the Congregations that joyned with them were the true Churches of Christ and all the rest were Apostates Gaudentius one of their Faction undertook to maintain That the Article of the Catholick Church was Figmentum humanum an Invention of Man and not agreeable to the Ordinance of Christ And Donatus who gave the Name to the Faction used all diligence to gain the face and reputation of a Church to the separated Brethren to which end he teacheth it to be necessary that they who were admitted to their Communion should make a Publick confession of their Errors and submitting themselves to the Discipline of their new pastors should be rebaptized for by these means he knew he should secure as many as came to his communion without any fear of their return to the Catholick Church And to the Sacrament of Baptism they added Exorcisme which is still retained in the Church of Rome in this form of words Maledicte exi foras Come forth thou wicked Spirit whereby as Optatus observes they did blaspheme the blessed Trinity in whose Name they had been formerly baptized The Catholick Bishops are not remiss in the Vindication of Cecilian but prevailed with Zenophilus a Man of Consular dignity to take cognizance of the difference between Cecilian and Majorinus and in the inquiry to the merits of the cause it was affirmed by one Nundinarius a Deacon who was sometime privy to the transactions of that Party that most of those who opposed Cecilian were Traditors and particularly that Sylvanus whom they made Bishop of Cirta had betrayed the Holy Scriptures and some Ornaments of his Church and sacrilegiously with-held what was devoted to the use of the Poor For the truth whereof he appealed to the Bishops and Presbyters of his own Party who knew the certainty of the particulars and of a great Summe of Mony Quadringinta folles Baronius Vol. 3. P. 352. each Follis weighing three Pound and half of Silver sent by Lucilla and divided among the chief of that Party to condemn Cecilian and to advance Majorinus into his Chair And that Victor who had been by Occupation a â—uller gave Twenty Folles to be ordained a Priest and all this Nundinarius affirmed to be true as in the presence of Christ and his holy Angels And thus the Schisme is begun by erecting Altare contra Altare a Presbyter or Mock-bishop against Cecilian the lawful Bishop of Carthage But the first Invader of this Holy Office was short-lived for about the Year 306. Majorinus the Mock-bishop dyed and none is thought so fit to succeed him as Donatus who hence-forth gives the Denomination to the Schisme which was no longer Pars Majorini but Pars Donati for as much as in him lay he did not only re-baptize particular Persons but the whole Church which was no longer known by the appellation of Christian or Catholick but Donatist and now he takes on him a power to silence and depose the Catholick Bishops and Presbyters or to impose such Penance on them as he thought fit and to prevent any prejudice that might arise to his Party by the restimony pf Nundinarius which was by Zenophilus certified to the Emperor he is resolved to complain first and to cast the Odium of the Schisme and all the sad consequences thereof upon Cecilian whom he accuseth to be a Traditor and contrary to the custome of the Church desireth transmarine Bishops to be appointed Judges in the case The Petition was to this effect Rogamus te O Constantine we intreat thee O Constantine most gracious Emperor whose Father never exercised Persecution that your Piety would appoint us Judges from France because that Country is free from this dissention This Petition was subscribed by Lucianus Dignus Nassutius Capito Fidentius and the other Bishops of the Party of Donatus The good Emperor was much grieved to hear of these differences which he had rather might have been determined among themselves than be brought to his Court where were many Heathen that would rejoyce at them or to trouble Foreign Churches with them However he grants their desire and appoints Marinus Maternus and Rheticius three Bishops of France to whom he adjoyneth the Bishop of Rome to determine the cause And sendeth his Epistle to Meltiades Bishop of Rome which is recorded by Eusebius l. 10. c. 5. The Epistle is as followeth Whereas I have received from Anilinus Lieutenant of Africa many Letters signifying that Cecilian Bishop of Carthage is accused by divers of his Colleagues It being grievous to me that there should be dissention among the Bishops before the People who are so prone to evil It seemeth good to me that Cecilian himself with Ten of his Accusers and Ten others whom he shall choose on his behalf do Sail to Rome where I have appointed Meltiades Bishop of Rome together with Rheticius Marinus and Maternus Bishops of France to hear and judge of the differences in question You cannot be ignorant that I would have you suffer no Schisme in any part of the Church The Great God preserve you These Bishops met at Rome in the House of Fausta in the Laterane Meltiades took to his Assistance Fifteen Italian Bishops to assist for the expedition of the cause These with great deliberation heard all that was objected against Cecilian Donatus himself being present The Bishops also agreed to take publick Notaries for the more orderly and speedy dispatch that the examinations and proofs in this cause might be reduced into publick Acts. The first thing that was inquired was who were the Accusers and what Witnesses were present to give Evidence against Cecilian To which the Party of Donatus answered that their Accusation was contained in the Libels which they had presented to the Emperor and by him were transmitted to them which they desired might be read One of the Libels was superscribed thus Libellus Ecclesiae Catholicae c. A Libel of the Catholick Church so they called their Faction containing the Crimes whereof Cecilian is accused What was contained in the Libel is not particularly mentioned