tribe inhabiting the western declivity of Mount Libanus, figure in ecclesiastical history as a sect of Christians. By adopting the Monothelite doctrine soon after it had been condemned in 680 by the council of Constantinople, they came to be considered a distinct religious party; and from having as their first bishop a certain monk, John Maro, they were called Maronites. Maro assumed the title of "Patriarch of Antioch," and asserted the ecclesiastical independence of the tribe. With no less intrepidity did the Maronites themselves, favoured by their native mountains, defend their freedom at first against the Greeks, and afterwards against the Saracens. At length, in 1182, they renounced the opinions of the Monothelites, and were re-admitted within the pale of the Romish Church. Yet, as the terms of reconciliation were, that the religious tenets, moral precepts, and ancient rites of the country should remain unaltered, the Maronites adopted no popish opinion except the supremacy of the Roman pontiff. By this slight tie they still continue united to the Church of Rome. In return for their imperfect allegiance, the pope is obliged to defray the expenses of their public worship, and to maintain a college at Rome for the education of their priests. He has the power of sanctioning the appointment of their patriarch after he has been selected by their bishops. This dignitary resides in the monastery of Kanoubi, assumes the title of Patriarch of Antioch, and by adopting the name of Peter, claims to be the successor of that apostle. Along with the bishops who compose his synod, he is bound to remain in perpetual celibacy; a law, however, which the rest of the clergy do not observe. The Maronite monks are of the Order of St Anthony, and live in convents scattered among the mountain solitudes.

Prompted no doubt by national vanity, so common among Syrians, Nairon and other Maronite doctors have essayed to prove that their tribe never entertained the Monothelite heresy, and that it derived its name, not from John