Observations upon the Prophecies of Daniel, and the Apocalypse of St. John Part 4

Aut si in longinquioribus partibus alicujus ferocitas talis emerserit, omnis ejus causae edictio ad Metropolitae in eadem Provincia Episcopi deduceretur examen. Vel si ipse Metropolita.n.u.s est, Romam necessari, vel ad eos quos Roma.n.u.s Episcopus judices dederit, sine delatione contendat.----Quod si vel Metropolitani Episcopi vel cujuscunque sacerdotis iniquitas est suspecta, aut gratia; ad Romanum Episcopum, vel ad Concilium quindecim finitimorum Episcoporum accersitum liceat provocare; modo ne post examen habitum, quod definitum fuerit, integretur_. This Edict wanting the name of both _Valens_ and _Theodosius_ in the t.i.tle, was made in the time between their reigns, that is, in the end of the year 378, or the beginning of 379. It was directed to the _Praefecti Praetorio Italiae & Galliae_, and therefore was general. For the _Praefectus Praetorio Italiae_ governed _Italy_, _Illyric.u.m occidentale_ and _Africa_; and the _Praefectus Praetorio Galliae_ governed _Gallia_, _Spain_, and _Britain_.

The granting of this jurisdiction to the Pope gave several Bishops occasion to write to him for his resolutions upon doubtful cases, whereupon he answered by decretal Epistles; and henceforward he gave laws to the _Western_ Churches by such Epistles. _Himerius_ Bishop of _Tarraco_, the head city of a province in _Spain_, writing to Pope _Damasus_ for his direction about certain Ecclesiastical matters, and the Letter not arriving at _Rome_ till after the death of _Damasus_, A.C. 384; his successor _Siricius_ answered the same with a legislative authority, telling him of one thing: _c.u.m hoc fieri--missa ad Provincias a venerandae memoriae praedecessore meo Liberio generalia decreta, prohibeant_. Of another: _Noverint se ab omni ecclesiastico honore, quo indigne usi sunt, Apostolicae Sedis auctoritate, dejectos_. Of another: _Scituri posthac omnium Provinciarum summi Antist.i.tes, quod si ultr ad sacros ordines quenquam de talibus esse a.s.sumendum, & de suo & de aliorum statu, quos contra Canones & interdicta nostra provexerint, congruam ab Apostolica Sede promendam esse sententiam_. And the Epistle he concludes thus: _Explicuimus, ut arbitror, frater charissime, universa quae digesta sunt in querelam; & ad singulas causas, de quibus ad Romanam Ecclesiam, utpote ad caput tui corporis, retulisti; sufficientia, quantum opinor, responsa reddidimus. Nunc fraternitatis tuae animum ad servandos canones, & tenenda decretalia const.i.tuta, magis ac magis incitamus: ad haec quae ad tua consulta rescripsimus in omnium Coepiscoporum perferri facias notionem; & non solum corum, qui in tua sunt dioecesi const.i.tuti, sed etiam ad universos Carthaginenses ac Boeticos, Lusitanos atque [2] Gallicos, vel eos qui vicinis tibi collimitant hinc inde Provinciis, haec quae a n.o.bis sunt salubri ordinatione disposita, sub literarum tuarum prosecutione mittantur. Et quanquam statuta sedis Apostolicae vel Canonum venerabilia definita, nulli Sacerdotum Domini ignorare sit liberum: utilius tamen, atque pro antiquitate sacerdotii tui, dilectioni tuae esse admodum poterit gloriosum, si ea quae ad te speciali nomine generaliter scripta sunt, per unanimitatis tuae sollicitudinem in universorum fratrum nostrorum not.i.tiam perferantur; quatenus & quae a n.o.bis non inconsulte sed provide sub nimia cautela & deliberatione sunt salubriter const.i.tuta, intemerata permaneant, & omnibus in posterum excusationibus aditus, qui jam nulli apud nos patere poterit, obstruatur. Dat. 3 Id. Febr. Arcadio & Bautone viris clarissimis Consulibus_, A.C. 385. Pope _Liberius_ in the reign of _Jovian_ or _Valentinian_ I. sent general Decrees to the Provinces, ordering that the _Arians_ should not be rebaptized: and this he did in favour of the Council of _Alexandria_, that nothing more should be required of them than to renounce their opinions. Pope _Damasus_ is said to have decreed in a _Roman_ Council, that _t.i.thes_ and _Tenths_ should be paid upon pain of an _Anathema_; and that _Glory be to the Father_, &c. should be said or sung at the end of the _Psalms_. But the first decretal Epistle now extant is this of _Siricius_ to _Himerius_; by which the Pope made _Himerius_ his Vicar over all _Spain_ for promulging his Decrees, and seeing them observed. The Bishop of _Sevill_ was also the Pope's Vicar sometimes; for _Simplicius_ wrote thus to _Zeno_ Bishop of that place: _Talibus idcirco gloriantes indiciis, congruum duximus vicaria Sedis nostrae te auctoritate fulciri: cujus vigore munitus, Apostolicae inst.i.tutionis Decreta, vel sanctorum terminos Patrum, nullatenus transcendi permittas_. And Pope _Hormisda_ [3] made the Bishop of _Sevill_ his Vicar over _Boetica_ and _Lusitania_, and the Bishop of _Tarraco_ his Vicar over all the rest of _Spain_, as appears by his Epistles to them.

