St. PETER (continued 9)

Pelagius transmits to Zosimus a Confession of his Faith;

Not long after Zosimus had written the Letter, which I have mentioned above, to the Bishops of Africa in favour of Cælestius, he received one from Praylius Bishop of Jerusalem, warmly recommending to him the Cause of Pelagius; and another from Pelagius himself, in his own Vindication, and with it a Confession of his Faith. These Letters were directed to Innocent; but he being dead before they reached Rome, they were delivered to Zosimus. In the Confession of Faith Pelagius owned, that Baptism ought to be administered to Children as well as to the Adult; and that, notwithstanding our Free-will, we want the Assistance of Grace^[1517]. Neither of these Propositions was inconsistent with, or repugnant to, his Doctrine; for though he denied Original Sin, he allowed Baptism to be administred even to Children, but only for their Sanctification. He admitted the Necessity of Grace, but not Grace as that Word was understood by St. Austin, and the other Bishops who opposed him; for by Grace he meant no more than the Remission of Sins, Instruction, the Example of Christ. In this Confession he did not disown any of his Tenets; but, not thinking it safe or adviseable openly to own them, he industriously declined explaining himself more distinctly on either of the above-mentioned Heads. |which he approves of,| Zosimus, however, fully satisfied with his Confession, and quite astonished (to use his own Words) at the rash Proceedings of the African Bishops, in condemning, as Heretics, Men whose Doctrine was so sound and orthodox, immediately transmitted to Aurelius of Carthage, and his Collegues in Africa, the Confession as well as the Letter which had been sent him by Pelagius. On this Occasion he writ himself a second Letter to the African Bishops, which we may justly style a Panegyric on Pelagius and Cælestius, and a bitter Invective against their Accusers, Heros and Lazarus. |and censures the African Bishops for condemning him.| This Letter he concludes with exhorting the Bishops of Africa to the Love of Peace and Unity, and condemning, as guilty of an Injustice unknown even to the Pagan Romans, those who gave Judgment in the Absence of the Persons accused, what Crimes soever were laid to their Charge^[1518], as I have observed above.

The African Bishops maintain their former Judgment.

340The African Bishops were no less surprised to find Zosimus so warmly engaged in favour of Pelagius and Cælestius, than Zosimus was surprised at their having condemned them. However, they were determined to stand to the Judgment which they had given, though sensible that such a Determination would not fail to produce, if Zosimus did not yield, a Misunderstanding, and perhaps an intire Separation, between Rome and Africa. This St. Austin seems chiefly to have apprehended, and to have been resolved, if it should so happen, to abdicate and retire^[1519]. To prevent this Evil, which would have proved very detrimental to the common Cause, many Letters passed between Rome and Africa^[1520]: but as none of those that were written at this Juncture by the African Bishops have reached our Times, having been probably destroyed by those whose Interest it was to destroy them; all we know concerning this Affair is, that the Africans maintained, with great Steadiness, their former Judgment against the Pretensions of Zosimus; and would never allow a Cause, that had been determined in Africa, to be re-examined at Rome, the rather as Innocent, the Predecessor of Zosimus, had concurred with them in condemning both Cælestius and his Doctrine^[1521]. |Paulinus, summoned to Rome, refuses to obey the Summons.| The Letter from Zosimus to the African Bishops was carried by one Basilius, Subdeacon of Rome, who was charged with a verbal Order for the Deacon Paulinus, the first who accused Cælestius, to repair to Rome. To this Summons Paulinus returned Answer, that as the Bishops of Africa had condemned Cælestius upon his Accusation, it was no longer incumbent upon him, but upon them, to shew that his Accusation was well grounded; and therefore he could not conceive why Zosimus should require him to take a Journey to Rome^[1522].

The Council of Carthage condemns anew the Pelagian Doctrine without waiting for the Judg- ment of Zosimus.

In the mean time Aurelius of Carthage was under the greatest Apprehension, lest Zosimus should be prevailed upon by Cælestius, and the other Pelagians at Rome, to take some hasty Step in their favour. Having therefore assembled, with all possible Expedition, a Council at Carthage, he first writ, in his own and their Name, to Zosimus, earnestly intreating him to suspend all further Proceedings in an Affair of such Moment, till he was more fully informed. This Letter was written, and a Messenger dispatched with it to Rome, while the Council was yet very thin; the Haste Aurelius was in to stop the Proceedings of Zosimus not allowing him to wait the Arrival of all. When 341the rest came, and they were in all Two hundred and Fourteen, they unanimously confirmed their former Sentence, and, without waiting for the Judgment of Zosimus, condemned anew the Doctrine of Pelagius and Cælestius^[1523]. The Decrees which they made on this Occasion against the Pelagians were received, says Prosper, by Rome, by the Emperors, no doubt, Honorius and Arcadius, and by the whole World^[1524]. And yet, in the making of these Decrees, the Bishop of Rome had no Hand; so that it was not Rome, but Africa, it was not the Pope, but the Bishops of Africa, or more truly St. Austin (for he governed intirely that Council), who taught the Church what she was to believe, and what disbelieve, concerning Grace and Original Sin. One of these Decrees is related by Prosper^[1525], wherein the Two hundred and Fourteen Bishops declare, that we are aided by Grace, not only in the Knowlege, but in the Practice, of Virtue; and that without it we can neither think, speak, or do any thing whatsoever that is pious or holy^[1526]. This, and the other Decrees of the Council, were sent immediately to Rome by the Fathers, who composed them, with a Letter for Zosimus, declaring that they were determined to adhere to the Judgment, which his Predecessor Innocent had formerly given against Pelagius and Cælestius, till such time as both owned, and in the most plain and unexceptionable Terms, the Necessity of Grace, and abjured the opposite Doctrine. |The Policy of the African Bishops.| It was the Effect of a refined Policy in the African Bishops not to mention their own Judgment, but to lay the whole Stress on that of Innocent, though his was not only preceded, but produced, or rather extorted, by theirs. They hoped that the Regard, which they pretended to have for Innocent, would bring Zosimus to a better Temper, and divert him from absolving those whom his Predecessor had so lately condemned. As Zosimus had reproached them in his Letter for believing too easily those who had appeared against Cælestius, they in their turn represented to him, that he ought not so easily to have believed Cælestius, and those who spoke in his Favour. In the same Letter they gave him a particular Account of all that had passed in Africa concerning Cælestius. No wonder therefore, that Zosimus should have complained of the Length of the Letter, calling it a Volume, and saying,^[1527] that 342he had got through it at last. With this Letter Marcellinus, Subdeacon of the Church of Carthage, was dispatched to Rome, and he arrived there in the Beginning of March 418.

Zosimus begins to yield.

Zosimus was alarmed at the Steadiness of the Africans. He plainly saw from their Letter, and more plainly from their Decrees, that they were determined not to yield; and therefore, apprehending the evil Consequences that would infallibly attend his continuing to protect Pelagius and Cælestius against them, he resolved to yield, and withdraw, by Degrees, his Protection from both. |His boasting Letter to the African Bishops.| Hence, in his Answer to the Council, he contented himself with setting forth and boasting the Pre-eminence, Authority, and Prerogatives of the Apostolic See; which however, more modest than his Predecessor, he did not ascribe to Divine Institution, but to the Canons of the Church, and Prescription. He tells the African Bishops, that though he is vested with a Power of judging all Causes, though his Judgment is irreversible, yet he had chosen to determine nothing without having first consulted them; and this he dwells upon as an extraordinary Favour. He expresses great Surprize at their seeming to be persuaded, that he had given an intire Credit to Cælestius; assures them that he had not been so hasty, being well apprised that the last and definitive Judgment ought not to be given but with the greatest Caution, and after the most mature Deliberation; and in the Close of his Letter lets them know, that, upon the Receipt of their first Letter, he had suspended all further Proceedings; and, to gratify them, left Things in the State they were in before^[1528].

The Doctrine of Pel- agius condemned again in a Council at Carthage.

In the mean time the African Bishops, assembling in Council at Carthage, from all the Provinces of Africa, and some even from Spain, the more effectually to oppose and defeat any further Attempts of Zosimus, in favour of Pelagius and Cælestius, condemned their Doctrine anew, and more distinctly than they had hitherto done. This Council met on the 1st of May 418. consisted of 225 Bishops, and enacted Eight Canons, anathematizing the Pelagian Doctrine concerning Grace and Original Sin^[1529]. To these Eight Canons they added Ten more, calculated to establish some Points of Discipline. Among the latter the Ninth deserves particular Notice; for it is there decreed, That Presbyters, Deacons, and inferior Clerks, if they complain of 343the Judgment of their own Bishop, may appeal, with his Consent, to the neighbouring Bishops, and from them to the Primate or Council of Africa. |Appeals beyond Sea forbidden by the Council, on Pain of Excommunication.| But, if any one should presume, say they, to appeal beyond Sea, let no Man receive him to his Communion^[1530]. To this Decree Gratian has added, to save the Jurisdiction of the Pope, unless they appeal to the See of Rome; than which nothing can be more absurd, since it was to restrain the encroaching Power of the See of Rome that this Canon was made. We must not forget, that St. Austin was present at this Council, and signed this, as well as the other Canons and Decrees, that were, on this Occasion, enacted by the 225 Bishops.

Law enacted by Honorius against the Pelagians.

The Africans had dispatched, the Year before, the Bishop Vindemialis to the Court of Honorius, with the Decrees of the Council held against Pelagius, of which I have spoken above. And those Decrees the Emperor not only approved, but enacted this Year 418. a severe Law against the Pelagians, dated from Ravenna, the 30th of April, and addressed to Palladius then Præfectus Prætorio. Honorius there declares, he had been informed, that Pelagius and Cælestius taught, in Opposition to the Authority of the Catholic Church, that God had created the first Man mortal; that he would have died, whether he had or had not sinned; that his Sin did not pass to his Descendents; and several other impious Errors, that disturbed the Peace and Tranquillity of the Church. To put a Stop therefore to the growing Evil, he commands Pelagius and Cælestius to be driven from Rome; orders it to be every-where notified, that all Persons shall be admitted before the Magistrates, as Informers against those who are suspected of holding their wicked Doctrines; and such as are found guilty shall be sent into Exile^[1531]. In virtue of this Law, an Order was issued by the Præfecti Prætorio, viz. by Junius Quartus Palladius Prefect of Italy, Monaxius Prefect of the East, and Agricola Prefect of Gaul, commanding Pelagius and Cælestius to be driven out of Rome, and the Accomplices of their Errors to be stript of their Estates, and condemned to perpetual Banishment^[1532]. A most barbarous Treatment for holding Opinions, which, if erroneous, were certainly harmless. But it is usual for a persecuting Spirit to be as 344violent upon the most unessential as the most weighty Points: and the Rage of Disputation is never more keen, than when the Disputants can hardly define what they quarrel about; especially when the Sword of the Magistrate is drawn on that Side which has least to say for itself in Reason and Argument. I do not affirm this was the Case in the present Dispute; but this is certain, that if Pelagius went too far in his Opinion, so did his Opposers in theirs: and so far his Conduct was infinitely better than theirs, that he declared his own Notions to be Matters very indifferent to Catholic Faith, and professed a general Assent to that Faith; whereas they anathematized his Opinions as execrable Errors, and punished them with all the Severity that the most implacable Malice could exert^[N62].

