may be paid to his church and home, while he was in the body, on the Colian Hill. It is attached to a monastery from which some of our earliest prelates issued, whose names are written upon the wall at the entrance. The monk Augustine, the first archbishop of Canterbury, is one of them. In one of the chapels of the monastery is a marble table, on which he was accustomed every morning to feed a number of poor pilgrims.

Sebastian and Laurence were two martyrs of the third century. The latter was a Spaniard, and, coming to Rome, was made archdeacon by Sextus, then bishop. When Sextus was led to his martyrdom, he enjoined Laurence to distribute his goods to the poor of the church. The persecutors, however, determined on confiscating them; and Laurence, refusing to produce them, was placed on a gridiron over a slow fire, and so broiled to death. St. Ambrose, among other fathers, relates the story in the first book of his Offices, when discoursing upon fortitude:-"We must not omit mention," he says, " of the blessed Laurence, who, on the sight of Xystus, his bishop, going to martyrdom, began to weep, not so much at his passion, as his own orphanhood. So he called out to him, Whither goest thou, O my father, without thy son! whither can a priest be hurrying without his deacon? Never as vet didst thou offer sacrifice without an attendant. How have I displeased thee? Hast thou found me a degenerate son. Peter let Stephen suffer before himself. Thou, too, O my father, shew thy own graces in my person; offer up to God him who thou hast begotten; nor seize the crown of martyrdom without a noble company to answer your good thoughts concerning them.' The prelate answered, Nay, son, I leave thee not, neither forsake thee; a fiercer combat is in store for thee. We, as the old, are allotted the lighter skirmish; but youths must bear off a more glorious triumph over tyranny. Thou wilt soon be called upon; cease thy tears; in three days thou shalt follow me. Ill would it seem for one who holds the third rank in sacred ministry to press into the first. I leave to thee the legacy of my own constancy.' In truth it was a strife worthy priest and deacon; namely, which should suffer first for Christ's sake. Fables tell us of the contest between Pylades and Orestes; but these both were guilty, and condemned already; here the love of God was the sole and ruling principle in holy Laurence. And when, three days after, he had withstood the tyrant, and was stretched upon the scorching gridiron, he did but say, The meat is done; turn it over, and eat it.' So wonderfully did his strength of mind overcome the fury of the flame."

This martyr's church, or Basilica, as it is called, is without

Priest means Bishop, in the language of Ambrose and others of the Latin Church. VOL. V.-Jan. 1834.

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the gates of Rome, and is said to have been built by Constantine, the first Christian Emperor. It has been supposed, indeed, that it is even older than Constantine's age, as being a heathen temple consecrated for the service of the true faith. Under the high altar repose the bodies of Laurence and (it is said) of St. Stephen, the protomartyr.

The Basilica of St. Sebastian, who was first shot at with arrows, and then beaten to death with clubs, is also without the city, and is chiefly remarkable for the catacombs which are under it. These catacombs are subterraneous passages, supposed originally to have been excavations for the purpose of procuring stone. They are of surprising extent; that of which I am particularly speaking is said to extend to Ostia, a distance of sixteen miles. In the first ages of the church, when it was exposed to persecution, they were used by Christians as places of refuge and of united worship. It was natural they should also be used as sepulchres on their death. An innumerable multitude of martyrs is said to be buried in them. One of the most interesting of these vaults at Rome is that under a church upon the site of the baths of Titus. It is known to have been a place of Christian worship in the first ages and here Constantine held a council in the year 324. There is a picture there of the Virgin, of great antiquity, and remarkable for the high expression of countenance which it gives her ;one might almost fancy it traditionary.

Dionysius was Bishop of Rome in the middle of the third century, and a church built by him is still in existence. In this, as well as that of St. Laurence and St. Clement, the companion of St. Paul, one may see the form of the primitive places of worship, or Basilicas, as they are commonly termed, which are thus described by Dr. Burton, in his valuable work on the Antiquities of Rome: These are a kind of metropolitan churches, having other parishes subordinate to them. The term, Basilica, among the ancient Romans, signified a building where causes were heard, ambassadors received, public business transacted, &c. Shops were erected round them, in which various articles were sold. The form was an oblong; the middle of which was an open space to walk in, called Testudo, and which we should now call the nave. On each side of this was one or more rows of pillars, according to the scale of the building, which formed what we should call side aisles, and which the ancients termed porticos. The end of the Testudo was finished in a curved form, and called tribunal, because causes were heard there; hence the term tribune is applied to that end of the Roman churches which is behind the high altar, and which, in the oldest churches, generally preserved the curved form." (p. 384.) The tribune is surmounted by a half dome, which is commonly decorated by figures of Christ and the apostles in mosaic. Some of these mosaics are very old; one of

them, in the Basilica of St. Laurence, is said to be the work of Pelagius the Second, who was Bishop of Rome A.D. 578.

