PART I.

CENT. stantius, the latter of whom rose afterwards to the IV. imperial dignity. The dominions allotted to Constantine were Britain, Gaul, and Spain; but he did not possess them long, for, having made himself master, by force, of several places belonging to Constans, this occasioned a war between the two brothers, in the year 340, in which Constantine lost his life. Constans, who had received, at first for his portion, Illyricum, Italy, and Africa, added now the dominions of the deceased prince to his own, and thus became sole master of all the western provinces. He remained in possession of this vast territory until the year 350, when he was cruelly assassinated by the orders of Magnentius, one of his commanders, who had revolted and declared himself emperor. Magnentius, in his turn, met with the fate he deserved; transported with rage and despair at his ill success in the war against Constantius, and apprehending the most terrible and ignominious death from the just resentment of the conqueror, he laid violent hands upon himself. Thus Constantius, who had, before this, possessed the provinces of Asia, Syria, and Egypt, became, in the year 353, sole lord of the Roman empire, which he ruled until the year 361, when he died at Mopsucrene, on the borders of Cilicia, as he was marching against Julian. None of these three brothers possessed the spirit and genius of their father. They all, indeed, followed his example, in continuing to abrogate and efface the ancient superstitions of the Romans and other idolatrous nations, and to accelerate the progress of the Christian religion throughout the empire. This zeal was, no doubt, laudable; its end was excellent; but, in the means used to accomplish it, there were many things worthy of blame.

XII. This flourishing progress of the Christian religion was greatly interrupted, and the church reduced

IV. PART I.

tion of

reduced to the brink of destruction, when Julian, CENT. the son of Julius Constantius, and the only remaining branch of the imperial family, was placed at the head of affairs. This active and ad- Julian atventurous prince, after having been declared em-tempts the peror by the army, in the year 380, in conse- destrucquence of his exploits among the Gauls, was, Christiani upon the death of Constantius, the year follow-ty. ing, confirmed in the undivided possession of the empire. No event could be less favourable to the Christians. For, though he had been educated in the principles of Christianity, yet he apostatised from that divine religion, and employed all his efforts to restore the expiring superstitions of polytheism to their former vigour, credit, and lustre. This apostasy of Julian from the gospel of Christ to the worship of the gods, was owing, partly to his aversion to the Constantine family, who had embrued their hands in the blood of his father, brother, and kinsman; and partly to the artifices of the Platonic philosophers, who abused his credulity, and flattered his ambition, by fictitious miracles, and pompous predictions. It is true, this prince seemed averse to the use of violence, in propagating superstition, and suppressing the truth; nay, he carried the appearances of moderation and impartiality so far, as to allow his subjects a full power of judging for themselves in religious matters, and of worshipping the Deity in the manner they thought the most rational. But, under this mask of moderation, he attacked Christianity with the utmost bitterness, and, at the same time, with the most consummate dexterity. By art and stratagem he undermined the church, removing the privileges that were granted to Christians, and their spiritual rulers; shutting up the schools in which they taught philosophy and the liberal arts; encouraging the sectaries and schismatics, who brought

.

dishonour

IV.

PART I.

CENT. dishonour upon the gospel by their divisions; composing books against the Christians, and using a variety of other means to bring the religion of Jesus to ruin and contempt. Julian extended his views yet further, and was meditating projects of a still more formidable nature against the Christian church, which would have felt, no doubt, the fatal and ruinous effects of his inveterate hatred, if he had returned victorious from the Persian war, which he entered into immediately after his accession to the empire. But in this war, which was rashly undertaken and imprudently conducted, he fell by the lance of a Persian soldier, and expired in his tent in the 32d year of his age, having reigned, alone, after the death of Constantius, twenty months [d].

His character.

