Lying an Argument of the Contempt of God. odious Colours, when he says, 'That it is to ' manifest a Contempt of God, and withal a • Fear of Man.' It is not possible more copiously to represent the Horror, Baseness, and Irregularity of it; for, what can be imagined more vile, than a Man, who is a Coward towards Man, so courageous as to defy his Maker ? Our Intelligence being by no other Canal to be conveyed to one another but by Words, he who falsifies them betrays public Society : 'Tis the only Tube through which we communicate our Thoughts and Wills to one another; 'tis the Interpreter of the Soul, and, if it fails us, we no longer know, nor have any farther Tie upon one another: If that deceive us, it breaks all our Correspondence, and dissolves all the Bands of our Government. Certain Nations of the newdiscovered Indies (no Matter for naming them, since they are no more; for, by a wonderful and unheard-of Example, the Desolation of that Conquest extended to the utter Abolition of Names, and the ancient Knowledge of Places) offered to their Gods human Blood, but only • such as was drawn from the Tongue and Ears, to at• tone for the Sin of Lying, as well heard as pronounced.' The good Fellow of Greece was wont to say, 'That • Children were amused with Rattles, and Men with • Words.' The Greeks and Romans As to the various Usages of our giving the Lye, and the Laws of Honour in that Cafe, and the Alterations they have received, I shall refer saying what I know of them to another Time, and shall learn, if I can, in the mean while, at what Time the Custom took Beginning, not so delicate in the Article of Lying, as we are. of so exactly weighing and measuring Words, and of engaging our Honour to them; for it is easy to judge, that it was not anciently amongst the Greeks and Romans; and I have often thought it strange to see them rail at, and give one another the Lye, without any farther Quarrel: The Laws of their Duty steered some other Course than ours. Cafar is sometimes called Thief, and sometimes Drunkard, to his Teeth. We see the Liberty * Lyfander, in Plutarch's Life of him, c. 4. of of Invectives, which they practised upon one another, I mean the greatest Chiefs of War of both Nations, where Words were only revenged with Words, without any other Consequence. TIS CHAP. ΧΙΧ. Of Liberty of CONSCIENCE. 1 Religious Zeal often extravagant, and confequently unjuft. IS usual to fee good Intentions, if pursued without Moderation, push Men on to very vicious Effects. In this Dispute, which has now engaged France in a Civil War, the best and the foundest Cause, no Doubt, is that which maintains the ancient Religion and Government of the Kingdom. Nevertheless, amongst the good Men of that Party (for I do not speak of those that make a Pretence of it, either to execute their own particular Revenge, or to gratify their Avarice, or to court the Favour of Princes; but of those who engage in the Quarrel out of true Zeal to Religion, and a pious Affection to maintain the Peace and Government of their Country) of these, I say, we see many whom Paffion transports beyond the Bounds of Reason, and sometimes inspires with Counfels that are unjust and violent, and alfo rash. This Zeal in duced the Christians, when they became Masters, to destroy Pagan Books. It is true, that, in those primitive Times, when our Religion began to gain Authority with the Laws, Zeal armed many against all Sorts of Pagan Books, by which the Learned fuffered an exceeding great Lofs; which, I conceive, did more Prejudice to Letters, than all the Flames kindled by the Barbarians. Of this Cornelius Tacitus is a very good Witness; for though the Emperor Tacitus, his Kinsman, had, by express Order, furnished all the Libraries in the World with his Book, nevertheless, one intire Copy could not escape the curious Search of those who defired to abolish it, for i 1 only five or fix idle Clauses in it, that were contrary to And to praise The Character of the Emperor Julian the Apostate. They were also very ready to lend undue Praises to all the Emperors who did any Thing for us, and universally to condemn all the Actions of those who were our Adversaries, as is evidently manifest in the Emperor Julian, furnamed the Apostate; who was, in Truth, a very great and rare Man, a Man in whose Soul that Philofophy was imprinted in lively Characters, by which he professed to govern all his Actions; and, in Truth, there is no fort of Virtue, of which he has not left behind him very notable Examples. In Chastity (of which the whole Course of his Life has given manifest Proof) we read the like of him, as was faid of Alexander and Scipio, that, being in the Flower of his Age (for he was flain by the Parthians at one and thirty) of a great many very beautiful Captives, he would not touch, nor so much as look upon one. As to his Justice, he took himself the Pains to hear the