St. PETER (continued 5)

The Council of Alexandria saves the Church from Ruin.

The Resolution taken by the Confessors in the Council of Alexandria, is said to have saved the Church from utter Ruin. For had that prevailed, which was urged with so much Warmth by Lucifer, the Bishops, who had chosen rather to sign the Arian Confession than forfeit their Sees, would have kept them in Defiance of a Decree made by a small Number of their Collegues, and in all Likelihood excommunicated and deposed, in their Turn, those who had excommunicated and deposed them: and, in that Case, the Arian Party, comprehending almost all the Bishops of the Church, must have prevailed. But as nothing was required of them, to keep their Sees, besides their renouncing the Confession of Rimini, which they had embraced, and embracing that of Nice, which they had renounced, they readily complied with the Decree of the Council; insomuch that the following Year 363. Athanasius, in a Letter, which he wrote to the Emperor Jovian, immediately after the Death of Julian, could assure that Prince, that the Faith of Nice had been received, and was professed, in all the Provinces of the Empire, which he enumerates; but omits those of Thrace, Bithynia, and the Hellespont^[951], the Bishops 171there still continuing obstinately to maintain the Doctrine of Arius, and to reject the Faith of Nice, as we learn from Sozomen^[952], Socrates^[953], and Basil^[954]; nay, at Constantinople, the Orthodox had but a small Chapel to assemble in, all the Churches being in Possession of the Arians, under Eudoxius, a leading Man among the Pure Arians, who had usurped that See^[955]. |The Faith of Nice everywhere established.| For the better establishing of the Orthodox Faith, after the violent Shock it had lately received, Councils were held in several Provinces of the Empire^[N19], and by 172all was received the Faith of Nice, the Confession of Rimini condemned, and the Words Substance and Consubstantial re-established^[956]. A very strong Proof, that the Assent given before to the Arian Doctrines had been solely the Effect of Force, or of Interest, which being now removed, and all left at Liberty to act as their Consciences only directed, the Orthodox Faith prevailed as much as the other had done under Constantius.

A Council convened by the Semi-Arians.

As every one was allowed by Julian to believe what he pleased, and to own his Belief, whatever it was, the Semi-Arians convened a Council, soon after the Death of Constantius, who, in the Latter-end of his Life, had begun to persecute them as much as he had favoured them before. This Council was composed of those chiefly who had assisted at that of Seleucia, of which I have spoken above; and they all agreed to condemn and anathematize the Doctrine of the Pure Arians, with the Confession of Rimini, and to sign anew the Confession of Antioch, establishing a Likeness in Substance between the Son and the Father. Thus they pretended to keep a due Mean between the Two opposite Extremes, of the Western Bishops, whose Consubstantiality, they said, left no room for the Distinction of Persons; and of the Pure Arians, who denied all Likeness^[957]. |The Sect of the Macedonians.| It was after this Council that the Semi-Arians, separating themselves from the Communion of the Pure Arians, began to form a distinct Sect, and to be called Macedonians; which Name was given them from Macedonius, late Bishop of Constantinople, but deposed by the Pure Arians, in the Council they held in that City in 360. to make room for their great Champion Eudoxius, translated formerly from Germanicia to Antioch, and now from Antioch to Constantinople. They were also named Marathonians, from Marathonius, Bishop of Nicomedia, who, together with Macedonius, was at the Head of the Party; and Pneumatomachi, that is, Enemies to the Holy Ghost, whose Divinity they denied, which was their chief, if not their only Error; for some are of Opinion, that tho’ they rejected the Word Consubstantial, yet they agreed with the Orthodox in the Meaning of it. They led very regular, austere, and edifying Lives; and are, on that Score, highly commended and extolled by GregoryGregory Nazianzen^[958]. No Wonder therefore, that they soon spread all over the East, and gained every-where great Numbers of Followers. At Constantinople, and in the neighbouring Cities and Provinces, they 173were followed not only by the greater Part of the People, but by some Persons of Distinction, by such as were most remarkable for their Piety, by intire Monasteries, both of Men and Women^[959]. The Inhabitants of Cyzicus in the Propontis were almost all of this Sect, and we are told of some Miracles wrought by a Macedonian of that Place^[960], which Baronius will not allow, though as well attested as any he relates.

They are persecuted by the Emperor Valens.

The Emperor Valens, who reigned in the East, which had been yielded to him by his Brother Valentinian, when he took him for his Collegue in the Empire, spared no Pains to reconcile this Sect with that of the Arians, which he greatly favoured. But, finding them no less averse to the Arians than the Orthodox themselves, he began in the Year 366. to persecute them with great Cruelty. To avoid this Persecution they resolved to recur to the Emperor Valentinian, and, embracing the Faith professed by him and the Western Bishops, to put themselves under his Protection. Accordingly they dispatched Three of their Body, viz. Eustathius Bishop of Sebaste, Sylvanus of Tarsus, and Theophilus of Castabala, to acquaint the Emperor, in the Name of the rest, with the Resolution they had taken, and implore his Protection^[961]. These, being informed, on their Arrival in Italy, that Valentinian was waging War with the Barbarians on the Borders of Gaul, instead of repairing to him, which they apprehended might be attended with no small Danger, went strait to Rome, and there delivered to Liberius Letters from their Brethren, directed to him, and to the other Bishops of the West, whom they earnestly intreated to use their Interest with the Emperor, in their Behalf, assuring them, that they sincerely renounced the Errors they had hitherto held, and embraced the Catholic Faith, as explained and defined by the Council of Nice^[962]. |Deliver to Liberius their Confession of Faith;| But Liberius, notwithstanding these Assurances, suspected their Sincerity; and therefore could not, by any means, be prevailed upon to communicate with them, or even to hear them, till they had delivered to him a Confession of Faith, under their Hand, and in the Name of the whole Party, wherein they anathematized those of Rimini, and Nice in Bithynia; condemned the Heresy of Arius, with all other Heresies; and received the Definitions of the Council of Nice, those particularly that related to Consubstantiality. To this Confession they added a solemn Protestation, declaring themselves ready to submit to the Sentence of 174such Judges as the Pope should think fit to appoint, should they, or those by whom they had been sent, be ever for the future accused or suspected of swerving in the least from the Faith they now embraced and professed^[963]. |who admits them to his Communion.| In virtue of this Confession, whereof the Original was carefully lodged in the Archives of the Church of Rome, Liberius admitted the Deputies to his Communion; and, upon their Departure, writ, in the Name of all the Bishops of Italy, and the West, to the Macedonian Bishops, of whom he names 59, signifying the great Joy, which their Letters, and the Confession of Faith, signed by their Deputies, had occasioned at Rome, and in all the Western Churches, since by such a Confession they were all again happily united in one Faith. In this Letter Liberius assures them, that all the Bishops, who had assisted at the Council of Rimini, had retracted the Doctrine, which they had been forced to sign there; and were more than ever incensed against the Arians, on account of the Violence, which, at their Instigation, had been offered them^[964]. The Macedonians admitted the Divinity of the Son, but denied that of the Holy Ghost; nay, this was their favourite Doctrine, and, as it were, the Characteristic of their Sect; but Liberius, and the other Western Bishops, not suspecting them of such an Error, which in all Likelihood they had not yet publicly owned, admitted them to their Communion, without examining them on that Head.

Liberius dies.

Liberius died soon after, that is, on the 23d or 24th of September, of the present Year 366. as we are told by Marcellinus and Faustinus, whose Authority is preferable to that of any other, since, at this very time, they lived at Rome^[965]. He had been chosen on the 22d of May 352. so that he governed the Church of Rome Fourteen Years, Four Months, and a Day or Two. |The deplorable Condition of the Church in his Time.| Liberius lived in troublesome Times, the worst the Church had ever yet seen. She had Two dangerous Enemies to contend with at the same time, the Power of the Prince then on the Imperial Throne, and the Craft of a most subtle and deceitful Party. The Prince employed all his Power to overcome, with Oppression, those whom the Party could not over-reach with their Craft; and the Party to over-reach with their Craft such as the Prince could not overcome with Oppression. On the other hand, the Prelates, even some who were reputed the Pillars of the Church, seemed to have lost that Zeal, Firmness, and Intrepidity, which they had so 175gloriously exerted under the Pagan Princes, and few were found among them, whose Virtue was proof against the Loss of their Dignity, or Exile. Hence the Defection became general, and the Orthodox Party was brought so low, that it must have been utterly quashed, had Constantius lived a few Years longer. But Providence interposed; Constantius died while he was pursuing his Scheme with the greatest Success; and Julian, his Successor, by betraying an equal Hatred and Aversion to Christians of all Denominations, obliged them to forget their Quarrels among themselves, to lay aside their Animosity against each other, and to unite in their mutual Defence against him, as a common Enemy. Jovian, who succeeded him, proved no less favourable to the Orthodox, than Constantius had been to the Arians. Many therefore of the latter, and among the rest Acacius, who was at the Head of the Pure Arians, to gain the Favour of the Emperor, publicly renounced the Doctrine of Arius, and embraced that of Nice. Jovian, after a short Reign of Seven Months and Twenty Days, was succeeded by Valentinian, who continued to countenance the Orthodox, as his Predecessor had done, though he did not use the Arians with that Rigour which some Zealots expected from a Confessor, which Title he had deserved under Julian. However, as he professed the Orthodox Faith, that Party universally prevailed; insomuch that, in a very short time, no Traces of Arianism were left in the West, except at Milan, under the Arian Bishop Auxentius, and in a few Cities of Illyricum, where it was kept up by Ursacius, Valens, Germinius, and their Disciples, till the following Century, when it was every-where re-established there by the Goths.

By whom Arianism was banished out of the West.

