388 ATHANASIUS RESTORED. to intercept and detain the corn-fleet of Alexandria, which supplied the subsistence of the new capital.10 The emperor was satisfied that the peace of Egypt would be secured by the absence of a popular leader; but he refused to fill the vacancy of the archiepiscopal throne; and the sentence, which, after a long hesitation, he pronounced, was that of a jealous ostracism, rather than of an ignominious exile. In the remote province of Gaul, but in the hospitable court of Treves, Athanasius passed about twenty-eight months. The death of the emperor changed the face of public affairs; and, amidst the general indulgence of a young Restoration. reign, the primate was restored to his country by an honorable edict of the younger Constan A. D. 338. 108 Athanas. tom. i. p. 729. Eunapius has related (in Vit. Sophist. pp. 36, 37, edit. Commelin,) a strange example of the cruelty and credulity of Constantine on a similar occasion. The eloquent Sopater, a Syrian philosopher, enjoyed his friendship, and provoked the resentment of Ablavius, his Prætorian præfect. The corn-fleet was detained for want of a south wind; the people of Constantinople were discontented; and Sopater was beheaded on a charge that he had bound the winds by the power of magic.* Suidas adds, that Constantine wished to prove, by this execution, that he had absolutely renounced the superstition of the Gentiles. In a note on page 295, it is stated, on the authority of Taylor, that Sopater was beheaded "for refusing the consolations of heathenism to the conscience of "the royal murderer." This refusal would undoubtedly have excited the tyrant's anger; but this Christian emperor was always ready, with or without a reason, to demonstrate his Christianity by the exercise of his brutality. Whether Constantine really believed in the Christian religion, as he professed, or whether he simply used the credulity of the masses to enhance his power, seems difficult to determine; but it is not difficult to perceive that a more selfish, cruel, and wicked tyrant never disgraced the human race; although we must admit that Christianity owes its establishment to his influence, and it cannot be denied that he has the honor of being the first Christian emperor. At forty years of age, as may be seen by reference to page 279, this discreet and politic Christian, restored and enriched the temples of the gods. The council of Olympus was increased by the apotheosis of his father Constantius. Helios, or the Sun, the Apollo of Greek and Roman mythology, was celebrated as the guide and patron of this Christian emperor. And the credulous were taught to believe that this glorious divinity held frequent converse with Constantine, and honored him with a heavenly vision, announcing a long and victorious reign. He next perceived the figure of a cross in the heavens,-at least he so asserted, -and this emblem of peace on earth and good will to man, was promptly adopted by this Christian warrior, as the emblem of victory and conquest. Had his army contained Egyptian or Assyrian or Chaldean soldiers, whose religious zeal could have been inflamed by an appeal to their fanaticism, Constantine would doubtless have proved equal to the occasion, and espied, in the shifting clouds of the firmament, the horns of the sacred bull Apis, or the winged figures of Assyria, or the sacred onion of Egypt, or the mysterious triad, represented by the lotus flower; or, indeed, any other symbol that priestcraft has invented and superstition consecrated, to govern and control the credulous multitude.-E. THE COUNCIL OF ANTIOCH. 389 tine, who expressed a deep sense of the innocence and merit of his venerable guest.109 His second The death of that prince exposed Athanasius to a second persecution; and the feeble Constantius, the sovereign of the East, soon became the secret accomplice of the Eusebians. Ninety bishops of that sect or faction assembled at Antioch, under the specious pretence of dedicating the cathedral. They composed an ambiguous creed, which is faintly tinged with the colors of Semi-Arianism, and twenty-five canons, which still regulate the discipline of the orthodox Greeks. It was decided, with some appearance of equity, that a bishop, deprived by a synod, should not resume his episcopal functions, till he had been absolved by the judgment of an equal synod: the law was immediately applied to the case of Athanasius; the council of Antioch pronounced, or rather confirmed, his degradation: a stranger, named Gregory, was seated on his throne, and Philagrius," the prefect of Egypt, was instructed to support the new primate with the civil and military powers of the province. Oppressed by the conspiracy of the Asiatic prelates, Athanasius withdrew from Alexandria, and passed three 112 years as an exile and a suppliant on the holy threshold of the Vatican." By the assiduous study of 109 In his return he saw Constantius twice at Viminiacum, and at Cæsarea in Cappadocia (Athanas. tom. i. p. 676). Tillemont supposes that Constantine introduced him to the meeting of the three royal brothers in Pannonia (Mémoires Eccles. tom. viii. p. 69). 110 See Beveridge, Pandect. tom. i. pp. 429-552, and tom. ii. Annotation, p. 182. Tillemont, Mém. Eccles. tom. vi. pp. 310-324. St. Hilary of Poitiers has mentioned this synod of Antioch with too much favor and respect. He reckons ninety-seven bishops. 