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utteranco is indeed an admirable thing, where there is laches training ; and verily ho is tho highest philosopher Whoknowa hoW to cover his ignoranco by abstinenco hom publicadciem. Knowing, thereiore, the feebleness os longus properto mo, I should have preferred suci, a courae. Neve thel a the spectacle of the onlookers impels ms to speis. Since, then, this solemni is a glorious one among oursestivati, and the spectatore form a cro ded gathering, andour assembly is one os elevared fervour in tho faith, I shalliaeo tho ina os commencing an addrem mith confidence. And this I may attempt ali tho more boles' since tho Faster' requesta me, and tho church is With me, and themistia martyre Mith this object strengthen What is Weah in me. For theso have inspired aged men to accomptishmissi much lovo a long course, and constrained them to
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any one belleves not stat death is abolishod, that Hades istrodden under foot, that the chains thereos are brohen, stat tho tyrant is bound, let him look on the martyrs disportingstemselves κυβιστῶντες) in the presence of death, and in ing up the jubilant strain of tho victory of Christ. O themarvolt Sinco tho hour When Christ despolied Hades, men havo daneod in triumph over death. o death, whoro is thy stingi O grave, Whero is thy victory Hades and tho devit havo been despolied, and stripped of their ancient
and discovors that in place of tho man he has tonched tho God. ' reason thereos do the martyre leap upon the head of the dragon, and despise eVery species of torment. Forsince tho second Adam has brought up tho fidit Adam ontos the deeps of Hades, as Jonah was delivered out of thowhale, and has set forth him who was deceived as a citigenos heaven to the shame of the deceiver, tho gates of vides have been shut, and the gales of heaven have been opened,
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illed, and gavo it iis potnt by tho energy of His invincibio
divini , and dipped it in the water of an undefiled baptism, and sharpenta it by sufferings without passion in them, and mado it bright by tho mysticia resurrection; and hereWithis Ηimself Ηε put to death the vengelut adversary, together .ith his .holo host. What manner of Word, thereiarei mill
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156 GREGORY THAUMATURGUS was iubilant mitti the cherubim, is noW shut up in pain in the Mard-houso of s ine; and him, too, in fine, shali meput to rout is Wo mind those things Whicli are contra tollis choice, by the graeo and hindnem os our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be tho glory and the poWer unto the ages
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OR Our knowledgo of the career of this illustrio disciplo of Origen wo ars indebled chiev to Eusebius, in the fixili and seventh books of his Historia Melesiastiea, and in tho fourteenthbook of his Praeparatio Evangeliea. There are also passages, os larger or smaller extent, Maring upon his life and his literary activiu, in Jeromo sDe viris illustr. ch. 69; and Praefatio ad Lib. xviii. Comment. in Esaiam , Athanasius De Senientia Dionysii, and De Synodi Meoenoe Meretia , Basil Da Spiritu Saneto, ch. 29; Epist. ad Amphilaeh., and Epist. ad Marimum . Among modern authorities, WE may reser specialty to the Dissertation on his lito and writings by S. do Magistris, in the folio edition issued under his caro in Graek and Latin at Rome in 1796 ; to tho account given is Basnam in the maloire de Pseliae, tome i. livro ii. ch. V. p. 68; to tho completo collection of his extant Morks in Gallandi'a Bibliotheea Patrum, iii. p. 481, etc.; as Weli as to the accounts in Cave's Hiat. Lit. i. p. 95, and elaeWhere. Heappeare is have been the son os pagan parenis; but aster Muhing the doctrines of various of the schools of philosophy, and coming under tho influence of Origen, to whom he hadattaehed himself as a pupil, he was ted is embrace tho Chri tian faith. This step was inhen at an early period, and, as heinforma us, only aster irae examination and caresul inqui into tho great systems of heathen belles. Hs mas made a presbyter in Alexandria aster this decision; and on the elevation os Heraclas to the bishoprie of that citri Dionysius su
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158 INTRODUCTOR F NON .coedod him in the presidency of tho catecheticat school themabout A.D. 232. Aster holding that position for some fifteen
years Heraclas died, and Dionysius mas again chosen to bellis successor; and ascending the episcopal throno of Ne andria about A.D. 247 or 248, he retained that seo tili his
was a time os great suffering and continuous anxiety; and belween the terrors of persecution on the one hand, and thocares of controversy on the other, he found litile repose in his ossico. During the Decian persecution he Was arrestinand hurried oss by the soldiem to a smali town named Tap
ever, he was called to suffer, and that more severetri When the persecution under Valerian brohe out in the year 257. Onmahing open consession of his. saith on this occasion ho Wasbanished, at a time when he was seriousty ill, in Cephro, a wild and barron district in Libya; and not untd he had spent
two or three years in exile there Was ho enabled lo retum in
Alexandria, in virtus of the edici of Gallienus. At Vario times he had to cope, too, With tho miseries of pestilenco and famine and civit conflicta in the seat os his bishoprie. In the many ecclesiastical difficulties of his age ho was also Iedio take a prominent pari. When the keen contest Was Wagedon the subject of the robaptism os recovered heretics a ut the year 256, the matter in disputo was referred by both parties to his judgment, and lio composed severat valvabio Writings on the question. Then ho was induced in enter inolista with tho Sabellians, and in the courae os a tengthenedcontroversy did much good service against thela teneta. The uncompromising ener; of his opposition to that sect carriedhim, hoWever, beyond the Munds of prudenco, so that he hi self gave expression to opinions not eastly reconci lablo missithe common orthodox doctrine. For these he was called in
