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this island. I cannot undertake in this place to lay before you his whole system, but the following are some of the tenets which he held :-"That Adam was naturally mortal, and would have died though he had not sinned-that Adam's sin affected only himself, not his posterity-that children at their birth are as pure and innocent as Adam was at his creation—that divine grace, or assistance, is not necessary to enable men to do their duty, overcome temptations, and even attain perfection; but that they may do all this by the freedom of their own wills, and the exertion of their natural powers."* These opinions, so soothing to the pride of the human heart, Pelagius propagated with great success, both at home and abroad; and in doing this he was assisted by many whom he had inoculated with the same principles, among whom were, Agricola, the son of Severianus, a bishop, Celestius, a Scotchman, and Julianus, of Campania.

The orthodox clergy in Britain did all they could to stem the progress of this heresy; but, finding their efforts ineffectual, they applied to their brethren in Gaul for assistance in this spiritual warfare. The bishops of that country convened a council, at which two of their number-viz. Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, and Lupus, bishop of Troyes, were deputed to go to their assistance. The whole affair is related by the venerable Bede, one of the best and most learned of our monkish historians; but it is so seasoned with the marvellous as to make a truly ridiculous appearance. The prodigious delight which the monks had in mixing extravagant legends with all their narrations relating to religion and the saints was the reigning taste-may I not say the vice? of those dark ages, from which the most upright writers could not emancipate themselves; and yet I do not know that this very much impairs their credibility; for, in general, it is no very diffcult task to any one possessed of a sound mind and discriminating judgment to distinguish between what is legendary and what is true, or at least what is probable, in their narrations.

Thus, in the instance before us, the substance of the whole matter seems to be this, that, when the two continental prelates arrived, they preached on the disputed points with great zeal;

Usserii Eccles. Brit. p. 218.

HERESY OF PELAGIUS.

461

sometimes in the places of public worship; sometimes in the open air, in the highways and places of public resort, until the whole island resounded with the fame of their learning, their eloquence, and their virtues; and by this it is said they confirmed the orthodox in their faith, and reclaimed from the error of their way many who had gone astray. A public disputation seems to have been held at St. Albans, on which occasion the Pelagian orators are said to have opened the debate, making an ostentatious display of their eloquence, in long rhetorical speeches, which contained little solid argument and produced no conviction. Having finished their harangues, the venerable prelates came forth with such a torrent of argument from Scripture, reason, and the testimony of the best authors, as quite confounded and silenced their adversaries and fully convinced their hearers.*

Perhaps you are now ready to conclude that, of course, there was an end of Pelagius and his heresy. Such however was not the case; for no sooner had Germanus and Lupus se sail for their own country, than the Pelagians began to propagate their heretical notions with as much zeal and success as ever! Nor had the orthodox clergy profited so much, by the instructions of their late venerable coadjutors, as to be able to defend their own cause, but were obliged a second time to apply to them for assistance. The wretched Britons, during this period, seem to have sunk into such a state of mental imbecility, that they could make as little resistance against their spiritual as against their secular enemies. Germanus, being informed of the distress of his friends and the danger of the orthodox faith, again hastened to their assistance, bringing with him Severus, bishop of Treves. On their arrival, the two bishops were rejoiced to find that the defection had not been so great as was apprehended. But they applied themselves with great zeal to defend the cause of truth, reclaim the apostatized, and confirm the wavering. I am sorry, however, to be obliged, by a regard to truth, to add, that these prelates did not think fit to depend wholly on the efficacy of their spiritual weapons, but called in the assistance of the secular arm, and procured the banishment of the chief Pelagians out of the island.

*Bedæ Hist. Eccles. lib. i. cap. 17.

LECTURE XXV.

Preliminary remarks –History of the NOVATIANISTS continued -Proofs of their number during the fourth and fifth centuries -Some account of the leading men among them-Instances of the persecutions which they underwent-Rise and progress of the DONATISTS in Africa-Du Pin's account of them—Their Nonconformist principles—Their immense numbers in the fourth and fifth centuries-Vindication of their uncompromising character-Of ERIUS and his friends-Mosheim's account of their principles, &c. -Strictures on that historian-Vindication of the principle of Reform in all ages. A. D. 325-500.

HAVING, in the last two Lectures, given you some account of the benighted state of our own country, about the period of the Christian era, and of the introduction of the gospel into it-very imperfect, I admit, but the best which I have been able to collect from credible testimony-we shall now return from this apparent digression, and resume the History of Ecclesiastical affairs on the European continent, in Asia also, and in Africa, during the fifth century.

