CHAP. had signalised their attachment to the religion and em-
XLVII. pire of the Christians. The disorders of their country,

and their ignorance of the Greck tongue, prevented their -
clergy from assisting at the synod of Chalcedon, and
they floated eighty-four years140 in a state of indifference
or suspense till their vacant faith was finally occupied
by the missionaries of Julian of Halicarnassus11, who
in Egypt, their common exile, had been vanquished by
the arguments or the influence of his rival Severus, the
Monophysite patriarch of Antioch. The Armenians
alone are the pure disciples of Eutyches, an unfortunate
parent, who has been renounced by the greater part of
his spiritual progeny. They alone persevere in the
opinion, that the manhood of Christ was created, or
existed without creation, of a divine and incorruptible
substance. Their adversaries reproach them with the
adoration of a phantom; and they retort the accusation,
by deriding or execrating the blasphemy of the Jacob-
ites, who impute to the Godhead the vile infirmities of
the flesh, even the natural effects of nutrition and di-
gestion. The religion of Armenia could not derive
much glory from the learning or the power of its inha-
bitants. The royalty expired with the origin of their
schism, and their Christian kings, who arose and fell
in the thirteenth century on the confines of Cilicia, were
the clients of the Latins and the vassals of the Turkish
sultan of Iconium. The helpless nation has seldom been
permitted to enjoy the tranquillity of servitude. From
the earliest period to the present hour, Armenia has
been the theatre of perpetual war; the lands between
Tauris and Erivan were dispeopled by the cruel policy
of the Sophies; and myriads of Christian families were
transplanted, to perish or to propagate in the distant
provinces of Persia. Under the rod of oppression, the
zeal of the Armenians is fervent and intrepid: they
have often preferred the crown of martyrdom to the
white turban of Mahomet; they devoutly hate the er-
ror and idolatry of the Greeks; and their transient union

140 The schism of the Armenians is placed 84 years after the council of Chalcedon (Pagi, Critica, ad A. D. 535.) It was consummated at the end of seventeen years; and it is from the year of Christ 552 that we date the æra of the Armenians (l'Art de verifier les Dates, p. xxxv.)

141 The sentiments and success o' Julian of Halicarnassus may be seen in Liberatus (Brev. c. 19), Renaudot (Hist Patriarch. Alex. p. 132. 303), and Assemannus (Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. Dissertat. de Monophysitis, p.viii. p. 286.)

with the Latins is not less devoid of truth, than the CHAP. thousand bishops whom their patriarch offered at the XLVIL feet of the Roman pontiff 42. The catholic or patriarch of the Armenians resides in the monastery of Ekmiasin, three leagues from Erivan. Forty-seven archbishops, each of whom may claim the obedience of four or five suffragans, are consecrated by his hand; but the far greater part are only titular prelates, who dignify with their presence and service the simplicity of his court. As soon as they have performed the liturgy, they culti vate the garden; and our bishops will hear with surprise, that the austerity of their life increases in just pro-, portion to the elevation of their rank. In the fourscore thousand towns or villages of his spiritual empire, the patriarch receives a small and voluntary tax from each person above the age of fifteen; but the annual amount of six hundred thousand crowns is insufficient to supply the incessant demands of charity and tribute. Since the beginning of the last century, the Armenians have obtained a large and lucrative share of the commerce of the East in their return from Europe, the caravan usually halts in the neighbourhood of Erivan, the altars are enriched with the fruits of their patient industry; and the faith of Eutyches is preached in their recent congregations of Barbary and Poland143.

143

EGYP

V. In the rest of the Roman empire, the despotism V. THE of the prince might eradicate or silence the sectaries of COPTS OF an obnoxious creed. But the stubborn temper of the TIANS. Egyptians maintained their opposition to the synod of Chalcedon, and the policy of Justinian condescended to expect and to seize the opportunity of discord. The Monophysite church of Alexandria was torn by the disputes of the corruptibles and incorruptibles, and on the death of the patriarch, the two factions upheld their

142 See a remarkable fact of the twelfth century in the History of Nicetas Choniates (p. 258). Yet three hundred years before, Photius (Epistol. ii. p. 49. edit. Montacul) had gloried in the conversion of the Armenians—λærgeus σημε τον ορθοδοξως.

143 The travelling Armenians are in the way of every traveller, and their mother church is on the high-road between Constantinople and Ispahan : for their present state, see Fabricius (Lux Evangelii, &c. c. xxxviii. p. 40-51), Olearius (1. iv. c. 40), Chardin (vol. ii. p. 232), Tournefort (lettre xx), and, above all, Tavernier (tom, i. p. 28-37. 510-518), that rambling jeweller who had read nothing, but had seen so much and so well.

144 The history of the Alexandrian patriarchs, from Dioscorus to Benjamin, is taken from Renaudot (p. 114164) and the second tome of the An. nals of Eutychins.

CHAP. respective candidates145. Gaian was the disciple of JuXLVII. lian, Theodosius had been the pupil of Severus: the The patri. claims of the former were supported by the consent of arch The the monks and senators, the city and the province; the odosius, latter depended on the priority of his ordination, the 537-568. favour of the empress Theodora, and the arms of the

A. D.

eunuch Narses, which might have been used in more honourable warfare. The exile of the popular candidate to Carthage and Sardinia, inflamed the ferment of Alexandria; and after a schism of one hundred and seventy years, the Gaianites still revered the memory and doctrine of their founder. The strength of numbers and of discipline was tried in a desperate and bloody conflict; the streets were filled with the dead bodies of citizens and soldiers; the pious women, ascending the roofs of their houses, showered down every sharp or ponderous utensil on the beads of the enemy; and the final victory of Narses was owing to the flames, with which he wasted the third capital of the Roman world. But the lieutenant of Justinian had not conquered in the cause of an heretic; Theodosius himself was speedily though gently removed; and Paul of Tanis, an orthodox monk, was A. D. 538. raised to the throne of Athanasius. The powers of