Baronius ascribes to Liberius the banishing of Arianism out of the West, and the establishing of the Orthodox Faith in its room; but that Glory was owing, according to Ruffinus, to Hilarius of Poitiers, and Eusebius of Vercelli, who, like the Two great Luminaries of the Universe, to use his Words, enlightened with their Rays Illyricum, Gaul, and Italy, dispelling every-where the Darkness of Heresy^[966]. He minutely describes the great Success that attended them, with the Difficulties and Obstructions they met with in so pious and commendable an Undertaking^[967]. But, as for Liberius, he does not so much as mention him. And truly, from the Year 357. in which he fell, to his admitting the Macedonians to his Communion in 366. which was the 176last of his Life, the only thing I find recorded of him in the Antients, is his writing a Letter to the Catholic Bishops of Italy, wherein he exhorts them to atone for their past Conduct by renouncing the Errors of the Arians, and receiving anew the Symbol of Nice. He adds, that as this is the only Atonement, which it has been thought proper to require of them, they ought to exert their Zeal against the Authors of the Fault they committed, in proportion to the Grief they must feel for committing it^[968]. This Letter has been transmitted to us among the Fragments of Hilarius. |Neither Vincentius of Capua, nor Liberius, assisted at the Council of Rimini.| It is hard to guess what could induce Baronius to write so confidently as he does, that Vincentius of Capua assisted at the Council of Rimini with the Character of the Pope’s Legate^[969]. In what antient Author did he find the least Intimation or distant Hint of such a Legation? Vincentius of Capua, though a Person of great Eminency, is not even mentioned by any of the contemporary Writers, who relate the Transactions of that Council, and name the chief Prelates who composed it. 'Tis true we read of him, in one Author, that he never consented to the Confession of Rimini^[970]: but that is said of Liberius too^[971], whom Baronius owns not to have been present at that Assembly.

Liberius is honoured as a Saint.

Liberius, notwithstanding his Fall, is honoured both by the Latin and Greek Churches as a Saint. By the former his Festival is kept on the 23d of September, and by the latter on the 27th of August^[972]. |The Founding of the Church of St. Mary the Greater.| He erected a Church on the Esquiline Mount at Rome, which bore his Name, and was called the Basilic of Liberius, till it was consecrated to the Virgin Mary by Sixtus III. when it took the Name of Sancta Maria Major, or Saint Mary the Greater. It owes its Foundation, as is universally believed in the Church of Rome, to the following Miracle. A Roman of the Patrician Order, and of Wealth equal to his Rank, named John, having no Children, resolved to make a free Gift of his whole Estate to the Virgin Mary. This Resolution he imparted to his Wife, who consenting to it with great Alacrity, the Estate was immediately made over to the holy Virgin, whom they thenceforth jointly intreated, in their daily Prayers, to let them know by some Token in what Manner she chose to dispose of it. Their Prayers were heard, and, on the Night preceding the 5th of August, when the Heat is most violent at Rome, a miraculous Snow fell from Heaven, which covered Part of the Esquiline Mount. The same 177Night the Patrician and his Wife were admonished in a Dream to build a Church on the Spot of Ground which they should find covered with Snow. Early next Morning they went to acquaint Pope Liberius with what had happened, whom they found to have had the same Dream; so that no room being now left to doubt of the Revelation, the Pope appointed a grand Procession of the whole Clergy, in which he walked himself, attended by Crouds of People, to the above-mentioned Mount; and there, having caused the Snow, which still lay unmelted, to be removed, on the Spot, which it had covered, he laid the Foundation of that magnificent Basilic, which was reared at the Expence of the Patrician, and is now known by the Name of Saint Mary the Greater, and Saint Mary in the Snow^[973]. I should not have thought such an idle Tale worthy of a Place in a grave History, were it not recorded in the most authentic Book the Church of Rome has after the Scripture, the Roman Breviary, a Book approved and commended by the Council of Trent, and by the special Bulls of Three Popes, Pius V. Clement VIII. and Urban VIII. of whom the latter declares every thing it contains to be extracted from antient and approved Authors, and to be agreeable to Truth^[974]. So that it would be less dangerous, at least in Italy, to deny any Truth revealed in the Scripture, than to question any Fable related in the Breviary. The Feast of the Snow, or St. Mary in the Snow, is kept annually at Rome, on the 5th of August, with the greatest Solemnity. The College of Cardinals assists that Day at Divine Service in the Church of Saint Mary the Greater; and the Pope, if not indisposed, or otherwise prevented, officiates in Person: the Primicerio, or Dean of that Church, reads the Account, which I have delivered above; and, that nothing may be wanting to complete the Farce, Numbers of Children are employed, during the Service, to drop Jessamins from the Gallery on the Congregation, in Remembrance and Imitation of the miraculous Snow. And truly by Children alone such Fables are proper to be acted and believed.

The Writings of Liberius.

Several Pieces have reached our Times, which were either written by, or have been falsly ascribed to, Liberius. Among the former are, his Letter in Answer to the Macedonian Bishops; another to the Catholic Bishops of Italy; which have been both mentioned above; 178and a Discourse, which he pronounced on Christmas-day in the Church of St. Peter, on Occasion of his giving the sacred Veil to Marcellina the Sister of St. Ambrose when she embraced the State of Virginity. This Discourse St. Ambrose has inserted in his Third Book on Virgins, but in his own Style, which is very different from that of Liberius, who had not the Gift of Eloquence^[975]. |Writings falsly ascribed to him.| Among the Pieces falsly ascribed to Liberius, most Men of Learning reckon the Confession of Faith, written in Greek, which he is supposed to have sent to Athanasius. This Piece Baronius will, by all means, have to be genuine; and the Use he makes of it is somewhat extraordinary. The Council of Alexandria, to which the Church owed her Safety, was convened by Athanasius, upon his Return from Exile, as I have related above. By that small Assembly, consisting only of Confessors, was enacted the famous Decree with respect to those, who had communicated with the Arians, and signed the Confession of Rimini. To that Decree the whole Church readily conformed; so that the Honour of saving the Church was chiefly owing to Athanasius, and wholly to him and the other Confessors. Of Liberius not the least Mention is made; so that he had no Share in that Glory. |Strange Conjectures of Baronius.| The Annalist therefore, not being able to bring in his Sovereign Pontiff upon the Authority of any Records now extant, has recourse to those that probably never were; or, if they ever were, are now no more. He supposes Part of the above-mentioned Confession of Faith, sent by Liberius to Athanasius, to be wanting; and Liberius, in the Part that is wanting, to have impowered Athanasius to convene a Council, and to have appointed Eusebius of Vercelli, and Lucifer of Cagliari, to assist at that Council with the Character of his Legates. Such wild and extravagant Suppositions require a very strong Proof to support them, some plausible Conjectures at least to give them an Appearance of Truth. But that we must not expect of Baronius. The only Argument, if it may be so called, which he pretends to offer on this Occasion, is, that he cannot conceive Athanasius, and the other holy Confessors, would have taken upon them to act as they did, and enact a Decree extending to the whole Church, had they not received such a Power from him, to whom all Power was given^[976], meaning the Pope. The other Pieces, falsly ascribed to Liberius, are another Letter to Athanasius, 179and one to all the Catholic Bishops; which are both reputed supposititious, being dated by Consuls who never existed.

Valentinian, Valens, DAMASUS, Thirty-sixth Bishop of Rome. Gratian, Theodosius.

Year of Christ 366. Damasus a Native of Rome,

Liberius was succeeded by Damasus, whom the Spanish Writers, upon the Authority of Anastasius, suppose to have been a Native of Spain^[977]; though there is no room to doubt of his being born in Rome, since it appears, from an Inscription quoted by Baronius^[978], that his Father had been Lector, Deacon, and Presbyter, of the Church of St. Laurence in that City, and consequently must have lived there from his Youth. Damasus had a Sister named Irene, who embraced the State of Virginity, and died before she was Twenty, as we read in her Epitaph^[979]. It is not therefore probable, that her Death happened in the Twelfth Year of her Brother’s Pontificate, as the Spanish Author of her Life tells us, he being then Seventy. Damasus served, as his Father had done, the Church of St. Laurence, till he was stricken in Years; for he was upwards of Sixty when raised to the Episcopal Dignity. |and Deacon of that Church.| He was Deacon of Rome in 355. when Liberius was sent into Exile; on which Occasion he not only bound himself, with the rest of the Clergy, by a solemn Oath not to acknowlege any other Bishop so long as Liberius lived, but attended him on his Journey to the Place of his Banishment^[980]. |Whether he aban- doned Liberius,and sided with Felix.| Marcellinus and Faustinus seem to insinuate, that soon afterwards, giving way to his Ambition, he forgot the Oath he had taken, abandoned Liberius, for whom he had professed the greatest Friendship, and sided with Felix his Antagonist^[981]. But these Two Presbyters were zealous Partisans of the Antipope Ursinus, of whom hereafter; and therefore we ought to be very cautious of what they write to the Prejudice of Damasus. Jerom, who lived then at Rome, and in great Intimacy with Damasus, reproaches such of the Ecclesiastics as forsook Liberius, and joined Felix, with the Breach of a most solemn Oath; styles them 180Perjurers, Deserters, Time-servers, &c. which I cannot think he would have done so freely, had Damasus been one of the Number. I am therefore not a little surprised, that Baronius should blindly acquiesce to the Accounts of the above-mentioned Writers, and, without further Inquiry, condemn Damasus as guilty of Perjury, by ranking him among the Followers of Felix^[982]. And yet the Annalist supposes him to have been appointed Great Vicar of Rome by Liberius, upon his withdrawing from the City to avoid the Persecution raised by Constantius after the Council of Rimini^[983]: so that, according to him, he must have changed Sides anew, and, abandoning Felix, returned to Liberius, which is representing him as a Man swayed by no other Principles but those of Interest and Ambition, and therefore always siding with those who were uppermost. This is all we know of Damasus before his Election.

He is chosen Bishop of Rome, and likewise Ursinus.

