Theodosius, with all his great qualities, was subject to fits of violent passion. A sedition, or rather a popular affray, had taken place in Thessalonica; one of his officers was ill-treated, and some lives lost. Theodosius, in the first moment of indignation, ordered an indiscriminate massacre of the inhabitants, and seven thousand human beings—men, women, and children—were sacrificed. The conduct of Ambrose on this occasion was worthy of a Christian prelate: he retired from the presence of the emperor, and wrote to him a letter, in which, in the name of Christ, of his Church, and of all the bishops over whom he had any influence, he denounced this inhuman act with the strongest expressions of abhorrence, and refused to allow the sovereign, thus stained with innocent blood, to participate in the sacraments of the Church;—in fact, excommunicated him. In vain the emperor threatened, supplicated; in vain he appeared with all his imperial state before the doors of the cathedral of Milan, and commanded and entreated entrance. The doors were closed; and even on Christmas-day, when he again as a suppliant presented himself, Ambrose appeared at the porch, and absolutely forbade his entrance, unless he should choose to pass into the sanctuary over the dead body of the intrepid bishop. At length, after eight months of interdict, Ambrose consented to relent, on two conditions: the first, that the emperor should publish an edict by which no capital punishment could be executed till thirty days after conviction of a crime; the second, that he should perform a public penance. The emperor submitted; and, clothed in sackcloth, grovelling on the earth, with dust and ashes on his head, lay the master of the world before the altar of Christ, because of innocent blood hastily and wrongfully shed. This was a great triumph, and one of incalculable results—some evil, some good. Another incident in the life of St. Ambrose should be recorded to his honour. In his time, ‘the first blood was judicially shed for religious opinion’—and the first man who suffered for heresy was Priscilian, a noble Spaniard: on this occasion, St. Ambrose and St. Martin of Tours raised their protest in the name of Christianity against this dreadful precedent; but the animosity of the Spanish bishops prevailed, and Priscilian was put to death; so early were bigotry and cruelty the characteristics of the Spanish hierarchy! Ambrose refused to communicate with the few bishops who had countenanced this transaction: the general voice of the Church was against it.