VIII. The Queftions Interwoven with the Ho-

milies are found d Fault with, as being more Cu- rious than Solid, very often of Little or No Mo- ment, and, not to mince the Matter, as being Impertinent, void of the leait Connexion or Re- lation to the Reft of the Homily, or indeed to one another. With much the fame view do we find in the Edition of Pakbexius, the Author of t the Contents ( whoever he was ) has before the Seventh Homily Ccnfur'd the Queftions in it, as Impertinent, Frivolous, and Vain 5 cyxPov a-ro-
2. But for my own part, I rather fide with Dr. Pritius, and Applaud his Candour in leaving out thofe Words, in his Edition. I heartily join with him, when in his Preface heAdvertifes the Reader concerning thefe very Contents, viz: Ar- gumenta Homlliis ipfis prxmijfa^ Retinuimus qui- dem, quamvis non ipjius fint Macarii, fed alterius cujufdam Auctoris^ ineptefepiusMciCMiimentem in Suyima proponent^ Aucloremq; ipfum non rarp a fe^intellcclum quidem^ intempeftivd notantisCenfura. Whether Thus the Charge of Impertinence does not Recoil upon the Plaintiff's own Head, Heave the Reader to Confider.
3. If the Copies we have now in being were Exact, the Queitions might foon be Accounted for. For initance, What if I fhould fay, that they were privately put to our Author by the Novices or younger Monks -, and that meeting with them pretty often over and over again from different Hands, he might be Induc'd to Incorpo- rate them into his Public Homilies or Difcourfes,
t £># Fin. Bib. PP. p. ?6. ad Horn, vii, xi3 xii.
E 3 for
j4 T%e Introduction.
for the Common Benefit of All ? Curiofity is Natural enough to every Humane Breaft. And younger Perfons mull not be Difcourag'd from Afking fuch Queftions as may Perplex and feem to them of Moment -9 tho' at the fame time they may feem very Idle and Impertinent to others. The Niceties of Method, the St rift Coherence and Unity of Difcourfe was never yet thought wor- thy to take place of what might Edify, and An- fwer the NecelHties of the Hearers.
4. But upon a Second Thought I mull Ac- knowledge in his Favour, that generally fpeaking he has made Amends and Satisfaction for this very Cenfure. For elfewhere is he as Careful to In- form the Reader without any Scruple, that the Queftions are even Weighty, Full of Divine Wife dom, and highly UfefuL