during the agonies of his latest moments, he was required to subscribe a formulary of faith, as the only condition of reconciliation with the Church -that he disdained to make any sacrifice, even at that moment, to that consideration, and that his corpse was deprived of Christian sepulture by the unrelenting bigotry of Hincmar.

The precise extent of Godeschalcus's errors is, according to the usual history of such controversies, a matter of difference, and for the usual reason, that consequences were imputed by his adversaries which his followers disclaimed. But it is certain that his proselytes multiplied during the continuance of his imprisonment, and that some provincial Councils declared in his favour; and it is probable that his doctrines have been uninterruptedly perpetuated, not by sects only, but by individuals in the bosom of the Church, from that age to the present.

error.

The dispute, however, did not long survive its author, and seems to have expired before the end of the century; and during Millennarian the concluding part of that which followed,-in the absence of political talent, of piety, of knowledge, of industry, of every virtue, and every motive which might give energy to the human character-in the suppression even of the narrow controversial spirit which enlivens the understanding, however it may sometimes pervert the principles, a very wild and extraordinary delusion arose and spread itself, and at length so far prevailed as not only to subdue the reason, but to actuate the conduct of vast multitudes. It proceeded from the misinterpretation of a well-known passage in the Revelations †. And he laid hold on the Dragon, that old Serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years should be fulfilled; And after that he must be loosed a little season.' It does not appear that the earlier Divines derived from this prophecy that specific expectation respecting the moment of the world's dissolution, which now became general; nor do we learn that the people

did not escape the compassion of some of his contemporaries. Remy, who succeeded Amolon in the see of Lyons, wrote on the subject with some warmth. It is an unprecedented instance of cruelty, which has filled the world with horror, that he was lacerated with stripes, as eye-witnesses attest, until he cast into the fire a memorial containing the passages from scripture and the fathers which he drew up to present to the Council; while all former heretics have been convicted by words and reasons. The long and inhuman detention of that wretched man ought at least to be tempered by some consolation, so as rather to win by charity a brother for whom Jesus Christ died, than to overwhelm him with misery.'-See Fleury, 1. xlix., s. 5.

* Godeschalcus appears to have propounded three leading questions to Rabanus and the other Doctors. (1.) Whether it could be said that there was any predestination to evil. (2.) Concerning the will and death of Christ for all men; whether God has a true will to save any but those which are saved. (3.) Concerning free will..... The theologians of Mayence, however, very prudently confined their attention to the first-Whether it can be said that God predestinates the wicked to damnation ?" (Dupin, H. E., Cen. ix.) About four years afterwards, Amolon, Archbishop of Lyons, in a letter addressed to Hincmar, reduced (or rather expanded) the errors to seven; one of them being the following that God and the Saints rejoice in the fall of the reproved.' (Fleury, H. E. lib. xlviii., s. 59.) This was obviously a consequence; and no doubt the heretic had easy means of getting rid of it. For a full and perhaps faithful account of the whole controversy, see Hist. Litter. de la France, Cen. ix., vol. iv. p. 263. It is, however, worth remarking, that the Divines on both sides alike professed to support the doctrine of the Church, as taught by the Fathers, and especially St. Augustin; whose authority on this question was universally admitted, while his real opinion was disputed.

Chap. xx. 2 and 3.

