XVI CEN T. veneration and respect, without departing, how SECT. II. ever, from the religious doctrine, discipline, or PARTI Worship of their ancestors. Of this a farther ac Nestorians and Indians. count shall be given in the History of the Eastern Churches; it may nevertheless, be proper to observe here, that the attachment of this sect to the bishop of Rome was greatly increased, and the votaries of the pontif considerably multiplied, by the zeal of ZERAPION, an opulent man, who was entirely devoted to the court of Rome, and who, by engaging himself to discharge the debts under which the Armenians groaned, obtained, in the year 1593, the title and dignity of Patriarch, though there were already two patriarchs at the head of the Armenian church. He did not, however, enjoy this dignity long; for, soon after his promotion, he was sent into exile by the Persian monarch, at the desire of those Armenians who adhered to the ecclesiastical discipline of their ancestors; and thus the boasting and exultation of the Romans subsided all of a sudden, and their hopes vanished [n]. VII. The ambitious views of the Roman pontifs sowed the pestilential seeds of animosity and discord among all the eastern churches; and the Nestorian Christians, who are also known by the denomination of Chaldeans, felt early the effects of their imperious councils. In the year 1551, a warm dispute arose among that people about the creation of a new patriarch, SIMEON BARMAMAS being proposed by one party, and SULAKA earnestly desired by the other. The latter, to support his pretensions the more effectually, repaired to Rome, and was consecrated patriarch, in the year 1553, by Pope JULIUS III. whose jurisdiction he had acknowledged, and to whose commands he had promised unlimited submission and obedience. JULIUS gave the name JoHN to the [n] See Nouveaux Mémoires des Missions de la Compagnie de Jesu dans le Levant, tom. iii. p. 132, 133. XVI. the new Chaldean patriarch, and, upon his return CENT. to his own country, sent with him several per- SECT.III. sons, skilled in the Syriac language, to assist him PARTI in establishing and extending the papal empire among the Nestorians. From this time that unhappy people were divided into two factions, and were often involved in the greatest dangers and difficulties by the jarring sentiments and perpetual quarrels of their patriarchs [o]. The Nestorians, or, as they are more commonly called, the Christians of St THOMAS, who inhabited the maritime coasts of India, suffered much from the methods employed by the Portuguese to engage them to embrace the doctrine and discipline of the church of Rome, and to abandon the religion of their ancestors, which was much more simple, and infinitely less absurd [p]. The finishing stroke was put to the violence and brutality of these attempts by DON ALEXIS DE MENEZES, bishop of Goa, who, about the conclusion of this century, calling the Jesuits to his assistance, obliged this unhappy and reluctant people to embrace the religion of Rome, and to acknowledge the pope's supreme jurisdiction; against both of which acts they had always expressed the utmost abhorrence. These violent counsels and arrogant proceedings of MENEZES, and his associates, were condemned by such of the Roman-catholics as were most remarkable for their equity and wisdom [q.] VIII. The N 3 [o] Jos. Sim. Assemanni Bibliotheca Oriental. ClementinoVaticana, tom. iii. part II. p. 164.-See the History of the Eastern church, in the following chapter of this history. [p] For an account of the doctrines and worship of these, and the other eastern Christians, see the following Chapter :As also two learned books of Monsieur La Croze, the one entitled, Histoire du Christianisme des Indes; and the other, Histoire du Christianisme en Ethi pie. ii. [9] See La Croze Histoire du Christianisme aux Indes, livr. P. 88. &c. in which there is an ample account of the Christians of St Thomas, and of the rough methods employed by Menezes to gain them over to the church of Rome. CENT. VIII. The greatest part of the first legates and were desirous of gaining over to their communion. For they did not only require that these Christians should renounce the particular opinions that separated them from the Greek and Latin churches, and that they should acknowledge the Roman pontif as CHRIST's sole vicegerent upon earth : their demands were still farther; they opposed many of the opinions of this people, some of which were at least worthy of toleration, and others highly agreeable to the dictates both of reason and scripture; they insisted upon the suppression and abolition of several customs, rites, and institutions, which had been handed down to them from their ancestors, and which were perfectly innocent in their nature and tendency; in a word, they would by satisfied with nothing less than an entire and minute