Christus animam suscepit in Coelo, &c. Christ hath received his soul into Heaven: of Martius, Ad Coronam commigravit, &c. He is gone hence to receive a Crown: of Venantius; Vitam percepturus aeternam, emicuit saeculo, &c. He is hurried hence to receive eternal Life: of Leobord; Manifestum est, eum ab Angelis susceptum, &c. It is manifest, he hath been entertained by Angels. In a word, the great number of those, who admire the Novelties, that have crept into the Opinion of Purgatory, hath been no hindrance, but that the Authours of Lives, who have written since the year 600. have spoken, and believed of their Dead consonantly to what had been done by the most Antient.

If therefore, even in the Time of St. Ambrose, the Opinion of the Millenaries was so lost to credit, that St. Hierome, who, out of respect towards the Great Persons, that had followed it, forbore to express his Thoughts thereof, and to number it among Heresies, thought it a great

Tenderness towards it, to assign it a place among the dreaming Imagina∣tions of mis-informed Spirits; it is not to be conceived, that after the year 500. descending still, it should have regained any Partizans, and that there should have been any man, whose Prayers for his deceased Friends proceeded from that Motive, so, as that he thought himself ob∣liged to wish them their part in the First Resurrection, which no man then understood in the sense, wherein Tertullian, and those of his Time, had conceived it. But indeed, many, even till after the year 600. relying on that Hypothesis, partly extracted out of the pretended Oracles of the Counterfeit Sibyl, that All Souls should pass through the last Conflagration of the World, demanded, on the Behalf of their departed Friends two things. One, that they might pass through that great Conflagration, as through a Purgative Fire, not to be prejudiced thereby, no more, then the Gold melt∣ed in the Crucible. Another, that they might have their part with all the Saints in the Resurrection to Glory. Upon this perswasion, Kindasvind, King of the West-Goths, in Spain, who reigned between the year 642. and 649. had caused these Verses to be written on the Tomb of his Wife Reciberga;

—Ego te (Conjux) quia vincere fata nequivi, Funere perfunctam, Sanctis commendo tuendam; Ut, cùm Flamma vorax veniet comburere Terras, Coetibus ipsorum meritò sociata resurgas.

Since death, on my desires, would not thee spare, Of thee departed may the Saints take care; That thou, with them, mayst rise again that day, When of the Fire the Earth shall be the prey.

The First of these Demands hath lost much of that Consideration with those, who have embraced the New Opinion of Purgatory, which seemed to require the Example of the most Antient, and the Exercise of the same Prayers, as they had made use of. For, though they make mention of the Last day's Fire, and are absolutely silent concerning Purgatory, yet do not those in the Western-Church, who pray for the Dead, hardly fasten their thought on any thing, but their deliverance out of the pretended place of Pain, and their disposal into rest; and I am to learn, whether there be any, who think of the Resurrection, to which alone relate, even to this day, both the Texts, and Prayers usually read in the Office of the Dead. Besides, it be thought shamefull, to pray (as in the Times of St. Chrysostome, Prudentius, and St. Augustine) for the Damned; not out of any hope to attain their absolute deliverance, but onely some alleviation of the Pai••s they suffer in Hell. And the Legends of Fa••tonilla, and Trajan, rescued out of eternal Damnation by the Prayers of St. Thecla, and Gregory the Great, are some∣what offensive to the Learned even of the Roman Communion, who are not a little troubled to excuse p 1.356 John Damascene, as to that particular. To be short, not one of the Doctours before the year 590. proposed to him∣self any such thing, as either the confinement of the Dead in Purgatory, or Prayer for their deliverance out of it.

CHAP. XLIII. The Obscurity, and Uncertainty of the Opinion of Purgatory.

GREGORY the Great, the first of all those, of whom we have re∣maining among us any Monuments to this purpose, having in the year 593. begun to fasten together, in his a 1.357 Dialogues, and Sermons, the Discourses he had heard, and which he recommends to us, with this notable Observation, that they were Novelties, not heard of before, since he brings in Peter, his Deacon, putting this Question to him, Quid hoc est, quaeso te, quod, in his extremis temporibus, tammulta de animabus clarescunt, quae antè latuerunt, &c. What means it, I beseech you, that in these Last Times, there are discovered, concerning souls, so many things which were hidden before? The Leaven so spread it self since, that in the Time of b 1.358 Beda, viz. one hundred and twenty years after St. Gregory, some numbred cold and temperate Purgatories, as well, as hot ones; which was further heightned by Visions, and Prodigious Relations, as if the confidence of Feigning should, as it grew Elder, grow also stronger. But, though there were no other reason to quarrel at this Opi∣nion, then the Novelty of it, as such, as had not appeared, in the West, be∣fore the end of the sixth Age, and could never obtain Naturalization in the East, and South, where it is yet unknown to the Vulgar, and discard∣ed by the Learned; and the irresolution, wherewith its Principal, and first Promoter, Pope Gregory, spoke, whether of the place of Hell, or the acti∣vity of Infernal Fire upon the Spirits, which (according to his Imagina∣tion) are tormented therein: yet they clearly justifie, that he Treated not the Question of the State of the dead; but as it were, by conjecture, and upon the Imaginations of Persons so apt to be mis-informed, as that there needed onely some common Report, and the affirmation of a confident Dreamer, to perswade them to any thing. I know well enough, that Cardinal Bellarmine, to derive the Business somewhat higher, cites St. Augustine; who, being in some difficulty about the Explication of those Words of Saint Paul, c 1.359 He shall be saved, yet so, as by Fire, had, about the year 410. made use of these Words, which manifestly discover how far he was unresolved in the Case: d 1.360 Sive in hac vita tantùm ista homines patiuntur, sive etiam post hanc vitam talia quaedam Judicia subsequun∣tur, non abhorret (quantum arbitror) à ratione veritatis iste intellectus hujus Sententiae: veruntamen etiamsi est alius, qui mihi non occurrit, eligendus, non cogimur dicere injustis, &c. Salvi eritis, &c. Whether it be in this Life onely, that men suffer such things (that is to say, dolefull Regrets for the things of this World, which they have carnally loved) or, that, after this Life, some such Judgments follow, this way of understanding the place of the Apostle, is not (in my Judgment) repugnant to the reason of Truth: yet, if we must pitch upon another sense, which is not obvious to me, we are not forced to say to the un∣just, &c. You shall be saved. Continuing still in the same posture, about the year 419. he writ to his Friend Laurence, e 1.361 Tale aliquid, &c. That some such thing may happen, even after this Life, is not incredible; and whe∣ther

it be really so, may be questioned, and it may be either found true, or remain concealed; to wit, whether some of the Faithfull, according as they have more, or less, loved perishable Goods, may be sooner, or later saved, through a Purga∣tory Fire. And note, that having not any thing more certain to answer, he kept to the same Terms in resolving the first Question proposed to him by Dulcitius. Nay, in the year 424. which was the seventh before his death, publishing his Books Of the City of God, he harped on the same Doctrine, saying, f 1.362 Post istius sanè corporis mortem, &c. But as for the time between the bodily death, and Last Judgment, if any one say, that the Spirits of the Dead are, all that while, tried in such a Fire, as they do not any way feel, who were not subject to the same Inclinations, and Affections in this Life, that their Wood, Straw, and Stubble might be consumed; but that others, who carry hence such Buildings, do onely here, or both here and there, or here so, as not there, pass through the purging Fire of a Transitory Tribulation, which burns the things of this World, though Venial in respect of Damnation, I reprove him not; for that it is possible, he is in the right.

But the Proceeding of the present Church of Rome, who triumphs so much upon these Passages, whereby she pretends to draw St. Augustine to her side, is so much the more unjust towards him; the more she presumes on the Testimony of a Witness, who does not onely not say any thing as to what she would have him, but absolutely destroys it, in as much, as he speaks of a Fire, which some feel even in this Life, and others after it. Whence it follows, that his Imagination reached no further, then a Me∣taphorical, and Intentional Fire, which may be felt, even during the Life of this Body; whereas the Romane Church supposes a real, and material one, which burns not the living, but torments the spirits of the Departed.

Secondly, That he is not confident of his having found out the true sense of St. Paul's Words: but, ingenuously, confesses; that they may be understood in some other, to him absolutely unknown.

Thirdly, That, treading, as it were, upon Thorns, he is not over-ready to give us any thing for certain; but entertains us with a simple Conjecture; which might be brought to Question, whether it were so, or not: which also he but slightly advances; as finding it not contributary to ought Impious, yet without imposing any necessity to admit it, and which, in fine, he lets pass under a Whether, an It may be, a Peradventure: so that, not presuming himself to approve it, all the kindness he hath for it, is ex∣pressed in his telling us, that he does not disallow it.

Fourthly, That the very thing, which he proposes so doubtfully, may be adjusted to the Opinion, which the most Antient had had of the general Conflagration of the Universe at the end of the World: whose Imagination it was, that it should serve as a general Lustration, through which the Spi∣rits of the Saints, even that of the Blessed Virgin, were to pass, and who reflected on nothing less, then the Purgatory, proposed to us at this day.

Fifthly, That, though he should assure us, that that certain Fire of Grief, whereof he speaks, shall be a material Fire, that it shall burn the Spirits of men, and that the Torment, which they shall endure thereby, shall afflict them from their departure out of the Bodies, they had cast off: yet should not his assurance be of greater weight to the Protestants,

then to the Church of Rome, which submits not to his Authority; but one∣ly in what she finds consistent with her own Opinions, land confidently re∣jects what she quarrels at. For, if she think it just to dissent from him, when he teaches g 1.363 that In the Deity there are three Substances, that h 1.364 The Angels are corporeal, that i 1.365 The sins of the Fathers make the Chil∣dren liable to punishment, that The souls (of all the Departed) are (between the day of their departure out of this World, and that of the Last Judg∣ment) k 1.366 shut up in secret Receptacles, that the Prayers made for them are beneficial to them, to the end, that either the Remission may be full, or that their Damnation be more tolerable, and that those Prayers, made on the behalf of the Damned, are a kinde of consolation to the ••iving; all which things the said Holy Prelate positively affirms: why should she take it ill, that (after her Example) we should refuse absolutely to depend on his Authority. especially in a subject, wherein he does not pretend any, in as much, as it is his own acknowledgment, that he was not resolved, what he should should hold? What greater Necessity is there, that we should determine for the Affirmative, when he, himself, makes it a Question, Whether there be after this life a Purgatory for the Spirits of the Deceased; then, when he doubts, Whether the Sun, Moon, and Stars belong to the society of the blessed Spirits in Heaven? Though we had read no other Lecture of Modesly, then the reservedness, which prevailed with him to forbear resolving ought upon these two Questions, do we not deserve commendation for having (in imitation of him) kept the Scales in our Hands, rather, then Blame, which we must never expect to avoid, if, without pregnant Proof, we affirmed what he proposed onely Problematically, and without any decision. If it may, with any colour, be pretended, that the Bent of his inclination was the Affirmative of a Purgatory of some kinde, or other, and that it should be a Pattern for us to do the like, why should not his confidence in denying the l 1.367 Antipodes force us by a like Negative, to dispute against our own Experience, whose Testimony, for these 150. years, assures us he was mistaken? Were it not much better, that those, who would make use of his Name, in a Cause he never main∣tained, should behave themselves according to his Moderation, and protest with him, m 1.368 I would, if it might be; or, rather I will, if it may be, be overcome by the Truth, which is not openly repugnant to the sacred Scri∣ptures, in as much as that, which is repugnant to them, cannot in any sort, be ei∣ther called, or accompted Truth. I therefore intreat them, in the fear of God, to take it into their serious Consideration,

First, Whether it be possible, their Belief, such as they propose it to us, can be the same with that of St. Augustine, who, never (for ought we could ever learn) determined in the Affirmative of any Purgatory; much less of that, which the Monastical Revelations have furnish'd us with, in despight of the most Venerable Antiquity; but hath expresly declared, by his Sermons, that he acquiesced in the common Sentiment of the Church of his Time, which held, that those, whom God calls to himself, are Translated, at their Death, either into the actual enjoyment of their Fe∣licity, or confined in the Place of their eternal Punishment. To this Effect does he express himself to his Church, upon the eleventh Chapter of St. John. n 1.369 Receptus est Pauper, receptus est Dives: sed ille in sinu

Abrahae; ille, &c. The Poor man was received, the Rich man was received: but the former into Abraham's Bosom; the later where he should be thirsty, and not finde a drop of Water: the souls of all men therefore (that I may hence take occasion to instruct your Charity) all souls have, after their departure out of this World, their several Retreats: the Good are in Bliss, the Wicked in Tor∣ments, &c. The rest, which is given immediately after Death, whoever is worthy of it, receives it immediately, when he Dies. And upon the First of St. John, o 1.370 Ille, qui vixit, & mortuus est, &c. He, who hath lived, is also dead, his Soul is transported into other places, his Body is disposed into the Ground; whe∣ther those words, (viz. those of his Last Will) be put in execution, or not, it does not concern him; he does, he endures quite another thing, he either re∣joyces in Abraham's Bosom, or in eternal Fire prays for a little Water. I know Cardinal Bellarmine either thought, or pretended to think, that all could be deduced from those Words, was, that the Souls of the Faithfull are, immediately after their Departure out of this World, gathered into rest, in as much as assured of their eternal Salvation, and that thence they derive great Joy; but that to some it is not given without the admixture of Temporal Pains. But I maintain, that his Commentary is a formal corruption of the Text, to which he applies it; in as much as S. Augustine gives us to observe therein, as things immediately opposite, the Good, and the Wicked, the Joy of the former in Abraham's Bosom, and the Torments of the later in eternal Fire: so that, as the Torment of these is an absolute Privation of Joy, and Rest; so the Joy, and Rest of the other is necessarily an absolute exemption from Torment. Besides, I do not see how long any can number among those, who rejoyce, and are in Bliss, the Spirits of such, as are sup∣posed to suffer more, then could be suffered in this Life; and much less, how the Believer, dead in the Lord, receives (when he dies) his Rest, and Joy, if he be then confined to Places of Punishment; and upon that very accompt is not in his Rest. To salve then so strange a Conception, we must say, that to Be in rest signifies, not to be in rest, and to rejoyce may be taken in the same sense, as to be tormented. But whom will they perswade to this, unless those, who have suffered such a dislocation of Understanding, as hath made them uncapable of either discerning, or disallowing any distorsion of words?

Secondly, I earnestly intreat those, who are in Communion with the Church of Rome, to tell me conscientiously, whether they think it possible, that St. Augustine held their Purgatory for an Article of Faith, when he is so far from making a certain acknowledgment of any, that he leaves it to every one (after his Example) to put it to the Question, Whether there be any, or no. Will they say, he was so weakly instructed, that he was igno∣rant, that Tenent (if so be it were such, as they would have it) made, or ought to make part of the Catholique Doctrine, or that the Catholique Do∣ctrine is duly professed, when those, who are called to teach it, openly declare they doubt thereof? It must then needs follow, that Purgatory was not known to the Christians of that Age, and therefore much less to those, who had been Disciples of the Apostles.

CHAP. XLIV. That the Proofs, produced by Cardinal Bellarmine for Purga∣tory, are Weak, and Defective.

CArdinal Bellarmine, who hath undertaken to prove the contrary, cannot acquit himself, without being forced to shamefull shifts, and calling to his Assistance such Witnesses, as depose onely on the be∣half of Prayer for the Dead; as if that Prayer, which St. Epiphanius assures us to have been made, in his Time, for all the Saints, without exception, never either had, or could have had any other Ground, then the Purga∣tory held by the Church of Rome. He cites, to this purpose, Councels, almost all Latine, viz. the Third of Carthage, Assembled the first of September, 397. and the Fourth, held the sixth of November, 398. the Third of Orleans, celebrated the three and twentieth of June, 533. the First of Braga, convocated the first of May, 563. the Collection, compiled, at the same Time, by Martin, Bishop of Dumium, and afterwards Arch-Bishop of Braga; the First Councel of Chaalons upon the Saone, Assembled in the year 650. and that, which the Greeks held in the Trullum of Con∣stantinople, in the year 691. Nay, he makes accompt to put us off also with some Councels, Assembled by the Popes, for the maintaing of Abuses as well in Doctrine, as Discipline; as that of Lateran, under Innocent the Third, in the year 1215. that of Florence, under Eugenius the Fourth, in the year 1439. and that of Trent; under Pius the Fourth: as if the Autho∣rity of these last should have any other Effect, then to provoke the just disgust of the Protestants. Besides, to strengthen the Dose, he makes no small Stir with two Counterfeit Pieces, advanced by shameless Impostours, under the Names of the Sixth Councel of Rome, under Symmachus; and of that of VVorms, held, I know not when, nor by whom. Nay, to give us an Essay of his own Abilities, in such a Case, after he had cited the sixty ninth Canon of the Collection made by Martin of Braga, instead of the sixty eighth, he falsely pretends, that he took it out of the Synods of the Greeks; never considering, that in that Collection we have nine Canons of the First Councel of Toledo, and two out of the third and fourth of Carthage, with thirteen others, which are not to be found in any of the Councels now extant, either Greek, or Latine, and that the sixty eighth, which he places in the sixty ninth rank, is of that Number.

Next he cites the Liturgies, which go under the Names of St. James, St. Basil, St. Chrysostome, St. Ambrose, &c. and furnish us (as do also the Councels) onely with Prayer for the dead, which not onely hath nothing common with the Purgatory held by the Church of Rome; but presup∣poses what is directly contrary; as assuring us, that those, for whom it is made, are not in Torment, but in Rest, and Peace.

Thence he passes to the Greek Fathers, and, upon the first start, al∣leges unto us (as taking it from St. Clemens Romanus, St. Denys the

Areopagite, and St. Athanasius of Alexandria) the Constitutions, forged un∣der the Name of the said St. Clement, about two hundred years after his Martyrdom; the Hierarchy, composed above four hundred years after the death of the said St. Denys; and the Answers to the Questions of An∣tiochus, written by Athanasius of Antioch, who was later, then him of Alexandria, by four hundred years. Then he produces St. Gregory Na∣zianzene, St. Cyril of Hierusalem, St. Chrysostome, and Theophylact, Arch-Bishop of Bulgaria, who lived after the year 1000. and, following the steps of those, who had preceded him, tells us onely of Prayer for the dead.

As for the Latines, he produces Tertullian, St. Cyprian, St. Ambrose, St. Hierome, St. Paulinus of Nola, St. Augustine, Gregory the Great, Isidore of Sevil, Victor, Bishop, not of Utica (as many conceive) but of Ucetia, and Bernard; not one of whom Treats of any thing, but Prayer. Which I observe, not to deny, that St. Gregory, and those of the Latines, who lived after him, might take the Opinion of Purgatory, whereof St. Gregory may be called the Father, or God-Father, for a Motive of their Prayers for the dead; but to advertise, that no such thing can be said of such, as were more antient, who founded their Prayers on other Motives; to wit, those, which have been represented already; whereof there is not any one compatible with Purgatory; such as it is at this day ima∣gined to be.

CHAP. XLV. That the Testimonies, produced by Jodocus Coccius for the Opinion of Purgatory, are also defective.

THere is somewhat, much of the same Nature, to be observed in that great Collection, which Jodocus Coccius, Canon of Juliers, (ra∣ther out of a scrupulous, then judicious diligence) makes of all manner of Pieces, good and bad. For he cites us (among the Liturgies, named by Cardinal Bellarmine) those, which are attributed to St. Peter, St. Mark, and St. Matthew, those of Milan, of the Mozarabes, Goths, and Armeni∣ans; as also the Councels of Arles, Vaison, and Valentia, which speak one∣ly of Praying, and Offering for the dead; and for that very Reason say no∣thing, as to the Business of Purgatory, which is not necessarily deduced thence. Coming to the Greek Fathers, he produces, out of a notori∣ously-counterfeit Piece of St. Clemens Romanus, certain Words, extract∣ed out of the Rule of St. Benedict, which was written four hundred and fifty years after the blessed Death of St. Clement, and, after all, amount∣ing to nothing, in as much as they mention onely Prayer for the dead. He cites Hermas, an Apocryphal Authour, one, who expresly telling us, that he speaks of Persons, that are in a Condition of repenting, or remaining Impenitent, clearly shews, that he says nothing competible to the Souls, which the Church of Rome pretends to be so confined in her Purgatory; that they cannot merit there, much less be converted to God. He takes

for good the Testimony of Origene, who believed not any Pains eternal, and that of St. Gregory Nyssenus, who was lightly led away into that Er∣rour. He summons in also Ephraim, Deacon of E•…•…a, Diadochus, Bishop or Photice, Maximus, and Oecumenius, who speak of no other Fire, then that of the last Conflagration; Synesius, Bishop of Ptolemais in Cyrenaica, who Treats of the Pains inflicted by Devils, and consequently of those of the damned; Procopius of Gaza, who proposing to us a Purgative Fire, which the Seraphim brings from Heaven to Earth, to sanctifie as well the Ministers of the Church, as the sinners, for whom they pray, clearly disco∣vers, he never thought on the Romish Purgatory, which does not sancti∣fie any one, and which cannot be in Heaven, for this very Reason, that it is placed in Hell. Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople, who speaks of the Efficacy of our Saviour's Passion to deliver out of Limbus those, whom Antiquity believed to have been there confined in expectation of his coming, as also of the Purgatory of those, who die daily, says nothing to his purpose. He makes great ostentation of a Fragment unjustly at∣tributed to Theodoret, which is not to be found any where in his Works; of Gennadius Scholarius, drawn into the Church of Rome's Party by the Caresses, and kindnesses of Pope Eugenius the Fourth; and of Zagazabo, an Abyssine Bishop, whom the Portuguez, deceitfull Interpreters of his Sentiments, made to say what they pleased, directly contrary to the common Belief of his Countrey-men. He further brings in the Depositions of that Impostour, who had in the year 1595. taken upon him the Name of Gabriel Patriarch of the Cofti, and who hath been since acknowledged by the Doctours of the Church of Rome to be what he was; as also those of Hypatius, Arch-Bishop of the Black-Russians, who (to comply with the King of Poland, Father of the last-deceased) had submitted to the Church of Rome, and in consequence thereof had made such a profession of Faith, as she desired he should. In a word, he shuffles together all he met with, of one, I know not what, Eusebius of Alexandria, unknown to Antiquity, of Eusebius of Caesarea, of the Arabian Canons, of Timothy of Alexandria, of St. Epiphanius, of Palladius, of John sirnamed Cassian, of Justine, Justinian, and Leo the Wise, Emperours, of John sirnamed Cli∣macus, of Gregory the Priest, of Leontius, of Sophronius, of Damascene, of Anastasius, of Simeon Metaphrastes, of Constantine sirnamed Manasses, of Nicetas, of Nicholas Cabasilas, of Athanasius of Constantinople, of Nice∣phorus Gregoras, of the Greeks deputed to the Councel of Basil, of those, who reside at Venice, and of Jeremy, Patriarch of Constantinople; not omit∣ting any of the Authours alleged by Cardinal Bellarmine, and never mind∣ing, whether from any one of the Testimonies, he draws from this long Catalogue of Witnesses, any thing more can be gathered, then Prayer for the dead.

Then turning to the Latine Fathers, and bringing in all those, whom Cardinal Bellarmine had cited, he produces, over and above, Arnobius, who simply says, that the Church prays for all, both living, and dead; and Zeno of Verona, blaming the VVidows, who, by their lamentations, inter∣rupt the prayers, whereby the Souls of their deceased Husbands are re∣commended to God; and shews even in that, that he thought they no way deserved those lamentations, which yet were but the just, and ne∣cessary

Effects of the compassion of the living, if they presupposed, with any certainty, of their departed Friends, that they burn in an Infernal Fire. Besides all this, he shuffles in the Depositions of Lactantius, of Hilarius the Deacon, of Eucherius of Lyons, of Caesarius of Arles, and of Boethius, who speaks of the Conflagration of the World at the Last day; of Prudentius, who speaks of the Hell of the damned; of Philip the Priest, who Treats Of the Absolution, and Remission of Sins, which shall be solemnly given to every Be∣liever at the Last day; of St. Hilary of Poictiers, who discourses Of the Tri∣bulations of this Life; of Bacchiarius, who, to confute those, who made any difficulty to allow the peace of the Church to their Brethren, that were fall∣en, alledges the care which Resfa, Saul's Concuhine, had taken of the bodies of his children, hanged upon occasion of the Gibeonites; and that of Judas Maccabaeus for those of his Army, who, after their Death, had been found seized of the prey, taken in the Temple of Jamnia; of Primasius, and Faustus, Religious Men of the Monastery of St. Maurus, who are pleased to approve Prayers and Offerings for the dead: and, to give us good measure, when we are to be cheated, he cites us a Writing lately Fathered on Pope Sixtus the Third; an Homily of the Lord's Supper, stuffed with passages out of St. Hilary, St. Hierome, St. Augustine, St. Prosper, Isidore of Sevil, Bede, and Alcuin, and consequently unjustly attributed to Saint Eloy, deceased the first of December, 663. before the birth of Bede, who was more antient by Fifty years, then Alcuin; the Commentary, which Sedulius, not (as he thinks) the antient, who writ the Opus Paschale, but another, of the same Nation, dressed up since the year 700. out of the Writings, and abundance of other Authours of later date, whom I for∣bear to bring into the Accompt, out of a consideration, that, in regard they lived since St. Gregory, and have had a great Veneration for the Writings, and Authority of that Renowned Prelate, it may be they might have some Thoughts of the Purgatory, whereof he was the first Founder, when they writ what is alledged out of them, though they contain not any formal mention thereof. So that, to make good the Protestant Cause against the Church of Rome, it is sufficient, if I maintain,

First, That she hath nothing expresly affirmed on the behalf of her Purgatory among the Latines, before Gregory the First.

Secondly, That that onely reflection may give the more simple, light enough to comprehend, that that Point of Doctrine, being so new, that it was not known for the space of six Ages together even among the Doctours of the Western Church, who have not, neither any one of them in particular, nor all together, anything determinate, to induce the re∣ception of it, and justifie that they had received it, can by no means be an Article of Faith.

Thirdly, That such, as alledge unto us the Greeks, who never be∣lieved, nor can to this day believe, what is proposed to them, concern∣ing it, by the Church of Rome, deal very unhandsomly, and are more worthy reproach, then refutation, which their Supposition doth not deserve:

And lastly, That Coccius, who hath made no difficulty to bring in, as Witnesses, the Greeks sojourning at Venice, and Jeremy, Patriarch of Con∣stantinople; who, in those very Places, which he cites, deny what he pretends to prove, did not any way consider, what he ought, either his

own Cause, or the sincerity of a good Conscience, which in the Busi∣ness of Religion cannot advance any thing either false, or superfluous, much less ought, that is repugnant to what it hath undertaken to prove.

CHAP. XLVI. Of the Reasons, which might have moved the Antients to Interr their departed Friends in the Churches, consecrated to the Memory of the Saints.

ALl this thus presupposed, as it may well be, in as much as the ne∣cessary result from it is, that that▪ Part of Antiquity, which prayed for the dead, had not any thought of either the Purgatory, where the Church of Rome teaches, that they burn, or their deliverance out of that grievous Pain; but intended onely to desire of God, that he would be pleased to pardon their Sins at the day of his Son's Last coming, deliver them from the general Conflagration of the World, and give their Bodies a glorious Resurrection; it remains to discover, what may have been their intention, who have ordered their Friends to be Buried near the Mar∣tyrs, or, at least, in the places, and Edifices dedicated, since the peace of the Church, to their Memory. To proceed in a more certain order, and take things at their proper Sources, I observe,

First, That the Christians (no more, then the Jews) had not, at the beginning, any common Cemiteries, or Church-yards, but that every one made choice of such place for his Sepulchre, as he thought fit, and, that it was thus, the most antient Monuments yet remaining among us give suf∣ficient Testimony.

Secondly, That according to the Politicks of the Jews, and Romans, Sepulchres were not within Cities, a 1.371 but onely near, and about them.

