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 BR 1720 .G7 U6 1851 
 
 Ultimann, Carl, 1796-1865. 
 Gregory of Nazianzum 
 
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GREGORY OF NAZIANZUM. 
 
 ‘CO @EOAOTOS. 
 
 “THE DIVINE. 
 
 A CONTRIBUTION TO THE ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY 
 OF THE FOURTH CENTURY. 
 
 BY 
 
 DR. CARL ULLMANN, 
 
 PROFESSOR EXTRAORDINARY OF THEOLOGY AT HEIDELBERG, 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 GV. COR ME. 
 
 ESQUIRE-BEDEL IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 
 
 Πρᾶξις ἐπίβασις Sewpiac. 
 Greg. Naz. 
 
 LONDON: 
 JOHN W. PARKER, WEST STRAND. 
 
 M DCcCCLI. 
 
LONDON: 
 SAVILL AND EDWARDS, PRINTERS, 
 CHANDOS STREET. 
 
NOTICE BY THE TRANSLATOR. 
 
 HE biography of Gregory Nazianzen here presented is 
 -* only a half of Dr. Ullmann’s volume. It forms, how- 
 ever, a perfect whole in itself; and as its interest is quite 
 of a different kind, and more attractive to the general 
 reader, the dogmatic part (or the statement and exami- 
 nation of Gregory’s theological opinions), though nearly 
 finished by the Translator, is for the present withheld. 
 
 As the Translator is no theologian, he presumes not 
 to offer any Preface of his own. The fly-leaf will, he 
 thinks, be better filled with the following stanzas, in 
 which Bishop Ken, that saint of the Church of England, 
 draws a parallel between himself and the Bishop of 
 Constantinople, Gregory of Nazianzum. 
 
 Bless’d Gregory, whose patriarchal height 
 Shed on the Eastern sphere celestial light, 
 To Nazianzum flew, dethron’d by rage, 
 And spent in songs divine his drooping age. 
 I, if the least may with the greatest dare 
 In grief, not gifts or graces, to compare, 
 Fore’d from my flock by uncanonic heat, 
 Tn singing hymns thus solace my retreat. 
 
 a 2 
 
iV 
 
 “ NOTICE BY THE TRANSLATOR. 
 
 Bless’d Gregory, with pain and sickness griev’d, 
 
 His spirit oft with songs devout reliev’d ; 
 And while on hymns his meditation dwelt, 
 Devotion sweeten’d ev’ry pang he felt. 
 Pain haunting me, I court the sacred muse, 
 Verse is the only laudanum I use. 
 
 Eas’d of my sacred load, I live content ; 
 
 In hymn, not in dispute, my passion vent. 
 
 Bless’d Gregory, to sacred verse consigned 
 The last efforts of his immortal mind, 
 
 Those poems loftiest prospects have disclos’d, 
 On brink of bright eternity compos’d. 
 
 I the small dol’rous remnant of my days 
 Devote to hymn my great Redeemer’s praise. 
 And nearer as I draw t’ward heavenly rest, 
 The more I love th’ employment of the blest. 
 
DR. ULLMANN’S PREFACE. 
 
 HE words of Gregory, ‘ Practice is the way to know- 
 
 ledge, have been taken for my motto, not only 
 because I am convinced with Gregory, and the author 
 of the excellent letter to Diognetus,! ‘that there is no 
 true life without knowledge, and no sure knowledge 
 without true life ; but also because they show at once 
 the principal point of view from which I may be sup- 
 posed to have contemplated the following biography. 
 Religion and theology rest entirely on the union and 
 mutual co-operation of correct knowledge and a life of 
 truth. It is only the clearly-perceived truth which can 
 operate powerfully upon our mind and will; and it is 
 only in proportion as we apply our knowledge to our 
 lives, and allow the truths of salvation to work in 
 earnest to our real sanctification, that a firm, lively, 
 deep-rooted knowledge of those truths can be attained, 
 a knowledge that is ever developing itself in greater 
 purity and completeness. This holds good of every kind 
 of knowledge whose subject is not external nature, but, 
 either wholly or in part, our own internal being. Nay, 
 it is one and the same way that leads to a solid acquaint- 
 
 1 The Epistola ad Diognetum, usually attributed to Justin, but 
 hardly belonging to him, was composed by a truly christian man 
 of the first centuries ; towards the end it is written :—ovde yap 
 ζωὴ ἄνευ γνώσεως, obde γνῶσις ἀσφαλὴς ἄνευ ζωῆς ἀληϑοῦς. 
 
vl DR. ULLMANN’S PREFACE. 
 
 ance with natwral objects, and to a knowledge of things 
 invisible—the way of experience. As, in the former case, 
 a confident, elevated, intellectual notion of the subject 
 is only possible on the condition of a sure perception by 
 means of the senses, so also in the latter, that only can 
 be brought home to the mind in a clear and living con- 
 sciousness, which lives in us, and which has become to 
 us an inward fact and a matter of experience. And 
 thus the whole of Christianity is, and will continue, to 
 us a mere history, differing in no essential features from 
 any other history, unless it passes into our soul and life, 
 and is converted, as it were, into the juice and blood of 
 our nature. 
 
 Therefore also in theology, the science of divine 
 things, those have always been the greatest masters, 
 and have produced the happiest results, whose clear 
 knowledge rested upon a strong living conviction, and 
 of whom that is true which was said by Eusebius of 
 Origen: ‘ As his word, so also was his life; and as his 
 life, so was his word.’ In this respect the best of 
 the old Fathers (amidst many imperfections, which we 
 will not deny) were pre-eminently great theologians. 
 Their knowledge was practical ; it set out from life, and 
 it was directed back to life. They took their stand, 
 with all their thoughts, and actions, and efforts, on 
 Christianity; on a Christianity, certainly, not every- 
 where clearly and accurately conceived. On _ this 
 account their christian knowledge is by no means to be 
 a standard for ours. As little were they free from mani- 
 fold human infirmities and deficiencies; and therefore, 
 also, we are far from considering them as patterns of a 
 perfectly holy life. They may, however, be animating 
 exemplars to us in this respect,—that they devoted 
 
DR. ULLMANN’S PREFACE. Vil 
 
 themselves, with all the powers of their mind, and with 
 all the energy of their will, to that which they acknow- 
 ledged as the highest and the holiest. They dedicated 
 their lives to Christianity, they sacrificed their enjoy- 
 ments to it, they renounced for it, not only lawful con- 
 veniences, but often also the simplest necessaries. If, 
 then, we are bound to esteem every one who is ready to 
 sacrifice the pleasures, the enjoyments, and the good 
 things of life to his sincere convictions, and if, in this 
 relation, we cheerfully honour every noble patriot, every 
 hero of ancient and modern times,—shall we exclude 
 from this regard those men who sacrificed so much for 
 the same invisible goods, which we also must consider 
 most valuable? Shall we exclude them, only because 
 they conceived those goods were to be partaken of in a 
 different form and in another manner than we do! It 
 is not difficult to understand, that many of the privations 
 and sacrifices which those men imposed upon themselves 
 were not required by: the Gospel; it costs no trouble to 
 point out the incorrectness of the theoretic principles on 
 which their conduct in this respect was regulated; and 
 but little skill is necessary to make them appear ridicu- 
 lous and foolish. But it is assuredly no small thing, 
 with the light of a clearer knowledge, to walk in the 
 same devoted spirit which animated them. 
 
 Many blemishes, as well in theory as in practice, may 
 lie clear and open in an Origen, a Chrysostom, a Theodo- 
 ret, an Augustine, (even after his conversion,) nor will 
 they be either concealed or glossed over by an honest 
 historian. But as little inclined will he be, as an unpre- 
 judiced judge, to overlook, or to throw into the shade, 
 that which is truly noble and great in their characters. 
 To explore such qualities, and make them known, is 
 
Vill DR. ULLMANN’S PREFACE. 
 
 always more agreeable and more profitable.' He will 
 rather extend the same justice to these distinguished 
 men which he justly does not deny to a Julian. Still it 
 will appear that these Fathers of the Church were no 
 more infallible in their knowledge and lives than is the 
 life and knowledge of the most distinguished theologian, 
 philosopher, and historian of our own day ; yet, notwith- 
 standing this, that they were men who, in relation to 
 their time, deserve our respect and regard quite as much 
 as any honest, zealous, strong-minded, pious individual 
 of any other century. 
 
 In this spirit of candour and impartiality, I have 
 endeavoured to exhibit the life and the theological 
 opinions of one of the most remarkable and influential 
 Fathers of the fourth century, Gregory Nazianzen. It 
 has been my main object in this work to portray him 
 as he was, to give a living and true copy of his charac- 
 ter, and to compose his intellectual portrait from the 
 noble and beautiful, as well as the less attractive, fea- 
 tures of his nature. The essential requisites for such a 
 representation are truth and life. That I have honestly 
 striven to give truth to the portrait, I dare to attest of 
 myself. I have desired to conceal nothing, and to give 
 an unfair prominence to nothing, neither to embellish 
 nor to undervalue, to subserve no preconceived philo- 
 sophic or dogmatic system,? to promote no party object. 
 
 1 So also, Joh. Aug. Ernesti, in reference to Origen and other 
 Fathers, points out, as the more generous practice: ‘in viris 
 egregiis bona potius querere et laudare, quam mala indagare et 
 reprehendere.’ 
 
 * For this very reason] have been very sparing of criticism in 
 the exhibition of Gregory’s opinions on doctrinal points. I have 
 thought it my duty to give his convictions, not my own; though 
 I have not scrupled to allow my own views to appear on many 
 passages, yet without mixing them up with the historical account. 
 
DR. ULLMANN’S PREFACE. ΙΧ 
 
 I have wished, not to MAKE UP ἃ history, but, first of all, 
 to search out, singly and alone, pure historical truth, 
 and to present it faithfully as I found it. Yet in doing 
 this it is plain of itself, that the theologian, even if, as 
 an historian, he does not see things through the glasses 
 of a predetermined system, views nevertheless the 
 historical data from a theological standing-point, and 
 apprehends them with a religious sense. But whether 
 or not there be life in my representation, is a point on 
 which I must wait for a just decision from others ; from 
 those, that is, who take into the consideration, that this 
 is, in part, a matter of natural talent, which no man can 
 give to himself, and the want of which the best inten- 
 tions cannot compensate; and in part a matter of 
 tact and historical art, which can be attained only by 
 long-continued practice. It has been my chief aim to 
 write a readable, useful book, complete, as far as pos- 
 sible, in information respecting the individual who is the 
 subject of it; and to that extent, I believe, my labour 
 will also be useful to the historical inquirer, and accept- 
 able to any one who, with greater master-skill, may work 
 up the materials here supplied. In pursuing the object 
 here expressed I could not avoid the discussion of many 
 other less interesting points, because I wished to give 
 the biography of Gregory in a certain degree of com- 
 pleteness. There remained to me the twofold choice, 
 either to give prominence only to the more weighty and 
 generally important points, while I sacrificed the idea of 
 completeness, or, while I aimed at this to a certain 
 extent, to discuss also some detached and less attractive 
 subjects. In the first case, I might probably have pro- 
 duced a more agreeable book, but then I should have 
 been obliged also to satisfy the requirements of the 
 
Χ DR. ULLMANN’S PREFACE. 
 
 historical art in relation to the strictness of my choice. 
 And since I did not wish to undertake this, I decided 
 the more willingly on the second alternative, since I 
 could thus, by a certain degree of completeness, make 
 my work more useful to those readers who were 
 engaged professionally in the study of the Fathers. 
 That my book is derived from the original sources,! 
 every competent judge will perceive ; but that I have 
 not therefore overlooked the labours of historical com- 
 pilers and inquirers is self-evident. And if I do not 
 everywhere quote them, when I have had an eye to 
 them, whether in the act of agreeing with or differing 
 from them, it is because I did not wish to accumulate 
 citations. I have principally made use of (after having 
 first, with unbiassed mind, evolved the matter from the 
 originals) Tillemont,? Le Clere,? Schrockh,4 Baronius,® 
 
 1T must here remark that I have quoted the writings of 
 Gregory from the beautiful, but, alas! unfinished Benedictine 
 edition, as far as it extends. It contains, however, only the 
 Orations. The Latin title is: S. Patris nostri Gregorit Theologi 
 Opera omnia, que extant, — — operd et studio Monachorum ordinis 
 S. Benedicti e congregatione 5. Mauri. Tom. i. Paris. sumpt. 
 vidue Desaint, 1778. The chief editor is Clemencet. Would 
 that he might, at some time and place, find a successor to com- 
 plete that beautiful work! That which is not contained in that 
 edition of Gregory’s works has been generally quoted (and usually 
 with express reference) from the following editions: S. Gregori 
 Naz. Theologi Opera. Jac. Billius Pruneus cum MSS. regiis con- 
 tulit, emendavit, etc. Aucta est hee editio aliquammultis ejusdem 
 Gregori Epistolis, nunquam antea editis ex interpr. F. Morelli Lips. 
 sumpt. Weidmanni, 1690. See, concerning the literary merits of 
 this and other editions, Fabric. Biblioth. Greca, vol. viii. p. 398, 
 seqq. ed Harl. 
 
 ® Mémoires pour servir ἃ UV Hist. Eccles. tom. ix. pp. 305—560, 
 692—731. 
 
 3 Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. xviii. p. 1, seqq. 
 
 4 Christliche Kirchengeschichte, Th. 18, 8. 275—466. 
 
 5 Acta Sanctorum. Maii, tom. ii. pp. 373—482. 
 
DR. ULLMANN’S PREFACE. xl 
 
 Clemencet,! in their biographical notices of Gregory 
 Nazianzen. Of these, Tillemont, without doubt, pre- 
 sents the most complete materials ; he is indeed over 
 rich in that respect, and the total impression he should 
 make disappears in the mass of isolated particulars ; 
 while his, otherwise, pure and sincere piety does not 
 allow him always to exercise the requisite criticism. 
 Le Clere is certainly more critical and more candid ; 
 but he is less exact and truthful in some particulars, 
 less diligent in the task of discovering the good qualities 
 concealed under the disguising form of the age, and of 
 elevating them therefrom. If Tillemont is too confiding 
 and easy of belief, Le Clerc is distrustful and suspicious. 
 Schroéckh, as in his other writings, so also here, is discreet, 
 impartial and solid; but still (as could not well be 
 otherwise, considering the extent of his work) he gives 
 too little of the peculiar features, and has not even 
 worked up with sufficient pains the materials already 
 accumulated by Tillemont. Not so learned, and still 
 less free from prejudice than that of Tillemont, is the 
 biography which we find in Baronius’s Acta Sanctorum ; 
 it gives evidence, however, of great familiarity with the 
 writings of Gregory. This is true, also, in a still higher 
 degree, of the biographical notices which are prefixed to 
 the Benedictine edition of Gregory’s Works ; they con- 
 tain some very useful inquiries, but they do not form a 
 whole. There is a very copious biography of Gregory 
 and Basil by Hermant,? which I have not been able to 
 make use of. 
 
 1 For the edition of his works, e Congreg. S. Mauri, above- 
 mentioned. It is not my intention here to specify all the bio- 
 graphies of Gregory. On this subject, see Fabric. Biblioth. Gr. 
 vol. viii. pp. 383—387, and Schréckh’s Α΄. Gesch., Th. 13, p. 461. 
 
 2 La Vie de S. Basile le Grand et celle de S. Gregoire de Nazi- 
 anze, par Godfr. Hermant; a Paris, 1679,—in two stout quartos, 
 
ΧΙ DR. ULLMANN’S PREFACE. 
 
 I have not made these critical remarks upon my pre- 
 decessors, with the conviction of having avoided their 
 faults and combined their respective excellences in my 
 own production. It is always easier to discover failings 
 than it is to improve upon them ; and I am fully con- 
 scious of the many deficiencies of my book. I hope, 
 nevertheless, to gain a friendly reception from right- 
 minded and impartial persons; but I am quite as 
 desirous of a straightforward, and (where necessary) a 
 just and fair censure, and shall know how to respect 
 the same. 
 
 To the learned men who have assisted me with books 
 and friendly counsel (and whom 1 cannot here enume- 
 rate) I return my most hearty thanks. 
 
 As a conclusion to this, already perhaps too long, 
 preface, I must make the following remark : the dog- 
 matic system, for which Gregory called forth all his 
 powers, appears to a great portion of our contemporaries 
 of less weight, and to some even objectionable.* But 
 even they who in theory differ from Gregory, must 
 acknowledge the force, the courage, and devoted activity, 
 with which he supported his convictions ; and those 
 who possess no strong conviction for which they would 
 make any sacrifice, may yet have the generosity to 
 praise the man who had. Still, to all, however they may 
 be dogmatically inclined, Gregory must be an object of 
 respectful veneration, as an ardent friend of practical 
 Christianity ; since, while he contended for a dogmatic 
 system which may not readily be reduced to practice, 
 it was yet a main object with him, to draw off his 
 hearers from mere theorizing and unseasonable disputes 
 on religious questions, and direct them always to action 
 
 * This remark, of course, applies to Germany.—Translator. 
 
DR. ULLMANN’S PREFACE, ΧΙ 
 
 and life, as the only true path to happiness, and the in- 
 dispensable preliminaries to a saving knowledge. 
 
 In this respect, the contemplation of such men as Gre- 
 gory of Nazianzum, of Chrysostom, and others of like 
 minds, is certainly profitable for our time also, because they 
 were animated by a lively spirit of practical Christianity. 
 That same active Christianity, which was the preserving 
 and purifying salt amidst the dogmatic struggle and 
 party rage of that era, is also a connecting and saving 
 element for our dogmatizing, and, alas! divided Church. 
 This should be the standard round which all who are 
 earnest in their religion should rally, in spite of many 
 differences of opinion, for this is, and will continue to 
 the last, the essential point in the scheme of christian 
 salvation, viz. the sanctification of our wills and affec- 
 tions. Not that I would be thought to consider morality 
 the only weighty matter in Christianity; since the 
 system of morals, which Christianity presents, is inse- 
 parably bound up with a firm foundation of religious 
 conviction, and true christian sanctification is not to be 
 imagined without the operating influence of the peculiar 
 saving truths of Christ’s religion. Still, however, it is 
 the practical side of Christianity which offers the most 
 points of union for the distracted theological parties of 
 our time. It were better surely to give prominence to 
 this point of agreement, instead of sharpening the spirit 
 of antagonism by ever-repeated expressions of difference. 
 That, however, I may not be misunderstood, let me con- 
 clude with the following confession and hearty wish :— 
 May friends never be wanting (and assuredly they never 
 will—they never can) to the support of that theology 
 which aims at a true and lively conception of pure, 
 biblical Christianity ; and this, as well in its historical 
 
ΧΙΥ DR. ULLMANN’S PREFACE. 
 
 reality as in its exalted spirituality ; as well in its depth, 
 as in its clearness, simplicity and practical influence ! 
 May God prosper that theology, which considers Chris- 
 tianity, and religion generally, not in a one-sided view, 
 as a matter of mere intellect and speculation, or even of 
 mere feeling, but as the concern of the whole inner 
 man, in the harmonious co-operation of his understand- 
 ing, will, and feelings! A theology, which seeks to com- 
 bine philosophical information with historical erudition, 
 reverence for a holy, unfeigned love of Christianity and 
 its Founder with an unsophisticated regard for free, 
 scientific inquiry! .To acquire this theology, this free 
 christian science, and to labour for it, according to my 
 powers, in that sphere which Providence assigns to me, 
 I look upon as the highest duty and the greatest happi- 
 ness of my life. 
 
 C. ULLMANN, 
 
 HEIDELBERG, 
 August 28, 1825. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 Er ne ee a RM, Ce ἘΠ 91 
 SECTION THE FIRST. 
 THE HISTORY OF HIS YOUTH. 
 CHAP. 
 I. His Fatherland, his Family, his Birth and early Youth 13 
 II. His residence as a Student at Athens. . .. . . 28 
 
 SECTION THE SECOND. 
 
 HIS MODE OF LIFE IN CAPPADOCIA, FROM HIS THIRTIETH 
 
 TO HIS FORTY-NINTH YEAR. 
 
 I. Difference between his tone of mind and that of his 
 brother Cesarius. . . BP endian tate eh ae ane 
 II. His own Sketch of his Plan of Life σοι A di ΠΣ 
 III. Gregory in solitary Life . . . . 54 
 IV. His public labours for the Bstablicheient of Poaee o GL 
 
 V. He is made a Presbyter, and soon after withdraws 
 TREE ΝΕ ΖΙΔΏΖΗΤΗΝ τ΄. το Cw by ea ane 60 
 VI. His relations toJulian . . . 74 
 Sub-division, (a.) State of ἀπο δεῖν, ἢ in celtic ῷ 
 Heathenism, under Julian. . . 74 
 —_————- ().) Julian’s conduct towards Chris- 
 tianity and its Professors. . . 81 
 (c.) Gregory’s Writings against Julian 97 
 (d.) The position of Gregory and his 
 Family, in relation to Julian. . 104 
 VII. Gregory again employed as Peace-maker. . . . - 109 
 VIII. Basil elected Bishop of Czsarea, Conduct of the 
 
 XII. 
 
 Elder and Younger Gregory on that occasion . . 114 
 
 . Gregory made Bishop of Sasima against his will ; 
 
 afterwards Coadjutor to his Father at Nazianzum . 122 
 ς 131 
 
 . Misfortunes in the Family of Gregory : 
 . The public Life and Labours of Gregory, as Condjuto 
 
 to his Father at Nazianzum . . . 137 
 The Death of the Elder Gregory and his with N onna; 
 the Younger Gregory retires to Seleucia. . . . 146 
 
XVl1 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION THE THIRD. 
 
 GREGORY AT CONSTANTINOPLE.—2T. 49 to 51. 
 
 CHAP PAGE 
 
 I. State of the Church at Constantinople . . . . . 155 
 
 II. Gregory collects a Congregation there . . . . - 166 
 
 III. He is persecuted there hy three opposite parties . . 174 
 
 IV. His Preaching and Private Life there . . . 183 
 V. His Fame. Hieronymus (Jerome) becomes ie Pupil: 
 
 The Philosopher Maximus . . - 195 
 
 VI. Gregory retires into the Country near ἜΠΕΣΕ μετ 208 
 VII. Theodosius arrives at Constantinople; Triumph of the 
 
 ὙΠ]. 
 
 Nicene Faith. Gregory refuses the Bishopric of 
 
 Constantinople. |." ttt. Gage dee a Π oo os. =) 
 He persists in that Refusal. His Frank Behaviour to 
 
 all Classes . . . 229 
 
 IX. The Second (iemonte aac αὶ Fonstaniinagle:s A.D. 
 
 381. Gregory regularly chosen Bishop of Constan- 
 tinople . : τὰ . 237 
 
 X. He resigns his Son, ἘΠ pee τῇ Cugoeaaecr ay 26 
 
 SECTION THE FOURTH. 
 
 FROM HIS FIFTY-FIRST TO HIS SIXTIETH YEAR, A.D, 390, 
 
 THE DATE OF HIS DEATH. 
 
 I. Gregory enjoys Retirement and Release from Synods . 269 
 II. He still takes an active Concern in Church. Matters and 
 
 III. 
 
 in the Welfare of his Friends . ..... . 278 
 Gregory's Epistles and.Poems')./. . . . . . . 286 
 
 IV. Gregory’s Death}: his Character) .:. . . . . . 298 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 Concerning the Year and Place of Gregory’s Birth. . . . 299 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 
 Concerning the Sect of the Hypsistarians. . . . . . - 808 
 
LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 GREGORY OF NAZIANZUM. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 See aan the bright central-point in the 
 world’s history, with which the old time closes and 
 the new begins, appeared in the course of human de- 
 velopment when its presence, spiritually and morally, 
 was most urgently required. At the period to which 
 we are about to transfer ourselves in the following 
 reflections, it had operated with quiet but immense 
 influence for nearly three centuries. The human race, 
 having outgrown the leading-strings of a ceremonial, 
 legal religion, and risen above the religion of Nature, 
 and the worship of the beautiful, had acquired a new 
 life in this religion of spirituality and morality. And 
 although Judaism still dragged on its weary existence, 
 and heathenism still stood like a huge colossus com- 
 pacted into the body of the Roman empire, yet both 
 were already as good as annihilated, by that simple word 
 (which yet, in its effects, comprehended the whole human 
 race), spoken by Jesus to the woman of Samaria at the 
 well of Jacob: ‘God is a Spirit, and they who worship 
 Him, must worship Him in spirit and in truth.’ 
 
 As a religion of faith, Christianity gave courage and 
 joyfulness in a new and better life to Man, weighed 
 
 B 
 
2 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 down by his sins, and despairing of recovery; as a re- 
 ligion of love, it bound him by the purest ties, to God, 
 as his father, and to all men, as members of a large 
 family; as a religion of hope, it opened to him the gates 
 of everlasting life, and introduced him to a kingdom of 
 God, which comprehends both worlds. 
 
 Difference of rank could no longer make a difference 
 in the participation of religious blessings. The Deity 
 had come forth from the darkness of the temple, from 
 priestly and philosophic mysteries, into the light of 
 universal knowledge. The profoundest truths were pro- 
 claimed from the house-tops in the plaimest garb, and 
 the meanest slave could partake as fully, and in the self- 
 same manner, in all the blessings of the purer faith, as 
 the prince upon the throne. Nor was one nation to be 
 favoured more than another, because God could now be 
 worshipped in spirit and in truth, wherever a human 
 mind could think, or a human heart beat; and because 
 the simple faith of the Christian, a faith working in love, 
 can be exercised, as well in the north as in the south, 
 and is dependent on no national peculiarity of custom 
 or constitution. In Christianity there is nothing national 
 or confined; it is the religion of the nations, of mankind— 
 adapted in its fundamental features to unite all nations, 
 notwithstanding any external marks of separation, into 
 one vast spiritual community. 
 
 But, though suited to all nations, this faith was in- 
 tended to be spread only by the free motion of the mind, 
 and the influence of pure conviction, and if slowly, 
 and after thousands of years, yet so much the more 
 surely to overspread the world in the way thus worthy 
 of its Divine Author. The faith which depends on the 
 point of the sword, sinks with the sword, (so that 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 3 
 
 Islamism must fall to pieces whenever its professors 
 shall cease to be warlike,) but the faith which is sown in 
 the mind expands with the general development of the 
 mind. As the leaven gradually, and without any external 
 aid, pervades the whole mass; as the grain of mustard 
 arrives at its full height by a slow process, and by virtue 
 of an innate power; so it is in the nature of Christianity 
 to pervade mankind, gradually purifying, strengthening, 
 fructifying; and so, from the in-dwelling plastic mental 
 impulse, without the action of external power (which 
 checks, rather than promotes the inner life), it grows 
 and ripens into that divine tree, whose fruits and peace- 
 ful shade are for the enjoyment of the nations. Far 
 from calling in the aid of external power, Christianity, 
 from the first, rather entered into a contest therewith, 
 proving by that very fact the entire efficacy of the faith 
 which conquers the world. The calm, confiding heroism 
 of the first Christians, equally removed from stoic indif- 
 ference and effeminate pliability, confidently opposed 
 itself to the monstrous power of the Roman empire, 
 and it was amidst oppression and struggles, privation 
 and self-denial, that all the virtues of the christian mind 
 were developed. 
 
 But with the commencement of the fourth century 
 Christianity ascended the imperial throne, the struggling 
 community of believers became a dominant Church, and 
 —alas!—with that very change lost somuch of its youthful 
 beauty and innocence. Divine Providence, however, 
 had ordered this external victory, and (as we cannot but 
 believe) it had here also its special purposes in relation 
 to the moral training of the whole human race. Yet, 
 we must nevertheless regret that, through human in- 
 firmity, this public triumph of Christianity became the 
 
 B 2 
 
4 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 cause of such manifold internal decay in the lives of its 
 professors. Ease and repose succeeded to continual 
 struggle, and the ardent zeal of many waxed cold. In- 
 stead of oppression, the Christians enjoyed favour and 
 influence, till, from being persecuted, they became _per- 
 secutors. Shame and want no longer accompanied the 
 confession of Christ’s name, but honour and emolument 
 were often connected with it; and this soon tempted a 
 great many persons to enter into the Church, whose 
 hearts were as far removed as possible from the unselfish 
 spirit of the Gospel. From this cause also the bond 
 of union between fellow-Christians was relaxed, their 
 brotherly love grew colder and less active, their zeal for 
 all that concerned the christian community diminished. 
 The professors of the Gospel, who had once distinguished 
 themselves by the most perfect simplicity of life, and by 
 a cheerful renunciation of all its enjoyments and many 
 of its necessaries, now became as eager in the pursuit of 
 pleasure and as luxurious as the heathens, whom they 
 had blamed on that account. 
 
 ‘ We,’ says the author whose life I propose to write, 
 of the Christians of his time, ‘we repose in state upon 
 high and splendid couches, covered with the most ex- 
 quisite coverlids, which one scarcely dares touch, and 
 we are annoyed if we do but hear the voice and weeping 
 of a poor man; our chamber must be fragrant with 
 flowers, and of the rarest sort. Our table must overflow 
 with the finest-scented and most costly ointments, so that 
 we become perfectly effeminate. Slaves must stand 
 ready, gaily bedeckt and in fair array, with flowing, girl- 
 
 od 
 like hair, with smooth shorn faces, and wantonly adorned; 
 
 Η, 
 
 some of them trained, with equal grace and firmness, to 
 bear the cup with the extreme points of their fingers, 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 5 
 
 and others to fan the cool air with all adroitness above 
 our heads. Our board must bend under the weight of 
 viands, whilst all the kingdoms of Nature—earth, water, 
 air,—furnish such liberal contributions, that the handi- 
 works of the cook and the baker can scarcely find a 
 place there: . 0 Ὁ, The poor man is content with 
 water, but we fill our goblets with wine to intoxication, 
 yea, with a degree of excess beyond it; we disdain one 
 sort of wine, another we pronounce excellent for its fine 
 flavour; we engage in philosophical reflections upon a 
 third; nay, we think ourselves ill-treated unless foreign 
 wine, as at a king’s banquet, be added to the wine of 
 our country.’ 
 
 The worldly spirit, which pervaded more and more 
 all classes of Christians, displayed itself especially in 
 those who were placed at the head of the christian 
 community, the clergy. They who before had been 
 particularly exposed, as leaders of the christian party, 
 to hatred and persecution, now also became special 
 objects for the patronage and favour of the great, though 
 at the same time they partially became instruments for 
 carrying out those great ones’ plans. They now ob- 
 tained the freedom and privileges of the state, they 
 acquired the means of enriching the Church and them- 
 selves, they attained to political influence, they became 
 men of consideration and weight at court; but with all 
 this, and in the same proportion, they lost sight of the 
 one essential thing, to be true and plain enunciators of 
 the simple doctrine of salvation, patterns of good morals, 
 advisers, helpers, fathers of the congregations committed 
 to their care. 
 
 Persecution and oppression had been, as for the 
 Christians generally, so especially for the clergy, 8 fiery 
 
6 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 ordeal, and a school of purification; worldly-minded 
 men were scared away thereby, hirelings fell off in the 
 time of need, and the majority that remained to the 
 Church, were men who served it with devotion and pure 
 affection. But it was now possible for an individual, in 
 the direct path of ecclesiastical duties, (and even without 
 any intellectual exertion, or solid, scientific acquire- 
 ments) to secure the enjoyment of external prosperity; 
 and thus, those very persons who, by their tone of 
 thought, were least qualified to become pious teachers 
 of the truth and labourers for the souls of men, were 
 most attracted by the splendour of the bishoprics. Even 
 amongst the better clergy, who were not led away by 
 the prevailing selfishness, a false desire of pleasing and 
 of shining had, by virtue of their new position, in- 
 sinuated itself. It was now no longer a small connected 
 community of brethren, among whom the pastor lived 
 as a father, administering exhortation and correction, 
 and, while he kept the great cause steadily before his 
 eyes, so speaking as he felt convinced in his own heart ; 
 but it was a vast, promiscuous assemblage, spoilt by the 
 varied gratifications of the ear, before whom he was ex- 
 pected to appear as an orator, who should agreeably 
 entertain the less instructed and confirmed, and carry 
 with him his hearer by the force and beauty of his dis- 
 course. ‘The clergy, for the most part brought up in 
 the schools of rhetoric, were declaimers, the pulpit be- 
 came a stage, and the same tokens of applause attended 
 the actor in holy places as in the theatre. The 
 congregations in large cities, such as Constantinople, 
 Antioch, Alexandria, could in general be worked upon 
 only by means of showy forms; and even those men, who 
 were most earnestly devoted to the cause, were obliged 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS, ἤ 
 
 to employ many artifices, and to depart far from genuine 
 christian simplicity, if they would not sacrifice what was 
 of greater importance. The worship itself had also from 
 the same cause become more rich and splendid. Since 
 the spirit of religion had fallen off, men sought to make 
 up for it by forms; ceremonies addressed to the imagi- 
 nation were to be substitutes for the fervour of christian 
 feeling, and as there began to be a deficiency of religion 
 in the transactions of common life, they made so much 
 the greater display of it in the service of the Church. 
 
 It is not, however, here implied, either that the three 
 first centuries were to be praised unconditionally, or 
 that nothing but corruption pervaded the Church every- 
 where in the fourth. Already, in the time of the 
 apostles, there was a Judas Iscariot. From the earliest 
 period many unworthy members sat in the assemblies 
 of the Christians, and many a germ of future corruption 
 was planted even in the first centuries; while, on the 
 other side, the fourth century produced some of the 
 most distinguished Christians, the noblest christian 
 families; for at no period, and under no form, have 
 there been wanting true professors of the everlasting 
 gospel, or faithful members of the invisible church. We 
 speak here of the greater and the less in the scale of 
 Christianity, and of the predominant spirit of the earlier 
 and the later time. 
 
 Another evil presents itself to us in this later period, 
 when we contemplate Christianity from another point of 
 view. It belongs to the divine qualities of Christianity, 
 that, though combating selfishness in the individual 
 heart to its inmost recesses, it yet by no means annihi- 
 lates intellectual peculiarity, but rather illustrates and 
 sanctifies it in its free development. It would be con- 
 
8 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 trary to its essence to refuse ‘to become all things to 
 all men, in order to gain all,’ and it has thus produced 
 within its influence a boundless mine of spiritual and 
 mental phenomena. This comprehensive, gentle spirit 
 was established by Christianity from the beginning. 
 Already, in the time of the apostles, we see the funda- 
 mental forms of different directions of mind existing 
 by the side of each other within the Christian community. 
 One spirit animated the apostles, but exhibited itself 
 differently, according to their human peculiarities. This 
 is plainly shown to us in the historical narratives of 
 the four evangelists. The three first conceived and 
 expressed, in clear and general features, many indi- 
 vidual points in the Messianic ministry of Jesus 
 among his Jewish countrymen; but with equal truth 
 and fidelity does St. John exhibit him as the Son of 
 God, and the moral Redeemer of all mankind. It is, 
 however, from both representations taken together that 
 we derive the complete picture of Him, who was as well 
 the expected Messiah of his people, as (in this sense at 
 least) the not-expected Saviour of the human race. 
 Just so we see reposing together, and harmoniously 
 supplying what each wanted (in order to exhibit to the 
 ardent, unworldly, contemplative mind the entire fulness 
 of the christianized human mind), the profound, earnest 
 feeling of a John; the ever-active, and yet speculative, 
 thoughtful, enlarged, free intellect of a Paul; and the 
 heroic, fiery zeal of a Peter, teaching by deeds. All of 
 them, however, subserved one great object, and the more 
 effectually from this very diversity of gifts. 
 
 In like manner, we also find in the centuries im- 
 mediately following a rich store of varied talents and 
 gifted men in the Christian Church; the practical sim- 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 9 
 
 plicity of the Apostolic Fathers; the more scientific 
 treatment of christian truths by the first founders of a 
 christian theology, the Apologists; the realistic bias of 
 the African teachers, the idealistic turn of the Alex- 
 andrian; the more sober, sensible, critical tone of the 
 early school of Antioch; the predominant tendency to 
 theoretic speculation in the Eastern divines; the greater 
 zeal for the immediate and practical in those of the 
 Western Church. We find friends and opposers of 
 philosophy, learned and unlearned men, supporters both 
 of the allegorical and of the historical exposition,—all 
 labouring together in active life, making good what 
 each wanted in this variety of direction, but also, at the 
 same time, restrained and limited by antagonism, while 
 they were opposed in beneficial contest, in order that a 
 one-sided argument might not be carried to extremes, 
 and the predominance of one mode of thought and one 
 dogmatic form might not crush the free life of christian 
 truth. It is pleasant to contemplate this activity of 
 mental energy, and to observe how the most varied 
 directions of thought (which, if isolated and exclusive, 
 would have been highly detrimental) promoted most 
 powerfully the development of the inward life, amid 
 their simultaneous action and mutual contests. 
 
 But the free course of this development was com- 
 pletely checked, when in the fourth century external 
 force was introduced into a contest hitherto carried on 
 by intellectual weapons. Now (far otherwise) outward 
 means of compulsion were thrown into the scales of 
 opinion along with internal principles and convictions. 
 Now, all thinking men were required to understand a 
 christian truth in precisely the same formula. Now, 
 episcopal assemblages (the members of which were not 
 
10 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 always the most pious or the most judicious of the 
 clergy, while the greater number could by no means be 
 considered as pure instruments of the Holy Spirit) 
 determined upon the admissibility and objectionableness 
 of different formule, stamping one set with the seal of 
 divine authority, branding others with the mark of 
 condemnation. Now, that which had been decided 
 by such an assembly (and that oftentimes under any- 
 thing but free discussion) was carried out into actual 
 life by the support of the civil law and external power, 
 occasionally not without the application of violence and 
 bloodshed. Now it was that a Byzantine court-theology 
 was formed, which, commencing from small beginnings, 
 by degrees came to such a point, that a Justinian was 
 able, by the same act of power, to make a spiritual as 
 well as a civil legislator, and that, under the egis of his 
 authority, an Origen and a Theodorus of Mopsuestia, 
 though long in the grave, were yet condemned by 
 persons who were not capable of comprehending the 
 greatness of their mind, and not worthy to loosen the 
 latchet of their shoe. Now, instead of peace being 
 restored by the strong arm of power, the polemical 
 disputes of the Christians with each other were kindled 
 with the more violence, when they no longer had any 
 external enemy to contend with. The whole Roman 
 empire, from its head to its meanest subject, was in 
 commotion, for the establishment of one dogmatic 
 formula and the suppression of another; East and 
 West were torn asunder ; cities and families were full of 
 disquiet ; all was dogmatic and polemic, and this, in 
 very few instances, from religious interests. It was a 
 time of frightful party-spirit. But where parties exist, 
 religious, political, or scientific, there is intolerance and 
 
INTRODUCTORY REMARKS, 11 
 
 persecution, be it open or concealed, with the weapon 
 of the tongue or pen, or with those of force and violence; 
 there is no just mutual estimate of views and efforts ;— 
 there, personal ties and relations are poisoned; there, 
 the difference of opinion is traced to the most dishonour- 
 able sources; the opponent in principles is looked upon 
 as a personal enemy, the erring as a criminal; and, 
 generally, every individual, without regard to his real 
 worth, is only that which he is to his party. 
 
 It was in such an age, when the Christian Church no 
 longer wore its most amiable features, that Gregory 
 Nazianzen lived. But it is exactly in his conflict with 
 such an age (especially during his, properly public, 
 labours and ministrations in Constantinople) that many 
 of his excellent qualities will stand out the brighter, 
 while that which was rigid and repulsive in his character 
 will assume a milder aspect. 
 
12 
 
 PHCTION Tae aie 
 
 THE HISTORY OF HIS YOUTH: 
 
 FROM HIS BIRTH TO THE THIRTIETH YEAR OF HIS AGE,—THAT IS, 
 FROM ABOUT THE YEAR 3380 TO 360. 
 
 HRONOLOGICAL SURVEY:—We begin with the 
 
 year 325. Just at the time when the Cappadocian 
 bishops set out to jointhe Council of Nicza,and during the 
 stay of some of them at Nazianzum, Gregory’s father (who 
 was alreadya married man) was baptized. It was probably 
 a few years after the Council that, in the person of our 
 Gregory, was born one of the acutest and most zealous 
 future defenders of its decisions. The childhood of Gregory 
 (whosebirth, on probable grounds, we assumeto havetaken 
 place A.D. 330) falls under the last period of the reign 
 of Constantine the Great, who died in 337; his youth 
 passed entirely under that of Constantius, who, after his 
 father’s death, was emperor of the East, and after the 
 death of his brother (2. 6., from 350) ruled over the whole 
 empire. The church history of the whole period is 
 filled with violent contests between the Arian and the 
 Nicene parties; the first of these were favoured by 
 Constantius in the East, the latter by Constans in the 
 West. Quite, or nearly of the same age with Gregory 
 is the Imperial Prince Julian (born A.D. 331), so that 
 they also pursue their studies at Athens at the same 
 time, A.D. 355. 
 
HIS FATHER-LAND. 19 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 HIS FATHER-LAND—HIS FAMILY—HIS BIRTH AND EARLY YOUTH. 
 
 RESPECTED as Gregory was during his lifetime, and 
 honoured as he was after his death (which, among other 
 proofs, is attested by the fact, that to him alone, since 
 the apostle St. John, the distinctive title of ‘O Geddoyoe, 
 or The Divine, was conceded), yet no positive account as 
 to the place and time of his birth is extant.! The little 
 town of Nazianzum in the south-west part of Cappa- 
 docia, though neither of considerable size, nor remarkable 
 for its pleasant situation,? has become famous from the 
 circumstance, that Gregory usually bears the title of 
 Nazianzen, or the Nazianzian, derived from thence. 
 But whether that were because Gregory was born, or 
 because he spent a great part of his life there, is a point 
 not decided. An ancient account, not altogether to be 
 rejected, affirms that Gregory came into the world at a _ 
 certain estate or village called Arianzum, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of Nazianzum. It is without doubt, however, 
 that Cappadocia was his father-land. The accounts of 
 the moral condition of the land of his birth at that 
 period are anything but favourable. The Cappadocians 
 
 1 See the Appendix on both these points. 
 
 2. Orat. xxxiii. 6, p. 607. Gregory himself puts it, as a reproach, 
 into the mouth of an opponent: μικρά σοι ἡ πόλις Kai οὐδέ 
 πόλις, ἀλλὰ χωρίον ἕηρόν καὶ ἄχαρι, Kai ὀλίγοις οἰκούμενον. 
 Οναΐ. xix. 11, p. 370. Gregory speaks of his father as Bishop of 
 Nazianzum: τοῦτο τοῦ μικροπολίτου τὸ épyor, καὶ τῆς καϑέδρας 
 τὰ δεύτερα ἔχοντος. And in Carmen v., 25, p. 75, where Nazi- 
 anzum appears under the name of Cesarea (compare Tillemont’s 
 Memoirs, tom. ix. p. 692): 
 
 Γρηγορίου μνήσαιτο τὸν ἔτρεφε Καππαδόκεσσιν 
 Ἢ Διοκαισαρέων ὀλίγη πτολις. 
 
14 HIS FATHER-LAND. [SECT. T, 
 
 of that time are represented to us as a cowardly, slavish, 
 quarrelsome, suspicious people, prone to avarice and 
 sensuality, liars, and faithless.! 
 
 Gregory himself frequently laments the laxity of 
 morals among his countrymen—that is, of Nazianzum ; 
 and the Cappadocians were even generally infamous in 
 popular proverbs, in company with the Carians and 
 Cretans.? Accustomed of old to priestly domination 
 and a state of vassalage, the Cappadocians, at a later 
 period, did not choose to accept the freedom of the 
 
 1 The vouchers for this occur chiefly in a series of epistles by 
 Isidorus of Pelusium, who flourished no long time after Gregory, 
 at the beginning of the fifth century. Compare lib. i. epist. 351, 
 352; epist. 485—490. Lib. iv. epist. 197. But more especially, 
 lib. i. epist. 281, where, among others, it is said of the Cappa- 
 docians : ὕπουλον yap καὶ πονηρὸν we ἐπίπαν TO γένος, εἰρήνῃ 
 μέν οὐ τερπόμενον, ἔριδι δὲ τρεφόμενον, --- ἀπατηλὸν, ἀναιδὲς, 
 Soaod, δειλὸν, σκωπτικὸν, ἀνελεύθερον, δόλιον, μισάνϑρωπον, 
 ὑπεροπτικὸν, --- πρὸς ψευδὸς ὀξὺ, πρὸς τὸ παρορκῆσαι ταχύ. 
 Undoubtedly, such general descriptions of national character have 
 often no grounds to rest upon but prejudice or national hatred ; 
 yet, in this case, many circumstances tend to prove that Isidore’s 
 delineation, though probably somewhat exaggerated, is still not 
 untrue. To touch more particularly one point only in heathen 
 antiquity,—the domination of the priests of Comana must have 
 been very injurious to the nation. Exercising authority equal, or 
 even superior to that of the king, they possessed extraordinary 
 wealth, invested in finely situated estates, and, in Strabo’s time, 
 6000 slaves (ἱεροδούλοι) of both sexes, employed partly in tilling 
 the land. The king also, and the principal families, were pro- 
 prietors of the soil, and the peasants were obliged to work for 
 them in a state of vassalage.—Strabo, xii. p. 809. Other parti- 
 culars relating to the subject may be found in Heyne’s Com- 
 mentatio de Sacerdotio Comanensi, in the Commentaries of the 
 Gottingen Society, vol. xvi. p. 101, and, particularly, p. 140. We 
 shall find, therefore, the words of Isidore (lib. i epist. 487) very 
 characteristic of the Cappadocians: οἷς ὃ βιος οὐκ ἄλλοθεν ἢ ἐκ 
 δουλείας καὶ γεηπονίας συνίσταται. 
 
 5 Toia κάππα κάκιστα. See Erasmi Adagia, pp. 309 and 
 154. Edit. Francof. 
 
CHAP. I. | HIS FATHER-LAND. 15 
 
 Roman city, which was offered to them;! and in the 
 succeeding centuries the relations of the military 
 government, into which Cappadocia was incorporated 
 as a province, were by no means adapted to operate 
 favourably upon morals. Harsh and exacting greedi- 
 ness on the part of the imperial officers, refractoriness 
 and revolt on the side of the degraded people, meet us 
 too often in the history of that period, and even in the 
 history of Gregory. 
 
 But in the midst of a degenerate race a higher spirit is 
 ever wont to awaken its ministers and instruments ; and 
 men of nobler natures set themselves the more boldly 
 and steadily in opposition to their corrupt contem- 
 Poraries. Thus we find that even Cappadocia produced, 
 in the course of the fourth century, a succession of very 
 distinguished Fathers of the Church.2 These men, 
 
 ι Strabo, xii., p. 815. Justin., xxviii. 2. Sed Cappadoces 
 munus libertatis abnuentes, negant vivere gentem sine rege posse. 
 
 2 Isidore of Pelusium says, in this respect, of a part of the 
 Cappadocians : ἐστι yap αὖϑις ἑτέρα μοῖρα καππαδοκῶν Tava- 
 ριστος, ἀφ᾽ ἧς ἐκεῖνοι γεγόνασιν, οἱ πανταχοῦ τῷ φωτὶ τῆς 
 ἑαυτῶν πολιτείας καὶ νουϑεσίας τὰ τῆς γῆς δαδουχήσαντες 
 τέρματα.---Τ 10. i. epist. 158. In another letter (1. i. ep. 352) he 
 remarks to a friend, who could not bring himself to believe that 
 such excellent men could have sprung from Cappadocian orig m— 
 that these very distinguished individuals and pious men very 
 clearly proved the general corruption, since it is shown thereby 
 that it is no moral natural defect, πονηρία ἔμφυτος, but their 
 own individual fault, that had contributed to the production of 
 their decay. 
 
 8 Ppist. 188, p, 850. Gregory says, ‘To honour one’s mother 
 is a holy duty; but every one has another mother ;—the common 
 mother of all is our native country.’ Orat. xliii. p. 772. ‘ Cappa- 
 docia produces not only excellent horses, but also noble young 
 men.’ Gregory praises the Cappadocians in reference to their 
 orthodoxy, Orat. xliii. 38, p. 796. He bestows very high praise, 
 by name, on an inhabitant of the chief city of Cappadocia, 
 Orat. iv. 92, p. 126. Unfortunately, we do not always know 
 
10 HIS FAMILY. [SECT. I. 
 
 although often driven to a solitary life from natural 
 inclination, and from the moral circumstances which 
 surrounded them, yet, when they resumed their place 
 in society, influenced the more powerfully the sentiments 
 of their cotemporaries, as well by the earnestness of 
 their bearing, as by the secret power of mind upon mind. 
 And thus we are again justified in declaring that 
 Gregory speaks with a kind of self-consciousness of his 
 Cappadocia, and that it was a heartfelt object with him 
 to deliver the sacred soil of his fatherland from the 
 heavy charge of an universal corruption. 
 
 In particular families, also, there is often maintained 
 a better and a purer spirit. The domestic associations 
 of the boy Gregory were entirely calculated to implang 
 in his early awakened mind the fruitful germs of piety. 
 He himself gives us a sketch of his parents’ character 
 with filial affection, but (it is to be lamented) in that 
 oratorical, laudatory tone, which presents rather general 
 features, than an accurate picture taken from the life. 
 If he indulges in fancy here and there, after his manner, 
 (though he expressly labours to guard against it,)' still 
 the sketch is so far valuable to us, as it presents us, in 
 a striking manner, with the moral view of that gene- 
 ration. 
 
 A circumstance, which we have to remark in con- 
 nexion with so many great men (and especially among 
 the Fathers), viz., that the direction of their mind 
 and disposition was given to them by their mothers,? - 
 
 with any certainty how we are to deal with such rhetorical 
 passages. 
 
 1 Orat. viii. 1. p. 218. 
 
 ® What extraordinary and beneficial effects Christianity exer- 
 cised on the position of married females, and on the social state 
 
CHAP. 1.} HIS FAMILY. 17 
 
 presents itself also in the case of Gregory, on whose 
 youthful soul the strict, ardent piety of his mother, 
 endowed as she also was with manly virtues, exercised 
 more influence than the more quiet and gentler nature 
 of his father. Nonna (for that was his mother’s name) 
 was born of a respectable christian family, and had been 
 educated with care in the christian faith.| ‘She was’ 
 (according to the picture sketched of her by her son)? ‘a 
 housewife after Solomon’s mind; submissive to her 
 husband in all things according to the law of marriage, 
 yet not ashamed to be his teacher and guide in the 
 practice of true piety. She solved the difficult problem, 
 how to unite a high state of cultivation, especially in 
 the knowledge of heavenly things, and a strict exercise 
 of devotion, with punctual attention to domestic duties. 
 Was she busily engaged in household cares ?—she seemed 
 to know nothing of the exercises of devotion; was she 
 occupied with God and his worship?—all earthly busi- 
 ness seemed strange td her, so entirely was she devoted 
 to each. Experience had taught her an unlimited con- 
 fidence in the effects of the prayer of faith; she was, 
 therefore, most diligent in prayer, and overcame even 
 the deepest sense of pain, for her own and for others’ 
 
 of the sex in general, is well known. Not so well known are the 
 services which noble-minded women have rendered in the spread- 
 ing and the establishing of Christianity, and principally by their 
 educating sons, who afterwards acted a great. part as distinguished 
 Fathers of the Church. Some excellent remarks on this influence 
 of pious women occur in Neander’s Denkwurdigkeiten, vol. ii. 
 70. 
 ἊΝ Orat. vii. 4, p. 200: μήτῃρ ἄνωθεν μέν καὶ ἐκ προγόνων 
 καϑιερομένη Θεῷ ---ἐξ ἁγίας ἀπαρχῆς ὀντως ἅγιον φύραμα : and 
 a like passage in Orat. xviii. 11, p. 337. 
 * The whole of this description, here briefly given, is to be 
 found in Orat. xviii. 7, p. 334—337. 
 
 σ 
 
18 HIS FAMILY. [ SECT. I. 
 
 sorrows, by the energy of prayer. She had attained 
 thereby such self-control, that in all the afflictions that 
 befel her she never uttered a lamentation, till she had 
 thanked God for the same. She thought it unbecoming 
 to shed tears, or put on mourning garments on christian 
 festival-days, so entirely was she penetrated with the 
 thought—a soul filled with love of God should esteem 
 everything human subordinate to that which is diwine.' 
 Still more important than the exercises of devotion 
 (which yet, after the notion of those days, she carried 
 out to the weakening of her body) did she consider the 
 more active service of God, the relieving of widows and 
 orphans, the visiting of the poor and the sick. Her 
 liberality was inexhaustible, degenerating almost into 
 sensibility ; so that (as her son relates) she often said, 
 if it were practicable, she could sell herself and her 
 children, that she might give to the poor the money 
 thence arising.? In company with these beautiful traits 
 in Gregory’s portrait of his mother, we also find traces 
 of an anxious, legal, and narrow-minded piety, rather 
 than a free, spiritual tone of religion. It was not 
 enough that she showed her reverence for God’s service 
 by a quiet and becoming behaviour,’ but ‘she did not 
 even dare to turn her back to the holy table, or to spit* 
 on the pavement of the church. She was intolerant 
 towards heathen women, so that she never offered her 
 
 1 Ψυχῆς γὰρ εἶναι ϑεοφιλοῦς ὑποκλίνειν τοῖς ϑείοις 
 ἅπαν ἀνϑρώπινον. 
 
 2 Orat. xviii. 21, p. 344. 
 
 3 Οἷον τὸ μήποτε φωνὴν αὐτῆς ἐν ἱεροῖς ἀκουσθῆναι συλλόγοις, 
 ἢ τόποις, ἔξω τῶν ἀναγκαίων καὶ μυστικῶν (ἰ.6., at the 
 celebration of the Lord’s Supper.) 
 
 ‘The translator gives this literally, but with an apology to 
 
 English ears. 
 
CHAP, I. | HIS FAMILY. 19 
 
 hand or mouth for any of them to salute. She ate no 
 salt with those who came from the unholy altars of their 
 false gods.! She never suffered her eyes to rest upon 
 heathen temples, much less would she have crossed 
 their threshold. She was as little inclined to visit the 
 theatre.’ 
 
 Nonna was united to a worthy man, who was also 
 ealled Gregorius. Nothing would have been wanting 
 to the happiness of this union had her otherwise 
 excellent husband been a Christian. But he belonged 
 to a community, the members of which, as it seems, 
 mixed up together some Jewish and Persian notions, 
 and without being devoted to a positive creed, paid 
 honours after a very simple fashion to the Supreme God, 
 (rw ὑψίστῳ Θέῳ,) and were thence called Hypsistarians,? 
 or worshippers of the Most High. This lay like a 
 stone on the heart of Nonna, who had been brought up 
 as a strict Christian; supported by constant prayer, she 
 made every effort for the conversion of her husband to 
 Christianity.* She urged him with entreaties, exhorta- 
 tions, and threats; but, above all, she laboured to 
 recommend her faith to him by active piety and 
 affectionate treatment. Gregorius was overcome; a 
 dream fortifies his resolution, or rather guides him to a 
 fuller and clearer light. He seems in his sleep to be 
 singing the commencement of the 122nd Psalm: ‘I 
 was glad when they said unto me, We will go into the 
 House of the Lord.’ Nonna seizes the wished-for 
 
 1 ᾿Αλλὰ μηδὲ ἁλῶν κοινωνῆσαι, μὴ OTL ἑἕκουσαν, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ 
 βιασϑεῖσαν τοῖς ἀπὸ τῆς βεβήλου καὶ ἀνάγνου τραπέζης. 
 * See the Appendix concerning the Hypsistarians. 
 3 Orat. xviii. 11, p. 327. 
 c 2 
 
20 HIS FAMILY. [SECT. 1, 
 
 moment, and persuades her spouse to accompany her to 
 the christian church. Just at that time there chanced 
 to be at Nazianzum several bishops, who were on their 
 way to Nica, to attend the great council appointed to 
 be held there by Constantine; among them was Leontius, 
 bishop of the chief city of Cappadocia. After a short 
 period of instruction, Gregorius was baptized in their 
 presence. The circumstance of his receiving this 
 instruction, not like the other catechumens, in a stand- 
 ing, but in a kneeling posture, was taken as an omen of 
 his future dignity, since bishops were wont to kneel at 
 their consecration. Not content with this, some of the 
 bystanders avouched that they saw the head of Gregorius, 
 as he emerged from the baptismal water, surrounded 
 with a brilliant light ; and even the bishop who baptized 
 him is said to have uttered a prophetic word respecting 
 the future destination of the newly-baptized to the 
 office of bishop.! 
 
 After allowing some time to elapse, for order’s sake,? 
 Gregorius became priest, and superintendent of the 
 church at Nazianzum, an appointment to which, ac- 
 cording to all appearance, he had been already destined 
 by the bishops who were present at his baptism. The 
 
 1 Orat. xviii. 13, p. 339. The minister who baptized Gregorius 
 broke out into the prophetic words: ὅτι τὸν ἑαυτοῦ διάδοχον Tw 
 πνεύματι χρίσειεν. It is clear from this (as the Benedictine 
 editors rightly remark, in opposition to Baronius and Papebroch), 
 that not Leontius of Ceesarea, but the then Bishop of Nazianzum 
 was the minister who baptized him. The respective judgments 
 of Tillemont and Le Clere upon this supposed miracle are in 
 remarkable contrast, and very characteristic of both writers. For 
 that of the first, see his Memoirs, vol. ix. p. 314; for that of the 
 other, the Biblioth. Universelle, vol. xviii. p. 6. 
 
 2 Orat. xvili. 16, p. 840: πιστεύεται μὲν ye τὴν ἱερωσύνην, ob 
 κατὰ τὴν νῦν εὐκολίαν Kai ἀταξίαν, αλλα μικρόν τι διάλιπών. 
 
CHAP. 1.} HIS FAMILY. 21 
 
 christian community of that city had for a long time 
 had no bishop worthy of the name, and was become 
 rather irregular.! Gregorius certainly, from his previous 
 mode of life, could have had no especial theological 
 training (although, according to his son’s account, he 
 laboured here also to make up for his deficiency), but he 
 possessed a pious, earnest, and, at the same time, a 
 gentle mind, with an active zeal for promoting the good 
 of his community. He displayed much vigour in the 
 contest for the Nicene creed, to which he attached him- 
 self, against the Arian party for some time triumphant,? 
 much gentleness and forbearance to the erring members 
 of his flock. ‘He was a man’ (it is thus his son re- 
 presents him) ‘of an ardent spirit, but of a tranquil 
 countenance ; his life was full of elevation, his mind of 
 humility; his disposition was plain and just, pious and 
 devout, without affectation and hypocrisy; his dress was 
 neat, but ordinary and simple; his conversation gentle 
 and engaging ; he gave cheerfully, but in general left the 
 pleasure of giving to his wife.’* In a course of active 
 exertion, beneficial alike to his city and his congregation, 
 this man, honoured and revered by his fellow-citizens, 
 attained to almost a hundred years, during forty-five of 
 which he had been an ecclesiastic.t The younger 
 Gregorius often takes a pleasure in comparing his pious, 
 aged parents with Abraham and Sarah. 
 
 These parents had three children; a daughter, named 
 Gorgonia, and two sons, Gregorius and Ceesarius. ‘ Our 
 Gregorius, or Gregory, was (as was often wont to happen 
 in those days), even before his birth, dedicated to the 
 
 1 Orat. xviii. 16, p. 340, et seq. 2 Orat. xviii. 37, p. 358. 
 5 Urat. xviil. 6, p. 384 ; 23, p. 345. 4 Orat. xviii. 38, p. 358. 
 
22 HIS BIRTH AND EARLY YOUTH.  [SECT. I, 
 
 clerical profession, or, in the more pious language of 
 antiquity, given to God. Nonna had wished for a male 
 child, and promised to give him back entirely to the 
 service of God, from whom her prayers had obtained 
 him.! When she had actually given birth to a son, she 
 hastened with the child to the church, and laid his little 
 hands on the Holy Scriptures, in token of his dedication.” 
 Gregory afterwards often compared himself with Samuel, 
 dedicated by his mother Hannah to God’s service, even 
 before his birth. 
 
 We may suppose that Nonna brought up the son 
 bestowed upon her in a full knowledge of her vow, and, 
 therefore, thoughts and feelings may have early developed 
 themselves in his soul, which otherwise are wont to be 
 very rare at such an age.? Under the influence of his 
 mother’s teaching, he conceived an inclination for the 
 unmarried state, and was confirmed therein by a dream.* 
 This bias Gregory retained throughout his life. He 
 
 1 Carmen de se ipso et advers. Episcop., 1. 805, p. 70. 
 —— Θεῷ, 
 Ὧι πρὶν γενέσϑαι μ᾽ ἡ τεκοῦσ᾽ ὑπέσχετο. 
 See also, Carmen de Rebus suis, 1. 426—439. Carmen de Vita 
 sua, 1. 8, et seq. p. 2. Orat. xviii. 887. Orat. ii. p. 49. 
 
 2. Carm. i. de Rebus suis, 1. 440, p. 88. Βίβλιοισι δ᾽ ἐμὰς χέρας 
 ἥγνισε ϑείαις. 
 
 5. Carm. i. de Reb. suis, 1. 456, p. 89. 
 
 4 Carmen iv. 1. 205, pp. 71, 72. The dream was as follows :— 
 ‘Two lovely virgins, of equal age and equal beauty, seemed to 
 come down to him. Both were simply dressed and unadorned ; 
 they had long white garments, reaching to the feet, fastened 
 closely with a girdle. Their faces were covered with a veil, 
 which, however, did not prevent their downcast eyes, the blush 
 of modesty on their cheeks, and around their soft, closed mouths, 
 from being seen. They both had somewhat of an unearthly air, 
 but yet they advanced to meet the boy in a friendly and affec- 
 tionate manner. On his inquiring their names, they said they 
 were called Purity and Chastity ; that they were companions of 
 
CHAP. I.] | HIS BIRTH AND EARLY YOUTH. 23 
 
 showed himself in his discourses and poems, as well as 
 in his actual life, an admirer of the unwedded, virgin 
 state, without, however, denying the blessing attached 
 to marriage as a divine ordinance. Strange as this 
 mode of thought may appear in a mere boy, yet it con- 
 tributed, in Gregory’s case, to elevate the earnest tempera- 
 ment of his soul, and directed all his efforts so much the 
 more to an inner, spiritual world. His parents gave 
 him the Holy Scriptures to read,! and made every effort 
 to procure him a comprehensive, scientific education, to 
 which a bias was already existing in his mind. A fond- 
 ness for the study of eloquence soon showed itself in 
 him most especially, and he looked upon it as a means 
 of defending the truth with so much the greater power.? 
 
 The young man was not able to satisfy this powerful 
 impulse towards higher cultivation in the insignificant 
 little city of Nazianzum. His wealthy father? sent him, 
 first of all, to Cesarea, the capital of the province,‘ 
 
 Jesus Christ, and friends to those who, in order to lead a per- 
 fectly godly life, renounced all earthly connexions. Having ex- 
 horted the boy to unite himself in spirit with them, they ascended 
 again to heaven.’ 
 
 1 Carm. de Vita sua, 1. 99, p. 2. 
 
 ® Carm. de Vita sua, 1.113, p.2. ... καὶ yap ἐζήτουν λόγους 
 δοῦναι βοήϑους τοὺς νόϑους τοῖς γνησίοις. 
 
 3 That the elder Gregory was very wealthy, is proved by the 
 fact of his having built, chiefly at his own expense, a splendid 
 church for the christian community of Nazianzum. Orat. xviii. 
 39, p. 359. But his son says decidedly (Orat. xviii. 20, p. 343), 
 ἐπειδή Kai οἶκον ἐμερισεν αὐτῷ, Kai κτῆσιν σύμμετρον, ὁ 
 πάντα καλῶς καὶ ποικίλως οἰκονομῶν ϑεός. If therefore, ad- 
 dressing his father (Orat. iii. 6, p. 70), he says, δι’ ἥν (ϑείαν κλη- 
 povopiav) πλούσιος σὺ, κἂν ἧς πένης, thisis only to be taken 
 rhetorically, or as a possible case. The extraordinary acts of 
 beneficence, also, for which Gregory extols his mother would not 
 have been practicable without great resources. 
 
 * Gregor. Presbyter in Vita Gregor. Nazianz., p. 127; and par- 
 ticularly Greg. Naz. Orat., xliii. 13, p. 779. 
 
24 HIS BIRTH AND EARLY YOUTH. [ SECT. I, 
 
 where the sciences were then cultivated, and not without 
 success, particularly as several learned bishops had suc- 
 cessively filled the episcopal chair there. It is highly 
 probable that Gregory’s first acquaintance commenced 
 here with Basilius (or Basil),! a young man of a like 
 mind, who being nearly of the same age, and having 
 been brought up in a similar spirit, shared with him 
 his studious efforts, an acquaintance which subsequently 
 ripened into the most intimate friendship, dedicated by 
 a kindred zeal to the holiest objects. An ardent love 
 of science had brought both youths hither; the same 
 ardour again separated them. Basil went to Constanti- 
 nople, and Gregory to Cesarea, in Palestine, where the 
 schools at that time were famous for the successful cultiva- 
 tion of oratory.? Gregory’s preceptor in Palestine (accord- 
 ing to the testimony of Jerome),? was the rhetorician, 
 Thespesius; one of his fellow-students was Euzoius, 
 afterwards celebrated as bishop of the Palestine Ceesarea. 
 
 A lively taste for learning prevailed of old in several 
 of the christian communities of Palestine and Syria. 
 Edessa in Osroene, Antioch, and Czesarea, had been, 
 or were become, flourishing seats of christian science, 
 which found copious nourishment in excellent libraries 
 (e.g., the celebrated collection of Pamphilus, in Ceesarea). 
 
 1 That Gregory did not first make Basil’s acquaintance at 
 Athens, appears plainly from Orat. xliii. 14, p. 780. Where else 
 should they have become acquainted rather than in Basil’s native 
 city ? 
 
 2 Orat. vii. p. 6, 201: ἐγὼ μὲν τοῖς κατὰ ἸΤαλαιστίνην ἐγκατα- 
 μείνας παιδευτηρίοις, ἀνϑοῦσι τότε κατὰ ρητορικῆς ἔρωτα. 
 
 3. Hieronym. de Viris Illustr., cap. 118, p. 208. Euzoius apud 
 Thespesium rhetorem, cum Gregorio Nazianzeno episcopo, ado- 
 lescens Czesarez eruditus est ; et ejusdem postea urbis episcopus, 
 &e. 
 
CHAP. 1: HIS BIRTH AND EARLY YOUTH. 25 
 
 A succession of distinguished men might be named, 
 who were educated, laboured, or lived a long time in 
 those parts. It may suffice here to mention Origen, 
 Eusebius, and Jerome, since the famous masters of the 
 school of Antioch will readily occur to every reader. 
 
 But even here Gregory’s thirst for knowledge could 
 not be appeased; he left Caesarea for the ancient seat 
 of christian erudition,! where Clemens and Origen, and 
 so many celebrated men, had once learnt and taught, and 
 where now the episcopal chair was filled by one who 
 was reverenced as the pillar of orthodoxy.2 Un- 
 doubtedly, the brighter day of those sciences which 
 Gregory chiefly wished to cultivate was gone by at 
 Alexandria; still he could obtain there very easily a 
 complete philosophical education. We possess no par- 
 ticular accounts respecting his residence and studies in 
 this once splendid, but then decaying cosmopolis; but 
 we venture to surmise, that his inclination to the 
 Platonic philosophy, his partiality for Origen, and his 
 almost unbounded reverence for Athanasius, dated their 
 commencement from this period. 
 
 Gregory was carried on from one fountain of science 
 to another; nor did he find any repose? till he came to 
 
 1 Carmen de Vita sua, 1. 128, p. 3. 
 ® Athanasius. It cannot be positively decided whether or not 
 Athanasius was actually present in Alexandria at the time of 
 Gregory’s residence there ; nor whether Gregory’s extraordinary 
 reverence for him was grounded on a personal acquaintance with 
 him. That might, however, not improbably have been the case. 
 Athanasius certainly had returned to his native city about the 
 year 350, and Gregory’s gtay at Alexandria may have been about 
 that time, if not a year or two earlier. 
 3. Carm. de Rebus suis, 1. 98, p. 33. 
 Μοῦνον ἐμοὶ φιλον ἔσκε λόγων κλέος, OVE συνάγειραν 
 ᾿Αντολίη τε, δύσις τε, καὶ Ἑλλάδος εὖχος ᾿Αϑῆναι. 
 Ταῖς ἐπὶ πολλ᾽ ἐμόγησα πολὺν χρόνον. 
 
26 HIS BIRTH AND EARLY YOUTH. _ [SECT. I. 
 
 Athens, that place which has been consecrated by so 
 many glorious recollections, the oldest source of all the 
 higher branches of mental cultivation.!. Even there, 
 also, the brightest period of art and science had long 
 since passed away. Yet Athens still, at least in pro- 
 portion, maintained its ancient reputation, for scarcely 
 could any one of the great cities (even the newly-founded, 
 opulent Constantinople forming no exception) compete 
 with her in regard to the ardent cultivation of science, 
 Amidst profound degeneracy, and in most unfavourable 
 circumstances (freedom, and even the sense of nation- 
 ality, having been long lost), she still retained some- 
 what of the old, deep-rooted life and spirit of knowledge. 
 
 The active mind of Gregory, animated by an ardent 
 zeal in pursuit of knowledge, had well nigh led to his 
 early death on his voyage to Athens. He could not 
 wait for the time of year favourable for the passage, but 
 embarked in a vessel of /Aigina during the stormy 
 weather of autumn.? When they were now in sight of 
 Cyprus, they encountered a fearful tempest; at the 
 same time their supply of water failed, and thus several 
 days were passed in the alternative of perishing by 
 thirst, or by drowning. Amidst the common distress, 
 Gregory suffered from a deep anxiety, not for his out- 
 
 1 See Creuzer’s Oration, De civitate Athenarum, omnis Humani- 
 tatis Parente. Lugd. Batav. 1809. Libanius aptly calls Athens 
 ‘the eye of Greece,’ and adds: τὴν τῆς ᾿Αϑηνᾶς πόλιν, τὴν 
 μητέρα Πλάτωνος καὶ Δημοσϑένους, καὶ τῆς ἄλλης τῆς πολύει- 
 Cove σοφίας.---Ἐπιταφ. επὶ Τουλιαν. p. 531. Reisk. 
 
 ® Carmen i. de Rebus suis, 1. 310—340, p. 36. Carm. de Vit. 
 sua, 1. 120—212, pp. 3, 4. Detailed accounts of the storm he 
 encountered occur in both these passages. Compare also Orat. 
 xviii. 31, p. 351, where the whole is related with more brevity 
 and simplicity. 
 
CHAP. I. | HIS BIRTH AND EARLY YOUTH. 27 
 
 ward life, but for the safety of his soul.! Although 
 brought up on christian principles, he had not been 
 baptized, but, after the custom of those days, had put off 
 his baptism to a riper age. He was now afraid that he 
 should die ere he had received the external rite of 
 admission to Christianity, which he considered the 
 necessary condition of eternal happiness. Overpowered 
 with anguish, he threw himself down, with rent garments, 
 weeping and praying, and gave such lively vent to his 
 lamentations, that the ship’s crew, threatened as they 
 themselves were with immediate destruction, sympathised 
 with him. With burning tears, he promised afresh to 
 devote his whole life to God. They were saved:? some 
 Pheenicians, on passing by, furnished the ship with 
 water and provisions. The storm subsided, and they 
 landed safely in the harbour of Aigina, from whence 
 Gregory hastened to the long wished-for Athens. 
 
 This occurrence was now looked upon by Gregory as 
 his second dedication to God’s service.* Many persons 
 
 1 See the just-quoted passages in Gregory’s Poems, but espe- 
 cially Orat. xviii. 31, p. 352: Πάντων δὲ τὸν κοινὸν Savarov 
 δεδοικότων, ὁ τῆς ψυχῆς ἦν ἐμοὶ φοβερώτερος, ἐκινδύνεον yao 
 ἄϑλιος ἀπελϑεῖν καὶ ἀτέλεστος, ποϑῶν τὸ πνευματικὸν 
 ὕδωρ ἐν τοῖς φονικοῖς ὕδασι κ. τ. Δ. 
 
 2 The prayer, also, of his parents contributed (according to 
 Gregory’s belief) towards his delivery, they being made aware of 
 his danger by a secret presentiment. Marvellous dreams, visions, 
 and the like, (which Gregory often willingly, and even in this 
 case, Orat, xviii. 31, p. 352, interweaves with the thread of his 
 biography, ) will be omitted in this work, as lying beyond the 
 province of history, and because so much of a really historical 
 character demands our closer attention. 
 
 3 Carmen de Vita sua, 1. 191, p. 4 :— 
 
 Doc, εἶπόν, εἰμι καὶ τὸ πρὶν καὶ νῦν ἔτι" 
 Σὺ δίς pe λήψῃ, κτῆμα τῶν σοὶ τιμίων, 
 Γῆς καὶ ϑαλάσσης δῶρον ἐξηγνισμενον, 
 ᾿Ευχῇ τε μητρὸς καὶ φόβοις ἐξαισίοις. 
 
28 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [ SECT. ἿΣ 
 
 may take offence at the indispensable necessity of 
 baptism for future happiness, here assigned as the cause 
 of Gregory’s deep distress; this is not the place to 
 discuss the question: such, however, was the full con- 
 viction of that age, in which Gregory participated. We 
 shall not, however, withhold our sympathy from the 
 young man, who, at the prospect of immediate death, 
 feared not so much the loss of life, as the harm which 
 his soul might suffer. It is very remarkable to see, as 
 we do here, the conviction of the indispensable necessity 
 of baptism for future happiness existing together with 
 the deliberate postponement of that rite. This phe- 
 nomenon seems only to be accounted for by concluding, 
 that the danger of dying unbaptized was considered as 
 less than that of falling away from grace already 
 attained, by reason of an unworthy life, or especial sins, 
 after baptism, when a restoration to a state of acceptance 
 was hardly to be expected. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 HIS RESIDENCE AS A STUDENT AT ATHENS. 
 
 ATHENS, as we have already remarked, was still, at that 
 time, the most celebrated emporium of learning in 
 Greece; in the animated cultivation of which, with a 
 strange and eager impulse, not only the neighbouring 
 regions of Greece, but even the more remote Asia, par- 
 ticipated. Young men from all quarters, even from the 
 distant Armenia, and other Asiatic provinces, flocked 
 hither, and emulously crowded round the famous teachers 
 of rhetoric and philosophy, who bore the name of 
 
CHAP. 11. | STUDENT AT ATHENS. 29 
 
 Sophists—a name which, at that period, had again 
 attained some degree of honour. These philosophers 
 and orators of the Athens of that day certainly had not 
 the genius of a Socrates, a Plato, or a Demosthenes. 
 They laboured, by artificial means, to preserve the forms 
 of antiquity, whilst its noble simplicity, depth, and 
 freedom, had long since departed from them. They 
 strove, by means of a mystic idealism, to maintain a 
 religion whose life and spirit had disappeared. They 
 exerted themselves generally for external effect, and 
 condescended to the use of magic and theurgic rites, 
 (the favourite studies of that age,) and even to worse 
 means, for the purpose of gaining influence over the 
 youthful mind. Every sophist had his own school and 
 party, who were devoted to him with incredible zeal ; 
 nor had they any higher aim than to spread their own 
 fame with that of their master, and to increase the 
 number of their partisans. There prevailed in most of 
 the young students at Athens (as Gregory strikingly 
 expresses it) a complete Sophistic furor! They all 
 canvassed for their master, since it was not the custom 
 to attend different lecturers at the same time, but each 
 one, as a rule, attached himself to one. The poorer 
 students especially lent themselves to this business of 
 recruiting, since they got exemption from class payment, 
 or even some degree of remuneration, if they succeeded 
 in bringing to their respective sophists a good supply of 
 new-comers. An unprejudiced youth could scarcely set 
 his foot upon Attic ground without being already 
 claimed by the adherents of a party: they wrangled, 
 
 ’ Orat, ΧΙ. 15, p. 791: σοφιστομανοῦσιν ᾿Αϑήνῃσι τῶν 
 , ε ~ ‘ > , 
 γέξων οἱ πλεῖστοι καὶ ἀφρονέστεροι. 
 
30 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [sEcT. 1. 
 
 they struggled, they threw themselves around him; and 
 it might easily happen that a young man was torn quite 
 away from the very teacher whom he had come expressly 
 to attend. The whole of Greece was drawn into this 
 partisanship of the students for their favourite sophists ; 
 so that this recruiting (or touting) was carried on in the 
 streets and harbours of other cities also. Nor were the 
 literary disputes and altercations of the different schools, 
 among themselves, less animated; indeed, they seldom 
 concluded without coming to blows.! This perverted 
 and wild excitement,? in which Gregory found himself, 
 could by no means suit his noble mind. It was a 
 comfort and refreshment to him that, not long after his 
 arrival, his countryman, Basil, also arrived at Athens 
 from Constantinople, to whom he now attached himself 
 
 1 The vouchers for this description, besides Gregory’s 45th 
 Oration, (which, especially at § 15, p. 781, contains many inte- 
 resting particulars,) are to be found chiefly in Libanius de Vita 
 sua, p. 19, et seq., edit. Reisk ; and in some of the letters of the 
 same Sophist in Eunapius, Vite Sophistar. in Prowres., pp. 
 130—133, or at pp. 74, 75, Boisson et Wyttenb.; in Photius, 
 in Bibliothec. Cod. 80, p. 189. The particulars relating hereto, 
 collected by Wyttenbach, in the Bibliotheca Critica, are very in- 
 teresting. Vol. viii. part x. p. 86, et seq. ; and also in his remarks 
 on Eunapius, p. 351. i 
 
 2 Orat. xlili. 14, p. 780: ...’AShvac τὰς χρυσᾶς ὄντως ἐμοὶ, 
 καὶ τῶν καλῶν προξένους, εἰπέρ τινὶ" ἐκεῖναι γὰρ μοι TOY ἄνδρα 
 τοῦτον ἐγνώρισαν τελεώτερον, οὐδὲ πρὶν ἀγνοούμενον. A repu- 
 tation for distinguished eloquence had already preceded the 
 arrival of Basil, and, on the especial persuasion of Gregory, he 
 was received by the other students with more consideration than 
 was usually shown to new-comers; for the following practice, 
 which Gregory relates (Orat. xliii. 16, p. 782) with a sort of agree- 
 able circumstantiality, prevailed among the young men at Athens: 
 ‘On the arrival of a freshman (τὶς τῶν νέων») at Athens, one of 
 that party which has gained him to themselves receives him as 
 his guest ; he is then bantered by every one after his pleasure, 
 sometimes with refined, and sometimes with coarser wit, according 
 
CHAP. 11.} STUDENT AT ATHENS. 31 
 
 most affectionately. The connexion between Basil and 
 Gregory, which heretofore had been merely acquaintance, 
 now first became a hearty friendship, through a trifling 
 incident, which, however, gives us a lively insight into 
 the state of excitement then prevalent among the young 
 men at Athens. The students seem to have been 
 divided, not only according to their respective teachers 
 in the schools, but also into certain fraternities,! formed 
 of those who were natives of the same country. The 
 respective parties had their leaders, who also acted as 
 their champions in scientific contests. The fraternity 
 of the Armenians is expressly named by Gregory as 
 being particularly hostile to Basil, because he, though a 
 new-comer, excelled many of them who had long been 
 at Athens in eloquence. They entered into a contest 
 
 as he himself has been better or worse brought up. The pretence 
 is, that they hereby take away a little of his self-conceit, and ac- 
 custom him to the practice of obedience. With all this rough- 
 ness, however, Gregory himself thought the custom not ill-meant, 
 and certainly it constituted the actual admission to the privileges 
 of companionship. In prosecution of their plan, the young men, 
 two and two, in regular procession, go with the novice to one of 
 the public baths ; on their approaching the entrance of it, those 
 in front all at once raise a wild cry, and command the procession 
 to halt, as if admission had been refused them. They then throw 
 themselves upon the doors, and in appearance force an entrance. 
 All this is done merely to frighten the new-comer, for after they 
 have gotten into the interior of the building, and the candidate 
 for initiation has taken a bath, they then receive him in the most 
 friendly manner, as one who is now their equal, and invested with 
 all their privileges.’ This mock ceremony, which shows us how 
 academical customs, notwithstanding external variations, still 
 continue essentially alike, was dispensed with in Basil’s case ; a 
 very rare instance, as Gregory remarks. He himself, therefore, 
 does not seem to have formed an exception to the rule. 
 
