Religion and loyalty, the second part, or, The history of the concurrence of the imperial and ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the government of the church from the beginning of the reign of Jovian to the end of the reign of Justinian / by Samuel Parker ...

§. XXXII. The next Royal Vertue is inconstancy and falshood to his Friends, as well as Cruelty to his Enemies. Instan∣ces of his Cruelty we have seen in the se∣veral Acts of his Mercy towards his most implacable Enemies; but as for his Friends, as no man ever made a better choice, so never was any man more constant and en∣tire in the preservation of his Friendship. So that when he had once taken a man into his Bosom, nothing but Treason could displace him, nor that in some Cases, as we have seen in the Instance of Artabanes. How immoveable was his Friendship to Belizarius, notwithstanding all the boisterous attempts of Court-envy to shock it? he received him to favour in his Youth, and persevered in his kind∣ness to his last breath, and through the whole course of his life heap't more ho∣nours

upon him, than ever were confer∣red by any Prince upon a Subject. After the Vandalick War Belizarius was accused by some of his Captains of High Trea∣son and Designs of Tyranny, for by that term Procopius always expresses Usurpa∣tion, upon which he immediately repairs to Constantinople to clear himself, though the Emperor gave so little Credit to the Information, as to leave it to Belizarius his own choice either to continue in the Government of Africk, or to return home with his Spoils and Captives. And choosing the last the Emperor gave him the honour of a Publick Triumph and Honour that had been disused for at least 600 years, and never before this time granted by Christians to Subjects unless of the Blood-Royal. And not long after he is made Consul, and in the year of his Consulship honoured with a second Tri∣umph after the fashion of the Consuls in the old Common-wealth, when they re∣turn'd from the Conquest of any Province or Nation. After this he is immediately sent General into Sicily against the Goths, and in a trice scowres them out of the Island, and in the last day of his Consul∣ship, enters Syracuse with Triumphal Pomp, and so was ever after General in all the Emperors Wars without the least

frown of Jealousie or distrust, though the Imperial Crown had been twice offer∣ed him in the head of a successful Army, and he had him in that great esteem, that for many years he would never spare him from his own Person, but enjoyed the pleasure of his friendship to his dying day. The next man in favour was Nar∣ses, because next in Vertue. A Gentle∣man of that high Character for Piety, for Courage, for Mercy, For Loyalty, for Gallantry, for Magnanimity, for every Thing that is Great and Good, that by meer worth he must have eclyp'st any man but Belizarius. And his Reputation was so impregnable, that it was above the Attaques of Envy, insomuch that there is nothing left of him upon Record, but the height of Praise and Panegyrick. Procopius, Agathias, Marcellinus Comes, Evagrius, Paulus Diaconus seem to vie who shall speak the greatest things of him: But to say no more, his shining and unblemish't Vertues placed him se∣cond, if not equal to Belizarius in his Masters favour. His Character in Corip∣pus runs thus,

E••i••el excelsus super omnia Vertice Nar∣ses Ag••nina, & Augustam altu praefulgurat Aulam Comptus Casarie, formlique insignes & ore. Aureus omnis erat, cultuque habituque mo∣destus, Et morum probitate placeus, virtute ve∣rendus, Fulmineus, cautus, vigilans noctesque di••s∣que Pro rerum Dominis & honora luco c••rus∣cus.

From which passage we may conclude that Belizarius died before Justinian, be∣cause Narses is described as the chief At∣tendant at the Coronation of Justin the younger without any mention of Beli∣zarius, which could not have been, had he been then surviving. But to proceed, it were an endless work to give the great Characters of all the Favourites of his Court. What thinks our Author of Sit∣tas the Emperors Fellow Souldier in his Uncle Justins Reign, that twice over∣threw the Persians, and by his great Ci∣vility brought over the T••ani to Christia∣nity? what thinks he of Solomon's Suc∣cessor to Belizarius in the Government

