462 THE OCTAVIUS OF ratherthan profanelyconcerning the divinity,why is itnot a thing to he lamented,thatmen (foryou willbear with my making use prettyfreelyof the forceof the pleathat I hare undertaken)— thatmen, I say,of a reprobate,unlawful, and desperatefaction,shouldrage againstthe gods ? who, having gatheredtogetherfrom the lowestdregs the more unskilled, and women, credulousand, by the facilityof theirsex,yield ing,establisha herd of a profaneconspiracy,which isleagued togetherby nightlymeetings,and solemn fasts,and inhuman meats— not by any sacred rite,but by that which requires expiation— a people skulking and shunning the light,silent in public,but garrulousin corners.They despisethe temples as dead-houses,they rejectthe gods, they laugh at sacred things; wretched,they pity,ifthey are allowed,the priests; halfnaked themselves,they despisehonoursand purplerobes. Oh, wondrous follyand incredibleaudacity! they despise presenttorments,although they fearthosewhich are uncer tainand future; and while they fearto dieafterdeath,they do not fear to diefor the present: so does a deceitfulhope soothetheirfearwith the solaceof a revival[tocome].1 CHAPTEE IX. AegCMENT. — The religionof the Christiansisfoolish,inas much as theyworshipa crucifiedman, and eventlieinstru ment itselfof hispunishment. They are said toworship the head of an ass,and even the secretparts of their father. They are initiatedby theslaughterand theblood of an infant,and in shamelessdarknesstheyare allmixed up in an uncertainmedley. " And now, as wickeder thingsadvance more fruitfully,and abandoned manners creep on day by day, thoseabominable Kil." inconsulto;" and thefourfirsteditionsomit the subsequent•words," concerningthedivinity." 1 Therearevariousemendationsof thispassage,buttheirmeaningis somewhatobscure.One iselaboratelyingenious: " Itaillispavorom