X ,/\ ;%_ Til 1 ■■■ / A COMPENDIOUS ABSTRACT OF THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST. PROM ITS FIRST FOUNDATION TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. A faithful and circumstantial Account of the Acts of the Apos- tles ; of the Lives of the Primitive Christians ; of the general Per- secutions raised against them by the Pagan Emperors ; of the CEcumenical Councils ; of the chief Pastors ; of the Condem- nation of ancient Heresies ; of the defective Systems of Pagan Philosophy; of the Dispersion of the Jews, the Destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, and the vain Attempt of the Em- peror Julian to re-build it ; of the Downfal of idolatry r ; of the Suppression of Schisms ; of the Conversion of Nations ; of the Rise of Mahometanism ; of the Crusades : WITH SEVERAL OTHER REMARKABLE EVENTS AND OCCURRENCES. ILLUSTRATED WITH A brief detail of the eminent Virtues and Apostolic Labours of the holy Fathers, learned Doctors, ecclesiastical Writers, re- nowned Martyrs, and other great Saints, who have flourished in every Age down to the present, &c. u Upon this Hock I -will build my Church, and the Gates of Hetl " shall not prevail against her. 99 St Matt. c. 16, y. 18, By the Rev. WILLIAM GAHAN, O. S. A. Frem the last Dublin edition, -with very considerable additions, NEW-YORK; /Mated by J. Seymour, No. 49, Jobn-strest 1814 - CONTENTS. *$fc* page CHAPTER I. The wonderful wisdom and goodness dis- played by Jesus Christ in the formation of his Church. 13 II. The Apostles begin the great work of the conversion of the world, and establish a Church in the city of Jeru- salem. 19 HI. The gates of the Church are opened to the Gentiles, and the Apostles announce ihe happy tidings of salvation to dif- ferent nations. 27 IV. The stupendous progress of the Christian Religion, and the happy effects it produced in the world. 35 V. The necessity of the Christian Religion evinced from the defective systems of Pagan, Philosophy. 4& VI. The means established by the Apostles for preserving the Christian tteligion in its primitive purity. 50 VII. All the Apostles crowned with martyrdom. 58 VIII. The destruction of Jerusalem, and the dispersion of the Jewish nation. 6£ IX. The three first general persecutions. 67 X. The Church of the second century. 73 XI. The fourth and fifth general persecutions. 93 XII. The Church of the third century. 100 XIII. The five last general persecutions. 121 XIV. The persecutors of the Church overtaken in this life by the avenging justice of God. 133 XV. The Church of the fourth century. 133 XVI. The Emperor Julian apostatizes, and attempts to re- establish Paganism, &c. 189 XVII. Of the persecutions raised by Valens, the Vandals, and Persians ; and of the second general council, under Theodosius the Great. 195 XVIII. The Church of the fifth century. 202 XIX. The Church of the sixth century. 221 XX. The demolition of old Pagan Rome, and the rise of new Christian Rome from its ashes. 236 XXI. The Church of the seventh century. 244 XXII. The rise and progress of Mahometanism. 250 XXHl. The Church of the eighth century. 255 XXIV. The Church of the ninth century. 267 XXV. The revival of the Western Empire, &c. by Chstrles the Great. 273 XXyi. The Church of the tenth century, 278 IV CONTEXTS. XXVII. The Church of the eleventh century. 28a XXVIII. Of the Crusades and military orders. £95 XXIX. The Church of the twelfth century. 302 XXX. The Church of the thirteenth century. 312 XXXI. The Church of the fourteenth century. 325 XXXil. The Church of the fifteenth century. 330 XXXIII. The seventeenth general council, held at Florence for the extinction of the Greek schism, Sec. 338 XXXIV. The Church of the sixteenth century. 344 XXXV. The re-buiMing of St. Peter's Church at the Vati- can, Sec. S51 XXXVI. The rise of Lutheranism in Germany, of Calvin- ism in France, of Socinianism in Tuscany, Poland* Sec. 361 XXXVII. The Church of the seventeenth century. 374 XXXVIir, The ChUrcli of : PREFACE jV knowledge of what concerns the Church of Christ, is the more interesting and the more necessa- ry, as the Church is the sacred organ, by which God speaks to his people, and discovers to them the great truths of eternity. This is the plain, easy, comprehensive, and certain rule, that Jesus Christ has appointed for teaching mankind what they are to believe, and what they are to do, in order to se- cure their salvation. By following this rule, the faithful are preserved in the unity of the same reli- gious sentiments, and prevented from being carried about by every wind of doctrine, as the Apostle says, Ephes. c. 4. v. 14. In fact, it is by this means ajone that we know for certain that the Scrip- ture itself is the genuine word of God, and that Christians of the weakest capacity, who cannct read, and who are incapable of examining or inter- preting the Scriptures, come to the knowledge of the true sense and meaning of them, and are instruct-* ed in many points of the Christian religion, which the Written Word does not contain. Hence it is, that after professing in the Apostles' creed our belief in the ever blessed Trinity, the In? carnation, and the other sublime mysteries of our redemption, the very next article that is subjoined to them, is that of the Holy Catholic Church, it be- ing the next in importance to these Divine Truths* and the sacred canal, through which the revelation of them is conveyed to us with every degree of cer- tainty. This article of the creed is a most convincing proof both of the continual existence of the church A2 \l PREFACE. upon Earth, and of all those signal prerogatives, with which Christ has adorned and distinguished her ; for as it was a divine revealed truth, when the creed was made by the inspired Apostles, that Christ had then an holy Catholic Church upon Earth, so it is no less a divine truth, that he has an holy Ca- tholic Church upon Earth at present, that he had such a Church in all ages ever since the Creed was made, and that he will have such a Church to the end of the world, because the Creed and every article of it must be true at all times. It would be blasphemous to suppose any article of it to be false, as every article of it stands upon the same ground with all the other sacred truths of faith, that is, upon the Divinfc Revelation, and consequently must be equally believed at all times. By the Church is meant, a congregation or so- ciety composed cf pastors teaching, and of the peo- ple who are taught. Taken in its most ample sig- nification, it consists cf all the posterity of Adam, who belong to Christ by faith, and thus compre- hends the people of God through the whole period of the e^ustence of mankind. Christ himself is the supreme head of this great mystical body, as St. Paul teaches us, Ephe?. c. 1. v. 22. It is he who merited grace and glory for all the saints of the old Testament. There is no Salvation for men but through him. There is no other name under Heaven, by which we are to be saved, Acts 1 . v. 12. He took away the wall of separation that divided the Jews and Gentiles. He united them and made them one peo- ple, called the Christian people. The members of the Church being in different states or conditions, are distinguished into different Classes, which com- pose the three parts of the Church, usually called the Church Triumphant, the Church Suffering, and the Church Militant The first is called the Church triumphant^ because the saints in Heaven, of whom fBEFACE. VII it is composed, are now triumphing in the possession of eternal glory, after having fought manfully here on Earth and conquered all the enemies of their souls. The souls in Purgatory are called the Church Suffering, because they are in a state of suffering and purgation, until they are pure enough to be ad- mitted into Heaven. The faithful on Earth are call- ed (he Church Militant, because they are still in the field of battle, engaged in a spiritual warfare with the enemies of their salvation^ St. John in the Apocalypse, describing the Church triumphant, says, that " he saw great multitudes of " saints and martyrs, and of holy virgins in Heaven* " who follow the Lamb wherever he goes, — re= a deemed to God in his blood, out of every tribe*, " and tongue and people, — clothed with white " robes, and palms in their hands, — casting their " crowns before the throne of God. — felling down " upon their faces, and adoring God, — serving him '* day and night in his temple, — saying Holy, Holy, " Holy, Lord God Almighty, — benediction, and " glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honour, u and power, and strength to our God for ever and " ever. Amen." The Prophet Isaias, c. 35. foretelling the glories of the church militant, describes her as a way of ho- liness, that leads to eternal happiness, and forms to virtue and sanctity such as are one day to people Heaven. The Prophet Osee, c. 2. v. 19. calls the Church the Spouse of Christ, betrothed to God in righteousness and for ever. St. Paul, Ephes. 5. c. 27. v. calls her a Glorious Church without spot or wrinkle, and 1 Tim. 3. 15. the Pillar and Ground of Truth. She is also styled the City of the Living God, the House and Temple of God, the Sister of Heaven- ly Jerusalem, the Mother of the Saints,, embellished with every ornament of grace and virtue, and rich in her numerous issue, always bringing forth, and giving Till PREFACE spiritual birth to the children of God, She is com- pared to the Tower of David, built with bulwarks, to a powerful army in battle array, to a fountain of wa- ter, springing up into eternal life, and watering eve- ryplace by her copious streams. Another time she is compared to the great Luminary, that spreads its rays and diffuses its light through the whole world ; another time to a Tree, that extends its branches over the earth ; another time to a City set on a hill, which cannot be hid, and the gates of which shall not be shut day or night ; another time to a huge Mountain that fills the whole Earth ; another time to a Moun- tain upon the top of mountains, exposed to the view of all nations flowing to it, and as conspicuous as the Sun in the Heavens, 8rc. The Prophet Daniel, c. 2. v. 4. speaking of the Church of Christ in the New Testament, compares it to a kingdom, and foretells that his spiritual domi- nions shall extend over the universe, and that his reign shall be without end. His kingdom shall never be destroyed, nor delivered up to another people, but shall stand for ever. Where, it is evident, that by the kingdom of the Messias, the Prophet did not mean a temporal kingdom, but the spiritual kingdom of the Church, which Christ has established in or- der to enlighten and sanctify mankind. His King- dom is not of this world, nor does it consist in any of those sublunary pomps or perishable things, which render earthly kingdoms respectable in the eyes of men. His reign is a reign of truth and justice. The only riches, that are deemed worth thirsting after in his kingdom, are the riches of grace. The only force that is desirable, is that of virtue and good works. Jesus Christ reigns here over th3 minds of his servants by faith, and over their hearts by charity. The greatest enemies of his spiritual kingdom are errors and vices, heresies, schisms, and scandals. FREFACE. IX Christ himself has foretold that his Church on Earth should have such enemies to encounter. She is not here below in the place of her repose, but in a place of trial, and in a foreign country. She must of course necessarily expect to meet with severe trials and persecutions, and must be prepared to combat them with the spiritual weapons of patience, prayers, and instructions, until the happy period of her migration into heavenly Jerusalem, her native country, where she is to be for ever associated to the Church triumphant, and to be crowned with im- mortal glory. If we trace the history of her birth, her growth, her establishment, and continuance to this day, we shall find that, according to the prediction of her Divine Founder, she has been attacked in every age since her infancy, either by the persecutions of the ruling powers of the world, or by heresies, schisms, and scandals, raised by some of her own refractory members, who swerved from her sound doctrine, and trampled upon her sacred laws. She never has been, and never will be, without some persecution, open or hidden, general or particular, as St. Augustine observes in his exposition of psalms 39, 54; and all these persecutions are to terminate with the general persecution of Antichrist at the end of the world. The Heathen emperors have used their utmost endeavours to destroy her by fire and sword. False brethren and rebellious children have disturbed her peace by broaching errors, and by separating themselves from her unity. But she has triumphed over all their efforts, and sur- mounted all oppositions, because she was divinely and constantly protected by the all-powerful hand of her Heavenly Author, who had promised to be with her all days unto the consummation of ages* *She has seen many different sects rise from time to time, and she has also seen them fall and dwindle X FREFACE. away to nothing, whilst she constantly gained ground in one Country, when she happened to lose it in another. She has always preserved the depo- sit of faith pure and uncorrupted, and never adopt- ed as any part of her doctrine, the erroneous popu- lar opinions, that prejudice might have autho- rized in any age, even in the first ages of Christi- anity. She has conquered the cruelty of tyrants by her patience, and terminated the contests and dis- putes that were raised on similar occasions, by the decrees and decisions of her councils. She has already had a visible being in the world, upwards of seventeen centuries, notwithstanding the various revolutions of nature, and the many violent attempts that have been made from time to time, to alter and adulterate her doctrine of faith, morals, and disci- pline, God having raised in every age a multitude of learned doctors, zealous pastors, and illustrious saints, to stem the torrent.of iniquity, to condemn the reigning vices of the times, and to confound and refute every pernicious error as soon as it made its first appearance in the world, as will be shown in the sequel. Millions of Christians in every preceding genera- tion have found the Church of Christ subsisting in their days, and believed precisely the self-same doctrine, which we now profess; and this must ne- cessarily be the case in all proceeding ages, and fu- ture generations, till time shall be no more, because a perpetual duration has been promised to the Church, and because he who made this promise n immutable, all-powerful, and faithful to his word. Heaven and Earth may jjass away, bid his words will never pass away. Hence I may justly conclude with the great Augustine : Pmdicta lege, impleta cerne, implenda collige. Read what has been here- tofore foretold by Jesus Christ; behold what has been already accomplished in the foregoing ages : and con- PREFACE. XI elude that the remainder of his predictions shall be infallibly accomplished hereafter. Edification being the primary view of this under- taking, the compiler's first care has been a most scrupulous attachment to truth, the soul of all his- tory, especially of sacred history, which tends to the advancement of piety and religion. No good end can, on any account, ever render the least lie lawful, or authorize the use of, what some most improperly call, pious frauds. On the contrary, to tell any lie whatsoever in the least point relating to religion is, so far from being justifiable, or excu- sable, that the pretence of religion would exceeding. Jy aggravate it, and make it a crime of the most heinous nature. Good men may sometimes be too credulous in things that appear harmless, and the more adverse they are from fraud themselves, the more unwilling they are to suspect imposture in others. But no good man can countenance and a ,, *ir ,? W . n f ™ ud for aD F P m 'P° se whatsoever. All wilful lying is essentially a sin, as all Catholic divines teach, with St. Augustine against the Priscil- hanists. It is hateful to the God of truth and an attront and injury offered to our neighbour. It is contrary to the very end and use of speech, dissolves the sacred bond of society, and destroys mutual confidence and commerce among men. Hence the canons of the Church have always strictly forbid- den false legends, and all kind of such forgeries and impostures as lies, in matters of great moment, and the authors when detected, have been always con- demned and punished with the utmost severity. Ter- tull.an and St. Jerom inform us, that even in the time of the Apostles, a certain priest at Epbesus having forged false acts of St. Paul's voyages and sufferings out of veneration for that Apostle, was deposed for this crime from the priesthood. All the facts related in the following compendious Xli PREFACE, abstract, have been faithfully taken from the most unquestionable authors, and are founded upon ori- ginal monuments and authentic records. A free use has been made of the unwearied labours of the Rev. Dr. Alban Butler, the pious author of the Lives of the Fathers, &c. The limits of this work would not allow long narratives ; yet the heart, which seeks and loves God, will find it agreeably diversified by an intermixture of interesting events and a variety of salutary documents, that may afford the attentive reader ample matter for serious reflection. A short account is given of all the chief pastors and of the writings of the principal fathers, of all the general councils, of the conversion of nations, &c. and of the characteristical virtues of several illustrious saints, who are proposed as models for our imitation. The example of those great servants of God points out to us the true path to eternal happiness, and sweetly invites us to walk in their steps. It tacitly reproaches us with our own sloth and indolence, and silences all our pretences and objections. It removes the difficulties which self-love is so apt to raise, and forces us to cry out with St. Augustine : Cannot you do, what such and such lutve done ? For though we may not be able to practise the extraor- dinary rigours and austerities of some saints, wha were conducted by an uncommon impulse of the Holy Ghost, yet we can learn from them to prac- tise charity, humility, patience, resignation, sobrie- ty, penance and other virtues, in a manner suiting our circumstances and respective states. The diffi- culties, which many apprehend in embracing a pe- nitential course of life, according to their circum- stances, are often only imaginary, and arise from groundless fears, which sloth and sensuality create. A coward starts at shadows, and every thing wears a frightful face to those who have not courage to set their hands to work. THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, CHAPTER I. The wonderful wisdom and goodness disfilaycd by Jesus Christ in the formation of his Church* THE Royal Prophet, after praising God in the most profound sentiments of adoration and thanks- giving for the wonderful works of his Providence in the creation and administration of the universe*, raises his eyes above this material world, and the whole order of nature, to contemplate the new spi- ritual creation, and in a transport of admiration and thanksgiving*, cries out, in his i03 Psalm, 30. v. Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created ; and thou shalt renew the face of the earth. Of this.new spiritual creation the first form- ing of the world out of nothing was but an em- blem. This prediction, and its accomplishment, this great and astonishing mystery ; this wonderful work of the Holy Ghost ; this new creation regards the establishment of the spiritual kingdom and Church of Christ on earth, and its propagation through all the nations of the known world, not- withstanding all the opposition that earth and hell could contrive against it. The meridian sun could not appear clearer and brighter than the Divine Power and Wisdom did on this occasion : It shone in its full lustre, and confounded all the enemies of the Christian Religion, by such illustrious marks of supernatural interposition, and such incontestible proofs, as no pretences could invalidate, B 14 HISTORY OF THE Christ our Lord began to form his Church, when he assembled his disciples, and instructed them with his own mouth. Like a wise architect, he built his Church upon a firm rock, upon a solid and im- moveable foundation, that it should stand in spite of all storms, oppositions, or any eiforts whatever to make it fall. His infinite wisdom did not use less prudence in the constitution of his spiritual king- dom, than human legislators do in well-regulated states and societies, wherein wise means are esta- blished to preserve ceconomy, peace, and tranquil- lity amongst the subjects. Magistrates are appoint- ed, to prevent confusion and disorder. Judges are commissioned to give decrees, to interpret and ex- plain the civil laws with a sovereign authority, and to terminate the differences that arise between man and man, which otherwise might last till doomsday, if every man was left at liberty to construe and expound the laws after his own fancy, or allowed to be judge in his own cause, and to prefer his own private interpretation to that of the unanimous de- cision of the whole body of judges and lawyers. Christ came, as he says himself, St. John, c. If), v. 16, to gather all nations together, to bring back all who had been dispersed, that there might be but one sheepfold and one shepherd, one Church and one Faith, as there is but one Lord and one Baptism. It was his constant prayer whilst on earth, that all his disciples should be one, as he and his heavenly Father were one. — St. John, c. 17. v. 21. He had expressed in the most forcible terms, Matt. c. 12. v. 25. the desolation threatening a kingdom divided in itself. It cannot therefore be supposed that he would expose his own kingdom to such a danger, or act in a manner that would not become any king or potentate on earth, by leaving his people unpro- vided of what is necessary to preserve subordina- tion in every well regulated society. He was sen- sible that no human means could contribute more effectually to cement unity and faith, subordination in government, peace- and charity among Christians, and to preser\e them from splitting and dividing CHURCH OF CHRIST. 15 into different sheepfolds or communions, than if he appointed a centre of unity or an universal pastor over his Church, to regulate and govern it, and to influence all the particular Churches in the world, as their visible head, and supreme judge in masters appertaining to faith and morals. In the old law, the Jews had recourse to the High Priest of the Synagogue in all matters of difficulty and importance, and were obliged to submit to his judgment, though they had both scriptures and prophets. — Deut. 17. In the new law our Divine Legislator did not alter this method of instructing mankind. He chose one among the twelve apostles, says St. Jerome, as the visible head of his Churchy that an head being ajifiointed, the cause of schism might be removed* He commanded Peter to feed his shecfi, and to feed his lambs ; that is, his whole flock without exception. — St. John 21. He prayed for Inmt ha S^ his faith should not fail, and left him as chief pastof of his fold, to confirm his brethren. — St. Luke 22, 31. He gave him in particular the keys of the kingdom cf Heaven, St. Matt. 16, 19. as the ensign of su- preme power and authority, which he communi- cated to him as his vicegerent on earth. In fine, he gave him the name of Peter, which sig- nifies a rock, and declared that ufion him, as a rock, he would build his Church, and that the gates of Hell should not prevail against her. — St. Matt. 16, 18. Hence the chief place iii the sacred college of the Apostles was -from the beginning assigned to Peter. In the enumeration of the twelve, all the Evangelists constantly place him in the front, and unanimously agree in naming him before all the rest, as the first. Our Lord usually directs his discourse to Mm, and he replies as the mouth of the rest, which made the primitive writers of Christianity constantly call Peter the Chiefthe Heady the President, the Prolocutor, and Foreman of the Apostles, with several other titles of distinction and prerogative. Christ also appointed different orders of Pastors, Afiostles. Evangelists, and teachers, to carry on the- 16 fliSTORY OF TH£ work cf the ministry in succession^ for the edification /and preservation of his mystical body, and for con- ducting souls in the road to perfection — Ephes. 4, 12. He authorized them to preach the gospel, St. Luke 4, i8, and gave them all the spiritual power of the priesthood, to administer the sacraments, St. John 20, 2L and to rule the Church, which he purchased with his own blood. — Acts 20, 28 He commissioned and sent them into the whole world— Si. Mark 16, 15 ? to teach all nay on s the same heavenly doctrine he had taught them, to administer to them all the same baptism, and to establish one and the same plan of religious worship. — St. Matt. 28, 19. He moreover promised to send down the Holy Ghost to teach them all truth. — St. John 16, 12, and assured them that he Mms£lJ would bt with them all days, even to the con- summation of the world, to assist them by the conti- nual protection of his all-ruling Providence, St. Matt. 28, 20, and consequently that he would be with their lawful successors in ofrice, who are to continue to the end of the world, and to complete the work which they began ; for as the Apostles neither did, lior could teach all nations in their own person, nor v/ere to continue long on earth, it is manifest that -the aforesaid commission and promises of Christ were not limited or confined to their persons, but were given and designed to extend to their succes- sors in office. Here then we have just cause to ad- mire the goodness of our Lord, who requiring from >!; s a belief of mysteries, which are above the com- prehension of all human understanding, and founded in divine revelation, did not leave us trusting to the uncertainty of our own private judgment, or exposed :.o a variety of errors, and to an endless source of dis- tentions and divisions, but vouchsafed to provide us with a sure and unerring guide, which is under the special protection of Heaven, and the continual gui- dance of the Holy Ghost. Instead of a weak and blind reason, which we are to sacrifice in obedience to him, according to St. Paul, 2 Cor. 10. he was pleased to establish an authority that cannot mislead us, and .that every individual is bound to yield a firm assent CHURCH OF CHRIST. I 10 m religious matters. It was truly becoming the wisdom, and worthy of the goo'dness of Jesu-- Christ, to preserve us thus from all illusions, differ- ences, or disunions, with regard to our faith, and to secure us against all the doubts, fluctuations, and distrustful suggestions of an incredulous temper, to which they must be liable who shake off the yoke oi authority to become their own guide in the atfair of religion, as they can have no certainty that they are not misled by their own private opinion, and mista ken in their judgment, this being a thing that daily happens to thousands and thousands in cases less difficult and less abstruse than matters of faith. Every man of caudour, who is open to conviction, must acknowledge that this method of instructing mankind by the authority of the Church, is the only sure channel through which the sense of revelation is conveyed to us with the most perfect certainty, and the best calculated rule for conducting us in the way of salvation, and for leading us to virtue and happiness in a plain, easy manner, fitted to all capa- cities, and adapted to the infirmities of human na- ture. By this means the ignorant, the dull of ap- prehension, and those who, through their weakness of understanding, and their several avocations, have not leisure, or are incapable of examining and interpret- ing the Scriptures, or of judging for themselves, are instructed in the revealed truths, and have better eyes to see for them than their own. By this means also the learned, as well as the ignorant, cU'e guarded against the illusions of pride and self-love, and fur- nished with the same motives of belief, and the same foundation for their faith. Instead of building on a sandy foundation, they build upon a rock, and have the pillar and ground of truth to support them, 1 Tim. 3, 15 ; for which reason they are not to be sha- ken by all the specious arguments that human wit and learning are able to suggest. In hearing the pastors of the Church, they hear Jesus Christ him- self, who expressly says, St. Luke 10, lb, He that hears you, hears me ; he that despises you, despises me s and he that despises me, despises my heavenly B2 feg HISTORY QF THE Father, who sent me. In obeying the ordinances of the Church in matters concerning religion, they can- not go astray, since they thereby obey only the or- ders of Christ himself, who says, St. Matt. c. 18. v. 17. He that will not hear the Church, let him be to thee as the heathen and the publican. Let us stop here, in silent raptures of astonishment, and briefly contemplate the spiritual beauty, incomparable ad- vantages, and high prerogatives of the Church of Christ : She can never cease to be the true Church of Christ, nor fail in any of those sacred prerogatives with which Christ at first adorned her; she is al- ways holy, always catholic, always preserves the pre- vious deposit of faith pure and unvaried. Christ al- ways animates her by his holy spirit ; he always pre- sides over her as her supreme invisible head, and as the vine communicates nourishment to the branches, St. John c. 15. so he communicates to the members of his mystical body, the Church, the special influx of his gifts and graces, by the ministry he has esta- blished, and by the holy sacraments he has instituted for supplying all our spiritual necessities, and for healing ail the disorders of our souls, that he might thus redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse to himself a fieofile acceptable, a pursuer of good .works — Tit. 2. 14. or, as St. Peter speaks, I; 2. 9. a chosen generation, a holy nation, a purchased fieofile* St. Paul assures us, that he died for this very pur- pose, to purify his Church, and make her holy. Christ loved the Church, says he, Ephcs. 5. 25. and delivered himself up for it, that he might sanctify it, cleansing it by the laver of water, in the word of life j that he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, nor any such thing, but that it should be holy, and without blemish. CHURCH OF CHRIS i. 19 CHAPTER II. The Afiostles begin the great work of the conversion of the world, and establish a Church in the city of Jerusalem. THE nativity of the Christian Church may he said to take its date from the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost, or Whitsunday, for it was then that Jesus Christ infused, as it were, a soul into his mystical body, and endowed it with a vigorous principle of life and action. From this pe- riod his apostles being completely qualified by the miraculous effusion of the Holy Ghost, began to ex- ercise all their respective functions, and to exert their powers in governing and propagating his spi- ritual kingdom. They immediately proceeded to execute the commission given them by their Divine Master, when he ordered them to go and teach all nations, but to begin with Jerusalem and Judea. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, and the Visible Head of the Church, began the great work with cou- rage and intrepidity. Inspired and animated by the Divine Spirit, he raised his voice, and preached boldly the divinity and resurrection of Jesus Christ before those very Jews, those Scribes and Pharisees, and those Princes of the Nation, who had put him to an ignominious death. He set before their eyes the enormity of their crime, and told them with a confidence, which no fear of torments or death could shake : Ye have slain the Author of Life, whom God has raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. Shortly before, the Pillar of the Church trembled at the voice of Caiphas's servant-maid, says St. Augus* tine, and shamefully denied his Lord and Master ; but, O wonderful change ! after the descent of the Holy Ghost, he fears no danger, dreads no torments, and values not the menaces of the whole Sanhedrim of the Jews He openly reproaches them with the murder of their Lord and Messiah. He exhorts them to repent, and to become adorers of Jesus ; an$ 20 HISTORY OF THE by his first sermon he converts three thousand souls to the Christian Religion. His second discourse in the Temple was followed by the conversion of five thousand more, who, being struck with wonder and amazement, embraced the faith, on seeing him work an illustrious miracle in favour of a lame beggar, who lay at the gate of the Temple called the Beau- tiful, unable to move without help ; for Peter and John going into the Temple at three o'clock in the afternoon, to perform their devotions, this poor man, who had been a cripple from his mother's womb, fixed his eyes upon the two Apostles, and craved an alms, whereupon Peter replied, that he was not pos- sessed either of gold or silver, but that he would give him what he had, and forthwith commanded him, in the name of Jesus Christ, to rise and walk, taking hold of his right hand at the same time, and lifting him up. The poor man that instant leaped upon his feet, stood firm upon his legs, and walked joyfully with the Apostles into the Temple, giving thanks to God for the favour he had received by their means. Peter seeing the people amazed at the miracle instantaneously wrought before their eyes, seized on the favourable occasion to preach the mystery of the Cross to them, and to notify that Jesus is the promised Messiah and Saviour of mankind, and that there is no other name under Heaven given to men^ whereby we must be saved. — Acts 4. i2. The Jewish Priests, Sadducees, and Officers of the Temple, were so exasperated at the subject of his discourse, that they took Peter and John into cus- tody, and presented them before the Great Council of the Nauon? which, after some deliberation, com- manded the Apostles to be silent for the future, and to be careful not to speak nor teach in the name of Jesus. But they were not to be terrified or intimi- dated by such menaces : We leave you to judge, said they in reply, whether it be right to hear you, rather than God ; we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. Death, in its most terrifying shape, was not able to deter them -rom discharging the sacred functions of their ministry. CHURCH OP CHRIST, 21 Far from being silent, they felt the invigorating effects of the Holy Ghost; they were filled with new courage, and preached the word of God with confidence to the people, so that the multitude of believers in Jerusalem became every day more and more numerous. Of all the Jewish sectaries who opposed their preaching, the Sadducees were the most violent : Stung with envy to see the people so eager in em- bracing the new doctrine of the Gospel, they caused the Apostles to be apprehended and cast into the common prison ; but an Angel of the Lord having opened the doors and led them out, they went next day to preach again to the people in the Temple. — An officer being immediately dispatched to summon them before the Council, the Apostles, ready to obey every order of the magistrates, that was consistent with their duty to God, made their appearance. The High Priest reproached them with disobedience to the former orders, which had been given them, not to mention the name of Jesus among the people, noi* to disturb the public peace with any new doctrines. Peter answered in the same words as before, and observed, that when God commands one thing and man another, it never can be justifiable to obey men preferably to God. The answer threw the Council into a violent ferment ; they swelled with rage ; they stormed, and threatened the Apostles with immediate death ; when Gamaliel, a wise and prudent Pharisee, rose up to make them hear reason, and to calm their passions. With a soft and soothing eloquence he dissuaded them from acts of violence, and convinced them that they had no other measure to take than that of moderation ; that if this new doctrine was the invention of men. it would of itself soon fall to nothing; but if it sprung from God, that it would be rashness in them to oppose it. They agreed to foI« low his advice, and to dismiss the Apostles, after having scourged, and strictly charged them never to speak again in the name of Jesus. The Apostles being thus acquitted, departed from the Council, rejoicing because they had been accounted worthy 22 HISTORY OP THE to suffer reproach for the name of Jesu^. Their zeal was not damped by suffering. They preached daily in the Temple ; and from house to house ceased not to teach the faith and doctrine of Jesus Christ. With tongues of fire, and voices of thunder, they proclaim- ed the mysteries of the Divine Mercy and Goodness to the people of different nations, assembled then in Jerusalem. They displayed to them, in their native languages, the beauty and recompense of virtue, the riches of eternity, the baseness and folly of sin, the emptiness and vanity of the imaginary greatness and pleasures of the world, with such divine force as to drive the powers of Hell before them wherever they went ; to strike the Oracles dumb, which the Devil, to delude mankind, pretended to deliver by the mouth of the Pagan Idols ; and to beat down the spirit of pride, covetousness, and sensual pleasure, of which they found the world every where full. — They delivered the great truths of salvation with un- daunted courage, and quoted the Divine Oracles of the Sacred Scripture with as much facility, as if they had made them the constant study of their whole life. They were inflamed with so ardent a desire that all men should know and love God's infinite goodness, that if they had a thousand lives they would have sacrificed them all with pleasure for the glory of God and their neighbours' salvation. As they were constantly employed in preaching the word of God, and gaining over new converts to Christianity, they ordained seven deacons by the im- position of their hands, that they might not only take upon them the management of the temporalities of the faithful, but that they might also co-operate in the sacred functions of the ministry. The most emi- nent of these deacons was Stephen, who to a natural greatness of soul united an ardent zeal for the cause of God. Full of the Holy Ghost, he exerted the force of his divine eloquence in instructing the people in the knowledge of salvation. His enemies, unable to resist the wisdom and the spirit that spoke by his tongue, had recourse to violence, and rushing furious- ly upon him, they hurried him out of Jerusalem to £\ CHURCH OF CHRIST* place where they stoned him to death ; a young man called Saul, keeping their garments, whilst the ex- ecutioners were hurling the stones at him. Stephen, in the mean time falling upon his knees, called most earnestly upon Jesus not to lay the sin to their charge, and when he had ended his prayer, and offer- ed up his blood to God for those who spilt it, he slept happily in the Lord, and thus became the first martyr of the new law, who suffered death for the testimony of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. After the martyrdom of St. Stephen, a grievous persecution commenced against the Church at Jerusalem, and a general consternation prevailed amongst the minis- ters of God's word. All, except the Apostles, fled from the storm, and dispersed themselves through the country of Judea and Samaria. Their dispersion contributed to the propagation of the Gospel, for they preached the word of God wherever they went, and received a greatnumber of schismatics and other converts into the pale of the Church. It was on this occasion that the Samaritans were converted and bap- tized by St. Philip, one of the deacons, who having preached the Gospel with amazing success through all the neighbouring cities, was admonished by an angel to go to the great road, between Jerusalem and Gaza, where he went, instructed, converted and baptized an Ethiopean Eunuch, one of the principal officers in the Court of Queen Candace, and her high treasurer. St. Peter, in the interim, wrought great wonders and many conversions among the Jews. He made his apostolical excursions through the country, and visited and confirmed his flock by word and ex- ample. Being informed that the Samaritans had been converted and baptized, and judging it neces- sary to confirm them against the terrors of persecu- tion, he went with St. John to Samaria for this pur- pose. And no sooner did these two Apostles lay their hands upon the new converts and pray for them, that they might receive the Holy Ghost, than they ac- cordingly received the Holy Ghost. It was here that Simon, a noted magician, observing the visible ef- iects that ensued from the mysterious imposition of 24 HISTORY OF THE the Apostles 3 hands, offered them money, if they would grant him the power of performing such ^won- ders and conferring the Holy Ghost in the same manner. St, Peter, to show what a heinous crime they are guilty of who presume to barter spiritual things for temporal, immediately replied : " Keep c{ thy money to th>self, and let it perish with thee, " since thcu hast wickedly thought that the gift of u God rr ay be purchased with silver." St. Peter went afterwards to Lydda, where he healed Eneas, a man, who, for eight years, had been confined to his bed by a palsy. At Joppe he raised to life a wo- man, called Tubitha, who was remarkable for her alms o the poor. It was at Joppe that St. Peter was call- ed by divine appointment, and instructed by a mys- terious vision to communicate the faith to the Gen- tiles in the person of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion, who was remarkable for his piety to God, and his alms-deeds to the poor. Cornelius residing then at Csesarea, the caphal of Palestine, was on his part admonished by an ungel to send for Simon, surnamed Peter, who accordingly made no difficulty of going to C;£sarea, where, after explaining the doctrine of Jesus Christ to the virtuous Centurion and his fami- ly, he had the consolation of seeing them inspired by the Holy Ghost, and endowed with the miraculous^ gift of tongues, which determined the Apostle to baptize them upon the spot. The conversion of Saul afforded also great con- solation and joy to the Church St. Augustine as- cribes it to the prayers of St. Stephen for his perse- cutors. If Stephen, says he, had not prayed, the Church would never have had St. Paul. He was one of those who combined to murder St. Stephen, and by keeping the garments of all who stoned that holy murtyr, he is said, by St. Augustine, to have stoned him by the hands of all the rest He was a denizen of Tarsus, the capital of Ciiicia, instructed at Jerusalem in the strictest observance of the Law of Moses, and a most scrupulous observer ot it in every point. Not satisfied with having signatfz< d Ms zeal in the persecution at Jerusalem, he breath- CHURCH OP CHRIST. C 2J> cd nothing but blood and slaughter against the Dis- ciples of our Lord. By the violences he committed, liis name became every where a terror to the faith- ful. In the fury of his zeal he applied to the Sanhedrim for a commission to take up all Jews at Damascus who confessed Jesus Christ, and bring them bound in chains to Jerusalem, that they might serve as public examples for the terror of others. But God was pleased to show forth on him his patience and mercy, and changed him, in the very heat of his fury, into a vessel of election, and a most illustrious instrument of his glory : He was almost at the end of his journey to Damascus, a city of Coelesyria, when, about noon, he and his company were on a sudden surrounded by a great light from Heaven, brighter than the sun. They all saw the light, and being struck with amazement, fell to the* ground; then Saul heard a voice speaking to him in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why dost thou persecute me ? Christ said not, Why dost thou persecute my Disciples, but me ; for it is he, their Head, who is chiefly persecuted in his servants. Saul answered, Who art thou, Lord? Christ said, Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecutes!. It is hard for thee to kick against the goad ; to contend with one so much mightier than thyself. By persecuting my Church, you make it flourish, and only hurt yourself. This mild expostulation of our Redeemer, accompanied with a powerful interior grace, strongly affecting his soul, cured his pride, assuaged his rage, and wrought at once a total change in him ; wherefore, trembling and astonished, he cried out, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? What to repair the past ? What to promote your glory ? I make a joyful ob- lation of myself to execute your will in every thing, and to suffer for your sake afflictions, disgraces, persecutions, torments, and every sort of death. The true convert expressed this, not in a bare form of words ; nor with faint, languid desires ; nor with any exception lurking in the secret recesses of his heart ; but with an entire sacrifice of himself, and an, heroic victory over the world, with its frowns C 26 HISTORY OF THE and charms ; over the devils, with their snares and threats ; and over himself, and all inclinations of self-love, devoting himself totally to God : a per- fect model of a true conversion, the greatest work of Almighty Grace ! Christ ordered him to rise and proceed on his journey to the city, where he should be informed of what he required from him. Christ might as easily have instructed him immedi- ately by himself, but, as St. Augustine observes, he sent him to the ministry which he had establish- ed in his Church, to be directed in the way of sal- vation, by those whom he had appointed for that purpose. He would not finish the conversion and instruction of this great Apostle, but by remitting him to the guidance of his ministers ; showing us thereby, that it is his divine will that a due respect be paid lo those powers, which he has established upon earth, and that all who desire to serve him, should seek his will by listening to the Pastors of his Church, whom he has commanded us to hear, and whom he has* sent in his own name, and ap- pointed to be our spiritual guides. So perfectly would he abolish in his servants all self-confidence and presumption, the source of error and illusion. The Convert, vising from the ground, found that, though his eyes were open, he saw nothing: this corporeal blindness being an emblem of the spiritual blindness in which he had lived, and giving him to understand that he was henceforward to die to the world, and learn to apply his mind totally to the contemplation of heavenly things. His attendants took him by the hand, and conducted him to Da- mascus, where he remained blind for three days, without eating or drinking the whole time. After this time of probation and interior trial, which he doubtless spent in bewailing his past blindness and false zeal against the Church, a certain Disciple of distinction in Damascus, called Ananias, being ad- monished by our Lord in a vision, laid his hands on Saul, saying to him, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to thee on thy journey, hath sent me, that thou mayest receive thy sight, and be CHURCH OF CHRIST* 27 filled with the Holy Ghost. Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and recovering his sight at the moment, he rose up, was baptized, and took some refreshment. He remained some few days with the Disciples at Damascus, and began immediately to preach in the Jewish Synagogue that Jesus was the Son of God, to the great asto- nishment of all that heard him, and that knew that he came to persecute the very doctrine which he now so strenuously supported. The Jews, unable to withstand his arguments, and yet unwilling to embrace his doctrine, sought to take away his life ; and though he would have been happy to seal the truth by the effusion of his blood, yet in hopes of reserving himself for some greater good, by labour- ing for the salvation of others, he permitted his friends to let him down the walls of the city of Da- mascus in a basket by night, and^thus he escaped out of the hands of his enemies. In about three years after his conversion, which he spent in Arabia, preparing himself for the Apostieship of the Gentiles, he was introduced by St. Barnabas to St. Peter and St. James at Jerusalem, and admitted there amongst the Disciples of Jesus Christ. But his great zeal, which would not suffer him to re- main either silent or inactive, soon drew upon him a persecution, which must have ended in his death,' had not hia brethren prevented it by sending him away to Caesarea and Tarsus. He was afterwards called by the name of Paul, as it is supposed, from the surname of the illustrious Proconsul Sergius Faulus, whom he converted to the Christian religion. CHAPTER III. The gates of the Church are opened to the Gentiles* and the Apostles announce the happy tidings of salvation to different nations, THE manifold benefits which the Saviour o^ the world came to confer on mankind were first 28 HISTORY OF THE offered to the Jews, but the great body of that carnal and siiff-ne ked people being professed ene- mies of Christ, openly rejected the doctrine of the Apostles. The light of the Gospel passed therefore from them, and was transferred to a people that was sitting in the darkness, and in the gloomy shades of death. The mystery of the vocation of the Gen- tiles began then to be accomplished, and it appeared that God was not a respecter of persons, and that he excepted none from his mercy, but out of his pure bounty called all to partake in the grace of eternal life, of whatsoever nation they might be by descent or birth. It began to be known that his covenant was no longer annexed to a certain race of people, but was to be communicated to all na- tions by a spiritual regeneration ; and that the true Israelites were not only the children of Abraham according to the flesh, but the imitators of his faith, and the children of the promise, whether Jews or Gentiles, who seek sincerely to please God by faith and good works. Hence the Apostles spread over he globe, each of them, like the Angel mentioned in the Apocalypse, flying with his gospel through • he air, as the spirit guides him. Fired with zeal, ;Iicy resolve to communicate the divine flame, with which their hearts burned, to the remotest countries, and to spread the happy tidings of salvation to the very boundaries of the earth. The wondering world is roused by the thunder of their voice. The most barbarous nations are tamed and civilized. The most populous and renowned cities hear their divine elo- quence with raptures, and the temples of the devils tail to the ground at the sound of their words, as the dls of Jericho fell at the sound of the trumpets of Israel. To each of them was assigned a part of the world for the principal theatre of their apostolic la- bours, by which means God, who before was scarce known out of Judea, and even there ill served, was, through them, in a few years, honoured and adored all over the East and the South, and the different re- gions of the known world, which made St. Paul ap- ply to them the following words of the royal Prophet, CHURCH OF CHRIST. 29* Ps. 18. — Their sound went forth into all the eartj r , and their words unto the ends of the world. It was by preaching, and not by writing, that they propa- gated the Christian Religion, and gained over thou- sands of souls to the Lord : Christ having giver, them no commission to write "the Gospel, but to preach and teach it. Several of them wrote nothing at all ; nor did Christ himself commit any part of his doctrine to paper. Those who wrote the different parts of the New Testament, never converted any person or nation by their writings, but first convert- ed them by word of mouth, and then wrote occasion- ally, not with a design to leave a complete abridg- ment of the Christian Doctrine, but to exhort and comfort them, and to adjust their faith in some con- troverted points- St. Matthew wrote his Gospel about the year of Christ 42, in the Syro-Chaldaic language, to satisfy the converts of Palestine. St. Mark, the disciple of St. Peter, wrote his Gospel in Greek, at Rome, about the 43d year of our Lord, by the persuasion of the faithful. St. Luke, the disci- ple of St. Paul, wrote his Gospel in the Greek tongue, about the year 53, and the Acts of the Apos- tles in the year 63, in opposition to some false histo- ries. St. John wrote his Gospel at Ephesus, about the year 98, at the request of the bishops of Asia, to refute the blasphemous errors and heresies of Ce- rinthus and Ebion. The rule of faith, by which the true believers were directed in the apostolic age, and instructed in the practice of all Christian duties, was the living voice of the Pastors of the Church, and not the dead letter of the Scriptures, which the generality of mankind, perhaps not one in some thousands, could make use of in those days, as very few then learned to read at all, and as there were none but written books in the world, until the art of printing was invented about thirteen hundred years after the days of Christ and his Apostles. Immediately after the ordination of St. Paul and St. Barnabas, they both set out together, and preach- ed with such unwearied zeal and amazing success, that they brought over to the faith innumerable C2 3G HISTORY OF THE multitudes, both of Jews and Gentiles, by their toi nistry. The zeal of St. Paul seemed to quicken, as he advanced in his apostolic labours. The more he was persecuted, and the more he suffered, the more his heart was on fire. The glory of God, and the salvation of souls, were the only objects that occu- pied his thoughts. He allowed himself no rest, but travelled from province to province, from one island to another, braving every danger by land and by sea. He employed twenty-five years in announcing Jesus Christ through all the different states of Greece, and in the various provinces of Asia Minor, Syria, Cili- cia, Phrygia, &c The gift of miracles w r as so con- spicuous in him, that even the handkerchiefs and aprons which had touched his body healed the sick, and put the infernal spirits to flight. He founded many numerous Churches, particularly in the great cities of Philippi, Thessalonica, Be roe a, Athens, Co- rinth, Ephesus, Colosse, Galatia, Crete, &c. and wherever he founded any local and particular Church, lie took care to ordain and appoint a Bishop, Priests, and Deacons, to rule and govern it, according to the form of government established by Jesus Christ. Thus he ordained Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus ; Titus, Bishop oi Crete; Dionysius, the Arcopagite, Bishop of Athens, &c. that they might govern their respective Churches, and keep up a lawful succes- sion of pastors, by stirring up the grace of God, and communicating to others after them the spiritual powers of the Priesthood, which they had received by the imposition of his hands. — 2 Tim. 1. 6. In like manner the rest of the Apostles planted local Churches in all considerable cities, and ordain- ed Bishops to govern them. They preached the Gospel with indefatigable zeal wherever they went, and they had the consolation to see their labours crowned with wonderful success. St. Andrew, bro- ther to St. Peter, preached in Scythia. Thrace, Epi- rus, and Achaia. St. James the Greater, brother to St. John the Evangelist, preached in Judea. St. John preached in Lesser Asia. St Thomas preach- ed in Parthia, and other Eastern nations. St. James CHURCH OF CHRIST. 31 the Lesser, brother of St. Jude, preached in Judea. St. Philip preached in the two Phrygias, and in other provinces of the East. St. Bartholomew carried the Gospel into India, amongst the Brachmans, and in the latter part of his life preached in the Greater Armenia. St. Matthew preached the faith in Ethio- pia, Parthia, and Persia. St. Jude or Thadaeus, bro- ther to St. James the Lesser, preached in Persia, Arabia, Mesopotamia, and the people of Edessa. St. Matthias, after labouring zealously in Judea, preach- ed in the countries bordering on the Euxine and Caspian Seas. St. Peter spent seven years in preaching over a great part of Lesser Asia, and in settling Christian- ity in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadochia, and Bithynia. He preached for a considerable time in Jerusalem, until that Church, which first gave birth to Chris- tianity, and which sprung from him and the rest of the Apostles and Disciples, became very considera- ble, and was settled upon a very respectable footing. It was already composed of persons of every sex, age, and condition, when St. Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles, The Lord adding daily to the Church such as should be saved. — Acts 2. 47. St. Peter, in particular, wrought so many illustrious miracles there, that the inhabitants of the countries and cities round about Jerusalem flocked to him from every side, and brought their sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that the shadow at least of this great Apostle might reach them, as he passed along, and heal their infirmities. Herod Agrippa, at the instigation of the Jews, caused him at length to be apprehended and imprisoned under a strong guard, designing to put him to death. The faithful were in the deepest consternation at the disasirous event, rightly judging, that the welfare of ihe flock was closely connected with that of the pastor, and therefore day and night did they send up their most fervent prayers to Heaven for his deliverance. The Almighty graciously heard their petition, and deli- vered his Apostle on the very night that preceded his intended execution. Bound with two chains^ he 32 HISTORY OF TKE lay asleep between two soldiers in the prison, per- fectly resigned within himself, either to life or death, when an Angel of the Lord came with great bright- ness to the place, and, striking him on the side, said, Arise quickly. That moment the chains fell off from the Apostle's hands ; he speedily arose, put on his sandals, threw his garment round him, and fol- lowed the Angel through the first and second ward, till they came to the iron gate, which of itself flew open at their approach ; and thus the Sovereign Disposer of all things herb below set bounds to the power of a tyrant, and miraculously rescued his Apostle out of his hands. St. James the Elder being appointed the particu- lar Bishop of Jerusalem, St. Peter removed his apostolic see to the city of Antioch, the capital of Syria and of all the East, where the followers of Christ's doctrine were first distinguished by the name of Christians. They increased there amazingly, and formed a very numerous Church, of which St. Evodius and St. Ignatius were the first Bishops after the removal of St. Peter from Antioch to Rome ; for this zealous Apostle, not content with founding the two great Churches of Jerusalem and Antioch, resolved to set up the standard of the Cross of Jesus Christ in the very metropolis of the world. Hence he went to Rome in the year of our Lord 42, being the second year of the reign of the Emperor Claudius, and planted a very flourishing Church in that city, which he chose for the chief seat of his labours, and made his own particular see, and in that quality the capital of Christendom, and the first and most eminent of all other particu*- lar Churches, on account of the authority and pre- eminence of its chief pastor. The faith of the Church of Rome was spoken of throughout the whole world. Rom. 1. 8. even some time before St. Paul had arrived there, for he never had been at Rome when he wrote his epistle to the Romans (in the year 57,) as appears from his own words, Rom. 1. 13. and 15. 22. and when he arrived in Italy, and was on his way to Rome, he had the pleasure to CHURCH OF CHRIST. 33 meet numbers of the faithful, who embraced him with open arms. However, though the Church of Rome was in H very flourishing condition before the arrival of St. Paul, it made such acquisitions by the labours and preaching of this Apostle, that he is consider- ed, jointly with St. Peter, a principal founder of it. Hence, St. Irenaeus, in the following century, calls the Church of Rome the greatest and most an- cient Church, founded and established by the two most glorious sJftostleS) Peter and Paul, lib. 3. c. 8. Divine Providence, which had raised the Roman Empire for the more easy propagation of the Gospel in many countries, was pleased to fix the fortress of faith in that great metropolis, that it might be easily diffused from the head into all parts of the universe. Nothing can be more incontestable in history, than that St. Peter was the founder and first Bishop of the see of Rome. In this the concurring testimony of all ancient Christian writers down from St. Ig- natius, the Disciple of this Apostle, is unanimous. Eusebius, the parent of Church history : St. Jerom ; and the old Roman calendar, published by Buche- rius, say, that St. Peter held the see of Rome twenty-five years, though he was often absent upon his apostolic functions in other countries, where he visited the faithful, like unto a general who makes his rounds, says St. John Chrysostome, to see if all things are every where in good order. It is not to be doubted but he preached the Gospel over all Italy, as Eusebius, Rufinus, and others assure us ; for though he and several of the Apostles chose particular sees for themselves, among the Churches which they founded, nevertheless they did not so confine themselves to single cities, as to forget their universal commission of preaching to all nations, except that St. James fixed his residence at Jerusa- lem, for the sake of the Jews. From Rome Christianity was soon spread through all the regions of the West, and through all the provinces of the Roman Empire. It was from Rome that St. Peter wrote his two epistles to the 34 HISTORY OF THE converts he had made during the seven years that he was Bishop of Antioch. He indeed calls that city Babylon, as St. John also does in the Apoca- lypse, because Rome was then the chief seat both of the Empire and of Pagan idolatry, as formerly Babylon had been ; but as Babylon in Chaldea was at that time nothing but a heap of ashes, the best interpreters by Babylon understand heathenish Rome. It was also from this city that St. Peter sent his disciple, St. Mark the Evangelist, to found the great church of Alexandria, the capital of Egypt, and then the second in the world, with several other churches in Libya and Pentapolis. Among the disciples of St. Peter who helped to pro- pagate the Church of Christ in the West, one of the most renowned was St. Apollinaris, who founded the Church of Ravenna. Seven other disciples were ordained Bishops, and sent to found Churches in Spain, viz Torquatus, Ctesiphon, Secundus, Indaletus, Caecilius, Hesychius, and Euphrasius. St Polycarp, the disciple of St. John the Evange- list, was ordained Bishop of Smyrna. By the Angels of the seven Churches in Asia, mentioned in the Apocalypse, are meant the seven Bishops who governed those sees. All those local and par- ticular Churches were linked together in the same Communion, with due subordination, and by this means they only composed one Catholic Churchy one mystical body, one skeefifold under one shepherd, and one visible head. They ail persevered in the doctrine of the Apostles, and believed and taught all the di- vine truths revealed by Jesus Christ, as they had re- ceived them from the Apostles, and from their dis- ciples and successors, who were regularly called, ordained, and authorized by them, and to whom they communicated the same necessary powers, which they had received from Jesus Christ, to govern the Church that, he had purchased with his blood, and, according to their example and instruc- tions, to revive, carry on, and perpetuate an hier- archy and lawful succession of pastors, co-operat- ing in the great work of the ministry to the end CMURCK OF CHRIST. 35 of time for the salvation of souls ; for as in a tem- poral lepublic no person is to usurp the reins of government, or to thrust himself into the functions of public power, unless he be duly authorized and deputed thereto, so in like manner no one is to in- trude himself into the pastoral office, or presume to exercise the sacred powers of the Priesthood in the spiritual kingdom of the Church, unless he be called to that high office, and be onsained and law- fully sent. Even St. Paul and St. Barnabas, though immediately called by Heaven, could not exercise the functions of the Priesthood until they were or- dained and sent by the pastors of the Church, as appears from the 13th c of the Acts, 3d v. which plainly shows the necessity of a lawful mission, and how little credit is to be given to new gospellers, *tvho do not enter into the sheepfold by the door ; St. John 10; but come of their own accord, and by their own private authority, like the false prophets in the Old Law. How can they preach, unless they be sent? Rom. 10. 15. CHAPTER IV. The stupendous Progress of the Christian Religion^ and the happy Fruits it produced in the World. JESUS CHRIST had foretold that his Gospel should be preached all over the world, and that after his death he would draw all things to himself, when he would be exalted from the earth, and fas- tened on the cross. He had compared the preach- ing of the Gospel, in its weak beginning, to a grain of mustard seed, which, from the least of all seeds, grows to such an height as to surpass all the other shrubs. Mat. 13. He had also compared it to a little leaven, which being hid in the dough, spreads through the whole mass, and changes its nature by imparting its own ^qualities. To see his predictions accomplished, and to be convinced that the esta- 36 HISTORY OF THE blishment of his Church was a divine work beyond the reach of the least suspicion or possibility of error or imposture, we need but consider the amaz- ing rapidity and success with which the Christian Religion was embraced and propagated all over the known world, by instruments and means in them- selves so weak and inadequate to the undertaking. In the first place, ail human considerations con- spired against Christianity : No doctrine could ever be less calculated to meet with any reception or en- couragement in a world that was strangely attached to an old religion, settled and confirmed by a long prescription of many ages. The Christian Religion thwarted all the darling inclinations of nature, and tended directly to pull down the pride of the under- standing and of the heart, by proposing mysteries that appeared almost incredible, and by command- ing things that seemed impracticable. It preached a God made man, rejected and put to death by his own people. It declared war against idolatry and superstition ; and was entirely opposite to the re- ceived maxims and prejudices of the world. It taught self-denial and mortification, and inculcated the necessity of loving even our professed enemies ; of doing good to them that hate us, and forgiving from our hearts all injuries and affronts. It recom- mended a contempt of what is generally admired, and enforced the obligation of being humble in our own eyes, of flying the applause of men in the performance of good works, and seeing in all things the honour and glory of God. In short, it counteracted the favourite passions of mankind, and absolutely required a virtuous life in all its profes- sors. Nevertheless, these new maxims, these self- denying principles, these sublime mysteries of the Gospel, were universally embraced, adopted, and established, with such speed and success, that we must here acknowledge the finger of the Most High, and confess that the conversion of the world to the Christian religion was one of the most stupendous and the most evident of miracles. CHURCH OF CHRIST. 37 This success was the more astonishing, as the in- struments chosen by Jesus Christ for this great design were seemingly unequal, disproportionate, and unfit for laying the foundation of such a struc- ture as the planting of his Church upon the ruins of Paganism and the destruction of the Jewish Synagogue : Twelve poor fishermen by trade, with- out either power, interest, or credit to favour so great an undertaking. They had no riches to bribe men into their religion, no armies to force them to it, no learning to impose tiport t'vem, no politics to over-reach them, no rhetoric to recom- mend their cause by studied and eloquent discourse es. They were not possessed of those natural en- dowments, which might make impression on their hearers, and conciliate their minds to a new doc- trine. - They were men chosen from the lowest conditions of life, destitute of all human succour, and without the advantages of education. Men, who by the obscurity ol their birth and by their natural pu- sillanimity, were accustomed to tremble before peo- ple in power, and whom Christ himself compared to sheefi in the midst of wolves. Yet it was by instruments and means in themselves so weak, that the predic- tions of Christ, relative to the success of the gospel and the propagation of the Christian religion, were speedily and most wonderfully accomplished. After the Holy Ghost had shed his beams upon them, they were instantly changed into other men. They were inspired with such a spirit of zeal, and such super- natural force of elocution, as was not to be resisted. They entered the lists against troops of sophists* orators, and philosophers, and combated the false maxims of Pagan antiquity. They confuted, con- founded, and triumphed over the proud scholars of Plato's academy, of Aristotle's lycseum and of the porticos of the Stoics. They were endued with an intrepidity which no torments could subdue, nor death intimidate. They received a spirit of hea- venly knowledge and light, a spirit of sanctity and charity, a spirit of fortitude and strength, which enabled them to beat down the eloquence and learn- D 38 HISTORY OF THE ing of the philosophers and sages amongst both the Jews and Gentiles, and to triumph over the com- bined oppositions of the kings and powers of the earth. So powerful was the spirit of God which enlightened their understandings, and spoke by their mouths ; and such was the evidence of their testi- mony, confirmed by innumerable miracles, and by the heavenly temper and sanctity which their words and actions breathed, that it was impossible for the most obstinate infidel to harbour the least suspicion of human contrivance. The miraculous powers with which they were vested from above, were, X may say, the credentials of Heaven that indicated the truth of their doctrine, and stamped on it the seal of divine attestation in the brightest characters. This made Picus of Mirandula say, u If I could " be deceived in thy faith, thou alone, O Lord, " must have been the author of my error, so evi- M dent are the marks of thy authority which it " bears." This also mado St. Augustine say, lib. 22. de Civ. c. 8. " Whoever still asks for miracles, ** before he will be induced to believe the Gospel, " is himself a prodigy of incredulity, who will not *< believe such a doctrine, which he sees the whole *< world has been compelled by clear conviction to « believe." To all who sincerely seek after truth, it is evi- dently a pillar of light ; and if to the perverse it is sometimes turned into a cloud of darkness, it is be- cause the beams of this sun, though most bright and piercing, become impervious to their pride and passions. No sooner did the Christian Religion make its appearance, than it began to lay open to view the errors to which mankind had been enslaved, and to withdraw the veil of ignorance which had overshadowed human reason. It diffused the good odour of the Christian virtues of meekness and humility on all sides, and warmed the hearts of sin- ners by its divine flames. It united Jews and Gen- tiles, people of different countries, humours, man- ners, and interests, in the bonds of fraternal love. It associated together in the same fold lions, bears. CHURCH OF CHRSIT. o* wolves, and tygers, with the sheep and the lambs, as the prophet Isaiah had foretold with astonishments It joined in the same communion men of different nations, who had been insatiable as wolves by ava- rice, furious as tygers with anger, revenge, and jealousy, crafty as bears by dissimulation and hypo- crisy, haughty and uncontrollable as lions by am- bition and pride. ft perfectly extinguished ;these passions in the breasts of the first believers, and transformed into lambs the furious wild beasts who had torn in pieces the innocent Lamb of God, and who had gloried before in destroying their fellow creatures. Was any thing but a divine hand able to work such a wonderful change in the world, and to strike such a heavenly concord out of such a jarring discord of complexions, constitutions, and interests ? Such were the happy fruits that the Christian religion produced in the infancy of the Church. A new people was formed, and the new sacrifice and pure oblation, foretold by the prophet Malachy, began to be offered in every place. The wild olive tree, as St. Paul speaks, Rom. 11. was grafted into the good olive tree, in order to partake of its root and fatness. The Gentiles were united in spirit to the converted Jews, and made with them one tree, one body, one people. Thus they enter- ed into the stock of Abraham, became his chidren by faith, and partook of the promises which had been made to him. The multitude of the believers, says St. Luke, Acts 4, 32. had but one heart and o?ie souL The very Heathens themselves admired the perfect union and harmony they lived in, and, as Tertullian informs us, were often heard to say, with surprise, See, how the Christians love each other. They learned from the example of their teachers so perfect a spirit of disinterestedness, contempt of the world, and thirst after eternal goods, that they lived in common, and retained no possessions which were not devoted to the service of the community. The cold words mine and thine, by which charity is often extinguished among men, were unknown to them. They had no desire of riches, but such as were spi- - HISTORY OF THE ritual. They knew no other ambition than to serve and to be subject to all in Christ. They were so perfectly disengaged from the transitory things of this life, that the rich sold their estates, laid the price at the feet of the Apostles, and consecrated it to God, that it might be equally distributed to such as were indigent, no^ one looking upon what he possessed as belonging to himself more than to his -neighbour. A rigorous judgment befel Ananias and Saphira his wife, for having avariciously and secretly retained to themselves a part of the money they had received for a field they had sold : They hypocritically pretended to resign the whole price to the public use, and told a lie to the Holy Ghost, in the person of his ministers; wherefore, St. Peter having reprimanded them for their fraudulent pro- ceedings, and for the breach of the vow and pro- mise they had made to God, the husband first, and afterward the wife, fell down dead at his feet. The faithful, greatly alarmed at this melancholy disnslGv,fier severed in the doctrine of the jlfiostles, in firayer, and in the communion of the breaking of bread, Acts 4, 2. that is to say, in the participation of the holy mysteries of the Divine Eucharist. Their numility, simplicity of heart, meekness, patience, and other virtues, were such, that, to use the ex- pression of St. John Chrysostom, they seemed to be transformed into Angels. They were not swayed by passion, nor led astray by private views : Their chief concern was to serve and honour God by the pious exercises of religion. They appeared, by the sanctity of their conduct, to form a new com- munity, entirely different from the rest of mankind ; and they practised such transcendent and heroic virtues as before were deemed impossible, Some, who were called Ascetics, renounced all the plea- sures of the world, and entered into courses of the severest austerities of mortification, fasting, and self-denial, after the example of St. John the Bap- tist and the Prophets. Others, in imitation of the Apostles, who recommended virginity, and who, from the commencement of their apostleship and vo- CHUUCH OF CHRIST. 4* cation to the ministry, had embraced a state of per- petual continency, consecrated themselves to God by vows of chastity, Acts 21. and led a life entirely new, entirely interior, entirely spiritual.^ They employed their time in heavenly exercises, in hymns and canticles of praise and thanksgiving, says St. Ambrose, in contemplating the perfections of the Supreme Being, in meditating on his bountiful dis- pensations to mankind, and in aspiring after that state of bliss which they hoped to succeed to, after this present life. Even they, who before had been slaves to voluptuousness, and victims of their pas- sions, became on a sudden chaste and temperate? meek and humble of heart, as soon as they were baptized and confirmed by the imposition of the hands of the Apostles. They were filled with the Holy Ghost, and changed into Christians eminent for their piety and other heroic virtues. It is im- possible to enumerate the instances of the rich that impoverished themselves to relieve the poor : of the poor that preferred poverty to riches ; of the virgins that imitated upon earth the life of angels ; of the penitents who embraced the rigours and austerities of penance and mortification with greater ardour than others did pleasures ; or of the cha- ritable pastors, who made themselves all things to all men, ever ready to bestow upon their flocks not only their watchings and labours, but their very lives. Multitudes of converts, charmed by the ex- amples of such shining virtues, flocked every Say to the standard of Jesus Christ, and were incorpo- rated in his Church. These were the precious fruits that the gospel then brought forth, and it was thus that the infancy of the Church was deco- rated with the highest ornaments of religion, and its divine origin was demonstrated by the edifying lives of the primitive Christians. This was truly the age of Christian perfection, and in it the Lord was pleased to set up the most eminent models of all the virtues human nature is capable of, that the world might see the power of his grace and the ex- cellence of his doctrine, and that all future ages D 2 42 HISTORY OF THE might have before their eyes a specimen of a reli- gious life, a;id illustrious examples of perfection, for their encouragement and emulation. CHAPTER V. The necessity and excellency of the Christian Re- ligion evinced from the defective systems of Pagan Philosophy. WHEN the light of the Gospel appeared on earth, it dispelled the darkness of Paganism and supersti- tion, and discovered by its native lustre the imper- fection of all the systems of doctrine and precepts of morality laid down by the philosophers of antiquity for the conduct of life, and held in admiration for many ages, much after the same manner that, when the great luminary of the day comes forth, the light of the stars of the firmament, which strike us with their lustre and shine with advantage in the night, begins to fade an 3 vanish out of sight We admire* In the writings of Flato, Seneca, Tully, Plutarch, Marcus Aurelius, and other heathen philosophers, many excellent dictates and precepts of morality. — To wear quite out the knowledge of virtue and the image of God originally stamped on the rational soul, has been beyond the power of the vices of men or the malice of devils It was an effect of the Divine Goodness, that the traces of this image should be preserved amidst the ruins that followed the defec- tion of man from his Creator, that he might always h*\" some knowledge of evil, and he condemned by the testimony of his owr. conscience, if he sinned, and that by these helps he might apply himself t« know and seek God, and discover the conformity of his ;»iosi sublime revealed law with the law of reason. Nevertheless, how imperfect and insufficient a guide reason alone is, u\ the path of per feci morality, and how much it stands in i«eed of the superior light of revelation 5 is manifest, because religion alone can. CHURCH OF CHRIST. 43 point out the remedy and true cause of our spiritual wounds and corruption, an J both teach us and con- duct us to our last end. Reason alone tells us, in- deed, that we should adore G ;ti, that we should love him, and pay him an in eriofc worship; but the bare light of reason does not sufficiently instruct us in the nature of this adoration-, of this love and wor- ship which God requires of us, or in the conse- quences that result from the practice of them : it was necessary to receive information on these ob- jects from a revealed Ri ligion ; it is it that points out to us the origin of our duties* in the positive will of God ; the detail of them in his command- ments and prohibitions; the motives for the observ- ance of them in his supreme dominion, in our rela- tions with him, and in his promises and threats ; the means which enable us to observe them, in the su- pernatural helps which God offers us — in the sacra- ments, which are the channels of them — in prayer, which obtains them — and in vigilance, which guards and preserves them. Our reason is confined : it is with great difficulty that it acquires the knowledge of those truths, which it is of the greatest importance to know— A supernatural revelation was wanting to enlarge its lights. Our reason is uncertain : it finds unanswerable difficulties in the most evident dogmas —A revelation was necessary to dissipate its doubts. Our reason is slow in its progress : it stands in need of study, meditation, and researches; few men are capable of these, and almost all are taken up with other concerns — It was necessary that revelation should place truth within the reach of every one, as every one is equally interested in knowing it. Our reason is weak in its efforts : although it is sensible of the advantage of virtue, it is turned aside from it by the passions; man must therefore be engaged to practise it by a powerful interest, the fear of punish- ment and the hopes of reward. Revelation therefore was necessary, to render the knowledge of truth more clear, more enlarged, more certain, more com* mon, more efficacious. 