before this time much busied themselves about a matter which could not possibly affect their own generation; but about the year 960, as the season approached nearer, one Bernhard, a hermit of Thuringia, a person not destitute of knowledge, boldly promulgated (on the faith of a particular revelation from God) the certain assurance, that at the end of the thousandth year the fetters of Satan were to be broken; and, after the reign of Antichrist should be terminated, that the world would be consumed by sudden conflagration. There was something plausible in the doctrine, and it was peculiarly suited to the gloomy superstition of the age; the Clergy adopted it without delay; the pulpits loudly resounded with it*; it was diffused in every direction with astonishing rapidity, and embraced with an ardour proportioned to the obscurity of the subject, and the greediness of human credulity. The belief pervaded and possessed every rank † of society, not as a cold and indifferent assent, but as a motive for the most important undertakings. Many abandoned their friends and their families, and hastened to the shores of Palestine, with the pious persuasion that Mount Sion would be the throne of Christ when he should descend to judge the world; and these, in order to secure a more partial sentence from the God of mercy and charity, usually made over their property, before they departed, to some adjacent Church or Monastery. Others, whose pecuniary means were thought, perhaps, insufficient to bribe the justice of Heaven, devoted their personal service to the same establishments, and resigned their very liberty to those holy mediators, whose pleadings, they doubted not, would find favour at the eternal judgment seat. Others permitted their lands to lie waste, and their houses to decay; or, terrified by some unusual phenomenon in the Heaven, betook themselves in hasty flight to the shelter of rocks and caverns, as if the temples of Nature were destined to preservation amidst the wreck of man and his works.

The year of terror arrived, and passed away without any extraordinary convulsion; and at present it is chiefly remarkable as having terminated the most shameful century in the annals of Christianity. The people returned to their homes, and repaired their buildings, and resumed their former occupations; and the only lasting effect of this stupendous panic was the augmentation of the temporal prosperity of the Church §.

The intellectual energy of Europe (if we except perhaps the British Islands) was in a condition of gradual decay from

the fifth till the middle of the seventh and eighth State of Learning. century; and it was then that the progress of igno

* Hist. Litt. de la France, x. Siècle. Mosheim (Cen.'x., p. 2, c. iii.) cites a passage from the Apologeticum of Abbo, Abbot of Fleury-De fine quoque mundi coram populo sermonem in Ecclesia Parisiorum adolescentulus audivi, quod statim finito mille annorum numero Anti-Christus adveniret, et non longo post tempore universale judicium succederet; cui prædicationi ex Evangeliis ac Apocalypsi et libro Danielis, qua potui virtute restiti,

&c.'

+Not Nobles only, but Princes, and even Bishops, are mentioned as having made a pilgrimage to Palestine on this occasion.

An opportune eclipse of the sun produced this effect on the army of Otho the Great. Almost all the donations which were made to the Church in this century proceeded from this avowed motive. Appropinquante jam mundi termino, &c. Since the end of the world is now at hand. Mosh., Cen. x., p. 2, ch. iii. These monuments sufficiently attest the generality of the delusion.

The Venerable Bede flourished in the early part of the eighth century. He brought down his Ecclesiastical History as far as 731, and appears to have died four years afterwards. ¶This decline is very commonly imputed to the despotism of the Church, and the

rance reached its widest and darkest boundaries. It was arrested by the genius of Charlemagne; and the beacon which was set up by his mighty hand shone forth even upon his degenerate descendants, some of whom lighted their torches at its embers. Thus, during the whole of the ninth century, the western world, and France especially, was animated by much literary exertion, and enlightened even by the ill-directed talents of many learned men. The name of Alcuin was not disgraced by those of his successors, Rabanus, Eginhard, Claudius, Godeschalcus, Paschasius, Ratramn, Hincmar, and Johannes Scotus*. The theological works of the first of these were so highly esteemed, as not only to furnish materials for contemporary instruction, but also to maintain great authority in the religious discussions of the four following centuries; and the last, the friend and companion of Charles the Bald, displayed an accuracy of philosophical induction, and a freedom and boldness of original thought, which would have subjected him, in a somewhat later age, to ecclesiastical persecution. We should mention, too, that in the same age in which the genius of an Irishman instructed the Court of France, the foundations of English learning were deeply fixed and substantially constructed by the wisdom and piety of Alfred. The comparative languor of Italy was excited by the disputes at that time so warmly waged between the Roman and Eastern Churches, and which served to sharpen the ingenuity, while they degraded the principles, of both.