Pope _Innocent_ the first, in his decretal Epistle to _Victricius_ Bishop of _Rouen_ in _France_, A.C. 404, in pursuance of the Edict of _Gratian_, made this Decree: _Si quae autem causae vel contentiones inter Clericos tam superioris ordinis quam etiam inferioris fuerint exortae; ut secundum Synodum Nicenam congregatis ejusdem Provinciae Episcopis jurgium terminetur: nec alicui liceat, [4] Romanae Ecclesiae, cujus in omnibus causis debet reverentia custodiri, relictis his sacerdotibus, qui in eadem Provincia Dei Ecclesiam nutu Divino gubernant, ad alias convolare Provincias. Quod siquis forte praesumpserit; & ab officio Clericatus summotus, & injuriarum reus judicetur. Si autem majores causae in medium fuerint devolutae, ad Sedem Apostolicam sicut Synodus statuit, & beata consuetudo exigit, post judicium Episcopale referantur_. By these Letters it seems to me that _Gallia_ was now subject to the Pope, and had been so for some time, and that the Bishop of _Rouen_ was then his Vicar or one of them: for the Pope directs him to refer the greater causes to the See of _Rome_, according to custom. But the Bishop of _Arles_ soon after became the Pope's Vicar over all _Gallia_: for Pope _Zosimus_, A.C. 417, ordaining that none should have access to him without the credentials of his Vicars, conferred upon _Patroclus_ the Bishop of _Arles_ this authority over all _Gallia_, by the following Decree.

_Zosimus universis Episcopis per Gallias & septem Provincias const.i.tutis_.

_Placuit Apostolicae Sedi, ut siquis ex qualibet Galliarum parte sub quolibet ecclesiastico gradu ad nos Romae venire contendit, vel ali terrarum ire disponit, non aliter proficiscatur nisi Metropolitani Episcopi Formatas acceperit, quibus sacerdotium suum vel loc.u.m ecclesiastic.u.m quem habet, scriptorum ejus adstipulatione perdoceat: quod ex gratia statuimus quia plures episcopi sive presbyteri sive ecclesiastici simulantes, quia nullum doc.u.mentum Formatarum extat per quod valeant confutari, in nomen venerationis irrepunt, & indebitam reverentiam promerentur. Quisquis igitur, fratres charissimi, praetermissa supradicti Formata sive episcopus, sive presbyter, sive diaconus, aut deinceps inferiori gradu sit, ad nos venerit: sciat se omnino suscipi non posse. Quam auctoritatem ubique nos misisse manifestum est, ut cunctis regionibus innotescat id quod statuimus omnimodis esse servandum. Siquis autem haec salubriter const.i.tuta temerare tentaverit sponte sua, se a nostra noverit communione discretum. Hoc autem privilegium Formatarum sancto Patroclo fratri & coepiscopo nostro, meritorum ejus speciali contemplatione, concessimus_. And that the Bishop of _Arles_ was sometimes the Pope's Vicar over all _France_, is affirmed also by all the Bishops of the Diocess of _Arles_ in their Letter to Pope _Leo_ I. _Cui id etiam honoris dignitatisque collatum est_, say they, _ut non tantum has Provincias potestate propria gubernaret; verum etiam omnes Gallias sibi Apostolicae Sedis vice mandatas, sub omni ecclesiastica regula contineret_. And Pope _Pelagius_ I. A.C. 556, in his Epistle to _Sapaudus_ Bishop of _Arles_: _Majorum nostrorum, operante Dei misericordia, cupientes inhaerere vestigiis & eorum actus divino examine in omnibus imitari: Charitati tuae per universam Galliam, sanctae Sedis Apostolicae, cui divina gratia praesidemus, vices injungimus_.

By the influence of the same imperial Edict, not only _Spain_ and _Gallia_, but also _Illyric.u.m_ became subject to the Pope. _Damasus_ made _Ascholius_, or _Acholius_, Bishop of _Thessalonica_ the Metropolis of _Oriental Illyric.u.m_, his Vicar for hearing of causes; and in the year 382, _Acholius_ being summoned by Pope _Damasus_, came to a Council at _Rome_.