But the interest attendant on these, and similar memorials of the early Christians, vanishes before the enthusiasm which the traces of the great apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, excite in the mind. The place of St. Paul's martyrdom is about three miles from Rome; it is a level space, surrounded by green hills, and was used for gladiatorial shows. Many Christians suffered on this spot, where three chapels are now erected. The Basilica which bears the name of the apostle, was built by Theodosius, Constantine having already built a church there, and having deposited his body under the high altar. This magnificent church, which was one of the largest in Rome, was burnt down about ten years since, and is now rebuilding. It contained 138 pillars, 40 of them of remarkable beauty; and the mosaic over the nave is as old as 440. Before our quarrel with Rome, the kings of England were the conservators of St. Paul's Basilica; but, together with the benefit of the Reformation, it has been their misfortune to lose the tutelage of a church which is one of the earliest memorials of Christian piety.

(To be continued.)

PROJECT OF HENRY II. FOR UNITING CHURCH AND STATE.

No. II.

(Continued from vol. iv. p. 611)

THE ARCHBISHOP TO THE BISHOPS OF HIS PROVINCE.

Written soon after June 12, 1166.

Thomas Dei gratiâ Cantuariensis Ecclesiæ Minister humilis, venerabilibus Fratribus suis Londoniensi, cæterisque totius Cantiæ Provincia Episcopis-sic transire per temporalia ut non amittant æterna.

My brethren, dearly beloved, wherefore rise ye not up with me against the wicked? and why stand ye not with me against the workers of iniquity?— Know ye not that God hath broken the bones of those that please men? They shall be confounded, for God hath despised them.

Your Lordships need not to be told that he who does not resist error oppresses truth. For this reason, now that we have found our forbearance towards the King of England unproductive of any benefit, we have judged it no longer safe for ourself to tolerate his excesses, and those of his officers, to the prejudice of God's church and servants: especially as we have laboured diligently, by our messengers, our letters, and every other means, to recall him from his perverse project. Now, therefore, since he has not chosen to hear, much less to attend to our remonstrances, we, having invoked the grace of God's spirit, have, in public, condemned and annulled the instrument which contains those usages," or rather "perversities," that are now troubling the church of England. We have, moreover, excommunicated all those who observe, exact, counsel, or defend them. And, moreover, by God's authority and our own,

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we have absolved your lordships, all and each of you, from the promise by which you are pledged to observe these, contrary to the ordinances of the church.

For who can doubt that Christ's priesthood are to be accounted the fathers and masters as well of kings and princes as of all other faithful people? Is it not a mere absurdity to suppose us subjected and bound to persons, over whom, as themselves admit, we have power to bind and loose, not in earth only, but also in heaven.

We, therefore, have utterly annulled and cancelled the aforesaid instrument, with all the perversities it contains, and especially the following:

I. That appeals to the see of Rome may not be prosecuted but with the king's licence.

II. That no archbishop or bishop may leave the kingdom on the summons of his lordship the pope without the king's licence.

III. That no bishop may excommunicate one of the king's tenants in chief without the king's license; or lay the king's territory, or that of his officers, under an interdict.

IV. That no bishop may imprison any one for perjury or breach of faith. V. That clerics may be compelled to appear before secular courts.

VI. That laics, whether the king or others, may interfere in questions concerning tithes.

Moreover, we denounce as excommunicate, and excommunicate by name, John of Oxford, who has fallen into a damnable heresy, in taking an oath to schismatics, and thereby reviving the almost extinct schism in Germany; and in holding intercourse with that notable schismatic, Reginald of Cologne; and who besides, in violation of his Holiness's commands and our own, has usurped to himself the deanery of the church of Salisbury; which act of his, alike unjust in itself and pernicious in its consequences, we have altogether cancelled and annulled; instructing the Bishop and Chapter of Salisbury, by virtue of their allegiance and at the peril of their order, not to acknowledge him as their dean after the receipt of these letters.

In the same manner we have excommunicated, and denounce as excommunicate, Richard of Ivelchester; in that he has fallen into the same damnable heresy, by holding intercourse with the same schismatic, Reginald of Cologne ; and by plotting and devising all manner of evil with the German schismatics against God and the church, and especially the see of Rome; and by negotiating a treaty to that effect between them and the king.

