Page 11 of Aurelian; or, Rome in the Third Century

  LETTER X.

  FROM PISO TO FAUSTA.

  I write to you, Fausta, by the hands of Vabalathus, who visits Palmyraon his way to his new kingdom. I trust you will see him. The adversitiesof his family and the misfortunes of his country have had most usefuleffects upon his character. Though the time has been so short, he hasdone much to redeem himself. Always was he, indeed, vastly superior tohis brothers; but now, he is not only that, but very much more.Qualities have unfolded themselves, and affections and tastes warmedinto life, which we none of us, I believe, so much as suspected theexistence of. Zenobia has come to be devotedly attached to him, and torepose the same sort of confidence in him as formerly in Julia. All thismakes her the more reluctant to part with him; but, as it is for athrone, she acquiesces. He carries away from Rome with him one of itsmost beautiful and estimable women--the youngest daughter of thevenerable Tacitus--to whom he has just been married. In her you will seean almost too favorable specimen of Roman women.

  Several days have elapsed since I wrote to you, giving an account of thesufferings and death of the Christian Macer--as I learned them fromthose who were present--for a breach of the late edicts, and forsacrilegiously, as the laws term it, tearing down the parchmentcontaining them from one of the columns of the capitol. During thisperiod other horrors of the same kind have been enacted in differentparts of the city. Macer is not the only one who has already paid forhis faith with his life. All the restraints of the law seem to bewithdrawn, not confessedly but virtually, and the Christians in humblecondition--and such for the most part we are--are no longer safe fromviolence in the streets of Rome. Although, Fausta, you believe not withus, you must, scarcely the less for that, pity us in our presentstraits. Can the mind picture to itself, in some aspects of the case, amore miserable lot! Were the times, even at the worst, so full of horrorin Palmyra as now here in Rome? There, if the city were given up topillage, the citizen had at least the satisfaction of dying in theexcitement of a contest, and in the defence of himself and his children.Here the prospect is--the actual scene is almost arrived andpresent--that all the Christians of Rome will be given over to thebutchery, first, of the Prefect's court, and others of the samecharacter, established throughout the city for the express purpose oftrying the Christians--and next, of the mob commissioned with fullpowers to search out, find, and slay, all who bear the hated name. TheChristians, it is true, die for a great cause. In that cause they wouldrather die than live, if to live, they must sacrifice any of theinterests of truth. But still death is not preferred; much less isdeath, in the revolting and agonizing form, which, chiefly, thesevoluntary executioners choose, to be viewed in any other light than anevil too great almost to be endured.

  It would astonish you, I think, and give you conceptions of the power ofthis religion such as you have never had as yet, could you with me lookinto the bosoms of these thousand Christian families, and behold thecalmness and the fortitude with which they await the approachingcalamities. There is now, as they believe, little else before them butdeath--and death, such as a foretaste has been given of, in thesufferings of Macer. Yet are they, with wonderfully few exceptions, herein their houses prepared for whatever may betide, and resolved that theywill die for him unto whom they have lived. This unshrinking courage,this spirit of self-sacrifice, is the more wonderful, as it is now thereceived belief that they would not forfeit their Christian name or hopeby withdrawing, before the storm bursts, from the scene of danger.

  There have been those in the church, and some there are now, who wouldhave all, who in time of persecution seek safety in flight, or by anyform of compromise, visited with the severest censures the church caninflict, and forever after refused readmission to the privileges whichthey once enjoyed. Paying no regard to the peculiar temperament andcharacter of the individual, they would compel all to remain fixed attheir post, inviting by a needless ostentation of their name and faith,the search and assault of the enemy. Macer was of this number. Happilythey are now few: and the Christians are left free--free from theconstraint of any tyrant opinion, to act according to the real feelingof the heart. But does this freedom carry them away from Rome? Does itshow them to the world hurrying in crowds by day, or secretly flying bynight, from the threatened woes? No so. All who were here when thesetroubles first began, are here now, or with few and inconsiderableexceptions--fewer than I could wish. All who have resorted to me underthese circumstances for counsel or aid have I advised, if flight be apossible thing to them, that they should retreat with their children tosome remote and secluded spot, and wait till the tempest should havepassed by. Especially have I so advised and urged all whom I have knownto be of a sensitive and timid nature, or bound by ties of more thancommon interest and necessity to large circles of relatives anddependents. I have aimed to make them believe, that little gain wouldaccrue to the cause of Christ from the addition of them and theirs tothe mass of sufferers--when that mass is already so large; whereas greatand irreparable loss would follow to the community of their friends, andof the Christians who should survive. They would do an equal service toChrist and his church by living, and, on the first appearance of calmertimes, reassuming their Christian name and profession; being then acentre about which there might gather together a new multitude ofbelievers. If still the enemies of Christ should prevail, and a day ofrest never dawn nor arise, they might then, when hope was dead, comeforth and add themselves to the innumerable company of those, born ofHeaven, who hold life and all its joys and comforts as dross, incomparison with the perfect integrity of the mind. By such statementshave I prevailed with many. Probus too has exerted his power in the samedirection, and has enjoyed the happiness of seeing safely embarked forGreece, or Syria, many whose lives in the coming years will be beyondprice to the then just-surviving church.

  Yet do not imagine, Fausta, that we are an immaculate people; that theweaknesses and faults which seem universal to mankind, are not to bediscovered in us that we are all, what by our acknowledged principles weought to be. We have our traitors and our renegades, our backsliders,and our well-dissembling hypocrites--but so few are they, that they giveus little disquiet, and bring slight discredit upon us with the enemy.And beside these, there will now be those, as in former persecutions,who, as the day of evil approaches, will, through the operation simplyof their fears, renounce their name and faith. Of the former, some havealready made themselves conspicuous--conspicuous now by their cowardlyand hasty apostacy, as they were before by a narrow, contentious, andrestless zeal. Among others, the very one, who, on the evening when theChristians assembled near the baths of Macer, was so forward to assailthe faith of Probus, and who ever before, on other occasions, when adisplay could by any possibility be made of devotion to his party, or anostentatious parade of his love of Christ, was always thrusting himselfupon the notice of our body and clamoring for notoriety, has alreadyabandoned us and sought safety in apostacy. Others of the same stamphave in like manner deserted us. They are neither lamented by us norhonored by the other party. It is said of him whom I have just spokenof, that soon as he had publicly renounced Christ, and sacrificed,hisses and yells of contempt broke from the surrounding crowds. He,doubtless it occurred to them, who had so proved himself weak,cowardly, and faithless, to one set of friends, could scarcely betrusted as brave and sincere by those to whom he then joined himself.There are no virtues esteemed by the Romans like courage and sincerity.This trait in their character is a noble one, and is greatly in ourfavor. For, much as they detest our superstitions, they so honor ourfortitude under suffering, that a deep sympathy springs up almostunconsciously in our behalf. Half of those who, on the first outbreak ofthese disorders, would have been found bitterly hostile, if their heartscould be scanned now or when this storm shall have passed by, would befound most warmly with us--not in belief indeed, but in afellow-feeling, which is its best preparation and almost certainantecedent. Even in such an inhuman rabble as perpetrated the savagemurder of the family of Macer, there were thousands who, then driven onby the fu
ry of passion, will, as soon as reflection returns, beartestimony in a wholly altered feeling toward us, to the power with whichthe miraculous serenity and calm courage of those true martyrs havewrought within them. No others are now spoken of in Rome, but Macer andhis heroic wife and children.

  * * * * *

  Throughout the city it is this morning current that new edicts are to beissued in the course of the day. Milo, returning from some of hisnecessary excursions into the more busy and crowded parts of the city,says that it is confidently believed. I told him that I could scarcelythink it, as I had reason to believe that the Emperor had engaged thatthey should not be as yet.

  'An Emperor surely,' said Milo, 'may change his mind if he lists. He islittle better than the rest of us, if he have not so much power as that.I think, if I were Emperor, that would be my chief pleasure, to do andsay one thing to-day and just the contrary thing to-morrow, withoutbeing obliged to give a reason for it. If there be anything that makesslavery it is this rendering a reason. In the service of the most nobleGallienus, fifty slaves were subject to me, and never was I known torender a reason for a single office I put them to. That was being neareran Emperor than I fear I shall ever be again.'

  'I hope so, Milo,' I said. 'But what reason have you to think,--if youwill render a reason,--that Aurelian has changed his mind?'

  'I have given proof,' answered Milo, 'have I not, that if anything isknown in Rome, it is known by Curio?'

  'I think you have shown that he knows some things.'

  'He was clearly right about the sacrifices,' responded Milo, 'as eventsafterwards declared. Just as many suffered as he related to me. What nowhe told me this morning was this, "that certain persons would findthemselves mistaken--that some knew more than others--that the ox led tothe slaughter knew less than the butcher--that great persons trusted nottheir secrets to every one--Emperors had their confidants--and Frontohad his."'

  'Was that all?' I patiently asked.

