[Footnote 1: By what means shall I authenticate this
previous inquiry, which I have studied to circumscribe and
compress? - If I persist in supporting each fact or
reflection by its proper and special evidence, every line
would demand a string of testimonies, and every note would
swell to a critical dissertation. But the numberless
passages of antiquity which I have seen with my own eyes,
are compiled, digested and illustrated by Petavius and Le
Clerc, by Beausobre and Mosheim. I shall be content to
fortify my narrative by the names and characters of these
respectable guides; and in the contemplation of a minute or
remote object, I am not ashamed to borrow the aid of the
strongest glasses: 1. The Dogmata Theologica of Petavius are
a work of incredible labor and compass; the volumes which
relate solely to the Incarnation (two folios, vth and vith,
of 837 pages) are divided into xvi. books - the first of
history, the remainder of controversy and doctrine. The
Jesuit's learning is copious and correct; his Latinity is
pure, his method clear, his argument profound and well
connected; but he is the slave of the fathers, the scourge
of heretics, and the enemy of truth and candor, as often as
they are inimical to the Catholic cause. 2. The Arminian Le
Clerc, who has composed in a quarto volume (Amsterdam, 1716)
the ecclesiastical history of the two first centuries, was
free both in his temper and situation; his sense is clear,
but his thoughts are narrow; he reduces the reason or folly
of ages to the standard of his private judgment, and his
impartiality is sometimes quickened, and sometimes tainted
by his opposition to the fathers. See the heretics
(Cerinthians, lxxx. Ebionites, ciii. Carpocratians, cxx.
Valentiniins, cxxi. Basilidians, cxxiii. Marcionites, cxli.,
&c.) under their proper dates. 3. The Histoire Critique du
Manicheisme (Amsterdam, 1734, 1739, in two vols. in 4to.,
with a posthumous dissertation sur les Nazarenes, Lausanne,
1745) of M. de Beausobre is a treasure of ancient philosophy
and theology. The learned historian spins with incomparable
art the systematic thread of opinion, and transforms himself
by turns into the person of a saint, a sage, or a heretic.
Yet his refinement is sometimes excessive; he betrays an
amiable partiality in favor of the weaker side, and, while
he guards against calumny, he does not allow sufficient
scope for superstition and fanaticism. A copious table of
contents will direct the reader to any point that he wishes
to examine. 4. Less profound than Petavius, less
independent than Le Clerc, less ingenious than Beausobre,
the historian Mosheim is full, rational, correct, and
moderate. In his learned work, De Rebus Christianis ante
Constantinum (Helmstadt 1753, in 4to.,) see the Nazarenes
and Ebionites, p. 172 - 179, 328 - 332. The Gnostics in
general, p. 179, &c. Cerinthus, p. 196 - 202. Basilides, p.
352 - 361. Carpocrates, p. 363 - 367. Valentinus, p. 371 -
389 Marcion, p. 404 - 410. The Manichaeans, p. 829 - 837,
&c.]