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BROMFIELD & Co. ^^^^ lavo. f: ' ,:^ /■'■■■ ■■ ^' JT" ^ \ PBEFATORY NOTE- The accompanying treatise appeared in the December number of Harper's Monthly Magazine, and ia evidently the production of an erudite and accomplUhed writer. > It has been thought that its republica- tion in this form would be peculiarly opportune and acceptable to the public at the present moment, when the attention of Christendom is especially directed towards the subject of Ecclesiastical Councils, and when every possible light derivable from the history of such matters cannot fail to be welcome not only to the thelogical student but to the general reader. 7 I (ECUMENICAL COUNCILS. At the splendid city of Niowa in Bithynia, in the year 325, as- • serabled the first of those great (Ecumenical Councils whose decrees have so often controlled the destiny of Christianity and mankind. It was an occasion of triumph and fond congratulation, for the Chris- tian church had just risen up from a period of unexampled humili- ation and suffenng to rule over the Roman world. For nearly three centuries since the death of their Divine Head his pious disciples had toiled m purity and love, persecuted or scorned by the dominant pagans, for the conversion of tne human race; and the humble but persistent missionaries had sealed with innumera- ble martyrdoms and ceaseless woes the final triumph of their faith. Yet never in all its early history had the Christian church seemed so near its perfect extinction as in the universal persecution of l^iocletian and his Caesars, when the pagan rulers could boast with an appearance of truth that they had extirpated the hated sect with hre and sword. In the year 304, except in Gaul, every Christian temple lav in ruins, and terrified worshippers no longer ventured to meet in their sacred asemblies; the holy books had been burned, the church property confiscated by the pagan magistrates, the church members had perished in fearful tortures, or fled for safety to the savage wilderness; and throughout aU the Roman world no man dared openly to call himself a ^Oiristian. Gradually, with the slow prev. V oe of Constantino the Great, as his victorious legions passed stead; ly onward from Gaul to Italy, and from Italy to Syria, the maimed and bleeding victims of perl sedition camo mit f rom their hiding-places, and bishops and people, purified by suffenng, celebrated once more their holy ntes in renewed simplicity and faith. Yet it was not untU the year pre- ceding the first (Ecumenical Council that the Eastern Christians had ceased to bo roasted over slow fires, lacerated with iron hooks or mutilated with fearful tortures ; and Lactantius, a contemporary could point to the rums of a city in Phnrgia whose whole populi' tion had been burned to ashes because they refused to sacrifice to J upiter and Juno. And now, by a strange and sudden revolution, the martyr bishops and presbyters had been summoned from their distant retreats in the monasteries of the Thebaid or the sands of Arabia, from Africa or Gaul, to cross the dangerous seas, the incle- ment raountams, and to meet in a general synod at Nicaa, to legis- ato for the Cliristian worhl. Wu ,aay well ooncoivo (ho joy and triumph of these holy fathers as they hoard tho glad nows of tho .nal victory of tho faith, and hastened in long and painful journovB to "n>to »n fond con.^^ratulations in their solemn assembly ; as ?hey mfl.cted by tho persecutor's han.l ; as they tjazed on tho blinded oyes, tho torn members, the o.naciated fra.nos; as they encountered at every stop men whoso fame for piety, genins. and learnin- was renowned from Anfoch to Cordova; or ^ntudied with gratefulT- terest tho form and features of the i.nperial catechumen, who although tho lowest m rank of all tho church dignitarie had made Christianity tho ruling faith from Britain to tho Arabian THE COUNCIL OP NICE. . Nice or Nica^a a fair and populous Greek city of Asia Minor, had been appointed by Constantino as the place of meetin- for the council, probably because the fine roads that centred fronT various directions m its market-place offere.l an ea.y access to tho pilgrims o the Last. The city stood-its ruins still stand-on tho ^ores nS'.'f4'''"'"^"t^ ^I'^J'^"" ^1'" Mediterranean Sea, and on tC plainsof Troy; It had been adorned with fine buildings by the kings of Bithyma, and onricjied by the Roman emperors : in later ages It was shaken by a great earthquake, just afteJ- tho council had Tm'k n'n I'ff p'"'"'; ''^" P^ ^^^^^es^iyoly of tho Saracen, the luik, and tho Crusaders ; and when a modern traveller visited its sito to gaze on tho scone whero Athanasius had ravished pious ears t f« rbv^«Ho "\^^"r?' ^1'^ Y^"'*" Constantino had assembled the Christian world, ho found only a waste of ruins in tho midst of tho ancient walls. The lake was still there; tho fracrments of Zno^w^i^T''^*'?;P^"«\ ^^"^^^^ f^^v hundred houses, supported chiefly by tho culture of tho mulberry-tree, sheltered beneath Its ruined walls ; and an ill-built Greek church, of crumb- hng brick-work and modern architecture, was pointed out to tho tKoldl of']5i::r ''' ''' "''' "-^^>^fift«- ^-turios before, The bishops, in number three hundred and eighteen, too-ether with many priests and other officials, assembled promptly It the call of the Emperor, and in June, 325, met in a basUica or public haU m the centre of the city. Few particulars are preservedof the prooeedings of the great council, and we are forced to gather from the allusions of the historians a general conception of its character. Yet we know that it was the purest, the wisest, as well as the first, of all the sacred synods ; that its members, tested in affliction and hum- bled by persecution, preserved much of the grace and gentleness of the Apostolic age ; that no fierce anathemas, like those that fell from the lips of the papal bishops of Trent or Constance, defiled those of UosiusorEusebius; that the pagan doctrine of persecution had -1 *i Mi tit not yot bflc'ti introduced, togctlicr with tho i>a>;au ritual, into tho Christian church ; that no vain superstitions were inculcated, and no cruel deeds enjoined ; that no IIuhs or Jerome of Prague died at the stake to gratify the hate of a dominant sect, and that no Luther or Calvin was shut out by the dread of a Hiuiilar fate from sharing in tho earliest council of the Christian world. Tho pro- ceedings went on with dignity and moderation, and men of variouH shades of opinion, but of ecjual purity of life, were heard with attention and respect; tho rules of tho lloman Senate werc'i)rul)al)ly imitated in the Christian assembly ; the Emperor opened tlu! council in a speech inculcating moderation, and an era of benevolence and love seemed about to open upon the triumphant church. In tho town hall at Nice, seated probablv upon rows of benches that nvn around the room, were seen the reprcsontafivo C.hristums ofnn ago of comparative puritv, and the fnst meeting' ot these holy men must have formed a sctMie of touching interest! The martyrs who had scarcely escaped with life from tlie tortures ot the pagans stood in the first rank in tho veneration of tho assembly; and when Pa]>hnutius, a bishop of the Thebaid, entered tho hall, draggmg a disabled limb which had been severed while ho worked m the mines, and turned upon the bystanders his sightless eye— or when Paul, bishop of Nco-Cicsarea, raised iii blessing his hand maimed by the lire, a thrill of sympathy ami love stirred the throng as they g.azed on the consecrated wounds. The solitaries, whose strange austerities had filled the Christian world with wonder, attracted an equal attention. From the desert borly guidcHl the council to ruodoration anity of language and accent prevailed in the various dei)ntations, and a day of Pentecost seemed onco more to dawn upon tlio church. In tho upper end of the hall, after all had taken tncir places, ji, golden chair was seen below the seats of the bishops, Avhich was still vacant. At length a man of a tall and noble figure entered. His head was modestly bent to the ground ; his countenance must have borne traces of contrition and woo. lie advanced slowly up the hall, between tho assembled bishops, and having obtainecl their permission, seated himself in tho golden chair, It was Constuntine, the heatl of tho church. C0N8TANTINK. A tragic interest must ever hang over tho career of tho first Christian emperor, whoso private griefs seem to have more than counterbalanced the uninterrupted successes of his public life. In his youth Constantino had marritd Minervina, a maiden of obscure origin and low rank, but who to her devoted and constant lover seemed no doubt the first and fairest of women. Their only son, Crispus, educated by the learned and pious Lactantius, grew up an amiable, exemplary young man, and fought bravely by his father's side in the battle that made Constantino tho master of tho world. ]Jut now Constantino had married a second time, for ambition rather than love, Fausta, the daughter of tho cruel Emperor Maximian ; and" his high-born Avife, who had three sons, looked with jea- lousy upon tho rising vii-tues and renown of tho amiable Crispus. She taught her husband to believe that his eldest son had conspired against his life and his