Page 10 of Aurelian; or, Rome in the Third Century

  LETTER IX.

  FROM PISO TO FAUSTA.

  When I turned from the palace of Aurelian and again took my way towardsthe Coelian, I did it in the belief that before the day should end,edicts against the Christians would be published. I found, as Iconversed with many whom I met in the way, that from other sources thesame opinion had become common. In one manner or another it had comeabroad that measures had been resolved upon by the Emperor, and wouldsoon be put in force. Many indeed do not give the least credit to therumors, and believe that they all spring from the violent language ofFronto, which has been reported as that of Aurelian. You may wonder thatthere should be such uncertainty respecting a great design like this.But you must remember that Aurelian has of late shrouded himself in astudied obscurity. Not a despot, in the despotic lands of Asia, keepsmore secret counsel than he, or leans less upon the opinion or advice ofothers. All that is done throughout the vast compass of the empire,springs from him alone--all the affairs of foreign and dependentkingdoms are arranged and determined by him. As for Italy and thecapital, they are mere playthings in his hand. You ask if the senatedoes not still exist? I answer, it does; but, as a man exists whom apalsy has made but half alive; the body is there, but the soul is gone,and even the body is asleep. The senators, with all becoming gravity,assemble themselves at the capitol, and what time they sleep not awaythe tedious hours in their ivory chairs, they debate such high mattersas, 'whether the tax which this year falls heavy upon Capua, by reasonof a blast upon the grapes, shall be lightened or remitted!' or 'whetherthe petition of the Milanese for the construction at the public expenseof a granary shall be answered favorably!' or 'whether V. P. Naso shallbe granted a new trial after defeat at the highest court!' Not thatthere is not virtue in the senate, some dignity, some respect and lovefor the liberties of Rome--witness myself--but that the Emperor hasengrossed the whole empire to himself, and nothing is left for that bodybut to keep alive the few remaining forms of ancient liberty, byassembling as formerly, and taking care of whatever insignificantaffairs are intrusted to them. In a great movement like this against theChristians, Aurelian does not so much as recognize their existence. Noadvice is asked, no cooeperation. And the less is he disposed tocommunicate with them in the present instance perhaps, from knowing sowell that the measure would find no favor in their eyes; but would, onthe contrary, be violently opposed. Everything, accordingly, originatesin the sovereign will of Aurelian, and is carried into effect by his armwielding the total power of this boundless empire--being now, what ithas been his boast to make it, coextensive with its extremest borders asthey were in the time of the Antonines. There is no power to resist him;nor are there many who dare to utter their real opinions, least of all,a senator, or a noble. A beggar in the street may do it with betterchance of its being respected, if agreeable to him, and of escapingrebuke or worse, if it be unpalatable. To the people, he is still, asever, courteous and indulgent.

  * * * * *

  There is throughout the city a strange silence and gloom, as if inexpectancy of some great calamity; or of some event of dark anduncertain character. The Christians go about their affairs as usual, notceasing from any labors, nor withdrawing from the scene of danger; butwith firm step and serious air keep on their way as if conscious of thegreat part which it is theirs to act, and resolved that it shall notsuffer at their hands. Many with whom I have spoken, put on even acheerful air as they have greeted me, and after the usual morning'ssalutation, have passed on as if things were in their usual train.Others with pale face and quivering lip confessed the inward tumult, andthat, if they feared naught for themselves, there were those at home,helpless and exposed, for whom the heart bled, and for whom it could notbut show signs of fear.

  I met the elder Demetrius. His manly and thoughtful countenance--thoughit betrayed nothing of weakness--was agitated with suppressed emotion.He is a man full of courage, but full of sensibility too. His affectionsare warm and tender as those of a girl. He asked me 'what I could informhim of the truth of the rumors which were now afloat of the mostterrific character.' I saw where his heart was as he spoke, and answeredhim, as you may believe, with pain and reluctance. I knew, indeed, thatthe whole truth would soon break upon him--it was a foolishweakness--but I could hardly bring myself to tell him what a few hourswould probably reveal. I told him, however, all that I had just learnedfrom Aurelian himself, and which, as he made no reserve with regard tome, nor enjoined concealment, I did not doubt was fully resolved upon,and would be speedily put in force. As I spoke, the countenance of theGreek grew pale beyond its usual hue of paleness. He bent his head, asin perplexed and anxious thought; the tears were ready to overflow as heraised it, after a moment, and said,

  'Piso, I am but recently a Christian. I know nothing of this religionbut its beauty and truth. It is what I have ever longed for, and nowthat I possess it I value it far more than life. But,'--he paused amoment--'I have mingled but little with this people; I know scarcelyany; I am ignorant of what they require of those who belong to theirnumber in such emergences. I am ready to die myself, rather than shrinkfrom a bold acknowledgment of what in my heart I believe to be thedivinest truth; but--my wife and my children!--must they too meet thesedangers? My wife has become what I am; my children are but infants; aGreek vessel sails to-morrow for Scio, where dwells, in peacefulsecurity, the father of my wife, from whom I received her, almost to hisdistraction; her death would be his immolation. Should I offend'--

  'Surely not,' I replied. 'If, as I believe will happen, the edicts ofthe Emperor should be published to-day, put them on board to-night, andlet to-morrow see them floating on the Mediterranean. We are not all tostand still and hold our throats to the knife of this imperial butcher.'

  'God be thanked!' said Demetrius, and grasping my hand with fervorturned quickly and moved in the direction of his home.

  Soon after, seated with Julia and Probus--he had joined me as I partedfrom Demetrius--I communicated to her all that I had heard at thepalace. It neither surprised nor alarmed her. But she could not repressher grief at the prospect spread out before us of so much suffering tothe innocent.

  'How hard is this,' said she, 'to be called to bear such testimony asmust now be borne to truth! These Christian multitudes, so many of whomhave but just adopted their new faith and begun to taste of thepleasures it imparts, all enjoying in such harmony and quietness theirrich blessings--with many their only blessings--how hard for them, allat once, to see the foundations of their peace broken up, and their verylives clamored for! rulers and people setting upon them as troops ofwild beasts! It demands almost more faith than I can boast, to sit herewithout complaint a witness of such wrong. How strange, Probus, thatlife should be made so difficult! That not a single possession worthhaving can be secured without so much either of labor or endurance! Iwonder if this is ever to cease on earth?'

  'I can hardly suppose that it will,' said Probus. 'Labor and suffering,in some of their forms, seem both essential. My arm would be weak as arush were it never moved; but exercised, and you see it is nervous andstrong; plied like a smith's, and it grows to be hard as iron andcapable of miracles. So it is with any faculty you may select; theharder it is tasked the more worthy it becomes; and without tasking atall, it is worth nothing. So seems to me it is with the whole man. In asmooth and even lot our worth never would be known, and we could respectneither ourselves nor others. Greatness and worth come only of collisionand conflict. Let our path be strewed with roses, and soft southerngales ever blow, and earth send up of her own accord our ready preparednutriment, and mankind would be but one huge multitude of Sybarites,dissolved in sloth and effeminacy. If no difficulty opposed, no laborexacted, body and mind were dead. Hence it is, we may believe, that manmust everywhere labor even for the food which is necessary to mereexistence. Life is made dear to us by an instinct--we shrink fromnothing as we do from the mere thought of non-existence--but still it isdeath or toil; that is the alternative. So that labor is thus insuredwhere
ver man is found, and it is this that makes him what he is. Then heis made, moreover, so as to crave not only food but knowledge as much,and also virtue; but between him and both these objects there areinterposed, for the same reason doubtless, mountains of difficulty,which he must clamber up and over before he can bask in the pleasantfields that lie beyond, and then ascend the distant mountain-tops, fromwhich but a single step removes him from the abode of God. Doubt it not,lady, that it is never in vain and for naught that man labors andsuffers; but that the good which redounds is in proportion to what isundergone, and more than a compensation. If, in these times of darknessand fear, suffering is more, goodness and faith are more also. There areChristians, and men, made by such trials, that are never made elsewherenor otherwise--nor can be; just as the arm of Hercules could not be butby the labors of Hercules. What says Macer? Why even this, that God isto be thanked for this danger, for that the church needs it! The briefprosperity it has enjoyed since the time of Valerian and Macrianus, hascorrupted it, and it must be purged anew, and tried by fire! I think notthat; but I think this; that if suffering ever so extreme is ordained,there will be a virtue begotten in the souls of the sufferers, andabroad through them, that shall prove it not to have been in vain.'

  'I can believe what you say,' said Julia, 'at least I can believe in thevirtue ascribed to labor, and the collision with difficulty. Sufferingis passive; may it not be that we may come to place too much merit inthis?'

  'It is not to be doubted that we may,' replied Probus. 'The temptationto do so is great. It is easy to suffer. In comparison with labor andduty--life-long labor and duty--it is a light service. Yet it carrieswith it an imposing air, and is too apt to take to itself all the gloryof the Christian's course. Many who have lived as Christians butindifferently have, in the hour of persecution, and in the heat of thathour, rushed upon death and borne it well, and before it extremesttorture, and gained the crown of martyrdom and the name of saint--acrown not always without spot--a name not always honorable. He whosuffers for Christ must suffer with simplicity--even as he has livedwith simplicity. And when he has lived so, and endured the martyr'sdeath at last, that is to be accounted but the last of many acts of dutywhich are essentially alike--unless it may be that in many a previousconflict over temptation and the world and sin, there was a hardervictory won, and a harder duty done, than when the flames consumed him,or the beasts tare him limb from limb.'

  'Yet, Probus,' continued Julia, 'among the humble and the ignorant,where we cannot suppose that vanity could operate, where men havereceived Christianity only because it seemed to them just the faith theyneeded, and who then when it has been required that they renounce it,will not do so, but hold steadfastly to what they regard the truth ofGod, and for it take with meekness and patience all manner of torture,and death itself--there is surely here great virtue! Suffering here hasgreat worth and sets upon the soul the seal of God. Is it not so?'

  'Most assuredly it is,' answered Probus. 'O there is no virtue on earthgreater than theirs! When dragged from their quiet homes--unknown,obscure, despised, solitary, with not one pitying eye to look on upontheir sufferings, with none to record their name, none to know iteven--they do, nevertheless, without faltering, keep true to theirfaith, hugging it to them the closer the more it is tried to tear themasunder--this, this is virtue the greatest on earth! It is a testimonyborne to the truth of whatever cause is thus supported, that is dailybringing forth its fruits in the conviction and conversion ofmultitudes. It is said, that in the Decian persecution, it was thefortitude and patience under the cruelest sufferings of those humbleChristians whom no one knew, who came none knew whence, and who weredying out of a pure inward love of the faith they professed, that fellupon the hearts of admiring thousands with more than the force ofmiracle, and was the cause of the great and sudden growth of our numberswhich then took place. Still, suffering and dying for a faith is notunimpeachable evidence of its truth. There have been those who have diedand suffered for idolatries the most abhorred. It is proof, indeed, notat all of truth itself, but only of the deep sincerity of him whoprofesses it.'

  'Yes,' replied Julia, 'I see that it is so. But then it is a presumptionin behalf of truth, strong almost as miracles done for it, when somany--multitudes--in different ages, in the humblest condition of life,hesitate not to die rather than renounce their faith in a religion likethis of Christianity; which panders to not one of man's passions,appetites or weaknesses, but is the severest censor of morals the worldhas ever seen; which requires a virtue and a purity in its disciplessuch as no philosopher ever dared to impose upon his scholars; whoseonly promise is immortality--and that an immortality never to beseparated from the idea of retribution as making a part of it. They, whowill suffer and die for such a religion, do by that act work aseffectively for it, as their master by the signs and wonders which hedid. If Christianity were like many of the forms of Paganism; or if itministered to the cravings of our sensual nature, as we can conceive areligion might do; if it made the work of life light, and the rewardcertain and glorious; if it relieved its followers of much of thesuffering, and fear, and doubt, that oppress others--it would not besurprising that men should bear much for its sake; and their doing so,for what appealed so to their selfishness, would be no evidence, at allto be trusted, of its truth. But as it is, they who die for it afford apresumption in behalf of it, that appeals to the reason almost or quitewith the force of demonstration. So, I remember well, my reason wasimpressed by what I used to hear from Paul of the sufferings of theearly Christians.'

  While Julia had been saying these things, it had seemed to me as ifthere was an unusual commotion in the streets; and as she ended I wasabout to look for the cause of it, when the hasty steps of severalrunning through the hall leading from the main entrance of the houseprevented me, and Milo breathless, followed by others of the household,rushed into the apartment where we sat, he exclaiming with every mark offear and horror upon his countenance,

  'Ah! sir, it is all just as I was told by Curio it would be; the edictsare published on the capitol. The people are going about the streets nowin crowds, talking loud and furiously, and before night they say theChristians will all be delivered to their pleasure.'

  Soon as Milo could pause, I asked him 'if he had read or seen theedicts?'

  'No, I have not,' he answered; 'I heard from Curio what they were tobe.'

  I told Julia and Probus that such I did not believe was their tenor. Itdid not agree with usage, nor with what I had gathered from Aurelian ofhis designs. But that their import was probably, at present, no morethan deprivation of a portion of their freedom and of some of theirprivileges. It was the purpose of Aurelian first to convert back againthe erring multitudes to Paganism, for which time must be granted.

  But my words had no effect to calm the agitation of our slaves, who,filled with terror at the reports of Milo, and at the confusion in thestreets, had poured into the room, and were showing in a thousand waystheir affection for us, and their concern. Some of this number areChristians, having been made so by the daily conversations which Juliahas had with them, and the instruction she has given them in thegospels. Most however are still of that religion in which they werereared, as they are natives of the East, of the North, or of Africa. Butby all, with slight differences, was the same interest manifested in oursafety. They were ready to do anything for our protection; and chieflyurgent were they that we should that very night escape from Rome--theycould remain in security and defend the palace. When they had thus intheir simple way given free expression to their affections, I assuredthem that no immediate danger impended, but even if it did, I should notfly from it, but should remain where I was; that the religion for whichI might suffer was worth to those who held it a great deal more thanmere life--we could easily sacrifice life for it, if that should berequired. Some seemed to understand this--others not; but they thenretired, silent and calm, because they saw that we were so.

  Soon as they were withdrawn, I proposed to Probus that we should gofor
th and learn the exact truth. We accordingly passed to the street,which, as it is one that forms the principal avenue from this part ofthe city to the capitol, we found alive with numbers greater than usual,with their faces turned toward that quarter. We joined them and movedwith them in the same direction. It was a fearful thing, Fausta, even tome, who am rarely disturbed by any event, to listen to the languagewhich fell on my ear on all sides from the lips of beings who wore thesame form as myself, and with me have a right to the name of man. It waschiefly that of exultation and joy, that at length the power of thestate was about to strike at the root of this growing evil--that one hadtaken hold of the work who would not leave it, as others had, halfaccomplished, but would finish it, as he had every other to which he hadput his hand.