of Africa, which he managed with great Wisdom, and perishing unfortunately by an Ambush of the Moors, was not less bemoan'd by his Prince than by his Pa∣tron Belizarius, by whose Interest he was preferr'd to that great Employment? What of that great Souldier Mundus, who after many brave Services perish't at last by his own excess of Courage in revenge of his Sons death, after his Victory of the Goths at Salona, to the great grief of his Imperial Majesty? In short, what thinks he of Phocas and Bassus, of Basili∣des, and Strategius, of Proclus and Rufi∣nus, of Marcellus, and Justinus, and Tri∣bonianus, and Procopius himself, who I am sure, of all men had least reason to com∣plain of the Emperors Inconstancy to his Favourites, who was advanced from ho∣nour to honour, till he came to the Pre∣fecture of the City, that is the highest Preferment in all the Empire? Of the same nature is the next Charge of Preferring ill men to places of the greatest Trust and Dignity, i. e. all those great men, that we have but now recited, men of that unparalell'd Worth and Honour, that no Age or Reign can shew such a number of unexceptionable Ministers of State. But because the Calumny is so apparently false, I shall not trouble my self to answer

it, but only ask the Author and his Ale∣mannus what he thinks of Procopius him∣self, upon whom the Emperor was per∣petually heaping his honors. If he ad∣vanced Men only for being more wick∣ed than others (as the Libel reports) then how great a Villain was this Proco∣pius, whom he raised from the lowest to the highest round of Fortune? But if Pro∣copius were an honest Man, that is a proof that the Emperor in the choice of his Ministers of State had regard to some other Qualifications than meer Wicked∣ness.

In the next place he was a vain-glori∣ous Innovator, that abolisht old Laws and Customs, and enacted new ones, changing every thing in the Govern∣ment, not for any advantage to the State, but only to stamp his own name upon every thing in the Common-Wealth. This Charge, if it were true, is very mean and childish: for what if he were too desirous of Glory, that is a Passion incident to all great Men, and is in it self a natural effect of Greatness of Mind? and therefore to aggravate a Fancy so common to all great Men, as a singular Enormity in Justinian, is a piece of Ma∣lice only to be despised. And yet no∣thing is more evident than that this

great Prince was acted, not by an Itch of Glory but by an eager zeal for the pub∣lick Good. And first a for the body of his Laws, I scorn to vindicate so great and so useful work from so mean a Ca∣lumny, that it was only a design of O∣stentation, and of no use to the Common-wealth. And then as for his new model∣ling of the Provincial Governments, it was only a reduction of the State to its primitive Constitution under the ancient Romans. For whereas there were from the time of Constantine two supreme Of∣ficers in every Province, one civil, the other military, to break the too great power of the Praefecti Praetorio, which being done Justinian now thought good to re-unite them, for these reasons, both because they were always at variance a∣bout the bounds of Power, not for the Subject's good, but their own; and be∣cause in the contest the Civil Power, by which Justinian design'd to govern, was oppressed and born down by military force, to the great grievance of his Sub∣jects. And therefore to avoid these Mis∣chiefs of a Government divided within it self, he restores the old Roman Praetor, in whom alone the entire power of the Province was seated; as himself gives an account of his design in his 24th Novel

of the Praetor of 〈◊〉〈◊〉, where he first began to put the Model in practice, and after it reformed all the other Provinces. In short whatever Alterations he made in the State of the Empire, he always gives an account of the usefulness and necessi∣ty of the thing in the Preface to the Law. And therefore if Alemannus would have made any real advantage of his Authors Tale, instead of relying wholly upon its blind Authority, he ought to have dis∣proved Justinian's reasons of State; for otherwise they stand upon Record as a Conviction against his Author, that the Emperor made no Alterations without good reason. But he inscribed his own Name upon all things, says our Author, i. e. says Alemannus, upon Cities, Towns, Ports, Letters, Books, Scholars, Crowns, Magistrates, Military Officers; such, says he, was his excessive thirst after vain-glory. But if this be a Vice, it would be happy for Mankind, if all Princes were tainted with the same Itch of lea∣ving a great Name and a good Memory behind them. If he had done (as ma∣ny great Men have) ill things to per∣petuate his Fame, that had not been more a crime than a folly. But when all his Works were for the benefit of Mankind, then if they were call'd after

