mundo corde atque ore conficiunt. Mansitque hæc in ecclesiis Christi, quæ erant in Britannia, pax usque ad tempora Arianæ vesaniæ, quæ, corrupto orbe toto, hane etiam insulam extra orbem tam longe remotam veneno sui infecit erroris; et hac quasi via pestilentiæ trans oceanum patefacta, non mora, omnis se lues hæreseos cujusque, insulæ, novi semper aliquid audire gaudenti et nihil certi firmiter obtinenti, infudit. His temporibus Constantius qui, vivente Diocletiano, Galliam Hispaniamque regebat, vir summæ mansuetudinis et civilitatis, in Britannia mortem obiit. Hic Constantinum filium ex concubina Helena creatum imperatorem Galliarum reliquit; scribit autem Eutropius, quod Constantinus in Britannia creatus imperator, patri in regnum successerit. Cujus temporibus Ariana hæresis exorta et in Nicæna synodo detecta atque damnata, nihilominus exitiabile perfidiæ suæ virus, ut diximus, non solum orbis totius, sed et insularum ecclesiis, aspersit.

CAP. IX.-UT, REGNANTE GRATIANO, MAXIMUS IN BRITANNIA IMPERATOR CREATUS, CUM MAGNO EXERCITU GALLIAM REDIERIT.

ANNO ab incarnatione Domini trecentesimo septuagesimo septimo, Gratianus, quadragesimus ab Augusto, post mortem Valentis sex annis imperium tenuit; quamvis jamdudum antea cum patruo Valente et cum Valentiniano fratre regnaret; qui, cum afflictum et pene collapsum reipublicæ statum videret, Theodosium Hispanum virum, restituendæ reipublicæ necessitate, apud Sirmium purpura induit, Orientisque et Thraciæ simul præfecit imperio. Qua tempestate Maximus, vir quidem strenuus et probus atque Augusto dignus, nisi contra sacramenti fidem per

hearts and mouths. This peace continued in the churches of Britain until the time of the Arian madness, which, having corrupted the whole world, infected this island also, so far removed from the rest of the globe, with the poison of its errors; and when the plague was thus conveyed across the sea, all the venom of every heresy immediately rushed into the island, ever fond of something new, and never holding firm to any thing.

At this time, Constantius, who, whilst Diocletian was A.D. 407. alive, governed Gaul and Spain, a man of extraordinary meekness and courtesy, died in Britain. This man left his son Constantine, born of Helen his concubine, emperor of the Gauls. Eutropius writes, that Constantine, being created emperor in Britain, succeeded his father in the sovereignty. In his time the Arian heresy broke out, and although it was detected and condemned in the Council of Nice, yet it nevertheless infected not only all the churches of the continent, but even those of the islands, with its pestilent and fatal doctrines.

CHAP. IX.— -HOW DURING THE REIGN OF GRATIAN, MAXI-
MUS, BEING created emPEROR IN BRITAIN, RETURNED INTO
GAUL WITH A MIGHTY ARMY.

Gratian.

In the year of our Lord's incarnation 377, Gratian, A.D. 377. the fortieth from Augustus, held the empire six years after the death of Valens; though he had long before reigned with his uncle Valens, and his brother Valentinian. Finding the state of the commonwealth much impaired, and almost gone to ruin, he looked round for some one whose abilities might remedy the existing evils; and his choice fell on Theodosius, a Spaniard. Him Theodosius. he invested at Sirmium with the royal robes, and made him emperor of Thrace and the Eastern provinces. At which time, Maximus, a man of valour and probity, and Maximus the worthy to be an emperor, if he had not broken the oath of allegiance which he had taken, was made emperor by

tyrant.

tyrannidem emersisset, in Britannia invitus propemodum ab exercitu imperator creatus, in Galliam transiit. Ibi Gratianum Augustum, subita incursione perterritum atque in Italiam transire meditantem, dolis circumventum interfecit, fratremque ejus Valentinianum Augustum Italia expulit. Valentinianus in orientem refugiens, a Theodosio paterna pietate susceptus, mox etiam imperio restitutus est; clauso videlicet intra muros Aquileiæ, et capto atque occiso ab eis Maximo tyranno.

CAP. X.-UT, ARCADIO REGNANTE, PELAGIUS BRITO CONTRA

GRATIAM DEI SUPERBA BELLA SUSCEPERIT.