At Constantinople, the Emperor Theophilus, and his son, Michael III., made some endeavours towards the revival of letters in the ninth age; but the scattered rays which may have illustrated the East at that time, were overpowered by the pre-eminence of Photius, so that little has reached posterity excepting his celebrity. It is true that, in the century following, while the advance of learning was almost wholly suspended in Europe, and its growing power paralyzed, Constantine Porphyrogeneta made some zealous attempts to revive the industry of his country; but as his encouragement was directed rather to the imitation of ancient models than to the developement of original thought, the impulse was faintly felt; and, so far from creating any strong and lasting effect, it failed to excite even the momentary energy of the Greeks.

But, during the same period, there occurred in the Eastern world a phenomenon which is among the most remarkable in the history of literature, and which no penetration could possibly have foreseen. We have recounted that, in the seventh century, the companions and successors of Mahomet desolated the face of the earth with their arms, and darkened it by their ignorance; and the acts of barbarism ascribed to them, and whe

triumph of the papal principle of a blind faith, and absolute submission over the independence of reason. But this is a mistake proceeding from an imperfect knowledge of ecclesiastical history. At the period in question, the Church had not by any means attained the degree of authority necessary for that purpose: it was not yet sufficiently organized, nor even sufficiently united, to possess any power of universal individual tyranny; the Romish system was still only in its infancy; the Episcopal system, which was predominant, was full of disorder and disunion-the principle in question was certainly to be found in the archives of the Church, but the day was not yet arrived to enforce it. It came indeed into full effect in the twelfth and following ages, and not earlier than the twelfth; but learning then revived in despite of it, and grew up to overthrow it. The truth is, that the degradation of the sixth and seventh centuries are sufficiently accounted for by the political confusion, or rather anarchy, then so generally prevalent, as to make any moral excellence almost impossible, and to debase the Church in common with every thing else.

* Guizot has selected Hincmar and Johannes Scotus as the two representatives of the

ther truly ascribed or not*, generally credited, attest at least their contempt of learning, and their aversion for the monuments which they are stated to have destroyed. In the eighth century, the conquerors settled with tranquillity in the countries which they had subdued, which, in most instances, they converted, and which they continued to possess and govern. In the ninth, under the auspices of a wise and munificent Caliph, they applied the same ardour to the pursuit of literature which had heretofore been confined to the exercise of arms. Ample schools were founded in the principal cities of Asiat, Bagdad, and Cufa, and Bassora; numerous libraries were formed with care and diligence, and men of learning and science were solicitously invited to the splendid court of Almamunis. Greece, which had civilized the Roman republic, and was destined, in a much later age, to enlighten the extremities of the West, was now called upon to turn the stream of her lore into the barren bosom of Asia: for Greece was still the only land possessing an original national literature. Her noblest productions were now translated into the ruling language of the East, and the Arabians took pleasure in pursuing the speculations, or submitting to the rules, of her philosophy. The impulse thus given to the genius and industry of Asia was communicated with inconceivable rapidity, along the shores of Egypt and Africa, to the schools of Seville and Cordova; and the shock was not felt least sensibly by those who last received it. Henceforward the genius of learning accompanied even the arms of the Saracens. They conquered Sicily; from Sicily they invaded the Southern Provinces of Italy; and, as if to complete the eccentric revolution of Grecian literature, the wisdom of Pythagoras was restored to the land of its origin by the descendants of an Arabian warrior.

The adopted literature of that ingenious people, augmented by some original discoveries, passed with a more pacific progress from Spain into France, from France into Italy, even to the pontifical chair. In the year 999, Gerbert, a Frenchman, was raised to that eminence under the title of Sylvester II. This eminent person, whose talents, though peculiarly calculated for the comprehension of the abstract sciences, were not disqualified for less severe application, steadily devoted his industry, his intelligence, and his power to the acquirement, the amplification, and the diffusion of knowledge. Among the vulgar, indeed, he obtained a formidable reputation for magical skill; but he was honoured by the wise and the great even of his own days; and of Sylvester that may be more justly affirmed, which a Roman Catholic writer has rather chosen to predicate of the papal energy of Leo. IX., ' that he undertook to repair the ruins of the tenth century.'

