befis, t. 2, p. 382.
9. T. 2, p. 344.
10. [Greek: Ten homousion Triada]. This is an argument of his firm
adherence to the Nicene faith, and that by the praises which he
bestows on an Arlan emperor in this piece, he meant not to flatter
him in his heterodox sentiments; they being only compliments of
course in an address to an eastern emperor, and his own sovereign.
11. Certain moderns imagine that the luminous crosses which appeared in
the air in the reigns of Constantine and Constantius were merely
natural solar halos; and that under Julian, which appeared in the
night, a lunar halo, or circle of colors, usually red, round those
celestial bodies. But in opposition to this hypothesis we must
observe that those natural phenomena do not ordinarily appear in the
figure of a cross, but of a ring or circle, as both experience and
the natural cause show. We ought also to take nonce, that this
prodigy appeared thrice in the same century, and always on
extraordinary occasions, in which many circumstances rendered a
miraculous manifestation of the divine power highly credible.
Moreover, how will these secretaries and confidents of the intrigues
of nature, as Mr. Warburton styles them, account for the
inscription, _In this conquer_, which was formed in bright letters
round the cross, which appeared in the air to Constantlne and his
whole army, as that emperor himself affirmed upon oath, and as
Eusebius assures us from his testimony, and that of other
eye-witnesses. (l. 1, de Vit. Constant., c. 28, olim 22.) Fabricius
very absurdly pretends that [Greek: graphen] may here signify an
emblem, not an inscription. Mr. Jor tin, after taking much pains on
this subject, is obliged to confess (vol. 3, p. 6) that, "After all,
it seems more natural to interpret [Greek: graphen legousan] of a
writing than of a picture. It is an ugly circumstance," says this
author, "and I wish we could fairly get rid of it." Those who can
explain the scripture account of the passage of the Israelites
through the Red Sea by a natural strong wind, and an extraordinary
ebbing of the waters, can find no knot too hard for them. To deny a
supernatural interposition they can swallow contradictions, and
build hypotheses far more wonderful than the greatest miracles.
12. Sozomen indeed says, (b. 4, c. 24,) that Acacius fought for
Arianism