CHAPTER XXI

CHAPTER XXI.

MARTIN AND PRISCILLIAN.

"Destroy him not; for who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord's anointed and be guiltless? As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall descend into battle, and perish."

As I began, so -will I end, with a story of a bishop and a king; but with this addition, that, as in the former case, Ambrose showed how a Christian might be persecuted, so, in this, Martin, and Ambrose too, shall show how a Christian may not persecute. Persecution, indeed, has a variety of meanings, some persons thinking themselves ipso facto persecuted, as often as men in power refuse to adopt and promote their opinions. What I mean here by persecution will be clear as I proceed.

The sovereign with whom Martin came in contact was Maximus, the usurper of Britain, Gaul, and Spain, of whom we have already heard in the history of St. Ambrose. Gratian becoming unpopular, Maximus had been proclaimed emperor by the soldiers in Britain, had landed on the opposite coast with a great portion of the British nation (who emigrated on the occasion, and settled afterwards in Bretagne), and had been joined by the armies of Gaul. Gratian had fled from Paris to Lyons, attended by only 300 horse; the governor of the Lyonese had played the traitor, and Maximus's general of horse had come up and murdered the emperor. The usurper incurred, not unjustly, the stigma of the crime, though he protested, whether truly or not, that he was not privy to the intentions of his subordinate. He was equally earnest, and perhaps sincere, in maintaining that he had been proclaimed by the legions of Britain against his will. So much Sulpicius confirms, speaking of him, as "a man to be named for every excellence of life, if it had been allowed him either to refuse a diadem placed upon him, not legitimately, by a mutinous soldiery, or to abstain from civil war;" "but," he continues, " a great sway could neither be refused without hazard, nor be held without arms."—Dial. ii. 7.

Maximus established his court at Treves, and thither proceeded a number of bishops to intercede, as in duty bound, for criminals, captives, exiles, proscribed persons, and others whom the civil commotion had involved. Martin went up with the rest, and it soon became obvious to the world that there was some vast difference between him and them; that they allowed themselves in flattery and subserviency towards the usurper, but that Martin recollected that he had the authority of an Apostle, and was bound to treat the fortunate soldier not according to his success, but according to his conduct. In this behaviour he had been anticipated by St. Ambrose, shortly before, who, on his former embassy to Maximus from Justina, had refused to communicate with him, or with those bishops who had communicated with him. D d

It was Martin's office to give this military sovereign a second lesson of the spirit of that religion, which, being from heaven, knows not the distinctions between man and man. Maximus asked him, again and again, to the imperial table, but in vain; he declined, "alleging," according to Sulpicius, "that he could not partake in the hospitality of one who had deprived one emperor of his dominions, another of his life." "However," continues our biographer, "when Maximus declared that he had not of his own will assumed the imperial power ; that he had but defended in arms that forced sovereignty which the troops had, by a Divine Providence, imposed on him; that God's favour did not seem estranged from one who had gained such incredible success -, and that he had killed no enemy, except in the field : at length, overcome either by his arguments or his prayers, he came to supper, the emperor rejoicing wonderfully that he had prevailed with him." —Vit. M. 23.

Martin seems to have been not quite satisfied with his concession, and Maximus seemed determined to make the most of it. The day of entertainment was made quite a gala day; the first personages were invited; the monk Martin was placed on a couch close to the king, and near him was his attendant presbyter, seated between two counts of the highest rank, the brother and uncle of the emperor. In the middle of the banquet, according to custom, the winecup was handed to Maximus; he transferred it to Martin, wishing him first to taste, and then to pass it to himself with the blessing and good auspice which a bishop would convey. Martin took it, and drank; but he saw through the artifice; and^-, instead of handing it to the emperor, passed it to his own presbyter, as being higher in true rank, as Sulpicius says, than any other, even the most noble, who were there assembled.

Maximus was a crafty man; and perhaps he thought he had discovered a weak point in Martin. He broke out into admiration of his conduct, and his guests did the like. Martin gained more by loftiness than others by servility. The feast ended; not so the emperor's assaults upon a saintly personage. He presented him with a vase of porphyry, and it was accepted.

