or honour, and no attention to the instruction of the ignorant, and whenever any one in any way was invested with an ecclesiastical benefice, he immediately inquires how much money he will get from it; the last question, if it was asked at all, that arose, was as to his saint, or the name by which his church was entituled; hence imprecations and murmurings were excited amongst the people, and the anger of God was provoked daily, with good cause. At sight of such wickedness and oppression, the Greek church rose against that of Rome, expelled their emperor, and showed obedience only to their archbishop of Constantinople, named German, who, in his ravings, strayed from the Catholic faith, and boldly defended the erroneous doctrines of the Greeks, as well the old errors as others newly invented. Their foolish creed is as follows:-They assert that the Holy Spirit proceeds not from the Son, but from the Father alone, because it is found in the Scriptures written, "The spirit of truth, which proceeds from the Father." Moreover, they consecrate the eucharist from fermented bread. In many points, too, they contradict the Latins, and despise them, condemning the Roman church in several points, more, however, regarding its acts than its sayings. He has, therefore, like another Lucifer, established his see in the north, that is to say, at Constantinople, the metropolitan city of the Greeks, a degenerate son and an antipope, calling it his church, and declaring that it is the most worthy; he also says that the Roman church is its sister, not its mother, because St. Peter, the chief of the apostles, in former times established a cathedral see at Antioch, which is adjacent and belongs to the Greek empire, before he came to Rome; he adds also, that Antioch showed all the honour and reverence in its power to the apostle of Christ, and in this way to Christ, on which account it was honoured with the name of "Theophilus;" whilst Rome, after many insults and much contumely, condemned the said Peter and his fellow apostle Paul to death. Thus, on the side of the Greeks, was honour and reverence shown, whilst on that of the Romans, disrespect and insolence was offered; wherefore, the Greeks, by right, deserved to be called the sons, and the Romans the stepsons. However, as is to be gathered from the tenour of the undermentioned letters, the said Archbishop German

wished to assemble his Greeks and the Latins, that is, the Romans, together, in order that they might, after hearing the arguments set forth on both sides of the question, come to the same way of thinking, according as the support of arguments or authority confirmed their opinions; that thus the whole Church fighting for God might be called one and entire, and, according to the decree of our Saviour, that there might be one shepherd and one fold throughout the whole world. The said German, therefore, wrote to the pope as follows:

Letter of German, archbishop of Constantinople, to the Roman Pope

Gregory.

"To the most holy and most excellent the Pope of Old Rome, and rector of the Apostolic See, German, by the mercy of God, archbishop of Constantinople at New Rome.-Oh Lord Jesus Christ, grant me salvation. Oh Lord, give me good success. For I place thee, the honoured, precious, elect corner-stone, as the foundation of this negotiation which will bring salvation to the whole world. For I have learned by thy prophet Isaiah, that every one who believeth in thee as being this stone shall in no way be confounded, nor can he be moved from the foundation of his hope; and this is the truth, and no one dares to contradict it, unless he be a disciple of the father of lies. Thy work it is, who art the corner-stone, to unite those things which are afar off from one another, or which differ amongst themselves, and to assemble the things which are separated in the unity of the faith. Thou it is who hast preached the gospel of peace to those dwelling far and near, who, by the elevation of thy hands above the cross, hast summoned the ends of the earth to righteousness, and, after a father's custom, hast raised them upon thy shoulders. I therefore beseech thy inestimable clemency, who art the omnipotent Word of the Father, of the same substance in the wisdom of God, build in me an edifice of this argument, and be thou both its foundation and its roof, who, according to the divine saying of John, art the Alpha and the Omega, as it were, the incomprehensible beginning and end of all things. Thus far extends our prayer: and thus, having in the first place raised our eyes to the heavenly mounts, whence we prayed that aid might be granted us, we next address our discourse to you, most holy pope, who have obtained the primacy of the Apostolic See; deign to descend

a little from the height of your glory, and give heed to my words, who am of small consideration, wretched both in life and in discourse; if you, I say, resemble him who dwells as God on high, and looks down on things here below ;—but here I will begin.

