The last Article of Innocent’s Letter relates to the Ceremony of anointing the Sick with Oil, agreeably to that of St. James, Is any sick among you, &c.^[1463]? As the Apostle directs the Faithful to call for the Elders of the Church; some took from thence Occasion to question whether Bishops were impowered to perform that Ceremony. Innocent therefore answers Decentius, who had proposed the Question, that there can be no room to doubt whether or no the Bishops have such a Power, since the Priests can have none, which the Bishops have not, of whom they receive all their Power. It is true, says Innocent, that St. James ordered the Faithful to call for the Elders, and not for the Bishops; but that was because he knew that the Bishops could not have so much Leisure from other important Duties as the Priests. He adds, that this Unction must not be applied to Penitents; that the Oil used in it must be blessed by the Bishop; and when it is thus blessed, not the Presbyters only, but all the Faithful, may anoint with it both themselves and others. The Power of anointing, St. James confined to the Elders or Priests, and that is the present Doctrine of the Church of Rome, though Innocent extended such a Power to all the Faithful. This Ceremony, now known by the Name of Extreme Unction, was, in Innocent’s Time, a kind of Sacrament; for so he styles it^[1464]. But it is now a true Sacrament, and such it was declared by the Council of Trent^[1465].

In the Year 416. Innocent received Three Letters from the African Bishops; viz. one from the Bishops of Africa, properly so called, assembled at Carthage; another from those of Numidia, assembled at Milevum; and a Third from St. Austin, signed by him and Four other Bishops. The Two Councils writ to acquaint Innocent, that they had condemned Pelagius and his Disciple Cælestius, of whose Opinions I shall speak hereafter, and desire him to add the Authority of the Apostolic See to their Decrees. The Letter from St. Austin, and the Four other Bishops, was to inform Innocent, in a friendly manner, that he was suspected of countenancing those Heretics, and favouring their Doctrine. This Suspicion they themselves seem not to have thought quite groundless: for Possidius, one of the Bishops who subscribed the Letter, writes, that the African Bishops took a great deal of Pains to convince Innocent, and his Successor Zosimus, that the Doctrine of Pelagius was erroneous and heretical, knowing that his Followers were striving to infect the Apostolic See itself with their poisonous Tenets^[1466]. They strove in vain, says Baronius; and perhaps they did; but the African Bishops had never taken so much Pains to guard the Apostolic See against that Infection, had they not thought it capable of being infected. The Five Bishops sent to Innocent, together with their Letter, St. Austin’s Answer to a Letter which he had received from Pelagius, his Confutation of a Book composed by that Heretic, and the Book itself, with the Passages marked in it that gave most Offence, and claimed a particular Attention, lest he should overlook them^[1467]. This was not treating him as an infallible Judge^[N58].

