he
Suevi, and the Vandals, who had listened to the eloquence of the Latin
clergy, preferred the more intelligible lessons of their domestic
teachers; and Arianism was adopted as the national faith of the warlike
converts, who were seated on the ruins of the Western empire. This
irreconcilable difference of religion was a perpetual source of jealousy
and hatred; and the reproach of _Barbarian_ was imbittered by the more
odious epithet of _Heretic_. The heroes of the North, who had submitted,
with some reluctance, to believe that all their ancestors were in hell,
were astonished and exasperated to learn, that they themselves had only
changed the mode of their eternal condemnation. Instead of the smooth
applause, which Christian kings are accustomed to expect from their
royal prelates, the orthodox bishops and their clergy were in a state
of opposition to the Arian courts; and their indiscreet opposition
frequently became criminal, and might sometimes be dangerous. The
pulpit, that safe and sacred organ of sedition, resounded with the names
of Pharaoh and Holofernes; the public discontent was inflamed by the
hope or promise of a glorious deliverance; and the seditious saints
were tempted to promote the accomplishment of their own predictions.
Notwithstanding these provocations, the Catholics of Gaul, Spain, and
Italy, enjoyed, under the reign of the Arians, the free and peaceful
exercise of their religion. Their haughty masters respected the zeal of
a numerous people, resolved to die at the foot of their altars; and
the example of their devout constancy was admired and imitated by the
Barbarians themselves. The conquerors evaded, however, the disgraceful
reproach, or confession, of fear, by attributing their toleration to
the liberal motives of reason and humanity; and while they affected the
language, they imperceptibly imbibed the spirit, of genuine Christianity.

The peace of the church was sometimes interrupted. The Catholics were
indiscreet, the Barbarians were impatient; and the partial acts of
severity or injustice, which had been recommended by the Arian clergy,
were exaggerated by the orthodox writers. The guilt of persecution may
be imputed to Euric, king of the Visigoths; who suspended the exercise
of ecclesiastical, or, at least, of episcopal functions; and punished
the popular bishops of Aquitain with imprisonment, exile, and
confiscation. But the cruel and absurd enterprise of subduing the minds
of a whole pe