Liberius dying on the 23d or 24th of September 366. as I have related above, great Disturbances were raised in Rome by the Election of Two Bishops to succeed him, viz. Damasus and Ursinus, whom the later Writers style Ursicinus, a Deacon of that Church. This double Election gave Rise to a dangerous Schism, and a kind of Civil War, within the Walls of the City, which did not end without a great deal of Bloodshed. I shall impartially relate what I find concerning this important Transaction in the contemporary Writers of either Side; leaving the Reader to judge which of the Two Pretenders was the Cause of so much Mischief, and which legally chosen. I shall begin with the Account which Marcellinus and Faustinus, who were then at Rome, give us of these Elections. They were both Presbyters of that Church, but, being strict Followers of Lucifer Bishop of Cagliari, of whom I have spoken above, they and their whole Party were deemed Schismatics, and consequently cruelly persecuted by the Catholic Bishops, especially Damasus. Finding themselves thus oppressed, the Two Presbyters, between 383. and 388. drew up a Petition in Behalf of themselves and their afflicted Brethren, addressed to Valentinian II. Theodosius, and Arcadius, intreating those Princes to protect their Innocence, and put a Stop to the unbridled Rage of their Enemies. With this Request the Two Presbyters repaired to Constantinople, being driven from Rome by Damasus, and there presented it to Theodosius, 181who, pitying their Condition, in his Rescript directed to Cynegius the Præfectus Prætorio, treated them as Catholics, granted them the free Exercise of their Religion, and declared all those wicked Men, nay, and Heretics, who had presumed, or should for the future presume, to persecute or molest them^[984]. In the Preface, prefixed to this Petition, I find the following Account of both the above-mentioned Elections. Ursinus, say they, was chosen in the Basilic of Julius by the Deacons Amantius and Lupus, and the People, who had continued in the Communion of Liberius; but Damasus, by those who had adhered to Felix, assembled for that Purpose in the Church of St. Laurence, called in Lucinis. Ursinus was ordained the first, by Paul Bishop of Tivoli; which Damasus, who had always panted after the Episcopal Dignity, no sooner knew, than he hired a great Number of Chariot drivers, and other such despicable Wretches, who, violently breaking into the Basilic of Julius, massacred a great many People there. Seven Days afterwards they made themselves Masters of the Lateran Basilic, and there was Damasus ordained Bishop^[985]. |Different Accounts of these Elections.| This Account charges Damasus alone with the Schism, and the Evils attending it. On the other hand, the Council of Rome, held about Twelve Years after, lays the whole Blame on Ursinus, who, say they, boldly attempted to usurp a Dignity, which on no Score was due to him^[986]; and that which met at Aquileia in 381. and consisted of all the most eminent Bishops of the West, ascribes to Ursinus, and his Temerity, the many Calamities the Church had suffered; paints him as a Man of no Credit, Character, or Reputation; and adds, that he seized by Force what he had no Hopes of attaining by lawful Means^[987]. Ambrose writes, that the Suffrage of Heaven concurred in the Election of Damasus^[988]. According to these Authorities Damasus was lawfully elected, and Ursinus unlawfully. As to the Particulars of his Election, Jerom, who perhaps was then at Rome, tells us, that Damasus was first chosen, and then Ursinus, who, after his Election, seized by Force on the Basilic of Sicinus^[989], that is, according to the most probable Opinion, the Basilic of Liberius, now Saint Mary the Greater. Socrates says, that Ursinus having near as many Votes as Damasus, he was thereby encouraged to hold separate Assemblies, and to get himself ordained in a dark and retired Corner of 182the Basilic of Sicinus^[990]. Ruffinus assures us, that Damasus was already ordained, when Ursinus, transported with Rage at his being preferred to him, assembled a great Number of seditious People, and, supported by them, caused himself, in Defiance of the Canons of the Church, to be ordained, in the Basilic of Sicinus, by Paul Bishop of Tivoli; whereas the Bishops of Rome were always ordained and consecrated by those of Ostia. After his Consecration, continues this Author, he ordained several Persons; which was adding a Sacrilege to his unlawful Election^[991]. Both Ruffinus, and Socrates, who follows him, were certainly mistaken as to the Place of this Ordination, since we are told by Marcellinus and Faustinus, that Ursinus was ordained, not in the Basilic of Sicinus, but in that of Julius^[992]. These Two Writers, who were in Rome at the Time of the Elections, tell us, in express Terms, that Ursinus was chosen before Damasus; and Jerom, who was probably in Rome at the same Time, assures us, in Terms no less express, that Damasus was chosen before Ursinus. The former were greatly addicted to Ursinus, and the latter no less attached to Damasus. As for the Two Councils, which I have quoted above, they were held some Years after, when the Party of Damasus had universally prevailed, and it was a Crime to acknowlege Ursinus. Jerom has been followed by most of the Writers who came after, and the Authority of the other Two quite disregarded, for no other Reason but because they were Schismatics; for they joined Lucifer, as I have observed above, and refused to communicate with the Bishops who had signed the Confession of Rimini, nay, and with those who communicated with them.

Great Disturbances in Rome, occasioned by this double Election.

By this double Election the Citizens of Rome saw themselves, before they were aware, involved in a Civil War. The whole People were divided, some siding with Damasus, and some with Ursinus; and neither of the Competitors shewed the least Inclination to yield to the other. No Day passed without Skirmishes and Bloodshed; insomuch that Juventius Governor of the City, and Julian the Præfectus Annonæ, to put a Stop to the present, and prevent greater Disturbances, agreed to banish Ursinus, whose Party seemed less powerful, together with his Two Deacons Amantius and Lupus. The Two Authors I have often quoted write, that both Juventius and Julian were bribed by Damasus, who, taking Advantage of the Absence of 183his Competitor, armed his Followers with Clubs and Swords, hoping thus to intimidate the Friends of the exiled Bishop, and bring them in the End to acknowlege him. Seven Presbyters of the Party of Ursinus were seized, at the Request of Damasus, in order to be sent into Exile, but rescued by the People of the same Party, and carried in Triumph to the Basilic of Liberius; which Damasus no sooner heard, than, arming all his Followers, both Clergy and Laymen, with Clubs, Swords, Axes, &c. he marched at the Head of the seditious and enraged Multitude to the Basilic, which he and his Partisans immediately invested, and attacked with the utmost Fury. |Several Persons massacred.| It was set on fire in several Places; the Doors were forced, the Roof uncovered, and thence Showers of Tiles discharged on the People assembled there: great was the Massacre; One hundred and Sixty Persons, Men and Women, were inhumanly murdered on the Side of Ursinus, and a great many more wounded, some of whom died of their Wounds. On the Side of Damasus not one single Person was killed. This Riot began on the 25th of October 366. at Eight in the Morning.

The Sedition becomes general.

Thus the above-mentioned Writer^[993] Ruffinus writes in general Terms, that the illegal Election of Ursinus, in Opposition to Damasus, occasioned such a Tumult, or rather Civil War among the People, some siding with the one, and some with the other, that the Places destined for Prayer streamed with Human Blood^[994]. The Heathen Ammianus Marcellinus assures us, that the Partisans of Damasus and Ursinus were so implacably incensed against each other, that several Persons were wounded in the Quarrel, and some killed: nay, it is certain, adds he, that in the Basilic of Sicinus One hundred and Thirty-seven Persons were found dead, all killed the same Day: but Damasus in the End, by the Efforts of his Party, got the better of his Antagonist^[995]. Jerom, however partial, owns, that Ursinus having got Possession of the Basilic of Sicinus, the Partisans of Damasus repaired thither in Crouds, and that several Persons were thereupon inhumanly massacred^[996]. The Sedition became general, and the Seditious on either Side so numerous and powerful, that Juventius, not thinking it adviseable to punish, nor being able to appease, the enraged Populace, abandoned the City, and retired to the Country^[997]. He was perhaps for Ursinus, whose Party being over-matched by that of Damasus, he might not think it safe to continue in Rome. Three Days after the Massacre in the 184Basilic of Liberius, that is, on the 28th of October, the Partisans of Ursinus, say Marcellinus and Faustinus, assembling, cried out aloud against Damasus, complaining of his Conduct, and begging that a sufficient Number of Bishops might be convened, and the Controversy referred to their Judgment and Decision^[998]. Damasus was greatly favoured, and chiefly supported, by the Roman Ladies, which probably gave Occasion to the Charge of Adultery that was brought against him. But Jerom, either to clear him of this Charge, or to obviate the like Suspicions, naturally arising from his familiar Conversation with the Female Sex, styles him a Virgin Doctor of the Virgin Church^[999].

Damasus not easily cleared from all Guilt.

Baronius, finding he can neither disguise nor extenuate the Cruelties committed by those who adhered to Damasus, is at a great deal of Trouble to disculpate him, and lay the whole Blame on Maximinus, who, as appears from History, discharged the Office of Præfectus Annonæ from the Latter-end of the Year 367. to the Beginning of 370. and was noted for his Cruelty. Baronius is supported herein by the Authority of Jerom and Ruffinus, of whom the former writes, that Damasus remained Conqueror, without hurting the Conquered^[1000]; and the latter, that the Cruelties practised by the Prefect Maximinus, who had espoused the Cause of Damasus, upon those of the adverse Party, rendered the Name of that virtuous Prelate odious, though he had no Share in them^[1001]. But who is to be charged with the Massacre in the Basilic of Sicinus or Liberius? On whom are the Murders to be laid, committed there? Maximinus was not then in Power, and perhaps not at Rome. I cannot help thinking but Damasus might at least have restrained his Followers from such Excesses; and consequently, as he did not, I cannot, with Ruffinus, conclude him to have had no Share in them; I say, at least restrained; for I will not charge him with heading and encouraging the riotous Multitude in that wicked Attempt, upon the bare Authority of Marcellinus and Faustinus, both zealous Partisans of Ursinus. But neither ought Baronius, Bellarmine, Davidius, &c. upon the bare Testimony of Two Writers, no less sanguine in the Cause of Damasus, suppose him to have been no-ways concerned in those Disorders. The famous Ammianus Marcellinus, who lived at this very time in Rome, and, as a Pagan, was no-ways concerned in the Quarrel, nor more inclined 185to one Side than the other, assures us, that both were equally ambitious of the Episcopal Dignity, and both equally guilty^[1002]. The Authority of a Writer, thus unbyassed, and in every other respect unexceptionable, ought to be preferred, without the least Hesitation, to that of any other, whom we have just Reason to suspect of Partiality. Jerom indeed speaks with more Modesty and Reserve than Ruffinus, and those who have copied after him; for he only says, that Damasus did not hurt his Enemies after he had conquered them. But, in relating the above-mentioned Massacre, and the Skirmishes that happened before the Party of Damasus prevailed, he always describes his Partisans as the Aggressors, without ever pretending to excuse him, as having no Share in those Riots; which he would not have failed to do, had he not paid a greater Regard to Truth than Ruffinus seems to have done.

The Luxury of the Bishops of Rome.

