The Council ofAlexandria.

The Bishop ofAlexandriabeing thus reinstated, and again at full Liberty to exert his Zeal for the Catholic Cause, his first Care was to retrieve his fallen Brethren, and reunite them to the Church. With this View he assembled, in 362. a Council atAlexandria, composed only of Confessors, that is, of such Bishops as had chosen rather to forfeit their Dignities and Sees, than receive or sign theArianConfession ofRiminiorSirmium. This was one of the most respectable Councils that was ever held in the Church, not so much in regard of the Numbers (for I find not above Twenty named) as of the Merit, Virtue, and Sanctity of the Members that composed it. The chief Subject of their Debates, or rather Inquiries, was to find out the most proper Means of restoring Tranquillity to the Church, after sodreadful a Storm. Some, and among the restLuciferBishop ofCagliari, who did not assist in Person, but by his Deputies, the Two DeaconsHerenniusandAgapetus, were for deposing all those who had signed the Confession ofRimini, and cutting them off from the Communion of the Church. But this unseasonable Severity was condemned by the far greater Part, as tending to raise a new Storm, and involve the Church in greater Troubles than ever, which the EmperorJulianwould take care to improve, to the total Ruin of the Christian Religion.Athanasiustherefore was for using Severity only with the Authors, and chief Promoters, of the late general Defection: and his Opinion prevailed; for a Decree was enacted, importing, that the Authors of the late general Prevarication should, even upon their Repentance, be received to the Communion of the Church only in the Capacity of Laymen, but that the rest should be all kept in, or restored to, their Sees, upon their publicly renouncing theArianCommunion, and embracing the Faith ofNice[945].|A Schism formed byLucifer,Bishop ofCagliari.|This Decree was every-where received with the greatest Joy, the Bishop ofCagliaribeing the only Man, either in the East or West, who opposed it, and that with so much Obstinacy, that, rather than yield, he chose to separate himself from the Communion of the rest, and to form a new Schism, which bore his Name, and soon gained a considerable Footing, especially in the West; several Persons no less distinguished for Piety than Learning, and among the restGregory, the famous Bishop ofElvira, having adopted the Sentiments of a Man, who had suffered so much for the Purity of the Faith. AsLuciferis honoured by the Church ofRomeas a Saint, and his Festival is kept on the 20th ofMay[946],Baroniuspretends, that he abandoned his Schism, and returned to the Communion of the Church, before his Death[947].|He never returnedto the Communion ofthe Church.|But his ContemporaryRuffinus, who probably knew him, assures us, that he died in the Schism, which he had formed[948].Jeromoften speaks of his Schism, but no-where gives us the least Hint of his having ever quitted it; which would have afforded him a strong Argument against theLuciferians, and he would not have failed to urge it, in the Book which he wrote to convince them of their Error. That Writer speaks ofLucifer, on all Occasions, with the greatest Respect, even in the Book which he writ against his Followers: he owns,that his Intention was pure and upright; that it was not Pride, Thirst after Glory, or a Desire of transmitting his Name to Posterity, but a mistaken Zeal, that led him astray, and made him disapprove what the others approved; he even distinguishes him with the Title of theBlessed Lucifer[949]. And henceBaroniusconcludes, that he returned to the Communion of the Church; for otherwise, says the Annalist[950], St.Jeromhad never given him the Title ofBlessed, orSaint. But that he did not return, is manifest, from the Silence of St.Jeromon that Head, and from the Authority of a contemporary Writer quoted above: and hence I may draw a Conclusion far better grounded than that ofBaronius;viz.that St.Jeromexcused him on account of his good Intention; and, consequently, that he did not hold the uncharitable Doctrine of the Church ofRome, excluding from Salvation all who die out of her Communion, let their Intention be never so good. It is to be observed, that theLuciferiansnot only excluded from their Communion those who had received theArianConfession, but all who communicated with them, even after they had anathematized that Confession, and publicly embraced the Faith ofNice.

The Council ofAlexandriasaves theChurch from Ruin.

