The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire: By Edward Gibbon, Esq; ... [pt.3]

CHAP. XXI. Persecution of Heresy.—The Schism of the Donatists.—The Arian Controversy.—Athanasius.—Distracted State of the Church and Empire under Constantine and his Sons.—Toleration of Paganism.

THE grateful applause of the clergy has consecrated the memory of a prince who indulged their passions and promoted their in|terest. Constantine gave them security, wealth, honours, and revenge: and the support of the orthodox faith was considered as the most sacred and important duty of the civil magistrate. The edict of Milan, the great charter of toleration, had confirmed to each individual of the Roman world, the privilege of chusing and professing his own religion. But this inestimable privilege was soon violated: with the knowledge of truth, the emperor imbibed the maxims of persecution; and the sects which dissented from the Catholic church, were afflicted and oppressed by the triumph of Christianity. Constantine easily believed that the Heretics, who presumed to dispute his opinions, or to oppose his commands, were guilty of the most absurd and criminal obstinacy; and that a seasonable application of moderate severities might save those unhappy men from the danger of an everlasting condemnation. Not a moment was lost in excluding the ministers and teachers of the separated congregations from any share of the rewards and immunities which the emperor had

so liberally bestowed on the orthodox clergy. But as the sectaries might still exist under the cloud of royal disgrace, the conquest of the East was immediately followed by an edict which announced their total destruction 1 1.1. After a preamble filled with passion and reproach, Constantine absolutely prohibits the assemblies of the Heretics, and con|fiscates their public property to the use either of the revenue or of the Catholic church. The sects against whom the Imperial severity was directed, appear to have been the adherents of Paul of Samosata; the Montanists of Phrygia, who main|tained an enthusiastic succession of prophecy; the Novatians, who sternly rejected the temporal efficacy of repentance; the Marcionites and Va|lentinians, under whose leading banners the various Gnostics of Asia and Egypt had insensibly rallied; and perhaps the Manichaeans, who had recently imported from Persia a more artful composition of Oriental and Christian theology 2 1.2. The design of extirpating the name, or at least of restraining the progress of these odious Heretics, was prose|cuted with vigour and effect. Some of the penal regulations were copied from the edicts of Diocle|tian; and this method of conversion was applauded

by the same bishops who had felt the hand of op|pression, and had pleaded for the rights of huma|nity. Two immaterial circumstances may serve, however, to prove that the mind of Constantine was not entirely corrupted by the spirit of zeal and bigotry. Before he condemned the Mani|chaeans and their kindred sects, he resolved to make an accurate enquiry into the nature of their religious principles. As if he distrusted the im|partiality of his ecclesiastical counsellors, this delicate commission was entrusted to a civil magistrate; whose learning and moderation he justly esteemed; and of whose venal character he was probably ignorant 3 1.3. The emperor was soon convinced, that he had too hastily proscribed the orthodox faith and the exemplary morals of the Novatians; who had dissented from the church in some articles of discipline which were not per|haps essential to salvation. By a particular edict, he exempted them from the general penalties of the law 4 1.4; allowed them to build a church at Constantinople, respected the miracles of their saints, invited their bishop Acesius to the council of Nice; and gently ridiculed the narrow tenets of his sect by a familiar jest; which, from the

mouth of a sovereign, must have been received with applause and gratitude 5 1.5.

The complaints and mutual accusations which * 1.6 assailed the throne of Constantine, as soon as the death of Maxentius had submitted Africa to his * 1.7 victorious arms, were ill adapted to edify an im|perfect proselyte. He learned, with surprise, that the provinces of that great country, from the con|fines of Cyrene to the columns of Hercules, were distracted with religious discord 6 1.8. The source of the division was derived from a double election in the church of Carthage; the second, in rank and opulence, of the ecclesiastical thrones of the West. Caecilian and Majorinus were the two rival pri|mates of Africa; and the death of the latter soon made room for Donatus, who, by his superior abilities and apparent virtues, was the firmest support of his party. The advantage which Caecilian might claim from the priority of his ordination, was destroyed by the illegal, or at least indecent, haste, with which it had been per|formed, without expecting the arrival of the

bishops of Numidia. The authority of these bishops, who, to the number of seventy, con|demned Caecilian, and consecrated Majorinus, is again weakened by the infamy of some of their personal characters; and by the female intrigues, sacrilegious bargains, and tumultuous proceedings which are imputed to this Numidian council 7 1.9. The bishops of the contending factions main|tained, with equal ardour and obstinacy, that their adversaries were degraded, or at least dishonoured, by the odious crime of delivering the Holy Scrip|tures to the officers of Diocletian. From their mutual reproaches, as well as from the story of this dark transaction, it may justly be inferred, that the late persecution had embittered the zeal, without reforming the manners, of the African Christians. That divided church was incapable of affording an impartial judicature; the con|troversy was solemnly tried in five successive tribunals, which were appointed by the emperor; and the whole proceeding, from the first appeal to the final sentence, lasted above three years. A severe inquisition, which was taken by the Praetorian vicar, and the proconsul of Africa, the report of two episcopal visitors who had been sent

to Carthage, the decrees of the councils of Rome and of Arles, and the supreme judgment of Con|stantine himself in his sacred consistory, were all favourable to the cause of Caecilian; and he was unanimously acknowledged by the civil and eccle|siastical powers, as the true and lawful primate of Africa. The honours and estates of the church were attributed to his suffragan bishops, and it was not without difficulty, that Constantine was satis|fied with inflicting the punishment of exile on the principal leaders of the Donatist faction. As their cause was examined with attention, perhaps it was determined with justice. Perhaps their complaint was not without foundation, that the credulity of the emperor had been abused by the insidious arts of his favourite Osius. The influence of falsehood and corruption might pro|cure the condemnation of the innocent, or aggra|vate the sentence of the guilty. Such an act, however, of injustice, if it concluded an impor|tunate dispute, might be numbered among the transient evils of a despotic administration, which are neither felt nor remembered by posterity.

But this incident, so inconsiderable that it * 1.10 scarcely deserves a place in history, was productive of a memorable schism; which afflicted the pro|vinces * 1.11 of Africa above three hundred years, and was extinguished only with Christianity itself. The inflexible zeal of freedom and fanaticism ani|mated the Donatists to refuse obedience to the usurpers, whose election they disputed, and whose spiritual powers they denied. Excluded from the civil and religious communion of mankind,

they boldly excommunicated the rest of mankind, who had embraced the impious party of Caecilian, and of the Traditors, from whom he derived his pretended ordination. They asserted with con|fidence, and almost with exultation, that the Apostolical succession was interrupted; that all the bishops of Europe and Asia were infected by the contagion of guilt and schism; and that the prerogatives of the Catholic church were confined to the chosen portion of the African believers, who alone had preserved inviolate the integrity of their faith and discipline. This rigid theory was supported by the most uncharitable conduct. Whenever they acquired a proselyte, even from the distant provinces of the East, they carefully repeated the sacred rites of baptism 8 1.12 and ordina|tion; as they rejected the validity of those which he had already received from the hands of here|tics or schismatics. Bishops, virgins, and even spotless infants, were subjected to the disgrace of a public penance, before they could be admitted to the communion of the Donatists. If they ob|tained possession of a church which had been used by their Catholic adversaries, they purified the unhallowed building with the same jealous care which a temple of Idols might have required. They washed the pavement, scraped the walls,

burnt the altar, which was commonly of wood, melted the consecrated plate, and cast the Holy Eucharist to the dogs, with every circumstance of ignominy which could provoke and perpetuate the animosity of religious factions 9 1.13. Notwith|standing this irreconcilable aversion, the two par|ties, who were mixed and separated in all the cities of Africa, had the same language and man|ners, the same zeal and learning, the same faith and worship. Proscribed by the civil and eccle|siastical powers of the empire, the Donatists still maintained in some provinces, particularly in Numidia, their superior numbers; and four hun|dred bishops acknowledged the jurisdiction of their primate. But the invincible spirit of the sect sometimes preyed on its own vitals; and the bosom of their schismatical church was torn by intestine divisions. A fourth part of the Donatist bishops followed the independent standard of the Maximianists. The narrow and solitary path which their first leaders had marked out, con|tinued to deviate from the great society of mankind. Even the imperceptible sect of the Rogatians could affirm, without a blush, that when Christ should descend to judge the earth, he would find his true religion preserved only in a few nameless villages of the Caesarean Mau|ritania 10 1.14.

The schism of the Donatists was confined to Africa: the more diffusive mischief of the Trini|tarian controversy successively penetrated into * 1.15 every part of the Christian world. The former was an accidental quarrel, occasioned by the abuse of freedom; the latter was a high and mysterious argument, derived from the abuse of philosophy. From the age of Constantine to that of Clovis and Theodoric, the temporal interests both of the Romans and Barbarians were deeply involved in the theological disputes of Arianism. The histo|rian may therefore be permitted respectfully to withdraw the veil of the sanctuary; and to deduce the progress of reason and faith, of error and pas|sion, from the school of Plato to the decline and fall of the empire.

The genius of Plato, informed by his own * 1.16 meditation, or by the traditional knowledge of the priests of Egypt 11 1.17, had ventured to explore the mysterious nature of the Deity. When he had elevated his mind to the sublime contempla|tion of the first self-existent, necessary cause of the universe, the Athenian sage was incapable of con|ceiving how the simple unity of his essence could

admit the infinite variety of distinct and successive ideas which compose the model of the in|tellectual world; how a Being purely incorporeal could execute that perfect model, and mould with a plastic hand the rude and independent chaos. The vain hope of extricating himself from these difficulties, which must ever oppress the feeble powers of the human mind, might induce Plato to consider the divine nature under the threefold modification; of the first cause, the reason or Logos, and the soul or spirit of the universe. * 1.18 His poetical imagination sometimes fixed and animated these metaphysical abstractions; the three archical or original principles were represented in the Platonic system as three Gods, united with each other by a mysterious and ineffable genera|tion; and the Logos was particularly considered under the more accessible character of the Son of an Eternal Father, and the Creator and Governor of the world. Such appear to have been the secret doctrines which were cautiously whispered in the gardens of the academy; and which, ac|cording to the more recent disciples of Plato, could not be perfectly understood, till after an assiduous study of thirty years 12 1.19.

The arms of the Macedonians diffused over * 1.20 Asia and Egypt the language and learning of * 1.21

Greece; and the theological system of Plato was taught, with less reserve, and perhaps with some improvements, in the celebrated school of Alex|andria 13 1.22. A numerous colony of Jews had been invited, by the favour of the Ptolemies, to settle in their new capital 14 1.23. While the bulk of the nation practised the legal ceremonies, and pursued the lucrative occupations of commerce, a few Hebrews, of a more liberal spirit, devoted their lives to religious and philosophical contempla|tion 15 1.24. They cultivated with diligence, and em|braced with ardour, the theological system of the Athenian sage. But their national pride would have been mortified by a fair confession of their former poverty: and they boldly marked, as the sacred inheritance of their ancestors, the gold and jewels which they had so lately stolen from their Egyptian masters. One hundred years before the * 1.25 birth of Christ, a philosophical treatise, which manifestly betrays the stile and sentiments of the school of Plato, was produced by the Alexandrian Jews, and unanimously received as a genuine and valuable relic of the inspired Wisdom of Solo|mon 16 1.26. A similar union of the Mosaic faith, and

the Grecian philosophy, distinguishes the works of Philo, which were composed, for the most part, under the reign of Augustus 17 1.27. The material soul of the universe 18 1.28 might offend the piety of the Hebrews: but they applied the cha|racter of the LOGOS to the Jehovah of Moses and the patriarchs; and the Son of God was introduced upon earth under a visible, and even human appearance, to perform those familiar offices which seem incompatible with the nature and attributes of the Universal Cause 19 1.29.

The eloquence of Plato, the name of Solomon, * 1.30 the authority of the school of Alexandria, and the * 1.31

consent of the Jews and Greeks, were insufficient to establish the truth of a mysterious doctrine, which might please, but could not satisfy, a ra|tional mind. A prophet, or apostle, inspired by the Deity, can alone exercise a lawful dominion over the faith of mankind; and the theology of Plato might have been for ever confounded with the philosophical visions of the Academy, the Porch, and the Lycaeum, if the name and divine attributes of the Logos had not been confirmed by the celestial pen of the last and most sublime of the Evangelists 20 1.32. The Christian Revelation, which was consummated under the name of Nerva, dis|closed to the world the amazing secret, that the LOGOS, who was with God from the beginning, and was God, who had made all things, and for whom all things had been made, was incarnate in the person of Jesus of Nazareth; who had been born of a virgin, and suffered death on the cross. Besides the general design of fixing on a perpetual basis the divine honours of Christ, the most ancient and respectable of the ecclesiastical writers have ascribed to the evangelic theologian, a particular intention to confute two opposite heresies, which disturbed the peace of the primitive church 21 1.33.

I. The faith of the Ebionites 22 1.34, perhaps of the Nazarenes 23 1.35, was gross and imperfect. They revered Jesus as the greatest of the prophets, * 1.36 endowed with supernatural virtue and power. They ascribed to his person and to his future reign all the predictions of the Hebrew oracles which relate to the spiritual and everlasting kingdom of the promised Messiah 24 1.37. Some of them might confess that he was born of a virgin; but they obstinately rejected the preceding existence and divine perfections of the Logos, or Son of God, which are so clearly defined in the Gospel of St. John. About fifty years afterwards, the Ebionites, whose errors are mentioned by Justin Martyr with less severity than they seem to deserve 25 1.38, formed a very inconsiderable portion of the Christian name. II. The Gnostics, who were distinguished by the epithet of Docetes, deviated into the contrary ex|treme; and betrayed the human, while they

asserted the divine, nature of Christ. Educated in the school of Plato, accustomed to the sublime idea of the Logos, they readily conceived that the brightest Aeon, or Emanation of the Deity, might assume the outward shape and visible appearances of a mortal 26 1.39; but they vainly pretended, that the imperfections of matter are incompatible with the purity of a celestial substance. While the blood of Christ yet smoked on Mount Calvary, the Docetes invented the impious and extravagant hypothesis, that, instead of issuing from the womb of the Virgin 27 1.40, he had descended on the banks of the Jordan in the form of perfect manhood; that he had imposed on the senses of his enemies, and of his disciples; and that the ministers of Pilate had wasted their impotent rage on an airy phantom, who seemed to expire on the cross, and, after three days, to rise from the dead 28 1.41.

The divine sanction, which the Apostle had * 1.42 bestowed on the fundamental principle of the

theology of Plato, encouraged the learned prose|lytes of the second and third centuries to admire and study the writings of the Athenian sage, who had thus marvellously anticipated one of the most surprising discoveries of the Christian revelation. The respectable name of Plato was used by the orthodox 29 1.43, and abused by the heretics 30 1.44, as the common support of truth and error: the authority of his skilful commentators, and the science of dialectics, were employed to justify the remote consequences of his opinions; and to supply the discreet silence of the inspired writers. The same subtle and profound questions concerning the nature, the generation, the distinction, and the equality of the three divine persons of the myste|rious Triad, or Trinity 31 1.45, were agitated in the philosophical, and in the Christian, schools of Alexandria. An eager spirit of curiosity urged

them to explore the secrets of the abyss; and the pride of the professors, and of their disciples, was satisfied with the science of words. But the most sagacious of the Christian theologians, the great Athanasius himself, has candidly confessed 32 1.46, that whenever he forced his understanding to meditate on the divinity of the Logos, his toilsome and un|availing efforts recoiled on themselves; that the more he thought, the less he comprehended; and the more he wrote, the less capable was he of ex|pressing his thoughts. In every step of the enquiry, we are compelled to feel and acknowledge the immeasurable disproportion between the size of the object and the capacity of the human mind. We may strive to abstract the notions of time, of space, and of matter, which so closely adhere to all the perceptions of our experimental knowledge. But as soon as we presume to reason of infinite substance, of spiritual generation; as often as we deduce any positive conclusions from a negative idea, we are involved in darkness, perplexity, and inevitable contradiction. As these difficulties arise from the nature of the subject, they oppress, with the same insuperable weight, the philosophic and the theological disputant; but we may observe two essential and peculiar circumstances, which discriminated the doctrines of the Catholic church from the opinions of the Platonic school.

I. A chosen society of philosophers, men of a * 1.47 liberal education and curious disposition, might

silently meditate, and temperately discuss, in the gardens of Athens or the library of Alexandria, the abstruse questions of metaphysical science. The lofty speculations, which neither convinced the understanding, nor agitated the passions, of the Platonists themselves, were carelessly over|looked by the idle, the busy, and even the studious part of mankind 33 1.48. But after the Logos had been revealed as the sacred object of the faith, the hope, and the religious worship of the Christians; the mysterious system was embraced by a numerous and increasing multitude in every province of the Roman world. Those persons who, from their age, or sex, or occupations, were the least qua|lified to judge, who were the least exercised in the habits of abstract reasoning; aspired to con|template the oeconomy of the Divine Nature: and it is the boast of Tertullian 34 1.49, that a Christian mechanic could readily answer such questions as had perplexed the wisest of the Grecian sages. Where the subject lies so far beyond our reach, the difference between the highest and the lowest of human understandings may indeed be calculated as infinitely small; yet the degree of weakness may perhaps be measured by the degree of obsti|nacy and dogmatic confidence. These specula|tions,

instead of being treated as the amusement of a vacant hour, became the most serious business of the present, and the most useful preparation for a future, life. A theology, which it was incum|bent to believe, which it was impious to doubt, and which it might be dangerous, and even fatal, to mistake, became the familiar topic of private meditation and popular discourse. The cold in|difference of philosophy was inflamed by the fer|vent spirit of devotion; and even the metaphors of common language suggested the fallacious prejudices of sense and experience. The Christians, who abhorred the gross and impure generation of the Greek mythology 35 1.50, were tempted to argue from the familiar analogy of the filial and paternal relations. The character of Son seemed to imply a perpetual subordination to the voluntary author of his existence 36 1.51; but as the act of generation, in the most spiritual and abstracted sense, must be supposed to transmit the properties of a common nature 37 1.52, they durst not presume to circumscribe

the powers or the duration of the Son of an eternal and omnipotent Father. Fourscore years after the death of Christ, the Christians of Bithynia de|clared before the tribunal of Pliny, that they in|voked him as a god: and his divine honours have been perpetuated in every age and country, by the various sects who assume the name of his dis|ciples 38 1.53. Their tender reverence for the memory of Christ, and their horror for the profane worship of any created being, would have engaged them to assert the equal and absolute divinity of the Logos, if their rapid ascent towards the throne of heaven had not been imperceptibly checked by the apprehension of violating the unity and sole supremacy of the great Father of Christ and of the Universe. The suspense and fluctuation pro|duced in the minds of the Christians by these op|posite tendencies, may be observed in the writings of the theologians who flourished after the end of the apostolic age, and before the origin of the Arian controversy. Their suffrage is claimed, with equal confidence, by the orthodox and by the heretical parties; and the most inquisitive critics have fairly allowed, that if they had the good fortune of possessing the Catholic verity, they have delivered their conceptions in loose,

inaccurate, and sometimes contradictory lan|guage 39 1.54.

