and men at the head of
armies,--the former strong in the invisible power of truth; the latter
resplendent with material forces.

Ambrose did not shun the conflict and the danger. Never before had a
priest dared to confront an emperor, except to offer up his life as a
martyr. Who could resist Caesar on his own ground? In the approaching
conflict we see the precursor of the Hildebrands and the Beckets. One of
the claims of Luther as a hero was his open defiance of the Pope, when
no person in his condition had ever before ventured on such a step. But
a Roman emperor, in his own capital, was greater than a distant Pope,
especially when the defiant monk was protected by a powerful prince.
Ambrose had the exalted merit of being the first to resist his emperor,
not as a martyr willing to die for his cause, but as a prelate in a
desperate and open fight,--as a prelate seeking to conquer. He was the
first notable man to raise the standard of independent spiritual
authority. Consider, for a moment, what a tremendous step that was,--how
pregnant with future consequences. He was the first of all the heroes of
the Church who dared to contend with the temporal powers, not as a man
uttering a protest, but as an equal adversary,--as a warrior bent on
victory. Therefore has his name great historical importance. I know of
no man who equalled him in intrepidity, and in a far-reaching policy. I
fancy him looking down the vista of the ages, and deliberately laying
the foundation of an arrogant spiritual power. What an example did he
set for the popes and bishops of the Middle Ages! Here was a just and
equal law, as we should say,--a beneficent law of religious toleration,
as it would outwardly appear,--which Ambrose, as a subject of the
emperor, was required to obey. True, it was in reference to a spiritual
matter, but emperors, from Caesar downwards, as Pontifex Maximus, had
believed it their right and province to meddle in such matters. See what
a hand Constantine had in the organization of the Church, even in the
discussion of religious doctrines. He presided at the Council of Nice,
where the great subject of discussion was the Trinity. But the
Archbishop of Milan dares to say, virtually, to the emperor, "This
law-making about our church matters is none of your concern.
Christianity has abrogated your power as High Priest. In spiritual
things we will not obey you. Your enactments conflict with the divine
laws,--higher than yours; and we,