We know now whom we are to deal with and who 't is we are to encounter Before this while we attack'd the Acts which Surius and Baronius have left us and were proving that St. Eucherius Bishop of Lions could not be the Author of them it might have been answered we took pains to no purpose that we ought to have known that there have been two St. Eucherius's and that the Acts of the Agaunian Passion were of the latters composing who was present at the Council of Orange in the Year 529. This very thing Theophilus Raynaldus hath endeavoured to prove in his Catalogue of the Saints of Lions So that after all our endeavours we might chance to be in the same plunge with the Sofia's in Plautus concerning the two Amphytrions and with the Parliament of Toulouse in the case of the two Martins Guerra But now we must return our thanks to Father Chifflet for having help'd us out of these doubts and uncertainties He agrees with Baronius that there was but one St. Eucherius and his Reasons are so weighty and strong that it seems strange that the Learned Dr. Cave who must needs have seen them in the Paulinus Illustratus of that Author should yet be of the Opinion of Theophilus Raynaldus about the two Sts. Eucherius's and should attribute to the Junior the Acts of the Martyrdom of the Thebean Souldiers We shall now go on with our proofs against the Agaunian Martyrs and shall draw them from that Ancient and accurate Manuscript upon the Credit of which Father Chifflet hath reformed those Acts which both Surius and Baronius have followed CHAP. VIII That the Style of the true St. Eucherius is different from that of the Passion of the Agaunian Souldiers Published by Chifflet IF we compare Chifflet's Copy with that of Surius we shall observe in it the same Style the same Expressions Thoughts and Opinions so that one would conclude it to be the very same Piece that place only excepted where mention is made of King Sigismond who in that Copy is not contemporary with the true St. Eucherius by many Years But one cannot find in these Acts of Chifflet the Style Genius and Air of St. Eucherius Erasmus who had not the Reputation of being too Liberal of his praises thinks he can never Extol too much the true St. Eucherius's Letter to Valerian de Contemptu mundi He saith that the Christian Religion never had any Writers no not amongst the greatest Professors of Eloquence who could match him in his Style and way of Writing Andreas Schottus calls his Letter in his Preface to St. Eucherius s Works a Golden Letter But these so high Praises and given too by Men of so refined a knowledge are in no wise suitable to the Author of the Passion of our Martyrs And it is certain that if Eucherius Bishop of Lions composed that Letter to Valerian he never could be the Author of the History of the Agaunian Souldiers 'T is true an Author cannot always be the same in all his Works The most happy Genius does not like a fertil soil always bear alike nor yield so plentifully at one time at it does another The Treasures of Invention and Eloqence do not lye open at all hours even to the greatest Wits There are some lucky Moments for composition that are not at our command besides the difference of Age causeth some difference in the productions of the brain as may be observed in the Iliads and Odysses of Homer some Subjects being delightful we are fond of them and fall greedily to work whereas others because dry and insipid do naturally cause in us some neglect Nay sometimes a Subject does even require a Man to descend from his usual greatness and to lay aside all the pomps and loftiness of Style In a word there are few Writers how able soever that can bear up with a constant and continued evenness Therefore the Learned Vossius was in the right to condemn Massius for denying Xenophon to be the Author of the Expedition of Cyrus because the Critick forsooth did not observe in it all the strokes of that unimitable Eloquence which is the Character of that excellent Writer For although for the Reasons we have hinted at an Author may sometimes deviate from his Character yet notwithstanding there will still be discovered in his Style a tincture as it were of himself and a particular Air that is proper to no other but him Fannius pronounced publickly in Rome an Oration and there being some who envied the applause he had got they gave out that he was obliged for it to his Friends who had help'd him in the making it But Tully on the contrary maintained that it could not be so because in the discourse of Fannius both the Style the turn and Harmony all over the same According to this supposition we ought not to Father upon the true St. Eucherius the Passion of the Agaunian Martyrs For instance let us but compare it with that excellent Epistle of his upon the contempt of the World and Worldly Philosophy Wherein his way both of Thought and Expression and indeed every thing is quite different from the former One would take this Letter to be the product of Augustus's Age when the Latin Tongue was in its greatest purity whereas the Style of the Passion of the Martyrs of Agaunum tastes like that of the Empire in its declension and of the Age of Cassiodorus Mr. Du Pin a Doctor of Paris so much to be commended both for his diligence and sincerity hath without doubt perus'd the Acts which Father Chifflet hath taken out of his Old Manuscript And see how he speaks of 'em in his Bibliotheca Nova The History saith he of the Passion of St. Mauritius and of the other Thebean Souldiers is not the Style of our St. Eucherius But perhaps we have been too favourable to this Relation of the Martyrs of Agaunum in attributing it to the Age of Cassiodorus For in the Old Editions of St. Eucherius Printed at Rome and at Basil they have inserted amongst the Works of this Father some Commentaries on Genesis and upon the Book of Kings which seem to have been made not in Cassiodorus's time but even since Gregory the Great that is above an Hundred Years after as appears by the Books of Morals of this Pope being cited in these Commentaries This Remark hath been made long ago by Possevinus and Sixtus Senensis And there is much more resemblance between the Style and Character of these Commentaries and the Style and Character of the Passion of the Agaunian Martyrs than there is between the Letter of the contempt of the World and the Relation of the Martyrdom of the Thebean Legion This Conjecture is strengthened by the Epistle Dedicatory prefixed to these Commentaries on Genesis It will be of some use to set it here Eucherius to the Holy and most Blessed Bishop Salvlus I have sent to your
his Expedition into Gaul with the Thebean Legion All which does agree well enough with the time we have assigned for the same Expedition And it is strange that Cardinal Baronius who hath followed the Acts of Surius and ought consequently to have joined the time of the Bagaudian Revolt with that of the Death of the Thebean Souldiers hath notwithstanding this placed their Martyrdom in the Year 297 viz. Twelve Years after Dioclesian had taken Maximian into the Government and sent him into Gaul to suppress the Rebellion of Amandus and Aelianus And since these two Events fell out so well to the purpose one would wonder Father Chifflet should be so transported upon his finding a Manuscript in which there is not a word spoken of the Begauds noâ— of Amandus nor Aelianus if it were not that King Sigismond unluckily appeared there also amongst the rest For as these two concuring Events very much favoured the Martyrdom of the Thebean Legion so what is there related of St. Sigismond made it evident that St. Eucherius could not be the Author of the Acts of that Martyrdom since he Dyed several Years before this Prince came into the World Bollandus thought he might save the Credit of this piece prove it to be the work of this Holy Bishop of Lions and remove the Anachronism by saying that there was formerly a Monastery at Agaunum and that King Sigismond only repaired and beautified it But because it is but a poor shift destroyed both by the Acts of Surius and the Accounts which all the Historjans give of that Martyrdom Father Chifflet was overjoyed upon his finding a Manuscript wherein not the least mention is made of King Sigismond or of the Bagaudian Insurrection We have already declared how good an Opinion we have of Father Chifflet's integrity which we don't pretend to retract Nevertheless if he be not the Man who hath helped this place out of the Acts of the Martyrdom of the Thebean Legion no Body ought to find fault with us if we suspect that some others might have conjured it away Whatsoever may be the Antiquity of Father Chifflet's Manuscrpit sure it is that Impopostors are yet much ancienter than it Now I hope Father Ruinart will not except against us for making some advantage of the Advice he himself gives in his Answer to Mr. Dodwel viz. That the Collectors of the Acts of Murtyrs have frequently added too and lop't off such things as they did not like But let us come now to the Matter it self and examine whether the Martyrdom of the Thebean Legion can be made to fall in with Maximian's fourth Expedition into Gaul mentioned by Eutropius and Aurelius Victor The Emperour Dioclesian fearing lest the Gallican Revolt should be of dangerour consequence assumes him into the Government to the end that by his assistance he might with more ease to himself undergo the weight of it He raises an Army with all speed to suppress this threatning Insurrection in its Birth then it is supposed that he sent for the Thebean Legion from the East to serve in the Expedition And yet they needs will have it that having passed the Mountains with them and in a manner facing the Enemy such a Frenzy of superstition on a sudden seized him as made him weaken his Army by the Martyrdom of this whole Legion We took Notice before that the Author of this Romance was not very cautious in observing the Rules of probability But because some things may be true though they do not seem very probable we shall therefore add something