s strenuously
administered the holy office of the Inquisition.

[Footnote 70: See Theodoret (in Vit. Patrum, l. ix. p. 848-854,) Antony,
(in Vit. Patrum, l. i. p. 170-177,) Cosmas, (in Asseman. Bibliot.
Oriental tom. i. p. 239-253,) Evagrius, (l. i. c. 13, 14,) and
Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. tom. xv. p. 347-392.)]

[Footnote 71: The narrow circumference of two cubits, or three feet,
which Evagrius assigns for the summit of the column is inconsistent with
reason, with facts, and with the rules of architecture. The people who
saw it from below might be easily deceived.]

[Footnote 72: I must not conceal a piece of ancient scandal concerning
the origin of this ulcer. It has been reported that the Devil, assuming
an angelic form, invited him to ascend, like Elijah, into a fiery
chariot. The saint too hastily raised his foot, and Satan seized the
moment of inflicting this chastisement on his vanity.]

The monastic saints, who excite only the contempt and pity of a
philosopher, were respected, and almost adored, by the prince and
people. Successive crowds of pilgrims from Gaul and India saluted the
divine pillar of Simeon: the tribes of Saracens disputed in arms the
honor of his benediction; the queens of Arabia and Persia gratefully
confessed his supernatural virtue; and the angelic Hermit was consulted
by the younger Theodosius, in the most important concerns of the church
and state. His remains were transported from the mountain of Telenissa,
by a solemn procession of the patriarch, the master-general of the East,
six bishops, twenty-one counts or tribunes, and six thousand soldiers;
and Antioch revered his bones, as her glorious ornament and impregnable
defence. The fame of the apostles and martyrs was gradually eclipsed by
these recent and popular Anachorets; the Christian world fell prostrate
before their shrines; and the miracles ascribed to their relics
exceeded, at least in number and duration, the spiritual exploits of
their lives. But the golden legend of their lives [73] was embellished
by the artful credulity of their interested brethren; and a believing
age was easily persuaded, that the slightest caprice of an Egyptian or
a Syrian monk had been sufficient to interrupt the eternal laws of the
universe. The favorites of Heaven were accustomed to cure inveterate
diseases with a touch, a word, or a distant message; and to expel the
most obstinate demons from the souls or bodies which they possessed.
They familiar