friends of Vigilantius; Martin was the pattern after whom they framed their conversation and conduct; and Jerome was the oracle of his day, from whose works we collect almost all that is known of the heresy' of Vigilantius, as his testimony to the truth has been most unfairly called. The order, in which I place these introductory sketches, is correct both as to time and subject.

Martin, Bishop of Tours, comes first, because he was the oldest and, to his influence over the minds of Sulpicius and Paulinus, are to be attributed the erroneous notions of Christian duty, which drew those excellent men out of the path of active life, into monastic seclusion and mortification, and laid the foundation of all their

errors.

Biographical notices of the two friends succeed that of Martin: and an outline of the life of Jerome will prepare the reader for the few memorials which remain of Vigilantius himself. I do not profess to write any thing like a life' of these Fathers, or to dwell longer on their history than is necessary to show how one false step led to another, and to clear the way for a more perfect understanding of the principal subject of these pages. Martin died before Vigilantius; but the three others outlived him and I am satisfied with bringing my notice of them down to a period coeval with that in which Vigilantius was a prominent actor.

As I have no pleasure in gloating over the de

A. D. 350-400.

A. D. 350-400.

fects of men, who were the admiration of their times, I shall gladly bring the noble actions and the good qualities of Martin, Sulpicius, Paulinus, and Jerome, into prominent view, whenever I have the opportunity of doing so.

But I shall take care to guard my readers against those of their errors more especially, which, bearing some affinity or resemblance to truth and virtue, were mistaken for such, and therefore became the more dangerous. And I shall endeavour to shew, that it was in consequence of the mistakes of 'saints' like these, that primitive Christianity declined by little and by little from its original purity and simplicity, until it degenerated into the form called Romanism.'

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I heartily wish that some abler hand may the outlines, which I have but slightly traced; because a thorough knowledge of ecclesiastical history depends upon the study of contemporary biography. All that is important in theology, and eventful in the position which the church has taken up at different æras, has resulted from the direction given to public thought and action by a very few of the principal writers and hierarchs. It is individual character which is impulsive and productive of great changes; and until we look more closely to the temper, disposition, opinions, views, and performances of the few who have taken a lead in every age, we shall continue to have a very imperfect knowledge of the history of the many, whether in church or state. Biography therefore, as furnishing us with an insight into the

personal objects of the great actors in the drama of human life, and into the immediate occasions which gave rise to important events, is not only one of the most amusing, but also one of the most instructive branches of literature.

A. D.

350-400.

CHAP. II.

MARTIN OF TOURS.

Tours.

Martin of MARTIN was born at Sabaria,* in Pannonia, in the year 317, but received his education in Italy. He was deeply impressed with religious sentiments at a very early age, and, having become a catechumen when only ten years old, his youthful zeal was so inflamed, that he would have retired into the desert, as a boy-hermit, at twelve years of age, had not his wishes been controlled. At fifteen, Martin served in the ranks of Constantine as a soldier of great promise, and the story, of his having divided his cloak with a beggar, tells nobly for the young Christian, who not only displayed sympathy for the destitute, far beyond the character of the age in which he lived, but had the moral courage to perform an act which exposed him to the jeers of his comrades.

In a vision of the night Martin fancied that the

* Hodie Szombatch, or according to Cluverius, Sarvvar.

A. D. 332-337.

the army.

Saviour appeared to him, clad in the vestment which he had shared with the shivering beggar, and that he heard him repeat in the well-known words of the Gospel, "Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, you have done it unto me." Such a dream was likely to add intensity to the piety of an enthusiastic youth and it did so. At eighteen, Martin was baptised. While Martin in he was in the army, he confronted the apostate Julian, in a style of manly resolution, which may have been exaggerated, or at least highly coloured, but which must nevertheless have had much in it of heroic reality. Upon an occasion when Julian wished to reward some of his troops, who had distinguished themselves, he assembled them to receive a largess at his hands. When he came to Martin, and offered him the donative, I am a Christian,' said the dauntless soldier to his commander, 'give me not a largess, but a discharge from your army. Hitherto I have served under you, now let me serve God as a soldier of Jesus Christ.' Julian, to try him, or to silence him, told him that his request proceeded from cowardice. 'To-morrow,' exclaimed Martin, 'I will rush into the thickest of the fight, unarmed, and in the name of the Lord, and with the sign of the cross, I will penetrate unhurt into the closest phalanx of the foe.' He was put in chains for his bravado, (as it was considered) and would have been compelled to make good his words, had not the enemy sued for, and obtained peace in the interval. During the whole time that Martin continued in the

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