'r/Vi j> BR 1700 .H6 5 1845 "~v7Z~ Hook, Walter Farquhar, 179£ 1875. An ecclesiastical biography A> ECCLESIASTICAL BIOGRAPHY, CONTAINING THE fttbea of %lncitnt jFatfjera an& f&o&ern Efomes, INTERSPERSED WITH NOTICES OF HERETICS AND SCHISMATICS, FORMING A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHURCH IN EVERY AGE. BY WALTER FARQUHAR HOOK, D.D. VICAR OF LEEDS. VOL. IL. LONDON : P. AND j. rivington; PARKER, OXFORD J J. AND J. J. DEIGHTON, CAMBRIDGE T. HARRISON, LEEDS. 1846 LEEDS : G. CRAWSHAW, PRINTER. PREFACE. This Work will be continued in Monthly Parts, and be ready, as before, for delivery with the maga- zines. It is considered by many desirable to receive the work in Parts, as it enables them, without difficulty, to read it through, and so to obtain an acquaintance with Ecclesiastical History, as well as with the character and principles of our chief Saints and Divines. Arrangements have been made to pub- lish each future Part so as to render it complete in itself; that is to say, any biography which is com- menced will be given entire, although the average •number of pages (60) be exceeded, a proportionate deduction being made from the number of pages in the succeeding Part. The price is fixed as low as possible, and unless there were many subscribers to the work, it could not be maintained. PREFACE. It was stated in the former volume that, although the work is alphabetic ally arranged, a table would be given, so that it might be read chronologically ; and although the two first letters of the alphabet are not yet completed, the reader will perceive from the following table, that if he reads the Lives chrono- logically, he will have already a history of the Church, or of some considerable portion of it, in almost every century. Only those names are inserted in this table which belong to personages more or less engaged in the public transactions of their age. TABLE. CENTURY III. CENTURY VIII. St Anthony. Alcuin. St Alban. CENTURY X. CENTURY IV. (Elfric. St Athanasius. St Ambrose. CENTURY XI. St Augustine. St Basil. Arius. Aldred. Anselm. Aerius Aetius. CENTURY XII. Apolinarius. St Bernard. Arsenius. Alexander of Blois Basil of Ancyra. Baldwin. CENTURY Y. Barri. Becket. St Benedict. Breuys. CENTURY VI. Abelard. Arnold of Brescia. Augustine of Canterbury. CENTURY VII. CENTURY XIII. Adrian. Albertus Magnus Aidan. Thomas Aquinas Aldhelm. Agnelli. Bede. Boniface of Canterbury Benedict Biscop Bonaventure. TABLE. CENTURY XIV. Andreae. Arundel. Arminius. Bradwarden. Barlow. Biddle. Ailly. Brown. CENTURY XV. CENTURY XVII Beaufort, Cardinal. Bancroft. Bo-urcher. Andrewes. Adrian de Castello. Abbot. Aleander. Alleine. Bassarion. Allestree. Ambrose. CENTURY XVI. Arnauld. Beaton. Asheton. Beccold. Baronius. Beza. Barrow Bilney. Barwick. Bonner. Basire Bourn. Baxter. Bale. CENTURY XVII Aylmer. Alan. Atterbury. Baro. Bedell. Barnes. Berkeley. Adamson. Beveridge. Agricola. Bossuet. Ainsworth. Blackburne. Alley. Blackwell. Alsop. Alexander. Anderson. Badcock. ECCLESIASTICAL BIOGRAPHY Basil, Saint. Saint Basil the great was born at Csesarea, in Cappadocia, about the year 329. His parents were person s of rank and wealth, distinguished yet more by their Christian virtues, who had fled to the wilds of Pontus, during the Maximinian persecution. His grand- father on the mother's side had received the crown of martyrdom. His father, whose profession was that of rhetoric, was named Basil, and his mother's name was Emmelia Under them he received a Christian education, but he expresses himself as peculiarly indebted for the formation of his mind, to his grandmother Macrina. In writing to the Church of Neocsesarea, in after years, he says, " what clearer evidence can there be of my faith, than that I was brought up by my grandmother, blessed woman, who came from you? I mean the celebrated Macrina, who taught me the words of the blessed Gregory ; (Gregory Thaumaturgus ;) which, as far as memory had preserved down to her day, she cherished herself, while she fashioned and formed me, being yet a child, upon the doctrines of piety." And afterwards : "I have many subjects of self-reproach, but thanks to the grace of God, I have never given in to any false doctrine, nor varied in my sentiments ; having always preserved those which my blessed mother and my grandmother Macrina inspired in me : these good principles have developed themselves with my understanding as I have advanced in years, but the seed was sown in me in my earliest youth, and such as it VOL. II. A 2 BAS. was, such has it brought forth.'' It is sometimes said that the sons of widows generally turn out well : and this is doubtless because of the many promises of God to the father- less and widow : but in viewing second causes, we may say that it is because so much of female tenderness, mixed with consistent discipline, is brought to bear on the manly character. No really great man, certainly no good man, can exist, unless the heart has been cultivated as well as the intellect ; unless to a powerful understanding be united an affectionate disposition : aucl of the two, the cultivation of the heart in man, the encouragement of the more gentle sympathies and sentiments of our nature, is even more important than the exercise of the mental faculties ; though the character cannot be properly formed, unless to both