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secution. The learned and eloquent, the doctors and ministers, and chiefly the rich, for the confiscation of whose fortunes the rapacious magistrates were perpetually gaping, were the persons most exposed to the dangers of the

times.

cilable with chronology. The death of Nero. who perished miserably in the year 68, put an end to the calamities of this first persecution, under which, during the space of four years, the Christians suffered every sort of torment and affliction, which the ingenious cruelty of their enemies could invent.

XII. The actions and sayings of these holy martyrs, from the moment of their imprison- XIV. Learned men are not entirely agreed ment to their last gasp, were carefully recorded, with regard to the extent of this persecution in order to be read on certain days, and thus under Nero. Some confine it to the city of proposed as models to future ages. Few, Rome, while others represent it as having however, of these ancient acts have reached raged through the whole empire. The latter our times; the greatest part of them having opinion, which is also the more ancient,† is been destroyed during that dreadful persecu- undoubtedly to be preferred, as it is certain, tion which Diocletian carried on ten years that the laws enacted against the Christians with such fury against the Christians: for a were enacted against the whole body, and not most diligent search was then made after all against particular churches, and were consetheir books and papers; and all of them that quently in force in the remotest provinces. were found were committed to the flames. The authority of Tertullian confirms this, From the eighth century downwards, several who tells us, that Nero and Domitian had enGreek and Latin writers endeavoured to make acted laws against the Christians, of which up this loss, by compiling, with vast labour, Trajan had, in part, taken away the force, and accounts of the lives and actions of the an- rendered them, in some measure, without efcient martyrs. But most of them have given fect. We shall not have recourse for a conus scarcely any thing more than a series of firmation of this opinion, to that famous Porfables, adorned with a profusion of rhetorical tuguese or Spanish inscription, in which Nero flowers and striking images, as the wiser, even is praised for having purged that province from among the Romish doctors, frankly acknow- the new superstition; since that inscription is ledge. Nor are those records, which pass un-justly suspected to be a mere forgery, and the der the name of martyrology, worthy of superior credit, since they bear the most evident marks both of ignorance and falsehood; so that, upon the whole, this part of ecclesiastical history, for want of ancient and authentic monuments, is extremely imperfect, and necessarily attended with much obscurity.

best Spanish authors consider it as such.§ We may, however, make one observation, which will tend to illustrate the point in question, namely, that since the Christians were condemned by Nero, not so much on account of their religion, as for the falsely-imputed crime of burning the city, it is scarcely to be imXIII. It would have been surprising, if, un-agined, that he would leave unmolested, even der such a monster of cruelty as Nero, the beyond the bounds of Rome, a sect whose Christians had enjoyed the sweets of tranquil-members were accused of such an abominable lity and freedom. This, indeed, was far from being the case; for the perfidious tyrant accused them of having set fire to the city of Rome, that horrid crime which he himself had committed with a barbarous pleasure. In avenging this crime upon the innocent Christians, he ordered matters so, that the punishment should bear some resemblance to the offence. He therefore wrapped up some of them in combustible garments, and ordered fire to be set to them when the darkness came

deed.

XV. Though, immediately after the deati of Nero, the rage of this first persecutior. against the Christians ceased, yet the flame broke out anew in the year 93 or 94, under Domitian, a prince little inferior to Nero in

See Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, tom. i. p. 504.-Baratier, de Successione Romanor. Pontif. cap. v.

This opinion was first defended by Franc. Balduin, in his Coun. ad Edicta Imperatorum in Christianos. After him Launoy maintained the same opinion in his Dissert. qu4 Sulpitii Severi locus de prima Martyrum Galliæ Epocha vindicatur, sect. i. p. 139, 140; tom. ii. part i. ope. This opinion is still more acutely and learnedly defended by Dodwell, in the xith of his Dissertationes Cyprianicæ.

