Answer to the Animadversions on the Dissertations, Treatise · Chapter 2

Answer to the Animadversions on the Dissertations · Treatise · Chapter 2

p. 14CHAP. II.

Of Ignatius's Epiſtles.

Sect. 1.

The compariſon betwixt them and the Epiſtles of Clement, and Polycarpe. Of Salmaſius and Blondel being the first that rejected them. Of the Vir doctiſſimus, anſwered by Vedelius. Of Biſhop Mountague's cenſure of Vedelius. foreign: Of Salmaſius's Contumely, Title of Learned Grammarian. Illecebre. foreign. Conſnlting Authors to ſerve our own turns.

Numb▪ 1. THE next charge I find in the eighth page of this Preface, in theſe words.

A late learned Doctor in his Diſſertations about Epiſcopacy, or Diſpute for it againſt Salmaſius and Blondellus, tels us, that we may take a taſte of h…s confidence in aſſerting, Diſſert. 2. cap. 23. 1. That Salmaſius and Blondellus, mortalium omnium primi, thought theſe Epiſtles to be feigned or counterfeit. And with more words, cap 24. he would make us believe Unicum D. Blondellum aut alterum fortaſſe inter omnes mortales Wallonem Meſsalinnm c. 23. ſect. 3.that theſe Epiſtles of Ignatius were alwaies of the ſame eſteem with that of Clemens from Rome to the Corin…ians, or that of Polycarpus to the Philippians, which we have in Euſebius, and then he addes, in the judgement of Salmaſius and Blondellus, Solus Ignatius foreign, cujus tamen Epiſtolae pari ſemper cum illis per univerſam ab omniaevo patrum noſtro…um memoriam reveren…iâ excipiebantur: nec prius à mortalium quovis in Judicium voc…bantur (mul…ò minus ut in re certâ, & extra dub… poſita inter planè foreign & foreign rejici…bantur) quam Presby… Anglicani patribus ſuis contumeliam facere coepiſſent, iiſque aut ſuppetias ferre, a…t rem gratam facere (quibus illecebris adducti neſcio) hi du… non ignobiles Presbyteranae cauſae hyperaſpiſtae in ſelpſos recipiſſent. Of his two learned Antagoniſts one is dead, and the other almoſt blind, or probably they would have dealt not much more gently with the Doctor for his Parentheſis (quibus illecebris adducti neſcio) then one of them formerly did (Salmaſius de ſubſcribendis & ſignandis Teſtamentis, ſeu ſpecimen Conſul. Animad. Heraldi, cap. 1. p. 19. Nuper quidam etiam nebulo in Angliâ, Capellanus, ut audio, Regis, Hammondus nomine, libro quem edidit de Poteſtate Clavium, Salmaſio iratus, quod aliam quam ipſe ſententiam probet ac defendat, haud potui… majus convicium, quod ei diceret, invenire, quam ſi Grammaticum appellaret) for his terming him a Grammarian, yet indeed of him (ſuch was the hard entertainment he found on all p. 15hands) it was by many ſuppoſed that he was illecebris adductus (and they ſtick not to name the b… he was caught withall) wrought over in a manner to deſtroy the faith of that which he had before ſet up and eſtabliſhed.

For the thing it ſelf affirmed by the Doctor, I cannot enough admire with what oſcitancie or contempt he conſiders his Readers (of which manner of proceeding this is far from being the onelyonly inſtanc:) that he ſhould confidently impoſe ſuch things upon them. He that hath written ſo much abou… Ignatius, and doth ſo triumph in his authority, ought doubtleſs to have conſidered theſe concernments of his Author, which a eobvi…us to every ordinary Inquirer: Ved…lius his Edition of Ignatius at Geneva came forth with his Notes in the year 1623. long before either Salmaſius o… Blondellus had written any thing about the ſuppoſiti…ioſneſs of theſe Epiſtles; in the Apology of Ignatius whereto prefixed, he is forced to labour and ſweat in the Anſwer of one, whom he deſervedly ſt…cs virum Doctiſſimum; (arguing not contemptibly) that Ignatius never wrote any ſuch Epiſtles, and that all thoſe which were carried about in his name, were falſe and counterfeit.

But perhaps the Doctor had taken caution of one of the Fathers of his Church, that à Genevenſiqus iſtis Typographis praeter fraudes & ſucos & praeſtigias non eſ… quod quicquam expectemus (Montac. Appar. l. 5. ſect. 4…. p. 19.) and ſo thought not fit to look into any thing that comes from them.

Eſpecially may this be ſuppoſed to have ſome influence upon him, conſidering the gentle cenſure added in the next words by that Reverend Father of his Church, concerning the endeavour of Vedelius, in his Notes on that Edition. Neque audax ille & importunus Ignatii Cenſor quicquam attulit ad paginas ſuas implendas praeter inſcit…am, & incuriam & impudentiam ſingularem (ne ſaevi magne ſacerdos) dum ad ſuum Gene… vatiſmum antiquitatem detorqu…t invitiſſimam, non autem, quod oportu… Calviniſmum amuſſitat ad antiquitatē. And what I pray you is the reaſon of his Epiſcopal cenſure? That he ſhould deal with poor Ved…s in that language wherewith men of his order and authority were wont to deale with preaching Miniſters at their Viſitations? why this poor man in that paſſage which you have in the Epiſtle to the Magneſians (in that Edition p. 56.) where treating of the Antient Fathers expectations of the coming of Chriſt, retains the common reading of foreign, referring the word to their expectation of ſeeing him come in the fleſh, which upon the teſtimony of our Saviour himſelf, they deſired to ſee, and ſaw it not, not correcting it by a change of foreign into foreign, ſo referring it to their faith in Chriſt, and ſalvation by him▪ as in his judgment he ought to have done. foreign, A little thing would provoke the indignation of a Prelate againſt any thing that came from Geneva.

I ſay I would ſuppoſe that this might divert ou… Doctor from caſting p. 16his … Veaclius, whoſe defenſative would have informed him that th…ſtles …d been oppoſed as falſe and counterfeit, before ever Salmaſius or Blondellus had taken them into con…de…ation; but that I finding hi…e…imes …ing on tha… Geneva Edition.

For whereas Cap. 2. ſect. 2. he tels you that he intends to abide onelyonly upon the Edition of Iſ… Voſſius in G…eek, publiſhed from the Archives of the L…b…a…y of Laurence di Medi…es, and the Latine Edition publiſhed by Biſhpp Uſher ou of our Library here at Oxford, yet cap. 8. being preſſed with the teſtim ny o… the writers of the Epiſtle to the Magneſians, calling Epiſcopacy foreign plainly intimating a comparative Novelty in that order to others i… the Chu…ches, and fearing (as well he might) that his tranſlation of foreign into the ordination of a young man, would ſcarce be received by the men of his own praejudice (for ſurely he never ſuppoſed that he ſhould impoſe on any other, by ſuch groſſe figments) he prefers the Vedelian Edition (where theſe words are not ſo uſed) before it, and informs us, that …ic legend… (as it is in the Geneva Edition) ſuadet to…a Epiſtolae ſer…es. Now this truly is marvelious to me (if the Doctor conſulteth Authors any farther, than meerly to ſerve his preſent turn) how he could ever advi…e with that Edition of Vedelius, and yet ſo conſidently affirm, that Sa…s and Blondellus were the firſt that rejected theſe Epiſtles as feigned and counterfeit.

2. The ſumme of this charge is▪ 1. that I would make men believe that Ignatius his Epiſtles were alwaies of the ſame eſteem with that of Clement, and of Polycarpe. 2^dly That … ſay that Salmaſius and Blondel were the fi…ſt that thought theſe Epiſtles (of Ignatius) to be feigned and counterfeit. 3^dly That this is in me a confidence in aſſerting, an admirable piece of oſcitancie and contempt of the Reader, confidently to impoſe upon him, and all this againſt expreſs evidence, when 4^thly long before either of theſe, Vedelius was fain to anſwer a vir doctiſſimus, arguing that Ignatius never wrote ſuch Epiſtles, and this the more to be admired, becauſe 5^thly it appears that I had adviſed with that Edition of Vedelius, where thoſe arguments are propounded, and anſwered, and yet ſay that Salmaſius and Blondel were the firſt that rejected theſe Epiſtles. To theſe five branches of the original, and grand charge are added incidentally theſe other paſſages. 1 That if Salmaſius were not dead, and Blondel almost …lind, they would probably have called me knave for uſing this Parentheſis (quibus illecebris adducti neſcio, I know not by what invitations they were brought to doe what they did) adding of the p. 17former, that indeed it is by many ſuppoſed that he was illecebris adductus. 2 That Biſhop Montacute inveighs bitterly againſt the Geneva Writers, and particularly againſt Vedelius his Cenſures on Ignatius. 3 That my interpretation of foreign by the ordination of a young man, is a groſs figment. 4 That it is doubtfull whether I doe conſult Authors any farther than is for my own turn.