crown. Already, when Constantino sum- moned the council at Nice, his mind was tortured by suspicion of one whom he probably loved with strong affection. IIo had per- haps resolved upon the death of Crispus ; and he felt with shame, if not contrition, his unworthiness as ho entered tho Christian assembly. Soon after the dissolution of the council the tragedy of the palace began (326) by the execution of Crispus, by tho orders of his father, together with his young cousin, Licinius, the son of Constantino's sister, and a large number of their friends. Tho guilty .arts of Fausta, however, .according to Greek historians, were soon discovered .ind revealed to the Empeior by his Christian mother, TIelena. Ho was tilled .with a boundless remorse. The wretched Empress was put to death; and the close of Constan- tine's life was passed in a vain effort to obtain the forgiveness of his own conscience and of Heaven. \ i I 1 *'V But when Constantine ontoml the Council of Nice im life wjw stiUcomparativdy spotlcsH He was bclievo.l to havo inheritc-d ajl the virtues of 1.18 cxcdlent father an.l hin pious mother. To the simple and holy inen who now looked upon their preHorver as he modestly nought mHtead o commun.lin- their attention, ho must have seemed, in his hun.ility and grandeur, half divine. But lately his smde arm had rescued them from thejawH of a horrible de.nth. pel to mankind. lie AvaH the most pomiful monarch the world had over known, and his empire snread from the (Jrampian Hills to the edge of the Atlas, from tl. • Atlantic t<. the Caspial. Sc-a. Ho w s the inyzncible compicror, the hero of his age; but now monks an.l solitaries heard h,ni profess himself their Inferior, a modest cat"*' chumen and urge upon his Christian brethren harmony and union A miracle, top-the most direct inference from above pince the conversion ol St Paul-had throwi, around C^on.tantine a inyster i- ous charm; and probably few among the assembled bishops but had heard of the cross of light that ha,l outshone the sun at' noon- day, of the inscription m the skies, an.l of tl, perpetual victory promised o their imperial hca.l. When, there/ore Constantine^ addressed the council, he was heard with awe and Ibnd attention, ills Christian sentiments controlle.l the assembly, and he .leeide- with a perpetual unrest Tf Jo« /k^' ^^^^ ^"^^ '''" Christendom church LLdlZdl; save 'soo^^^^^^^^ ^^^' ''''"P*^"* ^'^^ shadow feU upon ConstanW^iifu-?®'' *''® ^o"^^'" that dark Christie c' 'rv^erXSt^l'p:^^^^^^ ^^ P'^ganand whose sin ^v.. inexpiable. The S 7o« ? ^ ""'" ^' "^ parricide asking the priests of the anciLrfSh wWif 'T'««"*« ^"" «« ever be atoned for by their ?u«t rati on « '"Jt^^f ^"^ ^^^-'^^e could ior him there was no^ hope Cth'/hn^^^^ '^'^' their communion by a promisrof amnL f Christians allured him to period the mind of" the 'rSl p!,* ""^'^ forgiveness. Yet f,-om this ful shock of his lost hafSsSs ST '^""'t^^ '""^ '^' ^'^^■ vigorous faculties. Ho became a f vl«L ^f ^ deadened his once at will, and persecuted ^1 tCs/wK'^''^^ ^"3^ """^^de bishops Arius. The church btame a ^^^ had opposed the doctrines if that flow from that unnatra? u^ Ltlf ''''™'°,'' T^ ^" '^' "1« tiaus. Pride, luxurv nmS 1 T ^"^^ "P°" *'»e hapless Chris- ops, who ruled ^eKl'^^^^^^^^^^ the ha^.ghty biX tated the Emperor in persecXo-SH'* domams, and who imi- differed from them inSf fe ' ^^^^^^ntless vigor, all who fatal anathemas, too dreadful to fal?fr?rr^^n^/ ^^^^^P- ^nd ing men, were the common w^^^^^^ ^P« °^ ^««ble and dy- pretended to the righH cZSn W / ^''''?' controversy. They hapless dissidents. Aey broS ""-" ^^" '°"^' ""^ '^^ controversies of the chuTch Zw ^"1 "^"'"^^^ ^"to the and religion fled frorher hicrh « .T «"««eeded a living faith, endom to find sheEn her fativet'." 'T"^ '^' ''"^^'-^ of Christ-' the poor. There we mav tr^«J «i "''?• T°"- ^^'^ ^^ff^ring and period, the Hght^of Te peasL t's "'.T'^' during this moul-nful ceU. ^ "^ peasar.ts cottage or the anchorite's «p.endo. with pai„^a ZSTS .^ att?^ sC.^Sr 1^^ I ,4 •;j T** -rr? ■ ri i i i;j ip j i iwwi ii y i i i i) i| ii| ii» | i ii»|ip i y) iif jf i t..< »i , \ 10 to have sought obUvion for his crime in reckless dissipation. He became cruel, morose, suspicious. He was always fond of religious disputation, and his courtly and effeminativo bishops seem to have yielded to his idle whim. ^At length he died (33) havmg been bap- tized not long before for the expiation of his sins, and was suc- cetded by hi! three worthless sons. A period of fierce rehgious controversy now prevailed for many years, of which the resolute hero, Athanasius,*^bishop of Alexandria was the author and the victim In 326 Athanasius became the Patriarch of that gay, splendid, and powerful city, the Paris oi the East, and ruled at tbnes with a vigor that awed the Arian Emperor at Constantmo- pie, but oftener was a persecuted exile, hidden in Gaul or in the Lks and sands of Egypt. The fire of genius survived in this re- markable man the pains of age and the humiliation of exile, lie never ceased to write, to preach, and to argue with unabated pow- er. Constantius became sole Emperor, and the chief aim ot his corrupt reign seems to have been to destroy the influence and the opinions of the greatest of polemics. The whole Christian world seemed united against Athanasius. The bishop of Rome, laberius, and even the pious Hosius, joined with the imperial taction m re- nouncing the doctrine of the Nicene Council; yet Athanasms, sheltered in the Avilds of Egypt, maintained the unequal strife, and mav be safely said to have mSulded by his vigorous resistance the opinions of all succeeding ages. But the period of Athanasius was one upon which neither party could look with satisfaction. The principles of Christianity were forgotten in the memorable strueffle. Both factions became bitter persecutors, blood-thirsty and tmnnical. Even Athanasius condescended to duplicity m his argument and cruelty in his conduct; the most orthodox of bishops mav be convicted of pious frauds or brutal violence ; and the meek and lowly Christians of that unhappy age probably gazed with wonder and shame on the crimes and follies of their superiors. THE SECOND COUNCIL-GREGORY NAZIANZEN. The second (Ecumenical CouncU met in the year 381, at Con- stantinople, under the reign of Theodosius the Great. The story of the famous synod has lately been told by M. De Broghe, a mod- erate Eomanist, and the grand-son of the gifted De Stael. His narrative is trust-worthy, although uncritical; and his honest picture of the stormy sessions of the great Constantinopolitan Council shows how corrupt, even in his guarded omnion, had become the exterior organization of the church. A simUar account is civen by the other authorities. Happily, the people were alwavs better and wiser than their rulers. The true church hved among the humble and the poor. The Cathari or early Protestants, the Waldenses, and the Albigenses indicate that moral purity was never wholly extinct, and that the industry, probity, and progress a mod- irett^' '^TL^^irnet.^^^^^^ - the ho.es ot council Gregor/SaT^^f^^^^^^^^^^^ biographical poems what waX Cnt. '"'"' .'^'™°"^''' «"^ a^to- of the church. Grefforv wnf fi P^l'"'^^ conception of the rulers His youth had been f^ K .^cfyS ?5.''T^^°P '' ^«^«n - self already the titula? bi.hop o "Sa^^ '^S^^ T'.' ^^ ^'^^ him- self with assistincr his fathpr i.? I- ?' ,"'^<^ bad contented him- P."blic life with awkward ^odestv "'T ^^°T^J«"d shrank from vigorous powers seem, howeve7" f^^!' ^^^n^^erful eloquence and when a new field was sudZlIl 5^!® ^^'^'^^ widely knoW employment, which'his'consdl:^;^^/^^^^ for thei/pracS The magnificent city of ConstrnUnTnlpl^' P^'"'^* ^'"^ ^ decline, tion, been in the hands of Arian Drektl^^'^'^."^ ''"^^ '^^ fo"nda- refused to accept the canontof thrcS^n^iJo? ^*f. ^^^^5<^<^ churches dox emperor, the rough and honest Cn i! \f-- ^"* «" O'-tho- was now on the E^man throne- S^ o '^\*^'r' Theodosius, Athanasians at Constantinople tthfi-; T'" ^^^^ «* ^^^^thfu attempting the conversion ii ♦J "^^ • '^ ^ favorab e moment for Z^rh --"<^^-^^^^^ They lookTovt disap^Sm'f^^ «;e cares and woes, the shame and cepted the invitation, and Sfjl 5 1'"'''' ' Reluctantly he ac capital He was aKy ptmt«relv'oM°^%'"-^2*^'' ^^« ^«^"^0U8 was bald, except for a few gmwS ll /"^ '"^''"^ ^^^ bead his appearance insignificant 11^^' ^^"""^ '^^' '''^"t with age. and no careless observer woui?Lv:r' '"^^ T^'''' ^^^ tin^d man the most splendid and scceSl w''"'"? l'? *^^^ ••«««« old Gregory arrived in the city le fou " nS ^^^/^.^S^- When churches open to him. ItswhnlJ^^ i *"'**^ ^'"^ of its numerous ;r"«ans, Jnks, and nui'^et'^^^^^^^^ tions m theology with eager 4fJSv n^^^^ *^° '^''''^ q«es- rangwith religious controversv Thi f^* . Constantinople, in 380 drome, and the most lio^nHm,?' ^^® *^^'«' *be baths, the Hinnn and thoughts. If a shnnl ^""^^'^^ resounded withJacr^ uE silk, he w^uld 4Uy a dSSr' ^'^'^ '^' «««<= of a piece o strangerinqun-edataUerffin^^^ on ungenerated beingj'f a Son is subordinate to theX her '^"TnfL^J"^-' ^^ ^^'^ *«'^^ "the tion Gregory threw himself boldlv T. }\l ^l^P"^^ious popula! I M * r- h 'I"' ,1 12 R^suL^ctFon""™"'^ ^"' "''"^''* "^''P'^ Auastasia, the Church of the crowJid The' nir'nhl''^ unbounded. The building was always crowaett, the oiush at the entrance often terrific: the rails of thp chancel were 8omelin,e8 broken down ; and often the crowded con- gregation broke forth in loud congratulatory cheers asThev won touched or startled by the eloquenrdivine ^Insens Wy GrJsmV ITiZ rr°?"