"Remarks on Ecclesiastical History," vol I. p. 31. seqq. The contentions which disgraced these assemblies appear in some of the Fathers, to have wholly extinguished the belief in their infallibility. Gregory Nazianzen, at least, in the following passage, declines the honour of participating in their inspiration "To say the truth, I have made up my mind to shun all conventions of bishops; for never did I know one that had any useful end, and did not occasion an aggravation instead of a diminution of ills. For the wranglings and rivalry which they excite (and you must not think that I mean to be offensive in saying it) pass all the powers of description."-Epist. 55, Procopio. 42. In a letter to another correspondent, he avows the same intention: "I am sick of struggling against the jealousies of holy bishops, who render harmony impossible, and make light of the interests of the faith in the pursuit of their own quarrels. For this reason I have resolved (as the saying is) to try a new tack, and to gather myself up, as they say the nautilus does, when it feels the storm; to gaze from afar at others buffetted and buffetting, intent myself on the peace of heaven."*-Epist. 65, Philagrio, 59. Notwithstanding the frequency with which the evidence of this Father has been appealed to against ecclesiastical councils, to some of my readers, his poetical testimony on this subject may be unknown; the four most remarkable lines may be thus loosely rendered "Nay ask me not; I'll never sit Where geese and cranes in uproar fight. Assembled there, offend my sight." Carm. x. 91. Note 4. "The greatest and most ancient and illustrious church,' and ascribing to it a 'superior headship.'"-Page 31. The whole passage of Irenæus, in which these phrases are found, is thus translated by the author of the "Travels of an Irish Gentleman in Search of a Religion:"-" We can enumerate those bishops, who were appointed by the Apostles and their successors down to ourselves, none of whom taught or even knew the wild opinions of these men (heretics). However, as it would be tedious to enumerate the whole list of successions, I shall confine myself to that of Rome, the greatest, and most ancient, and most illustrious Church, founded by the glorious Apostles Peter and Paul; receiving from them her doctrine, which was announced to all men, and which, through the suecessions of her bishops, is come down to us. Thus we confound all those who, through evil designs, or vain glory, or perverseness, teach what they ought not; for, to this Church, on account of its superior headship, every other must have recourse, that is, the faithful of all countries; in which Church has been preserved the doctrine delivered by the Apostles."-Iren. adv. Hæres. lib. iii. quoted in Travels, &c. vol. I. p. 30. • It is impossible to render, without spoiling, the beautiful phrase, Tà έKεĩσe, "the things yonder." Note 5. "The silly credulity of Epiphanius, the implacable fury of Tertullian, the frantic bigotry of Jerome.”—Page 33. The peculiar position which these and other ecclesiastical writers hold, as the chief, and often the only, historical authorities of their times, has interfered scarcely less than theological prejudice itself, with the settlement of their real claims to respect. To justify the epithets which I have applied to them is only too easy: the following gleanings from their writings may serve to give the English reader an idea of these sainted men. In his account of the Ebionites, Epiphanius introduces a biographical notice of a personal friend of his, named Joseph, a convert to Christianity from Judaism. The narrative is so illustrative of this Father's amusing credulity, that were it not for its length, and the odious character of one of its episodes, I' would present it entire to the reader. The object of the memoir is, to set forth the virtues of Joseph, and record the wonders of his conversion. Yet so great is the simplicity of the pious Father, that his friend's memory profits less by his eulogy, than it suffers from his statement of facts. For Joseph appears (as will be seen by the following narrative) to have been singularly unsusceptible of Divine illumination: and though, while he was tithe-proctor among the Hebrews, he was favoured with four personal interviews with Christ, and, by the power of Jesus, delivered from two dangerous maladies, and enabled to work a signal miracle, he still continued a perverse disciple of Moses, till a sound beating from some Jews whom he had offended in the exercise of his unpopular calling, a half-drowning in the river Cydnus, an introduction to the Emperor Constantine, and a lucrative office under his administration, opened his eyes to the truth. He was originally one of the assistant officers of the Jewish patriarch Ellel at Tiberias: and it was at the death-bed of that venerable person, that his attention was first called to the Christian faith. The dying man sent for a physician and fortunately, at least for his soul, a Christian bishop appeared, to perform the duties of medical attendant; for, under the guise of a lotion, he received the holy water; and escaped from the phials, both of medicine and of wrath, by swallowing the episcopal mysteries. From this scene of pious