{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_42895/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_42895","id":"gutenberg_42895","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42895","summary":null,"tags":["Arius, -approximately 336 -- Fiction","Category: Historical Novels","Category: Novels","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Produced by Al Haines.\n\n\n                                 ARIUS\n                               THE LIBYAN\n\n                              _A ROMANCE_\n                       _OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH_\n\n\n                                   BY\n                          NATHAN CHAPMAN KOUNS\n\n\n\n                          NEW YORK AND LONDON\n                        D. APPLETON AND COMPANY\n                                  1914\n\n\n\n\n                              COPYRIGHT BY\n                        D. APPLETON AND COMPANY\n                                 1883.\n\n\n\n                Printed in the United States of America\n\n\n\n\n                               CONTENTS.\n\n                                BOOK I.\n\nCHAPTER\n\n      I. Locus in Quo\n     II. To Us a Child is Born: to Us a Son is Given\n    III. How Men lived in the Kingdom of Heaven\n     IV. Fine Training for a Christian Man\n      V. A Pagan Hermit, Old and Gray\n     VI. Flotson of the Middle Sea\n    VII. Theckla finds One God and heareth of Another\n   VIII. Who is Hapi?\n     IX. The Democracy of Faith\n      X. Faith and Philosophy\n     XI. \"For the Work's Sake\"\n    XII. The One Thing Needful\n   XIII. The Net Result of Law\n    XIV. The Blind Receive their Sight\n     XV. Love and Parting\n    XVI. Before the Temple of Serapis\n   XVII. Crucified unto the World\n\n\n                                BOOK II.\n\n      I. \"His Most Catholic Majesty\"\n     II. A Naval Question\n    III. The Politics of Religion\n     IV. The Prophecy of Gaius\n      V. A Born Ecclesiastic\n     VI. The One Great Battle of Christendom!\n    VII. The Subversion of the Primitive Church\n   VIII. The Abdication of Constantine\n     IX. \"I have no Superior but Christ\"\n      X. The Communion of the Saints\n     XI. One Jot that passed from the Law\n    XII. An Imperial Repentance\n   XIII. Well done, Good and Faithful Servant\n\n\n\n\n                           ARIUS THE LIBYAN.\n\n\n                                BOOK I.\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER I.\n\n                             LOCUS IN QUO.\n\n\nA long time ago, Etearchus, King of Axus, in Crete, married a second\nwife (as many better men have also done), and she persuaded him to get\nrid of Phronime, the pretty daughter of his former spouse.  Thereupon\nEtearchus agreed with a merchant of Thera that he would take Phronime\naway in his ship and let her down into the sea.  The merchant, true to\nthe letter of his bargain, did let her down into the sea, but true also\nto that natural tenderness toward a pretty woman which inspires the\nbreast of every man who is fit for anything in this world, he quickly\ndrew her up again by a rope which he had fastened around her lissome\nwaist for that purpose, and conveyed her safely enough to Thera.\n\nThere Phronime met another man, Polymnestus by name, a descendant of the\nancient Minyae, who also had a keen eye for feminine beauty, and him she\nmarried.  By this Polymnestus our Phronime gave birth to a man-child,\nwho grew up to be a terrible stammerer, and was therefore called Battus.\n\nAnd afterward, when Grinus, the Theran king, made a pilgrimage to the\noracle of Delphi to see whether the oracle would tell him some remedy\nfor a fearful drought which then afflicted all the land of Thera, Battus\nthe Stammerer went along with him to see whether the same sacred oracle\nwould tell him some remedy by which to cure himself of stuttering.  To\nboth of these suppliants the oracle made the same answer, and this\nanswer was as follows: \"FOUND A CITY IN LIBYA!\"  But they did not know\nwhere Libya was, and were, therefore, very low-spirited about finding\nany cure for the drought and for the stammering; until it chanced that\nupon their homeward voyage they fell in with an ancient fisherman,\nCorobius by name, who had once been driven by storms upon the African\ncoast, and he undertook to pilot them to Libya.\n\nAnd afterward, it was about 630 B.C., Battus the Stutterer went with a\ncolony to Libya, and founded there the city of Cyrene, almost ten miles\nfrom the Mediterranean, nearly two thousand feet above the level of the\nsea, with the grand Barcan mountains rising between it and the great\ndesert of the same name.  From this colony afterward sprang (Pentapolis,\nthe Grecian five-cities) Cyrene, Bernice, Arsinoe, Barca, and Apollonia.\n\nThus far testifieth Herodotus, the father of history, who, if not always\nentirely trustworthy, is certainly no greater liar than the rest of the\ntribe.\n\nBattus became king of all Cyrenaica, and his descendants, by the name of\nBattidae, did rule that land, and maintain the prosperity of Cyrene\nthrough eight generations, until the Ptolemies of Egypt conquered the\ncountry, and under their patronage Apollonia, the seaport, became the\nchief city.\n\nIt would be a great error to suppose that because Cyrene was on the\nnorthern coast of Africa, and near the vast and arid Barcan Desert, it\nwas therefore an unpleasant seat.  On the contrary, it may well be\ndoubted whether a more delightful locality can be found on earth.  All\nPentapolis is remarkably healthful and pleasant, especially Cyrene and\nits vicinity.  The lofty mountain-range slopes gently away to the very\nsands of earth's middle sea, the waters of which temper the heat of the\nclimate, while the high mountains lying farther inland ward off the hot\nblasts of the desert.  In Cyrene, and between the city and the sea, a\nluxuriant soil produces almost every fruit, flower, and grain known to\nboth tropical and temperate latitudes.  The grand fountain of Apollo,\nwhich the Arabs of our age call 'Ain Sahat, gushed up in the very midst\nof it.  The mean temperature is 85 deg. Fahr., and the variations\nthereof are gradual and insignificant.\n\nIn the year 26 B.C., Apion, the last lineal descendant of the Egyptian\nPtolemies, bequeathed the city to the Romans.\n\nCyrene, so happily situated, became noted, not only for its prosperity\nand salubriousness, but for the intellectual life and activity of its\ninhabitants.  It long possessed a famous medical school; it gave to fame\nCallimachus, the poet; Carneades, the founder of the new academy at\nAthens; Aristippus, the disciple of Socrates; Eratosthenes, the\nPolyhistor; and Synesius, one of the most elegant of ancient Christian\nwriters.\n\nNot far from beautiful and prosperous Cyrene, on one of those gentle\ndeclivities which were washed by the waters of the Mediterranean, there\nwas, in A.D. 265, a comfortable stone farm-house, pleasantly located in\nthe midst of a considerable tract of cultivated lands.  The farm faced a\nsmall bay and the limitless sea northwardly; southwardly the high range\nof the Barcan mountains rolled grandly away, their nearer slopes\ninclosing the farm between the highlands and the bay, and imparting to\nthe beautiful place a most attractive sense of quiet and seclusion from\nthe busy world. The house was one story high, containing seven rooms,\nand the ground plan of it was exactly the outline of a cross, there\nbeing four rooms and a portico in the length thereof, and three in its\ngreatest width.\n\nAt this house, in the last-named year, was born a man-child, whose fate\nit was to become one of the grandest, purest, least understood, and most\nsystematically misrepresented characters in human history--Arius the\nLibyan, the Heretic--whose fortunes, good and evil, whose experiences,\nheterodox or orthodox, shall be followed in these pages with genuine\nlove and admiration, with profoundest pity also, and yet with a sincere\ndesire to deal justly with his grand and beautiful memory, seeking to\n\"nothing extenuate nor set down aught in malice.\"\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n              TO US A CHILD IS BORN: TO US A SON IS GIVEN.\n\n\nThe family resident at the Libyan farm-house consisted of only the\nswarthy Egyptian Ammonius; his young wife Arete, who, although an\nEgyptian, had somehow acquired a purely Greek name, a fact which\nindicated vast influence that the great Grecian city of Alexandria had\nlong exerted over Egypt; and an old female domestic that had belonged to\nArete's mother during even her girlhood, and was called Thopt, the\nabbreviation of some ancient Coptic name, the letters of which still\nserved to point out the fact that in her infancy she had been dedicated\nto the service of some one of the gods of the Nile.\n\nThe tropical sun was just rising along the Libyan coasts, when old Thopt\ncame into the apartment in which sat Ammonius awaiting news of his wife,\nbearing in her arms a creature that was swaddled up in such innumerable\nbandages that it looked like a new and diminutive mummy, and, presenting\nthis pygmy to the father, the old woman said: \"It is a man-child, and a\nfine one!  But he hath a forehead like a ram.\"\n\nAnd Ammonius carefully but awkwardly took the parcel into his own hands,\nand looked upon it with curious emotion, whereupon the manikin began to\ncry so suddenly and vigorously that Ammonius would have let it drop upon\nthe floor if old Thopt had not seized it just as the lapse began.\n\n\"How fareth the little man's mother?\" said he, \"and may I not go in to\nsee her immediately?\"\n\n\"She rallieth from her trial wonderfully,\" answered old Thopt, \"and even\nnow inquireth after thee.\"\n\nAnd the great, rough, swarthy man went into his wife's room, and,\nbending over her, he kissed her with exceeding tenderness: \"May the Lord\nhelp thee, mother,\" he said, \"for thou art mother now, and doubly dear\nto me!\"\n\n\"Bless thee, husband!\" said Arete; \"and remember that thou hast promised\nme that, if the babe should prove to be a boy, thou wouldst have him\neducated for the ministry of Christ.  May the Lord raise him up for his\nown glory!\"\n\n\"Amen!\" replied Ammonius, fervently.  \"I did so promise thee, Arete, and\nwill so do if the Lord will.  Already our pleasant farm is so famous for\nits excellent cattle, that whereas I did call the house Baucalis\nbecause, when the wind bloweth from the east, the water runneth through\nthe narrow entrance into the little bay, with a murmur like the gurgling\nof wine from a bottle, the neighbors call the place Boucalis because\nthey say that no land in all Cyrenaica produceth more or better cattle.\nSo, little mother, thou need not fear but that with the cattle and with\nshipments of corn to Alexandria, whence the merchants transport it unto\nPuteoli and Rome far across the sea, we shall be able to give thy boy\nall proper training to become a presbyter, or even a bishop, if he\nliveth and showeth a godly disposition.\"\n\n\"And thou wilt never let the love of gain, nor of worldly honors, grow\nupon thee until thou shalt repent thee of this purpose, and so determine\nthat it would be better for the boy to betake himself to business\naffairs and acquire wealth rather than to serve God wholly?\"\n\n\"Nay, verily,\" cried Ammonius; \"for the matter lieth nearer to my heart\nthan even thou knowest, Arete.\"\n\n\"For what reason, then, good husband?\"\n\n\"I have often told thee, little mother, that I was a boy in a temple on\nthe Nile, dedicated to Amun, or Ammon, as mine idolatrous name doth\nsignify, and that at an early age I fled therefrom and betook myself to\nthe river and to the sea, and did prosper so that I got first an\ninterest in a ship, and afterward the sole ownership thereof, and made\nmany long and prosperous voyages.  I have told thee, also, in all\ndetails, how, on a voyage from Alexandria unto Italy, the storm drove us\nupon a rocky island where our destruction seemed imminent, until, while\nwe all were momently expecting death, a quiet and almost unnoticed\npassenger, who had come from Antioch unto Alexandria and was journeying\nwith us to Puteoli, did pray for us to Jesus Christ, and stilled the\nstorm, and so saved the ship and all our lives.  I have often told thee\nhow this good Bishop of Antioch did lead me into the knowledge and love\nof Christ, and how I sold my ship and cargo, and gave one half of my\nproperty to the Church, that other Egyptians might be converted, and\nwith the other moiety bought this farm, having known the pleasant coasts\nof Cyrenaica for many years; and then returned to Alexandria to bring\nthee hither that we might as stewards of the Lord manage this estate\ntogether.  But I did not tell thee that when the bishop asked me whether\nI experienced any vocation for the preaching of the word, and I did tell\nthe holy man that neither natural gifts nor education fitted me for that\nsacred calling, I did then vow to the Lord that if any son were given\nunto me I would teach him as far as I might be able to do in the love\nand learning of the gospel, and would send him unto Antioch to be more\nthoroughly instructed.  So thou seest, dear little mother, that not only\nthine and mine own inclinations, but also mine obligation given unto\nGod, bindeth me to bestow upon the boy all the teaching I can give unto\nhim, and to afford to him every reasonable opportunity for greater\nlearning.  And I pray that he may escape the physical infirmity which,\neven more than the lack of learning, hath kept me from the public\nministry of the word!\"\n\n\"It is a strange and perplexing thing,\" laughed Arete, \"and yet amusing.\nFor all the Christians of our region rely upon thy strong good sense and\nmodest learning in every private matter, whether of business or of\nreligion; yet it seemeth so pitiful that, if thou standest upon thy feet\nto speak to any assembly, thou dost straightway begin to jerk and\nwriggle like a serpent, and to hiss and stammer so that thou canst not\ntalk intelligibly, although thou hast more brains and learning than many\nwho are eloquent.\"\n\n\"I long thought it to be my duty to try to overcome these physical\ndefects, but, if at any time my heart is deeply moved, I can not talk,\nand it is useless to try it any more.  We shall strive both by teaching\nand by prayer to train the boy better.\"\n\n\"Dost thou not remember, Ammonius, that evening in our boat upon the\ndear old Nile, what a distressful time thou didst endure in thine\nattempt to ask me to become thy wife?\"  And the little woman laughed and\nlaughed until her eyes were full of happy tears.\n\n\"Yea,\" answered Ammonius, \"nor indeed do I think that I did ever ask\nthee at all.  I did, after many efforts, get thee to say what words thou\nwouldst have a man use who loved thee and wanted thee to be his wife,\nand all I could do was to cry out, 'I say that to thee, Arete--I say all\nthat and more!' and in mine embarrassment verily I could utter nothing\nelse!\"\n\n\"But,\" laughed the little woman, \"afterward I did make thee say the\nwords over and over again, albeit I might almost as soon have trained a\nparrot to repeat them.\"\n\n\"But I trust thou hast never regretted the trouble thou didst take in\nteaching me how to court thee,\" said Ammonius.\n\n\"Nay, verily,\" she answered, \"but I think it was the most amusing\ncourtship that hath ever happened.\"\n\nAnd, while husband and wife pleasantly conversed, old Thopt brought the\nchild back to his mother, and announced that Christian women from other\nfarms along the coast had come to offer their congratulations and any\nassistance that might be needed.  It was singular to observe that while\nthe adjacent country, from Apollonia to Cyrene, and all around, was\nsettled by Egyptians, Greeks, Jews, and Romans, and while some women and\ngirls of all of these nationalities, during the next few days, made\nvisits of sympathy to the family at Baucalis, none came except those who\nwere known to each other to be Christians, no matter what their\nnationality might be.  Practically the faith of Jesus had broken down\nall ethnic, social, and political barriers among those who professed it;\nand the only class distinction which was recognized at all was between\nthose who were Christians and those who were not. The persecution, which\nhad begun seven years before under the Emperor Valerian, had raged in\nLibya as fiercely as in any portion of the Roman Empire, and, although\nintermittent in its character, there had quite recently been cruelties\nenough, extending in some instances to martyrdom, chiefly at the\ninstigation of Jewish and pagan priests, to render it necessary for the\nChristians to conduct their religious rites and social intercourse with\na certain degree of secrecy, and to preserve their ancient means of\ninstantaneous recognition in constant use, so that, when a Christian\nmight meet any one who was not familiarly known to him, an almost\nimperceptible sign served as a challenge by which he was instantly\nenabled to tell, without an inquiry or a spoken word, whether the\nstranger might be a Christian or not. Of course, if any one came who\nfailed to recognize the sign, another movement, almost as imperceptible,\nserved to warn all Christians present that there was one near them who\ndid not profess their faith; so that there was little danger in their\nusual intercourse with each other or with their pagan neighbors.\n\nOn the eighth day after the birth of the boy, a few Christians assembled\nat the farm, and the services of a presbyter of Cyrene were procured.\nThey first engaged in singing and in prayer, and then a portion of the\ngospel was read and the communion administered, after which the child\nwas baptized.  Preparatory to this ceremony there was quite a discussion\namong them as to the name by which the boy should be baptized, the young\nmother being desirous to call him by the name of some of the holy men\nwho had suffered martyrdom for Jesus, or had otherwise become especially\ndear and honored throughout the Christian communities.  To this the\nfatal objection was urged that such a selection of a name might arouse\nevil-minded neighbors to the fact that there were Christians among them,\nand so render the family unnecessarily and perhaps dangerously obnoxious\nto the malice of any who might ever harbor ill-will against them.\nAmmonius insisted upon calling the boy after the name of a Roman who had\nbeen his partner in the old sea-faring days, and whom he had highly\nesteemed, although he might be still a pagan so far as Ammonius knew;\nand so the child was finally christened \"Arius.\"\n\n\"It is almost the Greek name of the god of war whom the heathen\nworship,\" said the presbyter.\n\n\"He shall be a warrior,\" answered Ammonius--\"a soldier of Christ; and\nthe military designation is not inappropriate.\"\n\n\"It is almost the name for a ram!\" said another.\n\n\"I desire him to become the leader of a flock,\" said Ammonius, \"and the\nname is well enough.\"\n\n\"It is almost the name of one of the signs of the zodiac,\" said another.\n\n\"I pray that the boy's thoughts and hopes may be fixed upon celestial\nthings,\" said Ammonius, \"and the name is well enough.\"\n\n\"It almost signifies that he shall be most lean and spare,\" said yet\nanother.\n\n\"I would not desire him to look like a glutton or a drunkard,\" said\nAmmonius, \"and surely the name is well enough.\"\n\n\"It may signify 'entreated' or 'supplicated,' or 'execrated,' or\n'accursed,'\" said the presbyter, \"and is certainly a strange name.\"\n\n\"I would ever have him sought after by the good and hated by the evil,\"\nanswered Ammonius, \"and I will not change the name.  Let him be called\nArius.  Besides,\" he added, \"what is in a name?  Mine own idolatrous\nname signifieth 'dedicated to Am-un,' yet I hope ye take me to be a\nChristian.  I call the farm Baucalis, from the murmur of the waters on\nthe garden shore, but ye call it Boucalis, because it breedeth good\ncattle.  Arius!--what doth it matter whether it meaneth this or that?  I\nknow it for the name of an honorable man and faithful friend, and, if\nthe boy become what I hope to see him, he shall make both the name\nBaucalis and Arius loved and honored by the faithful everywhere.  If he\nturneth out ill, a prouder name might be disgraced by him; therefore let\nhim be called Arius.\"\n\nAnd so the babe was christened.\n\n\"I perceive,\" said the presbyter, after the religious services were\nended and all of them partook of suitable refreshments and engaged in\nconversation, \"that thou hast fixed thy heart upon having this child\ndevoted unto the service of our Lord.  It seemeth strange to me that,\nhaving such a pious desire for him, thou that art learned and\nintelligent hast never thyself sought to preach the gospel of our Lord!\"\n\n\"I might truly have rejoiced so to do,\" answered Ammonius, \"but that the\npython's influence prevented me.\"\n\n\"The python!\" exclaimed the presbyter; \"why, brother, what can the\nserpent have to do with thee?\"\n\n\"This,\" replied Ammonius.  \"Some time before I came into the world, at\nAlexandria, to which great city strangers resort from the four quarters\nof the world even as unto imperial Rome, there came certain priests out\nof India to witness the ceremonies of a great festival in honor of a new\nApis, and in their train certain jugglers who wrought various wonders,\nand carried with them immense pythons which they had charmed and\nrendered harmless. While my mother stood on the propylon of our house,\nwatching the vast procession, one of the pythons, that had its tail\nentwined round the neck and body of an Indian passing below, suddenly\nsprang up out of its coil erect, and brandished its hideous head before\nmy mother's face, so that she fainted thereat with terror.  When I came\ninto the world she was horrified at being able to trace out in the\nconformation of my head and face the similitude of the cobra; and with\nmany prayers and offerings she had me early dedicated to Ammon, thinking\nthat perchance the idol might remove the peculiarity of my features\nwhich made me loathsome in her sight by continually recalling the\nfearful image of the python.  As I grew older, this conformation largely\nfaded out, but all my life, whenever my feelings or passions are\naroused, involuntary action of the muscles runneth from the feet upward,\nand maketh me to writhe like a serpent, and throweth a sibilant\nsharpness into my voice, so that anything like public speaking is\nwell-nigh impossible to me; and I am compelled to master all emotions\nand to preserve a perfect serenity of mind, in order to avoid this\nserpentine appearance which is distressful to some and fearful unto\nothers, and am compelled to speak in the slow, methodical manner thou\nhearest.  But for this affliction, I would gladly have entered into the\npublic service of the Master.  God grant that my boy inherit not this\nstrange malady!  Pray thou for him.\"\n\n\"Yea, most gladly and earnestly will I,\" said the presbyter.  \"But\nrepine thou not, my brother; for, although thou preachest not publicly,\nthy godly walk and conversation are a living sermon, which all who know\nthee must ponder with delight and edification.\"\n\nAnd afterward the presbyter departed, and all who had attended the\nservice went each one his own way, with sincerest benedictions upon the\nlittle family of Baucalis, and warmest sympathy with the earnest desire\nof the parents that their babe might live and grow up to be a minister\nof Christ.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER III.\n\n                HOW MEN LIVED IN THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.\n\n\nSoon the ripple of excitement caused by the arrival of the young Arius\nat the Baucalis farm passed away, and the life of the dwellers there\nresumed its wonted quiet. Ammonius, generally bareheaded and naked from\nthe waist up and from the knees down, as the custom of the country was,\nhis olive skin glistening with healthful perspiration, pursued the\nvarious labors of the farm, and his wife attended to the fruits and\nvegetables nigh the house; and old Thopt prepared their food, and did\nthe washing which their simple style of living rendered necessary; and\nboth women devoted the hours not otherwise employed to the manufacture\nof woolen, cotton, and linen goods for domestic uses.  Neither Jewish,\nGreek, nor Roman women generally adopted the luxurious manners and\nelegance of dress and ornament common to noble or opulent Egyptians; and\nthose Egyptians who dwelt in the agricultural portions of Cyrenaica,\nespecially those who were Christians, followed the simpler manners of\nthe same classes among their neighbors.  At the Baucalis farm everything\nabout the house was scrupulously clean and neat, manifestly designed for\ncomfort and convenience, nothing for ostentation. In the business of the\nplace, out-doors and in-doors, there was never seen any of that driving\nspirit which indicates a thirst for accumulation, but all duties were\nprosecuted as if reasonable diligence were esteemed to be both a duty\nand a pleasure.  At the end of a year's labor Ammonius would have felt\nno concern at all if he had found that he had not gained a single coin\nbeyond the sum requisite to pay taxes, but he would have experienced a\nhumiliating sense of shame and unworthiness if the occupant of so fine a\nfarm had failed to have enough and to spare for every call of charity,\nfor every reasonable claim upon his hospitality, or for liberal\ncontribution to every work in which the Church was interested.  