measure, to the lenity and moderation that are practised by the rulers of the established collective and general character, allows now to all its members the full liberty of entertaining the sentiments which they think most rea-church. The members of this church may be sonable, in relation to those points of doctrine divided into two classes, according to their difthat formerly excluded the Lutherans and Ar- ferent ideas of the origin, extent, and dignity minians from its communion, and looks upon of episcopal jurisdiction. Some look upon the the essence of Christianity and its fundamental government of bishops as founded on the autruths as in no wise affected by these points, thority of a divine institution, and are immohowever variously they may be explained by derately zealous in extending the power and the contending parties. But this moderation, prerogatives of the church; others, of a more instead of facilitating the execution of the mild and sedate spirit, while they consider that plans that have been proposed by some for the form of government as far superior to every re-union of the Lutheran and Reformed church- other system of ecclesiastical polity, and warmes, contributes rather to prevent this re-union, ly recommend all the precautions that are neor at least to render it much more difficult; for cessary to its preservation and the indepenthose among the Lutherans who are zealous dence of the clergy, yet do not carry this atfor the maintenance of the truth, complain, tachment to such an excessive degree, as to rethat the reformed church has rendered too fuse the name of a church to every religious wide the way of salvation, and opened the community that is not governed by a bishop, arms of fraternal love and communion, not or to defend, with intemperate zeal, the preonly to us (Lutherans,) but also to Christians rogatives and pretensions of the episcopal orof all sects and denominations. Accordingly, der.*-These two classes are sometimes inwe find, that when, about twenty years ago, volved in warm debates, and oppose each other several eminent doctors of our communion, with no small degree of animosity, of which with the learned and celebrated Matthew this century has exhibited the following rePfaff at their head, employed their good offices markable example. Dr. Benjamin Hoadly, with zeal and sincerity in order to our union bishop of Winchester, a prelate eminently diswith the reformed church, this specific project tinguished by the accuracy of his judgment, was so warmly opposed by the majority of the and the purity of his flowing and manly elo Lutherans, that it was soon rendered abortive.* quence, used his utmost endeavours, and not XXIII. The church of England, which is without success, to lower the authority of the now the chief branch of the great community church, or at least to reduce the power of its denominated the Reformed Church, continues rulers within narrow bounds. On the other in the same state, and is governed by the same hand, the church and its rulers found several principles, that it assumed at the Revolution. able defenders; and, among the rest, Dr. John The established form of church government is Potter, archbishop of Canterbury, maintained episcopacy, which is embraced by the sove- the rights and pretensions of the clergy with reign, the nobility, and the greatest part of the great eloquence and erudition. As to the spirit people. The Presbyterians, and the numerous of the established church of England, in relasects that are comprehended under the general tion to those who dissent from its rules of doctitle of Non-conformists, enjoy the sweets of trine and government, we see it no where betreligious liberty, under the influence of a legal ter than in the conduct of Dr. Wake, archtoleration. Those, indeed, who are best ac- bishop of Canterbury, who formed a project of quainted with the present state of the English peace and union between the English and Galnation, confidently affirm that the dissenting lican churches, founded upon this condition, interest is declining, and that the cause of non- that each community should retain the greatconformity owes this gradual decay, in a great est part of its peculiar doctrines. from their communion. The question here is not, whether this rigour is laudable; it is the matter of fact that we are examining at present. The church of England, indeed, if we consider its present temper and spirit, does not look upon any of the errors of the Lutherans as fundamental, and is therefore ready to receive them into its communion; and the same thing may, perhaps, be affirmed of several of the reformed churches upon the continent. But this is very far from being a proof, that the "Lutherans have at this day (as Dr. Mosheim asserts) no farther subject of controversy or debate with these churches;" it only proves, that these churches nourish a spirit of toleration and charity worthy of imitation. The project of the very pious and learned Dr. Pfaff for uniting the Lutheran and Reformed churches, and the reasons on which he justified this project, are worthy of the truly Christian spirit, and do honour to the accurate and sound judgment of that most eminent and excellent divine;* and it is somewhat surprising, considering the proofs of moderation and judgment that Dr. Mosheim has given in other parts of this valuable history, that he neither mentions the project of Dr. Pfaff with apolause, nor the stiffness of the Lutherans on this occasion with any mark of disapprobation. The learned and pious archbishop Wake, in a letter to Father Courayer, dated from CroydonHouse, July 9, 1724, expresses himself thus: "I bless God that I was born and have been bred