Zosimus summons Cælestius to appear before him, and to condemn his Doctrine.

Pelagius and Cælestius being thus condemned by the Decrees of the African Bishops, by the Law of the Emperor, and even by the Voice of the People, or rather of the Populace, who were everywhere ready, but no-where more than at Rome, to rise against the Enemies of Grace, as they were styled, and their Abetters; Zosimus thought it not safe to afford them any further Protection, unless Cælestius, who was still at Rome (the Imperial Law not being yet published there), consented to anathematize the Doctrines ascribed to him and Pelagius, in such clear and precise Terms as should leave no room, even for his Enemies, to question his Sincerity. He therefore appointed a Day for the Roman Clergy, and the neighbouring Bishops, to assemble; and, acquainting Cælestius with this Resolution, he summoned him to appear at the Time appointed, that, by condemning whatever he should be required to condemn, he might be publicly restored to the Communion of the Church, from which he had been cut off by the African Bishops. |Cælestius instead of appearing retires from Rome.| Cælestius was greatly perplexed with this Summons: he conceived it impossible to dissemble any longer his real Sentiments; but, at the same time, thinking it base to renounce them, and foreseeing the Consequences that would infallibly attend his avowing them, after he had been long in Suspense what Expedient to resolve on, he concluded at last, that the best and safest was, privately to withdraw from Rome, and keep himself concealed till the present Storm was blown over. This Expedient he chose, and put it in Execution with such Secrecy, that he 345was no more heard of till Three Years after, when he appeared again in Rome^[1533].

Zosimus condemns the Confession, which he had approved be- fore.

Excommunicates Pel- agius and Cælestius;

In the mean time the appointed Day came; but Cælestius did not appear: he was summoned a new, and the Proceedings were adjourned for a few Days; but as he still absented himself, and no Tidings could be heard of him, Zosimus was so provoked in seeing himself thus deluded, that, without further Examination, he condemned the Confession of Faith, which he had approved before; confirmed the Sentence of the Africans, which he had so sharply censured; and, anathematizing the Doctrine both of Pelagius and Cælestius, declared the one and the other cut off from the Communion of the Church, if they did not publicly renounce and abjure the poisonous Tenets of their impious and abominable Sect^[1534]. He did not stop here; but, to retrieve his Reputation, which had suffered greatly on this Occasion, and to atone by an opposite Zeal, for that which he had hitherto exerted in their Favour, he writ a long circular Letter to all the Bishops, anathematizing the Doctrine of Pelagius, and exhorting them to follow his Example. |and writes a circular Letter against them.| Copies of this Letter were sent into all the Provinces of the Christian World, and out of so great a Number of Bishops Eighteen only were found, who refused to receive it, and confirm, with their Subscriptions, the Anathemas it contained^[1535].

Some Bishops refuse to sign it,

and send a Confes- sion of their Faith to- Zosimus.

As for the Eighteen Bishops, who refused to join the rest, they alleged, that they could not, in Conscience, condemn any Man in his Absence, and that it was but just they should first hear what he had to plead in his Defence, quoting to that Purpose the very Passages of Scripture which Zosimus had quoted in his Letter to the Africans, censuring them for condemning Pelagius in his Absence. They added, that, as for Pelagius and Cælestius, they had both condemned, in their Writings, the Errors imputed to them; and therefore did not deserve, in their Opinion, the Anathemas that Rome and Africa had, perhaps too hastily, thundered against them. Julian, Bishop of Eclana in Campania, one of the Eighteen, and the most distinguished among them, writ Two Letters on this Subject to Zosimus, one of which was signed by them all, and contained a 346Confession of their Faith, agreeing, in the most material Points, with the Confessions of Pelagius and Cælestius. For there they absolutely reject, and in the strongest Terms, Original Sin, under the Name of Natural Sin; but allow (and in this Article alone they differ from Pelagius) that by the Sin of Adam Death was let into the World. They intreat Zosimus to acquaint them with what should be found amiss in their Confession; but beg that he would not think of employing Force, since no Force, but that of Conviction, could produce in them a Change of Sentiments. They let him know, in the End of their Letter, that they have already appealed to the Judgment of an Oecumenical Council^[1536]. |They are condemned and degraded by Zosimus.| Zosimus was so provoked at this Appeal, that, upon the Receipt of the Letter, he assembled, in great Haste, a Council, consisting of the Roman Clergy, and the neighbouring Bishops; and, having caused the Letter to be read in their Presence, he condemned anew Pelagius and Cælestius, and with them Julian, and the other Bishops, who signed it, declaring them guilty of the same Errors, and in Consequence thereof degraded, as incorrigible Heretics, from the Episcopal Dignity. |They recur to the Emp- eror for a General Coun- cil.| The Prelates, thus degraded, had recourse to the Emperor Honorius, complaining of the undeserved Severity of Zosimus, and intreating him to convene, by his Authority, an Oecumenical Council, to the Judgment of which they were ready to submit both themselves and their Doctrine. The Emperor seemed at first inclined to grant them their Request. But Count Valerius, a great Friend of St. Austin, and then very powerful at Court, not only diverted Honorius from it, but prevailed upon him to enact a Law, banishing from Italy Julian, and with him all the Bishops, whom Zosimus had deposed^[1537]. |Who issues several Laws against them.| This Law was soon followed by another, commanding all Bishops to sign the Condemnation of Pelagius and Cælestius, on Pain of Deposition, and perpetual Banishment^[1538]. The Pelagians interpreted their being refused a Council, as a Token of Victory; whence Julian, in a Letter which he writ to his Friends in Rome, insults his Adversaries, as if they had distrusted their Cause, and therefore declined the Judgment of an Oecumenical Council^[1539]. In another Place he reproaches St. Austin, in particular, for courting the Friendship of Men in Power, especially of Count Valerius, with no other View but to crush, by their means, 347those whom he could not convince. St. Austin answered, That Recourse indeed had been had to Men in Power; but that the Pelagians ought rather to be thankful, than to complain, on that Score, since it was not to crush them, or to do them the least Hurt (for they were only driven from their Sees, and banished for Life), that the Interest and Power of great Men had been made use of, but merely to reclaim them from their sacrilegious Temerity^[1540]. Might not a Decius, a Dioclesian, or any other Persecutor of the Church, have used the same Plea to justify his Persecution?

The Pelagian Doctrine condemned by Two Councils in the East.

About this time, that is, in the Latter-end of the Year 418. or the Beginning of 419. the Doctrine of Pelagius was condemned in a Council held at Antioch, at which presided Theodotius Bishop of that City; and in another, that met about the Year 421. in Cilicia, under the famous Theodorus of Mopsuestia, who had been hitherto an avowed Patron of the Pelagians, had received Julian when driven out of Italy, and even written a Book against St. Austin, in Defence of the Pelagian Doctrine^[1541]. His Conversion was perhaps owing, as that of many others certainly was, to the severe Laws enacted against the Pelagians. Soon after the Council of Antioch, Pelagius, whom Jerom styles the Second Catiline, was driven from Jerusalem, where he had lived a long time, and obliged to fly to some other Place for Shelter^[1542]. Whither he retired, or what became of him afterwards, is not recorded. St. Austin supposes both him and Cælestius to have been still alive, while he was writing against Julian, that is, about the Year 421^[1543]. |Pelagius driven from Jerusalem.| As for Cælestius, it appears from a Rescript, or rather a Letter, of the Emperor Constantius to Volusianus, Prefect of Rome, in 421. that he was then in that City. |Cælestius returns to Rome.| For Constantius writes to Volusianus, that though he had enacted some Laws against the antient as well as the modern Heresies, yet he was informed, that they made daily great Progress; and therefore, to prevent the Disturbances that must arise from thence, he commands the Laws to be put in Execution, and the Enemies of the true Religion to be carefully sought for, especially Cælestius, and to be banished, if apprehended, an Hundred Miles from Rome. |Law issued against him.| To this Letter the Emperor added, with his own Hand, by way of Postscript, that the Reputation of Volusianus depended on the punctual Execution of this Order^[1544]. In Obedience to the Emperor’s Commands, Volusianus issued a Proclamation, 348banishing Cælestius an Hundred Miles from Rome, and threatening with Proscription all who should presume to conceal him^[1545]. Cælestius however appeared again in Rome Three Years after, and even applied to Cælestine, then in that See, to have his Cause examined anew. Is banished all Italy. But Cælestine, rejecting his Request with Indignation, caused him to be banished all Italy^[1546]. From Rome he repaired to Constantinople, with Julian, and the other Bishops of the Pelagian Party, who all met there with a more kind Reception. |Is driven from Constantinople together with Julian, and the other Pelagian Bishops.| The Emperor Theodosius the younger was even inclined to assemble, at their Request, a great Council; and Nestorius, then Bishop of Constantinople, writ to the Pope in their Favour. But, in the mean time, Marius Mercator having composed, and presented to the Emperor, a Memorial against them, they were ordered by Theodosius, in virtue of that Memorial, to depart the City^[1547]. Of Cælestius no farther Mention is made by any of the Antients. As for Julian, he wandered, for several Years, from Place to Place, being every-where abhorred, detested, and driven out by the Populace, as if his Presence had been enough to draw down from Heaven some remarkable Judgment upon them. |Julian dies in Sicily.| However, he found an Asylum at last in a small Village of Sicily, where he earned a Livelihood by keeping a School, till the Year 455. when he died, after he had divested himself of all he had, to relieve the Poor of the Place in a great Famine^[1548]. He was a Man of a sprightly Genius, thoroughly acquainted with the Scriptures, well versed in all the Branches of polite Literature, especially in the Greek and Latin Poets, and once famous among the Doctors of the Church^[1549]. |His Birth, Education, &c.| He was descended from an illustrious Family. His Father was an Italian Bishop, for whom St. Austin, notwithstanding his irreconcileable Aversion to the Son, professed the greatest Friendship and Veneration^[1550]. His Mother was a Lady of the first Quality, and yet more commendable for her Virtue than her Birth^[1551]. His Enemies, envying him even his noble Descent, strove to rob him of that Honour, small as it is, in Comparison of his other Endowments, by giving out, that he was a supposititious Child^[1552]. He was admitted by his Father among the Clergy, when he was yet very young, and married, when he was of a more mature Age, to a Lady named Ja, of a Senatorial, nay, of the Æmilian Family, and the 349Daughter of Æmilius Bishop of Benevento^[1553]. St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, did not think it beneath him to write an Epithalamium on this Occasion, of a most singular kind; for he advises him and his Bride to continue Virgins, and observe Continency^[1554]. A very extraordinary Advice on a Wedding-Day! That the married Couple agreed to it then, we are not told; but, not long after, probably on the Death of his Wife, Julian bound himself to the Observance of Continency; for he was ordained Deacon, and soon after raised to the See of Eclana^[1555]. He had, long before, embraced the Pelagian Doctrine; and was so fully convinced of the Truth of it, that he often declared, if Pelagius himself should renounce his Doctrine, yet he would not^[1556]. These Sentiments he maintained to the last, chusing rather to be driven from his See, and deprived of all the Comforts of Life, than to abjure Opinions, which he thought true, or admit Opinions, which he thought false. He was buried in the Place where he died; and his Tomb was discovered in the Ninth Century, with the following Epitaph; Here rests in Peace Julian a Catholic Bishop. From this Epitaph some have concluded, that he renounced at last the Pelagian Doctrine, and died a good Catholic. But they were not, it seems, aware, that the Pelagians constantly styled themselves Catholics, stigmatizing St. Austin, and the rest who opposed them, with the Name of Manichees.

