ions, were put to death on account of heresy. Such things
became sadly too common afterwards; but at the time the punishment of
Priscillian struck all good men with horror. St. Martin, bishop of
Tours, who was called "The Apostle of the Gauls," did all that he could
to prevent it. St. Ambrose (of whom you will hear more in the next
chapter) would not, on any account, have to do with the bishops who had
been concerned in it; and the chief of these bishops was afterwards
turned out of his see, and died in banishment. We may do well to
remember that this first instance of punishing heresy with death, was
under the government of an usurper, who had made his way to power by
rebellion and murder.

CHAPTER XV.

ST. AMBROSE.

A.D. 374-397.

The greatest bishop of the West in these times was St. Ambrose, of
Milan. He was born about the year 340, and thus was ten or twelve years
younger than St. Basil and St. Gregory of Nazianzum. His father had held
a very high office under the emperors; Ambrose himself was brought up as
a lawyer, and had risen to be governor of Liguria, a large country in
the north of Italy, of which Milan was the chief city.

The bishop of Milan, who was an Arian, died in the year 374, and then a
great dispute arose between the orthodox and the Arians as to choosing a
new bishop, so that it seemed as if they might even come to blows about
it. When both parties were assembled in the cathedral for the election,
the governor, Ambrose, went and made them a speech, desiring them to
manage their business peaceably; and it is said that, as soon as he had
done, a little child's voice was heard crying out "Ambrose bishop!" All
at once, the whole assembly caught up the words, which seemed to have
something providential in them; and they insisted that the governor
should be the new bishop. Now although Ambrose had been brought up as a
Christian, he was still only a catechumen, and had never thought of
being a bishop, or a clergyman of any kind; and he was afraid to
undertake so high and holy an office. He therefore did all that he could
to get himself excused. He tried to make the people of Milan think that
his temper was too severe; but they saw through his attempts. He then
escaped from the town more than once, but he was brought back.
Valentinian, who was then emperor, approved the choice of a bishop; and
Ambrose was first baptized, and a few days afterwards he was
consecrated.

He now studied very har