in an epis copal church, which, I am convinced, has been the government established in the Christian church from the very time of the apostles. But I should be unwilling to affirm, that, where the ministry is not episcopal, there is no church, nor any true administration of the sacraments; and very many there are among us who are zealous for episcopacy, yet dare not go so far as to annul the ordinances of God performed by any other ministry." Archbishop Wake certainly corresponded with some learned and moderate Frenchmen on this subject, particularly with M. Du-Pin, the ecclesiastical historian: and no doubt the archbishop, when he assisted Courayer in his Defence of the Validity of the English Ordinations, by furnishing him with unanswerable proofs drawn from the registers at Lambeth-Palace, had it in his view to remove certain groundless prejudices, which, while they subsisted among catholics, could not but defeat all pro jects of peace and union between the English and Gallican churches. The interests of the protes' ant religion could not be in safer hands than those of archbishop Wake. He who had so ably and so suc Scripto-cessfully defended protestantism, as a controversial writer, could not surely form any project of peace and union with a Roman catholic church, the terms See this learned author's Collectio rum Irenicorum ad Unionem inter Protestantes facientium, published at Hall, in 1723. ters. XXIV. The unbounded liberty which every individual in England enjoys of publishing, without restraint, his religious opinions, and of worshipping God in the manner which he deems the most conformable to reason and Scripture, naturally produces a variety of sects, and gives rise to an uninterrupted succession of controversies about theological matIt is scarcely possible for any historian who has not resided for some time in England, and examined with attention, upon the spot, the laws, the privileges, the factions, and opinions of that free and happy people, to give a just and accurate account of these religious sects and controversies. Even the names of the greatest part of these sects have not yet reached us; and many of those which have come to our knowledge, we know but imperfectly. We are greatly in the dark with respect to the grounds and principles of these controversies, because we are destitute of the sources from which proper information might be drawn. At present the ministerial labours of George Whitefield, who has formed a community, which he proposes to render superior in sanctity and perfection to all other Christian churches, make a considerable noise in England, and are not altogether destitute of success. If there is any consistency in this man's theological system, and if we are not to look upon him as a mere enthusiast, led by the blind impulse of an irregular fancy, his doctrine seems to amount to these two propositions:"That true religion consists alone in holy affections, or in a certain inward feeling, which it is impossible to explain; and that Christians ought not to seek truth by the dictates of reason, or by the aids of learning, but by laying their minds open to the direction and influence of divine illumination." vine Nature under the idea of a certain force, or energy, that is diffused throughout the whole universe, and acts in every part of the great fabric. The more recent controversies that have made a noise in Holland, were those that sprang from the opinions of James Saurin and Paul Maty, on two very different subjects. The former, who was minister to the French at the Hague, and acquired a shining reputation by his genius and eloquence, fell into an error, which, if it may be called such, was at least an error of a very pardonable kind; for, if we except some inaccurate and incautious expressions, his only deviation from the received opinions consisted in his maintaining, that it was sometimes lawful to swerve from truth, and to deceive men by our speech, in order to the attainment of some great and important good.* This sentiment did not please, as the most considerable part of the reformed churches adopt the doctrine of Augustin, "That a lie or a violation of the truth can never be allowable in itself, or advantageous in the issue." The conduct of Maty was much more worthy of condemnation; for, in order to explain the mystery of the Trinity, he invented the following unsatisfactory hypothesis: "That the Son and the Holy Ghost were two finite Beings, who had been created by God, and at a certain time were united to the divine nature.† XXVI. The particular confession of faith, that we have already had occasion to mention under the denomination of the Formulary of Agreement or Concord, has, since the com. mencement of this century, produced warm and vehement contests in Switzerland, and more especially in the canton of Bern. In 1718, the magistrates of Bern published an order, by which all professors, and particularly XXV. The Dutch church is still divided by the controversies that arose from the philosoSee Saurin's Discours Historiques, Theolo phy of Des-Cartes and the theology of Coc-giques, Critiques, et Moraux, sur les Evenements ceius; but these controversies are carried on les plus memorables du Vieux et du Nouveau Testament, tom. i. of the folio edition. with less bitterness and animosity at present Dr. Mosheim, in another of his learned prothan in former times. It is even to be hoped ductions, has explained, in a more accurate and cirthat these contests will soon be totally extin- cumstantial manner, the hypothesis of Maty, which amounts to the following propositions: "That the guished, since it is well known, that the NewFather is the pure Deity; and that the Son and