Corn,\nwheat, and barley, variously prepared for table use, a large variety of\nfruits both preserved and fresh, and many kinds of vegetables, formed\ntheir chief food.  Fish of choice kinds, and in great abundance, was in\ncommon use, and domestic fowls were raised by all.  The consumption of\nflesh was not an everyday thing with these simple and healthful people.\nTwice, or, at most, thrice a week neighbors would club together and kill\nand part among themselves a kid or sheep.  Beef was little used among\nthem, and was raised for market chiefly.  Swine's flesh they never used,\nand they wondered at the Roman appetite for coarse, strong meat dishes.\nThe light, pleasant wine made everywhere along the coast was in general\nuse among them all.  The every-day dress of both sexes was cotton cloth,\na short kilt reaching from the shoulder to the knee, and over this, when\nnot actively at work, a loose gown covering the person from neck to\nankle, and confined at the waist with a girdle or sash of bright-colored\ncloth.  They had garments of finest wool and linen for extraordinary\noccasions.\n\nIn this region the Christian communities were not formally organized\nupon the communistic basis of the primitive Church, because all of them\nwere in a nearly equally prosperous condition, and there were none among\nthem who were \"poor\" in the sense of requiring assistance. The few that\nwere in any way incapacitated for earning a livelihood were related by\nties of blood to one or more families, able and always willing to afford\nthem every needful comfort and assistance.  But no Christian family was\never known to refuse anything for which a needy person asked, in money,\nclothing, food, or whatever they possessed; and in this respect it made\nlittle difference what might be the religion or nationality of the\napplicant.  To refuse to give to one that asked would have seemed to any\nof these Christians to be a wicked, almost sacrilegious, violation of\nthe very words of Jesus: \"_Give to him that asketh, and from him that\nwould borrow of thee, turn not thou away._\"  They regarded all property\nof Christians as in the ownership of the Church, and themselves only as\nstewards intrusted with the management of this or that portion thereof.\nHence every call of presbyter or bishop for assistance to less fortunate\ncommunities, and every individual application for aid, was gladly and\npromptly responded to; and they regarded it as part of their profession\nof faith to find some healthful occupation for every one that was able\nand willing to do anything for the common good.  In the cities of\nCyrenaica were many Christians engaged in multiform avocations, but even\nthere the Christian communities were so temperate and diligent that few\namong them wanted anything; and the union of the faithful furnished such\na perfect safeguard against the ills of life that they were not only\nable to care for those of their own number who might be overtaken by any\ncalamity, but were always able and willing to afford assistance to\nforeign communities less fortunately situated, when requested so to do.\nIn short, all and far more than modern \"poor-laws,\" Masonic,\nOdd-Fellows', and other eleemosynary associations, marine, life, and\nfire companies, have been enabled to do toward the amelioration of the\ncondition of the unfortunate, was far more perfectly accomplished by\nthese Christian communities, that recognized as a matter of faith the\nprinciple of all human charity which extends beyond mere alms-giving,\n_that the average prosperity of the community should extend to each\nindividual thereof when overtaken by any misfortune_--a redeeming\nprinciple which Jesus and his apostles taught in its most perfect and\neffective form as the \"communion of saints,\" the partnership or\nfellowship of the holy ([Greek: _koinonia ton hagion_]); community of\nproperty and rights among all who believe; a principle which good men\nhave been vainly seeking to restore in some form ever since the\nsubversion of Christianity, in the fourth century, by the agency of\nnumberless nugatory statutes and associations; a divine truth which in\nits Christless forms of \"communism,\" \"socialism,\" and \"Nihilism,\" now\nthreatens the very existence of law and order throughout Christendom; a\nsystem perhaps impossible to any government which recognizes the\nlegality of private-property rights, and is therefore committed to\nMammon-worship.\n\nBut these Christians had learned a higher truth than any known to human\nlaws: they were the owners of nothing; they were only stewards of their\nLord's goods; the wealth which they accumulated and held for the common\ngood was to them \"true riches\"; the wealth which any individual held for\nhimself and his own private aggrandizement was the \"mammon of\nunrighteousness.\"  Hence no Christian could be in want while the\ncommunity was prosperous; no community could suffer while any other\ncommunities accessible to them by land or sea had anything to spare; and\nthe faith of Christ made the general prosperity of all Christians insure\nthe individual prosperity of each one; so that there were no \"rich\" and\nno \"poor\" among them.\n\nPlato's dreams of a perfect community (\"Republic\") admitted human\nslavery--Jesus Christ taught the freedom, equality, and fraternity of\nall men: Sir Thomas More's \"Utopia\" abolished marriage, and proposed to\nhold women in common--Jesus Christ elevated marriage into a sacrament;\ndenied man's right to \"hold\" woman at all; proclaimed freedom and\nequality _for her_ also, repudiating the universal idea that she was a\nchattel, and teaching that she is a soul endowed with the same rights,\nduties, and responsibilities as are inherent in the soul of man.  Modern\nreformers propose to \"divide\" out all property, and limit individual\nacquisitions thereof; but Jesus proposed to divide out nothing, and to\nlimit nothing; but, that all things should be accumulated, owned, and\nused in common, as every one hath need, just as air, and sunlight, and\nthe boundless sea are common.  The word \"catholic\" ([Greek: _kata\nholos_]) was unknown to Jesus and the New Testament; the word \"common\"\n([Greek: _koiyos_]) was the key to all of his teachings, social,\nspiritual, and political.\n\nThe only relation which these Christians sustained to the \"government\"\nof Cyrenaica, or to that of Rome, was to pay the taxes demanded of them;\nand they had no concern as to who might be emperor or proconsul, except\nso far as these rulers might be disposed to persecute the Christians, or\notherwise.  They paid taxes, to avoid giving offense, even as Jesus\nhimself had paid tribute, although born under Roman rule, and not a\n\"stranger,\" and not liable to pay tribute; but they never acknowledged\nthe Roman authority in any other way.  It would have been an\nineffaceable stigma on the character of a Christian to summon another\nChristian before a civil magistrate for any cause; they would not \"go to\nlaw before the heathen.\"  If any differences arose between any, they\nleft it to some of the brethren to consider the matter and adjust it;\nand they considered themselves bound to abide by the settlement reached,\nby bonds of faith and love stronger than human statutes can be made.  If\nany became careless of right and duty, or actively wicked, his nearest\nfriends remonstrated with him, and, if he refused to abandon his sinful\ncourse, the presbyters reproved him; and, if this proved ineffectual in\nworking out the needed reformation, they brought the offender before the\nChurch, and either succeeded in drawing him back into the right way, or,\nif he proved incorrigible, they simply refused henceforth to fellowship\nwith him, and held him as a publican and a sinner.  They never had\nrecourse to any temporal penalties to enforce the law of Christian\nbrotherhood; knowing that no one who refused to be controlled without\nthe use of force was a Christian, they publicly disowned him, and that\nwas the end of it. For they had been taught from the beginning that the\nessential difference between the kingdom of heaven and every other\nkingdom established upon earth consisted in the fact that human\ngovernments recognize private property-rights in estates, rank, offices,\nprerogatives, and seek to enforce these legal, fictitious rights by\ntemporal penalties, contrary to reason and justice; while Jesus\ndenounced all such private rights as Mammon-worship, and all statutes\nenacted to enforce them as lies of the Scribes and Pharisees; and never\nfixed, and never authorized his apostles to fix, any temporal penalties\nwhatever.  They understood perfectly well that the necessary and\ninevitable result of all law-and-order systems is to produce a ruling\nclass at the top of every political fabric to whom all of its benefits\ninure, an oppressed or enslaved people at the bottom upon whose weary\nshoulders rest all of the burdens and the waste of life, and between\nthese extremes ecclesiasticisms and an army (always on the side of the\nruling classes and against the multitudes) seeking to adjust their\nmutual legal rights and duties by the agency of bayonets and prayer--a\nsystem of laws creating fictitious rights, creating legal offenses by\nthe disregard of these pretended rights, and denouncing legal penalties.\nBut they knew that Jesus died as much for the children of Barabbas as\nfor the offspring of Herod; and that every statute, custom, or\nsuperstition which attempts to make one of the babies \"better\" than the\nothers is a fraud on our common humanity and a violation of the law of\nChrist.  For the kingdom of heaven was organized upon the basis of\ncommunity of rights and property among all who believe, thereby removing\nall inducements to commit such crimes as treason, larceny, and fraud,\nwhich exist only by force of the statutes creating and punishing them;\nfor civilization itself is the parent of all crime except murder or\nlust, which might sometimes occur from the mere ebullition of brutal\npassion and instinct in low and base natures.  Hence those Christians,\nwho \"called nothing they possessed their own,\" regarding themselves as\nonly stewards of the Lord's goods, held by them for the common good of\nall believers, had no use for the Roman government or any other, and\ncared nothing for it except so far as taxes and persecutions, imposed or\nomitted, might affect the temporal welfare of individuals and of the\ncommunities of which they were members.  They were citizens of a kingdom\nin but not of the world, desiring to be at peace with all worldly\nkingdoms.  They knew that Jesus proclaimed a good news or gospel for the\npoor, the very foundation-stone of which is the absolute equality,\nliberty, and fraternity of man; and they learned from the same divine\nTeacher that kings, lords, nobles, all personal and class distinctions\namong men, are the mere creation of legal fiction, sustained by unjust\nforce, like slavery and piracy, and do not exist in the nature of things\nor by the will of God; and that these laws are everywhere only the\nutterances of selfishness crystallized into the form of statutes,\ncustoms, or decrees, government over the people being nothing more nor\nless than an organized expression of faith in the ancient lie that\nprivate property (in estates, rank, or prerogatives) is the one thing\nsacred in human life, and that laws and penalties are necessary to\nmaintain it; which faith is the idolatry of Mammon, the only paganism\nthat Jesus denounced by name, and declared to be utterly antagonistic to\nthe worship of God.  They understood, therefore, that in place of\nattempting (as all human legislators have ever done) to provide a more\nperfect law-and-order system for the protection of private rights, our\nLord designed to abolish all private property, and with it all the\nunjust laws and penalties by which the worship of Mammon is maintained.\nHence, in place of teaching to men a better slave-code than the world\nhad known before, Jesus taught freedom for all men. In place of teaching\na more effective art of war, he proclaimed the gospel of peace, love,\njustice.  In place of ordaining only more wise and just regulations for\ngoverning the intercourse of men with their female chattels, he elevated\nmonogamic marriage into a holy sacrament, and applied to man and wife\nalike the same divine law of personal rights, duties, and\nresponsibilities.  In place of teaching better laws for the government\nof men by other men as erring, sinful, and selfish as themselves, he\ntaught that all such laws and government are unnecessary to any people\nwho believe that there is something more sacred, higher, and holier than\nprivate rights, and are willing by faith to renounce all human,\nstatutory advantages in order to acquire divine truth.\n\nSo in beautiful Cyrenaica, while Greek and Roman, Egyptian and Jew,\nconcerned themselves about politics, and struggled for offices, and\ntoiled beyond measure for useless gain, the Christian communities\npursued the calm and even tenor of their way, meeting on every Sabbath\nfor religious services and instruction; closing each week-day's labor\nwith a pleasant formula of evening prayer; training up their sons and\ndaughters to despise all the false statutory and customary distinctions\nand vanities of worldly life \"after which the Gentiles seek\"; teaching\nthem to seek knowledge, especially the knowledge peculiar to their\nfaith; to love all men, especially the brethren; and to regard this\nearthly life as but the threshold of a higher, holier, and more perfect\nstate of being that lay only a few brief, fleeting years away from every\none of them. And so, while the sun arose and set; while the harvests\nwere grown and garnered; while the pure and fadeless sea lapsed along\nthe fertile garden of the Baucalis farm, and new lives came upon the\nstage of human action, and older ones were gathered into the rest\nappointed for all the living, peace and plenty, charity and love, purity\nand truth, blessed the dwellers at the stone cottage by the sea-side.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n                   FINE TRAINING FOR A CHRISTIAN MAN!\n\n\nThe boy Arius increased in stature, and learned, even before he had\nlearned the alphabet, to think that he knew and loved the Lord.  For\nfrom the time that he could talk, daily, after the little family had\ncompleted their healthful tasks, they spent an hour in repeating to him,\nand in teaching him to repeat after them, some simple passage out of the\nNew Testament, so that the child had memorized a whole gospel before he\nhad learned to read the written text, and become familiar with the\ngeneral course of the Old Testament Scriptures, particularly with the\nsalient and beautiful narratives wherewith the sacred word abounds.\nAfter he grew older his father taught him both to speak and write the\nLatin and Hebrew equivalent of every word in the Greek text; so that\nArius acquired the three languages together.  The father watched with\nintense and painful anxiety to ascertain whether the singular affliction\nwhich his mother's terror of the python had entailed upon himself had\nbeen transmitted to his son, and rejoiced to see that, while some\nunmistakable traces thereof appeared in the boy's voice and manner, they\nwere so slight as not only not to be unpleasantly obtrusive, but were\neven attractive, as perhaps every marked peculiarity, which is of a\ngraceful character, is attractive in a man.\n\nAt twelve years of age, Arius was an unusually tall and slender lad,\npeculiar in the shape of his bold, shaggy head, peculiar in the length\nand litheness of his shapely neck, peculiar in the mesmeric luminosity\nof his dark and tender eyes, and in the singular but incisive sweetness\nof his voice. He spoke, wrote, and read Greek and Latin with fluency,\nand was well informed in the Hebrew tongue; and yet he was scarcely\nconscious of the fact that under his father's wise and careful training\nhe had been a student almost from his infancy, so steadily, easily, and\ngradually, had he progressed in the acquisition of knowledge.  The New\nTestament written on parchments in the uncial text; the \"Pastor of\nHermas,\" which, in those days, was thought to be of almost apostolical\nauthority; and copies of some of the letters of Polycarp, Irenaeus, and\nClement, were almost the only books which Ammonius owned, as the cost of\na library in those days was enormous.  From these they would read a few\nverses at a time, and translate them into Latin as they went along.  A\npresbyter at Cyrene loaned them the Old Testament, from which the boy\ncopied and memorized such parts as his father directed him to learn, as\nhaving the directest bearing upon the life and doctrine of Jesus.  The\nboy did his full share of labor in all the working of the farm, and took\nthe bath daily in the little bay on which it fronted (as in fact all the\nfamily were accustomed to do), and at night father, mother, and son,\nread and translated from the Scriptures; and occasionally the boy was\nmade to stand up and repeat by rote the Apostles' Creed, the\nPaternoster, the Prayer of Agur, the son of Jakeh, Paul's beautiful hymn\nin praise of Agape, or some other favorite passage, sometimes in one\nlanguage and sometimes in another.  In these little recitations, as\noften as the boy's feelings were enlisted, there came a peculiar and\nfascinating sibilation into his voice; his hand, chiefly the right hand,\nwould move and wave with a strange, easy, vibrant motion, almost as if\nit involuntarily strove to accentuate the syllables of the sonorous\ntext; his head would dart up and lean slightly forward from the long and\nshapely neck, like the crest of some splendid cobra, peering forward\ntoward the hearer, and his dark eyes dilated with a strange mesmeric\nlight; and altogether the lad had a very peculiar and impressive\nappearance.  But these slight hereditary traces of the python's\ninfluence were never unpleasantly obtrusive, and the father did not\nthink it to be necessary to impose upon the son that life-long\nself-restraint and self-consciousness which, in his own case, had been\nrequisite to guard himself against serpentine manifestations of emotion.\nBut his own long and careful effort and study in this respect qualified\nhim to impart to the boy a marvelously distinct and peculiar\naccentuation, which made every word he uttered as clear and perfect as a\npearl--as distinct and resonant as trumpet-notes.\n\nBut while Ammonius was thus cautious and diligent in training his son to\nacquire critical exactness in his knowledge of the philology and history\nof the sacred text, he was not the less anxious to imbue his mind with\nthe very spirit that distills upon the faithful heart out of the words\nof uncorrupted truth.  This he strove to do by continually spurring the\nboy's intelligence to seek for the real significance of our Lord's life\nand teachings, the differences between his philosophy and ethics and\nthose of other renowned moralists and teachers; the essential\ndifferences between the kingdom which Jesus established in the world and\nall worldly kingdoms; the great fact, indeed, that Jesus taught not only\nthe purest ethics in a few sweeping principles which cover the whole\nrange of human life and experience, but taught also social and political\ntruth essential to the establishment and maintenance of human rights and\nliberty.  Yet the man's instructions were not dogmatic; they belonged to\nno sect or system of religion or of philosophy; they consisted chiefly\nin exciting in the mind of the youth an honest desire to know the truth,\nand of questions and suggestions designed to aid him in discovering it\nfor himself.  The manner of instruction generally pursued by Ammonius\nmay be gathered from one or two of their evening exercises, like the\nfollowing.\n\nThe boy read this passage: \"_Now when John had heard in the prison the\nworks of Christ, he sent two of his disciples, and said unto him, Art\nthou he that should come, or do we look for another?  Jesus answered and\nsaid unto them, Go and show John again those things which ye do hear and\nsee: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are\ncleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have\nthe gospel preached unto them. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be\noffended in me._\"\n\nThen said Ammonius, \"What lesson dost thou understand to be taught in\nthis place, Arius?\"\n\n\"Obviously it teacheth,\" answered the boy, \"that John desired to know of\nJesus whether he might be 'he that should come,' that is, Christ.  In\nplace of answering the question directly, he pointed them to the\nmiracles which they saw him even then performing, as if he knew that\nthese wonderful works would be sufficient to satisfy John of his\ndivinity.  This and other passages seem also to show that miracles are\nthe only proper evidence that can be offered that Jesus is the Christ.\"\n\n\"All that is on the surface,\" answered Ammonius, \"and is well enough.\nBut canst thou see nothing deeper in the words?  Is there nothing\nstrange in the answer of Jesus that provoketh inquiry, or needeth\ncomment? Read the passage again, Arius, and see what else thou canst\nfind in it.\"\n\nThen the lad reread the passage very carefully, and he said: \"The blind\nreceive sight: a miracle; the lame walk: a second miracle; the lepers\nare cleansed: a third miracle; the deaf hear: a fourth miracle; the dead\nare raised up: a fifth and greater miracle.  It seemeth strange to me\nthat our Lord should add, as if it were a greater miracle than all the\nothers, and the crowning proof of his Messiahship, the fact that the\npoor have the gospel preached unto them.  Is it a fact, father, that\nbefore the coming of Jesus the gospel had never been preached unto the\npoor?  Was the Jewish scripture only for the rich?\"\n\nAmmonius smiled, but answered: \"The rolls of the law, the Jewish\nscriptures, were read on the Sabbath-day in every synagogue, and both\nthe rich and the poor were required to be present and hear it.  Perhaps\nthe gospel of which Jesus speaks was not in the Jewish scriptures, or\nelse was only taught in laws and prophecies which the Jews had not\ncorrectly interpreted.\"\n\n\"But it could not have been our gospel,\" said Arius, \"for no part of the\nNew Testament was then written.  I wonder what this gospel was; and why\nit was good news to the poor rather than to the rich; and why our Lord\nsaid that whoever should not take offense at the gospel was blessed.\nWhy should any one take offense at it?  Why did they crucify him for\nproclaiming it?  Why did the chief priests and rulers of the people so\nbitterly hate the gospel?\"\n\n\"If thou wilt follow up these questions and learn the true answers\nthereto,\" said Ammonius, \"thou wilt get hold of a fine, large truth!\"\n\n\"Wilt thou aid me therein?\"\n\n\"Yea, so far as I am able to do so; and to that end I ask thee if thou\ncanst tell what reason is repeatedly given in the gospels why the\nPharisees 'were offended' at our Lord's teachings; why they 'derided'\nhim; in a word, why they hated him and his gospel?\"\n\n\"Yea!  The reason that is always given for their hatred of Jesus is that\nthey were 'covetous'?\"\n\n\"Dost thou think that the fact that they were rich and covetous could\naccount for their rejection of their own scriptures, which showed them\nthe Messiah plainly, and in which they all believed, unless the gospel\nwhich Jesus taught in some way antagonized their legal right to their\nproperty?\"\n\n\"Nay, verily,\" said the boy.  \"The gospel must have interfered with\ntheir property, or the fact that they were 'covetous' would not be given\nas the reason for their hatred of Jesus.\"\n\n\"Then let us examine what this gospel was that was 'good news to the\npoor.'  Dost thou remember any other place in which the same words\noccur?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" answered Arius.  \"It is written in Luke: '_And he came to\nNazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went\ninto the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, and stood up for to read.  And\nthere was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias.  And when\nhe had opened the book, he found the place where it is written, The\nspirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the\ngospel to the poor: he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted; to\npreach deliverance to the captives; and recovering of sight to the\nblind; to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach the acceptable\nyear of the Lord.  And he closed the book, and gave it again to the\nminister, and sat down.  And the eyes of all of them that were in the\nsynagogue were fastened on him.  And he began to say unto them, This day\nis this scripture fulfilled in your ears._'\"\n\n\"Now canst thou find the place in Isaiah referred to in the text?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" replied Arius; \"it readeth as follows: '_The spirit of the Lord\nGod_ is upon me; because he hath anointed me to _preach good tidings_.'\"\n\n\"Stop,\" said Ammonius; \"thou seest that the 'gospel' is the same thing\nwhich the prophet calleth 'good tidings?'\"\n\n\"Yea,\" answered the lad, \"but whence cometh this expression of 'the\nacceptable year of the Lord,' and what signifieth it?\"\n\n\"It cometh from the statute of the year of jubilee, set forth at large\nin the book of Leviticus.  When thou shalt examine this statute fully,\nthou shalt find that it is emphatically a law against private property,\nproviding that debts expire every seventh year, and that all Israel was\nprohibited from seeking to make gain every seventh year, and from saving\nwhat they had already made.  