to the Church, were always esteemed devoted to God; and therefore were only to be employed in his service, and not to be diverted to any other use, except some extraordinary case of charity absolutely required it. As if it was to redeem captives, or relieve the poor in time of famine, when no other succours could be afforded them; in that case it was usual to sell even the sacred vessels and utensils of the Church, to make provision for the living temples of God, which were to be preferred before the ornaments of the material buildings. Thus St. Ambrose melted down the communion-plate of the Church of Milan to redeem some captives, which otherwise must have continued in slavery; and, when the Arians objected this to him invidiously as a crime, he wrote a most elegant apology and vindication for himself, where among other things, worthy the reader's perusal, he pleads his own cause after this manner; "Is it not better that the bishop should melt the plate to sustain the poor, when other sustenance cannot be had, than that some sacrilegious enemy should carry it off by spoil and plunder? Will not our Lord expostulate with us upon this account? Why did you suffer so many helpless persons to die with famine, when you had gold to provide them sustenance? Why were so many captives carried away and sold without redemption? Why were so many suffered to be slain by the enemy? It had been better to have preserved the vessels of living men, than lifeless metals. What answer can be returned to this? For what shall a man say? I was afraid lest the temple of God should want its ornaments. But Christ will answer; my sacraments do not require gold, nor please me the more for being ministered in gold, which are not bought with gold. The ornament of my sacraments is the redemption of captives; and those are truly precious vessels, which redeem souls from death." Thus that holy father goes on to justify the fact, which the Arians called sacrilege, but he, by a truer name, charity and mercy; for the sake of which he concludes it was no crime for a man to break, to melt, to sell the mystical vessels of the Church, though it were a

1 Ambros. de Offic. lib. ii, c. 28.

very great offence for any man to convert them to his own private use. After the same example we find St. Austin' disposed of the plate of his Church for the redemption of captives. Acacius, bishop of Amida, did the same for the redemption of seven thousand Persian slaves from the hands of the Roman soldiers, as Socrates informs us. From whence we also learn, that in such cases they did not consider what religion men were of, but only whether they were indigent and necessitous men, and such as stood in need of their assistance. We have the like instances in the practice of Cyril of Jerusalem, mentioned by Theodoret3 and Sozomen, and in Deogratias, bishop of Carthage, whose charity is extolled by Victor Uticensis upon the same occasion. For he sold the communion-plate to redeem the Roman soldiers, that were taken captives in their wars with the Vandals. This was so far from being esteemed sacrilege or unjust alienation, that the laws against sacrilege excepted this case, though they did no other whatsoever; as may be seen in the law of Justinian, which forbids the selling or pawning the church-plate, or vestments, or any other gifts, except in case of captivity or famine, to redeem slaves, or relieve the poor; because in such cases the lives or souls of men were to be preferred before any vessels or vestments whatsoever. The poverty of the clergy was a pitiable case of the same nature; and therefore if the annual income of the Church would not maintain them, and there was no other way to provide them of necessaries; in that case some canons allowed the bishop to alienate or sell certain goods of the Church, to raise a present main

tenance.

Possid. Vit. Aug. c. 24. Vid. Cave. Hist. Liter.

--

5

Socrat. lib. vii.

+ Victor. Cod. Just.

c. 21. 8 'Theod. lib. ii. c. 27. Sozom. lib. iv. c. 25. de Persec. Vandal. lib. i. Bibl. Patr. tom. vii. p. 591. lib. i. tit. 2. de Sacrosanct. Eccles. leg. 21. Sancimus, nemini licere sacratissima atque arcana vasa, vel vestes, cæteraque donaria, quæ ad divinam religionem necessaria sunt vel ad venditionem vel ad hypothecam vel ad pignus trahere exceptâ causâ captivitatis et famis in locis quibus hoe contigerit. Nam si necessitas fuerit in redemptione captivorum, tunc et venditionem præfatarum rerum divinarum, et hypothecam et pignorationes fieri concedimus; quoniam non absurdum est, animas hominum quibuscunque vasis vel vestimentis præferri. Con. Carthag. v. c. 4. Con. Agathen. c. 7.