 1 They are called φράτριαι, brotherhoods, in Gregory’s poem, 
 de Vita sua, 1. 215, p. 4. The leaders of the procession are called 
 προστάται τοῦ χοροῦ. 
 
32 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [SECT. 1. 
 
 with him, and were on the point of being beaten by 
 him, when Gregory, unsuspicious of their bad intentions, 
 supported them, as the weaker side, and rendered the 
 victory of Basil doubtful. In the course of the dispute, 
 however, Gregory remarked the spiteful sentiments of 
 the Armenians, and passed over immediately to the 
 side of Basil, who now enjoyed a complete triumph. 
 This slight circumstance made the two friends objects of 
 most violent hatred to the Armenian fraternity, but 
 bound them to each other so much the more closely.! 
 They studied together, especially in the schools of 
 rhetoric, grammar, mathematics, and philosophy, as 
 well theoretically as practically ; music, also, as a means 
 of attuning the soul to softer and purer sensations, was 
 not neglected. Even of the science of medicine they 
 endeavoured to acquire at least the philosophical part.? 
 Their instructors were probably the celebrated sophists, 
 Himerius and Proeresius.? By them principally they 
 were led into those rich and flowery fields of ancient 
 
 1 Orat. xiii. 17—20, p. 783—785. It is probable, also, that on 
 this occasion the national jealousy between the Armenians and 
 the Cappadocians exhibited itself. 
 
 2 These subjects are at least enumerated by Gregory himself, 
 Orat. xliii. 23, pp. 788, 789. 
 
 3 This certainly, as far as I know, is nowhere expressly affirmed, 
 but it may with great probability be concluded. Speaking of his 
 instructors, Gregory says: παρὰ τοσούτοις μὲν γὰρ οἱ ὑμέτεροι 
 παιδευταὶ, παρ᾽ ὅσοις (ἠκούοντο) ᾿Αϑῆναι. Orat. xliii. 22, p. 787. 
 The most famous Athenian sophists' of that time were Himerius 
 and Prozresius, whose lives, written by Eunapius (that of the former 
 circumstantially, that of the latter only briefly), are, in general, 
 sufficiently known. What high respect was enjoyed by Prozre- 
 sius in his day appears, among other proofs, very strongly from 
 an extremely flattering epistle addressed to him by Julian, Zpist. 
 2, p. 373. The Romans, also, to whom he was sent by Con- 
 stantius, erected a statue in honour of him, with this inscription : 
 
CHAP, TI. | STUDENT AT ATHENS. 909 
 
 Greek literature, a more intimate acquaintance with 
 which displays itself in all the writings of Gregory. 
 How seducingly must heathenism have often presented 
 itself to them, clothed as it was in the attractive garb of 
 poetry and philosophy. Before them stood respected 
 masters, who recommended the old religion with all the 
 insinuating art of rhetoric, and their myths by the 
 philosophical mysticism with which they expounded 
 them, and sought to soften what was offensive in them 
 by means of allegories. Around them, on the heights 
 and in the valleys, stood the serene and noble temples of 
 the gods of antiquity; and whichever way they looked, 
 the gods themselves presented themselves in agreeable 
 and attractive, or in grave and venerable forms. In 
 truth, Athens was still, at that time, the most attractive 
 seat of heathenism in Greece; nowhere else had it so 
 many friends, so many weighty and influential pane- 
 gyrists. It was no easy matter, under these circum- 
 stances, to continue a true Christian; indeed, many 
 christian youths were here won over to the old faith.!| 
 
 Regina Rerum Roma Regi Eloquentiz. Eunap. in Prowresio, 
 p. 157, or 90, Wyttenb. et Boissonade, and the notes thereon at 
 pp., 322, 382. Respecting Prozresius, the reader may also com- 
 pare Sozom. ec. Hist., vi. 17. Gregory probably had also at- 
 tended the lectures of the first sophist of the time, Libanius,—at 
 least Socrates says so, who elsewhere mentions Himerius and 
 Prozresius as his masters. Socrat. Ecc. Hist., iv. 26. The asser- 
 tions, however, of Socrates concerning Gregory do not bear the 
 characteristic of entire credibility. During his rather long resi- 
 dence at Athens Gregory might have attended several sophists 
 in succession. 
 
 ’ Orat. xliii. 21, p. 787: βλαβεραὶ μὲν τοῖς ἄλλοις ᾿Αϑῆναι, 
 τὰ εἰς ψυχήν, οὐ yap φαύλως τοῦτο ὑπολαμβάνεται τοῖς ἐυσε- 
 βεστέροις" καὶ γὰρ πλουτοῦσι τὸν κακὸν πλοῦτον, ἔιδωλα, μᾶλλον 
 τῆς ἄλλης Ελλάδος, καὶ χαλεπὸν μὴ συναρπασϑῆναι τοῖς τούτων 
 ἐπαινέταις καὶ συνηγύροις. 
 
 D 
 
94 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [ SECT. I. 
 
 Gregory and Basil stood firm; the christian faith had 
 been too deeply impressed upon them at home ; nor 
 was the glitter of poetry or philosophy able to efface the 
 strong impressions of a strict christian education. It 
 was their pride, in the midst of heathen-minded Athens, 
 to be and to be called Christians.! They continued even 
 here in constant external communion with the Church. 
 In their simple mode of life they had only two sources 
 of refreshment—viz., in attending their teachers, and 
 (what was still dearer to them) the services of the 
 Church. They strictly avoided the feasts and banquets 
 of the other young men, and the theatre, where heathen- 
 ism might be presented to them in a more seductive 
 form. ‘Thus their faith not only maintained itself un- 
 tarnished, but was strengthened still more by the 
 temptations which it resisted. 
 
 Basil had, at first, been dissatisfied with Athens.? 
 Gregory calmed his mind by showing him the right 
 view to take of the things which pressed upon him; 
 this, and the other circumstance already mentioned, 
 helped to form a closer union between them, which soon 
 became so intimate, that they planned their entire mode 
 of life in unison: they lodged, they took their meals, 
 they studied philosophy together. But it was not so 
 much the intercourse of the outward as of the inner life, 
 which bound them permanently to each other; their 
 connexion was founded upon their common love of God 
 
 1 See in the above-quoted places: ἡμῖν δὲ τὸ μέγα πρᾶγμα Kai 
 ὄνομα, Χριστιανοὺς εἶναι καὶ ὀνομάζεσϑαι. 
 
 3. Orat. xliii. 18, p. 784: κενὴν μακαρίαν τὰς ᾿Αϑῆνας ὠνό- 
 μαζεν. 
 3 Orat. xliii. 19, p. 785: ... τηνικαῦτα ἤδη τὰ πάντα ἦμεν 
 ἀλλήλοις, ὁμόστεγοι, ὁμοδίαιτοι, συμφυεῖς, τὸ Ev βλέποντες. 
 
CHAP. 11. | STUDENT AT ATHENS. 35 
 
 and of the Redeemer, upon their common efforts after a 
 godly life; reposing on this everlasting foundation, it 
 defied the storms of the time, and the chilling, deadening 
 incongruities of society. Had it been only a human 
 friendship, it might well have been disturbed, but as 
 being at the same time a heavenly one, it could not 
 be destroyed. Even as an old man, and:after all that 
 passed between him and his friend Basil, Gregory speaks 
 of this friendship of his youth with youthful ardour:! 
 ‘How, (says he, in his eulogy upon Basil,) ‘how can I 
 think of this friendship without tears? A like hope 
 stimulated both of us in the pursuit of an object, which 
 is generally wont to excite the most violent jealousy— 
 literary distinction. But envy was far from our hearts, 
 while they were filled with a generous emulation. There 
 was a friendly contest between us, not who should carry 
 off the first prize, but which should be allowed to 
 adjudge it to the other, since each cherished the repu- 
 tation of his friend as if it were his own. We seemed, 
 in fact, to be only one soul that animated two bodies.’? 
 It is in such striking terms as the following that Gregory 
 shows how their friendship, originating as it did from 
 love for the Eternal, must necessarily be indestructible :3 
 ‘Mere human love, as it relates only to transitory 
 things, must, in like manner, be transient, like the 
 
 1 Orat. xliii. 20, pp. 785, 786. 
 3 Carmen de Vita sua, 1. 229, p. 4: 
 Τὰ πάντα μὲν δὴ κοινὰ, καὶ ψυχὴ pia, 
 Δυοῖν δέουσα σωμάτων διάστασιν. 
 Ὅ δ᾽ εἰς ἐν ἡμᾶς διαφερόντως ἤγαγε, 
 Τοῦτ᾽ nv, ϑεός τε καὶ πόϑος τῶν κρεισσόνων, 
 In the like spirit Cicero says: Amicitiz vis est in eo, αὖ unus 
 quasi animus fiat ex pluribus.— De Amicit. cap. xxv. 
 Orat. xliii. 19, p. 785. 
 
 1 2 
 
90 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [SECT. I. 
 
 flowers of spring. As the flame glows no longer when 
 the fuel is consumed, but is extinguished with it, so a 
 merely physical fondness cannot maintain itself when 
 its appropriate nourishment is burnt up. But a divine 
 and pure affection, because it relates to untransitory 
 things, is, for that reason, durable; and the farther it 
 proceeds in the contemplation of true happiness, the 
 stronger it binds, and the closer it connects with each 
 other the lovers of the eternal; that is the law of 
 heavenly love. I am well aware how my feelings have 
 carried me away beyond all limits, and without regard 
 to time; nor do I myself know how I came to use these 
 words, but I cannot refrain from giving them expression.’ 
 
 Would we fully understand the affectionate terms on 
 which these two great men lived, we must especially 
 consult their correspondence. But, as many separate 
 points will have to be discussed hereafter, I shall now 
 quote only two passages, which beautifully exhibit the 
 overflowing affection of Gregory for Basil:—‘I have 
 taken you,’ he writes to his friend,! ‘as the guide of my 
 life and the teacher of my faith, and whatever else can 
 be called beautiful and great. As such I always con- 
 sider you; and whenever any one celebrates your 
 praises, he does it either in company with me or in 
 unison with my sentiments, so entirely am I enchained 
 by your mild wisdom, so entirely, in the purity of a 
 devoted heart, am I yours. And no wonder, since the 
 longer the acquaintance, the greater the experience ; and 
 the more complete the experience, the more valuable the 
 testimony that one friend can give of another. If there 
 be anything which gives a value to my life, it is your 
 
 1 Epist. 26; (al. 20,) p. 788. 
 
CHAP. 1. | STUDENT AT ATHENS. 97 
 
 society, your friendship.’ Another letter of Gregory’s, 
 of a more playful character (in which also the happy 
 reminiscences of Athens are particularly renewed), 
 concludes with these words:—‘ Who has ever admired 
 anything upon earth as I have admired you? There is 
 but one spring in the year’s cycle, one sun among the 
 stars, one heaven, which embraces all ; so, also, if I have 
 any judgment in such things, and if (which I do not 
 believe) that judgment is not blinded by love, there is 
 only one voice, among all, worth listening to, and that 
 voice is yours.’ The friendship between Gregory and 
 Basil was the more intense, because, amidst their perfect 
 agreement on the highest principles of religion and 
 morals, it was animated by the difference of their intel- 
 lectual individuality. Basil was more ardent and more 
 inclined to a life of action, Gregory more calm and 
 contemplative. Thus the one was able to guard the 
 other from going too far in his particular direction, and 
 both could thus, in some measure, complete what was 
 wanting in themselves. 
 
 At Athens, Gregory formed an acquaintance (of a 
 very remarkable character, and one which subsequently 
 gave him no pleasure) with the nephew* of the Emperor 
 Constantius, the prince Julian, who afterwards succeeded 
 to the throne, and played a short but extraordinary part 
 in the drama of the world’s history.!_ This prince was 
 
 * Ullmann here (and even Neander, in his Zecles. Hist.) speaks 
 of Julian as the nephew, instead of cousin to Constantius, as Gibbon 
 and Warburton describe him. Julian’s father, called Julius 
 Constantius, was brother to Constantine, and uncle to Constantius 
 the Emperor, who, being Constantine’s son, was therefore Julian’s 
 cousin.—Translator. 
 
 Libanius gives more detailed information concerning Julian’s 
 mode of life at Athens. ᾿Επιτάφ. ἐπὶ ᾿Ιουλιανῷ, p. 532, Reisk. 
 
38 HIS RESIDENCE AS A | SECT. i} 
 
 then (A.D. 355) resident there, by the permission of his 
 jealous uncle, for the purpose of pursuing his studies, A 
 singular predilection for paganism and pagan mysteries, 
 which flourished particularly in that city, already dis- 
 played itself in Julian. He was as strongly attached to 
 the rhetorical and philosophical advocates of heathenism, 
 as they in their turn (as well as all the admirers of the 
 old religion) directed their attention, with hopeful 
 expectation, to the young and distinguished member of 
 the imperial family; Gregory, therefore, who acknow- 
 ledges that he by no means possessed a quick-sightedness 
 in discerning character, had yet no difficulty in an- 
 ticipating the very worst in Julian. He calls upon 
 those who were with him at that time at Athens to 
 testify, that soon after he had become acquainted with 
 Julian, he had uttered those words—‘ How great an 
 evil is the Roman empire here training ἀρ 1} What it 
 was which caused Gregory to judge so severely of the 
 young man,” he has himself informed us, in a perhaps 
 somewhat exaggerated picture of Julian’s demeanour and 
 external appearance: ‘I was led to become a prophet,’ 
 he says, ‘by the restlessness of his behaviour, and the 
 extravagant tone of his animation. It also appeared to 
 me no good sign, that his neck was not firmly set on 
 his shoulders; that those shoulders often moved con- 
 vulsively; that his eye frequently glanced round timidly, 
 and rolled as if in frenzy; and that his feet were never 
 in a state of repose. As little was I pleased with his 
 nose, which breathed pride and contempt; with the 
 ridiculous distortions of his face, which yet indicated the 
 same pride; his loud, immoderate laughter ; the nodding 
 
 1 Ojov κακὸν ἡ Ρωμαίων τρέφει. * Orat. v. 23, 24, pp. 161, 162. 
 
CHAP. 11. | STUDENT AT ATHENS. 39 
 
 and shaking of his head without any reason; his 
 hesitating speech, interrupted by the act of breathing ; 
 his abrupt, unmeaning questions, and his answers not at 
 all better, but often self-contradictory, and given without 
 any scientific arrangement.’! If we deduct the effect of 
 a strong personal dislike upon the pen of this delineator, 
 we have still remaining the picture of a restless, fiery- 
 tempered man, of a mind incessantly active and excited ; 
 of one who was haughty in the conscious feeling of 
 power, but yet externally practising dissimulation,? 
 while there was wanting to his great natural abilities 
 
 1 Τὸ is not uninteresting to compare with the above what 
 Julian himself tells us of his own external appearance. He 
 evidently tried much, especially as Emperor, to keep up a peculiar 
 exhibition of himself, and was fond of uniting the unpolished 
 severity of a Cynic with the dignified bearing of an ancient hero, 
 With self-satisfied complacency he speaks (in his Misopogon, 
 p. 338, seq.) of his bristly hair, his manly breast, and his long, 
 shaggy beard, while he still censures Nature for not having 
 given him a handsomer countenance. Nay, he does not hesitate 
 to speak in terms of commendation of his ink-stained hands, his 
 long nails, and even of the minute inhabitants which dwelt in the 
 wilderness of his beard! Ammianus Marcellinus (xxy. 4) gives 
 a much more agreeable description of him than he does of 
 himself. ‘Mediocris erat stature, capillis, tanquam pexisset, 
 mollibus, hirsuta barba in acutum desinente vestitus, venustate 
 oculorum micantium flagrans, qui mentis ejus angustias indicabant, 
 superciliis decoris et naso rectissimo, ore paullo majore, labro 
 inferiore demisso, opima et incurva cervice, humeris vastis et 
 latis, ab ipso capite usque unguium summitates lineamentorum 
 recta compage, unde viribus valebat et cursu.’ In another passage, 
 Ammianus mentions some peculiarities which agree better with 
 Gregory’s description : ‘ Levioris ingenii,..... lingue fusioris 
 et admodum raro silentis.’ 
 
 * That Julian had early practised the art of dissimulation, and 
 whilst he was entirely inclined to heathenism had yet externally 
 played the Christian, is not merely the expression of hostile sus- 
 picion on the part of Christian writers (see Gregory’s Orat, iv. 30, 
 pp- 90, 91), but is also expressly allowed by heathen writers (see 
 Ammian. Marcellin., xxi. ii.) Compare with lib, xxii. cap. 5, 
 Libanius, also Julian's eulogist and friend, does not deny the 
 
40 HIS RESIDENCE AS A [SECT. Ty 
 
 that judicious education which would have regulated 
 and directed them to the right object. 
 
 The residence of Basil and Gregory at Athens appears 
 to have been of great length; indeed, the period of 
 academical study was at that time generally much longer 
 than it is now-a-days. Gregory arrived at Athens just 
 in the bloom of youth, and left it when he was about 
 thirty years old.!. A residence of such a length rendered 
 Athens very dear to most students, and the departure 
 from it uncommonly difficult.2 The separation was 
 made especially difficult to the two friends from the 
 earnestness with which both teachers and fellow-students 
 wished positively to retain them at Athens. Gregory, 
 indeed, in spite of all his efforts, was forced to remain, 
 whilst Basil, who had more urgent motives for a speedy 
 departure, returned to his own country. It seems to 
 have been the wish of those who detained Gregory, to 
 induce him to come forward in the character of a teacher 
 of rhetoric in Athens. This occupation, however, 
 
 truth of the representation, but only endeavours to excuse it by 
 a poor attempt at wit: Αἴσωπος δ᾽ ἐνταῦϑα μῦϑον ἂν ἐποίησεν, 
 οὐκ ὄνον λεοντῇ κρύπτων, ἀλλ᾽ ὄνου δορᾷ τὸν λέοντα᾽ κἀκεῖνος 
 ἤδει μέν, ἅ εἰδέναι κρεῖττον, ἐδόκει δὲ τὰ ἀσφαλέστερα. 
 Ἐπιτάφ. ἐπὶ lovAcay.—p. 528, Reisk. 
 
 1 Carmen de Vita sua, 1. 112, 239, pp. 2, 4. 
 
 2 Carmen de Vita sua, 1. 242, p.4et seq. Orat. xliii. 24, p. 789. 
 Οὐδὲν γὰρ οὕτως οὐδενὶ λυπηρὸν, ὡς τοῖς ἐκεῖσε συνγνόμοις, 
 ᾿Αϑηνῶν καὶ ἀλλήλων τέμνεσϑαι. 
 
 8. Most of the biographers of Gregory (on the assertion of 
 the Presbyter Gregory, who says—Ipnydouoe δὲ ἀπρὶξ κατείχετο 
 τοῖς Αϑηναίων φοιτηταῖς, μήτε τὴν ἔξοδον αὐτῷ συγχοροῦσι καὶ 
 παιδεύειν αὐτοὺς ἐκλιπαροῦσι, τόν τε σοφιστικὸν ϑρόνον 
 παρακαλοῦσι δέχεσϑαι) explicitly assume, that the fellow-students 
 of Gregory detained him solely that he might take possession of 
 the Sophistic chair. But he himself does not express himself on 
 this point with sufficient clearness for such a positive conclusion. 
 He says (in his Carmen de Vita sua, 1. 256) : 
 
 Ὡς δή λόγων δώσοντες ἐκ ψήφου κράτος. 
 
\ CHAP. 11.} STUDENT AT ATHENS. 41 
 
 could not have suited the mind of Gregory, since 
 scarcely had Basil taken his departure, when we see 
 Gregory also following his friend’s example. He set 
 out upon his homeward journey by way of Constanti- 
 nople, where, without any previous concert, he fell in 
 with his brother Ceesarius, who had just arrived from 
 Alexandria (where he had for some years been studying), 
 on his return to his paternal home.! Ceesarius had 
 devoted himself to the study of natural philosophy and 
 medicine, and appears at that time to have obtained a 
 distinguished reputation, since the most advantageous 
 offers were made to him if he would remain at Con- 
 stantinople. But brotherly and filial affection prevailed 
 in the heart of Czesarius over all these attractive pros- 
 pects; he could not resolve to let his brother return 
 alone to his parents home. Their aged mother, Nonna, 
 had often wished and earnestly asked of God in prayer, 
 that her sons might again set foot together on the 
 paternal threshold. This her wish was now fulfilled. 
 They both returned to the arms of their parents in good 
 condition, and well furnished for the business of life. 
 
 In the course of Gregory’s education, thus far related, 
 we find the germs already set of all that was afterwards 
 developed in him. In company with superior abilities, 
 he had by nature a serious disposition; a strict and 
 religious education drew him off still more from the 
 external to the internal world; he learnt from childhood 
 to consider himself as consecrated to the service of God, 
 and to regard knowledge as a mean for that object. 
 All the places of instruction which he visited stimulated 
 him to the study of eloquence. His residence at 
 
 1 Orat. vii. 5, 6, 7, 8, pp. 201—204. 
 
42 HIS RESIDENCE AT ATHENS. | SECT. I. 
 
 Alexandria infused into him an inclination to the 
 Platonic philosophy, a partiality for Origen, and the 
 theology and exegesis of that school; a reverence for 
 Athanasius and his dogmatic principles. At Athens he 
 became still more familiar with Greek literature, and 
 more skilful in the logic and rhetoric of the day. His 
 aversion, however, to heathenism and its glitter grew 
 stronger—his love for simple, genuine Christianity more 
 firmly fixed. Here, also, was already formed his devoted 
 friendship with Basil, and the foundation laid for his 
 dislike of Julian ; two things which had an extraordinary 
 influence on his whole life. 
 
48 
 
 SECTION THE SECOND. 
 
 HIS MODE OF LIFE IN CAPPADOCIA, PARTLY IN SOLITUDE, PARTLY 
 IN PUBLIC ECCLESIASTICAL EMPLOYMENT, ABOUT A.D. 360—379, 
 AND, THEREFORE, FROM HIS THIRTIETH YEAR TO HIS FORTY- 
 NINTH. 
 
 HRONOLOGICAL SURVEY:—The beginning of 
 
 this section falls still in the reign of Constantius, 
 who soon, however, departed from the stage of life. 
 Exactly at the time when Gregory returned home from 
 Athens (A.D. 360), Julian was proclaimed Augustus, or 
 partner in the throne, by the Gallic legions at Paris. 
 In November of the year 361, Constantius died, and 
 Julian ascended the imperial throne. At the same time, 
 probably at Christmas, 361, Gregory was ordained priest 
 by his father. After Julian, in 363, had found an early 
 death in the Persian war, the succession of christian 
 emperors was not again interrupted. Jovian, who leaned 
 to the Athanasian side, but at the same time tolerated 
 all parties, reigned only seven months. He was suc- 
 ceeded in 364 by Valentinian, who associated with him 
 his brother Valens in the government. In the West, 
 Valentinian, tolerant or indifferent, yet gave the victory 
 to the orthodox or Homoousian party; Valens, in the 
 East, favoured the Arians, and persecuted their op- 
 ponents. The Nicene creed had however, meanwhile, 
 powerful champions. In the West, Damasus (bishop 
 of Rome since 366), Ambrose (bishop of Milan since 
 374); in the East, for a long time, Athanasius (from 
 A.D. 373), and after him Peter, his successor in the see 
 
44 DIFFERENCE IN THE TURN OF MIND  [SECT. II. 
 
 of Alexandria; we may add, especially, Basil (bishop of 
 Ceesarea, in Cappadocia, since 370), his brother Gregory 
 of Nyssa, and our Gregory of Nazianzum. Valentinian 
 was made emperor in the year 375; Valens in 378. 
 The former was succeeded by his sons, Gratian and 
 Valentinian IT., who, after the death of Valens, asso- 
 ciated Theodosius with themselves (A.D. 379) in the 
 government. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DIFFERENCE IN THE TURN OF MIND IN GREGORY AND HIS 
 BROTHER, CAHSARIUS. 
 
 Tue two brothers were gifted by Nature with very 
 different intellectual talents; but now, from deliberate 
 and spontaneous judgment, their courses of life diverged 
 still more widely from each other. Both of them were 
 alike endowed with superior abilities, and with a lively, 
 quick apprehension ; both of them had been accustomed, 
 by the education they had received in their early years, 
 to an unwearied activity in the pursuit of knowledge. 
 Gregory, however, was, from a child, more inclined to 
 seriousness, to self-denial, to retirement from worldly 
 things; Cesarius developed more into the man of the 
 world, yet without renouncing the pious principles which 
 he had received in the paternal mansion. The former 
 devoted himself, with all his thoughts and aspirations, to 
 the unseen world, and became a theologian; the other 
 to the world of sense, and became a natural philosopher 
 and a physician. Piety had been implanted by educa- 
 tion in the souls of the two brothers as the basis of their 
 entire existence; but this fundamental principle operated 
 
CHAP. 1.} IN GREGORY AND CASARIUS. 45 
 
 and expressed itself in the two very differently. To 
 Ceesarius it served as a light, now clearer and now more 
 dimly burning, through the very intricate paths of a 
 life, sometimes favoured by fortune, and sometimes, also, 
 shaken by unhappy accidents. In Gregory, it became a 
 consuming fire, which shone through his whole life, and 
 already, in his early days, destroyed within him, if not 
 everything, yet almost everything, that leads us to take 
 pleasure in the joys and gratifications of the world. 
 Ceesarius was inclined to an active life, and undertook a 
 variety of offices. Gregory had an invincible and only 
 too-predominant inclination to a solitary, contemplative 
 life ; it was with an effort that he could bring himself to 
 engage even in ecclesiastical employments; his eye 
 seemed ever glancing onwards to the quiet contemplation 
 of heavenly things. 
 
 Czesarius had devoted but a short time to his parents 
 and his father-land, when those dazzling promises and 
 prospects again allured him to Constantinople. Con- 
 ceivable as this is in a young man, who, being furnished 
 with the stores of a scientific and refined education, 
 wished not to be buried in an obscure little provincial 
 town, but to enter at once upon a more distinguished 
 career, yet this step was not entirely approved of by 
 his family, especially by his brother. He was appre- 
 hensive that the virtue and piety of Cesarius might 
 totter on the slippery footing of a court-life. The 
 promised splendour did not dazzle the youthful-Gregory, 
 for he considered it a greater honour ‘ to be the last and 
 least with God, than to be the first and greatest with an 
 earthly king.’ He perceived, also, that this proceeding 
 on the part of his brother (although he himself declared 
 his chief motive for his future residence at court was the 
 
40 DIFFERENCE IN THE TURN OF MIND [SECT. II. 
 
 fair prospect of being able from thence to work the 
 more advantageously for his native country) was not 
 free from the charge of ambition.!. Gregory, however, 
 is so considerate as not to blame his brother strongly 
 on account of this step. Cesarius had scarcely arrived 
 at Constantinople, and had given some small proof of 
 his medical knowledge, when the Emperor Constantius 
 (whose distrustful, suspicious character was not often 
 wont to promote suddenly to great honour one who was 
 yet unknown) took him into the number of his court 
 physicians,? and treated him with especial regard. His 
 pleasing manners made him a favourite with the 
 Emperor and the great men of the palace; but all this 
 good fortune could not destroy the deep impressions of 
 a pious education upon his mind. Even here, at court, 
 it was the pride of Czesarius, not only to bear the name 
 of a Christian, but also to deserve that title in deed. 
 And, what is particularly pleasing, Gregory extols most 
 
 1 Orat. vii. 9, pp. 203, 204. Μετὰ τοῦτο δόξης ἐπιϑυμία, καὶ 
 τοῦ προστατεύειν τῆς πόλεως, ὡς ἐμέ ye συνεπὲιϑεν, τοῖς βασι- 
 λείοις δίδωσιν, οὐ πάνυ μὲν ἡμῖν φίλα ποιοῦντα, καὶ κατὰ 
 γνώμην, κ- τ. Δ. 
 
 2 Orat. vii. 10, p. 2064. Τάττεται μὲν γὰρ τὴν πρώτην ἐν 
 ἰατροῖς τάξιν,---κἄν τοῖς φίλοις τοῦ βασιλέως εὐϑὺς ἀρίϑ μούμενος, 
 τὰς μεγίστας καρποῦται τιμάς. This was no slight distinction in 
 the court of Constantius, for that emperor was extremely dis- 
 trustful and cautious respecting those whom he admitted to his 
 society. Ammianus Marcellin., xxi. 16. (Constantius) examinator 
 meritorum nonnumquam subscruposus, palatinas dignitates velut 
 ex quodam tribuens perpendiculo, et sub eo nemo celsum aliquid 
 in regia repentinus adhibitus est vel incognitus. This ‘ nemo’ of 
 Ammianus might almost make us doubt respecting Gregory’s 
 account ; but it is probably not to be taken so strictly, that one 
 or two exceptions might not have occurred. Besides this, the 
 appointment which Cesarius obtained at first, probably was not 
 such as to be reckoned among the offices and dignities which 
 Ammianus had expressly in his thoughts. 
 
 ee ae eee 
 
 ane 
 
β 
 ' 
 | 
 
 CHAP. 1:} IN GREGORY AND CASARIUS. 47 
 
 of all that quality in his brother, which formed the 
 great feature in the character of their father, and one 
 which, under such circumstances, is so seldom wont to 
 be kept inviolate—viz., high and unaffected simplicity.! 
 Whilst his brother was thus making his first entrance 
 into society, Gregory was already feeling an inclination 
 to withdraw from it. His thirst for knowledge had 
 been only partially satisfied, and served only to awaken 
 within him a longing of a higher kind. His predi- 
 lection for quiet contemplation developed itself with 
 stronger force; and if it cannot be denied that Gregory 
 yielded too much to his bias for a contemplative, solitary 
 life, we must not, on the other hand, overlook the fact, 
 that there are men of contemplative natures, who 
 (whether they wish it or not) are continually drawn 
 away to the abstracted contemplation of supersensual 
 things by a sort of intellectual instinct; just as others, 
 by an equally powerful impulse, are carried into active 
 life, and involved in its busy transactions. This con- 
 templative inclination (which, however, is the special 
 gift of only a few individuals) must be allowed to have 
 its peculiar value, provided it does not claim for itself a 
 higher degree of piety, nor exalt its own manner and 
 practice as the common law for many. In this sense 
 we consider the bias for a life of solitude, which often 
 took an irresistible possession of Gregory’s mind, by no 
 means so objectionable as it may appear to many. 
 
 1 Orat. vii. 10, pp. 204, 205...... we μηδὲν εἶναι καὶ τὴν 
 Κράτητος ἁπλότητα πρὸς τὴν ἐκείνου ϑεωρουμένην. 
 
48 GREGORY SKETCHES FOR HIMSELF [SECT. II. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GREGORY SKETCHES FOR HIMSELF HIS PLAN OF LIFE. 
 
 On returning home to his parents, Gregory was expected 
 to engage himself in the duties of civil life. The 
 highly-educated young man was required to exhibit 
 proofs of his proficiency in eloquence, to come forward 
 as a teacher of that art, or even to enter upon the 
 profession of a public advocate.! Gregory certainly 
 complied so far as to speak several times before an 
 audience ;? but he could not bring his mind to follow 
 the regular calling of a sophist, or a legal advocate. 
 His thoughts were turned to another object, to the 
 pursuit of which he now solemnly bound himself afresh 
 by means of the baptismal vow. 
 
 The ancient writer of Gregory’s life? places his 
 
 1 Socrates, Eccles. Hist. iv. 26. Even if we had not the some- 
 what ambiguous testimony of Socrates, it were in itself probable 
 that he did so, since it was the usual path pursued by young men 
 who had cultivated the study of oratory. 
 
 2 Orat. xliii. 25, p. 790. Carmen de Vit. sua, 1. 265, p. 5: 
 
 Ἤλϑον, λόγους ἔδειξα, τὴν τινῶν νόσον (Qu. πόϑον, Trans.) 
 
 "Exdno ἀπαιτούντων με τοῦϑ᾽ ὥς τι χρέος. 
 
 3 Gregory, Presbyter; immediately after relating the return of 
 our Gregory to his father’s house, he adds: καὶ πρῶτον μὲν τὸ 
 ϑεῖον λαμβάνει βάπτισμα ὁ καὶ πρῴην τῇ δυνάμει πεφωτισμένος. 
 In the writings of Gregory himself, I find no very clear traces of 
 his baptism having taken place at this time ; and we might well 
 wonder that he, having once been saved from the danger of a 
 storm at sea, should not at once have been baptized, and not 
 again (and that through a space of about ten years) be exposed 
 to the possibility of dying unbaptized. It seems however, that 
 he intentionally postponed the rite of baptism to that epoch in 
 his life when, agreeably to his wishes, he should have decided 
 upon that course of solitary contemplation, in which, whilst fol- 
 lowing the bias of his own mind, he might devote himself exclu- 
 sively to God’s service. 
 
CHAP. 11.} HIS PLAN OF LIFE. 49 
 
 baptism at this period; and though other accounts, 
 generally more definite, here fail us, we have yet no 
 sufficient grounds for doubting this assertion. It is 
 rather probable that Gregory was particularly induced 
 by this holy transaction (which, to him, was so weighty) 
 to give from thenceforth a still more earnest and strict 
 direction to his life. Indeed, we find in the case of 
 several other Fathers, that they commenced a new section 
 of their life with their baptism; and from that point 
 they placed more definitely before their eyes, and followed 
 more steadily, the end and object of their exertions. 
 Besides making a solemn vow at his baptism never to 
 swear,’ he formed anew the pious resolve to consecrate 
 all of art and science which he possessed, all the energies 
 of his life and soul, only and solely to God, and the 
 spreading of Christ’s kingdom. His gift of eloquence 
 should serve no interests but those of God and the 
 
 1 Carmen de Vit. sua, 1. 1102, p. 18: 
 καὶ yao εἰμ᾽ ἀνώμοτος, 
 Ἔξ οὗ λέλουμαι πνεύματος χαρίσματι. 
 
 Gregory, Presbyter, does not omit the mention of this cireum- 
 stance. Undoubtedly we find in the writings of Gregory himself 
 several solemn, oath-like protestations (for instance, Orat. xxvi. 1, 
 Ῥ. 471); but it seems that these ought to be considered rather as 
 expressions of high oratorical fervour, than as oaths in the proper 
 sense of the word. Gregory very clearly expresses the principle, 
 that he looked upon an oath as something particularly forbidden 
 by Christ.—Orat. iv. 123, p. 146. In common, therefore, with 
 the most distinguished Fathers of the earlier centuries and of his 
 own time, he renounced oaths, as unbecoming to a Christian. See 
 Staudlin’s History of the Various Notions and Doctrines respecting 
 Oaths, Gittenb. 1824, p. 72 et seq. Concerning the grounds of 
 this conviction, he does not very clearly explain himself; but he 
 doubtless believed that Christ has wholly forbidden an oath, and 
 that a Christian should be so thoroughly truthful, that in his case 
 there could be no need of an oath. Probably the same considera- 
 tion influenced Gregory also, which we find expressed by his 
 friend Basil—that he who swears not runs no danger of swearing 
 
 E 
 
δ0 GREGORY SKETCHES FOR HIMSELF [SECT. I. 
 
 truth. ‘These, (says he, very beautifully, of his 
 orations! and his oratory,) ‘these I consecrate to Him, 
 even all that is left to me, and in which alone I am rich. 
 Everything else I have relinquished, at the command of 
 the Spirit, in order to get possession of the pearl of 
 price, and to be the merchant who barters the small and 
 the perishable for the great and everlasting. But the 
 Word, and the art of preaching it, I still hold fast, as a 
 minister of the Word; and this possession I will never 
 deliberately neglect. And as I set little value on all 
 earthly delights, so, after God, all my love is confined 
 to this, or rather, to Him alone; for the spoken word 
 
 falsely. At least, the following passage, Orat. iv. 123, p. 146, 
 seems to indicate this: ἐπίορκον δὲ (χωρῆσαι ἢ) ὀμόσαι οὕτω δεινὸν 
 καὶ ὑπέρογκον, ὥστε καὶ τὸν ὕρκον μόνον ἡμῖν τυγχάνειν ἀπώ- 
 μοτον. Some remarkable expressions concerning an oath occur 
 in Gregory’s 219th letter to Theodorus, p. 908, where he explains 
 that a written obligation, even without imprecations in case of 
 failure, is as binding as a verbal oath ; and at the same time he 
 thus exhibits his notion of an oath: παίζουσιν οἱ πολλοὶ ἑαυτοὺς 
 κατὰ τὸν ἐμὸν λογον ; Τοὺς μὲν κατὰ τῶν ἀρῶν προκειμένους, 
 ὄρκους νομιζοντες, τοὺς ἐγγράφους δὲ δίχα ἀναϑεματων (for 80 
 probably must the unmeaning δίχα τῶν ϑερμάτων be read) ἀφο- 
 σιωσιν, ἀλλ᾽ οὐχ ὕρκον ὑπολαμβάνοντες" πᾶν γὰρ τὸ μὲν τῶν 
 χρεῶν χειρόγραφον δεσμεῖν πλέον τῆς amie ὁμολογίας" τὸν δὲ 
 ἐγγεγραμμένον ὅρκον, ἀλλο τι ἠ ὅρκον ὑποληψόμεϑα; καὶ συν- 
 τόμως εἰπεῖν, ὅρκος ἡμῖν ἐστιν ἡ τοῦ ἐπερωτησαντος καὶ πε 
 ϑέντος πληροφορία. Gregory here, I think, intends to say: 
 
 written obligation is more binding than a merely oral me 
 and comes more nearly, if not exactly, to the force of an oath, 
 even though no ἀραὶ καὶ ἀναϑέματα (no prayers and offerings) 
 may be associated with it ; it should therefore be looked upon as 
 sacred as a solemnly uttered oath ; since an oath is, generally 
 speaking, nothing else than that which conveys full certainty and 
 conviction to inquirers and believers.’ In this connexion, there- 
 fore, Gregory might also say, that Christians should not swear 
 at all, because their simple affirmation (as that of men who are 
 perfectly lovers of truth and worthy of credit) must already pos- 
 sess the highest degree of certainty which any one can require. 
 
 1 Orat. vi. 5, p. ‘181. 
 
CHAP. II. | HIS PLAN OF LIFE. 51 
 
 exalts the soul to God by a sort of insight; through it 
 alone is God rightly apprehended, the knowledge of him 
 preserved, and made to grow in us.’! 
 
 When Gregory, having in this manner renounced 
 what had hitherto maintained so strong a hold upon 
 him, had resolutely devoted himself entirely to God’s 
 service, his only doubt was, how he should immediately 
 order his mode of life, so as to attain this object most 
 surely. To give up the enjoyment of the world was 
 his decided purpose; but two ways of doing this pre- 
 sented themselves to him. Should he entirely withdraw 
 himself from the world,—at least for a time,—as many 
 holy men of old had done, as Elijah, John, and others? 
 Or should he, whilst still living in the society of the 
 world, contend in his own person, and by his influence 
 upon others, against all that is properly called worldly ? 
 By adopting the former plan, that of entire withdrawal 
 from society, a man might (he thought?) live for him- 
 self, and his own sanctity, amid the calm contemplation 
 of heavenly things; but, in doing this, he is not beneficial 
 to the common weal; he is as good as dead for others. 
 On the other hand, if he remain in the intercourse of 
 society, he may certainly devote himself to the interests 
 
 1... δὴ καὶ μόνῳ Θεὸς καταλαμβάνεται γνησίως, καὶ τη- 
 Ῥεῖται, καὶ ἐν ἡμῖν avgerar—i.e., the word preached from the 
 source of true knowledge is the only means of bringing the Deity 
 home to us with a clear consciousness, of preserving to us that 
 knowledge in its purity, and of promoting its growth within us. 
 How cheering is it, at an epoch when the externals of religious 
 service had already begun to be obtruded so strongly upon the 
 Church, to hear so powerful a judgment in favour of the exclusive 
 value of the Word, the living, spoken word, as the truest expres- 
 sion of the Spirit, and as the most effective means of stirring the 
 mind and soul of the hearers ! 
 
 2 Carmen de Vit. sua, 1. 280—311, p. 5. 
 
 E 2 
 
δ2 GREGORY SKETCHES FOR HIMSELF [SEoT. II, 
 
 of others; but he himself cannot be said to live while 
 his mind is in perpetual unrest. In this way the 
 advantages and the disadvantages of both modes of life 
 presented themselves before him. He wished to unite 
 the good, to avoid the evil of both; though, were he 
 wholly to follow his inclination, a secret bias of his 
 nature would have invited him to the stillness of a 
 solitary life! He continued, therefore, for the present, 
 in his previous relations of life; and so much the more, 
 because here the application and study of the Holy 
 Scriptures? was more at his command, and also (what 
 with him was a consideration of especial weight) because 
 by remaining at home he could promote the comfort 
 and happiness of his aged parents, and serve as a support 
 to his no longer active father in the discharge of his 
 ecclesiastical duties. Gregory, however, lived at the 
 same time by the strict rule of a solitary ascetic: every- 
 thing that could only be called indulgent, harmless gratifi- 
 cation, if it flattered the senses ever so remotely, seemed 
 to him objectionable. He went so far as even to shun 
 music, as something that gratifies the senses. His 
 food consisted of bread and salt; his drink, water; his 
 bed, the bare ground; his clothing, of coarse and rough 
 
 ? Gregory, although more inclined to a contemplative life, was 
 yet far from ignoring the value of a practical, active one, or de- 
 nying that the majority of men are destined for the latter. His 
 feeling was, that on this point every one should choose according 
 to his original inclination. Tetrastichon, 1. p. 156. 
 
 Πράξιν προτιμήσειας, ἡ Sewpiar ; 
 Ὄψις τελείων ἔργον, ἡ δὲ πλειόνων. 
 "Apgw μὲν εἰσι δεξιαί τε καὶ φίλαι. 
 
 Σὺ δὲ πρὸς ἡν πέφυκας, ἐκτίνου πλέον. 
 
 2 Carm. de Vit. sua, 1. 296, p. 5. 
 
 3 Ibid., 1. 311—320, pp. 5, 6. 
 
 4 Carm., 1. 70, p. 32: 
 
 Οὐ μούσης ἀταλοῖς ἐνὶ κρούμασι ϑυμὸν ἰάνϑην. 
 
CHAP. I1.| HIS PLAN OF LIFE. 53 
 
 materials.’ Incessant labour filled up the day; prayers, 
 hymns, and holy meditations, a great portion of the 
 night. His early life, which had been anything but 
 thoughtless, though not so very strict, now seemed to 
 him objectionable; his former laughter now cost him 
 many tears. Silence and calm reflection were become 
 his law and delight. In a word, Gregory now, with 
 all the ardour of youth, plunged into an asceticism 
 which assuredly Christianity (whose object is not bodily 
 mortification, but the spiritual sacrifice of the temper 
 and affections) does not require; it was, however, a 
 practice which in those times, even to the best-disposed, 
 could appear all but essential, and, in Gregory’s case at 
 least, did not degenerate into a self-satisfied affectation 
 of sanctity. When Gregory, also, in this relation, 
 speaks of renouncing worldly property, it is perhaps to 
 be understood to mean only, that he gave largely to the 
 poor, and generally, that he abstracted his soul more 
 and more from the enjoyment of earthly goods. An 
 actual renunciation, or giving away of property, (as 
 we find in the case of Antonius and others,) we cannot 
 think of here, because Gregory was not yet in posses- 
 sion of his property; and also because, even after the 
 death of his parents, we recognise him, from several 
 circumstances, (and even from his apparently genuine 
 will and testament,) as a man of wealth. 
 
 One principal motive which withheld Gregory from a 
 life of total solitude arose, as it has been remarked, from 
 his child-like, pious affection for his parents.2, He was 
 
 1 Carm. i. 1. 75, p. 832; and Carm. liv. 1. 1583—175. In this 
 poem he especially recommends silence, in connexion with solemn 
 meditations, as a profitable exercise. 
 
 2 Carm. de Rebus suis, 1. 135—141, p. 33. 
 
δ4 GREGORY IN SOLITARY LIFE. [SECT. Il. 
 
 desirous of assisting his father, and was now obliged to 
 do so in relation to his domestic affairs. He found it, 
 however, the source of endless annoyances. No man 
 was ever less adapted than he to manage a household, 
 to keep rude servants in order, to administer a not 
 insignificant property, and, in case of necessity, to 
 conduct a lawsuit with requisite consideration and 
 dexterity. Willingly would he have given all his 
 property to the poor rather than stand for whole days 
 before the tribunals, or listen to the clamour of the 
 broker, the official collector, and the like sort of persons. 
 He complains bitterly of these things;' and his soul, 
 which would gladly have taken its flight to a higher 
 atmosphere, was often thereby so disagreeably brought 
 down to earth, that it was difficult for him to keep 
 himself in that calm, gentle, and especially that humble, 
 resigned spirit, which alone he acknowledged to be 
 becoming in a Christian. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 GREGORY IN SOLITARY LIFE. 
 
 In this manner, a more earnest longing for complete 
 retirement from the world must have been produced in 
 the soul of Gregory. Even while he was at Athens, a 
 life of solitary asceticism had been his highest wish, and 
 he had promised his friend Basil to retire with him into 
 some quiet resting-place. That friend having conceived 
 
 1 Carm. de Rebus suis, 1. 140—160, p. 34. 
 Kai yap πυκιναὶ pe καὶ ἀργαλέαι μελεδῶνες--- 
 Οὐρανόϑεν κατάγουσιν ἐπὶ χϑὸόνα μητέρ᾽ ἐμοῖο. 
 
CHAP. III. | GREGORY IN SOLITARY LIFE. 5a 
 
 from his travels in the East (especially in Syria, 
 Palestine, and Egypt) a still higher reverence for the 
 monastic life, had prepared a solitary asylum in Pontus, 
 and there collected around him several persons of a like 
 mind.! But he especially now desired to see near him 
 his old acquaintance, Gregory, and with pressing earnest- 
 ness sent him an invitation to join him. Gregory, how- 
 ever, could not follow immediately, greatly as he wished 
 to do so, and thus wrote his excuses to his friend :? 
 ‘To make at once a candid confession, I have not kept 
 the promise which I made to you, while we sojourned 
 together as friends at Athens,—viz., to live with you 
 after a philosophic? (ὁ. ¢., ascetic) fashion. But, in truth, 
 1 have unwillingly broken my word, and only because 
 a higher duty, which prescribed to me the care of my 
 parents, outweighed the subordinate claims of brotherly 
 
 1 They therefore lived a ccenobite or conventual life, which 
 Basil preferred to that of the anchorite. He was well aware that 
 the life of entire solitude, though it allows a more undisturbed 
 contemplation of divine things, may yet at the same time very 
 easily become dangerous ; that, whilst it begets in him spiritual 
 arrogance, the hermit is not subjected to the trials of virtue which 
 serve as its probation in common life ; nor has he any opportunity 
 of comparing himself with other men, better and holier than him- 
 self. Basil, on this account, devised a plan, which Gregory thus 
 describes: ἀσκητήρια καὶ μοναστήρια δειμάμενος μὲν, οὐ πόῤῥω 
 δὲ τῶν κοινωνικῶν καὶ μιγάδων, οὐδὲ ὥσπερ τειχίῳ τινὶ μέσῳ, 
 ταῦτα διαλαβὼν καὶ am’ ἀλλήλων χωρίσας, ἀλλὰ πλησίον 
 συνάψας καὶ διαζεύξας" ἵνα μήτε τὸ φιλόσοφον ἀκοινώνητον ἢ), 
 μήτε τὸ πρακτικὸν ἀφιλόσοφον. Greg. Orat. xliii. 62, p. 817. 
 
 2 Gregor. Epist. 5, al. 9, p. 769. 
 
 $ It may here, once for all, be remarked, that Gregory not un- 
 frequently designates, by the expression ‘ philosopher,’ the Chris- 
 tian ascetic and monk, and speaks of their mode of life as that 
 which is truly ‘philosophic.’ Compare, among other places, par- 
 ticularly Orat. iv. 71, p. 110; this use of terms, accommodated 
 to the sense attached to them at the time, is common to Gregory, 
 with other cotemporary writers. See Suiceri Zhesawr. Lccles., 
 sub verbo φιλοσοφία, vol. ii, p. 1441. 
 
δ0 GREGORY IN SOLITARY LIFE. [ SECT. It. 
 
 friendship.’ Gregory, however, promises to spend at 
 least a portion of his time alternately with Basil. 
 Several epistles of a more playful character were ex- 
 changed between the two friends on this subject, in 
 which they both delineate the annoyances of their 
 residence in a cheerful tone and in lively colours.! It 
 may not be superfluous to extract from other, more 
 serious letters of these friends some passages which ex- 
 hibit to us the life of these seclusionists from its brighter 
 and purer side, and admit us to a more lively view of 
 its circumstances and relations. They already knew 
 how to select spots remarkable for their agreeable cha- 
 racter or wild beauty for their place of residence; this 
 is manifest from Basil’s description of his abode.? 
 ‘There is (he writes) a lofty chain of mountains, covered 
 with a thick forest, well watered on the north side by 
 cool, clear brooks; at its foot is an expanse of gently- 
 sloping fields, which are always enriched and fertilized 
 by the mountain-streams. This meadow-land is naturally 
 and so thickly fenced round with trees of the greatest 
 variety, that they form almost a regular enclosure, and 
 shut it in like a solitary island. On two sides descends 
 a deep ravine ; on the third side the stream throws itself 
 from a declivity into the depth below, and forms an 
 impassable barrier. And how shall I still further 
 describe the sweet smell of the meadows, the refreshing 
 breezes from the river, or the variety of flowers, and the 
 vast number of singing-birds? But what makes the 
 spot most pleasing to me, is that in addition to its fruit- 
 
 1 Gregor. Epist. 6—8, al. 10—12, pp. 770—772. 
 
 2 Basil, Apist. 14, t. ili. p. 98, ed. Garn. Gregory replies in a 
 lively style to this letter, parodying the verbose phraseology of 
 Basil. Greg. Zpist. 7, al. 11, p. 770. 
 
CHAP. TIT. | GREGORY IN SOLITARY LIFE. 57 
 
 fulness in all other respects, it affords to me the sweetest 
 fruit of quiet and repose; and this not merely because 
 of its remoteness from the bustle of the city, but because 
 no wanderer ever treads this lonely wilderness, unless it 
 be occasionally some hunter, who is in pursuit, not of 
 bears or wolves (of which there are none), but of the 
 deer, the roe, the hare, which this track- produces in 
 great numbers.’ 
 
 In such agreeable terms does Basil describe the spot 
 where he resided. But the most charming scenery, the 
 stillest solitude, can give no repose to the mind which 
 does not already possess it. The tide of the passions is 
 not appeased by the beauties of Nature; another kind 
 of influence is required for that,—an influence, however, 
 which may certainly be aided and supported by the 
 milder, and even the grander impressions of Nature. 
 On this point we have a very remarkable confession in 
 another of Basil’s epistles:! ‘What I now do in this 
 solitude, by day and by night, I am almost ashamed to 
 say. I may, indeed, have relinquished my residence wm 
 the city as a source of a thousand evils; but myself I 
 cannot leave behind. Iam like those persons who, being 
 unaccustomed to the sea, and attacked with sickness, 
 descend from the large ship, because it rolls so violently, 
 into a little boat, but find that there also they retain 
 their sensations of nausea and giddiness. So it is also 
 with me, for while I bear about with me my inherent 
 passions, | am everywhere alike in distress. Therefore 
 it is that, on the whole, I have not made much spiritual 
 progress by virtue of this solitary life.’ 
 
 Basil nevertheless endeavours, in the subsequent 
 
 1 Basil, Epist. 2, ὁ. iii. p. 71. 
 
58 GREGORY IN SOLITARY LIFE. [SECT. II. 
 
 part of the epistle, to prove that retirement from the 
 world’s business, celibacy and solitude, are still necessary 
 for true peace of mind. ‘ Retirement, however (says he), 
 consists not in the act of removal from the world, but 
 in this,—that we thus draw off the soul from the bodily 
 impressions which stir up the passions; that we give up 
 our native city and our father’s house, our goods and 
 chattels, friendship and marriage, business and occupa- 
 tion, art and science, and are wholly prepared to receive 
 no impressions in our hearts but those only of divine 
 teaching.’ 
 
 It is possible (Basil thinks) in solitary retirement 
 gradually to tame the passions, like wild beasts, by 
 gentle treatment; to lay them asleep, to disarm them 
 by turning away the mind from the allurements of sense, 
 and employing it abstractedly in the contemplation of 
 God and of eternal beauty; it is possible thus to elevate 
 humanity to a forgetfulness of natural wants, and a 
 blissful freedom from care and anxiety. The means 
 recommended by him are chiefly the reading of Holy 
 Scripture, the rule of life, and also the study of the lives, 
 of holy men; prayer, which, when devoutly practised, 
 brings down the Godhead to us, and purifies the soul to 
 be its dwelling-place; and lastly, an earnest, habitual 
 silence, that is more inclined to learn than to teach, but 
 by no means of a morose or unfriendly character. At 
 the same time, Basil desires that the outward appearance 
 of one thus cultivating solitude should correspond with 
 his internal condition. With ameek and downcast eye, 
 with untrimmed hair, clad in sordid, neglected apparel, 
 his gait should neither be an indolent saunter nor yet 
 impetuous haste, but gentle and quiet. His garment, 
 fastened round his loins with a belt, should be of coarse 
 
CHAP. 11. GREGORY IN SOLITARY LIFE. 59 
 
 texture, not of a brilliant colour, suited alike for summer 
 and winter, so substantial as to keep the body warm 
 without any additional clothing; as to his shoes or 
 sandals, let them also be suitable and without ornament. 
 For food, let him use only what is most necessary, 
 principally vegetables; let water serve for drink, at 
 least for the healthy. For the principal meal, which is 
 to begin and end with prayer, one hour should be fixed. 
 His sleep should be short, light, and never so sound that 
 the soul should be left exposed to the impressions of 
 seducing dreams. 
 
 In such terms Basil describes the monastic life. How 
 much he contributed by his zealous practice to its 
 spread in those parts, and to draw the monks to the 
 neighbourhood of cities, in order to assist the higher 
 clergy, and thereby into a more ecclesiastical life, is well 
 known. Equally notorious also is it, how much farther 
 the monks of the East, from respect to Basil, carried his 
 rules and regulations in the following centuries.!_ That 
 vivid description failed not of its object in regard to 
 Gregory of Nazianzum. We soon see him, in fulfilment 
 of his promise, setting out for Pontus. Here he lived. 
 with Basil a life of prayer, spiritual meditation, and 
 manual labour. One portion of the day was set apart 
 for the labour of the garden and the management of 
 household matters, the rest to the study of Holy Scrip- 
 ture and to religious exercises. One fruit of these 
 
 1 We still, as it is well known, possess a series of monastic 
 regulations (some longer and some shorter), under the name of 
 Basil; but that all of them originated with him, or exactly in this 
 form, is more than doubtful. The reader may consult, on this 
 subject, the extended investigations of Basil’s learned Editor, 
 Garnier, in Prefat, p. 34, et seq. 
 
60 GREGORY IN SOLITARY LIFE. [SECT. Il. 
 
 studies, which were not simply practical, but also of a 
 learned character, is said to be the extracts from the 
 exegetic writings of the great Origen, which we possess 
 as the work of the two friends,! under the title of 
 Phailokalia. This residence in Pontus was a source of 
 great enjoyment to Gregory. At a subsequent period, 
 when, with earnest longing, he thought of the higher 
 life they had lived together, he called to mind with the 
 same child-like pleasure a beautiful plane-tree, which he 
 had planted in the vicinity of their abode,? and Basil was 
 wont to water, ‘ Who (he writes to his friend) will give 
 me back those earlier days, in which I revelled in 
 privations with you? For voluntary abstinence is 
 indeed far nobler than its enforced practice. Who will 
 restore to me those songs of praise and night-watchings, 
 those upliftings of the soul to God in prayer, that un- 
 earthly, incorporeal life, that communion and soul- 
 harmony of the brethren who had been elevated by 
 your precept and example to a godly life? Who will 
 re-kindle in me that eager penetration into the Holy 
 Scriptures, and the light which we found therein under 
 the guidance of the Spirit ? 
 
 1 Socrates (in his Eccles. Hist. iv. 26), after remarking how 
 both these friends had adopted in common the monastic life, says: 
 per’ οὐ πολὺ τὰ ᾿Ωριγένοῦς βιβλία συνάγοντες, ἐξ αὐτῶν τὴν 
 ἐρμηνείαν τῶν ἱερῶν γραμμάτων ἐπέγνωσαν --- (ἃ fact which the 
 students of Gregory’s scriptural expositions would remark for them- 
 selves, even without the testimony of Socrates). Gregory himself 
 transmits this Exegetic Chrestomathy, from Origen’s Works to a 
 friend, with these words: ἵνα δὲ Tt καὶ ὑπόμνημα παρ᾽ ἡμῶν ἔχης; 
 τὸ δ᾽ αὐτὸ καὶ τοῦ ἁγίου Βασιλείου πυκτίον ἀπεστάλκαμεὲν σοι τῆς 
 ᾿ΩὨριγένοῦς Φιλοκαλίας, ἐκλογὰς ἔχον τῶν χρησίμων τοῖς φιλο- 
 λόγοις. Epist. 87, p. 848. Abundant literary information con- 
 cerning this Philokalia may be seen collected in Fabricius’ 
 Bibliothec. Gree., vol. vii. p. 221, ed. Harl. 
 
 2 Epist. 9, p. 774. 
 
CHAP. Iv.| PUBLIC LABOURS OF GREGORY. 61 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PUBLIC LABOURS OF GREGORY FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT 
 OF PEACE. 
 
 GREGORY appears, however, not to have stayed very long 
 with his friend. Perhaps he intended from the first only 
 a short visit, and probably (as most of his biographers! 
 suppose) he was induced to return to Nazianzum by the 
 following occurrence. During the endless and unhappy 
 disputes concerning the relation of the Godhead of the 
 Son to the Godhead of the Father, after several synods, 
 none of which had produced a permanent or harmonious 
 result, Constantius? (who notoriously favoured Arianism) 
 conyoked (a.p. 359) a new general council; but so con- 
 trived that the Eastern bishops were to assemble at Se- 
 leucia, in Isauria; those of the West, at Ariminium 
 (now Rimini), in Italy. By means of this division (on 
 the principle of divide et impera), he reckoned the more 
 securely on carrying out his own particular views. We 
 are here more particularly concerned with the latter 
 meeting. The Fathers of the Church assembled at 
 
 ' For instance, Tillemont, Memoir. pour servir a U Histoire Eccles., 
 t. ix. p. 345. Schréekh, Kirch. Gesch., vol. 13, p. 287. 
 
 2 The reign of Constantius was properly the age of synods. 
 By this frequent holding of councils, he not only promoted con- 
 troversy, but also injured the imperial revenue, destroyed the 
 post establishments for travellers, and brought everything into 
 confusion. See Ammian. Marcellin., xxi. 16: Christianam religi- 
 onem absolutam et simplicem anili superstitione confundens: in 
 qua scrutanda perplexius, quam componenda gravius excitavit 
 discidia plurima: que progressa fusius aluit concertatione ver- 
 borum: ut catervis antistitum jumentis publicis ultro citroque 
 discurrentibus per synodos, quas appellant, dum ritum omnem ad 
 suum trahere conantur arbitrium, rei vehiculariz succideret 
 nervos. 
 
62 LABOURS OF GREGORY FOR [sEcrT. II, 
 
 Rimini,! at first, and as long as they acted independently, 
 and unalarmed by the threats of the court, confirmed 
 the Nicene council in its entire compass, approved the 
 use of the particularly disputed word ‘substance, and 
 condemned as well, in general, the Arian opinions, as 
 the principal advocates of the same in particular, as 
 Ursacius, Valens, Germinius, Aurentius, Gaius, and De- 
 mophilus, after Ursacius and Valens, at the commence- 
 ment of the proceedings, had in vain endeavoured to 
 bring the assembly to a ratification of the Sirmian for- 
 mula of belief, which favoured Arianism. They informed 
 the Emperor of this decision by a delegacy from their 
 body, consisting of twenty, and requested of him per- 
 mission to return to their dioceses, and protection during 
 their journey. These delegates, however, were antici- 
 pated by the artful leaders of the opposite party, who 
 knew how to prejudice the Emperor (who was, besides, 
 an Arian) in favour of themselves and against the synod. 
 When the delegates of the orthodox party arrived, Con- 
 stantius did not give them an audience, excused himself 
 on the plea of an urgent military enterprise against the 
 Persians, and showed a desire of detaining the bishops 
 
 1 See Mansi, Collect. Concil., iii. 293. Socrat. Hist. Eccl., ii. 37. 
 Sozom. iv. 17. Theodoret. ii. 15. All that is to be learnt from 
 the writings of Athanasius, Hilary, and Jerome, respecting this 
 council is to be found in Mansi. 
 
 2 Substantia, οὐσία----ἶ. 6., in favour of the homoousian doctrine. 
 
 8 The bishops thus express themselves, in the document pre- 
 served by Hilary, in their address to Constantius: ‘Oramus etiam 
 ut precipias tot episcopos, qui Ariminio detinentur, inter quos 
 plurimi sunt, qui zetate et paupertate defecti sunt, ad suam pro- 
 vinciam remeare: ne destituti suis episcopis laborent populi 
 ecclesiarum.’ The bishops of Gaul and Britain, probably in 
 order to maintain themselves in greater independence, boarded 
 themselves at their own cost, while the other bishops lived at the 
 public expense. 
 
CHAP. Iv. | THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PEACE. 63 
 
 at Ariminium,! whilst he meanwhile prepared a smaller 
 synod at Niceea? in Thrace, and one which proceeded 
 more agreeably to his wishes. Here the formula of the 
 Sirmian council (which had already been proposed by the 
 Arians at Ariminium) was adopted with slight altera- 
 tions. In that formula the true Godhead of Christ, and 
 that he was begotten before all beginnings (before all 
 Eons), was certainly asserted ; but at the same time, the 
 main disputed points were so artfully treated, that in 
 reference to them they could also be turned to the ad- 
 vantage of the Arian theory. Of the Son, it was said 
 that he was ‘like (ὅμοιος) to the Father, according to the 
 Scripture, but the important words, ‘i all things’ (κατὰ 
 πάντα), were left out, and the use of the term ‘substance’ 
 rejected, because it does not occur in Holy Scripture. 
 The decisions of this so-called conciliabulum at Niczea 
 were then forced also upon the larger assembly at Ari- 
 minium, which actually received them,’ and was mean 
 
 1 As the bishops conducted themselves courteously to the 
 Emperor, they would, he thought, grow more yielding by delay. 
 He therefore appointed the delegates to meet him at Adrianople, 
 but at an indefinite time—viz., when he should have finished a war 
 which he was just then beginning with Persia. To the Bishops 
 at Ariminium he wrote thus: Vestre autem gravitati, interea ne 
 molestum sit, eorum reversionem expectare. The assembled 
 prelates therefore once more, at the near approach of winter, 
 most urgently repeated their requests. Socrat., ii. 37. 
 
 2 Socrates and Sozomenus assign as a motive for this choice of 
 the city of Nicwa, the hope of deceiving the ignorant by con- 
 founding the Nicene with the Nicwean creed: τῷ παρομοίῳ τοῦ 
 ὀνόματος συναρπάζειν τοὺς ἁπλουστέρους βουλόμενοι: τὴν ἐν 
 Νικαίᾳ γὰρ τῆς Βιϑυνίας πίστιν εἴναι évopuZov—says Socrat., ii. 37. 
 But, surely, such a confusion of things and places would have pre- 
 supposed very great simplicity and ignorance of the points of the 
 controversy. 
 
 3. At least, the majority of the members did so; only twenty 
 out of more than 400 bishops remained true to the Nicene system : 
 
64 LABOURS OF GREGORY FOR [SECT. Il. 
 
 enough to thank the emperor for his despotic mode of 
 instruction.! Encouraged by the result, he forthwith 
 required all the bishops of his empire, even in the East, 
 to subscribe this formula, and applied force to those who 
 resisted. 
 
 This subscription was of course required also of the 
 Bishop of Nazianzum, the father of our Gregory. He 
 did indeed so subscribe; whether he were intimidated 
 by the imperial threats, or from a desire of peace, or 
 from ignorance of the snare that was laid for him ; though 
 he had hitherto been a supporter of the Nicene Confes- 
 sion of Faith. This step, however, which he probably 
 took without a wrong intention, was attended with 
 serious results for him. The monks of his diocese (as 
 almost all monks of the time) were already, from their 
 founder Saint Antonius, decided followers of Athanasius, 
 and now, in no very mild fashion, made their bishop 
 sensible of his dogmatic error. They were, (as the 
 younger Gregory informs us,) though generally quiet 
 and peace-loving, yet, when the defence of the orthodox 
 faith was concerned, zealous, violent, and contentious to 
 the extreme; and a regular schism would have taken 
 place in the otherwise united community of Nazianzum, 
 
 it is very mildly expressed by an ancient reporter, who says: 
 Cui orthodoxorum aliqui metu (they must have been the majority), 
 alii fraude decepti, subscripserunt. Quibus qui assentiri nollent, 
 in extremas orbis partes exulatum mittebantur. 
 
 1 The epistle of the bishops to Constantius, a model of abject 
 flattery, begins thus :—‘ Inlustratis pietatis tue scriptis, maximas 
 Deo retulimus et referimus gratias, quod nos beaveris intimans 
 nobis illa, que cum discursione pietatis tue facere deberemus. .. . 
 O nos beatos, quibus occurrit tanta felicitas,’ &e. And so it pro- 
 ceeds in a still ascending scale of flattery, up to ‘domine, piissime 
 imperator,’ with which in conclusion they greet an emperor, equally 
 remote from every kind of piety.—See Mansi, pp. 315, 316. 
 
CHAP. Iv. | THE ESTABLISHMENT OF PEACE. 65 
 
 had not the Bishop’s son himself interposed in the busi- 
 ness. It is not quite clear whether or not the younger 
 Gregory had himself taken part in the false step taken 
 by his father,—the subscription of the Ariminian for- 
 mula. According to some passages in his writings, it 
 might almost seem to have been the case ;! but he would 
 easily be forgiven by the monks, with whom he was 
 held in singular estimation on account of his inclina- 
 tion to a solitary and ascetic life. Being therefore be- 
 loved and revered on both sides, he was the most suit- 
 able mediator; and he actually brought about an entire 
 reconciliation, while he prevailed upon his father to 
 make a public confession of a perfectly orthodox faith.” 
 In an oration delivered on this occasion, he could praise 
 both parties—the monks for their ardent zeal, though 
 
 1 Especially Orat. xviii. 18, p. 342. The Benedictine editors 
 are, however, by no means inclined to admit of such an error in 
 so powerful a defender of the orthodox doctrine, and say: Id 
 pietati erga parentem et humanitati datum videri debet, ut de 
 culpa velut communi loquatur. Nicetas also, the commentator 
 of Gregory, did the same before them. 
 
 2 In the account here given I have followed that arrangement 
 of things which appears to me most natural (and which Schréekh 
 also has observed), without at the same time overlooking the 
 fact, that the learned Benedictine, Clemencet, adopts quite 
 another chronological arrangement. He places the division occa- 
 sioned in the Nazianzen Church by the subscription of the elder 
 Gregory in the year of our Lord 368, and therefore not in the 
 reign of Constantius, but at the close of that of Julian, or early 
 in the time of Jovian ; the settling of the dispute he places in the 
 year 364, His reasons must be sought in his own work ; to me 
 they do not appear convincing. It seems to me much more 
 probable, from internal grounds, that the elder Gregory sub- 
 seribed the formula of Ariminium during the government of the 
 Arian Constantius (and therefore A.D. 360), and that the passages 
 in the later discourses of Gregory (of the years 362 and 363), and 
 which pre-suppose a perfectly peaceable state of the Nazianzen 
 community, have just so far a relation to that event, as they 
 show the complete restoration of peace and unity. 
 
 F 
 
00 GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. | SECT. 11. 
 
 just then mistaken and exaggerated in defence of the 
 right faith; his father, for his public confession, whereby 
 he had shown, that though he had externally wavered, 
 yet he had always been orthodox in heart and mind.! 
 
 Gregory looks upon the temporary separation only as 
 an event through which the necessity of peace and har- 
 mony may have been made more manifest; and this 
 peace, the ancient boast of the church of Nazianzum, is 
 most urgently recommended by him,—God himself, in 
 the eternal harmony of his being, the angels in their 
 happy union, and the universe in its beautiful order, 
 being made use of by him as striking emblems of peace. 
 The true ground of union, however, should always rest 
 upon agreement in the faith in God and in the doctrines 
 taught by Him. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 GREGORY IS MADE A PRESBYTER, AND SOON AFTER WITHDRAWS 
 HIMSELF FROM NAZIANZUM. 
 
 WHETHER or not Gregory came forth from his retire- 
 ment for the purpose of adjusting this disagreement, or 
 was already residing again in his native city—at all events 
 he was there now, and had conferred a benefit upon it 
 by his public services. This must have procured for 
 him still higher respect and general affection. The whole 
 community and his father (the latter especially) wished 
 him to take a part in the spiritual care of the Church at 
 Nazianzum. He himself declined it, partly out of fond- 
 ness for contemplative retirement, partly from a holy 
 
 1 Compare Orat. vi. 12, pp. 178—194. 
 
CHAP. V.] GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. 67 
 
 awe for the high and serious obligations which the sacred 
 office imposes. On this occasion the following incident 
 occurred, one that seems more remarkable to our gene- 
 ration than it did at that time, when it not unfrequently 
 happened. On a high festival (probably at Christmas, 
 A.D. 361), the aged bishop, Gregory, came forward be- 
 fore the assembled congregation (who seem to have been 
 cognizant of his intention, or at all events were ready to 
 support their bishop),' and ordained his son to the priest- 
 hood, who did not anticipate such a proceeding, but 
 could not resist the joint weight of paternal authority 
 and episcopal power.? That the younger Gregory did 
 
 1 The ancient commentator, Nicetas, takes this as a settled 
 point, when he says, (vol. i., p. 1091, Nazianzeni,) Theologum 
 hortati fuerant, vel potius compulerant, ut sacerdotium susciperet, 
 ipsosque pasceret. 
 
 ? Such forced elections and ordinations were at that time of 
 very ordinary occurrence, ‘If worldly-minded men (says Neander, 
 in his Life of John Chrysostom, vol. 11. p. 97) sought to obtain 
 appointments in the chief cities by assuming for a time the mask 
 of monastic sanctity, or by bribes and artful practices, so, on the 
 contrary, men of pious minds were deterred therefrom by the 
 mixture of the worldly and the spiritual elements in the Church, 
 and could not, without a lengthened struggle, bring themselves to 
 undertake the episcopal office.’ Occasionally, the reluctance to 
 accept an ecclesiastical appointment was indeed only assumed, 
 and concealed a higher ambition; sometimes it was even the 
 expression of a pride, for which the offered appointment was too 
 insignificant. Every kind of information on this subject, with 
 its usages and abuses, is to be found in Bingham’s Zecles. Hist., iv. 
 ch. 7, vol. Il. p. 189 et seq. An election of this hasty, arbitrary, 
 violent kind, generally proceeded from the people, as, among 
 others, in the case of Augustine, which is given us by Possidius, 
 im Vit. Augustin., cap. iv.:..... cum Augustinum tenuerunt, et, 
 ut im talibus consuetum est, episcopo ordinandum intulerunt, 
 omnibus id uno consensu et desiderio fieri perficique petentibus, 
 magnoque studio et clamore flagitantibus, ubertim eo flente. 
 The only way in which a person could protect himself against 
 such violence, was by a solemn vow made at the moment, that he 
 would not allow himself to be ordained. See Basil, Hpist. Canon. 
 
 F 2 
 
68 GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. [SECT. ἘΠῚ 
 
 not shrink from the office in mere outward pretence, 
 and from spiritual pride would only suffer himself to be 
 forced into ecclesiastical duties, is proved sufficiently by 
 his subsequent conduct. He declared, not only now at 
 the time, but also on many following occasions, that the 
 transaction was an act of spiritual tyranny,' and in his 
 indignation thought he might allow himself to act on 
 the occasion in a way which, in some measure, opposed 
 violence to violence. He withdrew himself, and fled to 
 his friend Basil in Pontus (probably about the feast of 
 Epiphany, 4.D. 362). Here he had time to reflect, and 
 probably soon perceived the precipitancy of his proceed- 
 ings. In the quiet of retirement, the wishes of his 
 parents and his countrymen might appeal the more 
 urgently to his heart,? and the outward call forced upon 
 
 ad Amphiloch., cap. x.: Ot ὀμνύοντες μὴ καταδέχεσϑαι τὴν 
 χειροτονίαν, ἐξομνύμενοι, μὴ ἀναγκαζέσθωσαν ἐπιορκεῖν. 
 series of examples of these compulsory ordinations (principally of 
 the fourth and fifth centuries) are to be found in Bingham, Joc. cit., 
 p. 189 et seq. Among them may be classed the instance (not 
 mentioned by him) of Basil, who, as well as his friend Gregory, 
 was ordained priest against his inclination. Gregor. Hpist. x1., 
 al. 15, p. 775. We may here be allowed to call to mind Scotland’s 
 noble-minded, pious, energetic reformer, John Knox, in whose 
 case this custom of christian antiquity was repeated, when he 
 showed himself as scrupulous and conscientious as any of the 
 most pious individuals of the earlier centuries. See Thomas 
 M‘Crie’s Life of John Knox, in Planck’s edition, pp. 76—80. 
 1 Carmen de Vita sua, 1. 345: 
 
 Οὕτω piv οὖν ἤλγησα τῇ τυραννίδι-- 
 
 Οὔπω γὰρ ἄλλως τοῦτ᾽ ὀνομάζειν ἰσχύω, 
 
 Καὶ μοι τὸ ϑεῖον πνεῦμα συγγινωσκέτω 
 
 Οὕτως ἔχοντι. 
 Gregory wrote this some ten years after the circumstance, and 
 therefore no longer in the passionate excitement of the first 
 moment. 
 
 2 When Gregory, surnamed Presbyter, in his biography of our 
 Gregory, introduces, as co-operating for this purpose, distinct 
 hortatory epistles of the aged father, (ὁ δὲ πατὴρ... . ἐπιστολαῖς 
 δυσωπητικαῖς τὸν Γρηγύριον πειϑει πρὸς τὴν ἐπάνοδον" ὁ δὲ 
 
CHAP. v.| GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. 69 
 
 him by his father might also become a living, inward 
 voice. Towards Basten of the same year δἰ returned 
 to Nazianzum, and on that festival delivered his first 
 Oration? in his new ecclesiastical character. 
 
 He commenced with these words: ‘The day of the 
 Resurrection, a happy commencement! let us mutually 
 enlighten, let us embrace one another on this great 
 festival. Let us address as ‘brethren’ even, those who 
 hate us, how much more those who, out of love, have 
 done or suffered anything (of violence); let us forget it 
 all, on this our Lord’s resurrection-day. Pledge we 
 rautual forgiveness; I, who in an honourable manner 
 was tyrannically treated (for even now I so consider it), 
 and you, who in so honourable a manner exercised that 
 tyranny over me. If you had reason to blame me for 
 hanging back, still it might have been better and more 
 praiseworthy in the sight of God than the over-haste of 
 others. It has its merit, to hold oneself back awhile at 
 the call of God, as in old time we see in Moses, and 
 subsequently in Jeremiah; and it also has its merit, to 
 
 φοβερὸν κρίνας παρακοὴν πατρὸς, καὶ tepéwe, καὶ πρεσβύτου, 
 ἐπάνεισί ----ν all this, as well as much else in this almost exclu- 
 sively panegyric biography, may have had no solid foundation. 
 Gregory himself, in his Carmen de Vit. sua, line 361, p. 6, says only : 
 
 avsic ἐς βυϑὸν τρέχω, 
 Δείσας στεναγμὸν πατρικῶν κινημάτων (al. μηνιμάτων). 
 
 1 Gregory says, Orat. I. 2, p. 4: Μυστήριον ἔ ἔχρισε με, μυστηρίῳ 
 μικρὸν ὑπεχώρησα..... μυστηρίῳ καὶ συνεισέρχομαι. We cannot 
 more suitably explain these expressions than by referring them 
 to Christmas, Epiphany, and Easter. Nicetas in like manner 
 says, in his commentary on this passage (vol. ii. p. 1093), In die 
 festo sacerdos factus sum, fortasse Natalis Christi, et in festo die 
 secessi, Luminum fortasse, et in festo die redii, Paschatis scilicet. 
 
 2 The first oration in the edition of the Benedictines, who with 
 good reason thus place it, though it is elsewhere reckoned as the 
 fourth. 
 
70 GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. [SECT. Tt. 
 
 come forward readily and willingly, when God calleth, 
 as did Aaron and Isaiah. Only, both must be done in a 
 dutiful spirit; the former in a sense of indwelling 
 weakness, the latter, in a confident reliance on the strength 
 of Him who calleth.’ 
 
 The conduct of Gregory in the instance above related 
 has been highly approved by many, and by many also, 
 with more or less severity, blamed. It has received un- 
 qualified commendation from those who looked upon 
 Gregory only through the halo-medium of the Saint, 
 and therefore acknowledged all his proceedings as 
 canonical; it has been followed with unqualified censure 
 from those who, out of mere opposition, have exaggerated 
 even the weaknesses of this and of other holy men into 
 crying sins. They have found therein mere folly, con- 
 tempt of the priestly office, haughtiness, and a pride 
 which, by stepping over the presbyterate, would fain 
 mount up to the episcopate.! Such and similar judg- 
 ments were passed even in Gregory’s time. He found 
 himself, therefore, obliged to throw a clearer light (in 
 the form of a fuller apologetic statement)? upon his 
 
 1 The same charge was also made against S. Augustine when 
 with tears he resisted his ordination to the presbyterate : Non- 
 nullis quidem lacrymas ejus, ut nobis ipse retulit, tune superbe 
 interpretantibus, et tanquam eum consolantibus ac dicentibus, 
 quia et locus presbyterii, licet ipse majore dignus esset, appro- 
 pinquaret tamen episcopatui. Possid. in Vit. Augustin., cap. iv. 
 
 ® This statement, called ἀπολογητικὸς τῆς εἰς τὸν πόντον 
 φυγῆς κ. τ. ., is printed in the Benedictine edition as the second 
 Oration ; but, as it is clear from the first glance, it is too long 
 (reaching, as it does, from p. 11 to p. 65) to have been spoken, 
 at least in that form. Gregory probably delivered only that 
 part which is properly apologetic, and afterwards worked it up 
 with additions, so that it became the diffuse treatise which now 
 lies before us, and consists principally of Gregory’s views con- 
 cerning the clerical order in general. The same view of this 
 apology of Gregory’s was also entertained by Elias of Crete. 
 
CHAP. v. | GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. 71 
 
 conduct, and the motives which led to it. It is nota 
 superfluous labour to bring forward from thence the 
 points of greatest weight, and thus to listen, as it were, 
 to the man himself instead of his zealous eulogists on 
 the one side, or his severe censurers on the other. 
 Gregory, then, certainly confesses that it was a mixture 
 of refractoriness and pusillanimity (στάσις καὶ ὀλιγοψυχία) 
 which caused his flight. He remarks, however, at the 
 same time, that he did not take that step without thought 
 or meaning, like an inexperienced boy, but from a con- 
 viction that he did not thereby transgress any divine law 
 or ordinance. The grounds on which he had been 
 induced to disobey his father were the following :—In 
 the first place, the whole proceeding had so taken him 
 by surprise, that, like thunder-stricken men, he lost 
 almost all recollection. In the next place, an indefinite 
 longing just then seized him for the beautiful life of still 
 retirement, which in his early days he had so passionately 
 loved, and which, in one of the most critical moments 
 of his life (ἡ. 6., during the storm on his voyage to 
 Athens), he had solemnly promised to God. To these 
 reasons was added one, respecting whose validity and 
 purity Gregory himself seems to doubt—the bad con- 
 dition of the clergy was so painful to him, that he could 
 with difficulty make up his mind to enrol himself with 
 such unworthy associates. ‘I was ashamed,’ he says, 
 ‘of many, who not at all better than the rest of the 
 people (nay, good were it if they were not worse), ob- 
 truded themselves into the most holy duties and places, 
 with unwashen hands and unconsecrated hearts, and ere 
 they were worthy only to assist in holy celebrations, them- 
 selves conducted the business of the altar. Alas! there 
 are already so many of these uncalled rulers in the Church, 
 
72 GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. [SECT. Il. 
 
 that they almost exceed the number of the flock to be 
 ruled over. To the last and (as Gregory solemnly 
 asserts) the most weighty reason for his flight, no one, 
 assuredly, will refuse his full approbation. It is excel- 
 lently expressed in his own simple words: ‘I considered 
 not myself worthy (nor do I now so consider myself) to 
 preside as shepherd over a flock, and to undertake the 
 responsibility of guiding the souls of men.’ In order to 
 show this, he lays open at great length the qualifications 
 which may justly be required in the truly clerical character. 
 