II. The devotion of individuals was the first * 1.55 circumstance which distinguished the Christians from the Platonists: the second was the authority of the church. The disciples of philosophy asserted the rights of intellectual freedom, and their re|spect for the sentiments of their teachers was a liberal and voluntary tribute, which they offered to superior reason. But the Christians formed a numerous and disciplined society; and the juris|diction of their laws and magistrates was strictly exercised over the minds of the faithful. The loose wanderings of the imagination were gra|dually confined by creeds and confessions 40 1.56; the freedom of private judgment submitted to the public wisdom of synods; the authority of a theo|logian was determined by his ecclesiastical rank; and the episcopal successors of the apostles inflicted the censures of the church on those who deviated from the orthodox belief. But in an age of re|ligious controversy, every act of oppression adds new force to the elastic vigour of the mind; and the zeal or obstinacy of a spiritual rebel was some|times stimulated by secret motives of ambition or

avarice. A metaphysical argument became the cause or pretence of political contests; the subtle|ties of the Platonic school were used as the badges * 1.57 of popular factions, and the distance which sepa|rated their respective tenets was enlarged or mag|nified by the acrimony of dispute. As long as the dark heresies of Praxeas and Sabellius laboured to confound the Father with the Son 41 1.58, the orthodox party might be excused if they adhered more strictly and more earnestly to the distinction, than to the equality of the divine persons. But as soon as the heat of controversy had subsided, and the progress of the Sabellians was no longer an object of terror to the churches of Rome, of Africa, or of Egypt; the tide of theological opinion began to flow with a gentle but steady motion toward the contrary extreme; and the most orthodox doctors allowed themselves the use of the terms and defi|nitions which had been censured in the mouth of the sectaries 42 1.59. After the edict of toleration had restored peace and leisure to the Christians, the Trinitarian controversy was revived in the ancient seat of Platonism, the learned, the opulent, the tumultuous city of Alexandria; and the flame of religious discord was rapidly communicated from the schools, to the clergy, the people, the pro|vince,

and the East. The abstruse question of the eternity of the Logos was agitated in ecclesiastic conferences, and popular sermons; and the hete|rodox opinions of Arius 43 1.60 were soon made public * 1.61 by his own zeal, and by that of his adversaries. His most implacable adversaries have acknow|ledged the learning and blameless life of that eminent presbyter; who, in a former election, had declared, and perhaps generously declined, his pretensions to the episcopal throne 44 1.62. His com|petitor Alexander assumed the office of his judge. The important cause was argued before him; and if at first he seemed to hesitate, he at length pro|nounced his final sentence, as an absolute rule of faith 45 1.63. The undaunted presbyter, who presumed to resist the authority of his angry bishop, was separated from the communion of the church. But the pride of Arius was supported by the applause of a numerous party. He reckoned among his immediate followers two bishops of

Egypt, seven presbyters, twelve deacons, and (what may appear almost incredible) seven hun|dred virgins. A large majority of the bishops of Asia appeared to support or favour his cause; and their measures were conducted by Eusebius of Caesarea, the most learned of the Christian pre|lates; and by Eusebius of Nicomedia, who had acquired the reputation of a statesman without forfeiting that of a saint. Synods in Palestine and Bithynia were opposed to the synods of Egypt. The attention of the prince and people was at|tracted by this theological dispute; and the deci|sion, at the end of six years 46 1.64, was referred to the * 1.65 supreme authority of the general council of Nice.

When the mysteries of the Christian faith were * 1.66 dangerously exposed to public debate, it might be observed, that the human understanding was capable of forming three distinct, though imper|fect, systems, concerning the nature of the Divine Trinity; and it was pronounced, that none of these systems, in a pure and absolute sense, were exempt from heresy and error 47 1.67. I. According * 1.68 to the first hypothesis, which was maintained by Arius and his disciples, the Logos was a depend|ent

and spontaneous production, created from nothing by the will of the Father. The Son, by whom all things were made 48 1.69, had been begotten before all worlds, and the longest of the astrono|mical periods could be compared only as a fleet|ing moment to the extent of his duration; yet this duration was not infinite 49 1.70, and there had been a time which preceded the ineffable genera|tion of the Logos. On this only begotten Son the Almighty Father had transfused his ample spirit, and impressed the effulgence of his glory. Visible image of invisible perfection, he saw, at an im|measurable distance beneath his feet, the thrones of the brightest archangels: yet he shone only with a reflected light, and, like the sons of the Roman emperors, who were invested with the titles of Caesar or Augustus 50 1.71, he governed the universe in obedience to the will of his Father and Monarch. II. In the second hypothesis, the Logos * 1.72 possessed all the inherent, incommunicable per|fections, which religion and philosophy appro|priate to the Supreme God. Three distinct and infinite minds or substances, three co-equal and co-eternal beings, composed the Divine Essence 51 1.73;

and it would have implied contradiction, that any of them should not have existed, or that they should ever cease to exist 52 1.74. The advocates of a system which seemed to establish three independent Deities, attempted to preserve the unity of the First Cause, so conspicuous in the design and order of the world, by the perpetual concord of their administration, and the essential agreement of their will. A faint resemblance of this unity of action may be discovered in the societies of men, and even of animals. The causes which disturb their harmony proceed only from the im|perfection and inequality of their faculties: but the omnipotence which is guided by infinite wis|dom and goodness, cannot fail of chusing the same means for the accomplishment of the same ends. III. Three Beings, who, by the self-derived * 1.75 necessity of their existence, possess all the divine attributes in the most perfect degree; who are eternal in duration, infinite in space, and inti|mately present to each other, and to the whole universe; irresistibly force themselves on the asto|nished mind, as one and the same Being 53 1.76, who, in the oeconomy of grace, as well as in that of

nature, may manifest himself under different forms, and be considered under different aspects. By this hypothesis, a real substantial Trinity is refined into a trinity of names, and abstract modi|fications, that subsist only in the mind which conceives them. The Logos is no longer a per|son, but an attribute; and it is only in a figurative sense, that the epithet of Son can be applied to the eternal reason which was with God from the beginning, and by which, not by whom, all things were made. The incarnation of the Logos is re|duced to a mere inspiration of the Divine Wisdom, which filled the soul, and directed all the actions of the man Jesus. Thus, after revolving round the theological circle, we are surprised to find that the Sabellian ends where the Ebionite had begun; and that the incomprehensible mystery which excites our adoration, eludes our en|quiry 54 1.77.

If the bishops of the council of Nice 55 1.78 had * 1.79 been permitted to follow the unbiassed dictates * 1.80

of their conscience, Arius and his associates could scarcely have flattered themselves with the hopes of obtaining a majority of votes, in favour of an hypothesis so directly adverse to the two most popular opinions of the Catholic world. The Arians soon perceived the danger of their situa|tion, and prudently assumed those modest virtues, which, in the fury of civil and religious dissen|tions, are seldom practised, or even praised, except by the weaker party. They recommended the exercise of Christian charity and moderation; urged the incomprehensible nature of the contro|versy; disclaimed the use of any terms of defini|tions which could not be found in the scriptures; and offered, by very liberal concessions, to satisfy their adversaries, without renouncing the integrity of their own principles. The victorious faction received all their proposals with haughty suspicion; and anxiously sought for some irreconcileable mark of distinction, the rejection of which might in|volve the Arians in the guilt and consequences of heresy. A letter was publicly read, and ignomi|niously torn, in which their patron, Eusebius of Nicomedia, ingenuously confessed, that the ad|mission of the HOMOOUSION, or Consubstantial, * 1.81 a word already familiar to the Platonists, was in|compatible with the principles of their theological system. The fortunate opportunity was eagerly embraced by the bishops, who governed the reso|lutions of the synod; and according to the lively expression of Ambrose 56 1.82, they used the sword,

which heresy itself had drawn from the scabbard, to cut off the head of the hated monster. The consubstantiality of the Father and the Son was established by the council of Nice, and has been unanimously received as a fundamental article of the Christian faith, by the consent of the Greek, the Latin, the Oriental, and the Protestant churches. But if the same word had not served to stigmatize the heretics, and to unite the Catho|lics, it would have been inadequate to the purpose of the majority, by whom it was introduced into the orthodox creed. This majority was divided into two parties, distinguished by a contrary ten|dency to the sentiments of the Tritheists and of the Sabellians. But as those opposite extremes seemed to overthrow the foundations either of natural, or revealed, religion, they mutually agreed to qualify the rigour of their principles: and to disavow the just, but invidious, conse|quences, which might be urged by their an|tagonists. The interest of the common cause inclined them to join their numbers, and to con|ceal their differences; their animosity was softened by the healing counsels of toleration, and their disputes were suspended by the use of the myste|rious Homoousion, which either party was free to interpret according to their peculiar tenets. The Sabellian sense, which, about fifty years before, had obliged the council of Antioch 57 1.83 to prohibit

this celebrated term, had endeared it to those theologians who entertained a secret but partial affection for a nominal Trinity. But the more fashionable saints of the Arian times, the intrepid Athanasius, the learned Gregory Nazianzen, and the other pillars of the church, who supported with ability and success the Nicene doctrine, appeared to consider the expression of substance, as if it had been synonimous with that of nature; and they ventured to illustrate their meaning, by affirming that three men, as they belong to the same com|mon species, are consubstantial or homoousian to each other 58 1.84. This pure and distinct equality was tempered, on the one hand, by the internal connection, and spiritual penetration, which in|dissolubly unites the divine persons 59 1.85; and on the other, by the pre-eminence of the Father, which was acknowledged as far as it is compatible with the independence of the Son 60 1.86. Within these limits the almost invisible and tremulous ball of orthodoxy was allowed securely to vibrate. On either side, beyond this consecrated ground, the

heretics and the daemons lurked in ambush to surprise and devour the unhappy wanderer. But as the degrees of theological hatred depend on the spirit of the war, rather than on the importance of the controversy, the heretics who degraded, were treated with more severity than those who annihilated, the person of the Son. The life of Athanasius was consumed in irreconcileable op|position to the impious madness of the Arians 61 1.87; but he defended above twenty years the Sabel|lianism of Marcellus of Ancyra; and when at last he was compelled to withdraw himself from his communion, he continued to mention, with an ambiguous smile, the venial errors of his respec|table friend 62 1.88.

The authority of a general council, to which * 1.89 the Arians themselves had been compelled to sub|mit, inscribed on the banners of the orthodox party the mysterious characters of the word Homoousion, which essentially contributed, not|withstanding some obscure disputes, some noctur|nal combats, to maintain and perpetuate the uniformity of faith, or at least of language. The Consubstantialists, who by their success have de|served and obtained the title of Catholics, gloried in the simplicity and steadiness of their own creed,

and insulted the repeated variations of their adver|saries, who were destitute of any certain rule of faith. The sincerity or the cunning of the Arian chiefs, the fear of the laws or of the people, their reverence for Christ, their hatred of Athanasius, all the causes, human and divine, that influence and disturb the counsels of a theological faction, introduced among the sectaries a spirit of discord and inconstancy, which, in the course of a few years, erected eighteen different models of reli|gion 63 1.90, and avenged the violated dignity of the church. The zealous Hilary 64 1.91, who, from the peculiar hardships of his situation, was inclined to extenuate rather than to aggravate the errors of the Oriental clergy, declares, that in the wide extent of the ten provinces of Asia, to which he had been banished, there could be found very few prelates who had preserved the knowledge of the true God 65 1.92. The oppression which he had felt, the disorders of which he was the spectator and the victim, appeased, during a short interval,

the angry passions of his soul; and in the follow|ing passage, of which I shall transcribe a few lines, the bishop of Poitiers unwarily deviates into the style of a Christian philosopher.

It is a thing, says Hilary, equally deplorable and dangerous, that there are as many creeds as opinions among men, as many doctrines as inclinations, and as many sources of blasphemy as there are faults among us; because we make creeds arbitrarily, and explain them as arbitrarily. The Homo|ousion is rejected, and received, and explained away by successive synods. The partial or total resemblance of the Father and of the Son, is a subject of dispute for these unhappy times. Every year, nay every moon, we make new creeds to describe invisible mysteries. We repent of what we have done, we defend those who repent, we anathematise those whom we defended. We condemn either the doctrine of others in ourselves, or our own in that of others; and reciprocally tearing one another to pieces, we have been the cause of each other's ruin 66 1.93.

It will not be expected, it would not perhaps * 1.94 be endured, that I should swell this theological digression, by a minute examination of the eighteen creeds, the authors of which, for the most part, disclaimed the odious name of their parent Arius. It is amusing enough to delineate the form, and to trace the vegetation, of a singular plant; but

the tedious detail of leaves without flowers, and of branches without fruit, would soon exhaust the patience, and disappoint the curiosity, of the laborious student. One question which gradually arose from the Arian controversy, may however be noticed, as it served to produce and discri|minate the three sects, who were united only by their common aversion to the Homoousion of the Nicene synod. 1. If they were asked, whether the Son was like unto the Father; the question was resolutely answered in the negative, by the here|tics who adhered to the principles of Arius, or indeed to those of philosophy; which seem to establish an infinite difference between the Creator and the most excellent of his creatures. This obvious consequence was maintained by Aetius 67 1.95, on whom the zeal of his adversaries bestowed the surname of the Atheist. His restless and aspiring spirit urged him to try almost every profession of human life. He was successively a slave, or at least a husbandman, a travelling tinker, a gold|smith, a physician, a schoolmaster, a theologian, and at last the apostle of a new church, which was propagated by the abilities of his disciple Euno|mius 68 1.96. Armed with texts of scripture, and with

captious syllogisms from the logic of Aristotle, the subtle Aetius had acquired the fame of an invin|cible disputant, whom it was impossible either to silence or to convince. Such talents engaged the friendship of the Arian bishops, till they were forced to renounce, and even to persecute, a dan|gerous ally, who, by the accuracy of his reasoning, had prejudiced their cause in the popular opinion, and offended the piety of their most devoted fol|lowers. 2. The omnipotence of the Creator suggested a specious and respectful solution of the likeness of the Father and the Son; and faith might humbly receive what reason could not presume to deny, that the Supreme God might communicate his infinite perfections, and create a being similar only to himself 69 1.97. These Arians were powerfully supported by the weight and abilities of their leaders, who had succeeded to the management of the Eusebian interest, and who occupied the principal thrones of the East. They detested, perhaps with some affectation, the impiety of Aetius; they professed to believe, either without reserve, or according to the scriptures, that the Son was different from all other creatures, and similar only to the Father. But they denied, that

he was either of the same, or of a similar substance; sometimes boldly justifying their dissent, and some|times objecting to the use of the word substance, which seems to imply an adequate, or at least a distinct, notion of the nature of the Deity. 3. The sect which asserted the doctrine of a similar sub|stance, was the most numerous, at least in the provinces of Asia; and when the leaders of both parties were assembled in the council of Seleucia 70 1.98, their opinion would have prevailed by a majority of one hundred and five to forty-three bishops. The Greek word, which was chosen to express this mysterious resemblance, bears so close an affinity to the orthodox symbol, that the profane of every age have derided the furious contests which the difference of a single diphthong excited between the Homoousians and the Homoiousians. As it frequently happens, that the sounds and cha|racters which approach the nearest to each other, accidentally represent the most opposite ideas, the observation would be itself ridiculous, if it were possible to mark any real and sensible distinction between the doctrine of the Semi-Arians, as they were improperly styled, and that of the Catholics themselves. The bishop of Poitiers, who in his Phrygian exile very wisely aimed at a coalition of parties, endeavours to prove that, by a pious and faithful interpretation 71 1.99, the Homoiousion may be

reduced to a consubstantial sense. Yet he confesses that the word has a dark and suspicious aspect; and, as if darkness were congenial to theological disputes, the Semi-Arians, who advanced to the doors of the church, assailed them with the most unrelenting fury.

The provinces of Egypt and Asia, which cul|tivated * 1.100 the language and manners of the Greeks, had deeply imbibed the venom of the Arian con|troversy. The familiar study of the Platonic system, a vain and argumentative disposition, a copious and flexible idiom, supplied the clergy and people of the East with an inexhaustible flow of words and distinctions; and, in the midst of their fierce contentions, they easily forgot the doubt which is recommended by philosophy, and the submission which is enjoined by religion. The inhabitants of the West were of a less inqui|sitive spirit; their passions were not so forcibly moved by invisible objects; their minds were less frequently exercised by the habits of dispute; and such was the happy ignorance of the Gallican church, that Hilary himself, above thirty years after the first general council, was still a stranger to the Nicene creed 72 1.101. The Latins had received

the rays of divine knowledge through the dark and doubtful medium of a translation. The poverty and stubbornness of their native tongue, was not always capable of affording just equi|valents for the Greek terms, for the technical words of the Platonic philosophy 73 1.102, which had been consecrated by the gospel or by the church, to express the mysteries of the Christian faith; and a verbal defect might introduce into the Latin theology, a long train of error or perplexity 74 1.103. But as the western provincials had the good for|tune of deriving their religion from an orthodox source, they preserved with steadiness the doctrine which they had accepted with docility; and when the Arian pestilence approached their frontiers, they were supplied with the seasonable pre|servative of the Homoousion, by the paternal care of the Roman pontiff. Their sentiments and their temper were displayed in the memorable synod of * 1.104 Rimini, which surpassed in numbers the council * 1.105 of Nice, since it was composed of above four hun|dred bishops of Italy, Africa, Spain, Gaul, Britain, and Illyricum. From the first debates it appeared, that only fourscore prelates adhered to the party, though they affected to anathematise the name and memory, of Arius. But this inferiority was com|pensated by the advantages of skill, of experience,

and of discipline; and the minority was conducted by Valens and Ursacius, two bishops of Illyricum, who had spent their lives in the intrigues of courts and councils, and who had been trained under the Eusebian banner, in the religious wars of the East. By their arguments and negociations, they embarrassed, they confounded, they at last de|ceived, the honest simplicity of the Latin bishops; who suffered the palladium of the faith to be ex|torted from their hands by fraud and importunity, rather than by open violence. The council of Rimini was not allowed to separate, till the mem|bers had imprudently subscribed a captious creed, in which some expressions, susceptible of an here|tical sense, were inserted in the room of the Homoousion. It was on this occasion, that, according to Jerom, the world was surprised to find itself Arian 75 1.106. But the bishops of the Latin provinces had no sooner reached their respective dioceses, than they discovered their mistake, and repented of their weakness. The ignominious capi|tulation was rejected with disdain and abhorrence: and the Homoousian standard, which had been shaken but not overthrown, was more firmly replanted in all the churches of the West 76 1.107.

Such was the rise and progress, and such were * 1.108 the natural revolutions of those theological dis|putes,

which disturbed the peace of Christianity under the reigns of Constantine and of his sons. But as those princes presumed to extend their despotism over the faith, as well as over the lives and fortunes, of their subjects; the weight of their suffrage sometimes inclined the ecclesiastical balance: and the prerogatives of the King of Heaven were settled, or changed, or modified, in the cabinet of an earthly monarch.

The unhappy spirit of discord which pervaded * 1.109 the provinces of the East, interrupted the triumph of Constantine; but the emperor continued for some time to view, with cool and careless indif|ference, * 1.110 the object of the dispute. As he was yet ignorant of the difficulty of appeasing the quarrels of theologians, he addressed to the con|tending parties, to Alexander and to Arius, a mo|derating epistle 77 1.111; which may be ascribed, with far greater reason, to the untutored sense of a sol|dier and statesman, than to the dictates of any of his episcopal counsellors. He attributes the origin of the whole controversy to a trifling and subtle question, concerning an incomprehensible point of the law, which was foolishly asked by the bishop, and imprudently resolved by the presbyter. He laments that the Christian people, who had the same God, the same religion, and the same wor|ship, should be divided by such inconsiderable

distinctions; and he seriously recommends to the clergy of Alexandria the example of the Greek philosophers; who could maintain their argu|ments without losing their temper, and assert their freedom without violating their friendship. The indifference and contempt of the sovereign would have been, perhaps, the most effectual method of silencing the dispute: if the popular current had been less rapid and impetuous; and if Constan|tine himself, in the midst of faction and fanati|cism, could have preserved the calm possession of his own mind. But his ecclesiastical ministers soon contrived to seduce the impartiality of the magistrate, and to awaken the zeal of the prose|lyte. He was provoked by the insults which had * 1.112 been offered to his statues; he was alarmed by the * 1.113 real, as well as the imaginary, magnitude of the spreading mischief; and he extinguished the hope of peace and toleration, from the moment that he assembled three hundred bishops within the walls of the same palace. The presence of the monarch swelled the importance of the debate; his atten|tion multiplied the arguments; and he exposed his person with a patient intrepidity, which ani|mated the valour of the combatants. Notwith|standing the applause which has been bestowed on the eloquence and sagacity of Constantine 78 1.114; a Roman general, whose religion might be still a subject of doubt, and whose mind had not been enlightened either by study or by inspiration, was indifferently qualified to discuss, in the Greek

language, a metaphysical question, or an article of faith. But the credit of his favourite Osius, who appears to have presided in the council of Nice, might dispose the emperor in favour of the orthodox party; and a well-timed insinuation, that the same Eusebius of Nicomedia, who now protected the heretic, had lately assisted the tyrant 79 1.115, might exasperate him against their ad|versaries. The Nicene creed was ratified by Con|stantine; and his firm declaration, that those who resisted the divine judgment of the synod, must prepare themselves for an immediate exile, anni|hilated the murmurs of a feeble opposition; which from seventeen, was almost instantly reduced to two, protesting bishops. Eusebius of Caesarea yielded a reluctant and ambiguous consent to the Homoousion 80 1.116; and the wavering conduct of the Nicomedian Eusebius served only to delay, about three months, his disgrace and exile 81 1.117. The im|pious * 1.118 Arius was banished into one of the remote provinces of Illyricum; his person and disciples were branded by law, with the odious name of

Porphyrians; his writings were condemned to the flames; and a capital punishment was denounced against those in whose possession they should be found. The emperor had now imbibed the spirit of controversy, and the angry sarcastic style of his edicts was designed to inspire his subjects with the hatred which he had conceived against the enemies of Christ 82 1.119.