The Resolution taken by the Confessors in the Council ofAlexandria, is said to have saved the Church from utter Ruin. For had that prevailed, which was urged with so much Warmth byLucifer, the Bishops, who had chosen rather to sign theArianConfession than forfeit their Sees, would have kept them in Defiance of a Decree made by a small Number of their Collegues, and in all Likelihood excommunicated and deposed, in their Turn, those who had excommunicated and deposed them: and, in that Case, theArianParty, comprehending almost all the Bishops of the Church, must have prevailed. But as nothing was required of them, to keep their Sees, besides their renouncing the Confession ofRimini, which they had embraced, and embracing that ofNice, which they had renounced, they readily complied with the Decree of the Council; insomuch that the following Year 363.Athanasius, in a Letter, which he wrote to the EmperorJovian, immediately after the Death ofJulian, could assure that Prince, that the Faith ofNicehad been received, and was professed, in all the Provinces of the Empire, which he enumerates; but omits those ofThrace,Bithynia, and theHellespont[951], the Bishopsthere still continuing obstinately to maintain the Doctrine ofArius, and to reject the Faith ofNice, as we learn fromSozomen[952],Socrates[953], andBasil[954]; nay, atConstantinople, the Orthodox had but a small Chapel to assemble in, all the Churches being in Possession of theArians, underEudoxius, a leading Man among thePure Arians, who had usurped that See[955].|The Faith ofNiceeverywhereestablished.|For the better establishing of the Orthodox Faith, after the violent Shock it had lately received, Councils were held in several Provinces of the Empire[N19], and byall was received the Faith ofNice, the Confession ofRiminicondemned, and the WordsSubstanceandConsubstantialre-established[956]. A very strong Proof, that the Assent given before to theArianDoctrines had been solely the Effect of Force, or of Interest, which being now removed, and all left at Liberty to act as their Consciences only directed, the Orthodox Faith prevailed as much as the other had done underConstantius.

N19. The Bishops ofGaulassembled atParisin 362. and, having first owned their Crime, in approving and signing the Confession ofRimini, they acknowleged the Three Persons of the Trinity to be of the same Nature and Substance, and condemnedUrsacius,Valens, andAuxentiustheArianBishop ofMilan. This Council was convened by St.Hilarius, Bishop ofPoitiers; and a Letter, which the Council writ on this Occasion, has been transmitted to us, among the Fragments of his Works. He is said to have assembled several other Councils inGaul, for the re-establishing of the Faith ofNice, which is all we know of them. The same Year 362. the Bishops ofItalyassembling, declared void and null the Acts of the Council ofRimini, embraced the Faith ofNice, and, with one Accord, anathematizedUrsaciusandValens, as the leading Men of theArianParty. There is, among the Fragments of St.Hilarius, a Letter on this Subject, from theItalianto theIllyrianBishops. Where this Council was held I find no-where recorded. In the Year 363. the EmperorJoviandesiring to be instructed in the Faith of the Catholic Church, byAthanasiusand theEgyptianBishops, who were come to wait on him, they assembled in Council, and agreed to propose no other Creed to him but that ofNice. At the same time they condemned the Heresy ofMacedonius, denying the Divinity of the Holy Ghost. This Council is generally thought to have been held atAlexandria. But, from the Letter, which they presented to the Emperor, it appears to have consisted of someEgyptianBishops, who, as it is there said, were appointed to represent all the others of the same Province[1]. Had the Council been held atAlexandria, they had, I should think, been all present. It must therefore have assembled in some Place out ofEgypt; and where more likely than atAntioch? For there the Emperor was this very Year, and thereAthanasiuswaited on him. The same Year another Council was held atAntioch, underMeleciusBishop of that City. In that CouncilAcacius, Bishop ofCæsareainPælestine, who had been at the Head of theArianParty, in the Latter-end of the Reign ofConstantius, and his Followers, commonly styledAcacians, embraced the Faith ofNice, and admitted the TermConsubstantial.Acaciushad no other Faith but that of the Party which prevailed. Hence, in the Time ofJovian, who favoured the Orthodox Party, he professed the Faith ofNice; but Two Years after he had signed it, he joined theAriansanew, seeing them in great Favour with the EmperorValens. Several other Councils were held, from the Year 363. to 368. of which we have no particular Account. ForAthanasiustells us, in general Terms, that many Councils assembled inFrance, inSpain, atRome, inDalmatia, inDardania, inMacedonia, inEpirus, inGreece, inCandia, and the other Islands, inSicily, inCyprus, inLycia, inIsauria, inEgypt, and inArabia; and that they all met to maintain the Orthodox Faith, the Faith of the Council ofNice[2]. In his Letter to the EmperorJovianhe assures him, that the Symbol ofNicewas received in the above-mentioned Provinces, and besides, inBritain, inAfrica, inPamphylia, inLibya, inPontus, inCappadocia, and in the East, that is, in the Patriarchate ofAntioch[3]. But in the Provinces ofThrace, ofBithynia, and theHellespont, theSemi-Ariansprevailed, till they were overpowered by theArians, strongly supported by the EmperorValens, a most zealous Defender ofArianism.1. Theod. l. 4. c. 3.2. Athan. de Afr. & ad Epict.3. Id. ad Jov.