3. To theſe particulars, which will ſoon be found to be of no very weighty importance, yet ſuch as they are, I ſhall punctually make my reply.

4. For the firſt, I ſhall not need labour for proofs to ballance the eſtimation of Ignatius's Epiſtles, either with that of Clemens, or Polycarpe: For, beſide that here is not a word objected againſt it, nor ſo much as the ordinary charge of confident aſſerting affixed to this part of my ſpeech, but my words are barely repeated without any exception to them. The thing may be manifeſt to any that ſhall, for Clemens, peruſe the Teſtimonies out of ancient Writers, concerning his firſt Epiſtle, that to the Corinthians, ſet down to his hand by Mr. Patrick Yong, before his Edition of that Epiſtle, and then compare them with thoſe concerning Ignatius's Epiſtles prefixt by the Archbiſhop of Armagh to his former Edition of Ig…ati…, and to that adde but this one place of Euſebius, E…cl. Hiſt. l. 3▪ c. foreign. where ſpeaking of thoſe Writings reſerved to his time, wherein the Apoſtolike doctrine was foreign by way of Records delivered to them, he inſtanceth in Ignatius (foreign, in the Collection of Epiſtles which he had formerly mentioned from Polycarpe) and in Clement's Epiſtle, which in the name of the Church of the Romans he ſent to the Church of the Corinthians, and was foreign, received and confeſt by all, which paſſage doth directly aſſert this exactneſs of tarallel betwixt them two, as equall in conveying Apostolike Doctrine to us.

5. To which I may adde, that the prejudices our preſent volume of Ignatius's Epiſtles are under, are not greater than thoſe which lye againſt the Epiſtle of Clement, ſet forth from Tecla's …opie. I ſhall inſtance in ſour: 1 Among the examples p. 18of generous Chriſtian ſufferers of that Age, propoſed to be treated of (foreign, Pag. 7.foreign. Let us come to the eminent perſons which are neareſt us, let us take the generous copies of our age) immedately after Peter and Paul, and thoſe that came in to them, are mentioned foreign, the Daughters of Danaus and Dirce, of whom it is ſaid, that having ſuffered ſore, or cruel contumelies, or puniſhments, they came to the conſtant courſe of Faith, and being weake in body, received a generous reward

6. This is ſo unfit for the place wherein it is found in Tecla's copy (and we have no better, or other to mend it by) that Mr. Yong hath ſet a mark upon it, as that which he cannot allow to be genuine Clemens.

7. Secondly: Speaking of the Sea, he hath theſe words, foreign Pag 28.foreign **foreign, Patric. Junius.foreign, the Ocean unbounded to men, or, which men cannot paſs over, and the world that are beyond it.

8. Thirdly: Speaking of the Reſurrection, he not onelyonly offers to contemplation the Reſurrection, which every day brings us, Pag 34foreign, the night lies down to ſleep, the day riſes again, but alſo the foreign the wonderfull ſign which is in Arabia, the Phoenix, which being foreign, but one of the ſpecies, lives five hundred years, then drawing neare to death, makes a neſt of Frankincenſe and Myrrh, and other Spices, and goes into it, and dies; then out of the corruption of the fleſh grows a Worm, which being fed with the moiſture of the dead creature, grows to perfection and wings, then carries the neſt where the former bird was entombed (and embalmed as it were) from Arabia to Aegypt, to Heliopolis, and in the day time in the preſence of all men, layes it upon the Altar of the Sun, and returns again. And the Prieſts looking into their Records, and keeping exact calculation of the time, find that at the end of five hundred years this is done. And all this, ſaith he, afforded us by GOD, who foreign, by this bird ſhews the magnificent greatneſs of his promiſe.

9. Theſe two latter are the objections of Photius himſelf p. 19**Biblioth. n. 126.foreign, ſaith he, one may find fault with him in theſe; adding alſo another (the 4^th which I propoſed to mention) that as the ſecond Epiſtle under his name (which **N. 113.elſwhere he ſaith foreign, is rejected as ſuppoſititious) foreign, inſerts ſome paſſages as from Scripture, which are ſtrangers to it, ſo **foreign. N 126.this firſt Epiſtle is not perfectly free in this matter.

10. Theſe four prejudices notwithſtanding (and a fift alſo by him mentioned) 'tis the ſame Photiu… his judgement, that it is foreign, an Epiſtle worthily eſteemed, foreign Biblioth. n. 113.foreign, thought by many worthy of ſuch reception as to be read publickly.

11. And ſo it hath among all men generally been entertained, and Mr. Yong's Edition of it juſtly lookt on by this Prefacer, as a genuine piece, abundantly teſtified to of old, a writing full of antient ſimplicity, humility and zeal, and teſtimony ſolemnly fetcht from it, to prove the but two Orders in the Church, and the power of the People in Eccleſiaſtical affaires.

12. Now, as on one ſide all theſe objections may, I ſuppoſe, have very competent Anſwers adapted to them, and I think for the firſt three Mr. Yong's Notes may be ſufficient, that the Danaides and Dirce was an inſertion of ſome Scribe taken in from the Margent into the Text, that the Ocean was the Britiſh Sea, and the Worlds beyond it theſe Iſlands, that the Story of the Phoenix is no Fable, but vouched by very great and antient Authors, though perhaps fabuloſis aucta (and M. Blondel, I hear, hath written a Diſſertation in defence of it) ſo I am to think that all the objections againſt Ignatius, as far as our Copy, which we adhere to, is concern'd, are anſwered alſo.

13. And ſo ſtill the parallel remains compleat betwixt Clement's one Epistle ſet out from the King's Library, and Ignatius's ſeven ſet out from the Medicaean Greek, and our old Latine Copies.

14. And for Pol…carpe and him, the compariſon will be more eaſie by viewing the teſtimonies by the Lord Primate produced out of the Ancients concerning each of them, prefixt p. 20before the one common volume of both their Epiſtles: And indeed of them two, the advantage is clearly on Ignatius's ſide, becauſe as generally they that make mention of the one, joyn the other with him, with the ſame reverence, onelyonly giving the precedence to Ignatius (**Nunquid non poſſum tibi to…; vitum Scriptorum ſer…em commovere Ignatium, Polycarpu… c 9. St. Hierome ad Helvidium may ſtand for many; Can I not, ſaith he, ſummon the whole Catalogue of antient Writers, Ignatius, Polycarpe—) So Polycarpe himſelf in his Epiſtle gives his teſtimony and commendations of Ignatius and his Epiſtles, and from him it is that originally we fetch our collection, and juſt eſteem of them. I hope I ſhall not need to adde more to juſtifie my con…idence in that matter.

15. Secondly: For my affirming that Salmaſius and Blondel were the firſt that thought theſe Epiſtles of Ignatius to be feigned and counterfeit (which is the one thing that muſt bear all the weight of my accuſation for confidence in aſſerting, confidence in impoſing upon Readers, oſcit ancie, or contempt in conſidering them) my account will bee ſoon given, by viewing my periods, on which this charge is layd, and they are three; two ſet down in his Text, one in his Margent: The two former are fully and truly cited by him: That in the Margent is ſet down imperfectly, and lyes thus in the Diſſert. (it ſhould be) c. 23. ſect. 3. In his qui…pe (Rebus in Eccleſiā primaevâ gestis, ut an Ignatius Epiſtolas ſcripſerit) unicum D. Blondellum, aut alterum fortaſſis inter omnes mortales Walonem Meſſalinum rectius judicare, quam patres univerſos: This is to conclude, that in matters of fact done in the firſt Ages of the Church, one Blondel, or perhaps his ſecond Salmaſius, paſſe a righter judgement than all the Fathers.