The Heathen Marcellinus, after telling us, that Damasus and Ursinus aspired with equal Ambition to the Episcopal Chair, adds this famous Remark, which I shall set down in his own Words: I must own, says he, that when I reflect on the Pomp attending that Dignity, I do not at all wonder, that those, who are fond of Shew and Parade, should scold, quarrel, fight, and strain every Nerve to attain it; since they are sure, if they succeed, to be enriched with the Offerings of the Ladies; to appear no more abroad on foot, but in stately Chariots, and gorgeously attired; to keep costly and sumptuous Tables; nay, and to surpass the Emperors themselves in the Splendor and Magnificence of their Entertainments. But how happy would they be, if, despising the Grandeur of the City, which they allege to excuse their Luxury, they followed the Example of some Bishops in the Provinces, who, by the Temperance and Frugality of their Diet, the Poverty and Plainness of their Dress, the Modesty of their Looks fixed on the Ground, the Purity of their Lives, and the Regularity of their whole Conduct, approve themselves to the eternal God, and all his true Worshipers^[1003]! Thus Ammianus. And that Damasus was fond of all that Pomp, Grandeur, and Parade, that he led such a voluptuous Life, as Ammianus here so justly censures and condemns in the Bishops of Rome, is not to be doubted, since Prætextatus, a Man of the first Quality, honoured with the greatest Employments of the Empire, and zealously attached to Paganism, in 186conversing familiarly with him, used pleasantly to say, Make me Bishop of Rome, and I'll immediately turn Christian^[1004]. But, as I shall have Occasion to speak of this Subject hereafter, I shall only observe here, that the Offerings of those devout Women, and other pious Christians, were no better employed in the Days of Damasus, than the immense Wealth, which the Church of Rome acquired in After-Ages, by the voluntary Contributions of all the Christian Nations, is disposed of in ours. |How the Oblations of the Faithful disposed of.| With these Offerings the Bishops of Rome used in more early Times, to maintain the Poor of their own Church, and send the Overplus to other Churches, where the Poor were numerous, and the Offerings small. Of this generous Practice I have mentioned some Instances, that well deserve to be recorded. But when Ambition began to take place of Charity, the Poor were forgotten, and nothing thought of but splendid Equipages, numerous Retinues, princely Apparel, sumptuous Tables, and whatever else could feed the Vanity of these upstart Princes, and put them upon the Level with the greatest Monarchs. To such Purposes were the Oblations of the Faithful perverted. Baronius takes it very much amiss of Ammianus, that he should find Fault with the costly Tables and Entertainments of the Popes, since it is manifest from St. Austin, that the Christians at Rome, and, no doubt, the Pope with the rest, kept a rigorous Fast Three Days in the Week^[1005]; so that, in his Opinion, they ought not to be blamed for rioting Four Days in the Week, provided they fasted Three. But to this Doctrine Ammianus was a Stranger, and therefore, notwithstanding the Fasts they might keep, he justly censured their expensive Tables and Banquets, as no-ways suited to their Profession and Character.

Ursinus recalled by Valentinian;

But to return to Ursinus; he had been banished Rome by the Prefect Juventius, before the 26th of October 366. as I have related above; but the Emperor Valentinian, who was at this time in Gaul, having, at the Request of his Friends, granted him Leave to return, he entered the City on the 15th of September 367. in a kind of Triumph, being met and received with loud Acclamations by those of his Party^[1006]. At the same time the Emperor directed a Rescript to Prætextatus, who had succeeded Juventius in the Prefecture of Rome, injoining him to recall all those, who had been banned for the late Riots, and reinstate them in their former Condition, after 187warning them, that if, for the future, they disturbed the Peace of the Public, they should be punished without Mercy^[1007]. |but banished anew.| But notwithstanding this Warning, new Disturbances must have happened, since Ursinus was, by an Order from the Emperor, banished again on the 16th of November of the same Year 367. together with Seven of his Followers, who were all confined to different Places in Gaul, where they continued till the Year 371^[1008]. The Two Presbyters tell us, that Damasus, having, with large Sums, gained the Ministers and Favourites at Court, by their Means extorted from the Emperor the above-mentioned Order. They add, that the Friends of Ursinus were resolved to stand by him; but that he, to prevent Bloodshed, delivered himself up into the Hands of the Officers of Justice^[1009]. However that be, by the Banishment of Ursinus, and some of the leading Men of his Party, Tranquillity was restored for a while, and the Disturbances composed, says Ammianus, which the Christians had raised by quarreling among themselves^[1010].

The Bishop of Rome impowered by the Emperor to judge other Bishops.

About this Time the Emperor Valentinian enacted a Law, impowering the Bishop of Rome to examine and judge other Bishops, that religious and ecclesiastical Disputes might not be decided by profane or secular Judges, but by a Pontiff of the same Religion, and his Collegues^[1011]. A very imprudent Law, considering the Nature and Consequences of such a Concession. The Bishops assembled in Council at Rome, in 378. after declaring, in the strongest Terms, their Approbation of this Law, agreed to present an Address to the Emperor Gratian, wherein they earnestly recommended to him the Execution of it, because it greatly redounded, say they, to the Honour of the sacred Ministry; because the Judgment of Bishops was more sure and certain than that of any Civil Magistrate; and, lastly, because it delivered the Prelates of the Church from the just Concern they were under, to find that they could not make their Innocence appear without Racks and Tortures, which innocent Persons were put to by the Secular Judges^[1012]. This Exemption seems to have been understood by the Council as extending to all Cases, whether Civil or Ecclesiastical. Be that as it will, whatever Exemption was by the above-mentioned Law granted to the Bishops, whatever Power was by that Law vested in the Bishop of Rome, and his Collegues, the Council, with a due Sense of Gratitude, acknowleged such Power and Immunity 188to be intirely owing to the Indulgence of the Emperor: a plain Proof that the absurd and chimerical Notion of a Divine Right was not yet broached. The Bishops chose rather to be judged by the Pope and his Collegues, that is, by their own Brethren, than by Lay Judges, for the Reasons they allege in their Address to Gratian. Hence they chearfully submitted to his Judgment, and applauded every new Power that was granted him, as redounding to the Honour of the Episcopal Order. But, alas! they were not aware, that every new Power, yielded to the Bishop of Rome, was a new Link added to the Chain they were forging, if not for themselves, for those, at least, who were to succeed them. They little apprehended, that the Bishop of Rome would, in Process of Time, claim all the Power vested in him, and his Collegues, as due to him alone, and that too by Divine Right; that, in virtue of such a Claim, he would set up for universal and sole Monarch of the Church, exercise an unbounded Authority and Jurisdiction, and degrade all other Bishops from his Collegues to his Vassals and Slaves. Blondel is of Opinion, that the Bishop of Rome was, by that Law, only impowered to judge the Bishops within the Limits of his Jurisdiction, that is, those of the Suburbicarian Provinces^[1013]. Others think that such a Power was only for a time, and extended to those Bishops alone who were concerned in the present Schism; which seems most probable, since Valentinian declares, that he enacted the above-mentioned Law to settle the Church, shaken by the Fury of the Schism^[1014].

The Followers of Ursinus driven out of Rome.

Ursinus, and the leading Men of his Party, being driven out of the City, the Inhabitants began to enjoy their former Peace and Tranquillity. But yet his Followers continued to assemble in the Cœmeteries of the Martyrs, and even kept Possession of a Church, supposed to be that of St. Agnes, without the Walls^[1015]. Of this Damasus took care to transmit an Account to the Emperor, in a Memorial; who, fearing that, from such a Spark, the Fire might break out again, which he had been striving to extinguish, injoined Prætextatus to put Damasus forthwith in Possession of that Church; and, in the Execution of this Order, probably happened what we find related, perhaps with some Exaggeration, by the Two Writers I have often quoted; for they tell us, that one Day, while the Followers of Ursinus were assembled, in great Numbers, in the Church of St. Agnes, Damasus, 189falling unexpectedly upon them with his Satellites, made a dreadful Havock of the innocent and defenceless Multitude^[1016]. After this Second Massacre Prætextatus, to secure the Tranquillity of the City, sent several more of the Party of Ursinus into Exile. Valentinian, however, would not consent to their being confined to any particular Place; but gave them full Liberty to live where they pleased, provided they kept out of Rome^[1017]. The two Writers add, that the Cruelties exercised in the Church of St. Agnes gave great Offence to the Bishops of Italy; and that Damasus having invited some of them to Rome, to solemnize with him the Anniversary of his Consecration, he laid hold of that Opportunity to solicit them with Intreaties, nay, and to tempt them with Money, to condemn Ursinus; but all in vain; the Bishops equally unmoved by his Prayers and Offers, refusing, with great Firmness and Resolution, to condemn a Man whom they had not heard. Marcellinus and Faustinus close their Preface with a short Account of themselves, telling us, that the Presbyters of Ursinus’s Party were imprisoned, racked, banished, dispersed, and sent into different Countries; and that they themselves, who were of that Number, presented a Petition to the Emperors, begging them to put a Stop to so cruel a Persecution^[1018].

Damasus assembles a Council at Rome.

Damasus having thus, in the End, by the Favour of the Emperors, intirely got the better of the adverse Party, and secured his Dignity, he turned his Thoughts to Ecclesiastical Matters. In the West there were now but Three Bishops, who still maintained the Doctrine of Arius; viz. Ursacius Bishop of Singidunum, Valens of Mursa, and Auxentius of Milan. |Ursacius and Valens condemned. Auxentius why spared.| Damasus, however, convened a numerous Council at Rome; and there examined anew, and anew condemned, the Tenets of Arius, and all who held them, namely Ursacius and Valens^[1019]. Auxentius was a pure, and no less zealous, Arian, than either of these Two; but as he was in favour with Valentinian, whom he had deceived by an equivocal Confession of Faith, Damasus, and his Council, thought it adviseable not to name him. The Council writ a synodal Letter to the other Bishops, acquainting them with what had passed; which was answered by Athanasius, and the Bishops of Egypt, then assembled at Alexandria. In their Answer they thank Damasus for condemning Ursacius and Valens; but, at the same time, express no small Surprize to find, that Auxentius was 190not yet deposed, tho’ guilty not only of Arianism, but of many other Crimes, which they enumerate^[1020]. Damasus and his Collegues paid, no doubt, great Regard to the Remonstrances of Athanasius; but, as Auxentius was supported by the Emperor, and they were better Courtiers than Athanasius, they never attempted to depose him; nay, they carried their Complaisance so far as to condemn Ursacius and Valens, as if they had been the only Arian Bishops in the West, without ever naming Auxentius. He therefore kept, for many Years, quiet Possession of the See he had usurped, and was at last deprived of it by Death alone.

The Avarice of the Roman Clergy restrained by Valentinian.

