BASIL Bishop of Ancyra: "It has been abundantly proved that the usage of worshipping holy images is an ancient tradition."

TARASIUS: "We have now had abundant testimonies from the fathers, and we are certified that the setting up of holy images is an ancient tradition. We are, therefore, followers of the holy fathers."*

pictures, as the Lord declares-'Greater is the altar than the gift which is offered upon it, and greater is the temple than the gold which is in it.' Thus we read in St. Gregory that on one occasion, when a violent flood had reached to the windows of a church, the waters were by some divine power prevented from coming in, and by the same power the tapers which had been extinguished were lighted again; but this miracle was not wrought for the sake of any images which were there, but rather on account of the sanctity of the place itself. And, lastly, if this miracle were true, which is recorded by the Presbyter of the Church of Ascalon, it would not follow that images ought to be worshipped; since not all things in which miracles have been wrought are, on that account, to be worshipped on which head as we have said enough in a former part of this work, we need not here add anything further."

*The "Caroline Books" (lib. iv. cap. 11) condemn the use of testimonies drawn from such books as are not well authenticated as arguments on points of dispute :-" The Apostolic preaching admonishes us to prove all things and to hold fast that which is good.' This must mainly be understood of differences in doctrine, which we are to prove and to taste with the spiritual palate, and to retain those which being set forth by men of most approved piety refresh our minds with inward satiety, but to reject the rest together with their authors. This rule ought more especially to be observed in respect of the books which record the deeds of the fathers: since, on many accounts, the faithful may hesitate to receive what is said of them, in proportion as they are ignorant of the authors of their history: wherefore, not all such histories can be admitted as testimony sufficient to decide questionable points. From the blessed Gelasius we learn and from other holy fathers that such lives as were comp led by the blessed Jerome or by him translated from the Greek, or are written by any other of those learned doctors whose works are generally admitted into the Catholic Church, are to be received with all honours; but that all other histories whose authors were unknown were to be classed amongst apocryphal writings. Now, when they attempt to establish their image-worship, at one time by passages of Scripture improperly applied, at another by the words of persons unknown, and at another by the trifles of apocryphal scribblers, they ought to consider whether they are not undertaking that which is impossible; for neither may the Scriptures be wrested to a forced sense, nor ought the doctrines of unknown teachers, nor apocryphal trifles and frivolities, to be admitted as argument. For if we are not at liberty to give a false colouring to the words of any man whatever, how much less may we take this liberty with the sacred Scriptures which are pure words as silver tried in the fire; and, again, if in the ordinary affairs of men vile or unknown persons are not admitted to bear their testimony concerning doubtful points, much less in heavenly things ought the testimony of unknown teachers or apocryphal writers be admitted Now, that all writings which are brought forward as proofs on questionable points ought carefully to be tested, proved, and confirmed by the testimony of the holy fathers, we learn from the case of the idle servant in the Gospel who was censured by his Lord because that he had not given his money to the money. changers. Unless we would share in His rebuke we also must give our money to the changers, which thing we do when we submit writings of any kind to

THE HOLY COUNCIL: "We follow them: we are concordant with them."

STEPHEN a Monk said: "We have still fifteen more books on the subject of holy images, and we wait your pleasure therein."

TARASIUS: "We have had enough and are satisfied."

THE HOLY COUNCIL said: "And we also are satisfied." TARASIUS: "Since, in the course of our present enquiry, it has been made manifest that it is by Jews, by Heathens, by Samaritans, Manichæans, and Docetæ, that the Church has been accused on account of venerable images in times past, and we have agreed in this, it will now be right for us to hear our brother and beloved Lord John Legate from the Apostolic Thrones of the East; for he has with him a writing which will explain how the subversion of images commenced on the present occasion."

THE HOLY COUNCIL said: "We should like much, my lord, to hear about this."