The Letters from the Council of Carthage, from that of Milevum, and from the Five Bishops, were brought to Rome by Julius, Bishop of some City in Africa; and, by the same Julius, Innocent answered them with Three Letters, all dated the 27th of January of the Year 417. The First, which is addressed to Aurelius, probably Bishop of Carthage, and to the other Bishops of that Assembly, he begins with commending them for their Zeal, their Pastoral Vigilance, and the Regard they had shewn for the Apostolic See. |He claims the first a Divine Right of finally decidingdeciding all Controversies.| He thence takes an Opportunity to resume his usual and favourite Subject, the Dignity, Pre-eminence, and Authority of that See; roundly asserting, that all Ecclesiastical Matters throughout the World are, by Divine Right, to be referred to the Apostolic See, before they are finally decided in the Provinces. This was indeed a very bold Claim, and a direct asserting to himself the Universal Supremacy attained by his Successors. But it was yet too early for such a Claim to be granted; and it is plain the African Bishops had no Idea of this Divine Right. For, had they entertained any such Notion, they surely would never have presumed finally to condemn and anathematize, as they did, Pelagius and Cælestius, without consulting at least the Apostolic See: neither would they have written to Innocent in the Style they did, after they had condemned them: for, in their Letter, they did not leave him at Liberty to approve or disapprove of what they had done; but only desire him to join his Authority to theirs, which they well knew he could not refuse to do, without confirming the Suspicion of his countenancing the Pelagians, and their Doctrine. |Which is not ac-
knowledged by the Af-
rican nor the Numidian
Bishops.| We have anathematized Pelagius and Cælestius, say the Fathers of the Council of Carthage, and thought fit to acquaint you with it, that to the Decrees of our Mediocrity might be added the Authority of the Apostolic See. This is a modest Style, and respectful to the See of Rome; but it is that of Men who plainly thought they had a Right to act in this Matter, by their own Judgment and Power, without waiting for the Award of that See, as they ought to have done, is they had allowed of Innocent’s Claim. In like manner the Council of Milevum, after informing Innocent of the Sentence, which they had pronounced against the Two above-mentioned Heretics, adds; And this Error and Impiety, which has every-where so many Followers and Abetters, ought also to be anathematized and condemned by the Apostolic See^[1468]; which was putting Innocent in mind of what he ought to do, and not consulting him what they should do. |An Instance of In-
nocent’s great Subtlety
and Address.| This Conduct of the African Bishops gave Innocent no small Uneasiness. He was at a Loss what to do at so critical a Juncture. For to approve of a Conduct, so derogatory to the pretended Dignity of his See, was giving up his Claim to the Divine Right of finally deciding all Ecclesiastical Controversies. To disapprove it, was confirming the Suspicion of his countenancing the Doctrine which they had condemned. But Innocent was a Man of great Subtlety and Address; and he found out, at last, an Expedient to extricate himself out of that Perplexity, and gratify the Fathers of both Councils, without either approving or condemning their past Conduct. The only thing they required of him was to join his Authority with theirs, in condemning the Pelagian Heresy; and that he readily did. But, lest in so doing he should seem to approve of their having condemned it without first consulting him, in his Answer to their Letters, he supposes them to have actually consulted him; nay, to have referred to him the final Decision of that Controversy; and, agreeably to that Supposition, he commends them for the Deference they had thereby shewn to the Apostolic See. You have well observed, says he, the Ordinances of the antient Fathers, and not trampled under-foot what they, not in human Wisdom, but by Divine Order, have established; viz. That whatever is done in Places, however remote, should, for a final Conclusion, be referred to the Apostolic See. And again, You have had due Regard to the Honour of the Apostolic See, I mean of him who has the Charge and Care of all Churches, in consulting him in these Perplexities, and intricate Cases^[1469]. Thus did Innocent maintain his Claim, and, at the same time, avoid quarrelling, at an improper Season, with those who had acted in direct Opposition to it. A necessary Policy in the first setting up of such extravagant and groundless Pretensions.

In the present Letter he not only approves of the Judgment given against Pelagius and Cælestius by the African Bishops, but alleges several Reasons in Confutation of the Doctrines they taught; and concludes, by declaring them cut off from the Communion of the Church, agreeably to the Sentence of the African Bishops, as Men not only unworthy of that Communion, but of human Society, and even of Life^[1470]. The same things he repeats in his Answer to the Bishops of Numidia; but he seems there to have been sensible, upon a more cool Consideration, that, in his Letter to the Council of Carthage, he had strained his Prerogative too high; and therefore in this he confines to Matters of Faith the general Maxim, which he had laid down, concerning the Obligation of referring all Ecclesiastical Matters, for a final Decision, to the Apostolic See. In the same Letter he endeavours to confute, in particular, the Doctrine of Pelagius, allowing Children, who die without Baptism, to partake of eternal Life^[1471]. In his Answer to the Five Bishops, he refers them for his real Sentiments, concerning the Doctrine of Pelagius, to the other Two Letters, adding, that he had read the Book of Pelagius, which they had sent him, and found nothing in it that he liked, or rather that he did not dislike^[1472][N59].