™.'^ ^incl.gratified by his wide popiity sSn ' on his bishop's throne in the eastern end otiis AnasS the aJound STl'^?,^*f'' bispresbyters and deacons if whUrroK^s around him a crowded congregation listenin,-d-cl-«clhimt:tcant h" errors or resign. The honest bishop at once gave up his office Maiamus, had already bribed the^people to elect him their bishop • but the next day they had repented of their folly, and resolved to' force Gregory into the vacant see. They draped him n their ^8 to the episcopal chair. He strugg Jto escge, heTef ised to almsTndlH:,?^" '''^'' '^' '^^^''^ '"'^'^ out LVeir ItW Snwn^t !-n , ^'T7 «<^"«ented to be their bishop. Maximus, however, stiU claimed the see. DemophUus had not yet been de IZl^Z ?rT^ '^' fS'''^ ^^ ^^"^^' advised Theodosius to summon the Second General Council. Buttheafiair of the bishop- ric the soldier-emperor resolved to decide in his ONvn way. He deposed Demophilus, expelled Maximum, and amidst the geneVal lamentation of the Arian city, on a clouded day in Novembe^r! ca?- ' whtlro^n fn"?-^ '"'"f^^ ^""^"^^ ^^ *h^ C'^"^'^'^ of th^^ Apostles, where Constantme and his successors lay entombed, and proclaimed him bishop Just then, it is said, the wintry clouds pa?ted and a bright sunbeam covered Gregory's bare head with glory. The crowded congregation accepted the omen, and cried out, " Tx)ng live our bishop Gregorj^." ' ^ COUNCIL OP CONSTANTINOPLE DESCRIBED. To confirm or annul Gregory's election, and to coiTect the • .♦ «■ car- ls Cents' i.t^]^d""if ^: tta:^[ t"^ ^,^ «--^ ^— I * which he wrote in th«^Ln^^ ^ ?' Gregory's account of it, Nazianzus,wemLJcoicl„ItHnfl ^?"^"^^ retirement of in moral exTSCeS thL n/^ against thehSL oili^f ^^i ^^^^o^i^^d saint, he rails false-swearernft^heemnir.??^- i"^" the gluttons, villians, and council. The bLoos Zm - 1^^^ ^^''-^ ^''" '^"''^^"^ ^" ^^^^ smiths, deser^er^^fS Z a'l^^"'" and ilhterate peasants, black- ships; and when in the mS' ^J^^-''^ *''ora the holds of Gregory remembered tW<= 1 ^'' vituperation the elegant unleinedTerwe'e th^autW^%T%'\'' "^ humble and '' they were true apZle8b,>tt^^^^ \' ' "^^««'"^««>M of the great, ionc.?bearded hvL T ^'' Jn^e-^ervers and flatterers have neither' intellecT^S? ^gP«T*^^'^7dpr<^tended devotees, who priestly satirist had but nn?«^-«^" , ^\ p was of h\» istened )nstan- it ; its empor- ucously . rregory sies; it ;endom, • of tho ity over ) Eome, » of the see, and his own Imperor, jcedings Lority by ave been for their but the nee, and ad Coun- snest but ; a matter ps of this tives and successor bishop of ambitious ut it may CO of the al control ambitious virtue had jtorians of iie pagan, the luxury trastinthe conduct of the rural priests. They, at least, lived in a purity and simphct^ worthy of the host days of the church ; they, , eiLn Aoostir r'"' ««"f «««V«»«. >^«»« the true successor^ of ffi Apostles. Gregory of Nazianzus and Jerome confirm and iUustrato his narrative. The church stiU live.! among the people ; and whHe angry bishops raged in stormy councils, or Lrled aSie^^^^^^^^ against each other in haughty supremacy, [he good Samaritan si softened the hearts of humble Christians ; tlie cup of cold "S was still given to the weary and the sad ; tho merciful and tho tTerw/T? •'r-'^ ^"'^ f " r*«^^" ^ saintly and eteS bro th« ill* ^^"«*'f ™°»-a''ty began to assert a wonderful power ; the people every where grew purer and better. The ba barons Si!i tf '^-"^^ were abolished; licentious spectacles no longer pleased; the vices ot paganism disappeared ; the sacred bond of marriage was observed ; slavery, which had destroyed the iToma, tfe V'^''r*^.^"^l^^*' '^'^y> ■'^"^^ «ome future historia, of IhL ^r.''' "^g^««'\"g the strife of bishops and councils, may be days of Sfnl?. 'T «"«cession of apostolic virtue fron/the Ser ^^ ^ ''*°^ "^"^^'^^^'^ *^ t'^^^'-' "f WyclifTe, Huss and STRUGGLES FOR SUPREMACY. Tlio third and fourth CEcumenical Councils grew out of a fierce straggle for supremacy between the Patriarchs of Alexandria and Constantinople. Cyril of Alexandria, violent, ambitious, and un scrupulous, ruled over a wide and prosperous patriarchate. The Jidftd ; "^^T^'^^^'^'i^V^ ^^^ ^°™»" empire, was still inf i i?^*'"t''^^^*i®^', ^"*^ ""^ ^'^'^''' J^o'"^ had been ravaged ?nto ^^f^^^y}^^ ^^^^ and the Vandal, and was fast sinking Jr!^w^ .^\^"'"'' Constantinople, under its feeble emperors, trembled at each movement of the savage tenants of tho European Tt.^S'^rii- ^' ^¥^^^''^ ^as untouchcHi by the barbarian, and Its gmed bishop reigned supreme over the swarming population of triLSf^f n" ^l'"''^-^- 1^%^^^ resolved to crush Nestorius, Pa- tuarch of Constantinople. It was the famous Nestorian contro- versy which gave rise to a Christian sect that still exists in its an- cient seats. Nestorms refused to apply to theVirjrin Marv the name of "Mother of God." Cyril denounced liim^wifh bVter malignity, and began a holy war which he had resolved should end m the destruction of his powerful rival. Between the two hostile Patriarchs, indeed, there seems to have been little difference in character or m Christian moderation, and Nestorius had persecu- ted with unsparing hand the hapless dissidents within his see. But he ha,l scarcely equaUed thevindictive cruelty of Cyril. Alexandria had already witnessed, under the rule of its intolerant master a severe persecution of the gentle Novatians, whose simple piety seems to have attracted the bitter hatred of the ambitious prelate^ of the age ; and Cyril himself led a throng of fanatics to the ■•] ■I i 16 plunder and destruction of the harmless and wealthy Jews. Portv thousand of the unhappy Israelities were banished from the civ tl ey had enriched; and when Orestes, the Homan prefect com plamed of the persecuting bishop to the Emperor, a mob of monks assailed him in the street, and one of them, immonius, stnicTMm Ore lo '.^ ""f^ '*""': ^^^ r°P'« ^••^^'° off the monks aS Orestes ordered Ammonius to he put to torture. He died but Cyril buried him with holy honors, and enrolled his name among the band ot martyrs. Sober Christians, says Socrates S demned Cyri '8 conduct, but a still [deeper disgrace soon fell upon the Alexandrian church from the rivalr/of Cyril and Orestes C fair Hypatia, the daughter of the philosopher Theron had won th! respect as well as the admiration of Alexandria byTerbluty her eloquence and her modest life. With rare clearness and force she explained before splendid audiences the pure docS S Plato and proved bv her refined and graceful oratory, that the «ift of geuius might be found in either sex. She wasX'e rival of Cyr 1 ?„ eloquence, and the friend of his enemy Orestes, and her dVeadfS doom awoke the sympathy of ChristLs as wk as pagans iS herce and bigotted followers of Cyril dragged her froni hercarria^^ us she was returning to her home, tore her body to pieces "fd Durned her mangled limbs ; and it was believedf even by c£ tian historians, that the jealous patriarch was not altogether irno- cer^t of a share in the doom of his gentle and afcomplS COUNCIL OP EPHE8US. Of Eomo'^fS'r ^".'^''iJ^/^thematized Nestorius ; CeJestine, bishop o Kome, joined him m his war against the bishop of Constantino- pie, degraded Nestorius from his episcopal dignity, an^ asserted the divine honors of Mary as the mother of God. K feeble Fm peror Theodosius the Younger, alarmed by the furious rage of ht iwnU^ ^rt^'V' ^""^ ^il'^^^^J *^ NostoArxB, summoned fn assem- bly of the Christian wor d to decide the nice distinction. Ephesus was chosen as a convenient place for the meeting of thf ^Third Council, and in June, 43], the rival factions began to -ather in the magnificent city of Diana, now destined to become renowned for the triumph of the holier Virgin. Yet, to the sincere ChrisSns of this imhappy age,the conduct and character of the members oJhe Third Council could have brought only disappointment and shame In vam the gentle Theodosius implored his patriarchs ^d bishops to exercise the common virtues of forbeSce and of he self-respect; in vain he placed over them a guard of soldiers to msure an outward peace. The streets of the maffnifi cent city were filled with riot and bloodshed; the rivS Sns' fought for the honor of Mary or the supremacf of the hostUe sees Cyri^ violent and resolute to rule, had come Lm Xxan^ia f o'' lowed by a throng of bishops, priests, and a hol^ of fL" tic/: and 17 ^aaid""h.?l''*^ u!;^"''^K '^^ protecuon of tho imperial guard J bit to nether could tho Christian world attributo aTono of the virtues enjoined by its holy faith. The Pat "arch of Akv^ andrm refused to wait for the coming of Ihe Orifntal EishoL Ind ?rvTl ^''T^^''\^ «y"°^^ °f '"« ^^^» adherent aid proceeded ?o leLl cl"Htr '"V*^"'; J««^"«« protested; thrEmperor'g legate, Candidian, who asked for a delay of four davs was diiv«n with insult from the hostile assembly. The bi hoSlivZl th^^^^^ opinions; Cyril presided ; and at the close of a Ke day Nes tonus was degraded, a convicted heretic; and the dtv of Enho,?^ -sounded with songs of triumph over the FaU ^f'lL cnemy'^of J . THE NOVATIANS. It IS painful, indeed, to contemplate tho anffrv strife that ronf oveTus"!'