  'I thought, noble sir,' he replied, 'that it was--for upon that he onlysagaciously shook his head and was silent. However, as I said nothing,knowing well that some folks would die if they retained a secret, thoughthey never would part with it for the asking, Curio began again, soonas he despaired of any question from me, and said "he could tell me whatwas known but to three persons in Rome." His wish was that I should askhim who they were, and what it was that was known but to so few; but Idid not, but began a new bargain with a man for his poultry--for, youmust know, we were in the market. He then began himself and said, "Whothink you they were?" But I answered not. "Who," he then whispered in myear, "but Aurelian, Fronto, and myself!" Then I gratified him by askingwhat the secret was, for if it had anything to do with the Christians Ishould like to know it. "I will tell it to thee," he said, "but to noother in Rome, and to thee only on the promise that it goes in at thyear but not out at thy mouth." I said that I trusted that I, who hadkept, I dared hardly say how many years, and kept them still, thesecrets of Gallienus, should know how to keep and how to reveal anythinghe had to say. Whereupon, without any more reserve, he assured me thatFronto had persuaded the Emperor to publish new and more severe edictsbefore the sixth hour, telling him as a reason for it, that theChristians were flying from Rome in vast numbers; that every night--theyhaving first passed the gates in the day--multitudes were hastening intothe country, making for Gaul and Spain, or else embarking in vesselslong prepared for such service on the Tiber; that, unless instantlyarrested, there would be none or few for the edicts to operate upon, andthen, when all had become calm again, and he--Aurelian--were dead, andanother less pious upon the throne, they would all return, and Romeswarm with them as before. Curio said that, when the Emperor heard this,he broke out into a wild and furious passion. He swore by the great godof light--which is an oath Curio says he never uses but he keeps--thatyou, sir, Piso, had deceived him--had cajoled him; that you hadpersuaded him to wait and hear what the Christians had to say forthemselves before they were summarily dealt with, which he had consentedto do, but which he now saw was a device to gain time by which all, orthe greater part, might escape secretly from the capital. He then, withFronto and the secretaries, prepared and drew up new edicts, declaringevery Christian an enemy of the state and of the gods, and requiringthem everywhere to be informed against, and upon conviction of beingChristians, to be thrown into prison and await there the judgment of theEmperor. These things, sir, are what I learned from Curio, which I makeno secret of, for many reasons. I trust you will believe them, for Iheard the same story all along the streets, and mine is better worthy ofbelief only because of where and whom it comes from.'

  I told Milo that I could not but suppose there was something in it, as Ihad heard the rumor from several other sources; that, if Curio spoke thetruth, it was worse than I had apprehended.

  Putting together what was thus communicated by Milo, and what, as hesaid, was to be heard anywhere in the streets, I feared that some darkgame might indeed be playing by the priest against us, by which ourlives might be sacrificed even before the day were out.

  'Should you not,' said Julia, 'instantly seek Aurelian? If what Milo hassaid possess any particle of truth, it is most evident the Emperor hasbeen imposed upon by the lies of Fronto. He has cunningly used hisopportunities: and you, Lucius, except he be instantly undeceived, maybe the first to feel his power.'

  While she was speaking, Probus, Felix, and others of the principalChristians of Rome entered the apartment. Their faces and their manner,and their first words, declared that the same conviction possessed themas us.

  'We are constrained,' said Felix, 'thus with little ceremony, noblePiso, to intrude upon your privacy But in truth the affair we have comeupon admits not of ceremony or delay.'

  'Let there be none then, I pray, and let us hear at once what concernsus all.'

  'It is spread over the city,' replied the bishop, 'that before the sixthhour edicts are to be issued that will go to the extreme we havefeared--affecting the liberty and life of every Christian in Rome. Wefind it hard to believe this, however, as it is in the face of whatAurelian has most expressly stipulated. It is therefore the wish andprayer of the Christians that you, being nearer to him than any, shouldseek an interview with him, and then serve our cause in such manner andby such arguments as you best can.'

  'This is what we desire, Piso,' said they all.

  I replied, that I would immediately perform that which they desired, butthat I would that some other of our number should accompany me.Whereupon Felix was urged to join me; and consenting, we, at the moment,departed for the palace of Aurelian.

  On arriving at the gardens, it was only by urgency that I obtainedadmission to the presence of the Emperor. But upon declaring that I cameupon an errand that nearly concerned himself and Rome, I was ordered tobe brought into his private apartment.

  As I entered, Aurelian quickly rose from the table, at which he had beensitting, on the other side of which sat Fronto. None of the customaryurbanity was visible in his deportment; his countenance was dark andsevere, his reception of me cold and stately, his voice more harsh andbitter than ever. I could willingly have excused the presence of thepriest.

  'Ambassadors,' said Aurelian inclining toward us, 'I may suppose fromthe community of Christians.'

  'We came at their request,' I replied; 'rumors are abroad through thecity, too confidently reported, and too generally credited to beregarded as wholly groundless, yet which it is impossible for those whoknow Aurelian to believe, asserting that to-day edicts are to be issuedaffecting both the liberty and the lives of the Christians--'

  'I would, Piso, that rumor were never farther from the truth than inthis.'

  'But,' I rejoined, 'has not Aurelian said that he would proceed againstthem no further till he had first heard their defence from their ownorgans?'

  'Is it one party only in human affairs, young Piso,' he sharplyreplied,'that must conform to truth and keep inviolate a plighted word?Is deception no vice when it is a
Christian who deceives? I indeed saidthat I would hear the Christians, though, when I made that promise, Ialso said that 'twould profit them nothing; but I then little knew whyit was that Piso was so urgent.'

  'Truth,' I replied, 'cannot be received from some quarters, any morethan sweet and wholesome water through poisoned channels. Even,Aurelian, if Fronto designed not to mislead, no statement passingthrough his lips--if it concerned the Christians--could do so, withoutthere being added to it, or lost from it, much that properly belonged toit. I have heard that too, which, I may suppose, has been poured intothe mind of Aurelian, to fill it with a bitterer enmity still toward theChristians--that the Christians have sought this delay only that theymight use the opportunities thus afforded, to escape from his power--andthat, using them, they have already in the greater part fled from thecapital, leaving to the Emperor but a few old women and children uponwhom to wreak his vengeance. How does passion bring its film over theclearest mind! How does the eye that will not see, shut out the lightthough it be brighter than that of day! It had been wiser in Aurelian,as well as more merciful, first to have tried the truth of what has thusbeen thrust upon his credulity ere he made it a ground of action. Truehimself, he suspects not others; but suspicion were sometimes a highervirtue than frank confidence. Had Aurelian but looked into the streetsof Rome, he could not but have seen the grossness of the lie that hasbeen palmed upon his too willing ear. Of the seventy thousand Christianswho dwelt in Rome, the same seventy thousand, less by scarce aseventieth part, are now here within their dwellings waiting the will ofAurelian. Take this on the word of one whom, in former days at least,you have found worthy of your trust. Take it on the word of thevenerable head of this community who stands here to confirm it either byword or oath--and in Rome it needs but to know that Felix, theChristian, has spoken, to know that truth has spoken too.'

  'The noble Piso,' added Felix 'has spoken what all who know aught of theaffairs and condition of the Christians know to be true. There is amongus, great Emperor, too much, rather than too little, of that couragethat meets suffering and death without shrinking. Let your proclamationsthis moment be sounded abroad calling upon the Christians to appear forjudgment upon their faith before the tribunals of Rome, and they willcome flocking up as do your Pagan multitudes to the games of theFlavian.'

  While we had been speaking, Fronto sat, inattentive as it seemed to whatwas going on. But at these last words he was compelled to give ear, anddid it as a man does who has heard unwelcome truths. As Felix ended, theEmperor turned toward him without speaking, and without any look ofdoubt or passion, waiting for such explanation as he might have to give.

  Fronto, instantly re-assuring himself, rose from his seat with the airof a man who doubts not the soundness of his cause, and feels sure ofthe ear of his judge.

  'I will not say, great Emperor, that I have not in my ardor made broaderthe statements which I have received from others. It is an error quitepossible to have been guilty of. My zeal for the gods is warm andoft-times outruns the calm dictates of reason. But if what has now beenaffirmed as true, be true, it is more I believe than they who so reportcan make good--or than others can, be they friends or enemies of thistribe. Who shall now go out into this wilderness of streets, into themidst of this countless multitude of citizens and strangers--men of allreligions and all manners--and pick me out the seventy thousandChristians, and show that all are close at home? Out of the seventythousand, is it not palpable that its third or half may have fled, andyet it shall be in no man's power to make it so appear--to point to thespot whence they have departed, or to that whither they have gone? Butbeside this, I must here and now confess, that it was upon no knowledgeof my own gathered by my own eyes and ears that I based the truth, nowcharged as error; but upon what came to me through those in whose word Ihave ever placed the most sacred trust, the priests of the temple, and,more than all, my faithful servant--friend I may call him--Curio, intowhom drops by some miracle all that is strange or new in Rome.'

  I said in reply, 'that it were not so difficult perhaps as the priesthas made it seem, to learn what part of the Christians were now in Rome,and what part were gone. There are among us, Aurelian, in every separatechurch, men who discharge duties corresponding to those which Frontoperforms in the Temple of the Sun. We have our priests, and otherssubordinate to them, who fill offices of dignity and trust. Besidethese, there are others still, who, for their wealth or their worth, areknown well, not among the Christians only, but the Romans also. Ofthese, it were an easy matter to learn, whether or not they are now inRome. And if these are here, who, from the posts they fill would be thefirst victims, it may be fairly supposed that the humbler sort and lessable to depart--and therefore safer--are also here. Here I stand, andhere stands Felix; we are not among the missing! And we boast not of acourage greater than may be claimed for the greater part of those towhom we belong.'

  'Great Emperor,' said Fronto, 'I will say no more than this, that in itswhole aspect this bears the same front, as the black aspersions of thewretch Macer, whose lies, grosser than Cretan ever forged, poured in afoul and rotten current from his swollen lips; yea, while the hot ironswere tearing out his very heart-strings, did he still belch forth freshtorrents blacker and fouler as they flowed longer, till death came andtook him to other tortures worse a thousand-fold--the just doom of suchas put false for true. That those were the malignant lies I have saidthey are, Aurelian can need no other proof, I hope, than that which hasbeen already given.'

  'I am still, Fronto, as when your witnesses were here before me,satisfied with your defence. When indeed I doubt the truth of Aurelian,I may be found to question that of Fronto. Piso--hold! We have heard andsaid too much already. Take me not, as if I doubted, more than Fronto,the word which you have uttered, or that of the venerable Felix. Youhave said that which you truly believe. The honor of a Piso has neverbeen impeached, nor, as I trust, can be. Yet, has there been error, bothhere and there, and, I doubt not, is. Let it be thus determined then.If, upon any, blame shall seem to rest, let it be upon myself. If anyshall be charged with doing to-day what must be undone to-morrow, letthe burden be upon my shoulders. I will therefore recede; the edicts,which, as you have truly heard, were to-day to have been promulged,shall sleep at least another day. To-morrow, Piso, at the sixth hour, inthe palace on the Palatine, shall Probus--if such be the pleasure ofthe Christians--plead in their behalf. Then and there will I hear whatthis faith is, from him, or from whomsoever they shall appoint. And nowno more.'