points attention be directed. This will account for the fact that almost every man distinguished for a union of virtue with genius, has been able to trace his excellence to maternal, or at least to female superintendence in his education. To this rule, we have seen that St Basil formed no exception. St Basil was eminently happy also in his father, who, when he found him sufficiently grounded in the truth, sent him, for the further education of his mind, first to Caesarea, and then to Constantinople. At the former place he became acquainted with St Gregory Nazianzen, with whom he renewed his friendship on his removal to Athens, where they both met again, being sent there, as we should say, " to complete their education," though in truth the education of a Christian mind never ceases. The Christian Church is a school in which we take lessons in godliness as long as life lasts. The characters of Basil and of Gregory were so different, that later in life mis- understandings occurred between them, without, however, any permanent violation of that friendship which was founded on a mutual admiration of each other's excel- lence. But the friendship, it would seem, commenced, and perhaps was kept up, by Gregory's extreme admiration of Basil ; although Basil returned Gregory's affection, the BAS. 3 enthusiasm of friendship was on Gregory's side. It was in the year 351 that Basil entered the university of Athens and found Gregory there, ready and anxious to protect his friend from those little annoyances to which fresh-men were exposed, but which the sedate disposition of Basil was likely to resist. St Gregory gives us an interesting account of the mode of living among the young men of Athens, and in his funeral oration on the death of St Basil, he adverts with his usual enthusiasm to days gone by : " How dear," he says, " is Athens to my remembrance ! It was there that I learned really to know Basil. I went there in search of knowledge, and I found happiness. We soon became every thing to each other ; the same roof sheltered as the same table served us ; even the same thoughts occupied our minds. We pursued our studies with equal ardour ; we each sought success, that great object of jealousy among men, and yet envy was unknown between us. We disputed, we argued, not for the honour of pre-eminence, but for the pleasure of yield- ing it. It seemed as if our bodies were animated by the same soul. Our daily occupation was the practice of virtue : the care of living for our eternal hopes, and that of detaching ourselves from this world, before we should be called upon to quit it. Nothing was more noble in our eyes than the endeavour to exalt each other above material things, and increase our faith. We estranged ourselves from such of our fellow students as were irregular in their conduct or language, and associated only with those whose conversation might be profitable to us. Our feet were familiar with only two streets ; one to the church, and to the holy teachers and doctors who there attended the service of the altar, aud nourished the flock of Christ with the food of life ; the other, which we held in less esteem, to the schools, where we listened to our masters in the sciences. Spectacles, diversions, and banquets, we aban- doned to those who were unfortunate enough to take pleasure in them. The sole business of our existem 4 BAS. most glorious prerogative in our eyes, was to be called Christians, and to be such." In the year 357 Basil left Athens, though strongly urged and entreated by his fellow-students, and even his master, to remain longer among them, and hastened, through Constantinople, to Caesarea, in the hope of seeing his father, who was dangerously ill. This venerable parent was dead before his arrival ; and settling at Ceesarea Basil began to practise at the bar. The success, and even adulation, which Basil had received at Athens, had evidently subjected him to a temptation which he found it the more difficult to overcome when, in his practice at the bar, a similar success and admiration attended him. He was beginning to think extravagantly of his own abilities, and to encourage feelings of vanity, (being indeed not only eloquent as a speaker, but equally skilled in languages, science, and literature,) when he found a timely monitor in his sister Macrina. He had benefited too much by female instruction in his childhood, to think scom of woman's advice in his later years ; and the sister who bore his venerated grandmother's name, succeeded in her endeavours to awaken him to a sense of his danger. St Basil, in his 233rd epistle, describes both his feelings and his course of conduct: "After long time spent in vanity, and almost the whole of my youth vanishing in the idle toil of studying that wisdom which God has made folly, at length, roused as from a deep sleep, I gazed upon the marvellous light of Gospel truth, and discerned the unprofitableness of the wisdom taught by the perishing authorities of this world ; much did I bewail my wretched life, and pray that guidance would be vouchsafed to me for an entrance into the doctrines of godliness. And above all was it a care to me to reform rny heart, which the long society of the corrupt had perverted. So when I read the Gospel . and perceived thence that the best start towards perfection was to sell my goods and