16. The plain ſenſe and drift of theſe words is this, that when there was a Copie of Ignatius produced, which had in it the ſeveral ſentences, which the Fathers (all, without exception of one) cited from Ignatius, by which it appears that thoſe Fathers univerſally gave credit to theſe Epiſtles in this form, in which D. Blondel, and Salmaſius reject them; and when this was taken notice of by Blondel as an objection againſt his diſcourſe [his ipſis Epiſtolis Patres fidem adhibuiſſe, That the Fathers gave credit to theſe very Epiſtles] and that anſwered p. 21by Blondel, with a Quid tum! Quam multa minimè ſuspicaces ac imparatos & fefellerunt ſemper, & quotidie fallunt? What matter for that? How many things both have alwaies deceived, and doe daily deceive perſons, that are not ſuspicious, and upon their guard? From this anſwer of Blondels I conclude, that if he hath reaſon on his ſide in it, then the judgement of one or two Modern Writers, Blondel and Salmaſius is to be preferred before all the Fathers, and that in a matter of ſtory, a narration of things done in the Primitive times, wherein the Fathers lived, and from whence theſe others are ſo many hundred years diſtant.

17. This concluſion of mine, as it is moſt undeniably deduced from Blondel's words, and is, I think, a competent evidence of the unreaſonableneſs of his proceedings (for it is obvious to all men, who are the moſt competent Judges or Witneſſes of matters of fact, ſure they which are neereſt the times, and have the moſt uniform conſent of others that ſpeak of it, not they that are but ſingular Affirmers, and at a vaſt diſtance from it) ſo it is a full interpretation of my meaning, not that Blondel and Salmaſius were the firſt of men, which ever oppoſed any Volume of Ignatius's Epiſtles, or that thought them (I mean again, any that goe under that name, or any volume of ſuch, ſet out by any) feigned or counterfeit, but that they were the firſt which rejected thoſe more emendate Copies, found upon tryal to accord with all that the Fathers cite from them, and ſo which are by themſelves confeſt to be the very Epiſtles, which the Fathers uſed, and own'd as Ignatius's.

18. An evidence of the truth of this I ſhall produce from Blondel's own words in his Preface p. 40▪ where mentioning how greedily he laid hold of the Laurentian Copy, lent him by Voſſius in Manuſcript, how he tranſcribed it with his own hand, collated it diligently with the places cited from theſe Epiſtles by the Antients (and if it were done ſtudiosè diligently, thoſe Antients muſt be, Polycarpe, Irenaeus, Origen, Euſebius, Athanaſius, Hierome, Chryſoſtome, Theodoret, &c.) at length he confeſſes ſe gratulatum ſeculo noſtro, quod illud ipſum exemplar quo ante 1300 annos uſus erat Euſebius, novam p. 22ipſi propediem affulſuram lucem ſponderet, that he congratulated our age, that that very Copie, which Euſebius uſed 1300 yeares agoe, promiſed now to beſtow new light upon the Age.

19. Here it appeares, that in his diſpaſſionate, impartial judgement (founded on prudent conſideration, and his having uſed the beſt means of judging) this Copie, which Blondel rejected, was the Copie that the Antients own'd, particularly Euſebius: And of his rejecting this Copy (not any other, formerly publiſhed among us) it is moſt evident that I ſpeak in all the places of the Diſſertations, and conſequently that unleſſe ſome other man can now be named, which rejected this Copy (the Laurentian I mean, ſet out by Voſſius, to which the old Latine one publiſht by the Lord Primate is anſwerable, though a barbarous tranſlation) or the Copy which Euſebius and the Fathers uſed, before Blondel and Salmaſius rejected it, I have affirmed that which is exactly the truth, and am guilty neither of confidence, nor impoſing, nor oſcitancy, nor contempt of the Reader.

20. And then, I pray, how was I concerned in the negations and arguments of the Vir doctiſſimus, which Vedelius anſwered, which muſt needs belong to the Epiſtles then extant, and carried about in Ignatius's name, & could not, by divination be confronted to this Edition of Voſſius, or to the Laurentian, or our old Latine Manuſcripts, which may well be preſumed to have never been heard of by him, or Vedelius either, and yet are the onelyonly volume of Ignatius's Epiſtles there ſpoken of by me, and of which my affirmation proceeds. As for this vir Doctiſſimus, I have now been able to conſult Vedelius, and * there I firſt find that he hath neither Name nor Ap…l pre Ignat. cap. 4.Book delivered to us, and that in all probability he never publiſht any word to that purpoſe. And for what hath paſt betwixt private men in more private Letters, I know not that I was obliged to take any notice, if I had remembred that Anonymus ineditus vir doctiſſimus. 2 That this unus quidam vir doctiſſimus is mentioned as the onelyonly perſon (and oppoſed to the alii, others, that expreſt their doubts and ſcruples onelyonly) which extra omne dubium ponit, affirms poſitively, and without p. 23doubting, ſuppoſitionem harum Epiſtolarum, that theſe Epiſtles were ſuppoſititious, or that Ignatius never wrote ſuch Epiſtles, whence by the way I am ſecured from the other instances which are by the …refacer after brought to ſay the ſame thing which that vir Doctiſſimus had done … for Vedelius was as ignorant as I, an plures ejus mentis fuerint, whether there were any more of that mind with him. Laſtly, that this vir Doctiſſimus durſt ſay, that Ignatius never wrote any Epistles at all, which is to me an aſſurance that as learned as he was, he never knew any thing of Polycarpe's collection, or of the antient Writers citations out of them (which if he had, he might as well have ſaid, that Polycarpe, and the reſt of thoſe antients never wrote neither) and conſequently that his ignorance ſecured him from being guiltie of that which I charge on Blondel and Salmaſius, viz. rejecting all the Fathers with a [Quid tum?] and theſe Epiſtles in deſpight of all the authority which the Fathers were acknowledged to have given them. This ought to have been adverted by my Monitor, and then he might certainly have ſpared himſelf, and the Reader, and me the ſeverall gainleſſe paines that his ſharp Animadverſion hath, in ſeveral kindes coſt each of us.

21. As for his amplifications, backward and forward, on this head of diſcourſe, that perhaps I had received caution never to look into any thing that comes from Geneva, and yet that that could not be the truth, becauſe I had occaſionally inſiſted on that Edition of Vedelius, though now it be far from needing reply; yet … ſhall be willing to oblige him, by telling him the whole truth, and making him my Confeſſor in this matter. That 'tis now near thirty yeares ſince that I read over diligently that whole volume of Vedelius, with all his Exercitations annext to it, that I did it in my entrance on the ſtudy of Divinity, beginning with him as the firſt Rccleſiaſtical Writer then extant; for Clement's Epiſtle was by Mr. Yong ſeven or eight years after publiſht. This vindicates me from his jealouſie, that perhaps I took caution from Biſhop Montague never to look into Book that came from Geneva.

22. For although I began not that ſtudy ſo, as to fall under Biſhop Abbot's cenſure (in the top of the tenth page produced) p. 24that Calvin had holpen me to a mouth to ſpeak (any more than it is true of me, that I am ſtill opening my mouth againſt Calvin) yet truly my firſt Author, uſed in my ſearch of the opinion of the Antient Church, was delivered me by Vedelius from Geneva, and ſo from Geneva it ſelf I firſt learned the three Orders of men in the Church to be of Apoſtolike inſtitution, which, as far as concerns the ſecond of them (by him and ever ſince call'd Preſbyters) the Scripture had not taught me.

23. If this be not enough, I next acknowledge, that when this Prefacer told me of the vir Doctiſſimus, that Vedelius was fain to anſwer, I had not any ſuch thing in memory, and though I am ſure I formerly read it, becauſe I now ſee it is in that Book, yet 'tis due to his Animadverſions, that I had not utterly loſt it: From this occaſion I ſhall not have temptation to loſe time in bemoaning my ſelf, that my memory is ſo frail, both becauſe of the many thouſand things which I have read, and heard, and utterly forgotten, this was as fit to be one, and as eaſie to be ſpared as any, and if it had been explicitely in my memory, it had been perfectly uſeleſs to me in this matter, I could not reaſonably have interpoſed any mention of him, or added his name with any truth to thoſe two of Blondel and Salmaſius (the two men which peculiarly rejected the Laurentian (or Euſebian) Copy, Blondel having a tranſcript from Voſſius, and Salmaſius a ſight or it from Blondel) and alſo becauſe I ſee other mens memories are as frail as mine, and that in things both of preſent uſe, and freſh obſervation: Witneſſe my Monitor himſelf, who, whilſt he is a chiding, or admiring me for oſcitanc…, and contempt of my Reader, &c. tels me that Biſhop Ʋſher publiſht his Latine Edition of Ignatius out of the Oxford Library, whereas that Arch-Biſhop, that beſt knew, profeſſes **Pag. 16.it was from two Manuſcripts, one belonging to Caiw Colledge in Cambridge, the other to Biſhop Montague: This were too mean a foreign to mention, but that, beſides that it is an example, that men that are the ſevereſt on others no-ſlips, may themſelves be guilty of as great, as they judge in others: It is alſo a way of giving ſome account of that ſpeech of Biſhop Montagues, p. 25which fall ſo tartly on Vedelius, and is here thought fit to be brought in, in the Prefacers digreſſion. For bating the aſperity of the language, which I doe as little commend in either Father, or Son of the Church, as any, the Copy which he had by him of ſo venerable Antiquity, might by him very reaſonably be thought a more Scholarlike, and leſſe deceivable way of correcting Ignatius's Epiſtles, than Vedelius's ſingle conjectures, and prejudices, which made him, as that Biſhop thought, willing to conform Antiquity to the Doctrines then received at Geneva.

