defcend vifibly on the perfon cle^y in the fhape
of a Dove. If the fad: of fuch a defcent be true^
it will eafily be accounted for by a palTage in
Aulus Gellius (whence the hint was probably
taken) who tells us of Archytas the Fhilofcpher
and Mathematician, that he formed a Pigeon of
wood fo artificially, as to make it fly by the power
of Mcchanifni, jujl as he direEled it [i/]. And
we find from Slrada, that many tricks of this
kind were aflually contrived for the diverfion of
Charles the fifth in his Monaftery, by one Tur-
rianusy who made litfle birds fly out of the room
\h'\ Hor. Sat. i. v. ver. 98.
\f\ Quis enim nefcit, quod facras teftantur hiftorioe, tunc
temporis cum Fabianus in fummum Pontificem falutatus eft,
Columbam ccclitus advenilTe, ejufque capiti infidendo fuf-
fragium detulifle r &c. Hoc idem in compluriun\ Raven-
' natum Epifcoporum cleftionibus folenne extitit, quorum
memoriam Rubeus recolit. Hilt. Raven. &c. Aringh. Rom.
Subt. 1. vi. c. 48.
\d\ Plerique nobilium Grscorum affirmatiflime fcripfe-
iunt, funulachrum Columba; e ligno ab Archyta rationc
quadam, difciplinaque mechanica fadlum volalle : Ita erat
Jibramentis fufpenfum, &c. A. Gell. Noil. Att. 1. x. 12.
ani
%§4 ^ Letter from Rome."
and hack again^ by his great fkill in MachU
nery [^].
It would be endlefs to run through all the Po-
pjh Miracles^ which are evidently forged, or
copied from the originals of Paganifm-, fince
there is fcarce a Prodigy in the old Hijioriam^
or a Fable in the old Poets^ but what is tran-
fcribed into their Legends^ and fwallowed by
their filly Bigots, as certain and undoubted
fads.
The ftory o^Arion the Muftcian, riding trium-
phant with his harp on the back of a Dolphin,
that took him up when thrown over-board at
Sea, is J one would think, too grofly fabulous,
to be applied to any purpofe of Chriftian Super-
ftition: Yet our prefent Romans, fo far furpafs
the old in Fable and Impofture, that out of this
Jingle Jlory they have coined many of the fame
Jiamp, viz. of Dolphins taking up and bringing
afhore with great pomp feveral of their Saints,
both dead and alive, who had been thrown into
the Sea, by Infidels, either to drown, or to de-
. prive them of burial [/].
The. fable of the Harpies, thoie furies or winged
monfers, who were fo troublefome to ASneas and
his Companions [^], feems to be copied in the
[e] Vid. Gronovii Not. in Gell. Ibid.
[/] Quos Judex fubmerfos in mare necavit j fed Del-
phinorum obfequio corpora eorum ad littus delata funt ;
Sed de cbfequio Delphinorum martyribus impenfo plura in-
fra fuo loco. Aringh. Rom. Subterr. 1. i. c. 9, 10.
W ^irg. Mn.in. 211.
very
A Letter from Rome. 155
veiyjjrj} Church within the walls of Rome ^ clofc
to the gate of the people^ as it is called^ by which
wc enter it from the north : where there is an
Jltar with a public infcription [^], fingifying,
that it was built by Pope Pafchal the Second^ by
divine bifpiraticn^ in order to drive aivay a nejl
of huge, daemons or monjlers^ who ufed to perch upon
a tree in that very ^lace^ and terribly infult all
who entered the city.
The Popijh Writers themfelvcs are forced to
allow, that many both of their reliques and their
miracles have been forged by the craft of Priejls,
for the fake of money and lucre. Durantus, a
zealous defender of all their ceremonies, gives
feveral inftances of the former; particularly of
the bones of a common thief which had for fome
time been honored with an altar, and worpipped
under the title of a Saint [/]. And for the latter ;
Lyra, in his Comment on Bel and the Dragon,
[/&] Altare a Pafchali Papa II. divino affliatu
ritu folemni hoc loco eretftum,
quo dxmones proceros
nucis arbori infidcntes,
tranfeuntcm hinc popiilum dire infultantcs,
confeilim cxpulit,
Urbani VIII. pont. max. au(5loritate
cxcelfiorcm in locum qucm confpicis
tranflatum fuit
An. Dom. M.DC. XXVII.
