XLIX. On CHAP. tolical men. The modern champions of Rome are eager to accept the praise and the precedent; this great and glorious example of the deposition of royal heretics is celebrated by the cardinals Baronius and Bellarmine; and if they are asked, why the same thunders were not hurled against the Neros and Julians of antiquity? they reply, that the weakness of the primitive church was the sole cause of her patient loyalty. this occasion, the effects of love and hatred are the same; and the zealous protestants, who seek to kindle the indignation, and to alarm the fears, of princes and magistrates, expatiate on the insolence and treason of the two Gregories against their lawful sovereign. They are defended only by the moderate catholics, for the most part, of the Gallican church, who respect the Ο Και την Ρώμην τον πάση Ιταλία της βασιλειας αντε απ αποζησε, says Theophanes, (Chronograph. p. 343). For this Gregory is styled by Cedrenus ανης αποςολικος, (μ. 450). Zonarus specifies the thunder αναθηματι uvodno, (tom. ii, 1. xv, p. 104, 105). It may be observed, that the Greeks are apt to confound the times and actions of two Gregories. d See Baronius, Annal. Eccles. A. D. 730, No. 4, 5; dignum exemplum! Bellarmin, de Romano Pontifice, 1. v, c. 8; mulctavit eum parte imperii. Sigonius, de Regno Italiæ, 1. iii; Opera, tom. ii, p. 169. Yet such is the change of Italy, that Sigonius is corrected by the editor of Milan, Philippus Argelatus, a Bolognese, and subject of the pope. Quod si Christiaui olim non deposuerunt Neronem aut Julianum, id fuit quia deerant vires temporales Christianis, (honest Bellarmine, de Rom. Pont. l. v, c. 7). Cardinal Perron adds a distinction more honourable to the first Christians, but not more satisfactory to modern princes-the treason of heretics and apostates, who break their oath, belie their coin, and renounce their allegiance to Christ and his vicar, (Perroniana, p. 89). f Take as a specimen, the cautious Basnage, (Hist. de l'Eglise, p. 1350, 1351), and the vehement Spanheim, (Hist. Imaginum), who, with an hundred more, tread in the footsteps of the centuriators of Magdeburgh. See Launoy, (Opera tom. v, pars ii, epist. vii, 7, p. 456-474); Natallis Alexander Hist. Nov Testamenti, secul. viii, dissert. i, p. 92 96); XLIX. saint, without approving the sin. These com- CHAP. mon advocates of the crown and the mitre circumscribe the truth of facts by the rule of equity, scripture, and tradition; and appeal to the evidence of the Latins," and the lives and epis tles of the popes themselves. Gregory A. D. 727. Two original epistles from Gregory II to the Epistles of emperor Leo, are still extant; and if they can- II to the not be praised as the most perfect models of elo- emperor, quence and logic, they exhibit the portrait, or at least the mask, of the founder of the papal monarchy. "During ten pure and fortunate 66 years," says Gregory to the emperor, "we have 96); Pagi, (Critica, tom. iii, p. 215-216), and Gianone, (Istoria Civile di Napoli, tom. i, p. 317-320), a disciple of the Gallican school. In the field of controversy I always pity the moderate party, who stand on the open middle ground exposed to the fire of both sides. They appealed to Paul Warnefrid, or Diaconus, (de Gestis Langobard. 1. vi, c. 49, p 506, 507, in Script. Ital. Muratori, tom. 1, pars i), and the nominal Anastasius, (de Vit. Pont. in Muratori, tom. iii, pars i); Gregorius II, p. 154; Gregorius III, p. 158; Zacharias, p. 161; Stephanus III, p. 165; Paulus, p. 172; Stephanus IV, p. 174; Hadrianus, p. 179; Leo III, p. 195). Yet I may remark, that thetrue Anastasius, (Hist. Eccles. p. 133, edit. Reg.) and the Historia Miscella,(1. xxi, p. 151, in tom. i, Script. Ital.), both of the ixth century, translate and approve the Greek text of Theophanes With some minute difference, the most learned critics, Lucas Holstenius, Schelestrate, Ciampini, Biauchini, Muratori, (Prolegomena ad tom. iii, pars 1), are agreed that the Liber Pontificalis was composed and continued by the apostolical liberians and notaries of the viiith and ixth centuries; and the last and smallest part is the work of Anastasius, whose name it bears. The style is barbarous, the narrative partial, the details are trifling-yet it must be read as a curious and authentic record of the times. The epistles of the popes are dispersed in the volumes of Councils. * The two epistles of Gregory II have been preserved in the Acts of the Nicene Council, (tom. viii, p. 651-674). They are without a date, which is variously fixed, by Baronius in the year 726, by Muratori (Anuali d'Italia, tom. vi, p. 120) in 1729, and by Pagi in 730. Such is the force of prejudice, that some papists have praised the good sense and moderation of these letters. СНАР. XLIX. 66 "tasted the annual comfort of your royal let"ters, subscribed in purple ink, with your own "hand, the sacred pledges