Maximus now became a penitent, with what sincerity it is impossible to say. And at length, it would appear, he obtained absolution from Martin for his crimes; he sent for him often, and communed with him on the present and the future, on the glory of the faithful and the immortality of saints. Meanwhile the empress took her part in humbling herself before one who, of all men alive, had, in his miraculous power, the clearest credentials of his commission from the Author of all grace. She attended the exhortations of the aged bishop, and wept at his feet: but let us hear Sulpicius's account of what happened. "Martin," he says, " who never had been touched by any woman, could not escape this lady's assiduous, or rather servile attentions. Neither the power of dominion, nor the dignity of empire, nor the diadem, nor the purple did she regard. Prostrate on the ground, they could not tear her from Martin's feet. At length she begged her husband, and then both begged Martin, to allow her, by herself, without D d 2'

assistance of attendants, to serve him up a repast; nor could the blessed man hold out longer. The hands of the empress go through the chaste service; she spreads a seat: she places a table by it; water she offers for his hands; food, which she herself had cooked, she sets before him; she at a distance, as servants are taught, stands motionless, as if fixed to the ground, while he sits; showing in all things the reverence of an attendant, and the humbleness of a handmaid. She mixes his draught, she presents it to him. When the small meal is ended, she sweeps up with all carefulness the broken bits and crumbs of bread, preferring such relics to imperial dainties. Blessed woman, in such devotion willing to be compared to her who came from the ends of the earth to hear Solomon !"—Dial. ii. 7. Yes, blessed the princess who performs such humble service; but more blessed she who gives than he who takes. Let us see what came of it.

Maximus was not only a penitent, but he was a champion of the orthodox faith; nay, even to enforcing it with the sword. And Martin, while at court, had not only to intercede for the partisans of Gratian, but also, if possible, to rescue from the said imperial sword, and from the cruel zeal of some brother bishops, certain heretics who had been treated with unjustifiable severity, both by Church and state. These were the Priscillianists of Spain, and their principal persecutor was Ithacius, a bishop of the same country. Their history was as follows :— Priscillian, a man of birth, ability, and character, undertook in Spain the dissemination of an Egyptian form of the Gnostic or Manichsean heresv, and formed a party. The new opinions spread through all parts of the country, and that the more, in consequence of indiscreet violence on the part of the metropolitan of Lusitania. Next, a council was held of Spanish and Aquitain bishops, who condemned several of their brethren who had embraced the heresy, and all who should associate with them. The denounced bishops met this proceeding by consecrating Priscillian to the see of Avila; and Idacius, the metropolitan aforesaid, and Ithacius, who were charged with the execution of the synodal decree, retaliated by calling on the civil power to drive the heretics out of the cities. This was what Sulpicius calls a "foul" request; however, by repeated solicitations, Idacius obtained a rescript from Gratian, then emperor, commanding the extermination of the heretics, one and all, not only from churches and cities, but from every country. The heretic bishops made for Rome, with the hope of gaining Damasus; failing with the see of St. Peter, they betook themselves to Milan. Failing equally with Ambrose, they adopted a new line of conduct, bribed the officers of the court, gained a rescript of just an opposite character, commanding their restoration to their churches, and secured its zealous execution. This was the state of things when Gratian lost his life by the revolt of Maximus, who was in consequence naturally disposed to take part against the heretics whom the fallen court had supported .

Ithacius had been obliged to fly to Gaul; and in A. D. 384, when the civil troubles were over, he went up to Treves, had an interview with Maximus, and obtained from him a summons of the heretics to a council to be held at Bourdeaux. Priscillian was obliged to attend; but being put on his defence, instead of answering, he appealed to the emperor, and the orthodox bishops committed the second scandalous fault of allowing his appeal.

