much farther concerning them word for word saying This sort of Men indeed is diffused far and wide over the whole World For it was requisite that both Greeks and Barbarians should be partakers of so excellent a Benefit Egypt especially is full of them throughout all its Divisions but most of all about Alexandria But from all places the principal of them retire themselves into a most commodious place above the Lake Maria situate upon a little rising Hill excellently well seated both for Wholsomeness of Air and Conveniency of Abiding as into the Country of the Therapeutae Then after he has described their Houses after what manner they were built he speaks thus of the Churches they have in divers Places In every House there is a Chappel called a Semnaeum and Monasterium in which alone by themselves they perform the Mysteries of an Holy Life They bring in thither neither Meat nor Drink nor any Corporal Provisions or Necessaries but only the Law and the divine Oracles of the Prophets and Hymns and such like whereby Knowledge and Piety are increased and perfected And a little while after he says All the interval of time from Sun rising to the Evening they spend in Meditations of Philosophy For reading the Holy Scriptures they Philosophize after their Countrey way and expound Allegorically For they suppose that the Words are only Notes and Marks of some things of a Mystical Nature which are to be explained Figuratively They have Writings of some ancient Persons who have been heretofore famous Leaders of their Sect and have left them many Monuments of that Learning which consists in dark and secret Expressions which they using as original Platforms do imitate thereby that Course of Study These certainly seem to be the Words of such a Man as had heard some of our Religion expounding the Holy Scriptures And it is very likely that the Writings of those ancient Persons which he says they had were the Gospels and Writings of the Apostles and certain Expositions of the ancient Prophets of which sort many are contained both in other Epistles of Paul and also in that written to the Hebrews Afterwards Philo thus writeth concerning the New Psalms composed by them They do not only spend their time in Contemplation but they compose Songs and Hymns to the Praise of God of all sorts of Meeter and Musical Verse which they write in grave and seemly Rhymes He relates many other things of them in that Book I mentioned But I judged these fittest to be selected and pickt out in which certain Marks of Church Discipline are proposed But if any one should think what Philo here says to be in no wise proper to the Evangelical Politie but may be adapted to others besides those I have mentioned he will certainly be convinced by Philo's following Words in which if he shall duly weigh the Matter he will receive a most undoubted Testimony of this thing Now he writes thus Having first laid Temperance as a certain foundation they build thereupon the other Virtues For none of them takes either Meat or Drink before Sun-set for they hold it requisite to spend the Day in the Study of Philosophy and the Night in making necessary Provision for the Body Therefore they allot the whole Day to study but allow a very small portion of the Night for Bodily Provision Some of them forget to eat for Three Days together so great is the desire of Knowledge that possesses them But some others of them are so well pleased with and feed so richly and deliciously upon the Banquets of Wisdom which sets before them wholsome Precepts as a most sumptuous Feast that they are wont scarce to tast any necessary Food in twice that space to wit in Six Days time We suppose these Words of Philo to be evidently and without all doubt spoken concerning those of our Religion But if after all this any one shall still persist in a peremptory denyal of these things he will at length recede from his obstinate difficulty of Belief being perswaded to submit to such manifest Demonstrations as are no where to be found but in the Christian Religion composed according to the Rule of the Gospel Philo says further therefore That among these Men of whom we speak there are certain Women conversant many of which continue Virgins being old not out of Necessity like some of those amongst the Grecian Priests but voluntarily preserving their Chastity out of an ardent Affection to and Desire of Wisdom in the Embraces and Familiarity whereof they earnestly affect to spend their Lives having despised all Bodily Pleasures and desiring earnestly not a Mortal Issue but an Immortal which that Mind only that loves and is beloved of God can of it self bring forth After many other Expressions he speaks yet more plainly thus Their Expositions of Holy Writ are figurative by way of Allegories For these Men suppose the whole Law to be like a Living Creature the bare Words whereof are as it were the Body and the invisible Sense that lies hid under the Words resembles the Soul Which sence this Sect have and do make it their Religion earnestly to search into and contemplate beholding in the