They also laboured with their hands, carrying wood, cutting stones, planting and watering trees, and cultivating their garden. Nevertheless, they lived in the utmost poverty, and on the hardest fare. A great number of other persons imitated their example, amongst whom was Gregory, afterwards bishop of Nyssa, brother of Basil; and Basil gave rules for the monastic life, which are still followed by the monks of the order of St. Basil, in the eastern Church. About A.D. 362, Basil and Gregory Nazianzen were ordained priests, but still continued to reside in the desert till 370, when Basil came forth to assist Eusebius, bishop of Cæsarea, against the heretics; and being skilled in the writings of Origen, he and Gregory confuted the Arians, who adduced those writings in proof of their errors: and though they, with their leader Eunomius, had been famed for learning, they appeared perfectly ignorant when they encountered these champions of the truth. Basil was soon after elected bishop of Cæsarea, in Cappadocia ; and fearing lest heresy should prevail in Pontus, he passed through the Churches, preaching the true faith, and confirming the wavering. When this came to the ears of the Arian Emperor Valens, he caused Basil to be brought before the tribunal of the Prefect Modestus; and when the latter demanded why he did not embrace the creed of the emperor, Basil boldly reproved the Arian heresy; and when the prefect threatened death, he replied, "Death will be a favour to me, since it will send me unto God, for whom I live, and whom I have long sought." The emperor was at last overcome by his firmness, and Basil was released. Gregory Nazianzen was, against his will, ordained bishop of Sasima by Basil. He continued, however, to govern the Church of Nazianzum during the lifetime of his father, who was the bishop of that see; and, like Basil, he went through the cities and strengthened those who were feeble in the faith. Afterwards he resided at Constantinople, where the Arians were in great force, and possessed the churches; and by his eloquence he raised the Church there to great prosperity. He

was at length installed bishop of Constantinople by the second œcumenical synod; but soon after resigned his see, in consequence of some divisions which had arisen, and retired to

A.D. 391.

Cappadocia, where he died, at the age of more than ninety years. St. Basil had died in 379, reverenced by all the Christian world.

Amongst the most illustrious defenders of the true faith at this time was AMBROSE, archbishop of Milan. He had been made governor of that city by the Emperor Valentinian; when, the see becoming vacant by the A.D. 374. death of an Arian bishop, and the people being violently disturbed as to the choice of a successor, Ambrose exhorted them to peace and concord, when all demanded at once that he should be their bishop. He in vain resisted, and attempted to fly. The emperor's commands arrived, and he was consecrated bishop. He sold all his goods and gave them to the poor, and applied with the utmost diligence to the study of holy Scripture. In order to redeem captives from the hands of the Goths, he even sold the plate of the church, merely reserving what was absolutely necessary. His firmness was soon evinced by his resistance to the will of the Empress Justina, mother of Valentinian, who prevailed on the emperor to demand one of the churches in Milan for the Arians. St. Ambrose firmly and successfully opposed this attempt, though at the peril of his life. The Emperor Theodosius having put to death a great multitude of people at Thessalonica, in consequence of a tumult having arisen, in which one of his officers was killed, Ambrose would not permit his entrance to the church until he had performed public penance, and made a law commanding all executions to be suspended for thirty days. St. Ambrose composed many eloquent and pious books, and died A.D. 397.

ST. JOHN, called CHRYSOSTOM (the golden-mouthed) for his eloquence, was originally at the bar; but forsaking the path of worldly honour, he retired from the world to devote himself to prayer and the study of Scripture; and after