Thou wilt see that it was a statute\nrestoring all real estate every fiftieth year to the original possessors\nthereof, and providing for the release of all prisoners, the manumission\nof all slaves, the cessation of all oppressions--a year of joy to all\nthat were poor and afflicted.  Thou wilt see that Isaiah, and other\nprophets also, foretold that this great and acceptable year of jubilee\nwas simply a type of the condition, social and political, which should\nbe established permanently in the kingdom of heaven: and that our Lord\ndeclared that this prophecy was fulfilled in himself.  Thou wilt find,\nif thou shalt grasp this one truth in its fullness, that the gospel\nwhich was good news to the poor was simply the fulfillment of the\nprophecies concerning Christ--the permanent establishment of 'the\nacceptable year'; and that the Pharisees, who were rich and 'covetous,'\nhated the gospel because it required all who believe to hold all rights\nand property in common for the good of all; and they preferred their own\nselfish aggrandizement to the common good of all; and thou wilt see that\nthe chief priests and rulers of the people conspired together to crucify\nJesus, not because they ever doubted his divinity and Messiahship, but\nbecause they worshiped Mammon more than God. For the same reason, Rome,\nthat welcomed every heathen superstition under heaven, and built a\nPantheon for all the gods, persecuted the Christians from the very\nbeginning, because the gospel of our Lord is eternally opposed to\nMammon-worship, war, slavery, polygamy, and the princes and powers of\nthe earth--a kingdom in which Christ only is king, and all men are\nbrethren.\"\n\n\"And it must have been hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of\nheaven,\" said Arius, \"only because he had to consecrate all earthly\npossessions to the common Church, and abdicate all human titles and\nprerogatives.\"\n\n\"Yea,\" said Ammonius, \"that was the property-law laid down by Jesus; and\nit was verily easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than\nfor a rich man to comply with the law.  But thou shouldst trace this\ntruth through all the laws of the Jews, through all the prophecies and\nthrough all the parables of Christ; and thou wilt then understand how\nthe law was a schoolmaster leading men to Jesus.  Thou wilt understand\nhow it is that in the Church all are free, equal, and fraternal, while\nin all other kingdoms there are kings, princes, lords; masters, and\nslaves; the rich and the poor; and universal selfishness, pride,\nambition, usury, extortion, licentiousness, oppression, and wrong; and\nthou wilt more and more love and worship our blessed Lord for\nestablishing the only system upon which true liberty and true religion\never will be possible for the masses of mankind.\"\n\nThen the bright, patient, hopeful student resolved that he would never\ncease to read and to ponder upon the fullness of the gospel until he had\nthoroughly explored all the possible bearings of the divine, social,\npolitical, and spiritual system of our Lord upon human life, and its\nrelations to all other kingdoms organized on earth.  The lad had learned\nmore than the meaning of an isolated text; he had found a broad\nprinciple that rests at the very basis of all profitable reading and\ninterpretation of the sacred word.\n\nAnd in this sort of school he learned the wisdom of the primitive\nChurch.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER V.\n\n                     A PAGAN HERMIT, OLD AND GRAY.\n\n\nAt the age of sixteen, the lad Arius was very thoroughly informed in\nknowledge of the kingdom of heaven as that knowledge had been taught in\nthe Church from the very days of Jesus and the twelve.  In those days\nthe only written authorities relied upon by Christians were the four\ngospels and the Acts of the Apostles.  The letters of Paul, especially\nthose written against Judaism, the epistles of Peter, of John, of Jude,\nof Hermas, Irenaeus, Polycarp, and others, were held in high esteem as\nthe deliberate utterances of wise and pious men; but even the humblest\nChristian never hesitated to quote the gospels and the Acts against any\nof them with whose opinions he was dissatisfied.  The wilderness of\ncreeds and dogmas which in later times grew up out of these epistles was\nentirely unknown to primitive Christianity; yet the perusal of them was\nadvantageous to the young man in many ways.  The journeys of Paul\naroused in his active mind a keen desire to know more of the world, and\nof the religion, manners, and customs of other nations; and the\nknowledge that Ammonius had acquired of different lands and peoples,\nboth by his sea-faring observations and by such reading and conversation\nas circumstances had rendered possible to him, seemed to have been\nabsorbed by his son in the long years of constant and affectionate\nintercourse between them; and this was no small stock of information,\nfor the Mediterranean was then in every sense the \"middle\" sea, the\nhighway of the world; and it was impossible for a shrewd, intelligent\nship-owner and sailor like Ammonius to navigate its waters for years\nwithout being brought into personal contact with men out of every nation\nunder heaven.\n\nIn the same way the lad had almost unconsciously acquired an intimate\nknowledge of the fauna and flora of Cyrenaica, and in fact of Northern\nLibya, and could name almost every plant, animal, bird, and insect in\nthe vicinity of Baucalis; so that even at this early age he had laid the\nfoundations of future acquisitions in every department of knowledge that\nwas in any way accessible unto him, and had acquired a sturdy habit of\nindependent thought and examination about everything that came within\nthe range of his observation.\n\nOn Sabbath evenings (the word Sunday was then unknown to the Christian\nworld) he loved to wander along the sea-shore, or through the wooded\nmountains that everywhere around Baucalis rose up from the water's edge\nand rolled away like gigantic and immovable billows high and higher\nsouthwardly toward the great Barcan plateau.\n\nOn one bright afternoon he had wandered farther westward than ever\nbefore, going far beyond the limits of the land appurtenant to the farm.\nHe was weary with climbing over the endless hills, and reclined to rest\nupon a projecting rock beneath an ample shade of forest-trees, and gazed\naway over the calm and brilliant expanse of the peaceful Mediterranean.\nBut not long had he rested there when his quick ear caught the sound of\nslow and measured footfalls as some unseen person paced slowly back and\nforth upon a diminutive plateau that stretched still farther westwardly\nalong the mountain-side.  The intervening foliage hid the person from\nsight, and, the lad's curiosity being aroused by the presence of a\nstranger in a spot so secluded, he quietly went forward, and a few steps\nbrought him to the place where this little stretch of level ground had\nbeen carefully denuded of trees and seemed to be cultivated as a garden.\nThen he saw a tall, gray-haired, venerable-looking man, with downcast\neyes, and slow, deliberate step, coming in his direction along a narrow\nwalk that led directly through the cultivated land.  Almost at the same\ninstant the aged man perceived him also, but quietly pursued his way,\nand, when he had come near, Arius respectfully bowed and saluted him.\nThe ancient returned his salutation, and added words which the boy did\nnot understand, but the lad said, in the Greek tongue, then in common\nuse throughout Cyrenaica: \"I think thou speakest the language of Egypt,\nwhich I do not comprehend.  If thou wilt speak in Latin or in Greek, I\ncan understand thy wishes or thine orders.\"\n\nThe old man gazed at him in astonishment, but answered in the Greek\ntongue: \"Surely thou art an Egyptian!--and in the course of a long life\nI have never met with a son of Egypt that could not speak his\nmother-tongue if he could speak at all!\"\n\n\"Yea, sir,\" answered Arius, \"I am altogether a son of Egypt, although\nborn on an adjacent farm, but my parents would never use that language,\nand, while they carefully instructed me in Greek and in Latin and in\nHebrew, and in the Aramean tongue of the Israelites now in use, they\nwould never permit me to learn an Egyptian word.\"\n\n\"Strange enough!\" said the ancient.  \"Dost thou know any reason why thy\nparents thus forbade thee to acquire the primitive and wonderful old\nspeech of the land of Kem?\"\n\n\"Yea, sir,\" answered Arius.  \"I have heard my father say that in his\nchildhood he was placed in a temple and dedicated to Ammon, and that\nwhen he grew older he liked neither the temple nor the god, and fled\naway to follow another course of life; and I think that he believed the\nlanguage of the Nile region to possess some peculiar power over every\nson of Egypt, and that to preserve me from that influence, whatever it\nmay be, he desired of me that I would never seek to learn that\nspeech--at least not for many years to come.\"\n\n\"And thy father was wise,\" cried the ancient; \"for, if ever the powers\nof darkness gave any gift to man, it surely was the strange language of\nthe dwellers by the Nile. Centuries before there were any such peoples\nas Greeks and Romans, centuries before the Israelites became a nation,\nso long ago that the universe seems growing old since then, and the\nearth itself hath nodded out of the line on which the mighty pyramid was\nbuilt up to point to the polar star, even then, boy, the language of\nEgypt was a perfect instrument of thought, adapted with superhuman\ncunning to the purposes of idolatry, with rhythms and intonations in the\nutterance of it, that prick the sensuality of human nature like a goad,\nand deaden conscience with some mysterious, witch-like power which the\nintelligence can no more resist than the charmed bird can escape the\npython's fascination, and no more explain than it can explain why the\niron touched by the magic stone pointeth for evermore unto the north.\nIt is the natural language of sensualism and idolatry, and ought to be\nblotted out of human speech.  I tell thee, lad, thy father was wise to\nforbid thee from seeking to acquire that fearful tongue!\"\n\n\"But thou art thyself an Egyptian,\" said Arius, \"and I suppose thou hast\nlong used the wonderful language which thou dost condemn.\"\n\n\"Yea,\" answered the ancient, \"but the speech I use is the hieratic form,\ninvented by the priests for the very purpose of keeping their souls free\nfrom the polluting power of the popular forms of speech, to which a pure\nthought or expression is well-nigh impossible.  But didst thou come\nhither to seek me out,\" asked the ancient, \"or was thy coming\naccidental?  What is thy name?  Of what religion art thou?  Why hast\nthou come to me?\"\n\nThe old man spoke hurriedly and apparently with much anxiety, and the\nboy could not conjecture the cause of his manifest excitement, but after\na moment's reflection upon the bitter and strange denunciation of man's\nancient speech, and the subsequent things spoken by his companion, he\nreplied in singularly musical and persuasive tones, the mesmeric light\nburning in his eyes, the bold, peculiar head erect and slightly bending\nforward toward him whom he addressed: \"My name, sir, is Arius; my coming\nhither is purely accidental, as I supposed this mountain-side to be\nentirely uninhabited; my religion is that of our Lord and Saviour Jesus\nChrist!\"\n\n\"Thou art a Christian,\" said the ancient, in tones of great\nastonishment; \"so young too, but clear, bold, and settled in the new\nfaith, as thy voice and manner undoubtedly proclaim.  I am much pleased\nwith thee, boy.  Come thou with me, where I dwell alone, for I desire to\nspeak with thee more fully.  Wilt thou not come, Arius!\"\n\n\"Willingly, sir, if the distance be not too great,\" replied the lad.\n\n\"It is very nigh,\" said the ancient; and then he turned and followed the\npath west for, perhaps, fifty yards, and then the path led southwardly\nfor about the same distance, and stopped at an abrupt and densely wooded\nelevation in the side of the mountain.  Arius saw that a rough but\nsubstantial stone wall formed the outside of a room that was for the\nmost part composed of a cavity under the rock; and having passed through\na door, on each side of which was a long, narrow window admitting light\ninto the apartment, the ancient said: \"Here is my dwelling, Arius; come\nthou within.\"\n\nThe room was nearly twenty feet square: the floor was smoothly covered\nwith dry, white sand, procured perhaps by pulverizing sand-rocks taken\nfrom the mountain; there was a wooden table in the middle of the\napartment, above which a huge oil-lamp was suspended, and a smaller\ntable upon one side, upon which rested a complete service of beautifully\nfashioned earthen plates, cups, pitchers, dishes, and similar articles.\nThere were several large and comfortable chairs made of huge reeds\ncuriously interwoven, and a couch constructed of the same material, and\ncovered deep but smoothly with lamb-skins, dressed with the wool on.\nEverything about the place indicated a rather coarse but genuine\ncomfort, even to the presence of several beautiful goats that came with\ntheir kids to the door and gazed in at the old man with confidence and\naffection, as if he were a familiar and trustworthy friend.\n\n\"Be thou seated, my son,\" said the ancient, \"and, if thou wilt eat, I\nhave here goat's milk, bread, and dried fish and fruits in abundance.\"\n\n\"I am not an hungered,\" answered the lad, \"but partake of the bread and\nmilk to honor thy hospitality,\" which he did, and found both excellent.\n\"Thy very palatable bread,\" he said, \"is the same with that made at my\nhome by Thopt, and is, she saith, the same that priests at Memphis\nalways preferred to eat.\"\n\n\"Even so,\" replied the ancient, \"and at Memphis for many years, indeed,\nI did eat thereof, and learned there the manner of the preparation of\nit.\"\n\nAnd, when the lad had finished his slight repast, the old man said:\n\"Thou art a Christian, boy; in what, then, dost thou believe?  Tell me\nbriefly, what dost thou believe?\"\n\nThen the lad stood up as he had been accustomed to do at home: the fine\nbut peculiar head involuntarily erected itself upon his long and shapely\nneck, and drooped a little forward, a strange, scintillant light gleamed\nin his sweet, dark eyes; his elevated and extended right hand waved\ngently from side to side like the _baton_ of a music-master, and his\nmusical, penetrating voice rang out clearly and incisively as he said:\n\"I believe in God, the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ, his\nonly-begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived of the Holy Ghost, born\nof the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, dead, and buried;\nthe third day he rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and\nsitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty, whence he shall\ncome to judge the quick and the dead.  I believe in the Holy Ghost, in\nthe holy common Church, in the forgiveness of sin, in the resurrection\nof the dead, and in the life everlasting.  Amen!\"\n\n\"So thou believest!\" said the ancient.  \"But why dost thou say\n'only-begotten' son?  Are not all men the sons of God, even as the Greek\npoet saith, 'For we also are his offspring?'\"\n\n\"Yea!\" answered Arius, \"all men are his sons by creation, and some of\nthem by adoption--Jesus alone by generation; he was 'begotten,' not\nmade.\"\n\n\"True! true!\" said the ancient; \"so teach the gospels, which I have here\nwith me.  So thou believest! When didst thou learn this faith, thou\nwhole Egyptian; and dost thou never doubt it?\"\n\n\"I know not when I learned it,\" answered Arius; \"I was learning it from\nmy mother when I lay helplessly upon her breast; I was learning it from\nmy father when he dandled me upon his knees; every day and hour of my\nlife I have learned it more and more;\" and then, involuntarily rising\nupon his tiptoes, like a python standing upon its tail, with his head\nerect and bending slightly forward, and sparkling eyes agleam, he\nexclaimed, \"and I was never such an idiot as to doubt it at all.\"\n\nThen, as if modestly conscious of some impropriety in such demonstrative\nutterances in the presence of one so aged and venerable, he sank lower\nupon his chair with an ingenuous blush.\n\n\"O glorious certitude of youth and hope!\" said the ancient, mournfully.\n\"O bold, triumphant faith, fitting its possessor for happy and jubilant\nexertion in the accomplishment of all life's aims and purposes!  Thou\nwast 'never such an idiot as to doubt it!'  But I, that have seen nigh\nfourscore years of misery, do doubt it much and painfully.  I that have\nmastered all the arts, science, and religion of ancient Egypt--a land\nthat was wrinkled with age centuries before the era of old Moses; I that\nknow both all that the priests of Kem ever taught the people, and also\nthe higher and more recondite forms of ignorance in which the priests\nthemselves believed--I verily know nothing!  I can scarcely believe in\nanything save universal spiritual darkness, for which no day-spring\ncometh, and universal wretchedness, for which there is no cure.  O\nwretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death?\"\n\nThe bloodless hands were clasped upon the ancient's aching breast, the\nnoble gray head was bowed with hopeless sorrow, the weary eyes seemed\ndim with long and bitter anguish.  Arius gazed upon him with\nastonishment and sympathy.  Then the grand gifts of every born minister\nof Christ, the missionary's yearning to instruct, the physician's\nlonging for the power to heal and to strengthen, moved in the boy's\nheart, and once more he sprang to his feet, and with extended hand that\nquivered with emotion like the python's tongue, and tearful, scintillant\neyes, and head bent forward from the long, lithe neck, and a strange\nthrill in his vibrant musical voice, he cried: \"Who shall deliver thee?\nSurely Jesus Christ, our Lord!  He saveth even unto the uttermost all\nthat come unto God by him.  Believe and live!\"\n\n\"So! so!\" said the ancient, in tones of hopeless weariness. \"Believe and\nlive!  Believe and live!  'He that believeth on me shall never die!  He\nthat believeth on me, though he were dead, yet shall he live again.'  O\nnew, strange faith, hidden through all the dynasties like the Nile's\nundiscoverable source, yet ever hinted at in the few high, arid,\nhalf-intangible truths in which the priests of Ra believed!  What if it\nbe true?  What if the spiritual dualism of the first cause, which the\npriests gradually elaborated into the splendid pageantry and elegant\nmysticism of Hesiri-Hes, and the offspring Horus, has at last become an\nactual truth by the incarnation of the spiritual Son of the one God that\nis necessarily a spiritual hermaphrodite? Through the long centuries the\npriests secretly sneered at the polytheisms which they taught to the\npeople, and they did believe in one God that was utterly unknown to the\nmasses of mankind, for whom they had neither name nor symbol; and they\nconceived him to be a dual entity, containing in himself the fullness of\ndouble spiritual sexhood; and they stood in awe of some grand revelation\nwhich they supposed would some time be made to mankind when this one,\nalmighty, hermaphrodite spirit should 'beget' with one side of his\nspiritual nature and 'conceive' with the other, and incarnate its son in\nflesh, and save man by assuming human nature.  This they saw\nforeshadowed in Hesiri-Hes; this was the mystery which the priests\nperceived in every Apis, the emblem of one 'hidden' like the fountains\nof the Nile; for in the hieratic language Hapi, which is 'hidden,'\nsignifies both the sacred river and the sacred bull; for this they\nprepared the mummy that a body might be ready for the returning soul\nwhen 'the hidden' should be revealed; this, the sacred scarabaei dimly\nintimated, and this was the secret mystery that lurked beneath the veil\nof Hes that 'no mortal hand hath lifted.'  Some such glorious revelation\nmust have flitted past Greek Plato's vision, when he longed for a\nclearer statement of the will of God to men, and prophesied the coming\nman. This was the grand thought of Moses, the monotheist, when in the\nsame breath he denounced all forms of polytheism, and yet designated the\none God whom he worshiped by a name which is the plural number of a\nHebrew noun\"; and, as if he had forgotten the presence of Arius\naltogether, who sat listening to this strange monologue with silent\nwonder, the ancient continued the unconscious utterance of his fervid\nmeditations: \"So hath it been throughout the world with every ancientest\nform of all original myths; for while Assyria and the Medo-Persians and\nother comparatively modern nations, and afterward the Greeks and Romans,\nborrowed only the lower, vulgar forms which the Egyptians had fashioned\nfor popular use, in China Chang and Eng symbolized the original\nconception of one dual God that afterward degenerated into\nanthropomorphism; and in India Indra and Agni, a primitive conception\nthat antedates Brahma, Siva, and Vishnu, by countless centuries, and is\nthe burden of the ancientest and uncorrupted Rig-Veda, bears unequivocal\ntestimony to the same primitive conception; and the Buddhas taught that\nthey were, perhaps believed themselves to be, earthly manifestations of\nthe spiritual self-conception of one dual God: for polytheism was never\nthe original form of any primitive nation's faith, and every people that\nbegan with paganism borrowed from some older nation in which the\noriginal faith had already been degraded. Strange! most strange!  Oh, if\nit could be proved!  If it could only be proved that Jesus of Nazareth\nis, in very truth, the incarnation of that which was to be 'begotten'\nand 'conceived' of the one dual God, and born of a woman into the world,\nhow grandly would the fact vindicate the primitive utterances of all\nhuman faith, and translate its vague but splendid dreams into a glorious\nreality!  It must be true!  Surely it must be true!  For among\nEgyptians, Chinese, Indians, and Jews, this original faith preceded all\nidolatries!\"\n\nThen, buried in profoundest meditation, the old man ceased to speak.\nBut after a time he roused himself, and looking upon the astonished\nyouth he said: \"And thou believest all this! thou hast 'never been such\nan idiot as to doubt it!'  Happy art thou, boy, if thou shalt preserve\nunfalteringly and unquestioningly thy serene and all-reliant faith.\"\n\nBut the lad's sturdy independence of thought asserted itself, and he\nanswered: \"Nay, sir!  I have professed faith in none of the things of\nwhich thou speakest.  I believe in one God and in Jesus Christ, his\nonly-begotten Son, and in the Holy Ghost.  I believe not in Hesiri-Hes,\nnor in Chang and Eng, nor in Indra and Agni, nor in any gods which Moses\ndenounced as falsest idols.  Nor in Jupiter, nor Venus, nor Mars, nor in\nany of the gods that came into fashion with the heathen long since Moses\ndied.\"\n\nThe ancient smiled approvingly, and replied: \"Thou art altogether in the\nright, my son.  Many of the gods in which the nations believe were born\nlong after the records kept by the Egyptian priests began; but all were\nborn of the myths which Egyptian, Chinese, and Indian priests wove about\nthe grand, primitive conception of one dual God.  The idolaters of other\nlands received in various forms the mythologies which the priests wove\nabout the most ancient, simple faith, which was primarily the same for\nall, only the children of Abraham refused to add anything to the\noriginal conception, clinging obstinately to the primitive monotheistic\nidea; and yet Moses designates the one God by his name of _Adonai_, the\nplural number of a Hebrew noun; and when the one God speaks of himself\nhe uses the words 'we,' 'our,' and 'us': _Let us make man in our own\nimage and likeness_.  Thou seest that it would be contrary to reason\nthat the original utterance of every faith should be the affirmation of\nGod that was one, and yet more than one, unless the divine being is\nspiritually hermaphrodite, having a double spiritual sexhood.  Thou\nseest that, if this were not so, Moses could not have used the plural\nnumber to designate one God.  Thou seest that, if it were not so, the\nonly act possible to God would have been creation, not generation; and\nthy faith in 'the only-begotten Son' must have been false; and the very\nancientest forms of faith would have been demonstrated to be merely\nimpossible falsehood--impossible, because there can not be a falsehood\nwhich does not originate in and grow out of a truth; for falsehood is a\nperversion or misconception of the truth; for falsehood is not that\nwhich hath no existence, but is the wrong statement or conception of\nthat which doth exist.  If it were not so, my son, thy faith in God the\nFather, Son, and Holy Ghost, would be merest polytheism, for three are\nnot one, nor is one three; but the three may be one divine nature and\nfamily. For the one God was always conceived of by the primary faiths as\na dual being, possessed of both elements of spiritual sexhood perfectly;\nand 'begotten' is a proper thing to say of one side of the dual God, and\n'conceived' is a proper thing to say of the other; and so thou mayst\nbelieve, without any imputation of polytheism, in Christ, as a being\n'begotten,' not created; 'conceived,' not made. Would that I knew that\nJesus of Nazareth is he!