share them with indigent brethren, and altogether to be reckless of BAS. this life, and to rid my soul of all sympathy with things on earth, I earnestly desired to find some brother who had made the same choice, and who might take the voyage with me over the brief waves of this life. Many did I find in Alexandria, many in the rest of Egypt, and in Palestine in Ccele-Syria and Mesopotamia, whose abstinence and endurance I admired, and whose constancy in prayer L was amazed at, how they overcame sleep, being broken by no natural necessity, bearing ever a high and free spirit in hunger and thirst, in cold and nakedness, not regarding the body, nor enduring to spend any thought upon it, but living as if in flesh not their own ; how they showed in deed what it is to sojourn in this world ; what it is to have our conversation in heaven. Admiiing and extolling the life of these men, who could so in deed carry about with them the dying of the Lord Jesus, I desired that 1 myself, as far as I could attain, might be an imitator of them." In reference to the determination of Basil, to adopt a monastic kind of life, Mr Newman remarks, " that in the early ages it was scarcely possible to attain that state of life which a pious clergyman desires to lead, except in monastic institutions : but which in our favoured country, where Christianity has been long established, is, in its substance, the privilege of ten thousand parsonages up and down the land /" Who does not wish that the highly-gifted writer of the passsage just quoted would always thus think and speak of his holy mother, the venerated church of Eng- land ; and that, while aware of the disadvantages under which we labour, he could also see as clearly now, as when he penned this passage, the many advantages with which we are blessed ! The course of discipline which is neces- sary in one age of the Church, may not be expedient in another, though the principle is in all ages the same, — the principle of self-discipline and self-denial, for the edification of our souls in godliness, and the promotion of God's glory. The situation which St Basil cho^e for his retreat \^as BAS. a desert spot in Pontus. In this retreat he had several followers, and they passed their time in devotional exercises, works of charity, and the study of sacred litera- ture. Gregory would gladly have shared his retreat, but was retained by sacred duties in the bosom of his family. In answer to Basil's urgent invitation to join him, Gregory writes thus : " I have not, it is true, stood to my word ; having pro- tested, ever since our friendship and union of heart at Athens, that I would be your companion, and follow a strict life wdth you. Yet I act against my wish : duty is annulled by duty, the duty of friendship by the duty of filial reverence At the same time, I still shall be able to perform my promise in a measure, if you will accept thus much. I will come to you for a time, if, in turn, you will give me your company here ; thus we shall be quits in friendly service, while we have all things common. And thus I shall avoid distressing my parents, without losing you." St Basil himself gives an account of his retreat, which, though Gregory was facetious upon it, and represents some of its charms as owing their lustre to the brightness of his friend's imagination, must be substantially correct : "What we have often delighted to picture in our imaginations, it is at length granted me to see in reality. I have before me a high mountain clothed with a thick forest, watered on the north side by fresh and limpid streams ; at the foot of this mountain is spread a plain perpetually fertilized by the waters which fall from the surrounding heights, whilst the forest, encircling it with trees of every variety, self- planted, in all the wildness of nature, serves it at once as a boundary and a defence. The island of Calypso would appear nothing after it, though Homer admired it, above all others, for its beauty. The place is divided into two deep valleys : on one side the river, which precipitates itself from the j)eak of the mountain, forms a long barrier in its course, difficult to surmount ; and on the other the wide ridge of the mountain, which communicates with the BAS. 7 valley only by a few winding intricate paths, shuts out all passage, — there is but one means of access, and of that we are the masters. My dwelling is built on one of the slopes of the mountain, the extremity of which juts out like a promontory. From it I survey the opening plain, and follow the course of the river, more delightful to me than the Strymon is to the inhabitants of Amphipolis ; the still and lazy waters of the Strymon, indeed, scarcely deserve the name of a river : but this, the most rapid I have ever seen, breaks against the rocks, and, thrown back again by them, falls headlong into foaming waves, and precipitates itself into the deep gulph below ; affording at once a most delightful spectacle, and an abundant supply of food, for there is an astonishing quantity of fish in its waters. Shall T speak of the fragrant dews of the earth, the freshness which exhales from the river? Another would describe the variety of the flowers, and the songs of the birds, but to these I have no leisure to pay attention. What I have to say the best of all of the spot is, that, along with