I read here, in his treatise _De
Anima_, that there is neither bliss nor torment for the soul before
the great Day of Judgment--a flagrant heresy, in utter
contradiction of the Scriptures, and long ago refuted by the holy
Augustine. Can you trust in worldly matters one who is so blinded to
the clearest truths of eternity?'
'I confess,' murmured the listener, 'that I thought him justified in
his support of the Gothic kingdom.'
'You are content, then, you whose ancestors have sat in the Senate,
to be ruled by barbarians? You, a Catholic, revolt not against the
dominions of Arians? And so little is your foresight, your
speculation, that you dream of permanent conquest of Italy by this
leader of a barbaric horde? I tell you, lord Marcian, that ere
another twelvemonth has passed, the Goths will be defeated,
scattered, lost. The Emperor is preparing a great army, and before
the end of summer Belisarius will again land on our shores. Think
you Totila can stand against him? Be warned; consider with yourself.
Because your confession had indeed something of sickness in it, I
have forborne to use it against you as another might have done.
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