Caesar whom he made (†) Trebellius Pollio Partner with him in the Empire leaving him the European forces to defend the German Frontiers while he marched into Persia against Sapores Lactant. de Mort. Persecut who took him Captive after he had reigned 6 years Gallienus after his Fathers death wholly addicted himself to Ease Wine and Wantonness (†) Triginta propè tyrannos passus est Trebell Pollio in Gallien Tumultuarios Imperatores ac Regulos Ib. in Claudio quietly suffering almost 30 several persons to usurp several Parts of the Empire and take upon them the Titles of Augusti till at last some Officers of the Army not being able to endure him any longer killed him at Milan with his Brother Valerian who was also called Augustus He was succeeded by (†) Eutrop. l. 9. Trebell Poll. in Gallien Claudius the Second who was chosen Emperor by the Army and afterwards declared Augustus by the Senate He had not reigned quite two years when he died to the great grief of the Senate who chose his Brother Quintillus Emperor who was (‖) Trebell Pollio Eutrop. l. 9. slain by the Souldiers in the 17th day of his Reign (†) Pompon Laetus Zosimus Cedrenus others say he killed himself after he heard that the Army had chosen Aurelian Emperor whom as Pompon Laetus saith Clodius recommended to the Senate when he first was taken sick My (‖) Trebell Poll. Author speaking of Quintillus his succeeding of his Brother to the Empire saith Delatum sibi omnium judicio suscepit Imperium non Haereditarium sed merito virtutum which I leave to the Author and Superviser of Julian to construe if they can into this English There is nothing more plain than that the Empire was Hereditary Aurelian his Successor did mighty things but was slain by the Treachery of his Secretary (‖) Zosimus l. 2. Eutrop. l. 9. Aurel. Victor Pompon Laetus who having been threatned by him for some Misdemeanours counterfeited orders in his Majesties Name and Hand for killing of some Military Officers which he pretended out of Kindness privately to shew some of them exhorting them to prevent their own death by the Emperors They believing this Sham to be true presently conspired against him and killed him at Caenophrurion between Heraclea and Byzantium after he had reigned six years After the death of Aurelian there was an (†) Flavius Vopiscus in Tacito Interregnum which is inconsistent with an Hereditary Empire for six months which was spent in Compliments betwixt the Army and the Senate which of the two should choose the new Emp. At length the Senate chose (★) Flavius Vopiscus Eutropius l. 9. Aurell Victor Tacitus a grave Senior of their own Body but he scarce lived to do any thing more than to revenge the Murder of Aurelian dying after he had reigned 6 Months After he was dead his Brother Florianus saith (‖) Post fratrem arripuit Imperium non Senatûs autoritate sed suo motu quasi haerediâ—â—rium esset Imperium Vopiscus usurped the Empire without the Authority of the Senate as if it had been an Hereditary Empire which by the Favour of Unanswerable Mr. J. implyes plainly that it was not so He reigned not above two months before he was killed by the Souldiers at Tarsus and as some suspected by the contrivance of Probus the Second Hannibal who was chosen Emperor by the universal Consent of the Army and Senate Tantus autem Probus fuit in re militari ut illum Senatus optaret miles eligerit ipse populus Romanus acclamationibus peteret Vopiscus after he had quelled many Rebellions was slain in a Mutiny of the Souldiers at Sirmium Eutrop. l. 9. Aurel. Victor Vopiscus after he had reigned six years The Senate and People mightily bewailed the death of Probus who was succeeded by Carus the Praefectus Praetorio who as soon as he was made Emperor by the (‖) Vopiscus Pompon Laetus Army declared his two Sons Carinus and Numerianus Caesars and about a year after he took the Empire upon him he was killed by Lightning in his Camp upon the Banks of Tigris Presently after he was dead Numerianus falling sick was killed by Arrius Aper his own Father-in-Law who thought to succeed Probus in the Empire But he was much disappointed in his Expectation for the Army chose Dioclesian a man of obscure Parentage Vopiscus Eutrop. l. 9. Pomp. Laet. and he being declared Augustus revenged the death of Numerianus upon Aper with his own Hand Aper being slain he presently set himself against Carinus whom after many Battels he at last quite routed at the River Margus where Carinus was slain After the death of Carinus he was declared (†) Pompon Laetus Eutrop. l. 9. Lactant. de Mort. Persecut Augustus by the Senate and joyfully received by the People of Rome But finding the Empire infested with Rebellions he declared Maximianus surnamed Herculeus Caesar and then Augustus and made him his Brother and Partner in the Empire which they governed together in perfect (‖) Pompon Laet. Eutrop. l. 9. Lactant. de Mort. Pers Euseb de Mart. Palaest c. 3. Concord till they both resigned together in the 20th year of their Reign They were succeeded by their own Adopted Sons and Caesars Constantius Chlorus whom Maximian adopted and Galerius Maximianus Aurel. Victor Pompon Laet. Lactant. de Mort. Pers whom Dioclesian adopted who being forced after their Adoption to put away their former Wives Constantius married Theodora Daughter-in-Law to Maximian and Galerius Valeria the Daughter of Dioclesian When Dioclesian resigned to Galerius he was forced by him much against his Inclination to nominare Severus and Maximinus who was Nephew to Galerius Caesars at which the Army was much surprized expecting that he should have nominated (†) Constantinum omnes intuebantur Nulla erat dubitatio milites qui adâ—rant priores militum electi ac acciti ex regionibus in hune unum intenti gaudebant optabant vota faâ—iebant c. Lactant. de Mort. Persec p. 38. Constantinus Son to Constantius who was now in Brittain Constantine was then in the Court of Dioclesian and continued after his Retirement with Galerius but very uneasie because another was set up Caesar over his Head Galerius hated him and had ill Designs upon him of which he was very sensible which made him beg leave of his Majesty to go into Brittain to his Father Constantius which he obtained with much difficulty upon his Fathers Letters but leave being once obtained away he posts arriving at York but a (‖) Pervenit ad patrem jam deficientem Lact. de Mort. Pers little before his Father died His Father had declared him Caesar before his Arrival as Pomp. Laet. saith when he first fell sick and at his death left his part of the Empire to him and commended him to the Army for their New Emperor This vexed Galerius to the Heart who yet fearing the
preferred his base (‖) Vid. Pomp. Laet. Zosim l. 2. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Son Crispus Caesar if he had lived or his Nephew Dalmatius before his own Children or a Stranger before them all If he might have done so as according to the Laws and Custom of the Empire he might then let them tell me where is their Hereditary Empire and the Lineal Succession of the House of Chlorus to the Imperial Crown Lastly let me ask them If the Three Caesars designed by Constantine (†) Feliciano Titiano Coss commenced Augusti like our Princes His Coss Constantinus Aug. ad Caelestia Regna ablatus est xi Cal. Jun. Et ipso anno nuncupati sunt tres Augusti Constantinus Constantius Constans v. id Septemb. Ida. Fast Consular From whence it is evident that Constantinus M. died the 20th of May but his Three sons were not declared Augusti till the 8th of September following and in the mean time as Candidates for the Empire rather than Emperors they stiled themselves Caesars as is evident from Constantine Juniors Letter in favour of Athanasius dated the 25th or the Calends of July next after his Fathers death wherein he stiles himself Caesar ib. in the moment of their Fathers death or whether they were not formally made so by the Suffrage of the Legions and whether the Suffrage of the Legions and the unanimous Consent of the Senate according to the Custom of the Empire would not have made any Strangers as rightful Emperors as they When they have considered of an Answer to these Questions I hope they will find that there is nothing more plain than that the Empire was not Hereditary which I undertook to prove After the death of Constantine the Empire remained not long Tripartite for Constantine his eldest Son being killed in a Battel with the (‖) Cedrenus Pomp. Laet. Zonaras Souldiers of Constans it was reduced to the two surviving Brothers whereof (†) Zosim l. 2. Constans the youngest being killed in a Battel agianst the Rebel Magnentius in the 14th year of his Reign the whole devolved upon Constantius who of his (*) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nazianz l. Invect p. 62. goodness made his Cozen-German Gallus elder Brother to Julian Caesar and not long after deposed him from the (‖) Edicto Gallum dignitate privavit Pomp. Laet. Caesarship 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Julian ad S. P. Q. Athen. p. 498 500. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Zon. l. 3. p. 18. Vid. Philostorg Hist Ecc. l. 3. p. 492. and put him to death for his Disobedience (†) Vid. Amm. Marcell l. 14. c. 2 7 9 11. Onerosus bonis omnibus Caesar Ausurus hostilia in auctorem suae felicitatis Ferociens ut Leo cadaveribus pastus Ablatis regiis monumentis Caesarem tunicâ texit communi and Murder of Domitian and Montius After the death of Gallus he made his Brother Julian Caesar and gave him his Sister Helena to Wife Having made him Caesar he sent him into Gaul where he was very successful against the Enemies of the Empire and having got the hearts of the Army by Donatives and other Arts they proclaimed him (‖) Zosim l 3. p. 711. Am. Marcell l. 20. Zonar l. 3. p. 08. Socrates l. 2. c. 47. l. 3. c. 1. Imperator Augustus Zosom l. 5. 1. and put the Diadem upon him (†) Amm. Marcell l. 22. and afterwards swore Allegiance to him upon which Contantius returns from the Persian Expedition and marches against him with his Army designing to reduce him but dies in his March in Cilicia (‖) Amm. Marcell l. 21. saith it was reported That Constantius at his death nominated Julian his Successor in the Empire and made him his Heir leaving him in the Possession of the Empire in which after his Majesties death he was perpectly confirmed by the consent of (*) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Zosim l. 3. Vid. Zonar l. 3. p. 21. his Army (†) L. 3. Zosimus tells us That Constantius after the death of Gallus deliberated whether he should create a new Caesar or take a Partner to the Empire after the Example of former Emperors but not knowing any whom he durst trust in the Augustusship with himself he was very uncertain what he should do till Eusebia the Empress perswaded him by many Arguments to constitute Julian Caesar After the Death of Gallus Ammianus Marcellinus saith That many of the Courtiers were (†) Caveri debere Caesaris nomen replicantes gesta sub Gallo against his making of Julian Caesar but that the Empress openly opposed them all saying That the Emperor (‖) Ommibusque memerans anteponi debere â—ropinquum ought to prefer his Kinsman before a Stranger And Julian was so sensible of the Empresses Kindness that he afterwards wrote an (†) Orat. 3. p. 217. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 And p. 218. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Oration in her praise to express his Gratitude unto her in which he owns all that he had to the Emperors free Bounty and Generosity and accordingly (‖) Tom. 3. p. 19. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Zonaras tells us That Constantius sent this Message to him after he had Usurped the Empire that he ought to remember how much he was indebted to his Kindness Not only for making of him Caesar but that he had bred him up from a Child From all which it is plain First That Constantius had the liberty after the death of Gallus whether he would choose any Caesar or no. 2. That he might by the Laws and Customs of the Empire have created any other man Caesar as well as Julian 3. That after he had freely chosen him he might freely have deposed him from the Caesarship as he did his Brother Gallus as (†) In Syriâ Augusti vehiculum irascentis per spatium mille passâ—um fere pedes Antegressus est Galerius purpuratus Am. Marc. l. 14. Vid. Bapt. Egn. Galerius was afraid Dioclesian would have deposed him and as Adrian designed to depose (‖) Hic tamen valetudinis adeo â—â—serae fuit ut Adrianum statim adoptionis paeniteret potuerâ—to eum amovere à familiâ Imperaâ—oriâ quum saepe de aliis cogitaret siforte vixisset Spart in Elio Vero. Ceionius Commodus otherwise called Aelius Verus because he was a Weak and Vnhealthy man Nay the (†) Zonar Loc cit Zosim l. 3. p. 711. Historians agree That Constantius commanded Julian after he rebelled to put off the Habit of Caesar and betake himself to a private condition All which things how agreeable they are with the Birthright of Julian and the notion of an Hereditary Empire I leave to the meanest Capacity to judge This very Contradiction is plainly discernable in our Authors First and Second Chapters notwithstanding all the Art and Fallacies he hath used to disguise the Cheat from vulgar Readers There we have Made Julian Caesar Would never have made Julian Caesar the making
Reader please to consult this Anonymous Paper at large he will find it Presbyterian and Scottish from one end to the other and a Brat so unlike the Bishops upon whom the true Author hath fathered it that a man may almost safely swear that it was none of Theirs Indeed there is one Good Argument in it why the Queens Subjects might have been urgent with her Majesty to put the Queen of Scots to death and that is this That she sought the Life of the Queen and endeavoured to disinherit and destroy her These Attempts put her perfectly out of the Queens Protection and though for this Reason she might lawfully be excluded out of the World yet still the question remains Whether she could be excluded from the Crown To be excluded out of the World and from the Crown are things of a disparat Nature and the former may and sometimes ought to be done when the latter neither can nor ought As for Example among the Jews it was the Birthright of the (q) Selden de Successionibus c. 5. only Son to succeed to his Fathers whole Estate or when there were more of the eldest to have a double share and though they ought to have been put to death by the Hebrew Laws for Smiting or Cursing their Father yet could they not be disinherited or excluded from the Succession which shews our Authors great Fallacy in which he Triumphs in arguing as it were a fortiori from the Exclusion of the Heir of the Crown out of the World unto the Exclusion of him from the Crown They saith he of the Bishops were Excluders with a witness for they were for excluding the next Heir not only from the Succession but out of the World And again A Bill of Exclusion is perfect Courtship to these Reasons Let those therefore that have run down 3 successive Houses of Commons for that Bill turn their Fury and Reproaches with more Justice upon these old Excluders But all these fine Words are nothing to the purpose for these Old Excluders were not Excluders from the Succession which spoyls the parity of the Instance and to let him see that it doth so he may assure himself That the same Loyal Men who run down 3 Houses of Commons for the Bill to Exclude his R.H. from the Succession would nevertheless upon sufficient Proof that he sought the Life of his dear Brother to whom hitherto he hath shewed himself the most Obedient of his Subjects be willing to do him Justice and exclude him out of the World Furthermore to let Mr. J. see what a great difference there is between these two Exclusions I must remind him that in case Queen Elizabeth had died between the Sentence of Mary Queen of Scots and her Execution that the Descent of the Crown would have purged Her of all Crimes and that ' she would have had the same Right unto it which the Parliament declared her Son James afterwards had upon Queen Elizabeths death But yet though the Descent of the Crown purges all Defects and would bring back the greatest Malefactor of an Heir not only from a Prison but from the Scaffold and from the Block to the Throne yet our Author with unparallelled Considence (r) Preface p. 19. challenges all that were against impeaching the Succession To give him but one Reason to prove a Bill of Exclusion to be Unlawful