LETTER II.
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA.
You need not, dear Fausta, concern yourself on our behalf. I cannotthink that your apprehensions will be realized. Rome never was more calmthan now, nor apparently has there ever a better temper possessed itspeople. The number of those who are sufficiently enlightened to knowthat the mind ought not to be in bondage to man, but be held answerableto God alone for its thoughts and opinions, is becoming too great forthe violences and cruelties of former ages to be again put in practiceagainst us. And Aurelian, although stern in his nature, andsuperstitious beyond others, will not, I am persuaded, lend himselfeither to priests or people to annoy us. If no principle of humanityprevented him, nor generosity of sentiment, he would be restrained, Ithink, by his attachments to so many who bear the hated name.
And this opinion I maintain, notwithstanding a recent act on the part ofthe Emperor, which some construe into the expression of unfavorablesentiments toward us. I allude to the appointment of Fronto, NigridiusFronto, to be chief priest of the temple of the Sun, which has theseseveral years been building, and is now just completed. This mansignalized himself, both under Decius and Valerian, for his bitterhatred of the Christians, and his untiring zeal in the work of theirdestruction. The tales which are told of his ferocious barbarity, wouldbe incredible, did we not know so well what the hard Roman heart iscapable of. It is reported of him, that he informed against his ownsisters, who had embraced the Christian faith, was with those who huntedthem with blood-hounds from their place of concealment, and stood by, awitness and an executioner, while they were torn limb from limb, anddevoured. I doubt not the truth of the story. And from that day to this,has he made it his sole office to see that all the laws that bear hardupon the sect, and deprive them of privileges and immunities, are notpermitted to become a dead letter. It is this man, drunk with blood,whom Aurelian has put in chief authority in his new temple, and madehim, in effect, the head of religion in the city. He is however not onlythis. He possesses other traits, which with reason might commend him tothe regard of the Emperor. He is an accomplished man, of an ancientfamily, and withal no mean scholar. He is a Roman, who for Rome's honoror greatness, as he would on the one hand sacrifice father, mother,daughter, so would he also himself. And Rome, he believes, lives but inher religion; it is the life-blood of the state. It is these traits, Idoubt not, that have recommended him to Aurelian, rather than theothers. He is a person eminently fitted for the post to which he isexalted; and you well know that it is the circumstance of fitness,Aurelian alone considers, in appointing his own or the servants of thestate. Probus thinks differently. And although he sees no cause toapprehend immediate violence, confesses his fears for the future. Heplaces less reliance than I do upon the generosity or friendship ofAurelian. It is his conviction that superstition is the reigning powerof his nature, and will sooner or later assert its supremacy. It may beso. Probus is an acute observer, and occupies a position more favorableto impartial estimates, and the formation of a dispassionate judgment,than I.
This reminds me that you asked for news of Probus, my 'Christianpedagogue,' as you are wont to name him. He is here, adorning, by a lifeof severe simplicity and divine benevolence, the doctrine he hasespoused. He is a frequent inmate of our house, and Julia, not less thanmyself, ever greets him with affectionate reverence, as both friend andinstructor. He holds the chief place in the hearts of the RomanChristians; for even those of the sect who differ from him in doctrineand in life, cannot but acknowledge that never an apostle presented tothe love and imitation of his followers an example of rarer virtue. Yethe is not, in the outward rank which he holds, at the head of theChristian body. Their chiefs are, as you know, the bishops, and Felix isBishop of Rome, a man every way inferior to Probus. But he has the goodor ill fortune to represent more popular opinions, in matters both ofdoctrine and practice than the other, and of course easily rides intothe posts of trust and honor. Ho represents those among theChristians--for, alas! there are such among them--who, in seeking theelevation and extension of Christianity, do not hesitate to accommodateboth doctrine and manner to the prejudices and tastes of both Pagan andJew. They seek converts, not by raising them to the height of Christianprinciple and virtue, but by lowering these to the level of theirgrosser conceptions. Thus it is easy to see that in the hands of suchprofessors, the Christian doctrine is undergoing a rapid process ofdeterioration. Probus, and those who are on his part, see this, arealarmed, and oppose it; but numbers are against them, and consequentlypower and authority. Already, strange as it may seem, when you comparesuch things with the institution of Christianity, as effected by itsfounder, do the bishops, both in Rome and in the provinces, begin toassume the state and bearing of nobility. Such is the number and wealthof the Christian community, that the treasuries of the churches arefull; and from this source the pride and ambition of their rulers areluxuriously fed. If, as you walk through the street which crosses fromthe Quirinal to the Arch of Titus, lined with private dwellings ofunusual magnificence, you ask whose is that with a portico, that forbeauty and costliness rather exceeds the rest, you are told, 'That isthe dwelling of Felix, the Bishop of Rome;' and if it chance to be aChristian who answers the question, it is done with ill-suppressed prideor shame, according to the party to which he belongs. This Felix is thevery man, through the easiness of his dispositions, and his proneness toall the arts of self-indulgence, and the imposing graciousness of hiscarriage, to keep the favor of the people, and at the same time sinkthem, without suspicion on their part, lower and lower toward thesensual superstitions, from which, through so much suffering and by somany labors, they have but just escaped, and accomplish an adulterousand fatal union between Christianity and Paganism; by which indeedPaganism may be to some extent purified and exalted, but Christianitydefiled and depressed. For Christianity, in its essence, is that whichbeckons and urges onward, not to excellence only, but to perfection. Ofcourse its march is always in advance of the present. By such union withPaganism then, or Judaism, its essential characteristic will disappear;Christianity will, in effect, perish. You may suppose, accordingly, thatProbus, and others who with him rate Christianity so differently, lookon with anxiety upon this downward tendency, and with mingled sorrow andindignation upon those who aid it--oftentimes actuated, as is notorious,by most corrupt motives.