Thirdly, That as among the Jews, and Heathens, there were cer∣tain particular Places of Sepulture for those of the same Family; so the resentments of Christian Fraternity, whereby all the Saints make up b 1.372 the Family of God, and are c 1.373 Members one of another, prevailed so far upon the Spirits of the Faithfull, that they begat in them (as far as the Extremities of those Times permitted) a desire, that their Bodies might be deposited near those of their Brethren, who had before d 1.374 fought the good Fight of Faith, and e 1.375 held fast the confidence, and the rejoycing of the hope firm unto the end.

Fourthly, That the Church, during the rigour of the Persecutions, having been forced to Assemble to serve God before day, and to seek the safety of her Children in the silence of the Night, and the Solitudes of Cemiteries, Places not onely of no great shew, but such as were (if the Scituation permitted it) for the most part, under Ground, as the Catatumbs about Rome, and could not (upon that accompt) give any Jealousie to the Pa∣gans, the Faithfull, who were there daily animated to Constancy by the Instruction of their Pastours, and the sight of the Tombs, which they con∣sidered

as so many Trophies of their Brethren; seeing the Mystical Table purposely placed towards that part, where their bodies rested, as it were, to make unto them a literal Application of the Words of St. John, who affirms, that f 1.376 he saw under the Altar the Souls of them, that were slain for the Word of God, and for the Testimony, which they held, derived from all these Considerations that noble desire of remaining conjoyned with the Saints of God in Life, and Death, and, when the time should come, depose their own Bodies, as it were, into the Bosom of those Friends; whose Examples they had followed, in all the course of their Lives.

Fifthy, That after the Conquest of Paganism, under the Reign of Constantine the Great, Constantius, his Son, who, at the time he was most violent against the Orthodox, bethought him of making the first Transpor∣tations of Saints bodies, in as much, as upon the first of June, 356. he transferred to Constantinople the body of St. Timothy, which he had taken out of Ephesus, and the third of March following caused to be brought. from Patras, the bodies of St. Andrew, and St. Luke; Constantius, I say, raised in all those, that came after him, such a desire to attempt the like Translations, that there can hardly be named any one of the antient Mar∣tyrs, and Confessours, whose body hath not been digged out of the Earth, and torn in Pieces, to be distributed into many several places. In imita∣tion of Princes, private Persons began to exercise that Piece of Will-wor∣ship: those, who wanted Authority to countenance their Actions, taking the liberty to make use of Violence, and commit Robberies (not to speak of the Adulterations, and Impostures, which, in less, then thirty years were come to that Excess, that on the six and twentieth of February, 386. it was thought necessary to repress it by an Express Law, to this Effect, g 1.377 Humanum corpus nemo ad alterum locum transferat; nemo Martyrem distrahat; nemo mercetur, &c. Let no man translate any man's body from one place to another; let no man sell; no man set to a Price any Martyr. But, since that time, the Disease growing too violent for the Remedy, what had been accompted an h 1.378 Execrable attempt became an Act of Religion, and there wanted not an Emulation among those, that practised it, who should be most criminal; and whereas, at the beginning, People thought it enough to consider the Monuments of Martyrs, and Confessours, onely as the glorious marks of their Christian Profession, with such a respect, as admitted not the violation of their bodies, they came in time to exercise that rudeness upon them, as is done on a Prey, exposed to the covetous∣ness of the first, that lays hands on it; every one endeavoured to keep his share, their very bones were cut to Pieces, and, instead of honouring their Memory, and celebrating their Virtues by a pious imitation thereof, they turned their Veneration towards the Repositories, into which they were disposed. If, on the one side, Antiquity, reduced to those Extre∣mities, as to keep its Assemblies in Cemeteries, thought it a glory to place the Eucharistical Table under their Tombs, to teach every one of her chil∣dren, that they belonged, both living, and dead, to that Great Saviour, who hath commanded us to shew forth his death till his coming again: Po∣sterity, on the other, which had the opportunity to build as many Temples, as they pleased, and where they pleased, hath suffered their

Liberty to degenerate into Superstition; imagining, that no Altar was to be erected, but it must be made a Repository of Reliques, and the dis∣order (as it were by an universal Deluge) spread it self so suddenly over all, that the General Councel of all Africa, Assembled at Carthage on the thirteenth of September, 401. was forced to make Provision against it by this remarkable Decree: Placuit, ut Altaria, quae passim, &c. It hath been thought fit, that the Altars, which are erected up and down the Fields, and High-ways, as Memorials of the Martyrs, wherein there are not any Body, or Re∣liques of the Martyrs interred, be (if possible) demolished by the Bishops, un∣der whose Jurisdictions those Places are. But if, by reason of popular Tumults, it be not in their power to do so, yet let the People be admonished, not to frequent such Places; so as that those, who understand things aright, be not out of any Superstition obliged thereto: that, by no means, there be not any Memory of the Martyrs accepted with appearance of approbation; but onely there, where, by an unquestioned Origine, it is found there are some Body, or Reliques, or the beginning of some Habitation, or Possession, or Passion; and that the Altars, which are any where erected upon the Dreams, and vain, as it were, Revelations of any men whatsoever, be wholly disallowed.

Christian Religion had not been Authorised yet an hundred years by the Laws of the Emperours; but Dreams, and Resveries, falsly called Re∣velations, had taken such Root therein, that the Fields, and High-ways were the shamefull Witnesses of it, and the Bishops, justly filled with in∣dignation to see their People in the Fetters of Superstition, and not daring to promise themselves the success to overcome it, opposed it but faintly, with an If possible, as well imagining, that the Spirits of men, once Infatuated with its Prejudications, become easily Furious, and maintain, by Tumult, and Violence, what cannot be coloured with any Reason, nor give satisfaction to understanding Persons. They there∣fore thought it much to have admonished the Faithfull of the Im∣posture, and protested against it, referring the event to the Providence of God, who by a just Judgment hath delivered the Perverse to be In∣fatuated by their own Councels. In Effect, the Evil was incomparably much stronger then the Remedies, and it is not to be thought strange, if, even to this day, in all those Places, where the antient Custom hath kept its Credit, men pray, by the Merits of the Saint, whose Reliques are un∣der the Altar, and desire, ever to be assisted by the Merits of those, whose Re∣liques they there with a pious love Emb race.

Sixthly, That the Children of those first Christians, who (during the Tempests of Persecution) had had their Nocturnal-Assemblies in the Ceme∣teries, where the Exigency of the Season forced them to make use of Lights, when the Peace of the Church, then beginning to Triumph over the Fury of Paganism, put them into a Condition to build Temples, and to transferr into them the Bodies of Martyrs, were desirous, not as their Predecessours, to have their bodies deposited in the Cemeteries, common as well to Martyrs, as the rest of the Faithfull, in Testimony of the Pro∣fession they had continued, even to the last Gasp; but that they might be placed near those of the Martyrs, as if (contrary to the Custom of the Primitive Church, which meddled not in the least with the bodies of the Saints once Interred (after they had committed a new kinde of Violence

on their Reliques, the glory of accompanying them in their last Reposi∣tory, and taking place near them, should have so possessed any one, as to beget in his minde, out of a carnal Affectation, sinister Designs, and Jealousie, or, as if those, who were Interred in the Fabricks, particularly Consecrated to their Memory, had had a nearer communion with them, then other Christians, who had had their Burial in the common Cemeteries whence their bodies had been taken up. This ridiculously-ambitious kinde of Superstition, becoming, immediately upon its first Eruption, im∣portunate, the Emperours, who thought it Scandalous, and likely to be∣get Trouble, and Disturbance, had conceived it might have been banished the Church by their Law of the nine and twentieth of July, 381. expres∣sing as much in Terminis. Nè alicujus fallax, & arguta solertia, ab hujus se praecepti intentione subducat, atque Apostolorum, vel Martyrum sedem hu∣mandis corporibus aestimat esse concessam, ab his quoque it à, ut à reliquo civitatis, noverint, sè atque intelligant esse submotos, &c. To the end that the deceitful∣ness, and unfeigned subtilty of any one may not decline the intention of his com∣mand, and as imagining that the aboad of the Apostles, or Martyrs, is allowed for the Interment of bodies; let them know, and understand, that they are de∣barred thence in like manner, as from the rest of the City. Hence it appears, that the meaning of those Christian Princes was, that no Body should be Interred, either in Constantinople, or in the Churches of the Apostles, and Martyrs. But their Regulation, though rational in it self, proving inef∣fectual, through the joynt Designs of the Prelates, and the People, who made it their Business, to the utmost to oppose it, rather heightned, then abated their Passion: so that, as since that time, under pretence of Religion, People lighted a great number of Wax-Candles, even while the Sun shined, and maintained they had reason so to do, in as much as they lighted them, not (as sometime under Persecution) to chase away darkness, but to express signs of Joy; every one, as much as in his power lay, concerning himself, in that magnificence, and, according to his Ability, contributing there∣to: so every one took an Humour to slight the common Cemeteries, and to dispute who should have the nearest places to the Martyrs in their own Churches, purchasing (according to the present Expression, even at this day) the entrance of the Holy Land with Sums of Money.

But, though the common Rate of People was easily drawn into this Design, and promoted it with extraordinary earnestness, yet the more modest declined it, and, demeaning themselves according to the Ex∣ample, and Practice of their Ancestours, contained themselves, through a commendable reservedness, within the Terms of the Pristine simpli∣city. Among these is Pope Damasus, of whom we have certain Verses, concluding an Inscription, which he had put on the Frontispiece of Saint Laurence's Church called, upon this occasion, In Damaso, to distinguish it from another Church, dedicated to the Memory of the same Saint, and and called, In Lucina, because of Lucina, a Roman Lady, who had first taken upon her the Care of gathering together, and burying the re∣mainders of the Body of that Glorious Martyr; He says thus,

i 1.379 Hic volui (fateor) Damasus, mea condere Membra, Sed cineres timui Sanctos vexare Piorum.

—I must confess,

I here would fai•• my Body lay in Dust, Were't not t'offend the Ashes of the Just.

And these Figurative Words deserve to be so much the more particu∣larly considered, in as much as any one may judg, that so great a Person could not be Ignorant, that the Reliques of Saint Laurence could be no less destitute of Sentiment then of Life; but Poëtically borrowing the Metaphorical Expressions, as well of the Heathen, who were wont to make the same Wish for their deceased Friends, May the earth ly light upon thee, May thy Bones gently rest; as of the Prophets, as Esay, who introduces k 1.380 Hell moved from beneath, because of the King of Babylon, to meet him at his coming, and to stir up the Dead for him, and to raise up from their Thrones all the Kings of Nations, to insult at his Misery, he considered his Re∣liques, as if they had been animated with the same Spirit, as had made use of them to the glory of God, during the course of his life, and in∣tended onely to signifie thus much; that, if they had been capable of Resentment, they might have suffered, through the nearness of his Body to them, the shame, and dissatisfaction, which happen to generous Per∣sons, who, being unequally matched, desire, and endeavour to free them∣selves out of the slavery of an importunate and dishonourable Society.

CHAP. XLVII. The Sentiments of Saint Ambrose, and Paulinus, concerning the Burial of the Faithfull in Churches, Examined.

BUt all the rest of the Prelates were not so scrupulous [as Pope Da∣masius] on the contrary, Saint Ambrose, carried away the rest by Custom, as by the violence of an impetuous Torrent, had not onely caused his Brother Satyrus, deceased the seventeenth of September, 383. to be buried near St. Victor, Martyr, but made his Tomb famous with this Epitaph,

Uranio Satyro, Supremum frater honorem, Martyris ad laevam detulit Ambrosius; Haec meriti merces, ut sacri sanguinis humor Finitimus penetràns adluat exuvias.

Here, on the Martyr's left, Ambrose bestows Here, on the Martyr's left, Ambrose bestows Last Honours on his Brother Satyrus; That's sacred Blood (merit's reward it is) May piercing drench the neighbouring Carkases.

In like manner, commendation is given to his Sister Marcellina, de∣ceased the seventeenth of July, about the year 398. or 99. for that she had chosen the place of her Burial near her Brethren in sacred Ground; for her Epitaph runs thus;

Marcellina, tuos cùm vita resolveret artus, Sprevisti Patriis corpus sociare Sepulchris.

Cùm pia fraterni superas consortia somni, Sanctorúmque cupis charâ requiescere terrâ, &c.

Nor would'st thou be, when death thy Limbs disjoyn'd, To thy forefather's Sepulchres confin'd, Out of a hope t' injoy thy Brother's rest, And to remain'ith Region of the Blest.

Saint Paulinus, then indeed onely a Priest, but afterwards Bishop of Nola, shewing, that he had conceived an Imagination suitable to that of St. Ambrose, writ concerning Celsus, a young man, deceased at Complutum, or Alcada de Henarez, in Spain, about the year 393.

—Complutensi mandavimus urbe propinquis Conjunctum tumuli foedere Martyribus, Ut de vicino Sanctorum sanguine ducat, Quo nostras illo purget in igne animas, &c.

—In Complutum he's dispos'd Among the Martyrs, in a Tomb inclos'd, That from th' adjacent blood o'th' Saints he may Derive what can our Souls purge in that day.

viz. that of the Conflagration of the Universe.

Of these Epitaphs the result is, that, as the Prophet a 1.381 Elizeus was heretofore so assisted by the Almighty power of the God of Glory, that a dead Carkase, cast by those that carried it into his Grave, without any other Design, then that to rid themselves of a trouble, which might have retarded their Flight, recovered Life, as soon as it had touched his bones; so, according to the Opinion, as well of St. Ambrose, as Paulinus, the Bodies of Martyrs were endued with a certain Virtue, such as Sanctified, and Purged the Things, that were placed near them. We cannot at this day affirm, whether St. Ambrose did, or did not change his Opinion; but we are obliged to observe by the way what there is in it, that is inconveni∣ent, nay indeed unmaintainable, since that it presupposed, that from the body of St. Victor, beheaded at Milan, the eighth of May, 303. un∣der Maximian, and from that time, shut up in a Tomb, the Blood should, eighty years after, issue out in such quantity, as to penetrate the Ground all about, and moisten the body of Satyrus, though enclosed also in his Grave, and communicate its Virtue to him. But, if beheaded Bodies must necessarily be Bloodless, and, if that Blood be naturally fixed into a consistency, as soon as it is issued out of the Veins, what possibility was there in the Supposition, which St. Ambrose made of that, which Saint Victor had spilt eighty years before, representing it onely liquid, but streaming in such quantity, as might penetrate the adjacent Ground? And, if it be pretended, he grounded it on the Conception of some Miracle, whence did he derive it, unless from his own voluntary Devotion, or Will-worship, which inclined him to believe, as actually existent, what he thought possible to the power of God?

Besides this inconvenience, whereto the Opinion of St. Paulinus, wri∣ting the Epitaph of Celsus, lies open, and that the more expresly, the more likely it is, he conceived, or pretended to conceive, that, from the Bodies of Justus, and Pastor, who had their Throats cut, and consequently

lost all their Blood, at Complutum, on the sixth of August, 303. that is to say, ninety years at least, before the Death of Celsus, the Body of that young man should derive Blood, that purges souls; as if, of any other blood, then that of the b 1.382 Lamb of God, c 1.383 who of God hath been made unto us Sanctifica∣tion, and Redemption, and hath d 1.384 himself purged our Sins, it could be truly, and in good sence, said, that it taketh away the Sin of the World, and e 1.385 cleanseth us from Sin; those Imaginations, which, taken rigorously, would be found Diametrically opposite to the Doctrine of Faith, do stand so much in need of a candid Reader, who must do his Judgment some violence, to draw them into a good sense, that without the Byas, which a forced Interpretation may give them, it were impossible to deducc thence, I will not say, any thing good, but any thing excusable.

About nine years after, the same Paulinus, writing the Epitaph of Cla∣rus, Disciple of St. Martin, and a Priest of Tours, deceased the eighth of November, 401. in as much as his Body was to be Interred at the foot of the Altar, takes a new Fancy, and says.

Sancta sub aeternis Altaribus ossa quiescunt, Ut, dum nostra Pio referuntur munera Christo, Divinae è sacris animae jungantur odores, &c.

His sacred Bones now undisturbed lie, Under Eternal Altars, that, when we To Christ our Presents offer, his Soul may Be joyn'd to th'odours Sacred things convey.

He pretended (as you see) that the placing of the Body of the Faith∣full Person departed, near the Altar, would be of such advantage to the Soul, that some increase of Grace might accrue to her thereby: and all this, with much sincerity, and good meaning, which is wont to open a spacious Gap to those, that consult it. But upon what grounded? What place of Holy Scripture can be produced to Authorise the Advice there∣of? Accordingly, the same Paulinus, to let us know that he found not himself any way satisfied with either of those two Presuppositions, with much confidence, and asseveration, acknowledged, that he was yet to be advised therein in the year 419. wherein two fresh Accidents, to wit, the Interrment of Flora's Son, and that of Cynegius, a young man, who had, at his Death, required, that his Body might be Buried in the Church of Saint Felix of Nola, had reduced him to confess his Perplexity. For, though he had commended the Affection as well of the deceased, as of their Mothers, yet, as it were, acknowledging he knew not why, and that he was not very well assured of what he did; he desires to be informed by St. Augustine, asking him; Utrùm profit cuiquam post mortem, quòd cor∣pus ejus apud Sancti alicujus memoriam sepeliatur, &c. Whether it be bene∣ficial to any one after Death, that his Body be buried in the Memorial of some Saint? which signifies no less, in Effect, then to be reduced to the same Predicament, as St. Cyril of Hierusalem, Denys the pretended Areo∣pagite, and Athanasius of Antioch, who before, and after Paulinus, made this Question, Of what benefit to the Dead were the Prayers made by the surviving for them?

CHAP. XLVIII. The Sentiment of St. Augustine, concerning the Burial of the Faith∣full in Churches enquired into.

SAint Augustine, in his Treatise, De cura pro mortuis, to give greater sa∣tisfaction to his a 1.386 Brother, lays down, that the Care, which is taken of the dead Body, the manner of Sepulture, and the Funeral Solemnities, are rather Alleviations of the grief of the Living, then of b 1.387 any as∣sistance, or benefit to the Dead.

Secondly, That the c 1.388 care taken of the Funeral, and the choice of the place for Burial, are Effects of the Piety of the surviving towards the Dead.

Thirdly, That the d 1.389 advantage, which may be drawn from the Interrment of the deceased Person in the Church of some Saint, can be no other, then that of recommending him more commodiously, and affecti∣onately to the Saint, as to a kinde of Patron; that that Office might be done to the deceased Party, though his Body were not present in the same place, and that the Sepulture of it in the same place, is to no other end, then to excite a desire, and affection to pray for him.

Fourthly, That e 1.390 what is said of the Visions of Souls is to be understood in the same manner, as we do the Dreams we have of those, who are yet alive, and think not in the least of what the Imagination of the such as are asleep attribute to them, f 1.391 as when Evodius, afterwards Bishop of Uzalis, dreamed, that St. Augustine shewed him the sence of a Passage in Cicero's Rhetorick; and when g 1.392 Curmas Curialis dreamed of the death of Curmas the Lock-Smith, and imagined, that he saw St. Augustine, and the Priests of his City, exhorting him to receive Baptism.

Fifthly, That the h 1.393 Souls of the Departed neither know, nor con∣cern themselves about what is done here; that if they did, St. Monica, his Mother, would often discourse with him, and God himself would not have said of his children, whom he calleth hence, before he exercises his Judgments on those which remain, that he calls them, Lest they might see Evil.

Sixthly, That the i 1.394 Souls Departed may know somewhat that con∣cerns the Living, either from the report of such as Die, or from that of Angels, or by Revelation from God.

Seventhly, That the perswasion, which we have of the assistance given by the Martyrs to those, who implore it, may be taken in the same sence, as that, which the Living have of assisting the Dead by their Prayers, though they know not any thing in particular of their Condition, and onely desire of God for them, and on their behalf, Grace, and Rest: Or that of the assistances, which the Living think they receive from them, there may be made the same Judgment, as of the Opinion, which the People of Nola had of the Apparition of St. Felix, during the time they were besieged by the Barbarians, or k 1.395 of the Promise,

which John the Monk made, to shew himself the Night following to a certain Woman, who thought she really saw him, though he stirred not from the place, where he was.

Eightly, That we must not be overy-ready, upon the clamours of Evil Spirits, complaining, that they are tormented by the Martyrs, to infer, that the Martyrs have in Effect tormented them, since that in the Church of the Saints, Gervasius, and Protasius, they said as much of St. Ambrose then living, who yet never attributed to himself any thing of what they imputed to him.

Ninthly, That in fine, l 1.396 what may be thought of the Sepulture be∣stowed on the Departed, is, that it is an Office of Humanity towards them, and not any assistance, and that Prayers, and Oblations may be beneficial to them, if by the Life they led before, they were in a capacity of re∣ceiving the benefit thereof.

From this Abridgment of the afore-said Treatise of St. Augustine it is manifest, that that Great Man, who had been Disciple to St. Ambrose, and continued even to his Death, an intimate Friend to St. Paulinus, held nothing of the Hypotheses, which those two famous Prelates had ad∣vanced, with a kinde of Emulation, and which the later had afterwards tacitely disacknowledged, as such, as whereof he himself was not satisfied. But, though his Conceptions are much more Rational, and less Subject to Contradiction, yet does it not hinder, but they have this palpable Default, that he lays down as a thing confessed, what he might justly have disputed, and what would be at this day actually denied him by the Protestants; to wit, That he was assured, that there accrues a benefit to the Dead from the Prayers, and Offerings, made for them by the Living; and that the Living, have a sufficient ground to dedicate to the Dead those two Offices, and to suppose (upon Authority of the Custom, which hath introduced the Exercise thereof into the Church) that they effectu∣ally relieve them.

Julian, Arch-Bishop of Toledo, who, in the Preface of his Prognostick to Idalius, Bishop of Barcelona, ingenuously m 1.397 confesses, that neither of them thought himself able to resolve the Difficulties arising from the con∣sideration of the State of the Dead, chose rather to follow the Track of St. Augustine, then of his Master St. Ambrose, and that not without reason.

CHAP. XLIX. The Sentiment of Maximus Tyrius, concerning the Interment of the Faithfull Departed, in Churches, Considered.

BUt, notwithstanding the Authority of that great Luminary of Africk, which was not received every where, Maximus, who held the See of 〈◊〉〈◊〉, in the year 465. and on the eighteenth of November, the same 〈◊〉〈◊〉, was present at the Councel of Rome, under Pope Hilarus, discovers 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Presupposition beyond that of St. Ambrose, and Paulinus, writing; Ideo à Majoribus provisum est, ut Sanctorum corporibus nostra corpora sociemus;

ut, dum illos Tartarus metuit, nos poena non tangat, dum illos Christus illumi∣nat, nobis tenebrarum caligo diffugiat: cùm sanctis ergo Martyribus quiescen∣tes evadimus Inferni tenebras, eorum propriis meritis, attamen consocii sancti∣tate, &c. For this Reason have our Ancestours made provision, that we should joyn our Bodies to those of the Saints; to the end, that while Hell stands in fear of them, no Pain might come near us; that while Christ illuminates them, the obscurity of darkness may flie away from us: resting therefore with the Holy Martyrs, we escape the darkness of Hell, through their Merits indeed, yet as their companions in Sanctity. From which words it is manifest;

First, That maintaining, as Tertullian did, the first Hypothesis of the pretended Sibylline Writing, he conceived, that all the Souls of the Faith∣full, those onely of Martyrs excepted, descended into Hell, where, by the Merit of the Saints, with whom their Bodies were Interred, they remain without any Torment till the day of Resurrection.

Secondly, That (according to the Sentiment of St. Ambrose, and Pau∣linus) he thought, that, from the Bodies of Saints, there issues a certain Virtue, which preserves, and exempts from Torment the Faithfull Interred near them. Which Prejudications we are so much the more strictly obliged to oppose, in as much as even those, who have follow∣ed them (as Paulinus) were ashamed thereof, confessing, that, in effect, they were never satisfied thereof. Besides, the Church of Rome her self, Teaching at this day, that a 1.398 our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by his Passion upon the Cross hath merited justification for us, and, on our behalf, satisfied God the Father, who, for his sake, forgives, with the Guilt, the eternal Pains of Hell, to lay down, after Maximus, that, by the Merit of the Saints, we escape the darkness of ••ell, which stands in fear of them, were to lay down the Contradictory Affirmative of the Negative, which God himself writ with the Hand of St. Peter, saying, b 1.399 There is no salvation in any other; for there is no other Name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, and on the contrary, to maintain, There is salvation in some other; f•••• there are other names under Heaven, whereby we must be saved, to wit, those of the Martyrs.

CHAP. L. A Reflection on certain Followers of the Sentiment of the fore∣said Maximus.

I Am willing to Believe, that Maximus was so desirous to comply with the Custom of his Predecessours, that he took not the Leisure to con∣sider what might be the consequence thereof. Others have Imitated him in that Particular, relying on the Example of their Ancestours, with∣out examining the just weight of its Authority, as Theodimus, a Spanish Sub-Deacon, upon whose Tomb are to be read these Words, addressed to St. Andrew, Tuis adjutus auxiliis, disruptis vinculis Inferni, hinc resurgere caro misera possit, & in die examinationis, calcatis facinorosis peccatis, gaudia divina percipiat, te interprecante, Martyr Andrea, &c. O Martyr Andrew,

assisted by thy help, having broken in pieces the Chains of Hell, may his wretched body be raised hence, and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 the day of Examination, his deadly sins being trod un∣der foot, may he take possession of divine glory, through the intermediation of thy Prayers. And Kindasvind, King of the West-Goths, in the Epitaph of his Wife Reciverga.

—Ego te (conjux) quia vincere fata nequivi, Funere perfunctam Sanctis commendo tuendam; Ut cùm flamma vorax veniet comburere terras, Coetibus ipsorum merito sociata, resurgas, &c.

Since death on my desires would not thee spare, Of thee departed may the Saints take care; That thou with them mayst rise again that day, When of the fire the earth shall be the prey.

And Paul the Deacon, in the Epitaph of Arichis, Duke of Beneventum,

Profit huic sacro membra dedisse lari, &c.

May't be to's good his body to have laid Within this sacred place.

And Dungalus, who in the year 826. objected to Claudius, Bishop of Turin, the before-mentioned Epitaph of Satyrus, acquiescing in the Sen∣timent, which St. Ambrose seems to have been of, concerning the sancti∣fication of his Brother's body, by its nearness to that of the Martyr Victor, and the affluence of his blood, and clearly justifying, that that Hypothesis (though inconvenient, and unmaintainable in it self, and not∣withstanding that it had been disavowed 36. years after by Paulinus, and refuted by St. Augustine) had not yet lost its credit 540. years after; the name and memory of St. Ambrose acquiring it such Sectatours, as took it from his good meaning without any examination, and by a kind of im∣plicit submission, which ought not at this day be any hinderance, but that the Lovers of Truth should open their eyes to her light, to follow her with their hearts, and confess with their mouths, that it sometimes hap∣pens even to the greatest men, to speak with less caution, then was con∣sistent with their reputation, whether they were transported by heat of dispute, or that their spirits were charmed by their partiality to the mat∣ter they treated, as it should seem St. Ambrose was prepossessed in this particular, and St. Gregory Nazianzene in his first Invective against Julian, when he says, That the Souls of Martyrs, and their bodies considered seve∣rally, and every drop of their blood, and the least Signs of their passion chace away evil spirits, and heal diseased persons; and St. Basil, cited by Pope A∣drian in his Treatise for Images, when upon the 115. Psalm he maintains, that whoever touches the bones of a Martyr derives some participation of sancti∣ty, by the grace residing in the body of the said Martyr; and St. Chrysostome, when in the 26^th Homily on the second Epistle to the Corinthians, he says, that the bones of Saints allay, and torment evil Spirits, and unbind those, that are bound in those unhappy fetters; and St. Hierome, when he maintains to Vi∣gilantius, that, if the Lamb be every where, they therefore (the Saints) who are

with the Lamb, are to be believed to be also every where; and St. Gregory of Rome, chap. 21^st. of the third Book of his Dialogues, that the dead bones of the Saints live in the many miracles wrought by them; and chap. 14^th. of the twelfth of his Morals upon Job, That it is not to be believed, that those, who, within them, see the clearness of Almighty God, should be ignorant of any thing without them; and chap. 33^d. of the fourth of his Dialogues, that there is nothing, which they know not, who know him, that knows all things. For there is not any one of these kinds of speaking but is chargeable with inconve∣nience and falsity, if understood according to its literal sense, and with∣out acknowledging what there may be in them of abuse and hyper∣bole. For,

1. The vertue of Sanctifying and healing Diseases, without any appli∣cation of Remedies operating naturally, as also that of driving away, and tormenting evil Spirits, does not properly, and of it self, belong to any but to God alone, and is not a quality, that any nature, in it self corporeal, can be affected with.

