Page:The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages.djvu/228

 210 THE CLASSICAL HERITAGE [chap. much of his substance. Nor does Cyprian approve of the style of the Old Latin Bible. He is a purist in diction, avoiding so far as possible Latinized Greek words and words not sanctioned by classic use. His Latin is smooth and round, containing much rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration, and tending toward a har- monious parallelism of structure between the clauses of the same sentences. Although Cyprian never fails to use the skill which his profession brought him, his letters have the fire of the real situation, as when from banishment he writes to the brothers in the mines, exhorting and congratulating them: "They have put fetters on your feet and bound those blessed limbs and temples of God with vile chains, as if the spirit could be bound with the body ! To men devoted to God, and testifying to their faith, such fetters are ornaments ; nor are Christian feet bound unto infamy, but glorified unto a crown. blessedly bound feet, which God shall release! blessedly bound feet, which are guided in the way of salvation to Paradise I feet, bound in the present time that shall be always free before the Lord ! O feet, delaying in fetters for a little, but soon to run the glorious course to Christ ! . . . Not with pillows and couches is the body cher- ished in the mines, but with the comforts of Christ. Wearied it lies on the ground ; but it is not pain to lie down with Christ." ^ From the third century the volume of Christian correspondence increases; and letters form a goodly part of the writings of the Greek and Latin Church 1 Ep. 76. Cf. Ep. 15, 24, 25. Cyprian's letters contain vivid pictnres of the times, e.g., Ep. 1.