III. before him napkins and handkerchiefs to receive his CENT. blood. His head was then severed from his body, by the sword*. His biographer Pontius represents himself as wishing to have died with him; and, as divided between the joy of his victorious martyrdom, and sorrow, that himself was left behind. Thus, after an eventful and instructive periodof about twelve years since his conversion,-after a variety of toils and exercises among friends, and open foes and nominal Christians, by a death more gentle than commonly fell to the lot of martyrs, rested at length in Jesus the truly magnanimous and benevolent. spirit of Cyprian of Carthage.-An extraordinary personage surely! And, one, whose character calls for the most distinct review and illustration in our power!-An attempt of this sort we would make in the next chapter, however imperfect, or inadequate it may prove.-Let writers, whose views are secular, celebrate their heroes, their statesmen, and their philosophers; but let us, even though a Christian's taste be derided,—at least take advantage of the rare felicity of the present times of civil liberty, and, endeavour, in employing the press, to do some justice to the virtues of men, who, while they lived, "set their affections on things above," and who, after death, according to modern sentiments of worth and excellence,―are, almost, assigned to contemptuous oblivion.And, may their memorial be blessed for ever!! CHAP. XV. CYPRIAN COMPARED WITH ORIGEN.. THE east and the west beheld at the same time these two men, in talents, activity, and attainments much superior to the rest of the Christian world. The *Acts of his Martyrdom. Passion of Cyprian in Pam. Pon tius's Life of Cyprian, and Fleury's History.. XV. CHAP. Roman seems, beyond contradiction, to have much excelled the Grecian in those things in which true Christian virtue consists; yet, as the latter, by the FRUITS of his life,-though they were miserably tarnished and clouded by a depraved philosophy,-still claims a just place among saints, it inay answer some, valuable purpose, not impertinent to the design of this history, to compare, in several particulars, the respective endowments, defects, and excellencies of these extraordinary men. 1. There may have been as pious and holy men as Cyprian, in the interval of time between the Apostles and him, but we have no opportunity of knowing any other Christian so well. The distinct particularity of the accounts concerning him makes his character remarkably deserving of our attention. The dealings of God with a sinner, at his first conversion, often give a strong tincture to the whole future life. Cyprian was intended for very great and important services in the Church; and, those of an active nature, and attended with an almost uninterrupted series of sufferings;-such as no man could perform to the glory of God, but one, who knew assuredly the ground on which he stood, by a strong work of the divine Spirit on his soul. His experience in conversion he himself describes in his letter to Donatus.-His reception of Christianity was not the effect of mere reasoning or speculation. It was not carried on in a scholastic or philosophical manner, but may truly be said to have been "in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power." He felt the doctrines of the Gospel,-namely, the grace of God; forgiveness of sins by Jesus Christ; and the influence of the Holy Ghost, powerful, exuberant, and victorious. His soul was brought into the love of God, and that of the purest kind, tempered ever with_humility and godly fear and it is evident-that he always saw the work to be of God, and beheld nothing in himself as wise, holy, and glorious; and - that a spirit of thankfulness for redeeming love, of CENT, simple dependence on the divine promises, and, of steady charity to God and man was the result, His race was of no long duration; only about twelve years; and by far the greater part of the time he was bishop of Carthage. He lived a Christian life; and no part of it was exempt from much labour or much affliction. He seems never to have known what it was to settle into a luke-warm state. The fire which was first kindled in him, burnt serene and steady to the end of his days. I am aware that Mosheim charges him with an ambitious, domineering spirit, that invaded the rights of the lower clergy and people*. But I take the liberty of assuring the cautious reader, that this excellent and very judicious SECULAR historian, is not to be trusted in his accounts of men of REAL HOLINESS. From the most attentive review which I have been able to make of the character of the African prelate, by a repeated perusal of the existing evidence, especially his epistles, I cannot see any thing on which to ground such a censure. He did nothing, in general, without the clergy and people. He was ever sedulous in promoting the good of the whole. The episcopal authority was, in his time, at no very blameable height in the Church: nevertheless, through the gradual growth of superstition, it was, naturally, advancing to an excess of dignity; and it is not to be denied that some few expressions savouring of haughtiness and asperity are to be found in the writings of Cyprian.-But these few expressions were evidently the effect of particular provocation;-nor is there the least evidence that ambition was his vice. Candour would rather say, he was, in general, influenced by a very fervent zeal, supported in its exertions by a temper remarkably active and sanguine. But, whoever looks into the original records with an expectation of finding any thing selfish, proud, or domineering in his Eccles. History, Century 3, Chap. 2. XV. CHAP. general conduct, will be disappointed; and, on the contrary, will be struck with the steady tenor of gentleness, charity, and humility. In fine, if he had not been a CHRISTIAN, one might have held him forth to the world as a GREAT man;-if it be the part of a great man to unite, in a large and capacious mind, many virtues, and each of them in a high degree of perfection;-virtues too, which are opposite in their nature, and which rarely meet in firm consistence in the same subject;-for example, vigour and mildness, magnanimity and mercy, fortitude and prudence, warmth of temper and accuracy of judgment, and, above all,-zeal and discretion. In Origen's conversion we see nothing remarkable. He received Christianity in a way of education, rather than by quick, lively, and decisive operations of the Holy Spirit. It is not usual with God to make use of SUCH persons for extraordinary services like those for which Cyprian, in the prime of life, appears to have been selected from the world. Origen's views of the peculiar truths of Christianity were,to say no more, too faint and general;-nor ever SUFFICIENTLY distinguished from moral and philosophical religion. He bore persecution, when young, with much zeal and honesty; but he lived many years in peace and prosperity. Much respected and sought after by philosophers, highly esteemed and honoured by courts and by the great, he lived a scholastic rather than an active life in the Church; always fully employed indeed, but more like a man of letters than a minister of the Gospel ; ever bent on promoting truth and holiness so far as he knew them; but always leaving one's mind dissatisfied on account of the defectiveness of his views. His last scenes are the most satisfactory and the most decisively Christian. He suffered persecution with the patience and honesty of a martyr; and proved INDEED whose disciple he was on the whole. Mosheim charges him with dishonesty in IIL his arguments against Celsus; and says that any CENT. one that has penetration and judgment may discern, it*. It would have been more to the purpose to have pointed out the instances of dishonest argumentation, which he alludes to. My examination of the tract in question induces me to dissent from this learned historian; and further, I am convinced that great uprightness of mind was a ruling feature in Origen's character. But it is not the practice of modern writers to be candid in their judgment of the ancient Christians. After this general review of these two men, and, after it has been admitted that integrity and fairness of mind were possessed by both in a very great degree, it may be natural to ask-In what consisted the superior excellence of Cyprian?-The general answer to such an inquiry is--The manner of their first conversion has appeared to have been strikingly different in the two cases; and still more so-The work of God upon their hearts afterwards.-But besides this, 2. Cyprian was possessed of a simplicity of TASTE to which Origen seems ever to have been a stranger. By simplicity of taste I mean here a genuine and unadulterated relish for the doctrine and spirit of the Christian religion, just as it stands in its real nature. It is possible for a person very eminent in this gift,—which is purely divine and spiritual,-to be, in no way, remarkable for his knowledge of evangelical truth: In respect of knowledge he may not much exceed another who is far his inferior in the former grace of the Spirit: The light and means of information are very different in different ages of the Church; and it is evident that the third century suffered a decline in illumination. But where a man is deficient in knowledge, yet if his simplicity of Christian taste be very great, he will be silent on those subjects which he does not understand, or at Mosheim's Eccl. History, Century 3, Chap. 3. |