2. It is absolutely impossible, the Spirit of any Saint can be every where, as St. Hierome seems to affirm, whose discourse therefore is to be explicated with the help of the same moderation, as is used by him, when he speaks of evil spirits, who wandering all over the World, and that with an extraordinary swiftness, are present every where, to insinuate, that some as well as others are every where, not in the same moment, but in passing successively from one place to another, and in different moments: which yet (according to the judgment of St. Augustine in his Book, De cur â pro mortuis, chap. 16^th.) cannot be absolutely affirmed; the Miracles attri∣buted to the Saints (it being granted they are true) being haply done either by Angels, or by the immediate operation of God's power, so as that there is no necessity to suppose, that the Spirits, which God hath ta∣ken to himself, actually leaving their heavenly mansions, should walk up and down on earth.

3. What St. Gregory of Rome said, that the bones of Martyrs live, taken litterally, would imply a palpable contradiction, which we should en∣deavour to take away, saying, that (according to the sense of that great Pope) the virtue, which he thought produced its effects in the presence of the Saints bones, and when they are touched by men, though it be not in them, but in God alone, is to them, instead of a kind of life.

4. What he says, that those, who know God, who knows all things, do also know all things, and that having his light within them, they are not ignorant of any thing without, does so much the more stand in need of moderati∣on, that, without it, it is absolutely false, in the judgment even of the a 1.400 Doctours of the Church of Rome, who make it their business, to refute their conceipt, who think the Essence of God a Mirrour, wherein all things are seen.

It must therefore be, that all expressions of this nature are to be born with, upon the accompt of their intention, who have used them, rather then rigorously examined, or taken as the natural signification of the Terms, whereof they consist, might seem to require, and that we should be content to say of any such what St. b 1.401 Augustine conceived ought to

be said of the expression of St. Ambrose, affirming that Zacharias, and Elizabeth, either had been, or might have been without sin; either that was said according to some probable manner, but such as had not passed examination, or if the Authour meant it so, he hath retracted his Sentiment by bringing it to a more rigorous tryal. But however, whether we are, or are not inclined to this candor, we shall be still obliged to confess, how hard it is to war∣rant those imaginations and discourses, which, being destitute of the authority of God speaking in his word, have no other ground, then the probabilities, which by the beauty of their outward appearance have dazled the greatest Wits, of which number, not any one but hath made it appear, how slightly he was informed of the state of the Faithfull de∣parted in the Lord, since they have all of them expressed themselves with so much inconvenience, both in their ratiocinations, and words, that to reconcile them to a sound sense, they must be half-••estroyed.

CHAP. LI. Of the Lessons of Scripture contained in the Missal, and Breviary, in what regards the Office of the Dead.

IF ever Antiquity had been either imbued with the belief of Purgato∣ry, which the Church of Rome accompts at this day among the Articles of her Faith, or had found any track of it in the holy Scriptures, there would have been some remark to insinuate as much, First, In the Pub∣lick Service, especially in the Office of the second day of November, devo∣ted 650. years after to the commemoration of the d•…•…rted. Secondly, In the Mass of the Dead; Thirdly, In the Office of the Dead, which is said by all, that are in communion with the Church of Rome, on the first day, not being a Festival, of every month, the time of Easter onely except∣ed, and on every Munday, not appointed otherwise, of the Advent, and Lent, except Munday in the Passion-week. Let us then cast our eye on all the Lessons extracted out of the holy Scriptures, and, in the fear of his Name, who is the Authour of them, consider, whether there be any thing therein, that may, in the least, countenance so strange an Opinion.

Upon the second of November, after the singing of the second and third Verses of the sixty fifth Psalm, according to the Hebrews, or sixty four, according to the Greeks, where there is not a word concerning either the Dead, or their state, or the custom of praying for them, or the need, it is pretended, they stand in to get out of their pains; there is read the twelfth Chapter of the second of Maccabees, from the forty third verse to the end, a title which the antient Church never consider∣ed, and which a 1.402 amounts to nothing at all in order to the proof, as well of the first Hypotheses, upon which the Christians of the second Age grounded the custom of praying for the Dead, as of Purgatory, which came into credit four hundred years after. Then is sung the fourth Verse of the b 1.403 twenty third Psalm, where the Prophet, relying on the paternal care of God, his Shepheard, rejoices in the assurance of his Protection; and the

second, third, and fourth Verses of the XLII. Psalm, c 1.404 where he makes protestation of his Zeal, & the desire he had to be highly sensible of the consolations of his God, which no way induces, either that the Dead do ever stand in need of the Prayers of the Living, or that those Prayers are any way beneficial to them. From thence they pass to the twenty fifth, twenty sixth, twenty seventh, twenty eighth, and twenty ninth Verses of the fifth Chapter of St. John, at the head whereof some Body, I know not who, hath, I know not how, nor when, thrust in, of his own head, these words, d 1.405 Then Jesus said to his Disciples; where it is to be noted, that that place of the Gospel, teaching onely, that the Son of God hath been appointed Judge of men, and that he will raise them all up again by his power, does not any way prove, that those, who Die, in any man∣ner whatsoever, are ever to hope for any benefit from the Prayers of the surviving; s••••ce it does not follow, The dead shall be called out of their Graves by the voice of the Son of God, to rise again, and receive their Judgment; Therefore, They are in a place of Torments, we must pray for them after their death, and the Prayers made for them will contribute to their de∣liverance out of Pain.

In the Mass for the Dead there are recited, in the first place, the words of the second Book of Maccabees, which make so much the less for their Design, who read them, by how much they contain a corrupt Interpre∣tation of the Fact of Judas •…•…accabaeus, and suppose Hypotheses, which they themselves grant not at this day.

Secondly, There is read, from the thirteenth Verse of the fourth Chapter of the First Epistle to the Thessalonians, to the end of the Chapter; where the Apostle, forbidding Lamentations for the Dead, Treats, as well of the Certainty, as Order, of their Resurrection; the Presupposition whereof does not in •…•…e, either that the Faithfull depart this Life, to go into a place of Torments, or, that there is any necessity of Bewailing them, or Praying for them after their Death; the consequence being not good, He shall rise up in Glory, therefore, He is in a place of Pains, and must be delivered thence by Prayers.

Thirdly, e 1.406 There is read the thirteenth Verse of the fourteenth Chapter of the Apocalyps, where the Spirit of God, advertising St. John by a voyce from Heaven, that, from henceforth those, who die in the Lord, are blessed, and rest from their Labours, demolishes the very Foundation, as well of Prayer for the Faithfull departed, as of Purgatory, where it is pretend∣ed they suffer the temporal Punishment due to their Sins. For, if they are Blessed, and, upon that accompt, in possession of what might be desired on their behalf, they stand in no further need, that any thing should be de∣sired for them; And again, if they are Blessed, and rest from their Labours from henceforth, they are from henceforth exempted from Pain; it being impossible, that, to be Blessed, and to rest, should signifie to be Tormented, and on the contrary, that to endure the burning of an infernal Fire, should be to rest from one's labour, and enjoy the Bliss consequent thereto.

Fourthly, There is read from the one and fiftieth Verse of the fifteenth Chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, to the fifty seventh, inclu∣sively, expressing the Assurance, which the Apostle gives the Church, of her Blessed Resurrection, whereby Death shall be swallowed up in Victory, and

every Believer cloathed with Immortality; and every one knows, that, from this Proposition, he shall rise again in Incorruption, the Law of Ra∣tiocination will never suffer this Inference to be drawn; Therefore he is tormented, and stands in need of being prayed for, before he rises again.

Fifthly, There is read the fourth Verse of the three and twentieth Psalm, and the second, third, and fourth of the Two and fourtieth, which onely represent the State of the Faithfull Person, during the course of this Life, and not, that which is to follow, upon his departure hence.

Sixthly, There is read out of the eleventh Chapter of St. John, from the one and twentieth Verse, to the seven & twentieth inclusively; where the Son of God, calling himself the Resurrection, and the Life, testifies, that he, who believes in him, shall live, and shall never die; which to a Per∣son, that hath but the least use of Reason, will never give any ground to Inferr, that he, who shall live, and shall never die, shall for a certain time, after the dissolution of his Body, be confined to a place of Torment, where he shall stand extremely in need of the Prayers of the surviving.

Seventhly, There is read out of the 6^th Chapter of f 1.407 St. John, the three and fiftieth, and four and fiftieth Verses, where the Son of God, recom∣mending the Eating of his Flesh, and the Drinking of his Blood, promises him, who shall eat, and drink thereof, that he shall have eternal Life, and shall be raised up again at the Last day.

Eighthly, Immediately after, there are read, the second time, as well the same Words, as the precedent, beginning from the one and fiftieth Verse, which hath, I know not how, made shift to gather this Preface; In illo tempore dixit Jesus Discipulis suis, & turbis Judaeorum, &c. Then Jesus said to his Disoiples, and to the multitude of the Jews; upon which I have further to observe, that there is not the least necessity of conclu∣ding, from the Promise made by the Son of God, that those, who par∣ticipate of his Flesh, and of his Blood, should, after Death, be destined to endure the Punishment of a Subterranean Fire, and, therein tormented, ex∣pect to be relieved by the Prayers of their surviving Brethren.

Ninethly, There are read, with the same Preface, which yet is not to be found in any Part of the Chapter, the 21, 22, 23, and 24^th Verses of the fifth Chapter of St. John, where our Saviour, in as much as he affirms (by Virtue of the power of Judging, which he received of his Father) that he, who believes in him, hath eternal life, and shall not come into Judg∣ment, but shall pass, or rather (as the Greek, the Syriaok, and the Latine Ver∣sion, recommended by the Councel of Trent, have it) is passed from Death to Life, in as much, I say, as our Saviour obliges the Believer, to be cer∣tainly perswaded, that he shall not, after this Life, be liable to any Pains whatsoever for his Sins, since they are things absolutely incompa∣tible, that, being passed from Death, he should have eternal Life (as the in∣violable Promise of his Saviour expresses) and, that he should be to en∣dure, for ever so short a space of time, the Torments of Death and Hell, as the present Church of Rome supposes: that he shall not come into Judg∣ment, as the Gospel expresly declares; and that he shall come to Judgment, to be therein condemned for a time, according to what the Church of Rome teaches those of her Communion.

Tenthly, and Lastly, With a g 1.408 Preface, taken up, I know not

whence, there are read the thirty seventh, the thirty eighth, the thirty ninth, and the fourtieth Verses of the sixth Chapter of St. John, where our Saviour, promising to raise up, at the Last day, those, who believe in him, gives them such comfort, by the assurance of their final felicity, as might raise them out of all fear, that between the Moment of their Death, and the day of Judgment, they should suffer any Punishment, and be sensible of any need they should stand in, of the Suffrages of the Living. In fine, there are read (as on the second of November, and with the same Preface) the twenty fifth, the twenty sixth, the twenty seventh, the twen∣ty eighth, and the twenty ninth Verses of the fifth Chapter of Saint John, which we have already observed, to make nothing to the Business, ei∣ther of Purgatory, or Prayer for the Dead. On the Contrary, from all these Lessons, it is necessarily manifest;

First, That the Church of Rome, who at the present make use of them, as inducements to the Living, to take care of the Dead, hath not haply any thing more Answerable to her Intentions, and makes a silent Con∣fession, that her Service for the Departed, and the Belief of her Purgatory, have not any Foundation in the Word of God, are the voluntary Devoti∣ons of men, intruding into those things, which they have not seen; and for that Reason, branded with the Censure of the Holy Spirit, speaking by the mouth of St. Paul, 2 Coloss. xviii. 22, 23.

Secondly, That the Primitive Church, who had introduced into her Liturgie the Commemoration of the Faithfull Departed, many Ages before any of her children had conceived the least thought of Purgatory, which is at this day maintained by Superstition, and Interest, had no other De∣sign in it, then, by all these Lessons, which Treat of the general ••ejur∣rection of the Saints, to comfort the Faithfull cast down at the death of their Brethren, setting before their eyes so many Certificates of the fu∣ture Resurrection of him, whose Memory they celebrated, and inclining every one of them, by the Meditation of so many celestial Documents, to the expectation of that last deliverance, wherein their Lord, making them to triumph over Death, shall cloath them with incorruption, and crown their heads with eternal Glory.

If then the set Form of the Mass for the Dead cannot afford us any Text of Holy Scripture, which may serve, either for the confirmation of the Doctrine of Purgatory, or the insinuation of the Custom of praving for the dead, we are not to promise our selves, that the Office of the Dead, contained in the Breviary, should furnish us with any thing more express. In this later, we meet with several Lessons out of the Book of ••ob; the First taken out of the seventh Chapter, from the sixteenth Verse, to the end; the Second, out of the tenth Chapter, from the first Verse, to the seventh; inclusively; the Third, out of the same Chapter, from the eighth Verse to the twelfth; the Fourth, out of the thirteenth Chapter, from the twenty second Verse, to the twenty eighth; the Fifth, out of the four∣teenth Chapter, from the first Verse to the sixth; the Sixth Lesson, out of the same Chapter, from the thirteenth Verse, to the eighteenth; the Seventh, out of the seventeenth Chapter, from the first Verse to the third, and from the eleventh, to the fifteenth Verse; the Eighth, out of the nineteenth Chapter, from the twentieth Verse, to the twenty seventh;

and the Ninth, out of the tenth Chapter, from the eighteenth Verse to the two and twentieth. We finde there also the seventh, and eighth Verses of the seventh Chapter; and every where we have certain bewailings of that great Example of Patience, groaning under the Scourge of God, and forced to Lamentations under the greatness of his Chastisements; but who, from the cries and complaints of a man alive, forcing their way from the Bottom of his Heart, through the violence of his Anguish, and the Dread he was in of the Judgment of God, will conclude, either that there is Purgatory, or any necessity of Prayer for the dead? Must the Expressions, used by afflicted Persons reduced to bemoan themselves in this Life, serve for a Precedent to the separated Souls, which are sup∣posed not simply to pass through, but to be melted again, after a certain manner, in the Fire appointed to purge them? Were it granted, that some Blessed Soul, crushed, after its departure out of the Body, under the Hand of the great Judge, might make to her self some certain Application of the grievances of Job, shall the Church of Rome take upon her, without falling into the inconvenience of making her self ridiculous, to attribute unto it the Lessons she hath extracted out of his Discourses, which cannot suit, but with the Condition of a man languishing in this World? For example, what he says in the First, i 1.409 My days are vanity, &c. k 1.410 How long wilt thou not let me alone, till I swallow down my spittle? &c. l 1.411 Now shall I sleep in the dust, &c. In the Second, m 1.412 My Soul is weary of my life, &c. In the Third, n 1.413 Thou hast made me as Clay, and wilt thou bring me into dust again? o 1.414 Thou hast cloathed me with skin, and flesh, &c. In the Fourth, p 1.415 I am to be consumed as a thing, that is rotten, and as a Garment, that is Moth-eaten. In the Fifth, q 1.416 Man, that is born of a woman, is of few days. In the Sixth, r 1.417 If a man die, shall he live again? In the Seventh, s 1.418 My days are extinct, the Graves are ready for me; In the Eighth, t 1.419 My bone cleaveth to my skin, and to my flesh; hardly am I escaped with the skin of my Teeth. And in the Ninth, u 1.420 Are not my days few? cease then, &c. These complaints proceed not from a Spirit destitute of Body, but may well fall from a diseased Person, suffering, as well in Body, as Spirit, who makes accompt to die without any respite, and who considers with hor∣rour, that his languishing life is, as it were, swallowed up in a Gulf of misery. It is to be considered also, that there are some Passages, which discover so much disorder, that Job, being come to himself, after he had been reproved, not onely by x 1.421 Elihu, but by God himself, condemned them, acknowledging, that y 1.422 he spoke what he knew not, abhorred him∣self, and repented in dust and ashes. For who could endure, in the second Lesson, the bitter reproaches against God, z 1.423 Is it good unto thee, that thou shouldest oppress me, that thou shouldest despise the work of thine hands, and shine upon the counsel of the wicked? And in the Seventh, a 1.424 I have not sinned, and my eye is fastened on bitterness. To speak sincerely, could the Church of Rome, who holds as a thing b 1.425 decided by the Scripture, and the Fa∣thers, that the Souls of the Faithfull are Impeccable from the moment of their departure out of the Bodies they animated, without extravagance, mold her Devotions on those slips of Discourse, which God himself hath charged with Sin? She hath therefore made an Extract of these Nine Lessons, taken out of the Book of Job, not to serve for a Draught of

the dolefull state of the Souls, which she pretends condemned into her Purgatory, but to instruct every one of those, whom she exhorts to re∣lieve them with their Suffrages, that, to be well disposed to render them that office, he should view himself in the example of Job, religiously i∣mitate his Virtues, and Faith, and be always carefull to avoid his mis∣carriages.

Upon the same accompt hath she inserted into the Office of the Dead a∣bundance of Psalms, containing not onely Lessons of Penance, as the 6. 32, 38, 51, 102, 130, and 143. called upon that occasion the seven Peni∣tential Psalms; but also of Prayer, as the 5, 7, 25, 42, 67, 120, 123. of Praise, as the 65, 121, 126, 127, 128, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 146, 148, 149, 150. of Thanksgiving, as the 23, 27, 40, 63, 116, 124, 129, 136. the Canticles of Ezechias, and Zacharies of Blessing, and Exhortations, as the 41, 122, 125, 131. the first verse of the 95^th Psalm, and the 8^th Verse of the 113^th. For who could ever be perswaded, that the Protestations, which we make in the presence of God, of our mortification, and the Prayers, whereby we beg his Protection and Favour towards our selves, and the Praises, whereby we celebrate the glory of his sacred Majesty, and the Thanks we give him for the benefits, which he daily communi∣cates to us, and the Benedictions, which we pour out with joy, being to publish the welfare as well of the whole State of his Church, as of the Members, whereof it consists, and the Exhortations, whereby we encou∣rage them to well doing, should rationally be looked on as Suffrages, whereby we relieve our departed Brethren, and afford them our assi∣stance to deliver them out of the pretended Purgatory? And yet these are in a m••••ner all the materials, which have been shuffled into the composure of all that piece of Worship, which goes under the name of The Office of the Dead, though they have not any relation to their state, and do no more induce a necessity of praying for them, or believing a Purgatory, that should purifie them, as is pretended, then they do that of making boast of our own praises, a vanity (even though we were tempt∣ed thereto) Christian moderation would not suffer us to be guilty of. Nor can it be said with any more reason, that the words of the Psalms, which are recited in the said Office, are to be considered as Prosopopoeias, whereby the Faithfull deceased are represented speaking of their con∣dition after death: I. In as much, as the whole Contexture of every Psalm requires, that the words of it be applyed to those, who live in the flesh, so as that it were a manifest abuse to wrest them to any other sence. II. For that it was never allowed any one to cast into the divine Wor∣ship Fictions, whereby men of quick Imaginations might presume to become the mouths of their Brethren departed, not having, to that end, either order from them, or calling from God. And lastly, for that, though it were left to any man's discretion, to make, after his own fan∣cy, representations of those, whom God hath called to himself, yet should not any one take the liberty to do it, e're he were well informed, and sa∣tisfied whether they might pass for true and certain, especially seeing that when they should be urged out of a design to infer thence the ne∣cessity of praying for them, they would prove so much the more un∣maintainable, for as much as in the same Office, where it is pretended

they are employed, to that end there are those Texts alledged, which absolutely destroy the use thereof. For instance, that of the 14^th Chapter of the Apocalyps, Verse 13. where the holy Spirit declares, Blessed are those, that die in the Lord; for what rational inducement is there, either to desire bliss absolutely for those, who are already possessed thereof, or the cessation of torments for those, who do not onely not suffer any, but are not subject to suffer any, in as much as from henceforth they are bles∣sed, and in rest? That of the sixth Chapter of St. John, and the thirty seventh Verse, where the Son of God attests, that he will in no wise cast out him, that cometh to him; and that of the eleventh Chapter, and the five and twentieth, and six and twentieth Verses, where, calling himself the Resur∣rection and the Life, he promises life, and exemption from eternal death, to whosoever believes in him. For if he does not cast out any of the Faith∣full; if, on the contrary, he saves them all from death, and puts them into possession of life; the surviving believers, who (to express their belief of his words) insert them into their publick Form of Service, do thereby confess, that they are obliged to give him thanks for them, and not to make Requests, which presuppose, that they enjoy not the effect of his promise. Thus is there not any Lesson in the Service of the Church of Rome, which effectually induces, or hath so much as the ap∣pearance of inducing, any thing of what those of her Communion at this day pretend to.

CHAP. LII. Of the Prayers contained in the Missal, and Breviary used by the Church of Rome; and that Purgatory cannot be necessarily in∣ferred from any one of them.

FOr as much as in the Book, intituled Ordo Romanus, there is not any mention made of the Dead; that in the Canon of the Mass, which is inserted into it, the Memento is not to be found; and that in the other Ritual Books of the Latines, there is not any Lesson, obliging to the belief of Purgatory, screwed up, since the year 1439. by the Councels of Flo∣rence, and Trent, into an Article of Faith: the Church of Rome, who hath at this day, in favour of Prayer for the Dead, but one onely Lesson, to wit that of the second of Maccabees, a Book held by her self to be A∣pocryphal, till after the year 590. the Church of Rome, I say, is forced to confess, that it must have been inserted so much the later into her Mis∣sals, and Breviaries, though upon no other accompt then this, that the Greeks use it not in their Office even to this day, and that from her whole service it necessarily results, that she met not, in the holy Scriptures, with any foundation of the opinion either of Purgatory, which she maintains, or of the custom, which she practises in praying for the Dead, upon Motives unknown to Primitive Antiquity. It remains therefore, that we see what can be gathered, of any consequence, from the Prayers,

which we read in the publick Forms of Service, of her prescription.

We have, in the first place, such as desire of God, that the sins of the a 1.426 deceased Person may be pardoned: as, for instance, this, Fidelium Deus omnium conditor, & Redemptor, animabus famulorum famularúmque tua∣rum remissionem cunctorum tribue peccatorum, ut indulgentiam, quam semper optaverunt, piis supplicationibus consequantur, &c. O God, Creatour and Re∣deemer of all the Faithfull, grant unto the Souls of thy Servants of the one and the other Sex, the remission of all their sins, that by pious Supplications they may obtain the indulgence they have ever desired. And this, We beseech thee, O Lord, that this Supplication of ours may be beneficial to the Souls of thy Ser∣vants of both Sexes, intreating thee, that thou wouldest cleanse them of all their sins, and make them partakers of thy Redemption. And this, We beseech thee, O Almighty God, that the Soul of thy Servant, purged by these Sacrifices, may obtain admission to indulgence, and eternal remedy. And this, Vouchsafe, O Lord, we beseech thee, that the Soul of thy Servant, and the Souls of thy Ser∣vants of both Sexes, the Anniversarie-day of whose Interment we now comme∣morate, being purged by these Sacrifices, may be received as well into indulgence, as eternal rest. And this, O God, who hast commanded that we should honour our Father and Mother, be pleased out of thy mercy, to have compassion on the Souls of my Father and Mother, and pardon their sins, and make me to live with them in the joy of eternal light. And this, We beseech thee, O Lord, be mer∣cifull unto the Soul of thy Servant, and being freed from the contagion of Mor∣tality, restore her to the portion of eternal salvation. And this, We beseech thee, O Lord, that by these Sacrifices, without which no man is guiltless, the Soul of thy Servant may be cleansed from all sins, that by these offices of pious pla∣cation, she may obtain eternal mercy. And this, O God, in whose mercy the Souls of the faithfull are at rest, be graciously pleased to pardon the sins of thy Servants of both Sexes, whereever resting in Christ, that, being freed from all their sins, they may rejoyce with thee world without end. And this, O merci∣full God, receive this Hoast offered for the Souls of thy Servants of both Sexes, whereever resting in Christ, that, delivered by this super-excellent Sacrifice out of the Chains of dreadfull death, they may obtain eternal life. And this, O God, whose property it is ever to have mercy, and to forgive, be favourable unto the Souls of thy Servants of both Sexes, and pardon all their sins, that, being loosed from the Chains of Death, they may obtain passage into life. And this, Free, O Lord, we beseech thee, the Souls of thy Servants of both Sexes from all the bands of sin, that, being raised up among thy Saints and Elect, they may live again in the glory of the Resurrection. And this, O Almighty and everlast∣ing God, who rulest as well over the living as the dead, and shewest mercy unto all those, whom thy fore-knowledge seeth will be thine in faith and good works, we humbly beseech thee, that those, for whom we have appointed to pour out our Prayers, and whom either this world does still detain in the flesh, or the next hath already received uncloathed of the body, may through the greatness of thy cle∣mency be made worthy to obtain the forgiveness of all their sins, and joy ever∣lasting. And this, O Almighty and most mercifull God, we humbly beseech thee, that the Sacraments, which we have received, may purifie us, and grant, that this thy Sacrament be not unto us an obligation to punishment, but a comfortable intercession for pardon; that it be the cleansing of crimes; that it be the strength of the fainting; that it be a Bulwark against the dangers of the World; that it be

the remission of all the sins of the faithfull living, and dead, through Jesus Christ.

It might seem, at the first sight, that all these Prayers in general, and every one in particular, upon this very accompt, that they speak of the forgiveness of sins for those, who are departed this life, do presuppose, if not a Purgatory, such as the Church of Rome hath imagined, and de∣scribed it some Ages since, at least, a certain necessity incumbent on the deceased, to make satisfaction to the justice of God after their death. But we must necessarily infer the contrary. For (not to take notice that to punish an evil doer is not to purge him) if, according to the te∣nour of the Prayers contained in the Mass of the Dead, God forgives the sin of the deceased, he does not require he should be punished for it▪ if he loose the Chains, he suffers him not to be still bound thereby; if he exercises towards him his mercy through Jesus Christ, he does not exe∣cute against him the rigour of his Justice, such, as it is conceived, is felt by the Souls, which they pretend are to pass through the fire of Purgatory. Whence it follows, that the design of those prayers, which desire of God the effect of his mercy in the remission of their sins, whom he hath called hence, never was, nor could be to procure their deliverance out of the torment, which they are imagined at this day to suffer; and whoever would finde the true meaning thereof, is to reflect on the per∣swasions of those, who were the first Authours thereof; for they held, that all those, of whom they made a Commemoration, were (in as much as they were b 1.427 dead in the Lord) gathered by him into c 1.428 A∣braham's Bosom, where they rested in a sleep of peace, as it is expresly set down in the Memento. So that no man well-informed prayed for them, as for wretched Criminals, and such as are deprived of the feli∣city, which God hath prepared for his Saints, but as for Champions al∣ready triumphant and glorious. And yet (out of a consideration, that the perpetuity of the bliss, into which every one presupposed them introduced, proceeded from the continuation of the mercy, accord∣ing to which God had at first bestowed it, and that it comprehended in it self the ratification of the pardon once granted to the deceased, in pursuance whereof they were entred into, and continued in the posses∣sion of celestial peace and joy) the surviving thought fit to desire on their behalf mercy, and remission of sins, not absolutely, as if they were still under the weight of God's wrath; but upon a certain accompt, to wit, in as much as it is necessary, that even in Heaven the mercy of God should be perpetually communicated to those, whom it had alrea∣dy visited, incessantly assuring them of the free gift he had made them, first of his grace, and afterwards, of his glory, as believing that those, who enjoy so great a happiness, are nevertheless, to expect a more solemn sentence of Remission, and Absolution, in that great Day, whereof we are all obliged, both for our selves, and on the behalf of our Brethren living upon Earth, and reigning in Heaven, to desire the blessed coming.

