AUG 



printed at Paris in 1679, and reprinted at Antwerp in 1700; 

 and fill eleven volumes in folio. His remains were carried 

 by the Catholic bifhops of Africa into Sardinia, the place of 

 their exile; and from thence, after an interval of 200 years, 

 they were conveyed by Liiilprajid, king of the Lombards,' 

 to Pavia, his capital. 



In eftimating the talents and learning, the difpofition and 

 charafter, and the value of the writings-of AuguRine, fome 

 have exalted him far above, and others have degraded him as 

 much below his juft rank. Modicim obferves, that his fame 

 filled the whole Chriftian world ; and " not without reafon, 

 as a variety of great and ilriking qualities were united in the 

 charafter of that illuftrious man. A fublime genius, an un- 

 interrupted and zealous purfuil of truth, an indefatigable 

 application, an invincible patience, a fiipcere pietv, and a 

 fubtile and lively wit, confpiredlo elbblidi his fame upon the 

 mod lading foundations. It is however certain, that the 

 accuracy and folidity of his judgment were by no means 

 proportionable to the eminent talents now mentior.ed ; and 

 that, upon many occafions, he was more guided by the 

 violent impulie of a warm imagination, than by tlie cool 

 dictates of reafon and prudence. Hence that ambiguity 

 which appears in his writings, and which has fometimes ren- 

 dered the moil attentive readers uncertain witli refpect to 

 his real fentiments ; and hence alfo the jnil complaints 

 which many have made of t!ie contradidlions that are fo 

 frequent in his works, and of the levity and precipitation 

 with which he fet hiinfclf to write upon a variety of fubjefts, 

 before he had examined them with a fuffieicnt degree of at- 

 tention and diligence." That he pofllfTed a ftrong, capa- 

 cious, argumentative mind, is gcnerelly allowed ; but his 

 ftyle, though fimelimts animated by the eloquence of paf- 

 fion, is ufually clouded by f?.lfe and aft'eCted rhetoric. " It 

 has (fays one of his biographers) more argument than ora- 

 tory, more fluency than elegance, and more wit than learn- 

 ing ; he has a certain fubtlety and intricate involution of 

 ideas through long periods, which require in the reader 

 acute penetration, clofe attention, and quick recolledtion. 

 In fine, he is, as Erafmus has obferved, a writer of obfcure 

 fubtlety, and unplcafant prolixity." And, as many of his 

 fpeculations are in themfelves unintercfling, it is no wonder 

 that his voluminous writings are now very much, and per- 

 haps unduly, neglected. At the fame time it is much to be 

 lamented, that the doftrines of this father in the church 

 fliould have led men to adopt a gloomy lyllem of religion, 

 and to fupport h with all the rigour of perfecution. Such par- 

 ticularly are thofe charged upon him by Le Clerc (Letter 

 prefixed to Supplement to Hammond's Paraphrafe), which 

 take away goodnefs and juftice both from God and man ; 

 the one reprefenting God as configning men to eternal tor- 

 ments^ for fins which they could not avoid : the other, flir- 

 ring up magillrates to perfecute thofe who differ from them 

 in religioii. It has alfo been regretted, that no writings, 

 thofe of Ariilotle excepted, have contributed more than 

 Augulline's, to encourage that fpirit of fubtle difputation 

 which diftinguifhed the Veholaftic age. The learning of 

 Auguftine, and particularly his knowledge of the Greek 

 language, have been difputed : ar.d hence the importance of 

 his fcriptuve criticifms has been depreciated. But although 

 it be allowed that his commentaries chiefly confift of popular 

 refleftlons, fpiritual and moral, or allegorical and myjlical 

 perverfions of the literal meaning ; yet the works of this fa- 

 ther are not wholly dcftitntc of remarks and critical inter- 

 pretations, that are pertinent and judicious. To fuch, after 

 a detail of extrafts from the writings of AugulUue, the im- 

 partial and candid Ur. Lardner has referred. With regard 

 to his knowledge of the Greek language, this excellent wn- 

 ter is of opinion, that he underilood Greek better than fome 

 Vol. in. 



AUG 



hare fuppofed ; and he has cited feveral pafTages, from 

 which it may be argued, that Auguftine frequently com- 

 pared his copies of the Latin verfion with thofe of the 

 Greek original. M. Le Clerc himfelf allows, that Aiiguftine 

 docs fometimcs very happily explain Greek words ; but on 

 fuch occafions he fufpcfts, without fuffieicnt reafon, that he 

 had the alfiilancc of another. 



