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Now a second time Valens, after depriving the flock of their
shepherd, had set over them in his stead a wolf. The whole population
had abandoned the city, and were assembled in front of the town, when
he arrived at Edessa. He bad given orders to the prefect, Modestus
by name, to assemble the troops under his orders who were accustomed to
exact the tribute, to take all who were present of the armed force,
and by inflicting blows with sticks and clubs, and using if need be
their other weapons of war, to disperse the gathering multitude.
Early in the morning, while the prefect was executing this order, on
his way through the Forum he saw a woman holding an infant in her
arms, and hurrying along at great speed. She had made light of the
troops, and forced her way through their ranks: for a soul fired with
divine zeal knows no fear of man, and looks on terrors of this kind as
ridiculous sport. When the prefect saw her, and understood what had
happened, he ordered her to be brought before him, and enquired
whither she was going. "I have heard," said she, "that assaults
are being planned against the servants of the Lord; I want to join my
friends in the faith that I may share with them the slaughter inflicted
by you." "But the baby," said the prefect, "what in the world
are you carrying that for?" "That it may share with me," said
she, "the death I long for."
When the prefect had heard this from the woman and through her means
discovered the zeal which animated all the people, he made it known to
the emperor, and pointed out the uselessness of the intended massacre.
"We shall only reap," said he "a harvest of discredit from the
deed, and shall fail to quench these people's spirit." He then
would not allow the multitude to undergo the tortures which they had
expected, and commanded their leaders, the priests, I mean, and
deacons, to be brought before him, and offered them a choice of two
alternatives, either to induce the flock to communicate with the wolf,
or be banished from the town to some remote region. Then he summoned
the mass of the people before him, and in gentle terms endeavoured to
persuade them to submit to the imperial decrees, urging that it was
mere madness for a handful of men who might soon be counted to withstand
the sovereign of so vast an empire. The crowd stood speechless. Then
the prefect turned to their leader Eulogius, an excellent man, and
said, "Why do you make no answer to what you have heard me say?"
"I did not think," said Eulogius, "that I must answer, when I
had been asked no question." "But," said the prefect, "I have
used many arguments to urge you to a course advantageous to
yourselves." Eulogius rejoined that these pleas had been urged on all
the multitude and that he thought it absurd for him to push himself
forward and reply; "but," he went on, "should you ask me my
individual opinion I will give it you." "Well," said the
prefect, "communicate with the emperor. With pleasant irony
Eulogius continued, "Has he then received the priesthood as well as
the empire?" The prefect then perceiving that he was not speaking
seriously took it ill, and after heaping reproaches on the old man,
added, "I did not say so, you fool; I exhorted you to communicate
with those with whom the Emperor communicates." To this the old man
replied that they had a shepherd and obeyed his directions, and so
eighty of them were arrested, and exiled to Thrace. On their way
thither they were everywhere received with the greatest possible
distinction, cities and villages coming out to meet them and honouring
them as victorious athletes. But envy armed their antagonists to
report to the emperor that what had been reckoned disgrace had really
brought great honour on these men; thereupon Valens ordered that they
were to be separated into pairs and sent in different directions, some
to Thrace, some to the furthest regions of Arabia, and others to the
towns of the Thebaid; and the saying was that those whom nature had
joined together savage men had put asunder, and divided brother from
brother. Eulogius their leader with Protogenes the next in rank,
were relegated to Antinone.
Even of these men I will not suffer the virtue to fall into oblivion.
They found that the bishop of the city was of like mind with
themselves, and so took part in the gatherings of the Church; but
when they saw very small congregations, and on enquiry learnt that the
inhabitants of the city were pagans, they were grieved, as was
natural, and deplored their unbelief. But they did not think it
enough to grieve, but to the best of their ability devoted themselves
to making these men whole. The divine Eulogius, shut up in a little
chamber, spent day and night in putting up petitions to the God of the
universe; and the admirable Protogenes, who had received a good
education and was practised in rapid writing, pitched on a suitable
spot which he made into a boys' school, and, setting up for a
schoolmaster, he instructed his pupils not only in the art of swift
penmanship, but also in the divine oracles. He taught them the psalms
of David and gave them to learn the most important articles of the
apostolic doctrine. One of the lads fell sick, and Protogenes went
to his home, took the sufferer by the hand and drove away the malady by
prayer. When the parents of the other boys heard this they brought him
to their houses and entreated him to succour the sick; but he refused
to ask God for the expulsion of the malady before the sick had received
the gift of baptism; urged by their longing for the children's
health, the parents readily acceded, and won at last salvation both
for body and soul. In every instance where he persuaded any one in
health to receive the divine grace, he led him off to Eulogius, and
knocking at the door besought him to open, and put the seal of the
Lord on the prey. When Eulogius was annoyed at the interruption of
his prayer, Protogenes used to say that it was much more essential to
rescue the wanderers. In this he was an object of admiration to all
who beheld his deeds, doing such wondrous works, imparting to so many
the light of divine knowledge and all the while yielding the first place
to another, and bringing his prizes to Eulogius. They rightly
conjectured that the virtue of Eulogius was by far the greater and
higher.
On the quieting of the tempest and restoration of complete calm, they
were ordered to return home, and were escorted by all the people,
wailing and weeping, and specially by the bishop of the church, who
was now deprived of their husbandry. When they reached home, the
great Barses had been removed to the life that knows no pain, and the
divine Eulogius was entrusted with the rudder of the church which he
had piloted; and to the excellent Protogenes was assigned the
husbandry of Charrae, a barren spot full of the thorns of heathendom
and needing abundant labour. But these events happened after peace was
restored to the churches.
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