^^^^^ I'''' r^y.A yet it is^nJt diffi^idt tlS cover its cause. The church, in its exterior form, had lorn? been th« resSvefof'X'^^^-'''^ 'r^^P-^.^"^^ patri'a?chs wfreTe^e! Erh^dhtn *^^y;ces and intrigues of tho imperial court. tS nnl T? «*'*^bly princes, instead of messengers of heaven Their pomp and luxury shocked and alienated the true beUever and they had long abandoned every one of the principles of charitv and the church had been lost in the contentions of its chiefs and even 'ii^^'oT^^^'Vlf^''^^^^^^^^^^ -^^^ over thSTepaTa e" rnnf nr .?; 1 T^ ^?^^^? ""' \^^^^'^^^' ^^e Protestants of this cor! upt period, departing from the established church, had retainnd snotJe^^T'^t,? '^Vr' *'r '^' ^^ Constantino; the put and spotless lives of their bishops, Agelius,Chrysanthus, or Paul, formed a pleasing contrast to the vices of Nectarius or Nestorius Tnd the modest virtues of the persecuted sect awakened the 3; and ^he hatred of the orthodox bishops of Rome and ConstanJnopJe -The Novatians rejected the authority of the imperial Patriarch" but they observed the Nicene Creed. They lived holy lives in the S«hnn ^J'^'^'T "^^ *?™Pt^tion. ChJysanthus, Ve Novat an bishop of Constantinople, distributed his pr vate fortune among the poor and his only salary was 'two loaves ?aith^d TL??'\^'1fK.^'^ ^'''^}^' contributions of Z faithful. 1 he Novatian Albius was one of the most elegant and vigo- rous preachers of the day; the pious Paul was the friend of the prisoners and of the poor. An Arian bishop also presided a? Con- stantinople, and m their sufferings his foUowers leimed virtue and self-restraint. It was against these rival sects that Nestorius had farst turned his persecuting rage. Ho envied the spotless fame, the general love that fol owed the gentle Novatian bishop Paulas he passed through the city to intercede for the prisoner o?to relievo ^e sick; he destroyed the Arian churches; and he deserved T h mTEpCr^'' '*''"' ""^"'^ ^^"^ ^"'^ P^^P*^^^ ^«^ .1' ■ , Si\ HI 1 / 18 ^ But Cyril's triumph at the council seemed about to bo turned mto a defeat by the arrival of John, bishop of Antioch, and the Oriental bishoj[)8, who at once denied the validity of the condemna- ti^on of Nestorms. Two rival councils sat at the same time in the City of the Virgin, and the streets were again filled with riot and bloodshed by the contending factions. Churches were stormed and defended ; the imperial guards fled before an angry mob ; and for three months Cyril and Nestorius opposed each other with an almost equal prospect of success, and with all the weapons of cor- ruption, violence and fraud. The Emperor Theodosius, the gen- tlest of rulers was at length onr.agcd at the vindictive fury of the holy council. lie sent the disorderly prelates to their homes, and recommended them to amend by their private virtues the injury and scandal they had inflicted on the church. But the malevolence of Cyril was insatiable. His intrigues and his bribes won over the courtiers of Constantinople ; and Nestorius, the hauglitiest of pa- triarchs except his rival, >>'as sent into exile, and died a convicted heretic. His name and his doctrine still survive in a sect of Oriental Christians, who are perhaps the natural fruit of the perse- cuting spirit of Cyril and the intolerant rvilo of the famousC ouncil of Epliesus. COUNCIL OP CIIALCEDON. The heresy of Nestorius gave rise to the Fourth General Council, at Chalcedon, by exciting a speculation directly opposed to his own. Eutyches, an aged monk, the chief or abbot of the ascetic throng of Constantinople, and a faithful follower of Cyril, proposed, in opposition to the two natures of Christ asserted by the Nesto- vians, a theory of the perfect union of the spiritual nature with the human. He was shocked to find himself denounced as a heretic, yet ho boldly maintained his opinion. Cyril was dead ; his sue- 4 oessor, Dioscorus, Patriarch of Alexandria, defended the theory of Eutyches. He was even more imscrupul'ous than his predecessor. His vices, his cruelty, and his ambition filled the Christian world with tumult. A synod met at Ephesus to decide the controversy. Dioscorus was present with a horde of monks, robbers, and assas- sins; the trembling bishops were forced by the violence of the Egyptians to adopt the opinion of Eutyches, and the "Eobber Synod, as it was called, from the savage natures of its members, seemed to have fixed the rule of orthodoxy. But Leo the Great was now bishop of Rome, and the opponent of Attila did not fear the wild throngs of Egypt. A general council was summoned at his request, to meet, October, 451, at Clialcedon. Senators and nobles were mingled with the priestly throng to restrain their tumultuous impulses ; in the magnificent church of St. Euphemia, on the shores of Thracian Bosphorus, five hundred bishops attend- ed; the haughty Dioscorus was tried by his peers, and convicted of innumerable vices and crimes; he was deposed from his sacred fi 19 office, and tho ^« » 1 • , ^^Pi""K ^'■'lop of Rome rojoicod in tho fall of hU powerful nval For tho first time, perhaps, the Nioene Or"ed was nSTn^i"'.''' ^'"^" ! "^i^V '^« Eutychian heresy was oondemn cd in the person of its chief defender; aiid various oanon« TniL passed that served to deflne tha usages'of the XZh Yet C^ triumph was marred by a memorabfe incident. Amooff the t^u lations introduced by the council was one that raS^the sc^^of Constantinople to an equality, in nome J>articular8atlea8t with that of Rome ; it asserted that the dignity of tho city determinid thaJ of Its Patriarch, and openly expressed what haf beeThnpUed a^^ the Second Council. Loo rejected the canons with diji^ i asserted with r.ago and violence the primacTo prter b,U U^' t cident 18 important .as showing what was tlfe opinion of Sis super the Coun.?? n? ruY f^"' "^ ?« P'^"^ «^^"»« Another resZo the Council of Chalcedon was the creation of a sect, tho Monouhv. w n' ^f^w.'^' ,/r^"'" ^^"^ *^°«'"« condemned by the syCl and . whoso faith still lingers among the Copts and the Abyssinians So powerless are councils to produce a general unity of bcS ! FIFTH AND SIXTH GENERAL COUNCILS. n,n'!^-^'?'n^*'^-f^"'?'.^'Sili«s, lent his sanction to the Fifth (Ecu ' men cal Council and its general character may be inferred from the life .and conduct of its head. Vigilius w.is the creatnro am fceb[o'Trr° • ''^' '?r"'"P' ^°™^° ^^^^^ "''^"» «^'«'- th' court of 7o feeble Justinian. He was accused of having caused tho death of his predecessor, tho gentle Silverius; of havin" killed his own ,, o n r ^ «°"" '««« ''""^es. He flod from Rome, pursued by tho m.a edictions of its people. They threw volleys of stonoraftor him as ho left tho city, and cried, "Evil tliou hast done to us^vM s iUwor '^t^'^r'^'"' '^?i^ ^'''' •" ^' Constantinople he met'^i'th htiU worse treatment. His vacillation or his insincerity dSnlerid l»s corrupt patrons; he was dragged through tho Set, wftt rope around his neck; was shut ujfin thoSmon ia randTed^^^ bread .an.1 water; and at length the unlucky ponffi having i» v.ain sacrificed his conscience to tho tyranny V Justinian d^f da miserable outcast at Syracuse. Tho papal dignity LreVidentlv sunk low ,n this degenerate ago; and one canno? avoid coSi astb J the huinble s avc, Vigilius, with tho haughty Gre/ories and S cents who ruled over monarchs and nations JndS so barbarou«lt avenged his fate. Justinian ruled alone at^ho F^h Coun^^^^^^^^ courf'^Tho 1 ^'^^f P« y«Fe the servile instruments of the vicS Constant^nnnil ' ft ^'^'^ ^"""^'"^ ^^""«"' assembled in 68^ "t Constantinople. The Emperor or the Pope Acratho presided • n and°a^fi«l« '^T "^'^"^/^^ \^^°^ ''^ '^^^^'^ ^nCe ^ good ord^r and a fierce anchorite of the Monothelite faith attempted to nlr form a miracle as a proof of the sanctity of his cr^ed But^the B 90 '^**!i!f!"**''^ ^ *'^'"® ^ "^^^ ""*^<"' '»" »""8'^o 8P«"« ; tho Monothc Joctna« was condomneii by th« united council; and tl.o faith tho inf« hbility of tho papacy was forever shattered by tho con- otion oil opt /fonorius an a }ioretio. If a Popo can bo a heroUc hOH' can ho bo intuiliblo? If hi« inspiration can once fail whoa can wo over be fluio of his perfect tr.Uh? Or if Popo Honoring erred in ImominK the patron of tho Rlonothelito creed may wo not conclude th.-». Popo Pius IX. is wrong in opposing free sohooTs and a frco press . tI.o Sixth General Council Ltters a happy prc^^^^^^^^^^^ foi' a general synod of tho nineteenth century. GROWTU OF THE MONASTIC SYSTEM. There now occurs in the course of history that solemn ..nd ia. structivo spectacle tho dedmo and death of the European intcll. 