XLVII.. a CHAP. of fourscore thousand bishops, priests, and deacons, is derived from the same inexhaustible source. The speed of the zealous missionary. was promoted by the fleetest dromedaries of devout chief of the Arabs; the doctrine and discipline of the Jacobites were secretly established in the dominions of Justinian; and each Jacobite was compelled to violate the laws and to hate the Roman legislator. The successors: of Severus, while they lurked in convents or villages, while they sheltered their proscribed heads in the caverns of hermits, or the tents of the Saracens, still asserted, as they now assert, their indefeasible right to the title, the rank, and the prerogatives of patriarch of Antioch: under the milder yoke of the infidels, they reside. about a league from Merdin, in the pleasant monastery of Zapharan, which they have embellished with cells, aqueducts, and plantations. The secondary, though honourable, place is filled by the maphrian, who, in his station at Mosul itself, defies the Nestorian catholic with whom he contests the primacy of the East. Under the patriarch and the maphrian, one hundred and fifty archbishops and bishops have been counted in the different ages of the Jacobite church; but the order of the hierarchy is relaxed or dissolved, and the greater part of their dioceses is confined to the neighbourhood of the Euphrates and the Tigris. The cities of Aleppo and Amida, which are often visited by the patriarch, contain some wealthy merchants and industrious mechanics, but the multitude 1 ر XLVII! derive their scanty sustenance from their daily lalo CHAP bour and poverty, as well as superstition; mayɔ impose their excessive fasts five annual lents, 2 during which, both the clergy and laity abstain not only from flesh or eggs, but even from the taste of wine, of oil, and of fish. Their present numbers are esteemed from fifty to fourscored thousand souls, the remnant of a populous church, which has gradually decreased under the oppres sion of twelve centuries. Yet in that long period, some strangers of merit have been converted to the Monophysite faith, and a Jew was the father of Abulpharagius 130 primate of the East, so truly eminent both in his life and death. In his life, he was an elegant writer of the Syriac and Arabic tongues, a poet, physician, and historian, a subtle philosopher, and a moderate divine. In his death, his funeral was attended by his rival the Nestorian patriarch, with a train of Greeks and Armenians, § who forgot their disputes, and mingled their tears over the grave of an enemy. The sect which wasd honoured by the virtues of Abulpharagius appears, however, to sink below the level of their Nestorian brethren. The superstition of the Jacobites is more abject, their fasts more rigid 131, their intess tine divisions are more numerous, and their doc 130 The account of his person and writings is perhaps the most curious article in the Bibliotheca of Assemannus (tom. ii. p. 244 321. under the name of Gregorius Bar-Hebræus). La Crozer (Christianisme d'Ethiopie, p. 53–63.) ridicules the prejudice of the Spaniards against the Jewish blood which secretly defiles their church and state. TA 131 This excessive abstinence is censured by La Croze (p. 352) and even by Syrian Assemannus (tom. i. p. 226. tom. ii. p. 304, XLVII. CHAP. tors (as far as I can measure the degrees of nonsense) are more remote from the precincts of reason. Something may possibly be allowed for the rigour of the Monophysite theology; much more for the superior influence of the monastic order. In Syria, in Egypt, in Ethiopia, the Jacobite monks have ever been distinguished by the austerity of their penance and the absurdity of their legends. Alive or dead they are worshipped as the favourites of the Deity; the crosier of bishop and patriarch is reserved for their venerable hands; and they assume the government of men, while they are yet reeking with the habits and prejudices of the cloister 132. III. THE III. In the style of the Oriental Christians, the Monothelites of every age are described under the appellation of Maronites 133, a name which has been insensibly transferred from an hermit to a monastery, from a monastery to a nation. Maron, a saint or savage of the fifth century, displayed his religious madness in Syria; the rival cities of Apamea and Emesa disputed his relics, a stately church was erected on his tomb, and six hundred 132 The state of the Monophysites is excellently illustrated in a dissertation at the beginning of the iid volume of Assemannus, which contains 142 pages. The Syriac Chronicle of Gregory BarHebræus, or Abulpharagius (Bibliot. Orient. tom. ii. p. 321—463.), pursues the double series of the Nestorian Catholics and the Maphrians of the Jacobites. 