* * * * *
I am just returned from the shop of the learned Publius, where I metProbus, and others of many ways of thinking. You will gather from whatoccurred, better than from anything else I could say, what occupies thethoughts of our citizens, and how they stand affected.
I called to Milo to accompany me, and to take with him a basket in whichto bring back books, which it was my intention to purchase.
'I trust, noble master,' said he, 'that I am to bear back no moreChristian books.'
'Why so?'
'Because the priests say that they have magical powers over all who readthem, or so much as handle them; that a curse sticks wherever they areor have been. I have heard of those who have withered away to a merewisp; of others who have suddenly caught on fire, and vanished in flameand smoke; and of others, whose blood has stood still, frozen, or runout from all parts of the body, changed to the very color of your shoe,at their bare touch. Who should doubt that it is so, when the very boysin the streets have it, and it is taught in the temples? I would ratherSolon, noble master, went in my stead. Mayhap his learning would protecthim.'
I, laughing, bade him come on. 'You are not withered away yet, Milo, norhas your blood run out; yet you have borne many a package of thesehorrible books. Surely the gods befriend you.'
'I were else long since with the Scipios.' After a pause of some length,he added, as he reluctantly, and with features of increased paleness,followed in my steps:
'I would, my master, that you might be wrought with to leave these ways.I sleep not for thinking of your danger. Never, when it was my sadmischance to depart from the deserted palace of the great Gallien
us, didI look to know one to esteem like him. But it is the truth when Iaffirm, that I place Piso before Gallienus, and the lady Julia beforethe lady Salonina. Shall I tell you a secret?'
'I will hear it, if it is not to be kept.'
'It is for you to do with it as shall please you. I am the bosom friend,you may know, of Curio, the favorite slave of Fronto--'
'Must I not publish it?'
'Nay, that is not the matter, though it is somewhat to boast of. Thereis not Curio's fellow in all Rome. But that may pass. Curio then, as Iwas with him at the new temple, while he was busied in some of the lastoffices before the dedication, among other things, said: 'Is not thymaster Piso of these Christians?' 'Yes,' said I, 'he is; and were theyall such as he, there could be no truth in what is said of them.' 'Ah!'he replied, 'there are few among the accursed tribe like him. He has butjust joined them; that's the reason he is better than the rest. Waitawhile, and see what he will become. They are all alike in the end,cursers, and despisers, and disbelievers, of the blessed gods. But lionshave teeth, tigers have claws, knives cut, fire burns, water drowns.'There he stopped. 'That's wise,' I said, 'who could have known it?''Think you,' he rejoined, 'Piso knows it? If not, let him ask Fronto.Let me advise thee,' he added, in a whisper, though in all the templethere were none beside us, 'let me advise thee, as thy friend, to avoiddangerous company. Look to thyself; the Christians are not safe.' 'Howsay you,' I replied, 'not safe? What and whom are they to fear?Gallienus vexed them not. Is Aurelian----' 'Say no more,' he replied,interrupting me, 'and name not what I have dropped, for your life.Fronto's ears are more than the eyes of Argus, and his wrath more deadlythan the grave.'
'Just as he ended these words, a strong beam of red light shot up fromthe altar, and threw a horrid glare over the whole dark interior. Iconfess I cried out with affright. Curio started at first, but quicklyrecovered, saying that it was but the sudden flaming up of the fire thathad been burning on the altar, but which shortly before he had quenched.'It is,' said he, 'an omen of the flames that are to be kindledthroughout Rome.' This was Curio's communication. Is it not a secretworth knowing?'
