BOOK VI

SECTION IX

CYRIL LUCAR, PATRIARCH.

And they were neither few nor easy. It is certain that, from whatever cause, since the conquest of Egypt by Selim, while the Jacobites grew daily weaker in themselves, and more contemptible in the eyes of the world, the Catholic Church had increased considerably in strength. It does not appear that this change was accompanied by any increase in the number of Bishops; a truly grievous thing; and entailing, of course, on the Patriarch additional labor and additional responsibility.

The first ten years of Cyril's Patriarchate are almost entirely unknown to us. Our own countryman, Sandys, who in the year 1611 visited Egypt, gives him a high character and assures us that he considered the points in controversy between the Oriental and English Church as trifling and unimportant.

It was in the year 1612 that, on the removal of Neophytus from the Ecumcnical Throne by the caprice of the Sultan, Cyril Lucar was compelled to visit Constantinople, in order to assist in the deposition of the Patriarch, and to administer the affairs of that Church. Here he found his old friend, M. Von Haga, who then occupied the post of ambassador from the States to the Sublime Porte; and the acquaintance thus renewed soon became a cordial friendship

Cyril arrived in Constantinople before, or at the beginning of Lent; and it so happened that in one of the sermons preached during that season, a Greek Monk, who was an agent of the Jesuits, publicly preached Romanist doctrines in one of the Greek churches. The Jesuits had established a college at Constantinople about the year 1601 : the buildings were handsome, the library well assorted, and the Priests laborious, active, and intriguing. They soon made great way with the Greeks : but, strange to say, found more difficulty with members of the Roman Communion. The latter were, for the most part, under the spiritual guidance of Franciscans and Dominicans, who viewed the advances of the new Society with jealousy : and were not without their fears lest the turbulent and intermeddling spirit it displayed at Constantinople, should occasion the banishment of all Romanists from that city. Cyril publicly opposed the new doctrine, and thereby drew upon himself the deadly and implacable hatred of the Jesuits; and a struggle commenced between him and that Society, which only ended with his life.

Hitherto Cyril's conduct seems to have been irreproachable. He may indeed have theoretically entertained too favourable an opinion of the Protestant Communities on the Continent but this opinion had not influenced his conduct. By the advice of Von Haga, while administering the See of Constantinople, he wrote to M. Uytenbogaert, Minister at the Hague, of whom he had possibly gained some knowledge by report during his European travels. This was the first step in his ruin.

This letter, which is written in Latin is dated at Constantinople the 30th of May, 1612. In its address, the Patriarch of Alexandria calls the Presbyterian Minister his "brother in Christ", and proceeds in the following strain : we use Dr. Beaven's translation.

"His lordship, the ambassador, proposed this to me, but I had been beforehand in thinking of it; and the result is that, although I am not known to you, I write to you under the feeling that you are sufficiently known to me. And no wonder, for I write to you as a minister to a minister, and a pastor to a pastor; for we both sustain these titles—you in your Church, I in mine : and although both you and I are pastors, it is certain that we are both under the Chief Pastor, whose sheep we ought to be, and by whom we must be appointed pastors, if we wish to be really such.

"And if we have this from God, it is well; but at the present time this is certainly not well, that your calling is not fully recognized by me, nor mine by you; and what is worse, one or the other of us, not regarding the ancient authority of the Fathers, to say nothing of Scripture, admits into the Church human opinions and innovations, with which the Church is now overwhelmed, and appears to be at its last gasp. In the stead of faith is introduced vain philosophy, that sword turning every way, not to keep but to obstruct the way of life. To this philosophy we subject Christ himself; in it we believe : if the mysteries of the faith are not sanctioned by it, we do not receive them; we make it the sole foundation of salvation.

"Now, if I should say this of you, or should refer it to you, you will cast it back upon me. If we both charge it on the Pope of Rome, he will excommunicate us both, and esteem us heretics. What a misery is this! What a confounding of truth! And that there is no one who can put a stop to this absurdity, and banish so foul a blot from the Christian world!

"Some appear to reproach the Eastern Church with ignorance, inasmuch as the pursuits of literature and philosophy have shifted into other quarters. But, certainly, the East may be esteemed exceedingly happy in this her ignorance. For though, undoubtedly, she is pressed down with many miseries through the tyranny of the Turks, and possesses no facilities for the acquirement of knowledge, she has at least this great advantage, that she knows nothing of those pestilent disputes which, in the present day, pollute the ears of men. To her, innovations are novel signs and prodigies, to be dreaded rather than followed. She is contented with that simple faith which she has learned from the Apostles and our forefathers. In it she perseveres even unto blood. She never takes away, never adds, never changes. She always remains the same; always keeps and preserves untainted orthodoxy. And if any one chose to observe seriously the state of things in the Eastern Church, he would become aware of a highly important and wonderful circumstance; for Christians themselves, since they have been reduced to servitude, though persecuted by the unbelievers as by serpents within their dwellings, even if they see themselves deprived of their substance, their children dragged from their embraces, and themselves afflicted and distressed without intermission, to the utmost limits of endurance, yet think it not grievous to suffer these things for the faith of Christ, and, as has been often proved, when occasion offered, are ready to submit to death itself. And perhaps the almighty power of God is by this means rendered more apparent, by which so great grace is bestowed on men, when his strength is made perfect in weakness. Is not this a miracle? Are not these the marks of the Lord Jesus which Paul carried about? For with this the Eastern Christians, setting no store by the advantages of this life, and regarding them as perishable, keep up their hearts to one end—the inheritance of a heavenly kingdom to the glory of God.

Wherefore, then, do I mention these things to you? That your good sense may teach you, that in these parts it is a difficult thing to admit any novelty in the Church or in faith. Nor shall we ever consent to those things which, although they have a semblance of advantage and usefulness, yet are proved by experience to occasion great scandal to all Christendom. And I could wish that your Church would with us follow the same rule; for, in that case, there would not be those objections to it which the writers of these times everywhere bring forward".

It is true that there is in this letter much to surprise and to grieve us; yet it is worthy of notice, that the high Oriental feeling in which Cyril had been educated had not yet forsaken him, nor was, to all appearance, injured and weakened. The Eastern Church is with him the model of perfection and unchangeableness : other communities may be true Churches, but she is the Church; other communities may have admitted innovations, she has rejected and repudiated them.