The Semipelagian Doctrine.

Julian is supposed to have dissented in some Points from Pelagius, in those especially that relate to Grace, and thereby to have introduced, or laid down such Principles as naturally tended to introduce, the Semipelagian Doctrine; which may be reduced to the following Heads: 1. That when the Truth has been sufficiently declared, we may, by our own Free-will, without the Help of preventing Grace, begin to believe it; so that the first Beginning of our Faith cannot be properly called a Gift of God, but, our own Act. 2. That for all other good Works Grace is necessary (and here they differed from the Pelagians); but is never denied to a Man, who, by the good Use of his Free-will, has begun to believe. Thus, according to them, Grace was the Reward of Faith, and not Faith the Effect of Grace, which was the Doctrine of St. Austin. 3. That, by Grace preceding our Merits, no more can be meant, than the natural Grace and Bounty of God, given to Man in his Reason, and the 350natural Faculties of his Soul; by the good Use of which, he may render himself worthy of the extraordinary Grace that is necessary for him to work out his Salvation. 4. That the Children who die before they attain to the Years of Discretion, are eternally rewarded or punished, according to the good or bad Life they would have led, had they attained to the Years of Discretion. A most impious Tenet! making God punish Sins with eternal Misery that were never committed: yet not quite so impious as that of St. Austin; who, without having recourse to the Supposition of Crimes foreseen, supposed innocent Children to be eternally damned for a Crime committed by Adam, if, by the Fault of their Parents, they were not baptized. Other Tenets of the Semipelagians were these: 5. That the Notion of Election and Reprobation, independent on our Merits or Demerits, is maintaining a fatal Necessity, is the Bane of all Virtue, and serves only to render good Men remiss in working out their Salvation, and to drive Sinners to Despair. |The System of the Jesuits founded on the Semipelagian Doctrine.| 6. That the Decrees of Election and Reprobation are posterior to, and in consequence of our good or evil Works, as foreseen by God from all Eternity. On these Two last Propositions the Jesuits found their whole System of Grace and Free-will, agreeing therein with the Semipelagians against the Jansenists and St. Austin; though, not daring to contradict the Doctor of Grace, as he is styled, they pretend their Doctrine, and not that of the Jansenists, to be the true Doctrine of St. Austin; which has occasioned endless Disputes, and endless Volumes. The latter Popes have all favoured the Semipelagians or Jesuits against the Jansenists and St. Austin; and Clement XI. above all the rest, by his famous Bull Unigenitus. But the Popes who lived nearer those Times, especially Gelasius and Hormisda, were all zealous Asserters of the Doctrine of St. Austin; nay, Hormisda declared the Doctrine contained in the Books of that Father, namely, in those he writ on Predestination and Perseverance, to be the Doctrine of the Catholic Church; which was declaring every true Catholic to be a Predestinarian^[1557]. For the Doctrine of Predestination (as Predestination has been since understood by Calvin and his Followers) is there laid down in the plainest Terms; which so shocked some Persons, otherwise eminent for their Piety, say Prosper and Hilarius^[1558], that they could not help censuring it, as a Doctrine repugnant to the Sense of 351the Church, and the Fathers; nay, as a Doctrine, which, were it even true, ought not to be made public, since it was not necessary that Men should know it; and if they did, it would render all Exhortations to good Works vain and useless^[1559]. But these, say the Jesuits, pretending their System to be the pure Doctrine of St. Austin, misunderstood that Father, as did Faustus the famous Abbot of Lerins, when he writ, That if it be true, that some are predestined to Life, and others to Destruction, as a certain holy Man (St. Austin) has said, we are not born to be judged, but we are judged before we are born; so that there can be no Equity in the Day of Judgment^[1560]. To speak impartially, it is no easy Matter to determine what System St. Austin had formed to himself, with respect to Grace, Free-will, and Predestination: for, in one Place, he seems to reject and condemn what he had been labouring to prove and establish in another. Hence Julian, whose Understanding was far more methodical, used often to quote him against himself, as the Jesuits and Jansenists still do in maintaining their Systems, though diametrically opposite, to be intirely agreeable to his Doctrine. He was apt to run into Extremes, and, in confuting one Error, to lay a Foundation for many others. Hence even his greatest Admirers are often at a Loss how to make him agree either with the Church or himself. However, his great Knowlege in those Days, his extraordinary Zeal for what he called the Catholic Doctrine, and, above all, his heaping daily Volumes upon Volumes against all who opposed it, so dazled the Understandings of the Popes themselves, that, looking upon him as an inspired Writer, they suffered him to dictate even to them, as if he had been Pope, and they common Bishops; as if Infallibility had been transferred from Rome to Hippo, and no longer vested in them, but in him.

Zosimus quarrels with some Bishops of Gaul.

But to return to Zosimus: As his Partiality to Pelagius and Cælestius occasioned a Quarrel between him and the African Bishops; his Partiality to Patroclus, who had usurped the See of Arles, as I have related above^[1561], occasioned, in like manner, a Quarrel between him and some Bishops of Gaul; and from the latter he reaped no more Credit or Honour, than he had done from the former. |The Occasion of this Quarrel.| It arose on the following Occasion: The Bishops of Arles and Vienne had been long contending for the Metropolitan Dignity, and the Jurisdiction 352attending it, over the Provinces of Narbonne and Vienne: and the Decision of the Controversy having been referred, some Years before, to a Council that was held in Turin, it had been there decreed, that the Bishop who should prove his City to be the Metropolis of those Provinces, according to the Civil Division of the Empire, should enjoy the Metropolitan Dignity, and the Privileges annexed to it; but, in the mean time, to avoid any Breach of Charity, that both should exercise the Jurisdiction of a Metropolitan over the Churches that were nearest to their respective Cities^[1562]. Thus Matters continued, till Patroclus repairing to Rome, and there imposing upon Zosimus, who was quite unacquainted with the Merits of the Cause, prevailed upon him, by flattering his Vanity and Ambition, to decide, in his Favour, the Controversy, which had been so long depending. Zosimus censured very severely, as I have observed above, the African Bishops, for acting, as he pretended, with too much Haste and Precipitation, in the Case of Cælestius. But, surely, no Man ever deserved to be more justly censured, on that score, than himself: for, not to mention the Case of Heros and Lazarus, whom he excommunicated and deposed in their Absence, and without hearing what they had to plead in their Defence, he took upon him to decide the present Controversy, which a Council had left undetermined, upon the Information given him by one of the Parties concerned, without hearing the other: for, giving an intire Credit to all Patroclus said, or could say, in Behalf of himself and his Church, he writ a Letter, addressed to all the Bishops of Gaul, declaring, that, for the future, he would receive no Bishops or Ecclesiastics coming to Rome from those Provinces, unless they brought with them Letters of Communion, called Formatæ, from the Metropolitan of Arles, and excommunicating those who should transgress this Order^[1563][N63]. The Privilege of granting the Formatæ was only personal; for Zosimus did not grant it to the See of Arles, but to Patroclus, whom he styles his holy Brother, in Consideration of his extraordinary Merit. To such a Degree had he suffered himself to be imposed upon, by a Man, who was the Disgrace of his Order^[1564]. In the same Letter he vests him, as Bishop of 353Arles, with a Metropolitan Jurisdiction over the Province of Vienne and the Two Provinces of Narbonne, adjudges to his See all the Parishes and Territories that had ever been subject to the City of Arles, and grants him a full Power to decide and finally determine all Controversies that should arise in the Three above-mentioned Provinces, provided they were not of such Consequence as required them to be examined at Rome^[1565]. The only Reason Zosimus alleges for thus exalting the See of Arles to the Prejudice of the See of Vienne, is, because Trophimus, the First Bishop of Arles, had converted those Provinces to the Christian Religion. A Reason both false and impertinent: false, because Trophimus flourished in the Year 250^[1566]. and the Church of Arles was famous as early as the Year 177. when they writ, with their Brethren of Lions, to the Faithful in Asia^[1567]: impertinent, because it was to the Dignity of each City, and to nothing else, that the Dignity of the Sees was owing. Hence the Council of Turin wisely adjudged the Metropolitan Dignity to him who should prove his City to be the civil Metropolis, with respect to the contested Provinces, as I have observed above. Zosimus, however, writ a Second Letter, which he addressed to all the Bishops of Gaul, Spain, and Africa, confirming to the See of Arles all the Rights and Privileges which he had granted in his First, and rejecting, with Scorn, the Decree of the Council of Turin^[1568].

He is opposed by the Bishops of Gaul;