conformity of the religious rites and opinions of this people, with the doctrine and worship of the church of Rome. The papal court, however, rendered wise by experience, perceived at length that this manner of proceeding was highly imprudent, and every way improper to extend the limits of the papal empire in the East. It was therefore determined to treat with more artifice and moderation a matter of such moment and importance, and the missionaries were, consequently, ordered to change the plan of their operations, and confine their views to the two following points: to wit, the subjection of these Christians to the jurisdiction of the Roman pontif, and their renouncing, or at least professing to renounce, the opinions that had been condemned in the general councils of the church. In all other matters, the Roman envoys were cominanded to use a perfect toleration, and to let these people remain unmolested in following the sentiments, XVI. entiments, and observing the institutions, they C E N T. had derived from their ancestors. To give the SECT. III, greater credit and plausibility to this new method PARTI of conversion, certain learned doctors of the churchendeavoured to demonstrate, that the religious tenets of Rome, when explained according to the simplicity of truth, and not by the subtilties, and definitions of the schools, differed very little from the opinions received in the Greek and the other eastern churches. But this demonstration was very far from being satisfactory, and it discovered less of an ingenious spirit, than a disposition to gain proselytes by all sorts of means, and at all events. Be that as it may, the cause of Rome received much more advantage from this plan of moderation, than it had derived from the severity of its former counsels; though much less than the authors of this reconciling plan fondly expected. nal consti IX. While the Roman pontifs were using their The interutmost efforts to extend their dominion abroad, an of they did not neglect the means that were proper the church to strengthen and maintain it at home. On the strength of Rome contrary, from the dawn of the Reformation, ened in vathey began to redouble their diligence in defend-rious ways, ing the internal form and constitution of the church of Rome against the dexterity and force of its adversaries. They could no more have recourse to the expedient of crusades, by which they had so often diminished the power and influence of their enemies. The revolutions that had happened in the affairs of Rome, and in the state of Europe, rendered any such method of subduing heretics - visionary and impracticable. Other methods were, therefore, to be found out, and all the resources of prudence were to be exhausted in support of a declining church. Hence the laws and procedures of the inquisition were revised and corrected in those countries, where that formidable court is permitted to exert its dreadful power. N 4 Colleges, CENT. Colleges, and schools of learning were erected in 3 c T. III. Various places, in which the studious youth were PART I trained up, by perpetual exercise, in the art of XVI. Ignatius disputing, that thus they might wield, with more dexterity and success, the arms of controversy against the enemies of Rome. The circulation of such books as were supposed to have a pernicious tendency, was either entirely prevented, or at least much obstructed, by certain lists, or indexes, composed by men of learning and sagacity, and published by authority, in which these books were marked with a note of infamy, and their perusal prohibited, though with certain restrictions. The pursuit of knowledge was earnestly recommended to the clergy, and honourable marks of distinction, as well as ample rewards, were bestowed on those who made the most remarkable progress in the cultivation of letters. And, to enlarge no farther on this head, the youth, in general, were more carefully instructed in the principles and precepts of their religion, than they had formerly been. Thus it happens, that signal advantages are frequently derived from what are looked upon as the greatest evils, and much wisdom and improvement are daily acquired in the school of opposition and adversity. It is more than probable, that the church of Rome would never have been enriched with the acquisitions we have now been mentioning, had it continued in that state of uninterrupted ease and undisputed authority that nourish a spirit of indolence and luxury; and had not the pretended heretics attacked its territories, trampled upon its jurisdiction, and eclipsed a great part of its ancient ma jesty and splendour. X. The Monastic orders and religious societies founder of have been always considered by the Roman pontifs as the principal support of their authority and dominion. It is chiefly by them that they rule the the order called Je suits. church, |