wards, being appointed presbyter of Antioch, he became the most celebrated preacher of his age, so that A.D 397. when the see of Constantinople was vacant, the Emperor Honorius sent for him, and caused him to be ordained bishop by a great synod of bishops. The sanctity and severity of doctrine and practice which had made him so remarkable at Antioch, led him to exercise a vigilant and unpopular strictness of discipline in the imperial city; and his zeal displayed itself further in visiting the neighbouring provinces and removing unworthy bishops, The people of Constantinople heard his sermons eagerly and insatiably, and the crowds were so great that their lives were endangered by the multitude, all endeavouring to press nearer to him, that they might hear more accurately, while he himself, sitting in the midst of the church, taught them from the desk of the reader. But the severity of his discipline, and his condemnation of vice, raised against him many enemies; and having taken the part of some monks who had been oppressed by Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria, that prelate, availing himself of the assistance of the empress, whom Chrysostom had offended by a sermon, in which he spoke of women with but little respect, came to Constantinople and held a synod, in which Chrysostom was deposed by his enemies. But when the people heard it, they assembled in the church, required a larger synod to be held; resisted the imperial officers who were sent to take their bishop into exile; and when, at length, he was removed, they broke into insurrection, and surrounded the palace with cries and lamentations, demanding the recall of Chrysostom, which the emperor was obliged to grant. Restored to his see by a synod of sixty bishops, Chrysostom again, ere long, fell under the imperial displeasure in consequence of his objections to the erection of a statue of the Empress Eudoxia. He was then driven forth into exile in Armenia, where he died; and the eastern and western Churches were for some time divided on his account, as the former maintained the

A.D. 407.

lawfulness of his expulsion, while the latter regarded him as a saint.

ST. JEROME and ST. AUGUSTINE, the most learned of all the fathers, now adorned the Church. The former spent the greater part of his life in the monastic state, in Palestine, and died in 420. St. Augustine was born in Africa, and in his early life fell into vices, and adopted the Manichæan heresy; but being at Milan, he became an attendant on the ministry of Ambrose, while his pious mother Monica prayed continually for his conversion. One day, a Christian, named Pontitian, coming to visit him, saw on his table the epistles of St. Paul, and learned, to his great joy, that Augustine devoted much of his time to the study of Scripture. The conversation gradually turned on the life of St. Antony and the Egyptian and eastern monks, of whom Augustine had never heard before. When Pontitian had described all their piety, and self-denial, and zeal, and also mentioned the effect which the recital had produced on two officers of the emperor at Treves, who, on hearing it had forsaken the world, and embraced a religious life, St. Augustine was deeply moved by the comparison of his own life and conduct with what he had heard, and went forth into the garden in the greatest agitation and compunction, where, having wept a long time, and prayed to God, he heard from a neighbouring house the voice of a child often repeating these words,-"Take-read ;" and, regarding it as a sort of heavenly admonition, he returned to the house, and took up the epistles of St. Paul, when the first verse he read was, "Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof." His mind was now completely changed: he received baptism from St. Ambrose, and returned to AfriA.D. 387. ca, where he gave himself up to retirement, prayer, meditation, and the composition of books against

the Manichæan heresy. He sold all his possessions and gave them to the poor, and was made presbyter, and afterwards bishop of Hippo, where he lived in the monastic state. His life was devoted to the maintenance of the truth against heathens, heretics, and schismatics; and his various writings made him celebrated in all parts of the world. When seized with fever, and lying on his death-bed, this eminent saint caused the seven penitential psalms to be recited; and hav. ing desired them to be fixed up before him, he read them continually with many tears. He commanded that he should never be disturbed, and spent his whole remaining time in prayer, until at length he calmly and peacefully expired in the presence of all his friends, A.D. 430.

I have already spoken of ST. CYRIL of Alexandria, and ST. LEO the Great bishop of Rome, as the great opponents of the Nestorian and Eutychian heresies in the fifth century: both of these eminent prelates left many writings, which are still extant. ST. BENEDICT, a man of eminent piety and zeal, in 529 founded the monastery of Mount Casino, in Italy; and his rule was adopted, for many centuries, by all the monasteries in the western Church; but they very soon relaxed the strictness of its observance, and the conduct of the monks too frequently reflected disgrace on their profession.

CHAPTER IX.

UNITY AND DISCIPLINE OF THE CHURCH.

A.D. 320-680.

AMONGST the Christian Churches throughout the world, the Church of the imperial city of Rome had obtained an early distinction. Seated in the capital of the world, abounding in wealth and in numbers, remarkable for a munificence