St. PETER (continued 7)

The indefatigable Pains Syricius took, together with the other Catholic Bishops, in suppressing the Heresy of the Priscillianists, proved quite unsuccessful, though seconded by the Secular Power, and the severest Laws that had yet been enacted against Heretics. Their Doctrine rather gained, than lost Ground; and we shall find them in the Sixth Century, that is, Two hundred Years hence, still a numerous Sect, and Councils assembling, to very little Purpose, against them. Syricius was not so intent, as we are told, upon maintaining the Doctrine of the Church, as to neglect the Discipline. |Council assembled by Syricius at Rome.| In order to correct several Abuses, that had begun to prevail, and revive 251some antient Constitutions, that were grown out of Use, he convened a Council at Rome, which is said to have consisted of Eighty Bishops; and, with their Consent and Approbation, established the following Canons: 1. That no one should presume to ordain a Bishop, without the Knowlege of the Apostolic See. 2. That no Man should be admitted to the Ecclesiastical Order, who, after the Remission of his Sins, that is, perhaps, after his Baptism, had worn the Sword of worldly Warfare. 3. That no Clerk should marry a Widow. 4. That the Novatians and Montanists, that is, Donatists, should be received into the Church by the Imposition of Hands; but that such as, abandoning the Catholic Faith, had been rebaptized by them, should not be re-admitted without performing a long Penance. 5. That the Priests and Deacons should live continent, being, by their Office, daily employed in the Divine Ministry^[1269]. These Canons or Decrees, say the Roman Catholic Divines, are contained in a Letter, which Syricius writ to the Bishops of Africa, and which was read, and received as a Law, by a Council held some Years after at Tela, in the Province of Byzacene, as appears from the Acts of that Council^[1270]. Ferrandus, Deacon of Carthage, in his Abridgment of the Canons, done in the Sixth Century, often quotes the Letter of Syricius, and takes particular Notice of the Canons that were copied from it by the Council of Tela. The same Letter, together with the Acts of that Council, are to be found, Word for Word, in the antient Code of the Church of Rome. So that, upon the Whole, we cannot question, says Baronius, the Authenticity of that Piece, without rendering the Authority of every other Monument of Antiquity quite precarious, and leaving Men to their own wild and groundless Conjectures. But Men of Learning have, of late Years, been too much upon their Guard to admit, without the strictest Examination, any Piece, however authentic in Appearance, that seemed to countenance the extraordinary Power and Authority claimed by the Bishop of Rome. And not without Reason, since they well knew what Pains had been taken to banish Truth, by suppressing or adulterating the most authentic Records, and to establish Falshood, by substituting in their room fabulous Legends, spurious Letters, and Acts of Councils that never were held. As for the Letter ascribed to Syricius, it has been suspected ever since Criticism took place^[1271], and lately rejected, 252as unquestionably supposititious, by F. Quesnel, who, in a learned Dissertation on that Subject, proves, in my Opinion, unanswerably, not only the Letter; but the Acts of the pretended Council of Tela, to have been forged, and inserted, in latter Times, into the Collection of Ferrandus, and the Roman Code^[1272][N28].

253I find no farther Mention made of Syricius, in the antient Writers, till the Year 390. when he condemned the Doctrine of Jovinian; and cast him and his Followers out of the Church. Jovinian was by Profession a Monk, by Birth a Latin, as Jerom observes, and the first who infected that Language with Heresy; all, or rather almost all, the Heresies that, for the first Four hundred Years, had disturbed the Peace of the Church, having been broached by Greeks, Chaldæans, or Syrians^[1273]. He had formerly practised great Austerities, going bare-footed, living upon Bread and Water, covered with a tattered black Garment, and earning his Livelihood with the Sweat of his Brow, his Hands being callous with long and hard Labour^[1274]. The Doctrine he taught is, by Jerom, reduced to the Four following Heads: 1. That those, who, with a lively Faith, have been regenerated by Baptism, cannot afterwards be overcome by the Devil. 2. That for all those, who shall preserve their Baptism; an equal Reward is reserved in Heaven. 2543. That there is no Difference of Merit between abstaining from some Meats, and using them with Thanksgiving. 4. and lastly, That Virgins, Widows, and married Women, are in a State of equal Merit; and, consequently, that all Difference in Merit can only arise from their different Actions. That the Two last were then counted Heresies, shews that the Church began, in this Century, to be tainted with Doctrines that border on Popery, and no-ways consist with the Liberty of the Gospel^[1275]. Besides these Tenets, Jovinian taught, as Ambrose and Austin inform us, that the Virgin Mary preserved her Virginity in conceiving our Saviour, but lost it in bringing him forth, pretending to prove by Arguments, false, but ingenious enough, say they, that we should otherwise be obliged to own, with the Manichees, the Body of Christ not to have been real, but aereal^[1276]. He, besides, charged the Catholics with Manicheism, on account of their preferring the State of Virginity to that of Matrimony^[1277]. Both Jerom and Ambrose tell us, that, together with his Doctrine, he changed his Manners, renouncing his former Austerities, and giving himself up to all manner of Debauchery, to redeem, as it were, the Time he had lost^[1278]. But perhaps this Charge was not well founded, but rather supposed as a Consequence of his undervaluing Celibacy, and the Merit ascribed to it, there being too many Instances in Ecclesiastical History of such Inferences, drawn from Opinions which were not approved by the Fathers of the Church, as could no-way be justified. They often painted those, whom they styled Heretics, in the blackest Colours, to prejudice the People more effectually against their Doctrine. In this Art Jerom excelled all the rest, and none ever disagreed with him, who did not at once forfeit those very Virtues, which he himself had admired and extolled in them before. He abstained, however, from Matrimony; but merely, say Austin and Jerom, to avoid the Trouble and Anxiety attending it, and not because he apprehended there could be in this Life any Merit in Continency, or any Reward allotted for it in the next^[1279]. This Doctrine he broached in Rome, and soon found there a great Number of Followers, among the rest several of both Sexes, who had embraced, and professed for many Years, the State of Virginity, being seduced and misled, says Austin, by the Cavils of that impious Wretch, asking them, whether 255they pretended to be more holy than Abraham and Sarah, than many other Men and Women, who, though married, are commended in the Old Testament, for their eminent Sanctity^[1280]. The first, who took Offence at this Doctrine, were Two Laymen, viz. Pammachius and Victorinus. All we know of the latter is, that he was illustrious for his Birth, and, if we believe Ambrose, venerable for his Piety^[1281]. As for Pammachius, he is well known in the History of the Church, and often mentioned by Jerom with the greatest Commendations. He was descended, says that Writer, from the antient Family of the Camilli, and yet less distinguished by the Nobility of his Descent than his Piety^[1282]. Having heard, by Chance, some of the Propositions advanced by Jovinian, he made it his Business to inquire more narrowly into his Doctrine, being assisted therein by Victorinus, who had taken the Alarm upon hearing, in Rome, this shocking Doctrine, says Jerom^[1283], that a Virgin was no better than a married Woman. These Two having, by a diligent Inquiry, discovered at length the whole Doctrine of Jovinian, as well as the Author and Promoters of it, they presented a Request to Syricius, acquainting him therewith, and desiring, that the Doctrine of Jovinian might be condemned by the Episcopal Authority, and the Sentence of the Holy Ghost, as contrary to the Law of God^[1284]. These are Ambrose’s Words, as the Text now is; but it is generally thought to have been altered and corrupted. |The Doctrine of Jovinian condemned by a Council at Rome.| Be that as it will, Syricius did not take upon him to act on this Occasion by his private Authority; but, assembling the Priests, Deacons, and other Ecclesiastics of Rome, he read to them the Request of Pammachius and Victorinus, and, having, together with them, maturely examined the Doctrine of Jovinian, he declared it, with the unanimous Consent of the whole Assembly, contrary to Scripture; and at the same time cut off, for ever, from the Communion of the Church, not only Jovinian, who had first broached such a Doctrine, but those among his Followers, who were found to have been the most sanguine in promoting it; viz. Auxentius, Genialis, Germinator, Felix, Frontinus, Martianus, Januarius, and Ingenius^[1285]. Jovinian, instead of submitting to the Judgment of Syricius, and his Clergy, immediately left Rome, and repaired with all Speed to Milan, not despairing of being able to engage Ambrose in his Favour, and likewise the Emperor Theodosius, who was then in that City, before 256Syricius could prejudice them against him. Of this Syricius was aware, and therefore, without Loss of Time, dispatched Three of his Presbyters to Milan, Crescentius, Leopardus, and Alexander, with a Letter to that Church, which has been transmitted to us among Ambrose’s Works^[1286], acquainting them with what had passed at Rome. In virtue of this Letter he was rejected by Ambrose; and, at the Request of the Three Roman Presbyters, driven our of the Town by the Emperor^[N29].

The Letter of Syricius was answered by Ambrose, and signed by him, and several other Bishops, who were still at Milan, where they had met to condemn Ithacius, and his Adherents, for having been accessary to the Death of Priscillian. In their Answer they commend the Pastoral Vigilance of Syricius, and, having briefly declared their Opinion against the other Tenets of Jovinian, dwell on what he had advanced against the Virginity of the Virgin Mary. But they seem to have mistaken his Meaning, in charging him with Manicheism, and supposing him to have held, that our Saviour did not assume a real Body: for he held no such Doctrine, but only charged the Catholics with it, as Austin tells us in express Terms^[1287]. It is surprising, that such a Question should have thus employed the Thoughts and Attention of so many venerable Prelates, and created such Feuds and Animosities in the Church. Both Parties agreed, that the Virgin Mary had brought forth her Son without the Co-operation or Intercourse of Man; and in that Sense alone she is styled a Virgin.

Law enacted against Jovinian, and his Followers.

From Milan Jovinian returned to the Neighbourhood of Rome, where his Followers continued to assemble, under his Direction, till the Year 398. when the Emperor Honorius, giving Ear to the Complaints of the neighbouring Bishops, enacted a Law, commanding him and his Accomplices to be beaten with Whips armed with Lead, and transported into different Islands^[1288]. Jovinian himself was confined to the Isle of Boas, on the Coast of Dalmatia^[1289], where he gave up the Ghost, about the Year 406. in the Midst of the Mirth and Jollity 257of a Banquet, says Jerom, adding that he was revived in Vigilantius, as Euphorbus was formerly in Pythagoras^[1290]. Some of Jerom’s Friends in Rome sent him the Book, which Jovinian had composed to explain and defend his Doctrine, begging him to confute it. He readily complied with their Request, and ended his Work in the Year 392. It consisted of Two Books, but met with a very indifferent Reception at Rome. For though he declared from the Beginning, that it was not his Intention to condemn Marriage, and that he had an utter Abhorrence to the Errors of Marcion, of Tatian, and the Manichees, holding Marriage to be sinful; yet the disparaging Terms he made use of in speaking of Marriage, gave great Offence, even to those who professed Continency^[N30].