In this sence, indeed, the Antients never made any difficulty, to desire, on the behalf of the Blessed in Heaven, the Pardon they had already obtained, in as much as they were to obtain it again, after a more glori∣ous manner at the Day of Judgment; whereto are particularly referred

many of their Prayers: As for instance, that which we have already cited, wherein they desire, that their Souls, d 1.429 freed from all the Bands of sin, may be raised up again among the Saints in the Glory of the Resurrection. And again, thus; Non intres, &c. e 1.430 Enter not into Judgment with tthy servant, O Lord, for in thy sight, shal no man be justified, unless thou grantest him the remission of all his sins. We beseech therefore, that the Sentence of thy Judgment may not lie heavy on him, whom the sincere supplication of Christian Faith recommends, but grant, that he, who, while he lived, was signed with the Sign of the blessed Tri∣nity, may, by the assistance of thy Grace, avoid the Judgment of Vengeance. Again, Oremus, Fratres charissimi, &c. Let us pray, dear Brethren, for the spirit of our Brother, whom the Lord God hath been pleased to deliver out of the snares of this world, whose body is this day put into the Ground, that the Lord would, out of his goodness, vouchsafe to place him in the Bosom of Abra∣ham, Isaac, and Jacob, that, when the day of Judgment comes, he may be placed among the Saints and Elect, raised up again on the right hand. And this, taken out of the Ceremonial, Deus, cui omnia vivunt, &c. O God, to whom all things live; and to whom our bodies, though they die, perish not, but are changed for the better, we humbly beseech thee, that thou command, that the soul of thy servant N. be carried into the bosom of the Patriarch Abraham, by the hands of thy holy Angels, to be raised up again, the last day of the great Judgment, that what imperfections soever it hath, through the deceit of the Devil, contracted, thou out of thy goodness and compassion mayst mercifully wash away.

To the same end are referred also the following Prosopopoeias, where∣in the Soul of every deceased Person is represented with motions of fear suitable to such, as it might have had, during the couse of this Life: As, for instance, Libera me, Domine, &c. O Lord, deliver me from eternal death, in that dreadfull day, when f 1.431 the heavens, and the earth shall be shaken, when thou shalt come to Judge the World by Fire; I am become trembling, and fear, till the discussion, and wrath to come shall be over. That day is a day of wrath, calamity, and misery, a great day, and very bitter, when thou shalt come. Again, this; Domine, quando veneris, &c. O Lord, where shall I hide my self from the countenance of thy wrath, when thou comest to Judge the Earth? For I have sinned extremely, during my life; I am frightened at the things I have committed, and blush before thee; when thou comest to Judge, do not condemn me. And this, Memento mei, Deus, &c. O God, have me in remembrance, because g 1.432 my life is but wind, let the eye of him that hath seen me, see me no more, h 1.433 Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord; i 1.434 Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice. And this, Hei mihi! &c. Wo unto me, O Lord, for I have sinned overmuch in my life! What shall I do, Wretch that I am? Whither shall I flie, if not unto my God? Have compassion on me, when thou shalt come at the Last day; k 1.435 My soul is sore vexed, but do thou, Lord, deliver it, be mercifull, &c. And this, Legem pone, &c. l 1.436 Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy Commandments, m 1.437 and lead me in a plain path, because of mine enemies; n 1.438 Deliver me not into the will of mine enemies, for false Witnesses are risen up against me, and iniquity hath belyed it self, yet I believe to see the goodness of the Lord, in the land of the living. And this, Peccantem me quotidie, &c. Sinnning daily, and not repenting, the fear of death distracts me, in regard o 1.439 There is no redemption in Hell, p 1.440 O God, be mercifull unto me, and save me; q 1.441 O God, save me,

for thy Name sake, and deliver me in thy Power. And this other, Domine, secundùm actum meum noli me judicare, &c. O Lord, Judge me not according to what I have done, I have done nothing in thy presence worthy it; I therefore beseech thy Majesty, to do away mine iniquity; r 1.442 O Lord, wash me from my injustice more, and more, and cleanse me from my sin. And this other, Sitivit anima mea, &c. s 1.443 My soul thirsteth for God, when shall I come, and ap∣pear before the Lord? t 1.444 Deliver not the soul of thy Turtle-dove unto the multitude, forget not the Congregation of thy poor for ever. Our Father, &c. And Lastly this, Libera me, Domine, &c. O Lord, u 1.445 who hast broken the Gates of Brass, and visited Hell, and given light, that they might see thee, to those, who were in the Torments of darkness, crying, and saying, Thou ar•• come, O our Redeemer, deliver me out of the ways of Hell. For there is not any Body so weakly instructed, as not easily to comprehend, that the Authours of these Complaints, and Lamentations, meant them rather for the advan∣tage, and edification of the living, by putting them in minde of the fear, and trembling, wherein they should be in the presence of their Lord, then to represent the State of the Dead, which they have been forced to express after their Fancy as such as had some resemblance with that of poor Wayfaring-men, who yet walk in the Flesh, because they had not any manifest knowledg thereof, but onely Conjectures, and presumptions, and those many times, not very conformable to the Rule of Faith, and the Sentiments of the purest Antiquity: Since it is absolutely impossible, that he, who makes a Prayer for his Soul, should be any other thing, then that Soul, for which he Prays, and that the Wish he makes, that God would teach him the way of his Statutes, (which is onely in this Life) and the Confession of sinning daily, and the Prayer, to be delivered out of the ways of Hell, should suit with any but Travellers, who walk yet in the Flesh, struggling, as they go, with their own imper∣fections, and the Infernal Powers, and by continued endeavours tend∣ing to their rest, whereof the separated Souls of the Faithfull departed, who have finished their course in Faith, and Hope, must necessarily be possessed, from the very moment of their separation.

The same moderation is required, to finde out the true sense of the Prayers, which seem to presuppose a certain deliverance out of Infernal pains, wherein the deceased are ready to be tormented, as when we read in the Missal; Domine Jesu Christe, &c. O Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory, deliver the Souls of all the Faithfull departed out of the power of Hell, and out of the bottomless Lake; deliver them out of the mouth of the Lyon; Let not Hell swallow them up; let them not fall into the obscure places of darkness; but let the Standard-bearer, St. Michael, bring them into that holy light, which thou didst sometime promise to Abraham, and to his Seed. We offer unto thee, O Lord, •…•…oasts and Prayers for them, receive the same for those Souls, whom we this day commemorate, grant them, O Lord, to pass from Death to an holy life. And in the Office of the Dead, A portâ inferni erus, Domine, animas eorum, requiescant in pace, Amen, &c. O Lord, deliver their Souls from the Gate of Hell, may they rest in peace, Amen. For though, upon the first glance, these words seem to revive the Hypothesis, which Justin Martyr had drawn up out of the Quagmire of the counterfeit Sibyl, imagining, that the Soul of the greatest Saints were, afer their departure out of the body,

sent to Hell, and were subject to the power of evil Spirits; yet must they necessarily have another signification, and onely induce, that God alone preserves those, whom he calls, so as that they fall not into the power of Hell, but are, by the Ministery of his holy Angels, introduced into ce∣lestial light, and that they are delivered, not as escaping out of some Torment, which they had for some time indured, but as avoiding the necessity of enduring it. And whereas it is said, that the Hoasts, men∣tioned in those Prayers, are offered to Jesus Christ, it necessarily induces, that they neither are, nor can be Jesus Christ himself, as the Church of Rome imagines at this day, but Gifts presented to God by his people, as an expression of their gratitude. And since, what is said, without any exception, viz. That they are offered for the Souls of all the departed, whose commemoration is celebrated, it demonstratively proves, that they are, and were (according to the intention of the Antients) offered for the bles∣sed then sleeping a sleep of Peace, in as much as the Commemoration made in the Church comprehends all. Which is further confirmed in that St. x 1.446 Cyprian expresly observes, that that of his time always offered Sacri∣fices for the Martyrs, of whose glory she neither made, nor could make a∣ny question; that St. y 1.447 Augustine both offered, and caused to be offered the like for his Mother, of whose bliss he thought himself so confident, that he said to God, I believe, that thou hast already done it; and that Saint Ambrose, comforting Faustinus, afflicted at the death of his Sister, gave him this advice, z 1.448 Non tam deplorandam, &c. I think she ought not to be so much lamented, as attended with Prayers; I conceive we ought not to con∣dole at thy Tears, but rather by Oblations recommend her soul to the Lord, &c. What should oblige us to sigh for the dead, when the reconciliation of the World hath been already made with God the Father by the Lord Jesus? For from all this, and particularly from Faustinus's affirmation, that he was a 1.449 confi∣dent of the Works and Faith of his Sister, for whom St. Ambrose exhorted him to make Prayers, and Oblations, it necessarily results, that those Ob∣lations were not properly Propitiations, but Thanksgivings for, and Ac∣knowledgments of the Propitiation made by Jesus Christ on the Cross, and, as the Forms used by the Church of Rome express it, b 1.450 Sacrifices of Praise. So that, if they were sometimes called Hostiae placationis, Hoasts of appeasment, and if it be said, that the Souls are per hujus virtutem Sacra∣menti à peccatis omnibus expiatae, expiated from all sin by the virtue of this Sa∣crament, which it is desired should be to him, who participates thereof, ablutio scelerum, &c. the washing away of his offences, presupposing that it is celebrated by the Faithfull pro redemptione animarum suarum, &c. for the redemption of their souls; this is to be understood rationally, and in the same sense, as when St. Peter teaches us concerning Baptism, that it saves us, and Antiquity sayes, that it washes away sins, in as much as it is the sa∣cred Sign, and the Pledge of the washing away, which was made thereof once by the onely blood of Jesus Christ spilt on the Cross. For, accord∣ing to the Sentiment of the primitive Christians, the Sacraments re∣ceived by the Faithfull crimina omnia detergunt, &c. do away all offences, in as much as they are Memorials of the blood of Christ, by the aspersi∣on whereof mens c 1.451 Consciences are purged from dead works to serve the living God, and are said to be d 1.452 offered for their salvation, not to be pur∣chased,

but already purchased by the price of the same blood, and for the Redemption of their Souls already accomplished in the death of the Son of God, but whereof the Application is continually made in the preaching of the Gospel, and Administration of the Sacraments, to all those, who embrace it through Faith.

There are also other e 1.453 Prayers, wherein is desired, for the Faith∣full departed, the felicity, which they have hoped, and wished for, during the course of their life, as appears by these following Forms; Vitam ae∣ternam habere mereantur in coelis, &c. In tuae redemptionis parte numerentur, &c. May they obtain eternal life in Heaven, &c. May they be numbred in the part of thy Redemption, &c. O Lord give them eternal rest, and let everlast∣ing light shine upon them, &c. P••••••••im in the Region of Peace, and Light, and grant him the Fellowship of thy Saints, &c. Grant him admittance into the society of eternal bliss, &c. To those, on whom thou didst bestow the Merit, or Honour, of Christian Faith, give also the Reward, &c. that, through thy Com∣passion, they may receive the bliss of eternal light, &c. Make them partakers of thy Redemption, let them be added to the number of thy Saints, &c. Let them have their reward in the Life to come, &c. Let them be conveyed into the Habitations, which thou hast prepared for the Blessed: let them have the perpe∣tual enjoyment of their Society, &c. Command, that they have eternal joys in the Region of the Living, &c. Grant them the Habitation of refreshment, blessed rest, and the clearest light, &c. Vouchsafe to associate them to thy Saints, &c. May they receive eternal rest, &c. Grant them eternal joy in the Region of the living, &c. May he obtain eternal rest, and light, &c. Restore them to the Portion of eternal salvation, &c. We beseech thee, O Lord, that be may come into the Fellowship of Eternal light, &c. That they may rejoyce with thee, World without end, &c. May they obtain passage into life, &c. That they may obtain eternal joys.

Though it might seem, that those, for whom these Prayers are made, were considered, as deprived of Peace, Light, Joy, Bliss, Rest, the Society of the Saints in Glory, and the Eternal Reward promised their good Works, and that, to facilitate their entrance into the possession of future happiness, some had conceived, and inserted the foregoing Prayers into the Service of the Churches; yet that it never was the intention of those, who drew the first draught thereof, to insinuate, that the dead were actually excluded the things demanded for them, is manifest, in as much, as the Memento was made onely in favour of those, who rest in a sleep of Peace, and, consequently, are already in Peace and Joy with the Lord. For the surviving Believers thought it became them to speak of the Beati∣tude of their Brethren deceased before them with a kind of hesitation, as if it were delayed, and that not without some colour, for as much the good things, prepared by the Lord for those, who love him, consist in things, which f 1.454 Eye hath not seen, nor Ear heard, neither have entred into the heart of Man, and that they had not any evident knowledg thereof, and could not frame to themselves any Idea suitable to the state, where∣to those are advanced, who enjoy them, they represented it after their manner, with some conformity, and proportion to that, wherein they had left this World; and as they have been for the most part forced there∣to by the Imaginations, wherewith the counterfeit Sibyl had dazled

their minds, so from the same hand is it also come, that among those, who, some time after, took the courage to disclaim them, some did it not so resolutely, as they should have done, but thought it enough to compare their departed Brethren, translated into the rest of God, to g 1.455 Travellers, who want somewhat of compleating their Journey. O∣thers, considering, that the enjoyment of the good things, which follow this life, and the exemption from the evils, which sinners are to expect, are for all eternity, and that the continuance of that enjoyment to those, who are once entred thereinto, does so far depend on the goodness and favour of God ever faithful in his promises, and whose h 1.456 Gifts are with∣out Repentance; that in this very regard, that he continually conserves them, he seems to make a new distrib•…•…on thereof every moment, and by the perpetual influence of his benediction on those, whom he hath received into glory, to assure them more and more of their possession thereof: others, I say, out of such, or the like Considerations, were per∣swaded, that there was no inconvenience in demanding, for the de∣parted, what they already had, their own reason telling them, that the Authour of so good a gift ceases not to give it, in continuing, and con∣serving it to those, whom he had once made partakers thereof. For as those, on whom he here below bestows abundance of temporal goods, are not less obliged to beg of him every day their i 1.457 daily Bread, then if (as he sometime did to the Israelites in the Desert) he dealt them one∣ly one day's Provision at a time; the plenty, which they had so liberally received from his hand, though such as might suffice for their whole life, and that with so much certainty in appearance, as nothing could re∣duce them to want, no way hindring, but that they should acknowledg their indigence, and natural insufficiency, and have a constant recourse to his Grace, to desire (as the most unworthy) that he would give them their Bread, for as much as though they have enough lying by them, yet is it their evident concernment, that he, who hath given them, should every day renew his Donation, in conserving them, and sanctifying them to their use: So the Saints, who in the other life are possessed of Celestial goods, are (by the necessity of the same reason) obliged to make per∣petual acknowledgments, notwithstanding that the immutability of the Counsel, according to which he bestows them for ever, and the nature of those very goods, not subject to perish, and decay, seems not any way to hinder, but that they should, every one for himself, and the surviving upon Earth for them all, desire the conservation and continuance of them, though that be so much the more certain, and infallible, in as much as it is grounded on the unchangeable Decree of k 1.458 the Father of Lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. In this sense it might be thought, that l 1.459 Jesus, the Head and finisher of our Faith, who was yester∣day, is to day, and shall be the same for ever, though he were confident of the issue of his combats, and was so much the more certain, that nothing could prevail against him, that he m 1.460 sustained himself by his own Power yet forbore not to recommend himself to his Father, and to desire of him the n 1.461 glory he was possessed of, and had had with him before the World was: and consequently, that the antient Church neither made, nor ought to have made any difficulty to pray for all the blessed, whose

State she knew to be unchangeable, and whose Felicity unalterable; and accordingly is it, that, as she does in general make a Commemo∣ration of all those, who sleep the Sleep of Peace; so hath she particularly comprehended in her Prayers the Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, Martyrs, without any regard to the inconvenience, which some have alledged since, that o 1.462 to pray for a Martyr, is to be injurious to him. Nay, the Church of Rome her self, to shew that she could not recede from the Sen∣timent of Primitive Antiquity, as we have above represented it, hath not ceased, nor does, to this day, cease to make this Prayer, contained in her Missal; Deus, cui soli cognitus est numerus Electorum in superna feli∣citate locandus, tribue, quaesumus, ut univer sorum, quos Oratione p 1.463 commen∣datos suscepimus, & omnium fidelium vivorum, atque mortuorum nomina beatae praedestinationis liber adscripta retineat, per Dominum, &c. O God, to whom alone is known the number of the Elect, who are to be placed above in Felicity, we beseech thee to grant, that the Book of blessed Predestination may retain written the name of all those, whom we have taken upon us to recommend in our Prayers, as also those of all the Faithfull, both dead, and living, through our Lord, &c. I seriously ask, whether it be possible any thing should be q 1.464 blotted out of the Book of Life, which is God himself, r 1.465 whose Coun∣sel shall stand eternally? And since there is no danger should make us fear, that s 1.466 God will deny himself, and that the Book of his Predestina∣tion should not retain the Names, which his Hand hath written in it, to desire of him, that it might retain them, is it not to pray him to do what it is absolutely impossible but he should, and (after the Example of the Antient Christians) to make a Prayer for the Blessed, that they might be blessed, not indeed, as if they were to pass from misery to the possession of Bliss; but in persisting (as it must of necessity be) in the enjoyment of the Bliss, which hath been once for all communicated to them?

Lastly, The Antients, considering that the Felicity, which the Faithfull enjoy from the instant of their departure, is not that absolute Fulness of Glory, wherewith they expect to be Crowned at t 1.467 the Resurrection of the Just, and that they might justly desire of God the accomplishment of what is expected (according to the Word of his Grace) as well for themselves, as for others, since it is a signification of the u 1.468 coming of his Kingdom; that we are all taught by the Lord himself, earnestly to desire, and hasten it, as much as may be, by our Wishes.

Secondly, That the Motion x 1.469 of all the Creation, groaning, and tra∣velling till such time, as it is delivered from the bondage of Corruption, into the glorious liberty of the Children of God, is expressed to us by St. Paul, as a great and violent desire inclining the Creatures to expect the manifestation of the Sons of God, and incites us so much the more, by how much we, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, are all together waiting for the Re∣demption of our Body.

Thirdly, That in that Noble desire is shewn the principal Effect of the Sympathy, which ought to be beween all the Saints, Members of the same mystical Body, and Members one of another (for if the Holy Spirit, to rejoyce the spirits of the Just in Glory, and y 1.470 crying with a loud voyce, that the Lord would judge, and revenge their Blood on them, that dwell on the Earth, proposes to them, as the principal Subject of their Joy, the ap∣proaching

accomplishment of their Fellow-servants, and Brethren, yet engaged against the Militia of Satan, & the world, here below, why should not these Champions, who are still sweating, and out of breath in the Field, where they are all covered with Blood, and Dust, have their cou∣rage heigthned, by reflecting on their advantages, who had gone be∣fore them; that, as they aspire to those White Robes of Glory, wherein their Brethren are for a little Season to rest above, and further consider, as the highest point of their pretension, that admirable perfection, which the first shall not attain without the last, one and the same day (to wit, that of the General Resurrection, and the Last Judgment) be∣ing appointed to make an eternal assurance of the full Perfection of their Glory? The Antients, I say, upon these Considerations, might, and, after their Example, the Faithfull still may, and do, continually de∣sire, and beg it, as well for themselves, as for all those, who before them, z 1.471 had served their generations by the will of God, and happily a 1.472 finish∣ed their course in this life.

Fourthly, It may be observed, that, in this kinde of Prayer, they seem to follow the Example of the Apostle, praying for Onesiphorus, b 1.473 that the Lord would grant, that he might finde mercy with the Lord in that day, in which c 1.474 he shall come to be glorified in his Saints, and to be admired in all them, that believe. For whatever may be presupposed concerning the State of Onesiphorus, and whether it be said, that that good Person was, or was not discharged, as to the necessities of this life, when the Wish, set down in the Second Epistle to Timothy, was made for him, it will make no difference in the main, and it will still be certain, that the good, ex∣pressed by St. Paul's Prayer, hath not been hitherto accomplished in any one; that it is of no less importance at this day to Onesiphorus, then when St. Paul prayed for him; that St. Paul, and Onesiphorus, and all the Saints, who are with God, wait for, as much as we do, who d 1.475 are saved by Hope onely, the Day of the Lord, and the Mercy, which Onesiphorus, and all the rest of the Elect shall finde, when that day comes; and that he, who prays his Friend may obtain what cannot be conferred on him, till ma∣ny Ages after his Introduction into celestial Beatitude, seems necessarily to pray for one, that is Blessed, if not effectually, when he conceived his Prayer, at least, for one considered, as such, when he shall see the Effect thereof: so that whensover a man undertakes to pray for him, whe∣ther while he is alive, or after his death, or both before, and after his death, he still makes the same Prayer for him, which not onely does not, but canot change its nature in the revolution of Ages, since that its foundation still unchangeably subsists, and that it is impossible it shall have its Effect in any, but a Person, that hath been already a long time in Glory with God, and who stands in need, not of Beati∣tude, in it self, which he is already possessed of, but the last Perfecti∣on of it, and, as it may be expressed in vulgar Terms, the Over-weight, which is necessarily to be added thereunto.

Thus the Fathers (not without some Ground) conceived they had pertinent Reasons to pray for those. whom they thought gathered into the eternal Rest of God; nay, some (out of a Motive of extraordina∣ry compassion) took the liberty to pray, and advised others to make

Prayers, and give Alms for the Damned; yet so, as that, (for ought we know) it hath not happened, that, for the space of six hundred years together, any one of them laid it down as a Tenent of Catholique Faith, That the Souls of those, who ended their Lives in the Profession of that Faith, were reduced, immediately upon their departure, to endure any temporal Punishment for their sins, and to make full satisfaction to the Justice of God, before they took possession of their Bliss. The Antient Liturgies are so far from teaching any such thing, that they have formally expressed the contrary, and, even to this day, the Form of Prayer for the Recommendation of Persons in Agony, expresly presupposes, that their Souls, at their departure out of the Bodies, are to be carried by the An∣gels into Abraham's Bosom, a Mansion of Rest, and Felicity, and not of Torment. For after the Litanies, whereby the Mercy of God is im∣plored, they say to the sick Person; Proficiscere, anima Christiana, de hoc Mundo, &c. Depart out of this World, O Christian Soul, in the Name of God, the Father Almighty, who hath created thee; in the Name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who hath suffered for thee; in the Name of the Holy Ghost, which is shed into thee, &c. May thy place be this day in Peace, and thy habitation in Holy Sion, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen. To this Wish there is added a Prayer, which demands for the sick Person the Remission of his sins, the Renewing of whatever there was corrupt in him, and his reconciliation with God: and then this Discourse is addressed to him, Commendo te, &c. I recommend thee, most dear Brother, to God Almighty, and cōmit thee to him; whose creature thou art, that when, by the interposition of death, thou shalt have cancelled the Obligation of humanity, thou mayst return to thy Authour, who hath formed thee out of the slime of the Earth. May therefore a bright Assembly of Angels meet thy soul at its departure out of the body, &c. May the embraces of the Patriarchs confine thee to the Bosom of a blissfull rest, &c. Mayest thou be delivered from e 1.476 Torment by Christ, who was crucifi∣ed for thee; mayst thou be delivered from eternal death by Christ, who vouchsafed to die for the; May Christ the Son of the living God place thee in the ever-pleasant verdures of his Paradise, and may that true Shepheard own thee among his Sheep; May he forgive thee all thy sins, and place thee in the portion of his Elect on his right hand; Mayst thou, face to face, see thy Redeemer, and being ever pre∣sent behold with thy blessed eyes the most manifest truth. Being then placed among the Quires of the blessed; mayst thou enjoy the sweetness of divine con∣templation, world without end. Amen. After such a Discourse, there is made this Prayer; Suscipe, Domine, servum tuum, &c. O Lord, Receive thy servant into the place, where he is to hope salvation from thy mercy, Amen. O Lord, deliver the soul of thy servant from all dangers of Hell, and from the snares of Torments, and from all Tribulations. Amen. Then, having made a recital of the Deliverances of Enoch, and Elias, of Noë, Abra∣ham, Joab, Isaac, Lot, Moses, Daniel, and his three Companions, David, Saint Peter, and Saint Paul, they conclude with these words: And, as thou hast delivered from three most grievous Torments the most blessed Virgin, and Mar∣tyr, Thecla; in like manner, mayest thou be pleased to deliver the soul of this this thy servant, and grant, that he may rejoyce with thee in the enjoyment of ce∣lestial goods. Amen. At last, follow two Prayers; whereof the former begins with these words: Commendamus animam Famuli tui, &c. O Lord,

we recommend unto thee the soul of thy servant, and we humbly beseech thee, O Jesus Christ, Saviour of the World, that thou wouldest not refuse to place in the bosoms of thy Patriarchs her, for whose sake thou mercifully didst descend upon Earth. In the later it is said, Be mindfull of him, O Lord, in the glory of thy brightness; let the Heavens be open to him; let the Angels rejoyce with him. Lord, receive thy Servant into thy Kingdom; Let St. Michael, the Arch-angel of God, and General of the Celestial Militia, entertain him; let the holy Angels of God meet him, and carry him into the Heavenly Jerusalem, &c. Loosed from the Chains of flesh, may he be received into the glory of the ce∣lestial Kingdom, &c. If, after all these Prayers, the Agony continue, there are at several times read the one hundred and sixth, and one hundred and eighteenth Psalms, according to the Greeks, and Latines, that is, the one hundred and seventh, and one hundred and nineteenth, according to the Hebrews, who are therein followed by the Protestants; and, when the Soul is departed, they say, Afford your assistance, O ye Saints of God, meet him, O ye Angels of the Lord, receiving his Soul, and presenting it to the most high. May Christ, who hath called thee, entertain thee, and may the Angels conduct thee into the Bosom of Abraham, &c. O Lord, give him eter∣nal rest, and let everlasting light shine upon him; Lord, deliver his Soul from the Gate of Hell, let him rest in peace.

In the Mass for the sick, who are in Agony, besides two Lessons out of the Scripture, whereof the former comprehends from the sixth Verse of the five and fiftieth Chapter of Isaiah, to the twelfth, with these words fasten∣ed in the beginning by I know not whom, In diebus illis locutus est Esaias Propheta dicens, and at the end, Ait Dominus omnipotens; and the later consists of the twentieth, twenty first, and twenty second Verses of the sixteenth Chapter of St. John, with these words added at the beginning, In illo tempore dixit Jesus Discipulis suis. We have several Texts alledged, containing Thanksgiving to God for his deliverances, as the second, sixth, and seventh Verses of the eighteenth Psalm, according to the He∣brews, the fourth of the fifty seventh, with Confessions of sins, and Im∣plorations of his mercy, and assistance, as the second Verse of the fifty seventh Psalm, the first and second of the one hundred and thirtieth, the eighth and ninth of the seventy ninth, the first of the fifty first, and the two and twentieth of the five and twentieth, and, in conclusion, three Prayers, in the first whereof we read these words, Grant him, O Lord, thy grace, that his Soul, at the hour of its departure out of the body, may be re∣presented without the blemish of any sin, by the hands of the holy Angels, to thee, who art the proper bestower thereof, through our Lord, &c. The second is closed with this conclusion, not much unlike the former, That, received by the Angels, he may arrive at the Kingdom of thy glory, through our Lord. And the third is laid down in these Terms, O Lord, we give thee thanks for thy manifold kindnesses, wherewith thou art wont to satisfie the Souls of those, who put their trust in thee; we, now confident of thy compassion, do humbly be∣seech thee, that thou wouldest vouchsafe to shew mercy on thy Servant, lest, at the hour of his departure out of the body, the enemy, prevail against him, but that he may be thought worthy to pass to life, through our Lord.