133 The synonymous use of the two words may be proved from Eutychius (Annal. tom. ii. p. 191. 267. 332.); and many similar passages which may be found in the methodical table of Pocock. He was not actuated by any prejudice against the Maronites of the xth century; and we may believe a Melchite, whose testimony is confirmed by the Jacobites and Latins. of his disciples united their solitary cells on the CHAP. banks of the Orontes. In the controversies of the XLVII. incarnation, they nicely threaded the orthodox line between the sects of Nestorius and Eutyches; but the unfortunate question of one will or operation in the two natures of Christ, was generated by their curious leisure. Their proselyte, the emperor Heraclius, was rejected as a Maronite from the walls of Emesa; he found a refuge in the monastery of his brethren; and their theological lessons were repaid with the gift of a spacious and wealthy domain. The name and doctrine of this venerable school were propagated among the Greeks and Syrians, and their zeal is expressed by Macarius, patriarch of Antioch, who declared before the synod of Constantinople, that sooner than subscribe the two wills of Christ, he would submit to be hewn piece-meal and cast into the sea 13. A similar or a less cruel mode of persecution soon converted the unresisting subjects of the plain, while the glorious title of Mardaites 135, or rebels, was bravely maintained by the hardy natives of Mount Libanus. John Maron, one of the most learned and popular of the monks, as 134 Concil. tom. vii. p. 780. The Monothelite cause was supported with firmness and subtlety by Constantine, a Syrian priest of Apamea (p. 1040, &c.). 135 Theophanes (Chron. p. 295, 296. 300. 302. 306.) and Cedrenus (p. 437. 440.) relate the exploits of the Mardaites: the name (Mard, in Syriac rebellavit) is explained by La Roque (Voyage de la Syrie, tom. ii. p. 53.); the dates are fixed by Pagi (A. D. 676, No 4-14. A. D. 685, No 3, 4.); and even the obscure story of the patriarch John Maron (Asseman. Bibliot. Orient. tom. i. p. 496— 520.) illustrates, from the year 686 to 707, the troubles of Mount Libanus. XLVII. CHAP. sumed the character of patriarch of Antioch; his nephew Abraham, at the head of the Maronites, defended their civil and religious freedom against the tyrants of the East. The son of the orthodox Constantine pursued, with pious hatred, a people of soldiers, who might have stood the bulwark of his empire against the common foes of Christ and of Rome. An army of Greeks invaded Syria; the monastery of St. Maron was destroyed with fire; the bravest chieftains were betrayed and murdered, and twelve thousand of their followers were transplanted to the distant frontiers of Armenia and Thrace. Yet the humble nation of the Maronites has survived the empire of Constantinople, and they still enjoy, under their Turkish masters, a free religion and a mitigated servitude. Their domestic governors are chosen among the ancient nobility; the patriarch, in his monastery of Canobin, still fancies himself on the throne of Antioch; nine bishops compose his synod, and one hundred and fifty priests, who retain the liberty of marriage, are entrusted with the care of one hundred thousand souls. Their country extends from the ridge of Mount Libanus to the shores of Tripoli; and the gradual descent affords, in a narrow space, each variety of soil and climate, from the Holy Cedars, erect under the weight of snow 136, to the vine, the mulberry, and the olive trees of the fruitful valley. In the twelfth century, the Maronites, 136 In the last century twenty large cedars still remained (Voyage de la Roque, tom. i. p. 68—76.); at present they are reduced to four or five (Volney, tom. i p. 264.). These trees, so famous in Scripture, were guarded by excommunication: the wood was sparingly |