  'Now we shall see,' cried one, 'what he whose hand bears the sword of atrue soldier can do, and whether Aurelian, who has slain more foes ofRome abroad than emperor before ever did, cannot do as well by enemiesat home.'

  'Never doubt it,' said another. 'Before the ides of the month now justcome in, not a Christian will be seen in the streets of Rome. They willbe swept out as clean, as by Varus they now are of other filth. ThePrefect is just the man for the times. Aurelian could not have beenbetter matched.'

  'Lucky this,' said still another as he hurried away, 'is it not? Threevessels arrived yesterday stowed thick with wild beasts from Africa andAsia. By the gods! there will be no starving for them now. The only fearwill be that gorged so they will lose their spirit.'

  'I don't fear that,' said his older companion. 'I remember well the samegame twenty-five years ago. The fact was then that the taste of humanblood whetted it for more and more, and, though glutted, their rageseemed but to become more savage still; so that, though hunger was fedto the full, and more, they fell upon fresh victims with increasedfury--with a sort of madness as it were. Such food, 'tis said, crazesthem.

  Others were soon next us from whom I heard,

  'Let every soul perish. I care not for that, or rather I do. Let all dieI say; but not in this savage way. Let it be done by a properaccusation, trial, and judgment. Let profession of atheism be death by alaw, and let the law be executed, and the name will soon die. Inevitabledeath under a law for any one who assumes the name, would soon do thework of extermination--better than this universal slaughter which, Ihear, is to be the way. Thousands are then overlooked in the blindpopular fury; the work by and by ceases through weariness; it is thoughtto be completed--when lo! as the first fury of the storm is spent, theycome forth from their hiding-places, and things are but little betterthan before.'

  'I think with you,' said the younger companion of him who had justspoken; 'and besides, Romans need not the further instruction in the artof assassination, which such a service would impart. Already nothingcomes so like nature to a Roman as to kill; kill something--if not abeast, a slave--if there is no slave at hand, a Christian--if noChristian, a citizen. One would think we sucked in from our mothers notmilk but blood--the blood too of our Parent Wolf. If the state cannotstand secure, as our great men say, but by the destruction of thispeople, in the name of the gods, let the executioners do the work, notour sons, brothers, and fathers. So too, I say, touching the accursedgames at the Flavian and elsewhere. What is the effect but to make of usa nation of man-butchers? as, by the gods, we already are. If the godssend not something or somebody to mend us, we shall presently fall uponone another and exterminate ourselves.'

  'Who knows but it is this very religion of the Christians that has beensent for that work?' said a third who had joined the two. 'TheChristians are famed for nothing more than for their gentleness, andtheir care of one another--so, at least, I hear.'

  'Who knows, indeed?' said the other. 'If it be so, pity it were notfound out soon. Aurelian will make short work with them.'

  In the midst of such conversation, which on every side caught our earsas we walked silently along, we came at length to the neighborhood ofthe capitol; but so great was the throng of the people, who in Rome,have naught else to do but to rush together upon every piece of news,that we could not even come within sight of the building, much less ofthe parchment.

  We accordingly waited patiently to learn from some who might emerge fromthe crowd what the precise amount of the edicts might be. We stood notlong, before one struggling and pushing about at all adventures, red andpuffing with his efforts, extricated himself from the mass, andadjusting his dress which was half torn from his back, began swearingand cursing the Emperor and his ministers for a parcel of women andfools.

  'What is it?' we asked, gathering about him. 'What have you seen? Didyou reach the pillar?'

  'Reach it? I did; but my cloak, that cost yesterday ten good aurelians,did not, and here I stand cloakless--'

  'Well, but the edicts.'

  'Well, but the edicts! Be not in a hurry, friend--they are worth not somuch as my cloak. Blank parchment were just as good. I wonder old'sword-in-hand didn't hang up a strip--'twould have saved the expense ofa scrivener. If any of you hear of a cloak found hereabouts, or anyconsiderable part of one, blue without, lined with yellow, and trimmedwith gold, please to note the name sewed on beneath the left shoulder,and send it according to the direction and your labor shall not belost.'

  'But the edicts--the edicts.'

  'O the edicts! why they are just this; the Christians are told that theymust neither assemble together in their houses of worship to hear theirpriests, nor turn the streets into places of worship in their stead; butleave off all their old ways just as fast as they can and worship thegods. There's an edict for you!'

  'Who is this?' said one to Probus.

  'I do not know; he seems sadly disappointed at the Emperor's clemency ashe deems it.'

  But what Probus did not know, another who at the moment came up, did;exclaiming, as he slapped the disappointed man on the shoulder,

  'What, old fellow, you here? always where mischief is brewing. But whoever saw you without Nero and Sylla? What has happened? and no cloakeither?'

  'Nero and Sylla are in their den--for my cloak I fear it is in a worseplace. But come, give me your arm, and let us return. I thought a finebusiness was opening, and so ran up to see. But it's all a sham.'

  'It's only put off,' said his companion, as they walked away; 'your dogswill have enough to do before the month is half out--if Fronto knowsanything.'

  'That is one, I see,' said he who had spoken to Probus, 'who breedshounds for the theatres--I thought I had seen him before. His ordinarystock is not less than five hundred blood-hounds. He married the sisterof the gladiator Sosia. His name is Hanno.'

  Having heard enough, we turned away and sought again the Coelian. Youthus see, Fausta, what Rome is made of, and into what hands we may allcome. Do you wonder at my love of Christianity? at my zeal for itsprogress? Unless it prosper, unless it take root and spread through thispeople, their fate is sealed, to my mind, with the same certainty as ifI saw their doom written upon the midnight sky in letters of fire. Theirown wickedness will break them in pieces and destroy them. It is aweight beneath which no society can stand. It must give way in generalanarchy and ruin. But my trust is that, in spite of Aurelian and of allother power, this faith will go on its way, and so infuse itself intothe mass as never to be dislodged, and work out its perfect ultimateregeneration.

  By this decree of the Emperor then, which was soon published in everypart of the capital, the Christians are prohibited from assemblingtogether for purposes of worship, their churches are closed, and theirpreachers silenced.

  One day intervenes between this, and the first day of the week, the dayon which the Christians as you may perhaps know assemble for theirworship. In the meantime it will be determined what course shall bepursued.

  * * * * *

  Those days have passed, Fausta, and before I seal my letter I will addto it an account of them.

  Immediately upon the publication of the Emperor's decrees, theChristians throughout the city communicated with each ot
her, andresolved, their places of worship being all closed and guarded, toassemble secretly, in some spot to be selected, both for worship and todetermine what was to be done, if anything, to shield themselves fromthe greater evils which threatened. The place selected was the old ruinswhere the house of Macer stands. 'There still remains,' so Macer urged,'a vast circular apartment partly below and partly above the surface ofthe ground, of massy walls, without windows, remote from the streets,and so surrounded by fallen walls and columns as to be wholly buriedfrom the sight. The entrance to it was through his dwelling, and therooms beyond. Resorting thither when it should be dark, and seeking hishouse singly and by different avenues among the ruins, there would belittle chance of observation and disturbance.' Macer's counsel wasaccepted.

  On the evening of the first day of the week--a day which since I hadreturned from the East to Rome had ever come to me laden with bothpleasure and profit--I took my way under cover of a night without staror moon, and doubly dark by reason of clouds that hung black and low, tothe appointed place of assembly. The cold winds of autumn were drivingin fitful blasts through the streets, striking a chill into the soul aswell as the body. They seemed ominous of that black and bitter stormthat was even now beginning to break in sorrow and death upon thefollowers of Christ. Before I reached the ruins the rain fell in heavydrops, and the wind was rising and swelling into a tempest. It seemed tome, in the frame I was then in, better than a calm. It was moreover awall of defence against such as might be disposed to track and betrayus.

  Entering by the door of Macer's cell, I passed through many dark andnarrow apartments, following the noise of the steps of some who weregoing before me, till at length I emerged into the vaulted hall spokenof by Macer. It was lofty and spacious, and already filled with figuresof men and women, whom the dim light of a few lamps, placed upon thefragments of the fallen architecture, just enabled me to discern anddistinguish from the masses of marble and broken columns which strewedthe interior, which, when they afforded a secure footing, were coveredwith the assembled worshippers. The footsteps of those who were the lastto enter soon died away upon the ear, and deep silence ensued, unbrokenby any sound save that of the sighs and weeping of such as could notrestrain their feelings.

  It was interrupted by the voice of one who said,

  'That the Christians of Rome were assembled here by agreement to consulttogether concerning their affairs, which now, by reason of the suddenhostility of Aurelian, set on by the Pagan priesthood, had assumed adark and threatening aspect. It was needful so to consult; that it mightbe well ascertained whether no steps could be taken to ward off theimpending evil, and if not, in what manner and to what extent we mightbe able to protect ourselves. But before this be done,' he continued,'let us all first with one heart seek the blessing of God. To-day,Christians, for the first time within the memory of the younger portionof this assembly, have we by the wicked power of the state been shut outof those temples where we have been wont to offer up our seventh dayworship. Here, in this deep cavern, there is none to alarm orinterrupt. Let us give our first hour to God. So shall the day not belost, nor the enemy wholly prevail.'

  'That is right,' said another. 'It is what we all wish. Let Probus speakto us and pray for us.'

  'Felix! Felix!' cried other voices in different parts of the room.

  'Not so, but Probus! Probus!' shouted a far greater number.

  'Who does not know,' cried a shrill voice elevated to its utmost pitch,'that Probus is a follower of Paul of Samosata?'

  'And who does not know,' responded he who had first spoken, 'that Felixfollows after Plato and Plotinus? Pagans both!'

  'And what,' said the sharp voice of Macer, 'what if both be true? whodare say that Felix is not a Christian?--who dare say that Probus is nota Christian? and if they are Christians, who shall dare to say they maynot speak to Christians? Probus was first asked, and let Probus standforth.'

  The name of Probus was then uttered as it were by the whole assembly.

  As he moved toward a more central and elevated spot, the same mean andshrill voice that had first charged him, again was heard, advising thatno hymn nor chant be sung; 'the Roman watch is now abroad, and despitethe raging of the storm their ears may catch the sound and the guard beupon us.'

  'Let them come then!' shouted Macer. 'Let them come! Shall any fear ofman or of death frighten us away from the worship of God? What deathmore glorious than if this moment those doors gave way and the legionsof Aurelian poured in? Praise God and Christ, Christians, in the highestnote you can raise, and let no cowardice seal your lips nor abate yourbreath.'

  The voice of Probus, now heard in prayer, brought a deep silence uponthe assembly, and I would fain believe, harmony and peace also into thespirits of all who were there. It was a service deeply moving andgreatly comforting. Whatever any who were present might have thought ofthe principles of Probus, all must have been penetrated and healed bythat devout and benevolent temper that was so manifest in the sentimentshe uttered, and in the very tones of his voice.

  No sooner had he ended his prayer than the voice of Macer broke forth,commencing a chant commonly heard in the churches and with which allwere familiar. His voice, louder than that of the storm and shrillerthan the blast of a war-trumpet, rang through the vast apartment, andinspiring all who were there with the same courage that possessedhimself, their voices were instinctively soon joined with his, and thehymn swelled upward with a burst of harmony that seemed as if it mightreach Heaven itself. Rome and its legions were then as if they did notexist. God only was present to the mind, and the thoughts with whichthat hymn filled it. Its burden was like this:

  'O God almighty, God of Christ our Lord, arise and defend thy people.The terrors of death are around us the enemies of truth and thy Sonassail us, and we faint and are afraid. Their hosts are encamped againstus; they are ready to devour us. Our hope is in thee: Strengthen anddeliver us. Arise, O God, and visit us with thy salvation.'

  These, and words like them, repeated with importunity and dwelt upon,the whole soul pouring itself out with the notes, while tears ran downthe cheeks of those who sang--the sign not of weakness but of thestrength of those affections which bound their hearts to God, to Christ,and to one another--it seemed as if such words and so uttered could notbut draw a blessing down. As the hymn drew to a close and the soundsdied away, deep silence again fell upon the assembly. The heart had beenrelieved by the service; the soul had been rapt and borne quite away;and by a common feeling an interval of rest ensued, which by each seemedto be devoted to meditation and prayer. This, when it had lasted tillthe wants of each had been satisfied, was broken by the voice of Probus.

  What he said was wonderfully adapted to infuse fresh courage into everyheart, and especially to cheer and support the desponding and the timid.He held up before them the great examples of those who, in the earlierages of the church, had offered themselves as sacrifices upon the samealtar upon which the great head of the Christians had laid down hislife. He made it apparent how it had ever been through suffering of somekind on the part of some, that great benefits had been conferred uponmankind; that they who would be benefactors of their race must bewilling cheerfully to bear the evil and suffering that in so great partconstitutes that office; and was it not a small thing to suffer, andthat in the body only, and but for a moment, if by such means great andpermanent blessings to the souls of men might be secured, and remotestages of the world made to rejoice and flourish through the effects oftheir labors? Every day of their worship they were accustomed to hearsung or recited the praises of those who had died for Christ and truth;men of whom the world was not worthy, and who, beautiful with the crownof martyrdom, were now of that glorious company who, in the presence ofGod, were chanting the praises of God and the Lamb. Who was not ready todie, if it were so ordained, if by such death truth could be transmittedto other ages? What was it to die to-day rather than to-morrow--for thatwas all--or this year rather than the next, if one's death could be madesubservient to the grea
t cause of Christ and his gospel? What was it todie by the sword of a Roman executioner, or even to be torn by wildbeasts, if by suffering so the soul became allied to reformers andbenefactors of all ages? And besides, what evil after all was it in thepower of their enemies to inflict? They could do no more than tormentand destroy the body. They could not touch nor harm the soul. By theinfliction of death itself they did but hasten the moment when theyshould stand clothed in shining garments in the presence of the Father.'The time has come, Christians,' he then said, 'when, in the providenceof God, you are called upon to be witnesses of the faith which youprofess in Christ. After many years of calm, a storm has arisen, whichbegins already to be felt in the violence with which it beats upon ourheads. Almost ever since the reign of Decius have we possessed ourborders in quietness. Especially under Gallienus and Claudius, andduring these nearly four years of Aurelian, have we enjoyed our faithand our worship with none to alarm or oppress us. The laws of the empirehave been as a wall of defence between us and this fierce and bloodyspirit of Pagan superstition. They who would have willingly assailed anddestroyed us have been forcibly restrained by wise and mercifulenactments. During this season of repose our numbers have increased, wehave been prosperous and happy. Our churches have multiplied, and allthe signs of an outward prosperity have been visible in all parts ofthis vast empire. Would to God I could say that while numbers and wealthhave been added to the church, it had grown in grace and in the practiceof the virtues of the gospel in the same proportion! But I cannot. Thesimplicity and purity of the first ages are no longer to be seen amongus. We no longer emulate the early apostles and make them our patterns.We rather turn to the Pagan and Jewish priesthood, and in all thatpertains to the forms of our worship mould ourselves upon them; and inall that pertains to opinion and doctrine we turn to the philosophers,and engraft, whatever of their mysteries and subtleties we can, upon theplain and simple truth of Jesus. We have departed far, very far, fromthe gospel standard, both in practice and in faith. We need, Christians,to be brought back. We have gone astray--we have almost worshipped othergods,--it is needful that we return in season to our true allegiance. Idare not say, Christians, that the calamity which now impends is ajudgment of God upon our corruptions; we know not what events are of ajudicial character, they have upon them no signature which marks them assuch; but this we may say, that it will he no calamity, but a benefitand a blessing rather, if it have the effect to show us our errors, andcause us to retrace our steps. Aurelian, enemy though we call him, mayprove our benefactor; he may scourge us, but the sufferings he inflictsmay bring healing along with them, being that very medicine which thesick soul needs. Let us meet then this new and heavy trial as a part ofthe providence of God, as a part of that mysterious plan--the lines ofwhich are in so great part hidden from our eyes--by which he educateshis children, and at the same time, and by the same means, prepares andtransmits to future generations the richest blessings. If we,Christians, suffer for the cause of truth, if our blood is poured outlike water, let us remember that it serves to fertilize that soil out ofwhich divine nutriment shall grow for generations yet unborn, whom itshall nourish up unto a better life. Let your hearts then be strongwithin you; faint not, nor fear; God will be with you and his Spiritcomfort you.