'It tells nothing, Milo, but of the boiling over of the wrath of themalignant Fronto, which is always boiling over. Doubtless I should fareill, were his power equal to his will to harm us. But Aurelian is abovehim.'
'That is true; and Aurelian, it is plain, is little like Fronto.'
'Very little.'
'But still I would that, like Gallienus, thou couldst only believe inthe gods. The Christians, so it is reported, worship and believe in buta man,--a Jew,--who was crucified as a criminal, with thieves andmurderers.' He turned upon me a countenance full of unaffected horror.
'Well, Milo, at another time I will tell you what the truth about it is.Here we are now, at the shop of Publius.'
The shop of Publius is remarkable for its extent and magnificence, ifsuch a word may be applied to a place of traffic. Here resort all theidlers of learning and of leisure, to turn over the books, hear thenews, discuss the times, and trifle with the learned bibliopole. As Ientered, he saluted me in his customary manner, and bade me 'welcome tohis poor apartments, which for a long time,' he said, 'I had not honoredwith my presence.'
I replied that two things had kept me away: the civil broils in whichthe city had just been involved, and the care of ordering theappointments of a new dwelling. I had come now to commence someconsiderable purchases for my vacant shelves, if it might so happen thatthe books I wanted were to be found in his rooms.
'There is not,' he replied, 'a literature, a science, a philosophy, anart, or a religion, whose principal authors are not to be found uponthe walls of Publius. My agents are in every corner of the empire, ofthe east and west, searching out the curious and the rare, the usefuland the necessary, to swell the catalogue of my intellectual riches. Ibelieve it is established, that in no time before me, as nowhere now,has there been heard of a private collection like this for value and fornumber.'
'I do not doubt what you say, Publius. This is a grand display. Yourranges of rooms show like those of the Ulpian. Yet you do not quiteequal, I suppose, Trajan's for number?'
'Truly not. But time may bring it to pass. What shall I show you? Itpleases me to give my time to you. I am not slow to guess what it is younow, noble Piso, chiefly covet. And I think, if you will follow me tothe proper apartment, I can set before you the very things you are insearch of. Here upon these shelves are the Christian writers. Just letme offer you this copy of Hegesippus, one of your oldest historians, ifI err not. And here are some beautifully executed copies, I have justordered to be made, of the Apologies of Justin and Tertullian. Here,again, are Marcion and Valentinus; but perhaps they are not in esteemwith you. If I have heard aright, you will prefer these tracts of Paul,or Artemon. But hold, here is a catalogue. Be pleased to inspect it.'
As I looked over the catalogue, I expressed my satisfaction that aperson of his repute was willing to keep on sale works so generallycondemned, and excluded from the shops of most of his craft.
'I aim, my dear friend--most worthy Piso--to steer a midway course amongcontending factions. I am myself a worshipper of the gods of my fathers.But I am content that others should do as they please in the matter, Iam not, however, so much a worshipper--in your ear--as a bookseller.That is my calling. The Christians are become a most respectable people.They are not to be overlooked. They are, in my judgment, the mostintelligent part of our community. Wasting none of their time at thebaths and theatres, they have more time for books. And then theirnumbers too! They are not fewer than seventy thousand!--known andcounted. But the number, between ourselves, Piso of those who secretlyfavor or receive this doctrine, is equal to the other! My books go tohouses, ay, and to palaces, people dream not of.'
'I think your statements a little broad,' said a smooth, silvery voice,close at our ears. We started, and beheld the Prefect Varus standing atour side. Publius was for a moment a little disconcerted; but quicklyrecovered, saying in his easy way, 'A fair morning to you! I knew notthat it behooved me to be upon my oath, being in the presence of theGovernor of Rome. I repeat, noble Varus, but what I hear. I give what Isay as the current rumor. That is all--that is all. Things may not beso, or they may; it is not for me to say. I wish well to all; that is mycreed.'
'In the public enumerations of the citizens,' replied the Prefect,inclining with civility to Publius, 'the Christians have reached at notime fifty thousand. As for the conjecture touching the number of thosewho secretly embrace this injurious superstition, I hold it utterlybaseless. It may serve a dying cause to repeat such statements, but theyaccord not with obvious fact.'
'Suspect me not, Varus,' hastily rejoined the agitated Publius, 'ofsetting forth such statements with the purpose to advance the cause ofthe Christians. I take no part in this matter. Thou knowest that I am aRoman of the old stamp. Not a Roman in my street is more diligentlyattentive to the services of the temple than I. I simply say again, whatI hear as news of my customers. The story which one rehearses, I retailto another.'
'I thank the gods it is so,' replied the man of power.
'During these few words, I had stood partly concealed by a slendermarble pillar. I now turned, and the usual greetings passed with thePrefect.