the tonian philosophy has expelled Cartesianism Holy Ghost are two other persons, in each of whom from almost all the seminaries of learning in there are two natures; one divine, which is the same the United Provinces. We have already menin all the three persons, and with respect to which they are one and the same God, having the same nutioned the debates that were occasioned by the merical divine essence; and the other a finite and de opinions of Roell. In 1703, Frederic Van Leen-pendent nature, which is united to the divine nature hof was suspected of a propensity toward the system of Spinosa, and drew upon himself a multitude of adversaries, by a remarkable book, entitled Heaven upon Earth, in which he maintained literally, that it was the duty of Christians to rejoice always, and to suffer no feelings of affliction and sorrow to interrupt their gaiety. The same accusations were brought against an illiterate man, named William Deurhoff, who, in some treatises composed in the Dutch language, represented the Di of which would have reflected on his character as a negotiator. This note has been misunderstood and censured by the acute author of the Confes sional. This censure gave occasion to the fourth Appendix, which the reader will find in this volume, and in which the matter contained in this note is fully illustrated, and he conduct of archbishop Wake set in its true lignt. VOL. II.-46 in the same manner in which the orthodox say, that Jesus Christ is God and man." See Dissertationes ad Historiam Ecclesiasticam pertinentes, (published at Altena in 1743,) vol. ii. p. 498, but principally the original work of Mr. Maty, which was published (at the Hague) in 1729, under the following title: Lettre d'un Theologien a un autre Theologien sur le Mys tere de la Trinite.-The publication of this hypo thesis was unnecessary, as it was destitute even of the merit of novelty, being very little more than a repetition of what Dr. Thomas Burnet, prebendary of Sarum, had said, about ten years before, upon this mysterious subject, which nothing but presumption can make any man attempt to render intelligible. See a treatise published without his name by Dr. Burnet, in 1720, with this title: The Scripture Trinity intelligibly explained; or, An Essay towards the Demonstration of a Trinity in Unity from Reason and Scripture, in a Chain of Consequences from certain Principles, &c. by a Divine of the Church of England. See also the same author's Scripture Doctrine of the Redemption of the World by Christ. intelligibly explained, & t. those of the university and church of Lau- || sanne, who were suspected of entertaining erroneous opinions, were obliged to declare their assent to this Formulary, and to adopt it as the rule of their faith. This injunction was so much the more grievous, as no demand of that kind had been made for some time before this period; and the custom of requiring subscrip-|| tion to this confession had been suspended in the case of several who were promoted in the university, or had entered into the church. Accordingly many pastors and candidates for holy orders refused the assent that was demanded by the magistrates, and some of them were punished for this refusal. Hence arose warm contests and heavy complaints, which engaged the king of Great Britain, and the states-general of the United Provinces, to offer their intercession, in order to terminate these unhappy divisions; and hence the Formulary lost much of its credit and authority. it must argue a great want of equity and can dour, to rank this eminent man in the class of Arians, taking that term in its proper and na tural signification; for he only maintained what some sublimer manner, in the Father, as his wisdom (for both these terms are used by the earliest wri or word; that Christ's real creation or generation ters) took place some time before the creation of the world; that the council of Nice itself established no other eternity of Christ; and, finally, that the Arian doctrine, in these points, was the original doctrine. of Christ himself, of his holy apostles, and of the primitive Christians. Mr. Whiston was confirmed concerning the Trinity, but more especially by the in these sentiments by reading Novatian's treatise perusal of the Apostolical Constitutions, the antiquity and authenticity of which he endeavoured, with more zeal than precision and prudence, to prove, in the third part of his Primitive Christianity Revived. This learned visionary, and upright man, was a considerable sufferer by his opinions. He was not only removed from his theological and pastoral functions, but also from his mathematical professorship as if Arianism had extended its baneful influence Nothing memorable happened during this period in the German churches. The Reformed church that was established in the Palati-peared rigid and severe to all those, of both parties nate, and had formerly been in such a flourishing state, suffered greatly from the persecuting spirit and the malignant counsels of the votaries of Rome. XXVII. The Socinians, dispersed through the different countries of Europe, have not hitherto been able to form a separate congregation, or to celebrate publicly divine worship, in a manner conformable to the institutions of their sect, although, in several places, they hold clandestine meetings of a religious kind. The person that made the principal figure among them in this century, was the learned Samuel Crellius, who died in an advanced age at Amsterdam: he indeed preferred the denomination of Artemonite to that of Socinian, and ed in many points from the received doctrines of that sect. The Arians found a learned and resolute patron in William