78 THE TREATISES OF CYPRIAN. soldierof God, hisvirtue,prompt for battle,willnot be able to be overcome. Or if hiscallshouldcome to him before, hisfaithshallnot be withoutreward,seeingitwas prepared formartyrdom ; without lossof time,the reward isrendered by the judgment of God. In persecution,the warfare,— in peace,the purityof conscience,iscrowned. TREATISE XII. THREE BOOKS OP TESTIMONIES AGAINST THE JEW& Cyprian to hisson Quirinus,greeting. Itwas necessary, my belovedson,thatI shouldobey your spiritualdesire,which asked with most urgent petitionfor those divineteachings wherewith the Lord has condescended to teachand instruct us by the holy Scriptures,that,being led away from the darknessof error,and enlightenedby His pure and shining light,we may keep theway of lifethrough the savingsacra ments. And indeed,as you have asked,so has thisdiscourse been arrangedby me ; and thistreatisehas been ordered in an abridged compendium, so thatI should not scatterwhat was writtenin too diffusean abundance,but,as faras my poor memory suggested,might collectallthatwas necessary in selectedand connected heads,under which I may seem, not so much to have treatedthe subject,as to have afforded materialfor others to treatit. Moreover, to readers also, brevityof the same kind isof very great advantage,in that a treatiseof too great length dissipatesthe understanding and perceptionof the reader,whilea tenaciousmemory keeps that which is read in a more exact compendium. But I have comprised in my undertaking two books of equally moderate length: one wherein I have endeavoured to show thatthe Jews, accordingto what had before been foretold, had departed from God, and had lostGod's favour,which had been given them in past time,and had been promised them forthe future; while the Christianshad succeeded to theirplace,deservingwellof the Lord by faith,and coming