, than to neglect, the
orders of an irritated master. The archbishop prudently retired to the
monasteries of the Desert; eluded, with his usual dexterity, the snares
of the enemy; and lived to triumph over the ashes of a prince, who, in
words of formidable import, had declared his wish that the whole
venom of the Galilaean school were contained in the single person of
Athanasius.

I have endeavored faithfully to represent the artful system by which
Julian proposed to obtain the effects, without incurring the guilt,
or reproach, of persecution. But if the deadly spirit of fanaticism
perverted the heart and understanding of a virtuous prince, it must, at
the same time, be confessed that the real sufferings of the Christians
were inflamed and magnified by human passions and religious enthusiasm.
The meekness and resignation which had distinguished the primitive
disciples of the gospel, was the object of the applause, rather than of
the imitation of their successors. The Christians, who had now possessed
above forty years the civil and ecclesiastical government of the empire,
had contracted the insolent vices of prosperity, and the habit of
believing that the saints alone were entitled to reign over the earth.
As soon as the enmity of Julian deprived the clergy of the privileges
which had been conferred by the favor of Constantine, they complained
of the most cruel oppression; and the free toleration of idolaters and
heretics was a subject of grief and scandal to the orthodox party. The
acts of violence, which were no longer countenanced by the magistrates,
were still committed by the zeal of the people. At Pessinus, the altar
of Cybele was overturned almost in the presence of the emperor; and in
the city of Caesarea in Cappadocia, the temple of Fortune, the sole place
of worship which had been left to the Pagans, was destroyed by the rage
of a popular tumult. On these occasions, a prince, who felt for the
honor of the gods, was not disposed to interrupt the course of justice;
and his mind was still more deeply exasperated, when he found that the
fanatics, who had deserved and suffered the punishment of incendiaries,
were rewarded with the honors of martyrdom. The Christian subjects of
Julian were assured of the hostile designs of their sovereign; and, to
their jealous apprehension, every circumstance of his government
might afford some grounds of discontent and suspicion. In the ordinary
administration of the laws, the Chr