\"\n\n\"This learning is entirely new to me,\" said the lad. \"Perhaps it is\nhigher than I am yet able to comprehend. I believe in just precisely\nwhat the gospels say, no more, no less; that Jesus is the Christ,\nonly-begotten Son of God, conceived of the Holy Ghost, before there was\na creation, and born of the Virgin into the world long after God by him\nhad made all things that are created.  But, with thy profound knowledge\nof all these mysteries, how is it that thou thyself dost not believe?\nWho and what art thou, thou ancient, learned, yet unhappy man, whom may\nour Lord soon bless and save?\"\n\n\"I love thee, boy, but I am old, and now too weary to talk more with\nthee.  Wilt thou not come unto me again? I desire to live in seclusion\nas I have done for years, and beg of thee to speak of me to none; but\ncome again thyself whenever thou canst.\"\n\n\"I will return upon the seventh day hence,\" said Arius, \"and speak of\nthee to none except my father's family, and thou wilt not be annoyed by\nthem.  And so fare-thee-well, sir, and may the peace of God come upon\nthee!\"\n\n\"Amen!\" said the ancient, \"and farewell!\"\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VI.\n\n                       FLOTSON OF THE MIDDLE SEA.\n\n\nIn the evening of that day upon which Arius encountered the strange old\neremite upon the mountainside, draggled skirts of clouds swept across\nthe northern horizon, and distant lightnings gleamed upon the waves.\nDuring the night the storm came nearer and nearer, and before sunrise\nthe wind roared wildly over the Baucalis farm, and the troubled sea\nbroke in foam and thunder for many a league along the coast.  All day\nthe tempest raged, but with nightfall the clouds broke away, although\nthe turbulent waves continued to roll and tumble on the coast, and the\nangry waters gurgled through the narrow entrance into the little bay\nupon which Baucalis fronted. The dwellers at the farm watched the\nmagnificent display from their open windows, but saw no sign of any ship\nbelabored by the storm, and, after their usual religious exercises,\nretired to rest, thankful that there seemed to be no wreck along their\ncoasts.  During the night the sea ran down, and when Arius, early in the\nbeautiful morning, went to the garden's edge beside the water, there was\nonly a gentle swell perceivable upon the bosom of the deep, and a faint\nmurmur of the waters crowding into and out of the narrow opening of the\nbay with a gurgling noise from which the farm derived its name.  The lad\npursued his usual occupation, until his attention was caught by a sound\nunder the bank below him, as if some one gently and regularly struck\nupon the rock; and the boy then stepped forward, and, parting with his\nhands the fringe of shrub and weeds that grew upon the verge of the\nland, he gazed down into the waters of the bay, and at once discovered\nthat the unusual sounds were made by the striking of the ends of some\nspars that composed a small raft against the rock, with the rise and\nfall of every wave.  He also saw that two long spars or fragments of a\nship's mast had been fastened across two others so as to form a small\nsquare between them, and that a large bull's hide was securely stretched\nover this square, leaving the four ends of the timbers extending beyond\nit.  He also saw the outline of a human form lying supinely upon the\nhide, and of a smaller figure, with its head resting upon the other,\nboth covered over with a bright-hued woolen quilt.\n\nThe lad called loudly to his father, who was at work in an adjacent\nfield, but at a considerable distance from him, and, as soon as he had\ncaught his attention, Arius sprang down the bank to ascertain whether\nthe persons so quietly lying upon the raft were still alive.  The ends\nof the timbers projected far beyond the hide upon which they lay, and\nthe boy found himself in deep water almost at his first step from the\nshore; but he had been accustomed to daily baths in the bay from\nchildhood, and without fear or hesitation he boldly dashed in between\nthe projecting timbers toward the hide on which the bodies lay.  The\nnoise he made in calling Ammonius, and in dashing through the water,\nroused up one of the sleepers on the raft, and she slightly raised her\nhead, and with her hand threw back the woolen covering, and Arius saw\nthe swarthy face of a young Egyptian girl of twelve turned upon him with\nwide-open, wondering eyes.  The other form was that of a woman, but she\nneither spoke nor moved, and Arius thought she must be dead.  But the\ngirl did speak, and the boy thought she used the Egyptian tongue,\nalthough he could not understand her words.  Then he said, \"Maiden,\ncanst thou speak in Greek.\"\n\nA swift gleam of intelligence broke over the child's wan face, and she\njoyfully answered: \"Yea! for in Alexandria Greek is the common speech of\nall, whether they be Romans, Egyptians, or Jews!\"\n\n\"Art thou wet?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" she said, \"soaked in salt water for I know not how long; but I\nhave slept soundly, and mamma has not even yet waked up.\"\n\n\"If thou art so thoroughly wet already, a little more water will not\nhurt thee; so put thine arms about my neck, hold fast, and I will carry\nthee to land.\"\n\n\"But mother!\" she cried; and then becoming frightened that she did not\nawake, she kissed her passionately, saying: \"Mamma! mother! wake up!  We\nhave drifted to the shore!\"\n\nThen the poor lady murmured words that neither of them could comprehend,\nbut she made no attempt to move, and seemed to be talking unconsciously.\nThen Arius took the girl's hand in his, saying gently: \"My father will\nsoon be here, and together we can take thy mother from the raft.  Come\nthou with me.\"\n\nThen the girl raised herself up into a sitting posture, and Arius,\nholding to the spar with one hand, with the other drew her down into the\nsea beside him, saying: \"Now put up thine arms and hold on tightly; it\nis but a few feet to the shore.\"\n\nAnd the girl said, \"I can swim as well as thou, but I am weary and cold\nand hungry, and will put one hand on thy shoulder.\"  And when she had\ndone so the boy went hand over hand along the spar, and drew himself and\nher rapidly shoreward, until his feet rested firmly upon the bottom, and\nthen he caught the child up in his arms and lifted her up to the dry\nground.\n\nBy this time, Ammonius, coming with all speed, had reached the bank\nabove them, and at one swift, intelligent glance comprehended the scene\nin all its pitiful details; then he sprang down the bank beside them,\nand said unto Arius, \"Doth the woman yet live?\"\n\n\"Yea, father, she was talking even now; but I scarcely think she knew\nwhat things she said.\"\n\n\"Run thou unto the house swiftly, tell thy mother, and bring hither a\nsaw.\"\n\nAnd the boy sprang up the bank instantly and ran homeward.  Then\nAmmonius spoke kindly to the girl, saying, \"How farest thou, little\nmaiden?\"\n\nAnd the child said: \"I am well enough, but wet and hungry.  But mamma is\nill.  Please bring her to the land.\"\n\n\"Yea, maiden; soon will my son return with a saw, wherewith I can saw\noff two of the timbers where they cross the other two, and so draw the\nraft up close to the land, and then lift thy mother gently and safely to\nthe shore.  Dost thou understand me, child?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" she answered, \"and I see that it is best to wait. But I want my\nmother; she is sick indeed.\"\n\nVery soon the agile youth returned, bringing the saw with him, and\nAmmonius immediately swam out to the bull's hide, and sawed away two of\nthe timbers at the intersection thereof, and quickly drew the raft close\nup against the shore, and took up the quilt and cast it to Arius,\ntelling him to spread it out upon the ground, and in his strong arms\nlifted up the unconscious woman and bore her up the bank and gently laid\nher upon the quilt.  Soon Arete and old Thopt joined them; and Arius and\nhis mother took each an end of the quilt upon which the woman lay, and\nAmmonius gathered up the other two ends, and they bore her gently but\nswiftly to the cottage; and old Thopt took the girl's hand in hers and\nfollowed them as quickly as her growing infirmities permitted.\n\nArete and old Thopt stripped the poor lady of her elegant apparel that\nwas soaked through with sea-water, and rubbed her vigorously with woolen\ncloths, clothed her with warm woolen gowns out of Arete's wardrobe, and\ngave her hot tea made of such shrubs as were known to their simple\ndomestic pharmacy.  The sufferer manifestly got much relief from this\ntreatment, but it was only too apparent that the terrible exposure to\nwhich she had been subjected had taken hold upon the very roots of life\nin her beautiful but delicate frame.  Her unconscious murmurs were\nuttered in the Egyptian tongue, and, no sooner had old Thopt heard it,\nthan a strange excitement seized her, and she answered the lady in the\nsame strange speech, crooning over her like a mother over a sick child,\nor more like some affectionate animal licking its wounded young; for the\nEgyptian speech evidently shows the syllabication into articulate sounds\nof thoughts that were primarily expressed in signs and grimaces--the\ntranslation of brute means of communication into words; and its original\nrudimentary form is as direct and unveiled in the expression of passion\nand emotion as the actions of an animal could be.\n\nThe maiden, Theckla, having been well rubbed, well clad in dry garments,\nand well fed with hot soup and viands, seemed almost free from any ill\neffects of her long exposure upon the raft; and, being assured that her\nmother was tenderly cared for, rapidly recovered her strength and\nspirits.\n\nThe famous medical school at Cyrene educated many men in all the\nlearning of a profession which was then in its infancy, and so\nthoroughly infested with charlatanism that even the most eminent\nprofessors of the art of healing commanded but small respect among\nintelligent people; and the Christians especially had no faith in their\npretended ability to cure disease.  In ordinary cases they trusted to\ncareful nursing, and the curative power of nature in people whose\nfreedom from vice and whose simple, healthful manner of life gave the\npatient every chance of recovery, without the use of incantations,\ncharms, and poisons, which then constituted the chief resources of\nprofessional pharmacy; and in desperate cases they anointed the stricken\none with oil, obtained the prayers of the Church in his behalf, and\ncalmly awaited the issue; having neither any inordinate love of life nor\nany distressful fear of death, and looking upon even a fatal issue of\nthe illness as a change that was often better than recovery--a happy\nrelease from the cares and uncertainties of earthly life, that was\nneither to be too rashly sought for nor too anxiously avoided.  Hence\nthe women at the farm themselves assumed the care of their interesting\npatient, and gave her constant and affectionate attention, but no drugs\nexcept such simple remedies as were in common family use, of all of\nwhich old Thopt had a very thorough knowledge.  The old woman believed\nthat sound and refreshing sleep is the secret of health and longevity,\nand that no one would die so long as this blessing was obtainable; and\nhence, in her opinion, the poppy was a panacea.  The bark of certain\nspecies of the willow she knew to be good against malarial fevers, and\nthis was her favorite remedy in every disease which manifested a\nremittent or intermittent form.  She had no hesitation in declaring that\nthe lady would be ill a long time, and that whether she would live or\ndie must depend upon the vital forces she had to draw upon; for old\nThopt had always remained at least a semi-pagan, and, if there was any\nChristianity in her, it was inextricably tangled up with the remnants of\nthe old religion which she had learned in her home upon the Nile.  She\nloved her mistress passionately and devotedly, just as a faithful dog\nmight have loved, and she refused to accept the freedom offered to her\nby Arete when, under the influence and instructions of Ammonius, that\nlady had become a Christian; because one of the fixed and immovable\narticles of her ancient creed was that many Egyptians were created to be\nslaves, and that she was one of them; so that it would have been a\nmeasureless impiety for her to set up herself to be free. If she had any\nhatred of the new religion, it grew out of the fact that that faith\nundertook to abolish the relation of mistress and slave between Arete\nand herself.  She had not undressed and washed her patient without\nimmediately perceiving that she was one of that aristocratic class who\nhad come into the world to enjoy all of its advantages, and to be waited\nupon by slaves, as was demonstrated to old Thopt's satisfaction by the\nfineness of her kilt, girdle, and gown, and by the delicate pink-color\nof her flesh beneath it; and the old woman would as soon have thought of\norganizing a rebellion against Anubis, the jackal-headed god himself, as\nto have thought of withholding proper reverence and care from the\nsuperior being who had been cast upon her guardianship.  So that the\nChristian charity of Arete and the inborn sense of duty and obligation\nwhich generations of inherited servitude had made second nature in old\nThopt combined to secure faithful and untiring care in behalf of the\nsick woman, and one or the other of them was in attendance upon her day\nand night.\n\nBut as Ammonius had carried her from the raft to the land, and on the\nway up to the house, he had heard her utter unconsciously, in the\nEgyptian language, disjointed sentences which caused him much anxiety;\nand, as soon as her immediate wants had been attended to, he charged the\nfamily that they were not in any way to apprise the lady that she had\nfallen into the hands of Christians until such time as he might deem it\nproper to instruct them otherwise; but that they should be as diligent\nin their care of her as if she had been the sister of them all.  Before\nthe close of the first day's watching beside her patient, Arete found\nample reason, in the lady's feverish revelations, for the injunctions\nwhich her husband had given concerning her. She talked almost\nincessantly: now of her home in Alexandria; now of the rulers of Egypt;\nnow of her husband Amosis, and of her daughter; now of some special\nmission which Amosis had undertaken at Rome; now of the fearful tempest;\nnow of a desperate struggle upon the raft between her husband and some\none else, in which both had fallen into the sea together.  The substance\nof this disjointed and feverish babbling left no doubt upon Arete's mind\nthat the lady's husband was in the service of the rulers of Egypt, and\nhigh in the confidence of both the priests and of the government; nor\nthat he was a bitter adversary of the Christians; nor that, when\novertaken by the tempest, he was on his journey to Rome, to obtain from\nthe Emperor larger authority to persecute the Christians, even to\nextermination, in Egypt and throughout Northern Libya. She gathered also\nthat when the officer and his wife and child had betaken themselves to\nthe raft as their last hope of safety, some one, seeing that all order\nand discipline were lost, inflamed by a guilty passion for the beautiful\nwoman, had leaped upon the raft with them as it was leaving the vessel's\nside, and that a desperate struggle had occurred between the husband and\nthe intruder, in which both had fallen into the sea; and that the lady\nherself regarded the very name of Christians with detestation and\nhorror, and fully sympathized with her husband's purpose to persecute\nthem; and she had expected him to reap great and rapid advancement from\nhis zeal against the churches. And, although not unconscious of the\nelement of danger lurking in their intercourse with such a conscientious\nhater of Christianity, Arete felt even larger compassion for her\nbeautiful patient's pagan darkness than for her physical illness; but\nshe fully realized the propriety of her husband's caution upon the\nsubject.\n\nAnd so the weary days went by, and on the sixth morning the fever broke,\nand left the poor lady with restored consciousness, but physically as\nweak and helpless as an infant.\n\nDuring these days, Arius and Theckla had become fast friends.  She was a\nbeautiful child, but an Egyptian of the aristocratic class.  Her hair,\nwhich was as black as jet, curled profusely all around and over her\nshapely head in luxuriant masses.  Her forehead was low and broad, the\nface a perfect oval from the full temples to the point of the plump,\ndelicate, projecting chin, while the small, full-lipped mouth was red as\na cherry, the upper lip notably short and voluptuous.  The black,\narched, delicate eyebrows nearly met at the root of the high, straight,\ndelicately chiseled nose, and the large, dark eyes, soft, black, and\nfathomless, free alike from fire and languishment, were of a kind found\nnowhere on earth except along the Nile--full, wide-open eyes that seemed\ncalm and untroubled as the sightless orbs of any sphinx, yet full of\nmystery as is the old, old land of Kem.  Arius soon discovered that the\ngirl was remarkably bright and quick, but that she could neither read\nnor write, all the instruction she had ever received (and she had been\nvery carefully taught) having been communicated by oral teaching.  Her\nnative tongue was, of course, that of Egypt, but she spoke Greek with\nfluency, and Latin also, but with difficulty and hesitation.\n\nOn the evening of the day on which she had been rescued from the waves,\nthe boy and girl were playing and chatting together in the shade before\nthe cottage.  The sun was just sinking beyond the distant\nmountain-range, when the girl said, \"Do you go at sunrise or at sunset?\"\n\n\"Go whither?\" said Arius.\n\n\"Why, to worship Mentu, or Atmu, of course!  Do you not worship?\"\n\n\"Worship whom?\" asked Arius.\n\n\"Oh,\" she answered, \"old Ea, or Ptah, or Hesiri-Hes, or the other gods,\nany of them you prefer?\"\n\n\"I do not worship any of them,\" said Arius.\n\n\"Perhaps, then,\" said Theckla, \"thou art an atheist, and hatest all of\nthe gods; and that is very wrong.  For papa says that the atheists are\nlittle better than the Christians themselves, and that it is owing to\ntheir evil influence that so many young people in Alexandria are growing\nup to believe in nothing.  But, blessed be the gods, I have been brought\nup in religion!\"\n\n\"And which of the gods dost thou love and worship most?\"\n\n\"I love none of them surely, but I fear and worship Ptah, Ra, and\nHesiri-Hes, the cross old things; because mamma says that they are the\nmost respectable; and I fear them much, especially the terrible,\nimplacable, pitiless Ma-t.\"\n\n\"But do you not think,\" said Arius, \"that you would rather worship some\nloving, compassionate, and holy deity, whom you could love, and obey\nbecause you loved him?\"\n\n\"Oh, that would be funny, would it not?--for a girl to fall in love with\na god!  I never thought of such a thing before, but I believe,\" she\nadded, with an arch glance at Arius, \"that I would like a really nice\nhandsome boy better than any of the plebeian gods!\"\n\n\"What dost thou mean, Theckla, by saying 'the plebeian gods'?\"\n\n\"Oh, I mean the new-fangled deities that have come into fashion during\nthe last two or three thousand years--the cheap, low-priced divinities\nworshiped by the slaves and by the mechanics, like Sebek, the\ncrocodile-headed, and all that contemptible crowd.  Mamma says that\nwe--that is, the nobility, you know--ought not to pay any attention to\nany of them except the dreadful old gods, like Ra, Ptah, Hesiri-Hes, and\nthe other ancient divinities; because our own family is older and more\nhonorable than any of them except the high, dreadful old fellows that\nhave lived forever.  Still, boy, thou hadst better worship even the\nwretched Sebek than to be an atheist or a Christian; for papa says so.\"\n\nThen the boy's heart yearned to tell the beautiful pagan of the God in\nwhom he believed, but, remembering his father's caution on that subject,\nhe chose rather to avoid further conversation of the kind, and started\noff toward the bay to take his evening bath.\n\n\"Whither goest thou?\" asked the little maiden.\n\n\"I am going to the bay to take a bath, as I do daily.\"\n\n\"That will be fine sport,\" she cried, \"and I am going with you!\"\n\nAnd Theckla sprang to her feet, and ran along beside him.  The boy\nreached the water's edge, and, casting aside the loose gown habitually\nworn about the farm, he plunged into the bay and struck out from the\nshore, the play of his limbs being almost unimpeded by the close-fitting\nunder-garment reaching from the neck to midway of the thigh; and\ninstantly the young girl, whom old Thopt had arrayed in the short,\nsleeveless kilt and long gown which the women usually wore, threw off\nher outside gown and plunged in after him, exclaiming: \"Oh, it is nicer\nthan Lake Mareotis!  But I have swum with papa from the great Pharos to\nthe Kibotos in the little harbor of Eunostos!\" and she swam after the\nboy as gracefully as a mermaid.  Soon she caught up with him, and,\nhaving placed her little hands upon his head, she suddenly straightened\nout her arms with all her strength, and raising herself up with a lithe\nand joyous spring above him, with all her weight she plunged his head\ndown far beneath the surface, and swam laughingly away. The boy came up\ninstantly and pursued the fleeing maiden, and as soon as he could catch\nup with her, which was no easy task, he said, \"Thou shalt go under too,\nTheckla!\" but she was so excellent a swimmer, and so quick and active,\nthat for a long time she baffled all his efforts to get her head beneath\nthe waves.  She laughed and struggled, and defied him, and exulted\ngreatly that he was not able to give her such a ducking as she had given\nhim, until, at last, he wound his long arms around her, pinioning both\nof hers, and, clasping her to his bosom, stood straight up, and they\nsank together until his feet touched the bottom, from which he sprang\nupward to the surface.  Then the lad kissed her and released her,\nsaying, \"Wilt thou dip me again, Theckla, or hast thou had enough of\nit?\"\n\nBut the girl clasped her hands above her head, threw herself suddenly\ndownward, and for a moment her little feet flashed above the water as\nshe dived, and instantly afterward she clasped the boy's legs in her\narms and pulled him again beneath the surface, and rose above the waves\nbefore he had recovered himself.  And so they sported in the calm waters\nof the bay until the twilight began to thicken over the valley, when\nthey started for the shore, and the girl swam beside him as lightly as a\ngull, and, having thrown their long gowns around them, hand in hand they\nwalked back to the cottage.\n\nTheckla's first inquiry was of her mother, and, finding that she\ncontinued ill, she obstinately refused to leave her after it grew dark,\neven for a moment, but stretched herself out upon the couch beside her\nand slept until morning.\n\nSo it was every evening.  During the day-time Arius was her favorite\ncompanion, but she seemed to have an unconquerable aversion to darkness,\nand would not leave her mother's side while it continued.  Ammonius told\nthem to let her have her own way, as terror of the dark hours was part\nof the old religion in which she had been raised.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VII.\n\n             THECKLA FINDS ONE GOD AND HEARETH OF ANOTHER.\n\n\nSo passed the days away, and Arius and Theckla became as firmly bound to\neach other as if they had been raised together all their little lives.\nOn the second day after her coming, Arius had resumed his usual tasks in\nthe garden and in the fields; and when he came home at noontide she\nseemed rejoiced to see him, and demanded with playful imperiousness,\n\"Where hast thou been all the morning, Arius?\"\n\n\"I have been at work in the garden,\" replied the boy.\n\n\"At work!\" she exclaimed; \"digging with thy hands?  Why, thou art not a\nslave!\"\n\nAnd the boy answered, laughing merrily: \"Nay, I call no man master; I am\nas free as any Caesar!\"\n\n\"Why, then, dost thou work?  Verily, I thought that none but slaves and\nmechanics ever labor.\"\n\n\"But thou dost greatly err.  It is true that some Greeks, Romans, and\nJews, suppose that none ought to labor except those whom they call\n'vile'; or rather they call all who labor 'vile,' but I do not accept\ntheir monstrous definitions, having been thoroughly taught that the only\nman who is free is he who lives by his labor without dependence upon\nrelatives, or upon the offices which are distributed by the favoritism\nof the dissolute and wicked creatures whom they call emperors, Caesars,\nproconsuls, and such titles; and I am free-born, and will maintain my\nliberty.\"\n\n\"Why, then, dost thou toil?\"\n\n\"Because we need to toil in order to live comfortably and independently,\nas we are not rich, and do not desire to be so; but I never will be any\nman's servant.  And, also, because it is noble and right to toil in some\nway, and every one who is not idiotic, deformed, or afflicted, is unfit\nto live unless he follows some honorable and useful vocation.\"\n\n\"Thou art the very nicest boy I know,\" she said, \"but it seemeth so\nstrange to me that thou shouldst labor with thy hands, and shouldst talk\nas if thou didst believe that it is good and not degrading to do so.  I\nnever heard such things.  But I will go with thee this afternoon and see\nwhat thou doest.\"\n\n\"Thou mayst do so,\" said Arius, \"and thou mayst help me with my work if\nthou wilt.