40 HISTORY OF THE The experience of many ages, before the divine dispensation, is sufficient to show that human rea- soning is too weak, without the assistance of the superior light of revelation, even to direct us safely in all the paths of moral virtue. In the present depraved state of human nature, it may be compared to a weak glimmering light in a dark night, which rather serves to show a traveller that he is wander- ing out of the road, than to direct him in the right way. If too confidently followed, and if relied on in things beyond its sphere, it easily leads astray. — Even in many points, in which it is given to be a guide, it is often eclipsed by the passions, and be- comes liable to errors. Aristotle, the most compre- hensive genius of antiquity, relying too much on it, fell into many glaring errors, which several heretics of the first age adopted against the Gospel, on which account he is called by Tertullian the Patriarch of Heretics. Many other philosophers were remarkable for the strength of their genius and learning, and yet they never were able, by the force of their reason and study, to attain a knowledge of the great super- natural truths of eternity, as these truths do not fall under the senses and reason, so as to be examined or investigated by them. Unaware of the weakness of human reason, unassisted by revelation, they in- deed imagined that they could attain to wisdom by the sole strength of reason ; but this dangerous per- suasion alone was sufficient to lead them into many extravagant and gross errors. What contradictions do we not meet in their doctrines ! What prejudices ! To how many vices did they give the name of vir- tues ! How many crimes did they canonize ! What gross mistakes, even about the Divinity itself, and the Sovereign Good ! Varro relates more than two hundred and eighty different opinions on that single article ; some, with Epicurus, teaching that it con- sisted in voluptuousness; others, with the Stoics? placing it in virtue ; others, with the Peripatetics, making it consist in knowledge, Sec Thales, the prince of naturalists, being asked by Croesus what CHURCH OF CHRIST, 45 God was, put off that prince from time to time, say- ing, I" will consider on it ; a question which the most illiterate Christian could easily resolve. Plato, indeed, is remarkable for several noble sentiments on the attributes of the Deity, particularly on his pravi- dence ; and his doctrine on the rewards and punish- ments in a future state is really admirable ; but in his travels through Egypt and Phoenicia, he learned many traditional truths delivered down from the pa- triarchal ages. The lessons and maxims found in the Enchiridion of Epictetus, and in the Meditations of Marcus Aurelius the philosopher, are truly sublime; but these practical treatises are rather vain-glorious boasts, or high flights of eloquence, than suitable antidotes against the most dangerous vices Such empty exclamations on the beauty of virtue cannot subdue or regulate the heart of man, or restrain the sallies of his passions : it is only in the Christian Re- ligion that we find and possess this true wisdom, It is it that teaches us the great mysteries of our re- demption, and applies to our souls the remedies of ©ur justification, and the means of salvation. It is religion that teaches us to love God with our whole heart, and above all things* It is religion that directs us to love our neighbour, even our enemies, in God and for God. It is religion that guides us to seek the glory of God, and not our own ; to please him, and not ourselves ; to refer ourselves, and all that we do, to him, as to our first beginning and last end ; and to place our true happiness in the eternal enjoyment of him, and not in any of the perishable things of this transitory life. These glorious ends of charity and universal benevolence are not attainable on any other but the principles of religion. The beauty of the Christian morality and the sanc- tity of its faithful professors, appear nowhere to greater advantage, than when they are contrasted with the imperfect systems and false virtues of the most famous sages of the Heathen world. The very best of them were strangers to the first lessons of Christian morality. They knew not the name, much less the practice of humility, though this virtue is 46 HISTORY OF THE nearly allied to truth, which they pretended to pur- sue. In all the lessons which they gave against- vice, they only taught men to sacrifice the lesser passions to the greater, or to a more refined self- love, pride, and vain-glory. The ultimate end, which they proposed, went no further than their dear selves, and their own interest and glory, or, at most, the good of virtue in itself, without any reference to God, or to his eternal rewards or punishments. If in many of them we admire great examples of zeal for justice, of temperance in prosperity, of patience in adversity, of generosity, of courage, and the like ; these were often shadows and phantoms, that daz- zled aiid imposed on the eyes of men, rather than real virtues, because, as they sprung from a principle of vanity, or at least were tainted with a more refined pride and vain glory, they were vitiated by a bad in- tention, and infected with the poison of their origin, as waters, which come from a poisonous spring, re- tain their malignant quality, through whatever de- lightful channels or gi oves tfiey may happen to pass, Hence St. Jerome calls the ancient philosophers animals of fame, who basely drudged for the breath of the people. Tertullian also calls them traders in fame. Where is the' similitude, says he, between a Philosopher and a Christian ? a disciple of Greece and of Heaven ? a trader in fame and a saver of souls ? between a man of words and a man of works ? Apol. c. 46. The Pyrrhonians, the Sceptics, and Academics, had nothing else in view but to puzzle the other sects, and to ensnare them with their subtle sophisms. The Stoics were inaccessible to all the feelings of humanity. One cannot read without astonishment the number of Temples that Greece was filled with, and the prostitutions that were esta- blished there for the worship of Venus. Solon erected at Athens a Temple to the honour of tha: Goddess, and the gravest of their philosophers for- bad drinking to excess, if it was not on the feast of Bacchus, and to the honour of that false God. They were sensible that there was another God, very dif- ferent from those whom the vulgar adored. Yet CHURCH OF CHRIST, 4? Seneca, Socrates, Cicero, &c. with all their learning, fell into such gross absurdities, that they themselves basely worshipped and sacrificed to stocks and stones with the vulgar. Seneca, a native of Cordo- va in Spain, and the Son of a Roman knight, is justly admired for the compass of his learning, the liveli- ness of his imagination, the elevation of his thoughts, and the many excellent lessons of moral virtue, which are delivered in his works. His great abste- miousness and some other virtues are justly com- mended. But if we inquire into his conduct, we shall find his virtue tainted with pride, and even fall short of that of a moral Heathen. His immense riches, his stately palace and villas, his most sump- tuous furniture, in which himself counts five hun- dred tables of cedar, supported by ivory feet, all alike, jewels above price, with every other most costly thing, very ill suited with his stoic philoso- phy. Much less excusable were the excessive usuries, with which he oppressed and pillaged great part not only of Italy, but also of Britain : his com- plaisance also to Nero, on many unwarrantable oc- casions ; his flattery after the poisoning of Britan- nicus, his acceptance of his palace and gardens after his unjust death, &c. To his last breath he was an enthusiastic advocate for suicide ; took hemlock af- ter his veins were opened, and when the poison did not operate, would be removed into a hot bath to ac- celerate his own death. When Socrates was ac- cused of denying the Gods, which the public adored, he vindicated himself from it as from a crime ; and when he was upon the point of expiring, he ordered a cock to be sacrificed to jEsculapius. Plato, his disciple, who saw all Greece filled with this absurd and scandalous worship, durst not oppose the public error. It was from him the Stoics derived their proud maxim : The wise man is self-sufficient. Ci- cero patronized revenge, though nothing is so heroic as for a man to forgive an injury, to vanquish his passions, and learn to govern his own soul. The least exertion of patience, meekness, humility, or charity, is something much greater and more advan- 48 HISTORY OF THE tageous than the conquest of an empire would be. For Alexander once to have curbed his anger, on ever so small an occasion, would have been a far more glorious victory than all his conquests, even if his wars had been just. Pythagoras and Zeno af- fected tyranny, and Epictetus allowed a man to be proud of the conquest of any vice. Aristotle could not sit easy, until he proudly made his friend Her- mias sit below him ; and he was as gross a flatterer of Alexander for the sake of vanity, as Plato was of Dionysius for the sake of his belly. Diogenes could not be contented in his tub without gratifying his passions ; and when with his dirty feet he trod upon Plato's costly carpets, crying that he trarppled upon the pride of Plato, he did this, as Plato an- swered him, with greater pride. But among all the impious, absurd, and false maxims of the Pagan, Greek, and Roman philosophers, scarce any thing was more monstrous than the manner in which they canonized suicide, in distress, as a remedy against temporal miseries, and a point of heroism. It is strange, that any people should by false prejudices be able so far to extinguish the most evident prin- ciples of reason, and the voice of nature, as to deem suicide an action of courage, since it springs from a total want of that heroic virtue, and implies the ut- most excess of pusilanimity, impatience, and cow- ardice. To bear all kind of sufferings with unsha- ken constancy and virtue, is true courage and great- ness of soul, and the test and triumph of virtue : and to sink under misfortunes, is the most unworthy baseness of soul. Nothing can ever make it lawful for any one directly to procure, concur to, or hasten his own death. Whoever deliberately lays violent hands upon himself, is guilty of a heinous injury against God, the Lord of his life : against the common- wealth, which he robs of a member, and against him- self, by destroying his corporal life, and entailing everlasting damnation on his soul ; this crime be- ing usually connected with final impenitence, and eternal enmity with God. To murder another is the greatest temporal injustice a man can commit CHURCH OF CHRIST. 49 againstaneighbour,lifebeingol all temporal blessings the greatest and the most noble. Suicide of course is a crime so much more enormous, as the charity, which every one owes to himself, especially to his immortal soul, which is here destroyed with the body, is stricter, more noble, and of a superior order to that which he owes to his neighbour,, Away then with the prejudices of Seneca, and the false philo- sophy of Lycurgus, who put himself to death, be- cause his pride was unable to bear the thought of the Lacedemonians correcting the severity of his laws. Gross errors, and impious maxims of this sort, are discoverable in the doctrine and conduct of all the other boasted philosophers of Paganism, which plainly shows the incompetence of reason alone for our direction in our present corrupted state, and that without religion there is no true wis- dom. Of human philosophy in these matters a very wise man said : I have tried ail things in wisdom, I have said, I will be wise, and it departed further from me. Eccles. 7. 24. We are therefore obliged to acknowledge not only the incomparable advan- tages, but also the absolute necessity of divine reve- lation. God is the sovereign reason who cannot err. His w r ord is a flambeau that guides our steps and directs our ways. The religion he has revealed both en- lightens the mind and regulates the affections and appetites of the heart. The holy maxims which he has laid down in the gospel, concerning vice and virtue, infinitely excel in purity and perfection all the most admired lessons of philosophy. Their sub- serviency to each other, and the tendency of them all together to the common end of religion, are such as visibly exceed all human invention, and argue Christianity to be the product of a divine mind, and the work of an Infinite Being. There is no crime, no vice, no sin, even in thought, but it detects, de- tests, and prohibits ; no virtue, no perfection, no good work but it promotes, prescribes, and excites us to. The smallest stain cannot be shown in it. The least flaw, the least contradiction can never be fourid E 50 HISTORY OF THE in it. Every article of it is conducive to true holi- ness. How admirable is the harmony of the awful mysteries which it teaches ! How adorable is the light of its important and sublime truths ? How pure the morality of its precepts ! What powerful means of grace and helps of sanctification does it not fur- nish ! What cogent motives of divine love ! What strong incentives to glorify God by the tender of our sacrifices and affections ! How nobly does it display before our eyes the goodness and mercy of God in the work of our redemption ! Here the Di- vine truth and wisdom shine forth with the most ra- vishing lustre in a manner worthy a God, Here we behold in raptures of astonishment the unparalleled charity of our blessed Redeemer, the dreadful enor- mity of sin, and our own happy deliverance from the powers of Hell. Here our conscience is awak- ed and roused by the faith of a future judgment, by the hope of an assured resurrection from the dead, by a clear revelation of unspeakable rewards pre- pared for the just, and by the fear of endless tor- ments reserved for the punishment of the reprobate in the world to come. In consideration of all these great truths, St. Paul calls the Gospel of Christ the power of God unto salvation to every one t T *at be- lieve th. Rom. 1. 16. CHAPTER VI. The means established by the Aj[iostles for fire serving the Christian religion in its primitive purity. EVEN in the days of the Apostles there appear- ed false prophets, lying teachers, scoffers, and sectaries, whose errors chiefly sprung from the Pa- gan principles of the Plantonic philosophy, and from a wrong sense and meaning, which they took out of the sacred Scriptures, by interpreting it ac- cording to their own wild imaginations. The Scrip- CHURCH OF CHRIST. pi ture itself affirms in express terms, that such false^ teachers would rise up among the faithful, and bring in sects of perdition, 2 Pet. 2. having an appearance of godliness, but speaking lies in hypocrisy, resisting the truth, departing from the faith, and having their consciences seared. 1 and 2 Tim. 3 and 4 c. It also assures us that in the Epistles of St. Paul there are some things hard to be understood, which the un- learned and the unstable wrested, as they did also the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 2 Pet. 3. 18. The Apostles, foreseeing what was to hap- pen, and solicitous to preserve the deposit of faith intrusted to them, pure and inviolate throughout all future ages, took particular care to warn the faithful against such teachers, and to exhort them to stick close to the doctrine which they had delivered to them, and to teach the same inviolate to their poste- rity. 1 and 2 Tim. They strictly charged their suc- cessors in office, as well as the flock committed to their instruction, to avoid and shun all the broachers of profane novelties, whose speech spreadeth like a canker. They commanded them to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints, to adhere firmly to the sound doctrine they had received from the beginning, and to defend it zealously against all seducers, blasphemers, and gain savers, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake. They ordered them not to add, diminish, alter, corrupt or deviate one single iota from the faith, though an Angel from Heaven should teach and preach up a contrary doctrine ; be- cause an error, though in one point, in one single ar-^ tide, is a removing from the grace — and perverting the Gospel of Christ. Gal. 1. 6,7, 8. In short, the Apostles laid it down as an invariable rule, to be carefully observed in every succeeding generation, that the least change or alteration should never be made in the doctrine of faith, but that the self-same revealed truths, which were believed and taught by them in the first age of the Church, should be carefully handed down to posterity, entire and uncorrupted, $2 HISTORY OF THE This principle the) 7 established as a fence and barrie'r For the continual preservation of the true faith, and as a most effectual means to convey it to every suc- ceeding* generation, without the smallest addition^ diminution, or deviation. Hence St. Paul, 2 Thess. 11. 14. says : Stand Jast, my brethren, and hold the tradition* which ye have learned, whether by word or by my e/iistle. It was for this reason that, when some Calsc brethren in St Paul's absence had persuaded the Galatians that it was necessary to join circumci- i with the gospel, the Apostle wrote to them on purpose to correct this delusion, and to prevent them from innovating-, altering, or adulterating the doctrine of faith. He likewise undercook a journey to Jeru- salem for the purpose of conferring and deliberating h the Apostles, priests, and elders of the Church about this question, which began to be controverted i a degree of warmth in the city of Antioch, where many, who had been converted from Judaism, and who were still strongly attached to the law of Moses, raised violent disputes, and insisted that such of the Gentiles as were converted from Paganism to Chris- tity, could not be saved unless they were circum- ed and observed the other ceremonies of the Mo- law. On this occasion a council of the Apostles and Elders of the Church was assembled at Jerusa- lem in the year 5 1. St. Clement of Alexandria as- sures us that all the Apostles were present at this ouncil. St. Luke only mentions St. Peter and St. roes, with St. Paul and St. Barnabas, who also Isted thereat, and recounted the progress which y had made by their preaching among the Gen- St. Peter presided in this assembly, and hav- maturely considered and discussed the matter m debate, he made a discourse to snow that the obliga- of the Jewish ceremonies was not to be laid on rite Gentile converts ; for the ceremonial precepts and rites being all types, that pointed out the Re- deemer to come, were to cease when they were ac- complished by the new law of the Gospel. As jigurcs and shadows they were banished, and gi CHURCH OF CHRth' J3* place to the reality and substance. St. Peter havihgr first pronounced sentence, his determination was se- conded by St. James, the Bishop of Jerusalem, who proved by the testimonies of the Prophets, that the observance of the legal ceremonies was no longer necessary, and that the Gentiles ought not to be subjected to the burden and servitude of the Mosiac law. The doctrine of St. Peter, supported thus by* the local Pastor of Jerusalem, was by the Council formed into a decree, which began with>these words : It has seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and tons, &c. to signify that the Holy Ghost explicates himself, and speaks to the faithful by the Pastors of the Church, as his organs, and the depositories of his revealed truths; and consequently, that their decisions and decrees in these matters are to be considered as dic- tated by him. These were the means established and practised by the Apostles in the first century, for* preventing innovations and schisms amongst the faithful, and for settling and finally deciding this first controversy about religion. And these likewise are the means to which the pastors of the Church in succeeding ages have had recourse, after the exam- ple of the Apostles, in order to preserve the faith in its primitive purity, and to settle disputes, whenever any dogmatical point of received doctrine happened to be impugned, controverted, or called in question,. Either general, national, provincial, or diocesan coun- cils and synods have been held, for the purpose of settling and determining all such disputes and dif- ferences as arose about religious matters, or for making regulation in discipline and morals. And really y as Christ our Lord declared it necessary that heresies and scandals should arise, ir was also neces- sary that his Church should be provided with a re- medy- against them, and have some eiTeciuid means to recur to, in order to separate the tares from the good grain, and retrench scandals and abuse s« when* ever they occur. The chief errors that were broach d i, r.l.e cipos- /tolic age, were those of Simon the Magician, Cerin^- E. % 54 HISTORY OF THE thus, Menander, Ebion, Saturninus, Basilides, and the Nicolaits, so called from Nicholas, one of the Seven Deacons. In process of time an almost in- credible number of Gnostics and other sectaries started up, began to dogmatize, and attempted to subvert the faith. They adopted the grossest ab- surdities and the most impious tenets ; but their er- rors created horror, and at their first appearance were immediately condemned and refuted by the pastors of the Church in their respective sees, when they could not freely and publicly assemble in coun- cil, on account of the violent persecutions of the Pagan emperors. The Gnostics were a sect, that boasted of extraordinary light and knowledge of un- known mysteries, particularly in composing combi- nations and genealogies of aeons, or attributes and operations of the Deity. Their principles were de- testable, and led them to all kinds of libertinism and abominable practices. The errors of the Nicolaits rather regarded manners than faith; for which rea- son St. Clement of Alexandria reproaches them on- ly for their immoralities and debaucheries. Caius, a priest of the Church of Rome, and St. Denis, of Alexandria, reprehend the Cerinthians for teaching, among many other errors, that the reign of Jesus Christ would be terrestrial, and that it would consist arnal delights, sensual pleasures, feasts, and con- tinual sacrifices for the space of a thousand yei before the day of judgment. This opinion is called the Millenarian system. It never was a doctrine of faith, nor proposed by the Church to be believed as such, although some few of the Fathers admitted a "Millenarian reign of Christ on earth, in spiritual pleasures with his elect. They were herein misled by Papias, a disciple of St. John the Evangelist^ iv ho being a man of a very moderate understanding, as Eusebius says, for want of comprehending what he heard from the Apostles, took literally what was said in a mystical sense. But this point was after- wards cleared up, and the mistake was corrected by consulting the tradition of the whole Church, Thi CHURCH OF CHRIST. iJ5 system of the Millenarians, says Calmet, owes its origin to the Jews, who expected to reign a thousand years with the Messiah on earth. Some of the an- cients also inferred this erroneous opinion from a pas- sage of the Apocalypse and Isaiah misunderstood ; but, instead of having any foundation in the sacred text, it is refuted by it, and has been long exploded, as contrary to the Gospel, and to the doctrine of St. Paul. As to the errors of Simon the Magician, they chiefly sprung from the system of the Platonists, and gave rise to most of the heresies of the first ages, Simon, that bane of mankind, as Eusebius calls him, being expelled from the East by St. Peter, repaired to the city of Rome, with his favourite Helena, and imposed on the people there by his sorceries. The Infernal Spirit was permitted to oppose these illu- sions and artifices to the true miracles of Jesus Christ, he was suffered in Egypt to assist the magicians of Pharaoh against Moses. It is from this Simon that the crime of selling any spiritual thing for a tempo- ral price is called Simony ; and to maintain that practice lawful, is usually termed in the canon law, the heresy of Simon Magus. He strove in all things to rival Christ. He pretended to be the Messiah, and often called himself the Holy Ghost, which name he also gave sometimes to the concubine He- lena, whom he had purchased at Tyre, and to whom he desired Divine honours to be paid under the figure of Minerva. He had many followers in Rome, and at length gained so high a reputation, that a statue was erected to him in the isle of Tiber, with this inscription : Simoni Deo Sancto. St. Justin Martyr, who was a person of great learning and gravity, and of a genius wonderfully inquisitive about matters of ihis nature, and well acquainted with all the mythology of the Heathens, assures us hereof, in his Apology addressed to the emperor, to the senate, and to all the people of Rome, whom he pressed to demolish this statue. St. Justin lived then in Rome, and repeats this twice in his great Apology, 56 HISTORY OF THE and in his Dialogue with Trypho, the philosopher- which he would never have had the assurance to do, were it not a real fact, as the Heathens could not ' fail to take notice of, and resent such a blunder, and turn it to the scorn of the apologist and his religion, which they never did. Tertullian, Eusebius, Theo- doret, St. Cyril, and St. Augustine say, that this statue was erected to Simon by the public authority of the senate and the emperor Claudius, who suc- ceeded that barbarous tyrant Caius Caligula, who wished the Roman people had but one neck, that he might cut it off at one stroke. It was under Clau- dius that Great Britain w r as reduced to the form of a Roman province. His mother Antonia, when she met with any very silly fellow, was accustomed to say : He is as great a fool as my son Claudius. His first wife Messalina was capable of persuading him to any thing she pleased, a greater idiot having ne- ver worn the imperial purple, being therefore cal- led a child with grey hairs. His second wife, Agrip- pina, pushed him on to many extravagancies, and prevailed on him to adopt Nero, who was her son by Domitius, her first husband, and who, in the year 51, ascended the imperial throne after the death of Claudius, who was poisoned by Agrippina. The young prince governed five years with great cle- mency, leaving the direction of all things to his master Seneca, the philosopher, and to Burrhus, the prefect of the praetorian cohorts, except that he poisoned his brother Britannicus, the son of Claudius, by Messalina, whilst they were supping together. — In the year 58, he killed his own mothiv, Agrippina, and from that im< • • became the greatest monster of cv.ieit- i " it perhaps ever disgraced the human speci ei Si noil Magus found means to in- gratiate himself with t is tyrant, and by his vain boastings and illusions could not fail ro please him, as Nero was above all mortals infatuated with the detestable superstitions of the deceitful art oi ma^ic, to the last degree of folly and extravagance Simon the Magician called himself the Great Pow ing which time they converted and baptized Pro- cessus and Martinian, the captains of their guards; with forty seven others. CHAPTER VIL Ml the Afiostles crowned with martyrdom. SUCH was the ceconomy, such was the unfathom- able wisdom of God, that he was pleased to permit his servants, and new acquired people, to be subject- ed, during the three first centuries of the Church, to the most rigorous trials, and their fidelity to be put to the strictest test, by ten bloody persecutions. Not only the first preachers of Christianity were per- secuted, but also their disciples and followers, who adhered to their doctrine. Whole cities rose up against them ; entire nations were leagued to de- stroy them : philosophers opposed argument ; Libertines opposed sensuality ; Pagan Emperors opposed torments. Millions of martyrs sealed their faith with the effusion of their blood, and laid down their lives with joy under these persecutions, in testimony of the Gospel. They endured the sharpest trials, and the most barbarous cruelties that tyranny could invent or inflict, with the meekness of lambs, and the simplicity of doves ; and they gloriously surmounted every opposition, though the only wea- pons with which they encountered the malice of their enemies, Mere patience, forbearance, humility, and prayer. Divine Providence conducted tfiem through the fiery crucible with such courage and in- trepidity, that they demonstrated their creed by the constancy of their invincible valour ; and bore death itself, in its most dreadful shapes, with an amazing calmness of mind, recollecting what Christ had said in his first sermon on the Mount: Blessed arc ye, when they shall revile you and persecute you; be CHURCH #F CHRIST. 5? glad and rejoice^ for your reward is very great in Heaven. Thus it appeared visibly that God was the imme- diate supporter and defender of his Church, for though it lost in its infancy some of its main pillars, and was deprived of such a vast number of its pas- tors and members, it remained no less firm than before, and even grew and gathered strength from the most violent persecutions. King Agrippa, who had been brought up at Rome in the reign of that cruel tyrant Tiberius, called by his own preceptor Theodorus Gadareus, a lump of flesh steeped in blood, was the first prince that persecuted the Church, The first of the Apostles who fell a vic- tim under him was St. James the Greater, whom he caused to be beheaded in the year 43 at Jerusalem, whither he was returned after having preached the gospel, with great success, not only to the twelve tribes of the Jews in their dispersion over the world, but also to the inhabitants of Spain, according to the constant tradition of that Church. St. James the Lesser, who was called The Just Man^ by the very Jews, on account of his austere life and emi- nent sanctity, and who had been constituted Bishop of Jerusalem by the Apostles before their disper- sion, was thrown headlong from the battlements of the Temple, received below with a shower of stones by the populace, and killed with a blow of a fuller's club on the head, in the year 62, because he had, in the most solemn and public manner, declared that Jesus was seated at the right hand of the Sovereign Majesty, and would come in the clouds of Heaven to judge the world. Eusebius, 1. 7. c. 19, relates that the Episcopal chair of St James was preserved with great veneration by the Christians of Jerusa- lem, till the fourth century. St. Andrew was cruci- fied at Patrse, in Achai*. It is the common opinion, that his cross was in the form of the letter X, com- posed of two pieces of timber, crossing each other obliquely in the middle. When he saw his cross at a distance, he is said to have cried out, « H&il, pre- a cious cross ! thou hast been consecrated by the £0 HISTORY OF 1'HE <' body of my Lord, and adorned with his limbs, as " with rich jewels — I come to thee exulting with " joy ; receive me into thy arms, and present me " to my master." St. Thomas suffered martyrdom at Calamina, or Meliapor, in the peninsula on this side the Ganges, on the coast of Coromandel, where his body was discovered, with certain marks that he was slam with lances ; it was carried to the city of Edessu, where it was honoured with great venera- tion, when St. Chrysostom, Rusin, Socrates, Sozo- men, and St. Gregory of Tours wrote. St. Philip the Apostle is said to have been crucified at Hiera- polis, in Phrygia. Some writers have confounded iris death with that of St. Philip the Deacon, whose four daughters were virgins and prophetesses, Acts 21. 9. and who probably died at Caesarea. St. Bartholomew, who is believed by several learned writers to have been the same person with Nathaniel, after preaching in India and Persia, was flayed alive, and then crucified at Albanus, in Great Armenia- St. Matthew, as Venantius Fortunatus relates, suf- fered martyrdom at Nadabar, a city in Parthia, after preaching to the .Ethiopians, Persians, and Modes. Ht. Simon is said to have been crucified in Persia, at the instigation of some idolatrous priests. St. Jude, ournamed Thaddxus, to distinguish him from the Ischariot, is said to have been tied on a cross and shot to death with arrows, at Ararat in Armenia, then subject to the Parthian empire, and consequently esteemed part of Persia. Those who say he died at Bcrytus, in Phoenicia, confound him with.-Thaddaeus, one of the seventy-two Disciples, who was sent to St. Thomas to P.dcssa, where King Abgar and a great number of his people are said to have received baptism at his hands. It was this disciple that found- ed the Churches of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, the two capital cities of Assyria. St. Matthias, who, from being one of the Seventy-two Disciples was chosen, in the room of Judas, a twelfth Apostle, is said to have received the crown of Martrydom in Colchis* where he was stoned by a number of Savages, and then bdicadcd. St. John, being brought to Rome CHURCH ©F CHRIST. 61 by order of Domitian, was cast into a caldron of boiling oil, but being miraculously preserved, and coaling out more vigorous than before, he was ba- nished to the island of Pat mos, in the ^Egean Sea, or the Archipelago, where he wrote the admirable prophecy of the Apocalypse, which is regarded as a summary of the history of the Christian Church, through every age, from the date of its birth to its triumphant and glorious state in Heaven. It is generally asserted* that when St. Peter and St. Paul were condemned by Nero, *hey were both scourged before they were put to death, as that punishment, according to the Roman laws, was ahvays inflicted before crucifixion. Eusebius, St. Epiphanius, St. Prudentius, and most writers, af- firm, that they suffered both together near the Ostian Gate, on the 29th of June, in the year 67. St. Peter, vvhen he was come to the place of execu- tion, requested of the officers that he might be cru- cified with his head downwards, alleging, that he was not worthy to suffer in the same manner his di- vine Master had died before him : his Master look- ed towards Heaven, which by his death he opened to men ; wherefore Peter judged, through humility, that a sinner, formed from dust, and going to return to dust, ought rather in confusion to look on the earth, as unworthy to raise his eyes to Heaven. St. Paul underwent more labours, and suffered more fre- quent imprisonments, and more stripes, than any of the rest: he had been five times publicly whipped by the Jews, receiving each time thirty -nine stripes; he had been thrice beaten with rods by the Gentiles; had thrice suffered shipwreck ; and had been a day and a night in the depth ef the sea, that is, in a ves- sel which was so long shattered and tossed amidst the waves; at length the happy term of his labours and sufferings being arrived, he beheld with joy the moment of his dissolution, in which Christ called him to his glory, and with the most perfect resigna- tion, submitting himself to the executioner, he was beheaded, his dignity of a Roman citizen not ailow- ine him to be crucified. St. Gregory writes, that the F 62 HISTORY OF THE bodies of these two Apostles were buried in the Catacombs, two miles from Rome, where now stands the Church of St. Sebastian, near the Salvian Waters. At present the heads of the two Apostles are depo- sited in silver bustos in the Church of St. John La- teran ; but one half of the body of each Apostle is 3vept together in the great Church of St. Paul, on the Ostian Road, and the other half of both bodies in a stately vault, in the Vatican church, which sacred place is called The Confession of St. Peter a?id Limina Afiostvloruin, and is resorted to from all parts of Christendom. About the same year that St. Peter and St. Paul were martyred, the civil wars began in Judea, by the seditions of the Jews against the Romans. The Christians then residing in Jerusalem were warned by Almighty God of the impending destruction, says Eusebius, and ordered to withdraw from that city, as Lot was ordered to withdraw from Sodom. Accordingly they retired beyond the river Jordan, with their bishop, St. Simeon, successor of St. James, and remained in a city called Pella, until after the taking and burning of Jerusalem, when they return- ed to settle themselves in the midst of its ruins. CHAPTER VIII. The desr >f Jerusalem, mid the disjiersion of the Jewish Nation. IT was expedient that the City of Jerusalem, and the temporal Republic of the Jews, should sub- sist some time after the promulgation of the Gospel, until the spiritual kingdom of Christ and the new Curch of the Gentiles would be formed and grafted on the ancient stock and root of the Synagogife of the true Israelites, as the branches of the wild olive are grafted upon the fruitful olive. Rom. 11. 17. The time at length arrived when Jerusalem and its beautiful Temple were to be demolished, and the CHURCH OF CHRIST. 6 J people of that stubborn and ungrateful nation was to be involved in the most dreadful calamities, and dis- persed all over the earth. By an unparalleled in- stance of impiety they had crucified the Son of God* and uttered this horrible blasphemy, His blood be upon us and upon our Children, St. Mat. 27. 25. The just vengeance of Heaven fell therefore upon their commonwealth, and a whole torrent of divine wrath was poured down upon their criminal heads^ and also upon their children, in less than forty years after. The Roman armies under Vespasian and Ti- tus invaded their territories, and ravaged their coun- try. Jerusalem was besieged, taken, and razed to the ground. The Temple was set on fire by a Ro- man soldier, and consumed, notwithstanding all the efforts made by Titus to extinguish the flames. Previous to this sad disaster many strange phenome- na had been seen, according to the Jewish Talmud : insomuch, that a famous Rabbin cried out one day, O Temple I Temple I what is it that moves thee, and wherefore dost thou make thyself a/raid ? What is more noted than that dreadful noise that was heard in the Sanctuary on the day of Pentecost, and that audible voice which issued forth from the innermost part of that sacred place : Let us go hence — Let us go hence .' The Holy Angels, Guardians of the Tem- ple, loudly declaring, that they were forsaking it be- cause God, who had there established his dwelling; during so many ages, had now given it up to repro- bation. Josephus, their historian, and Tacitus him- self, have both related this prodigy. Josephus also makes rneution of a prophet who constantly ran through the public streeis, crying out with a loud voice, Wo to the City — Wo to- the Temple — Wq to the Jews. Eleven hundred thousand of them pe- rished on this occasion, partly by famine, partly by the plague, and partly by the sword. About fifty years after the destruction of Jerusalem they revolted through the whole Roman Empire, under the con- duct of Barchokebas, who boasted that he was the promised Messiah, and called himself the Star of Jacob, foretold in the Book of Numbers. On this 64 HISTORY OF THE occasion six hundred thousand of the Jews are said to have been killed, and the remainder of that un- happy people who survived, were expelled Judea, scattered over the face of the earth, and became the contempt of mankind, and a lasting monument of God's indignation. In this condition they have now remained upwards of seventeen hundred years, with- out any fixed abode or government, still in expecta- tion of the Messiah, though it is evident that the scepter has been removed from the tribe of Juda, the seventy weeks of years predicted by Daniel have been accomplished, and the time and other cir- cumstances foretold by the prophets for the coming of the Messiah, is long since elapsed. They still persevere in the blindness and obstinacy of theitf forefathers, amidst the noon-day light of the Gospe). However, their obstinacy affords Christians the ad- vantage of finding in unsuspected hands the sacred Scriptures, which have foretold Jesus Christ and his mysteries. Thus we are gainers by their overthrow, and their infidelity is one of the foundations of our faith. They teach us to fear God, and are a dreadful example of the judgments he executes upon his un- grateful children, that we may learn never to glory- in the favours shown to our forefathers. Sixtus Se- nensis, who had been a Jew before his conversion, informs us, that the Jews of his days had improved so much upon the false delicacy of the Jews in Christ's time, that they scrupled to take an ox out ol a pit on the Sabbath, and would only allow food to be given the beast in the water, till the festival was over, when they took him out. Nay, he relates, that a Jew, who was fallen into a ditch on the Sab- Ijath, refused to suffer a Christian, who offered his help, to lift him out of the mire, saying, Sabbata nostra colo ; De stercore surgere nolo. The Jewish Sabbath doth of me require, That I should rest contented in this mire. Wherefore, when he implored the same Christian's '•ssistance on the ensuing clay, which was Sunday, CHURCH OF CHRIST. &5' the latter, to turn the Jew's superstitious scrupulo- sity against himself, answered, that he should keep the Christian Sabbath in the same place : Sabbata nostra quidem r Salomon^ celebrabis ibidem. Christians on this day their Sabbath keep, ; I'll leave you then y dear Jew, there still to creefil Some of their Rabbins have even gone so far as to contend, that a tailor would be guilty of break- ing the Sabbath who should carry a needle stuck in his sleeve on that day. The calamities and oppressions the Jews have undergone, would probably have extinguished any- other people, but ihey are still preserved by a spe- cial Providence for a future great purpose ; for when the merciful dispensations of Heaven to the Gentiles shall be completed, when the Gospel shall have been fully preached to mankind, and the number of con- verts to Christianity, designed by the Almighty^ shall be filled up. the last posterity of the Jews shall experience that bounty which has been suspended for so many ages. By a particular mark of predi- lection, they had been chosen in former ages by God as his peculiar people, and adopted preferably to any other nation. They shared his favours in great abundance, and in the most conspicuous manner ; and though in their infidelities and gross deviations from their duty, he used the rod of correction, yet he always retained the disposition of a merciful fa- ther for them, and was so far from utterly extermi- nating them, that their race subsists to this day, and is still very numerous. Before the end of the world, says St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Satan will raise up a man^who will falsely assume the name of Christ, and endeavour to seduce them ; he will allege the sacred Scriptures to prove that he is their Messiah, and the Christ, says St. Ambrose ; but the Lord will then send the Prophets Eiias and Henoch to oppose his efforts, and to undeceive and convince them that their Messiah is that very Jesus, whom they have F % 66 HISTORY OF THE rejected. He will then in his mercy take from them the heart of stone, and give them a heart of flesh ; he will make them sensible of their past blindness and obstinacy ; he will, in fi.»e, open their eyes to acknowledge Christ their Messiah and Saviour, and by n aking ihem Christians, he will incorporate them in the pale and bosom of his Church.< — Rom. 11. 25, 2b, z7 It is thus that the Jews shall be at length converted to Christianity, and the remnant of Israel shall be saved by believing in Jesus Christ. Nor can any man ever be saved, without a supernatural faith in tins Divine Redeemer : There is no other name under Heaven given to man whereby he must be saved. — Acts 4. 12. The saints, in the old law, were saved by the same faith which we more expli- citly confess. They believed in Christ to come : we believe in him already come. The words are changed, Our Redeemer will come, and. He is come, as St. Augustine frequently observes, but the object 4>f this faith is the same. Our blessed Saviour foresaw, and clearly predict- ed the destruction of Jerusalem, and of its Temple, and the dispersion of the Jews, Luke 21 ; and as it could not possibly have been foreseen but by the eye of Divine Providence alone, it served as an evident proof of Revelation, that bore testimony to the truth of the Christian Religion, and persuaded threat multitudes, both of Jews and Gentiles, to em- brace it. Wherefore Satan, who for many ages had usurped almost an universal empire in the world, being deeply stung with envy to see his own throne •shaken by the progress of the Gospel, and the Christian Religion flourishing more and more every day, resolved to stir up the potentates of the earth, to give it the most violent opposition, and to do all that men could do to extirpate the very name of Christianity, CHURCH OF CHRIST, 6£ CHAPTER IX. The three first general Persecutions. THE Christians had already been cruelly perse- cuted, both by the Jews and by the Gentiles, but these persecutions were not general. The mo- narchy of Rome being at that time exceedingly powerful and extensive, Satan chiefly attempted to instil the poison of his malice into the minds of the Pagan Emperors, and to inspire them, and the go- vernors of the Roman provinces, against all the Christians in general. To open the scene and be- gin the bloody tragedy, he made use of the emperor Nero, doubtless a very proper instrument for the work, as being already a monster of vice and cruel- ty, that glutted his savage mind with the slaughter of his own mother Agrippina, his brother Britanni- cus, his two wives Octavia and Poppaea, and his pre- ceptors Seneca and Burrhus. The first five years of his reign he ruled with so much clemency, that when he was to sign an order for the death of a con- demned person, he said, "1 wish 1 could not write." But when he began to feel the dangerous pleasure of being master of his own person and actions, he plunged himself into the most infamous debauche- ries. He forgot all common rules of decency, or- der, or justice. It was his greatest ambition to sing, or perform the part of an actor on the stage, to play on musical instruments in the theatre, to fish with nets of gold, or to drive a chariot in the circus. He made a tour through the principal cities of Greece, attended by a great number of singers, pantomimes, and musicians, carrying, instead of arms, instruments of music, masks, and theatrical dresses. He gained there eighteen hundred various sorts of crowns, at the Olympian games and public diversions. Whosoever did not applaud ail his per- formances, or had not the compliance to let him oarry the prize, at every race, or public entertain- ment, his throat was sure to be cut, or he was re- 68 HISTORY OF THfc- served for some more cruel death. It w%s in the year 64 that this brutal prince first drew the sword of sovereign power against the Church, and re- turned from Greece to make the streets of Rome stream with blood. Envying the fate of Priam? who saw his country laid in ashes, Nero is charged with having privately ordered the city of Rome to be set on fire, and with having caused lighted torches to be thrown among the houses, that he might glut his eyes with an image of the burning of the city of Troy. During this horrid tragedy he was seated on the top of a tower upon a neighbouring hill, in the theatrical dress of a musician, singing a poem which he had composed on the burning of Troy. Finding himself detested by the people, who imput- ed the burning of Rome to him, he endeavoured to exculpate himself, and to transfer the odium upon tlv incendiaries. Hence he published a severe edict against a J the professors of Christianity, and order- ed vast multitudes of them to be sacrificed, not only in Rome, but likewise in all the different provinces of the Roman empire. At Rome some were wrapt up in the skins of wild beasts, and thus exposed to be worried by dogs ; others were crucified ; others burnt alive, being clad in coats dipt in pitch, brim- stone, or some other combustible matter, and then fastened to stakes, and set on fire, that they might serve, instead of torches, to illuminate the streets and other public places. — See Tacitus, 1. 15, c. 44. Nero himself is said to have driven his chariot, and exhibited a public show in his gardens by the light of these horrid torches. Historians relate, that no less than leo '.housand Christians were slain in one siiigle ciiy by his orders. What could engage such multitudes i the Christian Religion) and support them in it, in defiance ot death in the most shocking forms, but evident truth, and a superior grace and Strength from above ? It is the prerogative of the Christian Religion to inspire men with such reso«- lution, and form them to such heroism, that they rc- joic< to sacrifice their life to truth. This is not the bare force and exertion of nature, but the undoubt- CHURCft OF CHB.IST. 69*" ed power of the Almighty, whose strength is thus made perfect in weakness. No other religion ever produced martyrs so meek, so humble, so patient, so cheerful and steadfast, under the most intolerable torments. If we contrast the pretended heroism of the greatest sages of Paganism, with the fortitude and constancy of the Christian martyrs, we shall find that the constancy of the Christian is founded in humility, and its motive the pure love of God,, and perfect fidelity to his holy law. He suffers with modesty, charity, and tender fortitude, and with a puf e intention that God may be known, honoured, and glorified by the testimony he bears to his sove- reign goodness. He desires no acclamations, seeks no applause, feels no sentiments of revenge, praises and thanks God amidst his torments, and affection- ately embraces, loves, and prays for his enemies and tormentors like St. Stephen, under a shower of stones, and covered with wounds and blood. On the other hand, the vain and proud philosopher is puffed up in his own mind, because he suffers ; he sets forth his pretended virtue with ostentation ; he con- ceals his inward spite, rage, and despair, under the hypocritical exterior of a forced and affected pa- tience ; he insults his enemies, or at least studies and wishes revenge. The boasted Cato dreaded and abhorred the sight of Caesar, and killed himself, that he might not be presented before, or owe his life to an e nemy, by whom he was vanquished. Socrates was the only philosopher that can be said to have died for his doctrine, and though he was esteemed the best and the wisest of the Heathens, he betrayed a restless posture of mind, and delivered himself with fits of hope and fear, in that most famous discourse which he is supposed to have made a little before his death about a future state. By the haughtiness of his looks he despised and insulted his judges, and by the insoience of his behaviour he provoked them to condemn him ; and neither Phaedo, Cebes, Crito, Simmias, nor any of his greatest triends in the Are- opagus, had the courage to maintain eitherlus inno- cence, or that doctrine for which he died. With 70 HISTORY OF ?HE what reserve did Plato himself dogmatize, concern* ing the God whom he worshipped in public, but de- nied in private ! How did he dissemble, for fear of the hemlock of Seneca ! How did he disguise him- self, and say and unsay the same excellent truths \ Only ihe Christians suffered with true heroism, and held on suffering at this rate, until they subdued the world by dying for their religion. The disturbances under the emperors Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, who in their turn succeeded Nero, and the humane dispositions of Vespasian and his son Titus, gave some respite to the Church. Vespasian, emulous of the virtues of Augustus, reigned with such clemency, as to be grieved at the infliction of punishment, even when it was right. Josephus, the Jewish Historian, flattered him, as if he had been the Messiah foretold by the prophets. But Vespasian was not free from avarice, for he laid a tax upon urine, and was accustomed to say, that gain made every thing smell sweet. Titus, on ac- count of his singular humanity, was called the de- light of mankind ; and if he passed a day without exercising his benevolence, he used this memorable saying : k * My friends, 1 have lost a day 1" He is supposed to have been poisoned by his brother, Do- mitian, who succeeded him in the empire, but not in his humanity, or other good qualities, for Domi- tian became a second Nero in cruelty. This is the Emperor who, in the beginning of his reign, enter- tained himself in his closet with catching flies, and sticking them with a sharp bodkin. Hence Vibius Crispus, being asked who was with the Emperor ? aptly replied, JVot so much as ajly. Domitian, instigated by Satan, began the second general persecution in the year 95, and published new edicts throughout the empire against the Chris- tians, by virtue of which great numbers were made victims of religion. Among others, he put to death Flavius Clemens, Antipas, St. Nereus, and Achileus, and ordered St. John the Evangelist to be ca*t into a caldron of boiling oil. CHURCH OF CHRIST. $1 The third general persecution was carried on by the permission of Trajan. This Emperor, indeed, possessed many amiable qualities, which gained him from the Senate the title of Ofirijnus, or Good Prince ; but he sullied his Pagan virtues by a blind superstition, and an excessive vanity, which pro- cured him the surname of Parietinus y or a dauber of every wall with the inscription of his name and ac- tions. In seven years he built the famous pillar which is called by his name, and justly esteemed a finished and most admirable monument of antiquity. It is recorded of him, that when, according to the usual custom, he delivered the sword of office to the chief prsetor of Rome, he said, "if I rule with jus- " tice, use this for me — and against me, if J rule " otherwise." He issued no new edicts against the faithful, but he suffered the former sanguinary laws to be executed in different parts of the empire, in the year 106, as appears from his answer to Pliny the Younger, governor of Pontus and Bvthinia, who had informed him by letter, That the Christians were very numerous in the provinces of his government, that the temples of the Gods were abandoned, their feasts were interrupted, and scarce any victims were purchased or offered, and, therefore, that he wished to know his pleasure what should be done. Trajan's answer was : " Let the Christians not be sought for ; " but if they be accused and convicted as such, let "them be punished." Tertullian justly confutes this absurd and unjust answer, by a keen raillery, and the following dilemma: " If they are criminal, " why are they not sought after ? if innocent, why are " they punished ?" It was in the reign of this Em- peror that St. Clement, Bishop of Rome, and disci- pie of St. Peter, was put to death. St. Simeon, Bi- shop of Jerusalem, and brother and successor of St. James the Lesser, suffered also a glorious martyr- dom under Trajan, at the age of 120 years ; and St. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, was sent by him to Rome, there to be torn to pieces by wild beasts in the amphitheatre. St Ignatius wrote seven epis- tles, still extant, which> contain a sublimity, an ener- 73 MISTORY ©F tki: gy and beauty of thought and expression that can- not be sufficiently admired. The perfect spirit of humility, meekness, patience, zeal, and burning cha- rity, which they breathe in every period, cannot fail deeply to affect all who attentively read them. The acts of his martyrdom, written by the Christians, who accompanied him to Ronre, bear record, that a great respect was paid to his sacred relics, and that they were carried to Antioch, and deposited in that church as an inestimable treasure. Trajan's persecution, in some degree, continued the first year of his successsor, <&lius Adrianus* reign, but he put a stop to it about the year 124, moved, probably, both by the apologies of Quadratus and Aristides, and by a letter which the proconsul of Asia had written to him in favour of the Chris- tians. This emperor came into Britain, and sepa- rated Scotland from England by a wall of 80,000 paces. So monstrous was his vanity, that he caused all to be slain who pretended, in any art or science, to rival him. He reduced the tumultuous Jews, who revolted against the Romans, being led on by the advice of Coziba, called Barchokebas, from Bur- chokeba. Son of the SVar, who assumed the title of the King of the Jews. Adrian having defeated him, destroyed Jerusalem entirely, in the year 134, and built up a new city on a different spot, giving it the name of jElia, and strictly forbidding any of the Jews to come near it. Here was formed a new church of Jerusalem, composed of Christian Gen- tiles, of which St Marcus was the first Bishop, the former Church of Jerusalem having had thirteen holy Bishops, successively* after St. Simeon, all of the Jewish nation.— -Sec Eusebius, 1. 4. c. 6. St. Paulinus informs us, that Adrian caused a statue of Jupiter to be erected on the place where Christ rose from the dead, and a marble Venus on the place of his crucifixion, and at Bethlehem a grotto, con- secrated in honour of Adonis, to whom he also dedi- cated the cave where Christ was born. This em- peror, towards the end of his reign, abandoned him- self more thru^ ever, to acts of cruelty against the in- CHURCH ©P CHRIST* not God, teach* CHURCH OF CHRIST, 79 ing that Christ was nothing more than a mere man* as the Socinians teach at this day; whereas, the Arians allowed him to have been before the world, though they impiously asserted him to be a creature. Theodotus, being well versed in polite literature, drew many into his blasphemous errors, but Victor checked his progress at Rome, by excommunicating him, with Ebion, Artemon, and another Theodo- tus, called 1 rapezita, or the Banker, who taught the same blasphemy, and was author of the Mel- chisedechian Heresy, which asserted that Melchi- sedec was greater than Christ. Praxeas, also be* gan to sow a new heresy at Rome about this time, maintaining but one person in God, and attributing crucifixion to the Father as well as to the Son, for which reason his followers were called Patripassians. His errors being brought to light, he was cut off from the communion of the Church. It was this same Praxeas who, before that, had brought Pope Victor an ample account from the East of the tenets and practice of the Montanists, who had deceived Victor, and prevailed on him, by the favourable report he had heard of their morals and virtue, to send them letters of communion. It was easy to b& deceived in a matter of fact concerning persons at such a distance, and who, for a long time, disguis- ed themselves under the garb of hypocrisy ; but he no sooner answered their letters, and was unde- ceived as to their persons, and their facts and tenets, than he immediately recalled his letters of peace, and condemned these innovators. So that Dr. Cave, and some others, who think that the Pope approved of their doctrine, are greatly mistaken. Victor exerted his zeal in the dispute about the time of celebrating Easter. The Churches of Less- er Asia kept it, with the Jews, on ths 14th day of the first moon after the Vernal Equinox, on what- ever day of the week it fell. The Roman Church, and all the rest of the world, kept Easter always on the Sunday immediately following that 14th day. Anicetus permitted the Asiatics, even at Rome, to follow their own custom, but Soter obliged them to SO ihSTORY OF THE conform to the customs of the places where they should be. Several councils unanimously deter- mined the point according to the Roman custom. Blastus, who pretended that the custom tolerated in the Orientals was a divine precept, and ought to be followed at Rome, was degraded by Eleutherius. Those who did this upon the false principle that the Jewish ceremonial laws bound Christians, and were not abolished when fulfilled by the coming of Christ, were deemed heretics. Others, on account of their separation from the Church, and obstinately refusing submission to its decrees and censures, were, after the Council of Nice, looked upon as schisma- tics, and were called Quartodccimans. Victor, seeing the Asiatics fixed in their resoiu ion to follow their own custom, and thinking the difference of this rite might be dangerous to the unity of the Church, threatened to excommunicate them, but was dissuad- ed by a letter which St. Ircnaeus wrote to him on the subject. Victor died in the year 201, after he had sat ten years. What veneration must the morality of the Gospel command, when set off with all its lustre in the lives and spirit of such zealous pastors, since the bare precepts and maxims it lays down are allowed, by Deists and Infidels themselves, to claim the highest respect, and to be most admirable and evidently divine ! The principal ecclesiastical writers who flourish- ed in this a^e, and wrote in vindication of the Chris* tian Religion, were, St. Justin ; St. Irenaeus ; St. Quadratus ; St. Clement, of Alexandria ; St. Aristi- des, of Athens ; St Hegesippus ; St. Melito, Bishop of Sardis, in Lydia ; St. Theophilus, Bishop of An- tioch ; St. Serapion, the eighth Bishop of the same see ; St. Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth ; St. Pinitus ; S' Philip, Bishop of Crete ; St. Apolinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis ; St. Apollonius ; St Pantanus, master of the famous school of Alexandria, and afterwards preacher of the Gospel in the East Indies ; Athcna- goras ; Tcrtullian, and others ; many of whose choice productions arc not come to our hands, except a few fragments. Justin was brought up by his lather irx CHURCH OF CHRIST. 81 the errors and superstitions of Paganism, and spent his youth in reading the Poets, orators, and histo- rians. Having gene through the usual course of their studies, he applied himself to philosophy in quest of truth, an ardent love of which was his pre- dominant passion, lie addressed himself, first to Stoic, then to Peripatetic, and afterwards to Pytha- gorean masters, who boasted much of their wisdom, but preferring the school of an academic, he soon made a great progress under him, in the Platonic philosophy. Upon an inquiry into the credibility of the Christian Religion, and seeing the innocence and true virtue of its professors, and admiring the cour- age and constancy with which they suffered the sharp- est tortures, rather than deny their faith, or commit the least sin. he embraced Christianity, from a con- viction of its superior excellency, and because he found it to be the only true philosophy. He came to Rome after his conversion, and published some works to convince the Heathens of the reasonable- ness of his having deserted Paganism. Herein he shows the errors and absurdity of Idolatry, and the vanity of the Heathen Philosophers, and proves the ur.iiy of God from their own testimonies and reasons. He demonstrates the imperfection of the Jewish worship, and sets forth the purity and sanctity of the Christian doctrine He explains clearly the Divinity of Christ the Maker of alLt kings , and Son of God, and wonderfully extols " the immense good- " : ess and love of God for man, in creating him, and ic the world for his use, and in sending his only be- " gotten Son to teach us his holy mysteries, and when " we deserved only chastisement, to pay the full " price of our redemption : the Holy one to suffer " for sinners — the person offended, for the offenders." He defended the Catholic faith against Marxian, and against all the heresies of that age, and for two en- tire days disputed, in the presence of several wit- nesses, with Tryphon, a famous Philosopher, and the most celebrated Jew of those times, as Euse- bius says. Justin* after he became a Christian, con- tinued to wear the pallium, or cloak, which was the 62 HISTORY OF TllE singular badge of a philosopher. Tryphon casually meeting him, and seeing trie philosopher's cloak f addressed him on the excellency of philosophy. Justin answered, that he admired he should not ra- ther study Moses and the Prophets, in comparison •f whom all the writings of the philosophers are empty jargon and foolish dreams. Then he show- ed, that, according to the Prophets, the Old Law was temporary, and to be abolished by the New ; that Christ was God before all ages, distinct from the Father, the same that appeared to Abraham, Moses, &c. the same that created man, and was himself made man, and crucified. Justin afterwards committed this dialogue to writing : The Socinians dread the autho- rity of it, on account of the clear proofs which it fur- jiibhes of the divinity of Christ. But what chiefly renders Justin's name so illustrious, were the apolo- gies which he addressed to the Emperor and Senate of Rome, about the years 150 and 167. The lies and calumnies generally spread abroad by the enenv and slanderers of the Christian name, served for a pretence to justify the persecutions that were raised against them. They were every where traduced, as a wicked and barbarous set of people, enemies to their very species. They were deemed Athei and accused of practising the most abominable ev. and forming conspiracies against the state ; which slanders seem to have been founded on the sec:. of their mysteries. They were said in their sac ..ssemblics to feed on the flesh of a murdered child ; to which calumny a false notion of the blessed Mt- crament of the Eucharist might give birth. Ccla and other Heathens, add, that they adored the cross ; which slander seems to have been grounded on the respect that was shown to the sign of the Holy Cross .ince the earliest years of Christianity. All these circumstances stirred up the zeal of St. Justin to write and present his apologies, wherein he sets forth the sanctity and manners of Christians, and shows that they ought not to be condemned barely for the name of Christian. He vindicates their faith from all the slanders that were forged and unjustly CHURCH OF CHRIST. 83 propagated against it. He describes the manner of sanctifying the Sunday, by meeting to celebrate the divine mysteries, to read the Prophets, hear the ex- hortation of him that presides, and make a collec- tion of alms to be distributed among the orphans, widows, sick, prisoners, and strangers. He describes the sacraments of Baptism and the blessed Eucha- rist, mentioning the latter also as a sacrifice : u N« * one, 55 says he, n. 66. p. 83. M is allowed to partake " of this food, but he that believes our doctrines to » ; be true, and who has been baptized in the layer of M regeneration for remission of sins, and lives up to • what Christ has taught ; for we take not these as u common bread and common drink, but like as Je- ;< sus Christ our Saviour, being incarnate by the " word of God, had both flesh and blood for our sal- u vation, so are we taught that this food, by which a our flesh and blood are nourished, over which " thanks have been given by the prayers in his own M words, is the flesh and blood of the incarnate Je- " sus." He shows, in fine, that the Christians fly all oaths, love even enemies ; abhor the least impurity ; are patient and meek ; readily pay all taxes ; re- spectfully obey and honour princes ; share their riches with the poor ; have so great an abhorrence of the least wilful untruth, that they were ready, ra- ther to die, than to save their lives by a lie ; that numbers among them who were then sixty years old, had served God from their infancy in a state of spot- less virginity, without having offended against the virtue of chastity, in action, or e^en in thought ; that their fidelity to God was inviolable, and their constan- cy in observing his law invincible. i; No one," says he, " can affright from their duty those who believe in Jesus. In all parts of the earth we cease not " to confess him, though we lose our heads, be cru- u cified, or exposed to wild beasts." This great and ancient Father of the Church suffered martyrdom about the year 167, in the reign of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. St. Irenaeus is called, by Theodoret, he Light of the Western Gauls, and, by S Epiph. nius, a most Jbarned and eloquent man, endowed with all the gifts 84 HISTOP.Y OF THE of the Holy Ghost. He was a scholar of the great St Polycarp, and of Papias, another disciple of the Apostles St. Gregory of Tov»rs informs us, that St. Polvcarp sent Irenaeus into Gaul, where he was or- dained bv St. Pothinus, Bishop of Lyons. After 'he death of St. Pothinus, he was chosen second Bishop of Lyon^ and by his preaching he, in a short time, convene* almost that whole country to the faith. He wrote five books against ihe heresies of his days, and confuted them by the Holy Scriptures, by the Apostles' Creed, and by the unanimity of all church- es in the same faith. He testifies, that the Christians, by the gift of God, cast out devils, cured the sick> raised the dead, and performed miraculous works every day. over the whole world in the name of Christ Jesus. — 1. 2. c. 57. He describes the super- stitions and impostures of the heresiarch Mark, <( who, in consecrating chalices filled with water and " wine, according to the Christian rite, made the " chalices appear filled with a certain red liquor, M which he called blood; and who allowed women " to consecrate the holy mysteries." In his third book he complains " that when the heretics are pres- " sed by scripture, they elude it by pretending to fly 11 to tradition, but that when tradition is urged against M them, they abandon it to appeal to the scripture u alone, whereas, both scripture and tradition confute u them." He observes, " that the Apostles certainly u delivered the truth, and all the mysteries of our lt faith, to their successors, the pastors ; to these u therefore, we ought to have recourse to learn, es- u pecially to the greatest Church, the most ancient " and known to all, founded at Rome by the two " most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, which re- " tains the tradition that it received from them, and " which is derived, through a succession of Bish- " ops, down to us." He adds, that " the Valenti- nians and Marcianites had nothing but the novelty of their doctrine to show ; for the Valentinians " were not before Valentin us, no" the Marcianites " before Marcian. All these arose much too late, < ; their novelty alone suffices to confound them " In his fourth book he proves the unity of the Godhead, CHURCH OF CHRIST. 85 and teaches, (c. 17, 18.) " that Christ, abolishing the " ancient sacrifices, instituted the clean oblation of " his body and blood, to be offered every where, as " is foretold in Malachy." In the fifth book he proves our redemption by Christ, and the resurrec- tion of the dead v and mentions the prophetic gifts and other miraculous powers then subsisting in the Church. A correct edition of the works of this primitive father has been published by Dom. Mas- suel a Benedictine Maurist, in the year 1710. They were published by Erasmus before, and in the year 1702, by Grabe, but this last editor often makes too bold with the text, ; nd turns it to a wrong sense, in order to favour his own innovations. St. Irenaeus suffered martyrdom in the general massacre of the Christians at Lyons, whilst the Pagans were celebrat- ing the decennial games, in honour of the Emperor Severus, as he passed through that city in his expe- dition into Britain. St. Gregory of Tours writes, that almost all the Christians of that populous city were butchered with Irenaeus, and that the streets ran with streams of blood. An ancient epitaph, in leonine verses, inscribed on a curious Mosaic pave- ment in the great Church at Lyons, says, the num- ber of martyrs who died with him amounted to nine- teen thousand. St. Quadratus, Bishop of Athens, was a disciple of the Apostles, inherited their spirit and gifts, aad by his miracles and labours exceedingly propagated the faith, as Eusebius testifies. He succeeded St* Pubiius, the immediate successor of St. Dionysius, the Areopagite, and was esteemed by the heathens as a greater ornament to their city, than the seat of the Muses. He presented to the Emperor Adrian an apology for the Christian Religion, some time after the martyrdom of St. Pubiius, and it procured him such applause, even among the Heathens, that it extinguished a violent persecution. Clement of Alexandria was a native of Athens* well skilled in the Platonic Philosophvvand a scholar of Pantaenus, who taught the Catechetical school at Alexandria. In his search of truth he discovered H 86 HISTORY OF THE the folly of idolatry, and came to the light of faith. Pamsenus being sent by the Bishop Demetrius into the Indies, in the year 189, Clement succeeded him in the great school of the Christian doctrine at Alexandria, in which he taught with success, and, among other scholars of great eminence, hud Origen and St. Alexander, afterwards Bishop of Jerusalem and martyr. lie was promoted to the priesthood about the year 19 5, and published several books, wherein he laid open the absurdity of idolatry, and gave an historical account of its mythology. He shows in what manner the Christians lived in those early ages, and lays down many excellent rules for conducting souls to true perfection. Great erudition is displayed in all his writings. He died at Alex- andria before the end of the reign of Caracalla, who was slain by Macrinus, in the year 217. St. Hegcsippus, a primitive father near the times of the Apostles, wrote an history of the Church, in five books, from the passion of Christ down to his own time in the year 133, and gave in it illustrious- proofs of his faith, showing the apostolical tradition, and proving, that no episcopal sec, or particular church had fallen into error, but had in all things preserved inviolably the truths delivered by Christ, as Eusebius informs us, lib. 4. c. 22. St. Theophilus was one of the most illustrious bi- shops and learned fathers of the second century, liis writings are highly valued by Eusebius and St, Jerom, for elegance of style, variety of erudition, and a discreet and warm spirit of piety and religion. His parents, being Gentiles, trained him in idolatry, and gave him a liberal education. He was well versed in the works of the greatest masters of ancient philosophy ; but finding the religion, in which he -was reared, to be not only unsatisfactory, but also absurd and ridiculous, he had too honest an heart to take up with falsehood and impiety, because it was fashionable. In his diligent inquiry after truth, he fell upon the books of the Prophets and Gospels, and was much delighted with the sublime verities which fl\ey contain. The doctrine of the resurrection CHURCH OF CHRfS'T. &7 was for some time a great stumbling block to him. There was scarcely any article of faith which met with so much opposition as this from the Heathen Philosophers. So full were their heads of the axiom, that from a privation of form to the repos- session of it, there can be no return, that they un- derstood it, not only of the order of things in the ordinary course of nature, but as if it implied a contradiction, though certainly in the supernatural order of things, it is equally easy to Omnipotence to restore our scattered parts, and combine them again into the same mass, as it was at first to create them out of nothing. Theophilus at length conquered this difficulty, by reading the sacred oracles of truth, and by frequent reflections upon the .jnany shadows of a resurrection which God had impressed upon several parts of the creation, in the common -course of nature. After his conversion, being chosen Bishop of Antioch, and successor to Eros* he laboured zealously to promote virtue and true religion, and to draw sinners from the wanderings of heresy and idolatry into the paths of eternal life. Heresies and schisms he compared to dangerous yocks, upon which whoever is cast runs the dread- ful hazard of losing his immortal soul. " As pi- M rates," says he, " by striking on rocks, dash to tt pieces their laden vessels, so whoever are drawn u aside from the truth shall be miserably over- a whelmed in their error." — 1. 2. ad Antolyc. p. 183. He tells them, M that it is in vain to make an inquiry " after truth, unless they reform their hearts, and wt proceed with views perfectly pure ; for the pas- u sions raise; clouds, which blind reason. All men u have eyes," says he, " yet the sun is veiled from " the eyes of some : it, however, ceases not to emit y a flood of" day, though those whose eyes are " blinded, see not its radiant light. But this de- ¥ feet is not to be laid to their charge, nor can the " sun be complained of on account of their blind - tf ness." St. Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, flourished un- degthe Emperor Marcus Aurelius. This primitive «8 HISTORY OF THE father says, " that St. Peter and St. Paul, aftek " planting the faith at Corinth, went both into Italy, u and there sealed their testimony with their blood.** Eusebius mentions several of his instructive letters to the fakhful. St. Apollinaris rendered his name illustrious by a noble apology for the Christian Religion, which lie addressed to the Emperor Marcus AureJius, about the year 175, to remind him of the benefit he had received from God, by the prayers of the Christians, and to implore his protection. St. Apollonius also composed an excellent apolo- gy in vindication of the Christians, and spoke it in a full senate, but having refused to renounce Chris- tianity, he was condemned to be beheaded about the year 186. St. Pantaenus, a learned father of the second cen- tury, is for his eloquence, styled, by St. Clement of Alexandria, the Sicilian Bee, being by profession a Stoic philosopher, his esteem for virtue led him in- o an acquaintance with the Christians, and being* charmed with the innocence and sanctity of their con- versation, he opened his eyes to the truth, and em> braced the faith. Tertuilian was born at Carthage, in the year 160. He applied himself from his youth to the study of every branch of literature, poetry, philosophy, ge» ometry, physic, and oratory. He dived into the principles of each sect, and both into the fabulous and into the real or historical part of mythology. I lis comprehensive genius led him through the whole irele of profane sciences. He had a surprising vivacity and keenness of wit, and an uncommon stock of natural fire, which rendered him exceed- ingly hot and impatient, as himself complains. His other passions he restrained after his conversion to Christianity. The motives which engaged him to embrace the Christian Religion were the antiquity of the Mosaic writings, the mighty works and wis- dom of the Divine Law-giver ; the continued chain of prophecy and wonders conducting the attentive ihquirer tQ Christ ; the evidence of the miracles of CHURCH OP CHRSI1V 89 Christ and his Apostles ; the excellency of the law of the Gospel, and its amazing influence upon the lives of men ; the power which every Christian then exercised over evil spirits ; and the testimony of the very devils themselves, whom the infidels wor- shipped for Gods, and wh# turned preachers of Christ, howling and confessing themselves devils in the presence of their own votaries— • A poL c. 19, 20. 23, &c. Being excellently formed for contro- versy, he immediately began to write in defence of religion, which was then attacked by the Heathens and Jews on one side, and on the other by heretics. He successfully employed his pen against all these enemies to truth. The persecution which began to rage, gave occasion to his Ajiologetic y which is a master-piece, and indisputably one of the best among all the works of Christian antiquity. By it he gave a deadly blow to Paganism, and refuted all the ca- lumnies published against the Christians. He shows the divine morality of their doctrine, and exposes the incoherence and absurdity of the Pagan religion. He mentions their submission to the Emperors, their love of their enemies, their mutual charity, horror of all vice, patience and constancy in suffering death and all manner of torments for the sake of virtue. The Heathens called them, in derision, Sarmentitians and Semaxians, because they were fastened by the executioners to trunks of trees, and stuck about with fagots, to be set on fire : but Ter» tuliian answers them, " Thus dressed about with " lire, we are in our most illustrious apparel ; these " are our triumphal robes, embroidered with palm. " blanches, in token of victory, and mounted upon " the pile we look upon ourselves as in our tri~ M umphal chariot. Whoever looked well into our " religion, but he came over to it? And who ever " came over to it, but was ready to suffer for it ? " We thank you for condemning us^, because there u is such a blessed discord between the divine ancL tt human judgment) tuat when you condemn us upom a earuu God absoivcth us in heaven* 5 ' H % 90 HISTORY OF THE In his excellent book of Prescription against He- retics, he lays a great stress on his communion withal) the Apostolic Churches, especially that of Rome, and confutes by general principles all heresies that arise He shows, u thai the appeal to scripture is " very unjust in them who have no claim or title to " the scriptures : Those were carefully committed " in trust by the Apostles to tneir successors :" and he proves, that u to whom the scriptures were in- " trusted, to them also was committed the inicrpre- " tation of scripture. " He urges, c. 35, " that u Mercian — Appeiles — Valentinus — and Hermogc- " nes, a Stoic Philosopher and Christian in Africa, V who taught mutter to be eternal, were of too M modern a date, and that the Church was before k< them, and that before they can commence Apos- •• ties, they plight to say, that Christ came down u again from Heaven, and taught again upon H earth." He says, " that if they have the confi- il dence to put in their claim to apostolic antiquity, • ( they should prove tneir mission by miracles, like u the Apostles, and should show the original of M their C arches, the order and succession of their 41 Bishops so as to ascend up to an Apostle," See* adds, u to these men the Church might thus u freely address hers It : Who are ye ? when, and u from whence came ye ? What do ye in my p " tures, who are none oi mine ? By what authority do you, Marcian, break in upon my enclosures I * c Whence, O Aj)elles, is your power to remove * ( my landmarks \ 'f'his field is mine of right : why, u then, do you at your pleasure sow and feed there- ' in I It is my possession i I held it in times past ; * 1 first had it in my bands : my title to it is firm * and Indisputable, and derived from those persons u w 1 , >s< it was, and to whom it properly belonged " an the heir of the Apostles i as they pro- " vicUa in their testament) as they committed and lw (i< live red to my trust, as they charged and order- i me, so 1 bold." — c. 37. He observes, in fine, in this book, thaj heresies are no just cause of scan* dal or wonder, any more than fevers, which con^ CHURCH OF CHRIST. 91 sume the human body ; for they were predicted by Christ, and they are the necessary consequence of the criminal passions of men, who are unwilling to be governed by any rules, but model every thing ac- cording to their own fancy. The most useful among his other works, and the best polished, is his book On Penance, wherein he treats of repentance at Baptism, and for the sins committed after Baptism, which he there proves the Church has power to remit. In his treatise On the shows he represents them as occasions of sin, and the Stage as the school of the- world, and of course an antichristian school : He mentions a woman, who, going to the theatre, re* turned back possessed of a devil. When the exor- cist reproached the evil spirit for daring to attack one of the faithful, it boldly answered, I found her in my own house. Tertullian, in his other works, recommends mo- desty in attire to women, and condemns the use of paint. He mentions several in the Chmch living in perpetual continency, from a conviction that those, who for the sake of practising more perfec virtue, prefer a state of perpetual virginity and vo iimtury chastity, embrace that which is more per- fect and more excellent. This is the manifest inspired doctrine of St. Paul, 1 Cor. 7. and in the Revela- tions of St- John, 14. Spotless virgins are called? in a particular manner the companions of the Lamb, and are said to enjoy the singular privilege of following him wherever he goes. The holy Fathers are all profuse in extolling the excellency of holy virginity, as a special fruit of the incarna- tion of Christ, his divine institution, and a virtue that raises men, even in this mortal life, to the dig- nity of angels ; disengages the mind and heart from worldly thoughts and affections ; purifies the soul, and produces in it the nearest resemblance to God, who delights in chaste minds, and chooses to dwell singularly in them. Tertullian dissuades widows from second mar- riages, for this reason, among others, because he 9'2 HISTORY ©F THE says, it is the duty of a widow always to fir ay for the tout of her deceased husband. He informs us, that on the sacred chalices was represented the image of the good shepherd bringing home the lost sheep on his shoulders, that the blessed Eucharist was received by the faithful before they took any food, that they fasted through obligation every day before Easter (that is, in Lent) till vespers, or evening prayers, and, out of devotion, on Wednesday and Friday till three o'clock, some abstaining from all vinous and juicy fruits, and using only dried meats, others con- fining themselves to bread and water. This ancient writer also mentions the ceremonies used at bap- tism ; the yearly oblations or sacrifices for the dead ; standing at prayer on the Lord's day, and from Easter to Whitsuntide ; and the sign of the cross, which, he says, u the Christians then usually made " upon their foreheads at every action and in al! " their motions, — at coming in or going out of " doors, in dressing or washing themselves, when " they sat down to table, or went to bed, when u they light a lamp or candle," Sec. — Dc Cor. oj 3, 4. St. Vincent of Lerins, speaking of Tcrtulliun, says, He was among the Latins what Origcn was among the Greeks, the first man of his age. Every word in his writings seems a sentence, and almost every sentence, a new victory over his adversaries ; yet with all these advantages he did not persevere to the end of his life in the ancient and universal faith : by pride he miserably fell into the reveries of the Montanists, about the time of the death of Pope Vic- tor. He maintained that second marriages were un- lawful, and denied that the Church could forgive sins of impurity, murder, or idolatry. His vehement temper knowing no medium, he resented some af- fronts wnich he imagined he had received from the clergy of Rome , as S:. Jerome testifies, and- in this passion he d< M l ted ihe Church. But as Solomon's fall did not prejudice his former inspired writings, neither did the misfortune of Tertullian des'roy, at least the justness of the the reasoning in what he QHURCi* 0F CHRIST. $3 had written in defence of the truth, any more than if a man lost his senses, this unlucky accident could annul what he had formerly done for th£ advance* ment of learning. CHAPTER XI. The fourth and fifth general Persecution. ARR1US ANTONINUS, being adopted by the Emperor Adrian, ascended the Imperial Throne in frhe year 138, and obtained the surname of Piua y according to some historians, by his gratitude to Adrian, and, according to others, by his clemency, and other moral virtues. He had often in his mouth the celebrated saying of Scipio Africanus : that u he would rather save the life of one citizen, than •«* destroy a thousand enemies." He was eminent for his learning, and devoted himself to the Stoic philosophy. Yet he had the weakness to extort, by his tears and entreaties, a decree from the Senate to enrol Adrian among the Gods, and to appoint a temple for his worship ; he likewise caused his wife, Faustina, to be honoured afer her death as a God-- dess. He did not raise any new persecution against the Church, but he was so pusillanimous, that he had not always courage to protect the innocent from the fury and malice of their enemies. St. Justin, Eusebius, and Tertullian inform us, that in his reign the blood of the saints was often shed, and that the Christians were tortured with the most barbarous cruelty, without having been convicted of any crime. Ruinart testifies, that in his reign the seven brothers, Januarius, Martialis, Felix, Philip, Sylvanus, Alex- ander, and Vitalis, suffered martyrdom, with their pious mother, Felicitas, a noble widow in Rome, who had brought them up in the most perfect senti- ments and practice of heroic virtue, and who, after the death of her husband, having made a vow of sonrinency, employed herself wholly in prayer, fast- ing, and works of charity, 94 HISTORY OF Tl£E Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, the adopted son ami successor oi Arrius Antoninus, was renowned for his wisdom, moderation, and attention to the good of the Roman empire. He was surnamed the Philoso- pher , and had a saying of Plato's for ever in his mouth : " Happy is that state, where philosophers M are kings, and kings philosophers." However, the lustre of his wise administration was not without shades, and his apparent virtues were mixed with an alloy of superstition and vice. It is certain, that with ail his philosophical knowledge and princely qualities, he was a bigoted Pagan by principle, and did not love his Christian subjects, though they did nothing but good to mankind. Besides a tincture of superstition and philosophical phrenzy, a mixture of weakness was blended in his character, notwith- standing the boasted cry of his wisdom : Was it not acting out of character, and more like a pedant than a prince, for a Roman Emperor, in his old age, to trudge with his book, like a School-boy, to the house of Sextus the philosopher, to learn his lesson ? The fourth general persecution took place under this emperor, in the year 166, for he then published fresh edicts against the Christians, and commanded them to be punished with death. In consequence hereof numbers were crowned with martyrdom at that pe- rid both in Asia and in Gaul, particularly at Smyrna 1 at Lyons, and Vienna. Amongst the rest, St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, was put to a cruel death at the age of eighty-six years : and Eusebius in- ns us, Hist. 1- 4, c. 13, that the Christians of that . carried away his relicks, and valued them more than gold and precious stones. St. Pothinus, Bishop of Lyons, and many others, of all ages and condi- tions, were also, through the most acute torments, conveyed to Heaven. At Rome St. Justin was be- headed. At length Marcus Aurelius put a stop to this persecution, about the year 174, and published an edict in favour of the Christians, after the mira- culous victory he gained in Germany. It is thus re- lated by Eusebius, Tertullian, St. Jerom, St. Grego- ry of Nyssa, and by the Christian and Heathen his-" (SHURGH OF CHRIST. 