III. At no former period had the Western Church suffered such complete disorganization as during the first half of the eighth century: the

learning of the age-the former as the centre of the theological movement; the latter as the philosopher of his day. It is, indeed, impossible to convey any faithful notion of the literature of any age without entering into some such detail.

* The burning of the Alexandrian Library by the Saracens stands on authority about as good as the similar Vandalism charged on Gregory the Great.

Contemporary with the foundation of Oxford; and where are they now? The history and character of the Turks can answer that question.

Some ingenious inventions of Gerbert are mentioned in the Hist. Litt. de la France. His various virtues are highly extolled in the same work; and the only fault which his eulogists can find in his character is, 'that he used too much flattery in making his court to the great.' The grandees of the tenth century appear to have pardoned him this imperfection.

longer it was connected with the barbarous political system of the conquerors-the more closely it became associated with Discipline of their institutions, their habits, and their persons; as they the Church. were gradually admitted to ecclesiastical dignitiesthe more shameful was the license, the deeper the corruption which pervaded it. The progress of the malady was arrested by Charlemagne-not with a reluctant or irresolute hand, but with the vigour which the occasion required, and which was justified by his noble designs. He repressed the disorders of the Bishops; he assembled numerous Councils, and he enforced the observance of their canons; thus he infused sudden energies into a body too torpid for selfreform; and he endeavoured to perpetuate the impulse by promoting education and rewarding literature. The last, in truth, was that which gave his other measures their efficacy; for above sixty years after his death, under the feeble sceptres of Lewis and Charles, 'the spirit sent forth by Charlemagne continued to animate the Church. Very general activity and superior intelligence distinguished the Clergy, especially the higher orders; and the frequency with which they assembled their Councils, and the important regulations which they enacted, evinced a zeal for the restoration of ecclesiastical discipline, which was not wholly without effect. Lewis was probably sincere in his co-operation for that purpose; but the merit of having directed, or even vigorously stimulated, the exertions of his prelates cannot justly be ascribed to so weak a prince. Respecting Charles, there seems reason to suspect, that he, as well as his nobles, regarded with some jealousy the progress of reform, and that the attempts, so numerous during his reign, should rather be attributed to the perseverance of the Bishops, and especially of Hinemar, than to the virtue or wisdom of the secular government. In proof of this opinion (which, if true, is not without importance) we may mention the following circumstance. In the year 844, Councils were held at Thionville and Verneuil for the remedy of abuses both in Church and State; their regulations were confirmed and amplified in the year following at Meaux, and after that at Paris; and on this last occasion the prelates recurred with some impatience to the exhortations which they had frequently and ineffectually addressed to the Throne, and to that neglect they presumed to ascribe the temporal calamities which then afflicted the country. Presently afterwards, in an assembly of Barons held at Epernay, the Canons of Meaux and Paris were taken into considération; and while those which restricted ecclesiastics received the King's assent, others which touched the vices of the nobility were entirely rejected t. Nevertheless, Councils continued to meet with great frequency during this reign; but we must not suppose that all of them had the same grand object; some were convoked to arrange the disputes of the Bishops, either among themselves, or with the Pope, or with the King; others met to restrain, had it been possible, the general licentious

It appears from one of the Canons here published, that, in contempt of Charlemagne's Capitulary, the military service of the Bishops was already renewed, if indeed it was ever wholly discontinued.

† Fleury, 1. xlviii., s. 35.

France was at this time the principal scene of ecclesiastical exertion. During the forty-six years of Charlemagne's reign, the number of Councils which met in France was thirty-five. Lewis, in twenty-six years, held twenty-nine; but no less than sixty-nine were assembled during the thirty-seven years of Charles the Bald. Their frequency then gradually decreased; and in the following hundred and ten years, to the accession of Hugh Capet, we observe no more than fifty-six.