The Letter of Syricius was answered by Ambrose, and signed by him, and several other Bishops, who were still at Milan, where they had met to condemn Ithacius, and his Adherents, for having been accessary to the Death of Priscillian. In their Answer they commend the Pastoral Vigilance of Syricius, and, having briefly declared their Opinion against the other Tenets of Jovinian, dwell on what he had advanced against the Virginity of the Virgin Mary. But they seem to have mistaken his Meaning, in charging him with Manicheism, and supposing him to have held, that our Saviour did not assume a real Body: for he held no such Doctrine, but only charged the Catholics with it, as Austin tells us in express Terms^[1287]. It is surprising, that such a Question should have thus employed the Thoughts and Attention of so many venerable Prelates, and created such Feuds and Animosities in the Church. Both Parties agreed, that the Virgin Mary had brought forth her Son without the Co-operation or Intercourse of Man; and in that Sense alone she is styled a Virgin.

From Milan Jovinian returned to the Neighbourhood of Rome, where his Followers continued to assemble, under his Direction, till the Year 398. when the Emperor Honorius, giving Ear to the Complaints of the neighbouring Bishops, enacted a Law, commanding him and his Accomplices to be beaten with Whips armed with Lead, and transported into different Islands^[1288]. Jovinian himself was confined to the Isle of Boas, on the Coast of Dalmatia^[1289], where he gave up the Ghost, about the Year 406. in the Midst of the Mirth and Jollity of a Banquet, says Jerom, adding that he was revived in Vigilantius, as Euphorbus was formerly in Pythagoras^[1290]. Some of Jerom’s Friends in Rome sent him the Book, which Jovinian had composed to explain and defend his Doctrine, begging him to confute it. He readily complied with their Request, and ended his Work in the Year 392. It consisted of Two Books, but met with a very indifferent Reception at Rome. For though he declared from the Beginning, that it was not his Intention to condemn Marriage, and that he had an utter Abhorrence to the Errors of Marcion, of Tatian, and the Manichees, holding Marriage to be sinful; yet the disparaging Terms he made use of in speaking of Marriage, gave great Offence, even to those who professed Continency^[N30].

Notwithstanding the Severity of the Law I have mentioned above, some still continued to hold, and privately to propagate, the Doctrine of Jovinian, which induced Austin to compose his Treatise on the Advantages of Marriage and Virginity; a Performance far more judicious than that of Jerom, who has taken great Pains to disparage and cry down Marriage, the better to extol Virginity, as if he could not commend the one without condemning the other. Austin, on the contrary, begins his Work with great Encomiums on Matrimony, to which, however commendable, in the End he prefers Virginity. But after all, the Reasons alleged by the one as well as the other, are, if duly weighed, but empty and unconclusive Speculations.

The following Year, 391. a great Council was convened at Capua, chiefly with a View to restore Peace to the Church of Antioch, and put an End to the Schism, which had long prevailed there, and had occasioned almost an intire Separation between the East and the West, as I have related elsewhere^[1291]. Paulinus, who was acknowleged for lawful Bishop of that City by Part of the Catholics there, by the Bishops of Egypt, Arabia, Cyprus, by the Bishop of Rome, and all the Western Bishops, died about the Year 388^[1292]. But the unhappy Division, which had reigned during his Life, continued to reign even after his Death. For Paulinus, by a most unaccountable Conduct, and a most notorious and open Violation of the Canons, took upon him not only to appoint himself a Successor before he died, but to ordain him alone. The Person whom he thus both named and ordained, was one Evagrius, a Presbyter, with whom he had always lived in close Friendship^[1293]; and who on that Account was, notwithstanding his illegal Election and Ordination, acknowleged by Paulinus’s Party for Bishop of Antioch. Theodoret writes, that the Bishop of Rome, with the other Western Bishops, and those of Egypt, embraced his Communion^[1294]. But Ambrose assures us, that the Bishops of Egypt stood neuter, suspending all Communication both with Evagrius, and his Competitor Flavianus; and speaks in such manner of both, as gives us room to suppose that he himself communicated with neither. Both rely more on the Invalidity of their Competitor’s Ordination, says he, than on the Validity of their own. It is therefore with Reason that Flavianus declines a fair Tryal, and not without Reason that Evagrius does not demand one^[1295]. The Example of Ambrose was, in all Likelihood, followed by the Bishop of Rome, and the other Western Bishops; or Ambrose, perhaps, conformed to theirs^[N31].

