[1: The date of the Divine Institutions of Lactantius
has been accurately discussed, difficulties have been started,
solutions proposed, and an expedient imagined of two original
editions; the former published during the persecution of
Diocletian, the latter under that of Licinius. See Dufresnoy,
Prefat. p. v. Tillemont, Mem. Ecclesiast. tom. vi. p. 465- 470.
Lardner's Credibility, part ii. vol. vii. p. 78-86. For my own
part, I am almost convinced that Lactantius dedicated his
Institutions to the sovereign of Gaul, at a time when Galerius,
Maximin, and even Licinius, persecuted the Christians; that is,
between the years 306 and 311.]
[2: Lactant. Divin. Instit. i. l. vii. 27. The first
and most important of these passages is indeed wanting in
twenty-eight manuscripts; but it is found in nineteen. If we
weigh the comparative value of these manuscripts, one of 900
years old, in the king of France's library may be alleged in its
favor; but the passage is omitted in the correct manuscript of
Bologna, which the P. de Montfaucon ascribes to the sixth or
seventh century (Diarium Italic. p. 489.) The taste of most of
the editors (except Isaeus; see Lactant. edit. Dufresnoy, tom. i.
p. 596) has felt the genuine style of Lactantius.]
[3: Euseb. in Vit. Constant. l. i. c. 27-32.]
[4: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 104.]
[5: That rite was always used in making a catechumen,
(see Bingham's Antiquities. l. x. c. i. p. 419. Dom Chardon,
Hist. des Sacramens, tom. i. p. 62,) and Constantine received it
for the first time (Euseb. in Vit Constant. l. iv. c. 61)
immediately before his baptism and death. From the connection of
these two facts, Valesius (ad loc. Euseb.) has drawn the
conclusion which is reluctantly admitted by Tillemont, (Hist. des
Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 628,) and opposed with feeble arguments by
Mosheim, (p. 968.)]
[6: Euseb. in Vit. Constant. l. iv. c. 61, 62, 63. The
legend of Constantine's baptism at Rome, thirteen years before
his death, was invented in the eighth century, as a proper motive
for his donation. Such has been the gradual progress of
knowledge, that a story, of which Cardinal Baronius (Annual
Ecclesiast. A. D. 324, No. 43-49) declared himself the unblushing
advocate, is now feebly supported, even within the verge of the
Vatican. See the Antiquitates Christianae, tom. ii. p. 232; a
work published with six approbations at Rome, in the year 1751 by
Father Mamachi, a learned Dominican.]
[7: The quaestor, or secretary, who composed the law of
the Theodosian Code, makes his master say with indifference,
"hominibus supradictae religionis," (l. xvi. tit. ii. leg. 1.)
The minister of ecclesiastical affairs was allowed a more devout
and respectful style, the legal, most holy, and Catholic
worship.]
[8: Cod. Theodos. l. ii. viii. tit. leg. 1. Cod.
Justinian. l. iii. tit. xii. leg. 3. Constantine styles the
Lord's day dies solis, a name which could not offend the ears of
his pagan subjects.]
[9: Cod. Theodos. l. xvi. tit. x. leg. l. Godefroy, in
the character of a commentator, endeavors (tom. vi. p. 257) to
excuse Constantine; but the more zealous Baronius (Annal. Eccles.
A. D. 321, No. 17) censures his profane conduct with truth and
asperity.]
[10: Theodoret. (l. i. c. 18) seems to insinuate that
Helena gave her son a Christian education; but we may be assured,
from the superior authority of Eusebius, (in Vit. Constant. l.
iii. c. 47,) that she herself was indebted to Constantine for the
knowledge of Christianity.]
[11: See the medals of Constantine in Ducange and
Banduri. As few cities had retained the privilege of coining,
almost all the medals of that age issued from the mint under the
sanction of the Imperial authority.]
[12: The panegyric of Eumenius, (vii. inter Panegyr.
Vet.,) which was pronounced a few months before the Italian war,
abounds with the most unexceptionable evidence of the Pagan
superstition of Constantine, and of his particular veneration for
Apollo, or the Sun; to which Julian alludes.]
[13: Constantin. Orat. ad Sanctos, c. 25. But it might
easily be shown, that the Greek translator has improved the sense
of the Latin original; and the aged emperor might recollect the
persecution of Diocletian with a more lively abhorrence than he
had actually felt to the days of his youth and Paganism.]
[14: See Euseb. Hist. Eccles. l. viii. 13, l. ix. 9, and
in Vit. Const. l. i. c. 16, 17 Lactant. Divin. Institut. i. l.
Caecilius de Mort. Persecut. c. 25.]
[15: Caecilius (de Mort. Persecut. c. 48) has preserved
the Latin original; and Eusebius (Hist. Eccles. l. x. c. 5) has
given a Greek translation of this perpetual edict, which refers
to some provisional regulations.]
[16: A panegyric of Constantine, pronounced seven or
eight months after the edict of Milan, (see Gothofred. Chronolog.
Legum, p. 7, and Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p.
246,) uses the following remarkable expression: "Summe rerum
sator, cujus tot nomina sant, quot linguas gentium esse voluisti,
quem enim te ipse dici velin, scire non possumus." (Panegyr. Vet.
ix. 26.) In explaining Constantine's progress in the faith,
Mosheim (p. 971, &c.) is ingenious, subtle, prolix.]
[17: See the elegant description of Lactantius, (Divin
Institut. v. 8,) who is much more perspicuous and positive than
becomes a discreet prophet.]
[18: The political system of the Christians is explained
by Grotius, de Jure Belli et Pacis, l. i. c. 3, 4. Grotius was a
republican and an exile, but the mildness of his temper inclined
him to support the established powers.]
