VII. The Want of Exaclnefs in his Similitudes

or Illuftrations, is yet more Apparent. >T Du Pin
thinks, he makes ufe of Comparifons which for the
mo ft part arc not J aft and Fit. But here I will
not infill: on what is fufficicntly Notorious, that
in z Worldly Writers, Rambling has been voted
Genteel and Free, and even an Argument of a
Great Wit or Genius. I only defire it may be
Remembred, that thefe Homilies were fpoken
off-hand to the Younger Monks. And then if
they were taken from his Mouth, and committed
to Writing, Omifiions and Oversights are but
Natural and Common. However, iuppofing our
Author to have Penn'd them down himfelf -y
might he not be allow'd, like St. Paul-, every
now and then to Break off upon a Frefli Thought,

y Hift. Biblioth. PP. Vol. iv. p. 5-8.

* Monfieur Montaigne's EfTays, &c.

or

The Introduction. £ i

or New Illuftration ? Had Du Pin urg'd Inftan*
ces and Particulars more might be faid : But as
he has not, fuch like General Hints, which I
need not multiply, mayfuffice for a Reply.

2. Let it be alio Added in his Favour, that
like other Spiritual Writers, he is fo Intent upon
the Real Inward Edification of thofe he Addref-
fes himfelf to, that he is even Carelefs about
things of fmaller Moment, the Roundnefs of his
Periods, and other Critical Niceties of Stile, or
even of Thought. In thinking Thus, fure I fltittj
I think, in very Good Company, and particularly
with one of the molt Pious, Judicious*, andBeft*
natur'd Critics I ever met with in my Life. For
thus does the Excellent Monficur * Toinnard Apo-
logize for fome fuch Deficiencies in Laftantius^
viz. — —Verum abfit, ut inde quicquam detraclunz
*velim Lactantii aliorumq-, Ecclefiafiicorum Scripto-
rum Aucloritati : Id unum contendo, eis^ quantb
magis ob vetuftatem pr<edicantur^ tantb minks in re-
bus Chronologicis habendum effe Fidci: Cum enim
unum Chriftum fcirent, & docerent, eumq-, Cruci-
fixum, verum geftarum ordinem non ita accurate^
fervabant. Now a Millake or Want of Exacl:-
nefs in Chronology is evidently lefs Pardonable,
than the Nice Adjuftment of the Parts of an Il-
luftration. This latter at leaft might be Venial,
upon the fcore of Fatigue or Indifpofition, which
thePerfon fpeaking may be under, or fome other
Accident not much Unlike.

3. Or fuppofe, after all, the Fault in reality
iliould be Charg'd not upon the Author himfelf^
but only the Copies of him now in Being. Sul-
pitius SeveruS) after all his fcrupulous Care and
Exactnefs, even to the moft minute Cireumftan-

3 Ntc. Toirmardi Not. in Lacianthim de Mortibus Perfecutorum,
ex edit.Var. p. 348.

E i CC?

j 2 The Introduction.

ces in Chronology, Compkin'd like a True Prophet
long before-hand, that all his Pains and Nicenefs
would in time be Entirely b Loll. So indeed the
Event has Prov'd.

4. As to our Author, he feems again to take it
for Granted, that in his Time the c Devil was Six
Thonfand Tears Old. Which fome perhaps will
not eafily Forgive. But upon a cooler Reflection,
the AiTertion will appear rather Innocent than
RafTi. It is betides my prcfent purpofe to En-
quire, When the Angelic Order came firh: into Be-
ing > whether Antecedent to the Vifible Creation,
or at the Same Time. For my own and the
Reader's Eafe, I will wholly Overlook the Con-
jectures of the Rabbins, Fathers, and Schoolmen
upon the Point. All I {hall Obferve is, that our
Author is by Dr. Cave reckon'd to have Flou-
riuYd about the Year of our Lord 373. And if
our BlefFed Lord was Born in the Year of the
World ^34, as fome Compute from the LXX.
(which was the Chronology of the Alexandrian
Church) thofe Two Numbers put together, will
make in the whole 6007 Years. So that the
Round Number is evidently 6000 Years. But
this by the way.

y. To Return. By the Help of one fingle Ma-
nufcript, have I been Able to Reftore feveral
PafTages in thele Homilies, which were not fo
much as common Senfe in all the Printed Edi-
tions. And yet this very Manufcript is probably
not above 300 Years Old. And if from fo late a
Copy, very near Two Hundred Emendations have
been made: What might we not Expect from
One three or four times as Old ? For now and
then in the Margin of this very Manufcript, a

b Sacr&Htfxor. Lib. i. p. 49. ex edit. Elzevir, See alio the
Variorum Note upon the Place.
j Horn. xxvi.

Gap

The Introduction. J3

Gap is Advertis'd in thcfe Words, g&6 d\v.£i n
IWeiTretv.