390

THE DECLINE AND FALL

CHAP.

XXL

and faintly condemned by the doctors of thesect. The leaders of the circnmcellions as-sumed the title of captains of the saints; theirprincipal weapon, as they were indifferentlyprovided with swords and spears, was a hugeand weighty club, which they termed an Is-raelite : and the well-known sound of “ praise“ be to God, ” which they used as their cry ofwar, diffused consternation over the unarmedprovinces of Africa . At first their depreda-tions were coloured by the plea of necessity ;but they soon exceeded the measure of subsis-tence, indulged without control their intem-perance and avarice, burnt the villages whichthey had pillaged, and reigned the licentioustyrants of the open country. The occupationsof husbandry, and the administration of justice,were interrupted ; and as the circumcellionspretended to restore the primitive equality ofmankind, and to reform the abuses of civil so-ciety, they opened a secure asylum for the slavesand debtors, who flocked in crowds to theirholy standard. When they were not resisted,they usually contented themselves with plun-der, but the slightest opposition provoked themto acts of violence and murder; and some ca-tholic priests, who had imprudently signalizedtheir zeal, were tortured by the fanatics wiflithe most refined and wanton barbarity. Thespirit of the circumcellions was not always ex-erted against their defenceless enemies; theyengaged, and sometimes defeated, the troops ofthe province; and in the bloody action of Bagai,