  With these words on the part of Aurelian, our audience closed, and weturned away--grieving to see that a man like him, otherwise a Titanevery way, should have so surrendered himself into the keeping ofanother; yet rejoicing that some of that spirit of justice that oncewholly swayed him still remained, and that our appeal to it had not beenin vain.

  To-morrow then, at the sixth hour, will Probus appear before Aurelian.It is not, Fausta, because I, or any, suppose that Aurelian himself canbe so wrought upon as to change any of his purposes, that we desire thishearing. He is too far entered into this business--too heartily, and, Imay add, too conscientiously--to be drawn away from it, or diverted fromthe great object which he has set up before him. I will not despair,however, that even he may be softened, and abate somewhat of that ragingthirst for our blood, for the blood of us all, that now seems to maddenhim. But, however this may be, upon other minds impressions may be madethat may be of service to us either directly or indirectly. We maysuppose that the hearing of the Christians will be public, that many ofgreat weight with Aurelian will be there, who never before heard a wordfrom a Christian's lips, and who know only that we are held as enemiesof the state and its religion. Especially, I doubt not, will many, mostor all, of the Senate be there; and it is to that body I still look,as, in the last resort, able perhaps to exert a power that may save usat least from absolute annihilation.

  * * * * *

  To-day has Probus been heard; and while others sleep, I resume my pen
todescribe to you the events of it, as they have occurred.

  It was in the banqueting hall of the imperial palace on the Palatine,that Probus was directed to appear, and defend his cause before theEmperor. It is a room of great size, and beautiful in its proportionsand decorations. A row of marble pillars adorns each longer side of theapartment. Its lofty ceiling presents to the eye in allegory, and incolors that can never fade, Rome victorious over the world. The greatand good of Rome's earlier days stand around, in marble or brass, uponpedestals, or in niches, sunk into the substance of the walls. And wherethe walls are not thus broken, pictures wrought upon them, set beforethe beholder many of the scenes in which the patriots of former daysachieved or suffered for the cause of their country. Into thisapartment, soon as it was thrown open, poured a crowd both of Christiansand Pagans, of Romans and of strangers from every quarter of the world.There was scarcely a remote province of the empire that had not thereits representative; and from the far East, discernible at once by theircostume, were many present, who seemed interested not less than othersin the great questions to be agitated. Between the two central columnsupon the western side, just beneath the pedestal of a colossal statue ofVespasian, the great military idol of Aurelian, upon a seat slightlyraised above the floor, having on his right hand Livia and Julia, satthe Emperor. He was surrounded by his favorite generals and the chiefmembers of the senate, seated, or else standing against the columns orstatues which were near him. There too, at the side of, or immediatelybefore, Aurelian, but placed lower, were Porphyrius, Varus, Fronto, andhalf the priesthood of Rome. A little way in front of the Emperor, andnearly in the centre of the room, stood Probus.

  If Aurelian sat in his chair of gold, looking the omnipotent master ofall the world, as if no mere mortal force could drive him from the placehe held and filled--Probus, on his part, though he wanted all that airof pride and self-confidence written upon every line of Aurelian's faceand form, yet seemed like one, who, in the very calmness of anunfaltering trust in a goodness and power above that of earth, was inperfect possession of himself, and fearless of all that man might say ordo. His face was pale; but his eye was clear. His air was that of a manmild and gentle, who would not injure willingly the meanest thingendowed with life; but of a man too of that energy and inward strengthof purpose, that he would not on the other hand suffer an injury to bedone to another, if any power lodged within him could prevent it. It wasthat of a man to be loved, and yet to be feared; whose compassion youmight rely upon; but whose indignation at wrong and injustice might alsobe relied upon, whenever the weak or the oppressed should cry out forhelp against the strong and the cruel.

  No sooner had Aurelian seated himself, and the thronged apartment becomestill, than he turned to those who were present and said,

  'That the Christians had desired this audience before him and the sacredsenate, and he had therefore granted them their request. And he was nowhere, to listen to whatever they might urge in their behalf. But,' saidhe, 'I tell them now, as I have told them before, that it can be of noavail. The acts of former Emperors, from Nero to the present hour, havesufficiently declared what the light is in which a true Roman shouldview the superstition that would supplant the ancient worship of thegods. It is enough for me, that such is the acknowledged aim, andasserted tendency and operation of this Jewish doctrine. No merits ofany kind can atone for the least injury it might inflict upon thatvenerable order of religious worship which, from the time of Romulus,has exercised over us its benignant influence, and, doubtless, by theblessings it has drawn down upon us from the gods, crowned our arms witha glory the world has never known before--putting under our feet everycivilized kingdom from the remotest East to the farthest West, andstriking terror into the rude barbarians of the German forests.Nevertheless, they shall be heard; and if it is from thee, Christian,that we are to know what thy faith is, let us now hear whatever it is inthy heart to say. There shall no bridle be put upon thee; but thou hastfreest leave to utter what thou wilt. There is nothing of worstconcerning either Rome or her worship, her rulers or her altars, herpriesthood or her gods, but thou mayest pour it forth in such measure asshall please thee, and no one shall say thee nay. Now say on; the dayand the night are before thee.'

  'I shall require, great Emperor,' replied Probus, 'but little of either;yet I thank thee, and all of our name who are here present thank thee,for the free range which thou hast offered. I thank thee too, and so dowe all, for the liberty of frank and undisturbed speech, which thou hastassured to me. Yet shall I not use it to malign either the Romans ortheir faith. It is not with anger and fierce denunciation, O Emperor,that it becomes the advocate, of what he believes to be a religion fromHeaven, to assail the adherents of a religion like this of Rome,descended to the present generation through so many ages, and which allwho have believed it in times past, and all who believe it now, do holdto be true and woven into the very life of the state--the origin of itspresent greatness, and without which it must fall asunder into finalruin, the bond that held it together being gone. If the religion of Romebe false, or really injurious, it is not the generations now living whoare answerable for its existence formerly or now, nor for theprinciples, truths, or rites, which constitute it. They have receivedit, as they have received a thousand customs which are now among them,by inheritance from the ancestors who bequeathed them, which theyreceived at too early an age to judge concerning their fitness orunfitness, but to which, for the reason of that early reception, theyhave become fondly attached, even as to parents, brothers, and sisters,from whom they have never been divided. It becomes not the Christian,therefore, to load with reproaches those who are placed where they are,not by their own will, but by the providence of the Great Ruler. Neitherdoes it become you of the Roman faith to reproach us for the faith towhich we adhere; because the greater proportion of us also haveinherited our religion, as you yours, from parents and a community whoprofessed it before us, and all regard it as heaven-descended, and soproved to be divine, that without inexpiable guilt we may not refuse toaccept it. It must be in the face of reason, then, and justice, in theface of what is both wise and merciful, if either should judge harshlyof the other.

  'Besides, what do I behold in this wide devotion of the Roman people tothe religion of their ancestors, but a testimony, beautiful for thewitness it bears, to the universality of that principle or feeling,which binds the human heart to some god or gods, in love and worship?The worship may be wrong, or greatly imperfect, and sometimes injurious;the god or gods may be so conceived of, as to act with hurtfulinfluences upon human character and life; still it is religion; it is asentiment that raises the thoughts of the humble and toilworn from theearthly and the perishing, to the heavenly and the eternal. And this,though accompanied by some or many rites shocking to humanity, andrevolting to reason, is better than that men were, in this regard, nohigher nor other than brutes; but received their being as they dotheirs, they know not whence, and when they lose it, depart like them,they know not and care not whither. In the religious character of theRoman people--for religious in the earlier ages of this empire theyeminently were, and they are religious now, though in less degree--Ibehold and acknowledge the providence of God, who has so framed us thatour minds tend by resistless force to himself; satisfied at first withlow and crude conceptions, but ever aspiring after those that shall beworthier and worthier.

  'And now, O Emperor, for the same reason that we believe God thecreator did implant in us all, of all tribes and tongues, this deepdesire to know, worship, and enjoy him, so that no people have ever beenwholly ignorant of him, do we believe that he has, in these latteryears, declared himself to mankind more plainly than he did in theorigin of things, or than he does through our own reason, so that menmay, by such better knowledge of himself and of all necessary truthwhich he has imparted, be raised to a higher virtue on earth, and madefit for a more exalted life in heaven. We believe that he has thusdeclared himself by him whom you have heard named as the Master and Lordof the Christian, and after wh
om they are called, Jesus Christ. Him, Godthe creator, we believe, sent into the world to teach a better religionthan the world had; and to break down and forever destroy, through theoperation of his truth, a thousand injurious forms of false belief. Itis this religion which we would extend, and impart to those who willopen their minds to consider its claims, and their hearts to embrace itstruths, when they have once been seen to be divine. This has been ourtask and our duty in Rome, to beseech you not blindly to receive, butstrictly to examine, and, if found to be true, then humbly andgratefully to adopt this new message from above--'

  'By the gods, Aurelian,' exclaimed Porphyrius, 'these Christians arekindly disposed! their benevolence and their philosophy are alike. Weare obliged to them--'

  'Not now, Porphyrius,' said Aurelian. 'Disturb not the Christian. Sayon, Probus.'