which they will own to be a Reason a Week after and not be ashamed of it and he doth solemnly promise to joyn with them in renouncing these Old Reformers and thereafter will follow their New Guides and New Lights I never in all my Life read any thing so bold from a Man of Mr. Js. mediocrity who here challenges the House of Lords the 3 Estates of Scotland the University of Cambridge one of the Secretaries of State the Loyal Addressers and several other Persons of Note whom he ought to believe are at least as wise and learned and as good Protestants as himself First The House of Lords who were the first that in his Phrase run down the House of Commons for the Bill of Exclusion upon which his Majesty sent the House this Message That He was confirmed in his Opinion against that Bill by the Judgment of the House of Lords who rejected it and may not one presume that many of them rejected it because they thought it disagreeable to the Lex Legum or great standing Law of this Inheritable Kingdom That nothing is to be consented to in Parliament which tends to the disinherison of the Crown whereunto they are sworn This is the great Rule by which all Acts of Parliament are to be framed and if any of them transgress it they are as null and void from the beginning as Marriage with a person who hath a natural Impediment or Imperfection By this Supream Inviolable Law an Act of Parliament for dissolving the Monarchy or for debarring the King of the Service of his Subjects or for giving the Crown unto a Forainer or for making it Homageable to a Superiour Power or for dividing the Monarchy into Copartnership unto two Heirs or for Excluding the whole Royal Family as many of the Excluders grant would all be Null and Void from the beginning and so I verily believe most of them think that an Act for Excluding the next Heir would be so too which made them so zealous to back it with an Act for an Association which the Author of the Power of Parliaments ingeniously calls a Club-Law I Know not what any Excluder can reply to this but either to say That an Act of Parliament which tends to the Disinherison of the Crown is nevertheless valid or that an Act of Exclusion hath no tendency thereunto To assert the former would be a Contradiction to the most Eminent Lawyers Antient and Modern and many Declarations in Parliament and would also suppose that an Act for destroying the Monarchy it self c. would be valid And to assert the latter is virtually to say That an Act for Disinheriting the next Heir doth not tend to the disinherison of the Crown which would be difficult to maintain because the same Power that puts by One Heir may put by Ten either altogether or Successively and so Adieu to the Royal Family and the Hereditary Succession which may be laid aside in part or in whole when the King and Parliament shall please But to return to this Fundamental-Law of the Monarchy which seems to invalidate all Acts of Parliam that tend to the Disinherison or Destruction of the Crown and particularly all those which limit and bind the Succession It was by this Law that the (s) 35 H. 8. ch 1.1 Eliz. ch 3. Act of Parliament which Impâ—â—vered King Henry the 8th to dispose of the Crown by his Last Will and Testament to what person or persons soever he pleased proved Ineffectual to the House of Suffolk to which he bequeathed it after the death of Queen Elizabeth which made a
Island Planasia There he remained while Tiberius was Adopted by Augustus made Partner with him in the Empire and in the Tribuneship and shew'd openly unto the Legions as one that was designed for their Future Prince A little before Augustus died it was discoursed that he intended to restore Agrippa which made many fear that a Civil War might arise between him and Tiberius after the Emperors death But as soon as Augustus died he was upon private Orders dispatched by his Keeper so that Tiberius having no Rival the (⋆) Romae ruere in servitium Consules Patres Eques Tacit. An. l. 1. Servile Romans of all sorts strove who should shew themselves most readly to obey him The two Consuls first of all took an Oath of Allegiance unto him then they required it of the Captain of the Guards and the Providor General then of the Senators afterwards of the Souldiers and last of all of the People After the Funeral of his Father Augustus was over the Senate as he very much (†) Dabat famae ut vocatus clectusque potiùs a repub videretur quà m per uxorium ambitum senili adoptione irrepsâ—sse ib. desired in a most (‖) Precantem Senatum procumbentem sibi ad genua Suet. 24. Patres in questus lacrymas vota effundi ad Deos ad effigiem Augusti ad genua ipsies manus tendere Tacit. suppliant manner begg'd him to take the Government upon him and the more he seem'd to refuse it the more importunate they were with him to accept it so that at last he seemed to take it upon him as a man doth a (⋆) Tandem quasi ceactus Suet. 24. Burden upon his Back meerly to comply with their Desires (†) Filiorum neque naturalem Drusum neque adoptivum Germanicum patriâ charitate dilexit He had two Sons One â—â—â—ural by his Wife Agrippina 〈◊〉 Daughter of Vipsanius Aâ—â—â—â—â—â—a who was called Drusus 〈◊〉 â—ther by Adoption the Galâ—â—â—◠〈◊〉 Germanicus his (‖) Germanicum Druso ortum adsciri per adoptionem à Tiberio jussit quanquam esset in domo Tiberii filius juvenis Tacit. An. l. Brother â—â—â—â—â—us his eldest Son They 〈◊〉 died and left Sons Germaâ—â—â—â— three Nero Drusus and â—â—â—â—ula (⋆) Crebris cum lachrymis minorem en nepotibus complexus truci alterius vultu occides hunc tu inquit te alius Tacit. An. l. 6.46 Drusus one Tiberius â—â—â—â—llus taken off by Caligula 〈◊〉 he came to be Emperor as â—â—â—berius his foretold †Nero 〈◊〉 Drusus his two eldest Grandâ—â—â—â—â—â—â—e recommended to the Seâ—â—â—â— but because the Favour of 〈◊〉 â—enate and People too came 〈◊〉 â—â—â—st upon them he afterâ—â—â—â— (‖) Gnarum hoc principi eoque dibitavit de tradendâ repub primum inter nepotes quorum Druso genitus sanguine charitate proprior sed nondum pubertatem ingressus Germanici filio robur juventae vulgi studia eáque apud avum odii causa Etiam de Claudio agitanti quod is compositâ aetate bonarum artium cupiens erat imminuta mens ejsis obstitit Sin Extra domum Successor quereretur ne memoria Augusti ne nomen Caeâ—â—â—am in Ludibria contumelias vertcret metuebat Tac. An. 6.46 Dso l. 56. procured their death this time he was grown and Infirm but could ‖ resolve who to Noâ—â—â—â—â—â—â—â—e and recommend for his â—â—â—â—ssor He hated Caligula 〈◊〉 â—â—â—se he was so dear to the 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—e and the Army for the 〈◊〉 of his Father Germanicus 〈◊〉 â—â—â—ived and died their Darâ—â—â—â— and especially because the 〈…〉 Men began to make their 〈◊〉 â—â—â—â—t too soon unto him which 〈◊〉 â—â—â—e him tell Macro (†) Occidentem ab eo deseri orientem spectari exprobravit That 〈◊〉 â—orsook the setting to worship the Rising Sun For this Reason he sometimes thought to set up Tiberius his Grandson by Drusus who was nearest to him in Blood and Affection to prevent Caligula but could not well do it because he was not yet 14 years old Sometimes he thought of his Nephew Claudius brother to Germanicus who was of full Age and of a Studious Disposition but had not Parts sufficient for the Government of the Empire Sometimes again he thought of Nominating a Stranger for his Successor but that he was loath to do because it would have been so great a Scandal and Reproach to the Name and Family of the Caesars and in this incertitude growing weaker and weaker he would name none but left the matter to the Fates He died of a lingring Sickness which gave Caligula the Darling of the City and Provinces upon the Account of his Father Germanicus opportunity of securing the Succession to himself although he was (‖) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dio. l. 58. never named nor appointed his Successor by Tiberius but only adorned by him with some Honours as if he had intended him for his Successor (†) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. l. 59. In principio Nay Dio tells us for certain that Tiberius in his last Will and Testament bequeathed the Empire to his Young Grandson Tiberius But Caligula his Interest in the Consuls and other Senators got it declared void in the Senate as being made by the Emperor when he was not compos mentis as it did appear by his bequeathing the Empire to a Boy who was not of age to be a Senator The Will of Tiberius being declared void Caligula comes to Rome where by the Joynt (‖) Ingressóque urbem statim consensu Senatûs irrumpentis in curiam turbae jus arbitriumque omnium rerum illi permissum est Sueton 14. Consent of the Senate and the People who rushed into the Senate-house he was declared Emperor Never any Prince came with more (†) Exoptatissimus princeps maximae parti provincialium quod infantem plerique cognoverant sed universae plebi Urbanae ob memoriam Germanici Patris Sueton. 