Chapter 31

All three arrestedby the Emperor’s Order,who endeavours, invain, to reconcilethe Bishops.

The Emperor, having taken this Resolution, dispatched CountJohntoEphesus, with Orders to drive the Three Incendiaries,Nestorius,Cyril, andMemnon, out of the City, and persuade the Bishops to assemble in One Council. CountJohn, soon after his Arrival, caused the Three Bishops to be arrested and confined; but could by no means bring about an Accommodation between the Two Parties; the Orientals obstinately refusing to communicate with the Friends ofCyril, till they had anathematized his Doctrine; and his Friends no less obstinately requiring the Orientals to anathematize the Doctrine ofNestorius, before they would communicate with them; so thatJohnwas obliged in the End, notwithstanding all the Pains he took, to acquaint the Emperor, that he had found the Minds of the Bishops so soured and exasperated against one another, that it was impossible ever to reconcile them.|He orders bothCouncils to send acertain Number ofDeputies toCon-stantinople.|The Emperor, upon the Receipt of his Letter, dispatched an Order to both Councils, injoining them to send a certain Number of Deputies, both the same Number, toConstantinople, where he proposed to have the Points in Dispute impartially examined. In Compliance with this Order, the Two Councils sent each Eight Deputies, who immediately set out, with proper Instructions, forConstantinople; but, arriving atChalcedon, on the opposite Side of theBosporus, they were stopped there, by an Order from the Emperor, it not being thought safe for the Orientals to enterConstantinople, the Monks, who were very numerous in that City, having prejudiced the Populace against them.|He hears them atChalcedon.|They arrived atChalcedonin the latter End ofAugust; and, on the 4th ofSeptember, the Emperor came to the Palace ofRuffinus, in that Neighbourhood, and there heard both Parties, with great Patience.|Is, at first, favourableto the Orientals andNestorius;but after-wards declaresagainst them.|He was, at first, so favourable to the Orientals, that they thought themselves sure of Victory; and even writ to their Friends atEphesus, desiring themto thank him for the Kindness he had shewn them. But, to their great Surprize, the Face of Affairs changed at once. They had been already admitted Four times to the Emperor’s Presence, and heard by him with much Kindness: but, in the Fifth Audience, which they thought would complete their Triumph, the Emperor, after receiving them with great Coolness, told them, abruptly, that they had better admit bothMemnonandCyrilto their Communion, and abandon the Defence ofNestorius. They were thunderstruck with such a Proposal, and strongly remonstrated against it. ButTheodosius, deaf to their Remonstrances, returned the next Day toConstantinople, carrying with him the Deputies of the adverse Party, in order to have a new Bishop ordained by them, in the room ofNestorius. Soon after his Return, he issued an Edict, declaringNestoriusjustly deposed, reinstatingCyrilandMemnonin their Sees, and giving all the other Bishops Leave to return to their respective Churches, they being all alike Orthodox[1630]. This was declaring the Council dissolved; and it was dissolved accordingly; but the Disturbances which it occasioned, were not composed till many Years after.

To what this Changewas owing.

The sudden Change in the Emperor, with respect to the Orientals, is ascribed byAcaciusBishop ofBerœa, to the Gold thatCyrilcaused to be prodigally distributed, on this Occasion, among the Courtiers. ForAcaciuswrites, that one of the Eunuchs of the Court, by NameScholasticus, dying possessed of great Wealth, the Emperor found a Note among his Papers, acknowleging the Receipt of large Sums remitted to him byPaul,Cyril’s Nephew, inCyril’s Name[1631]. It is true, we are not bound to give Credit toAcacius, asDu Pinobserves. But in what other Manner can we account for so sudden a Change, for such an inconsistent Method of acting? The Emperor thinks both Parties equally Orthodox, and yet declaresNestoriusjustly deposed, and restoresCyrilandMemnonto their Sees; and that soon after he had appeared more favourable to the Friends ofNestoriusthan to those ofCyril. To what else could this be owing, if it was not the Effect of Bribery?

The Pope’s Legates,viz.Arcadius,Projectus, andPhilippus, the two former Bishops, and the latter a Presbyter, did not arrive atEphesustill some time after the Condemnation ofNestorius; but they signed the Judgment that had been given against him, being directed byCelestinetoagree in all things withCyril.|Cyrildid not preside as the Pope’s Legate.|Cyrilpresidedas Bishop ofAlexandria, the first See after that ofRome. While he was absent,JuvenalBishop ofJerusalemsupplied his room; a plain Proof, that he did not preside as the Pope’s Legate; for if he had, his room would not have been supplied by the Bishop ofJerusalem, but by Them. Besides, ifCyrilhad been vested with the Character of the Pope’s Legate, what Occasion had there been to send Three more?|The Council as-sembled without theApprobation of thePope.|BellarmineandBaroniusboth allow this Council to have been assembled by the Emperor; but with the previous Approbation, say they, and by the Advice ofCelestine. That the Council was convened by the Emperor, is past all doubt, it being said, and repeated above twenty times in the Acts, thatthey were assembled by the Will of the most religious Emperors. But ofCelestinenot the least mention is ever made by any of the Fathers, not even byCyril. The above-mentioned Writers found their Assertion on a Letter of St.Austin, and on the Acts of St.Petronius. But both these Pieces are now universally rejected as supposititious.

