CHAPTER XIV

ACCOUNT OF EUSEBIUS, BISHOP OF SAMOSATA

I CONSIDER it requisite to inform those who may be unacquainted with the facts, of the courage and wisdom displayed by Eusebius, when he received the imperial mandate enjoining his banishment to Thrace. The officer who brought the mandate arrived in the evening. Eusebius desired him to be quiet, and to conceal the cause of his journey; “For if the multitude,” said he, “who are all imbued with divine zeal, should learn your design, they will drown you, and I shall have to answer for your death.” After having, according to custom, celebrated the evening service, the old man departed on foot during the night, accompanied by one of his domestics, who carried his pillow and a book. When he arrived at the banks of the Euphrates, which washes the walls of the city, he leaped into a ferry boat, and desired the rowers to convey him to Zeugma, which he reached at the break of day. In the mean time, the city of Samosata was filled with the sounds of weeping and lamentation; for the servant of Eusebius had mentioned the mandate which his master had received, and had asked some of the people to bring certain books which were then required. All the citizens deplored the loss of their pastor; and some of them rowed across the ford in quest of him. When they reached Zeugma, and saw him, they besought him with tears and lamentations to remain with them, and not to leave his flock exposed to the attacks of wolves. But when he read to them the precepts laid down by the apostle, enjoining obedience to princes and magistrates, they saw it would be impossible to overrule his resolution; and, accordingly, some of them presented him with gold, and others offered garments and servants. He accepted a few gifts from some of his intimate friends; and after praying for them all, and exhorting them to defend with stedfastness the doctrines of the apostles, he set out for the Danube. The citizens returned to their homes, and exhorted each other to resist the attacks of the wolves.