[the Monks'] Credulity Debased And Vitiated The

[we Should] Suspend Our Belief Of Every Tale That Deviates From The Laws Of Nature And The Character Of Man.

If The Emperor Had Capriciously Decreed The Death Of The Most Eminent And Virtuous Citizen Of The Republic, The Cruel Order Would Have Been Executed Without Hesitation By The Ministers Of Open Violence Or Of Specious Injustice. The Caution, The Delay, The Difficulty With Which He Proceeded In The Condemnation And Punishment Of A Popular Bishop, Discovered To The World That The Privileges Of The Church Had Already Revived A Sense Of Order And Freedom In The Roman Government.

If A Man Were Called To Fix The Period In The History Of The World During Which The Condition Of The Human Race Was Most Happy And Prosperous, He Would, Without Hesitation, Name That Which Elapsed From The Death Of Domitian To The Accession Of Commodus.

The Land Was Then Covered With Morasses And Forests, Which Spread To A Boundless Extent, Whenever Man Has Ceased To Exercise His Dominion Over The Earth.

We Improve Ourselves By Victories Over Ourselves. There Must Be Contest, And We Must Win.