13. advantage to the Crown but never Prince more disappointed the Expectation of the People being one of the greatest Monsters of Vice that ever the World saw He had not reigned quite 4 years before his destruction was designed and effected by Cheraea and Sabinus in the Palace and after he was slain the Consuls having placed Guards in all Parts of the City convened the Senate into the Capitol The Senate being set some were for (‖) Dio. l. 60. In principio Sueton. 60. restoring the Commonwealth and abolishing the Memory of the Caesars others were for continuing the Monarchy but differed in the Nomination of the Persons whom they would have succed unto it and so spent all that day and the next night in Uncertain Debates In the mean while the Souldiers plundering and ransacking the Palace found Claudius the Brother of Germanicus who had hid himself in that Distraction and as soon as they knew who it was they besides his Expectation Saluted him Emperor and took him to the Camp where he was made Emperor by the Choice of
making War in Judaea was created Emperor first by the Moesian Legions then by Tiberius Alexander the Governour of Egypt and the Army there and last of all by the Army in Judea from whence he marched to Alexandria leaving his Son Titus to beseige Jerusalem (‖) Vid. Dion in Xiphil Eutrop. l. 7. c. 1. Oros l. 7. He stay'd at Alexandria sometime having sent Mucianus and Domitian with Forces to Rome but before Mucian arrived there Vitellius falling into Despair upon what was done by Sabinus and Domitian hid himself in a Dog-Kennel thinking to escape by Night to his Brother at Tarracina but being found by the Souldiers they brought him with his Hands bound behind him from the Palace to the Forum where after much contumelious usage they Barbarously put him to death He being dead Vespasian waâ— immediately (†) Romae Senatus cuncta Principibus solita Vespasiano decermt Tac. Hist l. 4. c. 3. declared Emperor by the Senate and his two Sons Titus and Domitiaâ— voted Caesars 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dio. This ★ OccultaÌ„ lege sati ostentis ac responsis destinatum Vespasiano ac liberis ejus imperium post fortunam credimus Tacit. Hist l. 11. Fortunate Prince the Favourite of God and Men made his Son Titus (‖) Neque ex eo destitit participem atque tutorem imperii agereâ—triumphavit cum patre censuramque gessit und eidem Collega in Tribunitia potestate in septem Consulibue fuit receptâque ad se ommium officiorum curacirc Sucton 6. Vespasianus Titus Imperatores Orosius l. 7. c. 9. Vid. Dium Xiph. in Vesp Tito Copartner with him in the Empire he let him triumph with him in that Famous Triumph over Jerusalem he made him his Colleague in the Censorship and Tribuneship and in 7 Consulships successively in a word he had the whole care of the Empire committed to him He made Orations in the Senate dictated Epistles and signed Edicts with his own Name and his Fathers and was called Emperor as well as his Father having been proclaimed so by the Army at the taking of Jerusalem His Father reigned 10 years and he survived him but two years and two months This ★ OccultaÌ„ lege sati ostentis ac responsis destinatum Vespasiano ac liberis ejus imperium post fortunam credimus Tacit. Hist l. 11. Fortunate Prince the Favourite of God and Men made his Son Titus (‖) Neque ex eo destitit participem atque tutorem imperii agereâ—triumphavit cum patre censuramque gessit und eidem Collega in Tribunitia potestate in septem Consulibue fuit receptâque ad se ommium officiorum curacirc Sueton. 6. Vespasianus Titus Imperatores Orosius l. 7. c. 9. Vid. Dion Xiph. in Vesp Tito Copartner with him in the Empire he let him triumph with him in that Famous Triumph over Jerusalem he made him his Colleague in the Censorship and Tribuneship and in 7 Consulships successively in a word he had the whole care of the Empire committed to him He made Orations in the Senate dictated Epistles and signed Edicts with his own Name and his Fathers and was called Emperor as well as his Father having been proclaimed so by the Army at the taking of Jerusalem His Father reigned 10 years and he survived him but two years and two months He was succeeded by the Second Nero his Brother Domitian who was murdered by his own (†) Lactantius de Mort. Persecut Dio Xiph. Orosius l. 7. c. 10. Sueton. 17. Domestics the Empress her self being in the Conspiracy when he had reigned 15 years The Chief of the Conspirators besides Domitia the Empress were Parthenius and Sigerus Gentlemen of his Bed-Chamber and Entellus his Secretary of State who coming by a strange Accident to read their Names among others whom the Emperor had destined to Destruction were resolved to be before-hand with him but first sought out for a Successor to the Empire and after Nerva had promised to take the Government upon him they put their Design in execution when he was asleep Domitian being dead Nerva by the Interest of Petronius Secundus the Praefectus Praetorio and the forementioned Parthenius was declared Emperor by the (‖) Dio Xiph. Oros l. 7.11 Eutrop. l. 8. Senate He was old and infirm and died after he had reigned 18 Months Before he died he (†) Dio Xiph. publickly adopted Trajan in the Capitol (⋆) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 l. â—â— though he had Relations of his own and afterwards declared him Caesar in the Senate meerly for his Vertues though he was no (‖) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dio Xiph. Roman but a Spaniard and of obscure Original and he was the first 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stranger that succeeded to the Imperial Croâ—â— Here we may see the Skill or Ingenuity of our Author who declaâ—â—d this Incertum quasi vagum Imperium as (†) In Vesp I. Suetonius once called it to be an Hereditary Empire which was fixed to no Family but to which every Free Subject in it Roman or not Roman might possibly succeed as every Freeman in London of what Family or Country soever may come to be Lord Mayor Let him go to his great Mystae in poliâ—ics to help him to reconcile the definition of an Hereditary Empire to such a vagrant and desilroâ—y Succession as I have shewn this to be if he can do it I will no longer believe that the Notions of things are fixed and immutable but that the same Number may be Even and Odd and the same Element Fire and Water The Angels Horns in the Vision of his Mahomet which were half Snow and half Fire are not half so great a Contradiction as such an Hereditary Empire for the Fire Snow were visionary or if they were real the Fire might be lambent not melt the Snow but Electivemelts down the Notion of Hereditary with its very looks they are utterly inconsistent and can no more belong to one common Subject than a Table can be round and square But to return to this strange Hereditary Succession Trajan the best of the Roman Emperors died after he had reigned 19 years In his life time he would Adopt none not Adrian his Countryman and nearest Kinsman who had been bred under him and married his Neece But (†) Dio Xiph. after he was dead Plotina the Empress concealing his death wrote Letters in his Name to the Senate wherein was declared That he had Adopted Adrian after which she declared him Emperor while he was at Antioch of which he was Governour But before he stirred from thence he wrote to the Senate to desire them to confirm him in the Empire which they did and over and above (‖) Oâ—osius l. 7. c. 13. Spartian in Adrian gave him the ancient Title of Pater Patriae and his Wife the Title of Augusta He first Adopted (†) Dio. Xiph. Lucius Commodus or as Spartian calls