Whiston, professor of mathematics in the university of Cambridge, who defended their doctrine in various productions, and chose rather to resign his chair, than to renounce his opinions. He was followed in these opinions, as is commonly supposed, by Dr. Samuel Clarke, a man of great abilities, judgment, and learning, who, in 1724, was accused of altering and modifying the ancient and orthodox doctrine of the Trinity. But * even to the science of lines, angles, and surfaces This measure was undoubtedly singular, and it ap who were dispassionate enough to see things in their true point of light; and, indeed, though we should grant that the good man's mathematics might, by erroneous conclusions, have corrupted his orthodoxy, it will still remain extrem ly difficult to comprehend, how his heterodoxy could hurt his ma thematics. It was not therefore consistent, either with clemency or good sense, to turn Mr. Whiston believe the explication of the Trinity that is given out of his mathematical chair, because he did not in the Athanasian creed; and I mention this as an instance of the unfair proceedings of immoderate zeal, which often confounds the plainest distinctions, and deals its punishments without measure or proportion. Dr. Clarke also stepped aside from the notions commonly received concerning the Trinity; but his modification of this doctrine was not so remote sentiment of Whiston. from the popular and orthodox hypothesis, as the His method of inquiring depart-into that incomprehensible subject was modest, and. at least, promised fairly as a guide to truth. For he did not begin by abstract and metaphysical reasonings in his illustrations of this doctrine, but turned his first researches to the word and to the testimony, being persuaded that, as the doctrine of the Trinity was a matter of mere revelation, all human explithe New Testament, interpreted by the rules of cations of it must be tried by the declarations of grammar, and the principles of sound criticism. It was this persuasion that produced his famous ity, wherein every Text in the New Testament book, entitled, The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinrelating to that Doctrine is distinctly considered, and the Divinity of our blessed Saviour, according to the Scriptures, proved, and explained. The doctrine, which this learned divine drew from his re searches, was comprehended in 55 propositions, which, with the proper illustrations, form the second part of the work. As the reader will find them in that work at full length, we shall only observe here, that Dr. Clarke, if he was careful in searching for the true meaning of those scriptural expressions that relate to the divinity of the Son and the Holy Ghost, was equally circumspect in avoiding the accusation of heterodoxy, as appears by the series of propositions now referred to. There are three great rocks of heresy on which many bold adventurers on this Anti-Pacific ocean have been seen to split violently. These rocks are Tritheism Sabellianism, and Arianism. Dr. Clarke got evidently clear of the first, by denying the self-existence of the Son and the Holy Ghost, and by maintaining their derivation from, and subordination to, the Fa ther. He strenuously laboured to avoid the second, by acknowledging the personality and distinct agency of the Son and the Holy Ghost; and he flattered himself with having escaped from the dangers of the third, by his asserting the eternity (for he believed the possibility of an eternal production which Whis ton could not digest.) of the two divine subordinate It is too evident that few controversies have so little augmented the sum of knowledge, and so much hurt the spirit of charity, as the controversies that have been carried on in the Christian church in relation to the doctrine of the Trinity. Mr. Whis ton was one of the first divines who revived this controversy in the xviiith century. About the year 1706, he began to entertain some doubts about the proper eternity and omniscience of Christ. This led him to review the popular doctrine of the Trinity; and, in order to execute this review with a degree of diligence and circumspection suitable to its importance, he read the New Testament twice over, and also all the genuine monuments of the Christian religion prior to the conclusion of the second century. By this inquiry, he was led to think, that, at the incarnation of Christ, the Logos, or Eternal Wisdom, supplied the place of the rational soul, or Vε; that the eternity of the Son of God was not a real distinct existence, as of a son properly co-eternal with his father by a true eternal generation, but father a metaphysical existence in potentia, or in is commonly called the Arminian Subordina- || country. persons. But, with all his circumspection, Dr. Clarke If Dr. Clarke was attacked by authority, he was also combatted by argument. The learned Dr. Waterland was one of his principal adversaries, and stands at the head of a polemical body, composed of eminent divines, such as Gastrell, Wells, Nelson, Mayo, Knight, and others who appeared in this con. troversy. Against these, Dr. Clarke, unawed by their numbers, defended himself with great spirit and perseverance, in several letters and replies. This prolonged a controversy, which may often be suspended through the fatigue of the combatants, or the change of the mode in theological researches, but which will probably never be terminated: for nothing affords such an endless subject of debate as a doctrine above the reach of human understanding, and expressed in the ambiguous and improper terms of human language, such as persons, generations, substance, &c. which, in this controversy, either convey no ideas at