spirit of the Lord 'which is given to dwell in the flesh, endureth no such sadness. Wherefore clothe thyself with cheerfulness, which has always favour with the Lord, and thou shalt rejoice in it. For every cheerful man does well; and relishes those things that are good, and despises 'sadness. But the sad man does always wickedly. First, he doth wickedly, because he grieveth the holy spirit, which is given to man being of a cheerful nature. And again he does ill, because he prays with sadness unto the Lord, and maketh not first a thankful acknowledgment unto him of former mercies; and obtains not of God what he asks. For the prayer of a sad man has not efficacy to come up to the altar of God." And I said unto him: "Sir, why has not the prayer of a sad man virtue to come up to the altar of God?" "Because," said he, "that sadness remaineth in his heart. When, therefore, a man's prayer shall be accompanied with sadness, it will not suffer his requests to ascend pure to the altar of God. For as wine when it is mingled with vinegar, has not the sweetness it had before; so sadness, being mixed with the holy spirit, suffers not a man's prayer to be the same that it would be otherwise. Wherefore cleanse thyself from sadness, which is evil, and thou shalt live unto God. And all others shall live unto God, as many as shall lay aside sadness, and put on cheerfulness."

that this is in God, and the other in men, although from God. Now when Hermas here speaketh of the spirit's entreating God, he expressly speaketh of the spirit which dwelleth in us, and the spirit which is given to dwell in the flesh; not of the spirit as he is in God, and consequently uncreated, and God himself: for all that is in God is such. 1 Gr. Τὸ δοθὲν εἰς τὴν σάρκα, ταύτην λύπην ἐκ ὑποφέρει.

2 Gr. λύπης.

So the Greek: ὁ δὲ λυπηρὸς ἀνὴρ πάντοτε πονηρεύεται. Πρῶτον μὲν πονηρεύεται, &c.

THE ELEVENTH COMMAND.

That the Spirits and Prophets are to be tried by their Works; and of a two-fold Spirit.

HE shewed me certain men sitting upon benches, and one sitting in a chair: and he said unto me: "Seest thou those who sit upon the benches?" "Sir," said I, "I see them." He answered: "They are the faithful; and he who sits in the chair, is an earthly spirit. For he cometh not into 'the assembly of the faithful, but avoids it. But he joins himself to the doubtful and empty; and prophesies to them in corners and hidden places; and pleases them by speaking according to all the desires of their hearts. For he, placing himself among empty vessels, is not broken, but the one fitteth the other. But when he cometh into the company of just men, who are full of the Spirit of God, and they pray unto the Lord; that man is emptied, because that earthly spirit flies from him, and he is dumb, and cannot speak any thing. As if in a store-house you shall stop up wine or oil; and among those vessels shall place an empty jar, and shall afterwards come to open it, you shall find it empty as you stopped it up: so those empty prophets, when they come among the spirits of the just, are found to be such as they came*.

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2 Have the Spirit of God in them.

1 Church of the living. 3 Exinanitur. * It is evident from the method of Hermas's discourse in this place, that somewhat is wanting to make up the subject of it. He had spoken before of the false prophets, and the emptiness of their preaching, but nothing of the true ones, nor any thing of the life and works of either. How to supply this I have been admonished by my learned friend, Dr. Grabe. What should have followed here, is transposed into the next Command; and being brought back hither, not only supplies

II. I said, "How then shall a man be able to discern them?" "Consider what I am going to say concerning both kinds of 'men; and as I speak unto thee, so shalt thou prove the prophet of God, and the false prophet. And first, try the man who hath the spirit of God; because the spirit which is from above is humble, and quiet, and departs from all wickedness; and from the vain desires of the present world; and makes himself more humble than all men, and answers to none when he is asked, nor to every one singly: for the Spirit of God doth not speak to a man when he will, but when God pleases. When, therefore, a man who hath the spirit of God shall come into the church of the righteous, who hath the faith of God, and they pray unto the Lord; then the holy angel of God fills that man with the Blessed Spirit, and he speaks in the congregation as he is moved of God. Thus, therefore, is the spirit of God known, because whosoever speaketh by the spirit of God, speaketh as the Lord will.