Such an appeal, in a matter of faith or internal discipline, was contrary at once to principle and precedent. It was inconsistent with the due maintenance of our Lord's canon, " Csesar's to Ciesar, and God's to God;" and with the rule contained in St. Paul's charge to Timothy, to " keep the deposit;" and it had been already condemned in the case of the Donatists, who, on appealing to Constantine against the Church, had incurred both the protest of the Catholic Fathers, and the indignant refusal of the emperor. However, the Ithacians, having allowed the state to persecute, found it difficult to withstand its right to interfere. This is the point of time in which Martin enters into the history of the dispute; Priscillian was brought to Treves; Ithacius and Idacius, his accusers, followed; and there they found Martin, come thither, as we have seen, on matters of his own.

If it is necessary to state in a few words as near as may be what seems to be the doctrine of early times on the subject of persecution, I suppose it would be something like this: that the Church availed herself of the offer of the civil power to confirm her judgments so far as to silence heretical teachers, no difficult matter at a time when the idea of absolute power was fully apprehended, the habit of liberty of speech unknown, and transportation an ultima ratio, if the threat of it was not sufficient. The Church having once denounced a doctrine as false, left it to the conscience of the state to prevent its dissemination; hut she abhorred cruelty and bloodshed, and denied the state's right of taking direct cognizance of error, and of punishing it as such, or otherwise than as an offence against herself, the divinely appointed teacher of the faith. Martin, then, on every account, viewed the Ithacian faction with displeasure; he condemned the appeals which in a matter of faith had been made to the civil power, and he looked forward with horror at the sort of punishment which that power was likely to inflict. Accordingly he remonstrated incessantly with Ithacins on the course he was pursuing; and Ithacius, who seems to have been a man of loud speech, and luxurious and prodigal habits, did not scruple to retort upon the devout and ascetic Martin, that he himself was a Gnostic, and therefore naturally took the part of the Priscillianists.

Unable to persuade his brother bishops, he addressed himself to Maximus, representing to him, to use the words of Sulpicius, "that it was more than enough, that, after the heretics had been condemned by an episcopal decision, they should be removed from their churches; but that it was a new and unheard-of impiety for a temporal judge to take cognizance of an ecclesiastical cause."—Hist. ii. The interposition of one to whom emperor and empress were paying such extraordinary court, of course was of no slight weight. It was effectual for protecting the Priscillianists all the time he continued at Treves; but the time came when he must take his departure for Tours; and before doing so, he exacted a promise of the usurper, that nothing sanguinary should be undertaken against the heretics.

He went; Ithacius did not go; the promise was forgotten; matters went on as if Martin had never been at Treves; the heretics were tried by the judge of the palace, and were found guilty of witchcraft and various immoralities. Priscillian and others were beheaded, and others were killed and banished afterwards; Ithacius sheltered himself under the protection of Maximus, and Maximus wrote to the see of St. Peter, not to justify, but to take credit for his conduct.

What return he, or rather his ecclesiastical advisers, received from Siricius, the pope of the day, and from the body of the Church, need not here be mentioned in detail. Suffice it to say, that a solemn protest was entered against them, in the course of the following years, by Siricius, St. Ambrose, and councils at Milan and Turin. Ithacius was deposed, excommunicated, and banished. Felix, bishop of Treves, though a man of irreproachable character, and not bishop at the time of the crime, yet, as a partizan of the guilty bishops, was excommunicated with all who supported him; and when St. Ambrose came to Treves, on his second embassy, he separated himself not only from the adherents of Maximus, but of Ithacius too. This, however, is to anticipate and to digress upon subsequent and general history; let us confine ourselves to St. Martin.

