Heretics required him to discourse upon, in a plain and familiar way to the people. His homilies, by way of exposition of any book of Scripture, usually consist but of two parts, an exposition of some portion of a chapter, and an ethicon, or moral conclusion upon some useful subject, which the last part of the words expounded gave him the hint or occasion to discourse upon. But his other homilies are commonly introduced with an useful preface, not relating always to the subject that was to follow, but such as the occasional necessities of his auditory, either in matters of reproof or commendation seemed to require. But in both these ways, he still excelled in this, that he always expounded the Scripture in its most natural and genuine sense, not giving way to tropological descants, as too many others did, and made such useful observations and reflections upon it, as were pertinent and proper, which he applied to his hearers with the strongest reasoning, and utmost force of divine eloquence, becoming the seriousness and gravity of a Christian orator. It is a just character, which a late learned critic gives him,' and therefore I think it not improper here to transcribe it for the encouragement of all young students to read him. "His eloquence is popular, and very proper for preaching; his style is natural, easy and grave; he equally avoids negligence and affectation; he is neither too plain, nor too florid; he is smooth, yet not effeminate; he uses all the figures that are usual to good orators very properly, without employing false strokes of wit; and he never introduces, into his discourses, any notions of poets or prophane authors; neither does he divert his auditory with jests. His composition is noble, his expressions elegant, his method just, and his thoughts sublime; he speaks like a good father, and a good pastor; he often directs his words to the people, and expresses them with a tenderness and charity becoming an holy bishop; he teaches the principal truths of christianity with a wonderful clearness, and diverts with a marvellous art, and an agreeable way of ranging his notions, and persuades by the strength and solidity of his reasons; his instructions are easy, his descriptions and relations

1 Du Pin Bibliothec. vol. iii. p. 34.

pleasant; his inducements so meek and insinuating, that one is pleased to be so persuaded; his discourses, how long soever, are not tedious, there are still some new things that keep the reader awake, and yet he hath no false beauties nor useless figures; his only aim is to convert his auditors, or to instruct them in necessary truths; he neglects all reflections that have more of subtilty than profit; he never busies himself to resolve hard questions, nor to give mystical senses, to make a shew of his wit or eloquence; he searches not into mysteries, neither endeavours to comprehend them; he is contented to propose, after an easy way, palpable and sensible truths, which none can be ignorant of without danger of failing of salvation; he particularly applies himself to moral heads, and very seldom handleth speculative truths; he affects not to appear learned, and never boasts of his erudition: and yet whatever the subject be, he speaks with terms so strong, so proper, and so well chosen, that one may easily perceive he had a profound knowledge of all sorts of matters, and particularly of true divinity." This is the character, which that judicious critic gives that famous and eloquent preacher: and he that will diligently peruse his homilies, especially those of his first and fifth volumes, which contain his most elaborate discourses, as also those on St. Matthew, St. John, and St. Paul's Epistles, where he excels in his moral applications, will find his sermons to answer the character that is given of them, only making some allowances for the different way and method then used, not so agreeable to the model of sermons in the present age. I had once some thoughts of publishing a volume of his select discourses, which I translated for my own entertainment, when I was unfortunately cut off from other studies for a whole year: but because they are not altogether of the present stamp, and many men have a different taste and relish of things, I choose rather to encourage men to read them in the original, where they may select what they find proper for their use or imitation. As for those, who can endure to read nothing but what is either modern, or dressed up in the modern dress, I neither court them to read Chrysostom, nor any other ancient Father; but to others, who can be at pains to peruse, and judiciously select the

beauties of style, the strains of piety, and the flights of divine and manly eloquence, that almost every where display themselves in this author, I dare venture to say, they will never think their time lost, nor find themselves wholly disappointed in their expectation. St. Basil's homilies come the nearest to St. Chrysostom's in solidity of matter, beauty of style, ingenuity of thought, and sharpness and vivacity of expression. A vein of piety runs equally through them both, and by some St. Basil's are reckoned to come nearer to the attic purity and perfection. Next after these, the two Gregories, Nyssen and Nazianzen, are esteemed the greatest masters of divine eloquence; though the latter is rather luxuriant and tedious by his too frequent and long similitudes and digressions. Those of Ephrem Syrus were also of great repute in the ancient Church, having the honour to be read as lessons after the reading of the Scriptures in many churches, as has been noted before out of St. Jerom. They are highly commended by Sozomen and Photius for the beauty of their style and sublime thoughts, which were not wholly lost by being translated out of Syriac into Greek. Gregory Nyssen is more copious in his praise, and he particularly observes, that his discourses of morality were so full of compassionate and affecting expressions, that they were able to move the hardest heart."For who that is proud," says he, "would not become the humblest of men, by reading his discourse of humility? Who would not be inflamed with a divine fire, by reading his treatise of charity? Who would not wish to be chaste in heart and spirit by reading the praises he has given to virginity? Who would not be frighted, to hear the discourse he has made upon the last judgment, wherein he has represented it so lively, that nothing can be added to it but the real appearance of judgment itself?" This is a character that would tempt any man to look into them: it is disputed now among the critics, whether these homilies, that go under his name, be his genuine offspring? some utterly reject them, and they, who

' Hieron. de Scriptor. cap. cxv. Phot. Cod. 196.