24. And this will appear yet more reaſonable in the particular, which is here ſaid to have occaſioned that bitter ſpeech of that Biſhop, where, in Videlius's reading, it is ſaid of the Fathers of the Old Testament, that they came foreign, ad vacuam ſpem, ſaith Vedelius, to a fruſtration of their hope, but the Biſhop's Latine Copy reads, in novitatem spei, to the newneſs of hope, evidencing the reading to bee with an eaſie change foreign, to the newneſſe, and ſo it is in the Laurentian Greek which is now extant. Now as again foreign might be an eaſie change for foreign (which that Biſhop it ſeems liked beſt … and either of thoſe readings might well paſs, either that they joyned with us Chriſtians in the ſame common hope Evangelical, or came to the newneſs of …ope, i. e. hoped for mercy on the ſame terms of new Evangelicall obedience, on which we now hope for it, and ſo ſet on purifying, as St John ſaith he will doe, that hath this hope in him, ſo truly the other of [foreign] would hardly be kept from being blaſphemy, cannot poſſibly be ſalved, as this Prefacer would ſalve it, by referring it to their expectation of Chriſts coming in the fleſh, which, ſaith he, upon the teſtimony of our Saviour himſelf they deſired to ſ…e, and ſaw it not. But 1. I pray where doth our Saviour teſtifie this, that they deſired to ſee it, and ſaw it not? I ſuppoſe in thoſe words of Luk. 10. 24. For I tell you that many Prophet… and Kings have deſired to ſee thoſe things which you ſee, and have n…t ſeen them. But will this juſtifie or maintain the foreign, the fruſtration of their hope, or at all prove, that they had ſuch hope of ſeeing Chriſt come in the fleſh? Men may deſire p. 26that which they doe not hope, the goodneſs of the thing once apprehended, is enough to raiſe deſire, but hope muſt be founded in ſome promiſe, or elſe it is but either wiſh, on one ſide, or on the other, preſumption.

25. But then ſecondly, to juſtifie Vedelius in his retaining of foreign there is more neceſſary, viz. to conſider the Context as it lyes in the Epiſtle publiſht by him, and then the whole paſſage will be found to be this, foreign—If therefore they who converſed in the antient writings came to a fruſtration of hope, expecting Chriſt (as the Lord teacheth, ſaying, If ye believed Moſes, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me: and Abraham your Father was exceeding glad that he might ſee my day, and he ſaw it and rejoyced; for before Abraham was I am) how ſhall we—By this Context 'tis now evident, 1. how impoſſible it is that the Vedelian reading of foreign can ſtand; for Abraham, who is the inſtance, did not miſſe of his hope, what he hoped for he obtained, he had promiſe that he ſhould ſee Chriſt's day, viz. ſee it foreign, in the ſpirit, not carnally in the fleſh, ſee it in deſtinatione divinâ, in God's deſtination: And that promiſe foreign, that he ſhould ſee it, put him in an foreign, an exultation of joy, and neither hope nor joy were fruſtrated; for it follows, he ſaw, and was glad. Secondly: how ſeaſonably the testimony of Chriſt was here produced by this Prefacer, in theſe words of his [referring to their expectation of Chriſts coming in the fleſh, which, upon the teſtimony of our Saviour himſelf they deſired to ſee, and ſaw it not] I demand, Doth the Vedelian Edition ſo refer to any ſuch teſtimonie of Chriſt, which ends with [ſaw it not?] doth it not quite contrariwiſe produce the teſtimony of Chriſt concerning Abraham, affirming of him that [he ſaw it?] which is competently diſtant from the Prefacers Text of, they ſaw it not. Again, are not theſe words of our Saviour concerning Abraham's ſeeing (in spirit) and ſatisfying himſelf, p. 27and rejoycing at that ſight, perfectly agreeable to the general purport of the Gospel? Is it not the Doctrine thereof frequently expreſt, that Chriſt was known by the Fathers of the former ages, by the title of [foreign, he that was to come] and that till the fulnes of time was come, though they did (as the Vedelian Copy adds) foreign, expect to ſee Chriſt, yet not ſo as to ſee him come in the fleſh, but lived by Faith, as Abraham ſojourned, aſſuring themſelves, that he would be really exhibited to their poſterity, being for themſelves content to ſee him foreign, in the spirit, and by no other eye but that of Faith? And then can it be ſaid, that they were fruſtrated in their hope? that what they hoped, they received not: or hoped for that which they did not receive? Simeon indeed had it revealed to him, that he ſhould not ſee death before he had ſeen the Lord's Chriſt, Luk. 2. 26. but this was about the time of the deſigned exhibition of him, and accordingly he did ſee him, and embraced him, and was not fruſtrated of his hope: But this promiſe was never made to Father Abraham, and thoſe of the former ages, nor to thoſe Prophets and Kings, Luk. 10. and ſo having no promiſe of this, they entertained not themſelves with hopes of it (though they might with deſires, ſubmitted to Gods wiſer choice) and conſequently never came thus foreign, to the emptineſſe, or caſſation, or fruſtration of hope. So that to maintain the Vedelian reading of foreign, 'tis evident that the following words muſt be, not foreign, he ſaw, but foreign, he ſaw not, the direct contradictorie to the words as they were ſpoken by Chriſt. My Lord Primate tels us from a Manuſcript in Baliol-Colledge Librarie, that rather then the Scribe there would adventure (ſo near blaſphemy, as) to write ad vacuam spem, the interpretation of foreign to avoyd, or caſſate hope, he thoſe to inſert a [not] in that Latine Copy, and wrote ad non vacuam ſpem, to a hope not void: This again ſhews how intolerable that reading is of foreign, whereas the other foreign, which our Laurentian Copy gives us (being retain'd, and not changed into foreign) is perfect clear ſenſe, and elegantly agreeable to the Context, foreign, ſaith he, foreign p. 28—the moſt divine Prophets lived according to Jeſus Chriſt▪ and then ſoon follows, foreign—If therefore they that converſed in thoſe old things i. e. lived under the Law of the Jews) came, or advanced to the newneſs of hope (i. e. as before, lived according to Chriſt, an Evangelical, Chriſtian life) &c. foreign, how ſhall we live without him, whoſe diſciples in spirit the Prophets were, and expected him as their Maſter (but ſure by ſo doing were not fruſtrated in their expectation.)

26. All this hath been ſaid to render it reaſonable for my Monitor to be leſs ſevere to the writings of others, and from hence to obſerve, that one digreſsion doth unneceſſarily, and unluckil▪ ſometimes, beget another, and therefore that 'tis the ſafeſt courſe to keep cloſe to the matter we have before us, which yet I am not permitted to doe, having ſtill three parts of this branch of digreſſion more, which I am obliged to give account of.

27. In the next place then, for the probability that my two adverſaries Salmaſius and Blondel, if they had not been one dead, the other almoſt blind, would have dealt not much more; gently with me for my Parentheſis (quibus illecebris adductineſcio) then one of them did (calling me knave) for my terming him Grammarian, I am able alſo to give him ſome Anſwer, and an account, I thinke, ſatisfactory to that whole matter. 1 By aſſuring him that I knew how Salmaſius had dealt with me in that paſſage to Heraldus, before my ſetting about the Diſſertations, that this was ſo far from imbittering my ſtile againſt him, that I did the more carefully watch over my pen, not to ſay any reproachfull thing of him, but rather to commend his ſecond thoughts in the matter of Preſbyterie, which he was willing to teſtifie in ſome paſſages of his Defenſio Regia, and truly this was it, which I ſhall not ſay I learnt from Ignatius, though I confeſſe it looks very lovely in his divine expreſſions, foreign. p. 29To their anger do ye return meekneſs, to their ſpeaking big be ye humble, to their fierceneſſe be ye tame, not deſiring, or attempting to immitate them Epiſt. ad Epheſ. Twas the leſt that I thought my ſelf obliged to do, in obedience to our Saviours precept, Mat. 5. 44. of bleſſing and praying for thoſe that curſe and despightfully uſe us, from whence I muſt conclude, that contum…lies are our adminitions of duty, even that of taking thoſe who powre them upon me, into my ſpecial interceſſions.