ANNO ab incarnatione Domini trecentesimo nonagesimo quarto, Arcadius filius Theodosii, cum fratre Honorio, quadragesimus tertius ab Augusto, regnum suscipiens, tenuit annos tredecim. Cujus temporibus Pelagius Brito contra auxilium gratiæ supernæ venena suæ perfidiæ longe lateque dispersit, utens cooperatore Juliano de Campania, quem dudum amissi episcopatus intemperans cupido exagitabat. Quibus sanctus Augustinus, sicut et ceteri patres orthodoxi, multis sententiarum catholicarum millibus responderunt, nec eorum tamen dementiam corrigere valebant; sed, quod gravius est, correpta eorum vesania, magis augescere contradicendo quam favendo veritati voluit emendari. Quod pulere versibus heroicis Prosper Rhetor insinuat, cum ait,

"Contra Augustinum narratur serpere quidam
Scriptor, quem dudum livor adurit edax.

Quis caput, obscuris contectum utcunque cavernis,
Tollere humo miserum propulit anguiculum?
Aut hunc fruge sua æquorei pavere Britanni,
Aut huic Campano gramine corda tument."

the army, passed over into Gaul, and there by treachery slew the Emperor Gratian, who was in a consternation at his sudden invasion, and attempting to escape into Italy. His brother Valentinian, expelled from Italy, fled into the East, and was entertained by Theodosius with fatherly affection, and soon restored to the empire. Maximus the tyrant, being shut up in Aquileia, was there taken and put to death.

CHAP. X.-HOW IN THE REIGN OF ARCADIUS, PELAGIUS, A

BRITON, INSOLENTLY IMPpugned the grace of GOD.

Arcadius

In the year of our Lord 394, Arcadius, the son of Theo- A.D. 394. dosius, the forty-third from Augustus, taking the empire emperor. upon him, with his brother Honorius, held it thirteen years. In his time, Pelagius, a Briton, spread far and near the infection of his perfidious doctrine against the assistance of the Divine grace, being seconded therein by his associate, Julianus of Campania, whose anger was kindled by the loss of his bishopric, of which he had been just deprived. St. Augustine, and the other orthodox fathers, quoted many thousand catholic authorities against them, yet they would not correct their madness; but, on the contrary, their folly was rather increased by contradiction, and they refused to embrace the truth; which Prosper, the rhetorician, has beautifully expressed thus in heroic verse:

"A scribbler vile, inflamed with hellish spite,
Against the great Augustine dared to write :
Presumptuous serpent! from what midnight den
Durst thou to crawl on earth and look at men?
Sure thou wast fed on Britain's sea-girt plains,
Or in thy breast Vesuvian sulphur reigns."

CAP. XI.-UT, REGNANTE HONORIO, GRATIANUS ET CONSTANTINUS IN BRITANNIA TYRANNI CREATI, ET MOX PRIOR IN BRITANNIA, SECUNDUS IN GALLIA SINT INTEREMPTI.

ANNO ab incarnatione Domini quadringentesimo septimo, tenente imperium Honorio Augusto, filio Theodosii minore, loco ab Augusto quadragesimo quarto, (ante biennium Romanæ irruptionis, quæ per Alaricum regem Gothorum facta est, cum gentes Alanorum, Suevorum, Vandalorum, multæque cum his aliæ, protritis Francis, transito Rheno, totas per Gallias sævierunt,) apud Britannias Gratianus Municeps tyrannus creatur et occiditur. Hujus loco Constantinus ex infima militia, propter solam spem nominis sine merito virtutis, eligitur; qui continuo ut invasit imperium in Gallias transiit, ibi sæpe a barbaris incertis fœderibus illusus detrimento magis reipublicæ fuit. Unde mox, jubente Honorio, Constantius comes in Galliam cum exercitu profectus, apud Arelatem civitatem eum clausit, cepit, occidit; Constantemque filium ejus, quem ex monacho Cæsarem fecerat, Gerontius comes suus apud Viennam interfecit.

Fracta est autem Roma a Gothis anno millesimo centesimo sexagesimo quarto suæ conditionis, ex quo tempore Romani in Britannia regnare cessarunt, post annos ferme quadringentos septuaginta ex quo Caius Julius Cæsar eandem insulam adiit. Habitabant autem intra vallum quod Severum trans insulam fecisse commemoravimus, ad plagam meridianam, quod civitates, fana, pontes, et stratæ ibidem factæ usque hodie testantur; ceterum ulteriores Britanniæ partes, vel eas etiam quæ ultra Britanniam sunt insulas, jure dominandi possidebant.