'Ah! Piso! I knew not with certainty my hearer. Perhaps fromyou'--smiling as he spoke--'we may learn the truth. Rome speaks loudlyof your late desertion of the religion and worship of your fathers, andunion with the Galileans. I should say, I hoped the report ill founded,had I not heard it from quarters too authentic to permit a doubt.'
'You have heard rightly, Varus,' I rejoined. 'After searching throughall antiquity after truth, I congratulate myself upon having at lastdiscovered it, and where I least expected, in a Jew. And the good whichI have found for myself, I am glad to know is enjoyed by so many more ofmy fellow-citizens. I should not hesitate to confirm the statement madeby Publius, from whatever authority he may have derived it, rather thanthat which has been made by yourself. I have bestow
ed attention not onlyupon the arguments which support Christianity, but upon the actualcondition of the Christian community, here and throughout the empire.It is prosperous at this hour, beyond all former example. If Pliny couldcomplain, even in his day, of the desertion of the temples of the gods,what may we now suppose to be the relative numbers of the two greatparties? Only, Varus, allow the rescript of Gallienus to continue inforce, which merely releases us from oppressions, and we shall see inwhat a fair trial of strength between the two religions will issue.'
'That dull profligate and parricide,' replied Varus, 'not content withkilling himself with his vices, and his father by connivance, must needsdestroy his country by his fatuity. I confess, that till that order berepealed, the superstition will spread.'
'But it only places us upon equal ground.'
'It is precisely there where we never should be placed. Should theconspirator be put upon the ground of a citizen? Were the late rebels ofthe mint to be relieved from all oppression, that they might safelyintrigue and conspire for the throne?'
'Christianity has nothing to do with the empire,' I answered, 'as such.It is a question of moral, philosophical, religious truth. Is truth tobe exalted or suppressed by edicts?'
'The religion of the state,' replied Varus, 'is a part of the state; andhe who assails it, strikes at the dearest life of the state,and--forgive me--is to be dealt with--ought to be dealt with--as atraitor.'
'I trust,' I replied, 'that that time will never again come, but thatreason and justice will continue to bear sway. And it is both reasonableand just, that persons who yield to none in love of country, and whoseprinciples of conduct are such as must make good subjects everywhere,because they first make good men, should be protected in the enjoymentof rights and privileges common to all others.'
'If the Christians,' he rejoined, 'are virtuous men, it is better forthe state than if they were Christians and corrupt men. But still thatwould make no change in my judgment of their offence. They deny the godswho preside over this nation, and have brought it up to its presentheight of power and fame. Their crime were less, I repeat, to deny theauthority of Aurelian. This religion of the Galileans is a sore, eatinginto the vitals of an ancient and vigorous constitution, and must be cutaway. The knife of the surgeon is what the evil cries out for and musthave--else come universal rottenness and death. I mourn that from theranks of the very fathers of the state, they have received an accessionlike this of the house of Piso.'
'I shall think my time and talent well employed,' I replied, 'in doingwhat I may to set the question of Christianity in its true light beforethe city. It is this very institution, Varus, which it needs to preserveit. Christianize Rome, and you impart the very principle of endurance,of immortality. Under its present corruptions, it cannot but sink. Is itpossible that a community of men can long hold together as vicious asthis of Rome?--whose people are either disbelievers of all divineexistences, or else ground to the earth by the most degradingsuperstitions? A nation, either on the one hand governed bysuperstition, or, on the other, atheistical, contains within itself thedisease which sooner or later will destroy it. You yourself, it isnotorious, have never been within the walls of a temple, nor are Laresor Penates to be found within your doors.'
'I deny it not,' rejoined the Prefect. 'Most who rise to anyintelligence, must renounce, if they ever harbored it, all faith in theabsurdities and nonsense of the Roman religion. But what then? Thesevery absurdities, as we deem them, are holy truth to the multitude, anddo more than all bolts, bars, axes, and gibbets, to keep them insubjection. The intelligent are good citizens by reflection; themultitude, through instincts of birth, and the power of superstition. Myidea is, as you perceive, Piso, but one. Religion is the state, and forreasons of state must be preserved in the very form in which it has solong upheld the empire.'