all, or false ones. The inconveniences, accordingly, of departing from the divine simplicity of the scripture-language on this subject, and of converting a matter of mere revelation into an object of human reasoning, were palpable in the writings of both the contending parties. For, if Dr. Clarke was accused of verging toward Arianism, by maintaining the derived and caused existence of the Son and the Holy Ghost, it seemed no less evident that Dr. Waterland was verging toward Tritheism, by maintaining the self-existence and independence of these divine persons, and by asserting that the subordination of the Son to the Father is only a subordination of office and not of nature: so that, if the former divine was deservedly called a SemiArian, the latter might, with equal justice, be denominated a Semi-Tritheist. The difference between these learned men lay in this, that Dr. Clarke, after making a faithful collection of the texts in Scripture that relate to the Trinity, thought proper to interpret them by those maxims and rules of right reasoning, which are used on other subjects; whereas Dr. Waterland denied that this method of reasoning was to be admitted in illustrating the doctrine of he Trinity, which was far exalted above the sphere of human reason; and therefore he took the texts of Scripture in their direct, literal, and grammatical sense. Dr. Waterland, however, employed the words Dersons, subsistence, &c. as useful for fixing the notion of distinction; the words uncreated, eternal, and immutable, for ascertaining the divinity of each per son; and the words interior, generation, and procession, to indicate their union. This was departing from his grammatical method, which ought to bave led him to this plain conclusion, that the Son and the Holy Ghost, to whom divine attributes are ascribed in Scripture, (and even the denomination of God to the former,) possess these attributes in a This doctrine he illustrated with greater care and perspicuity than any before him had done, and taught that the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are equal in nature, and different in rank, authority, and subordination.* A great number of English writers have endeavoured, in a variety of modes, to invalidate and undermine the doctrine of the holy Trinity; and it was this consideration that engaged a lady,† eminently distinguished by her orthodoxy and opulence, to bequeath a valuable legacy as a foundation for a lecture, in which eight sermons are preached annually by a learned divine, who is nominated to that office by the trustees. This foundation has subsisted since the year 1720, and promises to posterity an ample collection of learned productions in defence of this branch of the Christian faith. manner which it is impossible for us to understand in this present state, and the understanding of which is consequently unessential to our salvation and happiness. The doctor, indeed, apologises in his queries (p. 321,) for the use of these metaphysical terms, by observing, that "they are not designed to enlarge our views, or to add any thing to our stock of ideas, but to secure the plain fundamental truth, that Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are all strictly divine, and uncreated; and yet are not three Gods, but one God." It is, however, difficult to comprehend how terms that neither enlarge our views, nor give us ideas, can secure any truth. It is difficult to conceive what our faith gains by being entertained with a certain number of sounds. If a Chinese should explain a term of his language which I did not understand, by another term, which he knew before. hand that I understood as little, his conduct would be justly considered as an insult against the rules of conversation and good breeding; and I think it is an equal violation of the equitable principles of candid controversy, to offer, as illustrations, propositions or terms that are as unintelligible and obscure as the thing to be illustrated. The words of the excellent and learned Stillingfleet (in the Preface to his Vin dication of the Doctrine of the Trinity,) administer a plain and a wise rule which, if observed by divines, would greatly contribute to heal the wounds which both truth and charity have received in this controversy. "Since both sides yield (says he,) that the matter they dispute about is above their reach, the wisest course they can take is, to assert and defend what is revealed, and not to be peremptory and quarrelsome about that which is acknowledged to be above our comprehension; I mean as to the manner how the three persons partake of the divine nature." Those who are desirous of a more minute histori cal view of the manner in which the Trinitarian controversy has been carried on during the present century, may consult a pamphlet that was published in 1720, entitled, An Account of all the considerable Books and Pamphlets that have been written on ei ther Side in the Controversy concerning the Trinity since the year 1712; in which is also contained an Account of the Pamphlets written this last year, on each side, by the Dissenters, to the end of the year 1719. The more recent treatises on the subject of the Trinity are sufficiently known. It will appear to those who read the preceding note [*] that Dr. Mosheim has here mistaken th true hypothesis of Dr. Clarke, or, at least, expresses it imperfectly; for what he says here is rather app j. cable to the opinion of Dr. Waterland. Dr. Clarke maintained an equality of perfections in the three persons, but a subordination of nature in point of existence and derivation. + Lady Moyer. THE FIRST APPENDIX. MOSHEIM'S Ecclesiastical History can be || justly appreciated only