  'But why do I say these things? Why do I exhort you to courage? For whenwas it known that the followers of Christ shrunk from the path of duty,though it were evidently the path of death? When and in what age havethose been wanting who should bear witness to the truth, and seal itwith their blood? There have been those who in time of persecution havefallen away--but for one apostate there have been a thousand martyrs. Wehave been, I may rather affirm, too prodigal of life--too lavish of ourblood. There has been, in former ages, not only a willingness, areadiness to die for Christ, but an eagerness. Christians have notwaited to be searched for and found by the ministers of Roman power;they have thrust themselves forward; they have gone up of their ownaccord to the tribunal and proclaimed their faith, and invited the deathat which nature trembles and revolts. But shall we blame this divineardor? this more than human contempt of suffering and death? thisburning zeal for the great cause of our Master? Let us rather honor andrevere it as a temper truly divine and of more than mortal force. Butlet us be just to all. While we honor the courage and self-sacrificinglove of so many, let us not require that all should be such, nor castsuspicion upon those who--loving Christ not less in their hearts--shrinkfrom the sufferings in which others glory. Ye need not, Christian menand women, yourselves rush to the tribunal of Varus, ere you can feelthat you are Christ's indeed. It is not needful that to be a Christianyou must also be a martyr. Ye need not, ye ought not, impatiently seekfor the rack and the cross. It is enough if, when sought and found andarraigned, you be found faithful; if then you deny not nor renounce yourLord, but glory in your name, and with your dying breath shout it forthas that for which you gladly encounter torture and death. Go not forththen seeking the martyr's crown! Wait till you are called. God knoweth,and he alone, whom he would have to glorify him by that death which isso much more to be coveted than life. Leave all in the hand ofProvidence. You that are not chosen, fear not that, though later, thegates of Heaven shall not be thrown open for you. Many are the pathsthat lead to those gates. Besides, shall all rush upon certain death?Were all martyrs, where then were the seed of the church? They who live,and by their life, consecrate to holiness and God, show that they arehis, do no less for their Master and his cause than do they who die forthat cause. Nay, 'tis easier to die well than to live well. The crosswhich we bear through a long life of faithful service, is a heavier onethan that which we bear as we go up our Calvary. Leave all then,Christian men and women, in the hands of God. Seek not death nor life.Shun not life nor death. Say each, "Here, Lord, is thy servant, do withhim as shall seem to thee good."

  'And now, Christians, how shall we receive the edict of Aurelian? Itsilences our preachers, it closes our churches. What now is the duty ofthe Christians of Rome?'

  Soon as this question was proposed by Probus, many voices from variousparts of the room gave in their judgments. At first, the opinionsexpressed differed on many points: but as the discussion was prolongedthe difference grew less and less, till unanimity seemed to be attained.It was agreed at length, that it was right to conform to the edict sofar as this: 'That they would not preach openly in the streets norelsewhere; they would, at first, and scrupulously, conform to the edictin its letter and spirit--until they had seen what could be done byappeals both to the Emperor and the senate; but, maintaining at the sametime, that if their appeals were vain, if their churches were notrestored to them with liberty to assemble in them as formerly and forthe same purposes--then they would take the freedom that was notgranted, and use it as before, and abide by the issue; no power of manshould close their mouths as ambassadors of God, as followers of Christand through him reformers of the world; they would speak--they wouldpreach and pray, though death were the immediate reward.'

  In this determination I heartily agreed as both moderate and yet firm;as showing respect for the powers that are over us, and at the same timeasserting our own rights, and declaring our purpose to stand by them.But so thought not all. For no sooner was the opinion of the assemblydeclared than Macer broke forth:

  'I have heard,' said he, 'the judgment which has been pronounced. But Ilike it not--I agree not to it. Shall the minister of Christ, theambassador of God, a messenger from Heaven to earth, hold his peace atthe behest of a man, though he be an emperor, or of ten thousand men,were all emperors? Not though every Christian in Rome subscribed to thisjudgment, not though every Christian in the world assented to it, wouldI. Is Christ to receive laws of Aurelian? Is the cause of God and truthto be postponed to that of the empire? and posterity to die of hungerbecause we refuse to till the earth? We are God's spiritualhusbandmen--the heart of Rome is our field of labor--it is already theeleventh hour--the last days are at hand--and shall we forbear our toil?shall we withdraw our hand from the plough?
shall we cease to proclaimthe glad tidings of salvation because the doors of our churches areclosed? Not so, Christians, by the blessing of God, shall it be with me.While the streets of Rome and her door-stones will serve me for churchand pulpit, and while my tongue is left unwrenched from my mouth, will Inot cease to declare Jesus Christ and him crucified! Think you Aurelianwill abate his wrath or change his purposes of death, for all yourhumble sueing? that cringing and fawning will turn aside the messengersof death? Believe it not. Ye know not Aurelian. More would ye gain withhim, did the faith of the peace-loving Jesus allow it, if ye went forthin battle array and disputed this great question in the streets of Romesword in hand! More would ye gain now, if ye sent a word ofdefiance--denying his right to interpose between God and hispeople--between Christ and his church--and daring him to do his worst,than by this tame surrender of your rights--this almost base denial ofyour Master. No sooner shall tomorrow's sun have risen, than on the verysteps of the capitol will I preach Christ, and hurl the damnation of Godupon this bloody Emperor and his bloody people.'

  'O, Macer, Macer! cease, cease!' cried a woman's voice from the crowd.'You know not what you say! Already have your harsh words put newbitterness into Aurelian's heart. Forbear, as you love Christ and us.'

  'Woman--' replied Macer, 'for such your voice declares you to be--I dolove both Christ and you, and it is because I love you that I aim to setaside this faithless judgment of the Roman Christians. But when I say Ilove you and the believers in Rome, I mean your souls, not your bodies.I love not your safety, nor your peace, nor your outward comforts; yourhouses, nor your wealth, nor your children, nor your lives, nor anythingthat is yours which the eye can see or the hands handle. I love yoursouls, and, beside them, nothing. And while it is them I love, and forthem am bound in the spirit as a minister of Christ, I may not hold mypeace, nor hide myself, for that there is a lion in the path! As asoldier of the cross I will never flee. Though at the last day I hear noother word of praise from Him the judge--and no other shall I hear, formy Pagan sins weigh me down--down--help, Lord! or I perish!--' Macer'svoice here took the tone of deepest agony; he seemed for a time whollylost, standing still, with outstretched arms and uplifted eye. After along pause he suddenly resumed. 'What did I say?--It was this: though Ihear no other word of praise from my judge as I stand at hisjudgment-seat, I trust I shall hear this, that I did not flee nor hidemyself, that I was no coward, but a bold and fearless soldier of thecross, ready at any time and at all times to suffer for the souls of mybrethren.'

  'Think not, Macer,' said Probus, 'that we shrink at the prospect ofdanger. But we would be not only bold and unshrinking, but wise andprudent. There is more than one virtue goes to make the Christian man.We think it right and wise first to appeal to the Emperor's love ofjustice. We think it might redound greatly to our advantage if we couldobtain a public hearing before Aurelian, so that from one of our ownside he, with all the nobility of Rome, might hear the truth in Christ,and then judge whether to believe so was hurtful to the state, ordeserving of torture and death.'

  'As well, Probus,' replied Macer, 'might you preach the faith of Christin the ear of the adder! to the very stones of the highways! Aurelianturn from a settled purpose! ha! ha! you have not served, Probus, underhim in Gaul and Asia as others have. Never did the arguments of hislegions and his great officers on the other side, serve but to intrenchhim the more impregnably in his own. He knows not what the word changemeans. But were this possible, and of good hope, it shows not that plainand straight path to which my spirit points, and which therefore I musttravel. Is it right to hearken to man rather than God? That to me isthe only question. Shall Aurelian silence the ambassador of God andChrist? Shall man wrestle and dispute it with the Almighty? God, orAurelian, which shall it be? To me, Christians, it would be a crime ofdeeper dye than the errors of my Pagan youth, did I chain my tongue,were it but for an hour, at the command of Aurelian. I have a lightwithin, and it is that I must obey. I reason not--I weigh notprobabilities--I balance not argument against argument--I feel! and thatI take to be the instinct of God--the inspiration of his holySpirit--and as I feel so am I bound to act.'

  It was felt to be useless to reason with this impetuous and self-willedman. He must be left to work out his own path through the surroundingperils, and bear whatever evil his violent rashness might draw upon hishead. Yet his are those extreme and violent opinions and feelings whichare so apt to carry away the multitude, and it was easy to see that alarge proportion of the assembly went with him. Another occasion wasgiven for their expression.

  When it had been determined that the edicts should be observed so far asto refrain from all public preaching and all assembling together, tillthe Emperor had been first appealed to, it then became a question inwhat manner he should be approached, and by whom, in behalf of the wholebody. And no sooner had Macer ceased, than the same voice which hadfirst brought those charges against Probus was again heard--the voice asI have since learned of a friend of Felix, and an exorcist.

  'If it be now determined,' said the voice, 'that we appeal to theclemency of the Emperor in order to avert from our heads the evil thatseems to be more than threatened, let it be done by some one who in hisfaith may nay represent the great body of Christ's followers. Whetherthe Emperor shall feel well inclined toward us or not, will it notgreatly depend upon the manner in which the truth in Christ shall be setforth, and whether by means of the principles and doctrines that shallbe shown to belong to it and constitute it, it shall be judged by him tobe of hurtful or beneficial tendency? Now it is well known to all howvariously Christ is received and interpreted in Rome. As received bysome, his gospel is one thing; as received by others, it is another andquite a different thing. Who can doubt that our prospect of a favorablehearing with Aurelian will be an encouraging one in the proportion thathe shall perceive our opinions to agree with those which have alreadybeen advanced in the schools of philosophy--especially in that of thedivine Plato. This agreement and almost identity has, ever since thetime of Justin, been pointed out and learnedly defended. They whoperceive this agreement, and rest in it as their faith, now constitutethe greater part of the Christian world. Let him then who is to bespeakfor us the Emperor's good-will be, as in good sooth he ought to be, ofthese opinions. As to the declaration that has been made that one is asmuch a Christian as another, whatever the difference of faith may be, Icannot receive it; and he who made the declaration, I doubt would scarceabide by it, since as I learn he is a worshipper and follower of thatfalse-hearted interloper Novatian. The puritans least of all are apt toregard with favor those who hold not with them. Let Felix then, who, ifany now living in Rome may stand forward as a specimen of what Christ'sreligion is in both its doctrine and its life--let Felix plead our causewith Aurelian.'

  The same difference of feeling and opinion manifested itself as before.Many voices immediately cried out, 'Yes, yes, Felix, let Felix speak forus.' While others from every part of the room were heard shouting out,'Probus, Probus, let Probus be our advocate!'

  At length the confusion subsided as a single voice made itself heardabove the others and caught their attention, saying,

  'If Felix, O Christians, as has just been affirmed, represents theopinions which are now most popular in the Christian world, at leasthere in Rome, Probus represents those which are more ancient--' He wasinstantly interrupted.

  'How long ago,' cried another, 'lived Paul of Samosata?'

  'When died the heretic Sabellius?' added still another.

  'Or Praxeas?' said a third, 'or Theodotos? or Artemon?'

  'These,' replied the first, soon as he could find room forutterance--'these are indeed not of the earliest age, but they from whomthey learned their faith are of that age, namely, the apostles and thegreat master of all.'

  'Heresy,' cried out one who had spoken before, 'always dates from theoldest; it never has less age nor authority than that of Christ.'

  'Christians! Christians!' Macer's stentorian voice was now heardtowering above the tum
ult, 'what is it ye would have? What are thesedistinctions about which ye dispute? What have they to do with thematter now in hand? How would one doctrine or the other in such mattersweigh with Aurelian more than straws or feathers? But if these are starknaught, and less than naught, there are other questions pertinent to thetime, nay, which the time forces upon us, and about which we should bewell agreed. A new age of persecution has arisen, and the church isabout to be sifted, and the wheat separated from the chaff--the first tobe gathered into the garners of God, the last to be burnt up in fireunquenchable. Now is it to be proved who are Christ's, and who arenot--who will follow him bearing their cross to some new Calvary, andwho, saving their lives, shall yet lose them. Who knows not the evilthat, in the time of Decius, yes, and before and since too, fell uponthe church from the so easy reception and restoration of those who, inan hour of weakness and fear, denied their master and his faith, andbowed the knee to the gods of Rome? Here is the danger against which weare to guard; from this quarter--not from any other of vain jargonconcerning natures, essences, and modes of being--are we to look forthose fatal inroads to be made upon the purity of the gospel, thatcannot but draw along with them corruption and ruin. Of what stuff willthe church then be made, when they who are its ministers, deacons andbishops, shall be such as, when danger showed itself, relapsed intoidolatry, and, soon as the clouds had drifted by, and the winds blewsoft, came forth again into the calm sunshine, renounced their idolatry,and again professing Christ, were received to the arms of the church,and even to the communion of the body and blood of our Lord?Christians, the great Novatian is he to whom we owe what purity thechurch yet retains, and it is in allegiance to him--'

  'The great Novatian!' exclaimed a priest of the Roman church, 'greatonly in his infamy! Himself an apostate once, he sought afterwards,having been received himself back again to the church upon hisrepentance, to bury his shame under a show of zeal against such as wereguilty of the same offence. His own weakness or sin, instead of teachinghim compassion, served but to harden his heart. Is this the man to whoseprinciples we are to pledge ourselves? Were his principles sound inthemselves, we could hardly take them from such a source. But they arefalse. They are in the face of the spirit and letter of the gospel. Whatis the character of the religion of Christ, if it be not mercy? Yet thisgreat Novatian, to those who like Peter have fallen--Peter whom hismaster received and forgave--denies all mercy! and for one offence,however penitence may wring the soul, cuts them off forever like arotten branch from the body of Christ! Is this the teacher whosefollower should appeal for us to the Roman Emperor?'