'An idea more degrading than yours, to our species,' I replied, 'canhardly be conceived. I cannot but look upon man as something more than apart of the state. He is, first of all, a man, and is to be cared for assuch. To legislate for the state, to the ruin of the man, is to pamperthe body, and kill the soul. It is to invert the true process. Theindividual is more than the abstraction which we term the state. Ifgovernments cannot exist, nor empires hold their sway, but by thedestruction of the human being, why let them fall. The lesser must yieldto the greater. As a Christian, my concern is for man as man. This isthe essence of the religion of Christ. It is philanthropy. It sees inevery human soul a being of more value than empires, and its purpose is,by furnishing it with truths and motives, equal to its wants, to exaltit, purify it, and perfect it. If, in achieving this work, existingreligions or governments are necessarily overturned or annihilated,Christianity cares not, so long as man is the gainer. And is it notcertain, that no government could really be injured, although it mightapparently, and for a season, by its subjects being raised in allintelligence and all virtue? My work therefore, Varus, will be to sowtruth in the heart of the people, which shall make that heart fertileand productive. I do not believe that in doing this Rome will sufferinjury, but on the contrary receive benefit. Its religion, or rather itsdegrading superstitions, may fall, but a principle of almighty energyand divine purity will insensibly be substituted in their room. I laborfor man--not for the state.'
'And never, accordingly, most noble Piso, did man, in so unequivocalwords, denounce himself traitor.'
'Patriot! friend! benefactor! rather;' cried a voice at my side, which Iinstantly recognized as that of Probus. Several beside himself had drawnnear, listening with interest to what was going on.
'That only shows, my good friend,' said Varus, in his same smiling way,and which seems the very contradiction of all that is harsh and cruel,'how differently we estimate things. Your palate esteems that to bewholesome and nutritious food, which mine rejects as ashes to the taste,and poison to the blood. I behold Rome torn and bleeding, prostrate anddying, by reason of innovations upon faith and manners, which to youappear the very means of growth, strength, and life. How shall weresolve the doubt--how reconcile the contradiction? Who shall prescribefor the patient? I am happy in the belief, that the Roman people havelong since decided for themselves, and confirm their decision every dayas it passes, by new acts and declarations.'
'If you mean,' said Probus, 'to say that numbers and the general voiceare still against the Christians, I grant it so. But I am happy too inmy belief, that the scale is trembling on the beam. There are more andbetter than you wot of, who hail with eager minds and glad hearts, thetruths which it is our glory, as servants of Christ, to propound. Withinmany a palace upon the seven hills, do prayers go up in his name; andwhat is more, thousands upon thousands of the humbler ranks, of thosewho but yesterday were without honor in their own eyes, orothers'--without faith--at war with themselves and the world--fit toolsfor and foe of the state to work with--are to-day reverers ofthemselves, worshippers of God, lovers of mankind, patriots who lovetheir country better than ever before, because they now behold in everycitizen not only a citizen, but a brother and an immortal. The doctrineof Christianity, as a lover of man, so commends itself, Varus, to thehearts of the people, that in a few more years of prosperity, and theface of the Roman world will glow with a new beauty; love and humanitywill shine forth in all its features.
'That is very pretty,' said Varus, his lip slightly curling, as hespoke, but retaining his courteous bearing, 'yet methinks, seeing thisdoctrine is so bewitching, and is withal a heaven-inspired wisdom, theGod working behind it and urging it on, it moves onward with a pacesomething of the slowest. Within a few of three hundred years has itappealed to the human race, and appealed in vain. The feeblest and theworst of mankind have had power almost to annihilate it, and more thanonce has it seemed scarce to retain its life. Would it have been so, hadit been in reality what you claim for it, of divine birth? Would thegods suffer their schemes for man's good to be so thwarted, and drivenaside by man? What was this boasted faith doing during the long andpeaceful reigns of Hadrian, and the first A
ntonine? The sword ofpersecution was then sheathed, or if it fell at all, it was but on afew. So too under Vespasian, Titus, Nerva, Commodus, Severus,Heliogabalus, the Philips, Gallienus, and Claudius?'
'That is well said,' a Roman voice added, of one standing by the side ofVarus, 'and is a general wonder.'
'I marvel it should be a wonder,' rejoined Probus. 'Can you pour into afull measure? Must it not be first emptied? Who, Varus, let him try ashe may, could plant the doctrine of Christ in thy heart? Could I do it,think you?--or Piso?'
'I trow not.'
'And why, I pray you?'
'It is not hard to guess.'
'Is it not because you are already full of contrary notions, to whichyou cling tenaciously, and from which, perhaps, no human force coulddrag you? But yours is a type of every other Roman mind to whichChristianity has been offered. If you receive it not at once, shouldothers? Suppose the soul to be full of sincere convictions as to thepopular faith, can the gospel easily enter there? Suppose it skeptical,as to all spiritual truth; can it enter there? Suppose it polluted byvice can it easily enter there? Suppose it like the soul ofFronto,----'
'Hush! hush!' said several voices. Probus heeded them not.