But, as if the conduct of the emperor had been * 1.120 guided by passion instead of principle, three years from the council of Nice were scarcely elapsed, * 1.121 before he discovered some symptoms of mercy, and even of indulgence, towards the proscribed sect, which was secretly protected by his favourite sister. The exiles were recalled; and Eusebius, who gradually resumed his influence over the mind of Constantine, was restored to the episcopal throne, from which he had been ignominiously degraded. Arius himself was treated by the whole court with the respect which would have been due to an innocent and oppressed man. His faith was approved by the synod of Jerusalem; and the emperor seemed impatient to repair his injustice, by issuing an absolute command, that he should be solemnly admitted to the communion in the cathedral of Constantinople. On the same day, which had been fixed for the triumph of Arius, he expired;—and the strange and horrid circum|stances of his death might excite a suspicion, that

the orthodox saints had contributed, more effica|ciously than by their prayers, to deliver the church from the most formidable of her enemies 83 1.122. The three principal leaders of the Catholics, Athana|sius of Alexandria, Eustathius of Antioch, and Paul of Constantinople, were deposed on various accusations, by the sentence of numerous councils; and were afterwards banished into distant pro|vinces by the first of the Christian emperors, who, in the last moments of his life, received the rites of baptism from the Arian bishop of Nicomedia. The ecclesiastical government of Constantine can|not be justified from the reproach of levity and weakness. But the credulous monarch, unskilled in the stratagems of theological warfare, might be deceived by the modest and specious professions of the heretics, whose sentiments he never per|fectly understood; and while he protected Arius, and persecuted Athanasius, he still considered the council of Nice as the bulwark of the Christian faith, and the peculiar glory of his own reign 84 1.123.

The sons of Constantine must have been admit|ted from their childhood into the rank of cate|chumens, but they imitated, in the delay of their * 1.124 baptism, the example of their father. Like him, they presumed to pronounce their judgment on mysteries into which they had never been regularly * 1.125 initiated 85 1.126: and the fate of the Trinitarian con|troversy depended, in a great measure, on the sentiments of Constantius; who inherited the pro|vinces of the East, and acquired the possession of the whole empire. The Arian presbyter or bishop, who had secreted for his use the testament of the deceased emperor, improved the fortunate occa|sion which had introduced him to the familiarity of a prince, whose public counsels were always swayed by his domestic favourites. The eunuchs and slaves diffused the spiritual poison through the palace, and the dangerous infection was com|municated by the female attendants to the guards, and by the empress to her unsuspicious husband 86 1.127. The partiality which Constantius always expressed towards the Eusebian faction, was insensibly forti|fied by the dexterous management of their leaders; and his victory over the tyrant Magnentius en|creased his inclination, as well as ability, to em|ploy the arms of power in the cause of Arianism. While the two armies were engaged in the plains

of Mursa, and the fate of the two rivals depended on the chance of war, the son of Constantine passed the anxious moments in a church of the martyrs, under the walls of the city. His spiritual com|forter, Valens, the Arian bishop of the diocese, employed the most artful precautions to obtain such early intelligence as might secure either his favour or his escape. A secret chain of swift and trusty messengers informed him of the vicissitudes of the battle; and while the courtiers stood trembling round their affrighted master, Valens assured him that the Gallic legions gave way; and insinuated with some presence of mind, that the glorious event had been revealed to him by an angel. The grateful emperor ascribed his success to the merits and intercession of the bishop of Mursa, whose faith had deserved the public and miraculous approbation of Heaven 87 1.128. The Arians, who considered as their own the victory of Con|stantius, preferred his glory to that of his Father 88 1.129. Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, immediately composed the description of a celestial cross, encircled with a splendid rainbow; which during the festival of Pentecost, about the third hour of the day, had

appeared over the Mount of Olives, to the edifi|cation of the devout pilgrims, and the people of the holy city 89 1.130. The size of the meteor was gra|dually magnified; and the Arian historian has ventured to affirm, that it was conspicuous to the two armies in the plains of Pannonia; and that the tyrant, who is purposely represented as an idolater, fled before the auspicious sign of ortho|dox Christianity 90 1.131.

The sentiments of a judicious stranger, who * 1.132 has impartially considered the progress of civil or ecclesiastical discord, are always entitled to our notice: and a short passage of Ammianus, who served in the armies, and studied the character, of Constantius, is perhaps of more value than many pages of theological invectives.

The Christian religion, which, in itself, says that moderate historian, is plain and simple, he confounded by the dotage of superstition. Instead of re|conciling the parties by the weight of his autho|rity, he cherished and propagated, by verbal disputes, the differences which his vain curiosity had excited. The highways were covered with troops of bishops, galloping from every side to the assemblies, which they call synods; and while they laboured to reduce the whole sect to their own particular opinions, the public estab|lishment

of the posts was almost ruined by their hasty and repeated journies 91 1.133.

Our more in|timate knowledge of the ecclesiastical transactions of the reign of Constantius, would furnish an ample commentary on this remarkable passage; which justifies the rational apprehensions of Atha|nasius, that the restless activity of the clergy, who wandered round the empire in search of the true faith, would excite the contempt and laughter of the unbelieving world 92 1.134. As soon as the emperor was relieved from the terrors of the civil war, he devoted the leisure of his winter-quarters at Arles, Milan, Sirmium, and Constantinople, to the amusement or toils of controversy: the sword of the magistrate, and even of the tyrant, was un|sheathed, to enforce the reasons of the theologian; and as he opposed the orthodox faith of Nice, it is readily confessed that his incapacity and igno|rance were equal to his presumption 93 1.135. The eunuchs, the women, and the bishops, who go|verned the vain and feeble mind of the emperor, had inspired him with an insuperable dislike to the Homoousion; but his timid conscience was

alarmed by the impiety of Aetius. The guilt of that atheist was aggravated by the suspicious favour of the unfortunate Gallus; and even the deaths of the Imperial ministers, who had been massacred at Antioch, were imputed to the sug|gestions of that dangerous sophist. The mind of Constantius, which could neither be mode|rated by reason, nor fixed by faith, was blindly impelled to either side of the dark and empty abyss, by his horror of the opposite extreme: he alternately embraced and condemned the senti|ments, he successively banished and recalled the leaders, of the Arian and Semi-Arian factions 94 1.136. During the season of public business or festivity, he employed whole days, and even nights, in selecting the words, and weighing the syllables, which composed his fluctuating creeds. The subject of his meditation still pursued and occupied his slumbers; the incoherent dreams of the em|peror were received as celestial visions; and he accepted with complacency the lofty title of bishop of bishops, from those ecclesiastics who forgot the interest of their order for the gratification of their passions. The design of establishing an uniform|ity of doctrine, which had engaged him to con|vene so many synods in Gaul, Italy, Illyricum, and Asia, was repeatedly baffled by his own

levity, by the divisions of the Arians, and by the resistance of the catholics; and he resolved, as the last and decisive effort, imperiously to dictate the decrees of a general council. The destructive earthquake of Nicomedia, the difficulty of finding a convenient place, and perhaps some secret mo|tives of policy, produced an alteration in the sum|mons. The bishops of the East were directed to meet at Seleucia, in Isauria; while those of the West held their deliberations at Rimini, on the coast of the Hadriatic; and, instead of two or three deputies from each province, the whole episcopal body was ordered to march. The Eastern council, after consuming four days in fierce and unavailing debate, separated without any definitive conclusion. The council of the West was protracted till the seventh month. Taurus, the Praetorian praefect, was instructed not to dismiss the prelates till they should all be united in the same opinion; and his efforts were supported by a power of banishing fifteen of the most refractory, and a promise of the consulship if he atchieved so difficult an adventure. His * 1.137 prayers and threats, the authority of the sovereign, the sophistry of Valens and Ursacius, the distress of cold and hunger, and the tedious melancholy of a hopeless exile, at length extorted the reluctant consent of the bishops of Rimini. The deputies of the East and of the West attended the emperor in the palace of Constantinople, and he enjoyed the satisfaction of imposing on the world a pro|fession of faith which established the likeness, with|out expressing the consubstantiality, of the Son of

God 95 1.138. But the triumph of Arianism had been preceded by the removal of the orthodox clergy, whom it was impossible either to intimidate or to corrupt; and the reign of Constantius was dis|graced by the unjust and ineffectual persecution of the great Athanasius.

We have seldom an opportunity of observing, * 1.139 either in active or speculative life, what effect may be produced, or what obstacles may be sur|mounted, by the force of a single mind, when it is inflexibly applied to the pursuit of a single object. The immortal name of Athanasius 96 1.140 will never be separated from the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity, to whose defence he consecrated every moment and every faculty of his being. Edu|cated in the family of Alexander, he had vigorously opposed the early progress of the Arian heresy: he exercised the important functions of secretary under the aged prelate; and the fathers of the Nicene council beheld with surprise and respect, the rising virtues of the young deacon. In a time of public danger, the dull claims of age and of

rank are sometimes superseded; and within five months after his return from Nice, the deacon Athanasius was seated on the archiepiscopal throne of Egypt. He filled that eminent station above * 1.141 forty-six years, and his long administration was spent in a perpetual combat against the powers of Arianism. Five times was Athanasius expelled from his throne; twenty years he passed as an exile or a fugitive; and almost every province of the Roman empire was successively witness to his merit, and his sufferings in the cause of the Ho|moousion, which he considered as the sole pleasure and business, as the duty, and as the glory, of his life. Amidst the storms of persecution, the arch|bishop of Alexandria was patient of labour, jealous of fame, careless of safety; and although his mind was tainted by the contagion of fanaticism, Atha|nasius displayed a superiority of character and abilities, which would have qualified him, far better than the degenerate sons of Constantine, for the government of a great monarchy. His learning was much less profound and extensive than that of Eusebius of Caesarea, and his rude eloquence could not be compared with the po|lished oratory of Gregory or Basil; but whenever the primate of Egypt was called upon to justify his sentiments or his conduct, his unpremeditated style, either of speaking or writing, was clear, forcible, and persuasive. He has always been revered in the orthodox school, as one of the most accurate masters of the Christian theology; and he was supposed to possess two profane sciences, less adapted to the episcopal character; the know|ledge

of jurisprudence 97 1.142, and that of divination 98 1.143. Some fortunate conjectures of future events, which impartial reasoners might ascribe to the experience and judgment of Athanasius, were attributed by his friends to heavenly inspiration, and imputed by his enemies to infernal magic.

But as Athanasius was continually engaged with the prejudices and passions of every order of men from the monk to the emperor, the knowledge of human nature was his first and most important science. He preserved a distinct and unbroken view of a scene which was incessantly shifting; and never failed to improve those decisive mo|ments which are irrecoverably past before they are perceived by a common eye. The archbishop of Alexandria was capable of distinguishing how far he might boldly command, and where he must dextrously insinuate; how long he might contend with power, and when he must withdraw from per|secution; and while he directed the thunders of the church against heresy and rebellion, he could assume, in the bosom of his own party, the flexible and indulgent temper of a prudent leader. The election of Athanasius has not escaped the reproach of irregularity and precipitation 99 1.144; but the pro|priety

of his behaviour conciliated the affections both of the clergy and of the people. The Alexandrians were impatient to rise in arms for the defence of an eloquent and liberal pastor. In his distress he always derived support, or at least consolation, from the faithful attachment of his parochial clergy; and the hundred bishops of Egypt adhered, with unshaken zeal, to the cause of Athanasius. In the modest equipage, which pride and policy would affect, he frequently per|formed the episcopal visitation of his provinces, from the mouth of the Nile to the confines of Aethiopia; familiarly conversing with the meanest of the populace, and humbly saluting the saints and hermits of the desert 100 1.145. Nor was it only in ecclesiastical assemblies, among men whose edu|cation and manners were similar to his own, that Athanasius displayed the ascendancy of his genius. He appeared with easy and respectful firmness in the courts of princes; and in the various turns of his prosperous and adverse fortune, he never lost the confidence of his friends, or the esteem of his enemies.

In his youth, the primate of Egypt resisted the * 1.146 great Constantine, who had repeatedly signified * 1.147

his will, that Arius should be restored to the Ca|tholic communion 101 1.148. The emperor respected, and might forgive, this inflexible resolution; and the faction who considered Athanasius as their most formidable enemy, were constrained to dis|semble their hatred, and silently to prepare an indirect and distant assault. They scattered rumours and suspicions, represented the arch|bishop as a proud and oppressive tyrant, and boldly accused him of violating the treaty which had been ratified in the Nicene council, with the schismatic followers of Meletius 102 1.149. Athanasius had openly disapproved that ignominious peace, and the emperor was disposed to believe, that he had abused his ecclesiastical and civil power, to persecute those odious sectaries; that he had sacri|legiously broken a chalice in one of their churches of Maraeotis: that he had whipped or imprisoned six of their bishops; and that Arsenius, a seventh bishop of the same party, had been murdered, or at least mutilated, by the cruel hand of the pri|mate 103 1.150.

These charges, which affected his ho|nour and his life, were referred by Constantine to his brother Dalmatius the Censor, who resided at Antioch; the synods of Caesarea and Tyre were successively convened; and the bishops of the East were instructed to judge the cause of Athanasius, before they proceeded to consecrate the new church of the Resurrection at Jerusalem. The primate might be conscious of his innocence; but he was sensible, that the same implacable spi|rit which had dictated the accusation, would direct the proceeding, and pronounce the sentence. He prudently declined the tribunal of his enemies, despised the summons of the synod of Caesarea; and, after a long and artful delay, submitted to the peremptory commands of the emperor, who threatened to punish his criminal disobedience if he refused to appear in the council of Tyre 104 1.151. Before Athanasius, at the head of fifty Egyptian * 1.152 prelates, sailed from Alexandria, he had wisely se|cured the alliance of the Meletians; and Arsenius himself, his imaginary victim, and his secret friend, was privately concealed in his train. The synod of Tyre was conducted by Eusebius of Caesarea, with more passion, and with less art, than his learning and experience might promise;

his numerous faction repeated the names of ho|micide and tyrant; and their clamours were en|couraged by the seeming patience of Athanasius; who expected the decisive moment to produce Arsenius alive and unhurt in the midst of the assembly. The nature of the other charges did not admit of such clear and satisfactory replies; yet the archbishop was able to prove, that, in the village, where he was accused of breaking a con|secrated chalice, neither church nor altar nor chalice could really exist. The Arians, who had secretly determined the guilt and condemnation of their enemy, attempted, however, to disguise their injustice by the imitation of judicial forms: the synod appointed an episcopal commission of six delegates to collect evidence on the spot; and this measure, which was vigorously opposed by the Egyptian bishops, opened new scenes of vio|lence and perjury 105 1.153. After the return of the deputies from Alexandria, the majority of the council pronounced the final sentence of degrada|tion and exile against the primate of Egypt. The decree, expressed in the fiercest language of ma|lice and revenge, was communicated to the em|peror and the catholic church; and the bishops immediately resumed a mild and devout aspect, such as became their holy pilgrimage to the Sepulchre of Christ 106 1.154.

But the injustice of these ecclesiastical judges had not been countenanced by the submission, or even by the presence, of Athanasius. He re|solved * 1.155 to make a bold and dangerous experiment, * 1.156 whether the throne was inaccessible to the voice of truth; and before the final sentence could be pronounced at Tyre, the intrepid primate threw himself into a bark, which was ready to hoist sail for the Imperial city. The request of a formal audience might have been opposed or eluded; but Athanasius concealed his arrival, watched the moment of Constantine's return from an adjacent villa, and boldly encountered his angry sovereign as he passed on horseback through the principal street of Constantinople. So strange an apparition excited his surprise and indignation; and the guards were ordered to remove the importunate suitor; but his resentment was subdued by invo|luntary respect; and the haughty spirit of the emperor was awed by the courage and eloquence of a bishop, who implored his justice, and awakened his conscience 107 1.157. Constantine listened to the complaints of Athanasius with impartial and even gracious attention; the members of the synod of Tyre were summoned to justify their proceedings; and the arts of the Eusebian faction would have been confounded; if they had not aggravated the guilt of the primate by the dex|terous supposition of an unpardonable offence; a criminal design to intercept and detain the corn|fleet

of Alexandria, which supplied the subsist|ence of the new capital 108 1.158. The emperor was satisfied that the peace of Egypt would be secured by the absence of a popular leader; but he refused to fill the vacancy of the archiepiscopal throne; and the sentence, which, after long hesitation, he pronounced, was that of a jealous ostracism, rather than of an ignominious exile. In the re|mote province of Gaul, but in the hospitable court of Treves, Athanasius passed about twenty-eight months. The death of the emperor changed the face of public affairs; and, amidst the gene|ral indulgence of a young reign, the primate was * 1.159 restored to his country by an honourable edict of the younger Constantine, who expressed a deep * 1.160 sense of the innocence and merit of his venerable guest 109 1.161.

The death of that prince exposed Athanasius to * 1.162 a second persecution; and the feeble Constantius, the sovereign of the East, soon became the secret * 1.163 accomplice of the Eusebians. Ninety bishops of that sect or faction assembled at Antioch, under

the specious pretence of dedicating the cathedral. They composed an ambiguous creed, which is faintly tinged with the colours of Semi-Arianism, and twenty-five canons, which still regulate the discipline of the orthodox Greeks 110 1.164. It was de|cided, with some appearance of equity, that a bishop, deprived by a synod, should not resume his episcopal functions, till he had been absolved by the judgment of an equal synod; the law was immediately applied to the case of Athanasius; the council of Antioch pronounced, or rather confirmed, his degradation: a stranger named Gregory, was seated on his throne; and Phila|grius 111 1.165, the praefect of Egypt, was instructed to support the new primate with the civil and military powers of the province. Oppressed by the con|spiracy of the Asiatic prelates, Athanasius with|drew from Alexandria, and passed three 112 1.166 years as an exile and a suppliant on the holy threshold

of the vatican 113 1.167. By the assiduous study of the Latin language, he soon qualified himself to ne|gotiate with the western clergy; his decent flattery swayed and directed the haughty Julius: the Ro|man Pontiff was persuaded to consider his appeal as the peculiar interest of the Apostolic see; and his innocence was unanimously declared in a coun|cil of fifty bishops of Italy. At the end of three years, the primate was summoned to the court of Milan by the emperor Constans, who, in the in|dulgence of unlawful pleasures, still professed a lively regard for the orthodox faith. The cause of truth and justice was promoted by the influence of gold 114 1.168, and the ministers of Constans advised their sovereign to require the convocation of an ecclesiastical assembly, which might act as the representatives of the Catholic church. Ninety-four * 1.169 bishops of the West, seventy-six bishops of the East, encountered each other at Sardica, on the verge of the two empires, but in the domi|nions

of the protector of Athanasius. Their de|bates soon degenerated into hostile altercations; the Asiatics, apprehensive for their personal safety, retired to Philippopolis in Thrace; and the rival synods reciprocally hurled their spiritual thunders against their enemies, whom they piously con|demned as the enemies of the true God. Their decrees were published and ratified in their respec|tive provinces; and Athanasius, who in the West was revered as a saint, was exposed as a criminal to the abhorrence of the East 115 1.170. The council of Sardica reveals the first symptoms of discord and schism between the Greek and Latin churches, which were separated by the accidental difference of faith, and the permanent distinction of lan|guage.

During his second exile in the West, Athanasius * 1.171 was frequently admitted to the Imperial presence; * 1.172 at Capua, Lodi, Milan, Verona, Padua, Aqui|leia, and Treves. The bishop of the diocese usually assisted at these interviews; the master of the offices stood before the veil or curtain of the sacred apartment; and the uniform moderation of the primate might be attested by these respect|able witnesses, to whose evidence he solemnly appeals 116 1.173. Prudence would undoubtedly suggest

the mild and respectful tone that became a sub|ject and a bishop. In these familiar conferences with the sovereign of the West, Athanasius might lament the error of Constantius; but he boldly arraigned the guilt of his eunuchs and his Arian prelates; deplored the distress and danger of the Catholic church; and excited Constans to emulate the zeal and glory of his father. The emperor declared his resolution of employing the troops and treasures of Europe in the orthodox cause; and signified, by a concise and peremptory epistle to his brother Constantius, that unless he con|sented to the immediate restoration of Athanasius, he himself, with a fleet and army, would seat the archbishop on the throne of Alexandria 117 1.174. But this religious war, so horrible to nature, was pre|vented by the timely compliance of Constantius; and the emperor of the East condescended to solicit a reconciliation with a subject whom he had injured. Athanasius waited with decent pride, till he had received three successive epistles full of the strongest assurances of the protection, the favour, and the esteem of his sovereign; who in|vited him to resume his episcopal seat, and who added the humiliating precaution of engaging his principal ministers to attest the sincerity of his in|tentions. They were manifested in a still more public manner, by the strict orders which were dispatched into Egypt to recall the adherents of

Athanasius, to restore their privileges, to pro|claim their innocence, and to eraze from the public registers the illegal proceedings which had been obtained during the prevalence of the Euse|bian faction. After every satisfaction and security had been given, which justice or even delicacy could require, the primate proceeded, by slow journeys, through the provinces of Thrace, Asia, and Syria; and his progress was marked by the abject homage of the Oriental bishops, who ex|cited his contempt without deceiving his penetra|tion 118 1.175. At Antioch he saw the emperor Con|stantius; sustained, with modest firmness, the embraces and protestations of his master, and eluded the proposal of allowing the Arians a single church at Alexandria, by claiming, in the other cities of the empire, a similar toleration for his own party; a reply which might have appeared just and moderate in the mouth of an independent prince. The entrance of the archbishop into his capital was a triumphal procession; absence and persecution had endeared him to the Alexandrians; his authority, which he exercised with rigour, was more firmly established; and his fame was diffused from Aethiopia to Britain, over the whole extent of the Christian world 119 1.176.