[/] S. Martinus altare, quod in honorem Martyris ex*
ftruftum fuerat, cum ofla & reliquias cujufdamlatronis cITc
deprehendiflet, fubmoveri juflit. Durant. dc Ritib. 1. i.
c. 25.
^ 4 obfcrves.
1^6 y^ L E T T E R fi'Om R O M E.""
obferves, that fometimes alfo in the Churchy very
great cheats are pit upon the people, by falfe mira-
cles^ contrived, or countenanced at leaft, by their
priejls for fome gain and temporal advantage [/^].
And what their own Authors confefs of fojne of
their miracles, we may venture, without any
breach of charity, to believe of them all ; nay,
we cannot indeed believe any thing elfe without
impiety ; and without fuppofmg God to concur
in an extrordinary manner, to the eftaMilhment
Q^ fraud, error, 2indi fuperfiition \n x.\\q vfovld.
The refuge or proteBion given to all, who fly
to the Church for fhelter, is a privilege directly
transferred from the heathen temples to the Popifh
Churches -, and has been pra6lifed in Rome, from
the time of it's founder Romulus ; who, in imi-
tation of the Cities of Greece, opened an Afylum
or San£iuary to fugitives of all the Nations [/].
But we may obferve the great moderation of
Pagan, above that of Popifh Rome, in regard to
this cuftom -, for I do not remember that there
ever was more than one Afylum in the times of
the Republic -, whereas there are now fome hun-
dreds in the fame city ; and when that fmgle one
[k'] Aliquando fit in Ecclefia maxima deceptio populi in
miraculis fidis a facerdotibus, vel eis adhserentibus propter
lucrum temporale, dc. Vid. Nic. Lyr. in Dan. c. xiv.
[/] Romulus, ut faxo lucum circumdedit alto,
QjjilibeJ hue, inquit, confuge, tutus eris.
Ov. Faft. iji.
(which
A Letter from Rome. 157
(which was opened rather for the increafc of it's
inhabitants, than the protedlion of criminals) was
found in the end to give too great encourage-
ment to mifchief and hcentioufncfs •, they en-
clofed it round in fuch a manner as to hinder all
accefs to it \ni\ : whereas the prefent Popijh Sanc-
tuaries ftand perpetually open, not to receive
Jlrangers, but to /belter villains j fo that it may
literally be faid of thefe, what our Saviour faid
of the Jewijh temple^ that they have turned the
Houfe of Prayer into a Den of Thieves [n].
In the early ages of Chriflianity there were
many limitations put upon the ufe of this pri-
vilege by Emperors and councils ; and the greater
crimes of murder, adultery, theft, &c. were
efpecially excepted from the benefit of it [
but now they fcruple not to receive to fan ^uary,
even the molt dcteftable crimes •, and it is owing
without doubt to this policy of holy Church, that
murders are fo common with them in Italy on
flight provocations ; whilfl there is a Church al-
ways at hand and always open, to fecure offend-
ers from legal punifhment ; feveral of whom
have been fliewn to me in different places,
If xvTO^Uir,()tjvat. Dio. 1. xlvii. p. 385.
[«] Matth. xxi. 13.
[0] Neque Homicidis, neque Adulteris, nequ? virginum
raptoribus, &c. terminorum cuftodies cautelam ; fed etiam
inde cxtrahes, Sc fupplicium cis inferes. Jurtin. Novel, xvii.
C. 7.
walking
158 yfLzTTER frOM R O M E.
walking about at their eafe, and in full fecnrlty
within the bounds oi \kit\x fanEluary .
In their very Pricjihood they have contrived,
one would think, to keep up as near a refemblance
as they could, to that of Pagan Rome : and the
fovereign Pontiff inftead of deriving his fuccef-
fion from St. Petcr^ (who, if ever he was at
Rome^ did not refide there at leaft in any
worldly ^^;;2/> or fplendor) may with more reafon,
and a much better plea, ftyle himfelf the Sue-
cejjor of the [/)] Pontifex Maximus, or chief
Prieji of old Rome ; whofe authority and dignity
was the greateft in the Republic -, and who was
looked upon as the arbiter or judge of all things^
civil as well as facred, human as well as divine :
whofe pov/er, eflablillied almoft with the foun-
dation of the City, " was an omen (lays Poly-
" dore Vergil) and fure prefage of that prieftly
*' Majefly, by which Rome was once again to
[/>] Multa divinitus, Pontifices, a majoribus noftris in-
venta, nihil pr^clarius, quam quod vos eofdem, & reli-
gionibus Deorum Immortal ium & fummae Reipublicas prae-
efle voluerunt. Cic. pro Dom. i.