 These, then, are his reasons. If we allow no definite 
 weight to the first, as being only a transient feeling, nor 
 grant anything to the second, as a false impression ; 
 nay, should we even discover in the third reason some 
 degree of spiritual pride (since no man is permitted to 
 withdraw himself from a post of honour, because he 
 reckons on finding there a great number, or even a 
 majority of unworthy associates, but rather is so much 
 the more bound to restore the sullied honour of the 
 station), yet certainly in the last we cannot fail to 
 recognise a state of mind truly worthy of respect. And 
 since Gregory is so honest as to confess his weakness, 
 so should we be so just as to believe his solemn as- 
 surance, that the consciousness of his insufficiency and 
 unworthiness was his most weighty inducement. We 
 shall thus, if not approve the step he took, at least 
 excuse it, and pay deserved honour to what was generous 
 in it. 
 
 In the same apologetical treatise, Gregory also specifies 
 the considerations which had induced him to return home, 
 and undertake the duties of the presbyterate which had 
 been forced upon him. They are as follows: a yearning 
 affection for the Church of Nazianzum, with the feeling 
 that he was beloved by its members, and earnestly 
 
CHAP. v. | GREGORY MADE A PRESBYTER. 73 
 
 wished for to be its spiritual guide; anxiety for his aged 
 parents, who would be bowed down more by his absence 
 than by their advanced age; but especially the example 
 of holy men of ancient times, whose lives he looked 
 upon as an influential source of counsel! and earnest 
 warning for his own conduct. 
 
 Scarcely had Gregory entered upon his office, when he 
 had to experience the fickleness of human applause. 
 The ardent desire of the Nazianzen community for his 
 ministration was no sooner gratified, than their love 
 already began to cool. His sermons were but thinly 
 attended, and he thought he observed, in general, a 
 certain indifference to his person. He took occasion, in 
 a particular discourse, to express his wonder and dis- 
 satisfaction thereat, though he did this with mildness 
 and skilfully-mingled praise.2 In this discourse he 
 enlarges, in especial reference to himself, upon the 
 maxim that, with men in general, an object is only valued 
 highly while it is still to be striven for, while its extorted 
 possession is but slightly esteemed. 
 
 1 Gregory assigns still another reason in an epistle to Basil. 
 For he also, somewhat later (probably in A.D. 363 or 364), was 
 ordained priest against his will. It is in allusion to this that 
 Gregory writes thus to him (pist. ix., al. 15, p. 575 et seq.) : 
 ‘Thou art taken captive, as 1 was, who write this to thee; we 
 have both been forced to receive the honour of the presbyterate, 
 for we certainly did not seek for it. We are mutually credible 
 witnesses (more than any one else could be) that we love the 
 meek and humble form of christian philosophy. Perhaps it were 
 better had this never happened, or, at least (though I know not 
 how to say it), until I had recognised the call and ordering of the 
 Holy Spirit. But, since it has taken place, we must, as it seems 
 to me, bear with it, especially on account of the present time, which 
 produces so many false teachers ; and also not to disappoint the 
 hopes of those who place confidence in us, or disgrace the promise of 
 our own earlier life. 
 
 2 The Third Oration, p. 69 et seq., in the Benedictine edition. 
 Πρὸς τοὺς καλέσαντας καὶ μὴ ἀπαντήσαντας. 
 
74 RELATION OF CHRISTIANITY ΤῸ [ SECT. i 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CONCERNING JULIAN GENERALLY, AND IN RELATION TO GREGORY 
 IN PARTICULAR. 
 
 (a.) Relation of Christianity to Heathenism in Julian’s Reign ; 
 
 his Aversion to Christianity. 
 WE are induced to turn our view from this more 
 limited scene of Gregory's ministrations to a wider 
 theatre—the Roman empire and its imperial throne, to 
 which (in November, A.D. 361) there succeeded a man 
 who played too striking a part in the history of religion, 
 and stood in too marked a relation to Gregory of 
 Nazianzum, for us not to devote to him a somewhat 
 fuller consideration. It was Julian, who now, with a 
 bold and vigorous hand, seized the reins of government 
 over the Roman world in a spirit which threatened the 
 greatest danger to Christianity, while he sought to 
 give a new direction to the religious development of 
 mankind. 
 
 Through the well-timed conversion of Constantine to 
 Christianity, the victory of the christian cause in the 
 Roman empire seemed fully decided, as it were, from 
 the throne. But after a contest (and often a bloody 
 one) of three hundred years, and fifty years of triumph, 
 the christian Church was threatened with still greater 
 danger. Under the outward show of toleration, weapons 
 more dangerous than the fire and the sword were 
 employed against her by a prince of great abilities. 
 
 The state of things was not, indeed, favourable to 
 Julian’s undertaking. The number of Christians had 
 considerably increased in an interval of about fifty years, 
 during which Christianity was decidedly favoured by the 
 
CHAP. VI.] | HEATHENISM IN JULIAN’S REIGN. 75 
 
 throne and court.!. In the more civilized provinces of 
 the empire, and in the large cities of Rome, Constan- 
 tinople, Alexandria, and Antioch, there was a majority 
 of Christians; and the example of the Emperor and of 
 the chief Generals must have had a decided influence 
 upon the legions. At the commencement of Julian’s 
 reign, the Christians were far superior to the non- 
 Christians, if not in actual number, yet in a widely- 
 spread, well-grounded power. There existed among 
 them generally both a higher degree of religious know- 
 ledge, and a more active zeal for their faith, than among 
 the heathen. That knowledge was, indeed, clouded by 
 a mass of superstition, and by a dogmatizing spirit of 
 contention—and that zeal was considerably cooled 
 by the acquisition of victory and undisturbed posses- 
 
 1 It seems a fruitless labour to try to find out the nwmber of 
 Christians in proportion to that of the heathens in the reign of 
 Julian with any exactness; just as the learned investigations and 
 skilful conjectures (of Gibbon, e.g., and others) respecting the 
 number of Christians in the first year of Constantine’s government 
 could lead to no satisfactory results, because all the assumptions 
 rest upon merely special, local, and temporary relations, from 
 which, on such’a subject, no valid general conclusions can be 
 drawn. Certainly the christian population, in the first years of 
 Constantine, cannot have been so small as, 6. g., Osiander assumes 
 it to have been (see his Hssay in Staublin’s and Tzschirner’s 
 Archives, vol. iv. part 2), because this emperor experienced, at 
 least, no hindrance on that ground to his political plans, when 
 he declared himself in favour of Christianity. Nor, on the other 
 hand, can we assume the number of Christians to have been so 
 absolutely predominant at the beginning of Julian’s reign ; be- 
 cause this prince (though a visionary enthusiast in the cause of 
 heathenism, yet not devoid of sense) could still conceive the 
 thought of making heathenism again predominant; and also 
 because, even after Julian’s fall, heathenism still maintained 
 itself for a long while within the Roman empire. It is not, 
 however, to be overlooked that, in such matters, success depends 
 not so much on the owtward show of numbers, as on the inward, 
 deep-seated strength of a religious community. 
 
76 RELATION OF CHRISTIANITY TO  [SECT. II. 
 
 sion.! But it was involved in the nature of the case, that 
 even under these circumstances the christian religion 
 should be able to convey (as it did actually convey) to its 
 professors a purer, firmer, and more satisfactory con- 
 viction than that of the heathen could possibly do. 
 Christianity contained in it the germs of a new religious 
 and intellectual education of the world; heathenism 
 was dead at the roots, and could only be sustained by 
 artificial exertions; this is shown with convincing clear- 
 ness by detached incidents in Julian’s life. With all 
 the power of an emperor, and all the zeal of a devoted 
 priest, he was not once able to awaken among his 
 subjects even the appearance of an interest in the old 
 religion. At Antioch, on occasion of the annual feast 
 of the once-celebrated Daphnian Apollo, which he 
 thought to celebrate with great splendour, not an 
 individual of the neighbourhood presented himself with 
 a victim, except a single priest with the offering of a 
 goose. Julian might, on such an occasion, have seen 
 what was really the temper of the times. (See Julian’s 
 Misopogon, p. 362. edit. Spanhem.) 
 
 Christianity, which at first presented itself as the 
 simple religion of the people, had, in the course of the 
 last centuries, developed the elements which it contained 
 for the cultivation of theological science. After the 
 Apologists had given the first impulse, the teachers of 
 the Alexandrian, and then of the Antiochian school, 
 laid the foundation of a christian scientific system ; 
 
 1 Gregory Nazianzen does not fail to remark, how much better 
 the Christians in general were during the persecutions than 
 afterwards in times of prosperity and victory. Orat. iv. 32, p. 92: 
 yy ἐν τοῖς διωγμοῖς καὶ ταῖς ϑλίψεσι συνελεξάμεϑα δόξαν Kai 
 δύναμιν, ταύτην Ev πράττοντες κατελύσαμεν. 
 
CHAP. VI. | HEATHENISM IN JULIAN’S REIGN. fit 
 
 and even in this respect, many professors of Christianity 
 could now compete with learned heathens.' It is, more- 
 over, not to be forgotten, that Christianity had already 
 penetrated into all the relations of life, and was firmly 
 rooted in society. The Church, with its clergy and 
 (ever since Constantine) its growing and important 
 possessions, already took its place as an influential 
 politico-spiritual power, and everything in public, as 
 well as in private life, from the imperial banner to the 
 signet-ring of a citizen, had taken a christian impression. 
 We may therefore, taking all the circumstances to- 
 gether, assert that Christianity, by its internal and out- 
 ward power, by the number of its professors, by the 
 adoption of a higher tone of cultivation, and its 
 admission into all the business of life, had established 
 itself in the most influential portions of the Roman 
 empire. 
 
 The enterprise of Julian to place heathenism again in 
 the ascendant, was therefore a political as well as a 
 religious revolution, which was to take effect by altering 
 all the relations of external and of intellectual and 
 spiritual life; a revolution which must needs be of the 
 greatest difficulty, and of the most doubtful con- 
 sequences, in the pursuit of which Julian, sooner or 
 later, would probably have come to ruin, even if he had 
 not found an early death in the Persian war. In this 
 
 1 The heathens, however, still maintained herein a certain 
 superiority. The most celebrated Sophists, or teachers of phi- 
 losophy and rhetoric (such as Libanius, Himerius, Themistius, and 
 others), were heathens; and if christian youths wished to acquire 
 a completely scientific education, and especially to become them- 
 selves future orators and rhetoricians, they always attended the 
 heathen schools at Alexandria, Athens, or Antioch. 
 
78 HIS AVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. [SECT. II. 
 
 sense the attempt of Julian was already, in his own 
 time, looked upon as a revolutionary enterprise. The 
 people of Antioch reproached him with intending to 
 bring about a total change in the relations of society ;' 
 and Gregory of Nazianzum speaks still more plainly.? 
 ‘That clever man (Julian) did not remark that, in the 
 earlier persecutions, the confusion and agitation were 
 not so great, because at that time our religion had not 
 spread so widely ; but now, when the word of salvation 
 had spread so far, and even become predominant amongst 
 us, the attempt to interfere with the christian religion, 
 and to shake its hold upon men’s minds, was nothing 
 less than a shaking of the foundations of the Roman 
 empire, and an attack upon the welfare of the State; 
 something, in short, so bad, that our bitterest enemy 
 could wish us nothing worse.” 
 
 It was not state policy which moved Julian to 
 attempt this revolution, for that would have urged him 
 to carry on and improve the work which Constantine 
 began, not to destroy it; the real motive lay in that 
 aversion to the christian faith and its professors (both 
 being misapprehended by him), and that ardent zeal for 
 the old religion, which both sprung up very naturally 
 
 1 Misopogon, p. 860: Ort παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ τὰ τοῦ κὀσμοῦ πράγματα 
 ἀνατέτραπται. 
 
 2 Orat. iv. 74 and 75, p. 113. 
 
 3 All the benefits which Julian’s government effected in other 
 respects were disregarded by Gregory, who looked only to the 
 harm resulting from a general religious disruption, which operated 
 in favour of heathenism. ‘The commotion in the provinces and 
 cities (he says, Orat. iv. 75, p. 113), the division in families, the 
 disputes in our houses, the separations of marriage-ties (all which 
 could not but follow, and have actually followed this great evil)— 
 have they contributed to Ais (Julian’s) reputation, and to the 
 well-being of the State ?’ 
 
CHAP. VI.| HIS AVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. 79 
 
 from his early education.' The religion which Con- 
 stantius, the murderer of his family, professed, and which 
 he endeavoured to impress upon him by means of 
 ecclesiastics, in whom he could place no confidence, 
 could not but be an object of suspicion and dislike to 
 him. He saw in Christianity? only an unhappy per- 
 version of Judaism,? and could not explain the contra- 
 dictions which the christian records seemed to contain 
 in relation to the Jewish, to say nothing of many sup- 
 posed absurdities he attributed to the latter. He could 
 not comprehend the feeling of reverence with which 
 Christians regarded that Jesus, who (as it seemed to 
 him) had done nothing worth mentioning during his 
 lifetime, except healing a few lame and blind persons, 
 and bringing some of the common people to believe in 
 him.* It appeared to him an incomprehensible delusion, 
 
 1 It cannot be my object here to give a complete delineation of 
 Julian in the development of his character and his mode of 
 thought. This would not only lie out of my path, but would also 
 be superfluous, since (besides the labours of many other good men) 
 Neander’s excellent Life and Character of Julian has been much 
 read, and will soon (by means of a second edition, about to appear) 
 be still more generally circulated. I could not, however, avoid 
 saying something on the subject, particularly as to the conduct of 
 Julian towards Christianity, because a correct view thereof is 
 necessary for a right estimate of the character of Gregory 
 Nazianzen. 
 
 ® Julian, as it is well known, wrote down his views of Chris- 
 tianity in distinct treatises, while reposing, in the long nights of 
 winter, from the cares of government (Liban. ἐπιταφ. ἐπὶ Ἰουλίαν. 
 p- 581, Reisk). Only fragments of these books have been trans- 
 mitted to us, in the Refutation of them by Cyril of Alexandria 
 (Juliani Opera, ed. Ezech, Spanheim ; Lips. 1696). Would that we 
 had Julian’s entire work, instead of Cyril’s copious refutations ! 
 I restrain myself also (strongly as I feel allured to the task) 
 from giving an account of Julian’s view of Christianity, and this 
 for the reason above given. 
 
 3. Oyrill. adv. Julian., lib. i. p. 6, and lib. vii. p. 238. 
 
 4 Ibid., vi. pp. 191, 218. 
 
8ὃ0 HIS AVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. [SECT. II. 
 
 that the Christians turned away from the immortal gods 
 to the worship of a deceased Jew; that they would not 
 adore the sun and moon, which so manifestly wrought 
 for them the highest benefits from year to year, while they 
 considered as a God that Jesus whom neither they nor 
 their fathers had seen.' It is quite intelligible how 
 Julian could thus misapprehend the divinity of Jesus in 
 his humble appearance; and we hope that we do him 
 no injustice when we think that the cause thereof is to 
 be found in the fundamental defect of his nature—viz., 
 his pride and philosophic arrogance. Julian had accus- 
 tomed himself too much to the bright and powerful 
 forms of the ancient heroes to attach any value to the 
 divine claims of Christ, concealed as they were under 
 the simple ‘form of a servant,’ and of suffering humility. 
 He was too much enamoured by wisdom in the form of 
 speculation, and too much dazzled by the mystic glitter 
 of his favourite rhetorical philosophers, for his under- 
 standing to receive the popular teaching of the Gospel, 
 which seemed to him to present itself in the unpretend- 
 ing garb of a child-lke and unadorned phraseology. 
 Julian knew nothing of that state of mind, that lowly 
 and affectionate devotedness, which Christ everywhere 
 requires, if we would receive him as the Divine Author 
 of our salvation. Full of energy and activity, he wished 
 to emulate his celebrated heroes; full of wisdom, he 
 imitated his contemplative philosophers, and turned his 
 back contemptuously upon the Divine Sufferer, and the 
 cross on which he suffered. His lively imagination, and 
 his admiration of antiquity, attracted him powerfully to 
 
 1 Julian. epist. 51, ad. Alexandrinos, p. 432. Cyrill. adv. 
 Julian., lib. vi. p. 194. 
 
CHAP. VI. | HIS AVERSION TO CHRISTIANITY. 81 
 
 those gods, by whose protection those heroes, whom he 
 in vain looked for among the Christian emperors, had 
 fought and conquered. He believed that he also had 
 been delivered by the favour of the gods from all the 
 dangers with which the jealousy of Constantius had 
 threatened him; that by their means he had been raised 
 from the quiet scenes of private life, and from banish- 
 ment, to the imperial throne. ‘Should he not then 
 adore these mighty, these beneficent gods? Should he 
 not show himself thankful to them, by extending the 
 sphere of their worship? 
 
 (b.) Julian’s Conduct towards Christianity and its 
 Professors. 
 
 It is well known what Julian did, in order to make 
 the old religion again predominant, and to overturn the 
 new; it may be permitted me, nevertheless, to give here 
 a short, connected review thereof, in order that we may 
 afterwards estimate more justly the judgment passed by 
 Gregory on this conduct. 
 
 Julian, although in many of his proceedings we cannot 
 fail to perceive a kind of political fanaticism,' engaged 
 
 1 Julian’s political conduct was entirely grounded upon his 
 religious convictions. He entertained a very exalted idea of a 
 genuine ruler, and firmly believed ‘that government is something 
 which surpasses human powers—something for which a godlike 
 nature is required.’ Orat. ad Themist. Philosoph., p. 253—267, 
 in several passages. In difficult circumstances, therefore, he 
 betook himself to the counsel and assistance of the gods. He 
 wished to ascertain and follow their wishes. The way, however, 
 in which he thought to learn their will had somewhat of fana- 
 ticism in it. He believed in their actual appearance—in real 
 contact and immediate communications with the gods. What a 
 field was here opened for the arts of the magic and theurgic 
 priests and philosophers who surrounded him ! 
 
 G 
 
»...-.-.-.-΄΄Ὃ[}Ρ ρΡ  ΄Ῥ--------...-- 
 
 82 σΌΠΙΑΝ᾿ 5 CONDUCT TOWARDS [SECT. iY, 
 
 with consummate skill in the unequal contest with 
 Christianity, favoured as it was by the age in which he 
 lived. History had taught him that open warfare 
 strengthens the persecuted party, and that the blood of 
 martyrs was but the seed of new confessors. He hated 
 martyrdom,! and would not allow the christian Church 
 the honour and the advantage of it. His plan, therefore, 
 proceeded upon a gradual undermining ; he applied per- 
 secution, but it was under the show of mildness and 
 moderation; he subjugated gently.2 His writings, 
 epistles, and decrees, contain the most open declarations 
 of an universal toleration for the Christians; he only 
 commiserates them, and wishes not to punish them for 
 their ignorance, but instructs and teaches them. No 
 young person was to be restrained from attending the 
 schools and churches of the ‘ Galileans;’ no one should 
 be constrained to adopt the old religion through fear or 
 force.? In similar terms of toleration he expressed him- 
 self towards the different parties in Christianity. The 
 clergy who had been banished on account of religious 
 opinions now dared, without distinction, to return; 
 always excepting one, who was hated by him to the 
 death—Athanasius ! 4 
 
 This show of toleration, however, was not so honestly 
 intended. Julian had no reason for giving a preference 
 
 1 Julian. Fragment. Orationis Epistoleve cujusd., p. 288. This 
 mutilated treatise probably contained many characteristic obser- 
 vations of Julian concerning Christianity and Christians. 
 
 2 Gregor. Orat. iv. 79, p. 116. He says very strikingly of 
 Julian, ἐπιεικῶς ἐβιάζετο. Compare ὃ 69, p. 129, of this same 
 Oration. 
 
 3 Epist. 42, p. 129. 
 
 4 Julian. Edict. ad Alexandr., Epist. 26, p. 398; and parti- 
 cularly, Epist. ad Alexandr. 51, p. 432, and Epist. 6, p. 376. 
 
CHAP. vi. | CHRISTIANITY AND ITS PROFESSORS. 85 
 
 to one party among the Christians rather than another. 
 He allowed them to exist in mutual opposition, in order 
 that they might injure one another, and stain still deeper 
 the christian name on the angry theatre of religious 
 controversy. He even occasionally, out of mere con- 
 tempt, procured for himself the amusement of causing 
 the leaders of the christian parties to hold disputes in 
 his presence.' In general, he by no means placed the 
 Christians on a par with the heathens, in spite of the 
 principles which he professed. He not only preferred 
 the latter in his public appointments, but favoured 
 them almost exclusively.2, He punished most severely 
 any acts of turbulence on the part of the Christians ; 
 
 1 Ammian. Marcellin., xxii. 5. When they were in the heat of 
 their dispute, he would call out to them: ‘Listen now to me, 
 whom even the Alemanni and Franks have listened to !’ 
 
 ? Julian. Hpist. 7, ad Artab., p. 376. Gregor. Orat. iv. 96, p.129. 
 Sozomen. Hist. Hecles. v.18. Liban. Epitaph., p. 564. Julian 
 by no means deserved that gratitude which he fancied himself 
 entitled to for his tolerating all parties among the Christians. 
 Epist. 52, ad Bostrenos, p. 435. It may certainly be maintained 
 that Julian was a persecutor of Christianity rather than of Chris- 
 tiams ; since he did not proceed so far as to destroy Christians 
 personally, but endeavoured, by cleverly-applied pressure, and 
 other means, to win them over to heathenism, and thus to over- 
 turn Christianity by withdrawing its professors from it. (Compare 
 C. F. Wigger’s dissertation, De Juliano Apostata Religionis Chris- 
 tian et Christianorum Persecutore. Rostoch. 1810.) But, on this 
 point, we must take into consideration that Julian could not, 
 properly speaking, ever be a persecutor of Christians, because ex- 
 ternal means forthat purpose were wanting to him against the pre- 
 ponderating power of the christian party. The assertion that 
 Julian, from being a persecutor of the christian religion, would 
 subsequently become a persecutor of its professors, will scarcely 
 admit of being noticed with historical certainty, since Julian 
 governed for so short a time. It is not, however, improbable 
 that things would have taken this turn, when Julian had become 
 more embittered by the opposition which, in the end, he would 
 certainly have met with, and the heathen party had again 
 obtained greater power. 
 
 ᾳ 2 
 
84 JULIAN’S CONDUCT TOWARDS [SECT. II. 
 
 but heathens, as well magistrates as the common people, 
 who indulged themselves in any act of injustice or: 
 violence towards the Christians, were treated by him 
 far more mildly—nay, even with favour.! This severity 
 of behaviour on the part of Julian towards the Christians 
 was often also accompanied with bitter mockery. When 
 the Arians in the neighbourhood of Edessa, who were 
 very rich, fell into contentions with the Valentinians of 
 those parts, he caused the general treasure of the Church 
 of Edessa to be taken away and distributed among his 
 soldiers, and their estates to be incorporated with his 
 own property. It was his wish (he said), since they 
 were often using that admirable saying, ‘it is a hard 
 thing for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven,’ to facilitate to them thereby their entrance into 
 heaven.’ 
 
 Julian frequently indulged himself in similar sarcasms 
 concerning ‘the credulous disciples of ignorant fishermen, 
 who sat and prayed all night in company with old women, 
 and were always faint and half-dead with fasting.”? Of 
 course, this public derision of a part of his subjects on 
 the part of a supreme ruler must have carried with it a 
 
 1 This, to quote only one example on that side, is sufficiently 
 proved by the manner in which Julian spares the heathens of 
 Alexandria, who had murdered the bishop, Georgius—while he 
 treats with severity the Christians of Antioch, for having set on 
 fire the temple of the Daphnian Apollo. See, on this subject, 
 the heathen writer Ammian. Marcellin., xxii. 11, 13. Also, 
 Sozomen., v. 3; and Gregor. Naz. Orat. iv. 93, p. 127. 
 
 2 Julian. Hpist. 43, ad Hecebol., p. 424. The same story, 
 though told probably with exaggeration, is found ip Sozom., v. 
 4, 5, 8. It is the same sort of irony which is attributed to 
 Dionysius, the plunderer of temples. Cicero de Nat. Deor. iii. 34. 
 
 3 Gregor. Orat. v. 25, p. 163. For other instances of ironical 
 mockery, not spoken merely, but written, see Orat. iv. 97, p. 130. 
 
 ‘ 
 
CHAP. VI. | CHRISTIANITY AND ITS PROFESSORS. 85 
 
 fearful force. The least insidious and (legally speaking 
 the least objectionable, though most dangerous means 
 whereby Julian sought to injure Christianity, was the 
 transfer of those regulations, which had particularly dis- 
 tinguished the christian Church, into heathenism. He 
 wished to make the old religion popular by reforming 
 its institutions. He began, therefore, at the roots—<.e., 
 by improving the priestly profession,* to which he wished 
 to give more real efficiency and greater respectability. 
 He himself set the example, as the chief pontiff. He 
 ordered that the professors of heathenism should show 
 the same regard to the burial of the dead, the same hos- 
 pitality towards strangers, the same active benevolence 
 to the poor, as that by which the Christians had made 
 themselves so beloved.!. With this object, Julian gave 
 directions for the erection of poor-houses and lodging- 
 houses for strangers, and assigned considerable sums for 
 that purpose.? He also adopted for the heathen religion 
 that plan of popular instruction? which had wrought 
 
 * In an Appendix to the dogmatic part (not given in this 
 volume), what Julian and Gregory require of the ministers of the 
 rival religions is placed in juxtaposition.—T’anslator. 
 
 1 Julian makes it a special charge against christian women, 
 that by their active benevolence they attracted many to join 
 their sect. Misopogon, p. 363. In general, he is not at all inclined 
 to say anything good of the christian women (see Misopogon, 
 Ρ. 356), whose virtue compelled even Libanius, on one occasion, 
 to exclaim—‘ What women have those Christians !’ 
 
 2 These lodging-houses, ἕενοδοχεῖα, were instituted in every 
 city for the needy traveller, without distinction of religion. For 
 the province of Galatia, Julian assigns for this object 30,000 
 measures of corn.—Epist. 49, ad Ursaciwm, pontiff of Galatia, 
 Ρ. 429. He moreover invites all the heathen to voluntary con- 
 tributions, and tries to rouse them to a sense of shame by quoting 
 the example of the Christians. 
 
 8 Sozom., v. 16. Διενοεῖτο πανταχῆ τοὺς ἑλληνικοὺς ναοὺς TH 
 παρασκευῇ Kai τῇ τάξει τῆς πριστεανῶν ϑρησκείας διακοσμεῖν, 
 
86 JULIAN'S CONDUCT TOWARDS [suct. II. 
 
 such great things for Christianity, and endeavoured, 
 above all, to impart more life, dignity, and splendour to 
 divine worship. For this last purpose, he made especial 
 use of the effects of sacred music, which he particularly 
 attended to and valued.! 
 
 Julian well knew how important it is that religion 
 should exercise an influence upon social life, and also be 
 placed in connexion with the institutions of the state. 
 The heathen religion had, under the last emperors, been 
 made to give way in this respect to the christian; he 
 now sought to restore that relation. Every christian 
 emblem was obliterated on the public insignia; the Im- 
 perial banner was again altered, and resumed its old 
 Roman form and shape.? (Sozom. ν. 17.) Julian sur- 
 
 βήμασί τε καὶ προεδρίαις, καὶ ἑλληνικῶν δογμάτων Kai παραῖ- 
 γέσιων διδασκάλοις τε καὶ ἀναγνώσταις. He farther founded 
 (according to Sozomen) heathen convents for men and women— 
 a proof how greatly the entire spirit of the age had inclined to 
 monastic life! He imitated, also, the circulation of the so-called 
 ‘liter formate ; ὃ he introduced a kind of penitential discipline, 
 in imitation of the christian Church, but of a milder kind (as 
 might be expected from his prudence), and himself, as Pontifex 
 Maximus, exercised the right of imposing a ban or interdiction. 
 See Julian, Epist. 62, p. 451: Ἐγὼ τοίνυν ἐπειδήπερ εἰμι κατὰ 
 μὲν τὰ πάτρια μέγας ἀρχιερεύς, ἔλαχον δὲ νῦν Kai τοῦ Διδυμαίου 
 προφητεύειν, ἀπαγορεύω σοι τρεῖς περιόδους σελήνῃς μή τοι τῶν 
 εἰς ἱερξα μηδὲν ἐνοχλεῖν, Kk. τ. X. 
 
 1 Julian. Fragment., p. 801. Epist. 56, ad Ecdic., p. 442. He 
 gave orders at Alexandria for the education of talented boys for 
 the public performance of temple-singing. To good singers he 
 opened the best prospects. Church music is still the great point 
 where so much might be done for the improvement of the Pro- 
 testant worship. Would that the efforts thus made by Julian 
 for is faith, might find more imitators among Christians / 
 
 2 Christus purpureum gemmanti textus in auro 
 Signabat labarwm ; clypeorum insignia Christus 
 Scripserat ; ardebat swmmis crux addita cristis. 
 
 PRUDENTIUS. 
 
 * Circulars by which remote churches corresponded with each other, and 
 insured hospitality to the bearei’s of them on their respective journeys,— 
 Translator. 
 
CHAP. VI. | CHRISTIANITY AND ITS PROFESSORS. 87 
 
 rounded his own statue, set up for public homage, with 
 figures of the gods; and whosoever then testified his 
 mark of respect for the same (and this was not unfre- 
 quently performed on festive occasions) was at the same 
 time forced to bow his head before the images of the 
 gods that surrounded the statue.' Nor is Julian to be 
 pronounced free from a treacherous zeal for proselytizing. 
 It must, of course, have been most important to him to 
 gain over the army to his faith, and he made use of the 
 following method for effecting it. On the general pay- 
 day, the emperor presented himself, surrounded with the 
 insignia of government and the figures of the gods. The 
 soldiers passed by him in succession; before them lay 
 gold and incense. If now, being Christians, they could 
 yet make up their mind to cast incense on the altar-fire, 
 and thus pay worship to the gods, they were recompensed 
 with a look of favour from the monarch, and consoled 
 with more liberal pay.2 In this manner many bartered 
 away their religion. 
 
 What has hitherto been remarked was rather a favour- 
 ing of heathenism than a persecuting of Christianity. 
 But we also find an ordinance of Julian, which may be 
 considered as a more direct attack on Christianity; it 
 
 1 We have this, indeed, only from christian authority, but it 
 is in itself not improbable. Gregor. Naz. Orat. iv. 81, p. 117. 
 Sozom. v.17. Julian generally had Zeus represented near him- 
 self, as the god who gave him the crown and the purple ; or 
 Mars and Mercury, who, by their approving look, bore testimony 
 to his warlike valour and his distinguished eloquence. 
 
 2 This fact also rests only on christian evidence. Sozom. iii. 17. 
 Gregor. Naz. Orat. iv. 82—85, pp. 117—120. Gregory, how- 
 ever, gives very particular details and anecdotes in direct refer- 
 ence to this conduct of Julian ; and we see in Julian, even from 
 his own writings, and those of his heathen admirers, a man of so 
 much artful skill in his antagonism to the Christians, that in 
 company with so much that was great in his character, we must 
 also charge him with much of paltry artifice. 
 
88 JULIAN’S CONDUCT TOWARDS | SECT. Il. 
 
 has, however, been differently judged of, so that we must 
 be permitted to speak of it somewhat more fully. It 
 was the arrangement by which he is said to have for- 
 bidden Christians to engage in the study of any science 
 not properly christian—a prohibition whereby all the 
 advantages of a classical education would have been 
 withdrawn from the Christians. The philosophic em- 
 peror despised the plain and (in the best sense of the 
 word) simple writings of the Old and New Testament, 
 in comparison with the profound and beautiful produc- 
 tions of Grecian genius.' 
 
 He thought, ‘that the works of antiquity, animated 
 as they were with a high patriotic spirit, and clothed in 
 the most perfect forms of language, could alone commu- 
 nicate pure and true wisdom; whilst the writings of the 
 Christians could have no power to produce any such 
 effects.2 And as the Christians thought those works to 
 have proceeded from Satan himself, or from Satan’s 
 agents, he did not choose that they should feast upon? 
 the writings and sciences of the Greeks, but remain 
 satisfied with only the miserable books to which they 
 attributed such high value.’ He therefore believed that 
 he was fully justified in withholding altogether from the 
 Christians those writings which they did not take in 
 hand with due reverence and affection. It is not, in- 
 deed, to be denied (though it may be well accounted for 
 
 1 Cyrill. contra Julian., vii. p. 229. 
 
 2 "ANN ἴστε καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὡς ἐμοὶ φαίνεται, τὸ διάφορον εἰς 
 σύνεσιν τῶν παρ᾽ ὑμῖν . . - . οὐδ᾽ ἂν γένοιτο γενναῖος ἀνὴρ 
 μᾶλλον οὐδὲ ἐπιεικής" ἐκ δὲ τῶν παρ᾽ ἡμῖν, αὐτὸς αὐτοῦ πᾶς ἂν 
 γένοιτο καλλίων, εἰ καὶ παντάπασιν ἀφυῆς τις εἴη. 
 
 3 Tov χάριν ὑμεῖς τῶν παρ᾽ “Ἕλλησι παρεσϑίετε μαϑημάτων, 
 εἴπερ αὐτάρχης ὑμιν ἐστιν ἡ τῶν ὑμετέρων γραφῶν ἀνάγνωσις, 
 ΚΟ ΤΟ ἋΣ 
 
CHAP. VI. | CHRISTIANITY AND ITS PROFESSORS. 89 
 
 from the violent opposition at that time existing be- 
 tween heathenism and Christianity) that the most dis- 
 tinguished Fathers, and still more the great body of 
 common Christians,’ did treat the great works of anti- 
 quity with unbecoming disrespect. 
 
 It was especially offensive to Julian, that men who 
 denied the existence of the gods, should undertake to 
 expound writings of which he considered the gods as 
 the originators, and the pervading idea of which was 
 reverence for those same gods.2 As Julian required 
 strict morality in the instructors of youth, it seemed to 
 him the most despicable hypocrisy for a teacher to un- 
 dertake, for profit’s sake, the explanation of writings 
 penetrated by the spirit of the old religion, while he 
 himself denied the truth of that spirit. In this, he did 
 not require that the teachers should alter their views for 
 the sake of the young men, but only that they should 
 not teach what was not to them earnest truth. He re- 
 commends him ‘ who believes that those writers sinned, 
 through error, against the Holy One, to attend the ex- 
 
 1 Gregory himself observes (without approving the feeling), 
 that most Christians entirely despised worldly learning, as if it 
 were morally dangerous and seductive, and tended to withdraw 
 the mind from God. Orat. xliii. 11, p. 778. Many passages, 
 nevertheless, occur in Gregory’s writings which discover in him 
 a strong partiality for the works of heathen genius. 
 
 2 Julian. Hpist. 42, p. 422. ‘ What!’ says he ; ‘ were not the 
 gods the originators and directors of the mental growth of a 
 Homer, a Hesiod, Demosthenes, Herodotus, Thucydides, Iso- 
 crates, Lysias? Have not some of them dedicated their writings 
 to Mercury, and others to the Muses? It seems absurd, there- 
 fore, to me, for any one to expound the works of these men, and 
 at the same time to despise the gods whom they worshipped.’ 
 
 . Οὐ μὴν ἐπειδὴ τοῦτ᾽ ἄτοπον οἶμαι, φημὶ δεῖν αὐτοὺς 
 μεταϑεμένους τοῖς νέοις" συνδίδωμι δὲ αἵρεσιν, μὴ διδάσκειν ἃ 
 μὴ νομίζουσι σπουδαῖα. 
 
90 JULIAN’S CONDUCT TOWARDS [SECT. II. 
 
 positions of Matthew and Luke in the churches of the 
 Galileans.’ From these statements, it appears that 
 Julian did not exactly forbid the Christians to engage 
 in the study of heathen literature; on the contrary, he 
 certainly wished that a large body of christian youths 
 might attend the schools of the heathen rhetoricians and 
 sophists, under the conviction that every one who had 
 by nature anything noble in his character, must soon 
 desert the ranks of Atheism (for such was Christianity 
 in his view), and be won over to the service of the gods.' 
 But he determined that he who undertook to explain 
 those writings which were inspired by the gods, and 
 exhibited their living power, should also reverence those 
 gods in word and deed; or, to speak more plainly, that 
 heathens only should be the instructors of youth. By 
 this decree, therefore, Christians were excluded from the 
 teacher’s chair. It was a regulation slow, indeed, in its 
 operation, but calculated to produce great effects. It 
 must necessarily influence the rising generation, if the 
 sciences were taught only by heathen masters. If the 
 Christians wonld not see their sons excluded from the 
 higher branches of education, they must send them to 
 
 1 Cyrill. contra Julian., vii. p. 229. 
 
 2 On this point, therefore, Sozomenus requires, without doubt, 
 to be set right, when, in his Eccles. Hist., v. 18, he says: ‘He 
 did not allow the sons of the Christians to study the Grecian 
 poets and orators, or to attend the expositors of them in the 
 schools.’ Ammianus Marcellin. (agreeing, in meaning, with 
 Julian’s own expressions) says, much more correctly, xxv. 4: 
 Inter que erat illud inclemens, quod docere vetuit magistros 
 rhetoricos et grammaticos Christianos, ni transissent ad numinum 
 cultum. And Orosius, lib. vil. c. 30, says: Aperto tamen preecepit 
 edicto, ne quis Christianus docendorum liberalium studiorum 
 professor esset. See Schlosser’s Weltgeschichte, 1st Part, p. 650, 
 and his whole sketch of Julian. 
 
CHAP. vi. | CHRISTIANITY AND ITS PROFESSORS. 9] 
 
 the heathen schools, with the certain danger that, by the 
 influence of those eloquent and zealous teachers, the 
 seeds of heathenism would be sown in their young 
 minds.' The christian teachers, indeed, endeavoured 
 to remedy this sad state of things by means of poetic 
 productions, written in the spirit of Christianity. But 
 these specimens of forced workmanship were only neces- 
 sary substitutes for the free, inspired creations of Homer, 
 Sophocles, and Plato, those immortal instructors and 
 models of human genius. When familiar acquaintance 
 with Greek science was thus withdrawn from the 
 Christians (especially the Greek Christians of that time), 
 much that was valuable was certainly withdrawn from 
 them; and it is erroneously asserted that Christianity, 
 in its then condition, could have derived no advantage, 
 or at least very little, from the adoption of a classical 
 education. How could it bid defiance to the attacks of 
 learned and philosophical heathens (and particularly 
 Julian himself) without the development of the scientific 
 elements which it contained? And how was this de- 
 velopment to be effected, but by an union with the in- 
 vestigations and productions of earlier generations ? 
 How could it, without them, become the religion of the 
 most cultivated portion of mankind,—nay, the universal 
 religion 4 
 
 Julian had a show of reason for his conduct. It 
 seemed to him, according to his religious views, not to 
 
 ’ As it actually happened, for instance, at Athens. See above, 
 ᾿ 2 Julian looked upon the works of the heathen writers, especi- 
 ally the poets, as at the same time religious documents, and, as 
 such, he would not allow them to be expounded by professors of 
 another religion, and one, in its very nature, destructive of 
 heathenism. He proceeded on the same views and the same 
 
99 JULIAN S CONDUCT TOWARDS [SECT. ΤΙ. 
 
 be endured that the Christians should expect to extract 
 scientific nourishment from the outward shell of those 
 works, of which they rejected the internal, religious 
 kernel. To his really pious mind, this religious element 
 was the main point; and therefore he thought that he 
 who disdained that, should have nothing at all. Still 
 there was also some degree of injustice! in Julian’s 
 arrangement ;? and this is particularly pointed out by 
 Gregory of Nazianzum, when he remarks,’ that the 
 Hellenistic literature and language are by no means so 
 necessarily connected with the heathen religion, that the 
 one could not be made use of or enjoyed without the 
 other. He very justly, at the same time, looks upon 
 the works of Grecian genius as the common property of 
 the human race, wholly unconnected with religious be- 
 lief, and over which no individual, be he ever so powerful, 
 could have exclusive authority. He asks Julian whether 
 Hellenic civilization, the language of Athens, the noble 
 
 principles as we should do, in not allowing our rising youth to 
 attend the expositions of any professor of a strange religion, and 
 one hostile to Christianity. But it was possible to consider the 
 works of classical antiquity from another poit of view, where 
 the religious creed is not immediately concerned ; viz., to view 
 them (as in modern times they are generally viewed) as a basis of 
 universal application (not belonging to one nation or one religious 
 code, but to the human race), a basis for the education of civilized 
 humanity—an awakening model of the great, the good, the 
 beautiful. 
 
 1 If it were really just and universally applicable, we of the 
 present day could not presume to meddle with the exposition of 
 classical works ; since we also, though judging more mercifully 
 of the heathen religions than did the Fathers of the fourth century, 
 are yet professors of a religion which has destroyed heathenism. 
 [N.B.—I have given this as a note, instead of part of the text.— 
 Translator. | 
 
 2 Even the heathen writer Ammianus speaks of the decree as 
 ‘inclemens.’ 
 
 3 Orat. iv. 102, pp. 182—136. 
 
CHAP. VI. | CHRISTIANITY AND ITS PROFESSORS. 93 
 
 poems of Greece, belonged only to him; whether he 
 intended to withhold from the Christians only the ele- 
 gant and refined language of the Greeks, or, in the end, 
 the Greek language generally, even the common vulgar 
 form of it; and the like. 
 
 Undoubtedly Julian, although provoked by the Chris- 
 tians, should have understood better the limits of his 
 power, since it does not lie within the privilege of a 
 ruler to withhold from his subjects an important means 
 of their accustomed education. We cannot look into 
 Julian’s soul, and see whether, under the show of zeal 
 for the interests of the gods, he really concealed the 
 artful design of thus giving to Christianity the most 
 deadly blow. Manifestly, however, the worst conse- 
 quences — even the gradual undermining of Christ’s 
 religion — were necessarily connected with his pro- 
 ceedings in this respect. 
 
 The same principle of action, under whose guidance 
 Julian laboured with all his power for the renovation 
 and improvement of the heathen priesthood, prompted 
 him to have recourse to everything, in order to deprive 
 the christian ministry of their influence, their riches, 
 and their respectability. He could injure the Church 
 in general most effectually through the degradation of 
 its ministers. While he conducted himself more mildly 
 towards the great body of the Christians, as a herd of 
 misguided, erring creatures, he exercised severity towards 
 their spiritual leaders, whom he looked upon as seducers 
 and promoters of rebellion, and especially towards the 
 undaunted champions of Christianity, such as Athanasius. 
 He withdrew from the clergy the right of jurisdiction, 
 which, to a certain extent, had been granted to them, 
 immunity from state-burdens, the privilege of making 
 
94 JULIAN’S CONDUCT TOWARDS [SECT. ΤΙ; 
 
 wills and receiving legacies—a power which they certainly 
 might have often abused.! In return for this, Julian 
 secured to the heathen priests their former privileges, 
 and endeavoured to enrich the temples by means of 
 public contributions.” 
 
 So much concerning Julian’s conduct towards 
 Christianity in general. The particular instances of 
 persecution which took place under his government 
 (and of which Gregory of Nazianzum® especially, and 
 also Sozomenus, relate many examples with a minuteness 
 that produces a feeling of horror and indignation) we 
 have no necessity here to discuss, since it would be 
 difficult to prove that Julian ordered the perpetration 
 of such cruelties, or that they were practised with his 
 knowledge. He may certainly have been too conniving 
 towards the heathens, who had been embittered by the 
 oppression exercised for some years against them by the 
 Christians,’ and were now excited by the re-action to a 
 spirit of persecution. 
 
 We might be inclined, in a great measure, to excuse 
 Julian’s conduct towards Christianity as the result of 
 his religious and political convictions. Certainly, his 
 transfer of the education of youth to heathen teachers 
 sprung from his conscientious regard for the religious 
 character of the works of antiquity, as did his exclusive 
 patronage of heathen candidates for public offices from 
 
 1 Julian. Epist. 52, ad Bostrenos, p. 487. Sozom. v. 5. 
 
 2 Sozom. v. 3. 
 
 3 Ex. gr., Orat. iv. 93, p. 127, and elsewhere. 
 
 4 The sophist Libanius speaks with uncommon bitterness of 
 these christian persecutions against the heathens: Μονωδία ἐπὶ 
 Ἰουλιαν. p. 509. ᾿Επιταφ. ἐπὶ Τουλ. p. 529. edit. Reisk. In 
 the first of these passages referred to, he recounts what Julian 
 had done for the relief of depressed heathenism. p. 510 et seq. 
 
CHAP. v1. CHRISTIANITY AND ITS PROFESSORS. 95 
 
 his belief, that the institutions of the state and of religion 
 should combine together so as to form a whole. But 
 when Julian made such an application of these principles 
 as must necessarily and thoroughly prove destructive to 
 Christianity, he clearly displayed not merely a religious 
 zeal for heathenism (which we acknowledge as the 
 noblest, though deformed feature in Julian’s mind), but 
 also a strong and intolerant hatred towards Christianity,' 
 a hatred which we can the less overlook through a mis- 
 taken leniency, because it did not present itself in its 
 avowedly hostile and odious form, but under the false 
 show of a just and impartial toleration. 
 
 In saying this, we should not deny or throw into the 
 shade Julian’s virtues in other respects as a man and as 
 aruler. When we have taken due notice of the youthful 
 insolence wherewith Julian treats Christianity, the proud 
 self-consciousness which gleams out in his actions and 
 his writings (especially in his satirical treatment even 
 of the greatest men in his Cesars, a work full of talent 
 and animation), the vanity with which he complacently 
 described himself as ‘a cynic-stoic on the Imperial 
 throne, and affected to revive in his own person the 
 phenomenon of an ancient hero and a simple republican ; 
 still we find in him, on the other side, much that is truly 
 great and noble; an incessant activity? for the good of 
 
 1 Even Ammianus Marcell. confesses that Julian by no means 
 showed his usual love of justice in regard to the Christians, and 
 that, in this respect, he was ‘interdum dissimilis sui.’ See the 
 whole of the remarkable passage, lib. xxv. 4, 19. Libanius also 
 does not take much trouble to conceal Julian’s partiality for the 
 heathens and against the Christians. See, among other places, 
 his ’Ezurag. p. 564. 
 
 3 Ἀεὶ yap εἶχεν ἐν χερσὶν ἢ βίβλους ἢ 67Aa,—says Libanius, 
 Epitaph., p. 546. He could, like Cesar, attend to different kinds of 
 business simultaneously, and at one and the same time be read to, 
 
90 GREGORY'S WRITINGS [SECT. IJ, 
 
 his subjects (especially for the citizen); a love for im- 
 partial justice (which he forgot only in respect to the 
 Christians); an effort to acquire the most perfect 
 simplicity of manners; a self-denying abstinence from 
 all the enjoyments of life; a valour worthy of the 
 ancients; manly earnestness and severity, combined 
 with a tender affection towards individuals, in whom he 
 honoured mind only, not power nor rank.' It is to be 
 regretted that this affectionate sympathy found no better 
 subjects than those conceited rhetoricians and sophists ; 
 that the religious zeal of Julian was stained by so much 
 bigotry; above all, that his highly-gifted mind could 
 have so mistaken the spirit of Christianity and the 
 mental tone of the times, and that therefore he became 
 
 dictate, and give an audience. Τὸ piv ἀναπαύεσϑαι τῶν διακόνων 
 ἣν, αὐτοῦ δ᾽ ἐπ᾽ ἔργον ἀπ᾽ ἔργου μεταπεδᾶν, Liban. Epitaph., 
 p. 580. The mind and character of Julian are learnt in the best 
 and most lively colours from his own writings, when (as we con- 
 fessedly must) we strip off the clothing of sophistical rhetoric from 
 most of his expressions. Next to Julian’s own writings, Am- 
 mianus Marcellinus is particularly useful (see an interesting pas- 
 sage in Ammian., xxv. 4). Not quite so trustworthy are either 
 his too partial and rhetorical friends (such as Libanius, in several 
 writings, especially in his Epitaphios and his Monodia), or his 
 equally prejudiced opponents, Gregory, Sozomenus, and others. 
 
 1 Consult, with this view, Julian’s epistles to several learned 
 men, rhetoricians, and philosophers, of his day ; among others, 
 Epist. 40, p. 417, to Iamblichus, to whom, for instance, he says: 
 ‘Then came the excellent Sopater to me ; as soon as I recognised 
 him, I sprang forward delighted and embraced him, weeping for 
 joy, because I was persuaded he was the bearer of letters from 
 you. As soon as I received them I kissed them, pressed them to 
 my eyes, &c.’ Seea similar letter to Libanius (Hpist. 44, p. 425), 
 to whom he expresses the modest wish ‘that he were worthy of 
 his friendship.’ The dark side of this intercourse of Julian with 
 his beloved sophists (a view which is certainly not to be over- 
 looked) is given very prominently by Schlosser, in the Welt- 
 geschichte, vol. i. p. 649 et seq.; and still more so in a review of 
 Neander’s Julian, in the Jena Literary Gazette for January, 1813, 
 p. 121—133. 
 
CHAP. VI. | AGAINST JULIAN. 97 
 
 only a short-lived, tumultuous, alarming phenomenon, 
 when he might have been the greatest benefactor, as 
 well as the genius of his age. 
 
 (c.) Gregory's Writings against Julian. 
 
 I have deemed it the more a matter of duty to ex- 
 hibit thus fully the less pleasing side in Julian’s character, 
 because it can thence only be explained why it was that 
 many ancient christian writers (whose statements, how- 
 ever, we must not hastily reject) express themselves 
 concerning this man with such unheard-of asperity. 
 Their delineations are exaggerated, their narratives are 
 not unfrequently disfigured by party-hatred—but still 
 we must not regard them as merely the outpourings of 
 a (generally well-meant) zealotism. For instance, it 
 would be almost incomprehensible how the ever right- 
 minded Gregory of Nazianzum could have written, and 
 seasoned with such biting acrimony, his Jnvectives! 
 
 1 These Invectivee, or Λόγοι στηλιτευτικοί (the 3rd and 4th 
 Oration according to the old arrangement, but the 4th and 5th in 
 the more recent) extend, in the Benedictine edition, from p- 78 
 to p. 176. Some remarkable criticisms, both of earlier and later 
 date, together with some literary notices concerning these Jnvec- 
 tives, occur in the Introduction, by the Benedictine, Clemencet, 
 p- 73—77; the last are given still more complete in Fabricius, 
 Biblioth. Gree., vol. viii. p. 392, ed. Harl. Among the detached 
 editions of the Jnvectives with which I am acquainted, the fol- 
 lowing (called by Fabricius ‘rara et prestans Kdit.’) is the most 
 interesting: S. Gregorit Nazianzeni in Julianwm invective due. 
 Cum scholiis Greecis nunc primum editis et ejusdem Authoris 
 nonnullis aliis. Omnia ex biblioth. Henr. Savilii edid. R. Mon- 
 tagu. Eton exc. J. Norton, 1610. This edition is especially 
 distinguished by a collection of striking various readings and 
 comments upon all the writings of Gregory, made by Saville 
 (who meditated an edition of Greg. Naz.), Montagu, and some 
 friends, from a collection of many MSS. In reference to the 
 
 H 
 
98 GREGORY'S WRITINGS [SECT. 11. 
 
 7 
 
 against Julian, then actually dead, unless Julian had 
 
 really allowed himself to do much that was shocking and 
 revolting against the Christians. We have, however, to 
 speak somewhat more exactly of these two Philippics. 
 It might not be uninteresting, though it would be 
 superfluous, to analyze fully the contents of these 
 writings, which seem animated rather by the fire of 
 passion, than a genuine christian spirit. Some portions, 
 however, must be brought forward to show their 
 character. Gregory, as he himself signifies,! intended 
 by means of these orations (which most probably were 
 not designed to be publicly delivered, but only to be 
 read) to raise a monument, whereby the name of Julian, 
 in that and in every succeeding age, should be held up to 
 universal contempt and reproach. He does not conceal 
 his intention to represent a great prince, with whom 
 death might be supposed to have reconciled him, as a 
 dark monster, nor disdain, for this object, to employ the 
 harshest terms.. ‘The apostate, the Assyrian, the 
 dragon, the common enemy, the wholesale murderer,’ 
 and similar expressions, salute our ears in every part of 
 
 usual title, Στηλιτευτικὸς λόγος, it is worth while to compare the 
 following Scholion of Nonnus (whose Scholia to the Jnvectives are 
 printed by Montagu): ὁ στηλιτευτικὸς οὑτοσὶ λόγος, Ψόγος ἐστὶ 
 τῶν ᾿Ιουλιανῷ πεπραγμένων. διαφέρει δὲ ψόγος στηλιτευτικοῦ, 
 ὅτι ὁ μὲν ψόγος διὰ τῶν ἐγκωμιαστικῶν. κεφαλαίων προέρχεται, 
 οἷον γένους, ἀναστροφῆς, πράξεων, συγκρίσεως" ὁ δὲ στηλιτευτικὸς 
 διὰ τῶν πράξεων μόνον" εἰ τύχοι δὲ καὶ συγκρίσεως" στηλιτευτικὸς 
 δὲ εἴρηται ἀπὸ “μεταφορᾶς τῆς στήλης, στήλη δὲ ἐστι λίϑος, ἡ 
 
 χαλκὺς ἐν ἐπιμήκει τετραγώνῳ σχήματι, ἐν ᾧ ἐγγέγραπται ἡ τοῦ 
 στηλιτευομένου ὕβρις, K7-A. The word στηλιτεύειν and its 
 cognate terms occur several times in the Orations. Compare also, 
 on this head, Stephan. 7'’hesaw., tom. i. p. 1807, and, as there 
 cited, Budeeus in Comment. Ling. Gr., and, still further, Suid. 
 Lex., tom. 111, p. 874; and Montagu ad Gregor. Invect., i. not. 1. 
 
 τ αὐ 1v..0, py (8; tv. 92, p. 126.; τ. 22, Ὁ. 170] 
 
CHAP. VI. | AGAINST JULIAN. 99 
 
 both these orations.!. The professed object of the first 
 is to place Julian’s faults, and the tyranny he exercised 
 against the Christians, in the strongest light; in the 
 other (which Gregory thinks must be particularly 
 pleasing and profitable to his readers),? he undertakes 
 to show the infallible judgment of God upon the un- 
 righteous, and brings forward, in this relation, the ex- 
 ample of Julian as his main proof. 
 
 It is remarkable how the orator, while he dooms 
 Julian to hell, invokes the great soul of Constantius from 
 heaven, and heaps upon him unheard-of encomiums ;3 
 Gregory only blames Constantius (in his eyes so great 
 and noble) for having preserved and raised to power, in 
 the person of Julian, a man so pernicious to the empire. 
 
 1 Orat. iv. 85, p. 93 ; iv. 68, p. 108; iv. 77, p. 115, and else- 
 where. Compare Orat. xviii. 32, p. 352. At one time playing 
 upon his name, Julianus, he calls him EidwAtavoc, at another, 
 ironically, νοῦς μέγας, and the like. 
 
 2 Orat. v. 1, p. 147. 
 
 * Orat. iv. 34, p. 93 et seq. The praises bestowed by Gregory 
 upon Constantius are naturally heightened as an antithesis to 
 Julian ; otherwise Gregory had, we may suppose, much also to 
 blame in Constantius, particularly his patronage of Arianism. 
 But he even makes an excuse for him on that score : Constantius, 
 he says, at the end of his life repented of three things; in the 
 first place, that he caused his own kinsman to be killed; in the 
 second, that he had nominated as Cesar the apostate Julian ; 
 but especially, in the third place, that he had ever favoured new 
 doctrines.—Orat. xxi. 26, p. 402, et seq. We cannot properly 
 accuse Gregory of flattery, though we may of partiality, on ac- 
 count of the laudatory terms in which he speaks of the then 
 deceased Constantius. To the charge of adulation towards Con- 
 stantius, Julian himself is much more open, when he extols that 
 prince, while yet living, na most unblushing way. He all but 
 speaks of him as not only the greatest of rulers, but as the greatest 
 of men. Jul. Orat. i. ὧν Constantii laudes, p. 46, and elsewhere. 
 At a later time, and especially after the death of Constantius, 
 Julian speaks of him with proportionably greater bitterness. 
 See, principally, Julian. Epist. ad Athenienses, p. 270; and his 
 Cesares, pp. 385 and 386. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 GREGORY'S WRITINGS [SECT. 1I. 
 
 \ To this act of Constantius he applies the epithet of 
 | “inhuman humanity, or barbarous kindness; and yet 
 ᾿ς Constantius must have been considered as having 
 heaped crime upon crime, if he had not thus preserved 
 the life of his near kinsman, Julian. It was, to speak 
 the truth, a high degree of party zeal, that could 
 deceive to such an extent the otherwise kind and gentle 
 disposition of Gregory. It is painful to notice such 
 features ; but they belong to the accuracy of the picture. 
 Gregory, however, apologizes on the following grounds 
 
 (as if a duty of humanity ever required an roles !) for 
 the conduct of Constantius in preserving the life of 
 Julian ; ‘he may have wished thereby to clear himself 
 from the suspicion of having perpetrated certain crimes 
 (the murder of Julian’s family) ; he might desire to set 
 Julian an example of magnanimity, as well as to give 
 more strength to his own government ; on the whole, 
 however, he certainly displayed in this proceeding more 
 kind-heartedness than wisdom.” Julian, on the con- 
 trary, is the more severely censured, for having repaid 
 God and Constantius for his preservation with such 
 black ingratitude—the former by apostasy, the latter by 
 revolt. Gregory charges Julian especially with hypo- 
 
 \ erisy, because, though already for a long time devoted 
 
 \in heart to heathenism,* he still externally appeared to 
 ᾿ Ξ 
 
 1 ᾿Απάνϑρωπος φιλανϑρωπία.---Ογαΐ. iv. 85, p. 93. In another 
 place he says: οὐ καλῶς ἐφιλανϑρωπεύσατο.---ἶν. 3, p. 79. 
 2 Orat. iv. 22, p. 87. 
 3 Orat. iv. 21, p. 87. 
 4 Gregory relates that Julian, in his youthful philosophical 
 ἢ disputations with his brother Gallus, often undertook the defence 
 ‘ of heathenism, under the pretence of taking the weaker side, for 
 ® | practice’ sake; but in reality, because he “could not even then 
 po. wholly suppress his preference for heathenism.—Orat. iv. 30, 
 paws 
 
 5 
 
CHAP. VI. | AGAINST JULIAN. 101 
 
 be a good Christian ; a reproach which, assuredly, is also 
 confirmed by the testimony of heathen writers. (See 
 Libanius, Lpitaph., p.528 ; and Ammian. Marcell., xxi. 2 ; 
 xxii. 5.) 
 
 A singular exhibition (which, indeed, is often repeated 
 in the pages of history) here demands our attention—viz. 
 how superstition prevailed on both sides—the heathen 
 as well as the christian; each party most violently 
 charging this upon the other, and insisting on its own 
 freedom from it, whilst both were alike influenced by it, 
 though under different forms. These orations of Gregory 
 furnish examples of this. Magic arts, theurgic and pro- 
 phetic pretensions, belonged to the tendencies of the 
 age, and showed themselves, under altered appearances, 
 among heathens and Christians ; even an education such 
 as Julian had received could not free him from the in- 
 fluence. Whilst Julian censures the ‘silly, wonder- 
 seeking credulity of the Christians,’ he fancies himself to 
 be in constant and immediate intercourse with gods and 
 goddesses, until he actually feels the soft contact of their 
 presence, and does not hesitate to receive the most in- 
 credible heathen legends with the most devout renuncia- 
 tion of his reasoning powers ;! and while Gregory reviles 
 the heathen superstition of his opponents, he exhibits 
 his christian superstition by relating things which 
 hardly any one will think of believing. Thus, on one 
 occasion a cross, adorned with a crown, and therefore 
 emblematic of victory, is said to have appeared in the 
 entrails of a victim to Julian, who, it is well known, 
 
 ' For instance: the fable, that a pure vestal-virgin drew onward 
 by her girdle the ship laden with the statue of the great mother 
 of the gods, which, till then, no physical force had been able to 
 put in motion. Julian. Orat. in Matrem Deor., p. 159 et seq. 
 
102 GREGORY'S WRITINGS [SECT. II. 
 
 attached very extraordinary value to prodigies, and 
 himself, as a master, practised the art of soothsaying.! 
 And again; Julian, under the guidance of his favourite 
 theurgic philosophers, once found himself in a subter- 
 ranean cave, for the purpose of exorcising ghosts; these 
 ghosts, however (so Gregory tells the story),? rushed 
 upon him with alarming violence, and Julian took 
 refuge in the sign of the cross, which he had already 
 renounced; the sign even now proved efficacious, and 
 the demons were scared away! In the Persian war, 
 Gregory makes Julian, besides his troops of soldiers, to 
 be accompanied by another troop, of demons; while his 
 admirer, Libanius, on the contrary, gives him a troop 
 of Deities? Thus an invisible world would seem to 
 have been at the command of both sides ! 
 
 We pass over the harsh and unjust reproaches which 
 Gregory brings against Julian, as if he had been given 
 to drunkenness and sensuality, and had even involved 
 himself in the black crime of causing the death of Con- 
 stantius ;° and we only remark, in conclusion (that we 
 
 1 Sozomen. v. 2. Liban. Zpitaph., p.582.... μαντέων τε τοῖς 
 ἀρίστοις χρώμενος, αὐτός δὲ ὧν οὐδαμῶν ἐν τῆ τέχνῃ δεύτερος. 
 ~~ 2. Orat. iv. 54—56, p. 101 et seq. Sozomen relates the same 
 anecdote, probably on the testimony of Gregory, v. 2. 
 
 3 Gregor. Orat. v. 7, p. 151. Liban. Monod. p. 508. The 
 latter says: ἀλλ᾽ ἔχων ἀμφ᾽ αὐτὸν τοὺς ϑεοὺς, ὀλίγην στρατιὰν 
 μέγα δυναμένην. 
 
 4 Orat.v. 22, p.175. On the other hand, Liban. δ ριίωρῖν. p. 582. 
 Ammian. Marcell. xxv. 4. Et primum ita inviolata castitate 
 enituit, ut post amissam conjugem nihil unquam venereum agi- 
 taret. 
 
 5 Orat. iv. 47, p. 90. Read, on this point, Julian’s own ex- 
 planation, Lpist. xiii. ad Julian. avuncul. p. 382. Whata dark 
 hypocrite must Julian have been, in thus mourning for the death 
 of Constantius! Liban. Epitaph. p. 561. But Julian practised 
 no such hypocrisy; and he was too noble-minded for assassination. 
 
CHAP. VI. | AGAINST JULIAN. 103 
 
 may not be unfair in these imputations against Gregory), 
 that he strongly exhorts his readers to use, not force, but 
 gentle patience, as the truly christian weapon against 
 tyrants; to learn meekness from the example of 
 Christ; not to revenge themselves, but to leave the 
 adjustment of recompence to God, while they thanked 
 God for His wonderful protection from imminent 
 danger, by the more zealous devotion of a christian 
 life! Would that he had practised in his own language 
 the patient forbearance which he so earnestly recom- 
 mends to others! Certainly, none but partizans can 
 acquit Gregory’s orations against Julian of violent 
 prejudice ; while the unprejudiced reader must wish that 
 the good cause of Christianity had been better defended— 
 that is, with more judgment and charity, and with less 
 of passion—by the orator who was so earnest in its 
 defence. His eloquence would then have been infinitely 
 more effective. | 
 
 Some exculpation, however, is due to Gregory. 
 Julian’s plan of government challenged every one who 
 was in earnest for Christianity to take the field against 
 him; and he who ventured on this contest must neces- 
 sarily come forward boldly and energetically, in order, 
 for the future also, to deter the bold hands of those who 
 might again wish to assail the Church of Christ. 
 Gregory looked upon Christianity as man’s highest 
 happiness,—the most precious palladium of the human 
 race ; how readily, then, would his wrath be kindled 
 against one who aimed at the destruction of that 
 dearest treasure. Still farther; when Gregory wrote, 
 the whole christian world was still filled with the terror 
 
 ' Orat. v. 37, p. 172 et seq. 
 
104 POSITION OF GREGORY AND HIS [ SECT. Il. 
 
 of Julian’s government; that phenomenon had but just 
 passed, like a portentous meteor, big with mischief, 
 over the christian sky. Thence it was that the excited 
 tone of that living hatred, which animated the great 
 body of Christians, expressed itself in these orations. 
 At that period of the great struggle for life or death 
 between heathenism and Christianity, a just estimate of 
 the man who, at the head of the heathen party, 
 threatened ruin to the christian religion, was not pos- 
 sible, or, at least, it would have required superhuman 
 circumspection and moderation. With less of passion, 
 Gregory would certainly have confided more in the 
 inward power of the Divine cause; he would not have 
 stirred up still more the already excited minds of men; 
 he would not have been so credulous against Julian and 
 for the Christians; he would not have adopted the 
 violent, dogmatizing tone, wherewith the remarkable 
 character of Julian, as a moral phenomenon, was so 
 frequently tossed aside, as something utterly con- 
 temptible. But who can always observe moderation, 
 when under the influence even of a righteous anger ? 
 
 (d.) The Position in which Gregory and his Family 
 stood towards Julian. 
 
 It is well known that Julian removed from court 
 almost all persons who surrounded his hated prede- 
 cessor, either as members of his council or as favourite 
 servants, and that some of them were treated with in- 
 justice and harshness.'! But the brother of Gregory had 
 
 1 Examples of this are to be found in Ammian. Marcell. xxii. 3. 
 Among others, speaking of the execution of one such officer of 
 the court—Ursulus, the comes largitionum—this writer says: 
 Ursuli vero necem ipsa mihi videtur flesse Justitia, Imperatorem 
 arguens ut ingratum. 
 
CHAP. VI. FAMILY TOWARDS JULIAN. 105 
 
 gained for himself, as the special physician to Con- 
 stantius, such high respect by his skill and good 
 conduct, that Julian so far constrained himself as to 
 retain him in the palace. Nay, the philosophic emperor 
 even determined, after having been successful, here and 
 there, in his zeal for making converts, to make an 
 attempt upon Ceesarius also, and engaged for that 
 purpose in a religious conversation ith him. Un- 
 fortunately, Gregory thought it unnecessary to com- 
 municate the nature and details of that interview; he 
 only remarks, that his brother defended his convictions 
 before the emperor with equal christian truth and 
 philosophic dexterity, and in the hearing of a large 
 assembly declared, ‘ that he was a Christian, and would 
 always remain one.’ The emperor had sufficient tolera- 
 tion to retain him, nevertheless, in his society. The 
 firmness of his court-physician, and the thought of the 
 still greater christian zeal of his brother Gregory (after- 
 wards to become so famous), only extorted from him 
 the ejaculation, ‘O happy father of two unhappy sons! 
 He had good reason to call the father happy who had 
 begotten two such sons, but no less so the sons, whose 
 religious convictions no external power could shake.! 
 Gregory, who was at that time living with his 
 parents, was not a little anxious respecting the critical 
 position of his brother in the imperial palace. He could 
 not know, as yet, how firm his brother would be in the 
 confession of his faith, but he could not but be well 
 convinced that Julian would make every effort to over- 
 come it. In this embarrassment, when he probably had 
 no intelligence from his brother, and doubtful rumours 
 concerning him might be in τῷ he wrote to him 
 
 1 Gregor. Orat. vii. 11, 12,1 13, p. 205 et seq. 
 
106 POSITION OF GREGORY AND ἨΙΒ |SECT. II. 
 
 a letter (Zpist. 17, p. 779), of which this may be given as 
 the chief purport: ‘We blush deeply, and are filled with 
 grief on your account. All Christians, friends and 
 enemies, are talking of you. At one moment they say, 
 ‘Surely the son of a bishop will contend for the faith ;’ at 
 another, ‘ He contends, but it is for honour and power ;’ 
 and again, ‘He is overcome by gold.’ How, then, can 
 the bishops exhort others to constancy in the christian 
 faith, when they cannot look with confidence to the 
 members of their own families? How can I comfort 
 our father, already weary of life? Our mother would 
 be perfectly inconsolable, were she to hear of you what 
 we have hitherto carefully concealed from her. Out of 
 regard, therefore, for yourself and for us, come to a 
 better determination. We have already—at least, for 
 any one of a frugal mind, means sufficient to live 
 respectably. But if you do not relinquish your present 
 post, there remains for you only the melancholy choice, 
 either, as being a genuine Christian, to be cast down to 
 the lowest station, or to pursue your ambitious plans, but 
 then to suffer damage in more weighty things, and ex- 
 pose yourself, if not to the fire, yet at least to the smoke.’ 
 
 Soon after this, Czsarius formed the resolution to 
 retire into the bosom of his family, and he carried it 
 into execution when Julian set out upon his Persian 
 campaign.! 
 
 During Julian’s reign, Gregory also endeavoured to 
 serve the christian cause by urgent exhortations ad- 
 dressed to distinguished individuals. Thus, among 
 others, he wrote a very flattering letter? to Candianus, a 
 relation by consanguinity, and the holder of an honour- 
 
 1 Gregor. Orat. vii. 13, p. 207. 2 Epist. 181, p. 891 et seq. 
 
CHAP. VI.| FAMILY TOWARDS JULIAN. 107 
 
 able appointment, but who professed the heathen 
 religion, not by way of homage to the fashion of the 
 day, but in honest sincerity. The letter ends thus :— 
 ‘In return for all your friendship, I wish you not any 
 increase of your power and your reputation, but only the 
 one greatest thing of all,—that you would at length listen 
 to us and God, that you might stand on the side of the 
 persecuted, and not of the persecutors; for the benefit 
 of the one passes away with the time, but the other 
 imparts immortal happiness.’ 
 
 The courageous bearing of Gregory’s aged father 
 during the Julian persecution is also remarkable. The 
 following particulars relating thereto have been pre- 
 served. Julian, to whom it must have been a great 
 object to turn many a christian church into a temple for 
 the gods, made with this view an experiment at Nazi- . 
 anzum. The imperial prefect of the province marched 
 with a company of archers into the city, and demanded 
 that the church should be given up to him.' His 
 numerous retinue indicated an appeal to force. The 
 bishop, however, who knew that he could reckon on the 
 zealous support of the christian population, which was 
 devoted to him, boldly resisted the demand; and the 
 prefect found it advisable to withdraw, happy to escape 
 thence without loss or damage.” 
 
 The following incident is still more important.? In 
 
 1 Σημεῖον, ot re τοξόται, καὶ ὁ τούτων στρατηγὸς, οὕς ἑπῆγεν 
 ἐκεῖνος, τοῖς ἱεροῖς οἴκοις ἡμῶν, ὡς ἢ παραληψόμενος, ἢ κατασ- 
 τρεψύμενος. 
 
 ? Gregor. Orat. xviii. 22, p. 353, Gregory boasts of his father 
 on this occasion, that he not only encouraged his people to stand 
 firm in those bad days by word and deed, but also, to the ruin of 
 his health, continued his prayers for the general welfare of the 
 church, through whole nights. 
 
 3 Gregor. Orat. xviii. 34, p. 355. 
 
108 POSITION OF GREGORY. [SECT. II. 
 
 the year of our Lord 362, Eusebius, who held an 
 imperial appointment, was, by means of a tumultuous 
 popular election, named bishop in the chief city of 
 Cappadocia. The assembled bishops of the province 
 were compelled, against their wishes, to ratify the choice 
 and consecrate him, but afterwards declared the whole 
 proceeding invalid. Julian also opposed the choice, 
 because he was sorry to lose a valuable public officer. 
 The aged Gregory, although presiding over a small and 
 unimportant bishopric, undertook to defend the choice of 
 the people against the objections of the bishops! and the 
 displeasure of the emperor. When the imperial deputy 
 had summoned before him the bishops who had con- 
 secrated Eusebius, in order to settle the business agree- 
 ably to the wish of the emperor, the Bishop Gregory 
 replied to him as follows :—‘ Most noble governor,? in all 
 that we have done we have but one Judge and King, 
 and his authority is now assailed. He will also take 
 cognizance of this episcopal consecration, which we have 
 taken in hand in a legal manner, and well-pleasing to 
 Him. If you are pleased to do us violence in any 
 
 1 Gregory Nazianzen thus gives his opinion on the matter: 
 ‘The consecration was certainly compulsory, and therefore, as to 
 the form, defective ; but the choice proceeded from the devout 
 sense of the people, and, in point of fact, fell upon a worthy man. 
 If it were, however, opposed to the convictions of the bishops, 
 they ought to have protested against it at the decisive moment, 
 and even have resisted to the utmost, and not afterwards strive 
 against it, and so increase the troubles of the Church in such dan- 
 gerous times. Do they ask for indulgent consideration on the 
 ground that they yielded to the pressure of circumstances ’—this, 
 surely, should much more be shown to Eusebius, who also was 
 compelled to occupy the episcopal seat.’ Ovrat. xviii. 33, p. 354. 
 
 2°O κράτιστε ἡγεμών,---ἃβ Felix and Festus are addressed ; see 
 Acts, xxiii. 26; xxiv. 3; xxvi. 25 ; and also Theophilus, to whom 
 St. Luke dedicates his writings. St. Luke, i. 3. 
 
 a ae 
 
CHAP. VII. | GREGORY AS PEACE-MAKER. 109 
 
 other matter, you will find no difficulty; but this pri- 
 vilege no man can forbid us, to defend the propriety and 
 Justice of our proceeding. You cannot prohibit it by 
 any law; and it ill becomes you in any manner to 
 trouble yourself with our concerns.’ The deputy was 
 overcome by this manly address of the bishop; the 
 emperor gave way; and the citizens of Caesarea saw 
 themselves not only delivered from the danger which 
 the imperial displeasure had threatened, but also gratified 
 by the fulfilment of their wishes. 
 
 —— 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GREGORY AGAIN AS PEACE-MAKER. 
 
 We must pause awhile at Czesarea, where we find our 
 Gregory again undertaking the business of a mediator. 
 His bosom friend Basil had just then returned from 
 the scene of his monastic life in Pontus, to Ceesarea, his 
 native city; and, as had before happened to Gregory, 
 was ordained priest, against his will, by the recently- 
 elected bishop, Eusebius (this was probably in a.p. 363 
 or 364). This prelate, who, from the nature of his 
 previous course of life, could not be very conversant 
 with theological studies, wished to have about him a 
 thoroughly-educated presbyter, who was well furnished 
 for controversy. Such a person Basil had already shown 
 himself by several of his writings. Whether the newly- 
 ordained presbyter caused the bishop occasionally to 
 feel his superiority in thinking and in speaking, or 
 whether some other unpleasantness arose between them, 
 certainly their good understanding did not last long; 
 
110 GREGORY AS PEACE-MAKER. [SECT. Il. 
 
 and Eusebius, went so far,! under the influence of passion, 
 as again violently to take away from the same person 
 the priestly office which he had violently foreed upon 
 him. A hazardous proceeding! since the powerful and 
 (when it was worth their while) pugnacious party of the 
 ‘monks were devoted, with all their energies, to Basil, 
 the great promoter of monachism. A serious division 
 in the community was almost unavoidable, had not 
 Basil generously preferred a voluntary exile? in Pontus 
 
 1 Gregory speaks generally in high terms of Eusebius, and de- 
 scribes him as a pious man, and (especially in the persecution by 
 Valens) very firm and courageous, He goes into detail on occa- 
 sion of the disagreement between Eusebius and Basil ; he throws 
 the blame, however, upon the former, and remarks, that ‘ some- 
 thing common to man befel him in that affair’: ἅπτεται γὰρ οὐ 
 τῶν πολλῶν μονόν, ἀλλὰ Kai THY ἀρίστων ὁ MGpoc.—Orat. xliii. 
 28, p. 792 et seq. 
 
 2 Orat. xliii. 29, p. 798. Gregory himself had urgently coun- 
 selled his friend to take this step—viz. to withdraw into retire- 
 ment, and had even followed him thither: καὶ ἄμα συμβούλοις 
 ἡμῖν περὶ τούτου χρησάμενος Kai παραινέταις γνησίοις, φυγὰς 
 ἐνθένδε συν ἡμῖν πρὸς τὸν Πόντον μεταχωρεῖ, καὶ τοῖς ἐκεῖσε 
 φροντιστηρίοις ἐπιστατεῖ. By the way, the word φροντιστήριον 
 is (as it is well known) employed by Aristophanes (Vud., 1. 94— 
 ψυχῶν σοφῶν τοῦτ᾽ ἐστὶ φροντιστήριον) in a playful manner in 
 reference to the house or school of Socrates. Compare the 
 expositors thereon, as collected by Beck, vol. ii. p. 74 et seq. 
 Hesychius: φροντιστήριον. διατριβὴ Kai οἰκημα Σωκράτους, καὶ 
 τὸ σχολεῖον. In general, φροντιστήριον denotes a place where 
 thought and meditation are strenuously exercised. As the chris- 
 tian monks were often designated philosophers, their place of 
 residence might also (though often unsuitably enough) be named 
 houses or schools of philosophy. Thence, Suidas (tom. iii. p. 634) 
 says: φροντιστήριον. δὶατριβὴ, ἢ μοναστήριον" ὁπερ οἱ ᾽Αττικοι 
 σεμνεῖον καλοῦσι. In this sense Gregory also uses the word 
 φροντιστήριον in the above-quoted passage ; and he, who so 
 readily represented the monks as philosophers, was probably the 
 first writer who so applied it. Some further notices occur in 
 Suicer. Thes. Hecles., tom. ii. p. 1464. Gregorius Presbyter, in his 
 Life of Greg. Naz., also calls an hospital for the sick, φροντιστήριον 
 ἀσϑενῶν, πτωχῶν. 
 
 —— 
 
 a 
 
CHAP. VII.| GREGORY AS PEACE-MAKER. 111 
 
 to a probably easy triumph over the bishop, who, from 
 the nature of his election, did not stand on very firm 
 footing. Gregory accompanied his friend into retire- 
 ment, but appears to have returned soon to Nazianzum 
 to the support of his aged father.! 
 
 From Nazianzum, also, Gregory could exert himself 
 more effectually for the reconciliation of his friend Basil 
 with the exasperated Bishop of Ceesarea; and amid the 
 unfavourable circumstances of the time, a proper occasion 
 happily soon presented itself for the attempt. Just at 
 this time (that is to say, A.D. 364) danger seemed to 
 threaten the orthodox party, when, after the short 
 reign of Jovian, Valens, a favourer of Arianism, suc- 
 ceeded to the imperial throne. In the critical circum- 
 stances in which the orthodox bishops were placed by 
 the bias of the new government, an able fellow-combatant 
 must have been welcome to Eusebius. Such an one he 
 had driven from him in the person of Basil. He now 
 applied to Gregory, with the wish that he would come 
 to Cesarea and assist in their councils.2 Gregory 
 answered the bishop respectfully, but with a considerable 
 degree of frankness (/pist. xx. p. 783), that he certainly 
 felt greatly honoured by the invitation, but, notwith- 
 standing this, he could not but consider the manner in 
 
 1 It is possible, though to me, at least, not probable, that on 
 this occasion also Gregory acted as a peace-maker in his native 
 city ; since the disagreement between his father and the monks 
 (on account of his subscription to the Confession of Rimini) might 
 have continued till now. To prevent, however, the fragmentary 
 dissevering of the narrative, that which possibly belongs to this 
 point of time has already been touched upon, in the account of 
 that dissension.—See above, at p. 61 et seq. 
 