  'I seek not,' Macer began to say, 'to defend the bishop of Rome--'

  'Bishop!' cried the other, 'bishop! who ever heard that Novatian wasbishop of Rome? But who has not heard that that wicked and ambitious manthrough envy of Cornelius, and resolved to supplant him, caused himselfto be ordained bishop by a few of that order, weak and corrupt men,whom he bribed to the bad work, but who, corrupt as they were, andbribed as they were, it was first needful to make drunk beforeconscience would allow them by such act eternally to disgrace themselvesand the church--'

  'Lies and slanders all,' cried Macer and others with him, in the samebreath and with their utmost voice. The greatest confusion prevailed. Athousand contradictory cries were heard. In the midst of the uproar thename of Macer was proclaimed by many as that of one who would bestassert and defend the Christian cause before Aurelian. But these weresoon overborne and silenced by a greater number, who now again calledupon Probus to fill that office.

  Probus seemed not sorry that, his name being thus tumultuously calledout, he had it again in his power to speak to the assembly. Making asign accordingly that he would be heard, he said,

  'That he coveted not the honorable office of appealing for them to theEmperor of Rome. It would confer more happiness a thousand fold,Christians, if I could by any words of mine put harmony and peace intoyour hearts, than if I might even convert a Roman emperor. What a sceneof confusion and discord is this, at such an hour, when, if ever, ourhearts should be drawn closer together by this exposure to a commoncalamity. Why is it that when at home, or moving abroad in the businessof life, your conversation so well becomes your name and faith, drawingupon you even the commendation of your Pagan foes, you no soonerassemble together, as now, than division and quarrel ensue, in suchmeasure, as among our Heathen opponents is never seen? Why is it,Christians, that when you are so ready to die for Christ, you will notlive at peace for him? Honor you not him more by showing that you are ofhis spirit, that for his name's sake you are willing to bear patientlywhatever reproach may be laid upon you, than you do even by sufferingand dying for him? The questions you have here agitated are not for thishour and place. What now does it signify whether one be a follower ofPaul, of Origen, of Sabellius, or Novatian, when we are each and all soshortly to be called upon to confess our allegiance to neither ofthese--but to a greater, even Jesus, the master and head of us all! Andwhat has our preference for some of the doctrines of either of these todo with our higher love of Christ and his truth? By such preference isour superior and supreme regard for Jesus and his word vitiated orinvalidated? Nay, what is it we then do when we embrace the peculiardoctrine of some great or good man, who has gone before, but embracethat which in a peculiar sense we regard as the doctrine of Christ? Wereceive the peculiar doctrine of Paul, or Justin, or Origen, not becauseit is theirs, but because we think they have shown it to be eminentlythe doctrine of Christ. In binding upon us then the dogmas of anyteacher, we ought not to be treated other than as those who, in doingso, are seeking to do the highest honor, not to such teacher, but toChrist. I am charged as a disciple of the bishop of Antioch, and thehonored Felix as a disciple of Plato. If I honor Paul of Samosata,Christians, for any of his truth, it is because I deem him to havediscerned clearly the truth as it is in Jesus. My faith is not in him,but in Jesus. And if Felix honor Plato or Plotinus, it is but becausein them he beholds some clearer unfolding--clearer than elsewhere--ofthe truth in Christ. Are not we then, and all who do the same thing, tobe esteemed as those who honor Christ? not deny nor forsake him. And aswe all hold in especial reverence some one or another of a former age,through whom as a second master we receive the doctrines of the gospel,ought we not all to love and honor one another, seeing that in the sameway we all love and honor Christ? Let love, Christians, mutual honor andlove, be the badge of our discipleship, as it was in the first age ofthe church. Soon, very soon, will you be called to bear testimony to thecause you have espoused, and perhaps seal it with your blood. Be notless ready to show your love to those around you by the promptness withwhich you lend your sympathy, or counsel, or aid, as this new flood ofadversity flows in upon them. But why do I exhort you? The thousand actsof kindness, of charity, of brotherly love, which flow outwards from youin a perpetual stream toward Heathen not less than Christian, and havedrawn upon you the admiration even of the Pagan world, is sufficientassurance that your hearts will not be cold when the necessities of thisheavier time shall lay upon you their claims. It is only in the publicassembly, and in the ardor of debate, that love seems cold and dead.Forget then, now and tomorrow, that you are followers of any other thanChrist. Forget that you call yourselves after one teacher or another,and remember only that you are brethren, members of one family, of thesame household of faith, owning one master, worshipping one and the sameGod and Father of us all. And now, Christians, if you would rather thatFelix should defend you before Aurelian, I would also. There is noneamong us who loves Christ more or better than he, or would more readilylay down his life for his sake.'

  Felix however joined with all the others--for all now, after these fewwords of Probus, seemed of one opinion--in desiring that Probus shouldappear for the Christians before the Emperor; which he then consented todo. Harmony was once more restored. The differences of opinion, whichseparated them, seemed to be forgotten, and they mingled as friends andfellow-laborers in the great cause of truth. They who had been harshestin the debate--whic
h was at much greater length, and conducted with muchmore vehemence than as I have described it--were among the most forwardto meet with urbanity those who were in faith the most distantly removedfrom them. A long and friendly interview then took place, in which eachcommuned with each, and by words of faith or affection helped to supplythe strength which all needed for the approaching conflict. One saw nolonger and heard no longer the enthusiastic disputant more bent uponvictory than truth, and heedless of the wounds he gave to the heart,provided he convinced the head or silenced the tongue, but instead,those who now appeared no other than a company of neighbors and friendsengaged in the promotion of some common object of overwhelming interest.

  When in this manner and for a considerable space of time a fit offeringhad been laid upon the altar of love, the whole assembly again joinedtogether in acts of prayer, and again lifted up their voices in song ofpraise. This duty being performed, we separated and sought the streets.The storm which had begun in violence, had increased, and it was withdifficulty that beset by darkness, wind, and rain, I succeeded withoutinjury in finding my way to the Coelian.

  Julia was waiting for me with anxious impatience.

  After relating to her the events of the evening, she said,

  'How strange, Lucius, the conduct of such men at such a time! How couldChristians, with the Christian's faith in their hearts, so lose thepossession of themselves--and so violate all that they profess asfollowers of Jesus! I confess, if this be the manner in whichChristianity is intended to operate upon the character, I am as yetwholly ignorant of it, and desire ever to remain so. But it is notpossible that they are right. Nay, they seem in some sort to haveacknowledged themselves to have been in the wrong by the last acts ofthe meeting. This brings to my mind what Paul has often told me of theChristians of the same kind, at which I was then amazed, but hadforgotten. I do not comprehend it. I have read and studied the characterand the teachings of Jesus, and it seems to me I have arrived at sometrue understanding--for surely there is little difficulty in doingso--of what he himself was, and of what he wished his followers to be.Would he have recognized his likeness in those of whom you have now toldme?'

  'Yet,' I replied, 'there was more of it there in those very persons thanat first we might be inclined to think; and in the great multitude ofthose who were present, it may have been all there, and was in most, Icannot doubt. We ought not to judge of this community by the leaders ofthe several divisions which compose it. They are by no means justspecimens, from which to infer the character of all. They are but toooften restless, ambitious, selfish men; seeking their own aggrandizementand their party's, rather than the glory of Christ and his truth. I canconceive of a reception of Christian precept and of the Christian spiritbeing but little more perfect and complete, than I have found it amongthe humbler sort of the Christians of Rome. Among them there is to beseen nothing of the temper of violence and bigotry that was visible thisevening in the language of so many. They, for the most part, place thereligion of Jesus in holy living, in love of one another, and patientwaiting for the kingdom of God. And their lives are seen to accord withthese great principles of action. Even for their leaders, who are in somany points so different from them, this may be said in explanation andexcuse--that from studying the record more than the common people, theycome to consider more narrowly in what the religion of Jesus consists,and arriving, after much labor, at what they believe in their hearts tobe the precise truth--truth the most vital of any to the power andsuccess of the gospel--this engrosses all their affections, and promptsall their labor and zeal. In the dissemination of this do they alonebehold the dissemination of Christianity itself--this being denied orrejected, the gospel itself is. With such notions as fundamentalprinciples of action, it is easy to see with what sincere and virtuousindignation they would be filled toward such as should set at nought andoppose that, which they cherish as the very central glory andpeculiarity of Christianity. These things being so, I can pity andforgive a great deal of what appears to be, and is, so opposite to thetrue Christian temper, on account of its origin and cause. Especially asthese very persons, who are so impetuous, and truculent almost, aspartizans and advocates, are, as private Christians, examples perhaps ofextraordinary virtue. We certainly know this to be the case with Macer.An apostle was never more conscientious nor more pure. Yet would he, hadhe power equal to his will, drive from the church all who bowed not theknee to his idol Novatian.'

  'But how,' asked Julia, 'would that agree with the offence he justlytook at those who quarreled with Probus and Felix on account of theirdoctrine?'

  'There certainly would be in such conduct no agreement nor consistency.It only shows how easy it is to see a fault in another, to which we arestone-blind in ourselves. In the faith or errors of Probus and Felix hethought there was nothing that should injure their Christian name, orunfit them for any office. Yet in the same breath he condemned as almostthe worst enemies of Christ such as refused honor and adherence to thesevere and inhuman code of his master Novatian.'

  'But how far removed, Lucius, is all this from the spirit of thereligion of Jesus! Allowing all the force of the apologies you mayoffer, is it not a singular state for the minds and tempers of those tohave arrived at, who profess before the world to have formed themselvesafter the doctrine, and, what is more, after the character of Christ? Icannot understand the process by which it has been done, nor how it isthat, without bringing upon themselves public shame and reproach, suchmen can stand forth and proclaim themselves not only Christians, butChristian leaders and ministers.'

  'I can understand it, I confess, quite as little. But I cannot doubtthat as Christianity outgrows its infancy, especially when the greatbody of those who profess it shall have been formed by it from theiryouth, and shall not be composed, as now, of those who have been broughtover from the opposite and uncongenial regions of Paganism, with much oftheir former character still adhering to them, Christians will then bewhat they ought to be who make the life and character of Jesus theirstandard. Nothing is learned so slowly by mankind as those lessons whichenforce mutual love and respect, in which the gospels so abound. We mustallow not only years, but hundreds of years, for these lessons to beimprinted upon the general heart of men, and to be seen in all theircharacter and intercourse. But when a few hundred years shall haveelapsed, and that is a long allowance for this education to be perfectedin, I can conceive that the times of the primitive peace and love shallbe more than restored, and that such reproaches as to-night were heardlavished upon one and another will be deemed as little compatible with aChristian profession as would be violence and war. All violence andwrong must cease, as this religion is received, and the ancientsuperstitions and idolatries die out.'

  'What a privilege, to be born and live,' said Julia, 'in those fastapproaching years, when Christianity shall alone be received as thereligion of this large empire, when Paganism shall have become extinctin Rome war and slavery shall cease, and all our people shall beactuated by the same great principles of faith and virtue that governedboth Christ and his apostles! A few centuries will witness more andbetter than we now dream of.'

  So we pleased ourselves with visions of future peace and happiness,which Christianity was to convert to reality. To me they are no longermere visions, but as much realities to be experienced, as the futuretowering oak is, when I look upon an acorn planted, or as the future manis, when I look upon a little child. If Christianity grows at all, itmust grow in such direction. If it do not, it will not be Christianitythat grows, but something else that shall have assumed its name andusurped its place. The extension of Christianity is the extension andmultiplication as it were of that which constituted Christ himself--itis the conversion of men into his image--or else it is nothing. Then,when this shall be done, what a paradise of peace, and holiness, andlove, will not the earth be! Surely, to be used as an instrument inaccomplishing such result, one may well regard as an honor andprivilege, and be ready to bear and suffer much, if need be, infulfilling the great office.
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  I hope I shall not have wearied you by all this exactness. I strictlyconform to your injunctions, so that you can complain only of yourself.

  We often wish that the time would allow us to escape to you, that wemight witness your labors and share them in the rebuilding andreembelishing of the city. Rome will never be a home to Julia. Heraffections are all in Syria. I can even better conceive of Zenobiabecoming a Roman than Julia. Farewell.

  * * * * *

  Finding among the papers of Piso no letter giving any account of whattook place immediately after the meeting of the Christians, which, inhis last letter, he has so minutely described, I shall here supply, as Imay, the deficiency; and I can do it at least with fidelity, since I waspresent at the scenes of which I shall speak.

  No one took a more lively interest in the condition and affairs of theChristians than Zenobia; and it is with sorrow that I find among therecords of Piso no mention made of conversations had at Tibur whilethese events were transpiring, at which were present himself, and theprincess Julia, the Queen, and, more than once, Aurelian and Livia.While I cannot doubt that such record was made, I have in vain searchedfor it among those documents which he intrusted to me.

  It was by command of the Queen that on the day following that on whichthe Christians held their assembly at the baths, I went to Rome for thevery purpose to learn whatever I could, both at the Gardens and abroadin the city, concerning the condition and probable fate of that people,she desiring more precise information than could be gathered from any ofthe usual sources of intelligence.

  It was apparent to me as I entered the city, and penetrated to its morecrowded parts, that somewhat unusual had taken place, or was about tohappen. There were more than the common appearances of excitement amongthose whom I saw conversing and gesticulating at the corners of streetsor the doors of the public baths. This idle and corrupt populationseemed to have less than on other occasions to employ their hands, andso gave their time and their conversation to one another, laying norestraint upon the quantity of either. It is an indisputable fact thatRome exists to this day, for any one who will come into Italy may see itfor himself, and he cannot reject the testimony of his eyes and ears.But how it exists from year to year, or from day to day, under suchinstitutions, it would puzzle the wisest philosopher, I believe, totell. Me, who am no philosopher, it puzzles as often as I reflect uponit. I cannot learn the causes that hold together in such apparent orderand contentment so idle and so corrupt a people. I have supposed it mustbe these, but they seem not sufficient: the Praetorian camp without thewalls, and the guard, in league with them, within, and the largesses andgames proceeding from the bounty of the Emperor. These last, though theyare the real sources of their corruption and must end in the verydestruction of the city and people, yet, at present, operate to keepthem quiet and in order. So long as these bounties are dispensed, solong, such is our innate love of idleness and pleasure, will the massthink it foolish to agitate any questions of right or religion, or anyother, by which they might be forfeited. Were these suddenly suspended,all the power of the Praetorian cohorts, I suppose, could not keep peacein Rome. They were now I found occupied by the affairs of theChristians, and waiting impatiently for the orders which should nextissue from the imperial will. The edicts published two days before gavethem no employment, nor promised much. They merely laid restraints uponthe Christians, but gave no liberty of assault and injury to the Roman.

