only to increase, by an appearance of order and design, the horrors of the massacre, which was executed by the commands of Theodosius. The guilt of the emperor is aggravated by his long and frequent residence at Thessalonica. The situation of the unfortunate city, the aspect of the streets and buildings, the dress and faces of the inhabitants, were familiar, and even present to his imagination; and Theodosius possessed a quick and lively sense of the existence of the people whom he destroyed.* The respectful attachment of the emperor for the orthodox clergy, had disposed him to love and admire the character of Ambrose; who united all the episcopal virtues in the most eminent degree. The friends and ministers of Theodosius imitated the example of their sovereign; and he observed, with more surprise than displeasure, that all his secret counsels were immediately communicated to the archbishop; who acted from the laudable persuasion that every measure of civil government may have some connexion with the glory of God and the interests of the true religion. The monks and populace of Callinicum, an obscure town on the frontier of Persia, excited by their own fanaticism, and by that of their bishop, had tumultuously burnt a conventicle of the Valentinians, and a synagogue of the Jews. The seditious prelate was condemned, by the ma gistrate of the province, either to rebuild the synagogue or to repay the damage; and this moderate sentence was confirmed by the emperor. But it was not confirmed by the archbishop of Milan. He dictated an epistle of censure and reproach, more suitable, perhaps, if the emperor had received the mark of circumcision, and renounced the faith of his baptism. Ambrose considers the toleration of the Jewish, as the persecution of the Christian, religion; boldly declares, that he himself, and every true believer, would eagerly dispute with the bishop of Callinicum the The original evidence of Ambrose (tom. ii, epist. 51, p. 998), Augustin (de Civitat. Dei 5, 26), and Paulinus (in Vit. Ambros. c. 24), is delivered in vague expressions of horror and pity. It is illustrated by the subsequent and unequal testimonies of Sozomen (lib. 7, c. 25), Theodoret (lib. 5, c. 17), Theophanes (Chronograph. p. 62), Cedrenus (p. 317), and Zonaras (tom. ii, lib. 13, p. 34). Zosimus alone, the partial enemy of Theodosius, most unaccountably passes over in silence the worst of his actions. See the whole transactions in Ambrose (tom. ii, epist. 40, 41, p. 946–956), and his biographer Paulinus (c. 23). A.D. 390.] HIS REPROOF OF THEODOSIUS. 257 merit of the deed, and the crown of martyrdom; and laments in the most pathetic terms, that the execution of the sentence would be fatal to the fame and salvation of Theodosius. As this private admonition did not produce an immediate effect, the archbishop, from his pulpit,* publicly addressed the emperor on his throne;† nor would he consent to offer the oblation of the altar, till he had obtained from Theodosius a solemn and positive declaration, which secured the impunity of the bishop and monks of Callinicum. The recantation of Theodosius was sincere;‡ and during the term of his residence at Milan, his affection for Ambrose was continually increased by the habits of pious and familiar conversation. When Ambrose was informed of the massacre of Thessalonica, his mind was filled with horror and anguish. He retired into the country to indulge his grief, and to avoid the presence of Theodosius. But as the archbishop was satisfied that a timid silence would render him the accomplice of his guilt, he represented, in a private letter, the enormity of the crime; which could only be effaced by the tears of penitence. The episcopal vigour of Ambrose was tempered by prudence; and he contented himself with signifying an indirect sort of excommunication, by the assurance, that he had been warned in a vision, not to offer the oblation in the name, or in the presence, of Theodosius; and by the advice, that he would confine himself to the use of prayer, without presuming to approach the altar of Christ, or to receive the holy Eucharist with those hands that were still polluted with the blood of an innocent people. The Bayle and Barbeyrac (Morale des Pères, c. 17, p. 325, &c.) have justly condemned the archbishop. * His sermon is a strange allegory of Jeremiah's rod, of an almond-tree, of the woman who washed and anointed the feet of Christ. But the peroration is direct and personal. + Hodie, episcope, de me proposuisti. Ambrose modestly confessed it but he sternly reprimanded Timasius, general of the horse and foot, who had presumed to say that the monks of Callinicum deserved punishment. Yet, five years afterwards, when Theodosius was absent from his spiritual guide, he tolerated the Jews, and condemned the destruction of their synagogues. (Cod. Theodos. lib. 16, tit. 8, leg. 9, with Godefroy's Commentary, tom. vi, p. 225.) § Ambros. tom. ii, epist. 51, p. 997-1001. His epistle is a miserable rhapsody on a noble subject. Ambrose could act better than he could write. His compositions are destitute of taste or genius; without the spirit of Tertullian, the copious elegance of Lactantius, the lively wit of Jerome, VOL. III. S emperor was deeply affected by his own reproaches and by those of his spiritual father; and, after he had bewailed the mischievous and irreparable consequences of his rash fury, he proceeded, in the accustomed manner, to perform his devotions in the great church of Milan. He was stopped in the porch by the archbishop; who, in the tone and language of an ambassador of heaven, declared to his sovereign, that private contrition was not sufficient to atone for a public fault, or to appease the justice of the offended Deity. Theodosius humbly represented, that if he had contracted the guilt of homicide, David, the man after God's own heart, had been guilty, not only of murder, but of adultery. "You have imitated David in his crime, imitate then his repentance,' was the reply of the undaunted Ambrose. The rigorous conditions of peace and pardon were accepted; and the public penance of the emperor Theodosius has been recorded as one of the most honourable events in the annals of the church. According to the mildest rules of ecclesiastical discipline, which were established in the fourth century, the crime of homicide was expiated by the penitence of twenty years ;* and as it was impossible, in the period of human life, to purge the accumulated guilt of the massacre of Thessalonica, the murderer should have been excluded from the holy communion till the hour of his death. But the archbishop, consulting the maxims of religious policy, granted some indulgence to the rank of his illustrious penitent, who humbled in the dust the pride of the diadem; and the public edification might be admitted as a weighty reason to abridge the duration of his punishment. It was sufficient that the emperor of the Romans, stripped of the ensigns of royalty, should appear in a mournful and suppliant posture; and that, in the midst of the church of Milan, he should humbly solicit, with sighs and tears, the pardon of his sins.