But the subject who has reduced his prince to the necessity of dissembling, can never expect a sincere and lasting forgiveness; and the tragic * 1.177 fate of Constans soon deprived Athanasius of a powerful and generous protector. The civil war * 1.178 between the assassin and the only surviving bro|ther of Constans, which afflicted the empire above three years, secured an interval of repose to the Catholic church; and the two contending parties were desirous to conciliate the friendship of a bishop, who, by the weight of his personal autho|rity, might determine the fluctuating resolutions of an important province. He gave audience to the ambassadors of the tyrant, with whom he was afterwards accused of holding a secret correspond|ence 120 1.179; and the emperor Constantius repeatedly assured his dearest father, the most reverend Atha|nasius, that, notwithstanding the malicious ru|mours which were circulated by their common enemies, he had inherited the sentiments, as well as the throne, of his deceased brother 121 1.180. Gra|titude and humanity would have disposed the pri|mate of Egypt to deplore the untimely fate of Constans, and to abhor the guilt of Magnentius; but as he clearly understood that the apprehen|sions of Constantius were his only safeguard, the

servour of his prayers for the success of the righte|ous cause might perhaps be somewhat abated. The ruin of Athanasius was no longer contrived by the obscure malice of a few bigoted or angry bishops, who abused the authority of a credulous monarch. The monarch himself avowed the re|solution, which he had so long suppressed, of avenging his private injuries 122 1.181; and the first winter after his victory, which he passes at Arles, was employed against an enemy more odious to him than the vanquished tyrant of Gaul.

If the emperor had capriciously decreed the * 1.182 death of the most eminent and virtuous citizen of the republic, the cruel order would have been * 1.183 executed without hesitation, by the ministers of open violence or of specious injustice. The cau|tion, the delay, the difficulty with which he pro|ceeded in the condemnation and punishment of a popular bishop, discovered to the world that the privileges of the church had already revived a sense of order and freedom in the Roman govern|ment. The sentence which was pronounced in the synod of Tyre, and subscribed by a large majority of the eastern bishops, had never been expressly repealed; and as Athanasius had been once degraded from his episcopal dignity by the judgment of his brethren, every subsequent act might be considered as irregular, and even cri|minal. But the memory of the firm and effectual support which the primate of Egypt had derived

from the attachment of the western church, en|gaged Constantius to suspend the execution of the sentence, till he had obtained the concurrence of the Latin bishops. Two years were consumed in ecclesiastical negociations; and the important cause between the emperor and one of his subjects was solemnly debated, first in the synod of Arles, and afterwards in the great council of Milan 123 1.184, which consisted of above three hundred bishops. Their integrity was gradually undermined by the arguments of the Arians, the dexterity of the eunuchs, and the pressing solicitations of a prince, who gratified his revenge at the expence of his dignity; and exposed his own passions, whilst he influenced those of the clergy. Corruption, the most infallible symptom of constitutional liberty, was successfully practised: honours, gifts, and immunities, were offered and accepted as the price of an episcopal vote 124 1.185; and the condemnation of the Alexandrian primate was artfully represented, as the only measure which could restore the peace and union of the Catholic church. The friends of Athanasius were not, however, wanting to their

leader, or to their cause. With a manly spirit, which the sanctity of their character rendered less dangerous, they maintained, in public debate, and in private conference with the emperor, the eternal obligation of religion and justice. They declared, that neither the hope of his favour, nor the fear of his displeasure, should prevail on them to join in the condemnation of an absent, an inno|cent, a respectable brother 125 1.186. They affirmed, with apparent reason, that the illegal and obsolete decrees of the council of Tyre had long since been tacitly abolished by the Imperial edicts, the ho|nourable re-establishment of the archbishop of Alexandria, and the silence or recantation of his most clamorous adversaries. They alleged, that his innocence had been attested by the unanimous bishops of Egypt, and had been acknowledged in the councils of Rome and Sardica 126 1.187, by the im|partial judgment of the Latin church. They deplored the hard condition of Athanasius, who, after enjoying so many years his seat, his reputa|tion, and the seeming confidence of his sovereign, was again called upon to confute the most ground|less

and extravagant accusations. Their language was specious; their conduct was honourable: but in this long and obstinate contest, which fixed the eyes of the whole empire on a single bishop, the ecclesiastical factions were prepared to sacrifice truth and justice, to the more interesting object of defending, or removing, the intrepid champion of the Nicene faith. The Arians still thought it prudent to disguise in ambiguous language, their real sentiments and designs: but the orthodox bishops, armed with the favour of the people, and the decrees of a general council, insisted on every occasion, and particularly at Milan, that their adversaries should purge themselves from the suspicion of heresy, before they presumed to arraign the conduct of the great Athanasius 127 1.188.

But the voice of reason (if reason was indeed on * 1.189 the side of Athanasius) was silenced by the cla|mours of a factious or venal majority; and the councils of Arles and Milan were not dissolved * 1.190 till the archbishop of Alexandria had been so|lemnly condemned and deposed by the judgment of the Western, as well as of the Eastern, church. The bishops who had opposed, were required to subscribe, the sentence; and to unite in religious communion with the suspected leaders of the ad|verse party. A formulary of consent was trans|mitted by the messengers of state to the absent bishops: and all those who refused to submit their private opinion to the public and inspired wisdom of the councils of Arles and Milan, were

immediately banished by the emperor, who affect|ed to execute the decrees of the Catholic church. Among those prelates who led the honourable band of confessors and exiles, Liberius of Rome, Osius of Cordova, Paulanus of Treves, Diony|sius of Milan, Eusebius of Vercellae, Lucifer of Cagliari, and Hilary of Poitiers, may deserve to be particularly distinguished. The eminent station of Liberius, who governed the capital of the em|pire; the personal merit and long experience of the venerable Osius, who was revered as the fa|vourite of the great Constantine, and the father of the Nicene faith; placed those prelates at the head of the Latin church: and their example, either of submission or resistance, would probably be imitated by the episcopal crowd. But the re|peated attempts of the emperor to seduce or to intimidate the bishops of Rome and Cordova, were for some time ineffectual. The Spaniard declared himself ready to suffer under Constan|tius, as he had suffered threescore years before under his grandfather Maximian. The Roman, in the presence of his sovereign, asserted the in|nocence of Athanasius, and his own freedom. When he was banished to Beraea in Thrace, he sent back a large sum which had been offered for the accommodation of his journey; and insulted the court of Milan by the haughty remark, that the emperor and his eunuchs might want that gold to pay their soldiers and their bishops 128 1.191. The

resolution of Liberius and Osius was at length subdued by the hardships of exile and confine|ment. The Roman pontiff purchased his return by some criminal compliances; and afterwards ex|piated his guilt by a seasonable repentance. Per|suasion and violence were employed to extort the reluctant signature of the decrepid bishop of Cor|dova, whose strength was broken, and whose faculties were perhaps impaired, by the weight of an hundred years; and the insolent triumph of the Arians provoked some of the orthodox party to treat with inhuman severity the character, or rather the memory, of an unfortunate old man, to whose former services Christianity itself was so deeply indebted 129 1.192.

The fall of Liberius and Osius reflected a * 1.193 brighter lustre on the firmness of those bishops who still adhered, with unshaken fidelity, to the cause of Athanasius and religious truth. The ingenious malice of their enemies had deprived them of the benefit of mutual comfort and ad|vice, separated those illustrious exiles into distant provinces, and carefully selected the most inho|spitable spots of a great empire 130 1.194. Yet they

soon experienced that the deserts of Libya, and the most barbarous tracts of Cappadocia, were less inhospitable than the residence of those cities in which an Arian bishop could satiate, without restraint, the exquisite rancour of theological hatred 131 1.195. Their consolation was derived from the consciousness of rectitude and independence, from the applause, the visits, the letters, and the liberal alms of their adherents 132 1.196; and from the satisfaction which they soon enjoyed of observing the intestine divisions of the adversaries of the Nicene faith. Such was the nice and capricious taste of the emperor Constantius, and so easily was he offended by the slightest deviation from his imaginary standard of Christian truth; that he persecuted, with equal zeal, those who defended the consubstantiality, those who asserted the similar substance, and those who denied the likeness, of the Son of God. Three bishops degraded and ba|nished for those adverse opinions, might possibly meet in the same place of exile; and, according to the difference of their temper, might either pity or insult the blind enthusiasm of their an|tagonists, whose present sufferings would never be compensated by future happiness.

The disgrace and exile of the orthodox bishops of the West were designed as so many preparatory steps to the ruin of Athanasius himself 133 1.197. Six * 1.198 and twenty months had elapsed, during which the Imperial court secretly laboured, by the most insidious arts, to remove him from Alexandria, and to withdraw the allowance which supplied his * 1.199 popular liberality. But when the primate of of Egypt, deserted and proscribed by the Latin church, was left destitute of any foreign support, Constantius dispatched two of his secretaries with a verbal commission to announce and execute the order of his banishment. As the justice of the sentence was publicly avowed by the whole party, the only motive which could restrain Constantius from giving his messengers the sanction of a writ|ten mandate, must be imputed to his doubt of the event; and to a sense of the danger to which he might expose the second city, and the most fer|tile province of the empire, if the people should persist in the resolution of defending, by force of arms, the innocence of their spiritual father. Such extreme caution afforded Athanasius a spe|cious pretence respectfully to dispute the truth of an order, which he could not reconcile, either with the equity, or with the former declarations,

of his gracious master. The civil powers of Egypt found themselves inadequate to the task of persuading or compelling the primate to abdicate his episcopal throne; and they were obliged to conclude a treaty with the popular leaders of Alexandria, by which it was stipulated, that all proceedings and all hostilities should be suspended till the emperor's pleasure had been more distinctly ascertained. By this seeming moderation, the Catholics were deceived into a false and fatal security; while the legions of the Upper Egypt, and of Libya, advanced, by secret orders and hasty marches, to besiege, or rather to surprise, a capital, habituated to sedition, and inflamed by religious zeal 134 1.200. The position of Alexandria, between the sea and the lake Mareotis, facilitated the approach and landing of the troops; who were introduced into the heart of the city, before any effectual measures could be taken, either to shut the gates, or to occupy the important posts of desence. At the hour of midnight, twenty-three days after the signature of the treaty, Syri|anus duke of Egypt, at the head of five thousand soldiers, armed and prepared for an assault, unex|pectedly invested the church of St. Theonas, where the archbishop, with a part of his clergy and people, performed their nocturnal devotions. The doors of the sacred edifice yielded to the impetu|osity

of the attack, which was accompanied with every horrid circumstance of tumult and blood|shed; but, as the bodies of the slain, and the fragments of military weapons, remained the next day an unexceptionable evidence in the possession of the Catholics, the enterprise of Syrianus may be considered as a successful irruption, rather than as an absolute conquest. The other churches of the city were profaned by similar outrages; and, during at least four months, Alexandria was ex|posed to the insults of a licentious army, stimu|lated by the ecclesiastics of an hostile faction. Many of the faithful were killed; who may de|serve the name of martyrs, if their deaths were neither provoked nor revenged; bishops and presbyters were treated with cruel ignominy; con|secrated virgins were stripped naked, scourged, and violated; the houses of wealthy citizens were plundered; and, under the mask of reli|gious zeal, lust, avarice, and private resentment, were gratified with impunity, and even with ap|plause. The Pagans of Alexandria, who still formed a numerous and discontented party, were easily persuaded to desert a bishop whom they feared and esteemed. The hopes of some peculiar favours, and the apprehension of being involved in the general penalties of rebellion, engaged them to promise their support to the destined suc|cessor of Athanasius, the famous George of Cap|padocia. The usurper, after receiving the con|secration of an Arian synod, was placed on the episcopal throne by the arms of Sebastian, who had been appointed Count of Egypt for the exe|cution

of that important design. In the use, as well as in the acquisition, of power, the tyrant George disregarded the laws of religion, of jus|tice, and of humanity; and the same scenes of violence and scandal which had been exhibited in the capital, were repeated in more than ninety episcopal cities of Egypt. Encouraged by suc|cess, Constantius ventured to approve the conduct of his ministers. By a public and passionate epistle, the emperor congratulates the deliverance of Alexandria from a popular tyrant, who deluded his blind votaries by the magic of his eloquence; expatiates on the virtues and piety of the most reverend George, the elected bishop; and aspires, as the patron and benefactor of the city, to sur|pass the fame of Alexander himself. But he solemnly declares his unalterable resolution to pursue with fire and sword the seditious adherents of the wicked Athanasius, who, by flying from justice, has confessed his guilt, and escaped the ignominious death which he had so often de|served 135 1.201.

Athanasius had indeed escaped from the most * 1.202 imminent dangers; and the adventures of that extraordinary man deserve and fix our attention. On the memorable night when the church of St. Theonas was invested by the troops of Syrianus, the archbishop, seated on his throne, expected, with calm and intrepid dignity, the approach of death. While the public devotion was inter|rupted

by shouts of rage, and cries of terror, he animated his trembling congregation to express their religious confidence, by chanting one of the psalms of David, which celebrates the triumph of the God of Israel over the haughty and impious tyrant of Egypt. The doors were at length burst open; a cloud of arrows was discharged among the people; the soldiers, with drawn swords, rushed forwards into the sanctuary; and the dread|ful gleam of their armour was reflected by the holy luminaries which burnt round the altar 136 1.203. Athanasius still rejected the pious importunity of the Monks and Presbyters, who were attached to his person; and nobly refused to desert his epis|copal station, till he had dismissed in safety the last of the congregation. The darkness and tu|mult of the night favoured the retreat of the archbishop; and though he was oppressed by the waves of an agitated multitude, though he was thrown to the ground, and left without sense or motion, he still recovered his undaunted courage; and eluded the eager search of the soldiers, who were instructed by their Arian guides, that the head of Athanasius would be the most acceptable present to the emperor. From that moment the primate of Egypt disappeared from the eyes of his enemies, and remained above six years concealed in impenetrable obscurity 137 1.204.

The despotic power of his implacable enemy filled the whole extent of the Roman world; and the exasperated monarch had endeavoured, by a * 1.205 very pressing epistle to the Christian princes of * 1.206 Aethiopia, to exclude Athanasius from the most remote and sequestered regions of the earth. Counts, praefects, tribunes, whole armies, were successively employed to pursue a bishop and a fugitive; the vigilance of the civil and military powers were excited by the Imperial edicts; liberal rewards were promised to the man who should produce Athanasius, either alive or dead; and the most severe penalties were denounced against those who should dare to protect the public enemy 138 1.207. But the deserts of Thebaïs were now peopled by a race of wild, yet submissive fanatics, who preferred the commands of their abbot to the laws of their sovereign. The numerous disciples of Antony and Pachomius received the fugitive primate as their father, admired the patience and humility with which he conformed to their strictest institutions, collected every word which dropt from his lips as the genuine effusions of inspired wisdom; and persuaded themselves, that their prayers, their fasts, and their vigils, were less meritorious than the zeal which they expressed,

and the dangers which they braved, in the de|fence of truth and innocence 139 1.208. The monasteries of Egypt were seated in lonely and desolate places, on the summit of mountains, or in the islands of the Nile; and the sacred horn or trum|pet of Tabenne was the well-known signal which assembled several thousand robust and determined Monks, who, for the most part, had been the peasants of the adjacent country. When their dark retreats were invaded by a military force, which it was impossible to resist, they silently stretched out their necks to the executioner; and supported their national character, that tortures could never wrest from an Egyptian the confession of a secret which he was resolved not to dis|close 140 1.209. The archbishop of Alexandria, for whose safety they eagerly devoted their lives, was lost among a uniform and well-disciplined multitude; and on the nearer approach of danger, he was swiftly removed, by their officious hands, from one place of concealment to another, till he reached the formidable deserts, which the gloomy and credulous temper of superstition had peopled with daemons and savage monsters. The retire|ment of Athanasius, which ended only with the life of Constantius, was spent, for the most part, in the society of the Monks, who faithfully served him as guards, as secretaries, and as messengers;

but the importance of maintaining a more inti|mate connection with the Catholic party, tempted him, whenever the diligence of the pursuit was abated, to emerge from the desert, to introduce himself into Alexandria, and to trust his person to the discretion of his friends and adherents. His various adventures might have furnished the subject of a very entertaining romance. He was once secreted in a dry cistern, which he had scarcely left before he was betrayed by the trea|chery of a female slave 141 1.210; and he was once con|cealed in a still more extraordinary asylum, the house of a virgin, only twenty years of age, and who was celebrated in the whole city for her ex|quisite beauty. At the hour of midnight, as she related the story many years afterwards, she was surprised by the appearance of the archbishop in a loose undress, who, advancing with hasty steps, conjured her to afford him the protection which he had been directed by a celestial vision to seek under her hospitable roof. The pious maid ac|cepted and preserved the sacred pledge which was entrusted to her prudence and courage. Without imparting the secret to any one, she instantly con|ducted Athanasius into her most secret chamber, and watched over his safety with the tenderness of a friend and the assiduity of a servant. As long as the danger continued, she regularly supplied him with books and provisions, washed his feet, ma|naged

his correspondence, and dexterously con|cealed from the eye of suspicion, this familiar and solitary intercourse between a saint whose character required the most unblemished chastity, and a female whose charms might excite the most dangerous emotions 142 1.211. During the six years of persecution and exile, Athanasius repeated his visits to his fair and faithful companion; and the formal declaration, that he saw the councils of Rimini and Seleucia 143 1.212, forces us to believe that he was secretly present at the time and place of their convocation. The advantage of personally negociating with his friends, and of observing and improving the divisions of his enemies, might justify, in a prudent statesman, so bold and dan|gerous an enterprise: and Alexandria was con|nected by trade and navigation with every sea|port of the Mediterranean. From the depth of his inaccessible retreat, the intrepid primate waged an incessant and offensive war against the protector of the Arians; and his seasonable writings, which were diligently circulated, and eagerly perused, contributed to unite and animate the orthodox party. In his public apologies, which he ad|dressed to the emperor himself, he sometimes

affected the praise of moderation; whilst at the same time, in secret and vehement invectives, he exposed Constantius as a weak and wicked prince, the executioner of his family, the tyrant of the republic, and the antichrist of the church. In the height of his prosperity, the victorious mo|narch, who had chastised the rashness of Gallus, and suppressed the revolt of Sylvanus, who had taken the diadem from the head of Vetranio, and vanquished in the field the legions of Magnen|tius, received from an invisible hand a wound, which he could neither heal nor revenge; and the son of Constantine was the first of the Christian princes who experienced the strength of those principles, which, in the cause of religion, could resist the most violent exertions of the civil power 144 1.213.

