these cruel and severe tortures, he replied, that at first he did suffer a few pangs; but that afterwards there appeared one who wiped off the perspiration from his face with soft and cooling linen, and who animated him to take courage. He said that, when the people ceased from torturing him, he did not rejoice, but was, on the contrary, grieved, because his solacer quitted him at the same time,

Per

The imposture practised at the oracle by artful demons was detected, and the fame of the martyrs increased. A thunderbolt fell from heaven, burnt the whole of the temple, and reduced the statue of Apollo to ashes; for this statue was only composed of wood, with a gilded surface. Julian, the governor of the East, who was the uncle of the emperor Julian, being informed during the night of the conflagration, immediately hastened to the assistance of the god whom he adored. ceiving, on his arrival at Daphne, that his god was reduced to ashes, he suspected that this act of incendiarism had been committed by the Christians, and put those who guarded the temple to the torture in order to elicit the truth. But they could not be compelled, by torture, to declare that which was false. They said that the fire had fallen down from heaven, and that some peasants who were returning from the neighbourhood had witnessed its descent.

CHAP. XII.-CONFISCATION OF THE HOLY TREASURES AND

VESSELS.

ALTHOUGH these impious men were thus put in possession of the facts just as they occurred, they still exerted their whole strength to oppose God. The tyrant commanded that the holy ornaments should be taken to the royal treasury, and ordered the spacious church built by Constantine to be closed; thus preventing the Arians, into whose hands it had then fallen, from assembling in it. Felix, the treasurer of the emperor, and Elpidius, who was intrusted with the superintendence of the emperor's private possessions, being, what was termed by the Romans, the count or treasurer of the private estate, went with Julian, the governor of the East,' into the holy temple. Felix and Elpidius, it is said, were once Christians,

His title, as we learn from Ammianus Marcellinus, was not Præfectus, but Comes Orientis.

but apostatized from the true religion in order to please the impious emperor. It is related, that Julian committed an act of indecency by the holy altar, and struck Euzoius because he tried to restrain him from the deed. He said, that the concerns of Christians were not under the care of Divine Providence. Felix, after examining the holy vessels, which were of great magnificence, having been constructed by order of Constantine and Constantius, exclaimed, "Behold, in what kind of vessels the Son of Mary is ministered unto."

CHAP. XIII. THE IMPIETY OF JULIAN, THE UNCLE OF THE EMPEROR, AND LIKEWISE THAT OF HIS COMPANIONS, VISITED BY DIVINE VENGEANCE.

THIS act of impiety and of daring iniquity did not long escape the hand of Justice. Julian was almost instantaneously seized with a loathsome disease. Putrefaction arose in his intestines, and his excrements, instead of being conveyed through the ordinary channel, were propelled upwards into that wretched mouth which had been used as the instrument of blasphemy. It is related, that his wife, who was eminent for faith, said to him, "You ought to praise Christ the Saviour, for having, by this chastisement, revealed to you his power; for you would never have known towards whom you were evincing so much hostility, had He, with his usual long-suffering, exempted you from affliction." These words, and the agonies which he suffered, led him to discern the cause of his disease, and he besought the emperor to restore the church to those from whom it had been taken; but he died without obtaining his request. Felix was also struck by Divine Justice: the blood rushed from every part of his body, and issued day and night from his mouth. This total effusion of blood terminated his life, and he passed away into eternal death. the judgments visited on iniquity.

Such were

CHAP. XIV.-CONVERSION OF A PRIEST'S SON.

A CERTAIN young man, the son of an idolatrous priest, who had been brought up in Paganism, was, about this time, led to embrace the true religion. A certain woman of great piety, who had been raised to the dignity of deaconess, was very in