by any Author nor are Ecclesiastical Writers agreed concerning the charge then in question Those who in this last Century have defended the Authority of the Pope say that nothing came in question besides the grounds of the Schisme on pretence that Cecilian himself was a Traditor And hereby they hope to avoid the Appeal which was made from the sentence of the Pope to the Emperor because say they the questions discussed afterward in the Council of Arles were of a divers nature from those at Rome but of this hereafter It is very probable that the Donatists had stuffed their Libel with more than a single accusation some particulars whereof I shall give an account The Libel being read it was demanded who were Cecilian's Accusers They answered the People of Carthage It was replyed that the Voice of the People assembled in a tumultuary manner was not a sufficient ground to condemn any and therefore the Bishops ordered
during the Conference and intreats them to direct their discourse to the causes and grounds of the difference which was between them But the Donatists who as St. Augustine observes Contra Emeritum hoc unum agebant ut nil ageretur make use of all possible cavils and subterfuges as if the chief business that they had to do were to take care that nothing might be done and to return with as much Pride and Pomp as they came First therefore they object that the time appointed was elapsed then that there was no certain Date to the Imperial Edict because the Names of the Consuls were not inserted These being answered they desire to know who procured the Edict for that Meeting that the Names of the Legates and their Petition might be read tacitely reflecting upon the Catholicks saith St. Augustine for referring the cause of the Church to the Emperor To this it was answered that the Catholicks who confessed that they procured it had done no other than they themselves appealing from the Sentence of Meltiades in the case of Cecilian unto the Emperor Constantine Then they begin to reflect on the Persons of Felix and Cecilian and having almost tired Marcellinus to keep them from impertinencies repetitions and evasions he brought them at last to the merits of the cause But Quid dignum tanto I know not any thing that may raise greater admiration than to consider what trifles and apples of contention like the forbidden fruit ingaged all Africa in such desperate fewds as made it an Aceldama for blood-shed and slaughters and imployed so many Emperors Bishops and Councils for more than an Hundred Years together without any considerable effect For when the differences and causes of that confusion came to be considered in this Conference we do not hear that the Donatists could plead in justification of their Schisme that their supposed Enemies did deny God or Christ or the Resurrection or did actually persecute them or that they did with pride and contempt deny to admit them to their Communion nor did the Catholicks charge the Donatists with Apostasie from the Faith and denying Fundamentals of Christianity We do not hear them urging as they might their rebaptizing and joyning with the Macedonians or Jews and Pagans against those whom they knew to be Orthodox Bishops They all professed an agreement in all such necessary points of Faith that it is strange how they could differ in any thing And yet the Donatists persecuted the Catholicks so cruelly as if they had not been agreed in any principle of Christianity Marcellinus having heard the whole Conference declared against the Donatists and charged the inferior Officers speedily to execute the Imperial Laws in seizing their Churches for the Catholicks scattering their Conventicles and confiscating their Meeting places which Edict the Emperors confirm and cause to be entred among the publick Acts. That which was pretended by the Donatists as the ground of the Schism was that Cecilian who was Bishop of Carthage for almost 100. Years before was a Traditor that he and other Catholick Bishops had admitted lapsed Persons into their Communion whereby all their Churches were defiled and ought not to be communicated with Quia lapsi vel haeretici qui resipiscerent admittebantur Prosper de promiss praedict So I find the Question expresly stated by consent of both Parties Vtrum Ecclesia permixtos malos usque id finem habitura praedicta sit an omnion omnes bonos sanctos atque immaculatos ab hoc seculo usque in finem habitura sit Whether the Church of God according to the predictions concerning it were to consist of a mixture of good and evil or only of such as were holy and undefiled The Catholicks maintained the former from the predictions of the Prophets concerning the Universal extent of Christ's Kingdome from many Parables of our Saviour concerning his Church from the Commission he gave to his Apostles to Disciple all Nations from the event which succeeded upon the Apostles preaching the Conversion of all Nations from many Arguments used by St. Cyprian against the Novatians and lastly from their own practice in readmitting the Maximianists who had revolted from the Donatists and used another Baptism And most unreasonable it was to think that the wickedness of one Man should ruine the whole Church of Christ St. Aug. Epist 50. Nec peccavit Cecilianus haereditatem suam perdiâ—â— Christus Against this the Donatists urge that the same Prophets foretold that the Church of Christ should be Holy as well 〈◊〉 Catholick that Hierusalem was to be a Holâ— City the Spouse of Christ must be withouâ— spot a chast and undefiled Virgin To whicâ— St. Augustine replies Perfectio promissa non data that these things oughâ— to be endeavoured in the Church in thiâ— World but would never be effected untâ—â— Christ do come in the end of the World wheâ—â— he will thoroughly cleanse his Flowr gather the Wheat into his Garner and burn up the chaff with unquenchable Fire Then the Donatists begin to recriminate Mensurius and Cecilian