If the Latine Church had from the beginning been imbued with this Sentiment, that the Souls of the Faithfull are, for the most part, at their

departure out of the Body, confined to a place of Torment, where they perfect the expiation of their sins, through what misfortune is it come to pass, that she so far forgot her self, as not to have expressed any such thing in all their Service, and that her Encouragements, and Remonstran∣ces to those, that lie at the point of death, who are (as it is at this day pre∣supposed) in so great a necessity to prepare themselves for it, and the Wishes, and Prayers, which she makes, and appoints to be made, as well for them, as for the Dead, whom a Superstitious perswasion imagines alrea∣dy set upon, and invaded by Infernal flames in Purgatory, do not onely not contain any remark thereof, but formally teach the contrary? And that they do so, we are onely to instance out of what hath been newly alledged, what they say of all without exception, viz. that, after death, they have their place in Holy Sion, that the Angels come to meet them; that they convey them into the Kingdom of Glory, into the bosom of a blessed Rest, into the bosom of Abraham, into the pleasant Verdures of Paradise, that they might with the Quires of the Blessed contemplate Truth with their blessed eyes, and enjoy the sweetness of divine contemplation eternally; that the Lord places them in the Portion of the Elect, in the place where they hoped for salvation, opens the heavens to them, gives them an eternal Rest, and makes them pass into life; which Expressions are such, as that the Protestants could not (according to the Hypotheses of their Belief) either say, or think any thing beyond them. Shall we imagine her un∣fortunately seised by a Vertigo so extraordinary, as that she would be guilty of such an Extravagance in favour of the Adversaries of her Sen∣timent, so far as to furnish them with all the Expressions capable to ruine it, and that she should be so unnatural, and cruel towards those of her children, whom death snatched away daily from her, as not to vouch∣safe to let them know, by the last word, that she had a Resentment of their Trouble, or that it was her desire to procure their Deliverance out of it by her Prayers, and to fortifie others, whom she saw to fall in∣to the like, by communicating to them her Advertisements, and Re∣monstrances, and representing to them on the one side the necessity, which the Justice of God imposed on them, as is pretended, to pass through the Fire, and, on the other, the Hope, which his Promise gave them to be preserved therein by his care till such time, as his Goodness should grant them a glorious deliverance out of it? Nay, though we should be inclined to excuse in her so shamefull a want of compassion, and memory, could we free her from Prevarication, charging her, that, instead of stirring up in her children the care of preparing themselves for Death, and the temporal Pains, which (according to the Opinion of Purgatory) were to follow upon it, she hath treacherously permitted, that (to be rid of it with more ease) they should run into erroneous perswa∣sions, and presume to promise themselves, upon the very start out of this Life, a passage into Abraham's Bosom, and the Paradise of God; or rather, that she was resolved to lay them asleep her self, by deceitfull Ex∣pressions, in the Bosom of a prejudicial Security, which smothers the ap∣prehension they should have conceived of the Severity of that great Judg, who intends to examine them with all rigour? And though we should endeavour to reconcile these kinds of Expressions, which mu∣tually

destroy one the other, would it be in our power to perswade any, that those, who, after they have said of the Dead, that they are, immedi∣ately upon their departure, carried by the Angels into the Bosom of the Pa∣triarchs, hold withall, that they are before-hand sent into a place of Torments, speak more rationally, then those, who durst affirm, that the King lodges near himself in his Palace, the Malefactours, whom he keeps in restraint, in the most loathsom Dungeons, and holes of his Prisons?

And that no man may imagine that this Wish, May Christ, who was cru∣cified for thee, deliver thee out of Torment, hath any relation to the Torment of the pretended Purgatory, we need onely to observe, that it is made for a sick Person, overwhelmed with the Torment of the last Agony, im∣mediately preceding his Death. To which may be added, that, though it were understood of the Torments, which wicked Spirits are to expect af∣ter Death, Reason would force us to avow, that the Believer, recom∣mended to the Grace of God, is exempted from them after Death, in the same manner, as he is delivered from eternal Death, from the dangers of Hell, and from the snares of his Torments, which he never felt, nor ever shall feel, for as much as Christ, crucified, and dead for him, preserves, and frees him from them. And as to the Prayers, which the Church of Rome makes, and appoints to be made, for the Dead, desiring, that God would pardon their Sins, deliver them from the Gates of Hell, and from the Last Judgment, and put them into the possession of eternal Bliss, they cannot (according to the intention of Antiquity) be taken in any other sence, then what we have already alledged; nay, this very Circumstance, that the Modern Greeks, and others, who deny Purgatory no less, then the Protestants, do daily make those Prayers, irrefutably proves, that Purga∣tory cannot necessarily be inferred from them.

CHAP. LIII. The Sentiment of the Modern Greeks, concerning the State of the Dead.

FOr as much as the Church of Rome, and those of her Communion, are not any way satisfied with the Sentiment of the Greeks at this day, who so joyn with her in the Custom of Praying for the Dead, that they joyn with the Protestants against her, in denying Purgatory; and that, upon that accompt, she censures them, as Desertours of the Faith delivered by the Holy Fathers, whom she pretends to be of her side, and reproaches them with a shamefull breach of the Promise they had made on Friday, the sixth of July, 1274. at the Councel of Lions, and on Munday, the sixth of July, 1439. at that of Florence, to embrace her Belief; we are to consider these two things distinctly: First, What Ground she may have to complain of their inconstancy; and, Secondly, In what Opinion they have continued to the present.

The Latines, who had taken Constantinople by assault, on Munday the twelfth of April, 1204. having been driven thence by Michael Palaeo∣logus,

on Wednesday the twelfth of July, 1261. This Prince, to settle himself in his Possession, against the attempts, as well of the Turks, as the Emperour Baldwin de Courtenay, (who was then in League with Charles of Anjou, King of the two Sicilies, the Republique of Venice, and Theobald, King of Navarr, and Count of Champagne, to whom he had pro∣mised the fourth part of the lost State, in case he might recover it) took (what according to the advice of his despair seemed best) a resolution to cast himself into the arms of Pope Gregory the Tenth, and to grant him any thing he should desire. For perceiving that Baldwin, his Competitour, had in the year 1267. affianced; and in the year 1273. Married his onely Son Philip to Beatrix, the Daughter of Charles; that Charles, not thinking it enough that his Son-in-Law had taken the Imperial Crown, had also raised a powerfull Army to carry on his Design; and that the Councel of Lions, Convocated by Pope Gregory, to meet on the first of May, 1274. threatned him with no less, then absolute ruin; he hastened to conjure, and lay it by the onely means he had left him, sending to him, in whose hands it lay, to prevent the Storm. The Pope, flattered by a great Confidence of establishing his Power in the East, immedi∣ately dispatched thither Hierome d' Ascoli, Reimond Beranger, Bonagratia of Saint John's in Perficeto, and Bonaventure de Mugello, Franciscan Friers, who entred into conference with the Greek Emperour, got from him what they desired, and caused him to write concerning the State of the Dead in these Terms; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. If those, who are truly penitent, depart hence in Charity, before they have, by Works worthy Repentance, made satis∣faction for that, wherein they have sinned, and failed; the souls of such are, af∣ter death, purged by the Pains of Purgatory, according to what Brother a 1.477 John hath declared unto us. And to mitigate those Pains, the Congregation of the Faithfull surviving is beneficial, I mean, the sacred Celebration of Services, Prayers, and Alms, and other works of Piety, which are ordinarily performed by the Faithfull for others of the Faithfull, according to the Ordinance of the Church.

These Letters, which tended onely to gain the Affection of the Pope, and traverse the Designs of the King of Sicily, had struck the Patriarch Joseph so to the Heart, that, after he had boldly protested against them, he withdrew, choosing rather, to continue the rest of his days a private Person, then to enjoy the Prelacy, with the remorse, and shame of having countenanced, by his consent, an Agreement, which he thought con∣cluded by Counsels, carried on by worldly Designs, and Interests; and indeed, the greatest part of the East, conspiring in the same Sentiment, had such a detestation for the Peace with Rome, that there was a neces∣sity of employing force, to smother the dissatisfactions of those, who were scandalized thereat. John, sirnamed Bec, High Chancellour of the Empire, had been imprisoned, and roughly dealt with upon that Occa∣sion; but not long after, either weary of suffering, or Cajolled, and drawn in by a Promise of the Patriarchate, joyning with his Prince, he came, with some other Greek Prelates, to the Councel of Lions, where he made his first entrance on the 24^th of June, and while the Emperour lived, helped him to keep in his Country-men, extremely exasperated, to see themselves forced to a Profession, which they approved not of.

Michael, dying towards the end of the year 1285. after he had eluded all the Storms of the King of Sicily, Andronicus his Son, and Successour, who had, with much impatience, born with the violence done to the com∣mon Sentiment of his Nation, not onely restored it to its former Liber∣ty, as soon as he was gotten into the Throne, but re-established the Pa∣triarch Joseph, put Bec, who had taken his Place, into such a Fright, that he was forced to withdraw secretly, fearing he should be torn in Pieces by the People, and proceeded with so much the more confidence in all this change, in as much as the Sicilian Vespers, advised by his Father, and sung by the tumultuous People on Easter-Day, the twenty ninth of March, 1282. had set Sicily, and Arragon against the Pope, and France. Besides, Philip de Courtenay, and Baldwin his Father, being come near the End of their unfortunate Lives, had no further thoughts of re∣venge against him; that Charles the First, King of Sicily, dying of Grief, the seventh of January, 1285. left Charles the Second his Son, a Prisoner to the Sicilians, and Arragonois, who kept him from the two and twentieth of June, 1284. to the twenty ninth of October, 1288. So as that he had not, during that time, any means, either to help himself, or prejudice others; and that none, that had Relation to the Latines, was in any ca∣pacity to disturb the East.

Michael thought to have done much for himself, by his submission to, and taking from the Church of Rome the Model of his Belief, and (by his Compliance with her) disarming the Princes combined against his Dignity; but from that Counsel, suggested by the Prudence of this World, he reaped onely shame, and misfortune, as well during his Life, as after his Death. For both his Ecclesiastical, and Secular Subjects con∣spired together to put the affront upon him, frustrate his Intentions, and confidently to subvert the Design of his Treaty by a formal Oppositi∣on, and so unanimous a Rejection of the Expedient which he had taken to settle his Peace, that his Cruelty against the most resolute, and the setting up of a new Patriarch, who took the Catechism of his Belief from the Court, prevailed nothing upon spirits, so much the more exasperated, the more sensible they were of the violence done them. Pope Martin the Fourth, taking it heinously that he was fallen off, in as much as he bore with some of his Subjects, who were contrary to his Opinion, a 1.478 in the first year of his sitting in the Chair, upon the day of the Dedication of Saint Peter's Church, falling on the eighteenth of November, 1281. pro∣nounced him, in Orvieto, Excommunicated, as a favourer of the An∣tient Schism, and Heresie of the Greeks. And after his Death, which happened at the beginning of the fourteenth Indiction, 1285. near Se∣lybria, the publick Aversion was so violent against his Memory, that his own Son was forced to leave it exposed to a kinde of Infamy, b 1.479 Nicephorus Gregoras having left us his remarkable Accompt of him; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. The Emperour Andronicus, his Son, who was pre∣sent, not onely honoured not his Father with the Sepulture ordinarily bestowed on Kings, but vouchsafed him not that, which was fit for Smiths, and Pioners: He onely ordered, that a small number of men, having carried him away in the Night, some distance from the Camp, should cast a quantity of Earth upon him, out of a fear, lest the Royal Body might be torn in pieces by the wilde Beasts.

Thus have we a great Prince, for having forced the Consciences of his People, reduced to the burial of a Dog, and finde the Church of Rome, who would have made her advantage of his Despair, to spread her Autho∣rity into the East, become, through this kinde of proceeding, so odious, that the Ostentation of her Power did onely stir up the contradiction of those minds, which she was in hope to enslave, and animated them in a resolution, not to receed in the least from their former Sentiment.

About 150. years after, the Empire of the East falling under the Power of the Turks, who had taken away from it, on the one side, all Natolia, except Trebisonda, where there was kept up a little Empire apart; and, on the other, such a part of Thrace, that Constantinople was, as it were, blocked up between both, Johannes Palaeologus, descended from Michael, was (though much against his Humour) forced to call to minde the Advertisement of his Father Manuel, who had not left him any other Hope of recovery in the Land, then what was to be procured by the Assistances of the Latines; Which to obtain (contrary to the Advice of Sultan Amurath, who knew, that in the Concord of the Christians consisted the onely means to oppose his Tyranny) he took a resolution in the year 1430. to make his Ad∣dresses to the West, and (after the Example of his Father, who had in Person sollicited Italy, France, England, and other Kingdoms) sent se∣veral Embassies to Martin, and Eugenius the Fourth, to desire the calling of a Councel, to consist of the Prelates of both the Greek, and Latine Churches, and, by means of the Councel, to engage the Latine Church in the defence of the Greek. We do not finde how far Martin bestirred himself to do any thing in that Cause; but God having taken him out of this World the one and twentieth of February, 1431. and Eugenius the Fourth being chosen in his stead, on the third of March following, the Jealousie he took at the Councel, which had been appointed to meet at Basil, by that of Sienna, in the year 1424. and began on Thursday, the nineteenth of July, 1431. and the high, and violent Procedures of it towards the Greeks in Florence ruined the success of what ever he had un∣dertaken. He had ever since the twelfth of March appointed Julian, Cardinal of St. Angelo, to preside at the Councel of Basil; eight Moneths after, seised with an apprehension, that that Assembly would offer to di∣minish his Power, he repealed the Commission of his Legat, and (under pretence of gratifying the Greeks) appointed the eighteenth of Decem∣ber, for the Prelates to separate, and summoned another Councel at Bou∣logne la Grass, for the year 1433. Now, that of Basil, thinking the affront indigestible, and to be revenged, resolving to question him, put him into such a fright, that he thought himself obliged to grant what it would have, to issue out his Bull of the fifteenth of December 1433. to repeal three others, contrary thereto, given the twenty seventh of July, and the thirteenth of September before, and to joyn with the Cardinal of St. Angelo, four other Legats, to wit, Nicholas, Cardinal of Saint Croix, John, Arch-Bishop of Tarentum, Peter, Bishop of Padua, and Lewis, Abbot of Saint Justina of Padua, who were admitted the six and twentieth of April, 1434.

From the fifteenth of October, and the eleventh of November, 1433.

the Greeks, answering to the Summons of the Councel, who had Deputed to them Anthony, Bishop of Tuy in Galicia, and B. Albert de Crespes, Master in Theologie, had sent on their behalf Demetrius Palaeologus, Proto-vesti∣ary, Isidore, Abbot of St. Demetrius, and Johannes Lascaris, sirnamed Disypatus, to Treat of the Conditions of the Interview of both Parties; and the Pope, for his Part, had, towards the end of the same year, offered by Christopher Garathon, one of his Secretaries, to send his Legats into the East, to prosecute the affair of the Re-union. But, when he saw him returned, and understood that the Councel, who was not of his Opinion, and had reduced him to quit it, and by a second Deputation, sent Bro∣ther John de Raguse, a Domiuican, afterwards Bishop of Argos, Henry Menger, Canon of Constance, and Simon Freron, Canon of Orleans, who, as to his particular, had Order to pass through Rome, to aquaint the Court with the occasion of his Message, instead of being satisfied with this submission, which seemed absolutely to secure his Interest, he con∣ceived a greater jealousie thereof, and taking it very ill, that (as he thought) the Councel should think to get the glory of the Reconciliati∣on with the Greeks, he so far prevailed with them by his sollicitations, and the sums of Money he paid them out of his own Purse, which was better furnished, then that of the Councel, that they broke their Word with the Deputies, suffered the House, where John de Raguse, the chiefest among them, was lodged, to be set upon by a Party of Cross-bowsiers, who at∣tempted to force it, and openly took their resolution to go to Ferrara, where the Pope was in Person, and was drawing together all his Par∣tisans. It were impossible to avoid being importunate to the Reader, if we should trouble our selves to give a particular Relation of all the complaints reciprocally made by the Pope, and Cauncel. It shall there∣fore suffice to observe, that the Councel, defeated of their Hope, saw an∣other convened, as it were, in defiance of it, at Ferrara, where the Greeks, to the number of about twenty Metropolitanes, and a dozen others of their Clergie, made their appearance, with their Emperour, at the Pope's Charges, upon the fourth, and eighth of March, 1438. so∣journed there, without any thing done, till Wednesday the fourth of June, at which time were begun some private Conferences, upon the Questi∣ons of Purgatory, and the State of Souls after their departure out of the Body, yet so, as that on the Part of the Greeks, till Thursday the seven∣teenth of July, there passed no other decision, save that the Souls of the Saints enjoy, immediately after Death, the perfect felicity competent to them, though they expect, upon the compleating of their Persons, a more full perfection. After two Moneths delay, laying aside that kinde of Dis∣pute, when the General Sessions of the new Councel began, they were taken up in debating concerning the Addition made by the Latines to the Creed, and the manner of the Procession of the Holy Ghost, which they pretend to be, not from the Father, and the Son, but from the Father by the Son. About this, there passed at Ferrara, from that time, to the eighth of January, 1439. sixteen Sessions, and the Plague having made the place not onely incommodious, but also dangerous, the Pope re∣solved to leave it, transferred the Assembly to Florence, on the eleventh, defrayed the charges of the Greeks, by paying nineteen thousand Florens

for the Garison of Constantinople; and, on the nineteenth following, de∣parted with the Greeks, who made their entrance into Florence on Friday the fourteenth, and Sunday the sixteenth of February, began their Ses∣sions on Thursday the twenty sixth of the same Moneth, and continued them to no purpose, till the seventeenth of March. Two days after, the Emperour, weary of Disputing, and seised with an apprehension of his own danger, pressed his People to capitulate with the Latines, addres∣sing himself to them in these pitifull Terms; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Time is spent to no purpose, and we have done nothing, as to the furtherance of our Affair; remember our House, what hazard it runs amongst the wicked. If any thing happen, alass! how heavy will it fall upon us? I hold the Persecuti∣on will be more intolerable, then that of Diocletian, and Maximian; wherefore let us lay aside Discourses, and Debates, and finde out some Mean, so to pass in∣to the same Sentiment. Mark, and Anthony, Arch-Bishops of Ephesus, and Heraclea, notwithstanding those Deplorations, making some difficulty to comply, were by him forbidden to come into the two following Con∣gregations; and, the rest yielding, the Pope was not awanting to take his advantage, and to extort from those poor People a forced Acquiescence; the Patriarch Joseph having, upon the thirtieth of March, being Munday, in the Passion-Week, given them this sad accompt of the Pope's Pleasure; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 That we should resolve to do of two things one, either finde out by Easter (falling that year on the fifth of April) the means of an Union (with him) or take some course to return into our Coun∣trey. And notwithstanding, that Isidore, and Bessarion, Arch-Bishops of Russia, and Nicaea, who had engaged in the Party of the Latines, and given their Hands, saying; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. It is more expedient for us to unite in body, and soul, then to go hence without having done any thing; for it is no hard matter to be gone, but how we should go, or to what place, or when, I know not: Dositheus, Bishop of Monembasia, cried out immediately, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. What would you? that our departure hence may be defrayed by the Pope, would you have us betray our Doctrine? I will die rather, then ever Latinize. The Arch-bishop of Heraclea added, that the An∣tient Fathers were for his Opinion; that of Ephesus, that the c 1.480 La∣tines were not onely Schismaticks, but also Hereticks. And the Nobility, who had an Aversion for the Agreement, so exasperated those of their Party, that being met the first of April at the Patriarch's Lodgings, who was then so indisposed, that, on the Saturday following, they were forced to administer the Extreme Unction to him, as soon as the poor Pa∣tient had opened his Mouth, to ask what they had to say, made him this short answer, by the Arch-bishop of Heraclea, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. There are four things demanded of you; First, Whether you are satisfied with the most clear and solid Demonstration, according to which, we have shewn you by the Scriptures, that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father, and by the Son; if you are, so be it: if not, tell us what you doubt of, and why you are not satisfied, that we may finde out some remedy, and way,

clearly, and purely establish, that, in very truth, the same Procession is also from the Son. Secondly, If you have any d 1.481 Proofs from the Holy Scriptures, maintaining the contrary to what we affirm, Produce them. Thirdly, If you have any strong places out of the Scriptures, proving that what you hold is better, and more holy, then our Doctrine. Fourthly, If you will not stand to these things, let us meet together in an Assembly; Let the Hierarch celebrate the Divine Ser∣vice; Let us all, as well Latines, as Greeks, take an Oath; Let the Truth be boldly discovered by the Oath, and what shall appear most clear to the e 1.482 Major part, be embraced by both sides: For among Christians an Oath is not vio∣lated.

After this Overture, all that remained, was to press those poor People by bitter Reproaches, and to make those, who had complied, instrumen∣tal to draw in those, who were unwilling to do it. Accordingly, upon the fourteenth of April, Bessarion made a long Speech in favour of the Sentiment of the Latines, and George, sirnamed Scholarius, afterwards Patriarch, presented no less then three Orations upon the same Subject. The Emperour, who, on Whitsunday, the twenty fourth of May, was gone to the Pope, upon a Message he had received from him to that purpose, when he heard him say, that the great Charges he had been at came to f 1.483 nothing, that he squandered away his Money, and done all he thought convenient, vindicating himself the best he could, replied, I am not the Master of the Synod, and I will not be so Tyrannical, as to force my Synod to say any thing. And, on the Wednesday following, the Greeks, being admitted to Audience, understood that they were reduced to an impossibility, the Pope making this Discourse to them; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Which way soever I look, I see division before mine eys, and much won∣der how division can be advantageous to you. If it be so, how will the Western Princes take it? And what sadness shall we conceive thereat? Besides, how will you return into your Countrey? As if he had said, You must either come to our Opinion, and, upon that Condition, obtain the conveniences of returning into your Countrey, or quit all hope of ever getting thither, as being a thing not to be attempted, but with our Leave, and upon our Charge. Whereupon all, Mark Arch-bishop of Ephesus one∣ly excepted, being at an absolute loss of all courage, bethought them∣selves how they might be dis-engaged upon the best Terms they could; and the Emperour, having, on Tuesday the second of June, sent to the Pope by the Arch-bishop of Russia, to know what assistance he would afford him, had this Answer brought him by three Cardinals; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. First, as to the present, the most Ho∣ly Father makes accompt to furnish you with what shall sufficiently defray your Charges, as also to finde you Galleys, that all your People, and the Church of the East, may return to Constantinople. Secondly, To maintain constantly, at his own Charge, three hundred Souldiers, for the safety of the City. Thirdly, To have upon his accompt two Galleys, as a Guard unto it, and to keep a Watch near it. Fourthly, To procure that the Devotion of Jerusalem be exercised at Constantinople, and that the Galeasses, which go for the Veneration of the enlivening Sepulchre come to Constantinople. Fifthly, To finde (when the Emperour should stand in need of Galleys for his assistance) twenty Galleys, armed upon his own accompt, for the space of six Moneths, and, in case there

should be need onely of ten, for a year. Sixthly, To endeavour, as in the presence of Christ; that the Nations of Christendom may come in to his relief, when he should be necessitated to have an Army by Land.

Thus the extream necessity of that conjuncture having destroyed the concernments of Religion by those of Policy, which seemed to smother, if not the disagreements, at least the Disputes, that were between them, the Union of the Latines and Greeks is concluded. And, as the Pope discovered what accompt he made of the Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and the visitation and adoration of the holy Sepulchre, when he spoke of dis∣crediting them in favour of Constantinople, and to transfer thither the most celebrious Devotions of the Latines, together with the advantages accrewing to the places where they are exercised, depriving Palaestina of the profits she had derived from them for the space of 350. years to∣gether, and condemning, as fruitless, the Expeditions, which had raised them to the greatest heighth: So the Greeks made it appear, that the fear of loosing their temporall good, was able to perswade them to sell the liberty of their Consciences, and that the onely Argument, which indu∣ced them to comply with the Sentiment of the Latines, was taken from Earth, and not from Heaven. So, that if the Poet had reason to say of Daws, Pies, and Parrats, when brought to the pronunciation of what words they heard, that the Belly had been their Master, and had given them the ingenuity to imitate the words which nature had denyed them, the Church of Rome might well acknowledge, that the Greeks were over∣come, not by the force of her proofs, but by the sound of her fair pro∣mises, and that her purse and credit had been the true bait, whereby they had been caught, and that they had not been instructed in the Latine O∣pinions, but under the direction of Fear and Despair, the most wretch∣ed Masters that ever were.

The Patriarch Joseph, who, during all these Intrigues, grew weaker and weaker, had on Tuesday, June the ninth, the Eve of his departure out of this World, signed the Profession, which he was desirous to make for the advantage of the Church of Rome, and all remained to be done, was, that the Prelates, who had accompanied him, should do the like. But the Pope, not willing to come to any capitulation with them, but at dis∣cretion, gave them, on the sixteenth following, a Paper, which might have startled the Emperour, if Julianus Caesarinus, Cardinal of St. Angelo, had not appeased him by these words, Send your g 1.484 Commander and us Letters, that the Galleys may be provided, but we desire you to stay, and the Com∣mander with you, till it shall have pleased God to bring the business to some issue, that then he may return along with you with much glory: We shall bear all your charges as far as Venice, and guard you to the City [of Constantinople] let not your Majesty be troubled as to that particular. After which, they trifled away the time, till the two and twentieth of the moneth, and then the Pope sent by three Cardinals this Message, That he would have all the pri∣viledges of his Church, and the prerogative of Appeals, and would direct, and feed the whole Church of Christ, as the Shepherd of the Sheep; and withall, the right and power to call a general Councel, when there should be any necessity, and that all the Patriarchs should submit to his will, which put the Emperour h 1.485 out of all hope, and surprized him, so as that he made onely this an∣swer,

i 1.486 Give order for your departure, if you think good. Yet to prevent an absolute rupture, the Pope entred into further conference with him, and entertained both him, and his, upon Friday the six and twentieth following, with a Collation of Sweet-meats and Wine, after which, and his retirement out of the place, those, whom he had brought with him, unanimously writ these words, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. We acknow∣ledge, concerning the dignity of the Pope, that he is High-Priest, and Bishop, and Lieutenant, and Vicar of Christ, Pastor and Teacher of all Christians, and that he directs and governs the Church of God, the priviledges, and rights of the Pa∣triarchs of the East, being observed; that the Patriarch of Constantinople is the second next the Pope; then he of Alexandria; after him that of Anti∣och, then that of Jerusalem. They had resolved not to acknowledge a∣ny thing further, and to break off rather, then be brought to it; but the Pope delivered them out of all fear as to that, accepting (at least in appearance) what they had written, though granting him onely a pri∣macy of Order over the other Patriarchs, and absolutely quashing the dis∣pute of his Predecessor Leo the First against Anatolius, raised by the Councel of Chalcedon (seconding in that the first of Constantinople) to the second place.

This acceptation passed, there seemed to be nothing to do, but to sign and publish the Concordate (or Agreement) between both parties; but there arises yet new difficulties. For the Pope would have the In∣strument drawn up in his own name onely, but was therein formally op∣posed by the Greeks, who after these words, Eugenius Bishop, Servant of the Servants of God, required, on Munday the nine and twentieth of June, there should be added, with the consent of the most serene Emperour, of the Patriarch of Constantinople, and the other Patriarchs. He seemed also desirous to get inserted into it this Clause, That he would have his privi∣ledges, according as the Holy Scripture defines, and the expressions of the Saints; which the Emperour withstood, saying,

If any one of the Saints honour the Pope in a Letter, he might write to him, shall he take that for a privi∣ledge?

Yet the next day it was granted him, that he should have his priviledges, according to the Canons, the expressions of the Saints, the holy Scripture, and the Acts of Synods; the Greeks, on the other side, having got into the same Decree, that all the priviledges of their Patriarchs should be inviolably observed, the Latines made no small difficulty on the second of July, to let pass the word All, which two days after they admitted. Upon the fifth of the Moneth aforesaid, the Concordate was signed by k 1.487 the Pope, nine Cardinals, two Titulary Patriarchs, nine Arch-bishops, forty nine Bishops, and forty six Abbots on the one part; and the l 1.488 Em∣perour, seventeen Metropolitanes, five Deacons, one Arch-Priest, and six Ab∣bots and Religious Persons, on the other. On the sixth, it was publickly read. Eight days after, the Pope, having desired the Greeks to proceed to the Election of a Patriarch, that might come into the place of the Patriarch Joseph, deceased twenty six days before, and that he, whom they should choose, might receive the Imposition of his hands, was denyed, as to both particulars, and forced to suffer the Greeks to depart, forsa∣ken by Bessarion, and Isidore, Arch-bishops of Nicea, and Russia, and not long after Cardinals. The rest, heightned by the Example, and Encou∣ragements

of Mark of Ephesus, who would not by any means be drawn to subscribe, or consent to the Concordate; and withall troubled in Con∣science, that they had prostituted their Sentiment in the business of Re∣ligion for Bread, prevented the disacknowledgment of the Body of their Countrey-men, as soon as they were got to Constantinople; declaring null all they had done, and re-assuming their former Opinions with so much the greater readiness, by how much they had onely quitted them in outward shew, and to the regret of their whole Nation, which would have treated them very harshly, for having been so persidious to them.