of more weight than meer Conjeures for the proof of our Assertion First then let a Man be never so little versed in Roman History he will find no ground there to believe that Maximian being but lately admitted to a share in the Empire should by his own single authority cut off a whole Legion For though Dioclesian had made him Augustus yet were they Masters in Common and joint sharers of the Provinces Arms and Legions of the Empire Galesius and Constantius were the First that shared the Empire This the City of Rome took very ill looking upon it as a diminution of its Power and glory But this sharing of the Empire ending in the Victories which Constantine got over all his Competitors Rome became again the Mistress of the Universe Whereupon the Poet Porphyrius in a Poem which he composed in the 15 th Year of this Prince has these words lacera cruentis Imperii pars fessa Poli diversa gemehat Sâ—eptra Ausoniae moerebat perdita jura During the Division of the Empire each Emperour acted as he pleased in his own District and was under no obligation to Communicate his Affairs and Conduct to the other Emperours whereas when the Empire was possessed jointly by two or three Emperours they Consulted one another in all Affairs of Importance because each had an equal right to the whole Aequo Jure as Eutropius saith speaking of Marcus Aurelius and of Lucius Verus Whence we may judge if it be possible in reason to suppose that Maximian would of his own head have Commanded a whole Legion to be put to Death and without so much as Consulting Dioclesian have allarm'd all the Christians throughout the Empire by so violent a Persecution 'T is true indeed if the loss of a whole Legion cut off by the Command of a Cholerick and Enraged Prince were to be look'd upon as a trifling matter and of no consquence to the State there would have been no great need for Maximian upon this occasion to have ask'd the Advice of his Colleague but I question much whether any considering Person will think it so Secondly Let us reflect upon what the Historians tell us of the Reign of Dioclesian and Maximian till the time they begun to persecute the Christians and we shall find that they represent those times to us as times of Ease and Plenty and they speak of their Government as managed with Clemency and Moderation Matermin tells Maximian that no sooner had the Light of his Government shined upon the Empire but it overspread all places with peace and security Eusebius in the 12 th and 13 th Chapter of the 8 th Book of his Church-History cannot forbear making frequent mention of the Happiness which both the Church and Empire enjoyed before Dioclesian and Maximian had resolved to Exterminate the Christians Who can express saith he the Prosperity and Plenty which the Empire enjoyed so long as those who Governed were well and kindly affected towards us He had said before we want Words to express the great value and esteem which the Doctrine of our Blessed Saviour met with amongst the Greeks and Barbarians and the perfect Liberty and Tranquility which the Professours of it enjoyed before the Persecution which was raised against the Church in our Days The particular affection the Emperours shewed towards those of our Religion and the Honour they did them in conferring
hath spoken of the Rule which King Sigismond caused to be established there adds that this Rule was strictly observed there usque â—odie to this very day So that were it true that St. Eucherius was the Author of this Work he must of necessity not only have been contemporary to King Sigismond but more than that he must have out-lived him many Years But now it happens to be quitâ— contrary for St. Eucherius was dead when Sigismond was yet on the Throne Most Historians do reckon the Death of this King of Burgundy to have happen'd about the Year 520 and place that of St. Eucherius in the Year 441. 'T is true that Mr. Dupin refers it to the Year 454. upon the Authority of Prosper's Chronicle Some on the contrary carry it as far back as the Year 421. Amongst whom are Gennadius and Ado. But there is much reason to suspect in both these Authors the disingenuity of some Transcriber since it could not be unknown to Gennadius and Ado that St. Eucherius was present at the Council of Orange where his Name is found amongst the Subscribers and that it is agreed on by every Body that this Council was held about the Year of our Lord 441. Some indeed to save this Anachronism pretend that there have been two Eucherius's like the Jews who to mend their desperate Cause have invented two Messia's to reconcile in both the fulfilling of the Oracles which they cannot apply to one alone But in short 't is not possible that St. Eucherius Bishop of Lions should be the Author of the Passion of the Thebean Legion unless we allow him to have had the gift of Prophecy and make him speak Prophetically of those Rules which were to be settled in the Monastery of Agaunum several Ages after his Death Should some Person now put out any Writings under the Name of Monsieur de Marca or of Cardinal Duperron and mention therein the establishment and Foundation of St. Cyr. To shew that these Writings ought not to be ascribed to these two great Men it would suffice to make it appear that they were dead several Years before Lewis the 14 th made this Foundation Nevertheless this so plain a demonstration of Forgery hath not hindered Surius in his Relation of the Martyrdom of the Thebean Legion on the 22. of September from confidently asserting that St. Eucherius was the Author of the Acts of their Passion 'T is very strange that Baronius should make the same blunder both in his Annals and in his Notes on the Roman Martyrology And indeed this would seem yet more strange were it not plain that this Learned Cardinal undertook in his Annals not so much to give us the History of the Church as to defend the prejudices and ambitious pretensions of the Church of Rome Therefore when it s an advantage to him to overlook some supposititious and Counterfeit Writing he pretends he sees neither contradiction nor Anchronism in it he is no longer that able Critick whose pierceing knowledge nothing can escape and who clears and extricates the most obscure and knotty things of Antiquity In a word he is no more Baronius Cardinal Bellarmine whose Zeal for the glory of the Roman Church did not yield to that of Baronius hath taken another way to save the â—ruth of the Passion of the Thebean Legion that it might not be objected to his Church that it worshipped some for Saints who never had so much as a being in the World For since Men would at the very first sight be startled to see so long an interval of time between St. Eucherius and St. Sigismond he hath endeavoured to cut it much shorter and to render it so little as that it might pass wholly unobserved or however be but very little minded He tells us that this Bishop of Lions lived till the Year 499. and he grounds his conjecture upon a place in the Life of St. Cesarius Bishop of Arles compos'd by Cyprian the Priest where it is said that these two Bishops being in company together restored a Woman to her former health who was afflicted with a very sore Distemper If there were any certainty in this Conjecture of Cardinal Bellarmine Eucherius would have been almost contemporary with King Sigismond For Messanius a Priest and Stephen a Deacon two other Disciples of St. Cesarius in the Book they have added to the Life of this Holy Prelate say that he dyed forty Years after he had been made a Bishop and since every body knows that he succeeded Ennoius about the Year 504. his Death should be placed in the Year 544 or 545. For it is certain that he was present at the Council of Arles in 524 and at the second Council of Orange in 529 And to prove that he was alive in 528. we have a Letter that Pope Vigil wrote to him under the Consulship of John and Volusian But though we should grant Cardinal Bellarmine's Conjecture not to be groundless yet he would be but little the better for it 'T is not enough to prolong St. Eucherius's Life to the Year 499. 'T is to no purpose likewise to prove that St. Eucherius might have seen St. Cesarius Bishop of Arles King Sigismond dyed about the Year 520. and they must make it appear that St. Eucherius out-lived him a great many Years to make good the usque hodie of the place we have before quoted Now it is so far from being true that St. Eucherius did out-live St. Sigismond that on the contrary there is no likely-hood that he liv'd till the Year 499. according to Cardinal Bellarmine's Conjecture It appears by the Subscriptions of the first Council of Orange that he was Bishop of Lions in 4â—1 and consequently he must have been then at least thirty or forty Years Old for at that time it was not usual to raise any person under that age to the Dignity of a Bishop Bishopricks being not yet bestowed as rewards upon Families and the Holiness of Canons holding yet out against the Vanity of the Clergy and the Usurpations of Kings Now since we are certain of this can we think it probable that St. Eucherius should live to see St. Cesarius Bishop of Arles who was not raised to that Dignity till after the Death of Ennoius about the Year 504 Indeed I think a Man must needs be very bold in his Conjectures who can allow St Eucherius to have lived above a Hundred Years if he have no other Warrant for it but that place of the Life of St. Cesarius Those who shall carefully examine this Life of St. Cesarius will agree that it ought not to be rely'd upon too much 'T is true it is polite and judicious enough for that Age and seems not unworthy of him who had been one of the Disciples of St. Cesarius and who for his great Piety and Merits was raised to the Dignity of a Bishop as appears by his Name found in the Subscriptions of the second Council of