Parties, and although he would, out of Curiosity, enquire what Religion they were of, nevertheless the Hatred he had to ours, never turned the Balance. He made several good Laws, and cut off a great Part of the Subfidies and Taxes levied by his Predecessors 9. His Chastity. We have two good Hiftorians, who were Eye-witnesses Julian blamed • marians to keep School, or to teach'; and says, he could wish that Act of his had been buried in • Silence'.' It is very likely, that, had he done any more fevere Things against us, the Historian, who was so affectionate to our Party, would not have passed it over in Silence. • Ammian. Marcell. lib. xxiv. c. 8. • Idem, lib. xxv. c. 5, 6. He Idem, ibid. lib. xxii. c. 10, r Idem, lib. xxii. c. 10. He was, indeed, sharp against us, but yet no cruel thor. Enemy: For our own People tell this Story His Moderaof him, That, one Day, walking about tion, by the • the City of Chalcedon, Maris, Bishop of that Report of a Place, called out to him, and told him, Christian Au⚫ that he was an Atheist, and an Apostate :' To which he only answered, Go, Wretch, and lament • the Loss of thy Eyes:' To this the Bishop replied again, • I thank Jesus Chrift for taking away my Sight, that I ⚫ might not fee thy impudent Face. So it is, that this Action of his favours nothing of the Cruelty that he is faid to have exercised towards us; though they say, that his Answer to the Bishop was but an Affectation of Philosophic Patience. He was (fays Eutropius', my other Witness) an Enemy to Christianity, but without shedding • Blood.' And, to return to his Justice, there His Justice. is nothing in that whereof he can be accused, but the Severity he practised in the Beginning of his Reign, against those who had followed the Party of Conftantius, his Predeceffor ". As to his Sobriety, he lived always a Soldier's kind of Life; and kept a Table, in Times of the His Sobriety. most profound Peace, like one that prepared and inured himself to the Rigours of War ". His Vigilancy was such, that he divided the Night into three or four Parts, of which always the His Vigilancy. least was dedicated to Sleep; the rest was spent either in visiting the Estate of his Army and Guards, in Person, or in Study; for, amongst other rare Qualities, he was very excellent in all forts of Literature. 'Tis faid of Alexander the Great, 'That, when he was in Bed, • for fear left Sleep should divert him from his Thoughts • and Studies, he had always a Bason set by his Bed-fide, • and held one of his Hands out with a Bullet of Copper • in it, to the End, that, if he fell asleep, and his Fingers • left their Hold, the Bullet, by falling into the Bason, might • Sozomen's Ecclesiastical History, lib. v. c. 4. Eutrop. lib. x. c. 8. Ammian. Marcell. lib. xxii. c. 2. * Idem, lib. xvi, c. 2. et xxvi. c. 5. 1 ⚫ might awake him. But this Julian was so bent upon what he had a Mind to do, and so little disturbed with Fumes, by reason of his singular Abstinence, that he had no Need of any such Invention. His Military As to his Military Experience, he was admirable in ali the Qualities of a great Captain, as it was likely he should, having been, almost all his Life, in a continual Exercise of War, and most of that Time with us in France, against the Germans and Franconians: We hardly read of any Man that ever encountered more Dangers, or that made more frequent Proofs of his personal Valour. His Death has something in it like that of Epaminondas; for he was wounded with an Arrow, His Death. which he tried to pull out, and had done it, but that, being two-edged, it cut the Sinews of his Hand. He called out forthwith, 'That they would carry him, • in this Condition, into the Midst of the Battle to en courage his Soldiers,' who very bravely disputed the Battle without him, till Night parted the Armies. He was obliged to his Philosophy for the fingular Contempt he had for this Life, and all human Things; and he had a firm Belief of the Immortality of the Soul. In Matters of Religion, he was Vicious throughout, and was surnamed the Apostate, for having relinquished ours: Though, methinks, 'tis more likely, that he had never thoroughly embraced it, but had dissembled, out of O He was addicted to the Worship of falfe Gods. bedience to the Laws, till he came to the Empire. He was, in his own, so superstitious, that he was laughExceffi-vely fu- ed at for it, by those of the same Opinion of perftitious. his own Time, who said, 'That, had he got ' the Victory over the Parthians, he had de ، stroyed the Breed of Oxen in the World to supply his • Sacrifices'.' He was, moreover, a Bigot to the Art of Divination, and gave Authority to all forts of Predictions. He said, amongst other Things, at his Death, • That he was obliged to the Gods, and thanked them, ' in * Ammian. Marcell. lib. xvi. c. 2. • Idem, ibid. c. 6. y Idem, ibid. lib. xxv. c. 3. a Idem, ibid. lib. xxv. c. 4. |