On the year that followed the death of Priscillian, Martin had again to visit Treves, as a mediator for certain civil governors, Narses and Leucadius, whose loyalty to Gratian had gained them the resentment of his conqueror,—a council of bishops, being then assembled in the imperial city, with the double purpose of formally acquitting Ithacius, and of consecrating Felix, one of their own party, to the vacant see of Treves. The news arrived that Martin was coming; and spread great dismay among the assembled Fathers. They betook themselves to Maximus, and gained his consent to forbid his entrance into the city, except on a promise of communicating with themselves. Martin eluded their vigilance, and entered at night. He had come, as I have said, on political business, though such as became a bishop to undertake; but when he got to Treves, he was met with news which more intimately concerned every Catholic, and needed more prompt and urgent intercession. A day or two before he came, the Ithacian party had prevailed on the emperor to send military commissioners into Spain to detect, arrest, pillage, and kill all heretics; a mission which, considering that the broad test of heresy which the soldiers adopted was paleness of face and peculiarity of dress, was likely to terminate in a great accession, no doubt, of wealth to the imperial treasury, but in as great a destruction of innocent persons and orthodox believers. This grievous consequence pressed upon Martin, over and above the cruelty of persecuting heretics: though "he was piously solicitous," says Sulpicius, "to rescue the heretics themselves, as well as the Christians, who were to be troubled under this pretence."—Dial. iii. 16. Accordingly, he was pressing in his intervention at court, but Maximus had, by this time, forgotten the lesson of humility which, two years since, he and the empress had so dutifully received; or perhaps he thought, for one reason or another, that he had got an advantage over the bishop, and understood him. Any how, he put off from day to day his answer to Martin's request whether in behalf of the Spanish Christians, or of the friends of Gratian.

Meanwhile Martin refused to communicate with the party of Ithacius, a vigorous step, to which only one bishop out of all who assembled had found himself equal. The Ithacians betook themselves in haste to Maximus, "complaining," says Sulpicius, "that they were prejudged, predisposed of, if the pertinacity of Theognistus," the protesting party, "was armed by the authority of Martin; that the latter ought never to have been allowed to enter; that he was no longer engaged in the mere defence, but in the rescue of the heretics; that nothing was gained by the death of Friscillian, if Martin took satisfaction for it. And last, they threw themselves on the ground, and with tears and lamentations implored the imperial power to show its vigour in its dealings with after all one individual."—Dial. iii. 16. Maximus began to believe that Martin really was a Priscillianist.

However, he both felt a reverence for him, whatever were the grounds of it, and he understood perfectly well that Martin was not to be prevailed on by threats of personal violence. He pursued a way with him which perhaps he had successfully adopted on a former occasion. He gave Martin a private interview, and addressed him in a complimentary manner. He alleged, that the heretics had been punished, not at the instance of the bishops, but by the secular courts in a regular way for their evil deserts; that such a procedure formed no reason for blaming and separating from Ithacius and the rest; that Theognistus, the only outstanding bishop, had been influenced by personal feelings; and that a Council had acquitted Ithacius. Finding, however, he made no way with Martin, the emperor burst out in anger, quitted him hastily, and gave orders for the execution of the partisans of Gratian. The news of this determination came to Martin during the following night: no time was to be lost; he gave way; he entered the palace; he promised to communicate with the Ithacians, on condition that Narses and Leucadius should be spared, and that the military inquisitors which had been sent into Spain should be recalled. The emperor readily granted his terms in full, and the next day, Felix was consecrated, Martin assisting and communicating with the persecutors of Priscillian. They urged him with much earnestness to sign an instrument in attestation of his concession, but this he refused.

Writers of great piety1 have not been unwilling to suggest, that extraordinary as was St. Martin's habitual humility, yet he might have experienced some elation of mind from the remarkable honours which he had received from the court on his first visit to Treves; but, whatever was the cause, that he might have done better, was soon confessed by himself. Thus ended his intercourse with the great world. He had gained the object which had brought him to Treves; Maximus, too, had gained his : there

¹ Tillemont, Life of S. Mart. 10.

was nothing more to detain him in the imperial city, and the day after his act of concession he set off on his return to Tours.

He went on his way with downcast mind, sighing¹, as his biographer tells us, to think that he had even for a hour shared in a communion so unhealthy to the soul; when now an occurrence took place, which, it seems, he ever studiously concealed, though his intimate friends got acquainted with it. About ten miles from Treves, his journey lay through deep and lonely woods; he let his companions go forward, and remained by himself, examining his conscience, and first blaming, and then again defending what he had done. 'While he was thus engaged he was favoured with a supernatural vision: an Angel appeared to him, and said, "Martin, thou art pricked in heart with reason: but no other escape opened to thee. Retrieve thy virtue; resume thy firmness; lest thou risk, not thy renown, but thy salvation."