'Suppose it like the soul of Pronto, could it enter there? See you notthen, by knowing your own hearts, what time it must demand for a new,and specially a strict doctrine, to make its way into the minds of men?'Tis not easier to bore a rock with one's finger, than to penetrate aheart hardened by sin or swelled with prejudice and pride. And if wesay, Varus, this was a work for the God to do--that he who originatedthe faith should propagate it--I answer, that would not be like theother dealings of the divine power. He furnishes you with earth andseed, but he ploughs not for you, nor plants, nor reaps. He gives youreason, but he pours not knowledge into your mind. So he offers truth;but that is all. He compels no assent; he forces no belief. All isvoluntary and free. How then can the march of truth be otherwise thanslow? Truth, being the greatest thing below, resembles in its port themotion of the stars, which are the greatest things above. But liketheirs, if slow, it is ever sure and onward.'
'The stars set in night.'
'But they rise again. Truth is eclipsed often, and it sets for a night;but never is turned aside from its eternal path.'
'Never, Publius,' said the Prefect, adjusting his gown, and with the actfilling the air with perfume 'never did I think to find myself within aChristian church. Your shop possesses many virtues. It is a place to beinstructed in.' Then turning to Probus, he soothingly and in persuasivetones, added, 'Be advised now, good friend, and leave off thy office ofteacher. Rome can well spare thee. Take the judgment of others; we neednot thy doctrine. Let that alone which is well established and secure.Spare these institutions, venerable through a thousand years. Leavechanges to the gods.'
Probus was about to reply, when we were strangely interrupted. While wehad been conversing, there stood before me, in the midst of the floor ofthe apartment, a man, whose figure, face, and demeanor were such that Ihardly could withdraw my eye from him. He was tall and gaunt, beyond allI ever saw, and erect as a Praetorian in the ranks. His face was stronglyRoman, thin and bony, with sunken cheeks, a brown and wrinkled skin--notthrough age, but exposure--and eyes more wild and fiery than ever glaredin the head of Hun or hyena. He seemed a living fire-brand of death andruin. As we talked, he stood there motionless, sometimes casting glancesat our group, but more frequently fixing them upon a roll which he heldin his hands.
As Varus uttered the last words, this man suddenly left his post, andreaching us with two or three strides, shook his long finger at Varus,saying, at the same time,
'Hold, blasphemer!'
The Prefect started as if struck, and gazing a moment with unfeignedamazement at the figure, then immediately burst into a laugh, cryingout,
'Ha! ha! Who in the name of Hecate have we here? Ha! ha!--he seems justescaped from the Vivaria.'
'Thy laugh,' said the figure, 'is the music of a sick and dying soul. Itis a rebel's insult against the majesty of Heaven; ay, laugh on! That iswhat the devils do; it is the merriment of hell. What time they burnnot, they laugh. But enough. Hold now thy scoffing, Prefect Varus, for,high as thou art, I fear thee not: no! not wert thou twice Aurelian,instead of Varus. I have somewhat for thee. Wilt hear it?'
'With delight, Bubo. Say on.'
'It was thy word just now, 'Rome needs not this doctrine,' was it not?'
'If I said it not, it is a good saying, and I will father it.'
''Rome needs not this doctrine; she is well enough; let her alone!'These were thy words. Need not, Varus, the streets of Rome a cleansingriver to purify them? Dost thou think them well enough, till all thefountains have been let loose to purge them? Is Tarquin's sewer a placeto dwell in? Could all the waters of Rome sweeten it? The people of Romeare fouler than her highways. The sewers are sweeter than the veryworshippers of our temples. Thou knowest somewhat of this. Wast everpresent at the rites of Bacchus?--or those of the Cyprian goddess? Nay,blush not yet. Didst ever hear of the gladiator Pollex?--of the womanCaecina?--of the boy Laelius, and the fair girl Fannia--proffered and soldby the parents, Pollex and Caecina, to the loose pleasures of Gallienus?Now I give thee leave to blush! Is it nought that the one half of Romeis sunk in a sensuality, a beastly drunkenness and lust, fouler thanthat of old, which, in Judea, called down the fiery vengeance of theinsulted heavens? Thou knowest well, both from early experience andbecause of thy office, what the purlieus of the theatres are, and placesworse than those, and which to name were an offence. But to you theyneed not be named. Is all this, Varus, well enough? Is this thatvenerable order thou wouldst not have disturbed? Is that to be chargedas impiety and atheism, which aims to change and reform it? Are theyconspirators, and rebels, and traitors, whose sole office and labor isto mend these degenerate morals, to heal these corrupting sores, to poura better life into the rotting carcass of this guilty city? Is it forour pastime, or our profit, that we go about this always dangerous work?Is it a pleasure to hear the gibes, jests, and jeers of the streets andthe places of public resort? Will you not believe that it is for somegreat end that we do and bear as thou seest--even the redemption, andpurifying, and saving of Rome? I love Rome, even as a mother, and forher am ready to die. I have bled for her freely in battle, in Gaul, uponthe Danube, in Asia, and in Egypt. I am willing to bleed for her athome, even unto death, if that blood might, through the blessing of God,be a stream to cleanse her putrifying members. But O, holy Jesus! whywaste I words upon one whose heart is harder than the nether millstone!Thou preachedst not to Pilate, nor didst thou work thy wonders forHerod. Varus, beware!'