[19: Tertullian. Apolog. c. 32, 34, 35, 36. Tamen
nunquam Albiniani, nec Nigriani vel Cassiani inveniri potuerunt
Christiani. Ad Scapulam, c. 2. If this assertion be strictly
true, it excludes the Christians of that age from all civil and
military employments, which would have compelled them to take an
active part in the service of their respective governors. See
Moyle's Works, vol. ii. p. 349.]
[20: See the artful Bossuet, (Hist. des Variations des
Eglises Protestantes, tom. iii. p. 210-258.) and the malicious
Bayle, (tom ii. p. 820.) I name Bayle, for he was certainly the
author of the Avis aux Refugies; consult the Dictionnaire
Critique de Chauffepie, tom. i. part ii. p. 145.]
[21: Buchanan is the earliest, or at least the most
celebrated, of the reformers, who has justified the theory of
resistance. See his Dialogue de Jure Regni apud Scotos, tom. ii.
p. 28, 30, edit. fol. Rudiman.]
[22: Lactant Divin. Institut. i. l. Eusebius in the
course of his history, his life, and his oration, repeatedly
inculcates the divine right of Constantine to the empire.]
[23: Our imperfect knowledge of the persecution of
Licinius is derived from Eusebius, (Hist. l. x. c. 8. Vit.
Constantin. l. i. c. 49-56, l. ii. c. 1, 2.) Aurelius Victor
mentions his cruelty in general terms.]
[24: Euseb. in Vit. Constant. l. ii. c. 24-42 48-60.]
[25: In the beginning of the last century, the Papists
of England were only a thirtieth, and the Protestants of France
only a fifteenth, part of the respective nations, to whom their
spirit and power were a constant object of apprehension. See the
relations which Bentivoglio (who was then nuncio at Brussels, and
afterwards cardinal) transmitted to the court of Rome,
(Relazione, tom. ii. p. 211, 241.) Bentivoglio was curious, well
informed, but somewhat partial.]
[26: This careless temper of the Germans appears almost
uniformly on the history of the conversion of each of the tribes.
The legions of Constantine were recruited with Germans, (Zosimus,
l. ii. p. 86;) and the court even of his father had been filled
with Christians. See the first book of the Life of Constantine,
by Eusebius.]
[27: De his qui arma projiciunt in pace, placuit eos
abstinere a communione. Council. Arelat. Canon. iii. The best
critics apply these words to the peace of the church.]
[28: Eusebius always considers the second civil war
against Licinius as a sort of religious crusade. At the
invitation of the tyrant, some Christian officers had resumed
their zones; or, in other words, had returned to the military
service. Their conduct was afterwards censured by the twelfth
canon of the Council of Nice; if this particular application may
be received, instead of the lo se and general sense of the Greek
interpreters, Balsamor Zonaras, and Alexis Aristenus. See
Beveridge, Pandect. Eccles. Graec. tom. i. p. 72, tom. ii. p. 73
Annotation.]
[29: Nomen ipsum crucis absit non modo a corpore civium
Romano rum, sed etiam a cogitatione, oculis, auribus. Cicero pro
Raberio, c. 5. The Christian writers, Justin, Minucius Felix,
Tertullian, Jerom, and Maximus of Turin, have investigated with
tolerable success the figure or likeness of a cross in almost
every object of nature or art; in the intersection of the
meridian and equator, the human face, a bird flying, a man
swimming, a mast and yard, a plough, a standard, &c., &c., &c.
See Lipsius de Cruce, l. i. c. 9.]
[30: See Aurelius Victor, who considers this law as one
of the examples of Constantine's piety. An edict so honorable to
Christianity deserved a place in the Theodosian Code, instead of
the indirect mention of it, which seems to result from the
comparison of the fifth and eighteenth titles of the ninth book.]
[31: Eusebius, in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c. 40. This
statue, or at least the cross and inscription, may be ascribed
with more probability to the second, or even third, visit of
Constantine to Rome. Immediately after the defeat of Maxentius,
the minds of the senate and people were scarcely ripe for this
public monument.]
[32: Agnoscas, regina, libens mea signa necesse est;
In quibus effigies crucis aut gemmata refulget
Aut longis solido ex auro praefertur in hastis.
Hoc signo invictus, transmissis Alpibus Ultor
Servitium solvit miserabile Constantinus.
Christus purpureum gemmanti textus in auro
Signabat Labarum, clypeorum insignia Christus
Scripserat; ardebat summis crux addita cristis.
Prudent. in Symmachum, l. ii. 464, 486.]
[33: The derivation and meaning of the word Labarum or
Laborum, which is employed by Gregory Nazianzen, Ambrose,
Prudentius, &c., still remain totally unknown, in spite of the
efforts of the critics, who have ineffectually tortured the
Latin, Greek, Spanish, Celtic, Teutonic, Illyric, Armenian, &c.,
in search of an etymology. See Ducange, in Gloss. Med. et infim.
Latinitat. sub voce Labarum, and Godefroy, ad Cod. Theodos. tom.
ii. p. 143.]
[34: Euseb. in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c. 30, 31.
Baronius (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 312, No. 26) has engraved a
representation of the Labarum.]
[35: Transversa X litera, summo capite circumflexo,
Christum in scutis notat. Caecilius de M. P. c. 44, Cuper, (ad
M. P. in edit. Lactant. tom. ii. p. 500,) and Baronius (A. D.
312, No. 25) have engraved from ancient monuments several
specimens (as thus of these monograms) which became extremely
fashionable in the Christian world.]
[36: Euseb. in Vit. Constantin. l. ii. c. 7, 8, 9. He
introduces the Labarum before the Italian expedition; but his
narrative seems to indicate that it was never shown at the head
of an army till Constantine above ten years afterwards, declared
himself the enemy of Licinius, and the deliverer of the church.]
