A new history of ecclesiastical writers containing an account of the authors of the several books of the Old and New Testament, of the lives and writings of the primitive fathers, an abridgement and catalogue of their works ... also a compendious history of the councils, with chronological tables of the whole / written in French by Lewis Ellies du Pin.

PROCLUS.

PROCLUS was yet very young when he was made a Reader of the Church of Con∣stantinople. The Ecclesiastical Offices did not hinder him from following his Studies, and * 1.1 especially applying himself to Rhetorick. He was afterward Secretary to Atticus Bishop of Constantinople, by whom he was ordained both Deacon and Priest. After whose Death some pitched upon him to succeed him, but the Votes of the People were for Sisinnius, who or∣dained Proclus Bishop of Cyzicum. The Inhabitants of that City not being willing to accept of him, because they would not so apparently acknowledge the Jurisdiction of the Bishop of Constantinople, he was forced to continue at Constantinople, where he got a great reputation by his Preaching. After the death of Sisinnius, he had again many Votes for him. But to ap∣pease the Heats which were among the Clergy of Constantinople, it was resolved to choose Nestorius a Priest of Antioch. After his Deposition, Proclus was propounded a third time to be Bishop of Constantinople, and he had been elected, if some Persons of great credit had not represented it as contrary to the Canons, which forbid the Translations of Bishops. Where∣fore he was rejected that time also, and Maximian was chosen; but at last he arrived at that Dignity, to which he had been designed so many times, and was ordained Bishop of Con∣stantinople after the death of Maximian, Anno 434. in the Month of April. He enjoyed that See peaceably to his death, which happened in 446.

The Sermons of this Author have been published at Rome, by Vincent Riccard in Greek and Latin, in 1630. and were inserted by F. Combefis in the first Tome of his Auctuarium to the Biblioth. Patrum, [at Paris in 1648.]

There are 20 of them, The 1st, 5th, 6th. are upon the Virgin Mary. In it he extolls almost only her Title of the Mother of God. The 2d. and 3d. are upon the Incarnation. The 4th. is upon the Nativity of Jesus Christ: This is near akin to the 2d. Sermon of Theo∣dotus Bishop of Ancyra. The 7th. is upon the Theophany, or the Baptism of Jesus Christ, which is in the Acts of the Council of Ephesus. The 8th. upon the Transfiguration of our Saviour. The 9th. upon the Feast of Tabernacles. The 10th, upon Holy Thursday, and against Covetousness. The 11th. upon the Passion. The 12th. upon the Resurrection. The

13th. 14th, and 15th. upon the Passover. The 16th. upon Pentecost. The 17th. upon S. Steven the Protomartyr. The 18th. is a Panegyrick upon S. Paul. The 19th. is on S. Andrew. The last, is a Latin Fragment of a Sermon in the Praise of S. Chryso∣stom.

These Sermons are written in a concise and sententious Style, full of Antitheses, Interro∣gations, Exclamations and Points. The Notions are studied and subtle, but are of little Use and Instruction. He speaks the same thing an hundred several ways, and gives it abundance of different turns. This sort of composure requires a great deal of Labour and Application, and manifests the Wit and Liveliness of the Speaker. But it is of little use to the Auditors; it diverts them, and sometimes delights them, so long as they hear this studied Discourse, but ordinarily they go away from it, neither more knowing nor better affected; and they are scarce gone, but they forget all that has been said to them; for these pleasant ways of speak∣ing, which delight us only for the Curiousness and Delicacy, make not any impression upon the Mind nor Heart, and leave nothing behind them but a general Reminiscence, that they were much pleased with what they heard, but know not why. This is a true Character of Proclus's Sermons, who was mighty successful in this kind. By this he shews what he could have done, if he had made choice of a better Style, or had had the good luck to have lived in a time when Men had better Judgments.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Proclus.