Domini in Mont. lib. i. Cap. 17. Conftantine the great, was killed at Aquileia. He had been governor of Antioch, and during his government, there happened an event which deferves to be mentioned. St. Auftin De Sermone has related the ftory: A certain man not having carried to the treasury the pound of gold he was taxed, Acindynus threw him into prison, and swore he would hang him if he did not procure the money upon a certain day appointed. The time was almost elapfed, and the poor man found himfelf unable to fatisfy the governor's demand. He had indeed a very handsome wife, and it was through her alone that he conceived any hopes of life and liberty. It happened that a very rich man being fmitten with this woman, offered her the pound of gold, and for this he asked no other requital but the pleasure of paffing a night with her. The woman, taught by fcripture that her body was not at her own difpofal, but in the power of her husband, communicated to him the offer of her gallant, declaring fhe was ready to comply, provided he, who had the abfolute power of her body, would confent that the fhould fave his life at the expence of her chastity. The hufband thanked his wife, and defired her to gratify the rich gallant. She obeyed;"giving, on this occafion (as St. Auftin expreffes it) her body to her husband, not in the usual commerce betwixt them, but to the defire he had to live (a)," The fum agreed upon was given her by the gallant; but he contrived to have it taken away again, and another purse was substituted in its place, filled only with earth. The good woman, at her return home (for fhe had fpent the night with her gallant at his country feat) no fooner perceived the trick, but the complained publicly of it. She even fued for juftice before the governor, and ingenuoufly confeffed the whole affair. Acindynus became highly fenfible of his own fault, and expreffed his forrow, that, by his feverity and threats, he had driven the unhappy couple to fuch an expedient. He condemned himself to pay the pound of gold into the treasury, and made a decree, that the woman fhould for ever poffefs the land whence the earth had been taken that was put into her purse. (a) Illa corpus nomini marito dedit non concumbere, ut folet, fed vivere cupienti. Auguft. de fermone Domini in Monte, lib. i. c. 17. ACOMINATUS (Michael) Choniata, born in Phrygia. He was archbishop of Athens, and flourished in the year 1204. He wrote several books of history, part of which is to be found in manuscript in the imperial library at Vienna. He He left alfo feveral other writings. There is ftill extant his Funeral Oration on the death of his brother Nicetas, printed with Nicetas's works at Paris, in 1566. His treatife of the cross is in the king's library at Paris, and his Oration, wherein he proves the city of Athens to be very different from what it was anciently. There are also several manu, scripts of his in the Bodleian library (a). ACOMINATUS (Nicetas) Choniata, brother to the preceding, to whom he went at nine years of age, and was educated under him at Conftantinople. When he grew up, he lived at court, was first secretary to Alexius Commenus, and afterwards to Ifaacius Angelus. He rofe by degrees to the dignity of a fenator, great logothete, fecretary of state, and grand chamberlain to the emperor. But fortune proved at length unkind to him; for the Latins having taken Conftantinople, in the year 1204, he was obliged to fly, with his family, his wife being then big with child. He took up his refidence at Nice, in Bithynia, where he remained till his death. The particular time when he died is not known; Oudin in but it is reckoned to have been some time after the year 1206, Com, de and his funeral oration was pronounced by the archbishop fæc. 12. tom. fcript. ecclef. his brother. He wrote a history in one-and-twenty books, II, from the death of Alexis Commenus, in 1118, where that of Zonaras ended, to the year 1203. There have been many editions of this work (a), and it has been highly commended (a) It was printed in Greek, with the Latin verfion and notes, by Hieronymus Wolfius at Bafil, in 1557, at Paris in 1566, at Francfort in 1568, at Geneva in 1593. In the goras i mended by fome of the greatest critics (6). He compofed alfo feveral other pieces (c). goras; and at the end of the second (b) Lipfius obferves, that amongst tinct, clear, and without impertinence; it is concife and exact. He makes many excellent obfervations, and the judgment he passes on things is equally just and candid. (c) 1. The Treatife of the Orthodox Faith, in twenty-feven books. Dr. Cave fays, that he faw a copy of this work in Greek in the Bodleian library. Cod. 4753. 2. A Confutation of the Mahumetan Law, which is extant in Greek amongst the manufcripts in the Colbertine library. 3. A Comparison betwixt Winter and Summer; endeavouring to fhew that Winter is more eligible. 4. Six Epiftles in Greek, amongst the Baroccian manufcripts in the Bodleian library at Oxford, numb. cxxxi. ACONTIUS (James) a famous philofopher, civilian, and divine, born at Trent in the fixteenth century. He embraced the Proteftant religion, and going over to England in the reign of Elizabeth, he met with a very friendly reception from this princefs, as he himself has teftified in a work dedicated to her (a). This work is his celebrated Collection of the Stratagems of Satan, which has been so often tranflated, and gone through fo many different impreffions. It was first printed at Bafil, in 1565, and the author died Grafferus in foon after in England. James Grafferus published another Epift. ad edition of it in 1610, at the fame city. In this we meet initio Strata- with Acontius's letter De ratione edendorum librorum, wherein he gives moft excellent, advice to authors; but his trea lectorem gematum Satana, "To (a) He gives her the following profeffionem extorris appuliffet, humaniffimeque exceptus effet, literarium otium. "As a teftimonial and memorial of his gratiude, for the happy literary leisure he enjoyed from her liberality; when, being banished for profeffing the true religion of the gofpel, he fled into England, where he was received with the utmost humanity. Wolfium, P. 410. 