't Knowledgo ceased to bo powerful ; tho ignorant raci „bduod tho nitelloctual ; a brutal reign of violence followed ; n. I .. tUh honor probity, industry, and genius seemed to have fled forev(>r from the nations of Europe, to find their homo with the Saracen or ho lurk. Prom the seventh to tho twelfth century tho Arabs were tho only progressive race. In Europe, by a strange perversion of common reason, to labor was held dishonorable ; to rob tho laborer was held tho privilege of noble birth. Tho feudal system was a not unskiltul device to maintain a warrior caste at the cbst of the labor- ing class ; and tho merchant, the scholar, tho mechanic, and tho inventor became serfs or viUoins, whose scanty earnings were freely snatched from them to sustain tho indolent license of their warrior lords. Indusf'j died out. and with it fell its natural offspring-tho mtollect. The warrior caste pould neither read nor write ; the mi- serablo serfs had no leisure for mental improvement ; while uriests monks and bishops abandoned tho study of classic literature, and when they could read, employed their idle hours in onning their breviaries or in spellmg out miraculous legends of the saints. In this dark period grew up tho monastic system, tho worsliip of ffir *^'® acloration of Mary, tho supremacy of Heresies, indeed, had ceased to exist, except the greatest of them Sii^ n- assunaption ; and general councils were no lonsor held. A Cham of circumstances }.,m\ tendM to make Rome the master of the ntellect and tho conmom^ of Euron . -ts ancient sunk into feeble subjects of tho ioilowers of Mohammed. No Cyril any longer thundered his anathemas from amidst his swarm- ing hosts of Egyptian monks and bishops ; no vigorous opponent! ot the papal assumptions arose among the persecuted Christians of Syi-ia and the East. A feeble Patriaroh reigned at Constantinople llV'JJi'/ w^.^ Itolian brother, and Wed an unintorp Jated creed; but the whole Westera world obeyed implicitly the ^ il •'•'WwW HW ' ti * r-WM»a*« f Monothe- 1 the fuith >y tijo cou- ) ft horotic, fftil, whou Honoring lay wo not oliools and precedent n und la- 1 iiitclli'.'t. bduod the th, honor, ' from the 111 or the r.ibn were I'^orsion oi ho laborer was a not the labor- and tho '^ero freely ir warrior ring — tho I ; tne mi- le priests, tare, and ing their lints. In ^rsiiip of 3macy of t of them o longer lome tho !) ancient lem, had led. No 3 swarm- pponenls stians of ntinople, lintorpo- citly the 11 iiplritn.a tyrant at Rome, ni.d tho pnro faith and morality of the tho Vaudo.a and amidst the glens and defiles >f the Pyr'noesf DANaKKUua ASPECTS OF THE MONASTIC BYSrEM. The monastic system had now uss -mod a stran.^c and ovorwheim- ng nnnortance. Ron.o rnled by its mona^f(.ries': and over rvc"v Si. ''''°:'* '^^'l"^''''' *^'"°"S of these clerical fortresses .,Jl unsen engross ng the richest Im.dH, drawing in tho younir an ardent cnltivating the grossest snpersf ! aon, and formC^^f "; Monte Cnsmo to Croy and or Melrose, tho fir.nest '^*"'" ^y thoir example cf n perfect seclnsion from the world, and often the gentle henn , were the ,n,,est ,f not the most nsoful of their race. x pale Hlight, sickly, but impassioned and gifted m Hsionav ot the new practice, tho mistero. the bitter Jerome, hail lis ho V Ii?o"^^ P'oppted monasticisu. by his vigorous p^^n a.Td itl ?• 1 "i^ •^'''■'"",° "^ ^**""^ t""-'*^* ^"« followers o labor with their hands, to dress i)lainlv but neatly, to read nor- haps to th nk. A Benedict and Popo Gregory the GrlJt helpe o spread the system over th« West. ' I . ndes^of a.isteri^y, seclu ,^1*; '"r"'"'^ Ignorance grew rigi, and inunov.able, and tho monastery became the model of the It .man chinch. Celibacv! to Council of Nice, who proclaimed marri-ige honorab e, was now enforced upon every priest. The iron ILl,.. brand tore wivo. from d.nn„r w/^'' destroyed the happiness of countless famili.H, and vertod tl ." ""'T'^ t'^V"" «^^«'T Ian. : the priest was'con- veited into a monk. The Boman church demanded a perfect submission from its servants. But the monastic system, which had seemed so harmless or so meritorious in its ea -lier adher'ents, begSn ne ies fino7ti;? v'" ^'Tr' '''^''''' Monasteries and nun- neues hlled the cities and the open country- of Europe. Thev possessed half the arable Land of England, anr drew in the wealth of Cxerman^ .and France. They grew rich by .equests and char tie«, lawsuits, orgeries, and fi'and. ITio mo, k? were noted for their avarice, indolence, license, and encroac. ing pride TheC hborn nd ''''r""*!' "^'''''''T"^ ^^^^ustry, desp .ed the claims o^f if?h' M-i^i ^r^'" Pu'^''"^ "^^""^ ^«^^"y "PO" the working men svstem illmr !?'" *^ ^''^'^ prevalence of the monastic sj stem. A selfish and useless isolation made tho monks tho prey of Idle fancies and superstitious dreams. They sr.stainod tho wor- ship of images against the common-sense of Leo a id Charlemagne asserted the claims of the Virgin, and defended tl o tyranny of^he f}Tnf P "'''"^ '"^'"''i' ^^' ^P«"^^^^' Inquisition ; mother bounded tliat 01 Koiue; one produced the massacre of St. BaVtholomew; a :A-^% 22 Rome odUs amone nations hnfZ^S^'.''''™.'™'? ">« ■"»»» ■>' bliaJ s„porstit,o„ enyuS b;\KotLTr1i:.° "'" "'"" »'' CONVENTS AND NUNNERIES. supreme; no person wastlrm^t^^^^^J'^- o** «»Pe"or reigned monks and nuns • theTr n^pfrw i ^' ^'""^^ intercourse with the from their s^ght'; a evere d^ d^^^^^^^^^ T'l ^"^^"^^^ ^^'^^^^ the abbot or the confeLor Zl^^ a "'f ' •'^,'"' *^° ^^'^^^es of faintly whispered Tn the 'nub I !f -^ ^'^^"",'° «"^ «''"««' lanty^f the monastic svi em ?/' /"^I'f «e*l the unpopn! century, the mighty voice^ of Luttpr "^'^ "^ ^^'^ ^''^'^^«°'h the growing enormitv • nntln^Sr'^'^. '^'''''''^*'^«*^ attention to -.pi?stition! K^t^ its'iste^^^^^^ ^^« *-"We population to useful iVorTnlvwf'f ^u''^:''. *^®''' swarming theSnonasteriesTntoalmthouselandrhV^^ it8 monks, to turf its path; and it is p^ssi^ e that thS«^^^^ Spain follows in and the fair may W nprmitf «] . dangerous prisons of the young MIDDLE AND DARK AGES. w<^rTLVirgLVe:tt^^^^^^^^ -»^« ^--^^^ the or an Innocent III were mn^?-«. 5 ? "^ ^^J'*''' ^ Hildebrand bishops was controi'iedTn irde^L?5'^"7 ^^^'^^^y of the papal a Seventh CouncU r746 iLt ^^ °°' ^^ ^''? "'^"^^^^ ruld. In ted, image wo -Slip wa^^ndprnn r'^'f -^^ "^'^^^ ^^«" ^^ admit- struments of S The r^r^" ' l"n 'f'^P '^^^'^^^^ the in- against the Emperor' and the ch^lj'^'^^^^ '^^ .^^pe led them at Nice; and ihVindisDensaW.^^^^^^^^^ "^ ""^"^ '^"""^^ ^'^« assembled language thatVasXtea t be tuTiST JfX'V '» dictated, he could not write fm,r hZ^ • ^'^®','*' Charlemagne stition, and the blbops of the Fn«f o ^'.?.° w'^ *'^^ ^°P"^^^' «"Per- tained the imperialfitf, l . 5 """? ^^^ ^^«* ^^^"^ to have sus- cessful, aftrfconfl :r5f fcentur' W 'f *'^ ^'^' ^^^''^ «"- the various papal councils of th^s J.V , ^ \''''''^x."*' 'P^«^ ^^ «<>tico the Middle Ages subSd dilnnlf . ^T''^ ' ^V ^^^''O'* «aste of war of exterminat o.? wn„ *^.^^°"*^y to the monkish rule ; and a the pn. «. o« X s:^-is ":^uS^:z!T^ yone of those B the name of JO bitter and nd the nun- !rior reigned •se Avith the ided forever be slaves of and crime, he unpopn- e sixteenth ittention to the terrible r swarming 'nks, to turn in follows in f the young lieval enor- of Cracow. to multiply sion of the •> ruled the Sildebrand the papal h rule. In be admit- ed the in- lod them assembled efended in irleraagno lar super- have sus- wero sue- to notice r caste of ); and a liat large 3 name of •reserved a council 28 waa held whose important results deserve a momentary attention Pope Urban II. m 1095, assembled at Clermont and PiacSaTn- immense host of priests, knights, nobles, and princes, and preached n glowmg eloquence the duty of snatching tlie Holy Places from he control of the iconoclastfc Saracens, lurope caJgUhTs super- stitious ardor, and for more than two centuries poured forth Hs wealth ot manly martial vigor in a wasteful frenzy on the ph ns of S.""!; 7v^ ^."'?'" x^"'^ ^"^^ "^^«^- fi"«^- The energy of nations which, If directed to honest labor and pnactical improvement, mS have civihzed and cultivated the world, was sqandered in obSce to the cruel suggestions of a monkish dreamer. The Cathari o? dissenters Avrote, spoke, or preached against the wild delusion • they asserted that the Christian had no right to kill even a Saracen' and that the true way of spreading the Gospel in the East was by' !w ^Tt ^''''T'i of a ¥^y "fe. Their Remonstrances were an- swered by the rude denunciations of the papal preachers bvtht* wh.p, the torture and the stake. War anS Sood^d bec'aiS the chef employment of the papal church and its martial adherents n? rhl/''/'"^r'' *>? ^^P^' maintained their place at the bead of Christendom by exciting general massacres of the protestants of Province or Piedmont, anS % driving the young generations of Europe to the charnel-house of the EiTst. ^eneraiions ot CRUSADE OF THE LITTLE CHILDREN. tf,f n ""^ f"" Tl*. '* V 'l'"S ^'^^^^^ Of this monkish delusion was the Crusade of the httle children. A band of fifty thousrnd children from Germany and France set out in I2l2 to redeem ?he Holy Sepulchre. A peasant child 'of Vendome first assumed the cross in Prance and soon an increasing throng of boys and girls gathered around him as he passed from Paris to the south, and with a touching simplicity declared that they meant to go to Jerusalm to deliver the sepulchre of the Saviour. Their parents and rS tions in yam endeavored to dissuade them ; they escaped from their homes; they wandered away without moiey or means of sXtt' ence ; and they believed that a miracle would dryTp the mS rif *"*^ /"'t^« '^^^ to pass safely to the shores of Syria At length a body of seven thousand of the French children reached Marseilles and here they met with a strange and unlookedXr d^om At MarseiUes were slave-traders who were accustomed to purchre or steal children in order to sell them to the Saracens ^TVo of these monsters, Ferrers