The Bishops of Gaul, viz. Simplicius of Vienne, Hilarius of Narbonne, and Proculus of Marseilles, amazed and astonished at the Temerity of the Bishop of Rome, openly refused to acknowlege his Authority, or submit to his Sentence. Zosimus, highly provoked at the Opposition he met with, writ several threatening Letters to Hilarius and Proculus, as if he were determined to cut them off from his Communion, if they did not yield, and acknowlege Patroclus for their Metropolitan. As for Simplicius, he seems to have acted with less Vigour on this Occasion than the other Two; and it was perhaps on that Account that he has been sainted. Hilarius too yielded at last, not to the Menaces of Zosimus, which he made no Account of, but to those of Count Constantius, the avowed Patron of Patroclus^[1569], whom he allowed, on that Consideration, to ordain a Bishop at Lodeve, within the Limits of his Province, which was owning him for 354his Metropolitan. But nothing could shake the Firmness and Constancy of Proculus. Zosimus, thinking he could frighten him into a Compliance, began with reproachful Language; from Reproaches he proceeded to Menaces; and from Menaces, to summon him to Rome, to answer there for his presuming to ordain Bishops in a Province (the Second Narbonnese) that had been adjudged by the Apostolic See to the Metropolitan of Arles. |especially by Pro- culus Bishop of Marseilles.| But Proculus made so little Account of his Reproaches, Menaces, and Summons, that I do not even find he returned them an Answer. It is at least certain, that he did not obey the Summons, and that he continued to exercise the same Jurisdiction, which he had exercised before, opposing to the repeated and peremptory Orders of Zosimus a Canon of the Council of Turin, appointing him Metropolitan of the Narbonnensis Secunda^[1570]. Zosimus, transported with Rage in seeing his Authority thus slighted, writ Three Letters, all dated the 29th of September 417. viz. one to the People and Clergy of the Province of Vienne, another to those of the Second Narbonnese, and the third to Patroclus. In the Two former he inveighs bitterly against Proculus, and confirms anew to Patroclus the Metropolitan Dignity and Jurisdiction, which have been so unalterably intailed, says he, on the See of Arles, by the Decrees of the Fathers and Councils, that it exceeds even the Power and Authority of the Roman Church to transfer them to, or intail them upon, any other^[1571]. This was disclaiming, in the plainest Terms, the Power of dispensing with the Canons, which has since proved so beneficial to the Apostolic See. And yet Zosimus was acting the whole Time in direct Opposition to the Fourth Canon of the Council of Nice, vesting, as it was understood by the subsequent Councils, the Bishop of each Metropolis with the Metropolitan Dignity and Jurisdiction over the whole Province. Zosimus, in his Letter to Patroclus, encourages him to resume and exercise, in spite of Proculus, the Metropolitan Jurisdiction over the Second Narbonnese, which Proculus had so unjustly invaded and usurped. |Proculus excommunicated and deposed by Zosimus.| This Patroclus durst not attempt, tho’ seconded by the whole Power of the Apostolic See; which wrought the Pride, Ambition,and Resentment of Zosimus to such a Pitch, that, giving the Reins to his Passion, he thundered the Sentence of Excommunication against Proculus, declared him unworthy of, and degraded from, the Episcopal Dignity, and committing the Church of Marseilles to the Care of Patroclus, commanded him to exercise there the Jurisdiction with which he was vetted. The Power of the Apostolic 355See was now exhausted, and, what drove Zosimus almost to Despair, exhausted to no Effect: for Proculus, to shew how little Regard he paid to the Sentence pronounced against him at Rome, ordained a Bishop soon after he was acquainted with it. |But continues to discharge the Functions of his Office.| Zosimus, sensible that the Authority of his See was here at stake, would not abandon the Attempt. He writ Two Letters more on the same Subject, one to Patroclus, exhorting him to exert, with Vigour and Severity, the Power with which he was vested; and at the same time commanding him to declare, in his Name, that he should never be prevailed upon to acknowlege those whom Proculus had ordained. The other Letter was to the People, Clergy, and Magistrates of Marseilles; stirring them up against Proculus, and encouraging them to drive him out, and receive another in his room at the Hands of Patroclus. These Letters occasioned great Disturbances in the Church of Marseilles, which was now rent into Two opposite Parties, some refusing to acknowlege Proculus, and others declaring that they would acknowlege no other^[1572]. But, in spite of the utmost Efforts of Zosimus, of Patroclus, and their Partisans, Proculus still kept his Ground, still continued to exercise all Episcopal as well as Metropolitan Functions, as he had formerly done. He thought even the Evils attending a Schism of a less dangerous Tendency than those which he apprehended from the Encroachments of the Bishops of Rome. |His Steadiness in opposing the Encroachments of Rome.| Had all the Prelates thus stood up in Defence of their just Rights and Privileges against the Papal Usurpations, the Church had never been reduced to that deplorable Thraldom, which she groaned under for so many Ages. But, alas! there have been in all Times but too many Simplicius’s, who, out of a mistaken Principle, have chosen rather to yield to an encroaching Power, than to raise Disturbances, and forego their own Ease, by withstanding it; but too many Patroclus’s, who, to gratify their own Ambition, have prostituted their sacred Dignity to the ambitious Views of the Pope, and raised him, at the Expence of their own Order, that they might be raised by him in their Turn. Proculus, though deposed, excommunicated, calumniated, persecuted by Zosimus and his Tools, kept to the last Possession of his See; nay, and was acknowleged for lawful Bishop of Marseilles, for Metropolitan of the Second Narbonnese, not only by the Bishops of Gaul, but likewise by those of Africa^[1573]. He was still alive in 427. when he condemned the Monk Leporius for maintaining Christ to have been born Man only, but to 356have deserved, by his good Works, to become God^[1574]. The Encomiums bestowed on him by the Council of Turin, by St. Jerom, and Tiro Prosper, as I have observed above, are a sufficient Confutation of all the Calumnies uttered against him by Zosimus, and the rest of his Enemies.

Zosimus dies.

The last Letters of Zosimus, that is, his Letters to Patroclus, and the People of Marseilles, are dated the 5th of March 418. and he died in the Latter-end of the same Year, on the 26th of December, says Baronius^[1575], upon the Authority, we may suppose, of some antient Pontifical^[N64].

The Distemper which he died of lasted a long time, and was attended with such violent Fits, that he was often thought to be dead before he died. It was during his Illness that he writ his last Letters; and yet they are no less remarkable than the rest for that Fire and Vivacity, that Strength of Expression, and even that Elegance and Purity of Diction, that were peculiar to him. |His Character.| He was a Man of great Address in the Management of Affairs; well knew how to turn every thing to his Advantage; and in the several Disputes which he engaged in, he forgot nothing that could any ways distress those who opposed him. He was apt to engage too rashly, giving an intire Credit to those who, by a servile Submission, flattered his Ambition; and when he had once engaged in a Cause, as he was of a haughty and imperious Temper, impatient of Controul, passionate, headstrong, full of, and elated with, the Dignity of the Apostolic See, it required the greatest Art and Address in his Brethren to bring him into their Measures, and with-hold him from raising fatal Divisions in the Church. His whole Conduct and Behaviour towards them, the haughty and peremptory Style, which he assumed in writing to them, sufficiently shew that he looked upon them as infinitely below him, as bound to yield a blind Obedience to all his Commands, and submit, without Reply, to all his Decisions: and it is not to be doubted but, had he lived 357longer, and not met with the vigorous Opposition which he did from the Bishop of Marseilles, he would have made great Progress towards reducing his Fellow-Ministers and Fellow-Labourers, as they are styled by St. Cyprian, to that State of Dependence, not to say Slavery, which in the End they have been reduced to by his Successors. He was the first who made use of the Expression, For so it has pleased the Apostolic See^[1576], an Expression which his Successors have all adopted, as the Language of the highest Authority, and such as exempted them from giving any Account either of their Actions, or of the Motives, that prompted them so to act. But, to paint Zosimus to the Life, we want no other Colours than those, which the African Bishops, who were but too well acquainted with him, have furnished us with in the Letter which they writ to his Successor Boniface. We hope, say they, that since it has pleased the Almighty to raise you to the Throne of the Roman Church, we shall no longer feel the Effects of that worldly Pride and Arrogance, which ought never to have found room in the Church of Christ^[1577]. In the same Letter they complain of their having been made to endure such things as it was almost impossible for them to endure, which however they were willing to forget. Hard indeed and tyrannical must the Treatment have been, which they met with at the Hands of Zosimus, since it could extort from so many venerable Prelates a Complaint of this Nature, and that in a Letter to his immediate Successor. |Zosimus sainted by a Mistake of Baronius.| Zosimus however has been sainted, and is now worshiped by the Church of Rome as a great Saint, not so much in regard of his own Merits, as by a Blunder of Baronius in revising and correcting the Roman Martyrology. The Case is pretty singular, and may not be thought quite unworthy of a Place here, by reason of the Consequences, which every Protestant Reader may draw from it. In the Martyrology of Bede was marked, St. Zosimus Martyr, who suffered for the Confession of the Faith. This Martyr an ignorant Transcriber mistook for the Pope of the same Name, and, concerned to find so little said of so great a Saint, set down all he knew of him. This Copy Baronius perused, and, reading there what the Transcriber had added of his own, concluded the Saint mentioned in that Place to be Pope Zosimus, and accordingly, upon the supposed Authority of Bede, allotted him a Place among the other Saints in the Roman Martyrology. As for his being said to have suffered Martyrdom for the Confession of the Faith, Baronius ascribed that to the Ignorance of 358the Transcriber, making but one Saint out of two, though they lived at so great a Distance of Time from each other; for the Martyr lived in the earliest Times, and is mentioned by St. Polycarp, who flourished Two hundred Years and upwards before the Pontificate of Zosimus. To this double Blunder of the Transcriber and Baronius is Zosimus indebted for the Worship and Honours that are publicly paid him in the Church of Rome. Indeed that Church is not more grosly deluded in paying an idolatrous Worship to Saints, upon the Authority of her Infallible Guide, than in the Objects to whom that Worship is paid^[N65].

Honorius, BONIFACE, Forty-first Bishop of Rome. Theodosius the younger.

Year of Christ 419. Schism in the Church of Rome.

Zosimus being dead, great Disturbances arose about the Election of his Successor. Eulalius, whom Authors distinguish with the Title of Archdeacon, shutting himself up in the Lateran with Part of the People, and some Presbyters and Deacons, was there chosen by them in the room of Zosimus. At the same time a great Number of the People, many Presbyters, and some Bishops, assembling in the Church of St. Theodora, named the Presbyter Boniface to the vacant See. |Boniface and Eulalius both chosen.| Both were ordained the same Day they were chosen; Boniface, by Nine Bishops, and in the Presence of Seventy Presbyters; Eulalius, by Three Bishops only, and in the Presence of a very small Number of Presbyters; but the Bishop of Ostia was one of the Three; and he claimed, from a Custom which had long obtained, the Right of ordaining the Bishop of Rome. |The Governor of Rome and the Emperor favour Eulalius,| Symmachus, Governor of the City, did all 359that lay in his Power to prevent this double Election; but, not succeeding therein, he immediately dispatched an Express to the Emperor Honorius, then at Ravenna, with a Letter dated the 29th of December 418. acquainting him with what had passed. But his Account was not impartial: he represented Eulalius as lawfully chosen, and his Competitor as an Usurper. Honorius therefore, by a Rescript dated the 2d of January 419. ordered him to persuade Boniface to retire from Rome, to use Force, if Persuasions did not prevail, and to apprehend and punish the Ringleaders of the Sedition, if any should be raised on that Occasion. With this Rescript the Emperor dispatched Aphrodisius a Tribune and Notary; and Symmachus, having received it on the 6th of January, sent early next Morning his Primiscrinius, or first Secretary, with an Order for Boniface to attend him, and hear what he had to impart to him in the Emperor’s Name, letting him know, in the mean time, that he must not take upon him to exercise any Episcopal Functions; for such was the Will and Pleasure of the Emperor. This Order Boniface received while he was holding an Assembly in the Church of St. Paul without the Walls; but paid no Regard to it; nay, those who attended him, falling on the Secretary, who brought it, treated him very roughly; which Symmachus no sooner knew than he caused the Gates of the City to be shut, and kept Boniface out. |who takes Possession of the Church of St. Peter.| In the mean time Eulalius, improving to his Advantage the Absence of his Competitor, repaired to the Church of St. Peter, took Possession of it amidst the loud Acclamations of his Partisans, and exercised there all Episcopal Functions.