SECT, 7.-And that with the joint Consent of the Bishop and his Clergy, with the Approbation of the Metropolitan or some Provincial Bishops. But that no fraud might be committed in any such cases, the same canons did specially provide, "that when any urgent necessity compelled the bishop to take this extraordinary course, he should first consult his clergy, and also the metropolitan, and others his comprovincial bishops, that they might judge of the necessity, and whether it were a reasonable ground for such a proceeding." The fourth - council of Carthage1 disannuls all such acts of the bishop, whereby he either gives away, or sells, or commutes any goods of the Church, without the consent and subscription of his clergy. And the fifth council of Carthage* requires him to intimate the case and necessity of his Church first to the primate of the province, that he with a certain number of bishops may judge, whether it be fitting to be done. The council of Agde says," he should first consult two or three of his neighbouring bishops, and take their approbation." Thus stood the laws of the Church, so long as the bishop and his clergy had a common right in the dividend of ecclesiastical revenues; nothing could be alienated without the consent of both parties, and the cognizance and ratification of the metropolitan or provincial synod. So that the utmost precaution was taken in this affair, lest, under the pretence of necessity or charity, any spoil or devastation should be made of the goods and revenues of the Church.

1 Con. Carth. iv. c. 32. Irrita erit donatio Episcorum, vel venditio vel commutatio rei ecclesiasticæ, absque conniventiâ et subscriptione Clericorum. 2 Con. Carth. v. c. 4. Si aliqua necessitas cogit, hanc insinuandam esse Primati provinciæ ipsius, ut cum statuto numero Episcoporum, utrum faciendum sit, arbitretur. Con. Agathen. c. 7. Apud duos vel tres comprovinciales vel vicinos Episcopos, causâ, quâ necesse sit vendi, primitùs com! probetur.

BOOK VI.

AN ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL LAWS AND RULES, RELATING TO THE EMPLOYMENT, LIFE, AND CONVERSATION OF THE PRIMITIVE CLERGY.

CHAP. I.

Of the Excellency of these Rules in general, and the Exemplariness of the Clergy in Conforming to them.

SECT. 1.—The Excellency of the Christian Rules attested and envied by the Heathens.

I HAVE in the two foregoing books given an account of the great care of the primitive Church in providing and training up fit persons for the ministry, and of the great encouragements that were given them by the state, as well to honour and distinguish their calling, as to excite and provoke them to be sedulous in the discharge of their several offices and functions. There is one thing more remains, which is, to give an account also of the Church's care in making necessary laws and canons, obliging every member of the ecclesiastic body to live conformably to his profession, and exercise himself in the duties of his station and calling. These rules were many of them so excellent in their own nature, and so strictly and carefully observed by those, who had a concern in them, that some of the chief adversaries of the Christian religion could not but take notice of them, and with a sort of envy and emulation bear testimony to them. Among the works of Julian there is a famous epistle of his to Arsacius, high-priest of Galatia, which is recorded also by Sozomen,' wherein he takes

1 Sozom. lib. v. c. 16.

occasion to tell him, "that it was very visible, that the causes of the great increase of Christianity were chiefly their professed hospitality towards strangers, and their great care in burying the dead, joined with a pretended sanctity and holiness of life." Therefore he bids him, as high-priest of Galatia, to take care, " that all the priests of that region,, that were under him, should be made to answer the same character; and that he should either by his threatenings or persuasions bring them to be diligent and sober men, or else remove them from the office of priesthood;-that he should admonish the priests, neither to appear at the theatre, nor frequent the tavern, nor follow any calling or employment, that was dishonourable and scandalous; and such as were observant of his directions he should honour and promote them, but discard and expel the refractory and contumacious." This is plainly to say, and it is so much the more remarkable for its coming from the mouth of an adversary, that the Christian clergy of those times were men that lived by excellent rules, diligent in their employment, grave and sober in their deportment, charitable to the indigent, and cautious and reserved in their whole conversation and behaviour toward all men. Which as it tended mightily to propagate and advance Christianity in the world; so it was what Julian upon that account could not but look upon with an envious eye, and desire that his idol-priests might gain the same character; thereby to eclipse the envied reputation of the other, and reflect honour and lustre upon his beloved heathen religion. We have the like testimonies in Ammianus Marcellinus1 and others, concerning the frugality, temperance, modesty, and humility of Christian bishops in their own times; which coming from the pens of professed heathens, and such as did neither spare the emperors themselves, nor the bishops of Rome, who lived in greater state and affluence, may well be thought authentic relations, and just accounts of those holy men, whose commendations and characters, so ample, nothing but truth could have extorted from the adversaries of their religion.

VOL. I.

Ammian. Marcel. lib. xxvii.

3 Q