Generally speaking, it diminished as the years went by, and from "necessary assenters" its members became "merely attesting witnesses."
A contemporary record, after attesting his pre-eminence as a goldsmith, jeweller and painter, states that he was "most handsome in person and highly eloquent."
He dealt with the immodesty of the contemporary stage, supporting his contentions by a long series of references attesting the comparative decency of Latin and Greek drama; with the profane language indulged in by the players; the abuse of the clergy common in the drama; the encouragement of vice by representing the vicious characters as admirable and successful; and finally he supported his general position by the analysis of particular plays, Dryden's Amphitryon, Vanbrugh's Relapse and D'Urfey's Don Quixote.
Andreas of Caesarea mentions Papias as attesting the credibility of Revelation, and cites two of his remarks on Rev. xii.