All the Bishops of Illyricum, upon the Death of Paulinus, admitted Flavianus, and not Evagrius, to their Communion, if we may depend upon Theodoret^[1296]. As this new Election occasioned unheard-of Disturbances in the Church of Antioch, as the Division still continued between the East and the West, the Western Bishops had frequent Recourse to the Emperor Theodosius, during the Three Years he passed in the West, pressing him to oblige, by his Imperial Authority, both Flavianus and Evagrius to submit their Cause to the Judgment of a Council, that should be held in Italy. Theodosius consented at last to their Request, named Capua for the Place where the Council should meet, and took upon him to oblige Flavianus to repair thither at the Time appointed. Soon after, that is, about the 14th of July 391. he left Italy, where he had continued ever since the Year 388. settling young Valentinian on the Throne, and set out for Constantinople, into which City he made his Entry on the 10th of November. Before his Departure from Italy he had writ to Flavianus, commanding him to repair to Constantinople, and wait his Arrival there. Flavianus readily complied with the Emperor’s Orders, and appeared at Court the Day after his Arrival. But when the Prince acquainted him with the Promise he had made to the Western Bishops, and desired him to prepare for the Journey, which he did in a very obliging Manner, Flavianus represented to him the Inconveniences, attending so long a Journey at that Season of the Year, and begged he would give him Leave to put it off to the Spring, when he would not fail to obey his Orders. The Emperor, seeing him stricken in Years, thought the Excuse just and reasonable; and therefore, out of Compassion and Good nature, allowed him for the present to return to his See^[1297]. Thus did Flavianus, by the Indulgence of the Emperor, avoid the Judgment of the Western Bishops, who wisely forbore meddling with so nice a Subject in his Absence, though his Competitor was present.

The Council of Capua met in the Latter-end of the Year 391. and was it seems, a very numerous Assembly, since it is styled, in the Canons of the Church of Africa, a full Council^[1298]. But whether it was composed of all the Western Bishops, or only of the Bishops of Italy, is uncertain, and cannot be determined from the Words of Ambrose, We all met^[1299], which may be equally understood of both. As the Acts of this Council have not reached our Times, we do not even know who presided at it, some conferring that Honour on Ambrose^[1300], some on Syricius^[1301], and some on both^[1302]. That Syricius presided, or even assisted, in Person, is not at all probable; for in the Times I am now writing of, the Bishops of Rome had begun to affect Grandeur; and, under Pretence that their Presence was necessary in the great Metropolis of the Empire, to assist or preside in Councils held elsewhere by their Deputies or Legates, as they are now styled. That Syricius assisted, by his Deputies, at the Council of Capua, I do not doubt, since the Council was composed, at least, of all the Bishops of Italy, and Syricius owned himself bound by their Decrees^[1303]. But that Ambrose presided, seems undeniable, since by him, and him alone, the Whole was conducted and managed^[N32].