of your attachment "to the orthodox creed of our fathers. How deplorable is the change! how tremendous the "scandal! You now accuse the catholics of idolatry; and, by the accusation, you betray your own impiety and ignorance. To this igno"rance we are compelled to adapt the gross"ness of our style and arguments: the first ele"ments of holy letters are sufficient for your "confusion; and were you to enter a grammarschool, and avow yourself the enemy of our 66 66 worship, the simple and pious children would "be provoked to cast their horn-books at your "head." After this decent salutation, the pope attempts the usual distinction between the idols of antiquity and the christian images. The former were the fanciful representations of phantoms or demons, at a time when the true God had not manifested his person in any visible likeness. The latter are the genuine forms of Christ, his mother, and his saints who had approved, by a crowd of miracles, the innocence and merit of this relative worship. He must indeed have trusted to the ignorance of Leo, since he could assert the perpetual use of images, from the apostolic age, and their venerable presence in the six synods of the catholic church. A more specious argument is drawn from the present possession and recent practice: the harmony of the Christian world supersedes the demand of a general council; and Gregory frankly confesses that such assemblies XLIX. can only be useful under the reign of an ortho CHAP. dox prince. To the impudent and inhuman Leo, more guilty than an heretic, he recommends peace, silence, and implicit obedience to his spiritual guides of Constantinople and Rome. The limits of civil and ecclesiastical powers are defined by the pontiff. To the former he appropriates the body; to the latter, the soul: the sword of justice is in the hands of the magistrate: the more formidable weapon of excommunication is intrusted to the clergy; and in the exercise of their divine commission a zealous son will spare his offending father : the successor of St. Peter may lawfully chastise the kings of the earth. "You assault us, 6. O tyrant! with a carnal and military hand: "unarmed and naked, we can only implore the "Christ, the prince of the heavenly host, that " he will send unto you a devil, for the destruc"tion of your body and the salvation of your "soul. You declare, with foolish arrogance, 'I will despatch my orders to Rome: I will "break in pieces the image of St. Peter; and 66 66 66 Gregory, like his predecessor Martin, shall be transported in chains, and in exile, to the "foot of the imperial throne. Would to God, that I might be permitted to tread in the footsteps of the holy Martin; but may the "fate of Constans serve as a warning to the persecutors of the church. After his just “condemnation by the bishops of Sicily, the tyrant was cut off, in the fulness of his sins, by a domestic servant: the saint is still "adored by the nations of Scythia, among 66 СНАР. 66 "whom he ended his banishment and his life. But it is our duty to live for the edification "and support of the faithful people; nor are "we reduced to risk our safety on the event of "a combat. Incapable as you are of defending your Roman subjects, the maritime situa"tion of the city may perhaps expose it to 66 your depredation; but we can remove to the "distance of four-and-twenty stadia,' to the "first fortress of the Lombards, and then- you may pursue the winds. Are you igno"rant that the popes are the bond of union, "the mediators of peace between the East and "West? The eyes of the nations are fixed on "our humility; and they revere as a God upon "earth, the apostle St. Peter, whose image "you threaten to destroy." The remote and "interior kingdoms of the West present their homage to Christ and his vicegerent; and we now prepare to visit one of their most power"ful monarchs, who desires to receive from our "hands the sacrament of baptism." The bar 66 66 1 Εικοσιτέσσαρα ςαδία ὑποχωρήσει ὁ Αρχιερευς Ρώμης εις την χώραν την Καμπανίας, και ύπαγε διωξον τας ανεμες, (Epist. i, p. 664). This proximity of the Lombards is hard of digestion. Camillo Pellegrini (Dissert. iv, de Decatû Beneventi, in the Script. Ital. tom. v, p. 172, 173) forcibly reckons the xxivth stadia, not from Rome, but from the limits of the Roman dutchy, to the first fortress, perhaps Sora, of the Lombards. I rather believe that Gregory, with the pedantry of the age, employs stadia for miles, without much inquiry into the genuine measure. m Οι άι πασαν βασιλειαι της δύσεως ως Θεον επιγειον εχεσι. The pope ap Απο της εσωτερα δύσεως το λεγομενα Σεπτέτω, (p. 665). pears to have imposed on the ignorance of the Greeks; he lived and died in the Lateran; and in his time all the kingdoms of the West had embraced Christianity. May not this unknown Septetus have some reference to the chief of the Saxon Heptarchy, to Ina king of Wes . |