 ? The words of Gregory (£pist. 20, p. 783) directly point to 
 this: ἐγὼ χαίρω ὑπὸ σοῦ τιμώμενος --καὶ καλούμενος ἐπί τε 
 συλλόγους καὶ συνόδους πνευματικούς. 
 
119 GREGORY AS PEACE-MAKER. [SECT. Ti) 
 
 which Eusebius had behaved, and still behaved, towards 
 Basil, was unjust. ‘While you honour me,’ (he says 
 among other things) ‘but treat him with contempt, you 
 appear to me like a man who with one hand caresses 
 the head, with the other inflicts a blow on the cheek of 
 one and the same person; or who undermines the 
 foundations of a house, and, at the same time, paints the 
 walls and decorates the outside. If, therefore, I have 
 any influence with you, you will prove it by being recon- 
 ciled to Basil; and I consider it but reasonable that you 
 should concede this to me. If you treat him with 
 respect, you will experience the same from him.’ This 
 address, in which certainly the submissive respect due 
 to the metropolitan bishop is overpowered by affection 
 for his friend, by no means produced any favourable 
 impression upon Eusebius. He saw in it only the 
 refractory arrogance of a young presbyter, and expressed 
 himself to that effect in his reply to Gregory. He, in his 
 turn, assured the bishop (/pist. 169, p. 877) ‘that he 
 had intended to address him, not in a reproachful, but 
 in a spiritual and philosophic manner ;! that the higher 
 position of the bishop does not take away the right of 
 being open and candid with him; on the contrary, it 
 would be worthy of a generous-minded person to listen 
 with satisfaction rather to the free words of a friend, 
 than to the flattery of an enemy. He hoped, therefore, 
 he would again adopt a gentler bearing.’ 
 
 This epistle, and especially the general distress of the 
 orthodox Church under the Emperor Valens, appear to 
 have succeeded better in softening, or at least in altering 
 
 1 Οὐκ ὑβριστικῶς, ἀλλὰ πνευματικῶς TE Kai φιλοσόφως. The 
 last of these words may perhaps mean, ‘as it is allowed and is 
 suitable to a christian philosopher, or an ascetic.’ 
 
] 
 
 CHAP. vil. | GREGORY AS PEACE-MAKER. "5 
 
 the bishop’s tone of mind. This is evident from a letter, 
 written somewhat later by Gregory, and which ends 
 with these words:—‘ Well, then, if it is agreeable to 
 you, I will come and pray with you, contend with you, 
 serve with you, and will stimulate you for the combat 
 by my acclamation, as their youthful partizans do to 
 encourage the combatants in the games.’! Gregory ex- 
 presses himself still more plainly concerning the altered 
 temper of Eusebius, in an epistle to Basil (Zpist. 19, 
 p. 782), wherein he informs his friend that he would 
 soon receive a conciliatory letter from his now friendly- 
 minded bishop; but exhorts him, at the same time, to 
 be beforehand with the bishop, and to go beyond his 
 concession by a true generosity. With this view, he 
 proposes to Basil that they should go together to 
 Ceesarea, and, with united energies, contend against the 
 false doctrines which were pressing in on all sides. In 
 fact, Basil returned to Ceesarea in the year 365. 
 
 From that period, Basil continued on the most 
 friendly understanding with his bishop; he became his 
 councillor, his stay, his right hand, in many respects 
 even his teacher; he assisted him in all ways, and, 
 whilst he thus made his services indispensable to him, 
 he governed him also—and through the bishop, at the 
 same time, governed the community. Gregory himself 
 gives us very plainly to understand that, in those last 
 years of his life (from 365 to 370), Eusebius was bishop 
 only in name—Basil in fact.? Thus their mutual rela- 
 
 1 Epist. 170, p. 878. These last words are very striking, and 
 full of meaning in the original: καὶ ὑπηρετησόμενοι, καὶ ὡς 
 ἀϑλητὴν ἄριστον κελευσταὶ παῖδες, ταῖς ὑποφωνήσεσιν ὑπα- 
 λείψαντες. 
 
 2 Gregory’s excellent sketch is worth reading (Orat. xliii. 33, 
 p- 796), where, among other things, he says of Basil: ‘He 
 
 I 
 
114 BASIL ELECTED [SECT. II. 
 
 tions worked well together, since Eusebius, still some- 
 what worldly-minded, and not properly educated for an 
 ecclesiastical office, required an able clerical aid. But 
 Basil was not only most worthy of high authority in 
 the Church, but was also (as we shall see in the result) 
 not averse from the exercise of that authority. He 
 distinguished himself as a presbyter during a famine, 
 when, both by word and deed, he showed himself a 
 pattern for all the rich, and a blessing to the poor. (See 
 Orat. xliii. 34, p. 797; and 63, p. 817). But still 
 more (at least it was considered by the majority as the 
 most weighty) did his steady efforts in defence of the 
 Nicene Creed, during the Arian government of Valens, 
 command admiration; so that, on the occasion of a 
 vacancy in the Bishopric of Cesarea, it was quite 
 natural to regard him above all competitors in the 
 choice of a successor. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 BASIL ELECTED BISHOP OF CHSAREA: CONDUCT OF THE ELDER 
 AND OF THE YOUNGER GREGORY ON THAT OCCASION. 
 
 THis vacancy in the Bishopric of Cesarea, caused by 
 the death of Eusebius, took place a.p. 370. Basilius 
 
 exercised the chief power in the Church when he held only the 
 second rank ; and while he did all in a spirit of kindness, he 
 gained universal respect and authority. The harmony, and at 
 the same time the complicity, in this exercise of authority was 
 something wonderful: πλοκὴ τοῦ δύνασϑαι. The one led the 
 people—the other, the leader. He was, in a measure, a lion- 
 keeper (λεοντοκόμος), while by his tact he softened the temper of 
 his superior. For, indeed, the latter required it, since he had 
 not long been raised to the episcopal chair, and still breathed 
 something of the air of the world.’ 
 
CHAP. Vit. | BISHOP OF CASAREA. 115 
 
 might well aspire to the primacy, since, when he was not 
 far advanced in years, (he was at that time 41,) it was 
 principally he, in concert with Gregory, who, if he had 
 not prevented, yet had greatly checked the introduction 
 of Arianism into his fatherland. He had also dis- 
 tinguished himself by his knowledge and pious zeal 
 among the whole body of the clergy. It was, how- 
 ever, exactly these prominent qualities of Basil that 
 rekindled envy against him. The power he had 
 already exercised had been a thorn in the eyes of many ; 
 and when the election came on he met with violent 
 opponents.! Basil, nevertheless, obtained his object ; 
 both the Gregorys, father and son, having especially 
 exerted themselves for him—in characteristically different 
 ways indeed, as we shall presently see. 
 
 After the death of Eusebius, Basil wrote an epistle? 
 to Gregory, wherein he expresses the most ardent desire 
 to see his friend, and thus proceeds :—‘ On the death 
 of Eusebius, no little fear has fallen upon me lest they, 
 who for some time past have lain in wait against our 
 Metropolitan Church, in order to fill it with the weeds of 
 heresy, should take advantage of the present moment, 
 and, by their vile doctrines, root up again the germs of 
 piety that have been sown with much pains in the souls 
 of the people, and sow the seeds of dissension, as they 
 have already actually done in many Churches. But now, 
 since letters have come to me from the clergy, request- 
 ing that I would not be inactive at this juncture, I was 
 reminded (as I glanced around in thought upon my 
 means of help) of your affection, of your genuine faith, 
 
 ' Greg. Orat. xviii. 35, p. 356. 
 ? It is given among the letters of Gregory, p. 836. 
 
 I 2 
 
110 BASIL ELECTED [SECT. II. 
 
 and the zeal which you always showed for the Church 
 of God. I have therefore sent my fellow-labourer, 
 Eustathius, for the purpose of exhorting you, a man so 
 esteemed, to take part personally in the contest for the 
 Churches, to gladden my age by your presence, to pre- 
 serve for this excellent Church its reputation for piety 
 inviolate, and to help, with me, to give that flock a 
 shepherd after the Lord’s own heart—one who would be 
 able to guide his people aright. J have m my eye a 
 man whom you also know well ; of we could but succeed 
 in getting him, we might dare to be of good courage 
 before God, and should bestow a great blessing upon the 
 people.” 
 
 It is not improbable that Basil had Gregory himself 
 in his thoughts when he wrote these last words, and 
 only chose to indicate it ambiguously, that he might the 
 more certainly come to Cesarea. However that might 
 be, Gregory went not. We are rather obliged to con- 
 clude, from one of Gregory’s letters, that Basil, on 
 seeing the hesitation of his friend, wrote to him re- 
 peatedly ; and, in order to stimulate him to the journey 
 without gainsay, represented to him, that he would find 
 him dangerously sick, and cherishing a longing desire 
 to see him once more. Deeply affected, Gregory pre- 
 pared himself for the journey. His lively imagination 
 already pictured to him the form of his dying friend, 
 and consoled him by suggesting monumental inscrip- 
 tions in honour of the deceased. How astonished must 
 he have been on hearing, soon after, that Basil was by 
 no means seriously unwell! Notwithstanding all his 
 friendly regard, as it were, a flash of suspicion shot 
 through the mind of Gregory, that Basil wished to decoy 
 him to Czesarea by a false pretence, in order that his 
 
 cal "ἀνά... ee 4 
 
CHAP. VIII. | BISHOP OF CASAREA. 117 
 
 election to the bishopric might be assisted by the 
 zealous assistance of his friend. He therefore gave up 
 all thought of the journey, and wrote his friend a letter! 
 full of strong reproofs, in which he charged him plainly 
 with dishonesty and folly ; and he reminds him that he, 
 Gregory, could not lawfully have taken part in the 
 choice of a bishop. This epistle seems to have been too 
 passionately written, since it is hardly credible that 
 Basil should have entirely feigned an illness. It is pro- 
 bable, however, that he gave an exaggerated description 
 of his almost always sickly condition. But was it really 
 from ambitious views!—certainly the suspicion, which 
 even his friend entertained, attaches to him. 
 
 Gregory, in thus withholding himself from all inter- 
 ference in the election of the bishop, followed the law of 
 church order, of decorum, and of prudence. He even 
 advised Basil to retire from the tumultuary excitement 
 of the metropolis at the decisive moment. Meanwhile, 
 however, he exerted himself indirectly for Basil, by the 
 eloquent letters which he wrote in the name of his father 
 to the clergy and laity of Ceesarea.? The elder Gregory, 
 as a bishop of the province, was justly entitled to take 
 a part in the choice of the metropolitan, but he felt him- 
 self too weak, from sickness and the infirmities of old 
 age, to attend in person at the place of election. As, 
 however, he felt interested for Basil in a high degree, 
 he caused his voice and wishes to be heard, through his 
 son, in two public missives. In the one? he says to the 
 inhabitants of Ceesarea—‘ If I am not able, overcome as 
 I am by sickness, to attend at the election, yet will I 
 
 1 Epist. 21, p. 784, with which compare Orat. xliii. 39, p. 800. 
 2 Greg. Hpist. 22, 23, pp. 785, 786. 
 3 Fpist. 22, al. 18, p. 785. 
 
118 CONDUCT OF THE ELDER [ SECT. ΤΙ. 
 
 contribute thereto as much as at this distance is prac- 
 ticable. I am well satisfied that there are others, also, 
 who are worthy to preside over a Church so distinguished, 
 and so admirably managed from the first; but there is 
 one whom I must prefer to all others, one who is 
 already so highly esteemed by yourselves, so beloved of 
 God—our son, the presbyter Basilius, a man (I call God 
 to witness) of unspotted life and sound doctrine ; who, 
 either alone of all the candidates, or at least very pre- 
 eminently, is in both respects qualified to stand firm 
 against the tendencies of the present time, and to con- 
 tend against the prevailing false doctrines. I write this 
 to the clergy, to the monks, and to those who are 
 invested with high dignities, and members of the 
 council, as well as to all the people.’ In the other 
 epistle,! addressed to the electing bishops, and of similar 
 contents, he, however, remarks that, at their urgent 
 request, he would even come to Cesarea, especially if 
 he might presume to hope that their choice also would 
 fall upon Basil. Having learnt soon after that, for the 
 regular election of a bishop, the personal attendance 
 of one more bishop was required, the old man actually 
 tore himself from his sick-bed, and caused himself, in 
 spite of his half-dead body, to be conveyed to Ceesarea.? 
 He thereby very considerably promoted the elevation of 
 Basil to the episcopate, and then returned to Nazianzum, 
 strengthened by the effects of the journey, and the grati- 
 fication of having succeeded in his object. When he 
 set out from home, it was necessary to raise him, like a 
 corpse, into the carriage; but when he came back, he 
 
 1 Fpist. 23, al. 19, p. 786. 
 2 Greg. Orat. xviii. 36, p. 357 ; Orat. xliii. 37, p. 799. 
 
CHAP. VIII.] AND YOUNGER GREGORY. 119 
 
 sat upright, with cheerful eye, full of renovated, youthful 
 strength. It is not, however, to be denied that, in the 
 whole proceeding, the son conducted himself more cor- 
 rectly and prudently than the somewhat too-vehement, 
 over-zealous father. 
 
 A certain degree of mistrust had already, during 
 Basil’s election, insinuated itself between the hitherto- 
 devoted friends. Basil might imagine that his friend 
 had not done everything for the promoting of his eleva- 
 tion, which the duty of friendship seemed to require ; and 
 Gregory suspected that he had been dishonestly treated 
 by Basil. After Basil’s election, Gregory wrote him a 
 congratulatory letter'—a friendly letter certainly, but 
 somewhat cool, compared with former letters. He therein 
 informs the newly-elected bishop, that he would not 
 visit him as yet, that he might not seem to obtrude him- 
 self upon him, and so provoke envy, (both of them 
 having already to put up with envy and enemies enough,) 
 and also least it should be thought that Basil intended 
 to assemble all his friends and adherents about him.? 
 When, however, Gregory soon after heard that Basil 
 was already involved in difficulties and disputes, (pro- 
 bably with the temporal authorities,* who acted agreeably 
 to the wishes of the Arian emperor,) he again wrote to 
 him with the heartiness of old times, and promised him 
 
 J Epist. 24, al. 25, Ρ. 787. 
 
 ® Gregory expresses himself in pretty much the same terms on 
 this occasion, in Orat. xliii. 39, p. 801. 
 
 3 The opponents with whom Basil had to do were designated 
 as κρατοῦντες, Men in authority. Under that term probably is 
 to be understood, generally, the dominant Arian party. Gregory 
 says: πυνϑάνομαί σε---πράγματα ἔχειν ἀπό τινος σοφιστικῆς TOY 
 κροτούντων καὶ συνήϑους περιεργίας" καὶ ϑαυμαστὸν οὐδέν" ουδὲ 
 γὰρ ἠγνόουν τὸν φθονον, kK. τ. Xr. 
 
120 CONDUCT OF THE ELDER [SECT. IT. 
 
 an early visit, in order either to give him counsel and 
 consolation, or at least to be a sympathizing witness of 
 his patience and courageous efforts. ! 
 
 Nevertheless, the good understanding between them 
 was not thereby fully re-established ; rather, an occasion 
 now first arose for a still more painful interruption of 
 it. The province of Cappadocia had hitherto formed a 
 whole, as well in civil as in ecclesiastical relations; the 
 chief civil officer was, ordinarily, the imperial deputy, 
 residing in Ceesarea; the first ecclesiastic, the bishop of 
 Ceesarea. About this time the Emperor Valens divided 
 Cappadocia into two provinces, one of which had Ceesarea, 
 and the other Tyana, for its chief city.2— Anthimus, the 
 bishop of Tyana, a worldly-minded, ambitious man, laid 
 claim to the same ecclesiastical dignity as was granted 
 
 1 Epist. 25, al. 26, p. 788. 
 
 ? Cappadocia had hitherto formed one province, which again, 
 according to an ancient distribution, originating with the Cappa- 
 docian kings, was subdivided into six strategies, or military 
 governments. Valens, from financial motives (A.D. 371), divided 
 the country into two provinces, Cappadocia Prima et Secunda. As 
 to the strategies, we hear no more of them, Czsarea continued 
 the chief city of the First Cappadocia; the capital of the Second 
 became Tyana, the largest Cappadocian city next to Czesarea, and 
 celebrated as the birth-place of the thaumaturge, Apollonius. 
 The old city of Caesarea (once distinguished, under the name of 
 Mazaka, as the seat of government under the Cappadocian kings, 
 and still, even now, the most respectable city of the country, under 
 the name of Kaiserie) must naturally have suffered severely in 
 having ceased to be the capital of the whole province. The 
 inhabitants therefore, though without success, applied to the 
 government through their bishop, Basil, to put a stop to this 
 separation. Basil. M. Epist., 74, 75, 76, p. 168 et seq. As far as 
 concerns the ecclesiastical division, Basil might with more reason 
 have appealed to the hitherto-existing constitution of the Cappa- 
 docian Church, with the view of continuing in the ecclesiastical 
 possession of the whole province; since it was by no means 
 necessary that every political metropolis should also become an 
 ecclesiastical one. 
 
 a ee νὸ - 
 
 b Fianna 
 
CHAP. VIII. | AND YOUNGER GREGORY. 191 
 
 to Ceesarea, and declared himself to be the legitimate 
 Metropolitan of the Second Cappadocia. Basil, the 
 bishop of Czesarea, on the other hand, would not give 
 up aught of his ancient rights, and insisted that the civil 
 division of the province could not properly be applied to 
 ecclesiastical relations. (Greg. Orat. xliii. 58, p. 813.) 
 During the melancholy contentions! about this point, 
 (which occasionally degenerated, on the part of Anthi- 
 
 1 It might be presumed that, in these disputes between An- 
 thimus and Basil, Arianism and Catholicism also came into play. 
 But it is a question, first of all, whether Anthimus was an Arian. 
 And, singularly enough, he is with the same confidence called an 
 Arian by Le Clere (Bibl. Univers. t. xviii. p. 60), as he is described 
 as a Catholic by Baronius (Acta Sanctor. Maj., t. ii. p. 394.) Qui 
 (Anthimus) licet se Catholicum esse profiteretur, tamen nullius 
 frugi vir erat. Neither of these learned men adduces any grounds 
 for his opinion. We must therefore endeavour to deduce a right 
 conclusion from Gregory’s expressions. If we consider, then, for 
 this purpose, the principal passage in Greg. Orat. xliii. 58, 
 pp. 813, 814, we might, at first sight, suppose it favoured Le 
 Clere’s opinion ; since Gregory relates, that many bishops went 
 over from Basil to Anthimus because they did not harmonize in 
 their convictions with the former (τῷ τῆς πίστεως λόγῳ); and 
 Anthimus himself, on the occasion of his withholding certain 
 revenues belonging to Basil, observed: ‘we ought not to pay 
 tribute to heretics (μὴ χρῆναι δασμοφορεῖν κακοδόξοις). But we 
 must not overlook—1st, that it is nowhere explained why An- 
 thimus and his party considered Basil heterodox ; 2ndly, may it 
 not probably have been, because (particularly in relation to the 
 dogma of the Holy Ghost) he did not seem to them perfectly and 
 logically of Nicene orthodoxy? To their hyper-orthodoxy Basil 
 might not have been orthodox enough (compare Gregor. Naz. 
 Lpist. 26, pp. 788, 789) ; 3rdly, Gregory himself affirms, that the 
 dogma and the care for the salvation of the soul served only for a 
 pretext, while the real motives of the dispute on the side of 
 Anthimus had been ambition and avarice ; 4thly, had Anthimus 
 been opposed to Basil because he (Anthimus) was an Arian, 
 Gregory would hardly have omitted to mention this expressly, 
 since he never wholly passes over, in his autobiography, anything 
 that relates to the Arian contest ; 5thly, some years later, after 
 the settling of these ecclesiastical differences, Basil again entered 
 into friendly relations with Anthimus (Basil. M. Zpist. 210, 
 p- 316), which he never would have done with an Arian ;—all 
 
190 GREGORY BECOMES [ SECT. Il. 
 
 mus,! into acts of violence and robbery,) Basil, in order 
 to assert by the act his metropolitan claim, and to 
 strengthen his party, instituted several new bishoprics 
 in the smaller cities of Cappadocia; among others, in the 
 little town of Sasima, situated between Nazianzum and 
 Tyana, thirty-two miles from the former place, not quite 
 so far from the latter, and properly belonging to the pro- 
 vince of Tyana. This new bishopric now actually became 
 a stone of offence in its influence on the friendship of 
 Basil and Gregory. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 GREGORY BECOMES BISHOP OF SASIMA ; AND AFTERWARDS 
 COADJUTOR TO HIS FATHER AT NAZIANZUM. 
 
 Bastu had fifty bishops* under him; to one of these 
 of the lowest pretensions, or to some more unimportant 
 presbyter, he might have transferred the new bishopric ;? 
 
 these considerations make it highly probable to me that Anthimus 
 was not an Arian. 
 
 1 Greg. Epist. 31, al. 22, p. 796, where it would seem that the 
 language is not to be taken as a mere metaphor, when Gregory 
 denominates Anthimus as ᾿Αρήϊος (warlike), and assures him that 
 ‘he, for his part, had no desire to carry weapons, or wage war.’ 
 To this he adds: ἡμῖν δὲ ἀντὶ πάντων δοῦναι τὴν ἡσυχίαν. τί 
 γὰρ δεῖ μάχεσϑαι περὶ γαλαϑηνῶν, καὶ ὀρνίϑων, καὶ τοῦτο ἀλλο- 
 τρίων᾽ ὡς δῆτα περὶ ψυχῶν καὶ κανόνων ; Gregory (Orat. xliii. 58, 
 Ῥ. 814) relates a decided case were Anthimus (under the pretence 
 that we ought to pay no tributes to heretics) sequestrated the 
 revenues of Basil, which had been brought to Czsarea through the 
 province of Tyana, on their way from the mountain-range of 
 Taurus ; and that, at the same time, he took possession by force 
 and robbery of the mule belonging to Basil. 
 
 * In the German, ‘ Landbischofe’-—country or rural bishops, 
 like the χωρεπίσκοπος, subsequently mentioned.—Translator. 
 
 2 Greg. Carm. de Vit. sua, line 437: 
 
 Τούτοις (sc. Σασίμοις) μ᾽ ὁ πεντήκοντα χωρεπισκόποις 
 Στενοῦμενος δεδωκε... -. 
 
 —. ee 
 
 DL ng 
 
 ἈΠ 
 
CHAP. IX. | BISHOP OF SASIMA. 123 
 
 for the appointment was of a kind which seemed suited to 
 an individual who could not possibly have any claims or 
 expectations elsewhere. Independent of the fact, that 
 the little town was a bone of contention between the two 
 chief bishops of Cappadocia, it was most disagreeably 
 situated, in a melancholy, arid, waterless tract of country. 
 In this unproductive neighbourhood, men breathed every- 
 where only dust. Three high roads here crossed each 
 other, a circumstance which brought thither troops of 
 wagegoners and soldiers, and, consequently, incessant noise 
 and quarrelling.! Of the inhabitants of this little town 
 very few were, properly speaking, domiciled there; the 
 greatest number, as waggoners and the like, led a 
 
 1 Such is the picture given us by Gregory Nazianzen himself, 
 Carm. de Vita sua, 1. 489, 446, pp. 7, 8; and by Gregory 
 Presbyter, in Vita Gregor. Naz. p. 139, of the situation and cir- 
 cumstances of Sasima. The former says: 
 
 Σταῦμὸς τὶς ἔστιν ἐν μέση λεωφόρῳ 
 
 Τῆς καππαδοκῶν, ὃς σχίζετ᾽ εἰς τρισσὴν ὁδόν. 
 
 "Avudpoc, ἄχλους, οὐ δόλως ἐλεύϑερος, (ὀυδ᾽ ὁλῶς 1 Trans.) 
 
 Δεινῶς ἀπευκτὸν καὶ στενὸν κωμύδριον. 
 
 Κόνις τὰ πάντα, καὶ ψόφοι, συν Gopact, 
 
 Θρῆνοι, στεναγμοὶ, πράκτορες, στρέβλαι, πέδαι, 
 
 Λαὸς δ᾽ ὅσοι ἕένοι τε καὶ πλανὼμενοι. 
 
 Αὕτη Σασίμων τῶν ἐμῶν ἐκκλησία. 
 Gregory Presbyter thus describes Sasima: πρὸς δὲ καὶ τὸ χωρίον, 
 τὰ Σάσιμα λέγω, ἦν αὐτῷ ἀνεπιτήδειον, οἷα ζάλης τε καὶ ἀστικῶν 
 ϑορύβων πεπληρωμένον" λεωφόρου yao βάσιλικῆς μέσον κείμενον 
 καὶ τοῦ δημοσίου δρόμου ἔχον τὰ ἱπποστάσια δονεῖται τοῖς 
 παροῦσι, πολλὴν μὲν ἀνίαν φέρον τοῖς ἡσυχίοις, ἀπόλαυσιν δὲ ἢ 
 ὠφέλειαν. οὐδὲ τὴν τυχοῦσαν σχεδὸν παρεχόμενον. Sasima was 
 twenty-four miles, or a moderate day’s journey, from Nazianzum ; 
 thirty-two from Tyana, or a very long day’s journey.—ZJtiner. 
 Antonini, p. 144; Itinerar. Hieros., p. 577. It was about the 
 same distance from Ceesarea, Paul Lucas, an European traveller, 
 at the beginning of the eighteenth century, thinks that the 
 modern city of Ingesu (Inschesu)—a city with a respectable 
 citadel, and some important remains of antiquity—occupies the 
 site of the ancient Sasima. See Mannert’s Geogr. of the Greeks 
 and Romans, vol, vi. 2nd part, pp. 269, 270. 
 
124 GREGORY BECOMES | SECT. ΤΙΣ 
 
 wandering sort of life. They would therefore probably 
 be persons on whom spiritual labourers could not hope 
 to make much impression. And, lastly (as Gregory 
 does not omit to mention),! the revenues of this wretched 
 place were so limited, that a bishop might not always 
 have been in a condition to exercise the virtues of 
 benevolence and hospitality, so essential to his character. 
 
 Now in this melancholy place Basil wished to place 
 his friend Gregory, though he had always declined to 
 accept any ecclesiastical office,? and at all events might 
 have been thought worthy (according to ordinary judg- 
 ment) of a more respectable bishopric. Could Basil, 
 after having reached the summit of spiritual power 
 in his native city, have intended, in this offer, to mortify 
 a little the friend of his youth, for not having supported 
 him, according to his wishes, at the critical moment of 
 the episcopal election? Gregory certainly so took it. 
 He saw in this conduct of Basil unfriendly pride and 
 spiritual arrogance,? and could not for a long time 
 entirely forgive him, for obtruding upon him this in- 
 significant bishopric.4 The new Metropolitan of Czesarea 
 had, however, other, though not very reasonable motives 
 for forcing his friend, above all others, into this appoint- 
 
 1 Carm. de Vit. sua, 1. 468, p. 8. 
 
 ® Basil, on his first meeting with his friend Gregory as Bishop 
 of Cesarea, had offered him the first place among his presbyters 
 -- τὴν Tov πρεσβυτέρων προτίμησιν, but Gregory had declined it. 
 —Gregor. Orat. xliii. 39, p. 801. 
 
 3 Greg. Epist. 31, al. 22, p. 795. He says, among other things, 
 to Basil: ‘I see the motive of this proceeding, in your transferring 
 me to the episcopal chair, which has at once placed you above 
 me. He then remarks that Basil’s conduct was generally and 
 severely censured. Some strong expressions on the part of 
 Gregory on this point occur in Epist. 33, al. 24, p. 797. 
 
 * Gregor. Carm. de Vit. sua, lines 886—486, pp. 7, 8. 
 
CHAP. 1X. | BISHOP OF SASIMA. 125 
 
 ment. It was one of the places, about the spiritual 
 supervision of which the Bishops of Ceesarea and Tyana 
 were contending; and Basil, doubtless, thought he could 
 not maintain his rights more certainly than by placing 
 in this post a highly respected individual, and entirely 
 devoted to his interests. For this purpose, Gregory 
 seemed to him the best qualified. So far was he from 
 wishing to mortify his friend in this matter, or looking 
 upon it in that light, that he rather considered Gregory’s 
 conduct in resisting his requisition as an instance of 
 wilful coldness and indolence.! Thus the two friends 
 were for a long time estranged, whilst neither of them 
 was sufficiently self-denying to enter candidly into the 
 views and motives of the other. 
 
 Basil actually came to Nazianzum for the purpose of 
 consecrating Gregory as Bishop of Sasima.? The united 
 entreaties of his father and his friend at length overcame 
 Gregory, and he accepted the appointment, disagreeable 
 as it was to him. The discourse which he delivered on 
 this occasion (probably in the church at Nazianzum), in 
 the presence of his father and several other bishops, 
 begins with these words :—‘ Once more in the rite of 
 consecration has the Holy Spirit been poured out upon 
 me, and once more I enter upon my calling sad and 
 downeast.’ He then confesses that the call of the Spirit 
 had terrified rather than cheered him, and that he might 
 have required some time to recover from the surprise. 
 He was ready, however, to surrender himself to the 
 
 1 Gregor. Lpist. 32, al. 23, p. 796: ᾿Εγκαλεῖς ἡμῖν ἀργίαν 
 Kai ῥαϑυμίαν, ὅτι μὴ τὰ σὰ Σάσιμα κατειλήφαμεν, μηδὲ ἐπισ- 
 κοπῶς kivovpesa Compare also Gregory's 8180 and 32nd Zpist., 
 pp. 795—797, in relation to the whole matter. 
 
 * Greg. Carm. de Vita sua, line 886, p. 7. 
 
120 HIS RESIGNATION [ SECT. 17; 
 
 demands of the Spirit, and would devote himself entirely 
 to promote the benefit of the community.! 
 
 The untoward circumstances under which Gregory 
 was appointed bishop of Sasima soon showed their 
 natural result. Anthimus of Tyana would not acknow- 
 ledge the election, and expressed himself with much 
 harshness against Gregory. He even came thereupon 
 to Nazianzum, attended by some bishops, under the 
 pretence of visiting Gregory the father, but, in fact, to 
 bring over the son, by soft or harsh words, by flattery, 
 or by threats, to acknowledge him as his metropolitan. 
 But Anthimus was obliged to give up the matter as a 
 failure, and was in such a state of irritation at his de- 
 parture, that he reproached the younger Gregory as a 
 traitor to the interests of the Church.? Still, at last, 
 Anthimus wished to make use of him as a mediator 
 between him and Basil, by consenting to which, Gregory 
 again got into difficulties with Basil; so that the un- 
 fortunate bishop of Sasima could at last find no escape, 
 till, full of disgust at these ecclesiastical irregularities 
 
 1 Orat. ix. pp. 234—238. Among other things, Gregory, at 
 p- 237, even says: οὐκ ἐπείσϑημεν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐβιάσϑημεν, We were 
 not persuaded, but forced. Among his Orations, Nos. 9, 10, 11 
 relate principally to his temporary Bishopric of Sasima. In the 
 10th Orat. § 4, p. 241, is an interesting passage on the usage of 
 episcopal consecration: Διὰ τοῦτο (he says to Basil, who con- 
 secrated him,) εἰς μεσον ἄγεις, καὶ ὑποχωροῦντος λαμβάνῃ, καὶ 
 παρὰ céavToy καϑίζεις"---διὰ τοῦτο χρίεις ἀρχιερέα, καὶ περι- 
 βάλλεις τὸν ποδήρη, καὶ περιτίϑης τὴν κίδαριν, καὶ προσάγεις 
 τῷ ϑυσιαστηρίῳ τῆς πνευματικῆς ὁλοκαυτώσεως, καὶ ϑύεις τὸν 
 μόσχον τῆς τελειώσεως, καὶ τελειοῖς τὰς χεῖρας τῷ πνεύματι, 
 καὶ εἰσάγεις εἰς τὰ ἅγια τῶν ἁγίων ἐποπτεύσοντα. 
 
 3 Greg. Lpist. 33, p. 797. Gregory thus describes the result 
 of this undertaking on the part of Anthimus: τέλος, ἀπῆλθεν 
 ἄπρακτος, πολλὰ περιπνεύσας, Kai Βασιλισμὸν ἡμῖν, ὡς φιλιπ- 
 πισμὸν ἐγκαλέσας. Just as, ingGreece, men accused certain indi- 
 viduals, and even the Delphic Oracle, of being gained over by 
 
 ay 
 
UHAP. IX. | OF THE BISHOPRIC. 12¢ 
 
 and divisions, he made his escape into solitary retire- 
 ment. 
 
 It is indeed a matter of doubt whether Gregory ever 
 actually betook himself to Sasima, and entered upon the 
 discharge of episcopal duties there. It is nowhere ex- 
 pressly mentioned.' And, in point of fact, a doubt may 
 be entertained as to the validity of the election, inas- 
 much as it rested upon Basil alone, and had not received 
 full power and sanction, either from a declaration of the 
 provincial bishops, or from the christian community at 
 Sasima. 
 
 It is generally assumed that the only reason for 
 which Gregory gave up this bishopric was mortified 
 ambition; and he himself has given occasion for this 
 view of his conduct, while he speaks so contemptuously 
 of Sasima, as if it were quite beneath his dignity to go 
 thither as bishop; certainly a very un-evangelical senti- 
 ment, if it were the sole motive of his evasion. Let us 
 not, however, overlook his solemn asseverations, that, 
 from his deeply-rooted inclination to a calm, contem- 
 
 bribes to the party of Philip of Macedon, and against the interests 
 of the free fatherland ; so here Anthimus charges Gregory with 
 treason to the rights of the Church from partiality to Basil. The 
 former conduct was called Philippizing (Φιλιππίζειν, Φιλιππισμός) 
 —the latter, by analogy, Basilizing (Βασιλίζειν, Βασιλισμός). In 
 like manner were formed other Greek words of older and later 
 date—e.g. Κυψελίζειν, Κασανδρίζειν, Αντιγονίζειν, Σελευκίζειν. 
 Consult, on this point, Valkenarii, Orat, 111. ; Lugd., Batav. 1784, 
 p. 254 et seq; Reiskii, Inex Grecit ; Demosth. p. 785 et seq. 
 1 The following passage in his Carm. de Vita sua (line 580, 
 
 p- 9), seems rather to prove just the contrary : 
 
 Τῆς μὲν δοϑείσης οὐ δόλως ἐκκλησίας 
 
 Προσεψάμην, οὐδ᾽ ὅσσον λατρείαν μίαν 
 
 Προσενεγκεῖν, ἢ συνεύξασϑαι λαῷ, 
 
 Ἤ χεῖρα ϑεῖναι κληρικῶν ἑνὶ γέ τῳ. 
 
 * Here again I suggest οὐδ᾽ ὁλῶς instead of οὐ δόλως and προσηψάμην 
 instead of rpoceWaunv.— Translator. 
 
128 HE BECOMES COADJUTOR [SECT. Il. 
 
 plative life, he at that time experienced an inward 
 opposition when he thought of undertaking an ecclesias- 
 tical office, with all its various duties; an opposition 
 which, in this case, must have amounted almost to a 
 feeling of horror, when he reflected that that office would 
 at the same time involve him in the disputes of two 
 jealous bishops. This disinclination towards ecclesias- 
 tical, active employment, ought not to be called mere 
 indolence: a fondness for solitude and contemplation 
 was innate in him, and had been confirmed by education. 
 He might, perhaps, have overcome it, had not the pre- 
 vailing idea of the age at the same time pointed out to 
 him the life which so entirely harmonized with his 
 natural bias, as also the most honourable and the holiest. 
 And, lastly, we at least may ask: Was not Gregory, 
 then, worthy of a more distinguished post than this 
 poor, unquiet bishopric, doomed as it was to be an apple 
 of discord? Could he not work more effectively at some 
 other place than at a mere outpost against Anthimus, 
 among the rough inhabitants of Sasima ? 
 
 From this see of Sasima, Gregory had escaped to a 
 solitary mountain range.! His father persecuted him 
 with most urgent entreaties to take possession of the 
 post assigned to him. The son steadily resisted.? But 
 when now his aged father suppliantly besought him to 
 come to Nazianzum, and share the episcopal duties there 
 
 1 This he tells us in Carm. de Vit. sua, line 490, p. 8: 
 Πάλιν φυγάς τις καὶ δρομαῖος, εἰς ὄρος, 
 Κλέπτων φίλην δίαιταν, ἐντρύφημ᾽ ἐμόν. 
 On the contrary, Gregory Presbyter (in his Life of Greg. Naz., 
 p. 139) says that he took refuge in a φροντιστήριον ἀσϑενῶν. 
 What historical grounds he had for this we have no means of 
 judging, though both declarations are capable of being reconciled. 
 * Carm. de Vit. sua, line 495, p. 8. 
 
CHAP. 1Χ.]} TO HIS FATHER. 129 
 
 with him, Gregory could no longer resist the appeal of 
 paternal love.! His presence was the more necessary to 
 his father, since, under the rule of Valens (who, shortly 
 before, had made a violent attack on the orthodox 
 Churches? of those eastern parts), there was so much of 
 struggle and contention.? Gregory therefore (4.D. 372) 
 returned to his old connexions, and at his entrance into 
 the Church there, delivered a remarkable oration, which 
 very clearly represents to us his then tone of thought: 
 ‘Come to my assistance,’ he says to his audience, ‘ for I 
 
 ' 
 
 1 Carm. de Vita sua, lines 497—525, pp. 8, 9. 
 
 2 Cappadocia, under the influence of distinguished teachers, 
 remained true to the Nicene creed, so that Gregory could say 
 with reason, that that country was generally regarded as a pillar 
 of the faith (πίστεως éoeropa).—Carm. adv. Episc., 1. 94, p. 12. 
 
 8. Valens, after he had already succeeded too well, made a very 
 remarkable attack (towards the end of the year 371) upon the 
 orthodox Churches of Cappadocia, especially upon the chief city, 
 Czsarea, in order forcibly to compel them to adopt the Arian 
 creed. He feared to encounter a specially powerful resistance 
 from the courage and zeal of Basil, and had therefore put off the 
 struggle with him to the last. We have some interesting accounts 
 of this contest (though previously requiring much critical correc- 
 tion) from the pens of eye-witnesses, and they agree in showing 
 that Basil at last came off victorious. Gregory of Nazianz. 
 (Orat. xliii. 47, p. 805 et seq.), Gregory of Nyssa (advers. Hunom., 
 lib. i. t. 11. p. 313), and, with some variation, Theodoret, iv. 19 ; 
 Socrates, iv. 26 ; Sozomenus, vi. 16. Although Gregory was at 
 Cesarea during this contest, and helped to support his friend, 
 yet no particular details of his exertions at that time are preserved 
 to us. He only tells us that, when Valens had signed the order 
 for the banishment of Basil, (which order, however, was never 
 carried into execution,) he was prepared to accompany his friend 
 into exile.—Orat. xlili. 54, p. 809. The narrative, as a whole, 
 belongs certainly to the Life of Basil, and forms one of the 
 brightest parts thereof. As Valens was on his march to Cesarea, 
 or or his return from it, he tried to gain the upper hand for 
 Arianism at Nazianzum also; but he encountered a vigorous 
 resistance there also, on the part of the elder and the younger 
 Gregory. Unfortunately, this is only touched upon in general 
 terms by Gregory.—Orat. xviii. 37, p. 358. 
 
 ee 
 
180 GREGORY'S REMARKABLE ORATION. [SECT. II. 
 
 am almost torn in pieces by an inward longing, struggling 
 with the call of the Spirit. Zhat longing urges me to 
 flight, to the solitude of the mountains, to repose of soul 
 and body, to the withdrawal of the mind from all objects 
 of sense, and to a retirement into myself, in order to 
 converse uninterruptedly with God, and to be thoroughly 
 penetrated by the bright beams of his Spirit... .. But 
 his Holy Spirit strives to bring me into active life,in order 
 to promote the common good, and promote my own 
 interest by promoting that of others, to spread the light 
 of the Gospel, and to bring unto God ‘a peculiar people 
 (Titus, 11. 14), a holy nation, a royal priesthood’ 
 (1 Peter, ii. 9), and to restore in many his image in 
 renovated purity. For as a whole garden is more than 
 a single plant; as the whole heaven, with all its beauties, 
 is more glorious than one only star, and the whole body 
 is superior to one of its members—so also, before God, 
 the whole well-regulated Church is better than a well- 
 ordered individual; and we ought always ‘to mind not 
 only our own things, but also the things of others.’ 
 This is what Christ himself has done, who, though he 
 might have continued in the enjoyment of his own 
 dignity in his divine nature, not only lowered himself to 
 the form of a servant, but also, despising the shame, 
 submitted to death upon the cross, that by his passion 
 he might blot out our sins, and by his death destroy 
 death.’ In the sequel of the discourse, the orator 
 explains how it seems to him the safest way to allow 
 something to that longing after contemplative solitude, 
 and yet to follow the suggestions of that Spirit which 
 had stirred him up, and was drawing him to the duties 
 of active life. With this view, he would neither shun 
 altogether the holy service of the Church, nor yet take 
 
CHAP, X. | CAREER OF HIS BROTHER. 151 
 
 on himself a burthen which his shoulders might not be 
 able to bear. He therefore professes himself ready to 
 share the superintendence of the Church with his father ; 
 while he modestly adds, that he would endeavour to 
 follow the path of that powerful, high-soaring eagle, as 
 became a not dissimilar descendant. 
 
 CHAPTER Χ. 
 
 MISFORTUNES IN THE FAMILY OF GREGORY. 
 
 THE thread of the narrative has thus far been purposely 
 continued, in order that the occurrences just related might 
 stand in their true and unbroken connexion. But we 
 must now again turn back our view, and, for the sake 
 of completeness, fill up some omissions in his family 
 history. We have to say something, first of all, respect- 
 ing the brother of Gregory. 
 
 Ceesarius had, as we have related, retired from court 
 to the bosom of his family, on Julian’s commencement of 
 the Persian campaign. After Julian’s death, however, he 
 returned to the palace, and was loaded with honours by 
 the two successive emperors, Jovian and Valens.!. The 
 latter even gave him a state appointment, probably the 
 treasurership of Bithynia.? The city of Nicaea, where he 
 
 1 Greg. Orat. vii. 14, p. 207. 
 
 2 Gregory thus expresses himself on the occasion : Διέτριβε 
 μὲν ἐν τῇ Βιϑυνῶν, τὴν οὐ πολλοστὴν ἀπὸ βασιλέως διέπων 
 ἀρχήν. ἡ δὲ HY ταμιεύειν βασιλεῖ τὰ χρήματα, καὶ τῶν ϑησαυ- 
 ρῶν ἔχειν τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν.---Ογαΐ. vii. 15, p. 207. Gothofredus 
 and Tillemont have both made farther researches concerning the 
 office held by Cxsarius. See, by the latter, Mémoir., p. 5, ἃ His- 
 toire Eccles., t. ix. p. 700 et seq., and Fabricius, Bibl. Gr., vol. viii. 
 p- 436, edit. Harl, 
 
 K 2 
 
132 MISFORTUNES IN THE [SECT. Il. 
 
 resided, was (A.D. 368) visited, and in a great measure 
 destroyed, by a fearful earthquake, the most violent 
 that had ever been remembered. Cesarius was one of 
 the few inhabitants who saved their lives, yet not 
 without personal injury and a considerable loss of 
 property.! Gregory and Basil took advantage of this 
 occasion to persuade one so dear to them, and one who 
 had just been delivered from impending death, to re- 
 nounce a worldly life and the service of the State 
 altogether, and to live in retirement for his soul’s health 
 only.? Ceesarius also felt convinced that divine aid had 
 rescued him from the danger, and resolved to devote 
 the rest of his life to the God who had protected him. 
 But soon after, as he was intending to return into 
 private life, in order to carry out that resolution, a 
 mortal sickness surprised him, in the year 368, or in 
 the beginning of 369.2, He had, however, been baptized 
 shortly before his death. Gregory lost in his brother 
 an affectionate friend, and had been, in return, reve- 
 renced by Cesarius as a father. They had been reci- 
 procally serviceable to each other: Czesarius had always 
 removed as much as possible from Gregory the cares 
 and troubles of external life; and, in his turn, received 
 from him higher and spiritual benefits. The pain 
 
 1 Orat. vii. 15, p. 207. Carmen de Reb. suis, line 174, p. 34. 
 Χρήματα δ᾽ boo ἐπέστατο, τὰ μὲν λάβε γαῖα χανοῦσα" 
 Νικαίης βρασμοῖσιν 67 ἤριπεν, κ. τ. X. 
 
 3 Gregor. Hpist. 19, al. 50, p. 778. Basil. M. Epist. 26, iii. 
 
 p- 105. 
 3 Orat. vii. 15, p. 208. 
 
 * As ἐπέστατο will not scan, it was probably written ὅσσα ἐκτᾶτο, from 
 ktaouat.— Translator. 
 
CHAP. | FAMILY OF GREGORY. 1399 
 
 - 
 
 which the death of Ceesarius occasioned Gregory! was 
 heightened still more by the circumstances which 
 attended it. The unmarried Czesarius had bequeathed 
 all his property, probably of considerable value, to the 
 poor. Gregory, when he wished to execute his 
 brother’s last wishes, found that certain artful persons 
 had gotten possession of the property. He complains 
 thereof very touchingly in an epistle (among others) 
 addressed to the governor, Sophronius,? of whom he 
 demands help and justice. ‘The excellent and accom- 
 plished Ceesarius,’4 (he says,) ‘who once had so many 
 friends, and was also a friend of yours, lies now in death, 
 
 1 He gives strong utterance to this grief in two of his poeems— 
 
 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 368, p. 6 ; and Carm de Reb. suis, line 203, 
 35. 
 
 ἐς The will of Czsarius, as to the disposal of his property, ran 
 
 thus: τὰ ἐμὰ πάντα βούλομαι γινεσϑαι TOY πτωχῶν. 
 
 3 Epist. xviii. al. 82, p. 718. 
 
 4 It is well known that a collection of theological and philo- 
 sophical questions, in four dialogues, (Dialogi iv. sive Questiones 
 Theolog. et Philosoph., exlv.,) is attributed to Cesarius, who, accord- 
 ing to the testimony of his brother Gregory, (see particularly 
 Gregor. Carm. 58, in Muratorii Anecdot. Gr., p.53,) was not only 
 a distinguished physician, but also a man of general scientific 
 information. The book is still in existence, being printed in the 
 Latin edition of Gregory's Works, by Leunclave and Billius ; in 
 Latin, in the Auctuariwm Biblioth. Patr., Paris, 1624; in Greek 
 and Latin, edited by Fronto Duceus ; and several times since 
 (e.g. Biblioth. Patr., Paris, 1644; tom. xi.). Now, although 
 Suidas (sub voce, Καισάριος) mentions Cesarius as the author of 
 a work, κατὰ Ἑλλήνων, and Photius (Bibl. Cod. 210) still more 
 decidedly ascribes the celebrated theological and philosophical 
 questions to him, yet most critical inquirers of a later date have 
 agreed in denying, from internal evidence, the claim of Czesarius 
 to that work. See Tillemont, Mém., t. ix. p. 701; Oudinus in 
 Comment. de Scriptor. Eccles. Antig., tom i. p. 543; Cave, Hist. 
 Liter., vol. i. p. 249; Schroekh, Τῇ. 18, p. 317; and the very 
 complete literary notices in Fabricii, Biblioth. Gr., vol. viii. 
 p. 435, edit. Harl. A remarkable edition of these Qucestiones 
 was published by Elias Ehniger, Augsburg, 1626. 
 
134 MISFORTUNES IN THE [SECT. Il, 
 
 friendless, forsaken, an object of pity, hardly thought 
 worthy of a little myrrh, or, if that be bestowed upon 
 his corpse, scarcely covered with a miserable shroud. 
 Truly it is a great thing, if even thus much of com- 
 passion is shown to him! His enemies, however, have 
 (as I hear) fallen upon him, and have violently torn to 
 pieces his property among themselves, or are on the point 
 of doing so; and there is no one to restrain them. I 
 beseech you, then, do not tolerate such doings, but 
 rather share in our grief and anger, and approve yourself 
 as indeed a friend of the deceased Cesarius ! What 
 effects this epistle produced, as, indeed, what was the 
 general issue of the affair, is unknown to us.! 
 
 When, at a subsequent time, the earthly remains of 
 Ceesarius were transferred to the tombs of the martyrs, 
 even his mother, Nonna, joined the procession, not in 
 robes of mourning, but in the white garments of festive 
 joy.2 She thus acknowledged the christian import of 
 death as a birth into a higher state of existence, and 
 drowned her grief in holy songs and psalms. For the 
 alleviation of his own grief, and in order to honour the 
 memory of the deceased, Gregory, on this occasion, 
 dedicated to his brother a laudatory oration,’ from which 
 we extract some of those passages which, perhaps, gave 
 especial occasion for the honour paid to Ceesarius as one 
 of the saints.4 He vows to his brother’s memory an 
 
 1 Farther notices of this occur in Tillemont’s Mémoires pour 
 servir ἃ V Hist. Eccles., book ix. p. 377 et seq. 
 
 2 Orat. vii. 15, p. Bug He. μητρὸς λαμπροφορίᾳ τῷ πάϑει 
 τὴν εὐσέβειαν ἀντεισαγούση δὺς 
 
 8 It is the 7th Oration (so often ‘already quoted), at p. 198 to 
 p- 216 of the Benedictine edition. See, moreover, Gregory’s 
 Poem, addressed to his brother, in Muratori’s Gree. Anecd., Ρ. 49. 
 
 4 Not our Gregory alone, but also all the members of his family, 
 were honoured by the Catholic Church as saints. The Greek 
 
CHAP. X. | FAMILY OF GREGORY. 135 
 
 annual festival, so long as any one of the family should 
 live; and then proceeds:! ‘But thou, O holy and 
 heavenly spirit, canst walk at large in heaven, and repose 
 in that bosom of Abraham, in which that intermediate 
 happiness consists. Thou art permitted to see the well- 
 ordered ranks of angels, and the radiant splendour of 
 departed saints; or rather, thou canst thyself join their 
 joyous choirs, and rejoice with them, looking down with 
 a smile upon all things here below; upon the so-called 
 riches of the world, its cast-off honours, its delusive 
 glory; upon the seductive pleasures of sense; upon the 
 stormy scene of life, with its confusion and uncertainty, 
 like a battle by night; upon all this thou canst smile, 
 while thou standest by the side of the great King, and 
 art illuminated by the light which beameth forth from 
 Him. O that even here we might catch some slight 
 ray from that divine light (as far as can be seen in this 
 frail mirror and its faint representations) till we one day 
 attain to the source of eternal good, and with purged 
 sense recognising the pure truth, shall there receive that 
 
 Church keeps the anniversary of Gregory, as one of her chief 
 saints, on the 25th of January. The Latin Church departed 
 capriciously therefrom, while it celebrated his memory, now on 
 the 11th, now on the 13th of January, and sometimes on the 19th 
 of March, till at last it was transferred to the 9th of May, which 
 the Martyrologium Romanum also gives as his birthday. The 
 anniversary of his father, Gregory, is on the 1st of January ; of 
 the mother, Nonna, on the 5th of August; of Czesarius, on the 
 25th of February; of Gorgonia, on the 9th of December. See 
 the Acta Sanctor. Major., tom. ii. pp. 369, 370. Would that the 
 memory of such a family were honoured as holy in such a sense 
 by every one, that he might seek to nourish in himself the truly 
 christian spirit which animated them, without being drawn away 
 in any relation by the honour thus paid to imperfect human 
 virtue, from the holy source of all good—from Him, that is, who 
 alone is good ! 
 1 Orat. vii. 17, p. 209. 
 
190 DEATH OF HIS SISTER. [ SECT. II. 
 
 more perfect possession, and that purer view of Good, as 
 a reward for our pains and efforts in pursuit of it here 
 below. For this it is, which the Scriptures and those 
 who are most conversant with divine things hold out to 
 us as the end and object of our christian initiation.”! 
 About the same time, or somewhat later, Gregory lost 
 also his sister Gorgonia, whom in like manner he honoured, 
 after her death, with a laudatory oration.? He delineates 
 to us this diligent housewife and pious Christian in a 
 manner entirely resembling the character of his mother. 
 We content ourselves (while we refer our readers to the 
 more complete description of her in the funeral discourse) 
 with giving, in lieu of all else, a short narrative of her 
 death, which at once proved how she had walked with 
 God. She had long before felt a desire ‘to depart and 
 be with Jesus.’ This longing for death produced in her 
 a presentiment of its approach, and (as Gregory relates) 
 even a distinct anticipation of the time when it would 
 take place. Although her whole life had been a con- 
 tinued course of sanctification, yet, according to the 
 custom of the age, she did not receive the outward sign 
 thereof—baptism—till near the close of her life. When 
 the day approached on which she had anticipated her 
 death, she prepared herself as for a festival, assembled 
 round her bed her husband, her children, and friends, 
 and, after cheering conversation upon a better state of 
 existence, took leave of them. All of them (even her 
 aged mother) stood in silent sorrow round her dying bed. 
 
 1 Orat. vii. 17, p. 209: ὕπερ δὴ THC ἡμετέρας τέλος μυσ- 
 ταγωγίας βιίβλοί τε καὶ ψυχαὶ ϑεολόγοι ϑεσπίζουσιν. 
 
 2 Orat. viii. p. 218: Εἰς τὴν ἀδελφὴν ἑαυτοῦ Topyoviay ἐπι- 
 τάφιος. 
 
 3 Orat. viii. 19—23, pp. 290---292. 
 
CHAP. x1. | GREGORY’S PUBLIC LIFE. 157 
 
 It was as if some holy solemnity were being celebrated.! 
 A spirit of calmness and devotion brooded upon all of 
 them. The dying saint seemed no longer to breathe, 
 and every one supposed her to be dead. Once more, 
 however, her lips moved, and breathed forth, with the 
 energy of the spirit, the words of a pious song of praise. 
 She died with the words of the fourth Psalm on her 
 lips—‘I will lay me down in peace, and take my rest.’? 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE PUBLIC LIFE AND LABOURS OF GREGORY, AS COADJUTOR 
 TO HIS FATHER AT NAZIANZUM. 
 
 Grecory had undertaken the responsibility of acting as 
 his father’s coadjutor in the episcopal duties, on condition 
 that after his father’s decease he should again be free 
 from those duties. He was very diligent in this office, 
 and came forward as an orator on occasions of im- 
 portance and difficulty. Many of his addresses at this 
 period are extant, and may here be noticed, in order to 
 show the various directions in which his exertions were 
 applied. 
 
 1 Orat. viii. 22, p. 231 et seq. 
 
 2 Ps. iv. 9. This was also a favourite verse of Luther’s, parti- 
 cularly towards the close of his life. Matthesius, in his 14th 
 Sermon, thus refers to it :—‘ Luther wrote from Coburg to Ludwig 
 Seuffel (an excellent and learned composer), to desire him to com- 
 pose for him a good Requiem. Among other things, he tells him 
 that he had from his youth a fondness for the concluding verses 
 of the fourth Psalm, but that now those words became daily more 
 dear to him, because he understood them better, and was hourly 
 preparing for death; .... therefore he would gladly sing and hear 
 sung that soothing song—‘I lay me down and sleep in perfect 
 
 eace’— 
 F ‘Ich lieg und schlafe ganz mit Frieden.’ ’ 
 
138 THE PUBLIC LIFE AND [SECT. ἘΠῚ 
 
 One of the first public matters which the new! bishop, 
 Gregory, transacted, was the introduction of Eulalius in 
 the place of an expelled heretical bishop into the see 
 of Doare, a little city in the Second Cappadocia. He 
 made on this occasion a short but judicious oration,? in 
 which he especially exhorts to peace and harmony the 
 community, which had been agitated by internal com- 
 motions, and threatened with evils from without. He 
 hopes the best from the exertions of the new bishop, 
 whom he describes as an excellent and well-tried pastor, 
 while he also prepares him to expect great difficulties. 
 Encouraging are the words which he addresses to him :3 
 ‘Approach now, thou best and most faithful of 
 shepherds, and receive thy people with us and for us; 
 thy people, whom the Holy Ghost giveth into thy hand, 
 whom the holy angels here lead to thee, and who are 
 entrusted to thee because of thy well-approved life. But 
 if thou ascendest the episcopal chair through trials and 
 obstacles, be not surprised thereat. Nothing great is 
 given to us without trial and without suffering. For, 
 in the nature of things, that which is low is easy, that 
 which is high is difficult to acquire. Thou hast heard it 
 said that ‘we must through much tribulation enter into 
 the kingdom of heaven.’ And do thou also say, ‘ We went 
 through fire and water, but Thou broughtest us out and 
 refreshedst us.’4 O the wondrous mercy! ‘ Weeping may 
 endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.’® 
 Let the contentious imagine vain things, and open 
 
 1 He certainly was bishop, and acted as such now, although he 
 had never undertaken the administration of his own proper see. 
 
 2 Orat. xiii. pp. 253—255. 
 
 3 Ibid. xiii. 4, p. 254. 
 
 ἘΠ ΕΒ ΣΙ 1 BPs XK Ok 
 
CHAP. ἘΠῚ} LABOURS OF GREGORY. 139 
 
 their mouths, like dogs who bark at us without cause. 
 We will not strive with them. But teach thou to 
 worship God the Father, God the Son, and God the 
 Holy Ghost, in three persons, of equal honour and 
 majesty. ‘Seek for them that are lost,! strengthen the 
 weak, preserve those who are strong. Take thy chief 
 weapons from the armoury of the great leaders of the 
 Church, wherewith thou mayest ‘quench all the fiery 
 darts of the wicked one,? and present unto God ‘a 
 chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,’ in 
 Christ Jesus our Lord.’—1 Peter, ii. 9. 
 
 This appointment to the Bishopric of Doare was ac- 
 companied with some peculiar circumstances. In those 
 unquiet times, as we have already seen from many 
 examples, the bishops were not always chosen in the 
 regular way. Here, also, in a Church that was disturbed 
 within and without, from which a (probably) Arian 
 bishop had been just ejected, Gregory, and also his 
 father (who maintained great authority among the 
 Cappadocian bishops), appear to have sanctioned an 
 extraordinary mode of proceeding. For, according to 
 all appearance, Eulalius was instituted, not only without 
 the presence of Basil, the Metropolitan of Cappadocia, 
 but even before he had communicated his approbation of 
 the choice. To this refers a passage of the oration,? where 
 Gregory says,—‘ I am not come hither to exhibit any 
 disrespect towards the great shepherd who presides over 
 that splendid city. I know his worth, I acknowledge 
 him as my chief, I call him holy and reverend, even 
 when I have been unfairly dealt with. Only let him 
 love his children, and care for the whole Church. My 
 
 1 Ezek. xxxiv. 4. ? Ephes, vi. 16. 3 Orat. xiii. 3, p. 254. 
 
140 THE PUBLIC LIFE AND [SECT. II. 
 
 wish was to increase the number of God’s priests, not to 
 
 ‘diminish it; to extirpate heretics, not to weaken the 
 orthodox.’ Probably the Bishopric of Doare would not 
 have been filled up by Basil with sufficient speed at a 
 very critical point of time; and Gregory, relying upon 
 their old friendship, thought that he would allow a 
 (perhaps) necessary encroachment on his privilege for 
 the good of the Church. That Eulalius was not forced 
 upon the Church of Doare, but was wished for by the 
 same—at least, by a great part of the community— 
 appears plainly from the circumstances themselves, and 
 from the oration of Gregory. 
 
 To this period probably belongs a discourse of greater 
 length, in which he recommends beneficence towards the 
 poor.| This speech is supposed by the older, as well as 
 the later commentators upon Gregory, to have been 
 delivered in an infirmary? of a highly beneficial cha- 
 racter, established near Caesarea by Basil. He could 
 not, however, have spoken it in the extended form in 
 which we now have it, since it resembles rather an essay, 
 on which great pains were bestowed by Gregory, in 
 order to animate the public mind to active benevolence, 
 than an oration intended to be delivered wivd voce. 
 
 1 Tt is usually entitled περὶ mrwyorpodiac, but by the Bene- 
 dictine editors more correctly, περὶ φιλοπτωχίας.. Compare the 
 first paragraph of the discourse itself, where we read: δέξασϑε 
 τὸν περὶ THC φιλοπτωχίας λόγον. Orat. xiv. pp. 257—285. 
 
 * Soon after his elevation to the episcopal chair, Basil founded, 
 in the neighbourhood of Cesarea, a very useful institution or 
 hospital for the sick, principally for lepers, who so often, in those 
 parts, were forsaken by all, and doomed to the most melancholy 
 fate. He himself took care of the sick, treated them as brothers, 
 and, in order to convince them of the reality of that sentiment, 
 he did not shrink from giving them the kiss of charity, notwith- 
 standing their loathsome condition. Gregor. Orat. xliii. 69, 
 
CHAP, x1. | LABOURS OF GREGORY. 141 
 
 The treatise, as might be expected from its subject, is 
 of a practical character; it contains many warm and 
 feeling passages, but it is also here and there, unhappily, 
 overloaded with rhetorical display, false ornament, and 
 exaggerated figures, so that those very places where the 
 composer thought he had succeeded best, cannot but 
 fail of effect upon the simple, unsophisticated reader.! 
 The best part was, that Gregory (as well as his parents, 
 and especially his mother) always recommended love for 
 the poor and active benevolence even more by deed and 
 the living influence of example, than by fair words and 
 rhetorical arguments. 
 
 Unfortunate events of a public nature also gave oc- 
 casion for some remarkable orations of Gregory, which 
 are still extant. The district of Nazianzum was about 
 this time visited with a fearful drought, attended in its 
 results with a destructive murrain, and concluded, as it 
 appears, with a ruinous hail-storm. The elder Gregory, 
 weighed down with years, and deeply afflicted by the 
 public calamity, was not in a condition to console and 
 strengthen his downcast children. In compliance with 
 the general wish, therefore, his son came forward, in 
 order to treat of this remarkable combination of mis- 
 
 pp- 817, 818. The institution must already have been important 
 in its plan and design, since Gregory calis it a new city (καινὴ 
 πόλις). It was afterwards liberally endowed by Valens, and 
 assisted by contributions from many quarters. In honour of its 
 founder, it retained the name of Basilias. A scholiast upon 
 Gregory, of the 10th century (whose name also was Basilius), 
 asserts that this oration was delivered by Gregory within the 
 walls of that infirmary: τὸν προκείμενον τοῦτον περὶ φιλοπτ. 
 λὺγον ἐν τῷ πτωχείῳ ἐκπεφωνῆσϑαι φασὶ, τῷ ἐν Βασιλειάδι. 
 Nicetas also, a scholiast of the 11th century, repeats the same, 
 though more decidedly. Compare also Gregor. Presbyter, in Vita 
 Gregor., p. 142. 
 
 1 Compare, for instance, in this relation, Orat. xiv. 16, p. 268. 
 
142 THE PUBLIC LIFE AND [SECT. II. 
 
 fortunes in a religious light, as divine visitations.! 
 Gregory begins this characteristic? oration with the 
 inquiry, ‘Whence, then, come these inflictions, these 
 occasions of distress? and what is the cause of them ? 
 Is it a disorderly and irregular movement of the 
 universe, a progress without a guide, a blind, un- 
 reasoning impulse, as if there were no one who 
 presides over the whole, and chance (like an automaton) 
 brought it all to pass, as the foolish wise ones suppose, and 
 those who are themselves impelled, without thought or 
 reflection, by a gloomy and disordered mind? Or, as the 
 universe was originally formed, blended together, and 
 compacted by reason and order, as its movements are 
 well regulated in a manner known only to the impelling 
 Mind, even so is the universe altered and otherwise 
 ordered, under the guidance and control of a super- 
 intending Providence? The orator of course declares 
 himself in favour of the latter view, while he firmly 
 maintains the fact of the ever-active influence and 
 guidance of the divine love and wisdom in all the 
 concerns and relations of the universe. 
 
 Gregory sees in every misfortune an immediate ap- 
 pointment of God, and it is his main object to bring 
 the mind of his hearers to look upon this as a means 
 of edification and sanctification, and to think little of 
 transient earthly evil, when set against the eternal 
 blessings, which even thereby are brought the nearer, 
 and made the surer to them. He represents the cala- 
 mities which hang over men as certainly, in part, a 
 pumishment, but also, and most especially, a proof of 
 
 1 Orat. xvi. pp. 299—815. Εἰς τὸν πατέρα σιωπῶντα διὰ 
 Τὴν πληγὴν τῆς χαλάζης. 
 2 Orat. xvi. 5, p. 802 
 
CHAP. ΧΙ] LABOURS OF GREGORY. 148 
 
 God’s love, and for the improvement of sinners, who are 
 thereby called to repentance and conversion. How 
 elevating, in this view, is his confession of unworthiness, 
 and his prayer for merey!! “Ὁ Lord, we have sinned, we 
 have been ungodly, and have dealt unrighteously in all 
 thy commandments. We have behaved ourselves un- 
 worthily of our calling, and of the gospel of Christ, un- 
 worthily of his holy passion, and of the humiliation to 
 which he submitted for our sakes. We have been a 
 reproach to thy dear Son. We have fallen away from 
 Thee, Priests and people alike. ‘We have all gone aside 
 from the right way; we have altogether become abomi- 
 nable; there is none that doeth good; no, not one.* We 
 have cut ourselves off from thy loving mercy; we have 
 excluded ourselves from the tender pity of our God, 
 through the greatness of our sins and the baseness of 
 our councils. Thou art kind, but we have done wickedly. 
 Thou art long suffering, but we are worthy of stripes. 
 We acknowledge thy goodness towards us, even when 
 we are foolish and ungrateful. We have only been too 
 little scourged for the greatness of our sins. And 
 again:4 ‘Assuredly it were better if we required no 
 such purgation, and had not, but now, undergone this 
 cleansing process; it were better if our original dignity 
 had been continued to us, for the recovery of which we 
 labour by means of our earthly course of training; and 
 if we had not forfeited the tree of life through the bitter 
 pleasures of sin. But it is ‘also better that sinners 
 should thus be brought to turn back to the right path, 
 than that the fallen should not be chastised, and thereby 
 
 1 Orat. xvi. 12, p. 808. 3 Baruch, ii. 12. 
 3 Ps. xiv. 3. 4 Orat. xvi. 15, p. 310. 
 
144 THE PUBLIC LIFE AND [SECT. II. 
 
 disciplined and trained for better things. For ‘whom 
 the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and such punishment is 
 a proof of fatherly regard. The soul which is not ad- 
 monished and corrected is also not healed of its sin.! To 
 be chastened, therefore, is not sad; but not to be made 
 wise by chastisement, that is indeed the saddest of all.’ 
 At another time, a still greater evil seems to have 
 threatened the inhabitants of Nazianzum. They had 
 drawn upon themselves (from what cause we know not) 
 the violent displeasure of the imperial lieutenant, or 
 military commander of the province. The citizens were 
 greatly alarmed, and betook themselves to their spiritual 
 ruler for counsel. He delivered an oration, for the pur- 
 pose of calming the minds of both parties, of strengthen- 
 ing his frightened congregation, and of appeasing the 
 irritated imperial officer.2 The fearless honesty and 
 dignity with which Gregory, in his character of bishop, 
 addresses the great man of the world, is a remarkable 
 feature of this discourse. Amongst other things, he 
 thus addresses the authorities who were present (pro- 
 bably with a military escort) in the church: ‘ But will 
 ye receive my frankness of speech? The law of Christ, 
 indeed, subjects you to my spiritual power—to my 
 judgment-seat. For we also exercise authority; nay, I 
 
 1 Ψυχὴ πᾶσα ἀνουϑέτητος, ἀϑεράπευτος;,--ΟΥ, as a wise poet 
 of antiquity expresses it, ὁ μὴ δαρεὶς ἄνϑρωπος οὐ παιδεύεται. 
 Gregory (in his Orat. xvi. 7, p. 804) remarks, how salutary the 
 chastenings of the present life (which are at the same time means 
 of improvement) must be, in comparison with future punish- 
 ments: ‘too great forbearance towards us in the present life 
 would only hand us over to future judgment ; and thus it is better 
 to be corrected, and thereby purified now, than to be consigned 
 to those torments, where it is no more the time for purification, 
 but only for punishment.’ 
 
 2 Orat. xvii. pp. 317—3826. 
 
CHAP. XI. | LABOURS OF GREGORY. 145 
 
 will go farther,—we have a higher and fuller authority.! 
 Or shall the spirit yield to the flesh, the heavenly to the 
 earthly? Thou, therefore, I am sure, wilt also take my 
 freedom in good part, because thou art a holy sheep of 
 my holy flock, a follower of the great Shepherd, because 
 thou hast been led by the holy spirit into the right way, 
 and hast been enlightened, even as we are, by the light 
 of the holy and blessed Trinity. With Christ as thy 
 helper thou governest, with Christ thou dischargest the 
 duties of thy office; from Him thou receivedst thy sword, 
 not for actual use, but only in terrorem.2 O, then, keep 
 it as a pure offering, dedicated to Him who gave it to 
 thee! Thou art an image of God, but thou rulest also 
 over those who bear impressed upon them God’s image. 
 Respect, then, this relationship; reverence the great 
 Original in that image; take part with God, not with 
 the prince of this world; with the merciful ruler, not 
 with the cruel tyrant. Imitate God’s love for man, for 
 to do good is the highest exercise of all that is divine in 
 man. ‘Thou canst now without labour attain to the 
 divine ;? neglect not this apt occasion of god-like action.’ 
 
 1 The unprejudiced reader will hardly see in this, expressions 
 of hierarchical pride; since Gregory is speaking, not of external 
 power and authority, but of the higher spiritual dignity, the 
 result of a higher commission. It is in the same sense that 
 Erasmus, in a beautiful parallel, compares the clerical with the 
 royal character, and gives precedence to the former. His asser- 
 tion is: Czterum si res ipsas justa pensemus trutina, nullus est 
 rex tam magnificus, quatenus rex est, quin sit infra dignitatem, 
 non dicam episcopi, sed vicant pastoris, quatenus pastor est.— 
 Sides swe de Ratione concionandi, lib. i. p. 67 et seq. Edit. 
 
 asi 
 
 * Gregory therefore appears to have denied the power of inflict- 
 ing capital punishment. 
 
 3 Literally, ‘become a God’: 
 μηδὲν πονήσαντι. 
 
 ἐξεστί σοι ϑεὸν γενέσϑαι 
 
 L 
 
146 DEATH OF THE ELDER GREGORY. [SECT. 17 
 
 The address of Gregory appears not to have failed of its 
 object.! 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE DEATH OF THE ELDER GREGORY AND HIS WIFE, NONNA: 
 THE YOUNGER GREGORY RETIRES TO SELEUCIA. 
 
 THE instances above given show that Gregory was no 
 unworthy or inefficient coadjutor to his father. Now, 
 however, the time was come that the aged bishop (who 
 was very nigh his hundredth year, who had been forty- 
 five years in the priesthood, had discharged the duties of 
 his office faithfully, and had maintained many struggles, 
 especially under the government of Julian and of Valens)? 
 should go to his rest. His labours ended in a painful 
 and tedious sickness, during which, religion and its 
 means? of grace formed his sole support. He died 
 praying. He left to his son the best inheritance, a 
 lengthened series of good deeds, and the unbounded 
 love and esteem of his congregation. The most enduring 
 
 1 About this time also (or somewhat later) occur those trans- 
 actions which Gregory had (with beneficial results to his Church 
 and clergy) with Julian, the Imperial commissioner of taxes ; and 
 of which we shall subsequently have a fitter occasion to speak 
 more particularly. 
 
 ® Greg. Orat. xviil. 37, p. 358. 
 
 3 Orat. xviii. 38, p. 358: πολλάκις τῆς ἡμέρας. ἔστι OF OTE καὶ 
 ὥρας ὑπὸ μόνης ἐῤῥώννυτο τῆς λειτουργίας. This expression 
 refers, doubtless, to the frequent celebration of the holy com- 
 munion ; since it does not seem sufficient to understand literally 
 the mere term, ‘ Liturgy.’ 
 
 4’Ey rote τῆς εὐχῇς ῥημασί Kai σχήμασι. Orat. xviii. 38, 
 p- 859. To die praying was, at that time (and with justice), 
 looked upon as a proof of genuine piety. Subsequently, greater 
 importance was attached to dying in the confession of the faith 
 which had been professed during life. 
 
CHAP, x11. | DEATH OF THE ELDER GREGORY. 147 
 
 and noblest monument which his son could devote to 
 his memory was the funeral oration! in which he com- 
 memorated his virtues. Stone and brass would by this 
 time have broken in pieces and crumbled away, or have 
 been trampled under foot without respect by the bar- 
 barians of those parts; but this oration will be read and 
 admired as long as Greek literature remains. 
 
 It is certainly one of the best of the remaining 
 orations of Gregory, full of child-like love for both his 
 parents, full of friendship for Basil, who had come to 
 Nazianzum for the purpose of consoling his friend, and 
 was present at the delivery of the oration. The aged 
 Gregory died, probably, in the spring of 374, and the 
 oration was spoken several months afterwards. The 
 mother, Nonna, was then still living, since she is 
 addressed by her son in a very consolatory and elevating 
 manner :” ‘Life and death, my mother (as man calls 
 them), though they seem to be widely different, yet pass 
 the one into the other, and take each the place of the 
 other. For life begins from corruption, our common 
 mother; it passes on through a process of corruption, 
 since the present is ever being torn away from us; and 
 it also ends with corruption,—that is, with the dis- 
 solution of this present life. But as to death, which 
 gives a release from present evils, and conducts to a 
 higher state of existence,—I know not whether we 
 should properly call it death, since it is more formidable 
 
 1 Orat. xviii. p. 330—362: ᾽᾿Επιτάφιος εἰς τὸν πατέρα παρόν- 
 τος Βασιλείου. We have already given from this address several 
 particulars characteristic of the elder Gregory and his wife Nonna 
 (for she also is celebrated in the oration) ; several poems, ad- 
 dressed by Gregory to his father, are also to be found in Mura- 
 tori’s Anecd. Grec., pp. 67—77; Carm. 71—81. 
 
 3 Orat. xviii. 42, p. 361. 
 
 ΤΙ Ὁ 
 
148 DEATH OF NONNA. [SECT. IL. 
 
 in name than in reality. Indeed, we seem to think and 
 to feel quite unreasonably, when we fear that which is 
 not to be dreaded, but strive (as for a more desirable 
 object) after that which deserves rather to be feared. 
 There is only one life, and that is, to live with a con- 
 stant view to the divine life. There is only one death, 
 and that is sin. For sin is the destruction of the soul. 
 But everything else, on account of which so many pride 
 themselves, is but a dreamy vision; it cheats us out of 
 the truth, like a seductive phantom of the soul. When 
 we have learnt to think thus, O my mother, then shall 
 we not feel elated on account of life, nor alarm ourselves 
 on account of death. For what that is really bad can 
 we be said to suffer, if we can but force our way from 
 hence to the true life; if at length, being set free from 
 this world’s vicissitudes, from all its worry and weariness, 
 from all attachment and subjection to wickedness and 
 meanness, we shall there be admitted to things eternal 
 and unchangeable, revolving like lesser lights round the 
 great source of light!’ 
 
 These words of the son, addressed to his mother, 
 whose whole life had already been a preparation for 
 death, look like a special memento of her own approach- 
 ing end. According to all probability, the aged Nonna 
 did not long survive her husband.! Her death was, in 
 its attendant circumstances, worthy of her life.?, Without 
 
 1 Certainly the words καὶ μετὰ δηρὸν μητηρ, in the short 
 oem given by Muratori (p. 114, Carm. 120), seem to point to a 
 Reser interval between the death of the elder Gregory and that 
 of Nonna ; but in the Carmen de Vit. swa (line 526, p. 9), Gregory 
 speaks of the death of his parents, as if they had both died about 
 the same time. Other circumstances also, and especially Gregory’s 
 departure from Nazianzum (which was not long after his father’s 
 
 death), make this probable. 
 2 Numerous accounts of her death are to be found in the short 
 
] 
 
 CHAP. XII. | DEATH OF NONNA. 149 
 
 being bowed down by sickness or age, she went one day 
 to pray in the church; here, in the edifice which her 
 husband had, in great measure, built, and before the 
 altar at which he, as a faithful pastor, had so long served, 
 her end surprised her.! She had just taken firm hold 
 of the altar* with one hand, and suppliantly raised the 
 other towards heaven, with the words, ‘ Be merciful unto 
 me, O Christ, my King! when her vital power failed, 
 and her body sank down lifeless before the altar.2 She 
 also was generally mourned for, especially by the 
 widows, orphans, and the poor, whose comfort and 
 support she had so long been. Her body was buried 
 near the tombs of the martyrs, by the side of her 
 husband.? Gregory, who had loved his mother with 
 singular affection, and never forgot how much he owed 
 to her domestic, and especially her spiritual care,! 
 
 elegiac poems of Gregory, first published by Muratori in his 
 Anecd. Grecis, pp. 77—110; Carm. 81—117. Compare parti- 
 cularly, Carm. 85, p. 83; 89, p. 89; 91, p. 91; 94, p. 93; 95, 
 p. 94; 108, p. 101; 115, p. 106. 
 
 1 Carm. 100, p. 96, in Muratori. In proof that she died in 
 full consciousness, and without sickness, see Carm. 109, 102. 
 
 ® Carm. 104, 105, pp. 98, 99, in Muratori. At the end of this 
 poem we read : 
 
 Χειρῶν ἀμφοτέρων τῆ piv κατέχουσω τράπεζαν, 
 Τῇ δ᾽ ἐπιλισσομένη" ἵλαϑι Χριστὲ ἀναξ. 
 
 8 Carm. 92, p. 91, in Muratori. 
 
 * Gregory describes himself, in one of these poems, as being 
 also especially beloved by his mother, and as being particularly 
 like her. He lays great stress, in this relation, on the fact of 
 her having suckled him herself. Carm. 87, p. 82: 
 τὸ δ᾽ ἔῤῥεεν αἷμα τεκούσης 
 
 ᾿Αμφοτέροις ἐπὶ παισὶ, μάλιστα δὲ ϑρέμματι ϑηλῆς" 
 Τούνεκα καὶ σε τόσοις ἐπιγράμμασι, μῆτερ, ἔτισα. 
 In Carm. 88, p. 89, also, Nonna is made to address Gregory as 
 
 * Observe, τράπεζαν, the table; not βωμὸς nor θυσιαστήριον, an altar,.— 
 Translator. 
 
150 THE YOUNGER GREGORY [SECT. Il. 
 
 honoured his deceased parent by a series of little poems, 
 wherein he extolled her piety and her beautiful end. 
 In one of these he says: ‘ Weep, mortals, for the race 
 of mortals; but when any one dies like Nonna, in the 
 act of prayer, then I weep not. —(Carm. 116, p. 107.) 
 
 By his father’s death, Gregory was released from the 
 obligation of administering the episcopal duties of 
 Nazianzum. He urged the bishops of the province to 
 fill up the appointment; he called their attention to 
 the fact, that he had never been instituted by regular 
 election as Bishop of Nazianzum; that it had much 
 rather been his object to exonerate himself from all 
 such responsibilities and public engagements, and to 
 withdraw again into a life of solitude! Nevertheless, 
 the memory of his father, and affection for a Church 
 deprived of so excellent a bishop, called upon him not 
 to leave the same all at once in this bereaved state. 
 Gregory, therefore, still retained for a time the super- 
 vision of the Nazianzen Church, without making him- 
 self liable to the formal acceptance of the bishopric. 
 This superintendence, however, must have been the 
 more oppressive to Gregory, since about this time his 
 already shattered health was tried by an illness of a 
 particularly dangerous character. He seems to have 
 
 τέκνον ἐμῆς ϑηλῆς---80ῃ of my breast. Still weightier was what 
 Nonna had done for her son in spiritual matters, in order to dedi- 
 cate him to God, with a view to a higher state of existence. 
 1 Carm. de Vit. s., line 526—550, p. 9. 
 