Words as in a Glass the admirable beauty of the Meaning There is no necessity of adding farther here an account of their Assemblies of the distinct Apartments of their Men and Women and of their several Studies and Holy Exercises now in use amongst us more especially about the Feast of our Lord's Passion when we are wont to practise them in Fastings Watchings and attentive Reading of Holy Scriptures All which the Man we have so often mentioned does relate in his Writings accurately after the same manner in which we only at this time observe them Especially he mentions the Vigils of the great Solemnity the Holy Exercises therein and the Hymns we are wont to recite And how when one has begun to sing a Psalm harmoniously and gravely the rest silently hearkening do after sing out in Chorus the latter parts only of the Verses And how throughout those Days lying in Straw upon the Ground they wholly abstain from Wine as he has said in these express Words and eat nothing that has Blood in it Water is their only Drink and their Food is Bread with Salt and Hyssop Farther he describes the Order and Degrees of their Governours to wit those who perform the Ecclesiastical Offices then the Ministrations of the Deacons and lastly the Episcopal Presidency over all He that desires to know these things more accurately may be therein informed from the fore-mentioned History of Philo. It is therefore apparently evident to every one that Philo writing thus did mean thereby those first Preachers of the Evangelical Doctrin and Discipline at the beginning delivered by the Apostles Epiphanius Bishop of Cyprus concerning the same Har. 29. § 5. HAving said that the Christians were at first called Nazarens as Act. 24.5.2.22 and for some time Jesseans whether from the
of the thing it self which had been in use long before All do agree that they were of Two sorts some only for certain time others perpetual for their whole Life and those may again be distinguished into Three sorts viz. Such as were call'd or appointed by God as Samson a Nazarite unto God from the Womb Judg. 13.5 7 16.17 and as St. John the Baptist consecrated effectually and filled with the Holy Spirit even from his Mother's Womb Luk. 1.15 Such as were dedicated by their Parents as Samuel by his Mother 1 Sam. 1.10 28. And such as did freely offer themselves And this Free-will Offering of themselves though but for a certain time God did accept no less than the Free-will Offerings of their Goods or any thing they had v. Lev. 22.18 21 23 27.2 and therefore ordered the Rites and Circumstances of their Consecration and Observations as was said before And on the contrary the Calamities of Nazarites is reckoned as a part of the Punishment of the People by Jeremiah the Prophet Lam. 4.7 But it is reckoned by God among his Divine Favours to that People that he raised up Nazarites amongst them and reckoned with his bringing them up from the Land of Egypt and raising them Prophets amongst them Amos 2.10 11. I raised up of your Sons for Prophets and of your Young Men for Nazarites Though they might freely offer themselves yet it was God that did secretly inspire and incline their Wills And therefore these were Holy as Origen hath well observed Hom. 11. in Levit. If any one devotes himself to God if any one intangles himself in no secular Business that he may please Him to whom he hath approved himself if any one is separate from the rest of Men who live Worldly Lives and are obliged in secular Business not seeking the things which are upon Earth but which are in Heaven he is deservedly called HOLY or SAINT And after much to this purpose he concludes in these Words From all which it is clear how every one of us who will be Holy ought to be consecrated to God and thenceforth be imployed in no Business or Acts which relate not to God So likewise the Colledges or Schools of the PROPHETS though we meet with no express mention of them till in 1 Sam. 10.5 yet certain it is that they were much more ancient who under the Name of Prophets lived very abstracted Lives The very change of the Denomination mentioned in the chap. next foregoing 1 Sam. 9.9 is an Evidence of that viz. That he who was then call'd a Prophet was afore-time call'd a SEER and therefore when one went to inquire of the Lord they said Come and let us go to the Seer And if to inquire of the Lord was to go to the Seer than that leads us back to the time of Rebecca Gen. 25.22 for Seers and how much farther back no Man knows for that certainly was no new thing then Nor doth it appear that the Schools of the Prophets were first instituted by Samuel But that they lived such abstracted Contemplative Lives is undeniable both from the Nature of their Profession and from the Particulars of the Matter of Fact of their Conversation mentioned in the Holy Scriptures Nor were there Men only but WOMEN also who did very anciently leaving the World apply themselves to Matters of Devotion though perhaps not with so solemn Consecration such as Anna a Prophetess who having lived seven years a Wife lived afterwards a