CHAPTER XIX
THE ORATION
OF CONSTANTINE.
bi Be Many, however, who admit that the Erythrzan Sibyl was really a prophetess, yet refuse to credit this prediction, and imagine that some one professing our faith, and not unacquainted with the poetic art, was the composer of these verses.
They hold, in short, that they are a forgery, and alleged to be the prophecies of the Sibyl on the ground of their containing useful moral sentiments, tending to restrain licentiousness, and to lead man to a life of sobriety and decorum.
Truth, however, in this case is evident, since the diligence of our countrymen' has made a careful computation of the times ; so that there is no room to suspect that this poem was composed after the advent and condemnation of Christ, or that the general report is false, that the verses were a prediction of the Sibyl in an early age.
For it is allowed that Cicero was acquainted with this poem, which he translated into Latin by Cicero before the coming of\into the Latin tongue, and incorporated with Uplifted then, in majesty divine, Radiant with light, behold Salvation's Sign!
Cross of that Lord, who, once for sinners given, Reviled by man, now owned by earth and heaven,
O'er every land extends his iron sway.
Such is the name these mystic lines display; Saviour, eternal king, who bears our sins away.
It is evident that the virgin uttered these verses under the influence of Divine inspiration.
And I cannot but esteem her blessed, whom the Saviour thus selected to unfold his gracious purpose towards us.
CHAPTER XIX.
That this Prophecy respecting our Saviour was not the Fiction of any Member of the Christian Church, but the Testimony of the Erythrean Sibyl, whose Books were translated
Also that Virgil makes mention of\his own works.?
This writer was put to death during the ascendancy of Antony, who in his turn was conquered by Augustus, whose reign lasted fifty-six years.
Tiberius succeeded, in whose age it was that the Saviour's advent enlightened the world, the mystery of our most holy religion began to prevail, and as it were a new race of men commenced : of which, I suppose, the prince of Latin poets thus speaks :
Christ. the same, and of the Birth of the Virgin's Child: though he spoke obscurely of this Mystery from Fear of the Ruling Powers.
4 [It can scarcely be necessary to observe that the acrostic, the general sense of which has been aimed at in the above translation, must be regarded as the pious fiction of some writer, whose object
'was to recommend the truth of Christianity to heathens by an appeal to the authority of an (alleged) ancient heathen prophecy. — Bag. ]
The quotation is found in the edition of Alexandre, Bk. VIII. ch.
219-250.
(Cf. translation in Augustin, De czv. Dez.) The translation of Bag., giving the '" general sense" and reproducing the acrostic, stands unchanged.
The translation of 1709, much more vigorous and suggestive of the '* Dies Irz," is as follows:
Behold, a new, a heaven-born race appears.'
And again, in another passage of the Bucolics:
«When the Great Day of Judgment shall appear, The melting Earth shall then dissolve with fear;
A King Immortal shall from Heav'n descend, At whose Tribunal the whole world attend.
Both Just and Wicked shall, when Time grows old, Their mighty God in flesh array'd behold;
Armies of Saints on His Right hand shall come, Whilst Humane Souls expect their final doom.
Th' Universe shall be a dry, Barren Strand, And Thorns shall flourish on the scorched land;
Men shall with indignation cast awa Their Wealth and Idols in that dress day.
The parching Earth, and Heaven in flames shall fry, Sicilian Muses, sound a loftier strain.
'What can be clearer than this?
For he adds, The voice of Cuma's oracle is heard again.* Evidently referring to the Cumzean Sibyl.
Nor was even this enough: the poet goes further, as if irresistibly impelled to bear his testimony.
What then does he say?
And searching fire drain the Ocean dry:
All flesh which in the Grave imprison'd lay, Shake off their Fetters, and return to Day.
Fire 'twixt Good and Bad shall diff'rence make, And filthy Dross from purer Metal take.
