CHAP. in the light of a facred and indifpenfable duty. XXXII. In his vifitation through the Afiatic provinces, Chryfoftom is he depofed thirteen bishops of Lydia and Phrygia; and indifcreetly declared, that a deep corruption of fimony and licentioufnefs had infected the whole epifcopal order 4. If those bishops were innocent, fuch a rafh and unjuft condemnation must excite a well-grounded difcontent. If they were guilty, the numerous affociates of their guilt would foon discover, that their own fafety depended on the ruin of the archbishop; whom they ftudied to reprefent as the tyrant of the Eaftern church. 47 This ecclefiaftical confpiracy was managed by perfecuted Theophilus "7, archbishop of Alexandria, an acby the em- tive and ambitious prelate, who difplayed the prefs Eudoxia, fruits of rapine in monuments of oftentation. A.D.403. His national diflike to the rifing greatness of a city, which degraded him from the fecond, to the third, rank, in the Chriftian world, was exafperated by fome personal difputes with Chryfoftom himself 48. By the private invitation of the emprefs, Theophilus landed at Conftantinople, with a ftout body of Egyptian mariners, to 45 Chryfoftom declares his free opinion (tom. ix. hom. iii. in A&t. Apoftol. p. 29.), that the number of bifhops, who might be faved, bore a very fmall proportion to those who would be damned. 47 See Tillemont, Mem. Ecclef. tom. xi. p. 441—500. 48 I have purposely omitted the controverfy which arofe among the monks of Egypt, concerning Origenifm and Antropomorphism: the diffimulation and violence of Theophilus; his artful management of the fimplicity of Epiphanius; the perfecution and flight of the long, or tall, brothers; the ambiguous fupport which they received at Conftantinople from Chryfoftom, &c. &c. 2 encounter XXXII. encounter the populace; and a train of depend- CHAP. ent bishops, to fecure, by their voices, the majority of a fynod. The fynod 49 was convened in the fuburb of Chalcedon, furnamed the Oak, where Rufinus had erected a ftately church and monastery; and their proceedings were continued during fourteen days, or feffions. A bishop and a deacon accused the archbishop of Conftantinople; but the frivolous or improbable nature of the forty-feven articles which they prefented against him, may juftly be confidered as a fair and unexceptionable panegyric. Four fucceflive fummons were fignified to Chryfoftom; but he ftill refused to truft either his perfon, or his reputation, in the hands of his implacable enemies, who prudently declining the examination of any particular charges, condemned his contumacious disobedience, and haftily pronounced a sentence of depofition. The fynod of the Oak immediately addreffed the emperor to ratify and execute their judgment, and charitably infinuated, that the penalties of treafon might be inflicted on the audacious preacher, who had reviled, under the name of Jezabel, the empress Eudoxia herself. The archbishop was rudely arrested, and conducted through the city, by one of the Imperial meffengers, who landed him, after a fhort navigation, near the entrance of the Euxine; from 49 Photius (p. 53-60.) has preserved the original acts of the fynod of the Oak; which deftroy the falfe affertion, that Chryfoftom was condemned by no more than thirty-fix bishops, of whom twenty-nine were Egyptians. Forty five bishops fubfcribed his fenSee Tillemont, Mem. Ecclef. tom. xi. p. 595. tence. Dd 3 whence, XXXII. CHAP. whence, before the expiration of two days, he was gloriously recalled. Popular tumults at Conftantinople. The first astonishment of his faithful people had been mute and paffive: they fuddenly rofe with unanimous and irresistible fury. Theophilus escaped; but the promifcuous crowd of monks and Egyptian mariners was flaughtered without pity in the streets of Conftantinople ".. A feafonable earthquake juftified the interpofition of heaven; the torrent of fedition rolled forwards to the gates of the palace; and the emprefs, agitated by fear, or remorfe, threw herself at the feet of Arcadius, and confeffed, that the public fafety could be purchafed only by the restoration of Chryfoftom. The Bofphorus was covered with innumerable veffels; the fhores of Europe and Afia were profufely