The Council avoided deciding, and even taking into Consideration, the Affair of Flavianus and Evagrius, in the Absence of the former, though they had chiefly met for that Purpose. However, to re-establish the Tranquillity of the Church, they agreed to renew their Correspondence with, and grant their Communion to, all the Catholic Bishops of the East. |The Difference be-
tween the Two Com-
petitors to the See
of Antioch refered,
by the Council, to
the Bishops of Egypt.| As for the Difference between the Two Competitors for the See of Antioch, they committed the discussing and deciding it to Theophylus Bishop of Alexandria, and the other Bishops of Egypt, as the most proper Judges, since they communicated with neither, and therefore could not be suspected to favour the one more than the other^[1304]. The Bishop of Alexandria immediately acquainted Flavianus with the Resolution of the Council, summoning him, at the same time, to appear, in Compliance therewith, before the Bishops of Egypt, who were soon to assemble, in order to put the Decree of that venerable Assembly in Execution. |Flavianus refuses to
comply with the De-
cree of the Council.| But Flavianus, instead of obeying the Summons, and paying the Regard that was thought due to the Decree of so numerous a Council, refused to stir from Antioch, pleading a Rescript, which he had extorted from Theodosius, commanding the Western Bishops to repair into the East, and there examine the Affair in a new Council. This Theophylus did not expect, and therefore being at a Loss how to conduct himself on such an Emergency, he gave Ambrose immediate Notice of the Summons he had sent, and the Answer he had received. Ambrose had nothing so much at Heart as to restore Peace and Tranquillity to the Church of Antioch; and from the Regard which the Council had shewn to Flavianus, as well as the Impartiality with which they had acted with respect to both, he had promised himself Success in so pious an Undertaking. It was therefore with the utmost Concern that he saw his Endeavours thus unexpectedly defeated, and all Hopes of accomplishing what he had undertaken, vanish at once. He had but too much Reason to resent such an affronting Conduct, which did not so much affect the Council in general, as him in particular, since it was at his Motion, that the Council took the above-mentioned Resolution. That, however, did not tempt him to depart from the Neutrality he had embraced, and declare for Evagrius: he still maintained the same Impartiality, and refused to communicate with either. |Ambrose’s Mod-
eration and Impartiality.| In his Answer to Theophylus, he desires him, without betraying the least Emotion of Anger or Resentment, to summon Flavianus once more, directing him, at the same time, to communicate with all the Catholic Bishops of the East, pursuant to the Decree of the Council, whether he complied with this Second Summons or no; and to acquaint the Bishop of Rome with what he had done, that, the Whole being approved by that Church, as he did not question but it would, the whole Church might be happily of one Mind, and reap the Fruit of his Labour^[1305].

Syricius, and in all Likelihood Ambrose too, wrote to Theodosius, pressing him to send Flavianus to Rome^[N33], if he did not approve of his being judged by the Bishop of Alexandria. Syricius, in his Letter, tells the Emperor, that he well knew how to deal with Tyrants, who revolted from him, and how to chastise them; but suffered those to go unpunished, who despised the Laws of Christ^[1306][N34].

Theodosius, in Compliance with the Request of Syricius, made in the Name of all the Western Bishops, sent anew for Flavianus, and told him, that he must, by all means, either repair to Rome, or submit his Cause to the Judgment of the Bishops of Egypt. |Flavianus ready to
resign his Dignity,
rather than to submit
to the Judgment of the
Egyptian or Western
Bishops.| But he was determined, says Theodoret, to relinquish his Dignity rather than to suffer the Western Bishops, or those of Egypt, to examine and decide whether he had a Right to it or no; and, by that means, to hold it of them. He therefore answered the Emperor, with great Calmness and Respect, in the following Terms: Sir, if my Faith is not thought Orthodox, or my Conduct not worthy of a Catholic Bishop, I am willing to be judged by those who accuse me, and ready to submit to the Sentence they shall pronounce. But, if all this Noise is made merely for the sake of my Dignity, from this Moment I resign every Preferment I enjoy in the Church, to those whom nothing but Preferment can silence. You may therefore dispose of the See of Antioch, now vacant, to whom you please. Theodosius, pleased with this Answer, and thinking Flavianus, the more ready he was to give up his Dignity, the more worthy to hold it, ordered him to return to Antioch, and resume the Government of his Church; nor did he ever afterwards give the least Attention to the pressing and repeated Instances of Syricius, and his Collegues in the West^[1307].

