The same writer reports a not less characteristic incident in honor of the holy bishop, in his dialogue concerning the miraculous powers of St. Martin. This personage, it seems, was in the habit of frequenting the palace, where he was always honorably entertained by the empress, who not only hung upon his lips for instruction, but in imitation of the penitent mentioned in the gospels, actually bathed his feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair; and he, who never before had sustained the touch of woman, could not avoid her assiduities. She, unmindful of the state and dignity and splendors of her royal rank, lay prostrate at the feet of Martin, whence she could not be removed until she had obtained permission, first from her husband, and then by his aid from the bishop, to wait upon him at table as his servant, without the assistance of any menial. The blessed man could no longer resist her importunities; and the empress herself made the requisite preparations of the couch, and table, and cookery (in temperate style), and water for the hands; and, as he sat, stood aloof, and motionless, in the manner proper to a slave; with due modesty and humility, mixing and presenting the wine. And when the meal was ended, reverently collected the crumbs, which she deemed of higher worth than the delicacies of a royal banquet.—Cap. 6. In how short a time may prodigious revolutions take place in the sentiments of men! This monkish bishop was removed by not more than three or four lives from the Apostle John! And this humble empress occupied the honors which, within the memory of the existing generation, had been sustained by the mother of Galerius! It should be added, that the auditor of the story above related, shocked at the inconsistency of St. Martin in thus admitting the offices of a woman so near his devoted person, requires from the narrator an explanation; who, in reply, reminds his friend, that the compliance of the bishop with the solicitations of the emperor and empress was the price by which he obtained, from the former, release and grace for the persecuted Priscillianists. The best thing, by far, related of the bishop of Tours, is his firmness in opposing persecution. There is great reason to believe that, in common with several of the most noted characters of church history, his true reputation has been immensely injured by the ill-judging zeal of his biographer. * * * * * The life of St. Anthony, by the pious and respectable Athanasius, would alone afford ample proof of the assertion, that, even in the third century, the spirit of fanaticism, and the practices of religious knavery, had reached a height scarcely surpassed at any later period. * * * * *