that had been long dead To which it is presently answered That they were absolved by the Emperor and Councils of the Church then in being as did appear by most ancient Records which were ready to be produced and thereby also Donatâ—â— stood condemned But saith St. Augustine if those Bishops had been wicked the Church of God cannot be judged to have perished with them Whether they were good or bad they were our Brethren if we knew them to be evil we would joyn with you to condemn them but not to desert the Church of God because of them If Cecilian were good and innocent he hath the reward of his innocence and I rejoyce at it but I never placed my hope and faith in his innocence if he had been evil yet the Church thought fit to continue in his Communion and so do we Melius est per patientiam ferre malos quam per calumniam relinquere bonos St. Aug. in Colloq Carthag The several Arguments and Answers are too large to be here set down Upon the whole Marcellinus adjudged that the Donatists arguments and pretences were invalid their Schisme unjust their practices cruel and therefore he willed them to return to the Communion of the Church and live in peace and unity otherwise he would provide that the Imperial Laws should be executed upon them In the mean time he prevailed with them to subscribe the Records of the Conference which had been faithfully taken by the Notaries on both sides and so dismissed them After the Publication of this Conference and of the Emperor 's reinforcing the Laws for pecuniary Mulcts and Banishment against them some Thousands of the common People deserted them and returned to the Catholick Church and to their honest and lawful callings which they had long omitted as generally the Circumcellians did But the Donatist Bishops and Presbyters were for the most part obstinate and
them to produce some competent Witnesses to attest the accusation Whereupon Donatus produced some Persons whom he brought with him from Carthage to depose against Cecilian The Charge against him was high viz. That while Cecilian was a Deacon under Mensurius he was set by Mensurius near the Prison Doors where many Catholicks lay who were appointed to suffer Martyrdome and did by force Loris flagris Armatorum multitudine withstand such Friends as came to comfort and relieve them To this the Witnesses for Donatus being examined could say nothing on their Personal knowledge but only from the report of the People This Optatus urged against Parmenian p. 36. Nullis certis personis aut nominibus Traditores accusastis The second Article insisted on was That Cecilian was condemned by a Synod of 70. Bishops at Cirta who being all of them Neighbours to Carthage could not be ignorant of the matters of fact whereof they judged and that they judged that both Cecilian and Mensurius his Predecessor and Felix who ordained Cecilian were Traditors To which Cecilian replyed that he was condemned in that Assembly being absent and unheard That he could not without great hazard of his life appear among them who being his professed Enemies made themselves his Judges That many of them were corrupted by the Money of Lucilla to Vote against him and that generally they were such as had confessed themselves to have been Traditors but had absolved one another And also that he had received many threatning Messages from some of them especially from Purpurius Bishop of Limatia Lastly That they had long before held private Conferences among themselves how to destroy him as well as to depose him of which things he was advised by several Catholick People who were ready to attest the same and by their advice he did forbear to appear The next Article was that Felix who ordained Cecilian was a Traditor and so his Ordination was null But this the Bishops thought not fit to inquire into Felix not being present nor having been at any time convicted by any Ecclesiastical censure and so long he had a lawful Power of Ordination And as in the case of Baptisme the Catholâ—cks did not rebaptize such as had been baptized by the Donatists So they resolved in this case Canon 13. That Crimen Ordinantis non transiret in Ordinatum After this Donatus promised to produce other Witnesses against Cecilian which he never did for divers that came with him deserted him and returned to Carthage The Bishops therefore acquitted Cecilian in the Sentence recorded by Optatus Cum constiterit Cecilianum ab iis qui cum Donato venerunt juxta professionem suam non accusari nec à Donato convictum esse suae Ecclesiasticae Communioni integro statu retinendum merito esse censeo Then Cecilian accused Donatus for rebaptizing those that came to his Party from the Catholick Church and for abusing the Bishops and it appeared by proof and by Donatus his own confession that he had not only rebaptized many whom he seduced from the Catholick Church but also degraded the Bishops and Priests which Optatus expresseth by occidere Honores but also by a certain Ceremony of laying his Hands on their Heads and shaking them injoyned them to do severe Penance contrary to the priviledges and custome of the Church Hereupon they condemned Donatus and acquitting Cecilian received him into their Communion Of these proceedings Meltiades certifieth the Emperor but Donatus instead of acquiescing in the Sentence of these Bishops works secretly with Fuliminus a Proconsul to Mediate with the Emperor on a pretence of preserving peace Bono pacis that Cecilian might be confined a while at Brixia p. 44. Which being granted on that pretence Donatus hastneth to Africa and there boasteth of a Victory against Cecilian and gives out that he was imprisoned at Brixia Which as soon as Cecilian understood he gets leave to return to Carthage to undeceive the People and shortly after the Emperor sends two Bishops thither Eunomius and Olympius â—o assist in the establishing of one Bishop where the People were as yet divided by two These having tarried at Carthage