The Friends of Boniface write to the Emperor,

The avowed Partiality of Symmachus for Eulalius left no room to doubt but he had misinformed the Emperor. The Bishops therefore, with the Presbyters and People, who had chosen Boniface, thought it their Duty to transmit to him a candid and impartial Account of the late Transactions: and this they did accordingly, intreating the Emperor at the same time to revoke his former Order, and to summon both Eulalius and Boniface to Court, in order to try their Cause there. |who summons a Council to decide the Controversy.| Their Request appeared just; and Honorius, in Compliance with it, sent an Order to Symmachus, dated the 13th of January 419. commanding him to suspend the Execution of his former Order, and to notify to the Two Competitors, that they, and those who ordained them, must repair to Ravenna, on Pain to him who should fail to appear there on the 8th of the ensuing February, of having his Election declared null. Several Bishops were summoned to attend at the same 360time, Honorius thinking it proper, that a Dispute of that Nature should be decided by none but Bishops. However, to remove all Suspicion of Partiality on his Side, he would not allow those to sit as Judges, who had been any-ways concerned in the Election or Ordination of either of the Competitors. |A more full Council summoned.| The Bishops met; but not being able to agree among themselves, Honorius thought the Affair of such Importance, that he put it off to the 13th of June, with a Design to have it decided then in a full Council. He writ accordingly not only to the Bishops of Italy, but to those too of Gaul and Africa, inviting them to the Council, and acquainting them with the Time and Place of its meeting. In the mean while he strictly injoined both Boniface and Eulalius to keep at a Distance from the City, lest their Presence should occasion Disturbances there. But as Easter approached, he appointed Achilleus Bishop of Spoleti, who was of neither Party, to perform the Episcopal Functions at Rome during that Solemnity. |Eulalius disobeys the Emperor, and is driven from Rome.| This Eulalius could not brook; and therefore returning to Rome, in open Defiance of the Emperor’s Orders, he assembled the People, seized on the Lateran, and shutting the Doors against Achilleus, performed in that Basilic the Episcopal Functions usual at Easter. The Emperor, being acquainted by Symmachus with what had passed, was so provoked at his Disobedience and Temerity, that, by a Rescript dated from Ravenna the 3d of April, and received at Rome on the 8th of the same Month, he commanded Symmachus to drive Eulalius from the City, and to put Boniface in Possession of the disputed See; which was accordingly done^[N66].

Boniface indebted to the Emperor for his Dignity.

Thus was an End put to the Schism; thus was Boniface placed on the Roman See, and vested with the Papal Dignity by the Clemency of the Emperor, as Largus Proconsul of Africa expresses it in his Letter to the Bishops of that Province^[1578]; and not by the Authority of a Council consisting of Two hundred and Fifty-two Bishops, which some have brought down from the Clouds, without even letting us know where or when they assembled^[1579].

All we know of Boniface before his Election is, that he was the Son of one Jucundus a Presbyter^[1580], was stricken in Years, well versed in the Ecclesiastical Laws, of an unblemished Character; and, what 361enhances his Merit, chosen against his Will. |Boniface applies to the Emperor for a Law to restrain the Ambition of the Candidates to the Papacy.| Thus say his Friends, in the Letter which they writ in his Behalf to the Emperor Honorius^[1581]. His first Care, after he found himself in the quiet Possession of his See, was to prevent for the future, so far as in him lay, the Cabals and Intrigues that might be formed at other Elections, as they had been at his, to the great Disturbance of the City, and Scandal of the Christian Religion. With this View he writ to the Emperor, intreating him to restrain, by some severe Law, the Ambition of those who, trusting more to their Intrigues than their Merit, aspired to a Dignity that was due to Merit alone^[N67].

His Law for that Purpose.

The Emperor, in Compliance with so just a Demand, enacted a Law, well calculated to prevent effectually the Evil complained of, and keep the Ambition of the Candidates to the Papacy within due Bounds. For by this Law, when Two Persons were chosen, neither was to hold the Dignity, but the People and Clergy were to proceed to a new Election. This is the first Instance, that occurs in History, of Princes intermeddling in the Election of the Pope; an Evil, says F. Pagi, which, from small Beginnings, grew to such a Height as to reflect great Shame and Disgrace on the Roman Church.^[1582] But it must be observed, that the original Evil was the Corruption, the Violence, and the many Disorders which the Clergy and People were guilty of in those Elections. It was this which, at the Request of the Pope himself, called on the Emperors to interpose their Authority, as the only adequate Remedy to such Abuses. The succeeding Emperors followed the Example of Honorius, and the Gothic as well as the Lombard Kings, the Example of the Emperors, as we shall see in the Sequel of the present History.

Boniface free from Ambition.

Boniface was naturally a Lover of Peace, and an Enemy to all Strife and Contention. He did not claim, nor attempt to usurp, any new Power over his Collegues; but yet he would not part with any his Predecessors enjoyed, by what means soever they had acquired it; and those who attempted to curtail the usurped Jurisdiction of the Apostolic See, met with as vigorous an Opposition from him as they could have done either from Innocent or Zosimus. In short, he had not Ambition enough to inlarge his Authority, but thought himself in Conscience obliged to maintain the just Rights, as he styled and 362believed them, of the See in which it had pleased Divine Providence to place him, though unworthy of so great an Honour. |Dispute between him and the Bishops of Illyricum.| His Steadiness in asserting these Claims appeared chiefly in the Dispute that arose between him and the Bishops of Illyricum, over whom Damasus had usurped, as I have related elsewhere^[1583], and his Successors maintained a particular Power and Jurisdiction. The Transaction is thus related by the Writers of those Times. The See of Patræ in Achaia, one of the Provinces of Illyricum, being vacant, the Bishop of Corinth, Metropolitan of that Province, did all that lay in his Power to get Perigenes, a Presbyter of an unexceptionable Character, chosen in the room of their deceased Bishop. But his Endeavours proving unsuccessful, he returned to Corinth, and died soon after. Upon his Death the People and Clergy of Corinth, to honour his Memory, and shew the Regard they had for one whom he had favoured, unanimously named Perigenes to succeed him. But as they apprehended some Opposition from the Bishops of the same Province, they writ to Boniface, begging him to confirm their Election with his Authority. Boniface referred them to Rufus, then Bishop of Thessalonica, and his Vicar in those Parts, declaring that, as for himself, he had nothing to object either against their Election, or the Person elected. Rufus notified to the Bishops of the Province, and the Metropolitans of the Diocese, the Approbation of Boniface, and his own; but it was not received by all in the same manner. |Law of Theodosius concerning Disputes that should arise in Illyricum.| The greater Part indeed agreed to the Ordination of the new Bishop; but some opposed it with great Warmth, prompted, most probably, by the Jealousy they entertained of the growing Power of the See of Rome: for, at their Request, a Law was published by the Emperor Theodosius, dated the 14th of July 421. commanding all Disputes, that should arise in the Diocese of Illyricum, to be finally determined by the Bishops of that Diocese, after they had consulted the Bishop of Constantinople^[1584]. This was taking those Provinces from the Bishop of Rome, and, in some Degree, subjecting them to the Bishop of Constantinople, or at least opening a Door for such a Subjection. The Power of the Bishops of Constantinople was already grown very considerable, and their Ambition keeping Pace with that of the Bishops of Rome, neither let any Opportunity slip of extending the Jurisdiction of their own See at the Expence of the other. In the present 363Case the Bishop of Constantinople, availing himself of the Favour of the Emperor, and the Disagreement that reigned among the Illyrican Bishops, summoned, without Loss of Time, a Council to meet at Corinth, and there to examine the Ordination of Perigenes, though he had been ordained, and his Ordination approved of both by Rufus and Boniface. |Three Letters of Boniface.| This Step, quite unexpected, alarmed Boniface; he divested himself at once of his pacific Disposition, and, assuming the Air and Style of Authority, he writ Three Letters, all dated the same Day, viz. 11th of March 422. encouraging the Friends of the Apostolic See to maintain its Rights, and threatening those who dared to invade them. |He maintains, with Authority, his pretended Rights.| The first was to Rufus of Thessalonica, whom he animates not to suffer any Innovations, but vigorously to withstand those, who assumed an Authority that did not become them, and to which they had no kind of Title or Claim, meaning, no doubt, the Bishop of Constantinople. The Second Letter he writ to the Bishops of Thessaly, exhorting them to acknowlege the Authority of Rufus, and no other. The Third was addressed to the Bishops of Macedon, Achaia, Thessaly, Epirus, and Dacia, who had been summoned by the Bishop of Constantinople to assemble at Corinth, and there deliver their Opinion concerning the Ordination of Perigenes. In this Letter he complains, in the strongest Terms, of so bold and daring an Attempt, asking, in the Style of a Sovereign, What Bishop shall presume to question an Ordination approved by us? What Bishop could take upon him to assemble a Council with that View and Intent? Read, he adds, read the Canons, and there you will find, that the See of Rome is the First, the See of Alexandria the Second, and that of Antioch the Third. These are the Three great Sees; these the Sees which the Fathers have distinguished above the rest, with ample Privileges, and extensive Jurisdiction. Since he refers them to the Canons to shew, that these Three Sees are superior to the See of Constantinople, both in Dignity and Jurisdiction, it were to be wished he had, at the same time, acquainted them by what Canons his Predecessors had exercised over the Provinces of Illyricum the Jurisdiction which he now so zealously asserts. But that is more than it was in his Power to do. However, in the present Letter, he threatens with Excommunication such of the Illyrican Bishops as shall, in Defiance of his Orders, comply with the Summons which they have received, or presume to question the Ordination of Perigenes. What was the Issue of this Dispute is not recorded by any of the Antients; 364but a modern Historian^[1585] informs us, that the Emperor Honorius interposing, at the Request of Boniface, in Behalf of the See of Rome, prevailed upon Theodosius to revoke his former Law, and enact another in its room, confirming to the Apostolic See all its antient Privileges, and injoining the Præfectus Prætorio to see the latter Law put in Execution. The Historian quotes this Law from the Archives of the Roman Church. But as it is not to be found either in the Theodosian or the Justinian Code, its Authenticity may be justly suspected.

He revokes the Priv- ileges granted by Zosimus to the Church of Arles.

The same Year 422. Boniface gave a signal Instance of his Equity and Love of Justice, which redounds greatly to his Honour, and therefore ought not to be omitted. He was sensible, that his Predecessor Zosimus, abusing his Authority, had acted in the Affair of the Gallican Bishops, in a most partial and arbitrary manner; that the See of Arles had no just Title to the many Privileges, which he had been induced, by his Partiality for Patroclus, to heap on it, at the Expence of Two other Sees; and, consequently, that it was incumbent upon himself, now that he had the Power in his Hands, to rectify by a better Use of it, what his Predecessor had done amiss. The Love of Justice therefore prevailing in him over all other Considerations, he annulled, by a Letter addressed to Hilarius of Narbonne, whatever had been done by Zosimus in favour of the See of Arles, restored and confirmed to the Sees of Narbonne and Vienne all the Rights and Privileges, which they had been so unjustly divested of, and declaring all the Grants and Concessions made to the See of Arles repugnant to the Canons, strictly injoined the Bishop of Narbonne not to suffer his Brother of Arles to exercise, in virtue of them, any kind of Authority within the Limits of his Jurisdiction^[N68]. The Conduct of Boniface was afterwards approved, and that of Zosimus justly condemned, by Pope Leo the Great, declaring in a Letter which he writ to the Bishops of the Province of Vienne, that the Privileges, which the Apostolic See had granted to Patroclus, were afterwards revoked by a more equitable Sentence.