Notwithstanding the Severity of the Law I have mentioned above, some still continued to hold, and privately to propagate, the Doctrine of Jovinian, which induced Austin to compose his Treatise on the Advantages of Marriage and Virginity; a Performance far more judicious than that of Jerom, who has taken great Pains to disparage and cry down Marriage, the better to extol Virginity, as if he could not commend the one without condemning the other. Austin, on the contrary, begins his Work with great Encomiums on Matrimony, to which, however commendable, in the End he prefers Virginity. But after all, the Reasons alleged by the one as well as the other, are, if duly weighed, but empty and unconclusive Speculations.

New Disturbances in the Church of Antioch.

The following Year, 391. a great Council was convened at Capua, chiefly with a View to restore Peace to the Church of Antioch, and put an End to the Schism, which had long prevailed there, and had occasioned almost an intire Separation between the East and the West, as I have related elsewhere^[1291]. Paulinus, who was acknowleged for lawful Bishop of that City by Part of the Catholics there, by the Bishops of Egypt, Arabia, Cyprus, by the Bishop of Rome, and all 258the Western Bishops, died about the Year 388^[1292]. But the unhappy Division, which had reigned during his Life, continued to reign even after his Death. For Paulinus, by a most unaccountable Conduct, and a most notorious and open Violation of the Canons, took upon him not only to appoint himself a Successor before he died, but to ordain him alone. The Person whom he thus both named and ordained, was one Evagrius, a Presbyter, with whom he had always lived in close Friendship^[1293]; and who on that Account was, notwithstanding his illegal Election and Ordination, acknowleged by Paulinus’s Party for Bishop of Antioch. Theodoret writes, that the Bishop of Rome, with the other Western Bishops, and those of Egypt, embraced his Communion^[1294]. But Ambrose assures us, that the Bishops of Egypt stood neuter, suspending all Communication both with Evagrius, and his Competitor Flavianus; and speaks in such manner of both, as gives us room to suppose that he himself communicated with neither. Both rely more on the Invalidity of their Competitor’s Ordination, says he, than on the Validity of their own. It is therefore with Reason that Flavianus declines a fair Tryal, and not without Reason that Evagrius does not demand one^[1295]. The Example of Ambrose was, in all Likelihood, followed by the Bishop of Rome, and the other Western Bishops; or Ambrose, perhaps, conformed to theirs^[N31].

All the Bishops of Illyricum, upon the Death of Paulinus, admitted Flavianus, and not Evagrius, to their Communion, if we may depend upon Theodoret^[1296]. As this new Election occasioned unheard-of Disturbances in the Church of Antioch, as the Division still continued between the East and the West, the Western Bishops had frequent Recourse to the Emperor Theodosius, during the Three Years he passed in the West, pressing him to oblige, by his Imperial Authority, both Flavianus and Evagrius to submit their Cause to the Judgment of a 259Council, that should be held in Italy. Theodosius consented at last to their Request, named Capua for the Place where the Council should meet, and took upon him to oblige Flavianus to repair thither at the Time appointed. Soon after, that is, about the 14th of July 391. he left Italy, where he had continued ever since the Year 388. settling young Valentinian on the Throne, and set out for Constantinople, into which City he made his Entry on the 10th of November. Before his Departure from Italy he had writ to Flavianus, commanding him to repair to Constantinople, and wait his Arrival there. Flavianus readily complied with the Emperor’s Orders, and appeared at Court the Day after his Arrival. But when the Prince acquainted him with the Promise he had made to the Western Bishops, and desired him to prepare for the Journey, which he did in a very obliging Manner, Flavianus represented to him the Inconveniences, attending so long a Journey at that Season of the Year, and begged he would give him Leave to put it off to the Spring, when he would not fail to obey his Orders. The Emperor, seeing him stricken in Years, thought the Excuse just and reasonable; and therefore, out of Compassion and Good nature, allowed him for the present to return to his See^[1297]. Thus did Flavianus, by the Indulgence of the Emperor, avoid the Judgment of the Western Bishops, who wisely forbore meddling with so nice a Subject in his Absence, though his Competitor was present.

The Council of Capua.

The Council of Capua met in the Latter-end of the Year 391. and was it seems, a very numerous Assembly, since it is styled, in the Canons of the Church of Africa, a full Council^[1298]. But whether it was composed of all the Western Bishops, or only of the Bishops of Italy, is uncertain, and cannot be determined from the Words of Ambrose, We all met^[1299], which may be equally understood of both. As the Acts of this Council have not reached our Times, we do not even know who presided at it, some conferring that Honour on Ambrose^[1300], some on Syricius^[1301], and some on both^[1302]. That Syricius presided, or even assisted, in Person, is not at all probable; for in the Times I am now writing of, the Bishops of Rome had begun to affect Grandeur; and, under Pretence that their Presence was necessary in the great Metropolis of the Empire, to assist or preside in Councils held elsewhere by their Deputies or Legates, as they are now styled. 260That Syricius assisted, by his Deputies, at the Council of Capua, I do not doubt, since the Council was composed, at least, of all the Bishops of Italy, and Syricius owned himself bound by their Decrees^[1303]. But that Ambrose presided, seems undeniable, since by him, and him alone, the Whole was conducted and managed^[N32].

The Council avoided deciding, and even taking into Consideration, the Affair of Flavianus and Evagrius, in the Absence of the former, though they had chiefly met for that Purpose. However, to re-establish the Tranquillity of the Church, they agreed to renew their Correspondence with, and grant their Communion to, all the Catholic Bishops of the East. |The Difference be- tween the Two Com- petitors to the See of Antioch refered, by the Council, to the Bishops of Egypt.| As for the Difference between the Two Competitors for the See of Antioch, they committed the discussing and deciding it to Theophylus Bishop of Alexandria, and the other Bishops of Egypt, as the most proper Judges, since they communicated with neither, and therefore could not be suspected to favour the one more than the other^[1304]. The Bishop of Alexandria immediately acquainted Flavianus with the Resolution of the Council, summoning him, at the same time, to appear, in Compliance therewith, before the Bishops of Egypt, who were soon to assemble, in order to put the Decree of that venerable Assembly in Execution. |Flavianus refuses to comply with the De- cree of the Council.| But Flavianus, instead of obeying the Summons, and paying the Regard that was thought due to the Decree of so numerous a Council, refused to stir from Antioch, pleading a Rescript, which he had extorted from Theodosius, commanding the Western Bishops to repair into the East, and there examine the Affair in a new Council. This Theophylus did not expect, and therefore being at a Loss how to conduct himself on such an Emergency, he gave Ambrose immediate Notice of the Summons he had sent, and the Answer he had received. Ambrose had nothing so much at Heart as to restore Peace and Tranquillity to the Church of Antioch; and from the Regard which the Council had shewn to Flavianus, as well as the Impartiality with which they had acted with respect to both, he had promised himself Success in so pious an Undertaking. It was therefore with the utmost 261Concern that he saw his Endeavours thus unexpectedly defeated, and all Hopes of accomplishing what he had undertaken, vanish at once. He had but too much Reason to resent such an affronting Conduct, which did not so much affect the Council in general, as him in particular, since it was at his Motion, that the Council took the above-mentioned Resolution. That, however, did not tempt him to depart from the Neutrality he had embraced, and declare for Evagrius: he still maintained the same Impartiality, and refused to communicate with either. |Ambrose’s Mod- eration and Impartiality.| In his Answer to Theophylus, he desires him, without betraying the least Emotion of Anger or Resentment, to summon Flavianus once more, directing him, at the same time, to communicate with all the Catholic Bishops of the East, pursuant to the Decree of the Council, whether he complied with this Second Summons or no; and to acquaint the Bishop of Rome with what he had done, that, the Whole being approved by that Church, as he did not question but it would, the whole Church might be happily of one Mind, and reap the Fruit of his Labour^[1305].

Syricius writes to the Emperor.

Syricius, and in all Likelihood Ambrose too, wrote to Theodosius, pressing him to send Flavianus to Rome^[N33], if he did not approve of his being judged by the Bishop of Alexandria. Syricius, in his Letter, tells the Emperor, that he well knew how to deal with Tyrants, who revolted from him, and how to chastise them; but suffered those to go unpunished, who despised the Laws of Christ^[1306][N34].

Theodosius, in Compliance with the Request of Syricius, made in the Name of all the Western Bishops, sent anew for Flavianus, and told him, that he must, by all means, either repair to Rome, or submit his Cause to the Judgment of the Bishops of Egypt. |Flavianus ready to resign his Dignity, rather than to submit to the Judgment of the Egyptian or Western Bishops.| But he was determined, says Theodoret, to relinquish his Dignity rather than to suffer the Western Bishops, or those of Egypt, to examine and decide whether he had a Right to it or no; and, by that means, to hold it of them. He therefore answered the Emperor, with great Calmness and Respect, in the following Terms: Sir, if my Faith is not thought Orthodox, or my Conduct not worthy of a Catholic Bishop, 262I am willing to be judged by those who accuse me, and ready to submit to the Sentence they shall pronounce. But, if all this Noise is made merely for the sake of my Dignity, from this Moment I resign every Preferment I enjoy in the Church, to those whom nothing but Preferment can silence. You may therefore dispose of the See of Antioch, now vacant, to whom you please. Theodosius, pleased with this Answer, and thinking Flavianus, the more ready he was to give up his Dignity, the more worthy to hold it, ordered him to return to Antioch, and resume the Government of his Church; nor did he ever afterwards give the least Attention to the pressing and repeated Instances of Syricius, and his Collegues in the West^[1307].

Flavianus did not acknowlege inSyr- icius the Power claimed by his Suc- cessors.

