III. It

4Z The Introduction.
A„;JUr~ HI. 4t may poffibly be Cavill'd at by fome, as guilty of Oversights, or downright Ignorance in Natural Philofophy. And what if we mould even allow the Charge ? It is highly probable, that the other Macarius of Alexandria was much the greater u Scholar in point of Humane Learning. That our Egyptian was not fufficiently acquainted with Ariftotle, is Legible in the very Rencounter he once had with an w Eunomian \ at lead, that he had Forgot thofe Subtilties for which his Pre- tending Followers have been fo Famous. x Sui- das, I own, Records him as one Eminent for Learning, ox the. Mathematics. For fo/uaO/i/jtala, may alfo iignify. But then it is more than Pro- bable, that Suidas had Borrow'd this very Teiti- mony from Socrates. And then too, if we Cor- rect that very Reading (rd ixa^ixara) in the for- mer, by (rd §>ocju(j.o}cl) in the latter, we may give up his Humane Learning without any Real Dif- paragement to his Superiour Character. The Life indeed of the Egyptian Reclufes was ufually a Philofophical y one. But then too the Philofophy Cultivated by Them, was not Speculative but Practical -y not that of Ariftotle, but Socrates (what Sozomen z indeed calls Divine Philofophy.) What diftinguimes the JVifdom of that Noble Heathen is, that after all his Studies in the other Parts of Learning, he ftuck to Morality, and was the very Firft that a Introduced it into the Schools of Philofophers.
z. I am not very follicitous whether our Egy- ptian were really Ignorant, or whether he might not, like other Perfons wholly Bent upon Divine
■ Bodvoel. Did*, in Irenmm, Append, p. 5-12. w Cajfianus apud Pritium, p. 280.
* In voce m«k«&c0;. ex Edit. Cam. Vide Pea-font Not. in loc. y Socrat. Eccl. Hift.
I Sozow. Eccl. Hift. ^^Stmtiey's Lives.
Morality,
The Introduction. 43
Morality, wilfully Overlook, or entirely Wave the Wifdom of Men. What, if even knowing the molt, exact Schemes of Humane Philofophy, he mould chufe to Addrefs himfelf to the ordinary Capacities of an Illiterate Audience?
3 . Under this view then fuffer him to b Affirm, that every Night the whole Habitable Earth is at once Cover" d with Darknefs. Allow him to fpeak of the very Elements, of Air c and Water as if he were fpeaking of the Earthy in the way of Ana- logy or Accommodation. Indulge him if he fpeak of God himfelf, as of a Divine Place or World. Perhaps he might not know, that (Biace d) among the Jews is look'd upon as One of the Names of God. But he had been Taught by the Great ApofUe of the Gentiles, that in God we Live and A&s xvij. Move, and have our Being. And Forgive him 28' at leaft if he fpeak of Satan alfo, as Diametrically Oppos'd to God in this refpect as well as others. He hadLearn'd from St. John, that the whole World lay in the Wicked One. Our Englijh Ver- fion renders the Word by Wickednefs, and that with fufficient Exactnefs. But the Original, which was in a manner the fame to our Author, as Englijh is to Us, is as properly to be taken in the Concrete Senfe, as in the Abitraft.
4. I mall give but one Inftance more, by way of Specimen, of the Occafion there may be for Candour. In the Fourteenth Homily, he fpeaks of the very Fire, as if it were Habitable, and in all refpects Analogous to Earth. There are in- • deed Accounts of Burning Mountains, which wc meet with among the e Antients, fufficiently Strange and Surprizing. But our Author feems
b Horn. v.
c See Eufebius de Prreparat. Evang. Lib. xi. Cap. 37. d Gtf/rf//'««jdeArcanisFidei Cathol. Item Buxtorjius* * P//w/Nat3Hift. Lib, ii. Op. io
rather
44
The Introduction.
rather to be Perfuing his own Thoughts upon fuch an imperfect Hint, to Illuftrate the Doctrine he would Inculcate, than to Dwell merely upon Hiftory or Nature. He might have learn'd even from Plato's f School, that the Four Elements are alike Peopled with Inhabitants Peculiar to each. And if from thence our Author fhould be found Illuflrating any Sovereign Truth in Divine Mo- rality, or the Life of God ; and mould even Suc- ceed fo well in the Illuftration, as to be Under- flood to the Edification of his Hearers : There is certainly no Fault in ftrictnefs to be Found, but a Condefcending Ingenuity rather, deferving Thanks, to be Acknowledged. The Reader need no more Repent of his Candour, than thofe did, who Heard the Homilies from our Author's Mouth.