gave birth to credulity, and those who sat among the Powers of heaven

might sustain, by miraculous assistance, their votaries on earth; and cre- ^S (1)

dulity increased the food on which it fed, by encouraging the detested
practice of forgery and imposture. Under these dangerous circumstances!!
it became the duty of the fathers and the leading ministers of the Church
to moderate the violence of popular feeling, and to restrain any ten-
dency towards vicious excess. But, unhappily for the integrity of the
Catholic faith, the instructors were themselves carried away by the current,
or, we should rather say, united their exertions to swell and corrupt it.
The people we may excuse and compassionate: but we blush when we
discover the most distinguished writers of the fourth century, Athanasius,
Eusebius the historian, Gregory Nazianzen, Chrysostom, Jerome, and
Augustin, engaged in shameful conspiracy against their religion, while
they exaggerate the merit of the martyrs, assert or insinuate their imme-
diate sanctification, and claim for them a sort of reverence which could
not easily be distinguished from worship. In this age, and from this
cause, arose the stupid veneration for bones and relics; it was inculcated
and believed that prayer was never so surely efficacious as when offered
at the tomb of some saint or holy person; the number of such tombs was
then multiplied; at all of them miracles, and prophecies, and prodigies,
and visions, were exhibited or recorded; and the spirit of the Gospel was
forgotten in the practice of forbidden ceremonies, and the belief of impious
fables.

. Such were the first unworthy advances which were made by Christianity,
and encouraged by her leading ministers, with the view to reconcile at
least her external differences with paganism*; and, no doubt, they were
very effectual in alluring those easy Polytheists, whose piety was satisfied
with numerous festivals in celebration of the exploits of mortals deified;
for with them the change was only in the name of the deity, not in the
principles of the religion. And by this shameful compromise † the
Church was filled by numerous converts, who believed, and who were
probably taught to believe, that the worship which they had deserted
was by no means essentially dissimilar from that which they had em-
braced, and who continued, after their admission, to perpetuate and ex-
aggerate those corruptions by which alone the resemblance was created.
Here then we discover the root of several of the abuses of Papacy;
they were concessions made during this critical period to the genius of
paganism, in order to delude its votaries into more speedy apostacy, and
to accelerate the dissolution of the one religion into the other. The im-
mediate object was accomplished-to diminish the numerical display of
Polytheism, and prematurely to crowd the churches and processions with

*In the year 410, Synesius, a Platonic philosopher of Cyrene, was ordained Bishop of Ptolemais by Theophilus of Alexandria. Synesius remonstrated against this election, declared himself to be a Platonist, and specified several points in which his speculative opinions differed from those of the Christians. But as he was an agreeable orator, and had much influence in the province, his objections were overlooked, and after receiving baptism he entered upon his episcopal functions. This is far from being the only instance of the pliancy of the early Church, at a period too when it had no excuse from fear or persecution.

+ It must be observed that the Pagans on their side made the concession of sacrifice, or at least of immolation, which was the centre of their whole system. They were indulged with a sort of Polytheism of saints and martyrs; and even sensible objects of worship were not withheld from them. But these Beings and Images were to be ap proached only with prayer and supplication; and if it was presently found expedient to permit offerings to be made to them, their shrines were never contaminated by the blood of victims.

nominal Christians; and this was merely to anticipate the tardy but certain operation of irresistible causes, and to effect that in appearance, which in the next generation would have been surely consummated. But the lasting result has been to darken and disfigure the features of Christianity, not in one race only, or for one age, but through a period, of which fourteen centuries have already been accomplished, and of which we cannot yet foresee the termination.

Abolition of Gladiatorial Games.

Arcadius and Honorius succeeded respectively to the thrones of the East and West, and they followed the steps of Theodosius in his warfare against heresy as well as paganism. Arcadius was more distinguished in the former contest, though he proceeded to some extremities against the temples and idols of Phoenicia. Honorius is more honourably celebrated by the law which abolished the Gladiatorial Games. This institution, the most barbarous that ever disgraced a civilized nation, was the genuine offspring of the character and morals of pagan antiquity; and it was supported through the extinction of human feeling, and the contempt of human life. It was not suppressed until the year 404, or about ninety years after the first establishment of Christianity-so slow is the influence of the most perfect moral system to undermine any practice which time and use have consecrated. But at length it sank before the gradual prevalence of happier and more natural principles; and while we record its subversion, as marking an important epoch in the history of human civilization, we readily assign to it a corresponding rank in the annals of Christianity.