Fifty Days and diligently inquired into the causes and grounds of the Schisme and finding that Donatus did Schismatically defend Altare contra Altare i. e. Bishop against Bishop they joyn in communion with Cecilian condemning Donatus and his Party But that hardy Man being not daunted by all these Sentences against him his Faction as well as his Spirit growing the greater for this opposition addresseth himself in another supplication to the Emperor complaining that Meltiades and his Colleagues at Rome being but a few and very partial for he reported that Meltiades himself was a Traditor did precipitate the Sentence not inquiring into the grounds of the difference and therefore he desired a more full Council might be called for a final determination of that controversieâ— Constantine is pleased of his clemency to appoint a more frequent Council at Arles Anâ—â— 314. Of which before I speak it may be material to inquire Whether the Donatists did Appeal from the Sentence of Meltiades and his Colleagues to the Emperor For if Meltiades was called to the determination of this Controversie by a delegated Power it will necessarily follow saith Albaspinaeus in the fourth Observation on Optatus that the Popes in those days were not Universal Pastors nor had the Supreme Authority of determining Ecclesiastical matters And the reason of the consequence is evident for he that submits to the command of another doth ipso facto confess that he is not Supreme nor will the Supreme Judge suffer his determinations to be rescinded by another Power Now it is not denied 1. That Meltiades did sit together with the other Bishops at the Emperor's command 2. And that Silvester his Successor did afterward send his Delegates into France by the same command 3. That the Emperor did appoint other Bishops to sit with Meltiades and Meltiades did joyn with them as coordinate which he would not have done if the Supreme Power had been his own 4. The Donatists did Appeal thinking themselves aggrieved from the Sentence of Meltiades and his Colleagues to the Emperor Optatus is so plain herein that Valesius de Schismate Donatistarum could find no other evasion but to say Optat. p. 44. that Optatus is corrupted in that place the words are Donatus appellandum esse ab Episcopis credidit but he saith less against the second Appeal from the Council of Arles to the Emperor where the Pope's Delegates being sent Silvester the present Pope being himself not able to be present did acknowledge that they were Voluntate Imperatoris adducti and Valesius grants that the Gallican Bishops did take place of the Delegates as appears by their Subscriptions 5. That the Emperor did understand it as an Appeal and acted accordingly for he did not only appoint such Judges as were desired but at last determined the case in his own
large confession of his Faith which he had learned à Catholico Hierarchâ i. e. from the Pope And the fourth Day after his Baptism He confirmed the Donation Wherein he granted that all the Clergy should honour the Bishop of Rome as their King whose Throne he exalted above his own giving him Imperial Dignity and Principality as well above the four Sees of Alexandria Antioch Hierusalem and Constantinople as above all other Churches He grants him also his Imperial Palace of the Lateran and taking a Crown of Gold set with precious Stones offered to put it on his Head but the good Pope as the story says refused that and desired only a white Coronet and to maintain his dignity he gave him not only his Palace but the City of Rome and all the Cities and Provinces of Italy Concedimus relinquimus we grant and yield up as the words are and thereupon the Emperor transfer'd his Court from Rome to Byzantium which he builded and called after his own name Constantinople and bound all his Successors under a Curse which was habeant Petrum Paulum sibi contrarios not to violate any part of this grant I think it not fit to tire my Readers patience to give a full Copy of all the Regalia given to the Pope the Lorum superhumerale quod Imperiale collum assolet circundare Chlamidem purpureum Tunicam coccineam omnia Imperialia Sceptra Signa Banna And how he appointed all Officers to attend the Pope as he was attended in his own Person and that the Clergy should be honoured after the same manner as the Senators of the Emperor were c. Doubtless Pincernus or some other that imposed on him wrote a History of the Pomp of the Court of Rome which he saw in the days of Pope Julius the Second and not of what was intended by Constantine for if that noble Emperor had given the Pope any of those Dominions he would not have left them to his Children and Successors who still had them in possession for many Hundred Years after all which time we hear nothing of the Pope's claim in the days of Constantius Valentinian Theodosius Arcadius Honorius c. Some of which were so pious that they would not have Usurped the Rights of the Church and by violating the Will of their Renowned Progenitor incur the Curse of God I have mentioned many Latine words in this Donation because from them which are of a later Date than the time of Constantine the Divines of the Reformed Churches have raised shrew'd suspicions of forgery to evade which the Romanists plead that these were to be imputed to the Translator who rendred it from the Greek but the Original if there be any is kept so secret in the Pope◠Archives that the greatest Favourites are not admitted to see it and doubtless if it had been published there would have been more objected against the Original than against the Translation For it is very unlikely that the grant should be made in an unknown Tongue for Eusebius says l. 3. de vitâ Const that at the Council of Nice the Bishop of Rome who was this very Bishop spake Latine And the Decrees and Epistles of Constantine were generally written in the Latine Tongue l. 10. c. 4. out of which Eusebius says he translated them into