Widow till eighty four years of Age and departed not from the Temple but served God with Fastings and Prayers Night and Day For of this sort of Religious Women were there many among the Israelites as anciently as the Tabernacle in the Wilderness as we are informed by the Jews and the most learned Criticks of this Age as Munster Fagius Vatablus and others upon Exodus 38.8 And this it is very probable was a great Aggravation of the Sins of the Sons of Eli 1 Sam. 2.22 that the Women whom they abused were such as these who assembled at the Door of the Tabarnacle as learned Criticks inform us And putting all these Notices together it seems that such Religious Devout Women there were among the Jews at least from the time of their first abode in the Wilderness while they had the Temple standing amongst them And if so Why not long before even while in Egypt Had they not received Religious Instructions from their Ancestours or Did they retain none of them or Did they see nothing of Religion practised among the Egyptians and Had they not the same Natural Propensation to Religion which is common to all Men We see how ready and expert all the Women were at the Red-Sea Exod. 15.1 20. with Miriam a Prophetess to answer Moses and the Men and Can we imagin that all Religion had been extinguished or lain dormant in their Abode in Egypt No certainly their hard Servitude though it might hinder their more Solemn Worship yet it could not hinder but did rather excite and provoke to more retired and secret Devotion And indeed that Servitude with Rigour and hard Bondage was not till a little before their Deliverance and even then do we find that generous Magnanimity even among the Hebrew Women the Midwives as to obey God rather than Man Exod. 1.17 The Companies of the PROPHETS mentioned 1 Sam. 10.10 and 19.20 such as else-where are call'd the Sons of the Prophets 1 King 18.4 20.35 2 King 2.3 5 7 15 4.38 6.1 2 9.1 were a sort of Religious Persons who lived Abstracted Contemplative Lives many of them plainly Coenobitical Lives and some Anachoretical or Hermete Lives as St. Antony and others among the Christians did as Elias 1 King 17.1 and Elisha 1 King 19.6 So that St. Hierom said very truly Every Order or Institution of Life hath its Principals or Leaders and then after divers Instances in others he adds Our Leaders are such as Paul as Antony as Julian as Hilarian as the Macerius 's And to return to the Authority of the Scriptures our Prince or Leader was Elias was Elisha our Leaders were the Sons of the Prophets who dwelt in Fields and Deserts or Solitary Places and made themselves Tabernacles or Cells by the River of Jordan Of this Company were also the Sons of Racab c. Ep. 13. ad Paulin. p. 34. and elsewhere The Sons of the Prophets whom we read to have been Monks in the Old Testament did build themselves Cottages or Cells near the River of Jordan and leaving the Crowds of the Cities lived on Barley-Cakes and Field-Herbs Ep. 4. ad Rusticum pa. 11. And if some of them lived in Cities that doth no more invalidate what St. Hierom saith than Monasteries being brought into Cities by St. Basil is an Argument against their being Monks who have dwelt in such ever since Such Cavils do only prove the Partiality and Disingenuity of the Authours and signifie no more to any Person of Judgment and Candour since
weight it is which he hath said against them I intended to have spared his Name and to have passed it over with a short Note that it needed not nor deserved an Answer But considering that that is only the way of the World that we ought to sacrifice all Esteem of Men whether our selves or others to the Truth and to the Service of God and of Men too for their Admonition and that the Holy Scriptures spare not to record the Failings of Holy Men I resolved to do the like To be plain therefore that Excellent Person Mr. Joseph Meed having concluded the Apostacy of the latter times fore-told 1 Tim. 4.1 to be the Worship of Saints introduced into the Christian Church through the Hypocrisie of Lyars forbidding to Marry and commanding to abstain from Meats to make good his Interpretation of that first part of the Prediction and make it compleat concludes the latter part to be understood of Monks that they were the chief Advancers of Saints Worship And to prove this he produceth the Testimony of Chemnitius a known Adversary to them who lived about 1200 Years after the time he speaks of and Eunapius a known Enemy not only to them but to all Christians whom he calls wretched Catiffe and damned Dog And why so Why because he blasphemes the Saints and Servants of Christ who loved not their Lives unto Death the Dust of whose Feet he was not worthy to lick up Competent Witnesses indeed and a special Testimony this but he adds Yet may we make a shift to gather hence c. But without Shifts we may see plainly to what Shifts his unadvised and preposterous Zeal had reduced him thus to expose the Weakness of the Cause he had undertaken taken when all his Learning Diligence and Inquiry and all Antiquity could afford him no better Evidence