The persecution of Athanasius, and of so many * 1.214 respectable bishops, who suffered for the truth of their opinions, or at least for the integrity of their conscience, was a just subject of indignation and discontent to all Christians, except those who were blindly devoted to the Arian faction. The people regretted the loss of their faithful pastors, whose banishment was usually followed by the in|trusion

of a stranger 145 1.215 into the episcopal chair; and loudly complained, that the right of election was violated, and that they were condemned to obey a mercenary usurper, whose person was un|known, and whose principles were suspected. The Catholics might prove to the world, that they were not involved in the guilt and heresy of their ecclesiastical governor, by publicly testifying their * 1.216 dissent, or by totally separating themselves from his communion. The first of these methods was invented at Antioch, and practised with such suc|cess, that it was soon diffused over the Christian world. The doxology, or sacred hymn, which celebrates the glory of the Trinity, is susceptible of very nice, but material, inflexions; and the sub|stance of an orthodox, or an heretical, creed, may be expressed by the difference of a disjunctive, or a copulative, particle. Alternate responses, and a more regular psalmody 146 1.217, were introduced into the public service by Flavianus and Diodorus, two devout and active laymen, who were attached to the Nicene faith. Under their conduct, a swarm of Monks issued from the adjacent desert, bands of well-disciplined singers were stationed in the cathedral of Antioch, the Glory to the Father,

AND the Son, AND the Holy Ghost 147 1.218, was tri|umphantly chanted by a full chorus of voices; and the Catholics insulted, by the purity of their doctrine, the Arian prelate, who had usurped the throne of the venerable Eustathius. The same zeal which inspired their songs, prompted the more scrupulous members of the orthodox party to form separate assemblies, which were governed by the presbyters, till the death of their exiled bishop allowed the election and consecration of a new episcopal pastor 148 1.219. The revolutions of the court multiplied the number of pretenders; and the same city was often disputed, under the reign of Constantius, by two, or three, or even four bishops, who exercised their spiritual jurisdiction over their respective followers, and alternately lost and regained the temporal possessions of the church. The abuse of Christianity introduced into the Roman government new causes of tyranny and sedition; the bands of civil society were torn asunder by the fury of religious factions; and the obscure citizen, who might calmly have surveyed the elevation and fall of successive em|perors,

imagined and experienced, that his own life and fortune were connected with the interests of a popular ecclesiastic. The example of the two capitals, Rome and Constantinople, may serve to represent the state of the empire, and the temper of mankind, under the reign of the sons of Constantine.

I. The Roman pontiff, as long as he main|tained * 1.220 his station and his principles, was guarded by the warm attachment of a great people; and could reject with scorn the prayers, the menaces, and the oblations of an heretical prince. When the eunuchs had secretly pronounced the exile of Liberius, the well-grounded apprehension of a tumult engaged them to use the utmost precau|tions in the execution of the sentence. The capital was invested on every side, and the Prae|fect was commanded to seize the person of the bishop, either by stratagem or by open force. The order was obeyed; and Liberius, with the greatest difficulty, at the hour of midnight, was swiftly conveyed beyond the reach of the Roman people, before their consternation was turned into rage. As soon as they were informed of his ba|nishment into Thrace, a general assembly was convened, and the clergy of Rome bound them|selves, by a public and solemn oath, never to desert their bishop, never to acknowledge the usurper Faelix; who, by the influence of the eu|nuchs, had been irregularly chosen and conse|crated within the walls of a profane palace. At the end of two years, their pious obstinacy sub|sisted entire and unshaken; and when Constan|tius

visited Rome, he was assailed by the impor|tunate solicitations of a people, who had preserved, as the last remnant of their ancient freedom, the right of treating their sovereign with familiar in|solence. The wives of many of the senators and most honourable citizens, after pressing their hus|bands to intercede in favour of Liberius, were ad|vised to undertake a commission, which, in their hands, would be less dangerous, and might prove more successful. The emperor received with po|liteness these female deputies, whose wealth and dignity were displayed in the magnificence of their dress and ornaments: he admired their in|flexible resolution of following their beloved pastor to the most distant regions of the earth; and con|sented that the two bishops, Liberius and Faelix, should govern in peace their respective congre|gations. But the ideas of toleration were so re|pugnant to the practice, and even to the senti|ments, of those times, that when the answer of Constantius was publicly read in the Circus of Rome, so reasonable a project of accommodation was rejected with contempt and ridicule. The eager vehemence which animated the spectators in the decisive moment of a horse-race, was now directed towards a different object; and the Cir|cus resounded with the shout of thousands, who repeatedly exclaimed,

One God, One Christ, One Bishop.

The zeal of the Roman people in the cause of Liberius, was not confined to words alone; and the dangerous and bloody sedi|tion which they excited soon after the departure

of Constantius, determined that prince to accept the submission of the exiled prelate, and to restore him to the undivided dominion of the capital. After some ineffectual resistance, his rival was ex|pelled from the city by the permission of the em|peror, and the power of the opposite faction; the adherents of Faelix were inhumanly murdered in the streets, in the public places, in the baths, and even in the churches; and the face of Rome, upon the return of a Christian bishop, renewed the horrid image of the massacres of Marius, and the proscriptions of Sylla 149 1.221.

II. Notwithstanding the rapid increase of Christ|ians under the reign of the Flavian family, Rome, * 1.222 Alexandria, and the other great cities of the em|pire, still contained a strong and powerful faction of Infidels, who envied the prosperity, and who ridiculed, even on their theatres, the theological disputes of the church. Constantinople alone enjoyed the advantage of being born and educated in the bosom of the faith. The capital of the East had never been polluted by the worship of Idols; and the whole body of the people had deeply imbibed the opinions, the virtues, and the passions, which distinguished the Christians of that age from the rest of mankind. After the death of Alexander, the episcopal throne was dis|puted by Paul and Macedonius. By their zeal

and abilities they both deserved the eminent sta|tion to which they aspired; and if the moral cha|racter of Macedonius was less exceptionable, his competitor had the advantage of a prior election and a more orthodox doctrine. His firm attach|ment to the Nicene creed, which has given Paul a place in the calendar among saints and martyrs, exposed him to the resentment of the Arians. In the space of fourteen years he was five times driven from his throne; to which he was more frequently restored by the violence of the people, than by the permission of the prince; and the power of Ma|cedonius could be secured only by the death of his rival. The unfortunate Paul was dragged in chains from the sandy deserts of Mesopotamia to the most desolate places of Mount Taurus 150 1.223, confined in a dark and narrow dungeon, left six days without food, and at length strangled, by the order of Philip, one of the principal ministers of the emperor Constantius 151 1.224. The first blood which stained the new capital was spilt in this ec|clesiastical contest; and many persons were slain on

both sides, in the furious and obstinate seditions of the people. The commission of enforcing a sen|tence of banishment against Paul, had been en|trusted to Hermogenes, the master-general of the cavalry; but the execution of it was fatal to him|self. The Catholics rose in the defence of their bishop; the palace of Hermogenes was consumed; the first military officer of the empire was dragged by the heels through the streets of Constantinople, and, after he expired, his lifeless corpse was ex|posed to their wanton insults 152 1.225. The fare of Hermogenes instructed Philip, the Praetorian prae|fect, to act with more precaution on a similar oc|sion. In the most gentle and honourable terms, he required the attendance of Paul in the baths of Zeuxippus, which had a private communication with the palace and the sea. A vessel, which lay ready at the garden-stairs, immediately hoisted fail; and, while the people were still ignorant of the meditated sacrilege, their bishop was already embarked on his voyage to Thessalonica. They soon beheld, with surprise and indignation, the gates of the palace thrown open, and the usurper Macedonius seated by the side of the praefect on a lofty chariot, which was surrounded by troops of guards with drawn swords. The military proces|sion advanced towards the cathedral; the Arians and the Catholics eagerly rushed to occupy that important post; and three thousand one hundred and fifty persons lost their lives in the confusion of

the tumult. Macedonius, who was supported by a regular force, obtained a decisive victory; but his reign was disturbed by clamour and sedition; and the causes which appeared the least connected with the subject of dispute, were sufficient to nourish and to kindle the flame of civil discord. As the chapel in which the body of the great Con|stantine had been deposited was in a ruinous con|dition, the bishop transported those venerable re|mains into the church of St. Acacius. This pru|dent and even pious measure was represented as a wicked profanation by the whole party which ad|hered to the Homoousian doctrine. The factions immediately flew to arms, the consecrated ground was used as their field of battle; and one of the ecclesiastical historians has observed, as a real fact, not as a figure of rhetoric, that the well be|fore the church overflowed with a stream of blood, which filled the porticoes and the adjacent courts. The writer who should impute these tumults solely to a religious principle, would betray a very im|perfect knowledge of human nature; yet it must be confessed, that the motive which misled the sincerity of zeal, and the pretence which disguised the licentiousness of passion, suppressed the re|morse which, in another cause, would have suc|ceeded to the rage of the Christians of Constan|tinople 153 1.226.

The cruel and arbitrary disposition of Constan|tius, which did not always require the provoca|tions of guilt and resistance, was justly exasperated * 1.227 by the tumults of his capital, and the criminal behaviour of a faction, which opposed the autho|rity and religion of their sovereign. The ordinary punishments of death, exile, and confiscation were inflicted with partial rigour; and the Greeks still revere the holy memory of two clerks, a reader and a sub-deacon, who were accused of the murder of Hermogenes, and beheaded at the gates of Constantinople. By an edict of Constantius against the Catholics, which has not been judged worthy of a place in the Theodosian code, those who refused to communicate with the Arian bishops, and particularly with Macedonius, were deprived of the immunities of ecclesiastics, and of the rights of Christians; they were compelled to relinquish the possession of the churches; and were strictly prohibited from holding their assem|blies within the walls of the city. The execution of this unjust law, in the provinces of Thrace and Asia Minor, was committed to the zeal of Ma|cedonius; the civil and military powers were directed to obey his commands; and the cruelties exercised by this Semi-Arian tyrant in the support of the Homoiousion, exceeded the commission, and disgraced the reign, of Constantius. The sacra|ments of the church were administered to the reluctant victims, who denied the vocation, and abhorred the principles, of Macedonius. The rites of baptism were conferred on women and chil|dren, who, for that purpose, had been torn from

the arms of their friends and parents; the mouths of the communicants were held open, by a wooden engine, while the consecrated bread was forced down their throat; the breasts of tender virgins were either burnt with red-hot egg-shells, or in|humanly compressed between sharp and heavy boards 154 1.228. The Novatians of Constantinople, and the adjacent country, by their firm attachment to the Homoousian standard, deserved to be con|founded with the Catholics themselves. Macedo|nius was informed, that a large district of Pa|phlagonia 155 1.229 was almost entirely inhabited by those sectaries. He resolved either to convert or to ex|tirpate them; and as he distrusted, on this occa|sion, the efficacy of an ecclesiastical mission, he commanded a body of four thousand legionaries to march against the rebels, and to reduce the territory of Mantinium under his spiritual domi|nion. The Novatian peasants, animated by de|spair and religious fury, boldly encountered the invaders of their country; and though many of the Paphlagonians were slain, the Roman legions were vanquished by an irregular multitude,

armed only with scythes and axes; and, except a few who escaped by an ignominious flight, four thousand soldiers were left dead on the field of battle. The successor of Constantius has express|ed, in a concise but lively manner, some of the theological calamities which afflicted the empire, and more especially the East, in the reign of a prince who was the slave of his own passions, and of those of his eunuchs.

Many were imprisoned, and persecuted, and driven into exile. Whole troops of those who are stiled heretics were massacred, particularly at Cyzicus, and at Samo|sata. In Paphlagonia, Bithynia, Galatia, and in many other provinces, towns and villages were laid waste, and utterly destroyed 156 1.230.

While the flames of the Arian controversy con|sumed the vitals of the empire, the African pro|vinces * 1.231 were infested by their peculiar enemies the savage fanatics, who, under the name of Circum|cellions, formed the strength and scandal of the * 1.232 Donatist party 157 1.233. The severe execution of the laws of Constantine had excited a spirit of discon|tent and resistance; the strenuous efforts of his son Constans, to restore the unity of the church, exasperated the sentiments of mutual hatred, which had first occasioned the separation; and the me|thods

of force and corruption employed by the two Imperial commissioners, Paul and Macarius, furnished the schismatics with a specious contrast between the maxims of the apostles and the con|duct of their pretended successors 158 1.234. The pea|sants who inhabited the villages of Numidia and Mauritania, were a ferocious race, who had been imperfectly reduced under the authority of the Roman laws; who were imperfectly converted to the Christian faith; but who were actuated by a blind and furious enthusiasm in the cause of their Donatist teachers. They indignantly supported the exile of their bishops, the demolition of their churches, and the interruption of their secret assemblies. The violence of the officers of justice, who were usually sustained by a military guard, was sometimes repelled with equal vio|lence; and the blood of some popular ecclesiastics, which had been shed in the quarrel, inflamed their rude followers with an eager desire of re|venging the death of these holy martyrs. By

their own cruelty and rashness, the ministers of persecution sometimes provoked their fate; and the guilt of an accidental tumult precipitated the criminals into despair and rebellion. Driven from their native villages, the Donatist peasants assembled in formidable gangs on the edge of the Getulian desert; and readily exchanged the habits of labour for a life of idleness and rapine, which was consecrated by the name of religion, and faintly condemned by the doctors of the sect.

The leaders of the Circumcellions assumed the assumed the title of captains of the saints; their principal weapon, as they were indifferently pro|vided with swords and spears, was a huge and weighty club, which they termed an Israelite; and the well-known sound of "Praise be to God," which they used as their cry of war, diffused con|sternation over the unarmed provinces of Africa.

At first their depredations were coloured by the plea of necessity; but they soon exceeded the measure of subsistence, indulged without controul their intemperance and avarice, burnt the villages which they had pillaged, and reigned the licen|tious tyrants of the open country. The occupa|tions of husbandry, and the administration of justice, were interrupted; and as the Circumcel|lions pretended to restore the primitive equality of mankind, and to reform the abuses of civil society, they opened a secure asylum for the slaves and debtors, who flocked in crowds to their holy standard. When they were not resisted, they usually contented themselves with plunder, but the slightest opposition provoked them to acts of

violence and murder; and some Catholic priests, who had imprudently signalized their zeal, were tortured by the fanatics with the most refined and wanton barbarity. The spirit of the Circumcel|lions was not always exerted against their defence|less enemies; they engaged, and sometimes de|feated, the troops of the province; and in the bloody action of Bagai, they attacked in the open field, but with unsuccessful valour, an advanced guard of the Imperial cavalry. The Donatists who were taken in arms, received, and they soon deserved, the same treatment which might have been shewn to the wild beasts of the desert. The captives died, without a murmur, either by the sword, the axe, or the fire; and the measures of retaliation were multiplied in a rapid proportion, which aggravated the horrors of rebellion, and excluded the hope of mutual forgiveness. In the beginning of the present century, the example of the Circumcellions has been renewed in the per|secution, the boldness, the crimes, and the en|thusiasm of the Camisards; and if the fanatics of Languedoc surpassed those of Numidia, by their military atchievements, the Africans maintained their fierce independence with more resolution and perseverance 159 1.235.

Such disorders are the natural effects of religious tyranny; but the rage of the Donatists was in|flamed * 1.236 by a frenzy of a very extraordinary kind;

and which, if it really prevailed among them in so extravagant a degree, cannot surely be paral|leled in any country, or in any age. Many of these fanatics were possessed with the horror of life, and the desire of martyrdom; and they deemed it of little moment by what means, or by what hands, they perished, if their conduct was sanctified by the intention of devoting them|selves to the glory of the true faith, and the hope of eternal happiness 160 1.237. Sometimes they rudely disturbed the festivals, and profaned the temples of paganism, with the design of exciting the most zealous of the idolaters to revenge the insulted honour of their gods. They sometimes forced their way into the courts of justice, and compelled the affrighted judge to give orders for their im|mediate execution. They frequently stopped tra|vellers on the public highways, and obliged them to inflict the stroke of martyrdom, by the pro|mise of a reward, if they consented, and by the threat of instant death, if they refused to grant so very singular a favour. When they were disap|pointed of every other resource, they announced the day on which, in the presence of their friends and brethren, they should cast themselves head|long from some lofty rock; and many precipices were shewn, which had acquired fame by the number of religious suicides. In the actions of these desperate enthusiasts, who were admired by one party as the martyrs of God, and abhorred by

the other, as the victims of Satan, an impartial philosopher may discover the influence and the last abuse of that inflexible spirit, which was ori|ginally derived from the character and principles of the Jewish nation.

The simple narrative of the intestine divisions, * 1.238 which distracted the peace, and dishonoured the triumph, of the church, will confirm the remark of a pagan historian, and justify the complaint of a * 1.239 venerable bishop. The experience of Ammianus had convinced him, that the enmity of the Christ|ians towards each other, surpassed the fury of savage beasts against man 161 1.240; and Gregory Nazianzen most pathetically laments, that the kingdom of heaven was converted, by discord, into the image of chaos, of a nocturnal tempest, and of hell itself 162 1.241. The fierce and partial writers of the times, ascribing all virtue to themselves, and imputing all guilt to their adversaries, have painted the battle of the angels and daemons. Our calmer reason will reject such pure and perfect monsters of vice or sanctity, and will impute an equal, or at least an indiscri|minate, measure of good and evil to the hostile sectaries, who assumed and bestowed the appella|tions of orthodox and heretics. They had been educated in the same religion, and the same civil society. Their hopes and fears in the present, or in a future, life, were balanced in the same pro|portion. On either side, the error might be in|nocent,

the faith sincere, the practice meritorious or corrupt. Their passions were excited by simi|lar objects; and they might alternately abuse the favour of the court, or of the people. The meta|physical opinions of the Athanasians and the Arians, could not influence their moral character; and they were alike actuated by the intolerant spi|rit, which has been extracted from the pure and simple maxims of the gospel.

A modern writer, who, with a just confidence, * 1.242 has prefixed to his own history the honourable epithets of political and philosophical 163 1.243, accuses the timid prudence of Montesquieu, for neglect|ing to enumerate, among the causes of the decline of the empire, a law of Constantine, by which the exercise of the pagan worship was absolutely sup|pressed, and a considerable part of his subjects was left destitute of priests, of temples, and of any public religion. The zeal of the philosophic historian for the rights of mankind, has induced him to acquiesce in the ambiguous testimony of those ecclesiastics, who have too lightly ascribed to their favourite hero the merit of a general per|secution 164 1.244. Instead of alleging this imaginary

law, which would have blazed in the front of the Imperial codes, we may safely appeal to the ori|ginal epistle, which Constantine addressed to the followers of the ancient religion; at a time when he no longer disguised his conversion, nor dreaded the rivals of his throne. He invites and exhorts, in the most pressing terms, the subjects of the Roman empire to imitate the example of their master; but he declares, that those who still re|fuse * 1.245 to open their eyes to the celestial light, may freely enjoy their temples, and their fancied gods. A report, that the ceremonies of paganism were suppressed, is formally contradicted by the em|peror himself, who wisely assigns, as the principle of his moderation, the invincible force of habit, of prejudice, and of superstition 165 1.246. Without violating the sanctity of his promise, without alarming the fears of the pagans, the artful mo|narch advanced, by slow and cautious steps, to undermine the irregular and decayed fabric of polytheism. The partial acts of severity which he occasionally exercised, though they were se|cretly prompted by a Christian zeal, were colour|ed by the fairest pretences of justice, and the public good; and while Constantine designed to ruin the foundations, he seemed to reform the abuses, of the ancient religion. After the example

of the wisest of his predecessors, he condemned, under the most rigorous penalties, the occult and impious arts of divination; which excited the vain hopes, and sometimes the criminal attempts, of those who were discontented with their present condition. An ignominious silence was imposed on the oracles, which had been publicly con|victed of fraud and falsehood; the effeminate priests of the Nile were abolished; and Constan|tine discharged the duties of a Roman censor, when he gave orders for the demolition of several temples of Phoenicia; in which every mode of prostitution was devoutly practised in the face of day, and to the honour of Venus 166 1.247. The Im|perial city of Constantinople was, in some mea|sure, raised at the expence, and was adorned with the spoils, of the opulent temples of Greece and Asia; the sacred property was confiscated; the statues of gods and heroes were transported, with rude familiarity, among a people who con|sidered them as objects, not of adoration, but of curiosity: the gold and silver were restored to cir|culation; and the magistrates, the bishops, and the eunuchs, improved the fortunate occasion of gratifying, at once, their zeal, their avarice, and their resentment. But these depredations were confined to a small part of the Roman world; and the provinces had been long since accustomed to

endure the same sacrilegious rapine, from the tyranny of princes and proconsuls, who could not be suspected of any design to subvert the established religion 167 1.248.

The sons of Constantine trod in the footsteps of * 1.249 their father, with more zeal, and with less dis|cretion. The pretences of rapine and oppression were insensibly multiplied 168 1.250; every indulgence was shewn to the illegal behaviour of the Chris|tians; every doubt was explained to the disad|vantage of paganism; and the demolition of the temples was celebrated as one of the auspicious events of the reign of Constans and Constan|tius 169 1.251. The name of Constantius is prefixed to a concise law, which might have superseded the necessity of any future prohibitions.

It is our pleasure, that in all places, and in all cities, the temples be immediately shut, and carefully guarded, that none may have the power of offending. It is likewise our pleasure, that all

our subjects should abstain from sacrifices. If any one should be guilty of such an act, let him feel the sword of vengeance; and after his execution, let his property be confiscated to the public use. We denounce the same penalties against the governors of the pro|vinces, if they neglect to punish the crimi|nals 170 1.252.

