le 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 aversion of Julian for a religion which
oppressed the freedom of his mind, and compelled him to hold a conduct
repugnant to the noblest attributes of human nature, sincerity and
courage.

[Footnote 27: Libanius, Orat. Parent. c. x. p. 233, 234. Gallus had some
reason to suspect the secret apostasy 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 Julian, Op. p. 454, and Hist. de Jovien tom
ii. p. 141.]

[Footnote 28: Gregory, (iii. p. 50,) with inhuman zeal, censures
Constantius for paring the infant apostate. His French translator (p.
265) cautiously observes, that such expressions must not be prises a la
lettre.]

[Footnote 29: Libanius, Orat. Parental. c ix. p. 233.]

Chapter XXIII: Reign Of Julian.--Part II.

The inclination of Julian might prefer the gods of Homer, and of the
Scipios, to the new faith, which his uncle had established in the Roman
empire; and in which he himself had been sanctified by the sacrament of
baptism. But, as a philosopher, it was incumbent on him to justify his
dissent from Christianity, which was supported by the number of its
converts, by the chain of prophecy, the splendor of or miracles, and the
weight of evidence. The elaborate work, [30] which he composed amidst
the preparations of the Persian war, contained the substance of those
arguments which he had long revolved in his mind. Some fragments have
been transcribed and preserved, by his adversary, the vehement Cyril
of Alexandria; [31] and they exhibit a very singular mixture of wit and
learning, of sophistry and fanaticism. The elegance of the style and the
rank of the author, recommended his writings to the public attention;
[32] and in the impious list of the enemies of Christianity, the
celebrated name of Porphyry was effaced by the superior merit or
reputation of Julian. The minds of the faithf