 Τοῦτ᾽ αὐτὸ φάσκων τοῖς ἐπισκόποις ἀεὶ, 
 
 ᾿Αιτῶν τε δῶρον ἐκ βάϑους τῆς καρδίας, 
 
 Στῆσαί τιν᾽ ἄνδρα τῷ πολίσματι σκοπόν" 
 
 Λέγων ἀληϑῶς E ἕν μὲν, ὡς οὔπω τινὰ 
 
 Εἰληφὼς εἴην γνωρίμῳ κηρύγματι" 
 
 Τὸ δεύτερον δ᾽ αὖ, ὡς πάλαι δεδογμένον 
 
 Ein φυγεῖν με καὶ φίλους καὶ πράγματα. 
 
CHAP. XII. | RETIRES TO SELEUCIA. 151 
 
 been laid, as it were, upon his death-bed; for he was so 
 weak, that he was not even allowed to see by his bed- 
 side a man who was particularly respected by him— 
 Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata, who at that time was 
 obliged, as a zealous defender of the Nicene Creed, to 
 wander in banishment to Thrace.! On his recovery, 
 Gregory determined positively to leave Nazianzum; 
 and in order that he might not be hindered in his pur- 
 pose by urgent entreaties, he withdrew himself from 
 his native city without communicating anything on the 
 subject even to his friends. He betook himself (4.p. 375) 
 to Seleucia, in Isauria, a town of which he particularly 
 celebrates, as a remarkable feature, a famous church, 
 dedicated to St. Theckla.2 He probably sojourned in 
 the precincts of this Parthenon, as he calls the church. 
 In this step of Gregory’s, his dislike of the prevailing 
 disputes in the Church, his disinclination to public 
 employment, his love for contemplative solitude, com- 
 bined with the then increasing sickliness of his body, 
 contributed to produce a determination which cannot, 
 indeed, be quite approved, though it may be excused ;3 
 
 1 Greg. Epist. 28-29, p. 792. 
 2 Carm. de Vit. s., line 547, p. 9: 
 Πρῶτον μὲν ἦλθον εἰς Σελεύκειαν φυγὰς, 
 Τὸν παρϑενῶνα τῆς ἀοιδίμου κόρης 
 ΠΕΣ ον 4 6 
 5. Schréekh (K. Gesch., th. xiii. pp. 335—337) adduces, in con- 
 nexion with this incident, several of Gregory’s epistles, in which 
 he exculpates himself on account of his departure from Nazian- 
 zum—namely, Epist. 42, p. 803, to Gregory of Nyssa ; 65, p. 823, 
 to Philagrius ; 222, p. 909, and Epist. 225, p. 911, to Theodore, 
 bishop of Tyana. He seems, however, here, not to have exer- 
 cised due attention, else it couldnot have escaped him (Schréekh), 
 that the two first epistles are characterized by their contents as 
 belonging to a later date (subsequent to Gregory’s residence at 
 Constantinople) ; but the two last are addressed to Theodore as 
 
 Bishop of Tyana, which he did not become till a.D. 381. The 
 
152 THE YOUNGER GREGORY [SECT. 11: 
 
 least of all is it to be deduced from an arrogant under- 
 valuing of the humble see of Nazianzum. 
 
 For the purpose of enjoying contemplative repose and 
 refreshment, Gregory had withdrawn to Seleucia. But 
 ecclesiastical concerns followed him even thither,! since 
 he was obliged to give counsel, consolation, and support 
 to many places, during the disputes and oppressions that 
 took place under Valens. His residence in Seleucia 
 continued probably till the year 379; and it is to be 
 supposed that he there received the painful intelligence 
 of the death of his fondly-beloved Basil, who, amidst 
 the not-to-be-restrained crowding of the people of 
 Ceesarea, had departed with the words of our Lord,— 
 ‘Into thy hands I commend my spirit.’ The friendship 
 ‘between him and Gregory had certainly been disturbed 
 by the circumstances of life; they had at one time 
 mistaken and misunderstood each other, and their dis- 
 pleasure was the more bitter, because they loved so truly 
 in the bottom of their hearts. They soon, however, 
 came to themselves, and friend again acknowledged in 
 his friend the better and genuine part of his character. 
 What affectionate sentiments Gregory cherished towards 
 his beloved Basil, even after his death, is shown not 
 only by several epistles, but most particularly by an 
 oration delivered at the tomb of Basil, two years after- 
 wards, αὖ Caesarea, in which the most devoted fidelity 
 and veneration for his departed friend are eloquently 
 expressed.2 Gregory also expresses his grief very 
 
 Epistles all fall into a later period of Gregory’s life, when he once 
 more left the church of Nazianzum ; they will be duly noticed in 
 their proper place. 
 
 1 Carmen de Vita sua, line 555, p. 9. 
 
 2 Orat. xliii. pp. 770—833. One of the most remarkable of 
 Gregory’s Orations ; from which much has already been given, 
 
CHAP. XII. | RETIRES TO SELEUCIA. 153 
 
 strongly in an epistle to Gregory of Nyssa,! the brother 
 of the deceased: ‘This trial also was reserved for me, 
 in this unhappy life, to hear of the death of Basil and 
 the departure of that blessed spirit, which has only gone 
 from us in order to go to the Lord, after a whole life 
 spent in preparation for that event. And now, in addi- 
 tion to other sorrows, a severe and dangerous illness, 
 from which I am at this time suffering, has still denied 
 me the gratification of kissing his holy ashes, of staying 
 with you, his counterpart, and of consoling our com- 
 mon friends.’ 
 
 Gregory, who had been a sufferer in mind and body, 
 appears especially at this time to have been often in a 
 very melancholy mood. A short epistle to his friend 
 Eudoxius,? the rhetorician (which, without a doubt, 
 belongs to this period), gives us a complete insight into 
 his dejected state of mind. ‘ You inquire how I am; I 
 answer, Very ill. I no longer have Basil, no longer 
 Ceesarius—the one my spiritual, the other my natural 
 brother. I may say, too, with David, ‘My father and 
 my mother have forsaken me.’ My body is sickly; age 
 shows itself on my head; my cares grow more compli- 
 cated; business accumulates upon me; friends prove 
 untrue ; the Church is without shepherds; good is dis- 
 appearing; evil presents itself barefaced. We are 
 journeying in the night; there is nowhere a torch to 
 give us light; Christ sleepeth. What, then, is to be 
 done? Alas! there is only one escape for me from 
 
 ~ these evils, and that is death! But that which lies 
 beyond would also affrighten me, were I obliged to 
 judge of it from my feelings on this side the grave.’ 
 
 1 Epist. 37, al. 35, p. 799. 2 Epist, 39, al. 29, p. 802. 
 
1δ4 
 
 SECTION THE THIRD. 
 
 GREGORY’S PUBLIC LABOURS AT CONSTANTINOPLE, TILL HIS RETURN 
 TO HIS NATIVE COUNTRY—FROM A.D. 379 TO 381; THERE- 
 FORE, FROM ABOUT HIS FORTY-NINTH TO HIS FIFTY-FIRST 
 YEAR. 
 
 HRONOLOGICAL REVIEW :—The date at which 
 
 Gregory went to Constantinople cannot be quite 
 exactly determined. It was, at all events, in the year 
 379, when the Arian party was still dominant there. 
 He himself informs us that his residence in Constanti- 
 nople was extended to the third year; and as he left 
 that city in the summer of 381, he must have gone 
 thither in 379. At the commencement of this year 
 (Jan. 19, a.p. 379), Theodosius, then thirty-three years 
 of age, and devoted to the Nicene confession of faith, 
 was raised to the Imperial throne. The prospects, 
 therefore, of the adherents of that creed in the East 
 were become favourable. Their hopes already reached 
 their fulfilment, when (on February 28, 380) Theodosius 
 published the celebrated edict in favour of the Nicene 
 rule of faith, and against all the anti-Nicene parties; 
 probably the same day on which he was baptized at 
 Thessalonica by the orthodox bishop, Acholius. On the 
 24th of November, Theodosius came to Constantinople. 
 On the 26th, he ejected the Arians from all the churches 
 of the capital, and gave them to the orthodox Catholics. 
 On the 10th of January, 381, there followed a new 
 edict against Arians, Eunomians, and Photianists. 
 
CHAP. 1. | GREGORY AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 155 
 
 Finally, to complete his regulations, Theodosius called 
 together a general assembly of the Church at Constanti- 
 nople, which commenced its sittings in May, 381. Not 
 long after this commencement, Gregory resigned the 
 bishopric of the capital, which he had just formally re- 
 ceived. He appears to have been still at Constantinople 
 on the 3lst of May, but he may have left it soon after. 
 The synod ended on the 9th of July, 381; and now, on 
 the 19th, on the 30th of July (and on subsequent days), 
 the emperor published a series of laws against those 
 whom that meeting had condemned as heretics. 
 
 CHAPTER 1. 
 THE STATE OF RELIGION AND OF THE CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 Just as Gregory had now withdrawn himself, as he 
 thought, into calm retirement, the call of Providence 
 conducted him to an ampler stage of action than any he 
 had as yet entered upon. He was neither allowed to 
 give himself to the enjoyment of solitary contemplation, 
 nor to grieve for the dear ones he had lost, nor to 
 longings after death, but was now, for the first time, to 
 be drawn out into active life, and exert himself actively 
 and influentially therein. The wish of a not very 
 numerous christian community, which, amidst all the 
 previous acts of oppression, had remained firmly attached 
 to the Nicene confession of faith, called our Gregory 
 from his retirement at Seleucia to Constantinople, the 
 then capital of the Roman empire. He complied with 
 that call, although (as a glance at the then state of that 
 
156 STATE OF RELIGION AND THE [SECT. III, 
 
 city, especially in a religious point of view, may easily 
 prove) the prospect was by no means inviting. 
 
 The splendid city, ‘around which’ (as Gregory says) 
 ‘sea and land emulously contend, in order to load it 
 with all their best gifts, and to crown her as the queen 
 of cities, ! had been already, during the governments of 
 several emperors, the storehouse of all the riches and all 
 the magnificence of life from the three known quarters 
 of the world. This new Rome strove to raise itself in 
 external splendour above the old city, and already 
 almost surpassed it in the love of pleasure, which had 
 been fostered by a corrupt court; for Julian had in vain 
 sought to bring back the simple habits of ancient Rome. 
 To the inhabitants of Constantinople, as well as to the 
 Romans of later days, the first want was, ‘Bread and 
 public amusements’ (panis et Circenses). Races, the 
 theatre, the chase, contests with wild beasts, public 
 processions, exhibitions of oratory, had, in their turn, 
 become a sort of necessaries of life for persons of all 
 conditions; so that Gregory might well say there was 
 much reason to fear that the first of cities would become 
 a city of mere triflers.? 
 
 Even religious matters, like everything else, had 
 become, to this idle, hollow state of mind, objects of 
 jesting and amusement. That which belonged to the 
 theatre was introduced into the church, and things that 
 belonged to the church were, in return, adapted to the 
 theatre. The best feelings of Christianity were not un- 
 frequently submitted in comedies to the scornful laugh 
 of the multitude. ‘We are become (says Gregory) a 
 
 ? Orat. xxxill. 7, p. 608. 
 2 1Or, xxxvi 12, p..648 0... καὶ πόλιν εἶναι παιζόντων τὴν 
 πρῶτην ἐν πόλεσιν. 
 
 8. Ογαΐ. ii, 84, p. 52. 
 
CHAP. 1.} CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 157 
 
 new spectacle, not to men and angels (like St. Paul, the 
 noblest of all combatants, while he wrestled with the 
 powerful and the mighty), but to well-nigh all the un- 
 godly—and this in the market-places, at drinking- 
 parties, in scenes of enjoyment, and even of mourning. 
 We are already brought upon the stage, and (1 must 
 say it, though almost with tears) are made subjects for 
 vulgar laughter in company with the most profligate 
 of men. Nay, there is hardly any gratification for the 
 eye and ear so popular as a Christian exposed to 
 mockery and insult m a comedy’ And in another 
 passage:! ‘ My tragedy has become a comedy to the 
 enemy ; for they have taken not a little from our churches, 
 in order to transfer it to the theatre; especially in the 
 city, which is quite as ready to jest at divine things as 
 anything else, and had rather laugh at that which is to 
 be revered, than leave unlaughed-at anything really 
 ridiculous ; so that I should wonder if they do not make 
 me also a subject of laughter while I am thus addressing 
 you this day.’ The Constantinopolitans so completely 
 turned everything into a subject of light jesting, that 
 earnest Truth was stripped of its value by its rival, Wit, 
 and that which was holy became, in the refined conver- 
 sation of men of the world, a subject for raillery and 
 jesting. 
 
 But, what was still worse, the unbridled fondness 
 of these people for dissipated enjoyment threatened to 
 turn the church into a theatre, and the preacher into an 
 
 1 Orat. xxii. 8, p. 419. Compare Orat. xxi. 5, p. 388, where 
 Gregory laments, that in Constantinople even the most honoured 
 patterns of a christian life produced little fruit, because men 
 were accustomed to jest quite as much about holy things as about 
 horse-racing and theatrical exhibitions, 
 
158 STATE OF RELIGION AND THE  [SECT. III. 
 
 actor. If he wished to please the many, he was obliged 
 to accommodate himself to their taste, and to entertain 
 -and amuse them in the church. They required, also, in 
 the sermon, something to gratify the ear, glittering 
 declamation, with a theatrical delivery; and they then 
 applauded with the same sort of pleasure the actor (den 
 Komiédianten) in the holy place, and the histrionic 
 performer on the stage. And alas! there were found, 
 at that time also, too many who sought rather the 
 approbation of men than the good of their souls.!. ‘ How 
 many do I find this day (says Gregory?) who have 
 undertaken the priestly office, but have artificially 
 adorned the simple, artless prety of our religion, and 
 introduced a new sort of secular oratory into the 
 sanctuary and its holy ministrations, borrowed from the 
 forum? and the theatre! So that we have now, if I may 
 so express myself, two stages, differing from each other 
 only in this, that the one stands open to all, the other 
 only to a few; the one is laughed at, the other is 
 respected; the one is theatrical, the other clerical.’ 
 
 The opposite views of the faith excited at that period, 
 especially in Constantinople, a very general and lively 
 interest, which was supported, and even directed by the 
 court, though not always in the most commendable 
 manner. It was, for the most part, not the interest of 
 the heart, but of a sophistical and disputatious under- 
 standing, (if not something far meaner,) to which the 
 
 1 They were such as are pointed to by Gregory in his Carmen. 
 adv. Episc., line 342: 
 
 Τὸ πρὸς χάριν τιμῶντες, od τὸ συμφέρον. 
 τσ: xxxvi. 2, p. 635. 
 
 . ἀπό THY ϑεάτρων ἐπὶ THY τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀϑεατον 
 μυσταγωγίαν. 
 
CHAP. I. | CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 159 
 
 controversy about points of faith served only for a 
 pretext,! in order to succeed in the outward views of 
 avarice and ambition. Whilst the sanctifying and 
 beatifying doctrines of the Gospel, which point to the 
 conversion of the inner man, were suffered to lie 
 inactive, every one, from the emperor to the beggar, 
 occupied himself, with incredible earnestness, in the 
 discussion of some few theoretical propositions, con- 
 cerning which the Gospel communicates just so much as 
 is beneficial to men’s minds, and necessary for salvation, 
 and whose farther development, at all events, belongs 
 rather to the schools than to every-day life. But the 
 more violently these disputations were kindled, disturb- 
 ing and dividing states, cities, and families, so much the 
 more were the practical essentials of Christianity lost 
 sight of. It seemed more important to maintain the 
 doctrine of the Trinity than to love God with all the 
 soul; to acknowledge the equality of the Son’s nature, 
 than to follow after Him in humility and self-denial; to 
 defend the personality of the Holy Ghost, than to bring 
 forth the fruits of the Spirit—love, peace, righteousness. 
 The party of the Hwnomians, who had gained from 
 their founder a remarkable skill in logic, certainly 
 nourished the taste for religious controversy very par- 
 ticularly. But the evil was by no means confined to 
 them; under the appearance of an interest in religion, 
 an impatient, disputatious garrulity about points of 
 faith, a passion for disputing and displaying wit, at the 
 most ill-suited time and most improper place, had taken 
 possession of most persons of all parties—a state of 
 
 i 
 
 Carm. xi. line 162, p. 84. Gregory says: καὶ πρόφασις 
 τριάς ἐστι. 
 
160 STATE OF RELIGION AND THE [SECT. Tit, 
 
 things which had its comic,! and also its sad and serious 
 side. In this latter relation it especially affected 
 Gregory, who must have suffered much in consequence. 
 He says: ‘It is come to such a pitch, that the entire 
 market-place resounds with the speeches of heretics ; 
 every meal is spoilt by this chattering, ad nauseam; 
 every festivity is turned thereby into mourning: while 
 every mournful solemnity is almost robbed of its painful 
 character by a still greater evil—this fierce altercation; 
 so that even the women’s apartments, and the nurseries 
 of simple childhood, are disturbed thereby, and the fair 
 blossoms of modesty are nipped and spoilt by this pre- 
 mature training for disputation. This is a sketch of 
 the disturbing influence of this contentious spirit; it 
 had, however, besides that, a fearfully destructive in- 
 fluence on all domestic and political relations. This 
 bad effect is pointed out by Gregory in most lively 
 colours in another passage—‘ It is this,’ he says,? ‘which 
 has torn asunder the members of that one body—the 
 Church; has set brothers at enmity; thrown cities into 
 commotion; enraged citizens against each other; driven 
 
 1 The comic side is especially exhibited by Gregory of Nyssa, 
 in a passage already much quoted: Orat. de Deitat. Filit et Spir. 
 Sanct., Opp. t. iii. p. 466, ed. Paris; where he describes how at 
 that time labouring-men, traders, old-clothesmen, and runaway 
 slaves, set themselves up as teachers of dogmatic religion; and 
 how it was hardly possible to transact money-matters, to purchase 
 bread, to bespeak a bath, without being involved in a philoso- 
 phical discussion whether the Son was begotten or not begotten, 
 his subordination to the Father, and the like! Compare Neander’s 
 account of this rage for dogmatic disputation among the people 
 of Constantinople, against which the practical piety of Chrysostom 
 had to contend, Neander’s Chrysost., 2nd Th. pp. 18, 118. 
 
 2 Orat. xxvii. 2, p. 488. Compare Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1210, 
 
 0; 
 ro Orat. xxxii. 4, p. 581. 
 
CHAP. I. | CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 161 
 
 the people to take up arms; stirred up princes; sepa- 
 rated priests from their people, and from each other ; 
 the people from their priests, and from one another ; 
 parents from their children, children from their parents ; 
 husbands from their wives, wives from their husbands. 
 Everything which bears a holy name has been profaned ; 
 slaves and masters, pupils and teachers, old and young, 
 have brought dishonour upon themselves and all the 
 laws of veneration (that peculiar safeguard of virtue!) 
 In lieu thereof, an insolent presumption is introduced 
 as the highest law; and we are divided, not merely tribe 
 against tribe, (as Israel of old,) but houses and families 
 against each other; nay, almost every one is distracted 
 within himself. And this is true of the whole world, 
 the whole human race, as far as the heavenly doctrines 
 of the Gospel have penetrated.’ 
 
 In addition to these religious disputes there arose 
 also political struggles, in the form of the serious wars 
 maintained by the Roman empire against the Goths, so 
 that this empire, in a very great degree, presented the 
 appearance of a sea agitated by violent storms.! 
 
 But the unhappy divisions by which, at that time, the 
 Christians in general were distracted, showed them- 
 selves under a form peculiarly alarming in the very 
 capital of the empire. Under the late governments 
 different parties had, by turns, been patronized, but 
 subsequently those in particular who, though entertain- 
 ing different views from each other, yet agreed in this, 
 
 ’ 
 
 1 Greg. Orat. xxii. 2, p. 415, where, among other things, he 
 says: ‘It is dreadful to think of what we now see and hear; 
 whole provinces laid waste—myriads of people slain—the ground 
 covered with blood and dead bodies—a people of strange language 
 (i.e. the Goths, see Orat. xxxiii. 2, p. 604) are stalking over a 
 land that is not theirs, as if it were their own home.”..... 
 
 M 
 
162 STATE OF RELIGION AND THE [SECT. III. 
 
 that they impugned the Nicene rule of faith. Constan- 
 tius had protected the Arian party; Julian, during his 
 short government, all parties alike, (at least in appear- 
 ance,) but only to oppress all. After Jovian’s early 
 death, Valens succeeded to the supreme power in the 
 eastern portion of the empire; and, with him, Arianism 
 had even more favour than it had had with Constantius ; 
 for he did not merely protect it, but also sought, by 
 revolting cruelties inflicted upon the friends of the 
 Nicene decrees,to make it predominant. The orthodox 
 Christians were now excluded from all churches and 
 ecclesiastical property, and the Arians took possession 
 of the same. Constantinople, however, still continued 
 the arena of ecclesiastical contention and religious par- 
 tizanship. In that great city, to which, together with 
 some isolated good things, so much that was bad flowed 
 in from all parts of the world, almost all parties had 
 their adherents; but the following were the most re- 
 markable. The Hunomians, professing an intellectual 
 theology (which pretended to have completely explored 
 the being of God by means of logical definitions), and 
 after a strictly Arian fashion asserting the inequality of 
 the Son to the Father, were very numerous in Constan- 
 tinople,! and injured the earnest, practical sense of reli- 
 gion chiefly by this, that they made use of the doctrines 
 of Christianity exclusively as subjects for a disputatious 
 
 1 This is abundantly proved by the fact, that Gregory directed 
 his polemical efforts principally against this party. Even in the 
 more intimate society of the Emperor Theodosius, there were still, 
 at first, some followers of Eunomius, but they were soon got rid 
 of.—Philostorg. Hist. Eccl., x. 6. Compare also, Sozomen. Hist. 
 Ecel., vi. 27, upon the wide spread of this party. 
 
CHAP. 1. | CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 163 
 
 logic. The Macedonians, who were attached to a semi- 
 Arian notion of the equality of the natures in the Father 
 and the Son, and, so far, approached nearer to the 
 orthodox, were, at the same time, distinguished by a 
 dignified earnestness of behaviour, and a monastic strict- 
 ness of manner. ‘They were themselves excluded from 
 the possession of church property by the pure Arians, 
 but still they spread widely, partly in Constantinople 
 itself, partly in the neighbouring districts of the Hel- 
 lespont, Thrace, Bithynia, and Phrygia. The Vovatians, 
 outstepping the Macedonians in the strictness of their 
 practical principles, had, at a former time, been on the 
 point of uniting with the orthodox party, (from whom 
 they did not differ on the main dogma in dispute, and 
 with whom they experienced like oppression from the 
 Arians,) had not the malevolent disposition of some 
 party-leaders interposed as an obstacle. Thus they still 
 remained separate, and therefore also increased the 
 number of the opponents of orthodoxy.? Lastly, the 
 Apollinarians had also begun to establish themselves 
 there in numbers. Their doctrine contradicted the con- 
 fession of Christ’s true and perfect human nature, for 
 that nature consists particularly of the faculty of reason 
 (which they denied to Christ*). There was also a 
 report at that time, as Gregory informs us, that an 
 assembly of Apollinarian bishops would be held at Con- 
 
 ! We see the proof of their numbers in the polemical orations 
 of Gregory delivered in Constantinople. We shall have occasion, 
 in the dogmatic portion of this work, to speak more at length 
 concerning these parties. 
 
 3 Sozomen. Hist. Eecles., iv. 20. 
 
 * This parenthesis is interpolated by me, to make the sentence 
 intelligible.-—Zranslator. 
 
 mM 9 
 
104 STATE OF RELIGION AND THE [ SECT. III. 
 
 stantinople, with the view of elevating their doctrine 
 of Christ’s nature into general notice, and even of forcing 
 it upon the Churches.! 
 
 Through these different and daily increasing forms of 
 opposition, the orthodox Church had come into a 
 lamentable condition; and we cannot but wonder that 
 the small band of her faithful members had not already 
 melted away altogether, under the furious persecutions 
 of their opponents, particularly of the pure Arians. 
 From their ecclesiastical independence, and from their 
 corporate existence in relation to the State, they had 
 already been virtually ejected. They were held together 
 only by brotherly love (which, alas! was often dis- 
 turbed), and a common devotion to the same confession 
 of faith. We cannot better learn the condition of the 
 orthodox Church community immediately before the 
 arrival of Gregory, than from the description which he 
 has given us;? a description which we can so much the 
 less consider exaggerated, as it is taken from an oration 
 which he delivered in the presence of a large portion of 
 the inhabitants of Constantinople, and before one 
 hundred and fifty bishops. ‘This flock (he is speaking 
 of his congregation) was once small and destitute, at 
 least to the outward eye. Nay, it was hardly to be 
 called a flock, but only a small trace, a remnant of a 
 
 1 Greg. Carm de Vit. sua, line 609 et seq. p. 10: 
 Kai yao τις tSpudXEiTo Kai συνήλυσις © 
 ᾿Επισκόπων, νεήλυν αἵρεσιν λόγων 
 ᾿Επεισαγόντων ταῖς φίλαις ἐκκλησίαις. 
 5 Orat. xlii. 2, p. 749. Of the same purport, Carm. de Vit. 
 sua, line 587—591, p. 10. 
 Εἶχε τι μικρὸν ζωτικῆς σπέρμα πνοῆς, 
 Ψυχὰς τελειὰς τῷ λόγῳ τῆς πίστεως, 
 Λαὸν βραχὺν μὲν, τῷ Θεῷ δὲ πλειόνα. 
 
CHAP. 1.} CHURCH AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 165 
 
 flock, without order, without an overseer, without co- 
 herence. They had neither free pastures, nor any 
 regular fold, but they wandered about upon the hills, 
 ‘in dens and caves of the earth’ (Hebrews, xi. 38), 
 scattered here and there, torn and bruised; and if they 
 found a bare support and scanty pasturage, they thought 
 themselves fortunate to steal away again in safety.’ 
 
 Such was the wretched, distracted state of the 
 orthodox party at Constantinople, when Valens, the 
 patron of Arianism, lost his life in the bloody battle 
 against the Goths, near Adrianople, a.p. 378. Gratian, 
 in consideration of the highly critical state of the empire, 
 wished to share the troubles and dangers of government 
 with an efficient colleague. For this purpose he chose 
 Theodosius (at that time thirty-three years of age), who 
 was called to the throne from his paternal estate in 
 Spain, whither he had been banished. He entered upon 
 the government of the East in the year 379, and from 
 his ascending the throne commences a new and happy 
 epoch for the hitherto oppressed orthodox party. Even 
 in the capital of the Eastern empire (nay, there most 
 especially), they now dared to form the best hopes; they 
 only wanted a man who could stand with power and 
 spirit at the head of their little band, supply them with 
 a rallying-point, and procure them respect among the 
 hostile parties. Could such an one be found, they dared 
 to hope for victory; but not without a struggle, since 
 the entire ecclesiastical power was in the hands of the 
 Arians and the parties connected with them. 
 
166 GREGORY AT CONSTANTINOPLE: [SECT. III. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 GREGORY COMES TO CONSTANTINOPLE, AND COLLECTS A 
 CONGREGATION. 
 
 In this state of things, many members of the neglected 
 community, and even some bishops! (probably of the 
 neighbourhood), turned their thoughts towards Gregory, 
 whose fame was already spread widely in the East, and 
 urgently requested him to come at this decisive moment? 
 to Constantinople. He allowed himself to be persuaded, 
 though he assures us that he went thither sorely against 
 his wishes; nay, he even hints that they were obliged to 
 use force to tear him from the retirement of his then 
 
 1 An epistle to Bosporius, of Colonia, seems to refer to this: 
 Epist. xiv. al. 48, p. 777. 
 5 Gregory says so plainly enough. Carm. de Vit. sua, 
 
 lines 592-596, p. 10: 
 
 Τούτοις.... 
 
 Ἔπεμψεν ἡμᾶς ἡ χάρις τοῦ Πνέυματος, 
 
 Πολλῶν καλούντων ποιμένων καὶ ϑρεμμάτων. 
 Compare with this his Carm. adv. Episc., line 81, p. 12. That 
 under the expression, ‘ many of the sheep,’ Soéupara, Gregory 
 expressly understands members of the orthodox Church at Con- 
 stantinople, is clear from a passage in the 36th Oration, where, 
 among the reasons why his congregation was so attached to him, 
 he assigns this also, ‘ because they looked upon him as their own | 
 work,’—that is, because they had called him thither. Many 
 others, also, both laymen and clergy, may have encouraged 
 Gregory to go to Constantinople. Among them, Gregory Pres- — 
 byter (in his Vita Gregorii, p. 18) particularly mentions Basil, as_ | 
 having, shortly before his death, expressed this wish to his friend. 
 Probably, also, Peter, bishop of Alexandria, was among them, 
 who, both in his fate, as well as in his episcopal chair, wasa | 
 respected successor to Athanasius. At least, he wrote to Gregory, 
 either just before his arrival at Constantinople, or soon after, ἃ 
 very friendly letter, wherein he declares him to be the legitimate | | 
 Bishop of Constantinople.—Gregor. Carm de Vit. sua, line 858, | 
 p. 14. 
 
CHAP. 11. | HE COLLECTS A CONGREGATION. 167 
 
 residence.! It was subsequently a subject of especial 
 satisfaction to him to be able to attest that he had not, 
 in the least, troubled himself about the charge of the 
 Bishopric of Constantinople, but that he had been called, 
 nay, forced to go, and had only come thither from a 
 sense of duty and the impulse of the Spirit.? 
 
 Gregory appeared unexpectedly in Constantinople, 
 and the impression which he at first made upon the 
 people was not favourable to him. He came to defend 
 a faith which was still rejected with passionate earnest- 
 ness by most of them. He was a pious and an eloquent 
 man, but he had never taken any pains to make himself 
 agreeable and commanding by attention to externals ; 
 and he had to make his public appearance before a city 
 which did not regard even the most precious stone, if 
 it had not been previously polished. They wanted a 
 showy orator, full of power and grace, and there came 
 to them instead a man already grown old,? bent with 
 infirmity, his eye downcast, his head bald, his features 
 full of indications of inward struggle and outward 
 privations ; clad, moreover, in miserable apparel. This 
 
 1 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 607, p. 10: Οὕτω μὲν ἤλθον οὐκ 
 ἑκὼν, ἀλλ᾽’ ἀνδράσι κλαπεὶς βιαίοις. The passage, however, is 
 poetically indefinite. Chrysostom, also, was brought from 
 Antioch to Constantinople by an artful piece of violence. 
 
 3 Orat. xxxiii. 13, p. 612. 
 
 8. Gregory, nevertheless, was not so very advanced in years, 
 being about fifty. But excessive asceticism had too early weak- 
 ened his body, and made him an old man before his time. Carm. 
 adv. Epise., line 110, p. 34, he Says : 
 
 To χάλκεον μοι σῶμα φροντίσιν τακὲν 
 Ἤδη νένευκεν. .. 
 
 * Simeon, the paraphrast, describes Gregory’s external appear- 
 ance in the following terms :—Quantum autem ad corporis for- 
 mam attinet, statura mediocri erat, pallidus aliquantulum, non 
 tamen citra venustatem; depresso naso, superciliis in rectum 
 
108 GREGORY AT CONSTANTINOPLE: [SECT. Itt. 
 
 man, they could see plainly, came not from the polished 
 society of a distinguished city, but from the country, and 
 some remote corner! He looked almost like an outcast 
 or a beggar, without goods and chattels ;! and yet this 
 man was now to commence the struggle with different 
 parties, far superior in might and in numbers. Such an 
 enterprise at least bespoke courage and trust in God. 
 On arriving at Constantinople, Gregory lodged with 
 some relations, of whom we have no farther account. It 
 was probably in that dwelling that the first meetings of 
 the small body of the orthodox were held—still, however, 
 in private, and not without danger from their persecuting 
 opponents. The professors of the Nicene system of 
 faith appear at first to have established here a private 
 chapel, which by degrees was enlarged, and subsequently 
 grew into a vast and celebrated church. It obtained 
 the significant name of Anastasia, or the Church of the 
 
 protensis, aspectu blando et suavi, altero oculo (nempe dextro) 
 subtristis, quem etiam cicatrix quedam contrahebat, barba non 
 promissa, densa tamen. Qua parte calvus non erat (nam sub- 
 calvus erat) albos crines habebat, summas item barbe partes 
 velut fumo obsitas ostendebat. This writer, however, of the 
 twelfth century, refers to no original source of information. Du 
 Cange gives a portrait of Gregory from a MS. copy of his works, 
 made in the time of Basil, the Macedonian, and now to be seen 
 in Paris. See Du Cange’s Constantinop. Christiana, lib. iv. 
 cap. 6, p. 125, where, also, farther particulars are adduced 
 respecting this Father’s outward appearance. In this representa- 
 tion, Gregory stands perfectly upright, in sacerdotal dress, with 
 the book of the Gospel in his left hand. He is very characte- 
 ristically distinguished from his brother Czesarius (who is standing 
 by him in a secular dress), by shorter hair, a longer beard, and 
 a more serious expression of countenance. 
 1 Carm. de Vit. sua, 1. 696, p. 11: 
 
 Οὐ γὰρ φορητὸν ἄνδρα τὸν πενέστατον, 
 
 Ῥικνὸν, κάτω νεύοντα, καὶ δυσείμονα, 
 
 Ταστρὺς χαλινοῖς δάκρυσι τετηχότα, 
 
 Φόβῳ τε τοῦ μέλλοντος, ὡς δ᾽ ἄλλοις KaKOIG . . .. 
 
CHAP. 11. | HE COLLECTS A CONGREGATION. 169 
 
 Resurrection, because the Nicene faith, which had lain 
 for awhile in a death-like slumber, had here been raised 
 up, and recovered fresh life and energy.} 
 
 Gregory’s first business must have been, not so much 
 to contend with opponents, as to unite firmly among 
 themselves the members of his little congregation, and 
 to lead them into the true path of the christian life. 
 He had, perhaps, been invited principally as an advocate 
 for the Nicene creed, and, as we shall soon see, he 
 responded to that call with brilliant success. But it was, 
 notwithstanding, the weightiest object with him, so to 
 lead those who were commended to his care into the true 
 spirit of an active Christianity, that their faith might be 
 proved and recommended by their lives. For they also 
 who had now attached themselves to Gregory, were only 
 too much accustomed to empty talking and disputing 
 about points of faith. He for that reason repeatedly 
 and powerfully reminded them, that this mischievous 
 
 1 See Orat. xxvi. 17, p. 484. ... οἶκος Tic advévavoey 
 ἡμᾶς εὐσεβὴς καὶ φιλόϑεος συγγενῶν τὸ σῶμα, συγγενῶν τὸ 
 πνεῦμα, πάντα φιλότιμος, παρ᾽ οἷς καὶ ὁ λαὸς οὗτος ἐπάγη, 
 κλέπτων ἔτι τὴν διωκομένην εὐσέβειαν, οὐκ ἀδεῶς, οὐδὲ ἀκινδύνως. 
 Orat. xlii. 26, p. 766: Χαίροις ᾿Αναστασία μοι τῆς εὐσεβείας 
 ἐπώνυμε; σὺ ‘yap τὸν λόγον ἡμῖν ἐξανεστήσας ἔτι καταῴφρο- 
 νούμενον, κιτ.λ. Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1079, p. 17: 
 
 ᾿Αναστασία, γαῶν ὁ τιμιώτατος, 
 
 Ἡ πίστιν ἐξήγειρας ἐν γῇ κειμένην. 
 Other opinions concerning the origin of the Anastasia church and 
 its name are to be seen in Du Cange’ s Constantinop. Christian., 
 lib. iv. cap. 7, p. 141 et seq. This church was always par- 
 ticularly dear to Gregory, and cherished in his memory. See 
 his Somniwm de Anastasie Templo, Carm. ix., especially verse 61, 
 p. 79. He compares it frequently to Noah’s ‘ark, to Shilo, where 
 the ark of the covenant found a secure resting-place, and the 
 like. Legends also ennobled this church with accounts of miracles 
 connected with it.—Sozom. Hist. Eceles., vii. 5. It was in many 
 respects enlarged and adorned under the subsequent emperors. 
 
170 GREGORY AT CONSTANTINOPLE : [ SECT. II. 
 
 and God-forgetting talkativeness about divine things 
 destroyed all genuine fear of God, and desecrated what 
 was holy ; and that there was only one way of the truly 
 christian life,—that of active piety in the fulfilment of 
 God’s commandments. And this consisted in tending 
 upon the sick, assisting the poor, real hospitality, perse- 
 vering prayer, devoted self-denial, temperance, subduing 
 of the passions, and the like. Such a devoted, self- 
 denying life of active charity he recommended, as the 
 simple way of faith, to all who wished to attain to true 
 happiness. ‘If (he added) faith were only for the 
 learned, then none amongst us would be poorer than! 
 God.’ Whenever he had opportunity, Gregory repeated 
 the weighty truth (which, indeed, contained within it 
 one of the fundamental thoughts of his whole theology), 
 that the knowledge of God and of his revealed will was 
 only attainable in proportion to the purifying of the 
 soul from the soil of sin; that only the pure soul was 
 capable of holding intercourse with the Eternally-Pure ; 
 and that it was only through a godly life that any one 
 could raise himself to the knowledge and contemplation 
 of the divine nature. The doing God’s will was, with 
 him, the necessary prelude and the only way to a true 
 and living knowledge; in all his dogmatic speculations, 
 he never lost sight of that.? 
 
 Gregory expresses himself very clearly on these 
 
 1 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1210—1231, pp. 19, 20. The same 
 thoughts are very strongly expressed in Orat. xxvii. 7, p. 492, 
 and in several passages of this oration. Under the term, ‘ the 
 learned,’ Gregory means such as not merely simply received and 
 acted upon the truths of the faith, but were also able to dispute 
 concerning them. 
 
 2 Orat. xx. 12, pp. 383-4, p. 377; Orat. xxxix. 9, p. 682; and 
 in many other places. 
 
CHAP. 11. | HE COLLECTS A CONGREGATION. 171 
 
 subjects in the Introduction to his celebrated theological 
 discourses, from whence we must extract a particularly 
 appropriate passage : ‘It is not every one’s business to 
 philosophise about God,—not every one’s, I repeat ; for 
 even that which is suited to the powers of those who 
 still crawl upon the earth, is no easy subject. I add, 
 moreover, that it is not proper everywhere, and before 
 everybody, and without limitation; but only at certain 
 times, before certain persons, and according to certain 
 rules. [Ὁ is not for all, but only for those who have 
 been proved and exercised in knowledge, and, above all, 
 for such as have already purified their souls and bodies, 
 or, at least, are beginning to purify them. For the 
 impure cannot without danger presume to touch the 
 All-pure, any more than the weak eye can support 
 the beams of the sun. But when may we entertain the 
 subject? Even then, when we are free from the 
 external, ordinary bustle and turmoil of life; when 
 the higher, nobler part of our nature (τὸ ἤγεμονικον) 
 is not disturbed by the impression of pitiful, distracting 
 things. And before whom? Only before such persons 
 as consider the subject as a solemn matter; who treat 
 divine things not like other topics, as subjects only for 
 
 ' Orat. xxvii. 3, p. 489. The whole discourse is worth con- 
 sulting, containing, as it does, very many practical truths. It is 
 especially directed against the Eunomians, whom Gregory desig- 
 nates as χαίροντες ταῖς βεβήλοις κενοφωνίαις, καὶ ἀντιϑέσεσι 
 τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνίυσεως, καὶ ταῖς εἰς οὐδὲν χρήσιμον φερούσαις 
 λογομαχίαις. He farther says of them: πρὸς ἕν τοῦτο βλέπουσι 
 μόνον, 0 τι δήσουσιν ἢ λύσουσι τῶν προβαλλομένων. He then 
 sketches the pernicious and melancholy results of the divisions in 
 the christian Church, and exhorts his hearers, if these separations 
 into parties could not at once be got rid of, that at least they 
 should reflect, that holy subjects should be handled as holy, and not 
 be profaned by acrimonious contentions in the hearing of the 
 heathen.—Ibid. 5, 6, p. 491 et seq. 
 
Rg) GREGORY AT CONSTANTINOPLE : [SEcT. III. 
 
 idle amusement, after discussing horse-races or the 
 theatre, after songs, and the gratification of sense and 
 appetite; who think it wicked to practise raillery upon 
 these sacred topics, in mere display of antithetical skill, 
 and as an ingredient of a life of pleasure. On what, 
 then, should we philosophise, and within what limits ? 
 On that which is within reach of the understanding, and 
 as far as the comprehensive faculty and intellectual 
 ability of the hearer can follow. Yet (he subsequently 
 adds) let no one misconstrue all this which I have said, as 
 if we should not always be thinking of God. We ought, 
 indeed, rather to think of God than draw in our breath ; 
 nay, if it were possible, we should do nothing else.’! 
 Gregory treats of these things still more copiously in 
 a discourse, which he delivered probably at the com- 
 mencement of his residence in Constantinople, and in 
 which, among other things, he reminds his hearers, in a 
 very striking manner,? that the essence of christian 
 wisdom consists, not in a sturdy readiness for argument, 
 and the ability to express oneself eloquently on divine 
 things, but in true self-knowledge and humility; and 
 that it is better to give way mildly and wisely, than to 
 be arrogantly stubborn and ignorant at the same time. 
 In the same oration, he also powerfully and beautifully 
 argues against an eagerness in condemning others, and 
 declaring them to be heretics. ‘Condemn not (he says?) 
 thy brother, call not his timidity ungodliness, and go 
 not thoughtlessly too far, while thou doomest, or (when 
 thou wouldst display a mild temper) absolvest him. 
 
 Ssh biivhs οὐ τὸ μεμνῆσϑαι διηνεκῶς κωλύω, τὸ ϑεολογεῖν δὲ. 
 οὐδὲ τὴν ϑεολογίαν, ὥσπερ ἀσεβὲς, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀκαιριαν" οὐδὲ τὴν 
 διδασκαλίαν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀμετρίαν. 
 
 2 Orat. xxxii. 21, p. 594. 3 Orat. xxxii. 29, p. 599. 
 
CHAP. 11. | HE COLLECTS A CONGREGATION. 173 
 
 But on such occasions appear as the more humble; give 
 thy brother the preference to thyself, assuredly not to 
 thy own damage; for in such a case the act of con- 
 demning and despising is nothing else than shutting out 
 a brother from Christ, the sole hope of sinners; it is 
 to pull up with the weeds, the hidden fruit, which is 
 possibly of more value than thou art.! But rather, 
 raise him up, gently and lovingly, not as an antagonist, 
 not as a physician administering medicine by force, 
 not as one who knoweth nothing but burning and 
 cutting. Learn rather to know thyself in the spirit of 
 humility, and search out thy own weaknesses. Truly, 
 it is not one and the same thing to pull up and destroy 
 a plant or a transient flower, and ὦ man. Thou art an 
 image of God, and hast to do with an image of God; 
 and thou, who judgest, wilt thyself be judged. Try, 
 then, and examine thy brother as one who is to be 
 judged by the same standard as thyself.’ Gregory also 
 particularly recommended patient mildness in judging 
 others, inasmuch as no one has a right to require of 
 another to be pious exactly after the same manner as 
 he is himself. Ue urged this especially against the 
 Eunomians, who exclusively considered the faculty of 
 perception only (that is, the understanding, with its deter- 
 minations and judgments), as the instrument through 
 which we enter into connexion with God and a higher 
 world. In opposition to such confined views, he makes 
 repeated use of our Lord’s expression: ‘In my father’s 
 house are many mansions, and concludes from them, 
 that, as there are various mansions with God, so there 
 must also be different ways (that is to say, different 
 
 1 Matth. xiii. 29. 
 
174 GREGORY REVILED [SECT. IIL. 
 
 modes of life) which lead thereto. And thus, all these 
 ways make up only one,— namely, that of virtue; 
 though this ove may branch off again into many.! 
 Wherever Gregory found an earnest christian mind, and 
 the living fruits of piety, he was willing to value them, 
 even though there were connected with them a difference 
 from his own dogmatic convictions. With this feeling, 
 he expresses himself with affectionate toleration towards 
 the Macedonians, whom (as brethren over whom he did 
 not wish to triumph, but with whom he would gladly 
 harmonize) he thus addresses :? ‘Such is the love I 
 cherish for you, such the respect 1 feel for your becoming 
 apparel, for your complexion, so expressive of abstemious- 
 ness, for your holy societies, for the honour paid by you 
 to virgin purity, for your nightly psalm-singing, your 
 love of the poor, your brotherly kindness, your hos- 
 pitality, that I could even wish to be accursed from 
 Christ (Rom. ix. 3), and suffer anything as condemned 
 for you, if ye were but united with us.’ 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 GREGORY, BEING REVILED AND PERSECUTED BY THE OPPOSITE 
 PARTIES, ENDURES IT WITH MILD FORBEARANCE: CONTENTION 
 AMONGST THE ORTHODOX IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 WHILE Gregory was obliged to exert all his energies in 
 order to collect only a small congregation, bound to- 
 
 1 Orat. xxvii. 8, p. 498. After these observations, Gregory 
 makes the following application to the Eunomians: τί οὖν, ὦ 
 βέλτιστε, ὡσπέρ τινα πενίαν, καταγνῶντες τοῦ ἡμετέρου λόγου, 
 πάσας τὰς ἄλλας ὁδοὺς ἀφέντες, πρὸς μίαν ταύτην φέρεσϑε καὶ 
 ὠϑεῖσϑε τὴν διὰ λόγου καὶ ϑεωρίας, ὡς αὐτοὶ οἴεσϑε,. ὡς δὲ ἐγώ 
 φημι, ἀδολεσχίας καὶ τερατείας. 
 
 5. Orat. xii. 8, p. 791. 
 
CHAP. III. | AND PERSECUTED. 175 
 
 gether in truly evangelical sentiments, he had to 
 encounter severe struggles and persecutions from with- 
 out. He was, from the first, an object of hatred and of 
 ridicule for all other parties, and men stooped to the 
 lowest calumnies against him. They reproached him 
 with his little congregation, his poverty, his origin from 
 an obscure, indigent, provincial town ; they called him, 
 in disparagement, a stranger, a foreigner; they even 
 jested upon his well-worn clothing, his rough, unpolished 
 behaviour, and the like. He, in return, gloried, with a 
 noble pride in those very things which were objected 
 against him, rejoicing in his congregation, small indeed 
 and poor, but true and faithful—not ashamed of the 
 plain, unpolished manners of his fatherland, but simply 
 remarking, that all men, who are truly great and noble, 
 had in common one spiritual and heavenly country.! 
 Such reproachful language might well be endured ; 
 but in those times of wild excitement, the religious 
 hatred of zealots soon proceeded to deeds. Even in the 
 midst of his little flock the life of Gregory was not 
 secure.” On one occasion, in the night-time, the meet- 
 ing-place of the orthodox was assailed; a mob of Arians, 
 and, in particular, women of the lowest stamp, led on by 
 monks, armed themselves with sticks and stones, and 
 forced an entrance into the peaceful place of holy 
 worship. The champion of orthodoxy well nigh became 
 a martyr to his convictions: the altar was profaned, the 
 consecrated wine was mixed with blood, the house of 
 prayer was made a scene of outrage and unbridled 
 
 1 Orat. xxxili. 1, p. 603; and also 6—10, p. 607 et seq. 
 
 2 Carm. de Vit. sua, lines 665—678; Lpist. 81, p. 839; 
 Orat. xxxiil. 5, p. 607: Orat. xxiii. 5, p. 428 ; Orat. xxxv. 3, 4, 
 p. 630 et seq. 
 
176 GREGORY REVILED | SECT. Itt. 
 
 licentiousness. Gregory happily escaped; but on the 
 next morning he was summoned before the magistrates 
 on account of this nocturnal tumult. In the full con- 
 sciousness of his innocence he defended himself so suc- 
 cessfully, that this transaction served only to increase 
 the triumph of his righteous cause. Most probably it 
 was this event (though many others like it may have 
 happened) which afterwards obtained for Gregory the 
 honourable title of a Confessor. 
 
 During all these persecutions, the pattern of St, 
 Stephen, and the many heroes of the christian faith, 
 floated before the mind of Gregory—but especially the 
 example of Him, who said, ‘ Bless them that curse you,’ 
 and who even prayed for his enemies while hanging on 
 the cross. He therefore treated even his enemies with 
 gentleness and kindness, because it was a weightier 
 object with him to improve them, than to cause their 
 injustice to be punished. He counted it, like the first 
 witnesses to the Gospel, a source of joy and satisfaction 
 to suffer for the truth’s sake; and he would certainly 
 not have exchanged this state of suffering for a life of 
 undisturbed, unruffled quiet. Hear how he expresses 
 himself on the subject on writing to a friend :? ‘ Although 
 fearful, yea, exceedingly fearful things have befallen us, 
 yet it will be better to exercise patience, and to set a 
 pattern of patient suffering to the great body of 
 Christians; for men in general are not so powerfully 
 convinced by words as by deeds; and deeds under such 
 
 1 Carm. de Vita sua, line 668, p. 11. Gregory Presbyter thus 
 expresses himself thereon: συλλαξόμενοι δὲ αὐτὸν, TH τοῦ 
 ὑπατικοῦ παρέστησαν βήματι, ὥς τινα ταραχῶν καὶ στάσεων 
 αἴτιον.--- Vita Gregorii, p. 144. 
 
 ® Epist. 81, p. 889—841. 
 
CHAP. III. | AND PERSECUTED. 1771 
 
 circumstances are a silent exhortation. It is certainly 
 something great to see justice done upon those who 
 have done us injustice; something great, I say, because 
 it is also beneficial, and for the good of others. But it 
 is far greater, and more godike, to bear injustice with 
 courage; for the former puts a check upon baseness, but 
 the latter brings the wicked to a softer tone of mind ; 
 and that is surely much better and more excellent than 
 that they should simply not be base.’ After quoting 
 from the Scriptures examples of a patient endurance of 
 suffering, Gregory thus proceeds:—‘ You see, then, at 
 once, the whole process of mild forbearance ; first of all, 
 it prescribes the course required by law; then it recom- 
 mends, it promises, it threatens, it punishes, but again 
 holds back the hand; again it threatens, if there be a 
 necessity ; it strikes a blow, but with a wish to spare, 
 since it wishes only to prepare men for improvement. 
 So, also, we would not strike immediately, (for that 
 would not be prudent,) but would overcome by love. 
 We would not cause the fig-tree to be dried up at once, 
 which might still bear fruit.’ 
 
 Unhappily Gregory had to contend, not merely 
 against the different Arian parties, but also against 
 dissension in his own community. The spirit of par- 
 tizanship, especially in connexion with religion, had, at 
 that time, spread itself over all nations and cities, and 
 extended its baneful influence even to the smallest 
 communities. Even the little band of orthodox at 
 Constantinople, oppressed as it was on all sides, was 
 not perfectly united together, but took part in a division 
 which had diffused itself from Antioch over almost the 
 whole of eastern and western Christendom. The dispute 
 began about the election of bishops, but was originally 
 
 N 
 
178 CONTENTION AMONGST THE [SECT. Tu; 
 
 also connected with the great Arian commotions. At 
 the date, however, when this question concerns us, it 
 referred properly to the persons of the rival bishops. 
 When Arianism was dominant in Antioch, Meletius, 
 formerly Bishop of Sebaste, but, at that time, of Bercea, 
 was chosen bishop by the Acacian, or Arian party, 
 because he had completely assented to the doctrines of 
 Acacius in the council at Seleucia. Nevertheless, they 
 had deceived themselves in their choice of him, or he 
 had altered his opinions. As soon as he entered upon 
 his bishopric, he at first avoided dogmatic expositions, 
 and preached merely moral doctrines.! Afterwards, 
 however, he began to propound the Nicene confession 
 of faith, and to maintain the equality of persons. This 
 caused his banishment. Euzoius, an Arian of the old 
 school, was his successor. The adherents, however, of 
 Meletius separated themselves from the Arians, and 
 formed a distinct community, yet without uniting with 
 the old orthodox, or Nicene party; for these held back 
 from the Meletian party, because Meletius had been 
 made bishop by the Arians. These two parties, therefore 
 —the old orthodox and the Meletian—although agree- 
 ing in their convictions, were yet ecclesiastically distinct. 
 Subsequently, when, under the government of Julian, 
 the Nicene-minded bishops, who had been banished by 
 Constantius, returned from their exile in the Upper 
 Thebais—viz. Eusebius, bishop of Vercellee, and Lucifer, 
 bishop of Calaris—the latter betook himself to Antioch, 
 and there consecrated the presbyter, Paulinus, as their 
 bishop, in order to give a head to the party attached to 
 
 WEE ὁ δέ, πρῶτον μὲν περὶ δόγματος διαλέγεσθαι ὑπερτί- 
 ϑετο, μόνην δὲ τὴν ἡϑικὴν διδασκαλίαν τοῖς ἀκροαταῖς 
 προσήκειν.----δοογαῦ. 11. 44. 
 
CHAP. III. | ORTHODOX IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 179 
 
 the banished Meletius. He was not, however, acknow- 
 ledged as such by a great portion of them, and so much 
 the less, when now Meletius himself returned to Antioch 
 from exile. The orthodox Christians, therefore, in 
 Antioch remained thus divided into two parties, of 
 which that of Meletius was the more important—that 
 of Paulinus the less numerous; and this division still 
 continued, when the party against which they both con- 
 tended (ae. the Arian) had already lost much of its 
 strength. They even extended their influence to the 
 other orthodox Churches, since the Western and Egyptian 
 Churches were gained over by Lucifer to the interest of 
 Paulinus, while the Eastern Churches sided with Meletius. 
 It even happened that, in some particular communities, 
 men’s minds were divided on this point, and a part of 
 the members declared themselves for Paulinus, another 
 part for Meletius. This appears certainly to have been 
 the case in Constantinople at the very time when Gregory 
 presided over the orthodox community there. At least, 
 there are several passages, particularly in the 22nd 
 Oration, which cannot be better explained than by 
 referring them to this state of things. ‘There is no 
 end (says Gregory) to our combat, not only with those 
 who differ from our opinions, and vary from us on points 
 of faith, but also with those of like opinions, who 
 contend against the same and for the same with us—a 
 circumstance which is, in truth, most extraordinary, 
 melancholy, and to be lamented.! He then remarks, 
 that the same teachers are to-day extolled to the sky, 
 and to-morrow doomed to hell; to-day they are ranked 
 with Elias and John, to-morrow, with Judas and 
 
 ' Orat. xxii. 4, p. 416. 
 N 2 
 
180 CONTENTION AMONGST THE [SECT. III. 
 
 Caiaphas; while their discreet and abstemious bearing, 
 their dignity, blended with affability, are to-day inter- 
 preted as genuine piety, to-morrow as hypocritical 
 vanity.! The following passage, however, is especially 
 decisive :—‘'To our previous unworthiness this also is 
 added, that though favoured by God with a knowledge 
 of his salvation, still we contend for the interests of 
 other men; nay, that this contentious spirit goes so far, 
 that we even make use of the ambition of others in 
 order to gratify it, and commence hostilities among owr- 
 selves for the sake of foreign bishops. And thus two 
 serious sins are at once committed, while we certainly 
 inflame their ambition still more, and, at the same time, 
 seize upon this as an excuse for gratifying our own 
 passions.’ ? 
 
 Several lovers of peace had exerted themselves to 
 adjust this wide-spread Antiochian schism; among others, 
 the great Basil, who had been a scholar of Meletius, 
 addressed a series of letters to his former master. To 
 these peace-makers belonged also Gregory Nazianzen, 
 and the orations from which the above passages are 
 quoted had the especial object of drawing off, at least, 
 the orthodox of Constantinople from this lamentable 
 meddling with foreign disputes. He had, partly for 
 
 b Orat. xxii. 5, p. 417. 
 
 * Orat. xxii. 13, p. 422. In the same oration Gregory uses the 
 following remarkable expressions, which characterize in a fearful 
 manner the moral condition of his time (Orat. xxii. 9, p. 420): 
 ‘It is quite shocking that no one any longer attributes to another 
 real truth and honesty—unfeigned unsophisticated virtue, ὕτι 
 μηδεὶς ἔτι πιστεύεται πιστὸς Eivarc—even though he may actually 
 possess an unblemished character and sincere piety ; but that, 
 as a rule, one class of men are openly bad—the other exhibit, 
 by way of mask and outward varnish, a certain good-natured 
 gentleness (éretcetay), in order to deceive by mere outward show. 
 
CHAP. III.] ORTHODOX IN CONSTANTINOPLE. 181 
 
 this reason, undertaken the laborious administration of 
 the Bishopric of Constantinople, because he hoped, from 
 this place, standing, as it did, in direct connexion with 
 the Eastern and Western Churches, to be able to compose 
 the difference which severed East and West. It was 
 natural, however, that he should make the beginning 
 with his own community. He presented himself, there- 
 fore, before them expressly for this purpose, and (after 
 he had addressed his people with the! usual greeting, 
 ‘Peace be with you! and had received from them the 
 salutation (according to the liturgy), ‘And peace be with 
 thy spirit!) he thus proceeded :? ‘ Beloved peace! thou 
 sweet word of greeting, which I have now invoked upon 
 my people and received in return from them. [I cer- 
 tainly know not, whether it were spoken by all in an 
 honest manner, and worthy of the Spirit, and whether 
 this outward bond has not been broken in the sight of 
 God. Beloved peace! my daily thought and dearest 
 jewel, who art most intimately combined with God’s 
 essence; for thus we hear in the Holy Scriptures, ‘the 
 peace of God, and ‘the God of peace’; and again, ‘ He 
 himself is our peace, and yet we honour thee not. 
 Beloved peace! thou blessing, praised by all, but 
 cherished by few, how long hast thou already left us! 
 and when wilt thou again return to us? He goes on 
 to show how ruinously these divisions must necessarily 
 operate, and how utterly they were opposed to the mind 
 of the Gospel, and particularly in this beautiful passage :* 
 «If any one inquire of us, what we especially regard and 
 
 1 Chrysost. Homil. iii. in Ep. ad Coloss...... bray εἰσέλθῃ ὁ 
 τῆς ἐκκλησίας προεστώς, εὐδέως λέγει" εἰρήνη πᾶσιν" ὅταν ὁμιλῇ, 
 εἰρήνη πᾶσιν. See more on this subject in Augusti’s Denk- 
 wiirdigkeit., vol. vi. p. 358. 
 
 2 Orat. xxii. 1, p. 414. 3 Orat. xxii. 4, p. 416. 
 
182 REUNION OF PARTIES. [SECT. Il. 
 
 pray for, we would unhesitatingly reply, ‘ Love’; for our 
 God is love, and that word he listens to rather than any 
 other. How then can we, who are disciples of love, 
 hate each other so bitterly? How can we, the admirers 
 of peace, contend with each other so implacably? Can 
 we, who are built upon the same corner-stone, be dis- 
 united? we, who rest upon the rock, be shaken asunder? 
 Certainly, Gregory did not reckon upon pleasing or 
 persuading all whom he addressed, since he says! (after 
 reminding them how the world was now divided into 
 two parties), ‘ Whoever now stands peaceably in the 
 middle way will be badly treated by both parties, and be 
 either despised, or rudely attacked.2 'To that class, how- 
 ever, I this day belong, (I, who thus censure the other,) 
 and with that view I have undertaken the duties of this 
 much-disputed and much-envied Bishopric; nor shall 1, 
 therefore, be surprised, if I be roughly handled by both 
 parties, and, after much toil and labour, be driven away, 
 in order that, when there is no longer a wall of partition, 
 no hindrance to their inclinations, they may resume, 
 with all the fire of hatred, their hostile proceedings.’ 
 
 It is, however, probable that these addresses of Gregory 
 produced more and better results than he himself ex- 
 pected. At least, we hear no more of any dissension in 
 the orthodox community of Constantinople, which had 
 brought itself into such a condition; and we have an 
 oration of Gregory’s which celebrates an amicable re- 
 conciliation between the members of his community, 
 and probably belongs to this period of his history. 
 
 1 Orat. xxii. 14, p. 428. 
 
 2... ὅσον δὲ εἰρηνικόν TE καὶ μέσον, ὑπ᾽ ἀμφοτέρων πάσχει 
 κακῶς, ἢ καταφρονούμενον, 7) καὶ πολεμούμενον. 
 
 3 Orat. xxiii. p. 425. It is disputed certainly, concerning this 
 oration, whether it belongs exactly to this period, or to an earlier 
 
CHAP. IV. | GREGORY'S PREACHING. 183 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 GREGORY’S PREACHING ; AND HIS PRIVATE LIFE AT 
 CONSTANTINOPLE. 
 
 Ir seems appropriate here to consider generally the 
 nature and manner of Gregory’s ministration at Con- 
 stantinople, briefly to estimate his claims to eloquence, 
 and cast a look at his private life. 
 
 As an ecclesiastical orator, Gregory is of great weight. 
 In the whole course of his education, the idea of be- 
 coming an orator had floated before him, and next to 
 the effort to become a good Christian in knowledge and 
 in practice, Gregory knew no higher object than to be 
 a good orator and an effective advocate for the christian 
 faith. Already, in early youth, he went to Palestine, 
 because the schools of rhetoric there were in especial 
 celebrity. At Athens, rhetoric, in company with phi- 
 losophy, was his principal study; he was said even to 
 have been a teacher of rhetoric there; and, on his return 
 to his native country, he was immediately obliged to 
 exhibit his powers in that art. That whole generation 
 
 date—perhaps when Gregory entered upon the episcopal duties at 
 Nazianzum, in his father’s lifetime. The following passage, how- 
 ever (Orat. xxiii. 3, 4, p. 426), seems to speak tolerably plain for 
 the first supposition : ‘We were not at variance concerning the 
 doctrine of the Godhead, but only about the proper order of 
 church matters. Certainly it was wrong even to contend about 
 this ; I will not deny it. But since, as men, we could not but 
 fail on some point, this is our error: we had too great a predilec- 
 tion for one particular bishop, and we could not, of two excellent 
 men, decide immediately which to choose as the most excellent, 
 until we agreed to honour both alike. This is the extent of our 
 fault.’ It seems, therefore, that they came to a reconciliation, on 
 agreeing to acknowledge and honour both as legitimate bishops. 
 
184 GREGORY'S PREACHING. [SECT. ΠΣ 
 
 regarded scarcely any art more highly than oratory; and 
 Gregory, as a christian teacher, attached especial value 
 to the faculty of working upon men’s minds, particularly 
 through the word of God and its lively oracles.1 Un- 
 fortunately, Gregory’s age was also the age of rhetorical 
 display and fine speaking. Instead of the ancient sim- 
 plicity, where the clear thought and the strong feeling 
 were expressed in the most suitable and intelligible 
 language, an artificial refinement had been introduced, 
 which endeavoured by elaborate ornament, pompous ac- 
 cumulation, startling applications, ingenious antitheses, 
 amusing playfulness, to compensate what was wanting 
 in solidity and fulness of thought and sentiment. We 
 find this in the most celebrated heathen rhetoricians of 
 the fourth century ; and Gregory, who was their scholar, 
 was not able to raise himself above this show of rhe- 
 torical skill to the simplicity of true christian eloquence, 
 strongly as he at times laments over the ornamented 
 and theatrical style of christian elocution.? Nothing, 
 certainly, was wanting to Gregory in the way of 
 oratorical talent. We find in him fire and strength, 
 rapidity and compactness of thought, heartiness and 
 truth of feeling, frequent instances of clear poetical 
 representation, occasionally even an elevated flight, 
 perfect purity in the use of the Greek language, and, 
 for the most part, a noble, well-sustained phraseology. 
 
 1 See above, at page 50. 
 2 Orat. xxxvi. 2, p. 635; Carm. adv. Episc., line 301, p. 31, 
 edit. Tollii : 
 Ὁ νοῦς aivétro, Kai τοδ᾽ ἡμῖν ἀρκέσει. 
 Οὐδὲν τὸ κομψὸν, τοις ϑέλουσι δώσομεν. 
 “Piboy τὸ κάλλος, ὧν τὰ δόγματ᾽ ἀποστρέφῃ. 
 ᾿Εμφιλοσὸφει τῇ εὐτελέια τοῦ λόγου. 
 Hpiv ἀρέσκεις, κἀν ἀπαιδευτως λαλῆς. 
 
CHAP. 1Ὑ.] GREGORY'S PREACHING. 185 
 
 But with all this, the enjoyment of his orations is not 
 unfrequently spoiled by long digressions, bitter sarcasms, 
 laboured elegance, false splendour, and a straining after 
 ingenious antitheses.!_ His funeral orations, in par- 
 ticular, are too declamatory and exaggerated in com- 
 mendation, and would be far weightier, and more at- 
 tractive, if they sketched individuals characteristically 
 from the life, instead of exhibiting them as patterns? of 
 all the virtues. These, however, are, in a great degree, 
 faults of the generation, and Gregory shows in de- 
 tached passages, and in whole orations (for instance, in 
 that upon Maccabees), that under other circumstances 
 he could have been a classic orator. Christian orators 
 of that period always had this advantage over the heathen 
 rhetoricians, that the topics of their addresses were more 
 weighty, as well as more elevating. They discussed 
 subjects by which the age was profoundly excited, and 
 in which they themselves took a lively interest, while 
 the heathen rhetoricians spoke in defence of an extinct 
 worship, or upon other subjects, which could make no 
 pretension to political or social interest. 
 
 We find in the old Fathers generally two different 
 kinds of public addresses; that is, either free orations, 
 after the manner of the heathen orators, but with very 
 different topics; or homilies,—that is, popular, practical, 
 expositions of Holy Scripture, which extended sometimes 
 in a connected series over whole books of the Bible. 
 This last kind was made use of by the most distinguished 
 Fathers with particularly good results; and wherever a 
 preacher produced any very beneficial and happy effect, 
 
 1 For instance, Orat. i. p. 5; Orat. xxix. 20, p. 538. 
 2 Compare, for instance, the panegyric upon Athanasius, Orat. 
 xxi. 1, p. 386, and 4, p. 388. 
 
180 GREGORY'S PREACHING. [SECT. ΤΠ 
 
 jt was by working as a practical, popular expositor of the 
 Bible, as the announcer of the quickening truths of 
 the Bible. That which made John Chrysostom great 
 and worthy of imitation in this field of exertion, that 
 which made Luther, the father of our German Church, 
 still greater and more worthy to be imitated,—the simple 
 and historical, but at the same time spirited and 
 animated exposition of Holy Scripture; this, alas! we 
 seldom find in Gregory, who, even where he has at- 
 tempted it, has followed too much the style and language 
 of the heathen teachers. We possess only one! discourse 
 by him, which contains a properly-called exposition of 
 a passage in the Bible. His sermons generally are 
 free treatises upon a dogmatic subject, or the topics 
 belonging to a Christian festival, discourses on particular 
 occasions, refutations of heretics, panegyrics and in- 
 vectives. They have no particular text to serve for a 
 foundation or for exposition, although Bible-passages are 
 not unfrequently interwoyen with them. Too few, 
 certainly, of Gregory’s discourses are, in the proper sense 
 of the word, biblical; practical they are, nevertheless,— 
 at least, in numerous passages, and in a very commend- 
 able way; still they cannot be called popular, though 
 they were so with Gregory’s hearers, who were familiar 
 with dogmatic definitions concerning the doctrine of the 
 Trinity as a subject of disputation, and very eager for 
 investigations thereon; in a far higher degree they 
 were popular with them than they would be in our days. 
 The homiletic rules and forms of modern Germany, our 
 strictly-worked-out themes, our logical divisions and sub- 
 divisions, our well-ordered uniformity of the separate 
 
 1 Orat. xxxvii. p. 645—660, upon St. Matth. xix. 1. 
 
CHAP. 1Υ.]} GREGORY'S PREACHING. 187 
 
 parts, and the like, are, generally speaking, as little to 
 be thought of in the sermons of Gregory, Basil, 
 Chrysostom, Augustine, as in those of Luther. Nothing, 
 therefore, is more unfair than to detach such productions 
 of the earlier centuries from their relative circumstances, 
 and to judge them only by the rules which our own age 
 has set up. It is with a view to this relation of time 
 and place that we subjoin the following remarks upon 
 the circumstance, that the doctrine of the Trinity forms 
 the main topic of most of Gregory’s discourses. 
 
 In all his public addresses, particularly those! which 
 were held at Constantinople, it is a principal view of the 
 orator to prove the existence of one only God, but that 
 this Godhead, without being divided, exists in three 
 self-depending Hypostases, or Persons, distinguished by 
 peculiar qualities or attributes,—viz. Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost; and that it therefore may be designated as 
 well by the term Unity as Trinity (or Trinity in Unity). 
 He opposed, with this view, those who denied the 
 equality of nature between the Son and the Father, or 
 the perfect Godhead and personality of the Holy Ghost ; 
 these were especially the Eunomians and Macedonians. 
 He maintained the contest against them with such 
 acuteness, dexterity, and success, that the name of 
 Theologus,? or the defender of the piviniry of the 
 
 ' Among the discourses of Gregory for the confirmation of the 
 doctrine of the Trinity, the most celebrated, without doubt, 
 are the five so-called Theological Discowrses, Orat. xxvii.—xxxi. 
 p. 487—577, in the Benedictine edit. The essential features of 
 their dogmatic contents, as also the chief points of Gregory’s 
 teaching on the Trinity, will subsequently be exhibited in the ab- 
 stract of his doctrinal opinions. 
 
 2 Gregor. Presbyt. in Vita Gregor., p. 149: Ἔν δὲ δογμάτων 
 ὕψει καὶ ϑεολογίᾳ, τοσοῦτον αὐτῷ τὸ περιὸν τῆς δυνάμεως, ὥστε 
 πολλῶν κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους ϑεολογησάντων ἀνδρῶν ἐπὶ σοφίᾳ 
 
188 GREGORY'S PREACHING. [ SECT. II. 
 
 Locos, was given to him principally on that account. 
 Now, it is not only to be remembered that Gregory 
 supports the doctrine of the Trinity more upon tra- 
 ditional and philosophical grounds than upon Biblical 
 proofs, but also very especially, that, through the subtile, 
 oft-repeated expansion of this doctrine, too little room 
 was left for the communication of all the blessed truths 
 of the Gospel, and a taste for dogmatic disputation en- 
 couraged, rather than a charitable, christian love of 
 peace. We must not, however, forget, lst, that in the 
 doctrine of the Trinity was involved the great subject 
 of dispute, which put in commotion all classes of the 
 christian community through the whole of the fourth 
 century; 2ndly, that Constantinople was one of the 
 principal arenas for this contest; 3rdly, that it was 
 necessary that the question should then be decided, 
 which of the antagonist doctrines should prevail; and, 
 lastly, that Gregory, as a finished theologian and cele- 
 brated orator, was expressly called to the duties of the 
 leader and champion of the orthodox or Nicene party. 
 
 γνορίμων, μόνον τοῦτον μετὰ τὸν εὐαγγελιστὴν ᾿Ιωάννην 
 “εολόγον ὀνομασϑῆναι. The expression ‘Theologus,’ as ap- 
 plied to 8. John the Evangelist, and to Gregory of Nazianzum, 
 has not the extended meaning which we now attach to it, but 
 signifies one who powerfully teaches and defends the divinity of 
 Christ, or the Logos—i. 6. ϑεολογία, in its most confined sense. 
 It is used in the same way as when one is said ϑεολογεῖν Χριστὸν, 
 or to teach Christ’s divinity. See Suiceri, 7’hesawr. Eccles., sub verb. 
 ϑεολογεῖν, Seoroyia, ϑεολόγος, tom. i. pp. 1355—1360. The de- 
 signation of Theologian often occurs in Gregory’s writings in the 
 more extended sense usual amongst us—e.g. Orat. xxvii. 1, 
 p. 495; xxx. 17, p. 552; xx. 12, p. 383. Gregory also speaks 
 of the wiser heathens as ᾿Ἑλλήνων ot ϑεολογικώτεροι, Orat. xxxi. 
 5, p. 558. When it was that Gregory first received the name of 
 Theologus, cannot be decided with exact certainty. It appears 
 first in the discourse of an unknown author, which is found among 
 the works of Chrysostom. Chrysost. Opp., t. vi. ; Orat. li. p. 401. 
 
CHAP. Iv. | GREGORY'S PREACHING. 189 
 
 But for the firm stand made by Gregory and some other 
 learned men, the anti-Nicene party would perhaps have 
 triumphed. And could we wish it had been so? or is 
 Arianism either more agreeable to the Bible, or better 
 grounded on philosophy, than the doctrine of the 
 Athanasian creed? Did the Arians, when they were 
 predominant under Valens, show themselves to be better 
 practical Christians than their opponents? And will 
 not he, who cannot see any true conception of Bible- 
 truth in the Nicene system of faith, be obliged to allow 
 that, even as a dogmatic theory, it is to be preferred to 
 Arianism ? 
 
 At the same time, it is not to be overlooked, that 
 Gregory, almost in every discourse, preaches quite as 
 much the duties of active Christianity, and that it was 
 properly the deep-seated main object of his addresses, 
 not so much to gain the understanding of his hearers 
 for a particular representation of the divine nature, as 
 their hearts for the love of God and for a godly life. ‘T 
 will speak (he says)! boldly and strongly, that you may 
 become better men, that you may be converted from the 
 flesh to the Spirit, that you may be elevated in your 
 minds after a godly fashion.’ 
 
 Gregory's addresses were heard and applauded by 
 great numbers. People of all classes and opinions, his 
 christian as well as heathen opponents, crowded to hear 
 him speak.? Many were attracted by the matter of his 
 
 1 Orat. xix. 4, p. 365. 
 2 Carmen de Vit. s., line 1126, p. 18: 
 T ~ δ᾽ ἢ y λό \ ~ 2 ~ lo X6 
 otc δ᾽ ἦν λόγος τὶς THY ἐμῶν ἴσως λόγων, 
 Ot δ᾽ ὡς ἀϑλητῇ καρτερῷ προσέτρεχον, 
 Οἱ δ᾽ ὡς ἑαυτῶν ἔργον εἶχον ἀσμένως. 
 In these three lines, Gregory sketches three classes of his hearers: 
 the first sought him on account of his eloquence ; the second at- 
 
190 GREGORY'S PREACHING. [ SECT. ΠῚ; 
 
 preaching, many by the beautiful! form of his orations. 
 Loud tokens of approbation (such as, to the disgust of 
 every earnest preacher, were at that time customary in 
 Constantinople and elsewhere)? frequently accompanied 
 the public addresses of Gregory. Nay, there were 
 ordinarily in the assembly several persons who secretly, 
 or even openly, took notes of them,’ a custom of which 
 
 tended upon him as an ardent champion for the orthodox doc- 
 trine ; the third, because they had contributed to his invitation 
 to Constantinople, and therefore looked upon him as their own 
 work. 
 
 1 It may be remarked here by the way, that the natives of 
 Cappadocia did not generally stand in much reputation as good 
 speakers of the Greek language. Philostratus says of the sophist 
 Pausanias, in this relation: ἀπὴγγειλε δ᾽ αὐτὰ TAX ELE τῇ γλώττῃ, 
 καὶ ὡς Κα ππαδόκαις σύνηϑες, ξυγκρούων μὲν τὰ σύμφωνα 
 τῶν στοιχείων, συστέλλων δὲ τὰ μηκυνόμενα, καὶ μηκύνων τὰ 
 βραχέα. ὅϑεν ἐκάλουν αὐτὸν οἱ πολλοὶ μάγειρον, πολυτελῆ 
 ὄψα πονηρῶς ἀρτύοντα.---Ἶ)6 Vitis Sophistar., ii. 18, p. 594. Olear. 
 Of Eunomius, who was also a Cappadocian, his admirer, Philo- 
 storgius, remarks (though he extols his eloquence uncommonly) 
 that he stammered.—Philostorg. Hist. Eecles., x. 6. 
 
 2 See Neander’s Chrysostom, vol. i. pp. 117, 327; Augusti’s 
 Denkwiirdigkeite, vol. vi. p. 344 et seq.; F. B. Ferrarius, De 
 Veterum Acclamationibus et Plausw., lib. v. cap. 2, p. 229, edit. 
 Mediolan. How frequently Gregory received these tokens of 
 approbation, appears particularly from a passage in 8. Jerome, in 
 which he makes his master (Gregory) say: Docebo te super hac 
 re in ecclesia : in qua mihi omni populo acclamante cogeris invitus 
 scire, quod nescis. Hieron. τον li, tom. i. p. 261. 
 
 3 Orat. ἘΠῚ. 26, Ρ. 767: ... χαίρετε τῶν ἐμῶν λόγων ἐρασταὶ, 
 καὶ δρόμοι, καὶ συνδρομαὶ, καὶ i γραφίδες φανεραὶ καὶ λανϑάνουσαι. 
 Compare Bingham’s Orig. Eccles., vol. vi. p. 197, and Augusti’s 
 Denkwiirdig gkeite, vol. vi. p. 351, where still farther particulars, 
 referring to this matter, are eiven. 1 cannot, however, agree 
 with this last-mentioned scholar, when he refers the γραφίδες 
 φανεραὶ to official writers, who took down his speeches with 
 Gregory’s knowledge, since we cannot see with what object he 
 could have employed official, ὁ. 6. specially bespoken writers. 
 He had, without doubt, carefully written out his sermons before 
 he preached them, and did not, as was the case also with other 
 famous preachers of that time, deliver them extempore. I refer 
 the expressions, taken altogether, only to persons who, either 
 
CHAP. Iv. | GREGORY’S PREACHING. 191 
 
 mention is made in the biographies of several great 
 Fathers of the Church; e.g. Origen, Chrysostom, 
 Augustine, and others. Gregory himself, under the 
 fiction of a dream, gives us the picture of an assembly 
 in his Church of the Resurrection.! ‘Sweet sleep em- 
 braced me, and in it a dream presented to my mind my 
 church Anastasia, the object of my daily longing. I 
 was seated (as it appeared to me) on ἃ high-raised 
 chair (the bishop’s throne), yet not elated in mind, for 
 nothing like arrogance took possession of me during the 
 dream. Somewhat lower, on either side of me, sat the 
 presbyters, the leaders of the flock, the chosen band of 
 men. Next stood, in robes of dazzling whiteness, the 
 attendant helpers (deacons), a picture of angelic adorn- 
 ment.? But the people arranged themselves in ranks, 
 clustering like bees around the pulpit, and contending 
 for nearer access.2 Some of them even pressed upon 
 the sacred doors, in order to approach nearer with their 
 ears as well as feet. Others flocked in from the market- 
 towns and highways to hear my discourse; while from 
 the upper range of seats holy virgins and noble ladies 
 bent forward with attentive ears. Gregory then de- 
 
 openly or secretly, took notes of his discourses for their own 
 private ends. It is, however, to be remarked, that Gregory’s 
 orations were not only thus taken down at their delivery, but 
 were also transcribed by persons of respectability during his life- 
 time.—Orat. xxix, 12, p. 371, Gregory thus addresses an Imperial 
 officer of revenue (φόρων ἀπογραφεύς) : ἀπόγραφε, μη τοὺς ἐμοὺς 
 λόγους ἐπιμελῶς, ὧν οὐδὲν ἤ μικρὸν TO κέρδος, ἢ εἰς ἀκοῆς χάριν 
 καὶ ἡδονὴν, ἀλλὰ τὸν ἐμὸν λαὸν ὁσίως καὶ φιλανϑρώπως. 
 
 1 Carmen ix. Insomniwum de Anastasie Templo., p. 78, line 1 et 
 seq. 
 
 1 Compare Constitut. Apostol., ii. 57, 58, tom. i. p. 266, edit. 
 Cotel. Cleric. 
 
 3 Orat. xlil. 26, p. 767. Gregory says of his pulpit: καὶ ἡ βια- 
 ζομένη κιγκλὶς, αὕτη τοῖς περὶ τὸν λόγον ὠϑιζομένοις. 
 
192 HIS PRIVATE LIFE [ SECT. III. 
 
 scribes how his hearers, differing as they did in taste 
 and education, had expected, some of them a plain 
 discourse, and easily understood ; others, a more laboured 
 discussion, that should go into more profound investiga- 
 tions; but he, with powerful voice and ardent mind, 
 still preached the Trinity in Unity, and combated all the 
 opposers of the doctrine. In the conclusion, he describes 
 the impression usually made upon his hearers by his 
 address; how some of them had been carried away by 
 powerful excitement to audible tokens of approbation ; 
 others, absorbed in silent meditation, would fain conceal 
 the inward struggle of their souls; others, again, had 
 been provoked to contradiction ; so that the congrega- 
 tion, as a whole, might have suggested the impression 
 of a stormy sea; yet all of them, even the most 
 passionately excited, were again conciliated by the 
 charm of eloquence. 
 
