the bishops called in the help of the state, where the offender con- temned the censure of the church. Justinian I. extended the episcopal jurisdiction also to the monasteries. Heraclius sub- sequently (628) referred even criminal causes among the clergy to the bishops, thus dismissing the clergy thenceforth entirely from the secular courts ; though of course holding them liable * Possidius, in Vita Aug. c. 23 : " Alloquebatur plebem Dei, malle se ex colla- tionibus plebis Dei vivere quam illarum possessionum curam vel gubernationem pati, et paratum se esse illia cedere, ut eo modo omnes Dei servi et ministri vive* rent;' » 1 Cor. vi. 1-6. ' " Sacerdotura judicium ita debet haberi, ut si ipse Dominus rcsidens judicet. Optatus Milev. : De schism. Donat. f. 184. § 16. EriscorAL jukisdiction and intekcessiox. 103 lor the physical penalty, when convicted of capital crime,' as the ecclesiastical jurisdiction ended with deposition and ex- communication. Another privilege, granted by Theodosius to the clergy, was, that they should not be compelled by tortnre to bear testimony before the civil tribunal. This elevation of the power and influence of the bishops was a salutary check upon the jurisdiction of the state, and on the whole conduced to the interests of justice and human- ity ; though it also nourished hierarchical arrogance and en- tangled the bishops, to the prejudice of their higher functions, in all manner of secular suits, in which they were frequently called into consultation. Chrysostom complains that " the ar- bitrator undergoes incalculable vexations, much labor, and more difficulties than the public judge. It is hard to discover the right, but harder not* to violate it when discovered. ISTot labor and difficulty alone are connected with office, but also no little danger.'"' Augustine, too, who could make better use of his time, felt this part of his official duty a burden, which nevertheless he bore for love to the church.^ Others handed over these matters to a subordinate ecclesiastic, or even, like Silvanus, bishop of Troas, to a layman." 5. Another advantage resulting from the alliance of the church with the empire was the episcopal right of intercession. The privilege of interceding with the secular power for criminals, prisoners, and unfortunates of every kind had be- longed to the heathen priests, and especially to the vestals, and now passed to the Christian ministry, above all to the bishops, and thenceforth became an essential function of their office. A church in Gaul about the year 460 oj)posed the or- ' Even Constantiue, however, before the council of Nice, had declared, that should he himself detect a bishop in the act of adultery, he would rather throw over him his imperial mantle than bring scandal on the church by punishing a clergyman. - De sacerd. 1. iii. c. 18, at the beginning. ^ In Psalm, xxv. (vol. iv. 115) and Epist. 213, where he complains that before and after noon he was beset and distracted by the members of his church