But there is the strongest reason to believe, that this formidable edict was either composed without being published, or was pub|lished without being executed. The evidence of facts, and the monuments which are still extant of brass and marble, continue to prove the public exercise of the pagan worship during the whole reign of the sons of Constantine. In the East, as well as in the West, in cities, as well as in the country, a great number of temples were respected, or at least were spared; and the devout multi|tude still enjoyed the luxury of sacrifices, of festi|vals, and of processions, by the permission, or by the connivance, of the civil government. About four years after the supposed date of his

bloody edict, Constantius visited the temples of Rome; and the decency of his behaviour is re|commended by a pagan orator as an example worthy of the imitation of succeeding princes.

That emperor, says Symmachus, suffered the privileges of the vestal virgins to remain inviolate; he bestowed the sacerdotal dignities on the nobles of Rome, granted the customary allowance to defray the expences of the pub|lic rites and sacrifices: and, though he had embraced a different religion, he never at|tempted to deprive the empire of the sacred worship of antiquity 171 1.253.

The senate still pre|sumed to consecrate, by solemn decrees, the divine memory of their sovereigns; and Constan|tine himself was associated, after his death, to those gods whom he had renounced and insulted during his life. The title, the ensigns, the pre|rogatives of SOVEREIGN PONTIFF, which had been instituted by Numa, and assumed by Augustus, were accepted, without hesitation, by seven Christ|ian emperors; who were invested with a more absolute authority over the religion which they had deserted, than over that which they pro|fessed 172 1.254.

The divisions of Christianity suspended the ruin of paganism 173 1.255; and the holy war against the in|fidels was less vigorously prosecuted by princes and bishops, who were more immediately alarmed by the guilt and danger of domestic rebellion. The extirpation of idolatry 174 1.256 might have been

justified by the established principles of intole|rance: but the hostile sects, which alternately reigned in the Imperial court, were mutually ap|prehensive of alienating, and perhaps exasperat|ing, the minds of a powerful, though declining faction. Every motive of authority and fashion, of interest and reason, now militated on the side of Christianity; but two or three generations elapsed, before their victorious influence was universally felt. The religion which had so long and so lately been established in the Roman em|pire was still revered by a numerous people, less attached indeed to speculative opinion, than to ancient custom. The honours of the state and army were indifferently bestowed on all the sub|jects of Constantine and Constantius; and a con|siderable portion of knowledge and wealth and valour was still engaged in the service of poly|theism. The superstition of the senator and of the peasant, of the poet and the philosopher, was derived from very different causes, but they met with equal devotion in the temples of the gods. Their zeal was insensibly provoked by the insult|ing triumph of a proscribed sect; and their hopes

were revived by the well-grounded confidence, that the presumptive heir of the empire, a young and valiant hero, who had delivered Gaul from the arms of the Barbarians, had secretly em|braced the religion of his ancestors.

Notes

• 1 1.1

  Eusebius in Vit. Constantin. l. iii. c. 63, 64, 65, 66.
• 2 1.2

  After some examination of the various opinions of Tillemont, Beausobre, Lardner, &c. I am convinced that Manes did not propa|gate his sect, even in Persia, before the year 270. It is strange, that a philosophic and foreign heresy should have penetrated so rapid|ly into the African provinces; yet I cannot easily reject the edict of Diocletian against the Manichaeans, which may be found in Baronius. (Annal. Eccl. A. D. 287.)
• 3 1.3

  Constantinus, enim cum limatius superstitionum quaereret sectas, Manichaeorum et similium, &c. Ammian. xv. 15. Strategius, who from this commission obtained the surname of Musonianus, was a Christian of the Arian sect. He acted as one of the counts at the council of Sardica. Libanius praises his mildness and prudence. Vales. ad locum Ammian.
• 4 1.4

  Cod. Theod. l. xvi. tit. v. leg. 2. As the general law is not inserted in the Theodosian code, it is probable that, in the year 438, the sects which it had condemned were already extinct.
• 5 1.5

  Sozomen, l. i. c. 22. Socrates, l. i. c. 10. These historians have been suspected, but I think without reason, of an attachment to the Novatian doctrine. The emperor said to the bishop, "Acesius, take a ladder, and get up to Heaven by yourself." Most of the Christian sects have, by turns, borrowed the ladder of Acesius.
• * 1.6

  African contro|versy,
• * 1.7

  A. D. 312.
• 6 1.8

  The best materials for this part of ecclesiastical history may be found in the edition of Optatus Milevitanus, published (Paris 1700) by M. Dupin, who has enriched it with critical notes, geographical discussions, original records, and an accurate abridgement of the whole controversy. M. de Tillemont has bestowed on the Donatists the greatest part of a volume (tom. vi. part i.): and I am indebted to him for an ample collection of all the passages of his favourite St. Augustin, which relate to those heretics.
• 7 1.9

  Schisma igitur illo tempore confusae mulieris iracundia peperit; ambitus nutrivit; avaritia roboravit. Optatus, l. i. c. 19. The language of Purpurius is that of a furious madman. Dicitur te necasse filios sororis tuae duos. Purpurius respondit: Putas me terreri à te . . . occidi; et occido eos qui contra me faciunt. Acta Concil, Cirtensis, ad calc. Optat. p. 274. When Caecilian was invited to an assembly of bishops, Purpurius said to his brethren, or rather to his accomplices,

  Let him come hither to receive our imposition of hands; and we will break his head by way of penance.

  Optat. l. i. c. 19.
• * 1.10

  Schism of the Do|natists,
• * 1.11

  A. D. 315
• 8 1.12

  The councils of Arles, of Nice, and of Trent, confirmed the wise and moderate practice of the church of Rome. The Donatists, however, had the advantage of maintaining the sentiment of Cyprian, and of a considerable part of the primitive church. Vincentius Liri|nensis (p. 332. ap. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. vi. p. 138.) has explained why the Donatists are eternally burning with the Devil, while St. Cyprian reigns in heaven with Jesus Christ.
• 9 1.13

  See the sixth book of Optatus Milevitanus, p. 91—100.
• 10 1.14

  Tillemont, Mem. Ecclesiastiques, tom. vi. part i. p. 253. He laughs at their partial cruelty. He revered Augustin, the great doc|tor of the system of predestination.
• * 1.15

  The Trini|tarian con|troversy.
• * 1.16

  The system of Plato. Before Christ 360.
• 11 1.17

  Plato Egyptum peragravit ut a sacerdotibus Barbaris numeros et caelestia acciperet. Cicero de Finibus, v. 25. The Egyptians might still preserve the traditional creed of the Patriarchs. Josephus has persuaded many of the Christian fathers, that Plato derived a part of his knowledge from the Jews; but this vain opinion cannot be re|conciled with the obscure state and unsocial manners of the Jewish people, whose scriptures were not accessible to Greek curiosity till more than one hundred years after the death of Plato. See Mar|sham, Canon. Chron. p. 144. Le Clerc, Epistol. Critic. vii. p. 177—194.
• * 1.18

  The LO|GOS
• 12 1.19

  The modern guides who lead me to the knowledge of the Pla|tonic system are, Cudworth (Intellectual System, p. 568—620.), Basnage (Hist. des Juifs, l. iv. c. iv. p. 53—86.), Le Clerc (Epist. Crit. vii. p. 194—209.), and Brucker (Hist. Philosoph. tom. i. p. 675—706.). As the learning of these writers was equal, and their intention different, an inquisitive observer may derive instruction from their disputes, and certainty from their agreement.
• * 1.20

  taught in the school of Alex|andria.
• * 1.21

  Before Christ 300.
• 13 1.22

  Brucker, Hist. Philosoph. tom. i. p. 1349—1357. The Alexandrian school is celebrated by Strabo (l. xvii.) and Ammianus (xxii. 6.).
• 14 1.23

  Joseph. Antiquitat. l. xii. c. 1. 3. Basnage, Hist. des Juifs, l. vii. c. 7.
• 15 1.24

  For the origin of the Jewish philosophy, see Eusebius, Praeparat. Evangel. viii. 9, 10. According to Philo, the Therapeutae studied philosophy; and Brucker has proved (Hist. Philosoph. tom. ii. p. 787.), that they gave the preference to that of Plato.
• * 1.25

  Before Christ 100.
• 16 1.26

  See Calmet, Dissertations sur la Bible, tom. ii. p. 277. The book of the Wisdom of Solomon was received by many of the fathers as the work of that monarch; and although rejected by the Protest|ants for want of a Hebrew original, it has obtained, with the rest of the Vulgate, the sanction of the council of Trent.
• 17 1.27

  The Platonism of Philo, which was famous to a proverb, is proved beyond a doubt by Le Clerc (Epist. Crit. viii. p. 211—228.). Basnage (Hist. des Juifs, l. iv. c. 5.) has clearly ascertained, that the theological works of Philo were composed before the death, and most probably before the birth, of Christ. In such a time of dark|ness, the knowledge of Philo is more astonishing than his errors. Bull, Defens. Fid. Nicen. s. i. c. 1. p. 12.
• 18 1.28

  Mens agitat molem, et magno se corpori miscet. Besides this material soul, Cudworth has discovered (p. 562.) in Amelius, Porphyry, Plotinus, and, as he thinks, in Plato himself, a superior, spiritual, upercosmian soul of the universe. But this double soul is exploded by Brucker, Basnage, and Le Clerc, as an idle fancy of the latter Platonists.
• 19 1.29

  Petav. Dogmata Theologica, tom. ii. l. viii. c. 2. p. 791. Bull, Defens. Fid. Nicen. s. i. c. 1. p. 8. 13. This notion, till it was abused by the Arians, was freely adopted in the Christian theo|logy. Tertullian (adv. Praxeam, c. 16.) has a remarkable and dangerous passage. After contrasting, with indiscreet wit, the na|ture of God, and the actions of Jehovah, he concludes: Scilicet ut haec de filio Dei non credenda fuisse, si non scripta essent; fortasse non credenda de Patre licet scripta.
• * 1.30

  Revealed by the Apostle St. John,
• * 1.31

  A. D. 97.
• 20 1.32

  The Platonists admired the beginning of the Gospel of St. John, as containing an exact transcript of their own principles. Au|gustin. de Civitat. Dei, x. 29. Amelius apud Cyril. advers. Julian. l. viii. p. 283. But in the third and fourth centuries, the Platonists of Alexandria might improve their Trinity, by the secret study of the Christian theology.
• 21 1.33

  See Beausobre Hist. Critique du Manicheisme, tom. i. p. 377. The Gospel according to St. John is supposed to have been published about seventy years after the death of Christ.
• 22 1.34

  The sentiments of the Ebionites are fairly stated by Mosheim (p. 331.) and Le Clerc (Hist. Eccles. p. 535.). The Clementines, published among the apostolical fathers, are attributed by the critics to one of these sectaries.
• 23 1.35

  Staunch polemics, like Bull (Judicium Eccles. Cathol. c. 2.), insist on the orthodoxy of the Nazarenes; which appears less pure and certain in the eyes of Mosheim (p. 330.).
• * 1.36

  The Ebionites and Do|cetes.
• 24 1.37

  The humble condition and sufferings of Jesus have always been a stumbling-block to the Jews.

  Deus . . . contrariis colori|bus Messiam depinxerat; futurus erat Rex, Judex, Pastor,

  &c. See Limborch et Orobio Amica Collat. p. 8. 19. 53—76. 192—234. But this objection has obliged the believing Christians to lift up their eyes to a spiritual and everlasting kingdom.
• 25 1.38

  Justin Martyr, Dialog. cum Tryphonte, p. 143, 144. See Le Clerc, Hist. Eccles. p. 615. Bull, and his editor Grabe (Judicium Eccles. Cathol. c. 7. and Appendix), attempt to distort either the sentiments or the words of Justin; but their violent correction of the text is rejected even by the Benedictine editors.
• 26 1.39

  The Arians reproached the orthodox party with borrowing their Trinity from the Valentinians and Marcionites. See Beausobre, Hist. du Manicheisme, l. iii. c. 5. 7.
• 27 1.40

  Non dignum est ex utero credere Deum, et Deum Christum . . . . non dignum est ut tanta majestas per sordes et squalores mulie|ris transire credatur. The Gnostics asserted the impurity of matter, and of marriage; and they were scandalized by the gross interpreta|tions of the fathers, and even of Augustin himself. See Beausobre, tom. ii. p. 523.
• 28 1.41

  Apostolis adhuc in saeculo superstitibus apud Judaeam Christi sanguine recente, et phantasma corpus Domini asserebatur. Cote|lerius thinks (Patres Apostol. tom. ii. p. 24.) that those who will not allow the Docetes to have arisen in the time of the Apostles, may with equal reason deny that the sun shines at noon-day. These Docetes, who formed the most considerable party among the Gnostics, were so called, because they granted only a seeming body to Christ.
• * 1.42

  Mysterious nature of the Tri|nity.
• 29 1.43

  Some proofs of the respect which the Christians entertained for the person and doctrine of Plato, may be found in De la Mothe le Vayer, tom. v. p. 135, &c. edit. 1757; and Basnage, Hist. des Juifs, tom. iv. p. 29. 79, &c.
• 30 1.44

  Doleo bona fide, Platonem omnium haereticorum condimen|tarium factum. Tertullian. de Anima, c. 23. Petavius (Dogm. Theolog. tom. iii. proleg. 2.) shews that this was a general com|plaint. Beausobre (tom. i. l. iii. c. 9, 10.) has deduced the Gnostic errors from Platonic principles; and as, in the school of Alexandria, those principles were blended with the Oriental philo|sophy (Brucker, tom. i. p. 1356.), the sentiment of Beausobre may be reconciled with the opinion of Mosheim (General History of the Church, vol. i. p. 37.).
• 31 1.45

  If Theophilus, bishop of Antioch (see Dupin, Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. i. p. 66.), was the first who employed the word Triad, Trinity, that abstract term, which was already familiar to the schools of philosophy, must have been introduced into the theology of the Christians after the middle of the second century.
• 32 1.46

  Athanasius, tom. i. p. 808. His expressions have an uncom|mon energy; and as he was writing to Monks, there could not be any occasion for him to effect a rational language.
• * 1.47

  Law of the Christians.
• 33 1.48

  In a treatise, which professed to explain the opinions of the an|cient philosophers concerning the nature of the gods, we might ex|pect to discover the theological Trinity of Plato. But Cicero very honestly confessed, that though he had translated the 〈…〉〈…〉 could never understand that mysterious 〈…〉〈…〉 praef. ad l. xii. in Isaiam, tom. v. p. 154. 〈…〉〈…〉
• 34 1.49

  Tertullian. in Apolog. c. 46. 〈…〉〈…〉 Simonide. His remarks on the 〈…〉〈…〉 profound and interesting.
• 35 1.50

  Lactantius, iv. 8. Yet the Probole, or Prolatio, which the most orthodox divines borrowed without scruple from the Valentinians, and illustrated by the comparisons of a fountain and stream, the sun and its rays, &c. either meant nothing, or favoured a material idea of the divine generation. See Beausobre, tom. i. l. iii. c. 7. p. 548.
• 36 1.51

  Many of the primitive writers have frankly confessed, that the Son owed his being to the will of the Father. See Clarke's Scripture Trinity, p. 280—287. On the other hand, Athanasius and his followers seem unwilling to grant what they are afraid to deny. The schoolmen extricate themselves from this difficulty by the distinction of a preceding and a concomitant will. Petav. Dogm. Theolog. tom. ii. l. vi. c. 8. p. 587—603.
• 37 1.52

  See Petav. Dogm. Theolog. tom. ii. l. ii. c. 10. p. 159.
• 38 1.53

  Carmenque Christo quasi Deo dicere secum invicem. Plin. Epist. x. 97. The sense of Deus, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, Elohim, in the ancient lan|guages, is critically examined by Le Clerc (Ars Critica, p. 150—156.), and the propriety of worshipping a very excellent creature, is ably defended by the Socinian Emlyn (Tracts, p. 29—36. 51—145.).
• 39 1.54

  See Daillé de Usu Patrum, and Le Clerc, Bibliotheque Uni|verselle, tom. x. p. 409. To arraign the faith of the Anti-Nicene fathers, was the object, or at least has been the effect, of the stupen|dous work of Petavius on the Trinity (Dogm. Theolog. tom. ii.); nor has the deep impression been erazed by the learned defence of Bishop Bull.
• * 1.55

  Authority of the church.
• 40 1.56

  The most ancient creeds were drawn up with the greatest lati|tude. See Bull (Judicium Eccles. Cathol.), who tries to prevent Episcopius from deriving any advantage from this observation.
• * 1.57

  Factions.
• 41 1.58

  The heresies of Praxeas, Sabellius, &c. are accurately explain|ed by Mosheim (p. 425. 680—714.). Praxeas, who came to Rome about the end of the second century, deceived, for some time, the simplicity of the bishop, and was confuted by the pen of the angry Tertullian.
• 42 1.59

  Socrates acknowledges, that the heresy of Arius proceeded from his strong desire to embrace an opinion the most diametrically opposite to that of Sabellius.
• 43 1.60

  The figure and manners of Arius, the character and numbers of his first proselytes, are painted in very lively colours by Epipha|nius (tom. i. Haeres. lxix. 3. p. 729.); and we cannot but regret that he should soon forget the historian, to assume the task of con|troversy.
• * 1.61

  Arius.
• 44 1.62

  See Philostorgius (l. i. c. 3.), and Godefroy's ample Com|mentary. Yet the credibility of Philostorgius is lessened, in the eyes of the orthodox, by his Arianism; and in those of rational critics, by his passion, his prejudice, and his ignorance.
• 45 1.63

  Sozomen (l. i. c. 15.) represents Alexander as indifferent, and even ignorant, in the beginning of the controversy; while So|crates (l. i. c. 5.) ascribes the origin of the dispute to the vain curiosity of his theological speculations. Dr. Jortin (Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. p. 178.) has censured, with his usual freedom, the conduct of Alexander: 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉.
• 46 1.64

  The flames of Arianism might burn for some time in secret; but there is reason to believe that they burst out with violence as early as the year 319. Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. vi. p. 774—780.
• * 1.65

  A. D. 318—325.
• * 1.66

  Three sys|tems of the Trinity.
• 47 1.67

  Quid credidit? Certe, aut tria nomina audiens tres Deos esse credidit, et idololatra effectus est; aut in tribus vocabulis trinominem credens Deum, in Sabellii haeresim incurrit; aut edoctus ab Arianis unum esse verum Deum Patrem, filium et spiritum sanctum credidit creaturas. Aut extra haec quid credere potuerit nescio. Hieronym. adv. Luciferianos. Jerom reserves for the last the orthodox system, which is more complicated and difficult.
• * 1.68

  Arianism.
• 48 1.69

  As the doctrine of absolute creation from nothing, was gradually introduced among the Christians (Beausobre, tom. ii. p. 165—215.), the dignity of the workman very naturally rose with that of the work.
• 49 1.70

  The metaphysics of Dr. Clarke (Scripture Trinity, p. 276—280.) could digest an eternal generation from an infinite cause.
• 50 1.71

  This prophane and absurd simile is employed by several of the primitive fathers, particularly by Athenagoras, in his Apology to the emperor Marcus and his son; and it is alleged, without censure, by Bull himself. See Defens. Fid. Nicen. f. iii. c. 5. No 4.
• * 1.72

  Tritheism.
• 51 1.73

  See Cudworth's Intellectual System, p. 559. 579. This dan|gerous hypothesis was countenanced by the two Gregories, of Nyssa and Nazianzen, by Cyril of Alexandria, John of Damascus, &c. See Cudworth, p. 603. Le Clerc, Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. xviii. p. 97—105.
• 52 1.74

  Augustin seems to envy the freedom of the philosophers. Liberis verbis loquuntur philosophi . . . . Nos autem non dicimus duo vel tria principia, duos vel tres Deos. De Civitat. Dei, x. 23.
• * 1.75

  Sabellian|ism.
• 53 1.76

  Boetius, who was deeply versed in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, explains the unity of the Trinity by the in-difference of the three persons. See the judicious remarks of Le Clerc, Bibliotheque Choisie, tom. xvi. p. 225, &c.
• 54 1.77

  If the Sabellians were startled at this conclusion, they were driven down another precipice into the confession, that the Father was born of a virgin, that he had suffered on the cross; and thus deserved the odious epithet of Patri-passians, with which they were branded by their adversaries. See the invectives of Tertullian against Praxeas, and the temperate reflections of Mosheim (p. 423. 681); and Beau|sobre, tom. i. l. iii. c. 6. p. 533.
• 55 1.78

  The transactions of the council of Nice are related by the ancients, not only in a partial, but in a very imperfect, manner. Such a picture as Fra-Paolo would have drawn, can never be recovered; but such rude sketches as have been traced by the pencil of bigotry, and that of reason, may be seen in Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. vi. p. 669—759.) and in Le Clerc (Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. x. p. 435—454.).
• * 1.79

  Council of Nice,
• * 1.80

  A. D. 325.
• * 1.81

  The Ho|moousion.
• 56 1.82

  We are indebted to Ambrose (de Fide, l. iii. cap. ult.) for the knowledge of this curious anecdote. Hoc verbum posuerunt Patres, quod viderunt adversariis esse formidini; ut tanquam evaginato ab ipsis gladio, ipsum nefandae caput heraeseos amputarent.
• 57 1.83

  See Bull, Defens. Fid. Nicen. sect. ii. c. i. p. 25—36. He thinks it his duty to reconcile two orthodox synods.
• 58 1.84

  According to Aristotle, the stars were Homoousian to each other.