[37: See Cod. Theod. l. vi. tit. xxv. Sozomen, l. i. c.
2. Theophan. Chronograph. p. 11. Theophanes lived towards the
end of the eighth century, almost five hundred years after
Constantine. The modern Greeks were not inclined to display in
the field the standard of the empire and of Christianity; and
though they depended on every superstitious hope of defence, the
promise of victory would have appeared too bold a fiction.]
[38: The Abbe du Voisin, p. 103, &c., alleges several of
these medals, and quotes a particular dissertation of a Jesuit
the Pere de Grainville, on this subject.]
[39: Tertullian de Corona, c. 3. Athanasius, tom. i. p.
101. The learned Jesuit Petavius (Dogmata Theolog. l. xv. c. 9,
10) has collected many similar passages on the virtues of the
cross, which in the last age embarrassed our Protestant
disputants.]
[A: Manso has observed, that Gibbon ought not to have
separated the vision of Constantine from the wonderful apparition
in the sky, as the two wonders are closely connected in Eusebius.
Manso, Leben Constantine, p. 82 - M.]
[40: Caecilius de M. P. c. 44. It is certain, that this
historical declamation was composed and published while Licinius,
sovereign of the East, still preserved the friendship of
Constantine and of the Christians. Every reader of taste must
perceive that the style is of a very different and inferior
character to that of Lactantius; and such indeed is the judgment
of Le Clerc and Lardner, (Bibliotheque Ancienne et Moderne, tom.
iii. p. 438. Credibility of the Gospel, &c., part ii. vol. vii.
p. 94.) Three arguments from the title of the book, and from the
names of Donatus and Caecilius, are produced by the advocates for
Lactantius. (See the P. Lestocq, tom. ii. p. 46-60.) Each of
these proofs is singly weak and defective; but their concurrence
has great weight. I have often fluctuated, and shall tamely
follow the Colbert Ms. in calling the author (whoever he was)
Caecilius.]
[41: Caecilius de M. P. c. 46. There seems to be some
reason in the observation of M. de Voltaire, (Euvres, tom. xiv.
p. 307.) who ascribes to the success of Constantine the superior
fame of his Labarum above the angel of Licinius. Yet even this
angel is favorably entertained by Pagi, Tillemont, Fleury, &c.,
who are fond of increasing their stock of miracles.]
[42: Besides these well-known examples, Tollius (Preface
to Boileau's translation of Longinus) has discovered a vision of
Antigonus, who assured his troops that he had seen a pentagon
(the symbol of safety) with these words, "In this conquer." But
Tollius has most inexcusably omitted to produce his authority,
and his own character, literary as well as moral, is not free
from reproach. (See Chauffepie, Dictionnaire Critique, tom. iv.
p. 460.) Without insisting on the silence of Diodorus Plutarch,
Justin, &c., it may be observed that Polyaenus, who in a separate
chapter (l. iv. c. 6) has collected nineteen military stratagems
of Antigonus, is totally ignorant of this remarkable vision.]
[43: Instinctu Divinitatis, mentis magnitudine. The
inscription on the triumphal arch of Constantine, which has been
copied by Baronius, Gruter, &c., may still be perused by every
curious traveller.]
[44: Habes profecto aliquid cum illa mente Divina
secretum; qua delegata nostra Diis Minoribus cura uni se tibi
dignatur ostendere Panegyr. Vet. ix. 2.]
[45: M. Freret (Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions,
tom. iv. p. 411-437) explains, by physical causes, many of the
prodigies of antiquity; and Fabricius, who is abused by both
parties, vainly tries to introduce the celestial cross of
Constantine among the solar halos. Bibliothec. Graec. tom. iv. p.
8-29.
Note: The great difficulty in resolving it into a natural
phenomenon, arises from the inscription; even the most heated or
awe-struck imagination would hardly discover distinct and legible
letters in a solar halo. But the inscription may have been a
later embellishment, or an interpretation of the meaning which
the sign was construed to convey. Compare Heirichen, Excur in
locum Eusebii, and the authors quoted.]
[46: Nazarius inter Panegyr. Vet. x. 14, 15. It is
unnecessary to name the moderns, whose undistinguishing and
ravenous appetite has swallowed even the Pagan bait of Nazarius.]
[47: The apparitions of Castor and Pollux, particularly
to announce the Macedonian victory, are attested by historians
and public monuments. See Cicero de Natura Deorum, ii. 2, iii.
5, 6. Florus, ii. 12. Valerius Maximus, l. i. c. 8, No. 1. Yet
the most recent of these miracles is omitted, and indirectly
denied, by Livy, (xlv. i.)]
[48: Eusebius, l. i. c. 28, 29, 30. The silence of the
same Eusebius, in his Ecclesiastical History, is deeply felt by
those advocates for the miracle who are not absolutely callous.]
[49: The narrative of Constantine seems to indicate,
that he saw the cross in the sky before he passed the Alps
against Maxentius. The scene has been fixed by provincial vanity
at Treves, Besancon, &c. See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs,
tom. iv. p. 573.]
[50: The pious Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. vii. p.
1317) rejects with a sigh the useful Acts of Artemius, a veteran
and a martyr, who attests as an eye-witness to the vision of
Constantine.]
[51: Gelasius Cyzic. in Act. Concil. Nicen. l. i. c. 4.]
[52: The advocates for the vision are unable to produce
a single testimony from the Fathers of the fourth and fifth
centuries, who, in their voluminous writings, repeatedly
celebrate the triumph of the church and of Constantine. As these
venerable men had not any dislike to a miracle, we may suspect,
(and the suspicion is confirmed by the ignorance of Jerom,) that
they were all unacquainted with the life of Constantine by
Eusebius. This tract was recovered by the diligence of those who
translated or continued his Ecclesiastical History, and who have
represented in various colors the vision of the cross.]