Maximus Pontifex dicitur, quod maximus rerum, quas
ad facra Sc religiones pertinent, judex fit, Vindexque con-
tumacix privatorum, magiflratuumque. Felt. 1. xi. in voce
Max.
Quod Judex atque Arbiter habeter rerum divinarum,
humanarumque. Id. in Ordo Sacerdotum.
T. Coruncanium Pontincatu maximo ad principale extulere
faftigium. Veil. Pater. 1. ii. 128.
^' reign
A Letter from Rome. j^g
" reign as univerfally, as it had done before by
*' the force of it's arms [-7]."
But of all the fovereign Pontifs of Pagan Rome^
it is very remarkable that Caligula was the firft,
who ever offered bis foot to he kijfed by any, who
approached him : which raifcd a general indig-
nation through the City, to fee thcmfelvcs re-
duced to fuffer fo great an indignity. Thofe,
who endeavoured to excufe it, faid, that it was
not done out of infolcnce, but vanity; and for
the fake of Ihewing his golden flipper, fet with
jewels. Seneca declaims upon it, in his ufual
manner, as the laft affront to liberty •, and the
introdu(5lion of ^ Perfian Jlavery into the manners
either to be impofed or complied with by man,
is now the Handing ceremonial oiChriflian Rome,
and a neceffiry condition of acccfs to the reigning
Popes, though derived from no better origin,
than the frantic pride of a brutal Pagan Ty-
rant.
\q\ Certum portentum quo ell fignificatum, Urbcm Ro-
mam poflremo perinde Pontificia Majeftate, qua nunc late
patet, gentibus moderaturam, atque olim potentia impe-
raflet. Pol. Verg. Inv. rer, 1. iv. 14.
[r] Abfoluto & gratias agenti porrexit ofculandum fini-
flrum pedcm — qui e.xcufant, negant id infolcntix' caufa
faftum ; aiunt Socculum auratum, imo aureum, margari-
tis diftiniftum oftenderc cum voluifle — natus in hoc, ut mores
civitatls Perfica fcrvitutc mutarct, &c. Scncc. de Bcncf.
1. ii. 12.
The
i6o A Letter from R o M i.
The great variety of their religious orders and
Societies of Priejis feems to have been formed
upon the plan of the old colleges or fraternities of
the Augurs, Pontifices, Salii, Fratres Arvales,
(s'c. The Fefral virgins might furnilh. the hint
for xht foundation of Nunneries: and I have ob-
ferved fomething very Uke to the rules and au-
Jierities of the monafiic life, in the charafter and
manner of feveral Priejis of the Heathens, who
- ufed to live by themfehes, retired from the world,
near to the 'Temple or Oracle of the Deity, to
whofe particular fervice they were devoted ; as
the Selli, the Prieft of Dodon^an Jove, a felf-
mortifying race [j].
2oj vonw UTTo'priTon siViTTTOTTOiJ'f? ^ocy.(xnvvo(i,
II. xvii. 234.
Whofe groves the Selli, race auftere, furround ;
Their feet unwalh'd, their flumbers on the
ground. Mr. Pope.
But above all, in the old defcriptions of the
iazy mendicant Priejis among the Heathens, who
ufed
[ij Ts Twv li^iuv ylw; caro luv «AAwc %«<;§<; »^u^icriJi,iiiov. PlatO
in Tim^EO, p. 1044.