The many Abuses and Disorders, that reigned at this Time among the Ecclesiastics of Rome, offered a larger Field to the Zeal of Damasus, than the Heresy of Arius, now confined in the West to a Corner of Illyricum. But he was by no means a fit Person to set up for a Reformer of Manners, and the Evil required a more powerful Remedy than he could apply. The Prelates of the Church, even the Bishops of Rome, could yet only preach against Vice, admonish the Vicious, and inflict ecclesiastical Censures on such as gave no Ear to their Admonitions: all other Power was still lodged in Lay Hands, and only imparted to the Ecclesiastics in some extraordinary Cases. The insatiable Avarice of the Roman Clergy,Clergy, the mean and scandalous Arts they were daily practising to circumvent the Orphans, plunder the Widows, and rob the lawful Heirs of their just Inheritance, cried loudly for a Reform; but were Evils too strong for the Curb of Exhortation, Admonition, or Censures merely ecclesiastical; and Damasus himself was not quite free from Imputations of this Nature. It was therefore necessary, that the Secular Power should interpose in Defence of the deluded Laity, against the Craft and Rapines of the ravenous Clergy. |Law enacted by him.| A Law was accordingly enacted by the Emperor Valentinian, in the Year 370. addressed to Damasus Bishop of Rome, and read, on the 29th of July, in all the Churches of that City, strictly forbidding the Ecclesiastics, and such as professed Celibacy, meaning the Monks, to frequent the Houses of Orphans or Widows, or to accept from those, whom they attended under the Veil of Religion, any thing whatsoever by way of Donation, Legacy, or Feoffment in Trust. Whatever was thus given or accepted, is declared forfeited to the public Treasury^[1021].

191This Law, taken in a literal Sense, only forbids the Ecclesiastics to accept such Donations as were made by the Women whom they attended in spiritual Matters as their Guides or Directors; but it was either understood and interpreted as extending to all Donations from pious Persons, or a new Law was made at this Time excluding the Ecclesiastics from all such Donations, as plainly appears from Jerom and Ambrose, of whom the former, in one of his Letters, writes thus: |The Sentiments of St. Jerom and Ambrose concerning this Law.| I am ashamed to say it, the Priests of the Idols, the Stage-players, Charioteers, Whores, are capable of inheriting Estates, and receiving Legacies; from this common Privilege, Clerks alone, and Monks, are debarred by Law; debarred, not under persecuting Tyrants, but Christian Princes^[1022]. And Ambrose; We are excluded by Laws, lately enacted, from all Inheritances, Donations, and Legacies; yet we do not complain: And why should we? By such Laws we only lose Wealth; and the Loss of Wealth is no Loss to us. Estates are lawfully bequeathed to the Ministers of the Heathen Temples; no Layman is excluded, let his Condition be ever so low, let his Life be ever so scandalous: Clerks alone are debarred of a Right common to the rest of Mankind. Let a Christian Widow bequeath her whole Estate to a Pagan Priest, her Will is good in Law; let her bequeath the least Share of it to a Minister of God, her Will is null. I do not mention these Things by way of Complaint, but only to let the World know, that I do not complain; for I had rather we should want Money, than Virtue or Grace^[1023]. From these Testimonies it is manifest, that either by the above-mentioned Law, or by some other published at this Time, the Ecclesiastics were restrained from receiving any Donations or Legacies whatever, by whomsoever bequeathed: and that such a Law was absolutely necessary, is no less manifest from the unquestionable Authority of Jerom, who lived at this very Time in Rome, and describes, as an Eye-witness, the Arts that were practised with great Success, by the Roman Clergy, to circumvent rich Widows, and old Men. The Clerks, says he, who ought to instruct and awe the Women with a grave and composed Behaviour, first kiss their Heads, and then, stretching out their Hand, as it were to bestow a Blessing, slily receive a Fee for their Salutation. The Women in the mean time, elated with Pride in seeing themselves thus courted by the Clergy, prefer the Freedom of Widowhood to the Subjection attending 192the State of Matrimony. Some of the Clergy make it the whole Business and Employment of their Lives to learn the Names of the Ladies, to find out their Habitations, to study their Humour. One of these (perhaps Antimus or Sophronius, two Monkish Harpyes, of whom he speaks elsewhere), an Adept in the Art, rises with the Sun, settles the Order of his Visits, acquaints himself with the shortest Ways, and almost breaks into the Rooms of the Women before they are awake. If he sees any curious Piece of Houshold Furniture, he extols, admires, and handles it; and, sighing that he too should stand in need of such Trifles, in the End, rather extorts it by Force, than obtains it by Goodwill, the Ladies being afraid to disoblige the prating old Fellow, that is always running about from House to House^[1024]. The same Writer, speaking elsewhere of the Monks, displays the Arts which they practised to deceive, captivate, and plunder, the rich Widows, and old Men; and adds, that, by professing Poverty, they were become rich, and that the Church grieved to see many acquire great Wealth by serving her, who had been Beggars, while they lived in the World^[1025]. So that the Monastic Profession was in those early Times what it is now, a gainful Trade, under the Mask of Religion. As for the mean, nay, and nauseous Offices, to which they were prompted by their Avarice, and the greedy Expectation of Legacies, to submit, about the childless old Men and Women in their Sickness, it would be forgetting the Dignity of an Historian to mention them. The Reader will find them described by Jerom, and perhaps too minutely, in the Letter he writ to his Friend Nepotian^[1026]. In the same Letter he informs us, how the Wealth thus acquired was disposed of. I, says he, applying to himself what he levelled at others, to render the Truth he spoke less disagreeable; I, who was born in a poor Country Cottage, who had scarce Millet enough, and coarse Bread, to satiate my craving Stomach, now despise the finest Flour, the choicest Honey, am well acquainted with the different Kinds and Names of Fishes, and can tell by the Taste from what Coast each Shell-fish was brought, from what Province each Bird^[1027]. A Law was therefore necessary to restrain the insatiable Avarice of the Roman Clergy, and obviate the unhallowed Use they made of the Wealth, which by such scandalous Means they had acquired. This Law Jerom calls a Caustic; and adds, that he does not complain of it, but of the Sore that required it^[1028]. However, that he complains, 193and Ambrose too, not only of the Sore, but the Caustic, is manifest from their Words, and Manner of writing. To exaggerate the pretended Hardship, they both observe, that the Pagan Priests lay under no such Restraints: An unseasonable Observation! Since it shews the Difference between the Pagan and Christian Priesthood in a mortifying Light. The former gave no Occasion to such a Law, their Avarice wanted no such Restraints; if it had, we may be sure they had met with no Quarter from a Christian, nay, from an Orthodox Prince; and if he had spared them, such Partiality had not been tamely put up, and passed over in Silence, by the Ecclesiastical Writers of those Times, namely, by the Two I have mentioned.

That Law probably not procured by Damasus.

Baronius is of Opinion, that the above-mentioned Law was procured by Damasus, who, finding his Clergy no longer awed by the Spiritual Sword, had recourse to the Temporal: for the Temporal, adds he, though in the Emperor’s Hands, was given by our Saviour to St. Peter and his Successors, as well as the Spiritual^[1029]. Thus he puts at once both Swords into the Popes Hands, though he has not yet been able to allege one single Instance of their having either. They got both, 'tis true, in After-ages; and we shall see, in the Sequel of this History, how they came by them. But that Law, says Baronius, was read in all the Churches of Rome. And so have others been, when they concerned the Clergy, and were addressed to, though not procured by, the Bishop of that City^[1030]. Besides, as Damasus loved Pomp and Grandeur, it is not at all probable, that he was instrumental in the enacting of a Law, which deprived him of the main Fund to support them, the Generosity of the Roman Ladies.

It is extended to sacred Virgins, and to Bishops.

Two Years after, that is, in 372. the Law I have mentioned above was extended by the same Prince, viz. Valentinian, to the sacred Virgins and Bishops, so as to exclude the former from the Right of giving, and the latter from that of receiving, any thing whatsoever by way of Donation, Legacy, &c^[1031]. But this Law, with another still more severe, published Twenty Years afterwards by the Emperor Theodosius, was abrogated by the Emperor Marcian in the Year 455. as I shall have Occasion to relate hereafter. |The primitive Rigour and Discipline utterly neglected at Rome.| In the mean time I cannot help observing with Astonishment, how early the primitive Rigour of Discipline and Manners was utterly neglected and forgotten by the Ecclesiastics of Rome; how early the most exorbitant Luxury, 194with all the Vices attending it, was introduced among them, and the most scandalous and unchristian Arts of acquiring Wealth universally practised. They seem to have rivalled, in riotous living, the greatest Epicures of Pagan Rome, when Luxury was there at the highest Pitch. For Jerom, who was an Eye-witness of what he writ, reproaches the Roman Clergy with the same Excesses, which the Poet Juvenal so severely censured in the Roman Nobility, under the Reign of Domitian. And how much more worthy were the former of the severest Censure, not only in regard of their Calling, and the Religion they professed, teaching them to curb and subdue all irregular Passions and Appetites, but from this aggravating Circumstance, that the Estates they so squandered and wasted were not their own, but the Patrimony of the Poor, the Substance of the Orphans, Widows, and unhappy Persons, whom, under the Cloke of Religion, they robbed of their just Inheritance! And herein they conformed to the Example of their Chief, who, finding an inexhaustible Fund in the Generosity of the Roman Ladies to support his Extravagance, lived in that Pomp and Grandeur which Ammianus has described above.

The Orthodox persecuted in the East.

But he was roused from the easy and indolent Life he led at Rome, by Letters from the famous Basil, lately raised to the See of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, the Metropolis of Pontus, imploring his Assistance, and that of the other Western Bishops, in the present unhappy Condition of the Churches in the East. Arianism was almost utterly extirpated in the West under the Orthodox Emperor Valentinian, as I have observed above; but in the East it triumphed under his Brother Valens, a most zealous Favourer of the Arians, a most implacable Enemy to the Orthodox, who were by him every-where driven from their Sees, and sent into Exile: nay, he gave full Power to the Arian Bishops and Magistrates to imprison, fine, beat, rack, and banish, at Pleasure, such of the Orthodox Clergy as they could not win over by more gentle Methods. This Power they used so tyrannically, especially at Constantinople, that the Clergy of that City resolved to apply to Valens himself for Relief, not doubting but the Miseries they groaned under might, if duly represented, even move him to Compassion. Accordingly they appointed Eighty of their Body, all Men of unblemished Characters, and known Piety, to repair to Nicomedia, where that Prince then was, and lay their Grievances before him. Upon their Arrival at Court, they were introduced to the Emperor, who heard them with great Attention, without shewing the least Emotion either 195of Resentment or Compassion. However, as, upon his dismissing them, he immediately sent for Modestus the Præfectus Prætorio, they concluded that he had given Ear to their just Complaints, and began to expect a speedy Redress of their Grievances. |Inhumanly treated by the EmperorValens.| But the Charge he gave him, very different from what they expected, was to dispatch them all without Mercy or Delay. The Prefect, apprehending the Death of so many eminent Ecclesiastics might occasion a Tumult in the City, gave out that the Emperor had ordered them into Exile; and accordingly caused them to be put on board a Vessel, in order to be conveyed, as he pretended, to the Place of their Banishment. But the Vessel was no sooner out of Sight, than the Mariners, pursuant to their private Instructions, set Fire to it, and, betaking themselves to their Boat, left those they had on board to the Mercy of the Flames and Waves^[1032].