95 tbiians of those times. Marcus Aurelius having long attempted, without success, to subdue the Ger- mans by his generals, resolved to lead a powerful army against them. He and his army were beyond the Danube, shut up in narrow defiles, and surround- ed by the Quadi, a people inhabiting that tract now ©ailed Moravia. He was in such a disadvantageous situation, that there was no possibility that either he or his army could escape out of their hands, or sub- sist long where they were, for want of water. The twelfth legion, called the Meletine, from a town of that name in Armenia, where it had been quar- tered for a long time, was chiefly composed of Christians : These, when the army was drawn up, but languid and ready to perish with excessive heat and thirst, fell upon their knees, w as we are ac- u customed to do at prayer/ 5 says Eusebius, and humbly addressed themselves to God for relief. The enemies, surprised at so strange a sight, assailed the Roman camp with impetuosity ; but on a sudden, the sky being darkened with clouds, a thick rain showered down immediately and relieved the Ro- mans, who fought and drank at the same time, catching the rain as it fell in their helmets, and often swallowing it mingled with blood. By this means they were much refreshed; but the Germans being still too strong for them, the storm was driven by a violent wind upon their faces, and accompanied with such dreadful flashes of lightning and loud thunder, that they were terrified, and deprived of their sight and beaten down to the ground. In line, being entirely routed, and put to flight, they sent back thirteen thousand prisoners, whom they had taken, and begged for peace, on whatever condi- tions it should please the emperor to grant it to them. In acknowledgment hereof, he immediately gave this Christian Legion the name of the Thundering Legion, and took the title of the Seventh time Emfie* roV) contrary to custom, and without the consent of ihe Senate, regarding it as given him by Heaven. Out of gratitude to his Christian soldiers, he pub- lished an edict, in which ho confessed himself in- 96 HISTORY OF THE debted for his delivery to the shower obtained, per- haps by the prayers of the Christians, and more he could not say, without danger of exasperating the Senate. In it he forbade, under pain of death, any one to accuse a christian, on account of his religion ; yet by a strange inconsistency, especially in so wise a prince, being overawed by the opposition of the Senate, he had not the courage to abolish the laws already made and in force against the Christians ; for which reason the governors in several places availed themselves of these laws, and put many of the faithful to death, though their accusers were also put to death, as appears in the case of St. Apollonius, and of the martyrs of Lyons. To per- petuate the remembrance of the aforesaid signal prodigy and wonderful deliverance of Marcus Aure- lius Antoninus, with his army, the Columna Anto- niana, or Antonine Pillar, was erected in one of the piazzas of Rome, with a representation of this re- markable event on its base relievos, by the figure of a Jupiter Pluvius, flying in the air, with his arms expanded, and a long beard, which seems to waste away in rain. The Christian soldiers are represent- ed as relieved by this sudden tempest, and in a pos- ture partly drinking of the rain water, and partly fighting against their enemies, who, on the contrary, are represented as stretched out on the ground with their horses, and upon them only the dreadful part of the storm is descending. Sixtus V. placed on the summit of this pillar a beautiful statue of St. Paul, as he did another elegant statue of St. Peter on Trajan's Pillar, instead of the golden urn, where- in the ashes of that emperor had been lodged ac- cording to the custom of the ancient Romans, These pillars are still extant, as iikewise a curious eques- trian bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius, erected in the centre of the platform of the Capitolium, on a lofty square ma hie pedestal, formed out of one block, by Michael Angelo. This statue is admirably well finished, and so expressive, that Charles Maratti, viewing it with admiration, cried out and said : March forward — Uo you Jorge t that you are alive ? CHURCH OF CHRIST 97 Lucius Commodus, having succeeded his father, M reus Aurelius, began his reign with extraordina- ry moderation, and though he afterwards sunk into debauchery and cruelty, for which he was poisoned and strangled, in the year 192, yet he never perse- cuted the Christians. After his death, Helvius Per- tinax, at the age of 69 years, was made emperor by compulsion, but reigned only eighty-seven days, al- ways trembling for his own safety. He was stabbed in his palace by the fury of the soldiery. On that occasion, the Prae orian Guards, who had often made and unmade emperors at pleasure, debased to the last degree the dignity of the Roman empire, having exposed it to sale by public auction. Didius Julianus and Sulpicianus, having several times out- bid each other, when the latter had offered five thousand drachms, Julianus at once rose to 6250, which he promised to give each soldier. Having carried the empire for this price, the senate confirm- ed the election, but the purchaser being embarrassed to find money to acquit himself of his engagement, was murdered sixty-six days after, so that he dearly- bought the honour of wearing the purple, and of having his name placed among the emperors. Sep- timius Severus, a man really, as well as nominally, severe, vere fitrtinax, vere stveru.s, as the common people used to say of him, was next advanced to the throne, by a part of the troops, and acknowledged emperor by the senate. Pescenr.ius Niger, p rat feet in Syria, and Clodius Albinus, prsefect of Britain, botli competitors for the empire, were proclaimed by- different armies ; but Sever us defeated the first, by his generals, in the year 194, and the latter himself near Lyons, in Gaul, in the year 1.-7. The Chris- tians had no share in these public broils. Tertuilian, at that time, extols their fidelity to the ruling princes, and s-iys, none of them were ever founu in the ar- mies of rebels, or engaged in the party of either of the two competitors of Severus. They regarded the confirmation of the senate, in the name of the whole Roman people, as the solemn act of state by I 98 HISTORY OF THE which the emperor was legally invested with that supreme dignity, and on this account, they every- where acknowledged and faithfully obeyed Severus ; nay, a Christian called Proculus, cured him miracu- lously of some grievous distemper, as Tertullian tells us, 1. de Scapul. c. 4. for which benefit the em- peror was for some time favourable to the Christians, but the clamours of the Heathens at length moved him to rune the fifth general persecution against the Church. About the conclusion of the second century> and the tenth year of his reign, he issued his bloody edicts against the Christians, and had them executed with such rigour and barbarity, that it was imagined that the time of Antichrist was come,— Hating formerly been governor of Lyons, and an eye witness to the flourishing state of that Church, he seems to have given particular instructions, that the Christians there, who refused to join the idolaters in the sacrifices, should be proceeded against with extraordinary severity. The fire of this persecu- tion raged through all the provinces of the Roman empire, but far from consuming the Church of Christ, it served only to purify it, and to make it shine with greater lustre. The more Christians were put to death, the more their number daily increased and multiplied under their very oppressions, and the more converts were made to Christianity from the view of *>uch wonderful examples of fortitude, which made Tertullian say, that their blood was a seed that continually produced new crops of Christians, and was multiplied to an hundred fold. God was pleas- ed to work miracles frequently at their martyrdom., whereby many of the spectators, and sometimes the very executioners, and the judges themselves, were converted. They appeared with courage before the tribunals, and viewed with calmness and unconcern the racks and other instruments prepared for their torture, ready to meet death in all its forms of cru- elty. It was not for want of strength or valour that they suffered with such patience every persecution and insu t, but from a principle of religion, which CHURCH OF CHRIST. 99 taught them submission to the civil authority of -government. They preferred torments and death to sin, because the love of God, above all things, reigned in their heart. Far from denying our reli- gion, " we say, we are Christians, says Tertullian. " We proclaim it to the whole world, even under the " hands of the executioners, and in the midst of all " the torments you inflict upon us to compel us to i; unsay and deny it. Torn and mangled, and welter- " ing in our blood, we cry out, as loud as we are " able to cry, that we are worshippers of God, " through Jesus Christ." It was under the tyrant Severus, that Leonidas, Origen's father, "was be- headed at Alexandria, St. Separatus and his com- panions were beheaded at Carthage, St. Felicitas and St. Perpetua were martyred in Mauritania, St. Pota- rniaena and her mother, Marcella, were burned alive at Alexandria, with several others who had been edu- cated in the school of Origen. Severus, after car- rying on the persecution ten years, as Sulpicius in- forms us, whilst he was making war in Britain, be- ing on his march with his army, his eldest son Bas- sianus, surnamed Antoninus Caracalla, who marched after him, stopped his horse, and drew his sword to stab him, but was prevented by the outcry of those about him. Severus only reproached him for his in- tended parricide, but died soon after at York, of grief and melancholy for his son's treachery, rather than of the gout. His two sons, Antoninus Caracalla, and Geta, succeeded him, but the eldest caused the lat- ter to be stabbed in his mother's bosom, who was sprinkled with his blood. Caracalla himself, after a cruel and abominable reign of six years, w r as slain by Macrinus, who, from being a gladiator and hunts- man, was elected emperor, and after an unsuccessful war with the Parthians, and a reign of one year and two months, was slain by the soldiers. Macrinus was succeeded by Varius Heliogabalus, who being one of the most filthy monsters Rome ever produc- ed, was likewise put to death by the soldiery, and afier having been dragged, through the streets o'f Home, he was thrown into the Tyber. 100 HISTORY OF THE CHAPTER XII. The Church of the third Century. IN this century the succession of chief Pastors, and of Saints and Martyrs, was kept in the chair of St. Peter, by Zephyrinus, Calixtus, Urbanus, Pontianus, Antherus, Fabianus, Cornelius Lucius, Srephanus, Xystus. Dionysus, Felix, Eutychianus, Caius, and Marcellinus. In other sees, a similar succession of holy Bishops was kept up, the doctrine of faith and morals was preserved in its primitive piirity, and the Church of Christ made fresh acqui- sitions by the conversion of numberless infidels in Armenia and Persia, and by settling a new colony of Saints in the deserts of Egypt and Thebais. The principal fathers and ecclesiastical writers of this age were Caius, a disciple of the great St. I rente us, and a regicnary bishop, who was commissioned to preach the Gospel, though he was not fixed in any particu- lar see, Hippolytus, a most learned and holy prelate, Minucius Felix, Julius Africanus, St. Cyprian, St. Gregory of Ncocxsarea, St. Dionysius of Alexandria, fct. Victorinus of Pannonia, St. Methodius Bishop of Tyre, with whom we may join the great prodigy of his days, Origen, a priest of Alexandria, Arnobius the orator, and his scholar Lactantius, the Christian Tully. St. Zephyrinus, a native of Rome, succeeded Vic- tor, and filled the pontifical chair seventeen years, lie was a zealous defender of Christ's divinity, main- tained the sacred deposit of the faith of the Church inviolable, and watched over the purity of its morals and the sanctity of its discipline. lie was the sup- port and comfort cf his distressed flock, under the bloody persecution of Severn s, and he suffered by charity and compassion what every confessor un- derwent. The triumphs of the Martyrs were indeed his joy, but his heart received many deep wounds from the fall of apostates and the blasphemies of Artemon, Marcian, Montanus, and Theodotus the CHURCH OF CHRIST. 101 banker, and Theodotus the tanner. Eusebius informs us-that St. Zephyrinus, affected by the tears and com- punction of Natalis, who, covered with sackcloth and ashes and prostrated at the feet of the clergy, humbly implored forgiveness for the scandal he had given, re-admitted him to the communion of the Church, and granted him an indulgence or relaxa- tion of the severity of the discipline, that required a penitential delay and trial. St. Calixtus, or Calistus, succeeded St. Zephyri- nus in the pontificate, in the year 2 17, or 218, and governed the Church five years and two months with great prudence, piety, and religion. The pon- tificals ascribe to him a decree appointing the four quarterly fasts, called Ember days. He also decreed that ordinations should be held in each of the Em- ber weeks. From St Peter to St. Sylvester, we read of no other Pope holding ordinations, but in the month of December. The name of St. Calixtus is rendered famous by the ancient cemetery, which he enlarged and adorned on the Appian Road, and which, for the great number of holy martyrs, whose bodies were there deposited, became the most celebrated of all those about Rome. The entrance of it is at St. Sebastians, one of the seven principal churches of Rome, and in it the bodies of St. Peter and St. Paul lay for some time, according to Anas- tasius. Mabillon observes, that in the first ages cf the Church, the primitive Christians were desirous to be buried near the tombs of the martyrs, in hopes of being assisted by their prayers, and of rising in their glorious company at the last day. They also turned their faces towards the East at prayer, and built their churches and oratories, so that the high altar and head of the church, was eastwards, the rising Sun being a symbol of the resurrection. They likewise buried the faithful with their feet turned towards the East, that they might rise facing the rising sun. The Romans burned the corpses of their dead, and placed the urns, in which the ashes were contained, usually on the sides of the high ways, as Cicero informs us. The Egyptians pre- I 2 10,2 HISTORY OF THE served their dead bodies, and the Persians cast them to the wild beasts ; but the faithful in all ages down from Adam, were careful to treat the dead with re- ligious respect, and to bury them with decency and modesty in the earth, where, according to the sen- tence pronounced by God, they return to dust till the general resurrection. The commendations, which our Lord bestowed on the Woman who poured pre- cious ointments upon his head, a little before his death, and the devotion of those pious persons, who took so much care of his funeral, strongly recom- mended this office of charity, to the primitive Chris- tains^and their practice in this respect, consisted not in any extravagant pomp, but in a modest reli- gious gravity and respect, that was expressive of their lively faith and firm hope of a future resurrec- tion, in which they regarded the mortal remains of their dead as precious in the the eyes of God, who watches over them, regarding them as the apple of his eye, to be raised one day in the brightest glory, and made shining lustres in the heavenly Jerusalem. St. Urban succeeded Calixtus in the year 223, and governed the Church seven years. He was succeeded by St. Pontian, wfeo being persecuted and banished by the emperor Maximinus into the isle of Sardinia, died there, if not by the sword, at least by the hardships of his exile, and the unhealthfulness of the air, as Tillemont informs us. T. 3. St. Antherus, his successor, governed the Church only one month and ten days. St. Fabian governed it sixteen years, and died a glorious martyr in the persecution of Decius, as St. Cyprian and St. Jc- rom witness. The Apostolic see remained vacant above sixteen months, the clergy and people not being able, all that time, through the violence of the persecution, to assemble for the election of a Bishop. St. Cyprian says, that such was the rage of Decius, that he would more easily have suffered a competitor in his empire than a Bishop in Rome. At length, however, when that emperor was at a distance engaged in a war with the Goths, in Thrace, where he perished in a bog, Cornelius-, CHURCH OF CHRIST. 103 who had the chief share in the direction of affairs, in the Roman Church, during the vacancy, was elected Pope, in the year 250, by almost all the clergy of Rome and a great number of the laity, with the concurring suffrages of sixteen ancient and worthy Bishops, who were then present. St. Cy- prian exceedingly extols the zeal and piety with which St. Cornelius behaved in his pastoral charge, and the courage and steadfastness, with which he adhered to his duty in the most perilous times. He assembled at Rome a Synod of sixty Bishops, in which he confirmed the Canons, by which it was ordained to admit the lapsed that were peni- tent to public penance ; and Bishops and Priests who had fallen only to the rank of laymen, without power of exercising any sacerdotal function. Nova- tian, who was there present, and obstinately refused to communicate with such penitents, was excommu- nicated, and several persons, who had been seduced by him to favour his schism, repented and were re- ceived to communion by St. Cornelius, to the great joy of the people. This Novatian had been a Stoic philosopher, and had gained a considerable reputation by his elo- quence. Having embraced the faith, he continued a catechumen, till falling dangerously ill, and his life being despaired of, he was baptized in bed, not by immersion, which was then the most usual me- thod, but by infusion, or the pouring on of water. On recovering, he received not the seal of the Lord, by the hand of the Bishop, says St. Pacian, that is to say, the sacrament of Confirmation. Both these defects were, by the ancient discipline of the Church, bars to Holy Orders. The Clinici^ or persons who had been baptized in bed in the time of sickness, were declared irregular, and excluded from the priesthood ; not as if such a baptism was defective, but in detestation of the sloth and luke- warmness by which such persons put off their bap* tism till they were in immediate danger of death. — . Novatian, notwithstanding this double irregularity^ was afterwards ordained Priest, and with a view to 104 HISTORY OF THE make himself conspicuous, he opposed the pastors of the Church, Complaining, that by a criminal relaxation of the law of the Gospel, they too easily admitted again those who had fallen in the persecu- tion. By tins rigour and pharisaical zeal he made an open schism, pretending, that the lapsed ought never to be again admitted to penance, or to receive absolution, not even after having performed any coui^e of penance, or in the article of their deaih. On account of his errors, he is called by St. Cy- prian, Ep. 57. a deserter of the Church, an enemy to all tenderness, a very murderer of penance, a teacher of pride, a corrupter of the truth, and a destroyer of charity. At length he added heresy to his schism, and maintained, that the Church had not received from Christ power to absolve sinners from the crime of apostacy, how penitent soever they might be. His followers and disciples, who were called Novatians, and Cathari, that is, pure, taught the same of murder and fornication, and condemned second marriages. Novatian gained over to his party some confessors, who were in pri- son at Rome, and decoyed three Bishops from a corner of Italy to come to Rome and ordain him Bishop of that city, in opposition to the holy *Pope Cornelius, who was sent into banishment by the Emperor Gallus to Centumccllse, now called Civita Veccfiia. St. Cyprian wrote him a congratulatory letter upon the news of his happiness, in suffering for Christ, and in it he foretold his own approaching conflicts and martyrdom. St Cornelius being called to eternal bliss, in the year 252, St. Lucius was elected, and he suffered a glorious martyrdom about five months after his election, as St. Cyprian assures us St. Lucius hav- ing recommended St. Stephen for his successor, he was accordingly chosen Pope, on the third of May, in the year 253. The controversy concerning the rc-baptization of heretics gave St. Stephen much trouble. It was the constant doctrine of tne Catho- lic Church, that baptism ^iven in the name of the Three persons of the Holy Trinity, is valid, though CHURCH OF CHRIST 105 it be conferred by an heretic ; for Christ being the principal, though invisible minister, in the admini- stration of the sacraments, though both faith and the state of grace be required in him who confers any sacrament, not to incur the guilt of sacrilege ; yet neitheir is required for the validity. St. Cyprian, Firmilian, and seme other African prelates, support- ed the contrary opinion, and falsely imagined this to be a point, not of faith, which is every where invariable, but of mere discipline, in which every church might be allowed to follow its own rule or law. St. Stephen, who saw the danger which threatened the Church under the colour of zeal for its purity and unity, and an aversion from heresy, opposed himself as a rampart for the house of God, declaring, that no innovation is to be allowed, but that the tradition of the Church, derived from the Apostles, is to be inviolably maintained. He even threatened to cut off the partisans of this novelty from the communion of the Church, but never pro- ceeded to pronounce any sentence against them, or they never would have stood out against a censure, in which the whole Church acquiesced, irie suf- fered himself patiently to be traduced as a favourer of heresy in approving heretical baptism, and was insensible to all personal injuries, not doubting but those great men, who by a mistaken zeal were led astray, would, when the heat of disputing should have subsided, calmly open their eyes to the truth. Thus by his zeal he preserved the integrity of faith, and by his forbearance he saved many souls from the danger of shipwreck. He was sensible, that the rule of faith admits nothing new, but that all things are to be delivered down to posterity, with the same fidelity, with which they were received, and that it is our duty to make our own imaginations bend to the wisdom of those that went before us, and to follow religion, and not to make religion follow us, What then was the issue of this grand aff ir, but that, which is usual : Antiquity kept possession, and novelty was exploded. 106 HISTORY OP THE Upon the demise of St. Stephen, St. Xystus suc- ceeded him in the pontificate. He is styled by St. Cyprian a peaceable and excellent prelate. He suffered martyrdom in the year 258, under the em- peror Valerian, in a cemetery, for the Christians in the times of persecution resorted to cemeteries and subterraneous caverns to celebrate the divine mysteries, and to visit out of devotion the tombs of the martyrs. After the death of St. Xystus, or Six- tus, through the violence of the persecution, the holy see continued vacant almost a year, until St. Dionysius was chosen on the 2d of July, 259. He was eminent for his learning, and for his charity to the distressed and indigent. He condemned the er- rors of Sabelliusj and confuted the blasphemies of Paul of Samosata. St. Felix succeeded St. Dionysius in the govern- ment of the Church, in the year 259. Paul of Sa- mosata, the proud Bishop of Antioch, to the guilt of other crimes added that of heresy, teaching that Christ was no more than a mere man, in whom the Divine Word dwelt, by its operation, and as in its temple ; with many other gross errors concerning the capital mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation. St. Felix wrote on this occasion a learned epistle, quoted by the council of Ephesus, and clearly ex- plained the Catholic doctrine of the whole mystery of the Incarnation. lie governed the Church five years, and passed to glorious eternity in the year 274. He was succeeded by St. Eutychian, who is said to have interred with his own hands no less than 342 martyrs at Rome. St. Caius succeeded St. Eu- tychian in the apostolic see, in the year 283, and sat twelve years, four months, and seven days. The ancient pontificals say lie was a native of Dalmatia, and related to the emperor Dioclcsian. He was succeeded by St. Marcel lin US, in the year 296, about the time that Dioclesian set himself up for a deity, and impiously claimed divine honours. St. Theodo- re! tells us, that in those stormy times of persecution, Marcelhnus acquired great glory. Pctilian, the Donatish Pi.shop, objected to the Catholics, that CHURCH OF CHRIST. 107 Marcellinus had sacrificed to idols, and had deliver- ed up ihe Holy Scriptures to the persecutors ; and that Melchiadcs, Marcellus, and Sylvester, were guilty of the same apostacy. But St. Augustin en- tirely denied the charge, which was a mere calumny of the Donatists, 1. contr. Petil. c. 16. t. 9. p. 541. Yet upon this slander some others built another fie* titious history of his repentance in a pretended council of Sinuessa. See Pagi, Orsi, and Tillemont* ad An. 303. St. Caius and St. Hippolytus are justly ranked among the most illustrious Doctors, wi o flourished in the third century. They were both disciples of Irenaeus. St. Hippolytus was the master of Origen. St. Jerom calls him a most holy and eloquent man. St Chrysostom styles him a source of light, a faith- ful witness, a most holy Doctor, and a man full of sweetness and charity. Theodoret styles him a spi- ritual fountairf in the Church. A collection of his homilies was extant in Theodoret's time. He wrote comments on several parts of the Holy Scriptures, and treatises on the mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation, on the divinity of the Son of God, on the distinction of the divine and human nature in Christ, on the resurrection of the dead, on the fast of Saturday, on the holy Communion, on the ori- gin of good and evil He wrote also a book against heresies, particularly against the errors of Noetus, Marcian, &c. Minucius Felix seems to have been originally an African, though he lived at Rome, and there plead* ed at the bar, with great reputation, for eloquence and probity. He was called in an advanced age to the light of divine wisdom, as he says, and he had humility enough to despise the rank which he held among the learned and the great ones in the world, and by a happy violence, to embrace the doctrine of the cross, and enter heaven in the company of the ignorant, and the little ones, says St. Eucheri- ns. Minucius had two African friends, Cecilius and Octavius, who were joined with him in a course of the same studies. They were all three eminent and 108 HISTORY OF THE learned men of the first rank, and formed together a triumvirate of perfect friendship. Octavius seems to have had the glory of leading the way ; for Mi- nucius says, he ran before him as a guide ; but like a true friend, he could not be content or happy Without his dear Minucius. He gave himself no re- pose, so long as he saw his friend, his other half, remain in the darkness of infidelity, and in the shades of death. Words from the mouth of such a friend, drop like honey from the honey comb, ■whilst from a harsh prophet, whom we hate, troth itself becomes unacceptable. Minucius- therefore, was easily prepared to receive the impressions of virtue, and this blessed pair became one in religion as well as in friendship The Christian faith, ■which he embraced, far from abating, served only to refine and perfect their mutual affection, and make them congratulate each other upon their new life, in transports of holy joy, which all their ora- tory wanted words to express. They looked back on their past sinful lives with sorrow, and could re- li.-di nothing for the future, but the humiliations of the cross, and the severities of penance. Racks and tortures they overlooked with triumph, both turned advocates for the faith of Christ, and with- out any other retaining tee than the reward of their ciiarity, and the expectation of a happiness beyond the grave, they strenuously pleaded the cause of their crucified Redeemer The two illustrious law- yers and converts seemed now to want nothing them- selves, but they were extremely desirous to make Cccilius, their third friend, a happy convert like themselves. This however was a work of difficul- ty, that called for the last effort of their piety fid friendship. Early prejudices from education leave a tincture upon the mind, which seldom wears out viuiout much pains and ingenuity; and how supine sower such a conduct is in matters of this nature and importance, men often are inclined to content themselves with the religion oft! .rs, almost as naturally as they take up with th ;ir Ian ■' — Cecilius, moreover, was a man of the world, and CHURCH OF CHRIST. 109 of latitudinarian principles, and therefore was hard- ly to be come at with argument. He was a per- son of wit and abilities, but his own idol, and a great lover of applause and pleasure. Hence his chief religion seems to have been to serve himself. To complete his character, the philosophy he had imbibed only raised his vanity, and intoxicating his head with conceit, set him at the greatest distance from the reach of argument. But notwithstanding this seemingly inaccessible temper of mind, we find Cecilius, at length, by the power of divine grace, made a glorious convert, an eminent saint, and, in all probability, the converter of the great St. Cy- prian. Octavius and Minucius were the instruments which God was pleased to make use of, to effect this great work. They began by recommending it to God by their fervent prayers. And their victory over him was the issue of a conference, the sum of which Minucius has left us in an elegant dialogue, which he entitled Octavius, in honour of his friend, and which for purity and delicacy of the Latin lan- guage is not equalled by any Pagan writers of that age. Thascius Cyprian, the son of one of the princi- pal senators of Carthage, tells us, that he lived a long time amidst the Fasces, which were the Roman emblems of the supreme magistracy, but he deplores that he was then a slave to vice and evil habits. — " I lay in darkness," says he, " and 1 floated on " the boisterous sea of this world, a stranger to the " light, and uncertain where to fix my feet." He passed the greater part of his life in the study of philosophy and all the liberal arts ; and made such improvements in oratory and eloquence, that he was chosen public professor of rhetoric at Car- thage, a city inferior to none but Rome for the number of its inhabitants. He was upon the bor- ders of old age, when he was rescued from the darkness of Paganism and the servitude of vice. Cecilius, an holy Priest of Carthage, was the hap- py instrument, in the hands of God, of his con- version to the Christian religion, for which reason, K 110 HISTORY OF THE Cyprian ever after reverenced him as his benefac- tor, his father, and guardian angel, and to express this gratitude would from that time be called Thasci- us Cecilius Cyprian. Pontius informs us, that he applied himself with great eagerness to the lecture of the holy scriptures ; and finding the sacred ora- cles very copious in the commendation of p and continence, he made a resolution to practise these virtues for the more easy attainment of true perfection Soon after his baptism he sold his -whole estate, and gave almost all the money, /and whatever else he possessed, for the support of the poor. With the study of the holy scriptures St. Cyprian joined that of their best interpreters, and in a short time became acquainted with the most ap- proved ecclesiastical writers. He was particularly delighted with the writings of his countryman Ter- tullian, scarce passing a day without reading some- thing in them, and when he called for them, used to say, Reach hither my Master, as St. Jerom relates. But though he admired his genius, and the variety of his learning, he was upon his guard not to imi- tate any of his faults or errors. St. Cyprian led a retired penitential life, and made such a progress in virtue, that, whilst he was yet in the rank of the Neophytes, or persons lately baptized, he was rais- ed to the priesthood at the earnest request of the people ; his exemplary piety and extraordinary me- rit being judged a sufficient motive for dispensing in the rule laid down by St. Paul against admitting Neo- phytes to holy orders. Within less than a year after he was chosen by the clergy and people Bi- shop of Carthage, and successor to Donatus, and was consecrated with the unanimous approbation of the Bishops of the province. In the discharge of the episcopal functions, he showed abundance of piety, charity, goodness, and courage, mixed with vigour and steadiness. His writings, says St. Je- rom, shine more bright than the sun. When the cruel edicts of Decius reached Carthage, in the year 250, they were no sooner made public, but the idolaters, in a kind of sedition, ran to the mar- CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1U ket place, confusedly crying out, Cyfirian to the llons^ Cyprian to the wild beasts. But Diving Providence vouchsafed to preserve the vigilant pastor, that by his active zeal and authority he might support and comfort his flock, maintain discipline, and repair the ruins caused by the persecution that raged. He encouraged and animated the confessors in prison, and took care that priests, in turns, should visit them, and offer the sacrifice of the altar, and give them the holy communion every day in their dungeons ; for he said : " We should support and strengthen a them with the body and blood of Christ, unless " we would leave those naked and defenceless, whom " we are exhorting to fight our Lord's battle. The " design of the Eucharist being to be a defence " and security for those who partake of it, we " should fortify them, whose safety we are concern- 6{ ed for, with the armour of our Lord's banquet, '< How shall they be able to die for Christ ? How " shall we fit them for drinking the cup of martyr- " dom, if w% will not first admit them to the cup of " the Lord F Epist. 57. According to the discipline of the Church, in St, Cyprian's days, the lapsed sinners, whether Thari- ficati and Sacrificati, that is, apostates, who had sa- crificed to idols, or Libellatici^ who, without sacri- ficing, had purchased for money libels and certifi- cates, as if they had offered sacrifices, were not ad- mitted to assist at the holy mysteries, before they had gone through a most rigorous course of public penance, consisting of four degrees, and of several years continuance. When, during this penitential term, absolution was given in danger ol death, if the penitent recovered he was obliged to accomplish his course as to the austerities enjoined him. Re- laxations of these penances, called indulgences, were granted on certain extraordinary occasions, as on account of the uncommon fervour of a penitent, or on occasion of a new persecution. It was also customary to grant indulgences to penitents, who brought tickets from some martyr going to execu- tion, or from some Confessor in prison for the faiths I 12 HISTORY OF THE containing a request in their behalf, which the Bi- shop and his clergy examined and often ratified. This custonft at length degenerated in Africa into a great abuse, by the multitude of such tickets, which were often given in too peremptory terms, and without examination or discernment, to the great prejudice of souls, and the relaxation of the disci- pline of the Church. Novatus, Felicissimus, and live other turbulent men, formed also a schism in Carthage, and held their great assemblies upon a mountain. Novatus received, without any canoni- cal penance, all apostates that desired to return to the communion of the Church. St. Cyprian, see- ing the mischief that threatened his flock, severely condemned those abuses, and exhorted the faithful to beware of being misled by the schism, which he calls more dangerous than the persecutions of the Pagans. " There is," says he, " one God, and 11 one Christ, and but one episcopal chair original- M ly founded on Peter, by our Lord's authority. 11 There cannot, therefore, be erected another al- *' tar, or another priesthood. Whatever any man ki in his rage or rashness shall appoint, in defiance H of the divine institution, must be a spurious, prp- " fane, and sacrilegious ordinance," Epist 43 ; and in Epist. 11. he complains, "that by the recom- " mendation of the Confessors, some Priests had u presumed to make oblations for the lapsed, and to u admit them to the holy Eucharist, that is, indeed, " to profane the body of our Lord. — And as a fur- " ther aggravation, says he, they have admitted u those sinners to communion before any submission " made by them to penitential discipline, before any M confession made of their heinous and crying sin : . l * and before any imposition of hands made by the u Bishop and his clergy unto penance — Such priests, " instead of approving themselves true shepherds i 4 of the sheep, become as bad to them as butchers ** and murderers. For a mischievous condescension '* is in effect a cheat, nor are those who have faJ- c 4 len, raised by such helps, but rather cast down* «* and pushed upon destruction,' 3 CHURCH OF CHRIST. 113 In his 1 6th Epistle, he threatens to restrain from offering, or to suspend, some of the priests, who, forgetting the rules of the Gospel, as well as the rank they hold in the Church, rashly and hastily admitted penitents to Communion, though they had not performed their penance, made no humble con- fession of their sin, nor received the imposition of hands from the Bishop and his clergy ; the holy Eucharist is administered to them, in defiance of the Scripture, which saith : Whoever shall eat or drink unworthily , shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 1 Cor. 11. 27. Of such priests he says,, Ep. 34. " Let them be suspended from their month- 44 ly dividend;" for the revenues of the clergy then consisted chiefly of the oblations of the faithful, which were divided every month into four parts, one of which was assigned to the Bishop, and one to his clergy. The other two parts were allowed to the poor, and the expenses of the oratories or churches. Ep. 39. In his book On the Lafised, he bitterly deplores the lamentable fall of apostates, and says, his very bowels were rent with a grief which no words couid express, and which admitted no alleviation but that of tears and sighs. He expatiates on the grievousness of the crime of apostacy, and on the remedies of it, and inveighs against a rash, hasty absolution, and pretended reconciliation. " He " would," says this holy doctor, ** betray a great " ignorance of his profession, who> for fear of " putting his patient to pain, by opening his wound* " should softly handle it, skin it over, and close it 44 up, not cleansing it of the corruption lodged in it ; * 4 for by such unskilful management, the malignity 44 would take deep root, and taint the whole mass. " The wound, in all such cases* must be opened, " the knife must not be spared, all superfluities must " be pared away, without regard to. the pain occa- " sioned by so sharp a treatment. If the patient " complains and cries out for the present, he will " afterward thank the operator, when he finds his " recovery has been owing to such a treatment— K 2 114 HISTORY OF THE " A delusive absolution is given at random, danger- <; ous to the givers, useless to the receivers. Com- " ing fresh from the altar of the Devil, their hands M yet reeking with the blood of the sacrifices offered " thereon, they would fain approach the highest mys- " teries — in spite of these divine admonitions, vio- " ience is offered to the body and blood of Christ — ;c they who dispense it to them, resemble unskilful " pilots, who instead of conducting their vessel safe L * into the harbour, split it upon the rocks." The zealous pastor then shows, "that penitents •» deceive themselves, who think that a reconcilia- :i tion can be given them before they have expiated " their crime by penance, and purified their con- " science by imposition of hands from the Bishop. 5 * To strike a terror into sinners, he relates several ex- amples of persons severely punished by God, in a miraculous manner, for being so bold as to receive ihe body and blood of Christ before they had done condign penance. He adds a strong exhortation to penance, and says, " that some among the faithful, « because they had once sinned only in thought and " purpose, confessed this with much grief to the * priests of God, doing severe penance, imburden- A ing their consciences, and seeking a healthy reme- « dy for their wounds," which is a proof of the esteem they had for voluntary confession, as no one -ould have called them to an account for their sinful thoughts, if they had not of their own accord de- >:rlared them. He then repeats his pressing solicita- tions to sinners. " Let every one of you make an fl humble and solemn confession of his sin, whilst " he is yet in the world, whilst his confession can w be admitted, whilst his satisfaction and the pardon w given him by the Priests are available with God." In his discourse on the Lord's Prayer, he takes notice that the Priest, in the preface of the celebration of the Eucharist, said Sursum corda, " Lift up your "hearts;" and that the people answered, We lift them up to the Lord, In this book On the Mortality, " or pestilence," he shows " that true servants of God ought to re- CHUKCH OF CHRIST. 115 « joice in calamities, because they afford opportuni- " ties to exercise patience and all heroic virtues, " and to merit Heaven. As for death, no man, ,? says he, " can be afraid of it, but he who is loath to " go to Christ/' He strongly exhorts all Chris- tians to wish heartily for the happy hour of their death, " as it will be their passage to the glory of " Heaven, their admission into the kingdom of di«> " vine love, and into the glorious society of angels- " and saints." In his book On the Habit of Virgins^ he wonder- fully extols the sanctity of their state, and severely condemns all painting of the hair or face, which dis- guises, and pretends to mend the workmanship of God, and all allurements of dress, by which those whose modesty is cheap draw the eyes of others af- ter them, and ruin their souls. The more curious, he says, persons are in setting off their bodies, the more careless they grow as to the ornaments of their minds. In his book on The Unity of the Churchy he demon- strates the Church of Christ to be essentially One, and says, " that Christ built his Church upon St, " Peter, and gave the power of the keys to him ; " and though he also gave the same power to all " his Apostles, he would have it take its rise from " one, and settled the whole upon that foundation." The holy doctor says also, in the same book, " He m cannot ever attain the recompense propounded by « Christ to his followers, who deserts his Church. *< He becomes thence unsanctified, an alien, and a, " downright enemy. He cannot have God for his « father, who hath not the Church for his mother., ft Could any one escape who was not with Noah in « the Ark ? Whatever shall be separated from the " fountain of life, can have no life remaining in it, « after having lost all communication with its vital " principle." His treatise on Alms and Good Works^ is a moving exhortation to alms-deeds and works of mercy, as commanded in the holy Scriptures, and as the means to obtain the divine mercy. He teaches us, that I 16 HISTORY OF THE all that is su/ierjiuous u due to the poor. " Let the " necessitous," says he, " be sensible of your abun- " dance ; put your money to God, who will re- -pay pour loans with interest; feed your Re- t; deemer in his destitute and hungry members ; :; engage, by your treasure many solicitors at the ki throne of grace," Sec. In fine, in a council of 6 I Bishops, assembled in Carthage, in the year 2i3, lie supported the necessity of infant baptism; and in his other writings he shows that it was always the belief of the Church, that the saints in Heaven in- tercede for us before God — that it was customary to mention the names of the faithful departed, at the altar, and to make an oblation for their repose after their death, at the Eucharist or the M.os He mentions, also, the use of the cross ut baptism, and says, that a Christian is fortified by the defensive sign of the cross — L 2. Tesdin. His zeal was inde- fatigable in exhorting the confessors, and in pro- curing them all possible succour. He was careful in devoutly honouring the memory of the martyrs, after their triumphs, by sacrifices of thanksgiving to God on their annual festivals ; " We offer up," says he, "the usual sacrifices and oblations in com- 4; memoration of them." As to the dispute which he carried on with a degree of warmth with St. Stephen, St. Augustine says, that his fault wjs com- pensated by the abundance of his charity, and puri- fied by the axe of his passion, for St. Cyprian was beheaded for the faith, on the 14th of September, in the year 253. St. Gregory, surnamed Thaumaturgus, or worker of miracles, on account of his extraordinary mi- racles, and his brother, Athenorus, were disciples of the great Origen. They were both converted from Paganism to Christianity, and raised to the episcopal dignity with the usual ceremonies. St. Gregory was consecrated Bishop of Neocaesarea, in Pontus. He committed to writing the famous Creed, or rule of faith, concerning the mystery of the Holy Trinity, which is extant in his works He also wrote a canonical epistle, which holds an emi- f WE Cri OF CHRIST. 117 rieut rank among the penitential canons of the Church, and in which he mentioned the four dis- tinct classes oi penitents. He and Ins brother are named the first among the subscribers to the council that was held at Antioch, in the year 264, to con- demn the heresies broached by Paul of Samosata, one of the most haughty and vain of mortals, who had caused hymns in his own praise to be sung in the Church. St. Dionysius, Archbishop of Alexandria, is called, by St. Athanasius the doctor of the Catholic Church. Being born of Heathen parents, but of high rank in the world, he was educated at Alexan- dria, then the centre of the sciences, and ran through the whole circle of profane learning. Fall- ing at length upon the Epistles of St. Paul, he found in them charms which he had not met with in the writings of the Philosophers, and opening his heart to the truth, and turning it perfectly to God, he re- nounced the errors of idolatry, and trampled under his feet all the glory and applause of the world. He became an humble scholar in the catechetical school of Origen, and made such progress, that he was or- dained Priest, and afterwards Bishop of Alexandria. When the sanguinary edict of Decius reached Alex- andria, in the year 2oi>j St. Dionysius was particu- larly active in arming and prepaiing the faithful for the combat. He wrote two books against the Mille- narians, and persuaded several to forsake the Novi- tian schism. He condemned the blasphemies of Sa- bellius, in a council at Alexandria, and strenuously defended the real distinction of the three Divine Per- sons. The loss of his works is extremely regretted, for of them nothing has reached us, except some fragments quoted by others, and his Canonical Epis- tle, wherein he mentions the austere manner in which the faithful then fasted the Lent before Easter, and inculcates the great purity, both in mind and body, that is required in all who approach tho Holy Table, and receiye the body and blood of our*. Lord. 1 18 HISTORY OF THE St. Victorinus is styled, by St. Jerom, one of the pillars of the Church. He wrote against most here- sies of that age, and. comments on a great part of the holy Scriptures ; but all his works are lost, except a small treatise on the creation of the world, and a treatise on the Apocalypse, extant in the library of the Fathers. Origen was the eldest son of Leonides, a Chris- tian philosopher at Alexandria, who brought him up with great care, returning thanks to God for having blessed him with a son of such an excellent disposi- tion for learning, and a very great zeal for piety. These qualifications endeared him greatly to his fa- ther, who, after his son was baptized, would come to his bedside, whilst he was asleep, and opening his bosom, kiss it respectfully, as being the temple of the Hoiy Ghost. Origen became a scholar first of St. Clement, then regent of the famous catecheti- cal school in Alexandria, and afterward a scholar of the celebrated philosopher, AmmoniusSaccas. When, the persecution raged in Egypt, in the tenth year of Severus, Leonides was cast into prison. Origen, who was then only seventeen years of age, burned with an incredible desire of martyrdom, and sought every opportunity of meeting with it : but his mo- ther conjured him not to forsake her, and, seeing his ardour redoubled at the sight of his father's chains, was forced to lock up his clothes to oblige him to stay at home ; so, not being able to do any more, he wrote a letter to his father, in very moving terms, strongly exhorting him to look on the crown of glory that was ottered him, with courage and joy, adding this clause, " Take heed, Sir, that, for our sakes, u you do not change your mind." Leonides was accordingly beheaded for the faith in the year 202. His estates and goods being all confiscated and seized for the Emperor's use, his widow was left with seven sons to maintain, in the poorest condition imaginable : but Divine Providence was both her comfort and support. Origen, being reduced to extreme poverty after the death of his father, was relieved by the liberal- IHUUCH OF CIIRIST. 119 -ity of a rich lady of Alexandria. He made such improvements in all sorts of learning, that he was regarded as a prodigy, for his genius and extensive knowledge. At the age of eighteen years he was appointed by Demetrius, the Bishop, to preside in the great school of Alexandria, where he was soon followed, consulted, and respected*by a number of disciples, who after being with the greatest mas- ters in the world, were thereby only qualified to be- come his scholars and to crowd to his lectures. From his school, innumerable doctors, priests, con- fessors, and martyrs came forth. He seemed scarce ever to cease from application, or to know any dif- ference, us to repose, between day and night. Be- sides his public lectures, the fatigue of which was enough to kill another person, he dictated to seven Amanuenses. He led a most austere life, walking almost barefooted, sleeping upon the bare ground, watching much, besides fasting often. He abstain- ed from flesh meat, and during many years from wine, till the weakness of his breast obliged him to mingle a little with his water. He is said to have written six thousand volumes, but by blending the Platonic philosophy with the Christian theology, he fell into some errors, that were condemned in the fifth general council, though he never, as long as he lived, withdrew himself from the Church. The most celebrated work he wrote is his Apology for the Christian Religion, published in the year 249, against Celsus, the Epicurean philosopher, who lived in the reign of Adrian, and who was the most formidable adversary that ever attacked, in writing, the Chris- tian Religion. Porphyrius the Tyrian philosopher ; Hierocles ; and Julian, the Apostate, wrote, indeed, against it many bitter invectives, ludicrous cavils, and slanders, supported only by an extravagant sophis- try, that visibly betrays the weakness of infidelity^ and strengthens the cause of truth, as St. Eusebius of Caesarea, St. Gregovy Nazianzen, and St. Cyril, have clearly demonstrated. But of all the writers against Christianity, Celsus was the most crafty and subtle, for he wrote with the most refined fallacy 120 HISTORY OF THE that sophistry could invent, with an air of positive- ness to impose upon the vulgar, and with all the ad- vantages that wit and raillery could give. He was also master of all the difficulties that an extensive knowledge, seconded hy artifice and management, could object. On the other side, Origen, with all the sense and solidity of right reason, reduces every argument to its true principles, follows his adversary step by step, convicts him of falsehood in point of fact, refutes all his calumnies, sets in the true light things which his adversary disguised or smothered, and established the truth of the Christian religion by the evidence of facts and of its history. Euse- bius and St. Jerom say, that all objections that ever were, or can be made to Christianity, will find an an- swer in this work. ] Arnobius was a native of Sicca, in Africa, and a celebrated rhetorician, about the close of the third century. From a most fiery stickler for idolatry, he became an illustrious champion for Christianity, be- ing compelled, by heavenly admonitions, to acknow- ledge the evidence of divine Revelation, as St. Jerom says. Being thus miraculously converted, like ano- ther Saul, he desired baptism, but, the Bishop of Sicca, considering with what fury he had declaimed against the Church, before he would admit him to the laver of salvation, required, as a condition, that he should, by some learned work, give a public tes- timony to the truth, which he had so violently com- bated. The sincere convert, impatient to attain to the desired happiness, wrote his seven books Against the Gentiles, whijbrt a novice in the faith, and un- doubtedly would have better polished his style, if the haste with which he wrote had allowed him leisure to give it the last finishing strokes. Lectantius, the famous Latin author, was in his vouth a disciple of Arnobius, at Sicca, and was con- Verted to the faith from Idolatry. His writings are full of admirable precepts of morality which he en- forces with invincible eloquence. But after his con- version his pen was chiefly employed in overthrow- ing Paganism, which he confutes with all the ardour and spirit imaginable. He combats the different sects of the Heathen philosophers, pursuing them through all the labyrinths of error and false judg- ment, without ever losing himself. Having explo- ded falsehood, he introduces the most noble, sub* lime, and perfect philosophy of the holy Scriptures* which alone satisfies all the inquiries of human rea- son, wherein all systems of philosophers are infi* nitely deficient. He relates the several persecu- tions which the Church had suffered, and the exem- plary punishments which God had inflicted on the persecutors. He tells us, that as the Emperor Dio- elesian was offering sacrifice at Antioch, one of his officers made on his forehead the sign of the cross, and thereupon, to the great trouble of the Pagans', the auspices were disturbed, and the daemons disap- peared — de Mort. Persec. c. li. CHAPTER XIII. The Jive last general Persecutions* THE Emperor Alexander, surnamed Severus, cousin german and successor of Heliogabalus, was one of the best of Princes. Two maxims, which he learned of the Christians, were the rules by which he endeavoured to square his conduct : The first was, " Do to all men as you would have others do to you." The second, that all places of command are to be bestowed on those who are the best quali- fied for them. He forbade the sale of employments, saying, " He that buys must sell." He kept the soldiers in awe by regular pay, and gave salaries out of the treasury to the rulers of provinces, that they might not be a burden to the people. It was in his peaceable reign that the Christians first began to build churches, which were demolished in the suc- ceeding persecution. Julius Maximinus, having opened to himself a way to the imperial throne, by- contriving the assassination of the best of the Ro- man emperors, began his reign by raising the sixth, general persecution against the Church, in the year b VJ2 U1STGRY OF TK2 235. He was originally a shepherd of mean extrac- tion from Thrace, and a man of fierce manners and gigantic stature, and a monster of gluttony : he ea£ fifty pounds of meat in a day, and was so strong, that he could tear up trees by the roots with his hands, as historians assure us. When emperor, he put to death his most ancient friends, who could give an ac- count of his origin. Capitolinus says of him, u That •' never did a more cruel beast tread upon the earth." He raged violently against the Christians, particu- larly the bishops, pastors, and teachers, having or- dered some to be crucified, others to be dressed in the skins of beasts, and thus to be exposed to wild animals to be torn in pieces. After the death of Maximinus, the faithful en- joyed the sweets of peace for several years ; but this peace and tranquillity occasioned, conformably to the bent of human nature, a remissness and a sen- bible relaxation in their manners, as St. Cyprian complained. It enervated, in many, the watch- fulness and spirit of their holy profession, and open- eel a door to several converts, who, when their virtue was put to the test, had not courage to stand the trial. Nay, the virtue of some, who had stood the fiercest persecutions, began to melt away at the first rays of peace and prosperity : so dangerous are its flattering blandishments. Almighty God, therefore, to punish their sloth and neglect, and to revive their fervour, was pleased to try them in a fiery crucible, and to permit a most dreadful storm to be raised against the Church, in the year 249 : for Decius having usurped the empire, after causing the Emperor Philip to be killed by his soldiers at Verona, began his reign by raising the seventh ge- neral persecution, which he carried on with the utmost cruelty near three years. No sooner were his bloody edicts published, but the Christians were immediately driven from their houses, and stript of their estates. Whips and prisons, fires and wild beasts, scalded pitch and melted wax, sharp stakes and burning pincers, were the ordinary instruments used for their torments. Many ot all ages, ranks, CHURCH OF CHRIST. 123 and professions, were put to the most exquisite tor- tures : They were scourged, beaten, racked, and roasted ; their flesh was pulled off with burning pincers, and their sides burnt with torches. Some were beheaded with swords, others were run through with spears ; some were stretched on racks, others were hung up with weights at their feet, and tor- tured in this posture with more instruments of tor- ment than their bodies had limbs. Multitudes fled into the mountains, woods, and deserts, from this sctne of slaughter; of this number was St. Paul, the eminent Anchoret, who is styled the first Hermit. Others sought for refuge in the catacombs of Rome ; others concealed themselves in subterraneous cav- erns and dismal retreats, where they either perished by hunger and cold, or fell into the hands of the Saracens, and were reduced to a state of slavery worse than death itself. Nicephorus, the historian, declares, that it would be easier to count the sands of the sea, than to reckon up all the martyrs of this persecution. The very Pagans themselves beheld^ with admiration, these heavenly conflicts, and stood astonished at their meekness, patience, and courage, in the midst of all their sufferings; nay, some of them were so powerfully overcome by their exam- ple, that they suddenly declared themselves Chris- tians, and suffered death with joy for their profes- sion ; so that if a few apostatized in this terrible time of trial, the scandal they gave was amply repaired by the wonderful conversion of others, and by the uncon- querable virtue, constancy, and fidelity of thousands, who tired out their tormentors, smiling at them whilst they were raking in their wounds, and with unshak- en souls making open profession of Christ under the sharpest engines of execution. They had constant- ly before their eyes the divine pattern of their Lord and Saviour, and the heavenly recompense which awaited them after their combats. This glorious prospect animated their courage, and sweetened their torments. Inspired with inward joy, they said to themselves : The sufferings of this time are not wor- thy tfj be compared with the glory to come^ that shall 124 HTSTO&Y OV l"FiB7 he revealed i?i us. Rom. 8. 18. They congratulated •each other on the view of their approaching triumph, .saying, as St. Cyprian tells us, " The persecutor <* wrests from us our lands, but Heaven is opened " to us ; the enemy of Christ threatens, but Christ f 1 protects us. By killing us they deprive us of this fi world, but Paradise is offered us in its stead ; oup ■" temporal life is extinguished, but changed into " eternal. " Decius being defeated in Thrace by the* Ooths, and succeeded by Gallus, the general of the army, who had betrayed him, this revolution gave some short respite to the Christians, but a great phigue, which ravaged several provinces of the em- pire, during twelve years, beginning in the year 250* alarmed the superstition of the new emperor so much, that he commanded sacrifice every where to be made to Apollo, for averting that scourge, and re- vived the persecution of Decius, in order to appease the anger of his false gods, by spilling the blood of the Christians. It was at this time that St. Hippo* IytU3 VuS ordered to be dragged zrd tern asunder by v/iid horses, at Ostia, where he expired uttering these words, " Lord, they tear my body, receive thou *' my soul." About the same time, St. Cassian, a Christian schoolmaster, was ordered to be stabbed to death with the penknives and styles, or iron writ- ing pencils, of his own scholars. Gallus continued to persecute the Christians, until he, and his col- league, Voiucianus. were slain in a battle at Terni, by iEmilianus, in the year 254. Three months after iEinilianus being killed by his own soldiers near Spoleto, Valerian, who commanded the army in Gaul, got possession of the Imperial Throne, and for some time gave peace to the Church ; but in the year 257 he commenced the eighth general persecu- tion, by the persuasion and artifice of Macrianus, an Egyptian magician, who advised him to sup- press Christianity, thereby to render the gods pro- pitious, and procure prosperity and success in his wars. Numbers of Christians were crowned with martyrdom in consequence of the cruel edicts pub- lished by this emperor, and executed with the UN CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1?5 most rigour for three years and a half, till he was taken prisoner by the Persians. The chief martyrs who suffered in his reign were St. Stephen, St. Six- tus, St. Laurence, St. Cyprian, St. Felix of Nola, St. Fructuosus, St. Saturninus, St. Marian, with se- veral illustrious confessors, who were chained and imprisoned, or condemned to work in the mines, and in Caesar's farms. St. Augustine informs us, that in the persecution of Valerian, one hundred and fifty-three Christians, who were detained in the pri- sons of Utica, suffered a glorious martyrdom there on the same day : for the Proconsul of Africa hav- ing gone from Carthage to Utica, and having order- ed a great pit of burning lime to be prepared in a field, and by it an altar of idols, with salt and hog's liver placed on it, ready for sacrifice, he caused all the aforesaid prisoners to be brought before him, and gave them their choice, either to be thrown in- to the pit of burning lime, or to offer sacrifice to the idols which were set by it. They unanimously chose the first, and were all consumed together in the furnace. Their ashes were afterwards taken out by the Christians, and as they made but one common mass, cemented with the lime, these mar- tyrs were called the White Mass, Gallienus, the son and successor of Valerian, restored peace to the Church, but as he led a life of debauchery and su- pine indolence, he became odious to the people, and was murdered in the year 268, and there rose up no less than thirty tyrants together, who assumed the title of emperors, and tore the empire to pieces by factions and divisions. Claudius II. the successor of Gallienus, a prince of moderation and wisdom, continued to suspend the edicts of former persecutors during the two years that he reigned. He was surnamed Gothicus, on account of his successful wars against the Goths, wherein it appears that 320,000 of them were slain, and two thousand of their ships were sunk. After his death me Emperor Aurelius raised the ninth general persecution, in the year 274. It is said of him, that he would have been a good doctor, if he L 2 }9& HISTORY OF THE had not taken away too much blood. The princi- pal victims sent to Heaven in this persecution were Sti Felix, St. Mamas of Ccssarea, St, AgapeUiSj St. Sayinianus, St. Columba, See. The tenth and last general persecution was raised by Dioclesian, a soldier of fortune, and a man of mean extraction, who was proclaimed emperor by the army at Chalcedon, in the year 284, the emperor Cams, who had impiously assumed the title of a god, being kil- led by lightning, and his son, Numerianus Augus- tus, being cut off by the treachery of his uncle, A per. Dicclesian slew Aper, and by killing him accomplished a prediction which had formerly been delivered in his favour, that he should be an empe- ror when he killed an Aper, this word in Latin sig- nifying a wild boar. The following year he defeat- ed and slew Carious, the second son of Carus, and, after this victory, took the haughty name of Jovius y from Jupiter. But finding the empire too unwieldy a body to govern alone, and wishing, at the same time, to secure himself against the continual treasons of the soldiery, especially the praetorian guards, who, (lur- ing the last three hundred years, had murdered almost all their emperors, he chese Maximian for his partner and colleague in the empire, and honour- ed him with the title of Augustus Maximian as- sumed also the surname of Herculeus, from the false god Hercules. The two emperors named each an emperor of an inferior rank, under the title of Cxsars. Dicclesian chose Galerius Maximian for Uie East, and Maximian Herculeus pitched upon Constantius Chiorus for the West. Dioclesian usu- ally resided in the East at Nicomedia, and Galerius occupied Illvricum, and the places adjacent to the Euxine Sea. Maximian Herculeus reserved to him- self the rich provinces of Italy, Spain and Africa, and Constantius had Gaul and Britain, and the coun- tries this side the Alps. The first years of the reign of Dioclesian were tolerably favourable to the Chris- tians, though several, even then, suffered martyrdom by virtue of the former edicts, and by the natural cruelty of Maxircian Herculeus, who delighted in c nunc ii Of Christ. 12 7 blood ; but in the beginning of the year 302, Galcrius prevailed upon Dioelesian to form a project utterly to extirpate the Christian name, and even began, by his own authority, to persecute the faithful within his own jurisdiction. In order to stir up Dioelesian the more, he procured some of his own creatures to set fire to the imperial palace at Nicomedia, that the Christians, according to the usual perverseness of the Heathens, might be accused of it; for, as Ter- tullian tells us, they conceived such prejudice and haired against the professors of Christianity, that every public calamity and misfoitune that befel the government was thiOAvn upon them. If the Temple of Daphnis was consumed by lightning from Hea- ven, the Christians were slandered and condemned as the incendiaries. If the Tiber overflowed; if the Nile watered not the plains ; if there were earth- quakes, famine, or plague, they would cry out. Hie Christians to the Lions. Dioelesian, not suspecting the imposture, gave orders, that all his domestics and dependents should be cruelly tortured in his presence, to oblige them to confess the supposed guilt, but all to no purpose, for the criminals lay concealed among the domestics of Galerius, who. in a fortnight after, caused the palace to be set on fire, and left Nicomedia the same day, protesting- that he went away through fear of being burnt alive by the Christians. The fire was stopped before it had done any great mischief, but it had the effect intended by the author of it, for Dioelesian, ascribing it to the Christians, resolved to keep no measures with them. His rage and resent- ment being now at the highest pitch, he vented them with the utmost cruelty upon the innocent, and published four edicts, commanding all Chris- tians to be put to death who should refuse to re- nounce their faith, or to sacrifice to the idols ; for the Devil, by his instruments, sought not so much to destroy the bodies of the servants of God by death, as their souls by sin. The first victims of Dioclesian's rage were the courtiers of his palace, the presidents of bis councils, the holy Bishop An- 128 HISTORY OF THE ihimus, and the clergy of Nicomedia, whom he ordered to be seized, loaded with chains, and com- pelled by torments to sacrifice to the gods, which they refusing to do, they were beheaded, with all the persons belonging* to their families. The church of Nicomedia was levelled with the ground, the whole city was filled with desolation and slaughter, and all the books of the Scriptures that could be found were burnt. Judges were appointed in the temples to condemn to immediate death all who re- fused to sacrifice, and torments, till then unheard of, were invented. Altars were erected in the courts of justice and in the public offices, that all might be obliged to offer sacrifice before they could be admitted to plead. Idols were set up in the market places, at the corners of the streets, and at the public fountains, that the people might first offer incense to them, before they could be suffered to buy or sell any thing, to grind their corn, to draw water, or transact any business. Persons of every age and sex were burnt, not singly one by one f but, on account of their numbers, whole companies of them were burnt together, by setting fire round about them ; while others, being tied together in great numbers, were cast into the sea. Seventeen thousand Christians were massacred in one single day, as historians relate. Dioclcsian, not satisfied with all these cruelties, had his edicts published in other part* of the empire, and ordered all the churches to be every where demolished, the Scriptures to be burnt, the Chris- tians to be declared incapable of all honours and employments, to be deprived of their liberties and their right of voting, to be put out of the protec- tion of the law, and not to be allowed either to recover debts, or to sue for a reparation of any in- juries or damages done to them, whilst, on the other hand, all actions were to be received against them. The bloody edicts were sent from the East to Max- irnian, and to Constantius in the West. The former willingly obeyed them, but Constantius put no man to death on that account, though he suffered the e«URcn OF CHRIST I2& churches to be pulled down. He told the Christians he had in his army and household, thathe gave them their choice, either to sacrilice, or to lose their posts. Some preferring their temporal interest to their re- ligion, were tempted to offer sacrilice, but Con- stantius despised and discharged such apostates from his service, saying, that persons, so self-interested and treacherous to their God, would never be faith* ful to him. On the contrary, those who continued steadfast in their faith, he kept near his person, de- claring them worthy to be intrusted with the care of his person and empire. In the interim, his eldest son, Constantine, was kept at tne court of Dioclesian, as a hostage for his father's fidelity, and like another Moses, was brought up amidst the enemies of truth, whom he was one day to extirpate. In the other parts of the Roman Empire, the persecution was carried on with great violence by Dioclesian, Galerius, and Maximian. These cruel beasts, says Lactam ius, raged every where from East to West, if I had a hundred tongues, says that historian, I should not be able to recount all the different torments that were employed by them against the Christians. The. barbarities they ex- ercised, exceed all description. They deluged the Roman Empire with an ocean of blood. The un- heard of torments they made use of for the space of ten years were innumerable, says Eusebius — Some Christians were broiled to death on grid-irons and frying pans. Some were squeezed in a press, until their veins, sinews, and fibres, burst. Some were hung up with their heads downwards, and suffocated by slow fires. Some were slain by break- ing their legs and chopping off their hands and feet. Some were sawed in two. Some had their eyes and teeth pulled out. Some were dipt in melting lead or scalding oil. Some were devoured by dogs, bears, lions, and other wild beasts. Some were beheaded ; others had sharp reecls thrust under their nails. Some were cruelly scourged and beaten with clubs and balls of lead. Some had their flesh torn off with pincers, or furrowed and racked off with pieces ^130 „ HISTORY OF THE of broken pots, iron hooks, and nails. Some were exposed to the sun, and rubbed over with honey, that they might be stung and tortured by bees and wasps Some were sent in chains to work in the mines. Some were delivered over to archers to be shot to death with arrows. Some were sewed up in sacks, or leathern bags, with scorpions, serpents, vipers, snakes, and other reptiles, and thrown into the sea. Some were confined in infectious dun- geons, strewed with nails and broken glass. Those who survived were called Co?ifessors^ because they had courage to confess the name of Christ before the judges. A populous city in Phrygia, consisting all of Christians, w&s surrounded by a large body of soldiers, who set fire to it; and men, women, and children, were all consumed in the flames. In the West, the sanguinary tyrant Maximum, as St. Jerom calls him, having crossed the Alps with his army, on an expedition into Gaul, and having halt- ed at Octodurum, then a considerable city on the Rhone, above the lake of Geneva, now a village called Martignac in the Valais, issued out an order that the whole army should join in offering sacrifice to the gods for the success of their expedition — The Theban legion, consisting of about six thousand six hundred Christians from Thebais, or Upper Egypt, hereupon withdrew itself, with Maurice, Exuperius, arid Candidus, the captain and principal officers, and encamped at some distance from the main body of the army, that they might not join in the idolatrous worship. Maximian sent th;*m re- peated orders to return to the camp and offer sacri- iice ; and upon their constant and unanimous refu- sal, he commanded them to be decimated. Every tenth man was then put to death, according as the lot fell, the rest exhorting one another in the interim to perseverance. After the first decimation, a se- cond was commanded, and the emperor sent fresh threats, that if they persisted in their disobedience, not a man among them should escape death. The soldiers declared, that w they would rather suffer ? all extremities than do any thing contrary to their I1UHC II OF C1IHIST. 131 M religion. They humbly remonstrated to Maxi«* " mian, that they were his soldiers, but at the same M time, that they were servants of the true God. u We owe you, said they, military service and " obedience; but we cannot renounce him, who is u our Creator and Master, and also yours, even 11 whilst you reject him. In all things, which are M not against his law, Ave most willingly obey you, '• as we have done hitherto. We readily oppose M all your enemies, wherever they are, but we can- " not dip our hands in the blood of the innocent. 11 We have taken an oath to God, before we took f< one to you ; you can place no confidence in our M second oath, should we violate the first. We u confess God the Father, Author of all things, " and his Son, Jesus Christ. Neither the extremi- 44 ty to which we are reduced, nor any provoca- u tion hath tempted us to revolt. We have arms in " our hands, but we do not resist, because we had t* rather die innocent than live by any sin." This legion was well armed, and might have sold their lives very dear. But they had learned to give to God what is God's, and to Caesar what is Caesar's, and they showed their courage more in dying for their faith, than in the most hazardous enterprises. Maximian having no hopes of overcoming their constancy, commanded his whole army to surround them, and cut them to pieces. They made no re- sistance, but dropping their arms, suffered themselves to be butchered like innocent sheep, without open- ing their mouths, except mutually to encourage one another ; and not one out of so great a number failed in courage to the last. The ground was covered with their dead bodies, and streams of blood flowed on every side. Such was the genera! disposition and firmness of the Christians under the sharpest trials and most violent persecutions. Nothing could shake their constancy, or prevail on them to offer sacrifice to the idols. For one that prevaricated or denied his faith, in the heat of persecution, or that lost his courage when subdued by torture and almost torn to 1S3 HISTORY OF VHfi pieces, or that burnt incense in the temples, or that procured at a certain price certificates and attesta- tions from the Pagan magistrates, of having com- plied with the imperial edicts, thousands sealed their faith with the last drop of their blood. They de- spised death in its most terrifying shapes, and even stared it in the face with joy, regarding it as the gate to everlasting happiness. Far from retaliating injuries, they prayed for their persecutors, and ne- ver used the least violence against those who treated them with cruelty. They were so numerous, as to be capable of forming great armies, yet they suf- fered themselves to be massacred, rather than rise tip in arms against their princes and rulers; for they had learned from the Apostles and their suc- cessors, that the powers established by God are to be respected even in the persons of wicked men.— They said, as St. Justin and Tertullian inform us : our hopes are not fixed on the present world, and 3 therefore we make no resistance to the executioner " that comes to strike us. We adore one only God, " but in all other things we cheerfully obey the * ruling powers. We pray to God that he may f£ grant to the emperors a long life, a peaceable " reign, safety at home, victorious arms, a faithful u senate, virtuous subjects, universal peace, and " every thing that a man and emperor can desire."*' Most flourishing was the condition of the Roman empire, till the emperors drew the sword of perse- cution against those, whose prayers were the pro- tection of the state. They flattered themselves that they would be able to extinguish the Christian nam% and to destroy the Church, root and branch. For this end, they bore down against her, with all their weight, but all their efforts proved abortive, and were as vain as the winds and rain against a house, that is built up©n a rock. They had no other effect, but to throw a gloomy veil over the Church for a while, but that being once removed, she appeared -with new strength, and like the sun emerging from an eclipse, she shone forth with greater lustre and spread her influence over the whole earth* The CHURCH OF CHRIST* 133 more her children were persecuted, and the more of them were slain with the sword, the more they in- creased and multiplied, like unto a vine, as St. Jus- tin Swtys, which by being pruned and cut close, shoots forth new suckers and bears a greater multitude of fruit CHAPTER XIV. The Persecutors of the Church overtaken in thit Life by the avenging Jusiice of God. WHiLST the Church of Christ increased by the very means that were employed for her extermina- tion, hop enemies and persecutors were generally overtaken by the wrath of Heaven, even in this world, and fell victims to Divine Justice in the end. King Agrippa, the grandson of Herod, a/id first prince who drew the swerd of persecution against the Church, was eaten up by worms, and expired in the most exquisite torments, and in all the miseries that can be expressed or imagined. Nero miserably perished under the public resentment of Ike whole empire, and the universal detestation of all mankind. The Roman senate having pronounced sentence of death against him, he fled into the country, and after attempting his own life, he prevailed on another to dispatch him with a dagger. Domitian was mur- dered by his own domestics, and after his death, his statues were pulled down, his name was erased out of ail the public registers, and ordered never more to be mentioned. In the days of Trajan, Adrian, and Aurelius, the Roman empire was visibly scourged with plagues and famine, dreadful earths quakes and inundations. Severus and his vicious sons Caracalla and Geta. fell into sad disasters, and their whole family was extinguished. Julius Maxi- mums and his son were killed by the soldiers at Aquileia, their heads were sent to Rome, and their bodies were left to be devoured by dogs and birds of prey. Decius ran with despair into a deep bog and perished miserably. Gailus was killed the year af- M 13<* HISTORY OF THE ter he commenced persecutor. Valerian was taken prisoner by the Persians, and led about in triumph, louded with chains, and clad in purple, and all the Imperial ornaments. And as often as Sapor 1. king of Persia, had occasion to mount on horseback, or to go into his chariot, he made use of Valerian for a footstool, or horseblock, ordering the unhappy em- peror to stoop down, and setting- his foot upon his neck or back, as a step to get up. Valerian, who had robbed many others of their liberty, lived seven years in this infamous slavery. After his death, his skin was flayed off his body, pickled with salt, tinc- tured with a red colouring, and hung up as a trophy in one of the Persian temples, to be shown to the Roman ambassadors whenever they should come into Persia, that they might remember Valerian's fall, and learn from it not to presume too much upon their own strength. Aurelian, that haughty, proud, and insolent prince, whom the fortune of war had raised from a barbarian s4ave to the imperial throne, and who, as Aurelius Victor tells us, was the first among the Roman emperors that wore a diadem, drew down the Divine displeasure on himself, and •was assassinated by his own secretary, and cut off the face of the earth in the beginning of his bloody persecution, after leading Zenobia, queen of the East, a captive to Rome, in triumph. Nothing pros- pered with Dioclesian, from the time he began his •war against the Church. Until then he had done many gallant actions, which merited a triumph, and appeared very unwilling to adopt violent measures, foreseeing that the peace of the empire would be thereby disturbed to an high degree. But Satan hurried him on blindly to destruction, and inspired him with the most rancorous hatred against the Christians. At length, intimidated by the power and threats of his favourite Galerius, he resigned to him the purple at Nicomedia. His colleague, Max- imian Herculeus. made the like abdication at Milan, and was compelled to resign the imperial purple to Constantius Chloius, after which he hanged himself in despair. Victor the historian relates, that Dio- CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1.'35 clcsian put an end to his miserable life by poison He lived to see his wife Prisqa Octavia, and his daughter Valeria pulicly beheaded by Licinius, and their bodies thrown into the sea. He had also the mortification to see the Christian religion protected by law, i\\A to learn, that his statues had been pulled down by Constantine, who was created emperor on the demise of his father, Cofi stand us Chlorus, who died at York, in Great Britain, in the year 306. Lac- tantius says, that Dioclesian seeing himself de- spised by the whole world, and loaded with guilt and disgrace, was in perpetual uneasiness, and could neither eat nor sleep. He was heard to sigh and groan continually, often with tears in his eyes, some- times tumbling himself on his bed, and sometimes on the ground. The hand of God was likewise very visible upon the abominable Galerius, who had taken so much pains to instigate Dioclesian against the Christians. He was seized with a grievous and ter- rible disease. Being extremely fat and unwieldy, the huge mass of his flesh was overrun with putre- faction, and swarmed with vermin. An ulcer con- sumed the lower parts cf his belly, and laid open his very bowels ; and the stench that came from him was not to be borne, even by his own servants, as Eusebius relates. His pains were so violent, that he roared out, and often attempted to kill himself, In these agonies he seemed to acknowledge the hand that scourged him, and in order to avert it, he pub- lished an edict in favour of the Christians. But Heaven did not relent, and his distemper increasing, put a period to his wicked life in a few days. Max- entius, the son of Maximian Herculeus, was routed in a battle he fought with Constantine, on the banks of the Tyber, near the bridge Milvius, now called Ponte Mole, two miles from Rome. Constantine's army being inferior in number, he earnestly implored the protection of one supreme God, and was encou- raged by a miraculous vision, for after his prayer, a little after mid-day, as Eusebius relates, when he was traversing the country with part of his forces, he saw in the sky a cross of light, with this inscrip- 136 HISTORY OF THE lion, "In this shalt thou conquer," and he was ih r spired to make a representation of that cross, which Jbe had seen, and to use it for an ensign in battle. The emperor accordingly made the famous banner ^called Labarum, and effectually under its auspices, on the 28th of October, 312, he gained a complete victory over Max^ntius, who in his flight wasjdrown- ed in the Tyber, by the breaking of the bridge of boats, which he had caused to be thrown over that river. On the same day Constantine entered Rome in triumph, on which occasion, the Senate ordered when he died at Nicomedia. Alius the heresiarch had been shortly overtaken l>y the justice of God, and cut off the face of the earth by a sudden and miserable death the preceding year, on the very day that his friends were con- ducting him in triumph to the Church of Constanti- nople in order to thrust him forcibly into the sanc- tuary. The Arians continued still to disturb the peace of the Church. Wherefore, in the year S4T, or as some say 344, another synod of three hun- dred Bishops assembled at Sardica in Illyricum, Natalis Alexander considers it a genei\d council, but it is commonly looked upon only as an appendix to the council of Nice, because it only confirmed its decrees of faith. St. Maximinus, Bishop of Triers, was one of the most illustrious defendevs of the Catholic faith in this council. After the death of Constantine, surnamed the Great, his three sons divided the empire, as their father's will directed. Constantine, the eldest, had Britain, Spain, Gaul, and all that lies on this side the Alps. Constantius^ the second son, possessed Thrace, Asia, Egypt, and the East, Constans, the youngest, occupied Italy, CHURCH OF CHRIST. *4S Africa, Greece and Illyricum. The city of Alex andria, being within the jurisdiction of Constantius, the Arians took care to gain him over to their party. He was a constant protector of Arianism, and a vio- lent persecutor of the orthodox, especially when he became sole master of the whole empire in the year 353, after the death of his two brothens^-CoftStantine- and Constans. Constantius objected to the Catholics the prosperity of his reign, as a proof of the justice and truth of his cause. Like Polycrates of Samos, who boasted that fortune ivaa in his fiay, he gloried in the success that crowned whatever he undertook, but he had not then seen the issue. He did not con- sider, that the smiles of fortune are often to impen- itent sinners the most dreadful of all divine judg- ments ; and that on the contrary, the afflictions and distresses of the just, are often the greatest effects of the divine mercy, and are sent by Providence for the exercise of patience ; to put their love to the test, and to call forth their resignation, humility and reliance on God. The Arian faction, supported thu* by the secular power, employed all the means that artifice and malice could suggest, to undermine the very foundation of religion, and to destroy the true professors of it. They deposed, scourged, wound- ed, imprisoned, or exiled the lawful prelates, who refused to communicate with them, and intruded apostates and usurpers into their sees, like so many wolves let in amongst the flock. They pulled clown and burnt several churches, and branded the minis- tersof the altar in the forehead. The emperor, also 5 hy an unjust usurpation in the affairs of the Church ? was more occupied in persecuting the orthodox than in governing the empire- He caused a council to be assembled at Seleucia in Isauria, and another at Rimini in Italy, in the year 369. The council of Ri- mini consisted ol three hundred and twenty Catholic Bishops, and about fourscore Arian. The prelates^ whilst they were at their full, liberty, confirmed the Kicene Creed, maintained the Catholic truth, and refused to admit any new formulary or profession,. But being intimidated by the menaces of Taurus tk& N 2 {50 HISTORY OF THE emperor's prefect, who threatened them with exllev and who haci received orders not to suffer ihem to break up until they had signed a new formula, that was dressed up by the Arians, a number of them, not aware of the fraud, and uneasy to be confined so long, and at such a distance from their churches, had the weakness to suffer themselves to be deceiv- ed, and to yield to the artifices of the Arians, by signing a captious profession of faith, in which the word Consubstantial w r as omitted. The formula was in appearance Catholic, and supposed by the fathers to be orthodox, for they believed that the meaning of the word Consubstantial was contained therein in other expressions. But they were afterwards sur- prised to see the triumph of the Arians, as if they had abolished the Nicene faith, which gave occasion to that celebrated saying of St. Jerom, that the iv or Id wondered tojinditself become Avian; from which it ioliows, that it was not really so, as no one is asto- nished to find himself what he really is. The fault of the prelates was not owing to any error in faith, but to a want of courage and insight into the artifices- of the Arians. Hence, struck with remorse for their unwary condescension, by which, through surprise, and without any intention or design, they had given room to the imaginary triumph of Arianism, those who had been beguiled, retracted their subscription, and professed their adherence to the Nicene faith. No sooner did they perceive the imposition, than they protested against it, and expressed their detest- ation of the sense given by the Arians to the sub- scribed formula. The Bishops spread all over the universal Church had no share in that seduction . On the contrary, having Pope Liberius at their head, they zealously rose up against the scandal, and dis- avowed this act of the council of Rimini; so that the public doctrine of faith suffered no change or al- teration whatsoever, but invariably continued one and the same, except in a few places, comparatively speaking, that were seduced into error. The great- est portion of the flock of Christ, even in the Eastern provinces, stood always firm in their faith, and adher- CUURCII OF CH11ISX. 1 5 i ed closely to the determination of the council of Nice, as is attested by St. Athanasius, who held the patriarchal chair of Alexandria forty- six years, ac- cording to St. Cyril. As to the Western provinces, they were a considerable time almost unanimous in their detestation of Arianism, till it was imported by foreign people, who came to settle there, and even then the West was but little infected by it, for Divine Providence raised St. Hilary, Bishop of Poic- tiers, to defend the faith, and to oppose the impious tenets of the Arians with invincible courage in the West, as St. Athanasius did in the East. St. Augustine styles St Hilary the illustrious doc- tor of the Church, and St. Jerom says, that he was a most eloquent man, and the trumpet of the Latins against the Arians. He himself says, he was brought up in idolatry, but having discovered the absurdity of Polytheism, he submitted his un- derstanding to divine revelation, and received the heavenly regeneration by baptism. He was mar- ried before his conversion, but from the time of his ordination and election to the episcopal see of Poic- tiers, about the year 353, he lived in perpetual con- tineiicy, as St. Jerom observes, 1. J. Contra Jovi- nian For though the Church was sometimes oblig- ed to make choice of married men for the priest- hood, because virgins, or unmarried, could not al- ways be found, they notwithstanding lived ever after continent. All St. Hilary's writings breathe an ex- traordinary vein of piety. St. Jerom in a particu- lar manner recommends to devout persons the read- ing of his elegant comments on the Gospel of St. Matthew, and on the Psalms. The weak emperor Constantius, who was the dupe sometimes of the Arians, and at other times of the Semi-arians, sent an order to Julian, then Csesar, in Gaul, for St. Hilar- ry's immediate banishment into Phrygia, together with St Rhodanius, bishop of Toulouse, because they refused to submit to the Ariaii councils of Aries and Milan, and to hold communion with Ur- sacius, V -ilens, and Saturninus, three Arian bishops in the West, On a similar occasion St, Eusebius of ~fr52 HISTORY OF THfc Vercelli, St. Dionysius of Milan, and Lucifer bi- shop of Cagliari, the metropolis of Sardinia, were exiled. But the trophies Lucifer had gained by his- zeal against the Airuns, were afterwards blasted by the scandal he gave in laying the foundation of the fatal schism of the Eustathians at Antioch, and in giving birth to another unhappy schism of his own, which he still carried to greater length, refusing to communicate not only with the penitent bishops, who at Rimini had been drawn into the snares of the Arians, and into an omission favourable to their he- resy, but also with those who received them, that is, with the whole Catholic Church, and its visible head. St. Hilary, during his exile, employed his time in composing several learned works. The princi- pal and most esteemed of those, is that On the Tri* nity, against the Arians^ in twelve books. In this immortal monument of his admirable genius and piety, he proves the consubstantiaiity of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, and explains the Trinity, which we profess in the form of Baptism. He de- tects and confutes the subtleties of the Arians in their various confessions of faith, and also of the Sa- bellians and Photinians. He demonstrates the divi- nity of Christ, from the confessions of Su Peter, and of the very Jews, who, more sincere than the Arians, acknowledged that Christ called himself the natural Son of God. The natural unity of the Father and ihe Son, he demonstrates from that text : / and my Fa- ther are One. He proves that * 4 Arianism cannot be " the faith of Christ, because not revealed to St. w Peter, upon whom the Church was built and se- " cured for ever ; for whose faith Christ prayed, " that it might. never fail ; who received the keys " of the kingdom of Heaven, and whose judiciary " sentence on earth is that of Heaven," 1. 