Greek when he inserted them into his History and it is strange that neither Eusebius who wrote the Life of Constantine nor any other Historian within some Centuries of Years should acquaint the World with this bounty of the Emperor Nor do they tell us of his Apostasie and Persecution of the Church nor of his Leprosie Cured at his Baptism which was not long before his Death and that not by Silvester at Rome but by Eusebius Bishop of Nicomedia in the 65. Year of his Age Silvester being dead about Five Years before See Eusebius de Vita Constantini l. 4. St. Hierome in his Chronicle Ruffinu◠l. 1. c. 11. Socrates l. 1. c. 39. And lastly it is strange that none of those Authors that have written the History of his Empire and Actions many of which I have consulted in compiling this his History should say any thing of his revolt to Idolatry but on the contrary do all agree in his constant care of the Church and defending it against Heresie and Schisme Especially considering his early institution in the Christian Faith and the many Victories which he obtained in the Name of Christ whom he was wont solemnly to invocate before his Battles as he did in the Fight with Maxentius in answer to whose Prayers there appeared in the Heavens to the view of all his Army the Sign of the Cross with this Motto 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and accordingly Maxentius was overthrown at the River Tiber wherein he and a great part of his Army perished And thereupon the Emperor did bear this Sign afterward in his Standard and stamped it on several Coins This shall suffice concerning that fable I return now to the History The Emperor as you have heard yielding to the Donatists importunity and to leave them without excuse appoints a Council to meet at Arles in France and being at that time as Baronius saith on the River Rhine intended to be present at it Accordingly he signified his pleasure to Silvester Bishop of Rome to Marinus Bishop of Arles and to Chrestus Bishop of Syracusa and generally to all the chief Bishops in his several Dominions that each of them taking to them two other Bishops whom they should choose should hasten to Arles The Number of the Bishops as St. August contra Parmen was Two Hundred some say 600. so Baronius from whom Dr. Heylen tells us that Restitutus Bishop of London was there present Marinus Bishop of Arles sate President though Fr. Baldwine contends that the Delegates of the Pope were President but Valesius and others of that Party confess that Marinus was and the Order of Subscriptions confirms it The time of Assembling being come the Emperor meets the Bishops and commanding off his Guards sets Himself in the midst of them and acquaints them that to satisfie the importunity of Donatus who complained of partiality in the Sentence at Rome where as he pretended a few Bishops having shut themselves up Causâ non satis cognita sententiam praecipitabant did precipitate judgment without inquiring into the merits of the cause He had called them to consult and determine of the differences that had miserably divided the Churches of Africa and setting before them the Proceedings in this cause at Rome he also adds the purgation of Felix who had ordained Cecilian which by the Emperor's care and direction was dispatched about four Moneths before by Aelian his Proconsul in Africa for the Donatists had alledged at Rome that Felix Bishop of Aptung was a Traditor and they pretended that this particular was not examined at Rome and that it was the opinion of the Church that the Ordination by Traditors was
things sacred and civil brought to confusion Non solum affinitates cognationes Domus verum etiam Vrbes Provinciae Nationes imo Vniversum Romanum Imperium funditus concussum emotum est And St. Hierome says All the Eastern Churches except Athanasius and Paulinus were corrupted Among the Bishops Eusebius Nicomediensis was a chief Defender of the Arian Heresie and Eusebius of Caesarea was tainted also for he refused for a while to subscribe the Anathema against them though the next Day he was better perswaded and did it But notwithstanding all the Learning and care used by this Council the Arians increased for Constantine dying his Son Constantius succeeded him in part of the Empire who being of the Arian perswasion did so countenance those Hereticks that many of the Catholick Bishops were banished and wandred up and down in remote Parts among whom Athanasius whom they wickedly called Sathanasius was forced to flee as far as Triers and there lay obscure several Years until the Storm was over Of which the good Leontius a Catholick Bishop did foretel when putting his hand on his gray Hairs he said When this Snow shall be melted much filth will be dissolved with it Multum Luti sequetur meaning great Persecution and Impiety would shortly befall the Church To these Hereticks the Donatists joyned themselves many of whom defended the same Opinions and they that did not yet agreed in the Persecution of the Catholicks as their common Enemy To this Heresie saith St. Augustine those who are called Circumcellians in Africa do belong De Haeres c. 69. And St. Hierome saith that Donatus wrote a Book De Spiritu Sancto agreeable to the Doctrine of the Arians For before Arius was well known Ebion and Cerinthus and Corpocrates while St. John lived troubled the Churches of Asia with the like Opinions against which St. John at the desire of those Churches wrote his Gospel to assert the Eternal Deity of our Saviour And Eusebius and others say that Origen was the Father of Arius for he taught That As much as the Apostles were inferior to Christ to much was Christ inferior to God and that the Son was not to be prayed unto with the Father seeing he was not the Author of granting our requests but onely a Supplicator or Mediator And among these Hereticks the Gloria Patri was altered which they used in this form Gloria Patri per Filium in Spiritu Sancto Glory