From the whole Conduct of Flavianus it is manifest, that he did not acknowlege any extraordinary Power in Syricius, much less that Power, which has been claimed by his Successors, of disposing, by Divine Right, of all Bishopricks, of placing and displacing Bishops, at Pleasure, throughout the Christian World. This Power, though evidently usurped, and utterly unknown even in the End of the Fourth Century, Bishops are now obliged to own in their very Titles, styling themselves Bishops of such a Place, by the Grace of God, and of the Apostolic See. Flavianus was content with the Grace of God; and, as for the Grace of the Apostolic See, he gave himself no Trouble about it. And yet Flavianus is honoured by the Church of Rome as a Saint; and his Festival kept on the 26th of September. And truly, if we may depend upon the Testimony of the most authentic and unexceptionable Writers of those Times, we shall hardly find one in the Roman Calendar more worthy of that Honour. The famous John Chrysostom, who was one of his Presbyters before his Promotion to the See of Constantinople, has filled his Homilies with the Praises of the great Flavianus, as he styles him. His distinguished Merit, eminent Virtues, and extraordinary Piety, seem to have been Chrysostom’s favourite Topic; and these Encomiums he bestowed upon him, while he was still alive. After his Death he was distinguished by the Council of Chalcedon, with the Title of the blessed Flavianus^[1308]; and by that of the East, held under John of Antioch, ranked among the brightest Luminaries, the most illustrious Prelates, and the greatest Saints of the Church^[1309]. Theodoret never names him without adding to his Name some Epithet, denoting his extraordinary Merit, such as 263the great, the holy, the admirable Flavianus. As therefore no room is left to doubt of his extraordinary Piety and Merit, we may well conclude, from his absolutely refusing to submit his Cause to the Judgment of Syricius, and the other Bishops of the West, that he did not acknowlege either in him or them a Power to judge him. This Refusal did not, in the Eyes of Chrysostom, and other great Men, detract in the least from his Merit, nor lessen the high Opinion they entertained of his Sanctity. A plain Indication that they did not think his Conduct reprehensible, and consequently did not acknowlege, more than he, that Power which is now one main Article of the Roman Catholic Creed.

The Communion between the East and the West renewed.

As Flavianus declined the Judgment of the Western as well as the Egyptian Bishops, and the Emperor gave no farther Ear to their Remonstrances and Complaints, the Resolution taken by the Council of Capua was put in Execution; which was, to renew the Communion and good Understanding between the East and the West, and abandon the Church of Antioch to its Schism, which, after so many promising Remedies applied in vain, began now to be deemed an incurable Evil^[1310].

Bonosus accused before the Council.

The Council of Capua, after the above-mentioned Resolution concerning the Difference between Flavianus and Evagrius, heard a Charge brought by some Bishops against Bonosus, Bishop of Naissus in Dacia, according to some, or, as others will have it, of Sardica, the Metropolis of that Province. He was accused of a Crime against the Canons of the Church and the Law of God^[1311], and likewise of Heresy. |His Errors.| The Crime is not specified; but as for the Heresy, I gather from Austin, that he held the Son to be inferior to the Father^[1312]; and from Ambrose, that he taught, the Virgin Mary had had other Children after the Birth of Christ^[1313]. |The judging of his Cause committed by the Council to the neighbouring Bish- ops, who condemn him.| He had, it seems, been condemned by Damasus, who died in 384^[1314]. but still held his See, and was not driven from it, even by the Council of Capua. For the Fathers of that Assembly committed the hearing and judging of his Cause to the Bishops in his Neighbourhood, chiefly to those of Macedon, under their Metropolitan Anysius, Bishop of Thessalonica^[1315]. The neighbouring Bishops assembled, pursuant to the Order of the Council; and Bonosus, as well as his Accusers, appearing before them, they found the Charge so well supported, that they immediately forbid him to enter his Church; which was suspending him 264from all Episcopal Functions. Bonosus complained loudly of this Sentence, and even advised with the Bishop of Milan, whether he might not, in Defiance of a Judgment so rash and immature, still exercise the Functions of his Office, and, in case of Opposition, repel Force with Force. Ambrose exhorted him, in the strongest Terms, to acquiesce to the Sentence, to conduct himself with the Prudence, Temper, and Moderation, that became a Bishop; and, above all, not to undertake any thing that might be interpreted as a Contempt of the Authority of his Judges, since he could not contemn their Authority, without contemning at the same time that of the Council, which had appointed them^[1316]. In the mean time the Bishops of Macedon, having more leisurely examined the Cause of Bonosus, wrote to Syricius, referring the Decision to him, and declaring their Abhorrence of the detestable Error, that the Virgin Mary had other Children besides Christ. If this was an Error, which may well be doubted, it was one that did no-way affect the Christian Faith, and therefore did not deserve such a severe Condemnation: but as it thwarted the favourable Opinions then entertained in the Church concerning Virginity, it is no Wonder that it should meet with so rough a Treatment^[N35].

265Syricius, in his Answer to the Bishops of Macedon, approves their Sentiments; and employs almost his whole Letter to shew, that the Virgin Mary was always a Virgin: but as for the Cause of Bonosus, he tells them, that it was not lawful for him to judge it, since that Province had been committed to them by the Council of Capua^[1317]. And was not this disclaiming, in the most plain and explicit Terms he possibly could, that Power which his Successors challenge, and have almost overturned the Christian Religion to maintain^[N36]?

Bonosus exercises the Episcopal Functions after his Condem- nation.

266As Syricius declined the judging of Bonosus, his Cause was in the End decided, and he condemned by Anysius and the other Bishops, to whom that Judgment had been committed by the Council of Capua. It was at the same time decreed, that those who had been ordained by him after the first Sentence, that is, after his Suspension, should retain the Degrees to which he had raised them. This Indulgence was shewn, as is declared in the Decree, contrary to the common Rule, on account of the present Necessity; that is, lest they should adhere to Bonosus, and form a Schism^[1318]. |He ordains some by force.| Bonosus, though thus condemned, continued to exercise the Episcopal Functions, and, holding separate Assemblies, to ordain, without Examination or Distinction, all who presented themselves to him: nay, he is even charged with dragging some by open Force to his Conventicle, and ordaining them there against their Will^[1319]: a kind of Rape never heard of before. What Advantage he could propose to himself or others in so doing, we are not told, and it is not easy to guess. The Bishops of Macedon allowed even those, who were thus ordained, to keep their respective Degrees in the Catholic Church, upon their only receiving the Benediction of a lawful Bishop. Hence those, who found themselves excluded by the Church from holy Orders, on account of their scandalous Lives, applied to Bonosus, pretending to espouse his Party, but left him as soon as they had obtained the Degree they wanted^[1320]. Bonosus died about the Year 410. but his Doctrine did not die with him, being maintained by some Two hundred Years after his Death^[N37].

An End put to the Schism of Antioch.

Syricius had, in the last Year of his Life, the Satisfaction of seeing an End put at length to the Schism of Antioch, which I have had so frequent Occasion to speak of; and the East and West, after so long a Misunderstanding, or rather Separation, happily reunited. This great 267Work was accomplished in the following Manner: Evagrius, the Successor of Paulinus, dying not long after his Promotion, Flavianus employed all the Credit and Interest he had at Court, and with the Clergy of Antioch, to prevent the Election of a new Bishop in the room of the deceased: and so far his Endeavours proved successful. But he could by no means gain the Eustathians, who continued to assemble apart, or prevail either upon the Bishops of Egypt, or Syricius, and the other Western Bishops, to admit him to their Communion, though he had no Competitor, whose Cause they could espouse against him. Thus, through the inflexible Obstinacy of the Egyptian and Western Bishops, was Discord kept alive, and a kind of Schism fomented among the Prelates and Members of the Catholic Church, says Sozomen^[1321]. In this Situation Affairs continued from the Year 392. in which Evagrius died, to the Year 398. when the famous John Chrysostom, Presbyter of the Church of Antioch, was, in regard of his extraordinary Merit, preferred to the See of Constantinople. No sooner was he placed in that high Station, than his generous Disposition, above all little Piques and Jealousies, his Zeal for the Welfare of the Church in general, and the tender Regard he had for that of Antioch in particular, prompted him to employ all the Credit and Authority, which his new Dignity gave him, in bringing about an intire Reconciliation between the East and the West, and restoring the Church of Antioch to the Communion of those Churches, from which it had been so long separated^[1322]. | Chrysostom studies to reconcile the Eastern and Western Bishops.| Chrysostom had been consecrated by Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria, whom the Council of Capua had appointed to decide, with the other Bishops of Egypt, the Difference between Flavianus and Evagrius, as I have related above. To him therefore, before he left Constantinople to return to Egypt, the new Bishop of that City, impatient to see so great a Work brought to a happy Issue, imparted his Intention of attempting a Reconciliation between Flavianus and Syricius Bishop of Rome, earnestly intreating him to second and promote with his Endeavours an Undertaking truly worthy of the Two first Bishops of the East.

Flavianus and Theo- philus reconciled.

There had subsisted a Misunderstanding between Theophilus and Flavianus ever since the Year 391. when the Council of Capua was held. Flavianus had refused to submit his Cause to the Judgment of Theophilus, pursuant to the Resolution of that Council; which he had highly resented; and, in the Height of his Resentment, as he was 268a Man of a fiery and choleric Temper, he had written to Flavianus in a very haughty and imperious Style. To these Letters Nestorius, no doubt, alludes, where he tells us, that Egypt could not, by her menacing Letters, though written in the Style, and with all the Haughtiness, of an imperious Tyrant, move or terrify the blessed Flavianus^[1323]. It was necessary, in the first place, to remove the Misunderstanding which had so long subsisted between these Two Prelates; and in this Chrysostom met with no Difficulty or Obstruction, Theophilus readily agreeing to the Terms he proposed in the Name of Flavianus, and Flavianus ratifying them, upon the first Notice, without the least Exception or Limitation. |Chrysostom attempts a Reconciliation between Flavianus and Syricius.| What these Terms were, we are no-where told; but it is certain, that, all Disputes being thereby composed, the Bishops of Alexandria and Antioch were intirely reconciled, and the Communion between them renewed, to the great Satisfaction of both^[1324]. The next Thing to be attempted, and, as was apprehended, the most difficult to be accomplished, was the reconciling of Syricius with the Bishop of Antioch, who had now held that See Seventeen Years, but had not been able, notwithstanding the great Character he bore, to obtain the Communion of Syricius, or any of his Predecessors, on account of their strong Prejudice against him, as well as his Predecessor Meletius, and their obstinate Attachment to the contrary Party, in Opposition to the far greater Part of the Eastern Bishops. |His prudent Conduct.| But the Zeal of Chrysostom was Proof against all Difficulties. Not despairing therefore of Success, he took the most effectual Means a consummate Prudence could dictate, to obtain it, advising the Bishops of Antioch and Alexandria to acquaint the Bishop of Rome, by a solemn Embassy, with their Reconciliation, and at the same time to beg, in the Name of Flavianus, the Communion of that See. This he knew would flatter the Vanity of Syricius, and be of more Weight than any Remonstrances they could make. They readily fell in with the Proposal, and Deputies were immediately chosen to put it in Execution. These were Acacius Bishop of Berœa, Demetrius of Pessinus, and several other Bishops, with Isidorus Presbyter and Hospitaler of the Church of Alexandria, and a great Number of Presbyters and Deacons of the Church of Antioch. Acacius, who was at the Head of this Deputation, was charged by Chrysostom to present to Syricius the Decree of his Election to the See of Constantinople^[1325]. That so great 269an Honour might not be conferred in vain on the See of Rome, it was thought adviseable to acquaint Syricius with their Design, before they set out, and to be well assured of a kind Reception on their Arrival in the West. |Syricius and Flav- ianus reconciled.| They gave him accordingly early Notice of their Intention, and he, taken with the Bait, readily promised to settle every thing to their Satisfaction^[1326]; which he did accordingly, receiving them, on their Arrival at Rome, with the greatest Marks of Respect and Esteem, and admitting Flavianus to his Communion. From Rome the Deputies repaired into Egypt, where all the Bishops, following the Example of Theophilus and Syricius, acknowleged Flavianus for lawful Bishop of Antioch, and, assembling in Council, with great Solemnity, embraced his Communion. |The Misunderstand- ing between the East and the West intirely removed.| From Egypt the Deputies set out for Antioch, and there, by delivering to Flavianus Letters of Communion from the Western and Egyptian Bishops, completed the great Work, and with it their Deputation^[1327]. Thus was an End put, at last, to the Schism of Antioch; and, after so many Years of Strife and Contention, a perfect Harmony and good Understanding were settled anew between the East and the West^[N38].

