A.D. 359.]

COUNCILS OF SELEUCIA AND RIMINI.

*

423

of public business or festivity, he employed whole days, and even nights, in selecting the words and weighing the syllables, which composed his fluctuating creeds. The subject of his meditations still pursued and occupied his slumbers; the incoherent dreams of the emperor were received as celestial visions; and he accepted with complacency the lofty title of bishop of bishops, from those ecclesiastics who forgot the interest of their order for the gratification of their passions. The design of establishing a uniformity of doctrine, which had engaged him to convene so many synods in Gaul, Italy, Illyricum, and Asia, was repeatedly baffled by his own levity, by the divisions of the Arians, and by the resistance of the Catholics; and he resolved, as the last and decisive effort, imperiously to dictate the decrees of a general council. The destructive earthquake of Nicomedia, the difficulty of finding a convenient place, and perhaps some secret motives of policy, produced an alteration in the summons. bishops of the east were directed to meet at Seleucia, in Isauria; while those of the west held their deliberations at Rimini, on the coast of the Adriatic; and, instead of two or three deputies from each province, the whole episcopal body was ordered to march. The eastern council, after consuming four days in fierce and unavailing debate, separated without any definitive conclusion. The council of the west was protracted till the seventh month. Taurus, the prætorian præfect, was instructed not to dismiss the prelates till they should all be united in the same opinion and his efforts were supported by a power of banishing fifteen of the most refractory, and a promise of the consulship if he

The

treatises of Lucifer of Cagliari. The very titles of these treatises inspire zeal and terror; "Moriendum pro Dei Filio." "De Regibus Apostaticis." "De non conveniendo cum Hæretico." "De non parcendo in Deum deliquentibus.” [* Gibbon here treats too lightly and ironically the growing evil, from which the darkness and misery of future ages were even then looming. The aspiring hierarchy never saw anything in "the interest of their order," but "the grati fication of their passions." For the former they demanded power only as a means of grasping wealth to satisfy the latter. This object was ever before them, amid the pretences of sanctity and the strife of disputation. Whether they intimidated and crushed the general intellect, or intrigued in the palace and flattered the sovereign, they sought alike only the security or augmentation of their revenues.-ED.]

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ATHANASIUS:

[CH. XII. achieved so difficult an adventure. His prayers and threats, the authority of the sovereign, the sophistry of Valens and Ursacius, the distress of cold and hunger, and the tedions melancholy of a hopeless exile, at length extorted the reluctant consent of the bishops of Rimini. The deputies of the east and of the west attended the emperor in the palace of Constantinople, and he enjoyed the satisfaction of imposing on the world a profession of faith which established the likeness, without expressing the consubstantiality, of the Son of God.* But the triumph of Arianism had been preceded by the removal of the orthodox clergy, whom it was impossible either to intimidate or to corrupt; and the reign of Constantius was disgraced by the unjust and ineffectual persecution of the great Athanasius.

We have seldom an opportunity of observing, either in active or speculative life, what effect may be produced, or what obstacles may be surmounted, by the force of a single mind when it is inflexibly applied to the pursuit of a single object. The immortal name of Athanasius † will never be separated from the Catholic doctrine of the Trinity, to whose defence he consecrated every moment and every faculty of his being. Educated in the family of Alexander, he had vigorously opposed the early progress of the Arian heresy he exercised the important functions of secretary under the aged prelate; and the fathers of the Nicene council beheld, with surprise and respect, the rising virtues of the young deacon. In a time of public danger, the dull claims of age and of rank are sometimes superseded; and within five months after his return from Nice, the deacon, Athanasius, was seated on the archiepiscopal throne of Egypt. He filled that eminent station above forty-six

*Sulp. Sever. Hist. Sacra. lib. 2, p. 418-430. The Greek historians were very ignorant of the affairs of the west. + We may regret that Gregory Nazianzen composed a panegyric instead of a life of Athanasius, but we should enjoy and improve the advantage of drawing our most authentic materials from the rich fund of his own epistles and apologies (tom. i, p. 670-951). I shall not imitate the example of Socrates (lib. 2, c. 1), who published the first edition of his history without giving himself the trouble to consult the writings of Athanasius. Yet even Socrates, the more curious Sozomen, and the learned Theodoret, connect the life of Athanasius with the series of ecclesias tical history. The diligence of Tillemont (tom. viii), and of the Benedictine editors, has collected every fact, and examined every difficulty,

A.D. 330.]

HIS TALENTS AND CHARACTER.

425

years, and his long administration was spent in a perpetual combat against the powers of Arianism. Five times was Athanasius expelled from his throne; twenty years he passed as an exile or a fugitive; and almost every province of the Roman empire was successively witness to his merit, and his sufferings in the cause of the Homoousion, which he considered as the sole pleasure and business, as the duty, and as the glory, of his life. Amidst the storms of persecution, the archbishop of Alexandria was patient of labour, jealous of fame, careless of safety; and although his mind was tainted by the contagion of fanaticism, Athanasius displayed a superiority of character and abilities which would have qualified him, far better than the degenerate sons of Constantine, for the government of a great monarchy. His learning was much less profound and extensive than that of Eusebius of Cæsarea, and his rude eloquence could not be compared with the polished oratory of Gregory or Basil; but whenever the primate of Egypt was called upon to justify his sentiments, or his conduct, his unpremeditated style, either of speaking or writing, was clear, forcible, and persuasive. He has always been revered in the orthodox school, as one of the most accurate masters of the Christian theology; and he was supposed to possess two profane sciences, less adapted to the episcopal character-the knowledge of jurisprudence, and that of divination.† Some fortunate conjectures of future events, which impartial reasoners might ascribe to the experience and judgment of Athanasius, were attributed by his friends to heavenly inspiration, and imputed by his enemies to infernal magic. But as Athanasius was continually engaged with the prejudices and passions of every order of men, from the monk to the emperor, the knowledge of human nature was his first and most important science. He preserved a distinct and unbroken view of a scene which was incessantly shifting, and never failed to improve those decisive moments which are irrecoverably past before they are perceived by a