be to the Father by the Son in the Holy Ghost To this Council we find that Cecilian was called as appears by his Subscription but none of the Donatists they being excluded from the Communion of the Catholick Church The Donatists taking occasion of these troubles abroad did with the more violence prosecute their good old cause at home and now they take the confidence to petition the Emperor Constantine to rescind and abrogate the Laws made against them And whereas some of them had been denied the liberty of exercising their Functions either publickly or privately and others banished for transgressing the Laws and inforced to return to secular imployments they urge that their banished may be recalled particularly that Silvanus one of their Bishops of whom we have spoken before might return He was banished upon the accusation of Nundinarius for selling the Ornaments of his Church but his Party reported that he was banished for refusing to communicate with Vrsacius and Zenophilus two Catholick Officers under the Emperor who as they said did persecute him This slander St. Augustine refuteth l. 3. contra Cresconium c. 30. where he shews that the cause of his banishment was not as they pretended for denying to communicate with the Catholicks only but Quia cum jam traditor fuit permanere haereticus voluit ut falsum honorem in parte Donati haberet qui habere in Catholicâ nullum potuit tam manifestis traditionis suae gestis publico judicio reseratis because being evidently proved a Traditor he would continue in the Schisme hoping to find a false honor among the Donatists who could have none among the Catholicks It hapned that this Vrsacius being imployed in the Emperor's Wars lost his life at whose Death the Donatists rejoyced as a token of Divine vengeance against a Capital Enemy of theirs I may not omit another clause of their Petition which was that they might enjoy Libertatem Arbitrii that is as Valesius c. 17. interprets it Liberty of Conscience but St. Augustine calls it more fitly Licentiam agendi a Licence to do what they pleased and that they might no more be constrained to communicate Antistiti ipsius i.e. Constantini Nebuloni with that Prelatical Knave of his Cecilian Colloq Carth. l. 3. c. 54. Brevic. August c. 21. Declaring that neither by threats nor promises they would be thereunto induced bus would rather suffer a Thousand Deaths These demands of theirs how insolent soever were proposed in such a juncture of time that the Emperor could noâ— deny them but grants what they desired leaving them to the Divine vengeance which had begun to be revenged on them The consideration of this restless temper of theirs puâ—â—â— St. Augustine into so great a passion that hâ— said Epistle 167. Puto quod Diabolus ipseâ— I think that if the Devil himself had been so often condemned by Judges of his own choosing he would not have been so impudent as to persist in such a cause Now that this indulgence was extorted from the Emperor may appear by his consolatory Epistle written to the Catholick Bishops which I shalâ— here insert from the Appendix to Optatus p. 287. You well know that I have endeavoured by all the Offices of humanity and moderation which either faith requireth oâ— prudence and purity would admit that the most holy peace of that fraternity wherewith the grace of God hath indued the hearts of his Servants might in all things be kept inviolate But for as much as our good endeavours have not been effectual to subdue that power of wickedness which adheres to the judgment of those who still rejoyce in the mischiefs which they have acted we must expect until by the mercy of Almighty God the malice of these Men which from a few hath infected many be again mitigated for from thence we must expect a remedy from whence every good work proceeds and until this heavenly Medicine be applyed our counsels are to be moderated that we may give an Honourable testimony of our patience and by the virtue of true tranquillity we may endure whatever their wonted insolence shall do or attempt For it is a folly to usurp that revenge which we ought to leave to God especially when by faith we ought to be confident notwithstanding all that the fury of such Men may cause us to suffer that God will esteem it as Martyrdom for what else is it at such a time as this to overcome in the Name of God and with a constant heart no endure the insolent affronts of
as the Donatists grieved for the death of Julian so they rejoyced at the Death of Honorius It were no difficult matter to transcribe many Laws made by the Christian Emperors against the Pagan Rites but it is not to my purpose and therefore I shall only trouble my Reader with that of St. Augustine Epistle 48. Quis nostrum quis vestrum non laudat leges ab Imperatoribus adversus sacrificia Pagana illius quippe impietatis Capitale supplicium est But at last we are told that though there were very severe Laws made against Hereticks and Schismaticks yet the Emperors never did nor intended to execute them So p. 80. Constantine saith he made Laws against Hereticks rather for shew and terror than for execution and so he tells us of Theodosius that he made a Law that the Sectarians should have no Assemblies nor make any profession of their faith nor ordain Bishops and Pastors and that some of them should be banished the City and Country others made infamous and have no publick Preferment and this he enacted with severe Penalties which yet saith â—he the Emperor did never inflict for he did not ordain these things with an intention to punish but to terrifie his Subjects that they might better agree in Religion This had been a very politick device to bring their Authority into contempt when the Imperial Laws like the Blocks of Wood cast down from Jupiter among the Frogs having made a little noise shall ever after lye still for every creeping thing to leap and insult over them If the courage and resolution of those Emperors