his own Name, it was only a just Monu∣ment of the Author's bounty and great∣ness. But what could be more childish than to find fault with such an innocent Custom, of fixing the Authors Names upon their own magnificent Works, when it has ever been the constant pra∣ctice of all Mankind▪ Alexander the Great, they say, built 12 great Cities, and was God-father to them all. And I pray what Emperor ever built or rebuilt any City, that did not fix his own Name up∣on it? why then should this Prince alone be barr'd the pleasure of this little Fan∣cy, that is allowed to all Mankind? And yet after all he has denyed himself in it more than any Prince upon Record, as a∣ny Man may satisfie himself, that will peruse the Books de Aedificiis; but to be short Evagrius says he built 150 Cities, and yet Alemannus out of all these can find no more than 18 Justiniana's, of Towns but one, of Ports none but that at Constantinople, that Procopius says the Inhabitants out of gratitude call'd by the Founders name, Palaces but one, though there was scarce a City in the Empire, in which he did not erect some magnifi∣cent Building. But to follow these tri∣sles no farther, the Books that he entitu∣led by his own Name were his Body of

Laws; and he had no doubt done very wisely to publish them to the World, without declaring by whose Authority they were enacted. Such strein'd and far fetcht Calumnies as these discover no∣thing but rankor at the heart, and a stu∣dious design to turn all things into spite and poison.

In the next Chapter we are at last ser∣ved up with some particular Instances of injustice and oppression, especially by fraud and forging of Wills to the utter ruin of innumerable Families, and this as well as all the other Calumnies is repe∣ted in all the following Chapters, and in∣deed the whole Rhapsody is nothing but Tautology, Eccho and Repetition of the black Character in the 6th and 8th Chap∣ters; that he was a Tyrant, a Man of Blood, a thief that rob'd and ruin'd all his Subjects, that dispeopled whole Pro∣vinces, that layed wast the whole Em∣pire, in a word, a Man wicked beyond the common capacity of Humane Nature. This is the substance of every invective a∣gainst Justinian, but it is very rare to meet with any Instance to make good a∣ny part of the Character. And how per∣tinent those that we have already ex∣amin••d, are to the purpose, I leave them to the Readers judgment. And before

I have done, I doubt not but to demon∣strate this whole Libel to be the most foolish, most malicious, most ignorant Lampoon, that was ever contrived a∣gainst any Man's Reputation. And as for this story of plundering his Subjects, in illegal ways to enrich himself, it is as consistent as all the other Fables, when he remitted so many great branches of his settled Revenue, only to ease and en∣rich his Subjects, as we have seen above in his abolishing the Lex Papia, and all the Laws de caducis. What a contradi∣ction in the nature of things is this, that he should so frankly give up such vast proportions of his lawful Revenue, and yet out of a meer covetous humor turn Pick-pocket, and enrich himself by pri∣vate pilfering. This story is so remote from so cross to the common sense of Mankind, and the practice of Humane Nature, that it interdicts its own belief: For it is impossible in the nature of things that the same Man, who did one, could ever be induced to do the other. And thus this Calumny, as well as all the rest only enhances the glory of Justinian; who was so far from cheating his Sub∣jects of their Estates and Inheritances, that of all Princes he took the greatest care to secure their Rights. And where∣as

the practice of the Laws had been a long time corrupted with tricks and sub∣tilties for the advantage of the Exche∣quer, he cut them all off, and made such wise and strict Rules concerning Wills and Testaments, as secured the right Heir of his Estate against all Pretenders, but most of all against the Crown it self, abrogating all manner of Forfeitures to it. And in truth there are no greater In∣stances of Justice and clear dealing than his Laws de Testamentis: he has done the utmost that Man can do to prevent Frauds, and if the practice of the Courts were re••uced to the simplicity of his Laws, we should rarely hear of Suits a∣bout Wills and Testaments. Even that one Law of setting aside all Forms in the Case, and inquiring only into the plain and honest proof of the Will of the Te∣stator, as it would stifle most Controver∣sies, so it would shut out all delays, for dilatory Proceedings are never founded upon the merits of the Cause, but only upon formalities. Now 'tis hugely cre∣dible that this very Man, who dealt so very fairly with the World in this mat∣ter, that was so solicitous to secure every Man's right, and that for that end out off such vast Revenues from himself, should be so bereft of common Sense, as to go

about 〈◊〉〈◊〉 enrich himself by the most scandalous fraud and rapin. 'Tis a mad∣ness not incident to humane Nature to part with a just and settled Revenue, and at the same time make himself odious to all the World by the most barbarous Acts of Oppression.