and to expose himself to the same Censure he had deservedly given to his own Witness Had they been Monks and only Monks who had been guilty of this had it been fair to cast an Aspersion upon all and Was it fair within a dozen Lines after to print Bishops and Monks in different Characters while both were under the same Circumstances At this rate What Calumnies might not be raised against the People of God in all Ages the Israelites the Christians the very Apostles themselves and such as pretend most of all to Reformation The Devil hath always sowed his Tares and most industriously amongst the best But upon this Evidence there is no question but the Accused will be acquitted by all impartial Judges As to what St. Austin saith of some Hypocrites rambling about in the Habit of Monks it is very disingeniously not to say dishonestly alledged concerning Monks in general But St Austin's Mind concerning the Monks of his time is so plain in what follows that I need say no more of it in this place And for further answer to this Abuse of his Testimony they who please may peruse it in his own Words upon Ps 99. 132. and Ep. 137. And the same may be said concerning Gregory of Towers v. Cassian Coll. 18. c. 16. He had unhappily concluded before that those Words of St. Paul are a Description of Monkery and when that Conceit was once fixed in his Mind it presently set all his Parts and all his Learning to work to prove it to others and gave easie admittance to all that might seem to favour it Hence it was that he imagins Abstaining from Meats may comprehend Renouncing of Possessions Nor could he otherwise have thought that the Monks did any more * It was Conc. Chalced. did that c. 15. to them not to all forbid Marriage than St. Paul himself did nay than our Saviour himself did Nor have set himself Disc 28. to derogate from that Obedience of the Recabites to the Institutions of their Progenitor which God himself had so highly approved and testified his Approbation of by so gracious a Promise Nor have imagined that the Law of Nazarism was ever imposed upon any much less that it is one of the things expressly named which the Apostles decreed at the Council of Jerusalem should not be imposed upon the Gentiles who believed in Christ or that Act. 21.25 did prove any Prohibition of that whereby the Apostles decreed the Gentiles should observe no such thing There is a great difference between a Prohibition of Impositions and a Prohibition of a free and voluntary Act. But how doth Prejudice blind Mens Minds That a Man of his Parts of his Learning of his Judgment Candor and Generosity in asserting the Truth in other matters should be so affected with a meer Imagination of his own as to maintain that to do such an Indignity to so glorious a part of the Christian Church which St. Gregory Nazianzen calls the most Choice and Wisest part of the Church and St. Hierom the Flower of the Church which produced so many Glorious Saints of so great Virtue and adorned with such various and illustrious Graces produced so many Bishops innumerable and amongst them the most illustrious Lights of the Church both for Virtue and Learning was so much respected not only by the People but by the best of the Christian Emperours and approved and favoured by the most Eminent Bishops of the Church and hath so many Testimonies of their Excellence by Persons of the greatest Credit and Reputation and deserved so well in many respects that such a Man for the sake of a Phansie of his own should set up a Chemnitius a prejudiced Adversary to them and Eunapius a Pagan Adversary to the Christians against such a Cloud of Witnesses and so wrest strain the Holy Scriptures and thereby so expose himself to just Censure is one of the most remarkable Instances of the Mischief of Prejudice that I can think of an Edifying instance to make all Men good Men learned Men and wise Men jealous of themselves and cautious that they do not impose upon themselves not to do God Service for he needs no such Shifts nor is at any time pleased with them OF THE ESSEANS OUT OF JOSEPHUS THERE are Three Sects of Philosophers amongst the Jews of long Gontinuance and Antiquity One is that of the Pharisees another of the Sadduces and the third of the Esseans which is the most Famous of the Three The Esseans are Jews born but live in the greatest Vnion together imaginable They consider all Pleasures as Vices that are to be avoided and esteem Continence and Victory over Passions as the greatest Virtues They reject Marriage and account other Mens Children put to them to be taught whilst young as their own Kinsmen whom they diligently instruct in their Manners and Opinions not for that they condemn Marriage and Propagation of Mankind but to avoid Womens Incontinence for they think that none of them keep themselves true to one Man Also they contemn Riches and all things with them are Common and no Man amongst them is Richer than other
