240 TREATISES ATTRIBUTED TO CYPRIAN. ber what a gloryitisto come immaculate to Christ— to be a sharerin His suffering,and to reignin a perpetualeternity with the Lord — to be freefrom the threateningdestruction ofthe world,and not to be mixed up with the bloodycarnage of wastingdiseasesin a common lotwith others; and, not to speak of the crown itself,if,being situatedin the midst of these criticalevilsof nature,you had the promise of an escape from thislife,would you not rejoicewith allyour heart? If,I say,while tossingamid the tempestsof this world,a near reposeshould inviteyou, would you not con siderdeath in the lightof a remedy ? Thus, surrounded as you are with the knivesof the executioners,and the instru ments of testingtortures,standsublimeand strong,consider ing how great isthe penaltyof denying,in a time when you are unable to enjoy,the world for the sake of which you would deny, because indeed the Lord knew thatcrueltor ments and mischievousactsof punishment would be armed againstus forour destruction,in orderthat He might make us strongto endure them all. " My son,"saysHe, " ifthou come to serveGod, standfastin righteousness,and fear,and prepare thy soul for temptation."1 Moreover, also,the blessedApostlePaul exclaimed,and said," To me to liveis Christ,and to dieisgain."2 15. Wherefore, belovedbrethren,with a firmfaith,with a robustdevotion,with a virtueopposed to the fiercethreaten- ingsof the world,and the savagemurmurs of the attending crowds,we must resistand not fear,seeingthatours isthe hope of eternityand heavenly life,and that our ardour is inflamedwith the longing for the light,and our salvation rejoicesin the promise of immortality. But the factthat our hands are bound with tightenedbonds, and that heavy linksfastenedround our necks oppressus with theirsolid weight,or thatour body strainedon the rack hisseson the [applicationof the] red-hotplates,is not for the sakeof seeking our blood, but for the sake of trying us. For in what manner shouldwe be abletorecogniseeven the dignity of martyrdom, ifwe were not constrainedtodesireit,evenat 1Ecclus.ii.1. 2 Phil.i.21.