The whole Disputeabout Words.

As to the Dispute, which occasioned the assembling of this Council, the contending Parties seem to have agreed in the Substance, and to have only quarreled about Words: at least the Emperor thought so, as I have observed above; and, what is more,Nestoriushimself. For in the Letter which he writ toCelestine, acquainting him with the ResolutionTheodosiushad taken of assembling a Council, he only told him, that it was for some important Affairs of the Church; adding, that as to the Dispute between him and the Bishop ofAlexandria, it was not a Matter of such mighty Moment, as to require the Decision of an Oecumenical Council. And truly bothNestoriusandCyril, so far as we can judge from their own Words, acknowleged One Person in Christ, and Two Natures, the Natures distinct, but inseparably united; which was the Catholic Belief. Now the Subject of the Dispute was, whether, in virtue of that Union between the Human and Divine Nature, the Properties of the former might, or might not, be ascribed to God, and those of the latter to Man. The Negative was maintained byNestorius, and the Affirmative byCyril; the one rejecting as blasphemous, and the other admitting as orthodox, the following Expressions;God was born,God suffered,God died, Marywas the Mother of God; which was plainly disputing about Words only, or Expressions. It is true,CyrilchargedNestoriuswith the Doctrine ofPaulofSamosata, for rejecting them; andNestorius,Cyrilwith that ofApollinaris, for admitting them; but neither owned the Tenets, that were by theother ascribed to him: so thatCyrilwas only a Heretic ofNestorius’s making, andNestoriusofCyril’s:Nestoriusacknowleged a real Union between the Two Natures in Christ, andCyrila real Distinction. But they did not, and, perhaps, when they were once warmed with disputing, would not, understand one another.|Nestorianismanimaginary Heresy.|Nestorianism, says a modernRoman CatholicWriter[1632],is but an imaginary Heresy. HadNestoriusand St.Cyrilunderstood one another, they had agreed, and prevented the Scandal which their quarreling brought on the Church. But theGreekshave always been great Disputants; and it was by them that most of the first Heresies were broached. The Subject of their Disputes was, generally speaking, some metaphysical Speculation; and their Method of handling it arrant Chicanery. From equivocal Terms they drew false Inferences, and from Inferences passed to Injuries. Thus they became irreconcileable Enemies, and, forgetting Truth, sought only to hurt one another. Had they but coolly explained their Thoughts, they had found that in most Cases no room was left, on either Side, for the Imputation of Heresy.

NestoriusandCyrilagree in the Sub-stance.

In the present DisputeCyril, the more to oppose, or rather to provoke,Nestorius, affected to use, on all Occasions, not only the Expressions, which I have mentioned above, but others that seem to involve a still more apparent Contradiction;viz.The Eternal was born in Time, the Impassible suffered, the Immortal died, Life died.At these Expressions the Orientals were no less shocked thanNestorius; and therefore separating themselves from the Communion ofCyril, whom they concluded to have fallen into the Errors ofApollinaris, they insisted upon his either condemning or explaining the Expressions he used, before they would admit him to their Communion, or any, who communicated with him. He chose the latter; and then it appeared, that they had been all fighting the whole time in the Dark; for by those ExpressionsCyrilmeant no more, than that Christ, who was God, was born, suffered, and died; thatMarywas the Mother of Christ, who was God; the very Doctrine and Expressions whichNestoriushad been all along contending for, andCyrilhad been combating with so much Warmth. ButNestoriuswas already deposed by the Faction ofCyril, andMaximuschosen and ordained Bishop ofConstantinoplein his room.

What meant by theCommunication ofIdioms.