Timothy, Ecumenical Patriarch

While this letter was on its way to Holland, the Church of Constantinople petitioned the Sultan to be allowed to proceed to the election of a Patriarch. The friends of Cyril were earnestly desirous that he should be raised to this office : great interest was made for him, and considerable hopes of success were entertained. But the conduct of Cyril on this occasion amply refutes the calumnies of Leo Allatius, with respect to his simoniacal purchase of the See of Alexandria. It is pretty clear, that had he chosen to promise the pescesium, or tribute to the Porte, which the Patriarchs were in the habit of paying, he would have been successful : as he was firm on this point, in Timothy, Bishop of Patras, was raised to the dignity. This man could not forget his rival's attempt : and Cyril found himself uncomfortable, and even unsafe at Constantinople. He therefore went into Wallachia, as it would appear, with a two-fold object; that of composing some disputes which had arisen, probably from the interference of Romish Missionaries, in this province; and that of collecting alms for the distressed Church of Alexandria. While here, he received an answer from M. Uytenbogaert which seems to have been written with true Presbyterian insolence, though couched in the most civil and complimentary terms. Eager to prove his denial of the Divine Right of Episcopacy, the Dutch Pastor evidently placed himself on an equality with Cyril; and, humble and unassuming as the latter was, he could not entirely pass over the cool assumption of Uytenbogaert. He replied in a long and valuable letter, from which we shall give some extracts :

"I am not surprised", it commences, "nor is it anything different from my expectations, that your sweet echo has replied to the letter I sent, as befits a true steward and dispenser of the Divine Word. You have, with wonderful affection, returned to me, and besought for me, health and Christian peace; and, as if desirous to surpass me in every way, you have added at the beginning of your letter your good wishes in me, for the good of universal Christendom. By this I plainly perceive the ardor of your charity and your earnest desire to see the Christian Churches, scattered throughout the world, founded in the truth and imity of love on That Corner-Stone, the True Foundation, besides which can none lay any other".

This language might be only that of compliment; though of compliment strangely unbecoming, when addressed by the third Prelate of the Church to a teacher and propagator of schism. But what follows is still more painful.

"I seem to become more bold in writing to you, to whom I may well open the interior recesses of my heart, and give and receive profitable information on every necessary matter.

"But if I am in error, you will not throw me into a seething pot, nor stretch me over live coals, nor terrify me with the torturer's appearance. For most assuredly the Catholic faith of Christ is not sustained, but miserably overthrown, by such tyranny.

"You will admonish me, however, as becomes a brother. And I will deal with you in like manner : the mere opinions of men we will both hold in suspicion : the words of the Scripture and the Gospel as true and infallible".

Cyril then answers the remark of Uytenbogaert on Presbyteral equality.

"As to your remark that there is no difference between us in rank, it is wisely made : for dignity can never alienate the mind of one who is sincere. Nor can a perishable thing cause its possessor to experience any excess of pride. If we are different in dignity, yet we are both mortals, both servants of God, both needing the Grace of God."

After asking for a profession of his correspondent's faith, and giving his own, as distinguished from heretics in the belief of a Consubstantial Trinity, and from the Western Church in the omission of the Filioque, he thus proceeds :

"But since our Lord Jesus Christ, making a perfect provision for the promotion of our salvation, has, in the covenant of grace—that is, His Gospel,—appointed to us sacraments, I have thought it right to remark something also concerning them, viz.. Baptism and the Eucharist; the use of which we esteem so necessary, that without it we conceive that no one can be certain of his faith; for although they are seals, conferring the grace of the Gospel, yet they ought not to be totally separated from faith; because, in the same manner, as they cannot be efficacious without faith, so, because they are ordained, faith cannot be so without them. Hence their use must be perpetual in the Church : although one of them cannot be repeated, and without it the Eucharist would not confer grace; and, indeed, if an unbaptized person should communicate, he would not receive the Sacrament, because he would take it in opposition to faith and the truth of its use, order, and institution. In the same manner we say that neither would profit the impenitent to salvation, because baptism does not save the impenitent, and Paul teaches that he who eateth and drinketh unworthily is guilty of the Body and Blood .... On the other hand, what efficacy and power those Sacraments have for believers, appears from a consideration of the benefit those must receive to whom the merit of the Passion is communicated; for either of them is significative and declarative of the Passion and Death of the Lord; since it was said concerning the one, 'Do this in remembrance of Me'—that is, 'As often as ye shall cat this Bread and drink this Cup, ye shall show forth the Lord's Death'; and of the other, 'Whosoever of us are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized into His Death', whence it is certain by the former we become partakers of the Divine Nature, and by the latter are born again, without which new birth and communion it would be difficult for us to be justified. Hence we ought always to render thanks to the Father, Who hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son, in Whom we have redemption through His Blood—the forgiveness of sins.

"In Baptism we think a form necessary; not, however, a proud and pompous one, but one humble and simple, such as we esteem this : 'The servant of God is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost'. But previous to all the Greek Church preserves certain ceremonies, as the renunciation of Satan, the profession of faith of the infant's sureties, the giving of a name, the threefold immersion, and other things of small moment, but all accompanied with devout prayers, on which it would be tedious and unprofitable to dwell

"In the Sacrament of the Eucharist, it holds that the following ceremonies are to be observed. As it is beyond doubt that this mystery was delivered to us for two ends—for the commemoration of Christ's Death, and for the receiving of His Body and Blood, in order to commemorate His Death, our Church is wont, before the consecration of the leavened bread, to recite these words : 'He was brought as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before his shearer is harmless', and then, 'And one of the soldiers with his spear pierced His side, and forthwith came thereout blood and water'. And these words are scarcely finished when the wine and water is poured into the cup. . . .

''And here I should introduce the mention of the sacred particles, which particles are nine very minute portions of bread, and a tenth of S. Mary the Mother of the Lord, which, after the pouring of the wine and water into the cup, being taken from one loaf of oblation, we place near the bread of the Eucharist, to signify that the condition of the Saints is even now happy, who, being joined as members to Christ their head, triumph with Him in heavenly glory. But it is not of much importance if that devout and peculiar ceremony of the East, which has little or nothing to do with the essence of the Sacrament, be not known any further, since it is not necessary that others should be informed concerning it. For though the Romans preach and declare that human ordinances are so necessary to salvation, that unless a person observes even to the least tittle with them, he cannot be saved; we, notwithstanding, on the contrary, believe divine ordinances to be certain and infallible, and receive and hold those of men as indifferent and fallible. We subject them to the judgment of Scripture, and the test of the Gospel and the Holy Ghost; and if they are good and useful, we think they should be adopted, but if otherwise, spurned and rejected...

"The ceremony of the particles being finished, we begin to repeat some prayers, and having finished the rehearsal of the words which the Evangelists relate either to have been said concerning the Lord's Supper, or to have been uttered by our Lord Himself, (He took bread, and having blessed, He brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said: 'Take, eat, this is My Body', and, 'He took the cup, and having given thanks, He gave it to them, saying: "Drink ye all of this : for this is My Blood of the New Testament, which is shed for many',) we immediately invoke the Holy Spirit, saying, 'And make this bread the honoured Body of thy Christ, and that which is in this cup His precious Blood,' which words S. Chrysostom in the book which we call the Liturgy, and before him S. Basil, appoints. After these words we break the bread, and communicate in both kinds; and if any layman, i.e., any of those who are not permitted to administer this Sacrament, wishes to communicate, we likewise impart to him both kinds

"With regard to our Church government, it is not monarchical, but mixed and limited. Each [Bishop] is a king in his own particular church; but he will not be a king there unless he desires to be a tyrant. And be he king or not, if he is found guilty of contumacy, he subjects himself to the sentence of the aristocracy of Bishops. To this government we are very much attached : for we know that such was the order established by God in the Jewish Church, of which Moses indeed was head; but yet an aristocracy was ordained. That appears to me the proper method of governing Churches; and if we at the present time are somewhat wanting, the cause of it is the tyranny of the unbelievers, to which perverse men frequently have recourse; and thus confound the order of our Church, which my eyes have often seen in these times...

