The acts of the council of 879 are as full of dignity and as high-toned as those of the council of 869 were passionate and unworthy of true bishops. Adrian's legates were more like men possessed than like judges, if we may judge from the acts preserved by Anastasius the Librarian, while the legates of John, on the contrary, displayed in all things as much wisdom as moderation.[1] During their sojourn at Constantinople they repeatedly saw Metrophanes, one of the worst enemies of Photius, and one of the writers who serve as guides to the Romish writers in their accounts. They requested him to furnish proofs against Photius, but could draw from him nothing but idle words. They summoned him to the council, but he refused to appear, under the false pretext of illness. "He is not so ill," said the legates, "that he cannot talk a great deal, and yet say very little." Upon his refusal to appear he was anathematized.
- ↑ The acts of the council of 879 have been found in the original at Rome itself, with all the authentic signatures, including those of the legates of Rome; and yet the ecclesiastical historians of the West insinuate that they may have been altered. On the other hand, the acts of the council of 869 were lost by the Roman legates, and are only known through Anastasius the Librarian, who pretended to have a copy; and the Western historians will not allow of a doubt as to their genuineness. Is this impartial? If the acts of the council of 879 had come from the East to the West, there might be some grounds for contesting their genuineness; but they were found at Rome, and were taken from the archives of Rome to give them to the public.