  'That does not satisfy the people,' said one to me, at the door of ashop, of whom I had made some inquiry on the subject. 'More was lookedfor from the Emperor, for it is well known that he intends the extremestmeasures, and most are of opinion that, before the day is out, newedicts will be issued. Why he took the course he did of so uncommonmoderation 'tis hard to say. All the effect of it is to give theChristians opportunity to escape and hide themselves, so that by thetime the severer orders against them are published, it will beimpossible to carry them into execution.'

  'Perhaps,' I said, 'it was after all his intention to give them adistant warning, that some might, if they saw fit to do so, escape.'

  'I do not believe that,' he replied; 'it will rather, I am of theopinion, be found to have proceeded from the advice of Fronto and Varus,to give to the proceedings a greater appearance of moderation; whichshows into the hands of what owls the Emperor has suffered himself tofall. Nobody ever expected moderation in Aurelian, nor do any but a fewas bad as themselves think these wretches deserve it. The onlyconsequence of the present measures will be to increase their swellinginsolence and pride, thinking that Aurelian threatens but dares notexecute. Before another day, I trust, new edicts will show that theEmperor is himself. The life of Rome hangs upon the death of these.'

  Saying which, with a savage scowl, which showed how gladly he would turnexecutioner or tormentor in such service, he turned and crossed thestreet.

  I then sought the palace of Piso. I was received in the library, where Ifound the lady Julia and Piso.

  They greeted me as they ever did, rather as if I were a brother than butthe servant of Zenobia. But whatever belongs to her, were it but so muchas a slave of the lowest office, would they treat with affection atleast, if not with reverence. After answering their inquiries after thewelfare of the Queen and Faustula, I made mine concerning the conditionof the city and the affairs of the Christians, saying, 'that Zenobia wasanxious to learn what ground there was, or whether any, to feelapprehension for the safety of that people?'--Piso said, 'that now hedid not doubt there was great ground for serious apprehension. It wasbelieved by those who possessed the best means of intelligence, that newedicts of a much severer character would be issued before another day.But that Zenobia need be under no concern either as to himself or Julia,since the Emperor in conversation with him as much as assured him that,whatever might befal others, no harm should come to them.'

  He then gave me an account of what the Christians had done in theirassembly, agreeing with what is now to be found in the preceding letter.

  I then asked whether he thought that the Christian Macer would keep tothe declaration he had made, that he would to-day, the edictsnotwithstanding, preach in the streets of Rome! He replied, that he didnot doubt that he would, and that if I wished to know what some of theChristians were, and what the present temper of the people was towardsthem, I should do well to seek him and hear him.'

  'Stand by him, good Nicomachus,' said Julia, 'if at any moment you findthat you can be of service to him. I have often heretofore blamed him,but since this murder of Aurelia, and the horrors of the dedication, Ihold him warranted, and more than that, in any means he may use, torouse this guilty people. Perhaps it is only by the use of such remediesas he employs, that the heart of Rome--hardened by ages of sin--can bemade to feel. To the milder treatment of Probus, and others like him, itseems for the most part utterly insensible and dead. At least hissincerity, his zeal, and his courage, are worthy of all admiration.'

  I assured her that I would befriend him if I could do so with anyprospect of advantage, but it was little that one could do against thefury of a Roman mob. I then asked Piso if he would not accompany me; buthe replied, that he had already heard Macer, and was, besides,necessarily detained at home by other cares.

  As there was no conjecturing in what part of the city this Christianpreacher would harangue the people, and neither the Princess nor Pisocould impart any certain information, I gave little more thought to it,but, as I left the palace on the Coelian, determined to seek thegardens of Sallust, where, if I should not see Aurelian, I might atleast pass the earlier hours of the day in an agreeable retreat. I tookthe street that leads from the Coelian to the Capitol Hill, asaffording a pleasanter walk--if longer. On the way there, I observedwell the signs which were given in the manner and conversation of thosewhom I met, or walked with, of the events which were near at hand. Thereis no better index of what a despotic ruler, and yet at the same time a'people's' despot, will do, than the present will of the people. It was
most apparent to me that they were impatient for some quick and vigorousaction, no matter how violent, against the Christians. Language the mostferocious met my ear. The moderation and tardiness of the Emperor--ofhim who had in every thing else been noted for the rapidity of hismovements--were frequent subjects of complaint.

  'It is most strange,' they said, 'that Aurelian should hesitate in thismatter, in truth as if he were afraid to move. Were it not for Fronto,it is thought that nothing would be done after all. But this we may feelsure of, that if the Emperor once fairly begins the work ofextermination, he is not the man to stop half way. And there is not afriend of the ancient institutions of religion, but who says that theirvery existence depends upon--not the partial obstruction of thissect--but upon its actual and total extermination. Who does not knowthat measures of opposition and resistance, which go but part way andthen stop, through a certain unwillingness as it were to proceed toextremes, do but increase the evil they aim to suppress. Weeds that arebut mown, come up afterwards only the more vigorously. Their very rootsmust be torn up and then burned.' Such language was heard on all sides,uttered with utmost violence--of voice and gesture.

  I paused, among other curious and busy idlers, at the door of a smith'sshop, which, as I passed slowly by, presented a striking view of a vastand almost boundless interior, blazing with innumerable fires, wherelaborers half naked--and seeming as if fire themselves, from thereflection from their steaming bodies of the red glare of thefurnaces--stood in groups, some drawing forth the bars of heated metaland holding them, while others wielding their cyclopean hammers made theanvils and the vast interior ring with the blows they gave. All aroundthe outside of the shop and in separate places within stood theimplements and machines of various kinds which were either made, or werein the process of being put together. Those whom I joined were justwithin the principal entrance looking upon a fabric of iron consistingof a complicated array of wheels and pulleys, to which the workmen werejust in the act of adding the last pieces. The master of the place nowapproaching and standing with us, while he gave diverse orders to themen, I said to him,

  'What new device may this be? The times labor with new contrivances bywhich to assist the laborer in his art, and cause iron to do what thearm has been accustomed to perform. But after observing this with care Ican make nothing of it. It seems not designed to aid any manufacture ofwhich I have any knowledge.'

  The master looked at me with a slighting expression of countenance asmuch as to say 'you are a wise one! You must have just emerged from themountains of Helvetia, or the forests of the Danube.' But he did notcontent himself with looks.

  'This, sir?' said he. 'This, if you would know it, is a rack--a commoninstrument of torture--used in all the prisons of the empire, the useof which is to extract truth from one who is unwilling to speak exceptcompelled; or, sometimes, when death is thought too slight a punishment,to give it an edge with, just as salt and pepper are thrown into a freshwound. Some crimes, you must know, were too softly dealt with, were asharp axe the only instrument employed. Caesar! just bring some wires ofa good thickness, and we will try this. Now shall you see precisely howit would fare with your own body, were you on this iron frame and Varusstanding where I am. There,--Caesar having in a few moments brought thewires--the body you perceive is confined in this manner.--You observethere can be no escape and no motion. Now at the word of the judge, thiscrank is turned. Do you see the effect upon the wire? Imagine it yourbody and you will have a lively idea of the instrument. Then at anotherwink or word from Varus, these are turned, and you see that another partof the body, the legs or arms as it may be, are subjected to the sameforce as this wire, which as the fellow keeps turning you see--strains,and straightens, and strains, till--crack!--there!--that is what we calla rack. A most ingenious contrivance and of great use. This is going upwithin the hour to the hall of the Prefect.'

  'It seems,' I remarked, 'well contrived indeed for its object. Andwhat,' I asked, 'are these which stand here? Are they for the same or asimilar purpose?'

  'Yes--these, sir, are different and yet the same. They are all forpurposes of torture, but they vary infinitely in the ingenuity withwhich they severally inflict pain and death. That is esteemed in Romethe most perfect instrument which, while it inflicts the most exquisitetorments, shall at the same time not early, assail that which is a vitalpart, but, you observe, prolong life to the utmost. Some, of anold-fashioned structure, with a clumsy and bungling machinery--here aresome sent to me as useless--long before the truth could be extracted, ormuch more pain inflicted than would accompany beheading, destroyed thelife of the victim. Those which I build--and I build for the State--arenot to be complained of in that way. Varus is curious enough, I canassure you, in such things. All these that you see here, of whateverform or make, are for him and the hall of justice. They have been allrefitted and repaired--or else they are new.'

  'How is it possible,' I asked, 'so many could be required in one place?'

  'Surely,' said the master, 'you must just have dropt down in Rome fromBritain, or Scythia, or the moon! Didst ever hear of a people calledGalilean or Christian? Perhaps the name is new to you.'

  'No, I have heard it.'

  'Well, these are for them. As you seem new in the city and to our Romanways, walk a little farther in and I will show you others, which are forthe men and the boys at such time as the slaughter of this people shallbecome general. For you must know,--although it is not got widely abroadyet--that by and by the whole city is to be let loose upon them. That isthe private plan of the Emperor. Every good citizen, it will beexpected, will do his share in the work, till Rome shall be purged.Aurelian does nothing by halves. It is in view of such a state of thingsthat I have prepared an immense armory--if I may call it so--of everysort of cheap iron tool--I have the more costly also--to meet the greatdemand that will be made. Here they are! commend now my diligence, mypatriotism, and my foresight! Some of my craft will not engage in thiswork: but it exactly jumps with my humor. Any that you shall choose ofthese, sir, you shall have cheap, and they shall be sent to yourlodgings.'

  I expressed my gratitude, but declined the offer.

  After wandering a little longer around the huge workshop, I took myleave of its humane master, still entreating me to purchase, and, as Ientered again the street, turned towards the capitol. My limbs weresympathising with those wires throughout the rest of the day.

  I had forgotten Macer, and almost my object in coming abroad, and wasrevolving various subjects in my mind, my body only being conscious ofthe shocks which now and then I received from persons meeting or passingme, when I became conscious of a sudden rush along the street in thedirection of the capitol, which was now but a furlong from where I was.I was at once awake. The people began to run, and I ran with them byinstinct. At length it came into my mind to ask why we were running? Onenear me replied,

  'O, it's only Macer the Christian, who, 'tis said, in spite of theedict, has just made for the steps of the capitol, followed by a largecrowd.'

  On the instant I outstripped my companion, and turning quickly thecorner, where the street in which I was crossed the hill, I there beheldan immense multitude gathered around the steps of the capitol, and thetall form of Macer just ascending them. Resolved to be near him, Istruggled and forced my way into the mass till I found myself so faradvanced that I could both hear and be heard by him, if I should findoccasion to speak, and see the expression of his countenance. It was tome, as he turned round toward the people, the most extraordinarycountenance I ever beheld. It seemed as if once it had been fiercer thanthe fiercest beast of the forest, while through that was now to bediscerned the deep traces of grief, and an expression which seemed tosay, "I and the world have parted company. I dwell above." His two livesand his two characters were to be read at once in the strong anddeep-sunk lines of a face that struck the beholder at once with awe,with admiration, and compassion.

  The crowd was restless and noisy; heaving to and fro like the fiery massof a boiling crater.
A thousand exclamations and imprecations filled theair. I thought it doubtful whether the rage which seemed to fill a greatproportion of those around me would so much as permit the Christian toopen his mouth. It seemed rather as if he would at once be dragged fromwhere he stood to the Prefect's tribunal, or hurled from the steps andsacrificed at once to the fury of the populace. But, as the cries of hissavage enemies multiplied, the voices of another multitude were liftedup in his behalf, which were so numerous and loud, that they had theeffect of putting a restraint upon the others. It was evident that Macercould not be assailed without leading to a general combat. All thiswhile Macer stood unmoved, and calm as the columns of the capitolitself--waiting till the debate should be ended and the questiondecided--a question of life or death to him. Upon the columnimmediately on his right hand hung, emblazoned with gold, and beautifulwith all the art of the chirographer, the edict of Aurelian. It was uponparchment, within a brazen frame.

  Soon as quiet was restored, so that any single voice could be heard, onewho was at the foot of the steps and near the preacher cried out to him,

  'Well, old fellow, begin! thy time is short.'

  'Young man,' he replied, 'I was once old in sin, for which God forgiveme!--now I am old in the love of Christ, for which God be thanked!--butin years I am but forty. As for time!--I think only of eternity.'

  'Make haste, Macer!' cried another voice from the crowd. 'Varus willsoon be here.'

  'I believe you,' replied the soldier; 'but I am ready for him. I lovelife no longer than I can enjoy free speech. If I may not now and herespeak out every thought of my heart, and the whole truth in Christ, thenwould I rather die; and whether I die in my own bed, or upon the ironcouch of Varus, matters little. Romans!' turning now and addressing thecrowd, 'the Emperor in his edict tells me not to preach to you. Not topreach Christ in Rome, neither within a church nor in the streets. Suchis this edict. Shall I obey him? When Christ says, 'Go forth and preachthe gospel to every creature,' shall I give ear to a Roman Emperor, whobids me hold my peace? Not so, not so, Romans. I love God too well, andChrist too well, and you too well, to heed such bidding. I love Aureliantoo, I have served long under him, and he was ever good to me. He was agood as well as great general, and I loved him. I love him now, but notso well as these; not so well as you. And if I obeyed this edict, itwould show that I loved him better than you, and better than these,which would be false. If I obeyed this edict I should never speak to youagain of this new religion, as you call it. I should leave you all toperish in your sins, without any of that knowledge, or faith, or hope inChrist, which would save you from them, and form you after the image ofGod, and after death carry you up to dwell with him and with just menforever and ever. I should then, indeed, show that I hated you, which Ican never do. I love you and Rome I cannot tell how much--as much as achild ever loved a mother, or children one another. And therefore it isthat no power on earth--nor above it, nor under it--no power, save thatof God, shall hinder me from declaring to you the doctrine which I thinkyou need, nay, without which your souls will perish and dwell for everand ever, not with God, but in fires eternal of the lowest hell. Forwhat can your gods do for you? what are they doing? They lift you not upto themselves--they push you down rather to those fires. Christ, ORomans, if you will receive him, will save you from them, and from thoseraging fires of sorrow and remorse, which here on earth do constitute ahell hot as any that burns below. It is your sins which kindle thosefires, and with which Christ wages war--not with you. It is your sinswith which I wage war here in the streets of Rome, not with you. Onlyrepent of your sins, Romans, and believe in Christ the son of God, and Ohow glorious and happy were then this great and glorious city. I havetold you before, and I tell you now, your vices are undermining thefoundations of this great empire. There is no power to cure these butin Jesus Christ. And when I know this, shall I cease to preach Christ toyou because a man, a man like myself, forbids me? Would you not stillprepare for a friend or a child the medicine that would save his life,though you were charged by another never so imperiously to forbear? Thegospel is the divine medicament that is to heal all your sicknesses,cure all your diseases, remove all your miseries, cleanse all yourpollutions, correct all your errors, confirm within you all necessarytruth. And when it is this healing draught for which your souls cryaloud, for which they thirst even unto death, shall I the messenger ofGod, sent in the name of his Son to bear to your lips the cup, of whichif you once drink you will live forever, withhold from you that cup, ordash it to the ground? Shall I, a mediator between God and man, falterin my speech, and my tongue hang palsied in my mouth, because Aurelianspeaks? What to me, O Romans, is the edict of a Roman Emperor? Down,down, accursed scrawl! nor insult longer both God and man.'

