Oration XLIII. Funeral Oration on the Great S. Basil, Bishop of Cæsarea in Cappadocia.

 1.  It has then been ordained that the great Basil, who used so constantly to furnish me with subjects for my discourses, of which he was quite as pro

 2.  These are the reasons which have urged me to speak, and to address myself to this contest.  And at my late appearance, long after his praises have

 3.  Had I seen him to be proud of his birth, and the rights of birth, or any of those infinitely little objects of those whose eyes are on the ground,

 4.  But since our subject is a man who has maintained that each man’s nobility is to be judged of according to his own worth, and that, as forms and c

 5.  There was a persecution, the most frightful and severe of all I mean, as you know, the persecution of Maximinus, which, following closely upon th

 6.  But since their strife must needs be lawful, and the law of martyrdom alike forbids us voluntarily to go to meet it (in consideration for the pers

 7.  These noble men, suffering from the lapse of time, and feeling a distaste for ordinary food, felt a longing for something more appetising.  They d

 8.  O what a wonder!  They were themselves stewards of the chase what they would, was caught by the mere will to do so what was left, they sent away

 9.  The union of his parents, cemented as it was by a community of virtue, no less than by cohabitation, was notable for many reasons, especially for

 10.  Who has not known Basil, our archbishop’s father, a great name to everyone, who attained a father’s prayer, if anyone, I will not say as no one,

 11.  I take it as admitted by men of sense, that the first of our advantages is education and not only this our more noble form of it, which disregar

 12.  In his earliest years he was swathed and fashioned, in that best and purest fashioning which the Divine David speaks of as proceeding day by day,

 13.  When sufficiently trained at home, as he ought to fall short in no form of excellence, and not be surpassed by the busy bee, which gathers what i

 14.  Thence to Byzantium, the imperial city of the East, for it was distinguished by the eminence of its rhetorical and philosophic teachers, whose mo

 15.  We were contained by Athens, like two branches of some river-stream, for after leaving the common fountain of our fatherland, we had been separat

 16.  Whenever any newcomer arrives, and falls into the hands of those who seize upon him, either by force or willingly, they observe this Attic law, o

 17.  This was the prelude of our friendship.  This was the kindling spark of our union:  thus we felt the wound of mutual love.  Then something of thi

 18.  Their efforts having thus proved fruitless, while they severely blamed their own rashness, they cherished such annoyance against me that it broke

 19.  And when, as time went on, we acknowledged our mutual affection, and that philosophy was our aim, we were all in all to one another, housemates,

 20.  Such were our feelings for each other, when we had thus supported, as Pindar has it, our “well-built chamber with pillars of gold,” as we advance

 21.  Two ways were known to us, the first of greater value, the second of smaller consequence:  the one leading to our sacred buildings and the teache

 22.  And, best of all, we were surrounded by a far from ignoble band, under his instruction and guidance, and delighting in the same objects, as we ra

 23.  Who possessed such a degree of the prudence of old age, even before his hair was gray?  Since it is by this that Solomon defines old age.   Who w

 24.  Such was the case, and his galleon was laden with all the learning attainable by the nature of man for beyond Cadiz there is no passage.  There

 25.  Upon our return, after a slight indulgence to the world and the stage, sufficient to gratify the general desire, not from any inclination to thea

 26.  For I do not praise the disorder and irregularity which sometimes exist among us, even in those who preside over the sanctuary.  I do not venture

 27.  Not so our great and illustrious Basil.  In this grace, as in all others, he was a public example.  For he first read to the people the sacred bo

 28.  There arose a disagreement between him and his predecessor in the rule over this Church:  its source and character it is best to pass over in sil

 29.  What then did our noble friend, the disciple of the Peaceable One?  It was not his habit to resist his traducers or partisans, nor was it his par

 30.  While we were thus engaged, there suddenly arose a cloud full of hail, with destructive roar, overwhelming every Church upon which it burst and s

 31.  Such was his mind, and with such impiety he took the field against us.  For we must consider it to be nothing else than a barbaric inroad which,

 32.  Did then his actual efforts fall short of his preliminary zeal?  Were they directed by courage, but not by prudence, or by skill, while he shrank

 33.  Thus the enemy failed, and, base men as they were, for the first time were then basely put to shame and worsted, learning not to be ready to desp