1. Theod. l. 4. c. 3.2. Athan. de Afr. & ad Epict.

1. Theod. l. 4. c. 3.

2. Athan. de Afr. & ad Epict.

3. Id. ad Jov.

A Council convenedby theSemi-Arians.

As every one was allowed byJulianto believe what he pleased, and to own his Belief, whatever it was, theSemi-Ariansconvened a Council, soon after the Death ofConstantius, who, in the Latter-end of his Life, had begun to persecute them as much as he had favoured them before. This Council was composed of those chiefly who had assisted at that ofSeleucia, of which I have spoken above; and they all agreed to condemn and anathematize the Doctrine of thePure Arians, with the Confession ofRimini, and to sign anew the Confession ofAntioch, establishing a Likeness in Substance between the Son and the Father. Thus they pretended to keep a due Mean between the Two opposite Extremes, of the Western Bishops, whoseConsubstantiality, they said, left no room for the Distinction of Persons; and of thePure Arians, who denied all Likeness[957].|The Sect of theMacedonians.|It was after this Council that theSemi-Arians, separating themselves from the Communion of thePure Arians, began to form a distinct Sect, and to be calledMacedonians; which Name was given them fromMacedonius, late Bishop ofConstantinople, but deposed by thePure Arians, in the Council they held in that City in 360. to make room for their great ChampionEudoxius, translated formerly fromGermaniciatoAntioch, and now fromAntiochtoConstantinople. They were also namedMarathonians, fromMarathonius, Bishop ofNicomedia, who, together withMacedonius, was at the Head of the Party; andPneumatomachi, that is, Enemies to the Holy Ghost, whose Divinity they denied, which was their chief, if not their only Error; for some are of Opinion, that tho’ they rejected the WordConsubstantial, yet they agreed with the Orthodox in the Meaning of it. They led very regular, austere, and edifying Lives; and are, on that Score, highly commended and extolled byGregoryGregoryNazianzen[958]. No Wonder therefore, that they soon spread all over the East, and gained every-where great Numbers of Followers. AtConstantinople, and in the neighbouring Cities and Provinces, theywere followed not only by the greater Part of the People, but by some Persons of Distinction, by such as were most remarkable for their Piety, by intire Monasteries, both of Men and Women[959]. The Inhabitants ofCyzicusin thePropontiswere almost all of this Sect, and we are told of some Miracles wrought by aMacedonianof that Place[960], whichBaroniuswill not allow, though as well attested as any he relates.

They are persecutedby the EmperorValens.

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

Liberiusdies.

Liberiusdied soon after, that is, on the 23d or 24th ofSeptember, of the present Year 366. as we are told byMarcellinusandFaustinus, whose Authority is preferable to that of any other, since, at this very time, they lived atRome[965]. He had been chosen on the 22d ofMay352. so that he governed the Church ofRomeFourteen Years, Four Months, and a Day or Two.|The deplorableCondition of theChurch in his Time.|Liberiuslived in troublesome Times, the worst the Church had ever yet seen. She had Two dangerous Enemies to contend with at the same time, the Power of the Prince then on the Imperial Throne, and the Craft of a most subtle and deceitful Party. The Prince employed all his Power to overcome, with Oppression, those whom the Party could not over-reach with their Craft; and the Party to over-reach with their Craft such as the Prince could not overcome with Oppression. On the other hand, the Prelates, even some who were reputed the Pillars of the Church, seemed to have lost that Zeal, Firmness, and Intrepidity, which they had sogloriously exerted under the Pagan Princes, and few were found among them, whose Virtue was proof against the Loss of their Dignity, or Exile. Hence the Defection became general, and the Orthodox Party was brought so low, that it must have been utterly quashed, hadConstantiuslived a few Years longer. But Providence interposed;Constantiusdied while he was pursuing his Scheme with the greatest Success; andJulian, his Successor, by betraying an equal Hatred and Aversion to Christians of all Denominations, obliged them to forget their Quarrels among themselves, to lay aside their Animosity against each other, and to unite in their mutual Defence against him, as a common Enemy.Jovian, who succeeded him, proved no less favourable to the Orthodox, thanConstantiushad been to theArians. Many therefore of the latter, and among the restAcacius, who was at the Head of thePure Arians, to gain the Favour of the Emperor, publicly renounced the Doctrine ofArius, and embraced that ofNice.Jovian, after a short Reign of Seven Months and Twenty Days, was succeeded byValentinian, who continued to countenance the Orthodox, as his Predecessor had done, though he did not use theArianswith that Rigour which some Zealots expected from a Confessor, which Title he had deserved underJulian. However, as he professed the Orthodox Faith, that Party universally prevailed; insomuch that, in a very short time, no Traces ofArianismwere left in the West, except atMilan, under theArianBishopAuxentius, and in a few Cities ofIllyricum, where it was kept up byUrsacius,Valens,Germinius, and their Disciples, till the following Century, when it was every-where re-established there by theGoths.