simulation all attendants were excluded: but Joseph, who appears to have been of an inquisitive turn of mind, applied his eye to a crevice in the door and beholding among the mysteries within, a quantity of gold by no means inconsiderable pass from Ellel's hands to the bishop's, he became exceedingly troubled in conscience about his continued alienation from the faith of the Gospel. This uneasiness was increased when, after the patriarch's death, he surreptitiously broke open the ecclesiastical treasury chest, which Ellel had kept sealed in his chamber, and found that the gold, though all gone, had only made room for what the good bishop had justly regarded as exceeding all price,—a copy of the Gospel of John, and the Acts of the Apostles. The office of Hebrew Patriarch was hereditary: and the son of Ellel, being very young, was committed to the guardianship of Joseph, with others, till the age of pupilage should expire. The life of his dissipated ward providentially carried on the guardian's prepossessions in favour of Christianity. For he observed with astonishment, that while his own discipline and exhortations failed to check the young man's career of vice, the magical power of Christ's name and of the sign of the cross defeated his profligate designs, and supernaturally protected Christian virtue from his hateful seductions. These impressions, however, not being sufficient to effect his conversion, our Lord himself appeared to him, and claimed his faith. The vision was unsuccessful, -even when renewed in a period of extreme illness, and accompanied with a promise of recovery. A second sickness, giving occasion for a third appearance of Christ, was followed by the same result. In these successive proffers of his religion, Jesus, reversing the policy of the Sibyl, who at each return with her prophetic books demanded severer terms, held forth more ample promises to the unbelieving Joseph: and at the fourth visit, the gift of miracle is imparted to him. Timid and hesitating, he proceeds to experiment upon a furious maniac of Tiberias; and by virtue of the sign of the cross, instantly ejects the demon. Strange to say, he is still incredulous: and no further miracles seem to have been wasted on so hopeless a subject. Indeed more sublunary considerations were much better adapted to the temper of his mind. Being shortly after sent on a mission to collect dues, and reform abuses, for the Hebrew ecclesiastics, he incurred the enmity of some of his nation, whom he had removed from places of trust and emolument. The discontented forced their way to his apartment. It was at the luckless moment when he happened to have before him a copy of the Gospels lent to him by a Christian acquaintance. They beat him violently, carried him to the synagogue, and repeated the castigation there and, though he was delivered from their hands by the friendly interposition of the bishop from whom he had borrowed the Gospels, the persecution followed him on his departure and at a subsequent point of his journey, he almost lost his life by being thrown into the river Cydnus. At this juncture, however, he was recommended to the Emperor Constantine, --"that genuine servant of Christ:" received office and rank from him, with permission to prefer to him any request that he might think proper. Inflamed with a sudden zeal for the Gospel, he solicited and obtained a commission to build churches to Christ in all the Jewish towns and villages;-a task which no zeal had hitherto accomplished, lukewarm Christians having excused themselves from the attempt on the plea, that there was not a believer in the country.*-Epiphanius con : It is surprising, that the Irish Protestant Establishment has never availed itself of so venerable a precedent, in favour of churches without congregations. The words of Epiphanius are much to the point: the proposal was-dià προστάγματος βασιλικοῦ οἰκοδομῆσαι Χριστῷ ἐκκλησίας εν ταῖς πόλεσι καὶ κώμαις τῶν Ἰουδαίων. ἔνθα τις οὐδέ ποτε ἴσχυσεν οἶκοδομῆσαι ἐκκλησίας, διὰ τὸ μήτε "Ελληνα, μήτε Σαμαρείτην, μήτε Χριστιανὸν, μέσον αὐτῶν εἶναι. tinues: "Joseph received written credentials with his appointment: and went to Tiberias, carrying with him a letter of credit on the imperial treasury for the expenses of the undertaking, and his own private salary. He began his task in Tiberias. In that city there was already a spacious temple, called, I think, the Adrianeum, which, remaining still incomplete, the citizens were anxious to fit up as a public bath-house. Joseph no sooner discovered this edifice, than he took advantage of it for his purpose: and finding that, up to a certain height, it had been constructed of square stones, measuring four cubits each, he began from that elevation to execute his design for an ecclesiastical building. Quick-lime and other materials were of course indispensable; and he ordered six or seven lime kilns to be made outside the city. The audacious and determined Jews resort to that black art (μayyavɛíaç) which never fails them; and, by tricks and magic, the brave fellows, yevvãdai, contrive to damp the fire; though their success was only temporary. At first, however, the fire went down, and did no work, and appeared to have lost its natural properties. Those who tended