59 tife of Method (b), a valuable piece, and publifhed as an effay, is not inferted. He wrote alfo a work in Italian, on the Manner of fortifying Cities, which he tranflated into Latin during his refidence in England; but we believe it was Acontius never published. He was alfo about a Treatife of Logic; Epift. ad but death prevented his bringing it to a conclufion, which was certainly a public lofs; for being a man of a just ap- Ibid. p. 411. prehenfion, and endowed with great penetration, he had formed the moft rational idea of this work, and thought he was obliged to be the more careful in writing it, as he faw the fucceeding age would be more enlightened than that wherein he lived (c). His religious principles differed in fome particulars from thofe of Calvin; for he was a great friend to toleration, and maintained certain maxims, which drew upon him the odium of feveral Proteftant divines (d). We meet with few particulars relating to his life. He himfelf informs us tranfiently, that he had spent a confiderable part of his time in ftudying Bartolus, Baldus, and fuch like barbarous authors, and that he had been feveral years at court. His letter, publifhed in 1695, fhews that he had an Ibid. acute genius, and that he was a great mafter in true logic. It is dated from London, June 5, 1565, and ferves to clear up an affertion of his, which had been cenfured, in regard to Sabellius. It must be obferved, that notwithstanding moft 1 (b) This piece, which is intitled, Methodus five recta inveftigandarum tradendarumque Artium & Scientiarum ratio. i. e. "The method and right way of investigating and treating of Arts and Sciences," w s inferted in a collection of differtations, De ftudiis bene inftituendis, printed at Utrecht in 1658. (c) Our author, after having, in his epiftles, touched upon the other reafons which rendered the execution of his plan vastly difficult, goes on to the following purport: "I am fenfible (fays he) that I live in a more than ufual inlightened. age; yet I do not fo much as dread the judgment of those who are now the reigning critics, as the rifing light of a more refined age than the prefent. For though the age we now live in has produced, and still continues to produce many great men; yet methinks I perceive fomewhat greater will arife." Acon. Ep. ad Wolf. p.4.12. (d) A Proteftant minifter at the Proteftant Proteftant divines hold him in the utmoft deteftation, yet by fome he has been highly applauded (e). ̈ (e) Ifaac Junius, minifter of Delft, looked upon Acontius as in the fame clafs with Socinus and the remonftrants he confidered him as a man who was for reducing all fects into one, and including them in one ark, as Noah fhut up all fort of animals in his, where they were preserved, tho' they lived on different food. (In Ex amine Apologiæ Remonftrantium, p. 45.) Peltius faid (in Dedicatione Harmonie) that Acontius, by reducing the points neceffary for falvation to fo fmall a number, thereby opened a door to every herefy. commended, not only by Arminius and Grevinchovius, but also by Amefius and George Pauli. Aminius fays, Acontius eft divinum prudentiæ ac moderationis lumen. "Acontius is a divine luminary of prudence and moderation." Amefius fpeaks of him in these words: Idem Acontius eft duvaTaTaTos Ev Tals papas qui fementem ecclefiæ Anglicanæ calore et rore cælefti fovit fedulo. "The fame Acontius is very mighty in the Scriptures, and he diligently cherished the feed-plot of the church of England with heat and He has, however, been highly heavenly dew." ACOSTA (Uriel) a Portugueze, born at Oporto towards the close of the fixteenth century. He was educated in the Romish religion, which his father alfo fincerely profeffed, tho' defcended from one of those Jewish families who had been in a manner forced to receive baptism, Uriel had a liberal education, having been inftructed in several sciences, and at last he ftudied the law. He had by nature a good temper and difpofition, and religion had made fo deep an impreffion on his mind, that he ardently defired to conform to all the precepts of the church, in order to avoid eternal death, which he greatly feared. He applied with great affiduity to reading the Scriptures and other fpiritual books, carefully confulting also the creed of the confeffors; but the more he dived into these matters, the more difficulties occured, which perplexed him at length to fuch a degree, that, being unable to folve them, he fell into the moft terrible agonies of mind. He looked upon it as impoffible to fulfil his duty, with regard to the conditions required for abfolution, according to good cafuifts; fo that he despaired of falvation, if he could find no other means of attaining it but it proved difficult to abandon a religion in which he had been bred up from his infancy, and which had been deeply rooted in his mind by the force of perfuafion, However he began to enquire whether feveral particulars mentioned about the other life were agreeable to reafon; and, upon enquiry and deliberation, he imagined that reafon fuggefted many arguments against them. Acofta was about two and twenty when he was thus perplexed with doubts, and the refult |