Flavianus endeavours in vain to gain over the Eustathians.

270Flavianus, being thus at last, in the Seventeenth Year of his Episcopacy, acknowleged by, and united in CommunionCommunion with, all the Bishops of the Catholic Church, spared no Pains to gain over the Eustathians, that, by reuniting them to the rest of his Flock, he might have the Merit and Glory of establishing an intire and lasting Tranquillity in the Church committed to his Care. But his Zeal was not therein attended with the wished for Success. The Glory of completing so great and desirable a Work was, by Providence, reserved for Alexander, one of his Successors, who had the Satisfaction of seeing all Party-Names laid aside, and the whole People of Antioch united in one Flock, under one and the same Shepherd. This Union was made with great Solemnity, in the Year 415. Eleven Years after the Death of Flavianus, and Eighty-five after the Beginning of the Schism. Thus Theodoret, in his Ecclesiastical History^[1328]. But Theodorus the Lector assures us, that there still remained some 271Seeds of that unhappy Division till the Year 482. when the Body of Eustathius being brought back to Antioch, the few Eustathians, who still continued to assemble apart, joined the rest of the Catholics, and the Name of Eustathian was never more heard of^[1329]. |Flavianus honoured by the Church of Rome as a Saint, tho’ ill used in his Life-time by the Popes.| Flavianus died in the Year 404. the Ninety-fifth of his Age, and Twenty-third of his Episcopacy, and is now honoured as a Saint; a Distinction which none of his Competitors have deserved, though as much caressed and favoured by the Two Bishops of Rome, Damasus and Syricius, as he was opposed and ill used. How fallible have the Bishops of that See shewed themselves, from the earliest Times, in their Judgment of things! How rash in taking Parties, and fomenting Discords! How obstinate and inflexible in maintaining the Cause, which they had once undertaken, let it be ever so bad! The only thing that can be alleged against the Character of Flavianus, is his having accepted the Bishoprick of Antioch, contrary to the Oath he had taken, on Occasion of the Agreement between Meletius and Paulinus, as I have related above^[1330]. That he took such an Oath, is vouched both by Socrates and Sozomen^[1331]. But as he was looked upon by all the East, and extolled by Chrysostom, even in his Life-time, as a Prelate of an unblemished Character, and never reproached, even by his greater Enemies, with such an Oath, in the many Disputes that arose about his Election, I had rather charge those Two Writers with one Mistake more (for they are guilty of many others), than a Man of Flavianus’s Probity with such a scandalous Prevarication.

Syricius dies.

Syricius did not long enjoy the Satisfaction he had, to see the Schism of Antioch ended in his Days, and a good Understanding settled anew between the East and the West. He died the same Year 398. and, according to the most probable Opinion, on the 26th of November^[1332]. He is said, in his Epitaph, quoted by Baronius^[1333], to have been a Man of a tender, compassionate, and generous Temper; to have studied the Happiness of the People committed to his Care; to have spared no Pains in procuring them the Blessings that flow from Peace and Tranquillity; and to have screened several Persons from the Wrath of the Emperor, to maintain the Rights of the Church^[1334]. |Was once honoured as a Saint.| He is commended by Ambrose, and the whole Council of 272Milan, as a vigilant Pastor^[1335], by Isidore of Seville as an illustrious Pontiff^[1336]; and he has even a Place among the other Saints, in most of the antient Martyrologies^[1337]. However Baronius has not thought him worthy of a Place in the Roman Martyrology. It is well known, that the Charge of revising and correcting the Roman Martyrology was committed, by Pope Gregory XIII. to Baronius, with full Power to reject such as he should judge unworthy, and admit others in their room, whom he should declare worthy of the public Worship, and a Place there^[N39]. |Why expunged by Baronius out of the Calendar of Saints.| The Keys of Heaven, says a modern Writer, speaking of that Charge, were taken from Peter, and given to Baronius; for it was not by Peter, but by Baronius, that some were excluded from, and others admitted into, Heaven^[1338]. He then shews, that by this Second Minos, as he styles him, several were driven from the Seats they had long held in Heaven, and to which they had a just Claim, to make room for others, who had no Claim. Among the former he names Syricius, whom he thinks Baronius ought to have treated in a more friendly manner, upon the Recommendation of Ambrose, of the Council of Milan, and of Isidore. What thus prejudiced Baronius against him, and outweighed, in his Scales, all the Recommendations that could be produced in his Favour, was his Indifference for Jerom and Paulinus, and the Kindness he shewed to 273Ruffinus, Jerom’s Antagonist. Syricius, instead of protecting Jerom, as his Predecessor Damasus had done, against the Roman Clergy, whom he had provoked with his Writings, gave him, in a manner, up to their Resentment; which obliged him to abandon Rome, and return into the East, as I have related above. The Name of Paulinus, afterwards Bishop of Nola, is famous in the History of the Church, and celebrated by Jerom, Ambrose, Austin, and all the Writers of those Times. He had abandoned the World, and the immense Wealth he possessed, to lead a retired Life; and, in the Year 395. he passed through Rome, in his Way to Nola, which he had chosen for the Place of his Retirement. The Treatment he met with at Rome, from that Clergy, and Syricius himself, must have been very unworthy of a Man of his Character, since it obliged him, as he himself writes^[1339], to quit the City in great Haste, and pursue his Journey to Nola. Two Years afterwards Ruffinus came to Rome, and there met with a very different Reception. For Syricius received him, tho’ violently suspected of Origenism, with the greatest Marks of Esteem and Affection; and, after having entertained him a whole Year, gave him Letters of Communion at his Departure. Of this Jerom complains, as if Advantage had been taken of the Bishop of Rome’s Simplicity, to impose upon him^[1340]. I will not pretend, as some have done, to justify Ruffinus; but cannot help observing, that such a Charge ought not to be admitted against him, upon the bare Authority of Jerom, or of those, who have only copied what he writ.

Jerom and Ruffinus quarrel.

Jerom and Ruffinus had lived several Years in close Friendship, and great Intimacy; but, falling out in the Year 393. their former Friendship was turned at once into an open and avowed Enmity. What gave Occasion to this Breach I shall relate hereafter, and only observe here, that Jerom not only quarreled with Ruffinus, but with all the Friends of Ruffinus; nay, and with those too, who, professing an equal Friendship for both, would not break with either, or any-ways interfere in the Quarrel. Among these was the celebrated Roman Matron Melania, so frequently spoken of, and so highly commended, by Austin, by Paulinus, and, above all, by Jerom himself, who has filled his Letters with her Praises, proposing her as a true Pattern of every Virtue becoming her Sex.

Jerom quarrels with all the Friends of Ruffinus, especially with Melania.

Melania had retired with Ruffinus to Jerusalem, Twenty-seven Years before, and continued there practising, under his Direction, 274those Works of Charity, which Jerom so often admires and extols. It could not therefore be expected that she should discard the Partner of her holy Life, and all her good Works, as Paulinus styles him^[1341], the Minute the other was pleased to dislike him, or, indeed, that she should take any Part at all in the Quarrel. And yet, because she prudently declined taking Part, but continued to shew the same Affection and Esteem for Ruffinus, which she had done before; Jerom, forgetful of the Regard that was due to a Matron of her Birth and Piety, and of the high Encomiums which he had himself bestowed on her, began to inveigh with no less Bitterness against her, than against Ruffinus himself. |His Conduct towards her.| In one of his Letters, still extant^[1342], after finding Fault with one of Ruffinus’s Friends, thought to be John Bishop of Jerusalem, he adds; “But, after all, he is not so much to blame as his Instructors Ruffinus and Melania, who, with a great deal of Trouble and Pains, have taught him to know nothing.” Ruffinus tells us, that Jerom, finding that Melania, who was a Matron of great Judgment and Penetration, did not approve of his Actions and Conduct, thereupon spitefully erased out of his Chronicle, what he had there written in her Praise^[1343]. But he did not, nor was it, perhaps, in his Power to make such an Alteration in all the Copies; for what he is said to have cancelled, is still remaining in all the printed, as well as manuscript Copies of that Work, which have reached our Times. Melania lived Eighteen Years after, steadily pursuing the same Course of Life, for which Jerom had once proposed her as a Pattern to her whole Sex^[1344]. She died at Jerusalem in the Year 411. and died poor, having spent an immense Estate in relieving the Needy and Indigent, not only of the Countries where she lived, and through which she passed, but those too of the most distant Provinces of the Empire. For Persons in Poverty and Distress, whether in Persia or Britain, says the Author of her Life^[1345], were alike the Objects of her Charity, and felt alike the Effects of her Generosity and Good-nature. She died, but with her did not die the Rancour and Spleen which Jerom had for so many Years harboured in his Breast against her. For, carrying his Resentment even beyond the Grave, while the Poor were every-where bemoaning, with Tears, the Loss of so generous a Benefactress, while the Writers were paying the deserved Tribute of Praise to the Virtues of so pious a 275Matron, Jerom, instead of joining the rest in the common Grief, strove to dry up their Tears, to drown their Praises, by throwing out several peevish and ill-natured Reflections on the Memory of the Deceased. As the famous Pelagius had inscribed a Book to her before he broached his Opinions, Jerom, in the Letter which he writ to Ctesiphon against the Pelagians, could not forbear bringing her in, and observing on that Occasion, with a malignant Quibble, that the very Name of Melania bespoke (in the Greek Tongue), and sufficiently declared, the Blackness of her Treachery and Perfidiousness^[1346].