him (‖) Qui Aelius Verus appellatus est Spartian Ceionius Commodus Verus but he dying he sent for the Chief of the Senators to his Palace where he lay very sick and most earnestly (‖) Dio. Xiph. Spart in Adriano recommended unto them Arrius or Aurelius Antoninus whom he Adopted and the Senate forthwith admitted him for theri (‖) Xiph. in Ant. Pio. Emperor Aurelius Antoninus being Adopted and declared Emperor his Father Adrian commanded him presently to Adopt (*) The Son of Ceionius Commodus Dio. Xiph. in Adriano Spait in Aelio Vero. Huic Pater C. Commodus quem alii Verum alii Lucium Aurelium multi Annium prodiderunt Annius Verus Antoninus and Marcus Antoninus Spartian saith that Adrian Adopted him upon that (†) Sed eâ demum lege ut ille sibi duos adoptaret Annium Verum Marcum Antoninum In Adriano Condition that he should Adopt them However it was shortly after these Adoptions Adrian died after he had reigned 20 years After he was dead the Senate refused him the Compliment of Divine Honours but upon the Tears and Requests of Antoninus they at length decreed them and gave Antoninus who Capitolinus calls the Second Numa the Titles of Augustus and Pius which he very well deserved He died at his Country House about 12 Miles off Rome after he had reigned according to Eutropius 23 but according to Xiphilin and Cedrenus 24 years and after his death was Canonized by the unanimous Vote of the Senate He was succeeded by his two Adopted Sons Marcus Antoninus and Annius Verus Antoninus who married Lucilla the Daughter of Marcus Antoninus These two Ruled (†) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Eutrop. Verus certe cum Mareo equale gessit imperium nam ipsi sunt qui primo daâ— Augusti appellati sunt quorum fastis consularibus sic nomina praesaribuntur Spart in Aelio Vero. together with equal Authority being both called Augusti and so Registred in the Consular Kalenders Verus died first of an Apoplexy in tHe 11 th (‖) Imperavit cum fratre annus undecem Capitol in Vero. year of their Reign and was survived by Marcus 9 years who died in the 20th year of His. I might here remind our Author of his Hereditary Empire and ask him how it could descend upon (†) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Zosim l. 1. two Heirs at once but I pass on to Commodus Son and Successor to Marcus Antoninus who dying in the Camp commended his Son to the Army a little before his death As soon as his Funeral Solemnities were over Commodus gives mighty Largesses to the Army to bind them more firmly to his Interest and presently returns in hast to Rome When he came near the City the whole Senate and People went out to meet him with Laurels and Flowers in their Hands For they mightily loved him for his Father and and Grandfathers sake and because he was born and bred among them and had so much Senatorian Blood in his Veins For his Father descended of one of the most Illustrious Families of the Senatorian Order and his Mother Faustina the Empress was Daughter to Antoninus Pius and Neece to Adrian and his Extraction added to his Vertuous Education and comely Form made them dote upon him and receive him with Acclamations and all other Signs of Joy Herodian l. 1. as strewing Crowns and Flowers upon the Ground as he entred into Rome After he came to the City he went in Procession to visit the Temples after which having given thanks to the Senators and Gratuities to the Guards for their Fidelity to him he went unto the Palace But the Romans were as much disappointed in him as their Ancestors had been in the Son of Germanicus for the proved a Second Caligula and for his Cruelties was murdered by his Concubine Marcia after he had reigned 12 years Commodus being dispatched Electus and Laetus who conspired his death with Marcia Eutrop. l. 8. Dio. Xiph. Herodian l. 2. Orosius l. 7. 16. brought the news of it to Pertinax who was then Prefect of Rome After he had certified himself of the Truth of the Matter he goes to the Camp and promises large Donatives to the Souldiers and having secured them he was afterwards declared Emperor by the unanimous Consent of the Senate who would also have declared his Wife Augusta and his Little Son Caesar but he would let neither be done He had reigned but 66 days before he was killed in his Palace by the Guards who hated him for his severe Discipline The Souldiers having dispatched him they immediately from the walls of Rome published the Sale of the Empire to him that would give most Two bid for it Sulpicianus Father-in-Law to Pertinax within the City and Julianus without Sulpicianus offered (*) A Drachma is about the value of 7 d. ob Sterl 5000 Drachmas to every man of them but Julianus being the Richer Dio. Xiph. He rodian l. 2. offered 1250 more And the Bargain being made the Souldiers let down their Ladders from the Walls upon which he and his Friends mounted into the City After he was entred the Souldiers declared him Emperor and conducted him straight into the Senate-House whither the Senators immediately repairing for fear confirmed the Souldiers Choice But Severus who had sworn Allegiance to Pertinax hearing what was done marched from the Banks of Danubius with all expedition to Rome He met with no Opposition by the way for Julianus durst not march out to encounter him Herodian l. 2. Dio. Xiph. Eutropius l. 8. When he drew near Rome with his Forces Julianus fell into great distraction and the Consul convocating the Senate who knew in what a Consternation he was they voted him to death and Severus to the Empire 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Herod l. 2. Vid. etiam Spart in Didio Juliano After this they met Severus at the Gates of the City and saluted him as their Emperor and the People received him with joyful Acclamations although he was an African born He was a Vertuous Prince and successful aganist his Enemies and died at York after he had reigned 17 years He left two Sons Geta and Bassianus surnamed Caracalla both of which he designed for his (‖) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Herod in Severo Successors to rule the Empire with joynt and equal Authority as the two (†) Severum quam moriretur Laetatum quod duos Antonines pari imperio reip relinqueret exemplo Pii qui Verum Marcum Antoninous per adoptionem filios repip reliquit hic perâ—se genitos Rectores Romanâ—e reip daret Antininum Bassianum Getam Spart in Severo Vid. Cedrenum Antonines had done before But their Father was no sooner dead but they grew Jealous one of another and all along their Journey from Brittain to Rome lay in different Houses neither Eating nor Drinking together all the way When they came near the City the People and
Vid. Jul. Ep. ad S. P. Q. Athen. that he sent him into Gaul that he had such Success there against the Barbarians that the Army declared him Augustus that the Emperor died in his March against him and that after his death his Souldiers submitted unto him But yet our Fallacious Author represents the matter as if he had been Emperor by particular Designation from God like David or Constantine and then cries out Yet the Fathers had the conscience to set aside such a Title as this But Julian was not made Caesar by particular Order from God but by the free Choice of Constantius to whom he owned the Honour of the Caesarship It was he that set him upon the next step to the Empire when he might have set another upon it he by doing that which he was free not to have done was the occasion of his coming so easily to the Empire Julian had no antecedent Right to the Caesarship or the Government of Gaul but he owed both to the Generosity of Constantius And this is the true Ground of all the Rhetorical Interrogatories of Gregory and of Constantius his bewailing and repenting at his death for doing what he had done for him because he was free to have done otherwise indeed as free as Henry the 7th or his eldest Son Prince Arthur had he lived would have been to have made his Brother Henry who was designed for a Churchman Archbishop of Canterbury or York This our Author knew very well and this the very Expressions which he brings out of Nazianzen imply but yet lest the vulgar Reader should discern the Fallacy he keeps a great Jingling with Foreclosing ande Excluding Julian which words