Cælestius had been condemned by a Council held at Carthage in the Year 412. and probably consisting of the same Bishops who composed that of the Year 416. From their Sentence he appealed, as Baronius observes^[1473], to the See of Rome, summoning his Accuser Paulinus to appear at the same Tribunal. But all we can infer from thence is, that either Innocent did not receive the Appeal, or, if he did, that the African Bishops made no Account of it, since they condemned him anew, without waiting for the Judgment of Innocent, to whom he had appealed.

Innocent writ Two Letters more, a little before his Death, one of which was to St. Jerom, comforting him in his Distress. For some who favoured Pelagius, provoked at Jerom’s repeated Invectives against him, had set Fire to his Monastery at Bethlehem, and burnt it down to the Ground, agreeably to the Spirit and Methods in which religious Controversies were now carried on. Their Design was to have burnt Jerom himself; but he had the good Luck to escape out of the Flames, and save himself in a strong Tower. The Two noble Virgins, Eustochium and her Niece Paula, who led a retired Life under the Direction of Jerom, met with no better Treatment. For those Fanatics, breaking into the House where they lived, beat some of their Attendants in their Presence, killed others, and threatened them with Fire and Destruction. With this they acquainted Innocent, who thereupon writ to Jerom, offering to exert the whole Authority of the Apostolic See against the Authors of such Excesses, provided he knew who they were: for the Two Virgins had concealed their Names, probably to prevent his exerting that Authority, which they had Reason to apprehend would be attended with greater Evils.

Innocent adds, that so long as the Authors and Promoters of those unheard of Barbarities are unknown, he can only condole with those who have suffered by them; but, if they were accused in due Form, at his Tribunal, he would not fail to appoint proper Judges to try them; which, by the way, he had no Right to do.

Innocent’s other Letter is to John Bishop of Jerusalem, who hated Jerom on account of his Inveteracy against Origen, and was suspected to connive at the cruel Treatment he and his Followers had met with. Him therefore Innocent reprimands very severely, for suffering such enormous Abuses within the Limits of his Jurisdiction. In his Letter he gives him the Title of well-beloved Brother; but, at the same time, treats him with more Haughtiness than was becoming even in a Superior, though he neither had, nor could claim by the Canons, any kind of Jurisdiction or Authority over him.

These Letters Innocent writ in the Latter-end of January, and died on the 12th of March of the same Year 417. having governed the Roman Church near Fifteen Years; for his Predecessor Anastasius died on the 27th of April 402. and he was chosen soon after his Decease, as I have observed above. He was generally esteemed a Man of good Parts, and well acquainted with the Laws and Traditions of the Church. |The See of Rome
greatly indebted to
him for its Grandeur.| Hence he was frequently consulted by the Western, and sometimes by the Eastern Bishops, in Points both of Faith and Discipline. Of this general Esteem, and the Deference that was thereupon paid to his Decisions, he took Advantage to lay down, with an Air of Authority, and as undoubted Truths, many false, groundless, and dangerous Maxims, all tending to the Diminution of the Episcopal Power, and the Advancement of the Papal. The Dignity of the Apostolic See was, as we have seen, the Burden of almost all his Letters; he even improved it into a Claim of Supremacy; and we may say, with great Truth, that to him the See of Rome was more indebted for the Grandeur it afterwards gained, than to all his Predecessors together. He formed the Plan of that Spiritual Monarchy, which they, by constant Application, established at last, in spite of the many almost insurmountable Difficulties, which they had to contend with. He was the first who, changing the antient Foundation of the Primacy, claimed it as the Successor of St. Peter, the Prince of the Apostles, as he is styled, and not as the Bishop of the first City, though on that Consideration alone it had been granted by the Councils. I said Primacy, because the Word Supremacy was utterly unknown in those Days. The Council of Sardica, held in the Year 347. had allowed, in some Cases, and under several Restrictions, Appeals to be made to the See of Rome, as has been observed elsewhere^[1474]. But Innocent, scorning to owe any Branch of his Authority to that, or any other Council, claimed, by Divine Right, the Power of finally deciding all Ecclesiastical Controversies and Disputes; which was claiming, by Divine Right, an unlimited Jurisdiction. It is true, no Regard was had to such Claims; nor indeed did Innocent dare to pursue them, being well apprised of the Opposition he would meet with, if he should then have made such an Attempt. He therefore wisely contented himself with laying Foundations, and thought it a great Advance, as it certainly was, to have openly asserted such Notions, and brought the Ears of Men to endure them, if not their Minds. Had he gone farther, he would have been stopped in his Career, and it might have proved fatal to the Power of Rome before it was come to an Age of Maturity; but that he went thus far was of great Benefit to it, because it made a Beginning, and furnished his Successors with a Pretence to plead some Antiquity for the Opinions and Principles upon which they proceeded.

