15. But now see whither the progress of my story has brought me; we come upon the name of our friend Evagrius. [15] So great have his exertions been in the cause of Christ that, were I to suppose it possible adequately to describe them, I should only show my own folly; and were I minded deliberately to pass them by, I still could not prevent my voice from breaking out into cries of joy. Who can fittingly praise the vigilance which enabled him to bury, if I may so say, before his death Auxentius [16] of Milan, that curse brooding over the church? Or who can sufficiently extol the discretion with which he rescued the Roman bishop [17] from the toils of the net in which he was fairly entangled, and showed him the means at once of overcoming his opponents and of sparing them in their discomfiture? But
Such topics I must leave to other bards,
Shut out by envious straits of time and space. [18]
I am satisfied now to record the conclusion of my tale. Evagrius seeks a special audience of the Emperor; [19] importunes him with his entreaties, wins his favor by his services, and finally gains his cause through his earnestness. The Emperor restored to liberty the woman whom God had restored to life.
[2] Virg. A. iii. 193.
[3] I.e. the governor of the province.
[4] Ps. vii. 9.
[5] Text corrupt.
[6] Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
[7] Song of the Three Holy Children.
[8] Dan. vi.
[9] Susannah 45; the youth spoken of is Daniel.
[10] Virg. A. xii. 611.
[11] Ps. cxviii. 6.
[12] Cf. Eccles. xii. 7.
[13] Lictor.
[14] An allusion to the well-known proverb, summum jus, summa injuria.
[15] A presbyter of Antioch and bishop, 388 a.d. He is mentioned again in Letters III., IV., V., XV. See Jerome De Vir. iii. 125.
[16] The predecessor of Ambrose and an Arian. He was still living when Jerome wrote, but died 374.
[17] Damasus, who having successfully made good his claim to the papacy, in 369 condemned Auxentius in a council held at Rome.
[18] Virg. G. iv. 147, 148.
[19] Valentinian I.
Letter II. To Theodosius and the Rest of the Anchorites.
Written from Antioch, 374 a.d., while Jerome was still in doubt as to his future course. Theodosius appears to have been the head of the solitaries in the Syrian Desert.
How I long to be a member of your company, and with uplifting of all my powers to embrace your admirable community! Though, indeed, these poor eyes are not worthy to look upon it. Oh! that I could behold the desert, lovelier to me than any city! Oh! that I could see those lonely spots made into a paradise by the saints that throng them! But since my sins prevent me from thrusting into your blessed company a head laden with every transgression, I adjure you (and I know that you can do it) by your prayers to deliver me from the darkness of this world. I spoke of this when I was with you, and now in writing to you I repeat anew the same request; for all the energy of my mind is devoted to this one object. It rests with you to give effect to my resolve. I have the will but not the power; this last can only come in answer to your prayers. For my part, I am like a sick sheep astray from the flock. Unless the good Shepherd shall place me on his shoulders and carry me back to the fold, [20] my steps will totter, and in the very effort of rising I shall find my feet give way. I am the prodigal son [21] who although I have squandered all the portion entrusted to me by my father, have not yet bowed the knee in submission to him; not yet have I commenced to put away from me the allurements of my former excesses. And because it is only a little while since I have begun not so much to abandon my vices as to desire to abandon them, the devil now ensnares me in new toils, he puts new stumbling-blocks in my path, he encompasses me on every side.
The seas around, and all around the main. [22]
I find myself in mid-ocean, unwilling to retreat and unable to advance. It only remains that your prayers should win for me the gale of the Holy Spirit to waft me to the haven upon the desired shore.
[20] Luke xv. 3-5.
[21] Luke xv. 11-32.
[22] Virg. A. v. 9.