by considering it as a general epitome. As such, it is indeed excellent; the arrangement is luminous; the style both of the author and of his translator, is in general perspicuous; and though topics of the greatest importance are, from the nature of the work, necessarily treated with a brevity which the reader may sometimes regret, the references at the bottoms of the pages inform him where he may, on every subject, find fuller information. It must, however, be confessed, that those references, being for the most part made to the works of German authors, are of less value to us than to those for whose use the history was originally composed; and, perhaps, it cannot be wholly denied, that the author, learned and pious as he undoubtedly was, either had not studied the works of the primitive fathers of the Christian church with sufficient care, or laboured under some prejudices, from which the most powerful minds are not wholly exempt, that made him refer to Icarned moderns for the decision of questions, which the ancients alone can decide. This we think, appears most remarkably in the view which he exhibits of the constitution, government, and discipline, of the primitive church, of which it is obvious that we can know nothing but from the testimony of the primitive writers. The qualifications indeed which he thinks es sential to an historian, and the rules which he lays down for the manner of treating ecclesiastical history, though highly valuable in themselves, are by him stated in such a manner as cannot fail to excite, in the reflecting mind, suspicions of the authenticity of his account of the government and discipline of the primitive church. After observing that, in order to render the history of the church useful and interesting, it is necessary to trace effects to their causes, and to connect events with the circumstances, views, principles, and instruments that have contributed to their existence, he adds, "In order to discover the secret causes of public events, some general succours are to be derived from the history of the times in which they happened, and the testimonies of the authors by whom they are recorded. But, beside these, a considerable acquaintance with human nature, founded on long observation and experience, is extremely useful in researches of this kind. The historian who has acquired a competent knowledge of the views that occupy the generality of men, who has studied a great variety of characters, and at tentively observed the force and violence of human passions, together with the infirmities and contradictions they produce in the conduct of life, will find, in this knowledge, a key to the secret reasons and motives which gave rise to many of the most important events of ancient times. A knowledge also of the manners and opinions of the persons concerned in the events that are related, will contribute much to lead us to the true origin of things.* The Fathers, as they are called, may have been bad critics, as we think they generally were; they may have been extremely credulous, and ready to attribute, to the miraculous interposition of God, natural events, for which their philosophy did not enable them to ac- There is unquestionably much truth as well count; and their speculative doctrines may as good sense in this account of the qualificahave been often corrupted by that science, tions requisite to render an historian instrucfalsely so called, which spread from the Alex- tive and interesting; for it is obvious that he andrian school over the whole Christian world; who has merely studied human nature through but the integrity of men who laid down their the medium of books, not in the society of lives for what they believed to be the truth, can- men, and who has not observed the motives not surely be questioned. "I see no reason," ‚"|| which generally influence human conduct, can said one, who did not pay to them undue de- never trace events to their causes, or discover ference, "why their veracity should be ques- the springs of those actions on which perhaps tioned, when they bear witness to the state of the happiness or misery of millions may dereligion in their own times, because they dis- pend. But, if this knowledge of human nagraced their judgment, in giving ear to every ture be ever employed to counteract the testistrange tale of monkish extraction. Contro-mony of ancient authors, who were under no versy apart, their testimony to common facts may yet stand good;" and surely the constitution, government and discipline of the church, were common facts, about which none of them could be deceived. The view however which Dr. Mosheim has given of the primitive church appears not to us to be countenanced by any primitive writer; and accordingly he rarely appeals directly to them in support of what he advances, but refers to modern authors, generally French or Germans, who have written on the subject, and who could write nothing on it authentic, which they did not derive from the ancients. Warburton in his introduction to Julian. conceivable temptation to write falsely; or if the actions of men in one stage of society be traced to the same motives from which similar actions are observed to spring in another stage altogether different, and in many respects the reverse; if, because men are prompted by ava rice and ambition to solicit offices which at one period lead to honour and opulence, it be inferred that they must have been influenced by similar motives at a period when such of fices led not to opulence or honour, but to certain death, in its most hideous forms; if an historian reason thus from the observations which he has made on the force and violence *Introduction, sect. xii |