From which proceedings it necessarily follows; First, That, if the Church of Rome hath any reproach of Inconstancy, wherewith to charge those among the Greeks, who (having received money from the Latines, to acknowledg what they desired) have since broken the Promises they had made them, and disclaimed what they had done; She hath nothing to say against Mark, Arch-Bishop of Ephesus, who never approved the management of that Affair; nor yet against the others, who had stay'd in the East, without whose knowledg, and contrary to whose intention, the Concordate of Florence was drawn up; as also that the said Church hath given them all great occasion to alienate themselves from Her, in∣asmuch as, instead of proving to them that they were in an errour, Her design was to circumvent, and surprise them, and had so little regard, I will not say, to the glory of God, to the Interest of his Truth, and to that of Sincerity, and publick Edification, but even to her own Reputation a•••• theirs, that she thought it a business of greater concernment, to be defray'd the charges she had been at with them; and, in requital of that little Temporal Assistance, which she offered them, to draw them to an abjuration of the Belief, which they had professed from Father to Son, before they were convinced in Conscience. Will it ever be thought just, by the profusion of the things of this World, to purchase Souls, called by the Gospel to the hope of a Celestial Inheritance? And, if they prove more hard to be drawn in, then was imagined, will it be thought a ratio∣nal kind of proceeding, to frighten them by violences yet more inhu∣mane; and, by the fears and tryals of those disgraces, which may occasi∣on the loss of the Body, and its advantages, boldly to thrust them upon the Precipices of Damnation, as if it were ever left to our choice to force Religion by Religion, to imprint the Sentiments thereof in the minds of men with Iron Bars, and to promise our selves, that we may bring men to Salvation by the shipwrack of good Conscience?

In the second place it is apparent, that neither the Greeks, nor Latines, assembled at Florence, have, by their proceedings there, discovered, that they were very confident of what they should believe concerning the state of Souls after Death; the former having as to that point, quitted it without any Dispute, and expressed their Union, with the others, in un∣certain, and indeterminate Terms, as we have shewn m 1.489 before; and the Latter, who made account to bring over to them such, as were of the contrary Opinion, contenting themselves with what they were pleased to say, though well examined, it were such, as could not give them any

just satisfaction; and that the Formulary of their Concurrence consi∣sted onely in three words of a double meaning.

Lastly, that the Church of Rome, who had first set afoot the Confe∣rences, out of a consideration of the Question of Purgatory, brought by her first upon the Stage, hath made it appear by the event, that her own perswasion of it was not very great; forasmuch, as immediatly after she, in a manner, shook off all further thoughts of it; and, towards the end of the Assembly, thought it concerned her more to dispute the Privileges of her Pope; thereby clearly discovering, that it took up her thoughts more to plead for his Dignity, then for the Salvation of the Greeks, and that her endeavour was to enslave them to her self rather, then to con∣vert them to God.

However it be, after their return into the East, there was no difficulty made of taking the Concordate of Florence for a Tablature of their Senti∣ment: The n 1.490 Oration, which Bessarion had made on their behalf at Fer∣rara, on Saturday, june xiv. One Thousand Four Hundred Thirty Eight, is (as to what concerns them) still in force; and though they prayed, even at that time, for their Dead, and (presupposing, as the Church of Rome would have it, that some sins were venial, and some Souls in the midst between Virtue and Vice) made it a question, whether God, granting them the remission of their sins after this life, makes use of any punishment; or, out of his Clemency, gives absolution to men, as inclined to mercy by the Prayers of the Church: and whether (in case he does make use of pu∣nishment) it consists in Purgation by Fire, and not rather in restraint, obscurity, and grief; yet did they sufficiently determine themselves in these words, We say that it stands more with the goodness of God not to de∣spise a small good, then to account worthy punishment a small sin, leaving it to be inferred, that he freely pardoned it.

Immediately after, Mark of Ephesus, in his Manifesto, addressed To all Christians, as well of the Continent, as the Islands, having made his complaint, that some endeavours had been used to reduce his Countrey-men into a base Captivity, o 1.491 and to bring them down to the Babylon of the Cu∣stoms, and Opinions of the Latines, proposes their Sentiment, concerning the Dead in these Terms; We affirm, that neither the Saints obtain the King∣dom prepared for them, and the ineffable good things, neither do Sinners fall into Hell, but both expect, their own Lot; and that belongs to the time to come after the Resurrection, and last Judgment.

But Gregorius Proto-Syncellus, who was for the Concordate, charges the said Mark with contradicting, in that, not onely the Fathers, as St. Chry∣sostome, St. Gregory Nazianzene, Gregory of Rome, Damascene, and Maxi∣mus, but even himself; for as much, as in one of his Sermons, in honour of Elias the Prophet, he had maintained, that he enjoyed the clear Vision of God, and was in the presence of his Majesty in the Heavens, with the Angels, and Saints, who have put off the garment of the body. And, indeed, it is possible, that Mark, either to discover the greater alienation from the Opinions of the Latines, or to shew himself to be of their number, among those of his Nation, who (as is expressed in the Acts of Florence) hold, that the Saints departed are in, and enjoy bliss, in their proper place, expecting

the perfect Crown, which hath been promised them, may have said it; and that the more common Opinion of the Greeks may have been from that time such, as the same Acts represent it, saying, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. The Greeks conceive, that there may be a fire, and partial punishment of Souls, and that the Souls of Sinners go to an obscure place, a place of grief, and that they are af∣flicted, and punished in part, being deprived of Divine Light; and that by Pray∣ers, and the Services of the Priests, and Alms, they are purged, or rather delive∣red out of that dark Place, and Tribulation, and that they are freed; And the Greeks (contrary to the Italians confess, that they are purged, not by fire, or the action of fire; but that onely Prayer, and Supplication, and Alms, have that effect. Accordingly the Greeks living in Venice, in the year, 1560. declared their Sentiment in Terms, much to that purpose, when they made answer to the Tenth of the Cardinal of Guise's Questions, as hath been already p 1.492 observed. And it is likely enough, that whoever (as they did) ima∣gines to himself Souls, which are neither good, nor bad, runs into a neces∣sity of feigning some such thing concerning the Treatment they are to receive, after their departure out of the Body.

But there is not any thing can give us a more certain accompt of their Opinion, then the q 1.493 Forms of Service daily used by them at the En∣terment of their Dead; for we have in them (as in those of the Latines) Lessons out of the Scripture; as for instance, the first Verse of the fifty first Psalm, all the ninety first; the first part of the hundred and nine∣teenth, the twelfth, seventy second, and seventy third Verses, to the hun∣dred thirty third; and the hundred seventy fifth, and hundred seventy sixth; the fourty second of the twenty third Chapter of St. Luke; out of the fifth of St. Matthew, from the third Verse, to the tenth inclusively; out of the fourth of the first to the Thessalonians, from the thirteenth Verse, to the seventeenth inclusively; the twenty fourth, and thirtieth Verses of the fifth of S. John; the sixth Verse of the hundred and twenty sixth Psalm; the seventh of the hundred and sixteenth; the fifteenth of the hundred and third; the whole twenty third Psalm; the fifth Verse of the sixty fifth; the twelfth and seventeenth Verses of the fifth Chapter of the Epistle to the Romanes; the seventeenth of the fifth of St. John; the first of the twenty fourth Psalm; out of the fifteenth of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, from the beginning, to the eleventh Verse; the thirty fifth of the sixth of S. John; the first Verse of Psalm the eighty fourth; the thirteenth of the twenty fifth; the seventh Verse of the sixth to the Romanes; the thirty ninth of the sixth of St. John; the sixth of the fourteenth to the Ro∣manes: which contain either Lessons of Piety, and Humility, for the Li∣ving; as the places of the hundred and third, and hundred and nine∣teenth Psalms, and of the fifth of St. Matthew: or Descriptions of the Goodness of God towards those, that fear Him; as the twenty third, and ninety first Psalm: or Implorations of His Mercy for the last Day; as the forty second of the twenty fourth of St. Luke, and the first Verse of the fifty first Psalm: or Assurances of the Beatitude, Immortality, and Glorious Resurrection of the Faithful; as all the other places: among which, there is nothing alledged out of the second Book of Maccabees, which the Church of Rome takes at this day for one of its principal Grounds; nor yet out of any other of the Apocryphal Books. Whence it evidently re∣sults,

that those, who compiled the Office of the Greeks, and put into it those Texts of Scripture, had not in that any apprehension, contrary to the Sentiment of the Protestants.

There are also in the said Forms abundance of Prayers, stuffed with Invocations to the Blessed Virgin, and to Martyrs, all which are irrefra∣gable marks of the alteration of the antient Service, and insoluble Argu∣ments of the adulteration of belief among the Greeks, whose first Litur∣gies contained Prayers for all the Saints, without any exception; and the Fathers held as a Principle of Religion, that God alone was to be invocated, r 1.494 that the worship of Persons departed is not to be accounted by us for Reli∣gion; for as much as, if they lived piously, they are not for that to be so looked on, as if they sought such Honours, but will, that he should be served by us, by whom we being illuminated, they rejoyce that we are made partakers of their Dignity; that they are to be honoured by way of imitation, and not adored upon any reli∣gious accompt. In a word, that neither the Blessed Virgin, Mother of our Sa∣viour, nor any of the Saints of either Sex can pretend to any part of that religious homage, Saint Epiphanius, one of the most earnest main∣tainers of Prayer for the Dead, hath left to them, and the whole Church of these last times, these remarkable Precepts; s 1.495 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. Indeed the Body of Mary was holy, but it was not God; the Virgin was indeed a Virgin, and honoured, but she was not given us to be adored; on the contrary, she adored him, who was begotten of her, as to the flesh, &c. If God will not have the Angels to be adored, how much rather will he not, that she, who was born of Ann should be? &c. God came from Heaven, and the Word was clad in flesh taken from the holy Virgin, but the Virgin is not adored, &c. Let Mary be honoured, but let the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be adored; Let no man adore Mary; though Mary be excellent, and holy, and honoured, it is not that she should be adored, &c. Let Mary be honoured, but let the Lord be adored.

But not to press any further this notorious defect, which we finde at present in the Service of the Greeks, we are to observe, that among them the Office of the Dead is full of Prayers, whereby is desired (as in the La∣tine Service) the mercy of God, the remission of the sins of the deceased, his absolution, his blessed resurrection, his introduction into rest, into Abraham's Bosom, into the Mansion of the blessed, into refreshment, into Paradise, into the Tabernacle of God, into his Kingdom, glory, light, to the right hand of the great Judge, into the Society of the Saints and Angels; all which Expressions (ac∣cording to the Hypotheses of Antiquity) may be applied to the Spirits al∣ready received into glory? Which is so much the more evident, for that the particular Office, which concerns the Obsequies of Children, is full of these Prayers, that God would number the deceased among the Children, to whom he hath promised his Kingdom, that he would place him among the just, who are acceptable in his sight, that he would make him partaker of the good, things, which are above this World, that he would let him enter into the joys of the Saints, that in his holy Mountain he would gratifie him with celestial goods, that he would write his name in the Book of those, who shall be saved, that he would make his face to shine upon him, that he would lodge him in Abraham's Bosom, that he would grant him the enjoyment of his King∣dom, &c. Yet were not these Desires made without a presupposition of

his Beatitude: as, First, when it is said to him, He, who hath taken thee from the Earth, and gives thee place among his Saints, shew•• that thou (O truly bles∣sed Childe) art a Citizen of Paradise. The Sword of Death falling on thee hath cut thee off as a tender Branch, (O blessed art thou, who hast made no tryal of worldly pleasures) but behold Christ opening the Gates of Heaven to thee; num∣bring thee•• out of his great goodness, among the Elect•• Secondly, When he is brought in making this Discourse, Why do you bewail me, a Childe transla∣ted out of the World? for I am not a Subject to be bewailed. The joy of all the just is required for those Children, who have not done works worthy Tears. Thirdly, When he acknowledges, that Death is a freedom to Children, that they are thereby exempted from the miseries of life, and that they are gone to rest, that they rejoyce in Abraham's Bosom, in the divine Quires! of Blessed Children, and assuredly dance, because their departure hence was a deliverance from the corruption, which loves sin.

If then the Ritual of the Creeks be full of Prayers for the Children, whom they unanimously acknowledge to be among the Blessed, what inconvenience can there be to attribute to them, that they had the same apprehension for persons of age, of whose felicity they no way doubt∣ed? But though reason should not lead us to think so, yet does their formal confession obliges us to believe as much: for there is not any deceased person, for whom they say not to God, t 1.496 Mercifully receive the faithfull person departed, who hath holily quitted this life, and is (O Lord) passed towards thee; and whose Funeral Solemnities they do not con∣clude, saying to him three several times, u 1.497 Our Brother, worthy to be ever blessed, and always remembred, thy memory is eternal. To every Monk, without any exception, they address these words, w 1.498 Brother, thè way thou art in is that of bliss, for that a place of rest is prepared for thee: adding to that purpose the sixteenth Verse of the one hundred and sixteenth Psalm, Return unto thy rest, O my Soul, for the Lord hath dealt kindly with thee; and a little after, x 1.499 He, who is taken hence, hath passed through the ever-troubled Sea of Life, and by Faith is arrived at his Port: conduct him, O Christ, with the Saints into thy tranquillity, and ever-living pleasures. In like manner to every Priest, y 1.500 Thou hast piously signalized thy self in Faith, Charity, Hope, Gentleness, Purity of life, and in the Sacerdotal dignity; and therefore (O Brother of eternal memory) God, who is before all Ages, whom thou hast served, will himself dispose thy Spirit into a place full of light, and pleasure, where the just are in rest, and will make thee obtain of Christ, at the day of Judgment, pardon, and great mercy. And the deceased Person is in∣troduced, using these words, z 1.501 I am now at rest, and have found great fa∣vour, for that I have been transferred from the corruption of life, glory be to thee, O Lord, &c. a 1.502 Thy divine Servant, Deified in his Transportation, by thy now-enlivening Mystery is come towards thee. To every Woman departed, Detain not any longer, O malicious Hell, the Souls of the Elect, in the condemna∣tion of the Transgression; for all, being now made assuredly conformable to Christ, instead of Death, receive divine life. In a word, she is made to say the same words, as had been attributed to the Priest, I am now at rest, &c.

All these Confessions, grounded on the Lessons of Scripture, which, for the most part, contain assurances of the Love of God towards those,

who serve him, and promises of their future Beatitude, and glorious Re∣surrection, demonstratively prove, that the first Compilers of the Greek Office, agreeing, in what is most substantial, with the Protestants, be∣lieved, that whoever dies in the Faith of the Lord does, from the mo∣ment of his Death, enjoy rest, and glory in him, and with him. But, for as much, as from time to time, the purity of belief, and worship, receiv∣ing adulteration among them, there rose up a sort of people, apt to feign any thing, and to affirm for true all they had feigned, and that from that source are derived abundance of things inconvenient, and contradicto∣ry, which are, at this day, as so many Black-Patches in the face of their Service, reason calls upon us, to direct our hand to the most remarkable, and discover the Scars, and Imperfections, which lie under them.

For as much then as the Greek Fathers, taught by St. Paul, even in that very place, which is copied in the Ritual, advertised the Christian People committed to their charge, not to be sad for their Brethren departed, after the manner of the Heathens, who are without hope; and St. Chrysostome threat∣ned to excommunicate, as impious, those, who took a glory in grieving up∣on such occasions: it is impossible those should have been well informed in their duty, and the Sentiments of their fore-Fathers, who, (making a Virtue of a Vice, and stuffing the publick Forms of Service with their De∣plorations) have had the boldness to introduce the Faithfull deceased, pressing those, whom they left behind them, to lamentations at their mis∣fortune, that is to say, at what (according to the Scriptures) neither is, nor can be. As for instance, when they inserted, at the end of the com∣mon Formulary, this extravagant, half-Heathenish Discourse, absolutely contradictory to the Exhortation of St. Paul to the Thessalonians; b 1.503 Brethren and Friends, Kinred and Acquaintance, now that you see me laid with∣out Voice, and without Breath, lament all over me; for yesterday I spoke with you, and suddenly the dreadfull hour of Death surprized me. But come ye all, who are desirous of my Company, and kiss me with the last kiss: for I shall have no further conversation with you, nor ever speak to you again. I am going to the Judg, with whom there is no respect of persons, since the Servant and the Master, the King and the common Souldier, the rich man and the begger, are to appear be∣fore him in an equal condition, and every one shall be either glorified, or made ashamed by his works. But I intreat and conjure you all without ceasing, to pray for me to Christ God, &c. And in the Office of the Priest, c 1.504 My Brethren, Children, and Friends, I remember you before the Lord, forget me not, when you pray, learn (I conjure, beseech, and require you) these things, that they may serve you for a memorial, and bewail me night and day. Again, In great com∣passion weep for me (O ye Lovers of Christ) and earnestly petition the God of all, that he would grant me to rest with the Saints. And in that of the Woman, Come Fathers, and behold how Beauty fades; come Mothers, and see how the Flesh moulders away, and cry with Tears, Lord, grant, that, by thy Command, she may rest, whom thou hast taken hence. But as those carnal sallies of Spirit are palpably contrary to the advice of the Apostle, and upon that ac∣compt not to be endured; so the absurdity thereof is so evident, that the Authour of the Ritual could not forbear expressing the dislike it might occasion, saying in the Office of the Priest, d 1.505 O men, why do you so earnestly bewail me? Why do you give your selves this vain trouble? He,

who is transferred from Life, saith to all, Death is become a Rest to all.

Nor do I think it strange, the Formulary should swell with the e 1.506 descriptions of the Miseries, and Vanity of this Life; for since the Prophet hath vouchsafed to give us a Draught thereof to the end, that, f 1.507 Learning to number our days, we might apply our hearts to Wisdom, we cannot be too often touched with the sting of so necessary an Adver∣tisement; yet is it not expected from us, that to shew our selves smitten, and humbled before God, we should presume to act the Disconsolate, contrary to the Instruction of St. Paul, and make such Discourses, as these, notoriously false, in respect of any one of the Faithfull. g 1.508 Alass! What a combat is the Soul, separated from the Body, engaged in? Alass! How does she then lament, and there is not any Body hath pity on her? Turning her eyes to the Angels, she beseeches to no purpose; and reaching forth her hands to men, no body relieves her. For, if there be any Combat in the Soul, before its se∣paration, as soon, as that is over, she is passed from the Combat to the Tri∣umph, since that (according to the Instruction of the Spirit) her being with the Lord is upon this accompt, that she h 1.509 absent from the body. Secondly, There is not, from thence forward, any Tears to be shed for her, in as much as she is in i 1.510 fulness of joy, and pleasures; and that his Goodness promises, to wipe away all Tears from the eyes of those, who stand before his Throne. Thirdly, There is no further necessity, she should call upon either Angels, or Men, in regard she is in the blessed Society of Millions of k 1.511 Angels, and in the Congregation, and Assembly of the First-born, who are written in Heaven. And, should she stand in any need of Relief, she would remember, that her l 1.512 Help was, even during this Life, in the Name of the Lord, who made Heaven, and Earth; that he alone is our Refuge, Glory, and the Rock of our Srength; that we are at all times to put our Trust in him; and that, if all the men in the World should be put together into a balance? they would be found lighter, then Vanity it self.

But (to excuse the frequent Prosopopoeias, which, in these Forms of Service, represent separated Souls, as seised with horrour, and reduced to deplorations, and desires of Relief) it may be pretended, that these Descriptions made at discretion are Instructions to the Living, as to what lies upon them to do. To answer that, and whatever else may be alledged to extenuate their Offence, who have shuffled those things in∣to the Greek Service, it need onely be said, that we are to take for Lessons of our Duty, not Imaginations of what never, either was, or will be; but the pure Will of God, our onely Rule in Life, and Death: and if it were lawfull for us to use Fiction, it were but requisite we had the Judgment, not to advance any thing absurd, and contrary to our Principles, shewing our selves in that more Prudent, then the Modern Greeks, who (transported by I know not what Stupidity) do almost every where run against their own Hypotheses. But to make it clear, by certain Examples. Their common Principle is;

That good Souls pass, at the very Instant of their separation, into the possession of their Rest, the bad are immediately confined to Hell; of those in a middle Condi∣tion, onely the Salvation is deferred.

Let us now hear, what pretty Dis∣courses they attribute to them: I beseech you all, and conjure you, that, with∣out

ceasing, you pray for me unto Christ, God, to the end, that I may not (according to my sins) be confined to place of Torment, but that he would place me where is light of Life. The middle-conditioned Souls are they, ever (according to them) at such a point, as, immediately after their depar∣ture out of the Body, to be at the self-same time exempted from the Pains of Restraint, Obscurity, or Grief (through which it is affirmed they are to pass) and deprived of the Rest, which, after the Pains, they are to obtain, so as that they are (for the least space of time imaginable) in a Neutral State, which admits not the qualification of either Good or Bad, of either Light or Darkness, Rest or Torment, and conse∣quently, of either Joy or Grief, if not by accident? And in Case that by the Place of Torment, where it is feigned, they fear being confined, some may understand the Hell of the Damned; is it possible they should ever be exposed thereto, since it is presupposed they are of a middle Conditi∣tion, and upon that very accompt (as being chargeable onely with Ve∣nial Sins) neither do, nor can, deserve Eternal damnation? Be this therefore one unmaintainable, and unimaginable Absurdity, which must needs press hard upon our Forgers of Descriptions, according to the Dictates of their own Fancies.

They make the deceased Priest further say m 1.513 Why, O man, dost thou trouble thy self thus unseasonably? There is one onely hour, and all passes away; for in Hell there is no Repentance. There is no Releasment in that place; there is the Worm, which never sleeps; there is the darksom land, and the obscure matter, to which I am to be condemned, &c. Is this Discourse attributible to a Faithfull Person, that had had here in this World the least taste of the Promise made by the Son of God, assuring us, that whoever believes in him is in such manner, passed from death to life, as that, though he be dead, yet shall he live through him; that he shall not come into Condemnation; and that there is not indeed any for those, that are in him? Are the Souls, imagined to be in a middle Condition, subject to the stingings of the Worm, which ne∣ver dies, and liable to Damnation? Which if it be supposed they neither are, nor can, why should they be feigned to say so, and necessarily Lie in saying so? This must then be a second Impertinence, and a new Piece of Forgery, committed by the Corrupters of the Ritual, not onely against the Word of God, but also against their Sentiment, who (in the same Ritual) in∣serted this Confession, which is both most true, and Diametrically contra∣ry to the Discourse before confuted; Lament not all you, who are departed in the Faith, for as much as Christ hath suffered the Cross, and was buried for us in the Flesh, and hath made all those, who call upon him, children of Immortality. For this once lay'd down, does it signifie less, then a total Eclipse of un∣derstanding, and circumspection, to make the children of Immortality (for whom the Saviour of the World died, and who consequently can∣not perish) say, that they shall be Damned.

Nay, the Prayers of the Living for their departed Brethren would be still chargeable with inconvenience, even though they were taken li∣terally: For instance, this, n 1.514 O Lord, as thou saidst unto Martha, o 1.515 I am the Resurrection, by the Effect accomplishing thy Word, and calling Lazarus out of Hell; so also mercifully raise this thy servant out of Hell. For besides that, it is a little too freely supposed, that our Lord's Friend was confined

in Hell from the moment of the Death of his Body, to that of his Resur∣rection; it is also false, that our Saviour raises out of Hell (whence the Ri∣tual confesses, that p 1.516 none is delivered) any of his Servants. Whoever once enters there, never comes out again, nor is there any raising up to be expected by him. But these words may be maintained, if they meet with a favourable Interpretation, which might admit Hell to signifie, not the place of the Damned, in which sence it is ordinarily taken, but the Grave, whence our Saviour, who called forth Lazarus, will; at the Last day, raise up the Bodies of all his Servants.

With the help of the same favourable way of Interpreting, it were possible, to finde a sence conformable to the apprehension of Antiquity, in those Prayers whereby the Greeks do at this day, Beg the Remission of Sins for their Dead, taking care to make them to relate to the Absolu∣tion which shall be solemnly pronounced by the Great Judg at the last day, as may be deduced from this, that most of them expresly mention it; among others, this, q 1.517 Vouchsafe, O Redeemer, that, when thou shalt come with ineffable glory in the Clouds, after a dreadfull manner, to Judge the whole World, that thy Faithfull Servant, whom thou hast taken from the Earth, may joyfully meet thee; which words are Grounded on 1 Thess. Chap. iv. Verse 17. In like manner this, r 1.518 Vouchsafe, O God, to be mindfull of our Father, who is now at rest, and be pleased to deliver him from the corruption of sin at the day of Judgment, through the good odour of thy goodness, mercy, and love towards men. Again, O Lord, from whom the Spirits of those, who serve thee, do come, and to whom they return, we beseech thee, to cause to rest in a place of light, in the Region of the Just, the Spirit of N. thy Servant, now lying in his Grave, and raise him up at thy second, and dreadfull coming, not to be condemn∣ed after the Resurrection, but to be Absolved, for no man living, shall be justified in thy sight. Again, s 1.519 Let not thy Servant, O Lord, be confounded at thy com∣ing. t 1.520 When thou shalt discover all things that are hidden, and shalt (O Christ) reprove our sins, spare him whom thou hast taken hence, being mindfull of his Preaching. Again, u 1.521 Forgive, O Saviour, the sins of him, who hath been translated hence in Faith, and vouchsafe to admit him to thy Kingdom; there, shall not any escape the dreadfull Tribunal of thy judgment; Kings, and Poten∣tates, and the Hireling, all shall appear together, and the dreadfull Voice of the Judge shall call the People that have sinned, to the condemnation of Hell, from which, O Christ, deliver thy servant. Again, x 1.522 Out of thy mercy, O Christ, exempt from the Fire of Hell, and the dreadfull Sentence, thy Servant, whom thou hast now taken hence in Faith; and let thy Domestick praise thee, as God the mercifull Redeemer, &c. Brethren, how dreadfull is the hour which sinners are to expect! O what fear is there! Then the Fire of Hell devours, and the ravenous Serpent swallows; wherefore (mercifull Lord Christ) deliver him from the day of dreadfull Gehenna. O how great shall be the Joy of the Just, which they shall be possessed of, when the Judge comes! for the Nuptial room is prepared, and Paradise, and the whole Kingdom of Christ, into which (O Christ) receive thy Domesticks to rejoyce with thy Saints eternally. Who (O Christ) shall bear the dreadfull threatning of thy coming? Then shall Heaven be rolled up together, as a Book, after a dreadfull manner, and the Stars will fall, the whole Creation shall be shaken with fear, and then shall the light be changed. O Word, spare him who is translated hence. Again, y 1.523 I beseech you all, who

were of my acquaintance, and who love me, be mindful of me at the Day of Judg∣ment, that I may finde mercy before the Dreadful Tribunal. Again, y 1.524 Let us cry to the Immortal King, when thou shalt come to make inquisition into the se∣cret things of men, spare thy Servant, whom thou hast taken to thy self, O Man∣kind-loving God. Again, I am dead, after that I have passed away my life with security, and I lye without voice in the Grave, and now I expect the last Trumpet to awake me, cries he, who is dead; but (my Friends,) pray unto Christ, that he would number me among the Sheep on his right hand, &c. I have consumed my life in great negligence, and being translated from it, I expect the dreadfull Tribunal, before which, O Jesu, preserve me free from condemnation, cries thy Servant. Again, z 1.525 O Lord, who art the onely King, entertain into the Celestial Kingdom thy Faithfull Servant, whom thou hast now transferred hence, and, we beseech thee, preserve him free from condemnation, at the hour, when all mortal men, being to be judged, shall make their appearance before the Judge, &c. Disacknowledged by my Brethren, and sequestred from my Friends, I cry in spirit, from the noisomness of the Grave. Examine not my failings at the day of Judgment; despise not my Tears, thou, who art the joy of Angels; but grant me rest, O Lord, even me, whom, out of thy great mercy, thou hast taken to thy self, &c. Stuck fast in the Myriness of sin, and devested of good actions, I, who am a prey to Worms, cry to thee in Spirit, cast me not behind thee, wretch that I am, place me not at thy left hand, thou, who hast framed me with thy Hands; but, out of thy great mercy, grant him rest, whom thou hast taken to thy self, by thy Ordinance. Having now quitted my Kinred, and Countrey, I am come into a strange way, and am as stinking rottenness in the Grave: Alass! none shall afford me any assistance in that hour; but, O Lord, because of thy great mercy, grant him rest, whom thou hast taken to thy self by thy Ordinance. Again, * 1.526 O what an inquisition, and judgment are we to expect! what fear, and trembling, in which (Brethren) the Elements themselves shall be moved, and the creation shake! come now, and let us cast our selves at the feet of Christ, that he may save the Soul he hath transferred. An intolerable sire, and external obscurity, and the Worm which never dies, is prepared for us sinners, in the day of inevi∣table necessity; then spare thy Servant, whom thou hast transferred.