*

• Sulpicius Severus (Hist. Sacra. 1. 2, p. 396) calls him a lawyer, a juris-consult. This character cannot now be discovered in the life or writings of Athanasius. +Dicebatur enim fatidicarum sortium fidem, quæve augurales portenderent alites scientissime callens aliquoties prædixisse futura. Ammianus 15, 7. A prophecy, or rather a joke is related by Sozomen (1. 4, c. 10), which evidently proves (if the

426

ATHANASIUS AS BISHOP

[CH. XXI. common eye. The archbishop of Alexandria was capable of distinguishing how far he might boldly command, and where he must dexterously insinuate; how long he might contend with power, and when he must withdraw from persecution; and while he directed the thunders of the church against heresy and rebellion, he could assume, in the bosom of his own party, the flexible and indulgent temper of a prudent leader. The election of Athanasius has not escaped the reproach of irregularity and precipitation; but the propriety of his behaviour conciliated the affections both of the clergy and of the people. The Alexandrians were impatient to rise in arms for the defence of an eloquent and liberal pastor. In his distress he always derived support, or at least consolation, from the faithful attachment of his parochial clergy; and the hundred bishops of Egypt adhered, with unshaken zeal, to the cause of Athanasius. In the modest equipage, which pride and policy would affect, he frequently performed the episcopal visitation of his provinces, from the mouth of the Nile to the confines of Ethiopia, familiarly conversing with the meanest of the populace, and humbly saluting the saints and hermits of the desert. Nor was it only in ecclesiastical assemblies, among men whose education and manners were similar to his own, that Athanasius displayed the ascendancy of his genius. He appeared with easy and respectful firmness in the courts of princes; and in the various turns of his prosperous and adverse fortune, he never lost the confidence of his friends, or the esteem of his enemies.

In his youth, the primate of Egypt resisted the great Constantine, who had repeatedly signified his will that Arius should be restored to the Catholic communion. The

crows speak Latin) that Athanasius understood the language of the crows. * The irregular ordination of Athanasius was slightly mentioned in the councils which were held against him. See Philostorg. 1. 2, c. 11, and Godefroy, p. 71. But it can scarcely be supposed that the assembly of the bishops of Egypt would solemnly attest a public falsehood. Athanas. tom. i, p. 726. + See the History of

Atha

the Fathers of the Desert, published by Rosweide; and Tillemont, Mém. Eccles. tom. vii, in the lives of Antony, Pachomius, &c. nasius himself who did not disdain to compose the life of his friend Antony, has carefully observed how often the holy monk deplored and prophesied the mischiefs of the Arian heresy. Athanas. tom. ii, p. 492-498, &c.

At first Constantine threatened in speaking, but

A.D. 334.]

OF ALEXANDRIA.

427

emperor respected, and might forgive, this inflexible reso lution; and the faction who considered Athanasius as their most formidable enemy, were constrained to dissemble their hatred, and silently to prepare an indirect and distant assault. They scattered rumours and suspicions, represented the archbishop as a proud and oppressive tyrant, and boldly accused him of violating the treaty which had been ratified in the Nicene council, with the schismatic followers of Meletius. Athanasius had openly disapproved that ignominious peace, and the emperor was disposed to believe that he had abused his ecclesiastical and civil power to persecute those odious sectaries: that he had sacrilegiously broken a chalice in one of their churches of Mareotis; that he had whipped or imprisoned six of their bishops; and that Arsenius, a seventh bishop of the same party, had been murdered, or at least mutilated, by the cruel hand of the primate. These charges, which affected his honour and his life, were referred by Constantine to his brother Dalmatius the censor, who resided at Antioch; the synods of Cæsarea and Tyre were successively convened; and the bishops of the east were instructed to judge the cause of requested in writing, καὶ ἀγράφως μὲν ἠπείλει γράφω δὲ, ηξίου. His letters gradually assumed a menacing tone; but while he required that the entrance of the church should be open to all, he avoided the odious name of Arius. Athanasius, like a skilful politician, has accurately marked these distinctions (tom. i, p. 788), which allowed him some scope for excuse and delay. *The Meletians in Egypt, like the Donatists in Africa, were produced by an episcopal quarrel which arose from the persecution. I have not leisure to pursue the obscure controversy which seems to have been misrepresented by the partiality of Athanasius, and the ignorance of Epiphanius. See Mosheim's General History of the Church, vol. i, p. 201. [Meletius was bishop of Lycopolis, in the Thebaid, at the commencement of the fourth century. Not even the rigours of Diocletian's persecution coul repress his polemical tendencies; for while in confinement, he had angry disputations with his fellow-prisoners. Having regained his liberty, he mixed up these sentiments with his claim to exercise the authority of Peter, archbishop of Alexandria, who had fled from danger and sought safety in concealment. His evident object was, to displace and succeed the fugitive primate of Egypt. Each had numerous adherents, and their fierce contests produced a schism, which for more than a century added to the other distractions of the church. Neander (vol. iii, sec. 2, edit. Bohn,) has given an account of this heresy, correcting Epiphanius by documents, which Maffei published from a MS. in the chapter of the cathedral at Verona.-ED.] + The treatment of the six bishops is specified by Sozomen 12, c. 25), but