  'We hope,' continued Probus, nothing daunted by the scornful jeers ofthe philosopher, 'that we are sincerely desirous of your welfare, and sopray that in the lapse of years all may, as some have done, take at ourhands the good we proffer them; for, sure we are, that would all soreceive it, Rome would tower upwards with a glory and a beauty thatshould make her a thousand-fold more honored and beloved than now, andher roots would strike down, and so fasten themselves in the very centreof the earth, that well might she then be called the Eternal City. Yet,O Emperor, though such is our aim and purpose; though we would propagatea religion from God, and, in doing so, are willing to labor our liveslong, and, if need be, die in the sacred cause, yet are we charged asatheists. The name by which we are known, as much as by that ofChristian, is atheist--'

  'Such, I have surely believed you,' said Porphyrius, again breaking in,'and, at this moment, do.'

  'But it is a name, Aurelian, fixed upon us ignorantly or slanderously;ignorantly, I am willing to believe. We believe in a God, O Emperor; itis to him we live, and to him we die. The charge of atheism I thuspublicly deny, as do all Christians who are here, as would allthroughout the world with one acclaim, were they also here, and wouldall seal their testimony, if need were, with their blood. We believe inGod; not in many gods, some greater and some lesser, as with you, andwhose forms are known and can be set forth in images and statues--but inone, one God, the sole monarch of the universe; whom no man, be he neverso cunning, can represent in wood, or brass, or stone; whom, so torepresent in any imaginary shape, our faith denounces as unlawful andimpious. Hence it is, O Emperor, because the vulgar, when they enter ourchurches or our houses, see there no image of god or goddess, that theyimagine we are without a God, and without his worship. And suchconclusion may in them be excused. For, till they are instructed, it maynot be easy for them to conceive of one God, filling Heaven and earthwith his presence. But in others it is hard to see how they think usatheists on the same ground, since nothing can be plainer than thatamong you, the intelligent, and the philosophers especially, believe aswe do in a great pervading invisible spirit of the universe. Platoworshipped not nor believed in these stone or wooden gods; nor in any ofthe fables of the Greek religion; yet who ever has charged him withatheism? So was it with the great Longinus. I see before me those whoare now famed for their science in such things, who are the teachers ofRome in them, yet not one, I may venture to declare, believes other thanas Plato and Longinus did in this regard. It is an error or a calumnythat has ever prevailed concerning us; but in former times some have hadthe candor, when the error has been removed, to confess publicly thatthey had been subject to it. The Emperor Marcus Aurelius, to name noother, when, in the straits into which he was fallen at Cotinus, hecharged his disasters upon the Christian soldiers, and, they prayingprostrate upon the earth for him and his army and empire, he forthwithgained the victory, which before he had despaired of--did thenimmediately acknowledge that they had a God, and that they should nolonger be reviled as atheists; since it was plain that men might believein a God, and carry about the image of him in their own minds, thoughthey had no visible one. It is thus we are all believers. We carry aboutwith us, in the sanctuary of our own bosoms, our image of the great andalmighty God whom we serve; and before that, and that only, do we bowdown and worship. Were we indeed atheists, it were not unreasonable thatyou dealt with us as you now do, nay and much more severely; for, wherebelief in a God does not exist, it is not easy to see how any state canlong hold together. The necessary bond is wanting, and, as a sheaf ofwheat when the band is broken, it must fall asunder.

  'The first principle of the religion of Christ is this belief in God; inhis righteous providence here on earth, and in a righteous retributionhereafter. How then can the religion of Christ in this respect be ofdangerous influence or tendency? It is well known to all, who areacquainted in the least with history or philosophy, that in the religionof the Jews, the belief and worship of one God almost constitutes thereligion itself. Every thing else is inferior and subordinate. In thisrespect the religion of Jesus is like that of the Jews. It is exceedingjealous of the honor and worship of this one God--this very same God ofthe Jews; for Jesus was himself a Jew, and has revealed to us the sameGod whom we are required to worship, only with none of the ceremonies,rites, and sacrifices, which were peculiar to that people. It is thiswhich has caused us, equally to our and their displeasure, frequently tobe confounded together, and mistaken the one for the other. But thedifferences between us are, excepting in the great doctrine I have justnamed, very great and essential. This doctrine therefore, which is thechief of all, being so fundamental with us, it is not easy, I say, tosee how we can on religious accounts be dangerous to the state. Formany things are comprehended in and follow from this faith. It is not abarren, unprofitable speculation, but a practical and restrainingdoctrine of the greatest moral efficiency. If it be not this to us, toall and every one of us, it is not what it ought to be and we wronglyunderstand or else wilfully pervert it.

  'We believe that we are everywhere surrounded by the presence of ourGod: that he is our witness every moment, and everywhere conscious, aswe are ourselves, of our words, acts, and thoughts; and will bring usall to a strict account at last for whatever he has thus witnessed thathas been contrary to that rigid law of holy living which he hasestablished over us in Christ. Must not this act upon us mostbeneficially? We believe that in himself he is perfect purity, and thathe demands of us that we be so in our degree also. We can impute to himnone of the acts, such as the believers in the Greek and Roman religionsfreely ascribe to their Jove, and so have not, as others have, in suchdivine example, a warrant and excuse for the like enormities. This oneGod too we also regard as our judge, who will in the end sit upon ourconduct throughout the whole of our lives, and punish or rewardaccording to what we shall have been, just as the souls of men,according to your belief, receive their sentence at the bar of Minos andRhadamanthus. And other similar truths are wrapt up with and make a partof this great primary one. Wherefore it is most evident, that nothingcan be more false and absurd than to think and speak of us as atheistsand for that reason a nuisance in the state.

  'But it is not only that we are atheists, but that, through our atheism,we are to be looked upon as disorderly members of society, disturbersof the peace, disaffected and rebellious citizens, that we hear on everyside. I do not believe that this charge has ever been true of any, muchless of all. Or if any Christian has at any time and for any reasondisobeyed the laws, withheld his taxes when they have been demanded, orneglected any duties which, as a citizen of Rome, he has owed to theEmperor, or any representative of him, then so far he has not been aChristian. Christ's kingdom is not of this world--though, because we sooften and so much speak of a kingdom, we have been thought to aim at oneon earth--it is above; and he requires us while here below to beobedient to the laws and the rulers that are set up over us, so far aswe deem them in accordance with the everlasting laws of God and ofright; to pay tribute to whomsoever it is due; here in Rome to Caesar;and, wherever we are, to be loyal and quiet citizens of the state. Andthe reception of his religion tends to make such of us all. Whoeveradopts the faith of the
gospel of Jesus will be a virtuous, and holy,and devout man, and therefore, both in Rome, in Persia, and in India,and everywhere, a good subject.

  'We defend not nor abet, great Emperor, the act of that holy butimpetuous and passionate man, who so lately, in defiance of the imperialedict and before either remonstrance or appeal on our part, preached onthe very steps of the capitol, and there committed that violence forwhich he hath already answered with his life. We defend him not in that;but neither do we defend, but utterly condemn and execrate theunrighteous haste, and the more than demoniac barbarity of his death.God, we rejoice in all our afflictions to believe, is over all, and thewicked, the cruel, and the unjust, shall not escape.

  'Yet it must be acknowledged that there are higher duties than thosewhich we owe to the state, even as there is a higher sovereign to whomwe owe allegiance than the head of the state, whether that head be king,senate, or emperor. Man is not only a subject and a citizen, he is firstof all the creature of God, and amenable to his laws. When thereforethere is a conflict between the laws of God and the king, who can doubtwhich are to be obeyed?--'

  'Who does not see,' cried Porphyrius vehemently, 'that in suchprinciples there lurks the blackest treason? for who but themselves areto judge when the laws of the two sovereigns do thus conflict? and whatlaw then may be promulged, but to them it may be an offence?'

  'Let not the learned Porphyrius,' resumed Probus, 'rest in but a part ofwhat I say. Let him hear the whole, and then deny the principle if hecan. I say, when the law of God and the law of man are opposite the oneto the other, we are not to hesitate which to obey and which to break;our first allegiance is due to Heaven. And it is true that we ourselvesare to be the judges in the case. But then we are judges under the samestern laws of conscience toward God, which compel us to violate the lawof the empire, though death in its most terrific form be the penalty.And is it likely therefore that we shall, for frivolous causes, orimaginary ones, or none at all, hold it to be our duty to rebel againstthe law of the land? To think so were to rate us low indeed. They maysurely be trusted to make this decision, whose fidelity to conscience inother emergences brings down upon them so heavy a load of calamity. Imay appeal moreover to all, I think, who hear me, of the common faith,whether they themselves would not hold by the same principle? Supposethe case that your supreme god--"Jupiter greatest and best"--or the godbeyond and above him, in whom your philosophers have faith--revealed alaw, requiring what the law of the empire forbids, must you not, wouldyou not, if your religion were anything more than a mere pretence, obeythe god rather than the man? Although therefore, great Emperor, we blamethe honest Macer for his precipitancy, yet it ought to be, and is, thedetermination of us all to yield obedience to no law which violates thelaw of Heaven. We having received the faith of Christ in trust, to be byus dispensed to mankind, and believing the welfare of mankind to dependupon the wide extension of it, we will rather die than shut it up in ourown bosoms--we will rather die, than live with our tongues tied andsilent--our limbs fettered and bound! We must speak, or we will die--'

  Porphyrius again sprang from his seat with intent to speak, but theEmperor restrained him.

  'Contend not now, Porphyrius; let us hear the Christian. I have givenhim his freedom. Infringe it not.'

  'I will willingly, noble Emperor,' said Probus, 'respond to whatsoeverthe learned Tyrian may propose. All I can desire is this only, that thereligion of Christ may be seen, by those who are here, to be what ittruly is; and it may be, that the questions or the objections of thephilosopher shall show this more perfectly than a continued discourse.'

  The Emperor, however, making a sign, he went on.

  'We have also been charged, O Emperor, with vices and crimes, committedat both our social and our religious meetings, at which nature revolts,which are even beyond in grossness what have been ever ascribed to themost flagitious of mankind.'--Probus here enumerated the many rumorswhich had long been and still were current in Rome, and, especially bythe lower orders, believed; and drew then such a picture of thecharacter, lives, manners, and morals of the Christians, for the truthof which he appealed openly to noble and distinguished persons among theRomans then present,--not of the Christian faith, but who were yet wellacquainted with their character and condition, and who would not refuseto testify to what he had said--that there could none have been presentin that vast assembly but who, if there were any sense of justice withinthem, must have dismissed forever from their minds, if they had everentertained them, the slanderous fictions that had filled them.