Accordingly the Decretals of Innocent are frequently quoted by the Advocates for the See of Rome, to shew how early the Popes claimed, by Divine Right, and as Successors of St. Peter, an universal Authority and Jurisdiction. But if the Principles, on which they founded their Claims, were false in Innocent’s Time, they are still so in ours; if no Account was then made of such Claims (and that none was made, I have sufficiently shewn), no Account ought to be made of them now; no more than if they were dated but Yesterday. Nor, indeed, ought the Beginning of the Fifth Century to be esteemed an early Time in the Christian Church. Great Corruptions were then crept into it; and, with regard to the Point in Question, it was very late. For had the Bishop of Rome been supreme Head of the Church, in Right of St. Peter, how came that Supremacy to be unknown, and unheard of, for above Four hundred Years? If the Four first Centuries could not discover it, on what new Light was it revealed to the Fifth?

Innocent has been inrolled, by his Successors, in the Catalogue of Saints; and he is now adored in the Church of Rome as a Saint of the first Rate; an Honour which, it must be confessed, he better deserved at their Hands, in their Estimation of Merit, than any of his Predecessors, or any of his Successors, except Gregory the VIIth.

Zosimus, the Successor of Innocent, was, according to the Bibliothecarian, a Greek by Nation, and the Son of one Abraham^[1475]; which is all we know of him before his Election. He was elected and ordained Six Days after the Death of his Predecessor, that is, on the 18th of March 417^[N60].

The first thing that engaged the Attention of Zosimus, after his Election, was the Heresy of Pelagius, and his chief Disciple Cælestius, which, at that time, made a great Noise in the Church. Pelagius was by Birth a Briton, and a Monk by Profession; but one of those who, parting with their Estates, and renouncing all worldly Honours, lived an austere Life; but in no Community, and under no Rule. Such a Monk was the famous Paulinus, such Pammachius, and such probably Pelagius; for I do not find, in any antient Writer, that he ever confined himself to a Monastery; nay, the wandering Life he led is a strong Proof he never did^[N61]. As to his Parts, Jerom, who could never discover any thing commendable in those he opposed, speaks of him with the greatest Contempt, as if he had no Genius, and but very little Knowlege^[1476]. But St. Austin, a more candid and less passionate Writer, owns him to have been a Man of extraordinary good Sense, of a very sprightly Genius, of great Penetration, and one who was not easily overcome, but rather capable of maintaining, with the strongest Reasons that could be offered, the Opinions which he once embraced^[1477]. He lived several Years at Rome, at least from the Year 400. to 411. and was there well known, and greatly esteemed. For St. Austin, who first heard of him, while he lived at Rome, spoke of him in the first Books, which he writ against him, as of a Man, who passed for a Saint, who had made great Progress in Piety, whose Life was chaste, and Manners blameless, who had sold and given to the Poor all he had, &c^[1478]. St. Paulinus and St. Jerom seem to have once entertained a no less favourable Opinion of him in these respects, than St. Austin did; for they too, in some of their Letters, speak of him with the greatest Commendations. But he no sooner began to broach his new Doctrines than he forfeited their good Opinion, and with it every Virtue which he had formerly possessed; nay, they pretend that he abandoned himself, at once, to immoderate Eating and Drinking, and to all manner of Debauchery, passing his whole Time in Revels and Banquets, in caressing and pampering his Body, which by that means, says Jerom, swelled to such an exorbitant Size, that he was more capable of crushing his Adversaries with the Weight of his Carcase than the Weight of his Arguments^[1479]. We shall find very few, if any at all, who, upon their teaching Doctrines not approved by the Fathers, have not been immediately transformed by them, out of their great Zeal for the Purity of the Faith, into Monsters of Wickedness, though they themselves had, perhaps, proposed them before for Patterns of every Christian Virtue. It behoves us therefore to be very cautious in giving Credit to what they say of those whom they style Heretics. With respect to Pelagius, St. Austin, more moderate than the rest, does not charge him with any Vices, but only ascribes to Hypocrisy the Virtues which he had admired in him before^[1480].

