To all these arguments I chufe to say nothing: I only make a small grammatical remark, that in Greek, a verb in the plural is frequently joined to. two nominative cafes fingular, and a participle plural with two fubftantives fingular, and that the Dual number is not once used in all the New Testament, which Beverege had forgotten, or had not observed. What fort of opinion Beverege had, concerning the authority of thefe Canons, and whether he thought that Chriftians were obliged to observe them, is not very material to know : he feems to have entertained a great veneration for them. He fays that, by establishing the antiquity of the Canons, hoc etiam boni commodique et nobis et aliis quibufcunque, fe primitivorum Chriftianorum moribus conformes gerere cupientibus, emerget; quod præ oculis habeamus, qua ratione vitam noftram ad eorum exemplar inftituamus-p. 76. The primitive Chriftians deferve to be honoured on many accounts, and imitated in many things, and the fame ought to be faid of this learned and pious Bithop; but, after all that can be faid, the authors of thefe Canons were fallible men; and it would be better for a Christian to take the precepts of Chrift and the undoubted writings of the Apoftles for the rule of his faith and practice, and to conform to primitive Christianity just as far as primitive Christianity is conformable to Scripture and to Reason, and not to ascribe a facred and Apoftolical authority to to a fet of unknown Canon and Constitutionmakers. Beverege afcribes a kind. of Apoftolical authority to the L. Canon, which requires of the Bishops and Prefbyters that they fhould make ufe of a threefold immerfion in baptifm, under pain of being depofed. Aliquo tamen modo, fays he, id ab Apoftolis traditum negare non aufi fumus; utpote quod a fanctis Patribus nec femel affertum legimus.. The Teftimony of the Fathers, in matters of tradition, is not always to be depended upon. But did our author himfelf use to conform to this Canon? The LXIX. Canon ftrictly requires the obfervation of the Quadragefimal Faft under spiritual pains and penalties: and this, together with other stated Fafts, Beverege takes to have been of Apoftolical inftitution. It is not probable that the Apostles enjoined fuch things, as abfolutely neceffary; things of that kind are more properly fubjects for counfels than for precepts. To be temperate, and to keep the paffions and appetites in due fubjection, is the duty of all men: abftinence from food is fo far good as it is found to conduce to this end; but what fuits one climate, and one conftitution, and one age of life, fuits not another. The legislative fpirit, began to operate betimes, and when the Church made laws, relating to doctrines and opinions, which were not to be found in the New Teftament, the Codex became very bulky, and there was no end of law-making: How fhould there ? Some Somebody once afked a Scholar, what was the meaning of ff, which stands for the Digests or Pandects, and was told that it meant Farrago Farraginum. The answerer was not in earnest: nor am I. but Tacitus fays fomewhere: Corruptiffima Republica plurima leges. And fo much for this fubject. THE SIBYLLINE ORACLES were compofed at different times, by different perfons, first by Pagans, and then perhaps by Jews, and certainly by Chriftians. See the collections concerning them made by Fabricius Bibl. Gr. i. p. 167. an Author, whofe memory all the learned world ought to blefs, and to whom they fhould wish tenuem et fine pondere terram, Spirantefque crocos, et in urna perpetuum ver. Justin Martyr, Cohort. ad Græcos 38, mentions the Sibyl as clearly foretelling the coming and the actions of Chrift. His verbis, fays the laft Editor, Sibyllini, quales hodie extant, libri indicantur, in quibus tam aperta eft rerum a Chrifto gerendarum prædictio, ut eam ex eventis fictam fuiffe vix quifquam hodie non fateatur. Præf. p. Lxx. and in the Notes, Nihil fane fufpicatus eft fuftinus, quamvis omnes borum librorum pagina fraudem clamitent. Thus the Benedictin, compelled by hard neceffity, who would have defended both the Sibylline Oracles, and his friend Juftin who cited them, if he had been able. It ought however to be observed that fome perfons, of at least as much learning learning and as much judgment as he, have fufpected the genuinenets of the Cohortatio. The Sibylline Oracles feem to have been all, from first to last, and without any one exception, mere impoftures. We have a collection of them in eight books, which abound with phrases, words, facts, and paffages taken from the LXX. and the New Teftament, and are a remarkable specimen of astonishing impudence, and miferable poetry. It It was a pleasant conceit of Poffevin, in his Apparatus facer, that a choice ought to be made of paffages from thefe Oracles, with proper notes, which might be ufed in fchools. would greatly perplex any man of learning to make a choice where all is fo bad; he would be like Buridan's Afs between two bundles of musty hay. If. Voffius, the Patron of Sibylline Oracles, forged, as he pretended, by divinely inspired Jews, would yet have given them up as bad compofitions, and void of all elegance. Siquis, fays he, Græcos qui fuperfunt Judæorum confulat verfus, prorfus illos fimiles fuiffe inveniet, ac fuere veterum Chriftianorum carmina, quæ, fi unum et alterum excipias, iftiufmodi funt, ut Scaliger fibi in ferquilinio verfari videretur, quotiefcunque ad ea legenda fe conferret. De Sibyll. c. 9. This, is true enough. Nor does he attempt to defend the prefent collection. Quae olim a Patribus Chriftianis lecta fuere, et etiamnum fuperfunt et leguntur oracula, longe a me abeft ut omnia ea ejufdem generis et auctoritatis effe exiftimem, ac 6 fuere fuere ea de quibus hactenus fumus locuti. In his quippe quæ Chrifti nativitatem præcessere Sibyllinis, ea folum continebantur, quæ ex Prophetarum fcriptis depromta effent vaticinia. At vero in illis, quæ vulgo leguntur, ea quoque occurrunt, que non ab aliis, quam ab iis, potuerunt confcribi, qui centum et viginti demum annis Chrifto fuere pofteriores. And he concludes that the old Oracles were enlarged and interpolated by Chriftians. c. 8. Mention is made by various writers of a Sibyl, who prophefied before the Trojan war, and from whom Homer took many lines, and particularly this prophecy, Il. r. 307. Νιῦ ἢ δὴ Αἰνείαο βίη Τρώεσσιν ανάξει, Καὶ παῖδες παίδων, τοί κεν μετόπισθε γύωνται. Hic domus Enea cunctis dominabitur oris, Others have faid that Homer himself was endued with a prophetic fpirit when he wrote thofe lines. Others have obferved a great affinity of style between Homer and the Sibylline verses, and thence have concluded that the poet was a " plagiary. Strange! that men of letters could talk at this idle rate. Of all the ancient poets, Homer, who has a great fimplicity, is perhaps the most easy to be imitated in point of n n Clemens Alexandrinus charges Homer with taking Verfes from Orpheus and Mufæus, instead of fufpecting that these were later writers, under falfe names, who pillaged Homer. Strom. vi. p. 738. 751. bare |