The Orthodox divided among themselves.

But Athanasius, Basil, and the other Champions of the Orthodox Party, were not so much alarmed at the cruel Persecution raised against them by their Enemies, as at the unhappy Divisions that reigned at this very time among themselves. It was to procure a Remedy for these Divisions, to heal a dangerous Schism, that rent the Orthodox Party into two opposite Factions, that Basil, by the Advice of AthanasiusAthanasius, writ the above-mentioned Letter to Damasus, and that the Orthodox Bishops of the East writ in common a Letter to all their Brethren in the West. As this Schism did more Hurt to the Orthodox Cause than it was in the Power of their Enemies to have done, I shall not think it foreign to my Purpose to insert a succinct Account of its Rise and Progress. |What occasioned this Division.| Eustathius, the Orthodox Bishop of Antioch, being deposed by the Arians in 331. and one of their own Party put in his room, the greater Part of the Clergy and People of that City, acknowleging the new-chosen Bishop, and his Arian Successors, assisted at their Assemblies, mixed with the Arians, and received the Sacraments at their Hands, though they disagreed with them in Belief. But some more zealous than the rest, refusing to own any other Bishop so long as Eustathius lived, held their Assemblies apart, under the Direction of Presbyters animated with the like Zeal. These, from their steady Attachment to Eustathius, were called Eustathians, and with them alone Athanasius communicated while he was at Antioch^[1033]. This Schism or Separation continued even after the Death of Eustathius, those of his Party declining not only the 196Communion of the Arians and their Bishops, but of the Orthodox, who communicated with them. In the Year 360. the See of Antioch being vacant, by the Translation of Eudoxius the Arian to that of Constantinople, the Arians, and the Orthodox, who communicated with them, chose with one Consent the famous Meletius to succeed him. Both Parties joyfully concurred in this Election; the Orthodox, because they knew his Doctrine to be no less pure than his Manners; and the Arians, because they hoped, by such a distinguishing Mark of their Friendship and Esteem, to win him, and by his Means to gain over to their Party the whole City of Antioch, nay, and the Eustathians themselves^[1034]. But they soon found, to their great Mortification, that the Orthodox were better acquainted with Meletius than they, that he was most zealously attached to the Orthodox Party, and was not to be swayed by Friendship or Enmity, by Hopes or Terrors. |Meletius the new Bishop of Antioch declares in favour of the Orthodox.| He was no sooner installed, which Ceremony was performed with the greatest Solemnity, than he loudly declared in favour of Consubstantiality, and boldly cut off from his Communion, as rotten and incurable Members, all who held the opposite Doctrine. The Arians of Antioch were thunderstruck with the Boldness of the Attempt; the whole Party took the Alarm; Eudoxius Bishop of Constantinople, and the neighbouring Bishops, forgetful of every thing else, hastened to Antioch; Hopes, Fears, Prayers, Menaces, were successively employed, and nothing left unattempted to divert, at least to allay, the impending Storm. But all in vain; the Zeal of Meletius was incapable of Controul: he openly declared, that nothing should, nothing could, make him desist from, or relent in, the Work he had undertaken, till he had utterly extirpated the Arian Heresy, without leaving the least Shoot of so poisonous a Weed in the Field, which by Divine Appointment he was to guard and cultivate^[1035]. The Arians finding him immovably fixed in his Resolution, and, what doubled their Concern, the whole Party in imminent Danger from one of their own chusing, they applied with better Success to the Emperor Constantius; and, charging the new Bishop of Antioch with Sabellianism, which Charge the credulous and unwary Prince believed upon their Word, |He is banished.| they extorted from him a Rescript banishing Meletius from Antioch about Thirty Days after his Installment, and confining him to Melitene in Armenia, his native City^[1036]. Euzoius was preferred in his room, formerly 197the chief Favourite of Arius, and the most antient of all his Disciples; for together with him he was condemned by the great Council of Nice.

Great Divisions in that Church.

The Orthodox, who had hitherto communicated with the Arians, were so disobliged and scandalized at these Proceedings, that, in the End they renounced the Arian Communion; and, assembling by themselves, proposed an Union with the Eustathians. But their Proposal was rejected by the leading Men of that Party, alleging, that they could not admit them to their Communion, because they had for so many Years communicated with the Arians, received the Sacraments at their Hands, and still seemed to acknowlege Meletius as lawful Bishop, though he had been chosen by the Arian Faction: for the Eustathians, notwithstanding the heroic Firmness of Meletius in defending and promoting the common Cause, refused to own him, for no other Reason but because the Arians had had a chief Share in his Election^[1037]. As this Disagreement greatly weakened the Orthodox Cause in Antioch, and might, in time, be attended with fatal Consequences, no Pains were spared by the apostolic Men of those Times, to induce the Eustathians to abate somewhat of their Zeal and Severity. As for the other Party, notwithstanding their Attachment to Meletius, whence they had the Name of Meletians, they were greatly inclined to an Accommodation, and seemed to court the Communion of the Eustathians, almost upon any Terms. Lucifer, the famous Bishop of Cagliari, on his Return from Thebais in Egypt, to which Place he had been confined by Constantius, was prompted by his Zeal to take Antioch in his Way, with a Design to mediate an Accommodation between the dissenting Parties. Being arrived in that City, he had several Conferences with the leading Men of the one and the other Party; and, finding neither averse to an Accommodation, he conceived great Hopes of succeeding in his Design; and therefore begged the Fathers of the Council of Alexandria, which was already sitting, and to which he had been invited by Athanasius, to dispense with his assisting at that Assembly, since his Presence seemed more necessary at Antioch. However, he appointed Two of his Deacons to be present as his Deputies, injoining them to agree, in his Name, to the Decisions of the Council^[1038]. Baronius owns here, which I cannot help observing by the way, that Lucifer never appeared 198in the Council of Alexandria^[1039]; forgetting, no doubt, what he elsewhere so strenuously maintains^[1040]; viz. that Lucifer assisted at that Assembly, in the Name of Pope Liberius, and as his Legate.

The Council of Alexandria strive to heal these Divisions.

The Fathers of the Council not only approved of the Bishop of Cagliari’s Resolution, but appointed Eusebius of Vercelli, and Asterius of Petra in Arabia, to assist him in so pious an Undertaking. What seemed chiefly to obstruct the so much wished for Union, was a great Attachment on one Side to Meletius, and an equal Obstinacy on the other, in refusing to acknowlege one preferred by the Arians. The Confessors therefore assembled in Alexandria (for of Confessors alone that Assembly was composed) were of Opinion, that, if every other Remedy proved ineffectual, their Deputies should apply to Meletius; and, having persuaded him to resign his Dignity, chuse another in his room, equally acceptable to both Parties. They did not in the least doubt but Meletius would readily, nay, with great Joy, sacrifice his Dignity, and every other private View, to the public Tranquillity^[1041]; so great was the Opinion they entertained of his Virtue. Had this wise Resolution taken place, it had, in all Likelihood, been attended with the desired Effect. |All Means of an Accommodation cut off by the imprudent Conduct of the Bishop of Cagliari.| But before the Deputies could reach Antioch, Lucifer, more commendable for Zeal than Prudence, had cut off all means of an Accommodation, by conferring, of his own Authority, the Episcopal Dignity on the Presbyter Paulinus, who was at the Head of the Eustathians, and had with more Warmth than any other opposed Meletius, and those who adhered to him. He was assisted in that irregular Ordination by Two other Confessors^[1042]; viz. Gorgonius of Germanicia, and Cymatius of Gabala, or rather of Paltos^[1043]. This Step he took to oblige the Eustathians, when he found that they could by no means be induced to acknowlege Meletius. But, instead of closing, he thereby widened, the Breach, the Meletians declaring, that they would never abandon a Bishop of their own Party, to acknowlege one of another, chosen without their Consent, or even their Knowlege^[1044]. This unhappy Division, thus settled and confirmed between the Two Orthodox Parties in Antioch, did not continue long confined to that particular Church, but soon extended to the Church universal; some owning Meletius for lawful Bishop of Antioch, and others Paulinus. Athanasius communicated with Paulinus, 199and not with Meletius; and his Example was followed by the Bishops of Egypt, of Cyprus, and all the Bishops in the West^[1045]. On the other hand, all the Orthodox Bishops in the East, except Athanasius, and those I have mentioned, espoused, with great Warmth, the Cause of Meletius^[1046]. They all continued, however, notwithstanding this Disagreement, to communicate with each other, though with some Indifference and Coldness. The Ordination of Paulinus gave Rise to another Schism; for Eusebius of Vercelli, finding, on his Arrival at Antioch, all Hopes of an Accommodation cut off, and no room left for the Measures concerted and agreed to by the Council, immediately quitted the City, without communicating with either Party. This was condemning the Conduct of Lucifer; which he could not brook; and therefore, full of Resentment, he renounced the Communion of Eusebius, with whom he had hitherto lived in the greatest Intimacy, and suffered together with him a most painful Exile for the common Cause^[1047].

St. Basil Bishop of Cæsarea applies to Damasus.