Martin lived eleven years after this, but he never went to council or meeting of bishops again. And afterwards, when he was engaged with the energumeni, or demoniacs, " he used from time to time, to confess to us," says Sulpicius, " with tears, that from the mischief of that communion, which he joined for a moment, and that not in heart, but on compulsion, he was sensible of a diminution of his supernatural gift." Sulpicius also happens to mention in another connexion, and without alluding to what had passed at Treves, that in the last years of his life, " when the prefect Vincentius, a man of singular excellence, and as good a man in every respect as was to be found in any part of Gaul, passed through Tours, he often begged of Martin to entertain him in his monastery; alleging the example of blessed Ambrose the bishop, who at that time was said now and then to dine consuls and prefects, but that the man of high mind would not, lest it should give secret entrance to vanity and elation of mind."—Dial. i. 17.

Such self-imposed penances, were quite in the Bpirit of those ages of sanctity. Notice has been taken of Gregory's silence during Lent in a former chapter; and Sulpicius in his old age, on being betrayed for an instant into an advocacy of the doctrines of Pelagius, punished himself with silence to the end of his life.

It may not be out of place to append to this passage of St. Martin's history, an account of one of his visions, which seems in various ways to be illustrative, or even mythical of much in it.

"While Martin was praying in his cell, the evil spirit stood before him, enveloped in a glittering radiance, by such pretence more easily to deceive him, clad also in royal robes, crowned with a golden and jewelled diadem, with shoes covered with gold, with serene face, and bright looks, so as to seem nothing so little as what he was. Martin at first was dazzled at the sight; and for a long while both parties kept silence. At length the evil one began :—' Acknowledge,' he says, 'O Martin, whom thou seest. I am Christ; I am now descending upon earth, and I wished first to manifest myself to thee.' Martin kept still silent, and returned no answer. The devil ventured to repeat his bold pretence. 'Martin, why hesitate in believing, when thou seest I am Christ?' Then he, understanding by revelation of the Spirit, that it was the evil one and not God, answered, ' Jesus, the Lord, announced not that He should come in glittering clothing, and radiant with a diadem. I will not believe that Christ is come, save in that state and form in which He suffered, save with the show of the wounds of the Cross.' At these words, the other vanished forthwith as smoke, and filled the cell with so horrible an odour as to leave indubitable proofs who he was. That this so took place, I know from the mouth of Martin himself, lest any one should think it fabulous."—Vit. B. M. 25.

The application of this vision to Martin's age, is obvious; I suppose it means in this day, that Christ comes not in pride of intellect, or reputation for ability. These are the glittering robes in which Satan is now arraying. Many spirits are abroad, more are issuing from the pit: the credentials which they display, are the precious gifts of mind, beauty, richness, depth, originality. Christian, look hard at them with Martin in silence, and then ask for the print of the nails.

CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.

The dates are, for the most part, according to Tillemont.

A. D.

St. Gervasius and St. Protasius, martyrs under Nero, p. 33 64

St. Hennas writes, p. 316 92

St. Clement of Rome writes, p. 324 '97

St. Ignatius, martyr under Trajan, pp. 23. 324 107

St. Justin converted, pp. 324. 339 132

Flight of St. Polycarp from persecution, p. 210 166

Montanus, heretic, pp. 184. 283 171

St. Irenceus, bishop of Lyons, p. 324 177

St. Clement of Alexandria, p. 316 192

Praxeas, heretic at Rome, p. 291 201

Origen, pp. 180.200.283; begins to teach 203

Tertullian, pp. 283. 324; turns Montanist, p. 184 about 204

writes his treatise against flight in persecution,

p. 213 about 211

Noetus, heretic at Ephesus, p. 291 220

Flight of St. Cyprian, St. Gregory, and St. Dionysius, in the

. Decian persecution, pp. 97. 210,211.344 250

St. Antony born, pp. 239. 344. Novatian, schismatic, pp. 149.

