GREGORY. 



his church. Gregory they drdsgf d hke a malefaaor before 

 the mau-illrates, acciirmu^ him ot boiiiff the caiifc of tumult 

 and fediti.)!), but he was acqiiilU-d of all malice, and the 

 ncrlVculioM which he experienced tcrvcd only to increaie the 

 number of his followers. His great celebrity attrafted dii- 

 ciples from dillant parts, among whom was St. Jerom, who 

 frequently boafted of liaving had the honour and happniels 

 of lludyiiig under fuch a mailer. The Catholics were now 

 fufficien'lly"Hrong in number to defire tiie re-cihibliflimenl of 

 the cpifcopal office among them, and expreffcd their unani- 

 mous wil5i that Gregory would undertake it. He met with 

 a rival in Maximiis, an Egyptian Cyme philofopher, whoin 

 lie had himfelf baptized, and admitted to tlie lower orders of 

 the chnrcli. Tiiis perfon ciiutrived a iciieme tor lupplanting 

 him in the cpifcopal throne by intrigue and boldneis, and 

 en'raged Ibme of the Egyptian bilhops to favour his views. 

 Gregory, on account ot ill health, was obhgcd to quit the 

 city for the fake of the comitry air, and the confederates, 

 unwilling to h>fe any time, during the iirll night of his ab- 

 fence broke into his church, and placed Maximus upon the 

 throne. The groat body of the people of all claffes and 

 parties in religion were indignant at this conduft : they af- 

 fembled and with the utmolt fury drove the intruders out of 

 the church, who were now obliged to coufult their fafety 

 by flight. This attempt to lupplant him produced much 



fixty-five years. He was, in many refpeds, a great and a 

 good man, and an ornament to the age in which he lived. 

 His piety was ardent and fincere, though not untinftured 

 with fuperllition, and his morals ftrict and regular, but 

 partaking too much of the feverity eisjoined by monailic in- 

 ilitiitions. His benevolence and charity were boundlefs, 

 and they led him to devote the whole of his income to the 

 relief of the poor and affiifted. The works of this father 

 coiiiill of " iSermons," "Letters," and " Poems." Tliey 

 were Iirll publitlied at Bafil in 1550 in Greek ; but the bell 

 edition of them was publiflied by Morel, in two volumes 

 fulio at Paris 1609. By Dupin he is clafledwith the moil 

 . perfect orators of Greece, yet he admits that his llyle had 

 too many antithefes, limilitudes, and other rhetoi-ical etnbel- 

 liflunents, which fometimes render his oratory effeminate. 

 Erafmus lays that he was dilcouraged from attempting the 

 traiillation of Na/ianzen's works, on account of the acumen 

 and fmartnefs of his ilvle, the grandeur and lubhmity of 

 the matter, and the obfcure allulions which are frequently 

 interlperfed among his writings. Moreri. Dupin. 



GuKGouy, furnamed Nvlpn, a iaiut and lather of the 

 churcli in the fourth century, was a younger brother of St. 

 Bafil, and born at Cappadocia about the year 332. He 

 was originally intended for the eccleliallical lite, though for 

 fome time he practifed as a profellor and pleader \\ itii great 



unealinefs in the bivall of Gregory, and made him very de- fuccefs and appLuife. At the perfuatlon ot Gregory Nazi- 



fn-ous of retirement, and after a time he determined to re 

 fio-n a charge which involved him in increaling troubles. 