[53: Godefroy was the first, who, in the year 1643, (Not
ad Philostorgium, l. i. c. 6, p. 16,) expressed any doubt of a
miracle which had been supported with equal zeal by Cardinal
Baronius, and the Centuriators of Magdeburgh. Since that time,
many of the Protestant critics have inclined towards doubt and
disbelief. The objections are urged, with great force, by M.
Chauffepie, (Dictionnaire Critique, tom. iv. p. 6 - 11;) and, in
the year 1774, a doctor of Sorbonne, the Abbe du Veisin published
an apology, which deserves the praise of learning and moderation.
Note: The first Excursus of Heinichen (in Vitam Constantini,
p. 507) contains a full summary of the opinions and arguments of
the later writers who have discussed this interminable subject.
As to his conversion, where interest and inclination, state
policy, and, if not a sincere conviction of its truth, at least a
respect, an esteem, an awe of Christianity, thus coincided,
Constantine himself would probably have been unable to trace the
actual history of the workings of his own mind, or to assign its
real influence to each concurrent motive. - M]
[54: Lors Constantin dit ces propres paroles:
J'ai renverse le culte des idoles:
Sur les debris de leurs temples fumans
Au Dieu du Ciel j'ai prodigue l'encens.
Mais tous mes soins pour sa grandeur supreme
N'eurent jamais d'autre objet que moi-meme;
Les saints autels n'etoient a mes regards
Qu'un marchepie du trone des Cesars.
L'ambition, la fureur, les delices
Etoient mes Dieux, avoient mes sacrifices.
L'or des Chretiens, leur intrigues, leur sang
Ont cimente ma fortune et mon rang.
The poem which contains these lines may be read with
pleasure, but cannot be named with decency.]
[55: This favorite was probably the great Osius, bishop
of Cordova, who preferred the pastoral care of the whole church
to the government of a particular diocese. His character is
magnificently, though concisely, expressed by Athanasius, (tom.
i. p. 703.) See Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. vii. p. 524-561.
Osius was accused, perhaps unjustly, of retiring from court with
a very ample fortune.]
[56: See Eusebius (in Vit. Constant. passim) and
Zosimus, l. ii. p. 104.]
[57: The Christianity of Lactantius was of a moral
rather than of a mysterious cast. "Erat paene rudis (says the
orthodox Bull) disciplinae Christianae, et in rhetorica melius
quam in theologia versatus." Defensio Fidei Nicenae, sect. ii. c.
14.]
[58: Fabricius, with his usual diligence, has collected
a list of between three and four hundred authors quoted in the
Evangelical Preparation of Eusebius. See Bibl. Graec. l. v. c.
4, tom. vi. p. 37-56.]
[59: See Constantin. Orat. ad Sanctos, c. 19 20. He
chiefly depends on a mysterious acrostic, composed in the sixth
age after the Deluge, by the Erythraean Sibyl, and translated by
Cicero into Latin. The initial letters of the thirty-four Greek
verses form this prophetic sentence: Jesus Christ, Son of God,
Savior of the World.]
[60: In his paraphrase of Virgil, the emperor has
frequently assisted and improved the literal sense of the Latin
ext. See Blondel des Sibylles, l. i. c. 14, 15, 16.]
[61: The different claims of an elder and younger son of
Pollio, of Julia, of Drusus, of Marcellus, are found to be
incompatible with chronology, history, and the good sense of
Virgil.]
[62: See Lowth de Sacra Poesi Hebraeorum Praelect. xxi.
p. 289- 293. In the examination of the fourth eclogue, the
respectable bishop of London has displayed learning, taste,
ingenuity, and a temperate enthusiasm, which exalts his fancy
without degrading his judgment.]
[63: The distinction between the public and the secret
parts of divine service, the missa catechumenorum and the missa
fidelium, and the mysterious veil which piety or policy had cast
over the latter, are very judiciously explained by Thiers,
Exposition du Saint Sacrament, l. i. c. 8- 12, p. 59-91: but as,
on this subject, the Papists may reasonably be suspected, a
Protestant reader will depend with more confidence on the learned
Bingham, Antiquities, l. x. c. 5.]
[64: See Eusebius in Vit. Const. l. iv. c. 15-32, and
the whole tenor of Constantine's Sermon. The faith and devotion
of the emperor has furnished Batonics with a specious argument in
favor of his early baptism.
Note: Compare Heinichen, Excursus iv. et v., where these
questions are examined with candor and acuteness, and with
constant reference to the opinions of more modern writers. - M.]
[65: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 105.]
[66: Eusebius in Vit. Constant. l. iv. c. 15, 16.]
[67: The theory and practice of antiquity, with regard
to the sacrament of baptism, have been copiously explained by Dom
Chardon, Hist. des Sacremens, tom. i. p. 3-405; Dom Martenne de
Ritibus Ecclesiae Antiquis, tom. i.; and by Bingham, in the tenth
and eleventh books of his Christian Antiquities. One
circumstance may be observed, in which the modern churches have
materially departed from the ancient custom. The sacrament of
baptism (even when it was administered to infants) was
immediately followed by confirmation and the holy communion.]
[68: The Fathers, who censured this criminal delay,
could not deny the certain and victorious efficacy even of a
death-bed baptism. The ingenious rhetoric of Chrysostom could
find only three arguments against these prudent Christians. 1.
That we should love and pursue virtue for her own sake, and not
merely for the reward. 2. That we may be surprised by death
without an opportunity of baptism. 3. That although we shall be
placed in heaven, we shall only twinkle like little stars, when
compared to the suns of righteousness who have run their
appointed course with labor, with success, and with glory.