As to the charafter of Auguftine, it muft be acknowledged 

 that his " ConfciTions,"' whatever claim they may have to the 

 praife of ingenuity and honefty, muft remain a perpetual me- 

 morial of difgracc. Befides, although this father of the church 

 entertained, in the earher period of his miniftry, fentiments of 

 mildnefsand chanty towards hercticshe appears at a later pe- 

 riod, and under the influence of paflions inflamed by polemical 

 difputes, the advocate of intolerance and pcrl'ecution. In a 

 letter to Vincentius (Epift. 93.), a Donatift b;iliop, written 

 about the year 408, he affigns feveral re-afons for the coeTcive 

 exercife of fecular authority againll fchifmatics ; and urge* 

 the good tffec'ts which the terror of the imperial laws had 

 produced in the converfion of feveral whole cities. Haring 

 once thought, as he confeftes, that no man ought to be 

 forced, he at lail yielded to exptnence. In another let- 

 ter of the fame date, he intreats the proconlul of Africa to 

 rellrain the Donatifts, but not to puniih them with deatli ; 

 and yet in this letter, written profcfiedly for urging the m»- 

 gillrate to perfecution, Auguftine, with an inconliftercy, the 

 reproach of which he too often incurs, thus liberally con- 

 cludes (Ep. 100.) ; "it is a more troublcfome than profita- 

 ble labour to compel men to forfakc a great evil by lorcc, 

 rather than by in'.lruftion." Upon this inconfiftency Vol- 

 taire pleafantly remarks (Treatife on Toleration) ; " I 

 would fay to the bifliop of Hippo, as rour rever-.-nce has 

 two opinions, you will have the goodnefs to permit me to 

 abide by the jirft, fince I really thii.k it the beft." Al- 

 though his conduft in procuring the firft law to compel 

 Chriitians to baptize their infants, in a council at Mela 

 in Numidia, in the year 416, is altogether indefcnfible; 

 and the writer of tliis article, abhorring every fpccies of 

 religious conftraint and perfecution, cannot attempt its vin- 

 dication ; yet he cannot adopt the fevere flrifturcs of the 

 fprightly writer that refers to this faft, in their whole extent 

 and unqualified acrimony. "The name of Auguftine (fays 

 he) had funk, before this time, below contempt in every 

 free country. He was a crafty irritable man, often difap- 

 pointcd, and foiled by able opponents ; pafilon for power 

 was his ruling difpofition, after his lenfual appetites had 

 fpent their force in debauchery. Too infignificant to obtain 

 dillinftion in the ftate, he reconnoitred the church, and felt 

 himfelf excellently qualified to cant out of Solomon's fong 

 to unfufpefting Chriitians, efpeciaily fingle fifters and monks. 

 A fuperannuated bifhop, to whom he made himfelf conve- 

 nient, lifted him into preferment. From tiiat day he became 

 a mercilefs tvrant, and truckled to the birtlop of Rome only 

 for the fake of playing Jupiter in Africa. When he obtain- 

 ed the fupport of the einperor, and got his dieams tacked 

 to imperial decrees, he became the fcourge of all good men 

 within his reach, whofe conhfcatic ns, banifhments, and death, 

 with the ruin of their tamilits, lay at his door. He confidcr- 

 ed himfelf as an oracle of God, emperors only as officerj 

 whom heaven had appointed to execute his decrees."' Ko- 

 binfon's Hillory of Baptifm, p. 31-. Gen. Diet. Mo- 

 (heim's Eccl. Hift. vol. 1. p. 362. Dupin's Eccl. Hift. v. 

 centui7, vol. ii. p-izj- Lardner's works, vol. v. c. 117. 

 p. 81 — 123. Gililion's Hift. vol. vi. p. 22. Gen. Bio9. 



AUGUSTINE, Sr. in Gfogra/'by, a town of America, 

 the capital ef Eall Elorida, is fiiuated on the fca-cuall, 

 about ein-hlv leaj^ues from the mouth of the gulf of Honda, 

 180 miles e'aft Irom St. Mark's, and 316 fouth-weft from 



X s Charitftowa, 