Apologet cap. iv.

on, that thus, like torches, they might dispel the obscurity of the night: while others were fastened to crosses, or torn to pieces by wild beasts, or put to death in some such dreadful manner. This horrid persecution was set on foot in the month of November,† in the 64th This celebrated inscription is published by the learnyear of Christ: and in it, according to some ed Gruter in the first volume of his Inscriptions. It ancient accounts, St. Paul and St. Peter suf-must, however, be observed, that the best Spanish writers do not venture to defend the genuineness and au fered martyrdom, though the latter assertion is thority of this inscription, as it was never seen by any contested by many, as being absolutely irrecon- of them, and was first produced by Cyriac of Ancona, a person universally known to be utterly unworthy of the * Such of those acts as are worthy of credit have been least credit. We shall add here the judgment which the collected by the learned Ruinart, into one volume in excellent historian of Spain, Jo. de Ferreras, has given folio, of a moderate size, entitled, Selecta et sincera Mar- of this inscription; "Je ne puis m'empecher (says he) tyrum Acta, Amstelod. 1713. The hypothesis of Dod- d'observer que Cyriac d'Ancone fut le premier qui putwell is amply refuted in the author's preface. lia cette inscription, et que c'est de lui que les autres l'out tiree; mais comme la foi de cet ecrivain est suspecte au Al-jugement de tous les scavans, que d'ailleurs, il n'y a u. vestige ni souvenir de cette inscription dans les places ou l'on dit qu'elle s'est trouvee, et qu'on ne scait ou la prendre a present, chacun peut en porter le jugement qu'il voudra."

See for a farther illustration of this point of chronology, two French Dissertations of the very learned phonse de Vignoles, concerning the cause and the commencement of the persecution under Nero, which are printed in Masson's Histoire critique de la Republique des Lettres, tom. viii. p. 74-117; tom. ix. p. 172-186. See also Toinard ad Lactantium de Mortibus Persequut

398

See Theod. Ruinart, Præf. ad Acta Martyrum sun cera et selecta, f. 31, &c.

wickedness. This persecution was occasioned,
if we may give credit to Hegesippus, by Do-
mitian's fear of losing the empire;f for he had
been informed, that, among the relatives of
Christ, a man should arise, who, possessing a
turbulent and ambitious spirit, was to excite
commotions in the state, and aim at supreme
dominion. However that may have been, the
persecution renewed by this unworthy prince
was extremely violent, though his untimely
death soon put a stop to it. Flavius Clemens,

Præf. ad Acta Martyrum, &c. f. 33-Thom. Ittigii
Select. Histor. Eccl. Capit. sæc. i. cap. vi. sect. 11.
Euseb. Hist. Eccl. lib. iii. cap. xix. xx.

a man of consular dignity, and Flavia Domitilla, his niece, or, as some say, his wife, were the principal martyrs that suffered in this persecution, in which also the apostle John was banished to the isle of Patmos. Tertullian and other writers inform us, that, before his banishment, he was thrown into a caldron of boiling oil, from which he came forth, not only living, but even unhurt. This story, however, is not attested in such a manner as to preclude all doubt.*

* See Mosheim's Syntagma Dissert. ad Historiam Eccles. pertinentium, p. 497-546.

PART II.

THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.
CHAPTER I.

Concerning an Account of the State of Learning
and Philosophy.

I. If we had any certain or satisfactory account of the doctrines which were received among the wiser of the eastern nations, when the light of the Gospel first rose upon the world, this would contribute to illustrate many important points in the ancient history of the church. But the case is quite otherwise: the fragments of the ancient oriental philosophy that have come down to us, are, as every one knows, few in number, and, such as they are, they yet require the diligence, erudition, and sagacity of some learned man, to collect them into a body, arrange them with method, and explain them with perspicuity.*

III. From the earliest times, the Indians knowledge and wisdom. We might, perhaps, were distinguished by their taste for sublime be able to form a judgment of their philosophical tenets, if that most ancient book, which they deemed particularly sacred, and which they called veda, or the law, should be brought to light, and translated into some known language. But the accounts which are given of this remarkable book, by those who have been in the Indies, are so various and irreconcilable with each other, that we must yet wait for satisfaction on this head. As to the Egyptians, they were divided, as every one knows, into a multitude of sects and opinions.† Fruitless, therefore, are the labours of those who endeavour to reduce the philosophy of this people to one system.

II. The doctrine of the magi, who believed IV. But of all the systems of philosophy the universe to be governed by two principles, that were received in Asia and Africa about the one good, and the other evil, flourished in the time of our Saviour, no one was so detriPersia. Their followers, however, did not all mental to the Christian religion, as that which agree with respect to the nature of these prin- was styled gnosis, or science, i. e. the way to ciples; but this did not prevent the propaga- the true knowledge of the Deity, and which tion of the main doctrine, which was received we have above called the oriental doctrine, in throughout a considerable part of Asia and order to distinguish it from the Grecian phiAfrica, especially among the Chaldeans, As-losophy. It was from the bosom of this pre syrians, Syrians, and Egyptians, though with different modifications, and had even infected the Jews themselves. The Arabians at that time, and even afterwards, were more remarkable for strength and courage, than for genius and sagacity; nor do they seem, according to their own confession, to have acquired any great reputation for wisdom and philosophy before the time of Mohammed.