the abundance of every thing, it affords like- wise, what is to me the sweetest of all, — and that is. tranquillity. It is not only far removed from the noise of cities, but it is not even visited by travellers, except some- times by a few hunters who come among us ; for we also have our wild beasts : not the bears and wolves of your mountains, but troops of stags, herds of wild goats, hares, and other animals as inoffensive. Pardon me, then, for having flown to this asylum ; Alcmeon himself stopped when he came to the islands of the Echinades." It is not, however, change of place that can immediately give change of heart ; and Basil, with his characteristic frankness, acknowledged to Gregory in another letter, that he found it more difficult to effect this than he had imagined. "I recognize," says he, "in the sentiments of your letter the hand which has traced them, as in looking at a child, we are reminded of its parents by a family likeness. You write to me that the place I have chosen for my BAS. retreat makes no difference to you : that all you desire is to know my mode of life, that you may come and join me in it. Such a thought is every way worthy of one like yourself, who annexes no importance to the things of this world, in comparison with the beatitudes which are pro- mised us in the next. ' How do I pass,' you ask, ' my days and nights in the retirement in which I am now living '?' Must I tell you ? Alas ! it will not be without confusion. I have left cities and their turmoil behind me. I have renounced every thing in them without regret, but I have not yet been able to renounce myself. I compare myself to voyagers who have not got accustomed to the sea, and to whom the motion of the vessel imparts the most uncomfortable sensations, because, in quitting land, they still bring on board with them the bile with which their stomach was overloaded. This is exactly tin- state in which I am. As long as ever we carry about with us the germs of the maladies that torment us, the place makes no difference : we shall find every where the same sorrowful results. I will confess to you, then, that I have not yet experienced any great benefit from my solitude. What, then, is to be done, and how, then, ought we to act, in order to follow faithfully in the steps of the Master who has opened to us the way of salvation, saying, ' If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.' Thus it is that we must act ; we must, in the first place, labour to keep our minds in a calm and uniform consistency. When the eyes are accustomed to wander about in all directions, it becomes impossible to fix them on any object so steadfastly as to consider it under every point of view ; yet we must look at it earnestly, to make it out entirely. It is the same with tli;' mind ; when it is divided by the solicitudes of the world, it cannot concentrate its attention upon the determinate nature of truth, .... He who is not yet yoked in the bonds of matrimony, is harassed by frenzied cravings, and rebellious impulses, and hopeless attach- ments ; he who has found his mate is encompassed with BAS. 9 his own tumult of cares : if he is childless, there is desire of children ; has he children ? anxiety about their educa- cation, attention to his wife, care of his house, oversight of his servants, misfortunes in trade, quarrels with his neighbours, lawsuits, the risks of the merchant, the toil of the farmer. Each day, as it comes, darkens the soul in its own way : and night after night takes up the day's anxieties, and cheats the mind with illusions in accord- ance. Now one way of escaping all this is separation from the whole world. What I mean by the expression, separa- tion from the world, is not merely to remove the body to a distance from it, but to detach all our affections from it ; to relinquish country, home, society, business, inter- ests, human sciences ; absolutely to divorce ourselves from all, in order that our souls may be entirely at liberty to receive the impressions the Lord may be pleased to make upon them. We cannot imprint new characters upon wrax, till wTe have effaced the old ones : in the same manner the divine instructions cannot find place in a heart pre-occupied by all the ideas connected with the usual affairs of life. " One of the first benefits to be derived from retirement is the imposing silence on the disorderly movements of our own hearts, and affording the calm to reason, that is necessary to enable us to conquer our passions, which, like ferocious beasts, are only to be subjugated by being bowed under the yoke. Let us, then, suppose a solitude such as the desert in which I now am, far from the com- merce of mankind, where the pious exercises of a religious life, being uninterrupted by outward things, afford con- tinual nourishment to the soul. Can you imagine a felicity more desirable than that of imitating on earth that life which the angels lead in heaven ? To commence the day with prayers and sacred melodies, which bring us into immediate communication with our Creator; con- tinuing it by the same exercises, mingling with our labour the holy songs which give it its sweetest relish, and diffuse such delicious consolations over the soul as constantly to 10 BAS. keep it in a state of ravishing serenity ? It is by this majestic equilibrium in the movements