PART II.

The INTERNAL HISTORY of the CHURCH.

CHAP. I.

Concerning the state of learning and philosophy.

THOUGH, in this century, the illiterate CENT. and ignorant were advanced to eminent

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among the

and important stations, both ecclesiastical and civil, yet we must not conclude from thence, that The state of the sciences were held in universal contempt. letters The value of learning, and the excellence of the Christians finer arts were yet generally acknowledged among the thinking part of mankind. Hence public schools were erected in almost all the great cities, such as Constantinople, Rome, Marseilles, Edessa, Nisibis, Carthage, Lyons, and Treves; and public instructors of capacity and genius were set apart for the education of the youth, and maintained at the expence of the emperors. Several bishops and monks contributed also to the advancement of knowledge, by imparting to others their small stock of learning and science. But the infelicity of the times, the incursions of the barbarous nations, and the scarcity of great geniuses, rendered the fruits of these excellent establishments much less than their generous founders and promoters expected.

II. In the western provinces, and especially in in the weste Gaul, there were indeed some men eminently distinguished by their learning and talents, and every way proper to serve as models to the lower orders in the republic of letters. Of this we have abundant proof from the writings of Macrobiús, Salvian,

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CENT. Salvian, Vincentius, bishop of Liris, EnnoV. dius, Sidonius, Apollinaris, Claudian, Mamertus, Dracontius, and others, who, though in some respects inferior to the more celebrated authors of antiquite yet far from being destitute of elegance, and discover in their productions a most laborious application to literary researches of various kinds. But the barbarous nations, which either spread desolation, or formed settlements in the Roman territories, choked the growth of those genial seeds, which the hand of science had sowed in more auspicious times. These savage invaders, possessed of no other ambition than that of conquest, and looking upon military courage as the only source of true virtue and solid glory, beheld, of consequence, the arts and sciences with the utmost contempt. Wherever therefore they extended their conquests, ignorance and darkness followed their steps, and the culture of the sciences was confined to the priests and monks alone. And even among these, learning degenerated from its primitive lustre, and put on the most unseemly and fantastic form. Amidst the seduction of corrupt examples, the alarms of perpetual danger, and the horrors and devastations of war, the Sacerdotal and Monastic orders lost gradually all taste for solid science, in the place of which they aubstituted a lifeless spectre, an enormous phantom of barbarous erudition. They indeed kept public schools, and instructed the youth in what they called, the Seven liberal arts, [d]; but these, as we learn from Augustin's account of them, consisted only of a certain number of dry, subtile, and useless precepts; and were consequently more adapted to load and perplex the memory, than to improve

[d] These seven liberal arts were grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy. See Cent. VIII. <Part II. Ch. II. in this volume.

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improve and strengthen the judgment. So that, CENT. towards the conclusion of this century, the sciences were almost totally extinguished; at least, what PART II. remained of them was no more than a shadowy form, without either solidity or consistence.

in the west.

III. The few that applied themselves to the The state of study of philosophy in this age, had not, as yet, philosophy embraced the doctrine or method of Aristotle. They looked upon the system of this eminent philosopher, as a labyrinth beset with thorns and thistles [e]; and yet, had they been able to read and understand his works, it is probable, that many of them would have become his followers. The doctrine of Plato had a more established reputation, which it had enjoyed for several ages, and was considered, not only as less subtile and difficult than that of the Stagirite, but also as more conformable to the genius and spirit of the Christian religion. Besides, the most valuable of Plato's works were translated into Latin by Victorinus, and were thus adapted to general use [ĥ And Sidonius Apollinaris [g] informs us, that all those among the Latins,. who had any inclination to the study of truth, fell into the Platonic notions, and followed that sage as their philosophical guide.

IV. The fate of learning was less deplorable In the east among the Greeks and Orientals, than in the western provinces; and not only the several branches of polite literature, but also the more solid and profound sciences, were cultivated by them with tolerable success. Hence we find among them more writers of genius and learning than in other countries.

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[e] The passages of different writers, that prove what is here advanced, are collected by Launoius, in his book, De varia Aristotelis fortuna in Academia Parisiensi.

[f] See Augustini Confessionum, lib. i. cap. ii. sect. 1. p. 105. 106. tom. i. opp.

[g] See his Epistles, book. iv. ep. ii. xi. book ix. ep. ix.

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CENT. countries. Those, who inclined to the study of V. law, resorted generally to Berytus, famous for its learned academy [h], or to Alexandria [i], which latter city was frequented by the students of physic and chemistry. The professors of eloquence, poetry, philosophy, and the other liberal arts, taught the youth in public schools, which were erected in almost every city. Those however of Alexandria, Constantinople, and Edessa, were looked upon as superior to all others, both in point of erudition and method [k].

Modern

Platonics.

V. The doctrine and sect of the modern Platonics retained as yet, among the Syrians and Alexandrians, a considerable part of their ancient splendor. Olympiodorus, Hero, [7], and other philosophers of the first rank, added a lustre to the Alexandrian School. That of Athens was rendered famous by the talents and erudition of Theophrastus, Plutarch, and his successor Syrian. These were the instructors of the renowned Proclus, who far surpassed the Platonic philosophers of this century, and acquired such a high degree of the public esteem, as enabled him to give new life to the doctrine of Plato, and restore it to its former credit in Greece [m]. Marinus, of Neapolis, Ammonius the son of Hermias, Isidorus and Damascius, the disciples of Proclus, followed with an ardent emulation, the traces of their master, and formed successors that resembled them in all respects. But the imperial laws, and the daily progress of the Christian

[h] See Hasai Lib. de Academia Jureconsultorum Berytensi; as also Mitylenæus, De opificio Dei, p. 164.

[i] Zach. Mitylenæus, De opificio Dei, p. 179. [k] Eneas Gazæus in Theophrasto, p. 6, 7, 16, &c. [7] Marinus, vita Procli cap. ix. p. 19. edit. Fabricii. [m] The life of Proclus, written by Marinus, was published in 4to at Hamburg, in the year 1700 by John Albert Fabricius, and was enriched by this famous editor, with a great number of learned observations.

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tian religion, gradually diminished the lustre and CENT. authority of these philosophers [u]. And as there were many of the Christian doctors who adopted the Platonic system, and were sufficiently qualified to explain it to the youth, this hindered, naturally, the schools of these heathen sages from being so much frequented as they had formerly been.

credit.

VI. The credit of the Platonic philosophy, and The philo the preference that was given to it, as more ex-Aristotle sophy of cellent in itself, and less repugnant to the genius rises into of the gospel than other systems, did not prevent the doctrine of Aristotle from coming to light after a long struggle, and forcing its way into the Christian church. The Platonics themselves interpreted, in their schools, some of the writings of Aristotle, particularly his Dialects, and recommended that work to such of the youth as had a taste for logical discussions, and were fond of disputing. In this, the Christian doctors imitated the manner of the heathen schools; and this was the first step to that universal dominion, which the Stagirite afterward obtained in the republic of letters. A second, and a yet larger stride which the Aristotelian philosophy made towards this universal empire, was, during the controver sies which Origen had occasioned, and the Arian, Eutychian, Nestorian, and Pelagian dissensions, which, in this century were so fruitful of calamities to the Christian church. Origen, as is well known, was zealously attached to the Platonic system: When, therefore, he was publicly condemned, many, to avoid the imputation of his errors, and to prevent their being counted among the number of his followers, adopted openly the philosophy of Aristotle, which was entirely

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[n] See Æneas Gazæus, in Theophrasto p. 6, 7, 8, 13. edit. Barthii.