Basil
Take it not! For the Lord God's sake
Julian.
What terrifies you so in this?
Basil.
The horrors that will follow.
Julian.
Through me shall the empire be established.
Basil.
Christ's empire?
Julian.
The Emperor's great and beautiful empire.
Basil.
Was that the empire which shone before your eyes when, as a child, you preached the word beside the Cappadocian martyrs' graves? Was that the empire you set forth from Constantinople to establish on earth? Was that the empire?
Julian.
Mists, mists;—all that lies behind me like a wild dream.
Basil.
'Twere better you yourself should be at the bottom of the sea, with a mill-stone about your neck, than that that dream should lie behind you.See you not the work of the tempter? All the glory of the world is laid at your feet.
