Page:The Mohammedan system of theology (IA mohammedansyste00neal).pdf/53

 or varied according to circumstances: this event occurred somewhere about the period when the grant of the Emperor Phocas had been obtained, conferring the title of Universal Pastor on the haughty Prelate of Rome. Phocas usurped the sceptre with enormous crimes; his state required support, and he laboured to gain Pope Gregory's interest, and in return the Pope, desirous of the Primacy, made application to Phocas to confirm his pretensions; but Gregory dying before the completion, Boniface, his successor, obtained the sanction, and assumed the style of Universal Bishop,

Without attempting minutely to fix the æra of these two remarkable occurrences, viz. Mohammed's retirement to the cave at Hara, and the assumption of such a title by the Roman Pontiff, they followed so closely together as justly to be considered a singular coincidence. The epocha was particularly