\"\n\nBut the little maiden held up her hands that looked like delicate\nwax-work, and laughingly cried out, \"Even with these hands?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" said the boy, merrily, \"even with those, tender and pretty as\nthey are.\"\n\nSo after the midday meal, when Arius went back to the patch of onions at\nwhich he was at work, Theckla accompanied him, and stood awhile watching\nhim as he dug up the tubers.\n\n\"What is to be done with these?\" she asked.\n\n\"They are to be gathered up into little heaps, and carried hence to the\nhouse, and stored away until wanted.\"\n\n\"Why, I can pile them up for you,\" she cried, and straightway she began\nto gather the onions up as fast as the boy dug them, saying: \"I wonder\nwhat mamma would think if she knew I was learning to work?  But it is\ngood, and I will help thee every day.\"\n\n\"Thou shalt not weary thyself,\" said the boy, \"and thou shalt quit as\nsoon as thou dost desire to do so.\"\n\nBut she would not stop, and continued at the task for several hours,\nuntil it was completed, seeming to be delighted with her newly\ndiscovered ability to be of use.\n\n\"What other work hast thou to do?\"\n\n\"Nothing else, Theckla, except to take some salt to the cattle in the\npasture, beyond the field, and thou mayst go into the house.  I will not\nbe long absent.\"\n\n\"But I will not go to the house, Arius; I will go with thee, and see the\nlarge-eyed beasts.\"\n\n\"Come on, then,\" said the boy, and, taking up the bag of salt which he\nhad brought from the barn, he led the way along the shore of the little\nbay until they had passed beyond the field, where they came upon the\nedge of the pasture-land, and there Arius scattered the salt along a\ngreat trough of wood, to which some of the cattle had hurried up as soon\nas they saw the boy, and others came one after another, until more than\na score were contentedly licking up the salt; and among them a fine\nbull-calf that was peculiarly marked.  The kindly-treated herd were tame\nand fearless, and, as soon as young Theckla saw the bull, she gazed at\nhim with the most intense interest, and ran up to the animal, crying\nout, excitedly: \"Lo, the god! the god! the beautiful young Apis!\"\n\n\"What dost thou mean now?\" said Arius.\n\n\"Why, boy,\" she answered, joyously, \"thou art the most fortunate boy\nthat ever lived.  Seest thou not the god--the sacred bull--the beautiful\nyoung Apis? Seest thou not the black-colored hide; the triangular white\nspot upon his forehead; the hairs on his back roughened out into the\nform of an eagle; the crescent white spot upon his right side?  Oh, if\nhe hath a knot under his tongue in the shape of a scarabaeus, the sacred\nbeetle of Ptah, he hath then all the marks that reveal the bull to be a\ngod!  Wilt thou not look under his tongue and see?\"\n\nThe boy gazed upon her with mingled pity, amusement, and contempt.  He\nhad read and heard of the worship of idols and of beasts, but had never\nbefore witnessed an actual exhibition of such idolatry.  \"Why, Theckla,\"\nhe answered, \"the bull is no more a god than thou art a cow.  I am\namazed that so sensible a girl should be capable of such folly as to\nthink this beast a god.\"\n\n\"But he is an Apis, Arius, and the priests of the temple at Memphis\nwould give thee his weight in gold for him.  They would come hither in a\nroyal procession to carry him hence; they would keep him for forty days\nat Nilopolis, and for forty days at Memphis, and the noblest of the\nwomen in the city would go in naked and worship him; and he would be fed\nlike a great king as long as he lives, and when he dies he would become\nan Osor-hapi, a great god, and would secure thy soul.  Surely the\npriests must know that he is a great god, or they would not build such\ngrand temples in honor of Apis, and worship him with such magnificent\nand costly ceremonies and processions.  I verily fear that thou art an\natheist, Arius, but I have been raised up to be religious, and I know.\"\n\n\"Theckla,\" answered the boy, \"I can take a goad in my hand and drive\nthis sort of a god whithersoever I will; I can catch his tail in my\nhands and twist it until he shall bellow with pain.  If thou wilt hold\nout to him an ear of corn in thine hand, he will follow thee about like\na dog; and thou callest the beast a god!  Theckla, I am verily ashamed\nof thy foolishness.\"\n\nBut the young girl looked gravely at her companion, and said in tones of\nsolemn warning and reproof: \"Arius, thou dost not believe in Ea, Ptah,\nShu, Seb, Set, Mentu, Atmu, nor in Hesiri-Hes; and thou dost laugh at\nthe sacred Hathors, and thou dost mock the bull-god Apis!--Boy, dost\nthou believe in anything?  Or art thou an atheist?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" cried Arius, laughing, \"I believe thou art the brightest and the\nprettiest little pagan in the world; and some time I shall explain to\nthee what I believe, and convince thee of the folly of thy polytheistic\nand idolatrous notions.  But not now, for thy god and the other beasts\nwith him have salt enough, and we must return home.\"\n\nThey went back along the bay-shore, and the sun was nigh the tops of the\ndistant mountains; and Arius, walking a little in advance of Theckla,\nheard a sudden plunge into the water, and looking back he saw the little\nmaiden swimming boldly out into the bay, and immediately he plunged in\nafter her.  They swam, dived, raced, scuffled, and sported in the pure\nand healthful element until twilight began to gather over the lowlands,\nand then, hand in hand, they wandered back to the cottage, Theckla going\nimmediately to her mother's apartment, whose side she would not leave so\nlong as the night lasted--a horror of darkness being incident to the\nEgyptian religion, derived, perhaps, from the grand midnight ceremonies\nof the Memphian priests in which annually with torches and processions,\nand weird and impressive wailings, they celebrated the world-wide search\nof Isis for the dismembered body of the consort whose mangled limbs the\nhatred of the evil Seth had scattered about the earth.\n\nTheckla wanted to tell her mother about the wonderful young Apis, but\nold Thopt peremptorily enjoined silence upon her, and forbade the sick\nlady to talk in her present excessively debilitated condition.  For it\nwas manifest that her recovery was exceedingly doubtful, and that even\nthe slightest excitement or effort might be fatal to her. She lay\nquietly enough, and while she recognized Theckla, and seemed to\nunderstand the few Egyptian words spoken to her by Arete and old Thopt,\nwhich were carefully limited to repeating to her that she had been very\nill, and must remain entirely quiet, and neither talk nor even think,\nshe seemed almost to have forgotten the shipwreck and the loss of her\nhusband; and the two women who watched her devotedly even doubted\nwhether she knew that she was away from home.  They looked forward with\ngreat anxiety to the time when she might grow strong enough to shake off\nthis healthful lassitude of extreme exhaustion, and realize her unhappy\ncircumstances.  But the recent past seemed to have been blotted out of\nher memory, and she lay quiet and uncomplaining, apparently content with\nher surroundings; and the anxious nurses carefully avoided everything\nthat could even by chance arouse her drowsy intelligence, and renew the\nconsciousness of grief that seemed to slumber in her brain.\n\nThe Sabbath-day came round again, and, with the rising of the sun, young\nTheckla bounded out of her mother's room, calling aloud for Arius.  It\nwas usual on the Sabbath for the family at Baucalis to go to some house\nof a Christian in the vicinity, where would be gathered together a small\nassemblage of the faithful for religious services, or to have the\nneighbors assemble at the farm for the same purpose.  On this day,\nhowever, Arete and old Thopt would be necessarily detained at home by\nthe illness of the Egyptian Hatasa; and Ammonius, who still thought it\nprudent, both upon her account and upon his own, not to inform her that\nshe was enjoying the hospitality of a family belonging to the hated sect\nthat was everywhere spoken against, and that was persecuted throughout\nLibya even more bitterly than elsewhere in the Roman Empire, ordered\nthat Arius should take charge of Theckla for the day, and determined\nhimself to go to the assembly, in order to consult certain of the\nbrethren about his future course in reference to his involuntary guests.\nArius then informed his father about the singular recluse he had met\nwith upon the mountain on the preceding Sabbath, of his promise to visit\nhim upon that day, and asked his permission to go, saying that he would\ntake Theckla with him if his father had no objection to suggest, and\nwould invite the singular and learned old man to visit them.  To this\nAmmonius readily gave his consent, and Arius thereupon told Theckla of\nthe facts, and invited her to accompany him, to which she\nenthusiastically assented.  The farm vineyard produced a wine almost\nidentical with the famous Mareotic, which was praised from the mouth of\nthe Nile to Athens and to Rome.  It also produced figs, pomegranates,\napricots, peaches, oranges, citrons, lemons, limes, and bananas, which\nthe Christians commonly called the \"fruits of paradise,\" because in that\nlatitude they were in season the whole year through.  It also produced\nvarious melons, among them a delicious watermelon, yellow on the inside,\nlotus, and olives.  In their garden, also, grew the rose, the jasmine,\nthe lily, the oleander, chrysanthemums, geraniums, dahlias, helianthus,\nand violets, and they could raise almost every vegetable known to both\ntropical and temperate zones.\n\nArius procured a basket, and enlisted the services of old Thopt by\ntelling her that he was about to visit an ancient Egyptian hermit who\ndwelt alone upon the mountain, and desired to take him a lot of good\nthings to comfort his loneliness; and that kind-hearted creature soon\nhad a few bottles of excellent wine, some bread-loaves of finest flour,\nand quite an assortment of choice fruits, both preserved and fresh,\npacked into the basket, the whole crowned with a beautiful bouquet\nplucked by Theckla's dainty fingers.  Arius, bearing his basket, and\nfollowed by the agile girl, pursued his way along the little bay until\nhe had passed by it westwardly, and then began the long but gradual\nascent of the mountain, upon a small plateau of which dwelt the aged\neremite.  In less than two hours they had reached the plateau in front\nof the hermitage, and soon beheld the ancient seated near his own door,\nhis weary eyes gazing far away over the brilliant expanse of the\nMediterranean.  The approach of the two young people caught his\nattention, and with a genial smile the old man welcomed them.  Taking\nthe girl's hand in his own, he murmured: \"She is a bright and lovely\nchild, and a true daughter of Kem\" (the Black-land).  He spoke in the\nEgyptian language, which he knew Arius did not understand, but the girl\nanswered in the same tongue: \"Yea, father, I am from To-mehit\" (the\nNorth-land), \"and was born in Alexandria.\"\n\nThen the ancient said with surprise: \"How is it that thou speakest\nEgyptian, when thy brother knoweth no word of the strange old language?\nOr _is_ he thy brother?\"\n\nThis he said in Greek, and Arius answered, \"Nay, she is not my sister,\nbut is a guest in my father's house.\"\n\nThen he succinctly narrated the story of the rescue of Theckla and her\nmother from the raft.  The old man listened with much interest to the\nboy's graphic recital; and then, turning to Theckla, he said: \"Child,\nart thou, too, a Christian like thy friend Arius; or art thou still in\nbondage to the false and fearful gods of Kem?\"\n\nThen the girl showed in her speaking face her loathing and abhorrence\nfor the very name of Christ, and turning hastily to Arius she cried:\n\"Art thou, then, a Christian? Belongest thou to that accursed and\ncriminal association? Oh, say it is not so, or I will never, never love\nthee any more!\"\n\nBut the boy drew himself up proudly and answered: \"Yea, Theckla, I am a\nChristian, thank the boundless mercy of God!  And, when thou shalt have\nlearned what it is to be a Christian, I trust that thou wilt follow\nJesus thyself, and love me and all other Christians more and more.  For\nverily we are not such a people as thou hast been taught to believe us\nto be, any more than our bull is a god, as thou didst suppose.\"\n\n\"I do not very much believe in Apis,\" she said, \"but the common people\ndo.  Ah!  Arius, I am so sorry to hear this thing of thee!  Why, if my\nmother had known that ye were Christians, she would sooner have died\nupon the raft than have gone into thy father's house, or to have\nsuffered any one of you to touch her with your hands. Oh, I am so vexed\nto find that thou art connected with such a people!\"\n\nThen said Arius: \"Thy mother is well cared for; and thou must let her\nknow nothing until she hath become stronger; thou wouldst only distress\nher by informing her of the fact of our being Christians, and it could\ndo no good to tell her.\"\n\nThen the girl drew nigh to him with tearful eyes, and crossed her little\nhands upon his shoulder, and leaned her head against them, and, looking\nup into his eyes with sorrow and tenderness, said: \"Ye have been so good\nand kind to both of us, that I can not help loving all the people at thy\nhome, and I do love thee, although thou art a Christian; but it is a\nterrible thing; for papa says that to be a Christian is worse than to be\nan atheist.\"\n\nThese things all occurred in a moment, and the ancient, seeing that it\nhad not been the purpose of Arius to inform the maiden concerning his\nreligion, and that he himself had unwittingly brought about the\ndisclosure of the fact, said unto them: \"Come within and be seated, my\nchildren; I desire to talk to both of you.\"\n\nAnd, when they had gone within, Arius set his basket upon the old man's\ntable, saying: \"I have brought unto thee wine, bread, and fruits, as a\ntoken of my reverence for thine age and learning.  I desire to be\nfriendly with thee.\"\n\nThe old man seemed to be much touched by the boy's speech and manner,\nand gently answered: \"I thank thee, truly, and far more for thy kind\nwords than for any gifts. Not often do the ancient enjoy the friendship\nof the young, although nothing else on earth can be more pleasant unto\nthem.\"\n\n\"But the heart of a Christian needeth renewal,\" said Arius, \"if it be\nnot always both young enough to sympathize with the youngest, and old\nenough to sympathize with even the very oldest.  The very core of our\nreligion is the _Agape_, a love which is not measured by age nor\naccident, but goeth out freely to every one that needeth it.\"\n\nThe old man looked upon the boy with wonder, saying: \"That is beautiful,\nindeed; there is no such truth in any other religion.\"\n\nAnd the girl said, \"That is good and strong, Arius, although it be a\nChristian dogma.\"\n\nThen the ancient said: \"I desire that ye will listen to me carefully for\na moment, and thou especially, Theckla. Children, I am nigh upon\nfourscore years of age.  My name is Am-nem-hat.  In mine infancy I was\nplaced in the great temple at Thebes, and dedicated to the service of\nAmen-Ba, Mut, and Kuhns, the Theban triad.  My family was ancient and\nhonorable in Egypt, and their influence and wealth opened the way for me\nto all priestly honors and learning.  I remained in that temple fifty\nyears, during twenty-five of which I was a priest, and I gradually\nmastered all the wisdom, learning, and mysteries of the priesthood,\nuntil my fellows determined that I should be elevated to the highest\nrank in the sacerdotal service, and I was ordained and inaugurated to be\nhigh-priest at Ombos, where I continued for five-and-twenty years\nlonger.  The triad which throughout all Egypt is worshiped as\nHesiri-Hes, and Horus, we at Thebes worshiped as Amen-Ra, Mut, and\nKuhns, and at Ombos as Ptah-Pukht and Imhotep. But, while during all\nthese years I exercised the functions and exhausted the learning of the\npriesthood, I forever sought after Ma-t, the Goddess of Truth, she that\nin her own hall, in the lower world, is called Two Truths, by whom the\ndead are judged.--Dost thou know something of the fearful Ma-t, young\nTheckla?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" answered the girl, with a perceptible shudder, \"I know her well,\nand tremble at the dreadful thought of her!  So wise! so hard and\npitiless! so tearless, and yet so just!  The terrible Ma-t, without\nmercy, incapable of love, unmoved by hate, implacable, emotionless, the\nfearful judge, the Truth!\"\n\n\"Then listen to me, child!  I worshiped through all these lonely years\nas a faithful, conscientious priest, and memorized the book of the dead,\nand studied the mysteries of medicine, of astronomy, and of mathematics,\nand sought unceasingly to know the awful Ma-t!  Dost thou think that I\nam one who ought to know whether any of the gods of Kem are true or\nfalse?\"\n\nThen Theckla fell upon her knees before the ancient priest, and lifting\nher little hands to him she cried: \"Yea, father, thou knowest!  Ancient,\nhonorable, learned priest, thou knowest!  Teach thou Arius to believe in\nthe three great gods, to seek the awful Ma-t, and to abandon the\npernicious Christian faith, for thou art wise! thou knowest all the\ntruth!\"\n\n\"Listen then, Theckla.  Five years ago, driven by the quenchless\ncuriosity of an unsatisfied but earnest soul, I caused to be brought\nbefore me one who preached to men of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, because I\nhad heard that these Christians were irreclaimable from the errors of\ntheir superstition, and I desired to test the question whether they\ncould be persuaded to return unto the old religion.  I kept him with me\nmany days, while we discussed these things, and then sent him from me\nunconvinced.  And afterward I fled from the temple secretly, in an open\nboat, in which I had placed my most valuable possessions, and floated\ndown the Nile.  Thence I wandered along the coast to Alexandria, where,\nfor a great sum, secretly I purchased all the sacred writings of the\nJews and Christians, and, after many days more of wandering along the\ncoast, I found this spot and have since then dwelt here alone, still\nseeking for the truth.  For--art thou listening to me, Theckla?--a\nhorror of great darkness had fallen upon my soul.  I know that Amen-Ra,\nMut, and Kuhns, are not true gods!  Apis is nothing but a bull; Anubis\nis only a jackal; Sebek is a crocodile and nothing more; and even the\nmost ancient gods, if there be any truth in them at all, are only the\nvisible emblems of some higher truth which the very priests have\nforgotten, if, indeed, they ever knew it.  I have hoped and half\nexpected to find that this unknown truth, this 'hidden' thing which is\nnot Hapi, might be that which the Christians promulgate; but this I do\nnot know. Nevertheless, my child, I tell thee that the gods of Kem are\nno true gods; and I counsel thee to learn of Arius that which he\nbelieveth!  For falsehood is not profitable; and I realize that all my\ndays have been consumed in learning and in teaching only errors; and it\nis sad and terrible.\"\n\nBoth of them heard the old man's confession with awe and sympathy, and\nwhen, overcome by strong emotion, he had ceased to speak, Theckla gave\nway to a passionate burst of tears; but, as soon as she could regain her\nself-control, she turned to the ancient and with strange earnestness\nexclaimed, \"O Father Am-nem-hat, high and honorable priest, hast thou,\ntoo, become a Christian?\"\n\n\"Nay,\" replied the old man solemnly, \"I have only learned the bitter\nlesson that the gods of Egypt are all false: I have not found a true God\nyet, if any such there be.\"\n\n\"Thou shalt yet find him,\" cried Arius, \"to the joy and consolation of\nthy spirit, and thine old age shall be filled with the peace of God that\npasseth all understanding; for he that seeketh findeth, and to him that\nknocketh shall it be opened.\"\n\nThen they were all silent for a time.  Then some of the kids came up to\nthe door, and Theckla, oppressed with the sadness and solemnity of the\nlast few minutes, sprang up, crying out: \"O the pretty, happy kids!  May\nI go out and play with them?\"\n\nAnd the old man, with a pleasant smile, answered, \"Yea, my child, if\nthou wilt not leave the plateau.\"\n\nAnd Theckla bounded out of the house, and was soon engaged in a lively\nromp with the sportive young goats.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER VIII.\n\n                              WHO IS HAPI?\n\n\nThe absence of Theckla gave Arius the opportunity he desired to call out\nfrom Am-nem-hat a fuller expression of certain theological ideas\nsuggested by the ancient during their first conversation, the\nremembrance of which had been the subject of frequent meditation ever\nsince; and the boy said: \"Since I last saw thee, Father Am-nem-hat, many\ncircumstances have combined to prevent me from giving to the things\nwhich I heard from thee that careful consideration which I desired to\nbestow upon them; yet I have pondered much upon those philosophic views\nwhich thou didst utter concerning the dualism of God.  I desire to hear\nmore fully thereof; for although I know that Christianity is, for the\nmost part, a practical, experimental thing, concerning the heart and the\nlife of a man rather than a philosophical or theological system,\nconcerning which Jesus himself had naught to say, as if he preferred to\nleave dogmas and ceremonies to the Scribes and Pharisees, so that it is\npossible for one to be a genuine and faithful Christian with little\nknowledge of philosophy or of science, yet it behooves the young\nespecially to seek for information concerning every question that can\narise out of the faith.\"\n\n\"Thou must understand,\" said Am-nem-hat, \"that I do not assume to be a\nteacher of thy religion.  Being set free from the bondage of Egyptology,\nand left, as it were, without any religion for the last five years, I\nhave given much time and study to Christianity, reading the Scriptures,\nof course, by the light of all that I have learned of other systems, and\nseeking only to discover the truth.  There is one thing, which I had\nlong supposed to be true, which recent thought and investigation seem to\nestablish beyond any great room for doubt. That thing is the fact that\nthe old Egyptians believed the human spirit to be of divine origin,\nengaged throughout earthly life in a warfare between good and evil, and\nthat its final state was determined after death by a solemn judgment\nrendered according to the deeds done in the body.  This warfare\ncontinued through all the dynasties alike until during the eighteenth\ndynasty, the priesthood, fearing that the principle, or god of evil, was\nabout to triumph, got together and obtained a royal decree, ratified by\nthe sacerdotal order, to banish Seth (the evil god) out of Egypt, and\nout of the religion of Kem; but this action failed to have that salutary\ninfluence which had been expected from it.  The fact itself was,\nperhaps, the most singular one in Egyptian history; but our sacred\nrecords leave no doubt that the royal and sacerdotal authorities united\nin a solemn decree for the banishment of Seth, in order to secure the\nfuture safety of the human soul.  I have just as little doubt that\noriginally they believed in one supreme God, who was conceived of as a\ndual being, combining in himself both the poles of spiritual sex-hood\nperfectly, and giving birth to a third divinity, by which the triad,\nthat is constantly repeated under different names, was made complete.\nHence I declared to thee that nothing could save the Christian faith\nfrom the imputation of polytheism except the assumption that the God of\nthe Christians, like the original myth of all primitive faith, hath in\nhimself a double spiritual sex-hood, of which Christ is the Son,\n'begotten,' not created; 'conceived,' not made; divine, because as the\nson of man is human, the Son of God must be divine.  If this is not\ntrue, then the Christ of these Scriptures, no matter how pure and\nexalted he may have been, was either a created being, or else he was\nonly a mere appearance, a mere _simulacrum_ of Deity, a pious fraud, who\nmerely _seemed_ to live among men, and to die for their justification,\nbut did not do so in reality.\"\n\nThe old man paused at this point, but the boy, keeping steadily in view\nthe matter which had aroused his own interest in the conversation, said,\n\"But are there any proofs of the divine dualism and trilogy of which\nthou hast so confidently spoken?\"\n\n\"I think so,\" said the ancient, \"but the original idea has been overlaid\nand hidden for countless centuries by the myths and symbolisms and\nexternal ceremonies devised by ancient priests to express them for the\ncommon people, until the priests themselves perhaps only dimly perceived\nthe original truth, and regarded the symbolism itself as true--a most\nbare and flagrant idolatry.  For when, at some indefinite yet very\nremote period, religion became blended with government and the priests\nsought rather to control public affairs than to maintain a true worship,\nthe religious idea became so degraded that the sun, which was originally\nonly the symbol of a higher, unseen God, was mistaken for a God itself,\nand worshiped as such; and this degradation increased with ages, until\nfinally any one who could build a sculptured sarcophagus, and pay for\nthe embalming processes, ritualistic prayers, incantations, charms, and\nceremonies, was declared to be in Hesiri justified.  