of the soul, that we are purified : by not permitting the tongue to indulge in idle conversation ; the eyes to dwell on the vain glory of mere outward things ; the ears to introduce to the soul any thing of effeminancy or frivolity, mere mundane music, or the heartless jests of trifling minds. " The soul, secured by these precautions from exterior diversion, and the attacks of the senses, retires within itself, and elevates its own nature to the contemplation of the Deity. Enlightened by the rays which shine forth from His divine essence, it rises above its own weakness ; freed from temporal cares, corporeal necessities, and affec- tions of earth, it devotes all its powers to the search after immortal good, and makes its sole occupation to consist in the practice of temperance, prudence, fortitude, justice, — in a word, of all the virtues that compose the code of Christian morality. " The surest way to understand thoroughly all that is required of us, is to meditate upon the Holy Scriptures, which bring before our eyes at once the precepts necessary for the direction of our conduct, and the examples of virtue best calculated to serve us as models. Hence, in whatever respect each one feels himself deficient, devoting himself to this imitation, he finds, as from some dispensary, the due medicine for his ailment. He who is enamoured of chastity, dwells upon the history of Joseph, and from him learns chaste actions, finding him not only possessed of self-command over pleasure, but virtuously-minded in habit. He is taught endurance from Job. Or, should he be inquiring how to be at once meek and great-hearted, hearty against sin, meek towards men, he will find David noble in warlike exploits, meek and unruffled as regards revenge on enemies. Such, too, was Moses, rising up with great heart upon sinners against God, but with meek soul bearing their evil speaking against himself. These meditations ought to be succeeded by prayer, which strengthens the energy of the soul, by the flame of divine BAS. 11 love it kindles in it. Prayer also diffuses light over the mysteries of the divine essence. Prayer makes the soul the residence of God Himself, by filling its intelligence and perceptions with a profound impression of His pre- sence : it makes the Christian a temple of the divinity ; a sanctuary which neither the cares nor the revolutions that agitate the world, nor the lawless affections which make all our misery, dare venture to approach : separated from every thing beside, it then communes only with God. " One of the first objects of our care in a religious com- munity ought to be so to regulate our conversation, as to contract the habit of proposing questions to each other, without any mixture of a disputatious spirit, and of giving our answers without any pretension to superiority ; never to interrupt any one who may be speaking of some- thing useful ; to refrain from endeavouring to shine in conversation ; to love to learn, without feeling ashamed at our need of learning ; to impart what we know, without suffering our vanity to be gratified by imparting it, and without hiding from ourselves or others the source whence we may have derived our information, but always making known, with gratitude, to whomsoever we may be indebted for it. The sound of the voice should also be attended to, that we may draw neither too much, nor too little attention by it. Let us always reflect well on what we are going to say, before we give it utterance ; let us show ourselves polite, attentive, affectionate in our language, but let us not lend our ears to any thing of light or foolish jesting, — let us, on the contrary, mildly check, by friendly remonstrance, those who may be in the habit of indulging in it. We ought never to allow ourselves any harshness, either of manner or tone, even to recall to duty those who may have suffered themselves to wander from it. Always in matters of exhortation place yourself in the lowest place : you are sure by that means to gain him who may have need of your advice. In such cases we cannot do better than take for our model the prophet, who, charged with the rebuking of David in his sin, does not pronounce, 12 BAS. in his own person, the sentence of condemnation on him, but borrowing the character of a stranger, in which to make his appeal to the king's individual judgment, leaves him, when he pronounces sentence against him, no plea for complaint against his accuser." In all these precepts we have the rules which Basil himself felt it necessary to impose on his own infirmities, and thus they became an indirect expression of his acute sense of his own imperfections. With what humility does he also express himself on the same subject to his friend Amphilochus : — " I have indeed renounced the world," he says, " as far as with- drawing myself from communication with it may be to renounce it ; but I feel that the man of the world still lives in me. You know I have practised at the bar, hence I have contracted a habit of speaking too much. I am not sufficiently on my guard against the thoughts which the evil one suggests to me ; I find difficulty in relinquishing the favourable opinion I had entertained of myself, — in a word, my whole soul has need of being renewed and purified, before I can contemplate, without impediment, the wonders and glory