283 251

St. Cornelius, bishop of Rome, martyred, p. 324 252

Manichseus, heretic, p. 200 255

Sabellius, heretic, in Africa, p. 291 257

St. Laurence martyred, p. 23 258

Dionysius, bishop of Rome,, p.. 106 -....,-.- 260

St. Antony adopts tke solitary .life,j.,3^5..s 270

St. Antony retires into the' desert,'j>. 349 ....: 285

Lactantius, p. 316! :.i...:>_!.£..U' 303

Nabor and. Felix, martyrs Ut; Mjlhn, ppi 32. 39. St. Ma

crina and her husband in, the woods at Pontus, in the

Dioclesian persecution, p. 74. 304

St. Antony begins to have disciples, p.' 868 305

Meletian schism in Egypt, p. 309 306

A. D. St. Antony comes to Alexandria to assist the persecuted, p. 378, 311

St. Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, p. 305 312

Myrocles, bishop of Milan, p. 19 314

Eusebius, bishop of Csesarea, p. 285 about 315

St. Martin, born in Pannonia, p. 386 316

Arius, driven from Egypt, is received in Palestine, p. 310 319

The forty martyrs of Sebaste in the Licinian persecution, p. 125, 320

The first General Council at Niccea; Arius condemned 325

St. Athanasius, pp. 6. 25. 56. 103. 239. 305; made bishop of

Alexandria 326

St. Gregory and St. Basil born, pp. 87. 117. Gregory, the

Father, made bishop of Nazianzus, p. 117 329

St. Martin enlisted in the army, p. 387 331

Eusebius of Csssarea declines the see of Antioch, p. 310 332

Apollinaris teaches rhetoric, p. 199 335

St. Martin leaves the army, p. 387 336

St. Julius, pope, p. 305 337

Eusebius of Nicomedia usurps the see of Constantinople, p. 148, 338

Eustorgius bishop of Milan, p. 19 about 339

St. Macrina, grandmother to St. Basil, dies, pp. 81. 101.
Council of Gangra, p. 305. St. Ambrose born in Gaul,

p. 5 about 340

Gregory of Cappadocia made Arian bishop of Alexandria, p. 309. Council of Antioch, pp. 305. 321. Macedonius

usurps the see of Constantinople, p. 148 341

St. Cyril delivers his Catechetical Lectures, p. 286. St. Chry

sostom born, p. 344 about 347

Flavian's chants at Antioch, p. 23 348

Basil, St. Basil's father dies, p. 74. St. Emmelia and St.
Macrina retire from the world, p. 74. Apollinaris put

out of the Church by the Arians, p. 200 349

St. Basil and St. Gregory at Athens, p. 118. St. Martin goes to
St. Hilary, p. 387. St. Paul of Constantinople martyred

by the Arians, p. 148 350

St. Augustine born, p. 344. Eustathius bishop of Sebaste,

p. 77 354

St. Antony supports St. Athanasius, p. 59. St. Dionysius of Milan banished, p. 19. Auxentius, Arian bishop of

Milan, p. 5, 6. St. Basil leaves Athens, p. 120 355

St. Gregory leaves Athens, p. 120. St. Antony dies, pp. 58. 344. St. Martin retires to Milan, p. 388. St. Hilary of Poictiers banished to the East, p. 388. St. Basil teaches rhetoric at Csssarea, p. 124; writes to Apollinaris, p.

A. D.

205; retires from the world, pp. 58. 124; Eunomius,
the Arian, pp. 59. 85. 149. 176. 200 356'

Naucratius, St. Basil's brother, drowned, p. 74. St. Basil goes
into the East, pp. 79.101. 124. Remains of St. Luke
brought to Constantinople, p. 297. St. Athanasius
writes his defence of his flight, p. 211 357

St. Basil retires into Pontus, p. 125; his chants, pp. 23. 130.