"The Greek Church is distributed into many nations : the Iberians, Colchians, Arabs, Chaldeans, Ethiopians, Egyptians, Muscovites, Russians, Bulgarians, Servians or Sclavians, Albanians, Caramanians, Walachians, Moldavians, and Greeks... All these nations persevere in the faith of Christ, obeying the Greek Church and their own rules. Nor will you observe amongst them, beyond ceremonies which vary with the country, any alteration in matter of faith. It sometimes happens that there is superstition in particular nations, arising from barbarism and ignorance, which we indulge without detriment to faith, because, on account of many different difficulties, we cannot hinder it; but in those things which relate to the essence of the faith, they preserve and continue as they received it from the beginning.

"These nations have four lawful Patriarchs, amongst whom the Patriarch of Constantinople holds the first place, the Patriarch of Alexandria the second, the Patriarch of Antioch the third, and the Patriarch of Jerusalem the last. There can be no doubt that before the empire of the East, the Archbishop of Constantinople never had the title of Patriarch, and the Patriarch of Alexandria was always Primate; as may be gathered from the First Council, the most celebrated of all, and from other passages and arguments. But the order was changed through the intervention of the Emperor Constantine, who could not endure that his new Rome should not have the presence of some new, great Prelate. The Patriarch of Constantinople, however, could never rightfully have obtained the primacy of station, if he of Alexandria had not, upon request made to him, volutarily given way; nor would he have given way unless he had been endowed with great privileges, and a title superior to him of Constantinople, which the Alexandrian Patriarch enjoys to this very time, to the admiration of the whole East; which, if any one were to endeavour to explain to those who are beyond the limits of the East, he would call them fables, and yet they are true. But I mention these things to you, sir, not because we contend with the Patriarch of Constantinople for the Primacy; for to seek this in the Church is to rend the Church, and it would be stupidity and folly for ecclesiastics to dispute for primacy of station to the injury of souls. He is first and most happy who conforms himself to the example of Paul, who professed himself to be the least in the Church, but edified it more than all; but since it is the truth, I have not neglected to write it to you, my friend. By this arrangement, primacy of
station is preserved amongst these; amongst the rest [Bishops] are endued with equal rights, and thus brotherly regard is completely preserved

"Nor must I omit to tell you that all the Patriarchs, except him of Constantinople, preserve that excellent order of Church government above mentioned; and the reason is, that their election is lawful, and depends upon those who have no interest but to see the Church fiourishing, well governed, and orderly; and if they transgress, the Patriarch of Alexandria is a ready judge to keep within bounds and correct such things, especially if they relate to faith. But it is not so with him of Constantinople, because for the most part Turkish oppression, without any foregoing election, confirms him who gives most : with which the Patriarch of Alexandria vehemently reproaches them. But he cannot compete with Turkish violence, which seeks to gain, whether justly or unjustly, and therefore favors those by whom most is given. Besides this, the distance of the places, and other difficulties, hinder any provision being made against this irregularity

"The Patriarch of Constantinople is more powerful, on account of his ready access to the Emperor. Those of Antioch and Jerusalem, upright and humble Prelates, have scarcely a sufficient subsistence. The Patriarch of Alexandria is ill thought of; because, without violence towards his brethren, he sometimes defends himself from wrongful attempts, and is always dreaded and suspected by them. But let others speak of his authority and estimation amongst them : from hence it comes to pass, that unless he had confirmed Athanasius, he would not be Patriarch of Antioch : unless by his wish and intervention Theophanes had been elected, he would not be at the head of the Church of Jerusalem; unless he had lately expelled Neophytus of Constantinople, Timotheus would not be there; and I leave to your ambassador to inform you in what alarm that man is, because he obtained the Patriarchate by improper means. But if you, sir, wish to know why Neophytus was ejected, it was on account of his multiplied acts of contumacy. He rose to that degree in the first place by the use of tyranny, and subsequently exercised his government much more tyrannically; and that he might have satellites, as ministers to his pleasures, he introduced some vagabonds of Romans as preachers in our Church, teaching many errors and seducing simple folks. He was admonished by me more than once, but he would not put any check upon himself; for which reason I was compelled to surmount every other difficulty, to set at nought private loss, and to do my utmost to get him deposed, which was done. But Timotheus has obtained the vacant place by dint of bribing the Turks; wherefore the name of the Patriarch of Alexandria keeps him in alarm, and Constantinople is still in considerable commotion

"The election of the Patriarchs, excepting him of Constantinople, rests in the leading men of the nation, who assemble with the Clergy, and, after the customary prayers, choose whom they judge fittest. When they are elected, they deposit a certain sum with the Turkish officials of the province to obtain possession... The Patriarch of Alexandria pays nothing to the Turks, nor does he ever join with them in any Church matters, or choose them as advisers or allies; the reason of which is, the prudence and vigilance of former Patriarchs, who, being aware of the danger, have always kept their subjects unanimous. On this unity good and evil depends; and, by the favor of God, it is in our own times greater than usual, and wonderfully stands by us in all circumstauccs; never suffering any to disturb the Church of Alexandria, but meeting everything unfavorable with promptitude, and the more when the See is vacant; although by means of calumnies, invented by the unbelievers, after the usual Turkish fashion, we suffer daily injuries... When the Patriarchs are elected, they are consecrated by at least three Metropolitans or Archbishops The principal ceremonies of the Consecration are as follows :—The Patriarch elect, stands in the midst of the church, .... and makes the profession of his faith in an audible voice, reciting the Creed, and promising to be faithful to Christ and His Flock. Then follow prayers, with the invocation of the Holy Ghost, imposition of hands, and the naming of the Patriarchate, [to which he is appointed,] and thus ends the Consecration. Archbishops and Bishops are consecrated in a similar manner; but there is this addition in the case of Patriarchs, that when the ceremony of Consecration is finished, a staff is given into their hand, with a longer charge; and in some Churches, (as at Jerusalem and Alexandria, but nowhere else,) the head is anointed with oil, called the oil of Confirmation; but I know no other reason for it but custom

"Each Patriarch has his Archbishops and Bishops. The Patriarch of Constantinople has more than the rest; and next to him the Patriarch of Antioch. The Patriarch of Alexandria has had only Chorepiscopi for a space of two hundred years; but it would be tedious to recount the causes why he has not Archbishops and Bishops. The Chorepiscopi are but deputies; they differ from Bishops in this, that the latter can ordain, appoint, and arrange at their discretion, within the limits of their Diocese; but the Chorepiscopi not without the authority of their superior

"It was your wish, likewise, to obtain information concerning the heretics in the East, and I therefore will not neglect to notice anything which may be to the purpose. There are still four sects of them with whom our Church docs not communicate, the Armenian, the Coptic, the Maronite, and the Jacobite, whose mode of worship is unsightly, and their ceremonices worse than brutish. In matter of faith, they are heretics; in habits and other circumstances of an ecclesiastical nature, you would say that they differed nothing from beasts. They are so sunk in darkness as scarcely to know whether they believe, or what they believe, but each of them is obstinately attached to its own superstitions and errors.