6. He proves the divinity of Christ, " by the miracles " wrought at the sepulchres of the Apostles and M Martyrs, and by their relics : for the devils " themselves confess Christ's Godhead, and roar and Xi flee at the presence of the venerable bones of his, "!* servants." 1. n, de Trta. UfltRtH OP CHRIST. loo He teaches, that " the Church is one, out of ♦ 4 which, as out of the Ark of Noah, no one can be " saved." 17 He observes- that u from the testi- ;4 mony of Christ, in the holy Scriptures, and from ri the faith of the Church, we believe without 4t doubting, the Eucharist to be the true body and " blood of Christ," I. 8. n. 14. In his exposition of the Psalter, which he compiled after his exile, he teaches that u the holy angels, patriarchs, and pro- f< phets, protect the Church, attend and succour ,{ the faithful, assist them in time of combat against %4 the devils, and carry up their prayers to their » ; heavenly Father. " He also mentions " fast days H of precept, the violation cf which renders a • { Christian a slave of tne devil, a vessel cf death, •< and the fuel of hell," in Ps. 118.1. 18. This holy doctor wrote two books to Constantius, in which he entreats him to restore peace to the Church, and to rective the unchangeable apostolic faith, injured by the late innovations. He also smartly rallies the fickle humour of the Arians, " who were perpetu- %i ally making new creeds, condemning their old %i ones, having made four within the compass of the " foregoing year. He complains that they had " their yearly and monthly faiths, that they had u Scripture texts, and the words A/iostolic feifh in * ; their mouths, for no other end than to impose on M weak minds ; that they lost faith by attempting to u change it; that they corrected and amended> till, " weary of all, they condemned all ; that faith was 11 now become that of the times, not that of the " Gospels, and that there were as many faiths as u men, as great a variety of doctrine as of manners, " as many blasphemies as vices." He therefore exhorts them to return to the haven from which the gusts of their party spirit and prejudice had driven them, as the only means to be delivered out cf their tempestuous and perilous confusion. The great St. Martin, the glory and light of Gaul, was a disciple of St. Hilary. The utter extirpation of idolatry out of the diocese of Tours, and all that: part of GauU was the fruit of his edifying pictv 3 T54 HISTORY OP THE illustrious miracles, zealous labours, and fervent exhortations and instructions. He was remarkable for his humility, charity, austerity, and all other he- poic virtues. The churches of Spain and Gaul w ere at that time disturbed by the Priscilianists, v/ho revived many errors of Simon Magus, the Gnostics, and the Manicheans, to which they added their favourite tenet of dissimulation, holding it to be a precept, to conceal their doctrine by lies and perju- ries* for it was an avowed principle amongst them, Jura,') fterjura, secretum firodere noli : Swear, for- swear thyself, betray not the secret. These heretics were condemned by the council of Saragossa, with their abetters, Instantius and Salvianus, who grew furious at their condemnation, and ordained Priscil- lian, who gave name to the sect, Bishop of Aviia.— They resolved to address themselves to St. Damasus. Salvian died at Rome, the other two repaired to Mi- lan, and rrude interest with the emperor Gratian. But the new emperor Maximus, ordained them to be tried in a council at Bourdeaux. Priscillian hav- ing appealed to Maximus, they were both sent to him at Triers, where being tried by Eodius the praefect, and accused by ithacius, a Spanish Bishop, Priscillian and his associates were beheaded. St. Martin happening at that time to go to Triers, to intercede with the tyrant in favour of certain per- sons, who were condemned to death for adhering to their master Gratian, reproved the Spanish Bi- shop ithacius, for prosecuting and seeking to put heretics to death, and pressed him to desist from his accusation, and to consider how much the Church abhorred the shedding of blood, even of criminals, and never suffered any of her clergy to have any share in such causes. He also besought Maximus not to spill the blood of the guilty; saying it was sufficient that they had been declared heretics and excommunicated. The emperor, out of regard to his remonstrances, caused the trial to be deferred while St. Martin stayed at Triers, and even pro- mised that tne blood of the persons accused should not be spilt ; though after the saint had left Triers, oiiuiicii of cnnisVr >55 lie suffered them to be condemned by the Imperial Judges. St. Martin, on his return to Tours, was received there as the tutelar angel of his people. In his great age he relaxed nothing of his austeri- ties, or of his zealous labours for the salvation of souls. He was above fourscore years old when he died, and he continued to the end of his life to confirm his doctrine by frequent and wonderful mira- cles, especially casting out devils, and raising the dead to life, like another Elisaeus, as we are assured by St. Sulpicius Severus. This illustrious writer was u disciple of St. Martin, and squared his life by his direction. His conversion from the world happened in the same year with that of Paulinus of Nola. He wrote the life of St. Martin, and says, that his greatest comfort in the loss of so good a master, w r as a confidence that he should obtain the divine blessings, by the prayers of St. Martin in Heaven. The most important work of Si. Sulpicius, is his Abridgment of Sacred History, from the be- ginning of the world, down to his own time. It is a most useful classical book for Christian schools, and looked upon as the most finished model extant of abridgments. The elegance, conciseness, and perspicuity, with which it is compiled, have pro- cured him the name of the Christian Sallust. He has imitated the style of the purest ages, though he sometimes takes the liberty to use certain terms and phrases which are not of the Augustan standard. St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, was born at Bour- deaux, in the year 353. His superior virtues ren- dered him the admiration of his own and all succeed- ing ages, and excited St. Martin, Sulpicius Severus, and several others, to vie with each other in cele- brating his heroic actions, and to become the pub- lishers of his praises to the corners of the earth. Besides the pre-eminence of his birth and pedigree, in which was displayed a long line of rich and il- lustrious senators, he received from nature a pene- trating and elevated understanding, and an elegant genius, with other excellent accomplishments of mind and body, by which he w r as qualified for the 156 HISTORY OF THE highest attainments, and seemed born for every thing that is great. These talents he cultivaved from his infancy, by the closest application to the study of all the liberal arts, and had for his master in poesy and eloquence the famous Ausonius, the first man of his age in polite literature, and the ablest master. Probity, integrity, and other moral virtues, were en- dowments of his still more admirable than his learn- ing. His merit was soon distinguished at the bar, where he pleaded with great applause. " Every « one, says St. Jerom, admired the purity and elo- " quence of his diction, the delicacy and loftiness (i of his thoughts, the strength and sweetness of his ft style, and the liveliness of his imagination." He was raised by the emperor to the first dignities of the state, and declared consul before the year 379. But God was pleased to open his eyes to see the emptiness of all worldly pursuits, and to touch his heart, yet divided by a desire of pleasing men, and to inspire him with a more noble and innocent am- bition, of becoming little for the sake of the king- dom of Heaven. He made some advances in vir- tue, by the conversation of St. Ambrose, St. Mar- tin, and St. Delphinus, Bishop of Bourdeaux, who spoke to him of the necessity of happiness of giv- ing himself to God, without reserve. He was an enemy to vanity and to the love of human applause, than which passion nothing can be more unworthy of virtue, or more beneath a generous soul ; though all the Heathen philosophers shamefully disgraced their attainments by this base weakness. Tully was not ashamed to boast of it, and Demosthenes was delighted to hear a poor old woman whisper, This is the great Uemosthenes. Paulinus seemed always rais- ed by his own greatness of soul above this abject passion, and showed that geniuses, which are truly great, are superior to their own abilities. But still he found how difficult a task it is for man to preserve a perfect disengagement and purity of heart, in the midst of worldly honours and blandishments, and to shield his soul from the penetrating caresses of plea- sures, or stand his ground against the incitements o* CHURCH OF CHRIST. 157 the softer passions. Certain revolutions that hap* pened in the empire contributed to give him a more feeling* sense of the instability of earthly things, and to discover to him the falsehood of the gilded bubbles, which dazzle the eyes of men at a distance. In fine, he sold all his estates, distributed the price among the poor, and retired from the world, in or- der to aspire to Christian perfection, and embrace the humility of the Cross in a small cottage, near Nola, in Campania. When the servants of God complimented him upon his retreat, he begged them to refrain, " and not add to the load of his sins by " praises which were not his due. It surprizes " me," said he, " that any one should look upon It " as a great action for a man to purchase salvation*. " the only solid good, with perishable pelf, and to " sell the earth to buy Heaven." He received the holy order of priesthood from the hands of the Bi- shop of Barcelona in the Church, on Christmas day, at the earnest request of the people, who were in hopes to fix him among themselves, but after hav- ing spent fifteen years in retirement, where he prac- tised all the rules and austerities of a monastic state, he was chosen to fill the episcopal chair of Nola, on the demise of Paul, the Bishop of that city. The epistles of St. Paulinus gained him the name of" the « delight of ancient Christian piety." St. Augustine says, that they flow with milk and honey, and that the faithful, in reading them, were transported with their charms, and inspired with sweetness and ar- dour. Ep. 27. He expresses, Ep. 23. ad Sever, a great devotion to the saints ; he testifies, that their relics were used in consecration of altars and churches, the faithful not doubting that they serve for a defence and a remedy. He mentions that their shrines were adorned with flowers, Poem 14. that crowds flocked to them, Poem 13. being attracted by the miracles wrought by their intercession. He speaks as an eye-witness of a raging fire, which had mastered all the power of human industry, but was extinguished by a little chip of the holy cross, Poem 25. He sent to Sulpicius Severus a chip of that ha- O 158 HISTORY OF THi: }y ^vcod enchased in gold, calling it, " A great pre- " sent, in a little atom ; a defence of our temporal, < : and a pledge of eternal life." Ep. 32. He speaks of holy images and pictures, and calls them the hooks of the ignorant, Poem 2 4. He begged the prayers of his friends, for the soul of his brother deceased, and doubts not but they will procure him refreshment and csmfort, if he suffered any pains in the other life, Ep. 35. He made every year a jour- ney to Rome to visit the tombs of the Apostles, Ep. 45. and to assist at the feast of St. Peter and Paul, Ep. i7. All his poems on St. Felix, are full of testi* monies of his confidence in the intercession of that saint. He prays him to recommend his petitions to <*od, and to be his protector before the throne of his divine Majesty, especially at the day of judgment, Poem 14. Pie declares also in his 32d Epist. that in the holy Eucharist, we eat the same flesh of Christ, which was fastened on the Cross, and drink the same life-giving blood, that flowed from his wounds, as appears from the following distich : In crucefixaca.ro est, qua fwscor : de crucc sanguis Ille fiuit) vitam quo bibo, cor da lavo. Efi. 32. /z. 204. St. Nocholas, Archbishop of Myra. the capital of Lycia, flourished also in the fourth century, and became famous by his charity to the poor, his ex- traordinary piety and zeal, and an incredible num- ber of stupendous miracles. St. Pacian, Bishop of Barcelona, was likewise a great ornament of the Church in this century. St. Jerom extols his eloquence and learning, and more particularly the chastity and sanctity of his life, af- ter he renounced the world and was raised to the Episcopal chair. He wrote three learned letters to Senipronian, a Novatian nobleman, on penance, and on the name Cathode, a sermon on Baptism, and an exhortation to penance, which are still extant, and wherein he clearly asserts and proves the doctrine of the Church, with regard to the Sacraments of Bap- tism, Confirmation, Eucharist, and Penance. The CHURCH OF CHRIST. 159 beauty of this holy doctor's writings can only be discovered by reading them. His diction is elegant, his reasoning just and close, and his thoughts lively, He is full of unction when he exhorts to virtue, and of strength when he attacks vice, and defends the true faith, which made him say, in his reply to Sempro- man, who thought him angry, " that remedies seem " often bitter, and that he only was like the bee, " which sometimes defends its honey with its sting. " St. Ephrem was the most illustrious of all the doctors, who by their doctrine and writings have, ndorned the Syriac Church in the fourth century. He was born in the territory of Nisibis, a strong ci- tv in Mesopotamia, and consecrated to God by his parents, from his cradle, like another Samuel, though he was eighteen years old when he was bap- tized. The great servant of God, St. James, Bishop of Nisibis, was his spiritual director and patron* He spent many years in the desert, out of which he came inflamed with the ardour of a Baptist, to preach penance with incredible zeal and fruit, and to announce the divine truths to a world buried in spiritual darkness and insensibility. Being ordained deacon of the Church of Edessa, he became an apostle of penance, brought many idolators to the faith, and converted great numbers of Arians, Sa- bellians, Novatians, Mlllenarians, Marcionites, A- poliinarians, Manicheans, and disciples of the im- pious Bardesanes, who denied the resurrection of the flesh. He never would consent to be promoted to the sacerdotal dignity, but continued always in the humble stationjof a deacon. His spotless purity was the fruit of his sincere humility and constant watch- fulness over himself. He was deeply penetrated with the fear of the Divine judgment, and had always present to his mind the rigorous account he was to give to God of all his actions. Nothing seemed more admirable in him than his compunction of heart, the sister of that sincere humility, which all his words, actions, and writings, breathed in a most affecting manner. He appeared always drowned in an abyss of compunction. Night and day his eyes 16d HIStOKY OF TftE .aeemed swimming in tears, which readily flowed iron, him in abundance, as often as he raised his heart to God, or remembered the sweetness of his divine love, or the baseness of sin. " We cannot " call to mind his perpetual tears, says St. Gregory " of Nyssa, without melting 1 into tears. We can- " not read his discourses on the last judgment with* " out weeping. Where is the proud man, continues " the same holy doctor, who would not become " humble by reading his discourse on humility ? " Who would not be inflamed with a divine lire by u reading his treatise on charily ? Who would not ?i wish to be chaste in heart and spirit, by reading the M praises he has given to virginity ?" St. Ephrem spoke with admirable perspicuity, co- piousness and sententiousness, in an easy unaffected style. Words flowed from him like a torrent, when he treated of spiritual subjects. His writings derive a singular energy from the natural bold tropes of the .Syriac language, of which he was a perfect master, and have a graceful beauty and force, which no translation can attain ; though 'his works are not studied compositions, but the effusions of an heart penetrated and overflowing with the most perfect sentiments of divine love, confidence, compunction, humility, and other virtues. He wrote seventy-six Purenesex^ or moving exhortations to penance, and several treatises and sermons on compunction, on the vices and passions, on humility, on the last Judgment, on fraternal charity, on the beatitudes and virtues, and divers other subjects. He also wrote commentaries on the first book of Moses, the fourth book of Kings, Joshua, Judges, Job, and on all the prophets, &c. His works demonstrate the uniformity in faith of the Church in the fourth century, with that cf the Church of all ages. No- thing can be clearer than the texts collected by Ceil'lier, torn. 8. p. 101. from the writings of St. Ephrem in favour of the real presence of the sacred body of Christ in the holy Eucharist. His confi- dence in the precious fruit of this blessed sacrament of the altar raised his hope, and inflamed his love CITL'RCH OF CHRIST. 16 l especially in his last illness, and on his passage to eternity, about the year 378, for he then expressed himself thus ; " Entering upon so long and danger- " ous a journey, I have my viaticum, even thee, ■ O Son of God. In my extreme spiritual hunger, " I will feed on thee, the repairer of mankind. So " it shall be that no fire will dare to approach me ; " for it will not be able to bear the sweet saving " odour of thy body and blood. " Necrosim. can. 81.. p. 355. t. 6. St. James, Bishop of Nisibis, in Mesopotamia, who lived in the fourth century, was favoured with the gifts of prophecy and miracles in an uncommon, manner. Nicephorus names him among the holy bishops in the Council of Nice, who bore the glo- rious marks of their sufferings for Christ. His learning and writings have procured him a rank next to St. Ephrem, among the doctors of the Syriac Church. He wrote eighteen excellent discourses 5 still extant, on faith, charity, fasting, prayer, hu- mility, holy virginity, on penance, and other pious subjects. In his fourth discourse he expressly says : " None will be cleansed, unless they have been M washed in the laver of baptism, and have received Ci the body and blood of Christ." And in his seventh discourse he exhorts sinners " to confess w speedily their crimes; to conceal which, through " shame, is final impenitence." He adds, " the priest ¥ cannot disclose such a confession." p. 237. Gen- nadius also mentions twenty-six books written by this holy doctor in the Syriac tongue. St. Gregory of Nyssa, younger brother to St. Basil the Great, was so illustrious in the fourth century,, that the Arians trembled at his name. Having re- nounced the world, he was ordained Lector, and in the year 372, he was chosen Bishop of Nyssa, a city of Cappadocia, near the Lesser Armenia. The high reputation of his, learning and virtue, procured him the title of Father of the Fathers^ as the seventh general council testifies. His sermons are eternal monuments of his piety, zeal, and eloquence ; but. \is great penetration and learning appear more in O 2 162 HISTORY OF THE his polemic works, especially in his twelve books against Eunomius. He wrote many commentaries on the holy Scriptures, five orations on the Lord's Prayer, and eight sermons on the eight beatitudes, His sermons on penance, on alms, on virginity, on the lent fast, on loving the poor, and against usurers, fornicators, and those who defer baptism, are par- ticularly beautiful and elegant. He writes very ex- pressly, and at length, on the invocation of Saints, inpUlcates the authority of Priests, in binding and loosing before God, and calls St. Peter the head of the Apostles, and the prince of the apostolic chair e He is no less clear for the sacrifice of the altar, for the private confession of sins, and for tran substan- tiation, in his great catechistical discourse, c. 37. p. 534, where, speaking of the two sacraments of Bap- tism and of the body of Christ, he says, M that in " the latter, Christ's real body is mixt with our cor- " ruptible bodies, to bestow on us immortality of M grace." St. Basil, the Great^ the illustrious doctor and in- trepid champion of the Church, in the fourth cen- tury, was born towards the close of the year 329 t at Caesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia. After making a wonderful proficiency in the first elements of literature, first at Caesarea, and then in oratory at Constantinople, under the celebrated sophist and rhetorician Libanius, he was sent to Athens, which from the days of Pericles, who raised Greece Irom barbarism, remained still the seat of the Muses, and of the purity and attic eiegance of the Greek tongue. Here he met and contracted an intimacy with St. Gregory Nazianzen, which was the most perfect model of holy friendship, not founded on base inter- est, pleasure, sensual fondness, or a variable affec- tion, but rooted in pure love and motives of true virtue. They carefuly shunned the rock of bad company, and the conversation of scholars, chat were impious, rude* or impudent. A most import- ant lesson, especially to youth, the neglect of which is the ruin of the strongest virtue, and renders abor- tive all the care and instructions of the most zealous CULIUil OF CHRIST. 1 6G parents and pastors, and all the fruit of the very best education. The holy pair of perfect friends knew only two streets in Athens, as St. Gregory tells us, the first which led them to the church and to the holy teachers and doctors, who there attend- ed the service of the altar, and nourished the flock of Christ with the food of life. The second street was the road to the schools, and to their masters in the sciences. They left to others the streets which led to the theatre, to spectacles, feastings, and diver- sions, and avoided the dangerous snares which the enemy of souls never fails to throw in the way on such occasions. It was no loss, but an advantage to them, that from motives of virtue, they abhor- red the theatre, for the stage only gives a theatrical accent and gesture, ill becoming an orator, and never formed any great man to speak well at the bar, or in the pulpit. Basil soon excelled in all the liberal arts and sciences. He spared no pains to perfect himself in the art of true and genuine elo- quence, and to form his style upon the best models, lie excelled likewise in poesy, philosophy, and eve- ry other branch of literature. In logic, such were his superior abilities, that it would have been more easy for a man to draw himself out of a labyrinth, than to extricate himself from the web, in which he entangled his adversaries by the force of his rea- soning, as St. Gregory tells us. He seasoned his studies with the assiduous meditation of the holy Scriptures, and a diligent perusal of the works of the Fathers, in order to qualify himself for the mi- nistry of the Church, and for announcing the great truths of salvation to mankind. At Athens he was already regarded as an oracle both in sacred and profane learning. In the year 357, he travelled over Syria and Egypt, and visited the mosi cele- brated monasteries and hermits of the deserts m those countries. Being much edified by the exam- ples of those holy men, who lived iike travellers on earth and citizens of heaven, he despised all the- glittering advantages, with which the world flatter- ed him, gave away the greatest part of his estate to IG4> HISTORY OF THE the poor, and embraced the penitential and labori- ous state of a poor monk. He was ordained priest in the year 363, and upon the death of Eusebius was chosen and consecrated Archbishop of Caesa- rea, in the year 370. Being placed in this dignity, he seemed as much to surpass himself, as he had be- fore surpassed others. Like an impregnable tower, he baffled all the efforts of the Arians and Euno- mians, and gained a glorious triumph over the em- peror Valens. He was indefatigable in preaching to his flock, and advancing piety and devotion. His zeal made him spare no pains for the conversion of sinners, whose crimes were to him a perpetual source of tears and sighs to the Father of Mercies. The poor distressed and afflicted were always sure to find comfort and relief in his boundless charity. He founded a vast hospital, which Nazianzen calls a new city. St. Gregory of Nyssa compares his abstinence to the fast of Eiias. His writings are published in three volumes, folio. Erasmus, and many other critics, call St. Basil the most accom- plished orator the world has ever produced, supe- * rior even to Cicero and Demosthenes, the unrivalled princes of eloquence among the ancient Greeks and Romans. St. Gregory of Nazianzen, was surnamed the The- ologian^ on account of his profound skill in sacred learning His Father, whose name also was Gre- gory, being from his youth a worshipper of false gods, was at length converted by the prayers and tears of his pious wife Nonna, and baptized about the time of the great council of Nice, being then about forty-five years old. The sanctity of his life raised him soon to the episcopal see oi Nazianzen near Csesarea, which he- heid about forty-five years with great edification, living in celibacy, and rigor- ously observing the canons of the Church. St- Gre- gory, his eldest son, born long before the father's conversion and episcopacy, was consecrated by his mother to the service of God from his infancy, and received such impressions of piety in his tender age, tfiat he resolved to spend his life in the holy state of CilVllCH OV CHRX3T. 1 6 J perfect continence. The progress he made in elo- quence, philosophy) and the sacred studies, appears by the high reputation which he acquired, and by the monuments he has transmitted to posterity But his greatest happiness and praise was that he al- ways made the fear and love of God his principal affair, to which he referred his studies, all his pur- suits and endeavours. In these dispositions he en- joyed his dear friend, St. Basil, in the solitude of Pontus, where fasting, watching, prayer, contem- plation, studying the holy Scriptures, singing psalms, and manual labour, employed the whole time. Be- ing afterwards, with great reluctance, ordained Priest, in the year 361, he trembled at the thoughts of the terrible account which would be demanded of him for the souls committed to his care, and of the duties of the sacerdotal office, and the sanctity requisite to approach the altar of God. Yielding however to the necessities of the Church, he ac- quiesced, and was afterwards importuned by Sjt. Ba- sil to receive the episcopal consecration at Caesarea, in the year 372. At length, notwithstanding many tears and expostulations, he was placed in the archiepiscopal chair of Constantinople by the united solicitations and entreaties of the faithful, and of a synod of ail the Bishops of the East, wherein St. Meletius, Patriarch of Antioch, presided. It was here that St. Jerorn, coming out of the deserts of Syria, became his disciple and scholar. The faith- ful there, and even heretics and pagans, admiring his erudition, and charmed with his eloquence? flocked to his sermons and discourses, as men parch- ing with thirst eagerly go to the spring to quench it. He soon reformed the morals of the people, and purged them of that poison which had corrupted their hearts for many years. But the envy of the Devil and of his instruments could not bear the suc- cess of the saint's apostolic iabours. Several at- tempts were made upon his life, because he valued nothing but God, and scorned to flatter the great ones in their luxury. A ferment was raised among the people, and the Bishops of Egypt complained* 1 66 HISTORY OP THE that his election to the chair of Constantinople was uncanonical, it being forbidden by the canons to transfer bishops from one see to another, for fear of introducing avarice or ambition into the sanctua- ry. Wherefore St. Gregory Nazianzen, falling on his knees before the emperor Theodosius, who had put him in possession of the Church of St. Sophia, prayed him to accept his resignation, and grant him license to retire to his little cottage, which being obtained with much difficulty, the saint delivered a -pathetic discourse in the metropolitan Church, be- fore a hundred and fifty bishops, and an incredible multitude of people. He declared, that he was placed in that chair through the importunities of others, that he never desired that dignity, that he took the charge upon him much against his will, and that he had never taken possession of any other see. He said, that since his holding the see of Constantinople gave disturbance, he was ready and willing to depart, and like Jonas, to be cast into the sea, to appease the storm, though he did not raise it. He only wished thai the Church of God might enjoy peace, and that the see might be filled by a person capable and willing to defend the faith. He observ- ed, " that he was accused of having made a mean " appearance with respect both to dress and table ;" but he vindicated himself herein, saying : M 1 did a not take it to be any part of my duty to vie with " consuls, generals, and governors, who know not " how to employ their riches otherwise than in M pomp and show. Neither did I imagine, that the M necessary subsistence of the poor was to be ap- u piied to the support of luxury, good cheer, a " prancing horse, a sumptuous chariot, and a long ci train of attendants. If I have acted in another t; manner, and have thereby given offence, the " fault is already committed, and cannot be recal- " led ; but I hope is not unpardonable." He con- cluded, by bidding a moving farewell to his Church, to the clergy, and to his dear flock, beseeching them " to preserve the depositum of faith, and to M remember the stones^jwhich had been thrown at CHURCH OF CHRIST. iGr ;t him, because he planted it in their hearts." Num- bers followed him weeping, but Constantinople was not worthy to possess so great and so holy a pasior. He left that city before the election of Nectarius, and returned to his favourite solitude, where seeing himself at liberty, and rejoicing in his happiness, he expressed himself to a friend in these words : H What advantages have I not found in the jealousy n of my enemies ? They have delivered me from " the lire of Sodom, by drawing me from the dan- -" gers of the episcopal charge." Ep. 73. He spent the remainder of his life in retirement, in a private abode near Arianzum, where he had a garden, a fountain, and a shady grove. Here, in company with a few anchorites, he lived estranged from plea- sures, and in the practice of bodily mortification, fasting, watching, and praying. " I live, says he, " Carm. 5. and 60. among rocks and wild beasts, <- c never seeing any fire or using shoes, having only " one single garment. I lie on straw, clad in sack- " cloth : my floor is always moist with the tears I " shed." Carm. 147. In the decline of life he wrote several pious poems, in opposition to the poems made use of by the Apoilinarists to propagate their poisonous errors. In his paranetic poem to St. Olympius, he lays down excellent rules for the con- duct of married women : among other precepts, he says : " In the first place honour God ; then respect " your husband ; love only him ; take care never to " give him any occasion of offence or disgust. Yield « to him in his anger : comfort and assist him in his " pains and afflictions, speak t< him with sweetness- " and tenderness, and make him prudent and modest " remonstrances at seasonable times. It is not by " violence and strength that the keepers of lions en- " deavour to tame ihem, when they see them en- " raged : but they soothe and caress them, stroking k< them gently, and speaking with a soft voice." His writings contain an hundred and fifty-eight poems, full of aspirations of divine love to. Jesus Christ, "without whose grace," he says, "we are only " dead carcasses exhaling the stench of sin, and as 168 HISTORY OF THE « incapable of making one step, as a bird is of flying * without air, or a fish of swimming without water : « for he alone can make us see, act, and run." He wrote 237 letters, published by the learned Billius, and 227 epigrams, published by the indefatigable Muratori, Librarian to the Duke of Modena. He composed 46 orations on several points of morality and mysteries of faith, and two discourses against the Apollinarists. He teaches and practises the invocation of saints in many places. He reproaches Julian the apostate, that he refused to honour the relics of the martyrs, which cured distempers and expelled devils. St. Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium, the capital of the second Pisidia, otherwise called Lycaonia, was a learned and eminent Father of the fourth cen- tury, and an intimate friend of St. Gregory Nazian- zen and St. Basil. He assisted at the general Coun- cil of Constantinople, held in 381, against the Ma- cedonian heretics. Theodoret informs us, that St. Amphilochius zealously opposed the rising heresy of the Messalians or Euchites, who were a set of fana- tics, that sprung up in Mesopotamia, and gave much disturbance to the Church. They pretended to an extraordinary perfection, placed the whole essence of religion in prayer alone, rejected the use of the Sacraments, and all other practices of religion, even fasting ; lived in the fields with their wives and chil- dren, leading idle vagabond lives, meeting every night and morning in their oratories (which were buildings open at the top) by the light of lamps, to sing spiritual songs, and to pray without interrup- tion. St. Epiphanius tells us, " they explained the u texts of Scripture concerning selling all their ;{ goods, and of praying without intermission, ac- i{ cording to the rigour of the letter." Like the Convulsionarists, the Cevennes, and other modern fanatics, they pretended to visions and wonderful il- luminations, in which much is to be ascribed to a heat- ed imagination, though it seems not to be doubted but, by the divine permission, they sometimes suffer- ed extraordinary impulses and illusions from the deviL CHURCH OF CHRIbi. I (1 Cyril, Archbishop of Jerusalem, and successor 10 St. Maximum flourished in this century. lie received the degrees of the council of Nice and of the council of Sarclica, in the year 349, and made an undaunted profession of the Consubstantial Tri- Lo his letter to Constantius the Emperor. He assisted in the year 381, at the general council of Constantinople, and joined with the other bishops in condemning the Semi-arians and Macedonians. He preached to the faithful every Sunday, and perform - r several years the office of catechist. to instruct and prepare the catechumens, who ordinarily re- mained two years in the course of instruction and prayer, and were not admitted to Baptism tiil they had given proof of their morals and conduct, as well as of their constancy in the faith. The begin- ning of his episcopacy was remarkable for a prodigy, by which God was pleased to honour the instrument of our redemption. It is related by Socrates, Phi- •ostorgius, the Chronicle of Alexandria, Sec. S& Cyril, who was an eye witness, and wrote imme- diately to the Emperor Constantius an exact account of this miraculous phenomenon. " On the seventh M of May, about nine in the morning, a vast lumi- rt nous body in the form of a cross appeared in the H the heavens, just over the holy Golgotha, reach- M ing as far as the holy Mount of Olivet (that is, at M most two English miles in length) seen not by one 11 or two persons, but clearly and evidently by the " whole city. It was not a momentary transient *• phaenomenon, for it continued several hours to- * ; gether visible to our eyes, and brighter than the 11 sun ; the light of which would have eclipsed it, n had net this been stronger. The whole city, >c struck with a reverential fear tempered with joy, " ran immediately to the church, young and old, a Christians and Heathens, citizens and strangers, 4 * all with one voice .giving praise to our Lord Jesus M Christ, the only Son of God, the worker of mi^ u racles, finding by experience the truth of the rt Christian doctrine to which the Heathens bear v witness." Philostorgius, and the Alexandrian P 170 HISTORY OF THE Chronicle affirm, that the cross of light was cnciiv cled with a large rainbow ; nor could it be deemed a natural solar Halo, since both experience and the natural cause of iialos show, that they do not ap- pear in the figure of a cross, but a ring or circle. " It is an ugly circumstance, says Mr. Jortin, and I " wish we could fairly get rid of it;" But those who can explain the Scripture account of the passage of the Israelites through the Red Sea by a natural strong "wind, and an extraordinary ebbing of the waters, can find no knot too hard for them, but can swallow con- tradictions and build hypotheses far more wonderful than the greatest miracles, when they wish to deny a supernatural interposition. The catechetical sermons, which St. Cyril preach- ed for the instruction of the catechumens to prepare them for Baptism and the holy Communion, consist of eighteen to the Com/iete?ites^ or illuminati, that is, catechumens before Baptism, and of five mystago- gic discourses, addressed to the catechumens after they were initiated in the holy mysteries of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist, which were not ful- ly expounded to such as were not initiated out of re- spect, and for fear of giving occasion to their profana- tion by the blasphemies of infidels. This is one of the most important works of antiquity. It is evident from six hundred passages in these discourses, that they were delivered in Jerusalem about the middle of the fourth century, seventy years after Manes broached his heresy. In these discourses he gives a nummary of the Christian faith, reckons up the canonical books of Scripture, explains very distinct- ly and clearly every article of our creed, extols ex- ceedingly the state of virginity, calls the lent the greatest time of fasting and penance, recommends on all occasions the tenderest devotion to the holy cross of Christ, inculcates the honour due to the relics of saints, proves that the holy Catholic Church cannot fail or err, instructs his Neophytes perfectly in the mysteries of the sacraments of Baptism, Confirma- tion, and the Eucharist, which it was thought a pro- fanation to explain fully to any before Baptism.— CHURCH OF CHRIST. 171 He teaches them, that Baptism imprints an indelible signet, or spiritual character on the soul, that the character or signet of the communication of the Ho- ly Ghost is by confirmation imprinted on the soul, -whilst the forehead is anointed with chrism, after Baptism. He teaches, that Baptism perfectly re- mits all sin; but penance, the remedy for sins after it, does not quite efface them, as wounds that are healed leave still scars. He attributes great virtue to the exorcisms, and to the blessed oil and mystical ointment. He explains the force of the baptismal re- nunciations of the Devil and his pomps, and what the other ceremonies of Baptism mean. In the twenty- second and twenty-third mystagogic catecheses he ex- plains the blessed Eucharist, and the liturgy or sacri- fice of the Mass and Communion. As to the blessed Eucharist, he says, by it we are made concorfioreal and consanguineal with Christ, by his body and blood being distributed through our bodies. Cat. 22. n. 1. 3. He explains the doctrine of tran substantiation here in so plain terms, that no one who reads this twenty-second catechesis, (n. 1. 2. 3. 6. p. 32. 320. and 321.) can doubt of its being the faith of the Church in the fourth century. In the twenty-third and last catechesis he calls the Mass an unbloody sacrifice, a victim of propitiation, a supreme wor- ship. He explains the preface and other principal parts of it, especially the communion. He expounds the Lord's Prayer, and mentions the commemora- tions for the living and the dead. Of the latter he writes thus, n. 9. p. 328. " We also pray for the " deceased holy fathers, bishops, and all in general " who are dead, believing that this will be a great " succour to those souls lor which prayer is offered, " whilst the holy and most tremendous victim lies A4 present." The great St. John Chrysostom holds an eminent place among the most illustrious doctors and holy pastors />f the Church of the fourth century. He was born about the year 344, at Antioch, the capital city of the East. He was surnamed Chrysostom, or Golden Mouths on account of the fluency and sweet- UF2 HISTORY OF THE ness of his eloquence. St. Augustine,. St. Nilus^ St. Isidore of Pelusium, and others, style him the wise interpreter of the secrets of God, the lamp of virtue, the most shining star of the earth, and sun of the* universe. He was ordained deacon by St. Meieiius. and priest by St. Flavian, who constituted him .is vicar and ordinary preacher at Antioch, which contained at that time a hundred thousand souls. Ail tnese he fed with the word of God, preaching several days in the week, and frequently several times on the same day. The instruction and .care of tne poor, be regarded as his first obligation, and always made his favourite employment and de- light fit never ceased in his sermons to plead their oar.se, and to recommend to the people the precept of alms deeds. Nothing could withstand the united pow- er of his eloquence, zeal, and piety, during the twelve years that he discharged the duties of his arduous station at Antioch. He abolished the most inveterate abuses, repressed vice, and changed the whole face of that great city. Alter the death of Nectarius, he was consecrated Archbishop of Constantinople, in the year 398, for the benefit of innumerable souls. He suppressed the wicked custom of swearing, first at Antioch, then at Constantinople. By his charity and zeal, he tamed the fiercest sinners, and changed them into meek lambs, tie preached against immo- desty of dress and extravagance, pomp and vanity of women, with such success, that lie persuaded the ladies of Constantinople to despise and lay aside the use of pur- ple, silks, and jewels, and to consider cloathing as the covering of the ignominy of sin, and a memorial of the fall of our first parents, which ought to be an instru- ment of penance, and a motive of confusion and tears, rather than of pride and vanity. The voluminous ex- cellent writings of this glorious doctor, are a rich and complete treasure of the maxims of Christian virtue, and make his standing and most authentic culogium. The benedictine edition of his works, in twelve tomes, by Don Montfaucon, in the year 1718, is of all others the most complete ; he wrote com- ments on the whole Scripture, and beautiful mstruc- CHURCH OF cftRlsl. 173 Uons and sermons almost upon every Christian vir- tue and duty. His commentaries on St. Matthew are full of such admirable instruction, that St. Tho- mas of Aquin said, he would rather be master of this single book, than of the whole city of Paris . Nothing* can be stronger or more tender than the manner in which he expresses his charity and soli- citude for his flock. When he touches this topic, his words are all fire and flame, and seem to breathe the fervour of St. Peter, the zeal of St. Paul, and the charity of Moses. He often recommends the advan- tages and necessity of assiduous prayer, with singu- lar energy. Speaking of prayers for the souls of the faithful departed, he says, Horn. 3. torn. 1 1. p. 217% that it is a wholesome ordinance of the Apostles irt their favour to commemorate them in the adorable mysteries, in presence of the adorable sacrifice. In his sermon on Lent he strongly inculcates the obli- gation of fasting, and informs us that Christains in that penitential season abstained from wine and fish, no less than from fowls and flesh. In his homilies on Penance, he condemns stage entertainments, as schools of the Devil, the seat of pestilence, the fur- nace of Babylon, and strong incentives to vice, as they serve to feed concupiscence and inflame the pas- sions, by administering the fuel which should be withdrawn, according to the well known maxim : Take away the fuel and you take away the JIatne, Subtrabe lignafocoy si vis extinguere jlammam. He frequently speaks of the miracles wrought by the relics of St. Babylas, and at the tombs of other ho- ly martyrs. In his 54. homil. on St. Matthew, speak- ing of the sign of the holy cross, he says ; " Let us <4 carry about the cross of Christ as a crown, and w let us not blush at the ensign of salvation. If you " form it on your forehead, no uncle m spirit shall ct be able to stand against yon, when he beholds this M instrument, which has given him the mortal stab* " and which has broken down the gates of Hell, un- Ci bolted those of paradise, and opened ith glory to * us." In hi* farewell sermon, speaking of the un- just persecution he suffered at Constantinople^ he P % 174 HISTORY OF THE says : " Violent storms encompass me on all sides, " yet I am without fear, because I stand upon a rock. 44 Though the sea roar, and the waves rise high, they " cannot sink the vessel of Jesus. I fear not death, 44 which is my gaia ; nor banishment, for the whole 44 earth is the Lord's ; nor the loss of goods, for I " came naked into the world, and must leave it irt 44 the same condition. The terrors, smiles, and frowns: 44 of the world are to me more contemptible than a 44 spider's web. I always say, O Lord, may thy will 44 be done. What it shall please thee to appoint, that 44 shall I do and suffer with joy. This is my strong 44 tower; this is my unshaken rock ; this is my staff 44 that can never fail." But he expresses himself on no subject with greater tenderness or force, than on the excess of the divine love which is displayed in the holy Eucharist, and in exhorting the faithful to the frequent use of that heavenly sacrament. He re- commends the most profound respect for it, and fre- quently speaks of the enormity of a sacrilegious com- munion. He calls the blessed Eucharist the tremen- dous mystery, the miracle of mysteries, the body that was scourged, that was pierced with nails, and fastened to the cross. He charges us not to contra- dict the words of Christ, but to captivate our reason and understanding in obeying him, and believing his word, which cannot deceive us, whereas our senses often lead us into mistakes. He desires us to con- sider this mystery with spiritual eyes, and to believe Christ, when he tells us, This is my Body. He ex- horts us to approach the holy table with a vehement hunger and thirst after this divine banquet, and says, that to be deprived of this heavenly food, ought to be to us the most sensible, nay, our only grief. Tom. 7. horn. 82. In his first Homily On the Treason of Judas, he says, that " Christ gives us in the Encha- in rist the same body which he delivered to death 44 for us, and that he refused not to present to Judas " the very blood which that traitor sold." Horn. 1. t. 2. p. 383. He repeats the same thing, Horn 2. p. 393. In fine, he exhorts sinners to hope in the niercy of Christ, * 4 who, leaving the earth, left us CHURCH OF CHRIST. 175 " bis own flesh, which yet he carried with him into M heaven, and that blood, which he spilt for us, he " again imparted to us. After this, what will he iC refuse to do for our salvation V 9 Aurelius Prudentius Clemens, the most learned of the Ciiristian poets, flourished in the days of St. John Chrysostom, being born in the year 348, in Old Castile in Spain. This age likewise produced the great servant of God and holy doctor St. Epi- phanius, who was born about the year 310, in the territory of Eleutheropolis, in Palestine. He was raised to the arohiepiscopal see of Salamis, in Cy- prus, about the year 367, and governed it with great piety, zeal, and sanctity, thirty-six years. So- zomen testifies, that God honoured his tomb with miracles, 1. 27. c. 27. His works are published by the learned Petavius, in two volumes, folio, but the original Greek must be consulted by those who de- sire to avoid some mistakes, which are said to be in the translation. In his Anchoret he explains the prin- cipal articles of the Catholic faith. In his Pana- ritium, or box of Antidotes against all heresies, he gives the history of twenty heresies before Christ, and of four-score since the promulgation of the Gospel. These heresies he confutes by the Scrip- tures and tradition. He justifies the practice, and proves the obligation of praying for the dead, and admires how Arius could presume to abolish the fasts of Wednesdays and Fridays, whic h, he says, are observed by the whole earth, and that by apostolical authority. Hser. 76. About the same time lived the holy Bishop of Gaza, St. Porphyrius, who in the year 378, conse- crated himself to God, in a famous monastery in the desert of Scete. The writers of his life testify that he converted a great number of idolaters by his il- lustrious miracles, and the eminent sanctity of his life. Besides these, and many other holy prelates who flourished in the fourth century, particularly the four chief doctors of the Eastern or Greek Church, viz. St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Gregory Nazianzen, and St. John Chrysosto»m 5 three -out of 176 HISTORY OF THE the four chief doctors of the Western or Latin Church, were likewise born in the same century. St. Jerom was born in the year 329, St. Ambrose about the year 340, St. Augustine on the 13th of November, in the year 354. St. Jerom being in- structed in piety, and in the first principles of lite- rature at home, at Stridonium, a small town upon the confines of Pannonia, Dalmatia, and Italy, near Aquiieia, was sent by his parents to Rome, where he had for his tutors the famous Donatus and Vic- torinus, and made an amazing progress in the Greek and Latin languages, as well as in oratory, A ve- hement thirst after learning made him undertake a tour through Gaul, where the Romans had erected several famous schools- When he arrived at Triers with his friend Bonosus, the sentiments of piety, which he had imbibed in his infancy, were awaked, and his heart being entirely converted to God, he took a resolution to renounce all the vanities of the world, and to devote himself wholly to the divine service, in a state of perpetual continence, as he informs us in his first Epistle, p. 3. He repaired therefore to Aquiieia, and shut himself up for some time in a monastery, that was famous for many emi- nent and learned men. He afterwards retired to a hideous desert, lying between Syria and Arabia, where he spent four years in studies, and the fervent exercises of piety, self-denial, and mortification. He there learned the Hebrew alphabet from a converted Jew, and neglected no means to perfect himself in the knowledge of the Hebrew language. Before the end of the year 377, he received the holy order of priesthood from the hands Paulinus, Patriarch of Antioch. About the year 380, he went to Con- stantinople, some short time after being called to Rome by Pope Damasus, he was employed by him in answering the consultations of Bishops, and in other important affairs of the Church. The letters of this holy doctor contain exccUent advice and in- structions for various states and conditions All the heresies which w< re broach* d in his time, fuund in him a warm and indefatigable adversary. Dama- church of christ;. \%7 178 HISTORY OF THE Jerom so famous, as his critical labours on the ho- ly Scriptures. Having retired to the sacred grotto of Bethlehem, he undertook immense pains in order to expound these divine oracles, lie read all the interpreters, and searched all the histories both sa- cred and profane, that could give any light to this arduous undertaking He seems to have been rais- ed by God, through a special Providence, for this purpose, and to have been inspired and divinely as- sisted therein. He composed from the original He- brew and from the Greek, that version of the Bible, which all the Western churches have received un- der the name of the Latin Vulgate^ and which is now every where in use. St. Prosper tells us in his chronicle, that this great doctor, after a life of penance and labours, was released from the prison of his body in the year 420, on the 30th of Septem- ber, and consequently in the 9 1st year of his age. The common suffrage of all antiquity has ranked St. Ambrose, Archbishop of Milan, among the four great doctors of the Latin Church. He received the episcopal consecration in the )ear 374, in the reign of Valentinian I. and purged the diocese of Milan of the leaven of the A nan heresy with won- derful success. His instructions were enforced by an admirable innocence and purity of manners, > prayer, rigorous abstinence, and frequent fasts. — He devoted himself entirely to the service of his flock, and every day offered the holy sacrifice of the altar for his people. Epist. 20. His charities were as extensive as the necessities of human na- ture, and he styled the poor, his stewards and trea- surers, in whose hands he deposited his revenues. He even caused the gold vessels of the Church to be broken and melted down for the redemption of captives. He is said to have first introduced into the West the custom of singing hymns in the Church, several of which he composed, and are still used in the divine service. After the death of Valentinian I. and of Gratian his eldest son, the Empress Justina, widow of Valentinian I. and mother of Valentinian II. residing then at Milan, and being a violent abet- CHURCH OF CHRIST. 179 tor of A nanism, persecuted the Catholics of that city, and used her utmost endeavours to expel their holy Prelate St. Ambrose, because he refused to de- liver up the Basilics to the Arians, to hold their as- semblies therein. But an end was put to this perse- cution by the discovery of their relics of SS. Gerva- sius and Protasius, in the year 386, as St. Augustine testifies. St Ambrose gives an account thereof, Ep. 2. and in two sermons, which he preached on the occasion of the translation of these relics to a new Church which at present is called from him the Ambrosian Basilic. He assures us, that many posses- sed persons were delivered, and many sick heal- ed by those relics, and by the towels and handker- chiefs laid upon them. In particular, he mentions a blind man named Severus, who was miraculously cured during the translation, by touching the bier, on which the relicks lay, with an handkerchief, and then applying it to his eyes. He had been blind se- veral years, was known to the whole city, and the miracle was performed before a prodigious number of people, as St. Augustine, who was then at Milan, assures us in three several parts of his works. St. Ambrose made the administration of the Sacrament of penance a chief part of his pastoral care. St. Paulinus tells us, that whenever any person confes- sed their sins to him, in order to receive penance, he shed such an abundance of tears, as to make the penitent also weep. In his writings he explains all the parts and duties of penance. Speaking of the obligation of confessing sins, he says, 1. 2. de Pcenit. c. 6. " If thou wilt be justified, confess thy crime, " foran humble confession loosens the bonds of sin." In his two books Of Pen anc e, against the Novatians, he shows that absolution is to be given to penitents for all sins, however grievous, provided their peni- tence be condign and sincere, in his book On the Mys- teries, he exhorts the faithful to frequent communion, because the holy Eucharist is our spirit, food, and daily nourishment. He expounds the ceremonies of Baptism and Confirmation, and the sacrament of the Eucharist in the clearest terms. After having ex- 180 HISTORY OF THE plained the eminent types of the Eucharist, as the sacrifice of Melchisedech, the manna, and the wa- ter flowing out of the rock, he urges the example of the rod of Moses changed into a serpent, and se- veral other miracles, to show that the power of con- secration changes nature itself. " Jesus Christ, says " he, had real flesh, which was fastened on the a cross, and laid in the sepulchre. The Eucharist " is the true sacrament of this flesh. Christ him- a self assures us of it. This is, says he, my Body, " Before the benediction of these heavenly words, " it is of another nature, after the consecration, it i3 " the body. If man's benediction has been capable " of changing the nature of things, what shall we " say of the divine consecration, wherein the very " words of our Saviour himself operate ? The word u of Jesus Christ, which could make that out of " nothing which was not, can it not change that & which is, into what it was not i" St. Ambrose wrote three books in praise of the holy state of Vir- ginity, a treatise on Widowhood, a work on the Di- vinity of the Holy Ghost, another on the Incarnation, and five books on the Trinity , which are an excel- lent confutation of the Arian heresy. In his funeral discourse on Valentinian the younger, who was mur- dered in 392, at twenty years of age, whilst a ca- techumen, the holy doctor says : Lijt ufi your hands with me, O fie o file ! Let us with fiious earnest7iess beg refiose for his soul. He died on the 4th of April, in the year 397. St. Augustine, a native of Tagaste in Africa, was one of the most glorious doctors and brightest lu- minaries of the Church since the days of the Apos- tles. His very name is an eulogium that raises an exalted idea, and commands profound respect. Hie conversion happened in the year 386, the thirty se- cond of his age. He was baptized by St. Ambrose on Easter-eve, in 387, ordained priest by Valerius, about the end of the year 390, and consecrated Bi- shop in 395. He was a perfect model of penance, of humility, of piety, of charity, of gentleness, and every Christian virtue. There perhaps never CHIT&CH OF CiARSIX. was a man endowed by nature with a mof*e affec- tionate and friendly soul. In him, as in a mirror, maybe seen a perfect Bishop, such as St. Paul de- scribes. He exercised hospitality in his episcopal house, and engaged all the priests, deacons, and sub- deacons, who' lived with him, to renounce all pro- perty, and to embrace the rule and manner of life he established there. Herein he was imitated by several other Bishops, and this was the original of regular canons, in imitation of the Apostles. Pos- sidius tells us, that his table was frugal ; that at it he loved rather reading, or literary conferences, than secular conversation, and to warn his guests to shun detraction he had the following verses in their view : " Quisquis amat diciis absentum rodere ~oitam ; Hanc mensam vetitam noverit esse sibi." This board allows no -vile detractor place, Whose tongue shall charge the absent with disgrace. His labours were immense, and his zeal for the house of God, and for the Salvation of souls, was indefati- gable. All his voluminous writings plainly show how full his soul was of the love of God. The Benedictine edition of his works, in eleven tomes, folio, is more correct than any other. Divine Pro- vidence raised him up to be an invincible champion of faith, and a bulwark for the defence of the truth, against the numerous brood of heresies, that started up in the fourth and fifth centuries. He pursued the Manicheans, the Arians, the Donatists, and other sectaries of his days through the various mazes and labyrinths of their errors and delusions, and destroyed the many-headed hydra. To him is the Church indebted, as to the chief instrument of God, in overthrowing the dangerous and formidable heresy that was broached and propagated by Pela- gius, a Briton, by Celestius, a Scotchman (a fellow, says St Jerom, bloated with Scotch gruels) and by tiieir successors the Semi-pelagians of Lerns and Marseilles. In his book against the Fundamental Epistle of Manes, c. 4. he lays down his reasons Q I8i HISTORY OF THE for adhering to the Catholic Church in these terms : " Several motives keep me in the bosom of the Ca- ; many excellent and learned treatises, which contain admirable instructions for the practice of perfect virtue. In his 36. 54. and 65. Epis. to Ja- iiiarius, he lays down this principle, that a custom universally received in the Church, must be looked upon as a rule settled by the Apostles, or by a ge- neral council, and I. 4. de Bapt. c. 6. he says, that when any doctrine is found generally received in CHURCH OF CHRIST. 1 $$ the Church in any age whatsoever, whereof there is no certain author or beginning to be found, then it is sure that such a doctrine comes down from Christ and his Apostles. In other parts of his writings, he speaks of the observance of the lent, and of the fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays, and of several important points of faith and discipline. Amonj* other things, he says there, that though the faithful cit first communicated after supper, the Apostles af- terwards ordained, that out of reverence to so great a sacrament, all should communicate fasting. He says also, that they do well who communicate daily, provided it be done worthily, and with the humility of Zacheus, when he received Christ under his roof; but that they are also to be commended, who sometimes imitate the humble centurion, and set apart only Sundays or certain days for communicat- ing, in order to do it with greater devotion, He of- ten enforces the necessity of doing penance, and the obligation and advantages of alms-deeds. He men- tions his own frequent indispositions, and says, " he " was confined to his bed under violent pain," but adds : " Though I suffer, yet I am well, because I " am as God would have me to be. 5 ' In his 84 Epist. he says, " All the martyrs that are with 44 Christ, intercede for us. Their prayers never " cease, so long as we continue our sighs " The Emperor Theodosius sent a special messenger into Africa to invite this eminent Doctor to the general council that was summoned to meet at Ephesus, against Nestorius, but he was departed to eternal bliss on the 28th of August, in the year 430, and in the seventy-sixth year of his age, forty of which he spent in the labours of the ministry. St. Possiclius informs us, that he was present in the city of Hippo, when the holy sacrifice of the mass was offered to God for his recommendation, before he was buried, in the same manner that St. Augustine himself, I. &^ c. 12. Confess, mentions to have been done for the soui of his pious mother Monica, when she died at Ostia in Italy. St. Optatus, Bishop of Milevum in Numidia, was S4« IfJSl'CIlY CF THE -also ail illustrious champion of the Church in the-fourlTl age. St. Augustine names him with St. Cyprian and St, Hilary, among those who had passed from the dark shades of Paganism to the light of faith, and carried into the Church the spoils of Egypt, that is, human science and eloquence. He was the first Catholic prelate who undertook by his writings to •otem the tide of the Oonatist schism, which took Its rise in Africa, front a circumstance that happened in the persecution of Dioclesian, by the Traditors delivering the holy Scriptures, for fear cf torments and death, into the hands of the persecutors, that they might be burnt. Parmenian, the successor of Donates the schismatical Bishop of Carthage, and a mart weil versed in the art of sophistry, and capable eS covering the worst cause with specious glosses, had written five books in defence of his sect. Against this Goliah, St. Optatus stepped forth, strip- ped him of his armour, in which he trusted, and turned all his artillery against himself. He wrote six books against Parmenian, and gave the Hydra a mortal blow, though the Donatists were very nu- merous ill Africa for above a hundred yet rs, till the zeal of St. Augustine almost extinguished their fac- tion. About the year o47, a sect of fanatics, called Circu7?iccllio?js^ sprung up among the DonatUts, who pretending to devote themselves to martyrdom, wandered about for some months or years, pamper- ir.g themselves as victims, fed for sacrifice, and at length cast themselves from rocks, or into rivers, or any other way laid violent hands upon them- selves, which death they called martyrdom. Many of them compelled strangers whom they met on the high roads to murder them. Some Catholics, who met them in their mad phrenzy, to save their own lives, and not to imbrue their hands in the blood of these fanatics, insisted first upon binding them, be- fore they could proceed to do them this desired good turn in sacrificing them ,* but when they were tied, beat them till they came to their senses, and were contented to live, as Theodoret assures US. 8uch arc the wild chimeras and -extravagances into CHURCH OF CHRF3T. 135 which men are led, when they have once lost the anchor of truth, and their minds are set afloat on tho tide of passions. St. Optatus pursued them through the endless mazes of their errors, and laid open their hypocrisy, pretended zeal, and inconsistency, in separating themselves from the Catholic Church? as if her sanctity could be defiled by admitting peni- tent Traditors to her communion, Whilst they pass- ed over such proceedings among themselves. Ho showed them, that they were but a small number of rebels, cooped up in one little corner of a single country, that they were branches lopped off irora the vine, and separated from the stock, and conse- quently that they had no right whatsoever to un- church an infinite number of Christians in the East and in the West, and spread all over the world. It is evident from the writings of this holy Doctor, that the Blessed Eucharist was then kept in the churches after the sacrifice no less than at present, and that the Donatists used and reverenced the holy oblation or mass, and all the sacraments, though they pretended those administered out of their own sect, were void and null, and only holy among them- selves, for like unto the Pharisees and Novatians, blinded by their passions, they boasted of their great purity and sanctity, and did not see the inward uncleanness of their own hearts, defiled by pride- and disobedience. St. Optatus reproached them with pulling down the altars, where Jesus Christ rests at certain times, and with breaking the cha- lices, which carried the blood of Jesus Christ. No- thing in fine can be more clear, than the terms in which he frequently expresses himself about the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, and about the adoration that is due to this sacrament. St. Eustathius, first Bishop of Bersea in Syria, and afterwards translated to the Patriarchal see of An- tioch, confessed the faith of Christ before the Pagan persecutors with heroic constancy, Su Jerom calls him a sounding 1 trumpet, and says, he was consum- mate in sacred and profane learning, and the ft?** Q % 186 HISTORY OF THE who employed his pen against the Avians. His ele- gant works against them have not reached us, but his treatise on the Pythomssa, or Witch of Endor, is still extant, where he undertakes to prove against Origen, that this witch neither did, nor could call up the soul of Samuel, but only a spectre, or devil representing Samuel in order to deceive Saul. No- thing more enhances the virtue of this holy prelate, than the invincible constancy and patience with which he suffered the most reproachful accusation, with which his enemies falsely charged him, and the unjust deposition and banishment which were in- flicted on him. St. Philogonius, Bishop of Antioch, was renown- ed for his eloquence, and still more for the purity of his manners and the sanctity of his life in the fourth century. He strenuously defended the Catholic faith before the Assembly of the council of Nice. St. Nilus, anchoret and father of the Church, lived also in this age. His works were in great re- quest among the ancients. They demonstrate the excellent perfection of his virtue and his great talent of eloquence. His letters have been printed in four books, folio. They are short, but elegant, and writ- ten with spirit and vehemency, especially when any vice is the theme. In this century the Church extended her bounda- ries very considerably, by the wonderful conver- sions that were wrought by the miracles and preach- ing of the holy Bishop P'rumentius, apostle of /Ethio- pia, and of the empire of the Axumites. Thou- sands also of holy monks, anchorets, hermits, and ascetics, peopled the deserts in this century, and were formed into regular monasteries. The Pro- phet Elias, and St. John the Baptist, sanctified the deserts in the old law, and Jesus Christ himself was ;. model of the heremitical life, during his forty days fast in the Wilderness, bt. Paul, called the first hermit, spent nine y \ears in the desert, where be- ing fed, like Elias, by a raven, he died in the year 342, in the 113th year of his age. St. Anthony, a young gentleman of Egypt; is generally looked CHURCH OF CHRIST. 18T upon as the patriarch of monks, and the author of the monastic life in the Eastern parts of the Church. He was born in the year 251. Hearing on a cer- tain day in the church these words of the Gospel - r If you are willing to be fierfect^go, sell all you have y give to the fioor, and you shall have a treasure in Hea- wen, he applied them to himself, and returning home sold his goods, and distributed them to the poor. Actuated then with an ardent desire of greater per- : fection, he retired from the dangers and corruptions- of the world into a solitude, there to attend solely to his eternal salvation, and to devote the remainder of his days to the spiritual exercises of penance and mortification. His holy life and edifying example soon attracted an amazing number of disciples from the neighbouring countries, and they made such a progress in the way of perfection by the many ex- cellent lessons of piety which he prescribed, that they became the admiration of the world. Their habitations were so many temples, where they watch* ed, fasted, and chaunted psalms in praise of the Lord. To avoid idleness and procure themselves a corporal subsistence, they laboured with their hands> and employed the time that was not devoted to pray- er, in tilling the earth, in making matts, baskets,, sack-cloth, or other mean things, proper to inspire and entertain humility. The profit of their manu- al labour, above the little pittance, which was ne- cessary for their support, enabled them to bestow considerable alms on the poor. Nor did this labour interrupt the prayer of the heart, for they always prayed or meditated at their work, which they were taught to perform in the spirit of penance, and to offer up to God, in union with the laborious life and su fie rings of Jesus Christ. Their food, as St, John Chrysostom tells us, was bread ste ped in water, with a little salt, oil, herbs, pulse, and sometimes a few dates. They wore no shoes, and had no other bed than a mat spread on the bare ground. Their garments were made of the skins of goats, or of camels' hair, that is, coarse camlet, any thing that was soft, being looked upon as unsuitable to their 18S HISTORY OF THE penitential state of life. The regimen they follow- ed strengthened their constitution, prevented disor- ders, and prolonged their life to o considerable old age. Si. Anthony their founder lived to upwards oi a hundred years. The same course of life was em- braced by S. Pachomius, who was the first that drew up a monastic rule in writing, in the year 34 8. The writers of his life assert, that he had the sacrifice of the mass offered for the soul of every one of his monks that died. He departed this life in a very advanced age, and left several thousands of disciples in deep affliction for the loss of their spiritual father and director. St. Mucarius the elder, lived sixty years in the vast desert of Scete, eighty miles be- yond Nitria, and a hundred and twenty from Alex- andria. Innumerable religious persons flocked to him from all sides, and put themselves under his di- rection. Til le mom informs us, that St. Macarius the younger hud five thousand monks under his in- spection at Nitria, in I Ms of Thebais, or Upper Egypt In the close of the fourth century, Caspian reckoned fifty monasteries on Mount Nitria, inhabited by an amazing number of religious, wh6 served God there in the exercises of fervent penance and contemplation ; assembling in Church on Sun- days to celebrate the divine mj steries. ..take of the holy communion. They fasted every day till after sunset, except Sundays and the paschal time, and lived for the most part on bread and water. They rose at midnight, and met twice in the day to pray together in common. They frequently prayed with their arms stretched out in the form of a cross. They slept little, anu observed great silence. They built little cells for their lodgings, which resembled sepulchres rather than dwelling places. Bt P*iae« inon, St. Pambo, Si. John of Egypt, who died in the year 394, and in the 9oth year of his age; St. Ar- Sdnius, wno after spending 55 years in ti e resort, died in the 95th year of his age, and aeveraJ other holy anchorets followed this course of life, and de- voted themselves entirely to the spiritual exercises of penance and heavenly contemplation. The - CHUB 3 H OF CHRIST. 189 course of life was also embraced by St. Macedonius, St. iiiiarion, and St. Basil, and quickly propagated through Palestine, Syria, Mesopotamia, and through "the deserts of Pontus and Cappadccia, under several wise regulations, highly conducive to Christian per- fection. The austerities of all these inhabitants of the desert were not only the edification of the faith- ful, but also the admiration even of infidels, who were amazed to see that such multitudes of Chris- tians had attained to so wonderful a victory over their passions, so sublime a degree of virtue, and so heavenly a temper, as to have seemed rather angels than men, " For my part/' said St. Sulpicius Seve- rus, Dial. 1. c. 26. " so long as i shall enjoy life and " retain my senses, I shall ever celebrate the monks " of Egypt, praise the anchorets, and admire the " hermits." " There have I seen," says Heraclides, * many fathers leading an angelic life, and walking 11 after the example of Jesus/' Their long lives are chiefly ascribed to their regularity, moderate la- bour, and great abstemiousness, so that their exam- ple, us well as the experience of all ages, confirms the old proverb ; that to eat lcng } a person oug/tt .Co eat little. CHAPTER XVI. The Emperor Julian apostatizes and attempts to re- establish Paganism^ i?e. IN vain had the Arians, supported by the power of Constaniius, exerted their cruelty against the or- thodox, and endeavoured to subvert the doctrine of the Church of Christ. The faith increased under axes, and the blood of martyrs multiplied the num- ber of its professors. The Arian heresy, and the Donatist schism, seemed indeed at first to threaten the utter ruin of the Church, had she not been se- cured by the promises of Jesus Christ. But as she stood the shock against the united force both of the Jews and Gentiles, so she remained immoveable and incorruptible against lac deceitful reasonings, out-.. 190 HISTORY OF THE rageous impieties, and sacrilegious violences of the Arians and Donatists and their abettors. The edi- fice of the Church could not be thrown clown by these storms, because he that built it was himself the cor "«% and had declared it should s for ever. The Emperor Julian, who succeeded Con- stantius in the year 361, learning by experience how weak and ineffectual a means force and vio- lence was, resolved to change his artillery and man- ner of as^ult, and not to employ open persecution, like his predecessor, but dissimulation and seduc- tion, in which lie was the most complete master. At first he affected a show of great moderation, but was a more dangerous persecutor than Xero or D. and the most implacable and most crafty instrument i the Devil ever employed, for the purpose of undermining the faith, and sapping the foundation* of the Christian religion. Through the influence of some Pagan philosophers with whom he had stu- died at Athens, hs renounced Christianity, openly professed Paganism, and resolved to re-establish the worship of idols. Hence ke was surnamed the fofe. He pretended to efface the character of his baptism, by besmearing himself with the blood of impious victims He commanded the cross, and name of Jesu s Christ, which Constantine the Great had placed in the Labarum, or chief standard of the army, to be struck out, and had the standards re- duced to the ancient form, used under the P emperors, on which the images of false gods represented. He recalled indeed the exiled and allowed every one the free exorcise of reli but be adopted other crafty measures, which ap- peared to him more effectual, to harass and op| ;ians; for he fomented divisions between lies and i iiS, in order to weaken tie by the other, and at length to give them both a deadly blow. He was as prodigal in grantii to the Pagans, whilst the Christians experi- enced hot! [lis part but conte- artions, and disgraces. He exacted considerable sums of money from them, for the purpose of repairinj CHURCH OF CHRIST. !9i Pagan temples, to which he caused the sacred ves- sels and ornaments of the churches to be removed, He revoked the privileges of the ecclesiastics, and supprc e had as- signee mce of I _y, and of the sacred virgins and widov ■ d to the ser- vice of God; He levied b :.d seized the estates of C 5, saying in raillery, the did it to oolite them to foil recommended poverty. Where ed of this injurious treatmen words of Christ : Blessed are the through derision, that evam facilitate their admission inti m of Hea- ven. He ordered tl - call- ed Christians but Galileans. from b fices in the state, or functions of n. *s, under tl ..ai the ;1 forbid t use of t" . He ex- cluded them from the rights of citize not allow them to defend themselves in the com justice 9 because engage in He thought it impossible for him to r in his endeavours to undermine the Christian Religion, so I ls Pas- tors and defenders were the most i of the empire, such as St. il, St. Gre- ;n, St. Hilary, Apollh.aris, Diodortfl of Tarsus fee For the Chris- tians to teach either grammar, rl >r philoso- phy, and deprived them of all the advantages of a learned education, saying, that Christians should he tg^c: . ran literature, and believe without rea- \g* This kind of persecution by stratagems, ar- s, and caresses, might perhaps have been de- I, and destroyed more souls than the cruci- al Dicclesian. if God, Who always protects his Church, had not defeated the infernal project, by ing the reign of its impious author. Whilst Julian was endeavouring by these crafty means to destroy the Christian Church, he fun ed a new proof of the divinity of its heavenly found- 1.9.2 mSTOilY OF THE er, and of the truth of his sacred oracles. He was sensible that the prophecies announced the ruin oi the Temple of Jerusalem as irreparable, and that Jesus Christ had foretold, that one stone of it should not be left upon another. Wherefore, in order to falsify the Scriptures, and discredit the Christian re- ligion by bringing the scandal of imposture upon its divine Author, he undertook to rebuild the Tem- ple, about the beginning of the year 362, and, though he did not love the Jews, he invited them to concur in this enterprise. Sozomen tells us, that he wrote a letter to their chiefs, wherein he gave them every encouragement to repair immediately to Jerusalem, in order to re-establish their ancient worship, which was then abolished, as the Temple, wherein their bloody sacrifices could only be offer- ed, lay in ruins, and of course, the whole system of their religion was annihilated. He even pro- mised to give orders to his treasurers to furnish mo- ney, and every thing necessary, and he sent Alipius, one of his confidential officers, to the very spot, to enforce the execution of his orders. The news was no sooner spread abroad, than the Jews, elated with joy, and triumphing over the Christians, flocked irom all parts to Jerusalem, and contributed large sums of money towards carrying on the building. The Jewish women stript themselves even of their most costly ornaments, to contribute towards the expense. Immense quantities of stone, brick, tim- ber, and other materials were prepared. Thousands of workmen were speedily assembled from all quar- ters, and lodged in porticos and other adjoining buildings, under a number of overseers, who were charged to make them labour without loss of time, and complete the undertaking as soon as possible. It is related by historians, that some of the pick- axes, spades, and baskets were made of silver, for the honour of the work. When all things were in readiness the workmen began to clear the ground, to dig up the earth, and to remove the ancient found- ations. The Jews of both sexes, and of all degrees, both young and old, men, women, and children, ffl COIURCH OF CHRIST. 