are not near together as the Houses in the Cities for Neighbourhoods are troublesome and ungrateful to those who court Retirement Neither are they far distant from each other because they love Communion and Society together and that they may help one another if they should be set upon by Thieves In every House they have an Oratory to themselves call'd a Sanctuary and Monastry in which alone by themselves they celebrate the Mysteries of a Sacred Life never bringing thither any such thing as Meat or Drink or any other things else which are necessary for the Repairs of Nature's Decays but only Laws and inspired Oracles which were spoken by the Prophets and Hymns and other things by which Knowledge and Piety are encreased and perfected They always preserve an unintermitted Remembrance of God so that even in their Dreams their Fancies form and present them with no other Images but the Beauties of the Divine Powers Hence many speak out in their Sleep and whilst they are dreaming do interpret the venerable Decrees of the Holy Philosophy They are us'd to Pray twice every Day viz. Morning and Evening When the Sun rises begging due Composedness Illumination and Gentleness of Mind and that their Mind may be fill'd with Heavenly Light When it sets they beg that the Soul may be quite eas'd of the Tumour and Vanity of the Senses and Objects of Sense and that being fix'd in her own Sanhedrim and Consultory she may trace the Tracts of Truth All the space of Time between the Morning and Evening they give themselves to Exercise For reading the most Holy Scriptures they Philosophize Allegorizing the Philosophy of their Ancestours For they interpret the Composure of a plain literal Sense as the Symbols or Signatures of a secret or concealed Nature by probable Conjectures They have also Composures of Ancient Men who being the principal Promoters of this Sect have left Monuments of this Model in their Allegories which they make use of as certain Archetypals imitating the Manner of their Design so that they don't only contemplate Moreover they also make Songs and Hymns upon God of all sorts of Measures and Tunes to which they are obliged to prick the Graver sort of Notes Six Days together every one of them apart Philosophize by themselves in their Cells never going over the threshold nor so much as peeping out but on the Seventh Days they meet together in a common Body and sit down together in Order according to their Age in a very decent Posture keeping their Hands out of sight to wit their right Hand between the Breast and their Chin and the left Hand upon the Cavity of their right Side The Eldest and Expertest of them when he is come discourses to them with a fix'd Eye and a steddy Voice with Reasoning and Wisdom not affecting out of Ostentation Excellency in Words like Oratours and Sophisters but with great Searchingness of Thought and Accuracy of Interpretation which does not sit upon the tip of the Ears but by hearing goes into the Soul and continues its fix'd Dwelling-Place there All the rest hear the Exhortation with Silence signifying their Approbation only by Motions of their Eye or Head The common Temple in which they meet together on Seventh Days has Two Inclosures one being alotted for the Men call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the other for Women call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for the Women ordinarily hear together with them having the same Emulation and Purpose The Wall which parts the Enclosures is built about three or four Cubits high from the Pavement like a Fortress being higher up open to the top By this Contrivance the Female Sex preserve that Modesty which becomes them and hear well enough as they sit in the Auditory because nothing hinders the Voice of the Speaker They first lay Temperance in the Soul as it were for a Foundation and raise a Superstructure of other Vertues upon that Not one of them uses any Meat or Drink before Sun-set for they reckon the Exercise of Philosophy worthy of the Day but Bodily Necessities to belong to Darkness Wherefore they bestow their Days upon that and some small part of the Night upon these Some of them having a peculiar Desire after Knowledge raised in them forget to Eat for Three Days together And others are so luxuriously and deliciously cheered and feasted by Wisdom supplying them liberally with Sentiments that they withstand their Appetites double that time and hardly taste the least necessary Food for Six Days together being us'd as they say of a certain sort of Grashoppers to be fed by Air for their Singing makes Want very easie And because they reckon the Seventh Day all Holy and all Festival they vouchsafe it a peculiar Honour for after the Care of the Soul they anoint the Body also allowing it Relaxation just as they do their Cattle from continual Toyl They eat nothing that is costly but feed upon cheap Bread and Salt Those of them that live deliciously dress it with Hyssop Their Drink is Spring-Water Thus they appease those Two Tyrannesses Hunger and Thirst which Nature hath placed over or under the Mortal kind bringing nothing to allure them but only such things as are needful without which 't is not possible to live For this