  To report to you, Fausta, this part of his defence, must be needless,and could not prove otherwise than painful. He then also refuted in thesame manner other common objections alleged against the Christians andtheir worship; the lateness of its origin; its beggarly simplicity; thelow and ignorant people who alone or chiefly, both in Rome andthroughout the world, have received it; the fierce divisions anddisputes among the Christians themselves; the uncertainty of itsdoctrines; the rigor of its morality, as unsuited to mankind; as alsoits spiritual worship; the slowness of its progress, and the littlelikelihood that, if God were its author, he would leave it to be troddenunder foot and so nearly annihilated by the very people to whom he wassending it; these and other similar things usually urged against theChristians, and now for the first time, it is probable, by most of theRomans present, heard, refuted, and explained, did Probus set forth,both with brevity and force; making nothing tedious by reason of afrivolous minuteness, nor yet omitting a single topic or argument, whichit was due to the cause he defended, to bring before the minds of thataugust assembly. He then ended his appeal in the following manner:

  'And now, great Emperor, must you have seen, in what I have alreadysaid, what the nature and character of this religion is; for in denyingand disproving the charges that have been brought against it, I have, inmost particulars, alleged and explained some opposite truth or doctrine,by which it is justly characterized. But that you may be informed themore exactly for what it is you are about to persecute and destroy us,and for what it is that we cheerfully undergo torture and death soonerthan surrender or deny it, listen yet a moment longer. You have heardthat we are named after Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee, who, in thereign of Tiberius, was born in Judea, and there lived and taught, aprophet and messenger of God, till he was publicly crucified by hisbitter enemies the Jews. We do not doubt, nay, we all steadfastlybelieve, that this Jesus was the Son of the Most High God, by reason ofhis wonderful endowments and his delegated office as the long-looked-forMessiah of the Jews. As the evidences of his great office and of hisdivine origin, he performed those miracles that filled with astonishmentthe whole Jewish nation, and strangers from all parts of the world; andso wrought even upon the mind of your great predecessor, the EmperorTiberius, that he would fain receive him into the number of the gods ofRome. And why, O Emperor, was this great personage sent forth into theworld, encircled by the rays of divine power and wisdom and goodness, anemanation of the self-existent and infinite God? And why do we so honorhim, and cleave to him, that we are ready to offer our lives insacrifice, while we go forth as preachers of his faith, making him knownto all nations as the universal Saviour and Redeemer? This Jesus cameinto the world, and lived and taught; was preceded by so long apreparation of prophetic annunciation, and accompanied by so sublimedemonstrations of almighty power, to this end, and to this end only,that he might save us from our sins, and from those penal consequencesin this world and in worlds to come, which are bound to them by thestern decrees of fate. Yes, Aurelian, Jesus came only that he mightdeliver mankind from the thraldom of every kind of wickedness, and raisethem to a higher condition of virtue and happiness. He was a great moraland religious teacher and reformer, endowed with the wisdom and power ofthe supreme God. He himself toiled only in Judea; but he came abenefactor of Rome too--of Rome as well as of Judea. He came to purge itof its pollutions; to check in their growth those customs and viceswhich seem destined, reaching their natural height and size, to overlayan
d bury in final ruin the city and the empire; he came to make uscitizens of Heaven through the virtues which his doctrine should buildup in the soul, and so citizens of Rome more worthy of that name thanany who ever went before. He came to heal, to mend, to reform thestate; not to set up a kingdom in hostility to this, but in unison withit; an inward, invisible kingdom in every man's heart, which should beas the soul of the other.

  'It was to reform the morals of the state, to save it from itself, thatyou, Aurelian, in the first years of your reign, applied those energiesthat have raised the empire to more than its ancient glory. You aimed toinfuse a love of justice and of peace, to abate the extravagances of thetimes, to stem the tide of corruption that seemed about to bear downupon its foul streams the empire itself, tossing upon its surface a widesea of ruin. It was a great work--too great for man. It needed a divinestrength and a more than human wisdom. These were not yours; and it isno wonder that the work did not go on to its completion. Jesus is areformer; of Rome and of the world also. The world is his theatre ofaction; but with him there is leagued the arm and the power of theSupreme God; and the work which he attempts shall succeed. It cannot butsucceed. It is not so much he, Jesus of Nazareth, who has come forthupon this great errand of mercy and love to mankind, as God himself inand through him. It is the Great God of the Universe, who, by JesusChrist as his agent and messenger, comes to you, and would reform andredeem your empire, and out of that which is transitory, and by itsinherent vice threatened with decay and death, make a city and an empirewhich, through the energy of its virtues, shall truly be eternal. Canyou not, O Emperor, supposing the claims of this religion to a divineorigin to be just, view it with respect? Nay, could you not greet itsapproach to your capital with pleasure and gratitude, seeing its aim isnothing else than this, to purify, purge, and reform the state, to healits wounds, cleanse its putrifying members, and infuse the element of anew and healthier life? Methinks a true patriot and lover of Rome mustrejoice when any power approaches and offers to apply those remediesthat may, with remotest probability only, bid fair to cure the diseasesof which her body is sick, nigh unto death.

  'Such, Aurelian, was and is the aim of Jesus, in the religion which hebrought. And of us, who are his ministers, his messengers--who go forthbearing these glad tidings of deliverance from sin and corruption, andof union with God--our work is the same with his. We but repeat thelessons which he gave. Are we, in so doing, enemies of Rome? Are we notrather her truest friends? By making men good, just, kind, and honest,are we not at the same time making them the best citizens? Are there inRome better citizens than the Christians?

  'You will now perhaps, Aurelian, desire to be told by what instrumentsChristianity hopes to work such changes. It is simply, O Emperor, by thepower of truth! The religion which we preach uses not force. Were thearm of Aurelian at this moment the arm of Probus, he could do no morethan he now does with one, which, as the world deems, is in thecomparison powerless as an infant's. In all that pertains to the soul,and its growth and purification, there must be utmost freedom. The soulmust suffer no constraint. There must be no force laid upon it, but theforce of reason and the appeal of divine truth. All that we ask or wantin Rome is the liberty of speech--the free allowance to offer to menthe truth in Christ, and persuade them to consider it. With that we willengage to reform and save the whole world. We want not to meddle withaffairs of state, nor with the citizen's relations to the state; we havenaught to do with the city, or its laws, or government, beyond what wasjust now stated. We desire but the privilege to worship God according toour consciences, and labor for the moral welfare of all who will hearour words.

  'And if you would know what the truth is we impart, and by which wewould save the souls of men, and reform the empire and the world, be itknown to you that we preach Jesus Christ and him crucified, whom Godraised up and sent into the world to save it by his doctrine and life,and whom--being by the Jews hung upon a cross--God raised again from thedead. We preach him as the Son of God with power, by whom God has beenrevealed to mankind in his true nature and perfections, and throughwhom, he and he only is to be worshipped. In the place of Jupiter, webring you a revelation of the God and Father of Christ Jesus ourLord--creator of the universe, who will call all men into judgment atlast, rewarding or punishing according to what they have done. ThroughJesus, we preach also a resurrection from the dead. We show, byarguments which cannot be refuted, that this Jesus, when he had beencrucified and slain, and had lain three days in the tomb, was calledagain to life, and taken up to Heaven, as an example of what shouldafterwards happen to all his followers. Through him has immortality beenplainly brought to light and proved, and this transporting truth wedeclare wherever we go. Through Jesus, we preach also repentance; wedeclare to men their wickedness; we show them what and how great it is;and exhort them to repentance, as what can alone save them from thewrath to come.

  'This, O Emperor, is the great work which we, as apostles of Jesus, haveto do, to convince the world how vile it is; how surely theirwickedness, unrepented of, will work their misery and their ruin, and solead them away from it, and up the safe and pleasant heights ofChristian virtue. We find Rome sunk in sensuality and sin; nor onlythat, but ignorant of its own guilt, dead to the wickedness into whichit has fallen, and denying any obligations to a different or betterlife. Such do we find, indeed, not Rome only, but the world itself, deadin trespasses and sin. We would rouse it from this sleep of death. Wedesire first of all, to waken in the souls of men a perception of theguilt of sin! a feeling of the wide departure of their lives from thejust demands of the being who made them. The prospect of immortalitywere nothing without this. Longer life were but a greater evil were wenot made alive to sin and righteousness. Life on earth, Aurelian, is notthe best thing, but virtuous life: so life without end is not the bestthing, but life without fault or sin. But to the necessity of such alife men are now insensible and dead. They love the prospect of animmortal existence, but not of that purity without which immortalitywere no blessing. But it is this moral regeneration--this waking up ofmen dead in sin, to the life of righteousness, which is the great aim ofChristianity. Repentance! was the first word of its founder when hebegan preaching in Judea; it is the first word of his followers whereverthey go, and should be the last. This, O Aurelian, in few words, is thegospel of Jesus--"Repent and live forever!"

  'In the service of this gospel, and therefore of you and the world, weare content to labor while we live, to suffer injury and reproach, andif need be, and they to whom we go will not understand us, lay down ourlives. Almost three hundred years has it appealed to mankind; and thoughnot with the success that should have followed upon the labor of thosewho have toiled for the salvation of men, yet has it not been rejectedeverywhere, nor has the labor been in vain. The fruit that has come ofthe seed sown is great and abundant. In every corner of the earth arethere now those who name the name of Christ. And in every place arethere many more, than meet the eye, who read our gospels, believe inthem, and rejoice in the virtue and the hope which have taken root intheir souls. Here in Rome, O Aurelian, are there multitudes ofbelievers, whom the ear hears not, nor the eye sees, hidden away in thesecurity of this sea of roofs, whom the messengers of your power nevercould discover. Destroy us, you may; sweep from the face of Rome everyindividual whom the most diligent search can find, from the gray-hairedman of fourscore to the infant that can just lisp the name of Jesus, andyou have not destroyed the Christians; the Christian church stillstands--not unharmed, but founded as before upon a rock, against whichthe powers of earth and hell can never prevail; and soon as this stormshall have overblown, those other, and now secret, multitudes, of whom Ispeak, will come forth, and the wilderness of the church shall blossomagain as a garden in the time of spring. God is working with us, andwho therefore can prevail against us!