By whomArianismwas banished out ofthe West.

Baroniusascribes toLiberiusthe banishing ofArianismout of the West, and the establishing of the Orthodox Faith in its room; but that Glory was owing, according toRuffinus, toHilariusofPoitiers, andEusebiusofVercelli, who, like the Two great Luminaries of the Universe, to use his Words, enlightened with their RaysIllyricum,Gaul, andItaly, dispelling every-where the Darkness of Heresy[966]. He minutely describes the great Success that attended them, with the Difficulties and Obstructions they met with in so pious and commendable an Undertaking[967]. But, as forLiberius, he does not so much as mention him. And truly, from the Year 357. in which he fell, to his admitting theMacedoniansto his Communion in 366. which was thelast of his Life, the only thing I find recorded of him in the Antients, is his writing a Letter to the Catholic Bishops ofItaly, wherein he exhorts them to atone for their past Conduct by renouncing the Errors of theArians, and receiving anew the Symbol ofNice. He adds, that as this is the only Atonement, which it has been thought proper to require of them, they ought to exert their Zeal against the Authors of the Fault they committed, in proportion to the Grief they must feel for committing it[968]. This Letter has been transmitted to us among the Fragments ofHilarius.|NeitherVincentiusofCapua,norLiberius,assisted at theCouncil ofRimini.|It is hard to guess what could induceBaroniusto write so confidently as he does, thatVincentiusofCapuaassisted at the Council ofRiminiwith the Character of the Pope’s Legate[969]. In what antient Author did he find the least Intimation or distant Hint of such a Legation?VincentiusofCapua, though a Person of great Eminency, is not even mentioned by any of the contemporary Writers, who relate the Transactions of that Council, and name the chief Prelates who composed it. 'Tis true we read of him, in one Author, that he never consented to the Confession ofRimini[970]: but that is said ofLiberiustoo[971], whomBaroniusowns not to have been present at that Assembly.

Liberiusis honouredas a Saint.

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

The Writings ofLiberius.

Several Pieces have reached our Times, which were either written by, or have been falsly ascribed to,Liberius. Among the former are, his Letter in Answer to theMacedonianBishops; another to the Catholic Bishops ofItaly; which have been both mentioned above;and a Discourse, which he pronounced onChristmas-dayin the Church of St.Peter, on Occasion of his giving the sacred Veil toMarcellinathe Sister of St.Ambrosewhen she embraced the State of Virginity. This Discourse St.Ambrosehas inserted in his Third Book on Virgins, but in his own Style, which is very different from that ofLiberius, who had not the Gift of Eloquence[975].|Writings falslyascribed to him.|Among the Pieces falsly ascribed toLiberius, most Men of Learning reckon the Confession of Faith, written inGreek, which he is supposed to have sent toAthanasius. This PieceBaroniuswill, by all means, have to be genuine; and the Use he makes of it is somewhat extraordinary. The Council ofAlexandria, to which the Church owed her Safety, was convened byAthanasius, upon his Return from Exile, as I have related above. By that small Assembly, consisting only of Confessors, was enacted the famous Decree with respect to those, who had communicated with theArians, and signed the Confession ofRimini. To that Decree the whole Church readily conformed; so that the Honour of saving the Church was chiefly owing toAthanasius, and wholly to him and the other Confessors. OfLiberiusnot the least Mention is made; so that he had no Share in that Glory.|Strange ConjecturesofBaronius.|TheAnnalisttherefore, not being able to bring in his Sovereign Pontiff upon the Authority of any Records now extant, has recourse to those that probably never were; or, if they ever were, are now no more. He supposes Part of the above-mentioned Confession of Faith, sent byLiberiustoAthanasius, to be wanting; andLiberius, in the Part that is wanting, to have impoweredAthanasiusto convene a Council, and to have appointedEusebiusofVercelli, andLuciferofCagliari, to assist at that Council with the Character of his Legates. Such wild and extravagant Suppositions require a very strong Proof to support them, some plausible Conjectures at least to give them an Appearance of Truth. But that we must not expect ofBaronius. The only Argument, if it may be so called, which he pretends to offer on this Occasion, is, that he cannot conceiveAthanasius, and the other holy Confessors, would have taken upon them to act as they did, and enact a Decree extending to the whole Church, had they not received such a Power from him, to whom all Power was given[976], meaning the Pope. The other Pieces, falsly ascribed toLiberius, are another Letter toAthanasius,and one to all the Catholic Bishops; which are both reputed supposititious, being dated by Consuls who never existed.