1&3 bore a share in the labour. The Jewish women helped to dig the ground with alacrity, and carried away the rubbish in their aprons, and in the skirts of their gowns. St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem^ seeing all these mighty preparations without any concern, as Rufinus assures us, Hist. 1. i0. c. 37* he foretold with the greatest confidence, that fh© Jews far from being able to rebuild their ruined Temple, would be the very instruments whereby the prophecy of Christ would be more fully accom- plished. The event justified the Saint's prediction, for until then the ancient foundations, and some ruins of the walls of the Temple subsisted, and tne Jews, by demolishing these ruins with their own hands, concurred to the accomplishment of what our Saviour had foretold, that one stone should not be, left on another, When they began to dig the ntw foundation, the finger of the Aimighty visibly defeat- ed the rash undertaking, for what the workmen h x& thrown up was, by repeated earthquakes, cast back into the trenches, and prodigious heaps of the lime, sand, and other loose material-?, were carried away by dreadful storms and whirlwinds. And when Aiipius and the projectors earnestly pressed on the work, horrible balls and flames of fire bursting out of the earth near the foundation, repelled the stones, melted down the iron instruments, burned or scorched the workmen, drove them to a distance, and obliged them to give over the enterprise, not once only, but as often as they ventured to renew their attempt. At the same time, the statue which Julian had caus- ed to be erected to himself, in place of the statue, which had been erected in honour of Christ, by the woman whom he had miraculously cured of the he- morrhoid, was cast down by fire from Heaven, and a flaming cross appeared in the sky over Jeru- salem, surrounded with a luminous circle, as if it were to celebrate the triumph of Jesus Christ, and to confound the vanity of the impotent Julian. These phenomena, which are attested by a number of Christian and Pagan writers, astonished all the spectators, and induced many Jews, and still m<*re R 194 History of the Heathens, to confess the divinity of Jesus Christ? and cry out for Baptism. But the unhappy Julian continued still blind and hardened in the midst of such a flash of conviction, and undertook an expe- dition into Persia, with an army of sixty- five thou- sand men. When he was on his march, he ordered Juventius and Maximinus, two officers in his foot guards, to be scourged and beheaded, because they refused to sacrifice to his idols. He was deceived almost in every step by ridiculous omens, oracles, and augurs. All the Pagan deities wherever he passed promised him victories. The oracles of Delos, Delphos, and Dodona, gave him the like as- surances. When he arrived at Antioch, he was informed that the famous idol of Apollo, which was then worshipped in a temple at Daphne, five miles from Antioch, had been struck dumb by the neigh- bourhood of the relics of St. Babylas, Martyr and[ Bishop of Antioch, which were deposited in a small church near the profane temple. Julian command- ed that the Christians should immediately remove the shrine of the Saint from Daphne to some distant place. The Christians obeyed the order, and with great solemnity carried the sacred relics to Antioch in procession, singing on this occasion the psalms ^vhich ridicule the vanity and feebleness of idols, repeating alter every verse, " May they who adore " idols, and glory in false gods, blush with shame, « and be covered with confusion." The following evening, fire and lightning fell from the heavens on the temple of Apollo, and reduced to ashes all the rich and magnificent ornaments with which it was embellished, and the idol itself, leaving only the walls standing. Julian was much enraged hereat. However, he durst not restore the idol, lest the like thunder should fall on his own head ; but he breath- ed fury and vengeance against the Christians, espe- cially of Antioch, and intended that they should feel the fatal effects of his wrath, at his return from the Persian war, if God had not defeated his vain projects by his unhappy death in that expedition. Jie was made a subject of mockery, and riciicale a* CHURCH OF CHRIST. 195 Antioch, on account of his low stature, gigantic gait, great goat's beard, and bloody sacrifices, in answer to which, he wrote a low and insipid satyr, called the Misofiogon, or Beard-hater. Theodoret and Sozomen relate, that having rashly ventured in- to the wilds and deserts of Persia, he and his army- were defeated in June, 363. Finding himself mor- tally wounded in the battle, with an arrow from an unknown hand, he was carried into his tent, where he miserably perished, throwing up a handful of ]>lood towards Heaven, and crying out, Vicisti Ga- UUe, Thou has conquered, O Galilean, thou hast conquered. Thus perished the Apostate Julian, so much boasted and extolled by the false sages of our age. The Divine vengeance also overtook his un- cle, Count Julian, governor of the East, who hav- ing in like manner become an apostate from the faith, persecuted the Christians, seized the sacred vessels of the Church, and after ordering the holy priest Theodoret, and SS. Bonosus, and Maximilian, two officers of distinguished virtue, to be cruelly tortured, caused them to be beheaded. Shortly af- ter he was seized with a terrible disease in his bowels, by which the adjacent parts of his body were pu- trefied, and bred such a quantity of worms, that all the art of physicians could not destroy them, nor give him any relief. They crawled still deeper, and penetrated into the live flesh, and came out with his excrements by his mouth, which had ut- tered so many blasphemies. Philostorgius says, h& remained forty days without speech or sense. He then came to himself, and in his last extremity ac- knowledged his impiety, like Antiochus, before he expired. CHAPTER XVII. Of the fiersecutitjiis raisd by Faiens> the Vandals and Persians^ and of the second General Council^ un- der Theodosius the Great, THE orthodoxy of the Emperor Jovian, who suc- ceeded Julian the Apostate, put a stop to the per- i-9S HISTORY OF THE sedition of the Catholics, till the reigri of Valeni, who was raised to the Imperial Throne in the East, whilst his brother, Valentinian, a true Catholic, go- verned in the West. Valens was the last of the Roman Emperors who protected Arianism. Se- duced by the persuasions of his wife, he promised, upon cath, that he would promote the cause of that sect. He openly declared in favour of it in the year 567, and violently persecuted the orthodox bishops, and the monks in the deserts, who w r ere known to distinguish themselves in supporting the true religion. He caused the streets of Antioch to swim with innocent blood, and many houses to be consumed with flames. He ordered fourscore ecclesiastics at Niccmedia to be put together on board a ship, and the ship, when out at sea, to be set en fire, that they might all perish. The Lom- bard?, also- -and Ostrogoths, or Eastern Goths, who settled in Italy — and the Visigoths, or Western Goths, who proceeded from the Southern parts of France into Spain — and the Vandals, who passed from Spain into Africa, with Genseric their King, ycre infected with Arianism, and persecuted the orthodox with great fury. Hunneric, the son and successor of Genseric, shut up all the Catholic Churches in Ids dominions, demolished the monas- teries, and banished the bishops and clergy, to the number of near five thousand, but the justice of God overtook him at length, and he died eaten up with worms. Gontiamund and Trasamund, his suc- cessors, raised two cruel persecutions, but an end was put to their kingdom and power, by Jiclisarius, the general of Justinian's army. After the death of the Emperor Valens, who, in the year 378, was burnt alive, in a cottage near Adrianople, by tue Goths, whom he had perverted, Arianism lost ground by degrees in the Eastern provinces, which were chiefly tainted with it, for the Arians began to differ among themselves, and split into as many different sects and branches as I heads Their case, says St. Hilary, was the eMme with tluu of unskilful architects, who are CHURCH OF CHRIST. 197 never, pleased with their own work, and who do no- thing but build up and pull down. They constant- ly changed their creeds, and thus they weakened their party, and fell into a confusion, which occasion- ed numbers of them to forsake their errors and em- brace the Catholic faith. The Goths and Vandals were converted in process of time ; and thus the formidable heresy of the Arians withdrew itself by degrees from the East and West, passed away like a thunderbolt, and sunk quite into nothing, so that not a single shoot of Arianism was left in the whole world, after the entire conversion of the Lombards, till it was unhappily revived by some unbelievers in the sixteenth century. Such is the nature of every heresy : after spreading for a while, it dwindles away sooner or later ; which made St. Jude compare here- sies to wandering meteors, which seem to blaze for a time, but set in eternal darkness. Heresies must be, says St. Paul, 1 Cor. 11, 19. that they who are afifiroved may be made manifest. They serve as a touchstone to distinguish the sound part of Chris- tians from the unsound. This was the case of the Arian heresy. It was an useful instrument to sepa- rate the chaff from the corn, and to purge away all dross from the Church. Another storm was raised against the Church in this century ; for about the year 340, Sapor II. commenced a most violent per- secution in the great empire of Persia, which was then full of Christians. This persecution continued, without intermission, for the space of forty years. It was recommended in the year 38u> by King Isde- gerdes, and continued under his successors for thirty years more, until Chrosroes II. was defeated by Heraclius, Emperor of Constantinople. Some historians make the number of Christians who were crowned with martyrdom in these persecutions, amount to two hundred thousand, exclusive of nine- ty thousand who were sold for slaves, and partly massacred by the Jews. See Sozomen, 1. 2. c. 15 ; Cassiodorus, 1. 3. Nicep. 1. 8. c. 27. When Gratian, the eldest son of Valentinian T. became master of the East, after the death of his R 2 198 HISTORY ©F THE uncle Valens, he restored peace to the Church, and declared Theodosius, an experienced general, his partner and colleague in the empire. Gratian hav- ing been afterward treacherously stabbed by An- dragathius, general of the usurper Maximus* house, and Valentinian II. Gratian's half-brother, hav- ing fled from Milan, with his mother Justina, into the East, to implore the assistance of the Empe» Tor Theodosius against Maximus, this great prince and model of Christian emperors, who, until then, had been employed in settling the peace of the Church and state in the East, came from Con- stantinople to Thessalonica, to comfort, in the most tender and paternal manner, the distressed remains of the family of Valentinian. Having shortly af- ter declared war against Maximus the tyrant, he gave orders for solemn prayers to be every where put up to God to draw down a blessing on his army, and sent to entreat the most eminent solitaries in Egypt to lift up their hands to Heaven, whilst he fought, as St. Augustine informs us, 1. 5. de Civ. He then marched with his troops towards the banks of the Save, encountered and defeated Maximus, entered the city of Rome with great magnificence, in a triumphal chariot drawn by elephants, and put young Valentinian in possession of the whole Western Empire. During his residence at Rome, he gained the hearts of the people, by his singular clemency and generosity, goodness and humanity. He abolished the remains of idolatry, prohibited Pa- gan festivals and sacrifices, and caused the temples to be stripped of their ornaments, and the idols to be broken in pieces. But he preserved those statues •which had been made by excellent artists, ordering them to be se. up in galleries, or other public places, as an ornament to the city. He likewise ordered the Pagan temples and idols of Egypt to be demo- lished, particularly the famous temples of Bacchus and Serapis in Alexandria, with the enormous idol that was worshipped there. Th< first years of this pious emperor's reign were distinguished by his zealous efforts to stop the pro* CHURCH OF CHRIST. 19.9 gress of a new blasphemous heresy, that sprung from the bosom of Arianism, and attacked the divinity of the Holy Ghost. It was broached by Macedonius, a Semi-arian Bishop, who had usurped the see of Constantinople. To prevent the scandal from spread- ing, a Council of one hundred and fifty bishops was assembled in that city, and was opened with great solemnity in the year 38 1 . The decrees and symbol of the council of Nice were there renewed and ra- tified, the doctrine of the Church was cleared up and explained, the heresy of Macedonius was refuted and condemned, and though the Council was not ge- neral in the celebration, as it consisted only of the Eastern Bishops, yet it is acknowledged to be an (Ecumenical? or General Council, by the acceptation of the Universal Church, as it was afterwards re- ceived and approved by the Pope, and the Bishops of the West St. Meletius, the venerable Bishop of Antioch, who presided at this Council, dying at Con- stantinople, was succeeded by St. Flavian, a perfect »odel of meekness and candour. It was this holy prelate that reconciled the Emperor Theodosius, by a pathetic discourse, to the people of Antioch, after the great sedition which happened in that city, in the year 387, on occasion of a new tax that was levied there But Theodosius unhappily forgot the clemency and moderation which he had shown oa this occasion, when he received an account of ano- ther tumultuous insurrection that happened in Thes- sulonica, where the populace stoned Botheric, the governor of that city, to death. When the Emperor was apprized hereof, instead of checking the im- p uosity of his hasty disposition, he suffered himself immediately to be carried away by the first transports of his passion, and issued a commission, or warranty for the soldiery to be let loose for three hours on the inhabitants of Thessalonica, till about seven thousand of them were massacred, without distinguishing the innocent from the guilty. The horror with which the news of this tragical scene filled the breast of St Ambrose, is not to be expressed. After giving tiie Emperor a little time to reflect; and enter into 2G0 HISTORY OF THE himself, he wrote him a letter, wherein he declared, that he neither could nor would receive his offering at Mass, nor celebrate the divine mysteries before him, till he expiated, by an exemplary penance, the enormity of the massacre lately committed. The emperor, notwithstanding, resolved to go to the Church of Milan, according to custom. St. Am- brose, meeting him at the church porch, forbid him any further entrance. The prince alleging, by way of extenuating his guilt, that King David had also sinned, the holy Bishop replied, " Him whom you v; have followed in sinning, follow also in his re- li pentance." Theodosius submitted to this sentence as if pronounced by God himself, and returned to his palace, bewailing his miserable condition, and saying, The Church is open to beggars and slave?, and to the meanest of my subjects, but the doors of it, and consequently the gates of Heaven also, are shut against me. He remained shut up at home in his oratory for the space of eight months, clad with penitential weeds, imploring mercy and par- don, and shedding many tears. When the feast of Christmas was come, he went to the enclosure of the church, placed himself in the rank of the public penitents, prostnae on the ground, and striking his breast with grief, and with tears running down his cheeks, begging pardon of God in the sight of all the people, who were so touched with his humility and edifying piety, that they wept and prayed with him for a considerable time. In short, he made an open confession of his sins, accepted and performed the public penance enjoined him by St. Ambrose, according to the sacred canons ; for the Church, instructed by the word and example of the Apostles, was accustomed then to inflict pub- lic penance upon public sinners, and these penances were determined by the bishops, according to the particular circumstances of the case. When charity waxed cold, and crimes became more frequent, the Church became more rigorous in the use of these public penances, in order to put some restraint on sinners. Certain regulations, culled ficnitentjat canons, were established, by which the cature and duration of the penance to be enjoined was deter- mined, according to the different kinds of crimes committed ; some lasting for one year, some for three, some for seven, ten, nay, fifteen, twenty years together. This discipline of canonical penance was in force both in the Eastern and Western Churches, in the second and third century, as is manifest from the writings of Tertullian, St. Cyprian, and the Ca- Qonicai Epistle of St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, who lays down the different stages of public penance, and describes the four different" classes of penitents, viz, the Weefiers, or mourners, who remained in the open air, without the gate of the Church ; 2dly, the Hearers, who were allowed to remain near the door, and to hear the instructions and sermon with the catechumens in the lower part of the church ; 3dly, the Prostraters, or kneelers, who remained all the time of prayer prostrate, or on their knees ; 4th ly, the Consistent^ or co-standers, who joined the faith- ful in prayer to the end, but were not admitted to make their offering at Mass, or to communicate. — Tins severe discipline continued in the Church, with ^litigations and changes, for the space of twelve hundred years, after which the use of public pe- nance became itss frequent in many places, fell into disuse, and was 6han£ed into other works of piety. In the primitive ages, no person, how great soever, was exempt from the' common rules of doing pe> nance, as appears from the examples of Theodosius a; Milan* and the illustrious Fabiola at Rome. The Bishops, tomed sometimes to •- of this discipline, by granting in- dulgences on certain extraordinary occasions, at the intercession o rs and confessors, or at the joint vers of the whole Church, or when the penitent showed an extraordinary fervour, and gave u equivo- cal proofs of the sincerity of his compunction. Thus St. Ambrose, at length, moved by the great ardour and most edifying conduct of Theodosius, granted him the absolution he prayed for so fervently, and admitted him to enter the Church, assist at the holy 20$ HISTORY OF THE mysteries, and partake of the blessed communion. In the year 3*5 this great emperor expired in the ar us of St. Ambrose, after giving his two sons, Honorius and Arcadius, excellent instructions how- to govern well, one of them being made Emperor of tfie West, the other of the East. CHAPTER XVIII. The Church of the fifth century. The succession of chief pastors in the Chair of St Peter was kept up during this century by Si in- nocent I St. Zozimus, St. Boniface, I. St. Celestine I. St. Sixtus Hi. St. Leo the Great, St. Hilarius, St. Simplicius, St. Felix 111 St. Gelasius 1. St. Anasta- sius II and St. Symmachus. Innocent, a native of Albano, near Rome, was unanimously chosen to fill the Pontifical Chair in the year 402. In the beginning of his pontificate, the Western Empire was afflicted with a dreadful fa line and pestilence, occasioned by the irruptions of an immense army of Barbarians, that poured in upon it on all sides, like a torrent, which, having broken down its banks, impetuously spreads itself over the whole country. Three different nations that inhabited the North side of the Rhine and Danube, advancing thence, through Pomerania, into the neighbourhood of Palus Macotis, crossed the Rhine, and invaded the provinces of Gaul and Italy. Ticse northern wolves, as St. Jerom speaks, laid waste the whole country between the Alps and the Pyrenees, between the Ocean and the Rhine, — Epis'.. 11. The Goths, a people originally from Gothland, in Sweden, bore a principal share herein. Alaric, their King, an enterprising, ambitious ad- venturer, animated with the success of his victori- ous arms, crossed the Alps and the river Po, carry- ing desolation and slaughter with him wherever he went. But he received a great overthrow from the army of the Emperor Honorius, commanded by Stilico; in the year 403, near Polcntia, in Liguria; CHURCH OF CHRIST, £03 Prudentias says, 1. 2. Adv. Sym. that the Roman sol- diers began the battle by making the sign of the cross on their foreheads. Radagaisus, another Pa- gan Prince of the Goths, invaded Italy in the year 405, with an army, according to some historians, of four hundred thousand men, and vowed to sacrifice all the Romans to his Gods. He besieged the city of Florence, and reduced it to the utmost straits ; but the Romans, commanded by Stilico, obtained a complete victory over him, without any loss of men : for Radagaisus, being struck with a sudden panic, immediately fled, and, being taken prisoner, with his two sons, was put to death, and his scatter- ed troops being also taken, were sold like droves of cattle. Notwithstanding these defeats, Alaric re- solved to lead his Goths to attack Rome itself ; for, as Socrates and Sozomen tell us, he s id, " 1 con- " stantly feel an impulse within me that gives me " no rest, but presses me to go and destroy that " city." He marched, therefore, at the head of his army, from Tuscany towards Rome, in the year 409 # and having pitched his camp in the neighbour- hood, he laid close siege to it. In the year 410, the scarcity of provsions occasioned a famine to rage to a degree that had never been felt before. « Such " was the force of hunger there," says St. Jerom, " that they fed upon the most execrable meats; the H people tore one another to pieces, to devour their - CHURCH OF CHRIST. 207' quence, and dignity, that he prevailed on him to forbear all hostility, to repass the Alps, and retire beyond the Danube, into Pannonia, where Attila died of a violent vomiting* of blood, in the year 453. St. Leo likewise went to meet Genseric, King of the Vandals, in Africa, when he landed in Italy with a powerful army, being invited into it by the empress Eudoxia, who had taken a disgust to her husband Maximus, for having forced her to marry him after the murder of her former husband, Va* leminian III. The holy Pope prevailed on this Vandal King to restrain his troops from slaughter- ing the citizens of Rome, and to content himself with the plunder of the city. Accordingly, hav- ing entered it without opposition, in the year 455> he delivered it up to the soldiers, who, after pillag- ing it for the space of fourteen days, retired at length with an immense booty. St. Leo having filled the holy see twenty-one years, one month, and thirteen days, died on the 10th of November, 461. St. Hilarius, his successor, died in the year 467. Upon his demise St. Simplicius, the ornament of the Roman Clergy, was raised by Divine Pro- vidence to the chair of St. Peter, to comfort and support the Church amidst the greatest storms. All the provinces of the Western Empire, out of Italy, were fallen into the hands of the barbarians. The ten last emperors, during twenty years, were rather shadows of power than sovereigns. The governors levied heavy taxes in the most arbitrary ways, and oppressed the people at discretion. Italy itself, by the ravages of foreigners, was almost depopulated, and the Imperial armies consisted chiefly of the Suevi, Alans, Heruli, fee. Such was the condi- tion of the Roman state in its decline. It was torn by intestine convulsions and civil dissentions, and had within itself the seed of its own destruction, which sooner or later must occasion the dissolution of a body politic, no less certainly than the inter- nal weakness of the animal body must bring it at length to a fatal period. The Heruli, a people o| that part of Germany now called Mecklenburg* §dS HISTORY OF TIfcE'' demanded one-third of the lands of Italy fo? therri; selves, and upon refusal, they chose for their leader Qdoacer, one of the lowest extraction, but a tall, resolute, and intrepid man, then an officer in the guards. He entered the city of Rome in the year .476, and was proclaimed King of Italy, and, out of contempt to Rome, fixed his royal seat at Ra- venna. He deposed the young Emperor Augustu- lus, when he had only reigned eight months ; ex- tinguished the imperial title in the West ; and put to death Orestes, who was regent of the empire, for his son Augustulus. Odoacer, however, spared the life of the young beautiful prince, appointed Fiim a salary of six thousand pounds of gold, and permitted him to live at full liberty near Naples*. The holy Pope Simplicius was in the interim whol- ly taken up in comforting and relieving the afflicted, *nd in sowing the seeds of the Catholic faith among, the Barbarians. . The Eastern Empire gave his zeal no less employment and concern, particularly when he discovered the artifices of Acacius, Cnapheus, and Peter Mongus, and saw the faith ambiguously (] betrayed by the famous decree of union, called the Haioticcn, which the emperor Ze- ro, son and successor to Leo the Thracian, had pub- ilshed in favour of the Eutychians. St. Simplicius governed the Church fifteen years, eleven months, and six days, and w*nt to receive the reward of his labours in the year 483. St. Felix 111. died the ninth year of his Pontificate, on the 25tb of Februa- ry, in the year 492. St. Gelasius filled the Aposto- lic see four years, eight months, ajid eighteen days. He was illustrious, not only for his profound eru,#- lion, but also for his extraordinary humility, tempe- rance, austerity, liberality to the poor, and purity of manners. In his writings he expressly mentions the blessing of holy oils, the anointing, and other ceremonies used at Baptism, the blessing of holy water, the invocation of the saints, veneration of re- lics, votive masses, holy communion, &c. He died on the 21st of November, in the year 495. St. Anastasius II. filled the Papal chair about two years. CHURCH OF CHRIST. 209 St. Symmachus, a native of Sardinia, and Arch-dea- con of the Roman Church, was raised to the holy- see in the year 498. lie died on- the 19th of July? in the year 514. It was in the fifth century that the Southern Picts, so called from the custom of painting their bodies in Caesar's time, were converted to Christ, by St. Ninianus, as venerable Bede tells us, 1. 3. Hist, c, 4. The French were likewise converted to Chris- tianity about the close of this century ; Clovis their king, with three thousand officers of his army, hav- ing been baptized in the year 496, by St Remigius, archbishop of Rheims, on Christmas day. This great Apostle of the French nation, was one of the brightest lights of the Gaulish Church, illustrious for his learning, eloquence, sanctity, and miracles. He was raised to the Episcopacy when he was twea- ty-two years old, held that dignity about seventy-two* years, and died in the 94th year of his age. Hinc- mar informs us, that St. Remigius gave to the Church of Rheims a silver chalice, ornamented with several images, and on it he caused three verses to be engraved, which express the Catholic doctrine concerning the blessed Eucharist: u Hauriat hinc fio/iulus vitam de sanguine sacro f r< Injecto at emus quern fudit vulnere Christus, * ; Remigius reddit Domino sua vota sacerdos" JViis holy vase was by Remigius giy'n, To cheer the soul, and clear the way to Hearfn, From whence each true believer may be fed With the sacred blood his Saviour shed. The Providence of God raised a great number of &iher holy bishops and learned doctors in this age, to maintain the purity of faith, and to combat a nu- merous brood of heresies that started up, and as- saulted the Church with great violence. The great St. Augustine, after shining like a bright luminary for a considerable time in the fourth century, con- tinued his labours for the Church about thirty years- in the fifth, and was the chief instrument of God in? overthrowing the errors of the Donatists, Mani* S 2 ~iO HISTORY OF THE cheans, and Pelagians. The Donatists had already caused great tumults and contests, and spread de- vastation over Africa for more than a hundred years. They now reckoned above five hundred Bishops of their faction, and were divided into so many different sects, in Mauritania and Numidia, that they them- selves did not know their number. At length, in the year 41 1, a famous conference, that was opened at Carthage on the 4th of June, and continued three days, gave a mortal blow to their schism, for the Donatist bishops being publicly refuted and worsted, the greatest part of thqm renounced their errors, and from that time their followers returned in crowds to the bosom of the Catholic Church. The great Augustine had a principal share in the dispu- tation, and bore away the glory of that triumphant day. When their schism was nearly extinguished, the Church saw horself attacked by new enemies: Pelagius, an Englishman, and Celestius, a Scotchman, Julian and their followers, the Semi-pelagians in Gaul, at Lerins and Marseilles, broached most dan- gerous errors, chiefly regarding original sin, and the necessity of Divine grace. It is not to be wonder- ed that the heresy of Pclagias found so many advo- cates, for as pride is become the darling passion of man's heart, through the corruption of human na- ure by sin, men are born with a propensity to Pela- gianism, or principles which flatter an opinion of our own strength, merit, and self-sufficiency. Next to Arianism, the Church never received a more dangerous assault. But this formidable heresy was nobly combated and refuted by St. Augustine and Jerom, and anathematized by the authority of the Apostolic see. The glorious Augustine, by several learned volumes, clearly proved, that, without the succour of Divine Grace, man can do nothing, can' not so much as form one good thought, conducive :o eternal life, nor take the least step, towards God, by supernatural virtue, " for as the eye of the body, " though perfectly sound, cannot see unless it be " assisted by the light, so in like manner," says this ' oly doctor, " neither can a man live well, but by fi eLcrnal light, which is derived from God." CHURClf OF CHRIST. 211 St. Prosper of Aquitain, zealously opposed the progress of Semi-pelagianism. About the year 431 he wrote his most elegant poem On the ungrateful^ and published two books in answer to the objections of Vincent of Lerins, and of Cassian, the famous abbot of St. Victor's at Marseilles, whom he styles the Collator, as having been the author of the book of Conferences, and of the twelve books of The Institutions of a monastic Life, wherein the spiritual maxims of the most experienced monks of Egypt are collected. St. Prosper wrote a chronicle from the creation of the world to the year 455', and a book of four hundred sentences drawn from the works of St. Augustine, which is an excellent ab- stract of his doctrine on grace. Among other things, he says, " that the see of St. Peter fixed at u Rome presides ever the whole world, possessing " by religion what it never had subdued by arms. J> St. Peter Chrysologus, Archbishop of Ravenna, flourished also in the fifth century. His reputation as a preacher ran so high as to procure him the surname of Chrysologus, which is as much as to say, that his speeches were of gold, or excellent. We have an hundred and seventy six of his discourses still extant. He strongly recommends the commu- nion of the body of Christ, Serm. 65. 67, 68, &c. every where extols the excellency, and inculcates the obligation of alms-deeds, prayer, and fasting. St. Severianus, bishop of Scythopolis ; St. Por- phyrius, bishop of Gaza, St. Maximus, bishop of Riez ; St. Medard, bishop of Noyon ; St. Caesarius and St. Hilary, arch-bishops of Aries ; St. Honora- tus, arch-bishop of Marseilles; St. Severinus, apostle of Austria; and St. Eucherius, bishop of Lyons, were likewise great luminaries in the fiftk century. St. Isidore, bishop of Peiusium, was looked upon as a living rule of religious perfection. We have still extant two thousand and twelve of his letters, abounding with excellent instructions of piety, and with theological and criticiil learn- ing, We have also a correct edition of the homi- lies and sermons of St. Maximum, the illustrious 212 HISTORY OF THE bishop of Turin, with Muratori's remarks, from a manuscript of the Ambrosian Library, above one thousand years old. St. Gaudentius, bishop of Brescia, is called, by Ruffinus, * the glory of the " doctors of the age wherein he lived." The Church of Brescia possessed a great treasure in this holy pastor. He constantly broke the bread of life to his flock, and fed their souls with the impor- tant truths of salvation. We have twenty of his ser- mons still extant, in the second, which he made for the Neophytes, after their coming; out of the font, he explains to them the mysteries which he could not expound in the presence of the Catechumens, es- pecially of the blessed Eucharist, of which he says, " The Great Creator, the Lord of Nature, who bring- " eth the bread out of the ground, maketh also bread * of his own body ; because he hath promised, and is " able to perform it, and he who made wine of water, M converteth wine into his own blood." Bibl Pat. t, 5. p 949. Labbe says, that St. Gaudentius died in the year 427. St. Germanus, bishop of Auxerre, and St. Lupus, bishop of Troyes, lived also in this century, and became illustrious for the fame of their sanctity, doctrine, and miracles. Burning with zeal for the glory of Christ, they assisted at the synod and pub- lic conference at Verulam, about the year 446, ac- cording to Spelman, and confuted the errors of Agri- cola, a disciple of Pelagius and Celestius, who denied the corruption of human nature by original sin, and the necessity of divine grace. They con- firmed the Catholics of Britain in the true faith, converted great numbers, even of those who were spreading the poison of Pelagianism through that island, and entirely banished the heresy by their prayers, preaching, and renowned miracles, which are related by Bede, Constantius, and Nennius, the British historians. It was during the second mission of St Germanus into Britain, as Carte asserts, that the Britons gained the famous AUeluiah victory over the army of the Picts and baxon pirates, without bloodshed, by a stratagem the holy bishop had MM Cli¥H«H OF CHRJS't. 2*^3 course to. See Becle Hist. 1. I.e. 1. Usher A. B.t. 11, &c. St. Mammertus, archbishop of Vienne, in Dail- phine, in the year 447, was a prelate renowned in the Church for his sanctity, learning, and miracles. He instituted in his diocese the yearly fasts and sup- >. plications called the Bogatio7is, to appease the wrath of Heaven, and avert the scourges and public cala- mities with which the country was then afflicted. St. Vincent of Lerins, who fived about this period, informs us in his prologue, that having been for some lime tossed about in the storms of a bustling military life, and seriously considering the dangers with which he was surrounded, he made for the de- sired peaceful and safe haven of religion with all the sail he could, that he might divest his soul of its ruffling; passions of pride and vanity, and that be- ing further removed from worldly temptations, he might endeavour more easily to avoid, not only the wrecks of the present life, but also the burnings of that which is to come. For this end he shut himself up in the famous monastery of Lerins, not far from the coast gf Lower Provence, towards Antibes. In this place, he assures us, he earnestly strove to redeem time, and to turn it always to the best account, re- flecting that those fleeting moments pass as quick as they come, never, never more to return, as wate? which is gone from its source, runs to it no more. There were two other Vincents living at Marseilles, at that very time, and there might be others of the same name, one of whom might have been a semi- pelagian. But the saint we here speak of, condemned the profane novelties of semi-pelagianism with great warmth, and highly extolled the letter of Pope Ce* lestine to the bishops of Gaul. Out of humility, he disguised himself under the name of Peregrinus, a pligrim or stranger on earth, the least of all the ser- vants of God, and less than the least of all the Saints*, unworthy to bear the holy name of a Christian. He considered that true faith is necessary to salvation no less than morality, and that the former is the founda- tion of Christian virtue ; and he grieved to see the 214 HISTORY OF THE Church, at that time pestered with numberless here- sies, which sucked their poison from their very an- tidote, the holy Scriptures, as the spider sucks poi* son from the very same flower that the bee extracts honey. To guard the faithful against the dangerous snares that were spread on every side, and to open the eyes of those, who had been already seduced by the false and perplexing glosses of subtle refiners, St. Vincent with great clearness and force of rea- soning wrote a book in the year 434, which he enti- tled A Commanitory against Heretics, particularly tho Xesiovians and Apoilinarists, whom he nobly confute? herein, by general clear principles. Toge- ther with the ornaments of eloquence and erudition, the inward beauty of his mind, and the brightness of his devotion sparkle in every page of this book. He lays down this rule, or fundamental principle, in "which he found, by a diligent inquiry, all Catholic pastors and the ancient Fathers to agree, that suc_h doctrine is truly Catholic, as hath been believed in all places, at alt times, and by all the faithful, Com. c. 3. By this test of universality, antiquity, and consent, he says all controverted points in belief must be tried. He shows, that whilst Novatian, Donatus, Arius, Pelagius, kc. expound the divine oracles different ways, to avoid the perplexity of errors, we must interpret the holy Scriptures by the tradition of the Catholic Church, as the clue to con- duct us in the truth ; for this tradition, derived from the Apostles, manifests the true meaning of the holy Scriptures, and all novelty in faith is a certain mark of heresy. He says, that new teachers, who have made bold with one article of faith, will proceed on to others ; and what will be the consequence of this reforming of religion, but only that these refiners will never have done, till they have reformed it quite away. C. 29. He elegantly expatiates en the divine charge given to the Church, to maintain inviolable the sacred depositum of faith, C. I. 2f. p. 30. Ht takes notice, that in the works of Paulus Samosata, Piiscillian, Eunomias, Jovinian, and other heretics, almost every page is paiotcd,and laid on thick wit!" £Hfe~RCH OF CHRISXV 215 Scripture texts. But in this, he says, heretics are like those prisoners or quacks, who put off their destructive potions under inscriptions of good drugs* and under the title of infallible cures. C. 31. They imitate the Father of Lies, who quoted Scripture against the Son of God when he tempted him. C 32. The Saint adds, that if a doubt arise in interpreting the meaning of the Scriptures in any point of faith, we must summon in the holy Fathers, who have lived and died in the faith and communion of the Catholic Church, and by this test we shall prove the false doctrine to be novel ; for that only we must look upon as indubitably certain and unalterable, which all, or the major part of these Fathers have delivered, like the harmonious consent of a general council. But if any one among them, be he ever so holy, ever so learned, holds any thing besides, or in opposition to the rest, that is to be placed in the rank of singular and private opinions, and never to be looked upon as the public, general, authoritative doctrine of the Church. C. 33. These general principles, by which all heresies are easily over- thrown and confounded, St. Vincent explains with equal elegance and perspicuity. No controversial book ever expressed so much, and such deep sense in so few words. St. Proclus, archbishop of Constantinople, flou- rished at the time of the memorable earthquakes, that were felt during six months in diverse parts of Egypt and the East, especially near the Hellespont. The earth shook like a ship, abandoned to the mercy of the winds, and tossed by the fury of the waves worked up by a storm. Amidst the ruins of many stately buildings, men ran to and fro distracted with fear and horror, not being able to find any place of refuge, or security. At Constantinople the inhabi- tants wandered in the fields, and with the rest the em- peror Theodosius the younger, and all his courtiers, St. Proclus with his clergy followed his scattered flock, and ceased not to comfort and exhort them amidst their afflictions. He implored the divine mercy with them by unanimous and common prayer, 216 H*&TORY OF THJE Singing devoutly the celebrated Trisagion : H*4y God, Holy Strong-, Holy Immortal, have mercy ufion us, whereupon the earthquake ceased. St. Augus- tine tells us, that at another time, under the emperor Arcadius, a great ball of fire appeared in the air over Constantinople, and that the emperor and all the citi- zens, fearing that the city was going to be destroyed, abandoned it one day, until God was moved through their tears and prayers to spare them in his great mercy. T. 6. p. 622. The great Theodoret lived in this age. He was educated in every branch of Syrian, Greek, and He- brew learning. He gave a large estate to the poor, and was consecrated bishop of Cyprus, in the year .423. He converted all the Marcianites, Arians, and other heretics in his extensive diocese, wherein he reckoned 800 parishes. His works are printed in four volumes, in folio. His Church History in five books is a valuable compilation. He assures us, that he was himself an eye-witness to several of the mira- cles which he relates to have been wrought by the sign of the cross, by holy water, and blessed oil. In his eighth discourse on the Martyrs, he elegantly explains in what manner the souls of the martyrs, now in Heaven, with the choirs of Angels, are our protectors and mediators with God, and he .clearly demonstrates that the veneration which Christians pay to the saints, is entirely different from the wor- ship which the Heathens gave to their false gocls. The illustrious St. Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, was raised by God in this ago to be the champion of the Church, and defender of the faith of the Incani.i- tion, against Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, who impiously divided Christ into two persons, the one God, the other man, therefore denied the blessed Vir- gin to be the mother of God. This new doctrine shocked the faithful exceedingly,excited every wh ere ^clamours, and caused great scandal both among the clergy and laity. St. Cyril, on reading the homilies of Nestorius, sent him a mild expostulation on the subject, and attempted to reclaim him by rcmon- sltomc.cs, but he was answered with haughtiness and CHURCH OF CHRiaX. 2i7 contempt. The retiredncss and austerity of Nesto- rius's life, joined with a hypocritical exterior of vir- tue, and a superficial learning, and fluency of words, gained him some reputation in the world. But being full of self-conceit, he neglected the study of the ancient Fathers, was a man of weak judgment, ex- tremely vain, violent, and obstinate, as the historians of those times testify* St. Cyril, who studied under his uncle Theophilus, made it his rule, never to ad- vance any doctrine which he had not learned from the ancient Fathers, and never ceased to exert his zeal in maintaining the faith of the Church in its primitive purity, and in opposing every heretical novelty at its first appearance With the approba- tion of the emperor Theodosius, he drove the No- vatians and Jews out of Alexandria, but thereby offended Orestes the governor so grievously, that he rejected all offers of reconciliation with the holy bishop, though he conjured him by the Gospels to join in sincere friendship. This unhappy disagree- ment produced many pernicious effects, created several enemies for St. Cyiil,and lessened his inter- est at the imperial court. The unruly and tumultuous mob of the populous city of Alexandria, the second in the world for extent, seditiously rose up against the famous Hypatia, upon a suspicion that she had incensed the governor against their bishop. This Pagan lady kept a public school of Platonic philo- sophy in the city. Her reputation for learning was so great, that Synesius and other philosophers of the first rank flocked to her from all parts, and con- sulted her on the most intricate questions. She was much respected and consulted by the governor, which made the populace pull her out of her chariot, mangle her flesh, and tear her body in pieces in th« streets of Alexandria, in the year 415, to the scandal of ail good men, and to the great grief of St. Cyril, who was by no means conscious of a crime so horri- ble and sojiJiocking to human nature. This holy doctor triumphed at length over all his enemies by his meekness, intrepidity, and courage. He sent Nestorius twelve propositions) called And- T 21S HISTORY OF THE thematis7ns> to be signed by him, as a proof of his orthodoxy-, but the heresiarch appearing more per- verse and obstinate than ever, the third general council was opened at Ephesus, in the year 431, by two hundred and seventy -four bishops, with St. Cyril at their head, as Pope Celestine's legate and repre- sentative. A throne was raised in the middle of the Church, and on it was erected the book of the Gos- pel to represent the assistance of Jesus Christ, who has promised that he will be in the midst of the pas- tors assembled in his name. The bishops being seated on both sides, according to the dignity of their sees, the heretical sermons of Nestorius, who re- fused to appear, though then in the city and thrice cited) were read, and depositions received against him, His doctrine was examined and condemned, and the sentence of excommunication and deposition was pronounced against him, after which he was banished by the Emperor Theodosius, at the request of John of Anlioch, his former friend, to Oasis, in the deserts of Upper Egypt, where he died misera- bly and impenitent. The oriental bishops made peace with St. Cyril in the year 433, when matters jcing cleared up to his honour, and his conduct be- ing approved, the schism was extinguished, and the zealous patriarch spent the remainder of his days in the faithful discharge of his pastoral duties till his glorious death, in the year 444, on the 26th of June. The Latin translation of this lather's works is printed in six tomes, in folio. His extraordinary dc- \otion towards the blessed sacrament of the Eucha- .ppears from the zeal with which he frequently inculcates the wonderful effects which it produces in >iil of him who worthily receives it, especially in healing all his spiritual disorders, strengthening L)in? against temptations, subduing the passions, in giving life, and making us one with Christ by the most sacred union, not oniy in spirit and affection, but also by a natural participation with his huma- nity* 11. 4. Coin. Nest. t. 6. 1. 7. De Adorat. tit. I. 1. i(J. Joan. t. 4. Hence he says, that u by the holy • communion we arc mad< COrt corporeal with Christ, CHURCH OF CHRIST. ^ib " for as wax melted and mingled with another piece ¥ of melted wax, makes one, so by partaking of his " precious body and blood, he is united in us, and " we in him." In his works against Nestorius, he is also very clear in establishing the reality of Christ's body, in the sacrament of the altar and the holy sacrifice. " We celebrate, says he, the unbloody " sacrifice in the Church, and do by this means ap~ " proach the mystical benediction, and are sancti- " iied, being made partakers of the sacred flesh " and precious blood of Christ, the Saviour of us li all, and we do not receive it as common flesh, but * ; as it is truly, the life giving and proper flesh of » the word." He likewise says in his 9th homily on the Mystical Sufi/ier, or holy banquet of the com- munion and sacrifice: " The tremendous mystery " is performed, and the Lamb of God sacrificed. " The Eternal Wisdom distributes his body as " bread, and his saving blood as wine : The Maker " gives himself to the work of his own hands. Life " bestows itself to be eat and drunk by men. He <( remains the Priest and the victim : he who offers, " and he who is offered. " The Nestorian heresy being condemned in the manner above mentioned, another formidable heresy was broached by Eutyches, abbot of a monastery of three hundred monks, near Constantinople, who had acquired a reputation of virtue, but in efTect was no better than an ignorant, proud, and obstinate man. His intemperate zeal against Nestorius, for asserting two distinct persons in Christ our Lord, threw him into the opposite error, of denying two dis- tinct natures after the incarnation. This heresiarch being condemned in a council of thirty-two bishops, and twenty-three abbots, held in the year 448, by St. Flavian, successor of St. Proclus, in the Archie- piscopal see of Constantinople, appealed to St. Leo the Great, complaining of the proceedings of the coun- cil, and endeavouring to impose on him by false as- sertions. But the Pope being informed of the true state of the affair, wrote to him an ample declaration of the orthodox faith, concerning the mystery of $20 BISTORT OP THE the Incarnation. Yet by the intrigues of Chrysaa- , -as the eunuch, a kinsman of Eutyches, and a particular favourite and chamberlain to the weak fclmperor Theodosius IT. a packed council was as- sembled at Ephesus, without the authority of the Pope, and an order was obtained, for a rc-examina- #of) of the cause between St. Flavian and Eutyches. This pretended synod, commonly called the Latro- :/c, or cabal of Ephesus, for the violences there- in used, met on the eighth of August, in the year 449, and Dioscorus, who had succeeded S. Cyril in the patriarchal see of Alexandria, and who was a man of a violent temper, an Eutychian, and general distur- ber of Christian peace, took upon him to preside in it. The false council consisted of one hundredjand thirteen bishops, or their deputies, from Egypt and the East. Eutyches was present with two officers from the Emperor, and a great number of soldiers. Every thing tried on by violence and open .our of Eutyches, by those officers and moused his party, and formed a It of the proceedings was to pronounce sentence of deposition against St. Fla- ms of Dory latum, who had accused lical errors. The Legates sent by Pope Leo to act in his name, were not suffered by Dio! his letters. They protested iitist the unjust sentence, and opposed it with a .1 and vigour that was admired by the whole world, says Theodoret, Ep. 116. Hilarius, the dea- con, who afterwards succeeded St. Leo, cried aloud i'f ruradicitur. opposition is made. Dioscorus no soon- er began to read the sentence, but lie was interrupt- ed by several of the bishops, prostrating themselves fore him, and beseeching him in the most submis- sive terms, to proceed no further in so unwarranta- ble an affair. Upon this he started up, and called aloud for the imperial commissioners, who ordered the church doors to be set open, and a band of sol- diers to be let in, followed by a confused multitl with chains, clubs, and swords. This struck such a terror into the whole assembly, that few had the courage to withstand the thrcaN except the legal CHURCH OF CHRIST. 221 who got off with much difficulty, and to whom St, Flavian delivered in writing his act of appeal to the Apostolic see, which so provoked Dioscorus, Bar- sumas, and others of their party, that they threw the holy bishop on the ground, and kicked and bruised him with such a degree of malice and violence, that he died within a few days, a martyr of the mystery of the Incarnation of the Son of God. When the council was over, Dioscorus, with two of the Egyp- tian bishops, had the insolence to excommunicate St. Leo. But violence and injustice did not triumph, long. Upon the first advice of these proceedings, St. Leo declared them null and void. He wrote to the Emperor, and conjured him in these words : " Leave to the bishops the liberty of defending the " faith : no power or terrors of the world will ever u be able to destroy it — protect the Church, and " seek to preserve its peace, that Christ may pro- <( tect your empire." The next year the Emperor died, as Cedrenus says, penitent and sensible of his error, Chrysaphius was disgraced, and Eudoxia obliged to retire to Jerusalem. Marcian and St. Pulcheria ascending the Imperial throne, the fourth general council was opened on the 8th of October, in the year 451, at Chalcedon, in the suburbs of Constantinople. It consisted of six hundred and ninety bishops. St. Leo presided by his legates. The memory of St. Flavian was vindicated. The wicked Dioscorus was declared excommunicated and deposed. Eusebius of Dorylseum was honoura- bly restored to his see, and the Eutychian heresy was solemnly condemned and anathematized by the whole Church. The fathers of the Council; in their synodal letter to St. Leo, beseech him to confirm their decrees, saying, "He had presided over them, " as the-head over its members." — Cone. t. 4. p. 833. CHAPTER XIX. The Church of the sixth Century. THE Apostolic see was filled in this century by Hormisdas, John I. Felix IV, Boniface II. John II. T 2 222 HISTORY OF THE Agapetus I. Silverius, Viligius, Pelagius I. John III. Benedict I. Pelagius II. and St. Gregory the Great. After the death of St. Symmachus, Hormisdas governed the Church nine years. He had been en- gaged in wedlock before he entered the ministry. He died in odour of sanctity, in the year 523, and was succeeded by John I. a Tuscan by birth, who sat two years and nine months. He was obliged, by Theodoric, the Arian King of the Goths, who resid- ed chiefly at Spoleto, or Ravenna, to go at the head of an embassy of live bishops and four senators to Constantinople, on a negociation with the emperor Justin. The joy of that city was universal, and the pomp with which the successor of St. Peter was re- ceived there, seemed to surpass the festival of a liiumph. The inhabitants went out twelve miles to meet him, carrying wax tapers and crosses. Auas- tasius relates, that on entering tha city he restored sight to a blind man. Whilst he was in the East, toric caused the great statesman and philoso- pher Boetius, one of the finest geniuses the world ever produced, to be apprehended and tortured on a wheel, by. which his head was squeezed wkh such violence, that his eyes flew out; then he was beaten With clubs by two executioners, and beheaded, or r his head was clove asunder in the year 525. When the holy Pope St. John Itfiukcl at Ravenna, with the four senators, his colleagues, he was, by or- f Theodoric, cast into a dark and loathsome dungeon, where he died on the 27th of May, 526 St. Felix IV. succeeded him in the Pontificate, and died on the 18th of September, 530. Boniface II. governed the Church about two years, and died in the year 532. John 11. died on the 26th of April, SalS. The great sat.ciity of St. Agapetus recom- mended him to the love and veneration of all that knew him. He was chosen to fill the holy see, and consc crated on the 4th of May, 535. By his singu- lar mildness he soon healed the wounds which had Ik< :. Htade by distentions, and by the unhappy r k>jifacc II. in the year CHURCH OF CHRIST, 223 529. Theodatus, King of the Goths in Italy, hear- ing that the emperor Justinian was making prepa- rations for an expedition to recover Italy, obliged Pope Agapetus to undertake a voyage to Constanti- nople, in order to divert him from such a design. Upon his arrival in that city he fell sick "and died,, on the 17th of April, 536, having sat about eleven months and three weeks. St. Gregory the great relates, Dial. 1. 5. c. 3. " that this holy Pope, on his " journey through Greece, cured a man who was " lame and dumb, by saying mass for him." Upon the demise of St. Agapetus, after a vacancy of forty-seven days, St. Silverius, the son of Hor- misdas, was chosen. He was violently persecuted by the empress Theodora, because he would not come into her unjust measures, and betray the cause of the Catholic faith. The Emperor Justinian, the husband of this violent and crafty woman, was now master of Rome. His general, Belisarius, having sailed with a fleet of 500 sail into Africa, had made an easy conquest of the whole country, and taken Carthage almost without opposition. By? his victo- ries he extinguished the puissant kingdom of the Vandals, and re-united Africa to the empire, after it had been separated above one hundred years. la the year 535 he marched with his victorious army against Italy, and after subduing Sicily, he passed thence into Italy, and took Naples and Rome ; the senate and people, at the persuasion of Silverius, having opened the gates of the city to him, whilst the Gothic garrison retired towards Ravenna, where Theodatus being deposed, Vitiges, an experienced officer, was raised to the throne, and having march- ed from Ravenna, in the year 537, with an army of one hundred and fifty thousand men, invested the city of Rome. The siege lasted a year and nine days, during which both Goths and Romans perform- ed prodigies of valour ; but Belisarius defeated all the attempts and stratagems of the Barbarians, and in the end obliged them to retire. In the interim, the empress Theodora endeavoured to promote the sect of the Acephali. or most rigid Eutychians^ who 224 HISTORY O-F THE rejected the council of Chalcedon, but finding she could never expect from the firmness of Pope Sil- verius any thing favourable to her impious designs, she resolved to compass his deposition. For this end she made her application to the Arch-deacon Vigilius, a man of address, and promised to make him Pope, and to bestow him seven hundred pieces of gold, provided he would engage himself to com- municate with the three deposed Eutychian patri- archs, Anthimus of Constantinople, Severus of An- tioch, and Theodosius of Alexandria. The unhap- py Vigilius having assented to the conditions, the Empress sent him to Rome, and charged him with a letter to Belisarius, commanding him to depose Sil- verius, and to contrive the election of Vigilius to the Pontificate. To succeed the more easily in so unwarrantable a proceeding, the enemies of Silve- rius impeached him for high treason, and suborned two false witnesses to forge a letter, which was pre- tended to have been written by Silveriusto the king of the Goths, inviting him to Rome. Belisarius saw evidently this to be a bare-faced calumny, yet lie had the weakness to say, M The empress com- M mands, I must therefore obey. He who seeks the f* ruin of Silverius shall answer for it at the last day " — not I." Vigilius urged him on one side, to ex- ecute the project, and his wife Antonia on the other. Silverius was therefore stripped of all his pontifical ornaments, clothed with the habit of a monk, and sent into banishment to Patara in Lycia. The bishop of that city received the illustrious v-x- iie with ail possible marks of honour and respect, and, thinking himself bound to undertake his defe. cc, he repaiitcl to Constantinople ^ wlicre having ol ed a private audience of the E.npcror, he terrified him with the threats of the Divine judgment the expulsion of the bishop of so great a see, telltrig him, as Liberatus informs us, Brev. c. 22, " 1 h« re u are many kings in the world, but there is only one " Pope over the whole world," which words- i^piy a clear confession of the supremacy of the RonttM see. Justinian, who had not been sufficiently ap- church of Christ: m prised of the matter, appeared startled at the pro- ceedings, and gave orders that Silverius should be sent back to Rome, and restored to his see, in case he was not convicted of the treasonable correspond- ence with the Goths. But Belisarius, Vigilius, and Antonia, prevented his restoration, by causing him to be intercepted on the road, and to be conveyed into the little inhospitable island of Palmeruelo, near Tarracina, where the holy Pope died of hard usage, or, as Frocopius tells us, was murdered in the year 538. That the eyes of Belisarius were afterwards plucked out, and that he was reduced to beg his bread in the streets of Constantinople, saying, Give a far- thing to fioor BelizarkiSs is a story founded on no better authority than that of John Tzetzes, a ly- ing Greek poet in the twelfth century. The truth is, that Belisarius, being recalled into the East, and sent against the Persians aad Hunns, was at length accused of having been privy to a conspiracy against Justinian, and lost his estates and honours, as Theophanes and Cedrenus testify ; but the same authors add, that he recovered them again, and died in peace. Vigilius, from an ambitious intruder and mer- cenary schismatic, became afterwards a lawful Pope, by the ratification and consent of the Roman Church; and, having renounced the errors and commerce of the Acephali, he suffered much for his steadfast ad- herence to the orthodox faith. He died in the year 555. Upon his demise, Pelagius I. was raised to the Pontificate, which he held near five years. John III. surnamed Caielinus, was elected in the year 560, and governed the Church near thirteen years. Bene- dict 1. surnamed Bonosus^ was chosen in the year 574, and died in 578. His successor Pelagius II. sat in the chair of St. Peter upwards of eleven years, and died in the beginning of the great pestilence ia January 590. St. Gregory, surnamed the Great > one of the four principal doctors of the Latin Church, was raised to the Pontificate by the unanimous voice of the c;lergy ; senate, and Roman people, and consecrated; 226 HISTORY OF THE on the 3d of September, in the year 590^ though he had opposed his election with all his power, and concealed himself in the woods and caverns, till he was discovered, as Paul the deacon tells us, .by a pillar of light appearing over the place where he lay disguised. At the age of 35 years he took the monastic habit, and built and endowed the famous monastery of St. Andrew, on the hill Scaurus, with six other monasteries in Sicily. It is incredible how much he wrote and laboured during the thirteen years, six months, and ten days, that he sat in the «hair of St. Peter; what great things he achieved for the glory of God, the good of the Church, the reformation of manners, the edification of the faith- ful, the relief of the poor, the comfort of the afflict- ed, the establishment of ecclesiastical discipline, and the advancement of piety and religion ; especially if we consider the austerity of his life, his assiduity in prayer and holy contemplation, and his continual bad state of health and frequent sicknesses. In the beginning of his Pontificate he instituted the great Litanies, in order to avert an epidemical disorder that attacked the people of Rome after a great in- undation of the Tybcr. He took occasion from this calamity to exhort them to repentance. Having made a pathetic sermon on that subject, he appointed a solemn procession in seven companies, with a priest at the head of each, who were to march from differ- ent chinches, and all to meet in that of St. Mary Major, singing Kyrie Eteison as they went along the streets, until such time as the distemper ceased. The Litanies that are celebrated on the Rogation-days, were instituted by St. Mammertus, as has been al- ready observed, and were afterwards extended to the universal Church, by Leo 111. in the eighth century. St. Gregory's zeal for the glory of God, and the an- gelical function of paying him the constant tribute of praise in the Church, moved him to reform the Church music. He also revised and reformed the Ritual and Sacramentary, or ancient written order of the Mass, and made some accidental alterations and improvements in certain collects or prayers, the CHURCH OF CHRIST. 227 essential parts being always the same. Pope Gela- sius had thus augmented and revised the liturgy in the year 490, and the conformity between the pre- sent church office and this liturgy, as .well as all the other ancient liturgic writings, mentioned in the apostolic constitutions, and in the works of St. Igna- tius, St. Justin, St. Cyril of Jerusalem, St. Innocent, Celestine, Leo, &c. appears so evidently from the Sacramentary, Antiphonarium, and Responsorium of St. Gregory, that the four Magueburgians or Centuriators acknowledge that the Fathers of the second and third century taught the doctrine of the Mass. St. Gregory, Horn. 8. testifies that he said Mass thrice on Christmas day: and, 1. 4, dial. c. 55, he relates, that he ordered Mass to be daily offered for the soul of Justus, one of his Monks, during thirty days, and that after the Mass of the thirtieth day, he was released from the torments in which he had been. From this fact of St. Gregory, a trentai of masses for a soul departed are usually called the Gregorian Masses. The Benedictine edi- tion of this holy doctor's works, in four volumes, folio, is the most accurate. His four books of dia- logues, forty homilies on the Gospels, fourteen books of letters, and thirty-five books of moral comments upon Job, are very interesting compilations of the main principles of morality. His incomparable bookOw the Pastoral Care, contains excellent instruc- tions on the dangers, duties, and obligations of all pastors of souls who are exhorted and commanded by the councils frequently to read it, and in it, as in a looking-glass, to behold themselves. He preached his exposition of Kzechiel in twenty-two homilies, at the time that Rome was besieged, in the year 592. He subscribed himself in all his letters Ser- vant of the Servants of God. He was always a zealous asserter of the celibacy of the clergy, and extended his pastoral solicitude over all churches, frequently observing, that the care of the churches of the whole world was intrusted to St. Peter, and to his successors in the see of Rome, 1. 3. ep. 39. He declared that he received the four general 228 HISTORY OF TlIE councils as the four Gospels. The state of Christ- endom was at that time miserably distracted, arid stood in need of such a pastor as St. Gregory, whose extraordinary sanctity, abilities, and zeal, rendered liim equal to every great enterprise. The Eeastern churches were divided and shattered by the heretical factions of the Nestorians, and the'numerous spawn of the Eutychians, all which he repressed. The West was harassed by barbarians. A great part of Italy was become a pray to the Lombards, so called from their having long beards. They were ori- ginally a barbarous and idolatrous nation, from Scandinavia and Pomcrania, that broke into the North of Italy about the middle of the sixth cen- tury. They gradually extended their dominions under their King, Alboinus, and made themselves masters of the grand city of Milan in the year 568. In process of time they became so powerful that they besieged Rome itself; but St. Gregory engaged them, by entreaties, to retire into their own terri- tories, and by his zeal brought over their King, Agiluph, to the Catholic faith. The Lombard laws authorized duels, but only with a buckler and clubs : cumfustibus et cly/ieo. This execrable practice, of barbarous extraction, became more pernicious when more dangerous weapons were used, and it was usurped by private authority, though it is in itself the basest, as well as the most horrible and unna- tural crime, unknown to the Jews, Greeks, and Romans, and to all civilized nations, most renown- ed for true valour. Yet, alas ! since the challenge sent by Francis I. of France to the Emperor Charles V. whom he could no longer face with an army, as Spelman observes, duelling has been able, by maxims equally shocking to reason and religion, to pass for a test of coinage and a point of honour, by a false prostitution of those names. True for- titude incites and enables a man to bear all manner of affronts, and to undergo all humiliations, dan- gers, hardships, and torments, for the sake of vir- tue and duty. What is more contrary to this heroic disposition, what can 1)e imagined more dastardly GHtTRCH OF CHRIST. 229 than not to be able to much as to look humiliation in the face, or to put up with a petty affront ? What more inconsistent with the character of a Christian than to trample upon the favourite com- mandment of Christ, and offend against all laws, divine and human, rather than brook an injury, or bear a trifling offence with patience and constancy ! To forgive injuries, and to suffer with humility for Christ, is the distinguishing mark of his followers, and the very soul of the Divine Law. Nay, it is a glorious victory gained over ourselves, by which we vanquish our passions, and improve in our souls the habits of those divine virtues in which consists the spirit of Christ and the resemblance we are com- manded to bear to him. But to return to St Gregory, he reformed many grievous abuses in Gaul, whence he banished Simony, which had greatly infected that Church. It is to his zeal that the flourishing kingdom of the Angles, who were originally a Saxon people that invaded the south part of Great Britain and gave it their name, owes its conversion. Christianity had, indeed, been introduced into England in the second century, in the reign of King Lucius, but it was driven about two hundred years after into the mountains of Wales, by the Saxon Pagans, until St. Austin and his colleagues, St. Laurence, St. Mellitus, Bcc. were sent from R'jme, by Pope Gregory the Great, to re-establish the faith and law of Jesus Christ in that island, by their preach- ing and miracles, about five hundred years before the Norman Conquest. It was then they converted the English nation from Saxon Paganism, and bap- tized the kings Ethelbert and Sebert, with a great number of their subjects. Historians relate, that St. Austin entered the kingdom of Kent with forty companions, preceded by the Cross, and baptized no less than ten thousand persons at Canterbury on Christmas-day. It was about the middle of this century, in the year 55 3, that the fifth General Council was celebra- ted at Constantinople. It consisted of one hundred U 3S0 HISTORY OF THE and fifty-five bishops, who condemned certain writ- ings in favour of Nestorianism, called The Three Chapters ; together with the errors of Origen and his followers. St. Fulgentius, bishop of Ruspa, in the district of Tunis, was one of the principal Ecclesiastical wri- ters, who flourished in this century. He was born at Carthage, about thirty years after the Barbarians had dismembered Africa from the Roman Empire. In the twenty-second year of his age he embraced a monastic life, on having read a sermon of St. Augus- tine on bl 2 y-anhjF of the world and the short dura- tion of human life. When Thcodoric, king of Italy, made his first entry into Rome, towards the latter part of the year 500, Fulgentius, who came to offer up his prayers at the tomb of the Apostles, seeing him seated on an exalted throne, adorned with pompous state, •.surrounded by the senate and his courtiers, with all the grandeur of the city displayed in the greatest magnificence, cried out and said, "Ah, how bcau- <* tilul must the heavenly Jerusalem be, if earthly " Rome be so glorious 1 What honour, glory, and " joy will God bestow on the saints in heaven, M since here in this perishable life he clothes with " such splendour the lovers and admirers of va- c » nity I" In a short time after, having returned home, he built a spacious monastery in Byzacena, out of which he was forcibly taken, and consecra- ted bishop, in the year 503. Whilst he was zeal- qvu ly discharging his episcopal duties, orders were issued by King Trasamund for his banishment into Sardinia, with sixty other orthodox bishops. He wrote an ample confutation of Arianism, under the title of his Three Books to Sing Trasamund; with another book, entitled An Answer to Ten Objec- tions. His talen;s for preaching were singular. His sermons and homilies are usually short, but very pathetic : we have near a hundred still ex- tant th t bear his name. His letters arc remarkably pious and instructive. His other works are chiefly polemical against the Arians, Pelagians, and Ncstc- CHURCH OF CHRIST. 231 lians. After the death of Trasamund he returned to his flock, and %vas received with the greatest de- monstrations of joy. He always proposed to him- self St. Augustine for a model, and, as a true disci- ple, he imitated him in his conduct, faithfully ex- pounding his doctrine and imbibing his spirit. In his book On Faith to Peter, he explains the chief mysteries of faith, especially the Trinity, Incar- nation, sacrifice of the Altar, absolute necessity of the true Faith, sincere Repentance, and of living in the pale of the true Church. Many other illus- trious saints and apostolic men flourished in this age, particularly St. Ennodius, the learned bishop of Pavia; St. Gregory, bishop of Tours, eminent both for his piety and voluminous writings ; St Le- ander, bishop of Seville ; St. Maxcntius, abbot of Poitou ; St. Aurelius, archbishop of Aries ; St. Be- nedict> patriarch of the Western Monks ; St. Ger- manus, bishop of Paris ; St. Eulogius, patriarch of Constantinople ; St. John, distinguished by the ap- pellation of Climacus, from his excellent book enti- tled Climax, or the ladder to perfection ; St. Simon Stylites the Younger, whose sanctity God was pleased to manifest by a great number of miracles, to many of which Evagrius Scholastic us, the his* torian, declares he was an eye-witness ; St. Euge- irius, the renowned bishop of Carthage ; St. Sabbas, abbot; St. Gildas ; St. Dackrs, bishop of Milan ; St. Aritus, bishop of Vienne in Gaul ; St. Severi- nus, abbot of Agaunum ; St. Anastasius, patriarch of Antioch, and a prelate of singular learning and piety, who vigorously opposed the heresy of the Incorru/iticolic, which the Emperor Justinian main- tained in his dotage, declaring, by an edict, that Christ's body during his mortal state, was neve? liable to any alteration, or even natural passion, such as hunger, thirst, or pain. Anastasius wrote upon that subject with propriety, elegance, and choice of sentiments. Theodoras of Heraelea, Venantius, Fortunatus, Leontius, Prasilius Ciiix, Facundus, Primasius, and Ephsemius of Antioch, were in high reputation in this age. Dionysius 2^2 Hil STORY OF THE Exiguus, an abbot in Rome, is also highly com* mended for his learning and piety, by Cassiodorus, his contemporary. In his Paschal Cycle he first began to date the year from the birth of Christ, %thich epoch, called the Christian JEra, was every •where introduced, soon after the extinction of the Consulates, from which the dates had been usually taken before. Venerable Bede informs us, that in the year 565 Bridius, the powerful King of the Northern Picts, l converted from Idolatry to the faith of Christ, by the preaching, virtues, and miracles of St. Columb, one of the greatest patriarchs of the monastic order in Ireland. This illustrious saint was surnamed Columkille, from ihe great number of monastic cell9, called Kills, which he had founded in Ireland, before lie passed with his disciples from his native country into Scotland, and became the Apostle of the North- ern Britons and Highlanders. Ireland, which had been converted by St. Pa- trick in the fifth century from Heathenism toChris- aimtjrj abounded through the three buccet ding ages with so man? saints, eminent both for their piety and learning, that it was styled the Inland of Saints. Camden testifies that the English ked then to Ireland, as to the mart of sacred literature; Which was owing to the labours and apostolic lives sties, who were never known to abuse the great immunities and secular endow- ments conferred on them by the Irish Princes The learned Prideanx says, Ireland was celebrated for three hundred years after its conversion, as the emporium and prime scat of sacred learning in Christendom* It was filled with saints ; and the re- putation of its school . was so renowned, that stu- dents resorted to it from Britain, and many parts the continent, for their cultivation, and pro- lessors have been in\ited from hence by foreign princes to establish seminaries in their dominions. IMarianus Scotus says, in his Chronicle, that in the eighth century, two Irishmen gave birth to, and laid the foundation of, the two first universities in fa CtiTJRCH OF CHRIST* *33 world* namely, that of Paris and Pavia. From hence several apostolic men have gone with zeal to illuminate and convert heathens in South and North Britain, in Germany, in the Netherlands, in Burgundy, in France, Sec. The fervour with which the Irish first embraced the faith, did not abate for many ages. They established numerous congregations of religious men, eminent in all vir- tues. They founded cities in the midst of deserts, which they cleared and cultivated with their own hands. They erected monasteries in all parts of the island, which were so many nurseries of piety, where the Christian youth was instructed in the science of the saints, and in the literature that leads to it. The most numerous and most celebrated of these monas- teries was that of Benchor or Bangor, in the county of Down, founded about the year 550, by St. Congal, under whose direction a great number of fervent servants of God seemed to lead an angelic life in mortal flesh, employed in tillage or other manual la* hours, at the hours that could be spared from the duties of prayer, heavenly contemplation, and their sacred studies. It is said, that three thousand monks lived sometimes together in this abbey, before it was destroyed by Danish pirates, who massacred here nine hundred of them in one day. The build- ings lay in ruins, till they were repaired, in the twelfth century, by the care of St. Malachy, the Archbishop of Armagh, who rendered Benchor a flourishing seminary of learning and piety, though not so numerous as it had formerly been. The mo~ nastic institute received great lustre from the emi- nent sanctity and profound learning of St. Gallus 5 , and St. Columban, the disciple of St. Conga!. St. Gallus was born soon after the middle of the sixth century, and educated in the great monastery of Benchor. By his preaching, example, and miracles 5 , he converted a great number of Idolaters, near the; Lake of Constance, and is justly regarded as the; Apostle of that territory. Mabiilon places his death*, on the 10th of October, 646. V 28 234 HISTORY OF THE St. Columban was a native of Leinster, one ofc the four provinces of Ireland. He passed into Britain, and thence into Gaul, with twelve other monks, about the year 585. He preached with wonderful success tn all places through which he travelled, and the sanctity of his life added great weight to his instructions. His reputation reached the Court of Burgundy, under whose protection he erected different monasteries in Lorrain. Going; afterwards, with some of his disciples, into Swiu land, he preached the Gospel to the infidels near the lakes of Zurich and Constance. Thence in into Italy, where, meeting a kind reception fronn Agiluph, King of the Lombards, he built the fa- mous monastery of Bobio, in a desert, amidst the Appennine Mountains. The affair of the Three. Chapters (writings which were condemned in the East by the fifth Council at Constantinople, and by r'ope Vigilius, as favour! 5 \\ . riani&m) made at that time a great noise in Italy Several among the Lombards harboured mistaken prejudices in fa- vour of the Thrtt Chapters* and erroneously ima- gined, that by their condemnation the Council of Chalcedon was condemned. These and many other mistakes, about the transactions of the Orientals, and One (acts that passed at so great a distance, tally, as the greatest part of the "Westerns, for want of commerce, and through their c of the Greek tongue, were strangers to >.hc affaire of the East, except what they learned by ;ue, and often false reports. St. Columban com- ing into Lombardy, and being there informed about the debate of the Three Chapters, wrote a strong let- ter to Pope Boniface IV. in defence of them, at the so- licitation ot King Agiluph and Queen Theodoiinda, patrons, and persons of singular zeal and piety. From this letter it is evident, as Dr Cave observes, that St Columban was not rightly informed in the af- fair of the Three Chapters, and that he never joined the schismatics in Istria. but continued always invio- lably attached to the communion of the Roman see. Rivet shows, from this very letter, that he then cofl- CHURCH OF CHRIST, 235 formed to the Nicene Decree concerning the cele- bra ion of Easter, though he had applied twice to St, Gregory for leave to observe the custom he had learned in Ireland. Sixteen discourses which he had made to his monks, are published in the library of the Fathers. Speaking therein of the contempt of the world, he cries out, " O transitory life, how ma- £ ny hast thou deceived, seduced, and blinded I If I " consider the rapidity of thy flight, thou seemest " *iotning ; thy existence isjittle more than a shadow. 'i They who set their hearts on thee, know thee not i " they only understand thee, who despise thy enjoy- « ments. When thou showest thyself, thcu art Tillemont, Cre- vier, and other judicious writers, charge him with being the author of the dreadful conflagration that happened in the year 64, and raged for nine days with such violence, that out of th£ fourteen regions, or quarters, into which Rome was then divided, three were entirely laid in ashes, seven were mise- rably defaced, and only four entirely escaped the disaster. Ail the buildings beii.g burnt and thrown down, from the Great Circus at the foot of Mount Palatine, to the further end of the Esquilias, the cruel tyrant gained the space he wanted to enlarge life own palace. Accordingly, he rebuilt a palace 238 HISTORY OF THE of immense extent, and adorned it all over with gold, mother of pearl, precious stones, and whatever the wond afforded that was rich and curious, so that it was called the Golden Palace of Nero. Tertuilian observes, that it redounded to the honour of the Christian Religion that Nero, the most avowed ene- my to all virtue, was the first Roman emperor who declared against it in a bloody manner. To excul- pate himself, he charged the Christians with having yet fire to Rome, though, as Tacitus testifies, nobo- dy believed them guilty. Tacitus adds, that Nero inflicted the most cruel torments on them, and made a sport of their punishment, diverting the people with chariot races in his own gardens, whilst the innocent victims were devoured by dogs, or, be- smeared over with pitch and brimstone, were hung on crosses set in rows, and were burnt alive in the night, by way of torches. This horrid scene was only a prelude to the subsequent inhuman edicts and violent persecutions by which this tyrant, and many of the succeeding emperors, deluged the Roman Empire with Christian blood. They bent their whole power to the supporting of idolatry, and to the suppressing of the establishment of Christianity. Rome, the capital of their empire, and proud mis- tress of the world, was then the principal seat of Paganism, and the very centre and bulwark of su- perstition. It was the greatest enemy of Christ, and the chief instrument of Satan in opposing the pro- gress of the Gospel. It had provoked the indigna- tion of Heaven, by glutting itself with the innocent blood of the saints and servants of God. It had car- ried its superstition so far, as even to deify its im- pious emperors, to build temples to their memories, to raise statues, and offer incense to them. It had adopted all the heathenish gods of the countries it had subdued ; and, lest any unknown god should not receive due worship, it had built a temple dedicated to all the deities of Paganism, and called the Pan- theon, besides 402 other heathenish temples, which historians relate to have been erected in that city for similar purposes. Old Pagan Rome, therefore^ CHURCH OF CHRIST,. 2W came a victim of God's anger, and was justly doom- ed to drink the full cup of his wrath, even in the most conspicuous manner. He had formerly sent Njabuchodonozar as a scourge to execute his aveng- ing justice against Jerusalem, and Cyrus to destroy Babylon ; so, in like manner, he sent the instru- ments of his wrath, and executers of his justice, to destroy the great imperial city of Pagan Rome, which in the Apocalypse of St. John, is styled Ba- bylon, on account of the resemblance between it and ancient Babylon, as to the extent of its walls, and the excess of its haughtiness and cruelty in shedding the blood of the holy martyrs. It is of it we are to understand the following passage, Apoc. c. 17. De- part my people from Babylon, that is, from Pagan Rome, which God was delivering up to plunder, in punishment of its idolatry and other crying sins. In the year 4i0, Alaric took Rome, plundered it for three days, and burned it; verifying the prophecy of Daniel, c. 7. v. 11. where, speaking of the fourth beast that represented Rome with its empire, he says, / sazv that the beast was slain, and that its body was destroyed, and given to the fire to be burn- ed. The greatest part of the public edifices, mag- nificent temples, and theatres, triumphal arches, Egyptian obelisks, and the so much admired baths, were then destroyed. The august palace of the emperors, with all their rich furniture, shining or- naments, ostentatious pageantry, and pompous trains of equipage were consumed by flames, and buried m their own ashes. The country all around, which was filled with towns and numberless inhabitants, whilst Rome maintained her power, was laid waste ; the lands of Campania Romana were reduced to a desolate desert ; swarms of insects ruined the pro- duce and fruits of the earth ; the towns were razed to the ground ; the sea overswelied its boundaries, and swallowed up whole multitudes; earthquakes overthrew several places, and destroyed thousands, and many who survived these disasters were brought to such extremities of distress, that they 4iad not the necessaries of life, and were glad to feed 240 HISTORY OF THE on the most filthy things. The Pagans, on seeing* Rome and its empire scourged with so many visible judgments, renewed their blasphemies against the Christian Religion, and pretended that all the cala- mities that had fallen on their state, were punish- ments inflicted on them by their gods, for having permitted the growth of Christianity. To answer and refute their slanders, St. Augustine began his great work of The City of God, which he finished in the year 426. St. Cyprian also wrote a letter to Demetiianus, a magistrate of Carthage, to show that Pagan Rome and its empire had drawn down the in- dignation of the Supreme Ruler of empires, by shedding the innocent blood of the Saints, and that the evils that befel their state were real punish- ments, sent from the True God of Heaven and Earth for their cruel persecutions of the Christians. The wrath of Heaven was not yet appeased, nor was the Divine Justice fully satisfied ; for in the year 455, Rome was delivered again into the hands ofGenseric, King of the Vandals, who plundered it for the space of fourteen days together, and hav- ing set fire to it, returned with his army into Africa, carrying off an immense booty. Among other rich spoils, he carried away the gold and Corinthian brass, with which the Capitol was inlaid, and the sacred vessels of the Jewish Temple, which the emperor Titus had brought from Jerusalem to Rome. Again, in the year 47 6, Odoacer, having defeated Orestes, and pillaged Pavia, advanced to Rome, extinguished its imperial title and dignity, trampled its authority under foot, and parcelled out, among a set of barbarians, such morsels of the Roman provinces as they relished most — Odoacer being treacherously murdered in the year 493, Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, who set- tled in Italy, proclaimed himself King of all Italy, and having rebuilt the walls of Rome, fixed his residence at Verona. From,that time Italy remain- ed under the power of the Goths, till Delisarius and N arses, two experienced generals in the armies of Justinian the Great, having reduced the Gothic CHURCH OF CHRIST. 