  'Bring not then, Aurelian, upon your own soul; bring not upon Rome, theguilt that would attend this unnecessary slaughter. It can but defer foran hour or a day the establishment of that kingdom of
righteousness,which must be established, because it is God's, and he is laying itsfoundations and building its walls. Have pity too, great Emperor, uponthis large multitude of those who embrace this faith, and who will notlet it go for all the terrors of your courts and judges and engines;they will all suffer the death of Macer ere they will prove false totheir Master. Let not the horrors of that scene be renewed, nor thegreater ones of an indiscriminate massacre. I implore your compassions,not for myself, but for these many thousands, who, by my ministry, havebeen persuaded to receive this faith. For them my heart bleeds; them Iwould save from the death which impends. Yet it is a glorious and ahappy death, to die for truth and Christ! It is better to die so,knowing that by such death the very church itself is profited, than todie in one's own bed, and only to one's self. So do these thousandsthink; and whatever compassion I may implore for them, they would eachand all, were such their fate, go with cheerful step, as those who wentto some marriage supper, to the axe, to the stake, or the cross.Christianity cannot die but with the race itself. Its life is bound upin the life of man, and man must be destroyed ere that can perish.Behold then, Aurelian, the labor that is thine!'

  Soon as he had ceased, Porphyrius started from his seat and said,

  'It is then, O Romans, just as it has ever been affirmed. The Galileansare atheists! They believe not in the gods of Rome, nor in any in whommankind can ever have belief. I doubt not but they think themselvesbelievers in a God. They think themselves to have found one better thanothers have; but upon any definition, that I or you could give orunderstand, of atheism, they are atheists! Their God is invisible; he isa universal spirit, like this circumambient air; of no form, dwelling inno place. But how can that without effrontery be called a being, whichis without body and form; which is everywhere and yet nowhere; which,from the beginning of the world has never been heard of, till by theseNazarenes he is now first brought to light, or, if older, exists in thedreams of the dreaming Jews, whose religion, as they term it, is sostuffed with fable, that one might not expect, after the most exact andlaborious search, to meet with so much as a grain of truth. Yet,whatever these Galileans may assert, their speech is hardly to bereceived as worthy of belief, when, in their very sacred records, suchthings are to be found as contradict themselves. For in one place--notto mention a thousand cases of the like kind--it is said that Jesus, thehead of this religion, on a certain occasion walked upon the sea; when,upon sifting the narrative, it is found that it was but upon a paltrylake, the lake of Galilee, upon which he performed that great feat!--athing to which the magic of which he is accused--and doubtless withjustice--was plainly equal; while to walk upon the sea might well havebeen beyond that science. How much of what we have heard is to bedistrusted also, concerning the love which these Nazarenes bear toRome. We may well pray to be delivered from the affection of those,whose love manifests itself in the singular manner of seeking ourdestruction. He who loves me so well as to poison me that I may have thehigher enjoyment of Elysium, I could hardly esteem as a well-wisher orfriend. These Jewish fanatics love us after somewhat the same fashion.In the zeal of their affection they would make us heirs of what theycall their heavenly kingdom, but in the meanwhile destroy our religion,deprive us of our ancient gods, and sap the foundations of the state.

  'Romans, in spite of all you have heard of another sort, I hope you willstill believe that experience is one of your most valuable teachers, andthat therefore you will be slow to forsake opinions which have thesanction of venerable age, under which you have flourished so happily,and your country grown to so amazing a height of glory and renown. Ithink you would deserve the fate which this new-made religion wouldbring you to, if you abandoned the worship of a thousand years, for thepresumptuous novelty of yesterday. Not a name of greatness or honor canbe quoted of those who have adorned this foreign fiction; while all thegreat and good of Greece and Rome, philosophers, moralists, historians,and poets, are to be found on the side of Hellenism. If we cast from usthat which we have experienced to be good, by what rule and on whatprinciple can we afterward put our trust in anything else? And it isconsiderable, that which has ever been asserted of this people, andwhich I doubt not is true, that they have ever been prying about withtheir doctrines and their mysteries among the poor and humbler sort,among women, slaves, simple and unlearned folks, while they have neverappealed to, nor made any converts of, the great and the learned, whoalone are capable of judging of the truth of such things.

  'Who are the believers here in Rome? Who knows them? Are the sacredSenate Christians? or any distinguished for their rank? No; withexceptions, too few to be noticed, those who embrace it are among thedregs of the people, men wholly incapable of separating true from false,and laying properly the safe foundations of a new religion--a work toogreat even for philosophers. And not only does this religion draw toitself the poor and humble and ignorant, but the base and wicked also;persons known, while of our way, to have been notorious for their vices,have all of a sudden joined themselves to the Christians; and whatevershow of sanctity may then have been assumed, we may well suppose therehas not been much of the reality. Long may it boast of such members, andwhile its brief life lasts make continually such converts from us. As tothe amazing pretences they make of their benevolence in the care of thepoor, and even of our poor, doing more offices of kindness towardthem--so it is affirmed--than we ourselves--who does not see the motivethat prompts so much charity, in the good opinion they build up forthemselves in those whom they have so much obliged, and who cannot indecency do less afterward than oblige them in turn, by joining theirsuperstitions--superstitions of which they know nothing before theyadopt them, and as little afterward.

  'But I will not, O Emperor, weary out your patience again--already solong tried--and will only say, that the fate which has all along andeverywhere befallen these people, might well warn them that they areobjects of the anger rather than the favor and love of the Lord ofHeaven, of which they so confidently make their boast. For if he lovedthem would he leave them everywhere so to the rage and destruction oftheir enemies--to be reviled, trodden upon, and despised, all over theearth? If these be the signs of love, what are those of hate? And can itbe that he, their Lord of Heaven, hath in store for them a world ofbliss beyond this life, who gives them here on earth scarce the sordidshelter of a cabin? In truth, they seem to be a community living upontheir imaginations. They fancy themselves favorites of Heaven--thoughall the world thinks otherwise. They fancy themselves the greatestbenefactors the world has ever seen, while they are the only ones whothink so. They have nothing here but persecution, contempt, and hatred,and yet are anticipating a more glorious Elysium than the greatest andbest of earth have ever dared to hope for. We cannot but hope they maybe at sometime the riddle to themselves which they are to us. This is abenevolent wish, for their entertainment would be great.'

  When he had ended, and almost before, many voices were heard of thosewho wished to speak, and Probus rose in his place to reply to what hadfallen from the philosopher, but all were alike silenced by the loud andstern command of Aurelian, who, evidently weary and impatient of furtheraudience of what he was so little willing to hear at all, cried out,saying,

  'The Christians, Romans, have now been heard, as they desired, by onewhom they themselves appointed to set forth their doctrine. This is noschool for the disputations of sophists or philosophers or fanatics. LetRomans and Christians alike withdraw.'

  Whereupon, without further words or delay, the assembly broke up.

  * * * * *

  It was not difficult to see that the statements and reasonings of Probushad fallen upon many who heard them with equal surprise and delight.Every word that he uttered was heard with an eager attention I neverbefore saw equaled. I have omitted the greater part of what he said,especially where he went with minuteness into an account of the history,doctrine, and precept of our faith, knowing it to be too familiar to youto make it desirable to have it repeated.

  It was in part
at least owing to an unwillingness to allow Probus againto address that audience, representing all the rank and learning ofRome, that the Emperor so hastily dissolved the assembly. Whatevereffect the hearing of Probus may have upon him or upon us, there isreason to believe that its effects will be deep and abiding upon thehigher classes of our inhabitants. They then heard what they never heardbefore--a full and an honest account of what Christianity is; and, fromwhat I have already been informed, and gathered indeed from my ownobservation at the time, they now regard it with very differentsentiments.

  When, late in the evening of this day, we conversed of its events,Probus being seated with us, we indulged both in those cheering anddesponding thoughts which seem to be strangely mingled together in ourpresent calamities.

  'No opinion,' said Julia, 'has been more strongly confirmed within me bythis audience before Aurelian, than this, that it has been of mostauspicious influence upon our faith. Not that some have not been filledwith a bitterer spirit than before; but that more have been favorablyinclined toward us by the disclosures, Probus, which you made; andwhether they become Christians or not eventually, they will be far moreready to defend us in our claim for the common rights of citizens.Marcellinus, who sat near me, was of this number. He expressedfrequently, in most emphatic terms, his surprise at what he heard,which, he said, he was constrained to admit as true and fair statements,seeing they were supported and corroborated by my and your presence andsilence. At the close he declared his purpose to procure the gospels forhis perusal.'

  'And yet,' said I, 'the late consul Capitolinus, who was at my side, andwhose clear and intelligent mind is hardly equaled here in Rome, wasconfirmed--even as Porphyrius was, or pretended to be--in all hisprevious unfavorable impressions. He did not disguise his opinion, butfreely said, that in his judgment the religion ought to be suppressed,and that, though he should by no means defend any measures like thosewhich he understood Aurelian had resolved to put in force, he shouldadvocate such action in regard to it, as could not fail to expel it fromthe empire in no very great number of years.'

  'I could observe,' added Probus, 'the same differences of feeling andjudgment all over the surface of that sea of faces. But if I shouldexpress my belief as to the proportion of friends and enemies therepresent, I should not hesitate to say--and that I am sure without anyimposition upon my own credulity--that the greater part by far were uponour side--not in faith as you may suppose--but in that good opinion ofus, and of the tendencies of our doctrine and the value of our services,that is very near it, and is better than the public profession of Christof many others.'

