Section 434
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BOOK X. CHAPTER I. The peace which was granted us by divine interposition. BUT thanks be to God, the omnipotent and universal sovereign, thanks also to the Saviour and Redeemer of our souls, Jesus Christ, through whom we pray that peace will be preserved to us at all times, firm and unshaken by any temporal molestation from without, and troubles from the mind within. Attended with your prayers, O most holy Paulinus,* whilst we superadd this tenth book to the preceding ones of our ecclesiastical his tory, we shall dedicate this to you, announcing you as the seal of the whole work. Justly, indeed, shall we here subjoin in a perfect number,f a complete discourse and panegyric on the re novation of the churches yielding to the spirit of God, inviting us in the following manner : " Sing to the Lord a new song, because he hath done wonderful works. His right hand hath saved him, and his holy right arm. The Lord hath made known his salva tion, his righteousness hath he openly showed in the sight of the heathen." Thus, then, as the Scriptures enjoin upon us to sing a new song, we shall accordingly show that after those dreadful and gloomy spectacles and events, we have been privileged to * Paulinus was bishop of Tyre, and Eusebius here dedicates the work to him, as the one who suggested and urged him to undertake it. •j-The number ten is called perfect, because it is the limit and close of our sys tem of numeration; all the numbers beyond ten being only combinations of this and the included digits. Shorting has overlooked the stress which our author in tended to lay on the expression. He has considered it as a mere qualification of panegyric. It may be observed, this book contains the celebrated panegyric de livered by Eusebius at the renovation of the cathedral of Tyre. But the author seems to intend the whole book as a eulogy upon the happy reverse of affairs, and therefore, a happy close of the whole work. He now seems to lay aside the his torian, and to swell into the amplifications of the orator. 403