"The Armenians follow the doctrine of Manichaeus, and have many peculiar points of belief. Their Clergy are reckoned gods upon earth, because they abstain from vegetables during Lent; but these gods, the true God is my witness, have often moved my bile; and doubtless any one who is a spectator of their foul and absurd follies, could not help being annoyed. But perhaps it will not displease you if I make you in some degree as wise as myself. It happened to me, as according to Gregory it did to Basil, when he was disputing at Athens with an Armenian, to whom Gregory administers a blow in the ribs, whilst Basil, attacknig him on the other side, carried off the victory. So, once upon a time, when I was in the church of the Holy Sepulchre, at Jerusalem, I lighted upon a certain Armenian, by name Barsabas; and as the Armenian was very much lifted up, and gave it out that he was more learned than the rest of us, (though I could scarce have expected to meet with so ignorant a man,) watching my opportunity, I thought it not amiss to try, before the crowd of people, what sort of spirit he was of. At length we came to an engagement, the commencement of our discussion being, whether our Lord Jesus Christ dwelt amongst men, and suffered in appearance only; for the Armenians believe that He did. But when I put questions to him, and urged that it was impious to believe that the Lord did not really suffer, which is the same thing as to deny that He really wrought our salvation; and when with these and other incontrovertible reasonings and testimonies from the Gospel, Barsabas was confounded, yet was ashamed to confess the truths but tried to invent some more clear method of combating me; and when he perceived that he could in no other way nullify my arguments, he shut up the whole dispute and cut short the contest. 'I know', said he, 'that the Armenian religion is more holy than yours, because you in Lent eat beans and other vegetables, from which many worms and much corruption are engendered; but we, observing the purity which becomes a Christian, thinking these to be profane food on fasting days, scarcely dare touch them, and with this we are content.

"Have I not raised your indignation by the very telling this business? Well, believe me that I kept silence for a good while, doubtful what reply could be made to ignorance so gross, and I was thinking of the best words for bringing this prince of disputants into another slough of confusion, when one of my attendants spoke up, and replied, 'You have a good right to be a saint, Barsabas, for you have the soul of Pythagoras in you; but if it went from you into a camel, and the camel was still Barsabas, would you then abstain from beans?' An unpretending but shrewd fellow gave him no time to reply, but subjoined, 'You should not say camel; if Barsabas was an ass, could he live in these parts without beans?' Hereupon the bystanders broke out into uncontrollable laughter, and that was the end of our conference; for this Armenian Coriphreus of disputers went away very wroth. From this, your good sense will judge on what sort of reasons this rabble rely in thinking that they persevere in the Catholic Faith. Upon such sand as this their Clergy build the salvation of themselves and of their followers.

''Another sect is that of the Copts, who follow the doctrine of Dioscorus and Eutyches, a filthy and barbarous race. They are called Copts, because they used to circumcise themselves; but this they do no longer. The reason, however, is, not as they state it, because it is vain, and against the law, (for our Lord Christ Himself was circumcised,) but because they thereby gave other Christians, who do not practise circumcision, an occasion of laughing at them. I have abundant acquaintance with these pests in the city of Grand Cairo; for, as this was formerly an Archbishopric of the Patriarchate of Alexandria, I have for the most part taken up my residence there, on account of the salubrity of the air, seldom visiting Alexandria. These Copts, then, are so numerous there, that if the Greeks were counted against them, as Homer wrote of the Greeks and Trojans, the Copts would be ten times as many as the Greeks, and many a dozen would lack a cup-bearer. My predecessors in the Patriarchate, and especially Meletius, my last predecessor, a most learned and exemplary person, have made many efforts to bring them back to the way of truth, but without success.

"Pope Clement VIII of Rome both did and bore many things to come to an arrangement with them; and you would laugh, sir, if you knew what arts the Copts used in that business, and how much the Pope was imposed upon; although Baronius, the new historian, before he became acquainted with the real state of things, perhaps with a view to flatter Clement, after the fashion of the Court of Rome, was in a hurry to give him the credit of having accomplished it by his own newly acquired industry, and chose to give an account in his Annals of the Conversion of the Copts, to the Church of Rome, which time, not long after, proved to be entirely false. In fact, Paul, the present Pope, for that very cause banished several Copts from Rome.

"They have a superior, who is called in their own language Jabuna, which means, My Lord. He came several times to visit me in Egypt; but every time he came, he came in silence and went away in silence. One of his people spoke for him, and he signified his assent or dissent from the words of the speaker by the inclination or holding back of his head; but he never opened his mouth, because, a she says, it is not allowed; nay, it is a sin for a Jabuna to speak much out of his own house; but he kept his rule with a rigor beyond law, for he not only did not speak much, but was altogether silent. For my part, I am a talkative and chatty person, who think I ought to speak with my own mouth, and not with that of others. But the thing which more displeases me in that good Lord is, that he never showed me any part of his face except the eyes. His whole head, whether he raises it or inchnes it, is covered with a cloth, so that he will never give you a glimpse of his face, but you would say that he was a ghost in a tragedy. I am unwilling to trouble a person of your sagacity any further about such absurdities; but the Copts have a Casis amongst them, (Casis means Presbyter,) called Peter. He is much in the habit of coming to visit me, and says that he knows the errors of his own religion, and reproves them; but I do not place much reliance upon him, because ,if his conscience dictated what he says with his mouth, he would no longer remain a Coptish Presbyter

''The Maronite sect is semi-Roman; indeed, it is on the road to becoming entirely Roman, for many Maronites have gone to Rome to study, and from thence have migrated to Mount Lebanon, a castle in the province of Phoenicia, where their principal residence is, exceedingly well instructed by the Romans; and at the present time almost all that race follow the Roman religion, especially as their chief Bishop professes himself a Papist. And as the Dioecese of the Patriarch of Antioch is contiguous to the Maronites, I am afraid they will infect the neighbors; more especially as the cautions of the Patriarch and of myself appear to take no effect, for an Arab does not comprehend how insidious and encroaching a thing mischief is.

"The Jacobite race is the most filthy and most degraded; nor have I anything to write respecting it, except that we have a good right to know it for its Nestorian heresy.

"These are the pest of the East, which God keeps in check by the general scourge of the unbelievers, so that they may do us no injury

"There would be other things more necessary to write relating to those points which are now discussed and sifted by the learned, as concerning freewill, predestination, and justification; concerning which the world is not yet agreed what ought to be held. Our Church has always held the same doctrine, and has taught these points in one and the same way. He who has but a dream may speak dreams; and he who has the Word of God should should speak the Word of God in truth. What has the chaff to do with the wheat? Those to whom it is entrusted should do the work of an evangelist, and fullfil their ministiy with sobriety; so that, not being intoxicated with passions, of which the efforts of the Jesuits are full, he may not presume to lie, but speak the truth. I am so straitened for time that I cannot speak of these matters; nor, indeed, do I think it necessary, for it is fitter for graver and more learned men to undertake that task without fear, as James Arminius, who in my opinion was a learned man, has done under various heads. But as he lays down propositions, in which many points are implied which are not expressed, his book ought to be read, not cursorily, as I have done, but in a business-like manner, if an opinion is to be pronounced at any length, and not a hasty one; a task which your kindness might at pleasure impose upon me, if I were at home and released from this troublesome journey. I hope, please God, that I shall soon return; and then, sir, you can write to me with freedom, and receive replies which, I trust, will be agreeable, and thus understand more clearly that I am your sincere friend and brother in Christ.