Especially if we reflect upon the in∣considerable numbers of opprest Persons that this Author is able to muster up un∣der all his reign, only eight, and 'tis ve∣ry credible that he should for-go the vast profit that came without envy or regret from the Laws de caducis, be∣cause he did not make them, but found them in force from his Predecessors, and yet incur the hatred of his Subjects by such a mean oppression, and in compari∣son to the other of no value at all▪ for what were these eight Mens Estates, how great soever, if compared to the infinite Forfeitures throughout the whole Roman Empire? The absurdity of every cir∣cumstance in the Tale stares the Author of it in the face: but most of all when by these eight Persons he would prove that this was his constant practice all the World over. And of these eight he gives us only the names of five without any circumstance of matter of Fact, and in the other three he sets down the Story

so perversely, as to make one part of the same Tale a flat contradiction to the o∣ther. The first is the story of Zeno, whom he on purpose sent Governor into Egypt, who loading a Ship with a vast treasury of Gold, Silver and precious Stones, that was to follow him, Justinian prevails with some of Zeno's best friends to cast all the Goods over-board in the Haven of Constantinople, and then to fire the Ship, and make Zeno believe that all the Goods perisht in it, who dying not long after the Emperor siezed all his Goods by vertue of a forged Will, as 'tis reported. This as 'tis reported is a very saint end for an Accusation, for if it have no other proof but report, then it is a Tale without a Witness, and that is meer Tale. But beside this, as Dr. Rive ingeniously replies, were I to plead this Cause before a Court of Judicature I should not doubt to make out by a mul∣titude of clear and pregnant Proofs, that the Tale it self could never have dropt from the Mouth, I will not say of a learned or skilful Accuser, but of any Man of common Sense. For stories ought to be like Pictures, if not true yet at least probable, but this is all defyance to the very possibility of things. That so great a Treasure should be cast away so pri∣vately

in the most frequented Port in the World, that neither the Master of the Ship, nor the Sea-men, nor the Passen∣gers, nor the Servants should perceive it, no not any of his own Servants that he left on board to see the Goods conveyed. But when he had got the Goods into his own Possession by this de∣vice, what need had he to entitle him∣self to them by a forged Will? The fire gave him full possession of all, because the Estate was supposed to be lost, but after that to produce a Will to a lost Estate is only to betray the form••r Cheat. This is the substance of the learned Advocates Plea. So great an improbability suppor∣ted by so weak a foundation as meer Re∣port, must needs sink into nothing of its own accord. The next Instance is Basi∣lius a wealthy Man, who dying in the Garrison of Daras, the Governor forged a Will, by which the whole Estate was left to the Emperor. But if another for∣ged the Will ar so great a distance (for Daras was the last Town of the Empire upon the Confines of Persia,) what is that to the Emperor, how can any Man say that he was privy to it? But if you say 'tis likely. I think it is more likely, than that the Governor should contrive it meerly for the Emperor's profit with∣out

any advantage to himself, if he had given himself any share in the Estate or any good Legacy, the thing might have past, but to make no advantage of it to himself, when it was wholly in his own power, is a thing not credible of a Knave, nor indeed of any Man; nothing more certain than that saying, Nemo gratuitò fit improbus. The third instance is in the case of Anatolius a rich Senator who dy∣ing without Issue Male, by the old Cu∣stom the 4th part of the Estate ought to devolve to the Senate, but Justinian makes a Law that only the fourth part shall go to the Heirs, and the other three to his Exchequer. This is pure forgery, for there never were any such Laws heard of by any Man but himself. There was indeed a Law somewhat like it in another Case enacted by Theodosius and Valentinian of the Curiales, that if their Heirs did not continue in the Society, they should leave a fourth part of the Estate to their use. But of an old Law of forfeiting a fourth part of a Senator's Estate to the Senate, or of this new one of siezing three parts to the Emperor, no Man ever dream't, but this ignorant Barbarian. These are the grand Arti∣cles of this foul Accusation, and what credit they ought to have I may now

