JOHN OF THE GOLDEN MOUTH; PREACHER OF ANTIOCH, AND PRIMATE OF CONSTANTINOPLE. BY WALTER MACGILVRAY, D.D., MINISTER OF GILCOMSTON FREE CHURCH, ABERDEEN. PREFACE. `OMPELLED by the state of his health to retire for a couple of years to a quiet country-house, where he was subject to fewer interruptions than usual, the writer of the following pages was led to renew his acquaintance with a branch of study which has always possessed special attractions for him, and to which he has at different periods of his life paid some attention— namely, the History of the Early Church. Among the crowd of 'mighty men, and men of renown,' who came before him in the course of his reading, the man whose character awoke the deepest interest in his mind was John of the 'Golden Mouth,' the famous preacher of the patristic age, and probably the greatest pulpit orator who has appeared since the days of the apostles. There is certainly no other whose career is so remarkable, or whose fame has continued so fresh. While nearly all the burning and shining lights' of these remote times are reduced to mere specks, resembling the brilliant dust of the milky way, it may be said of him, that 'His soul was like a star, and dwelt apart.' Finding that there was no single volume in our language which contained anything like a complete or satisfactory account of this illustrious Father, and feeling at the same time that his life, otherwise so full of |