"Moreover, you will observe that nothing is ever written in my letters which is not dictated by reason and truth, by which I desire that everything of mine may be tried. Far be it from me, from my conscience, from my character, that truth should be either neglected, or not preferred to all other things. For the truth I dispute even with my own brethren, the Greek Clergy. I am the enemy of ignorance; and although I do not object to a simple and unlearned laity, because I know that men may be saved, although their minds are uncultivated and simple, whilst they fight almost daily against the enemies of the faith, carrying on the conflict, not with arms, but with patience, so as to prove themselves on all points faithful soldiers of Christ; yet it is a great dissatisfaction to me that our Pastors and Bishops should be sunk in the darkness of ignorance. With this I reproach my countrymen, but without avail. And the Jesuits, taking the opportunity, have laid the foundation of a plan for educating boys at Constantinople, and have as undisputed success as foxes amongst poultry; and at length the Roman doctrine will overspread the world, if the satellites of the Court of Rome employ equal diligence in the business, unless God is merciful to us; for His hand alone can save our vessel from this foul shipwreck. Indeed, our only hope is in His mercy and power; otherwise our strength would be quite ineffectual to resist such a persecution, as those of the Greek religion in Poland and Lithuania, the Russians, and others, feel by very sad experience, through the violence which is brought against them by the Roman Clergy, and through the efforts of the Jesuits to bring them to submit to the Church of Rome. And because they refuse to do this, the Jesuits leave nothing untried to attain their end; hence threats, flight, exile, death, and many other things which we read of, as being to take place only in the times of Antichrist. Hence the poor creatures, seeing the laws of the State overthrown, the covenant for the preservation of their liberties done away with, every method of maintaining public peace withdrawn, have recourse to the Greek Church, that we may vouchsafe, by our influence with the king and the nobles, to interpose, and to beg that they may be set at liberty.

"It has so happened, that the care of this business has fallen upon the Patriarch of Alexandria; nor has he neglected to write to the king and all his great men, to press them, by whatever arguments he could, to adjure them by justice, by equity, by respect for the laws, and at length to descend to prayers and entreaties. But it is all to no purpose; and, indeed, my latest information is, that the violence and persecution becomes the more oppressive, in proportion as they despair of taking possession of Muscovy. In fact, these beginnings in Poland appear to threaten many other kingdoms; and what wonder if they have dared to attack even Constantinople herself? I hear that you take good care of yourselves, lest this leaven should injure your people; and I am very glad of it. We shall always do the same, so far as lies in our power, and so much the more, if we are aided by your spiritual counsel, and cheered by your charity, as it is right you should be by ours; so that, with one mind embracing the orthodox faith of Christ, we may both go on to fulfil the commands of our high calling, faithfully contending, and always defending the truth, to the increase of the Catholic Church, and the eternal glory of God the Father, and of His Only-Begotten Son and Holy Spirit.

"As soon as I return, I will, please God, look into the books sent me by the most illustrious States, and I shall read them with double relish, because they have been sent me by my lords themselves. For the book of Arminius I confess that I am in your debt; but on my return to my own home, I will take care to recompense you by some manuscript;
and if I have anything else, it shall be all common to your goodness. I should be much obliged to you if you would make me an intelligible catalogue of some recent select authors, who have written thoughtfully and learnedly on both Testaments, especially on the books of Moses, on the greater prophets, on the Gospels and Epistles of Paul—that is, such as are most in use amongst you; and likewise other authors who have written on divinity, philosophy, and other arts, and even on mathematics and send it to me the first opportunity. And if you would add the names of the most famous and renowned of your learned men, and appoint to me in my turn whatever may be agreeable to you from these parts, I will always readily gratify you.

"Every wish for the health of so obliging a person."

 

The Council of Cairo

On the return of Cyril from Wallachia (AD 1616), he found the Church of Constantinople greatly prejudiced against him: and retired to Mount Athos. Here he remained some little time; and became possessed of that invaluable MS. of the whole Bible, known by the name of the Alexandrine, and probably written in the fifth or sixth century. We shall in the sequel hear more of this treasure.

The Turkish Government issued a mandate for the death of Cyril: the Monks conveyed him under a disguise elsewhere; and finally, Timothy was reconciled to him. Thus Cyril returned into Egypt. He determined, on arriving at Cairo, to express his sense of the innovations of the Church of Rome in the strongest possible manner : and accordingly, having assembled such of the Prelates of his own Church as happened to be at hand, he delivered over to an anathema the emissaries of the Western Church. Whatever may be thought of this step, it must be remembered that these Roman Missionaries were in Egypt the direct supporters of heresy, by the unholy alliance which they formed with the Coptic Patriarch.

It would seem, however, that Cyril had become painfully sensible of the inability of his Clergy, from want of learning, to cope with these envoys. He probably was unwilling to send them to Venice or Padua, knowing the dangers to which they would there be exposed; and still more unwilling, at this time, to trust them at Geneva, or at any of the Dutch universities. He therefore cast his eyes towards England, where Abbot filled the Chair of Canterbury. With this Prelate he seems to have opened a communication, while yet at Constantinople, through the English ambassador; and to have obtained from him an assurance, that if he would send any well-qualified ecclesiastic, his education should be carried on in the best manner. Cyril made choice of a young priest named Metrophanes Critopulus : recommended by his talents, the improvement he had made of his former advantages, and his good birth. By this ecclesiastic Cyril wrote the following letter to Abbot.

"To the Most Blessed and Honorable the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of All England and Metropolitan; one in many respects to be most highly honoured by me; let this letter, when arrived in Britain, be delivered with honor, and fitting reverence;

"Cyril, by the Grace of God, Pope and Patriarch of the great city Alexandria, and Ecumenical Judge.

"Iwish good health to your Worship, to the advantage and increase of the flock entrusted to you. Since we are now by the Grace of Christ returned to our Egypt, and enjoy peace in the Church, we are called upon to acquit ourselves of the promise made to your Blessedness in our former letters. Christ enjoys in no Church a profounder peace than in this of ours, since no strife nor contention respecting the Faith prevails amongst us, since the enemies of the Christian religion who are the most bitter and the most opposed, put a bridle on the tongues of those who would stir up such contentions. By whom, it is true, we are vexed and tried in many ways : and yet, for the Name of Christ which we bear in our mouths, and Whose marks we carry about with us, we are delighted to suffer affliction, and vexation, and, if need be, to undergo the severest penalty, that, by the trial, our faith may shine more and more, and the glory of God may be manifested.

"From such, then, we fear nothing : but rather from those dogs and deceitful workers, those hypocrites, who say one thing and mean another, who are audacious enough to attack God Himself, if they may only by any means assist the tyranny of the Roman Pontiff.