  And saying that, he reached forth his hand, and seizing the parchmentwrenched it from its brazen frame, and rending it to shreds strewed themabroad upon the air.

  It was done in the twinkling of an eye. At first, horror-struck at theaudacity of the deed, and while it was doing, the crowd stood still andmute, bereft, as it were, of all power to move or speak. But soon as thefragments of the parchment came floating along upon the air, theirsenses returned, and the most violent outcries, curses, and savage yellsrose from the assembled multitude, and at the same moment a movementwas made to rush upon the Christian, with the evident purpose tosacrifice him on the spot to the offended majesty of the empire. Isupposed that their purpose would be easily and instantly accomplished,and that whatever I might attempt to do in his defence would be no morethan a straw thrown in the face of a whirlwind. But here a new wonderrevealed itself. For no sooner was it evident, from the rage andtumultuous tossings of the crowd, and their ferocious cries, that thelast momenta of Macer had arrived, than it was apparent that all in theimmediate neighborhood of the building, on whose steps he stood, wereeither Christians, or Romans, who, like myself, were well disposedtowards that people, and would promptly join them in their defence ofMacer. These, and they amounted to a large and dense mass, at once, asthose cries arose, sent forth others as shouts of defiance, and facingoutwards made it known that none could assail Macer but by firstassailing them.

  I could not doubt that it was a preconcerted act by which the Christianwas thus surrounded by his friends--not, as I afterward found, with hisknowledge, but done at their own suggestion--so that if difficultyshould arise, they, by a show of sufficient power, might rescue him,whom all esteemed in spite of his errors, and also serve by theirpresence to deter him from any further act, or the use of any language,that should give needless offence to either the Prefect or his friends.Their benevolent design was in part frustrated by the sudden, and, as itseemed, unpremeditated movement of Macer in tearing down the edict. Butthey still served as a protection against the immediate assaults of theexcited and enraged mob.

  But their services were soon ended, by the interference of a power withwhich it was in vain to contend. For when the populace had given overfor a moment their design, awed by the formidable array of numbers aboutthe person of Macer, he again, having never moved from the spot where hehad stood, stretched out his long arm as if he would continue what hehad scarcely as yet begun, and to my surprise the people,notwithstanding what had occurred, seemed not indisposed to hear him.But just at that moment--just as a deep silence had at length succeededthe late uproar--the distant sound, in the direction of the Prefect's,of a troop of horse in rapid movement over the pavements, caught theears of the people. No one doubted for a moment what it signified.

  'Your hour is come, Macer,' cried a voice from the crowd.

  'It can never come too soon,' answered the preacher, 'in the service ofGod. But remember, Roman citizens, what I have told you, that it is foryou and for Rome, that I incur the wrath of the wicked Varus, and may sosoon at his hands meet the death of a Christian witness.'

  As Macer spoke, the Roman guard swept rapidly round a corner, and themultitude giving way in every direction left him alone upon the spotwhere he had been standing. Regardless of life and l
imb, the horsedashed through the flying crowds, throwing down many and trampling themunder foot, till they reached the Christian, who, undismayed andfearless, maintained his post. There was little ceremony in theirtreatment of him. He was seized by a band of the soldiers, his handsstrongly bound behind him, and placed upon a horse--when, wheelinground again, the troop at full speed vanished down the same avenue bywhich they had come, bearing their victim, as we doubted not, to thetribunal of Varus.

  Determined to see all I could, and the last if it must be so, of thisundaunted spirit, I hastened at my utmost speed in the wake of theflying troop. Little as I had heard or seen of this strange man, I hadbecome as deeply concerned in his fate as any could have been who hadknown him more intimately, or believed both in him and with him. I knownot what it was, unless it were the signatures of sincerity, ofchild-like sincerity and truth stamped upon him, that so drew me towardhim, together with that expression of profound sadness, or rather ofinward grief, which, wherever we see it and in whomsoever, excites ourcuriosity and engages our sympathy. He was to me a man who deserved abetter fate than I feared he would meet. He seemed like one who, underfortunate circumstances, might have been of the number of those greatspirits whose iron will and gigantic force of character bear down beforethem all opposition, and yoke nations to their car. Of fear he evidentlyhad no comprehension whatever. The rustling of the autumn breeze in hisgown alarmed him as much, as did the clang of those horses' hoofs uponthe pavements, though he so well knew it was the precursor of sufferingand death.

  With all the speed I could use I hurried to the hall of the Prefect. Thecrowds were pouring in as I reached it, among whom I also rushed alongand up the flights of steps, anxious only to obtain an entrance and apost of observation, whence I could see and hear what should takeplace. I soon entered the room of justice. Varus was not yet in hisseat: but before it at some little distance stood Macer, his hands stillbound, and soldiers of the palace on either side.

  I waited not long before Varus appeared at the tribunal; and followinghim, and placed near him, Fronto, priest of the Temple of the Sun. Now,poor Christian! I thought within myself, if it go not hard with thee itwill not be for want of those who wish thee ill. The very Satan of thyown faith was never worse than these. Fronto's cruel eyes were fixedupon him just as a hungry tiger's are upon the unconscious victim uponwhom he is about to spring. Varus seemed as if he sat in his place towitness some holiday sport, drawing his box of perfume between hisfingers, or daintily adjusting the folds of his robe. When a fewpreliminary formalities were gone through, Varus said, addressing one ofthe officials of the place,

  'Whom have we here?'

  'Noble Prefect, Macer the Christian.'

  'And why stands he at my tribunal?' continued Varus.

  'For a breach of the late edict of the Emperor, by which the Christianswere forbidden to preach either within their temples or abroad in thestreets and squares.'

  'Is that all?' asked the Prefect.

  'Not only,' it was replied, 'hath he preached abroad in the streets, buthe hath cast signal contempt upon both the Emperor and the empire, inthat he hath but now torn down from its brazen frame the edict which hehad first violated, and scattered it in fragments upon the streets.'

  'If these things are so, doubtless he hath well earned his death. How isthis, Galilean? dost thou confess these crimes, or shall I call inother witnesses of thy guilt?'

  'First,' replied Macer, 'will it please the Prefect to have these bondsremoved? For the sake of old fellowship let them be taken off, that,while my tongue is free to speak, my hands may be free also. Else am Inot a whole man.'

  'Unbind them,' said the Prefect; 'let him have his humor. Yet shall wefit on other bracelets anon that may not sit so easy.'

  'Be that as it may,' answered the Christian; 'in the meanwhile I wouldstand thus. I thank thee for the grace.'

  'Now, Christian, once more if thou art ready. Is it the truth that hathbeen witnessed?'

  'It is the truth,' replied Macer; 'and I thank God that it is so.'

  'But knowest thou, Christian, that in saying that, thou hast condemnedthyself to instant death? Was not death the expressed penalty forviolation of that law?'

  'Truly it was,' answered Macer; 'and what is death to me?'

  'I suppose death to be death,' replied Varus.

  'Therein thou showest thyself to be in the same darkness as all the restof this idolatrous city. Death to the Christian, Prefect, is life! Crushme by thy engines, and in the twinkling of an eye is my soul dwellingwith God, and looking down with compassion upon thy stony heart.'

  'Verily, Fronto,' said Varus, 'these Christians are an ingenious people.What a wonderful fancy is this. But, Christian,' turning to Macer, 'itwere a pity surely for thee to die. Thou hast a family as I learn.Would not thy life be more to them than thy death?'

  'Less,' said the Christian, 'a thousand fold! were it not a bettervision to them of me crowned with a victor's wreath and sitting withChrist, than dwelling here in this new Sodom, and drinking in itspestilential air? The sight of me there would be to them a spring ofcomfort and a source of strength which here I can never be.'

  'But,' added the Prefect, 'it is but right that thou shouldst for thepresent, if it may be, live here and take care of thy family. They willwant thee.'

  'God,' replied Macer, 'who feeds the birds of the air, and through alltheir wanderings over the earth from clime to clime still brings themback to the accustomed home, will watch over those whom I love, andbring them home. Such, Prefect, are the mercies of Rome toward us whobelong to Christ, that they will not be left long to bewail my loss.'

  'Do thy family then hold with thee?' said Varus.

  'Blessed be God, they do.'

  'That is a pity--' responded the Prefect.

  'Say not so, Varus; 'tis a joy and a triumph to me in this hour, and tothem, that they are Christ's.'

  'Still,' rejoined the Prefect, 'I would willingly save thee, and makethee live: and there is one way in which it may be done, and thou mayestreturn in joy to thy home.'

  'Let me then know it,' said Macer.

  'Renounce Christ, Macer, and sacrifice; and thy life is thine, and honortoo.'

  Macer's form seemed to dilate to more than its common size, hiscountenance seemed bursting with expression as he said,

  'Renounce Christ? save life by renouncing Christ? How little, Varus,dost thou know what a Christian is! Not though I might sit in thy seator Aurelian's, or on the throne of a new universe, would I renounce him.To Christ, Varus, do I owe it that I am not now what I was, when I dweltin the caves of the Flavian. To Christ do I owe it that I am not nowwhat I was when in the ranks of Aurelian. To Christ do I owe it that mysoul, once steeped in sin as thy robe in purple dye, is now by himcleansed and, as I trust, thoroughly purged. To Christ do I owe it thatonce worshipping the dumb idols of Roman superstition, I now bow down tothe only living God--' 'Away with him to the tormentors!' came from anhundred voices--'to Christ do I owe it, O Prefect, that my heart is notnow as thine, or his who sits beside thee, or as that of these,hungering and thirsting--never after righteousness--but for the blood ofthe innocent. Shall I then renounce Christ? and then worship thatancient adulterer, Jupiter greatest and best?--' The hall here rang withthe ferocious cries of those who shouted--

  'Give him over to us!'--'To the rack with him!'--'Tear out the tongue ofthe blaspheming Galilean!'

  'Romans,' cried Varus, rising from his chair, 'let not your zeal for thegods cause you to violate the sanctity of this room of Justice. Fear notbut Varus, who, as you well know, is a lover of the gods, his country,and the city, will well defend their rights and honors against whoevershall assail them.'

  He then turned to Macer and said,

  'I should ill perform my duty to thee, Christian, did I spare any effortto bring thee to a better mind--ill should I perform it for Rome did Inot use all the means by the State entrusted to me to save her citizensfrom errors that, once taking root and growing up to their properheight, wo
uld soon overshadow, and by their poisonous neighborhood kill,that faith venerable through a thousand years, and of all we now inheritfrom our ancestors of greatest and best, the fruitful and divinespring.'

  'There, Romans, spoke a Roman,' exclaimed Fronto.

  As Varus ended--at a sign and a word from him, what seemed the solidwall of the room in which we were, suddenly flew up upon its screamingpulleys, and revealed another apartment black as night, save here andthere where a dull torch shed just light enough to show its greatextent, and set in horrid array before us, engines of every kind fortormenting criminals, each attended by its half-naked minister, ready ata moment's warning to bind the victim, and put in motion the infernalmachinery. At this sight a sudden faintness overspread my limbs, and Iwould willingly have rushed from the hall--but it was then madeimpossible. And immediately the voice of the Prefect was again heard:

  'Again, Christian, with Rome's usual mercy, I freely offer to thee thylife, simply on the condition, easily fulfilled by thee, for it asks butone little word from thy lips, that thou do, for thy own sake and forthe sake of Rome, which thou sayest thou lovest, renounce Christ and thyfaith.'

  'I have answered thee once, O Prefect; dost thou think so meanly of meas to suppose that what but now I affirmed, I will now deny, and onlyfor this show of iron toys and human demons set to play them? It is notof such stuff Aurelian's men are made, much less the soldiers of thecross. For the love I bear to Rome and Christ, and even thee, Varus, Ichoose to die.'

  'Be assured, Christian, I will not spare thee.'

  'I ask it not, Prefect--do thy worst--and the worst is but death, whichis life.'

  'Pangs that shall keep thee hours dying,' cried the Prefect--'thy bodyracked and rent--torn piecemeal one part from another--this is worsethan death. Bethink thee well. Do not believe that Varus will relent.'

  'That were the last thing to find faith with one who knows him as wellas Macer does,' replied the Christian.

  A flush of passion passed over the face of Varus. But he proceeded inthe same even tone,

  'Is thy election made, Macer?'

  'It is made.'

  'Slaves,' cried the Prefect, 'away with him to the rack, and ply itwell.'

  'Yes,' repeated Pronto, springing with eager haste from his seat, thathe might lose nothing of what was to be seen or heard, 'away with him tothe rack, and ply it well.'

  Unmoved and unresisting, his face neither pale nor his limbs trembling,did Macer surrender himself into the hands of those horrid ministers ofa cruel and bloody faith, who then hastily approached him, and seizinghim dragged him toward their worse than hell. Accomplished in their art,for every day is it put to use, Macer was in a moment thrown down andlashed to the iron bars; when, each demon having completed thepreparation, he stood leaning upon his wheel for a last sign from thePrefect. It was instantly given, and while the breath even of everybeing in the vast hall was suspended, through an intense interest in thescene, the creating of the engine, as it began to turn, sounded upon thebrain like thunder. Not a groan nor a sigh was heard from the sufferer.The engine turned till it seemed as if any body or substance laid uponit must have been wrenched asunder. Then it stopt. And the minutescounted to me like hours or ages ere the word was given, and the wheelsunrestrained flew back again to their places. Macer was then unbound. Heat first lay where he was thrown upon the pavement. But his life was yetstrong within his iron frame. He rose at length upon his feet, and wasagain led to the presence of his judges. His eye had lost nothing of itswild fire, nor his air any thing of its lofty independence.

  Varus again addressed him.

  'Christian, you have felt what there is in Roman justice. Reject notagain what Roman mercy again offers thee--life freely, honor too, andoffice, if thou wilt return once more to the bosom of the fond motherwho reared thee.'

  'Yes,' said Fronto, 'thy mother who reared thee! Die not with the doubleguilt of apostacy and ingratitude upon thy soul.'

