{"author":null,"backreferences":[{"context_html":"<p>208. For now you go on to make mention of the bishops\r\nwhom you are wont to accuse of having delivered up the\r\nsacred books, concerning whom we on our part are wont to\r\nanswer: Either you fail in your proof, and so it concerns no\r\none at all; or you succeed, and then it still has no concern\r\nwith us. For they have borne their own burden, whether it\r\nbe good or bad; and we indeed believe that it was good. But<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_374\">[Pg 374]</a></span>\r\nof whatever character it was, yet it was their own; just as\r\nyour bad men have borne their own burden, and neither you\r\ntheirs nor they yours. But the common and most evil burden\r\nof you all is schism. This we have already often said before.\r\nShow us, therefore, not the names of bishops, but the names\r\nof our emperors and judges, who have perished in persecuting\r\nyou. For this is what you had proposed, this is what you had\r\npromised, this is what you had caused us most eagerly to expect.\r\n\"Hear,\" he says, \"Macarius perished, Ursacius perished,\r\nand all your counts perished in like manner, by the vengeance\r\nof God.\" You have mentioned only two by name, and neither\r\nof them was emperor. Who would be satisfied with this, I\r\nask? Are you not utterly dissatisfied with yourself? You\r\npromise that you will mention a vast number of emperors and\r\njudges of our party who perished in persecuting you; and\r\nthen, without a word of emperors, you mention two who were\r\neither judges or counts. For as to what you add, \"And all\r\nyour counts perished in like manner by the vengeance of God,\"\r\nit has nothing to do with the matter. For on this principle\r\nyou might some time ago have closed your argument, without\r\nmentioning the name of any one at all. Why then have you\r\nnot made mention of our emperors, that is to say, of emperors\r\nof our communion? Were you afraid that you should be\r\nindicted for high treason? Where is the fortitude that marks\r\nthe Circumcelliones? And further, what do you mean by introducing\r\nthose whom you mentioned above in such numbers?\r\nThey might with more right say to you, Why did you seek\r\nout us? For they did nothing to assist your cause, and yet\r\nyou mentioned them by name. What kind of man, then, must\r\nyou be, who fear to mention those by name, who, as you say,\r\nhave perished? At any rate, you might mention more of the\r\njudges and counts, of whom you seem to feel no fear. But\r\nyet you stopped at Macarius and Ursacius. Are these two\r\nwhom you mention the vast number of whom you spoke?\r\nAre you thinking of the lesson which we learned as boys?\r\nFor if you were to ask of me what number two is, singular or\r\nplural, what could I answer, except that it was plural? But\r\neven so I am still not without the means of reply. I take\r\naway Macarius from your list; for you certainly have not told<span class=\"pagenum\"><a id=\"Page_375\">[Pg 375]</a></span>\r\nus how he perished. Or do you maintain that any one who\r\npersecutes you, unless he be immortal on the face of this\r\nearth, is to be deemed when he dies to have died because of\r\nyou? What if Constantine had not lived to enjoy so long a\r\nreign, and such prolonged prosperity, who was the first to pass\r\nmany decrees against your errors? And what if Julian, who\r\ngave you back the basilicas, had not been so speedily snatched\r\naway from life?<a id=\"FNanchor_964_964\"></a><a class=\"fnanchor pginternal\" href=\"#Footnote_964_964\">[964]</a> In that case, when would you make an end\r\nof talking such nonsense as you do, seeing that even now you\r\nare unwilling to hold your tongues? And yet neither do we\r\nsay that Julian died so soon because he gave back the basilicas\r\nto you. For we might be equally prolix with you in this,\r\nbut we are unwilling to be equally foolish. Well, then, as I\r\nhad begun to say, from these two we will take away Macarius.\r\nFor when you had mentioned the names of two, Macarius and\r\nUrsacius, you repeated the name of Ursacius with the view\r\nof showing us how he deserved his death; and you said,\r\n\"For Ursacius was slain in a battle with the barbarians, after\r\nwhich birds of prey with their savage talons, and the greedy\r\nteeth of dogs with their biting, tore him limb from limb.\"\r\nWhence it is quite clear, since it is your custom to excite\r\ngreater odium against us on account of Macarius, insomuch\r\nthat you call us not Ursacians but Macarians, that you would\r\nhave been sure to say by far the most concerning him, had\r\nyou been able to say anything of the sort about his death.\r\nOf these two, therefore, when you used the plural number,\r\nif you take away Macarius, there remains Ursacius alone, a\r\nproper name of the singular number. Where is therefore the\r\nfulfilment of your threatening and tremendous promise of so\r\nmany who should support your argument?</p>","headings":["WRITINGS IN CONNECTION WITH THE DONATIST CONTROVERSY.","BOOK SECOND."],"marker_anchor":null,"paragraph_id":"pg45843-paragraph-637"}],"canonical_references":[],"date_end":null,"date_start":null,"deduplication_fingerprint":"a5475d4674597ccca20fa65568edc776348ba250944a3c2f3c794bd48f71fe14","edition_title":"Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy","edition_translators":["John Richard King"],"edition_year":1872,"explicit_reference_candidates":[],"headings":[],"id":"pg45843-Footnote_964_964","license_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/policy/license.html","public_import_allowed":false,"record_kind":"original-editor-translator-note","review_required":["work and recension attribution","original-work chronology","Bible reference numbering and citation kind","English edition rights and attribution"],"review_status":"needs_review","rights_evidence":"Provider catalog reports public domain in the USA. Title leaves identify J. R. King, T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1872; catalog identifies translator John Richard King (1835-1907). Gutenberg credits Internet Archive/American Libraries without an exact scan identifier. Full provider license preserved with acquired original; republication and per-work metadata remain unreviewed.","source_anchor":"Footnote_964_964","source_ebook":45843,"source_html":"<div class=\"footnote\">\n<p><a id=\"Footnote_964_964\"></a><a class=\"pginternal\" href=\"#FNanchor_964_964\"><span class=\"label\">[964]</span></a> The reign of Constantine lasted about thirty-two years, from 306 to 337\r\n<span class=\"smcap\">A.D.</span> Julian died, after an independent reign, subsequent to the death of Constantius,\r\nof only one year and seven months, at the age of thirty, in a war\r\nagainst the Persians, in 363 <span class=\"smcap\">A.D.</span></p></div>","source_sha256":"a7a04003f4d3c49eb73db6c5936713979fcecadd86884373a9914ac54373ac5b","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/45843/pg45843-images.html#Footnote_964_964","text_sha256":"df881da6228bc8682348b2c15c0acfef7e56697d9f9fe14556d4122196eb923a","verified":false,"work_id":null}