and Porqus, engaged to take the voiimr crusaders to the Holy Land without charge, and thev set sdM? seven ships for the East. Two of the vessels were sunk Z Z passage with all their passengers; the others aJ^fved safely? and the unhappy children were sold by their betrayers in the sW markets ot Alexandria or Cairo. Other large bodies of childTen came from Germany across the Alps. Many perished from hunger^ • M ill i 'Wi i*:^ ■ • * g^ p ^ m w»t <^ Mb , i i ". jj M jh III *,a ii«, V> *«H '0 24 heat atid ^Iseasef a fe^^ Were enabled to die on the sacred soU of byria; and it is estimated that fifty thousand of the flower of Eu- ropean youth were lost in this most remarkable of the Crusades. COUNCIL OF CONSTANCY Constance, the scene of the next important council, stands on the shore of that lovely lake that feeds the romantic Rhine. It has long sunk into decay. In the last century the grass was growine in Its principal street. Its air of desolation and decline formed a stnking contrast to the busy Swiss towns on the neighboring lakes and It still slumbers under the fatal influence of Catholic rule! llie only noted spots in Constance are a dark dungeon, a few feet square, m which John Huss was confined, the rude Gk)thichall where he was tried, the minster where he was condemned, the place where he was burned the swift-flowing river into which his ashes were cast, and which his persecutors hoped would bear away all that remained of their illustrious victim into endless oblivion. Vain hope I Warriors and princes, priests, abbots, monks, conspired to blot from existence a single faint and feeble beiuA, a child of poverty and toil They burned his books ; they cast ;;; , ashes into the iihine. And to-day all Bohemia assembles to do honor to the names of Huss and his disciple Jerome, and to can-y into execu- lion the principles of freedom tnd progress they advocated four centuries ago. The Council of Constance met in 1414. Three rival Popes were then contesting each other's claim to the papacy. Each Pope had his adherents, and for nearly forty years ptiests, rulers, and laity had lived in doubt as to the true successor of St. Peter It was plain that there could not be three infallible potentates on the same throne; yet each pretender asserted his claim with equal vigor. Gregory, Benedict, and John launched anathemas arrainst each other; and a generation lived and died uncertain whether it had not adored and obeyed an heretical Pope. John XXIII in the opinion of his age one of the most abandoned of men, was persuaded or entrapped by the cardinals and the Empeior into summoning a general council ; and Constance, on the borders of bwitzerland and Germany, Avas selected as the place of meeting. Ihe council met at a period of singular interest in history. Not only was the papacy divided between three Popes, but that strong and wide opposition to the papal and the monkish rule, which seems to have existed in every age, was now showing itself in unusual vigor. England was half converted to the doctrines of Wyclifte ; Bohemia and its king shared the free opinions of Huss; the new literature of Italy was skeptical or indifferent ; Franco and Germany were already shocked at the vices of the monks ; while industry and commerce were rapidly introducing ideas of human equality that must finally destroy the supremacy of the sred soil of wer of Eu- ^rusades. inds on the tie. It has as growing 3 formed a )ring lakes, holic rule, a few feet hall where lace where ishes were ly all that ion. Vain nspired to I child of ashes into nor to the ito execu- iated four va\ Popes y. Each its, rulers, St. Peter. mtates on kith equal IS against liiether it :xiii., in men, was eior into orders of meeting, ry. Not at strong e, which itself in trines of of Huss ; ; Franco monks ; ideas of r of the 25 Council of ConSce to oS iC ™* "°"!? "g'jren'ly at th, DECREES OP THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE. thJo7t'spCZT£^i:^^^^^^^ The Council Of Constance was seen Thf f!?? gathermg of priests and princes Europe had ever by a throng of lE ^rdLl Z' w^^ ^?°;' '^■"'' ^"'''"''^ prelates of the mti^HiS i ' 1^ ?" »''™ele8s oondnctof the ^^rsf oote?E:H r ?r ^^^^^^^ Its canons have been disre^arLS T ^A^^- «"f eeding Popes, devout RomarCatholic wS ' ^ authority denied ; and no Plainly the opmicS 5^^^^ ^t»at was Sfteen^thcentuV.ThafthtkteT^ar^^^^^ ^' ^'^ JOHN HUSS: oorrnpt moSks Jd^te ofthTh S'"*'^ '"^ '*'°™- To the n.ou,^„weW^:frr:=rHr=«Cgrhtr„:^s I 1 I? 'ri i H I «H ii ) i|w -Pfw- •mtrnm 1 . 1 , 1 1 P^ II 28 native village to be matriculated, and on the road fell on her knees and recommended him to Heaven. Maintained by charity, he studied with ardor ; his mind was fed with scholastic learning ; he became a preacher vigorous and original ; and in the Chapel of Bethlehem crowded congregations listened to the inspired lessons of the ardent priest. Huss had early formed a clear conception of a hvmg Antichrist, a creature made up of blasphemy and hypo- crisy, of corruption and crime; and of a pure and lovely form, the Church of the early age. To the one he gave all his love and con- fidence, to the other an undying hate. The Antichrist was Home. The vices and stupid ignorance of the monks, the shameless license of the clergy, the insolent pride of the bishops, the rivalry of the contending Popes, convinced the ardent reformer that the estab- lished church had long ceased to be Christian. He inveighed in ^gorous sermons and treatises against every form of corruption. He denounced the monks and the Popes, indulgences, crusades, and a thousand enormities. Jerome of Prague, who had lived at Oxford, brought him over the writings of Wycliffe, and the two friends studied and profited by the clear sense of the English reformer. At length the poor charity scholar became the most eminent , man of his time. His native ijand acknowledged his merit, and all Bohemia adopted the opinions of its gifted sou. The kincr and queen were his warm friends, and the. nobility and the commons caught the ardor of reform. Huss was made Rector of that great university, at that time the rival of those of Paris and Oxford, where he had won his education ; and Prague became the centre of a strong impulse toward progress that was felt in every part of Europe. The doctrines and the Bible of Wycliffe were expounded at the oul^ great seat of learning in Germany; England and Bo- hemia, united by friendly ties, seemed about to throw off the papal rule; the vigor of Huss, the genius of Jerome, had nearly antici- pated the era of Luther. But it was too soon. The priestly caste and Its ignorant instrument, the warrior caste, united to destroy the first elements of leformation, and the monks and bishops pur- sued Huss and his followers with their bitterest malignity. The archbishop of Prague denounced him as a heretic, the Pope ex- communicated him ; but Huss might still have escaped, supported by his sovereign, Wenceslaus, and the admiration of his country- men, had he not been betrayed mto the power of his foes. The Council of Constance met and summoned the reformer before its hostile tribunal. The chief vice of this infamous assembly was its shameless duplicity. The sentiment of honor, which we are some- times told was the distinguishing mark of this age of chivalry, was plainly unknown to every one of the princes, knight?, or priests who made up the splendid council They deceived the Popes • they corrupted the feeble honesty of the Emperor Sigisraund • they on her knees Y charity, he learning ; he ho Chapel of pirod lessons conception of ly and hypo- '^ely form, the love and con- it was Eome. nelcss license rivalry of the lat the estab- inveighed in if corruption, es, crusades, had lived at and the tviro tho English lost eminent , merit, and all he king and he commons of that great and 0:!3ord, ne the centre 3very part of e expounded and and Bo- off the papal aearly antici- priestly caste i to destroy bishops pur- ignity. The he Pope ex- 3, supported his country- 3 foes. The 3r before its nbly was its re are some- shivalry, was 3, or priests the Popes ; niund; they becomeToltid h^^^^ P""*'^^ h5« manners hLd of thTworl 1 LVf 7'- ''^.^^.^^'"^."^ ^^ ^^^^ » Position in the eyts fesfiors ^f PrL^f« f i'^ u "^^""^^ ^^« ^«»'"^a« students and pro- Nominalmts attowards boasted that the deS of ^S wa/di'?! ,1- y ' 1, • i 98 «.!S^n^^;*?K"" "•* •?"' f'T ^*^"« '" October to obey the sammons of the council. As he passed through Germany he was met and welcomed by immense throngs of the people. He was received everywhere as the champion of human rights. Men came to gaz^ on kim as a benefactor, feven the German ecclesiasScs it 18 said, saluted respectfully the arch-heretic. He passed s5ely through Nuremberg, attended by a guard of honor, and entered Constance almost m triumph. , He evidently feared ni danger He oven imprudently defended the doctrines of Wycliffe in the midst of angry monka and priests, and courted their malignity. The Pope, however, John XXIIL, had sworn u, protect him, thi Emp^ ZJ\f!'?r%'^' ^°%^ for his safety, anl aU Bohem'ia wctehed over the life of Huss But the rule had been adopted that no faith was to be kept with heretics. Within a few days^ after his ar Sal Huss was seized, cast into the horrible dungeon of the Dominican convent, and fastened by a chain to the floor. "'"mican Ho was now in the toils of Antichrist, and was to feel all the SL;;t^T^Tf ^i^^i'^r?"