Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1827) Vol 2.djvu/469

 XX. OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 451 spectator of the vicissitudes of human aflairs might CHAi'. have contemplated Tacitus in the senate of Rome, and Constantine in the council of Nice. The fathers of the capitol and those of the church had alike degener- ated from the virtues of their founders ; but as the bishops were more deeply rooted in the public opinion, they sustained their dignity with more decent pride, and sometimes opposed, with a manly spirit, the wishes of their sovereign. The progress of time and supersti- tion erased the memory of the weakness, the passion, the ignorance, which disgraced these ecclesiastical sy- nods; and the catholic world has unanimously sub- mitted" to the infallible decrees of the general councils p. " Sancimus igitur vicem legum obtinere, qu<E a quatuor Sanctis conciliis . . . expositffi sunt aut firmat£e. Praedictarum eniin quatuor synodorum dogmata sicut sanctas scripturas et regulas sicut leges observamus. Justi- nian. Novell, cxxxi. Beveridge (ad Pandect, proleg. p, 2.) remarks, that the emperors never made new laws in ecclesiastical matters ; and Giannone observes, in a very different spirit, that they gave a legal sanction to the canons of councils. Istoria Civile di Napoli, tom. i. p. 136. P See the article Cuncile in the Encyclopedic, tom. iii. p. 668 — 679. edition de Lucques. The author, IM. le docteur Bouchaud, has discussed, according to the principles of the Galilean church, the principal questions which relate to the form and constitution of general, national, and provincial councils. The editors (see Preface, p. xvi.) have reason to be proud of this article. Those who consult their immense compilation, seldom depart so well satisfied. THE END OF VOL. II. PRINTED BY D. A. TALBOYS, OXPORD.