 It appears from some expressions of Gregory, and 
 chiefly from the facts themselves, that through the 
 influence of his addresses many were confirmed in 
 their belief in the Nicene confession of faith, and many 
 who had dissented from it were persuaded to adopt 
 it. Granting that the circumstance, that Theodosius 
 showed himself favourable to the orthodox, may have 
 contributed much, nay, most of all, to the great revo- 
 lution of opinion which took place about that time 
 among the inhabitants of Constantinople, still a con- 
 siderable portion of that alteration was brought about 
 by the beautiful, ardent orations of Gregory, as much 
 distinguished by their logical force as pervaded with a 
 spirit of truth. But he produced this effect not only by 
 his oratory but by his life, which gained over the hearts 
 of men, while his refined addresses sought to convince 
 
CHAP. Iv. | AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 193 
 
 their understandings. If, in disputing against his 
 opponents, his language was occasionally severe, harsh, 
 and bitter, yet the tone and temper of his actual life 
 was so much the milder, more benevolent, and tolerant ; 
 and it was evidently the aim of his animated efforts to 
 reconcile by love his partially embittered antagonists, 
 not to himself, but to the faith, with which his whole 
 soul was filled! From this source proceeded his truly 
 christian conduct during the persecutions which he had 
 to endure, especially in the first part of his residence in 
 Constantinople. The private life, also, which Gregory 
 led there was calculated to infuse into men’s minds a 
 feeling of good-will, and particularly of respect and 
 reverence towards him. Without being repulsive and 
 misanthropic, he was extremely strict and retiring, 
 maintaining the dignity which a life of abstemious 
 simplicity, a life dedicated to God, and entirely devoted 
 to the unseen world, bestows. He lived alone, avoided 
 publicity, and never obtruded himself upon the society 
 of the great, or at court.2— He practised, therefore, in 
 this, what Julian, who knew well what gave authority 
 to the priest, required with strictness from his heathen 
 priesthood.? Gregory’s table was so simply furnished, 
 his apparel so entirely limited to necessity, his conver- 
 sation so unaffected, his whole appearance so unpretend- 
 ing, so contrasted with (alas! even in those early days) 
 the ostentatious parade of that period, that they even 
 reproached him with a coarse, unpolished, clownish 
 demeanour in the refined and polished Constantinople ; 
 
 ' Carmen de Vita sua, line 1415 et seq. p. 22. 
 
 * Carmen de Vita sua, line 1424 et seq. p. 23. 
 
 3 Julian. Lpist. 49, p. 431. Fragment., p. 302. 
 O 
 
194 GREGORY'S FAREWELL ORATION. [ SECT. III. 
 
 a reproach which fell back upon those who could not 
 recognise the noble spirit under that homely covering. 
 Gregory himself exhibits to us these circumstances! 
 in a passage of his Yarewell Oration, which is also re- 
 markable for containing a pointedly severe side-glance 
 at the luxury of distinguished ecclesiastics of that day: 
 ‘Men have reproached me (he says, in cutting irony) for 
 my richly-furnished table, my splendid clothing, my 
 public train and equipage, my proud bearing towards 
 opponents! Certainly, I was not aware that I ought to 
 vie with the first officers of state and most distinguished 
 generals, who know not how to squander their money 
 fast enough; nor that I was obliged to torment my 
 body by spending on it, in waste, the goods which belong 
 to the poor, so that poverty should be made to supply 
 our superfluity, and the altar itself be profaned by our 
 intemperance. I knew not that I was particularly 
 obliged to be drawn by sleek horses, to ride in a splendid 
 carriage, and be attended by a troop of flatterers, in 
 order that every one might remark my approach even 
 afar off, and be forced to move aside, or draw back out 
 of the road, as at the approach of a wild beast! If this 
 ignorance was wrong in me, so it has happened, and I 
 hope you will pardon it. Choose another spiritual ruler, 
 and one who may please the multitude, and leave me to 
 my solitary life, my rustic demeanour, and my God, 
 whom even with my poor simplicity I hope to please.’ 
 From the previous account, it is clear that Gregory 
 was quite the man whom the Church of Constantinople 
 at that time required. He possessed eloquence which 
 
 1 Orat. xlii. 24, p. 765. Compare therewith, Orat. xxvi. 6, 
 p. 639. 
 
CHAP. v. | GREGORY'S FAME. 195 
 
 captivated all who heard him; he had received a scientific 
 education, which he was able to make an ingenious use 
 of in producing a thorough conviction; he practised a 
 strictness of life which commanded respect, coupled with 
 a gentleness which won men’s hearts, and an unwearied, 
 ardent zeal, which overpowered all opposition. Thus 
 he collected, united, confirmed his little community— 
 inspired them with a new spirit of peace among them- 
 selves, of undaunted courage in things external; drew 
 their attention from a love of dogmatic disputing to 
 self-knowledge, and an active, living Christianity, while 
 at the same time he defended the doctrines of the 
 common faith with all the acuteness of the most prac- 
 tised dialectician. Thus he endured patiently, and 
 contended courageously; and when the day of victory 
 drew near, be made use of it without becoming insolent 
 and eager for persecution—without allowing his attention 
 to be drawn off from the Invisible Helper to the visible 
 protecting hand; from the heavenly source of life to the 
 dispenser of earthly dignity, possessions, and enjoyment. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 GREGORY’S FAME: HIERONYMUS (JEROME) BECOMES HIS SCHOLAR : 
 THE RELATION IN WHICH HE STOOD TO THE PHILOSOPHER, 
 MAXIMUS. 
 
 ΤῊΝ public labours of Gregory at Constantinople, and 
 
 his private life, were certainly such as fully to deserve 
 
 an honourable acknowledgment; and his reputation, 
 
 commencing as it did from that centre of the empire, 
 
 and point of union between the east and west, could not 
 ο 2 
 
190 HIERONYMUS BECOMES [SECT. III. 
 
 but spread most rapidly in all directions. We must, 
 therefore, think it very natural if nearly contemporary 
 writers, such as Ruffinus,! Ambrose, and others (not to 
 mention those of the Eastern Church) speak of Gregory 
 with great distinction, or, if younger theologians attached 
 themselves to him, in order to form themselves on his 
 discourses, and to benefit by his conversation. At that 
 time, amid the sensible want of institutions for theolo- 
 gical education, it became a matter of necessity for 
 younger persons to choose especially some one of the 
 distinguished Fathers of the Church as their guide and 
 instructor. This practice we find existing also in the 
 history of other sciences and arts, so long as they exist, 
 to a certain extent, in the natural way, and no regular 
 schools, academies, or whatever else they may be called, 
 have been formed around them. As pupils around some 
 ereat painter of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
 so, at the time we are writing of, disciples, old and 
 young, assembled round some celebrated theologian. It 
 is true that we have properly authenticated accounts of 
 only two scholars who enjoyed the society of Gregory 
 at Constantinople; but of those two there was one who 
 
 1 Ruffinus had also translated Gregory’s writings into Latin. 
 Hieronym. advers. Rufiin., lib. 1, tom. ii. p. 486 : cur scribere aliqua 
 ausus sis, et virum disertissimum Gregorium pari eloquii splendore 
 transferre. 'The same Ruffinus, in the preface to his 7ranslation 
 of the Orations of Gregory, expresses aN opinion upon his merits 
 which almost borders upon idolatrous worship. He calls Gregory 
 ‘vir per omnia incomparabilis ;’ and, among other things, says 
 of him: ‘Id obtinuit apud Dominium et ecclesias Dei meriti, ut 
 quicunque ausus fuerit doctrinz ejus in aliquo refragari, ex hoc 
 ipso, quia ipse magis sit hereticus arguatur. Manifestum namque 
 indicium est, non esse rectz fidei hominem, qui in fide Gregorio 
 non concordat.’ A lamentable error surely, if any mere mortal 
 man, with his doctrinal opinions, is to be regarded as the rule 
 and standard of the true faith ! 
 
CHAP. v. | HIS SCHOLAR. 197 
 
 outweighs many others—Hieronymus, or S. Jerome, the 
 most learned of the Western Fathers. When now ap- 
 proaching his fiftieth year, Jerome, attracted by the fame 
 of Gregory, travelled from Syria to Constantinople, not 
 only to hear his public addresses, but also, and parti- 
 cularly, to profit by his domestic instruction in the 
 expounding of Scripture. The master was not much 
 older than the scholar; and the scholar was himself 
 already famous as a learned man. Jerome, nevertheless, 
 never speaks of Gregory in any other terms but those of 
 the greatest reverence. In several places of his writings 
 he calls him, with grateful recollection, his master and 
 catechist,! and expressly remarks, that he had learnt 
 much from him in the exposition of Scripture ;? nay, he 
 particularly glories in his eloquent master. Yet he 
 relates an anecdote,‘ the point of which is that, in the 
 exposition of Holy Scripture, Gregory did not every- 
 where express the grounds with perfect simplicity, but 
 even employed his eloquence in a delusive way, more 
 with a view to persuasion than conviction. When on 
 one occasion Jerome asked his master, ‘how a difficult 
 
 1 Advers. Jovianum, lib. i. tom. ii. p. 260. Et praeeptor meus 
 Gregorius Nazanzenus (for so Jerome is wont to write the word) 
 virginitatem et nuptias disserens, grecis versibus explicavit. 
 —Epist. 1. ad Domnionem, tom, i. p. 235. Gregorium Nazan- 
 zenum et Didymum in scripturis sanctis catechistas habui. 
 
 2 De Viris illustribus, cap. exvii. Gregorius, vir eloquentissimus, 
 preceptor meus, quo scripturas explanante didici. Comp. Com- 
 mentar. in Jesai., cap. V1. 
 
 3 Contra Rugiinum, lib, i. tom. 11. p. 469. Numquid in illa 
 epistola Gregorium, virum eloquentissimum non potui nominare? 
 Quis apud Latinos par sui est? quo ego magistro glorior et exulto. 
 
 4 Epist. li. ad Nepotianum, tom. i. Ὁ. 261. ” Jerome not altogether 
 unjustly, though somewhat harshly expressed, adds the remark : 
 
 ‘ nihil tam facile, quam vilem plebeculam et indoctam concionem 
 linguze volubilitate decipere, que, quicquid non intelligit, plus 
 miratur.’ 
 
198 HIERONYMUS BECOMES [SECT. TIT: 
 
 passage in St. Luke was to be understood? he referred 
 him to the explanation he would give of it in the church, 
 adding, ‘there you will be forced, by the approbation of 
 all the people, to understand what you do not now 
 understand; or else, if you alone do not assent, you 
 alone will be charged by all with folly.’ 
 
 Jerome, moreover, gives us a remark which his master 
 was accustomed to make on a passage in the Epistle to 
 the Ephesians,! where the apostle finds in the true 
 relation of the husband to the wife a type of the relation 
 between Christ and his Church. The remark refers - 
 particularly to those words of St. Paul—‘ This is a great 
 mystery,” and is as follows: ‘Observe, how great is the 
 mystery of this clause; for the apostle, while he refers it 
 to Christ and the Church, yet asserts that he had not so 
 expressed it as the dignity of the testimony required. 
 But however he may have expressed it, this I know, 
 that the passage is full of inexpressible mysteries, and 
 requires a divine heart in the expositor. But I, after 
 the limited powers of my mind, fully believe that it is 
 to be understood of Christ and the Church, not as if it 
 (the type) were something higher than Christ and the 
 Church, but because it is difficult to explain of Christ 
 and the Church all that is said of Adam and Eve.’ An 
 expression which certainly leads us to conclude that 
 
 1 Ephes. ch. v. 32. 
 
 * Comment. in Epist. ad Ephesios., lib. iii. tom. vii. p. 661: 
 Gregorius Nazanzenus, vir valde eloquens, et in scripturis apprime 
 eruditus, cum de hoc mecum tractaret loco, solebat dicere : vide, 
 quantum istius capituli sacramentum sit, ut Apostolus in Christo 
 illud et in ecclesia interpretans, non se ita asserat, ut testimonii 
 postulabat dignitas, expressisse : sed quomodo dixerit, scio quia 
 locus iste ineffabilibus plenus sit sacramentis, et divinuwm cor 
 querat interpretis, &c. 
 
CHAP. v.| HIS SCHOLAR. 199 
 
 Gregory did not exactly comprehend the meaning of 
 the apostle in this passage, and that he stretched his 
 illustration too far. Though this, at the same time, 
 affords us a proof with what reverence he handled the 
 Holy Scriptures, and what weight he attaches to this 
 qualification of an expositor, that he should be animated 
 with a holy tone of mind, akin to the mind and spirit 
 of their inspired authors. 
 
 We have no farther information respecting Jerome’s 
 intercourse with his master.! It is probable, however, 
 that under Gregory’s guidance he conceived that especial 
 reverence for Origen which he manifested in the early 
 part of his career, but afterwards, frightened by the 
 ghost of orthodoxy, so blameably denied. It is probable, 
 also, that Gregory contributed particularly to that in- 
 clination to allegorical interpretation, which in so many 
 instances obscured the great qualifications of Jerome for 
 Biblical exposition. At the same time he probably 
 conceived, in his intercourse with Gregory, ἃ still 
 greater partiality for the Greek Fathers, and acquired 
 still greater readiness in the knowledge of the Greek 
 language,” and so became better qualified for making his 
 hcnoured Greek masters more accessible to the Western 
 Christians by means of translations. 
 
 Another scholar of Gregory was Hvagrius, from 
 Pontus, who likewise is said to have been instructed 
 
 ' Jerome’s residence with Gregory may have lasted for two 
 years. He came to him 4.p., 379, or 380, and probably continued 
 in Constantinople till Gregory left it. Now, as Gregory came 
 from Nyssa to the Synod at Constantinople in the year 381, 
 Jerome must have heard him recite his treatises against Eunomius. 
 —Hieron. de Vir. Illustr., cap. exxviii. 
 
 * The conversation between Gregory and Jerome was carried on 
 in Greek, as the former did not understand Latin. 
 
200 THE PHILOSOPHER, MAXIMUS.  [SECT. IIL. 
 
 mainly by him in the knowledge of Holy Scripture 
 and in philosophy. He was Gregory’s archdeacon in 
 Constantinople, and subsequently, after sundry turns 
 of fortune, betook himself to the solitude of the Nitriac 
 Desert, where, besides his reputation for learning and 
 eloquence, he especially distinguished himself as a 
 follower of the opinions of Origen.! The instruction of 
 Gregory had, without doubt, made him an admirer of 
 Origen; but Evagrius did not confine himself within 
 the limits which his master observed, who was only a 
 moderate admirer of that great philosophical theologian, 
 without approving all his opinions. 
 
 Gregory made an experiment quite of a different sort 
 from his acquaintance with his grateful scholar, Jerome, 
 in the person of a pretended philosopher, named 
 Maximus, whom he somewhat thoughtlessly and too 
 gvood-naturedly admitted to his intimate confidence. 
 This person, who seems to have been of a striking ex- 
 ternal appearance, arrived in Constantinople not long 
 after Gregory had established himself there. Belonging 
 to the class of adventurers, of whom there was no small 
 number at that time, this artful individual combined the 
 rough vulgarity of a cynic, as well as the seeming eleya- 
 tion of a christian ascetic, with much external ornament 
 that strongly betrayed a fondness for the vanities of the 
 world.? Thus, to mention only one instance—he had his 
 sleek black hair dyed auburn, and let it hang in long 
 artificial curls over his shoulders. He wore, however, 
 with this the coarse philosopher's mantle which the 
 
 1 Sozom. Hist. Eccl., vi. 30. 
 
 2 Greg. Orat. xxv. in several places ; and especially the Carmen 
 de Vita sua, line 754, et seq. p. 12, where there occurs a detailed 
 description of Maximus. 
 
CHAP. V.| THE PHILOSOPHER, MAXIMUS. 201 
 
 early christian ascetics had adopted, and carried a stout 
 cynic-staff. He was born in Alexandria, of a family 
 which, according to his own testimony, reckoned 
 martyrs among its members; nay, he extolled himself 
 as having confessed the true faith under heavy trials. 
 What brought him to Constantinople is not quite 
 clear ; if we could believe an irritated opponent, it was! 
 hunger, combined, probably, with quite as much of 
 ambition. 
 
 When Maximus first came to Constantinople, he pre- 
 possessed Gregory to the highest degree; he knew how 
 to play the hypocrite, and to accommodate himself to 
 the part. Being soon introduced to Gregory, he ex- 
 hibited himself to him as the most courageous and 
 zealous advocate of the Nicene creed, who had suffered 
 much on account of his orthodoxy.? He did not fail, 
 moreover, to be a constant attendant on Gregory’s 
 preaching, and to extol his discourses in the highest 
 terms. Gregory, full of good-natured confidence, and 
 not endowed with a quick discrimination of human 
 character (a talent which in his previous life of retire- 
 ment he had not been able to acquire), gave his heart 
 quite unreservedly to the stranger, whom he took for an 
 honest and pious man, received him into his house and 
 at his table, consulted him as a friend on the most im- 
 portant concerns,* and even allowed himself, out of 
 
 1 Gregor. Carm. de Vita sua, line 777, p. 13. 
 
 ® His orthodoxy, however, is said not to have been raised above 
 the reach of all censure. He is charged with Apollinarianism.— 
 Theodoret, v. 8. 
 
 3 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 814, p. 13. Gregory quite candidly 
 remarks how this Maximus used to praise his sermons: Kai τῶν 
 ἐμῶν πρόϑυμος αἰνέτης λόγων. 
 
 . Carm. de Vit. sua, line 809, p. 13. 
 
202 THE PHILOSOPHER, MAXIMUS. (SECT. III. 
 
 excessive regard for him, to commit the weakness of 
 delivering a public eulogium upon him.! 
 
 But the unsuspecting Gregory was soon awakened 
 from his delusion by the most painful experience. The 
 hypocrite threw off the mask; he that had been so 
 simple and meek made his appearance as a man of un- 
 bounded ambition and deep stratagem. Itwas discovered 
 that Maximus contemplated nothing less than to over- 
 turn his patron and benefactor, and to seat himself in 
 his place in the episcopal chair. A presbyter of 
 Gregory's church was implicated with Maximus in this 
 undertaking. This person, whom Gregory? calls a 
 barbarian, not only by his origin, but also in his tone of 
 
 1 Orat. xxv. p. 454. This discourse, certainly, commonly bears 
 the inscription, ‘On the philosopher, Hero;’ but it can scarcely 
 be doubted that this Hero is the same person as Maximus, 
 according to the assertion of Jerome, who might well be accurately 
 informed on the subject, and, undoubtedly, would not have made 
 the remark (which did not tell to his master’s advantage) were it 
 not to be depended upon as true. Hieronym. (de Vir. Jilustr., 
 cap. exvii.) reckons among the writings of Gregory, Laudes 
 Maximi philosophi, post exilium reversi ; quem falso nomine qui- 
 dam Heronis superscripserunt, quia est et alius liber vitupera- 
 tionem ejusdem Maximi continens ; Quasi non licuerit eundem et 
 laudare et vituperare pro tempore. It would seem from this, that 
 the superscription with the name of Hero is altogether a fabrica- 
 tion. It might be, however, that the same individual bore both 
 names—the Latin Maximus, and the Greek Hero. At all events, 
 Jerome’s testimony as to the identity of the person is the more 
 unexceptionable, as it is fully confirmed by internal proofs. 
 There is no inducement to quote anything from this eulogium. I 
 will only make this remark : The philosopher, Maximus, listened 
 quietly to his own extravagant praises in the presence of a large 
 audience! And Gregory himself says: ‘Even in this the man 
 shows his philosophic mind, that he allows himself to be praised, 
 and patiently endures to be famous ; for I wish not to praise him 
 in order to please him (we know the indifference of philosophers 
 to praise and fame), but to profit ourselves thereby; for praise 
 should stir up an emulation in the path of virtue.’ 
 
 2 Carm. de Vit. s., line 825, p. 18. 
 
CHAP. ν.}] | THE PHILOSOPHER, MAXIMUS. 203 
 
 mind, appears to have stood at the head of the presbyters, 
 in immediate proximity to the bishop; and, without 
 having ever been offended by him, was very ill-disposed 
 towards him, probably from envy. Maximus had besides 
 a still more powerful but distant confederate, in Peter, 
 bishop of Alexandria, who, though he had greeted 
 Gregory by letter, on his arrival at Constantinople, as 
 the legitimate head of the christian community there,! 
 had yet now changed his mind, to the disadvantage of 
 Gregory. What had caused this change we are not 
 informed ; jealousy of the Constantinopolitan bishop on 
 the part of the Alexandrian bishop was most probably 
 at the bottom; and Peter wished to promote to the 
 episcopal chair of the metropolis a man through whose 
 agency he might rule over that see also. Perhaps the 
 Meletian schism also operated on this occasion, since 
 the Alexandrians took side with Paulinus; but Gregory 
 befriended Meletius. In no case can we adopt the 
 supposition of Gregory Presbyter,? who, in order to 
 account for the conduct of Peter, imagines that the 
 bishop of Alexandria was gained by the gold of 
 Maximus, for effecting which, at least at the commence- 
 ment of the transaction, no funds, or means of raising 
 any, were at the command of Maximus. 
 
 Through his connexion with Peter of Alexandria, the 
 following circumstance occurred, with the view of 
 assisting Maximus. At first, seven persons, sea-faring 
 men, whose services were to be commanded for a small 
 compensation, came to Constantinople from Egypt, in 
 order to explore the actual state of things. Gregory 
 gives us their several names,—viz. Ammon, Apammon, 
 
 1 Carm. de Vit.s., line 858, p. 14. * Vita Gregor., p. 146. 
 
204 THE PHILOSOPHER, MAXIMUS. [5ΈΟΤ. III. 
 Harpocras, Stippas, Rhodon, Anubis,’ Hermanubis. 
 The parties who had sent these men out as spies soon 
 followed (ὁ. 6. some of the Alexandrian clergy), for the 
 purpose of supporting the views of Maximus. An 
 accidental circumstance favoured the enterprise.? Just 
 at that time a presbyter from Thasos came to Constanti- 
 nople with a considerable sum of money, for the purpose 
 of purchasing slabs of Proconesian marble for the 
 adorning of a church. Maximus succeeded in wheedling 
 him out of the money, probably by opening to him 
 brilliant prospects. When by this means a venal multi- 
 tude, who had often been loud in praise of Gregory, had 
 been gained,? Maximus one night, while Gregory was 
 lying sick in bed, went with his troop of followers 
 (consisting chiefly of sailors) into the church, for the 
 purpose of being consecrated, without any notice thereof 
 to the community, or to those who presided over them! 
 The proceeding was already in full progress, when, 
 towards dawn, the clergy who dwelt near the church 
 discovered the disgraceful enterprise. The report 
 rapidly spread through the city. A vast number of 
 inhabitants and strangers, orthodox and Arians, and 
 even persons in offices of state, flocked to the church; 
 the Egyptians, gnashing their teeth at the frustration of 
 their design, were forced (though without altogether 
 relinquishing it), to leave the church. They betook 
 themselves to the dwelling of a player on the flute, in 
 
 1 Gregor. Carm. de Vit. s., line 834, p.14. Gregory playfully 
 describes them as Egyptian deities : 
 
 Αἰγύπτου Seoi, 
 Πιϑηκόμορφοι καὶ κυνώδεις δαίμονες. 
 
 2 Carm. de Vit. 8., line 875, p. 14. 
 
 3 Carm. de Vit. s., line 887, p. 14. 
 
CHAP. v. | BANISHMENT OF MAXIMUS. 205 
 
 order to continue there, in a manner worthy of them, 
 the holy ceremony they had commenced,! while they set 
 about the important task of cutting off from the bishop 
 they were going to consecrate, the beautiful head of hair 
 which he had cultivated with so much pains. Such 
 were the circumstances under which he received conse- 
 cration! And thus the whole affair resolved itself into 
 a farce, which certainly could have no influence in 
 altering the external position of Gregory, but yet left 
 behind so much the deeper wounds on his mind. 
 Maximus, covered with shame, betook himself, accom- 
 panied by his Egyptian confederates, to Thessalonica, 
 where Theodosius was stationed with his army to oppose 
 the Goths; he was determined to make the last efforts 
 with the emperor himself. He was, however, repulsed 
 by him, or (ΠΣ Gregory has not exaggerated in his 
 account) driven away in complete disgrace. Maximus 
 on this returned to Alexandria, and, being reduced to 
 extremes, presented himself before the aged bishop, 
 Peter, his late protector, with a demand, ‘ that he would 
 either procure for him the bishopric which he had en- 
 couraged him to hope for, or relinquish to him his own.’ 
 The imperial lieutenant, however, in order to put an end 
 to the vexatious presumption of the ambitious swaggerer, 
 banished Maximus from Alexandria.‘ 
 
 ' Greg. Carm. de Vit. s., line 909 et seq. p. 15. 
 
 2 Carm. de Vit. s., line 1003 et seq. p. 16. 
 
 3 Carm. de Vit. s., line 1019, p. 16. 
 
 4 The enterprises of this adventurer did not, however, end here. 
 He betook himself to Italy, with letters which he had extorted 
 from Peter of Alexandria, and laboured to prove to the Western 
 bishops—and particularly Ambrose, bishop of Milan, and Da- 
 masus, bishop of Rome—Ist, the regularity of his own consecra- 
 tion to the see of Constantinople (to which, he said, nothing was 
 wanting but that, owing to the persecution on the part of the 
 
206 ΘΕΕΘΟΒΥ 5. ORATION TO [SECT. Ill. 
 
 Treacherously as Gregory had been treated by the 
 Bishop of Alexandria and a portion of the Egyptian 
 clergy, yet he appears to have been reconciled to them 
 again; for there were in his nature, combined with a 
 certain degree of irritability, great placability and 
 gentleness. We have an oration by him, which is 
 entitled, On the Arrival of the EHgyptians.' It was 
 delivered on the occasion of the sailors of an Egyptian 
 fleet (which had brought the annual tribute of corn? to 
 Constantinople) attending Gregory’s church, and receiv- 
 
 Arians, it had not been celebrated in the church) ; and, 2ndly, 
 the irregularity of Gregory’s election. And he so far succeeded, 
 that the Western clergy zealously applied on his account to the 
 Emperor Theodosius, and moreover, among other things, said : 
 In concilio nuper habito nihil habuimus, in quo de episcopatu 
 ejus (Maximi) dubitare possemus. . . . quin revera attendebamus 
 Gregorium nequaquam secundum traditionem patrum Constanti- 
 nopolitane ecclesiz sibi sacerdotium vindicare. If any one wishes 
 for an exact account of the farther fate of Maximus, let him consult 
 Pagi’s Critica in Ann. Bar., ann. 379, Nos. 8—10, tom. i. p. 552 ; 
 and Tillemont’s Mémoires pour serv. al Hist. Eccles., t. ix. pp. 501, 
 536. At a subsequent period, Maximus came out as an author, 
 in a work wherein Gregory appears to have been occasionally 
 attacked. The latter contented himself with playfully despatch- 
 ing the new author, Maximus, in a short poem (Carm. 148, p. 249). 
 Among other things he says, he appeared among the writers as 
 Saul among the prophets—that he had qualified himself for the 
 attempt, as an ass who would play the lyre: 
 Λόγοι δὲ σοι τότ᾽ ἦσαν, ὡς ὄνῳ ipa, 
 Καὶ βουσὶ κῦμα, καὶ ζυγὸς ϑαλασσίοις. 
 
 Personal dislike, however, on the part of Gregory seems to 
 have carried this censure too far. Jerome, at least, (De Viris 
 Illustrib., cap. exxvii.) judges quite differently concerning the 
 literary production of Maximus; if, indeed, by the Jnsignis de 
 Fide adversus Arianos Liber, he means the same work which 
 Gregory jests at. 
 
 1 Orat. xxxiv. p. 619 et seq. 
 
 2 Gregory describes beautifully, and like a painter, the arrival 
 of the fleet in the harbour of Constantinople.—Orat. xxxiv. 7, 
 p. 622. 
 
CHAP. V.| THE EGYPTIAN SAILORS. 207 
 
 ing the holy sacrament from his hands.! Gregory 
 greets these Egyptians with great joy and feeling, and 
 repeatedly calls them his people, because they had 
 received the one Faith from thesame teachers and Fathers, 
 and, with him, worshipped a Trinity in Unity.2, He not 
 only loads the Egyptians with praises, but also glorifies 
 expressly their teachers, and, amongst these, Athanasius 
 and their bishop, Pefer. He calls this last ‘the successor 
 of Athanasius (by him so highly venerated), not only in 
 the episcopal chair, but also in purity of doctrine and 
 real dignity, who still, most nobly, followed up the 
 struggle of his triumphant predecessor for the good 
 cause.’$ 
 
 1 Orat, xxxiv. 7, p. 622: .... σιτοδοτοῦμεν yap καὶ ἡμεῖς, 
 καὶ σιτοδοσίαν ἴσως τῆς ὑμετέρας οὐ φαυλότερον" δεῦτε, φάγετε 
 τὸν ἐμὸν ἄρτον, καὶ πίετε οἴνον, ὅν κεκέρακα ὑμῖν. 
 
 * Orat. xxxiv. 6, p. 621. 
 
 3 Orat. xxxiv. 3, p. 620. <A hesitation may be felt as to the 
 particular time at which to place this oration. Was it delivered 
 before Gregory discovered the ambiguous character of Peter’s 
 sentiments by the vexatious transactions with Maximus? or does 
 it belong to the period following those transactions? and had 
 Gregory already so entirely forgiven the Egyptians and their 
 Bishop, as to be able to speak so strongly in their praise? The 
 last assumption, probably, deserves the preference, as Gregory, 
 at the very commencement of the speech, thus expresses himself : 
 ‘I will greet the strangers from Egypt, since that is but just to 
 those who have so readily assembled here, and overcome all feel- 
 ings of envy by the influence of a higher zeal (τῳ ζήλῳ τὸν φϑόνον 
 νικήσαντες). And, again, it is confirmed by an expression in the 
 continuation of the discourse, where Gregory offers reconciliation 
 to his foreign hearers, and says he was willing, before so many 
 witnesses, visible and invisible, to offer his hand to them, and to 
 blot owt the old calumny by new acts of kindness (καὶ ἀποϑοῦμαι 
 παλαιὰν διαβολὴν vie χρηστότητι, ὃ 6, p. 621). This probably 
 refers to the harsh expressions which Gregory had uttered against 
 Peter and the Egyptians, and for which he now again was willing 
 to make atonement. 
 
208 GREGORY WITHHELD FROM | SECT. III. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 GREGORY IS WITHHELD FROM LEAVING CONSTANTINOPLE ALTOGETHER, 
 BUT WITHDRAWS HIMSELF FOR AWHILE INTO THE COUNTRY: 
 HIS STRONG SENSE OF THE BEAUTIES OF NATURE. 
 
 Ir was either on the day after the nocturnal farce of 
 Maximus and his party, or soon after, that Gregory, in 
 the course of a sermon, suffered these words to escape 
 from him, which seem to indicate his determination to 
 leave Constantinople.’ ‘ Preserve, then, (he says,) the 
 entire doctrine of the Three in One, which, as an open- 
 handed father, I have communicated to you, my dear 
 children, and think affectionately of my labours amongst 
 you.’ Searcely had the people heard these words, when 
 there arose among all of them the most lively emotion, 
 and they all united in most urgent entreaties to Gregory 
 that he would still continue with them. Gregory was 
 deeply affected by this proof of affection. It required, 
 perhaps, only this expression of regard, in order again 
 to smother in his mind that wish for a complete with- 
 drawal which had arisen from a momentary displeasure, 
 although he himself attests that it cost him a severe 
 struggle. As Gregory—in the presence of the assembled 
 congregation, thus suppliantly urging him in his beloved 
 church, Anastasia—stood wavering in his determination, 
 one of the people decided the matter by calling out in a 
 loud voice—‘ Thou banishest with thee at the same time 
 the Trinity in Unity from Constantinople.” These 
 
 1 Carmen de Vit. s., line 1057 et seq. p. 17. 
 2 Carmen de Vit. 8. line 1100, p. 18: Συνεκβαλεῖς, yap εἴπε, 
 σαυτῷ τριάδα. 
 
CHAP. VI. | LEAVING CONSTANTINOPLE. 209 
 
 words filled Gregory with earnest anxiety; and he now 
 pledged his word to the Church that he would not leave 
 them, yet without confirming that promise (as they had 
 desired) by an oath, for he had made a vow at his 
 baptism never to take an oath again. He promised 
 them, however, at least, to remain so long a time, until 
 an assemblage of bishops, soon expected to take place, 
 should have determined about the bishopric of Con- 
 stantinople. 
 
 Great as was the love and sympathy which Gregory 
 experienced from his congregation through the whole of 
 this proceeding, so much the stronger was the impres- 
 sion made upon his mind by the behaviour of Maximus ; 
 the more implicitly he had confided in the ungrate- 
 ful hypocrite, the more fearfully he had been deceived 
 by him. The already delicate health of the pious man 
 was still more shaken by this storm; and his deep, 
 though slumbering, love of contemplative solitude awoke 
 afresh so strongly, that he could not resist the impulse 
 to withdraw himself, at least for a considerable time, into 
 the country. The delightful neighbourhood of Con- 
 stantinople was most inviting for that purpose; and 
 Gregory was by no means insensible to the beauties of 
 Nature; although he somewhere confesses that, whilst 
 his mind was painfully excited, he was fain, indeed, to 
 wander in the solitary shade of the forest, but yet could 
 not find there that healing of his grief, which only faith, 
 and prayer, and a clearer perception of God’s dealings, 
 imparted.! As, however, these Fathers of the Church are 
 thought of by some as merely earnest but gloomy 
 ascetics, it is not superfluous to show that there were 
 
 1 Carmen xiv. p. 86. 
 Ρ 
 
210 HIS STRONG SENSE OF THE [SECT. III. 
 
 individuals amongst them who, even on this point, had 
 notions worthy of genuine Christianity and civilized 
 humanity (for the Son of Man himself has given us here 
 also the purest pattern), so that they retained a lively 
 sense of natural beauty, and of those lessons which the 
 finger of God has written in that large and copious book. 
 With what delight (fondly taking in even the smallest 
 objects) does Gregory describe the arrival of Spring, in 
 an oration on the martyr Mamas,! whose festival fell 
 upon the Sunday after Haster-day.? ‘All things (he 
 says) combine, and are accumulated for the purpose of 
 doing honour to this festive season: see how beautiful 
 is all that meets the eye! The queen of the seasons is 
 
 1 The martyr Mamas was, in those times, especially honoured 
 in the regions of Cappadocia and Pontus as a holy man. His 
 memory does not appear to have extended farther at that time. 
 Only two natives of Cappadocia, Gregory and his friend Basil, 
 dedicated orations to his memory. (Basil. Opp. i. 11, p. 185—189.) 
 But neither of them tells us much respecting the martyr, with 
 whose history or legend every one in those parts was acquainted. 
 Thus much only appears from the orations of the two friends : 
 that Mamas was said to be a Cappadocian of obscure birth ; that 
 it was related of him that he gained a livelihood as a herdsman ; 
 that on one occasion he was nourished by the milk of hinds in the 
 solitude of the wilderness ; but that, finally (though we are not 
 informed under what circumstances), he died the death of a 
 christian martyr. Many forged additions were subsequently 
 made to the story. Whoever wishes to learn all the legends con- 
 cerning 8S. Mamas, may consult the Acta Sanctorum, August., t. iii. 
 p. 423. The festival of Mamas was especially celebrated at 
 Cesarea. It was there that Julian and his brother Gallus, whilst 
 young men, built a church to his memory.—Sozom. Hist. Eccles., 
 v. 2; Gregor. Orat. iv. 25, p. 88. The speech of Gregory, from 
 which the passage above quoted is taken, was (according to the 
 testimony of Nicetas) delivered in a church of 8. Mamas at Na- 
 zianzum. In the succeeding centuries, the reverence for this 
 martyr spread more widely, and we find, even in Constantinople, 
 several edifices bearing his name. See Du Cange, Constantinop. 
 Christiana, iv. 6, p. 128; iv. 12, p. 174; iv. 15, p. 185. 
 
 2 Orat. xliv. 10, p. 841. 
 
CHAP. ΥἹ.] BEAUTIES OF NATURE. 211 
 
 holding a festive pomp for the queen of days,' and 
 brings as an offering all that is the most costly and 
 beautiful of her stores. The sky is already brighter, the 
 sun is already higher in the heavens, and more golden ; 
 the moon’s orbit is already more cheering, and the host 
 of stars more bright; the waves are on more friendly 
 terms with the shore, the clouds with the sun, the wind 
 with the air, the earth with the plants, the plants with 
 the eye. The fountains now flow more transparent ; the 
 rivers, loosed from the bands of winter, run in fuller 
 stream; the meadow smells sweetly; the plants swell ; 
 the grass is being mowed; and young lambs are frisking 
 on the fresh green plains. The ship now issues forth 
 from the haven with loud, and often with holy songs ;” 
 it is winged with sails; the dolphin swims gaily around 
 her, snuffing up, and again blowing forth the water in 
 delight, while it accompanies the course of the mariner. 
 The husbandman now puts his plough in order, and 
 
 1 The queen ‘of the seasons is, naturally, the Spring; the queen 
 of days is Easter-day, with which the above-mentioned festival 
 was connected, as its octave. It might also be translated, ‘The 
 royal season celebrates a festive pomp (or procession) for the 
 royal day.’ 
 
 21... σὺν κελεύσμασι, καὶ τούτοις ὡς τὰ πολλὰ φιλοϑέοις. 
 The expression κελεύσματα here doubtless signifies the cheerful 
 songs of the sailors. Comp. Suid. Zex., tom. ii. p. 293, sub verbo 
 κελευστής, and Pollux in Onomast., i. 96, tom. i. p. 67, where also 
 an appropriate passage is quoted from Longus, lib. iii.: εἴς μὲν 
 αὐτοῖς κελευστὴς ναυτικὰς yoev ὠδας" ot δὲ λοιποὶ καϑάπερ 
 χορὸς, ὁμοφώνως κατὰ καιρὸν τῆς ἐκείνου φωνῆς ἐβόων. Com- 
 pare Pollux, sub verb. τριαύλης, iv. 71. In reference to these 
 christian sea-songs, Sidonius Apollinaris (Zpist. 10, lib. ii., the 
 observation on which in the Parisian edition, p. 147, is worth 
 referring to) says thus: 
 
 Curvorum hine chorus helciariorum, 
 Responsantibus Alleluja ripis, 
 
 Ad Christum levat amicum celeusma— 
 Sic, sic psallite, nauta vel viator ! 
 
 Pp 2 
 
212 HIS STRONG SENSE OF THE  [SECT. III. 
 
 looks up in prayer to the Giver of fruits; he leads the 
 ploughing-ox under the yoke, and divides the field with 
 regular furrows, full of joyful hope. The shepherds and 
 herdsmen now play their pipes in harmony; they re- 
 commence their pastoral songs, and spend the spring 
 amongst trees and rocks. The gardener tends his 
 plants; the fowler prepares his rods and reeds, and 
 looks up to the boughs to spy out their feathered 
 inhabitants. The fisherman glances through the deep 
 water, prepares his net, and takes his seat upon the 
 rocks. The busy bee now spreads her wings; she 
 leaves her hive, displays her sagacious instinct, and robs 
 the flowers of their sweetness—let her be to you a 
 pattern of industry and wisdom! Now the bird builds 
 its nest; one is sitting thereon, another glides softly 
 into it, a third flits round about, making the wood ring 
 with its note, and flying round the dwellings of men 
 with twittering tongue. All things praise and glorify 
 God with inarticulate voices ;! for all things thanks are 
 now offered to God by me; and thus that universal 
 hymn is also ours, even that whose tones of praise 1 
 here express.) i...) τω: ‘Yes, it is now (the orator pro- 
 ceeds, in allusion to the Easter festival)? the spring of 
 the world, the spring of the mind; the spring for the 
 
 ? Φωναῖς ἀλαλήτοις, properly and more strictly, ‘with tones 
 without speech,’ with inarticulate tones. 
 
 2 This oration was delivered by Gregory on the Zaster-octave, 
 which the Greeks called καινὴ κυριακή, or πρῶτη κυριακῆ. Gregor. 
 Orat. xviii. 29, p. 350: .... ἡ καινὴ παρῆν ἡμέρα τῆς ἐορτῆς, 
 ἣν οὕτως ὀνομάζομεν πρώτην κυριακὴν, μετὰ τὴν ἀναστάσιμον 
 ταύτην ἔχοντες. Gregory gives also the name of ἔγκαινια to the 
 festival. The grounds for this designation lay in this, that Easter, 
 the Feast of the Resurrection, and of the victory over death and 
 the grave, was considered as the commencing-point of a new 
 spiritual creation, and therefore as beginning a new ecclesiastical 
 
CHAP. VI. | BEAUTIES OF NATURE. 213 
 
 souls of men, the spring for their bodies; the visible 
 spring, the invisible spring; even that which we shall 
 there participate in, if we are here transformed aright, 
 and, having been renewed, enter upon a new and spiritual 
 life. Many other passages might be adduced, from 
 which we might see how Gregory combines all the 
 natural phenomena with something higher, finding alike 
 in all of them revelations of the all-ruling God, and 
 tules for leading a godly life. We confine ourselves to 
 one, where, from the unceasing harmonious order of the 
 universe, he deduces powerful exhortations to peace and 
 concord.! ‘ Now, this character of oneness should attune 
 us to benevolence and peace, to the imitation of God and 
 godly works; . . . . for eventhe heaven and the earth, 
 and the sea, and this whole world, all this vast and glorious 
 creation of God (through which God is silently revealed 
 and proclaimed), is only so long a well-ordered system, 
 only so long a work of unsurpassable skill and incom- 
 parable beauty, as it maintains peace and unity with itself 
 —as it remains within the appointed bounds of nature, 
 never elevating one thing in opposition to another, never 
 loosening the band of love wherewith the creative power 
 divine has bound all together; but so soon as peace 
 ceases to exist,? the order of the universe also ceases to 
 
 year. Gregory here brings the spring-tide festival into connexion 
 with this, and glorifies Kaster, as at the same time the spiritual 
 and temporal festival of spring and renovation. Thus, therefore, 
 the oration has a threefold purpose—a regard to Easter-festival, 
 and exhortations to moral renovation flowing from thence ; the 
 festival of spring-tide ; and the honouring of the martyr Mamas. 
 See Augusti’s Denkwiirdigkeite, th. 2, pp. 302, 309, where there 
 is also to be found a translation of the whole oration. 
 
 1 Orat. vi. 14, p. 188. 
 
 2... . ὁμοῦ δὲ TOU εἰρηνεύειν πέπαυται, Kai τοῦ εἶναι 
 κόσμος. 
 
214 GREGORY'S SPECIAL ORATION  [SECT. III. 
 
 work aright. Does it not then appear to you that the 
 heaven, while, after an established order, it gives light 
 to the air, and rain to the earth, obeys the laws of 
 goodness? that the earth, while it affords nourishment, 
 the air while it supplies breath to all that lives—and 
 both thus everywhere support life—are types and figures 
 of parental affection? In this manner the orator, 
 passing through the different kingdoms of nature, 
 employs their striking phenomena in order to show to 
 his hearers, that the same divine laws which prescribe 
 love, kindness, harmony to men, are active also in 
 nature, and speak from and through her to every 
 susceptible mind. 
 
 Gregory was now probably well inclined to leave 
 Constantinople altogether; but his work was still in- 
 complete, and he would have left his recently-collected 
 and scarcely-settled congregation in a very fluctuating 
 condition; he determined, therefore, at the urgent en- 
 treaty of his friends, to return again to the capital, after 
 a temporary refreshment of his soul and strengthening 
 of his body. With what feelings he again appeared 
 before his people, we have sufficient evidence in a 
 special oration, beginning with these words:! ‘TI have 
 longed for you, my children, and have been in like 
 measure longed for by you; for of this I am convinced, 
 and (if it were necessary) could even confirm it with an 
 oath by that reputation which we have in Christ Jesus 
 our Lord.2 Nor can any one wonder at such affection 
 
 1 Orat. xxvi. 1, p. 471. 
 
 2 Gregory subjoins: τοῦτον γὰρ μοι πεποίηκε τὸν ὄρκον τὸ 
 πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον,---ἴον the form of the oath which Gregory uses is 
 borrowed from the Apostle Paul, 1 Cor. xv. 31. On this account 
 he did not think it incorrect to make use of it himself, although, 
 in general, he had renounced a formal oath. (See above, p. 49.) 
 
 Oe ὁ τὰν. 
 
CHAP. VI. | TO HIS PEOPLE. 215 
 
 between you and me, for they who are influenced by one 
 common spirit are also animated by one common love; 
 but they who feel a like love have also a like faith. For 
 what the one does not feel himself, he cannot well 
 believe of the other’s feelings; but he who sympathizes 
 in feeling is also more inclined to agree in opinion—he 
 becomes, as it were, an unseen witness. of an unseen 
 sympathy, and a mirror to the (spiritual) form of 
 another. ‘Therefore, I could no longer bear to be at a 
 distance from you, although the state of affairs here has 
 deeply afflicted and mortified me,—not only’ moral and 
 political affairs generally, but more especially those, more 
 honoured and more dear, which relate to this holy 
 building and this consecrated table.’ 
 
 It is a fact easily to be explained, but still to be 
 lamented, that this oration of Gregory’s, which over- 
 flows with such heart-felt love for his congregation, and 
 imparts so much that is excellent, also contains many 
 bitter passages against the unworthy Maximus; as, for 
 example, the following:? ‘I am afraid of dangerous 
 wolves, which, taking advantage of the darkness of 
 night, tear the flock in pieces by seducing and vehement 
 harangues; they watch for the favourable moment, 
 because they cannot succeed by open force. I fear the 
 dogs,’ which would force themselves into the character 
 of shepherds, and, strange to say, have prepared them- 
 selves for its duties by nothing else than that they have 
 shorn off their hair, which they had suffered to grow 
 
 1 That is, the whole character and behaviour of the inhabi- 
 tants, so offensive to the mind of Gregory. 
 
 2 Orat. xxvi. 3, p. 473. 
 
 8 An allusion to the Cynic. See like passages in Orat. xxvi. 3, 
 p. 474. 
 
216 GREGORY'S SPECIAL ORATION  [SECT. III. 
 
 after a ridiculous fashion; who have neither continued 
 dogs, nor yet become shepherds, except that, like dogs, 
 they tear to pieces, destroy and make havoc of the 
 labours of others.’ Towards the end of the discourse he 
 strongly declares (without any angry reference to 
 Maximus)! that the possession of the envied bishopric 
 of Constantinople was not an object of importance to 
 him. ‘Do they wish to thrust me from the episcopal 
 throne? When have I ever, in present or in past time, 
 willingly ascended it? or when have I extolled them as 
 fortunate who have been seated on it? Would they 
 rob me of the highest ecclesiastical dignity? What man 
 of sense has ever considered that point as an object of 
 great desire? But now, according to my view, it is 
 the first proof of a sound understanding to escape from 
 it altogether—this dignity, on account of which all our 
 relative duties are disturbed and shaken—through which 
 the whole world is involved in mutual suspicion and a 
 foolish war, a war to which no proper name has yet been 
 given 12 O that there were no Primate, no precedence of 
 rank or station, no privileged predominance, so that we 
 might be distinguished only by moral superiority! But 
 now, the privilege of standing on the right, or on the 
 left, or in the middle—the higher or the lower place of 
 honour—the walking before or in a line with others, have 
 already furnished us with endless, foolish causes of 
 
 1 Orat. xxvi. 15, p. 482 et seq. 
 
 aR ahs ὡς ὀφελόν γε μηδὲ ἣν προεδρία, μηδὲ τις τόπου προ- 
 τίμησις, καὶ τυραννικὴ προνομία, ἵν᾽ ἐξ ἀρετῆς μόνης γινωσ- 
 κώμεσδα. It is hardly possible for any other words to express 
 more plainly how pure a conception Gregory had formed of the 
 character of an evangelical teacher, whose dignity rested on moral 
 qualifications, and how far removed he was from resting that 
 dignity on hierarchical distinction. 
 
CHAP. VI.| TO HIS PEOPLE. 217 
 provocation, and brought into danger, not only the sheep 
 of the flock, but also the shepherds, who, though masters 
 in Israel, have not looked into this as they ought.’ 
 
 How strongly the moral welfare of his community 
 interested the heart of Gregory, is also shown by the 
 manner in which (in this oration) he requires an account 
 from his hearers! whether, during his absence, they had 
 held fast the pure faith, and proved their love by their 
 deeds; and then himself gives them an account of his 
 care and anxiety for them during his residence in the 
 country.? On this occasion, he sketches most gracefully 
 the reflections which the view of the sea in a stormy 
 state had called forth, and affords us a new proof how 
 well he knew how to enjoy the appearances of Nature, 
 so as to derive from them higher contemplative truths : 
 “1 wandered alone (he tells his hearers) by the sea-side 
 when the day was far advanced, for I have accustomed 
 myself to disperse my cares by recreations of this sort ; 
 for the string will not bear to be always on the stretch, 
 but requires occasionally to be loosened from the bow’s 
 end, if the archer would again use it without finding 
 it unserviceable just when he would use it. Thus I 
 wandered, my feet moving mechanically, whilst my eye 
 swept over the expanse of the sea. But this generally 
 gratifying view was not so delightful as when the dark, 
 purple-tinted waves rolled gently forward, and sported 
 softly and pleasantly with the shore. But how was it 
 now? ‘The sea arose by reason of a great wind that 
 blew,’ for I willingly use here the words of Scripture 
 (S. John, vi. 18). The waves, as they are wont, in- 
 creased in size as they approached from a distance—then 
 
 1 Orat. xxvi. 5, p. 474 et seq. 2 Orat. xxvi. 7, p. 476. 
 
918 GREGORY'S REFLECTIONS. [SECT. III. 
 
 for a moment raised themselves to their highest elevation 
 —again sunk, and discharged themselves on the beach ; 
 or else they rushed back roaring on the neighbouring 
 rocks, dispersing into light and frothy spray. There 
 were now no little stones and sea-weed, no muscles and 
 light oysters washed up, and, as it were, spit forth, while 
 many were again absorbed by the retiring wave; but 
 the rocks stood unmoved and unshaken, as if not in the 
 least disturbed, except that the waves broke against 
 them. From this prospect I thought I could derive a 
 profitable lesson, and how I might refer it all to my state 
 of mind, especially when I felt at all staggered at some 
 occurrence, as has recently been the case. So I studied 
 this spectacle not superficially, and the sight afforded me 
 instruction.’ Is not (said I to myself) the sea like our 
 life, and like human concerns in general? for there is 
 there also as much of angry struggle and fluctuating? 
 instability. And the storms,—are they not the perse- 
 cutions which originate from those causes, and all the 
 unlooked-for trouble that befals us? On this, Gregory 
 describes, in continuation of the figure, the christian 
 sage—how he should stand firm, like the rock in the 
 tempestuous sea, and like the spiritual rock, Christ 
 (1 Cor. x. 4), on which he is firmly based; how he is 
 unshaken by the threatening embarrassments of fate. 
 He then goes on to delineate a truly pious and wise 
 man,—how cheerful he is in all sufferings; how from 
 every misfortune he derives strength and nourishment 
 for virtue; how, in time of joy, he is humble and 
 thankful; in health, temperate, strict, active; in sick- 
 
 1 Τὸ ϑέαμα παίδευμα γίνεται. 
 2 ἤΛστατον, unstable, not to be depended upon. 
 
 δ ἣν ὦ δ, πω α΄ τὰ- .. το 
 
CHAP. VII. | BAPTISM OF THEODOSIUS. 219 
 
 ness, patient; in time of wealth, benevolent and ready 
 to give; in poverty, rich in godliness; how he meets 
 persecution with endurance, insult with prayer, cursing 
 with blessing, ill-treatment with concession; and how, 
 in everything, in word and quiet deed, he appears as a 
 teacher of love and gentleness; in short, as a follower 
 and imitator of his blessed Redeemer. 
 
 Gregory returned to Constantinople with renewed 
 pleasure and improved strength. He saw his zealous 
 services crowned with more favourable results than ever, 
 while his small community were not only more settled 
 and more peaceable among themselves, but also increased 
 daily in numbers from without. It only required an 
 external impulse, which was now fully prepared for, to 
 complete externally also the victory of the orthodox 
 party. How that impulse was given, we shall next see. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ARRIVAL OF THEODOSIUS AT CONSTANTINOPLE : TRIUMPH OF THE 
 NICENE FAITH: GREGORY FIRMLY REFUSES TO ACCEPT THE 
 BISHOPRIC, 
 
 THEODOSIUS was brought up in the christian religion, 
 and, undoubtedly, according to the decisions of the 
 Nicene code of doctrine ;’ but, after the custom of the 
 time, he had deferred his baptism. Having already, as 
 Cesar, contended successfully against the Goths, he was 
 attacked by an illness at Thessalonica, and caused him- 
 self to be baptized by Acholius, the orthodox bishop of 
 
 1 Sozomen. Hist. Ececl., vii. 4. .... ἐκ προγόνων χρισ- 
 τιανίζων κατὰ τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου. 
 
290 ARRIVAL OF THEODOSIUS | SECT. Τ᾿ 
 
 that city.! He learned on this occasion, from Acholius, 
 with as much satisfaction that all the provinces, as far 
 as Macedonia, were attached to the orthodox faith, as he 
 heard with displeasure that, eastward thence, Arianism 
 predominated, and that it had its established seat in 
 Constantinople especially. Under the influence of that 
 bishop, the newly-baptized emperor, while still in Thes- 
 salonica,? published that celebrated edict, whereby the 
 Nicene faith is declared to be catholic and established, 
 but the adherents of Arianism are loaded with reproaches, 
 and threatened with punishment,’ without considering 
 what a different thing it was to give the word of com- 
 mand at the head of an army, and to prescribe laws to 
 the conscience. That Theodosius did not at the same 
 time proceed to inflict punishment upon the Arians, is 
 to be attributed to political prudence, rather than genuine 
 toleration. For the number of Arians was still so great 
 
 1 Sozom., vii. 4. Socrat., v. 6. 
 
 2 Sozomen says: ψόμον ἐκ Θεσσαλονίκης προσεφώνησε τῷ 
 δήμῳ Κονσταντινουπόλεως. This, however, is not correct ; 
 since the edict referred not only to the inhabitants of Constan- 
 tinople, (to whom, however, it was probably first published,) but 
 to all the subjects of Theodosius. 
 
 3 Cod. Theod., lib. xvi. tit. i. 1.2. The edict thus speaks: 
 Cunctos populos, quos Clementie nostre regit temperamentum, 
 in tali volumus religione versari, quam Divinum Petrum Apos- 
 tolum tradidisse Romanis, religio usque nune ab ipso insinuata 
 declarat : quamque pontificem Damasum sequi claret, et Petrum 
 Alexandriz episcopum, virum Apostolic sanctitatis: Ut secun- 
 dum Apostolicam disciplinum, evangelicamque doctrinam Patris 
 et Filvi et Spiritus Sancti unam Deitatem sub parili Majestate, et 
 sub pia Trimitate credamus. Hanc legem sequentes, Christianorum 
 Catholicorum nomen jubemus amplecti: Reliquos vero dementes 
 vaesanosque judicantes, heretict dogmatis infamiam sustinere : 
 nec conciliabula eorum ecclesiarwm nomen accipere, divina primum 
 vindicta, post etiam motus nostri, quem ex c@lesti arbitrio sump- 
 serimus, ultione plectendos.—Dat. iii., Kal. Mart, Thessal, Grat. 
 et Theod. A. A. Coss. 
 
CHAP. VII. | AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 221 
 
 in the whole empire, especially in the chief city, that, 
 if provoked by violence, they might easily become 
 dangerous to him. Yet many overheated members of 
 the orthodox body (who wished to see everything changed 
 at a stroke, to their advantage) do not appear to have 
 been satisfied with this enforced moderation of Theo- 
 dosius; in this view, however, Gregory did not par- 
 ticipate." 
 
 On the 24th of December, A.D. 380, Theodosius came 
 to Constantinople, and two days after he gave to the 
 bishop, Demophilus, the head of the Arian party in 
 Constantinople, the bitter choice, either to adopt the 
 Nicene confession of faith, and unite himself to the 
 Catholics, or to vacate the churches of the metropolis.? 
 Demophilus was firm enough to choose the latter 
 alternative. After considering how difficult it would be 
 to withstand power,? he assembled his followers in the 
 church, and, presenting himself before them, said, ‘My 
 brethren! it is written in the Gospel, ‘if they persecute 
 you in one city, flee ye to another.’ Since now the 
 emperor shuts us out from the churches, be it known to 
 you, that to-morrow we shall meet outside the city.’4 
 
 1 Greg. Carm. de Vita sua, line 1287, pp. 20, 21. ‘Gregory 
 rather praises Theodosius for having done no violence to men’s 
 conscientious convictions—a praise which would have been no 
 slight merit had Theodosius but deserved it. In reference to the 
 freedom of religious conviction, Gregory says on this occasion, 
 (line 1293, p. 21)— 
 
 Οὐ yap κατείργειν, ἀλλὰ πείϑειν ἔννομον 
 Εἴναι νομίζω, καὶ πρὸς ἡμῶν τι πλέον 
 Αὐτῶν 7’ ἐκείνων, οὕς ϑεῷ προσάξομεν. 
 2 Sozom., vii. 5 ; Socrat., v. 7. 
 ὝΕΣ λογισάμενος, ὡς χαλεπὸν πρὸς κρείσσονας ἀντι- 
 
 | πίπτειν. 
 
 4 Socrat., v. 7. 
 
222 TRIUMPH OF THE NICENE FAITH. [SECT. III. 
 
 With these words he left the church. The Arians had 
 been forty years in possession of the churches of Con- 
 stantinople.! 
 
 Gregory, on the contrary, the courageous defender of 
 the now highly-favoured faith, must naturally have been 
 most graciously received by Theodosius. The emperor 
 greeted him, at their first meeting, with extreme respect, 
 conversed for a long while with him, and closed the 
 interview with these words :? ‘ This temple’ (the principal 
 
 church of Constantinople) ‘God delivers up to thee by 
 ~ our hand, as a reward for thy devoted labours,’ words 
 which Gregory (as he himself says) may have thought 
 incredible, had they not afterwards been verified by the 
 result. In fact, such a transfer of the principal church 
 of Constantinople, from the hands of the Arians into 
 those of the orthodox, might well appear, even with the 
 intervention of the imperial power, something still 
 doubtful, on account of the numbers of the Arian party. 
 A vast portion of the inhabitants of Constantinople were 
 thrown into a state of stormy excitement by this order 
 of the emperor; and when the day arrived on which the 
 orthodox should actually take possession of the church, 
 
 1 The great body, however, of the Arians did not at first give 
 the matter up as lost. They held meetings, and endeavoured, by 
 means of persons moving in the immediate society of the emperor, 
 who were favourable to Arianism, to work upon Theodosius. The 
 emperor was already inclined to enter into a conference with 
 Eunomius, the celebrated defender of Arian opinions, and then 
 living in retirement at Chalcedon ; but he was kept from doing 
 so by the empress, Flacilla, who was over-anxious for the 
 orthodoxy of her husband.—Sozom., vii. 6. At the same time 
 the orthodox Bishops offered everything, in order to confirm the 
 emperor in his Nicene convictions, and employed for that purpose 
 some very palpable motives, one of which is also adduced in 
 Sozomen, vii. 6. 
 
 2 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1305 et seq. p. 21. 
 
CHAP. VII.] TRIUMPH OF THE NICENE FAITH. 223 
 
 all the streets and public places were filled with persons 
 of all ranks and ages, with men and women, old men 
 and children, who lamented, wept, shouted, and threat- 
 ened. Constantinople resembled a city that had been 
 taken by assault.'. The church of the Apostles? was 
 
 1 Gregor. Carm. de Vita sua, lines 1825—1336, p. 21. 
 
 ® Tillemont, the Benedictine editors, and others, assume that it 
 was the church of S. Sophia which was given up to Gregory as the 
 chief church of the city. They give, however, no proof of this, and 
 I doubt much that any can be given. I rather believe, on the 
 following grounds, that it was not the church of 8. Sophia, but 
 the church of the Apostles. The church of 8. Sophia is neither 
 expressly named anywhere in Gregory’s writings, nor is there 
 any actual allusion to it. The church of the Apostles, on the 
 contrary, is several times noticed by him. He not only men- 
 tions it as the celebrated burying-place of the Constantine family 
 (Orat. v.17, p. 159: τὸν ἀοίδιμον τῶν ᾿Αποστόλων σηκὸν, ot δὴ 
 τὸ ἱερὸν γένος καὶ ὑπεδέξαντο καὶ διαφυλάττουσι), but he also 
 expressly designates it as the church in which he preached. In 
 Orat. xlii. 26, p. 767, he takes leave of the Apostles, as dwellers 
 in the church: χαίρετε ᾿Απόστολοι, ἡ καλὴ μετοικία, οἱ ἐμοὶ 
 διδάσκαλοι τῆς ἀϑλήσεως.. . - «; and in the poem upon his beloved 
 church, Anastasia, the only church mentioned in connexion with 
 it is that of the Apostles. In Carm. ix. line 57, p. 79, Gregory 
 thus extols Constantinople : 
 
 Νηοῖς οὐρανίοισιν ἀγάλλεται ἔξοχον ἄλλων. 
 
 Νηοῖς τοῖς ποτ᾽ ἐμοῖς, νῦν γε μὲν ἀλλοτρίοις. 
 
 Σὺν τοῖς καὶ μεγάλαυχον ἔδος Χριστοῖο μαϑητῶν, 
 Πλευραῖς σταυροτύποις τέτραχα τεμνόμενον. : 
 "ANN οὐ τόσσος ἔμοι γε πόϑος καὶ ἄλγος ἐκείνων, 
 ἽὍσσος ᾿Αναστασίης, Βηϑλεὲμ ὑστατίης. 
 
 Here Gregory notices, among the most distinguished temples of 
 Constantinople, only the Apostles’ Church—adding, that that 
 was not so dear to him as that of Anastasia. He would certainly 
 have mentioned the church of 8, Sophia had it been the cathedral. 
 Therefore, under the words, ὁ μέγας ναὸς οὗτος καὶ περιβόητος 
 (Orat. xlii. 26, p. 766), I understand, not the church of S. Sophia, 
 but that of the Apostles. Both these churches, as it is well 
 known, were built by Constantine the Great; but the Apostles’ 
 Church, which Constantine had at the same time destined for his 
 burying-place, was manifestly distinguished by greater splendour 
 and a certain show of preference ; which also the narrative of 
 Eusebius (De Vita Constantini, iv. 58— 60) displays very 
 
224 TRIUMPH OF THE NICENE FAITH. [ SECT. III. 
 
 strongly occupied by well-armed soldiers. Gregory 
 himself, who was just then particularly bowed down by 
 sickness, walked, breathing feebly, but full of confidence, 
 by the side of the stately, warlike emperor, towards the 
 temple. The morning was gloomy. The heaven had 
 concealed its light behind heavy clouds, and appeared 
 unfavourable to the enterprise. The Arians already began 
 to exult in this sign from heaven, and the orthodox to be 
 dispirited ; when it came to pass, that as the emperor 
 and bishop, with their followers, entered with songs of 
 praise the holy building, and raised their hands to God 
 in prayer, a bright sunbeam broke through the clouds, 
 and filled the temple with the most cheerful ight. The 
 orthodox now thought they might be fully satisfied, 
 that God also approved and favoured their proceedings. 
 This last circumstance, in particular, is noticed by 
 Gregory with great vivacity, in his poem about his own 
 life (line 1336—1370). 
 
 Amid the joy of this victory, the assembly had but 
 one wish, which they also soon made known by loud 
 
 pointedly. The church of S. Sophia, even as it was renovated 
 and enlarged by Constantius (Socrat., i. 16), does not appear to 
 have surpassed that of the Apostles. It was not till the time of 
 Justinian that the church of 8. Sophia became the most splendid 
 monument of the renovated Greek style of architecture, which 
 combined within its vast extent all that the art and pomp of those 
 times could produce, It is from that date that it appears to have 
 become decidedly the principal church of Constantinople. Notices 
 respecting the earlier history of both churches are to be found in 
 Du Cange, Constantinopolis Christiana, iii. 1, p. 1; iv. 5, p. 105: 
 and respecting their ancient and modern history at the same time, 
 in Von Hammer’s Constantinopolis, vol. i. pp. 3385, 388, et seq. 
 At all events, if the question is about a cathedral-church at Con- 
 stantinople towards the end of the fourth century, the choice can 
 only be between the church of 8. Sophia and the church of the 
 Apostles. I would, however, decidedly vote for the latter. 
 
CHAP. vil. | GREGORY REFUSES THE BISHOPRIC. 295 
 
 cries,—viz. that Theodosius would give them Gregory 
 as their actual bishop. A tumultuary call of the whole 
 multitude, even of the women and persons in authority 
 who were present, announced this desire. The emperor, 
 perhaps, was not disinclined to comply with the wish, 
 but Gregory could not make up his mind to accept the 
 actual appointment to the bishopric, or, at least, to allow 
 himself to be elected in this way. In the meanwhile, 
 he was so seriously indisposed that he felt himself quite 
 incapable of addressing the people. He _ therefore 
 requested another clergyman to speak to the assembly 
 in his name, in the following words: ‘Cease, I pray 
 you, cease from this loud call! Now, before all things, is 
 the time for thanksgiving—hereafter for other matters.’ 
 This decided refusal was received very favourably, as 
 well by the emperor, as by the people, who were now 
 again appeased. (Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1371—1391, 
 p. 22.) All ended quietly and without violence; only 
 one sword was drawn, and that put again without blood- 
 shed into its sheath.'!| After the orthodox party had 
 been put in possession of the principal temple and other 
 churches and ecclesiastical buildings in Constantinople, 
 the church property also, and revenues, which were 
 before under the control of the Arians, passed over 
 to the dominant party; and Gregory undertook the 
 management of the same. This church property was, 
 as Gregory himself indicates, very considerable, the 
 valuables, in vessels and the like, extremely rich and 
 splendid: 
 
 1 Curm. de Vit. s., line 1394, p. 22: 
 
 Ὅσον γυμνωϑὲν ἕν ξίφος, πάλιν ἔσω 
 Ileceiv..... 
 
290 DISPLEASURE OF THE [ SECT. III. 
 
 Τὸ δ᾽ ἐκ τοσούτων χρημάτων ϑρυλλουμένων, 
 ὯΩν οἱ μέγιστοι τῶν ὅλης οἰκουμένης 
 
 Ναοῖς ἐθησαύριζον ἐκ παντὸς χρόνου, 
 Κειμηλίων τε καὶ πόρων τῶν πάντοϑεν. 
 
 _ Gregor. Carm. de Vita sua, line 1475, p. 23. 
 
 That Gregory managed these riches conscientiously 
 we may be sure, from his truly exalted notions concerning 
 selfishness and avarice.! Indeed, his numerous enemies 
 would have certainly brought bitter reproofs against him 
 if he had not done so. His highest gratification, like 
 that of his mother, consisted in acts of benevolence. 
 He dared to boast, and with justice, that if all the clergy 
 thought as he did in reference to the possessions of the 
 Church, things would not be in so sad a condition as 
 they were in many Churches: 
 
 ° ’ ¢€ > / > - 
 Ei πάντες οὕτως ἐφρόνουν εἰς χρήματα, 
 2 » > > ° 5 5 / 
 Οὐκ ἄν ποτ᾽ οὐδεν τοῖον ἐν ἐκκλησίαις 
 Πήρωμ᾽ ἀνευρειν. 
 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1491, p. 24. 
 
 The displeasure of the Arian party at this transaction 
 was not strong enough to break out in actual resistance. 
 The joy of the hitherto-oppressed orthodox party was 
 the livelier on that account; and, as the convictions, 
 especially the religious convictions of—alas!—so large 
 
 1 We may here rely entirely on the known sentiments of 
 Gregory. His character was so completely raised above suspicion 
 of selfishness, that he does not even hesitate to remark, how all 
 the riches of the Church were delivered up to him, without 
 finding as much as a catalogue thereof among the papers of the 
 former bishops—without a treasurer giving any account of them, 
 and without having himself called in any stranger (ξένον, probably 
 a secular officer) to make a list of them, because he did not wish 
 to make the possessions of the Church thus to become generally 
 known.—Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1479 et seq. p. 238. 
 
CHAP. vil. | ARIAN PARTY. 297 
 
 a portion of mankind take their tone from external 
 circumstances, that is to say, from the influence of the 
 ruling power, so now many persons were found, who 
 had hitherto thought it advisable to be Arians, but who 
 soon saw their error, and, being converted by such pal- 
 pable arguments, joined in the triumph of the orthodox.! 
 Gregory soon found an opportunity of expressing his 
 joyful feelings at this change of things. On a martyr’s 
 festival, which the Arians were not in the habit of keep- 
 ing, he came forward, for the first time, with an oration 
 in the church which had been transferred to him, and 
 at the same time introduced the banished martyrs afresh 
 into the temple. On this occasion he delivered a short 
 address,? in which he thanks the martyrs for having so 
 triumphantly assisted the professors of the pure faith in 
 their recent contest. Much that is excellent is con- 
 tained in particular parts of this oration; it is, never- 
 theless, unpleasant to find it over-seasoned, here and 
 
 1 Such persons, bishops and laymen, Gregory points to in very 
 
 strong language. Carm. adv. Episc., line 335, p. 24. Toll. : 
 Τὴν πίστιν ἀμφιδέξιοι, καιρῶν νόμους 
 Οὐ τυῦς Θεοῦ σέβοντες. 
 
 2 Orat. xxxv. pp. 629—632. 
 
 3.2... evye, ὦ Μάρτυρες" ὑμέτερος Kai οὗτος ὁ ἄϑλος" ὑμεῖς 
 νενικήκατε τὸν πολὺν πόλεμον, εὖ οἷδα. If the remark made 
 above be correct, that Gregory for the most part delivered his 
 orations in the church of the Apostles, we have then probably to 
 understand here, the apostles under the name of the martyrs. 
 Nay, all the apostles were considered martyrs (even 8. John, 
 though after a different notion of martyrdom) ; and we have the 
 Apostles’ Church expressly called μαρτύριον by Eusebius (De Vita 
 Constant., iv. 58). I myself, however, do not attach much pro- 
 bability to this supposition, and would not omit to refer the 
 inquirer to the Acta Sanctor. Major., vol. ii. p. 409, where the 
 Feast celebrated on the 13th of December is appropriated to the 
 Armenian martyrs—-Eustratius, Auxentius, Eugenius, Mardarius, 
 and Orestes, 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 HIS FORBEARANCE [SEcT. TT: 
 
 there, with too harsh reproaches and sallies against the 
 now conquered Arians.! One might suppose, from par- 
 ticular expressions which we here meet with, that on 
 the side of the Arians there was nothing but what was 
 base and diabolical, and, on the orthodox side, pure 
 light and freedom from error; whilst it is manifest that 
 there was a mixture of both on both sides. And we 
 cannot suppress the wish that Gregory could always, 
 and everywhere, have exhibited that mild forbearance 
 which he generally recommended so strongly by word 
 and deed, and which, in the sequel, he exercised in so 
 noble a manner. ΑΒ a proof of this, an incident that 
 occurred somewhat later may here be related, as it is 
 adapted to reconcile us again with Gregory, and to prove 
 that those bitter and harsh expressions against enemies 
 and offenders, which we occasionally hear from his 
 mouth, did not proceed from habitual acrimony of 
 disposition, but from an excitable temperament. 
 Somewhere about this time, Gregory was confined to 
 his bed by sickness,2 when there entered into his 
 chamber some of the common people, and among them 
 a young man in a black dress, with a pale face and long 
 hair. Gregory, alarmed, made a movement as if he 
 would jump out of bed. The men, after they had said 
 something civil, by way of greeting, again retired; but 
 the young man stayed behind, threw himself at the feet 
 of Gregory, weeping, speechless, beside himself. To the 
 bishop’s questions, ‘Who art thou ?’—whence comest 
 thou ?—what dost thou want ? he replied only with still 
 louder lamentation. He shed tears, he sighed, he wrung 
 
 1 See particularly Orat. xxxv. 2, 3, pp. 629, 680. 
 ® Greg. Carm. de Vita sua, line 1442—1475, p. 23. 
 
 ἀκ, alee 
 
CHAP. vill. | TO AN ENEMY. 229 
 
 his hands, so that Gregory himself was moved to tears. 
 When at length he had been removed by force, one of 
 those who were present said, ‘That is thy murderer!! 
 God has guarded you from his intended blow, and he is 
 now come hither, impelled by his own conscience—a 
 wretch in his design of murder, but generous in his self- 
 accusation; his tears make an atonement for the blood 
 he intended to shed.’ Gregory, shuddering at this 
 account, said to the young man, ‘God preserve thee! 
 That I, whom He preserveth, should bear myself merci- 
 fully towards thee, is nothing great. Thy daring deed 
 hath made thee mine; see, then, that thou henceforth 
 walk worthily, as one who belongeth to me and God.’ 
 This mild forbearance operated with extraordinary in- 
 fluence upon the inhabitants of Constantinople, and won 
 many hostile hearts to friendship with Gregory. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 GREGORY PERSISTS IN REFUSING TO ACCEPT THE EPISCOPAL DIGNITY : 
 HIS FRANK BEHAVIOUR TO ALL CLASSES OF PERSONS. 
 
 Grecory had certainly escaped with success from the 
 first ebullition of popular favour, when, on taking pos- 
 
 1 A plot, therefore, had been formed against his life by one of 
 his most violent opposers—on what occasion we know not 
 exactly. It was probably on the day when the orthodox party 
 took possession of the principal church under the protection of an 
 armed force. The words in the Carmen de Vita sua, line 1394, 
 p. 22, may refer to this: ‘Only one sword was drawn, but that 
 was soon replaced in its sheath.’ Certainly he must have been 
 an extremely bold man who would have dared to attack Gregory 
 on that day, when he was so strongly guarded. The young man, 
 however, to whom the above account relates, appears to have 
 been a person of a fiery and wild energy. 
 
230 GREGORY PERSISTS IN REFUSING [ SECT. 111: 
 
 session of the church of the Apostles, he was to have 
 been forced to accept the episcopal dignity; but there is 
 great probability that the people renewed that effort with 
 redoubled violence, and that they one day took him by 
 surprise, and placed him, in the literal sense of the 
 word by force, on the episcopal seat. A passage in his 
 thirty-sixth oration seems decidedly to point to this, 
 where he says, ‘This fact (namely, that Gregory could 
 not always treat in a very friendly manner his ob- 
 trusively zealous admirers) was abundantly shown at 
 your recent act of violence towards me, when you (that 
 is the people), carried away by zeal and passion, and 
 regardless of all my reclamation and complaint, seated 
 me on the episcopal seat, an appointment about which I 
 am not quite resolved whether I should speak of it as 
 hierarchically binding, or as a mere act of tyranny and 
 compulsion.! But you have even seated me there, 
 performing an illegal act, from pure zeal and affection. 
 On that occasion, I expressed my anger with such 
 special heat against some persons, that they have been 
 alienated from me, and their love has suddenly turned 
 into hatred !”2 
 
 This occurrence gave Gregory occasion to declare 
 himself openly concerning the bishopric of Constanti- 
 nople. It is in his thirty-sixth oration that he does 
 this. He first of all puts the question, what could it be 
 that thus attached his hearers to him, like iron to the 
 
 1.... τὸν οὐκ οἵδ᾽ etre τυραννικὸν χρὴ λέγειν, ELTE ἀρχιερα- 
 τικόν. There is here, perhaps, some play upon words—that he 
 did not know whether to designate the episcopal seat as that on 
 which it is necessary a man should be placed by force, or as that 
 from which he might rule as a free agent. 
 
 2 Orat. xxxvi. 2, p. 636. 
 
CHAP. VILL. | THE EPISCOPAL DIGNITY. 231 
 
 magnet, since his discourses contained nothing par- 
 ticularly pleasing or attractive, and since he did not 
 affect to announce any new doctrine, but trod in the old 
 footsteps ? It consisted plainly in the consideration of 
 a certain truth, in which the minds of his hearers were 
 already interested, who, in part at least, were scholars of 
 the great bishop of Alexandria, the zealous defender of 
 the doctrine of the Trinity in Unity. He accounts, 
 however, for the affectionate, zealous attachment of his 
 congregation from the following causes:! First, because 
 they had themselves called him to his charge, for it was 
 in human nature that every one should love most his 
 own work, his own creation, his own possession—a 
 remark which is very striking, and is confirmed in all 
 times by the fact, that those congregations which call 
 and elect their ministers, show a much higher degree of 
 interest in them than those on whom they are imposed 
 by superior authority. In the next place, they were 
 pleased that he had nothing about him that was ex- 
 travagant, violent, or theatrical, showy or flattering, but 
 lived a retired, modest, temperate philosophical life. 
 And, finally, it could not escape their notice with what 
 annoyances, sufferings, and persecutions he was forced 
 to contend, for the sake of the pure doctrine. But the 
 sympathy thus called forth produced and_ elevated 
 affection. 
 
 After these considerations, Gregory defends himself 
 against the charge of seeking to obtain the bishopric 
 of Constantinople. He must indeed (he says) be 
 ashamed, if at his age, bowed down as he was with 
 infirmity, he cherished such views; and strange were it 
 
 1 Orat, xxxvi. 3, p. 636. 2 Orat, xxxvi. 6, p. 638 et seq. 
 
232 HIS FRANK BEHAVIOUR [ SECT. III. 
 
 to reproach him with lusting after the wife of another 
 (i.e. the bishopric of Constantinople), when he had 
 never wished for that which was his own (i.e. the 
 bishopric of Nazianzum, or rather of Sasima). That, 
 however, he had hastened to Constantinople in order to 
 sustain the true faith, which was then in a tottering 
 condition, deserved more praise than blame. 
 
 This same discourse, from which the above is taken, 
 and which was listened to by the emperor and court, 
 and many distinguished and highly-educated persons, 
 contains expressions! which so beautifully convey the 
 frank and open sentiments of the christian teachers of 
 that period (in which especially the noble-minded John 
 Chrysostom spoke and laboured), that we cannot forbear 
 to translate a portion of it, respecting which we may be 
 allowed to wish, that it may be read by those who have 
 the high calling of impressing the truth upon the hearts 
 and minds of princes ! 
 
 ‘Ye princes, (he is addressing the emperor and the 
 princes,) do honour to your purple!—for our discourse 
 dares give laws even to the lawgivers—reflect how much 
 is entrusted to you, and what is God’s great hidden 
 purpose with regard to you. The whole world is 
 subject to your hand, kept together and governed by a 
 little sceptre and a small piece of cloth (the imperial 
 purple mantle). All that is above in heaven is God’s; 
 all that is here below is yours. Be ye therefore, (that 
 I may say something even bolder,) be ye also as 
 
 1 Orat. xxxvi. 11, 12, p- 642 et seq. 
 
 5 . . γινώσκετε ὕσον τὸ πιστευϑὲν ὑμῖν, καὶ τί τὸ μέγα περὶ 
 ὑμᾶς μυστήριον. Κόσμος ὕλος ὑ ὑπὸ χεῖρα τὴν ὑμετέραν, διαδή- 
 ματι μικρῷ καὶ βραχεῖ ῥακίῳ κρατούμενος. 
 
 “νυ δία. νά...» » Ὁ. 
 
CHAP. VIII. | TO ALL CLASSES. 233 
 
 gods,' for the good of your subjects. ‘The king’s 
 heart is in the hand of the Lord ;? so it is written, and 
 so also we believe. Let, then, your power be founded 
 thereon, (7. 6. on God,) and not upon the abundance of 
 gold, or upon armed troops. 
 
