XXVII. zen, A.D. 381. A fufpicion may poffibly arife, that fo unfa- CHAP. vourable a picture of ecclefiaftical fynods has been drawn by the partial hand of fome obftinate here- Retreat of Gregory tic, or fome malicious infidel. But the name of Nazianthe fincere hiftorian who has conveyed this inftructive leffon to the knowledge of pofterity, muft filence the impotent murmurs of fuperftition and bigotry. He was one of the most pious and eloquent bishops of the age; a faint and a doctor of the church; the fcourge of Arianism, and the pillar of the orthodox faith; a diftinguished member of the council of Conftantinople, in which, after the death of Meletius, he exercifed the functions of prefident in a word-Gregory Nazianzen himself. The harsh and ungenerous treatment which he experienced +5, instead of derogating from the truth of his evidence, affords an additional proof of the fpirit which actuated the deliberations of the fynod. Their unanimous fuffrage had confirmed the pretenfions which the bishop of Conftantinople derived from the choice of the people, and the approbation of the emperor. But Gregory foon became the victim of malice and envy. The bifhops of the Eaft, his ftrenuous adherents, provoked by his moderation may be feen in verfe and profe (tom. i. orat. i. p. 33. epift. Iv. p 814, tom. ii. carmen x. p. 81.). Such paffages are faintly marked by Tillemont, and fairly produced by Le Clerc. 45 See Gregory, tom. ii. de Vitâ fuâ, p. 28-31. The fourteenth, twenty-feventh, and thirty-fecond orations were pronounced in the feveral stages of this bufinefs. The peroration of the latt (tom. i. p. 528.), in which he takes a folemn leave of me and angels, the city and the emperor, the Eaft and the Weft, &c. is pathetic, and almoft fublime. XXVII. CHAP. in the affairs of Antioch, abandoned him, without fupport, to the adverse faction of the Egyptians ; who difputed the validity of his election, and rigorously afferted the obfolete canon, that prohibited the licentions practice of episcopal translations. The pride, or the humility, of Gregory prompted him to decline a contest which might have been imputed to ambition and avarice; and he publicly offered, not without some mixture of indignation, to renounce the government of a church, which had been reftored, and almost created, by his labours. His refignation was accepted by the fynod, and by the emperor, with more readiness than he feems to have expected. At the time when he might have hoped to enjoy the fruits of his victory, his epifcopal throne was filled by the fenator Nectarius; and the new archbishop, accidentally recommended by his easy. temper and venerable afpect, was obliged to delay the ceremony of his confecration, till he had previously dispatched the rites of his baptifm 46. After this remarkable experience of the ingratitude of princes and prelates, Gregory retired once more to his obfcure folitude of Cappadocia ; where he employed the remainder of his life, about eight years, in the exercises of poetry and devotion. The title of Saint has been added to 45 The whimfical ordination of Nectarius is attested by Sozoment (1. vii. c. 8.); but Tillemont obferves (Mem. Ecclef. tom. ix. Pa 719.), Après tout, ce narré de Sozomene eft fi honteux pour tous ceux qu'il y mele, et fourtout pour Theodofe, qu'il vaut mieux travailler à le detruire, qu'à le foutenir; an admirable canon of criti cifm! XXVII. his name; but the tenderness of his heart 47, and CHAP. the elegance of his genius, reflect a more pleasing luftre on the memory of Gregory Nazianzen. Edicts of Theodofius against the here tics, A. D. It was not enough that Theodofius had fuppreffed the infolent reign of Arianifm, or that he had abundantly revenged the injuries which the Catholics fuftained from the zeal of Conftantius and Valens. The orthodox emperor confidered 380-394every heretic as a rebel against the supreme powers of heaven, and of earth; and each of thofe powers might exercise their peculiar jurisdiction over the foul and body of the guilty. The decrees of the council of Conftantinople had afcertained the true standard of the faith; and the ecclefiaftics, who governed the confcience of Theodofius, fuggefted the most effectual methods of perfecution. In the space of