Man's secret Deeds shall all be open lay'd, And th' obscure Mazes of their Hearts displayed; Gnashing their Teeth, they shall their Fate bewail:
The stars harmonious daunce, and th' Sun shall fail.
Behold! the circling years new blessings bring:
The virgin comes, with her the long-desired king 1 « Our men," i.e. Christian$ rather than '' countrymen."
2 [The passage in Cicero (De\Dzvinatione, Bk. II. ch. 54) clearly does not refer to ¢47s acrostic, and contains in itself a plain denial of prophetic truth in the Sibylline prediction (whatever it was) which the writer had in view.
'Non esse autem illud carmen furentis, cum ipsum poema declaret (est enim magis artis et diligentiz, quam incitationis et motus), tum verd ea, que axpoorexis dicitur, cum deinceps ex primis versuum litteris aliquid connectitur, ut in quibusdam Cumanis, id certe magis est attenti animi, quam furentis," &c.
— Bag.
3 This and following quotations are found in the fourth eclogue of Virgil — the Pollio.
The version of Bag. is allowed to stand.
If farther variety of rendering and interpretation is desired, it can be found in charming profusion in the various English translations of Virgil of which the few at hand give ample promise.
Those at hand are Ogilby, Lond., 1675, p. 41-49; Warton, Lond., 1763, p. 7682; Trapp, Lond., 1755, p37-463 ennedy, Lond., 1849, p25-29; Wilstach, Bost., 1884, p. 154-161; Bowen, Lond., 1887, p24-28.
Compare Henley, Odservations on the Subject of the Fourth Eclogue, etc., Lond., 1788.
8vo.
Here is variety indeed.
Cumza's prophecy," — whatever that may mean.
Molz. has the voice of the famed oracle of Cumz is dumb."
The Orbs roll'd up, shrink into darkest night, The Labouring Moon shall lose her borrowed light.
Mountains with Plains on the same Level lye; Vallies shall gape no morte, nor Hills be high.
On the proud Billows Ships shall ride no more:
And Lightning the Earth's Face shall shrivel sore.
The crackling Rivers with fierce Fire shall burn, Which shall their streams to solid Crystal turn.
'The Heav'nly Trump shall blow a doleful sound, And th' world's destruction, and its sin resound.
The B hidags Earth Hell's vast Abyss shall shew; All Kings before God's just Tribunal go.
Then Liquid Sulphur from the Sky shall stream, God shall pour down Rivers of vengeful flame;
All men shall then the Glorious Cross descry, 'That wished-for sign unto a faithful aS The Life of pious Boe their chief delight; To Sinners an Offence, a dismal sight!
Enlightening the called with its beams, _ When cleansed from sin in twice six limpid streams. z7rr renders, "' Last times are come His Empire shall be boundless, and that God
Shall Rule the Wicked with an Iron Rod; "Now This God, Immortal King, describ'd in Verse,
Our Saviour, dying, shall man's doom Reverse."
5 Constantine takes large liberty with the poet here in order to
CONSTANTINE.
Who, then, is the virgin who was to come?
Is it not she who was filled with, and with child of, the Holy Spirit?
And why is it impossible that she who was with child of the Holy Spirit should be, and ever continue to be a virgin?
This king, too, will return, and by his coming lighten the sorrows of the world.
The poet adds, His cradle shall with rising flowers be crown'd:
The serpent's brood shall die; the sacred ground Shall weeds and poisonous plants refuse to bear;
Each common bush th' Assyrian rose! shall wear.
Nothing could be said more true or more consistent with the Saviour's excellency than this.
For the power of the Divine Spirit presents the very cradle of God, like fragrant flowers, to the new-born race." The serpent, too, and the venom of that serpent, perishes, who originally beguiled our first parents, and drew their thoughts from their native innocence* to the enjoyment of pleasures, that they might experience' that threatened death.
For before the Saviour's advent, the serpent's power was shown in subverting the souls of those who were sustained by no well-grounded hope, and ignorant of that immortality which awaits the righteous.