28. Secondly: That my terming Salmaſius formerly a Grammarian, with the addition of Learned, was in the ſincerity of my heart meant as a title not of diminution, but of honour to him, he was a very learned man in ſeverall parts of good literature, eſpecially skill'd in Greek and Latine words, and phraſes, and cuſtomes, and his Plinianae exercitationes had long ſince given me that notion of him, as equal thus far to any of his age, and fit to be named with Scaliger and Caſanbon of the preceding. And knowing I that Grammaticus was antiently a title of …our among learned men, witneſſe Suetonius his Book de Illuſtribus Grammaticis; and 2. that of foreign) there are three parts, foreign, (the two later of which being peculiarly his ex…ies, were fully comprehended in the general title of Grammarian) and laſtly, that being neither Divine nor Phyſitian, nor Lawyer by profeſſion, I could not fitly make either of thoſe his title, I thought it moſt agreeable to all theſe reaſons to ſtile him learned Grammarian, eſpecially having ſo little reaſon, as I then had, to commend his knowledge in Theologie. This it ſeems was ſo repreſented to him from England, that having no other reaſon (that I am conſcious of) to quarrel with my behaviour toward him, he was content to reproach me, upon that ſtile: And all that I ſhall ſay to it, is, that I had rather be in the ſo…leſt manner reproacht without cauſe, then to be commended for ill doing, or to be juſtly cenſured by any.

29. Thirdly, when I ſaid of him and Blondel (quibus illecebris adducti neſcio) I doe not think my ſelf to have wronged them, or uſed them contumeliouſly: Not wronged them, becauſe I verily believe there were motives properly p. 30ſtyled illecebrae (I mean not bribes from England) which brought them to doe what they did: And as I did not think fit then to expreſſe thoſe motives, being 1 matters of fact, of which at this diſtance, I could not have perfect knowledge or evidence, and ſo could truly ſay [quibus neſcio] and 2 being perſonal matters, which I love not to publiſh, farther than the matter it ſelf reveales and declares them, ſo I ſhall not chooſe now out of ſeaſon, and leſſe pertinently to inlarge on that matter: I ſhall onelyonly adde, that Salmaſius lived, and Blondel ſaw, many moneths, ſome years, after the publiſhing of the Diſſertations, and neither of them thought fit to fall into ſuch paſſion ſo cauſeleſly, nor, that I ever heard, ſent the Author of theſe Animadverſions their Letters of Attorney to doe it for them, ſo that I am to acknowledge what he hath done in this, to be an act of his own inclinations, but have no manner of like return to make him for it.

30. How juſtly the many which he mentions have ſuppoſed that he was illecebris adductus, and from what evidence they name the bait, or with what truth it is ſuggeſted that hee had ever ſet up and establiſht that faith which his Defenſio Regia endeavoured to deſtroy, are things ſo far removed from the ſubject before us, the authority of Ignatius's Epiſtles, and ſo unlikely to be concluded by our diſputes, that I thinke we may by conſent let them alone: Otherwiſe the then preſent lownes, and improsperity of the cauſe, which he defended, would offer it ſelf for a very competent argument to infer, the love of truth more than expectation of any temporal advantage, to have perſwaded the writing of it.

31. The ſecond incidental branch concerning Biſhop Montague and Geneva hath been as incidentally, but more largely diſcharged already.

32. The third concerning my interpretation of foreign for the ordination of a young man, might ſurely have been ſpared, when it is by him confeſt, that rather than I could think fit to adhere to it, I choſe to prefer Vedelius's Edition, which reads foreign, the appearing youth of their Biſhop, before this reading of the Laurentian in that place, and that done by me in the firſt place, to remove all force of Salmaſius's p. 31argument, there preſent before me, all that followed being ex abundati, more then needed, and not propoſed, as the truth of the matter, but foreign to ſuperſed… all poſſible reply in it.

33 But my Monitor runs too haſtily into ill language, which yet he diſlikes ſo much in Biſhop Montague (groſſe figments is no very nice expreſſion) elſe he might have ſeen enough produced by me, to have prevented, or allaied the ſtorm of his diſpleaſure.

34. Salmaſius to take advantage from thoſe Epiſtles, both againſt Epiſcopacie, and the Epiſtles themſelves, finds in the Laurentian Copy foreign, ſpoken of Damas's Epiſcopacy, hence he infers that Epiſcopacy was there ſtiled a new Order, and that the Epiſtles were written in a later age, then that of Ignatius, and ſo that Epiſcopacy was of that later institution. To this purpoſe, ſaith he, the word foreign cannot belong to his age, and foreign ſignifies new, and brings 2 Tim. 2. 22. where foreign, which we truly render youthfull lusts, ſignifie, ſaith he, novae aut novarum rerum cupiditates, new deſires, or deſires of new things. To this whole way of arguing I confeſſe I could not afford the leaſt degree of conſent, and ſtill think that that learned Grammarian did never more paſſionately foreign, than in this heap of inconcludencies. To theſe therefore I anſwer'd by degrees proportion'd to the ſeverall ſteps of his procedure: 1 That the Laurentian ſeemed not the right reading, but the Vedelian, not foreign, however rendred, but foreign, his appearing youth: This the whole courſe of the Epiſtle exacted, Damas then Biſhop of the Magneſians being a young man, and Ignatius deſiring his youth might not bring contempt upon him, and therefore adviſing expreſly, not to d…ſpiſe the age of their Biſhop, and this acknowledged by Salmaſius himſelf to be the purport of the Epiſtle.

35. Secondly: That if the utmoſt that could be deſired were granted, both that foreign, were the right reading, and that it were juſtly rendred a new order, yet what was inſtituted by the Apoſtles might paſſe for new in Ignatius's dayes, who dyed very few years after St. John, and both of p. 34them in the reign of Trajan, or that however what was in Ignatius's dayes (and to that Rivet referr'd it, novellus ordo, ſive foreign, … loquitur Ignatius, foreign) even ſo new as to bee but ust the… inſtituted, was yet pretty antient, very little diſtant from Apoſtolical (Ignatius himſelf being ſtiled an Apoſtolical perſon) and without controverſie long before that famous Epocha of 140 years after Chriſt, to which Blondel affixes the riſe of Ep…ſcopacy.

36. Thirdly: That (to avoid all the force of his argument) I was not obliged to affirm, that foreign belonged to age, on one ſide, or that foreign ſignified foreign on the other. For in caſe that were granted to be the right reading (not abſolutely; for that was prevented, but ex hypotheſi, if it were) yet foreign might more agreeably to the context, and the nature of the word, ſignifie Ordination; and for foreign in that place to Timothy by him cited, it evidently ſignified not new (for what could the Apoſtle mean in forewarning him to abſtaine from new luſts, were not antient as dangerous?) It was much more reaſonable to think young Timothy was adviſed to beware of ſuch ſins as are met with among young men (which was the reaſon that young men were not ordinarily made Biſhops) and conſequently, as to that again, both the Context, referring to the foreign, the age, i e. the youth of Damas their Biſhop, and the nature of the word being a denominate from a young man, foreign from foreign, would perſwade rather to render it ſo there alſo; and ſo foreign would be the ordination of a young man; and ſo I am ſure the learned Primate renders it, juvenilem …rdinationem, and Voſſius, who reteins the old barbarous Latine, yet in his Notes hath theſe words, Non debere eo…conti, i. e tanquam commodato accipere. & ad ſe pertrahere foreign illam juvenis iſtius Epiſcopi, which ſure in his Paraphraſe of foreign, & foreign, and punctually agrees with my interpretation alſo. And the Analogie with the uſe of the word foreign (being an foreign but once uſed) in Scripture would much better agree with this, than the rendring it a new Order.

p. 3337. And now I ſhall be very well content to be told by the Reader, of what perſwaſion ſoever, what figment, or how groſſe it was that I endeavoured to impoſe upon him, when I began firſt with a profeſſion, that I did not aſſent to that reading, and then onelyonly added, that I did as little aſſent to Salmaſius's interpretation, but could not be deem'd abſolutely to like the interpretation produced by me, but onelyonly ex hypotheſi, and in compariſon with that of his affixt to St. Paul's words to Timothy, where foreign was uſed; nay, that rather than I would make uſe of my own, though backt with the concurrent judgement of ſuch learned men, I choſe to forſake the Laurentian Copie in that particular, which in others I generally adhered to.