account by Dionysius bishop of Rome; and when a synod hadbeen summoned is consider the case, he promptly and --U
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INTRODUCTORT NON . 159acknoni ged tho error into Which his precipitate geal had Mawn him. Once more, hs Was urged is givo his help intho dissieulty .ith Paul of Samosata. But as the burden of ars and infirmities mado it impossibie sor him to attendine synod convened at Antioch in 265 to deal .ith thatuo lemme heresiarch, ho sent his opinion on the subjectos discussion in a letter to the councti, and died goon alter, toWaria tho es o os the fama year. The responsibio duites
neas and patienco throughout the sevenisen eventies years
during Whieh ho occupied tho ossice. Among the ancientsho was held in tho highest est m both for personat morthand for literary usesuinem; and it is relatia that inore Wasa church dedicatod to him in Alexandria. Ono Daturo that appears Very prominently in his character, is the spirit os independent investigation which possessed him. It was only after candid examination os the current phil aophies that ho mas induced in como a Christian; andaster his adoption of tho fiath, he hept himself abreast ofiat the controversies of the timo, and perused missi an impartial mind tho Wocts of the great horetim. Ho acted onthia principio inmugh his inole eo se as a teacher, Pr nouncing against auch Writings only When ho had mado him- soli familiar with their contenta, and mW ho to resuto them. And wo aro told in Eusebius vii. 7 , that When a Certain presbyter once remonstrated With him on this subjeci, and warned him of tho injury ho might do in his own soulis habit ting himself to the perusal of theso heterodox pr ductions, Dionysius Was confirmed in his purpose is a Visionand a voice Which Wero sent him, as he thought, Domheaven to relievo him os ali such sear, and to encouragetiim in read and provo ali that might come into his hand, hoea e that method had Men fram the very firat the causo of faith to bim. Tho moderation of his character, again, is not lem Worthy of notice. In the case of tho Novatianaehism, While he was from the first decidedly opposed to tho Principies of the party, ho suove by patient and affectionato argumentation to persuade the leader in submit. So, too, in
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160 INTRODUCTOR F NOTI . the disputes on baptism Wo find him urgently entreating the Roman bishop Stephen not to press matters to extremi withtho Eastem Church, nor destro tho peaco fhe had only latelybemn to enjοy. Again, in the chiliastic difficulties excitodis Nepos, and hept up by Coracion, Wo see him assemblingati the parochial clero who held these opinions, and invitingali tho lumen of the diocese also to attend the conserenoe, and discussing the question sor three wholo days With ait theseministers, considering their arguments, and meeting ali their objections patiently by Scripture testimony, untii he pe suades Coracion himself to retraci, and receives the thanis of the pastora, and restores uni of faith in his bishoprie. On theso occasions his mildness, and benignitri and moderation stand out in bold relles; and on others se trace similarovidences of his broad sympathies and his largo and liberal spirit. He Was possessed also of a remarhably fertile pen; and the number of his theological Writings, both formalueatises and more familiar episties, was Very considerabie. Ali these, hoWever, have perished, With the exception o What Eusebius and other early authors atready referred toliave preserved. The most important of these compositionsare tho follo ing:-1. A Treatiae on the Promises, in t obooks, Which Was Written against Nepos, and of Whicli Eus bius has introduced two pretu large extracta lato the thirdand seventh books of his History. 2. A Book on Nature, addressed to Timotheus, in opposition to the Epicureans, of which ws havo some sections in the Pro par. Evangel. of Eusebius. 3. A moia against the Sabellians, addressed in Dionysius bishop of Rome, in laur boori or letters, in Whichhe deals with his o- unguarded statementa in the conu versy With Sabellius, and of Which certain portions havs como doWn to us in Athanasius and Basil. In addition to these, We possess a number of his episties in Whole or par and a sen exegetical fragments.
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javelin-men by themselves, and the archers separalely, and the stingers in liho manner, and sera each force in iis appropriate position, in order that ali those equippod in the samo Way may engage together. But is these teachors thinh that this illustration is but a johe, because I institute a comparison belweon very large bodies and very smali, We may pras tosta very smallest. Then Ue have retiat follows :-But it neither tho Word, northo choice, nor the order of a ruter is laid upon them, an dis by their own aci they heep themselves right in the Vast commotion of the stream in Whicli they move, and conveythemselves sately through the mighty uproar of the collisions, and is liho atoms meet and group themselves With like, not
into many pyramida os blaeting stars, it may be, so as to
οὐ also the whole heavens; and others havo reducedihemselves into tho circular figure, so as to impari a certain
solidity to tho ether, and arch it over, and constitute it a Vast graduated ascent of luminaries, with this object also, that
the Various conventions of the commoner atoms may selectseulementa for themselves, and portion Out ths shy among them for their habitations and stations. Then, after eertain other matters, the diseourse proeeeri Mus: ut inconsiderate men do not seo oven things that
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other revolution, by Whicli the sun mines out for us delamminate times, and convenient Masons, and regular succe
stituted, have marhed ost is a hind of covenant the tracta for thola severat possessions, portioning these out liue colonies
stration os true princes in the atoms. Neverthelem theseatoma exercise no rula. For hoW could these, that are them-