A remarkable Instance of his Moderation.

One of the many Artifices, employed by the Popes to aggrandize their See, was to raise Divisions among their Collegues, or to foment underhand those that others had raised. For in such Divisions they 365never stood neuter, but, taking Part in the Quarrel, nay, and making themselves Principals, they warmly declared in favour of one Party against the other, that, by supporting them, they might be in their Turn supported by them in all their Pretensions. To this worldly Wisdom, this wicked Policy, Boniface was an utter Stranger: for he did not lay hold of a very favourable Opportunity, which the Division, that reigned at this time among the Bishops of Gaul, offered him, to improve his Authority, and extend his Jurisdiction. The Metropolitan Dignity was disputed there by the Bishops of Vienne, of Narbonne, and of Arles, as I have observed above. During that Contest the Clergy of Valence, quarreling with their Bishop Maximus, charged him with several Crimes; but not caring to accuse him at the Tribunal of any of the Three Competitors (for that had been acknowleging, in one of the Three, the Metropolitan Jurisdiction then in Dispute), they arraigned him at Rome, and summoned him to plead his Cause there before Boniface. Most other Popes would have eagerly embraced such an Opportunity of inlarging their Power; nay, and founded upon this particular Case the general Right of judging, and finally determining, all Causes of the like Nature. But Boniface declared, in his Letter to Patroclus, and the other Bishops of the Seven Provinces of Gaul, that though Maximus had been accused at his Tribunal, though he had not appeared to clear himself from the Crimes laid to his Charge, and might thereupon be thought guilty, and be justly condemned; yet he would not take upon him to pronounce such a Sentence, because that Bishop ought, according to the Canons, to be judged and condemned, or absolved, in his own Province. An Instance of Moderation that reflects no small Honour on the Memory of Boniface; the rather as he had before his Eyes the recent Examples of Innocent and Zosimus, the Two most ambitious and arrogant Popes the Church had yet seen. He closes his Letter with exhorting the Bishops of the Seven Provinces to assemble against the First of November, that Maximus may be cleared, if innocent, or condemned, if guilty.

His Death.

Boniface died on the 4th of November 422. having held the Chair 3 Years, 9 Months, and some Days. He was buried in the Cœmetery of the Martyr St. Felicitas, on the Salarian Way; where he is said to have built an Oratory. He is worshiped by the Church of Rome among her Saints, an Honour which few of his Predecessors better deserved. But it is a Wonder that the last Instance I have given of 366his Moderation, and Regard to the Canons against the Claims of his See, did not exclude him out of the Calendar. His Festival is kept on the 25th of October; and Bede quotes a Book of Miracles wrought by Pope Boniface^[1586]; but whether by the First Pope of that Name, or the Second, he does not inform us, though he seems to give an intire Credit to every idle Tale that Legend contained. And here I cannot help observing, by the way, that the less necessary Miracles became, the more they were multiplied. In Bede’s Time, and the Three preceding Centuries, Men were rather inclined to believe too much than too little; and yet in no other Time was there a greater Profusion of Miracles. From an antient Epitaph quoted by Baronius^[1587], it appears that Boniface died very old; that he had served the Church from his tender Years; that by his engaging Behaviour he put an End to the Schism, and that he relieved Rome in the time of a Famine.

Honorius, CELESTINE, Forty-second Bishop of Rome. Theodosius II., Valentinian III.

Year of Christ 422. Celestine chosen without Opposition.

Upon the Demise of Boniface, Celestine was chosen in his room, without the least Disturbance or Opposition. Eulalius indeed, who was still alive, and led a retired Life in the neighbouring Province of Campania, was tempted by his Friends in Rome to try his Fortune a Second time; but he did not chuse to quit his Solitude, and involve both himself and them in new Troubles. Celestine was a Native of Rome, the Son of one Priscus, and a Deacon, if not a Presbyter, at the Time of his Election^[1588].

Antony, one of St. Austin’s Disciples, appointed by his Interest Bishop of Fussala.

He was scarce warm in the Chair, when he received a Letter from St. Austin on the following Occasion. As the small Town, or rather Village of Fussala, belonging to the Bishoprick of Hippo, the See of St. Austin, stood at a great Distance from that City, the good Bishop thought he could not better consult the spiritual Welfare of the Inhabitants, who had but very lately abandoned the Party of the Donatists, than by causing their Town to be erected into a separate Bishoprick, 367and letting them have a Bishop of their own. This was indeed abridging both his own Jurisdiction and Revenues; but as he had the Good of the People more at Heart than either, he pursued his Scheme with Success, and prevailed upon his Collegues in Numidia to ordain a young Man named Antony, whom he had brought up from his Infancy, the first Bishop of the Place, though at that time only a Reader. This Promotion, per saltum, as it is styled, was strictly forbidden by the Popes in their Decretals; but to their Orders St. Austin paid no greater Regard than the other Bishops did, though he always spoke of them, and to them, with all the Respect that was due to the first Bishop in the West.|Antony’s scandalous Behaviour.| St. Austin had soon Occasion to repent his transgressing those Regulations, which, it must be owned, are in themselves very wise: for Antony, who was but a Youth, and had been kept by St. Austin under great Restraint, no sooner found himself free from all Controul, than abandoning himself intirely to the Indulgence of his youthful Passions, he thereby scandalized the new Catholics to such a Degree, that they let St. Austin know the Conduct of their Bishop, unless he was quickly removed, would certainly drive them to the last Extremity; meaning, perhaps, that they should be forced either to put him to Death, or to join anew the Donatists, whom they had but lately forsaken. Such Menaces alarmed St. Austin no less than the Conduct of his favourite Disciple surprised him. A Council was immediately summoned at his Request by the Primate of Numidia; Antony was ordered to attend it, and the Inhabitants of Fussala invited to lay their Complaints before the Assembly. The Summons was complied with by all, and Antony, by a great Number of Witnesses, convicted of Rapine, Violence, and Extortion. But, because some capital Crimes laid to his Charge were not sufficiently proved, the Fathers of the Council, out of an unseasonable Compassion, contented themselves with only condemning him to restore to the Inhabitants of Fussala what he had with Violence taken from them. |He is deprived of the Administration, and all Jurisdiction, by a Council.| They were even inclined to leave him in the quiet Possession of his Church; but that being warmly opposed by the People, they deprived him of the Administration, and of all Jurisdiction; but as he still retained the Episcopal Dignity, they did not chuse to remove him to another City to live there even as a private Person, lest they should be thought to transgress the Rules of the Fathers forbidding Translations^[1589]. None could think so who were the least acquainted with those Rules.

He appeals to Rome.

368Antony satisfied, pursuant to his Sentence, the Inhabitants of Fussala, whom he had wronged. But pretending that he had been unjustly deprived of his Bishoprick, he resolved to appeal to Rome. He was sensible that his appealing at this Juncture, when the Point of Appeals was warmly disputed, as I shall relate hereafter, was Merit enough to recommend him to the Favour of that See. However, not trusting to that alone, as Boniface was still alive, he first engaged in his Favour his own Primate, the Primate of Numidia, who, having been excused on account of his great Age from assisting at the Council, was not well acquainted with what had passed there. |Prevails upon the Primate to write in his Behalf to Rome.| Him therefore he easily persuaded, that he had been very ill used by the Council: For had they thought me guilty, said he, of the Rapine and Extortions, that were laid to my Charge, they ought, and, without all doubt, would have deposed me: they have not deposed me; and therefore did not, as is manifest, think me guilty. If I did not deserve to be degraded from my Dignity, I did not deserve to be driven from my See. Thus he artfully turned the Mercy that had been shewn him against those who had shewn it; and, having by that means imposed upon the Primate, persuaded him to write a Letter in his Behalf to Boniface. |How received by Boniface.| With this Letter he repaired to Rome, but did not meet there with the Reception he expected: for all he could obtain of Boniface was a Letter to the Bishops of Numidia, requiring them to reinstate him in his See, provided he had represented Matters as they truly were. This conditional Request Antony, on his Return to Africa, improved, it seems, into an absolute Command: for he threatened the People of Fussala with a Visit from the Imperial Troops and Commissaries, if they did not receive him as their lawful Bishop, in Compliance with the Orders of the Apostolic See^[1590]. |The People of Fussala write against him to Celestine.| In the mean time Boniface dying, and Celestine being chosen in his room, the People of Fussala apprehending, as St. Austin writes, greater Evils from a Catholic Bishop, after their Return to the Church, than they had done from a Catholic Emperor during their Separation, writ a most pathetic Letter to the new Pope, intreating him to pity their Condition, to curb Antony in his unchristian Attempts, and to redeem them, by his Authority, from the Calamities which they had Reason to apprehend from that Prelate’s Cruelty and Ambition. In the same Letter they imputed all their Misfortunes to Austin, who had set over them such a Bishop. |Are seconded by St. Austin.| And this Austin 369was so far from taking amiss, that he owned the Charge, and even backed their Request with a Letter of his own, conjuring Celestine, by the Memory of St. Peter, who abhorred all Violence and Tyranny, not to use either with the People of Fussala, who, he said, had but too much Reason not to submit tamely to the galling Yoke from which they had been so lately delivered. He adds, that if, in spite of all his Endeavours and Remonstrances, he should still have the Mortification to see the Church of Fussala plundered and tyrannically oppressed by one whom he had raised to that See, he should think himself obliged to atone for the Share which he had in his Crimes, by resigning his own^[1591]. |Celestine acquiesces in the Sentence of the Council of Numidia.| Celestine was so affected with these Letters, that he immediately acquiesced in the Sentence of the Council of Numidia; and the new Bishoprick of Fussala being suppressed, that Town, with its District, was again subjected to the See of Hippo. From these Letters, that were written by the Africans on this Occasion, it appears, that the Bishops of Rome used, in those Days, to send some of their Ecclesiastics into Africa, to see the Sentences, which they had given, executed there; and that those Ecclesiastics came with Orders from the Court for the Civil Magistrates to assist them, where their Assistance should be required, or thought necessary.

An End put to the Schism formed by Eulalius.

The Schism formed by Eulalius was not, it seems, yet quite extinct in Rome in the Year 425. for I find a Law of that Year, dated the 17th of July, and addressed to Faustus Prefect of the City, commanding all Manichees, Heretics, Schismatics, and Sects of every Denomination, to be driven out of Rome; but more especially those, who, separating themselves from the Communion of the Venerable Pope, kept alive a dangerous Schism. Over these Faustus is injoined to keep a watchful Eye, to summon them to communicate with Celestine, and, if they did not comply with the Summons in Twenty Days, to banish them an Hundred Miles from Rome^[1592]. This Law was issued by Placidia, who, upon the Death of her Brother Honorius, which happened in the Month of August 423. and that of the Usurper John, killed in 425, governed the Western Empire, as Guardian to her Son Valentinian III. The Law she issued, probably put an End to the Schism; for no further Mention is made of it by any Historian.