We also excommunicate Richard de Luci and Jocelin de Bailliol as authors and framers of the above-mentioned " perversities."

Also Radolph de Brock, who has seized, and keeps possession of the goods of the see of Canterbury, which are by right the heritage of the poor; and who has taken prisoner, and still detains, our dependants, lay and clerical.

Also Hugo de St. Clair and Thomas Fitz-Bernard, who, without our permission, have likewise seized, and now hold, the possessions of the same see of Canterbury.

Also all those who for the future shall, without our leave and consent, lay hands on the goods and possessions of that church, are involved by us in the same sentence, according to the decree of Pope Lucius-Omnes Ecclesiæ raptores atque suarum facultatum alienatores, a limitibus ejusdem Matris Ecclesiæ Anathematizamus Damnamus, atque Sacrilegos esse judicamus.

And not themselves only, but their aiders and abettors, for it is written elsewhere-Qui consentit peccantibus, et alium peccantem defendit maledictus erit apud Deum et homines, corripiaturque increpatione sævissimâ. And again—Si quis peccantem defendit acrius quam qui peccavit coerceatur.

Against the king's person we have deferred to pass sentence for the present, in the hope that God's grace may lead him to repentance; but if he repent not we must pass it speedily.

And now we command your lordships, and order you, by virtue of your allegiance, forthwith to hold as excommunicate all and each of the above

named persons, and to denounce them as such according to the decree of Pope Honorius: Curæ sit omnibus Episcopis Excommunicatorum omnino nomina tam vicinis Episcopis quam suis Parochianis pariter indicare, eaque in celebri loco posita pra foribus Ecclesiæ cunctis venientibus inculcare; quatenus in utrâque diligentiâ Excommunicatis ubique Ecclesiasticus aditus denegetur, et excusationis causa omnibus auferatur.

And on you, my Lord of London, we enjoin, by virtue of your allegiance, that you declare and shew these presents to our venerable brothers the other bishops of our province.

Farewell in Christ, and offer your prayers for us.*

NICHOLAS OF ROUEN TO THE ARCHBISHOP.

Written between June 28 and July 6, 1166.

WE rejoiced deeply at your lordship's letter, which informed us of the public anathema you have pronounced against those perverse institutions which our king wishes to force on the English bishops. For though it is certain that there are, at present, few who will either resist the " perversities" or avoid in public those whom you have excommunicated, yet it is not on man's obedience that we rely for the enforcing of such sentences, but on HIM who has committed the authority to us. Perhaps the course which your lordship has pursued is better and less liable to misinterpretation than if you had at once excommunicated his Majesty in person. For by condemning the aforesaid "perversities" you have cut off from yourself all hope of return unless the church is liberated.

Your lordship should know that the Monk G-, who was to have delivered your letters, has not arrived; for this reason I myself read and delivered them to his Lordship of Rouen, in the presence of the bearer of this, from whom you will learn, at least in part, the spirit and expression of countenance with which they were received. He neither refused nor promised to withdraw from the excommunicated persons; but as to your command, that he should publicly denounce them, he plainly told me he would not comply with it, and said you had given it because you wished for partners in exile. He affirms too that he did wrong in receiving your letters at all, because you had kept out of his way when he went to Pontigni to seek an interview with you. I understood from him, likewise, that himself and the bishops of Lisieux and Seez are prepared to invalidate this or any future sentence of yours, by proving that they were gone in quest of your lordship with proposals to submit the whole dispute to arbiters, such as could lawfully mediate between your lordship and the king.

Under these circumstances it seems advisable, if I may be permitted to say so, that unless your lordship and your advisers see reason to the contrary, you should signify to his lordship of Rouen, and the other two bishops, your readiness to return to your see at once and abide by the judgment of such persons as can canonically give sentence respecting an Archbishop of Canterbury: that is, if they can obtain from the king a warrant for your personal safety such as the pope shall approve, and to which the empress and the archbishop are parties; and, moreover, if the church is allowed to resume the position it held before any of these questions were moved: i. e. if its property is restored and the bishops released from the observance of the "perversities." Unless they can obtain these preliminaries from the king, they may fairly be requested to desist from farther countenancing his measures against the church. It seems to me better to make this understood before you proceed to pass sentence on the king, not at all because I think it will lead to any thing, but merely to

Ep. D. T. i. 96.