Basil Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, one of the great Lights of the Church, left nothing unattempted, which he apprehended could any-ways contribute to the reuniting of the Orthodox among themselves, and putting an End to the present Schism. But, despairing at last of Success, and finding the Prelates in the East all warmly engaged in the Dispute, some in favour of Meletius, and some of Paulinus, he resolved to apply to the Bishop of Rome, who had not yet declared for either of the Competitors, his Thoughts being wholly employed in securing his Dignity against a Competitor at Home. He writ therefore to Damasus, intreating him to dispatch Deputies into the East, who, in Concert with the Prelates there, inclined to an Accommodation, might settle the proper Means of accomplishing so desirable a Work, and uniting in Charity those, who were already united in Faith. He added, that it was from his Zeal alone they expected Relief, from that Zeal which he had made so eminently appear on other Occasions; that Dionysius, one of his Predecessors, had afforded them a seasonable Assistance, when their Wants were less pressing, and their Condition not so deplorable; and therefore that there was no room left to doubt of his readily conforming to so glorious an Example^[1048]. With this Letter, and another from the Bishops in the East, soliciting the Advice, Assistance, and Mediation of 200their Collegues in the West, Dorotheus, Deacon of the Church of Antioch, was dispatched into Italy: whence he returned in the Beginning of the following Year 372. with an Answer from the Bishops of Illyricum, Italy, and Gaul^[1049]. |The haughty Conduct of Damasus resented by St. Basil.| But Damasus did not condescend to return an Answer to Basil, or take the least Notice of his Letter; which haughty Conduct he justly resented, and in pretty sharp Terms, taxing Damasus, in one of his Letters^[1050], with a Spirit of Pride and Vanity, which made him overlook other Bishops as below his Attention, and expect to be accosted by them with the meanest Flattery. But his thus disregarding the Request and Intreaties of the Bishop of Cæsarea, was not owing to his Pride alone. He was so little acquainted with the State of the Churches in the East, and what passed there, that he looked upon Eusebius Bishop of Samosata, and Meletius, with whom Basil lived in great Intimacy, as rank Arians, tho’ they both lived at that very time in Exile, having been driven from their Sees by the Arians, on account of the Zeal, which they had, with an invincible Firmness, exerted in Defence of the Orthodox Faith^[1051]. The Bishop of Rome might, with very little Trouble, have been better informed; but his Mind, it seems, was so deeply engaged in worldly Affairs, and his Thoughts so taken up with State, Pomp, and Grandeur, that he was never at Leisure to mind those Matters, which justly claimed, and ought to have engrossed, his whole Attention. By him the Western Bishops were led into the same Mistake concerning Eusebius and Meletius; and hence the Backwardness they shewed to correspond with Basil, as if he designed to impose upon them, or was himself imposed upon by others. |St. Basil complains of Damasus, and the Western Bishops.| Of this Basil justly complained in a Letter he writ to Eusebius of Samosata. If the Wrath of God, says he, is in the End appeased, if Mercy takes place, what other Help do we stand in need of? But, if his Anger continues, what Relief will the Pride of the West afford us? They neither know the Truth, nor can they patiently bear it. They are ever prepossessed with idle Jealousies, ever swayed by groundless Surmises; and therefore act now the same Part they lately acted in the Case of Marcellinus; that is, they quarrel with those, who inform them of the Truth, and, being left to themselves, they introduce and establish Heresies. As for my own Part, I had once some Thoughts of writing a private Letter to their Chief (that is, to Damasus), and, waving all Mention of Church Affairs, only tell him, that they 201neither know what passes here, nor take the right Method to be informed; and that they ought not to oppress those who are already humbled by Affliction, nor mistake Pride for Dignity, since that Sin alone is capable of Setting a Man at Enmity with God^[1052]. From these Words it is pretty plain, that the Notion of the Pope’s Infallibility was not yet broached, or at least was not yet known to Basil. The Bishop of the Metropolis of the Empire was deservedly looked upon, in regard of the Dignity of his See, as the Chief and Head of all the Western Bishops; and to him as such, not as an infallible and unerring Judge, the Eastern Bishops frequently applied in the Disputes, that happened to rise among them; so that all we can infer from their applying to him is, that his Authority bore a great Sway; which was owing to the Pre-eminence of his See, and not to any Power or Prerogative peculiar to him, and superior to others.

Damasus takes on him the Office of Judge, being only chosen Mediator.

It was long ere Damasus could be brought to give any Attention to the Affairs of the East; and when he did, it was only to add Fewel to the Fire, which had lately begun to rage with great Violence. For, looking upon the Office of a bare Mediator, which alone had been offered him, as no-ways suitable to his Dignity, he arrogantly assumed that of a Judge, and not only acknowleged Paulinus for lawful Bishop of Antioch, but, misled by false and groundless Reports, declared Meletius a Transgressor of the Canons, an Intruder, a Schismatic, and even an Heretic^[1053]; that Meletius, who had suffered Exile, and innumerable Hardships, in Defence of the Orthodox Faith, who was then revered all over the East, as a Man of extraordinary Sanctity, and is now honoured by the Church of Rome as a Saint of the first Class. |His Conduct con- demned by St. Basil.| But his thus openly declaring in favour of Paulinus, his treating in such a base and unworthy manner one of the most eminent Prelates in the East, served only to engage the Followers of Meletius more warmly in his Cause; and the great Basil, among the rest, who could not help censuring the Conduct of Damasus as rash, partial, and injudicious: he even repented his having ever applied to him; for, in one of his Letters to Eusebius of Samosata, he expresses himself thus: The Saying of Diomedes occurs to my Mind; Intreaties are not to be used with Achilles, he is too haughty^[1054]; and truly the more you flatter haughty and insolent Men, the more haughty and insolent they become^[1055]. As no Regard was had to the 202Authority of Damasus, and the Western Bishops, who, following his Example, acknowleged Paulinus, and not Meletius, the Orthodox Bishops in the East not only continued divided among themselves, but a new Division arose between the Western Bishops, and those of the Party of Meletius, at the Head of which was Basil Bishop of Cæsarea. But, of these unhappy Divisions, so far as the Bishops of Rome were concerned in them, we shall have Occasion to speak hereafter.

New Disturbances raised in Rome, by the Partisans of Ursinus;

Damasus was far more successful in suppressing the Schism of Ursinus, which about this time was revived at Rome. The Emperor Valentinian, some time before, by a Rescript addressed to Ampelius Governor, and Maximinus Vicar of Rome, had allowed Ursinus, and the leading Men of his Party, who had been confined with him to Gaul, Liberty to live where they pleased, provided they kept out of Rome, and the Suburbicarian Provinces^[1056]. This Indulgence shewn by the Emperor to Ursinus, encouraged his Followers in Rome to declare openly in his Favour, and even to assemble apart from those who communicated with Damasus. But, being therein opposed by the Party of Damasus with their usual Violence, new Disturbances arose, and the City was upon the point of becoming again the Scene of a Civil War. |who are banished.| Simplicius, then Vicar of Rome, at the Request of Damasus, gave the Emperor immediate Notice of the approaching Danger; and the Emperor, in Answer to his Letter, sent him a Rescript, commanding all those who, in Contempt of Religion, held or frequented unlawful Assemblies, to be banished an Hundred Miles from Rome, that their Obstinacy might hurt none but themselves^[1057]. Thus for the present a Stop was put to the Disorders that had begun to reign in the City.

The Luciferians per- secuted by Damasus.

The two Presbyters Marcellinus and Faustinus pretend, that this Law was levelled at the Ursinians alone, but was interpreted by Damasus, as comprehending the Luciferians, or the Followers of Lucifer Bishop of Cagliari, who, refusing to communicate with the Bishops who signed the Confession of Rimini, and with all who communicated with them, had separate Assemblies at Rome, and even a Bishop of their own, named Aurelius. But Damasus, say they, using them, in virtue of the above-mentioned Law, with no less Cruelty than he did the Ursinians, they thenceforth assembled only in the Night, under a Presbyter, named Macarius, of whose Sanity and 203Austerities they relate wonderful Things. But Night and Darkness could not protect them against the persecuting Spirit of Damasus, whose Clerks, breaking one Night in upon them, while they were performing Divine Service in a private House, dispersed the Congregation, seized Macarius, and dragging him along with them over the sharp Flints, by which he was cruelly bruised, and dangerously wounded in the Thigh, they kept him the remaining Part of the Night closely confined. Next Morning he was carried before the Judge, who, finding him inflexible in rejecting the Communion of Damasus, condemned him to Exile; but the holy Presbyter, being arrived at Ostia, died there of his Wounds^[1058]. The same Authors add, that Damasus caused several Catholic Presbyters to be sent into Exile, and some Laymen; but that Aurelius, the Luciferian Bishop, in spite of all his Efforts, continued in Rome to the Hour of his Death^[1059].

Apollinaris the Heresiarch. An Account of him.

About this Time, that is, in the Year 377. a great Council was held at Rome, in which the famous Apollinaris, Bishop of Laodicea in Syria, was condemned and deposed with his Two Disciples Vitalis and Timotheus. Apollinaris was a Man of uncommon Parts, great Penetration, universal Knowlege; and had at first been so zealous a Defender of the Orthodox Faith, that he was looked upon by all, particularly by Epiphanius and Athanasius, as one of the great Champions of that Cause^[1060], and ranked by Philostorgius with Basil, and Gregory Nazianzen^[1061]. He contracted a strict Friendship with Athanasius, when that Prelate passed through Laodicea in 349. on his Return to Egypt, and ever after maintained a close Correspondence with him, on which Account he was excommunicated by Gregory the Arian Bishop of that City^[1062]. When the Arians began to prevail in the East, Apollinaris was cruelly persecuted by the Men in Power of that Party, and at last driven into Exile^[1063]. Basil writ several Letters to him, and in those he writ to others, often mentions him as a Person for whom he had the greatest Esteem^[1064]. He is said to have excelled in the Knowlege of the Scriptures, which he publicly interpreted at Antioch, where he had Jerom among the many Disciples, who flocked from all Parts to hear him^[1065]. But he was equally versed in human Learning, especially in Poetry; and his Knowlege in that Branch of Literature proved very useful in the Time of the Emperor Julian. For that Prince having 204by a Law debarred the Christians from perusing or studying the Pagan Authors, Apollinaris, to supply the want of those Writers, composed several Pieces in Imitation of them, and, among the rest, a Poem comprising the History of the Jews to the Time of Saul, and divided into Twenty-four Books, which he distinguished by so many Letters of the Greek Alphabet, as Homer had done^[1066]. He likewise writ Comedies, Tragedies, Lyric Verses, &c. imitating Pindar in the latter, and Menander and Euripides in the Two former^[1067]. Sozomen thinks his Compositions fell in no respect short of the Works of the Antients; who, upon the Whole, says he, were far inferior to him, since they excelled, each in one Kind only, but he equally in all^[1068]. The Tragedy, intituled, Christ suffering, which is to be found among the Works of Gregory Nazianzen, is by some ascribed to Apollinaris; but that Piece does not at all answer the great Opinion Sozomen seems to have entertained of him. His Paraphrase in Hexameter Verse on the Psalms, the only intire Work of his that has reached our Times, is an elegant, exact, and sublime Translation of them, greatly commended and admired by the best Judges^[1069]. His Poetry proved very serviceable to him, when he began to broach his Heresy; for great Numbers of People, especially Women, embraced his Doctrine, being taken, and in a manner inchanted, with the Sweetness of his Verses; for he composed a great many Songs and Odes equally pious and elegant, adapted to all Occasions, and on all Occasions sung with suitable Airs by his Followers^[1070]. To these Gregory Nazianzen no doubt alludes, where he speaks of the Psalms of the Apollinarists, to which the Psalms of David had given place; of those sweet and so much admired Verses, which were looked upon by them as a Third Testament^[1071]. It was chiefly to oppose the Progress Apollinaris made, by the insinuating Means of his Poetry, that Gregory Nazianzen applied himself to the same Study. About the Year 362. Apollinaris was raised, in Consideration of his great Piety and Learning, to the See of Laodicea in Syria, in which City he was born, according to the most probable Opinion, and had spent the greater Part of his Life.