safely leave to the Verdict even of an Ig∣noramus Jury. The remainder of this Chapter is nothing but raving, for who but a mad Man would seriously report that Justinian and Theodora were Devils in good earnest, that his Mother had carnal Copulation with a Daemon that was his Father, that he was often s••en to walk up and down without his head up∣on his Shoulders, and that Theodora fa∣miliarly lay with Devils? Happy is the Man that can be fond of such a pleasant Historian. And yet Alemannus is in so good humour, as not only to believe it all, but to adorn it with large and learn∣ed Commentaries. Never was Author and Commentator better met. It is pi∣ty but he should have written Notes up∣on the Legend of St. Silvester, and the Dragon, that his Predecessor Baronius sets up as the best account of the Reign of Constantine against all the Records both of the Church and the Empire. Into such absurdities will fanatick Zeal drive the wisest and most learned Men. But above all the rest, his grave Apology to justifie this prudentissimus Scriptor (as he stiles him) in his folly, is most pleasant, viz. that it is a common Form of Speech in all Authors prophane and sacred, to give the title of Devil to Men eminently

wicked, as our Saviour calls Judas a De∣vil. That any Mans understanding should be sunk so low, as to satisfie it self with such trifles as these. When the wise Author says expresly, That he was no Metaphorical Devil, but a Devil in reali∣ty, and the Son of a Devil in good ear∣nest. And there if his learned Advocate cannot prevail with himself to believe it, notwithstanding his excuse he leaves his wise Author in the lurch to answer for the possibility of his Legend. Had I been in his stead to plead the Cause, I would have alledged the Precedents of Alexander the Great, and Scipio Africa∣nus, the two greatest Men of Greece and Rome, who••e Mothers are reported to have told the same story of being gallan∣ted by Incubuses; for though they are equally incredible, yet they have the Au∣thority of Ancient Tale, and have been frequently related by grave Historians, and this if set off with a serious Counte∣nance, might have been taking and plau∣sible, but to raise a silly Metaphorical Devil to supply the room of a real one, it is such a Rag of Excuse as utterly spoils the Story, and makes it look much more ridiculous than the naked Lie it self.

But if he were not a Devil with a clo∣ven foot, yet he was a Devil of Lust, and though he were very temperate and abstemious, yet he out-did a Satyr in wan∣tonness. But what Instance? what Proofs? what one Example? That a man should exceed all Mankind in the licentiousness of his Lust, and yet no one Act of it e∣ver be discovered. This Vice is not so discreet as to sec••re it self with that Se∣cresie that it designs, but especially in Princes it cannot avoid being publick. The crafty Augustus, as demurely as he look't, and as severe Laws as he made a∣gainst it, was publickly known to have been one of the most notorious Sinners of the Age. But as for Justinian, as he was more severe in his Laws against this Vice, than any of his Predecessors, so he was never charged with any one Breach of them. The Wife, the Daughter, the Servant that he debaucht, are to this day nameless. Whose Bed did he ever defile, whose Modesty did he ever attempt? was he ever so much as suspected of Love to any but his Empress? What rudeness then, what Malice, what Impudence is it in this Scribler to cast dirt upon such an eminent and unblemisht Chastity, without so much as attempting to al∣ledge any one proof or example of it?

and that alone is a demonstration of its falshood, for if he could have charged him with any one Fact, we know he owed him not so much kindness as to conceal it. But as he introduces the Ca∣lumny, he makes it more absurd, viz. That though he were very much given to fasting and watching, yet he was a De∣vil for Lust. These things hang very well together, a man much given all his life∣time to watching and fasting, and yet the very Priapus of the Age, an insatia∣ble Satyr, and exceeding the natural ca∣pacity of Makind in Lust. This is ano∣ther fair contradiction, and as consistent as his being black and white, tall and low, prodigal and covetous, an Ass and a Fox, a natural Fool and a crafty Knave, so blind a thing is Malice when it is over eager in the pursuit of its rage.

