76 Archdeacon Farrar [March 11, 



which details were'given from the Homilies of St. Chrysostom, and 

 the History of the Pagan soldier Ammianus Marcellinus. 



5. The luxury flaunted itself side by side with the most grind- 

 ing poverty. The general misery of the tax-crushed multitude was 

 illustrated by anecdotes from Palladius, St. Chrysostom, St. Basil, 

 and St. Ambrose. 



6. The fourth century was also an age of struggling beliefs, in 

 which many guided their professions exclusively by considerations 

 of social and political expediency. 



7. The combination of circumstances thus illustrated led to an 

 ever deepening superstition both among Pagans and Christians. 

 The Pagan spirit of superstition was illustrated by stories from the 

 sophist Eunapius, and by the wild outburst of panic against the 

 use of sorcery in the days of Valens— a panic which closely 

 resembled the frantic state of suspicion prevalent in the days of the 

 Popish plot. The superstitious spirit of Christians was evinced by 

 the adoration paid to very dubious relics, and by the credulous 

 acceptance of the most portentous miracles, as shown in the biogra- 

 phies of St. Martin of Tours, St. Gregory Tbaumaturgus, and others. 



8. Yet, amid all these superstitions and catastrophes, the quiet 

 everyday beautiful life of humanity was going on, as was shown by 

 peaceful pictures of the sweet Christian homes in which men like 

 St. Gregory of Nazianzus, St. Basil, and St. Chrysostom in the 

 East, and St. Ambrose in the West, were trained to usefulness and 

 self-devotion. 



9. The lecturer proceeded to furnish various illustrations of the 

 life of the young. He gave anecdotes of the boyhood of St. 

 Augustine ; of the pranks played by students in the days of St. 

 Gregory of Nazianzus in the University of Athens ; of the rite of 

 mock initiation known as " the Bath " ; of the Professor Proaeresius 

 and the boy-student Eunapius. 



10. Some account was also given of the varied experiences of 

 St. Augustine as a Professor of Rhetoric at Carthage, Milan, and 

 Pome ; of the turbulent young students known as the Eversores in 

 Africa ; and of the beautiful assiduity and skill with which Augus- 

 tine trained his young pupils, Licentius and Trygetius, in his 

 retreat at Cassiciacum. The lecturer gave some curious and 

 striking anecdotes of the life of a youthful law student at Rome, 

 as illustrated in the adventures of Alypius, a friend of St. Augus- 

 tine, who was afterwards baptised with him. 



11. Details were then furnished of the life of eminent heathen 

 sophists, and eminent Christian bishops; and it was shown from 

 Ammianus Marcellinus, as well as from Christian writers, that 

 pomp and prosperity exercised a very unfortunate influence on the 

 lives and characters of many bishops in the great cities. 



12. The raging party spirit and riotous slander which prevailed 

 in this century were shown by circumstances in the lives of the 

 great Fathers, and especially of St. Athanasius. The lecturer 



