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he, "do ye abhor grey hairs, and deteft "those white locks which make you refem*ble our Saviour? Pray, are not such of you

as are guilty of this afraid that your Maker "fhould not know you again at the refur"rection? and left, removing and excluding

you from the benefit of his promises, he "fhould reprove you with the awful sternness " of a cenfor and a judge, faying, This is not my work, nor is it my image? You have polluted your skin with deceitful paint, "and dyed your hair with adulterous colours;

your face is destroyed by fraud, your figure "is corrupted, and your countenance quite "altered. You cannot fee God, fince you

have not those eyes which God made you, "but those which the devil hath corrupted." ST. Cyprian also pretends, that the church fhould implicitly obey the dictates of bishops chofen with the ordinary formalities, as the only way to prevent herefies: and whoever, fays he, difobeys them, disobeys God; unless any one be so rafhly facrilegious and diftracted, as to imagine, that a bishop is made without the approbation of God, though he, himself has faid, that a fparrow cannot fall to the ground without his permiffion. In another place he makes the falvation of the people to depend on the validity of the bishop's

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bishop's election, and that upon his morals. Have not the people then a fine time of it? · TERTULLIAN abfolutely condemns all war, and every art, employment, profeffion, or commerce, relating to things whereof the pagans could poffibly make any idolatrous ufe ". And Lactantius thinks all trade, as being the effect of avarice, unbecoming that contentment and tranquillity, and that contempt of the world, which ought to reign in the heart of a chriftian. He likewife difallows the putting money out to interest, tho' never fo fmall, which he looks upon as a fort of robbery. This father alfo pretends, that God has abfolutely forbid the taking away of any man's life, either judicially, or in war, or in felf-defence

ST. Bafil is as patient as Lactantius: for his opinion is, that whoever gives another a mortal wound, be the caufe or provocation ever fo great or juft, is guilty of murder; that every layman, who defends himself against a robber, ought to be excommunicated, and a clergyman depofed; for, fays he, all who use the sword, fhall perish by the sword, according to our Saviour's words. Now, although these fathers have carried this point to a manifeft extreme, yet surely mens lives are commonly held a great deal too cheap;

the

* Ibid. c. viii.

» C. vi

z C. ix,

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the deftroying them by duelling or unneceffary wars is a moft execrable action; and the taking them away for mere robberies feems unjustifiable, and bordering at least upon cruelty. Doth not humanity require, that only murder, and a few other crimes of the most malignant and atrocious nature, should be punished by death? And would not the inflicting this dreadful punishment for thofe crimes only be a means greatly to deter men from committing them? But to proceed; St. Bafil extends chriftian patience fo far as to think it unlawful to fue for one's right, and of confequence utterly condemns the lawyers. Thefe opinions he founds upon mistaken texts of fcripture, making a general rule of the literal fenfe of these words: If any man will fue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him bave thy cloke alf. He likewife abfolutely forbids all fwearing upon any occafion. Are not many of these the very principles of the quakers? And yet thofe people, who pay the highest honours to the fathers, hold the quakers in the lowest degree of contempt for entertaining the fame

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TERTULLIAN, before-mentioned, cenfures those feverely, who accept of public employments, especially in courts of juftice, looking

* Ibid. c. xi.

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looking upon

it as inconfiftent with the profeffion of a chriftian to have the least hand in condemning or punishing any criminal; and this, because the purple robe, the prætexta, trabea, laticlavi & fafces, were all originally confecrated to idolatry. He makes all magiftrates the collegues of devils, who, he says, are the magiftrates of this world'. The fathers, tho' they generally chimed in with Tertullian 'till Conftantine's reign, yet then readily changed their note, and employed all their eloquence to fhew, that he might be the governor of this world, as they called him, and a good chriftian too.

ST. Chryfoftom extols Abraham's prudence and refolution in overcoming his jealousy fo far as to expofe Sarah's chastity; and highly commends her good-natured complaifance for her husband, in fubmitting to commit adultery in order to fave his life. "You "fee," fays the father, "what a propofal he "ventured to make to her, and how the accepted it. She does not refufe, or thew any manner of reluctance to it, but plays "her part in the comedy admirably well. "*** Who can fufficiently praife her,

who, after fo long continence, and in so ad"vanced an age, freely confented to expofe "herself to adultery, and to deliver her body

b Ibid. c. v.

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to barbarians, in order to fave her husband's life?" But perhaps this good woman's advanced age, which is computed to have been at that time fixty-five years, might rather diminish than augment her praife; especially as many of these barbarians doubtlefs were young at least it feems, by the following. lines on the story of Sufanna and the two Elders, as tho' our excellent poet, Prior, would have thought so:

Fair Sufan did her wif-bede well menteine,
Algates affaulted fore by letchours tweine:
Now, and I read aright that auncient fong,

Olde were the paramours, the dame full yong.

Had thilke fame tale in other guife been tolde; Had they been yong (pardie) and she been olde; That, by St. Kit, had wrought much forer tryal; Full marvellous, I wote, were fwilk denjal ‘..

SECTION V.

Of the abfurd interpretations of scripture by Jome of the primitive fathers..

TH

HE foregoing articles in this fupplement being drawn to a greater length than was at firft defigned, this article will therefore be contracted into a narrow com

pafs; c C. xiv. d Poems on feveral occafions, p. 290,

folio edit.

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