From the whole Conduct of Flavianus it is manifest, that he did not acknowlege any extraordinary Power in Syricius, much less that Power, which has been claimed by his Successors, of disposing, by Divine Right, of all Bishopricks, of placing and displacing Bishops, at Pleasure, throughout the Christian World. This Power, though evidently usurped, and utterly unknown even in the End of the Fourth Century, Bishops are now obliged to own in their very Titles, styling themselves Bishops of such a Place, by the Grace of God, and of the Apostolic See. Flavianus was content with the Grace of God; and, as for the Grace of the Apostolic See, he gave himself no Trouble about it. And yet Flavianus is honoured by the Church of Rome as a Saint; and his Festival kept on the 26th of September. And truly, if we may depend upon the Testimony of the most authentic and unexceptionable Writers of those Times, we shall hardly find one in the Roman Calendar more worthy of that Honour. The famous John Chrysostom, who was one of his Presbyters before his Promotion to the See of Constantinople, has filled his Homilies with the Praises of the great Flavianus, as he styles him. His distinguished Merit, eminent Virtues, and extraordinary Piety, seem to have been Chrysostom’s favourite Topic; and these Encomiums he bestowed upon him, while he was still alive. After his Death he was distinguished by the Council of Chalcedon, with the Title of the blessed Flavianus^[1308]; and by that of the East, held under John of Antioch, ranked among the brightest Luminaries, the most illustrious Prelates, and the greatest Saints of the Church^[1309]. Theodoret never names him without adding to his Name some Epithet, denoting his extraordinary Merit, such as the great, the holy, the admirable Flavianus. As therefore no room is left to doubt of his extraordinary Piety and Merit, we may well conclude, from his absolutely refusing to submit his Cause to the Judgment of Syricius, and the other Bishops of the West, that he did not acknowlege either in him or them a Power to judge him. This Refusal did not, in the Eyes of Chrysostom, and other great Men, detract in the least from his Merit, nor lessen the high Opinion they entertained of his Sanctity. A plain Indication that they did not think his Conduct reprehensible, and consequently did not acknowlege, more than he, that Power which is now one main Article of the Roman Catholic Creed.

As Flavianus declined the Judgment of the Western as well as the Egyptian Bishops, and the Emperor gave no farther Ear to their Remonstrances and Complaints, the Resolution taken by the Council of Capua was put in Execution; which was, to renew the Communion and good Understanding between the East and the West, and abandon the Church of Antioch to its Schism, which, after so many promising Remedies applied in vain, began now to be deemed an incurable Evil^[1310].

The Council of Capua, after the above-mentioned Resolution concerning the Difference between Flavianus and Evagrius, heard a Charge brought by some Bishops against Bonosus, Bishop of Naissus in Dacia, according to some, or, as others will have it, of Sardica, the Metropolis of that Province. He was accused of a Crime against the Canons of the Church and the Law of God^[1311], and likewise of Heresy. |His Errors.| The Crime is not specified; but as for the Heresy, I gather from Austin, that he held the Son to be inferior to the Father^[1312]; and from Ambrose, that he taught, the Virgin Mary had had other Children after the Birth of Christ^[1313]. |The judging of his
Cause committed by
the Council to the
neighbouring Bish-
ops, who condemn him.| He had, it seems, been condemned by Damasus, who died in 384^[1314]. but still held his See, and was not driven from it, even by the Council of Capua. For the Fathers of that Assembly committed the hearing and judging of his Cause to the Bishops in his Neighbourhood, chiefly to those of Macedon, under their Metropolitan Anysius, Bishop of Thessalonica^[1315]. The neighbouring Bishops assembled, pursuant to the Order of the Council; and Bonosus, as well as his Accusers, appearing before them, they found the Charge so well supported, that they immediately forbid him to enter his Church; which was suspending him from all Episcopal Functions. Bonosus complained loudly of this Sentence, and even advised with the Bishop of Milan, whether he might not, in Defiance of a Judgment so rash and immature, still exercise the Functions of his Office, and, in case of Opposition, repel Force with Force. Ambrose exhorted him, in the strongest Terms, to acquiesce to the Sentence, to conduct himself with the Prudence, Temper, and Moderation, that became a Bishop; and, above all, not to undertake any thing that might be interpreted as a Contempt of the Authority of his Judges, since he could not contemn their Authority, without contemning at the same time that of the Council, which had appointed them^[1316]. In the mean time the Bishops of Macedon, having more leisurely examined the Cause of Bonosus, wrote to Syricius, referring the Decision to him, and declaring their Abhorrence of the detestable Error, that the Virgin Mary had other Children besides Christ. If this was an Error, which may well be doubted, it was one that did no-way affect the Christian Faith, and therefore did not deserve such a severe Condemnation: but as it thwarted the favourable Opinions then entertained in the Church concerning Virginity, it is no Wonder that it should meet with so rough a Treatment^[N35].