The history of the oriental philosophy by Mr. Stanly, though it is not void of all kind of merit, is yet extremely defective. That learned author is so far from having exhausted his subject, that he has left it, on the contrary, in many places, wholly untouched. The history of philosophy, published in Germany by the very learned Mr. Brucker, is vastly preferable to Mr. Stanley's work; and the German author, indeed, much superior to the English one, both in point of genius and of erudition.

tended oriental wisdom, that the chiefs of those sects, which, in the three first centuries perplexed and afflicted the Christian church originally issued. These supercilious doctors, endeavouring to accommodate to the tenets of their fantastic philosophy, the pure, simple, and sublime doctrines of the Son of God, brought forth, as the result of this jarring composition, a multitude of idle dreams and fictions, and imposed upon their followers a system of opinions which were partly ludicrous and partly perplexed with intricate subtilties, and covered with impenetrable obscuri ty.

The ancient doctors, both Greek and

Some parts of the Veda have been published; or, it may rather be said that pretended portions of it have apSee Hyde's History of the Religion of the Ancient peared; but, whatever may be alleged by oriental enPersians, a work full of erudition, but indigested and in-thusiasts, these Brahminical remains do not evince the .erspersed with conjectures of the most improbable kind."sublime knowledge or wisdom" which many writers See Wolf's Manichæismus ante Manichæos. attribute to the ancient inhabitants of Irdia.-Edit.

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Latin, who opposed these sects, considered them as so many branches that derived their origin from the Platcnic philosophy. But this was mere illusion. An apparent resemblance between certain opinions of Plato, and some of the tenets of the eastern schools, deceived these good men, who had no knowledge but of the Grecian philosophy, and were absolutely ignorant of the oriental doctrines. Whoever compares the Platonic with the Gnostic philosophy, will easily perceive the wide difference that exists between them.

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verse. Others maintained, that the being which presided over matter was not an eternal principle, but a subordinate intelligence, one of those whom the Supreme God produced from himself. They supposed that this being was moved by a sudden impulse to reduce to order the rude mass of matter which lay excluded from the mansions of the Deity, and also to create the human race. A third sort devised a system different from the two preceding, and formed to themselves the notion of a triumvirate of beings, in which the Supreme Deity was distinguished both from the mate rial evil principle, and from the creator of this sublunary world. These, then, were the three leading sects of the oriental philosophy, which were subdivided into various factions, by the disputes that arose when they came to explain more fully their respective opinions, and to pursue them into all their monstrous consequences. These multiplied divisions were the natural and necessary consequences of a systen which had no solid foundation, and was nc more, indeed, than an airy phantom, blown up by the wanton fancies of self-sufficient men. And that these divisions did really subsist, the history of the Christian sects that embraced this philosophy abundantly testifies.

V. The first principles of the oriental philosophy seem to be perfectly consistent with the dictates of reason; for its founder must undoubtedly have argued in the following man"There are many evils in this world, and men seem impelled by a natural instinct to the practice of those things which reason condemns; but that eternal mind, from which all spirits derive their existence, must be inaccessible to all kinds of evil, and also of a most perfect and beneficent nature; therefore the origin of those evils, with which the universe abounds, must be sought somewhere else than in the Deity. It cannot reside in him who is all perfection; and therefore it must be without him. Now, there is nothing without or beyond the Deity, but matter; therefore matter is the VII. It is, however, to be observed, that, as centre and source of all evil, of all vice." all these sects were founded upon one common Having taken for granted these principles, they principle, their divisions did not prevent their proceeded to affirm that matter was eternal, holding, in common, certain opinions concernand derived its present form, not from the willing the Deity, the universe, the human race, of the Supreme God, but from the creating and several other subjects. They were all, power of some inferior intelligence, to whom therefore, unanimous in acknowledging the exthe world and its inhabitants owed their exist- istence of a high and eternal nature, in whom ence. As a proof of this assertion they alleg- dwelt the fulness of wisdom, goodness, and all ed, that it was incredible, that the Supreme other perfections, and of whom no mortal was Deity, perfectly good, and infinitely removed able to form a complete idea. This great befrom all evil, should either create or modify ing was considered by them as a most pure and matter, which is essentially malignant and cor- radiant light, diffused through the immensity rupt, or bestow upon it, in any degree, the of space, which they called pleroma, a Greek riches of his wisdom and liberality. They word that signifies fulness; and they taught the were, however, aware of the insuperable dif- following particulars concerning him, and his ficulties that lay against their system; for, when operations: "The eternal nature, infinitely perthey were called to explain in an accurate and fect, and infinitely happy, having dwelt from satisfactory manner, how this rude and corrupt everlasting in a profound solitude, and in a matter came to be arranged into such a regu- blessed tranquillity, produced, at length, from lar and harmonious frame as that of the uni- itself, two minds of a different sex, which reverse, and, particularly, how celestial spirits sembled their supreme parent in the most per were joined to bodies formed out of its malig-fect manner. From the prolific union of these nant mass, they were sadly embarrassed, and two beings others arose, which were also folfound, that the plainest dictates of reason de-lowed by different generations; so that, in proclared their system incapable of defence. In this perplexity they had recourse to wild fictions and romantic fables, in order to give an account of the formation of the world and the origin of mankind.

