Oration XXXIV. On the Arrival of the Egyptians.

 I.  I will address myself as is right to those who have come from Egypt for they have come here eagerly, having overcome illwill by zeal, from that E

 II.  For from you hath sounded forth the Word to all men healthfully believed and preached and you are the best bringers of fruit of all men, specia

 III.  Such was Joseph your Superintendent of corn measures, whom I may call ours also who by his surpassing wisdom was able both to foresee the famin

 IV.  Of these great men and doctors and soldiers of the truth and victors, you are the nurslings and offspring of these neither times nor tyrants, re

 V.  Once thou didst praise me thy Mendesian Goats, and thy Memphite Apis, a fatted and fleshy calf, and the rites of Isis, and the mutilations of Osir

 VI.  Wherefore I embrace and salute thee, O noblest of peoples and most Christian, and of warmest piety, and worthy of thy leaders for I can find not

 VII.  But, O people of God and mine, beautiful also was your yesterday’s assembly, which you held upon the sea, and pleasant, if any sight ever was, t

 VIII.  I find two highest differences in things that exist, viz.:—Rule, and Service not such as among us either tyranny has cut or poverty has severe

 IX.  This being so, if any be on the Lord’s side let him come with us, and let us adore the One Godhead in the Three not ascribing any name of humili

 X.  What must we say of the Father, Whom by common consent all who have been preoccupied with natural conceptions share, although He hath endured the

 XI.  For my part I revere also the Titles of the Word, which are so many, and so high and great, which even the demons respect.  And I revere also the

 XII.  I dare to utter something, O Trinity and may pardon be granted to my folly, for the risk is to my soul.  I too am an Image of God, of the Heave

 XIII.  To sum up my discourse:—Glorify Him with the Cherubim, who unite the Three Holies into One Lord, and so far indicate the Primal Substance as th

 XIV.  With Luke be inspired as you study the Acts of the Apostles.  Why do you range yourself with Ananias and Sapphira, those vain embezzlers (if ind

 XV.  Speak of God with Paul, who was caught up to the third Heaven, and who sometimes counts up the Three Persons, and that in varied order, not keepi

III.  Such was Joseph your Superintendent of corn measures, whom I may call ours also; who by his surpassing wisdom was able both to foresee the famine and to cure it by decrees of government, healing the ill-favoured and starving kine by means of the fair and fat.6    Gen. xli. 29 sq.  And indeed you may understand by Joseph which you will, either the great lover and creator and namesake of immortality or his successor in throne and word and hoary hair, our new Peter,7    Athanasius. not inferior in virtue or fame to him by whom the middle course was destroyed and crushed, though it still wriggles a little weakly, like the tail of a snake after it is cut off; the one of whom, after having departed this life in a good old age after many conflicts and wrestlings, looks upon us from above, I well know, and reaches a hand to those who are labouring for the right:  and this the more, in proportion as he is freed from his bonds; and the other is hastening to the same end or dissolution of life, and is already drawing near the dwellers in heaven, but is still so far in the flesh as is needed to give the last aids to the Word, and to take his journey with richer provision.

Γʹ. Τοιοῦτος Ἰωσὴφ ὁ ὑμέτερος σιτομέτρης, ταυτὸν δὲ εἰπεῖν καὶ ἡμέτερος, ὃς καὶ προβλέπειν ᾔδει λιμὸν ὑπὸ σοφίας ὑπερβαλλούσης, καὶ θεραπεύειν λόγοις οἰκονομίας, ταῖς καλαῖς τῶν βοῶν καὶ πίοσι, τὰς αἰσχρὰς καὶ ἀτρόφους ἰώμενος. Καὶ Ἰωσὴφ ὁπότερον βούλει λαμβάνειν, εἴτε τὸν τῆς ἀθανασίας ἐραστὴν, καὶ δημιουργὸν, καὶ ἐπώνυμον: εἴτε τὸν ἐκείνου καὶ θρόνῳ, καὶ λόγῳ, καὶ πολιᾷ διάδοχον, τὸν νέον Πέτρον ἡμῖν, οὐχ ἧττον τὴν ἀρετὴν, ἢ τὴν κλῆσιν: ὑφ' ὧν τὸ μέσον ἐξεκόπη καὶ συνετρίβη, κἂν ἔτι σπαίρῃ μικρά τε καὶ ἀσθενῆ, καθάπερ τὸ οὐραῖον διακοπέντος τοῦ ὄφεως: ὧν ὁ μὲν ἐν γήρᾳ καλῷ καταλύσας τὸν βίον ἐπὶ πολλοῖς τοῖς ἀγωνίσμασι καὶ ἀθλήμασιν, ἄνωθεν ἐποπτεύει, εὖ οἶδα, νῦν τὰ ἡμέτερα, καὶ χεῖρα ὀρέγει τοῖς ὑπὲρ τοῦ καλοῦ κάμνουσι, καὶ τόσῳ μᾶλλον, ὅσῳ τῶν δεσμῶν ἐστιν ἐλεύθερος: ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ τὴν αὐτὴν κατάλυσιν, ἢ ἀνάλυσιν, ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἄθλοις ἐπείγεται, καὶ πλησιάζει μὲν ἤδη τοῖς ἄνω, τοσοῦτον δὲ μετὰ τῆς σαρκός ἐστιν ἔτι, ὅσον βοηθῆσαι τῷ λόγῳ τὰ τελευταῖα, καὶ τῆς ὁδοῦ γενέσθαι μετὰ δαψιλεστέρων τῶν ἐφοδίων.