2Vi power to a low ebb, subdued a considerable part of their kingdom, and united Rome to the domi- nions of the Greek Emperors, who governed it by an exarch residing at Ravenna. Thus this un- happy city, which had been the admiration of all nations, and the queen of the world, was struck down from the pinnacle of power, tossed from hand to hand, and became a member of that empire, of which she had formerly been the head. However Totila, being chosen king of the Goths, found means to retrieve the declining state of their affairs, and to re-establish a flourishing kingdom in Italy* The arm of God being still lifted up against old idol- atrous Rome, ready to strike another blow, and to pour down a whole torrent of wrath upon her at once, Totila invested this unfortunate city, at the head of a numerous army, in the year 546. He blocked it up so closely, that it could receive no provisions, which occasioned a raging famine. At length, by the treachery of the centinels posted at one of the gatGS, Totila being admitted in the night* gave up the city to the pillage of his soldiers, who spent several days in plundering the inhabitants. Shocking were the barbarities committed by them : the walls and fortresses were thrown down ; the public monuments were demolished. Rome, in fine, was burnt, buried in its own ashes, and reduced into a solitude. " Totila," says the historian Pro- copius, 1. 3. " carried away with him all the inha- " bitants, without leaving one human creature u there, and in this condition the city remained de- " sert for above forty days." Thus was completed the final destruction of an- cient Rome. Thus have been accomplished the pre- dictions of St. John in the Apocalypse, respecting the downfal of the idolatrous emp ire of Babylon the> Great, and of the " Harlot who i s said to be clothed « with purple and scarlet, with gold, and precious " stones and pearls, and to be drunk with the blood " of the saints and of the martyrs of Jesus/' to denote the purpl e robes and pompous display of the Roman Emperors* and the abominations ot idolatry X 242 history of the •with which imperial Rome was pulluted, and (be blood of the Christian martyrs, with which she was stained. Thus in short has been verified the pro- phecy of Daniel, c. 2. v. 34. and 35. relative to 11 the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, c; which struck the statue upon the feet and broke (i them to pieces, and became a great mountain, and " filled the whole earth ;" for it is evident that by this stone is meant Christ our Lord, who overcame the mighty Empire of Rome, and threw down the great Colossus of pagan superstition and fortress of idolatry. He is the Lion of the Tribe of Juda, who crushed the many headed Hydra of Paganism, and overturned the throne which the powers of darkness had occupied so many ages, in ancient Rome. He is the founder and protector of his Church, and the avenger of the injuries done to her. All other kingdoms are to have an end, but the spiritual king- dom of his Church, being a work of divine con- struction, shall last for ever. All other kingdoms and empires are to give way to it. " All nations, " all people, tribes, and tongues, shall flock to it *'• from the extremities of the earth, and to the end a of the world." The heavy pressures the mem- bers of his Church laboured under in the reign of the Pagan Emperors of Rome, served but to purify them like gold in a furnace, and to make her rise up from the fire of persecution more bright and more vigorous. His disciples have always increased in number and strength, the more they were oppressed, as the Jews in Egypt had done under Pharaoh. The very barbarians, who have concurred in the subver- sion of Pagan Rome, helped to fill the Church of Christ both in the East and West, as if the Provi- dence of God) who is master of the human mind, and who can call to the orthodox faith whom he pleases, had permitted their irruptions into the Ro- man provinces with a view to effect their happy con- version, as Orosius remarks. In effect, they gra- dually renounced their superstitious errors, and from Pagans became civilized Christians, obedient •.o the laws of the Gospel, From the very ashes of CHURCH OF CHRIST. 243 old idolatrous Rome, emerged and rose up like a phoenix, a new Christian Rome, privileged with the dignity of being an holy Christian city, and the head and source of spiritual jurisdiction. She has not, indeed, recovered her former temporal domi- nion, splendour, and riches, but she has extended her spiritual conquests, even amidst civil depression, to regions, which her arms never subdued, and has derived from the rays of the Gospel, the splendour of being the centre of unity in divine worship and reli- gion, and the residence of the vicar of Jesus Christ. She has defeated the assails pf Satan, in the very place where he had erected his throne- She has ascended the throne of the persecuting ty-_ rants, trampled upon idolatry, and triumphed over all the false deities of the Heathens in their own. principal temple, the Pantheon, which was converted into a Christian Church, by Boniface IV. and dedi-. cated to the worship of the true God, in the year 607. This curious monument of ancient magnifi- cence is still extant. It is a master-piece of archi- tecture, has neither pillar nor window, but one large round aperture in the middle at the top, which lets in the light, and underneath in the middle of the, floor an orifice of a sink, covered with a concave brass plate, bored with many holes, to receive the rain that may happen to fall in through the aperture at the top. This amazing edifice is a perfect hemis- phere or half globe, its height being almost equal to its breadth. The diameter is 158 feet. The porch is majestic, though somewhat lower than the square where is stands. It is supported by a beauti- ful colonnade of sixteen grand pillars of Oriental granite, and was formely covered with gilt bronze. The nitches were likewise decorated with several elegant bronze statues of Augustus, M. Agrippa,- Mars, and other Pagan deities, which Genseric is said to have carried away with him into Africa? 244 history ogr the CHAPTER XXI. The Church of the Seventh Century. THE apostolic see was filled in this age by Sab*i* aian, the immediate successor of St. Gregory the Great. Sabinian dying in the seventh year of his pontificate, was succeeded by Boniface 111. who sat eight months, twenty-three days, and died in the year 607. Upon his demise, Boniface IV. was chosen and *at till the year 615. Deusdedit, a man of eminent santtity, was raised then to the pontifical chair, which he held till November, 618. After him, Boniface V. was elected, and governed ihe Church almost six years. He was succeeded fcy Honorius I. who, after a government of thir- teen years, departed this life on the \ 2th of October, 338. His successor, Severinus, died on the 1st of August, 640. John IV. being chosen after him, died on the twenty-first month of his pontificate. Theodorus I. was then placed in the pontifical • hair, and held it till the 20th of April, 649. St. Martin succeeded Theodorus in the apostolic see, and, after suffering all kind of injuries with the most heroic fortitude, died in exile on tlte 2 1st of September, 655. St. Eugenius I. was then elected, and filled the pontifical sec near two years. His successor, St. Vitalianus, sat upwards of fourteen years. On his demise, in the year 672, Adeodatus %vas raised to the pontificate, and held it till the 36th of June, 676. His successor, Donus, or Dornnus I. died in the year 678. St. Agatho suc- ceeded him, and died in the year 682. St. Leo II. i/iicceeded Agatho, and departed this life in 683. After a vacancy of almost a year, St. Benedict II. was chosen, and, having governed the Church ten months, died on the 7th of May, 685. John V. who succeeded him, died in the beginning of August, 686. He was succeeded by Conon and Sergius 1. The former died in the year 687, the latter on the 7th of September, 701. According to the discipline of those times, the aforesaid pontiffs were chosen by the clergy and people of Rpme, and as the CtiURCrl OF CHRIST, 24 J. Christian emperors were the head of the people^ their consent was required, which often occasioned long delays, and considerable vacancies in the holy- see, till the return of the messengers who were sent to the East where the emperors resided, to consult them upon the election of a new pontiff. The peace of the Church was greatly disturbed in this age, by the heresy of the Monothelites, which was broached as an expedient whereby to compound with the Eutychians. It had gained ad- mission at the court, and triumphed on the imperial throne. It was chiefly broached and supported by Theodorus, bishop of Pharan in Arabia ; Cyrus, bishop of Phasis in Colchis ; Sergius, bishop of Constantinople, and by his successors, Pyrrhus and Paul. It made great havoc in some of the principal sees of the East, whilst it was powerfully opposed by the whole Latin Church, and by a considerable; part of the Greek Church. This heresy was Demi- Eutychianism, and was called Monothelism, because it admitted but one will in Jesus Christ, compound- ed of the human and divine, which was called The- andric, though its abettors received the council oj: Chalcedon, and acknowledged two natures in Christ, the divine and human. But this was a glaring in- consistency ; because the will is the property of the nature, and Christ being God and man at the same time, the divine and human natures must have their respective powers of volition. Moreover, Christ sometimes speaks in the Gospel of his human will distinct from the divine, as in his prayer at the time of his agony in the garden. Sergius had the arti- fice to impose for a while on Pope Honorius, by a letter full of craft, dissimulation, and falsehood. He persuaded him by captious expressions, to tolerates silence on the question of one or two wrlls in Christ, in order to prevent disturbances and scandal among the ignorant, who might be shocked if the question of two operations was to be agitated. It is however evident/ from the most authentic monuments, that Honorius never assented to the error of the Mono- thelites, but always adhered to the truth, and heiti x a 246 HISTORY OF THE with St. Leo, and the Catholic Church, the doctrine of two wills in Jesus Christ, and that he only denied that there were in Christ, as in us sinners, two wills, contrary and opposite to one another, that of the flesh, and that of the spirit, that is to say, a will of concupiscence, which revolts against the spirit. Ho- norius was undoubtedly wrong in agreeing for some time to be silent on the article in question,because this indiscreet ill-timed silence, though not so designed, might be deemed by some a kind of connivance. He should have been more active in extinguishing the error in its first rise, when the sparks appeared ; for a rising heresy seeks to carry on its work under ground without noise, it being a fire which gradual- ly spreads itself under cover. The emperor Hera- clius adopted Monothelism, whereby he tarnished the glory he had acquired by 1 is bravery and virtue. He began with commanding silence touch- ing one or two operations in Christ, and afterwards,, in the year 639, published an edict called Ect/iesis, or the Exposition, which was drawn up by Sergius, I condemned in a council at Rome by John IV. The< imperial edict published by his grandson, Con- stantius, Ln the year 648, and imposing silence in the point controverted, called the Tyfiuw% or the J>"or77iulari/, was likewise condemned by Pope Theo- dore, in a council held in the church of St. Peter. The holy Pope St. Martin also held a council of 105 bishops in the Lateran Church, wherein he censured the Ecthesis of Hcraclius, and the Tyfxua of Constantius, and solemnly condemned Sergius, Pyrrhus, and Paul, the ringleaders of the Mono- thelite sect. The Ectha>is was censured because it was entirely favourable to the Monothelites, and the Formulary^ because it imposed silence, and for- bid to mention either one or two operations in Christ. * The Lord," said the Lateran Fathers, " hath com- " manded us to shun evil and do good : but not to " reject the good with the evil : we are not to deny " at the same time both truth and error " The em- peror Constantius was so much exasperated hereat, tbat he sent OJyrapiu* first, and then Calliopas, in CHURCH O* CHRIST* 247 quality of exarch, into Italy, with an order either to cause Martin to be massacred, or sent prisoner into the East. Martin being at length seized at midnight, was carried in a boat down the Tiber to Porto, where he was put on board a vessel to be conveyed to Con- stantinople. It is almost incredible with what bar- barity he was treated: being stripped of his sacer- dotal pallium, he was chained with an iron collar about his neck, and confined to a dreary dungeon at Chersonesus, where he endured the greatest hard- ships with heroic patience, until he resigned his soul into the hands of the Lord. The Monothelite heresy was at length effectually suppressed, and solemnly condemned in the year 680, by the sixth General Council, and third of Constantinople, in the reign of the pious emperor Constantine Pogonatus. This council consisted of 166 bishops, or, according to the annals of the Greeks, of 289. St. Agatho presided thereat by his legates. With a view of adding a supplement of new canons to those of the fifth and sixth general councils, two hundred and eleven bishops of the Greek Church held the council, called Quinisext) in an hall in the imperial palace at Constantinople, named Trullus, in the year 692, which laid a founda- tion of certain differences in discipline between the Eastern and Western Churches. The orthodox faith shone in this age with the highest glory and lustre, in the zeal, sufferings, and death of St. Maximus, surnamed, by the Greeks, Ilomologetes, or confessor. He held a public con- ference with Pyrrhus, the Monothelite, at Carthage, in the year 645, and by force of his arguments oblig- ed him to retract all he had done or taught against the faith, but the dissembler soon relapsed into his errors. The writings of St. Maximus are printed in two volumes in folio, and consist of mystic or al- legorical commentaries on the Scripture ; of com- mentaries on the works attributed to St. Denis the Areopagite ; of polemic treatises against the Mono- thelites; excellent ascetic discourses, letters, and spiritual maxims, principally on charity. The Mo- 248 HISTORY OF THE nothelites found also a formidable adversary in St. Sophronius, patriarch of Jerusalem, who explained the Catholic faith in an excellent synodal letter, which was confirmed by the sixth General Council. His sermons breathe an affecting piety. In a ser- mon on the exaltation of the cross, he mentions the custom of taking the cross out of its case at mid- lent to be venerated. He deplored the abomination of desolation set up by the Mahometans in the holy place. Before his promotion to the Patriarchate, he lived twenty years near Jerusalem, under the direc- tion of John Moschus, the holy hermit, who wrote the Spiritual Meadow, wherein he gives an account of the edifying examples of virtue which he had seen or heard, when he visited the monasteries of Egypt, St. Anastasius, the Sinaite, flourished likewise in this age, and confuted the errors of the Eutychians and Acephali, by an excellent work entitled Odegus, or, the Guide. He wrote several ascetie works, full of piety and devotion. In his discourse on the Synaxis or mass, he uvges the duties of confession to a priest, respect at mass, and pardon of injuries, in so pathetic a manner, that Canisius and Cam- besis recommend this piece to the diligent perusal of all preachers. St. Isidore, archbishop of Seville, to extend to posterity the advantages which his apostolical labours hud procured to the Church, compiled many useful works, wherein he takes in the whole circle of the sciences, and discovers a most extensive reading, and a general acquaintance with the ancient writers, both sacred and profane. He died in the year 636. The most famous of his works are twenty books of Etymologies, or, Origins, in which he lays down the principles of the different sciences. His three books of the Sentences, or on the summutn bonum, are a summary of theology. In his two books on the Di- vine or Ecclesiastical Offices, he explains the cano- nical hours, ceremonies, feasts, and fasts of the Church. His monastic rule resembles that of St. Bennet : In it he orders mass to be said for every deceased brother, and on Monday in Whits un week for all the faithful departed. CHURCH Off CHRlb?iV 249 St. Omer, or Audomarus, bhhop of Tarvanne, in *Belgic Gaul ; St. Ouen, or Audoen, archbishop of Rouen ; St. John the Almoner, patriarch of Alex- andria, &c. lived in this age. The other principal fathers, saints, and ecclesiastical writers of this cen- tury, were St. lldephonse and St. Julian, archbishops of Toledo; St. Braulio, bishop of Saragossa ; St* Rupert, bishop of Saltzbourg, and apostle of the Ba- varians and Bohemians ; St. Cuthbert, bishop of Lindisfarne ; St. Theodorus, of Siceon in Galatia ; it. Anastasius I patriarch of Antiochia; St. Aid- helm, bishop of bherburn ; St. Theodard and St* Lambert, bishops of Maestricht ; St. Kiiian* who, eommissioned by Pope Conon, preached the Gospel in Franconia, with amazing success ; St. Eligius f apostle of the Flemings and Western Saxons; St. Columba, who converted the Swedes ; St. Rumold, apostle of Mechlin ; St. Livin, of Ghent; St. Wil- librord, consecrated by Pope Sergius, first bishop of Utrecht, in the year 696; St. Swidbert, and many •ther apostolic and learned men, to whose indefati- gable zeal, preaching, and illustrious miracles, Frise- land, Brabant, Holland, Guelders, Cleves, and other parts of Lower Germany, are indebted for their Christianity Alford and Cressy relate, that it was about the close of this century that the pious virgin St. Wene- fride suffered Martyrdom at Holy-Well, in North Wales. The wonderful spring at this place, is in itself far more remarkable than the celebrated foun- tain of Vaueluse, five leagues from Avignon, fa- mous for the retreat of Petrarch the poet, or that of La Source, two leagues from Orleans, where Lord Bolingbroke built himself a house, these being no more than subterraneous rivers; but at St. Wene- fride's well such vast quantities of water spring con- tinually without intermission or variation, that above twenty-six tons are raised every minute, for if the water be let out, the basin and well, which contain at least 240 tons, are filled in less than ten Mi- nutes. 250 HISTORY OF THE CHAPTER XXII. The rise and firogress of Mohometanism* WHILST the Church, brilliant as the rainbow in all its glovy, was shooting her rays of brightness on every side through the clouds that surrounded her; whilst the apostolic labours of her pastors and doc- tors were crowned with the most amazing success in the different nations, which, like so many frag- ments, had been torn from the body of the western empire, the Arabians and Saracens, by their incur- sions, were spreading alarms through all the East> and carried their insults to the very gates of Con- stantinople. The Greeks, exhausted by the wars they had supported in the West, and in the East against the Persians, were constantly overthrown and defeated by the barbarians, who spread themselves like a torrent over the empire, and overturned every thing that opposed their passage. The Emperor Heraclius, astonished at their victories, and demand- ing one day in council what could bt* the cause, a grave person of the assembly stood up and said, M It " is because the Greeks have dishonoured the sanc- * tity of their profession, and no longer retain the 44 doctrine taught by Jesus Christ and his disciples. " They insult and oppress one another, live in en- r sultans, (a word that signifies the king of kings,) as they were then called, aided by different tribes of Tartars or Turks, that issued from the Northern countries above the Caspian Sea, made irruptions into the Asiatic provinces of the Greek empire, and having settled in that tract of Asia, now known by the name of Georgia, and Tur- comania, made peace with the Saracens, and em- braced the Mahometan religion. Upon the death of Aladin, sultan of Iconium, in Lesser Asia, Othman, the Arabian Sultan, obtained the sovereignty of this 254 HISTORY OP THE country, and laid the foundation of the vast empire of the Turks, which from his name is called the Ottoman Porte. The empire of the Saracens be- ing thus swallowed up, the succeeding Turkish sul- tans, inheriting the warlike spirit of Othman their founder, subdued in process of time the greatest part of the provinces of the Eastern empire, and reduced the Greeks to such straits, that nothing seemed left to be conquered but the imperial city •of Constantinople. But Tamerlane, the founder of <> great empire in Tartary, a generous and valiant prince, to defend the Grecian empire against the encroachments of the Turks, fell upon them, and having defeated them near the banks of the Euphra- tes, took their sultan Bajazet, and kept him prisoner in an iron cage. Notwithstanding this check, the Turks afterwards continued their conquests over "both the Saracens and the Greeks, till they at length "became masters both of Constantinople and Tre- bisond. Such has been the rise and amazing growth of Mahometanism. It has been permitted, through God's inscrutable judgments, to overspread those regions which had enriched the Church with the Ignatiuses, the Polycarps, the Basiis, the Ephrems, the Chrysostoms, the Augustines, the Cyprians, the Jeromes, and Gregories. Palestine, which after having been for above fourteen hundred years God's chosen inheritance under the Old Law, was sancti- fied by the presence, labours, and sufferings of Christ, gave birth to his Church, and was watered •with the blood of innumerable glorious martyrs, has thus fallen a prey to the most impious and gress su- perstition. Greece, so famous in history, once the seminary of learning, the nursery of piety, and the fertile parent of legions of eminent saints, and Egypt, heretofore renowned for eighteen thousand cities, and said to be inhabited by twenty-seven mil- lions of Christians, now, alas ! groan under the Tur- kish yoke, and are buried in the darkness of infideli- ty. So many flourishing churches in the East, planted by the labours of the Apostles, have been abandoned to Barbarians, and treated like the vine- CHURCH OF CHRIST. 255 yard, mentioned in the 5th c. of Isaiah, which was at length abandoned, and the time of forbearance- being expired, was delivered up to be plundered and trodden under foot, like a desert. This, indeed, is a dreadful instance of the justice of God, who, for his own wise reasons, sometimes withdraws the gift of faith from one nation to give it to another, and who, when provoked by the crying sins of his people, employs their very enemies as a scourge to punish them. However, in proportion as the light of the Gospel was weakened in the East, by the con- quests of the Mahometans, it darted its beams to- wards the West and the North, and the flambeau of faith, like unto the Sun in the Heavens, began im- mediately to enlighten one country on quitting an- other. By this economy, which is usually observed in the course of Divine Providence, the Church continues always Catholic^ as she gains in one plae* what she loses in another. CHAPTER XXIII. The Church of the Eighth Century. AMIDST the scandals, schisms, and heresies, that assaulted the Church at different times, the providence of God never failed to raise up zealous pastors and apostolic men, filled with his Holy Sp:« rit, and qualified to instruct his people, and defend the purity of the orthodox faith. The prophet Isaiah foretold this constant, and perpetual succes- sion of pastom and teachers in the Church of Christ, when he said : " Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, I " have appointed watchmen, all the day and all the " night, they shall never hold their peace." The chief pastors of the Church in the eighth century, were John VI. who filled the pontifical chair from the close of the year 70 J, till the 9th of January, 705. John VII. who sat near three years, Sisin- nius twenty days, Constantine about seven years ? St. Gregory II. upwards of fifteen years, St. Gre- gory III. about ten years, St. Zachary ten years, S57 HISTORY OF TI1J3 Stephen II. three days, Stephen III. five years, Paul I. ten years, Stephen IV. about four years, Adrian I. renowned for his piety and erudition, about twenty^ four years, and Leo III. about twenty years. The succession of saints and ecclesiastical writers was kept up by St. John Damascene, St. Paulinus of Aquileia, St. Germanus, St. Tarasius, Venerable Bede, St. Lullus, archbishop of Mentz, St. Burkard, first bishop of Wurzburg, in Franconia, St. Hidul- phus, archbishop of Triers, St. Rumold, bishop of Dublin, who was crowned with martyrdom at Mechlin in Brabant, in the year 755, St. Hubert, bishop of Liege, St. Boniface, St. Adelbert, St. Lebwin, St. Willibald, St. Marchlem, St. Eoaban, St. Wigbert, St. Werenfrid, St. Waiburga, St. Wit- la, St. Tecla, St. Sola, St. Virgilius, St. Egburt, Al- cuin, Theodolphus, of Orleans, Elias, of Crete, FI,o- rus, of Leodicea, Fredegardius, Isidorus, PaulUs, "and several others, who by their eminent sanctity, learning, and miracles, served to stem the torrent of barbarism and ferocity, which every where followed the arms of the Saracens. The conduct of Christ towards his Church, which he planted at the pries of his blood, cannot be con- sidered attentively without admiring the adorable counsels of his tender Providence. This Church, so dear to him, and so precious in his eyes, never was, never is, never will be, without some persecu- tion, either open or hidden, either general or par> ticular. He formed and spread it from the very be- ginning undermost severe and dreadful persecutions, lie exposed it in every age to frequent violent storms, and seems to delight in always holding at least some part or other of it in the fiery crucible. But the days of its severest trials have been those of its most glorious triumphs. Then it shone, above all other periods of time, with the brightest examples of sanctity, and formed in its bosom the most illustrious heroes of all perfect virtue. There is not an arti- cle of her faith but has been attacked by the fals^ reasonings of unbelievers, and the experience of pastuges shows, that some Christian emperors have CHURCH OF CHRIST. 257 been no less inimical to her than the Pagan emperors of Rome, and that the persecutions which sprung from heresies were never more violent than after the ten general persecutions had ceased. The divinity of Jesus Christ, the incarnation, his grace, his sa- craments, in fine, all the dogmas of faith have be- come from time to time the subject of different he- retical errors, and have given occasion to fatal divisions and altercations. But these heretical errors could never prevail, though they were supported by a Constantius, a Valens, Sec. who had no more power to alter or corrupt the faith, than Nero and Dioclesian had to hinder it from being established. The Church, which saw so many heresies rise, saw them all vanish out of sight, one after the other, and can point out their authors and first cause, the time and place of their origin, with their progress and downfal. She has always been extremely- watchful and attentive to discover the tares that grew up among the wheat, and zealous in opposing the growth of every heresy, however obscure or spe- culative, at its first appearance. The errors of Tertuilian, Origen, Lactantius Arnobius, Cassian, and of the holy bishop St. Cyprian, could not escape her watchful eye, notwithstanding the reputation of their wit and learning, and the high esteem their orthodox writings are justly held in by all men of letters. Ail this could not save their errors from being combated and condemned. So careful is the Church of every age to adhere closely to the purity of the primitive faith, and to hand it down to pos- terity precisely as she received it from the Apostles, without overlooking the smallest innovation, or suf- fering the slightest deviation from it. It is evident from the genuine histories of her councils, and from the writings of the holy Fathers, that she always laid it down as an invariable rule and principle, not to depart one single iota from the ancient faith, but to adhere firmly to the doctrine received from the preceding generation, and to convey it pure and undeiiled to the succeeding generation, without any, even the fcast addition or diminution. By this Y 2 2i5 HISTORY OF THS means, it becomes impossible that her faith should ever be altered or corrupted. Her discipline may, indeed, vary, according to the circumstances of time and place, but her doctrine of faith is always the same, and will always be the same to the end of the world ; for if the Church of the second century, for example, believed nothing as revealed truths, but what she received from Christ and his Apostles in the first century, it is manifest that the faith of the first and second century was perfectly the same. And it' the Church of the second century delivered the same entire and uncorrupted to the Church of the third century, then the faith of the third century must infallibly be the same with the faith of the two preceding centuries, and the same must necessarily be the case with every succeeding century to the present, and will be throughout all ages. Moreover, the promised assistance of the Holy Ghost to teach the Church all truth, and to abide with her for ever, puts this matter beyond the possibility of any doubt, for he guides the great body of the pastors of his Church into his truth through all ages, not indeed by continual successive inspirations, but by directing and assisting them by his all-wise and all-powerful protection, in discharging the oince of teaching all nations, without any danger of leading them astray. Hence it is, that the Church cannot be deceived in any point of faith, for though individuals, whereof she is composed, are fallible, and liable to errors, yet the whole body of the Church is infallible, this infallibility not being grounded on the holiness, wit, or learning of fallible men, nor depending on the personal merits, or natural qualifications of any as- sembly of men, but being derived from the assurance of God's unerring word, and owing to the sacred in- fluences and infallible direction of the Holy Ghost. The Church being thus placed under the protec- tion of Heaven, and the guidance of the Holy Ghost, had already weathered out many violent storms, and triumphed over several formidable heresies, which had taken their rise in the East. Another dreadful storm was raised against her in the eighth century CHURCH OP CHRIST. 259 by the Iconoclasts, or Image-breakers, who made their appearance in the year 726. The heresy of these fanatics was the more dangerous, as it had the em- peror Leo the Isaurian for its author, and was warm- ly supported by his son and successor Constantino Copronymus, and by his grandson Leo, surnamed Chazarus. The Isaurian, though ignorant of the elements of the Christian doctrine, had the vanity to commence reformer of religion, and become chief- tain of this new sect. By an imperial edict which he published, he ordered the sacred images and pic- tures of Christ, of the Blessed Virgin, and of the Saints, to be taken out of the churches, and to be broken and burnt in the public streets of Constanti- nople, to the great scandal of the faithful, who mur- mured and complained loudly, on seeing Christ and his S:tints thus dishonoured in effigy. The statues of the Emperor were, on this occasion, overthrown in several places, and when he complained that his person was thereby affronted, he was reproached with offering a similar affront to Jesus Christ and his Saints, and told that by his own confession the indignity offered to the images reflected upon the original. But the Emperor, being infatuated by certain Jews, who had gained an ascendant over him, by pretended astrological predictions, endeavoured to establish his heresy by bloodshed and violence. Deaf to the remonstrances, tears, and entreaties of the or- thodox bishop's of the East, and of Gregory II. the tyrant sent orders to several of his officers to kill the holy Pope, though he strenuously maintained the people of Italy in their allegiance to their prince, and pacified the mutineers in the West, as Anasta- sius assures us, whilst he signalized his zeal in op- posing every innovation in the faith, and in settling^ a reformation in manners, during the fifteen years, eight months, and twenty -three days that he held the pontificate Constantine Copronymus carried on for twenty years the sacrilegious war which his father Leo had begun against holy images. In the year 754j he caused a pretended council of 333 Iconoclast 260 HISTORY OF THE bishops to meet at Constantinople, and to condemn the use of holy images, as a remnant of idolatry. In all parts of the empire he persecuted the Catholics, to compel them to subscribe to his decree, and those who refused to consent to his impiety, were treated with the utmost severity. The eyes of several were pulled out, their noses were cut off, they were cruel- ly scourged, beheaded, or cast into the sea. Copro- nymus levelled his malice chiefly against the monks, and sent a body of armed men to burn down the fa- mous monastery of Mount S. Auxentius, near Chai- cedon, to the very foundation, and to disperse all the monks, because they would not come into his mea- sures. In particular he persecuted St. Stephen the abbot, and employed several stratagems to draw him into a snare, knowing that the reputation of his sanc- tity and miracles multiplied the defenders of holy images. But all his efforts to shake the Saint's constancy proving ineffectual, St. Stephen was taken into cus- tody, loaded with irons, and presented for examina- tion before the Emperor, who asked him, whether •he believed that men trampled on Christ, by tramp- ling on his image ? " God forbid," replied St. Ste- phen. Then taking a piece of the Emperor's coin in his hand, he asked what treatment he should de- serve who should stamp upon that image of the Em- peror ? The assembly crying cut, that he should be severely punished, " Is it then," said the saint, u so ;; great a crime to insult the image of the Emperor " of the Earth, and none to cast into the fire the k< image of the King of Heaven 2* The Emperor, confounded and transported with rage, commanded that he should be beheaded, but recalled nee before Stephen reached the place of execution, re- solving to reserve him for a more cruel death. After some deliberation, he sent an order, that he shot; Id be scourged to death in prison, but the execution leaving the work imperfect, the holy maityr was shortly after dragged through the streets, with his feet tied with cords, and his brains were dashed out with staves and clubs, a r j Cedrenus and Theopfianes inform us. CHURCH OF CHRIST. 26* Leo IV. who continued the persecution that had "been raised by his father and grandfather, dying miserably, in the year 780, after a five years' reign, and having left his son Constantine, but ten years old, under the guardianship of the Empress Irene, his wife, a stop was put by her to the persecution of the Catholics, Irene was always privately a Ca- tholic, though an artful ambitious woman, and she so managed the nobility in her favour, as to get the regency and the whole government cf the state into her hands. Having dethroned her son Constantine, ahe caused his eyes to be plucked out with some vio- lence, that he died of his wounds in 797. Irene reigned five years alone, after which she at length met with the deserved reward of her ambition and cruelty ; for in the year 802, she was deposed by Nicephorus, her chief treasurer, and banished into a monastery in the Isle of Lesbos, where she died in close confinement in 803. Nicephorus assumed the Imperial diadem on the last day of October, 802. He was one of the most treacherous and perfidious of men, dissimulation being his chief talent, and it was accompanied with the basest cruelty against all whom he suspected to be his enemies, as Theophanes tells us. He was a fast friend to the Manichees, or Paulicians, and was fond of their oracles and super- stitions to a degre of phrensy. He grievously op- pressed the Catholic Bishops and monasteries, and when remonstrances were made to him, his answer was, My heartM hardened : Never expect any thing but what you see from Nicefihorus. When he was setting out in May, 8 1 1, to invade Bulgaria, St. Theo- dorus the Studite reproved him for his impiety, ex- horted him to repent, and foretold that he never would return from that expedition. But regardless of the salutary counsel given him, he entered Bul- garia with a superior force, and refused all terms which Crummius, king of the Bulgarians, offered him. The barbarian being driven to despair, came upon him by surprise, attacked and slew him in his tent on the 25th of July, 811, and caused a drinking eup to be made of the Emperor's head, to be used 262 HISTORY OF THE on solemn festivals, according to the custom of the ancient Scythians. The flower of the Christian army perished in this battle. Great numbers were made prisoners, and many of these were tortured, hanged, beheaded, or shot to death with arrows, rather than consent to renounce their faith, as the Pagan Bulgarians required. Whilst the Iconoclasts were disturbing the peace of the Church, Paul, patriarch of Constantinople, the third of that name, being touched with remorse for his condescension in some respects to the then reigning heresy, quilted the patriarchal see in order to end his days in a monastery, and repair the scandal he had given. St. Tarasius was therefore chosen patriarch by the unanimous consent of the court, the clergy, and the people. Finding it in vain to oppose his election, he was solemnly consecrated on, Christmas Day. He declared, however, that he could not in conscience accept of the government of a see which had been cut off from the Catholic com- munion, but on condition that a general council should be called to compose the disputes which di- vided the faithful at that time, in relation to holy- images. This being agreed to, St. Tarasius wrote to Pope Adrian on the subject of a general council, begging that he would either come in person, or send his legates for this purpose to Constantinople. In consequence hereof, the seventh general council was opened on the first day of August, in th# Church of the Apostles, at Constantinople, in the year 786, but being disturbed by the violence and tumults of the Iconoclasts, it met again the year fol- lowing, in the famous church of St. Sophia, at Nice. It consisted of 350 bishops, besides many learned abbots, and other holy priests and confessors, who condemned the sham council held under Coprony- mus, as wanting all the conditions necessary to a general council, and extinguished the sanguinary heresy of the Iconoclasts, until it was revived in the sixteenth century. The Fathers thus assembled refuted all their ob- jections as to every article. They produced the CHURCH or CHRIST. 263 testimonies of the Scriptures, and the constant tra- dition of the Church in all ages, in favour of the relative honour due to holy images. They declar- ed, that images ought to be set up in churches, as well as crosses, because the oftener people behold holy images or pictures, the oftener they are excited to the remembrance of what they represent ; that those images are to be honoured, but not with the worship called Latria, which can only be given to God ; that the honour paid to images passes to the archetypes, or things represented, and he who reveres the image, reveres the person it repre- sents. This is what the faithful are taught in the first rudiments of their catechism, and it was to in- culcate the same doctrine that, as Mr. Weever, a learned Protestant writer, in his discourse on funeral monuments, p. 117, testifies, these Latin verses were formerly written under the pictures of Christ in all abbey churches in England, before the disso- lution. " JEffigiem Chris ti dum transis, semper honor a. u Non tamen effigiem, sed quern designate adora. u Nam deus est quern imago docet, sed non Deus ifisa : a and the far as r.he boui I Gaul, were fcrr. estate oft'; Jt vrere - Lomb bi -cad fire in the time ory II. finding ther ibso- and being refused l : G reel E m - perors, took up arms in defence of their property, and chose in many places leaders ihem- -ugh the Pope exhorted them e r not to revolt against their lawful princes, but m ain in t h - nee and fide I e m - Stephen IJ. .red the succours and !.:: : : : c: : C: -:.%.:. : .: A-v \ yards. Whereupor . and in the name of the Roman people, who pon the popes as their fat. ::uar- . he sought that protection from Pepin Ki a, which the Greek Emperor had refi Pep:: nbassadors : :o I llphus would restore what he had taken the Church of Rome, and repair the damages he in Italy. Astulphus refusing tc with these conditions, 1 Italy, defeated the Lombards, and took As '. - = Hier in ?..v:.-. b s. his kingdom on condition he should live in a Pope Immediately after E depar- ture, Astulphus perfidiously broke his treaty. d took again, wh to ret into Italy, where ha capturec A:, him v A 276 HISTORY OF/Tfi£' death, if he ever again took up arms against the Ro- mans, he once more restored him his kingdom, tak- ing from him the exarchate of Ravenna, which he gave to the Apostolic see, upon a principle laid down by Puffendorf, Grotius, Fontanini, and others, and founded upon the law of nations, that he who conquers a country in a just war, no ways under- taken for the former possessors, nor in alliance with them, is not bound to restore to them what they would not, or could not protect or defend. Hence, when the ambassadors of the Greek Emperor de- manded of Pepin the restitution of the countries he had conquered from the Lombards, that Prince an- swered, that as he had exposed himself to the dan- gers of war merely for the protection of St. Peter's see, not in favour of any person, he never would suffer the Apostolic Church to be deprived of what he had bestowed on it. Thomassin observes very justly, that Pepin could not give away dominions, which belonged to the Emperors of Constantinople ; but if he had conquered the Goths of Italy, or the Vandals in Africa, before Justinian had recovered those dominions, who will pretend that he would have been obliged to restore them to the Greek Emperors ? Or, if the Britons had repulsed the Sax- ons after the Romans had abandoned them to their fury, might they not have declared themselves a free people ? The Greeks had by their sloth lost their right to the exarchate of Ravenna, after they had suffered it to be conquered by the Lombards, without sending succours during so many years to defend and protect it. Those countries, therefore, either by the right of conquest in a just war belong- ed to Pepin and Charlemagne, who bestowed them on the Popes, or, the Roman people became free, and being abandoned to barbarians, had a right, when the Greeks refused to afford them protection, to 6eek it from others, or to form themselves into a new government. The Greeks themselves after- wards ratified the partition made of the Italian do- minions, when Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the West* and not only Irene t who was then Em- CHURCH OF CHRIST. 277 press of Constantinople, but likewise her successor Nicephorus III. solemnly acknowledged him in the quality of Augustus. Charlemagne was a lover and encourager of learning, being sensible that it is the highest im- provement of the human mind, and no less condu- cive to the good of religion than to the welfare of the state. He set a just value on the arts and sciences, and placed all his glory in promoting the study of every branch of true and useful learning. He invited over into his dominions the two learned professors Clement and John, from Ireland, and men of the most consummate erudition from other foreign parts, to become teachers in the public schools which he founded at Paris, Tours, Bologna, Pavia, &c. He appointed the celebrated Alcuin to open a great school in his own palace, and generally assist- ed at his lessons with the princes, his sons, and other lords of his court. By the advice of so wise a mas- ter he made several literary establishments for the revival of the sciences, and instituted an academy, consisting of many learned men, who met on cer- tain days to discourse on points of sacred learning. He had St. Augustine's book On the City of God, laid every night under his pillow, to read, if he awaked. He caused several synods to be held for the advancement of piety and the reformation of manners, and the decrees therein framed are called his Cafiitulars. The Carolin books are a theologic- al work, adopted by this prince, and compiled in four books, against a falsified} copy of the second council ®f Nice, sent by certain Iconoclasts from Constantinople. This accounts for the mistake of the Carolin books, and the council of Frankfort, an. 794, can. 2. concerning the doctrine of the Nicene Council. They had not seen the Greek original, but only a Latin and vicious translation of it, which* occasioned the mistaken opposition they gave to the decree about honouring sacred images. At length the Almighty was pleased to call Charlemagne to the. enjoyment of a better life, in the72d year of his age. He was, buried at Aix-ia-Chapelle. Afte* 2 A 278 HISTORY OF THE his death, the imperial dignity was transferred from France to Germany. It was conferred first on Otho, and is swayed at present by the august house of Austria. CHAPTER XXVI. The Church of the Tenth Century, THE succession of chief pastors in the apostolic >ee was continued in this age by Benedict IV. who, ^fter the death of Theodorus II. and John IX. go- verned the Church till October, 903. His immedi- ate successor, Leo V. did not hold the pontificate two entire months, according to that verse of Flo- uoardus : Emigrat ante suiun auam luna bisimpleat Qrbem. Christopher was then raised to the ponti- fical chair the same year, about the beginning of November ; but being compelled to abandon it, he was sent first into a monastery, and afterwards into a prison, where he ended his days. After him the pontificate was occupied seven years by Sergius 111. two years by Anastasius III. six months by Lando, fourteen years by John X. seven months -by Leo VI. about two years by Stephen VIII. and upwards of five years by John XL who was succeeded, in the year 936, by Leo VII. of whom Flodoardus writes : " Deditus assiduis firecibus, sjieculamine celsus, u Affatu latus, sajiiens atque ore serenus" Constant in firay'r, in meditation high, Removed from, earth, and tending to the sky ; Wise, gentle, humble, cheerful, modest, kind, Grace in his sfieech, and virtue in his mind. Upon the demise of Leo VII. Stephen IX. sat three years and some months. Marinus II. his suc- cessor sat about four years, and died in June, 946. Agapetus II. was chosen the same month, and died in the eleventh year of his pontificate. The apos- tolic see was then successively occupied by John Xll. Benedict V. who died in 965, John XIII. who died in 972, Domnus II. Benedict VI. Benedict VII. CHURCH OF CHRIST. 279 John XIV. John XV. and Gregory V. who was raised to the pontificate in 996, and died on the 18th of February, 999. Sylvester II. succeeded him in the month of April of the same year, and died on the 11th of May, 1003. Some writers look upon John XVI. to have been an antipope. This age was indeed happy in this respect, that no considerable heresy arose, or was broached in it, for which reason there was no occasion for ge- neral counciLsj nor for so many ecclesiastical writers, as in the foregoing ages. Swarms of armed barba- rians overran Germany, England, France, Italy, and Spain, carrying desolation with them wherever they went, pillaging churches, massacreing priests at the foot of the altar, burning houses, and re- ducing cities to ashes. Scandals were multiplied ; the most holy laws were publicly violated ; studies were much neglected ; and people, devoted to the profession of arms, looked with contempt on the cul- tivation of letters. Virtue, of course, began to decay among the generality of Christians, and a relaxation of morals ensued, and reached the very sanctuary. Rome itself was not exempted. The Church be- wailed these disorders, which were a thousand times- more excruciating to her than the persecu- tions *of the Pagan emperors. Through the ty- ranny of despots, and the violence of contending factions, some few bishops, incapable of writing their names, (perhaps about six in ail Christendom) are said to have been intruded , 6n different episcopal sees. By the power of the counts of neighbouring territories, and by the intrigues of Marozia, wife to Guy, marquis of Tuscany, and her mother and sister, both called Theodora, three women of scan- dalous lives, some unworthy popes have, by unjust usurpation, and not by canonical election, been thrust into the apostolic chair, and disgraced their high station by the immorality of their lives. How- ever, as the wickedness and usurpation of an Al- cimus could not destroy the Aaronic priesthood, so the immoralities of some few intruders could not destroy the Christian priesthood, nor prejudice the £80 HISTORY OF TfiJE spiritual prerogatives of the Church of Christ. H{s Providence appeared the more remarkable in still protecting her upon such occasions, amidst all the scandals and disorders with which she seemed to t>e almost overwhelmed. He would not suffer the Devil to wrest out of his hands the inheritance and kingdom which his Eternal Father gave him, and which it cost his most precious blood to establish. He permitted for a while some vicious men to sit on the chair of St. Peter, as the Scribes and Pharisees sat on the chair of Moses, but his sin- gular Providence always interposed in defence of the Church, to let the world see that nothing could make void his promises, and that it is his all-powerful hand that supports the Church, " and not the hands of men. He promised to be with her all days to the consummation of ages. He pro- mised infallibility to the great body of her pastors, in their public doctrine, but he has no where pro- mised them impeccability in their conduct. Go, said he to them, teach all nations : Babtize and teach them to observe all that I have ordained, and I will be with ye. &c. In virtue of this promise, he is always with the pastors of his church, to guarantee them from all error in the doctrine of faith, but not to exempt them from all vice; for he did not say, as the great Bossuet observes, I will be with you practising all that 1 have commanded, but / will be with ye teaching. Hence, to show that the mark of the true faith was attached to the profession of the public doctrine, and not to the innocence of their morals, he said to the faithful, who are taught, Do all that they say, and not what they do. It is evident, therefore, that the conservation of the Church does not depend upon the sanctity of her pontiffs, and that their misconduct should cast no more aspersion on her than the fall of Judas did on the college of the Apostles, or the rebellion of Lucifer on the hierarchy of the angels. The fate of temporal kingdoms may, indeed, be attached to theconduct of the princes who govern them ; but the ca,se is different with regard to the spiritual king- CHURCH OF CHRIST. 281 dom of the Church, because it is Christ himself -who supports her foundation. His infinite wisdom takes care to over-rule the infirmities of her pas- tors, and to make them even become subservient to his designs, however immoral some individuals may- happen to be in their own practice. He will never suffer the Christian morality or the Catholic belief to undergo the smallest alteration, or the least cor- ruption in the public instructions, but will ever pre- serve the doctrine of Verity in the chair of Unity, and make the streams of Faith run very pure, even, in the worst of times, There never was an instance of any pope who attempted to alter the creed, or who taught and proposed any bad doctrine from the apostolic chair, to be believed by the Church, or who issued any decree concerning faith and sound morality, that was contrary to the sacred truths re- vealed by Jesus Christ. Though a few, out of the great number, have not been so irreproachable in their private character as they should have been, and though they have, at times, assumed a temporal authority that did dot belong to them, yet it is re- markable that they fever formed any decree on this point, and that any errors into which they might have been led, w r ere no more than mere errors of fact, owing to a misrepresentation or false state- ment of cases, or to the mistaken politics and pre- judices of the times, that wer* then sanctioned by temporal kings and princes themselves. Some writers style this century the iron and dark age, but Bellarmine reckons up between two and three hundred ecclesiastical writers in those days of darkness T many of whom were as eminent for their holiness and learning as the ancient writers ; among the rest, Simon Metaphrastes ; Hippolytus, ©f Thebes ; Eutychius, of Egypt ; Constantius, son of Leo the Wise ; Flcdoardus, of Rheims ; Witikindus; Luithprandus, of Pavia ; Ratherius 5 bishop of Verona: Nolherius, bishop of Liege ; Odo, abbot of Cluni, that celebrated nursery »£ learned men; CEcumenius ; Abbo ; Burchardus^ Lanfrid; called by Leland an illustrious Doctor^ &€* 2 A 2 282 HISTORY OF THE flourished in this age of pretended ignorance, be- sides many other learned doctors of the university of Sorbonne, founded by Charlemagne, and that of Oxford, founded by King Alfred the Great, in the year 877, upon the plan laid down and recom- mended to him by the holy anchoret St. Neot. It it is true, indeed, the study of the fine arts began to be generally neglected in the West, after the fall of the Roman Empire. With it education fell, and an ignorance of the belles letters ensued, and spread itself far and near. The learned writings of the ancient Romans were thrown aside, and the Latin tongue degenerated into diverse jargons, from which sprung our modern languages. However, the arts and sciences always found an asylum in episcopal houses and monasteries, from the turbulence of •war and rapine. Whilst men of the world were employed in pursuing a military life, great numbers of monks were occupied in transcribing the works of the ancients, which they had rescued from the hands of the barbarian invaders. These precious monuments of antiquity would have perished, had they not thus taken care to transmit them to poste- rity. They opened public schools in their religious retreats, where men of studious minds were in- structed and improved in times of general anarchy and violence. And if the true taste of literature did not yet flourish, at least the study of religion, the love of science, and a zeal for improvement did. Every well-informepl and ingenious mind therefore, instead of being prejudiced by vague and groundless imputations on monastic or clerical ignorance, will remember with gratitude, that it is to this body of men the world is indebted for the preservation of an- cient literature, and that they alone gave such cul- tivation to letters as the unimproved state of science admitted. In short, it is to them we owe the re- vival and return of the sciences and fine arts, as they rekindled the feeble sparkles which afterwards cast such a blaze of light all over Europe. Several zealous pastors, of eminent sanctity and learning, rose up at this time in different parts of CHLRCH OF CHRSIT. 2*3 Christendom, to stem the torrent of iniquity, and to reform the morals of both the clergy and laity. They incessantly inveighed against the abuses and prevailing vices of the age, and preached penance with wonderful success. They held several synods in order to repair the breaches which had been made in ecclesiastical discipline, and to enforce the observance of the sacred canons of the Church. They corrected the ignorance, stupidity and bar- barism of the fiercest nations, and diffused a ra- tional, virtuous, and holy temper throughout the countries where they preached. They civilized and refined the minds of the most rude and wild people, and inspired them with the meek spirit of the Gospel, rendering them examples of mildness, patience, humility, and charity. By their apos- tolic labours they extended the kingdom of Jesus Christ in ^Muscovy, Poland, Russia, Denmark, Gothland, and Swedeland, The very barbarians, who had spread themselves over Italy, Germany, England, &c. became children of the Church, by the laver of baptism, and subjected themselves to the sweet yoke of the Gospel. The Normans, who had ravaged France for the space of seventy years, were converted with Roland, their Duke, and bap- tized, in the year 912. The Hungarians were con- verted in the year 1002, by the means of St. Ste- phen, their pious king. Thus Christ, who never forsakes his Church, made her triumph over scan- dal, immorality, and barbarism, as she had already triumphed over idolatry and heresy. The succession of saints was kept up by St. Bruno, archbishop of Cologne ; St. Adelbert, bishop of Magdeburgh ; St. Wolfang, bishop of Ratisbon ; St. Radbod, bishop of Utrecht ; St. Dunstan, arch- bishop of Canterbury ; St. Sigefride, apostle of Sweden ; St. Ephege, archbishop of Canterbury ; St. Ethelwold, bishop of Winchester ; St. Oswald, archbishop of York ; St. Odo, archbishop of Can- terbury ; St. Birnstan, bishop of Winchester ; St. Berno, institutor of the monks of Cluni ; St. Ge- rard, of Toul 5 St. Hugerus, of Hansborough $ St. 284 HISTORY OF Tug Maieul and St. Odilo, abbots of Cluni ; St. Fulbert, of Chartres ; St. Rudefind, of Compostella ; SU Roniuald, founder of the Camalduienses in Italy ; St. Olaus, king of Norway ; St. Henry II. emperor; St. Wenceslaus, king of Bohemia; St. Harold VI. king of Denmark ; St. Niius, abbot; St Adelais ; St. MatiLdes ; and St. Gunegunda, who being falsely accused of incontinence, like the innocent Susanna, cleared herself by the ordeal trials, walking over twelve red-hot plough shares, without receiving the least hurt ; for ordeal trials, notwithstanding various prohibitions of the Church, still remained in fre- quent use in several places. St. Ulric, or Udalric, bishop of Augsburgh, flourished also in this age. In his last sickness he caused himself to be laid on ashes, blessed and strewed on the floor in the form of a cross, in which posture he died, amidst the prayers of his clergy, on the 4th of July, 973, after having been Bishop fifty years. His sanctity was attested by a number of miracles, and he is the first saint that was solemnly canonized by the Church. Benedict XIV. tells us, 1. 1. c. 7. that he was canonized by John XV. in the year 993, though Surius pretends that St. Swidbert, an Eng- lish monk, was canonized by Leo HI. about the year 800. Formerly it was usual for bishops to ca- nononize saints, or to declare them such, but in order to prevent the danger of abuses, this has been re- served to the mature discussion and approbation of the apostolic see, which never proceeds to a so- lemn canonization of any saints till after a most ri- gorous examination, and full evidence given of the heroic virtues which they possessed in an eminent degree, and of the incontestable miracles wrought by their intercession. This double testimony of heroic actions of virtue and of miracles, is required, before any one is enrolled among the saints. Nei- ther miracles suffice, without clear proofs of heroic sanctity, nor the latter without the former, as Be- nedict XIV. observes. CHURCH OF CHRIST. 285 CHAPTER XXVII. The Church of the Eleventh Century. THE apostolic see was filled by John XVIL John XVIII. Sergius IV. Benedict VIII. John XIX. Benedict IX. Gregory VI. Clement II. Darnasus II. St. Leo IX. Victor II. Stephen X, Nicholas II. Alexander II. St. Gregory VII. Victor III. and Ur- ban II. After the death of Sylvester II. John XVII. sat only about six months, and John XVIII. five years and five months : the latter died in May, 1©09. Sergius IV. died in August, same year. Benedict VI II. sat eleven years, and died on the 6th of June, 1024. John XIX. sat nine years, and died the 8th of November, 1033. Benedict IX. being ejected for simoniacal practices, and Gregory VI. having ab- dicated the pontificate, Clement II. was then elected pope, and died on the 1st of October, 1047. Dama- sus II. being poisoned after a short administration, his successor, St. Leo IX. died in the sixth year of his pontificate. Victor II. died in Tuscany, in the year 1957. Stephen X. died on the 1st of April, 1058. Nicholas II. died the 22d of July. 1061. Alexander II. governed the Church eleven years and six months St. Gregory VII died on the 25th of May, 1<;S5. in the twelfth year of his pontificate.. Victor III. died in 1087, and Urban II. in 1099. In the course of ihis century the Church had various trials to encounter, for as she is not here on earth in the place of her repose, she must expect to be almost always disturbed, either by heresy or by schisms, or by scandals, Berengarius Scholas- ticus of Tours, and archdeacon of Angers, espous- ed the errors of John Scotus Erigena, in the year 1050, and openly preached against the mystery of Transubstantiation in the holy Eucharist. Lan- franc, archbishop of Canterbury, ascribes his fall to vain glory. He was a man full of self-conceit, and a lover of novelty. The novelty of his doc- trine immediately alarmed all Christendom, it being contrary to the constant belief of all ages. Never 286 HISTORY OF THE was any heresy more universally condemned : it was condemned in no less than fifteen councils We have still extant the excellent writings of holy bi- shops and learned doctors, who entered the lists against him. Lanfranc wrote an excellent confuta- tion of this heresy. Guitmund, bishop of A versa, near Naples, published a learned work on this sub- ject. Alger, of Liege, wrote also an incomparable book on the same subject, by the reading of which Erasmus says, his faith of the truth of that great mystery, of which he never doubted, was much confirmed, and for this reason he strongly recom- mends to all sacramentarians the perusal of these three treatises, preferably to all the polemic writers of this age. St. Leo IX. condemned the new heresy of Berengarius, in a council assembled at Rome, in the year 1050; and Berengarius himself solemnly retracted his error, signed the retractation with his own hand, and having kindled a fire in the midst of an assembly of one hundred and thirteen bishops, threw into it the books which contained lils heresy; so that it died with him, until it was re- vived in the 16th century. Another storm was raised against the Church in the East, by Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Constantinople, who, in the year 1053, renewed the schism of Photius, upon mere frivolous pretences, and by his artifices drew into it the patriarch of Antioch and Jerusalem, with a great part of the Greeks. St. Leo exhorted him to peace and union, and composed a learned and ample apology for the Latins. He sent Hum- bert, his legate, to Constantinople, to vindicate the Latins against the exceptions of the Orientals, and prove that it was to the last degree extravagant to pretend to ground a schism upon such exceptions ; but nothing was able to overcome the obstinacy and factious spirit of Cerularius till he died, in the year 1058. The holy pontiff laboured strenuously in the West, in extirpating simony, and the incestuous marriages, which many noblemen had presumed to contract. In fine, he was indefatigable in his la- bours to advance the service of God and the salva- cnrncii OF CHRIST. 287 lion of souls. It is recorded of him, that he was in Alsace, with his body marked all over with little red crosses, which was attributed to the in- tense meditations of his pious mother on the passion of Christ. Miracles which followed his death pro- claimed his glory with God. In this century the peace of the Church was greatly disturbed by a simoniacal traffic of eccle- siastical benefices, and many and great were the scandals and troubles that sprung from this shame- ful abuse. Several councils were held by the pas- tors of the dnirch for the restoration of the eccle- siastical discipline and the reformation of morals ; decrees were made, by which all p rsons that should be guilty of the sin of simony, were declared inca- pable of receiving any ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and disqualified for holding any benefice whatever. This raised great murmurs, especially in Germany, where Henry IV. who succeeded his pious father, Henry III. surnamed the Black, was fining and op- pressing the Church with simoniacal pastors, and conferring its livings on such as offered him the highest price. He had sucked in very early the corrupt maxims of tyranny and irreligion, and was flattered by avaricious and ambitious men, who found it their interest to indulge him in his passions. Not content with putting the bishops and abbots of his realm in possession of their benefices by the sceptre, or Regalia, according to the usual custom, he claimed and usurped a right of giving the inves- titures for cathedrals and abbeys, by the Cross and Ring; the sacred emblems of spiritual power, and he grievously abused this pretended right, by pro- moting to ecclesiastical dignities persons the most unworthy and unfit. The scandals which such si- moniacal proceedings caused in the Church, provok- ed his subjects to revolt, and ^called loudly for an apostolic zeal in the chief pastor ; wherefore Grego- ry VII. called Hildebrand^ who sat then in the chair of St. Peter, stood in the breach, and laboured with vigilance and fortitude to stem the torrent of ini- quity, which was breaking into the sanctuary itself. 288 HISTORY ©F 'MlE He stirred up all the zealous pastors rather to la^ down their lives, than to be remiss in maintaining the laws of God and his Church. He deposed God- frey, archbishop of Milan, and excommunicated some other incorrigible sinners, who, growing des- perate, attempted his life. Baron Holberg, in hi$ abridged Universal History > (a work which is full of rancour, slanders, and mistakes,) most falsely ad- vances, that during the contest about investitures, Gregory exposed ecclesiastical benefices, and every thing that is sacred, to sale, no less than the empe- rors did ; whereas it is notorious, from the councils, epistles, and whole conduct of this pontiff, that the vice of Simony never had a more zealous or a more implacable enemy. Henry IV. finding him inflexi- ble, assembled at Worms, in the year 1076, a con- venticle of simoniacai time-serving bishops, who pre* sumed to depose Gregory from the pontificate, and whose mock sentence was sent to him, together with a contumelious letter. In short, such was the depravity and turbulence of the times, that a schism was raised, and an antipope was set up, by name Guilbert, the excommunicated archbishop of Raven- na, and called Clement III. whilst Henry entered Rome with an army, in 1Q84, and besieged Gregory in the castle of St. Angeio. But Robert Guiscard, Duke of Calabria, obliged him to retire, and the Tuscans gave his army a great overthrow in Lom- bardy. Gregory being thus rescued from his ene- mies, retired, for greater safety, from Rome to Monte Cassino, and thence to Salerno, where he died, with these words in his mouth : I have loved justice^ and have hated iniquity: therefore I die in a strange land. In the midst of all these troubles, the Church had the consolation to behold a new re- ligious order of the Carthusians instituted by the great St. Bruno of Cologne, in the year 1084, and edifying the world by the sweet odour of their vir- tues, and the sanctity of their lives. The most pious and learned Cardinal Bona, of whom it was said : CHURCH OF CHRIST. 289 u IL&set Pafia bonus, si Bona Pa/ia foret^ Bona a good and learned Pofie would be, Were he exalted to the Holy See. Speaking of the Carthusian monks, he calls them ci The great miracles of the world ; men living in (I the flesh as out of the flesh ; the angels of the * earth, representing John the Baptist in the wil- « derness; the principal ornament of the Church; " eagles soaring up to Heaven." Voltaire himself says of them : " the Carthusians entirely consecrate " their time to fasting, to silence, to solitude, and " prayer ; perfectly quiet in the midst of a tu- " multuous world, the noise of which scarce ev&r " reaches their ears ; knowing their respective Ci sovereigns no otherwise than by the prayers in *< which their names are inserted." From this epoch is also dated the origin of the Cistercian Or- der, founded by St. Robert, abbot of Molesme, who in the year ld98, began to build a monastery in a place called Cistercium, or Citeau, an uninhabited forest, covered with woods and brambles and water- ed by a little river. The Cistercian order within fifty years after its institution consisted of no less than five hundred abbeys ; which number was in- creased to eighteen hundred soon after the year 1200*. The famous houses of Sept Fons and La Trappe are branches of this order. Some are seem- ingly shocked at the extraordinary austerities, which ihey read to have been practised by these religious men, and by the ancient hermits in the desert. — - What, say they, has the kind author of nature given «us an;inclination to pleasure^ and yet commanded us to forego it ? or does he delight in our pain ? The advocates of self-love, who make such objections to the necessity and merit of mortification, both ex- terior and interior, seem to be strangers to the doc- trine of Christ and to the examples of his apostles, of St. John the Baptist, of many ancient prophets^ and other Saints both in the New and Old Testa- ments, which are a standing commendation of this Spirit of mortification in the servants of God. A£& 2 B 290 HISTORY OF THE really to deny th^ utility and necessity of mortifica- tion and penance would be to destroy the whole sys- tem of Christian morality. Ever since the corrup- tion of our nature, and the revolt of our passions against reason, our appetites stand in need of a se- vere curb ; and without frequent denials and re- straints, self-will and the senses become headstrong and ungovernable, and refuse subjection. God has therefore appointed the mortification of the senses, ioined with sincere humility, and the more essential denial of the will, to be the powerful remedy, and a necessary condition for obtaining his victorious graces. The Gospel frequently inculcates the obliga- tion of it, and declares that no one can be the disciple of Christ, who is not crucified and dead to himself, as the^ram of corn must die in the ground before it can hring forth fruit. Though God therefore has annex- ed pleasure to many actions for necessary and good mirposes ; and though many lawful pleasures of our enses are allowable, and may be sanctified by a vir- iuous intention, yet the servants of God have in all 3ges embraced with prudence and fervour such austerities us upon mature deliberation seemed to ■hem to have the greatest tendency to facilitate the subjection of their passions ; they have regarded the practice of voluntary mortification and self-denials or the love of God, as helps to virtue and as means to acquire it, and to punish sin in themselves; not that they placed sanctity in them, or measured vir- ile thereby, as a dervise or brachman might do, or that they imagined God to be delighted with >eir pain, but with the cure of their spiritual ma- les, as a mother rejoices in the health of her Id, though not in the bitterness of the potion, which she gives him to procure it. Neither the re- luxation of discipline, nor the corruption of morals r was, or ever will be, so universal, but there have always been, and always will be in the Church, eminent servants of God, actuated with this heavenly spirit; for God's promises can no more be defeated \tf the human passions, than the eternal decrees of infinite wisdom can be obstructed by the connttttt CHURCH OF CHRIST. ~9x vices and follies of mankind. The good and the -wicked shall be mixed together to the ead of the world, " for," as St. Augustine says, " if wicked- " ness should ever become the universal practice of * mankind, how would it be true, that wheat and " tares shall grow together 'till the harvest, since " in that supposition there would be nothing but l< tares, and. no wheat at all H The succession of saints and ecclesiastical writers was kept up in this century by St. Peter Damian* bishop of Ostia, whose works are printed in three volumes, and by St. Ansel m, archbishop of Canter- bury, whose writings are published in three volumes, folio. His ascetic works will be an eternal monu- ment to show that he was one of the most eminent masters in the contemplative way. In his dogma- tical writings he adheres close to the fathers, parti- cularly to the great Augustine, and he is regarded as the first of the scholastic thoelogians, who gat ier- ed his doctrine into a regular system, in a clear me- thod and chain of close reasoning. It was rather his delight to be employed in the interior exercises of devotion, but on public occasions he was obliged to enter into a literary career, and take up the pen in defence of the Church. St. John Gualbert, founder of the religious order of Vallia Umbrosa, St. Aiiselm, bishop of Lucca ; St. Hugh, bishop of Grenoble; St. Hugh, Abbot of Ciuni ; St. Maca- rius, of Antioch ; St. Wiltstan, bishop of Worces- ter; St. Osmund, archbishop of Canterbury; St. Godard, bishop of Hildesheim ; St. Walter, abbot ; St. Anno, bishop of Coiogn ; St Bernard ; St. Ge- rard, bishop of Chonard, and apostle of a large dis- trict in Hungary ; St. Uifred, in Sweedeland ; St. Colman ; St. Ivo ; St. Edward, King and Confessor; St. Canutus, King of Denmark; St. Stanislaus, bi- shop of Cracow, in Poland ; St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland ; St. Emericus, Sec. adorned the Church in this age. Lanfranc, Guitmundus, Theophylactus, Adelman, Humbertus, Hugh, abbot of Cluni, Ber- tholdus, Bonitius, Hermannus, Albericus, Radul- phusj Theoduinus &c. flourished in this century* 29$ niSTORY 0> THE Marianus Scotus, who is proved by Usher to have been a Scot from Ireland, lived at this period, and having founded a monastery ^at Ratisbon, taught both sacred and profane learning there with great reputation. The aforesaid Usher testifies, that the name of Scotia was then confined to Ireland alone,* the better part of North Britain being still in posses- sion of the Picts. Eginard, secretary to Charle- magne, expressly denominates Ireland Hibtrnia Sce- torum Insula. It was in this century that Guido, a great admirer of music, and a monk of Arrezzo, in Tuscany, in 1009, invented the Gamut , or scale of music, consisting of the six notes, Ut 9 re, mi, fa, sol, To, which syllables he took from the three first verses of the hymn of St. John the Baptist : Ut queant laxis resonare Jibris, Sec. St. Ambrose composed several hymns, which are still used in the divine office, and is said to have been the first who esta- blished the custom of singing hymns and psalms alter- nately by two choirs in the Church of Milan. He had learned this from the Oriental Churches, and from Milan the custom spread to all the Churches of the West. The psalms, and several sacred canticles in the holy scriptures, authorize and recommend this religious custom of employing a decent and grave music both instrumental and vocal in sounding forth the Divine praises. St. Cecily is regarded as the pa- troness of church music. St. Gregory the Great improved the plain song, which is sung in unison. St. John Chrysostom elegantly extols the good effects of sacred music. In his exposition of the 41st psalm he says, that the fire of divine love is kindled in the soul by devout psalmody. St. Augustine says, that it is useful in moving piously the mind and kindling the affections of divine love. He tells us, in the 9th book of his confessions, c. 6. that when he was but lately converted to God, he was moved to shed abundance of tears by the sacred singing at the Church. Soft and effeminate music is to be always shunned with ab orrence, as the corrupter of the heart and the poison of virtue. But to sing assidu- ously the Divine praises on earth in a decent and CHURCH OF CHRIST. 29t> grave manner, is a kind of novitiate to the state of the blessed in Heaven, and truly a function the most sweet and comfortable to a soul that loves God. By this homage of praise we join the heavenly spirits in their uninterrupted songs of adoration, love, and praise. Angels and we, assisted by this art. May sing together, tho y we dwell a/iart, Waller - CHAPTER XXVIII. Of the Crusades and Military Orders, THE Crusades, or military expeditions under the banner of the Cross, were undertaken about the close of the eleventh century, for the recovery of Palestine* or the Holy Land, from the oppressive yoke of the Mahometans. The kings and princes of Europe were alarmed at the rapid progress of a people sprung from so mean and obscure an origin. The eastern empire, which had stood firm for several ages after the downfal of the Western, was now stripped by them of its fairest possessions in Asia, and the Greek Emperor, harassed and distressed on every side, solicited and implored the assistance of the La- tins against the common enemy of Christianity. Si- mon, the patriarch of Jerusalem, and Peter, a fomous hermit of Amiens, who was, after making a pilgrim- age to Palestine, represented the deplorable situa- tion of the Christians residing there in so feeling a manner as to excite compassion in the breasts, and draw tears from the eyes of a council, that was as- sembled at Clermont, in the year 1095, for the pur- pose of taking these matters into serious considera- tion. Pope Urban II. was so sensibly affected, that he engaged the princes of France, Italy y and Germa- ny, to unite their forces,- and to march to the relief of the faithful in the Holy Land. Their first expedition •was successful. The army of the Crusaders or Cross Bearers, amounting to six hundred thousand foot, and one hundred th )us*tnd cavalry, under the com- mand of Godfrey oi Bouillon, Duke of Lorrian, ac~ 2B % 294 HISTORY OF THE companied by Hugh the Great ; Robert Duke of Normandy, son to William the Conqueror ; Robert Earl of Flanders, Sec. arrived in Bhhynia, in the year 1097, and having vanquished the Saracens, took pos- session of the strong city of Nice, the royal seat and capital of Soliman, with one and forty other cities, and about two hundred towns, thirteen thousand Christians, and about two hundred thousand Turks, being slain in various engagements. In the year 1098, the Christians took the city of Antioch, and the ensuing year they besieged and took Jcrusa!em f though it was defended by a e^rrison of forty thou- sand Saracens. Here they established a new king- dom in Palestine, of which Godfrey was unanimous- ly chosen the first king. Being presented with a gold crown, he refused to wear it, saying, that he never would wear a crown of gold, where the Re- deemer of the world had worn a crown of thorns, A few days after Godfrey defeated the Sultan of E«:ypt and the Sultan of Babylon (a city on the Niie, out of the ashes of which Grand Cairo rose) with an army of four hundred thousand foot, and one hundred thousand horse. The Latins having gained so many signal victories, established four principalities in the East in a short time, one at Je- rusalem, a second at Antioch, a third at Edessa, and a fourth at Tripoli. Godfrey's were dis- tinguished from all the rest by the good order which they every where observed. He began and ended every undertaking with the most edifying acts of de- votion. For a proof of his extraordinary strength of body, William of Tyre, a most exact and faith- ful historian, relates, that on the bridge of Antioch, he cut a Turk, who had on a coat of mail, quite asunder across the middle of his body with one stroke of his scimitar; and clove another on horse- back from the head downwards to the very saddle, wounding also the horse's back. Another time, seeing a bear going to kill a poor man that was gathering sticks, he rode up, and the furious beast having killed his horse, Godfrey seized him with his left hand, and with his right thrust his sword CHURCH OF CHRIST. 295 into his belly to the very hilt. During a sickness of five weeks he prepared himself for death, with the piety of a Saint, and the true fortitude of a Chris- tian hero, very different from that of a Pagan philo- sopher. He died, to the inexpressible grief of the Christians, in the year i ioO, aid being buried in the Church of Jerusalem, the following epitaph was en* graved on his tomb : Francornm Gentis Sion loca sancta Jietentis, Mirificum Sidus, jdux hie recubat Gothofridus, Here lies, from native land removed afar, Godfrey the Great, the shining western star. France boasts his birth, the Christian world his pains] And conquered Sion guards his last remains. He was succeeded by his brother Baldwin, who., aided by the Genoese, took Ptolemais in the year 1104, and several other cities in i i 09. His suc- cessor Baldwin II. gained several advantages over the Saracens, but was defeated and taken prisoner in li20, by the Sultan Barac. He recovered his liberty the following year, when three thousand Christians routed an army of sixty thousand Sara- cens. The Venetians also gained two complete victories over the Saracen fleet, about the same time, and took possession of the great and strong city of Tyre. Barac the Turkish Sultan was conquered af- terwards and put to death at Aleppo, by Joscelin, and Baldwin reduced the city of Apamea in the year 1126. The cities of Alexandria, Ascalon, and Da» mietta fell likewise into the hands of the Christians ; but jealousies, dissentions, and animosities arising amongst them, their affairs in the East took a quite different turn, and the Holy Land was in imminent danger of being re-taken by the Infidels. A second Crusade was therefore preached up all over France and Germany with such amazing suc- cess, that in the year 1 147 Conrad the Emperor and Lewis VII. surrtamed the Youngs King of France, marched towards Greece at the head of an army 6( one hundred and forty thousand cavalry, with coats 296^ HISTORY OF THE of mail, exclusive of the light horse and infantry, which w^as almost innumerable. But the greater part of them perished in the deserts of Asia Minor, and after some unsuccessful attempts, the scattered remains returned to Europe. Saladin, Sultan of Egypt, at the head of fifty thousand Saracens, dis- comfited the Christian army in the year 1 187. Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem, was then taken prisoner, and the Knights Templars and of St. John of Jerusalem were almost all cut to pieces. After this signal victory, nothing could stop the progress af Saladtn's arms, almost every city opening its gates to the conqueror. He laid siege to Jerusalem, and took it the same year, on the second of October, the eighty-eighth year after it had been subdued by the Christians. Thus what Christian charity and the humility of the Cross had gained, was soon lost by discord, pride, and ambition. Concordia res fiar- vx crescunt, discordia magna dilabuntur. There only remained now in the hands of the Latins three considerable cities in Palestine: Aniioch, Tyre, and Tripoli. The Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, or Rdd Iteard, set out for the East in 1188, but when he drew near Syria, going one day to swim for his di- version, the rapid stream carried him away in the current, and he was drowned, as is thought, in the river Cydnus, where Alexander the Great, benumb- ed by the coldness of the water, had like to have pe- rished. The news of all these sad disasters spread such consternation all over the West, that in the year 1191, a third crusade was set on foot by Rich- ard I. surnamed Heart of Lion, son of Henry II. king of England, and by Philip Augustus of France, who were then at war with each other, but forgot their particular disputes for the common good of Christianity. In order to shun the treachery of the Greeks, they embarked at Marseilles, with two pow- erful armies, and set sail for Palestine. When they arrived they captured the strong city of Acre, of" Aeon, on the sea coast of Palestine, anciently called rtolemaisy which the Christians had then been be* CHURCH OF ciiRiii;. 