Reason they eat that they may not be hungry and drink that they may not thirst but they avoid Fulness and Satiety as the Enemy and Traitour both of Soul and Body Covering being of Two kinds namely Cloaths and a Dwelling-Place having acquainted you that their Dwellings are mean made without Art of what-ever comes to hand and only for use I come now to acquaint you that their Raiment also is very mean worn only for Defence against Cold and Heat They have a thick Cloak over some rough Skin or other in Winter and in Summer a lighter short Garment over their Shoulder or Linnen They also exercise themselves to a perfect Freedom from all Arrogance and Vanity knowing very well that Falshood is the beginning of Tumour and that Truth is the Source of the Avoidance of vain Pomp and Ostentation and that both these have the Nature of their different Spring and Fountain for from Falshood flow numerous and divers Idea's or kinds of Evils but from Truth a great Abundance of both Humane and Divine Goods The manner of their Feasting is thus For Seven Weeks together they assemble together which they do not only out of Respect to the Number Seven but also to the Power of it for they know it to be a chast and Virgin Number This Festival is a Preparatory to the greatest Feast viz. Pentecost so called for its belonging to the Number Fifty which is the most Holy and Natural Number because of the Power of a right-angled Triangle which is the Principle of the Production of all things When they are met together array'd in White as soon as the Ephemereuts for that is the Name they call their Beadles by give the Sign
all of them before they sit down to eat standing in a very decent Order with all Gravity do with their Eyes and Hands lifted up to Heaven their Eyes because they have been taught to see things so worthy of Veneration their Hands to signifie that they are not guilty of Eating any Food before out of pretence of Necessity pray to God that their Banquetting may please Him and be according to his Mind or according to understanding The Seniors sit down according to their Admissions for they don't reckon those who have liv'd many Years and are very Ancient the Seniors there but on the contrary they look upon them as Young Children if they have but lately been enamour'd with that way of Living but they count those who began betime in the Flower of their Age to betake themselves to the Contemplative part of Philosophy which indeed is the best and Divinest part their Seniors though their Youth be not yet expir'd The Women also are at the Feast with them many of which are very Ancient and Virgins out of pure Love to Purity not out of Necessity as some of the Priestesses amongst the Greeks who live so upon that Account rather than out of free Choice No these live so because of a true Zeal for and desire of Wisdom for having a fervent desire to live by Wisdom they make no account of Bodily Pleasures neither do they desire Mortal but Immortal Off-springs which only a Soul that truly loves God is able to bring forth out of its self for 't is God who has shed into it the Intellectual Rayes of the Father by which 't will be able to contemplate the Decrees of Wisdom When they sit together the Men sit on the Right hand and the Women on the Left If any one supposes that softer Seats than ordinary though not so costly were prepared for such Noble Virtuous Exercisers of Vertue let him know that they have cheap sort of Carpets made of some Leaves and Barks of Trees that grow there on which they lean a little for they remit something of the hard way of Living that the Lacedaemonians use though in all respects they study Frugality and have a strong Antipathy against the Philtres of Pleasure They are not waited upon by Slaves for they look upon the keeping of Servants to be a Custom against Nature for she made and brought forth all Men free But the Iniquity and unreasonable Covetings of those who have affected Inequality the Ring-leader of all Mischief have brought Camps into the World and set the stronger Men on Fire to exert their Strength against the Weak Here as I said is no Servant but Free-Men give all necessary Attendance which they do heartily and with all readiness even to the Prevention of Request for the Juniors of the Company which are appointed from Meal to Meal do with all Diligence serve those who have arrived to a great pitch of Vertue just as Natural Sons do with great Pleasure and Emulation serve their Parents reckoning these their common Parents to be nearer related to them than their Parents by Blood since nothing is nearer than Integrity to those who have right Minds Those that wait come with their Garments loose about them lest there should be the least Appearance of Servility amongst them at this Feast I know some will laugh at the Hearing of this but they are such as do those things for which they ought to weep and lament At those Feasts no Wine is brought in but only very clear Water cold Water for the most and warm Water for the Tenderest of the Old Men. Their Table is pure from all Bloody