† or the grave energy of Augustin. * According to the discipline of St. Basil (Canon. 56), the voluntary homicide was four years a mourner, five a hearer, seven in a prostrate state, and four in a standing posture. I have the original (Beveridge, Pandect. tom. ii, p. 47-151) and a translation (Chardon, Hist. des Sacremens, tom. iv, p. 219-277) of the Canonical Epistles of St. Basil. The penance of Theodosius is authenticated by Ambrose (tom. vi, de Obit. Theodos. c. 34, p. 1207), Augustin (de Civitat. Dei, 5, 26), and Paulinus (in Vit. Ambros. c. 24). Socrates is ignorant; Sozomen (lib. 7, c. 25) concise; and the copious narrative of Theodoret (lib. 5, 18) must be used with precaution. A.D. 390.] HIS PUBLIC PENANCE. 250 In this spiritual cure, Ambrose employed the various methods of mildness and severity. After a delay of about eight months, Theodosius was restored to the communion of the faithful; and the edict, which interposes a salutary interval of thirty days between the sentence and the execution, may be accepted as the worthy fruits of his repentance.* Posterity has applauded the virtuous firmness of the archbishop: and the example of Theodosius may prove the beneficial influence of those principles which could force a monarch, exalted above the apprehension of human punishment, to respect the laws and ministers of an invisible Judge. "The prince" (says Montesquieu) "who is actuated by the hopes and fears of religion, may be compared to a lion, docile only to the voice, and tractable to the hand, of his keeper."+ The motions of the royal animal will, therefore, depend on the inclination and interest of the man who has acquired such dangerous authority over him; and the priest who holds in his hand the conscience of a king, may inflame, or moderate, his sanguinary passions. The cause of humanity, and that of persecution, have been asserted by the same Ambrose, with equal energy and with equal success. * Codex Theodos. lib. 9, tit. 40, leg. 13. The date and circumstances of this law are perplexed with difficulties; but I feel myself inclined to favour the honest efforts of Tillemont (Hist. des Emp. tom. v, p. 721) and Pagi (Critica, tom. 1, p. 578). + Un prince qui aime la religion, et qui la craint, est un lion qui céde à la main qui le flatte, ou à la voix qui l'appaise. Esprit des Loix, lib. 24, c. 2. The whole course of the hierarchy was gradual in its approaches, and bold in maintaining its ground. In such manner Ambrose proceeded with successive emperors. Gratian, on ascending the throne, withdrew the usual state allowances and other privileges from the heathen priesthood. A part of the senate of Rome deputed Symmachus to intercede for them, and implore a revocation of the harsh decree. Ambrose presented a counter-memorial from Damasus, bishop of Rome, and prevailed on the emperor to reject the petition of the profane. On the accession of Valentinian II., this petition was repeated. Ambrose then ventured a stride further. "If you yield," he said to the young prince and his advisers; "we, bishops, could not quietly tolerate it. You might come to the church; but you would find there no priest, or, if any, one who would forbid your approach." (Symmach. lib. 2, epist. 7; lib. 10, epist. 61. Ambros. epist. 57.) Gibbon has shewn that his subsequent progress was still more daring. From his triumph over a weak youth and a woman, he went on to control the manlier intellect of Theodosius. After the defeat and death of the tyrant of Gaul, the Roman world was in the possession of Theodosius. He derived from the choice of Gratian his honourable title to the provinces of the east: he had acquired the west by the right of conquest; and the three years which he spent in Italy, were usefully employed to restore the authority of the laws, and to correct the abuses which had prevailed with impunity under the usurpation of Maximus, and the minority of Valentinian. The name of Valentinian was regularly inserted in the public acts; but the tender age and doubtful faith of the son of Justina, appeared to require the prudent care of an orthodox guardian; and his specious ambition might have excluded the unfortunate youth, without a struggle, and almost without a murmur, from the administration, and even from the inheritance, of the empire. If Theodosius had consulted the rigid maxims of interest and policy, his conduct would have been justified by his friends; but the generosity of his behaviour on this memorable occasion has extorted the applause of his most inveterate enemies. He seated Valentinian on the throne of Milan; and, without stipulating any present or future advantages, restored him to the absolute dominion of all the provinces from which he had been driven by the arms of Maximus. To the restitution of his ample patrimony, Theodosius added the free and generous gift of the countries beyond the Alps, which his successful valour had recovered Crimes as horrid as the Thessalonian massacre have often been passed over in silence by the priesthood, sanctioned by their applause, or instigated by their vengeance, as circumstances required. But Ambrose saw an opportunity for a proud display of his own power, which would also confirm and extend that of his order. The penance of Theodosius, the Roman, prepared the future humiliation of Henry, the German. If a mind, like that of the former, capable of wielding the sceptre of the world, and arresting for a time the fall of a tottering state, could thus bow down from the height of imperial greatness, to humble itself before a priest, armed only with the terrors of a corrupt religion, we may judge how all inferior classes quailed in abject prostration before the same stern authority. The voice which dooms to eternal misery those whom it excludes from the rites of the church, quells every energy, and unfits the trembling devotee for the business of life. Stupefied, enervated, paralyzed, he can neither avert calamity nor achieve good; and if at times roused to action, at the bidding and for the purposes of his subduer, all his efforts evaporate in empty clamour, or the |