him to convince them of their Errour and to shew them how easily they might be imposed upon in a matter wherein they pretended to so much skill But mistakes of this kind have been yet more frequently made by those who have imployed their-Criticks upon those Heathen Authors which have been left to us either by the Grecian or Latin Antiquity Every Body knows the witty trick Muret put upon Scaliger how he composed some Verses and told him he had found them in an Old Manuscript And how Scaliger who boasted that he was very well â—cquâ—inted with the genius and Style of every Age both in Prose and Verse found immediately an Ancient Author for those Verses of Muret's making And being afterwards informed they were of his composing he revenged himself of him by a Distich upon his Cheat. These feigned and Counterfeit Works were not unknown to Ancient Greece since the Learned of those times made it their Study to find them out Dionysius Longinus made a Treatise upon the same Subject and we should be informed now of a great many Fabulous Relations inserted into Histories had not the ill Fate of Learning deprived us of the Works of that excellent Critick But seeing that Men have naturally a respect for things which belong to Religion one would think that they should not suffer themselves to be mis-led by those who have made it their business to impose upon the World by inventing Fables and Publishing supposititious Ecclesiastical Writings and Transactions Nevertheless by what Misfortune I know not these frauds have been more frequent in the Church than any where else and it is impossible to Summ up the mistakes they have occasioned amongst the Learned in all Christian Societies So many spurious Writings and supposititious Facts were made and Published even in the three first Ages of Christianity that Amphilochius Bishop of Iconium so much esteemed by St. Basil one of the most worthy Fathers of the Church composed a whole Book of them which is cited in the Acts of the Seventh Council There was scarcely any thing to be seen to make use of Fontanel's Words in his History of Oracles but false Gospels false Epistles of the Apostles false Histories of their Lives c. The chief Men of the Church have been sometimes deceived c. They did not always narrowly examine what seemed to favour Religion The heat and fervour they felt when they fought for so good a cause did not always suffer them to chuse the best Weapons And the Distemper was so far from lessening in the following Ages that it still more increased and tâ—e boldness in inventing Fables and Forging false Lives of Martyrs and Saints went so far and became so common that the Church thought it necessary to put a stop to it by the Authority of its Canons For in the Council of Constantinople held in the Year 692 under Justinian the Younger the Church condemned in the 63 d Canon the false Passions and Fabulous Lives of Saints and Martyrs A great number of Learned Men have endeavoured in these latter times to find out these supposititious Writings and to ascribe to every Author the Works belonging properly to him And they would undoubtedly have been more succesful in it had they not been mis led as well as the People by Interest or Partiality For oftentimes both their Minds and Pens are sway'd by prejudice and Passion As if a Work were good or bad Ancient or Modern as it chanced to be look'd upon by Protestant or Popish Eyes false and supposititious if contrary to their Opinions but Ancient and of the true stamp if it proved fovourable to them But though they should be allowed to have been free from Prejudice and Passion yet it is no strange thing to see Men differ in their Judgments This follows necessarily the different applications and Natural inclinations of their minds Some view things only on one side and some on another The greatest part fix themselves before they have well examined all the Reasons that are and may be produced on both sides And sometimes it happens that Men concern themselves for some Works as they do for some Persons without knowing why they are more for those than for the others Hence it is that the Writers of the same Church do not always agree in their Opinions Cardinal Baronius speaks of the Recognitions attributed to St. Clement as of a sink full of filthiness and lies Whereas Bellarmine maintains that they are St. Clement's own or of some other Author as Ancient and as Learned as he The same difference in Opinions is observed amongst the Protestants concerning St. Ignatius's Letters though these Letters are generally and with good reason look'd upon as one of the fairest Monuments of the Apostolick Age. And Mr. Dupin in his Bibliotheca nova sets aside in a hundred places the Judgment and Authority of his Friends Possevinus Sixtus of Siena Rainaldus Bellarmine Labbe and other Writers of his Religion who have Criticis'd upon the Works of the Fathers This shews that the most Learned may sometimes be mistaken in their Judgments upon the Works of the Ancients Nor is this much to be wondered at since the intricacy and confusedness wherewith some Transactions are related and the distance of the time wherein they happened make it a very hard matter for us now to discern Truth from Falshood Criticks borrow most part of their Light from the Quality of the Manuscripts and sometimes these Manuscripts the Antiquity whereof sounds so high with some Men are but Modern Writings And particularly we shall consider in another place wh a Judgment one ought to pass upon a Relation of the Martyrdom of the Thebean Legion which Peter Francis Chifflet took out of an Ancient Manuscript of St. Claudius's Monastery But 't is now time to come to our Proofs CHAP. V. That St. Eucherius Bishop of Lions â—s not the Author who wrote that Passion of the Thebean Souldiers which both Surius and Baronius have followed THE first proof we bring against the Relation of the Martyrdom of the Thebean Legion is That it is clear and plain that St. Eucherius Bishop of Lions is not the Author of it and that his Name hath been set to it by some Cheat to gain more Credit thereto from the esteem which the Church always had for the extraordinary Virtues and Merits of this great Prelate To be convinced of this 't will suffice to mention only one passage wherein 't is said of Sigismond King of Burgundy That they never cease Night nor Day to sing Psalms and Hymns in the Monastery of Agaunum And that this Holy Praclice first appointed there by the blessed King and Martyr St. Sigismond is observed there to this very day It visibly appears from this place that when this Relation was made King Sigismond was dead It follows moreover from thence that it must have been compos'd several Years after the Death of this Prince since that Author after he
Orange But what if some Impostour here disguised himself under the Name of a Famous Disciple of St. Cesarius At least this pretended Disciple seems not to be much inform'd of his Masters Affairs He saith in one place that St. Cesarius sent some Grave and Learned Men to a Council Assembled at Valence to Condemn the Opinions of Pelagius Which having given me occasion to examine the Acts of the Councils held at Valence I â—ind nothing in them concerning the Heresie of Pelagius wherein St. Cesarius could have any hand So that being mistaken in a matter of Fact of this Importance he might as well have been over-seen in joyning Eucherius and Cesarius in the Cure of that Diseased Woman It appears that the Learned Doctor Cave relyed a little too much upon this Life of St. Cesarius He saith in his History of Ecclesiastical Writers that this Holy Bishop understanding that he was suspected of Pelagianism caused a Council to be Assembled at Valence to clear himself of this accusation and being hindred by reason of the illness of his Health from going to it he maintained there publickly by his Legates that Man in the state of Sin cannot work out his Salvation without a preventing Grace But if instead of following this Cyprian Disciple of St. Cesarius and who was afterwards Bishop of Thoulon Doctor Cave had given himself the trouble to look over the Councils of Valence he would have observed that in the first which was held in the Year 734. their whole business was about Bigamy that in the Second which met in 599. some place it in the Year 684 and some in 589. they were wholly taken up with the great Donatives which Guntran King of Burgundy had bestowed upon the Church And that the Third in which Pelagius Hinmark and John Scot were Condemned and the Acts whereof are cited by Forbesius in his Instructions was not called till the Year 855. as appears by the Acts of it being presented to the Emperour Lothary and to Charles the Bald. Now St. Cesarius was unborn at the time of the First Council since Doctor Cave brings him into the World only in the Year 469. And he was Dead when the Second met according to the same Doctor who places his Death in the Year 542. And 't is I think needless to add that he was not concern'd in the Third which was held in 855. and in which the Pelagian Opinions were Condemned This short digression which we have thought necessary to remove St. Cesarius from St. Eucherius's times will not seem I hope unseasonable It appears then that Bellarmine for all his Conjecture cannot bring St. Eucherius near enough to St Sigismond King of Burgundy The distance is too great to admit of any means of reconciling the Dispute We shall observe by the way that Usuard and Aimonius have commited the like mistake But because it is but a matter of three or four Years difference they may perhaps find Friends to help them out These two Writers say that Clovis was delivered from a dangerous Sickness by the Vows and Prayers of St. Severine Abbot of Agaunum And it is certain that Clovis was Dead three or four Years before Sigismond had founded that Monastery Gregory of Tours saith that he caused the same to be Built and richly Endowed it after the Death of his Father Gombaldus But Marius Bishop of Avanches marks precisely the Year in his Chronicle and saith that Sigismond founded the Agaunian Monastery under the Consulship of Florentius and Anthemius viz. Four Years after the Death of Clovis This Remark is owing to Monsieur de Valois in his Notice of