The Expressions ofCyrilwere approved by the Council ofEphesus, and have therefore been adopted by the Church ofRome. But her Schoolmen, well apprised of the Objections to which they are liable, to excuse them from Blasphemy, have been obliged to recur to what they call aCommunication of Idioms, in virtue of which the Properties of both Natures, say they, may be ascribed to theHypostasisor Person, in whom both Natures were united. Thus we may say, according to them,God was born,God suffered, because the Person, who was God,was born, andsuffered. Thus indeed they excuse the Expressions ofCyrilfrom Blasphemy: but still it must be owned, that the Expressions used byNestorius,Christ was born,Christ suffered,Christ died, were at least far more proper.|The Expressions ofNestoriusmore pro-per than those ofCyril.|For, after all, thisCommunication of Idiomsis, in Fact, nothing else but a rhetorical Figure: so thatCyrilspoke like an Orator, andNestoriuslike a Philosopher: the Expressions of the former were, in a strict Sense, false and blasphemous; those of the latter, in the strictest Sense, true and orthodox. Tropes and Figures serve only to disguise the Truth, to lead Men into Errors, and therefore ought to be laid aside by all who seriously inquire after Truth, or explain it to others. I shall conclude with observing, that if by aCommunication of Idiomsthe Properties of the Human and Divine Nature may be ascribed to the Person, in whom those two Natures were united; the Properties of the Body and Soul might, by a like Communication, be ascribed to the Person, in whom the Body and Soul are united: so that it might be said, with as much Propriety,Man is immortal,Man will never die, because the Soul is immortal, and will never die, asGod was mortal,God died, because the Humanity was mortal and died. The Case is parallel, and theCommunication of Idiomsmust justify both Expressions, or neither.

A particular Reasonfor rejecting the TitleofMother of God.

As to the Title ofMother of God, to whichNestoriushad a more than ordinary Aversion, he seems to have rejected it on a particular Account; for the same Reason that inducedClementXI. to suppress the Title ofGrandmother of God, which, in his time, began to be commonly given to St.Anne;viz.becauseit was offensive to pious Ears;piarum aurium offensiva. If the VirginMarywas the Mother, St.Annewas, as properly speaking, the Grandmother of God. Why then should the Mother be robbed of so glorious a Title, while the Daughter is suffered to enjoy it? Why shouldNestoriusbe deemed a Heretic for denying it to the Daughter, ratherthanClementfor denying it to the Mother? The one was as offensive to the Ears ofNestorius, as the other could possibly be to the Ears ofClement. However, the former did not consult his Ears alone, but his Reason too, as has been shewn above; whereas the latter must have consulted his Ears only, there being no Shadow of Reason, why the one Title should be allowed, and not the other.

The Fate ofNestorius.

As forNestorius, he received an Order from the Emperor, while the Council was still sitting, commanding him to quitEphesus, and retire to the Monastery of St.Euprepiusin the Suburbs ofAntioch, where he had led a monastic Life before he was raised to the See ofConstantinople.|He is ordered to re-turn to his Monastery.|This Order he received with great Joy, having often declared, that he wished for nothing so much as to spend his Life in Solitude and Retirement, far from the Troubles that threatened the Church[1633]. In the Letter, which he writ toAntiochusthePræfectus Prætorio, by whom the Emperor’s Order was communicated to him, he told him, that to be thus deposed, for standing up in Defence of the Orthodox Faith, was a greater Honour than he had ever presumed to aspire to, or hoped to attain. The only Favour he begged ofAntiochuswas, that he would employ his whole Interest at Court, in order to obtain public Letters of the Emperor, that might be read in all the Churches, condemning the Doctrine ofCyril[1634].|Is banished intoAr-abia,at the RequestofCelestine,andthe Bishops of hisParty.|The following Year 432.Celestinewrit a very pressing Letter toTheodosius, dated the 15th ofMarch, conjuring him, as he tendered the Purity of the Faith, to confineNestoriusto some uninhabited Place, where it might not be in his Power to infect others with his pestilential Doctrine; which was begging the Emperor to drive him out, like a wild Beast, from human Society, to perish in a Desart. He writ, at the same time, a circular Letter to the Bishops in those Parts, exhorting them to second him with all their Power and Interest at Court[1635].Theodosius, hearkening only to the Impulses of his own Good-nature, withstood all the Solicitations ofNestorius’s Enemies, for Four Years. But, in the End, being made to believe, that by shewing Mercy to such an obstinate Heretic, he rendered himself unworthy of Mercy; and that to treat him with Severity was the most effectual Means of drawing down the Blessings of Heaven upon himself, and the Empire; his Good-nature yielded, and he issued an Order, addressed toIsidore, then thePræfectus Prætorio, injoining him to causeNestoriusto be conveyed toPetrainArabia, to end his Days there, by way of Atonement for the Mischief he had done. With him were banished, to the same Place, CountIrenæus, his great Friend and Protector, andPhotius, a Presbyter ofConstantinople, who had written in his Defence againstCyril[1636].|His Books forbidden,and ordered to beburnt.|The same Year the Emperor issued an Edict, dated the 30th ofJuly, commanding the Disciples ofNestoriusto be calledSimonians[N74]; his Books to be everywhere sought for, and publicly burnt; and all Persons, in whose Possession they were, to deliver them up to the Magistrates. By the same Edict theNestorianswere forbidden to hold any Assemblies in the Cities, Villages, or in the Fields, and the Places were confiscated, where such Assemblies should be held, as well as the Estates of those who should frequent them[1637]. This Edict was published both inGreekand inLatin, that it might be understood by the Subjects of both Empires.

