The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;
Ver. 1. The elder to the elect lady] Salmeron the Jesuit saith (but very absurdly) that Seneca's letters to St Paul, and St Paul's to Seneca (as they are called), are for matter not much unlike this of St John to the Elect Lady, and to Gaius, and that of St Paul to Philemon. Iudicium sit penes lectorem. Methinks they are not more like than harp and harrow. See the note on Philemon, Phm
19. That censure passed on him by Erasmus is very right; Si legas, &c.: If thou read Seneca as a pagan, he wrote Christianly; but if as a Christian, he wrote paganishly.