d_--at least by
the fathers who succeeded them. The quarrel became general and violent;
the Christians came to blows everywhere. Nestorius seemingly wished to
draw back, being frightened by the storm which he had himself raised. 'I
have found,' said he, 'the church a prey to dissensions. Some call the
holy virgin the _mother of God_; others only the _mother of a man_. In
order to reunite them, I have called her the _mother of Christ_. Remain,
therefore, at peace about this question, and be convinced that my
sentiments on the true faith are always the same.' But his obstinacy and
the ardour of his partisans did not allow him to go beyond this false
retraction. The necessity of a general council was felt, and the Emperor
Theodosius II. ordered in 431 its convocation at Ephesus. On the 21st June
431, two hundred bishops condemned Nestorius, and declared that the Virgin
Mary should be honoured as the _mother of God_. This decision was
accepted, notwithstanding some vain protestations, by the universal
church. The fathers of the council of Ephesus had no thought of
introducing into the church a new dogma or worship. The Virgin Mary had
always been considered by them as the _mother of God_, and they made now a
solemn declaration of this belief, in order to reply to the attack of
Nestorius, and to remove every incertitude about a dogma which had not
hitherto been opposed. But these great assemblies of Christians,
notwithstanding the particular motive of their meeting, were always
produced by some general necessity which was felt by the Christian
society, and the results of their decrees went often beyond the provisions
of those by whom they were framed.

"Though I am far from believing that it is allowable to weigh in the
scales of human reason the dogmas of Christianity, I do not think that it
is prohibited to examine which of these dogmas has been the most
instrumental in detaching the Pagans from their errors.

"We have several times penetrated, in the course of our researches, into
the conscience of the leaders of Paganism, and we have always found that
it was entirely under the influence of political views and interests.
These interests, which so powerfully acted upon the politician's mind, had
but a feeble hold upon that of the inhabitants of the country. And,
indeed, what interest could the agriculturists, the artisans, and the
proletarians, have in maintaining the integrity of the Roman constitution,
or in preserving