JOHN the Legate of the East read from his Roll:

«I, your unworthy brother and humblest of you all, am desirous of laying before this your holy and sacred Council, with all truth, how, when, and where, this vilest and most God-detested heresy of the Christianity-detractors and Iconoclasts had its rise; and being anxious to use what brevity I could, I have determined to read to you from a written document, that so, at the same time, I might

the test of the doctrine of the fathers. Now, the money-changers examine money in four ways-Is it assayed? Is it pure? Has it the image of a King or a Tyrant upon it? And is it in full weight? All which qualities are required in the money of the great Master of the house-that is, in the doctrines of our blessed Redeemer, by the money-changers-that is, by learned and holy men by means of fire from above. It is required that every coin of writing shall be assayed-that it be such as shall reflect the splendour of a spiritual understanding calculated to illustrate the divine law and make the beauty of the Church more prominent. Next: it is enquired whether it be pure, having no perverse hidden alloy, by which he who imagines that he has the heavenly coin should find the pest of destructive evil. Then, whether it has the right stamp upon it, whether it leads us to seek the health of the soul or to follow some hurtful snare of the old enemy. Lastly, it is enquired whether it be of the right weight-that is, whether it agree in all respects with the doctrine of Apostles and Prophets. From all which considerations we may learn that those doctrines, those writings, those works, will alone be allowed in the holy Church by the true Legislator-the Mediator between God and Man-which are allowed by the weights of the sanctuary: that is the rule of the fathers. All such writings as these, whether found in books entitled Gesta Patrum,'

make no mistake or omission in my account.* The Caliph or Ruler of the Atheistic Arabians, whose name was Soliman, being dead, Omar succeeded him: he, when he came to the throne, encountered

or in other works and treatises, may be confidently brought forward to examine and confirm points which may be questioned."

The intention of this history is to show that the so-called heresy of the Iconoclasts had its origin, not from the obedience which Constantine Bishop of Nacolia desired to pay to the words of Scripture, but from some inexplicable desire of imitating Jews and Mahometans; and, as a tale, it was quite as authentic as many others which passed current in this Assembly; but that it was not agreeable to truth the great discrepancy found in both ancient and modern writers from its details fully proves.

Theophanes in his " 'Chronographia" (A.D. 715) tells us that a Jew of Laodicea (he drops the name Tessaraconta-pechys, or Forty Cubits) obtained an edict from Jezid the Caliph to destroy all the images in his Empire on promising him a reign of forty years; that this Jezid did issue such a decree, but died before it was put into execution; and that Leo, being of the same mind with Jezid, became the cause of similar evils among Christians, having as his assistants Beser and Constantine the Bishop of Nacolia-a man full of all impurity and passing his life in his native ignorance of discipline. Theophanes varies from John the Legate in several particulars: he states the Jew to be of Laodicea-John states him to be of Tiberias. Theophanes's Jew promises forty years' life-John's Jew but thirty. Theophanes tells us that, by the grace of Christ and the intercessions of His Mother and all Saints, Jezid died the very year in which he issued his edict, before his Satanic decree had been fully published. The Legate, on the contrary, declares that Jezid survived at least two or three years. Theophanes ascribes the origin of the evil to Leo the Emperor-John to Constantine Bishop of Nacolia. Zonaras, who lived some centuries later, tells the tale with yet greater varieties: according to him it was not one but two Jews who persuaded Jezid to issue the edictthat they were not put to death, as the Legate related with such glee at the Council, but fled into Isauria; and there they met with Leo, then a young man, to whom they foretold the Empire, and made him promise when he came to it that he would do one thing for them, which thing was the destruction of images. Cedrenus, who lived about the same time, differs from Zonaras in representing it, not as two Jews, but some Jews. Stillingfleet has amusingly summed up these varieties in the following manner-"It was one Jew, saith the Vicar of the Oriental Bishops: they were two Jews or more, say the Greek historians. It was a Jew of Tiberias, saith John: no, saith Ædrenus, they were two Jews of Laodicea; but one, saith Theophanes. These Jews met with Leo when he was a young man and foretold the Empire to him, say Zonaras, Manasses, and Glycas; but a few years before the reign of Leo, saith Cedrenus-nay, saith Theophanes, it was the seventh year of Leo: in the eighth year, says Baronius, for Jezid did not reign before." Binius adopts this absurd tale in his introductory history prefixed to the second Nicene Council.

"Some modern historians, observing these contradictions, have invented fresh plans of reconciling them. One writer states that there were two Jezids, each persuaded by Jews: the one by two Jews who escaped-the other by Mr. Forty Cubits who was put to death. Another gets rid of Jews altogether, and says that these men who obtained the edict were 'Samaritan Heretics, who were more precise than the rest of the Jews, and were much troubled at the Cherubim in the Temple,'" &c.-Stillingfleet's Defence of his Discourse concerning the Idolatry of the Church of Rome in Answer to Dr. Godden, pp. 544549; Goldasti Imperialia Decreta, pp. 20, 21.