N74. The Emperor ordered them to be so called, merely to render them odious; for there was not the least Affinity between the Heresy ofSimonthe Magician, and the Doctrine that was ascribed toNestorius. In thisTheodosiusfollowed the Example of his PredecessorConstantine, who to disgrace theArians, and prejudice the Populace against them, ordered them to be calledPorphyrians. For when a Man was once declared a Heretic, all Means of rendering him infamous were deemed just and lawful. But neither Edict ever took place.

Is frequently removedfrom one Place toanother.

The Enemies ofNestoriuswere not yet satisfied; they thought his Confinement toPetratoo mild a Punishment; and therefore, before he had been long there, they prevailed upon the Emperor to remove him fromPetratoOasis, in the Desarts betweenEgyptandLibya, a Place to which the greatest Criminals were usually confined in those Days[1638]. He was still inOasis, whenSocrateswrote, that is, in 439[1639]. but the Town being soon after surprised by the Barbarians, namedBlemmyes, he was carried by them into Captivity, but set again at Liberty, and even informed by them, that the Town would, in a short time, be attacked anew by another Clan of Barbarians. Upon this Information he withdrew to the City ofPanopolis, and immediately acquainted the Governor ofThebaiswith the Motives that had induced him to quit the Place, which he had been confined to by the Imperial Edict, intreatinghis Highness(Celsitudinem tuam) to notify them to the Emperor, and suffer him to continuethere till his Pleasure was known. But the Governor happened to be a zealous Catholic, or rather a true Courtier; and therefore, without waiting for the Emperor’s Order, he sent a Band of Soldiers to convey, or rather to drag him toElephantine, on the most distant Borders of his Government. This the Governor seems to have done on purpose to destroy him, and thereby ingratiate himself both with the Church, and the Court. For the Soldiers he employed on this Occasion, were notRomans, butBarbarians; and when they were got above half-way toElephantine, they were injoined, by a Counter-order from him, to bring their Prisoner back toPanopoliswith all possible Expedition.|Treated with greatBarbarity.|As he was hurried on by the merciless Barbarians, notwithstanding his old Age, the Weakness attending it, and the Hurts he received from a Fall, he arrived atPanopolis, quite spent, and so worn out with the Fatigues of that painful Journey, that no one thought he could outlive it many Days. But the Governor was impatient to hear the News of his Death; and therefore, before he could recruit his Strength, quite exhausted by this Journey, he obliged him to undertake another, ordering him to repair, without Delay, to a certain Place within the Territory ofPanopolis. As he outlived this Journey too, the Governor, bent on having the Merit and Glory of destroying the pretended Heresiarch, ordered him immediately to undertake a Fourth; and this put an End to all his Troubles.|His Death.|For Nature sinking under the Fatigues he was forced to undergo, without Intermission or Respite, his Strength quite failed him, and he died[1640][N75].

N75. An anonymous Writer, quoted byEvagrius[1], relates, that beforeNestoriusdied, his Tongue was devoured by Vermin, which he interprets as a Punishment justly inflicted on him for the Blasphemies he supposes him to have uttered. This AccountEvagriusseems not to have credited; butTheodorusthe Reader,Theophanes, andTheodoret, have taken it upon the Word of the anonymous Writer, by whom it was probably invented to render the Name of the pretendedHeresiarchodious to Posterity.1. Evag. l. 1, c. 7.

1. Evag. l. 1, c. 7.

Nestoriushimself acruel Persecutor.

Such were the Sufferings, such was the End, of the famousNestorius; and both reflect no small Disgrace on the Ecclesiastics of those Times, especially onCelestineandCyril; for by them this cruel Persecution was raised, and by them it was carried on; the Laymen being only the Ministers of their Cruelty and Revenge. Such a Treatmentwas quite undeserved byNestorius, with respect to his Doctrine, as I have shewn already, but was not so, it must be owned, in another respect: for he was himself a most furious Persecutor of all those, who had the Misfortune to be stigmatized with the Name of Heretics; and it is not to be doubted, butCyrilwould have met with the same Treatment at his Hands, had his Party prevailed, as he did atCyril’s. In the Sermon, which he preached on the very Day of his Ordination, he thus addressed the Emperor, who was present:Make the Orthodox Faith, O mighty Prince, reign alone on the Earth; and I will make you reign in Heaven. Lend me your Assistance to exterminate the Heretics, and I will lend you mine to exterminate thePersians[1641]. This was proclaiming War against all who dissented from him; and the War, thus proclaimed, he began without Loss of Time, and pursued with the utmost Fury, causing the Imperial Laws against Heretics to be vigorously executed, and stirring up the Mob, not only inConstantinople, but in the neighbouring Provinces, against Dissenters of all Denominations. This occasioned an universal Confusion, and, in some Places, a great deal of Bloodshed; insomuch that the Emperor was obliged to interpose his Authority, and protect, to a certain Degree, as Friends to the State, those whom the Bishop was for exterminating as Enemies to the Church. I will not presume to interpret the Severity that was practised upon him, as a Judgment from Heaven for the Severity which he had practised upon others; agreeably to those Words of our Saviour,With what Measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you[1642]; but I cannot help looking upon the Treatment he met with, however severe, as a just and well-deserved Retaliation; and upon him as a Man altogether unworthy of our Compassion.

