same edifying
spectacle of ruin and desolation. Perhaps the absence and death of the
emperor, and the new maxims of a Christian reign, might explain the
interruption of an arduous work, which was attempted only in the last
six months of the life of Julian. But the Christians entertained a
natural and pious expectation, that, in this memorable contest, the
honor of religion would be vindicated by some signal miracle. An
earthquake, a whirlwind, and a fiery eruption, which overturned and
scattered the new foundations of the temple, are attested, with some
variations, by contemporary and respectable evidence. This public event
is described by Ambrose, bishop of Milan, in an epistle to the emperor
Theodosius, which must provoke the severe animadversion of the Jews;
by the eloquent Chrysostom, who might appeal to the memory of the elder
part of his congregation at Antioch; and by Gregory Nazianzen, who
published his account of the miracle before the expiration of the
same year. The last of these writers has boldly declared, that this
preternatural event was not disputed by the infidels; and his assertion,
strange as it may seem is confirmed by the unexceptionable testimony of
Ammianus Marcellinus. The philosophic soldier, who loved the virtues,
without adopting the prejudices, of his master, has recorded, in
his judicious and candid history of his own times, the extraordinary
obstacles which interrupted the restoration of the temple of Jerusalem.
"Whilst Alypius, assisted by the governor of the province, urged, with
vigor and diligence, the execution of the work, horrible balls of fire
breaking out near the foundations, with frequent and reiterated attacks,
rendered the place, from time to time, inaccessible to the scorched and
blasted workmen; and the victorious element continuing in this manner
obstinately and resolutely bent, as it were, to drive them to a
distance, the undertaking was abandoned." * Such authority should
satisfy a believing, and must astonish an incredulous, mind. Yet a
philosopher may still require the original evidence of impartial and
intelligent spectators. At this important crisis, any singular accident
of nature would assume the appearance, and produce the effects of a
real prodigy. This glorious deliverance would be speedily improved and
magnified by the pious art of the clergy of Jerusalem, and the active
credulity of the Christian world and, at the distance of twenty years, a
Roman historian, care