VI. Those who, by mere dint of fancy and invention, endeavour to cast a light upon obscure points, or to solve great and intricate difficulties, are seldom agreed about the methods of proceeding; and, by a necessary consequence, separate into different sects. Such was the case of the oriental philosophers, when they set themselves to explain the difficulties mentioned above. Some imagined two eternal principles from which all things proceeded, one presiding over light and the other over matter; and, by their perpetual conflict, explained the mixture of good and evil, apparent in the uni

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cess of time, a celestial family was formed in the pleroma.* This divine progeny, being immutable in its nature, and above the power of mortality, was called by the philosophers con,Ӡ

*It appears highly probable that the apostle Paul had an eye to this fantastic mythology, when, in his First Epistle to Timothy, he exhorts him not to "give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions," &c.,

The word alwv, or con, is commonly used by the Greek writers, but in different senses. Its signification in the Gnostic system is not very evident, and several learned men have despaired of finding out its true meaning. Awv, or con, among the ancients, was used to signify the age of man, or the duration of human life. In after-times, it was employed by philosophers to express the duration of spiritual and invisible beings. These philosophers used the word zpovos, as the measure of corposuch as were immutable and eternal; and, as God is the real and changing objects; and, as the measure of chief of those immutable beings which are spiritual and

a term which signifies, in the Greek language, Supreme Being, resists the influence of those an eternal nature. How many in number solemn invitations by which he exhorts man these aons were, was a point much controvert-kind to return to him, and labours to efface the ed among the oriental sages. knowledge of God in the minds of intelligent beings. In this conflict, sach souls as, throwing off the yoke of the creators and rulers of this world, rise to their Supreme Parent, and subdue the turbulent and sinful motions which corrupt matter excites within them, shall, at the

VIII. Beyond the mansions of light, where dwells the Deity with his celestial offspring, there lies a rude and unwieldy mass of matter, agitated by innate, turbulent, and irregular motions. One of the celestial natures descending from the pleroma, either by a fortui-dissolution of their mortal bodies, ascend ditous impulse, or in consequence of a divine commission, reduced to order this unseemly mass, adorned it with a rich variety of gifts, created men, and inferior animals of different kinds, to store it with inhabitants, and corrected its malignity by mixing with it a certain portion of light, and also of a matter celestial and divine. This creator of the world is distinguished from the Supreme Deity by the name of demiurge. His character is a compound of shining qualities and insupportable arrogance; and his excessive lust of empire effaces his talents and his virtues. He claims dominion over the new world which he has formed, as his sovereign right; and, excluding totally the Supreme Deity from all concern in it, he demands from mankind, for himself and his associates, divine honours."

rectly to the pleroma. Those, on the contrary, who remain in the bondage of servile superstition and corrupt matter, shall, at the end of this life, pass into new bodies, until they awake from their sinful lethargy. In the end, how ever, God shall come forth victorious, triumph over all opposition, and, having delivered from their servitude the greatest part of those souls that are imprisoned in mortal bodies, shall dissolve the frame of this visible world, and involve it in a general ruin. After this solemn period, primitive tranquillity shall be restored in the universe, and God shall reign with happy spirits, in undisturbed felicity, through everlasting ages."