370It was in the Time of Celestine, and the following Year 426. the Fourth of his Pontificate, that the Bishops of Africa, quite tired out with the daily Encroachments of the Bishops of Rome, and not able to brook the despotic and arbitrary Power which they had begun to exercise over them, took the no less laudable than necessary Resolution of breaking their Chains before they were thoroughly riveted, and asserting their antient Liberty, by effectually removing what had endangered it, the pernicious Abuse of appealing to Rome. |Apiarius, a Presbyter of Sicca, appeals to Rome.| The Incident, which gave Occasion to that Resolution, was the Appeal of a Presbyter of Sicca, named Apiarius, who, being convicted of many Crimes, and thereupon degraded and excommunicated by his own Bishop Urbanus, appealed to Zosimus then Bishop of Rome. |Zosimus restores him to the Rank from which he had been degraded.| Zosimus, who missed no Opportunity of acquiring new Power, or improving the Power which he had acquired, not only received the Appeal, but, without ever hearing the other Side, restored Apiarius both to his Rank, and the Communion of the Church. This was the boldest Attempt that had yet been made upon the Rights and Liberties of the African Churches; and therefore the Bishops in those Parts, all uniting in a Cause that was common to all, loudly complained of such an arbitrary Act, as an open Violation of the Canons of the Church, forbidding those, who had been excluded from the Communion by their own Bishop, to be admitted to it by any other^[1593]. Zosimus, finding the African Bishops had taken the Alarm, and were determined to restrain his Power within the Limits prescribed to it by the Canons, and, on the other hand, being well apprised, that he could allege no Canons, that had ever been received by them, to countenance the Power which he claimed, and had exercised, thought it would be no great Crime to recur to Fraud on so urgent an Occasion. |To support his Pretensions, endeavours to impose upon the African Bishops the Canons of Sardica for the Canons of Nice.| Agreeably to this Scheme, he caused Two Canons to be transcribed from the Council of Sardica; the one allowing Presbyters and Deacons, when rashly excommunicated by their own Bishops, to appeal to the neighbouring Bishops; and the other, authorizing the Appeal of all Bishops to the Bishop of Rome. Had the Africans received these Canons, he intended to have justified, by the former, his judging and absolving Apiarius, notwithstanding the Distance between Rome and Numidia; and, in virtue of the latter, to get the Canon revoked, which the African Bishops had lately made, forbidding, 371on Pain of Excommunication, Appeals beyond Sea; that is, to Rome. Nothing less than an intire Subjection of the African Churches to the See of Rome would satisfy the boundless Ambition of Zosimus; and such a Subjection would infallibly have ensued, had the Two above-mentioned Canons been received by the African Bishops in the Sense which Zosimus did, and seemed determined to make others, put upon them. But the main Point was, to persuade the Bishops of Africa to admit such Canons, especially at so critical a Juncture. The Council of Sardica had never been received there: nay, they were, it seems, at this very Time, utter Strangers both to that Council and its Canons; so that it was useless to quote them as such. Of this Zosimus was aware; and therefore, as he stuck at nothing that stood in the way of his Ambition, he resolved, by one of the most impudent and barefaced Impostures recorded in History, to try whether he could not impose upon the Bishops of Africa the Canons of Sardica for the Canons of Nice. |With this View he sends a Solemn Embassy into Africa.| With this knavish View, and to render the Imposture more solemn, and less suspected, he dispatched into Africa Three Legates, viz. Faustinus Bishop of Potentia in Picenum, and Two Roman Presbyters, Philippus and Asellus. Their Instructions, contained in a Letter addressed to themselves, were, to require of the African Bishops a strict Observance of the Two above-mentioned Canons of Nice; to complain of their repairing so often to Court; and to desire them not to communicate with Urbanus of Sicca, who had deposed Apiarius, or even to send him to Rome, if he refused to correct what he had done amiss^[1594]; that is, we may suppose, if he did not restore Apiarius to his Rank, and the Communion of the Church.

With these Instructions the Legates set out for Africa, where they no sooner arrived, than a Council was convened, at which assisted, among the rest, Alypius Bishop of Tagaste, St. Austin’s great Friend, and Aurelius Bishop of Carthage. When the Legates first appeared before the Council, the Bishops desired them to lay their Instructions before the Assembly; which they were at first unwilling to do, contenting themselves with declaring their Commission by Word of Mouth. But the Africans knowing whom they had to deal with, and thereupon pressing them to communicate their Instructions is Writing, they complied at last, and produced the Letter 372I have mentioned above, which was immediately registred. |The Surprize of the African Bishops on this Occasion.| When it was publicly read, it is impossible to conceive the Surprize and Astonishment that appeared in the whole Assembly. They had never heard of those Canons; and to find them thus confidently ascribed to the Council of Nice, was what appeared to them strange beyond Expression. Warm Disputes arose, of which, however, we know no Particulars. Several different Greek Copies, several Latin Copies, were sent for, and carefully examined and compared; but no such Canons could be found there. However, as the Legates continued to maintain, with an unparalleled Impudence, the disputed Canons of Nice, the Council agreed to observe them, till they had, by a more diligent Inquiry, discovered the Truth^[1595].

They continued their Sessions; but as they were few in Number, as the Point in Dispute was of the utmost Consequence, and nearly affected all the Bishops of Africa, they thought it should be communicated to all; and that, without the Concurrence of all, no Resolution should be taken. |A General Council assembled at Carthage.| A General Council was accordingly assembled at Carthage, consisting of Two hundred and Seventeen Bishops, from the different Provinces of Africa. They met, for the first time, on the 25th of May 419. Faustinus being placed next after Aurelius of Carthage, and Valentine Primate of Numidia, and the Two Presbyters Philippus and Asellus after the other Bishops. Being all seated, Aurelius moved, that the Canons of Nice might be read, from the Copies which they had of that Council in Africa. |The Conduct of Faustinus, the Pope’s Legate, on this Occasion.| But this was warmly opposed by Faustinus, insisting upon their reading, in the first place, his Instructions, and coming to some Resolution concerning the Observance of the Canons of Nice, which he was charged by the Apostolic See to require of them. It matters not, said he, whether or no those Canons are to be found in your Copies, or, indeed, in any other. You must know, that the Canons and Ordinances of Nice, which have been handed down to us by Tradition, and established by Custom, are no less binding than those that have been conveyed to us in Writing. To this Speech the Bishops returned no Answer; without doubt, because they thought it deserved none. However, at his Request, his Instructions were read, and warm Debates ensued. |The Resolution taken by the Council.| Alypius was of Opinion, that since the disputed Canons were not to be found in any of their Copies, Messengers and 373Letters should be immediately dispatched to the Bishops of Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch, for authentic Copies of the Acts and Canons of Nice. This Proposal Faustinus highly resented, as an Outrage offered to the Apostolic See, which, he said, was thereby arraigned of Fraud and Forgery. He therefore advised them to write to Boniface, who, by this time, had succeeded Zosimus, and, leaving to him the Care of examining the Authority of those Canons, submit the Whole to his Judgment, to his known Prudence and Discretion. He added, that by acting otherwise they might give Occasion to great Divisions and Disturbances in the Church. Aurelius, not to exasperate the Legate, whom he found to be a Man of a haughty, imperious, and intractable Temper, made no other Reply, but that they would write to Boniface. St. Austin promised to observe those Canons so long as it could be reasonably supposed that they were the Canons of Nice. The other Bishops made the same Promise; which was confirming the Resolution the Council had taken the Year before. Here the Legate exaggerated anew the Affront they offered to the Roman Church; adding, that the only Reparation they could make, for questioning the Authenticity of Canons proposed by her, was to leave the deciding of that Point to her, and acquiesce in her Judgment. But the Warmth, the Earnestness, the Passion which he betrayed in his Speech, and in his whole Conduct, served only to heighten the Jealousy, and confirm the Suspicions, of the African Bishops. It was therefore universally agreed, in spite of the Remonstrances, Intreaties, and Menaces of the Legate, that Aurelius should write to the Bishops of Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch, for authentic Copies of the Canons of Nice: that if the Canons, quoted by Faustinus, were found in those Copies, they should be punctually observed; if not, that a new Council should be convened, and such Resolutions taken, as the Fathers, who composed it, should think proper^[1596].

The Affair of Apiarius, how settled by the Council.

Matters being thus settled, with respect to the pretended Canons of Nice, concerning Appeals, the Council took next into Consideration the Case of Apiarius which had given Occasion to the present Dispute between Rome and Africa; and it was agreed, that Apiarius should make the due Submission to his Bishop, and there upon be re-admitted to his Communion, and restored to his Rank. However, as he had given great Offence to the People of Sicca, by 374his scandalous Life, he was ordered, by the Council, to quit that City; but, at the same time, allowed to exercise the Functions of his Office in any other Place^[1597]. This Medium the Council wisely chose between the Two opposite Sentences; that of Urbanus excommunicating and deposing him, and that of Zosimus restoring him to the Communion and the Priesthood. Such was the Issue of the Appeal of Apiarius: and I leave the Reader to judge, whether Baronius should boast of it as he does. And now nothing remained, but to acquaint Boniface with the Acts and Resolutions of the Council; and this was done accordingly by a Letter, which they all signed, and delivered to the Legates. In that Letter they begged Boniface to procure, from the East, authentic Copies of the Canons of Nice, promising to observe the Canons in Dispute, till such Copies were procured; but this upon Condition, that if those Canons were not found to be genuine, they should recover their antient Privileges, and not be forced to submit to a Yoke, which Ambition alone could impose^[1598].

The African Bishops write into the East for authentic Copies of the Council of Nice.

With this Letter the Three Legates set out from Africa, on their Return to Rome. Upon their Departure, the African Bishops writ, agreeably to the Resolution they had taken, to Atticus of Constantinople, and Cyril of Alexandria, begging they would cause to be transcribed, and sent into Africa, the most authentic Copies they had of the Canons of Nice. With this Request the Two Bishops readily complied; and the same Year 419. the Messengers sent to Alexandria and Constantinople returned with the wished-for Copies, and very friendly and obliging Answers, which are still extant^[1599], from Cyril and Atticus, addressed to Aurelius, to Valentine, and to all the Bishops of Africa assembled at Carthage. As for the Bisop of Antioch, the Africans probably did not write to him; at least, they had no Answer from him^[N69]. |The pretended Canons not found in those Copies, and the Dispute dropt by Boniface.| They immediately compared the Two Copies, sent them from the East, with their own, especially with that which Cæcilianus of Carthage had brought with him from Nice, where he had assisted at the Council; and found them agree in every Particular, without any Trace of the Canons that Zosimus 375had produced: upon which they dispatched the same Ecclesiastics with them to Rome, whom they had sent into the East. Boniface, who was an Enemy to all Fraud and Imposition, acquiesced; the Dispute was dropped; so that the Canon, which the African Bishops had lately made, forbidding Appeals to Rome, and Zosimus had thus fraudulently attempted to defeat, remained in its full Vigour; and the Churches of Africa were suffered quietly to enjoy their antient Rights and Privileges, so long as Boniface lived. But in the Pontificate of his Successor Celestine, the Storm broke out anew.

The Power of receiv- ing Appeals claimed by the Popes only as granted by the Canons.

