fectans; ducensque melius publicas
opes a privatis haberi, quam intra unum claustrum reservari. Id. ibid.
He carried this maxim so far, that whenever he gave an entertainment, he
was obliged to borrow a service of plate.]

The stern temper of Galerius was cast in a very different mould; and
while he commanded the esteem of his subjects, he seldom condescended to
solicit their affections. His fame in arms, and, above all, the success
of the Persian war, had elated his haughty mind, which was naturally
impatient of a superior, or even of an equal. If it were possible to
rely on the partial testimony of an injudicious writer, we might ascribe
the abdication of Diocletian to the menaces of Galerius, and relate the
particulars of a private conversation between the two princes, in which
the former discovered as much pusillanimity as the latter displayed
ingratitude and arrogance. [4] But these obscure anecdotes are
sufficiently refuted by an impartia view of the character and conduct of
Diocletian. Whatever might otherwise have been his intentions, if he
had apprehended any danger from the violence of Galerius, his good sense
would have instructed him to prevent the ignominious contest; and as
he had held the sceptre with glory, he would have resigned it without
disgrace.

[Footnote 4: Lactantius de Mort. Persecutor. c. 18. Were the particulars
of this conference more consistent with truth and decency, we might
still ask how they came to the knowledge of an obscure rhetorician. But
there are many historians who put us in mind of the admirable saying of
the great Conde to Cardinal de Retz: "Ces coquins nous font parlor et
agir, comme ils auroient fait eux-memes a notre place." * Note: This
attack upon Lactantius is unfounded. Lactantius was so far from having
been an obscure rhetorician, that he had taught rhetoric publicly, and
with the greatest success, first in Africa, and afterwards in Nicomedia.
His reputation obtained him the esteem of Constantine, who invited him
to his court, and intrusted to him the education of his son Crispus. The
facts which he relates took place during his own time; he cannot be
accused of dishonesty or imposture. Satis me vixisse arbitrabor et
officium hominis implesse si labor meus aliquos homines, ab erroribus
iberatos, ad iter coeleste direxerit. De Opif. Dei, cap. 20. The
eloquence of Lactantius has caused him to be called the Christian
Cicero. Annon Gent.--G. ----Yet no unprejudiced person