 He accordingly announced his intention to his people in a 

 farcwel dilcourfe, in the courfe of whicli he patheticully 

 exhorted them to perfevere in the orthodo.x iaith which he 

 had taught tliem, and to be mindful of the labours and fuf- 

 ferintrs which he had undergone for that caufe. No fooner 

 had he linifhed his exhortations, than he was fnrrounded by 

 perfons of all ages, fexes, and qualities, who were lo carnell 

 in their entreaties that he would remain, that, at length, he 

 promifed not to defert tiiem till the eallern bilhops, who 

 were expecled foon to atfemble at Conftantinople, iliould 

 releafe him by chooling a more worthy peri'on to occupy 

 liis place. About this period Theodolius the Great was 

 created a partner in the imperial tlirone, and avowed him- 

 felf the fupportor of the orthodox faith : he i lined an edict, 

 commanding all his fubjeCts to receive the Catliolic dottrine 

 of the Trinit) under the heavy penalty of being treated as 

 heretics and infamous perfons. In the year 380 he came to 



anzen, he was induced to relinquilh liis lecular purfuitS; and 

 to apply with great diligence to the lludy of theology, and 

 whatever was connected with it. As foon as he had takca 

 orders he became as eminent in the pulpit as h.e had formerly 

 been at the bar. About the year 372 he was ordained 

 biihop of Nyfla, in Cappadocia, by his brother Bafil. He 

 became diltiuguidied for his oj>politiun to the Arian party» 

 and on tliat account was banillied by the emperor V'alens 

 two years after his ordination. On the death of that cm- 

 pei"or, he was recalled by Gratiau and reftored to the pol- 

 felfion of his epiicopal lee. In the year 3-8 he was prefeut 

 at the fynod held at Antioch, and on his return he paid a 

 vilit to Jerulalem, in tlie hopes of gratifying his wiihes in 

 viewing the fccncs of Chriil's minillry, deatii and refurrcc- 

 tiim, and to endeavour to allay the tactions and quarrels 

 which exilled among Chriftians in that city. Inllead, hosv- 

 ever, of finding the virtues wliich might have been expefted 

 from the inhabitants of tlie Holy Land, he foimd " the place 

 to be a link of iniquity and debauchery, the feat of envy, 



Conflantinople, where he treated Gregory with tlie greateft malice, adultery, robbery, murder, idolatry, poifoning, and 



kindnels and refj)ecl, and told him that God had lent him to bloodflied, where men affafrmated each other for a trifling 



give him pollellion of the church, which he was ready to re\\-ard, lo that in no place were mm-ders fo frequently and 



deliver up into his hands as a reward of his labours. A fo eafily committed." In 381 he was fummoned to the 



day was appointed for his inflallation, but, at Gregory's council that met at Conftantinople, and to him was confided 



requell, the ceremony was deferred for the prelent, and the tallc of drawing up a creed, whichwas adopted, and is 



foon after having obtained the emperor's content, he abdica- the lame as that which has been received into the Englifli 



ted his epifcopal throne, and retired to his paternal ellate, liturgy, under the name of the Nhtne Greet!, excepting 



near Na/.ianzum, with the relolution of fpeiuling the re- the. words " and the fon," in the part relating to the 



inainder of liis days in Ihidious retirement, and the e.xerciles Holy Ghoft, which were added at a later period. He 



of devotion. In 382, however, Gregory was fummoned was engaged in other councils, and his name appears 



to meet the eallern biflwps at Conllantinople, but he refufed in the litis of the prelates who were pi-efent at the 



to attend, and told the fatliers very plainly that experience fynod held at Conllantinople in the ye;u- 394. It is 



had taught liim how little good was to be expected from not certain how long he lived after this period. He had 



any fuch alfemblies, in which pride and ambition chiefly pre- entered into the marriage flate early in life, and continued 



dominated, and wJiich were rather calculated to widen than to live with his wife after he had been advanced to the epil- 



to conciliate differences among Chrilliaiis. Upon his return copal rank. His works, which conlill of commentaries on 



to his native country he was llrongly importuned to nnder- difl'erent parts of the fcriptures ; controverfial treatifes ; 



take the charge of tlte fee of Nazianzum, which had con- fermons and funeral orations ; biographies of diliinguilhed 



tinued vacant from the time of his father's death, but he 

 couiJ I'.ot be prevailed upon to quit his retirement, where 

 fee. died in the year 389, fuppofed to be about the age of 



perfons, letters, &c. are maay of fhem more like the trea- 

 tifes of Plato and Arillotle, than thofe of oilier C'brittians. 

 Moreri. 



GRECOttY, 