Creatures Loaves are their Meat and Salt is their Sauce The most dainty of them indeed make it more palatable with Hyssop for Right Reason charges them like Priests to sacrifice Sacrifices without Wine and to live upon them for Wine is an incentive of Folly and chargable Dishes provoke Lust which is the most Insatiable of all Beasts And so much for the First part After the Guests are sat in the Orders fore-mentioned the Waiters do stand decently in Order ready to serve There is no Drink brought but every one calls for it as he wants it and which is more than any thing already mentioned no one dares Belch or fetch his Breath indecently But some body either offers a Query upon some place of the Holy Scriptures or solves something propos'd by another without any Solicitude about the manner of the Solution for not one amongst them desires Fame by fine Speaking But every one loves to see another more exact and when they see him so not to envy him though they are not so accute themselves They have all the like Desire to learn Sometimes one of them takes more time when he teaches repeating and dwelling upon what he says that he may imprint his Notions on their Souls for many times the Mind of the Auditors being not able to keep pace with the Interpretation of one that speaks too closely or too fast falls short of comprehending what is said the rest look with their Faces upright upon him who speaks in one and the same Posture and give Notice of their Understanding and Comprehending what they hear by a Nod or a Look They discover their Commendation by the continued Cheerfulness of their Aspect but a Doubt is signify'd by a stiller Motion of the Head and their Right hand 's little Finger The Juniors also that wait give no less Attention than those that sit at Table Their Expositions of the Holy Scriptures are Allegorical Hints for the whole Constitution of their Law seems to them like an Animal in which the literal Expressions are the Body and the invisible Sense infolded in the Words the Mind wherein the Reasonable Soul begins distinctly to consider the Properties thereof as through the Perspective of the Names after it having beheld the admirable Beauties of the Notions and unveil'd the Symbols has brought to light the deeper or more recondite Sense to those who from a small hint are capable of tracing obscure Truths by the Light of those that are manifest After the President seems to have made a sufficient Discourse so as that his Applications successfully hit what he aim'd at and the Attention of the Auditours perceive his meaning they all give an Humm thereby signifying that they are pleased and choose for the future to put his Advice in Execution After this he rises up and sings an Hymn in Praise of God which is either of his own or some ancient Poets composure for their Poets have left them Measures and Songs of all sorts 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Trimetres 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Introits or Processional 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Laudatory 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sacrifical 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Altar-Songs 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stationary 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Choiral with Stanza's of various Measures some of which are us'd with their Faces turn'd from and others with
loves us with a pure and indissoluble Charity we also may be joyned to Him in a perpetual and inseparable Charity cap. 7. For the Attaining and Practice of this he recommends from Experience of the Seniors the continual or frequent mental repetion of that verse Psal 70. Deus in adjutorium meum intende Domine ad adjuvandum me festina in our Liturgy O God make speed to save us O Lord make hast to help us and largely shews the use of it at all times and upon all special occasions Abbot Theodore concerning the right Knowledge of the Scriptures Cassian lib. 5. HE was indowed with very great Sanctity and compleat Science not only in the Active Life but also in the Knowledge of the Scriptures which he acquired not so much by Study of Reading or Humane Learning as by Purity of Heart for he could hardly either understand or pronounce so much as a few Greek Words When he sought the Explanation of a certain obscure Question he persisted indefatigably in Prayer seven Days and Nights until he knew the Solution of the Question proposed by the Revelation of the Lord. cap. 33. When certain of the Brethren admiring his eminent Light of Knowledge inquired of him the Sense of certain Scriptures he said A Monk desiring to attain to the Knowledge of the Scriptures ought by no means to imploy his Pains upon Books of Commentators but rather restrain and keep all the Industry of his Mind and bent of his Heart to the purifying of his Carnal Affections which being expell'd presently the Eyes of his Mind the Veil of his Passions being once removed will begin as it were naturally to contemplate the Mysteries of the Scriptures For they are not