XXIII.

CHAP. fected disputes, to excite the impatient hopes of the aspirant, till they delivered him into the hands of their associate Maximus, the boldest and most skilful master of the Theurgic science. By his hands, Julian was secretly initiated at Ephesus, in the twentieth year of his age. His residence at Athens confirmed this unnatural alliance of philosophy and superstition. He obtained the privilege of a solemn initiation into the mysteries of Eleusis, which, amidst the general decay of the Grecian worship, still retained some vestiges of their primeval sanctity; and such was the zeal of Julian, that he afterwards invited the Eleusinian pontiff to the court of Gaul, for the sole purpose of consummating, by mystic rites and sacrifices, the great work of his sanctification. As these ceremonies were performed in the depths of caverns, and in the silence of the night; and as the inviolable secret of the mysteries was preserved by the discretion of the initiated, I shall not presume to describe the horrid sounds, and fiery apparitions, which were presented to the senses, or the imagination, of the credulous aspirant *, till the visions of comfort and knowledge broke upon him in a blaze of celestial light t. In the caverns of Ephesus and Eleusis,

When Julian, in a momentary panic, made the sign of the cross, the dæmons instantly disappeared (Greg. Naz. Orat. iii. p. 71.). Gregory supposes that they were frightened, but the priests declared that they were indignant. The reader, according to the measure of his faith, will determine this profound question.

A dark and distant view of the terrors and joys of initiation is shown by Dion, Chrysostom, Themistius, Proclus, and Stobæus.

XXIIL

77

Hamr VII. 332.

Eleusis, the mind of Julian was penetrated with CHAP.
sincere, deep and unalterable enthusiasm ; though
he might sometimes exhibit the vicissitudes of
pious fraud and hypocrisy, which may be ob-
served, or at least suspected, in the characters of
the most conscientious fanatics. From that mo-
ment he consecrated his life to the service of the
gods; and while the occupations of war, of
government, and of study, seemed to claim the
whole measure of his time, a stated portion of
the hours of the night was invariably reserved
for the exercise of private devotion. The tem-
perance which adorned the severe manners of the
soldier and the philosopher, was connected with
some strict and frivolous rules of religious absti-
nence; and it was in honour of Pan or Mercury,
of Hecate or Isis, that Julian, on particular
days, denied himself the use of some particular
food, which might have been offensive to his
tutelar deities. By these voluntary fasts, he
prepared his senses and his understanding for the
frequent and familiar visits with which he was
honoured by the celestial powers. Notwith-
standing the modest silence of Julian himself, we
may learn from his faithful friend, the orator
Libanius, that he lived in a perpetual intercourse
with the gods and goddesses; that they descended
upon earth, to enjoy the conversation of their
favourite hero; that they gently interrupted his
slumbers, by touching his hand or his hair; that

they

Stobæus. The learned author of the Divine Legation has exhibited their words (vol. i. p. 239. 247, 248. 280. edit. 1765), which he dexterously or forcibly applies to his own hypothesis.

XXIII.

Hwine III. 142 Joan d'are

VII. 332

CHAP. they warned him of every impending danger; and conducted him, by their infallible wisdom, in every action of his life; and that he had acquired such an intimate knowledge of his heavenly guests, as readily to distinguish the voice of Jupiter from that of Minerva, and the form of Apollo from the figure of Hercules *. These sleeping or waking visions, the ordinary effects of abstinence and fanaticism, would almost degrade the emperor to the level of an Egyptian monk. But the useless lives of Antony or Pachomius were consumed in these vain occupations. Julian could break from the dream of superstition. to arm himself for battle; and after vanquishing in the field the enemies of Rome, he calmly retired into his tent, to dictate the wise and salutary laws of an empire, or to indulge his genius in the elegant pursuits of literature and philosophy.

His reli-
gious dissi-
mulation.

The important secret of the apostacy of Julian was intrusted to the fidelity of the initiated, with whom he was united by the sacred ties of friendship and religion t. The pleasing rumour was cautiously circulated among the adherents of the ancient worship; and his future greatness became

the

* Julian's modesty confined him to obscure and occasional hints; but Libanius expatiates with pleasure on the fasts and visions of the religious hero (Legat. ad Julian. p. 157. and Orat. Parental. c. lxxxiii. p. 309, 310.).

Libanius, Orat. Parent. c. x. p. 233, 234. Gallus had some reason to suspect the secret apostacy of his brother; and in a letter, which may be received as genuine, he exhorts Julian to adhere to the religion of their ancestors; an argument, which, as it should seem, was not yet perfectly ripe. See JuHan, Op. p. 454. and Hist. de Jovien, tom. fi. P. 141.

XXIII.

the object of the hopes, the prayers, and the pre- CHAP. dictions of the pagans, in every province of the empire. From the zeal and virtues of their royal proselyte, they fondly expected the cure of every evil, and the restoration of every blessing; and instead of disapproving of the ardour of their pious wishes, Julian ingenuously confessed, that he was ambitious to attain a situation, in which he might be useful to his country, and to his religion. But this religion was viewed with an hostile eye by the successor of Constantine, whose capricious passions alternately saved and threatened the life of Julian. The arts of magic and divination were strictly prohibited under a despotic government, which condescended to fear them; and if the pagans were reluctantly indulged in the exercise of their superstition, the rank of Julian would have excepted him from the general toleration. The apostate soon became the presumptive heir of the monarchy, and his death could alone have appeased the just apprehensions of the Christians*. But the young prince, who aspired to the glory of a hero rather than of a martyr, consulted his safety by dissembling his religion; and the easy temper of polytheism permitted him to join in the public worship of a sect which he inwardly despised. Libanius has considered the hypocrisy of his friend as a subject, not of censure, but of praise. "As the statues of the

Gregory (iii. p. 50.), with inhuman zeal, censures Constantius for sparing the infant apostate (xxxws castα.) His French translator (p. 265.) cautiously observes, that such expressions must not be prises à la lettre.

CHAP.
XXIII.

gods," says that orator, "which have been "defiled with filth, are again placed in a magni"ficent temple; so the beauty of truth was seat. "ed in the mind of Julian, after it had been pu "rified from the errors and follies of his educa❝tion. His sentiments were changed; but as it "would have been dangerous to have avowed his "sentiments, his conduct still continued the same. "Very different from the ass in Æsop, who disguised himself with a lion's hide, our lion was obliged to conceal himself under the skin of an "ass; and, while he embraced the dictates of "reason, to obey the laws of prudence and ne"cessity *." The dissimulation of Julian lasted above ten years, from his secret initiation at Ephesus, to the beginning of the civil war; when he declared himself at once the implacable enemy of Christ and of Constantius. This state of constraint might contribute to strengthen his devotion; and as soon as he had satisfied the obligation of assisting, on solemn festivals, at the assemblies of the Christians, Julian returned, with the impatience of a lover, to burn his free and voluntary incense on the domestic chapels of Jupiter and Mercury. But as every act of dissimulation must be painful to an ingenuous spirit, the profession of Christianity increased the aver sion of Julian for a religion, which oppressed the freedom of his mind, and compelled him to hold a conduct repugnant to the noblest attri butes of human nature, sincerity and courage.

Libanius, Orat. Parental. c. ix. p. 233.

The