  'Varus,' said Macer, 'art thou a fool, a very fool, to deem that thyword can weigh more with me than Christ? Make not thyself alaughingstock to me and such Christians as may be here. The torments ofthy importunity are worse to me than those of thy engines.'

  'I wish thee well, Macer; 'tis that which makes me thus a fool,'

  'So, Varus, does Satan wish his victim well, to whom he offers hisluscious baits. But what is it when the bait is swallowed, and hell isall that has been gained? What should I gain, but to live with thee, Ogreater fool?'

  'Think, Macer, of thy wife and children.'

  At those names, Macer bent his head and folded his hands upon hisbreast, and tears rolled down his cheeks. Till then there had been, asit seemed, a blessed forgetfulness of all but himself and the scenebefore him. Varus, misinterpreting this his silence, and taking it forthe first sign of repentance, hastily cried out,

  'There is the altar, Macer.--Slave! hold to him the sacred libation; hewill now pour it out.'

  Instantly a slave held out to him a silver ladle filled with wine.

  Macer at the same instant struck it with his sinewy arm and sent itwhirling to the ceiling.

  'Bind him again to the rack,' cried the Prefect, leaping from his seat;'and let him have it till the nerves break.'

  Macer was again seized and stretched upon the iron bed--this time uponanother, of different construction, and greater power. Again theinfernal machine was worked by the naked slaves, and, as it was woundup, inflicting all that it was capable of doing without absolutelydestroying life, groans and screams of fierce agony broke from thesuffering Christian. How long our ears were assailed by those terrificcries, I cannot say. They presently died away, as I doubted not, onlybecause Macer himself had expired under the torment. When they hadwholly ceased, the engine was reversed and Macer again unbound. He felllifeless upon the floor. Varus, who had sat the while conversing withFronto, now said,

  'Revive him, and return him hither.'

  Water was then thrown upon him, and powerful drinks were forced down histhroat. They produced in a little while their intended effect, and Macergave signs of returning life. He presently gazed wildly around him, andcame gradually to a consciousness of where and what he was. His limbsrefused their office, and he was supported and partly lifted to thepresence of Varus.

  'Now, Galilean,' cried Varus, 'again, how is it with thee?'

  'Better than with thee, I trust in God.'

  'Wilt thou now sacrifice?'

  'I am myself, O Varus, this moment a sacrifice, well pleasing andacceptable to the God whom I worship, and the Master whom I serve.'

  'Why, Varus,' said Fronto, 'do we bear longer his insults and impieties?Let me strike him dead.' And he moved his hand as if to grasp aconcealed weapon, with which to do it.

  'Nay, nay, hold, Fronto! let naught be done in haste or passion, nor inviolation of the law, but all calmly and in order. We act for those whoare not present as well as for ourselves.'

  A voice from a dark extremity of the room shouted out,

  'It is Macer, O Prefect, who acts for us.'

  The face of Macer brightened up, as if he had suddenly been encompassedby a legion of friends. It was the first token he had received, that somuch as one heart in the whole assembly was beating with his. He lookedinstantly to the quarter whence the voice came, and then, turning to thePrefect, said,

  'Yes, Varus, I am now and here preaching to the people of Rome, thoughI speak never a word. 'Tis a sermon that will fall deeper into the heartthan ten thousand spoken ones.'

  The Prefect commanded that he who had spoken should be brought beforehim. But upon the most diligent search he could not be found.

  'Christian,' said Varus, 'I have other pains in store, to which whatthou hast as yet suffered is but as the scratching of the lion's paw. Itwere better not to suffer them. They will leave no life in thee. CurseChrist--'tis but a word--and live.'

  Macer bent his piercing eye upon the Prefect, but answered not.

  'Curse Christ, and live.'

  Macer was s
till silent.

  'Bring in then,' cried the Prefect, 'your pincers, rakes and shells; andwe will see what they may have virtue to bring forth.'

  The black messengers of death hastened at the word from their darkrecesses, loaded with those new instruments of torture, and stood aroundthe miserable man.

  'Now, Macer,' said Varus once more, 'acknowledge Jupiter Greatest andBest, and thou shalt live.'

  Macer turned round to the people, and with his utmost voice cried out,

  'There is, O Romans, but One God; and the God of Christ is he--'

  No sooner had he uttered those words than Fronto exclaimed,

  'Ah! hah! I have found thee then! This is the voice, thrice accursed!that came from the sacred Temple of the Sun! This, Romans, is the godwhose thunder turned you pale.'

  'Had it been my voice alone, priest, that was heard that day, I had beenaccursed indeed. I was out the humble instrument of him I serve--drivenby his spirit. It was the voice of God, not of man.'

  'These,' said Fronto, 'are the Christian devices, by which they wouldlead blindfold into their snares you, Romans, and your children. MayChrist ever employ in Rome a messenger cunning and skilful as thisprating god, and Hellenism will have naught to fear.'

  'And,' cried Macer, 'let your priests be but like Fronto, and the eyesof the blindest driveler of you all will be unsealed. Ask Fronto intowhose bag went the bull's heart, that on the day of dedication could notbe found--

  'Thou liest, Nazarene--'

  'Ply him with your pincers,' cried Varus,--and the cruel irons wereplunged into his flesh. Yet he shrunk not--nor groaned; but his voicewas again heard in the midst of the torture,

  'Ask him from whose robe came the old and withered heart, the sight ofwhich so unmanned Aurelian--'

  'Dash in his mouth,' shrieked Fronto, 'and stop those lies blacker thanhell.'

  But Macer went on, while the irons tore him in every part.

  'Ask him too for the instructions and the bribes given to theharuspices, and to those who led the beasts up to the altar. Though Idie, Romans, I have left the proof of all this in good hands. I stoodthe while where I saw it all.'

  'Thou liest, slave,' cried the furious priest; and at the same momentspringing forward and seizing an instrument from the hands of one ofthe tormentors, he struck it into the shoulder of Macer, and thelacerated arm fell from the bleeding trunk. A piercing shriek confessedthe inflicted agony.

  'Away with him!' cried Varus, 'away with him to the rack, and tear himjoint from joint!'

  At the word he was borne bleeding away, but not insensible norspeechless. All along as he went his voice was heard calling upon Godand Christ, and exhorting the people to abjure their idolatries.

  He was soon stretched again upon the rack, which now quickly finishedits work; and the Christian Macer, after sufferings which I knew notbefore that the human frame could so long endure and live, died a martyrto the faith he had espoused; the last words which were heard throughoutthe hall being these;

  'Jesus, I die for thee, and my death is sweet!'

  When it was announced to the Prefect that Macer was dead, he exclaimed,

  'Take the carcass of the Christian dog and throw it upon the square ofthe Jews: there let the dogs devour it.'

  Saying which, he rose from his seat, and, accompanied by Fronto, left bythe same way he had before entered the hall of judgment.

  Soon as he had withdrawn from the apartment, the base rabble that hadfilled it, and had glutted their savage souls upon the horrors of thatscene, cried out tumultuously for the body of the Christian, which, whenit was gladly delivered to them by those who had already had enough ofit, they thrust hooks into, and rushed out dragging it toward the placeordained for it by the Prefect. As they came forth into the streets themob increased to an immense multitude of those, who seemed possessed ofthe same spirit. And they had not together proceeded far, filling theair with their cries and uttering maledictions of every form against theunhappy Christians, before a new horror was proclaimed by thatblood-thirsty crew. For one of them, suddenly springing up upon the baseof one of the public statues, whence he could be heard by the greaterpart, cried out,

  'To the house of Macer! To the house of Macer!'

  'Aye, aye,' shouted another, 'to the house of Macer, in the ruins behindthe shop of Demetrius!'

  'To the house of Macer!' arose then in one deafening shout from thewhole throng; and, filled with this new frenzy, maddened like wildbeasts at the prospect of fresh blood, they abandoned there, where theyhad dragged it, the body of Macer, and put new speed into their feet intheir haste to arrive at the place of the expected sport. I knew notthen where the ruins were, or it was possible that I might have got inadvance of the mob, and given timely warning to the devoted family.Neither did I know any to whom to apply to discharge such a duty. WhileI deplored this my helplessness and weakness, I suffered myself to beborne along with the rushing crowd. Their merciless threats, theirsavage language, better becoming barbarians than a people like this,living in the very centre of civilization, filled me with an undefinableterror. It seemed to me that within reach of such a populace, no peoplewere secure of property or life.

  'The Christians,' said one, 'have had their day and it has been a longone, too long for Rome. Let its night now come.'

  'Yes,' said another, 'we will all have a hand in bringing it on. Letevery Roman do his share, and they may be easily rooted out.'

  'I understand,' said another, 'that it is agreed upon, that whatever thepeople attempt after their own manner, as in what we are now about, theyare not to be interfered with. We are to have free pasturage, and feedwhere, and as we list.'

  'Who could suppose,' said the first, 'it should be different? It is wellknown that formerly, though there has been no edict to the purpose, thepeople have not only been permitted, they have been expected, to dotheir part of the business without being asked or urged. I dare say ifwe can do up this family of--who is it?'

  'Macer, the Christian Macer,' interrupted the other;--'we shall receivethe thanks of Aurelian, though they be not spoken, as heartily as Varus.That was a tough old fellow though. They say he has served many yearsunder the Emperor, and when he left the army was in a fair way to riseto the highest rank. Curses upon those who made a Christian of him! Itis they, not Varus, who have put him on the rack. But see! are not thesethe ruins we seek? I hope so, for I have run far enough.'

  'Yes,' replied his companion; 'these are the old baths! Now for it!'

  The crowd thereupon abandoning the streets, poured itself like anadvancing flood among the ruins, filling all the spaces and mounting upupon all the still standing fragments of walls and columns. It was notat all evident where the house of the Christian was. It all seemed aconfusion of ruins and of dead wall.

  'Who can show us,' cried out one who took upon himself the office ofleader, 'where the dwelling of Macer is?'

  'I can,' responded the slender voice of a little boy; 'for I have oftenbeen there before they became Christians.'

  'Show us then, my young urchin; come up hither. Now, lead the way, andwe will follow.'

  'You need go no further,' replied the boy; 'that is it?'

  'That? It is but a stone wall!'

  'Still it is the house,' replied the child; 'but the door is of stone aswell as the walls.'

  At that the crowd began to beat upon the walls, and shout to those whowere within to come forth. They had almost wearied themselves out, andwere inclined to believe that the boy had given them false information,when, upon a sort of level roof above the projecting mass which servedas the dwelling, a female form suddenly appeared, and, advancing to theedge--not far above, yet beyond, the reach of the mob below--shebeckoned to them with her hand, as if she would speak to them.

  The crowd, soon as their eyes caught this new object, ceased from theirtumultuous cries and prepared to hear what she who approached them thusmight have to say. Some, indeed, immediately began to hurl missiles, butthey were at once checked by others, who insisted
that she should haveliberty to speak. And these wretches would have been more savage stillthan I believed them, if the fair girl who stood there pleading to themhad not found some favor. Hers was a bright and sparkling countenance,that at once interested the beholder. Deep blushes spread over her faceand bosom, while she stood waiting the pleasure of the heaving multitudebefore her.

  'Ah! hah!' cried one; 'who is she but the dancing girl AElia! she is adainty bit for us. Who would have thought that she was the daughter of aChristian!'

  'I am sorry for her,' cried another; 'she is too pretty to be torn inpieces. We must save her.'

  'Say on! say on!' now cried one of the leaders of the crowd as silencesucceeded; 'we will hear you.'

  'Whom do you seek?' then asked AElia, addressing him who had spoken.

  'You know well enough, my pretty girl,' replied the other. 'We seek thehouse and family of Macer the Christian. Is this it? and are you of hishousehold?'

  'This,' she replied, 'is the house of Macer, and I am his daughter. Mymother with all her children are below. And now why do you seek usthus?'

  'We seek,' replied the savage, 'not only you but your lives. All youhave to do is to unbar this door and let us in.'

  Though AElia could have supposed that they were come for nothing else,yet the brutal announcement of the terrible truth drove the color fromher cheeks, and caused her limbs to tremble. Yet did it not abate hercourage, nor take its energy from her mind.

  'Good citizens and friends,' said she, 'for I am sure I must have somefriends among you, why should you do us such wrong? We are poor andhumble people, and have never had the power, if the will had been ours,to injure you. Leave us in safety, and, if you require it, we willabandon our dwelling and even our native Rome--for we are all nativeRomans.'

  'That, my young mistress, will not serve our turn. Are you not, as yousaid, the family of the Christian Macer?'

  'Yes, we are.'

  'Well,' answered the other, 'that is the reason we seek you, and mean tohave you.'

  'But,' replied the girl, 'there must be many among you who would notwillingly harm either Macer or anything that is his. Macer is not only aChristian, Romans, but he is a good warm-hearted patriot as ever wasborn within the compass of these walls. Brutus himself never lovedfreedom nor hated tyrants more than he.'

  'That's little to the purpose now-a-days,' cried one from the crowd.

  'There is not a single possession he has,' continued AElia, 'save onlyhis faith as a Christian, which he would not surrender for the love hebears to Rome and to everything that is Roman. Ever since he was strongenough to draw and wield a sword, has he been fighting for you thebattles of our country. If you have seen him, you have seen how cruellythe weapons of the enemy have hacked him. On every limb are there scarsof wounds received in battle; and twice, once in Gaul and once in Asia,has he been left for dead upon the field. It was once in Syria, when thebattle raged at its highest, and Carinus was suddenly beset by more thanhe could cope with, and had else fallen into the enemy's hands aprisoner, or been quickly despatched, that Macer came up and by hissingle arm saved his general--'

  'A great pity that,' cried many from the crowd.

  'Macer,' continued AElia, 'only thought that Carinus then representedRome, and that his life, whatever it was, and however worthless initself, was needful for Rome, and he threw himself into the breach evenas he would have done for Aurelian or his great captain Probus. Was nothis virtue the greater for that? Was he to feed his own humor, and leaveCarinus to perish, when his country by that might receive detriment?Macer has never thought of himself. Had he been ambitious as some, hehad now been where Mucapor is. But when in the army he always put by hisown interests. The army, its generals and Rome were all in all with him,himself, nothing. How, citizens, can you wish to do him harm? oranything that is his? And, even as a Christian--for which you reproachhim and now seek him--it is still the same. Believe me when I say, thatit is because of his love of you and Rome that he would make you all ashe is. He honestly thinks that it is the doctrine of Christ, which canalone save Rome from the destruction which her crimes are drawing downupon her. He has toiled from morning till night, all day and allnight--harder than he ever did upon his marches either in Africa or inAsia--that you might be made to know what this religion of Christ is;what it means; what it will bestow upon you if you will receive it; andwhat it will save you from. And he would not scruple to lose his life,if by so doing he could give any greater efficacy to the truth in whichhe believes. I would he were here now, Romans, to plead his own causewith you. I know you would so esteem his honesty, and his warm Romanheart, that you would be more ready to serve than to injure him.'