the Gauls where he saith that he cannot understand how Severine could have been Abbot of that Monastery in Clovis's time Nevertheless the Miraculous recovery of a great King being of great Credit to the Prayers and Suffrages of Monasteries Usuard and Aimonius who were both Monks caused Prayers to be made for Clovis in Agaunum even before King Sigismond had it in his thoughts to build a Monastery there 'T is true that Bollandus would fain perswade us that this Prince did only repair and beautifie it But this he asserts without any ground since both the Ancient and Modern Writers who speak of the first Foundation of the Agaunian Monastery do all generally agree that 't was St. Sigismond King of Burgundy who caused it to be Built to the Honour of the Thebean Legion which suffered Martyrdom in that place CHAP. VI. That the Acts of the Council of Agaunum concerning the Thebean Legion are as false as the Acts of their Passion BUT whether King Sigismond only beautified the Monastery of Agaunum or whether he laid the first Foundations thereof 't is all one to us 'T is enough that we can prove that the Passion which we assert to be false is posteriour to all this And that it is so cannot be deny'd since mention is made there of the Basilick which was Dedicated at Agaunum to the Memory of the Thebean Souldiers If you are not pleased to rely upon the History of their Passion as it is related in Surius and Baronius and wherein notice is taken of the Rules made by St. Sigismond in the Agaunian Monastery we shall willingly pitch upon and refer our selves to the latter Acts that are mended since in these as well as in the others mention is made of a Miracle that happen'd when the Church of Agaunum was a building to the Honour of the Thebean Legion For if King Sigismond did only repair and Adorn that Church the time of these Works must necessarily be plac'd in the Year 500. and consequently St Eucherius could not have made mention of them seeing all do agree that he dyed about the Year 440. We may strengthen this Argument with another taken from the Acts of a Council supposed to have been assembled by order of King Sigismond at Agaunum and in which Sixty Bishops put it into his Head to gather the Bones of the Thebean Souldiers and to Dedicate a Basilick or stately Church to them Though this Council is visibly false and supposititious yet it will be of good help to discover the falsity of the Passion of the Souldiers of Agaunum Fathered upon St. Eucherius The Acts of this pretended Council are set down in the Fourth Tome of the Councils by Labbe and Cossart These two Learned Jesuites were very sensible of the Forgery of these Acts but it would have been too much against the grain to have confessed it They were therefore content to say they wondered they did not see amongst the Subscriptions the Name of Avitus Archbishop of Vienna who both by reason of his Eminent Qualities and for the Dignity of his See ought of course to have been present at that Council The Oratory-Priests being fairer dealers than the Jesuites Le Cointe one of them freely declares in his Annals that the Acts of this Council were altogether false However as false as they are they
have brought great incomes to the Monastery of Agaunum They make St. Sigismond to give to it a great number of Villages and very considerable Lands in the Dioceses of Vienna Lions Grenoble and of the Cities of Aâ—â—te Avanches Lausanne and Besanson c. The Cheat indeed was worth the making But we must confess that the makers thereof were not very skilful in their contrivance of it The truth is that in those times People were so credulous that they gave Credit to the grossest tales They were contriv'd and conceiv'd under the shadow of Monkish Holiness and were brought forth into the World without contradiction or any Body to oppose them The Monk who Forged this Council makes both King Sigismond and the Bishops to say very ridiculous things The Country Peasants of Valesia would now speak better Sense Le Cointe observeth that the Acts of this Council are Dated in the beginning of the last of April and towards the end of the Ides of May That it is said at first that the Council was held at Agaunum and again that it was Assembled near that place Which shews the poor Monk hardly knew what he did He adds that Sixty Bishops met together at Agaunum and in Sigismond's time there were not above Seven and Twenty Bishops in all throughout the whole Kingdom of Burgundy He saith that Theodorus Bishop of Sion in Valesia asked what should be done with the Bodies of the Thebean Souldiers that laid yet unburied upon the Ground And in St. Sigismond's time there was no Bishops-See at Sion The Bishops-See was transferred thither not till many Years after it having always been before at a place which is called Martignac or Martigni which is the Ancient Octodurum So that this Theodorus being contemporary with King Sigismond ought to have been call'd Octodurensis Episcopus and not Sedunensis as the Council-Forger hath done But the thing we ought chiefly to observe is that both Labbe and Cossart place this Council in the Year 516. The Acts do expresly mention that when it was held the Buildings which King Sigismond ordered to be made at Agaunum were finished and wanted only to be Dedicated and appointed to their use This Prince saith in the beginning of his Deed of Gift that he makes Hinnemond Abbot of the Monastery of Agaunum which by the help of God he hath Built in his Kingdom of Burgundy And a little before he says that all the Bishops do represent to him that the Reliques of Mauricius Exuperius Candidus and Victor ought to be deposited in the New Church which he hath caused to be Built The Bishops of this pretended Council are there chiefly taken up with regulating the singing of Psalms the Offices Observances and whatever was to be Practised in that Monastery Now the business is to know whether the Passion of the Thebean Legion which we assert to be false is anteriour to that Council or happen'd after its sitting If they say it is anteriour we ask how could the Author of it speak of a Monastery which was not yet Built and of Rules not yet establish'd If it be answered that this Passion was Written after the sitting of the Council which according to Labbe and Cossart met in the Year 516. it follows that St. Eucherius is not the Author of this Passion since he died in the Year 440. If the Acts of this Council be compared with the Passion one cannot but suspect that the Impostour who composed it had before his Eyes the Acts of this Council 'T is said in these Acts that the Bishops consulted with King Sigismond what Discipline was to be set up in the Monastery of Agaunum and that the Rules which should be prescrib'd to the Monks might be so framed as to last for ever And the Author of the Martyrdom of the Thebean Souldiers as it is related both by Baronius and Surius saith that they never cease Day nor Night to sing Psalms and Hymns in the Agaunian Monastery this practice having been established by the Blessed King and Martyr St. Sigismond and being still in force there to this very day But that the Acts of this Council are forged Father Le Cointe hath given infallible proofs And whereas Labbe and Cossart place this Council in the Year 516. we should not fear being much mistaken if we charged the Forgery upon some Impostor of the Seventh or Eighth Century For these and the like Writings are the Titles and Foundations both of the Worship vast Power and Immense Revenues of the Church of Rome 'T is true we are told that the Manuscripts of these things are kept in the Vatican Library or in that of Florence and that they have all the Characters of an uncontroulable Antiquity But Marsham a man very well skilled in distinguishing between Old and Modern Manuscripts adviseth us to trust to them so much the less by how much the Older they are said to be And he is favoured in his Opinion by Papebrook a Jesuite who observes that you 'l scarcely find any Acts or Manuscripts true and sincere from the Reign of Dagobert the First upwards that is beyond the Year of our Lord 640. Which is much about the time in which the Fables which we are now Examining were invented 'T is strange indeed that Father Mabillon one of the most Eminent Men in Europe in that kind of Learning should Condemn the Opinion both of Marsham and Papebrook He thinks that these two Learned Men were mistaken and to prove it he reports some Acts of the 6 th or 7 th Age but this is nothing to the purpose for Marsham and Papebrook did never deny but there were true Acts ancienter than the Reign of Dagobert the First but they only affirmed that these Writings are very scarce and can hardly be found so that Father Mabillon to have an occasion to contradict these two great Men makes them say absolutely what they only meant with a restriction And besides 't is one thing to go about to prove from the Words of some Authors that there have been Kings before Dagobert the First who made Gifts in Writing to several Churches and another to prove that these Writings do yet continue and have been handed down to us and that they have not been worn out by time lost or destroyed by the Accidents and Revolutions which have happened in the course of so many Ages nor falsify'd and corrupted by the covetousness ignorance and infidelity of Men. The first of these two things which is not in question Father Mabillon takes upon him to prove but saith not one word of the second which he ought to have proved But here is the business Papebrook is plain and downright because he being a Jesuite is of an Order of a very new Date and which therefore needs not go up and search very high for Titles Whereas Father Mabillon is a Benedictine Monk of the Congregation of St. Maur. And St. Benet's Order hath a