111 This magistrate, so odious to Athanasius, is praised by Gregory Nazianzen, tom. i. Orat. xxi. pp. 390, 391. Sæpe premente Deo fert Deus alter opem. For the credit of human nature, I am always pleased to discover some good qualities in those men whom party has represented as tyrants and monsters. 112 The chronological difficulties which perplex the residence of Athanasius at Rome are strenuously agitated by Valesius (Obeservat. ad Calcem. tom. ii. Hist. Eccles. 1. i. c. 1-5), and Tillemont (Mém. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 674, &c.). I hav followed the simple hypothesis of Valesius, who allows only one journey, the intrusion of Gregory.* 113] cannot forbear transcribing a judicious observation of Wetstein, (Proleg N. T. p. 19): Si tamen Historiam Ecclesiasticam velimus consulere, patebit inde a seculo quarto, cum, ortis controversiis, ecclesiæ Græciæ doctores in c partes scinderentur, ingenio, eloquentia, numero, tantum non æquales, eam part quæ vincere cupiebat Romam confugisse, majestatemque pontificis c coluisse, eoque pacto oppressis per pontificem et episcopos Latinos at prævaluisse, atque orthodoxiam in conciliis stabilivisse. Eam o Athanasius, non sine, comitatu, Romam petiit, pluresque annos ibi } *Clinton has removed all obscurity on this subject. Athanasius arr in the beginning of May, 341. He remained there three years, and Milan and Gaul. Thence he accompanied Osius, in 347, to the syn and returned to Alexandria in the middle of the year 349. (Fasti, 415.)—ENG. CH. 390 THE COUNCIL OF SARDICA. the Latin language, he soon qualified himself to negotiate with the western clergy; his decent flattery swayed and directed the haughty Julius: the Roman pontiff was persuaded to consider his appeal as the peculiar interest of the apostolic see, and his innocence was unanimously declared in a council of fifty bishops of Italy. At the end of three years, the primate was summoned to the court of Milan by the emperor Constans, who, in the indulgence of unlawful pleasures, still professed a lively regard for the orthodox faith. The cause of truth and justice was promoted by the influence of gold,' 114 and the ministers of Constans advised their sovereign to require the convocation of an ecclesiastical assembly, which might act as the representatives of the Catholic church. Ninety-four bishops of the A. D. 346. West, seventy-six bishops of the East, encountered each other at Sardica, on the verge of the two empires, but in the dominions of the protector of Athanasius. Their debates soon degenerated into hostile altercations; the Asiatics, apprehensive for their personal safety, retired to Philippopolis in Thrace; and the rival synods reciprocally hurled their spiritual thunders against their enemies, whom they piously condemned as the enemies of the true God.* Their decrees were published and ratified in their respective provinces: and Athanasius, who in the West was revered as a saint, was exposed as a criminal to the abhorrence of 114 Philostorgius, 1. iii. c. 12. If any corruption was used to promote the interest of religion, an advocate of Athanasius might justify or excuse this questionable conduct, by the example of Cato and Sydney; the former of whom is said to have given, and the latter to have received, a bribe in the cause of liberty. These Christians all professed to believe in the same bible, and all worshiped the same God. They were "wise as serpents," but not quite as "harmless as "doves." On the contrary, they were bigoted, cruel and sanguinary, and the weaker party of Christians wisely fled to escape the holy zeal and fury of the stronger Christian sect. Jesus said, "Love your enemies," and each sect piously afforded an opportunity for its opponents to exercise their love. But there is nothing in the example or teachings of Jesus to warrant this atrocious, sectarian warfare, which has so often deluged the earth with blood. Voltaire has truly shown that, "Jesus was born under the Mosaic law; he was circumcised "according to that law; he fulfilled all its precepts; he kept all its feasts; he "did not reveal the mystery of his incarnation; he never told the Jews he was "born of a virgin; he received John's blessing in the waters of the Jordan, a ceremony to which various of the Jews submitted; but he never baptised any one; he never spoke of the seven sacraments; he instituted no ecclesiastical hierarchy during his life. He concealed from his contemporaries that he was the Son of God, begotten from all eternity, consubstantial with his Father; that "the Holy Ghost proceeded from the Father and the Son. He did not say that his person was composed of two natures and two wills. He left these mysteries to be announced to men in the course of time, by those who were to be enlight"ened by the Holy Ghost. So long as he lived, he departed in nothing from the "law of his fathers. In the eyes of men, he was no more than a just man, pleasing "to God, persecuted by the envious, and condemned to death by prejudiced magis trates. He left his holy church, established by him, to do all the rest."-E. 115 DISCORD IN THE CHURCH. 