According to the\ninscriptions on the sepulchres, no rich man was damned, and\nrespectability on earth and salvation after death were dependent upon\nmoney alone.  There was nothing to be done in the way of restraining\none's self from evil, nothing to be done in the way of active\nbenevolence.  The chief business of an Egyptian's life was to acquire\nsufficient wealth to build a costly tomb, and the most expensive event\nin a man's experience was his funeral.  Hence the rich were all saved,\nand the poor were mostly condemned, without regard to personal character\nand action.  Yet all the while the most pious and learned of the priests\nclearly perceived, even through the mists of error, superstition, and\nselfishness, which debased the ancient faith, the primitive truth that\nGod was one--a dual being that was to become a triad by the generation\nof a Son.\"\n\n\"I think,\" said Arius, \"that I comprehend the argument; yet I desire to\nhear the proofs of this divine dualism more explicitly stated.\"\n\n\"The proofs thereof, derived from the dualism in the original faith of\nthe most ancient races (as the Egyptian, Indian, and Chinese), and from\nthe fact that the monotheist Manes, or Moses, called his one God by a\nname which is the dual or plural number of a Hebrew noun, have already\nbeen suggested to you.  But, in the ancient religion of Egypt, this\ndualism pervaded the whole system everywhere. There was even a dual name\nfor everything--the one common, the other sacred or hieratic.  The\nancient name of Egypt, 'Kem,' signified both the 'Black-land' and also\nthe 'black man' or people.  The local name, Mizraim, was a dual word,\nsignifying both upper and lower Egypt, in which 'To-mehit' was the\nnorth-land, and 'To-res,' the south-land, and the sacred name of the\nriver, which the Greeks call the Nile, was 'Hapi'; and the same word was\napplied to Apis, the bull-god; and in both cases the word was used to\ndenote 'the hidden,' 'the concealed,' the source of the Nile being\nbelieved to be undiscoverable, and the being of whom Apis was originally\nthe symbol being yet 'hidden,' 'unrevealed.'  No matter where, or by\nwhat name, the one supreme, self-existent, self-productive Creator of\nall things was worshiped, he was originally worshiped as a dual entity,\na double god, at once father and mother of a third manifestation that\nwas always a son. Primarily Apis, 'the hidden,' 'the concealed,' simply\nmeant that this third person was yet unrevealed; but just as Ra (the\nsun), originally the symbol of the one God, became substituted for God\nhimself, afterward Apis becomes the real 'hidden' thing, of which he was\nprimarily only a symbol, and his spiritual form seems to have become\nHorus.  Yet Ra is rarely associated with a female consort; but, when he\nis so, it is always with a female Ra, and never with an inferior being.\nBut, even after this idolatry became established, the higher priests\npreserved the original idea of a dual god, to be made a triad by the\ngeneration of a son; and everywhere in Egypt, no matter by what local\nnames their gods were called, this trilogy was affirmed in every temple.\nThe very essence of the ancient Egyptology, therefore, is the idea of\none dual god, that becomes a trilogy by the generation of a son.  The\nsame thing is true of the most ancient form of the Indian and Chinese\npolytheisms.  Thou must perceive, therefore, that in the original faith\nof all the primitive nations, the divine being is Father-mother, which\nis one dual God, and a son.  If, therefore, the Christian religion\npresents the idea of a spiritual dualism made a trilogy by the\ngeneration of a son, it maintains the very idea of the Deity, which is\nthe core of all the primitive religions--Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, and,\nI think, Jewish also.\"\n\n\"If thou art not weary,\" said Arius, \"I would desire much to hear thee\ndeclare how these views, which are entirely new to me, agree with thy\nreading of our sacred books.\"\n\n\"I will cheerfully state the result of my investigations,\" said the\nancient, \"again reminding thee that I read them only as I have done the\nsacred books of every other people known to me, and not as one having\nany especial authority to declare the meaning thereof.\"\n\n\"I know perfectly well as to that,\" said the boy, \"but desire to know\nwhat thou hast found therein in reference to this opinion of thine.\"\n\n\"I have found first, as I have already suggested, that Moses, who was a\nmonotheist, and a bitter enemy of all polytheistic ideas, constantly\nuses the plural number of a Hebrew noun to name the one God in whom he\nbelieved. According to the prophetic portions of the Jewish scriptures,\nI find that the Son of God was to be born of a virgin, and the trilogy\nwas to be manifested to man by the incarnation of this son.  Now, in the\nsacred books of the Christians, the four called Gospels, Christ is\nalways called the Son of God, and Jesus is called Christ.  Uniformly\nthat which stands in the same relation to God that was attributed to the\nearthly manifestation of the divine nature by all original faiths is the\nChrist; that which in the Christian system occupies the same relation to\nthe divine nature which was borne by the feminine side of the dual God\nof all the original faiths is called the Holy Ghost.  This expression\n(Holy Ghost) occurs two hundred and twelve times in the New Testament,\nand in every instance the words are in the Greek neuter gender, which\nexpresses nothing as to sex.  The common declaration concerning Christ\nis that he was 'begotten' of God: a man is begotten of his father; he\nwas 'conceived' of the Holy Ghost: a man is conceived of his mother.  My\ninterpretation, therefore, must be that these scriptures teach us that\nthe one God is a divine dualism, a double spiritual Being, the\nFather-Ghost, and that the Christian trilogy is completed by the\ngeneration of a son of this Father-Ghost which is one double God; and\nthat as far as sex-hood can be predicated of a spiritual nature, Christ,\nthe Son, is a spirit begotten and conceived of God his Father-Mother, by\nwhom the worlds were made, and who was afterward manifested in the flesh\nby assuming human nature.  This is what thy scriptures teach me: I know\nnot whether it be true; but it is a glorious statement of that which was\nthe original faith of all primitive peoples before mankind lapsed into\nidolatry; for every high-priest in Egypt assuredly knoweth that\npolytheism was not the first faith of men.\"\n\n\"But,\" said Arius, \"is not the Holy Ghost called 'he' in the paragraph\nfrom John which readeth--'And I will pray the Father, and he shall give\nyou another Comforter, that HE may abide with you forever; the Spirit of\ntruth; whom the world can not receive, because it seeth HIM not, neither\nknoweth HIM: but ye know HIM, for HE dwelleth with you and shall be in\nyou'; and in that passage which readeth as follows: 'But the Comforter,\nthe Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, HE shall teach you\nall things': and do not these readings conflict with your idea that the\nname of the third person in the Christian triad expresses nothing as to\nsex?\"\n\n\"I think not so,\" answered the ancient, \"because it is evident that in\nthese places the only thing that can be meant by the 'Holy Ghost' and\nthe 'Spirit of truth' is the Paraclete, the Comforter; and while the\nGreek word for comforter is a noun of the masculine gender, the words\n'Holy Ghost' and 'Spirit of truth' still retain their neuter form,\nalthough put in apposition with it; and the pronouns 'he' and 'him' take\ntheir masculine form from the word comforter, and not from the words\nHoly Ghost and Spirit, which are always neuter, and express nothing as\nto sex.  Besides this, I do not find anywhere in the scriptures any\ncharacteristics which are essentially masculine ascribed to the Holy\nGhost, and I do find many which are essentially feminine.\"\n\n\"Wilt thou state any other argument, if there be any, that maintaineth\nthis grand idea of a dual God that becometh a triad by the generation of\na son?\"\n\n\"There is another,\" said the ancient, \"which is conclusive to my mind\nthat the doctrine of thy scriptures is as I have stated it.  In Genesis\nit is written that God said, 'Let _us_ make man in our own image'; and,\nalso, it is written, 'Male and female created he them.'  It seemeth to\nme that this 'image' and 'likeness' hath a deeper signification than the\nmere similitude of man's character to that of God can convey.  God is a\nspirit, according to these scriptures, and no resemblance can be\nimagined between human beings and him in regard to physical\nconstitution. So far as the characters constituted the 'image and\nlikeness,' the books show that it would include only the first man on\none side, and God the Father on the other.  But the words are generic:\n'us' and 'our' the triad, on one side, and 'man' (that is 'male and\nfemale,' the human race) on the other, and I suppose the 'image and\nlikeness' spoken of is one found in the essential nature of man, in his\nconstitution and relations.  For as in heaven, so in earth; in both, the\ntrilogy includes Father, Mother, Son: trinity is family; and the\nessential point of the image and likeness between the human and the\ndivine subsists in the fact that human nature necessarily exists as a\ntriad--father, mother, son; just as the divine nature must do. This\nseemeth to me to be the only ground from which it is possible to\npredicate divinity of Jesus Christ without involving the whole Christian\nsystem in the mazes of polytheism; for if he be divine otherwise than in\nthis fact of generation, there must be more than one God.  In strict\naccordance with this view, I have observed that in those nations which\nare ignorant of this feminine aspect of the dual god, wives are\ndegraded--are mere chattels, mere slaves; in others, that (like Egypt)\nrecognize the divine feminine nature, but hold that she is inferior to\nthe masculine element of this dualism, wives are tolerated, are not shut\nup in seclusion, are not mere slaves and chattels; while among the\nChristians alone who hold the absolute equality of Father and Spirit,\nwomanhood is glorified and made honorable; and Jesus himself elevated\nmarriage almost, if not altogether, into a religious sacrament.\"\n\n\"The views you present seem very like the truth,\" said the boy,\nmusingly, \"and they are certainly grand enough to be true.  But they are\nentirely new to me, and I shall not fail to give them such study and\nmeditation as my sense of the magnitude of the subject involved may\ndemand.  I have never heard any discussion upon the nature of the\nrelation of the three persons of our Christian trilogy.\"\n\n\"I think,\" said the ancient, \"thou wilt find that it is a mere mistake\nto suppose that there are three, for the sacred books teach me that\nthere are only two, the Father-Ghost, or double God, but one only; and\nthe Son of this one God.  The perfectest flowers in nature are\nhermaphrodites.\"\n\n\"But wilt thou inform me whether any perfect, self-producing creature,\npossessed of animal life, hath ever been discovered?\"\n\n\"Never,\" answered the ancient.  \"The partial realization of such a\ncondition, the rare approximations thereto, which have been curiously\nnoted by Egyptian priests for centuries and myriads of years, have been\nuniversally regarded as a deformity, and not as a perfection.  Yet the\npriesthood say that the fact was perfectly realized, according to Moses,\nin the case of the first man; for the first woman was not created as the\nman was, but proceeded out of him; and the account given by Moses\nafterward means just that.  I could say many things upon this matter\nindeed, but for the fact that the oath of secrecy, taken at every step\nof his progress in the sacerdotal life by every Egyptian priest, was\nvast and solemn; intended to cover his whole future life, and secure his\nsilence under every possible mutation of his own fortune.  The sphinxes,\nwith wide-open eyes and sealed lips, and faces that are inscrutable and\ncalm, revealing nothing that might show a trace of any passion, emotion,\nthought, or purpose, and yet full of intelligence and power, are the\nperfect symbol of the Egyptian priesthood; and I know not just how far\nthese obligations are binding upon me.\"\n\n\"I will not question thee,\" said Arius, \"but will endeavor to profit by\nwhatever thou mayst be at liberty to declare.\"\n\n\"Thou mayst some day find use for the fact that was well known to the\npriesthood, who were the repository of all knowledge in the land of Kem,\nthat in the embryonic or total life, both in animals and in man, there\nis absolutely no distinction of sex.  Up to a short period prior to its\nbirth, it is impossible to determine whether the offspring will be male\nor female--from which fact it seems to follow that sex is not a primary\nor essential function of animal existence, but dependent upon conditions\nduring gestation which centuries of investigation have failed to\ndisclose.  Dost thou remember how bitterly the sacred books of the\nIsraelites, from Moses down, denounce Baal, and Ashtaroth, and the\nstar-god Remphan, and all the secret rites of the national religions of\nall other people except their own, the Egyptians included?  Hast thou\nobserved that many of the ceremonies which other nations practiced as\npart of religion are denounced by Moses as crimes punishable with death?\nHast thou observed that throughout the Jewish scriptures, and especially\nthroughout the Pentateuch, there are bitter and vindictive laws and\ncustoms devised for the express purpose of segregating the Israelites\nfrom all other peoples, for building up, as it were, a wall of partition\nbetween them and all other nations--and this, notwithstanding the fact\nthat it would have been natural and right for Moses and his people, if\nthey believed themselves to be in possession of the truth, to seek to\nimpart that truth to others, and so procure the universal acceptance\nthereof?  Hast thou marked the fact that the missionary spirit, which\nwas the glory of every other religion, so as to create continual wars\nundertaken for the sole purpose of forcing other peoples to adopt the\nreligion of the conqueror, was constantly repressed by the Jewish laws\nand branded as a crime?  And hast thou ever reflected upon the real\nsignification of these facts?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" answered Arius, \"and I have been taught that God, by Moses, so\ncommanded the Jews in order to preserve the peculiar people from being\nseduced into following after strange gods, and adopting the idolatries\nwhich were everywhere believed in.  For the idolatries thou hast named,\nand every false religion which had for its symbol a moon, a cow, a cock,\nor any symbol intended to indicate the fecundity of Nature, was only the\nworship of that very mystery of sex of which thou hast spoken such\nstrange things, the deification of lasciviousness, the apotheosis of\nsensualism.\"\n\n\"They finally became so, indeed,\" said Am-nem-hat, sadly, \"when the\noriginal truth became thoroughly corrupted; but it was not so in the\nbeginning.  For if thou wilt keep in mind the fact that the original\nfaith of every primitive nation held the true God to be a dualism that\nwas to become a triad by the generation of a Son; if thou wilt remember\nthat this Son was also held to be Hapi, 'the hidden,' 'the concealed,'\n'the unrevealed,' even as unto this day the high-priest of every temple\nin Egypt will declare unto thee; and, considering these things, thou\nwilt not surely say that the grand roll of Egyptian priests, stretching\nback for more than thirty centuries of recorded history from this age of\nours, were all mere sensualists. On the contrary, thou wilt see in these\nsingular rites and ceremonies, even in their present degraded form, the\nsigns and symbols of a deathless longing in the hearts of that grand,\npure, holy race of sacred priests, and of a search prosecuted over land\nand sea, through heaven, and earth, and hell, during all the fruitless\nand slow-gliding centuries, by every art, science, and resource known to\nmen--a longing and a search after Hapi, 'the hidden one,' 'the concealed\nSon,' 'the unrevealed Saviour,' for whom the whole creation groaneth--a\nsublime spectacle, sad and grand enough to move a god to pity!  For\nwhile the crowd see only a splendid pageant in that annual festival in\nwhich, with torches and with magnificent display, the priests and the\nwhole population at Memphis wander over the city, the river, and the\nlake, seeking in earth, and fire, and water, for the dismembered body of\nthe dual god, thou wilt find among them aged, pure, sad, learned men,\nwho see in the same grand spectacle the perpetual memorial of their\nworld-old search for Hapi, 'the concealed'; and, if thou couldst gaze\ninto their shut, silent, sorrowful hearts, thou wouldst see all the\nfaculties of soul and spirit exhaling in a yearning prayer that he might\ncome! and at the gate of every temple thou wouldst find the priestly\nsymbol, the Sphinx, the sleepless watcher, cut out of imperishable\nstone, 'gazing right on with calm, eternal eyes,' till Hapi come!--for\nsuch is the true signification of Hesiri-Hes, whom the Greeks call\nOsiris-Isis!  And even in the later and more degraded worship of the\nbull-god Apis, while the common crowd see only the apotheosis of\nsensualism, as thou hast called it, in the fact that, when a new Apis is\ndiscovered, devout women at Memphis, during forty days, expose\nthemselves stripped naked to the gaze of the sacred brute, the sad-faced\npriests realize that the endless and unavailing search to discover Hapi,\n'the concealed,' had sometimes been prosecuted by unlawful means,\nagainst which Moses, in the Jewish scriptures, denounced the penalty of\ndeath.  And the period of forty days was purposely chosen in order to\ncover by a few days, in both directions, a lunation of the moon; for the\nworship of the moon-god universally connected the lunations of that\nplanet with the sexhood of women.  But thou wouldst greatly err if thou\nshouldst believe that in its original, undegraded form, this worship was\nsensualism; for it began with some new effort to wring out of the\nmystery of sex the secret of Hapi, 'the concealed'; and was glorified by\nthe fact that it was part and parcel of the weary, world-old search\nafter him!  Oh, will he ever come?\"\n\nThen the boy sprang to his feet, to the very tips of his toes, his right\nhand vibrating, his head erected and bent forward, his dark eyes\ngleaming with mesmeric light, his whole form and face glowing with\npassionate and quivering emotion, and he cried aloud: \"Thou art pious\nand aged and learned!  Thou teachest me much!  But I will also teach\nthee something!  As surely as thou livest, Hapi, the Hidden, whom thou\ncallest the desire of all nations, hath already come in the flesh, and\nhis name is Jesus Christ.\"\n\n\"Perhaps so, perhaps so,\" said the ancient, mournfully. \"But the priests\nof Kem, during the past three thousand years, often imagined that they\nhad found him, and as often met with bitter disappointment.  The Sphinx\nstill watches with unwinking gaze for the solution of the mighty\nproblem, and the old are difficult to convince.\"\n\nBut at that moment Theckla burst in upon them, flushed and weary with\nher romping with the goats, crying out, \"O sacred Hapi, I am so hungry\nand so tired!\" Then the old man spread out a linen cloth upon the table,\nand, at his desire, Arius and Theckla placed thereon the table-ware and\nthe dainties taken from the basket which the boy had brought, while he\ntook from a little spring nigh his hermitage a jar of cool, refreshing\ngoat's milk: and they three did feast right joyously.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IX.\n\n                        THE DEMOCRACY OF FAITH.\n\n\nIt was indeed a singular thing to hear, the usual conversation of those\nyoung people about religious questions upon which the greatest minds of\nsubsequent ages have spent their force without exhausting them; but it\nshould be remembered that everything like exact science was then in its\ninfancy: all that was actually known of medicine, chemistry, geology,\ngeometry, geography, botany, and even of mathematics, could be very\nquickly learned; and around this narrow limit of ascertained truth\nspread a boundless wilderness of vagrant speculation, in which the\nseeker after learning might wander a whole lifetime without ever being\nable to add one single valuable fact to the stock of knowledge; so that\nreligion, whether Christianity or paganism, was universally regarded as\nthe one thing that might most profitably be learned and known; and\neducation, even from infancy, consisted in acquiring the knowledge of\nit: and this education was among the heathen chiefly objective, handling\nthe visible, tangible symbols of a superstition which possessed only the\nmost meager elements of subjective truth and power, except, perhaps, for\nthe higher priests who had been initiated into mysteries unknown to the\ncommon people; while among the Christians the process was almost\nreversed.  Christianity had no objective life, except in the person of\nJesus Christ; and the subjective power which it possessed upon both\nintellect and consciousness had no assignable limits, inasmuch as it\nseemed to make the martyrs almost insensible to physical pain, and yet\ncould produce a moral sensitiveness so acute that to be conscious of\nwillful deception might work the death of the body, as in the case of\nAnanias and Sapphira when they lied to Peter about the consecration of\ntheir property to holy uses.  This education among the Egyptians,\nespecially among females of the higher classes, was chiefly oral, but\namong the Christians the young were taught both orally and by the\nwritten text.\n\nOne of the strangest and yet most logical results of the Christian\nteachings and practice (and one which has been, for very sufficient\nreasons, ignored by the theologians) was to develop a radical and\nuncompromising spirit of democracy throughout the Christian communities\nor churches.  The early Christians uniformly held that they, as\nChristians, belonged to a kingdom which was in, but not of, the world--a\nkingdom for which no earthly potentate had right or power to legislate;\nand this living faith loosened the bond of allegiance and dissolved the\nsense of obligation as to all human authority, and was the negation of\nthe lawfulness of temporal government over the subjects of the kingdom\nfor which they recognized no king but Christ.  While, for the sake of\npeace, they were willing to render unto Caesar the things which are\nCaesar's, by paying taxes to that government under which they lived, and\nby even yielding ready obedience to all laws and customs which did not\ncome in conflict with the higher law of the kingdom, the rights of\nconscience, they universally regarded these laws as extraneous to their\nown organization, foreign statutes, imposed upon them from without; and,\nbeing solicitous to render unto God the things which are God's, they\nsteadily abstained from any participation in the affairs of government,\nand quietly assumed the right to judge for themselves whether any law,\nregulation, or custom, prescribed by the sovereign power, or other human\nauthority, was or was not such as they might conscientiously obey.  And,\nwhile they would no more have thought of holding office under pagan\nrulers or of participating in their legislation and government than they\nwould have thought of accepting the priesthood of a heathen temple and\nparticipating in its idolatrous worship, they obeyed all laws alike,\nexcept such as conflicted with conscience, and these they refused to\nobey in the very face of persecutions, torture, and death.  But this\nfearless assertion of the rights of conscience necessarily involved the\nright to sit in judgment upon all human laws and the powers that\nordained them, and to determine for themselves whether the law was\nlawful.  That helpless spirit of blind obedience to the decrees of\ndespotic governments which characterized the pagan peoples was,\ntherefore, impossible to the Christians.  In the very teeth of\nuniversally established law and custom, they steadily refused to bear\narms, to own slaves, to seek any legal redress in civil courts, to\nfollow the law of their domicile in regard to the ownership of property\nor the succession to estates of the deceased, just as they refused to\nsacrifice to the gods, or to call any man master.  Under the same lofty\nconception of the rights of conscience, in lands where women were bought\nand sold like cattle, they refused to practice polygamy; and in lands\nwhere female chastity was unknown and plural wives and concubines were\nesteemed to be the insignia of honor and influence, they clave fast to\nthat monogamic marriage which Jesus had elevated into a holy sacrament;\nand while throughout the world women were regarded as slaves, as\ndomestic chattels, or, at the very best, as an inferior race and a\nnecessary evil, so that the birth of a female child was looked upon as a\nhousehold calamity, the Christian faith that the Holy Ghost conceived\nChrist before he was born of a virgin and manifested in the flesh,\nglorified and exalted the dignity of womanhood and maternity, and\ncreated the idea of personal responsibility, rights, and duties for both\nsexes alike.  