Paul,

government were strained in his support; he might appoint or displace the dukes and tribunes of Egypt; the allowance of bread which Diocletian had granted, was suppressed, the churches were shut, and a nation of schismatics was deprived at once of their spiritual and carnal food. In his turn, the tyrant was excommunicated by the zeal and revenge of the people; and none except his servile Melchites would salute him as a man, a Christian, or a bishop. Yet such is the blindness of ambition, that, when Paul was expelled on a charge of murder, he solicited, with a bribe of seven hundred pounds of gold, his restoration to the same station of hatred and Apollina ignominy. His successor Apollinaris entered the hostile city in military array, alike qualified for prayer or for battle. His troops, under arms, were distributed through the streets; the gates of the cathedral were guarded, and a chosen band was stationed in the choir to defend the person of their chief. He stood erect on his

ris,

A. D. 551.

145 Liberat. Brev. c. 20. 23. Victor. Chron. p. 329, 330. Procop. Anecdot. c. 26, 27.

throne, and throwing aside the upper garment of a war- CHAP. rior, suddenly appeared before the eyes of the multi- XLVII. tude in the robes of patriarch of Alexandria. Astonishment held them mute: but no sooner had Apollinaris begun to read the tome of St. Leo, than a volley of curses, and invectives, and stones, assaulted the odious minister of the emperor and the synod. A charge was instantly sounded by the successor of the apostles: the soldiers waded to their knees in blood; and two hundred thousand Christians are said to have fallen by the sword: an incredible account, even if it be extended from the slaughter of a day to the eighteen years of the reign of Apollinaris. Two succeeding patriarchs, Eulogius 146 Eulogius, and John147, laboured in the conversion of hereties, with A. D. 580. arms and arguments more worthy of their evangelical profession. The theological knowledge of Eulogius was displayed in many a volume, which magnified the errors of Eutyches and Severus, and attempted to reconcile the ambiguous language of St. Cyril with the orthodox creed of pope Leo and the fathers of Chalcedon. The bounteous alms of John the eleemosynary were John, dictated by superstition, or benevolence, or policy. Se. A. D. 609. ven thousand five hundred poor were maintained at his expense: on his accession, he found eight thousand pounds of gold in the treasury of the church; he collected ten thousand from the liberality of the faithful; yet the primate could boast in his testament, that he left behind him no more than the third part of the smallest of the silver coins. The churches of Alexandria were delivered to the Catholics, the religion of the Monophysites was proscribed in Egypt, and a law was revived which excluded the natives from the honours and emoluments of the state.

A more important conquest still remained, of the pa

146 Eulogius, who had been a monk of Antioch, was more conspicuous for subtlety than eloquence. He proves that the enemies of the faith, the Gaianites and Theodosians, ought not to be reconciled; that the same proposition may be orthodox in the mouth of St. Cyril, heretical in that of Severus; that the opposite assertions of St. Leo are equally true, &c. His writings are no longer extant, except in the Extracts of Photius, who had perused them with care and satisfaction, cod. ccviii. ccxxv, ccxxvi, ccxxvii. ccxxx. cclxxx.

147 See the life of John the eleemosynary by his contemporary Leontius, bishop of Neapolis in Cyprus, whose Greek text, either lost or hidden, is reflected in the Latin version of Baronius (A. D. 610, No. 9. A. I. 620. No. 8). Pagi (Critica, tom. ii. p. 763.) and Fabricius (1. v. c. 11. tom. vii. p. 454) have made some critical observations.

Their se

paration

CHAP. triarch, the oracle and leader of the Egyptian church. XLVII. Theodosius had resisted the threats and promises of Justinian with the spirit of an apostle or an enthusiast. "Such," replied the patriarch, were the offers of the and decay. 66 tempter when he shewed the kingdoms of the earth. "But my soul is far dearer to me than life or dominion. "The churches are in the hands of a prince who can "kill the body; but my conscience is my own; and in "exile, poverty, or chains, I will stedfastly adhere to "the faith of my holy predecessors, Athanasius, Cyril, "and Dioscorus. Anathema to the tome of Leo and the "synod of Chalcedon! Anathema to all who embrace "their creed! Anathema to them now and for evermore! "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, naked shall "I descend into the grave. Let those who love God, "follow me and seek their salvation." After comforting his brethren, he embarked for Constantinople, and sustained, in six successive interviews, the almost irresistible weight of the royal presence. His opinions were favourably entertained in the palace and the city; the influence of Theodora assured him a safe conduct and. honourable dismission; and he ended his days, though not on the throne, yet in the bosom, of his native country. On the news of his death, Apollinaris indecently feasted the nobles and the clergy; but his joy was checked by the intelligence of a new election; and while he enjoyed the wealth of Alexandria, his rivals reigned in the monasteries of Thebais, and were maintained by the voluntary oblations of the people. A perpetual succession of patriarchs arose from the ashes of Theodosius; and the Monophysite churches of Syria and Egypt were united by the name of Jacobites and the communion of the faith. But the same faith, which has been confined to a narrow sect of the Syrians, was diffused over the mass of the Egyptian or Coptic nation ; who, almost unanimously, rejected the decrees of the synod of Chalcedon. A thousand years were now elapsed since Egypt had ceased to be a kingdom, since the conquerors of Asia and Europe had trampled on the ready necks of a people, whose ancient wisdom and power ascend beyond the records of history. The conflict of zeal and persecution rekindled some sparks of their national spirit. They abjured, with a foreign heresy, the manners and language of the Greeks: