A curious instance of the survival of rhetoric is seen in the invective of Hilary of Poitiers against Constantius.[947] The author has worked up a great deal of feeling, and, to give it the most effective utterance, he lets it flow into the moulds prescribed by tradition. His divisions correspond perfectly to those of the schools. He spares no form of contumely, even at the expense of historical fact.[948] His railing reminds us of Milton’s denunciation of Salmasius:[949] for as late as the seventeenth century Latin retained its reputation as the language of invective. In spite of his preliminary professions of sincerity: ‘cesset itaque maledictorum opinio et mendacii suspicio. Veritatis enim ministros decet vera proferre’, we feel that in following the rules of the game he has proved himself a good player, but not always ‘a servant of truth’.[950] Of a truer type was the rhetoric of Hilary of Arles. Honoratus is enthusiastic about the copious eloquence of his oratory, the gems of expression which he produced, the varied shades and shapes of his descriptions.[951] There was plenty of rhetorical colour, but there was also elasticity. ‘If the learned company was absent, he fed the hearts of the untutored with simple food’; and it was the opinion of contemporary critics, the savants of the day, that Hilary ‘had attained something that was neither eloquence nor learning, something superhuman’.[952] Famous for eloquence were also Salvian, the master of fiery denunciation, and Lupus, ‘scholis adhibitus et rhetorum studiis imbutus’.[953] In the very monasteries the artifices of the rhetor’s school lingered. Valerian, Bishop of Cemelium (near Nice), gives many examples of this in his Homilies. He frequently uses Parallelism and Repetition: ‘Disciplina igitur magistra est religionis, magistra verae pietatis; quae nec ideo increpat ut laedat, nec ideo castigat ut noceat’;[954] or Chiasmus and Assonance: ‘Alter de subscriptione patris disputat: alter de fratris persona desperat’;[955] ‘Vitare ista, dilectissimi, per singulos gradus forte difficile est, et laboriosum multis simul hostibus per diversos errores occurrere’; or Alliteration: ‘Ita _e_st _e_rgo, ut in te antiqui iuris districtio nihil habeat potestatis, si ea quae legis _p_lenitudo _p_ostulat, _o_bedienter _o_bserves’.[956] ‘Et _n_ullus _p_rofecto adhuc _p_oenae finis _n_isi Christus _n_oster cruentis _l_egibus o_l_eum _m_isericordiae _m_iscuisset.’[957] ‘Sic erit ut _h_omo de _h_umiliore _l_oco ad ce_l_siora perveniat et remuneratus honore _c_ondigno, _c_aelestis gratiam potestatis adquirat.’[958]