For as much then, as the Prayers for the remission of sins, made by the Greeks under the names as well of the Surviving, praying for the Dead, as of the Dead, putting up their Requests for themselves, are, for the most part, restrained to the day of Judgement, we are so far from having any thing, that might oblige us to take them in such a sence, as that they should insinuate, that the Faithfull, between the moment of their death, and that of the Last Judgment, were reduced to the suffer∣ing of any pains, that the Hypotheses of Antiquity seem clearly to ex∣act the contrary. And the result thence is, that the Modern Greeks (though great opposers of the Purgatory maintained by the Church of Rome) have not kept within the Terms prescribed them by their Fore-fathers; but have changed their Sentiments by the Introduction of No∣velties, which none of them would ever have imagined.

It will be demanded, whence they derived the perswasion that there were Souls of a middle condition, which being, properly, neither good, nor bad, could not, after their separation from the Body, enter into the pos∣session of Paradise, without having, for a certain time, lain drooping in

I know not what place of Sequestration, where they were to endure grief, terrour, and the incommodity of darkness, which, as is pretend∣ed, covered them; when nothing of all this, either hath, or could have any ground in Scripture, which does every where make as immediate an opposition between Paradise and Hell, the good and the bad, the Faith∣full and the Reprobate, the Children of God (redeemed a 1.527 and consecrated for ever by one onely Oblation, and that once made with the blood of the Cove∣nant) and the children of the Devil, who have held as prophane that pre∣cious blood, as between life and death, light and darkness, the right hand and the left of the great Judge; teaching us expresly, that all the faith∣full b 1.528 dying in the Lord, are blessed, rest from thenceforth, c 1.529 come not into condemnation, are passed from death to life, are, at their departure out of the body, d 1.530 with the Lord; and that all the rest, without any excepti∣on, dying in Adam, and e 1.531 having not believed, are already con∣demned.

2. That Antiquity, having happily shaken of the strange imagination, which the Fathers of the Second Age had swallowed out of the pre∣tended Sibylline Writing, insinuating to them, that the Spirits of all men, as well good, as bad, necessarily descended into Hell, and were to be there detained under the power of Devils, till the Resurrection of the Bodies they had animated, it thereupon formally maintained, that, im∣mediately f 1.532 upon the Death of the Faithfull, are the Nuptials of the Spouse; that it remains onely for the surviving, g 1.533 to give thanks to God, that he hath crowned him, who is departed from them, and, having delivered him out of all fear, receives him to himself; that to all the good h 1.534 Death is an assured Port, i 1.535 a deliverance from the combat and bonds, a Transporation to better things; and that, as soon as it happens k 1.536 the Cabinets are sealed, and the time accomplished, and the combat at an end, and the race run, and the Crowns bestowed, and all is manifestly brought to per∣fection.

3. That the Ritual it self, as it were endeavouring to bring into dis∣credit, as well the distinction of the middle-conditioned Souls, as their pre∣tended banishment for a time into a dark place, indifferently affirms of all those, who die in the Faith of Christ, men, and women, Ecclesiasticks, those of Religious Professions, and Laicks, that they are gone to the Lord, that they rest, that Hell detains them not, that they exchange Death for the di∣vine life, and are made the Children of immortality; absolutely denying all, that the vulgar Opinion, temerariously, and without any reason shewn, affirms of some, and wholly destroying it by so formal a con∣tradiction.

But we are not to imagine our selves reduced to a necessity of being over-Critical in discovering the Origine of this errour, since the falsi∣ficatour as well of the Ritual, as of the Sentiment of those of his Nation, hath done it so palpably to our hands, that he hath not made any scruple to publish his own ignorance, even in things evident, and such as the word of God, the best Antiquity, and Reason, assisted by both, teach so clearly, that there can be onely those, who are unwilling to learn of them, that are not informed thereof. Take the draught he gives us of it with his own hand, introducing the Priest, whose Funeral Obsequies are

celebrated, making at his death this Discourse, strange indeed, and more suitable with the Principles of a Pagan without hope, then to those of a Christian illuminated by Faith. l 1.537 Brethren, I am banished from my Bre∣thren, I leave all my Friends, and go my ways: yet I know not whither I am going, and am ignorant what condition I shall be in there; God onely, who calls me, knows: but make a commemoration of me with the Antients. Hallelujah. Whither do Souls now go? And after what manner do they now converse toge∣ther in that place? I would gladly understand that Secret, but there is no body able to declare it to me, &c. None of those, that are there, ever returned to life again, to give us an accompt in what manner they behave themselves, who were sometime our Brethren, and Nephews, who are gone before us to the Lord, &c. It is a bad way, that I go in, and I never went it before, and that Region, where no body knows me, I have not any account, or knowledge of. It is a horrour to see those, who are carried away, and he, who calls me, is worthy to be dreaded, he, who is Lord of Life and Death, and who calls us away, when he pleases. Hallelujah. Removing out of one Region into another, we stand in need of some Guids: what shall we do where we go in a Region, in which we have no acquaintance?

Of the same strain are the Discourses in the Office of the Soul in A∣gony, for she is made to speak, as one in the depth of despair, begging assistance of the Blessed Virgin, of Angels, and of Men, and complain∣ing, that she is forsaken of all, that m 1.538 estranged from the Glory of God, she served unclean Devils, who, holding the Schedules of her sins, and crying with vehemence, would impudently have her; that she is n 1.539 alienated from God, and her Brethren; that a Cloud of Devils come pouring upon her, and that the dark∣ness of her own unclean actions cover her, commands her Body to be cast into a Common-Sewer, that (as she is o 1.540 dragged into the places of dreadful pu∣nishments) the Dogs may eat her heart; declares, that p 1.541 she is delivered up to the Devils, who carry her away by violence to the bottom of Hell; that she knows all have forgotten her; that she shall remember God no more, since that in Hell there is no memory of the Lord; that, overwhelmed with darkness, she ex∣pects the Resurrection; that, examined by all men, she shall be cast into the fire; that neither God, nor his Angels, nor his Saints shall think of her; for which reason she calls upon the Virgin, Angels, and Men, Earth, nay Hell it self, to which she is delivered to be bitterly punished, to bewail her Misery.

What greater Impurity could the rage of a despairing Judas dis∣gorge? shall we say there could be any thing of Christianity, in the ap∣prehensions of a sinner, who (without any recourse to the Mercy of God, and the Merit, and Intercession of his Saviour) numbers himself among the damned, not vouchsafing to consider the assurances, which the Scripture gives all men, testifying unto them, that Christ is q 1.542 our peace, and r 1.543 redemption; that his blood cleanseth us from all sin; that, s 1.544 if we confess our sins, he is faithful, and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness; Further, that t 1.545 he is still living to make intercession for us; and, since he vouchsafes to receive us among his Sheep, u 1.546 no man shall pluck us out of his hand, and w 1.547 the wicked one shall not touch us? When the same Divinely-inspired Scripture hath loudly published, that all the righteous, that is to say, those, who walk before God, x 1.548 are taken away from the evil to come, that, being y 1.549 absent from the body, they are pre∣sent

with him; that, even here upon Earth, z 1.550 they are of the Houshold of God, and fellow-Citizens with the Saints; that they a 1.551 ought to go boldly to the Throne of Grace, where he himself gives them b 1.552 access by the Spirit of his Son; and that the Angels are now c 1.553 ministring Spirits, to minister to their Salvation: should we ever imagine so brutish a stupidity, and so prophane an excoecation in any of those, who have any way contributed to the Greek Ritual, affirming (according to the Scripture) that the Christian, who dies, does by death arrive at the Port, goes to the Lord, rests, is translated from the corruption of life, exchanges death for divine life, and is at his death in the way to bliss; as that he should presume to say, that way is bad, and that he knows not whether he is going, knows no body there, nor is known to any? Can the way to bliss be a bad way? Is he, who knows he is going to God, in a condition to complain truly, that he knows not whether he goes? Since he is retiring to his Father, and those of the same Houshold with him, hath he any cause to say, that he knows not any of those, to whom he is retiring, and that they know not him? Being called, how can he ima∣gine, that he, who calls him, should be so far mistaken, as to take his Childe for a Stranger? And since he gives him access to himself by his own Spirit, is there any reason it should be supposed, not onely that he stands in need of a Guid, but that he neither hath, nor can finde any? What occasion have either the living, or the dying, to bemoan them∣selves, that not any one returns from the Dead, to inform them of the state of the World to come; since the Son of God himself gave us this adver∣tisement, that it is of greater advantage to us, to have d 1.554 Moses, and the Prophets, that is to say, the holy Scriptures, then if one rose from the Dead, to give us an accompt of their condition?

It were not haply much besides our Purpose, to desire those, who enter∣tain us with Stories of dark Prisons for those Souls, which they pretend to be of a Middle-condition, to tell us, whether they hope to revive that ruined Party among the Antients, who, believing that Angels, and sepa∣rated Souls, were clad with a body subject (as ours) to be incommo∣dated by Darkness, discovered, that they apprehended not any distincti∣on between immortal Substances, and corporeal? As also whether (al∣lowing them separated from all matter, and assigning them for Torment, Obscurity, and Darkness, taken in their Proper, and Primitive Significati∣on), they think themselves better grounded in Reason, then those, who are perswaded, that material Fire, whose activity can onely exercise it self on Bodies, is, and eternally shall be, the Instrument of Torment, as well for Devils, as impious Souls? Turn which side they will, they shall not free themselves from inconvenience. But, not to insist further hereupon, and under pretense of putting them to yet a further loss, how to make good their Tenet, to digress from our Principal Subject, we will keep close to it; concluding from what hath been deduced, that the common Opinion of the Modern Greeks must necessarily be New, unknown to their Fore-fathers, who lived in the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Ages; contrary to the Word of God, and to Reason; full of Inconveniences, and Suppositi∣ons, contradictory one to another; and consequently, that it is with good Reason rejected, as well by those of the Roman Communion, as by the Protestants, who can onely, in this Particular, allow them to have been

circumspect, and well-advised, that they forbear telling us determinate∣ly, where they think fit to place the Prison, to which they condemn the Souls, which they call the Middle-conditioned; for what is not at all, can neither be be defined, nor found any where.

CHAP. LIV. The Conclusion of the whole Treatise.

WHereas then the Opinion of the Greeks is new, and inconsistent; whereas that of the Church of Rome (upon this very Score, that it goes beyond the other) is subject to more Inconveniences; and where∣as all the Christians in the East, and Southern Parts of the World agree with the Protestants, in the rejection of it, as particular, new, and opposed by Scripture, Reason, the Antiquity of the first Six Ages, and by the For∣mularies of the Latine Service, which (through an extraordinary Hap∣piness) hath been more favourably Treated, then the Greek, which is hor∣ridly disfigured by those busie Spirits, who have filled it with their bold alterations; it were no better, then to elude the Evidence of Truth, and wittingly to renounce common sence, to endeavour to make that, which is particular, and impure (notwithstanding so many defaults) pass for Catholick. The Patrons of Purgatory out-vie one another in their attempts to prove it by Texts of Scripture: as for Instance, these;

• Genesis iii. 24. xv. 17.
• 1 Samuel ii. 6, 7, 8.
• Job ix. 26. and xiv. 13.
• Psalms vi. 1. xlix. 16. lxvi. 12. lxxxvi. 123.
• Ecclesiastes xii. 16.
• Esay iv. 4. ix. 17.
• Daniel vii. 10.
• Micah vii. 9.
• Zachary ix. 11.
• Malachy iii. 3.
• Matthew iii. 12. v. 22, 25, 26. xii. 32.
• Luke xii. 5, 48. xxiv. 42.
• Acts ii. 24.
• 1 Corinthians iii. 12, 13, 14, 15. xv. 29.
• 2 Corinthians v. 10.
• Philippians ii. 10.
• Hebrews iv. 4. xii. 7.
• 1 Peter iv. 17.
• Apocalyps v. 3, 13.

But one single Answer (pertinent even in the judgement of the Church of Rome her self, who of any makes the greatest ostentation of the An∣quity, and Universality of her Faith) suffices to pull down all this Pile; to wit, this; That the Application, which they make of these Texts, is so new, that it hath no Example in all the Tradition of the Fathers; and so singular, that, not agreeing among themselves, the more Ingenuous (as John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, one of her Cardinals, nay, of her Mar∣tyrs) acknowledge, that a 1.555 Purgatory had for a long time been unknown: and Franciscus Sonnius, first Bishop of Bosleduc, afterwards of Antwerp, grants, that the places out of the New Testament, and Saint Paul, about which the Church of Rome makes the greatest stir, b 1.556 do not demonstrate it of themselves, and are by some of the Fathers otherwise Interpreted.

The same thing may be said of what the same Church produces, or causes to be produced, in defence of Prayer for the Dead, which is not found, either in the Instructions, and Actions of the Saints under the Old Testament, or the Institution of the Son of God, giving his Apostles, and, by them, the Church, the perfect Form, and Model of Prayer, or yet in the Practice of the Apostolical Church under the Gospel. For, if some, at this day (as with much earnestness it is done) alledge these Texts;

• Genesis xxiv. 63. xlvii. 30.
• Leviticus v. 20.
• Ruth i. 8.
• 1 Samuel xxxi. 13.
• 2 Samuel i. 12. iii. 31.
• Esay viii. 16.
• Luke xvi. 19.
• Romans xii. 13.
• 1 Corinthians xv. 19.
• 1 Timothy ii. 1.
• 2 Timothy i. 18.
• Hebrews v. 7. xiii. 16.
• 1 John v. 16.

Not omitting those taken out of Apocryphal Writers, as

• Tobit iv. 18.
• Ecclesiasticus vii. 34.
• 2 Maccabees xii. 43, &c.

It may be Answered, That Antiquity, which, as we have shewn, grounded its Customs onely on the not-written Tradition, hath, by its Procedure, declared, that it had not (no more then the Protestants at this, day) eyes to perceive, in those Texts, the Doctrine, which some pretend to derive from them; it being onely Interest, which is vigilant upon all occasions, ready to make advantage of all things, confident in feigning what is not, and ingenious in the dressing-up of fond Imaginations, that hath hitherto been capable of these fine Discoveries. The same Church of Rome prides it not a little, in that the same Antiquity hath (no less, then the Modern Greeks) even from the first Ages practised, and re∣commended Prayers for the Dead; but she discovers not, that while she condemns all the Hypotheses of that Antiquity, and admits not any one of the Motives, which inclined it to that Devotion, she is, in Effect, re∣treated further from its Belief, then the Protestants, who so forbear do∣ing what the Antients did, as that they do all lies in their power, to ex∣cuse it, and to shew, that, as their Intention, and Worship have been free from the Venome, which the Ignorant malice of later Ages hath since scattered all over the West; so the end they aim at is, not either to dishonour them, because of the Weaknesses they have been subject to, or to make an odious discovery of their shame, but onely take the remarks of their Discircumspections, as so many Advertisements to Posterity, never to forget it self through too much security, and a blindly-excessive respect for the great Names, that have preceded it. After Notice taken of the success, which attended the Impious pre∣sumption of those Impostours, who (in the Second Age of Christianity, even while the Blood of the Apostles was yet boyling, and the Memory of their Instructions, and Examples more lively) carried on their wicked Designs upon the simplicity, and sincerity of Apostolical-men; as also how charming those Delusions proved, which incredibly dazzled many of those, whom the Mercy of God honoured with the Crown of Martyr∣dom,

and whose precedent conversation had been looked on in the Church, as a singular pattern of Piety, and Sanctity: after notice, I say, taken of these things, it is an Obligation lies on every Christian at this day, to bow down the head in humility, to implore, by continual ad∣dresses to Heaven, the assistance of the Spirit of Grace, that, efficaci∣ously insinuating it self into their hearts, he may not onely divert them from the like Tryals, but fill them with light, assurance, and joy, and, in∣stead of arming themselves (like Furies) with the Thunder-bolts, and Whirl-winds of a false Zeal, which ever inspires them with malice, and the utter ruine of those they think in an errour, that they would suffer themselves (as Children of Peace, Domesticks of the c 1.557 Prince of Peace) to be won into thoughts of Compassion, and love for the Salvation of those who perish, and not be afraid (after the Example of our Saviour, who came from Heaven, and d 1.558 descended into the lower parts of the Earth, to seek for the Children of wrath) to e 1.559 become (as his Apostle) all things to all men, that by all means he might save some. When such a noble desire, shall once possess mens Spirits, inclining them, not to endeavour the Conquest of their own glory, but to procure (as far as lies in them) the Victory and Triumph of Truth, for the glory of God, it will be im∣possible, but that cruel and murthering animosities (the ordinary, but e∣ver-fatall Consequences of Debates concerning Religion, which is thereby ruined) must vanish, as so many infernal shades, chaced away by the amiable raies of the f 1.560 Sun of Righteousness, who brings life, and healing in his Wings: Nor ought we (whatever some Earthly Souls may con∣ceive of their own carnal, and violent Counsels) hopeless, then that, in the extraordinary confusion of the last times, some change for the bet∣ter may happen. Heretofore the Church, soon after the departure of the Apostles, had the misfortune, that Hermas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Athenagoras, Theophilus of Antioch, St. Irenaeus, Clemens Alexandrinus, Tertullian, (in a word, all the most excellent Persons, of whom we have ought left) led away by the extravagances and fantastick Imaginations of the counterfeit Sibyll, believed themselves, and perswaded others, that the Souls of all men were, from the departure out of the Body, detained in Hell, till the Resurrection; that the just, rising again before the others, should reign with Jesus Christ upon Earth, and live a thousand years in Jerusalem, made glorious, and flowing with corporeal enjoy∣ments, or at least, in the Terrestrial Paradise; and that the Bodies of the greatest Saints, should pass through the last conflagration of the World, as through a Refiner's Furnace. The Fathers of the following Ages, hap∣pily shook off these unmaintainable conceits; but finding Prayer for the Dead, in the publick Service of the Church, they extended it as well to the blessed, as the damned. The Church of Rome, who approves not of praying for either of those two States, hath at last brought into cre∣dit her Purgatory, a thing not known before: why may we not hope it from the goodness of God, that he will dispel this last Imagination, as he hath done the precedent, and every where establish his Truth in its full lustre? Let therefore those, who at the present, quarrel at the simplici∣ty of the Protestants, who neither maintain the Hypotheses of the Fathers, which the Opinion of Purgatory hath discredited, nor hold Pur∣gatory,

which is made up of the rubbish of the precedent suppositions, for their discharge, consider, that they have, on the one side, learnt from the instructions, as well of Scripture, as of the Fathers, and all the anti∣ent Liturgies, even that of the Church of Rome, that her Purgatory hath no sound foundation; and, on the other, that the Church of Rome her self, hath (by her example) given them the boldness to recede from the practise of the Fathers, which she first relinquished. And as I have made it my business (as much as lay in my power) to give an accompt of their demeanour, searching into the true causes of the differences, that have appeared in the Perswasions and Customs of the Christians, who have passed through so long a revolution of Ages, and shewing those who now live, how deeply it concerns them to build on the firm and un∣moveable foundation of the Scriptures, and avoid the quick-Sands of humane apprehensions; so shall I be the first to censure my self, if (con∣trary to my intention) I may have chanced to be mistaken, and so far from being displeased with those who shall charitably advertise me thereof, that I shall highly celebrate their good Offices, and acknowledg upon all occasions, that, as g 1.561 we can, all of us, do nothing against the truth, so I shall never, as to my own particular, presume to attempt any thing to its prejudice; but hold, with St. h 1.562 Cyprian, that we must not erre always, because we have sometimes erred, and make it my chiefest address, to the i 1.563 Father of Lights, from whom every good gift, and every perfect gift cometh down, that he would k 1.564 lift up the light of his countenance upon all his Chil∣dren; give them the grace to l 1.565 understand their errours, and cleanse them from those which are yet secret, and make the words of their mouth and medita∣tions of their hearts acceptable in his sight, and advantageo••is to their own, and their Neighbours salvation.

Amen.

Notes

• a 1.1

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• b 1.2

  Euseb. ex Clemente, lib. 3. cap. 23. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• c 1.3

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• d 1.4

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• e 1.5

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• f 1.6

  Quam Ire∣naeus interpre∣tatur.
• g 1.7

  Quarto de∣cimo igitur anno secundam post Neronem Per∣secutionem mo∣vente Domiti∣ano, &c.
• h 1.8

  A. D. 92. Sect. 3.
• i 1.9

  Decimo quarto post obi∣tum Neronis anno.
• k 1.10

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• l 1.11

  Decimo quarto anno, se∣cundam Perse∣cntionem mo∣vente, post Ne∣ronem, Domi∣tiano.
• m 1.12

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• n 1.13

  Apolog. cap. 5. Orosius also, lib. 7. cap. 10. says, that as soon as Do∣mitian began the Persecuti∣on, he was (continuò) soon after killed.
• o 1.14

  This man was Abbot of Rome, as is ac∣knowledged by the Greek Me∣nologie; so that many, without any ground, not one∣ly confound him with that Priest of Ty∣rus, who suffer∣ed Martyrdom under Julian the Apostate, on the fifth of June, 362. but also give him the Title of Arch-Bishop; not considering, that no Prelate of that Name took the Government of the Church of Tyrus, before that Dorotheus substituted about the year 457. in the place of Photius, who had been present at the Councel of Chalcedon, in the year 451.
• p 1.15

  Advers. Jovin. lib. 1. cap. 14. Adhuc Adolescens, ac penc Puer, &c. ut sciamus Jo∣annem tnnc fuisse Puerum.
• a 1.16

  Haeres. 51. cap. 12.
• b 1.17

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• c 1.18

  Cap 33.
• d 1.19

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• e 1.20

  Uxorem tuam Jezabel. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• f 1.21

  Mulierem Jezabel: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• g 1.22

  De Corona. cap. 11.
• h 1.23

  De Mono∣gamia.
• i 1.24

  De Iejun.
• k 1.25

  De fuga in persecutione.
• l 1.26

  De Iejun. cap. 1.
• m 1.27

  De Monog. cap. 1.
• n 1.28

  De Iejun. cap. 1.
• o 1.29

  De •…•…lic. cap. 16
• p 1.30

  De ••••••••••og cap?
• q 1.31

  Jo. 16. 22.
• r 1.32

  Hieron. ad∣vers. Jovin. cap. 14.
• s 1.33

  In Mat. 20.
• a 1.34

  Stat. felix Ecclesia. cui totam Doctri∣nam Apostoli cum sanguine suo profude∣runt; ubi Pe∣trus Passioni Dominicae ad∣aequatur; ubi Paulus Johan∣nis exitu coro∣natur; ubi A∣postolus Jo∣hannes, postea∣quam in Ole∣um igneum demersus, nihil passus est, in Insulam rele∣gatur.
• b 1.35

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• c 1.36

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• d 1.37

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• e 1.38

  Lib. 2. De Vitae Constan in. cap. 24, 44, 45. lib. 4. cap. 34, 35, 36.
• f 1.39

  Lib. 5.
• g 1.40

  Lib. 8.
• a 1.41

  —Cui ger∣mine Frater Angel. cus Pa∣stor—.
• a 1.42

  Lib. 4. cap. 11. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• b 1.43

  Lib 3. pag. 27. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• c 1.44

  Antiq. lib. 4. cap. 4.
• d 1.45

  De praepar. lib. 9. In the third Book of Theophilus to Autolycus, it is said; That the Reliques of the Ark were to be seen in the Mountains of Arabia.
• a 1.46

  Lib. 1. p. 7. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• b 1.47

  2 Kings 2. 11.
• c 1.48

  Luke 23. 43.
• d 1.49

  2 Cor. 5. 7, 8.
• e 1.50

  Phil. i. 23.
• f 1.51

  Thus St. Gregory Nazi∣anzene inter∣prets St. Paul; affirming of him, that he says, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, that Our depar∣ture ought to be ••ith the Lord. ••at. 10.
• h 1.52

  Lib. 3. cap. 24.
• i 1.53

  Lib. 4. cap. 39.
• k 1.54

  In the pla∣ces before-cited and lib 4 cap. 56, 66. and lib. 5. cap. 31.
• l 1.55

  1 Cor. 2. 9.
• m 1.56

  Matth. 10. 24.
• n 1.57

  Ephes. 4. 9.
• o 1.58

  Psal. 23, 4. 44, 19. 88, 7.
• p 1.59

  Receptacu∣lis abditis, se∣cretis.
• a 1.60

  Mal. iv. 1.
• b 1.61

  1 Pet. i. 19.
• c 1.62

  1 Cor. v. 8.
• d 1.63

  Exod. xiv. 22.
• e 1.64

  Ibid. 31.
• f 1.65

  Exod. xiii. 21.
• g 1.66

  Luke ii. 35.
• h 1.67

  〈◊〉〈◊〉 John i. 8.
• a 1.68

  Lib. 2.
• a 1.69

  Chap. 21. 2
• b 1.70

  Verse 18, 19.
• c 1.71

  Verse 23.
• d 1.72

  Chap. 22. verse 2.
• e 1.73

  Pascentem Epulis omni∣bus.
• f 1.74

  John xiv. 2.
• g 1.75

  John: xxi. 2.
• h 1.76

  Lib. 7. cap. 23, 24.
• i 1.77

  In Catalago Scriptorum Ecclesiastie corum:
• k 1.78

  In Eliz. lib. 11. cap. 36.
• l 1.79

  Apoc, xxi. 2. 18, 19.
• m 1.80

  Lib. 7. 24,
• n 1.81

  In Esai. lib. 8. praefat.
• o 1.82

  Euseb. lib: 7. cap. 13.
• p 1.83

  Cap. 18.
• q 1.84

  Homil. 17.
• r 1.85

  Cap. 15. Gennad.
• s 1.86

  In Ezek. lib. 11. cap. 36.
• t 1.87

  In Hierem. lib. 4. cap. 20.
• a 1.88

  Psal. xxii. 21.
• b 1.89

  Luke xxiiii. 46.
• c 1.90

  May the fourth, in the year of Christ 389.
• d 1.91

  Lib. 9. cap. 13.
• a 1.92

  Ruente Mundo.
• b 1.93

  Psal. lxxvii. 9.
• c 1.94

  Joh. iii, 36.
• d 1.95

  Psal. lxxvii. 9.
• e 1.96

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• f 1.97

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• g 1.98

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• a 1.99

  2 Cor. v. 1.
• b 1.100

  2 Cor. v. 8.
• c 1.101

  2 Cor. v. 8. Phil. 1. 23.
• d 1.102

  Rom. viii. 33.
• e 1.103

  Heb. viii. 12. and x. 17. Jer. xxxi. 33.
• * 1.104

  See also lib 2•• Sect, 2. capp. 24, 25, 26, 34, 35.
• a 1.105

  De verbis Apost. Serm. 27.
• a 1.106

  Hierarch. Eccles. cap. 3.
• b 1.107

  Sap. v. 16. Jo. v. 14.
• c 1.108

  2 Tim. ii. 19.
• d 1.109

  Psal. cxvi. 19.
• e 1.110

  Isai. xxxv. 10.
• a 1.111

  Luke xii. 37.
• b 1.112

  Apoc. xx. 6.
• * 1.113

  (c) De Monog: cap. 10. Et De Anima, cap. 58. novissi∣mum Qua∣drantem modi∣cum quodque delictum, more resurrectionis illic luendum, interpretamur.
• a 1.114