Syricius not to be condemned on the bare Authority of Jerom.

Such was the Conduct of Jerom towards that illustrious Matron, in her Life-time, and after her Death. From this Conduct I leave the Reader to judge, whether the Authority of so prejudiced a Writer ought to have been of such Weight with Baronius as to make him exclude her, as well as Syricius, from the Roman Martyrology, or the Calendar of Saints. Should we grant Ruffinus to have really held the Errors which Jerom charged him with, it must still be owned, that Melania acted, as became a Person of her Wisdom, Piety, and Experience, in suspending her Judgment, and not breaking with Ruffinus, till she was otherwise convinced, than by the Invectives of his Antagonist, equally levelled against herself, that he was no longer worthy of her Friendship and Regard. As for Syricius, Jerom rather commends than blames him, even where he complains of his Kindness to Ruffinus. For he only says, that Ruffinus abused the Simplicity of Syricius, who judged of the Spirit of others from his own^[1347]; which was saying, in other Words, that he was a good Man, but mistaken in his Judgment, or not infallible: so that his only Crime, according to Jerom, was want of Infallibility. However, upon the Authority of that Father, Baronius not only condemns the Conduct of Syricius, but, rashly prying into the inscrutable Secrets of Providence, pretends his Days to have been shortened for the Countenance he gave to Ruffinus, and the Remissness he shewed in suppressing the Errors, with which he was charged. It is certain, that Ruffinus was well received, and entertained, in a very hospitable manner, by Syricius, during his Stay at Rome; and that, upon his leaving that City, he received from him Letters of Communion. Now, if Syricius did not know, or did not believe, that Ruffinus held those Errors, how unjust is it to blame him for the Kindness he 276shewed to a Man of Ruffinus’s Character! If he did know, and yet gave him Letters of Communion, how will Baronius be able to clear Syricius from the Imputation of holding the same Errors^[N40]?

The Misunderstand- ing between Syricius and Paulinus no Charge against Syr- icius.

As for the Treatment Paulinus of Nola met with from Syricius, there was, no doubt, a Misunderstanding between them; but, as I am quite in the Dark as to the Cause of it, I will not take upon me to condemn the one rather than the other. Perhaps they were both to blame; perhaps they both meant well, and neither was to blame. However that be, the Misunderstanding between them was soon removed; for, during the remaining Part of Syricius’s Life, Paulinus went constantly to Rome once a Year, as he himself declares, in one of his Letters^[1348]. Syricius, it is true, did not take Jerom into his Protection, as his Predecessor had done, nor shew him the same Kindness; which is the Third Charge brought by Baronius against him, but of no more Weight than the other Two, that is, of none at all. Jerom, prompted by his Zeal, and censorious Temper, could not help inveighing, with great Bitterness, in all his Writings, against the Looseness and Debauchery, which universally prevailed, in his Time, among the Roman Clergy, and the pious Frauds they made use of to extort Legacies and Presents from old Men, from Widows, and from Orphans. Syricius might have been as much offended at the Vices of his Libertine Clergy, as Jerom was, and even studied to reform them; but, at the same time, be glad, without deserving the least Reproach on that score, to get rid of so troublesome a Censor, who thus exposed their Irregularities to the Eyes, and them to the Contempt, of the World^[N41].

277Syricius was interred in the Cœmetery of Priscilla, but his Body was translated, about the Latter-end of the Eighth Century, to the Church of St. Praxedes^[1349], where his Remains (for Baronius will not allow us to call them Relics) still lie unregarded.

Arcadius, ANASTASIUS, Thirty-eighth Bishop of Rome. Honorius.

Year of Christ 398. Anastasius writes to Paulinus.

Syricius was succeeded by Anastasius^[1350], after a Vacancy of Twenty Days, according to some; and, according to others, of near Two Months. He was no sooner chosen, than he writ a kind and obliging Letter to Paulinus, then at Nola in Campania, and an other in his Commendation to the Bishops of that Province^[1351]. This he is supposed to have done, in order to efface the bad Impression, which the Treatment Paulinus had met with in the Time of Syricius, might have given him against that See, and the Roman Clergy.

What occasioned the Quarrel between Jerom and Ruffinus.

It was in the Time of Anastasius, and soon after his Election, that the famous Dispute arose between Jerom and Ruffinus, which was afterwards carried on with a Warmth on both Sides quite unbecoming Men of their Profession. Of this Quarrel, and the Part Anastasius acted on that Occasion, the Writers of those Times give us the following Account. Ruffinus, a Presbyter of Aquileia, and a great Admirer of Origen, having accompanied Melania, whom he had attended Twenty-five Years at Jerusalem, on her Return to Rome in the Time of Syricius, was received there with extraordinary Marks of Esteem by the Roman Clergy, and Syricius himself, as I have observed elsewhere^[1352]. |Ruffinus translates Origen’sPeri- archon.| Encouraged by the Reception he met with, he continued a whole Year at Rome; and during that Time published, but 278without putting his Name to it, a Latin Translation of Origen’s Periarchon, or Treatise of Principles, having first removed the Prejudice which some might entertain against that Writer, by the Translation of an Apology, which the Martyr Pamphylus had composed in his Vindication, while he was in Prison. To this Apology he added a Piece of his own, shewing that most of the Errors ascribed to Origen had been maliciously inserted into his Works by his Enemies after his Death^[1353]. In the Preface to the Periarchon itself he also declared, that, in Imitation of a learned Brother, meaning Jerom, who had translated above Seventy of Origen’s Books, he had either corrected or suppressed such Errors as had appeared to him repugnant to the Articles of the Catholic Faith^[1354]. |Many at Rome embrace the Errors of Origen.| The Work, thus recommended, was received with uncommon Applause at Rome, and the Sentiments of Origen greedily embraced, and warmly maintained, by great Numbers of the Clergy as well as the Laity, to whom Origen had till then been, it seems, utterly unknown. This happened in the Time of Syricius, who, either not suspecting Ruffinus, as he had not put his Name to the Translation, or perhaps not judging him worthy of Censure for barely relating the Sentiments of another, or supposing that, agreeably to his Preface, he had suppressed whatever was wrong in the original Work, gave him Letters of Communion at his Departure from Rome: for he had no sooner published his Translation than he left that City and returned to Aquileia. Syricius died soon after, and Anastasius was no sooner chosen in his room, than the famous Roman Matron Marcella, offended at the new Doctrines that began to prevail in Rome, applied to him, pressing him to put a Stop to the growing Evil, and at the same time accusing Ruffinus as the Author of the Translation, to which alone it was owing^[1355]. |Errors left in the Work, notwithstand- ing the Corrections made by the Trans- lator.| To make good this Charge, she produced some Copies corrected with Ruffinus’s own Hand; and several Persons appeared, who, having by her means been reclaimed from the Errors of Origen, owned they had been led into them by the Disciples of Ruffinus^[1356]. This Jerom cannot relate without launching into the Praises of his Heroine Marcella, crying up her Zeal, extolling her Courage and Resolution, in thus making head against so numerous a Band, meaning the Origenists in Rome, while the Clergy declined that Trouble, or rather promoted the Doctrines they ought to have opposed. But elsewhere he will not allow Women, 279under any Pretence whatsoever, to concern themselves in religious Controversies. To meddle in Disputes concerning Faith or Religion, is not at all the Province (says he, with the Words of St. Paul) of silly Women, laden with Sins, led away with divers Lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the Knowlege of the Truth^[1357]. But he speaks here of Melania, who was no less attached to Ruffinus than Marcella was to him.

Jerom’s Charge against Ruffinus.

In the Periarchon were contained, without all doubt, many unfound and unwarrantable Notions, and Ruffinus corrected those only that related to the Trinity. He corrected, says Jerom, what Origen had impiously written concerning the Trinity, being well apprised it would have given great Offence at Rome. But as to his other Errors, those especially concerning the Fall of the Angels, and the first Man, the Resurrection, the World or Worlds of Epicurus, the Restoration of all Things, &c. he either left them, as he found them in the Original, or confirmed them with Reasons borrowed from the Comment of Didymus, an avowed Defender of Origen. Thus he declared himself a Catholic with respect to the Trinity; that in other Points the Reader might not be aware of him as an Heretic^[1358].

Ruffinus’s Answers.

In Answer to this Charge, Ruffinus declared, that it was never his Intention to correct all the Errors that were ascribed to Origen; that the Declaration he had made, in his Preface to the Periarchon, ought to be restrained to those Errors only that related to the Trinity; and that it was very uncharitable to judge of his Faith, from the Faith of the Author he translated, and not from his own Words. He then declares his Sentiments touching some particular Points, in which Origen was thought to differ from the Church; adding, that where Origen differed from the Catholic Church, he differed from Origen.

Jerom condemns Origen, and inveighs against Ruffinus.

Anastasius, notwithstanding the Solicitations of Marcella, declined either proceeding against Ruffinus, or censuring his Translation, till Two Years after, when Jerom, in a new Version which he published of the same Work, undertook to prove, that several Opinions of Origen were truly heretical, and as such ought to be condemned by the Church. As to Ruffinus, he inveighed bitterly against him, as if he had translated that Work with no other View but to propagate the Errors it contained. Thus began the famous Quarrel between 280these Two Writers, which occasioned no small Disturbance in the Church, some siding with Jerom against Ruffinus, and others with Ruffinus against Jerom. Among the former, the most sanguine were Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria, Epiphanius Bishop of Constantia in the Island of Cyprus, and Anastasius Bishop of Rome. Theophilus not only condemned in a Council, which he summoned for that Purpose, the Errors of Origen, but Origen himself, declaring him an Heretic, and forbidding all under his Jurisdiction to read, or even keep his Works by them; which is the first Instance we have of such Prohibitions. |Origen condemned by Anastasius and sev- eral other Bishops.| His Example was followed by Epiphanius, Anastasius, Venerius Bishop of Milan, Chromatius Bishop of Aquileia, and several others. But some, and among the rest John Bishop of Jerusalem, and Chrysostom then Bishop of Constantinople, disapproving the rash Conduct of their Collegues, could by no means be induced to confirm the Sentence they had pronounced; which Epiphanius resented to such a Degree, that he immediately separated himself from their Communion. Sozomen adds, that he even refused to pray for young Theodosius, while he was dangerously ill, because his Mother Eudoxia would not banish from Constantinople some Monks who had warmly espoused the Cause of Origen^[1359]. Ruffinus ranks Epiphanius among those Plagiaries, who, borrowing from Origen all they said or writ, cried down his Works, in order to deter others from reading them, and consequently from discovering, that what was admired in them was not their own^[1360].

Ruffinus is summoned to Rome.

Origen being thus condemned as an Heretic, near 150 Years after his Death, Anastasius, at the Instigation of Marcella, Pammachius, Oceanus, and some other of Jerom’s Friends in Rome, writ to Ruffinus, complaining of his Translation, and summoning him to appear, and give an Account of his Faith. In Answer to this Letter, Ruffinus sent him a Confession of Faith intirely agreeable to that of the Catholic Church, adding, that he held no other; that his Faith had been sufficiently tried in the Persecution of Valens; and that, as to the Translation of Origen’s Work, he had there neither approved nor disapproved, but barely related, the Sentiments of that Writer. He modestly declined complying with the Summons calling him to Rome; 281and concluded with declaring, that the Faith of the Roman Church and his were one and the same^[1362][N42].

Anastasius separates himself from his Communion.

282But this Confession, however orthodox, did not satisfy Anastasius, or rather Jerom and his Friends in Rome. They continued, says Ruffinus, the Persecution which they had so successfully begun, and with their malicious Suggestions prevailed in the End on Anastasius to comply with their unjust Demands^[1363]; that is, I suppose, to separate himself from his Communion: for Anastasius, in his Answer to a Letter which John Bishop of Jerusalem had writ in favour of Ruffinus, acquaints that Prelate, that he had cut him off from his Communion, and left him to be judged by God and his own Conscience. As to Origen, says he in the same Letter, I knew not before who he was, nor what he had writ. Ruffinus has translated him into our Language; and, in so doing, what else could he have in view but to infect this Church with his pernicious Doctrines? He has expressed his own Sentiments in translating those of his Author; and is therefore no less guilty than Origen himself, whom we have all condemned^[1364][N43].

283In the same Letter Anastasius mentions with great Joy a Decree of the Emperors, that is, of Arcadius and Honorius, forbidding the Works of Origen, and imposing severe Penalties on such as should for the future read or peruse them^[N44].

The Condemnation of Origen owing chiefly to the Bishop of Alexandria.

Such is the Account the contemporary Writers, and Jerom himself, give us of the Condemnation of Origen, and his Interpreter Ruffinus, very different from that which we read in Baronius, introducing his High Pontiff Anastasius as acting the First Part on that Occasion; though Jerom tells us, in express Terms, that Anastasius followed the Example of Theophilus; that he condemned in the West, what had before been condemned in the East^[1365]; and that Rome and all Italy owed their Deliverance to the Letters of Theophilus^[1366]; meaning the circular Letter, which Theophilus writ to all the Catholic Bishops, acquainting them that he had condemned Origen, and prohibited his Books, and exhorting them to follow his Example^[1367]. It was by this Letter that Anastasius was induced to condemn Origen: For what else could Jerom mean by saying, that Rome and Italy were, by the Letters of Theophilus, delivered from the Errors of Origen? Baronius could not but know, that the Letter of Theophilus was addressed to all the Catholic Bishops, since it is styled by Theophilus himself, in a Letter he writ to Epiphanius^[1368], and by Epiphanius, in one of his Letters to Jerom^[1369], A general Letter to all Catholics; and yet the Annalist speaks of it as directed to Anastasius alone, in order to impose by that means on his Readers, and persuade them, that the Bishop of Alexandria submitted the Sentence he had pronounced 284to the Judgment of Anastasius, being well apprised, that it could be of no Weight unless confirmed by the first See. Had he been well apprised of this, I cannot think he would have pronounced such a Sentence, as it is very certain he did, without the Authority, the Advice, or even the Knowlege, of the first See.

The Bishop of Aquileia communicates with Ruffinus, though excommunicated by Anastasius.

As to Ruffinus, Anastasius, it is true, separated himself from his Communion; but did not excommunicate him, that is, as the Word is now understood, did not cut him off from the Communion of the Catholic Church, as Baronius insinuates. The Power of excommunicating him in this Sense was by the Canons vested in his own Bishop; and it is manifest from Jerom, that Chromatius, then Bishop of Aquileia, continued to communicate with him after Anastasius had renounced his Communion; nay, after Chromatius himself had condemned Origen, and the Origenists^[1370], that is, those who held the Errors of Origen. A plain Proof, that the Bishop of Aquileia did not acquiesce in the Judgment of Anastasius in ranking Ruffinus among them. And truly the only Charge brought against him by Anastasius, in his Letter to John of Jerusalem, was his having translated Origen into the Latin Tongue, without pointing out his Errors, or offering any Arguments to confute them. Thence he was by Jerom induced to conclude, that Ruffinus held the same Errors. |Ruffinus unjustly condemned.| What could Ruffinus propose, says he in his Letter, by translating Origen into the Roman Language? Had he exposed the execrable Errors his Work contains, and raised in his Readers that Indignation which the Author deserves, I should rather have praised than blamed him. But he has in his Mind consented to those Errors, and in translating the Sentiments of Origen expressed his own^[1371]. This Ruffinus denied; declaring, with the Words of Origen, in his Preface to the Periarchon^[1372], that he embraced nothing as Truth, that any-ways differed from the received Doctrines of the Catholic Church: nay, he was so far from defending any of Origen’s Errors, which seemed to him repugnant to the Catholic Truths, that in the Apology he composed in Defence of that Writer, as well as in the Preface which he prefixed to his Translation, he undertook to prove, that those Errors were not his, but had been maliciously inserted into his Works, either by his Enemies to eclipse his Reputation, or by Heretics, who had fathered upon him their own Doctrines, with a View of recommending them to the 285World by the Authority of so great and so venerable a Name^[1373]. He followed therein the Example of the most eminent Writers, and the greatest Lights of the Church, namely, of the Martyr Pamphylus^[1374], of Athanasius^[1375], Basil^[1376], his Brother Gregory of Nyssa^[1377], Gregory Nazianzen^[1378], and many others, who, out of the great Regard they had for a Man of Origen’s Piety and Learning, either ascribed to others the Errors they found in his Works, or excused them, by putting on his Words the most charitable Construction they could bear. |Origen excused by some of the Fathers, and once by Jerom himself.| Jerom himself had been formerly one of Origen’s greatest Admirers, had translated above Seventy of his Books, and thought he could not employ his Time better than in enriching the Latin Tongue with the Works of the best Writer and first Doctor of the Church after the Apostles^[1379], as he then styled him. As Ruffinus, in his Translation of the Periarchon, endeavoured to excuse the Errors of Origen, so had Jerom done before him in translating his other Works, chusing rather to veil and excuse, than expose the Faults of one whom in other respects he so much admired^[1380]. But this Admiration being afterwards changed into an open and avowed Enmity, the first Doctor of the Church after the Apostles became at once not only an heterodox, but an impious Writer; all who stood up in his Defence were arraigned of the same pestilential Doctrines; and what was found amiss in his Works was no longer veiled or excused, but set out in the worst Light^[N45].

286But what seems most of all surprising, and quite unaccountable, in the Conduct of that Father, is, that though he had with so much Noise procured Origen to be condemned as an Heretic, and his Books to be prohibited, particularly his Periarchon, or, as some will have it, the Periarchon alone, as containing most of his heretical Tenets; yet, in a private Letter to Paulinus, he refers him to that very Piece for the Decision of some Questions of the greatest Importance^[1381]. But to return to Anastasius:

The Bishops of Africa apply to Anastasius and Venerius of Milan.

The same Year 401. in which Origen was condemned, the Churches of Africa being greatly distressed for want of Ecclesiastics, the Bishops of the Province of Carthage, assembling under Aurelius Bishop of that City, resolved to dispatch one of their Body into Italy to acquaint Anastasius, and Venerius Bishop of Milan, with the Condition of the African Churches, and implore their Assistance^[1382]. Which of the Bishops was charged with this Legation, or what Success attended it, we are no-where told. But as Paulinus, who afterwards writ the Life of St. Ambrose, and belonged to the Church of Milan, was at this Time sent into Africa, and continued there, some have not improbably conjectured, that Venerius at least assisted his Collegues in Africa with a Supply of as many Ecclesiastics as he could spare. Baronius supposes Anastasius to have relieved those Churches with the like Supply; but this Supposition he builds upon the paternal Care which Anastasius had, as universal Pastor, of all the Catholic Churches^[1383], which is building on a false Foundation.

Anastasius advises the Bishops of Africa not to dissemble the Cruelties of the Donatists.

The same Year another Council was held at Carthage, consisting of all the Bishops of Africa; and Aurelius, who presided in this, as he had done in the former, opened it with reading a Letter from Anastasius, exhorting the Bishops of Africa no longer to dissemble the 287Cruelties of the Donatists, who continued to use with great Barbarity the Catholic Bishops and Clergy^[1384]. The Fathers of the Council returned Anastasius Thanks for his Advice; but, not thinking it quite agreeable to the true Spirit of Christianity, they declined complying with it. |Who refuse to comply with his Advice.| They knew that their Persecutors, had they complained of their Cruelties to the Civil Magistrate, would have been punished with Death, pursuant to a Law enacted against them, Three Years before, by the Emperors Arcadius and Honorius^[1385]. They therefore chose, notwithstanding the Advice of Anastasius, rather to suffer with Patience a most cruel Persecution, than redeem themselves from it at so dear a Rate^[1386]. In the same Council it was decreed among other things, that such of the Donatist Clergy, as should return to the Church, might be admitted, if the Bishop, who received them, thought it expedient, to the same Rank, which they had enjoyed before their Conversion. As a Decree had been lately enacted by Anastasius, and the other Italian Bishops, excluding converted Heretics from the Catholic Clergy^[1387]; it was to acquaint them with the Motives which had prompted the Fathers assembled at Carthage, to admit the Donatists, that Aurelius and his Collegues writ to Anastasius; and not to beg of him a Dispensation in favour of the converted Donatists, as is ridiculously supposed by Baronius^[1388].

