ON THE GLORY OF MARTYRDOM. 245 he is; but neitheristhere any doubt what punitivefiresHe threatens. And sincemy discoursehas led me thus to argue about both these classesof thingsin a few words,as I have alreadyspoken of both,I willbrieflyexplainthem. 20. A horribleplace,of which the name isGehenna, with an awful murmuring and groaning of soulsbewailing,and with flames belchingforth through the horriddarknessof thick night,is always breathing out the raging firesof a smoking furnace,[while]the confinedmass of flamesisre strainedor relaxedfor the variouspurposesof punishment. Then therearevery many degreesof itsviolence,asitgathers intoitselfwhatevertorturestheeatingfireof theheatemitted can supply. Those by whom the voiceof the Lord has been rejected,and His controlcontemned,itpunisheswith different dooms; and in proportiontothe differentdegreeof deserving of the forfeitedsalvationitappliesitspower, whilea portion assignsitsdue distinctionto crime. And some,forexample, are bowed down by an intolerableload,some arehurriedby a mercilessforce over the abrupt descentof a precipitous path, and the heavy weight of clankingchains bends over them itsbondage. Some thereare,also,whom a wheel is closelyturning,and an unwearied dizziness[istormenting]; and [others]whom, bound toone anotherwith tenaciousclose ness,body clingingto body compresses: so that both fireis consuming, and the load of ironisweighing down, and the uproar of many istorturing. 21. But those by whom God has always been sought or known, have never lostthe positionwhich Christhas given them, where graceis found,where in the verdant fieldsthe luxuriantearthclothesitselfwith tendergrass,and ispastured with the scent of flowers; where the groves are carriedup to the loftyhill-top,and where the treeclotheswith a thicker foliagewhatever spot the canopy,expanded by itscurving branches,may have shaded. There is no excessof coldor of heat,nor is it needed that in autumn the fieldsshould rest,or,again in the young spring,that the fruitfulearth should bring forth. All thingsare of one season: fruitsare borne of a continued summer, sincethere neitherdoes the