  Pity stood in some eyes, but impatience and anger in more.

  'Be not so sure of that,' cried he who had spoken before. 'No true Romancan love a Christian. Christians are the worst enemies of the state. Asfor Macer, say no more of him; he is already done for. All you have todo is to set open the door.'

  'What say you of Macer?' cried the miserable girl, wringing her hands.'Has any evil befallen him?'

  'What he will never recover from,' retorted the barbarian. 'Varus hasjust had him on one of his iron playthings, and his body we have but nowleft in the street yonder. So hasten.'

  'O worse than demons to kill so good a man,' cried AElia, the tearsrolling down her cheeks. 'But if he is dead, come and take us too. Wewish not now to live; and ready as he was to die for Christ, so readyare we also. Cease your blows; and I will open the door.'

  But her agency in that office was no longer needed. A huge timber hadbeen brought in the meantime from the ruins, and, plied by an hundredhands with noisy uproar, the stone door soon gave way, just as AEliadescended and the murderous crew rushed in.

  The work of death was in part quickly done. The sons of Macer, who, onthe uproar, had instantly joined their mother in spite of all theentreaties of Demetrius, were at once despatched, and dragged forth byropes attached to their feet. The two youngest, transfixed by spears,were seen borne aloft as bloody standards of that murderous rout. Themother and the other children, placed in a group in the midst of themultitude, were made to march on, the savages themselves being dividedas to what should be their fate. Some cried out, 'To the Tiber!'--some,'Crucify them beyond the walls!--others, 'Give 'em the pavements!' Butthe voice of one more ingenious in cruelty than the rest prevailed.

  'To the square by Hanno's with them!'

  This proposition filled them with delight.

  'To Hanno's! to Hanno's!' resounded on all sides. And away rushed theinfuriated mass to their evil sport.

  'And who is Hanno?' I asked of one near me.

  'Hanno? know you not Hanno? He is brother of Sosia the gladiator, andbreeds dogs for the theatres. You shall soon see what a brood he willturn out. There is no such breeder in Rome as he.'

  Sick at heart as I was, I still pressed on, resolved to know all thatChristian heroism could teach me. We were soon at the square, capable ofholding on its borders not only thousands but tens of thousands, towhich number it seemed as if the throng had now accumulated. Hanno'sextensive buildings and grounds were upon one side of the square, towhich the people now rushed, calling out for the great breeder to comeforth with his pack.

  He was not slow in obeying the summons. He himself appeared,accompanied, as on the day when Piso saw him on the Capitol Hill, by histwo dogs Nero and Sylla. After first stipulating with the ringleadersfor a sufficient remuneration, he proceeded to order the game. He was atfirst for separating the victims, but they implored to be permitted tosuffer together, and so much mercy was shown them. They were then settogether in the centre of the square, while the multitude disposedthemselves in an immense circle around--the windows of the buildings andthe roofs of all the neighboring dwellings being also thronged withthose who both looked on and applauded. Before the hounds were letloose, Hanno approached this little band, standing there in the midstand clinging to one another, and asked them,

  'If they had anything to say,
or any message to deliver, for he wouldfaithfully perform what they might enjoin.'

  The rest weeping, AElia answered, 'that she wished to say a few words tothe people who stood around.'

  'Speak then,' replied Hanno, 'and you shall not be disturbed.'

  She then turned toward the people, and said. 'I can wish you, Romans,before I die, no greater good than that, like me and those who are withme, you may one day become Christians. For you will then be incapable ofinflicting such sufferings and wrongs upon any human being. The religionof Jesus will not suffer you to do otherwise than love others as you doyourselves; that is the great Christian rule. Be assured that we nowdie, as Christians, in full faith in Christ and in joyful hope of livingwith him, so soon as these mortal bodies shall have perished; and that,though a single word of denial would save us, we would not speak it. Yehave cruelly slaughtered the good Macer; do so now by us, if such isyour will, and we shall then be with him where he is.'

  With these words she again turned, and throwing her arms around hermother and younger sisters, awaited the onset of the furious dogs, whoseyellings and strugglings could all the while be heard. She and theywaited but a moment, when the blood-hounds, fiercer than the fiercestbeasts of the forest, flew from their leashes, and, in less time thanwould be believed, naught but a heap of bones marked where the Christianfamily had stood.

  The crowds, then fully sated as it seemed with the rare sport of themorning, dispersed, each having something to say to another of thefirmness and patriotism of Varus and Fronto,--and of the training andbehavior of the dogs.

  * * * * *

  From the earliest period of reflection have I detested the Romancharacter; and all that I have witnessed with my own eyes has served butto confirm those early impressions. They are a people wholly destituteof humanity. They are the lineal descendants of robbers, murderers, andwarriors--which last are but murderers under another name--and they showtheir parentage in every line of their hard-featured visages, and stillmore in all the qualities of the soul. They are stern,--unyielding,unforgiving--cruel. A Roman heart dissected would be found all stone.Any present purpose of passion, or ambition, or party zeal, willextinguish in the Roman all that separates him from the brute. Bearwitness to the truth of this, ye massacres of Marius and Sylla! andothers, more than can be named, both before and since--when the blood ofneighbors, friends, and fellow-citizens, was poured out as freely as ifit had been the filthy stream that leaks its way through the publicsewers! And, in good sooth, was it not as filthy? For those very ones soslain, had the turn of the wheel--as in very deed has oftenhappened--set them uppermost, would have done the same deed upon theothers. Happy is it for the peace of the earth and the great cause ofhumanity, that this faith of Christ, whether it be true or false, is atlength beginning to bear sway, and doing somewhat to soften, what morethan twelve centuries have passed over and left in its originalvileness.

  When, like the rest of that Roman mob, I had been filled with the sightsand sounds of the morning, I turned and sought the palace of Piso.

  Arriving there I found Portia, Julia, and Piso sitting together at thehour of dinner. I sat with them. Piso had not left the palace, since Ihad parted from him. They had remained at peace within, and as ignorantof what had happened in the distant parts of the huge capital, as we allwere of what was then doing in another planet. When, as the meal drew toa close, I had related to them the occurrences of which I had just beenthe witness, they could scarce believe what they heard, though it wasbut what they and all had every reason to look for, from the languagewhich Aurelian had used, and the known hostility of the Prefect. Portia,the mother, was moved more, if it could be so, than even Piso or Julia.When I had ended, she said,

  'Think not, Nicomachus, that although, as thou knowest, I am ofAurelian's side in religion, I defend these inhuman wrongs. To inflictthem can make no part of the duty of any worshipper of the gods, howeverzealous he may be. I do not believe that the gods are propitiated by anyacts which occasion suffering to their creatures. I have seen nojustification under any circumstances of human sacrifices--much less canI see any of sacrifices like those you have this morning witnessed.Aurelian, in authorizing or conniving at such horrors, has cut himselfloose from the honor and the affections of all those in Rome whoseesteem is worth possessing. He has given himself up to the priesthood,and to the vulgar rabble over whom it exercises a sway more strict thanan Eastern despot. He is by these acts turning the current of the bestRoman sympathy toward the Christians, and putting off by a long removethe hour when he might hope to see the ancient religion of the statedelivered from its formidable rival.'

  'It is the purpose of Aurelian,' I said, 'not so much to persecute andannoy the Christians, as to exterminate them. He is persuaded that byusing the same extreme and summary measures with the Christians, whichhe has been accustomed to employ in the army, he can root out this hugeevil from the state, as easily as those lesser ones from thecamp;--without reflecting that it must be impossible to discover all, orany very large proportion of those who profess Christianity, and thattherefore his slaughter of a half or a quarter of the whole number, willbe to no purpose. It will have been but killing so many--there will beno other effect; unless, indeed, it have the effect to convince newthousands of the power, and worth, and divinity of that faith, for whichmen are so willing to die.'

  'I mourn,' said Portia, 'that the great head of the state, and the greathigh priest of our religion should have taken the part he has. Measuresof moderation and true wisdom, though they might not have obtained forhim so great a name for zeal and love of the gods, nor made so suddenand deep an impression upon the common mind and heart, would havesecured with greater probability the end at which he has aimed.'

  'It is hard.' said I, 'to resist nature, especially so when superstitioncomes in to its aid. Aurelian, by nature a savage, is doubly one throughthe influence of his religion and the priesthood. Moderation andhumanity are so contrary to every principle of the man and his faith,that they are not with more reason to be looked for from him thangentleness in a famished wolf.'

  Portia looked as if I had assailed the walls and capitol of Rome.

  'I know not, Greek,' she quickly said, 'on what foundation it is youbuild so heavy a charge against the time-honored faith of Rome. It hasserved Rome well these thousand years, and reared men whose greatnesswill dwell in the memory of the world while the world lasts.'

  'Great men have been reared in Rome,' I replied; 'it can by none bedenied. But it has been by resisting the influences of their religion,not by courting them. They have left themselves in this to the safertutelage of nature, as have you, lady; and they have escaped the evils,which the common superstition would have entailed upon them, had theyadmitted it to their bosoms. Who can deny that the religion of Rome, sofar as it is a religion for the common people, is based up on thecharacters of the gods, as they through history and tradition are heldup to them--especially as they are painted by the poets? Say if there beany other books of authority on this great theme than the poets? Whatbook of religious instruction and precept have you, or have you everhad, corresponding to the volume of the Christians, called theirgospels?'

  'We have none,' said Portia, as I paused compelling a rejoinder. 'It istrue, we have but our historians and our poets, with what we find in thephilosophers.'

  'And the philosophers,' I replied, 'it will be seen at once can neverbe in the hands of the common people. Whence then do they receive theirreligious ideas, but from tradition, and the character of the deities ofheaven, as they are set forth in the poets? And if this be so, I neednot ask whether it be possible that the religion of Rome should be anyother than a source of corruption to the people. So far as the godsshould be their models, they can do no otherwise than help to sink theirimitators lower and lower in all filth and vice. Happily for Rome andthe world, lady, men instinctively revolt at such examples, and copyinstead the pattern which their own souls supply. Had the Romans beenall which the imitation of t
heir gods would have made them, this empirehad long ago sunk under the deep pollution. Fronto and Aurelian--thelast at least sincere--aim at a restoration of religion. They would liftit up to the highest place, and make it the sovereign law of Rome. Inthis attempt, they are unconsciously digging away her very foundations;they are leveling her proud walls with the earth. Suppose Rome were madewhat Fronto would have her? Every Roman were then another Fronto--oranother Aurelian. Were that a world to live in? or to endure? These,lady, are the enemies of Rome, Aurelian and Fronto. The only hope forRome lies, in the reception of some such principles as these of theChristians. Whether true or false, as a revelation from Heaven, they arein accordance with the best part of our nature, and, once spread abroadand received, they would tend by a mighty influence to exalt it more andmore. They would descend, as it is of the nature of absolute truth todo, and lay hold of the humblest and lowest and vilest, and in themerect their authority, and bring them into the state, in which everyman should be, for the reason that he is a man. Helenism cannot dothis.'

  'Notwithstanding what I have heard, Nicomachus, I think you mustyourself be a Christian. But whether you are or not, I grant you tounderstand well what religion should be. And I must say that it has everbeen such to me. I, from what I have read of our moralists andphilosophers, and from what I have reflected, have arrived at principlesnot very different from such as you have now hinted at--'

  'And are those of Fronto or Varus like yours, lady?'

  'I fear not,' said Portia.

  'Yours then, let me say, are the religion, which you have first foundwithin your own breast, a gift from the gods, and then by meditationhave confirmed and exalted; theirs, the common faith of Rome. Could yourfaith rejoice in or permit the horrors I have this day witnessed and butnow described? Yet of theirs they are the legitimate fruit, thenecessary product.'

  'Out of the best,' replied Portia, 'I believe, Nicomachus, may oftencome the worst. There is naught so perfect and so wise, but humanpassions will mar and pervert it. I should not wonder if, in ages tocome, this peace-loving faith of the Christians, should it survive solong, should itself come to preside over scenes as full of misery andguilt as those you have to-day seen in the streets of Rome.'

  'It may be,' I rejoined. 'But it is nevertheless our duty, in theselection of our principles, to take those which are the purest, themost humane, the most accordant with what is best in us, and the leastliable to perversion and abuse. And whether, if this be just, it bebetter that mankind should have presented for their imitation and honorthe character and actions of Jesus Christ, or those of Jupiter "Greatestand Best," may be left for the simplest to determine.'

  Portia is so staunch a Roman, that one cannot doubt that as she was bornand has lived, so she will die--a Roman. And truth to say, were all likeher, there were little room for quarrel with the principles that couldproduce such results. But for one such, there are a thousand like Varus,Fronto, and Aurelian.

  As after this interview, which was prolonged till the shades of eveningbegan to fall, I held communion with myself on the way to the quietretreats of Tibur, I could not but entertain apprehensions for thesafety of the friends I had just left. I felt that where such men asVarus and Fronto were at the head of affairs, wielding, almost as theypleased, the omnipotence of Aurelian, no family nor individual ofwhatever name or rank could feel secure of either fortune or life. I hadheard indeed such expressions of regard fall from the Emperor for Pisoand his beautiful wife, that I was sure that if any in Rome might feelsafe, it was they. Yet why should he, who had fallen with fatal violenceupon one of his own household, and such a one as Aurelia, hesitate tostrike the family of Piso, if thereby religion or the state were to begreatly benefited? I could see a better chance for them only in theEmperor's early love of Julia, which still seemed to exercise over him asingular power.

  The Queen, I found, upon naming to her the subject of my thoughts, couldentertain none of my apprehensions. It is so difficult for her nature toadmit the faintest purpose of the infliction of wanton suffering, thatshe cannot believe it of others. Notwithstanding her experience of theharsh and cruel spirit of Aurelian, notwithstanding the unnecessarydestruction, for any national or political object, of the multitudes ofPalmyra, still she inclines to confide in him. He has given so manyproofs of regret for that wide ruin, he has suffered so much forit--especially for his murder of Longinus--in the opinion of all Rome,and of the highest and best in all nations, that she is persuaded hewill be more cautious than ever whom he assails, and where he scattersruin and death. Still, such is her devotion to Julia and her love ofPiso--so entirely is her very life lodged in that of her daughter, thatshe resolved to seek the Emperor without delay, and if possible obtainan assurance of their safety, both from his own arm and that of popularviolence. This I urged upon her with all the freedom I might use; andnot in vain; for the next day, at the gardens of Sallust, she hadrepeated interviews with Aurelian--and afterward at her own palace,whither Aurelian came with Livia, and where, while Livia ranged amongthe flowers with Faustula, the Emperor and the Queen held earnestdiscourse--not only on the subject which chiefly agitated Zenobia, buton the general principles on which he was proceeding in this attemptedannihilation of Christianity. Sure I am, that never in the Christianbody itself was there one who pleaded their cause with a more winningand persuasive eloquence.