Anastasius dies.

This is all I find recorded of Anastasius, by the antient Writers. He died on the 27th of April 402. after having held the See of Rome Four Years, One Month, and Thirteen Days. |Is greatly commended by Jerom.| Jerom, with whom he sided against Ruffinus, and the other Friends of Origen, distinguishes him with the Title of an eminent Man; and adds, that Rome did not deserve to enjoy him long, lest the Head of the World should be cut off under such a Bishop; nay, he was snatched away, says he, lest he should strive to ward off, with his Prayers, the Execution of the Sentence that was already pronounced; the Lord saying to Jeremiah, Pray not for this People for their Good: when they fast, I will not hear their Cry, &c^[1389]. Jerom speaks there of the Calamities that befel Rome Seven Years after, when it was taken by the Goths, under Alaric. Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria, not only an avowed Enemy to Origen, but a cruel Persecutor of all who stood up in his Defence, extols Anastasius for his 288pastoral Care, and indefatigable Pains, in preserving and maintaining the Purity of the Catholic Faith^[1390]; alluding, no doubt, to his acting in Concert with him, against Origen, and the pretended Origenists. |Is honoured as a Saint.| Be that as it will, Anastasius is now honoured as a Saint by the Church of Rome; and the Honours paid him are chiefly owing to the Commendations of Jerom and Theophilus, whose Party he so warmly espoused. As to the Writings of Anastasius, Mention is made, by Jerom, of several Letters written by him on different Occasions; but that alone has reached our Times, which he writ to John Bishop of Jerusalem, and some Fragments of another to one Ursinus, on the Incarnation^[N46].

An ill-timed Observ- ation of Baronius.

Baronius observes, at the Death of Syricius^[1391], that such Popes as did not, through Sloth and Indolence, exert the due Zeal in extirpating the heterodox Opinions that sprung up in the Church, that is, such Popes as did not exterminate all, who differed in Opinion from them, have been quickly cut off, to make room for other more zealous Asserters of the Purity of the Faith. An ill-timed Observation! which I might retort here, were I inclined to indulge such a Humour, since the indolent Syricius enjoyed his Dignity Thirteen Years (and not very many have enjoyed it longer), and the very zealous Anastasius only Four.

289

Arcadius, Honorius, INNOCENT, Thirty-ninth Bishop of Rome. Theodosius the younger.

Year of Christ 402. The Election of Innocent, commended by the Antients.

On the Demise of Anastasius, Innocent was immediately, and with one Consent, chosen by the Clergy, and the People^[1392]. He was, according to Anastasius^[1393], a Native of Albano, and the Son of another Innocent; but, according to Jerom, both the Son and Successor of Anastasius^[1394]. Theodoret styles him a Man of great Address, and a lively Genius^[1395]; Prosper, a worthy Successor of St. Peter^[1396]; and Austin distinguishes him, after his Death, with the Title of the Blessed Innocent^[1397]. Orosius says, that God withdrew that holy Bishop from Rome, when the City was taken, as he did Lot from Sodom^[1398]; and Jerom, in writing to Demetrias, exhorts her to adhere steadily to the Faith of Innocent^[1399]. Austin, in the Letter he writ to him in the Name of the Council of Milevum, ascribes his Election to a particular Providence; and adds, that the Fathers of the Council thought it a Duty incumbent upon them to suggest to him what might be done for the Good of the Church, since they could not think him capable of hearing any thing of that Nature with Contempt or Indifference^[1400].

He writes to Anysius of Thessalonica.

Innocent was no sooner chosen and ordained, than he writ to Anysius of Thessalonica, acquainting him with his Election, and charging him, as his Three immediate Predecessors had done, with the Care of the Churches of East Illyricum^[1401]. In the End of the following Year 403. the Emperor Honorius visited the City of Rome; and, during his Stay there, Innocent went frequently to wait on him, in order to obtain, in Behalf of some Bishops, and other Ecclesiastics, an Exemption from executing certain Civil Offices hereditary in their Families. He succeeded in his Suit; but it cost him a great deal of Trouble and Uneasiness^[1402]. |Innocent’s Letter to Victricius.| Victricius Bishop of Rouen, who happened to be then at Rome, having applied to him for Information, with respect to the Practice and Discipline of the Roman Church, Innocent, to gratify him, and that he might not seem to approve, by 290his Silence, the Abuses that prevailed in some Churches, sent him a Book of Rules, as he styled it, containing several Regulations, which had been originally established, says he, by the Authority of the Apostles and Fathers, but were now, in many Places, either quite unknown, or utterly neglected. He therefore intreats Victricius to communicate them to the neighbouring Churches and Bishops, that they might be acquainted with the Discipline of the Roman Church, and conform to it in instructing the new-converted Christians^[1403].

The Articles it con- tains.

This Book of Rules contains Thirteen Regulations relating to different Points of Discipline, whereof the First forbids, and declares uncanonical, the Ordination of Bishops without the Knowlege and Approbation of their Metropolitans. The Second excludes from the Clerical Order such as have served, or shall continue to serve, in War after Baptism. The Third orders all Differences and Disputes, arising among the Ecclesiastics, to be decided by the Bishops of the Provinces, saving the Rights of the Roman Church^[N47]; and commands those to be deposed who shall recur to other Tribunals, except in Causes of the greatest Importance, when, after the Bishops have given Sentence, Recourse may be had to the Apostolical See, pursuant to the Order of the Council, meaning, no doubt, the Council of Sardica^[1404]. The Three next relate to those who shall have married a Widow, a Woman that has been divorced, or a second Wife, either before or after Baptism; and they are all alike declared incapable of being ever admitted among the Clergy. The Seventh forbids Bishops to ordain Clerks of another Church, without the Permission of their own Bishops, or to admit those to serve one Church, who have been deposed in another. The Eighth allows the Novatians and Donatists, who return to the Church, to be readmitted by the bare Imposition of Hands; but subjects those to a long Penance, who had quitted the Church to be rebaptized by them. The Ninth relates to the Celibacy of the Priests and Deacons, who are debarred by it from all Commerce with their Wives, after Ordination. The inferior Clergy were allowed to marry; but Innocent, by the Tenth Article of the present Letter, excepts those who, before they were admitted among the Clergy, had lived in Monasteries, and professed Continence there; it being fit, says he, they should observe in a 291higher Rank what they had observed when only Monks. In the same Article he observes, that those, who had lost their Virginity before Marriage, did not receive the Blessing of the Church when they afterwards married; and that it was the antient Practice of the Church, that such as had lost it before Baptism, should promise, before they were admitted to the Clerical Order, never to marry. The Eleventh forbids those to be ordained, who were not exempted from all Civil Offices and Employments, such Offices diverting them from the Functions of the Priesthood, and sometimes obliging them to exhibit Shews and public Sports, of which the Devil was, without all Doubt, the Author and Promoter. |Innocent thinks the Marriage of a Woman with another Man valid, while her Hus- band is still alive.| The Twelfth forbids Women, who have married a Second Husband, their First being still alive, to be admitted to Repentance, or allowed to do Penance, till one of the Two dies. The same Discipline is to be observed, according to this Article, with respect to the Virgins, who, after consecrating their Virginity to Jesus Christ, shall, either by a public Marriage, or by private Fornication, violate the Faith they had pledged to their immortal Spouse.

The unchristian Sever- ity of one of these Articles ill excused by Baronius.

Baronius^[1405], to answer the Objections which some Innovators, as he is pleased to style them, have offered against the unchristian Severity of this Article, tells us, that the Repentance of such a Virgin can by no means be sincere, so long as she continues with the Man she married; which is quite foreign to the Purpose, since Innocent excludes her from Repentance, not only so long as she lives with him, but so long as he lives. Innocent knew what Baronius seems not to have known; viz. that the Marriage of Virgins, however solemnly consecrated, held good, even according to the Practice of the Roman Church^[1406]; and, consequently, that they could not abandon their Husbands; and hence he would not admit them to Repentance, or the Participation of the Sacred Mysteries, till the Death of their Husbands; which was keeping them, as it were, in a State of Excommunication, without any possible Means of redeeming themselves from it. And it is this uncharitable Severity, which some Divines of the Reformed Churches have deservedly blamed. Baronius stigmatizes such Marriages with the Name of Adultery; but he confounds the Time of Innocent with his own; for, in his Time, the Vow of Chastity was declared a true Marriage; and, consequently, 292every subsequent Marriage void and null; but, in Innocent’s Time, the Marriage of a sacred Virgin was held valid, though commonly deemed sinful. Whether it be sinful or no, or whether a Vow of that kind can be lawfully made, I shall not take upon me to determine here; but I am very confident, that of most Persons, who debar themselves by a solemn Vow from ever marrying, we may say, with the Fathers of the Eighth Council of Toledo, that they had better break a Vow, which they had rashly made, than fill up, by observing it, the Measure of their Sins.

But to return to the Letter: The Thirteenth and last Article will have those Virgins to do Penance for some time, who shall marry after having promised to live Virgins, though they had not yet received the Sacred Veil^[1407]. This Letter has been inserted by Dionysius Exiguus, in his Code of the Roman Church, and is quoted by the Second Council of Tours, held in 567^[1408]. and by several other Councils^[1409][N48].

Letter of the Coun- cil of Carthage to Innocent.

293In the Year 404. Austin writ to Innocent, in the Name of the Bishops assembled in Council at Carthage, intreating him to apply to Honorius for new Laws against the Donatists; whose Cruelties towards the Orthodox, if not magnified by Austin^[1410], are scarce to be matched in History. The Emperor hearkened to Innocent’s Remonstrances, and severe Laws being issued against them, they began by that means to be convinced of their Errors, and to return daily in great Numbers to the Unity of the Church. This is what we read in one of Austin’s Letters^[1411]; for the Donatists, as he would make us believe, finding themselves persecuted, began to inquire, which they had never done before, into the Grounds of the Religion, for which they suffered. This Inquiry had the desired Effect; their Eyes were opened; they discovered the Errors of their Sect; and, being sensible of their Folly in foregoing any temporal Advantage, or exposing themselves to the least Inconvenience, for the sake of such a Religion, they sincerely abjured it, and zealously embraced the Catholic Faith. An ingenious Term, I must own, to excuse, nay, and to authorize and sanctify, the greatest Barbarities! But daily Experience teaches us, that Persecution has a contrary Effect, and that the more Men are persecuted, the more obstinately they adhere to the Opinions, however absurd, for which they suffer; witness the great Number of Martyrs which almost every Church, as well as the Catholic, can boast of. And, where it has not that Effect, the most it can do is to make Men become Hypocrites, and profess a Religion they do not believe; but scarce ever changes their Hearts, or brings any to a sincere and efficacious Assent to a Faith which is thus violently forced on their Minds.