X. Such were the principal tenets of the oriental philosophy. The state of letters and of philosophy among the Jews comes next unIX. "Man is a compound of a terrestrial der consideration; and of this we may form and corrupt body, and a soul which is of celes- some idea from what has been already said con tial origin, and, in some measure, an emana-cerning that nation. It is chiefly to be observ tion from the divinity. This nobler part ised, that the dark and hidden science whici. miserably weighed down and encumbered by the body, which is the seat of all irregular lusts and impure desires. It is this body that Jeduces the soul from the pursuit of truth, and not only turns it from the contemplation and worship of God, so as to confine its homage and veneration to the creator of this world, but also attaches it to terrestrial objects, and to the immoderate pursuit of sensual pleasures, by which its nature is totally polluted. The sovereign mind employs various means to deliver his offspring from this deplorable servitude, especially the ministry of divine messengers, whom he sends to enlighten, to admonish, and to reform the human race. In the meantime, the imperious deniurge exerts his power in opposition to the merciful purpose of the

they called the kabbala, was at this time taught and inculcated by many among that superstitious people.* This science, in many points, bears a strong resemblance to the oriental philosophy; or, to speak more accurately, it is indeed that same philosophy accommodated to the Jewish religion, and tempered with a certain mixture of truth. Nor were the doctrines of the Grecian sages unknown to the Jews at the period now before us; since, from the time of Alexander the Great, some of them had been admitted, even into the Mosaic religion. We shall say nothing concerning the opinions which they adopted from the philosophical and theological systems of the Chaldeans, Egyptians, and Syrians.†

XI. The Greeks, in the opinion of most writers, were yet in possession of the first rank among the nations that cultivated letters and philosophy. In many places, and especially at Athens, there were a considerable number of men distinguished by their learning, acuteness, and eloquence; philosophers of all sects, who taught the doctrines of Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and Epicurus; rhetoricians also, and men of genius, who instructed the youth in the rules of eloquence, and formed their taste for the liberal arts; so that those who had a passion for the study of oratory, resorted in multitudes to the Grecian schools, in order to perfect themselves in that noble science. Alexandria, in Egypt, was also much frequented for the same purpose, as a great number of the Grecian phi

consequently, not to be perceived by our outward senses, his infinite and eternal duration was expressed by the term con; and that is the sense in which this word is now commonly understood. It was, however, afterwards attributed to other spiritual and invisible beings; and the oriental philosophers, who lived about the time of Christ's appearance upon earth, and made use of the Greek language, understood by it the duration of eternal and immutable things, or the period of time in which they exist. Nor did the variations, through which this word passed, end here; from expressing only the duration of beings, it was, by a metonymy, employed to signify the beings themselves. Thus God was called on, and the angels were distinguished also by the title of cons. All this will lead us to the true meaning of that word among the Gnostics. They had formed to themselves the notion of an invisible and spiritual world, composed of entities or virtues, proeeding from the Supreme Being, and succeeding each ther at certain intervals of time, so as to form an eternal thain, of which our world was the terminating link; a notion of eternity very different from that of the Platon-losophers and rhetoricians dwelt in that city, ists, who represented it as stable, permanent, and void of succession. To the beings that formed this eternal chain, the Gnostics assigned a ce tain term of duration, and a certain sphere of action. Their terms of duration were first called cons, and they themselves were afterwards Betonvinically distinguished by that title.

* See Jo. Franc. Buddei Introductio in Historiam Philos. Hebræorum; and also the works which B. Wolf mentions, with encomiums, in his Bibliotheca Hebraica tom. iii.

† See the same publications.

XII. The Romans also, at this time, made a || ing the Jews and Gentiles to the truth, should shining figure among the polished and learned erect, every where, Christian assemblies; and nations. All the sciences flourished at Rome. then, to establish ordinary ministers, and inThe youth of a higher rank were early instruct- terpreters of the divine will, who should repeat ed in the Greek language and eloquence. From and enforce the doctrines delivered by the r those pursuits they proceeded to the study of mer, and maintain the people in their holy prophilosophy, and the laws of their country; and fession, and in the practice of the Christian they finished their education by a voyage into virtues; for the best system of religion must Greece, where they not only gave the last de- necessarily either dwindle to nothing, or bo gree of perfection to their philosophical studies, egregiously corrupted, if it be not perpetually but also acquired that refined wit and elegance inculcated and explained by a regular and of taste, which served to set off their more standing ministry. solid attainments in the most advantageous manner.* None of the philosophical sects were more in vogue among the Romans than the Epicureans and the Academics, which were peculiarly favoured by the great, who, soothed by their doctrines into a false security, indulged their passions without remorse, and continued in their vicious pursuits without terror. During the reign of Augustus, the culture of polite learning, and of the fine arts, was holden in great honour, and those who contributed with zeal and success to this, were eminently distinguished by that prince. But after his death, learning languished without encouragement, and was neglected, because the succeeding emperors were more intent upon the arts of war and rapine, than those more amiable arts and inventions which are the fruits of leisure and peace.