Beatitude the History which I have written of the Passion of our Martyrs I feared least the Memorable Events of their glorious Martyrdom should have been buried in Oblivion both by long tract of time and the negligence of Men. I have endeavoured to know the truth from those who are able to inform me of it who have assured me that they had the thing from Isaac Bishop of Geneva much after the same manner as I have related it And I believe these things came to the knowledge of Isaac by the means of the most Blessed Bishop Theodorus who lived in the former Ages Viro anterioris temporis And now whereas others from divers places and even from the remotest Provinces offer Gold Silver and several other things to the Honour of our Saints we present them with our writings if so be you vouchsafe to approve of them and I beg for their sakes the remission of all my sins and for the future the continual assistance of my perpetual Patrons Remember us likewise in your Prayers when you come before God and do attend the Services of the Saints There are several things very observable in this Letter First that he who wrote it saith that he is the Author of the Passion of the Agaunian Souldiers Secondly that the Monastery of Agaunum was Built a long time before and was in great repute in the World since Offerings were sent thither from all parts Thirdly that this Theodorus who is called there a Man of the former Ages is in all probability the same Theodorus Bishop of Sion whereof we have spoken on the occasion of the Council of Agaunum which shews this Letter was written at least in the Seventh Century since that otherwise this Theodorus could not be called Vir anterioris Temporis Fourthly that it mentions one Isaac Bishop of Geneva who is not to be found in the Catalogue which Leti and Mr. Spon have made of the Bishops of that place and which they have taken out of an Ancient Bible of that City Fifthly that whereas in the Bibliotheca Patrum Printed at Lions this Letter is placed immediately after the Passion of the Martyrs of Agaunum the Editors who have taken care to advertise the Readers that the Passion written by Surius was not altogether Authentick do not give the least caution about this Letter which is visibly later by some Ages than St. Eucherius Sixthly that this Letter is inserted at full length by Baronius in his Annals as an irrefragable proof that St. Eucherius is the Author of the Acts of the Agaunian Martyrs seeing it is brought there to serve as a Preface to it Seventhly that after you have read this Letter when you come to the Acts of the Thebean Martyrs you cannot perceive any difference You find there much the same Matters Style and way of Expression in both of them Eighthly that this Letter in all the Editions of the St. Eucherius's Works is prefixed as a Dedication to the Commentaries on Genesis which have been composed by the Monks two Hundred Years after St. Eucherius as appears by some places of the Morals of Gregory the Great being inserted in them Ninthly that the Author of the Commentaries upon Genesis and the Book of Kings is very probably the Author of this Letter And that he who wrote the Letter composed likewise the Passion of the Agaunian Martyrs Which leads us to this Observation that perhaps we seek abroad for what we may find at home I mean that perhaps the Acts of the Thebean Legion may be the growth of this Land and the Work of some English Writer See how the pretended St. Eucherius speaks in his Commentary upon the Book of Kings The Blessed Pope Gregory Armed with an Evangelical Eloquence governed then in our days the Romish Church when the most Reverend Fathers Austin and Paulinus and their Companions came into England and Preached the word of God to a People who had been Infidels for so many Ages These words have given occasion to the Learned Jesuite Andreas Schottus to think that the Author of these Commentaries I mean the pretended St. Eucherius was not a French but an Englishman I do not know but one might strengthen yet this Conjecture by an Expression which we have observed in the Acts of the Agaunian Martyrs 'T is said there that Mauricius who commanded the Thebean Legion exhorted the Senators of the Souldiers to suffer Martyrdom Senatores militum For though this Office is not altogether unknown and strange in the Roman Militia and that St. Jerom speaks of it in his Letter to Pammachius nevertheless you will hardly find it in those Authors who write about military employments Whereas this Expression was common then amongst the English who used to give it to those persons who held the first rank not so much in consideration of their Age as for their Wisdom and merit One may see in Mr. du Cange the Examples he alledges of it taken from the Laws both of King Edward the Confessor and of Kenulphus King of the Mercians CHAP. IX That in Father Chifflet's Copy as well as in that of Surius the Commander of a Legion is called by a Name not then in use and that there is a fault in the number of the Legionary Souldiers BUT it matters not much to know whether the Author of the Passion of the Thebean Souldiers was English of French These two Warlike Nations will scarcely fall out with one another for the Honour of having given him to the World We must pass now to other Remarks 'T is not only the difference in the Style which shews that the Acts of the Martyrdom of the Thebean Legion are not of the true St. Eucherius but there are yet other manifest proofs of it It appears from the Instructions which St. Eucherius gave to his Son Salonius that this Father knew the use and propriety of Hebrew but if he was the Author of the aforesaid Passion he must needs have been very ignorant even of Latin terms though his Letter upon the contempt of the World shews that he was a great Master of it In the Edition of Surius and of Chifflet St. Mauricius who Commanded the Thebean Legion is called Primicerius Legionis Can one imagine that the true St. Eucherius did not know that the Commander of a Legion was called Praefectus Legionis Let any Body examine carefully all the Old Tombs and Monuments which can give us any light into the Names and Titles of Military Offices from Augustus's time to that of Justinian let any Body read the Notitia Imperii with Pancirole's Notes let any Body turn over the Codes of Theodosius and of Justinian in which there are so many Laws concerning the Civil as well as the Military Offices of the Empire let any Body look over all the Inscriptions of those times which are commonly so full of Titles and you will no where find that the Commander of a Legion was ever called Primicerius
Legionis The Reason of the Name is that whereas formerly they made use of a Paper prepared with Wax therefore they called Primicerii those of their respective Orders who were set down first in the Publick Registers Hence it is that so many of that Name are to be found amongst the divers Orders of Dignities and Magistrates of the Empire There was the Primicerius of the Imperial Chamber of the Wardrobe of the Liberalities of Notaries of the Court of Accounts of the Golden Mace of the Singing-School of the Servants of the Judges of the Readers and of many others whose Names are seen in the Notitia or State of the Empire This term was also received into the Church in the following Ages The dignity of Primicerius is very considerable in the Clergy of Venice And in the Collection of the Councils by Mr. Baluze this Name is given to one Peter a Priest of Alexandria The Church writers have sometimes made use of it Metaphorically calling St. Stephen Primicer of Martyrs and St. Peter the Primicer of the Apostles and at last this term hath been appropriated to these Priests who carry Wax Tapers before Princes and Prelates But as for the Military Officers I confess I cannot well understand what rank and command the Primicerii had there Lipsius and Salmasius don't give us much light thereupon in their Books of the Roman-Militia 'T is true that Goltzius in his Catalogue of Military Dignities makes mention of Primicerius Castrensis But all the Learned do agree that what Goltzius does relate ought not always to be rely'd upon for he writ this as well as the rest of his Books upon other Peoples word and without having seen himself the Medals and Inscriptions which he goes upon If Goltzius hath been mistaken we have found out methinks the cause of his Errour In the Notice or State of the Empire in the Chapter of the Civil and Military Dignities in the West we see one Primicerius Sacri Cubiculi Primicerius Notariorum Castrensis Sacri Palatii c. And perhaps he thought that before Castrensis ought to be understood Primicerius which might give occasion to the Dignity of Primicerius Castrensis set down in his Catalogue But had he minded another Chapter wherein an account is given of the Offices which were sub dispositione viri spectabilis Castrensis he would have observed that this Dignity Castrensis related chiefly to the Sacred-House which was the Emperour's Palace 'T is true indeed that Vegetius speaks of one Primicerius who after he had been a Prefect and in the Praetorship was raised to an Honourable and gainful Military Dignity His Commentators are silent upon this place which yet seems difficult enough But Mr. de Valois does not leave us quite in the dark about this matter in his Notes upon Ammian Marcelline For this Historian having spoken of one Valentinus who was made a Tribune after he had been Primicerius of that Body which was called Protectores Mr. de Valois observeth that from Primicer of Protectors it was usual to be made a Tribune And 't is true that Ammianus Marcellinus speaks in his thirteenth Book of one Gratian who after he had been made Primicer of the Protectors and Tribune was made superintendant to the Military Affairs in Africa Which place does explain that other in a Collection of the Acts of Constantine where 't is said that Constantius Nephew to Claudius the Emperour after he had been first a Protector then a Tribune was at least created President of Dalmatia But we don't find in all this that in St. Eucherius time the Commander of a Legion was called Primicerius Legionis For it is only in the last Ages that it was given to all those who had any Command Mathew Paris in the Year 1240. speaks of an