Innocent writes to the Bishops of Spain.

About the same time, or not long after, Innocent writ to the Bishops of Spain, and the chief Articles of his Letter were: 1. That they ought to cut off from their Communion such of their Brethren as refused to communicate with Symphosius, Dictinius, and other Bishops, who, having renounced the Errors of Priscillian, had been readmitted to the Communion of the Church by the Council held at Toledo, in the Year 400^[1412]. 2. That those Bishops should be deposed who had been ordained without the Knowlege or Consent of their Metropolitan. 3. That such as presumed to ordain against the Canons should be likewise deposed, and all who had been thus ordained by them.

Chrysostom Bishop of Constantinople recurs to Innocent.

294Chrysostom, the celebrated Bishop of Constantinople, having been unjustly deposed in 403 and driven from his See by Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria, and the Council ad Quercum, or at the Oak, near Chalcedon, had, upon his Return to Constantinople, insisted upon a Council being summoned, to make his Innocence the more plainly appear to the World. This Theophilus, and the Bishops of his Party, not only strenuously opposed, but, by the great Interest they had at Court, prevailed upon the Emperor Arcadius to drive him from Constantinople a Second time, and banish him to Cucusus, an inhospitable Place in Cilicia. The News of these last Proceedings had not yet reached Rome, when Theophilus sent one of his Lectors with a Letter to Innocent, acquainting him, that he had deposed Chrysostom. As, in this Letter, Theophilus observed an intire Silence with respect to the Motives that had prompted him to take such a Step, Innocent prudently forbore returning him an Answer. There happened to be then at Rome a Deacon of the Church of Constantinople, who, hearing what Theophilus had written, went immediately, and warned Innocent to be upon his Guard, intreating him, at the same time, not to proceed but with the utmost Caution, in so nice and important an Affair, and assuring him, that the Truth could not remain long undiscovered. Accordingly, in Three Days, Pansovius, and Three other Bishops, arrived at Rome, with Three Letters for Innocent; viz. one from Chrysostom himself, another from the Bishops of his Communion, and the Third from the whole Clergy of Constantinople. Chrysostom, in his Letter, which is still to be seen in his Works, and in those of Palladius, who writ the History of his Persecution, after giving Innocent an Account of the Storm his Enemies had raised against him, intreats him to declare such wicked Proceedings void and null, to pronounce all who had any Share in them punishable, according to the Ecclesiastical Laws, and to continue to him the Marks of his Charity and Communion. In the Title and Close of the Letter, he addresses himself to one, but every-where else to more Persons, the Letter having been written, as appears from the Copy in Palladius^[1413], not to Innocent alone, but to him, to Venerius of Milan, and Chromatius of Aquileia, Bishops of the Three chief Sees in the West.

Innocent’s Answer to Chrysostom’s Let- ter.

Innocent, acting with his usual Prudence and Circumspection, in his Answer to the above-mentioned Letters, declared, that he admitted 295the Bishops of both Parties to his Communion, from which he could exclude no Man till he was lawfully judged and condemned; and that therefore, to compose all Differences, and leave no room for Complaints on either Side, it was fit a Council should be assembled, consisting of the Western as well as the Eastern Bishops. The other Bishops of Italy, to whom Chrysostom had written, returned much the same Answer^[1414], following therein the Advice, which Chrysostom himself had given to the Bishops of his Party; viz. that they should communicate with his Enemies, to prevent Divisions in the Church, but not sign his Condemnation, because he did not think himself guilty^[1415]. Innocent’s Answer to Theophilus was in Words to the same Effect. His Letter to Chrysostom was carried into the East by Demetrius Bishop of Pessinus, who took care to shew it every-where, to the end it might be every-where known, that the Roman Church still communicated with that holy Bishop^[1416].

Theophilus writes to Innocent.

A few Days after Innocent had answered Chrysostom’s Letter, Petrus, one of Theophilus’s Presbyters, and Martyrius Deacon of the Church of Constantinople, arrived at Rome, with Letters from Theophilus, and the Acts of Chrysostom’s Deposition by the Council ad Quercum. From these it appeared, that the Council had consisted of Thirty-six Bishops, whereof Twenty-nine were Egyptians, and over these Theophilus had, as their Metropolitan, too great an Influence; that Chrysostom had been condemned without being heard, and that nothing had been laid to his Charge, deserving so severe and exemplary a Punishment. |Innocent's Answer to Theophilus.| Innocent therefore, having read them, with the utmost Indignation, answered Theophilus in a few Words; that he was determined, as he had notified to him by his former Letter, to communicate both with him and his Brother John; that he could by no means depart from the Communion of the latter, till he was lawfully judged and condemned; that a Council was to be soon held, before which it was incumbent upon Theophilus to make good his Charge, and the Steps he had hitherto taken, by the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Nice, since the Roman Church admitted no others^[1417]. |Letters from the Bishops of Chry- sostom’s Party to Innocent.| With this Letter Petrus and Martyrius returned to Constantinople, whence arrived at Rome, soon after their Departure from that City, Theoctecnus, a Presbyter of the Church of Constantinople, and one of Chrysostom’s Friends, with Letters from Twenty-five Bishops, 296informing Innocent, that Chrysostom had been driven a Second time from his See; that he had been conducted by a Band of Soldiers to Cucusus, and confined to that Place; and that the great Church had been consumed by Fire, the very Day he was carried out of Constantinople. Innocent was greatly affected with this Account, and shed many Tears in reading it. But as these Troubles and Disorders were fomented by some great Men at the Court either of Arcadius or Honorius, and a Misunderstanding was then subsisting between the Two Brothers, or their Ministers, he concluded, that his Endeavours towards the restoring of Peace and Unity would prove unsuccessful, and might even blow the Fire, which already burnt with so much Violence, into a greater Flame. |Who sends Letters of Communion to them.| On these Considerations he wisely forbore making any Application for the present to Honorius, and only sent Letters of Communion to Chrysostom, and the Bishops, who had espoused his Cause^[1418]. |Letters from Acacius to Innocent.| These Letters were delivered to Theoctecnus, who was scarce gone, when one Paternus, who styled himself a Presbyter of the Church of Constantinople, arrived at Rome, with Letters from Acacius, who had been intruded into the See of Constantinople, and from some other Bishops of his Party, charging Chrysostom with setting Fire to the Basilic or Great Church. So barefaced a Calumny provoked Innocent to such a Degree, that he would neither hear Paternus, nor return an Answer to the Letters he had brought.

Chrysostom’s Friends cruelly persecuted.

In the mean time a most cruel Persecution was railed at Constantinople, against Chrysostom’s Friends, refusing to communicate with Acacius, Theophilus, and Porphyrius, who had intruded himself into the vacant See of Antioch, and, in Defiance of the Canons, maintained, by Force of Arms, the Dignity he had usurped. This Persecution was carried on under a Christian Emperor, with as much Cruelty as any had ever been under the most inveterate Enemies of the Christian Name. The Pretence they made use of was to discover the Authors of the late Fire; and as the Imperial Officers chiefly suspected, or pretended to suspect, Chrysostom’s Friends, Optatus, who was then Prefect or Governor of Constantinople, and a Pagan, laid hold of that Opportunity to vent upon them the implacable Hatred he bore to the Religion they professed. Many therefore, without Distinction of Sex or Condition, were, by his Orders, dragged to the 297public Gaols, and confined there to Dungeons; others tormented with such Barbarity as to expire on the Rack; and great Numbers, after having undergone repeated Tortures, stript of all their Effects, and banished to the most remote and desolate Places of the Empire.

Two Edicts enacted against them.

At the same time the Emperor Arcadius, strangely prepossessed against Chrysostom, and those of his Communion, caused Two Edicts to be published; the one directed to the Governors of the Provinces, whom he strictly injoined not to suffer, in their respective Jurisdictions, any private Assemblies or Meetings of Persons, who, despising the Churches, worshiped elsewhere, lest they should seem to communicate with the most Reverend Prelates of the holy Law, Arsacius, Theophilus, and Porphyrius. The other commanded such Bishops as refused to communicate with them, to be driven from their Sees, and their Effects to be seized. The Persecution, which still raged, though it was soon after stopt at the Remonstrances of Studius the Præfectus Prætorio, and the Severity, with which the Two Imperial Edicts were put in Execution, drove great Numbers, both of the Clergy and Laity, from Constantinople, and the Provinces subject to Arcadius. Among the former were Cyriacus Bishop of Synnada, Eulysius of Apamea in Bithynia, Palladius of Helenopolis, Germanus a Presbyter, and Cassianus a Deacon, who afterwards embraced the Monastic Life, and became famous for his Ascetic Writings. |Several Bishops, and the whole Clergy of Constantinople, write to Innocent.| Eulysius brought Letters to Innocent from Fifteen Bishops of Chrysostom’s Communion, acquainting him with the deplorable State of the Constantinopolitan Church, and one from Anysius of Thessalonica, declaring, that in the present unhappy Divisions he had resolved to conform intirely to the Sentiments of the Roman Church. Germanus and Cassianus likewise delivered Letters to Innocent, written in the Name of the whole Clergy of Constantinople, and giving him an Account of the Persecution that still raged, and of the cruel Treatment their Bishop had met with^[1419]. |His Answer to the Clergy.| Innocent, in his Answer to this Letter, expresses, in the most pathetic Terms, his Concern for the unhappy State of that Church, and their Sufferings; he encourages them to bear, with Patience, their present Tribulation and Afflictions, nay, and with Joy, since it is for the sake of Justice they suffer, and are thus persecuted; he complains of the undue Deposition of his Collegue, and Installation of another in his Life-time, which he shows to be against the Canons of the Council 298of Nice, the only Canons admitted and obeyed by the Roman Church: he concludes with informing them, that as he had always thought it necessary, that an Oecumenical Council should assemble, he had long considered, and was still considering, by what Means it might be assembled, since a Council, and nothing else, could appease so violent a Storm, and restore to the Church the so much wished for Tranquillity^[1420].