XXV. 67 He CHAP. After he had taken this decifive step, it was extremely difficult for him to preserve either the virtue, or the reputation, of impartiality. never afpired, like Conftantius, to the fame of a profound theologian; but, as he had received with fimplicity and respect the tenets of Eudoxus, Valens refigned his confcience to the direction of his ecclefiaftical guides, and promoted, by the influence of his authority, the re-union of the Athanafian heretics to the body of the catholic church. At first, he pitied their blindness; by degrees he was provoked at their obftinacy; and he infenfibly hated thofe fectaries to whom he was an object of hatred "7. The feeble mind of Valens was always fwayed by the perfons with whom he familiarly converfed; and the exile or imprisonment of a private citizen are the favours the most readily granted in a defpotic court. Such punishments were frequently inflicted on the leaders of the Homooufian party; and the misfortune of fourfcore ecclefiaftics of Conftantinople, who, perhaps accidentally, were burnt on fhipboard, was imputed to the cruel and premeditated malice of the emperor, and his Arian ministers. In every conteft, the catholics (if we may anticipate that name) were obliged to pay the penalty of their own faults, and of thofe of their adverfaries. In every election, the claims of the Arian candidate obtained the preference; and if they were opposed by the majority of the 67 Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xxv. p. 432.) infults the perfecuting Spirit of the Arians, as an infallible symptom of error and herefy. people, 19 XXV. Athana fius, A. D. 373, May 2d. people, he was usually supported by the authority CHAP. of the civil magiftrate, or even by the terrors of a military force. The enemies of Athanafius attempted to disturb the last years of his venerable age; and his temporary retreat to his father's fepulchre has been celebrated as a fifth exile. But the zeal of a great people, who inftantly flew to arms, intimidated the præfect; and the archbishop was permitted to end his life in peace and in glory, after a reign of forty-feven years. The death of Athanafius was the fignal Death of of the perfecution of Egypt; and the Pagan minifter of Valens, who forcibly feated the worthlefs Lucius on the archiepifcopal throne, purchafed the favour of the reigning party by the blood and fufferings of their Christian brethren. The free toleration of the heathen and Jewish worship was bitterly lamented, as a circumstance which aggravated the mifery of the catholics, and the guilt of the impious tyrant of the East 6. The triumph of the orthodox party has left a deep stain of perfecution on the memory of Valens; and the character of a prince who derived his virtues, as well as his vices, from a feeble understanding, and a pufillanimous temper, fcarcely deferves the labour of an apology. Yet candour may discover fome reasons to fufpect that the ecclefiaftical minifters of Valens often exceeded the orders, or even the intentions, of 68 68 This sketch of the ecclefiaftical government of Valens is drawn from Socrates (1. iv.), Sozomen (1. vi.), Theodoret (1. iv.), and the immenfe compilations of Tillemont (particularly tom. vi. viii. and ix.). Juft idea fecution. of his per CHAP. their mafter; and that the real measure of facts XXV. has been very liberally magnified by the vehe- 69 Dr. Jortin (Remarks on Ecclefiaftical History, vol. iv. p. 78.) has already conceived and intimated the fame fufpicion. 70 This reflection is fo obvious and forcible, that Orofius (1. vii. c. 32, 33.) delays the perfecution till after the death of Valentinian. Socrates, on the other hand, fuppofes (1. iii. c. 32.), that it was appeafed by a philofophical oration, which Themiftius pronounced in the year 374 (Orat. xii. p. 154. in Latin only). Such contradictions diminish the evidence, and reduce the term, of the perfe cution of Valens. 71 Tillemont, whom I follow and abridge, has extracted (Mem. Ecclef. tom. viii. p. 153-167.) the most authentic circumstances from the Panegyrics of the two Gregories; the brother, and the friend, of Bafil. The letters of Bafil himself (Dupin, Bibliotheque Ecclefiaftique, tom. ii. p. 155-180.) do not prefent the image of a very lively perfecution. XXV. and as soon as we have stripped away a thick CHAP. coat of rhetoric and miracle, we fhall be aftonished by the unexpected mildness of the Arian tyrant, who admired the firmness of his character, or was apprehenfive, if he employed violence, of a general revolt in the province of Cappadocia. The archbishop, who afferted, with inflexible pride", the truth of his opinions, and the dignity of his rank, was left in the free poffeffion of his confcience, and his throne. The emperor devoutly affifted at the folemn service of the cathedral; and, instead of a sentence of banishment, fubfcribed the donation of a valuable eftate for the use of an hospital, which Bafil had lately founded in the neighbourhood of Cafarea ". 3. I am not able to discover, that any law (fuch as Theodofius afterwards enacted against the Arians) was published by Valens against the Athanafian fectaries; and the edict which excited the most violent clamours, may not appear fo extremely reprehenfible. The emperor had observed, that several of his subjects, gratifying their lazy difpofition under the pretence of religion, had affociated themselves with the monks of Egypt; and he directed the count of the Eaft 73 72 Bafilius Cæfarienfis epifcopus Cappadocia clarus habetur.... qui multa continentiæ et ingenii bona uno fuperbiæ malo perdidit. This irreverent paffage is perfectly in the ftyle and character of St. Jerom. It does not appear in Scaliger's edition of his Chronicle; but Ifaac Voffius found it in fome old MSS. which had not been reformed by the monks. 73 This noble and charitable foundation (almost a new city) furpassed in merit, if not in greatness, the pyramids, or the walls of Babylon. It was principally intended for the reception of lepers (Greg. Nazianzen, Orat. xx. p. 439.). to XXV. CHAP. to drag them from their folitude; and to compel thofe deferters of fociety to accept the fair alternative, of renouncing their temporal poffeffions, or of difcharging the public duties of men and citizens 74. The minifters of Valens feem to have extended the fenfe of this penal ftatute, fince they claimed a right of enlisting the young and able-bodied monks in the Imperial armies. A detachment of cavalry and infantry, confifting of three thousand men, marched from Alexandria · into the adjacent defert of Nitria ", which was peopled by five thousand monks. The foldiers were conducted by Arian priests; and it is reported, that a confiderable flaughter was made in the monafteries which difobeyed the commands of their fovereign 76. Valentini an re ftrains the The ftrict regulations which had been framed by the wisdom of modern legislators to restrain avarice of the wealth and avarice of the clergy, may be the clergy, originally deduced from the example of the emHis edict 77 addreffed to Damafus, A.D. 370. peror Valentinian. 74 Cod. Theodof. I. xii. tit. i. leg. 63. Godefroy (tom. iv. P. 409-413.) performs the duty of a commentator and advocate. Tillemont (Mem. Ecclef. tom. viii. p. 808.) supposes a fecond law to excufe his orthodox friends, who had mifrepresented the edict of Valens, and fuppreffed the liberty of choice. 75 See d'Anville, Description de l'Egypte, p. 74. Hereafter I fhall confider the monaftic inftitutions. 76 Socrates, 1. iv. c. 24, 25. Orofius, 1. vii. c. 33. Jerom in Chron. p. 189. and tom. ii. p. 212. The monks of Egypt performed many miracles, which prove the truth of their faith. Right, fays Jortin (Remarks, vol. iv. p. 79.), but what proves the truth of thofe miracles? 77, Cod. Theodof. 1. xvi. tit. ii. leg. 20. Godefroy (tom. vi. P. 49.), after the example of Baronius, impartially collects all that the |