Pope _Siricius_ the successor of _Damasus_, decreed that no Bishop should be ordained in _Illyric.u.m_ without the consent of _Anysius_ the successor of _Acholius_. And the following Popes gave _Rufus_ the successor of _Anysius_, a power of calling Provincial Councils: for in the Collections of _Holstenius_ there is an account of a Council of _Rome_ convened under Pope _Boniface_ II. in which were produced Letters of _Damasus_, _Syricius_, _Innocent_ I. _Boniface_ I. and _Caelestine_ Bishops of _Rome_, to _Ascholius_, _Anysius_ and _Rufus_, Bishops of _Thessalonica_: in which Letters they commend to them the hearing of causes in _Illyric.u.m_, granted by the Lord and the holy Canons to the Apostolic See thro'out that Province. And Pope _Siricius_ saith in his Epistle to _Anysius_: _Etiam dudum, frater charissime, per Candidianum Episcopum, qui nos praecessit ad Dominum, hujusmodi literas dederamus, ut nulla licentia esset, sine consensu tuo in Illyrico Episcopos ordinare praesumere, quae utrum ad te pervenerint scire non potui. Multa enim gesta sunt per contentionem ab Episcopis in ordinationibus faciendis, quod tua melius caritas novit_. And a little after: _Ad omnem enim hujusmodi audaciam comprimendam vigilare debet instantia tua, Spiritu in te Sancto fervente: ut vel ipse, si potes, vel quos judicaveris Episcopos idoneos, c.u.m literis dirigas, dato consensu qui possit, in ejus loc.u.m qui defunctus vel depositus fuerit, Catholic.u.m Episcopum vita & moribus probatum, secundum Nicaenae Synodi statuta vel Ecclesiae Romanae, Cleric.u.m de Clero meritum ordinare_. And Pope _Innocent_ I. saith in his Epistle to _Anysius_: _Cui_ [Anysio] _etiam anteriores tanti ac tales viri praedecessores mei Episcopi, id est, sanctae memoriae Damasus, Siricius, atque supra memoratus vir ita detulerunt; ut omnia quae in omnibus illis partibus gererentur, Sanct.i.tati tuae, quae plena just.i.tiae est, traderent cognoscenda_. And in his Epistle to _Rufus_ the successor of _Anysius_: _Ita longis intervallis disterminatis a me ecclesiis discat consulendum; ut prudentiae gravitatique tuae committendam curam causasque, siquae exoriantur, per Achaiae, Thessaliae, Epiri veteris, Epiri novae, & Cretae, Daciae mediterraneae, Daciae ripensis, Moesiae, Dardaniae, & Praevali ecclesias, Christo Domino annuente, censeam. Vere enim ejus sacratissimis monitis lectissimae sinceritatis tuae providentiae & virtuti hanc injungimus sollicitudinem: non primitus haec statuentes, sed Praecessores nostros Apostolicos imitati, qui beatissimis Acholio & Anysio injungi pro meritis ista voluerunt_. And _Boniface_ I. in his decretal Epistle to _Rufus_ and the rest of the Bishops in _Illyric.u.m_: _Nullus, ut frequenter dixi, alicujus ordinationem citra ejus_ [Episcopi Thessalonicensis] _conscientiam celebrare praesumat: cui, ut supra dictum est, vice nostra cuncta committimus_. And Pope _Caelestine_, in his decretal Epistle to the Bishops thro'out _Illyric.u.m_, saith: _Vicem nostram per vestram Provinciam noveritis_ [Rufo] _esse commissam, ita ut ad eum, fratres carissimi, quicquid de causis agitur, referatur. Sine ejus consilio nullus ordinetur.

Nullus usurpet, eodem inconscio, commissam illi Provinciam; colligere nisi c.u.m ejus voluntate Episcopus non praesumat_. And in the cause of _Perigenes_, in the t.i.tle of his Epistle, he thus enumerates the Provinces under this Bishop: _Rufo & caeteris Episcopis per Macedoniam, Achaiam, Thessaliam, Epirum veterem, Epirum novam, Praevalin, & Daciam const.i.tutis_.

And Pope _Xistus_ in a decretal Epistle to the same Bishops: _Illyricanae omnes Ecclesiae, ut a decessoribus nostris recepimus, & nos quoque fecimus, ad curam nunc pertinent Thessalonicensis Antist.i.tis, ut sua sollicitudine, siquae inter fratres nascantur, ut a.s.solent, actiones distinguat atque definiat; & ad eum, quicquid a singulis sacerdotibus agitur, referatur. Sit Concilium, quotiens causae fuerint, quotiens ille pro necessitatum emergentium ratione decreverit_. And Pope _Leo_ I. in his decretal Epistle to _Anastasius_ Bishop of _Thessalonica_: _Singulis autem Metropolitanis sicut potestas ista committ.i.tur, ut in suis Provinciis jus habeant ordinandi; ita eos Metropolitanos a te volumus ordinari; maturo tamen & decocto judicio_.