The Doctrine of theJansenistsapprovedbyCelestine.

But to return toCelestine: In the Year 431. he writ to theGallicanBishops, exhorting them to stand up in Defence of the Doctrine of St.Austin, and to silence, with their Authority, all who opposed it: for it was opposed by many, among the rest, by the famousCassian, as utterly inconsistent with Merit and Freewill. To this Letter are commonly annexed Nine Articles concerning Grace and Freewill; and, in these Articles styled there,The Authorities of the Bishops of the Holy Apostolic See, is contained, in the most plainand express Terms, the Doctrine of theJansenists, condemned in our Days by the famous BullUnigenitusofClementXI[1643]. It is true, some pretend those Articles to be falsly ascribed toCelestine. But they have passed for his, ever since the Sixth to the present Century: they have been placed among his Decrees, byDionysius Exiguus; were quoted as his byPetrus Diaconusin 519. byCresconiusanAfricanBishop towards the End of the Sixth Century, and by all, who have had Occasion to mention them since that time.

Palladiusthe FirstBishop ofIreland.

The same Year died St.Palladius, the First Bishop ofIreland. He belonged to theRomanChurch, and had been sent byCelestinesome Years before intoBritain, to stop the Progress of thePelagianHeresy in this Island. FromBritainhe had passed over intoIreland[N76]; and, having converted there some of the Inhabitants, he returned toRome, to beg ofCelestine, that a Bishop might be sent thither.Celestinecomplied with his Request, ordained him First Bishop ofIreland, and sent him back into that Island. ThusProsper, who lived at this very time[o]. TheIrishWriters tell us, that, finding their Countrymen, whose Conversion was reserved by Heaven for St.Patric, very obstinate, he abandoned the Island, and died in the Countryof thePicts, that is, inScotland, on his Return toRome[1644]. His Body indeed was long worshiped inScotland; but that is no Proof of his having been ever there[N77].

N76.Prosperwrites, that he was sentad Scotos; whence theScotchWriters conclude him to have been sent intoScotland, and theScotshave long looked upon him as the Apostle of their Nation. But that he was sent intoIreland, and not intoScotland, is manifest fromProsper’s own Words. For speaking ofCelestine, by whomPalladiuswas sent intoBritainto make head against thePelagians;while he endeavoured, says he,to maintain theRomanIsland Catholic, he made a barbarous Island Christian[1]. The Island therefore, which hemade Christian, was a different Island from that ofBritain; and consequently could not beScotland. The Inhabitants ofIrelandbegan, as early as the Fourth Century, to be known by the Name ofScotiorScots; so thatScotiandHiberniwere but different Names of one and the same People. It is true, that St.Patric, in such of his Writings, as have been judged by the Critics the most authentic, seems to distinguish theScotifrom theHiberni: but that Distinction is only with respect to Merit and Rank; for he speaks constantly of the former as Men of a superior Rank to the latter. And indeed the NameHibernus, tho’ more antient by many Ages than that ofScotus, appears to have been in great Contempt among the neighbouring Nations in St.Patric’s Time[2]. TheHiberniwere perhaps the Mechanics, and theScotithe Gentry, or Men who followed more noble Professions. By the latter was afterwards founded the Kingdom ofScotland.Bollandusis of Opinion, that theHibernicame originally fromBritain, and were the first Inhabitants ofIreland; and that theScoti, a more warlike Race, come from some other Country, subdued theHiberni, as theSaxonsdid theBritons[3].1. Prosp. in Col. p. 410.2. Boll. 17. Martii.3. Boll. ibid.N77. The learned ArchbishopUsherwill not allowPalladiusto have been the First Bishop ofIreland; alleging against that Opinion several Fragments out of the Lives ofIrishSaints, some of whom are said to have been Bishops, and to have converted many of their own Countrymen, as early as the Middle of the Fourth Century[1]. From the Fragments he produces I cannot judge of the Pieces themselves. ButBollandus, who seems to have perused them, maintains them to be of no earlier a Date than the Twelfth Century; and most of them to be fabulous, which indeed he proves undeniably by several Passages quoted from them[2]. And can the Authority of such Pieces invalidate, or indeed any-ways affect the Authority ofProsper, who tells us in express Terms, thatPalladiuswas ordained byCelestine,the First Bishop ofIreland? As for what the Primate offers to elude the Authority ofProsper, it is scarce worthy of Notice;viz.that the WordPrimusis not to be found in the Edition of that Writer byDu Chesne. For it is to be found, asUsherhimself owns, in all the other Editions, and even inBede, as well as in every other Author, who has copiedProsper’s Chronicle.1. Ush. Brit. eccl. ant. p. 781-794.2. Boll. 17. Martii.