Chrysos tom in Epist. ad Hebraeos, Homil. xiii. apud Chardon,
Hist. des Sacremens, tom. i. p. 49. I believe that this delay of
baptism, though attended with the most pernicious consequences,
was never condemned by any general or provincial council, or by
any public act or declaration of the church. The zeal of the
bishops was easily kindled on much slighter occasion.
Note: This passage of Chrysostom, though not in his more
forcible manner, is not quite fairly represented. He is stronger
in other places, in Act. Hom. xxiii. - and Hom. i. Compare,
likewise, the sermon of Gregory of Nysea on this subject, and
Gregory Nazianzen. After all, to those who believed in the
efficacy of baptism, what argument could be more conclusive, than
the danger of dying without it? Orat. xl. - M.]
[69: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 104. For this disingenuous
falsehood he has deserved and experienced the harshest treatment
from all the ecclesiastical writers, except Cardinal Baronius,
(A. D. 324, No. 15-28,) who had occasion to employ the infidel on
a particular service against the Arian Eusebius.
Note: Heyne, in a valuable note on this passage of Zosimus,
has shown decisively that this malicious way of accounting for
the conversion of Constantine was not an invention of Zosimus.
It appears to have been the current calumny eagerly adopted and
propagated by the exasperated Pagan party. Reitemeter, a later
editor of Zosimus, whose notes are retained in the recent
edition, in the collection of the Byzantine historians, has a
disquisition on the passage, as candid, but not more conclusive
than some which have preceded him - M.]
[70: Eusebius, l. iv. c. 61, 62, 63. The bishop of
Caesarea supposes the salvation of Constantine with the most
perfect confidence.]
[71: See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p.
429. The Greeks, the Russians, and, in the darker ages, the
Latins themselves, have been desirous of placing Constantine in
the catalogue of saints.]
[72: See the third and fourth books of his life. He was
accustomed to say, that whether Christ was preached in pretence,
or in truth, he should still rejoice, (l. iii. c. 58.)]
[73: M. de Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p.
374, 616) has defended, with strength and spirit, the virgin
purity of Constantinople against some malevolent insinuations of
the Pagan Zosimus.]
[74: The author of the Histoire Politique et
Philosophique des deux Indes (tom. i. p. 9) condemns a law of
Constantine, which gave freedom to all the slaves who should
embrace Christianity. The emperor did indeed publish a law,
which restrained the Jews from circumcising, perhaps from
keeping, any Christian slave. (See Euseb. in Vit. Constant. l.
iv. c. 27, and Cod. Theod. l. xvi. tit. ix., with Godefroy's
Commentary, tom. vi. p. 247.) But this imperfect exception
related only to the Jews, and the great body of slaves, who were
the property of Christian or Pagan masters, could not improve
their temporal condition by changing their religion. I am
ignorant by what guides the Abbe Raynal was deceived; as the
total absence of quotations is the unpardonable blemish of his
entertaining history.]
[75: See Acta S Silvestri, and Hist. Eccles. Nicephor.
Callist. l. vii. c. 34, ap. Baronium Annal. Eccles. A. D. 324,
No. 67, 74. Such evidence is contemptible enough; but these
circumstances are in themselves so probable, that the learned Dr.
Howell (History of the World, vol. iii. p. 14) has not scrupled
to adopt them.]
[76: The conversion of the Barbarians under the reign of
Constantine is celebrated by the ecclesiastical historians. (See
Sozomen, l. ii. c. 6, and Theodoret, l. i. c. 23, 24.) But
Rufinus, the Latin translator of Eusebius, deserves to be
considered as an original authority. His information was
curiously collected from one of the companions of the Apostle of
Aethiopia, and from Bacurius, an Iberian prince, who was count of
the domestics. Father Mamachi has given an ample compilation on
the progress of Christianity, in the first and second volumes of
his great but imperfect work.]
[B: According to the Georgian chronicles, Iberia
(Georgia) was converted by the virgin Nino, who effected an
extraordinary cure on the wife of the king Mihran. The temple of
the god Aramazt, or Armaz, not far from the capital Mtskitha, was
destroyed, and the cross erected in its place. Le Beau, i. 202,
with St. Martin's Notes.
St. Martin has likewise clearly shown (St. Martin, Add. to
Le Beau, i. 291) Armenia was the first nation w hich embraced
Christianity, (Addition to Le Beau, i. 76. and Memoire sur
l'Armenie, i. 305.) Gibbon himself suspected this truth. -
"Instead of maintaining that the conversion of Armenia was not
attempted with any degree of success, till the sceptre was in the
hands of an orthodox emperor," I ought to have said, that the
seeds of the faith were deeply sown during the season of the last
and greatest persecution, that many Roman exiles might assist the
labors of Gregory, and that the renowned Tiridates, the hero of
the East, may dispute with Constantine the honor of being the
first sovereign who embraced the Christian religion Vindication]
[77: See, in Eusebius, (in Vit. l. iv. c. 9,) the
pressing and pathetic epistle of Constantine in favor of his
Christian brethren of Persia.]
[78: See Basnage, Hist. des Juifs, tom. vii. p. 182,
tom. viii. p. 333, tom. ix. p. 810. The curious diligence of
this writer pursues the Jewish exiles to the extremities of the
globe.]
[C: Abba Salama, or Fremonatus, is mentioned in the
Tareek Negushti, chronicle of the kings of Abyssinia. Salt's
Travels, vol. ii. p. 464. - M.]
[79: Theophilus had been given in his infancy as a
hostage by his countrymen of the Isle of Diva, and was educated
by the Romans in learning and piety. The Maldives, of which
Male, or Diva, may be the capital, are a cluster of 1900 or 2000
minute islands in the Indian Ocean. The ancients were
imperfectly acquainted with the Maldives; but they are described
in the two Mahometan travellers of the ninth century, published
by Renaudot, Geograph. Nubiensis, p. 30, 31 D'Herbelot,
Bibliotheque Orientale p. 704. Hist. Generale des Voy ages, tom.
viii.]
