The CHAP. on one side, and some resistance on the other. democratical part of the constitution was, in many places, very warmly supported by the zealous or interested opposition of the inferior clergy. But their patriotism received the ignominious epithets of faction and schism; and the episcopal cause, was indebted for its rapid progress to the labours of many active prelates, who, like Cyprian of Carthage, could reconcile the arts of the most ambitious statesman with the Christian virtues which seem adapted to the character of a saint and martyr19. XV. nence of churches. The same causes which at first had destroyed the Pre-emiequality of the presbyters, introduced among the bishops the mea pre-eminence of rank, and from thence a superiority tropolitan of jurisdiction. As often as in the spring and autumn they met in provincial synod, the difference of personal merit and reputation was very sensibly felt among the members of the assembly, and the multitude was governed by the wisdom and eloquence of the few. But the order of public proceedings required a more regular and less invidious distinction; the office of perpetual presidents in the councils of each province, was conferred on the bishops of the principal city, and these aspiring prelates, who soon acquired the lofty titles of Metropolitans and Primates, secretly prepared themselves to usurp over their episcopal brethren the same authority which the bishops had so lately assumed above the college of presbyters 120. Nor was it long before an emulation of pre-eminence and power prevailed among the metropolitans themselves, each of them affecting to display, in the most pompous terms, the temporal honours and advantages of the city over which he presided; the numbers and opulence of the Christians, who were subject to their pastoral care; the saints and martyrs who had arisen among them, and the purity with which they preserved the tradition of the faith, as it had been transmitted through a series 119 If Novatus, Felicissimus, &c. whom the bishop of Carthage expelled from his church, and from Africa, were not the most detestable monsters of wickedness, the zeal of Cyprian must occasionally have prevailed over his veracity. For a very just account of these obscure quarrels, see Mosheim, p. 497.-512. 120 Mosheim, p. 269. 574. Dupin, Antiquæ Eccles. Disciplin. p. 19. 20. CHAP. of orthodox bishops from the apostle or the apostolic XV. disciple, to whom the foundation of their church was ascribed. From every cause either of a civil or of Roman pontiff. an ecclesiastical nature, it was easy to foresee that Rome must enjoy the respect, and would soon claim Ambition the obedience of the provinces. The society of the of the faithful bore a just proportion to the capital of the empire; and the Roman church was the greatest, the most numerous, and, in regard to the West, the most ancient of all the Christian establishments, many of which had received their religion from the pious labours of her missionaries. Instead of one apostolic founder, the utmost boast of Antioch, of Ephesus, or of Corinth, the banks of the Tyber were supposed to have been honoured with the preaching and martyrdom of the two most eminent among the apostles22; and the bishops of Rome very prudently claimed the inheritance of whatsoever prerogatives were attributed either to the person or to the office of St. Peter 23. The bishops of Italy and of the provinces were disposed to allow them a primacy of order and association (such was their very accurate expression) in the Christian aristocracy124. But the power of a monarch was rejected with abhorrence, and the aspiring genius of Rome experienced from the nations of Asia and Africa, a more vigorous resistance to her spiritual, than she had formerly done to her temporal, dominion. The patriotic Cyprian, who ruled with the most absolute sway the church of Carthage 121 Tertullian, in a distinct treaties, has pleaded against the heretics, the right of prescription, as it was held by the apostolic churches. 122 The journey of St. Peter to Rome is mentioned by most of the ancients (see Eesebius, ii. 25.), maintained by all the catholics, allowed by some protestants (see Pearson and Dodwell de Success. Episcop. Roman.) but has been vigorously attacked by Spanheim (Miscellanea Sacra, iii. 3.). According to father Hardouin, the monks of the thirteenth century, who composed the Eneid, represented St. Peter under the allegorical character of the Trojan hero. exact. 123 It is in French only, that the famous allusion to St. Peter's name is Tu es Pierre et sur cette pierre-The same is imperfect in Greek, Latin, Italian, &c. and totally unintelligible in our Tentonic languages. 124 Irenæus adv. Hæreses, iii. 3. Tertullian de Præscription. c. 36, and Cyprian Epistol. 27. 55. 71, 75. Le Clerc (Hist. Eccles. p. 764,) and Mosheim (p 258. 278.) labour in the interpretation of these passages. But the loose and rhetorical style of the fathers often appears favourable to the pretentions of Rome. XV. and the provincial synods, opposed with resolution and CHAP. success the ambition of the Roman pontiff, artfully connected his own cause with that of the eastern bishops, and, like Hannibal, sought out new allies in the heart of Asia 25. If this Punic war was carried on without any effusion of blood, it was owing much less to the moderation than to the weakness of the contending prelates. Invectives and excommunications were their only weapons; and these, during the progress of the whole controversy, they hurled against each other with equal fury and devotion. The hard necessity of censuring either a pope, or a saint and martyr, distresses the modern catholics, whenever they are obliged to relate the particulars of a dispute, in which the champions of religion indulged such passions as seem much more adapted to the