1. Prosp. in Col. p. 410.2. Boll. 17. Martii.

1. Prosp. in Col. p. 410.

2. Boll. 17. Martii.

3. Boll. ibid.

N77. The learned ArchbishopUsherwill not allowPalladiusto have been the First Bishop ofIreland; alleging against that Opinion several Fragments out of the Lives ofIrishSaints, some of whom are said to have been Bishops, and to have converted many of their own Countrymen, as early as the Middle of the Fourth Century[1]. From the Fragments he produces I cannot judge of the Pieces themselves. ButBollandus, who seems to have perused them, maintains them to be of no earlier a Date than the Twelfth Century; and most of them to be fabulous, which indeed he proves undeniably by several Passages quoted from them[2]. And can the Authority of such Pieces invalidate, or indeed any-ways affect the Authority ofProsper, who tells us in express Terms, thatPalladiuswas ordained byCelestine,the First Bishop ofIreland? As for what the Primate offers to elude the Authority ofProsper, it is scarce worthy of Notice;viz.that the WordPrimusis not to be found in the Edition of that Writer byDu Chesne. For it is to be found, asUsherhimself owns, in all the other Editions, and even inBede, as well as in every other Author, who has copiedProsper’s Chronicle.

1. Ush. Brit. eccl. ant. p. 781-794.

2. Boll. 17. Martii.

The same Writers tell us, that St.Patricwas atRome, whenCelestinereceived the News of the Death ofPalladius; and that thereupon he ordained him Bishop, on the 30th ofJuly432. about a Year after the Ordination ofPalladius, whose room he was sent over to supply[1645]. But that they are therein mistaken, and that St.Patricwas not ordained till many Years after the Death ofCelestine, I shall shew hereafter.

Celestinedid not long outlivePalladius; for he died the following Year 432. on the 26th ofJuly, having governed theRomanChurch Nine Years, Ten Months, and Seventeen Days[1646]. Both he andCyrilhave been sainted, merely in Consideration of their extraordinary Feats againstNestorius, and those who adhered to him; for Cruelty to Heretics was now a cardinal Virtue, capable of atoning for the greatest Crimes. As forCyril, he had no better Title to that Honour, than the MonkAmmonius, whom he sainted, and publicly commended as a holy Martyr, because he died on the Rack for having attempted, at the Head of Five hundred riotous Monks, to assassinate, and dangerously wounded,Orestesthe Governor ofAlexandria, in a Quarrel between him andCyril[N78].Celestinewas buried in the CœmeteryofPriscilla, where he is said to have caused the History of the Council ofEphesusto be painted[1647]. In the Year 820. PopePascalI.caused his Body to be translated to the Church of St.Praxedes. And it is still worshiped both there and in the Cathedral ofMantua[1648].