From the character of thefe Se//i, or ias others call them
E//i, the Monks of the Pagan World, feated in the fruitful
Soil of Dodona ; abounding, as Hefad defcribes it, with.
every thing, that could make life eafy and happy ; and
whither no man ever approached them without an offer-
ing in his hands, we may learn, whence their fuccelTors of
modern
A Letter from Rome. i6l
iifed to travel [/] from houfe to houfe, withfacks
en their backs ; and, fVom an opinion of their
fandlity, raife large contributions of money^
bread, wine, and all kind of 'visuals, for thefup^
port of their fraternity, we fee the very pidhire
of the hogging Friars ; who are always about
the llreet in the fame habit, and on the fame er-
rand, and never fail to carry home with them
a good fack full of provifions for the ufe of their
convent,
Cicero, inMis book of laws, reftralns this prac-
tice of begging, or gathering alms, to 07ie parti-
cular order of Priejis, and that only on certain
days; becaufe, as he fays [u], it propagates fu-
perfiition and impoverifhes families. Which, by
the way, may let us fee the policy of the Church
of Rome, in the great care, that they have taken
to multiply their begging orders,
modern times have derived that peculiar fkill or prefcrip-
tive right, of chufing the richefl part of every country for
the place of their fettlement. \'id. Sophoc. Trachir..
p. 340. V. 1175. Edit. Turneb. & Schol. Triclin.
[/] Stipes aereas, immo vero & argenteas, multis certa-
tim ofFerentibus fmu recepere patulo ; nee non & vini ca-
dum & laftis & cafeos avidis animis corradentes & in fac-
culos huic quaeftui de induftria ptccparatos farcientes, &c.
Apuleius Metam. 1. viii. p. 262.
[«] Stipem fuftulimus, nifi earn quam ad paucos dies
propriam Idaea: Matris excepimus : Implet enini fuperfli-
tioneanimos, exhauritdomos. Cic. de Legib. 1. ii. 9, 16.
Vol. V. L I could
J 62 ^/Letter from Rome.
I could eafily carry on this parallel, through
many more inftances of the Pagan and Popjh
ceremonies^ if I had not already faid enough, to
fliev/ from what fpring all that fuperftition flows,
which we fo juftly charge them with, and how
vain an attempt it mull be, to juflify, by the
principles of C^rz/?/^;?zVy, a le^cr/??/^ formed upon
the plan, and after the very pattern of pure
Heathenifm. I fhall not trouble myfelf with en-
quiring at what time, and in what manner thefe
feveral corruptions were introduced into the
Church: whether they were contrived by the
intrigues and avarice of Priefis, who found their
advantage in reviving and propagating impo-
fiures, which had been of old fo profitable to
their predeceffors : or whether the genius of Rome
was fo ftrongly turned to fanaticifm and fuper-
flition, that they were forced, in condefcenlion
to the humor of the people, to drefs up their
new religion to the modes and fopperies of the
old. This, I know, is the principle, by which
their own Writers defend themfelves^ as oft as
they are attacked on this head.
Aringhus, in his SLCCOunt of fulfterraneous Rome,
acknowledges this conformity between the Pa-
gan and Popifh rites, and defends the admiflion
of the ceremonies of Heathenifm into the fervice
of the Church, by the authority of their wifefi
Popes
A L E t T E R from Rome. 1 6^
Popes and Governors [â– w']^ " who found it
" necefTary, he fays, in the converfion of the
" Gentiles, to diflcmble and wink at many
'* things, and yield to the times ; and not to
*' life force againft cuftoms, which the people
** were fo obftinately fond of; nor to think of
*' extirpating at once every thing, that had the
*' appearance of profane -, but to fuperfede in
*' fome meafure the obligation of the facred
" laws; till thefe converts, convinced by de-
" grees, and informed of the whole truth, by
*' the fuggeftions of the Holy Spirit, fhould be
" content to fubmit in earneft to the Yoak of
« Chriji:\
It is by the fame principles, that the Jefuits
defend the conceffions, which they make at this
day to their Profelytes in China-, who, where
pure Chriflianity will not go down, never fcru-
ple to compound the matter between Jeftis and
Confucius; and prudently allow, what the fliff
eld Prophets fo impoliticly condemned, a paj't.
nerfhip between God and Baal : of which, though
they have often been accufed at the Court of
[iy] Ac maximi fubinde Pontlfices quamplurima prima
quidem facie diffimulanda duxere, optimum videlicet rati
tempori deferendum efle ; fuadebant quippe fibi, baud ul-
1am adverfus gentilitios ritus vim, utpote qui mordicus a
iidelibus retinebantur, adhibendam efle ; neqiie ullatenus
enitendum, ut quicquid profanos faperet mores, omnino
tolleretur, quin imo quam maxima utendum lenitate, fa-
crarumque legum ex parte intermittendum imperium arbi-
trabantur, &c. Vid. Aring. Rom. Subter. torn. i. 1. i. c.zi.