"These emissaries exceedingly terrify us, and impose on our simplicity, and make use of many engines to bring us under their power, trusting chiefly in the show of erudition, and the thorny difficulties of the questions which they raise; while we, meanwhile, labor under a want of learned men, who can oppose these sophists on equal terms. For, on account of our sins we have become the most contemptible of all nations; and with the overthrow of the Empire have lost the liberal arts.

"It was continued meditation on this subject which induced me to open a communication with your Love, and to implore your counsel and assistance. But we received the greatest comfort from the reply of your Blessedness, by which, acting under the command of your king, you advised us to send some of our countrymen to study Theology amongst you with diligence.

"Here then is a Greek, by rank a Presbyter, possessing a good knowledge of Greek literature, a child of our Alexandrian Church, of noble birth, and talents prepared to receive deeper learning. We trust that the advances he will make will be such as need not to be repented of, if Divine Grace will breathe on him from Heaven, and your Blessedness will lend him an assisting hand.

"And because you say that this plan is acceptable to the most serene King James the First, who is crowned by the hand of God, we ought to be grateful for his kindness, in which he makes a near approach to the pity and goodness of the Celestial King. In this he has fullfilled our expectations, as one whom God has blessed from Heaven, and enriched with the fullest gifts of His Grace, and by His special Providence committed to his care such and so large an Empire.

"Therefore we first request your Blessedness to salute, in our name, with the most profound reverence, and with the most humble inclination of the body, His Most Gracious Majesty, to whom, from our very hearts, we desire long life and extended old age. Then we would ask him that, of his innate, and I had almost said immense goodness, he would allow some sparkle of his benevolence to shine on our Metrophanes.

"Lastly, if anything be wanting in my letter, with respect to the instruction or complete education of this man, this will easily be supplied by your prudence, which God has raised up, and set forth as a shining torch in an exalted place, in order that you may be able to give consolation to others, not only to your Britons, but also to our Greek countrymen.

"Farewell, most Blessed Father ; may the Lord God grant you a long and happy life, and at the same time supply you with strength in order that you may be enabled to bear the cares of the State and of the Church.

"Egypt, March 1, 1616". [i.e. 1617.]

 

We may observe that Cyril's Orientalism appears here undiminished. The Greek Church still, to use his favourite expression, carries about the marks of her Crucified Lord; and we have not a wish for union with Protestant Communities. Had it pleased God that this connection should have subsisted, to what brilliant results might it have led! And yet it is impossible not to feel deep regret that Andrewes had not, according to the general expectation of the Church, been at this time Archbishop : he might have effectually prevented Cyril's subsequent fall; and how deep an interest he had in the affairs of the Oriental Church his private devotions amply prove.

 

Metrophanes reached England in safety; was well received by the King and the Archbishop, and was sent to Oxford. Abbot's reply was as follows :

"London, Nov. 17, 1617.

"George Abbot, by Divine Providence Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate of all England, and Metropolitan, to his most holy Lord and Brother.

''Cyril, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, and Ecumenical
Judge, health in Christ.

"There are many things which testify the sympathy existing between, and the sweet agreement enjoyed by, the members of the Universal Church : but at this time, I feel it on this account especially, in that I am enabled to embrace with both arms your brotherhood whom I have never seen face to face, through divided from me by many a league of land and sea, as if present; for the unity of faith binds each to each, and the common bond of love joins us by one and the selfsame Spirit, by Whom we extol Christ, Whom we both breathe: and we heartily congratulate you on the peace which your Church enjoys, now, from your account, disturbed by no schism nor intestine commotion; and that external tranquillity which, if not altogether undisturbed, yet fills us with astonishment, which you enjoy among the bitter and determined enemies of the Christian name, according to that of the Royal Seer concerning Christ the King, 'Be Thou Ruler in the midst among Thine enemies.' We also request the congratulations of your piety, on the manifold gifts of God, poured out abundantly on the British Church. In which, to quote what your Chrysostom once said of our island, 'you may hear the people philosophising from Holy Scripture, in a strange tongue, but a familiar faith, using the language of barbarians, professing the faith of Saints.' For our people, devoted to the worship of Christ, is conversant in the clear light of the Gospel, and abundantly satisfies its thirst in the limpid streams of living water, without hindrance from any; and this cannot be obtained in the Churches under the obedience of the Roman Pontiff. As to discipline, we differ from the other Churches which have been purged from the dregs of Popery : we retain the most ancient form of Ecclesiastical rule, and the distinct orders of ministers. God, the Giver of all good things, preserve them to us for ever; though we, after the depravity of our mind, have on account of our sins, and more especially the crime of ingratitude, deserved that our golden candlestick should be removed from its place, and ourselves entirely deprived of the light of Holy Scripture. We do not ascribe the good we have received to our own merits, for we have none, but first to the Divine loving kindness, and next, to the singular love wherewith He embraces the elect instrument of His glory, our most serene King James, who, heir both to the Crown and to the religion of Elizabeth of pious memory, confirms them by his laws, and renders them illustrious by his example. For he not only is a diligent hearer of holy discourses, and a guest at the tremendous Table of the Lord, especially in the more solemn feasts, but also, which is more than example, and the greatest thing in this great monarch, he discusses learnedly the most abstruse mysteries of the schools, with the Bishops best practised in the arena of Divinity. He has also written much and accurately on Theology, and his works have lately been given to the press : they are well calculated to establish the Faith and to destroy errors, particularly those of the Romanists. I congratulate you on having obtained the entire friendship of such a King, who, on the perusal of the letters of your Holiness to myself, salutes your Blessedness, and speaks of you in the most flattering manner. And to give you a proof of his good will, he has commanded me to receive your Metrophanes in a kind and friendly manner. I will cherish him as a pledge and surety of your love to me; and will gladly supply him with whatever is necessary, or may be convenient. I have already planted this generous youngshoot of a Grecian school, in a pleasant garden, where he may flourish amongst us, and in good time bring forth fruit; it is in the University of Oxford, where there is a most excellent library, and seventeen colleges, and where a numerous race of learned men are supported at the public expense, as in a Piytanaeum.

"Your Metrophanes is already entered on the books; and, when he has come to maturity, and brought forth fruit, then, as shall seem best to your prudence, and be most for the advantage of your Church, he shall either take deep root amongst us, or be sent back to his native soil, and there again planted.

"I have only, Most Holy Brother, to ask that your piety will commend the British Church to God by continual prayer, as we shall intercede for that of Greece, in like manner : that it, together with the whole Catholic Church, being surrounded with the Divine Providence as with a wall, may be confirmed in peace and love; and that it may be freed from these new emissaries who oppugn with their treachery alike Christian verity and Christian liberty. Among whom those pseudo- Monks are chiefly to be avoided, now fresh from the potter's wheel, who arrogate to themselves the name of the Savior, who, professing to seek peace, throw all things into confusion, and desiring, as they profess, truth, teach equivocation, even where it involves perjury. The Great Shepherd of the sheep preserve His whole flock from these foxes and rapacious wolves; and at the same time preserve your piety in peace and perpetual felicity."