^^^^"^^^ ^^^ «<> «ften imagined or descnbed. Its falsehood, its baseness, its savage and unsparing cruelty, he was now to realize, if never before. The Empteror S? £^^!icf fT^^uF''°'*^.°°^f°''.^^*^^ ^"«8'« imprisonment, and remonstrated feebly against the violation of his safe-conduct but lotf -S ?v ^u '''I- "'''^ T.1 '^o'^vinced him that no faith should be kept with the heretic, and Huss was left to languish in his dun- geon. Articles of accusation were drawn up against him; false witnesses were brought to convict him of crimes he had never committed; he was persecuted with incessant questions ; and for more than six months the great orator and scholar pined in a dread- ful confinement. At length, on the 6th of July, 1415, he was dS dungeon and led out to condemnation and ^^.P'V *'^"°''-l ^!?f,"l'^^e^ in t^at sombre and massive minster whose gloomy pile stiU frowns over the silent streets of Constance. Ihe Emperor Sigismund presided, surrounded by his temporal and spiritual peers. A throng of cardinals, bishops, and priests assembled to take part in the proceedings, and to exult over the doom of one whose holy life seemed a perpetual reproach to their notorious pro. fligacy and corruption. The church was fiUed in every part wuh eager spectators. It had been carefully arranged for that singular ceremonial with which the holy fathers intended to degrade their victim from his priesthood before they delivered him over to the secular power. In the midst rose a platform, on which were placed the robes and ornaments of a priest, and where Huss was to be robed and disrobed m presence of aU the people. A solemn mass was performed, and while Emperor and priest bowed in ado- ration, their victim was kept waiting at the door under a guard of soldiers, lest his presence might desecrate the sacred rite. He was to obey the lany he was e. He was Men came lesiastics, it assed safely ind entered langer. He n the midst ?nity. The , the Empe- da wUched bat no faith p his arrival Dominican feel all the magined or I unsparing Impteror Si- nment, and nduct; but d should be 1 his dun- lim;. false had never is; and for in a dread- L5, ho was lation and ive minster Constance, nporal and assembled om of one )riou8 pro- part wuh \t singular Tade their ver to the hich were uss was to A solemn '^ed in ado- a guard of He was 39 j:£r^f ^^^'^^ i^r,vrt';;- long after, when, at the Diet of Worm" ClnX V III T if* against Hn.. tL ^^"*f "«^ ^^ degradation was next pronounced than a crown of S";-" ?h"t ""\"' ,*'""' '.'K i'' '»» P-nW Emperor ?hePrinc?Pali .^ """"'' •'" " '""« P''"^»»i'>n, the a oum? Mm ?. J^'.^" •? *° ^^'^ «^^^^' ""^ ^^^ ^'ood piled ,h Sd fSt e SnrPo.to'^'if^l,^''? «' <"-- ■eflnome" K- 1 30 Jerome had revived in his genius and his philosophy the hi£?he«f excellence of Greece and Rome: the mode?n pag?7d d not^tr ceive how he hatj surpassed it. Bohemia has never cease/To lament and honor her gifted sons, and the world is W becoming deeply conscious of what it owes to Ilnss and Jerome of Sue the forerunners of Luther. -rrague, COUNCIL OF BASLE. .;nnn!° — ^Z ^f ^' " ''°","'''^ asBomblod at Basle, still more revolu- tionary m Its character than that of Constance. The pZ Euin mus IV., attempted to dissolve the council; the councif deposed" he Pope, and elected another in his i)lace. A loni controversv lol'owed, and a new schism in the Roman church. Enffenius sum aoned a council of his own adherents, and thus twoTopes Td two councils contended for the supremacy of the Christian^ wcHd But the quarrel was terminated by the triumph of the paid fac ion At tlie Council of Base was formed a temporary uni?n between the Latin and Greek churches, which soon ei ded in their comS separation The bold effort of this great counc 1 to con?rT the papacy wholly failed, and from its dissolution Eorne Sd new nSf n'n- ^"'^ «"««««di"S Pope enlarged his authcf^ defied irnblic opinion, opposed every effort to reform the ohnvch n^A threw the shield of his infallibility over the S and di oil^^rs of he clergy The monks again rSled mankind The Doi^nicans nvented ho Spanish Inquisition, and persecuted heretS with subtle malice. Convents and nunneries became centres of coi^n tion and the favorite subject of the satires of Chaucer, of RabeS' of Erasmus, or of Luther is the degraded and dissoS monk ' THE REFOllMATION. , 1, • ^ uH"?^^ ^^'"^ Reformation came. The conscience of mankind which h^l been apparently for ever suppressed with the marivr dom of Huss and Jeromo, found a new expression in the command mg genius of Luther, and the intellect oi Europe awoke Ttlis powerful summons. He dissolved the spell of monS de?usion and tyranny He consolidated into a piwerful pari v that w dp but disunited opposition which almost fr^om the aie ^Constan^ had looked with horror and shame upon the pride and cormntion of the estabhshed church. The pure and the good of everv land the spiritual descendants of the Cathari, the AlbiJnses the Vau dois, or the Wycliffites-the humble' and gentfe cS-istians of Bohemia, France, and even of Italy and Spain, now ventured to T!-Z"^Trr hpP^th-ttho 'reign of Antichrist was over Tradition and false miracles, the indulgences, the worship of imT ges and saints, the idolatry of the mass, the horrorrof the monT ic system seemed about to pass swiftly away before the vote oi reason and ol conscience ; the pure faith and practice of th JSospel he highest i not per- ceased to becoming of Prague, )rc rovohi- »pe, Euge- il deposed ontrovcrsy ;niu8 sum- 'opes and an -world, lal faction. I between complete antrol the ined new ty, defied irch, and oi'ders of Jminicans tics with f corrup- Rabelais, ank. mankind, martyr- ammand- ce at his delusion lat wide istantine HMuption ry land, the Vau- tians of tured to as over. of ima- monas- voice of B Gospel 81 JaUnd Zt^ M ^"'f"^ "^^'" T "^^- I" *»>« year 1540 a gene- niiSn P^*?r^':? reformation of the whole Christian world wa^ refor/deLn^^ ?n'Ll;rtl'^?,.Xn>anr^^^^^^^^^^ t se goT?TrT' ^^« vigorous North was alreadvTuriSeS and Tlt^: ^'^ ^^^ '°r ''''" «°^ g«"tle spirit contrilc 1 the pZl councils, some pure Erasmus or a uenerous P.^In ,,1 f Lf J^ ana its pnde. Tlie industrial classes, who in Spain, France Italv and Germany, formed the chief part of the rofo-me .s, mS have risen to control the state, and Europe would have been flel. COUNCIL OF TRENT. of thImair*;.*i.^^f*F?^P^P.^^ council-the most mischievous breathed w:;;^. ^"^ ^^'^r'^y '^" "«^"g ^^°P^« ^f •"'^"^^ind. It natrons TmL ^T"' ^* -"P'"^*^ irreconcilable enmity among nat one. It leagued the warriors and the priests in a d«adlv a? Td tbe'rr'rr^^T^ ™^"-. '' ^^'^^^-^ ^^rZZ^^ZZ the tdZt^'t^^if'^l^ «^f^ool. It crushed Ihouihffnl kn / /"'^ '^P^'" ' '^ banished the frugal and inoughtlul Huguenots from France; it strove in vain to m J« S^t^itTttf^T'^ '^^ .^^ ^^'»^'^ ^» i^' seVonTfirh: using intellect of England; it aimed vain blows at the ireniua of cemuries the mind of the decaying South. To tlie Connril nf C^'a;LV'"'V^''^^^*T.''"^>^^° t^^^ the grea w.^ which cruTadesIiSlThT'^^^^"'"]'^"^ t'^« ^i^a^tr^s ^hpfh^ ft -11 "^'^'PJ*^''^'"'''**'^*^ Netherlands and Queen Eli- i^abeth ; the wild rancor of the Lestixne and the Guides • f Iip nnr-«,P cations, worse than those of DiocleUan, of Louis XI7 • t e Crtv Years' War in which Wallenstein and Tilly maL half Germanv « S^.^P -^ It wa^ a flame of discord, a harbincrer of strife- and to the student of history no spectacle is more ft!artUnrthan W t Sandlr^^^^^^ '"H' "P^" manSfrom'^fe deu! btatTeSf '^°"^', ^"J 'I' ^^^^^^- orp^sl^ive Xdien" wr^nidlv SiP"rP^° °* '^" P^Pa^ faith. "^ The Inquisition di?i7ltal^ adi^Z ?^T'^^^^^^^ to the hierar- cnym Italy, a dead and dull submission reigned in Venice or in I, 82 Rome; and the papal missionaries, exulting in their snccess at home, trusted soon to carry the effective teaching of the Holy Office mto the rebellions cities of Germany and the North. With whatjoy>voud they see Luther and Melanchthon chained to the Htake, like Ilus., and Jerome ! How proudly should the papal U-gions sweep over the land of Zwingli and the home of Calvfn ! With such fond anticipations a league for the extirpation of heresy was fonned between tlie Pope, Paul III., and the femperor. Char^ es \ . 1 he decrees of the Council of Trent were to bo enforced by the arms of the two contracting parties ; the Protestants of Ger- many were to be the earliest victims of the alliance; and all who had apostatized from the ancient faith were to be compelled to return to the bosom of the Holy See. The meaning of this famous compact between the bishop of Eomo and the Emperor can not be misunderstood. It was a project to crush freedom of thought and religious progress by wars and massacre, the rack and the stake; an ettort to make the papal Inquisition univ-jrsal. *u ^^''^!