on, that, as to
many matters of fact, we cannot safely depend upon his testimony. His
tone is dictatorial and dogmatic; and, though we cannot doubt his piety,
we must feel that his spirit is somewhat repulsive and ungenial. Whilst
he was sadly deficient in sagacity, he was very much the creature of
impulse; and thus it was that he was so superstitious, so bigoted, and
so choleric. But he was, beyond question, possessed of erudition and of
genius; and when he advocates a right principle, he can expound, defend,
and illustrate it with great ability and eloquence.

Tertullian is commonly known as the earliest of the Latin fathers.
[371:2] The writer who first attempted to supply the rulers of the world
with a Christian literature in their own tongue encountered a task of
much difficulty. It was no easy matter to conduct theological
controversies in a language which was not remarkable for flexibility,
and which had never before been employed in such discussions; and
Tertullian seems to have often found it necessary to coin unwonted forms
of expression, or rather to invent an ecclesiastical nomenclature. The
ponderous Latin, hitherto accustomed to speak only of Jupiter and the
gods, engages somewhat awkwardly in its new vocation; and yet contrives
to proclaim, with wonderful power, the great thoughts for which it must
now find utterance. Several years after his appearance as an author,
Tertullian lapsed into Montanism--a species of heresy peculiarly
attractive to a man of his rugged and austere character. Some of his
works bear clear traces of this change of sentiment; but others furnish
no internal evidences warranting us to pronounce decisively respecting
the date of their composition. It is remarkable that though he
identified himself with a party under the ban of ecclesiastical
proscription, his works still continued to be held in high repute, and
to be perused with avidity by those who valued themselves on their zeal
for orthodoxy. It is recorded of one of the most influential of the
Catholic bishops of the third century that he read a portion of them
daily; and, when calling for his favourite author, he is reported to
have said--"Give me _the Master_." [372:1]

Tertullian flourished at a period when ecclesiastical usurpation was
beginning to produce some of its bitter fruits, and when religion was
rapidly degenerating from its primitive purity. [372:2] His works, which
treat of a great variety of topics interesting to