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II. The extraordinary teachers whom Christ employed to lay the foundations of his everlasting kingdom, were the twelve apostles, and the seventy disciples, of whom mention has been made above. To these the Evangelists are to be added, by which title those were distinguished whom the apostles sent to instruct the nations, or who, of their own accord, abandoned every worldly attachment, and consecrated themselves to the sacred office of propagating the Gospel. In this rank, also, we must place those to whom,. in the infancy of the church, the marvellous power of speaking in foreign languages which they had never learned, was communicated from above; for the person to whom the divine omnipotence and liberality had imparted the gift of tongues, might conclude, with the utmost assurance, from the gift itself, (which a wise being would not bestow in vain,) that he was appointed by God to propagate the truth, and employ his talents in the service of Christianity.t

XIII. With respect to the other nations, such as the Germans, Celts, and Britons, it is certain, that they were not destitute of learned and ingenious men. Among the Gauls, the III. Many have undertaken to write the hispeople of Marseilles had long acquired a shi- tory of the apostles; a history which we find ning reputation for their progress in the scien- loaded with fables, doubts, and difficulties, ces; and there is no doubt that the neighbour-when we pursue it farther than the books of ing countries received the benefit of their instructions. Among the Celts, the Druids, who were priests, philosophers, and legislators, were highly remarkable for their wisdom; but their writings, at least such as are yet extant, are not sufficient to inform us of the nature of their philosophy. The Romans, indeed, introduced Letters and philosophy into all the provinces which submitted to their victorious arms, in order to soften the rough manners of the savage nations, and form in them, imperceptibly, the sentiments and feelings of humanity.§

CHAPTER II.

Concerning the Doctors and Ministers of the

Church, and its Form of Government. ́I. THE great end of Christ's mission was to form an universal church, gathered out of all the nations of the world, and to extend the limits of this great society from age to age. But, in order to this, it was necessary, first, to appoint extraordinary teachers, who, convert

See Paganini Gaudentii Liber de Philosophiæ apud Romanos initio et progressu, in tertio fasciculo Novæ Collectionis Variorum Scriptorum. _Halæ 1717.

See the Histoire Literaire de la France par des ieux Benedictins. Dissert. Prelim. p. 42, &c. Martin, Religion des Gaulois.

Juvenal, Sat. xv. ver. 110.

the New Testament, and the most ancient writers in the Christian church. In order to have a just idea of the nature, privileges, and au thority of the apostolic function, we must consider an apostle as a person who was honoured with a divine commission, invested with the power of making laws, of restraining the wich ed, when that was expedient, and of working miracles, when necessary; and sent to mankind, to unfold to them the divine will, to open to them the paths of salvation and immortality, and to separate from the multitude, and unite in the bonds of one sacred society, those who were attentive and obedient to the voice of God, addressed to men by their ministry.§

IV. The accounts we have of the seventy disciples are still more obscure than those of the apostles, since the former are only once mentioned in the New Testament, Luke, x. 1. The illustrations that we have yet remaining,

*See St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, iv. 11; an? also Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. cap. xxxvii. t1 Cor. xiv. 22.

The authors who have given accounts of the aportes, are enumerated by Sagittarius in his Introduction to Ec clesiastical History, and by Buddeus in his treatise de Ecclesia Apostolica.

(See Fred. Spanheim, de Apostolis et Apostolatu, tom Reli-ii. op. p. 289. It is not without weighty reasons, and without having considered the matter attentively, that I have supposed the apostles invested with the power o enacting laws. I am sensible that some very learned men among the moderns have denied this power; but I apprehend they differ from me rather in words that is any ma terial point.

Nunc totus Graias nostrasque habet orbis Athenas:
Gallia caussidicos docuit facunda Britannos:
De conducendo loquitur jam rhetore Thule."

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