published to us by the Grace of the Holy Spirit that they should be unintelligible and obscure but they become obscure by our Fault the veil of Sins over-clouding the Eyes of our Mind which being again restored to their Natural Sanity the Reading of the Holy Scriptures will even alone abundantly suffice to the Contemplation of true Knowledge nor will they need the Instructions of Commentaries as these Eyes of Flesh need the Doctrin of none to see if they be free from Suffusion and Dimness of Sight For therefore is there so great Variety and Errors arisen amongst Interpreters themselves because the most running to Interpret them without using any Diligence toward the Purgation of the Mind by reason of the Grossness or Uncleanness of their Heart thinking things divers or contrary either to Faith or to themselves they could not comprehend the Light of Truth cap. 34. For this see in Smith 's Select Discourses The true Way and Method of attaining to Divine Knowledge Abbot Serapion of Discretion Cass Coll. 2. cap. 11. WHEN I was a Child and lived with Abbot Theon this brutish Custom was imposed upon me by the Enemy that after I had eaten with him at the ninth hour I did every day secretly convey one Bisket into my Bosom which I did after without his knowledge eat in secret Which Theft though I did constantly through my accustomed Incontinence commit yet when I had gratified my Appetite coming to my self I was more tormented with the Guilt of my Theft than satisfied with what I had eaten And when I was every day compelled to the grief of my Heart to perform that most troublesome work imposed as it were by Pharaoh's Task-Masters instead of Bricks upon me nor could extricate my self from this their most cruel Tyranny and was ashamed and confounded to discover the secret Theft to my Senior it came to pass by the Hand of God who was pleased to rescue me out of the Yoak of this Captivity that certain Brothers desired to come to the Cell of the Senior for Edification sake And when they were refreshed and a Spiritual Conference was begun the Senior answering to their Questions discoursed of the Vice of Gastrimargy or Gluttony and of the Domination and Slavery of Thoughts kept secret and did explain their Nature and most dismal Power so long as they were concealed I by the power of this Conference being prick'd and terrified with an accusing Conscience as believing that these things were spoken for that Cause that the Lord had revealed the Secrets of my Heart to the Senior I began first secretly to sigh then the Compunction of my Heart increasing breaking out into Sighs and Tears I pull'd the Bisket which by that evil Custom I had secretly stolen to eat out of my Bosom where it was conceal'd and proferring it to them I did prostrate upon the ground with Supplication for Pardon confess how I did every day eat in secret and with abundance of Tears did implore them to beg my Absolution from this hard Bondage of the Lord. Then said the Senior Be of good Comfort Child Thy Confession hath obtained thy Absolution though I hold my Tongue For thou hast this day gotten the Victory of thine Enemy more powerfully beating him down by thy Confession than thou thy self wert cast down by him through thy Concealment Whom not at all checking either by thy own or any others Reprehension thou didst suffer to domineer over thee till now But now after this thy Confession that wicked Spirit shall not be able to disquiet thee nor shall the filthy Serpent any longer hold a hiding place in thee being drawn-out into the Light out of the Darkness of thy Heart by a salutary Confession The Senior had not finished these Words and behold a Burning Lamp proceeding from my side so filled the Cell with the smell of Brimstone that the Stink of it would not suffer us to remain in it And the Senior resuming his Admonition Behold saith he our Lord hath visibly proved to thee the Truth of my Words that thou shouldest see with thy Eyes the Instigator of thy Affection driven out of thy Heart by a salubrious Confession and shouldst know that the detected Enemy should no longer at all have place in thee by his manifest Expulsion And so it is according to the Sentence of the Senior the Domination of that diabolical Tyranny in me is by the Virtue of this Confession extinct and for ever layed so that the Enemy never after attempted to inject so much as the memory of this Concupiscence nor have I ever after felt my self assaulted by any Instigation of that thievish desire In this manner therefore may we most easily come to the Science of true Discretion if following the tract of the Seniors we presume neither to act any thing new nor to determin it by our own Judgment but walk in all things as their Tradition or Probity of Life shall inform us In which Institution being settled any one may not only come to the perfect reason of Discretion but remain safe against all the Snares of the Enemy For by no other Vice doth the Devil draw a Religious person so headlong to Destruction as when he doth perswade him neglecting the Advice of the Seniors to