_Occidental Illyric.u.m_ comprehended _Pannonia prima_ and _secunda_, _Savia_, _Dalmatia_, _Noric.u.m mediterraneum_, and _Noric.u.m ripense_; and its Metropolis was _Sirmium_, till _Attila_ destroyed this city. Afterwards _Laureac.u.m_ became the Metropolis of _Noric.u.m_ and both _Pannonias_, and _Salona_ the Metropolis of _Dalmatia_. Now [5] the Bishops of _Laureac.u.m_ and _Salona_ received the _Pallium_ from the Pope: and _Zosimus_, in his decretal Epistle to _Hesychius_ Bishop of _Salona_, directed him to denounce the Apostolic decrees as well to the Bishops of his own, as to those of the neighbouring Provinces. The subjection of these Provinces to the See of _Rome_ seems to have begun in _Anemius_, who was ordained Bishop of _Sirmium_ by _Ambrose_ Bishop of _Millain_, and who in the Council of _Aquileia_ under Pope _Damasus_, A.C. 381, declared his sentence in these words: _Caput Illyrici non nisi civitas Sirmiensis: Ego igitur illius civitatis Episcopus sum. Eum qui non confitetur filium Dei aeternum, & coeternum patri, qui est sempiternus, anathema dico_. The next year _Anemius_ and _Ambrose_, with _Valerian_ Bishop of _Aquileia_, _Acholias_ Bishop of _Thessalonica,_ and many others, went to the Council of _Rome_, which met for overruling the _Greek_ Church by majority of votes, and exalting the authority of the Apostolic See, as was attempted before in the Council of _Sardica_.

_Aquileia_ was the second city of the _Western Empire_, and by some called the second _Rome_. It was the Metropolis of _Istria_, _Forum Julium_, and _Venetia_; and its subjection to the See of _Rome_ is manifest by the decretal Epistle of _Leo_ I. directed to _Nicetas_ Bishop of this city; for the Pope begins his Epistle thus: _Regressus ad nos filius meus Adeodatus Diaconus Sedis nostrae, dilectionem tuam poposcisse memorat, ut de his a n.o.bis authoritatem Apostolicae Sedis acciperes, quae quidem magnam difficultatem dijudicationis videntur afferre_. Then he sets down an answer to the questions proposed by _Nicetas_, and concludes thus: _Hanc autem Epistolam nostram, quam ad consultationem tuae fraternitatis emisimus, ad omnes fratres & comprovinciales tuos Episcopos facies pervenire, ut in omnium observantia, data profit authoritas. Data 1-2 Kal. Apr. Majorano Aug. Cos._ A.C. 458. _Gregory_ the great A.C. 591, [6] cited _Severus_ Bishop of _Aquileia_ to appear before him in judgment in a Council at _Rome_.

The Bishops of _Aquileia_ and _Millain_ created one another, and therefore were of equal authority, and alike subject to the See of _Rome_. Pope _Pelagius_ about the year 557, testified this in the following words: [7]

_Mos antiquus fuit_, saith he, _ut quia pro longinquitate vel difficultate itineris, ab Apostolico illis onerosum fuerit ordinari, ipsi se invicem Mediolanensis & Aquileiensis ordinare Episcopos debuissent_. These words imply that the ordination of these two Bishops belonged to the See of _Rome_. When _Laurentius_ Bishop of _Millain_ had excommunicated _Magnus_, one of his Presbyters, and was dead, [8] _Gregory_ the great absolved _Magnus_, and sent the _Pallium_ to the new elected Bishop _Constantius_; whom the next year [9] he reprehended of partiality in judging _Fortunatus_, and commanded him to send _Fortunatus_ to _Rome_ to be judged there: four years after [10] he appointed the Bishops of _Millain_ and _Ravenna_ to hear the cause of one _Maximus_; and two years after, viz.

A.C. 601, when _Constantius_ was dead, and the people of _Millain_ had elected _Deusdedit_ his successor, and the _Lombards_ had elected another, [11] _Gregory_ wrote to the Notary, Clergy, and People of _Millain_, that by the authority of his Letters _Deusdedit_ should be ordained, and that he whom the _Lombards_ had ordained was an unworthy successor of _Ambrose_: whence I gather, that the Church of _Millain_ had continued in this state of subordination to the See of _Rome_ ever since the days of _Ambrose_; for _Ambrose_ himself acknowledged the authority of that See. _Ecclesia Romana_, [12] saith he, _hanc consuetudinem non habet, cujus typum in omnibus sequimur, & formam_. And a little after: _In omnibus cupio sequi Ecclesiam Romanam_. And in his Commentary upon 1 _Tim_. iii. _c.u.m totus mundus Dei sit, tamen domus ejus Ecclesia dicitur, cujus hodie rector est Damasus_. In his Oration on the death of his brother _Satyrus_, he relates how his brother coming to a certain city of _Sardinia_, _advocavit Episcopum loci, percontatusque est ex eo utrum c.u.m Episcopis Catholicis hoc est c.u.m Romana Ecclesia conveniret?_ And in conjunction with the Synod of _Aquileia_ A.C. 381, in a synodical Epistle to the Emperor _Gratian_, he saith: _Totius...o...b..s Romani caput Romanam Ecclesiam, atque illam sacrosanctam Apostolorum fidem, ne turbari sineret, obsecranda fuit clementia vestra; inde enim in omnes venerandae communionis jura dimanant_.