or rather the opportunities for the execution of those Laws had been answerable to their prudence in making them they might in all probability have stopt that deluge of Christian blood which was poured forth in greater abundance through all Africa by the Donatists than by the Heathen Emperors And the Execution of those Laws with such moderation as the Catholicks did alway desire expressed in several Epistles of St. Augustine to Bonifacius Cecilianus and other of the Emperor's Officers had been as St. Augustine says Epistle 50. magna in eos misericordia as great an act of Charity to the Bodies and Souls of Christians and of Piety towards God as the Indulgence granted by Julian was an occasion of Impiety and Cruelty whereby he had almost destroyed Christianity by permitting Divisions among its Professors Nor were the Christian Emperors negligent in the execution of their Laws as far as the present necessities and iniquity of the Times would permit The Objector instanceth in the banishment of Arius and four or five more with him under Constantine p. 60. And of Eunomius under Theodosius for keeping Conventicles and I have given divers other instances If we may believe the complaints of the Donatists they were not only in terrorem they felt not only the Rod but the Sword too sometime which as the Scripture saith The Magistrate beareth not in vain You may hear them complain Quod eos Costantinus ad Campum i. e. ad Supplicium duci jussit l. 1. contra Parmen that they were in great Numbers exiled and had divers Punishments even unto Death inflicted on them And we read that St. Augustine and the Catholicks Epistle ad Bonifacium did often mediate with the Emperor's Officers that their Punishment might not be unto Death and yet they accuse the Catholicks as if they had been the cause of forming and sharpning the Instruments of Punishment against them such as the following Laws mentioned in the conclusion of this History Of their unjust Censures and Calumnies The Foundation of this Schisme was laid on the ruine of the reputation of Cecilian and the Catholicks in Communion with him whom they reported to be Traditors and Idolaters that they had nor Ministers nor Sacraments and their whole Worship was corrupted by Superstition and strange Images which were set upon their Altars As for St. Augustine he was a contentious Disputer and a perverter of Souls rather to be avoided than refuted or to be dealt with as a Wolf or a Beast of prey and accordingly they did lay many secret Snares to intrap and ruine Him It is evident that by the very act of separation they did condemn their Brethren as guilty of some heinous sins for which they refused to hold Communion with them and as much as in them lay excommunicated all the Churches of Africa as corrupted by Traditors and become Apostates They appealed from Meltiades not only as partial but as being himself a Traditor Nor was the Emperor free from their Calumny for they report him to have been misguided by Hosius the famous Bishop and other evil Counsellors Imperatorias aures pravis suggestionibus sufflatas whereof he was never more guilty than in yielding so far as he did to their importunity which he did to a good end Eorum perversitatibus cedens omnimodo cupiens tantam impudentiam cohibere being wearied by them and hoping by so many sentences against them he might for ever silence their impudent clamors Of Mensurius who preceded Cecilian they said that he was Tyranno saevior Carnifice crudelior more raging than a Tyrant and more cruel than a Hangman and that he had chosen Cecilian Opt. Append p. 291. as a fit instrument of his cruelty whereas Mensurius was well known to yield himself up to the pleasure of Dioclesian rather than to betray his Brother and of Cecilian's innocency you have heard sufficiently Nor did they deal thus only with the Clergy but with the Magistrates also Donatus writing to Gregorius a Prefect begins directly in the Language of our Quakers Gregori macula Senatus Dedecus Praefectorum Thou Gregory blot of the Senate and disgrace of the Prefects Opt. p. 64. This was not their common but their holy Language Profertis Evangelium facitis convitium their Preaching was little else besides Railing And as if their Preaching was not enough they did in perpetuam Reimemoriam fill their Libels and Writings with such unsavoury Language Nullus vestrum est qui non tractatibus suis convitia nostra miscet And this they did to maintain prejudice in the hearts of the People and to lay a scandal or stumbling-block in the way of such as might otherwise be brought over to a better Opinion of their lawful Pastors Auditorum animis infunditis odia inimicitias docendo suadetis Haec omnia dicendo contra nos scandala ponitis Optat. p. 78. And though there were many among the People of the Catholick Communion that lived unblameably among their Adversaries yet did they condemn them for remaining in the Faith and Communion of their Pastors as Petilian told St. Augustine to his face Qui fidem à perfido sumpserit non fidem sumpsit sed reatum August contra Petil l. 1. When Constans sent Paulus and Macarius to promote Unity and comfort the Catholicks that had been much vexed and injured by the Donatists they report that they were