133. 135 358

Council of Ariminum, pp. 57. 118 359

St. Martin establishes his monastery at Poictiers, p. 388.
Eudoxius usurps the see of Constantinople, p. 148.
St. Basil separates from Dianius, p. 57. The monks of
Nazianzus separate from St. Gregory's father, p. 118 360

Meletius, bishop of Antioch, pp. 112,113. Death of Constan

tius, p. 101. Apollinaris, bishop of Laodicea, p. 200 ... 361

St. Gpegory ordained priest, pp. 141. 152. St. Basil returns to Ccesarea, and is ordained priest, p. 58. Council of Alexandria, p. 200. Macedonius, heresiarch, pp. 91. 102. 148. 149. 176.200 , 362

Athanasius of Ancyra conforms, p. 93. Julian shuts up the Christian schools, pp. 199. 238. St. Basil, ill-treated by his bishop Eusebius, retires into Pontus, p. 58 363

St. Athanasius writes the life of St. Antony, pp. 239. 342. St. Gregory reconciles the monks of Nazianzus to his father, pp. 118.140 364

Aerius, heretic, p. 287 about 365

Damasus made pope, p. 105. St. Gregory reconciles St. Basil

with his bishop, pp. 62.135 366

St. Epiphanius, pp. 203. 293. 284, bishop of Salamis. Beginning of the persecution under Valens, p. 91 367

Casarius dies. St. Basil assists St. Gregory in securing his property, p. 135. Syrian council against the Apollinarians, p. 200 369

Eudoxius, the Arian bishop of Constantinople, dies, p. 148. Eighty Catholic clergy burnt at sea, pp. 148. 155. St. Basil raised to the see of Csesarea, pp. 62.136 370

St. Basil writes to St. Athanasius, p. 103; he resists Valens and Modestus, p. 63, &c.; slandered by a monk of Nazianzus, p. 137. Patricius, Augustine's father, dies a Christian, p. 244 371

St. Martin elected bishop of Tours, p. 389. St. Gregory, bishop of Nyssa, p. 74. St. Basil persecuted by the governor of E e

Pontus, p. 69. Dispute between St. Basil and Anthi-
raua, p. 139. St. Gregory made bishop of Sasima, p.
141; complains of St. Basil, p. 143 372

St. Augustine becomes a Manichee, p. 226. St. Basil falls ill,
p. 69; designs to send St. Gregory Nyssa to Rome, p.
109. Athanasius dies, [al. A. D. 371,] p. 202 373

Gregory the Father dies, p. 147. Amphilochius, pp. 68. 71, made bishop of Iconium, pp. 313. 310. Probus makes St. Ambrose prefect of Liguria, p. 256. St. Ambrose made bishop of Milan, p. 5. Marcellus accused of Sabellianism, pp. 110.200; dies 374

Valentinian I. dies, p. 7. St. Basil goes into Pisidia and Pontus, p. 72; enters a protest against Eustathius, p. 78; complains of Damasus, p. 109 375

Demophilus, Arian bishop of Constantinople, p. 149. St. Augustine teaches rhetoric at Carthage, p. 231. Epiphanius engaged on his work on heresies, pp.203. 289... 376

St. Meletius and St. Eusebius, pp. 69. 92, in ill esteem at Rome. St. Basil writes to St. Ambrose, p. 7. Apollinaris, heretic, pp. 149. 58. 176; condemned at Rome, p. 203... 377

Death of St. Basil, pp. 87. 147, 148. Accession of Theodosius, pp. 147, 148. St. Gregory goes to Constantinople, to. Priscillian begins his heresy, pp. 176. 191 379

Theodosius declares for the Church, p. 147. St. Eusebius of Samosata killed by an Arian woman. St. Peter, bishop of Sebaste, p. 74 380

Priscillian made bishop of Avila,p.405. Second General Council held at Constantinople, p. 7; first session, pp. 203.305.. St. Meletius president; then St. Gregory, p. 147. Flavian succeeds St. Meletius at Antioch, p. 311 381

St. Gregory retires to Asia, p. 150; pronounces oration in -
praise of St. Basil, p. 145; passes Lent without speak-
ing, p. 158 382

Maxim us assumes the purple; Gratian killed, pp. 7. 29. 401.
St. Ambrose goes on embassy to Maximus, p. 29. St.
Augustine goes to Rome, pp. 226. 231 383