Year of Christ 366.bracketDamasusa Native ofRome,

Liberiuswas succeeded byDamasus, whom theSpanishWriters, upon the Authority ofAnastasius, suppose to have been a Native ofSpain[977]; though there is no room to doubt of his being born inRome, since it appears, from an Inscription quoted byBaronius[978], that his Father had been Lector, Deacon, and Presbyter, of the Church of St.Laurencein that City, and consequently must have lived there from his Youth.Damasushad a Sister namedIrene, who embraced the State of Virginity, and died before she was Twenty, as we read in her Epitaph[979]. It is not therefore probable, that her Death happened in the Twelfth Year of her Brother’s Pontificate, as theSpanishAuthor of her Life tells us, he being then Seventy.Damasusserved, as his Father had done, the Church of St.Laurence, till he was stricken in Years; for he was upwards of Sixty when raised to the Episcopal Dignity.|and Deacon of thatChurch.|He was Deacon ofRomein 355. whenLiberiuswas sent into Exile; on which Occasion he not only bound himself, with the rest of the Clergy, by a solemn Oath not to acknowlege any other Bishop so long asLiberiuslived, but attended him on his Journey to the Place of his Banishment[980].|Whether he aban-donedLiberius,andsided withFelix.|MarcellinusandFaustinusseem to insinuate, that soon afterwards, giving way to his Ambition, he forgot the Oath he had taken, abandonedLiberius, for whom he had professed the greatest Friendship, and sided withFelixhis Antagonist[981]. But these Two Presbyters were zealous Partisans of the AntipopeUrsinus, of whom hereafter; and therefore we ought to be very cautious of what they write to the Prejudice ofDamasus.Jerom, who lived then atRome, and in great Intimacy withDamasus, reproaches such of the Ecclesiastics as forsookLiberius, and joinedFelix, with the Breach of a most solemn Oath; styles themPerjurers, Deserters, Time-servers,&c.which I cannot think he would have done so freely, hadDamasusbeen one of the Number. I am therefore not a little surprised, thatBaroniusshould blindly acquiesce to the Accounts of the above-mentioned Writers, and, without further Inquiry, condemnDamasusas guilty of Perjury, by ranking him among the Followers ofFelix[982]. And yet the Annalist supposes him to have been appointed Great Vicar ofRomebyLiberius, upon his withdrawing from the City to avoid the Persecution raised byConstantiusafter the Council ofRimini[983]: so that, according to him, he must have changed Sides anew, and, abandoningFelix, returned toLiberius, which is representing him as a Man swayed by no other Principles but those of Interest and Ambition, and therefore always siding with those who were uppermost. This is all we know ofDamasusbefore his Election.

He is chosen BishopofRome,and likewiseUrsinus.