Army where it was demanded who was the Primicerius of it that is who commanded it So that as the term Commander in English is very general and may be applyed to those who either do command a Company or a Regiment or are Governours of Towns and Provinces so likewise in the last Ages in the which 't is likely the Passion of the Thebean Souldiers hath been Forged the quality of a Primicer had a very large signification I am tempted to say specially amongst the English and from thence to make another conjecture viz. That the Author of the Acts of Agaunum was an Englishman We did just now cite Mathew Paris who was a great Ornament to this Nation in the twelfth Century There is an Act in the History of the English Monasteries in the which the Kings Edmond and Edgar qualifie themselves Kings and Primicers of all England Primicerii totius Albionis Therefore this Primicerian Quality being so general at that time 't is no wonder that William of Tyre who lived about Fifty Years before Matthew Paris does mention some Legionary Primicers Honourable Men saith he bearing Ensigns went before the Army as if they had been the Primicers of Legions If it can be inferred from these words that the Legionary Primicers were the Signiferi or Ensign-bearers of those times one ought to confess that in William of Tyre his time things were very much altered and that nothing can be concluded from this expression that may authorize that in the Relation of the Agaunian Martyrs unless one would confess that they suffered Martyrdom about the time of William of Tyre to wit many Ages after the true St. Eucherius But let us examine what Surius Copy and that of Father Chifflet tells us of the number of the Thebean Souldiers That of Surius saith that in the Emperour Maximian's Army there was a Legion of Souldiers called Thebeans and that a Legion was made up of Six Thousand Six Hundred and Sixty six Souldiers according to the custom of the Ancient Romans In Father Chifflet's Manuscript the number of Sixty and six and what is said of the custom of the Ancient Romans is cut off being said only there that a Legion was then made up of Six Thousand and Six Hundred Men. If by the custom of the Ancient Romans spoken of both in Surius and Baronius's Copy was meant the Military Discipline anciently established by Romulus 't is certain that in his time the Legions were composed only of three Thousand Foot and some Horse And let one look over all the times in which that Common-wealth flourished from the expulsion of Kings to Julius Caesar one shall observe many changes in the number of the Souldiers which composed the Legions and that it was sometimes lesser and sometimes greater according to the Exigencies and Revolutions of the Empire But it will be a hard matter to prove that there hath been a time in which the Legions had precisely the number of Souldiers specify'd in those two Copies Livy saith indeed that it was a priviledge of the Legions which were in Macedonia to be composed
This Conjecture is seconded by what Prosper tells us of a Physician nam'd Eudoxius who took shelter in the Bagaud which then had changed Station And because perhaps they lived in Tents their Name might well be derived from thence since Amerbachius remarks that formerly the Tents were call'd Baugas Menage in his Origines of the French Tongue saith That Ciron fetched the term Bagaud from the Greek 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which signifies in Suidas to live a Vagabond or rambling Life and that Mr. Bochart derived it from the Hebrew Bagad which signifies saith he to revolt though it is properly used for Perfidious He relates besides one of the Memoirs which Mr. Dupuy communicated to him upon the Names which divers Nations and People have given to the Gangs of Robbers or Highway-men where the Bagauds seem to Answer to the Vscoks of Dalmatia the Cosaks of Poland the Heydukes of Hungary the Arabs of Africa and the Pyrenean Mikelets So that it makes doubtless very much to the honour of the Ancient Gallican Church to maintain that those Bagauds professed the Christian Religion Thus we see what poor shifts they are forc'd to make use of in defending the Martyrdom of the Theb. Legion when they find themselves oblig'd to assert that the best and most Ancient Christians were Banditi Rebels and Rapperies And besides let the say what they will they shall never perswade us that in the Church of the Third Century there were sufficient numbers of these goodly Christians to make up an Army So that upon the whole it seems much better to reject as we do the Martyrdom of the Theb. Legion as a groundless Romance then to cast such a scandal upon the primitive and golden Ages of the Church But had Mazeray and the other Writers read with attention the fifth Book of Salvian in which he deplores the sad misfortune and miseries of Gaule they would never have imagin'd that the Bagauds had been Christians The Christians being there very numerous in his time and involved in publick calamities Salvian represents them as Persons of a Spirit and Principles quite different from those which Mezeray attributes to the Bagauds VVhat place is there saith he where the Magistrates and Governours of Towns do not devour the entrails of the Widows and Orphans nay and even of the Saints too with whom they deal in like manner because either the love they have for their Religion hinders them from making any resistance or their innocence and humility does not leave them the power to do it This was the true Spirit of the Ancient Galican Church and we ought rather to follow Salvian who lived nearer to those first times of Christianity then Mazeray and the Legend-Writers who say that the Christians in Gaule rose up in Arms and that Maximian caused the Theb. Legion to be put to the sword for fear they should joyn with and strengthen that Party Nevertheless it is Universally believed as a certain Truth not only at Turin but throughout all Italy All the Modern Writers speak of it after the same manner and all the Preachers on the Festival of the Theb. Soulders do from their Pulpits deliver it so to the People After the very same manner Emmanuel Tesauro famous for several of his other Works and especially his History of the Kings of Lombardy relates the matter in the account he gives of the Martyrdom of the Theb. Legion in his History of the City of Turin Printed in â—olio where he saith that at the Place where St. Mauritius's Town now stands there was an Altar upon which the Emperour Maximian commanded all the Souldiers of his Army to sacrifice to Jupiter and swear hostilety against the Christians But Mezeray Tesauro and all the others have been led into this mistake by the Acts of the Martyrs of Agaunum For those Acts in Surius's Copy and in that of Chisslet do attribute the cause of their Death to their refusal to go and persecute the Christians in Gaule There it is said that they together with the rest of the Army were Commanded to persecute the Christians and that they alone refused to Execute that Bloody Order And a little after it follows that the Emperour having commanded the whole Theb. Legion to be decimated sent new Orders to force all those who were left to promise that they would persecute the Christians But this chiefly appears in the Speech the Theb. Souldiers are made to speak to Maximian wherein the Author of these Acts hath displayed all his Wit and Rhetorick We offer you say they the best Service our hands can perform against all your enemies whatsoever but we look upon it as the blackest of crimes to imbrue them in innocent blood These hands know how to fight against VVicked men and Rebels to the Empire but they have never yet learned to destroy good Men and loyal Subjects c. You command us to go and seck for the Christians that they may be brought to punishment but there is no need for you to make these enquiries any further for here we our selves are Christians and do confess God the Father the Author of aâ— things Jesus Christ his Son and the Holy Ghost This one particular related in all the Acts of the Agaunian Martyrs to wit that Maximian's Army was ordered to persecute the Christians and to punish their Rebellion shews evidently the Martyrdom of the Theb. Legion to be but a counterfeit Story Such a studied and pathetick Speech as this which they are made to deliver to the Emperour is another proof of the Forgery of their Acts. These little School Declamations would have been very unbecoming the mouths of dying Christians and Martyrs whose minds were wholely taken up with the thoughts of another Life Whensoever such Speeches as these are found in the Acts of Martyrs we may well conclude that either those Acts are counterfeit or that those Speeches were added to them by some Christians of the following Ages The true Acts of Martyrs are those that have been taken out of the publick Registers Church-Offices and Proconsular Acts. Now after the Stentence of Death pronounced against the Christians it was not usual amongst the Romans to insert or add to them any thing more in the publick Registers The Opinion of Mezeray upon this matter is so just and so rational That it is well worth reciting In all the Authentick Acts of Martyrs saith he you will find an ardent Charity for God and their Brethren a modesty and humility so much the greater by how much they were more constant and worthy of Glory an entire confidence in the Grace of God an extream diffidence of their own Weakness much Meekness and Compassion for those who were fallen great Wisdom and Strength and above all continual Prayers to God All which godly dispositions render those other Acts which make Martyrs utter long Speeches and elaborate Discourses Invectives and Threatnings justly suspected Fourthly since Mezeray was
