The Apology of Rufinus. Addressed to Apronianus,…
13. In the Preface to the Apology of Pamphilus, after a few other remarks, I said:
15. But let me add what comes after. My Preface continued as follows:
14. Take, again, the Preface to the Song of Songs:
16. Again, in the Preface to his book on the meaning of Hebrew names, he says, some way down:
17. Once more, in his letter to Marcella he says:
18. Lastly, take the following from another letter to Marcella:
22. In the Preface to his book on Hebrew Questions, after many other remarks, he says:
18. Lastly, take the following from another letter to Marcella:
“The blessed Martyr Pamphilus, whose life Eusebius the Bishop of Cæsarea set forth in some three volumes, wished to rival Demetrius Phalereus and Pisistratus, in his zeal to establish a library of sacred books: he sought out all through the world representative works of great minds, which are their true and everlasting monuments; but most of all he acquired at great expense all the books written by Origen, and gave them to the church at Cæsarea. This library was afterwards partly destroyed; but Acatius and later on Euzoius, Bishops of that church, endeavoured to reestablish it in parchment volumes. The last of these recovered a great many works, and left us an inventory of them, but he shews that he could not find the Commentary on the hundred and twenty-sixth Psalm and the Tract on the Hebrew letter Pe, by the fact that he does not mention it. Not that so great a man as Adamantius passed over anything, but that, through the negligence of his successors it did not remain to times within our memory.”