senate or the camp' 126 The progress of the ecclesiastical authority gave Laity and birth to the memorable distinction of the laity and of clergy. the clergy, which had been unknown to the Greeks and Romans 127. The former of these appellations comprehended the body of the Christian people; the latter, according to the signification of the word, was appropriated to the chosen portion that had been set apart for the service of religion; a celebrated order of men which has furnished the most important, though not always the most edifying, subjects for modern history. Their mutual hostilities sometimes disturbed the peace of the infant church, but their zeal and activity were united in the common cause, and the love of power, which (under the most artful disguises) could insinuate itself into the breasts of bishops and martyrs, animated them to increase the number of their subjects, and to enlarge the limits of the Christian empire. They were destitute of any temporal force, and they were 125 See the sharp epistle from Firmilianus bishop of Cæsarea, to Stephen bishop of Rome, ap. Cyprian Epistol. 75. 126 Concerning this dispute of the re-baptism of heretics; see the epis tles of Cyprian, and the seventh book of Eusebius. 127 For the origin of these words, see Mosheim, p. 141. Spanheim, Hist Ecclesiast. p. 633. The distinction of Clerus and Laicus was establishetl before the time of Tertullian. XV. CHAP. for a long time discouraged and oppressed, rather than assisted, by the civil magistrate; but they had acquired, and they employed within their own society, the two most efficacious instruments of government, rewards and punishments; the former derived from the pious liberality, the latter from the devout apprehensions of the faithful. Oblations and reve church. I. The community of goods, which had so agreeanue of the bly amused the imagination of Plato128, and which subsisted in some degree among the austere sect of the Essenians129, was adopted for a short time in the primitive church. The fervour of the first proselytes prompted them to sell those worldly possessions, which they despised, to lay the price of them at the feet of the apostles, and to content themselves with receiving an equal share out of the general distribution130. The progress of the Christian religion relaxed, and gradually abolished this generous institution, which, in hands less pure than those of the apostles, would too soon have been corrupted and abused by the returning selfishness of human nature; and the converts who embraced the new religion were permitted to retain the possession of their patrimony, to receive legacies and inheritances, and to increase their separate property by all the lawful means of trade and industry. Instead of an absolute sacrifice, a moderate proportion was accepted by the ministers of the gospel; and in their weekly or monthly assemblies, every believer, according to the exigency of the occasion, and the measure of his wealth and piety, presented his voluntary offering for the use of the common fund. Nothing, however inconsiderable, was refused; but it was diligently inculcated, that, in the article of tythes, 128 The community instituted by Plato, is more perfect than that which Sir Thomas More had imagined for his Utopia. The community of women and that of temporal goods, may be considered as inseparable parts of the same system. 129 Joseph. Antiquitat. xviii. 2. Philo. de Vit. Contemplativ. 130 See the Acts of the Apostles, c. 2. 4. 5. with Grotius's Commentary. Mosheim, in a particular dissertation, attacks the common opinion with very inconclusive arguments. 131 Justin Martyr. Apolog. Major, c. 89. Tertullian, Apolog. c. 39. XV. the Mosaic law was still of divine obligation; and CHAP. that since the Jews, under a less perfect discipline, had been commanded to pay a tenth part of all that they possessed, it would become the disciples of Christ to distinguish themselves by a superior degree of liberality132, and to acquire some merit by resigning a superfluous treasure, which must so soon be annihilated with the world itself 133. It is almost unnecessary to observe, that the revenue of each particular church, which was of so uncertain and fluctuating a nature, must have varied with the poverty or the opulence of the faithful, as they were dispersed in obscure villages, or collected in the great cities of the empire. In the time of the emperor Decius, it was the opinion of the magistrates, that the Christians of Rome were possessed of very considerable wealth; that vessels of gold and silver were used in their religious worship, and that many among their proselytes had sold their lands and houses to increase the public riches of the sect, at the expense, indeed, of their unfortunate children, who found themselves beggars, because their parents had been saints134. We should listen with distrust to 132 Irenæus ad Hæres. 1. iv. c. 27.34. Origen in Num. Hom. ii. Cyprian de Unitat. Eccles. Constitut. Apostol. l. ii. c. 34, 35. with the notes of Cotelerius. The constitutions introduce this divine precept, by declaring that priests are as much above kings, as the soul is above the body. Among the tythable articles, they enumerate corn, wine, oil, and wood. On this interesting subject, consult Prideaux's History of Tythes, and Fra-Paolo delle Materie Beneficiarie; two writers of a very different character. 133 The same opinion which prevailed about the year 1000, was productive of the same effects. Most of the donations express their motive, "appropinquante mundi fine." See Mosheim's General History of the Church, vol. i. p. 457. 134 Tum summa cura est fratribus (Ut sermo testatur loquax.) Prudent. Tipi spavwv. Hymn. 2. The subsequent conduct of the deacon Laurence, only proves how proper a use was made of the wealth of the Roman church; it was undoubtedly |