4

2 Sozom. lib. iii. cap. 16. Nyssen. Vit. Ephrem Syri. tom. iii. p. 603.

say most in their defence, own that they may have lost something of their native beauty and majesty, by being translated first out of Syriac into Greek, and then out of Greek into Latin. And therefore I will not so confidently assert, they deserve the character, which Gregory Nyssen gives of those that were so much admired in his time. As for those of Origen, and others who followed him, though they have some flights of rhetoric, and a vein of piety in them, yet they are so full of allegorical and tropological interpretations, that they are neither good expositions, nor good homilies, and fall far short of the majesty and simplicity of those of Chrysostom. Among the Latins, those few moral discourses we have of Cyprian's, whether homilies or treatises, are excellent in their kind. And so are many of St. Austin's, and St. Ambrose, and Leo the Great, and Petrus Ravennas, who for his eloquence had the name of Chrysologus, or the Latin Chrysostom; though his eloquence is of a different kind, being more like that of Seneca, than of Tully or Demosthenes, whom Chrysostom copied after.

SECT. 11.-Of Extempore Discourses, frequent among the Ancients.

But of all these we must observe another distinction, that though many of them were studied and elaborate discourses, penned and composed before hand, yet some were also extempore, spoken without any previous composition, and taken from their mouths by the Taxvypápor, or men who understood the art of writing short hand in the church. Origen was the first that began this way of preaching in the Church. But Eusebius says,' he did it not till he was above sixty years old, at which age, having got a confirmed habit of preaching by continual use and exercise, he suffered the Taxvypápor, or Notaries, to take down his sermons, which he made to the people, which he would never allow before. Pamphilus, in his Apology for Origen, speaks the matter a

Euseb. lib. vi. cap. 36.

Pamphil. Apol. pro Orig. inter opera Origen. tom. i. p. 756. Quod præ cæteris Verbo Dei et doctrinæ operam dederit, dubium non est et ex his quæ ad nos laboris et studii ejus certissima designantur indicia: præcipuè verò per eos tractatus, quos penè quotidiè in ecclesiâ habebat extempore, quos et describentes notarii ad moni

little more plainly: for he makes it an instance of his sedulity in studying and preaching the Word of God, that he not only composed a great number of laborious treatises upon it, but preached almost every day extempore sermons in the church, which were taken from his mouth by the notaries, and so conveyed to posterity by that means only. The catechetical discourses of St. Cyril, are supposed to be of this kind: for at the beginning of every one almost, it is said in the title to be, "oxediaodeioa," which Suidas and other critics expound," an extempore discourse." St. Jerom says, Pierius thus expounded the Scripture. St. Chrysostom also sometimes used this way of preaching, being of a ready invention and fluent tongue. Sozomen says, after his return from banishment, the people were so desirous to hear him, that he was forced to go up into the episcopal throne, and make an extempore discourse to them, which is now extants in his second tome in latin. Suidas also gives him this character,* that he had a tongue flowing like the cataracts of Nile, whereby he spake many of his panegyrics upon the martyrs extempore, without any hesitation. And it appears from several of his sermons, that he often took occasion in the middle of a discourse from some accidental hint that was casually given, to turn his eloquence from the subject in hand, and make some extempore apostrophe to the people, either of praise and commendation, or of reproof and correction, as the occasion of the thing required, as in that sermon we have already mentioned, sect. 8. where he takes occasion, from the people's turning their eyes to see the lighting of the candles, to reprove their negligence in turning away their attention from him, who was holding forth to them a greater light from the holy Scriptures. And there are many other such apostrophes and occasional reflections throughout his homilies, which must needs be extempore,

mentum posteritatis tradebant. Exod. Levit. and Numbers, to vol. i. p. 78.

2 Sozom. lib. viii. cap. 18.

p. 49. in Appendice.

Dr. Cave reckons his Homilies upon Gen. be all extempore. Vid. Cave Hist. Liter. Hieron. Prooem. in Hosea.

3 Chrys. Sermo post Reditum. tom. ii. * Suidas, voce, Joannes. tom. i. p. 1258.

Τὰς τῶν μαρτύρων δὲ πανηγύρεις ἐπηύξησεν ἐν τῷ σχεδιάζειν ἀνεμποδίσως, &c.

Chrys. Hom. iv. in Gen. tom. ii. p. 902.