Note 056 Such a charge should not be lightly made; but it may surely be justified by the authority of St. Augustin, who thus addresses the Donatists: "Quis nostrum, quis vestrum non laudat leges ab Imperatoribus datas adversus sacrificia Paganorum? Et certe longe ibi poena severior constituta est; illius quippe impietatis capitale supplicium est." Epist. xciii. No. 10 [tom. ii. p. 308, ed. Bened. 1797], quoted by Le Clerc (Bibliotheque Choisie, tom. viii. p. 277), who adds some judicious reflections on the intolerance of the victorious Christians.

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The History Of The Decline and Fall Of The Roman Empire— Chapter 28