N78.The Bishops ofAlexandriahad begun, saysSocrates[1],to exceed the Limits of the Ecclesiastical Power, and intermeddle in Civil Affairs, imitating therein the Bishop ofRome,whose sacred Authority had longsince been changed into Dominion and Empire. The Governors ofAlexandria, looking upon the Increase of the Episcopal Power, as a Diminution of the Civil, watched all Opportunities of mortifying the Bishops, in order to restrain them within the Limits of the spiritual, and prevent their encroaching on the temporal Jurisdiction. ButCyril, from the very Beginning of his Episcopacy, bid Defiance to the civil Power, acting in such Manner as shewed but too plainly, that he would be kept within no Bounds. For soon after his Installation, he caused, by his own Authority, the Churches, which theNovatianswere allowed to have inAlexandria, to be shut up, seized on the sacred Utensils, and plundering the House of their BishopTheopemptus, drove him out of the City, stript of every thing he possessed[[2]. Not long after, theJews, who were very numerous inAlexandria, having one Night treacherously murdered several Christians there,Cyrilnext Morning, by Break of Day, put himself at the Head of the Christian Mob, and without the Knowlege of the Governor took Possession of the Synagogue, drove theJewsout ofAlexandria, pillaged their Houses, and allowed the Christians, who were concerned with him in the Riot, to appropriate to themselves all their Effects. This the Governor highly resented, and not only rebukedCyrilvery severely for thus entrenching on his Jurisdiction, and usurping a Power that did not become him; but writ to the Emperor, complaining of him for snatching the Sword of Justice from him to put it into the Hands of the undiscerning Multitude. This occasioned a Misunderstanding, or rather an avowed Enmity, betweenCyrilandOrestes. With the former sided the Clergy, the greater Part of the Mob, and the Monks; with the latter the Soldiery, and the better Sort of the Citizens. As the two Parties were strangely animated against each other, there happened daily Skirmishes in the Streets ofAlexandria. For theAlexandrians, asSocratesobserves[[3], and is well known, were of all People the most seditious and ungovernable. The Friends of the Governor, generally speaking, made their Party good, having the Soldiery on their Side. But one Day asOresteswas going out in his Chariot, attended by his Guards, he found himself very unexpectedly surrounded by no fewer than Five hundred Monks come from the Mountains ofNitria. The Monks were, in those Days, the standing Army of the Bishops; but are now of the Popes alone, who being sensible how serviceable such a formidable Corps might prove to the Apostolic See, not only against the Laity, but the Bishops themselves, exempted them from their Jurisdiction, and made them immediately dependent on themselves. But of the monkish Orders, their Founders and Institutions, I shall speak at Length on occasion of their being first taken by the Popes into their Service. TheNitrianMonks in the Service ofCyril, having surrounded the Governor’s Chariot, first dispersed, with several Vollies of Stones, the small Guard that attended it, then falling upon him, dangerously wounded him, and seemed determined to put an End to the Quarrel between him andCyril, by putting an End to his Life. But the Citizens, alarmed at his Danger, flew to his Rescue, put the cowardly Monks to flight at their first Appearance, and having seized on the MonkAmmonius, by whomOresteshad been wounded, delivered him into his Hands. The Governor, to deter others from the like Attempts, and to mortifyCyril, whom he well knew to be at the Bottom of the Plot, caused the Monk to be tortured with so much Severity, that he expired on the Rack. ButCyril, partly out of Spite to the Governor, and partly to reward the Zeal, which the Monk had exerted in attempting to assassinate his Antagonist, caused him to be honoured as a holy Martyr, under the Name ofThaumasius, being himself ashamed to pay him that Honour under the Name ofAmmonius[[4]. The Partisans ofCyril, alike mortified and enraged at the Death ofAmmonius, resolved, at all Events, to revenge it; and the Person they singled out among the Friends ofOrestesto wreak their Rage and Revenge on, was one, who, of all the Inhabitants of that populous City, deserved it the least. This was the famous, and so much celebrated,Hypatia, the Wonder of her Age for Beauty, Virtue, and Knowlege. She kept a public School of Philosophy inAlexandria, where she was born; and her Reputation was so great, that not only Disciples flocked from all Parts to hear her; but the greatest Philosophers used to consult her, as an Oracle, with respect to the most intricate and abstruse Points of Astronomy, Geometry, and thePlatonicPhilosophy, which she was particularly well versed in[[5]. Tho' she was very beautiful, and freely conversed with Men of all Ranks, yet those she conversed with were so awed by her known Virtue and Modesty, that none, but one of her own Disciples, ever presumed to shew in her Presence the least Symptom of Passion or Tenderness; and him she soon cured[[6].Orestesentertained the highest Opinion of her Abilities, often consulted her, as the other Governors had done before him, and in all perplexed Cases governed himself by her Advice. As she was the Person inAlexandria, whom he most valued, and in whose Company he took the greatest Delight, the Friends ofCyril, to wound him in the most tender and sensible Part, entered into a Conspiracy to destroy the innocent Lady, and by her Death deprive him of that Comfort. This barbarous Resolution being taken, as she was one Day returning Home in her Chariot, a Band of the Dregs of the People, encouraged and headed by one ofCyril’s Ecclesiastics namedPeter, attacked her in her Chariot, pulled her violently out of it, and throwing her on the Ground, dragged her to the great Church calledCæsareum. There they stript her naked, and with sharp Tiles, either brought with them, or found there, continued cutting, mangling, and tearing her Flesh, she bearing it with the greatest Firmness and Constancy, till Nature yielding to Pain, she expired under their Hands. Her Death did not satisfy their Rage and Fury. They tore her Body in Pieces, dragged her mangled Limbs, with a thousand Outrages, through all the Streets ofAlexandria, and then, gathering them together, burnt them in a Place calledCineron[[7]. Such was the End of the famousHypatia, the most learned Person of the Age she lived in, and one of the best, tho’ not a Christian. Who could believe Christians, nay, Ecclesiastics, not to say Bishops, capable in those early Times of such Barbarities? The Account which I have given fromSocratesof the tragical End ofHypatia, is confirmed byDamasciusin his Life ofIsidorusthe Philosopher, written towards the End of the present Century[[8]. He makesCyrilthe Author of that barbarous Murder. ButDamascius, sayDu PinandTillemont, was a Pagan, and therefore deserves no Credit. I wish it could not be made out so easily as it may, that, tho’ a Pagan, he deserves to be credited on this Occasion. The Mob was headed, in perpetrating that horrid Murder, by one ofCyril’s Ecclesiastics; and I do not find, that he was ever punished, or even reprimanded, by his Bishop, on that Score. When the Emperor was first acquainted byOrestes, with what had happened, he expressed the greatest Indignation and a firm Resolution to punish the Offenders with the utmost Severity. ButEdesius, a Deacon of the Church ofAlexandria, who resided atConstantinople, with the Character ofCyril’s Nuncio, having gained over the Ministers, with the large Sums that were remitted to him (not by the Mob, or the Ecclesiastic who headed them; for he was only a Reader), the Emperor was not only appeased, but prevailed upon to grant a general Pardon to all, who were concerned in that Riot[[9]. But, by pardoning them, he drew down Vengeance from Heaven upon himself, says the Historian, and was deservedly punished in the Persons of those, who were most dear to him[[10]. He alludes perhaps to the unhappy End ofValentinianIII. his Cousin and Son-in-law, who was murdered on the 17th ofMarch455. and to the Misfortunes, which the whole Imperial Family was involved in after his Death.The Church ofRome, which has sainted this Man, may think herself concerned in Honour to justify all his Proceedings; but surely the Church ofEnglandis not. I shall not therefore attempt such a Vindication; but having truly and faithfully related the Facts from a contemporary Historian, shall leave the Character ofCyrilto be judged of from them, and content myself with wishing, that one, whose Zeal for the Christian Religion was sometimes meritorious, had better understood the true Bounds of that Zeal, and the true Spirit of that Religion, than he appears to have done upon many Occasions.1. Socr. 1. 7. c. 7.2. Id. ibid.3. Socr. l. 7. c. 13.4. Socr. l. 7. c. 14.5. Soc. ibid. Theophan. p. 70, 71. Suid. p. 976, 977.6. Socr. et Suid. ibid.7. Socr. l. 7. c. 14.8. Suid. p. 977.9. Suid. p. 977. Socr. ibid.10. Socr. ibid.

