Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/129

OF THE ROMAN EMPIKE 107 The name of CvniL of Alexandria is famous in controversial cyrii, patri- story, and the title of sainl is a ni<irk that his opinions and his andria. party have finally prevailed. In the house of his uncle, thei8^A.D.'444," archbishop Theophilus, he imbibed the orthodox lessons of zeal and dominion, and five years of his youth were profitably spent in the adjacent monasteries of Nitria. Under the tuition of the abbot Serapion, he applied himself to ecclesiastical studies with such indefatigable ardour, that in the course of one sleepless night he has perused the four gospels, the catholic epistles, and the epistle to the Romans. Origen he detested ; but the writings of Clemens and Dionysius, of Athanasius and Basil, were continually in his hands ; by the theory and practice of dispute, his faith was confirmed and his wit was sharpened ; he extended niund his cell the cobwebs of scholastic theology, and meditated the works of allegory and metaphysics, whose re- mains, in seven verbose folios, now peaceably slumber Ly the side of their rivals.-^ Cyril prayed and fasted in the desert, but his thoughts (it is the reproach of a friend '^^) were still fixed on the world ; and the call of Theophilus, who summoned him to the tumult of cities and synods, was too readily obeyed by the aspiring hermit. With the approbation of his uncle, he assumed the office, and acquired the fame, of a popular preacher. His comely person adorned the pulpit, the harmony of his voice resounded in the cathedral, his friends were stationed to lead or second the applause of the congregation,-- and the hasty notes of the scribes preserved his discourses, which in their effect, though not in their composition, might be comjKired with those of the Athenian orators. The death of Theophilus ex- panded and realised the hopes of his ne])hew. The clergy of Alexandria was divided ; the soldiers and their general sup- ported the claims of the archdeacon ; but a resistless multitude, with voices and with hands, asserted the cause of their favourite ; and, after a period of thirty-nine years, Cyril was seated on the throne of Athanasius.-'^ '^' La Croze (Hist, du Christianisnie rles hides, toni. i. p. 24) avows his con- tempt for the genius and writings of Cyril. De tous les ouvrages des anciens, il y en a pea qu'on lise avoc moins d'utiliti' ; and Dupin (Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, torn. iv. p. 42-52), in words of respect, teaches us to despi^ie them. -^ Of Isidore of Peiusium (i. i. epist. 25, p. 8). As the letter is not of the most creditable sort. Tillemont, less sincere than the Bollandists, affects a doubt whether //lis Cyril is the nephew of Theophilus (M^m. Eccles. tom. xiv. p. 268). 22 j^ grammarian is named by Socrates (1. vii. 13) Sidnvpo'; Sk aKpoaTj)': toC (inaKuiTOv KvpiKXov KafletrTWS Ka'i Trepl to icpoTOVs iv Tai? SiiSacncaAiois auTOV eyetpetf fji/ (TTTOuSatoTaTO?. ^ See the youth and promotion of Cyril, in Socrates (1. vii. c. 7) and Renaucjot