And with these words, uttered with a wild and threatening air, heabruptly turned away, and was lost in the crowds of the street.
While he raved, the Prefect maintained the same unruffled demeanor asbefore. His customary smile played around his mouth, a smile like noother I ever saw. To a casual observer, it would seem like every othersmile, but to one who watches him, it is evident that it denotes nohilarity of heart, for the eyes accompany it not with a correspondingexpression, but on the contrary, look forth from their beautifulcavities with glances that speak of anything rather than of peace andgood-will. So soon as the strange being who had been declaiming haddisappeared, the Prefect, turning to me, as he drew up his gown aroundhim, said,
'I give you joy, Piso, of your coadjutor. A few more of the samefashion, and Rome is safe.' And saluting us with urbanity, he salliedfrom the shop.
I had been too much amazed, myself, during this scene, to do anythingelse than stand still, and listen, and observe. As for Probus, I saw himto be greatly moved, and give signs of even deep distress. He evidentlyknew who the person was--as I saw him make more than one ineffectualeffort to arrest him in his harangue--and as evidently held him inrespect, seeing he abstained from all interruption of a speech that hefelt to be provoking wantonly the passions of the Prefect, and of manywho stood around, from whom, so soon as the man of authority hadwithdr
awn, angry words broke forth abundantly.
'Well did the noble Prefect say, that that wild animal had come forthlike a half-famished tiger from the Vivaria,' said one.
'It is singular,' observed another, 'that a man who pretends to reformthe state, should think to do it by first putting it into a rage withhim, and all he utters.'
'Especially singular,' added a third, 'that the advocate of a religionthat, as I hear, condemns violence, and consists in the strictness withwhich the passions are governed, should suppose that he was doing anyother work than entering a breach in his own citadel, by such ferocity.But it is quite possible his wits are touched.'
'No, I presume not,' said the first; 'this is a kind of zeal which, if Ihave observed aright, the Christians hold in esteem.'
As these separated to distant parts of the shop, I said to Probus, whoseemed heavily oppressed by what had occurred, 'What daemon dwells inthat body that has just departed?'
'Well do you say daemon. The better mind of that man seems oft-timesseized upon by some foul spirit, and bound--which then acts and speaksin its room. But do you not know him?'
'No, truly; he is a stranger to me, as he appears to be to all.'
'Nevertheless, you have been in his company. You forget not theMediterranean voyage?'
'By no means. I enjoyed it highly, and recall it ever with delight.'
'Do you not remember, at the time I narrated to you the brief story ofmy life, that, as I ended, a rough voice from among the soldiersexclaimed, 'Where now are the gods of Rome?' This is that man, thesoldier Macer; then bound with fellow soldiers to the service in Africa,now a Christian preacher.'
'I see it now. That man impressed me then with his thin form andall-devouring eyes. But the African climate, and the gash across hisleft cheek, and which seems to have slightly disturbed the eye upon thatside, have made him a different being, and almost a terrific one. Is hesound and sane?'
'Perfectly so,' replied Probus, 'unless we may say that souls earnestlydevoted and zealous, are mad. There is not a more righteous soul inRome. His conscience is bare, and shrinking like a fresh wound. Hisbreast is warm and fond as a woman's--his penitence for the wild errorsof his pagan youth, a consuming fire, which, while it redoubles hisardor in doing what he may in the cause of truth, rages in secret, and,if the sword or the cross claim him not, will bring him to the grave. Heis utterly incapable of fear. All the racks and dungeons of Rome, withtheir tormentors, could not terrify him.'
'You now interest me in him. I must see and know him. It might be ofservice to him and to all, Probus, methinks, if he could be brought toassociate with those whose juster notions might influence his, andmodify them to the rule of truth.'
