Page:Christianity in China, Tartary, and Thibet Volume I.djvu/18

6 Ultima Cumcei venit jam carminis cetas ; Magnus ab integro sceclorum nascitur ordo. Jam redit et Virgo, redeant Saturnia regna : Jam nova progenies ccelo demittitur alto. Tu modo nascenti puero, quo ferrea primum Desinet, ac toto surget gens aurea mundo, Casta fave Lucina : tuns jam regnat Apollo. Teque adeo decus hoc cevi, te consule, inibit, Pollio ; et incipient magni procedere menses : Te dace, si qua manent sceleris vestigia nostri, Irrita perpetua solvent formidine terras, llle deum vitam accipiet, divisque videbit Permixtos heroas, et ipse videbitur Mis ; Pacatumque reget patriis virtutibus orbem. At tibi prima, puer, nulla munuscula cultu, Errantes hederas passim cum baccare, tell us Mixtaque ridenti colocasia fundet acantho. Ipsa lacte domum referent distenta capella? libera ; nee magnos metuent armenta leones. Ipsa tibi blandos f undent cunabula Jlores. Occidet et serpens, etfallax herba veneni Occidet ; Assyrium vulgo nascetur amomum. Aggredere o magnos, aderit jam tempus, honores, Caret deum suboles, magnum Jovis incrementum ! Adspice convexo nutantem pondere mundum, Terrasque, tractusque maris, cozlumque profundum : Adspice, venturo l&tentur nt omnia sceclo. Virgil, Ecloga, 4. The supreme age foretold by the CmnaBan sibyl, he exclaims, has at length arrived ; then he celebrates the birth of the child who shall live the life of the Gods. Under his auspices " the traces of our crimes shall be effaced. The world shall be delivered from eternal alarm. The serpent shall perish," &c.

These words are remarkable enough to have struck many Christian apologists; and though Virgil doubtless