as all terms of Privation connote the Habit insensibly carry the understanding of the unwary Reader to think of some antecedent Birthright which Julian had to his Cosens Throne whereas strictly speaking he had no more right unto it than the Superviser of his Book to the Judges place in Ireland from which in his abusive sense of the words he was Excluded and Foreclosed And I would fain ask our Author who hath so artificially disguised the Nature of the Imperial Succession whether at the time of writing he was not conscious to himself of this Fallacy which he is guilty of in calling the Non-Election or Preterition of Julian by the name of Exclusion and if he were not whether he be not convinced of his Mistake now If he be not then I desire him to tell me whether Julian after the death of Constantius could by vertue of Birthright have challenged the Roman Empire as Henry of Lancaster did the English mutatis mutandis in these words (‖) Great point of succession p. 15. I Henry of Lancaster challenge this Realm of England with all the Members and the Appurtenances as I am descended by right line of the Blood coming from the Good Lord King Henry the Third and through that Right which God of his Grace hath sent me Or whether the Senate of Rome could have made such a Recognition of Julians Right as the Parliament made to King (†) Great Point of Succession p. 23. James at his first coming to the Crown We being thereunto bound both by the Laws of God and Man do with unspeakable Joy recognize and acknowledge that immediately upon the decease of Elizabeth late Queen of England the Imperial Crown of the Realm of England c. did by inherent Birth-right lawful and undoubted Succession descend and come to your Majesty as being lineally justly and lawfully next and sole Heir of the Blood Royal of this Realm and thereunto we do humbly submit and oblige our selves our Heirs and Successors for ever If these things could not have been applyed to Julian upon the death of his Cousen Constantius then I hope Mr. J. will grant me that his Arguings from the Authority of Nazianzen are fraudulent and inconclusive and that for all he can make of that single fathers Poetical Exclamations to the Ghost of Constantius the English Succession may be unalterable there being so wide a difference between the Roman and English Monarchy That being Elective and This Hereditary That being Casual Arbitrary Uncertain and most Irregular in its descent and this being fixed to one House in a lineal Descent according to Proximity of Blood But still after all this we are pressed with the Authority of Eusebius who as our Author tells us saith That the Empire was entailed by the Edict of Nature which saith he I think is the most sure and Divine Settlement that can be But Eusebius neither hath said nor could say so nor any thing equivalent thereunto for there was no such thing as Entail nor any notion of it among the Romans neither as to the Empire nor the Estates of Private Men the Emperors as well as their Subjects had always liberty to (†) Inst l. 2. Tit. 13. disinherit their next Relations and make who they would their Heirs and if a man chanced to die (‖) Inst l. 3. Tit. 2. Intestate they had Rules whereby the Estate was divided among his Posterity or if he had none the (†) Ib. Tit. 3. Collateral Kindred were his Heirs at Law Let us therefore consider the Passages of Eusebius wherein our Author triumphs before the Victory and first it is true That in his first (†) De vit Const l. 1. c. 9. edit Val. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Quotation Eusebius saith that the Throne of the Empire descended upon Constantine from his Father but then agreeably to the report of all other Authors he implies but two Lines above his 2d Quotation (‖) De vit Const l. 1. 21. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Dispositis deinde ex arbitrio rebus suis as Val. renders it that it was by the Order and Disposal of his Father which is inconsistent with an Entail and I would fain know of Mr. J. or Mr. H. how Constantius his part of the Empire came to be entailed upon his eldest Son when h ehad many by the Edict and Law of Nature and Maximians part of it was not so entailed upon his only Son Maxentius who was casually chosen to the Crown What hindered the Law of Nature to take place in the behalf of Maxentius the Resignation or death of his Father how came he not to have the benefit of it if the Law and Edict of Nature in his Quotations of Eusebius signifie a (‖) According to that Definition Jus naturale est dictatum rectae rationis indicans actui alicui ex ejus convenientiâ aut disconvenientiâ cum ipsâ naturâ rationali inesse moralem turpitudinem aut necessitatem moralem ac consequenter ab auctore naturae Deo talem actum aut vetari aut praecipi Grot. de Jure l. 1.10 Prime Indispensable Law of Nature as he would have his Reader to believe What else doth he mean by the (†) P. 21. most sure and divine Settlement that can be and by
have done in such a case but since it is not the only Expedient but such an one as is very disputable and dangerous too he was methinks too bold with their Beards in asserting That they would have set aside an Hundred such Titles to secure their Religion when other probable Means more agreeable to the Constitution of the Government were offered for the Security thereof In such a case the Fathers might have professed their Zeal for the Christian Religion and yet like our Loyal Addressers have made it their humble Request to the Emperor not to have passed the Bill of Exclusion that is but one among other Expedients and a man may be free in the Choice of means without being Guelph and Gibeline at once I am sure there is no such Contrariety in such Addresses as for a Minister of our Church to write such a Book as Julian to be Lamb without and Wolf within to wear the Churches Livery and yet in secret to list himself with her Enemies to pretend a mighty concern for Religion and yet to slander the Primitive Christians and scoff at the Doctrine of Passive Obedience this indeed is to be contrary to his Profession and to be Guelph and Gibeline at once CHAP. II. Of the Behaviour of the Christians towards Julian HAving shew'd in the First Chapter the Falseness of his First Principle That the Roman Empire was Hereditary I proceed in this to lay open all his other Shams and Falsifications by which to use his own words (†) P. 68. he hath glossed away all his Duty as a Christian Subject and broken all the measures by which all the Ancient Suffering Christians went in former Persecutions For first after he hath most artificially aggravated the Behaviour of the Christians against Julian and made it look like very Criminal and Barbarous then he undertakes to Apologize for them telling us That truly (‖) P. 68. their Case differed very much from that of the First Christians and that they were in quite other Circumstances (†) P. 71. The sum of all which is this That the first Christians suffered according to the Law of their Country whereas these under Julian were persecuted contrary to Law it being manifest that Julian oppressed them in a very illegal way He did not fairly Enact Sanguinary Laws but he put them to death upon Shams and pretended Crimes of Treason and Sacrilege c. And this their Suffering against Law he brings to justifie their seeming Misbehaviour and Barbarous Usage of him which after he had magnified to the height in Expressions not becoming a Divine p. 66. then he adds But for the Name of Christians he had better have fallen among Barbarians I shall not examine the Merits of their Behaviour towards Julian till I have proved that they were not illegally persecuted by him because this being once proved it must needs follow That if they broke the Primitive Measures of Christian Subjection and Obedience they are to be blamed for it and cannot signifie any thing as a Precedent for us to follow in case which God forbid we should be persecuted contrary to Law He tells us That (†) P. 66. they so treated this Emperor that one would have taken them to be the Apostates and most falsly and plainly (‖) P. 94 95. suggests like a Jesuit That they would have rebelled but that they wanted Strength What saith he would they have a few defenceless Christians do when