, and, in the poverty, sickness, and sorrow
of his last years, he, too, used to find relief in playing on his lute,
and in writing hymns and other devout poems.

Theodosius was resolved to establish the right faith, according as the
council had laid it down. But it seems that at one time some of the
bishops were afraid lest an Arian, named Eunomius, should get an
influence over his mind, and should persuade him to favour the Arians.
And there is a curious story of the way in which one of these bishops,
who was a homely old man, from some retired little town, tried to show
the emperor that he ought not to encourage heretics. On a day when a
number of bishops went to pay their respects at court, this old man,
after having saluted the emperor very respectfully, turned to his
eldest son, the young emperor Arcadius, and stroked his head as if he
had been any common boy. Theodosius was very angry at this behaviour,
and ordered that the bishop should be turned out. But as the officers of
the palace were hurrying him towards the door, the old man addressed the
emperor, and told him that as _he_ was angry on account of the slight
offered to the prince, even so would the Heavenly Father be offended
with those who should refuse to His Son the honours which they paid to
Himself. Theodosius was much struck by this speech; he begged the
bishop's forgiveness, and showed his regard for the admonition by
keeping Eunomius and the rest of the Arians at a distance.

The emperor then made some severe laws, forbidding all sorts of sects to
hold their worship, and requiring them to join the Catholic Church. Now
this was, no doubt, a great mistake; for it is impossible to force
religious belief on people; and although Christian princes ought to
support the true faith by making laws in favour of it, it is wrong to
make men pretend a belief which they do not feel in their hearts. But
Theodosius had not had the same opportunities which we have since had of
seeing how useless such laws are, and what mischief they generally do;
so that, instead of blaming him, we must give him credit for acting in
the way which he believed most likely to promote the glory of God and
the good of his subjects. And, although some of his laws seem very
severe, there is reason to think that these were never acted on.

But about the same time, in another part of the empire, which had been
usurped by one Maximus, an unhappy man, named Priscillian, and some of
his compan