6S Church-Hifiory ofBithops and In ,ede media voeibus clariffmis Tanta furore fe petuntftbi invicem; Tumultuando, contrahendo copias, . Carpendo fife mutuo linguis efferá, Saliendo, mentis ut folentfame impotes, Pradando guns quis ante pradari quest Rabida Imperandi Am tenet mente fttis (Qínam ifla verbis, e5- Obits digne eloquar ?) Orbem univerfum prorfus ut divulferint; Ortumque jam & F3efperum feindiit magis Arden famultes,, quam loci vel climates: .&amgue illa fi nonfinis, at media unittnt; At hes ligare ,vinculum nullum, 'weft : Non Cage: Pietas (Bilis hoc excogitar, Admentiendum prona,) fed Lis ob Thrones : .l uidnam hoc vocarim ? Praefules ? Non prafules: Cc. Are not thefe lamentable defcriptions of. the. Bilhops of thofe happy' times, , and excellent Councils : Even in'the days ofgood.Theodofius ; when tide Church recovered from under Arianifm.,, and came newly out of the fire of Perfecution? The truth is, All times have had fome few fuck ex- cellent perfons asNazianzene, Ball, Chryyfoflome, e -c. But they have or- dinarily been born down by the violent ftreamof amore ignorant, felfilh, worldly fort of men. All this here cited outof Gregory, is much lefs than he faith in his laft Oration,, De Epifcopis, Vol. 2. too large. and Tharp to-be now recited:. Therefore I leave it to theperufal of the, Learned Reader. One Papift faith tó me, that it was the Arian or Macedonian Bithops that Gregory meant: But the whole tenor of his writing fpeaketh the contrary; and that he fpake of this firít Council at Conflantinaple, one of the four which is equalled to the four Evangelifts And in his 59th Epift. toSophro- niter,Page 8 16. he faith, Si eos inveneritis non ob fidei dollrinatn, fed ob pri- vat,at'imxitates inter fe diflraflot & divulfos, gnod quidem ipfe obferva- vi, &C. But fome may fay that paffion moved him to the fatyrical exaggerati- on of his own received injuries: But, I. He fpeaketh not of this Council_ only, but of others alfo z. He acknowledged,. that till the Egyptian Bi- ihops came, he had the Council Vote for his place. 3. HisSpirit and all his endeavours were for peace, and not tomake things worfe than they were; And for peace he quit his Seat. 4. And in his Epiftles to the Civil Magiítrateshe afterwards wroteearneftly to them tokeep the Bithops at the next Council in peace, leftthey thould make Religion a contempt and fcandal. So that fewmen could worfe be charged withabulive invectives than this Pious,Learned, peaceable Bitho.
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