It may not be improper here to observe, that Zosimus, though wholly bent on exalting his See, and straining every Prerogative to the highest Pitch, yet did not presume to exalt it above the Canons; did not claim the disputed Power of receiving Appeals, of judging, deciding, &c. independently of the Canons. And was not this owning himself, but for the Canons, to be upon the Level with the other Bishops his Collegues; at least in respect to this Point? Is not the scandalous Method, which he took on this Occasion to extend his own Power, and curtail that of the African Bishops, a Demonstration of his deriving his Claim from the Canons alone? Could there ever offer a better Opportunity, could there ever occur a more urgent Necessity, of asserting a Divine Right? As Zosimus therefore never asserted, nor even mentioned, such a Right, we may well conclude, that he either had no Notion of it, or did not think it sufficiently grounded to be of any Use in the present Dispute. And yet this Divine Right of receiving Appeals from all Parts of the World, of constituting, confirming, judging, censuring, suspending, deposing, removing, restoring Bishops, and all other Ecclesiastics, is now held, as an Article of Faith, by all true Roman Catholics; insomuch that to dispute such an Article, would be no less dangerous, in Countries where the Inquisition prevails, than to dispute any Article of the Apostolic or Nicene Creed. It is true, Innocent the First, as the Advocates for the See of Rome observe, had claimed, by Divine Right, the Power of finally deciding all Controversies. But he himself seems to have been sensible, that he had gone too far, For what else could have induced him to restrain that Claim, as soon as he had set it up, to Matters of Faith alone^[1600]? Had Zosimus thought the general Claim capable of being maintained, he need not have recurred, as he did, 376to Fraud and Imposture. The Pretensions of Innocent, in their utmost Extent, were indeed renewed, in Process of Time, by his Successors; but not till the intolerable Abuse, which they made of the Power granted them by the Canons of Sardica, on which they founded all their Usurpations, obliged other Councils to revoke those Canons; and then it was, that, no other Means being left of maintaining their ill-gotten Power, they revived the Claim of Innocent, and, challenging no longer by the Canons, but by Divine Right, the Prerogative of receiving Appeals, they put it out of the Power of all future Councils to abridge or restrain it.

Whether Zosimus ignorantly mistook the Canons of Sardica for those of Nice.

The Three Cardinals Baronius, Bellarmine, and Noris, thinking the Imputation of Ignorance less injurious to the Memory of Zosimus, less derogatory to the Dignity of the Apostolic See, than that of Fraud and Imposture, suppose him to have ignorantly mistaken the Canons of Sardica for the Canons of Nice; which is supposing, that in the whole Archives of the Roman Church there was not a single genuine Copy of the Council of Nice, or that Zosimus had never perused it; and to suppose either is highly absurd. Besides, the whole Conduct of the Legate, the Pains he took to divert the African Bishops from consulting other Copies, and, when he could not prevail, his recurring to unwritten Canons; and, as that too proved ineffectual, his striving by all possible means to persuade the Africans to leave to the Pope the Care of examining other Copies, and to acquiesce, without any further Inquiry, in what should thereupon be determined by him; plainly shews, that the Legate was privy to the Fraud, and apprehended a Detection.

Apiarius excommun- icated anew. He ap- peals again to Rome, and is restored by Celestine, and sent back attended by the Legate Faustinus.

Apiarius, being obliged to quit Sicca, as I have related above, retired to Tabraca, another City of Numidia, and led there so scandalous a Life, that he was excommunicated anew. Hereupon he appealed again to Rome, and Celestine, which is very surprising, notwithstanding the vigorous Opposition which his Predecessors had, but very lately, met with from the African Bishops, in attempting to restore this very Presbyter, not only declared him innocent, and admitted him to his Communion, but sent him back into Africa, attended by the Legate Faustinus, who was ordered to see him reinstated. The Africans were but too well acquainted already with the Presumption and Arrogance of the Bishops of Rome; and yet such an insolent Act quite surprised them. For Celestine had neither examined the Crimes, which Apiarius was charged with, nor heard 377the Witnesses, nor even condescended to let them know, that he intended to judge him anew. He writ, indeed, Two Letters to them on this Occasion, but which seemed merely designed to insult them: for, by the First, he gave them Notice of the Arrival of Apiarius at Rome, which, he said, had given him great Joy; and by the Second, which was brought by Faustinus, he acquainted them, that he was overjoyed to have found him innocent. From this despotic and extraordinary way of acting, the African Bishops concluded, that Celestine was determined to keep no Measures with them, and that nothing less than an intire Subjection of the African Churches to the See of Rome would satisfy his Ambition. But they were resolved to maintain, at all Events, the Liberty wherewith Christ had made them free. |A General Council assembled. Apiarius appears before it, with Faustinus.| A General Council was therefore assembled, and Apiarius summoned to attend. He obeyed the Summons, and appeared before the Council at the Time appointed, but in Company with Faustinus, shewing thereby, that he placed greater Confidence in him than in his own Innocence. Faustinus spoke first, and pressed, with great Warmth, the Fathers of the Assembly to re-admit Apiarius to their Communion, since he had been declared innocent by the Apostolic See, and admitted by Celestine to the Communion of the Roman Church. The Bishops replied, that in Africa Apiarius had been found guilty, and that in Africa his Innocence must be made to appear, before they could receive him again to their Communion. |The Legate’s insolent Conduct.| As they stuck to this Point, Faustinus undertook his Cause; but, instead of proving, as he had promised to do, or even attempting to prove his Innocence, he inveighed, from the Beginning of his Speech to the End, and in very harsh and opprobrious Language, against the Council, and all the Members, who composed it. |Apiarius pleads his own Cause.| Apiarius was sensible, that the Speech of Faustinus, instead of reconciling the African Bishops to him, had incensed them more than ever against him; and therefore thinking it adviseable to take the Cause into his own Hands, he stood up as soon as the other had done; and, with a Modesty capable, as he thought, of atoning for the Insolence of Faustinus, endeavoured to clear himself from the Crimes that had been laid to his Charge. |Faustinus assists him.| When he had spoken, the Witnesses against him were heard; and the Tryal lasted Three whole Days, Apiarius striving, with great Art and Subtilty, to invalidate the Depositions, and Faustinus prompting him when he was at a Stand. He might, perhaps, have escaped Condemnation, partly by his own Craft and Address, partly 378by the powerful Protection of the Bishop of Rome, had he been able to withstand the Stings of his own Conscience. |Apiarius, struck with sudden Remorse, owns the Crimes laid to his Charge.| But, on the Fourth Day, when Faustinus began to triumph as sure of Victory, Apiarius, struck with sudden Remorse, damped at once all his Joy, by voluntarily owning, to the great Surprize of all present, and the unspeakable Confusion of Faustinus, every Crime with which he had been charged. Those Crimes the Fathers have thought fit to wrap in Oblivion; and indeed it was not proper, that Posterity should know them; since they were heinous, incredible, such as ought not to be mentioned, and drew Sighs and Tears from the whole Assembly^[1601]. And this is the Man whom Two Popes, both now worshiped as Saints in the Church of Rome, absolved as innocent; and, as innocent, would have supported with Force and Violence, had not Providence almost miraculously interposed, to prevent the Evils that would have ensued. They could not but know, that Apiarius was guilty; at least they did not know, that he was innocent. But as he had been declared guilty in Africa, their declaring him innocent, whether he was so or not, gave them an Opportunity of renewing the Attempts of the Apostolic See on the Liberties of the African Churches; and it was, no doubt, with this View that they absolved and restored him. But, as he was not hardened enough in Iniquity for their Purpose, he owned himself guilty, in spite of their Judgment declaring him innocent, and thereby defeated their Schemes for the present. For the Africans, now sensible that there was no Wickedness which the Bishops of Rome would not countenance, in order to establish their Power in Africa, to the utter Subversion of all Ecclesiastical Order and Discipline there, thought themselves bound, as they tendered the Welfare, Peace, and Tranquillity of the Churches committed to their Care, to act with that Vigour and Steadiness, which so urgent an Occasion seemed to require. |The African Bishops renew the Canon forbidding Appeals to Rome.| Accordingly they first absolutely cut off Apiarius from the Communion of the Church; then renewed, in stronger Terms than ever, the Canon, which had given so great Offence at Rome, prohibiting, on Pain of Excommunication, Appeals beyond Sea, under any Pretence whatsoever; and this Prohibition they extended to Ecclesiastics of all Conditions and Ranks. Faustinus blustered, vapoured, threatened; but all in vain. The Bishops not only signed, all to a Man, the above-mentioned Canon, but writ a Synodal Letter to Celestine, acquainting him with what had 379passed in the Case of Apiarius, and earnestly intreating him not to give Ear for the future to those, who should have recourse to him from Africa, nor receive to his Communion such as they had excluded from theirs: |Their Letter to Celestine.| For we must let your Venerableness (Venerabilitas tua) know, say they, that it has been so established by the Council of Nice. And though Mention is there made of Clerks only, and Laymen; yet there is no room to doubt but it was their Intention, that such a Regulation should extend to Bishops too; and it would be a great Irregularity, should your Holiness (a Title then common to all Bishops) over-hastily and unduly admit to your Communion Bishops, who have been excommunicated in their own Provinces. Your Holiness therefore must not receive the Presbyters, and other Clerks, who, to avoid the Punishment, which they deserve, recur to you; the rather as we know of no Constitutions thus derogatory to the Authority of our Churches; and the Council of Nice has subjected the Bishops themselves to the judgment of their Metropolitan. The Fathers of that Council have decreed, with great Wisdom and Equity, that all Disputes should be finally determined in the Places where they began, being sensible, that the Grace of the Holy Spirit, necessary for judging rightly, would not be wanting in any Province; especially as every Man, who thinks himself injured, may apply for Redress, if he pleases, to the Synod of his own Province, or to a national Council. Would it not be Presumption in any of us to suppose or imagine, that God will inspire a particular Person with the Spirit of Justice, and refuse it to many Bishops assembled in Council? And how can a Judgment, given out of the Country, and beyond Sea, be right, where the necessary Witnesses cannot be present, by reason of their Sex, of their Age, or of some other Impediment? As for your sending Legates, we find no such Ordinance in any Council, nor in the Writings of the Fathers. As for what you have sent us by our Collegue Faustinus, as a Canon of the Council of Nice, we must let you know, that no such Canon is to be found in the genuine and uncorrupt Copies of that Council, which have been transcribed and sent us by our Fellow-Bishop Cyril of Alexandria, and the Reverend Atticus of Constantinople. Those Copies we sent to Boniface, your Predecessor of worthy Memory. We therefore earnestly beg you would send no more Legates, nor Ecclesiastics, to execute your Judgments here, lest you should seem to introduce worldly Pride and Arrogance (typhum sæculi) into the Church of Christ. They conclude with intreating 380him not to suffer Faustinus to continue any longer among them^[1602]. Celestine, finding the Spirit with which they acted, and sensible that it would be useless to employ Force at this Juncture, thought it advisable to acquiesce for the present, and wait till a more favourable Opportunity should offer for him, or his Successors, to renew the Attempt^[N70].