[!: See the dissertation of M. Letronne on this
question. He conceives that Theophilus was born in the island of
Dahlak, in the Arabian Gulf. His embassy was to Abyssinia rather
than to India. Letronne, Materiaux pour l'Hist. du Christianisme
en Egypte Indie, et Abyssinie. Paris, 1832 3d Dissert. - M.]
[80: Philostorgius, l. iii. c. 4, 5, 6, with Godefroy's
learned observations. The historical narrative is soon lost in
an inquiry concerning the seat of Paradise, strange monsters,
&c.]
[81: See the epistle of Osius, ap. Athanasium, vol. i.
p. 840. The public remonstrance which Osius was forced to address
to the son, contained the same principles of ecclesiastical and
civil government which he had secretly instilled into the mind of
the father.]
[82: M. de la Bastiel has evidently proved, that
Augustus and his successors exercised in person all the sacred
functions of pontifex maximus, of high priest, of the Roman
empire.]
[83: Something of a contrary practice had insensibly
prevailed in the church of Constantinople; but the rigid Ambrose
commanded Theodosius to retire below the rails, and taught him to
know the difference between a king and a priest. See Theodoret,
l. v. c. 18.]
[84: At the table of the emperor Maximus, Martin, bishop
of Tours, received the cup from an attendant, and gave it to the
presbyter, his companion, before he allowed the emperor to drink;
the empress waited on Martin at table. Sulpicius Severus, in
Vit. S Martin, c. 23, and Dialogue ii. 7. Yet it may be doubted,
whether these extraordinary compliments were paid to the bishop
or the saint. The honors usually granted to the former character
may be seen in Bingham's Antiquities, l. ii. c. 9, and Vales ad
Theodoret, l. iv. c. 6. See the haughty ceremonial which
Leontius, bishop of Tripoli, imposed on the empress. Tillemont,
Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 754. (Patres Apostol. tom. ii.
p. 179.)]
[85: Plutarch, in his treatise of Isis and Osiris,
informs us that the kings of Egypt, who were not already priests,
were initiated, after their election, into the sacerdotal order.]
[86: The numbers are not ascertained by any ancient
writer or original catalogue; for the partial lists of the
eastern churches are comparatively modern. The patient diligence
of Charles a Sto Paolo, of Luke Holstentius, and of Bingham, has
laboriously investigated all the episcopal sees of the Catholic
church, which was almost commensurate with the Roman empire. The
ninth book of the Christian antiquities is a very accurate map of
ecclesiastical geography.]
[87: On the subject of rural bishops, or Chorepiscopi,
who voted in tynods, and conferred the minor orders, See
Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. p. 447, &c., and
Chardon, Hist. des Sacremens, tom. v. p. 395, &c. They do not
appear till the fourth century; and this equivocal character,
which had excited the jealousy of the prelates, was abolished
before the end of the tenth, both in the East and the West.]
[88: Thomassin (Discipline de l'Eglise, tom, ii. l. ii.
c. 1-8, p. 673-721) has copiously treated of the election of
bishops during the five first centuries, both in the East and in
the West; but he shows a very partial bias in favor of the
episcopal aristocracy. Bingham, (l. iv. c. 2) is moderate; and
Chardon (Hist. des Sacremens tom. v. p. 108-128) is very clear
and concise.
Note: This freedom was extremely limited, and soon
annihilated; already, from the third century, the deacons were no
longer nominated by the members of the community, but by the
bishops. Although it appears by the letters of Cyprian, that
even in his time, no priest could be elected without the consent
of the community. (Ep. 68,) that election was far from being
altogether free. The bishop proposed to his parishioners the
candidate whom he had chosen, and they were permitted to make
such objections as might be suggested by his conduct and morals.
(St. Cyprian, Ep. 33.) They lost this last right towards the
middle of the fourth century. - G]
[89: Incredibilis multitudo, non solum ex eo oppido,
(Tours,) sed etiam ex vicinis urbibus ad suffragia ferenda
convenerat, &c. Sulpicius Severus, in Vit. Martin. c. 7. The
council of Laodicea, (canon xiii.) prohibits mobs and tumults;
and Justinian confines confined the right of election to the
nobility. Novel. cxxiii. l.]
[90: The epistles of Sidonius Apollinaris (iv. 25, vii.
5, 9) exhibit some of the scandals of the Gallican church; and
Gaul was less polished and less corrupt than the East.]
[91: A compromise was sometimes introduced by law or by
consent; either the bishops or the people chose one of the three
candidates who had been named by the other party.]
[92: All the examples quoted by Thomassin (Discipline de
l'Eglise, tom. ii. l. iii. c. vi. p. 704-714) appear to be
extraordinary acts of power, and even of oppression. The
confirmation of the bishop of Alexandria is mentioned by
Philostorgius as a more regular proceeding. (Hist Eccles. l. ii.
ll.)
Note: The statement of Planck is more consistent with
history: "From the middle of the fourth century, the bishops of
some of the larger churches, particularly those of the Imperial
residence, were almost always chosen under the influence of the
court, and often directly and immediately nominated by the
emperor." Planck, Geschichte der Christlich-kirchlichen
Gesellschafteverfassung, verfassung, vol. i p 263. - M.]
[93: The celibacy of the clergy during the first five or
six centuries, is a subject of discipline, and indeed of
controversy, which has been very diligently examined. See in
particular, Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. i. l. ii. c.
lx. lxi. p. 886-902, and Bingham's Antiquities, l. iv. c. 5. By
each of these learned but partial critics, one half of the truth
is produced, and the other is concealed.