L 2 Rome,
1 64 y^LETTER frOM R O M E."
Romey yet I have never heard, that their con-
dud: has been cenfured. But this kind of rea-
foning, how plaufible foever it may be, with
regard to the firft ages of Chriftianity, or to
nations juft converted from Paganifm^ is fo far
from excufing the prefent Gentilifm of the Church
of Rome ^ that it is a direft condemnation of it;
fince the neceflity alledged for the pra6bice, if
ever it had any real force, has not, at leaft for
many ages paft, at all fubfifled : and their tol-
eration of fuch praftices, however ufeful at firft
for reconciling Heathens to Chrijlianityy feems
now to be the readieft way, to drive Chrijlians
back ^gain to Heathenifm,
But it is high time for me to conclude, being
perfuaded, if I do not flatter myfelf too much,
that I have fufficientiy made good, what I at
firft undertook to prove; an exa5i Conformity,
or Uniformity rather, of Worfhip^ between Po-
fery and Paganifm: for fince, as I have ftiewn
above, we fee the prefent people of Rome wor-
ftiipping in the. fame Temples-, at the fame Altars;
fometimes the fame Images-, and always with
the fame Ceremonies, as the old Romans ; they
muft have more charity, as well 2^%Jkill in diflin-
guijhing, than I pretend to have, who can ab-
folve them from the fame fuperfiition and ido-
latry, of which we condemn their Pagan An^
ceflors,
POST-
A Letter from Rome. i 65
posrscRipr.
AFTER I had fent thefe Papers to the
Prefs, I happened to meet with a Para-
graph, in Mr, WarburtorC s 'Divine Legation of
Alofes, which obHges me to detain the reader a
little longer, in order to obviate the prejudices,
which tlie authority of fo celebrated a writer
may probably injeft to the difadvantage of my
argument > which, though it has been main-
tained, as he obferves, by many able writers^
he has taken occafion to condemn, as an utter
mijlake, and a mifapplication of their time^ and
learnings in the purfuit of a falfe principle.
The paragraph runs thus ;
" There is nothing obfl:ru(5ls our difcoverles
" in antiquity, (as far as relates to the know-
*' ledge of mankind) fo much as that falfe
" though undifputed principle, that the general
" cuftoms of men (in which a common like-
" nefs conne(fts, as in a chain, the manners of
" it's inhabitants, quite round the globe) are
" all, whether civil or religious, tradudlive
*' from one another. Whereas in truth, the
" original of diis fimilitudc, is the voice of one
" common nature, improved by reafon, or de-
" bafed by fuperftition, fpeaking to all it's
" tribes of individuals. But it is no wonder
L 3 " men
.6$ y^ L E T T E R from Rome.
" men have been mifled by this falfe principle.
" For when a cuflom, whofe meaning lies not
*' very obvious, requires fome account to be
*' given of it's original, it is much eafier, to tell
" us, that this people derived it from that, than
*' rightly to explain to us, what common prin-
" ciple of reafon or fuperftition gave birth to it,
*' ill both. How many able Writers have em-
" ployed their time and learning to prove Cbri-
" Jlian Rome to have borrowed their fuperfti-
" tions from the Pagan City ? They have indeed
*' fhewn an exa6l and furprizing likenefs in a
" great variety of inllances. But the conclufion
" from thence, that, therefore, the Catholic
" borrowed from the Heathen, as plaufible, as
" it feems, is, I think, utterly mijiaken. To
" offer at prefent onely this plain reafon, the
" rife of the fuperftitious cuftoms in queftion
" were many ages later than the converfion of
" that Imperial City to the Chriftan faith : con-
" fequently, at the time of their introdudion,
" there were no Pagan prejudices, that required
" fuch a compliance from the ruling Clergy.
" For this, and other reafons, therefore, I am
" rather induced to believe, that the very fame
" fpirit of fuperftition, operating in equal cir-
" cumftances, made both Papijls, and Pagans
^' truly originals, i^c. [^]."
I am at a lofs to conceive, what could move
my learned friend, to pafs fo fevere a cenfure
[a] Div. Legation. Vol. 11. Par. i. p. 355.