the kilns, and had the charge of the fuel, finding that every thing stood still, explained the thing to Joseph. He was stung with mortification; and burning with zeal towards the Lord, he rushed out of the city, and called for water in one of those urns which the people of those parts term Cacubia. A crowd of Jews had thronged to the spot, curious to see what would be Joseph's resource, and the result of their own machinations. In the presence of them all he took the urn; and with his finger having made on it the sign of the cross, he loudly invoked the name of Jesus, and spoke thus: In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified by the common ancestors of myself and of this multitude now present, let this water have power to overcome all the magic and incantations which these men have practised, and to restore to the fire its natural qualities, that the house of the Lord may be finished.' Having said thus, he sprinkled the water on each of the kilns; the spells were dissolved, and, in the sight of all, the fire blazed up. The multitudes present, shouted, as they returned: There is One God, the helper of the Christians.'"-Adv. Hær., Lib. i. Tom. ii. Ebionæi, Vol. I. p. 1306, Coloniæ, 1682. Epiphanius appears to have been scarcely less credulous with respect to matters under his own observation. He says, that "for the conviction of unbelievers, fountains, and even rivers, are at the present day turned into wine. At Cibyra, a town of Caria, there is a fountain, which annually undergoes this change, at the very hour when at the bidding of Christ, the attendants at the marriage feast at Cana in Galilee, drew wine from the water vessels, and presented it to the president of the feast. Another fountain of the same kind exists at Gerasa in Arabia. I have myself drunk from the fountain of Cibyra, and my brethren from that of Gerasa.”. Adv. Hær. Lib. ii. Hær. li. Tom. i. p. 451. The following may be taken as a specimen of this Father's skill in the interpretation both of nature and of scripture: he says, "There is no bird that manifests such a love for its offspring as the pelican. The female, while sitting on the nest to take care of her young, cherishes them with such tenderness, that she pierces their sides with her kisses, and they die of the wounds. In three days the male bird visits the nest, and is deeply affected at finding his young ones dead. Under the impulse of his grief, he strikes his own side, and opens wounds in it; and the blood which flows thence, infused into the wounds of the young birds, restores them to life. Thus our Lord Jesus Christ had his side pierced by a spear, and immediately there came forth blood and water. And he dropped his blood upon his young ones, that is, on Adam, and Eve, and the prophets, and all the dead,—and enlightened the world, and gave them life by his three days sepulture, and his resurrection. It is on this account that he said by the Prophet, 'I am like a pelican in the wilderness."" -Physiol. c. 8. The reader will probably not think Jortin harsh in saying, that this Father was "made up of hastiness and credulity," or in calling him "the father of tales." Gibbon has already enabled the English reader to form a just estimate of the temper of Tertullian, by quoting a few sentences from the conclusion of his tract upon the games. The whole passage deserves to be read : "What a spectacle is at hand in the Advent of the Lord, doubted, humbled, withheld from triumph no longer! What joy among the angels, what glory for the saints rising to life! What a kingdom for the just for evermore! What a city in the new Jerusalem! For it will not be without its games;-it will have the final and eternal day of judgment, which the Gentiles now treat with unbelief and scorn,-when so vast a series of ages, with all their productions, will be hurled into one absorbing fire. How magnificent the scale of that game! With what admiration,-what laughter,—what glee,-what triumph shall I perceive so many mighty monarchs, who had been given out as received into the skies, even Jove himself and his votaries, moaning in unfathomable gloom. The governors, too, persecutors of the Christian name, cast into fiercer torments than they had devised against the faithful, and liquefying amid shooting spires of flame! And those sage philosophers, who had deprived the Deity of his offices, and questioned the existence of a soul, or denied its future union with the body, meeting again with their disciples only to blush before them in those ruddy fires! not to forget the poets, trembling, not before the tribunal of Rhadamanthus or Minos, but at the unexpected bar of Christ! Then is the time to hear the tragedians, doubly pathetic now that they bewail their own agonies;—to observe the actors, released by the fierce elements from all restraint upon their gestures;-to admire the Charioteer, glowing all over on the car of torture ;-to watch the wrestlers, thrust into the struggles, not of the gymnasium, but of the flames. Yet no: even this spectacle shall I forego, to revel with insatiable gaze in the dismay of our Lord's own persecutors. Here he is,' shall I say, the Carpenter's Son,'---' the Sabbath breaker,'-'the Samaritan,'-'the possessed.' Here is he, whose H |