were in poffeffion of the emperor's favour, there were two parties both found in the Nicene faith, the Euftathians, before spoken of, and the Meletians, who teftified in the ftrongest manner their regard A.D. for their exiled paftor. In the year 361, however, 361. Conftantius died of a fever, having received baptifm a little before he expired from Euzoius; for after his father's example he had deferred it till this time*. His character needs no detail: it appeared from his cafe, that a weak man armed with defpotic power was capable of doing incredible mifchief in the church of Christ. * A fact related of him by Theodoret enables us to fix the religious character of this prince. When he was going to carry on war with Magnentius, he exhorted all his foldiers to receive baptifm, obferving the danger of dying without that facred rite, and ordering thofe to return home who refused to submit to it. Not infidelity, but fuperftition predominated in his mind. how inconfiftent to defer his own baptism fo long! CHAP. CHAP. V. A VIEW OF MONASTICISM AND OTHER MISCEL- IT T seemed most convenient to preserve the connection of the Arian controverfy without interruption. If the evangelical reader has not gained much information concerning the fpirit of true religion during this violent conteft, the times and the materials inuft bear the blame. There were probably in that whole period many fincere fouls, who mourned in fecret over the abominations of the age; but history, ever partial to the great, and dazzled with the fplendour of kings and bishops, condescends not to notice them. The people of God were in lower life and remain therefore unknown. We left Athanafius in the defert, where he employed the leifure, which the iniquity of the perfecution gave him, in vifiting the monks. He had been acquainted with their moft renowned leader Anthony, but had not the fatisfaction to meet with him again, he dying in the beginning of the year 356. Let us leave Athanafius and the Arian controverfy a while, and fee what we can find concerning monks, and. other particulars of the dealings of God with his church in the mean time. We are not to form an idea of antient monks from modern ones. It was a mistaken thing in holy men of old to retire altogether from the world. But there is every reason to believe the mistake originated in piety. We often hear it faid, how ridiculous to think of pleasing God by aufterities and folitude! Far be it from me to vindicate the fuperftitions G3 A.D. 356. ftitions of monks, and particularly the vows of celibacy. But the error is very natural, has been reprehended much too feverely, and the profaneness of men of the world is abundantly more dangerous. The enormous evils of monafticism are to be af cribed to its degeneracy in after-times, not to its firft inftitution. What could for inftance be better intentioned, than the determination of Anthony to follow literally our Lord's rule, "Sell what thou haft and give to the poor?" Say that he was ignorant, and fuperftitious; he was both: but he perfevered to the age of an hundred and five years in voluntary poverty with admirable confiftency. Surely it could be no flight caufe that could move a young perfon of opulence to part with all, and live in the abftemiousness of a folitary life with fuch unfhaken perfeverance. Let us, from the memorials of his life written by Athanafius, omitting the miracles which the then fashionable credulity impofed on men, endeavour to collect, as far as we can, a just idea of his fpirit. Athanafius tells us that he had often feen him, and had received information concerning him from his fervant. It was a great difadvantage to Anthony's judgment, that he was unwilling to be inftructed in literature. There is a medium in all things fecular. We have feen numbers corrupted by an excefs of literary attachments: we fee here one mifled by the want of proper cultivation. When a youth, he had heard read in the church our Lord's words to the rich young man, and his ignorance led him to fell all, and give to the poor, and enter into the monaftic life. Monks as yet had not learned to live in perfect deferts unconnected with mankind, and hitherto they lived at a fmall distance from their own village. Anthony endeavoured to form himfelf on the fevereft models, and pushed the genius of folitude folitude to rigours before unknown. His fame increased; he was looked on as a mirrour of perfection, and the Egyptians were ftudious to follow his example. His inftructions to thofe who liftened to him are not, in general, worth tranfcribing. The faith of Chrift is very obfcure at least in the best of them; yet his fincerity is evident; his love to divine things must have been ardent; his conflicts and temptations, which are confusedly written by Athanafius, demonftrated a mind too humble, and knowing too much of himself to truft in his own righteoufness. He preached well by his life, and temper, and spirit, however he might fail in doctrinal knowledge. In the perfecution of Dioclefian he left his beloved folitude, and came to Alexandria, ftrengthening the minds of Chriftian fufferers, expofing himfelf to danger for the love of the brethren, and yet not guilty of the excefs of delivering up himself to martyrdom. In all this there was what was better than the monk, the fincere and charitable Chriftian. Nor did he obferve to perfection the rules of folitude. There were two forts of monks, the folitary, and those who lived in focieties. Anthony, though he had a strong inclination to follow the first fort altogether, fometimes joined the latter, and even on fome occafions appeared in the world. $ The Arian herefy gave him another opportunity of thewing his zeal. He again entered Alexandria, and protefted againft its impiety, which he observed was of a piece with heathenifm itself. "Be affured, faid he, all nature is moved with indignation against thofe, who reckon the Creator of all things to be a creature." And this is one circumftance, which convinces me, that genuine godlinefs, the offspring of Chriftian principles, muft have been with the primitive monks, because they generally vindicated the Nicene faith, and could not endure Arianifm. They muft, many of them at least, have felt the motions of the divine life, which will not connect itself with any principles that depreciate the dignity of Jesus Christ. In converfing with Pagan philofophers, he obferved, that Chriftianity held the mystery, not in the wisdom of Græcian reafoning, but in the power of faith fupplied to them from God by Jefus Chrift. "Faith, fays he, fprings from the affection of the mind; Logick from artificial contrivance. Those who have the energy that is by faith, need not perhaps the demonftration that comes by reafoning." He very juftly appealed to the glorious fruits of Christianity in the world, and exhorted the philofophers" to believe, and know that the Christian art is not merely verbal, but of faith which worketh by love, with which ye being once endowed, shall not need demonftrations by arguments, but fhall deem these words of Anthony fufficient to lead you to the faith of Chrift." The evangelical reader will fee here fomething better than mere monafticifm. But he fullied all this by a foolish attempt, to make mankind believe, that he lived without food, while he ate in fecret, and by a vain parade of converfation concerning temperance, which favoured more of Pythagorean fanaticism than of Chriftian piety. In his extreme old age he gave particular directions, that his body should be interred, not preferved in a houfe after the Egyptian manner of honouring deceased faints and martyrs, and charged his two attendants to let no man know the place of his burial, "At the refurrection Poffibly the attentive reader may obferve without my men. tioning it, that I have feen, on a clofer infpection, reason to think better of Anthony, than what appears from the short account of him in vol. I. p. 557. |