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AN

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY,

ANCIENT AND MODERN,

FROM THE

BIRTH OF CHRIST, TO THE BEGINNING OF THE PRESENT CENTURY.

IN WHICH

THE RISE, PROGRESS, AND VARIATIONS OF

CHURCH POWER,

ARE CONSIDERED IN THEIR CONNECTION WITH THE STATE OF

LEARNING AND PHILOSOPHY,

AND THE

POLITICAL HISTORY OF EUROPE DURING THAT PERIOD.

BY THE LATE

LEARNED, JOHN LAWRENCE MOSHEIM, D. D.

And Chancellor of the University of Gottingen.

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL LATIN, AND ACCOMPANIED WITH NOTES
AND CHRONOLOGICAL TABLES.

BY ARCHIBALD MACLAINE, D.D.

IN SIX VOLUMES.

TO WHICH IS ADDED, AN INDEX.

VOL. II.

CHARLESTOWN.

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY SAMUEL ETHERIDGE, JR.

1810.

THE FIFTH CENTURY.

PART I.

EXTERNAL HISTORY OF THE CHURCH.

CHAPTER I.

CONCERNING THE PROSPEROUS EVENTS THAT HAPPENED TO THE

CHURCH.

PART I.

the Roman

LIN order to arrive at a true knowledge of the CENT. V. causes, to which we are to attribute the outward state of the church, and the events which happen- The state of ed to it during this century, we must keep in view empire. the civil history of this period of time. It is therefore proper to observe, that in the beginning of this century, the Roman empire was divided into two distinct sovereignties, of which the one comprehended the eastern provinces, the other those of the west. Arcadius, the emperor of the east, reigned at Constantinople; and Honorius, who governed the western provinces, chose Ravenna for the place of his residence. This latter prince, remarkable only for the sweetness of his temper, and the goodness of his heart, neglected the great affairs of the empire, and inattentive to the weighty duties of his station, held the reins of government with an unsteady hand. The Goths took advantage of this criminal indolence; made incursions into Italy; laid waste its fairest provinces; and sometimes carried their desolations as far as Rome, which they ravaged and plundered in the most

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