of my God." It was nevertheless with inward and sweet consolation that Basil began to see, in the way of life he had em- braced, the means afforded him of gradual approach to that perfection of the regenerate which was the object of all his most ardent desires. "It is certain," says he, again addressing his Mend Gregory, " that retirement from the world affords great assistance towards the attainment of this end : it calms and subdues the passions, and gradually induces a habit of sacred meditation." At a future period, when he found himself more and more strengthened in his renunciation of every thing that had formerly tended to engender in him a vain-glorious spirit and worldly desires, he was enabled to write thus to Eusebius : " I have lost much time from having spent my youth BAS. 13 in the study of vain sciences, and the acquirement of that worldly wisdom which is foolishness in the sight of God ; but now these wretched illusions are dispersed ; I deplore the uselessness of my past life ; I see the emptiness of the acquirements which serve no other end than to inflate us with vain-glory, and the wonderful light of the Evan- gelists is become my sole treasure. It was indeed incum- bent upon me to reform my habits, which retained but too much of the long commerce I had had with the chil- dren of this world." Basil was joined by his friend in 359. Their happiness on this reunion, and the manner in which they passed their time, may be described by St Gregory, when in writing to his friend he says : "Who shall make me as in months past, as in the days when I had the luxury of suffering hardship with you ? since voluntary pain is higher than involuntary comfort. Who shall restore me to those psalmodies, and vigils, and departures to God through prayer, and that (as it were) immaterial and incorporeal life ? or to that union of brethren, in nature and soul, who are made gods by you, and carried on high? or to that rivalry in virtue and sharpening of heart which we consigned to written decrees and canons ? or to that loving study of divine oracles, and the light we found in them, with the guidance of the Spirit? or, to speak of lesser and lower things, to the bodily labours of the day, the wood-drawing and the stone-hewing, the planting and the draining ? or that golden plane, more honourable than that of Xerxes, under which, not a jaded king, but a weary monk did sit, — planted by me, watered by Apollos, (that is, your honourable self,) increased by God, unto my honour ; that there should be preserved with you a memo- rial of my loving toil, as Aaron's rod that budded, was, as Scripture says and we believe, kept in the ark. It is very easy to wish all this, not easy to gain. Do you, however, come to me, and revive my virtue, and work with me ; and, whatever benefit we once gained together, preserve VOL. II. B 14 BAS. for me by your prayers, lest otherwise I fade away by little and little, as a shadow, while the day declines. For you are my breath, more than the air, and so far only do I live, as I am in your company, either present, or, if absent, by your image." At this period, St Gregory, though he enjoyed the society of his friend, indulged himself in some pleasantry on the subject of St Basil's mode of living. The austeri- ties of Basil did indeed become severe : Gregory tells us, after St Basil's death, that " he had but one tunic and one outer garment ; a bed on the ground, little sleep, no luxurious bath : his pleasantest meal consisted of bread and salt, and his drink that sober liquor of which there is no stint, which is elaborated in the gushing spring." The Ascetica of St Basil are supposed to have been written by him during his retreat: we say "supposed," because the genuineness of these treatises is disputed. At what time Basil was ordained is doubtful, but he was certainly a deacon in 359, when he attended a council held before Constantius, at Constantinople, to oppose the x\nomoeans. In 362 he was again summoned from his retirement, to attend the death bed of Dianius, bishop of Caesarea, to whom St Basil was personally attached, though to his principles he was much opposed. Dianius had taken part against St Athanasius, but seems rather to have been opposed to the policy of the Nicene test, with respect to the Homo-ousion, than really heretical. He was one of those who would not quarrel about a word, and had not sense to see that in that word the whole controversy was in fact involved ; which is indeed always forgotten by those who, in the exercise of their wit display their ignorance, and think it a matter of ridicule that the whole Church, even the world, was convulsed for the sake of an iota, the difference between Homo-ousion and Homoiousion. But so it was ; and Dianius, being weak and liberal, iie signed, in the year 360, the formulary of the council BAR. 15 of Ariminum, in which the orthodox test of the Homo ousion being given up, the catholic doctrine was evaded, under the pretence of expressing it only in the words of Scripture. St Basil had ceased from that time to hold intercourse with him, until summoned, as we have stated, to his death bed, when he had the satisfaction of hearing his friend express in his last hours, his hearty adherence to the Nicene formulary. The Church was at this period in a critical situation. The apostate