Syricius, in his Answer to the Bishops of Macedon, approves their Sentiments; and employs almost his whole Letter to shew, that the Virgin Mary was always a Virgin: but as for the Cause of Bonosus, he tells them, that it was not lawful for him to judge it, since that Province had been committed to them by the Council of Capua^[1317]. And was not this disclaiming, in the most plain and explicit Terms he possibly could, that Power which his Successors challenge, and have almost overturned the Christian Religion to maintain^[N36]?

As Syricius declined the judging of Bonosus, his Cause was in the End decided, and he condemned by Anysius and the other Bishops, to whom that Judgment had been committed by the Council of Capua. It was at the same time decreed, that those who had been ordained by him after the first Sentence, that is, after his Suspension, should retain the Degrees to which he had raised them. This Indulgence was shewn, as is declared in the Decree, contrary to the common Rule, on account of the present Necessity; that is, lest they should adhere to Bonosus, and form a Schism^[1318]. |He ordains some by
force.| Bonosus, though thus condemned, continued to exercise the Episcopal Functions, and, holding separate Assemblies, to ordain, without Examination or Distinction, all who presented themselves to him: nay, he is even charged with dragging some by open Force to his Conventicle, and ordaining them there against their Will^[1319]: a kind of Rape never heard of before. What Advantage he could propose to himself or others in so doing, we are not told, and it is not easy to guess. The Bishops of Macedon allowed even those, who were thus ordained, to keep their respective Degrees in the Catholic Church, upon their only receiving the Benediction of a lawful Bishop. Hence those, who found themselves excluded by the Church from holy Orders, on account of their scandalous Lives, applied to Bonosus, pretending to espouse his Party, but left him as soon as they had obtained the Degree they wanted^[1320]. Bonosus died about the Year 410. but his Doctrine did not die with him, being maintained by some Two hundred Years after his Death^[N37].

Syricius had, in the last Year of his Life, the Satisfaction of seeing an End put at length to the Schism of Antioch, which I have had so frequent Occasion to speak of; and the East and West, after so long a Misunderstanding, or rather Separation, happily reunited. This great Work was accomplished in the following Manner: Evagrius, the Successor of Paulinus, dying not long after his Promotion, Flavianus employed all the Credit and Interest he had at Court, and with the Clergy of Antioch, to prevent the Election of a new Bishop in the room of the deceased: and so far his Endeavours proved successful. But he could by no means gain the Eustathians, who continued to assemble apart, or prevail either upon the Bishops of Egypt, or Syricius, and the other Western Bishops, to admit him to their Communion, though he had no Competitor, whose Cause they could espouse against him. Thus, through the inflexible Obstinacy of the Egyptian and Western Bishops, was Discord kept alive, and a kind of Schism fomented among the Prelates and Members of the Catholic Church, says Sozomen^[1321]. In this Situation Affairs continued from the Year 392. in which Evagrius died, to the Year 398. when the famous John Chrysostom, Presbyter of the Church of Antioch, was, in regard of his extraordinary Merit, preferred to the See of Constantinople. No sooner was he placed in that high Station, than his generous Disposition, above all little Piques and Jealousies, his Zeal for the Welfare of the Church in general, and the tender Regard he had for that of Antioch in particular, prompted him to employ all the Credit and Authority, which his new Dignity gave him, in bringing about an intire Reconciliation between the East and the West, and restoring the Church of Antioch to the Communion of those Churches, from which it had been so long separated^[1322]. | Chrysostom studies to reconcile the Eastern and Western Bishops.| Chrysostom had been consecrated by Theophilus Bishop of Alexandria, whom the Council of Capua had appointed to decide, with the other Bishops of Egypt, the Difference between Flavianus and Evagrius, as I have related above. To him therefore, before he left Constantinople to return to Egypt, the new Bishop of that City, impatient to see so great a Work brought to a happy Issue, imparted his Intention of attempting a Reconciliation between Flavianus and Syricius Bishop of Rome, earnestly intreating him to second and promote with his Endeavours an Undertaking truly worthy of the Two first Bishops of the East.