they had lost their Strength Have they never heard a West-Country-man say Chud eat Cheese and chad it Nay he hath done his best to make it probable that Julian was killed by a Christian It is easie to guess whether all this tends His Reflections on the Behaviour of these Christians are to draw on his Reader and prepare his mind for what he hath said upon Passive Obedience and therefore to spoil the Precedency of their Behaviour in their Words Actions and Devotions and to shew to what little purpose he hath written 6 Chapters about it I shall here shew that Julian did persecute them legally because all his Orders and Decrees how unjust soever were legal and in particular that Juventinus and Maximus who he saith were put to death upon shams were notwithstanding legally put to death because they were put to death by the Sentence and Command of the Emperor who was an Absolute Soveraign who govern'd by Despotic or Regal Power and whose very Pleasure was a Law He may as well say That a Man who dyes in England legislatively by virtue of a Bill of Attainder enacted into a Law dyes illegally whereas by the English Constitution the King and Parliament or the King with the Consent of the Parliament are legal Masters of every mans Life and Fortune and can put to death whom they please In like manner what the King and Parliament or to speak in the words of Learned Chancelor (†) De laud. Leg. Angl. ch 9. Fortescue what the Regal and Political Power can in conjunction do here the Regal or Imperial Power could do alone in the Roman Empire where as Dan. speaks of Nebuchad For the Majesty that God gave the Emperor all People Nations and Languages trembled and feared before him Whom he would he slew and whom he would he kept alive and whom he would he set up and whom he would he pulled down This is most amply and elegantly set down by (‖) L. 53. Dio who tells us That all Power Civil and Ecclesiastical was in the Emperor the Consular Proconsular Censorian Tribunitian and Pontifical and that he had all this Power and Authority not by Force and Usurpation but by Law the Senate and People consenting thereunto That therefore all things were done according to the Pleasure of the Emperors as in Kingdoms and that though they were not called Kings and Dictators yet they had the Regal Dictatorian Power that by virtue of these Offices they had Power of raising Armies and Money of making War and Peace of making deposing and killing Senators and in a word of (†) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 putting any man to death as an expiratory Sacrifice without Tryal who they thought injured them never so little in Word or Deed. Furthermore he saith That they were (‖) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 above the Laws and free from all Legal Necessity and might do any thing having all things belonging to Absolute Regal Authority but only the Name of King This is the Sum of what Dio saith of the Imperial Leviathan to which the Civil Law agrees which tells us That (†) L. 1. T. 3. 31. T. 4. Princeps legibus solutus 4 Quod Principi placuit legis habet vigorem utpâ—te cum lege Regiâ populus ei in eum omne suum Imperium potestatem consâ—rat Quodcunque igitur Imperator c. Vid. I. L. 1 2. the Emperor was above Law that whatsoever pleased him had the nature of a Law because by
for the Joy that was set before him endured the Cross and despised the shame of it for which he is set down at the Right Hand of God When the (†) Acts 5. Apostles were beaten by Order of the Sanhedrim they departed from the presence of the Councel rejoycing that they were counted worthy to suffer for his Name And when (‖) Acts 16. Paul and Silas had been whipt with many Stripes and were hurried upon it into the innermost Prison and set in the Stocks there they prayed and sang Praises unto God doubtless for enabling them by the Assistance of his Holy Spirit to preach his word boldness and suffer patiently in his Cause How often doth St. Paul in his Epistles glory in his Infirmities which is a Scripture-term for Sufferings and with what pleasure doth he (†) 2 Cor. c. 6. c. 11. c 12. speak of his Afflictions Necessities and Distresses of his Stripes Imprisonments Labours Tumults Watchings Fastings Shipwrach and daily danger of Death Then the Christians suffered after the Example of their Saviour according to the Will of God who called them unto Suffering committing their Souls unto him as unto a Faithful Creator and for (†) Rom. 8.36 his Sake were killed all the day long and were accounted as Sheep for the Slaughter insomuch that in the time of Trajan Tiberius the President of Palastine gives this Account of their Passive Temper in his (‖) Usser ap Ign. p. 9. Letter to the Emperor I am weary with punishing and destroying the Galilaeans who are called here Christians according to your Majesties Command and yet they cease not to discover themselves that they may be slain I have laboured both by Entreaties and Menaces to make them conceal themselves from being known to be Christians but I cannot make them put an End to their own Persecution And when Arrius or Aurelius Antoninus Proconsul of Asia raised a severe Persecution against the Christians they presented themselves before him like an Army at which he being astonished contented himself to execute some few and cryed out unto the rest O wretched men if you have a mind to dye have you not Halters and Precipices enough but must you come hither for an Execution This Story is told by Tertullian to Scapula President of Carthage who also tells him That if he had a mind to go on with the Persecution so many thousands of Christian Men and Women of all Ages and Conditions would offer themselves unto him that he would be hard put to it to get Fires and Swords enougn to destroy them Hitherto and much longer they were so far from declining Sufferings or being terrified into Tumultuous Combinations with those Miseries which they foresaw that they freely offered themselves to the Fury of their Persecutors and strove as (†) Lib. 2. c. 47. Sulpitius Severus observes of the Dioclesian Persecution who should first enter the Lists of those Glorious Conflicts being more Ambitious of Martyrdom in those days than in after times of Bishopricks and the Greatest Preferments of the Church I have chosen these out of many more Instances to shew the Passive Temper of the Primitive Christians in Times of Persecution and to take occasion to enquire into the true Causes which made them and our own Ancestors after their Example so meek and calm chearful in such sad Tryals and so ready to lay down their Lives for Christ Now in this Enquiry into the Causes of such wonderful Patience and Alacrity we ought in the first place to assign a good Life or a Conscience void of Offence towards God and towards Man This is the Cornerstone in the Foundation of True Christian Confidence and Courage against the Fears of Death for he whose Heart doth not condemn him hath confidence towards God and need not fear him that can kill the Body but is not able to kill the Soul because he lived in the Fear of him who is able to destroy both Body and Soul in Hell Who is he that will harm you saith the Apostle if ye be followers of that which is good but if ye suffer for Righteousness-sake happy are ye and be not afraid of their Terrour neither be troubled Hence saith Justin Martyr of Crescens the Stoick who laid wait for his Life as Anytus and Melitus did for that of Socrates Crescens may kill me but he cannot hurt me And speaking of the Occasion of his Conversâ—ion to Christianity (‖) Ap. I. p. 50. When I saw the Christians saith he embrace Death and Torments without fear I thought with my self that they could not live in Sin and sensual Pleasure For what Epicure or Incontinent person that places his Happiness in pleasing the Flesh would so readily embrace death to deprive himself of his Felicity but rather strive to live here for ever The Second Cause of such wonderful Patience and Courage in the Confessors and Martyrs of the Christian Religion was Faith or their full and undoubted Perswasion of receiving those great Rewards which the Gospel promised them for Suffering according to that Definition of the Apostle which saith That Faith consists in the Substance or Confidence of