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 chap, xxxviii] OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 153 of temperance and chastity; and preferred the indulgence of private ambition and luxury to the general interest of the sacer- dotal profession. 130 The bishops of Spain respected themselves and were respected by the public ; their indissoluble union dis- guised their vices and confirmed their authority ; and the regular discipline of the church introduced peace, order, and stability into the government of the state. From the reign of Eecared, the first Catholic king, to that of Witiza, the immediate pre- decessor of the unfortunate Roderic, sixteen national councils were successively convened. The six metropolitans, Toledo, Seville, Merida, Braga, Tarragona, and Narbonne, presided according to their respective seniority ; the assembly was com- posed of their suffragan bishops, who appeared in person or by their proxies ; and a place was assigned to the most holy or opulent of the Spanish abbots. During the first three days of the convocation, as long as they agitated the ecclesiastical ques- tions of doctrine and discipline, the profane laity was excluded from their debates ; which were conducted, however, with decent solemnity. But on the morning of the fourth day, the doors were thrown open for the entrance of the great officers of the palace, the dukes and counts of the provinces, the judges of the cities, and the Gothic nobles ; and the decrees of Heaven were ratified by the consent of the people. The same rules were observed in the provincial assemblies, the annual synods which were empowered to hear complaints, and to redress grievances ; and a legal government was supported by the prevailing influence of the Spanish clergy. The bishops, who, in each revolution, were prepared to flatter the victorious and to insult the prostrate, laboured, with diligence and success, to kindle the flames of persecution and to exalt the mitre above the crown. Yet the national councils of Toledo, in which the free spirit of the Barbarians was tempered and guided by episcopal policy, have established some prudent laws for the common benefit of the king and people. The vacancy of the throne was supplied by the choice of the bishops and palatines ; and, after the failure of the line of Alaric, the regal dignity was still limited to the pure 130 Such are the complaints of St. Boniface, the apostle of Germany, and the reformer of Gaul (in torn. iv. p. 94). The four-score years, which he deplores, of licence and corruption would seem to insinuate that the Barbarians were admitted into the clergy about the year 660.