 

It is plain that at this time the thoughts of Cyril were much turned to England, and that he received pretty accurate information from Metrophanes of what concerned its Church. It is plain, also, that during the year and a half following the departure of Metrophanes, he became an Apostate from the doctrine of the Eastern Church. For he addressed, in 1618, a Letter to the celebrated Archbishop of Spalatro, on his pretended relinquishment of the Roman, and junction with the English Communion. This letter has never been published. We shall, therefore, give it entire in a note; contenting ourselves here with its most important portions. Here it will be seen that Cyril stamps himself a thorough Genevan, and it proves that the influence of Le Leu Wilhem and, at a later period, Antony Leger, had not that influence on him for harm, which those who have written his life without having seen this unhappy letter have naturally imagined, since he was already
an unconscious heretic.

The letter is, word for word, as follows :

"Cyril, Pope and Patriarch of Alexandria, and Ecumenical Judge, to the Most Illustrious and Most Reverend Archbishop of Spalatro, Mark Antony de Dominis, his most learned and worthy brother and lord, peace.

"If you have been able, most worthy Fater, to manifest to the whole Morld that truly Cliristian zeal, which at this time has unexpectedly terrified the kingdom of Antichrist to the great editication of the Faithful, and to give proof of that sincere charity whereby you have purged the Catholic Church, the Bride of Christ the Lord, from the ill meaning of its adversaries, and adorned it with its pristine beauty; our humbleness may also use the same liberty, in replying to your kind letter, and give you evident proof, how deeply the Holy Ghost has sown in our hearts the fervor of love towards your most
worthy person, and how much we desire to communicate the reformation of our faith, to you who are one of the reformed that when our letter offers itself to you to be read, our mind may also offer itself to be understood."

He then goes on to say that he has become acquaintecl with the Archbishop's fliglh from Italy, his journey to the Hague, and his subsequent voyage to England. His previous acquaintance with the character of the writer added to his pleasure in receiving a copy of the De Republica Christiana, which De Dominis, it seems, had forwarded him, and of which he speaks in the most flattering terms.

"I was ill", he continues, "and confined to my bed, when your book and your letter were brought to me. I instantly read the letter; and as soon as I understood what the book was, what the argument, and who the author, I called for the work, took it in my hands, and did not desist from its perusal, until the visit of my physician put a stop to it. The physician came and felt my pulse; I handed to him the book, for he is a Romanist by religion. What said he? Does your Holiness wish to hear? Nothing else than the general accusation of the Romanists, that it was the refusal of the dignity of the Cardinalate for which you are anxious, that caused you to fall into your apostacy."

We may just remark that this plain speaking of Cyrill's could, not be very agreeable to his correspondent; inasmuch as the subsequent conduct of the Archbishop made it but too likely that the accusation in question had been true.

"As if it were apostacy to obey sincerity, and liberty of conscience, and no longer to tolerate the ambition and delusions of the Roman Pontiff! As if it were apostacy to leave a doctrine founded on human dreams, and to adhere to that Orthodox Faith which exactly consents with the Word of God!"

He proceeds to dwell on the wound which, in his opinion, the work had inflicted on Rome, and then mentions the only objection which had occurred to him against it.

"This one thing I consider a fault, that your prudence, misled by Baronius, took that Alexandrian illusion for a real embassy. It was nothing in the world but the imposture of some Copt or Eutychian who went to Rome, and gave himself out for a Legate of the Patriarch of Alexandria. Before the discovery of the trick, the flatterers of Clement wrote and preached wonders of this Legation, as if the time were at hand, when the whole world should be one Fold under the Roman Pontiff. But on the creation of Paul, and detection of the fraud, the Legate was secretly banished from Rome, lest the farce should be discovered; and returned to Egypt.

"The case was the same, in that History of the Russian Bishops, of which I might speak, because I was then Nuncio from Alexandria in Poland, the Legate of Constantinople being my colleague, and was present among the whole nation of the Russians in the Council of Brzesc, assembled against those very Bishops who had been to Rome, unless it were useless to waste time, and to abuse your patience by entering into the deceits, wiles, and stratagems of the Romanists."

After a few more observations he proceeds in formal terms to announce his apostacy from the doctrine of the Oriental Church.

"There was a time, when we were bewitched, before we understood what was the very pure Word of God : and although we did not communicate with the Roman Pontiff, nor receive him for what he gave himself out, namely, the Head of the Church, yet we believed that except in some matters of little moment in which the Greek Church differs from the Latin, the dogmas of the Roman Communion were true; and we abominated the doctrine of the Reformed Churches, as opposed to the Faith, in good truth not knowing what we abominated. But when it pleased the Merciful God to enlighten us, and to give us understanding of our former error, we began to reflect what it was our duty to do; and as it is the part of a good citizen in any sedition to defend the juster cause, much more did I think it the duty of a good Christian not to dissimulate his sentiments in matters pertaining to salvation; but ingenuously to embrace that side which is most consentaneous to the Word of God. What then did I do? Having obtained, through the kindness of friends, some writings of Evangelical Doctors, which the East have not only never seen but, through the influence of the censures of Rome, never even heard of, I invoked earnestly the assistance of the Holy Ghost, and for three years compared the doctrine of the Greek and Latin Church with that of the Reformed."

It is difficult to say, of what three years this is to be understood. But it is probable, however, from the letter which Cyril addressed while in Wallachia to M. Uytenbogaert, that he commenced the study of the books furnished him by the States as soon as possible after his return to Constantinople, perhaps during his residence in the Holy Mountain.

"I left the Fathers, and took for my guide Scripture, and the Analogy of Faith alone. At length, through the Grace of God, because I discovered that the cause of the Reformers was the more just, and more in accordance with the doctrine of Christ, I embraced it. I can no longer endure to hear men say that the comments of human tradition are of equal weight with Holy Scripture. With respect to original sin, it is commonly believed among us, to be entirely extirpated, destroyed, and removed in the Laver of Regeneration. But taught by experience itself, as also instructed by the very Word of God, we hold and believe that it is not removed, but remains in us; being no longer however imputed to us.

"On the article of Justification, with respect to which we believed that our vileness could have merit, and trusted in it more than in our Lord Christ; now we comprehend how pernicious is the doctrine of inherent righteousness, and we look only to the mercy of Almighty God, bestowed on us on account of the merit, apprehended by Faith, of Christ, our Saviour and Mediator. Thence we believe in our heart, and profess with our lips, that all our righteousness hangs; regarding all our works as filthy rags.

" In the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper we constantly believe that Christ is present, not feignedly and symbolically, but truly and properly, essentially and really, as the Words of our Lord prove, 'which is given for you'. With respect to the manner of the Presence, our Greek Church is at variance both with those who adopt the chimera of transubstantiation, and with the erroneous opinion of the Ubiquitaries."

On this point he dwells at some length; and ends by affirming,—most decidedly thereby contradicting his own Church, that the faithful alone receive the Lord's Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. And the same judgment is equally true of the passages which follow.