things hoped for and in the Evidence of things not seen It was through this Faith that the Jewish and Primitive Christian Martyrs were tortured not accepting of Deliverance that they might have a better Resurrection i. e. the Resurrection of the Just that others of them had tryal of cruel Mockings and Scourgings yea moreover of Bonds and Imprisonments and that others also were Stoned Sawn asunder Empaled and slain with the Sword and lastly That others who took the allowed Benefit of Flight wandered about in Sheepskins and Goatskins and in Deserts and Mountains and in Dens and Caves of the Earth It was this Faith which the Apostle compares to a Shield and by which he saith the Just did live in times of Persecutions and overcame the World according to St. John who saith This is the Victory that overcometh the World even our Faith Hence saith the Apostle to the Hebrews Cast not away your Confidence which hath great Recompence of Reward in the full perswasion of receiving whereof he also said in his 2d Epist to Timothy I have fought a good Fight I have finished my Course I have kept the Faith Henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which the Lord will give me at that day And for this cause saith he we faint not for though our Outward Man Perisheth yet the Inward Man is renewed day by day for our light Affliction which is but for a Moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory while we look not at the things that are seen but at the things which are not seen for the things which are seen are Temporal but the things which are not seen are Eternal From these places it is plain that the Faith of the Primitive Christians was one main Cause of their Courage which the
Pagan Atheist (†) De Mort. Peregr L. 2. p. 763. Lucian had learnt of them as appears from these words The Miserable Wretches saith he perswade those of their own Party that they shall surely be Immortal and live for ever upon which account they despise Death and offer themselves voluntarily to it And in Minutius Felix Cecilianus objects it against the Christians as a piece of Arrogance Quod Coelo Stellis interitum denunciant sibi tamen ipsis aeternitatem repromittunt That they denounced Destruction to Heaven and the Stars but assured themselves of Eternal Life And again They despise Torments that are present and yet fear those that are Future and Vncertain and while they fear to dye after death in the mean time they are not afraid to dye It was a great Truth which the Ignorant Pagan objected For in this Assurance of Faith they let themselves be led like Sheep to the Slaughter quietly suffering all the Extremities of Death and Torments which Men or Devils could bring upon them without desiring to hurt or seeking to revenge themselves upon those that Injured them as Justin Mart. often observes in in his (‖) P. 236 323 363. Dialogue with Trypho the Jew The Foresight and Joy of their Heavenly Reward made them endure the Cross and despise the Shame of it because they knew that if they Suffered with him they should also Reign with him The (†) Dr. Caves Prim. Christ p. 2. ch 7. 40 Christian Souldiers in the time of Licinius which were starved to death in a Pond of Water in Cold Frosty Weather comforted one another as they stood together by Ballancing their Present Sufferings with their Future Hopes Is the Weather Sharp said they Paradise is Comfortable and Delightful Is the Frost Cold and Bitter they rest that remains is Sweet and Pleasant Let us but hold out a Little and Abrahams Bosom will Refresh us We shall change this One Night for an Eternal Age of Happiness And Blessed be God saith Bishop Ridley in his Letter to Master Bradford with all our evil Reports Grudgings and Restraints we are Merry in God of whom we look and hope after these Temporal and Momentary Miseries to have Eternal Joy and Perpetual Felicity through Jesus Christ our Lord The Third Principle into which the Meek and Passive Behaviour of former Christians is to be resolved is the Love of God by which Faith (†) Gal. 5 6. 1 Thes 5 3. worketh or is actuated to do or suffer any thing for the Sake of Christ So saith the Apostle Rom. 8. 35. Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ shall Tribulation or Distress or Persecution or Famine or Nakedness or Peril or Sword as it is written for thy sake are we killed all the day long we are counted as Sheep for the Slaughter nay in all these things we are more than Conquerors through him that loved us for I am perswaded that neither Fear of Death nor Hope of Life nor Angels of Satan nor Princes nor Potentates nor Sufferings Present nor Sufferings to come nor Heights of Preferment nor Depth of Disgrace shall be able to separate us from the Love of God which is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So saith St. John most excelcently to the same purpose 1 Ep. 4. We have known and believed the Love that God hath unto us for God is Love and he that dwelleth in the Love of God dwelleth in God and God in him Herein consists the Consumation or Perfection of our Love that the we have 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Boldness or Courage to Confess Christ 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the day of Tryal for there is no Fear in Love but perfect Love casteth out Fear because Fear is attended with Torment and Anxiety so that he that feareth Dangers or Death is not arrived to the Perfection of Love This great Love of Christ which enables us to suffer for him is founded as the fame Apostle teacheth upon the consideration of his Love in dying for us We love him saith he i. e. we ought to love him because he first loved us And God commendeth his Love towards us saith St. Paul in that while we were yet Sinners Christ died for us After the Apostles themselves there never was a greater Example of this flagrant Love of Christ than the Holy Martyr Ignatius Sâ— Johns Disciple and Bishop of â—â—â—och who though he rejoyced heartily in the little Respit the Christians enjoyed from Persecution in the time of Nerva upon the Churches account yet he (†) Dubitavit enim apud seipsum c. Martyr S. Ignat. p. 2. doubted with himself Whether he had arrived to the perfect Love of God and was a compleat Disciple of Christ because as yet he had not called him to Martyrdom And therefore shortly after when Trajan the Emperor commanded the Souldiers to bind him in Chains and carry him bound to Rome to be devoured in the Amphitheater he (‖) Ib. p. 4. received the Sentence with Joy and said O Lord I thank thee that thou hast made me perfect in thy Love and made me worthy with thy Apostle St. Paul to be bound in Iron-Chains Accordingly in his (†) Euseb I. 3. c. 36. Journey to Rome and in his (‖) Ex ed. Usser vel Vossian Epistle which he sent thither before his Arrival he breathed nothing but the Perfection of Divine Love O saith he that I might come to those Wild Beasts which are prepared for me I will encourage them to devour me if they are afraid to touch me as they have been to touch others nay I will provoke them if they will not set upon me You must pardon me I know what is for my Advantage I am now indeed Christs Disciple I am afraid of your Love lest it be a Hindrance to me but let me be devoured by the Beasts It is better for me to dye for Jesus Christ than to be Emperor of all the World Let Fire and the Cross and the Wild Beasts let Dissections of my Flesh pulling in Pieces and breaking of Bones let Distortion of Members and Bruising the whole Body and all the Torments which the Devil can invent come upon me so that I Enjoy Jesus Christ The Fourth Reason into which the Meek and Passive Temper of the Former Christians is to be resolved is Inspired Patience and Courage whereby God enabled them to bear their Torments in such a Generous and Gallant Manner as without such Assistance they could not have done You saith Octavius in Minutius Felix extol men of Passive Courage unto the Skies as Mutius Scaevola who had died obscurely among his Enemies but for the Gallantry of his Right Hand but how many of ours have suffered not only the burning of their Hands but of their whole Bodies without a Shreek when they might have been set free But I need not compare our men with Mutius Aquilius and Regulus our very Women and Children by (†)