 ‘ But ye, who surround the princes and the throne, be 
 not proud of the power which is committed to you, nor 
 look upon that which is transitory as eternal. Be 
 faithful to the princes, but first of all to God, and for 
 the sake of those who are given up and entrusted to 
 you. Ye who glory in the nobility of your family, be 
 noble in your moral habits; or I shall be obliged to say 
 something which, though certainly unpalatable, is yet to 
 be accounted wholesome. Then only would your order 
 be truly and in the highest sense noble, when no letters- 
 patent of nobility shall have introduced into your body 
 what is mean and ignoble.? 
 
 ‘Ye sages and philosophers, with venerable beards 
 and mantles, ye professors and philologists, ye orators, 
 who catch at the applause of the vulgar, truly I know 
 not how you came to be called wise men, since the first 
 
 1 Literally so, Yeoi γενέσϑε ; not as flattery, but expressed after 
 a manner familiar to Gregory, according to which the holy and 
 the godlike in man is designated as God; but here it is attended 
 with the additional idea of godlike beneticence. 
 
 2 Proverbs, xxi. i. 
 
 3. 4. 6. when no unworthy persons are raised to the rank of 
 nobles; when it is only an order of genuine merit. The Greek 
 original is somewhat difficult: τότε γὰρ ἀληϑὲς εὐγενέστατον ἣν 
 ἂν τι τὸ ὑμέτερον, εἰ μὴ καὶ δέλτοι τοὺς δυσγενεῖς ὑμῖν ἐνέγραφον 
 (literally, ‘if the patents of nobility did not also enrol the un- 
 worthy amongst you’). That δέλτοι, with Gregory, meant ‘ pa- 
 tents of nobility,’ is proved by another passage, where he censures 
 those who are proud of their new nobility. Cam. viii. line 29, p.76: 
 
 Οὗτος δ᾽ evyevetng τύμβοις φρονέων μεγάλοισιν, 
 Ἢ δέλτοις ὀλίγῃσι νεόγραφον αἷμα λελογχώς. 
 
294 HIS FRANK BEHAVIOUR [SECT. TII. 
 
 principle (of all wisdom) is wanting to you. And ye 
 rich men, hear him who saith—*TIf riches increase, set 
 not your heart upon them.” (Psalm Ixii. 10.) Know 
 that ye are trusting to an uncertain thing. Lighten 
 thy ship somewhat, that thou mayest sail the lighter ; 
 probably thou art wresting something from thy enemy, 
 to whom all that thou hast shall fall a prey. And ye 
 lovers of pleasure, withdraw something from the body 
 and bestow it on your soul; see, the poor man is nigh 
 at hand—relieve the sick, spend freely on him some 
 portion of your superfluous wealth. What need is 
 there you should both suffer—thou from repletion, he 
 from hunger?—thou from intemperance, he from thirst? 
 —thou, while thou loadest thyself with satiety and 
 over-fulness, he while he totters from exhaustion and 
 wasting sickness? Overlook not the poor ‘ Lazarus’ in 
 this life, that you may not hereafter become ‘ the rich 
 man in torment.’ And ye, inhabitants of the great 
 city, the first next after the first (Rome), and ye who 
 scarcely even allow that priority, be ye then the first, 
 not in wickedness, but in virtue; not in disorderly 
 living, but in a life of well-ordered sobriety. For how 
 disgraceful is it to rule over the cities, but suffer your- 
 selves to be mastered by your lusts; or to be wise and 
 intelligent in other things, whilst by horse-races, and 
 play-going, and betting, and hunting, you reduce your- 
 selves to such folly and madness, as to look upon such 
 things as the proper business of life? and thus the first 
 of cities, which properly ought to be a pattern to others 
 in all that is good, is become a city full of mere triflers! ἢ 
 O that ye would put off that character, and be indeed 
 God’s city? O that your names stood written in God’s 
 register now, and that hereafter ye may be presented, 
 
CHAP. Vit. | TO ALL CLASSES. 235 
 
 together with us, pure and in a pure form, to the great 
 Builder of cities! Such are the blessed instructions I 
 bring unto you, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ ; 
 to whom be honour and glory and power, for ever and 
 ever! Amen!’ 
 
 Thus freely, and independently of the influence of the 
 great and mighty, did Gregory speak; and in the same 
 spirit he also acted. We have seen how graciously and 
 encouragingly he was received by Theodosius.! [ 
 would therefore have been an easy thing for him to 
 obtain all the favour and influence of a court-ecclesiastic. 
 But this had no charm for one like Gregory; on the 
 contrary, he considered it becoming his own dignity, 
 and the dignity of Him whom he served, to visit the 
 court, and especially the great men of the court, but 
 seldom; and he left to others of the clergy, whom he 
 despised, to mount by flattery to honours and preferment.? 
 Gregory had the pride of one who would not obtrude 
 himself onerously upon a great personage.? Yet he did 
 
 1 Gregory was anything rather than blinded by the favour which 
 he had experienced at the hands of Theodosius. He expresses 
 himself very quietly concerning the emperor—nay, he betrays a 
 certain coldness, when, for instance (Carmen de Vita s., line 1282), 
 he says of him, ἄνϑρωπος οὐ κακὸς μὲν, κιτιλ. (‘not a bad sort 
 of man,’ &c.) 
 
 ® Carmen de Vita s., line 1424 et seq. p. 23; and Carmen ad- 
 vers. Episcopos, in many passages. These ecclesiastics, to whom 
 religion was an object of avarice and ambition, are called by 
 Gregory χριστέμποροι, traders in Christ. Carm. de Vita s., line 
 1756, p. 28. 
 
 3. Orat. xlii. 19, p.761:..... εἰ δυναστείαν ἠγάπησα, ἢ ϑρόνων 
 ὕψος, ἢ βασιλέων πατεῖν αὐλὰς, μηδὲ ἀλλό τι λαμπρὸν ἔχοιμι, 
 ἢ ῥίψαιμι κεκτημένος. And especially Carm. de Vit. s., line 1432, 
 
 20 : 
 if Μόνος ποϑεῖσϑαι μᾶλλον ἢ μισεῖσϑ᾽ ἔγνων, 
 Καὶ τῷ σπανίῳ τὸ σεμνὸν ἠμπολησάμην, 
 Θεῷ ταπολλὰ καὶ καϑάρσει προσνέμων, 
 Των δὲ κρατούντων τὰς ϑύρας ἄλλοις διδούς. 
 
236 HIS FRANK BEHAVIOUR. [ SECT. III. 
 
 not so bear himself in this respect as to play the part of 
 an arrogant, retiring, eccentric person; but when he 
 was invited, he appeared even at the imperial table, and 
 at the other entertainments of the great men. That, 
 however, such hours did not leave upon his mind the 
 most agreeable recollections, is shown by a poem! which 
 he wrote at a subsequent period in his retirement. In 
 that composition he extols his heavenly freedom, in 
 contrast with those painful moments when he sat. silent 
 and melancholy at the imperial table—when he was 
 obliged by courtesy to press respectfully the hands which 
 had shed so much blood—and when, as a special act of 
 grace, he was permitted to touch? the imperial beard. 
 With as little satisfaction does he speak of the birthday, 
 wedding, and funeral-feasts, which he could not avoid 
 attending? It may be fancied that Gregory, who had 
 given up so great a portion of his life to solitary retire- 
 ment, did not possess the heart and accomplishment of 
 partaking in such things in a cheerful but innocent 
 manner ; but undoubtedly it was rather the case that his 
 mind (devoted as it was to the higher good) made these 
 pleasures insipid to him, while his strict earnestness 
 rendered the luxury and extravagance that prevailed on 
 such occasions offensive and objectionable to him. He 
 was like an Elijah, or a John the Baptist, among that 
 thoughtless generation. Far happier were the days he 
 
 1 Carmen ix. pp. 79—81. 
 
 2 Carmen ix. line 59: 
 Οὐ ϑνητοῦ βασιλῆος ὁμέστιος We τοπάροιϑεν 
 Γρηγόριος ϑυλάκῳ ἦρα φέρων ὀλίγην. 
 
 And again, line 65: 
 
 Οὐδὲ χέρας φονίους προσπτύξομαι οὐδὲ γενείου 
 Δράξομαι, ὥς τ᾽ ὀλίγης ἀντιτυχεῖν χάριτος. 
 
 3 Carmen ix. lines 67—75, 
 
CHAP. IX.] SECOND (ECUMENIC COUNCIL. 237 
 
 spent in, calm repose, than they would have been in 
 those brilliant circles. Even the solitary hours of night 
 he gladly devoted to prayer, holy songs, and pious con- 
 templations, deriving spiritual strength for his active 
 duties from the source of all that is spiritual and all . 
 that is strong." 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE SECOND CCUMENIC COUNCIL AT CONSTANTINOPLE IN THE 
 SPRING OF A.D. 381 : GREGORY IS REGULARLY CHOSEN BISHOP : 
 HIS REASONABLE PROPOSALS ARE NOT LISTENED TO. 
 
 Arter Theodosius, by several edicts, especially that of 
 January the 10th, a.p. 381,? had expelled the Arians, 
 and the more insignificant parties connected with them, 
 from all church property, and made the professors of 
 the Nicene faith the sole predominant party, he wished 
 to give complete sanction to this measure by an assembly 
 of bishops from all parts of the Eastern empire, in 
 which the ancient rule of faith might be renewed, and, 
 if it were necessary, more exactly defined and com- 
 pleted. At the same time, he wished to see some 
 
 1 He describes this his ascetic life in several passages ; but par- 
 
 Sree in Carm. adv. Episc., line 54, p. 9 et seq. ; line 576, 
 54; and Carm. iv. p. 72. 
 
 2 Cod. Theod., lib. pe tit. v. de Heret., 1. 6, where, among 
 other things, we "read: Nullus heereticis mysteriorum locus, nulla 
 ad exercendi animi obstinatioris dementiam pateat occasio. 
 Nicene fidei, dudum a majoribus tradite et divine religionis 
 testimonio atque adsertione firmate, observantia semper mansura 
 teneatur ; Photiniane labis contaminatio, Ariant sacrilegii vene- 
 num, Lunomice perfidiz crimen et nefanda, monstruosis nominibus 
 auctorum, prodigia sectarum ab ipso etiam aboleantur auditu . 
 Cunctis orthodoxis episcopis, qui Niceenam fidem tenent, Catho- 
 licee ecclesize toto orbe reddantur. Dat. iv. Id. Januar. (a.D. 381.) 
 
238 SECOND CCUMENIC COUNCIL [ SECT. III. 
 
 settled arrangements made respecting the bishopric of 
 his chief city, Constantinople. For these purposes the 
 council of the Church was actually convoked by him at 
 Constantinople in the spring of the yearof our Lord 981 -} 
 an assembly which had been talked of for some time, 
 and to whose future determinations Gregory had already 
 referred, when it was attempted to impose the bishopric 
 upon him by force. It was quite consistent with the 
 whole previous proceedings of the emperor, that he 
 should invite particularly those bishops from whom he 
 could expect an agreement with the Nicene confession 
 of faith.2 According to this regulation, they are 
 reckoned (as it is well known) 150 in number, and, on 
 that account, the assembly is also called plainly, ‘The 
 Synod of the 150 Bishops.’ Those of the greatest 
 weight amongst them are, Meletius of Antioch, Helladius 
 of Ceesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, Amphilochius of Iconium, 
 Diodorus of Tarsus, and Cyrill of Jerusalem. Other 
 parties, however, besides the decidedly orthodox, were 
 not entirely excluded from the assembly; for Theodosius 
 had expressly invited the Macedonians with the hope 
 of an union; and there appeared no less than thirty-six 
 of their bishops, principally from the neighbourhood of 
 the Hellespont. The most distinguished among them 
 were Eleusius of Cyzicus, and Marcianus of Lampsacus. 
 The emperor and the other bishops made every effort 
 to induce them to receive the Nicene confession of faith ; 
 but they declared firmly against it, left Constantinople, 
 
 1 Socrat., v. 8; Sozom., vii. 7; Theodoret., v. 7, 8; Mansi’s 
 Collect. Conciliorum, t. 111. p. 523 et seq. 
 
 2 Socrates says thus: ὁ βασιλεὺς σύνοδον ἐπισκόπων τῆς avTOU 
 πίστεως συγκαλει, ἐπὶ TO κρατύναι τὴν ἐν Νικαία πίστιν, Kai 
 χειροτονῆσαι τῇ Κωνσταντίνου πόλει ἐπισκοπον. 
 
 ee ον ἐμ λ α  ον ονονόνα, - ὦ νι’... 
 
 a el 
 
CHAP. IX. | AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 239 
 
 and exhorted their respective communities, by letters, 
 not to unite themselves with the professors of the 
 ‘Nicene doctrine! No mention has been handed down 
 to us of the presence of a single Western bishop in this 
 assembly; nay, it is certain that Theodosius had called 
 together this synod without consulting the Roman 
 bishop, Damasus,? and that no persons took part in the 
 proceedings as his representatives. It must have dis- 
 pleased Damasus still more that a person, whom he, 
 with all the Western and Egyptian bishops, had not 
 recognised as in legitimate possession of the episcopal 
 dignity, there exercised the most decided influence, and, 
 at first, even enjoyed the precedence in the assembly of 
 bishops. eletiws, the venerable bishop of Antioch, an 
 aged man, universally honoured for his mildness and 
 piety, certainly at jurst presided at this meeting of eccle- 
 siastics; but subsequently (as it is highly probable) 
 Gregory of Nazianzum himself. The aged Meletius is 
 described by Gregory (who had a particular affection 
 for him) as a genuine angel of peace, simple, of an 
 unsophisticated nature, full of heavenly sentiments, 
 which beamed from his tranquil eye, but, at the same 
 time, courageous and decided.* He was, therefore, 
 excellently qualified for acting as president of such an 
 
 1 Socrat., v. 8. Sozom., vii. 7. 
 
 * No one has shown this more clearly and fully than the cele- 
 brated French scholar Edmund Richer, in his excellent Historia 
 Conciliorwm Generaliwm, lib. i. cap. 5, pp. 169—197. Edit. Colon. 
 
 3 Carm. de Vita sua, line 1514, p. 24. 
 
 Ὧν ny ἀνὴρ πρόεδρος εὐσεβέστατος, 
 
 ᾿Απλοῦς, ἄτεχνος τον τρόπον, ϑεοῦ γέμων, 
 
 Βλέπων γαλὴνην, ϑάρσος αἰδοῖ σύγκρατον. 
 He was also held in high respect by Theodosius: see Theodoret. 
 Mist. Ecc., v. 7. 
 
240 SECOND (CUMENIC COUNCIL [SECT. III. 
 
 assembly, and it is only to be lamented that he could 
 not animate it with his own spirit. Besides him, Nec- 
 tarius is also named (in the Acts of the council of 
 Chalcedon) as presiding at the synod of Constantinople, 
 which can only mean, that he exercised that office as 
 the newly-elected bishop of Constantinople, after the 
 voluntary retirement of Gregory.! 
 Meletius appears to have arrived at Constantinople 
 earlier than the other bishops. After as many eccle- 
 siastics had assembled as seemed necessary for the open- 
 ing of the council, they? proceeded (after a suitable 
 address of greeting to the emperor) to the consideration 
 and settlement of the questions relative to the Church 
 of Constantinople, although the bishops of Egypt and 
 Macedonia had not yet appeared.4 The recent election 
 of Maximus to the bishopric of Constantinople was 
 
 1 Meletius is especially described by Gregory as πρόεδρος. 
 After the death of Meletius, it is highly probable that Gregory 
 himself, for a short time, undertook the presidentship, and, on 
 his resignation, Nectarius, his successor. Sozomenus (vii. 7) 
 certainly seems to speak of Timotheus of Alexandria, Meletius, and 
 Cyrill of Jerusalem, as presidents at this synod. But his expres- 
 sions are too undecided to enable us to draw a positive conclusion 
 from them. 
 
 2 Socrat., v. 8: Μελέτιος δὲ ἐξ ᾿Αντιοχείας πάλαι παρῆν, OTE 
 διὰ τὴν Γρηγορίον κατάστασιν μετεστάλη. 
 
 3. The beginning of the synod, according to Socrates, fell in 
 the month of May: συνῆλθον ἐν ὑπατείᾳ (in the consulship) 
 Εὐχαρίου καὶ Evaypiov, τῷ pai μηνί. 
 
 4 Socrates, in the place above quoted, says plainly, that Meletius 
 was there earlier than the rest for the purpose of instituting 
 Gregory in the bishopric of Constantinople. _Theodoret (v. 7) 
 represents him as making his first appearance, before Theodosius 
 with the other bishops. This agrees with the hypothesis that 
 Meletius, with a part of the bishops who were invited to the 
 synod, was earlier in Constantinople, whilst the Egyptian and 
 Macedonian bishops (whom Gregory also represents as arriving 
 later) were not yet present. Comp. Gregor. Carm. de Vita sua, 
 line 1798, p. 28. That among the names of bishops subscribed 
 
 re 
 
CHAP. IX.]| AT CONSTANTINOPLE. 241 
 
 examined into, and, after due inquiry, set aside by the 
 bishops. There occurs a special law on this subject, in 
 the orders of the synod, to this effect:! ‘In regard to 
 Maximus the cynic, and the disturbance which took 
 place on his account at Constantinople, neither with 
 respect to the past nor to the present time is the said 
 Maximus to be looked upon as a bishop; and the same 
 holds good of all persons who may have been ordained 
 by him to any spiritual office, whatsoever that office may 
 be. Everything, generally, which has been undertaken 
 with him and from him is here declared to be invalid.’ 
 This canon was directed, as we see, not only against 
 Maximus, but also against the Egyptian bishops who 
 had consecrated him at Constantinople, and against the 
 subordinate ecclesiastics whom he probably afterwards 
 ordained in Egypt. It is highly probable that a par- 
 tisan, like Maximus, had still his adherents among the 
 Egyptian clergy, and that the Fathers, assembled at 
 Constantinople, cherished a reasonable distrust towards 
 their Egyptian brethren. This confirms the conclusion, 
 that the assembled prelates purposely settled this 
 business before the Egyptian bishops arrived, or else 
 that their summons to the synod was so arranged, that 
 they could not come in time for the commencement of 
 its proceedings. The assembled bishops had also, with- 
 out doubt, passed before the arrival of the Egyptians a 
 decree, which referred to the meddling of the Alex- 
 andrian bishop and his clergy in the concerns of the see 
 of Constantinople, and was also intended to forbid any- 
 
 to the decrees of the council no Macedonian occurs, need occasion 
 us no difficulty, since Gregory’s account of the synod is much 
 more to be depended upon than these signatures, 
 
 1 See Canon iv. in Mansi, tom iii. p. 559. 
 
 R 
 
242 GREGORY IS REGULARLY [ SECT. ELM 
 
 thing of the like kind for the future; for they deter- 
 mined,!—‘ that all bishops should remain in their own 
 dioceses, and not intrude upon another’s province; and 
 that they should not, uncalled, mix themselves up with 
 ordinations in which they have no concern.’ 
 
 When now the concerns of the Church in Con- 
 stantinople were supposed to be securely arranged, it 
 became necessary to proceed to the actual and legal 
 election of a bishop for the chief city. And whom else 
 could that election fix upon than Gregory? He, the 
 courageous defender of the Nicene faith, beloved by 
 the emperor, adored by the people, respected and feared 
 by most of the clergy, was now actually elected by the 
 synod as bishop? of the Eastern capital. This, indeed, 
 was the only admissible mode of election, because he 
 was not yet released from his bishopric of Nazianzum 
 or Sasima.? Gregory declares that even now the 
 acceptance of this dignity was unpleasant to him, but 
 
 1 Canon ii., see Mansi, p. 559. That this decree had a polemic 
 reference to the Bishop of Alexandria is clear from hence, that he 
 is the only prelate expressly named, and to whom it is directly 
 prescribed ‘ that he should interfere in the regulation of church 
 matters only in Egypt.’ 
 
 2 Carm. de Vita sua, line 1525, p. 24: 
 
 Οὗτοι μ᾽ ἐνιδρύουσι τοῖς σεμνοῖς ϑρονοίς 
 Βοῶντα καὶ στένοντα. 
 
 3 Certainly the 15th canon of the Nicene Council was opposed 
 to the legality of Gregory’s elevation to the bishopric of Con- 
 stantinople, which forbade bishops to leave their posts and enter 
 upon another bishopric. Nor was it omitted to give weight to 
 this fact against him. To this, Meletius (who was favourable to 
 Gregory, and consecrated him as Bishop of Constantinople) replied 
 —that the law was made only to prevent ambitious views ; but 
 as these could not exist in this instance, it was not applicable to 
 the case in question. (Theodoret, v. 8: τοῦτον (Tenyédptor) 
 ἰδὼν ὁ ϑεῖος Μελέτιος, καὶ τῶν τὸν κάνονα γεγραφότων τὸν 
 σκοπὸν ἐπιστάμενος---τὰς γὰρ τῆς φιλαρχίας ἀφορμὰς περικόπ- 
 
CHAP. 1Χ.] CHOSEN BISHOP. 243 
 
 that this unpleasantness was sweetened to him by the 
 hope of being able, as legitimate bishop of Constan- 
 tinople, to contribute much to the reconciliation of 
 those disputes, which, originating with the Meletian 
 schism in Antioch, separated and distracted the Eastern 
 and Western Churches.!. The consecration of Gregory 
 was conducted with much solemnity by all the bishops 
 then present, with Meletius at their head, and honoured 
 with appropriate discourses. 
 
 This commencement was probably the calmest and 
 brightest period of the synod; the old contention about 
 the bishopric of Antioch was soon renewed, and, indeed, 
 in amanner that was extremely unworthy of an assembly 
 of ecclesiastics. The venerable old man Meletius died, 
 and in him disappeared the angel of peace.2 After his 
 
 τοντες, ἐκώλυσαν τὴν μετάϑεσιν — ἐβεβαίωσε τῷ ϑειοτάτῳ 
 Γρηγορίῳ τὴν τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως προεδρίαν.) Such a 
 subjective exposition of the law, according to its spirit and object, 
 might undoubtedly lead to most arbitrary judgment ; only the 
 declaration of a general synod could legally make any alteration 
 on this point. It might with more justice have been argued in 
 favour of Gregory, that at Nazianzum he had only been his 
 father’s coadjutor, and that as to the bishopric of Sasima, he 
 had been forced into it against his will, and, indeed, had never 
 exercised any episcopal offices there. 
 1 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1529 et seq. p. 24. He remarks, 
 however, that there may have been ματαίας καρδίας φαντάσματα. 
 > Greg. Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1578, p. 25. How widely 
 
 different from the peace-loving Meletius was the conduct of the 
 other bishops, appears, ¢.g., from the following sketch—Carm. 
 de Vit. sua, line 1550, p. 25: 
 
 Θρόνων ἐπ᾽ ἄκρων ἐξερεύγεται λόγος, 
 
 Οἱ πᾶσι κηρύσσοντες εἰρήνην ἀεὶ, 
 
 Φωναῖς πλατείαις ἐν μέσαις ἐκκλησίαις, 
 
 Τοσοῦτον ἐμμανησαν ἀλλήλοις πικρῶς, 
 
 “Ὥστ᾽ ἐκβοῶντες, συλλέγοντες συμμάχους, 
 
 Κατηγοροῦντες καὶ κατηγορούμενγοι, 
 
 Πηδῶντες, ἐκδημοῦντες ἐν πηδήμαοι, 
 
 Διαρπάζοντες ὕυς τύχοι τὶς προφϑάσας. 
 
 R 2 
 
244 GREGORY'S PROPOSALS ARE [ SECT. III. 
 
 funeral had been celebrated with great splendour,! a 
 contest arose about what he had left behind him,—viz. 
 the bishopric of Antioch, which his death had vacated. 
 This might have been the moment for uniting the so 
 long separated parties in Antioch, had the oversight of 
 the whole Antiochian community been transferred to 
 the still surviving Paulinus. We are even told by 
 ancient writers, that there existed an agreement between 
 the clergy and the laity of Antioch, by virtue of which, 
 after the decease of Meletius or of Paulinus, he who 
 survived the other should be recognised as the sole 
 bishop; nay, that this agreement had even been sworn 
 to by a number of the clergy on both sides.2 Without 
 doubt, such an arrangement would gradually, and in 
 the safest manner, have produced peace. Gregory also 
 looked upon the general acknowledgment of Paulinus 
 as the most judicious measure for the attainment of 
 union, and justified this view with thorough earnestness 
 and warmth before the assembly. What he said on 
 that occasion was essentially as follows :3—‘ We ought 
 now to take a higher view of the question, and not 
 
 1 The funeral obsequies of Meletius were honoured with many 
 eulogistic orations (Theodoret, v. 8), among which Socrates (Hist. 
 Eccles., v. 9) especially distinguishes that of Gregory of Nyssa. 
 After this solemnity had been celebrated in Constantinople with 
 especial honour, his body was carried to Antioch, and buried 
 there.—(Greg. Carm. de Vita sua, line 1579 et seq. p. 25). 
 Meletius, especially towards the end of his life, enjoyed uncommon 
 respect; and if at the beginning of his career his convictions 
 were wavering, and his orthodoxy somewhat suspicious, yet his 
 character unfolded itself so beautifully amongst various visitations 
 and sufferings—he showed himself so amiable, mild, and pious, 
 that he acquired such a degree of general affection as scarcely any 
 other ecclesiastic of that stormy period did. 
 
 2 Socrat., v. 5; Sozom., vii. 38; and, with some variation, 
 Theodoret., vii. 2 et seq. 
 
 3 Carm. de Vit. sua, lines 1590—1680, pp. 25, 26, 27. 
 
~ 
 
 CHAP. IX. | NOT LISTENED TO. 245 
 allow ourselves to be mixed up with the party feelings 
 of a particular city. Were those individuals even 
 angels, yet they deserved not that, for their sakes, 
 Christendom, redeemed so dearly, and called to peace, 
 should be involved in a general contest. But since the 
 dispute is already kindled, it is now that it can again 
 be best suppressed. Let him who is now in possession 
 of the episcopal seat still retain it. Meanwhile, he also 
 is growing old, and the common lot of mortals must 
 befal him! Zhen a new bishop can be elected with the 
 general consent of the laity and the clergy, and with 
 ‘the advice of the most judicious bishops. This is the 
 only way to peace, which, after weighing well how 
 destructive this contentious spirit is to the Church, we 
 ought to adopt from a holy sense of duty. But that 
 you may be convinced that no regard to self-interest, 
 no desire to please man, has moved me to give this 
 council, J now request permission to resign my bishop- 
 ric, and to lead, if a more ingloriwus, yet a more 
 peaceful life "ἢ 
 
 In this clear and manly language spoke Gregory, 
 But the spirit of party was too strong for the voice of 
 reason to be heard. The assembled bishops were almost 
 all supporters of Meletius (Paulinus had not even been 
 invited to the synod), and might feel assured that the 
 implacable jealousy of the Meletian party at Antioch 
 would never recognise Paulinus as bishop.! Supported, 
 therefore, by that party-spirit at Antioch, the same 
 spirit made its voice heard even here, in the assembly 
 of bishops. Searcely had Gregory finished his address, 
 
 1 Socrat., v. 9: of Μελετίῳ προσκείμενοι ὑπὸϊ Παυλῖνον εἶναι 
 οὐκ ἤδελον. It was a stubborn party-spirit which thus attached 
 itself to persons. 
 
246 GREGORY RESIGNS, AND [5801. ΤΠ; 
 
 when, particularly, the younger ecclesiastics (whom he 
 certainly had not flattered) rose up in opposition to 
 the views proposed by him, screaming tumultuously 
 (to use Gregory’s own expression), like jackdaws, and 
 falling upon him like a swarm of wasps.! These 
 brawlers succeeded in carrying with them even the 
 temperate and the old, and thus the calm words of 
 wisdom were perfectly inoperative. The actual result 
 (probably at the instigation of the Syrian prelates, who 
 did not wish to be subject to Paulinus) was, that a 
 Successor was given to Meletius, and a rival bishop 
 to Paulinus, in the person of Flexianus the presbyter. 
 (Socrat., v. 9; Sozom., vii. 11.) With this choice the 
 Meletian community of Antioch completely coincided. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 GREGORY RESIGNS, AND LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 
 
 MEANWHILE the sittings of the synod continued in so 
 stormy a manner as could not be pleasing to an earnest- 
 minded man. Gregory was glad to be prevented by 
 illness for several days from attending the meetings,? 
 
 1 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1680. Compare Carm. x. line 92, 
 Ῥ. 81, where, among other things, he compares even the bishops 
 with cranes and geese. Certainly, only those who are admirers of 
 the unlimited authority of councils should read Gregory’s descrip- 
 tion of this Gicumenic synod ; and especially his delineation of 
 most of its members. See Carm. adv. Episc., line 154, p. 18 et 
 seq., where, among other things, he represents it as something 
 discreditable to sit in the midst of such traders-in-faith : 
 καὶ γὰρ hy αἴσχος μέγα 
 
 Τούτων τιν᾽ εἶναι τῶν καπήλων πίστεως. 
 5. Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1745, p. 28. 
 
 iene oe 
 
CHAP. X.]| LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 247 
 
 and at last, when he saw that his voice could not make 
 its way there, he firmly determined to withdraw him- 
 self altogether. With this view he quitted his recent 
 episcopal residence, and no longer assisted at the synod.! 
 This step made a great impression upon the people, who 
 earnestly besought Gregory to devote the rest of his 
 life entirely to them and to God, whose Gospel he had 
 hitherto preached with such power among them.? 
 Gregory was not yet able to come to a positive deter- 
 mination of resigning his bishopric, when the proceed- 
 ings of the synod, through the arrival of the hitherto 
 absent bishops of Egypt and Macedonia, took a turn 
 which brought this determination to maturity.3 These 
 bishops, who naturally felt themselves neglected in the 
 tardiness of their summons, were already, even on 
 that ground, inclined to set themselves against that 
 which the synod had already determined upon. They 
 showed themselves particularly dissatisfied with the 
 election of Gregory; and this, as he himself says, not 
 so much out of hatred towards him, or preference for 
 another, whom they would rather have placed on the 
 episcopal seat, but rather from a refractory spirit against 
 
 1 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1778, p. 28. 
 
 2 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1781 et seq. p. 28. 
 
 3 That the Egyptian and Macedonian bishops did arrive late, 
 is clear from the whole account of the matter by Gregory. After 
 relating all that has been given above, he thus proceeds (Carm. 
 de Vit. sua, line 1798, p. 28) to report the arrival of these bishops, 
 as something that had newly occurred : 
 
 "HASov yap, ἠλϑον ἐξαπίνης κεκλημένοι 
 Αἰγύπτιοι τε καὶ Μακεδόνες ἐργάται 
 Τῶν τοῦ ϑεοῦ νόμων τε καὶ μυστηρίων, 
 Φυσῶντες ἡμῖν ἑσπερίον τε καὶ τραχύ. 
 Τοῖς δ᾽ αντεπήει δῆμος ἡλιοφρόνων. 
 
248 GREGORY RESIGNS, AND [SECT. III. 
 
 those who had elected Gregory.!. So, at least, they 
 secretly represented the matter to him. 
 
 According to all probability, this refers more par- 
 ticularly to the fact, that Gregory had been elected 
 under the influence of Meletius, and consecrated by 
 him. But, publicly, they made use of another reason 
 for rejecting Gregory; for instance, they applied to 
 this case the 15th canon of the Nicene council: ‘that, 
 to guard against irregularities, no bishop, presbyter, or 
 deacon, should pass from one city to another. But 
 should any one presume to act on this plan, the 
 arrangement should go for nothing, and the ecclesiastic 
 should be sent back to the church in which he had been 
 first ordained.’ According to this, they now maintained 
 that Gregory could legitimately be only bishop of Sasima, 
 but by no means bishop of Constantinople. Gregory 
 and his defenders, on the contrary, appealed to the fact 
 that he had, by the declaration of a general synod, been 
 released altogether from this already antiquated law ;? 
 an argument which, however, was not raised above all 
 doubts. 
 
 Gregory now considered himself so seriously ill, that, 
 setting aside all other considerations, he formed a deter- 
 
 1 Carm. de Vit. swa, line 1812, p. 29: 
 Οὐ μὲν πρὸς ἔχϑραν τὴν ἐμὴν, οὐδὲ ϑρόνον 
 Σπεύδοντες ἄλλοις, οὐδαμῶς, ὅσον πόνῳ 
 Τῶν ἐνϑπρονιστῶν τῶν ἐμῶν, ὡς γοῦν ἐμὲ 
 Σαφῶς ἔπειϑον λαϑρίοις δηλώμασι. 
 2 Gregory designates this Nicene canon as an antiquated law. 
 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1810, p. 29: 
 Νόμους στρέφοντες τοὺς πάλαι τεθνηκότας, 
 Ὧν πλεῖστον ἠμὲν καὶ σαφῶς ἐλεύϑεροι. 
 But we cannot quite see what sufficient ground he had for saying 
 so. The 15th canon had been annulled by no succeeding council ; 
 
CHAP. X.]| LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 249 
 
 mined resolution to resign his office. He presented 
 himself before the assembled bishops, and addressed them 
 as follows :'—‘ Whatever this assembly may afterwards 
 determine concerning me, I would gladly raise your 
 thoughts beforehand to a subject of far higher impor- 
 tance. I pray you, then, be at harmony with each other, 
 and united in love! Shall we always be derided as 
 irreconcilable, and be animated only by one thing,—viz. 
 contention? Offer the hand of brotherly affection. 
 But I will be another Jonas. I will sacrifice myself for 
 the safety of our ship (the Church), although I am 
 guiltless as to the storm that has been raised. Let the 
 lot fall upon me, and throw me into the sea; a hospitable 
 whale will receive me in the deep waters. Let this 
 be the beginning of your reconciliation. Unwillingly 
 I ascended the episcopal throne, and willingly I again 
 descend from it. My poor weak body also counsels me 
 to this. Only one debt have I still to pay—the debt of 
 death; and that is God’s concern. But O my beloved 
 Trinity in Unity! only on thy account am I sorrowful. 
 Wilt thou indeed have an honest man as my successor, 
 who may defend thee with courage and a zealous 
 devotedness? But fare ye well! and think, I pray 
 you, of my labours and troubles.’ Thus spoke Gregory. 
 
 nay, rather, towards the end of the fourth century, it was quite 
 as beneficial and necessary as it had been at the beginning of the 
 same. And Gregory himself, so great an admirer in general of 
 the decrees of Niczea, was least justified in speaking of one of 
 them as antiquated. Only by the decree of a general synod 
 could he be released therefrom, and this he actually had been « 
 when the synod of Constantinople appointed him bishop of that 
 capital. The correctness, however, of that decision was called in 
 question by the Egyptian and Macedonian bishops, because they 
 had not been present at the passing of the same. 
 
 1 Carm. de Vit. sua, line 1828, p. 29. 
 
250 GREGORY RESIGNS, AND [SECT. III. 
 
 The bishops, taken by surprise, hesitated, in doubt how 
 they should declare themselves. Gregory left the 
 assembly with mingled sensations, happy at the thought 
 that he should now enjoy repose, but sad when he 
 thought of his flock, and their feelings on becoming 
 acquainted with what had happened.!_ No sooner, how- 
 ever, had Gregory left the assembly, than the bishops 
 showed their satisfaction at his resignation ;? a thing at 
 which we might be inclined to wonder, if we did not 
 take into consideration the ordinary course of human 
 proceedings. The greater part of the clergy were 
 heartily glad to be quit of a man whom they envied, 
 who was superior to them in genius and eloquence, who 
 often severely censured their violent conduct, and did 
 not always deliver his wiser counsel with perfect mild- 
 ness. And, besides this, the Macedonian and Egyptian 
 prelates already formed a decided opposition, which was 
 maintained by them the more firmly, because it sprung 
 (especially in the case of the Egyptians) from the long- 
 standing party spirit of their entire Church. 
 
 Gregory went straightway to the emperor, and, in the 
 presence of many persons, requested his dismissal in a 
 straightforward, dignified manner :° ‘I desire not gold 
 of thee, magnanimous prince, nor valuable ornaments 
 
 1 Carm. de Vit. s., line 1856 et seq. p. 29. 
 ® Carm. de Vit. s., line 1869, and especially Carm. adv. Episc., 
 line 145, p. 18: 
 Προὔπεμψαν ἔνϑεν ἀσμένως ot φίλτατοι 
 “Ὥσπερ τιν᾽ ὄγκον ἐκ νεῶς βαρουμένης 
 “Ῥίψαντες" ny γὰρ φόρτος εὐφρονῶν κακοῖς. 
 Even the false report was circulated, that the bishops had de- 
 posed Gregory against his wishes. Carm. de Vit. s., line 1929, and 
 Carmen ii. line 11, p. 75, in Tollius. 
 3 Carm. de Vit. s., lines 1871—1905, pp. 29, 30. 
 
CHAP. x] LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 251 
 
 for my church, nor honourable appointments for my 
 relations. I believe that I have deserved of thee a far 
 higher act of grace. Permit me, then, to withdraw my- 
 self out of the reach of envy.! With such words 
 Gregory approached the emperor, at the same time ad- 
 juring him to make every effort to restore peace among 
 the excited bishops. Theodosius, though he viewed with 
 the deepest regret his departure from Constantinople, 
 solemnly promised the venerable bishop the strictest 
 attention to his request. 
 
 Gregory now received so many proofs of the sym- 
 pathy of his congregation, that he could not well avoid 
 the public expression of a solemn farewell ; it was also 
 obligatory upon him openly to state his exact position, 
 and to justify his proceedings. This he did in his 
 famous Valedictory Oration,? from which we the more 
 willingly extract some striking passages, as it belongs 
 to the most distinguished oratorical productions of 
 Gregory. In the first place, Gregory addresses the as- 
 sembled bishops in a conciliatory manner, and engages 
 to give them an account of his previous official conduct. 
 He describes the melancholy state of the orthodox com- 
 munity in Constantinople immediately before his arrival, 
 under the government of Valens ;? how it scarcely pre- 
 sented the appearance of a community, being small, with- 
 out a pastor, scattered, persecuted, unprotected by law, 
 and robbed of all property. He then points to its im- 
 
 1 Carm. de Vit. s., line 1889, p. 30: 
 “Ev μοι δοϑῆτο, μικρὸν εἶξαι τῷ φϑόνῳ. 
 Θρόνους ποϑῶμεν ἀλλὰ πόῤῥωφπεν σέβειν. 
 2 Orat. xlii. pp. 748—768. The title of the oration is: Συν- 
 ακτήριος εἰς THY των py (i.e. 150) ἐπισκόπων παρουσίαν. 
 9. Orat. xlii. 2, p. 749. 
 
252 GREGORY RESIGNS, AND [SECT. ITI. 
 
 proved condition at the time of his address: ‘ Lift up 
 thine eyes (he says) and look around,! thou who wouldst 
 test my teaching here. Observe this glorious wreath 
 that has already been woven; see the assembly of pres- 
 byters, venerable for their age and intelligence, the 
 modest deacons, the excellent readers, the inquiring, 
 docile people, the men and women, alike respected for 
 their virtue. This goodly wreath (I say it not from the 
 Lord, but still I say it), this wreath have I in a great 
 measure helped to construct; this crown is, at least in 
 part, the result of my preaching.’ Gregory was un- 
 doubtedly too modest to ascribe only to his own exer- 
 tions the great alteration which, under favourable exter- 
 nal circumstances, had been brought about in so short a 
 time. He saw therein a divine providence.? But yet, 
 in the position in which he had been placed, he had also 
 a perfect right to claim value for his personal co-opera- 
 tion, that had been so unthankfully received, and espe- 
 cially to exhibit forcibly the grave importance of the 
 effort to maintain and establish the pure doctrine at that 
 particular time in Constantinople. ‘For if this be not 
 a great thing (he says, in reference thereto),* to have 
 fortified and established in sound doctrine the city, 
 which is the eye of the world, the mistress of sea and 
 land, the connecting link between East and West, to 
 which everything flows in from all quarters,* and from 
 
 1 Orat. xlii. 11, p. 755 et seq. Compare Carm. advers. Episc., 
 line 115 et seq. p. 14. 
 
 2 Carm. ii. line 61, p. 80, in Tollius : 
 
 "ANN ὀυκ ἐμόν γε, πλὴν ὕσ᾽ ἔχρησε ϑεός. 
 
 8. Orat. xlii. 10, p. 755. 
 
 4 Certainly it might also be said of this new Rome, what Tacitus 
 (Annal. xv. 44) says of the old: quo cuncta undique atrocia aut 
 pudenda confluunt celebranturque. 
 
 — .4....ὲ..-τς χννυ..... 
 
CHAP. x. LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 253 
 
 which everything issues, as from a common emporium 
 of the faith—and all this at a time when it was disturbed 
 on all sides by most opposite opinions—if this be not a 
 great thing, scarcely could anything else appear great 
 and worth an effort. But granting this to belong to 
 praiseworthy things, then may I feel a little pride 
 therein—then have I contributed in part to the produc- 
 tion of that which you now see around you.’ Gregory 
 might with a good conscience appeal to his ministerial 
 labours. It had been his steady aim to act therein in 
 reference to the good cause, and to the advantage of 
 the community entrusted to his care, not for the attain- 
 ment of selfish objects of gratification or advancement. 
 ‘ Have I ever! (he could safely presume to say)—have I 
 ever taken advantage of this people through love of 
 gain? Have I been anxious to promote my own in- 
 terest, as most people do? Have I ever grieved the 
 Church ? Others probably I may have grieved (against 
 whom, because they fancied we might have surrendered 
 our good cause, my preaching was directed), but not 
 you, as far as 1 am conscious to myself. I have kept 
 my priestly-vows pure and without falsehood. If I 
 have done homage to power, or striven for dominion, or 
 obtruded myself into the palaces of princes, then will no 
 honour attend my name; or if I have gained any, I 
 shall instantly lose it.’ 
 
 Gregory then, after giving a full statement of the 
 doctrine of the Trinity (by the force of which he was 
 convinced he had wrought all this, the Holy Spirit 
 working with him), presents to the assembled bishops 
 his flourishing congregation, as at the same time his 
 
 1 Orat. xlii. 19, p. 761. 
 
254 GREGORY RESIGNS, AND [SECT. III. 
 
 best defence and fairest gift, and asks of them in return 
 his discharge from his post. (Orat. xlii. 20. p. 761). 
 ‘Grant me now also a reward for my past exertions. 
 And what is it I ask? Not that which suspicious minds 
 might suppose ; but such as I can with security de- 
 mand. Give me rest from my protracted labours. Re- 
 spect this hoary head; respect the claims of hospitality. 
 Choose in my place some other man, like me, subject to 
 persecution; a man of clean hands, and judicious in his 
 discourses, who is qualified to live in all things agree- 
 ably to your wishes, and able to bear up under eccle- 
 siastical cares; for this is a necessary qualification in 
 our days. Ye see how my body is wasted by age and 
 sickness and over-exertion; what farther use could ye 
 find in a sickly, debilitated old man? in one who, so to 
 say, dieth daily, not only from bodily weakness, but 
 from care and sorrows?! 
 
 Gregory next laments bitterly the contentious dispo- 
 sition that prevailed among the bishops, and the general 
 party-spirit arising therefrom: ‘ How,’ he asks, ‘ could I 
 support this holy war? for we may speak of a holy war 
 as we do of a barbarous war. How should I endure 
 those persons who, in the very discharge of their office, 
 oppose one another, make their ministerial duties an 
 occasion of dispute, and assemble together, not an 
 united people, but a people split and divided by their 
 separations, and, like their teachers, hostile to each 
 other? nay, not only their own people are thus affected, 
 but parties are formed through the whole world, in 
 agreement with the views of those restless individuals ; 
 so that now the East and the West are divided into two 
 hostile parties, and seem no less separated by their 
 opinions than they are by their natural boundaries. 
 
CHAP. X.]| LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 255 
 
 How long (the orator proceeds, in allusion to the Mele- 
 tian schism)—how long shall we speak of my teacher and 
 thy teacher, of the old school and the new, of the more 
 eloquent or the more spiritual, of the more noble or the 
 less noble, of him who has the larger or the smaller 
 congregation? I should disgrace my old age, if I, who 
 have my salvation through Christ, should suffer my- 
 self to be called after another (ὁ. e, adopt any party 
 name).! 
 
 In continuing the discourse, Gregory defends himself 
 against some unjust reproaches which were frequently 
 made against him, particularly against the absurd charge 
 of not having lived in the same expensive style as other 
 wordly-minded prelates of that time indulged in. He 
 considers himself rather entitled to censure the inhabit- 
 ants of Constantinople for looking too much to exter- 
 nals in their clergy: ‘ For (he says) they require not 
 priests but orators,” not curators of souls, but possessors 
 of riches ; not pure ministers of the altar, but powerful 
 combatants.’ 
 
 The orator then goes on to the conclusion, in which 
 he once more brings together all his sentiments, and 
 which, on that account, may here be introduced entire.? 
 ‘ Now farewell, my beloved church, Anastasia, thou who 
 bearest so blessed a name! Thou raisedst up again our 
 
 1 Carm. xi. line 155: 
 Χριστὸς δὲ μάτην ἥλοισι πέπαρται. 
 Οὐ γὰρ ἀπὸ Χριστοῖο καλούμεϑα, ἐκ μερόπων δέ. 
 
 The word μέροψ, in the Lewicons, is rendered ‘avis queedam,’ a 
 voice-dividing bird—probably a magpie; but here, surely, it is 
 enough to apply it (with Homer) to men, as opposed to Christ.— 
 Translator. 
 
 2 Orat. xlii. 24, p. 765. 
 
 8 Orat. xlii. 26, pp. 766—768. 
 
256 GREGORY RESIGNS, AND [SECT. III. 
 
 true faith, which at that time was still despised; thou 
 field of our common victory, thou new Shiloh, where 
 we first set up again the Ark of the Covenant, after it 
 had been carried about during forty years’ wandering in 
 the wilderness! And thou, too, larger and more cele- 
 brated temple, our new possession, who hast now first 
 received thy true greatness from the true preaching of 
 the everlasting word of God! And all ye houses of 
 God, which come near to it in beauty, and, distributed 
 in different quarters of the city, connect the neighbourly 
 relation by a holy chain—ye folds, which not we in our 
 weakness, but God by his grace working with us, hath 
 filled with sheep that had else been lost! Farewell, ye 
 apostles, who deign to inhabit this temple ;' ye types 
 of my struggle!—Farewell thou, my episcopal throne, 
 envied but dangerous seat! and thou assemblage of 
 higher priests, and ye other priests, venerable by your 
 age and humble bearing! and whosoever else serveth at 
 the holy table of God, and standeth near to the ever- 
 near God! Farewell, ye choruses of the Nazareans, ye 
 harmonies of psalms and hymns, ye nightly prayers, ye 
 chaste virgins, ye modest wives and widows, ye assem- 
 bled orphans, ye poor, whose eyes looked up to God and 
 me! Farewell, ye hospitable and Christ-loving houses, 
 which have taken a kind interest in my weakness! 
 Farewell, ye friendly listeners to my discourses, ye who 
 have attended on them in crowds, and have even taken 
 them down in writing, openly or secretly! Thou, too, 
 
 1 It was believed that the church of the Apostles contained 
 the remains of St. Andrew, St. Luke, and Timothy. See Idacii, 
 Chron. ad Consul. Const. viii. et Julian. i.; and the same writer, 
 ad Consul. Const. ix. et Jul. i. See also more particulars in Du 
 Cange, Constantinop. Christ., iv. 5, p. 105. 
 
 ’ 
 
 ee μὰ διυίν  κυκυν ἀν, 
 
 - πω ων. 
 
CHAP. x. | LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 257 
 
 my pulpit, so often closely pressed upon by my eager 
 audience, farewell! Farewell ye princes, and ye palaces, 
 and all ye that form the establishment and household 
 of the emperor. Whether ye are loyal to the emperor 
 or not, I do not know; but to God ye are in a great 
 measure untrue. Clap your hands, raise the shout of 
 approbation, extol your preacher to the skies!* The 
 tongue that has been so troublesome to you will speak 
 to you no more; but it is not entirely speechless; it 
 will still fight the good fight through the hand and the 
 pen; it is only for the present that it will be silent. 
 
 ‘ Farewell, thou vast, Christ-loving city! for I will 
 bear witness to this truth, even though thy zeal is not 
 always combined with knowledge ; approaching separa- 
 tion makes me judge mildly of thee. Keep close to the 
 truth; change at length for the better; honour God 
 more than you have hitherto done; such a change 
 brings no shame with it, but perseverance in evil will 
 bring destruction. Farewell, Eastern and Western lands, 
 those for which and those by which I am persecuted 
 and opposed! He is my witness, who will establish 
 peace among you, if only some few persons would imi- 
 tate my act of resignation; for surely they who descend 
 from the episcopal chair, do not thereby lose their con- 
 nexion with God, but rather receive a heavenly seat, 
 far higher and safer than it. But above all I say: Fare- 
 
 * T have, with reluctance, translated this (looking to the Greek 
 as well as the German) literally, on the authority of Neander, 
 who, in his Church History (vol. iii. p. 427), so applies the pas- 
 sage, and builds on it a charge against Gregory of vanity, and a 
 compliance with the bad practice of seeking applause, κρότος, 
 from his congregation. From the context, both before and after, 
 Iam rather inclined to take it ironically, in allusion to some 
 favourite orator.—Translator. 
 
 5 
 
258 GREGORY RESIGNS, AND [SEOT. III. 
 
 well, ye angels, protectors of this church, my protectors 
 both during my presence here and in my discharge from 
 office! for in God’s hand lie all our destinies. And 
 farewell, O Holy Trinity, my sole thought, my only 
 jewel! Mayest thou be preserved to these, my people, 
 and mayest thou preserve them! For they are still my 
 people, even when they are taken charge of by another. 
 And O that I may hear that ye are ever exalted and 
 distinguished for sound doctrine and holy living! My 
 children, cherish the truth which I have committed to 
 you, and remember my persecutions for its sake. The 
 grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! 
 Amen.’ 
 
 Gregory’s resignation is one of the most important 
 events in his life, and, in fact, closes his public career. 
 This renunciation of the highest station in the Church, 
 so perfectly suited to him, has not unfrequently been 
 looked upon as one of the noblest acts and as the 
 brightest point in his life ; for instance, by Sozomenus 
 (Eccles. Hist., vii. 7). Without denying the greatness 
 of mind which really belonged to that voluntary deter- 
 mination, we yet think we ought not to assent to that 
 unconditional praise; rather must we maintain that the 
 motives of the proceeding, as far as we can discern them 
 by means of safe historical traces, were of a mixed na- 
 ture. Undoubtedly Gregory had been unjustly and 
 vexatiously treated. He might with reason require an 
 acknowledgment of his services in regard to the churches 
 of the capital, and expect a due regard for his person ; 
 and both of these things he experienced at the com- 
 mencement of the synod. But, ina short time, exter- 
 nal circumstances and a low tone of sentiment turned 
 from him the favourable bias of the excited ecclesiastics, 
 
CHAP. X.| LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 290 
 
 and changed it into a disrespectful resistance. Gregory 
 upon that lost patience, and would have nothing more 
 to do with the great body of them. Now was he not 
 (if we may presume to ask the question) too much pro- 
 voked, too deeply wounded, by this mere human occur- 
 rence? Might he not, with a higher discretion, cou- 
 rageously have endured all those personal attacks, and 
 calmly maintained the post which belonged to him, in 
 order to effect the more good after the storm was over 4! 
 We will not, however, be so unjust as to overlook the 
 better motives which influenced him. Gregory really 
 believed, that through his retiring the assembly would 
 be more calm and peaceable (as it really then became), 
 and so far his conduct was an act of self-denying, pub- 
 lic-spirited sacrifice. In addition to this, he was old 
 and sickly, and had well-established claims upon a quieter 
 and more retired life, while a deep and inextinguishable 
 longing ever attracted him to a life of solitary devoted- 
 
 1 How excellently does the heroic, indefatigable champion of 
 the faith, our German Luther, express himself in his exposition 
 of the Sermon on the Mount! ‘ Whoever so preaches or rules, 
 as to allow himself to become weary and impatient, and, as it 
 were, to be driven into a corner, he will be slow in benefiting his 
 people. It is not meant that you should sneak into a corner or 
 into the wilderness, but rather to rush out if you were there, and 
 devote yourself, hands and feet, nay, your whole body, and risk 
 thereon all that you have, and all that you can do. We would 
 have such a man as can be hard against the hard, so that he will 
 not suffer himself to be frightened away nor clamoured down, 
 nor allow any ingratitude or worldly malice to overcome him, 
 but still press forward and persevere, as much as he can, by the 
 exertion of all his energies. If he cannot make the world as reli- 
 gious as he could wish, let him do what he can.’—Luther’s Works, 
 vol. vii. p. 564; the Walch. edit. Certainly we ought not here 
 to overlook this difference—that Luther was thoroughly of a prac- 
 tical spirit, whilst Gregory’s turn of mind was, by nature, predo- 
 minantly contemplative. 
 
 s 2 
 
200 GREGORY RESIGNS, AND [SECT. ITI: 
 
 ness to God.! Gregory’s resignation, therefore, pro- 
 ceeded quite naturally and necessarily from his intel- 
 lectual constitution and his real character being placed 
 in collision with those peculiar circumstances; and his 
 better self (as well as the less worthy but strong sense 
 of honour) appears to have contributed to this determi- 
 nation. Certainly, if we compare this act with the 
 conduct of a great many other bishops, who thought no 
 step too low in order to obtain an influential position, 
 or to maintain themselves therein, it appears an heroic 
 sacrifice, almost unique of its kind. For it was, un- 
 doubtedly, no small matter to relinquish a position won 
 by so many labours, and earnestly desired, exactly at the 
 moment when the fruits of those labours offered them- 
 selves for more peaceful enjoyment. 
 
 We cannot suppose that Gregory remained long in 
 Constantinople after the delivery of his farewell oration. 
 He had probably taken his departure ere the synod 
 chose a successor to him, in the person of Nectarius, 
 who had hitherto been a senator, and had been invested 
 with the office of pretor.2 This person is celebrated 
 
 1 Gregory expresses his feelings on the occasion of his resigna- 
 tion in, probably, his most beautiful poem—Carm. xii. p. 85. 
 
 2 Socrat., v. 8.---Λσν δὲ τις Νεκτάριος ὄνομα, συγκλητικοῦ μὲν 
 γένους (of a senatorial family) ἐπιεικὴς δὲ τὸν τρόπον, Ov ὅλου 
 ϑαυμαζόμενος, καίτοι τὴν τοῦ πραίτωρος χειρίζων ἀρχήν" ὃς 
 ἁρπασϑεις ὑπὸ τοῦ λαοῦ, εἰς τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν προεβλήϑη. It is 
 seen, however, in the more exact account by Sozomenus (vil. 8), 
 that the election of Nectarius did not proceed from the people, 
 but was chiefly the work of Diodorus of Tarsus (Nectarius him- 
 self also was a native of Tarsus) and of the Emperor Theodosius 
 himself. The same writer also relates an interesting anecdote of 
 Nectarius, from which it appears that his earlier life had not been 
 altogether holy and bishop-like, but that he was, however, no 
 hypocrite, but a truly noble, open-hearted, intelligent person. 
 Sozom., vii. 10. 
 
CHAP. X.]| LEAVES HIS CONGREGATION. 261 
 
 for his gentle and worthy character, but he had not 
 qualified himself for a spiritual appointment. He had 
 not even been as yet baptized. As a theologian, in the 
 proper sense of the term, he was, therefore, by no means 
 worthy of his distinguished predecessor; though it is 
 not improbable that, by the mildness of his disposition, 
 he exercised a more successful influence on the harmony 
 of the assembled bishops than the strict Gregory had 
 ever exercised. 
 
 It was probably in the month of June, a.p. 381, that 
 Gregory left Constantinople, after he had laboured 
 there between two and three years! with the authority 
 of a bishop, and the superiority of a distinguished 
 teacher, but only for a few weeks as actual bishop. It 
 was after the voluntary retirement of Gregory, that 
 the now quieter assembly of bishops adopted those 
 important decisions which make that council an epoch 
 in the history of the constitution and doctrines of the 
 Church. In relation to the first (the constitution of the 
 Church) the celebrated law was passed, which gives to 
 the Bishop of Constantinople, as the bishop of new- 
 Rome, the second rank ; next, that is, to the Bishop of 
 Rome. (See Canon 111.) But in relation to doctrine, 
 not only was the Nicene confession confirmed, with 
 additional condemnation of the heresies that were 
 opposed to it,? but it was also eee by several 
 
 1 He says himself Gane: Saath Epise., line 100) : 
 = πρΡππρρπρΦ«ι“«“«ι«ι«.«΄ὉἅῚ:τ- τί σκαιὸν 
 Ἢ εἰπον, ἢ ἔπραξα τοῦτ᾽ ἔτος τριτον; 
 
 whether the third year was completed there, admits of a doubt. 
 At all events, his residence in Constantinople continued more 
 than two years. 
 
 ® Canon i., where the Eunomians or Anomceans, the Arians or 
 Eudoxians, Semi-Arians or Pneumatomachians, Sabellians, Mar- 
 cellians, Photinians and Apollinarians, are expressly named. 
 
262 GREGORY RESIGNS. [SECT. IIL. 
 
 additions,’ the most important of which related to the 
 Holy Ghost ; so that now the doctrine of the Trinity, 
 in its fundamental principles, was ecclesiastically settled, 
 invested with triumph by public authority of Church 
 and State,? and therefore that result was attained for 
 which Gregory had fought with the weapons of the 
 Word.3 
 
 1 The Nicene confession of faith, with these additions, is gene- 
 rally known under the title of The Nicene-Constantinopolitan 
 Symbol. The other decrees of the council of Constantinople are 
 not here of importance to us. 
 
 ® The assembled bishops made their determinations known to 
 the emperor in a written document, which bears the date of 
 July 9, A.D. 381. The emperor, as might well be expected, (since 
 the synod had proceeded quite according to his own views,) con- 
 firmed the resolutions, and also made several laws against the 
 condemned heretics—Eunomians, Arians, and Aélians. Cod. 
 Theod. lib. xvi.,T. V.L. 8. Then follow, lib. ἢ, T. I. L. 3 (of the 
 30th of July); lib. xvi., T.V.L. 11, et seq. 23. 
 
 3 Πειϑοῦς Bia, by the force of persuasion. Camm. adv. Episc., 
 line 120; Carm. i. p. 19. 
 
SECTION THE FOURTH. 
 
 FROM GREGORY’S DEPARTURE FROM CONSTANTINOPLE TO HIS NATIVE 
 PROVINCE, DOWN TO THE TIME OF HIS DEATH. FROM THE YEAR 
 OF OUR LORD 381 TO 390, AND THEREFORE FROM HIS FIFTY- 
 FIRST TO HIS SIXTIETH YEAR. 
 
 HRONOLOGICAL REVIEW :—Gregory left Con- 
 stantinople and returned to Cappadocia most pro- 
 bably in June 381. He lived there for a short period 
 in the discharge of public duties, but afterwards, for the 
 most part, in undisturbed retirement. In the summer 
 of 382 he was invited to a synod at Constantinople, 
 which he however declined to attend. Probably in the 
 year 385 he caused Eulalius to be chosen bishop of 
 Nazianzum, and from that time withdrew himself 
 entirely to his private estate. It is not easy to arrange 
 chronologically a list of his labours and writings there. 
 The death of Gregory took place a.p. 389 or 390. 
 
 CHAPTER LI. 
 
 GREGORY ENJOYS HIS RETIREMENT AND HIS RELEASE FROM SYNODS; 
 HE IS, HOWEVER, CONSTANTLY ACTIVE IN THE SERVICE OF THE 
 CHURCH AT NAZIANZUM. 
 
 GREGORY now withdrew from the dazzling arena of an 
 absorbing activity to a quieter, though not altogether a 
 secluded or inactive life. His soul longed after solitude 
 and repose, but his ardent mind could not slumber in 
 retirement. 
 
 He went first of all, as it seems, to Nazianzum, or to 
 
264 GREGORY ENJOYS [SECT. IV. 
 
 his patrimonial estate near Arianzum, to give some 
 refreshment to his infirm body and to his mind, that 
 had suffered from the stormy contests he had been 
 engaged in. Α letter which he wrote to his friend 
 Philagrius! gives us the best possible idea of the state 
 of mind in which he then was; _ he therein first excuses 
 himself for having been prevented by illness from visit- 
 ing him, and then defends himself against the reproach 
 (which his friend had brought against him) of having 
 relinquished his post at Constantinople somewhat too 
 hastily and inconsiderately.? ‘ I am weary (he says) of 
 the struggle with envy and with the holy bishops, who 
 destroyed all chance of union on public-spirited grounds, 
 and sacrificed the cause of the faith to thew private 
 squabbles. Therefore | have thought it right to turn 
 the ship about, and (as is related of the nautili,? when 
 they mark an approaching storm) withdraw into myself ; 
 so that I can now observe from my distant retreat, how 
 others are knocked about and jostle with each other. 
 Now when you write to me that it was a hazardous 
 thing thus to leave the Church, I ask you, ‘ What 
 church? If it were my own, I should have agreed with 
 her, and entirely justified her proceedings. But if it be 
 
 1 Epist. 65, al. 59, p. 828. 
 
 2 Tlapipywe καὶ ῥαϑύμως. 
 
 3. Plinii Histor. Natur., ix. 47. Inter preecipua miracula est, 
 qui vocatur Nautilos, ab aliis Pompilos ; supinusin summa eequo- 
 rum pervenit, ita se paulatim subrigens, ut emissa omni per 
 fistulam aqua, velut exoneratus sentina, facile naviget. Postea 
 duo prima brachia retorquens, membranam inter illa mire tenui- 
 tatis extendit; qua velificante in auras, ceteris subremigans 
 brachiis, media cauda, uti gubernaculo, sese regit. Ita vadit 
 alto, Liburnicarum gaudens imagine; et, st quid pavoris interve- 
 niat, hausta se mergit aqua. See some remarks on this in Har- 
 doin’s edition of Pliny, tom. i. pp. 516, 541. 
 
CHAP. I. | HIS RETIREMENT. 265 
 
 one which does not properly concern me, and is not * 
 adjudged to me, then am I blameless. And if I have 
 taken charge of it for a time, am I therefore irrevocably 
 bound to it? If so, many others also would be equally 
 bound, who have at any time taken the charge of 
 churches that were not theirs. To maintain the contest 
 is probably deserving of reward, but yet the act of with- 
 drawing from it is not to be considered as a crime.’ 
 Gregory had returned home with feelings of strong 
 displeasure, and even of acrimony, at the conduct of the 
 bishops towards him. He sought to relieve his full 
 heart in the outpourings of epistolary correspondence ; 
 and we are indebted to this impulse of his sensibility 
 for a poem seasoned with biting sarcasm (viz. Zhe Poem 
 concerning the Bishops), in which he describes in the 
 liveliest colours the corrupt state of the clergy of his 
 time. The excited state of Gregory’s feelings may have 
 caused some exaggeration ; but, as a whole, it contains 
 such individualized touches of features taken from the 
 life, that it bears upon it the complete impression of 
 truth, and affords us the melancholy fact, that the eccle- 
 siastical offices, and especially the bishoprics, of that 
 time were filled ina great measure by persons who were 
 not only veryignorant, but also in moralsentiment utterly 
 unworthy of their appointment.2 Another poem, con- 
 
 * Does not all this apply to Nazianzum, rather than Constanti- 
 nople !—Translator. 
 
 1 This poem, εἰς ἑαυτὸν καὶ περὶ ἐπισκόπων, was first published 
 in the Lnsignibus [tinerarté Italict of Jacobus Tollius ; Trajecti ad 
 Rhen. MDOXCV1., and subsequently reprinted by Galland. We 
 shall hereafter find occasion to quote some portions of it. 
 
 * Beausobre says :—Il faut, ou que cet évéque (Gregoire) ait eté 
 le plus medisant de tous les hommes, ou que le plupart de ceux de 
 son temps fussent des gens vicieux et bien méprisables. Cepen- 
 dant ce n’etoient encore la, que des commencemens des douleurs. 
 Bibl. German., tom, xxxviii. p. 65. 
 
266 GREGORY ENJOYS [SECT. IV. 
 
 cerning his own Life, was written by Gregory, in milder 
 tone, though not unmixed with satire, which also seems 
 to belong to this period, because it is continued exactly 
 to his resignation of his office in Constantinople. 
 Gregory, however, could console himself in his life of 
 retirement by the consciousness, that the good which he 
 had done in Constantinople would follow him even in 
 his solitude, and that he only left behind him in the 
 unquiet capital struggle and suffering.! After he had 
 gotten over the first sharp pain occasioned by his un- 
 grateful treatment at Constantinople, Gregory soon felt 
 himself well in body and cheerful in mind. In this 
 tone of feeling he writes to his friend Amazonius :? ‘ If 
 any one of our common friends, (of whom I hope there 
 are a good many,) should ask you, Where is Gregory 
 now? and what is he doing? tell him only, in entire 
 confidence of its truth, that he is enjoying, in perfect 
 quiet, a philosophical life, and that he troubles himself 
 as little about his enemies as he does about persons of 
 whose existence he knows nothing. So little is his 
 mind bowed down by recent events.’ Indeed he soon 
 felt happy in his unenvied quiet, where, far away from 
 the din of the world and the disputes of the clergy, he 
 could occupy himself in prayer to God ;? and he could, 
 at last, even thank his enemies for having forced him 
 into that solitary asylum. ‘Iam leading‘ (he writes 
 to a friend, Sophronius, an officer of state)—I am leading 
 a philosophical life in undisturbed quiet. This have 
 
 1 Compare, on this point, the 57th poem, p. 134, εἰς ἑαυτον 
 μετὰ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς Κωνσταντίνου πόλεως ἐπάνοδον, in which, 
 among other things, he says (line 3) :— 
 
 "Eoxop’ ἔχων ὕσ᾽ ἔρεξα, καὶ 00 ἐμύόγησ᾽ ἀπολείψαο. 
 ® Epist. 73, al. 70, p. 829. 3 Epist. 187, Ὁ. 887. 
 4 Epist. 59, al. 53, p. 816. 
 
CHAP. I.| HIS RETIREMENT. 267 
 
 my enemies procured for me; I could wish that they 
 had even inflicted more of the like kind upon me, that 
 I might recognise in them, even more than I do, my 
 benefactors! For so it often happens, that those plants 
 which seem to take harm are exactly the first to bloom, 
 while those which seem to be in the most flourishing 
 condition suffer damage.’ 
 
 That Gregory cherished no ill-will against his suc- 
 cessor Nectarius, but rather a most friendly feeling, 
 appears from several of his epistles.! We select, by way 
 of proof, only one beautiful passage from a letter of 
 introduction ? which Gregory gave to a certain person 
 named Pancratius, addressed to the Bishop of Constan- 
 tinople: ‘ My affairs (he writes) go on quietly, just as 
 it pleases them to go. I live now in peace, without 
 contest or calls of business, and I value the security of 
 undisturbed solitude as the highest reward that could 
 be granted to me. Nay, I have even derived an addi- 
 tional advantage from this life of quiet, since by God’s 
 goodness I have completely recovered from my sickness. 
 But as for you, as holy David says, ‘ Good luck have 
 thou with thy honour!’ and may the God, who has 
 called you to the priestly dignity also attend you in the 
 same, and guard you from all rude and insulting treat- 
 ment! Could Gregory express himself more mildly 
 and affectionately to one who, without any great merit, 
 now enjoyed the fruits of his strenuous labours in 
 Constantinople ? 
 
 How entirely in earnest Gregory was in his declara- 
 tions of satisfaction with his quiet position, and how 
 
 1 Epist. 222, and 227, p 913. 
 2 Epist. 51, al. 3, p. 812. 
 
268 GREGORY ENJOYS [sEcT. Iv. 
 
 little he coveted the active occupation of ecclesiastical 
 dignity, with all its weight and influence, is sufficiently 
 proved by the expressions with which he declined re- 
 peated invitations to attend synods. When Theodosius 
 (A.D. 382) caused him to be invited to a meeting of the 
 bishops at Constantinople,! he thus answered Procopius,? 
 who had communicated to him the wish of the emperor: 
 “7 am, 7) the truth must be told, in such a tone of mind 
 that I shun every assemblage of bishops, because I have 
 never yet seen that any synod had a good ending, or 
 that the evils complained of were removed by them, but 
 were rather multiplied; since the spirit of dispute and 
 the love of power (and do not think that I am here using 
 too strong language) are exhibited there beyond all powers 
 of description. And any one who dares to speak against 
 the baseness of others, would be more sure to bring 
 down censure and complaints upon himself than succeed 
 in subduing that baseness. For that reason I have re- 
 tired into myself, and have found rest for my soul only 
 in this withdrawal from the world. At present, how- 
 ever, I can also plead illness in justification of my re- 
 solve, since my end seems almost always at hand, and I 
 am profitable for nothing. Therefore let your genero- 
 sity pardon me; and I pray you also that you would 
 reconcile the pious emperor to this refusal, so that he 
 may not condemn me as remiss, but make allowance for 
 my weakness, out of regard to which he has granted to 
 my petition, instead of all other favours, the privilege 
 
 1 In the summer of 382, a synod was again assembled at Con- 
 stantinople, which, however, was neither so numerously attended, 
 nor so important, as that which was held the year before. Theo- 
 doret., v. 8. 
 
 2 Epist. 55, al. 42, p. 814. 
 
CHAP. I.| HIS RETIREMENT. "209 
 
 of retirement.’ A most remarkable letter! which cer- 
 tainly inflicts a heavy blow upon the godly character 
 and reputation of synods. Gregory knew the synods 
 by experience; he was convinced that they only multi- 
 plied evils in the Church: how could he, therefore, reco- 
 gnise instruments of the Holy Ghost in those same 
 individuals, whom he saw to be so entirely animated by 
 a spirit of contention and ambition? And these thoughts 
 he expressed, not only in an occasional mood of excite- 
 ment and displeasure, but repeatedly,! and on different 
 occasions. Among other passages, he writes thus to a 
 friend? who had invited him to a meeting of bishops: 
 51 hasten to come to you, in order to talk with you 
 solus cwm solo; for as to the assemblies and synods, 
 I keep myself at a distance from them, since I have 
 found by experience, that most of them (that I may 
 express myself in moderation) are not worth much.’ 
 
 On his return to his native city, Gregory did not find 
 the christian community there in quite a flourishing 
 condition. We possess a poem by Gregory,? which 
 contains a description of the christian community of 
 Nazianzum after his father’s death, and, from several 
 expressions‘ in it, it might be fairly referred to this 
 point of time. In this poem, the Apollinarians? are 
 
  Epist. 76, p. 880. 
 
 ® Epist. 84, p. 42. We could, besides this, collate here seve- 
 ral other epistles, in which Gregory calls upon distinguished 
 persons, in secular authority, to exercise their influence, that 
 at several synods to be holden at that time peace and order may 
 be preserved among the bishops. pist. 71 and’ 72, al. 68 and 
 69, pp. 827—829; Epist. 134 and 135, p. 863. 
 
 3 Carmen Iambic. xxiii. εἰς ἑαυτόν, p. 248. 
 
 4 Particularly line 35 et seq. 
 
 5 They are called σαρκολάτραι (serving the flesh).—Carmen 
 Tambic. xxiii. line 87, 
 
ITO" HE STILL AIDS THE [SECT. IV. 
 
 especially designated as those who had brought the 
 Church there into so sad a condition. Gregory, who 
 must have felt this severely, exerted himself to give the 
 community a director who would be able to oppose the 
 prevailing evil. He thought to find such an one in a 
 man, who certainly had hitherto filled a secular office 
 in the finance-department,! but yet appeared to possess 
 the proper qualifications, at least the right disposition, 
 for the episcopal office. He saw himself, however, hin- 
 dered in the execution of his plan by the presbyters? of 
 Nazianzum, of whom he remarks, that some concealed 
 a real aversion by a hypocritical show of friendship 
 towards him, while others had exerted themselves in 
 open hostility against him. He also complains that 
 bishops, who had probably promised to support his plan, 
 had on this occasion deceived him.? It appears that 
 Gregory, after the failure of this attempt, gave the com- 
 munity another ruler, whose name, likewise, is unknown 
 to us. He soon after withdrew to his patrimonial 
 estate near Nazianzum.? 
 
 Scarcely, however, had Gregory been absent for a 
 time from Nazianzum, when the necessity of possessing 
 such a man as he was, was felt with renewed strength. 
 The clergy and the people urged him to return into the 
 city and oppose the Apollinarian heresy, that was spread- 
 ing more and more around them. They would listen 
 
 1 Carmen Iambic. xxiii. line 61. Gregory says of him : 
 Καίπερ vewori χρημάτων 
 Κράτος δεδεγμένον. 
 2 Carmen Iambic. xxiii. line 66—86. 
 3 Carmen Iambic. xxiii. line 115: 
 Ἔκ μ’ ἠπάτησαν οἱ σοφοὶ 
 Λαῶν ἐπίσκοποι. 
 4 Carmen Iambic. xxiii. line 61. et seq. ρ. .74. 
 
CHAP. I.| CHURCH AT NAZIANZUM. 271 
 
 to none of Gregory’s grounds of excuse—even distrusted 
 his assurance that he was too old and infirm,! and ac- 
 tually gave him no peace until he once more formed the 
 determination to undertake the superintendence of the 
 Church of Nazianzum.? In that passage of the poem 
 where he speaks of this determination, he expresses 
 himself as if it were his purpose to devote the rest of 
 his life entirely to spiritual duties in that community ;3 
 but he speaks, at the same time, in such strong terms 
 of his bodily weakness, that it is to be presumed, from 
 his very manner of expressing himself, that he could 
 not long have supported the exertions connected, espe- 
 cially under such circumstances, with the episcopal office, 
 but would soon again have required the enjoyment of 
 repose and quiet. In fact, we see that, without relating 
 any particular occasion for the change, Gregory again de- 
 termines to withdraw himself from public life; and he 
 could now do so (in spite of the real sympathy and affection 
 which he still cherished for his native city) with so much 
 the greater satisfaction, as a worthy successor now sup- 
 plied his place. He had been successful in persuading the 
 bishops of the neighbourhood to comply with his wishes, 
 by electing the presbyter Hulalius bishop of Nazian- 
 zum ;4 a choice, concerning which Gregory thus ex- 
 presses himself in an epistle to his relative, the Bishop of 
 Nyssa :° ‘I would most urgently request that no one 
 
 1 Carmen v. line 72, p. 24: 
 Πολλοὶ μὲν τρύζεσκον ἐμοῖς παϑέεσσιν ἄπιστοι. 
 2 Carmen Vv. line 84, et seq. p. 75. 
 * Carmen v. line 83, et seq. p. 75; and at line 85 he says: 
 σοὶ (Χριστε) παρέχω ζωῆς τόδε λείψανον. 
 * Epist. 195. ». 805. Epist. 225, p. 912. Hieronym. de Viris 
 Illustr., cap. 117. 
 5 Epist. 42, al. 36, p. 803: Gregorio Nysseno. 
 
272 HE STILL AIDS THE | SECT. IV. 
 
 would circulate false reports concerning me or the 
 bishops, as if they, in opposition to my wish, had named 
 some other person to be my successor ; for I am by no 
 means so despicable in their estimation, nor are they so 
 spitefully disposed towards me. The truth is, that I 
 have more than once prayed them, out of consideration 
 to my half-dead body, and (because I feared the heavy 
 responsibility of neglecting Christ’s flock) I have be- 
 sought it as a favour, that they would give the Church a 
 shepherd—a thing which is not against the laws of the 
 Church, and might ensure my recovery. Such a shep- 
 herd was then appointed, in the person of one who is 
 fully worthy to be remembered by you in your prayers. 
 I now also place him in your hands—the venerable 
 Eulalius, the bishop beloved of God, and in whose arms 
 I would wish to breathe my last ! But if any one thinks, 
 that as long as a bishop is living no other should be 
 chosen in his place, let him know that he thereby de- 
 cides nothing against us, since everybody knows that I 
 was not consecrated bishop of Nazianzum, but of Sa- 
 sima,! although I undertook, for a short time, the super- 
 
 1 Gregorius says very plainly: Πᾶσι γὰρ δῆλον, ore μὴ Ναζιαν- 
 Zod, Σασίμων δὲ προεβλήϑημεν. He repeats this expression in 
 another passage, Epist. cexxv. p. 912, where, however, he asserts 
 directly the contrary, while he says thus unambiguously: éyw 
 γὰρ, εἰ μὲν τοῦ σώματος οὕτως εἶχον ὡς ἐκκλησίας δύνασϑαι 
 προσταττεῖν, Ναζιανζῳ, ἡ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐπεκηρύχϑην" ἀλλὰ μὴ 
 Σασίμοις, ὥς τινες ὑμᾶς πείϑουσιν, οὐκ ὀρθῶς. Both letters 
 were written about the same time. Can the contradiction that 
 exists in the passages above quoted be removed? Scarcely so as 
 to make it altogether disappear; im part, however, after this 
 fashion. Gregory was certainly consecrated bishop of Sasima 
 by the then Cappadocian metropolitan, Basilius ; but this conse- 
 cration, as being an act of spiritual violence, he had not fully 
 acknowledged, and had never entered upon the duties of the 
 office. As bishop of Nazianzum he never was properly conse- 
 
CHAP. 11.] NAZIANZEN CHURCH. 273 
 
 intendence of the Nazianzen Church, as a guest rather 
 than a bishop, out of respect to my father, and those who 
 suppliantly entreated me to do so.’ 
 
 CHAPTER, If. 
 
 GREGORY WITHDRAWS HIMSELF INTO PERFECT RETIREMENT, BUT 
 STILL TAKES AN INTEREST IN CHURCH MATTERS, AND IN THE 
 CONCERNS OF HIS FATHERLAND, OF PARTICULAR FAMILIES, 
 AND INDIVIDUALS. 
 
 GREGORY now regularly devoted himself to the solitude 
 of the country, and led, up to the time of his death, the 
 externally uniform life of a christian ascetic in his 
 patrimonial house at Arianzum, where a garden, with 
 its shady trees and fountain, was his favourite resort. 
 He however by no means gave himself up to an indolent 
 repose; amidst strict religious exercises he was still ear- 
 nestly active, and in many ways influential, even in worldly 
 matters. This is proved by the vast number of epistles 
 and poems which he wrote at this period, and which 
 were, in part at least, intended to effect some good pur- 
 pose in particular relations of life, whether far or near, 
 It is hardly possible, and, if it were possible, it would 
 excite very little interest, to particularize, in the exact 
 order of time, all the little incidents which may have 
 occurred in this epoch of Gregory’s uniform existence. 
 
 crated, though he had in fact exercised the episcopal duties there. 
 He was therefore in a certain sense bishop of Sasima and of 
 Nazianzum, but he was so, in a certain sense, neither in one 
 place nor in the other. This, however, certainly does not justify 
 him in trifling or playing with these relations, and making a 
 pretext, now of one and now of the other, 
 
 Ἱ 
 
274 GREGORY STILL INTERESTS HIMSELF [SECT. ΤΥ. 
 
 We will rather arrange them according to some leading 
 points of view, and thus exhibit the subjects which par- 
 ticularly engaged his attention, as well as his tone of 
 thought and activity of mind. 
 
 Although Gregory had wholly divested himself of 
 ecclesiastical offices, properly so called, yet he did not 
 cease to take a part in the general concerns of the Church. 
 His efforts were particularly and constantly directed to 
 the maintenance of peace and order. It was probably 
 in the early part of his retired life, that for this object 
 he wrote some letters to distinguished statesmen, whom 
 he supposed likely to have a favourable influence on the 
 minds of the bishops at an approaching synod. He was 
 afraid that even in that assembly, the general good 
 would be sacrificed to the spirit of contention and to 
 private interest ; he was willing, therefore, to make every 
 effort to prevent that. With this feeling, he wrote thus to 
 an influential person, named Posthumianus :! ‘ Consider 
 no object more noble than that under your authority, and 
 by means thereof, peace may be maintained in the 
 Church, even though it were necessary to proceed, for 
 that object, with some severity against the noisy leaders 
 of a party. If I seem in this to be somewhat prema- 
 ture, yet do not wonder that, although I have retired 
 from actual business, I yet have not given up all anxiety 
 for the common good; for though, according to the 
 wish of those men, I relinquished the bishop’s chair and 
 its proud dignity, I by no means gave up the practice of 
 piety to them. So much the more, then, I think I may 
 confidently reckon upon your compliance, inasmuch as 
 I can have no eye to my own advantage, but solely to 
 
 1 Epist. 71, al. 68, p. 827. 
 
CHAP. I1.| IN WORLDLY MATTERS. 275 
 
 the common interests of the community.’ Gregory wrote 
 similar letters to other eminent individuals,! amongst 
 others to the general, Modarius,? whether on the same 
 or on some other occasion, it would be difficult to deter- 
 mine. If now this step of Gregory’s be liable (as per- 
 haps it may be) to be disapproved—viz., his calling upon 
 secular placemen, and even a powerful general, to main- 
 tain order among the assembled bishops—we have only 
 to reflect with what excited passions (a fact which 
 Gregory had sufficient opportunities of knowing) a great 
 portion of those ecclesiastics came to those meetings, and 
 we shall, at least, not misapprehend his good purpose of 
 promoting the best interests of the Church. 
 
