Bibliotheque

Forſooth they haue chriſtned the book now by a new name. It muſt no lõger be called a Bibliotheque of holy Fathers; for, they haue diſſainted ſome 100. or two of thoſe auncient writers, and diſcarded many of the reſt, in euerie Tome ſome: It muſt now be called Bibliotheca Patrum, & veterum Authorum Eccleſiaſticorum, a Bibliotheque of Fathers, and other old Eccleſiaſticall writers.

Shou'd I make a Collection of vvhat is vvritten by the beſt Authors of Antiquity in their Praiſes; ſhould I but refer you to vvhat Stobæus has Collected for 'em, ſince you mention vvhat he has done againſt 'em; ſhould I but tranſcribe vvhat ¹ Plutarch, ² Lodovicus Vives [Juan Luis Vives], ³ Speron Sperone, the moſt Learned of his Country-men, ⁴ Ribera [Francisco Ribera?], ⁵ Hilarion de Coſtè, ⁶ Scuderie, and a thouſand others have ſaid of 'em in Treatiſes vvritten expreſly in their Praiſes: ſhould I but ſearch all the Bibliotheques for a Catalogue of thoſe vvho vvere famous for their VVritings; […]

The Paſſage of the Letter from the Jews or Jeruſalem, according to the Greek Text, is this, Theſe very things were in the Writings and Memoirs of Nehemiah, and as it were making them a Bibliotheque, he had collected the Books of Kings, of the Prophets, and the Letters concerning the Donatives.

He will find I have been very merciful in ſingling out one Inſtance only, of the many that might be produc’d, for I aſſure him it would be wondrous eaſy to furniſh out yearly a Bibliotheque of his own Blunders, but the living upon the worſt of the beſt Authors, is a Diet I leave to this Critick.

Among the Works of St. Athanaſius we have a Tract entitul’d, A Synopſis of Holy Scripture. Some modern Criticks, Dr. Cave among the reſt, in his Hiſtoria Litteraria, and F. Montfaucon in his Palæologia Græca, are of opinion this work is not St. Athanaſius’s; Mr. Du Pin thinks it is, and defends it in his Bibliotheque of Eccleſiaſtical Writers; however all agree that ’tis very ancient.

FAther Le Long, a Prieſt of the Oratory, deſigns to publiſh a Bibliotheque of the Hiſtorians of France, containing the Civil and Eccleſiaſtical Hiſtory of that Kingdom, and a General and Particular Hiſtory of Provinces, Cities, Families, and Academies, whether they be Printed, or only Manuſcript.

I could name ſeveral other Engliſh Tracts upon ſeveral Subjects, full of Primitive Chriſtian Divinity, were ſuch a Bibliotheque fit for this Place.

A piece muſt be written, and what book more proper to attack, than one of character, no matter how juſtly; for tho’ it is far beneath a generous and honeſt ſpirit, to throw falſe lights on any man’s writings, or upon any conſideration, to miſrepreſent his ſentiments: yet there are thoſe, who to fill up a Bibliotheque and to ſwell the work, make no ſcruple of this practice.