The next Twins of Vertue are his great kindness to, and great oppression of the Orthodox Christian Clergy. His favour to them was so exorbitant, that he would pro∣tect them in their frauds and oppressions, whenever they invaded other Mens Rights, and whenever the Cause was brought before him, he always judged on the side of the Ecclesiasticks. And so pre∣posterous was his Piety that he Committed all his Rapins to enrich and endow the

Christian Churches, though but just now they were all swept into his own Coffers. But with what cruelty he opprest the Christian Clergy the Author has several times promised to relate, but it seems ha∣ving a Treacherous Memory, as we find by the inconsistencies of his Tale, he at last forgot it, notwithstanding he has so often rubb'd it up in Cap. 10, 11, 26, 27. An ill Memory (they say) is very inconvenient for some sort of men, but a false one is very useful, it is an easie matter to excuse any ill-natur'd Sto∣ry under pretence of forgetfulness, and as easie to stab any innocent mans reputation only by suggesting some vile thing of him, as by broad direct slander. But here be∣hold our Vatican Apologist at his old knack of excuse-making. His Author, he says, had it all the while in his head, but unluckily forgot to let it out, and in∣tended no doubt, the hard usage of the Popes Silverius and Vigilius, and the A∣frican Bishops in the Contest about the tria Capitula. This excuse Dr. Rive caps with this Story, of a Jockey not less hap∣py in a forgetful Memory, who putting a Pad-Nag into a Friends hands upon Re∣putation, after the Bargain was ended, the Buyer seriously ask't him (as the Custom is) what faults he had, to which

he replies, that he knew only two, that he paced too easily, and eat too much; upon this home he goes with great joy of his Bargain, but he had not gone far, when he found both Horse and Rider in the Ditch; upon this taking a stricter Survey, he fi••ds his Palfrey stone-blind, returns to his Jockey and inveighs against him for so unfriendly a Cheat, who replies thus up∣on him: If, Sir, I had then thought of it, that the Horse had lost both his Eyes, I would have scorn'd to have put him into so good a Friends hands, but thinking of something else at that time, it was quite out of my mind. Just such is the Memo∣ry of the Author in declaring Justinian's faults and offences amongst the Clergy, he would have told what strange havock he made amongst them, but that as often as he came to mention it, it flipt out of his Memory. Of all his faults this was the greatest, it added Sacriledge to Op∣pression; his hard usage of other Sects is capable of a defence; but for a Prince to rob and trample down his own Clergy, 'tis the height of Barbarity, and there∣fore to leave it out in the Description of his Vices is the exact Story of the blind Horse. But he intended the ill usage of Pope Silverius, Vigilius, and the African Bishops in the Controversie of the tria Capitula.

This is pure conjecture, especially the guess of the tria Capitula, which it is evi∣dent from the ••ccount that Procopius has given of the disputes of those times, that he did nor understand. But however I have already discoursed both that, and the Case of Silverius and Vigilius, and that will be answer enough to Aleman∣nus his foul surmise of their barbarous treatment. Only I would advise him and the Roman Courtiers once more not to concern the Apostolick Chair in the Vindication of Vigilius, but rather to thrust him out of the List into the Cata∣logue of the Anti Popes, both because it is confest on all hands that he got into the Chair by Usurpation, when it was full already; and because his Actions were so foul, that no Wit, no Apology, no Candour can wipe off the Scandal. As for the Reverse of this Calumny, the Em∣perors exorbitant kindness and indul∣gence to the Christian Clergy, I must confess it was very great to a degree of fondness; we have seen above in his No∣vels what Endowments and Priviledges he setled upon the Church, what care he took to secure their setled Revenues, and to protect them against the oppressi∣on of great men. But that he ever run into any Act of Injustice out of Zeal