 34.  Of his care for and protection of the Church, there are many other tokens his boldness towards the governors and other most powerful men in the

 35.  He indeed could neither rain bread from heaven by prayer, to nourish an escaped people in the wilderness,

 36.  Such was our young furnisher of corn, and second Joseph:  though of him we can say somewhat more.  For the one made a gain from the famine, and b

 37.  After these and similar actions—why need I stay to mention them all?—when the prelate whose name betokened his godliness had passed away, having

 38.  Having thus been deemed worthy of the office of prelate, as it is seemly that men should who have lived such a life, and won such favour and cons

 39.  He first of all made it plain that his office had been bestowed upon him, not by human favour, but by the gift of God.  This will also be shown b

 40.  His next task was to appease, and allay by magnanimous treatment, the opposition to himself:  and that without any trace of flattery or servility

 41.  Affairs at home being now settled to his mind, in a way that faithless men who did not know him would have thought impossible, his designs became

 42.  For what could be more distressing than this calamity, or call more loudly on one whose eyes were raised aloft for exertions on behalf of the com

 43.  One of his devices was of the greatest service.  After a period of such recollection as was possible, and private spiritual conference, in which,

 44.  Why need I enter into further detail?  We were assailed again by the Anti-Christian Emperor, that tyrant of the faith, with more abundant impiety

 45.  It is said that the King of Persia, on his expedition into Greece, was not only urged to immoderate threats, by elation at the numbers of every r

 46.  Furious indeed were his first acts of wantonness, more furious still his final efforts against us.  What shall I speak of first?  Exiles, banishm

 47.  Accordingly, when, after passing through all quarters, he made his attack in order to enslave this impregnable and formidable mother of the Churc

 48.  Who has not heard of the prefect of those days, who, for his own part, treated us with such excessive arrogance, having himself been admitted, or

 49.  Then indeed the prefect became excited, and rose from his seat, boiling with rage, and making use of harsher language.  “What?” said he, “have yo

 50.  Amazed at this language, the prefect said, “No one has ever yet spoken thus, and with such boldness, to Modestus.”  “Why, perhaps,” said Basil, “

 51.  At the close of this colloquy, the prefect, having been convinced by the attitude of Basil, that he was absolutely impervious to threats and infl

 52.  For he entered the Church attended by the whole of his train it was the festival of the Epiphany, and the Church was crowded, and, by taking his

 53.  As for the wisdom of his conference with the Emperor, who, in his quasi-communion with us entered within the veil to see and speak to him, as he

 54.  Another incident is not of less importance than those I have mentioned.  The wicked were victorious, and the decree for his banishment was signed

 55.  The same mischance is said to have befallen the prefect.  He also was obliged by sickness to bow beneath the hands of the Saint, and, in reality,

 56.  The assessor of a judge was attempting to force into a distasteful marriage a lady of high birth whose husband was but recently dead.  At a loss

 57.  Consider another struggle between our champion and his persecutor.  His ragged pallium having been ordered to be torn away, “I will also, if you

 58.  This was the end and fortunate close, in the Providence of God, of the war with the world, a close worthy of his faith.  But here at once is the

 59.  The holy man of God however, metropolitan as he was of the true Jerusalem above, was neither carried away with the failure of those who fell, nor

 60.  I am afraid that, in avoiding the imputation of indifference at the hands of those who desire to know all that can be said about him, I shall inc

 61.  A wondrous thing is temperance, and fewness of wants, and freedom from the dominion of pleasures, and from the bondage of that cruel and degradin

 62.  A great thing is virginity, and celibacy, and being ranked with the angels, and with the single nature for I shrink from calling it Christ’s, Wh

 63.  What more?  A noble thing is philanthropy, and the support of the poor, and the assistance of human weakness.  Go forth a little way from the cit

 64.  As to all this, what will be said by those who charge him with pride and haughtiness?  Severe critics they are of such conduct, applying to him,

 65.  But what are these to his renown for eloquence, and his powers of instruction, which have won the favour of the ends of the world?  As yet we hav

 66.  The sun is extolled by David for its beauty, its greatness, its swift course, and its power, splendid as a bridegroom, majestic as a giant while

 67.  I will only say this of him.  Whenever I handle his Hexaemeron, and take its words on my lips, I am brought into the presence of the Creator, and