^}^^^^^^'^^onehyBomo raoden* Ji'storians and most of the Komisli writers who have described the Council of Trent to the present age, we could separate it wholly from the history of its period, and look upon it merely as the gathering of a few bishops ot more or less learning and piety anxious only to fix the faith of their church and to define the farm of their belief, we might ex- cuse its rash judgments, its imprudent conservatism, and the intol- erance ot its countless anathemas; wo might submit with a snile to hear the doctrines of Luth r and the Bible pronounced fo.ever accursed, and to be commandtnl to pay a deep reference to images under the penalty of excommunication; we might pardon the critical bhndness, if not the want of taste, that placed the Book of lobit on a level with the Gospel of St. John ; we might remember only as examples of monkish superstition in the sixteenth cen- tury the attempt to chain the press, to promote the sale of indul- gences, the strange theory of the mass, the feeble reasonint^ on the sacraments ; and we could admit that under the irresisti&e influ- ence of that impulse toward reform begun by the anathematized heretics, the council strove honestly to correct some of the errors of the Eomish church. But unhappily for mankind, the Council ot irent had a far less innocent purpose. Its chief promoters were men who had already resolved on the destruction of its oppo- nents. Every member of the synod knew that the principles it laid down, the practices it enjoined, were rejected and condemned by a large part of the Christian world; that they could only be enforced by fire and the sword ; that they were about to be the occasion of a bitter war between the reformers and the papal fac- tion; that every anathema uttered by the council would be written m letters of b od upon every Protestant land. Yet they proceeded calmly with their labors. They rejected eveiy plan of compromise r snccess at ■>i the Holy rorth. With ained to the Id tlio papal of Calvin! ion of heresy iperor, Char- enforced by rvnts of Ger- und all who lompelled to this famous • can not be thought and the stake ; md most of 5f Trent to liatory of its Few bishops the faith of ! might ex- d the intol- ith a smile oed foiever e to images pardon the he Book of t remember ;teenth cen- e of indul- ling on the 3tible influ- theraatized the errors he Council promoters ►fits oppo- rinciples it condemned Id only be to be the papal fac- be written proceeded mpromise, 98 irT nrl ! 1 'i .-.' ^"^ <^«r(hnal Bel Monte, uftorwan Poue Julius Testament wifh°tf« A tlie Scriptures and tradition, the Ohl IZch ' ^^^^^'' ""'^ ^""'^^^ ^^^-^ «P^J^« in the name of the TRANSFERENCE OP COUNCIL TO BOLOGNE tinned until Paul died, when his s^cLor JulL JU 'n ''™ "^"* convened the assembly at TrLT r^ ' ■ , .' ^"^^ ^^^° alarm from their dangerous localitv Th« L. ^? ^ ^'^^°P^ '" years miod with re^atSt Z.Z "^Zjer^L SJ'^ II nil linil ill I I members had instilled into the minds of princes and priosUi id doctrine of passive obedience to Rome, and of relentless war airainst heresy Loyola gu.ded the policy of the papal church. In Franco ft war broke out between the Huguenots and their oppressors, of whiohthoresnlt was not to be determined for many years, but which finally united the French bishops in hostility to reform. A £n?Ln'""''ii'^'"'"'''"?'"^^J: ^''^ P"r^ P"'y "» England, that was followed bv a signal overthrow. *Iary succeeded to the Eng- hHi throne ami as the wife of Philip II. gave back her realm, fiufd with the blood of the martyrs, to the papal Hce. Cut in 1558 Mary died chidU58s, and Elizabeth tho repreHcntativo of a Protestant naUon, dehed the anathemas of the Pope. Philip U. was now en- forcing the decrees of the earlier Council of Trent on the unhappy Netherlands and the Prince of Orange was about to found a new nation. Of the early reformers few survived. Luther ond Mc lanchtl.on s^cnt oido by side in the castlo church at Wittenberc <>rannier, liidley, I^timer, apparently less fortunate, had died liko Huss and Jerome. The agetf Calvin and his faithful BeKu still ruled and studied at Geneva-tho last of that brilliant company who had formed the day-stars of the Ecforraation. REA88EMBLING OP THE 60LNCIL OP TRENT. rnnn^li"!./?^' "; •^T'*''^;' '^02, enforcod tho reassembling of the nZ fi f ^T*' A^y°'* "^"^ ^;''^' «"^^ *h« fi^'-ce I^ai"e^ ruled over the Jesuits. A new race of bishops filled tho council. Its numbers enlarged; its intellectual character was reapectable: but r,°ni;. «f ?I! Athanasius, no eloquent Gregory, appeared in the ranks of the papal pre ates. It sat for nearly two years, and often Its fierce debates and angry tumults revived tho memories of Ephesus and Nice. The French faction, the Spanish, and tlie papal, contended with a violence that seemed at times to threaten the dissolution of the council and an irreparable schism in the dis- ordered church. The Spaniards defended with vigor the Divine origin of the bishops against the claims of the papacy; the French suggested the superiority of the council te tho Pope, demanded tho cup tor the laity, and even advocated tho marriage of the clercv tuhlt ""^bassador, Du Ferier, the Gregory of Trent, denouncii with sharp satire the feeble superstition of tho council, and de- ^iTi!v*''n® i-*' ?"t^^' ?^ ^^'^ miseries of France; the corrupt and politic Cardinal I^rrame, at the head of the French delegatioS, in tumid speeches defended the GaUcan policy. Yet, the papS party, led by Jesuits, the haughty Lainez, Snd tho bus^ SdmK and sustained by the superior numbers of tho Italian bishops, suJ the who e Galilean pohcy; they taught perfect submission to tfe papai rule. Lainez, in tho midst of an excited assembly, declared 85 giftt ail who opposed the flupcmrtcy of the Popo in all thinffs woro rrotestantH in pnno.plo, nnd with liaughty looks, almost dcnoun- ood his advorsanos m horotics. Tho contest raged for a timo with fierce bitterne«« and often tho stroetH ot Trent woro filled with riot and bloodslied fron» tho encounters of tho reiainera of tho diftbront factions. But at length tho corrupt' Cardinal Lorraine, a true Guise, Avont over to tho papal side; tho Spanish faction sank into silence; and one by one tlio most extravagant dogmas of tho medieval church were incorporated into the creed of' the Romish clergy from tho heights of Tyrol tho fierce Jesuits and monks threw down their gago of defiance and of hate to tho whole Pro- testant world, and to every project of reform. They oticred to the heretic submission to tho Pope or death. RESULTS OF THE SECOND COUNCIL OF TRENT. NoUiing was thought of but traditional observances ; the usaeca of Itorae were preferred to tho plain teachings of tho Scriptui-es. Images were declared sacred, when the whole Jewish and Christian theology liad denounced their uso; had conuuandeil the soul to seek a direct and spiritual union with its God. Tho gentle lessons oi the feernion on tho Mount were transformed into an endless series of anathemas that were full of bitter malevolence. The sacred least of the disciples was converted into a pompous idolatry lmcM^^^^^^ by an open condemnation of the doctrine of persecu io^ tCpone and pries s may awake from their barbaric dream 7 iufallS and priestly pride, and rise to the practical elevation Th^^l ence, holy chanty, and love. In this way only can they atone for But should the Pope and his council still continue to defv the conscience of mankind, and refuse to repent of their errors in the past; should they still maintain their selfish policy of sacr fie n^ the welfare of nations to the interests of the Holy See- still Sh persecution, and struggle for political power; shoKief s rive to Sk nr^hr^''^'w-^^^"'fSr^°^ ^°^^^'^^' ^« elections^ S'^ew York, or the revolutions of Mexico ; should thev to miint^i^ihL power and infallability of their chur'ch, seek tT s Jw anardiy fn re! publics and tyranny in monarchies, to plunge Europe once mire?n bloodshed and America in civil waUthen till Hist^ory summon its o^cumenicd comicil from the distant ages to overwhelm the feeble mabce of Rome ; then will the mighty shades of Huss and Jerome ZZ^r l^'i^^"' ^^*''^ ^* '^ ^'^^"^ 5 then the countless marrrs 7h.Tn^'}^^ ^^"^^ 'PT? ^P .^"^"^ ^h^^"- ««^«« around the shreTof the beautiful river, will join in the sacred assembly; then the tor tured Vaudois, the children of the early church,^;iU awaken on ttrf'^n ^'^^'''' '^'^'''^ ''''''^ V the VlrsecuTor'B fire" then Dante shaU aim once more his undvuwr anathema nLjr^!** Rome, or Milton cry aloud to Heaven forvfngean^^^^^^^^^ Luther and Melanchthon, linked by a common seSent rise sTdo b^ side from the churchyard of Wittinborg, and juSnt will be given against unrepentant Rome. juagment will be {y: (■'^''■;^Vf!*i*f^iiff> co„„l'.'°!;?„t,UTCS !f Td.fo story of tho various of the synod of Co Sitton n P ^>*gone8 relieved the. dullness . the vigorous orSo'rof CvHl fc ^/' ^'^™" ""'"^"^"^ ^^' independent YotitfLi .i^ i Clalcedon vas moderate and the Sstof tT.o^l orsSdfwr;r'^v\°,p"''?^^^^^" «' chastened in poverty and S.p'r ^^^f.,?^'^*' }^'^^ its memBers, the Apostoli Jdiln fy ^nd IrTe and"\ht /''pT'*!- ^°™^*^^"S of free and self respecting hti^'t . ^ ^ *}^ Christian world, still appointment a.XlS f upon T. n^^ V '" ^""T.^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^^^^ ^is" of its spiritual chiefs ^ ^'''^'*'°" and the vain pretensions the story of the various th the saintly Gregory >\v from au assembly of t-ative moderation. The ries relieved the. dulhiess las become notorious for ion was moderate and lat the purest as well as irst; that its members, retained something of the Christian world,1tilI forced to look with dis- and the vain pretensions