2§7 sieging for three years under the command of Guy of Lusigoan, the expelled king of Jerusalem. Phi- lip being obliged, for the recovery of his health, to return to Europe, Richard staid a year longer in Pa- lestine. In the interim he defeated Saladin in a great battle, and concluded a truce with him on fa- vourable conditions. Before he returned home with his troops, he sold the island of Cyprus to Guy of Lusignan, whose posterity reigned there afterwards for the space of three hundred years. In the year 1195, a fourth crusade was under- taken by a great number of French and Italian gen- tlemen, assembled at Venice, under the command of the Marquis of Montferrat, and Baldwin, earl of Flanders. The republic of Venice engaged to supply them with ships to convey them into Pales- tine. It also equipped fifty galleys for the use of five hundred Italian nobles, who wished to embark ©n the same expedition. When all things were in readiness, and the crusaders were only waiting for favourable weather, young Alexis, son of Isaac Angelus, the Emperor of Constantinople, arrived at Venice and solicited the aid of the Latins in favour of his father, who was then dethroned, and closely imprisoned by an usurper, who had put out his eyes. Alexis promised to re-establish an union between the Latin and Greek Church, to facilitate the conquest of the Holy Land, to maintain during his life 500 knights there for its defence, and to furnish the Latins with two hundred thousand marks of silver, and with provisions for a year. These offers appeared too advantageous to be rejected, though the minds of the crusaders were thereby alienated from their first plan. Instead of directing their course towards Palestine, they sailed for Con- stantinople, and upon their arrival, the usurper fled, and young Alexis was crowned* Emperor. But he was shortly after assassinated by one of his officers, who seized on the Imperial throne. Under these circumstances the crusaders held a council to deli- berate on what was to be done, and believing them- selves authorised to avenge the death of the prince 298 HISTORY OF THE whom they had taken under their protection, they attacked the city of Constantinople, and having taken it on the 12th of April, i204, they abandoned it to the pillage of the soldiery. Vll the autho- rity of their leaders was not sufficient to bridle their licentiousness, which carried them to the greatest excesses. These excesses inspired the Greeks with such a violent aversion against the La* tins, that we may date from the epoch of this con- quest, the entire rupture and complete schism be- tween the Latin and Greek Church. The crusaders, on thus becoming masters of Constantinople, re- solved to establish there one from among themselves in quality of Emperor. The choice fell upon Bald- win Euri of Flanders, whose virtues were highly extolled even by the Greeks themselves. He was crowned with great solemnity in the Church of St. Sophia, and took the title and ornaments of the Emperor of the East. He reigned but one year, for he was taken, confined in a prison sixteen months, and put to death in a cruel manner by the King of the Bulgarians in the year 1205. His bro- ther Henry having succeeded him, the Latin noble- men entirely abandoned the expedition, for which they had first taken up arms, and began to extend their conquests in Greece, and reduced to their obe- dience almost all the provinces that belonged to the Greek Emperor in Europe. But in about fifty years after the conquest of the Latins, the Greeks, who were settled at Trebisond, Nice, and Adrianople, found means to recover Constantinople, and to replace on the Imperial throne Michael Palaeologus, of the family cf their ancient Emperors. John of Brienne landed in Egypt in the year 1221, with an army of seventy thousand men, took Damietta, and besieged Grand Cairo, but lost the greatest part of his troops by sickness, want of pro- visions, and by a very high flood of the Nile. Frederick II. son and successor of Henry VI. in the Empire of Germany, sailed also with an army to Acre, in i 228, and made a truce with the Mahome- tans, for ten years, on being crowned king of JeriV CHURCH OF CHRIST. '299 salem. About the year 1240, Richard) the brave Earl of Cornwall, brother to Henry lil- King of ; land, arrired inPalestine withanEnglish crusade. St. Lewis king of France, undertook two crusades, one in the year 1248, and another in 1270. The Mariner's compass is thought to have been made Ube of in this crusade. St. Lewis in his first expe- dition having taken the Grijlamc, or royal standard, so called from its being of a red, or Bam* colour, sailed to Cyprus with a fleet of 120 great vessels, and 1650 small ones, carrying on board 12,800 Fi- nch, English, and Cypriot knights, and above 60.000 chosen soldiers- William Earl of Salisbury, sin named Long" Sword, brought to St. Lewis in Cyprius 200 gallant En gash knights. The Sultan of Egypt employed spies to destroy the large maga- zines, and to poison the victualling houses of the Christian arm) in Cyprus, but they were discovered and confessed the fact. This crusade ended in the taking of Damietta from the Saracens, and in the se- cond St. Lewis died of a dysentery. His death struck a damp upon the spirits of the Christians in the East. However, though this crusade failed of suc- cess, it was some check to the progress of the Sara* cens' arms. The Prince of Wales, afterwards Edward I. king of England, was the last support of the Christians in Palestine. Fie sailed from Sicily in the year 1271, and after plundering An- tioch, and taking Jaffa and Nazareth, was obliged to return in 1271, upon the death of his father, Henry III. The Christians were then dispossessed of all the places that remained in their hands in Pa- lestine. Damietta was destroyed by the Saracen army, a vast number of Christians were put to death, and 750 of their ships were burnt. Seventeen thou- sand Christians wei e killed at Antioch, and one hun- dred thousand were led into captivity by Bendocdar, the Sultan's general. In the years t289 and 129 1 the Sultan seized on Tripoli, Tyre, and Ptolemais, or Acre, where twenty-five thousand Christians were put to the sword, and twenty thousand made captives. Thus. &Q0 HISTORY OF THE in the year 1291, the kingdom of the Christians in Syria, was entirely overthrown. It is computed, that from the year 1095, when the Crusades began*, unto the year 1291, about two millions of Chris- tians perished in those expeditions, which employed Europe for almost two hundred years. Many things were great obstacles to the success of these military enterprises ; such as the distance of countries ; the difference of climates ; the excessive heats, and the scarcity of provisions, which occasioned malignant fevers, dysenteries, and pestilential diseases ; the repeated treacheries of the Greeks, who led the Latins into ambuscades ; the mixture of different nations ; the feudal jurisdiction in the Christian ar- mies ; the opposite views and clashing interests of particulars ; the want of military subordination and obedience, Sec. Some engaged not through motives of religion, charity, and compassion for the suffer- ings of their brethren in the East, but with views altogether worldly and selfish. Some were led by no other motives than the prospect of rapine and plunder, and they committed great disorders in their march. Others went merely to screen themselves from public justice, and from their lawful creditors Others were actuated by the passions of ambition, vanity, avarice, jealousy, anger and revenge, which often have a great share in wars. Such armies were so far from being proper instruments to avert the scourges of an angry God, that the disorders committed by them were sufficient to occasion the misfortunes and trials that fell on those who were conducted by motives of religion, charity, a*d penance, for the exercise of their virtue, It isYio wonder then that the finger of God was often visible in punishing and chastising the crusaders, since they drew the wrath of Heaven upon them- selves by their sin*, like unto the Children of Israel, who were frequently punished in the desert, and ex- cluded from the Land of Promise, on account of their manifold transgressions. Voltaire's History of the Crusades, is more superficial, if possible, than his other historical performances, in which a CHURCH OF CHRIST. 50i blaze of empty wit was the author's chief aim and ambition. To give a satisfactory account of events, »>ran inquiry after truth, are seldom any part of his concerns, and the reflections which he intersperses -are frequently false, and have the most impious and pernicious tendency. The crusades gave rise to some military orders, the most ancient of which was that of the Knights Hospitalers of St. John, which subsists to this day, under the name of the Knights of Malta. The firs' house of this celebrated order was an hospital found- ed in Jerusalem, in the year 1098, by certain mer- chants of Amalphi, in the kingdom of Naples, who trading in the Levant, obtained leave of the caliphs. of the Saracens, on paying an annual tribute, to build a house for themselves, and for the reception of pilgrims who came to visit the Holy Land. Soon after they founded a church there, in honour of St. John Baptist, with an hospital for the relief of sick pilgrims, from which they took their name. In process of time they took up arms to de- fend the Christians from the insults of the Infidels* ancTto secure the passes into Palestine. They per- formed prodigies of valour on several occasions* particularly in the year 1310, at Rhode Island, from whence they afterwards withdrew to the island of Malta, the sovereignty of which was granted to them by the emperor Charles V. They wear for their bandage a cross with eight points. The Teuto- nic order of knights was founded after the model of St. John's of Jerusalem. They were to be of a noble race, to defend the Holy Land, and to be hos- pitable to German pilgrims of their own country. These knights behaved gallantly at the taking of Ptolemais, or Acre, in the year 1291. The Knights Templars, so called from an house given to them near the place where formerly stood the Temple of Solomon, were instituted in the year 1118, and in about 191 years after their establishment they were persecuted by king Philip the Fair, and entirely suppressed by Pope Clement V. in the year i312, The year following the Grand Master, who was a 2 C 302 HISTORY OF THE Frenchman, was burnt at Paris, and several otheps suffered death, though they all, with their last breath, protested their innocence as to the crimes that were laid to their charge. These were cer- tainly much exaggerated by their enemies, and doubtless many innocent men were involved with the guilty. A great part of their estates Was given to the Knights of Rhodes, or Malta, CHAPTER XXIX. The Church of the Twelfth Century. THE chief pastors of the Church in this age, af- ^er the demise of Urban II. were Paschal II. who died in the year 1118; Gelasius II. who died in 1119; Calixtus II. who died in 1124; Honorius II. who died in the sixth year of his pontificate ; Innocent II. who died in 1 143 ; Celestine II.| who died in the sixth month after his election : Lucius II. who governed the Church but two months: St. Eugenius III. a disciple of St. Bernard, who sat upwards of eight years; Anastasius IV. who died in 1154; Adrian IV. an Englishman by birth, who died on the i st of September, 1 159 ; Alexander III. who sat twenty-two years ; Lucius III. who died in 1185; Urban III. who died in 1187; Gre- gory VIII. who died on the fifty-seventh day af- ter his election ; Clement III. who died in the third year of his pontificate ; and Celestine III. who, though elected in the eighty-fifth year of his age, governed the Church near seven years, and died in January, i 198. Three general councils, viz. the ninth, tenth, and eleventh, were held in this century, for the refor- mation of manners, the suppression of schisms, and the extirpation of heretical errors. The ninth gen- eral council, being the first of Late ran, was held in the year 1122, under Calixtus II. and consisted of three hundred bishops. The tenth general coun- cil, being the second of Lateran, was held in the year H39, under Innocent II. against the schism of CtfURCH OF CHRIS*. 303 Peter Leo, and was composed of a thousand bishops. Th^ eleventh general council, being the third of LateraB, was held in the year 1179, under Alex- ander III. against the Albigenses, who maintained the errors of the Manicheans, and it consisted of three hundred bishops, among whom were St. Lau- rence O'Toole, archbishop of Dublin, and the arch- bishop of Tuam, .with five other Irish and four English bishops. After the death of Honorius II. in the year 1130, an unhappy schism divided the Church : Innocent II. was duly chosen on the 14th of February, 1130, by the greater number of cardinals ; notwithstand- ing which a faction acknowledged Peter, the son of Leo, under the name of Anacletus II. Being an ambitious worldly man, he got all the strong holds about Rome into his hands, and was supported by Roger, duke of Sicily ; by William duke of Aquitain, or Guienne, which was part of Aquitain ; by the Milanese, Sec. Innocent II. who was a holy man, fled to Pisa, and from thence into France, where. he was recognized by king Lewis VI. su rnam.ee! the Big, or the Fat, and by Henry I. king of Eng- land. In the year 1132, the emperor Lothaire marched with an army to Rome, to put him in pos- session of the Lateran Church, and St. Bernard and St. Norbert laboured vigorously and successfully in extinguishing the schism, and in bringing over tho partisans of Anaclet to the union of the Church. Upon the demise of this antipope, one Gregory was set up, under the name of Victor IV. but after three months he surrendered his pretensions to the lawful Pope, Innocent. When Alexander III, a person eminent for his skill in theology and in the canon law, was duly raised to the pontificate, live cardinals presumed to form another schism, in fa- vour of Octavian, under the name of Victory V. and this schism was continued by three other anti- popes, Avho styled themselves Paschal III. Calistus III. Innocent III. The Emperor Frederick I. sur- named, from the colour of his beard and hair, JE?io- barbus, and by the Italians Barbavoesa, carried: 3©4 BISTORT OF TBS ©n an unjust quarrel with several popes' successively*, seizing the revenues of vacant ecclesiastical bene- ■fices, usurping the investiture and nomination of bishops, and openly making a simoniacal traffic of all that was sacred. It is not, therefore, strange -that such a prince should declare himself the patron and protector of a schism, which had been raised •niy by his faction and interest in Rome. The city ©f Milan had offended him, by claiming an exclu- sive right of choosing its own magistrates, and by acknowledging Alexander 111. for the true and right- ful Pope. In revenge he sat down before it with a great army, in 1161, and, after a siege of teu months, having compelled it to surrender at discre- tion, he razed the town, filled up the ditches, le- velled the walls and houses with the ground, and caused salt to be sown on the place, as a mark that this city was condemned, never more to be re- built. The bodies of the three kings, which he found there in the church of St. Eustorgius, he or- dered to to be removed to Cologn on this occasion. The Lombard cities had unanimously entered into a common league to rebuild Milan. When the walls •and moats were finished, the in habitants, with great joy, returned into their cily on the 27th of April, i 167. The emperor again marched against it, but was defeated by the Milanese, supported by all Italy, which was united against him ; wherefore he agreed lo hold a conference with the pope at Venice, in .ch he abjured the Schism, and made his peace -with the Church in 1177. That Alexander 111. set liis foot on the neck of this emperor, in the porch of St. Mark's church in Venice, and insulted him on tins occasion in these words of the Psalmist, Su/ier asfiidem et basiliscinn ambulabis, et conculcabis Uonem et draconem, Ps. 90. is a notorious forgery, as Baronius, Natalis Alexander, Romuald, Mat hew Paris, William of Tyre, Roger Hoveden, and many other judicious historians, demonstrate. Nor is the story consistent with reason, or with the singu- lar meekness and humanity of Alexander ; though tt some, modern pictures in the senate-house of CfiURCil OF fiHUW Venice, this pretended humiliation of Frederic with the triumph of the Lombard cities over his army, is exquisitely painted ; but this is no proof of the fact, as painters and poets are equally allow- ed the liberty of fictions and emblematical repre- sentations. In this century the Norwegians were finally brought over to Christianity by the means of Adrian IV. The Finlanders were converted by St. Henry, bishop of Upsai, and the Rhugians, who inhabited Pomerania, by Absolon and Berno, bishops of Ros- childes and Meckelburgh. The people of Cour- land. Samogitia, and Livonia, were likewise happily won over to Christ, by the preaching and apostolical labours of Memardus. Christian piety and religion, were greatly advanced by the holy order of the Cis- tercians, or Bernardins ; by the canons regular of St. Augustine; by the canons of Premontre, found- ed by St. Norbert in the year li20; and by the Trinitarians, instituted in the year 1 160, for the re- demption of Christian captives and prisoners made by the Infidels during the crusades. * The succession of saints was continued in the Church by St. Bernard; St. Norbert, archbishop of Mugdeburgh; St. Gaklin, archbishop of Milan; St. Laurence Toole, archbishop of Dublin ; St. Malachy, archbishop of Amiagh ; St. Malchus^ bishop of Lismore, reputed then, for his learning, the oracle of Ireland ; St. Felix Valois ; St. John of Matha ; St. Stephen Harding, abbot of Citeaux ; St. Isidore of Madrid; St. Eric, king of Sweden ;. St. Elizabeth; St. Hiidegardis ; St. Alberic; St. Robert, abbot ofc Newminsler, in England ; St. Hugh, bishop of Lincoln ; St. Thomas of Canter- bury; St. Celsus of Armagh; St. William of Mar leval ; St. Robert of Arbrissel ; St. Gilbert of Sem- bringam, founder of the Gilbertins ; St. Ubaklus, bishop of Gubio ; St. Godrick, and St. Ulrick, her- mits ; and St. Homobonus, merchant. See Div Alban Butler, torn. il. p. 241. St. Bernard w<*s the prodigy and great ornament- ef this age. Had Lord Bolingbroke been better ac~ • 2 C 2 306 ftlSTORY OF THE quainted with his character and writings, instead of displaying Ids talents in passing unjust censures, he would have acknowledged that the heroic sentiments of humility, devotion, and divine charity which all his works breathe, could only come from a soul full of the spirit of God. This holy doctor was well versed in the writings of the principal fathers of the Church, especially St. Ambrose and St. Augus- tine. He is reckoned among the fathers, and one of the most useful to those who desire to improve their hearts in sincere piety. His works are print- ed in two volumes folio, and in nine octavo. His letters amount to above 440, and are a lasting monu- ment of his learning, prudence, and indefatigable seal. A perfect spirit of humility reigns throughout all his writings, and strongly affects the hearts of his readers, as it is the language of his own heart* always glowing with ardent love and compunction. His confidence in God was such, that he said, " I CT confess myself most unworthy of the glory of hea- " ven, and that I can never obtain it by my own €i merit ; but my Lord and Saviour possesses it up- *' on a double title, that of natural inheritance, by *i being the only begotten Son of his Eternal Father « — and that of purchase, by having bought it with " his precious blood. This second title he has <* transferred on me, and upon this right I hope, ** with an assured confidence, to obtain it, through %i his adorable passion and mercy." St. Bernard lays it down, as an undoubted maxim, that not to advance in virtue, or not to go on in a spiritual life, is to fall back, yet nothing is more rare than to find persons who always press forward. We see, says he, more converted from vice to virtue, than in- crease their fervour in virtue. He assigns two principal reasons : First, many who begin well, after some time grow again remiss in the exercises of Hiortifi cation and prayer, and return to the amuse- ments, pleasures, and vanities of a worldly life. Se- condly, others, who are regular and constant in ex- terior duties, neglect to watch over and cultivate tfceir interior $ so that some spiritual vice insinuates G'HU&CH 0F ftlllinT. 307, liseif into their affections, and renders them an abomination in the eyes of God, " A man," says the holy Doctor, u who gives himself up entirely to ex- terior exercises, without looking seriously into his own heart, to see what passes there, imposes upon himself, imagining that he is something whilst he is nothing. He employs his hands in fulfilling the precepts : he fails in no exercise of piety or pen- ance, com plies with his duties by habit and a cer- tain rotation, but he neither sees nor feels the sa- cred worm, which gnaws and consumes his heart. Whilst he strains at a gnat, he swallows a camel, and is in his heart a slave to self-will, a prey to avarice? vain glory, and ambition. One or other, or all these vices together, reign in his soul. In the days of St. Bernard, many philosophers, by pursuing the subtle imaginations of their own refining genius, pretended to give reasons for what is above reason, and fell thereby into many gross errors. Peter Abelard, a wolf in a sheep's skin, denied the Trinity with Arius, destroyed the Incarnation with Nestorius, and took away the necessity of grace with Pelagius. He was always unlike himself, altogether equivocal and in- consistent, and so vain, that, as St. Bernard says, he knew every thing in Heaven and Earth, but himself. He measured the heavens, counted the stars, and pretended to dive into the mysteries of faith, and se- crets of nature, but his science was but all folly, and empty vanity, because he knew not himself, and con- sequently had not learned the first elements of true wisdom. Arnold of Brescia in Italy, a scholar o£ Abelard, preached many errors at the head of armed troops. " His conversation/' says St. Bernard, " had " nothing but sweetness } and his doctrine nothing " but poison. He had the head of a dove, but the " tail of a scorpion." Another person of eminence, by deviating from the Scripture and tradition, to philosophize s on the mysteries of religion, adulterat- ed their simplicity. This was Gilbert de la Porree, si famous professor of theology at Poictiers, and at length bishop of that city, who taught that the Di- vine Nature is reaiJy distinguished from the three 30 S HISTORY OF THE persons, and that the wisdom, justice, and other attributes of God, are really not God himself. St Ber- nard zealously entered the lists with these dangerous innovators, and maintained the purity of the Ca- tholic faith with erudition and eloquence. Besides the famous abbey of Clair vaux, he founded before his death, which happened on the 20th of August* 1153, a hundred and forty other monasteries, which afterwards were increased to the number of eight hundred- Fleury has inserted in his history a j ur- nal of a great number of illustrious miracles wrought by St. Bernard, and attested by ten venerable and faithful vouchers, 1. 69, and MabiHon has proved their incontestible authenticity. The reputation of the sanctity of St. Norbert, founder of the Premonstratensian order, attracted the eyes of Europe. His whole life was a perpetual lent. He preached penance with amazing success, and wrought the conversion of numberless sinners. He reformed abuses, re-established ecclesiastical dis- cipline and inculcated, in all his sermons, the fre- quent use of the Blessed Sacrament of Christ's Body arid Blood, as , the most powerful strengthcner of our weakness, the sovereign remedy of our spiritual miseries, ar.d the source of heavenly comfort to alle- viate the labours and sorrows of our mortal pilgrim- age. Hence he is usually represented with a cibo- rium in his hand, to denote by this symbol his extraordinary devotion to the blessed Lucharist. St. Norbert extirpated at Antwerp the impious errors of Tanklin, who drew after him three thousand person*, that believed him to be a great prophet, and were ready to commit any outrages to support his reveries. He practised the most filthy abomina- tions of the Gnostics, luring the people with mag- nificent banquets, but in the year 1115, he met with the usual fate of the authors of sedition, and disturb- ers of the public peace. When St. Malachy was born, Ireland was in a great measure sunk into barbarism, and the face of the Irish CLurch was greatly disfigured, through a long and unavoidable intercourse between the na.~ C&&ZU2W •* CHRIST. 3U9 lives and the Banish invaders. From the dissolution of the Irish monarchy in i022, to the entrance of Henry II. 1171, the nation covtinued mostly in a state of anarchy, a great relaxation of piety and morals gradually took place, and the regular suc- cession of bishops was interrupted in several dio- ceses by intruders, till the heathen barbarians were converted to Christianity. St. Malachy being ca- nonically raised to the see of Armagh, laboured with indefatigable zeal in abolishing all barbarous customs, in reforming abuses, and in banishing igno- rance and superstition. He softened the most savage hearts into humanity, and made several wise regu- lations in ecclesiastical discipline, and re-established all religious observances and practices of piety. The great abbey of Benchor, which lay then in a deso- late condition, became by his care a flourishing seminary of learning and piety. He died in the abbey of Clairvaux, in 1 148. St. Bernard wrote the history of his life and miracles, sung a mass of Requiem for his soul, made a funeral oration on the occasion, and another on his anniversary, which pieces Dom. Rivet thinks to be equal to any compo- sition of the kind that has appeared since the Au- gustan age. St. Laurence Toole, the son of a powerful prince in Leinster, was abbot of Glendaioch. After the death of Gregory, he was unanimously chosen to fill the archiepiscopal see of Dublin, lie was con- secrated by Gelasius archbishop of Armagh and successor of St. Malachy in the year 1 1 62, that is., three hundred and twenty-four years after the Pa- gans, called Ostmen or Easterlings, had taken pos- session of Dublin. It was in the year 1152, that Cardinal John Paparo, legate of Pope Eugenius III. conferred on this see the archiepiscopal dignity, having brought from Rome four palls for the four metropolitans of Armagh, Dublin, Cashel. and Tuam. St. Laurence's first care was to watch over his flock, to reform the manners of his clergy, and to furnish the altar with worthy ministers. He applied him- self with unwearied zeal to every part of his office^ 31© HISTORY OF T»E having always before his eyes the strict account which he was to give to the sovereign pastor of souls. His cathedral was the Church of The Holy Trinity^ now called Christ Churchy which was built in the centre of the city, by Sitricus king of the Ostmen, and bishop Donat, in 1038, and converted into a dean aid chapter by Henry the VIII. in 1541. The other cathedral dedicated under the invocation of St. Patrick, was built by archbishop Comyn in 11 90, on the same spot where an old parochial church had long stood, which was said to have been erected by St, Patrick in the fifth century. St. Lau- rence frequently made choice of the abbey of Glen- daloch for his retreats, and coming out of them he seemed another Moses, coming from conversing with God, full of a heavenly fire and divine light. It was in his time that Richard, Earl of Pembroke, commonly called Strongbow, took Dublin, sword in hand, and massacred a great number of the inhabit- ants. In this dreadful disaster the good pastor was employed in relieving the distressed, in imploring for them the compassion of the conquerors, and in exhorting the sufferers at least to make a good use of their afflictions. All found in him a father, both in their temporal and spiritual necessities. Every day he entertained at table thirty poor persons, and often three hundred, besides many others whom he main- tained in private houses, and furnished with clothes and other necessaries of life, especially when the terrible famine continued to rage for three years all over the country. Whatever he possessed became immediately the treasure of the poor, so that he could truly say to a friend, who in his last illness re- reminded him to make a will, " I thank God I have " not a penny left in the world to dispose of." He died in 1 ISO, in the monastery of regular canons at Eu, upon the confines of Normandy, after receiving the Viaticum and Extreme Unction with the mos- edifying piety from the hands of the abbot. The archbishop of Rouen and three other commissioners, by order oi Pope Honorius III. took juridical infor- mations of several miracles wrought through his in- CHURCH 0F CHRIST. 311 -fcercession ; and his life, with a faithful account of his rigorous fasts and austerities, was authentically- written by a reglar canon, in Surius — Fontanr, £hron. Rotom. St. Felix, of the royal branch of Valois in France,, having renounced his estate, retired into an hermit- age, and sequestered himself from the world, forget- ting its shadows and appearances, which grossly im- pose upon its deluded votaries. There, in the calm and serenity of his silent retreat, he studied to puri- fy his heart, and live only to his Creator ; letting others amuse themselves with the airy bubbles of ambition, and enjoy the cheats of fancy and the flat- teries of sense, he abandoned himself to the heavenly delights of holy contemplation, and to the greatest rigours of penance, which his fervour, love, and compunction rendered sweeter to him than the joys of theatres. St. John of Mat ha, a young nobleman of Provence, and doctor of divinity, having heard much of the holy hermit, sought him out in his de- sert, and proposed to him a project of establishing a religious order for the redemption of captives, a de- sign with which he was inspired when he said his first mass. The two servants of God agreed to con- sult Heaven, by redoubling their fasts and prayers for three days, after which they resolved to beg the approbation of the apostolic see. Innocent III. af- ter many deliberations, approved this new religious institute, which was called of the Most Holy Trinity, and which was so much increased within the space of forty years, as to be possessed of six hundred monasteries. The principal ecclesiastical writers of this age, (besides St. Bernard, surnamed Melliffluus^or honey- flowing, on account of the fluidity and sweetness of his style) were Peter the Venerable^ abbot of Cluni ; ©ratian, the compiler of the canon law, in 1 1 50 ; Ivo, bishop of Chartres ; Algerus Scholasticus ; John of Salisbury ; Perer of Blois, archdeacon of Bath ; Hil- debert, archbishop of Tours ; St. Hugh, bishop of Grenoble ; Peter Comester ; William of Malmes- bury ; Rupertus Abbot ; Cardinal Leo Marsicanus ; 3f2 DISTORT OF T&E Nicetas ; Sigebert ; Honorius ; Cardinal Robert Pollein ; Enthymius ; Zigabenus ; Zonarus ; Ce- drenus ; Theorianus ; Hugo of St Victor, a native of Ypres, surnamed the Tongue of St. Augustine ; Richard of St. Victor, a Scotsman, and an eminent contemplative : Peter Lombard, a native of Novara in Lombardy, and archbishop of Paris, who compiled a body of divinity, collected from the writings of the holy Fathers into four books, called the Sentences^ from which he was surnamed the Master of the Sen- tences, and on which several eminent doctors have written commentaries, Sec. CHAPTER XXX. The Church of the Thirteenth Century. THE apostolic chair was filled in this age by In- nocent III. eighteen years and six months, by Ho- noiius HI. ten years and eight months, by Gregory IX. fourteen years and five months, and by Celes- tine IV. only seventeen days After a vacancy of near twenty months, Innocent IV. was raised to the pontificate, in June »243, which he held eleven years, live months, and fifteen days, Alexander IV. being then chosen, governed the Church six years and five months. Urban IV. sat three years and one month, and died in Perugia in 1264 Clement IV. sat three years and nine months. St. Gregory X. the arch- deacon of Liege, succeeded him in 127 1, after a va- cancy of almost three years, the cardinals not agree- ing in their choice, which gave occasion to the fol- lowing distich : " Pa/iatus munus tulit Archidiaconus unus, " Quern Patrem Patrum fecit discordiafratrum" After much toil^ anxiety, and care y A Jilain Archdeacon mounts St. Peter's chair,; The holy Western Pontiffs placed among ; So concord sweet from dire distention sjirung* CHURCH OF CHRIST, ^4^3 St. Gregory dying in January, 1276, Innocent V. was elected, and died after the fifth month of his pon- tificate. Adrian V. died on the thirty-seventh day after his election. John XXI. died in May, 1277, in the eighth month of his pontificate. Nicholas III. died in Augusi, 1280. Martin IV. sat four years and one month. Honorius IV. sat two years, Nicholas IV. died on the 4th of April, in the begin- ning of the fifth year of his pontificate, that is, in 1292, the year after Jerusalem was taken by Saladin. The apostolical see having remained vacant two years and three months, St. Peter Celestine V. was, out of pure regard to his eminent sanctity, unani- mously elected, and importuned to accept of the pontificate, on the 5th of July, 1294, which he abdi- cated on the 12th of December, the same year, with greater joy than the most ambitious man could mount the throne of the richest empire in the world. Cardinal Benedict Cajetan, under the name of Boni- face VIII. the ablest civilian and canonist of his age, was chosen in his place, and crowned at Rome on the 16th of January following. He held the potifi-' cate eight years, nine months, and eighteen days; but Rome being then torn by civil divisions, espe- cially by the factions of the Colonnas, he fell into great calamities, and received much ill treatment from William of Nogaret, and Philip the Fair, king of France, his declared enemy. Three general councils were held in this century. The fourth of Lateran of 412 bishops, and near 80Q abbots, under Innocent III. in the year 1215. This was the twelfth general council. The thir- teenth was the first council of Lyons, which was celebrated there in 1245, by Innocent IV. partly for the purpose of procuring succours for the Cru- sadersj and partly to reclaim the emperor Frederic II. It consisted of 140 bishops besides the cardi- nals, patriarchs, the emperor Baldwin II. and the orators of other Christian princes. The fourteenth general council, or second of Lyons, was opened in the same city, on the 7th of May, 1274, in which were assembled 500 bishops, 70 2D 314 HISTORY OF THE abbots, and 1000 other prelates. James king qf Arragon, with the ambassadors of several other princes, the patriarch of Constantinople, the me- tropolitan of Nice, and the grand treasurer of the Greek emperor, assisted, and produced the empe- ror's letters, with another letter written in the names of thirty-five Oriental archbishops and their suffra- gans, earnestly praying for a re-union with the mother Church, and styling the bishop of Rome the first Pontiff and the common Father of all Chris- tians. The emperor Michael Palaeologus had made proposals before to Clement IV. for a union, and Gregory X. resolved to pursue the business zealous- ly, and bring it to a happy conclusion. The city of Lyons was most convenient for this purpose, and also to concert measures for the recovery of the Holy Land, which Gregory promoted with all his anight. It was also the most unexceptionable place for the meeting of those princes whose succours were principally expected, because at that time it was subject to its own archbishop, though held in lief of the emperor. The Pope himself presided at this council, and the Logothete, or chancellor of Constantinople, adjured the schism in the name of the emperor and the nation, accepted the profession of faith of the church of Rome, and confessed the supremacy and primacy of the holy see. In thanks- giving the Pope sung Mass, and the Te Dcum on the least of SS. Peter and Paul, in the cathedral of S:. John, with his cheeks all the time bathed in tears. The Gospel was sung first in Latin, then in Greek, and a sermon was preached by St. Bonaventure en the unity of faith. Then the Creed was sung also in Latin and in Greek, and as a seal of the re-union of the two churches, these words were thrice re- peated : Who proceeded from the Father and the Son. The council was closed by the fifth and last session on the 17th of July ; and in memory hereof two crosses are placed on the high altar of the Metro- politan church at Lyons. Every thing then appa- rently promised a durable union j but, alas ! after a CHURCH OF CHRIST- »8U short sun-shine of peace, the Greeks relapsed as usual, and the schism was renewed nine years after by the emperor Andronicus. A violent storm was also raised in this age against the Church by the new Manichcans and Cathariy a sect of men whose principles and practice were inimical to public peace, and tended to the destruction of the laws of civil society and Christian morals. The Mani- cheans had been troublesome from time to time for near a thousand years, but never were so numerous or so powerful as in this century, particularly in the southern parts of France, where they were called Albigccis or Albigenses, from the city of Alby. Being favoured by Raymond, Count of Toulouse, and by some other neighbouring princes, they com- mitted great outrages in Languedoc, expelled the. bishops from their sees, burnt churches, demolished monasteries, and even entered the field in armed troops to the amount of a hundred thousand men. But their reign was short, for their numerous forces were routed at Muret, a small town on the Garonne, near Toulouse, by Simon of Montfort, earl of Leices- ter, at the head of only a thousand men. In the year 1209 they fortified themselves at Beziers, but the town being besieged and taken by assault, the inhabitants were barbarously put to death, to the number of fifteen thousand. The inhumanity of this action is not to be palliated, nor can the cruelties and injustices that were exercised on this occasion be justified on any principle. Those, indeed, who disturb the public peace, and set up the standard of rebellion and persecution against ail laws and authority, are to be restrained by lawful authority from doing acts of violence and hurting others, but crimes and seditions are not to be punished or re- venged by other crimes, nor are avarice and am- bition to cover themselves under the cloak of zeal for religion. France was also infested about this time with an- other sect, which was that of the Waldenses, or Poor Men of Lyons, who took their origin from Pe- ter Waldo, a merchant of that city, and broached 3-13 HISTOKY OF THE various errors. They commenced preachers with* out any license or commission, and when they were opposed by the pastors of the Church they wanted humility, and said, the clergy condemned them be- cause they envied their sanctity and morals. Such are the baneful fruits and blindness of pride and self-conceit. The Petro-Brusians, who took their name from Peter Bruys, a native of Dauphine, disturbed the peace of the Church in like manner, and began to propagate their pernicious tenets at this period, covering the most wicked actions and corrupt morals under an hypocritical garb. In op- position to all these heresies, Divine Providence was pleased to raise a number of apostolic men and eminent saints, who maintained the purity of faith, and promoted true piety and devotion, by the light of their doctrine and shining virtues. St. Dominick and St. Francis of Assisium founded two religious orders, which were solemnly approved and confirm- ed in 1216 and 1223, by the authority of Honorius II. who also confirmed the holy order of the Car- pielites in 1226. The religious order of Hermits, founded by St. Augustine, near the city of Tagaste, in the year 388, was transferred by Innocent IV. in the year 1243, from their hermitages into cities and towns, for the edification of the faithful : and their union into one great body, under one general supe- rior, was approved and ratified by Alexander IV. in 1257. A new religious order for the redemption of captives, was approved by Gregory IX. in the year 1235. It was founded by St. Peter Nolasco, a native of Languedoc, who being sent by Count Simon, of Montfort, into Spain, with the young prince James of Arragon (whose father had been defeated and killed among the Albigenses, in the battle of Muret) led the life of a recluse, and practised the austerities of a cloister in the midst of the royal court at Barce- lona, where the kings of Arragon then chiefly resid- ed. Charity and compassion for the poor had always been a distinguishing feature in the character of St. Peter, so that he might say with holy Job, that mer- cy and compassion for his neighbour in distress had CHt-RCH OF CHRIST. 317 grown ufi with him from his childhood. He saw al- most under his eyes the sufferings of the Christians, who were detained in bondage among the Infidels, and his tender heart was particularly afflicted hereat; for the Moors at that time being possessed of a con- siderable part of Spain, great numbers of Christians groaned under their tyranny in a miserable slavery, both there and in Africa. The sight of so many- moving objects in captivity, and the consideration of their corporeal sufferings, and much more so of the spiritual dangers to which their immortal souls were exposed, under their Mahometan masters, made him feel by compassion the weight of all their chains, and spend his whole estate in ransoming as many as he could. By his discourses he moved the king and se- veral others to contribute large alms toward this charity, and at last formed a project of instituting a religious order, for a constant supply of men and means, whereby to carry on his laudable undertaking. St. Raymund of Pennafort, who was descended from the counts of Barcelona, and nearly allied to the kings of Arragon, concerted with him the founda- tion of this new order, and drew up for it certain rules and constitutions. It was this saint who col- lected into one body ail the scattered decrees of popes and councils, since the collection made by Gratian. It is looked upon as the best finished part of the bo- dy of the canon law, and is compiled in five books, commonly called the Decretals, The incredible num- ber cf conversions, of which these Saints were the instruments, is known only to Him, who, by his grace, was the author of them. The kingdom of Valentia was the first place that was blessed with the labours of St. Peter ; the second was that of Granada and the coasts of Spain and Algiers, where, after undergoing great hardships and sufferings, he induced many of ihe Mahometans to embrace the faith of Christ. Si. Raymund applied himself to the exercises and func- tions of an apostolic life, especially the conversion of the Saracens, ten thousand of whom received bap- tism in the year 1256. St. Peter died on Christmas- day, in 1 25 6 ; in the 67ih vear of his age, and St. Ray- 2D2 3 IS HISXGIIY OF THE raund on the 6th of January, 1275, in the 100th year of his age. They were both honoured by many mi- racles : Bollandus has filled fifteen pages in folio with an account of them. St. Raymond, surnamed Non-natus, or Unborn^ be- cause, like unto Scipio Africanus, and, according to some authors, Julius Caesar, he was taken out of the body of his mother after her death, by the Cesarean operation, in the year 1204, succeeded St. Peter No- lasco, at Barcelona, in the charitable office of Ran- somer of Captives. Being sent into Barbary, he pur- chased the liberty of a greater number of slaves ; and when all his treasure was laid out in that charitable way, he made a magnanimous sacrifice of his own libertyi and voluntarily gave himself up as a hostage for the ransom and salvation of others, who were in imminent danger of sinking under their calamities, and losing their immortal souls by impatience o? apostacy from Christ. St. Philip Beniti, a native of Florence, was in this age a great ornament of the Church, and ft principal propagator of the religious order of the scrvites in Italy. When, upon the death of Cle- ment IV. the cardinals assembled at Viterbo began, to cast their eyes on him to raise him to the apostolic chair, having got intelligence of their design, he retired into the mountains, and lay concealed there till Gregory X. was chosen. All this time he re- doubled the macerations of his body, and gave him- self up to the sweet exercise of heavenly contem- plation, living chiefly on dry herbs, and drinking at a fountain, since called St. Philip's Bath. He re- turned from the desert, glowing with holy zeal, to labour for the conversion of sinners, and to kindle in the hearts of Christians the fire of divine love. Italy was at that time horribly divided by intestine discords and hereditary factions, particularly those cf the Guclphs, who adhered to the popes, and th e Ghibeliins, or imperialists, who were partizans o* the emperors in their contests about investitures? &x. These factions subsisted in Germany for above an hundred years, but in Italy almost four hundred, CHURCH OP CHRIST. 319 they not being quite extinct there before the reign of Charles V. St. Philip Beniti, and several other holy men, endeavoured to supply suitable remedies to these quarrels, and wonderfully pacified the people at Pistoia, Forli, and many other places, where they were ready to tear each other to pieces, but the discords, like a wound ill cured, broke out again with worse symptoms than ever. The renowned St. Thomas of Aquino, styled the Jngelic Doctor^ flourished in this age. He perform- ed his studies at Cologne and Paris, under the tuition (A Albertus Magnus. His profound humility made him conceal the amazing progress he made therein from his school-fellows, who, on account of his modesty and silence, called him the Dumb Ox^ but the brightness of his genius, and his quick and deep penetration, were soon discovered by his master, Albertus, who not able to contain his joy and ad- miration, said, " We call him the dumb ox, but he u will give such a bellow in learning, as will be u heard all over the world." This applause made no impression on the humble Thomas, because his heart was full of nothing but of God, and his own insufficiency. In the year 1248, being twenty-two years of age, he began to publish his first works, which consisted of comments on the ethics and otter philosophical works of Aristotle. The Albi- genses and Saracens in Arabia and Spain, made then a bad use of Aristotle's philosophy, and wrote with incredible subtilty on his principles, particu- larly Avicenna and Averroes, the Arabian philo- sophers. St. Thomas, though he had only a bad translation of the works of that philosopher, op- posed the enemies of truth with their own weapons^ and employed the philosophy of Aristotle in defence of the faith, and made it subservient to divine reve- lation. He discerned and confuted his errors, and set in a clear and new light the great truths of rea- son, which that philosopher had often wrapt up in obscurity. Thus Aristotle, who had been called the terror of Christians, in the hands of Thomas became orthodox, and furnished religion with new 320 HISTORY OF THE arms against Idolatry and Atheism. His writings are original efforts of genius and reflection, and every point he handles in a manner that makes it appear new. If his speculations are sometimes spun fine, and his divisions run to niceties, this was owing to the custom of the age in which he lived, and to the speculative refining geniuses of the Ara- bians, whom he had undertaken to pursue and con- fute throughout their whole subtle system. St. Thomas penetrated the most knotty difficulties in all the sciences, whether sacred or profane, to which he applied himself, not out of a vain passion, or the desire of applause, but for the advancement of God's honour and the interest of religion. In ob- scure and difficult points, he redoubled with more earnestness his fervour in his prayers than his ap- plication to study, which he found attended with such success, that he was accustomed to say, that he learned more before his crucifix, and at the foot of the altar, than in books. His works are printed in ten volumes, folio, and are partly philosophical, partly theological, with comments on the holy Scriptures, and several treatises of piety, wherein. he reduces the rules of an interior life to these two Gospel maxims: first, that we must strenuously la- bour, by self- denial and mortification, to extinguish in our hearts all the sparks of pride, and the inor- dinate love of creatures ; secondly, that by assidu- ous prayer, meditation, and doing the will of God In all things, we must kindle his perfect love in our souls. — Opusc. 17 and 18. The fruits of his preaching were no less wonderful than those of his pen : He was heard at Cologne, Paris, Rome, and in other cities as an angel. Even the Jews ran of their own accord to hear his sermons, and many of them were converted. His devotion to the blessed sacrament was extraordinary, and in saying mass he seemed to be in raptures, often quite dissolved in tears, and melting with love in contemplation of the immense charity of Jesus Christ. He died on the 7th of March, 1274. The Bollandists give a long authentic account of various miracles wrought CTtURCH OF CHRIST. ?.2l through his intercession and by his relics, which were deposited in Toulouse with great honour. St. Bonaventure, cardinal and bishop of Albano, surnamed the Seraphic Doctor* for his extraordinary, devotion, ardent charity, and eminent skill in sacred learning, was a contemporary of St. Thomas, and died the same year, on the 15th of July, in the 53d year of his age. The celebrated Gerson, the most learned and devout chancellor of Paris, calls St. Bonaventure both a Cherub and a Serafi/i, because his writings both enlighten the understanding and in* flame the heart of the reader. The acts of his ca- nonization record several approved miracles wrought by his intercession. St. Anthony of Padua, so called from his long re- sidence in that city, though he was a native of Lis- bon in Portugal, adorned the Church of this century by his learning and shining virtues. After teaching divinity with great applause at Bologna, Toulouse, Montpellier, and Padua, he at length forsook the schools to apply himself wholly to the functions of a missionary preacher; for he thought the conversion of souls from vice, and the reformation of manners, called for his whole attention and zeal, and he seem- ed formed, both by the gifts of nature and grace, for this most important office. Being perfectly versed in the Scriptures, he displayed in a clear light, and with inexpressible energy, the genuine sense, and the spirit and marrow of the sacred text. He opposed the fashionable vices with vigour and success in France, Spain, and Italy, and he spoke with such unction and energy, that his eloquence, like a torrent of fire, bore down all before him, and his words were so many darts, which pierced the hearts of his hearers, for he had long treasured up in his own heart the most feeling sentiments of every virtue, and Ins soul was all flame, before he en- deavoured to kindle the fire of divine love in others. He was no less admirable in the private direction of souls than in the pulpit. Wherever he came, dis- sentions and animosities were extinguished, usurers restored the unjust gainsj and sinners threw them* 525 HISTORY OF THE &elves at his feet, melted into tears. The sanctity and austerity of his life added such weight to his words, that he seemed to preach by every action. — » He gave up his happy soul to Him who had created it for his own great glory, on the 13th of June, 1231, being 36 years old. At the first news of his depart- ure, the children ran about the streets, crying out, " the saint is dead." His sanctity was testified by many illustrious miracles, recorded by Papebroke the Bollandist. — T. 2 Jun. p. 713. St. Hyacinth of Poland, called the Apostle of the North, lived about this time. He was a professed enemy of idleness, which he knew to be the bane of all virtues. Every hour of the day had its em- ployment allotted to it, but prayer was, as it were, the seasoning both of his sacred studies and of all his other actions. His zeal was too active for him to allow himself any rest, whilst he saw souls perish- ing eternally in the ignorance of the true God. A tender compassion for sinners moved him to carry the Gospel into the vast and savage countries of the North. After he had preached his first sermons with great success at Cracow in Silesia (a province Uien united to Poland,) and in the principal cities of Prussia, Pomerania, Denmark, Sweden, Gothia, and Norway, in all which countries there slili re- mained many idolaters, he travelled into Lesser Russia, and penetrated as far as the Black Sea, and into the isles of the Archipelago. Long and dan- gerous journies over rocks, precipices, and deserts, were not able to abate his ardour, or discourage his heroic soul, which delighted in labouring for the glory of God, and could think nothing difficult that was undertaken for so great an end. Returning to- wards the North, he entered Muscovy, called also Great Russia, and he no sooner began to 4 announce the Gospel, confirming his doctrine by miracles, but the Mahometans, Heathens, and Greek^schisma- tics flocked to hear him in great multitudes, and be- came docile to the truth. Having returned to Cra- cow in the year 123 l, his ardour to gain souls to Christ made him afterward undertake a voyage to CHURCH OF CHRIST. S23 Comania on the Danube, and penetrate into Great Tartary, into Thibet near the East Indies, and into Catay, the most northern province of China. By means of his apostolic labour, several thousands of these barbarians received the Sacrament ofBuptism, and among them a prince of the Tartars, who went with several lords of his nation to the first General Council of Lateran, in 1245. St. Hyacinth, after having travelled above four thousand leagues, ar- rived in Cracow in the year 1257, which was the seventy-second and last of his life. His sanctity was attested by an amazing number of miracles, with the history of which the Bollandists have filled thirty-five pages in folio. They have also filled twenty-two pages in folio with the history of the miracles of St. Peter of Verona, who, after con- verting a multitude of sinners, and Manicheans in Tuscany, Bologna, Ancona and the Milanese, was martyred on his return from Como to Milan, the 6th of April, in the year 1252, by Carinus, an assas- sin, who was hired by the Cathari to lie in ambush, and murder him on the road. The succession of saints was still kept up by St, John of Mantua ; St. Peregrinus Latiozi, who con- tinued during penance in sackcloth and ashes to the 80th year of his age ; St. Edmund, archbishop of Santerbury ; St. Richard, bishop of Shichester ; St. William, archbishop of York ; St. Lewis, bishop of Toulouse ; St. Simon Stock ; St. Sylvester, ab- bot of Osimo; St. Raynerius ; St. Lewis IX. king fcf France, with his only sister St. Isabella ; Su Hedwigis, queen of Poland ; St. Clare ; St. Eliza- beth ; St. Gertrude ; St. Juliana ; and St. Mar- garet of Cortona, &c. These great servants of God had that fundamental maxim of virtue always be- fore their eyes, that even devotion, infected with self-will and humour, becomes vicious, and nourishes self-love and self-conceit, the bane of all virtue, and the chief enemy of the love of God. It is from the poisonous root of self-love that all our vices and passions spring, and the seven capital sins are but so maqy branches of iu Take away self-love, and S24 HISTORY OP THE you will shut up all the avenues of hell. It is the indispensable duty of every Christian t6 combat and counteract this dreadful evil, by the opposite virtue of self-denial, in spite of all the refined persuasions of a deluded conscience, and all the specious argu- ments that are drawn from the artifices and sug- gestions of self-love itself, since the Gospel requires self-denial as a preliminary condition, and the first step necessary to become a disciple of Christ. If any one will come after me, let him deny himself &c. Matthew 16. 24. Several academies were instituted in this age for the cultivation of letters, one at Salamanca in the beginning of this century, one at Patavium, in the year 1222, one at Toulouse in 1233, one at Naples in 1239, one in Sweden in 1240, one in Cambridge in 1280, one at Montpelier in 1289, and one at Lisbon in 1290. Academical degrees were intro- duced for the purpose of licensing persons to teach in public. In conferring the degree of Doctor^ or Master* a Bacillus, or wand, was delivered, whence comes the name of Baccalaurcus^ or Batchelor. The chief ecclesiastical writers of this century were, among others, Innocent III. eminent botli for his literary and apostolical labours ; Alexander of Hales ^Gloucestershire, surnamed the Irrefragable Doc tor; jEgidius Romanus, styled Doctor Fundatisaimus ; Albertus Magnus, whose works are published in twenty-one large volumes ; Augustinus Trium- phans ; Ulric of Argentina ; Alanus, a Cistercian monk, called the Universal Doctor ; Cardinal James of Vitri ; Henricus Gandavensis ; Rodericus Xime- nius, archbishop of Toledo ; Roger Bacon, called Doctor Mirabilis ; Joachimus, abbot ; Helinandus ; Humbert ; Hugo de Sancto Caro ; Vincent of Beau- vais ; Robert Sorbon ; Thomas Cantipratensis ; Ro- bert Grotest ; William the Wise and Pious, bishop of Paris, who exceedingly promoted the studies in that university, so that there were then more students than citizens in Paris. The works of this illustrious prelate have been re-printed several times, and are standing monuments of his great piety and con- eiitilCH OF CHRIST. 325 summate erudition. If we follow the history of the Church through every age with attention, we shall find that the Providence of God has always taken care to raise up such men from time to time for the defence of the Walls of Jerusalem, and to fill them with his holy spirit, that they might repel all the assaults of the powers of darkness, and support the faith in its primitive purity, by their writings, their miracles, and saint-like lives. This has been the case hitherto, and this will be the case to the end of time. The promises made to the Church are eternal, and will continue to be accomplished in all succeeding ages. The victories she has here- tofore gained over idolatry, heresies, and scandals, are a sure proof and guarantee of the victories she is to gain in future. CHAPTER XXXI. The Church of the Fourteenth Century. THE pontifical chair was filled in this age by Benedict XI. who, after the demise of Boniface VIII. on the 11th of October, 1303, was una- nimously elected Pope on the 22d of the same month/but sat only eight months and seventeen days. His successor Clement V. sat about nine years, and died near Avignon on the 20th of April, 1314. After a long vacancy John XXII. was elected on the 7th of August, 1316, and sat eighteen years. Benedict XII. succeeded him, and died in the eighth year of his pontificate. After him Clement VI. sat ten years and about nine months. Innocent VI., was elected on the 18th of December, 1352, andl sat till the 12th of September, 1362. He was suc- ceeded by Urban V. who sat eight years and near two months. Gregory XI sat seven years and three months, and died in Rome on the 2Tth of March, 13"8. Urban VI. was chosen on the 9th of April the same year, and died on the 15th of October, 1389. He was succeeded by Boniface IX. who governed the Church till the 1st of Octo- ber, 1403. 2 E 326 HISTORY OF THE The fifteenth General Council was held in the year 1310, at Vienne in France, under Clement V. it consisted of three hundred bishops, and a great number of other prelates of distinguished abilities and merit, perfectly acquainted with ecclesiastical discipline and sacred antiquity. This council sup- pressed the order of Knights Templars, and con- demned the Fratricelli, who made all perfection to consist in a seeming poverty. The impure heresies of the Be guards, Lolhards, Beguines and Turlufiini^ with the errors of the Flagallantes, who placed pe- nance entirely in the exterior practice of disci/i lining, or flagellation, and other fanatics who made their appearance about this time, were also condemned. The peace of the Church was disturbed in this age >y the great schism that began in the West, and was occasioned by the election of Clement V. who being a Frenchman, fixed his residence at Avignon, where his successors continued for a considerable time. Antipopes were set up by the contending parties, and the schism was not entirely extinguished till af- cr the Council of Constance. The succession of saints was kept up by St. An- drew Corsini, bishop of Fiosela ; St. John Col urn- bini, founder of the Jesuati : St. Yvo, a priest of little Britain ; St. Roch of Motpellier ; St. John of Burlington ; St. Peter of Luxemburg, bishop of ?>Ientz ; St. John Nepomucen, martyr ; St. Elzear, and his holy spouse St. Delphina, who were a noble pattern for heads of families ; St. Catherine of Sien- na; St. Clare of Monte Falco near Spoleto ; St. Klizabeth, queen of Portugal ; St. Catherine of Sweden ; St. Agnes of Monte Pulciano, Sec. See Br. Alb. Butler, torn. 9. p. 329. and torn. 5. p. 217. The great St. Nicholas of Tolentin, died about the beginning of this century, on the I Oth of Septem- ber, 1306, in the sixty-first year of his age. He was a prodigy of penance and mortification ; his ordinary food was coarse bread with pulse or herbs; his bed was the bare floor, with a stone for his pillow. The disciplines and iron girdles with which he afflicted his body are shown to this day in Tolentin, c his sacred relics are deposited in a stately CHURCH OF CHRIST. 327 basilic. Eu genius TV. who canonized him in the year 1446, styled him Thaumaturgus, and declared that no saint since the days of the Apostles adorned the Church with more miracles. The bull of his canonization alone relates upwards of three hun- dred renowned miracles, strictly examined and juri- dically proved by the solemn testimonies of three hundred and seventy-one witnesses, among whom were different persons who had been raised to life by his intercession. These and sugIi like miracles are not however proposed as parts of Divine revelation, or articles of faith, to be equally assented to with the miracles that are recorded in the holy scriptures, but they rest upon their bare historical authority, and deserve at least the same prudent assent, human belief, and credit, that is given to other facts, at- tested by great numbers of eye-witnesses, examined by authority, and found upon record, or related upon good grounds in profane history. Nothing can be more unjust than to charge the Church with patronizing forgeries, or countenancing false legends. So far from this, that she condemns all kinds of forgeries relating to religion, as lies of the most criminal and the most heinous nature, and that her councils and bishops have been always most severe in detecting and punishing them. See the decrees of the fourth council of Lateran, and of the council of Trent against counterfeit miracles and relics. Yet a little incredulity, accompanied with a presumption of measuring God's works by the short line of human wisdom, will make the best attested miracles pass for forgeries and absurd impossibilities. Is not every thing ridiculous and absurd to unbelievers ? Is not the whole doctrine of Christ a scandal to the Jews, and a folly to the Gentiles? Take away faith, and see what will become of the miracles recounted in the Old and New Testament, where we read that God, for the manifestation of his glory and good- ness, has been pleased to favour many of his ser- vants with the gift of miracles, and where Christ our Lord has promised that his disciples should work greater miracles than himself had wrought ; that" Z2$ HISTORY OF TffE in his name they should east out devils, and heal alt kind of disorder's : See an excellent treatise of Dr. Hays, On Miracles, printed in the year 1789. This century was auspicious to the cultivation of letters. The hard servitude of the people under their immediate Lords, who were a kind of subal- tern sovereigns in their own estates, with many se- vere customs concerning vassalages being abolished in France and some other countries, studies began to flourish exceedingly, and great encouragement &nd protection were held out by many zealous pa- trons cf the sciences. The depravation of taste r.nder the decline of the Roman Empire had begun, and the inundations of the barbarians completed the fall of the polite arts in the West. However, the sciences cf faith and piety never languished in the Church of Christ. Sacred learning was always cultivated, even in what are called the dark ages. The study of the Holy Scriptures w^as never neg- lected. They were carefully delivered down, and ately corrected from the Hebrew under Charle- b, and under S:. Lewis, with learned notes the Hebrew, 70, Origen, St. Jerom, Sec, long e the revival of the belles lettrcs and the in- . n of the art of printing. All the great mo- iies had public libraries and Scri/itoriumij ere numbers cf religious men were employed in :opying and transcribing books, at the hours al- lotted to manual labour. £ or Scholastics, vere established in Cathedrals, and great care was taken by the Clergy to presei re ancient literature. The very names of Lan franc, St. Ste- \ abbot of Citeau, Raymond Mar- Nicholap of Lyra, Pcrket Salvago, a Carthu- h of Genoa, Paul of Burgos, Austin Justi- niani, Houbigand, a French oratorian, &c. ought alone to stop the mouth of slander. Who was it that transplanted and revived the Greek language and authors, and with them all polite arts and Literature in the West? says the elegant Protestant author of the Minute Phifo*Gflher s Dial. 5. n. 25. T. 1. p. 324. Was it not chiefly Bessarion, a Cardinal, Marcus CHURCH OF CHRIST. S2ST Masurus, an archbishop, Theodore Gaza, a private clergyman ? Has there been a greater and more renowned patron and restorer of elegant studies in every kind since the days of Augustus Caesar, than Leo X. Pope of Rome ? Did any writers approach the purity of the classics nearer than the Cardinals Bembus and Sadoletus, or than the bishops Jovius and Vida ? not to mention an endless number of Cistercians, French Benedictines, and other learned ecclesiastics, who have eminently excelled in all the branches of polite literature. Several universities were founded in this century: One at Avignon, in the ye;r 1303, another at Orleans, in 1305, another in Dublin, in 132&, another at Pisa,in 1339, another at Angers? in 1346, another at Heidelberg, tl year, another at Prague, in 135$, another art in t347, another al Geneva, in 1365, anothSf^at Vienna, about the year 139U r another at Sienna, in 1387, and another at Cologne, in 1388. The most celebrated writers of this century were John Duns Scotus, who died at Cologne in i 308 j Augustine of Ancona ; William Oekam, a native of Surry in England, and head of the Nominal pM«? losophers, who, in opposition to the Realists, main- tain, that words, not thing3, are the objects of dia- lectic ; John Bacon; Petrus Aureolus ; Nicoiaus Lyranus ; Gregory of Ariminum; Thomas de Ar- gentina; Jacobus Viterbiensis ; Alphoiisus V&rg&s £ Pelagius Alvarus ; Durandus, a Sane to "Portiaio £ Hervaeus ; Francis Mayro ; Monaldus ; Petrus- Pa- ludanns; Guido Carmelita: Ludolphus Carthusia- nus ; John of Burlington ; Richard of Ham pole £ Simon de Cassia ; John Taulerus ; John Rusbro- chius ; Antonius Arragoiuus ; Thomas Braduardi- nus ; Alexander de Sancto Epidio ; Jacobus Tolo~ sanus ; Jordon of Saxony ; tienry Suso, the author of several pious tracts, &c. Lithuania was gamed over to the Church of this century, by the conver- sion of the grand duke, Wladislaus, and his people^ 2 E 2 ' HISTORY OF THE CHAPTER XXXir. The Church of the Fifteenth Century. THE Apostolic chair was filled in this age by Innocent VII. from the 17th of October, 1104, till the 6th of November, 1406. Gregory XII. suc- ceeded him, on the 20th of the same month and year, was deposed on the 26th of June, 1409, and died at Recanati in 1417. Alexander V. sat from June, 1409, till the 3d of May, UlO. John XXIII. being elected at Bologna, on the 17th of the same month and year, was deposed on the 29th of May, 1415, and died at Florence on the 22d of December, 1419. Martin V. was chosen on the 11th of No- vember, 1417, and sat twelve years, three months, and twelve days, according to an inscription on his brass monument in the Lateran Basilic. Eugenius IV. succeeded him, and died in the sixteenth year of his pontificate. Nicholas V. his successor, died in March, 1455. Calixtus III. held the pontificate from the 8th of April, 1455, till the 6th of August, 1458. Pius II. being elected the same year, on the 27th of August, died on the 14th of August, 1464. On his demise, Paul II. being raised to the pontifi- cate, viva voce, by the means of Cardinal Bessarion, died on the 26th of July, 1471. Sixtus IV. succeed- ed him, and sat till the 13th of August, 1484. In- nocent VIII. was elected on the 29th of the same month, and died in July, 1492. Alexander VI. was chosen the same year, on the 1 1th of August, and died on the 1 8th of August, 1503. On him the fol- lowing distich was made : u Visuram se iteriun Six tain cum Roma fiutarct, " Pro SixtoSextum vidit, et ingeniuit." When Rome another Sixtus wish 9 d return' d y A Sextus she beheld, and deeply mourn'd. In this century the peace of the Church was greatly disturbed by a long schism. Italy suffered great loss by the absence of the popes, and the city of Rome in particular, was torn by different fac- CHURCH OF CHRIST. 331 tions. The Romans complained that their bishops had for seventy-four years past, forsaken their Church, and they ardently wished for, and earnestly solicited, their return from Avignon* In fine, Gre- gory XI. yielding to their pressing entreaties and importunities, removed his seat from Avignon on the 13th of September, 1376, and was received at Rome, amidst the acclamations of the people, with the most lively demonstrations of joy. After his death the Romans, fearing lest the new Pope, if he happened to be a Frenchman, might fix his resi- dence again at Avignon, assembled in crowds about the palace where the cardinals were deliberating, and cried out, We will have a Roman Pofie. To these seditious clamours they added menaces. The car- dinals being intimidated, named the archbishop of Bari, who took the name of Urban VI. Sixteen of the cardinals being afterwards dissatisfied witri their choice, departed from Rome, declared their election null, because it was not free, and elected another Pope, under the name of Clement VII. This unhappy affair threw the Church into a dread- ful confusion. Christendom was divided between two Popes : Clement was acknowledged in France-, in Spain, in Scotland, and Sicily ; whilst England, Hungary, Bohemia, and a part of Germany, de- clared for Urban. The death of Urban did not terminate the schism, the cardinals of his obedience r as they were then called, having elected a succes- sor, which the opposite party likewise did on their side. These dismal scenes were frequently renewed. In the year 1409, the cardinals, afflicted at the continuance of so scandalous a division among the faithful, resolved to put an end to it, and for this purpose they united in the council of Pisa, and having withdrawn their obedience from the two con- tending popes, Gregory XII. and Benedict XIIL they unanimously elected Alexander V. This council was composed of twenty-two cardinals, twen- ty-four archbishops, one hundred and eighty-two bishops, with above three hundred abbots and theo- logians. But all their efforts proved ineffectual 332 \ HISTORY OP THE the schism still continued, and the evil consequence* increased. The obstinacy of the popes, the jea- lousy of the cardinals on both sides, and the dif- ferent interests of the crowned heads, seemed to forebode a perpetual continuance of the schism, if God, who promised not to abandon his Church, had not removed all the obstacles which the human pas- sions opposed to the re-establishment of union. HU divine Providence was pleased at length to accom- plish this great work in the sixteenth general coun- cil, which was assembled in 1414, at Constance in Grmany, near Switzerland. John XXIII. Sigis- mond the emperor, four patriarchs, forty- three archbishops, one hundred and sixty bishops, and up- wards of a hundred and sixty abbots and eminent theologians, were present at this council. All the pretenders to the pop* d<>m being cited to appear, eit er abdicated voluntarily, or were deposed, and Martin V. was canonically elected, and generally ack owledged for the only lawful head of the Church. Thus ended the schism, after having con- tinued thirty-six years. In this extraordinary case, the Church had full power to assemble herself thus in a general council, in order to proceed to the- election of a pope, whose title should be unques- tionable. This is what she did in the council of Constance, which, as cardinal Turrecremata ob- serves, was but a continuation of the council of Pisa. Whilst the election of the contending popes continued doubtful, the papal chair might be con- sidered in effect the same as vacant, and the faithful in the interim might rest as fully convinced of the infallibility of the public doctrine of the Church, as of the infallibility oi the Gospels, though the persons who wrote them were men subject to human, passions The whole difference being about a mat- ter of fact, that is, about the validity of the elec- tion of the popes, the people were not on this ac- count the less attached to the apostolic see and chair of St. t'eter. They still continued 10 believe that there was but one visible head of ihe Church, and that he only who had been canonically elected, was CHURCH OF CHRIST. 333" this head and the true pontiff. They were not, in- deed, competent judges, in the concurrence of dif- ferent pretenders, to discern which of them was the lawful pope, or which of them had been duly elect- ed ; but in this case they might, with a safe con- science, follow the opinion and directions of their respective pastors, as St. Antoninus remarks. Besides the extinction of the long schism, another object, which the council of Constance had in view, was the suppression of the heretical errors of Wiclef, a doctor of Oxford, which John Huss, rector of the university of Prague, and Jerom his disciple, were spreading at that time through Bo- hemia, until they were condemned, degraded, and handed over to the civil power in the year 1415. The Hussites raised great commotions in that king- dom for about one hundred years, and filled it with civil wars, tumults, bloodshed, plunders, sacrileges, the ruin of families, and every other sort of cala- mity. The New Adamites, the Fossarii, and Thabo- rites, gave great scandal, and perpetrated the most horrid crimes. The Calixtins, so called from their belief of the nececessity of communion under both kinds, painted the form of a chalice in so many places, that they gave occasion to the folio Viing distich : 46 Tot fiingit Calices Bohemorum terra per Urbes, " Ut credas Bacchi numina sola coti." So many cufis Bohemia does afford, You'd fancy Bacchus only was ador'd. John Zisca, a veteran general and a follower of John Huss, having assembled a powerful army, plundered that whole country with unheard of bar- barity, and built the strong fortress, which he called Thabor, amidst waters and mountains, He defeated the emperor Sigismond's armies eight times, and when he was dying of a pestilence at Priscon, in the year 1424, he ordered a drum to be made of his skin to terrify his enemies. In the midst of all the foregoing scandals, the grand design cf God, which is the sanctification' of 334 HISTORY OF THE his elect, was brought about and accomplished, and the succession of saints was kept up by St. Antoni- nus, archbishop of Florence ; St. Vincent Ferrerius ; St. Laurence Justinian, patriarch of Venice; St. Bernardinus of Sienna; St. Thomas of Kempis; St. John Capistran; St. Nicholas Albergati; St. John of Sahagun; St. Didacus ; St. James de la Marcha; St. Casimir, prince of Poland ; St. Frances of Rome ; St. Catharine of Bologna; St. Catharine of Genoa; St. Jane of France; St. Coleta; St. Anthony of Amandula; St. Andrew de Monte Regalia; St. An- thony of Aquila ; St. Veronica of Binasco ; St. Rita of Cassia, St. Francis of Paula, the founder of the re- ligious order of the Minims, with many others, who were eminent for the gift of miracles, and who edi- fied the world by the sweet odour of their virtues. See Alban Butler, torn. 4. p. 10. The faith was in this century preached with great success in the kingdoms of Congo and Angola in Afric, and the inhabitants of the Canary Islands were gained over to the Church of Christ. Five and twenty thousand Jews and Moors were also converted, and a prodigious number of schismatics and of bad Christians were reclaimed by the preaching, labours, and miracles of St. Vincent Ferrerius. St. Laurence Justinian, says Dr. Cave, was a pre- late admirable for his sincere piety towards God, the ardour of his zeal for the divine honour, and the ex- cess of his charity to the poor, which seemed a sea that could not be drained. His writings consist of sermons, letters, and fourteen treatises of piety, full of unction. He was constituted by Nicholas V. first Patriarch of Venice. There were but three patriarchs acknowledged in the Church 'till the fourth century. The bishop of Rome was the patriarch of the West, and the bishops of the great sees of Alexandria and Antioch were the patriarchs of the East. Afterwards the patri- archal dignity was conferred on Jerusalem, on ac- count of its sanctity, and Constantinople, on account of the Imperial seat, usurped the patriarchal right in CHURCH OF CHRIST. 335 the year 381, but not without much opposition. For peace sake it was at length agreed to by a decree of the Council of Lateran, in the year 1215, that next after Rome, Constantinople should hold the second rank, Alexandria the third, Antioch the fourth, and Jerusalem the fifth. The title of Vicar of Jesus Christy was always peculiar to the bishops of Rome, as is manifest from the fifteenth letter of St. Cyprian to l-'ope Cornelius. — The title of Papa, or Pope, which signifies Father ■, was anciently common to all bishops, they being the Fathers of the Church. For many ages past custom has confined this title to the bishop of Rome only, who in quality of head of the whole Church, and successor of St. Peter, who fixed his apostolic seat and died in Rome, is the spiritual father of all the faithful. Some writers say that the word Papa comes from the initial letters of these four words, Petrus, Apostolus, Princeps, Apostolo- rum, which being abbreviated with a punctum or co- lon after each of the four initial letters, coalesced in progress of time into the word Papa, without any intermediate punctuation. Hence it follows, that Baron Holbergand some other historians are greatly mistaken, when they assert that the order of the Ec- clesiastical Hierachy was introduced in the eighth century ; it being evident from the sixth and seventh canons of the first General Council of Nice, and from the first Council of Ephesus, that Metropoli- tans and Archbishops had been previously establish- ed. Bingham in his antiquities also proves that the title of Archbishop was mentioned by Justinian in the sixth century. The truth is, that the institution of Bishops, Metropolitans or Archbishops, Primates and Patriarchs, originated in the practice of the Apostles, who, as Eusebius and St. John Chrysos- tom observe, committed the care of the churches in Crete to Titus, and intrusted Timothy with the su- perintendance of all the churches in Asia Minor, to direct all the public and common affairs of them. St. Antoninus, archbishop of Florence, was emi- nent for his writings, as well as for his piety. His principal work is his Sum of Moral Divinity, divided 336 HISTORY OF THE into four parts, wherein all virtues and vices are ex- plained ; the former enforced by pathetic motives and examples, and the latter painted in the most striking colours, to inspire Christians with horror. St. John Capistran wrote some tracts on the Council of Basil, on the Last Judgment , on the Spiritual Warfare, on the Civil and Canon Jaw, tJfc. The works of St. Bernardine are printed in five volumes folio. The works of Thomas of Kempis, a canon regular of the order of St. Augustine, bear evident testimony to his extraordinary sanctity, especially the incomparable book of the Imitation of Christ, whereof he is said to be the author, or at least the copier. It is the privilege of this book to be the pocket companion of devout persons, as it is the ge- nuine effusion of a perfect Christian spirit. Fonte- neile calls it the most excellent book that ever came from the hand of man, the holy scriptures being of divine original. The Spiritual Combat may be call- ed its key, or introduction. That great contempla- tive Thomas of Kempis died in 1471, in the 91st year of his age. About the same period died also the renowned prodigy of wit and learning, John Pi- ous, prince of Mirandula, in the 32d year of his age. The folllowing epitaph w T as engraved on his tomb : Joannes jacet hie Mirandula, cxtera norant Et Tagus, et Ganges, for san et Antipodes. Of John Mirandula, here all does lie That mortal was, and that could ever die : For what virtue, learning, sense could him give, Throughout the world his fame shall ever live. There were several other celebrated writers in this century, particularly Cardinal Peter de Alliaco, and John Gerson, his disciple, Cardinal John, a Turrecremata, Cardinal Nicholas Cusa, Bessarion, his partner, who were aided in their expensive enterprise by John Gutten- berg) a native of Mentz, settled then at Strasburgh. The polite arts received great improvement from the invention of printing, especially after the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, for the Grecian scholars being then exiled and scattered over the West, brought into it all the Oriental learning, and gave no small support to the cultivation of letters, first in Italy, and afterwards in other parts of Europe. A new plan of education was then adopted, pub- lic schools were opened for the improvement of youth, and several academies were established, par- ticularly at Herbipolis, in Franconia, in 1403, at Tours in <405, at Leipsic in 1408, at Louvain in 1426, at Valentia in i452, at Nantz and Fribourg in 1 46o, at Basil in 1459, at Ingolstadt in U72, at Copenhagen 2 F 338 HISTORY OF THE in 1479, at Strasburg in 1487, at Munster, in West- phalia, in 1490, kc. CHAPTER XXXIII. The seventeenth General Council held at Florence^ for the extinction of the Greek schism^ life, CANONISTS and theologians require to a gen- eral council the presence of the chief -.patriarchs, as principal prelates, (at least by their deputies,) and of bishops, from the different kingdoms of the Catholic Church, who represent the body of the pastors of the whole Church. The confirmation of the chief pastor is also deemed, by most divines, a necessary condition- If doubts arise whether a council be general, it is to be considered whether it be looked upon by the Church as such, and as the representative of the whole ; or whether the whole Church receives and acquiesces in its decisions; which the faithful, having their pastors and teachers always ready to instruct them, cannot in practice be at a loss to know, though this may sometimes be obscure, till circumstances are cleared up. The aforesaid condi- tions were wanting at Basil after the tenth session. That council was continued eighteen years, first at Basil, afterwards at Lausanne. Its proceedings in 1433, concerning the Hussites, and some points of ecclesiastical discipline, were approved and confirmed byEugenius IV. who, during the tenth session, or- dered the council to be removed, and from this time his legates were refused admittance. Wherefore, it is allowed by most, that this council was legal and general in the beginning, but it became afterwards a particular synod and schismatical conventicle, especi- ally when it was solemnly dissolved by a bull of Fai genius, and a general council opened at Ferrarain 1437. Turrecremata, and a considerable part of the prelates that were assembled at Basil, removed then, after the twenty- sixth session, but some staid behind, and continued their sessions schismatically during the forty-five last sessions. In 1438 they approved the French pragmatic sanction of Charles CHURCH OF CHRIST. 339 VII. relating chiefly to the collation of benefices, and in 1439 they prevailed upon Amadcus VII. for- merly duke of Savoy, and then a hermit at Ripalles, near the Lake of Geneva, to receive from them, under the name of Felix V. a pretended pontificate, which he afterwards voluntarily resigned in 1449. The true general council met first at Fcrrara in 1437, and thither John Palxologus, the Greek Em- peror — Joseph, the patriarch of Constantinople — wiih the other prelates, repaired. After sixteen ses- sions a contagious distemper breaking out at Ferra- ra, the council was removed by Eugenius IV. to Flo- rence, in 1439 ; and the same year, on the Gth of Ju- ly, after all difficulties had been discussed, the re- union of the Western, or Latin Church, and of the East- ern, or Greek Church, was agreed to, and a decree was drawn up for that purpose. The Greek emperor — the deputies of the patriarchs of Alexandria, And- och, and Jerusalem — with sixteen Oriental metropo- litans, or archbishops— several bishops — ten abbots ; and a great number of other Greek dignitaries and ecclesiastics of distinguished abilities, having re- nounced their schism and errors, openly professed according to the faith of the Roman Catholic Church, that the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father and the Son, and that the Pope was head of the Uni- versal Church. They all, Greeks as well as Latins, embraced one another in token of union and mutual charity, and subscribed the decree, except Mark, archbishop of Ephesus. After the departure of the Greeks, the Armenians abjured their heresy, and al- so signed. a decree of union. This council lasted three years after the conclusion of this momentous affair, and was at length dissolved at Rome, in the Late ran palace, in 1442. The eyes of all Christendom had been attentively fixed on this council, and the happy issue of it dif- fused universal joy through the Church. But this bright sun-shine of concord and joy had only emerg- ed from one cloud to be intercepted by another, for the Greeks, thus brought back to the bosom of their mother Church, relapsed shortly again into their for- 340 HISTORY OF THE mer schism. The obstinate prelate, Mark of Ephe- 6us, on his return to Constantinople, finding the peo- ple of that city violently prepossessed against the union, availed himself of this opportunity to declaim and write against it. An inundation of libels soon ap- peared, fraught with virulence, calumnies, and false- hoods. Those who had subscribed the decree, were bitterly reviled and treated with so much cruelty, that many of them lost courage, yielded to the stream, . and gave up the cause. Pope Nicholas V. a pontiff of remarkable piety and learning, grieving at the invincible obstinacy of the Greeks, and reflecting on the repeated and un- successful labours, which had been taken for their conversion, wrote to them a letter in the beginning of the year 145 i, in which he exhorted them in a pa- thetic manner to open their eyes to their past stub- bornness, and to re unite themselves to the Catholic Church. He addressed himself in particular to Con- stantine Palaeologus, their emperor, in the following words : " The Greeks have already too long abused " the patience of God, in persisting in their schism. u According to the parable of the Gospel, God " waits to see if the fig-tree, after having been cul- " tivated with so much care, will at last yield fruit ; " but if it does not, within the space of three years, 4< which God still allows them, the tree will be cut *' down by the root, and the Greek nation shall be " entirely ruined by the ministers of Divine Justice, " which God will send to execute the sentence al- " ready pronounced in Heaven against them." This prediction was literally accomplished, for in the year 1453, Mahomet II. having besieged Con- stantinople with a land army of three hundred thou- sand men, and a fleet of above one hundred gallies, with a hundred and thirty other smaller vessels, be- gan a general assault both by sea and land, on the 29th of May, early in the morning. He animated his troops so surprisingly, that they advanced through the most violent fire of the besieged, and a storm of darts and stones, over the dead bodies of those that were slain, till they became masters of the city. A CHtJRCH OF CHRIST. 