Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/131

 OF THE llOiMAN EiMPIRE. Il.j authority which the bishops had so lately assumed tiiAP, above the college of presbyters*. Nor was it long be- ^^' * fore an emulation of preeminence and power prevailed among the metropolitans themselves, each of them af- fecting to display, in the most pompous terms, the tem- poral honours and advantages of the city over which he presided ; the numbers and opulence of the chris- tians who were su])ject to their pastoral care; the saints and martyrs who had arisen among them; and the ]nirity with which they preserved the tradition of the faith, as it had been transmitted through a series of orthodox bishops from the aj^ostle, or the apostolic dis- ciple, to whom the foundation of their church was as- cribed*. From every cause, either of a civil or of an ecclesiastical nature, it was easy to foresee that Rome must enjoy the respect, and would soon claim the obe- dience, of the provinces. The society of the faithful Ambition of bore a just proportion to the capital of the empire ; ^ont^"'^" and the Roman church was the greatest, the most nu- merous, and, in regard to the west, the most ancient of all the christian establishments, many of which had re- ceived their religion from the pious labours of her mis- sionaries. Instead of one apostolic founder, the utmost boast of Antioch, of Ephesus, or of Corinth, the banks of the Tiber were supposed to have been honoured with the preaching and martyrdom of the two most eminent among the apostles^; and the bishops of Rome very prudently claimed the inheritance of whatsoever prerogatives were attributed either to the person or to the office of St. Peter''. The bishops of Italy and of e Mosheim, p. 269. 574 ; Dupin, Antiquae Eccles. Disciplin. p. 19, 20. f TertuUian, in a distinct treatise, has pleaded against the heretics, the right ot prescription, as it was i»eld by the apostolic churches, 8 The journey of St. Peter to Rome is mentioned by most of the ancients, (see : usebius, ii. "25.) maintained by all the catholics, allowed by some protestants, (see Pearson and IJodwell de Success. Episcop. Roman.) but has been vigurously attacked by Spanheim, iMiscellanea Sacra, iii. 3. Ac- cording to father Hardouin, the monks of the thirteenth century, who com- posed tiie /Kneid, repre^ented St. Peter under the allegorical character of the Trojan hero. '• It IS in trench only, that the famous allusion to St. Peter's name is exact. I'u es I'iene, et sur cette pierre. — The same is imperfect in Greek, Latin, ItaliaTi, etc. and totally unintelligible in our Teutonic languages. VOL. IT. I