The Church ofRome, which has sainted this Man, may think herself concerned in Honour to justify all his Proceedings; but surely the Church ofEnglandis not. I shall not therefore attempt such a Vindication; but having truly and faithfully related the Facts from a contemporary Historian, shall leave the Character ofCyrilto be judged of from them, and content myself with wishing, that one, whose Zeal for the Christian Religion was sometimes meritorious, had better understood the true Bounds of that Zeal, and the true Spirit of that Religion, than he appears to have done upon many Occasions.

1. Socr. 1. 7. c. 7.2. Id. ibid.3. Socr. l. 7. c. 13.4. Socr. l. 7. c. 14.5. Soc. ibid. Theophan. p. 70, 71. Suid. p. 976, 977.

1. Socr. 1. 7. c. 7.

2. Id. ibid.

3. Socr. l. 7. c. 13.

4. Socr. l. 7. c. 14.

5. Soc. ibid. Theophan. p. 70, 71. Suid. p. 976, 977.

6. Socr. et Suid. ibid.7. Socr. l. 7. c. 14.8. Suid. p. 977.9. Suid. p. 977. Socr. ibid.10. Socr. ibid.

6. Socr. et Suid. ibid.

7. Socr. l. 7. c. 14.

8. Suid. p. 977.

9. Suid. p. 977. Socr. ibid.

10. Socr. ibid.

Thus far the History of the Popes has been merely Ecclesiastical, and therefore less entertaining: but, in the next Volume, the Affairs of the Church will begin very soon to be so interwoven with those of the State, as to render the History both Ecclesiastic and Civil. The Popes will soon make a very different Figure from that which they have hitherto made; no longer mere Bishops, but Bishops and Princes; and the Bishop almost intirely lost in the Prince; no longer contending only with their Collegues for Spiritual Power and Jurisdiction, but, at the same time, with the greatest Monarchs for Dominion and Empire; nay, employing the Sword as well as the Keys, and heading, as directed by their Ambition or Interest, both Councils and Armies. We shall see the Western Empire utterly extinct, andItalysuccessively invaded, and partly held by theHeruli, by theGoths, by theGreeks, theLombards, theFrench, theItalians, theGermans, and theNormans; and the Popes managing their Affairs, in all these Revolutions, with so much Art and Address, as to reap, from most of them, some considerable Advantage for themselves. Events more interesting, though, in reality, not more important, than those which the present Volume relates; and which, to the very End of this History, will be succeeded by others, equally proper to excite the Attention even of such Readers as seek for Amusement alone.

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