Note: Compare Planck, (vol. i. p. 348.) This century, the
third, first brought forth the monks, or the spirit of monkery,
the celibacy of the clergy. Planck likewise observes, that from
the history of Eusebius alone, names of married bishops and
presbyters may be adduced by dozens. - M.]
[94: Diodorus Siculus attests and approves the
hereditary succession of the priesthood among the Egyptians, the
Chaldeans, and the Indians, (l. i. p. 84, l. ii. p. 142, 153,
edit. Wesseling.) The magi are described by Ammianus as a very
numerous family: "Per saecula multa ad praesens una eademque
prosapia multitudo creata, Deorum cultibus dedicata." (xxiii. 6.)
Ausonius celebrates the Stirps Druidarum, (De Professorib.
Burdigal. iv.;) but we may infer from the remark of Caesar, (vi.
13,) that in the Celtic hierarchy, some room was left for choice
and emulation.]
[95: The subject of the vocation, ordination, obedience,
&c., of the clergy, is laboriously discussed by Thomassin
(Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. ii. p. 1-83) and Bingham, (in the
4th book of his Antiquities, more especially the 4th, 6th, and
7th chapters.) When the brother of St. Jerom was ordained in
Cyprus, the deacons forcibly stopped his mouth, lest he should
make a solemn protestation, which might invalidate the holy
rites.]
[D: This exemption was very much limited. The municipal
offices were of two kinds; the one attached to the individual in
his character of inhabitant, the other in that of proprietor.
Constantine had exempted ecclesiastics from offices of the first
description. (Cod. Theod. xvi. t. ii. leg. 1, 2 Eusebius, Hist.
Eccles. l. x. c. vii.) They sought, also, to be exempted from
those of the second, (munera patrimoniorum.) The rich, to obtain
this privilege, obtained subordinate situations among the clergy.
Constantine published in 320 an edict, by which he prohibited the
more opulent citizens (decuriones and curiales) from embracing
the ecclesiastical profession, and the bishops from admitting new
ecclesiastics, before a place should be vacant by the death of
the occupant, (Godefroy ad Cod. Theod.t. xii. t. i. de Decur.)
Valentinian the First, by a rescript still more general enacted
that no rich citizen should obtain a situation in the church, (De
Episc 1. lxvii.) He also enacted that ecclesiastics, who wished
to be exempt from offices which they were bound to discharge as
proprietors, should be obliged to give up their property to their
relations. Cod Theodos l. xii t. i. leb. 49 - G.]
[96: The charter of immunities, which the clergy
obtained from the Christian emperors, is contained in the 16th
book of the Theodosian code; and is illustrated with tolerable
candor by the learned Godefroy, whose mind was balanced by the
opposite prejudices of a civilian and a Protestant.]
[97: Justinian. Novell. ciii. Sixty presbyters, or
priests, one hundred deacons, forty deaconesses, ninety
sub-deacons, one hundred and ten readers, twenty-five chanters,
and one hundred door-keepers; in all, five hundred and
twenty-five. This moderate number was fixed by the emperor to
relieve the distress of the church, which had been involved in
debt and usury by the expense of a much higher establishment.]
[98: Universus clerus ecclesiae Carthaginiensis . . . .
fere quingenti vei amplius; inter quos quamplurima erant lectores
infantuli. Victor Vitensis, de Persecut. Vandal. v. 9, p. 78,
edit. Ruinart. This remnant of a more prosperous state still
subsisted under the oppression of the Vandals.]
[99: The number of seven orders has been fixed in the
Latin church, exclusive of the episcopal character. But the four
inferior ranks, the minor orders, are now reduced to empty and
useless titles.]
[100: See Cod. Theodos. l. xvi. tit. ii. leg. 42, 43.
Godefroy's Commentary, and the Ecclesiastical History of
Alexandria, show the danger of these pious institutions, which
often disturbed the peace of that turbulent capital.]
[101: The edict of Milan (de M. P. c. 48) acknowledges,
by reciting, that there existed a species of landed property, ad
jus corporis eorum, id est, ecclesiarum non hominum singulorum
pertinentia. Such a solemn declaration of the supreme magistrate
must have been received in all the tribunals as a maxim of civil
law.]
[102: Habeat unusquisque licentiam sanctissimo
Catholicae (ecclesioe) venerabilique concilio, decedens bonorum
quod optavit relinquere. Cod. Theodos. l. xvi. tit. ii. leg. 4.
This law was published at Rome, A. D. 321, at a time when
Constantine might foresee the probability of a rupture with the
emperor of the East.]
[103: Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. l. x. 6; in Vit.
Constantin. l. iv. c. 28. He repeatedly expatiates on the
liberality of the Christian hero, which the bishop himself had an
opportunity of knowing, and even of lasting.]
[104: Eusebius, Hist. Eccles. l. x. c. 2, 3, 4. The
bishop of Caesarea who studied and gratified the taste of his
master, pronounced in public an elaborate description of the
church of Jerusalem, (in Vit Cons. l. vi. c. 46.) It no longer
exists, but he has inserted in the life of Constantine (l. iii.
c. 36) a short account of the architecture and ornaments. He
likewise mentions the church of the Holy Apostles at
Constantinople, (l. iv. c. 59.)]
[105: See Justinian. Novell. cxxiii. 3. The revenue of
the patriarchs, and the most wealthy bishops, is not expressed:
the highest annual valuation of a bishopric is stated at thirty,
and the lowest at two, pounds of gold; the medium might be taken
at sixteen, but these valuations are much below the real value.]
[106: See Baronius, (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 324, No. 58,
65, 70, 71.) Every record which comes from the Vatican is justly
suspected; yet these rent-rolls have an ancient and authentic
color; and it is at least evident, that, if forged, they were
forged in a period when farms not kingdoms, were the objects of
papal avarice.]