Cælestius, the first and chief Disciple of Pelagius, was, according to some, a Native of Scotland or Ireland; according to others, of Campania in Italy^[1481]; but, with respect to his Country, nothing certain can be advanced. He was descended of an illustrious Family, and had applied himself, from his Youth, to the Study of the Law, and made some Figure at the Bar; but growing weary of that Profession, he retired from the World, embraced a monastic Life, and lived some Years in a Monastery^[1482]. St. Jerom speaks of him as a Man of no Genius or Talents^[1483]. But St. Austin entertained a very different Opinion of his Parts; for he commends him as a good Writer, as one who was thoroughly acquainted with all the Subtilties of Logic, and whose Talents would have proved very serviceable, could he have been retrieved from his Errors^[1484].

The Tenets of Pelagius or Cælestius (for those, who embraced them, are styled indifferently Pelagians and Cælestians) may be reduced to the following Heads: 1. That we may, by our Free-will, without the Help of Grace, do Good, and avoid Evil. 2. That if Grace were necessary for either, God would be unjust in giving it to one, and denying it to another. 3. That Faith, which is the first Step to our Justification, depends upon our Free-will. 4. That the Sin of Adam hurt none but him; that Children are born in the State which he was in before the Fall; that they are not delivered by Baptism from eternal Perdition, but, without Baptism, partake of Life everlasting. By Life everlasting they meant, a middle State between eternal Happiness and eternal Misery. 5. That Grace is only necessary to render the Observance of the Commandments more easy.

These Opinions Pelagius and Cælestius first broached at Rome, about the Year 405. and gained there a great many Followers; more, says St. Austin, than could be well imagined^[1485]. They both left Rome in 410. or 411. and, crossing over into Africa, infected many there, says the same Author, especially at Carthage, with their new Doctrine^[1486]. |Pelagius repairs to
Palæstine.| Pelagius, after a short Stay at Carthage, went first into Egypt, and from thence into Palæstine, where he continued a long time^[1487]. Cælestius remained at Carthage, hoping to be preferred there to the Priesthood; but as he did not use the due Caution in propagating his Doctrine in that City, he was soon discovered, and accused by one Paulinus, a Deacon, before a Council, at which several Bishops were present, and Aurelius of Carthage presided. |Cælestius accused and
condemned in Africa.| The Charge brought against him was, That he held the Sin of Adam to have hurt him alone; that it could not be imputed to his Descendents; and that no Sin was cancelled by Baptism. These Tenets he did not own before the Council; but neither would he disown or anathematize them; and therefore the Bishops, provoked at his Obstinacy, not only condemned his Doctrine, but, at the same time, cut him off, as an incorrigible Heretic, from the Communion of the Church^[1488]. |Appeals to Rome, but
flies to Ephesus.| From this Sentence Cælestius appealed to the Judgment of Innocent, then Bishop of Rome, summoning Paulinus, his Accuser, to make his Charge good at that Tribunal. But Cælestius himself laid, it seems, no Stress on his Appeal; for, instead of repairing to Rome, he fled to Ephesus^[1489], where we shall leave him for the present.