 We have already remarked that, after his retiring 
 from Constantinople, Gregory found the community of 
 his native city disturbed, particularly by Apollinarians. 
 These teachers maintained their ground perseveringly, 
 made various attempts to establish themselves in the 
 Church, or even to get the upper hand therein; and 
 Gregory looked upon it as a duty, even in his solitary 
 retirement, to contend against them. With this view, 
 beside the poem already mentioned,? he wrote several 
 epistles, the object of which was to thwart the influence 
 of the Apollinarians. In a letter to Theodorus,‘ bishop 
 of Tyana, after lamenting the melancholy state of the 
 Nazianzen community, and his own infirmities, which 
 prevented his personal exertions, he says: ‘To pass 
 over others, you will have heard from my honoured co- 
 
 1 Epist. 72, al. 69, p. 829. Hpist. 134, p. 863. 
 ? Epist. 135, p. 863. 
 3 Carmen Iambic. xxiii. sic ἑαυτόν, p. 244 et seq. 
 4 Epist. 88, p. 849. 
 T 2 
 
276 GREGORY STILL INTERESTS HIMSELF [SECT. IV. 
 
 presbyters, the choir*-bishop Eulalius and Celeusius, 
 what the Apollinarians (who are forcing themselves 
 upon us) have partly done already, and are partly threat- 
 ening to do. J am now too old and feeble to prevent 
 this, but you are intelligent and sufficiently strong; and, 
 what is more, God has granted you power for the general 
 superintendence of the Church.’ Another epistle, ad- 
 dressed to the governor, Olympius,! furnishes us with 
 still clearer information respecting these circumstances. 
 Gregory therein tells him, that he had at first endea- 
 voured to gain over the Apollinarians by kindness, and 
 to dissuade them from their errors ; but that they had 
 only been made worse thereby, and more obdurate ; and he 
 believed that more serious measures must now be adopted 
 towards them. ‘ For (he says) these pernicious men have 
 presumed to recal, or at least (for I cannot positively 
 say which) to make use of bishops, who have been de- 
 posed from their office by the whole assembled clergy of 
 the East and West. In violation of all the imperial 
 commands and our ecclesiastical regulations, they have 
 assigned the name of bishop to a godless, fraudulent 
 individual taken from their own body. And to this, as 
 I believe, they have been encouraged by nothing so much 
 as by my serious illness. Is this to be tolerated? You 
 perhaps, as a strong man, may bear it; and so also can I 
 endure it, as I have endured many other things. It is, 
 however, too serious an evil to be neglected; and as the 
 
 * T am told by a learned friend that this ‘choir-bishop’ should 
 be a country or couniry-town bishop ; the mistake being in the 
 Greek, Χορεπίσκοπος, instead of Χωρεπίσκοπος---τποῦ Χορὸς, a 
 choir, but Χῶρος, a place.—Tvranslator. 
 
 ' Epist. 77, p. 831. Gregory wrote this epistle from the 
 hot-baths of Xanxaris, where he was staying, by the advice of his 
 physicians, on account of his health. 
 
CHAP. 11. | IN WORLDLY MATTERS. 277 
 
 best emperors have not suffered it, so be you willing to 
 correct what has been done amiss.’ ! 
 
 Gregory preserved a continued interest, not only in 
 the ecclesiastical, but also in the civil concerns of his 
 fatherland. He endeavoured everywhere to avert dis- 
 order and mischief—to establish love and peace. The 
 inhabitants of Nazianzum had on some occasion (pro- 
 bably of tumultuary excitement, which was at that time 
 so easily called forth by any act of military despotism) 
 provoked the anger of the Imperial lieutenant, Olym- 
 pius; and this Olympius had determined to punish, or 
 rather to revenge himself upon the refractory part of 
 the conquered people, in a fearful manner, even by the 
 destruction of the city. Gregory was prevented by 
 sickness from appearing personally before the lheutenant 
 (who, as it appears, was kindly disposed towards him), 
 but he wrote to him an excellent epistle,? full of urgent 
 exhortations to mercy; in which, among other things, he 
 says: ‘Terrible is the death of one fellow-creature, who 
 to-day is, and to-morrow is no more, and will no more 
 return to us. But much more terrible a thing is it to 
 destroy a city, which an emperor founded, which time 
 enlarged, and succeeding years have fostered. I speak 
 to you of Dioceesarea,? which was once a city, but now is 
 
 1 We have, besides, two celebrated and longer missives, ad- 
 dressed by Gregory to the presbyter Cledonius, and an epistle to 
 his successor, Nectarius, in which he attacks the Apollinarians. 
 The dogmatic matter of these treatises will be given more suitably 
 in another part of this work. 
 
 * Epist. 49, al. 40, p. 809. 
 
 3 Nazianzum had also the name of Diocesarea. See above, 
 p. 13, note. Pliny, in his Nat. Hist., vi. 3, mentions Diocesarea 
 among the cities of Cappadocia, but not Nazianzum. He seems, 
 however, to take them for one and the same city. 
 
278 GREGORY STILL INTERESTS HIMSELF [SECT. IV. 
 
 so no longer, if you are not merciful to it. Imagine, I 
 pray you, while I lend it voice, that it is now fallen 
 down before you, and through me addresses you. 
 Clothed with mourning garments, her hair shorn off, as 
 in a tragedy, she thus appeals to you: ‘ Stretch forth 
 thine hand to me, who am prostrate before thee on the 
 ground, and help my weakness; increase not the cala- 
 mities of the time, and destroy not what the Persians 
 have still left to us. Surely it is far nobler to raise up 
 again fallen cities, than to destroy those that are already 
 suffering distress. Be rather a builder of cities, by 
 either making them again to flourish, or, at least, by 
 preserving them in their present condition. Do not 
 allow it to be said, that till your government it was a city, 
 but from that time was so no longer; and let not the 
 melancholy tale be told of you, that you received it as a 
 city, but left it a desolate place, where the eye would rest 
 only on elevations and depressions, and on heaps of 
 ruins, the signs of a former city.’ Thus far Gregory 
 speaks in the name of the city; he then subjoins ex- 
 hortations in his own person, while he declares it 
 to be undoubtedly right to punish the guilty, but too 
 cruel to plunge a whole community into misery, on 
 account of the foolhardiness of some few young men. 
 Gregory appears also to plead for the more merciful 
 treatment of the authors of the tumult, while he also 
 remarks how greatly they had been provoked: ‘ They 
 mourned, as it were, for their mother, who had been 
 put to death; they could not endure to be called citi- 
 zens, and yet be without a city (¢.e., without’ political 
 
 > Μητρὸς ὑπερήλγησαν νεκρουμένης, οὐκ ἤνεγκαν πολῖται 
 καλεῖσϑαι, καὶ εἶναι ἀπόλιδες. The city οἵ Nazianzum had pro- 
 bably been deprived of considerable privileges. 
 
CHAP. 11.] IN WORLDLY MATTERS. 279 
 
 rights); it drove them mad, and in that state of mind 
 they violated the laws, and forfeited their own interests ; 
 the unexpected misfortune deprived them of their senses. 
 But must the city for that reason be destroyed? Far be 
 it from a distinguished man like thee to order such a 
 thing to be done!’ 
 
 This epistle appears not to have failed of its contem- 
 plated effect, for in another address, in which Gregory 
 laments the recal of Olympius, he gives the most. flat- 
 tering testimony to his good government, and assures 
 him that his departure would be deplored, that he him- 
 self would bear away with him great riches, and such 
 as governors seldom collected, viz., a good reputation, 
 and the privilege of being inscribed on the hearts of all 
 in indelible characters.!_ The friendly relation in which 
 Gregory stood towards this governor is still farther 
 shown by a whole series of letters,? which, for the most 
 part, were directed to the effecting some good for the 
 unfortunate and those who had been unjustly perse- 
 cuted, or to obtain a remission of too severe ἃ punish- 
 ment. 
 
 From his solitary abode Gregory frequently took upon 
 himself, with affectionate solicitude, the charge of indi- 
 vidual persons and whole families. Strict and severe 
 as he was towards himself, we yet always find in him a 
 true fellow-feeling for the peculiar circumstances of 
 others. While he rejoiced with them that rejoiced, he 
 
 1 Epist. 50, al. 41, p.811. Inthe same epistle Gregory remarks, 
 that through the departure of Olympius they would again become 
 the second Cappadocia; whereas, through him, they had been 
 raised to the rank of the first. 
 
 2 See Hpist. 172, and the seven which follow it; pp. 879— 
 883. 
 
280 GREGORY STILL INTERESTS HIMSELF [SECT. IV. 
 
 not only wept with those who wept, but also assisted 
 them where it was possible. He, who had himself re- 
 nounced marriage and extolled the virgin-state, yet 
 honoured, in return, the married state as God’s divine 
 appointment, and laboured always to maintain domestic 
 relations in purity and holiness. He, who in many 
 moments of his advanced age felt painfully how lonely 
 he was in the world, without wife and children,! could 
 rejoice with real sympathy in the happiness of two per- 
 sons so bound together in love. It was with this feel- 
 ing that he thus congratulates a young friend, named 
 Eusebius, on his marriage :? ‘ Euopia, your beloved, is 
 now thine; the moment of your marriage is arrived; 
 the happiness of your life is made secure; the prayers 
 of your parents are heard, and I, who ought properly to 
 have been present, and have taken part in your solemn 
 service, (as indeed I had even promised,) must be at a 
 distance. What we wish for, we readily hope to enjoy; 
 and we easily deceive ourselves, when we would gladly 
 do athing. I have even several times attempted to set 
 out, then again I hesitated, and have at last been over- 
 come by sickness. Others, then, must invoke the powers 
 of love, (for playful mirth becomes the nuptial festivity,) 
 and describe the beauty of the bride with a painter's 
 skill, and then, by way of contrast, the bridegroom’s 
 
 1 This loneliness in the world is excellently expressed in the 
 following lines, in which he touchingly laments, that he knows not 
 what hand would close his eyes. Carm. viii. 11 et seq. p. 77: 
 
 *ASpovog, ἀπτολίεϑρος, ἄπαις, τεκέεσσι μεμηλὼς, 
 Zowy ἧμαρ ἐπ᾽ ἧμαρ ἀειπλανέεσσι πόδεσσι, 
 
 Ποῖ ῥίψω τόδε σῶμα ; τί μοι τέλος ἀντιβολήσει ; 
 
 Τίς γῆ; τίς δὲ τάφος με φιλόξενος ἀμφικαλύψει, 
 
 Τίς δ᾽ ὄσσοις μινυϑοῦσιν ἐμοῖς ἐπὶ δάκτυλα ϑήσει;..... 
 
 3. Epist. 171, p. 878. 
 
CHAP. II. | IN WORLDLY MATTERS. 281 
 
 gracefulness; and, lastly, bedeck the bridal-bed with 
 complimentary addresses, as with flowers. I also will 
 sing to you both my marriage-song: ‘The Lord bless 
 you out of Sion, and bestow harmony on your married- 
 state! Mayest thou by his blessing see thy sons (and 
 sons’ sons I had almost said) still nobler than thyself!’ 
 This is what I should have asked for you, if I had been 
 present ; and I now earnestly invoke it upon you. In 
 another somewhat more grave epistle,! in which Gregory 
 greets a certain person, named Diocles, on the occasion 
 of his marriage, he says: ‘One of the highest and great- 
 est blessings is, that Christ is present in the marriage- 
 solemnity. But where He is, there also is good order, 
 there water becomes wine, there, generally, everything 
 is changed for the better.’ 
 
 As in these instances we see Gregory displaying a 
 lively interest in domestic enjoyments, so we also find 
 him exerting his influence beneficially where the happi- 
 ness of a family, or the pure relations of the married life, 
 were in danger of being disturbed. He endeavoured 
 not only to prevent divorce, proceeding in such cases 
 with great tact and discretion, (as several of his letters 
 show,”) but he also exerted himself to remove the minor 
 discrepancies which had crept in between married people. 
 Remarkable in this respect is a half-jesting epistle® of 
 Gregory's to Nicobulus, the husband of his niece Aly- 
 piana, in which he exhibits, in some excellent remarks, 
 the unreasonableness of his ideas in treating the exter- 
 nals of his wife as mean and insignificant. ‘ Thou jeerest 
 
 1 Epist. 193, p. 890. 
 
 3 Epist. 176, p. 881. Epist. 181, p. 884.  pist. 211, 
 p. 904. 
 
 3 Epist. 155, p. 871. 
 
282 GREGORY STILL INTERESTS HIMSELF [SECT. IV. 
 
 me (he says) about Alypiana, as if she were too small of 
 stature, and unworthy of thy stately size, O thou large, 
 and powerful, and immeasurable one in form and 
 strength! I have now learnt for the first time that the 
 soul is to be measured, and virtue weighed; that rocks 
 are more precious than pearls, and ravens superior to 
 nightingales. Take now to thyself thy stature and 
 those many feet in height which thou missest in thy 
 wife, and be, I pray thee, as great as the famous Aloide ; 
 for thou canst guide the steed, and hurl the spear, and 
 thy delight is in the chase; but she, forsooth, does 
 nothing, for no great strength is required to hold the 
 shuttle, to handle the thread, and to sit at the loom! 
 For that is the glory of women. ! 
 Τὸ γὰρ γέρας ἐστὶ γυναίκων. 
 
 Or, if thou wilt add this also, that she is bowed down for 
 the sake of prayer, that she is constantly occupied with 
 God in great emotion of mind ;—what, I ask thee, is thy 
 largeness and height of body here by comparison? Ob- 
 serve, however, her becoming silence; listen to her when 
 she speaks; and see how unadorned she is, how active 
 as a mistress, how economically she manages her house, 
 how she loves her husband. Thou wilt then say, with 
 the Lacedzemonian: ‘the soul truly is not to be mea- 
 sured; and though we are, as to each other, external, 
 we must look to the inner man if we would know one 
 another.2 When thou hast learnt to look at the matter 
 
 1 This is an application (not an exact quotation) of an expres- 
 sion in the Iliad, iv. 323: Τὸ γὰρ γέρας ἐστὶ γερόντων. Or, 
 xvi. 457: To yap γέρας ἐστὶ ϑανόντων. 
 
 2... καὶ δεῖ τὸν ἐκτὸς ἐόντα πρὸς τὸν ἐκτὸς βλέπειν ἄνϑρω- 
 πον, as it stands in the printed text; but, without a doubt, it 
 should be, πρὸς τὸν ἐντὸς, κιτιλ, Who this Lacedzeemonian was, 
 and where the passage is to be found, I cannot specify. 
 
CHAP. 11. | IN WORLDLY MATTERS. 283 
 
 thus, thou wilt cease to jest at her expense by laughing 
 at the smallness of her figure, and wilt bless God for 
 thy happy marriage.”! 
 
 The letters which Gregory wrote to, and concerning, 
 a person whom he had greatly befriended (and who is 
 addressed as Sacerdos), are particularly beautiful. This 
 Sacerdos had already, in his early youth, devoted himself 
 with earnest zeal to a life of piety, (see Hpist. 212,) and 
 thereby gained the love of Gregory (who, with especial 
 distinction, calls him his son—Zpist. 93), and attracted 
 the attention of other distinguished ecclesiastics. He 
 became a presbyter, and subsequently the superintendent 
 of a considerable institution for the poor,? probably that 
 which was founded by Basil at Czesarea, and which was 
 extremely important and beneficial. He seems, at the 
 same time, to have been the head of a monastery, or 
 (more probably) of the monks who had devoted them- 
 selves to the care of the poor and sick in that mstitu- 
 tion. It came to pass, however, (we are not positively 
 told from what cause,) that Sacerdos had a misunder- 
 standing with one of his friends, Eudocius,? and thereby, 
 probably, with Helladius, the bishop of Czesarea. This 
 disagreement resulted in the removal of Sacerdos from 
 
 1 This Nicobulus, who is here, half in play and half in earnest, 
 set right by Gregory, appears, however, from some of the other 
 epistles, to have possessed many excellent qualities, and to have 
 done the state good service. At least, Gregory employed himself 
 earnestly in his cause, when he had become involved in unfortu- 
 nate circumstances, and wrote, on his account, a whole series of 
 letters of recommendation.—Epist. 46, 48, 107, 116, 160, 178, 
 179, 188, 218. 
 
 ® Epist. 233. ‘O τιμιώτατος καὶ ϑεοφιλέστατος υἱὸς ἡμῶν 
 Σακερδὼς ὁ συμπρεσβύτερος, πτωχείου προέστηκε τῶν ἐπισήμων 
 πολυανϑρώπου, εὐσεβείας TE ἕνεκα καὶ τῆς εἰς τὸ πρᾶγμα 
 σπουδῆς. 
 
 3 Hpist. 235 and 236, tom. ii. 
 
284 GREGORY STILL INTERESTS HIMSELF [SECT. IV. 
 
 his appointment, and his being persecuted by these 
 parties. He had till then led a very quiet, undisturbed 
 life, as to externals, and was not accustomed to vexations 
 and trials of this sort. Gregory, therefore, considered 
 it all but a duty to remind his friend, that such expe- 
 riences were necessary for the formation of a truly pious 
 and purified mind. He wrote to him several excellent 
 letters. ‘If (he says)! you expected to meet with 
 nothing unpleasant when you devoted yourself to the 
 pursuit of wisdom, your very beginning was without 
 wisdom, and I cannot but blame those who educated 
 you; if you did expect it, then thank God for the time 
 in which it did not befal you. But if it now befal 
 you, either bear it courageously, or know that your vow 
 was a mere lie.’ In another letter,? after showing from 
 his own experience how a man can become truly stead- 
 fast and approved only by trials, he says: ‘ What greater 
 benefit can we partake of than such trials? If you 
 understand it aright, you will thank God for the wjus- 
 tice you have suffered, even though you cannot thank 
 those who have done it to you.’ A third, and somewhat 
 longer letter? contains quite as striking a remark: 
 ‘ What can be dreadful to us? Nothing but the falling 
 away from God and godliness. Let all things else turn 
 out as God may order them, whether he guides us now 
 by the gentle instruments of justice in his right hand, 
 or by those of a contrary character in his left. He, the 
 director of our life, knows wherefore he does so. One 
 thing only will we fear, lest we do anything unworthy 
 of a wise man. We have fed the poor, we have exer- 
 
 1 Epist, 214, p. 905. 2 Epist. 215, p. 905. 
 3 Epist. 216, p. 905. 
 
CHAP. II.| IN WORLDLY MATTERS. 285 
 cised brotherly love, we have joined with pleasure in 
 holy songs as long as it was granted us to do so. It is 
 not permitted any longer; we will think, then, of some- 
 thing else; for grace is never poor. We will live for 
 ourselves, devote ourselves to contemplation, purify our 
 minds for the reception of heavenly impressions, which 
 probably is a more holy occupation than the above- 
 mentioned. We are not so constituted as to complain 
 that we have lost all when one thing fails us; but if 
 fair hope be still with us, we have still something re- 
 maining.’ 
 
 Gregory wrote another series of letters,’ in order to 
 bring about a reconciliation between Sacerdos and his 
 opponents ; with what success we know not exactly. 
 Sacerdos subsequently travelled to Constantinople on 
 his own affairs, with introductory letters from Gregory.” 
 We might thence conclude, that, being still persecuted, 
 he went thither to obtain justice. It is certain, how- 
 ever, that Sacerdos departed out of this life before 
 Gregory; since we possess a beautiful letter addressed 
 by the latter to the sister of Sacerdos, the pious Thecla,? 
 in which he consoles her on the loss of her brother. 
 ‘ From whence, then, (he says, among? other things)— 
 whence had the good Sacerdos his origin? Was it not 
 
 1 Epist. 216, 217, 235, 236, 237, 
 
 2 Epist. 91 and 92, p. 845. 
 
 * This woman lived in solitude, in the neighbourhood of a 
 martyr’s chapel, in prayer, meditation, and spiritual exercises. 
 Gregory addressed several letters to her.—EZpist. 200, 201, 202, 
 pp. 897—899. In his 201st Epistle he says to her :---εἴδομεν 
 γὰρ σοῦ To στερέωμα τῆς εἰς Χριστὸν πίστεως, Kal τὴν ἐπαινετὴν 
 ἐρημίαν, καὶ τὸν φιλόσοφον ἰδιασμὸν᾽ ὅτι πάντων χωρισϑεῖσα τῶν 
 τοῦ κύσμου τερπνῶν, Θεῷ μόνῳ συνέκλεισας σεαυτὴν, καὶ τοῖς 
 ἁγίοις μάρτυσιν, οἷς παροικεῖς. 
 
 4 Epist. 202, p. 899, 
 
286 HIS EPISTLES [sEcT. IV. 
 
 from God? And where is Sacerdos now? With God. 
 With no reluctance (I know full well) did he depart 
 out of the reach of envy and from the contest with the 
 Evil-one. And whence are we? Are we not also from 
 thence? And whither shall we go for perfect freedom ? 
 Is it not to the same Lord? Happy will it be for us, if 
 we can do this with the same confidence !’ 
 
 At this period Gregory often received young men, in 
 order to assist them in their studies. He particularly 
 interested himself in his young kinsman, Nicobulus, son 
 of the above-mentioned Nicobulus and Alypiana. He 
 wrote, in the name of this young man, a poem of some 
 length,! with the view of obtaining for him his parents’ 
 consent for a journey to Greece. He also. furnished him 
 with several introductory letters to celebrated teachers.? 
 Gregory supplied other youths also with similar epistles, 
 since he kept up an intimate correspondence with many 
 of the most distinguished masters in philosophy and 
 rhetoric. 
 
 CHAPTER IIL. 
 
 GREGORY’S EPISTLES AND POEMS. 
 
 So many extracts have already been given from 
 Gregory's epistles, and the composition of the same 
 (if we judge only from the number of those which 
 remain to us) must have occupied so considerable a 
 portion of the time spent by him in his solitary retire- 
 ment at Arianzum, that it would not be superfluous to 
 
 1 Carmen 1. p. 112, 115. 
 9 Fpist. 115, 116, 117, p. 853 et seq. 
 
CHAP. III. | AND POEMS. 287 
 
 say something generally concerning his Epistles, even 
 if we did not possess some remarkable declarations by 
 Gregory himself, respecting this very point. It is not 
 to be denied that the epistles of Gregory belong to his 
 best literary productions. Many of them are composed 
 with great industry, and a good number of them were 
 manifestly calculated, not only for the use of the indivi- 
 dual recipients, but also for a wider circle of readers. 
 It must therefore be pleasant to us to hear expressly 
 from Gregory himself the rules according to which, in 
 his judgment, a good letter should be composed. 
 
 He attaches, in the first place, great importance to 
 genuine, laconic brevity. ‘To write laconically is not 
 to write a few syllables, but to say much in a few words. 
 In this sense, I call Homer brief in expression, but 
 Antimachus prolix. And how? Because I measure a 
 poem by its contents, and not by the number of letters.! 
 He explains himself still farther on this point, as on 
 many others, in an epistle to Nicobulus :? ‘Of those who 
 write letters (for I may be allowed to say something 
 to you on this subject), some write at too great length, 
 others are too brief; both fail of the proper medium. 
 They are like persons shooting at a mark, who shoot, ° 
 some above, some below; both, however, miss it, though 
 for different reasons. The proper kind of letter-writing 
 consists in the happy medium ; we must neither write 
 
 ' Epist. 3, p. 769. As a specimen of a laconic composition, by 
 Gregory himself, we may take an epistle to Libanius, which he 
 probably wrote in the name of a mother, who wished to recom- 
 mend to the celebrated rhetorician her son, who was going to the 
 Academy :—‘I, a mother, send a son to thee, a father; the 
 natural mother to thee, the father of eloquence. As I have cared 
 for him, so do thou.’—£pist, 208, p. 899. 
 
 ® Epist. 209, p. 908. 
 
288 HIS EPISTLES [SECT. IV. 
 
 too long a one, if we have not much of importance to say, 
 nor too short a one, when our matter for it is great. 
 With respect to clearness or perspicuousness, it is 
 obvious that, in letter-writing, we should avoid as much 
 as possible the oratorical style, and fall more into the 
 tone of familiar chatting.! To express all this briefly, 
 that is the best and most beautiful letter which can 
 carry with it the convictions of the unlearned and 
 learned reader; the former, in so far as it is adapted to 
 the comprehension of the many: the latter, inasmuch 
 as, while it is intelligible to all, it speaks a higher 
 language to him. It is certainly a troublesome thing 
 to be obliged to interpret a letter as if we were solving 
 an enigma. The third quality of a good letter is agree- 
 ableness ; this we shall attain, if we write nothing that 
 is dry and repulsive, nothing without point or orna- 
 ment,? but polished up, as people say ; the epistolary 
 style, therefore, does not exclude similes, proverbs, and 
 pithy aphorisms, nor yet playful wit, or words of double 
 meaning (dunkle Worte) by which it is, as’ it were, 
 sweetened. We must, however, also avoid the abuse of 
 these things. Their absence, it is true, shows the want 
 of education ; their abuse, an insatiable appetite for 
 them. Everything of the kind is to be applied 
 sparingly, like purple in the texture of our clothing. 
 Figurative expressions we also admit, yet few in num- 
 ber, and those unobjectionable. But antithesis, and 
 playing with syllogisms and nicely-articulated proposi- 
 tions, we would leave to the Sophists ; and if we ever 
 
 1 Περὶ δὲ τῆς σαφηνίας, ἐκεῖνο γνώριμον" OTL χρὴ φεύγοντα TO 
 λογοειδὲς, ὕσον ἐνδέχεται. μᾶλλον εἰς τὸ λαλικὸν ἀποκλίνειν. 
 
 2 We read in the printed text, εὐκόρητα ; it must, however, be 
 ἀκόρητα, unornamented. 
 
 Y 
 , 
 ϑ 
 
CHAP. III. | AND POEMS. 289 
 
 make use of them, we would do it more in play than in 
 earnest. My last rule 1 will give in the words of an 
 ingenious man, who relates, that when the birds dis- 
 puted among themselves for the mastery, and one pre- 
 sented himself with this ornament and another with 
 that, the eagle was the most beautiful amongst them, 
 simply because it was not remarked that he was beauti- 
 ful. To this point, therefore, we should particularly 
 attend in writing letters, viz., to be unadorned, and, as 
 much as possible, natural. Thus much briefly concern- 
 ing letters; what has been here said, however, is not 
 to be applied to me, who have my heart oppressed with 
 weightier matters. What else is wanting to complete 
 the subject you will gain for yourself by careful study ; 
 for you are willing to learn, and those persons who are 
 conversant with these things will instruct you fully 
 therein.’ One cannot but see that, although Gregory in 
 the last quoted words appears to disclaim it, he yet here 
 develops the rules which he himself was accustomed to 
 observe in the composition of his epistles. In fact, his 
 letters are, for the most part, short, clear, expressed in 
 beautiful yet unadorned language—in a word, excellently 
 written. The language in which they are clothed is 
 generally suited to the object which he wished to 
 obtain ; and if, here and there, anything ornamented or 
 far-fetched in thought or expression has slipped in, it 
 seems as if occasionally (when, for instance, he writes to 
 sophists or rhetoricians, and other persons who paid 
 homage to the perverted taste of the time) he had con- 
 ceded somewhat to the requirements of the immediate 
 readers of his epistles. Gregory himself prepared the 
 collection of his epistles, at least of the greatest part of 
 them, at the request of Nicobulus, whom we have 
 U 
 
200 GREGORY'S EPISTLES [ SECT. IV. 
 
 already several times mentioned, and who wished to see 
 them collected, from the conviction that much useful 
 information was contained in this correspondence.! We 
 have therefore to thank him for them. 
 
 Besides epistolary writing, the composition of many 
 poems? gave occupation to Gregory in his solitude. 
 We could hardly pronounce so favourable a judgment 
 upon these as upon his epistles. The mere circum- 
 stance, that Gregory first began to devote himself to 
 poetry at an advanced age, and in a state of ascetic 
 retirement, is a proof that no great fulness and power 
 of the spirit of poetry naturally dwelt in him; else, 
 without doubt, it would have made itself known earlier. 
 On the other hand, we might also conclude from thence, 
 that his writing of poetry was not the passing effusion 
 of youthful prattle, but that a real, if not a rich vein of 
 poetry was embedded in his nature. His poetic sense 
 expressed itself, not unfrequently, in earlier life in his 
 orations ; afterwards, when he had no longer any occa- 
 sion to express his poetic conceptions in an oratorical 
 garb, he fell more into the formal exhibition of his 
 thoughts in regular versification. Hence, however, re- 
 sulted this untowardness, that the. orations which he 
 wrote in his earlier days were occasionally too poetical, 
 while the poems, which he composed in his old age, are, 
 
 1 Epist. 208, p. 209. 
 
 5 The greater number and the most important of Gregory’s 
 poems are in the second volume of the edition of his works by 
 Billy and Morel. There are some, also, in the following publica- 
 tions:—Jac. Tollii, Insignia Itinerarti Italici, Traj. ad Rhen. 
 mpcxovi. pp. 1—105 ; Muratori, Anecdota Greca, Patav. MDCCIX. 
 pp. 1—217; Jacobs, Antholog. Grec., vol. ii. There are also a 
 few scattered elsewhere. See, on this point, Fabricii, Bibliothec. 
 Grec, vol. viii. p. 416 et seq. 
 
 ων. 
 
CHAP. III. | AND POEMS. 291 
 
 even more frequently, too prosaic. On this account, too, 
 these poems of Gregory must necessarily have wanted 
 the proper poetical keeping, because they were sub- 
 servient to an almost absorbing object, moral or reli- 
 gious, but external to the poetry itself. Honourable as 
 this is to him as a man and a theologian, it was disad- 
 vantageous to him as a poet; for what he produced from 
 such motives and in such a tone of mind, was rather 
 the fruit of reflection and of calm consideration than 
 of that truly poetic, creative energy, which is uncon- 
 sciously drawn on to impart its feelings; and the 
 charm of originality, which commands the hearts of all 
 hearers—the ease, the bewitching brightness, which 
 characterise the true poet—could not express themselves 
 in his poetry. In their stead, he was obliged rather to 
 exhibit the poetic tone in an external manner; that is, 
 by means of figures and tropes, by ornamental or high- 
 sounding expressions, which he only too often borrowed 
 unsuitably from other poets. And hence again arose 
 frequently the strange inconsistency, that perfectly 
 simple, ordinary, and highly prosaic thoughts are wrapt 
 up in a cloud of figurative language, and, apparently, 
 poetic forms. This holds good even of Gregory’s 
 better poems; not to speak of those which treat of 
 perfectly dry, unpoetic subjects, while, for instance, 
 they enumerate the plagues of Egypt or the canonical 
 books of Holy Scripture, compare the two genealogies 
 of Jesus, exhibit the Ten Commandments in a few 
 verses ; and the like. 
 
 Most of Gregory’s poems have the fault of length and 
 diffusiveness. He often involves his thoughts and sen- 
 timents in a multitude of words, from the midst of 
 which it is difficult to find the simple truth; but then 
 
 u 2 
 
902 GREGORY'S POEMS. [SECT. IV. 
 
 again we meet there, after toiling through much that is 
 tiresome, with beautiful passages, full of deep feeling, 
 and truly attractive. Some of his shorter pieces, which 
 evidently issued from the pure feeling of the moment, 
 might probably satisfy even the more rigid critic. Of 
 these, however, there are but a few. He succeeded 
 particularly in apophthegms, moral sentences, short and 
 pregnant didactic poems. But as soon as he falls, in 
 the course of his longer didactic poems, into dogmatic 
 polemics and subtilties, or a discursive moralising strain, 
 all claims to poetry naturally disappear. In thus speak- 
 ing, however, we must not forget that Gregory actually 
 looked upon it as a duty to compose in this style. In 
 this respect, his poetry reveals the same active struggle 
 which displays itself in his orations, his zeal for ortho- 
 doxy, and his opposition to the heretical opinions of his 
 generation. Several heretics, such as Paul of Samosata, 
 Arius, and Apollinaris,! had given a great impulse to 
 their doctrines by putting them into a poetic form, and 
 thereby into the mouths and minds of the people. Gre- 
 gory wished to counteract the mischief which had thus 
 been occasioned, by means of poems written in an ortho- 
 dox spirit, and a course of poetical polemics. Another 
 similar motive for the composing of his poems has been 
 mentioned in an earlier part of this work; they were 
 
 1 In reference to the last of these, Gregory speaks thus at the 
 end of his first epistle to Cledonius (see also, Orat. li. p. 745). 
 Ei δὲ οἱ μακροὶ λόγοι καὶ τὰ νέα ψαλτήρια, Kai ἀντίφϑογγα τῷ 
 Δαβὶδ, καὶ ἡ τῶν μέτρων χάρις, ἡ τρίτη διαϑήκη νομίζεται, καὶ 
 ἡμεῖς ψαλμολογήσομεν, καὶ πολλὰ γράψομεν καὶ μετρήσομεν. 
 In the poem 70 his own Verses (pp. 248, 249), Gregory specifies the 
 different reasons which had induced him to compose poetry ; 
 among others, that he had wished to create thereby an amusing 
 occupation for his sickly old age. 
 
CHAP. 10. HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER. 293 
 
 intended to be a substitute for the heathen poets, which 
 (at least for a time) had been withdrawn from the 
 Christians by Julian, and which Gregory, on general 
 grounds, saw with apprehension in the hands of young 
 Christians, because they might possibly incite to immoral 
 practices. How little, however, the poetical composi- 
 tions of Gregory could become a properly-poetical com- 
 pensation for those works of Grecian genius, is get ΕΙ ἢ 
 obvious from what has been already said. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 GREGORY’S DEATH; HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 Even the composition of poetry belonged, in the esti- 
 mation of Gregory, to the ascetic practices,’ whereby 
 he sought to subdue all the desires of sense, and to direct 
 his thoughts at all times to the worthiest objects. He 
 continued these practices, in their whole extent and com- 
 pass, even in old age with all the strictness of youthful 
 zeal,2 Even if many of the descriptions of his strict 
 asceticism which he gives us in his poems—where, for 
 instance, he speaks of himself as living alone in a cavern 
 among wild beasts, going about without shoes, content 
 with one coarse garment, sleeping on the ground covered 
 only with a sack,? and so forth—even if such represen- 
 
 1 Carmen in Versus suos, line 34, p. 248. 
 Πρῶτον μὲν ἠϑέλησα, τοῖς ἄλλοις καμὼν, 
 Ὅυτω πεδῆσαι τὴν ἐμὴν ἁμαρτίαν. 
 2 Compare Carm. xviii. p. 93; xix. p. 93; lix. p. 186; Zpist. 
 196, p. 894. 
 3 Carm. ii. 140, et seq. p. 70; Carm. vi. et seq. p. 75, and 
 elsewhere. 
 
204 GREGORY'S DEATH [ SECT. IV. 
 
 tations may be rather poetically dressed up, yet it is 
 clear, from his repeated declarations, that he renounced, 
 almost entirely, the comforts and enjoyments which can 
 agreeably cheer the life of man generally, and especially 
 of an aged man. The older he grew, the more he desired 
 (since no close family-ties any longer bound him to 
 men) to devote himself to God, in solitary separation 
 from the world. His life henceforth became more and 
 more a mere preparation for death. 
 
 During the whole of his earlier life Gregory had 
 vacillated between two antagonist principles, in the happy 
 combination of which he but seldom succeeded,—viz., 
 solitary, ascetic contemplation and ecclesiastical activity. 
 His education had already taught him to love the calm, 
 contemplative life, and to look upon it as the highest 
 object of desire, and it only required an impulse to 
 develop more decidedly the bias that was slumbering in 
 his soul. The moral spirit of his age, and the then con- 
 dition of the Church, confirmed him still more in this 
 direction. On the other hand, he was prompted to 
 active exertion in ecclesiastical concerns by a powerful 
 sense of duty, in which he recognised the inward call of 
 the Divine Spirit, as well as many inducements, and even 
 obligations, from without, in which he likewise saw the 
 finger of God directing him. Thus he was ever being 
 drawn out from retirement into active life, and was 
 again withdrawn from the business of life by an inex- 
 tinguishable longing after contemplative solitude. And 
 this gave to his life a restless, vacillating, and unsettled 
 character. At length the first impressions of his youth 
 and the dormant requirements of his heart prevailed, ᾿ 
 and Gregory withdrew himself completely into solitude. 
 In connexion, however, with the customary ascetic 
 
CHAP. Iv. | AND CHARACTER. 295 
 
 exercises, he gave himself up to that contemplation 
 which, in accordance with his peculiar bias, seemed to 
 him the surest and most direct way to a perfectly godly 
 life, and to the closest connexion and most intimate 
 intercourse with God. This he describes in the follow- 
 ing passage :! ‘ Nothing ever appeared to me so glorious 
 as, with the senses, as it were, locked up, existing already 
 out of the flesh and the world, retiring into oneself, 
 meddling with no earthly business, (except in extreme 
 necessity,) conversing only with God and oneself, to 
 live already exalted above the visible world; to bear 
 about upon oneself heavenly forms and impressions, 
 pure and unmixed with the changeable forms of earth; 
 in fact, to be and to become ever more and more a 
 bright mirror of God and godly things; to obtain light 
 in addition to light, the clearer in addition to the less 
 clear ; to enjoy already in hope the good things of another 
 world; to associate with angels; while yet moving on 
 the earth to take leave of it, and to be transported by 
 the Spirit to higher regions.’ 
 
 Gregory made use of, as a means of higher moral 
 purification, even the bodily sufferings with which he 
 had to struggle severely in these his last years, His 
 health, which, as it appears, was not strong by nature, 
 and had been weakened by rigid asceticism, was now 
 also affected by the infirmities of age. But he looked 
 upon this infliction only as a means of spiritual training 
 for a more complete education, and the sanctifying of 
 the inner man. He wrote thus on the subject to his 
 
 1 Orat. ii.7, p.14; xx. 1, p. 376. These expressions cer- 
 tainly belong to an earlier period of his life: but his notions on 
 this point were uniformly the same. 
 
206 GREGORY'S DEATH [ SECT. IV. 
 
 friend Philagrius,! who had also much to suffer from 
 bodily discomfort: ‘It becomes you, a man so well- 
 instructed in heavenly things, not to succumb to the 
 body, but to bear suffering like a wise man, and now 
 especially to purify your will, to show yourself exalted 
 above the fetters of sense, and to look upon illness as a 
 means of training us for our greatest happiness. But 
 sickness becomes to us that greatest good, if it teach us 
 to despise the body and all that is bodily, and, generally, 
 all that is changeable and transitory ; devoting ourselves 
 wholly to that which is heavenly. So that, instead of 
 living for the present, we live rather for the future, and 
 make use of this life (as Plato says) only to learn how 
 to die.’ He wrote at another time to the same? friend 
 in these words: ‘I am suffering from sickness, and I 
 am glad, not that I suffer, but that I may thereby become 
 a teacher of patience to others. Since, then, I cannot 
 now free myself from suffering, I look upon it as gain 
 to bear it patiently, and as in joy, so also in pain to 
 thank God; for I am convinced, that nothing which 
 befalls us by the appointment of Supreme Wisdom is 
 without good reason, even though it may not appear so 
 to us. Gregory was so entirely convinced of the moral 
 benefit of bodily suffering for the improvement of the 
 inner man, that he was thereby able to comfort and 
 strengthen others. As he was once expounding a psalm 
 in this sense to his friend Philagrius, while the latter 
 was suffering severe pains, Philagrius was so affected 
 thereby, that extending his hands towards the east 
 (whither it was usual to turn in prayer), he looked up to 
 heaven and exclaimed: ‘I thank thee, Father, Creator 
 
 ι Epist. 70, al. 64, p. 826 et seq. 
 2 Bpist. 69, al. 68, p. 826. Compare other beautiful remarks 
 on the same subject, in Zpist. 63, al. 57, p. 820 et seq. 
 
CHAP. IV. | AND CHARACTER. 297 
 
 of all men, that thou showest us kindnesses even against 
 our inclination; that thou purifiest the inner through 
 the outer man, and conductest us through sufferings and 
 calamities to a happy end, in the way that seemeth best 
 to thee!”! 
 
 Thus also Gregory himself, through a varied course 
 of inward and outward struggles, and finally by bodily 
 suffering, was brought by the Father of his days to the 
 happy termination which he had so long and earnestly 
 desired. He died, probably in the place where he had 
 been born, A.D. 989 or 390. We have nothing more 
 exact handed down to us as to the circumstances of his 
 death. 
 
 This, then, is the life of Gregory of Nazianzum. If 
 at the conclusion of it we should attempt a sketch of 
 him, both in his external and internal features, the prin- 
 cipal lineaments would be the following :— 
 
 Gregory was of middle stature; rather pale, yet so 
 that it became him. His hair was thin, and whitened 
 by age; his short beard was thicker, and his eyebrows 
 prominent. He had a scar over his right eye. His 
 countenance was expressive of kindness, and prepossess- 
 ing; his demeanour simple and unaffected. The funda- 
 mental tone of his ¢wner nature was piety. His soul, 
 full of ardent, energetic faith, was devoted to God and 
 Christ; while a lofty zeal for divine things marked the 
 course of his whole life. This zeal certainly displayed 
 itself in a strict assertion and defence of certain defini- 
 tions of faith which that age* considered of especial 
 
 1 Epist. 66, al. 60, p. 824. 
 
 * If by ‘ certain definitions of faith’ are meant the doctrines 
 and declarations of the Nicene Creed, (for which it is obvious Gre- 
 gory was a devoted champion), surely they are to be ‘consi- 
 dered of especial weight’ in all ages.—Translator. 
 
908 GREGORY'S CHARACTER. [ SECT. IV. 
 
 weight, as well as in an active contest (not free from 
 the influences of party-spirit) against opposite opinions ; 
 it showed itself, however, no less in a real and living 
 conception of active Christianity, whose establishment 
 and extended influence in the minds of men was, above 
 all others, an object of the greatest weight with him. 
 His asceticism was carried too far, and was injurious to 
 his health; it did not, however, degenerate into an 
 affected sanctity. It served him as a means of raising 
 and freeing the mind, without being considered by him 
 as, in and by itself, a higher state of virtue. An innate 
 love of solitude, strengthened as it had been by educa- 
 tion, hindered him from devoting all his powers to the 
 active promotion of the common good. His retired 
 life, which did not admit of his acquiring a familiar 
 knowledge of men and of the world, made him occa- 
 sionally incautious in placing confidence, sometimes 
 distrustful and austere in judging of others. He re- 
 quired much from others, but most of all from himself. 
 Susceptible for high and great resolves, and full of ardent 
 zeal for all that is good, he was not always steadfast and 
 persevering in the execution of it. In enduring and in 
 contending for the truth he was generous and high- 
 minded, temperate in victory, humble in prosperity, 
 never flattering the great and powerful, but an ever- 
 ready helper of the oppressed and the persecuted; above 
 all, a loving father to the poor. With these most excel- 
 lent qualities in the character of Gregory were mixed 
 counterbalancing defects; he was not quite free from 
 vanity, he was very irritable and passionate, but he also 
 readily forgave, and cherished no secret ill-will. He 
 was a man ever occupied in holy practices, and striving 
 after the highest and the best; but he was not (as no 
 human being is) perfect! 
 
299 
 
 APPENDIX I. 
 
 CONCERNING THE YEAR AND PLACE OF GREGORY'S 
 BIRTH. 
 
 T is singular that the place, as well as the time of the 
 birth of so celebrated a person as Gregory (who 
 himself gives us tolerably detailed accounts of his life) 
 are yet not exactly ascertained. Of the day of his birth 
 (though it has been settled ecclesiastically) nothing can 
 be historically affirmed, since very different opinions 
 exist even as to the year. We have certainly a rather 
 ancient account respecting the time of Gregory’s birth, 
 but still even that is too recent to be taken as positively 
 decisive, and especially as we do not know from what 
 source it is derived. I refer to a notice, of the tenth 
 or eleventh century, in the Lexicon of Suidas, which 
 asserts that Gregory died in the thirteenth year of the 
 government of Theodosius the Great, at the age of 
 ninety, or somewhat more.! Now Theodosius entered 
 upon the empire of the East on the 19th of January 
 A.D. 379; Gregory died, according to this account, A. D. 
 392, and if he were then ninety years of age, or some- 
 what older, he must have been born about the year 300 
 or 301. 
 This assertion, however, is very decidedly opposed to 
 some points of information which are given in the writ- 
 
 1 Suidas, tom. i. p. 497, sub verbo Γρηγόριος... - - ἐλασας δὲ 
 περὶ Ta ἐννενήκοντα ἔτη Kai ἑπέκεινα, Θεοδοσίου τρίτον Kai δέκα- 
 τον ἔτος ἄγοντος καταλύει τὸν βίον. 
 
900 TIME AND PLACE OF GREGORY'S BIRTH. 
 
 ings of Gregory himself. He says that he went to 
 Athens in his early youth, and still beardless (noch 
 unbirtig); this, therefore, could not well be later than 
 his twentieth year. He informs us that he was a stu- 
 dent at Athens together with Julian. But Julian was 
 at Athens in the year of our Lord 355—consequently 
 Gregory must have continued in Athens till about his 
 fifty-fifth or fifty-sixth year, and his residence there 
 must in all have lasted at least thirty-five years! But 
 this necessary conclusion is refuted by an expression in 
 Gregory's poem concerning his own life, line 238, p. 4: 
 
 Kai γὰρ πολὺς τέτριπτο τοῖς λόγοις χρόνος. 
 
 Ἤδη τριακοστόν μοι σχεδὸν τοῦτ᾽ ἦν ἔτος. 
 
 Here the poet says plainly enough of himself, that 
 when he formed the determination to leave Athens, he 
 was nearly thirty years old. For what else can the 
 phrase ἐστί μοι ἔτος τριακοστόν mean, than ‘I am thirty 
 years of age? And he might certainly well say that he 
 had spent much time in rhetorical and philosophical 
 studies, since he looked upon these as only preparatory ; 
 the object and destination of his life were, from his ear- 
 liest years, fixed upon theology.! As therefore we know 
 from Gregory’s mouth, that he left Athens before his 
 thirtieth year, the statement in Suidas, which places 
 that event in his fifty-fifth or fifty-sixth year, destroys 
 itself. 
 
 We may wonder how so acute a critic as Pagi could 
 undertake to justify the assertion of Suidas (Critica in 
 
 1 Gregory went to Constantinople, a.D. 379. If he were born 
 in 300, he must then have numbered nearly eighty years. How, 
 at such an age, could he have entered on such an arena, with his 
 already enfeebled body? ‘Etoit-ce 14 un emploi propre a un 
 vieillard de quatre-vingt ans” is the sensible question of Tillemont. 
 
TIME AND PLACE OF ΟΒΕΘΟΒΥ ΒΒ BIRTH. 301 
 
 Annales Baronii, 354. xi. xii. xiii. tom, i. p. 481); and 
 how Le Clere (Libliotheque Universelle de ? Année 1690, 
 Ῥ. 2) could so blindly follow the lead of Pagi, as to say 
 in his short biography of Gregory: ‘ Gregoire naquit, 
 selon la chronologie la plus exacte, Yan 300.’ Pagi, in 
 order to confirm the chronological decision of Suidas, 
 explains the words already quoted (ἤδη τριακοστόν μοι 
 σχεδὸν τοῦτ᾽ ἦν ἔτος), not of Gregory’s time of life, but of 
 the time of his residence (Quare erat is annus Gregorio 
 N. ferme tricesimus in eo studio, non vero tricesimus a 
 nativitate ejus), and translates it thus: I had also already 
 resided nearly thirty years at Athens on account of my 
 studies.’ Most highly improbable! since we must deviate 
 from the ordinary use of language for the sake of this ex- 
 planation, and then believe (what is almost incredible) that 
 aman who, from his very cradle, had been destined for the 
 clerical profession, and who, in his riper years, had with 
 the greatest earnestness confirmed that destination, should 
 have lingered thirty years, ὁ. 6, to his fiftieth year, in the 
 schools of rhetoric. But even granting that improbable 
 explanation of the words, yet Pagi’s calculation does not 
 turn out correctly. Certainly, if the assertion of Gregory 
 is not totally inaccurate (Carmen de Vita sua, p. 2, line 
 112, ἀχνους παρεία, x.7.r.), he came to Athens while 
 still in early youth, most probably before his twentieth 
 year. Now, supposing him to have resided there till his 
 fifty-sixth year, this again would require a longer period 
 than thirty years. 
 
 Whilst, then, we entirely disregard this reckoning of 
 Suidas, Pagi, and Le Clere, we establish another in the 
 most natural and sure method. Setting out from certain 
 or highly probable data (which exist in the writings of 
 Gregory himself), we judge from them what is inde- 
 
902 TIME AND PLACE OF ΟΒΕΘΟΒΥ 5 BIRTH. 
 
 finite and unknown. Earlier writers have also followed 
 this method in this case, only with a certain caution in 
 regard to one point. 
 
 It is necessary to begin with some data from the life 
 of Gregory’s father, and particularly with the year of 
 his death. He died, then, according to all the circum- 
 stances, in the spring of 374. His son informs us, in 
 his funeral eulogium, that he was, at the time of his 
 death, about a hundred years old, of which he had 
 passed forty-five years in the priestly office,* conse- 
 quently he must have been in holy orders ever since the 
 year 329 (or 328), and four years before that (as we 
 know full well from the testimony of his son) he had 
 been baptized in the presence of Leontius, who was then 
 on his way to Niceea. The elder Gregory, therefore, was 
 born in 275 or 276; baptized in 325, ordained in 329, 
 and died A.D. 374. 
 
 Now Gregory, in a passage remarkably suited to our 
 purpose, represents his father as thus speaking (in his 
 Carmen de Vita sua)—line 512: 
 
 Οὔπω τοσοῦτον ἐκμεμέτρηκας βίον, 
 
 Ὅσος διῆλθε ϑυσιῶν ἐμοὶ χρόνος. 
 That is to say, the father wishes to persuade the son to 
 share the duties of the episcopal office with him, and 
 with that view represents to him his own great age in 
 comparison with his son’s youth in the words above, 
 which may be rendered: ‘Thou hast not yet lived so 
 long a time as I have performed the priestly office 
 (offered the sacrifice) ; or, literally, ‘Thou hast not yet 
 measured out so long a life, as the time which has 
 already passed to me in my sacrificial character.’ Now, 
 
 * This term, ‘Priester stande,’ includes here the Episcopal 
 office.—Tvranslator. 
 
 ee ΣΝ 
 
TIME AND PLACE OF ΘΒΕΘΟΒΥ 5. BIRTH. 303 
 
 if we refer the ϑυσίαι (as every unprejudiced person will 
 do at once) to the oblations which the aged Gregory 
 offered as priest or as bishop, we have then in the pas- 
 sage a very clearly settled date; Gregory, the son, was 
 plainly born after his father had been ordained, that is, 
 after the year 329, therefore at the earliest in 330, and, 
 consequently, at least thirty years later than the date 
 assigned by Suidas. This reckoning agrees perfectly 
 with what we know of Gregory’s youthful days. He 
 went to Athens, as we have seen, when quite young, 
 somewhere between his eighteenth and twentieth year, 
 and therefore (reckoning from his birth in 330) about 
 A. Ὁ. 348—350. He resided there till about his thirtieth 
 year, therefore till about the year 3585—360. During 
 his residence in Athens he made the acquaintance of 
 Julian, and he (Julian) was certainly there in 355. 
 Soon after his return home (probably in 361, the same 
 year in which Julian mounted the Imperial throne), 
 Gregory was ordained priest, therefore when he had 
 barely attained the legal age, the thirtieth year; hence 
 his expression, that he had entered the presbyterate very 
 early, nay (according to his decided conviction, and the 
 circumstances of the times), too early. 
 
 This well-established reckoning would .perhaps have 
 been generally and readily received, if it had not at 
 the same time been necessarily asserted, that the elder 
 Gregory begat several children after he became a priest 
 and a bishop! The Roman-catholic historians, however, 
 considered this fact so insufferable, that they determined 
 to do every kind of violence to the passages adduced, 
 rather than admit their plain and simple meaning.! 
 
 1 Several of these unhappy experiments by very learned men 
 are here quoted, on account of their extraordinary character ; 
 
904 TIME AND PLACE OF GREGORY’S BIRTH. 
 
 And yet what is there bad or intolerable that the elder 
 Gregory should have begotten his son while presbyter, 
 or even bishop? Jerome certainly says (lib. i. advers. 
 Jovinian.), at.a somewhat later period: ‘ Certe confiteris, 
 
 the Jesuit Papebroch (Acta Sanct. Maj., tom. ii. p. 370, die nona 
 Maii) attempts to oppose the consentient authority of all the MSS. 
 with a mere conjecture; instead of ὅσος διῆλθε ϑυσιῶν ἐμοὶ 
 χρόνος, he proposes to read—'Oooe διῆλϑ᾽ ἐτησιῶν ἐμοὶ χρόνος. 
 The Ετησίαι are, as everybody knows, the trade-winds. Literally, 
 therefore, the passage means this :—‘ Thou hast not lived so long 
 as I have witnessed the annual recurrence of the Etesian, or trade- 
 winds,’ The expression, of course, is to be taken metaphorically, 
 and its sense may be simply rendered thus :—‘ Thou art not so old 
 as Tam.’ But what a platitude does the learned man here attri- 
 bute to the aged Gregory! Was it at all necessary to remark 
 that he, the father, was older than his son? and could he have 
 made the remark in a more singular manner, than by saying that 
 he had witnessed more Etesian winds than his son had lived 
 years? Papebroch, subsequently, acknowledged the unsuitable- 
 ness of his conjecture, and hazardeda second, but not more happy 
 flight, when he proposes to read :—'Oooe διῆλθε δὶς ἰὼν ἐμοὶ 
 χρόνος. ὁ. 6. in plain words, ‘I am twice as old as you,’ This 
 conjecture also carries its most manifest refutation in its forced 
 expression of a simple idea. The Benedictine, Clemencet, has tried 
 to help himself in a different way; he allows the reading ϑυσιῶν 
 its due weight, but seeks to escape from its strict sense by an 
 artful explanation. Instead of referring the offering of sacrifice to 
 the priestly state, he refers it merely to the christian state. He 
 thinks that ϑυσίαι betokens only the distribution of the sacra- 
 ment) in which Gregorius, as a baptized Christian, had partici- 
 pated, or the offering of a spiritual sacrifice. Consequently, the 
 aged Gregory would say nothing more to his son than ‘ Thou hast 
 not been so long in the world as I have been baptized, or a Chris- 
 tian!’ Accordingly, Clemencet asserts that Gregory was born 
 when his father was not yet a bishop, but already a Christian, 
 and therefore in the year of our Lord 325 or 326. But, to say 
 nothing of the artificial character of this explanation, it does not 
 at all suit the context. If the aged bishop wished to induce 
 his son to assist him in the duties of his office, what effect would 
 be produced by the statement, that he, the father, had already 
 been a Christian as long as the son had lived ?—But it must, 
 indeed, have worked strongly on the son, when his father reminded 
 him ‘that he had now been a longer period in the priestly office, 
 than the son had been in existence.’ The father could not well 
 
TIME AND PLACE OF GREGORY'S BIRTH. 305 
 
 non posse esse episcopum, qui in episcopatu filios faciat : 
 alioquin si diprehensus, non quasi, vir tenebitur, sed quasi 
 adulter damnabitur; and other strict Fathers, as Lpi- 
 phanius, agree with him. But it has been already 
 remarked by a learned and unsophisticated Roman-catho- 
 lic explorer of history, and also sufficiently proved, that 
 the notions and regulations which obliged priests to 
 entire abstinence in respect to marriage,! had at that 
 time by no means acquired a decided or general validity, 
 and, indeed, in many countries permitted an exception. 
 Celibacy was held as the preferable practice, without on 
 that account being reckoned as the unconditional law; 
 he who followed this practice was admired, but still he 
 who did not observe it was not condemned. What 
 wonder, then, if the elder Gregory, who appears to us 
 generally as possessed of an independent mind, should 
 have complied rather with the wish of his heart for do- 
 mestic happiness, than with the severe notions of a part 
 of his contemporaries, who wished to withhold it from 
 priest and bishop alike! 
 
 Other difficulties, which have been started against this 
 mode of reckoning, are still more easily got rid of. We 
 must assume therewith, that the elder Gregory was 
 
 have pressed upon the mind of his son, in a more brief and lively 
 manner, his own want of help, and the son’s obligation to afford 
 him assistance. The Cardinal Baronius also cannot satisfy the 
 unprejudiced inquirer, when he declares the whole phraseology of 
 the passage to be an hyperbole. The form and structure of the 
 words are of that kind, that we have no occasion at all to seek for 
 anything hyperbolical in them ; the words themselves are so quiet, 
 simple, and precise, that we must take them for an actual error, 
 rather than an hyperbole, if we do not choose to interpret them 
 according to their nearest and plainest sense. 
 
 1 See the learned investigations of Tillemont, in the Mémoires 
 pour servir ἃ V Histotre Eccles., tom, ix. p. 695. 
 
 x 
 
306 TIME AND PLACE OF GREGORY'S BIRTH. 
 
 already fifty-five years old when he begat his son. But 
 his wife, also, in relation to him, is called ὁμόχρονος καὶ ian 
 πολιῇ καὶ ἤϑεσι (of like age, resembiing him in her grey 
 hair and habits of thought); and therefore it must be 
 also maintained that Nonna was quite as old, with the 
 improbable assumption that she had borne her first child 
 at so advanced an age! To this it may be answered as 
 follows: When both of them, Gregorius and Nonna, 
 were now at an advanced age, it might readily be said of 
 them, that they were of the same age or standing, even 
 though there were a difference of ten years between 
 them. Of an aged, venerable couple, where the husband 
 was about one hundred, and the wife about ninety years 
 old, we should naturally remark that they were of like 
 age, since in their case the difference in point of age has 
 actually ceased to show itself. But Nonna might very 
 well have given birth to her first-born son in her fortieth 
 year, as that is not at all contrary to experience. Nay, 
 we have even positive indications thereof, since Gregory 
 calls his mother expressly ὀψίτοκος, late in bearing (he 
 himself was ὀψιτόκος, late born)— Carmen de Vita sua, 
 line 442 et seq. He also not unfrequently compares 
 her with Sarah, and his father with Abraham. 
 
 Still more insignificant is the remark, that in his 
 poem De Rebus suis (line 307 and 308), which he pro- 
 bably wrote (according to our reckoning) in his fortieth 
 year, he speaks, as he does elsewhere, of his hair already 
 grown grey, and complains of his wearied limbs, and the 
 deadness of his vital powers. Any one who remembers 
 Gregory’s ascetic mode of life, and his systematic prac- 
 tice of weakening the body, cannot wonder for a moment 
 at those results. 
 
TIME AND PLACE OF GREGORY’S BIRTH. 307 
 
 The place of Gregory’s birth likewise cannot be ex- 
 actly ascertained. No perfectly unambiguous expres- 
 sions relating to it are to be found in his writings. The 
 question, however, only turns on this, whether he was 
 born at the little city of Nazianzum (written also 
 Nazianzus), or at a family estate or village called 
 Arianzum (alias Arianzus) in the immediate neighbour- 
 hood thereof; a difference of very little importance, 
 since, at all events, he received his earlier education 
 at his father’s episcopal house in Nazianzum. Euphran- 
 tas, a later bishop of Tyana, says: ‘ Arianzus quidem 
 preedium est, unde ortus fuit Gregorius, sub Nazi- 
 anzo constitutus ; and a scholiast on Gregory’s 8th 
 Oration says: ἐῤῥέϑη ἐν ᾿Αριάνζῳ τῆς Καππαδόκων 
 ἐπαρχίας, ἀφ᾽ ἧς ὡρμῶντο δὴ, καὶ κεῖνται (whence the 
 family sprung, and where they lie buried). So also 
 Nicetas, in his Commentary on the 16th Oration of 
 Gregory: Arianzus, ipsius 8. Gregorii natalitius pagus, 
 situs in regione Tiberina. ‘This assertion, although rest- 
 ing upon later writers, is probable, for this reason, that 
 it is easily explained how Nazianzum could by mistake 
 be fixed upon as his birth-place, but not so easily how 
 they could have done so as to Arianzum. We have 
 already noticed what Gregory himself says of Nazian- 
 zum; but, besides that, the place is scarcely more than 
 mentioned by name in the old writers. J/annert has 
 put together in the best possible way all the notices we 
 have of it.! We select particularly from his labours 
 what he gives from the narrative of an European tra- 
 veller, Paul Lucas, at the beginning of the eighteenth 
 
 1 Mannert’s Geographie der Griechen und Rémer., vi. Th. 
 p. 267. 
 ἘΠῚ 
 
908 THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 
 
 century. ‘This traveller points out as the locality of the 
 ancient Nazianzum the place called by him Hagibestage, 
 but by Pococke, more correctly, Hadschi Bertas. It 
 has the name from a Turkish saint, who founded here a 
 large establishment for the entertainment of all travel- 
 lers. It is still supported by ecclesiastics, where a noble 
 library of manuscripts, and the seat of learning, are still 
 said to exist. The appearance of extensive ruins proves 
 that a considerable city once stood on the identical 
 spot. This city was Nazianzum. See the rest in 
 Mannert. I only add, that Nazianzum not only ap- 
 pears, in the Latin writers of the middle ages, under the 
 corrupted names of Nanzando, Nazabos, and Nazanza, 
 but that Hieronymus (Jerome) was already in the habit 
 of calling his master, Gregorius Nazanzenus. 
 
 APPENDIX II. 
 
 CONCERNING THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 
 
 As I have already made this sect of the Hypsistarians a 
 subject of inquiry,! and as the appearance of another 
 learned work? was thereby occasioned,—a work to which 
 I cannot deny the praise of extensive reading and a 
 
 1 De Hypsistariis, seculi post Christum natum quarti secta, 
 conmentatio, quam—scripsit C. Ullmann. Heidelb. Mohr. 1823. 
 Everything that could serve to promote a knowledge of the Hyp- 
 sistarians is there adduced and quoted from the original sources. 
 
 2 De Hypsistartis, Opinionibusque, que super eis proposite 
 sunt, commentationem scripsit Lic. Gulielm. Boehmerus.  Pre- 
 fatus est Neander. Berol. 1824. Herr Boehmer has brought 
 together, and carefully weighed all known opinions, some older 
 and others more recent, concerning this sect. <A critical notice of 
 both these works (ἱ, 6., that of Boehmer and my own) was com- 
 municated by me in the Heidelberg Jahrbuch for 1824, No. 47. 
 
THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 309 
 
 cautious judgment (though the author disputes my 
 opinions), I must be concise on this subject now; and 
 the more so, because in point of fact it would be difficult 
 for me to say anything new about it. I also believe 
 that I do not yet possess that perfect freedom from pre- 
 judice, and that freedom of judgment, which, in regard 
 to once-settled opinions, can only be acquired after some 
 years, when the subject again becomes fresh and new. 
 I therefore content myself here with a few references 
 and repetitions. 
 
 The sowrces from which we can derive information 
 concerning the religious community of the Hypsista- 
 rians are (it is well known) very meagre, and consist 
 properly of only two passages; one in the 18th Oration 
 of Gregory Nazianzen (§ 5, p. 333), and the other in 
 the work of his friend Gregory of Nyssa (Adv. Hunom., 
 lib. i. Ὁ. ἢ. p. 440); but both these passages are the 
 more to be depended on, that both the writers were born 
 and lived in the country where the sect of the Hypsis- 
 tarians flourished. They were also contemporaneous 
 with the existence of the sect; nay, the former of them 
 was born of a father who, in the earlier part of his life, 
 had been a Hypsistarian. Now from these sources the 
 following facts appear: The Hypsistarians (who are 
 also called Wypsistians by Gregory of Nyssa) worshipped 
 an Almighty God (ὁ παντοκράτωρ μόνος αὐτοῖς σεβάσμοε), 
 whom they distinguished by the title οἵ Ὕψιστος, the 
 Most High; and this reverence for the Most High was 
 even so peculiarly distinctive of these persons, that they 
 gained the name of Ὕψισταριοι (Hypsistarians) therefrom. 
 In their worship of this god they rejected the use of 
 images (εἴδωλα) and sacrifices; but they had a kind of 
 fire-and-lamp service; 7. ¢., they worshipped the invi- 
 sible Almighty under the visible signs of fire and light 
 
310 THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 
 
 (τιμῶσι τὸ πῦρ καὶ τὰ λύχνα). The seventh day (Gregory 
 Nazianzen says expressly the Sabbath, τὸ σάββατον) 
 was kept holy by them; they also observed certain laws 
 of meats, but rejected circumcision. Gregory Nazian- 
 zen describes them as a half-Jewish, half-heathen sect, 
 and Gregory of Nyssa puts them quite in the same class 
 with the Jews, inasmuch as both Jews and Hypsistarians 
 certainly acknowledged the existence of one God, but, 
 in opposition to the Christians, denied that that God 
 was the Father of a Son. This small amount of infor- 
 mation is all these sources declare with distinctness. 
 There may have been other features peculiar to the 
 Hypsistarians, but we can arrive at no certainty thereon, 
 through the total failure of information. 
 
 In establishing my view concerning the origin of the 
 Hypsistarians, I set out from the expression of Gregory 
 Nazianzen: ‘The faith of the Hypsistarians is a mixture 
 of heathenish and Jewish religious elements, —with the 
 remark, that this somewhat rhetorically-formed descrip- 
 tion of Gregory’s may certainly have resulted from the 
 subjective conception he had formed of them, but might 
 also possibly rest upon a good historical basis. Gregory 
 was certainly sufficiently acquainted with the sect to 
 which his father had belonged, not to say anything of 
 them which was historically quite untenable. Now the 
 Jewish element which was found in the Hypsistarians, 
 was first and chiefly monotheism, or the belief in one 
 God; next, the religious observance of the seventh day, 
 or Sabbath ; the rejection of ¢dol! worship, and perhaps 
 also the law of meats; although on this last point very 
 little can be determined with any certainty, since it is 
 
 1 Under this term, we may properly understand idol-images, or, 
 generally, any created things. 
 
THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. Ὁ} 
 
 not sufficiently clear whether the words of Gregory 
 Naz. refer to regularly returning fasts, or to a constant 
 and entire abstinence from certain kinds of meat. This 
 last, however, is far more probable, (since a Father of 
 the Church, himself inclined to asceticism, would not 
 have applied the term μικρολογία to mere fasting, even 
 when strictly observed,) and we thus have something 
 which might very easily have passed from the Jews to 
 the Hypsistarians. 
 
 The peculiarly heathen character of the sect is indicated 
 by Gregory with the words: τιμῶσι τὸ πῦρ καὶ τὰ λύχνα 
 (they pay honour to fire and lamps), while at the same 
 time, by the indefinite expression ἑλληνικὴ πλάνη, he 
 leaves us at liberty to fix upon any heathen worship we 
 think most suitable. But, among them all, which will 
 more naturally occur to the reader of the above words 
 (τιμῶσι, k.7.A.) than the Persian, the characteristic of 
 which at that time was the religious use of fire and 
 lights, with a purely spiritual meaning, as well as asensible 
 visible form? The expression, however, seems to imply, 
 not an actual worshipping of fire, but an adoration of 
 the unseen Supreme God under the symbol of fire; just 
 as the purer J/agism did not consider fire in itself divine, 
 but only to be reverenced as a holy emblem of the 
 Deity. ‘The Hypsistarians agreed in this with the Per- 
 sians (as well as with the Jews), that idols were objects 
 of abhorrence to them. 
 
 This hypothesis as to the origin of the Hypsistarian 
 creed from a mixture of Jewish and Persian elements is 
 especially confirmed by the fact, that exactly at that 
 time there were found in Cappadocia (the country 
 where alone we discover any certain traces of the sect) 
 many Persian emigrants, who were called by Basil the 
 Great, Maguswans (Basil. Epist. 258); by Strabo, Magi 
 
919 THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 
 
 and Pyrathi (Geograph. lib. xv. p. 732, edit. Casaub.) ; 
 and, according to the accounts of both writers, they had 
 preserved, even in a foreign land, the religious customs 
 of their fathers. Jews, too, we know, were scattered 
 through all the regions of the Central and the Lesser 
 Asia. How easily Judaism and Parseeism could be 
 brought into close connexion, had been already shown 
 by the effects of exile: the Jews adopted a Persian ele- 
 ment into their religious system, and Cyrus proved by 
 his deeds his reverence for the God of the Jews, the 
 Lord of heaven and earth (2 Chronic., xxxvi. 23—Ezra, 
 i. 2, 3,4); but still the Persians continued fire-worship- 
 pers, after Zoroaster, and the Jews worshippers of Jeho- 
 vah, after Moses. It is only inthe Hypsistarians of the 
 fourth century that a complete blending of Judaism and 
 Parseeism took place, in a properly third form of reli- 
 gion, more simple than the two from which it sprung— 
 a blending which, from the immediate contact of the 
 Jews and Persians, and from the removal of the former 
 as well as the latter from their native country into the 
 midst of strangers (christian and heathen), was very pos- 
 sible, and is also made very probable by many analogous 
 examples in the history of religion, as well as by the 
 inclination of the time to eclecticism and combination in 
 religious matters. Whether now did this commixture 
 originate with the Persians, who acknowledged the supe- 
 riority of the Jewish monotheism, yet would not relin- 
 quish altogether their own religious customs? or with 
 the Jews, who wished to simplify the* ceremonial of 
 
 * Qu. Might not Dr. Ullmann have found,nearer home, Jews 
 who, to simplify their religious worship, have adopted a rational- 
 izing, eclectic Christianity, amounting to little more than Unita- 
 rianism ’— Z’ranslator. 
 
THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 313 
 
 their worship, and found a kind of Persian fire-service 
 agreeable for that purpose? or with heathens, who, 
 being placed between Persians and Jews, formed for 
 themselves so simple a kind of religion out of the faith 
 and worship of both nations? It is not easy to come to 
 any decisive conclusion thereon, owing to the scantiness 
 of our information, and the fluctuation of possible sup- 
 positions. 
 
 The Hypsistarians were, as it seems, related to the hea- 
 thenish Euphemites, or Messalian Syrians and Pheeni- 
 cians, who, according to the account of Epiphanius 
 (Heres. \xviil. p. 1067. Petav.), professing neither 
 Judaism nor Christianity, but originating from _hea- 
 thenism, certainly admitted the existence of several gods, 
 but, with all that, worshipped only one, under the name 
 of παντυκράτωρ (the Almighty), and also, according to 
 the words of our author, ‘with great burning of lamps 
 and many lights’ (μετὰ πολλῆς λυχναψίας καὶ φώτων). 
 It is possible that these Euphemites were, in some way 
 or other, connected with Parseeism. Still more remark- 
 able, though less observed, is that which is related by 
 Cyrill of Alexandria (De Adorat. in Spiritu et Verit., lib. 
 iii. t. i. p. 92), in the first half of the fifth century, of a 
 sect which had spread in Palestine and Pheenicia, the 
 menibers of which called themselves Θεοσεβεῖς (Deicole, 
 worshippers of God). They also reverenced one God, 
 who was expressly called ὕψιστος ; and Cyrill remarks of 
 them, as Gregory does of the Hypsistarians, that they 
 were neither pure Jews nor pure heathens, since, in addi- 
 tion to the Most High God, they at the same time 
 acknowledged as divine beings exalted objects of crea- 
 tion (ra ἐξαίρετα τῶν κτισμάτων), such as the earth, the 
 heavens, the sun, the moon, and the most distinguished 
 
314 THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 
 
 stars. Here we certainly find monotheism and sabeeism 
 connected together in a very peculiar and remarkable 
 manner; but whether such a connexion favours the 
 assumption of a relationship, or even an identity, be- 
 tween the Θεοσεβεῖς and the Hypsistarians, might still 
 be a very doubtful point, since, in my opinion, it cannot 
 be proved that the Hypsistarians actually worshipped 
 any objects of the visible creation. What Herr Bohmer 
 has brought forward against the views of the author, the 
 reader, if he wishes, may read in his Commentatio, § 7, 
 Ρ. 35; and also what the author thought he could ad- 
 duce in defence of his opinion, in the Heidelberger 
 Jahrbiichern for 1824, No. 47, p. 744. 
 
 A learned reviewer in the Jena Literat. Zeitung 
 (December, 1824, No. 238, p. 455), agrees with the 
 author ‘in assuming a close relationship between the 
 Hypsistarians, Euchete, Magusians, and Deicolanians 
 (ὁ. €., Θεοσεβεῖς); but thinks that these different sects 
 were only ramifications of an older sect, whose origin he 
 would gladly place in the period of general religious 
 fermentation in the first centuries, when so many per- 
 sons separated themselves from the positive forms of 
 religion, and, retaining more or less of them, formed 
 separate and peculiar sections (αἱρέσεις). The resem- 
 blance of the doctrines and regulations of the Messalians 
 and Hypsistarians to those of the Hssenes and Thera- 
 peute (as Philo, De Vita Contempl. sketches them) is too 
 remarkable for us to ascribe it to accident. The Essenes 
 and Therapeutz worshipped only the Most High God 
 (τὸ ov—see Philo, Quis Rer. Dw. Heres., t. ii. p.457, and 
 De Vit. Cont. p. 472. ed. Mang.); they rejected images 
 and sacrifices (or, as it is expressed by Gregory of the 
 
 Hypsistarians, εἴδωλα καὶ ϑυσίας ἀποπεμπόμενοι) ; they 
 
THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 515 
 
 kept holy only the seventh day of the week (or, as is 
 said of the Hypsistarians, τὸ σάββατον αἰδούμενοι) ; they 
 were precise as to the eating of meats (so Gregory, 
 τὴν περὶ τὰ βρώματα μικρολογίαν; «.7.d.); they attached 
 great value to prayer (the same is said of the Messalians 
 by Epiphanius, Augustine, and Theodoret); they had 
 distinct temples for prayer, and religious houses (Epi- Ὁ 
 phanius mentions this of the Euchetz as something 
 remarkable, Hwres. 80); they asserted that by inspiration 
 they saw God (so the Euchetze were called enthusiasts— 
 see Daneus ad Augustin. de Heres. pp. 168, 169); 
 they occupied themselves much in hymns and songs of 
 praise (for a similar reason also the Messalians probably 
 are called Psallians in Augustine); they held nocturnal 
 meetings (as Epiphanius states also of the Euchete) ; 
 and that they rejected circumcision is the more probable, 
 as they interpreted all the laws of Moses allegorically. 
 (Philo. lib. i.) The virtues of the elder Gregory, when 
 he was still a Hypsistarian, imply also good moral prin- 
 ciples in the sect, which, indeed, is well known to have 
 been the case (see Gregor. Naz. Orat. xix. p. 289, et seq.). 
 The reviewer certainly is not far from wishing to con- 
 sider the Hypsistarians as Therapeute; he thinks, in- 
 deed, that he may fairly venture to assert that they 
 may have been descendants of that ancient sect, whose 
 seat was in Egypt, Syria, and even in Asia Minor.’ 
 
 The author, without wishing exactly to discard this 
 ingenious conjecture, contents himself with remarking, 
 that still the connexion of the Hypsistarians with older 
 Essene or Therapeutic religious communities does not 
 appear to be based on sufficient historical evidence, for 
 him to agree unconditionally with the reviewer. 
 
 We may notice, in conclusion, an historical parailel, 
 
316 THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. 
 
 not with the view of more accurately explaining the 
 origin and character of the Hypsistarian sect, but to 
 point out the real resemblance between two religious 
 parties, far separated from each other by time and space. 
 The Hypsistarians, then, may be compared with a sect 
 of the middle ages, the Pasagians or Pasaginians 
 (Pasagii or Pasagini), who appeared in Lombardy in 
 the twelfth century, and took their name probably from 
 the circumstance, that they (like many other sectarians 
 of that century) were obliged, as birds of passage, to 
 lead a rambling, wandering life, through fear of the 
 persecutions of the dominant Church. The Pasagians 
 were a Judaizing sect ; they required the observance of 
 the whole law of Moses, excepting the sacrifices ; they 
 kept the Sabbath, observed the Jewish law of meats, 
 and introduced again the rite of circumcision, from 
 whence they also bore the name of Circumcisi. Besides 
 all this, they denied the divine nature of Christ, declaring 
 Him certainly to be the highest of created beings, but 
 still only a created being ; and they rejected generally 
 the whole doctrine of the Trinity.! 
 
 1 We have two ancient accounts of the Pasagians, which, on 
 the whole, perfectly agree; the one, by a quondam teacher of the 
 Cathari,* Bonacorsi, in his Vita Hereticorum, given in D’Achery’s 
 Spicileg., tom. i. p. 211 et seq., runs thus :—In primis dicunt, 
 quod mosaica lex ad litteram observanda, et quod Sabbatum et 
 circumcisio, et aliz legales observantiz adhuc habere statum 
 debeant. Dicunt enim, quod Christus, Dei filius, non sit 
 sequalis Patri, et quod Pater et Filius et Spiritus Sanctus, iste tres 
 persone non sint unus Deus et una substantia. Praterea ad 
 augmentum sui erroris, omnes ecclesiz doctores, et universaliter 
 totam ecclesiam Romanum judicant et condemnant. This last 
 was, without doubt, their chief crime, for the sake of which they 
 were doomed by theChurch of Rome to be persecuted as wander- 
 
 * Another name (quasi Puritans) of the Passagers and Albigenses of the 
 
 ’ twelfth century.—( Translator.) 
 
THE SECT OF THE HYPSISTARIANS. SLT 
 
 The Pasagians, therefore, agreed with the Hypsista- 
 rians in apure monotheism, or unitarianism, and also in 
 Judaizing, although the Hypsistarians did not carry 
 this last so far as to adopt circumcision, and observe 
 the whole law of Moses. A difference, certainly not 
 quite insignificant, and one which is increased by the 
 fact, that the Hypsistarians appear to have been subject 
 to no positive religion, the Pasagian, on the contrary, 
 professed to be Christians, and appealed to the Old and 
 New Testaments for the confirmation of their doctrines. ! 
 I am, therefore, by no means inclined to assert an actual 
 historical connexion between two sects which were 
 separated by an interval of eight centuries; I would 
 wish only to point out emphatically, how corresponding 
 religious phenomena develop themselves in periods and 
 countries so far apart, under like, though in many 
 respects differing, circumstances. 
 
 ing passaggiert from country to country. The other notice, by 
 Gerhard of Bergamo (about A.D. 1230) occurs in a short extract 
 given by Muratori—A ntigqg. Ital. Med. Aivi., tom. v. p. 152, edit. 
 Mediol. The Pasagians are there thus spoken of:—Dicunt Christum 
 esse primam et puram creaturam: et Vetus Testamentum esse 
 observandum in solemnibus et circumcisione, et in ciborum 
 perceptione, et in aliis fere omnibus, exceptis in sacrificiis, 
 Compare also, on this sect, Schriéckh’s Church History, xxix. 
 p. 655 ; and Mosheim’s Ch. Hist. (ii. p. 628 of the German work), 
 where also, in addition to Fiiesslin’s Atrchen-wnd Ketzer—Historie, 
 i. p. 46, there is introduced a treatise from the Bibliotheca Bremens. 
 (nova class. v. fase. 2) concerning the Pasagians, which I regret 
 not to have been able to consult. 
 
 1 Bonacorsi, at the conclusion of his account, says: Sed quia 
 hune suum errorem Novi Testamenti ac prophetarum testimonio 
 nituntur, proprio illorum gladio, Christi suffragante gratia, sicut 
 David Goliam, eundem suffocemus ! 
 
 THE END. 
 
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