  'It will be a long time, I am persuaded,' said Julia, 'before the truthsreceived then into many minds will cease to operate in our behalf. Butwhat think you was the feeling of Aurelian? His countenance was hiddenfrom me--yet that would reveal not much. It is immovable at those times,when he is deeply stirred, or has any motive to conceal his sentiments.'

  'I cannot believe,' replied Probus, 'that any impression, such as wecould wish, was made upon that hard and cruel heart. Not the brazenstatue, against the base of which he leaned, stood in its place moredead to whatever it was that came from my lips than he. He has not beenmoved, we may well believe, to change any of his designs. Whateveryesterday it was in his intent to do, he will accomplish tomorrow. I donot believe we have anything to hope at his hands.'

  'Alas, Lucius!' said Julia, 'that our faith in Christ, and our interestand concern for its progress in Rome, should after all come to this. Howhappy was I in Syria, with this belief as my bosom companion and friend;and free, too, to speak of it, to any and to all. How needless is allthe misery which this rude, unlettered tyrant is about to inflict! Howhappily for all, would things take their course even here, might theybut be left to run in those natural channels which would revealthemselves, and which would then conduct to those ends which the DivineProvidence has proposed. But man wickedly interposes; and a misery isinflicted, which otherwise would have never fallen upon us, and which inthe counsels of God was never designed. What now think you, Probus, willbe the event?'

  'I cannot doubt,' he replied, 'that tomorrow will witness all thatreport has already spread abroad as the purpose of Aurelian. Urged on byboth Fronto and Varus, he will not pause in his course. Rome, ere theIdes, will swim in Christian blood. I see not whence deliverance is tocome. Miracle alone could save us; and miracle has long since ceased tobe the order of Providence. Having provided for us this immenseinstrument of moral reform in the authority and doctrine of Christ, weare now left, as doubtless it is on the whole best for our character andour virtues we should be, to our own unassisted strength, to combat withall the evils that may assail us, both from without and within. Formyself, I can meet this tempest without a thought of reluctance ordread. I am a solitary man; having neither child nor relative to mournmy loss; I have friends indeed, whom I love, and from whom I would notwillingly part; but, if any considerable purpose is to be gained by mydeath to that cause for which I have lived, neither I nor they canlament that it should occur. Under these convictions as to my ownfate--and that of all, must I say and believe? no; I cannot, will not,believe that humanity has taken its final departure from the bosom ofAurelian--I turn to one bright spot, and there my thoughts dwell, andthere my hopes gather strength, and that is here where you, Piso, andyou, lady, will still dwell, too high for the aim of the imperialmurderer to reach. Here I shall believe will there he an asylum for manya wearied spirit, a safe refuge from the sharp pelting of the stormwithout. And when a calm shall come again, from beneath this roof, asonce from the ark of God, shall there go forth those who shall againpeople the waste-places of the church, and change the wilderness ofdeath into a fruitful garden full of the plants of Heaven.'

  'That it is the present purpose of Aurelian to spare me,' I answered,'whatever provocation I may give him, I fully believe. He is true; andhis word to that end, with no wish expressed on my part, has been given.But do not suppose that in that direction at least he may not change hispurpose. Superstitiously mad as he now is, a mere plaything too in thebloody hands of Fronto--and nothing can well be esteemed as moreinsecure than even my life, privileged and secure as it may seem. If itshould occur to him, in his day or his night visions and dreams, that I,more than others, should be an acceptable offering to his god, my lifewould be to him but that of an insect buzzing around his ear; and beingdead by a blow, he would miss me no more. Still, let the mercy that isvouchsafed, whether great or little, be gratefully confessed.'

  You then see, Fausta, the position in which your old friends now standhere in Rome. Who could have believed, when we talked over our dangersin Palmyra, that greater and more dreadful still awaited us in our ownhome. It has come upon us with such suddenness that we can scarcebelieve it ourselves. Yet are we prepared, with an even mind and atrusting faith, for whatever may betide.

  It is happy for me, and for Julia, that our religion has fixed within usso firm a belief in a superintending Providence--who orders not only thegreatest but the least events of life, who is as much concerned for thehappiness and the moral welfare of the humblest individual, as he is forthe orderly movement of a world--that we sit down under the shadows thatoverhang us, perfectly convinced that some end of good to the church orthe world is to be achieved through these convulsions, greater thancould have been achieved in any other way. The Supreme Ruler, webelieve, is infinitely wise and infinitely good. But he would beneither, if unnecessary suffering were meted out to his creatures. Thissuffering then is not unnecessary. But through it, in ways which oursight now is not piercing enough to discern--but may hereafter be--shalla blessing redound both to the individuals concerned, to the presentgeneration, and a remote posterity, which could not otherwise have beensecured. This we must believe; or we must renounce all belief.

  Forget not to remember us with affection to Gracchus and Calpurnius.

  * * * * *

  I also was present at the hearing of Probus. But of that I need saynothing;
Piso having so fully written concerning it to the daughter ofGracchus.

  Early on the following day I was at the Gardens of Sallust, where I waspresent both with the Emperor and Livia, and with the Emperor andFronto, and heard conversations which I here record.

  When I entered the apartment, in which it was customary for the Empressto sit at this time of the day, I found her there engaged upon herembroidery, while the Emperor paced back and forth, his arms crossedbehind him, and care and anxiety marked upon his countenance. Livia,though she sat quietly at her work, seemed ill at ease, and as if somethought were busy within, to which she would gladly give utterance. Shewas evidently relieved by my entrance, and immediately made her usualinquiries after the health of the Queen, in which Aurelian joined her.

  Aurelian then turned to me and said,

  'I saw you yesterday at the Palatine, Nicomachus; what thought you ofthe Christian's defence?'

  'It did not convert me to his faith--'

  'Neither, by the gods! did it me,' quickly interrupted Aurelian.

  'But,' I went on, 'it seemed to show good cause why they should not beharshly or cruelly dealt with. He proved them to be a harmless people,if not positively profitable to the state.'

  'I do not see that,' replied the Emperor. 'It is impossible they shouldbe harmless who sap the foundations of religion; it is impossible theyshould be profitable who seduce from their allegiance the good subjectsof the empire; and this religion of the Christians does both.'

  'I agree that it is so,' I rejoined, 'if it is to be assumed in thecontroversy that the prevailing religion of the Romans is a perfect one,and that any addition or alteration is necessarily an evil. That seemsto be the position of Porphyrius and others. But to that I can by nomeans assent. It seems to me that the religions of mankind aresusceptible of improvement as governments are, and other likeinstitutions; that what may be perfectly well suited to a nation in onestage of its growth, may be very ill adapted to another; that the godsin their providence accordingly design that one form of religiousworship and belief should in successive ages be superseded by others,which shall be more exactly suited to their larger growth, and moreurgent and very different necessities. The religion of the early days ofRome was perhaps all that so rude a people were capable ofcomprehending--all that they wanted. It worked well for them, and youhave reason for gratitude that it was bestowed upon them, and hasconferred so great benefits upon the preceding centuries. But the lightof the sun is not clearer than it is that, for this present passing age,that religion is stark naught.'

  The Emperor frowned, and stood still in his walk, looking sternly uponme; but I heeded him not.

  'Most, of any intelligence and reflection,' I continued, 'spurn it awayfrom them as fit but for children and slaves. Must they then be withoutany principle of this kind? Is it safe for a community to grow upwithout faith in a superintending power, from whom they come, to whomthey are responsible? I think not. In any such community--and Rome isbecoming such a one--the elements of disruption, anarchy, and ruin, arethere at work, and will overthrow it. A society of atheists is acontradiction in terms. Atheists may live alone, but not together. Willyou compel your subjects to become such? If a part remain true to theancient faith, and find it to be sufficient, will you deny to the otherpart the faith which they crave, and which would be sufficient for them?I doubt if that were according to the dictates of wisdom and philosophy.And how know you, Aurelian, that this religion of Christ may not be thevery principle which, and which alone, may save your people fromatheism, and your empire from the ruin that would bring along in itstrain?'

  'I cannot deny,' said the Emperor in reply, 'that there is some senseand apparent truth in what you have said. But to me it is shadowy andintangible. It is the speculation of that curious class among men, who,never satisfied with what exists, are always desiring some new forms oftruth, in religion, in government, and all subjects of that nature. Icould feel no more certain of going or doing right by conforming totheir theories, than I feel now in adhering to what is alreadyestablished. Nay, I can see safety nowhere but in what already is. Thereis the only certainty. Suppose some enthusiast in matters of governmentwere to propose his system, by which the present establishedinstitutions were all to be abandoned and new ones set up, should Ipermit him to go freely among the people, puzzling their heads with whatit is impossible they should understand, and by his sophistriesalienating them from their venerable parent? Not so, by Hercules! Ishould ill deserve my office of supreme guardian of the honor andliberties of Rome, did I not mew him up in the Fabrician dungeons, orsend him lower still to the Stygian shades.'

  'But,' said Livia, who had seemed anxious to speak, 'though it may beright, and best for the interests of Rome, to suppress this new worship,yet why, Aurelian, need it be done at such expense of life? Can no waybe devised by which the professors of this faith shall be banished, forinstance, the realm, and no new teachers of it permitted to enter itafterward but at the risk of life, or some other appointed penalty? SureI am, from what I heard from the Christian Probus, and what I have heardso often from the lips of Julia, this people cannot be the sore in thebody of the state which Fronto represents them.'

  'I cannot, Livia,' replied the Emperor, 'refuse to obey what to me havebeen warnings from the gods.'

  'But may not the heavenly signs have been read amiss?' rejoined Livia.

  'There is no truth in augury, if my duty be not where I have placed it,'answered Aurelian.