The Churches therefore of _Aquileia_ and _Millain_ were subject to the See of _Rome_ from the days of the Emperor _Gratian_. _Auxentius_ the predecessor of _Ambrose_ was not subject to the see of _Rome_, and consequently the subjection of the Church of _Millain_ began in _Ambrose_.

This Diocese of _Millain_ contained _Liguria_ with _Insubria_, the _Alpes Cottiae_ and _Rhaetia_; and was divided from the Diocese of _Aquileia_ by the river _Addua_. In the year 844, the Bishop of _Millain_ broke off from the See of _Rome_, and continued in this separation about 200 years, as is thus related by [13] _Sigonius_: _Eodem anno Angilbertus Mediolanensis Archiepiscopus ab Ecclesia Romana parum comperta de causa descivit, tantumque exemplo in posterum valuit, ut non nisi post ducentos annos Ecclesia Mediolanensis ad Romanae obedientiam auctoritatemque redierit_.

The Bishop of _Ravenna_, the Metropolis of _Flaminia_ and _aemilia_, was also subject to the Pope: for _Zosimus_, A.C. 417, excommunicated some of the Presbyters of that Church, and wrote a commonitory Epistle about them to the Clergy of that Church as a branch of the _Roman_ Church: _In sua_, saith he, _hoc est, in Ecclesia nostra Romana_. When those of _Ravenna_, having elected a new Bishop, gave notice thereof to Pope _Sixtus_, the Pope set him aside, and [14] ordained _Peter Chrysologus_ in his room.

_Chrysologus_ in his Epistle to _Eutyches_, extant in the Acts of the Council of _Chalcedon_, wrote thus: _Nos pro studio pacis & fidei, extra consensum Romanae civitatis Episcopi, causas fidei audire non possumus_.

Pope _Leo_ I. being consulted by _Leo_ Bishop of _Ravenna_ about some questions, answered him by a decretal Epistle A.C. 451. And Pope _Gregory_ the great, [15] reprehending _John_ Bishop of _Ravenna_ about the use of the _Pallium_, tells him of a Precept of one of his Predecessors, Pope _John_, commanding that all the Privileges formerly granted to the Bishop and Church of _Ravenna_ should be kept: to this _John_ returned a submissive answer; and after his death Pope _Gregory_ ordered a visitation of the Church of _Ravenna_, confirmed the privileges heretofore granted them, and sent his _Pallium_, as of antient custom, to their new Bishop _Marinian_. Yet this Church revolted sometimes from the Church of _Rome_, but returned again to its obedience.

The rest of _Italy_, with the Islands adjacent, containing the _suburbicarian_ regions, or ten Provinces under the temporal Vicar of _Rome, viz._ 1_Campania_, 2_Tuscia_ and _Umbria_, 3_Picenum suburbicarium_, 4_Sicily_, 5_Apulia_ and _Calabria_, 6_Brutii_ and _Lucania_, 7_Samnium_, 8_Sardinia_, 9_Corsica_, and 10_Valeria_, const.i.tuted the proper Province of the Bishop of _Rome_. For the Council of _Nice_ in their fifth Canon ordained that Councils should be held every spring and autumn in every Province; and according to this Canon, the Bishops of this Province met at _Rome_ every half year. In this sense Pope _Leo_ I. applied this Canon to _Rome_, in a decretal Epistle to the Bishops of _Sicily_, written _Alippio & Ardabure Coss_. A.C. 447. _Quia saluberrime_, saith he, _a sanctis patribus const.i.tutum est, binos in annis singulis Episcoporum debere esse conventus, terni semper ex vobis ad diem tertium Kalendarum Octobrium Romam aeterno concilio sociandi occurrant. Et indissimulanter a vobis haec consuetudo servetur, quoniam adjuvante Dei gratia, facilius poterit provideri, ut in Ecclesiis Christi nulla scandala, nulli nascantur errores; c.u.m coram Apostolo Petro semper in communione tractatum fuerit, ut omnia Canonum Decreta apud omnes Domini sacerdotes inviolata permaneant_. The Province of _Rome_ therefore comprehended _Sicily_, with so much of _Italy_ and the neighbouring Islands as sent Bishops to the annual Councils of _Rome_; but extended not into the Provinces of _Ravenna_, _Aquileia_, _Millain_, _Arles_, &c. those Provinces having Councils of their own. The Bishops in every Province of the _Roman_ Empire were convened in Council by the Metropolitan or Bishop of the head city of the Province, and this Bishop presided in that Council: but the Bishop of _Rome_ did not only preside in his own Council of the Bishops of the _suburbicarian_ regions, but also gave Orders to the Metropolitans of all the other Provinces in the _Western Empire_, as their universal governor; as may be further perceived by the following instances.