"The inscrutable wisdom of God, which out of nothing produced everything, always restrains them within bounds, and wisely rules them, has ofttimes made a custom on the least occasion to build great works thereon, as if the foundation had been long before laid. Joseph was sold into Egypt for silver, after having been let down into the pit, and was afterwards thrown into prison, and the events which followed, how glorious and how honourable they were, and how God was glorified in the midst thereof, are well known to the wise understanding of thy mind, most holy father. To what this discourse refers, and the meaning of it, the brothers who are present, whose number is equal to that of the wise virgins, and whom a dangerous meeting and an unjust imprisonment have brought to our notice, will explain to your holiness. The lamp of their works, with the light which emanates from it, shines before men to the glory of the heavenly Father, and they wisely always supply it with the oil of good works, that its light may not be extinguished, and they themselves may not be drawn into sloth, and thus. be refused admission to the kingdom. They are all without staves and slippers, and each of them has his own particular garments. Now I think, according to the apostle, that their feet are beautiful, as they are preaching the gospel of peace between the Greeks and Latins, and they may briefly be called, as if without any burden, most nimble and swift runners, hastening to God, who is the goal of all good men ; on their attaining which, they will cease running, and receive their much-desired reward. These men, who, according to God, are called Minorites, being thus united in one wish and one purpose, and being equally distinguished by the number five, appeared as a good sign, and gave good hope, with God's consent, of unity and concord being established amongst the five patriarchates. Those brothers themselves, as I believe, have, by God's providence, who disposes all things to the best advantage, joined our house; and after many arguments on both sides had passed between us, the discourse turned

above all other things on the long-standing schism in the seamless garment of piety woven from the top throughout, with which garment the hands of the apostles clothed the Catholic church of the Christians. It is not the presumptuous hands of soldiers, but dissensions of ecclesiastics which have split and divided it, and the rent is great and of many years' standing, and there is no one to pity the spouse of Christ who is clad in a rent garment, or who will lament her disgrace. This, as I believe, David also, in his lamentations, says in the book of Psalms, 'They have been separated and not held compunction.' But if we were to feel compunction, we should grieve and be sorrowful; and if we were to meet with trouble and grief, we should call upon the name of the Lord; and as long as we sought him, he would come to our assistance, as if in the midst of his disciples, pacifying those at variance, and correcting the discordance of their thoughts. Are not his bowels torn? are they not sorrowful on account of this disagreement? Yea, very much so. For he is the Father, the most holy of all fathers, and cannot bear to see his children mutually tearing and destroying one another in this hostile way, and to see one devoured by the other, after the manner of fishes, because the greater is elevated above the less, and his more powerful oppresses the weaker. Are we thus taught by that fisher of men, Peter, who, contrary to the nature of his former art, led those whom he caught in his net from death to life? Alas! who will give water to my head and a fountain of tears to my eyes, that I may weep day and night over the destruction of the new Jerusalem,' out of the nations of the congregated church? how have we, the elect people of God, been divided into Judah and Israel, and our cities into Jerusalem and Samaria? The same circumstances as occurred in the case of Cain and Abel, or Esau and Jacob, who were brothers by birth, but enemies in mind, and thus opposed to one another, are now occurring amongst us. I am grieved to insert these things in my letter, lest I may seem to be injuring the primacy of your fraternity, or may be thought to be endeavouring to steal the birthright of the first-born. However, my Father has neither grown old, nor have his eyes become dimmed; but he dwells in heaven, and clearly sees all things, and on those who are unjustly oppressed he bestows his blessing. These things are

indeed bitter, and to a man of understanding, are the worm that gnaws his bones, if they are frequently brought to mind. But what remains to be said is more bitter, sharper, and more cutting, than any two-edged sword, against whatever sect of men it is directed, whether Greeks or Latins; and what is this? Let us hear what Paul says: 'But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached, let him be accursed.' And he strikes with the sword of this kind not only once, but also a second time, that he, too, may bring on us greater sorrow by the second blow, and that those who fear the death of their souls, may seek the physician. What then shall I say more? Let us shake off all other care and anxiety from our minds like dust from off our feet, and let us use all our endeavours to discover whom this two-edged and terrible sword touches, and who those are whom it separates from their union with the limbs of the Church, of which Christ is the head. If it touches us Greeks, show us the incision, wash away the blood from the wound, apply the spiritual plaster, bandage it up, and preserve your brethren who are in this danger, lest they perish, and thus agree with Solomon, who gives this proverb: A brother is proved in difficulties.' Let us, however, chiefly listen to the Lord himself, who gave wisdom to this said Solomon, and who says through the prophet, 'Whoever separates the valuable from the cheap, shall be as it were my bone.' But if we Greeks are without a scar, and free from a wound by this sword of the anathema, and it is drawn against the Italians and Latins, and is raised for the purpose of slaying and destroying some, we think that you will not, through ignorance or a wicked pertinacity, suffer yourselves to be separated from the side of the Lord, for whom each of you would willingly endure ten thousand deaths, if it were possible. That either great discord, and contrariety of opinions, a destruction of the canonical rules, or an alteration of the customs which our fathers handed down to us, are the materials of the hedge which separates those things which were formerly united in the bonds of peace and concord, the whole world with one voice will declare, calling God, and the heavens, and the earth to witness, that we have most earnestly begged to be united hand in hand with you, or you with us, by making a diligent inquiry