341 jteitfary having planted the Turkish standard on the top of the wall, the Turks immediately poured in like a torrent, at a breach which they had made by shoot- ing stone bullets of two hundred pounds weight from fourteen batteries, as Phranzcs, the Greek historian, relates. The emperor and eight hundred of his sol- diers were trod to death in the breach, by the bar- barians, and the fugitives were slaughtered without mercy. It is computed that forty thousand Greeks perished on this unhappy occasion, besides sixty thou- sand who were afterwards sold for slaves. Mahomet allowed his victorious troops to plunder the city for three days, during which they gave a loose to the human passions, were guilty of all kind of excesses, and perpetrated the most execrable crimes ever re- corded in the annals of history. Mahomet himself, who is said to have caused the bellies of fourteen of his own pages to be ripped open, that he might dis- cover which of them had eaten a melon taken from him, gave manifest proofs of his tyrannical cruelty on this occasion ; for he caused the Emperor's head to be cut 01T and fixed on a pike, and his body to bo treated with the greatest indignity ; he ordered the nobles and grandees to be massacred and dissected, and the bodies of the empress and her daughters to be cut in pieces, and inhumanly served up on dish- es at a banquet. Yet Divine Providence, for its own wise reasons, w r as pleased to permit this monster to prosper in this world, and to be flushed with such wonderful success, that he overthrew the two Christian empires of Constantinople and Trebisonde, subdued twelve kingdoms, and took about two hun- dred cities during his reign. He immediaiely remov- ed his imperial seat from Adrianople to Constanti- nople, which has continued ever since to be the re- sidence of the Turkish emperors. After the reduc- tion of Constantinople, he counted the Western Em- pire as already his own, and looked upon himself as master of all Christendom, not doubting but he should soon plant the Ottoman crescent in the heart of Europe, and in the cities of Vienna and Rome. He marched his victorious troops into Hungary, and 2 F 2 342 HISTORY OF THE sat down before Belgrade on the 3d of June, !4S6, but the brave John Corvin, commonly called Hun- modes* compelled him to raise the siege on the 6th of August, and to retreat with great precipitation, leaving behind him all his heavy artillery and bag- gage, with the greatest part of his booty, and sixty thousand of his best soldiers killed. The Almighty, whose finger is able to overthrow phalanxes that seem invincible, was pleased to make use of him as a scourge to punish the crying sins of the Greeks. A similar fate attended the empires and cities of Ninive and Babylon, Tyre, Sidon, and Jerusalem : when the people of God had renounced their fide- lity to him, he delivered them over in his wrath to the sword of the Pagans, their inveterate ene- mies. He sent Nabuchodonosor, Vespasian, and Titus to scourge them, to ravage their country, to destroy them by famine, fire, and sword, and to carry the survivors into captivity. So true it is, that a deviation from the laws of Cod is often the occasion of the calamities which sooner or later befal kingdoms and states, and terminate in their utter ruin. The Western Empire was sacrificed for the extinction of Idolatry at the very time pre- ordained by God, and the barbarian Goths and Vandals were sent as instruments of divine ven- geance, to demolish Pagan Rome, in punishment of its crying sins. In like manner the Eastern Empire was marked cut as a victim of destruction, and sen- tenced to be enslaved by a barbarous race, who are the greatest enemies to Christianity. The Turks and Mahometans were employed as the instruments of God's avenging justice to chastise the people of Constantinople, and swallow up their empire, which had espoused and fostered the heretical and schisma- tical doctrines of the Arians, Macedonians, Nestori- ans, Eutychians, Photians, &c. The Greeks had re- iinqmshed the orthodox faith of their ancestors, and rejected a tenet relating to the procession of the Holy Ghost, which ha.d been defined by the Church in the year 381, and inserted in the ISicene Creed by the general council at Constantinople. It is cer- CHURCH OF CHRIST. 343 tain that they had been seven or eight hundred years in communion with the Church of Rome, and that, during that time, they acknowledged the Pope as Visible Head of the Universal Church, as appears from the first seven general councils, which were held in the East, and in which the primacy of the Pope had been authentically acknowledged. Photius himself, who had sown the first 3ecds of the dissen- tion in the ninth century, did not disagree. The Church of Constantinople never pretended but to be the second Rome, and to hold the first rank after her. . The see of Rome was on all hands allowed to be the centre of unity, and all Christians recited the Creed then, and said, after the council of Constantinople, as they now say, I believe the Church^which is one , Holy ', Catholic, and Apostolic. They unanimously professed that there w T as a true Church in the world, to which. the four distinctive -characters of the Church of Christ belonged. They believed that there was a society on earth called the true Church of Christ, and composed of pastors and people, and that the Pope, or bishop of Rome, was its visible head. It is therefore true to say, and easy to show, that the Greeks, on separating themselves from the Church, which acknowledged the Pope for its visible head, and which was incontestibly the true Church during the eight first centuries, separated from the true Church of Christ, dissolved the chain of unity, and withdrew themselves from the society of the faithful, to erect a different society that did not exist before. In fine, they have condemned themselves in their own judgment^ as the Apostle speaks, 1 Tit. 10, 5 ). They changed their faith backwards and forwards different times. They solemnly renounced their errors, and subscribed to their own condemnation in the coun- cils of Lyons and Florence, but unhappily relapsed into their fatal schism and heresy. Of such persons St. Jude says, in his Catholic Epistle, v. 19. and 22, These are they who sefiarate themselves : sensual men, having not the spirit — being reproved and judged. God in his mercy waited many years for the conversion of the Greeks, but finding therri 344 HISTORY OF THE hardened and inflexible, he cut them off at length, like the barren fig-tree. In fine, when the measure of their iniquity was filled up, they were delivered into the hands of Barbarians, and have ever since continued to groan under the Turkish yoke to this very day. Thus, as the Western Empire, which had been founded by Augustus, expired in Augustulus, so in like manner the Eastern Empire, which had been founded by Constantine the Great, was ex- tinguished in Constantine Palseologus, eleven hun- dred and twenty-three years after its first establish- ment. CHAPTER XXXIV. The Church of the Sixteenth Century, THE chief pastors in this age were Pius III. Julius II. Leo X. Adrian VI. Clement VII. Paul III. Julius III. Marcellus II. Paul IV. Pius IV, Pius V. Gregory XIII. Sixtus V. Urban VII, Gre- gory XIV. Innocent IX. and Clement VIII. Pius 111. filled the apostolic see twenty-six days only. Julius II. succeeded him in the year 1503, and died on the 2 1st of February, 1513. Leo. X. held the pontificate eight years and about nine nonths. He was succeeded in January, 1522, by Adrian VI. who sat till the 14th of September, )523. Clement VII. sat near eleven years; and Paul the III. about nine years. Julius HI. governed the Church from the 8th of February, 1550, to the 23d of March, 1555; and Marcellus II. only twen- ty-one days. Paul IV. sat four years and about three months ; and Pius IV. almost six years. St. Pius V. filled the pontifical chair from the 7th of January, 1566, to the 1st of May, 1572. Gre- gory XIII. who happily executed the reformation of the Calendar, and established the new style, in the year 1582, sat thirteen years, wanting one month; Sixtus V. five years and four months; Urban VII. ten days ; Gregory XIV. ten months and nine days ; Innocent IX. two months ; and Cle- CHURCH OF CHRIST. 34i ment VIII. ten years and one month, dying on the 3d of March, 1605. New nations in the most remote parts of both the Eastern and Western hemispheres were brought to the flock of Christ, and millions of converts were gained over to the Church in this age, by apostolic preachers and zealous missionaries, who were sent to announce the Gospel, and spread over the whole world the fire which Christ himself came to kindle on earth. This conversion of barbarous nations, according to the Divine Commission, is the prero- gative of the Catholic Church, in which she never had any rival. Two general councils were held in this century, viz. the fifth Council of Lateran^ which was the eighteenth general council ; and the Council of Trent> which was the nineteenth and last general council. The council of Lateran was opened in the year 1512, under Julius II. for the purpose of rescinding the acts of the conventicle held at Pisa the foregoing year, and for abolishing the Pragmatic Sanction^ or constitution, that was made in the year 1438, at Bourges, under Charles VII. king of France, during the sitting of the council of Basil* The Lateran council, after having been twice pro- rogued, was concluded in 1517, and the differences which had arisen from the Pragmatic Sanction were at length terminated by the famous Concordate en- tered into between Leo X. and Francis I. king of France. The patriarchs of Alexandria and Antioch were present at this council, besides fifteen cardi- nals, twenty-two archbishops, fifty-five bishops, the generals of the religious orders, and the orators of France, Spain, Venice, Poland, kc. The council of Trent was opened in the cathedral church of that city, on the 13th of December, 1545, and, after having been often interrupted and resumed, was brought to a conclusion on the 5th of December, in 15 63. There assisted at it six cardinals, four legates, three patriarchs, thirty- two archbishops, two hundred and twenty-eight bishops, thirty-nine deputies of absent prelates, 346 HISTORY OF THE seven abbots, seven generals of religious orders, and above one hundred and fifty theologians, emi- nent for learning in the Scriptures, fathers, anti- quities, and languages, with some of the ablest canonists of all Catholic nations, who attended and discussed every point in the conferences. No new articles of faith were formed or defined in this coun- cil, but every thing was weighed in the balance of the sanctuary, and the ancient doctrine, and "unanimous belief of all foregoing ages, was ma- turely examined and explicitly declared. This is the course which the Church has invariably pur- sued through the whole period of the Christian ?era. She has constantly preserved the sacred de- positum, which was received from her Divine Founder, and delivered by the Apostles. Her doc- trine of faith is always the same, and constantly uniform. Her decrees and decisions in dogmatical points are unalterable and irrevocable to the end of the world ; and the one true faith is so essential to her cpnstitution, that without it she would no more continue to be the Church of Christ, than a man would continue to be a man without a soul. It is objected by Fra Paolo and Courayer, that several kings and prelates had private views, and employed intrigues in this council which could not be in- spired by the Holy Ghost. But cardinal Pallivicini has clearly proved, that both Fra Paolo and Cou- rayer were party writers, and have retailed many notorious slanders and errors. It is true, indeed, ambition, envy, and the like vices, may easily dis- guise and insinuate themselves even into the sanc- tuary under false cloaks, but they cannot prevent Christ from leading the pastors of his Church into all truth, by a special protection which does not necessarily imply an inspiration. His promises to his Church are the anchor of the Catholic faith, and the very contests and pretended intrigues among the kings and prelates, prove the liberty which the council enjoyed, and only serve to convince us, that neither the weakness nor the passions of men were able to defeat or annul the promises of Christ. CHURCH OF CIIR1S.X. S47 The succession of saints was kept up in this age by St. Charles Borromseus, archbishop of Milan ; St. Thomas of Villanova, archbishop of Valentia*, styled the Father of the Poor; St. Pius V. St. Igna- tius of Loyola; St. Francis Xaverius, apostle of the Indies ; St. Aloysius Gonzaga ; St. Francis Borgia ; St. Lewis Bertrand ; St. John of God ; St Stanislaus Kosta ; St. Andrew Aveilino ; St. John of the Cross ; St. Teresa ; St. Philip Neri ; St. Peter of Alcantara, author of a golden book On mental firayer, which ran through near fifty editions before his death ; St. Cajetan of Thienna ; St. Je- o° n V^ mihani of Somasch a ; St. Paschal Baylon ; St. Felix of Cantalicio ; St. Catharine de Ricci, and a numberless multitude of happy souls and glorious martyrs, who suffered cruel torments and death for the faith in various parts of the world, and whose sanctity has been attested by a great number of il- lustrious miracles.— See Alban Butler, torn. 3. p. 76- torn. 5. p. 341 ; torn. 12. p. 17. ' Seminaries were erected at this period for the education of the clergy, and public schools opened in all places for training up youth in christian piety, beveral religious orders and regular congregations were likewise instituted: The Theatins' in 1514 • the Capuchins, founded by Mathew Bassius in 1525* and approved by Clement VII. in 1528 ; the Bar! nabites in j526, and approved by Paul III. in 1535 • the Recollects, or reformed Franciscans of strict observance, in 1532; the Jesuits in 1534- the Congregation of St. Peter of Alcantara in '1555. tne regular Clerks of the Christian doctrine in 1570; the Oratorians in 1575; the Discalceate Carmelites, confirmed by Gregory XIII. in 1580, Sec. all these different orders making a beautiful va- riety in the Church militant, and forming so many societies and companies, united in the profession of the same Creed, and tending toward Christian per- lection, by different exercises of piety and devotion, lie Maronites, so called from St. Maro Abbot, -vviio erected many Monasteries in Syria, and trained up a great number of holy solitaries in the fifth 34* HISTORY OF THE century, were enveigled for a while into the Greek schism, but they returned to the communion of the Catholic Church under Gregory XIII. and Clement VIII. They have a seminary at Rome, which has produced several great men, who have exceedingly promoted true literature. Their patriarchs, styled of Antioch, is confirmed by the Pope, resides in a monastery in Syria, at the foot of Mount Libanus, and has under him five metropolitans, namely, of Tyre, Damascus, Tripoli, Aleppo, and Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus. Divine providence was pleased to raise a great number of learned doctors and ecclesiastical writers in this age. The most celebrated were, Cardinal Thomas Cajetan ; Cardinal Stanislaus Hosius, bi- shop of Wormia, in Poland, and one of the ablest polemical writers that any age ever produced ; Car- dinal Hieronymus Seripandus, one of the presidents of the council of Trent ; Cardinal jEgidius Viter- biensis ; John Driedo doctor of Louvain; Claude d'Espense doctor of Sorbonne ; Nicholas Maillard, dean of that faculty ; William Estius ; Joannes HofTmeisterus ; Albertus Pighius; Cardinal Regi- nald Pole, who is much extolled by Burnet himself for his erudition and virtue; Anthony Augustinus, archbishop of Tarracona, and one of the greatest men, says Du Pin, that Spain ever bred ; Melchior Canus ; Dominicus Soto ; Petrus Soto ; Bartholo- mew de Martyribus, archbishop of Braga; Cardinal Francis Toletus ; Ludovicus Vives; Alphonsus Rodiiguez Lewis of Granada, whose works have been translated into all the languages of Europe ; Lewis Blosius ; Martinus Navarrus ; Joannes Cochloeus; Alphonsus Salmeron ; Cardinal Com- mendon; and Cardinal Frederic Borromaeo, who wrote several pious works, and founded the famous Ambrosian Library at Milan, which is said now to contain thirty-eight thousand volumes, including fourteen thousand manuscripts, with many literary curiosities, and curious monuments of antiquity. The venerable John of Avila, a native of the tHocese of Toledo, flourished in this century, and CHURCH OF CHRIfT. 349 was the edification of the Church by his virtues, its support by his zeal, its oracle by his doctrine. He was a profound and universal genius, a prudent and upright director, a prodigy of penance, a celebra- ted preacher, powerful in words and works, the glo- ry of the priesthood, the apostle of Andalusia, revered all Spain, and known to the Christian world. About this time Thomas of Jesus was author of the ex- cellent book entitled the Sufferings of Christy which he composed whilst he was confined for the faith in a frightful dungeon in Morocco. Whilst the church was extending her branches over every region of the globe with amazing suc- cess, the Turks, the great enemies of Christianity, made several attempts to add the Western kingdom to the Ottoman Empire. The numerous armies of Amurath and Mahomet II. had been often defeated in the 15th century by the famous George Castriot, -whom they called Scanderbeg, that is, Lord Alex* ander. However, this did not deter Solyman II. named the Magnificent, from resolving to over- run all Christendom with his arms. He took Belgrade in the year 1521, Rhode Island in 1522, defeated Lewis, king of Hungary, in 1526, took Buda in 1529, and besieged Vienna in the reign of Charles V. and, though he was forced to raise the siege, after lying a month before that city, and after losing eighty thousand men, he broke into Hungary in 1532, with a formidable army of three hundred thousand horse and foot, and carried devastation with him all over that kingdom. He took the island of Corcyra from the Venetians in 1587, and brought several thousands of prisoners with him to Con- stantinople. He penetrated again into Hungary in 1541, 1543, and 1551. He invaded Tripoli, in Africa, in 1560, and destroyed the Spanish fleet, with eighteen thousand men. In the year 1566, he besieged the isle of Malta for the space of four months, but was obliged to retreat with eight thousand men, though the garrison, commanded by the valiant John Valette, the grand master of 2 G 350 HISTORY OF THE the Knights ©f Malta, had only six thousand to op- pose him. Selimus II. the son of Solyman, elated with pride, and flushed with the many signal victories he had gained in the East, resolved to cany his arms into the West. Having already swallowed up in his own imgination all Italy, with the neighbouring coun- tries, he haughtily demanded of the republic of Venice the surrender of the Isle of Cyprus, by way of satisfaction for some pretended injuries, but in reality, for the sake of his excellent wine, with which he was extremely besotted, though forbidden by the Alcoran. In the year 1570 he besieged and took Nicosia, the capital of Cyprus, and in 1571 the opulent city of Famagusta, where he put all the brave Venetian officers to death, and caused the governor to be flayed alive in the market-place, after cutting off his ears and nose. The Venetians, alarmed at those proceedings, immediately fitted out a fleet of great gallies and small vessels, with an army of twenty thousand valiant soldiers under the command of Don John of Austria, son of Charles V. They sailed directly from Corfu, and met the Turkish fleet, consisting of three hundred and thirty vessels in order of battle near the harbour of Lepan- to. A bloody and obstinate engagement ensued on the 7th of October, and after a fight of three hours with equal advantage, the Christians gained a most complete victory. The Turks lost thirty thousand men, and above two hundred ships and gallies, be- side ninety that were stranded, burnt, or sunk, and three hundred and seventy-two pieces of cannon. Five thousand prisoners were also taken from them, and fifteen thousand Christians, who were found chained on board their gallies, were set at liberty on this occasion. Thus, the Almighty, who has set bounds to the raging billows of the sea, and who weighs in his hand the globe of the universe as a grain of sand, was pleased to fix limits to the power of the Barbarians, and to stem the tide of their vic- tories in the very height of their pride and prosperity. CHURCH OF CHRIST. 351 CHAPTER XXXV. The Re-building of the Vatican Church of St. Peter, &c. IT was in this century, in the year 1506, that Ju- lius II. laid the foundation of that finished master- piece of architecture, the Vatican Church of St. Pe- ter in Rome, the old church being fallen to decay. The ancient regular manner of building, which ef- fected its purposes with less materials and observed the rules of justness and proportion in all parts, followed the fate of other polite arts and sciences in the West. The Romans learned it from the Greeks, but it began to be neglected and depraved among them in the reign of Gallien, as appears by his tri- umphal arch in Rome. After the inundation of the Barbarians, Gothic architecture, in which no certain rules, proportions, or measures were observed, took place in the West, and was executed with wonder- ful success in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth centuries, merely by the dint of genius in masons and architects, when they got proper encourage- ment. The wonderful cathedral of Pisa, the so much admired Dominican convent in Bologna, the cathedral of Sienna, which is deemed the most finish- ed Gothic builing in the world, the rich and majes- tic cathedral of Milan, were raised in the eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth ages. From that period ex- cellent and ingenious artists, by studying the best models of ancient architecture still standing in Italy, and by conversing with cardinal Bessarion and other learned Greeks, restored the true taste of regular architecture. The church of St. Peter was begun by the famous Bramante Lazari, who died in 15 14. It was conti- nued by the renowned architect and prince of paint- ers, Raphael Urbin, then by Michael Angelo, Bar- rozzi, James de la Porta, and by Made mo, till it was dedicated by Urban VIII. in 162 6, and finished un- der Paul V. by Bernini. This grand and beautiful church is, according to Jones, seven hundred and 552 History of the twenty-two feet long, five hundred and twenty broa3, and four hundred and thirty-two feet high. Under it there is a spacious subterraneous church, with a number of elegant chapels, altars, marble sta- tues and vaults, wherein are deposited the remains of many holy martyrs, popes, and other saints. But the richest treasure of this venerable place consist* in one half of the precious relics of St. Peter and Paul, which lie in a sumptuous vault, that is most richly ornamented with pillars of alabaster, and en- closed above with a semicircular balustrade of an- tique yellow and white marble, beyond the middle of the church, near the patriarchal altar, at which only the Pope celebrates mass, unless he commis- sions another to officiate there. This sacred vault is called, The Confession of St. Peter, or the Threshold of the Afiostles {Lamina jifiostolorum) to which devout persons have flocked in pilgrimages from the primitive ages. The papal altar stands un- der the grand dome, and is supported by four huge pillars of gilt bronze, which are beautifully turned and ornamented with emblematical figures and fes- toons, and erected on four lofty square pedestals of variegated marble, that are inlaid with large cross keys of gilt bronze, representing the keys of St. Pe- ter. On the top of the four pillars of this magnifi- cent altar are placed four beautiful figures of angels, seventeen feet long, and cast of gilt bronze, each of them holding a garland of gilt bronze in one hand, and with the other supporting a square gilt bronze canopy of admirable beauty and most curious work- manship, with a bronze cross terminating the whole ; at the distance of one hundred and seventy-seven palms from the floor. The most amazing part ©i this vast edifice is the grand dome, which is sup- ported by four stupendous pillars, embellished on every side with white marble ballustrades, elegant pews, shrines, medallions, pictures, busts, and sta- tues of Egyptian marble, and a great variety of em- blematical figures in mosaic, Sec. The dome is four hundred and ninety-four palms high, and one hun- dred and nine-two in diameter. The interior of it CHURCH OF CHRIST- 353 ia finished in the highest taste, and encircled with a palisadoed gallery, and terminates with a beautiful lantern and spire of the neatest construction. The exterior circumference of this great dome is com- puted to measure six hundred and twenty feet, and it appears so conspicuous, that it is easily discerned by travellers at the distance of twenty miles from the city of Rome. It would be an endless task to enumerate all the other ornaments and decorations of this church, which are so many and so great, that after viewing them with attention for the course of a year, new beauties will be discovered in the end. The pro- portions are so just, that nothing appears there long, broad, or elevated, and the enormous size is only perceived, when every part is examined sepa- rately. Entering into one of the ten chapels, which are in the aisles, with ten smaller domes, or oval cupolas corresponding to them, you find yourself as in a cathedral. At the upper end of the church, which is built in form of a Greek cross, the grand monument of the chair of St. Peter presents itself with an unparalleled majesty. The ornaments of it are said to have cost one hundred and seven thousand, five hundred and fifty-one Roman crowns. The four feet of it are supported by four gilt bronze statues, each seventeen palms high, of four doctors of the Church, two of the Latin church, St. Augustine and St. Ambrose, and two of the Greek church, Su John Chrysostom and St. Athanasius. These statues are elevated on four lofty pedestals of variegated marble, to such a height that the feet of the chair are upon a level with their heads. The figures of two angels of gilt bronze are placed on each side of the chair holding the keys in their hands, and above them the Holy Ghost is represented in the form of a dove, with a surrounding multitude of cherubims and seraphims, and the figure of grand Glory, all in gilt bronze, casting brilliant rays to a very conside- rable distance, and at times redoubling their bril- liancy by means of the rays of light which the 2 a % Ja4 HISTORY OF TH2 meridian sun conveys through a yellow stained glass window in the rear. The choice paintings by the most celebrated masters, the sculpture, stucco* and mosaic work, the great number of beautiful altars, and rich ornaments thereto belonging, the nineteen superb marble mausoleums of popes, kings, queens, and princes, which are erected in different parts of this church, the pleasing variety of fine marble statues and emblematical figures, represent- ing the different Virtues, the elegance of the new sacristy, which is built in the form of an octagon, and of the pilasters in the corridore leading to it, the grandeur of the ceiling curiously decorated and gilt, nay, the very floor paved with polished marble, and partly inlaid with mosaic, partly with white marble circles, which exactly correspond to the di- mensions of the different cupolas, Sec. justly excite admiration in every spectator of taste and judgment. The two holy water fountains, which are erected on each side of the principal nave, at a proper dis- tance from the middle gate and entrance, are amaz- ingly beautiful and grand. They are made of yel- low antique marble, and supported by two white marble statues of angels, which on close inspection are found to be six feet high, though they appear exactly proportioned, and suitable to the purpose for which they are designed. The drapery that embellishes this noble piece of sculpture, is com- posed of lapis lazuli. There are five grand gates or entrances into the body of the church, supported by lofty pillars of Oriental marble, in the Doric order, on each side. One of them is always closed, except in time of a jubilee. The folding doors of the middle gate are entirely of bronze, and of a prodigious height and size. Oil them is seen a lively representation of the crucifixion of St. Peter, and the decollation of St. Paul. Over them Christ is represented intrusting his flock to the care of St. Peter, and on the oppo- site side of the p^rand porch, the ship of Peter ap- pears to be tossed to and fro by the fury of the rag- ing billows of the sea, but still is kept above the CHURCH OF CHRIST. 355 water and preserved from sinking. The porch it- self is so spacious and magnificent, that it might be looked on as a noble church any where else. At both ends of it there are two spacious galleries, se- parated by iron palisadoes from the remainder of the porch, and in one of them is erected an equestrian statue of Constantine the Great, and in the other a statue of Charlemagne. Exclusive of these two apartments, the porch is two hundred and sixteen feet long, and forty feet wide. Including them, the whole length is reckoned six hundred and forty- eight palms. The ceiling is computed to be one hundred and forty-three palms high from the floor. It is decorated with gilt stucco, as the floor is paved with polished marble of various colours, and the wall occasionally hung with pieces of fine tapestry* which represent the miracles and historical passages of the New Testament. There is a majestic pas- sage from each end of the porch to the colonnade 5. and in the front, directly opposite to the five gates of the church, there are five other neat folding gates of iron palisadoes, with open circular tops, and a commodious landing place at the bottom, contigu- ous to a very extensive staircase of twenty -one marble steps, which being divided into three flights, and projecting in an oval figure in the middle, af- ford a very easy ascent to, and descent from the church. Over the porch there is a noble apart- ment of equal grandeur and magnificence, called the Loclgio, and beautified in the front, from one side to the other, with balconies, bailustrades, pilas- ters, and open windows with circular tops, &c. Over this Lodgio is raised a fine attic story, that ter- minates with a grand ballus trade, crowned with twelve lofty statues of the Twelve Apostles, which are ranged at a proper distance, with a beautiful statue of Jesus Christ in the centre. The facade of this so much admired pile of building is two hun- dred and fifty one palms high, and five hundred and fifty-two wide. The various pillars which adorn it are of a prodigious size, and one hundred and twen- ty-six palms in height* The spacious court, or 25& HISTORY OF THE open area that interposes between it and the beauti- ful bridge and castle of St. Angelo, being 1230 palms deep, contributes much to its majestic ap- pearance, and places it in a most agreeable point of view. It is neatly paved, and intersected with lines of white marble in the form of a star. At the up* per end, on the right and left side, near the steps leading to the portal, stand two handsome pedestals, on one of which is erected a statue of St. Peter hold- ing the keys, and on the other a statue of St. Paul holding a flaming sword. Toward the lower end, at a regular distance, on the right and left, two grand fountains with double basins, of a circular figure, one above the other, and elevated about twenty feet from the surface of the area, are inces- santly playing and emitting their waters, through a great number of united tubes, and to an amazing height, until they descend again in the form of a bow. A most beautiful obelisk of Egyptian granite, eighty feet high, is erected in the centre of the court, on an elegant square pedestal thirty feet high, surrounded with pillars, and fronted with white marble, with the following inscription : Christvs Vincii. Christ us re gnat. Chris tus rmfierat. Vicit Leo de tribu Juda. Ecce crucem Domini. Fugiie partes adverse, kc. The obelisk rests immediate* ly upon the backs of four rampant lions of bronze, and terminates above like a pyramid 8 with a large cross of bronze. This grand obelisk is said to have been originally dedicated to the Pagan gods, by the emperor Trajan, but was afterwards consecrated to Christ, by Sixtus V. On each side of the court there is a most majestic oval colonnade of three hundred and twenty columns, with eighty pilasters, in the Doric order, arranged in four rows near the two vaulted porticos of twen- ty-four arches which lead immediately into both ends of the grand porch, and which form a square between the obelisk and the front of the church. The porticos and the colonnade are covered in and crowned with an entablature of curious workman- ship, and with an elegroit ballustrade, whereon ar* CHITRCH OF CHRIST. 357 erected one hundred and thirty-six elegant statues, twenty-four palms high. The church of St. Peter is but the second patri- archal church of Rome, that of St. John Laitran being the first, as an inscription on its walls imports. It is also amazingly grand and beautiful. It con- tains five naves, and is supported by three hundred . and thirty-five marble pillars. The sides of the grand nave are ornamented with twelve great marble statues of the Twelve Apostles, arranged at a regular distance, and exhibiting each one of the twelve articles of the creed. The patriarchal altar here is exceedingly beautiful, and the sculp- ture executed in a most masterly manner. The chapel of Corsini, near the grand portal, is justly deemed one of the richest and the most beautiful in the world. The principal front of this church is crowned with an elegant ballustrade, whereon are erected eleven lofty statues, that represent Christ with the Four Evangelists, and the six great- er prophets. Near this church stand the ruins of the famous amphitheatre, or the Cotisee, which contained with ease eighty thousand, and if crowd- ed, one hundred and fifty thousand spectators.— Vespasian after his triumph over Jadaea, employed twelve thousand captive Jews in raising this stu- pendous oval fabric for entertaining the people with shows and public exhibitions. it was com- pleted by Titus, and the outside of the walls w T as ornamented with a great number of beautiful columns, which the family of the Barbei ini remov- ed for the purpose of decorating their own palace. This gave occasion to that common saying : Quod non secerunt Barbaric fecere Barberini. The inner side round the area contained seats, made of vast polished stones, one above another, that the spec- tators might have a perfect view of the whole pit without any hinderance. The Cavea under the walls contained dens for the wild beasts, and dark dungeons for the condemned prisoners, and the fiorta Ubiiince, was the gate, through which the bodies of the slain were dragged out. The Vomitori* 358 HISTORY OF THB were gates so contrived in the walls, that persons went in and out without being crowded. The Arena^ or oval pit, was strewed with sand to suck up the blood, and surrounded with iron rails on a ballus- trade about a yard frOm the lower seats, for a fence that the beasts might not be able to hurt the specta- tors. This place, which was bedewed with the blood of great numbers of holy martyrs, is now converted to a religious purpose, and called the Via Cruris > or the station of the holy cross, fourteen stationary chapels, which the faithful resort to with edifying piety and devotion, being erected at a regular dis- tance from each other, all round the interior cir- cumference. The other patriarchal Churches, and principal basilicas in the city are the church of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem, wherein part of the real cross of our Saviour is preserved to this day, and the church of St. Mary Major, both of which are situated within the distance of about half a mile from St. John Literan's. The church of St. Paul stands on the Ostian Road, about five miles from Rome ; the church of St. Sebastian on the Appian Road, and of SV. Laurence extra Mures* on the Tiburtian Road. These seven churches form the seven stations of Rome. The church of St. Paul is supported by one hundred and forty large and beautiful pillars, chiefly of white marble, taken out of Antoninus' baths, and from the tomb of Adrian. Some of them are of porphyry, some of granite. The church is very extensive, and contains five naves. The pa- triarchal altar is erected in the central nave over a subterraneous chapel, wherein half the relics' of St. Peter and Paul is kept, and under a beautiful pavilion, that terminates above in the form of a a pyramid. This altar is supported by four pillars of agate and prophyry. The twenty four elders, mentioned in the Apocalypse, with Christ at their head, are beautifully represented in mosaic on the eeiling, with a wonderful variety of ancient historical CHURCH OF CHRIST. 359 paintings, 8tc. The two fecades of the church of St. Many Major, in the Ionic and Corinthian or- ders, with its elegant portals, octagon domes, spires, belfry, ballustrades, statues, galleries, pillars, pilasters, basso relievos, pallisadoes, and the adja- cent obelisks and fountains, make a most majestic appearance, and inspire the beholder with sentiments of reverence and respect for the house of God. The interior of this church is most richly embellish- ed with gilt stucco and mosaic, with porphyry pillars and pilasters, with bronze statues and choice paint- ings. The roof is supported by thirty-eight co- lumns of white polished marble, and four of granite. The patriarchal altar, in the grand nave, is formed of porphyry, and the elegant square canopy over it is sustained by four great figures of angels, stand- ing on porphyry pillars. Under this altar there is a subterraneous chapel, adorned with a number of •white marble statues, and with a lively representa- tion of Christ in the stable and manger of Bethlehem. Nothing can be more magnificent than the Bor- ghesian, Confalon and Sixtine Chapels, which are in this church. The walls are incrusted with the richest Egyptian marble. The altars are finished in the highest taste. The pillars are covered with Oriental jasper, the pedestals are enriched with agate, the bases and capitals are formed of gilt bronze, and the table and front of the altar of lapis lazuli. The city of Rome abounds with a great number of other stately churches, but the church of the Jesuits is one of the most magnificent piles of building in the world, next to the Vatican, and is not less admired for the elegance of the architec- ture than for its riches, consisting in costly beauti- ful ornaments of gold, silver, jewels, exquisite paintings, statues, and carving, and a great pro- fusion of fine marble. Among the many chapels ■which it contains, that of St. Ignatius is the admi- ration of travellers. His sacred remains lie there in a silver shrine under the altar, exposed to view. The other glittering rich ornaments of this place oS# HISTORY OP THE* seem almost to lose their lustre, when the statue of the saint is uncovered. It is somewhat bigger than the life, because raised high. Its bright shining gold, silver, and sparkling diamonds, especially in the crown of glory over the head, dazzle- the eye. It is surprising to hear so many in those days inveigh against the splendour and magnificence of the orna- ments of the House of God, as savouring too much of worldly pomp, and nourishing pride and vanity. On pretence of refining religion, and rendering it more spiritual, they cry out in the language of those who were filled with indignation on seeing the pious penitent of the Gospel pouring out a precious oint- ment on the head of our Lord : tl To what purpose " is this waste and profusion ? These valuable things " might be sold, and the price given to the poor." But those who are not ashamed to exclaim thus against the rich decorations that become the House of God, and render it a figure of heavenly Jerusalem, show that they are divested of all sense of piety or respect for God. They are generally people full of them- selves and of their own wit and judgment, who are displeased at seeing that employed for the honour of the Almighty, which they would wish to be their own property. Can any thing be conceived more splendid or more magnificent, than the sacred vest- ments used by the priests in the Old Law ? Or than the golden candlesticks, the lamps and goblets, the rich images of cherubims, the cedar altar, and tables covered with the purest gold, the censers and vessels of massive gold, Sec. which God himself commanded to be used in the Temple of Solomon ? Does not this example of God himself authorize the embellish- ment of places of divine worship in the New Law, whereof the Old Law was only a type and shadow ? Is it not alone sufficient to silence the enemies of re- ligion ? The rich decorations of Christian churches are so far from nourishing pride and vanity, that they serve to inspire the faithful with reverential awe and respect ; and for this reason those who have been moat remarkable for their profound humility and solid virtue, were always the most zealous for the CHURCH OF CHRIST. 361 splendour and magnificence of every thing relative to the service of God, as we learn from the history of all foregoing ages. CHAPTER XXXVI. The rise of Lutheranism in Germany ', Calvinism in France ) and Socinianism in Tuscany, Poland, Ifc. NO age, since the commencement of the Chris- tian aera, has every been more productive of new re- ligions than the sixteenth century. Martin Luther broke off, in the year 1517, from the communion of the established -Church of all Christendom, and se- parated himself from the great body of the faithful diffused all over the world. He tells us himself that he stood alone in the beginning, firimo solus eram, as if the Divine Goodness had abandoned his Church, and left the world in darkness, until his appearance ; but he no sooner sounded the trumpet of sedition, than ail Germany was set in a flame. He qualified his apostacy with the name of Reformation, and set out with exclaiming against errors and abuses, this being the usual cry of rebels against their lawful sovereigns. He falsely prophecied that the reign of popes should have an end in two years time, and pretended that the Church had fallen into ruin and desolation ; but it appeared strange, that in such a number of holy prelates, learned doctors and emi- nent saints, who had lived and died in her commu- nion for fifteen hundred years, no one ever perceiv- ed the imposture, no council ever gave information hereof, no father, no historian opened his mouth or employed his pen to decry or record ^uch pretended errors, till Luther made the discovery. He began immediately to show his contempt of the Augustines, the Jeroms, the Cyprians, and other ancient Fa- thers, revered for so many ages, though these great lights of antiquity were better qualified to know the doctrine of the primitive Church than he was, at the distance of fourteen hundred years ; but he vented his spleen against them, because he was sensible that their 2 H 362 HISTORY OF THE authority and his new religion could not stand toge- ther. He poured out a torrent of gross, scurrilous, and abusive invectives, against the most respectable characters; and though at first he professed an aversion to violence, he soon altered his maxims, and declared that blood was requisite for the esta- blishment of his gospel, and that the true children of God would do well if they washed their hands in the blood of popes, cardinals, and bishops. Strange -language in the mouth of a man who set up for an apostle ! Could the religion of Jesus Christ author- ize such proceedings? In particular he bent his virulence and rancour against the Church of Rome, because he knew that it was her special province to oppose all innovations in faith. Henry VIII. wrote a book against him, which he sent to Leo X. with ihe following distich, and for which he was styled Defender of the Faith : " Angiorum Rex, Henricus, Leo decime, mittit ** Hoc ofius, et Jidei testem et amicitice." Great Leo this from Henry* s hand receive, As much as faith can say or friendship give. But Luther had the address to engage several other powerful princes to take part with him, being allured by the hopes of enjoying the church lands, and sharing in the rich spoils and revenues of the abbeys and monasteries. Frederick, elector of Saxony, openly declared himself his protector. He chew over Philip, landgrave of Hessia, by granting him, through a most shameful complaisance, a li- cense to have two wives at once, contrary to the express prohibition of Christ. Nay, Luther him- self, notwithstanding the most sacred engagements of his ordination and religious vows, ventured upon taking a wife, and married Catharine Boren, a pro- fessed nun, to the great scandal of his friend, Me- lancthon, (L. 4. Epist. 24.) and in open defiance of the established laws of the Church, which never allowed Priests or Religious to marry after receiv- ing Holy Orders, and making a voluntary promise to God to live continently, the breack of a so- 6HURCH OF CHRIST. $63 lemn vow of chastity being a formal violation of the Divine Law, expressly condemned, Deut. 23. and 1 Tim. 5. 12. where the Apostle, speaking of widows who presume to marry after having thus consecrated themselves to God, says, that they incur damnation, because they have cast off' their first faith ^ that is, their solemn engagement made to God. Hence St. Augustine, 1. de bono Vid. c. 11. affirms, that the breach of such a vow of chastity is worse than adultery. Luther's revolt was followed with a visible decay of Christian piety, and an increase of vice and immorality among all degrees of people in Germany. Erasmus himself, though no zealous advocate for the Church, could not help observing the general decay of piety that ensued, and the de- generacy of morals that was brought on by the change of religion, and by enfranchising men from the powerful curbs and penitential exercises of fasting, abstinence, confession, and other religious duties. Luther also made the same remark, and historians of those days tell us, that the Lu- theran magistrates of the illustrious city of Nurem- berg were so sensible hereof, that they solemnly petitioned the emperor Charles V. to re-establish auricular confession among them by an imperial law, as a check upon the prevailing libertinism, alleging, that they had learned by experience, that since it had been laid aside by them, their com- monwealth was over run with sins against justice and other virtues, heretofore unknown in their country, and that restitution for injustices com- mitted was scarce any longer to be heard of. The petition only moved the court to laughter, as if a human law could compel men to the confession of the secrets of their consciences, and as if it was to be expected that any attention would be paid to the ordinance of man by a people who disregarded the institution of God, as the Emperor replied. Such was the commencement of that fatal defection from the ancient faith, which afterwards tore awa^ many fair edifices from the rock on which they had stood for several centuries. In the year 1529, th© £64 HISTORY OF TUB Lutherans in Germany protested against the decree of the Emperor, enacted at the diet of Spire, and having formed an army of 72,000 men, they deso- lated the provinces of Suabia, Franconia, and Alsatia, pillaging and burning churches, destroying mo- nasteries and castles, and massacreing priests and religious. In the year i536, John Calvin, having relin- quished the ancient faith, and deserted the Church in which he had been baptized, ushered into France a new system of religion, and made Geneva the centre of his sect. He was an enemy to all subor- dination, rejected all authority, and threw off all cbedience to the ruling powers. Yet he required so implicit a submission, and so blind an obedience to every thing that he himself was pleased to define, that he caused Michael Servetus, an Unitarian, to be condemned and burnt alive at Geneva, in 1553, jby a decree of the senate, for having advanced some erroneous doctrine about the mysiery of the most Holy Trinity. It is impossible to read the history of Calvinism without being -shocked at the disorders and horrid violences committed by its abettors and followers in Dauphine, Gascony, Lan- guedoc, and other provinces. During three reigns France was convulsed and torn with continual fac- tions, civil wars, and bloody engagements. It is computed, that in the course of these wars twenty thousand churches were destroyed, nine hundred towns and villages burnt. Two hundred and fifty priests, and one hundred and twelve religious monks, were massacred in the province of Daupine alone. This made Erasmus say, that the discifiles of Luther end Calvin were equally as good at fighting as at dis- fiuting, Erasmus died in 1536, when the following epitaph was inscribed on his tomb : " Hicjacet Erasmus, qui quondam bonus erat Mux* 44 Rodere qui solitus, roditur a Fermibus." Here lies a snarling biter, in his day> But now, in turn, to biting worms a firei?. CHURCH OF CHRIST. 65 About the middle of the sixteenth century there arose, at Sienna, in Tuscany, another new sect, called Socinianism, from Loelius and Faustus Soci- mis, the authors of it. Socinianism is a compound of Arianism, Macedonianism, Photinianism, and of the old condemned errors of Paul of Samosata, and of the Sabellians and Ebionites, f r which reason its followers are called the new Ebionites, Antitrinl* tarians, Unitarians, and Socinia?is. Socinianism is but one remove from Deism, or bare natural reli- gion, and its tendency is to lay aside the belief of the mysteries of the Trinity and Incarnation, and to overturn the whole system of Christianity. Lu- ther began the work, Calvin carred it on, but Socinus endeavoured to undermine the very founda- tion, according to the following epitaph that was made from him : 4C Tola quidem Babylon destruxit tecta Lutherus, u Muros Calvinus, sed fundament a Socinus" Three grand reformers fir* d with ardent zeal, Proud Babylon at various times assail : Luther, offiious haste to give a firoof UntiVd the building, and strififi'd off the roof; Calvin, with greater rage, -fiulVd down the wall £ Socinus raz y dfoundatio-ns, earth and all^ The chief and favourite principle of the Soci- nians is, that whatever is above reason, or is not yeconcileable to it, is against it, and that no mystery can be admitted in religion : a principle that not only flatters the pride of the human heart exceed- ingly, but likewise opens a door to endless divisions, and often drives the abettors of it into the most glaring inconsistencies and monstrous absurdities against reason itself. If nothing is to be allowed in fauh or religion, but what our reason fully com- prehends, will it not follow that articles of faith must vary in proportion to men's capacities ? More- over, to believe no mystery, or to admit nothing; above reason, is the most extravagant inconsistency* in man, who feels the weakness and short-sighted- ness of his reason in every thing, whether in ov £ H 2 366 HISTORY OF THE about himself, and to whom the whole universe is in every part an enigma. It is much more incon- sistent in a Christian, to whom the Scriptures pre- sent a religion that is foundedin mystery and divine revelation, and that by its brightness and evidence dispels the mists and lays open the artful subterfuges of Socinianism. The gross errors and absurdities of pagan anti- quity plainly show the weakness of human reason, unassisted by divine revelation, and prove the ab- solute necessity of a revealed religion to direct us even in the paths of moral virtue, and to guide us in the search of many necessary truths; for as the human mind is of itself nothing but darkness, we stand in need of the light of divine revelation as a sure guide to point out to us the straight way, and to conduct us with safety through the dangerous pilgrimage of this moral life. If we forsake it, we lose and bewilder ourselves, how much soever enlightened we may suppose ourselves to be. How many acute philosophers, great geniuses, and strong reasoners, have gone astray, and run into- all kinds of excesses, by relying too much on the strength of their own reason, and pursuing their own speculations, without a sense of religion ? How many have lost sight of common sense, and overset and unhinged their understanding, by too intense an application to things beyond their sphere? How many have mistaken the wild fancies of their brain for right reason ? Cicero justly re- marks, that nothing can be invented ever so ab- surd or monstrous, which has not been said by some ©f the ancient philosophers, who, like the Socinians of those days, boasted mightily of making reason, their only guide, St. Augustine also tells us, that the Manicheans, by relying too much on the strength of their own reason, whilst they derided the simpli- city of the true believers, became at length so ab- surd as to teach, that when a fig-tree was plucked and eaten, both it and its mother tree wept with mil- ky tears, and that particles of Deity, imprisoned m the fruit, were restored to liberty, CHURCH OF CHRIST. ZG7 The root of such abuses is pride and a secret vanity, self-sufficiency or complacency, that men easily entertain in the opinion of their own know- ledge or penetration, and that makes them over-rate their imaginary perfections and superior abilities. Nay, pride alone has sometimes made men forget that they were men, and has even raised them to the extravagant presumption of claiming divine ho- nours, as we read of Alexander, the celebrated Macedonian conqueror, and of several emperors of ancient Babylon and Rome. Sound philosophy demonstrates, that as there is nothing more certain than that there is a God, so nothing is more certain than that there must be a religion, and a revealed religion, which has God for its author ; for there is no such thing, and no such thing can be, as a natural religion. Natural religion would be that where reason alone would dictate to man the homage and worship that the Deity demands of him. But his natural lights do not reach so far, as the Deists have been forced to acknowledge. Man cannot attain by his reason only to the free designs which God has over him ; he cannot discover what his destination is, or how he is to appease God when he has offended him. He must be taught these du- ties by a revealed religion. It is it that makes known to him the state in which he was born, the cause of the great ignorance of his mind, and of the deep-rooted corruption of his heart. It is it, that points out the source of his spiritual maladies, and applies to them effectual remedies. It is the privilege of religion only to make mankind good and happy. It is it that gives both light and strength. It is it that illuminates the understanding, rectifies the will, regulates the heart, stems the tide of men's passions, furnishes most powerful motives of virtue, and sovereign preservatives against vice. (See fi. 43, tsV.) Philosophy or human reason is insuffi- cient, and too weak to maintain order, either in pub- lic or domestic life. If the heart be corrupted, it will scarce scruple any thing that will serve a man's ambition or interest. Refinement on reason will in 368 HISTORY OF TEE this ease contribute only to refine upon the means* of gratifying his darling passions, whereas, on th© contrary, those who act under the influence of reli- gion, are steady in the disinterested pursuit of every virtue, and in the discharge of every duty they owe their king and country, their families and them- selves. In short, religion alone is the sacred band of justice and civil society in the present life. The safety and happiness of all society is founded upon it. He who, with Hobbes, so far degrades human reason as to reduce virtue to an ideal beauty, and an empty name, or who laughs religion and the law of God out of doors, is of all others the most dan- gerous enemy to mankind, capable of every mis- chief* It is safer to live among lions and tygers, than among men of this description ; for unless re- ligion bind a man in his conscience, the general laws of nations, and those of particular states, are* too weak a restraint upon him, and lose their force.. His heart being open to every crime, he will be- come so far the slave of his passions as to be ready to commit every advantageous villany to which he is prompted, whenever he can do it with secrecy and impunity. The followers of Socinus, particularly in Poland and Transylvania, disagreed so much among them- selves, that they were at length divided into about fifty different sects, but were all known by the ge- neral name of Unitarians. The refinement of false philosophy, destructive at once both of religion and morality, diffused itself with the rapidity of an in- undation. Free-thinking grew apace. Some un- easy under any restraint, and extending what they called universal charity to Turks, Jews, and Pa- gans, declared themselves indifferent to every form of doctrine and worship, and were styled Latitudi- narianS) because they allowed a latitude that was calculated to indulge human pride, and to gratify the inclinations of the heart. Others, contented, with the simple belief of a God, renounced all divine revelation, and were denominated Deists £ whilst others sunk into mere materialism, and be- CHURCH OF CHRIST. 369 tieved no future state at all. Brandt, the Eelgic historian, relates, that Hubert Dovehouse, a pa- rish priest at Utrecht, in those days of innovation, to conform to his flock, in which some were Catho- lics, some Calvinists, professed himself of both re- ligions at once, and first said Mass to the Catholics — then they going out, and the Calvinists coming into the Church, he immediately began to read to them their new liturgy. The principles of such men would allow them to sacrifice both to the true God and to Baal, and would induce them to com- mend the false religion of Redwalcl, king of the East Saxons, who had in the same church or tem- ple, one altar erected to Christ, for the celebration of the divine mysteries and another lesser, on which he offered victims to the idols of his an- cestors. The disciples of Luther and Calvin were also divi- ded and subdivided into different sects, following different heads. Very soon the same principle which had separated them from the society of the faithful, formed new divibions in their own bosom. Doctors trained up in their school, turned against them the same arms which they themselves had made use of against the ancient Church, and their own children had no more respect for them than they had shown to their mother. They scarce agreed in any other thing but their endeavours to destroy the faith, in which their predecessors, for so many ages, had wrought their salvation. They withdrew themselves from the jurisdiction of the Church militant, by laying aside its authority ; they separated from the Church suffering, by re- jecting prayers for the souls in purgatory ; and from the Church triumphant, by refusing to invoke the intercession of the saints and by destroying their shrines and sacred relics. Thus it was that they revived the old condemned errors for which Aerius, a priest of Sebastia — Jovinian, a monk of Milan, called by St. Jerom the Christian Epicure — - and Vigilantius, a priest of Barcelona, had been ranked amongst the heretics of the fourth and fifth 3f® HISTORY OF THE centuries. They exploded fasting and other re* ligious duties, as encroachments and restraints on Christian liberty. They preached down celibacy anda state of virginity, in direct opposition to the doctrine and advice of St. Paul, i Cor. 7. of living, as he did, in a state of perpetual continency. They banished the painful restrictions of penance and mor- tification, though perfectly conformable to the max- ims and spirit of the Gospel. They opened a spa- cious lawn and smooth path to Heaven, strewed with roses, instead of the narrow, thorny road of the cross. In short, they levelled all the fences which venera- ble antiquity had erected, reduced faith to a mere skeleton, and dogmatized that it alone was sufficient for salvation. To such a degree prevailed the spirit of dogma- tizing and forming new creeds in those days, that the cities and villages, camps, houses, and pulpits, were filled with a numerous tribe of new gospel- lers. Each of them pretended that he had as good a right as Luther and Calvin to interpret the Bible ac- cording to his own fancy ; ami thus, like the Arians and Pelagians, they made a handle of the best of books to lead the poor deluded people astray? and to pass their own notions upon them for divine truths. " Aristarchus formerly could scarce find seven wise « men in Greece," as Dr. Walton, a Protestant wri- ter, says in his preface to Polyglott, " but then scarce 41 were to be found so many idiots ; for all were doc- " tors, all were divinely learned ; and there was not ;; so much as the meanest fanatic, who did not give " his own dream for the word of God." Like the ancient sectaries, they all boasted they had Scripture on their side, and imagined that they understood it beuer than all the holy Fathers, Doctors, and Pastors of the preceding ages. But as they had no certain standard to go by, and were not limited by any set- tled principle, but depended upon the arbitrary de- termination of their own private judgment, it is no wonder that they split into an amazing number of jarring opinions and contradictory systems, which were not to be found in the genuine sources of truth. CKVRCH OF CHRIST. 371 Staphylus reckons seven opposite expositions of thct one text, This is my Body, and says that the Luthe- ran religion was, within a few years after its birth, divided into fifty sects. — Apol. fol. 138. The num- ber of confessions of faith that were drawn up by them, demonstrates the instability of their doctrine, as Bossuet, the bishop of Meaux, proves, in his His Lory of Variations, Sleidan relates, b. 10. that John of Leyden, by reading the Bible, and preaching his whims, made himself king of Munster, and introduced polygamy. A woman in that city, by reading the book of Ju- dith, heated her imagination to that degree, that she attempted to kill the bishop of Munster, but perished herself. Brandt, in his History of the Low Countries, tells us, that David of Delft said to his companion, " Come, dost thou not see how " men raise themselves by turning new preachers ? " How they grow rich and powerful at an easy " rate ? We have read the Bible : let us set up." He did so, and made a great figure at Basil, till he died there. Peter Martyr, Ochinus, Osiander, Zu- inglius, Carlostadius, (Ecolampadius, &c. thought themselves authorized to commence refiners of re- ligion, and preached up a hitherto unheard-of evan- gelical liberty. Philip Melancthon framed the Con- fession of Aug burg in the year 1530, and left the fol- lowing epitaph to be inscribed on his tomb ; " Iste brevis tumulus miseri tenet ossa Philififif*, " Qui qualisfuerit, nescio, talis erit." This slender pile within its sfiace contains, Poor Philip's mortal corse and sad remains* His future state I neither know nor see; But as he was, such ever he shall be* Nicholas Stork and Thomas Muncer gave birth to the Anabaptists, who in a short time split into at least thirty-two different sects. John Knox, who died in 1572, was author of the Puritans. John Arminius, of Amsterdam, became the leader of a party, called the Arminians. who revived the errors of the Pelagians, and were opposed by another 373 history or the party, called Gomarists, from Gomarus, a pra- lessor of theology at Leyden. Some called them- selves Conformists, others Nonconformists; some were styled Remonstrants, others Contra remon- strants; some independent '$, others Moravians; some Episcopalians, others Presbyterians ; some were named Brownists, others Hutchmsonians; some Sa- cramentarians, others Ubiquitariazis. Some in short obtained the appellation of Huguenots, particularly in several provinces of France, where Theodorus Be- zz dogmatized after the death of Calvin. In the interim, the Church, like unto a sorrowful mother, sat bewailing the loss of so many children, whom she had baptized and reared in her bosom. She beheld with regret and concern a very consider- able portion of her vineyard lopped off in some re- spectable countries of Europe, which for upwards of nine hundred years had been conspicuous in the Christian world for the orthodoxy of their belief, and for having sent a multitude of saints to Heaven. Never did she meet with a greater trial ; never was there a more dreadful storm raised against her, since the days of Arianism, than at this remarkable period. The raging waves of error and libertinism swelled so high, and with such violence, as to seem to threaten the world with a general deluge ; but he who has set certain bounds to the sea, and who commands the winds and the waves, did not abandon the ship of Peter, but stood constantly at the helm, to preserve it from the danger of sinking or of being wrecked, and to pilot it safe into port. For his own wise reasons he suffer- ed it to be agitated for a while by the most violent tempests, but in the end he made it rise triumphant- ly, like Noah's Ark, above the raging billows, that it might carry salvation to the extremities of the earth. Hitherto shalt thou come, and shalt go no further^ and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves. Job c. 38. v. 11. The billows may rage and foam, but the rock stands firm, whilst they dash and spend themselves against it to no purpose. In effect, never was the protection of God more visible in supporting that building which Christ had CHURCH OF CHRIST. 3f3 founded upon an immoveable bulwark. It was so far from being overthrown or destroyed by the va- rious attacks levelled at it in those days, that the breaches and losses it sustained were most amply repaired. Such is the general plan and (Economy that Divine Providence seems to follow in the go- vernment of the Church of Christ. When through his unsearchable judgments he permits any pajt of it to be wrested from him by infidelity, or when in his anger he withdraws the gift of faith from one nation, he usually gives it to another, and retrieves the loss by making new conquests. He enlarges his spiritual dominions elsewhere, and repairs the breaches by the conversion and accession of much larger regions to the pale of his Church. If the Church therefore had the affliction to behold some countries cut off from her communion in the six- teenth century, she likewise had the consolation to see other nations substituted in their place ; so that the lopping off of some of her branches served only to make her, like unto a great Tree, shoot forth fresh branches, and produce more excellent fruit. The discovery of the new world and fourth part of the earth, by Christopher Columbus, a na- tive of Leghorn, in the year 1492, and by Ame- ricus Vespusius, a Florentine, in the year 149T, opened a door to carry the Gospel into those vast regions, and immense tracts of land, where innu- merable multitudes embraced the Catholic commun- ion in the sixteenth century. It was in this cen- tury that St. Francis Xaverius, the apostle of the Indies, carried the light of the Gospel to the coasts of Malabar and Coromandel, -to Travancer and the fisheries in the East Indies, to the Molucca islands, and the islands Del Moro, and to the king- dom of Japan, where he planted the faith of Christ and converted many hundred thousands of souls. See his Life Englished by Dryden. The Church of Japan, about the year 1582, counted no less than six hundred thousand Christians, and stood for a long time the shock of the most violent persecutions, in which innumerable martyrs suffered wi:h a pietv 2 I S74 HISTtRY OF THE and constancy, not unworthy the primitive ages. In the year 1590, no fewer than 20,000 were put to death for the faith. It was at this period also that numbers of pious missionaries, burning with zeal for the glory of God, and for the salvation of souls, announced the faith with prodigious success in the great empire of China, in Brazil, Terra Firma, Kew Granada, New Andaluzia, Popayan, Paraguay, and in the Philippine islands, where they civilized millions of barbarians, and gained over innumerable souls to the Lord. CHAPTER XXXVII. The Church of the Seventeenth Century, THE Apostolic succession of chief pastors in the chair of St. Peter was continued in this age by Leo XI. who sat but twenty days. Paul V. succeeded him on the 16th of May, 1605, and died on the 28th of January, 1621, in the sixteenth year of his pontificate. Gregory XV. was elect- ed on the 9th of February, 1621, and died on the 8th of July, 1623. Urban VIII. was chosen on the 6th of August, the same year, and after sitting twenty-one years, died on the 29th of July, in 1644. Innocent X. was raised to the pontificate on the 15th of September, the same year, and died on the 7th of January, 1655. Alexander VII. sat from the 7th of April, the same year, till the 22d of May, 1667. Clement IX. was chosen on the 20th of June, same year, and died on the 9th of December, 1669. Clement X. being elected after him, died •n the 22d of July, in 1676. Innocent XI. sat from the 21st of September, same year, till the 12th of August, 1689. Alexander VIII. sat from the 6th of October, same year, till the 1st of February, 1691, and Innocent XII. from the 12th of July, same year, till the 27th of September, 1700. The succession of saints was kept up in this age by St. Francis of Sales, bishop of Geneva, St. CHURCH OF CHRIST. 375 ' Vincent of Paul, founder of the Lazarites or fa- thers of the mission, St. Camillus of Lellis, foun- der of the religious order for serving the sick and assisting the faithful at their death, St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen, martyr, St. Joseph of Leonissa, St. Francis Solano, Apostolic preacher in Peru, St. Alphonsus Thuribius Archbishop of Lima, St. Joseph Calasanctius, founder of the regular clergy of the Schola fii and source tiftheart of writing well. Thus the tender sensibility youth contracts a fond desire for what it should abhor, and a love for what it should avoid. At first they, perhaps, think only of studying the beauty of their language, as if they could not draw pure lan- age and eloquence from other sources; but in the end they learn by wofui experience the weakness of human nature, and the sad consequence of exposing themselves to the dangerous occasion of sin. How frequently are their understandings perverted, their CHURCH OF CHRIST. 59 i hearts debauched, their passions inflamed, their morals depraved, and their innocence sacrificed, by the lecture of such impious productions ? Was it not by these means that Voltaire instilled the poison of his errors and licentious maxims into the hearts and minds of a great part of the French nation ? Was it not by strewing the paths of false- hood and corruption with so many flowers and charms, that he made so many apostates, and ruin- ed such a number of souls I May not his pen be justly compared to the sword of Mahomet? Yet never was there a writer more superficial, or who had less of the real philosopher. Instead of argu- ments and proofs, he has recourse to banters and pleasantries. He is satisfied with his jests on ques- tions the most important, and seems to glory in turning every thing into ridicule, at the expense of decency and truth. He attacks the Christian Religion with the weapons of falsehood and misre- presentation. In his discourses there is neither principle, sequel, or connexion. He seldom gives any thing from his own fund, and even when he is original, we have no reason to admire his learning or accuracy. When his writings are analyzed and coolly examined, they are found to be nothing but surface and colouring, devoid of truth, solidity, or principle. Nothing can be discovered in them, or in the so much boasted works of the other modern philosophers, comparable to the solidity, strength of reasoning, and depth of knowledge which we observe in the writers of the two foregoing centu- ries. What are they all put together, when com- pared with a Bossuet? Never has the respectable name ci philosophy been more abused than by them, in order to give full scope to the most mon- strous errors. Voltaire has collected from Tindal, Collins, Bolingbroke, and others, whatever could be offered to the disadvantage of the holy Scrip- tures ; these materials he took care to embellish, by flashes and lively sallies of a poignant wit, on which account they have been greedily received, whilst the answers are neglected and forgotten, perhaps 392 HISTORY OF THE because they are not written in so diverting or en- tertaining a style. It is to be wished, however, that those who have met with the objections urged by him, would also read the answers which have been given by the Jews, and by Abbe Guence, pro- fessor of rhetoric in the university of Paris, and other able advocates for the Scriptures, They would be convinced thereby, that whatever ap- plause might have been due to the vivacity of Voltaire's genius, and the fine turn of his humour, had he but made a better use of his talents, he cer- tainly merits the severest censure for having in- dulged his wit in treating the word of God in a ludicrous and contemptuous manner. It is true indeed, the praise or the resentment of mankind is now of small moment to him, but his works remain, and it is equitable that they should receive due cor- rection. As for Rousseau, he has hardly much more than the appearance of a philosopher. Had he confined himself to subjects of literature and amusement, he would have met with the most glo- rious success, but the ambition of dogmatizing hav- ing unhappily seized him, he has succeeded only in betraying an extravagant pride and a rancorous spirit. With his extraordinary talents he has only formed an absurd hypothesis, an unconnected plan, a building wherein every part stands in need of a prop, a chaos, rather than a system. He is every where in contradiction with himself, not only in the same book, but often in the same page. His ideas are extravagant, his reasonings false and captious, his views chimerical and full of paradoxes. The reading of his works, so far from staggering the belief of revelation in a sound understanding and well-informed mind, ought rather to contribute to the strengthening of it. If, therefore, they some- times puzzle the reader with their subtleties and wretched sophisms, — the glaring inconsistency of their arguments, and their t;elf-contradictions, are an evident proof that revelation cannot be attacked by just reasoning, and, consequently, that it is true, as M. Bergier has demonstrated, in his Deism Self- CHURCH OF CHRIST. 393 refuted, 2 vols, London printed, 1775. With respect to Mr. Gibbon, he imposes on his readers by the ele- gance of his composition, and by his parade of vague and unwarrantable quotations. As if he imagined wisdom was born with him, he censures the primitive Fathers with peculiar severity, and perpetually vili- fies the most sacred truths with contemptuous irony. Instead of quoting facts and passages faithfully, he has recourse to shameful falsifications, and supports his cause by manifest calumnies, in order to father the absurdest opinions on the most venerable writers of antiquity. He retails objections, as new, which had been started often against the Divine Original of Christianity, and as often refuted and exploded, long before he was born. The indefensible arti- fices to which he recurs have been unmasked, and his arguments have been ably refuted, by several learned men of this age, who have zealously stept forth to support the cause of the Christian Religion with solid truths and sound reasoning. Watson, Whitaker, Davis, Chelsum, Randolph, with other members of the universities of Oxford and Cam- bridge, have confuted his principles, pointed out his inaccuracies, and shown that his writings teem with misrepresentations and base calumnies. They have ■proved" -that this whole plan of accounting for the rapid grogress of the Christian Religion among the Gentile nations, is a stale infidel topic, and that, as Mosheim says in his Ecclesiastical history, " it is « necessary to have recourse to an omnipotent and " invisible hand, as the true and proper cause of « that amazing rapidity, with which Christianity " spread itself upon the earth by poor feeble in- M struments. Those who pretend to assign other u causes of this surprising event, indulge themselves 44 in idle fictions, which must disgust every atten- u tive observer of men and things/ 5 This century will be ever remarkable in the an- nals of history for the French Revolution, which commenced on the 14th cf July 1789, and in a short time exhibited to mankind the most bloody tragedy, that since the creation was ever acted in any civi* 394 HISTORY OF THE lized Nation. The seeds of this revolution had long been sown in France by a set of men, who styl- ing themselves philosophers, had formed a faction and divided among themselves the task of overturn- ing the Throne and the Altars. At first they con- cealed their impious designs, and spoke the lan- guage of universal benevolence, humanity, and tole- ration. They boasted of the lights which they were to diffuse through the world, and of the rights of man, which they pretended to restore. But the atrocity of those pretended philosophers was one day to be unmasked, and the Gallican Church and State were to be convinced by woful experience, that they were actuated by a mortal hatred of Roy- alty and of the Priesthood, and determined to stop at nothing that might possibly bring about the des- truction both of the one and the other. When shall I see, said Diderot, the last of Kings strangled with the entrails of the last of Priests ? To such lengths, alas! are men unhappily driven, when they lose sight of religion, and reject or abuse the lights that God gives them. By a just and terrible judgment, they are abandoned to the errors of their minds and to the depravity of their hearts, and suffered to plunge into a worse darkness than that of ancient idolatry. They are left to themselves and to their lawless passions. They break through all bonds, lay aside all shame, make a sacrilegious use of their reason, blind themselves more and more, until, be- ing dead to grace, they fall into the most dissolute debauchery and the most complete irreligion. The leading Heroes of this revolutionary philosophy, and all the sects and impious wits of the day, ac- knowledged Voltaire to be their father, and solicit- ed for him their honour, pomp, and triumph of an apotheosis of an ancient Rome. The National as- sembly enacted that the majestic Church of St. Ge- nevieva, the most august fabric In the capital of France, lately finished at the immense expense of more than eighty millions of livres, and forty years labour, should be converted into a pantheon, and serve as a mausoleum for the reception of the re* CHURCH OF CHRIST. 39i> fiiains of Voltaire and of other declared enemies of Jesus Christ and his Religion. An insidious Con- stitution was afterwards framed to sap the very foun- dations of Religion, and to subject the Gospel to the capricious will of men, who professing no religion themselves, were enemies to every religion. Their hatred of all religion impelled them to enforce an oath on the Clergy, which their fidelity to the laws of their conscience would not allow them to take. Unmerited calumnies were therefore artfully spread, in order to prejudice the minds of the people against them. They were persecuted with open violence, the altars were stained with the blood of many in- nocent victims, that refused to join the faction ; several were paraded about the public streets in the most humiliating garbs, with labels the most insult- ing and injurious, and with their mouths crammed with hay. Several were plunged into rivers with pitchforks fixed to their necks, and held under the water till they expired. Several were beheaded, and their heads carried on pikes amidst imprecations and songs. Several were knocked down in the Churches and kicked and buffetted by merciless ruf- fians, hired for that purpose. It would be an end- less task to enumerate all the horrid sacrileges, as- sassinations, and savage cruelties, that were per- petrated in different parts of the kingdom by the lawless populace, who were encouraged thereto by men in power. Near six hundred persons were butchered in the streets of Nimes under the pretext of exterminating aristocracy. Mr. Nolhac, the ve- nerable Pastor of St. Symphorien, in the eightieth year of his age, and six hundred of his flock, were massacred at Avignon, with bars of massive iron, and torn and disfigured with sabres. The cities of Lyons, Bourdeaux, Rouen, Sec. exhibited also* most dreadful scenes of ferocious cruelty, bloodshed, and barbarity. The sacred asylums of piety, and monas- teries of the Religious of both sexes were thrown open, pillaged, and profaned. Sanctuaries were pulled down, the sacred vessels were abused, the Images were defaced, the paintings were disfigured* 396 HISTORY OF THE the bells were melted, the tombs of the dead were violated, and bullets were made of their leaden cof- fins, for the use of the soldiery. In short, the support- ers of the Throne were either guillotined, impri- soned, or obliged to emigrate, and the defenders of Religion were either murdered, exiled, or reserved us victims to be immolated at a future period. Of one hundred and thirty-eight French Bishops or Archbishops, only four prevaricated. The number of priests, both secular and regular, who persevered in a steady refusal of perjury and apos- tacy, amounted to at least seventy thousand. Those who had not consulted the safety of their lives in time, by travelling over mountains and crossing the seas in quest of some hospitable spot, were cast into prisons, and compelled to abandon their flocks to mercenaries and ravenous wolves, who were thrust mto the pastoral ministry by a set of laymen, who had no mission or spiritual jurisdiction themselves, and consequently could impart none. Thus a phantom was substituted in France for the Church, schism for unity, intruders for lawful pastors, illu- sion and error for reality and truth, anarchy and confusion for order and discipline, liberty and equa- lity for regularity and subordination. Nothing can equal the barbarity, with which numbers of the nonjuring ecclesiastics were sacrificed at Paris, the very metropolis of the revolution, and under the eyes of the new Legislators. Jn the first week of September, 1792, one hundred and sixty Priests were massacred in the prison of La Force, eighty- six at the Conciergerie, and ninety-two at the semi- nary of St Firming according to the printed lists, then published. About one hundred and eighty- Priests were massacred at the Abbeye and at the Chafiel of the Carmelites, in the space of two or three hours. It was here the illustrious Archbishop of Aries and his brother the bishop of Saintes, were most inhumanly murdered, whilst, in imitation of the primitive Christians in the Catacombs, they were on their knees united in prayer and offering to God the sacrifice of their lives, in company with CHURCH OF CHRIST. 597 several other ecclesiastics of distinguished merit, who, at the same time, likewise sealed with their blood the faith they had so gloriously defended. The murders continued at the Conciergerie with very- little interruption for twenty-six hours; but they lasted at La Force from the second of September at night till late on the fifth. It was the common opinion at Paris that the number of the slain, in- cluding both Clergy and Laity, was not less than. twelve thousand. Five months had not elapsed from this tragical scene, when his most Christian Majesty, Lewis XVI, appeared on the scaffold the 21 st of January, 1793, and his head fell by a de- cree of a Convention^ that styled itself National. Maria Antoinette of Austria and Lorrain, his Roy* al consort, and Madame Elizabeth, his sister, were- likewise guillotined, by a decree of the same self- created Tribunal. For further particulars, the rea- der is referred to the writings of Maury, Barruel, and other well-informed writers, who have faith- fully collected the memorable events and transac- tions of the present age from the most authentic documents, in order to transmit a genuine history of them to posterity. Let us therefore stop here in silent admiration, adoring the unsearchable ways and counsels of Di- vine Providence, which for its own wise reasons has permitted a proud intolerant philosophy to mount the throne of the once flourishing, but now miserably convulsed, Kingdom of France, to tram- ple upon so large a portion of the Christian Church, and to curry the calamities of war, fire, and deso- lation into several of the surrounding Nations of Europe. It is to be hoped, that the blessings of peace will be shortly restored, and that God in his great mercy will be pleased to avert from us in his own good time those dreadful scourges and disasters which his provcked justice has suffered this part of the world to be visited with in our days, in order to punish the crying sins of the wicked, and to exer- cise the virtues of the just At all events, the Cnurcho; Christ being the work of God himself, 393 HISTORY OF TH« will always stand firm, and weather out every storm raised against her by the powers of hell, whilst the works of men, though supported for a time with ever so much obstinacy and enthusiasm, must perish and moulder away in the end. The perpe- tual and uninterrupted continuance of the Church for so many past ages, notwithstanding the various revolutions that have happened in the world since her first establishment, is a certain sign of what is to happen hereafter. Nay, it is nothing less than a standing Miracle, that proves the truth of her religion, and shows her to be always under the pro- tection of Heaven, and the unerring guidance of the Holy Ghost. It appears plainly from the con- tents of the foregoing Synopsis, that she is the be- loved Spouse of Jesus Christ, and the first and most ancient communion of Christians in the world. It cannot be denied that she was the true Church of Christ when St. Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans, and declared that their faith was spoken of through the whole world, Rom. 1. 8. and of course she is still the true Church, since her faith can never fail or vary, for the sacred words of God once fiut into her mouth, shall never depart from her mouth, as God in his Covenant with her expressly promised. — Isai. 1. 59. In her are to be found the four distinguishing characters or marks of the true Church, assigned by the Nicene Creed, when it says, / believe One y Holy, Catholic, and Jpostolic Church ; for she is One in her faith, Holy in her morals, Catholic or Uni- versal in her extent, and Perpetual in her duration. She is also Apostolic, because she descends by a lineal succession of seventeen hundred years from the twelve Apostles, and derives her doctrine, her priesthood r and her mission from them. Although the members of her communion are spread over all re- gions, yet they are united in one and the same faith, and in the participation of the same Sacraments. — They all believe the same divine truths, hold the same principles, teach the same doctrine, preach the same Gospel, profess the same Religion, offer the same sacrifice, receive the same Sacraments, and con- CnURCH OF CHRIST. 399 «* ^ d\ * • *