348

THE DECLINE AND FALL

CHAP.

XXL

byter or bishop, who had secreted for his usethe testament of the deceased emperor, improv-ed the fortunate occasion which had introducedhim to the familiarity of a prince, whose publiccounsels were ahvays swayed by his domesticfavourites. The eunuchs and slaves diffusedthe spiritual poison through the palace, and thedangerous infection was communicated by thefemale attendants to the guards, and by the em-press to her unsuspicious husband/ The par-tiality which Constantius always expressed to-wards the eusebian faction was insensibly fortifi-ed by the dexterousmanagementof theirleaders;and his victory over the tyrant Magnentius in-creased his inclination, as well as ability, to em-ploy the arms of power in the cause of arianism.While the two armies were engaged in the plainsof Mursa, and thefateof the two rivals dependedon the chance of war, the son of Constantine pas-sed the anxious moments in a church of themartyrs, under the w alls of the city. His spi-ritual comforter, Valens, the arian bishop of thediocese, employed the most artful precautionsto obtain such early intelligence as might se-cure either his favour or his escape. A secretchain of swift and trusty messengers informedhim of the vicissitudes of the battle; and whilethe courtiers stood trembling round their af-frighted master Valens assured him that the

r Socrates, I. ii, c. 2. Sozomen , I. iii, c. 18. Athanas. tom. i, p813-834. He observes that the eunuchs are the natural enemies of theSon. Compare Dr. Jortin ’s Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. ivp. 3, with a certain genealogy in Candide (ch. iv), which ends with oneof tire first companions of Christopher Columbus .