"As for Image Worship, it is impossible to say, how pernicious under present circumstances it is. God is my witness that I deplore the present state of the East, because I can see no method by which this ugly and shameful wound can be healed. Not that I think that Images are absolutely speaking to be condemned, since when not adored they cannot occasion any mischief; but I abhor the idolatry which they cause to these blind worshippers. And although in my private prayers I have sometimes observed that the Crucifix was an assistance to my mind, as bringing more readily before it the act itself of the Passion, yet because I see that the vulgar, not to say it of some who are wise enough in their own opinions, are carried away from the true and spiritual worship and latria which is due to God alone, I had rather that all would entirely abstain from this so perilous handle of sin, rather than that by ignorantly violating God's law, they should stumble on the rock of offence, and condemn themselves eternally. As for invocations of Saints, time was, when I did not perceive how they eclipsed the glory of our Lord Christ, and I obstinately defended them by two works against the learned Transylvanian Marcus Fuxia. But in his answer, he so completely refuted my arguments, that I had need of no other book to prove my error; and now I call the Lord to witness, that, in reciting the Public Office, it gives me the greatest pain to hear the Saints invoked circumstantially to the dereliction of Jesus Christ, and the great detriment of souls."

He thence goes on to speak of the pretensions of the Roman Church, and of the bitterness with which it pursued its opponents. He mentions the letter which he had written to Abbot, compliments that Primate, King James, and the English Church generally, and concludes by requesting De Dominis, to forward to him the second volume of his work so soon as it should be published.

At this time, Cyril was again unfortunately exposed to Calvinistic influence. M. David le Leu de Wilhem, a Dutch geutleman of good fortune, and liberal education, was at this time traveling in Egypt; and in consequence, it is probable, of the previous correspondence between Cyril and Uytenbogaert, was introduced to, and enjoyed considerable intimacy with the Patriarch. Fourteen of the notes addressed to him by Cyril are still extant; from these we shall make some extracts. Half of them are written in Italian, half in Latin. Cyril's Latin style is extremely bad : yet it speaks much for his diligence, that he should have been able to write with ease in fourlanguages : Arabic, Greek, Latin, and Italian. We shall again use, in some passages, Dr. Beaven's translation.

"I account all worldly things worthless. I have no ambition, no desire, except to be always learning something. If you have lent me so many authors, in the perusal of whom I had become acquainted with, and learned so many things which were never before heard of amongst us, what wonder is it that I should thank you? Indeed, if you have any more to lend me, you need not doubt that I will thank you again."

"I have read Rainoldus, and I have not been displeased with what he says upon the subject of idolatry; for, by the grace of God, I do not fall in with that error, as I hope to explain sufficiently in the Catechism which I intend to offer to my brethren of the East."

Here we see the zeal with which Wilhem had applied himself to so promising a convert. Doubtless, it was by his instigation that the Patriarch undertook to propagate his novel creed. The next letter shows more clearly the deterioration of his views.

"I rejoice that we agree in the most necessaiy points of faith. I approve the whole of the scheme which you have drawn out, which I think may be serviceable for the reformation of the Church. I am of opinion that all those points might be reduced to three; and that if they could be discarded, and their opposites introduced, reformation would be easy. Let ambition, covetousness, and superstition, be exploded, and humility (after Christ's example), contempt of earthly things, and the simplicity of the Gospel be introduced instead, and our desires would be easily obtained. In the Church of Rome there is no room to expect it; for we already know too well that they hate the name of reformation, and obstinately defend their doctrines."

In another letter, we find another earnest request for books. Wilhem was evidently leading the mind of Cyril more and more astray. It appears that two principal subjects of their conferences were the Holy Eucharist, and Fasting. Cyril thus speaks of the former.

"I have seen all that you have written on the Lord's Supper. The first opinion is that of the Romans, the second that of the Lutherans, the third that of the orthodox; and that is the one which I follow!."

What this opinion of the orthodox was, Cyril explains in another place.

"He who approaches in faith to the Table of the Lord, receives not only the visible Sacrament of the Body and Blood, but participates internally and spiritually in the Very Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ."

He directly after acknowledges himself to agree entirely with Wilhem on this point, we may charitably hope from ignorance of what his real sentiments were. In another letter he thus speaks :

"Since you desire to be informed whether there are any Nestorians
here, or other kind of heretics, you must know that, besides the Copts, there are the Armenians and Nestorians; who, when they came here first, kept themselves concealed. This is not more than fifteen years ago; but now I see that they are spread into two streets, and the Copts communicate with them, the blind with the blind. They have a place of worship assigned to them out of Cairo, named the church of S. Menas, where they go every Sabbath and Lord's day to perform Divine worship; but in doctrine, knowledge, and habits, they are much inferior to the Copts; amongst whom I believe you are already aware what troubles were caused by the death of their Abuna or Patriarch. The poor wretches go on from bad to worse, and one can expect no other end but their total ruin, because they will not place themselves under our government; which, as my predecessors tried for many years with loss, and in vain, I have determined not to undertake.

"Therce is here at present a Monk of the Order of S. Francis, who preaches in the house of the Venetian Consul. He professes to be acquainted with many languages, but, in two visits which he paid me, I found out that his greatest force lay in arguing after the manner of the Scotists."

The following is curious and shows that Cyril's mind was more and more alienated from his own Church.

"That was an uncivil person who forbad your gentlemen to enter the choir; but you know well that we must forgive errors of ignorance. I feel sure that you will make little account of it, as well as of the picture. I trust that I have that picture painted on my heart by the hand of God, and that with it I am scaled. Let who will make any others. If I could reform my Church, I would do it willingly; but God knows that it is talking of impossibilities."

The breaking out of the plague at Cairo caused M. de Wilhem to leave the place : he sent a pair of globes as his parting present to Cyril. This was in the early part of the spring of 1619 : and we do not see that self-devotion in Cyril which we might have hoped, in the account which he gives us of his behaviour during the continuance of this tremendous judgment.

"They reckon", he says, "up to this day, that four hundred thousand have died; and yet the corners, I might almost say the whole streets, of this vast city are yet full, and it does not seem as if one were wanting. I remained shut up with great danger in my house, and let down from my windows the answers which I had to make to my Christians respecting the dead : and by the Grace of God am safe up to this time."

Shortly afterwards, Timothy, the successful rival of Cyril, departed this life, and the government of the Throne of Constantinople, during the vacancy, devolved on Cyrill. The atrocious calumny of Allatius, which Le Quien has disgraced himself by repeating, must not be passed over in silence.

It is Said that Von Haga, anxiously desirous to sec Cyril in possession of the Ecumenical Throne, determined to remove Timothy by poison; that to this end he employed Apollonius of Chios to repare the drugs, which were mixed in wine; that Timothy was then invited to a splendid banquet at the Ambassador's house; that Josaphat, an Archimandrite, and an Andrian by birth, tempted him to take the poison; that it was not sufficient to be mortal; that Apollonius was called in; and that by a second dose he effectually completed his purpose. As if the bitter enemies of Cyril would have failed to bring forward this tremendous charge against him, if it had been even invented in his lifetime!

Cyril was unanimously elected Patriarch, on the fifth of November, 1621 : and from this time he scarcely knew an hour's peace.

His succcssor at Alexandria was his former rival Gerasimus. Spartaliotes. This ecclesiastic, a Cretan, like his two predecessors, by birth, was a steady upholder of the Oriental Faith. He was the author of several learned works; among which his explanation of some passages of Scripture is the most remarkable. On his accession, he contributed largely to the necessities of the Church of Jerusalem, then in debt.