There had subsisted a Misunderstanding between Theophilus and Flavianus ever since the Year 391. when the Council of Capua was held. Flavianus had refused to submit his Cause to the Judgment of Theophilus, pursuant to the Resolution of that Council; which he had highly resented; and, in the Height of his Resentment, as he was a Man of a fiery and choleric Temper, he had written to Flavianus in a very haughty and imperious Style. To these Letters Nestorius, no doubt, alludes, where he tells us, that Egypt could not, by her menacing Letters, though written in the Style, and with all the Haughtiness, of an imperious Tyrant, move or terrify the blessed Flavianus^[1323]. It was necessary, in the first place, to remove the Misunderstanding which had so long subsisted between these Two Prelates; and in this Chrysostom met with no Difficulty or Obstruction, Theophilus readily agreeing to the Terms he proposed in the Name of Flavianus, and Flavianus ratifying them, upon the first Notice, without the least Exception or Limitation. |Chrysostom attempts
a Reconciliation
between Flavianus
and Syricius.| What these Terms were, we are no-where told; but it is certain, that, all Disputes being thereby composed, the Bishops of Alexandria and Antioch were intirely reconciled, and the Communion between them renewed, to the great Satisfaction of both^[1324]. The next Thing to be attempted, and, as was apprehended, the most difficult to be accomplished, was the reconciling of Syricius with the Bishop of Antioch, who had now held that See Seventeen Years, but had not been able, notwithstanding the great Character he bore, to obtain the Communion of Syricius, or any of his Predecessors, on account of their strong Prejudice against him, as well as his Predecessor Meletius, and their obstinate Attachment to the contrary Party, in Opposition to the far greater Part of the Eastern Bishops. |His prudent Conduct.| But the Zeal of Chrysostom was Proof against all Difficulties. Not despairing therefore of Success, he took the most effectual Means a consummate Prudence could dictate, to obtain it, advising the Bishops of Antioch and Alexandria to acquaint the Bishop of Rome, by a solemn Embassy, with their Reconciliation, and at the same time to beg, in the Name of Flavianus, the Communion of that See. This he knew would flatter the Vanity of Syricius, and be of more Weight than any Remonstrances they could make. They readily fell in with the Proposal, and Deputies were immediately chosen to put it in Execution. These were Acacius Bishop of Berœa, Demetrius of Pessinus, and several other Bishops, with Isidorus Presbyter and Hospitaler of the Church of Alexandria, and a great Number of Presbyters and Deacons of the Church of Antioch. Acacius, who was at the Head of this Deputation, was charged by Chrysostom to present to Syricius the Decree of his Election to the See of Constantinople^[1325]. That so great an Honour might not be conferred in vain on the See of Rome, it was thought adviseable to acquaint Syricius with their Design, before they set out, and to be well assured of a kind Reception on their Arrival in the West. |Syricius and Flav-
ianus reconciled.| They gave him accordingly early Notice of their Intention, and he, taken with the Bait, readily promised to settle every thing to their Satisfaction^[1326]; which he did accordingly, receiving them, on their Arrival at Rome, with the greatest Marks of Respect and Esteem, and admitting Flavianus to his Communion. From Rome the Deputies repaired into Egypt, where all the Bishops, following the Example of Theophilus and Syricius, acknowleged Flavianus for lawful Bishop of Antioch, and, assembling in Council, with great Solemnity, embraced his Communion. |The Misunderstand-
ing between the East
and the West intirely
removed.| From Egypt the Deputies set out for Antioch, and there, by delivering to Flavianus Letters of Communion from the Western and Egyptian Bishops, completed the great Work, and with it their Deputation^[1327]. Thus was an End put, at last, to the Schism of Antioch; and, after so many Years of Strife and Contention, a perfect Harmony and good Understanding were settled anew between the East and the West^[N38].