Pope _Zosimus_ A.C. 417, cited _Proculus_ Bishop of _Ma.r.s.eilles_ to appear before a Council at _Rome_ for illegitimate Ordinations; and condemned him, as he mentions in several of his Epistles. Pope _Boniface_ I. A.C. 419, upon a complaint of the Clergy of _Valentia_ against _Maximus_ a Bishop, summoned the Bishops of all _Gallia_ and the seven Provinces to convene in a Council against him; and saith in his Epistle, that his Predecessors had done the like. Pope _Leo_ I. called a general Council of all the Provinces of _Spain_ to meet in _Gallaecia_ against the _Manichees_ and _Priscillianists_, as he says in his decretal Epistle to _Turribius_ a _Spanish_ Bishop. And in one of his decretal Epistles to _Nicetas_ Bishop of _Aquileia_, he commands him to call a Council of the Bishops of that Province against the _Pelagians_, which might ratify all the Synodal Decrees which had been already ratified by the See of _Rome_ against this heresy. And in his decretal Epistle to _Anastasius_ Bishop of _Thessalonica_, he ordained that Bishop should hold two Provincial Councils every year, and refer the harder causes to the See of _Rome_: and if upon any extraordinary occasion it should be necessary to call a Council, he should not be troublesom to the Bishops under him, but content himself with two Bishops out of every Province, and not detain them above fifteen days.

In the same Epistle he describes the form of Church-Government then set up, to consist in a subordination of all the Churches to the See of _Rome_: _De qua forma_, saith he, _Episcoporum quoque est orta distinctio, & magna dispositione provisum est ne omnes sibi omnia vindicarent, sed essent in singulis Provinciis singuli quorum inter fratres haberetur prima sententia, & rursus quidam in majoribus urbibus const.i.tuti sollicitudinem sumerent ampliorem, per quos ad unam Petri Sedem universalis Ecclesiae cura conflueret, & nihil usque a suo capite dissideret. Qui ergo scit se quibusdam esse praepositum, non moleste ferat aliquem sibi esse praepositum; sed obedientiam quam exigit etiam ipse dependat; et sicut non vult gravis oneris sarcinam ferre, ita non audeat aliis importabile pondus imponere_.

These words sufficiently shew the monarchical form of government then set up in the Churches of the _Western Empire_ under the Bishop of _Rome_, by means of the imperial Decree of _Gratian_, and the appeals and decretal Epistles grounded thereupon.

The same Pope _Leo_, having in a Council at _Rome_ pa.s.sed sentence upon _Hilary_ Bishop of _Arles_, for what he had done by a Provincial Council in _Gallia_, took occasion from thence to procure the following Edict from the _Western_ Emperor _Valentinian_ III. for the more absolute establis.h.i.+ng the authority of his See over all the Churches of the _Western Empire_.

_Impp. Theodosius & Valentinia.n.u.s AA. Aetio Viro ill.u.s.tri, Comiti & Magistro utriusque militiae & Patricio._

