sfy their
impious ambition, and whose spiritual empire was such a diversified
scene of iniquity and violence as never was exhibited under any of those
temporal tyrants who have been the scourges of mankind" (p. 221). Such
is the verdict passed on Christian rule by a Christian historian. In the
East we see such men as Theophylact; "this _exemplary_ prelate, who sold
every ecclesiastical benefice as soon as it became vacant, had in his
stable above 2000 hunting horses, which he fed with pignuts, pistachios,
dates, dried grapes, figs steeped in the most exquisite wines, to all
which he added the richest perfumes. One Holy Thursday, as he was
celebrating high-mass, his groom brought him the joyful news that one of
his favourite mares had foaled; upon which he threw down the Liturgy,
left the church, and ran in raptures to the stable, where, having
expressed his joy at that grand event, he returned to the altar to
finish the divine service, which he had left interrupted during his
absence" (p. 221, note). We shall see, in a moment, how the masses of
the people were housed and fed while such insane luxury surrounded
horses. In the west, the weary tale of the Roman pontiffs cannot all be
narrated here. Take the picture as drawn by Hallam: "This dreary
interval is filled up, in the annals of the papacy, by a series of
revolutions and crimes. Six popes were deposed, two murdered, one
mutilated. Frequently two, or even three, competitors, among whom it is
not always possible by any genuine criticism to distinguish the true
shepherd, drove each other alternately from the city. A few respectable
names appear thinly scattered through this darkness; and sometimes,
perhaps, a pope who had acquired estimation by his private virtues may
be distinguished by some encroachment on the rights of princes, or the
privileges of national churches. But, in general, the pontiffs of that
age had neither leisure nor capacity to perfect the great system of
temporal supremacy, and looked rather to a vile profit from the sale of
episcopal confirmations, or of exemptions to monasteries. The corruption
of the head extended naturally to all other members of the Church. All
writers concur in stigmatizing the dissoluteness and neglect of decency
that prevailed among the clergy. Though several codes of ecclesiastical
discipline had been compiled by particular prelates, yet neither these
nor the ancient canons were much regarded. The bishops, indeed, who were