The logical tendency of Christianity was, therefore, to\noriginate the idea of personal liberty for all men, unknown to the world\nbefore; to repudiate the heathen doctrine of the divine character and\nright of kings; to sit in judgment upon their laws, and to intelligently\nobey, or refuse to obey, them; in a word, to cultivate and exercise, as\na matter of religious faith, that spirit of personal independence, both\nof action and of thought, which we in later times denominate democracy,\nthe concrete form of which was the election of deacons, presbyters, and\nbishops by the people unto whom they ministered.\n\nBut this habit of independent thought did not tend as in later times in\nthe direction of ecclesiastical schisms; because, if any one embraced a\ndoctrinal error, either it was maintained by him as an individual\nopinion; or if a mistaken zeal led him to proclaim it publicly, and seek\nthereby to bind the consciences of other Christians, the matter soon\ncame to the knowledge of the churches, and, when the Church assembled to\nconsider the alleged error, the Holy Paraclete directed the counsels of\nthe assembled bishops and presbyters, so that their deliverances were\ninfallibly correct, and were universally accepted as final. So that,\nduring the first three centuries, no heresy could survive the\ncondemnation of a Christian council, and no learning, zeal, and genius\ncould give to heresy such vitality and power as to seriously threaten\nthe peace of the Church. Even Peter could not force the observance of\nthe rite of circumcision upon the free Christian communities; and the\nheresies of Menander, Cerinthus, Nicolaus, Valentinius, Marcion,\nTatianus, Blastus, Montanus, Artimon, and others, perished almost as\nsoon as they had been condemned.\n\nIt was perfectly natural, therefore, that while both Arius and Theckla\nwere almost children in many respects, they should both be far advanced\nin religious learning, each of them in harmony with one of the separate\nsystems under which they had been reared; and that they should be, in\nmany attitudes of thought and feeling, a pleasing enigma to each other.\nThe girl, although brimful of bright and pleasing fancies, had all her\nlife been accustomed to accept as truth whatever was taught to her as\nsuch, and the very basis of her training had been implicit and\nunquestioning obedience to authority without reason, so that she had\nnever, perhaps, attempted to exercise an independent thought, judgment,\nor inquiry about any question of religious, political, or social life,\nher existence having been passed in strict and unconscious conformity to\nrigid Egyptian customs, into the molds and forms of which she had been\nfashioned from her infancy.  The illness of her mother, which left her\nto the freedom of thought, expression, and action, characteristic of\nevery Christian household, was a new and intoxicating experience to the\ngirl; and, whatever else it might be possible for her to become, it was\nmanifestly impossible that she could ever again resiliate into the moral\nand social mummyism of ordinary Egyptian female life.  The bondage of\nEgypt was broken.\n\nBut the boy, fixed and immovable in his faith in the few salient and\nall-important doctrines covered by the Apostles' Creed, as that creed\nwas taught during the first three centuries, as to everything else, had\nbeen freed by his training from the shackles of authority, and so\nunconsciously enjoyed and exercised \"the liberty of the gospel\" in which\nhe had been reared by questioning, investigating, trying every\nphenomenon--social, religious, and political--that came within the range\nof his observation and experience.\n\nAm-nem-hat imagined that in these two youthful but well-instructed young\npeople he beheld the living incarnation of the opposing civilizations\nunder which they had been reared; and it was a pathetic and beautiful\nthing to see with what eager intentness he noted almost every inflection\nof their voices, every expression of their countenances, almost every\npeculiar turn and change of their thoughts, while he encouraged them to\ntalk, hardly caring what might be the subject of their conversation.\n\nAt the beginning of their little feast the ancient said: \"Arius, if ye\nChristians have any custom of thank-offering, prayer, or libations,\nbefore ye partake of food, I would desire to have thee perform or repeat\nit now.\"\n\nThen answered Arius: \"We make no libation or offering, nor are we\nrestricted to any set formula for returning thanks to God; but generally\nwe repeat the [Greek: _Pater hemon_].\"\n\n\"Wilt thou do so now?\"\n\nThen the boy said, \"Yea, gladly\"; and, while they watched him narrowly,\nhe solemnly said: \"Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy\nname: thy kingdom come: thy will be done on earth as in heaven.  Give us\ndaily our daily bread; and forgive us our debts as we forgive debtors:\nand let us not be led into trial, but deliver us from trouble: for thine\nis the kingdom, and the power, and the truth, forever.\"\n\nThen said Am-nem-hat, \"Theckla, what form of worship hast thou been\ntaught to observe before partaking of thy daily food?\"\n\nAnd the girl said: \"On solemn occasions, our fathers make libations; but\nit is not according to Egyptian customs, or religion, for a female to\nmeddle with any sacred rite, beyond her own private devotions, as thou,\nO priest, must assuredly know.\"\n\n\"Dost thou know the reason, Theckla, that woman is thus excluded, not\nonly from participation in the sacred rites, but from every place that\nis inconsistent with the idea that she must of necessity be either a\nslave or a domestic pet, having right to existence only as the appanage\nof a man upon whom she is dependent as slave, wife, or daughter?\"\n\n\"Nay,\" she answered; \"but I have been so taught, and, therefore, it must\nbe right and proper.\"\n\n\"I will tell thee, Theckla, for it is verily a thing which every female\nought to know.  The reason of it is that the original idea of God was\nthat of a dual being, equally divine and glorious in both aspects of his\ndouble nature. But nearly all nations, as they sank deeper and deeper\ninto idolatry, degraded the feminine conception of this dualism, and\nsome of them utterly lost it.  In Egypt they have held Hes to be consort\nof Hesiri, and, although inferior to him, yet entitled to great honor.\nHence the Egyptian women have never been shut up, kept in seclusion and\nignorance, and esteemed only as slaves or as chattels, as is universally\nthe case among nations that have entirely fallen away from the divine\ntruth.  But I tell thee, Theckla, that the religion of the Christians\nalone maintains the absolute equality of the Godhead, by maintaining the\nHoly Ghost, the Mother of Nature, to be consubstantial with the Father,\nand hence it alone elevates woman to her true position, and endows her\nwith responsibility, respect and honor, rights and duties; so that,\nalthough all men on earth should reject and curse the Christ, every\nwoman, who is true to herself and to her sex, should cleave unto him in\nspite of pain and even death itself.  Do thou remember these things,\nTheckla; and, when thou shalt see with what respect, honor, and love the\nChristian husband treateth his wife and daughters, remember thou that\nthe vast difference between them and other men, in that regard, ariseth\nnot out of any difference in the nature or disposition of the\nindividuals, but out of the difference in their religion only; for that\nfaith regardeth women as persons, not as things.  Forget not these\ntruths, Theckla! for, whether it be true or false, Christianity alone\nhath ever done justice to womanhood, wifehood, maternity; and the woman\nwho does not love and follow Jesus betrayeth herself and her sex.\"\n\n\"Surely thou, also, art a Christian!\" said the young girl.\n\n\"Nay,\" answered Am-nem-hat; \"I say not that to thee!  For I can not\nunderstand what it is to be a Christian. But, having carefully studied\nthis religion as I have done all others known among mankind, I do\nsolemnly assure thee that it is the only one on earth that is fair and\njust to chaste and intelligent women.  For it teacheth that the equal,\nconsubstantial Holy Spirit conceived a Saviour that was virgin-born; and\nit so serveth to redeem all womanhood from centuries of contempt and\ndegradation; for no man who hath an intelligent faith in Christianity\ncan ever regard woman as the mere instrument of his pleasure, or as the\nmere slave of his will, but as a friend, helpmate, and companion, worthy\nof love, honor, and respect; so that, whether it be true or false, every\nwoman should cleave thereto, because it is for her, at least, temporal\nsalvation.  For Christianity differeth as radically from all other\nreligions in regard to the esteem in which it holdeth women as it does\nin regard to slavery and to the poor.  And while the rich and the great\nmay hate this system because it would deprive them of the social and\npolitical precedence which every other religion maintaineth for them,\nthe slaves, the poor, and the women should never forget that Jesus\nChrist is the truest friend they ever had on earth.\"\n\nThen said Arius, \"Father Am-nem-hat, why art not thou a Christian,\nhaving views of our religion that are so wise and just?\"\n\nAnd the old man answered: \"That thing, my son, I can not tell thee, nor\ncan I comprehend it for myself.  I can not understand what is the\nprecise attitude of mine own spirit toward Christianity.  Canst thou\ninstruct me?\"\n\n\"Nay, verily,\" said Arius.  \"In my heart I yearn for the power to say\nsomething that might open thine eyes unto the light; but my small\nknowledge and experience serve not to enable me to understand how it is\npossible that one so aged and so wise, so well instructed in our Lord's\nown teachings, can fail to be a Christian.  But my father was an\nidolater in his youth, and he is learned in our religion.  If thou wilt\ngo home with us, thou shalt be received with honor and affection, and\nhe, perhaps, can give thee aid.  Wilt thou not go?\"\n\n\"I thank thee much,\" said Am-nem-hat.  \"But the way is long, and the\nmountain steep, for one so old as I. And besides, it seemeth to me that,\nif human knowledge and patient thought could extort any final truth out\nof the mute lips of Nature, even I could have made her speak!\"\n\n\"But,\" said the boy, \"the tree of knowledge is not that of life.  Even\nthe most ignorant and depraved find peace in believing, and I have met\nwith none so wise as thou.  If thou wilt come to us, I will bring hither\non to-morrow a she-ass, gentle and sure of foot, which my mother is\naccustomed to ride, and will walk beside thee to our home, if only thou\nwilt come.\"\n\n\"Yea,\" cried Theckla, \"thou must surely come!  For I will tell my mother\nthat I have met the high-priest of Ombos, and she will long much to see\nthee.\"\n\nThen Am-nem-hat, as if overpowered by their persuasions, replied: \"Ye\nare both so kind to an old and lonely man that I can not resist your\nentreaties, and will even do as ye desire; for ye know not what pleasure\nthe old may derive from the polite and hearty attentions of the young.\"\n\nThen the two young people bade the old man a kind farewell, and, with\nthe light heart of youth and health, took their way homeward down the\nmountain.  And when they had come to the edge of the pasture-land they\nmet with some of the cattle, and among them was the young bull-calf\nwhose peculiar markings had so excited the wonder and superstition of\nTheckla; and Arius cried out laughingly: \"Lo, Theckla! there is thy god,\nand thou shalt ride home upon the back of the beast.\"\n\nAnd he cut a long withe and fastened it upon the horns of the bull, and\nled up the gentle beast, and, seizing the young girl in his arms, he\nlifted her astride of the fat, round calf, and led him along.  And, when\nArius mocked and ridiculed the young Apis, the girl joined in his\nmerriment, and he was glad to see that she was fast losing all\nsuperstitious reverence for the brute, and for all the other pagan\ndeities; for her growing contempt for Apis necessarily struck at her\nreverence for the whole system, of which a bull with a black hide, a\ntriangular white spot on his forehead, a spread-eagle in the hairs of\nhis back, a crescent white spot upon his side, and a knob like a\nscarabaeus under his tongue, was so important a part.\n\nWhen they had reached that part of the pasture which was nearest to the\nhouse, Theckla sprang from the animal's back, and, with some lingering\ndoubt of his divinity still troubling her mind, she said: \"Arius, I\nreally wonder whether the Apis hath a knob under his tongue in the shape\nof a scarabaeus?  Wilt thou not look into his mouth?\"\n\n\"I know not that,\" said the boy; \"but, if he hath not a rather\nodd-looking spot under his tongue, he is the only bull-calf I ever saw\nthat hath it not; and I suppose it would be easy to irritate and inflame\nthis spot until it would look like a natural knob about as large as a\ngood, lively beetle.\"\n\n\"I had never thought it might be possible for the priests to so deceive\nany one,\" said Theckla.\n\n\"Perhaps they did not do so,\" answered the boy; \"but they may have been\ndeceived by the cunning of those who had such beasts and desired to sell\nthem.\"\n\nTheckla sighed, but her reverence for Apis and for all of his mysteries\nwas utterly gone forever.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER X.\n\n                         FAITH AND PHILOSOPHY.\n\n\nDuring the time that Arius and Theckla had been absent at the hermitage\nof Am-nem-hat, a great change had occurred in the condition of the\nEgyptian lady, Hatasa, at the Baucalis cottage.  Early in the morning\nshe had fallen into a profound slumber, but before noon she had awakened\nsuddenly, and in a moment afterward the whole house was filled with her\nbitter wailing.  All at once the terrible sense of loss had overwhelmed\nher mind with impassioned force, and in heart-broken tones she repeated\nthe name of her husband over and over again, and momently called aloud\nfor \"Theckla, darling Theckla!  Where is my daughter, my only child?\"\n\nThen with great tenderness Arete told her that Theckla was well and\nhappy, and would soon return with her own son, with whom she had gone to\nvisit a near neighbor.  The poor woman's grief seemed hopeless and\nunendurable.  At one moment she would yearningly lament the loss of her\nhusband, and at the next reproach the gods of Egypt with his\ndestruction, and then, perhaps, pray to them in tones of hopeless\nsupplication.  \"O Ra and Thoth!\" she cried, \"ye murderous, heartless\ngods, that have so cruelly bereft me, have pity upon Amosis, whom ye\nhave snatched away to the under-world!  O merciless and fearful Ma-t,\nthat hast never had compassion upon any mortal, thou terrible Two Truths\nin thy dark halls sitting, unmoved by sorrow or pain, in the gloom of\nmournful Amenti, soften once thy stony heart, that thou mayst feel the\nsharpness of our earthly woe, so that thou judge not mine Amosis until I\nhave builded his sarcophagus. O thou Hesiri-Hes! that cometh nearer to\nour human life than other dreadful deities, restore my husband's body to\nthe land, that with due honors and uncounted cost I yet may have his\nmummy-rites prepared to smooth his pathway through the under-world!\"\nThen, seeming to realize the uselessness of any prayer in the absence of\nthe ceremonies of a funeral, she moaned in hopeless grief: \"O terrible!\nto be cut off in youth, with no sarcophagus builded, and no\nmummy-cloth--cast off alone and friendless, into the darkness of Amenti!\nO fearful fate! to be called up for judgment, like a pauper, before the\nmerciless, unsparing Ma-t!\"\n\nAnd so she would cry, as loudly as her feebleness permitted, until\nexhausted nature enforced silence upon her wailing lips.\n\n\"She calleth upon the ancient, fearful gods of Kem,\" said old Thopt, in\na half-terrified whisper to Arete.\n\n\"She is without God and without hope in the world,\" whispered Arete.\n\"May the compassionate Lord pity her and bring unto her the consolations\nof his grace!\"\n\n\"My heart weeps for her,\" whispered old Thopt; \"for the Egyptians are\nnot as the Christians are.  They have a shuddering horror of death, and\nit is to them the sum of all possible wretchedness.\"\n\nAnd so the weary hours passed slowly, and, at last, came Theckla and\nArius home; and the girl, bounding into her mother's room, cast her arms\nabout her and kissed her passionately.  And when the mother broke out\ninto renewed wailings, the daughter said: \"Nay, mother, why dost thou\nlament so bitterly?  Surely thou art much better now, and father will\nsoon return to comfort thee. Cheer up thyself with the hope of speedily\nreturning health and strength.\"\n\n\"Alas! alas! thy father will return no more!--no more!  Ah, nevermore!\"\n\nThen with startled, wondering eyes, the young girl gazed into her\nmother's face, crying out: \"What meanest thou?  He hath always come back\nfrom every absence joyously; why sayst thou 'No more--ah, never, more,'\nso sorrowfully?  Surely he must again return to us!\"\n\nThen it seemed apparent enough that these Egyptians had such an awful\nterror of death, and the girl had been so carefully guarded against all\nknowledge thereof, that she could scarcely realize what thing was meant\nthereby; for the Egyptians said nothing of \"death,\" but only, \"He hath\ngone hence,\" or \"He is the Hesiri justified.\"\n\n\"He is dead, poor child!\" moaned the mother, \"swallowed up forever by\nthe cruel, unrelenting sea!  Thou wilt see his face, and hear his voice,\nand spring to meet his fond caress no more,\" she wailed--\"no more!\"\n\n\"Is he, then, the Hesiri justified?\" she asked, a nameless wonder and\nterror taking hold upon her soul.\n\n\"Oh, thou wilt break all my heart!\" she answered. \"He hath died without\na sarcophagus and the mummy-cloth. How shall he, then, dare to meet the\ndreadful Ma-t in the dark hall wherein she sitteth as the Two Truths,\njudge of all the dead?\"\n\nThen the full desolation of her father's awful fate, and of her own\nmighty loss, for the first time swept her young heart with terrible\ndistinctness, and, sinking down beside her mother, the girl blended her\nbroken-hearted wailings with the woman's bitter cries.\n\n\"Leave them together,\" said Arete, and she and old Thopt quietly\nwithdrew.  And she informed Ammonius of the sorrowful condition of their\nguests, and, with her dark eyes full of sympathetic tears, she said, \"It\nis a harrowing grief, and I was so young when I became a Christian, and\nview death so differently from them, that I know not how to offer\nconsolation for such sorrow.\"\n\n\"Thou shalt leave them alone for the present,\" answered Ammonius.  \"The\nEgyptians have no consolation except those which their erroneous faith\nbuildeth upon the sarcophagus and the mummy-rites--all external\nconsolations--of which, in such a case as this, they are deprived.  Let\nthem alone.  Perhaps the Lord will show us some way to aid them, or\ntheir violent grief will wear out itself in lamentations.  All thou\ncanst do is but to wait and hope.\"\n\nThe long night passed wearily away.  Arete and old Thopt divided the\nwatches thereof between them, as they had done ever since Hatasa came to\nBaucalis, to see that she wanted no attention which kindness could\nsupply; but neither of them knew how to utter soothing words unto a\ngrief that seemed so hopeless; for the religion of Egypt contained no\nword of comfort for such grief, and the beautiful idolaters were\nignorant of that of Jesus.  All that mother and daughter knew of\nreligious faith kept forcing back upon their broken hearts the dreadful\nconviction that the soul's condition after death depended upon the\nbuilding of a sarcophagus and the preparation of the mummy, in\naccordance with the rites prescribed in \"The Book of the Dead\"; and in\nsuch a case as this no mummy-rites could be paid unless the corpse could\nbe recovered; and, although the sarcophagus might be builded, they did\nnot know but that the father and husband whom they loved might be judged\nby the awful goddess Ma-t before this work could be completed; and none\nof the exceptions made by their religion in favor of those who fell in\nbattle for the rulers of Egypt, or who perished by shipwreck, applied to\nthe case of Amosis, for he had lost his life in a private quarrel after\nthe shipwreck had happened.  Their hopeless sorrow was pitiful, indeed;\nbut the young girl fell back upon a final truth when she kept repeating\nto her mother, over and over again, her own convictions in such words as\nthese: \"Thou knowest that he was a good and upright man, doing only what\nhe did believe to be right and just, and surely the greatest God of all,\nby whatever name he may be known, will be most merciful to him without a\nsarcophagus or the mummy-rites.\" And so the young idolater, not knowing\nthe law, but doing by nature the things which are written in the law,\nbecame a law unto herself, and the unknown God, whom she did ignorantly\nworship to that extent which was commensurate with her faith, revealed\nhimself unto her; and even from this unreasoning hope they both drew\nsomething of comfort.  And during the night Theckla informed her mother\nof her visit to the old eremite Am-nem-hat, and of his having been\npriest at Thebes and high-priest at Ombos; and how ancient, wise, and\ngood he seemed to be; and that he had promised to come to the cottage on\nthe following day, and expressed the hope that out of his vast stores of\nwisdom he might be able to bring forth some truth that would yield them\nsurer consolation; and this also somewhat comforted that bitterly\nsmitten pair.\n\nAnd early the next morning Arius went to the abode of Am-nem-hat,\nleading the she-ass on which his mother was accustomed to ride, and,\nhaving got the ancient comfortably seated upon the jennet, he led her\ndown the mountain and unto the cottage of Baucalis safely, where all\nwere awaiting the arrival of the priest to whose visit Hatasa looked\nforward with vague but earnest hope.  And, when the old man had come,\nAmmonius, with great respect and tenderness, assisted him to dismount,\nand led him unto the house.  And, having most kindly received him, they\ntold him of the sorrowful woman, and how anxiously she had anticipated\nhis coming, and he said, \"Let me go unto her at once.\"\n\nAnd, when he had entered her chamber, he stood in the middle of the\nfloor, and, with his raised and extended arms crossed at the wrists in\nlikeness of a cross (for the cross is ages older than Jesus), he looked\nupon Hatasa, saying: \"Whatever God is greater than Ra, whatever God is\nwiser than Ptah, and whatever God is more merciful than Hesiri-Hes, and\nmore just than Ma-t, by whatsoever name the great God of all ought to be\nknown among men, I invoke him to bless and comfort thee, O daughter of\naffliction. May that truest and highest God lift up the light of his\nface upon thee and give thee peace!\"\n\nThen, sitting down beside her couch, he took her hand in his, saying\nkindly, \"Daughter, what is thy name?\"\n\n\"Hatasa,\" answered she.\n\n\"Art thou of Alexandria?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" she said.  \"But my family were of Thebes, where lived and died my\nfather Ahmad, and my grandfather, Butau, and many generations more.\"\n\n\"Butau, of Thebes!\" said the old man.  \"Hast thou, then, never heard of\nAm-nem-hat, priest at Thebes, high-priest at Ombos?\"\n\n\"Surely so,\" she answered.  \"For the same wise and holy priest was the\nbrother of my grandfather Butau, the great general, and I have often\nheard my parents speak of the sacred priest with reverence and pride.\"\n\n\"I am that Am-nem-hat, and thou hast found a kinsman in whom thou mayst\nimplicitly confide.\"\n\nThen seized she his hand, and, kissing it, she cried, \"I do rejoice\nthereat, and welcome thee as kinsman, and as sacred priest most pious\nand most wise.\"\n\nThen she poured out to him the burden of her heart, and asked him if\nthere was any hope, her husband having builded no sarcophagus, and\nhaving had no mummy-rites. And the old man answered mournfully,\n\"Daughter, as an Alexandrian, thou shouldst know the vast temple of\nSerapis which standeth before the magnificent street, two hundred feet\nwide, in Rhacotis, the western and Egyptian quarter of the city--the\ngrand and beautiful temple which containeth the statue of the god that\nwas brought thither out of Pontus?\"\n\n\"Yea, father,\" answered she, \"from childhood I have known the holy\ntemple well.\"\n\n\"And didst thou also know the wise and pious Raph-nath, high-priest of\nthat temple, who died there some fifteen years ago?\"\n\n\"Yea, verily, I remember him quite well.\"\n\n\"He and I were boys, at Thebes, in the great temple together.  All his\nlifetime we were friends.  When he felt that his physical powers were\nfailing, and that the end of his long and holy life was fast\napproaching, he sent unto me to come to him and spend his last days with\nhim; and so it happened that I was at Alexandria when the ancient\nhigh-priest died.  We did talk much and often of our long religious\nlives; much, of our learned ignorance; much, of the destiny of the human\nsoul; much, of the truth.  When I did ask of him whether he had any\nspecial request to make concerning his own funeral rites, he answered me\nin some such words as these: 'Nay, my brother.  Let the obsequies be\nsimply conducted, but in accordance with the rites and ceremonies\nprescribed for a priest's funeral by 'The Book of the Dead.'  