St. Martin at Treves, is courted by Maximus and his empress,
p. 401. Persecution of St. Ambrose by Justina, p. 4,
&c. St. Augustine goes to Milan, pp. 226. 231. Coun-
cil of Bourdeaux, p. 406. Priscillian, heretic, exe-
cuted, p. 408 384

Second persecution of St. Ambrose by Valentinian II. p. 17.
Maximus defends him, p. 29. Discovery of the remains

A. D.

of St. Gervasius and St. Protasius, p. 33. St. Martin's second visit to Treves; communicates with the Ithacians, p. 409, &c. St. Augustine converted, p. 240, &c, 386 St. Augustine baptized by St. Ambrose, p. 245. St. Monnica

dies, p. 244 387

St. Augustine settles at Thagaste, p. 245 388

St. Gregory Nazianzen dies, p. 147. Ithacius deposed and banished, p. 408. St. Augustine ordained priest at

Hippo, p. 246 389

Persians come to Milan to see St. Ambrose, p. 256. Council

of Milan against the Ithacians, pp. 47. 408. Sedition

at Thessalonica, p. 44. Theodosius's penitence, p. 51.

Jovinian, heretic, p. 176; condemned at Rome, p. 288... 390

Valentinian II. strangled by ArbogaBtes, p. 44. St. Sulpicius

Severus introduced to St. Martin, p. 386 392

Council of Constantinople, pp. 310. 315 394

Theodosius dies, and Arcadius is emperor, p. 297. St. Augustine consecrated co-adjutor to Valerius, p. 248 395

St. Sulpicius writes the life of St. Martin, p. 386 396

Council of Carthage, p. 305. St. Martin dies, p. 397 St. Ambrose dies : 397

St. Augustine writes his Confessions, pp. 24,25.35. 228, &c. St.

- Chrysostom, bishop of Constantinople; his chants, p. 23.

Council of Turin, p. 408. St. Marcellina, sister to St.

Ambrose, dies, p. 5 398

Abbey of Lerins founded, p. 174 401

St. Chrysostom in persecution, p. 257 403

St. Chrysostom in exile. Vigilantius heretic, p. 288 404

St. Sulpicius writes his dialogues, pp. 391, 399, &c. Pelagius,

p. 176, commences his heresy 405

Remains of the prophet Samuel brought from Palestine to Constantinople, p. 297. St. Jerome writes against Vigilantius, p. 296 , 406

Rome taken by Alaric, August 24, p. 256 410

St. Augustine writes to Proba, p. 257 411

Paulinus writes the life of St. Ambrose, p. 34 about 412

Demetrias devotes herself to religion, p. 263 413

St. Jerome writes to Demetrias, p. 264, Pelagius writes to

Demetrias, p. 272 414

St. Augustine and St. Alypius write to Juliana, p. 273. Pope

Zozimus deceived by Pelagius, ib 417

St. Sulpicius deceived by the Pelagians, p. 413. Leo an Acolyte, and sent to Carthage 418

A. D.

St. Jerome dies, p. 263 420

The Semi-Pelagians, vid. p. 277 427

Nestorius, p. 176, made bishop of Constantinople. The Vandals cross to Africa, p. 209. St. Augustine writes to

Honoratus, p. 216 428

Treatise of unknown author addressed to Demetrias, p. 277. The Vandals besiege Hippo, p. 222. Death of St. Augustine, p. 224 430

Third General Council held at Ephesus, pp. 210. 316 431

Vincent of Lerins, p. 174, writes his Commonitorium 434

St. Leo, p. 171.277, elected pope 440

Fourth General Council held at Chalcedon, p. 316 451

Sack of Rome by Genseric, p. 277 455

Demetrias builds the church of St. Stephen, p. 278 about 456

Gelasius, pope, p. 315 about 491

Justinian, emperor, p. 313 527

Dionysius Exiguus, p. 313 533

John of Antioch, Scholasticus, p. 313 564

-V- ERRATA.

Page 33, line 29, for Faustus read Fausta.

64, — 12, for which I am, read for me.

92, — 23, for infuses read inspires.

117, — 16, dele \>vit.

119, — 12, after emptying, imert of.

THE END.

Gilbert & Rivington, Printers, St. John's Square, London.