fifteen years, he promulgated at least fifteen fevere edicts against the heretics 45 ; more especially against those who rejected the doctrine of the Trinity; and to deprive them of every hope of escape, he fternly enacted, that if any laws, or refcripts, fhould be alleged in their favour, the judges fhould confider them as the illegal productions either of fraud, or forgery. The penal statutes were directed against the minifters, the affemblies, and the persons, of the heretics; and the paffions of the legiflator were expreffed 47 I can only be understood to mean, that fuch was his natural temper; when it was not hardened, or inflamed, by religious zeal. From his retirement, he exhorts Nectarius to profecute the heretics of Conftantinople. 48 See the Theodofian Code, 1. xvi. tit. v. leg. 6-23., with Godefroy's commentary on each law, and his general fummary, or Paraticon, tom. vi. p. 104-110. XXVII. CHAP in the language of declamation, and invective. I. The heretical teachers, who ufurped the facred titles of Bishops, or Prefbyters, were not only excluded from the privileges and emoluments fo liberally granted to the orthodox clergy, but they were exposed to the heavy penalties of exile and confifcation, if they prefumed to preach the doctrine, or to practise the rites, of their accurfed fects. A fine of ten pounds of gold (above four hundred pounds fterling) was impofed on every perfon who fhould dare to confer, or receive, or promote, an heretical ordination: and it was reasonably expected, that if the race of paftors could be extinguifhed, their helplefs flocks would be compelled, by ignorance and hunger, to return within the pale of the Catholic church. II. The rigor-* ous prohibition of Conventicles was carefully extended to every poffible circumftance, in which the heretics could affemble with the intention of worfhipping God and Chrift according to the dictates of their confcience. Their religious meetings, whether public or fecret, by day or by night, in cities or in the country, were equally profcribed by the edicts of Theodofius; and the building, or ground, which had been ufed for that illegal purpose, was forfeited to the Imperial domain. III. It was fuppofed, that the error of the heretics could proceed only from the obftinate temper of their minds; and that such a temper was a fit object of cenfure and punishment. The anathemas of the church were fortified by a fort of civil excommunication; which separated them from their fellow-citizens, by a peculiar brand of infamy; XXVII. infamy; and this declaration of the fupreme ma- CHAP. giftrate tended to justify, or at least to excufe, the infults of a fanatic populace. The fectaries were gradually difqualified for the poffeffion of honourable, or lucrative, employments; and Theodofius was satisfied with his own juftice, when he decreed, that as the Eunomians diftinguifhed the nature of the Son from that of the Father, they fhould be incapable of making their wills, or of receiving any advantage from teftamentary donations. The guilt of the Manichæan heresy was esteemed of fuch magnitude, that it could be expiated only by the death of the offender; and the fame capital punishment was inflicted on the Audians, or Quartodecimans", who fhould dare to perpetrate the atrocious crime, of celebrating, on an improper day, the festival of Eafter. Every Roman might exercise the right of public accufation; but the office of Inquifitors of the Faith, a name fo defervedly abhorred, was firft inftituted under the reign of Theodofius. Yet we are affured that the execution of his penal edicts was feldom enforced; and that the pious emperor appeared lefs defirous to punish, than to reclaim, or terrify, his refractory fubjects "0. 50 of Prifcillian and The theory of perfecution was established by Execution Theodofius, whose justice and piety have been applauded by the faints; but the practice of it, 49 They always kept their Eafter, like the Jewish Paffover, on the fourteenth day of the first moon after the vernal equinox; and thus pertinaciously opposed the Roman church and Nicene fynod, which had fixed Eafter to a Sunday. Bingham's Antiquities, 1. xx. c. 5. vol. ii. p. 309. fol. edit. 50 Sozomen, 1. vii. c. 12. VOL. V. D. in his affo ciates, A. D.385. |