timate with his mother, and used frequently to visit her when he was a child: on these occasions she used to caress him and to exhort him to piety. In the mean time the mother died; and the young man used then to repair to the woman to receive her instructions. When he was fully convinced of the truth of what she had imparted, he asked his teacher by what means he could throw off the superstition of his father, and follow out the truth which she had preached to him. She replied, that he must flee from his father, and honour his Creator above his earthly parent. She told him to go to some other city, and to remain there in concealment, lest he should fall into the hands of the impious emperor. She promised to take upon herself the management of this affair. The youth replied, "From henceforth I shall come to you; and I commit my life into your keeping." A short time subsequently, Julian went to Daphne to hold a public festival. The father of this young man repaired thither also, because he was a priest, and had long been accustomed to follow the emperor. This young man and his brother accompanied their father. It was the custom for these youths to sprinkle water which had been offered to idols on the viands prepared for the emperor. The festival celebrated at Daphne usually lasted seven days. The first day of the festival, the young man above-mentioned stood by the couch of the emperor, and sprinkled the water on his food, according to custom; but he had no sooner completed this iniquitous ceremony, than he hastened back to Antioch. He went to his admirable instructress, and said to her, "I am come to you, according to my promise; do you fulfil yours, and take measures for my deliverance.' She conducted him to Meletius, a man of God: he kept the young man concealed for a long time in part of his house. The father, after having traversed Daphne in search of his son, returned to Antioch, ran through all the streets of the city, and examined every spot, anxiously seeking some traces of him. When he arrived at the quarter of the city where the house of St. Meletius was situated, he looked up, and perceived his son, peeping through the rails. He ran into the house, seized him, and led him away. He took him home, and immediately flogged him severely; he then took a pointed instrument, made it red hot, and forced it into his hands, feet, and back. After that he shut him up in a room, fastened it

securely outside, and returned to Daphne. I have heard all these incidents related by the son himself in his old age. He likewise told us that, being inspired with divine grace, he destroyed all his father's idols, and ridiculed their helplessness; and that afterwards, on reflecting on what he had done, he dreaded the return of his father, and called upon the Lord Christ to assist him, and to burst the bolts of the door, saying, "These things have I done and suffered for thy sake. As I was saying these words," continued he, "the bolts fell down, and the doors burst open. I then ran back to my teacher. She disguised me in the dress of a female, and drove with me in a vehicle to St. Meletius. He gave me into the care of Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, with whom I set out by night for Palestine." After the death of Julian, he led his father to receive the truth. This, with many other incidents, he related to us. Such is the delivery wrought out for those who are brought to the knowledge of God.

CHAP. XV.-MARTYRDOM OF THE TWO ROMAN'S, JUVENTIUS AND

MAXIMUS.

JULIAN continued to oppose religion with greater and greater boldness and effrontery, while he assumed the specious appearance of clemency, in order to lay snares to entrap men, and seduce them to irreligion. He cast things offered to idols into the fountains of the city of Antioch, and into those of Daphne, so that no one could drink of the streams without partaking of the hateful sacrifices. He defiled in the same way everything that was sold in the market-place; for he had water which had been offered to idols sprinkled on the bread, meat, fruit, herbs, and all the other articles of food. The Christians wept and lamented at witnessing these abominations, yet they partook of the food according to the precept of the apostle; for it is said, "Whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for conscience' sake" (1 Cor. x. 25). Two of the emperor's guards, who were his shield-bearers and companions in arms, vehemently deplored, at a certain convivial party, the perpetration of such hateful deeds, and borrowed the admirable words used by the young man who gained so high a celebrity at Babylon: "You have delivered us," they said, "to a monarch who is more wicked than all the nations

of the earth." One of those at table acquainted the emperor with this speech. The emperor sent for these two men, and asked what it was that they had said. This question giving them an opportunity of speaking freely, they, in the warmth of their zeal, made the following reply: "Having been brought up, 0 emperor, in the true religion, and having been accustomed to obey the admirable laws enacted by Constantine, and by his sons, we cannot but be deeply grieved at witnessing everything filled with abominations, and the very food contaminated by being mixed with the sacrifices offered to idols. We have lamented over this in our own houses, and now, in your presence, we publicly express our regret. This is the only cause of sorrow which we experience under your government." On hearing these words, the mildest and wisest of emperors, as he is called by those who resemble him, threw off the mask of clemency, and disclosed his real impiety. Such excruciating tortures were at his order inflicted on these two men, that they expired under them; or, rather, they obtained a release from the misery of the age, and received the crowns of victory. It was declared, that their boldness of speech, and not the religion which they defended, was the cause of their execution: they were punished, it was said, because they had insulted the emperor. This account of the transaction Julian ordered to be universally circulated; for he was apprehensive lest these champions of truth should obtain the honour of being regarded as martyrs. Their names were Juventius and Maximus. The church of Antioch honoured them as defenders of religion, and interred them in a magnificent tomb; and even to this day an annual festival is celebrated in their honour.

CHAP. XVI.-BANISHMENT OF VALENTINIAN, WHO SUBSEQUENTLY BECAME EMPEROR.

OTHER persons, who had attained to high and honourable offices, gained the same crown by speaking with similar boldness. Valentinian ascended the throne a short time subsequently but he was, at this period, the commander of the soldiers who guarded the palace; he did not dissemble the zeal which he felt for religion. One day, as the emperor was 1 Χιλίαρχος.