  'And perhaps, Aurelian,' said the Empress, 'there is none. I have heardthat the priests of the temples play many a trick upon their devoutworshippers.'

  'Livia, it has doubtless been so; but you would not believe that Frontohas trifled with Aurelian?'

  'I believe Fronto capable of any crime by which the gods may be served.Have you not heard, Aurelian what fell from the dying Christian's lips?'

  'I have, Livia; and have cast it from me as at best the coinage of amoonstruck mountebank. Shall the word of such a one as Macer theChristian, unseat my trust in such a one as Fronto? That were notreasonable, Livia.'

  'Then, Aurelian, if not for any reason that I can give, for the love youbear me, withhold your hand from this innocent people. You have oftenasked me to crave somewhat which it would be hard for you to grant, thatyou might show how near you hold me. Grant me this favor, and it shallbe more to me than if you gave me the one half the empire.'

  The Emperor's stern countenance relaxed, and wore for a moment thatsoftened expression, accompanied by a smile, that on his face might betermed beautiful. He was moved by the unaffected warmth and winninggrace with which those words were spoken by Livia. But he only said,

  'I love thee, Livia, as thou knowest,--but not so well as Rome or thegods.'

  'I would not, Aurelian,' replied the Empress, 'that love of me shoulddraw you away from what you owe to Rome--from what is the clear path ofa monarch's duty; but this seems at best a doubtful case. They who areequally Roman in their blood differ here. It is not wrong to ask you,for my sake, to lean to the side of mercy.'

  'You are never wrong, Livia. And were it only right to--'

  'But are you not, Aurelian, always sure of being right in beingmerciful? Can it ever afterward repent you that you drew back from theshedding of blood?'

  'It is called mercy, Livia, when he who has the power spares theculprit, forgives the offence, and sends him from the gibbet or thecross back to his weeping friends. The crowds throw up their caps andshout as for some great and good deliverance. But the mercy that returnsupon the world a villain, whose crimes had richly earned for him hisdeath, is hardly a doubtful virtue. Though, as is well known, I am notfamed for mercy, yet were it clear to me what in this case were thetruest mercy--for the pleasure, Livia, of pleasuring thee, I would bemerciful. But I should not agree with thee in what is mercy. It were nomercy to Rome, as I judge, to spare these Christians, whatever the gracemight be to them. Punishment is often mercy. In destroying thesewretches I am merciful both to Rome and to the world, and s
hall look tohave their thanks.'

  'There comes, Aurelian.' said Livia, rising, 'thy evil genius--thyill-possessing demon--who has so changed the kindly current of thyblood. I would that he, who so loves the gods, were with them. I cannotwait him.'

  With these words Livia rose and left the apartment, just as Frontoentered in another direction.

  'Welcome, Fronto!' said Aurelian. 'How thrive our affairs?'

  'As we could wish, great Emperor. The city with us, and the gods withus,--we cannot but prosper. A few days will see great changes.'

  'How turns out the tale of Curio? What find you to be the truth? Are theChristians here, or are they fled?'

  'His tale was partly false and partly true. More are fled than Piso orthe Christians will allow; but doubtless the greater part, by largeodds, remain.'

  'That is well. Then for the other side of this great duty. Is thine ownhouse purged? Is the temple, new and of milk-white marble, now as cleanand white in its priesthood? Have those young sots and pimps yet atonedfor their foul impieties?'

  'They have,' replied Fronto. 'They have been dealt with; and theircarcases swinging and bleaching in the wind will long serve I trust tokeep us sweet. The temple, I now may believe, is thoroughly swept.'

  'And how is it, Fronto, with the rest?'

  'The work goes on. Your messengers are abroad; and it will be neitherfor want of power, will, nor zeal, if from this time Hellenism standsnot before the world as beautiful in her purity as she is venerable inyears and truth.'

  'The gods be praised that I have been stirred up to this! When thisdouble duty shall be done, Hellenism reformed, and her enemy extinct,then may I say that life has not been spent for naught. But meanwhile,Fronto, the army needs me. All is prepared, and letters urge me on.To-morrow I would start for Thrace. Yet it cannot be so soon.'

  'No,' said the priest. 'Rome will need you more than Thrace, till theedicts have been published, and the work well begun. Then, Aurelian, mayit be safely entrusted, so far as zeal and industry shall serve, tothose behind.'

  'I believe it, Fronto. I see myself doubly reflected in thee: and almostso in Varus. The Christians, were I gone, would have four Aurelians forone. Well, let us rejoice that piety is not dead. The sacrifice thismorning was propitious. I feel its power in every thought andmovement.'

  'But while all things else seem propitious, Aurelian, one keeps yet adark and threatening aspect.'

  'What mean you?'

  'Piso!--'

  'Fronto, I have in that made known my will, and more than once. Whyagain dispute it?'

  'I know no will, great Caesar, that may rightly cross or surmount that ofthe gods. They, to me, are supreme, not Aurelian.'

  Aurelian moved from the priest, and paced the room.

  'I see not, Fronto, with such plainness the will of Heaven in this.'

  ''Tis hard to see the divine will, when the human will and humanaffections are so strong.'

  'My aim is to please the gods in all things,' replied the Emperor.

  'Love too, Aurelian, blinds the eye, and softening the heart toward ourfellow, hardens it toward the gods.' This he uttered with a strangesignificancy.

  'I think, Fronto, mine has been all too hard toward man, if it weretruly charged. At least, of late, the gods can have no ground of blame.'

  'Rome,' replied the priest, 'is not slow to see and praise the zeal thatis now crowning her seven hills with a greater glory than ever yet hasrested on them. Let her see that her great son can finish what has beenso well begun.'

  'Fronto, I say it, but I say it with some inward pain, that were itplain the will of the gods were so--'

  'Piso should die!' eagerly interrupted the priest.

  'I will not say it yet, Fronto.'

  'I see not why Aurelian should stagger at it. If the will of the godsis in this whole enterprise; if they will that these hundreds andthousands, these crowds of young and old, little children and tenderyouth, should all perish, that posterity by such sacrifice now in thebeginning may be delivered from the curse that were else entailed uponthem, then who can doubt, to whom truth is the chief thing, that theywill, nay, and ordain in their sacred breasts, that he who is theirchief and head, about whom others cluster, from whose station and powerthey daily draw fresh supplies of courage, should perish too; nay, thathe should be the first great offering, that so, the multitudes who staytheir weak faith on him, may, on his loss, turn again unharmed to theirancient faith. That too, were the truest mercy.'

  'There may be something in that, Fronto. Nevertheless, I do not yet seeso much to rest upon one life. If all the rest were dead, and but onealive, and he Piso, I see not but the work were done.'

  'A thousand were better left, Aurelian, than Piso and the lady Julia!They are more in the ears and eyes of Rome than all the preachers ofthis accursed tribe. They are preaching, not on their holydays to a mobof beggarly knaves, men and women dragged up by their hot and zealouscaterers from the lanes and kennels of the city, within the walls oftheir filthy synagogues, but they preach every day, to the very princesand nobles of the state--at the capitol to the Senate--here in thypalaces to all the greatest and best of Rome and, by the gods! as Ibelieve, make more converts to their impieties than all the army oftheir atheistical priesthood. Upon Probus, Piso, and Julia, hang theChristians of Rome. Hew them away, end the branches die. Probus, eretomorrow's sun is set, feeds the beasts of the Flavian--then--'

  'Hold, Fronto! I will no more of it now. I have, besides, assured Pisoof his safety.'

  'There is no virtue like that of those, who, having erred, repent.'

  Aurelian looked for the moment as if he would willingly have hurledFronto, and his temple after him, to Tartarus. But the bold man heededhim not.

  'Shall I,' he continued, 'say what it is that thus ties the hands of theconqueror of the world?'

  'Say what thou wilt.'

  'Rome says, I say it not--but Rome says, 'tis love.'

  'What mean they? I take you not. Love?'

  'Of the princess Julia, still so called.'

  A deep blush burned upon the cheek of Aurelian. He paused a moment, asif for some storm within to subside. He then said, in his deep tone,that indicates the presence of the whole soul--but without passion--

  'Fronto, 'tis partly true--truer than I wish it were. When in Syria myeye first beheld her, I loved her--as I never loved before, and nevershall again. But not for the Emperor of the world would she part fromyoung Piso. I sued, as man never sued before, but all in vain. Her imagestill haunts the chambers of my brain; yet, with truth do I say it, butas some pure vision sent from the gods. I confess, Fronto, it is she whostands between me and the will of Heaven. I know not what force, butthat of all the gods, could make me harm her. To no other ear has thisever been revealed. She is to me god and goddess.'

  'Now, Aurelian, that thou has spoken in the fullness of thy heart, do Ihold thee redeemed from the invisible tyrant. In our own hearts we sinand err, as we dare not when the covering is off, and others can look inand see how weak we are. Thou canst not, great Caesar, for this fondnessforget and put far from thee the vision of thy mother, whom, in dreamsor in substantial shape, the gods sent down to revive thy fainting zeal!Let it not be that that call shall have been in vain.'

  'Fronto, urge now no more. Hast thou seen Varus?'

  'I have.'

  'Are the edicts ready?'

  'They are.'

  'Again then at the hour of noon let them glare forth upon the enemies ofRome from the columns of the capitol. Let Varus be so instructed. Now Iwould be alone.'

  Whereupon the priest withdrew, and I also rose from where I had sat, totake my leave, when the Emperor said,

  'This seems harsh to thee, Nicomachus?'

  'I cannot but pray the gods,' I said, 'to change the mind of Aurelian!'

  'They have made his mind what it is, Nicomachus.'

  'Not they,' I said, 'but Fronto.'

  'But,' he quickly added, 'the gods made Fronto, and have put their mindin him, or it
has never been known on earth. You know not the worth,Greek, of this man. Had Rome possessed such a one two hundred years ago,this work had not now to be done.'

  Saying which, he withdrew into his inner apartment, and I sought againthe presence of Livia.