Upon
A Letter from Rome. 167
wpon an argument, which has hitherto been
efpoufed by all Proteftants ; admitted by many
Papifts, and evaded, rather than contradicted,
by any. But whatever was his motive, which,
I perfuade myfelf, was no unfriendly one, he
will certainly pardon me, if purfuing the full
convidion of my mind, I attempt to defend an
eftablifhed principle, confirmed by ftrong and
numerous fadls, againft aa opinion wholly new
and ftrange to me j and which, if it can be fup-
pofed to have any force, overthrows the whole
credit and ufe of my prefent work.
To proceed therefore to the confideration of
his reafoning. He allows, that the writers,
who have undertaken, to deduce the rites of Po-
pery from Paganifm, have fhewn an exa^i and
furpriztng likenefs between them^ in a great variety
of inflames. This, one would think, is allow-
ing every thing, that the caufe demands : it is
every thing, I dare fay, that thofe writers de-
fire. But this queftion, according to his no-
tion, is not to be decided by fadts, but by a
principle of a different kind ; a fuperior know-
ledge of human nature ; which would teach us,
that, notwitftanding all that exaSi and furprizing
likenefs, the Papijls are as truly originals as the
Pagans \ and borrowed nothing at all in reality
from their Heathen Anceflors. — He offers one
plain reafon, in the fupport of this aflertion ;
*' that the rife of the fuperjlitious cujloms in que-
** flion were many ages later, than the converfion
L 4 " ^f
i6S [/^Letter from Rome.
" of Rome to the Chrifiian faith \ and confequent-^
" ly^ at the time of their firji introdufiion^ there
" were no Pagan prejudices, that required fuch a
*-^ compliance from the ruling Clergy.^* But this
reafon is fo far from being a plain one, that,
till it be more precifely ftated, it will hardly
pafs for any reafon at all. It confifts, we fee,
of an hijiorical faSi j and of a confequence de-
duced from it : but till the jEra of that fa5i
be fettled, or the number of ages determined, by
which the introdu^fion of thofe ceremonies was
later than the converjion of Rome, it is not pof'
fible for us to judge of the confequence, which
he draws from it; or to know, whether there
were any Pagan prejudices fubfifting at that time
or not ; on which the whole force of his reafon
depends.
To fet this argument therefore in it*s proper
light, let us take a fummary view of the Chri-
Jlian religion in Rome, from the reign of Conjian-r
tine the Great, the known sera of it's eftablifla'
ment in that Imperial City.
From this -^ra then, according to the ac-r
counts of all writers, though Chriftianity be-
came the public and eftablifhed religion of the
Government, yet it was forced to fuftain a per-
petual ftruggle for many ages, againft the ob-
ftinate efforts of Paganifm ; which was openly
jpfpoufed by fome of the Emperors •, pubhcly
tolerated.
A Letter from Rome. 169
tolerated, and privately favored by others j and
connived at in Ibme degree by all.
Within thirty years after Conjlantme, the
Apojlate Julian intirely reftored it-, abrogated
all the laws which had been made againft it;
and prohibited the Chriftians to teach orpro-
pagate the Go/pel [b']. The three Emperors,
who next fucceeded, Jovian^ Valentinian^ Valens-^
though they were Chriftians by profeflion, were
yet wholly indifferent and neutral between the tivo
religions ; granting an equal indulgence and
toleration to them both : and Gratian, the
fourth, though a fincere believer, did not think
fit to annuls what Julian had refiored [<:]. He
was the firft however, who refufed the title and
habit of the Pontifex Maximus ; as giving a kind
[^] Petunt etiam, ut illis privilegia deferas, qui loquen-
di ic docendi noftrjs communem ufum, Juliani lege proxima
denegarunt. Ambrof. adv. Symmach.. lib. i. ad Valcn-
tinianum.
[f] Jmmianus Marcellinus, who lived in that very age,
gives this charafter of the Emperor Valentinian ; Poftremo
hoc moderamiye principatus inclaruit ; quod inter religio-
num diverfitates medius ftetit ; nee quenquam imquiecavit ;
jieque ut hoc coleretur imperavit, aut illud. Nee inter-
diftis minacibus fubjeftorum cervicem ad id, quod ipfe co-
luit, inclinabat ; fed intemeratas reliquit has partes, ut re>
perit. lib. xxx. c. 9.
Symmachus, in his memorial to Valentinian the lid. fpcak-
ing with a reference to the five Emperors juft named fays ;
numerentur Principes utriufque Sedla?, utriufque Scntentia; :
proximus eorum caercmonias patrum coluit, recentior non