38. There remaines one part of the ſuggeſtion ſtill, the doubtfulneſſe which the [if] importeth, whether I conſult Authors any further than meerly to ſerve my own turn. To which I anſwer 1. by profeſſing that I ſeek truth from Authors, and no proofs, or confirmations of any thing, but what I verily believe to be ſuch. 2 That I may well be believed in this profeſſion, becauſe I am of no partie, which either hath appeared to want ſuch ſupports, or if it did, could probably tempt any man, with competent rewards, to undertake ſo vile an office, as is writing and conſulting Authors to maintain that, which the conſcience doubts of, or knows to be falſe. Laſtly; That the particular, whereon this ſuggeſtion is founded, can be no juſt cauſe of this ſuggeſtion: For 1. not having Vedelius's Edition of Ignatiu by me, when I wrote the Diſſertations, I had yet the Lord Primates firſt Edition of the Epiſtles, which is known to contain the Vedelian Text of the Epiſtles, but hath not his Exercitations, where the Vir doctiſſimus was mentioned: And 2. the whole matter concerning that vir Doctiſſimus being already perfectly cleared, and that if that paſſage, and thoſe arguings of the vir Doctiſſimus in Vedelius had actually occurr'd to my memory, it had not been in the leſt degree pertinent to the ſubject of my then preſent affirmation, it muſt now be as unſeaſonable for me farther to vindicate my integrity herein, as it will be uncharitable in any, without any new cauſe to doubt of it. This onelyonly p. 34I muſt obſerve for mine own uſe, both from the beginning, and the end of this Animadverſion, that my Monitor is one of them whom I am by obligation of Chriſtian Charitie, bound to bleſſe and pray for, and I ſhall doe it, either in my own choice of words, foreign, or in any other form he ſhall praeſcribe me. And ſo much for this Section.

Sect. 2.

Anſwer to Teſtimonies of Mr. Calvin, the Centuriators, and Dr. Whittaker. Of Lent. …he occaſions of Ignatius's Epiſtles. His journey from Antioch to Rome.

Numb. 1. BUt this Act is not yet at an end, there is, it ſeems, more of this Animadverſion ſtill behind, following in theſe words.

But yet a little farther: The firſt Edition of theſe Epiſtles in Latine, was Auguſtae Vindelicorum, An. 1529 in Gree… a… Baſil 1566. Before which time I ſuppoſe the Doctor expects not that any oppoſition ſhould be made to them, conſidering …he heaps of filth and dung, that until about that time were owned for the Offspring of the Antient Fathers.

Upon their firſt appearing in the world what is the entertainment they receive? One who was dead before either the Doctor, or either of his Antagoniſts were born, and whoſe renown among the people of God will live when they are all dead, gives them this welcome into the world; Ignatium quod obtendunt, ſi velint quicquam habere momenti, probent Apoſtolos legem tuliſſe de quadrageſſim… & ſimilibus corruptelis, nihil naeniis iſtis quae ſub Ignatii nomine editae ſunt putid…us: Quo minus tolerabilis eſt …o…um impudentia, qui tal…bus larvis ad fallendum ſe in…uunt. Calv. Inſtit. lib. 1. c. 13. ſect. 29.

What ever be the jugement of our Doctor concerning this man (as ſome there are, of whom a learned Biſhop in this Nation long ago complained, that they are ſtil opening their mouthes againſt Calvin, who h…lp them to mouthes to ſpeak with: Abbot. ad Then.) He will in the judgemen… of ſome be ſo far accounted ſome body, as to take off from them the confident Aſſertion, that Salmaſius and Blondellus were mortalium primi that rejected theſe Epiſtles.

The Centuriato…s of Magdenburg were eſteemed to be ſome bodyes in their dayes, and yet they make bold to call theſe Epiſtles into queſtion, and to tender ſundry arguments to the impairing their credit and authority. This then they Cent. 2. cap. 10. de Epiſc. Antioch. at primum de Ignatio.

p. 35Lectori pio & attento conſiderandum relinquimus quantum ſit illis Epiſtolis tribuendum. Non enim dubitamus quin in lectione earum cuilibet iſta in mentem veniant: primùm quod ferè in omnibus Epiſtolis, licèt ſatis copioſis, occaſio ſcribendi prete…mittitur, nec vel divinare licet, quare potiſſimum ad hanc vel illam Eccleſiam literas voluerit mittere. Deinde ipſius poregrinationis ratio non parvum injicit ſcrupulum conſiderantibus quod multo rectiore & breviore itinere Roman potuerit navigare, ut teſtatur vel ipſius Pauli exemplum—Expende quam longum ſit iter Antiochiâ ad litus Ae gei pelagi ſe recipere, thique recta rurſum verſus ſeptentrionem aſcendere, & praecipuas civitates in litore …itas uſque ad Troadem perluſtrare, cum tamen Romanum iter ſit deſtinatum verſus occaſum. Tertio res ejuſmodi in istas literas insperſae ſunt, ut ad eas propemodum obſtupeſcat Lector, &c. Haec cum alias non ſomnolento Lectori incidant, nos exiſtimaverimus, &c.

Thus they at the worlds firſt awaking, as to the conſideration of things of this kind.

To them adde the learned Whittaker, contra prima de perfect. Script. Queſt. ſexta c. 12. Where after he hath diſputed againſt the credit of theſe Epiſtles; jointly, and ſeverally, wi…h ſundry arguments, at length he concludes, Sed de his Epiſtolis ſatis multa, & de hoc Ignatio quid judicandum fit, ſatis …x iis conſtare poteſt quae diximus. Iſta Papistae non audent t…eri—To whom ſundry others m…ght be added, convincing Salmaſius and Bloud…llus, not to have been mortalium primi that called them into queſtion.

2. What is here brought out of Calvin, the Centuriators, and Whitaker, muſt ſtill be remembred to be by the Prefacer produced to prove the falſeneſs, and ungrounded confidence of my aſſertion, that Salmaſius and Blondel were mortalium omnium primi, the firſt of men that called them into queſtion: And my anſwer muſt certainly be the ſame, which in the laſt Section it was, that it muſt be remembred what Copy of the Epiſtles it was which Salmaſius and Blondel rejected, and of which I ſpake when I affirmed them to be the firſt that did ſo, viz this Laurentian Manuſcript Copy, ſet out after by Voſſius (agreeing with our two antient barbarous tranſlations, which the Lord Primate had met with in England, that very Copy) which Blondel acknowledged to be the ſame which Euſebius 1300 years agoe (and the other antient Fathers) had uſed, and gave belief unto, and by that means was forced to caſt off the Fathers with a [Quid tum! What then!] to ſay that they were deceived, and impoſed upon in that belief, and without doing ſo, had no poſſibility of doubting the genuineneſſe of this Copy.

p. 363. So that the plain reſult and ſumme of my affirmation muſt evidently be this, that the Laurentian Copie of theſe Epiſtles, according with all that the ancients cited from the genuine Epiſtles of Ignatius, and by Blondel's collating them found to do ſo, i. e. in effect the Euſebian Copy of Ignatius, and as ſuch acknowledged by Blondel, was never rejected by any before Salmaſius and Blondel rejected it.

4. This being the onelyonly true ſetting of the caſe between me, and my Adverſaries, I ſhall now need adde no more but this one queſtion, whether the Author of theſe Animadverſions can now think, that this was the Copy of Epiſtles which either Mr. Calvin, or the Centuriators, or Dr. Whitaker rejected in the places by him tranſcribed from them? I might make my question a little more difficult to be anſwered by him, in the affirmative, whether in caſe ſuch a purged Copy of thoſe Epiſtles had been brought to any of them, which they had been forced to acknowledge to be the ſame, or exactly agreeable to that, which the Fathers (all that could be conſulted, and gave teſtimony in this matter) received as authentick Ignatius, whether, I ſay, on that ſuppoſition, they would in any probability have rejected it, with a nil naeniis iſtis putidius, and larvae, &c? But the queſtion will be ſooner at an end, if we conſider the matter of fact, as it lies before us, and therefore in that form he muſt apply the anſwer (which he ſhall return either to me or to his own conſcience) whether Mr. Calvin ever ſaw this Copy, or any other the like, of which it may be ſaid, what of this appears, in relation to Blondel, that he acknowledged it to be the ſame that Euſebius and the Fathers uſed and own'd, and if he never did ſee that, or any the like, whether he can be produced as an inſtance againſt my affirmation, an example of thoſe that rejected theſe, before either I or my Antagoniſts were born?

