ce and famine, who enlightens, preserves, and governs the
universe." ACACIUS.-"Do you mean that wretch that could not preserve his
own life: who, being in love with a young woman, (Daphne,) ran about
distracted in pursuit of her, not knowing that he was never to possess
the object of his desires? It is therefore evident that he could not
foresee things to come, since he was in the dark as to his own fate: and
as clear that he could be no god, who was thus cheated by a creature.
All know likewise that he had a base passion for Hyacinth, a beautiful
boy, and was so awkward as to break the head of that minion, the fond
object of his criminal passion, with a quoit. Is not he also that god
who, with Neptune, turned mason, hired himself to a king, (Laomedon of
Troy,) and built the walls of a city? Would you {684} oblige me to
sacrifice to such a divinity, or to Esculapius, thunderstruck by
Jupiter? or to Venus, whose life was infamous, and to a hundred such
monsters, to whom you offer sacrifice? No, though my life itself
depended on it, ought I to pay divine honors to those whom I should
blush to imitate, and of whom I can entertain no other sentiments than
those of contempt and execration? You adore gods, the imitators of whom
you yourselves would punish." MARTIAN.-"It is usual for you Christians
to raise several calumnies against our gods; for which reason I command
you to come now with me to a banquet in honor of Jupiter and Juno, and
acknowledge and perform what is due to their majesty." ACACIUS.-"How can
I sacrifice to a man whose sepulchre is unquestionably in Crete? What!
Is he risen again?" MARTIAN.-"You must either sacrifice or die."
ACACIUS.-"This is the custom of the Dalmatian robbers; when they have
taken a passenger in a narrow way, they leave him no other choice but to
surrender his money or his life. But, for my part, I declare to you that
I fear nothing that you call do to me. The laws punish adulterers,
thieves, and murderers. Were I guilty of any of those things, I should
be the first man to condemn myself. But if my whole crime be the adoring
of the true God, and I am on this account to be put to death, it is no
longer a law but an injustice." MARTIAN.-"I have no order to judge but
to counsel you to obey. If you refuse, I know how to force you to a
compliance." ACACIUS.-"I have a law which I will obey: this commands me
not to renounce my God. If you think yourself bound to execute the
orders of a man who in a