induced to believe that the greatest part of Maximian's Army were Christians only upon the Authority of the Authors of St. Baboulene's Life it will not be amiss to examine what can be built upon this Writer's Authority And iâ— we cast but half an eye upon this Work of his we shall plainly discern that the whole from the beginning to the end of it is made up of nothing but fabulous Legends and Fictions The Manucript is kept at Paris in the Library of St. Germain Des-Prez and James Dubrcuil a Monk of that Abbey made an abrigdment of it and published it in the Year 1614. Mr. Du Chesne inserted it some Years after in his History of France Father Le-Cointe takes notice of it also in his Annals and rejecteth it as altogether unworthy of credit for he observeth that this Writer exactly follows in every thing that Anonymous Impostor who wrote the Acts of the Kings of France of which he gives these following particulars First That he makes Erchenald Major of the Palace in the first Year of Clovis whereas Fredegair calls him who was then in that Office Aeganes Secondly that he confounds Aubert Bishop of Paris under King Clovis with Agilbert who was Bishop of that â—â—e under Clotary Son to Clovis Thirdly that of two Baboulenes one of whom was Abbas Bobâ—ensis and the other Abbas Fosatensis he makes but one Fourthly That he reckons but 85. Years from the Death of Clovis the first to the Death of Clovis the second Fifthly That he makes Clovis the second to succeed his Father Dagobert in the Year of our Lord 643 in the first Indiction And several other faults he finds in the same Author all contrary to the known truth of History But a most notable one is his Saying that the Abbey of St. Maur des Fossez is situate in the place where formerly the Camp of the Bagauds was and that they incamped there because there was then standing an old Castle built by Julius Caesar inclosed with Walls and secured on all sides with large Ditches The truth is that that Abbey of St. Maur is call'd by several Writers of the Later Ages Castrum Bagaudarum Mr. Menage in his Origines upon the Word Bagauds saith that in a Charter of the Abbey of St. Maur granted in the Year 868. St. Maur des Fossez is call'd Castrum Bagaudarum and adds because Anciently it was a Fort of the Bagauds But who told that Anonymus Author that Julius Caesar had built there a noble Castle Nobiliter Constructum He is the only Writer who speaks of that Castle there is not the least mention of it in the Commentaries of Julius Caesar though all his Actions in Gaule are therein Writen with the greatest exactness Moreover this Impostor makes Orosius to say things which he never thought of For Orosius saith that Amandus and Aelianus having got a considerable number of Peasants together raised great disturbances in Gaule which Oblig'd Dioclesian to create Maximianus Herculeus Caesar and to send him thither who being a Man of considerable experience in War easily dispersed that Army of Peasants which was altogether without Order and Discipline But this Anonymous Scribler makes Orosius to say That Amandus and Aelianus were Christians and that they revolted only because they thought that their Religion did not allow them to obey Pagan Princes It is a strange impudence this first to invent Fables and then for the confirmation of them to quote a Famous Historian If we take this Authors quotation out of him for truth Orosius attributes very Noble and Evangelical Morals to the Christians of the Third Century in making them shake off the Authority of their lawful superiours only because they were not of their own Religion Monsieur de Tirlemont makes a Remark very suâ—iable to the purpose It is upon the Acts of St. Maximus related by Baronius in the year 254. There arises saith he yet greater difficulties from what Optimus saith That the Edict of Decius commanded all Christians to forsake their Superstition and to acknowledge their lawful Prince on whom all things depended and to Worship his Gods Against which Mr. Tirlemont with great reason does except thus What does all this mean Should then the Christians have made any difficulty to acknowledg Decius for their Emperour By no means But the truth is that though they were the most Submissive and Truest Subjects to their Princes Nevertheless because they did not prefer them to God himself they were deemed to fall from the duty of their Allegiance In fine this Anonymous Writer of Mezeray's relates the Martyrdom of the Theb. Legion very differently both from the counterseit St. Eucherius Surius and Father Chifflet For he saith that Maximian having ordered that all the Souldiers of his Army should swear upon the Altars of his Gods Sacrifice to them and oblige themselves by an Oath that they would persecute the Christians where-ever they should meet with any of them Mauritius answered for the whole Theb. Legion under his Command We know O Emperour how to fight against Rebels and Wicked Persons but we know not how to make War upon Good Men and our own Fellow Subjects Though we are all well Arm'd yet we do'nt make any resistance as being more willing to have our own blood shed than to shed that of others So without any more ado they stretched out their necks to the Executioners and were raised by their Torments to the glory of Paradise And thus this Anonymous Author leads us immediatly to the end of his Romance whereas the supposed St. Eucherius after Maximian hath given his barbarous Orders makes the Theb. Legion to withdraw supposes that it refuses to march saith that it was only decimated at first makes the Emperour to reiterate his Orders relates their Speech to this Prince and so entertaining his Reader with a great number of intervening particulars he at last brings him to the Catastrophe of his Tragedy Whence it follows that the Martyrdom of the Theb. Legion is not originally found but in false and supposititious Writings and was only related at first by Impostours One invented and publish'd the Story of this Martyrdom Another vouch'd for the Truth of that Narrative by another of his own And upon the credit of these two Relators hundreds of others believed it and at last it became a common Opinion in the World For a Tale never misses to be credited when it begins to grow ancient and we see every day that when any Relation hath passed for current for fifty or threescore years it is then almost too late to Contradict or call it in Question CHAP. XVII That it is not True That some Cohorts of the Theb. Legion were detached out of Maximian's Army to March against Carausius TOWARDS the end of the counterfeit Agaunian Acts there is a passage which affords us another proof that this Story of the Theb. Legion is a Forgery It was saith the Author a common report That
upon them the Government of Provinces without obliging them to Sacrifice to their Idols And a little after he adds Who can recount the great numbers of those who came over every Day to make profession of our Faith how many Churches were Erected in every City and in what Crowds came People to pay their Homage to God insomuch that the Ancient Buildings proving too narrow to receive them it was necessary to have others built more large and capacious Neither could the Envy of Devils or Malice of Men put a stop to this Progress of Christianity so long as the People of God were not unworthy of his Almighty Protection and Favour But when the excessive Liberty we enjoyed had slackned the strictness of our Discipline so that we begun to make War amongst our selves with abusive and bitter Words and Bishops Incensed against Bishops raised dissentions and disorders in a Word when Malice and Couzenage were come to their height then Divine Justice lift up his Hand to punish us First gently as it useth to do and permitted those amongst the Faithful who made profession of Arms to be Persecuted first Now who can believe that the Thebean Legion was Massacred at the time here described by Mamertine and Eusebius Can any one Style that a Reign of Peace Meekness and Felicity in which above Six Thousand Six Hundred Persons were at one time inhumanly Murthered 'T is supposed that Maximian Commanded them to be put to Death upon their refusal to Sacrifice to Idols and yet Eusebius told us just now that both Dioclesian and Maximian conferred the Government of Provinces on Christians without any obligation to Offer Sacrifice It was then the Custom amongst the Romans that the Proconsuls the Govenours and other Magistrates should Sacrifice to the Gods to the safety and Genius of the Emperours and should be present at all the publick Sacrifices Offered to them which is the Reason that the first Christians shunned those Employments as very dangerous baits and occasions of Sin But their Exemplary integrity being without doubt a motive to the Emperours to desire they might be employed in places of publick Trust Eusebius observes that they acquitted them from the obligation of doing Sacrifice as Mr. de Valois Reads that passage out of the Manuscripts of the Medicean and the Mazarine Libraries 'T is true that Eusebius saith that the Faithful who made profession of Arms were Persecuted first But this cannot be apply'd to the Martyrdom of the Thebean Legion For it is supposed that this Legion was Barbarously Massacred and Eusebius speaks of a Persecution whereby God did only Gently and Modarately chastise the Church But certainly the Martyrdom of a whole Legion cannot be called a light and gentle Chastisement But Thirdly these last Words of Eusebius shew clearly that it is not possible to make the Martyrdom of the Thebean Legion fâ—ll in with Maximian's Expedition into Gaul against the Begauds Eusebius having said expresly that the faithful who made profession of Arms were Persecuted first we need only find out the time when that Persecution against the Souldiers begun For if it was in the Year 285. we may suppose indeed that the Thebean Legion was then Condemned to Death since it was about that time that Maximian was taken into the Government and caused the Legions to March into Gaul to suppress the Rebelion of Amandus and Aelianus as Eutropius and Aurelius Victor relate But what will they say if the Persecution of the Souldiers did not begin till above Twelve Years after that time Father Pagi places it in the Year 298. and Mr. Dodwel in 