Liberiusdying on the 23d or 24th ofSeptember366. as I have related above, great Disturbances were raised inRomeby the Election of Two Bishops to succeed him,viz.DamasusandUrsinus, whom the later Writers styleUrsicinus, a Deacon of that Church. This double Election gave Rise to a dangerous Schism, and a kind of Civil War, within the Walls of the City, which did not end without a great deal of Bloodshed. I shall impartially relate what I find concerning this important Transaction in the contemporary Writers of either Side; leaving the Reader to judge which of the Two Pretenders was the Cause of so much Mischief, and which legally chosen. I shall begin with the Account whichMarcellinusandFaustinus, who were then atRome, give us of these Elections. They were both Presbyters of that Church, but, being strict Followers ofLuciferBishop ofCagliari, of whom I have spoken above, they and their whole Party were deemed Schismatics, and consequently cruelly persecuted by the Catholic Bishops, especiallyDamasus. Finding themselves thus oppressed, the Two Presbyters, between 383. and 388. drew up a Petition in Behalf of themselves and their afflicted Brethren, addressed toValentinianII.Theodosius, andArcadius, intreating those Princes to protect their Innocence, and put a Stop to the unbridled Rage of their Enemies. With this Request the Two Presbyters repaired toConstantinople, being driven fromRomebyDamasus, and there presented it toTheodosius,who, pitying their Condition, in his Rescript directed toCynegiusthePræfectus Prætorio, treated them as Catholics, granted them the free Exercise of their Religion, and declared all those wicked Men, nay, and Heretics, who had presumed, or should for the future presume, to persecute or molest them[984]. In the Preface, prefixed to this Petition, I find the following Account of both the above-mentioned Elections.Ursinus, say they, was chosen in the Basilic ofJuliusby the DeaconsAmantiusandLupus, and the People, who had continued in the Communion ofLiberius; butDamasus, by those who had adhered toFelix, assembled for that Purpose in the Church of St.Laurence, calledin Lucinis.Ursinuswas ordained the first, byPaulBishop ofTivoli; whichDamasus, who had always panted after the Episcopal Dignity, no sooner knew, than he hired a great Number of Chariot drivers, and other such despicable Wretches, who, violently breaking into the Basilic ofJulius, massacred a great many People there. Seven Days afterwards they made themselves Masters of theLateranBasilic, and there wasDamasusordained Bishop[985].|Different Accounts ofthese Elections.|This Account chargesDamasusalone with the Schism, and the Evils attending it. On the other hand, the Council ofRome, held about Twelve Years after, lays the whole Blame onUrsinus, who, say they, boldly attempted to usurp a Dignity, which on no Score was due to him[986]; and that which met atAquileiain 381. and consisted of all the most eminent Bishops of the West, ascribes toUrsinus, and his Temerity, the many Calamities the Church had suffered; paints him as a Man of no Credit, Character, or Reputation; and adds, that he seized by Force what he had no Hopes of attaining by lawful Means[987].Ambrosewrites, that the Suffrage of Heaven concurred in the Election ofDamasus[988]. According to these AuthoritiesDamasuswas lawfully elected, andUrsinusunlawfully. As to the Particulars of his Election,Jerom, who perhaps was then atRome, tells us, thatDamasuswas first chosen, and thenUrsinus, who, after his Election, seized by Force on the Basilic ofSicinus[989], that is, according to the most probable Opinion, the Basilic ofLiberius, nowSaint Mary the Greater.Socratessays, thatUrsinushaving near as many Votes asDamasus, he was thereby encouraged to hold separate Assemblies, and to get himself ordained in a dark and retired Corner ofthe Basilic ofSicinus[990].Ruffinusassures us, thatDamasuswas already ordained, whenUrsinus, transported with Rage at his being preferred to him, assembled a great Number of seditious People, and, supported by them, caused himself, in Defiance of the Canons of the Church, to be ordained, in the Basilic ofSicinus, byPaulBishop ofTivoli; whereas the Bishops ofRomewere always ordained and consecrated by those ofOstia. After his Consecration, continues this Author, he ordained several Persons; which was adding a Sacrilege to his unlawful Election[991]. BothRuffinus, andSocrates, who follows him, were certainly mistaken as to the Place of this Ordination, since we are told byMarcellinusandFaustinus, thatUrsinuswas ordained, not in the Basilic ofSicinus, but in that ofJulius[992]. These Two Writers, who were inRomeat the Time of the Elections, tell us, in express Terms, thatUrsinuswas chosen beforeDamasus; andJerom, who was probably inRomeat the same Time, assures us, in Terms no less express, thatDamasuswas chosen beforeUrsinus. The former were greatly addicted toUrsinus, and the latter no less attached toDamasus. As for the Two Councils, which I have quoted above, they were held some Years after, when the Party ofDamasushad universally prevailed, and it was a Crime to acknowlegeUrsinus.Jeromhas been followed by most of the Writers who came after, and the Authority of the other Two quite disregarded, for no other Reason but because they were Schismatics; for they joinedLucifer, as I have observed above, and refused to communicate with the Bishops who had signed the Confession ofRimini, nay, and with those who communicated with them.

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