sur l'Ecriture, tom.iii.p.651, &c.] [Footnote 106: On this miracle, as it is commonly called, of the thundering legion, see the admirable criticism of Mr.Moyle, in his Works, vol.ii.p.

81--390.] [Footnote 106a]: Gibbon, with this phrase, and that below, which admits the injustice of Marcus, has dexterously glossed over one of the most remarkable facts in the early Christian history, that the reign of the wisest and most humane of the heathen emperors was the most fatal to the Christians.

Most writers have ascribed the persecutions under Marcus to the latent bigotry of his character; Mosheim, to the influence of the philosophic party; but the fact is admitted by all.

A late writer (Mr.
Waddington, Hist.

of the Church, p.