come to advance Idolatry and Superstition that they had brought Images which they intended to set upon the Altars and would command the People to Worship them Whereas those Statues were sent rather as a token of the Emperor's favour it being a Custome of those Emperors to send their Effigies into those Countries under their Dominion to which they could not come in Person and the Christian Emperors had provided by their Edicts that Cultura excedens hominum dignitatem supremo numini reservaretur Onely a civil respect was to be yielded to them and Divine Worship to be reserved to God alone And the event proved them lyars for when those peace-makers came and communicated with the Catholicks Nil tale visum est nil viderunt Christiani Oculi quod horrerent There was no change or innovation in the Publick Worship but the same decency and order was observed as formerly and those Images proved to be onely imaginations of their own brains The Second Nicene Council calls these Images of the Emperor's Laurata Iconas which being sent to great Cities the People went out to meet them with Acclamations to the Emperor whom they did honour and not the painted Image Thus also they accused Marcellinus as if he had been corrupted by Bribes and Presents from the Catholicks to incline him to their Cause And Honorius the Emperor was said to be seduced by Evil Counsellors though he acted by the known Laws of his Ancestors And as to false accusations they gave such proof of their faculty in contriving them that St. Augustine at the Conference at Carthage hearing them contrary to evident truth to charge Felix and Mensurius for Traditors and to alledge that Optatus had written that Cecilian was condemned by Miltiades and that Constantine had imprisoned him at Brixia tells Cresconius that he wondred how the Donatists could have any Bloud in their Bodies and not blush at the mentioning of such things And as to St. Augustine's particular they gave him no other Character but of a contentious Sophister that was rather to be avoided than confused and to be dealt with as a Wolf upon no other provocation but because as St. Augustine said they had rather cover a bad cause with wicked slanders and excuses than to end it by fair disputations and inquiry after truth And this is the reason saith he that Cresconius Me fecit causam cum defecisset in Causa fell so foully on my Person when I had fairly overthrown his cause Leave off such subterfuges saith he I am but one Man It is the cause of the Church not my own that is now in question what my conversation is is known to those among whom I live we are now to inquire into the cause of the Church Optatus complained of the like Calumnies long before Nullus vestrum est Opt. p. 69. qui non suis tractatibus convitia nostra miscet lectiones Dominicas incipitis tractatus vestros ad injuriam nostram explicatis Profertis Evangelium facitis absenti fratri convitium idem p. 81. nec voluntatem bonam vis habere nec pacem They wrested and tortured the Scripture to make it speak against their Brethren There is not one of you that doth nor fill up his Sermons with slanders You begin to read the Scriptures and expound them to our injury and disgrace You have neither Peace nor Good will Turba gravis paci placidaeque inimica quieti Of their Cruelty What St. Cyprian Epistle 49. observed of Donatus was true of these In ipsa persecutione alia nostris persecutio fuit St. Augustine in the Psalm which he wrote against the Donatists saith more Quod persecutor non fecit ipsi fecerunt in pace They that were prodigal of their own Lives could not be sparing of other Mens No sooner did any of the People flie from the Catholicks to the Donatists but they were of another spirit clean contrary to what the Gospel inspires good Christians withall This made the Lyon as mild as the Lamb but among the Donatists not only Men but Women of Sheep became Wolves of faithful perfidious of patient furious of peaceable contentious and of modest impudent Optatus p. 99. says they were pragmatici crudeles busie and diligent in exercising Cruelty Episcopi vestri multas caedes propria manu perpetrarunt Many of their Bishops did with their own hands shed that Blood for the sparing of which Christ shed His. Under Constantine and other good Emperors they did not make such havock of the Churches as they would they were then awed by a greater Power Epist 48. But St. Augustine tells them Nulla bestia mansueta dicitur quod neminem mordet cum dentes ungues non habet The Lyon or the Bear do not lose their Natures when they lose their Liberty or their Pawes and Teeth and that their intentions were alway cruel their actions manifested as soon as they got liberty and their power was increased under Julian Quae caedes à vobis factae postquam Julianus Basilicas tradidit What Murthers did they not commit when Julian restored the Churches and gave them power They forced the Catholicks from their Habitations and Churches into the Mountains or into Places of strength and there assaulted them with as much fury as the most barbarous Enemy they slew the Bishops at the Altars and those Churches which Dioclesian had spared were by the Donatists razed to the ground they were Interfectores Prophetarum Murtherers of the Prophets and built Monuments to those that murthered them And this did animate them to slay the Catholicks with a rage that reached up to Heaven they were taught that they did God good service in it When Men think their Passions to be warranted from Heaven and that they act by a Commission from God they think themselves obliged by their greatest hopes and fears to act them to the highest as St. Paul did before his Conversion But such a furious zeal is without knowledge For the Wisdome that is from above is first Pure then Peaceable c. How far the Donatists were from this temper the many Massacres made by them do demonstrate it was a sport to them to shed Bloud for as Optatus says they did Vivum facere Homicidium make Men dye often starving some to death cutting off the Hands and Fingers of others putting out the Eyes of others with Lime and Vineger Deturbatos bonis dignitatibus Opt. p. 99. vivere in poenam quasi sibi ipsis superstites sinitis The very mercies of these wicked Men were cruel Yea they persecuted them after Death denying them Burial and exposing their dead Bodies to the Beasts and Fowls of the Ayr Vt terreatis vivos male tractatis mortuos negantes funeribus locum cum mortuis litigatis Clarius a Priest being ready to perform the solemnity accustomed at the Funerals in the Village of Subbulia was forbid by his Bishop who was a Donatist and so did insepultam