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 OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 257 church was the sole cause of her patient loyalty.'-'^ On this occasion, the effects of love and hatred are the same ; and the zealous Protestants, who seek to kindle the indignation, and to alarm the fears, of princes and magistrates, expatiate on the in- solence and treason of the two Gregories against their lawful sovereign.-'-' They are defended only by the moderate Catholics, for tlie most part, of the Gallican church, -^^^ who respect the saint without approving the sin. These common advocates of the crown and the mitre circumscribe the truth of facts by the rule of equity, scripture, and tradition ; and appeal to the evi- dence of the Latins, •^^ and the lives ^- and epistles of the popes themselves. Two original epistles, from Gregory the Second to the ^^^^^'^ „ emperor Leo, are still extant ; •^■^ and, if they cannot be praised to the em-^ as the most perfect models of eloquence and logic, they ex- 727 2'* Quod si Christiani olim non deposuerunt Neronem aut Julianum, id fuit quia deerant vires temporales Christianis (honest Bellarmine, de Rom. Pont. 1. v. c. 7). Cardinal Perron adds a distinction more honourable to the first Christians, but not more satisfactory to modern princes — the treaso?i of heretics and apostates, who break their oath, belie their coin, and renounce their allegiance to Christ and his vicar (Perroniana, p. 89). -^ Take, as a specimen, the cautious Basnage (Hist, de I'Eglise, p. 1350, 1351), and the vehement Spanheim (Hist. Imaginum), who, with an hundred more, tread in the footsteps of the centuriators of Magdeburg. '"' See Launoy (Opera, torn. v. pars ii. epist. vii. 7, p. 456-474), Natalis Alex- ander (Hist. Nov. Testament!, secul. viii. Dissert, i. p. 92-96), Pagi (Critica, torn, iii. p. 215-216), and Giannone (Istoria Civile di Napoli, torn. i. p. 317-320), a disciple of the Gallican school. In the field of controversy I always pity the moderate party, who stand on the open middle ground exposed to the fire of both sides. 31 They appeal to Paul Warnefrid, or Diaconus (de Gestis Langobard. 1. vi. c. 49, p. 506, 507, in Script. ItaL Muratori, torn. i. pars i.), and the nominal Anas- tasius (de Vit. Pont, in Muratori, torn. iii. pars i. Gregorius O. p. 154. Gre- gorius III. p. 158. Zacharias, p. 161. Stephanus III. p. 165. Paulus, p. 172. Stephanus IV. p. 174. Hadrianus, p. 179. Leo III. p. 195). Yet I may remark that the true Anastasius( Hist. Eccles. p. 134, edit. Reg.), and the Historia Miscella (1. xxi. p. 151, in torn. i. Script. ItaL), both of the ixth century, translate and approve the Greek text of Theophanes. ■*- With some minute difference, the most learned critics, Lucas Holstenius, Schelestrate, Ciampini, Bianchini, Muratori (Prolegomena ad torn. iii. pars i.), are agreed that the Liber Pontificalis was composed and continued by the apostolical librarians and notaries of the viiith and ixth centuries ; and that the last and smallest part is the work of Anastasius, whose name it bears. The style is bar- barous, the narrative partial, the details are trifling ; yet it must be read as a curious and authentic record of the times. The epistles of the popes are dispersed in the volumes of Councils. [See Appendix i.] ^*The two epistles of Gregory II. have been preserved in the Acts of the Nicene Council (torn. viii. p. 651-674). They are without a date, which is variously fixed, by Baronius in the year 726, by Muratori (Annali d'ltalia, tom. vi. p. 120) in 729, and by Pagi in 730. Such is the force of prejudice, that some Papists have praised the good sense and moderation of these letters. [See Appendix 14. For the pontificate of Gregory : Dahmen, Das Pontifikat Gregors II., 1888.] VOL. V. 17