  That Homoousius means of one substance in kind, hath been shewn by Petavius, Curcellaeus, Cudworth, Le Clerc, &c. and to prove it, would be actum agere.

  This is the just remark of Dr. Jortin (vol. ii. p. 212.), who examines the Arian controversy with learning, candour, and ingenuity.
• 59 1.85

  See Petavius (Dogm. Theolog. tom. ii. l. iv. c. 16. p. 453, &c.), Cudworth (p. 559.), Bull (sect. iv. p. 285—290. edit. Grab.). The 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, or circumincessio, is perhaps the deepest and darkest corner of the whole theological abyss.
• 60 1.86

  The third section of Bull's Defence of the Nicene Faith, which some of his antagonists have called nonsense, and others heresy, is consecrated to the supremacy of the Father.
• 61 1.87

  The ordinary appellation with which Athanasius and his followers chose to compliment the Arians, was that of Ariomanites.
• 62 1.88

  Epiphanius, tom. i. Haeres. lxxii. 4. p. 837. See the adven|tures of Marcellus, in Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. vii. p. 880—899). His work, in one book, of the unity of God, was answered in the three books, which are still extant, of Eusebius. After a long and careful examination, Petavius (tom. ii. l. i. c. 14. p. 78.) has reluctantly pronounced the condemnation of Marcellus.
• * 1.89

  Arian creeds.
• 63 1.90

  Athanasius, in his epistle concerning the synods of Seleucia and Rimini (tom. i. p. 886—905.), has given an ample list of Arian creeds, which has been enlarged and improved by the labours of the indefatigable Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. vi. p. 477.).
• 64 1.91

  Erasmus, with admirable sense and freedom, has delineated the just character of Hilary. To revise his text, to compose the annals of his life, and to justify his sentiments and conduct, is the province of the Benedictine editors.
• 65 1.92

  Absque episcopo Eleusio et paucis cum eo, ex majore parte Asianae decem provinciae, inter quas consisto, vere Deum nesciunt. Atque utinam penitus nescirent! cum procliviore enim veniâ igno|rarent quam obtrectarent. Hilar. de Synodis, sive de Fide Orien|talium, c. 63. p. 1186. edit. Benedict. In the celebrated parallel between atheism and superstition, the bishop of Poitiers would have been surprised in the philosophic society of Bayle and Plutarch.
• 66 1.93

  Hilarius ad Constantium, l. ii. c. 4, 5. p. 1227, 1228. This remarkable passage deserved the attention of Mr. Locke, who has transcribed it (vol. iii. p. 470.) into the model of his new common-place book.
• * 1.94

  Arian sects.
• 67 1.95

  In Philostorgius (l. iii. c. 15.) the character and adventures of Aetius appear singular enough, though they are carefully softened by the hand of a friend. The editor Godefroy (p. 153.), who was more attached to his principles than to his author, has collected the odious circumstances which his various adversaries have preserved or invented.
• 68 1.96

  According to the judgment of a man who respected both those sectaries, Aetius had been endowed with a stronger understanding, and Eunomius had acquired more art and learning (Philostorgius, l. viii. c. 18.). The confession and apology of Eunomius (Fabricius, Bibliot. Graec. tom. viii. p. 258—305.) is one of the few heretical pieces which have escaped.
• 69 1.97

  Yet, according to the opinion of Estius and Bull (p. 297.), there is one power, that of creation, which God cannot communicate to a creature. Estius, who so accurately defined the limits of Omni|potence, was a Dutchman by birth, and by trade a scholastic divine. Dupin, Bibliot. Eccles. tom. xvii. p. 45.
• 70 1.98

  Sabinus (ap. Socrat. l. ii. c. 39.) had copied the acts; Atha|nasius and Hilary have explained the divisions of this Arian synod; the other circumstances which are relative to it are carefully collected by Baronius and Tillemont.
• 71 1.99

  Fideli et piâ intelligentiâ...De Synod. c. 77. p. 1193. In his short apologetical notes (first published by the Benedictines from a MS. of Chartres) he observes, that he used this cautious expression, qui intelligerem et impiam, p. 1206. See p. 1146. Philostorgius, who saw those objects through a different medium, is inclined to for|get the difference of the important diphthong. See in particular viii. 17. and Godefroy, p. 352.
• * 1.100

  Faith of the West|ern or La|tin church.
• 72 1.101

  Testor Deum coeli atque terrae mecum neutrum audissem, semper tamen utrumque sensisse. . . . Regeneratus pridem & in episcopatu aliquantisper manens fidem Nicenam nunquam nisi exsulaturus audivi. Hilar, de Synodis, c. xci. p. 1205. The Benedictines are persuaded that he governed the diocese of Poitiers several years before his exile.
• 73 1.102

  Seneca (Epist. lviii.) complains that even the 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 of the Pla|tonists (the ens of the bolder schoolmen) could not be expressed by a Latin noun.
• 74 1.103

  The preference which the fourth council of the Lateran at length gave to a numerical rather than a generical unity (see Petav. tom. ii. l. iv. c. 13. p. 424.) was favoured by the Latin language; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 seems to excite the idea of substance, trinitas of qualities.
• * 1.104

  Council of Rimini,
• * 1.105

  A. D. 360.
• 75 1.106

  Ingemuit totus orbis, et Arianum se esse miratus est. Hieronym. adv. Lucifer. tom. i. p. 145.
• 76 1.107

  The story of the council of Rimini is very elegantly told by Sulpicius Severus (Hist. Sacra, l. ii. p. 419—430. edit. Lugd. Bat. 1647.), and by Jerom, in his dialogue against the Luciferians. The design of the latter is to apologize for the conduct of the Latin bishops, who were deceived, and who repented.
• * 1.108

  Conduct of the em|perors in the Arian contro|versy.
• * 1.109

  Indiffe|rence of Constan|tine,
• * 1.110

  A. D. 324.
• 77 1.111

  Eusebius, in Vit. Constant. l. ii. c. 64—72. The principles of toleration and religious indifference, contained in this epistle, have given great offence to Baronius, Tillemont, &c. who suppose that the emperor had some evil counsellor, either Satan or Eusebius, at his elbow. See Jortin's Remarks, tom. ii. p. 183.
• * 1.112

  His zeal.
• * 1.113

  A. D. 325.
• 78 1.114

  Eusebius, in Vit. Constantin. l. iii. c. 13.
• 79 1.115

  Theodoret has preserved (l. i. c. 20.) an epistle from Constan|tine to the people of Nicomedia, in which the monarch declares him|self the public accuser of one of his subjects; he styles Eusebius, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; and complains of his hostile behaviour during the civil war.
• 80 1.116

  See in Socrates (l. i. c. 8.), or rather in Theodoret (l. i. c. 12.), an original letter of Eusebius of Caesarea, in which he attempts to justify his subscribing the Homoousion. The character of Eusebius has always been a problem; but those who have read the second critical epistle of Le Clerc (Ars Critica, tom. iii. p. 30—69.), must entertain a very unfavourable opinion of the orthodoxy and sincerity of the bishop of Caesarea.
• 81 1.117

  Athanasius, tom. i. p. 727. Philostorgius, l. i. c. 10. and Godefroy's Commentary, p. 41.
• * 1.118

  He perse|cutes the Arian
• 82 1.119

  Socrates, l. i. c. 9. In his circular letters, which were addressed to the several cities, Constantine employed against the heretics the arms of ridicule and comic raillery.
• * 1.120

  and the or|thodox party,
• * 1.121

  A. D. 328—337.
• 83 1.122

  We derive the original story from Athanasius (tom. i. p. 670.), who expresses some reluctance to stigmatize the memory of the dead. He might exaggerate; but the perpetual commerce of Alexandria and Constantinople would have rendered it dangerous to invent. Those who press the literal narrative of the death of Arius (his bowels suddenly burst out in a privy) must make their option between poison and miracle.
• 84 1.123

  The change in the sentiments, or at least in the conduct, of Constantine, may be traced in Eusebius (in Vit. Constant. l. iii. c. 23. l. iv. c. 41.), Socrates (l. i. c. 23—39.), Sozomen (l. ii. c. 16—34.), Theodoret (l. i. c. 14—34.), and Philostorgius (l. ii. c. 1—17). But the first of these writers was too near the scene of action, and the others were too remote from it. It is singular enough, that the important task of continuing the history of the church, should have been left for two laymen and a heretic.
• * 1.124

  Constan|tius fa|vours the Arians,
• * 1.125

  A. D. 337—361.
• 85 1.126

  Quia etiam tum catechumenus, sacramentum fidei merito vide|retur potuisse nescire. Sulp. Sever. Hist. Sacra, l. ii. p. 410.
• 86 1.127

  Socrates, l. ii. c. 2. Sozomen, l. iii. c. 18. Athanas. tom. i. p. 813. 834. He observes, that the eunuchs are the natural enemies of the Son. Compare Dr. Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 3. with a certain genealogy in Candide (ch. iv.), which ends with one of the first companions of Christopher Columbus.
• 87 1.128

  Sulpicius Severus, in Hist. Sacra, l. ii. p. 405, 406.
• 88 1.129

  Cyril (apud Baron. A. D. 353. No 26.) expressly observes, that in the reign of Constantine the cross had been found in the bowels of the earth; but that it had appeared, in the reign of Con|stantius, in the midst of the heavens. This opposition evidently proves, that Cyril was ignorant of the stupendous miracle to which the conversion of Constantine is attributed; and this ignorance is the more surprising, since it was no more than twelve years after his death that Cyril was consecrated bishop of Jerusalem, by the imme|diate successor of Eusebius of Caesarea. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 715.
• 89 1.130

  It is not easy to determine how far the ingenuity of Cyril might be assisted by some natural appearances of a solar halo.
• 90 1.131

  Philostorgius, l. iii. c. 26. He is followed by the author of the Alexandrian Chronicle, by Cedrenus, and by Nicephorus (See Gothofred. Dissert. p. 188.). They could not refuse a miracle, even from the hand of an enemy.
• * 1.132

  Arian councils.
• 91 1.133

  So curious a passage well deserves to be transcribed. Christi|anam religionem absolutam et simplicem, anili superstitione confun|dens; in quâ scrutandâ perplexius, quam componendâ gravius excitaret discidia plurima; quae progressa susius aluit concertatione verborum, ut catervis antistitum jumentis publicis ultro citroque discurrentibus, per synodos (quas appellant) dum ritum omnem ad suum trahere conantur (Valesius reads conatur) rei vehiculariae concideret nervos. Ammianus, xxi. 16.
• 92 1.134

  Athanas. tom. i. p. 870.
• 93 1.135

  Socrates, l. ii. c. 35—47. Sozomen, l. iv. c. 12—30. Theo|doret, l. ii. c. 18—32. Philostorg. l. iv. c. 4—12. l. v. c. 1—4. l. vi. c. 1—5.
• 94 1.136

  Sozomen, l. iv. c. 23. Athanas. tom. i. p. 831. Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. vii. p. 947.) has collected several instances of the haughty fanaticism of Constantius from the detached treatises of Lucifer of Cagliari. The very titles of these treatises inspire zeal and terror;

  "Moriendum pro Dei Filio."

  "De Regibus Aposta|ticis."

  "De non conveniendo cum Haeretico."

  "De non par|cendo in Deum delinquentibus."
• * 1.137

  A. D. 360.
• 95 1.138

  Sulp. Sever. Hist. Sacra, l. ii. p. 418—430. The Greek historians were very ignorant of the affairs of the West.
• * 1.139

  Character and adven|tures of Athana|sius.
• 96 1.140

  We may regret that Gregory Nazianzen composed a panegyric instead of a life of Athanasius; but we should enjoy and improve the advantage of drawing our most authentic materials from the rich fund of his own epistles and apologies (tom. i. p. 670—951.). I shall not imitate the example of Socrates (l. ii. c. 1.), who pub|lished the first edition of his history without giving himself the trouble to consult the writings of Athanasius. Yet even Socrates, the more curious Sozomen; and the learned Theodoret, connect the life of Athanasius with the series of ecclesiastical history. The diligence of Tillemont (tom. viii.) and of the Benedictine editors, has collected every fact, and examined every difficulty.
• * 1.141

  A. D. 326—373.
• 97 1.142

  Sulpicius Severus. (Hist. Sacra, l. ii. p. 396.) calls him a lawyer, a jùrisconsult. This character cannot now be discovered either in the life or writings of Athanasius.
• 98 1.143

  Dicebatur enim fatidicarum sortium fidem, quaeve augurales portenderent alites scientissime callens aliquoties praedixisse futura. Ammianus, xv. 7. A prophecy, or rather a joke, is related by Sozomen (l. iv. c. 10.), which evidently proves (if the crows speak Latin) that Athanasius understood the language of the crows.
• 99 1.144

  The irregular ordination of Athanasius was slightly mentioned in the councils which were held against him. See Philostorg. l. ii. c. 11, and Godefroy, p. 71: but it can scarcely be supposed that the assembly of the bishops of Egypt would solemnly attest a public false|hood. Athanas. tom. i. p. 726.
• 100 1.145

  See the History of the Fathers of the Desert, published by Ros|weide: and Tillemont Mem. Eccles. tom. vii., in the lives of An|tony, Pachomius, &c. Athanasius himself, who did not disdain to compose the life of his friend Anthony, has carefully observed how often the holy monk deplored and prophesied the mischiefs of the Arian Heresy. Athanas. tom. ii. p. 492. 498, &c.
• * 1.146

  Perse|cution against Athana|sius,
• * 1.147

  A. D. 330.
• 101 1.148

  At first Constantine threatened in speaking, but requested in writing, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉. His letters gradually assumed a menacing tonc; but while he required that the entrance of the church should be open to all, he avoided the odious name of Arius. Athanasius, like a skilful politician, has accurately marked these distinctions (tom. i. p. 788), which allowed him some scope for excuse and delay.
• 102 1.149

  The Meletians in Egypt, like the Donatists in Asrica, were produced by an episcopal quarrel which arose from the persecution. I have not leisure to pursue the obscure controversy, which seems to have been misrepresented by the partiality of Athanasius, and the ig|norance of Epiphanius. See Mosheim's General History of the Church, vol. i. p. 201.
• 103 1.150

  The treatment of the six bishops is specified by Sozomen (l. ii. c. 25.); but Athanasius himself, so copious on the subject of Arse|nius and the chalice, leaves this grave accusation without a reply.
• 104 1.151

  Athanas. tom. i. p. 788. Socrates, l. i. c. 28. Sozomen, l. ii. c. 25. The emperor, in his Epistle of Convocation (Euseb. in Vit. Constant. l. iv. c. 42.), seems to prejudge some members of the clergy, and it was more than probable that the synod would apply those reproaches to Athanasius.
• * 1.152

  A. D. 335.
• 105 1.153

  See, in particular, the second Apology of Athanasius (tom. i. p. 763—808.), and his Epistles to the Monks (p. 808—866.). They are justified by original and authentic documents; but they would inspire more confidence, if he appeared less innocent, and his enemies less absurd.
• 106 1.154

  Eusebius in Vit. Constantin. l. iv. c. 41—47.
• * 1.155

  His first exile,
• * 1.156

  A. D. 336.
• 107 1.157

  Athanas. tom. i. p. 804. In a church dedicated to St. Atha|nasius, this situation would afford a better subject for a picture, than most of the stories of miracles and martyrdoms.
• 108 1.158

  Athanas. tom. i. p. 729. Eunapius has related (in Vit. Sophist. p. 36, 37. edit. Commelin) a strange example of the cruelty and credulity of Constantine on a similar occasion. The eloquent Sopater, a Syrian philosopher, enjoyed his friendship, and provoked the resentment of Ablavius, his Praetorian praefect. The corn-fleet was detained for want of a south wind: the people of Constantinople were discontented; and Sopater was beheaded, on a charge that he had bound the winds by the power of magic. Suidas adds, that Con|stantine wished to prove, by this execution, that he had absolutely renounced the superstition of the Gentiles.
• * 1.159

  and resto|ration,
• * 1.160

  A. D. 338.
• 109 1.161

  In his return he saw Constantius twice, at Viminiacum and at Caesarea in Cappadocia. (Athanas. tom. i. p. 676.) Tillemont supposes that Constantine introduced him to the meeting of the three royal brothers in Pannonia. (Memoires Eccles. tom. viii. p. 69.)
• * 1.162

  His second exile.
• * 1.163

  A. D. 341.
• 110 1.164

  See Beveridge Pandect. tom. i. p. 429—452., and tom. ii. Annotation. p. 182. Tillemont Mem. Eccles. tom. vi. p. 310—324. St. Hilary of Poitiers has mentioned this synod of Antioch with too much favour and respect. He reckons ninety-seven bishops.
• 111 1.165

  This magistrate, so odious to Athanasius, is praised by Gre|gory Nazianzen, tom. i. Orat. xxi. p. 390, 391.

  Saepe premente Deo fert Deus alter opem.

  For the credit of human nature, I am always pleased to discover some good qualities in those men whom party has represented as tyrants and monsters.
• 112 1.166

  The chronological difficulties which perplex the residence of Athanasius at Rome, are strenuously agitated by Valesius (Observat. ad Calcem, tom. ii. Hist. Eccles. l. i. c. 1—5.) and Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 674, &c.). I have followed the simple hypothesis of Valesius, who allows only one journey, after the in|trusion of Gregory.
• 113 1.167

  I cannot forbear transcribing a judicious observation of Wet|stein (Prolegomen. N. T. p. 19.): Si tamen Historiam Ecclesiasticam velimus consulere, patebit jam inde a seculo quarto, cum, ortis con|troversiis, ecclesiae Graeciae doctores in duas partes scinderentur, ingenio, eloquentiâ, numero, tantum non aequales, eam partem quae vincere cupiebat Romam confugisse, majestatemque pontificis comiter coluisse, eoque pacto oppressis per pontificem et episcopos Latinos adversariis praevaluisse, atque orthodoxiam in conciliis sta|bilivisse. Eam ob causam Athanasius, non sine comitatu, Romam petiit, pluresque annos ibi haesit.
• 114 1.168

  Philostorgius, l. iii. c. 12. If any corruption was used to promote the interest of religion, an advocate of Athanasius might justify or excuse this questionable conduct, by the example of Cato and Sidney; the former of whom is said to have given, and the latter to have received, a bribe, in the cause of liberty.
• * 1.169

  A. D. 346.
• 115 1.170

  The Canon, which allows appeals to the Roman Pontiffs, has almost raised the council of Sardica to the dignity of a general coun|cil; and its acts have been ignorantly or artfully confounded with those of the Nicene synod. See Tillemont, tom. viii. p. 689, and Geddes's Tracts, vol. ii. p. 419—460.
• * 1.171

  and resto|ration,
• * 1.172

  A. D. 349.
• 116 1.173

  As Athanasius dispersed secret invectives against Constantius (see the Epistle to the Monks), at the same time that he assured him of his profound respect, we might distrust the professions of the arch|bishop. Tom. i. p. 677.
• 117 1.174

  Notwithstanding the discreet silence of Athanasius, and the manifest forgery of a letter inserted by Socrates, these menaces are proved by the unquestionable evidence of Luciser of Cagliari, and even of Constantius himself See Tillemont, tom. viii. p. 693.
• 118 1.175

  I have always entertained some doubts concerning the retrac|tation of Ursacius and Valens (Athanas. tom. i. p. 776.). Their epistles to Julius bishop of Rome, and to Athanasius himself, are of so different a cast from each other, that they cannot both be genuine. The one speaks the language of criminals who confess their guilt and infamy; the other of enemies, who solicit on equal terms an ho|nourable reconciliation.
• 119 1.176

  The circumstances of his second return may be collected from Athanasius himself, tom. i. p. 769 and 822. 843. Socrates, l. ii. c. 18. Sozomen, l. iii. c. 19. Theodoret, l. ii. c. 11, 12. Phi|lostorgius, l. iii. c. 12.
• * 1.177

  Resent|ment of Constan|tius,
• * 1.178

  A. D. 351.
• 120 1.179

  Athanasius (tom. i. p. 677, 678.) defends his innocence by pathetic complaints, solemn assertions, and specious arguments. He admits that letters had been forged in his name, but he requests that his own secretaries, and those of the tyrant, may be examined, whether those letters had been written by the former or received by the latter.
• 121 1.180

  Athanas. tom. i. p. 825—844.
• 122 1.181

  Athanas. tom. i. p. 861. Theodoret, l. ii. c. 16. The emperor declared, that he was more desirous to subdue Athanasius, than he had been to vanquish Magnentius or Sylvanus.
• * 1.182

  Councils of Arles and Milan,
• * 1.183

  A. D. 353—355.
• 123 1.184

  The affairs of the council of Milan are so imperfectly and erroneously related by the Greek writers, that we must rejoice in the supply of some letters of Eusebius, extracted by Baronius, from the archives of the church of Vercellae, and of an old life of Dionysius of Milan, published by Bollandus. See Baronius, A. D. 355. and Tillemont, tom. vii. p. 1415.
• 124 1.185

  The honours, presents, feasts, which seduced so many bishops, are mentioned with indignation by those who were too pure or too proud to accept them.