How Jews should have such influence with Leo is not a little strange, seeing he is said by Theophanes to have burnt their synagogues, and they who could not prevail with the Emperor to save their own synagogues could actually prevail with him to destroy the images of Christians!

and drove out of the country Anascaphus Masalman our inveterate foe, who, by the grace of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of her who begat Him, the holy Mother of God, was forced to return with disgrace and the entire loss of his own army of Saracens to Syria, having utterly failed in all his plans. On the death of Omar, Jezid succeeded him—a man of a weak and frivolous turn of mind. There was at the same time in Tiberias a ringleader of the abandoned Jews, a wizard, an instrument of soul-destroying devils, whose name was Tessaracontapechys, a bitter enemy of the Church of God. Having been made acquainted with the weakness of character which was in the tyrant Jezid, this atrocious Hebrew began to practice upon him with predictions and charms. When, by this means, he had paved the way to frequent and easy access to the tyrant, he said to him- O Caliph, out of the regard I bear towards thee, I am anxious to suggest to thee a method very easily and speedily accomplished by which length of life shall be added to thee, and thou shalt remain thirty years in thy kingdom if thou wilt but give ear to my words.' And that senseless tyrant being quite beside himself from his desire of long life (for he was luxurious and dissolute) answered Whatever you may suggest to me that I am ready to do, and, if I obtain my desire, I will recompense you with highest honours.' On which the Hebrew wizard said to him-'Give orders that without any demur or delay a circular epistle be written and sent throughout all thy dominions, which shall enjoin the taking away and utter destruction of all kinds of images and pictures, whether on canvas, in mosaics, on walls, or on sacred vessels, and altar coverings, and everything of this kind which may be found in the churches of Christians, and in like manner everything of the same kind set up for the ornament and decoration of the forums of the various cities in your empire. Now, the false prophet with Satanic cunning added this 'every image,' contriving thereby to display his hatred against us without being suspected. The abandoned tyrant gave very easy credence to this man: wherefore he sent and destroyed in every province holy images, and all other things of the same kind. And in this manner he, for the sake of this Jewish wizard, unsparingly desecrated all the churches which were under his power before that the evil reached this land at all. But since Christians, as being most dear to God, themselves could not be brought to lay hands on holy images, certain Ammorites who were commissioned for that purpose compelled the God-hated Jews and vile Arabians to undertake this service and so they burnt the venerable pictures which they found; and, in respect

to the churches, the walls of some they scraped, of others they daubed over. Now, when the false Bishop of Nacolia and his party heard of these proceedings, they, too, in imitation of lawless Jews and impious Arabians, desecrated the churches of God. But I think it worthy the attention of your sacred audience to mark the end of the wretched Monarch and the Hebrew Magician. After that the Caliph Jezid had done this he lived not more than two or three years: then he died and went into everlasting fire, while the images were restored to their accustomed place and honour; and Walid his son, being angry with the magician, caused him to be put to death in the most disgraceful manner, as having been the murderer of his own father. Thus was he made to reap a worthy reward for his lying prophecies."

THE BISHOP OF MESSANA said: "I was then a lad living in Syria when the Caliph of the Saracens destroyed the images.” SABBAS Abbot of Studium: "My lord, we unworthy servants of your holiness entreat that sacred images may be set up in their usual places, according to the former usage, that pious Christians may celebrate their Litanies with them."*

TARASIUS: "And what say ye, my venerable Brethren ?" THE HOLY COUNCIL said: "We all agree in this."

PETER the most holy Archpresbyter and Legate of the most holy Bishop of Old Rome then read from his Roll as follows:

"To Tarasius most holy Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, and Ecumenic+ Patriarch, and to this Holy and Ecumenic Council, Peter Archpresbyter of the most holy Church, of the holy and illustrious Apostle Peter, and Peter Presbyter and Abbot of the Monastery of Saint Sabbas, both of us Legates of Adrian most holy Pope of Old Rome: We think it right to propose that, in accordance with the common sentiment of us all, or rather in accordance with the ancient tradition of the Catholic Church, as we are taught by all our holy fathers, a venerable image be brought in the midst of us, and

* Sabbas forgets the rights of the Holy See in making his proposition, not to the Papal Legate, but to Tarasius! To say the least, he displays sad want of discipline.

Anastasius could not persuade himself to insert this heretical title in his translation, and Binius would fain have us imagine it to be interpolated. After all, it is very possible that it was a Papal lapsus lingue. As many other of the Bishops used the title they caught the infection, and joined in the general custom.