Theodosius the younger succeeded Arcadius in the empire of the East; and we may consider him as having completed, as far as the limits of his authority extended, the task transmitted to him by his father, and his grandfather. And whether from greater moderation of temper, or because extreme rigour was judged no longer necessary against a fallen adversary, he somewhat mitigated the severity of the existing laws; and was satisfied with inflicting upon the few, who still persisted in their accursed sacrifices to dæmons,' the milder punishments of confiscation and exile, though the crime was justly capital*.' From the flexible character of Polytheism, and the rare mention of heathen martyrs, we are perhaps justified in drawing the consoling conclusion, that those oppressive laws were seldom enforced to the last penalty. Yet we cannot doubt that many less direct, but not less effectual, modes of persecution were diligently exercised; we are assured that numbers must have suffered in their persons or property for a blind but conscientious adherence to the worship of their fathers; and we should have celebrated with greater satisfaction the final success of our religion, if it had been brought about by less questionable measures. In the West, the expiring struggles of paganism continued perhaps a little longer. Though the exhibition of gladiators had Extinction of been abolished, the games of the Circus, and the conPaganism. tests of wild beasts were still permitted; and though the essence of the pagan religion was virtually extinguished, when the act of Immolation, in which in truth it consisted, was finally abolished, yet those spectacles were so closely associated with its exercise, if they were not rather a part of it, that they served at least to keep the minds of the converts suspended, by seeming to reconcile with

The Theodosian code is a Collection of the Constitutions of the Emperors from Constantine to Theodosius II., published by the latter in 438.

the principles of Christianity the barbarous relics of the old superstition. And thus, though the number who professed that worship was now exceedingly small, yet its practice in some measure survived its profession, and it continued to linger in the recollections, and usages, and prejudices, of men for some time after its name was disclaimed and repudiated; still, from the historical survey of this subject, it is manifest that the mortal wound was inflicted by Theodosius I.; and whatever fleeting vestiges we may discover in succeeding reigns, the superstition was in fact extinct from the moment that the Emperor called upon the Senate of Rome to make their election between that and Christianity. This celebrated assembly was convened in the year 388; Christianity was established by the voice, and probably by the conscience of a very large majority; and the religion of Julian did not in reality survive its enthusiastic votary and reformer for more than twenty-five years.

NOTE ON CERTAIN PAGAN WRITERS.

1.-The first whom we propose to mention (first in time and personal distinction rather than in literary merit) is Julian. His' Lives of the Emperors,' his predecessors, in which we find many pointed remarks and illustrations of their several characters, and especially of their defects, though possessing neither the fulness nor impartiality of history, must nevertheless be considered his most important work. That next in celebrity bears the singular name of the Misopogon or Beardhater. The imperial satirist seems to have been excited to this composition by the appearance of certain anapæsts, published in ridicule of his personal rusticity, among his lively subjects of Antioch or Daphne. He admits the justice of their ridicule, he affects even to exaggerate the cause of it, and condescends to visit his own shaggy exterior with much humorous severity. But through the levity of his self-condemnation some traces of suppressed asperity are occasionally discernible; and the wit which had dared to trifle with an Emperor was not recommended to Julian by the general belief that it had proceeded from the pen of a Christian. Besides these two works, several epistles and rescripts are extant which are of greater historical importance. That Julian's feeling towards the Christians was not the contempt of a philosopher, but the angry malevolence of a pagan and a rival, appears from several passages in his works, and from those especially which are directed against Athanasius. In his epistle to Ecdicius, Eparch of the Egyptians, we find these passionate expressions, I swear by the great Serapis that unless Athanasius, the enemy of the Gods, shall be wholly expelled from Egypt before the calends of December, I will impose a fine of a hundred pounds of gold on the troops under your command; and you know that if I am slow to condemn, I am still more so to relax the sentence; for it does exceedingly afflict me, that all the Gods should be contemned through his means; nor is there anything that I would so willingly behold or hear of as accomplished by you, as the expulsion of Athanasius from the regions of Egypt; the scoundrel who has dared, and in my reign too, to persecute some distinguished Grecian ladies, till they submitted to baptism.' Again, in a decree addressed to the Alexandrians, the Emperor declares, that he had recalled the Galilæans, who had been banished by Constantius,* not to their churches, but

6

In a very kind epistle to Etius, a celebrated Arian Bishop, and formerly his friend, Julian mentions the same fact.

only to their countries; while I understand (he adds) that Athanasius, with the extreme insolence and audacity which is characteristic of him, has taken possession of what they call the episcopal throne.' He then decrees his exile. In a subsequent letter, (Edit. Par. p. 330.) addressed to the same people, he expresses his hatred both of the persons and doctrines of the Galilæans in the most powerful and passionate language. On the other hand he acknowledges, in more than one passage, the charitable attention which those same Galilæans bestowed upon the poor, and ascribes much of their success to that virtue; and the general spirit of his instructions respecting their treatment, while it enjoins a preference to the worshippers of the Gods,* decidedly discourages, unprovoked † severities against the persons of the Atheists.'

A passage in the Misopogon proves either the abject superstitiousness of the author, or his impudent and prejudiced hypocrisy; and though we believe the former to be the more probable charge, we are willing to leave the decision to his most devoted admirers. The story is well known of the religious disappointment which he experienced at Daphne; how he enered the Temple with extraordinary parade and solemnity, for the purpose of presiding at a public and splendid sacrifice, and how he was reduced by the universal desertion of the votaries of the Gods to the performance of an imperfect, and almost solitary act of devotion. In his relation of this story, in which his angry embarrassment is almost ludicrously depicted, he unreservedly asserts, and invokes the Sun to attest his veracity, that at the moment of his entrance into the Temple the statue of the God indicated to him what was to take place .