  We combat (says Hilary of Poitiers) against Constantius the antichrist; who strokes the belly instead of scourg|ing the back;

  qui non dorsa caedit, sed ventrem palpat. Hila|rius contra Constant. c. 5. p. 1240.
• 125 1.186

  Something of this opposition is mentioned by Ammianus (xv. 7.), who had a very dark and superficial knowledge of eccle|siastical history. Liberius . . . perseveranter renitebatur, nec visum hominem, nec auditum damnare nefas ultimum saepe exclamans; aperte scilicet recalcitrans Imperatoris arbitrario. Id enim ille Atha|nasio semper infestus, &c.
• 126 1.187

  More properly by the orthodox part of the council of Sardica. If the bishops of both parties had fairly voted, the division would have been 94 to 76. M. de Tillemont (see tom. viii. p. 1147—1158.) is justly surprised that so small a majority should have proceeded so vigorously against their adversaries, the principal of whom they im|mediately deposed.
• 127 1.188

  Sulp. Severus in Hist. Sacra, l. ii. p. 412.
• * 1.189

  Condem|nation of Athana|sius,
• * 1.190

  A. D. 355.
• 128 1.191

  The exile of Liberius is mentioned by Ammianus, xv. 7. See Theodoret, l. ii. c. 16. Athanas. tom. i. p. 834—837. Hilar. Fragment. i.
• 129 1.192

  The life of Osius is collected by Tillemont (tom. vii. p. 524—561.) who in the most extravagant terms first admires, and then reprobates, the bishop of Cordova. In the midst of their lamenta|tions on his fall, the prudence of Athanasius may be distinguished from the blind and intemperate zeal of Hilary.
• * 1.193

  Exiles.
• 130 1.194

  The confessors of the West were successively banished to the deserts of Arabia or Thebais, the lonely places of Mount Taurus, the wildest parts of Phrygia, which were in the possession of the im|pious Montanists, &c. When the Heretic Aetius was too favourably entertained at Mopsuestia in Cilicia, the place of his exile was changed, by the advice of Acacius, to Amblada, a district inhabited by savages, and infested by war and pestilence. Philostorg. l. v. c. 2.
• 131 1.195

  See the cruel treatment and strange obstinacy of Eusebius, in his own letters, published by Baronius, A. D. 356. No 92—102.
• 132 1.196

  Caeterum exules satis constat, totius orbis studiis celebratos pecuniasque eis in sumptum affatim congestas legationibus quoque eos plebis Catholicae ex omnibus fere provinciis frequentatos. Sulp. Sever. Hist. Sacra, p. 414. Athanas. tom. i. p. 836. 840.
• 133 1.197

  Ample materials for the history of this third persecution of Athanasius may be found in his own works. See particularly his very able Apology to Constantius (tom. i. p. 673.), his first Apology for his flight (p. 701.), his prolix Epistle to the Solitaries (p. 808.), and the original Protest of the People of Alexandria against the vio|lences committed by Syrianus (p. 866.). Sozomen (l. iv. c. 9.) has thrown into the narrative two or three luminous and important circumstances.
• * 1.198

  Third ex|pulsion of Athana|sius from Alexan|dria,
• * 1.199

  A. D. 356.
• 134 1.200

  Athanasius had lately sent for Antony, and some of his chosen Monks. They descended from their mountain, announced to the Alexandrians the sanctity of Athanasius, and were honourably con|ducted by the archbishop as far as the gates of the city. Athanas. tom. ii. p. 491, 492. See likewise Rufinus, iii. 164. in Vit. Patr. p. 524.
• 135 1.201

  Athanas. tom. i. p. 694. The emperor, or his Arian secre|taries, while they express their resentment, betray their fears and esteem of Athanasius.
• * 1.202

  His beha|viour.
• 136 1.203

  These minute circumstances are curious, as they are literally transcribed from the protest, which was publicly presented three days afterwards by the Catholics of Alexandria. See Athanas. tom. i. p. 867.
• 137 1.204

  The Jansenists have often compared Athanasius and Arnauld, and have expatiated with pleasure on the faith and zeal, the merit and exile, of those celebrated doctors. This concealed parallel is very dextrously managed by the Abbé de la Bleterie, Vie de Jovien, tom. i. p. 130.
• * 1.205

  His retreat,
• * 1.206

  A. D. 356—362.
• 138 1.207

  Hinc jam toto orbe profugus Athanasius, nec ullus ci tutus ad latendum super-erat locus. Tribuni, Praefecti, Comites, exercitus quoque, ad pervestigandum eum moventur edictis Imporialibus: praemia delatoribus proponuntur, si quis eum vivum, si id minus, caput certe Athanasii detulisset. Rufin. l. i. c. 16.
• 139 1.208

  Gregor. Nazianzen. tom. i. Orat. xxi. p. 384, 385. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. vii. p. 176—410. 820—880.
• 140 1.209

  Et nulla tormentorum vis inveniri adhuc potuit; quae ob|durato illius tractûs latroni invito elicere potuit, ut nomen proprium dicat. Ammian. xxii. 16. and Valesius ad locum.
• 141 1.210

  Rufin. l. i. c. 18. Sozomen, l. iv. c. 10. This and the following story will be rendered impossible, if we suppose that Atha|nasius always inhabited the asylum which he accidentally or occasion|ally had used.
• 142 1.211

  Palladius (Hist. Lausiac. c. 136. in Vit. Patrum, p. 776.), the original author of this anecdote, had conversed with the damsel, who in her old age still remembered with pleasure so pious and honourable a connection. I cannot indulge the delicacy of Baronius, Valesius, Tillemont, &c. who almost reject a story so unworthy, as they deem it, of the gravity of ecclesiastical history.
• 143 1.212

  Athanas. tom. i. p. 869. I agree with Tillemont (tom. viii. p. 1197.), that his expressions imply a personal, though perhaps secret, visit to the synods.
• 144 1.213

  The Epistle of Athanasius to the Monks is filled with re|proaches, which the public must feel to be true (vol. i. p. 834. 856.); and, in compliment to his readers, he has introduced the comparisons of Pharaoh, Ahab, Belshazzar, &c. The boldness of Hilary was attended with less danger, if he published his invective in Gaul after the revolt of Julian; but Lucifer sent his libels to Con|stantius, and almost challenged the reward of Martyrdom. See Tillemont, tom. vii. p. 905.
• * 1.214

  Arian bishops.
• 145 1.215

  Athanasius (tom. i. p. 811.) complains in general of this practice, which he afterwards exemplifies (p. 861.) in the pretended election of Faelix. Three eunuchs represented the Roman people, and three prelates, who followed the court, assumed the functions of the bishops of the Suburbicarian provinces.
• * 1.216

  Divisions.
• 146 1.217

  Thomassin (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. l. ii. c. 72, 73. p. 966—984.) has collected many curious facts concerning the origin and progress of church-singing, both in the East and West.
• 147 1.218

  Philostorgius, l. iii. c. 13. Godefroy has examined this sub|ject with singular accuracy (p. 147, &c.). There were three hete|rodox forms:

  "To the Father by the Son, and in the Holy Ghost:"

  "To the Father and the Son in the Holy Ghost:"

  and

  "To the Father in the Son and the Holy Ghost."
• 148 1.219

  After the exile of Eustathius, under the reign of Constantine, the rigid party of the orthodox formed a separation, which afterwards degenerated into a chism, and lasted above fourscore years. See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. vii. p. 35—54. 1137—1158. tom. viii. p. 537—632. 1314—1332. In many churches, the Arians and Homoousians, who had renounced each other's communion, con|tinued for some time to join in prayer. Philostorgius, l. iii. c. 14.
• * 1.220

  Rome.
• 149 1.221

  See, on this ecclesiastical revolution of Rome, Ammianus, xv. 7. Athanas. tom. i. p. 834. 861. Sozomen, l. iv. c. 15. Theodoret. l. ii. c. 17. Sulp. Sever. Hist. Sacra, l. ii. p. 413. Hieronym. Chron. Marcellin. et Faustin. Libell. p. 3, 4. Tille|mont, Mem. Eccles. tom. vi. p. 336.
• * 1.222

  Constan|tinople.
• 150 1.223

  Cucusus was the last stage of his life and sufferings. The situation of that lonely town, on the confines of Cappadocia, Cili|cia, and the Lesser Armenia, has occasioned some geographical per|plexity; but we are directed to the true spot by the course of the Ro|man road from Caesarea to Anazarbus. See Cellarii Geograph. tom. ii. p. 213. Wesseling ad Itinerar. p. 179. 703.
• 151 1.224

  Athanasius (tom. i. p. 703, 813, 814.) affirms, in the most positive terms, that Paul was murdered; and appeals, not only to common fame, but even to the unsuspicious testimony of Philagrius, one of the Arian persecutors. Yet he acknowledges, that the here|tics attributed to disease the death of the bishop of Constantinople. Athanasius is servilely copied by Socrates (l. ii. c. 26.); but So|zomen, who discovers a more liberal temper, presumes (l. iv. c. 2.) to insinuate a prudent doubt.
• 152 1.225

  Ammianus (xiv. 10.) refers to his own account of this tragic event. But we no longer possess that part of his history.
• 153 1.226

  See Socrates, l. ii. c. 6, 7. 12, 13. 15, 16. 26, 27. 38. and Sozomen, l. iii. 3, 4. 7. 9. l. iv. c. ii. 21. The acts of St. Paul of Constantinople, of which Photius has made an abstract (Phot. Bibliot. p. 1419—1430.), are an indifferent copy of these historians; but a modern Greek, who could write the life of a saint without adding fables and miracles, is entitled to some commendation.
• * 1.227

  Cruelty of the Arians.
• 154 1.228

  Socrates, l. ii. c. 27. 38. Sozomen, l. iv. c. 21. The prin|cipal assistants of Macedonius, in the work of persecution, were the two bishops of Nicomedia and Cyzicus, who were esteemed for their virtues, and especially for their charity. I cannot forbear reminding the reader, that the difference between the Homoousion and Homoiousion, is almost invisible to the nicest theological eye.
• 155 1.229

  We are ignorant of the precise situation of Mantinium. In speaking of these four bands of legionaries, Socrates, Sozomen, and the author of the Acts of St. Paul, use the indesinite terms of 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, which Nicephorus very properly translates thou|sands. Vales. ad Socrat. l. ii. c. 38.
• 156 1.230

  Julian. Epistol. lii. p. 436. edit. Spanheim.
• * 1.231

  The revolt and fury of the Dona|tist Cir|cumcel|lions,
• * 1.232

  A. D. 345, &c.
• 157 1.233

  See Optatus Milevitanus (particularly iii. 4.), with the Do|natist history, by M. Dupin, and the original pieces at the end of his edition. The numerous circumstances which Augustin has men|tioned, of the fury of the Circumcellions against others, and against themselves, have been laboriously collected by Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. vi. p. 147—165; and he has often, though without design, exposed the injuries which had provoked those fanatics.
• 158 1.234

  It is amusing enough to observe the language of opposite par|ties, when they speak of the same men and things. Gratus, bishop of Carthage, begins the acclamations of an orthodox synod,

  Gra|tias Deo omnipotenti et Christo Jesu . . . qui imperavit religio|sissimo Constanti Imperatori, ut votum gereret unitatis, et mitteret ministros sancti operis famulos Dei Paulum et Macarium.

  Mo|nument. Vet. ad Calcem Optati, p. 313.

  Ecce subito, (says the Donatist author of the Passion of Marculus) de Constantis re|gis tyrannicâ domo . . . pollutum Macarianae persecutionis mur|mur increpuit, et duabus bestiis ad Africam missis, eodem scilicet Macario et Paulo execrandum prorsus ac dirum ecclesiae certamen indictum est; ut populus Christianus ad unionem cum traditori|bus faciendam, nudatis militum gladiis et draconum presentibus signis, et tubarum vocibus cogeretur.

  Monument. p. 304.
• 159 1.235

  The Histoire des Camisards, in 3 vol. 12mo. Villefranche, 1760, may be recommended as accurate and impartial. It requires some attention to discover the religion of the author.
• * 1.236

  Their re|ligious suicides.
• 160 1.237

  The Donatist suicides alleged in their justification the example of Razias, which is related in the 14th chapter of the second book of the Maccabees.
• * 1.238

  General character of the Christian sects,
• * 1.239

  A. D. 312—361.
• 161 1.240

  Nullas infestas hominibus bestias, ut sunt sibi ferales plerique Christianorum expertus. Ammian. xxii. 5.
• 162 1.241

  Gregor. Nazianzen, Orat. i. p. 33. See Tillemont, tom. vi. p. 501. quarto edit.
• * 1.242

  Toleration of pagan|ism
• 163 1.243

  Histoire Politique et Philosophique des Etablissemens des Eu|ropéens dans les deux Indes, tom. i. p. 9.
• 164 1.244

  According to Eusebius (in Vit. Constantin. l. ii. c. 45.) the emperor prohibited, both in cities and in the country, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉; the abominable acts or parts of idolatry. Socrates (l. i. c. 17.) and Sozomen (l. ii. c. 4, 5.) have represented the conduct of Constantine with a just regard to truth and history; which has been neglected by Theodoret (l. v. c. 21.) and Orosius (vii. 28.). Tum deinde (says the latter) primus Constantinus justo ordine et pio vicem vertit edicto; siquidem statuit citra ullam homi|num caedem, paganorum templa claudi.
• * 1.245

  by Con|stantine,
• 165 1.246

  See Eusebius in Vit. Constantin. l. ii. c. 56. 60. In the sermon to the assembly of saints, which the emperor pronounced when he was mature in years and piety, he declares to the idolaters (c. xi.), that they are permitted to offer sacrifices, and to exercise every part of their religious worship.
• 166 1.247

  See Eusebius, in Vit. Constantin. l. iii. c. 54—58. and l. iv. c. 23. 25. These acts of authority may be compared with the sup|pression of the Bacchanals, and the demolition of the temple of Isis, by the magistrates of Pagan Rome.
• 167 1.248

  Eusebius (in Vit. Constant. l. iii. c. 54.) and Libanius (Orat|pro Templis, p. 9, 10. edit. Gothofred.), both mention the pious sacrilege of Constantine, which they viewed in very different lights. The latter expressly declares, that

  he made use of the sacred mo|ney, but made no alteration in the legal worship; the temples in|deed were impoverished, but the sacred rites were performed there.

  Lardner's Jewish and Heathen Testimonies, vol. iv. p. 140.
• * 1.249

  and his sons.
• 168 1.250

  Ammianus (xxii. 4.) speaks of some court eunuchs who were spoliis templorum pasti. Libanius says (Orat. pro Templ. p. 23.), that the emperor often gave away a temple, like a dog, or a horse, or a slave, or a gold cup; but the devout philosopher takes care to observe, that these sacrilegious favourites very seldom prospered.
• 169 1.251

  See Gothofred. Cod. Theodos. tom. vi. p. 262. Liban. Orat. Parental. c. x. in Fabric. Bibl. Graec. tom. vii. p. 235.
• 170 1.252

  Placuit omnibus locis atque urbibus universis claudi protinus templa, et accessu vetitis omnibus licentiam delinquendi perditis ab|negari. Volumus etiam cunctos a sacrificiis abstinere. Quod siquis aliquid forte hujusmodi perpetraverit, gladio sternatur: facultates etiam perempti fisco decernimus vindicari: et similiter adfligi rectores provinciarum si facinora vindicare neglexerint. Cod. Theodos. l. xvi. tit. x. leg. 4. Chronology has discovered some contradiction in the date of this extravagant law; the only one, perhaps, by which the negligence of magistrates is punished by death and confiscation. M. de la Bastie (Mem. de l'Academie, tom. xv. p. 98.) conjectures, with a shew of reason, that this was no more than the minutes of a law, the heads of an intended bill, which were found in Scriniis Memoriae, among the papers of Constantius, and afterwards inserted, a worthy model, in the Theodosian Code.
• 171 1.253

  Symmach. Epistol. x. 54.
• 172 1.254

  The fourth Dissertation of M. de la Bastie, sur le Souverain Pontificat des Empereurs Romains (in the Mem. de l'Acad. tom. xv. p. 75—144), is a very learned and judicious performance, which ex|plains the state, and proves the toleration, of paganism from Constan|tine to Gratian. The assertion of Zosimus, that Gratian was the first who refused the pontifical robe, is confirmed beyond a doubt: and the murmurs of bigotry, on that subject, are almost silenced.
• 173 1.255

  As I have freely anticipated the use of pagans and paganism, I shall now trace the singular revolutions of those celebrated words. 1. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, in the Doric dialect, so familiar to the Italians, signifies a fountain; and the rural neighbourhood which frequented the same fountain, derived the common appellation of pagus and pagans (Eestus sub voce, and Servius ad Virgil. Georgic. ii. 382.). 2. By an easy extension of the word, pagan and rural became almost synonymous (Plin. Hist. Natur. xxviii. 5.); and the meaner rustics acquired that name, which has been corrupted into peasants in the modern languages of Europe. 3. The amazing increase of the military order intro|duced the necessity of a correlative term (Hume's Essays, vol. i. p. 555.); and all the people who were not enlisted in the service of the prince were branded with the contemptuous epithet of pagans (Tacit. Hist. iii. 24. 43. 77. Juvenal. Satir. xvi. Tertullian de Pallio, c. 4.). 4. The Christians were the soldiers of Christ; their adversaries, who refused his sacrament, or military oath of baptism, might deserve the metaphorical name of pagans; and this popular reproach was introduced as early as the reign of Valentinian (A. D. 365.) into Imperial laws (Cod. Theodos. l. xvi. tit. ii. leg. 18.) and theological writings. 5. Christianity gradually filled the cities of the empire: the old religion, in the time of Prudentius (advers. Symmachum, l. i. ad fin.) and Orosius (in Praefat. Hist.), retired and languished in obscure villages; and the word pagans, with its new sig|nification, reverted to its primitive origin. 6. Since the worship of Jupiter and his family has expired, the vacant title of pagans has been successively applied to all the idolaters and polytheists of the old and new world. 7. The Latin Christians bestowed it, without scruple, on their mortal enemies the Mahometans; and the purest unitarians were branded with the unjust reproach of idolatry and pa|ganism. See Gerard Vossius Etymologicon Linguae Latinae, in his works, tom. i. p. 420. Godefroy's Commentary on the Theodosian Code, tom. vi. p. 250. and Ducange, mediae & infimae Latinitat. Glossar.
• 174 1.256

  In the pure language of Ionia and Athens, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 and 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 were ancient and familiar words. The former expressed a likeness, an apparition (Homer. Odyss. xi. 601.) a representation, an image, created either by fancy or art. The latter denoted any sort of service or slavery. The Jews of Egypt, who translated the Hebrew scrip|tures, restrained the use of these words (Exod. xx. 4, 5.) to the re|ligious worship of an image. The peculiar idiom of the Hellenists, or Grecian Jews, has been adopted by the sacred and ecclesiastical writers; and the reproach of idolatry (〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉) has stigmatized that visible and abject mode of superstition, which some sects of Christianity should not hastily impute to the polytheists of Greece and Rome.