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Think only of what I now write-now, when I write in full liberty of spirit, aspiring only to die.

13. All the bread I need is the adorable body of my Jesus; all the wine I crave is His most precious blood-that celestial wine which excites within the soul the fire of an incorruptible, an undying charity. I cling no more to earth, no longer do I regard myself as living among men.

14. Forget not, in your prayers, the Church of Syria, who, deprived of her pastors, turns her hopes towards Him who is the Sovereign Pastor of all churches. May Jesus Christ deign to direct it during my absence; I confide it to His providence and to your charity.

91. JULIAN THE APOSTATE.

[ST. GREGORY OF NAZIANZEN. The Church, by enrolling Gregory in the number of her saints, and adding to his name the title of theologian, has rendered the most magnificent of all testimonies to his virtues and learning. This title of theologian he shares with St. John alone; so that his name and title are, as it were, synonymous. Pagans and heretics crowded to his discourses; they even forced the balustrades which separated them from the sanctuary, and they frequently broke out into applause and acclamation, so great was their admiration of his wonderful powers of eloquence. He is equally renowned as a poet and orator. In his famous invectives against Julian the Apostate, we recognize oratory equal to that which was opposed to Philip and Catiline. And the exordium is remarkable for an enthusiasm which recalls the language of prophecy. These invectives were called forth by an edict of Julian prohibiting Christians access to the schools of Greece, under the flimsy pretext that, as Christians, all worldly acquirements must be in their estimation of little value.]

YE

E people, be attentive while I address you! Ye who inhabit the earth, hearken to my words! I call unto you as from a high mountain in the midst of the world, from whence I would that my voice should reach to the ends of the earth. Hearken unto me people, and tribes, and tongues, men of all conditions and of every age; ye who dwell now upon the earth, or ye whom future ages shall bring forth!

2. Let my voice stretch yet further, even unto the heavens, amidst the choirs of angels who have exterminated the tyrant. He whom their hands are about to immolate is not a Sihon, king of the Amorrhites, nor an Og, king of Bashan, feeble monarchs holding under the yoke the land of Juda, a little country lost in the immensity of the earth; it is the tortuous serpent, it is the apostate, that great and rare genius, that scourge alike of Israel and the world; whose fury and whose menaces have everywhere left deep traces, and whose insolent tongue has dared to attack even the Most High.

3. Awaken! ashes of the great Constantine! If some feeling yet dwelleth in the tomb, O heroic soul, hearken to my words. Arouse at my voice, O ye faithful servants of Jesus Christ, who before him ruled the empire. Thou, O great prince, who didst most extend the heritage of Jesus Christ, who didst surpass in glory all thy predecessors, how wert thou mistaken in thy choice of the man who was to succeed thee! Thus a Christian emperor didst nourish, without knowing it, the mortal enemy of Christ; and thy generosity, blinded and deceived, was lavished on him who of all men merited it least.

4. Although the cultivation of the mind is a right common to all who are endowed with reason, he wished to reserve to himself this privilege, alleging this ridiculous pretext-that the Greek letters belong only to those who follow the Greek religion (that is, paganism). By this astounding assertion, he exhibits us as taking that which in nowise belongs to us. This, for a man as literary as he pretends to be, is indeed the strangest of mistakes!

5. He imagined that we would not suspect his secret, and that he would not appear to be depriving us of a very considerable gift, considering the trifling importance we attach to these human letters. His true motive was an apprehension lest we should use them to refute his impiety; as if our blows derived their force from the elegance of words and the artifices of language, rather than from solid reasoning supplied by

truth. It is as impossible to attack us in this manner, as it is to prevent us from praising God while we have a tongue. Julian thus only manifests his weakness.