 68.  Since I have mentioned theology, and his most sublime treatises in this science, I will make this addition to what I have already said.  For it i

 69.  That he, no less than any other, acknowledged that the Spirit is God, is plain from his often having publicly preached this truth, whenever oppor

 70.  Come then, there have been many men of old days illustrious for piety, as lawgivers, generals, prophets, teachers, and men brave to the shedding

 71.  Abraham was a great man, a patriarch, the offerer of the new sacrifice, by presenting to Him who had given it the promised seed, as a ready offer

 72.  Joseph was a provider of corn, but in Egypt only, and not frequently, and of bodily food.  Basil did so for all men, and at all times, and in spi

 73.  Further, to run over the Judges, or the most illustrious of the Judges, there is “Samuel among those that call upon His Name,” who was given to G

 74.  Do you praise the courage of Elijah in the presence of tyrants, and his fiery translation?

 75.  I now turn to the New Testament, and comparing his life with those who are here illustrious, I shall find in the teachers a source of honour for

 76.  He emulated the zeal of Peter, the intensity of Paul, the faith of both these men of name and of surname, the lofty utterance of the sons of Zebe

 77.  So great was his virtue, and the eminence of his fame, that many of his minor characteristics, nay, even his physical defects, have been assumed

 78.  But when, after he had finished his course, and kept the faith, he longed to depart, and the time for his crown was approaching,

 79.  He lay, drawing his last breath, and awaited by the choir on high, towards which he had long directed his gaze.  Around him poured the whole city

 80.  The saint was being carried out, lifted high by the hands of holy men, and everyone was eager, some to seize the hem of his garment, others only

 81.  Come hither then, and surround me, all ye members of his choir, both of the clergy and the laity, both of our own country and from abroad aid me

 82.  This is my offering to thee, Basil, uttered by the tongue which once was the sweetest of all to thee, of him who was thy fellow in age and rank. 

74.  Do you praise the courage of Elijah165 in the presence of tyrants, and his fiery translation?166  Or the fair inheritance of Elisha, the sheepskin mantle, accompanied by the spirit of Elijah?167  You must also praise the life of Basil, spent in the fire.  I mean in the multitude of temptations, and his escape through fire, which burnt, but did not consume, the mystery of “the bush,”168 and the fair cloak of skin from on high, his indifference to the flesh.  I pass by the rest, the three young men bedewed in the fire,169 the fugitive prophet praying in the whale’s belly,170 and coming forth from the creature, as from a chamber; the just man in the den, restraining the lions’ rage,171 and the struggle of the seven Maccabees,172 who were perfected with their father and mother in blood, and in all kinds of tortures.  Their endurance he rivalled, and won their glory.

Ἐπαινεῖς Ἡλίου τὴν πρὸς τοὺς τυράννους παρρησίαν, καὶ τὴν διὰ πυρὸς ἁρπαγήν; Ἐλισσαίου τε τὴν καλὴν κληρονομίαν, τὴν μηλωτήν, ᾗ τὸ Ἡλίου πνεῦμα συνηκολούθησεν; Ἐπαίνει κἀκείνου τὴν ἐν πυρὶ ζωήν, τῷ πλήθει λέγω τῶν πειρασμῶν, καὶ τὴν διὰ πυρὸς σωτηρίαν, καίοντος μέν, οὐ κατακαίοντος δέ, τὸ περὶ τὴν βάτον θαῦμα, καὶ τὸ καλὸν ἐξ ὕψους δέρος, τὴν ἀσαρκίαν. Ἐῶ τἆλλα, τοὺς δροσισθέντας ἐν πυρὶ νεανίας: τὸν ἐν γαστρὶ κήτους εὐξάμενον προφήτην φυγάδα, καὶ ὡς ἀπὸ θαλάμου, τοῦ θηρὸς προελθόντα: τὸν ἐν λάκκῳ δίκαιον, λεόντων θράσος πεδήσαντα: ἢ τὴν τῶν ἑπτὰ Μακκαβαίων ἄθλησιν, σὺν ἱερεῖ καὶ μητρὶ τελειωθέντων ἐν αἵματι καὶ παντοίοις βασάνων εἴδεσιν. Ὧν ἐκεῖνος ζηλώσας τὴν καρτερίαν καὶ τὴν δόξαν ἠνέγκατο.