5. Another Copy I acknowledge he rejected, and in compliance with that judgement of his, Vedelius, that long after followed him at Geneva, and trod in his foetsteps, endeavoured to purge that volume of Epiſtles, meaning, I ſuppoſe, to make it ſuch, as if Mr. Calvin had lived, he would not have rejected. To which purpoſe it may now be remembred, p. 37that Vedelius being preſt with Calvins authority for the rejecting theſe Epistles, he anſwers, that they are miſtaken, who think Calvin ſpake againſt the Epiſtles, and cites Rivet's Critica ſacra c. 1. to prove Calvinum non in Ignatium, ſed in quiſquillias & naenias depravatorum Ignatii invectum eſſe, that Calvin inveighed not againſt Ignatius, but againſt the traſh that the depravers of Ignatius had impoſed upon him. This I have recovered by conſulting Vedelius about the vir doctiſſimus: And this, he that ſent me thither, might have ſeen if he had pleaſed. But beyond what Vedelius could attempt, the providence of God hath favoured this age, and afforded it better commodity to reduce theſe Epiſtles to the antient genuine form, and of that onelyonly it was that I ſpake, and of that Mr. Calvin could not divine to ſpeak, and ſo there is an end of that inſtance.

6. The ſame anſwer evidently abſolves me from the other two Inſtances of the Centuriators, and Dr. Whitaker: for 1. both thoſe, as Vedelius ſaith, doe not reject, but onelyonly doubt of them. 2. They are again the corrupt copies (thoſe that by me are acknowledged to be ſuch) of which their doubt is made, viz. the Copyes which were out in their dayes, long before Vedelius undertook to cleanſe the Augaean ſtable, and much longer, before Voſſius, and the Lord Primate more dextrouſly, and ſuccesfully performed it. And ſo there is nothing behind, which may aſſume to make good the leaſt part of the charge againſt me, whether of confidence or oſcitancy, or what elſe was thought fit to be laid upon me; I may again be able to look Scholars or ſober men in the face, till I make forfeiture of my credit by ſome future miſcarriage.

7. Yet becauſe in the Inſtances here produced, that of Calvin and of the Centuriators there are mentioned ſome exceptions to theſe Epiſtles, to which our preſent Copy may ſtill ſeem lyable, I will not omit to make him my return (though ex abundanti, and extra orbitam) to thoſe alſo.

8. And firſt for that of Calvin, that they which attribute any thing to Ignatius's authority, muſt firſt prove that the Apoſtles made any law for obſerving Lent: It is eaſily anſwer'd (without entring into any dispute concerning the antiquity of that Faſt in the Church of Chriſt) by obſerving but theſe two p. 38things, that the place ordinarily produced to that purpoſe being out of the Epiſtle to the Philippians, in theſe words, [foreign, Diſhonour not the Feaſts, despiſe not the quadrageſſimal Faſt, for it contains an imitation of Chriſts converſation] 1. This Epiſtle is none of the ſeven certainly genuine, which we have from Polycarp's collection, or which we adhere to in our account or plea for Ignatius. 2. That the Author of that Epiſtle whoſoever he was, doth not make Lent to ſtand by any Law, or Inſtitution of the Apoſtles, but onelyonly as an act of imitation of Chriſt, who faſted forty daie… in the wilderneſs.

9. Nay when the Book of Conſtitutions, which is thought to bear ſuch Analogy with the Epiſtles affixt to Ignatius, ſpeaks of the ſame matter, and addes foreign, Legiſlation [foreign, it contains a commemoration of Chriſts converſation and Law-giving] I doe not believe that this at all referres to any command or inſtitution of Chriſt or his Apoſtles in this matter of obſerving of Lent, but that as Chriſts faſting in the Wilderneſ… Mat. 4. was a preparative to his entring on his Prophetick office, Mat. 5. where, in that divine Sermon on the Mount, he gave Evangelicall laws to his Diſciples, the Holy Ghost, having formerly deſcended on him & conſecrated him to it, Mat. 3. ſo the Quadrigeſſimal Faſt was obſerved in the Church to commemorate both theſe, the Laws that he gave as wel as the Faſt that he prepared for them. And ſo no part of the ſuggeſtion from Mr. Calvin holds againſt our pretenſions, the Epiſtle is not by us reckoned as Ignat Epiſt. nor the Inſtitution of Lent ſaid by that ſuppoſititious Epiſt. to be inſtituted by the Apoſtles, and ſo that is ſufficient ſecurity to us from that firſt exception.

10. Next for thoſe exceptions of the Centuriators, I ſhall take them in order as they lye. The firſt is, that almoſt in all the Epiſtles the occaſion of writing them is …mitted, nor can any man divine why he ſhould ſend Letters to this or that Church rather than any other.

11. To this I anſwer, that, to my underſtanding, the occaſions of every of his Epiſtles are as evidently legible, and diſcernible in them, as in moſt of the Apoſtles Epiſtles they are. In p. 39them they are not ſet down by way of ſyllabus, at the beginning, nor in any more viſible groſſe way of tranſition, but are cloſely coucht in the manner that the Authors of them thought fitteſt, and are diſcernible to a carefull obſervant reader, and ſo are they here alſo.

12. The firſt, that to the Church of Sm…rna, is to confirme them in the Faith againſt the infuſions of the G…oſticks, which by this time (as appears by St. John's firſt Epiſtle) oppugned the reality of Chriſt's birth, and death, and reſurrection, to whom he therefore confronteth the true doctrine vindicated in every branch, and vehemently inculcates the foreign and foreign, truly, and in the fleſh, againſt the foreign the bare appearing to ſuffer, &c. which, faith he, foreign, ſome unbelievers or unfaithfull Apoſtate Chriſtians, evidently the Gnoſti…k haereticks affirmed and taught.

13. And here by the way appears more fully the injustice of that ſuspition, which at the beginning of his view of Antiquitie, the Author of this Preface was willing to infuſe into the Reader, as if haeretical corrupt doctrine would be found to have crept into the writings of the **See Chap … ſ…firſt times, that remain to us, whereas the plain truth is, that thoſe hereſies, which ſo earl… were gotten into the Church, and began foreign to oppoſe the truth, were by thoſe firſt writers as punctually confuted, as [reality] and [in the fleſh] can be thought to be oppoſed to the foreign, the bare appearance.

14. To the ſame head of diſcourſe it pertains which ſo l…ws, that theſe haereticks reject the Euchariſt upon the ſame grounds, not believing the reality of Chriſts death▪ And that the one compendious way of arming the Orthodox againſt all their poyſonous infuſions, was to adhere to their Biſhop and Officers of the Church under him, and not to doe any thing in Eccleſiaſtical matters without his direction or commiſſion: It being certain that theſe Haereticks attempted to move the ſetled Faith, and practiſes, and that the Governours of the Church were by the Apoſtles inſtituted to preſerve unity, and true doctrine, and had their rules and grounds of faith depoſited with, and committed to them.

15. To this he addes things very particular both to him, and to p. 40that Church of Smyrna, that he took notice of their prayers for the Church of Syria, that he was now haſtening to his Martyrdome, being at the writing hereof at Troas on his journey to Rome; that in his coming from Antioch the whole tempeſt and rage of the perſecutors having fallen upon him, the Churches of Syria had now obtain'd their foreign, a peaceable enjoyment of the Chriſtian Aſſemblies.

16. A thing particularly taken notice of in Hiſtories, that whilſt Trajan now ſtayed at Antioch, to conſult of his affairs, and war with the Parthians, upon the Letter of Tiberianus Preſident of the prime Nation of Paleſtine, Trajan gave order to him, foreign, that he ſhould leave off killing the Chriſtians, ſo …aith **Cron. lib. 11.Johannes Antiochenus, adding foreign, that he gave the ſame order to all the reſt of the Governours, and concluding, foreign, and the Chriſtians had ſome truce from their perſecutions. So Suidas in the word foreign. Trajan gave the Chriſtians ſome truce, ceſſation of puniſhment, dating it from the time of Tiberiana's Letter (which was certainly at this time of Trajans being at Antioch, and Ignatius on his journey toward Rome, though being already condemned, the mercy extended not to him) foreign, …aith he, from hence forth, foreign, Trajan forbad all under him to puniſh the Chriſtians: So **Tom. 2 p. 20▪Zonaras in the ſtory of that time takes notice of this ceſſation, produced by the ſuffering of many, foreign, &c. The Emperour hearing of the multitude of Chrſtians that had been butchered, gave order for more mercy, foreign, and ſo the perſecution became more moderate, which is farther evident by Trajan's Reſcript to Pliny, and Tertullian's Animadverſions upon it, Apol c. 2.