From what has been laid before you, in several preceding Lectures, you must be well aware of the progress of corruption in the Catholic church, and how vain it were to attempt to trace the kingdom of the Son of God in that impure communion. The apostle Paul, in a few words, sketched its character, in prophetic terms, when he said—“ Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived."

HISTORY OF THE NOVATIANISTS CONTINUED. 463

THE NOVATIANISTS.

You will doubtless recollect that in a former Lecture, appropriated to the history of the church of Rome from its foundation to the middle of the third century, I mentioned a schism which then took place, in consequence of the progress of corruption. At that epoch Novatianus, "a man of uncommon learning and talents," and of irreproachable morals,* disgusted with the prevailing laxity of discipline, and despairing of being able to stem the torrent of corruption, withdrew from what was called THE CHURCH, and, countenanced by a number of his friends, formed a separate communion, in which they were followed by great numbers in every part of the empire. The churches thus formed upon a plan of strict communion, and rigid discipline, obtained the name of Puritans; they were the first Protestant dissenting churches of which we have any account in history, and a succession of them have continued to the present day. Venerating, as I most sincerely do, their conscientiousness, their zealous contention for the purity and simplicity of Christian worship, and their dutiful obedience to the will of their ascended Saviour, so far as they were instructed into it, I would never willingly lose sight of their history; it is entitled to our particular attention and regard in this Course of Lectures, and it is a matter of the sincerest regret to me that I am so little qualified to do it justice. The materials for a complete history of the Novatianist churches, if extant, which I greatly doubt, are not within my reach. I must be content to glean where I can the few scattered hints that are upon record concerning them; and even these, for the most part, must be drawn from the writings of their adversaries, who maligned them as heretics and schismatics !+ I am, however,

* The learned Du Pin, speaking of the founder of the Novatianist sect, says, "This author had abundance of wit [genius], learning, and eloquence; his style is pure, neat, and polite; his expressions are chosen [select], his thoughts natural, and his reasonings just. He is full of citations of texts of Scripture, that are much to the purpose. Moreover there is a great deal of method and order in those treatises of his which we have, and he always expresses himself with mildness and moderation.”—Bibliotheque Universelle, &c., p. 182. Such is the testimony of this learned Catholic, and, considering the quarter whence it comes, it must be allowed to say much for him.

+ The following paragraph, from a letter of Cyprian's, may serve to explain my meaning on this point :

but little affected by this kind of reproachful epithets: "If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more they of his household?" A kingdom which is not of this world cannot reasonably be expected to look abroad with the air of a worldly faction: and, in this respect, it must form a perfect contrast to that of the beast, after which "all the world" is represented as "wondering," Rev. xiii. 3. But, waiving all further preliminary observations, I now proceed to trace the progress of dissent from the Catholic church.

The Novatianist churches had existed in many of the municipal cities of the empire, some sixty or seventy years, at the period when Constantine the Great granted a charter of incorporation to the Catholic church, and took it under his fostering care and protection. During this interval a number of eminent men had risen up among them, in the work of the ministry, and their churches were in a flourishing state, notwithstanding their rigid discipline and their schismatical character. Fabius, bishop of Antioch, in particular, was of the denomination. Marcianus, bishop of Arles, was firm in the same cause, at the time that Stephen filled the see of Rome, nor is it known that he ever deserted them. Even in the city of Carthage, Cyprian's own diocese, Maximus was ordained bishop of a church of the Novatianist denomination: and in many places, even in the third century, societies connected with them abounded, though in a state of separation from the Catholic church.*

One of the canons of the council of Nice, in the year 325, relates to these Puritan churches. The historian Socrates informs us that the emperor, anxious for peace and desirous to procure the concord and harmony of the churches, invited Acesius, one of the Novatianist bishops, to attend the council, which he did. When the Nicene creed had been composed and subscribed by

"As to the person of Novatianus, dearest brother, of whom you desire some account, and the heresy he has introduced, I must tell you, in the first place, that I do not look upon myself obliged to be very inquisitive what it is he teaches, since he teaches it in schism; for whoever he is, or however gifted, he is no Christian, I am sure, while he is not in the church of Christ.. Let him value himself as much as he pleases, and pride himself in his philosophy and eloquence; yet he who holds not to the brotherhood, and the unity of the church, has forfeited even all he was before." Epist. 52, ad Antonianum.

*Lardner's Works, vol. iii. p. 96.

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