XXVII. dreffed the emperor on his throne +; nor would CHAP. he confent to offer the oblation of the altar, till he had obtained from Theodofius a folemn and pofitive declaration, which fecured the impunity of the bifhop and monks of Callinicum. The recantation of Theodofius was fincere 95; and, during the term of his refidence at Milan, his affection for Ambrofe was continually increafed by the habits of pious and familiar conversation. of Theo When Ambrofe was informed of the maffacre Penance of Theffalonica, his mind was filled with horror dofius, and anguifh. He retired into the country to in. A.D. 390. dulge his grief, and to avoid the prefence of Theodofius. But as the archbishop was satisfied that a timid filence would render him the accom plice of his guilt, he represented, in a private letter, the enormity of the crime; which could only be effaced by the tears of penitence. The epifcopal vigour of Ambrofe was tempered by prudence; and he contented himself with fignifying an indirect fort of excommunication, by the affur 94 Hodie, Epifcope, de me propofuifti. Ambrofe modeftly confeffed it: but he fternly reprimanded Timafius, general of the horfe and foot, who had prefumed to say, that the monks of Callinicum deferved punishment. 95 Yet, five years afterwards, when Theodofius was abfent from his fpiritual guide, he tolerated the Jews, and condemned the deftruction of their fynagogue. Cod. Theodof. I. xvi. tit. viii. leg. 9. with Godefroy's Commentary, tom. vi. p. 225. 96 Ambrof. tom. ii. epift. li. p. 997-1001. His Epistle is a miferable rhapsody on a noble fubject. Ambrofe could act better than he could write. His compositions are destitute of tafte, or genius ; without the fpirit of Tertullian, the copious elegance of Lactantius, the lively wit of Jerom, or the grave energy of Augustin. СНАР. ance, that he had been warned in a vifion, not to offer the oblation in the name, or in the prefence, of Theodofius; and by the advice, that he would confine himself to the use of prayer, without prefuming to approach the altar of Chrift, or to receive the holy eucharift with thofe hands that were ftill polluted with the blood of an innocent people. The emperor was deeply affected by his own reproaches, and by thofe of his fpiritual father; and, after he had bewailed the mifchievous and irreparable confequences of his rafh fury, he proceeded, in the accustomed manner, to perform his devotions in the great church of Milan. He was stopped in the porch by the archbishop; who, in the tone and language of an ambassador of Heaven, declared to his fovereign, that private contrition was not fufficient to atone for a public fault, or to appeafe the juftice of the offended Deity. Theodofius humbly reprefented, that if he had contracted the guilt of homicide, David, the man after God's own heart, had been guilty, not only of murder, but of adultery. "have imitated David in his crime, imitate then "his repentance," was the reply of the undaunted Ambrofe. The rigorous conditions of peace and pardon were accepted; and the public penance of the emperor Theodofius has been recorded as one of the most honourable events in the annals of the church. According to the mildest rules of ecclefiaftical difcipline, which were established in the fourth century, the crime of homicide was expiated by the penitence of twenty << You years: XXVII. years?' and as it was impoffible, in the period CHAP. of human life, to purge the accumulated guilt of the maffacre of Theffalonica, the murderer fhould have been excluded from the holy communion till the hour of his death. But the archbishop, confulting the maxims of religious policy, granted. fome indulgence to the rank of his illuftrious penitent, who humbled in the duft the pride of the diadem; and the public edification might be admitted as a weighty reason to abridge the duration of his punishment. It was fufficient, that the emperor of the Romans, ftripped of the enfigns of royalty, should appear in a mournful and fuppliant posture; and that, in the midst of the church of Milan, he fhould humbly folicit, with fighs and tears, the pardon of his fins 98. In this fpiritual cure, Ambrofe employed the various methods of mildness and severity. After a delay of about eight months, Theodofius was restored to the communion of the faithful; and the edict, which interposes a falutary interval of thirty days. between the fentence and the execution, may be 97 According to the difcipline of St. Bafil (Canon lvi.), the vo luntary homicide was four years a mourner; five an hearer; feven in a proftrate state; and four in a standing posture. I have the original (Beveridge, Pandect. tom. ii. p. 47-151.) and a tranflation (Chardon, Hift. des Sacremens, m. iv. p. 219-277.) of the Canonical Epiftles of St. Bafil. 