* have not been faithful to the gods, and it is for that you suffer such torments. "At length the impostumes all over his body, and "the worms which gnawed him continually, reduced "him to the utmost extremity. He threw them up, "without ceasing, the last three days of his life, with "a stench which he himself could not bear. Thus "he ended his life by a shameful and miserable "death, passing from a punishment of many days to "a punishment of eternal duration. He died, if we 66 may believe Philostorgius, whilst they were reading to him divers responses lately made by oracles, "all of them promising that he should not die of any distemper. His nephew Julian lamented him as little dead as living; and resolving not to give glory to Christ, he continued to declare that his cala"mity befel him for not being faithful to the gods. "In one of his writings, he says of him, that he had 66 46 governed the city of Antioch with much justice, “but he immediately adds, not with sufficient prudence. He there speaks of his death without ad"venturing to touch upon any of its circumstances. "The disease with which God visited Felix the superintendant, was not so long; for it carried him "off in the space of a day, if not more speedily. St Chrysostom says that he burst suddenly in the mid"dle of his body, by which perhaps he meant what Philostorgius relates, that one of his larger veins. "bursting, without any straining, the blood flowed "from his mouth all the night, or all the day, ac 66 cording to Theodoret so that in the evening his "blood being all gone, he lost his life, as well as "Count Julian, and fell into everlasting death. Am mianus "mianus entirely agrees with this, saying that he "died suddenly, of a loss of blood. 66 "There was, it seems, a public place, where were "written the names of those who died, and the peo ple reading there the names of Felix, (a title usually given to emperors,) and of Julian, added that of "Augustus, as if it had been the emperor himself who "was deceased; and this was looked upon as a pre"sage that he would soon be amongst the dead. ·66 Elpidius the treasurer, who with Julian and Felix "went to pillage the church, was also punished as "well as they, though a little later: for being con"victed of having favoured the revolt of Procopius "against Valens, A. D. 366. he was stripped of his effects, and shut up in prison, where after having "continued for some time, he died without reputa "tion and honour, cursed of all the world, and sur"named Elpidius the Sacrificer, or the Apostate. "A fourth, who, according to Philostorgius, had "a share in the same sacrilege, and had shamefully profaned the holy altar, was instantly punished like "Count Julian; for those parts of his body which "had been abused in committing his crime were ulcerated, and the worms which bred in them destroyed him miserably. 66 The justice of God was also made manifest by "many punishments of the same kind inflicted on "other apostates; and it may not be amiss to collect "what history hath said concerning it. 66 "One who was called Hero, a native of Thebes in Egypt, and bishop of that place, as the Alexandrian "Chronicle seems to say, having voluntarily renoun"ced the Faith at Antioch, was instantly seized with "a a disease which corrupted all his body and made him an hideous spectacle, and a dreadful example "of divine justice. He was seen lying in the streets and public places, deprived of all assistance, and "even of the pity and compassion of the beholders. "The Christians abhorred his perfidy, and the Pagans, after they had seduced him, shewed him no "regard. Thus he expired miserably in the sight of "all the world. 66 "Theotecnus, a presbyter of Antioch, fell voluntarily into the same crime, deluded by fair promises, and was punished as instantly and as severely as "Hero. His flesh in a short time was corrupted and "over-run with worms, and he lost his sight. At last he went mad, and bit and devoured his own "tongue, and from these torments passed to others "far more terrible. "We must not omit the punishment which befel "one Thalassius, a man famous for his impurities and "debauchery, who is said even to have prostituted "his own daughter. He died buried under the "ruins of his house which fell upon him. Theopha"nus assures us that his wife and all his household "who professed Christianity, were preserved from "this disaster, and a child of seven years old being "asked how he had escaped, answered that he was "carried out by an angel.-The Alexandrian Chro"nicle places the death of Theotecnus, Hero, and "Thalassius in the year 363. "St Gregory Nazianzen marks out in general the "stories which we have related, and adds divers "particularities, but without naming the persons. "Who, says he, could describe the tragical accidents, the diseases, the different plagues and punishments, VOL. II. L 66 with "with which divine justice visited the impious, each "of them in a manner suitable to his crime? Some "burst asunder in the sight of all men, others were "taken off by extraordinary deaths. In the midst "of their torments they confessed their crimes with "a fruitless and unavailing grief. Some by dreams "of the night, others by visions of the day, had their impiety set before them. Who, I say, could enu"merate all the calamities by which God in a visible "manner avenged the demolition of the churches, the 46 66 injuries done to the holy table, the profanation of "the sacred vessels, and the cruel usage of the ser"vants of Jesus Christ?" H. E. vii. 395. A deacon, called Cyril, in the time of Constantius, had signalized himself by destroying several images of the gods at Heliopolis. The Pagans were so enraged at this, that when Julian reigned, they seized and slew Cyril, and ripped open his belly, and ate his liver. The divine vengeance pursued all those who had been guilty of this crime; their teeth came out, their tongues rotted, and they lost their sight. So says Theodoret, iii. 7. Valens, who was made emperor A. D. 364. was a Christian; but being of the Arian party, and of a cruel temper, he became a persecutor of the Consubstantialists. Fourscore presbyters came to him to complain of the ill usage which they had received from the Arians, whereupon it is reported that he caused them to be put to sea, and burnt alive in the ship. Afterwards, in a battle with the Goths, he was defeated, and wounded, and fled to a cottage, where he was burnt alive, as most historians relate. All All agree that he perished. See Socrates iv. 16. 38. and the notes. The Consubstantialists called his death a judgment: but if so, it was rather a punishment of his cruelty, than of his heresy; of his cruelty which was exercised not only on the party which he disliked, but on all his subjects. A. D. 394. Theodosius, after having been almost defeated, and reduced to great distress, obtained a signal victory over Eugenius, which was generally thought to have been by a particular providence, commanding the storms to fight for him. So say Socrates, Sozomen, Theodoret, Rufinus, Ambrose, Augustin, Orosius, &c. and it is thus elegantly represented by Claudian, though he was a pagan : Te propter gelidis Aquilo de monte procellis The Christians to this added other embellishments suitable to the taste of those times, as that the victory was foretold by coelestial visions, dreams, and dæmoniacs, and obtained by the aid of John the Baptist, the tutelar saint of Theodosius. Supposing it to have been the effect of a particular providence, which might be the case, good reasons might be assigned for it: Arbogastes, a general, and a man of great authority, basely murdered his young emperor Valentinian II. and set up Eugenius in his place. Arbogastes was a Pagan and an enemy to Christianity, and Eu L 2 genius |