'I fear not. What he sees, he sees clearly and strongly, and by itself.He understands nothing of one truth bearing upon another, and adding toit, or taking from it. Truth is truth with him--and as his own mindperceives it--not another's. His conscience will allow him in noaccommodations to other men's opinions or wishes; with him, right isright, wrong is wrong. He is impatient under an argument as a war-horseunder the rein after the trumpet sounds. It is unavoidable thereforebut he should possess great power among the Christians of Rome. His arethe bold and decisive qualities that strike the common mind. There isglory and applause in following and enduring under such a leader. Manyare fain to believe him divinely illuminated and impelled, to unite thecharacters of teacher and prophet; and from knowing that he is soregarded by others, Macer has come almost to believe it himself. He istending more and more to construe every impulse of his own mind into adivine suggestion, and I believe honestly experiences difficulty indiscriminating between them. Still, I do not deny that it would be ofadvantage for him more and more to come in contact with sober andenlightened minds. I shall take pleasure, at some fitting moment, toaccompany you to his humble dwelling; the rather as I would show youalso his wife and children, all of whom are like himself Christians.'
'I shall not forget the promise.'
Whereupon we separated.
I then searched for Publius, and making my purchases, returned home,Milo following with the books.
As Milo relieved himself of his burden, discharging it upon the floor ofthe library, I overheard him to say,
'Lie there, accursed rolls! May the flames consume you, ere you areagain upon my shoulders! For none but Piso would I have done what Ihave. Let me to the temple and expiate.'
'What words are these?' cried Solon, emerging suddenly at the sound froma recess. 'Who dares to heap curses upon books, which are the soulembalmed and made imperishable? What have we here? Aha! a new treasurefor these vacant shelves, and most trimly ordered.'
'These, venerable Greek,' exclaimed Milo, waving him away, 'are books ofmagic! oriental magic! Have a care! A touch may be fatal! Our noblemaster affects the Egyptians.'
'Magic!' exclaimed Solon, with supreme contempt; 'art thou so idiotic asto put credence in such fancies? Away!--hinder me not!' And saying so,he eagerly grasped a volume, and unrolling it, to the beginning of thework, dropped it suddenly, as if bitten by a serpent.
'Ha!' cried Milo, 'said I not so? Art thou so idiotic, learned Solon, asto believe in such fancies? How is it with thee? Is thy blood hot orcold?--thy teeth loose or fast?--thy arm withered or swollen?'
Solon stood surveying the pile, with a look partly of anger, partly ofsorrow.
'Neither, fool!' he replied. 'These possess not the power nor worthfabled of magic. They are books of dreams, visions, reveries, which areto the mind what fogs would be for food, and air for drink, innutritiveand vain. Papias!--Irenaeus!--Hegesippus!--Polycarp!--Origen!--whosenames are these, and to whom familiar? Some are Greek, some are Latin,but not a name famous in the world meets my eye. But we will order themon their shelves, and trust that time, which accomplishes all things,will restore reason to Piso. Milo, essay thy strength--my limbs arefeeble--and lift these upon yonder marble; so may age deal gently withthee.'
'Not for their weight in wisdom, Solon, would I again touch them. I haveborne them hither, and if the priests speak truly, my life is worth notan obolus. I were mad to tempt my fate farther.'
'Avaunt thee, then, for a fool and a slave, as thou art!'
'Nay now, master Solon, thy own wisdom forsakes thee. Philosophers, theysay, are ever possessors of themselves, though for the rest they bebeggars.'
'Beggar! sayest thou? Avaunt! I say, or Papias shall teach thee'--and hewould have launched the roll at the head of Milo, but that, with quickinstincts, he shot from the apartment, and left the pedagogue to do hisown bidding.
So, Fausta, you see that Solon is still the irritable old man he was,and Milo the fool he was. Think not me worse than either, for hoping soto entertain you. I know that in your solitude and grief, even suchpictures may be welcome.
When I related to Julia the scene and the conversation at the shop ofPublius, she listened not without agitation, and expresses her fearslest such extravagances, repeated and become common, should inflame theminds both of the people and their rulers against the Christians. ThoughI agree with her in lamenting the excess of zeal displayed by many ofthe Christians, and their needless assaults upon the characters andfaith of their opposers, I cannot apprehend serious consequences fromthem, because the instances of it are so few and rare, and are palpableexceptions to the general character which I believe the whole city wouldunite in ascribing to this people. Their mildness and pacific temperare perhaps the very traits by which they are most distinguished, withwhich they are indeed continually reproached. Yet individual acts areoften the remote causes of vast universal evil--of bloodshed, war, andrevolution. Macer alone is enough to set on fire a city, a continent, aworld.
I rejoice, I cannot tell you how sincerely, in all your progress. I donot doubt in the ultimate return of the city to its former populousnessand wealth, at least. Aurelian has done well for you at last. Hisdisbursements for the Temple of the Sun alone are vast, and must be morethan equal to its perfect restoration. Yet his overthrown column you
will scarce be tempted to rebuild. Forget not to assure Gracchus andCalpurnius of my affection. Farewell.