But after that he had suffered, and was separated for a season from the body which he had assumed, the power of the resurrection was revealed to man through the communication of the Holy
Spirit: and whatever stain of human guilt might yet remain was removed by the washing of sacred lustrations.
Thou, chaste Lucina, greet the new-born child, Beneath whose reign the iron offspring ends,
A golden progeny from heaven descends; His kingdom banished virtue shall restore,
And crime shall threat the guilty world no more.
We perceive that these words are spoken plainly and at the same time darkly, by way of allegory.
Those who search deeply for the import of the words, are able to discern the Divinity of Christ.
But lest any of the powerful in the imperial city might be able to accuse the poet of writing anything contrary to the laws of the country, and subverting the religious sentiments which had prevailed from ancient times, he intentionally obscures the truth.
For he was acquainted, as I believe, with that blessed mystery which gave to our Lord the name of Saviour :® but, that he might avoid the severity of cruel men, he drew the thoughts of his hearers to objects with which they were familiar, saying that altars must be erected, temples raised, and sacrifices offered to the new-born child.
His concluding words also are adapted to the sentiments of those who were accustomed to such a creed ; for he says:
Then indeed could the Saviour bid his followers be of good cheer, and, remembering his adorable and glorious resurrection, expect the like for themselves.
Truly, then, the poisonous race may be said to be extinct.
Death himself is extinct, and the truth of the resurrection sealed. Again, the Assyrian race is gone, which first led the way to faith in God.
But when he speaks of the growth of amomum every where, he alludes to the multitude of the true worshipers of God.'
For it is as though a multitude of branches, crowned with fragrant flowers, and fitly watered, sprung from the self-same root.
Most justly said, Maro, thou wisest of poets ! and with this all that follows is consistent.
CHAPTER XX.
A Farther Quotation from Virgilius Maro respecting Christ, with tts Interpretation, showing that the Mystery was indicated therein darkly, as might be expected from a Poet.
A life immortal he shall lead, and be By heroes seen, himself shall heroes see; But when heroic worth his youth shall hear,
And learn his father's virtues to revere. evidently meaning the righteous.
The jarring nations he in peace shall bind, And with paternal virtues rule mankind.
Unbidden earth her earliest fruits shall bring, And fragrant herbs, to greet her infant king.
By the praises of heroes, he indicates the works of righteous men: by the virtues of his Father he speaks of the creation and everlasting structure of the world: and, it may be, of those laws by which God's beloved Church is guided, and ordered in a course of righteousness and virtue.
Admirable, again, is the advance to higher eee Well indeed was this admirably wise and accomplished man acquainted with the cruel character of the times.
He proceeds :
The goats, uncall'd, full udders home shall bear; The lowing herds no more fierce lions fear.
1 [Amomum.— Bag.] " Assyrian cinnamon," Kenned . 28; ''the cardamon's spice shall grow, That from Assyria's af ens,"
Whar %) By 2975 " Syrian ane Trapp, r, p. 92; ' Assyria's rich perfume, arton, I, p.
78; Syrian roses," Ogilby, p.
42.
2 [ise. the Christians, Oe a ssetlama 4s yee Truly said: for faith will not stand in awe of the mighty in the imperial palace. make him say what he would like to have had him say.
The latest translation at hand (Bowen) renders: i ight ot experience," according to some, including Heinichen, who rejects in first, but accepts in teat of his second wie
{Referring, bd sae to Abraham.
This passage is founded on a misconstruction of Virgil's line by Constantine, which is followed by the Greek verse itself according to one edition. — Bag.]
"« Now is the world's grand cycle begun once more from of old; Justice the Virgin comes, and the Saturn Kingdom again."
6 "The blessed and salutary mystery of our Saviour."
— z7o9.
"Mystery of salvation,"
— Mo/z, Ae 6 [By a kind of play on the word amomum, he alludes to the Christians as duwpor, or blameless persons. — Bag. ]