Pelagius, in the mean time, was not idle in Palæstine, whither he had retired, as I have said above; but, being countenanced by John Bishop of Jerusalem, he gained daily such Numbers of Followers there, that Heros and Lazarus, Two Bishops of Gaul, whom I shall speak of hereafter, happening to be then in Palæstine, thought it incumbent upon them to accuse him to Eulogius Bishop of Cæsarea, and Metropolitan of Palæstine. They drew up a Writing accordingly, containing the chief Heads of the Doctrine which Pelagius taught, together with the Articles, for which his Disciple Cælestius had been condemned by the Council of Carthage; and this Writing they presented to Eulogius. Hereupon a Council was assembled soon after at Diospolis, a City of Palæstine, known in Scripture by the Name of Lydda. It consisted of Fourteen Bishops, and Eulogius of Cæsarea presided; but neither of the Gallican Bishops was present, the one being prevented by a dangerous Malady, and the other not chusing to abandon him in that Condition. However, their Charge against Pelagius was read, and he examined, by the Fathers of the Assembly, on the Articles it contained. |and absolved by
the Council of Diospolis.| But as nobody appeared against him, as none of those Bishops were sufficiently acquainted with the Latin Tongue to understand his Books, and he disowned some Propositions, explained others in a Catholic Sense, and anathematized all who maintained Doctrines repugnant to those of the Catholic Church, the Council pronounced, at the Suggestion of John of Jerusalem, the following Sentence: Since the Monk Pelagius, here present, has satisfied us, as to his Doctrine, and anathematized with us whatever is contrary to the true Faith, we acknowlege him to be in the Communion of the Church^[1490]. This Council St. Jerom styles, The pitiful Synod of Diospolis^[1491]. But St. Austin, instead of insulting them, calls them Holy and Catholic Judges; and will not answer, that he himself might not have been deceived by the Artifices of Pelagius, had he been one of his Judges^[1492].

Heros and Lazarus, surprised to hear that the Fathers of the Assembly had absolved Pelagius, and despairing of ever being able to get him condemned in the East, where his Cause was openly espoused by the Bishop of Jerusalem, resolved to apply to their Brethren in the West, especially to the Bishops of Africa, who they well knew could not be prejudiced in his Favour, since they had already condemned his favourite Disciple Cælestius. Pursuant to this Resolution, they writ, by the famous Orosius, who was returning from Palæstine to Africa, to the Bishops of that Province, accusing Pelagius and Cælestius as the Authors of an Execrable Sect; giving them a particular Account of what had passed in the Council of Diospolis, and acquainting them with the wonderful Progress the new Heresy made in the East, especially in Palæstine^[1493].

These Letters were delivered by Orosius to the Bishops of the Province of Carthage, who, after having caused them to be read in the Provincial Council, which was then sitting in that City, and, with them, the Acts of the Council, which had been held Five Years before against Cælestius, not only condemned the Doctrine ascribed to him and Pelagius, but declared, that the same Sentence should be pronounced against them, unless they anathematized, in the plainest and most distinct Terms, the Errors with which they were charged^[1494]. The Example of the Bishops of Africa was followed by those of Numidia, assembled at Milevum, and by Innocent Bishop of Rome, as I have related above.

