ing the abilities and valor of Julian, the general of a
nominal army, to whom the public calamities would be imputed, must find
himself, after a vain resistance, either a prisoner in the camp of the
barbarians or a criminal in the palace of Constantius.

If Julian complied with the orders which he had received, he subscribed
his own destruction and that of a people who deserved his affection. But
a positive refusal was an act of rebellion and a declaration of war. The
inexorable jealousy of the Emperor, the peremptory and perhaps insidious
nature of his commands, left not any room for a fair apology or candid
interpretation; and the dependent station of the caesar scarcely allowed
him to pause or to deliberate. Solitude increased the perplexity of
Julian; he could no longer apply to the faithful counsels of Sallust,
who had been removed from his office by the judicious malice of the
eunuchs; he could not even enforce his representations by the
concurrence of the ministers, who would have been afraid or ashamed to
approve the ruin of Gaul. The moment had been chosen when Lupicinus, the
general of the cavalry, was despatched into Britain to repulse the
inroads of the Scots and Picts; and Florentius was occupied at Vienne by
the assessment of the tribute. The latter, a crafty and corrupt
statesman, declining to assume a responsible part on this dangerous
occasion, eluded the pressing and repeated invitations of Julian, who
represented to him that in every important measure the presence of the
prefect was indispensable in the council of the prince.

In the mean while the caesar was oppressed by the rude and importunate
solicitations of the imperial messengers, who presumed to suggest that
if he expected the return of his ministers, he would charge himself with
the guilt of the delay, and reserve for them the merit of the execution.
Unable to resist, unwilling to comply, Julian expressed, in the most
serious terms, his wish, and even his intention, of resigning the
purple, which he could not preserve with honor, but which he could not
abdicate with safety.

After a painful conflict, Julian was compelled to acknowledge that
obedience was the virtue of the most eminent subject, and that the
sovereign alone was entitled to judge of the public welfare. He issued
the necessary orders for carrying into execution the commands of
Constantius; a part of the troops began their march for the Alps; and
the detachments from the several