391 the East. The council of Sardica reveals the first symptoms of discord and schism between the Greek and Latin churches which were separated by the accidental difference of faith, and the permanent distinction of language. And restoration. A. D. 349. During his second exile in the West, Athanasius was frequently admitted to the Imperial presence; at Capua, Lodi, Milan, Verona, Padua, Aquileia, and Treves. The bishop of the diocese usually assisted at these interviews; the master of the offices stood before the veil or curtain of the sacred apartment; and the uniform moderation of the primate might be attested by these respectable witnesses, to whose evidence he solemnly appeals.116 Prudence would undoubtedly suggest the mild and respectful tone that became a subject and a bishop. In these familiar conferences with the sovereign of the West, Athanasius might lament the error of Constantius, but he boldly arraigned the guilt of his eunuchs and his Arian prelates; deplored the distress and danger of the Catholic church; and excited Constans to emulate the zeal and glory of his father. The emperor declared his resolution of employing the troops and treasures of Europe in the orthodox cause; and signified, by a concise and peremptory epistle to his brother Constantius, that unless he consented to the immediate restoration of Athanasius, he himself, with a fleet and army, would seat the archbishop on the throne of Alexandria." But this religious war, so horrible to nature, was prevented by the timely compliance of Constantius; and the emperor of the East condescended to solicit a reconciliation with a subject whom he had injured. Athanasius waited with decent pride, till he had received three successive epistles full of the strongest assurances of the protection, the favor and the esteem of his sovereign; who invited him to resume his episcopal seat, and who added the humiliating precaution of engaging his principal ministers to attest the sincerity of his intentions. They were manifested in a still more public manner, by the strict orders which were 115 The canon which allows appeals to the Roman pontiffs has almost raised the council of Sardica to the dignity of a general council; and its acts have been ignorantly or artfully confounded with those of the Nicene synod. See Tillemont, tom. vii. p. 689, and Geddes' Tracts, vol. ii. pp. 419-460. 116 As Athanasius dispersed secret invectives against Constantius (see the Epistle to the Monks), at the same time that he assured him of his profound respect, we might distrust the professions of the archbishop. Tom. i. p. 677. Notwithstanding the discreet silence of Athanasius, and the manifest forgery of a letter inserted by Socrates, these menaces are proved by the unquestionable evidence of Lucifer of Cagliari, and even of Constantius himself. See Tillemont, tom. viii. p. 693. 392 FIRMNESS OF ATHANASIUS. despatched into Egypt to recall the adherents of Athanasius, to restore their privileges, to proclaim their innocence, and to erase from the public registers the illegal proceedings which had been obtained during the prevalence of the Eusebian faction. After every satisfaction and security had been given, which justice or even delicacy could require, the primate proceeded, by slow journeys, through the provinces of Thrace, Asia, and Syria; and his progress was marked by the abject homage of the Oriental bishops, who excited his contempt without deceiving his penetration.us At Antioch he saw the emperor Constantius; sustained, with modest firmness, the embraces and protestations of his master, and eluded the proposal of allowing the Arians a single church at Alexandria, by claiming, in the other cities of the empire, a similar toleration for his own party; a reply which might have appeared just and moderate in the mouth of an independent prince. The entrance of the archbishop into his capital was a triumphal procession; absence and persecution had endeared him to the Alexandrians; his authority, which he exercised with rigor, was more firmly established; and his fame was diffused from Ethiopia to Britain, over the whole extent of the Christian world." 119 But the subject who has reduced his prince to of the necessity of dissembling, can never expect a Constantius. sincere and lasting forgiveness, and the tragic fate of Constans soon deprived Athanasius of a powerful and generous protector. The civil war between the assassin and the only surviving brother of Constans, which afflicted the empire above three years, secured an interval of repose to the Catholic church; and the two contending parties were desirous to conciliate the friendship of a bishop, who, by the weight of his personal authority, might determine the fluctuating resolutions of an important prov Resentment A. D. 351. 118 I have always entertained some doubts concerning the retraction of Ursacius and Valens (Athanas, tom, i. p. 776). Their epistles to Julius, bishop of Rome, and to Athanasius himself, are of so different a cast from each other, that they cannot both be genuine. The one speaks the language of criminals who confess their guilt and infamy; the other of enemies, who solicit on equal terms an honorable reconciliation.* 119 The circumstances of his second return may be collected from Athanasius himself, tom. i. pp. 769, and 822, 843. Socrates, l. ii. c. 18. Sozomen, 1. iii. c. 19. Theodoret, 1. ii. c. 11, 12. Philostorgius, 1. iii. c. 12. I cannot quite comprehend the ground of Gibbon's doubts. Athanasius distinctly asserts the fact of their retraction. (Athan. Op. i. p. 124, edit. Benedict.) The epistles are apparently translations from the Latin, of, in fact, more than the substance of the epistles. That to Athanasius is brief, almost abrupt. Their retraction is likewise mentioned in the address of the orthodox bishops of Rimini to Constantius. Athan. de Synodis. Op. t. p. 723.-MILMAN. |