[107: See Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. iii.
l. ii. c. 13, 14, 15, p. 689-706. The legal division of the
ecclesiastical revenue does not appear to have been established
in the time of Ambrose and Chrysostom. Simplicius and Gelasius,
who were bishops of Rome in the latter part of the fifth century,
mention it in their pastoral letters as a general law, which was
already confirmed by the custom of Italy.]
[108: Ambrose, the most strenuous assertor of
ecclesiastical privileges, submits without a murmur to the
payment of the land tax. "Si tri butum petit Imperator, non
negamus; agri ecclesiae solvunt tributum solvimus quae sunt
Caesaris Caesari, et quae sunt Dei Deo; tributum Caesaris est;
non negatur." Baronius labors to interpret this tribute as an act
of charity rather than of duty, (Annal. Eccles. A. D. 387;) but
the words, if not the intentions of Ambrose are more candidly
explained by Thomassin, Discipline de l'Eglise, tom. iii. l. i.
c. 34. p. 668.]
[109: In Ariminense synodo super ecclesiarum et
clericorum privilegiis tractatu habito, usque eo dispositio
progressa est, ut juqa quae viderentur ad ecclesiam pertinere, a
publica functione cessarent inquietudine desistente; quod nostra
videtur dudum sanctio repulsisse. Cod. Theod. l. xvi. tit. ii.
leg. 15. Had the synod of Rimini carried this point, such
practical merit might have atoned for some speculative heresies.]
[110: From Eusebius (in Vit. Constant. l. iv. c. 27) and
Sozomen (l. i. c. 9) we are assured that the episcopal
jurisdiction was extended and confirmed by Constantine; but the
forgery of a famous edict, which was never fairly inserted in the
Theodosian Code (see at the end, tom. vi. p. 303,) is
demonstrated by Godefroy in the most satisfactory manner. It is
strange that M. de Montesquieu, who was a lawyer as well as a
philosopher, should allege this edict of Constantine (Esprit des
Loix, l. xxix. c. 16) without intimating any suspicion.]
[111: The subject of ecclesiastical jurisdiction has
been involved in a mist of passion, of prejudice, and of
interest. Two of the fairest books which have fallen into my
hands, are the Institutes of Canon Law, by the Abbe de Fleury,
and the Civil History of Naples, by Giannone. Their moderation
was the effect of situation as well as of temper. Fleury was a
French ecclesiastic, who respected the authority of the
parliaments; Giannone was an Italian lawyer, who dreaded the
power of the church. And here let me observe, that as the
general propositions which I advance are the result of many
particular and imperfect facts, I must either refer the reader to
those modern authors who have expressly treated the subject, or
swell these notes disproportioned size.]
[112: Tillemont has collected from Rufinus, Theodoret,
&c., the sentiments and language of Constantine. Mem Eccles tom.
iii p. 749, 759.]
[113: See Cod. Theod. l. ix. tit. xlv. leg. 4. In the
works of Fra Paolo. (tom. iv. p. 192, &c.,) there is an
excellent discourse on the origin, claims, abuses, and limits of
sanctuaries. He justly observes, that ancient Greece might
perhaps contain fifteen or twenty axyla or sanctuaries; a number
which at present may be found in Italy within the walls of a
single city.]
[114: The penitential jurisprudence was continually
improved by the canons of the councils. But as many cases were
still left to the discretion of the bishops, they occasionally
published, after the example of the Roman Praetor, the rules of
discipline which they proposed to observe. Among the canonical
epistles of the fourth century, those of Basil the Great were the
most celebrated. They are inserted in the Pandects of Beveridge,
(tom. ii. p. 47-151,) and are translated by Chardon, Hist. des
Sacremens, tom. iv. p. 219-277.]
[115: Basil, Epistol. xlvii. in Baronius, (Annal.
Eccles. A. D. 370. N. 91,) who declares that he purposely relates
it, to convince govern that they were not exempt from a sentence
of excommunication his opinion, even a royal head is not safe
from the thunders of the Vatican; and the cardinal shows himself
much more consistent than the lawyers and theologians of the
Gallican church.]
[116: The long series of his ancestors, as high as
Eurysthenes, the first Doric king of Sparta, and the fifth in
lineal descent from Hercules, was inscribed in the public
registers of Cyrene, a Lacedaemonian colony. (Synes. Epist.
lvii. p. 197, edit. Petav.) Such a pure and illustrious pedigree
of seventeen hundred years, without adding the royal ancestors of
Hercules, cannot be equalled in the history of mankind.]
[117: Synesius (de Regno, p. 2) pathetically deplores
the fallen and ruined state of Cyrene. Ptolemais, a new city, 82
miles to the westward of Cyrene, assumed the metropolitan honors
of the Pentapolis, or Upper Libya, which were afterwards
transferred to Sozusa.]
[118: Synesius had previously represented his own
disqualifications. He loved profane studies and profane sports;
he was incapable of supporting a life of celibacy; he disbelieved
the resurrection; and he refused to preach fables to the people
unless he might be permitted to philosophize at home. Theophilus
primate of Egypt, who knew his merit, accepted this extraordinary
compromise.]
[119: The promotion of Andronicus was illegal; since he
was a native of Berenice, in the same province. The instruments
of torture are curiously specified; the press that variously
pressed on distended the fingers, the feet, the nose, the ears,
and the lips of the victims.]
[120: The sentence of excommunication is expressed in a
rhetorical style. (Synesius, Epist. lviii. p. 201-203.) The
method of involving whole families, though somewhat unjust, was
improved into national interdicts.]
[121: See Synesius, Epist. xlvii. p. 186, 187. Epist.
lxxii. p. 218, 219 Epist. lxxxix. p. 230, 231.]