Julian was on the throne, prepared to assail her from without, and the Arian, or low church faction, were rending her vitals within. In this juncture, the bishop of Caesarea being dead, the people had the folly to insist upon the election of Eusebius, who was only a catechumen, and consequently " a novice," and the pre- lates had the weakness to yield to their violence, and to consecrate him to the vacant bishopric. But the first step taken by Eusebius was a wise one. Feeling his inadequacy to the duties imposed upon him, he secured the services of Basil, and, ordaining him priest in the year 364, acted in all things according to his advice. The awful responsibilities, rather than the dignity of the ministerial office, pressed upon the minds of Chris- tians at this period, and it was contrary to his own wishes that Basil received ordination. It was therefore with congenial feelings that he read a letter from Gregory, in which the latter said : " We have both of us been made priests agaiDst our inclinations; perhaps it might have been better for us never to have been raised to the sacer- dotal office. This, however, is all that I will say on the subject; for I am not fully conscious what have been the views of God respecting us. Since our lot is cast, it is our duty to submit ourselves to it, above all, on account of the times in which we live, when the tongues of heretics are let loose against us on every side, and to do nothing which may fall below either the hopes that are conceived respect- ing us, or the life which we have hitherto led." The times were the more difficult, because there was a large body in 16 BAS. the Church, the Semi-arians, with whom the generous spirit of Basil sympathized, who were rather perplexed by the various explanations, refinements, and distinctions to which the Arian controversy had given rise, than perversely heterodox ; who opposed the Arians, from whom they had emanated, and shewed an inclination, after the death of Constantius, in 361, to conform to the doctrine of the Church. Basil's tenderness to these persons involved him in difficulties and suspicion throughout his life. But not- withstanding all the difficulties he had to encounter, his labours as a priest were eminently successful. He fre- quently preached every day in the week, and as a record of his labour we still possess his " Hexaemeron," or nine homilies on the six days of creation, which may be found in the first volume of the Benedictine edition of his works. " The simplest," says his brother, Gregory of Nyssa, " could comprehend his discourses, whilst the wisest admired them." But he preached more especially by the eloquence of his example. He retained in the world the recollected spirit of a recluse, and his life was as regular in the midst of his many avocations, as if he had no other duty to attend to, but the inspection of himself. Eusebius became jealous. A dispute ensued, which ended in a separation. The separation after the dispute was necessary, for the attachment of the people to Basil was so strong, that it would have been impossible for him, had he continued in his post, to prevent their forming a faction against their bishop, especially as their favourite Basil was the injured party. A weak, a wicked, or an am- bitious man, however much he may retain the semblance of piety, can never resist the temporary importance of one who is enabled to place himself at the head of a faction. Many a soul has been ruined by this : though to be the head of a faction requires little intellect ; the only thing requisite, is that flexibility of principle which will enable persons to act together under the most degrading of all bonds, though it is always the bond of religious faction, the bond, not of love, but hatred, — hatred directed to a BAS. 17 common object. St Basil was a true churchman ; a man of God ; and as such was prepared to suffer, rather than injure the Church or damage his own soul. Once again, therefore, he quitted Caesarea, and retired not unwillingly to his monastic seclusion in Pontus. St Gregory Nazian- zen accompanied him, and there, in the serenity of his monastery, and in the society of his friend, he was permitted during three years of retirement, to prepare his soul for the greater trials which awaited him. For the times were not such as to permit a man of Basil's energy and genius to continue long in seclusion. Valens, the emperor, was a heretic, and determined to establish heresy on the ruins of Catholicism : he had already made havoc of the Church of Galatia, and was proceeding to do the same damage to the Church of Cappa- docia, expecting to make great gain of the divisions there, and the absence of Basil, and being supported by an army, as Gregory describes it, worthy of such a chief, and ready to commit any atrocity ; by bishops without piety, and by governors of provinces 'without humanity. He tried, indeed, the arts of profane governments, and by promises of protection and preferment, sought to win Basil to his side ; but Basil, true to his principles, had been reconciled to Eusebius, and was found at his post, man- fully contending for the faith once delivered to the saints, and utterly defeating the godless machinations of Valens, who was, in the words of Gregory, equally distinguished for the love of money and the hatred of Christ,