The Doctrine held by Apollinaris, and his Disciples.

As for the Doctrine held by Apollinaris, and his Followers, called from him Apollinarists; they maintained at first, that Christ had human Flesh, but not a human Soul, the Want of which was supplied, 205according to them, by the Divinity. But being afterwards convinced, that such a Doctrine was repugnant to several plain and express Passages of Scripture, they abandoned it in Part, and, distinguishing, with some Philosophers, the Soul, by which we live, from the Intelligence, by which we reason, they allowed the former in our Saviour, but denied the latter; the Operations of which, said they, were performed by the Divinity^[1072]. Thus they allowed him, says St. Austin, the Soul of a Beast, but denied him that of a Man^[1073]. By means of this Doctrine they avoided the Absurdity with which they reproached the Catholics, admitting in Christ, as they falsly imagined, Two opposite and distinct Natures, without any Union or Subordination between them^[1074]. The Catholics indeed acknowleged Two distinct and complete Natures in Christ; but at the same time maintained an Union between them, such an Union as was admitted by the Apollinarists between the Flesh and the Divinity. The latter upbraided the Catholics with adoring a Man, styling them Anthropolaters; and the Catholics reproached in their Turn the Apollinarists with adoring the Flesh, calling them Sarcolaters^[1075]. The Apollinarists distinguished themselves from the Catholics, by causing the following Words to be fixed on the Front of their Houses; We must not adore a Man that bears a God, but a God that bears Flesh. The Errors of the Apollinarists were not only concerning the Soul, but likewise the Body of our Saviour; for they maintained, that his Body, like other Bodies only in Appearance, was coeval with the Divinity, and of the same Substance with the eternal Wisdom^[1076]. Hence it followed, by a natural Consequence, that the Body of our Saviour was impassible and immortal; that it was not taken of the Virgin Mary; that he was not born of her; that his Birth, Passion, Death, and Resurrection, were mere Illusions; or else, that the Divine Nature was passible: both which Absurdities were admitted by some of the Sects into which the Apollinarists were afterwards divided^[1077].

Apollinaris not known nor suspected to be the Author of the Heresy he broached.

This Doctrine was first heard of in 362. and condemned the same Year in the Council of Alexandria. In 373. it began to make a great Noise in the Church; but it was not known even then by whom it had been broached: for Apollinaris was so far from owning himself 206the Author of those Tenets, that, in one of his Letters to Serapion Bishop of Thmuis in Egypt, which is still extant^[1078], he expresses, in the strongest Terms, his Approbation of a Letter from Athanasius to Epictetus Bishop of Corinth, confuting the very Errors he held; and at the same time condemns the Folly of those, who maintained the Flesh to be consubstantial to the Divine Nature. In another Letter to the same Serapion, he owns the Body of our Saviour to have been taken of the Virgin Mary, to have been formed in her Womb, and his Flesh to have been of the same Substance with ours; adding, And these are Truths not to be called in question^[1079]. In a Third Letter he assures Serapion, that he has ever denied in his Writings the Flesh of our Saviour to have descended from Heaven, or to be of the same Substance with the Divinity^[1080]. Apollinaris, by thus publicly declaring against the Doctrine, which at the same time he was privately propagating, eluded the Vigilance of Athanasius himself, who, in confuting his Errors, never mentions his Name, nor seems to have entertained the least Suspicion of him; nay, he recommended Timotheus, a favourite Disciple of his, to Damasus, as a Person whose Orthodoxy was not to be questioned; and as such he was received, not only by the Bishop of Rome, but by all the Western Bishops, of whom he obtained Letters, on his Return, directed to Apollinaris, as to a Bishop of the Catholic Communion^[1081].

His Errors con- demned in a Council at Rome.

In the Year 374. or 375. Damasus convened a great Council at Rome, in which the Errors of Apollinaris were condemned; but neither was he nor any other named as the Broacher or Author of that Doctrine. |Damasus imposed upon by Vitalis one of his Disciples.| The very Year that Damasus condemned the Doctrine of Apollinaris, he was deceived and over-reached by one of the Disciples of that Heresiarch, named Vitalis. He was a Presbyter of the Church of Antioch, and of the Communion of Meletius, by whom he had been ordained; but afterwards, renouncing his Communion, he joined Apollinaris, and, being in high Esteem with the People, drew great Numbers over with him to that Side. Of these, called from him Vitalians, Apollinaris some Years after appointed him Bishop, adding thereby a Fourth Party to the Three that already divided the Church of Antioch, viz. the Arians, Paulinians, and Meletians^[1082]. Before he threw off the Mask, and publicly maintained the Tenets of Apollinaris, he strove to be admitted with his Followers to the Communion 207of Paulinus of Antioch, and of Damasus; and with this View he undertook a Journey to Rome in the Year 375. As he had been suspected, and even accused, of holding the Doctrine of Apollinaris, Damasus required of him, before he admitted him to his Communion, a Confession of his Faith, which he gave under his Hand, but in such Terms as bore a double Meaning. Damasus, however, well satisfied with it, gave him a Letter for Paulinus of Antioch, and sent him back to be admitted by that Bishop to the Communion of the Church^[1083]. But Damasus soon after, either upon his own Reflection, or at the Suggestion of others, apprehending himself imposed upon, writ another Letter to Paulinus, by the Presbyter Petronius, and afterwards a Third, which Holstenius has inserted at Length in his Roman Collection^[1084]. Together with this Letter Damasus sent to Paulinus a Confession of Faith, drawn up by a Council summoned for that Purpose, desiring him to admit none to his Communion, but such as should sign that Confession, and the Confession of Nice^[1085]. To this Piece the Fathers of the Council of Chalcedon no doubt allude, in commending Damasus for pointing out, in his Letters to Paulinus, the Rules all Catholics ought to be guided by in reasoning of the Mystery of the Incarnation^[1086]. What Baronius observes here is true, viz. that Vitalis, by the same ambiguous Confession of Faith, imposed upon Gregory Nazianzen, who received the Apollinarists as Brethren, and not as Enemies^[1087]. He adds, And no Wonder that Vitalis imposed upon Damasus, since by the same Confession he imposed upon Gregory Nazianzen: he ought rather to have said, No Wonder that he imposed upon Gregory, who did not pretend to Infallibility, since he imposed upon Damasus, who was infallible. As Vitalis refused to sign the Confession sent by Damasus, Paulinus would not admit him to his Communion; upon which he pulled off the Mask, publicly renounced the Communion both of Damasus and Paulinus, and, bidding Defiance to the Canons, accepted the Title and Dignity of Bishop of Antioch, offered him by Apollinaris. |Apollinaris openly de- clares against the Church.| At the same time that Heresiarch, finding he could conceal himself no longer, openly declared, that he would communicate with none who held, that our Saviour had taken a human Soul, and human Understanding: which was separating himself from the Communion of the Catholic Church^[1088]. 208It was long before it was believed in the Church that those Tenets had been broached, or were held, by Apollinaris: no Credit was given, at first, even to his Disciples, most People being inclined to think, that they were mistaken, and did not comprehend the sublime Thoughts of that great Man^[1089]. But when no room was left for any further Doubt, the Surprize and Concern of the whole Catholic Party were equal to the high Opinion they had entertained of him till that Time^[1090]. When Epiphanius writ against the Apollinarists, he well knew Apollinaris to be the Author of that Sect; for he reproaches him with this unwarrantable Separation from the Church; and yet he speaks of him with the greatest Respect; seems to think, that many Things had been unjustly fathered upon him; and takes a great deal of Pains to assure his Reader, that what he writes is Truth, and not Calumny proceeding from any private Pique, Malice, or Grudge^[1091].

A great Schism in the Church.

The Schism, which the establishing of a new Bishop occasioned in the Church of Antioch, was not confined to that alone, but extended to most other Churches, over which Apollinaris appointed Bishops of his own Sect, who held separate Assemblies, practised different Rites, and, instead of the sacred Hymns commonly sung at Divine Service by the rest of the Church, introduced Canticles composed by their Leader, and containing the Substance of his Doctrine^[1092]. The many perplexed Questions and Difficulties, which he and his Emissaries were daily starting about the Incarnation, bred such Confusion in the Minds of Men, that many began to question the Truth of that Mystery^[1093]. The Objections they moved against our Saviour’s taking Flesh, and being born of the Virgin Mary, seemed calculated merely to raise improper Ideas, and sully the Thoughts of chaste Minds; for they themselves held his Body to be coeval with the Divinity, and to have only been conveyed into the World by means of the Virgin Mary^[1094]. Their Doctrine was applauded and received by many, and few who read their Books were content with, or kept to the plain and antient Doctrine of the Church^[1095]. |Basil recurs to the Western Bishops;| Basil therefore, and the other orthodox Bishops in the East, to put a Stop the more effectually to the growing Evil, not only declaimed against it in all their Writings, but dispatched the Two Presbyters Dorotheus and Sanctissimus with Letters to Damasus, and the other Western Bishops, intreating them to condemn 209without Delay the Doctrine of Apollinaris, and Apollinaris himself, since he had at last openly declared against the Church, and owned himself the Author of the new Sect^[1096]. |who condemn the Doctrine of Apol- linaris, and depose him with Vitelis and Timotheus.| In Compliance with this Request, a great Council was convened at Rome the following Year 378. in which Apollinaris was not only condemned with great Solemnity, but deposed, with his Two favourite Disciples, Vitalis and Timotheus; the former Bishop of the Apollinarists at Antioch, and the latter at Berytus in Phœnicia^[1097]. By the same Council it was defined, that Jesus was true Man, and true God; and whoever maintained or asserted any thing to be wanting either to his Humanity or Divinity, was declared an Enemy to the Church^[1098]. Vitalis had deceived Damasus, as I have observed above, by a Confession of Faith, in which, under equivocal Terms, he had artfully concealed his Heresy. The Bishop of Rome therefore, now undeceived, caused the Confession he had formerly approved of to be anathematized by the Council, together with its Author, exerting himself, says Gregory Nazianzen, with so much the more Vigour against them, as they had formerly taken Advantage of his Candour and Sincerity to impose upon him^[1099]. Gregory Nazianzen therefore supposes, that the Pope could be imposed upon in a Matter concerning the Faith. Indeed the Sticklers for Infallibility must either give up that Prerogative, or allow all the Fathers to have talked Nonsense.