98 The penance of Theodofius is authenticated by Ambrofe. (tom. vi. de Obit. Theodof. c. 34. p. 1207.), Augustin. (de Civitat. Dei, v. 26.), and Paulinus (in Vit. Ambrof. c. 24.). Socrates is ignorant; Sozomen (1. vii. c. 25.) concife; and the copious narra. tive of Theodoret (1. v. c. 18.) must be used with precaution. CHAP. accepted as the worthy fruits of his repentance. XXVII. Pofterity has applauded the virtuous firmness of Generosity the archbishop: and the example of Theodofius may prove the beneficial influence of those principles, which could force a monarch, exalted above the apprehenfion of human punishment, to respect the laws, and minifters, of an invisible Judge. "The prince," fays Montefquieu, "who is actuated by the hopes and fears of religion, "may be compared to a lion, docile only to "the voice, and tractable to the hand, of his "keeper." The motions of the royal animal will therefore depend on the inclination, and intereft, of the man who has acquired fuch dangerous authority over him; and the priest, who holds in his hand the confcience of a king, may inflame, or moderate, his fanguinary paffions, The cause of humanity, and that of perfecution, have been afferted by the fame Ambrofe, with equal energy, and with equal fuccefs. After the defeat and death of the tyrant of Gaul, the Roman world was in the poffeffion of Theodofius. He derived from the choice of 388-391. Gratian his honourable title to the provinces of the Eaft: he had acquired the Weft by the right of conqueft; and the three years, which he spent in Italy, were usefully employed to restore the 1 99 Codex Theodof. I, ix, tit, xl. leg. 13. The date and circumtances of this law are perplexed with difficulties; but I feel myself inclined to favour the honeft efforts of Tillemont (Hift. des Emp. tom. v. p. 721.) and Pagi (Critica, tom. i. p. 578.). 100 Un prince qui aime religion, et qui la craint, eft un lion qui cede à la main qui le flatte, ou à la voix qui l'appaile. Efprit des Loix, 1. xxiv. c. 2. authority XXVII. authority of the laws; and to correct the abuses, CHAP. which had prevailed with impunity under the ufurpation of Maximus, and the minority of Valentinian. The name of Valentinian was regularly inferted in the public acts: but the tender age, and doubtful faith, of the son of Justina, appeared to require the prudent care of an orthodox guardian; and his fpecious ambition might have excluded the unfortunate youth, without a struggle, and almost without a murmur, from the administration, and even from the inheritance, of the empire. If Theodofius had confulted the rigid maxims of intereft and policy, his conduct would have been juftified by his friends; but the generofity of his behaviour on this memorable occafion has extorted the applaufe of his moft inveterate enemies. He feated Valentinian on the throne of Milan; and, without ftipulating any prefent or future advantages, restored him to the abfolute dominion of all the provinces from which he had been driven by the arms of Maximus. To the reftitution of his ample patrimony, Theodofius added the free and generous gift of the countries beyond the Alps, which his fuccefsful valour had recovered from the affaffin of Gratian *0* Satiffied with the glory which he had acquired, by revenging the death of his benefactor, and delivering the Weft from the yoke of tyranny, the emperor returned from Milan to Conftantinople; 101 του Τετο περί τις ευεργετας καθηκον εδοξεν είναι, is the niggard praife of Zofimus himself (1. iv. p. 267.). Auguftin fays, with fome happinefs of expreffion, Velentinianum .... mifericordiffimâ veneratione reftituit. and, |