illuminated; and the acclamations of a victorious people accompanied, from the port to the cathedral, the triumph of the archbishop; who, too eafily, confented to refume the exercife of his functions, before his fentence had been legally reverfed by the authority of an ecclefiaftical fynod. Ignorant, or carelefs, of the impending danger, Chryfoftom indulged his zeal, or perhaps his refentment; declaimed with peculiar afperity against female vices; and con 50 Palladius owns (p. 30.), that if the people of Conftantinople had found Theophilus, they would certainly have thrown him into the fea. Socrates mentions (1. vi. c. 17.) a battle between the mob and the failors of Alexandria, in which many wounds were given, and fome lives were loft. The maffacre of the monks is obferved only by the Pagan Žofimus (1. v. P. 324.), who acknowledges that Chryfoftom had a fingular talent to lead the illiterate multitude, την γας ο άνθρωπος αλόγον όχλον επαγαγέσθαι δεινος, demned XXXII. demned the profane honours which were addreffed, CHAP. almost in the precincts of St. Sophia, to the ftatue of the empress. His imprudence tempted his enemies to inflame the haughty spirit of Eudoxia, by reporting, or perhaps inventing, the famous exordium of a fermon, "Herodias is again fu"rious; Herodias again dances; fhe once more "requires the head of John:" an infolent allufion, which, as a woman and a fovereign, it was impoffible for her to forgive ". The fhort interval of a perfidious truce was employed to concert more effectual measures for the difgrace and ruin of the archbishop. A numerous council of the Eastern prelates, who were guided from a distance by the advice of Theophilus, confirmed the validity, without examining the justice, of the former sentence; and a detachment of Barbarian troops was introduced into the city, to fupprefs the emotions of the people. On the vigil of Eafter, the folemn adminiftration of baptism was rudely interrupted by the foldiers, who alarmed the modefty of the naked catechumens, and violated, by their prefence, the awful myfteries of the Chriftian worship. Arfacius occupied the church of St. Sophia, and the archiepifcopal throne. The catholics retreated to the baths of Conftantine, and afterwards to the fields: where they were ftill purfued and infulted by the 51 See Socrates, 1. vi. c. 18. Sozomen, 1. viii. c. 20. Zofimus (1. v. p. 324. 327.) mentions, in general terms, his invectives against Eudoxia. The homily, which begins with those famous words, is rejected as fpurious. Montfaucon, tom. xiii. p. 151. Tillemont, Mein. Ecclef. tom. xi. p. 603. XXXII. CHAP. guards, the bishops, and the magiftrates. The fatal day of the fecond and final exile of Chryfoftom was marked by the conflagration of the cathedral, of the fenate-house, and of the adjacent buildings; and this calamity was imputed, without proof, but not without probability, to the despair of a perfecuted faction 52. Exile of tom, Cicero might claim fome merit, if his voluntary banishment preserved the peace of the reA.D.404, public 53; but the fubmiffion of Chryfoftom was June 20. the indifpenfable duty of a Chriftian and a fubject. Instead of listening to his humble prayer, that he might be permitted to reside at Cyzicus, or Nicomedia, the inflexible emprefs affigned for his exile the remote and defolate town of Cucufus, among the ridges of Mount Taurus, in the Leffer Armenia. A fecret hope was entertained, that the archbishop might perish in a difficult and dangerous march of feventy days in the heat of fummer, through the provinces of Afia Minor, where he was continually threatened by the hoftile attacks of the Ifaurians, and the more implacable fury of the monks. Yet Chryfoftom arrived in fafety at the place of his confinement; and the three years, which he spent at Cucufus, and the neighbouring town of Arabiffus, were the last and most glorious of his life. His character was confecrated by abfence and perfecu 52 We might naturally expect fuch a charge from Zofimus (1. v. p. 327.); but it is remarkable enough, that it should be confirmed by Socrates, 1. vi. c. 18. and the Pafchal Chronicle, p. 307. 53 He difplays thofe fpecious motives (Poft Reditum, c. 13, 14.) in the language of an orator and a politician. |