and partiality to their Interest, we have no one Instance upon Record, the only thing that can be pretended is his Grant to the Church of Emesa, of the Prescription of an hundred years, which as this Author tells the Story, was a very lewd act of Fraud and Op∣pression, but then the cheat was put up∣on the Emperor, as well as upon the Subjects that suffer'd by it. It is this, one Mammianus, a Man of a noble Fami∣ly and vast Wealth, had long before made the Church of Emesa his Heir. But it hapned that under Justinian one Pris∣cus was imployed to take the census of the Families of that City; who being dex∣terous at imitating other Mens hands, and diligently observing the hands of some of the Ancestors of some of the most wealthy Families, he draws upon them Bills and Bonds for great sums of Money to Mammianus, these he commu∣nicates to the Procurators of the Church, but because the Law of only 30 years prescription lay against them; they repair to the Emperor to relieve them in so pi∣ous and charitable a Suit, and he being satisfied with the piety of the Case is ea∣sily prevailed upon to grant to them and all other Churches a power of looking back to 100 years, whereas before 30

years prescription was a legal Bar to any claim▪ Upon this they put all their counterfeit Bonds in suit to the utter ru∣in of the best Families in the City. But Longinus a wise and an honest Man that the Emperor sent thither with a parti∣cular Commission to be Judg in this par∣ticular Cause, suspecting some cheat by the vast Sums of Money that were chal∣lenged, he therefore takes Priscus to task, commands him to bring in all his Bonds, but he refusing it, because that would put an end to the Plot he in a rage beats him, who upon it fearing that he had discover'd his Cheat, confesses all; and the Emperor being inform'd of it, and finding by this example the inconveni∣ence of this Law, that there would be no stopping of Frauds in behalf of the Church-Estates if they might be allow∣ed to claim against so many years pre∣scription, he repeals it, and because he would not utterly spoil his Courtesie, he takes it down from an hundred to forty years, and that was ten years more than any other Plaintiff was allowed. Now which way can the Emperor be blamed in all this Transaction, he had no ground to suspect the imposture, and then it was evident that great sums due to the Church had been basely embezel'd, and

to prevent such Abuses for the time to come he takes off the usual limits of Pre∣scription in Pleas of this Nature. And yet this impudent Libeller is so foolishly malicious, as contrary to the circum∣stances of his own story, to insinuate, as if the Emperor himself were privy to the design. Which if he were, how durst Longinus have so disgracefully exposed it, who if his Master had any such Plot must have been privy to it, because without him it could not be managed? and there∣fore when he so rudely spoil'd it, that shews both his own and his Masters ig∣norance of it, and he was so far from in∣curring his displeasure, that he was not long after advanced to the Prefecture of the City: If we may trust our Author, for otherwise I find no such Man as Lon∣ginus in all Justinian's Reign, and there∣fore cannot but suspect the whole story to be meer fiction. But granting its truth, the Emperor is innocent, and when our Author suggests that he was privy to it, he ought to have told us how himself came to know the Secret, and so indeed he ought to have done through his whole history, but to tell us that such prodigious things were done in the dark and with great secresie, and give us no account how he came to know them, is

but a very poor way of vouching for an history. These are the grand Articles of this Libel against this great Prince, for the following Chapters are little else than the same Rhapsody repeted, and things are heaped together so confusedly, so with∣out art and decency, as plainly proves, that so elegant a Writer as Procopius could never have writ it, but that the true Author was some unpolisht and unlearn∣ed Barbarian.

Notes

• De Bello Persico, lib. 1. cap. 12.
• De Bello Vand. l. 2. c. 8.
• Ibid. cap. 9.
• De Bello Goth. l. 1. c. 5.
• Corippi. 3.
• Sceleratissi∣mos quos{que} semper ad dignitates ne magistra∣tus evexit. Aleman. Praefat. p. 9.
• Cap. 11.
• Novel. 24, &c.
• Cap. 12.
• Cap. 29.
• Cap. 13.
• Cap. 28.