_Certum est & n.o.bis & imperio nostro unic.u.m esse praesidium in supernae Divinitatis favore, ad quem promerendum praecipue Christiana fides & veneranda n.o.bis religio suffragatur. c.u.m igitur Sedis Apostolicae Primatum sancti Petri meritum, qui princeps est Episcopalis coronae & Romanae dignitas civitatis, sacrae etiam Synodi firmavit auctoritas: ne quid praeter auctoritatem Sedis istius illicitum praesumptio attemperare nitatur: tunc enim demum Ecclesiarum pax ubique servabitur, si Rectorem suum agnoscat Universitas. Haec c.u.m hactenus inviolabiliter suerint custodita, Hilarius Arelatensis, sicut venerabilis viri Leonis Romani Papae fideli relatione comperimus, contumaci ausu illicita quaedam praesumenda tentavit, & ideo Transalpinas Ecclesias abominabilis tumultus invasit, quod recens maxime testatur exemplum. Hilarius enim qui Episcopus Arelatensis vocatur, Ecclesiae Romanae urbis inconsulto Pontifice indebitas sibi ordinationes Episcoporum sola temeritate usurpans invasit. Nam alios incompetenter removit; indecenter alios, invitis & repugnantibus civibus, ordinavit. Qui quidem, quoniam non facile ab his qui non elegerant, recipiebantur, manum sibi contrahebat armatam, & claustra murorum in hostilem morem vel obsidione cingebat, vel aggressione reserabat, & ad sedem quietis pacem praedicaturus per bella ducebat: His talibus contra Imperii majestatem, & contra reverentiam Apostolicae Sedis admissis, per ordinem religiosi viri Urbis Papae cognitione discussis, certa in eum, ex his quos male ordinaverat, lata sententia est. Erat quidem ipsa sententia per Gallias etiam sine Imperiali Sanctione valitura: quid enim Pontificis auctoritate non liceret? Sed nostram quoque praeceptionem haec ratio provocavit. Nec ulterius vel Hilario, quem adhuc Episcopum nuncupare sola mansueta Praesulis permitt.i.t humanitas, nec cuiquam alteri ecclesiasticis rebus arma miscere, aut praeceptis Romani Antist.i.tis liceat obviare: ausibus enim talibus fides & reverentia nostri violatur Imperii. Nec hoc solum, quod est maximi criminis, submovemus: verum ne levis saltem inter Ecclesias turba nascatur, vel in aliquo minui religionis disciplina videatur, hoc perenni sanctione discernimus; nequid tam Episcopis Gallicanis quam aliarum Provinciarum contra consuetudinem veterem liceat, sine viri venerabilis Papae Urbis aeternae auctoritate, tentare. Sed illis omnibusque pro lege sit, quicquid sanxit vel sanxerit Apostolicae Sedis auctoritas: ita ut quisquis Episcoporum ad judicium Romani Antist.i.tis evocatus venire neglexerit, per Moderatorem ejusdem Provinciae adesse cogatur, per omnia servatis quae Divi parentes nostri Romanae Ecclesiae detulerunt, Aeti pater carissime Augusti.

Unde ill.u.s.tris & praeclara magnificentia tua praesentis Edictalis Legis auctoritate faciet quae sunt superius statuta servari, decem librarum auri multa protinus exigenda ab unoquoque Judice qui pa.s.sus fuerit praecepta nostra violari. Divinitas te servet per multos annos, parens carissime.

Dat. _viii._ Id. Jun. Romae, Valentiniano A. _vi._ Consule_, A.C. 445. By this Edict the Emperor _Valentinian_ enjoined an absolute obedience to the will of the Bishop of _Rome_ thro'out all the Churches of his Empire; and declares, that for the Bishops to attempt any thing without the Pope's authority is contrary to antient custom, and that the Bishops summoned to appear before his judicature must be carried thither by the Governor of the Province; and he ascribes these privileges of the See of _Rome_ to the concessions of his dead Ancestors, that is, to the Edict of _Gratian_ and _Valentinian_ II. as above: by which reckoning this dominion of the Church of _Rome_ was now of 66 years standing: and if in all this time it had not been sufficiently established, this new Edict was enough to settle it beyond all question thro'out the _Western Empire_.

Hence all the Bishops of the Province of _Arles_ in their Letter to Pope _Leo_, A.C. 450, pet.i.tioning for a rest.i.tution of the privileges of their Metropolitan, say: _Per beatum Petrum Apostolorum principem, sacrosancta Ecclesia Romana tenebat supra omnes totius mundi Ecclesias princ.i.p.atum_.

And _Ceratius_, _Salonius_ and _Vera.n.u.s_, three Bishops of _Gallia_, say, in their Epistle to the same Pope: _Magna praeterea & ineffabili quadam nos peculiares tui gratulatione succrescimus, quod illa specialis doctrinae vestrae pagina ita per omnium Ecclesiarum conventicula celebratur, ut vere consona omnium sententia declaretur; merito illic princ.i.p.atum Sedis Apostolicae const.i.tutum, unde adhuc Apostolici spiritus oracula reserentur_.

And _Leo_ himself, in [16] his Epistle to the metropolitan Bishops thro'out _Illyric.u.m_: _Quia per omnes Ecclesias cura nostra distenditur, exigente hoc a n.o.bis Domino, qui Apostolicae dignitatis beatissimo Apostolo Petro primatum, fidei sui remuneratione commisit, universalem Ecclesiam in fundamenti ipsius soliditate const.i.tuens_.