17. And this they, which had prayed for them in time of their perſecutions, were now in all reaſon to acknowledge to God, as an anſwer and gracious return to their prayers, and to perfect their Chriſtian work toward them, he now adviſes them to ſend a ſolemn Meſſenger with an Epiſtle to congratulate p. 41with thoſe Churches this bleſſed change, foreign, that together with them he might bleſſe God for this tranquillity, or fair weather, which he had now given them, foreign, and that by the benefit of their prayers thoſe others were now landed ſafely at their deſired haven.

18. Then he mentions the ſalutations of the Church at Troa…, from whence he wrote, and names Burrhus, whom they had ſent along with him, which again is the yet more particular occaſion of his writing to them at that time, at the return of their Meſſenger and Officer, whom he would not diſmiſſe without a Letter of kindneſs and Chriſtian care to them, who had ſhewed ſo much of both to him, and the Church committed to his charge: And then ends with as affectionate a ſalutation, and as large an enumeration of all the ſeveral relations to which he deſired to be kindly mention'd, as any Chriſtian heart could doe at the time of his laſt farewel to them.

19. And ſo what could have been more exactly performed, than that which theſe Objectors cannot take notice of to be done at all? What could be more expreſſe and viſible, than the occaſion and particular reaſons of this addreſſe? And the like might be as largely, and as evidently deduced in reference to the reſt of the Epiſtles, but truly that would be too long a work, and therefore let this ſerve foreign for an inſtance of the no grounds of that exception.

20. The next exception is the ipſius peregrinationis ratio, the nature of his journey from Antioch to Rome, the ſtages whereof, as they are diſcoverable in theſe Epiſtles, are by the Objectors obſerved to differ from St. Paul's, and not to bee the neereſt way that might have been choſen thither.

21. But to this the anſwer is obvious, 1. that what in the Epistles is diſcoverable concerning his journey, and the ſeveral ſtages of it, is directly agreeable to the relations of his Martyrdome, recorded by the moſt antient and punctual Hiſtorians, that have written on that ſubject: The Reader may conſult the antient piece call'd Martyrium Ignatii, & he will find this exactly true, without depending on the confidence of my affirmation.

p. 4222. Secondly: For many ſtages of this journey from Antioch toward Rome, they are here the very ſame to Ignatius, which we find in the Acts, in the relation of St. Paul's voyage, firſt from Aſia, then after to Rome; St. Paul went from Troas to Neapolis, from Neapolis to Philippi, Act. 16. 10. And ſo the Acts of Ignatius have it exactly, Illinc (i. e. a Troade) ductus Neapolim, per Philippenſes pertranſivit Macedoniam pedes: From Troas he was carried to Neapolis, from thence he went on foot by Phillippi through Macedonia. So when Act. 28. S. Paul comes to Regium, thence to P…teoli, thence to Rome, ver. 13, 14. 'Tis in like manner manifeſt by the Acts of Ignatius, that he was carried the ſame way: And accordingly when hee came in ſight of Puteoli, 'tis ſaid of him, that he went haſtily out of the ſhip, ſecundùm veſtigia ambulare volens Pauli Apoſtoli, deſirous to tread in St. Paul's ſteps: Mart. Ignat. pag. 44.

23. And for the variations in ſome part of the voyage, the account is eaſie alſo: For in the Acts of Ignatius ſet down by Simeon Metaphraſtes, as there is an account given why Trajan ſentenced him to that kind of death, to fight with, and to be torn aſunder with wild beaſts, **foreign.becauſe he lookt on this as the ſevereſt ſort of death (and ſo moſt proportionable to his rage againſt him, for his bold anſwers made to him at Antioch, telling him that the ††Daemonia gentium Deos exiſtimans, err…s. Mar…. Ignat. foreign. Niceph. l. 3. c. 19.Gods he worſhipt, were the Daemons of the nations) & in like manner alſo why this was not to be done at Antioch, but by ſending him to Rome, leſt it might more ſtir up the love & admiration of the people toward him, when they that knew him ſo well already, ſhould now ſee him ſuffer for Chriſt's name ſo miſerably, **foreign.whereas at Rome he might dye unknown, and unpitied and unremembred, ſo there is alſo as clear a reaſon given, why being carried by ten ſouldiers from Antioch to Rome, the next, or moſt direct way was not conſtantly choſen for him, viz. that the journey might be the more tedious, and weariſome to him, and by that means poſſibly his conſtancy might be broken or leſſen'd) foreign, ſaith he, mentioning it as the adviſe of Trajan's Council, that were then with him at Antioch, foreign, by the length of his journey hee p. 43ſhall undergoe the ſhrewder puniſhment: To which purpoſe alſo St. Chryſoſtome mentions it as the artifice of the Devill (in his * Encomium of Ignatius) that Biſhops ſhould not bee Tom. 5. p. 502.butchered in their own Cities, but carried far off to gather their Martyrs Crown, foreign, at once endeavouring to deprive them of all conveniences, and withall hoping by this act, by the toyle and laſſitude of the journey to make them more weak, and unfit for their final combat, which if it were the policy and deſign of cruel perſecutors (as in this particular 1. the narrations of the fact ſay it was, and 2. a ſpecial paſſage in the Epiſtles to the Smyranaeans may be ſome indication of it, foreign, ſaith he, foreign, All my journey from Syria to Rome I fight with wild beaſts, expreſſing his meaning in the next words, foreign, by land and ſea, night and day chain'd to ten Leopards: And 3. the Centuriators have no objection againſt it) then ſure there is no cauſe of wondering, that the ten Leopards, the Souldiers that guarded him did not chuſe out the ſhorteſt cut from Antioch to Rome, that their Map could have directed them to. Nay, St Chryſoſtome is yet more expreſſe in it, foreign, the D…vil call'd him from Antioch to Rome, ſetting him a courſe to be run forward and backward (that is the meaning of foreign, as it is oppoſed to foreign, as the Scholiaſt on Pindar tels us) and that of a very tedious length, to this very end, ſaith he, by the length of the way and the time, foreign, expecting to proſtrate and ſubdue his reſolution, or conſtancy of mind, to make him renounce the Faith of Chriſt, on which terms he was to be releaſed by the decree of Trajane; ſo ſaith Nicephorus, foreign, He ſent him from Antioch to Rome to be caſt to the Lyons to be devoured, unleſſe he would abjure the Faith of Chriſt.

24. Thus unreaſonable is it in matters of fact, the occaſions and motives whereof are not alwaies viſible to every man, placed p. 44at a diſtance from them, to phanſie and conjecture, what is probable or improbable, and accordingly to reform the Records of Antiquity from our own gueſſes, many things being every day done, which are not the moſt probable, and many things being probable and credible enough, when all the cauſes and circumſtances are known, which while we continue in the dark, or ſee them with prejudices, may appear to be in ſome degree, or in ſome other reſpect improbable.

25. A more particular account of the ſeveral ſtages of his long weariſome journey, perfectly agreeable to theſe foreign, and having now nothing of difficulty in it, & withall expreſly vindicated from the contrary conjectures of the Centuriators, as alſo from the miſtakes of Vedelius, the Reader may conſult in the Lord Primate's Notes on Martyrium Ignatii, which makes it very impertinent for me farther to inlarge on it. Otherwiſe it were no hard task by ſetting down the whole paſſage in the Centuriators, of which only a part is here given us, to ſhew the many miſadventures thoſe learned men were guilty of in their improvident purſuit of this matter, as when they ſay he could not have liberty long as ambages quaerere to goe far out of his way in his journey, quia captivus ducebatur, becauſe he was carried captive (whereas no man thinks that he choſe this increaſe of his torment and toyle for himſelf, yet might have it impoſed on him quite contrary to his choice; by the ſeverity of the Emperours, or his Councils directions, as hath been ſaid) And again, that there is no mention of his following the Emperours Army, nor relation in ſtory that the Emperour fetcht ſuch a circuit in his journey from Antioch to Rome, whereas indeed the matter is clear, that he was committed to a guard of Souldiers, commonly call'd by him the ten Leopards; and for Trajan, it is ſure that he did not at all return to Rome after this, but dyed in Cilicia. But this ex abundanti again, more than needs to the vindicating of Ignatius, who may now be at reſt for a while, till he be ſoon call'd out again to a freſh combate.