41. Was it for this He sent
souls, that they which shortly before had been gentle and ignorant
of what it is to be moved by fierce passions, should build for
themselves markets and amphitheatres, places of blood and open
wickedness, in the one of which they should see men devoured and torn
in pieces by wild beasts, and themselves slay others for no
demerit but to please and gratify the spectators,36923692 and should spend those very days on
which such wicked deeds were done in general enjoyment, and keep
holiday with festive gaiety; while in the other, again, they should
tear asunder the flesh of wretched animals, some snatch one part,
others another, as dogs and vultures do, should grind them with
their teeth, and give to their utterly insatiable36933693 maw, and that, surrounded by36943694 faces so
fierce and savage, those should bewail their lot whom the straits of
poverty withheld from such repasts;36953695 that their life should be36963696 happy and
prosperous while such barbarous doings defiled their mouths and
face? Was it for this He sent souls, that, forgetting their
importance and dignity as divine, they should acquire gems,
precious stones, pearls, at the expense of their purity; should entwine
their necks with these, pierce the tips of their ears, bind36973697 their
foreheads with fillets, seek for cosmetics36983698 to deck their bodies,36993699 darken their
eyes with henna; nor, though in the forms of men, blush to curl their
hair with crisping-pins, to make the skin of the body smooth, to walk
with bare knees, and with every other kind of wantonness, both
to lay aside the strength of their manhood, and to grow in effeminacy
to a woman’s habits and luxury?