6. Certainly he would not have forbidden us to speak, if he had believed that his religion was incontrovertible, and could be corroborated by discussion. An athlete who would merit the glory of surpassing all others, and who demands that the public should acknowledge his superiority by universal suffrage, would show timidity rather than courage, by objecting to the strongest and most generous descending into the arena to prove his prowess. Crowns are for the combatants, and not for the spectators; for him who exercises all the energies of his strength, not for him who carries about but a maimed body.

7. You fear the contest, then you acknowledge your conqueror-you avow your inferiority. I have conquered without combating, since your whole effort is to avoid the combat.

THEY

92. MARTYRDOM OF ST. THEODOSIA.

I.

THEY sought the noble, high-born dame, the daughter of Amiens;

They drag her from love's sheltering arms and home's endear

ing scenes;

And to the temple of their gods they bear her rudely on-
The brazen censer stands aloft upon the altar-stone;

They bid her throw the spices in, and gently whisper, “Live,—
Live for thy spouse,-thy babe,-thy sons,-thy life is thine

to give."

Perchance she wavered then awhile, as from her blue-veined breast

Flowed the white stream, where erst the lips of her fair babe had pressed;

Her dark-haired daughters and her sons-her spouse-her stricken home

Her sunny youth in old Amiens, in memory's flood-tides come! "Deny thy Christ-burn incense here," again they rudely cry"Never, Oh tempters of my soul!-Never, Oh Christ most high! Perish my body !-break my heart!-break every earthly link

But Christ, the Son of God adored-adored on death's dark brink

Is my eternal hope and gain-ho! it will soon be ended, And this poor life, immortal grown, will with His own be blended.

His side was pierced," she murmured low: "Oh, joy to be like

Him!

But lo it brightens round me now, while earth grows cold and dim.

All hail, sweet Lord, and angels fair!" The crimson tide flowed fast;

She waves her hands in triumph high-and lo! the conflict's

past

The palm is won-the glorious hosts of martyrs greet her now; And He for whom she died lifts up the crown upon her brow.

II.

Midnight hangs o'er imperial Rome, and through the murky gloom

A little band with stealthy steps move towards the Catacomb. They bear upon their trembling arms a pale and shrouded one; On-on-through all the winding ways-through many an

arch of stone,

They glide in tears and silence, and with many a whisper'd prayer

Lay down the noble martyr's dust, by the red torches' glare. The sculptured stone, the crystal vase, stained with its crimson

dyes,

Told where the daughter of Amiens had slept for centuries. "Tis she sought out in that low crypt, far in the Catacomb, Raised up with honor-touched with awe-borne from death's stilly gloom

Back to her vine-clad, sunny land,—in regal splendor now
She shines, the fairest gem that France wears on her lofty

brow!

Yes, bend the knee, ye countless throngs-the martyr's triumph

tell,

Until from sea to sea the notes of Alleluia swell!

MRS. A. H. DAWSON.

93. ST. CECILIA BEFORE THE ROMAN PREFECT

Almachius. Young girl, what is thy name?

Cecilia. Men call me Cecilia; but my most beautiful name is Christian.

Al. What is thy condition?

Ce. A Roman citizen, of an illustrious and noble race.

Al. It is of thy religion I question thee; we know the nobility of thy family.

Ce. Your inquiry, then, was not exact, since it requires two

answers.

Al. From whence comes this assurance before me?

Ce. From a pure conscience and a sincere faith.

Al. Are you, then, ignorant of my authority and power? Ce. You speak of your power-and you yourself have not the slightest idea of it; but if you question me on the subject, I can, with clear proofs, reply to it.

Al. Speak, then, for I am anxious to hear thee.

Ce. You seldom pay attention to those things not agreeable to you. Nevertheless, listen. The power of man is like a leathern bag filled with wind-at the mere prick of a needle it shrinks into nothing; all that is solid disappears.

Al. Thy speech, from the beginning, has been marked by insolence.

Ce. Is it insolence to assert what is true? Show where I have violated the truth, then I will admit that I have been in Bolent; otherwise, the reproach you make is a calumny.

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