Section 350
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ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY. 319 from heaven to earth the glory of Israel. Neither did he remem ber his footstool in the day of his wrath. But the Lord, also, overwhelmed all the beauty of Israel, and tore down all his walls." And, as it is predicted in the Psalms, " He overturned the covenant of his servant, and he prostrated his sanctuary to the earth," by the demolition of the churches. " He has destroyed all his walls, and has made all his bulwarks fear. All the multi tudes that pass through have ravaged him, and hence he has be come a reproach to his neighbours. For he has exalted the right arm of his enemies, and has turned away the help of his sword, nor aided him in war. But he has also deprived him of his purifica tion, and his throne he has cast to the ground. He has shortened the days of his time, and has poured upon him all his disgrace." CHAPTER II. The demolition of the churches. ALL this has been fulfilled in our day, when we saw, with om own eyes, our houses of worship thrown down from their eleva tion, the sacred Scriptures of inspiration committed to the flames in the midst of the markets, the shepherds of the people basely concealed here and there, some of them ignominiously captured, and the sport of their enemies ; when, also, according to another prophetic declaration, " contempt was poured out upon their rulers, and he has made them to err in a trackless by-path, and where there is no road." But it is not for me to describe fully the sorrowful calamities which they endured, since neither does it belong to me to record the dissensions and follies which they exercised against each other before the persecution. Hence, also, we have purposed not to extend our narration beyond the events in which we perceive the just judgment of God. Hence, also, we shall not make mention of those that were shaken by the persecution, nor of those that suffered shipwreck in their salvation, and of their own accord