This Condemnation, so solemn and general, was attended with the wished for Effect. It greatly lessened the Reputation of Pelagius and Cælestius, staggered many of their Followers, and deterred others from embracing their Doctrines. Of this both Pelagius and Cælestius were well apprised; and, at the same time, sensible, that the only means of retrieving their Credit, and maintaining the Ground they had gained, was to justify themselves either to the Bishops of Africa, or to the Bishop of Rome, they chose the latter, thinking it more easy to gain over one than many. Besides, in Africa they knew St. Austin, who was in great Reputation there, and swayed all the Councils as he pleased, to be their declared and irreconcileable Enemy; whereas they had many Friends at Rome; and, among the rest, the Presbyter Sixtus, who was afterwards raised to that See^[1495]. In order, therefore, to persuade the Bishop of Rome, as Pelagius had done the Bishops of Diospolis, that they had been falsly and maliciously accused, Pelagius writ a Letter to Innocent, whose Death he had not yet heard of, while Cælestius, trusting to his Eloquence, and depending on the Favour which the Bishops of Rome had always shewn to those who recurred to them, undertook a Journey to that City. He had fled from Carthage to Ephesus, as I have related above. On his Arrival in that City he was well received by the Bishop of the Place, and even preferred, after he had staid some time there, to the Priesthood. |Cælestius is driven
from Ephesus and
Constantinople.| But, in the mean time, his Doctrine giving Offence to some, while it was embraced by others, great Disturbances arose; and he was, in the End, driven out of the City. Being thus expelled from Ephesus, he repaired to Constantinople; but he no sooner began to discover his Sentiments there, than Atticus, who then held that See, and kept a watchful Eye over him, commanded him forthwith to depart the City^[1496]. |Repairs to Rome and
presents himself be-
fore Zosimus.| From Constantinople he went strait to Rome; and, finding that Innocent was dead, he presented himself before his Successor Zosimus, declaring, that he was come to Rome, to defend his oppressed Innocence at the Tribunal of the Apostolic See; not doubting but he should make it appear before so knowing and unprejudiced a Judge, and confute the many groundless Aspersions with which his Enemies had strove to blast his Reputation in the Eyes of the whole Church: he complained of the Judgment given against him by the African Bishops about Six Years before; and, pretending that his Accuser Paulinus, conscious of his Innocence, and his own Guilt, had declined the Judgment of the Apostolic See, he summoned him anew to appear, and make good the Charge which he had brought against him. |He delivers his Con-
fession of Faith to
Zosimus;| At the same time he presented to Zosimus a Request, containing a Confession of his Faith, with long Descants on the Articles of the Apostolic Symbol, concerning which his Orthodoxy had never been questioned. But as to Grace and Original Sin, he said, they were not Matter of Faith; but that he was, nevertheless, ready to acquiesce, even with respect to them, in the Judgment of the Roman See^[1497].

Zosimus had at this Time some Affairs of the greater Importance on his Hands^[1498]; but, highly pleased with the pretended Submission of Cælestius, and thinking this a favourable Opportunity of extending his Authority, and drawing to the Tribunal of the Apostolic See Appeals in Causes that had been judged and decided elsewhere, he postponed the other Affairs to attend to this alone, in his Opinion, the most important of all. A Day was appointed, without Loss of Time, for Cælestius to appear in the Church of St. Clement, and there give an Account of his Faith. He appeared accordingly; and the Confession being read, which he had delivered to Zosimus, he owned that, and no other, to be his Faith. In that Confession he did not deny Original Sin, but declared, in the clearest Terms, that he was in Doubt about it; and that the Belief of Original Sin was no Article of the Catholic Faith. |which is approved
by him.| And yet such a Confession was approved by Zosimus as Catholic; which was approving, if not the Doctrine, at least the Doubts which Cælestius entertained of Original Sin^[1499]. |The Roman Catholic
Divines strive in vain
to excuse Zosimus.| The Roman Catholic Divines have taken great Pains to clear Zosimus from this Imputation; but have been attended with no better Success than St. Austin was before them. For that Father, unwilling to condemn one of his Brethren, pretended that Zosimus, in approving the Confession of Cælestius, did not declare his Doctrine to be Catholic, but only the Disposition of his Mind to condemn whatever should be found amiss in his Doctrine; for such a Disposition, says he, makes a true Catholic^[1500]: he might have added, if sincere, and not feigned; for it was certainly feigned in Cælestius; and consequently Zosimus was no less mistaken in declaring his Disposition of Mind to be Catholic, than if he had made such a Declaration with respect to his Doctrine. St. Austin himself was sensible of the Weakness of his Plea, and therefore immediately added; But, allowing the Doctrine of Pelagius and Cælestius to have been approved by the Roman Church, all we can infer from thence is, that the Roman Clergy was guilty of Prevarication^[1501]; an Inference which he seems to be no-way solicitous about, though he could not have admitted it without giving up the Question, if he had thought the Pope infallible.