His celebrated Epistle respecting the reformation of Paganism is addressed to Arcadius, the chief priest of Galatia; it is the most remarkable monument of the religious policy of Julian, and it is also an evidence of the great and general influence which Christian principles had acquired even over the conduct of unbelievers. The progress of impiety or Atheism' is ascribed by the Emperor chiefly to three causes: to the charitable or hospitable philanthropy of its professors; to their provident care respecting the sepulture of the dead; to their parade and affectation of a holy life; and he enjoins the votaries of the ancient worship to imitate the first of these pretensions, and to realize the last. On the priests especially, as well as their families and their servants, he imposes a rigid attention to their religious duties, and he forbids them at the same time the amusement of the theatre, the conviviality of the tavern, and the exercise of every vulgar profession; the disobedient are to be removed from the ministry. The Emperor then proceeds to order the foundation of numerous establishments (evodoxeîa) in every city, for the humane purpose of hospitality and charity: for it is shameful to us, that no beggar should be found among the Jews, and that the impious Galilæans should support not only their own poor, but ours also; while these last appear destitute of all assistance from ourselves;' and that pagan authority may not be thought wanting to

* Προτιμάσθαι μεντοὶ τοὺς θεοσεβεῖς καὶ πανύ φημι δεῖν. Epistle to Astabius. He seems however very readily to have availed himself of the offences of the Christians, in order to plunder them, and that too with great religious impartiality. In an epistle to Eccbolus he complains that the Arians of Edessa, exulting in their opulence, had made an assault upon the Valentinians; and he adds, that with a view to assist them in effectuating the instructions of their own admirable law, and that they might more easily travel to the kingdom of Heaven, he had ordered all the possessions to be taken away from the Church of Edessa; distributing the money among the soldiers, and confiscating the fixed property.'

* Επισήμηνε μοι εἰσελθόντι πρῶτον τὸ ἄγαλμα, p. 112. Ed. Paris.

justify his philanthropy, he cites a passage from Homer in praise of hos pitality. He concludes with some instructions to regulate the intercourse and define the respective dignities of the religious and civil authorities.

2. The name of Ammianus Marcellinus deserves even at the hands of the ecclesiastical historian more elaborate mention than can here be bestowed upon it. A native of Antioch, of noble family, he devoted his youth to military service, and attended Julian, his patron and friend, in his fatal expedition against the Persians. During the reign of Valentinian and Valens he appears to have withdrawn to studious repose in his native city, and under Theodosius he finally fixed his residence at Rome. It was here that he composed his history in the Latin language, and published it with the general applause of a people among whom the admiration of literary merit had survived its possession. The work consisted of thirty-one books, comprising the affairs of the empire from the beginning of the reign of Nerva to the end of that of Valens. The thirteen first are lost, and those remaining have escaped to us as from a shipwreck, torn and mutilated*. Respecting the religion of the author, there can be no serious doubt that he adhered to paganism; though the impartiality with which he commonly treats the deeds and character of Christians has led some writers to suspect his attachment to their faith. The suspicion is at least honourable to the historian, and a more faithful imitation of his example would have removed many stains from the pages of ecclesiastical annalists, and spared much perplexity to those who search them for information and truth.

3. The History of Zosimus extends from the time of Augustus to the second siege of Rome by Alaric: it consists of five books, and the fragment of a sixth, into the first of which the reigns of the predecessors of Constantine are compressed. Zosimus was a prejudiced, and, as some miraculous descriptions attest, a superstitious pagan; and he treats with severity, perhaps with injustice, the character of some of the Christian Emperors †; but as by far the greatest proportion of his attention is bestowed on the details of military enterprise, it is not often that he crosses the more peaceful path of the ecclesiastical historian.

CHAPTER IX.

From the Fall of Paganism to the Death of Justinian. (348... 567.)

Conversion of the Goths-of Clovis and the Franks-of other Barbarians-causes of its facilityMiraculous interpositions-Internal condition of the Church-Symeon and the Stylites-Pope Leo the Great-Papal aggrandisement-private confession-Justinian, his orthodoxy, intolerance, and heresy-Literature-its decay not attributable to Christianity-three periods of its declineReligious corruptions-Barbarian conquests-Seven liberal arts-Justinian closes the Schools of Athens-early connection of Philosophy with Religion-Morality-of the Clergy—of the Peoplegeneral misery-Note on certain Fathers of the fourth and fifth Centuries.

THAT We may treat with some perspicuity the long period over which the two following chapters are extended, we shall separate in each of them

See the life of Ammianus Marcellinus by Valesius, which we have chiefly followed in this account.

Julian is his great hero, and Constantine the principal object of his censure. Respecting the latter, it has been observed, that we may safely believe any evil that has escaped from Eusebius, and any good that has been extorted from Zosimus. But these combined would furnish very scanty materials for the delineation of a great character. We must believe much more than these; and in this matter the panegyrics of the Christian are not, perhaps, more liable to suspicion than the aspersions of the pagan writer.