301. whose Reasons may be seen in his Dissertations upon St. Cyprian But without entring upon these Disputes of Chronology it will be sufficient to prove that the Persecution of the Souldiers happened several Years after Maximian's Expedition into Gaul Now the Account which Lactantius hath given both of the time and occasion of the Persecution of the Thebean Souldiers leaves no place to doubt of it He saith that Dioclesian being anxious about the Success of the War against the Persians which he had left to the Conduct of Galerius Consulted the Aruspices concerning the Event thereof and adds that the Inspector having told him that the presence of the Christians hindred him from making any Discovery in the Entrals of the Victims the Emperour thereupon Commanded that the Souldiers should Sacrifice to the Idols and upon refusal should be drawn out of their respective Ranks and Disbanded Mr. Baluze on this place of Lactantius saith that Eusebius hath very well observed that the Persecution begun with the Souldiers and that really none but those who served in the Army were at first Persecuted We ought especially to observe that Lactantius saith expresly that the Emperours Anger and Fury against the Souldiers proceeded no further at that time than to Cashier them Which Act of his Eusebius calls a punishment for amongst the Romans to be Cashiered and turned out of the Army was accounted a great shame and disgrace as Hirtius tells us speaking of the African Wars However Eusebius is in the right to call this Ignominy a light and gentle Punishment in comparison of the other Evils which the Christians suffered some Years after Therefore Sulpitius Severus after having said that Licinius contending for the Empire with Constantine Commanded the Christian Souldiers either to Sacrifice to the Idols or to lay down their Arms adds but we don t reckon this amongst the Persecutions as being too inconsiderable a thing to deserve a place amongst the Wounds which the Church received Had the Thebean Legion suffered Martyrdom at that time they would certainly have been reckoned among the Souldiers who suffered Persecution and because so great and remarkable an Event as this could not have escaped the knowledge both of Eusebius and Laciantius 't is not likely the latter would have said that the Emperours did only at first Cashier the Souldiers and the former would not have called this Persecution a light and gentle Punishment And since 't is agreed on all hands that those who made profession of Arms were Persecuted first 't is manifest that the Martyrdom of the Thebean Legion cannot be referred to the Expedition which Maximian made into Gaul to suppress the Revolt of Amandus and Aelianus For Maximian undertook this Expedition some Months after his Admission to the Government about the Year 285. and the Persecution of the Souldiers according to Lactantius did not begin till a long time after The same Author saith that the Persian Wars did then take up all the thoughts of the Court whence it follows that this Expedition did not happen till after he had settled his Affairs in Egypt and severely punished those who had followed the party of Achillaeus and at the time when he was putting himself into a Condition to be revenged upon Narses King of Persia who taking advantage of the Revolt of Egypt made irruptions
into Armenia and Mesopotamia Which hapned several Years after Maximian's Advancement to the Empire and his Bagaudian Expedition CHAP. XVI That it is not true that the Bagauds were Christians and that the Thebean Legion suffered death for refusing to persecute them IT will not be amiss to take notice here of an Objection which may perhaps be made a gainst us Viz. That it is true that the Persecution mentioned in the precedent Chapter did not begin till near the year 298 or 301 But that Maximian was oblig'd to cut off the Theb. Legion upon another account which was that those People who had revolted and went under the nick-name of Bagauds being Christians the Emperour was afraid least the Theb. Souldiers who were of the same Religion should joyn with the Rebels and therefore he thought it the best course he could take to get himself thus rid of them and that This was the chief and indeed the true cause of their Martyrdom Here we are to consider what Mezeray saith in his second Book of the Origin of the French concerning this matter These are his words After Carinus at his departure from Gaule had drawn thence all his Legions to go and encounter Dioclesian the Provinces being freed from the Troops that kept them in awe attempted likewise to shake off the heavy Yoke of settled Taxes and the arbitrary extorsions of their Governours Which lying heaviest upon the Countrey people they took up arms first Aelianus and Amandus two Officers in the Roman Army were so unwise as to put themselves at the head of them Such slaves as were hardly used by their Masters joyned with them some came into this Party of their own accord and others were surprised into it several were sollioited but most of them scorned the invitation This Rising was call'd Bagaud and the followers of it Bagauds or Bagaudians Which word as some say signifies Revolt and perhaps a Revolt of such as lived in the Woods according to the Etymology of the word from the Ancient Celtick Language For it is likely that those People having no other Fortresses and Places to retire to but Woods they there intrenched themselves after the manner of the Germans and Ancient Gauls There were many Woods without doubt in several places of that Countrey but the chiefest and biggest of them was two Leagues from Paris on the River Marne in a place where now stands the Abbey of St. Maur called des Fossez or of the Ditches because they had digged up a very spacious Trench to incamp there Most of them were Christians And who knows but that after so many horrid Persecutions which they had suffered their patience did turn at last into a just fury in arming them both against the Torments and their Tormentors Maximian taking a review of his Troops near the Town of Aoste on this side of the Alpês the Theb. Legion refused to take the Oaths with the Ceremonies used amongst the Pagans and being encouraged by the Speeches of their Tribune Mauritius chose rather to undergo two or three Decimations and at last to be all cut to pieces then to desite themselves by those abominable Rites The whole Legion was not there some Cohorts having been detached who as we shall see hereafter in another place signaliz'd themselves by a like Victory So many brave Men who despised Death would have sold their lives to the Romans at a very dear rate if it had not been more glorious to die for the Faith which they professed than to fight for it I say further that they would have strengthened very much the Bagaudian Party had their Religion permitted them to dissemble till they had joined them However Maximian having defeated some of these Bagauds and received others into his favour and by this means having divided them he besieged their great Intrenchment both by Land and by Water with so great Vigour and Resolution that at last he took it All those who were found in it were put to the Sword without exception and their strong works were so entirely ruin'd and demolish'd that nothing of them but some few Ditches remained We are to believe saith the Author of the Life of St. Baboulene that these Men being Christians and despising their lives for the sake of their Religion pass'd through Martyrdom to the Kingdom of Heaven and though we have not their Acts in writing nevertheless their Memory and Names shall never be blotted out of the Book of Life These are the new Weapons wherewith M. de Mezeray furnishes the Asserters of the Martyrdom of the Theb. Legion Now all these difficulties we are very desirous to remove the better to clear this piece of Ecclesiastical History First then it is suppos'd in the Objection that most part of the Bagauds Army were Christians and that the Emperour Maximian caused the Theb. Legion to be cut off for fear so many brave Men should joyn with and strengthen the Rebels Then it is said that this Objection is taken out of an Ancient Anonymous Writer who hath given us the Life of St. Baboulene and who ought therefore to be credited by reason that these Transactions happened in an Age nearer to his than to our times Our Answer to this will not a little contribute I hope to discover the Falshood of the Martyrdom of the Theb. Legion And First in this Account of Mezeray supported by the Authority of that Anonymous Writer we find the Christians divided in their Practice upon a very considerable point of Morality For some of them leaving the Plow take up Arms against their Sovereign and others on the contrary being up in Arms lay them down and patiently submit to the Execution of the barbarous Orders of their Prince Now to what shall we ascribe this difference in their Judgment and practices Was it that the Morality on the other side of the Alps differ'd from that of the Gauls Or must we attribute the cause of this difference to the diversity of their Climates Educations Tempers and Manners But we should spend too much time should we go about to untye this knot therefore the shortest way is to 〈◊〉 it and to 〈◊〉 positively that both 〈…〉 of 〈…〉 that is Christianity would rather loose than get by it The Martyrdom of the Theb. Legion is asserted because it is thought very honourable to Christianity but then to support the Assertion and Insurrection of the first Christians in Gaule is brought in and a rebellious Conspiracy to shake off the Yoak of their Masters So that if those who set up for the defence of an Obedience so intirely passive have in the Example of the Theb. Souldiers a Legion of Martyrs to boast of Those who on the contrary believe that there are some Cases and Times in which Patience ought to give place to other Vertues shall find in the Bagauds a whole Army of Christians in Rebellion against the Empire to oppose to that Legion And shall the Example of one single