While this Ecclesiastical Dominion was rising up, the northern barbarous nations invaded the _Western Empire_, and founded several kingdoms therein, of different religions from the Church of _Rome_. But these kingdoms by degrees embraced the _Roman_ faith, and at the same time submitted to the Pope's authority. The _Franks_ in _Gaul_ submitted in the end of the fifth Century, the _Goths_ in _Spain_ in the end of the sixth; and the _Lombards_ in _Italy_ were conquered by _Charles_ the great A.C. 774. Between the years 775 and 794, the same _Charles_ extended the Pope's authority over all _Germany_ and _Hungary_ as far as the river _Theysse_ and the _Baltic_ sea; he then set him above all human judicature, and at the same time a.s.sisted him in subduing the City and Duchy of _Rome_. By the conversion of the ten kingdoms to the _Roman_ religion, the Pope only enlarged his spiritual dominion, but did not yet rise up as a horn of the Beast. It was his temporal dominion which made him one of the horns: and this dominion he acquired in the latter half of the eighth century, by subduing three of the former horns as above. And now being arrived at a temporal dominion, and a power above all human judicature, he reigned [17] _with a look more stout than his fellows_, and [18] _times and laws were_ henceforward _given into his hands, for a time times and half a time_, or three times and an half; that is, for 1260 solar years, reckoning a time for a Calendar year of 360 days, and a day for a solar year. After which [19] _the judgment is to sit, and they shall take away his dominion_, not at once, but by degrees, _to consume, and to destroy it unto the end. [20] And the kingdom and dominion, and greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall_, by degrees, _be given unto the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him_.

Notes to Chap. VIII.

[1] _See the Annals of _Baronius__, Anno 381. Sect. 6.

[2] Populos Galliciae.

[3] Hormisd. Epist. 24. 26.

[4] _The words, _sine auctoritate_, seem wanting._

[5] Vide Caroli a S. Paulo Geographiam sacram, p. 72, 73.

[6] Greg. M. lib. 1. Indic. 9. Epist. 16.

[7] Apud Gratianum de Mediolanensi & Aquileiensi Episcopis.

[8] Greg. M. lib. 3. Epist. 26. & lib. 4. Epist. 1.

[9] Greg. lib. 5. Epist. 4.

[10] Greg. lib. 9. Epist. 10 & 67.

[11] Greg. lib. 11. Epist. 3, 4.

[12] Ambros l. 3. de sacramentis, c. 1.

[13] Sigonius de Regno Italiae, lib. 5.

[14] _See _Baronius__, Anno 433. Sect. 24.

[15] Greg. M. lib. 3. Epist. 56, 57. & lib. 5. Epist. 25, 26, 56.

[16] Epist. 25. apud Holstenium.

[17] Dan. vii. 20.

[18] Ver. 25.

[19] Ver. 26.

[20] Ver. 27.

CHAP. IX.

_Of the kingdoms represented in _Daniel_ by the Ram and He-Goat_.

The second and third Empires, represented by the Bear and Leopard, are again represented by the Ram and He-Goat; but with this difference, that the Ram represents the kingdoms of the _Medes_ and _Persians_ from the beginning of the four Empires, and the Goat represents the kingdom of the _Greeks_ to the end of them. By this means, under the type of the Ram and He-Goat, the times of all the four Empires are again described: _I lifted up mine eyes_, saith [1] _Daniel_, _and saw_, _and behold there stood before the river_ [Ulai] _a Ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher came up last.--And the Ram having two horns, are the kings of _Media_ and _Persia__: not two persons but two kingdoms, the kingdoms of _Media_ and _Persia_; and the kingdom of _Persia_ was the higher horn and came up last. The kingdom of _Persia_ rose up, when _Cyrus_ having newly conquered _Babylon_, revolted from _Darius_ King of the _Medes_, and beat him at _Pasargadae_, and set up the _Persians_ above the _Medes_. This was the horn which came up last. And the horn which came up first was the kingdom of the _Medes_, from the time that _Cyaxares_ and _Nebuchadnezzar_ overthrew _Nineveh_, and shared the Empire of the _a.s.syrians_ between them. The Empires of _Media_ and _Babylon_ were contemporary, and rose up together by the fall of the _a.s.syrian_ Empire; and the Prophecy of the four Beasts begins with one of them, and that of the Ram and He-Goat with the other. As the Ram represents the kingdom of _Media_ and _Persia_ from the beginning of the four Empires; so the He-Goat represents the Empire of the _Greeks_ to the end of those Monarchies. In the reign of his great horn, and of the four horns which succeeded it, he represents this Empire during the reign of the Leopard: and in the reign of his little horn, which stood up in the latter time of the kingdom of the four, and after their fall became mighty but not by his own power, he represents it during the reign of the fourth Beast.

_The rough Goat_, saith _Daniel, is the King of_ Grecia, that is, the kingdom; _and the great horn between his eyes is the first King_: not the first Monarch, but the first kingdom, that which lasted during the reign of _Alexander_ the great, and his brother _Aridaeus_ and two young sons, _Alexander_ and _Hercules_. [2] _Now that_ [horn] _being broken off, whereas four_ [horns] _stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation_ [of the _Greeks_], _but not in his_ [the first horn's] _power_.