  Eccles. xliii. 20. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• b 1.115

  1 Cor. xv. 52.
• c 1.116

  Verse 2.
• d 1.117

  Verse 5.
• e 1.118

  Verse 6.
• f 1.119

  1 Cor. xv. 52.
• a 1.120

  De Corona, cap. 3.
• b 1.121

  De Mono∣gamia, cap. 10.
• c 1.122

  De exhor∣tatione Castita∣tis, cap. 11.
• d 1.123

  De Pallio, cap. 2.
• e 1.124

  Epist. 28.
• f 1.125

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. Papias in the words, which Eusebins cites of him, ac∣knowledges he had not seen any of the Apostles.
• g 1.126

  1 Thes. v. 21.
• h 1.127

  Psal. cxviii. 8.
• a 1.128

  Jer. xvi. 7.
• b 1.129

  Verse 34.
• c 1.130

  In his Books De ani∣ma, & De cura pro mortuis.
• d 1.131

  De praedict. & promiss. par. 2. cap. 40.
• e 1.132

  De Civitate Dei, lib. 18. cap. 36.
• f 1.133

  Hist. del Concilio, lib. 2. pagg. 148, 149, 150.
• g 1.134

  Quibus po∣tissimum Testi∣moniis, ac. praesi∣diis in confir∣mandis dogma∣tibus, & instau∣randis in Eccle∣sia moribus usu∣ra sit.
• h 1.135

  Prov. i. 8.
• a 1.136

  Macc. xii. ••8, &c.
• b 1.137

  Josh. 7. 11, 12.
• c 1.138

  2 Sam. 21. 1.
• d 1.139

  2 Sam. 24. 15.
• e 1.140

  2 Sam. 24. 17.
• f 1.141

  Levit. 4. 13, &c.
• g 1.142

  Deut. 21. 1. &c.
• h 1.143

  The Latine Version says, 12000. amounting to 250. Marks, a vast Sum, in respect of the Time, and the Abilities of the People, re∣duced to Beg∣gery by the War.
• i 1.144

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• k 1.145

  Pro•…•…. page 50.
• a 1.146

  Lib. 2. cap. 25.
• b 1.147

  Hierom. in Catalogo.
• c 1.148

  Euseh. lib. 3. cap. 28.
• d 1.149

  S. John says expressly, that the Angel of God shewed him the mysti∣cal Jerusalem; Apoc. xxi. 10. Apoc. xxi. 1. Apoc. xxii. 1.
• e 1.150

  Apoc. xx. 4.
• f 1.151

  Apoc. xix. 7, 9.
• g 1.152

  Haeres. 10.
• h 1.153

  Concil. Laodic. ca.
• i 1.154

  Nazianz. carm. 33.
• k 1.155

  Amphilo•• carm. ad Se∣leucum.
• l 1.156

  Epist. 129. Nec Graeco∣rum Ecclesiae Apocalypsim Joannis eadem libertate susci∣piunt.
• a 1.157

  Rom v. 14.
• b 1.158

  Hebr. ix. 12.
• c 1.159

  Gal. iii. 13.
• d 1.160

  2 Cor. iii. 7.
• a 1.161

  Crateres.
• b 1.162

  Gregor. Dial. lib. 4. cap. 30 Et ex eo Frec•…•…∣phus, & Ar∣monius.
• c 1.163

  Cap. 35.
• d 1.164

  Tormento∣rum Ollae patue∣runt.
• e 1.165

  Concil. Gall. Tom. 3. p. 122.
• f 1.166

  Hist. Sancti Dionys. a. I. Doublet scri∣pta, pag 696.
• g 1.167

  Tom. 2. Concil. Gall. p. 630.
• h 1.168

  Chron. August.
• i 1.169

  Rodolph of Su••wbe; Herman of Salmes in Ar∣duenna.
• k 1.170

  Greg. Dial. lib. 4. c. 40.
• l 1.171

  In Vita Da∣goberti.
• m 1.172

  Cap. 32.
• n 1.173

  St. James, beheaded at Jerusalem, and afterwards (as the Spaniards pretend) carri∣ed into Galicia.
• o 1.174

  Chron. Hincmar. Epist: 50. and Flodo∣ard, lib. 3. c. 18. say, that a cer∣tain Native of Rheims, named Bernold, saw Charles the Bald, gnawn by worms, and wallowing in putrefaction: and William of Malmsbury, lib. 2. supposes, that Charles the Fat saw Lewis the Debonnaire in a Tun of seething wa∣ter; which that Manuscript Chronicle of Monsieur De Thou affirms, had been shewn to Charles the Bald, Uncle to the said Charles the Fat.
• * 1.175

  Aeneid. 6.
• * 1.176

  T. W.
• p 1.177

  Canto 5. of Hell.
• q 1.178

  Canto 34. of Orlando.
• a 1.179

  Dial. l. 4. c. 40.
• b 1.180

  Of the antient House of Meroeur.
• c 1.181

  Concil. Florent. Sess. 25.
• d 1.182

  Advers. Haeret. cap. 3.
• e 1.183

  De Purga∣tor. lib. 1. ea 9.
• a 1.184

  In Notis ad Canones Conci∣lii Eliberitani.
• b 1.185

  Hieron. Adversus Vigi∣lantium, cap. 2.
• c 1.186

  August. in Joann. Tract. 124. Illic terra sensim scatere, & quasi ebulli∣re, perhibetur.
• d 1.187

  Cedamus o∣pinioni, quam cerus documen∣tis refellere non valemas.
• e 1.188

  Haeres. 26.
• f 1.189

  Wisd. iii. 1.
• g 1.190

  Esa. lvii. 1.
• h 1.191

  Can Mi•…•….
• i 1.192

  Apoc. xiv. 13
• k 1.193

  Note, that those, who have written the R••••ane Or∣der, ass•…•…, that Pope Pelig us the Fi••st, ad∣vanced to the Chair on Sun∣day, Aug 23. 554. in∣serred the M•…•…nto into the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 which 〈◊〉〈◊〉 that, by th••••r own 〈◊〉〈◊〉 essi∣on, that part of the Service which con∣cerns the De∣parted, is new.
• a 1.194

  2 Cor. v. 10.
• b 1.195

  Apoc. xx. 13.
• c 1.196

  Dan. xii. 2. Matth. xxv. 34, &c. Joan. v. 29.
• a 1.197

  Rom. viii.
• b 1.198

  Joan. x. 28.
• c 1.199

  Esa. lvii. 1.
• d 1.200

  Phil. i. 23.
• e 1.201

  Jer. l. 20.
• f 1.202

  Apoc. xiv. 13.
• g 1.203

  Esa. lix. 2.
• h 1.204

  De Mor∣t••litate.
• i 1.205

  Catech. 18.
• k 1.206

  De bono Mortis.
• l 1.207

  In Eccles. cap. xi.
• m 1.208

  De La∣zaro, Hom. 2.
• n 1.209

  Epist. 80.
• o 1.210

  In Psalm. xxxvi.
• p 1.211

  In Eccles. xi.
• a 1.212

  Defensio Auctorit. Ec∣clesiast. lib. 1, 2.
• b 1.213

  Bibl. lib. 6. Not. 345.
• c 1.214

  De bono mortis, cap. 10.
• d 1.215

  Homil. 28. upon the E∣pistle to the Hebrews.
• e 1.216

  In Psal. 36. De Civit. Dei, lib. 12 cap. 9. Enchirid. cap. 108.
• f 1.217

  Epist. ad Severum.
• g 1.218

  Gremio se∣nis abdita San∣cti Recubabit, ubi e•••• Eleazar. &c. Pates, ecce! fidelibus ampla Via lucida jam Paradisi.
• a 1.219

  De Morta∣litate.
• b 1.220

  Advorsus Celsum, lib. 6.
• c 1.221

  In Psal. cxiv.
• d 1.222

  Haeres. 59. 10.
• e 1.223

  In Gen. Hom. 36.
• f 1.224

  De deplor. peccati.
• g 1.225

  In Matth. Hom. 70.
• h 1.226

  In 2 Co∣rinth. Hom. 16.
• i 1.227

  Hom. in 1 Thes. 4. 13.
• k 1.228

  In Hebr. Hom. 4.
• l 1.229

  Quest.
• m 1.230

  In Joann. lib. 11. pag. 1067.
• n 1.231

  Hebr. x. 20.
• o 1.232

  Luke xxiii. 46.
• p 1.233

  Phil. i. 23.
• q 1.234

  De vita contempl. lib. 1. cap. 1.
• r 1.235

  De Eccl. dogm. cap. 79.
• s 1.236

  In Apoc. xiv. 13.
• a 1.237

  Orat. 10.
• b 1.238

  In Matth. Hom. 17.
• c 1.239

  Orat. fun. Valentin.
• d 1.240

  Quaest. E∣vang. lib. 2. qu. 38.
• e 1.241

  Epist. 99.
• f 1.242

  De Gen. ad Litteram, lib. 2. cap. 13.
• g 1.243

  Hierarch. Eccles. cap. 2.
• h 1.244

  Epist. ad Venant.
• a 1.245

  Homil De Sancta Bere∣nice.
• b 1.246

  Jam. v. 13.
• c 1.247

  Psal. cxvi. 7.
• d 1.248

  In Thess. Homil. 13.
• e 1.249

  In Hebr. Homil. 4.
• f 1.250

  James v. 13.
• g 1.251

  Psal. cxvi. 7.
• h 1.252

  Psal.
• i 1.253

  Psal.
• k 1.254

  Psal. xxxii. 7.
• l 1.255

  Orat. 10.
• m 1.256

  Orat. 20.
• n 1.257

  1 Thess. iv. 18.
• o 1.258

  Epist. 27.
• p 1.259

  Luke xv. 7.
• q 1.260

  De Vita constantini, lib. 4. cap. 66.
• r 1.261

  Advers. Vigilant.
• s 1.262

  Lib. 5. cap. 36.
• t 1.263

  Confess. lib. 9. cap. 12.
• u 1.264

  Psal. ci.
• a 1.265

  Confess. lib. 9. cap. 12.
• b 1.266

  Ibid.
• c 1.267

  Nec in tis precibus, quas tibi fudimus, cum offerretur pro ea sacrifi∣cium precii nostri, jam juxta sepulchrum po∣sito cadavere, priusquam de∣poneretur, sicut illic fieri solet, nec in aliis pre∣cibus ego flevi.
• d 1.268

  Aug. Con¦fess. lib. 9. cap. 13.
• e 1.269

  Illa in Christo vivisi∣cata, &c. Sic vixit, ut laude∣tur nomen Tu∣um in side, mo∣ribúsque ejus, &c. Sepositis ejus bonis actibus, pro quibus tibi, gaudens, gratias ago, &c. Scio misericor∣diter operatam, & ex corde di∣misisse debita debitoribus suis, &c.
• f 1.270

  Apoc, xiv. 13.
• g 1.271

  Rom. xi. 29.
• h 1.272

  Rom. viii. 32, 33, 38, 39.
• i 1.273

  John x. 28.
• k 1.274

  Joh. viii. 5.
• l 1.275

  John v. 24.
• m 1.276

  1 Joh. 1. 8, 10.
• n 1.277

  Psal. cxliii. 2.
• o 1.278

  Job xlii. 3, 6.
• p 1.279

  Cant. i. 3.
• q 1.280

  1 Jo. i. 7.
• r 1.281

  Hebr. ix. 14.
• s 1.282

  In Joan. Tract. 1.
• t 1.283

  1 Pet. iv. 19.
• v 1.284

  Hebr. x. 14, 19, 20.
• x 1.285

  1 Pet. ii. 24.
• y 1.286

  Colos. ii. 14.
• z 1.287

  See the Martyrologies of May 4.
• a 1.288

  Rom. ix. 6.
• b 1.289

  Deut. vi. 13. Mat. iv. 10.
• c 1.290

  1 Joh. ii. 2.
• d 1.291

  1 Tim. ii. 5, 6.
• e 1.292

  Epist. 2.
• f 1.293

  Apud Eu∣sebium, lib. 4. cap. 15.
• g 1.294

  Advers. Faust. lib. 2. cap. 21.
• a 1.295

  De vita, lib. 3. cap. 45.
• b 1.296

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• c 1.297

  Cap. 64.
• d 1.298

  Cap. 73.
• e 1.299

  Apol. ad Constant.
• f 1.300

  Orat. 3.
• g 1.301

  Orat. 10.
• h 1.302

  Orat. 11.
• i 1.303

  Orat. 21. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• k 1.304

  Psal. xlviii. 8.
• l 1.305

  Epist. 25.
• m 1.306

  Epist. 24.
• n 1.307

  Psal. xlviii. 8.
• o 1.308

  Epist. 3.
• p 1.309

  Epist. 26.
• q 1.310

  Epist. 27.
• r 1.311

  Epist. 29.
• s 1.312

  Epist. 30.
• t 1.313

  Confess. lib. 9. cap. 3.
• u 1.314

  The Sa∣crament of his Body.
• x 1.315

  Epist. 25.
• a 1.316

  See the Book, entituled Roma Subter∣ranea.
• b 1.317

  Baronius ad. ann. D. 817. Paragr. 8.
• c 1.318

  Act. iii. 19, 21.
• d 1.319

  Sap. iv. 7.
• e 1.320

  Psa cxvi. 9.
• f 1.321

  Luc. xxiii. 42.
• g 1.322

  Ezek. xxviii. 13.
• h 1.323

  Luc. xvi. 22, 23.
• i 1.324

  Is. xxxv. li. 11.
• a 1.325

  Leg. oras.
• b 1.326

  The Fa∣thers.
• a 1.327

  That is, on the thirtieth day of July.
• b 1.328

  That is the same with the twelfth day before the Ka∣lends of Febru∣ary.
• c 1.329

  The Lord.
• a 1.330

  Heb. x. 31.
• b 1.331

  Apoc. xiv. 13.
• c 1.332

  Adrian, and Charles.
• d 1.333

  Rom. xi. 29.
• e 1.334

  De praedest. cap. 34.
• f 1.335

  Extra. de Missarum ce∣lebr. c. cum Martha.
• g 1.336

  Luc. xiv. 14.
• h 1.337

  De fide, ad Petrum, cap. 16.
• i 1.338

  Hebr. ix. 26, 28. & x. 10.
• k 1.339

  Ecclesiam.
• l 1.340

  The People of Mans.
• k 1.341

  See Thua∣nus, Hist. lib. 3.
• a 1.342

  Psa. cxxxiv. 2.
• b 1.343

  Psal. v. 2.
• c 1.344

  Psal. cxvi. 7.
• d 1.345

  2 Cor. xv. 55.
• e 1.346

  Hist. Neap. lib. 2. pag. 581.
• f 1.347

  In Psal. xcvi.
• g 1.348

  Apoc. xix. 10. & xxii. 8.
• h 1.349

  Hebr. i. 3.
• i 1.350

  Heb. ix. 26.
• k 1.351

  Hebr. x. 10. xii. 14.
• l 1.352

  Cant. vil. 11.
• m 1.353

  2 Sam. xii. 13.
• n 1.354

  Rom. xii. 12.
• o 1.355

  Psal. xliii. 1, 5.
• p 1.356

  Orat. de his, qui in Fide dormierunt.
• a 1.357

  Dial. lib. 4. cap. 40.
• b 1.358

  Hist. Angl. lib. 5. cap. 13.
• c 1.359

  1 Cor. v. 15.
• d 1.360

  De Fide, & Operibus, cap. 16.
• e 1.361

  Enchirid. cap. 69.
• f 1.362

  Lib. 21. cap. 26. See al∣so, to the same purpose, cap. 26, and 24. in Psal. 37. de Genesi, adv. Manich. lib. 2. cap. 20.
• g 1.363

  De Trin. lib. 1. cap. 8.
• h 1.364

  Lib. 3. cap. 8 & lib. 4. cap. 1.
• i 1.365

  Enchirid. 46.
• k 1.366

  Ibid. cap. 109 ad Qu. 2. Dulcitii.
• l 1.367

  De Civit. Dei, lib. 16. cap. 9.
• m 1.368

  Ad Qu. 2. Dulcitii.
• n 1.369

  In Joann. Tract. 49.
• o 1.370

  Tract. 10.
• a 1.371

  Paul. Sent: lib. 2. Tit. 22. Cod. Theod. lib. 9. Tit. 17. cap. 6.
• b 1.372

  Ephes. ii. 19.
• c 1.373

  Rom. xii. 5.
• d 1.374

  2 Tim. iv. 7.
• e 1.375

  Hebr. iii. 6.
• f 1.376

  Apoc. vi. 9.
• g 1.377

  Cod. Theod. lib. 9. Tit. 57. cap. 7.
• h 1.378

  In the year 398. St. Au∣gustine, in his Book of the Work of Monks, (ca. 28.) com∣plains of cer∣tain Wandering Persons, who boasted, that they had in their possessi∣on Martyrs, ei∣ther Entire, or in Pieces. In the year 440. Theodoret, (De curandis Graeco∣rum affectibus, lib. 9.) makes it his boast, that every one strived to have some part thereof. And, in the year 587. Gregory of Tours (lib. 9. cap. 6.) speaks of the notorious Impostour, who bragged, that he had a whole Bag-full of Reliques.
• i 1.379

  Append. Inscript Antiq. pag. 1172. n. 11. & apud Baron. A. D. 384 Sect. 35.
• k 1.380

  Esa. xiv. 9.
• a 1.381

  2 Kings xiii. 21.
• b 1.382

  Jo. i. 29.
• c 1.383

  1 Cor. i. 30.
• d 1.384

  Hebr. i. 3.
• e 1.385

  1 Jo. i. 7.
• a 1.386

  Paulinus, mentioned in the precedent Chapter.
• b 1.387

  Cap. 2. ex lib. 1. De Civit. Dei, cap. 12.
• c 1.388

  Cap. 3.
• d 1.389

  Cap. 4, 5.
• e 1.390

  Cap. 10.
• f 1.391

  Cap. 11.
• g 1.392

  Cap. 12.
• h 1.393

  Cap. 13.
• i 1.394

  Cap. 15.
• k 1.395

  Cap. 18.
• l 1.396

  Cap. 18.
• m 1.397

  De his op∣timā solutionem, vel definitionē, sensus brevita∣te, non valentes attingere.
• a 1.398

  Conc. Trid. Sess. 6. cap. 13, & 14.
• b 1.399

  Acts iv. 12.
• a 1.400

  Vasquez, disp. 50. capp. 4, 5.
• b 1.401

  De Gratia Christi, c. 49.
• a 1.402

  See chapp. 24, 25, 31.
• b 1.403

  Or twenty second, ac∣cording to the Greeks and Latines.
• c 1.404

  Or XLI. according to the Greeks.
• d 1.405

  In illo tem∣pore dixit Jesus Discipulis.
• e 1.406

  There is read the Text of Saint John with the addi∣tion of these three words, In diebus illis, which are not in his Text.
• f 1.407

  At the be∣ginning of the fifty third Verse, these words, though not of the Text, are put in, In illo tem∣pore dixit Jesus, Discipulis suis.
• g 1.408

  In illo tem∣pore dixit Jesus Discipulis suis.
• i 1.409

  Job, Chap. vii. 16.
• k 1.410

  Verse 19.
• l 1.411

  Verse 21.
• m 1.412

  Cap x. 1.
• n 1.413

  Verse 9.
• o 1.414

  Verse 11.
• p 1.415

  Cap. xiii. 28.
• q 1.416

  Cap. xiv. 1.
• r 1.417

  Verse. 14.
• s 1.418

  Cap. xvii. 1.
• t 1.419

  Cap. xix•• 20.
• u 1.420

  Cap. x. 20.
• x 1.421

  Job 33, 34, 35, 38.
• y 1.422

  xlii. 3, 6.
• z 1.423

  Job 8. 3. Numquid bonum tibi videtur, si calu•…•… is m••, & opprimas me, opus manuum tuarum, •…•…consi∣lium impiorum adjuves?
• a 1.424

  Non pecca∣vi & amaritu∣dinibus moratur oculus ••eus
• b 1.425

  Bellarm. De Pargat. lib. 2. cap. 2.
• a 1.426

  Prayers for Remission of the sins of the Deceased.
• b 1.427

  Apoc. xiv. 13.
• c 1.428

  Luc. xvi. 22.
• d 1.429

  Prayers for the Absolu∣tion of the departed at the day of Judg∣ment.
• e 1.430

  Psal. cxliii. 2.
• f 1.431

  Joel iii. 16.
• g 1.432

  Job vii. 7, 8.
• h 1.433

  Psal. cxxx. 〈◊〉〈◊〉.
• i 1.434

  Psal. xxvii. 7.
• k 1.435

  Psal. vi. 3.
• l 1.436

  Psal. cxix. 33.
• m 1.437

  Psal. xxvii. 11.
• n 1.438

  Psal. xxvii. 12, 13.
• o 1.439

  Eccl. xli. 7.
• p 1.440

  Psal.
• q 1.441

  Psal.
• r 1.442

  Psal. li. 1, 2.
• s 1.443

  Psal. xlii. 2.
• t 1.444

  Psal. lxxiv. 19.
• u 1.445

  Psal. cvii. 16.
• x 1.446

  Epist. xxxiv. xxxvii.
• y 1.447

  Confes. lib. ix. c. 13.
• z 1.448

  Lib. 2. Epist. 8.
• a 1.449

  Verum for∣te asseras cer∣tum te de meri∣tis ejus, de fide.
• b 1.450

  In Canone, Qui••ibi afferunt hoc Sacrifici¦um Laudis, &c. placatus accipias, &c. Praestae, ut hoc Sacrificium Laudis, quod oculis Majesta∣tis tuae indignus obtuli, &c. pro anima famuli tui, pro qua of∣ferimus hoc Sa∣crificium Lau∣dis, &c. pro quibus tibi of∣ferimus hoc Sacrificium Laudis.
• c 1.451

  Heb. ix. 14.
• d 1.452

  Pet. iii. 21.
• e 1.453

  Prayers desiring the De∣ceased may be received into Bliss.
• f 1.454

  1 Cor. ii. 9.
• g 1.455

  Epiphan.
• h 1.456

  Rom. xi. 29.
• i 1.457

  Matth. vi. 11.
• k 1.458

  Jam. i. 17.
• l 1.459

  Heb. xiii. 8.
• m 1.460

  Isa. lix. 16.
• n 1.461

  Joh. xvii. 5.
• o 1.462

  Augustine.
• p 1.463

  I think it should be com∣mendandos.
• q 1.464

  Apoc. xxi. 27.
• r 1.465

  Isa. xlvi. 10.
• s 1.466

  2 Tim. ii. 13.
• t 1.467

  Luc. xiv. 14.
• u 1.468

  Matth. vi. 10.
• x 1.469

  Rom. viii. 19, &c.
• y 1.470

  Apoc. vi. 10.
• z 1.471

  Acts xiii. 36.
• a 1.472

  2 Tim. iv. 7.
• b 1.473

  2 Tim. i. 18.
• c 1.474

  2 Thess. i. 10.
• d 1.475

  Rom. viii. 24.
• e 1.476

  Viz. that of the Agony.
• a 1.477

  Brother John of Con∣stantinople, a Franciscan, Poenitentiary to Gregory the Tenth.
• a 1.478

  Eberardi Ratisbonensis Chron.
• b 1.479

  Lib. 5.
• c 1.480

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• d 1.481

  Note, that the Pope direct∣ly contrary to what is practi∣sed at this day, draws the Greeks to the Tribunal of the Scriptures.
• e 1.482

  The Latines were the great∣er number, by three to one.
• f 1.483

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• g 1.484

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• h 1.485

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• i 1.486

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• k 1.487

  The La∣tines were in number 116.
• l 1.488

  The Greeks 30.
• m 1.489

  Chap. 29.
• n 1.490

  It was printed at Hei∣delberg, under the name of Ni∣lus, in the year, 1608.
• o 1.491

  〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, &c.
• p 1.492

  Chap. 19.
• q 1.493

  In the Eu∣chologie print∣ed at Paris, in the year 1647. whereof there are six; to wit, the common Form, from pag. 126. to p. 539. That of Monks, from p. 544. to p. 547. That of Priests, p. 561. That of Secu∣lars, p. 583. That of wo∣men, p. 588. That of Chil∣dren, p. 592.
• r 1.494

  August. De vera Religione, cap. 55.
• s 1.495

  Haeres. 79. Sect. 4•• &c.
• t 1.496

  Eucholog. Pag. 531.
• u 1.497

  Pag. 538.
• w 1.498

  Pag. 554.
• x 1.499

  Pag. 555.
• y 1.500

  Pag. 563••
• z 1.501

  Pag. 573.
• a 1.502

  Pag. 574.
• b 1.503

  Euchol. Pag. 537.
• c 1.504

  Pag. 570.
• d 1.505

  Pag. 565.
• e 1.506

  Pag. 535, 536, 537, 575.
• f 1.507

  Psal. xc. 12.
• g 1.508

  Pag 575.
• h 1.509

  2 Cor. v. 8.
• i 1.510

  Psal. xvi. 11.
• k 1.511

  Hebr. xii. 22, 23.
• l 1.512

  Psal. cxxiv. 8.
• m 1.513

  Page 570.
• n 1.514

  Euchol. page 573.
• o 1.515

  Page 556.
• p 1.516

  Jo. 11. 25.
• q 1.517

  Pag. 573.
• r 1.518

  Pag. 530.
• s 1.519

  Pag. 539.
• t 1.520

  Pag. 558.
• u 1.521

  Pag. 567.
• x 1.522

  Pag. 568.
• y 1.523

  Pag. 571.
• y 1.524

  Pag. 575.
• z 1.525

  Pag. 584.
• * 1.526

  Pag. 586.
• a 1.527

  Hebr. x. 14, 29.
• b 1.528

  Apoc. xiv. 13.
• c 1.529

  Joh. v. 24.
• d 1.530

  2 Cor v. 8.
• e 1.531

  Joh. iii. 18.
• f 1.532

  Chrysost. in Matth. Homil. 70.
• g 1.533

  Ad Hebr. Hom. 4.
• h 1.534

  In Matth. Hom. 33.
• i 1.535

  In Gen. Hom. 36.
• k 1.536

  Epiph. Haer. 59.
• l 1.537

  Pag. 569.
• m 1.538

  Pag. 737.
• n 1.539

  Pag. 738.
• o 1.540

  Pag. 739.
• p 1.541

  Pag. 740.
• q 1.542

  Ephes. ii. 14.
• r 1.543

  1 Cor. i. 30.
• s 1.544

  1 Joh. i. 7, 9.
• t 1.545

  Heb. vii. 25.
• u 1.546

  Joh. x. 28.
• w 1.547

  1 Joh. v. 8.
• x 1.548

  Esa. lvii. 1.
• y 1.549

  2 Cor. v. 8. Phil. i. 23.
• z 1.550

  Ephes. ii. 19.
• a 1.551

  Heb. iv. 16.
• b 1.552

  Ephes. ii. 18.
• c 1.553

  Heb. i. 14.
• d 1.554

  Luc. xvi. 29, 31.
• a 1.555

  Ad Art. 37. Aliquandiu Purgatorium incognitum.
• b 1.556

  Demonst. ••••r se quidem non demonstrāt, &c. aliam apud nonnullos Pa∣tres accipiunt interpretatio∣nem.
• c 1.557

  Esa. 9. 5.
• d 1.558

  Ephes. 4. 9.
• e 1.559

  1 Cor. 9. 22.
• f 1.560

  Malac. 4. 2.
• g 1.561

  2 Cor: 13. 8.
• h 1.562

  Epist. 73.
• i 1.563

  Jam. 1. 17.
• k 1.564

  Psal. 4. 6.
• l 1.565

  Psal. 19. 12, 14.