XII. It is to me just matter of surprise, to find Julian placed, by many learned and judicious writers [e], among the greatest heroes that shine forth in the annals of time; nay, exalted above all the princes and legislators that have been distinguished by the wisdom of their government. Such writers must either be too far blinded by prejudice, to perceive the truth; or, they must never have perused, with any degree of attention, those works of Julian that are still extant; or, if neither of these be their case, they must, at least, be ignorant of that which constitutes true greatness. The real character of Julian has few lines

of

[d] For a full account of this emperor, it will be proper to consult (besides Tillemont and other common writers) La vie de Julien, par l'Abbé Bletterie, which is a most accurate and elegant production. See also, The Life and Character of Julian, illustrated in seven Dissertations by Des Voeux Ezech. Spanheim. Præfat, et adnot. add opp. Juliani; and Fabricii, Lux Evangel. toti orbi exoriens, cap. xiv. p. 294.

[e] Montesquieu, in chap. x. of the twenty-fourth book of his work, intitled, L'Esprit des loix, speaks of Julian in the following terms: "Il n'y a point eu après lui de Prince plus digne de gouverner des hommes."

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IV. PART I.

of that uncommon merit that has been attributed CENT. to it; for, if we set aside his genius, of which his works give no very high idea; if we except, moreover, his military courage, his love of letters, and his acquaintance with that vain and fanatical philosophy which was known by the name of modern Platonism, we shall find nothing remaining, that is, in any measure, worthy of praise, or productive of esteem. Besides, the qualities now mentioned, were, in him, counterbalanced by the most opprobrious defects. He was a slave to superstition, than which nothing is a more evident mark of a narrow soul, of a mean and abject spirit. His thirst of glory and popular applause were excessive, even to puerility; his credulity and levity surpass the powers of description; a low cunning, and a profound dissimulation and duplicity, had acquired, in his mind, the force of predominant habits; and all this was accompanied with a total and perfect ignorance of true philosophy [f]. So that, though, in some things, Julian may be allowed to have excelled the sons of Constantine the Great, yet it must be granted on the other hand, that he was, in many respects, inferior to Constantine himself, whom, upon all occasions, he loads with the most licentious invectives, and treats with the utmost disdain.

attempt in

XIV. As Julian affected in general, to ap- The Jews pear moderate in religious matters, unwilling to vain to trouble any on account of their faith, or to seem rebuild the averse to any sect or party, so to the Jews, in temple of particular, he extended so far the marks of his indulgence, as to permit them to rebuild the

temple

[f] Nothing can afford a more evident proof of Julian's ignorance of the true philosophy, than his known attachment to the study of magic, which Dr. Mosheim has omitted in his enumeration of the defects and extravagancies of this prince.

Jerusalem.

IV.

CENT. temple of Jerusalem. The Jews set about this important work; from which, however, they PART I. were obliged to desist, before they had even be

gun to lay the foundations of the sacred edifice. For, while they were removing the rubbish, formidable balls of fire, issuing out of the ground with a dreadful noise, dispersed both the works and the workmen, and repeated earthquakes filled the spectators of this astonishing phenomenon with terror and dismay. This signal event is attested in a manner that renders its evidence

irresistible [g], though, as usually happens in cases of that nature, the Christians have embellished it by augmenting rashly the number of the miracles that are supposed to have been wrought upon that occasion. The causes of this phenomenon may furnish matter of dispute; and learned men have, in effect, been divided upon that point. All, however, who consider the matter with attention and impartiality, will perceive the strongest reasons for embracing the opinion of those who attribute this event to the almighty interposition of the Supreme Being; nor do the arguments offered by some, to prove it the effect of natural causes, or those alleged by others to persuade us that it was the result of artifice and imposture, contain any thing that may not be refuted with the utmost facility [h].

XV.

[g] See Jo. Alb. Fabricii Lux Evang. toti orbi exoriens, p. 124. where all the testimonies of this remarkable event are carefully assembled; see also Moyle's Posthumous Works, p. 101, &c.

[h] The truth of this miracle is denied by the famous Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, tom. iv. p. 1257. against whom Cuper has taken the affirmative, and defended it in his Letters published by Bayer, p. 400. A most ingenious discourse has been published lately in defence of this miracle, by the learned Dr. Warburton, under the title of Julian; or, A Discourse concerning the Earthquake and Fiery Eruption, &c. in which the objections of Basnage are particularly examined and refuted.