III. "Hear now concerning the earthly spirit, which is empty and foolish, and without virtue. And first of all, the man who is supposed to have the spirit (whereas he hath it not in reality) exalteth himself, and desires to have the first seat, and is wicked, and full of words; and spends his time in pleasure, and in all manner of voluptuousness; and receives the reward of his divination;

the defect of this, but makes way for the more easy connexion of his discourse in that. And for this, besides the plain reason of the thing itself, we have the authority of Athanasius in that other Command; who leaves out what has been falsely inserted there; as I shall shew when I come to it, from his own words. For both these reasons, I have reduced both places to what I take to have been their true order; and shall submit it to the reader (to judge upon this advertisement) whether I had not good reason, as well as sufficient authority, so to do.

1 Vessels.

which if he receives not, he does not divine." "Should the spirit of God receive reward and divine?" "It doth not become a prophet of God so to do. Thus you see the life of each of these kind of prophets. Wherefore prove that man by his life and works, who says that he hath the holy spirit and believe the spirit which comes from God, and has power as such. But believe not the earthly and empty spirit, which is from the devil, in whom there is no faith nor virtue. Hear now the similitude which I am about to speak unto thee. Take a stone, and throw it up towards Heaven; or take a spout of water, and mount it up 'thitherward; and see if thou canst reach unto Heaven." "Sir," said I, "how can this be done? For neither of those things which you have mentioned, are possible to be done." And he answered: "Therefore, as these things cannot be done, so is the earthly spirit without virtue, and without effect. Understand yet farther the power which cometh from above, in this similitude. The grains of hail that drop down are exceeding small; and yet when they fall upon the head of a man, how do they cause pain to it? And again; consider the droppings of a house; how the little drops falling upon the earth, work a hollow in the stones. So in like manner the least things which come from above, and fall upon the earth, have great force. Wherefore, join thyself to this Spirit, which has power; and depart from the other, which is empty."

THE TWELFTH COMMAND.

Of a two-fold Desire: that the Commands of God are not impossible; and that the Devil is not to be feared by them that believe.

I. Again he said unto me: "Remove' from thee all evil desires, and put on good and holy desires. For having put on a good desire, thou shalt hate that which is evil, and bridle it as thou wilt. But an evil desire is dreadful, and hard to be tamed. It is very horrible and wild; and by its wildness consumes men: and especially if a servant of God shall chance to fall into it, except he be very wise, he is ruined by it. For it destroys those who have not the garment of a good desire, and 'are engaged in the affairs of this present world, and delivers them unto death." Sir," said I, "what are the works of an evil desire, which bring men unto death? Shew them to me, that I may depart from them." "Hear," said he,

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by what works an evil desire bringeth the servants of God unto death. First of all, it is an evil desire to covet another man's wife, or for a woman to covet another's husband; as also to desire the dainties of riches, and multitude of superfluous meats, and drunkenness, and many delights.

1 Vid. Antioch. Hom. lxxiv.

2 MS. Lamb. consumitur, et Gr. Athanas. daravÕTAI.

3 iuriQuquíves rỡ aiữu téty. Gr. Athanas. Instead of implicat cos, the Latin vers. should be implicatos.

* That the words here inserted, and removed by me into their proper place in the foregoing Command, do not belong to this discourse, the Greek of Athanasius clearly shews. In which they are all omitted, and the connexion lies as I have now represented it. Ποια, Κύριε, εἰσὶ τῆς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς πονηρᾶς, τὰ παραδιδῶντα τοὺς ἀνθρώπες εἰς θάνατον ; γνώρισόν μαι, ἵνα φύγω ἀπ' αὐτῶν. "Ακεσον. Πρῶτον πάντων ἐπιθυμία γυναικὸς, καὶ πολυτελεία πλέτε, καὶ ἐδεσμάτων πολλῶν, &c. And so the Lamb. MS. Primum omnium concupiscere uxorem alienam: Not. Spiritus omnium.,