For\nalthough both thou and I be well aware that the sarcophagus is naught,\nand the mummy naught, and that no rites nor ceremonies which men can\ndevise in any way concern the soul after death, yet, because the law and\norder system of Kem hath been for so many centuries built up on these\nvain things, I desire that the usual forms be all observed at mine own\nfuneral. Although surely no high-priest of Egypt ought to think that it\ncan make any difference to the soul how, or when, or by what means, a\nman may depart this life, or whether any funeral rites are paid or not;\nfor thou knowest that the true purpose of religion is to control the\nliving, and that the dead are far beyond the reach of human agencies.'\n\n\"'On what, then, dependeth thy soul's condition in the other world?' I\nsaid.\n\n\"'Surely,' he said, 'upon nothing that any priest can do or leave\nundone, but upon whether the man hath done his duties well according to\nthe best of his faith and knowledge.'\n\n\"And afterward, and almost in the hour of his dissolution, I said unto\nhim again, 'Brother, how farest thou?'  And he answered me, saying: 'The\nlight of life within me burneth low and flickereth.  It will soon go\nout.  But I fare well and peacefully.'\n\n\"'And thou hast no fear of awful Ma-t, my brother, and of the silent\nhall wherein the Two Truths judge the dead?'\n\n\"And smilingly he answered me: 'Nay, Brother Am-nem-hat.  No man\nattaineth to the high-priesthood in Egypt without having learned that\nthe things of which thou speakest are for the people--not for the higher\npriests--part of the system which we administer, not final truths for\nus.  For I know, as thou also knowest, that above and beyond the grand\nEgyptian triads, there must be some supreme God over all whom we\nignorantly worship; who is patient because he is eternal, and merciful\nbecause he is all-wise; and having all these years discharged, as\nfaithfully as human frailties might permit, every duty that came under\nmy hand, I look away above the gods of Kem, and trust myself\nunshrinkingly in the hands of the unknown God, in whom we both believe.'\nAnd, almost in the same moment, the old man quietly departed.--Daughter,\nfor thee and for thy great sorrow there is no consolation in the\nreligion of Egypt.  All of the consolation I can offer is to tell thee\nplainly that the things which the high-priest Raph-nath declared unto me\nupon his bed of death are true; and, as the sum of all my learning and\npriestly life, I say unto thee that thou canst do nothing else for\nthyself, nor for thy husband, nor for any human soul, except to cast\nthyself and him upon the mercy of the unknown God, hoping and believing\nthat all is for the best.\"\n\nThe old man's voice was tremulous, and his grand, pure face was full of\ncompassion as he uttered these words in tones of inexpressible and\nuncomplaining sadness, and with impressive earnestness.\n\n\"And this is all?\" she cried--\"all that the old religion of Kem,\nstripped of its outward, ornate forms and ceremonies, has to offer to\nthe broken-hearted?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" answered Am-nem-hat.  \"This is all, indeed. And it is little; and\nthe prevailing sadness of all wise men grows out of this; yet the heart\nthat loves and trusts may find that even this is enough to reconcile it\nto the grand and pitiless course of nature.  So saith the philosopher\nSeneca: 'We shall adore all that ignoble crowd of gods which ancient\nsuperstition hath gathered together in a long course of years, only so\nas to remember that their worship is rather in accordance with custom\nthan with reality or truth.'  And again he saith, 'The God is near you,\nis with you, is within you'; and again, 'There is no good man without\nGod.'\n\n\"And Epictetus also saith: 'If you remember always that, in all you do\nin soul or body, God stands by as a witness, in all your prayers and\nyour actions you will not err, and you shall have God dwelling within\nyou.' And he saith: 'Great is the struggle, divine the need; it is for\nkingdom, for freedom, for tranquillity, for peace.  Think on God; call\nupon him, thy champion and aid, as sailors invoke the great twin\nbrothers in the storm.  And, indeed, what storm is greater than that\nwhich ariseth out of powerful semblances (appearances of evil), that\ndrive reason out of its course?  What, indeed, but semblance is a storm\nitself?  Come, now, therefore, remove this fear of death, and bring as\nmany thunders and lightnings as thou wilt, and thou shalt soon perceive\nhow great tranquillity and calm are in that reason which is the ruling\nfaculty of the soul.'  And he saith further: 'Thou must be absolutely\nresigned to the will of God.  Thou must conquer every passion, abrogate\nevery desire.'  And one greater, sadder, diviner than them all, even\nMarcus Aurelius, the Stoic Emperor, declareth: 'Surely life and death,\nhonor and dishonor, pain and pleasure, all things happen equally to bad\nmen and good, being things that make us neither better nor worse,\ntherefore are they neither good nor evil.'  And he saith of every man:\n'Thou hast embarked, thou hast made the voyage; thou hast come to shore;\nget out.  If, indeed, unto another life, there is even there no want of\ngods; but if unto a state devoid of sensation, thou wilt cease to be\nheld of pains and pleasures.'  And he saith: 'Then pass thou through the\nshort space of time conformably to Nature, and end the journey in\ncontent, just as the olive falls off when it is ripe, blessing Nature\nthat produced it, and thanking the tree on which it grew; ... accepting\nall that happens, and all that is allotted, and finally waiting for\ndeath with a cheerful mind.'  And so I say unto thee: No man can do more\nfor thee, for thy husband, or for any human soul, than to fall back upon\nthe mercy of an unknown God, and seek for peace in the grand hope that\nall is for the best.\"\n\n\"I can not live on that,\" she murmured.  \"O my husband, all my heart\nyearns after thee, and it will break within me unless I can find some\nclearer, higher assurance of the mercy of Egypt's gods for thee, or of\nthis dim and terrible unknown whom Am-nem-hat declares to be in truth\nthe only one.  I can not live in this void uncertainty and darkness!  O\nAmosis, my husband!  O ye cruel gods!\"\n\n\"These good people among whom I find thee,\" said Am-nem-hat, \"are\nfollowers of the new God, Jesus Christ, a sect that is everywhere spoken\nagainst.  I have, however, a very favorable opinion of Jesus and of his\nreligion, and I take it for granted that thou dost not know the truth\nconcerning them.  Perhaps they could teach unto thee some consolation\nfor thy sorrow.\"\n\n\"The hated Christians!\" she cried out, bitterly.  \"Why, when my lord\nAmosis lost his life, he was even then upon his way to Rome to obtain\nfrom the Emperor power and authority to extirpate the impious and\nterrible association from Egypt.  If they had known this fact, perhaps I\nhad been already reconciled, or at least silenced, by the icy hand of\ndeath.\"\n\n\"Nay, nay, mother,\" cried Theckla.  \"That is but an unjust thing, for\nthey knew from the first, and from thine own unconscious talk, that\nfather desired to destroy them all; and the lad Arius, their son,\ncharged me that I should not tell thee until thou wert stronger; for\nthat it might distress thee, and could do no good.  He is a true-hearted\nboy, and I think a wise one also.\"\n\n\"And they have treated their known enemy with more than sisterly care\nand kindness,\" said Hatasa.  \"Surely it is most strange!\"\n\nBut Am-nem-hat said: \"I have seen the Christians tortured, decapitated,\nburned at the stake, and have heard them even with their last breath\npray to their God to forgive those who punished them with such torments.\nIt is a new and most strange religion, and possibly it might do thee\ngood.  No gods of Kem can aid thee in thy sorrow.\"\n\n\"I wish that I could see the boy,\" she said.\n\nAnd Theckla sprang up quickly, saying, \"I will bring him unto thee.\"\n\nAnd thereupon she went forth of the room and sought Arius until she\nfound him; and she said, \"Arius, my mother desireth much to speak with\nthee concerning thy religion.\"\n\nAnd the boy said, \"I go unto her gladly, and may the Lord direct me what\nto say unto her!\"\n\nAnd when the boy had come into that room where she was, Am-nem-hat said:\n\"I have discovered that Hatasa is the granddaughter of my brother, and\nshe seemeth very dear to me, that am childless.  Thou knowest the great\nsorrow for which I have been able to offer no consolation, except to bid\nher cast herself upon the mercy of the unknown God in some way, and seek\nfor him if by chance she might find him, and obtain mercy.  For neither\nfaith nor philosophy, as I have learned them, goeth one single step\nbeyond where this dim, uncertain light guideth the soul, and we must\ntherewith be content.\"\n\n\"But,\" moaned the stricken woman, \"this chill and shadowy uncertainty\nwill drive me mad.  My soul yearneth after my loving, noble husband.--O\nboy, if thou knowest anything that bringest comfort in the very face of\npitiless Death, speak thou to me, and speak thou truthfully; for I am\nsore afflicted and without hope!  _How_, when all the gods of Egypt fail\nme--how can I trust the mercy of a strange and unknown God?\"\n\nThen the God-ordained minister stood up before them, and with that\nstrange, continuous, rhythmic motion of the hand, with his fine head\nerect and bending toward her from the long and shapely neck, his\nluminous eyes agleam with strange mesmeric light, his voice sibilant,\ntremulous, incisive, began to preach his first little sermon in a way\nthat grace and training made natural unto him: \"Trouble not thine heart,\nO woman, with any thought about the gods of Egypt, for I tell thee that\nthe unknown God to whom all men turn in time of sorest trial and sorrow,\neven as Am-nem-hat hath declared unto thee, is no more unknown, but is\none God over all, blessed for evermore, and hath revealed himself unto\nmen through his Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who loved us,\nand hath borne all of our sins upon himself, that we by faith in him may\nso be free; for, to them who believe in Jesus, life and immortality are\nbrought to light in the gospel, and for them death hath no sting, the\ngrave no victory.--What name do ye Egyptians give unto the burial-place\nof your dead?\"\n\nThe boy paused, and looked upon her, demanding an answer with his eyes.\n\n\"We call it sarcophagus,\" she replied.\n\n\"Yea,\" he continued, \"sarcophagus!  The devourer of human flesh!  But we\nChristians call it cemeterion--a sleeping-ground; because we know that\nJesus arose from the dead for our justification, and know that all they\nwho sleep in death shall rise again; for so our Lord hath taught us.\nThou complainest that the light of nature is dim and chill, and giveth\nthee no certain guide nor hope!  Thou meanest that the course of nature\nis stern, pitiless, implacable; teaching only that one must submit to\nthe inevitable without hope; a forced resignation in which there is no\ncomfort; an iron stoicism which teaches us to endure pain bravely but\nfurnisheth no compensation for sorrow; the obedience of a slave who\nknows that it is impossible to resist and foolish to attempt it; not the\nfaith and love of a child that obeys because he loves, and bears\nchastisement meekly because he knows that infinite wisdom and\nexhaustless love inflict it for his good.  O woman, listen what the\ndivine Son of God, who took our nature upon himself and was in all\nthings touched with the feelings of our infirmities, saith unto thee:\n'Come unto me, thou weary and heavy-laden, and I will give thee rest.\nLike as a father pitieth his children, the tender mercy of our God is\nover thee.  He that believeth on me shall never die, for life and\nimmortality are brought to light in the gospel, which is the power of\nGod and the wisdom of God unto salvation for every one that believeth.'\nFor Jesus loveth thee; he died to save thee and to give thee peace; and\nhis blood can cleanse thee from all sin, so that thou mayst be justified\nby faith, and find peace in believing, and in all times of tribulation\nand distress thou mayst find Jesus a present help and saviour.  O woman,\nsorely smitten! which one of the gods of Kem hath died to redeem thy\nsoul?\"\n\n\"None,\" she answered--\"none!\"\n\n\"Which one of them cleanseth thee from sin, and giveth thee a sure,\nunfailing promise of eternal life, thereby releasing thee from the fear\nof death that keepeth mankind in bondage, teaching that death is but a\nchange through which the conscious spirit passeth into larger life?\"\n\n\"None! not one,\" she answered.  \"I have never heard such glorious\npromises from any priest.\"\n\n\"But to make these glorious promises steadfast, abiding, true, the Son\nof God took upon himself our nature; became a man for our justification,\nand offered up himself a divine and perfect sacrifice for us, to make\natonement for our sins; and having submitted himself to be crucified by\nPontius Pilate, the third day he arose from the dead, whereby we know\nthat we also shall rise.  Seek thou for Christ by faith, for in him are\njoy and peace.  In him are hope for all bereavement, consolation for all\ngrief.  He loveth thee.  He so loved thee as to die for thee!  Come thou\nto him, and thou shalt learn how kind, and compassionate, and merciful a\nloving God can be!  For all that hath happened unto thee is not the\ncruel, blind, relentless infliction of merciless fate, working through\nnature; nor is it the vengeance of an angry God upon thee and thy\nhusband; but is only the wise chastisement of thy Father, God, whereby\nhe seeketh to wean thee away from the love of this vain and transitory\nlife, and to draw thy spirit upward to himself, and to the glory of the\nworld to come. Oh, if thou wilt believe in Christ, thou shalt find\nbefore his mercy-seat a refuge from every stormy wind that blows, and\npeace that passeth all understanding, that floweth as a river, that\nteacheth thee that these light afflictions, which are but for a moment,\nshall work out for thee a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory\nin that bright world to which we haste.  Seek thou for Christ, and thou\nshalt know how good, and pure, and holy an exercise even thy human\nsorrow and yearning may become.\"\n\nThen said the woman: \"It is all very beautiful and comforting, and I\nwould know more of it.  But tell me where I may find a temple in which\nthese things are taught, and a priest that knoweth them.\"\n\nThen answered Arius: \"We have no temple here; and Jesus is our only\npriest.  But there are bishops and presbyters who preach the gospel,\nwhen the Christians assemble together.  And in every Christian family\nthere are daily religious exercises.\"\n\n\"Dost thou have such worship here in thy father's house?\"\n\n\"Assuredly! on the evening of every day.\"\n\n\"And at what place?\"\n\n\"In any place that may be most convenient.  In thine own apartment, if\nthou wilt.\"\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XI.\n\n                         \"FOR THE WORK'S SAKE.\"\n\n\nThat night, at the request of Hatasa, the whole family assembled in her\nroom, and she insisted upon having them engage in their usual religious\nexercises, to which she listened with profoundest attention, and with a\ncertain amazement; for it was hard for her to grasp at once the idea\nthat God might be worshiped without a temple, a priest, and a sacrifice;\nbut the fact furnished its own best explanation.  And the sorrowful\nwoman soon found herself following with a new, strange sort of interest\nthe reading of the gospel, and the earnest, extemporaneous, sympathetic\nprayer of Ammonius, in which he pleaded with God not to suffer his dear\nand sorrowful guests, nor the aged and righteous priest, who had so long\nsought for the truth, to depart from his abode without having learned by\nblessed experience how freely Jesus can forgive, and what light and\npeace his gospel can afford to all who believe thereon.\n\nAfter the conclusion of these exercises, Am-nem-hat saith to Ammonius,\n\"There are some things connected with thy simple and beautiful religion\nabout which I would question thee when thou shalt have leisure and\ninclination to answer me.\"\n\nThen said Ammonius: \"Whenever thou wilt!  Even now, if thou wilt go with\nme into another room, where our conversation may not weary the others.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" cried Hatasa.  \"Go not hence, I beg; for I eagerly desire to hear\nsuch conversation.\"\n\nThen said Am-nem-hat: \"I know the Jewish scriptures, and also the new\nbooks which the Christians have written; but I desire thee to tell me\nplainly what the evidence is of the fact, upon which thou dost\ncontinually insist, that Jesus of Nazareth, whom Pilate crucified, is\nthe Christ.\"\n\n\"The evidence is primarily historical and prophetic,\" said Ammonius,\n\"based chiefly upon the Jewish laws and prophecies concerning him that\nwere written centuries before the advent of our Lord, and that do\ntestify of him.\"\n\n\"Yea,\" answered Am-nem-hat, \"but these proofs only go to establish the\ncoming of a Divine Man, in whom not only Plato and Socrates, who knew\nnothing of the Jews, but the Egyptians also, and many more, believed.  I\nspeak not of proofs that Messiah was to come, but of the proof that\nJesus, whom Pilate crucified, was he.\"\n\n\"The evidences upon this point are twofold,\" answered Ammonius.  \"One\nline of proof which is the most satisfying, and which in fact amounts to\npositive knowledge, is the personal consciousness of the believer,\nexperimental religion, whereby he knoweth that faith, the conviction of\nsin, the justification of the believer, and all of the phenomena which\nmust necessarily attend the faith, are true.  But this highest, most\nsatisfactory, most scientific form of evidence is of course inaccessible\nto one that believeth not, except by the testimony of those who have\npersonal experience of the truth.  The other line of evidence is founded\non the fact that the prophecies foretold for centuries just what Messiah\nshould do and suffer when he might come, and we know that Jesus did and\nsuffered just those things--many of them not possible to be done without\nthe Divinity--as healing of the sick, unstopping the deaf ears,\ncleansing the lepers, restoring sight to the blind, raising the dead,\nand preaching good tidings to the poor; all of which things Jesus\ncustomarily did, all of which things his followers have done from that\nday to this; whereby we know that he is Christ indeed.\"\n\n\"Dost thou mean to assert that the Christians yet work miracles?\" asked\nAm-nem-hat.\n\n\"Assuredly,\" replied Ammonius.  \"Jesus not only did the miracles\nhimself, but did solemnly promise that, wherever his disciples should\ncontinue to obey him in all things, they should be able, by faith in his\nname, to do thaumaturgical works even unto the end of time; and they\nhave certainly done so ever since.\"\n\n\"Dost thou really believe that thou hast seen a miracle with thine own\neyes?\"\n\n\"Yea, verily,\" said Ammonius, \"and many of them.\"\n\nThe ancient paused a long time, and seemed lost in profoundest\nmeditation.  At length he answered in a tone of inexpressible sadness\nand weariness: \"I was in the temple service at Thebes for nearly half a\ncentury, and much of the time a priest.  At Ombos I was high-priest for\nfive-and-twenty years, and until some five years ago.  I have seen some\nwonders, indeed, which the people called miracles. but alas! alas!  I\nknow just how those things were done! The sun rises and sets, and no man\nhindereth it!  The Nile overfloweth its banks, and refresheth all the\nland of Kem, and shrinketh back in his accustomed channel; the stars in\nheaven pursue their bright and tranquil way, and seed-time cometh, and\nthe harvest; and life and death. All nature moves on in obedience to\nfixed, changeless, universal laws, which have been from the beginning;\nand I find myself unable to believe that these laws were ever violated,\nor suspended, in order to furnish evidences of any religion, or for any\npurpose whatever; although, no doubt, good men may believe that such\nthings have occurred.\"\n\n\"And as to that,\" said Ammonius, \"beyond any question thou art right.\nHe hath but a poor conception of our God who thinketh that, in creating\na world wherein he intended miracles to occur, he did not know enough to\nprovide natural laws by which these phenomena might come to pass without\nviolating or suspending the established order.  But, if I could know\nthat it violates or suspends any law of nature to raise the dead, I\nwould not believe such a fact, although I have seen it done.  But why\ndost thou suppose that the anastasis of the dead is contrary to natural\nlaw?  Our Lord hath never said so; on the contrary, he came to fulfill,\nnot to violate, the law.  Surely thou canst not declare that any miracle\nviolates or suspends, or is without law, unless thou canst first\ntruthfully declare that all laws are known to thee, and that among them\nthere is none by which the dead might be raised up.  But although thou\nart wise and learned, thou knowest that Nature withholdeth many secrets\nyet from thee.  Thou knowest that no man hath mastered all her laws; and\neven those which we know may be weak, and mean, and narrow, compared\nwith those of which we are profoundly ignorant. But we Christians teach\nthat God is not the author of confusion, but of order; that all laws of\nnature, physical, mental, spiritual, are but the expression of his will,\nwhich must be harmonious throughout, and can not be self-contradictory;\nand that just as he hath made some law by which water seeks a level, and\nby which heavy bodies tend toward the center of the world, and by which\noil and water, that repel each other by nature, will unite with an\nalkali to make a new creature, just so he hath established laws by which\nthe miracles are done; so that the anastasis of the dead, or any other\nmiracle, must be as purely and truly a natural phenomenon as is the\nrising of the sun, or the falling of the dew--not so common, perhaps,\nbecause these phenomena involve powers and faculties of the human soul\nthat do not act always and automatically as do the laws of physical\nnature; so neither does one sleep, or talk, or think always, but only\nwhen he wills to do so.\"\n\n\"That is a new, strange view of thaumaturgy!  Thou sayst 'the miracles\nare under law'; perhaps, then, other men besides the Christians might be\nable to perform them.\"\n\n\"I know not to what extent it might be possible for other men to\nexercise the power of faith which is an essential condition in the\nworking of miracles.  I suppose they might do wonderful things, that\nwould bear about the same relation to our Christian miracles that their\nvarious religions bear to our holy Christianity. And I suppose that the\nwitchcraft and demonology denounced by Moses were the results of the\nexercise of faith in false gods.  But a Christian miracle, depending\nupon faith in Christ as a primary condition for the exercise of\nthaumaturgical power, must remain impossible to all who possess not that\nfaith.  Thou hast read the Gospels, and thou knowest the Lord hath said,\n'If ye had faith as a grain of mustard-seed, ye might say unto this\nmountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the midst of the sea,\nand it should obey you.'  But he also said, 'Without me ye can do\nnothing.'\"\n\n\"I infer,\" said Am-nem-hat, \"that thou thinkest faith to be the law of\nmiracles; thou thinkest that this faith is itself a force in nature\nsufficient for the accomplishment of physical results; and that they who\nsincerely believe may, by means of this force, even raise up the dead.\nWhy, then, are not all the dead raised up?\"\n\n\"Thou hast stated the law rather too broadly,\" answered Ammonius.  \"The\nfaith that worketh miracles must be applied under proper conditions to\nbe of any avail.  Water, oil, and alkali do not always produce soap, but\nonly when the proper conditions are observed. So I suppose that no man\ncould be raised up from the dead against his will; and, while there be\nmany Christians that have sought for martyrdom, there be but few that\nwere willing to be raised again, and fewer still that ever requested the\nbrethren to pray for their anastasis, because they preferred to depart,\nand to be with the Lord, which is far better.\"\n\n\"I do remember,\" said Am-nem-hat, \"that many years ago, when Decius was\nEmperor of Rome, a bitter persecution raged against the Christians at\nAlexandria. I saw Julian, and Macar, and Epimachus, and Alexander burned\nat the stake; and truly many seemed to seek for martyrdom rather than to\nshun it, a fact which we attributed to a certain incorrigible and\nhopeless wickedness in them, and not, as thou dost, to their assurance\nof obtaining a better life.  I suppose, indeed, that such men as those\nwould not have desired to be restored to a life which they seemed\nanxious to lose; and it seemeth reasonable enough that, even if it had\nbeen possible to do so, they should not have been recalled against their\nwill.  Wilt thou not state more fully yet the conditions upon which thou\nthinkest this thaumaturgy may be exercised?\"\n\n\"Faith in Jesus is the primary condition,\" said Ammonius, \"but there are\nalso others.  Once a man came unto our Lord and besought him to heal his\nson, saying that the disciples had been unable to do so.  Our Lord did\nheal him with a word.  Afterward the disciples inquired of him why it\nwas that they had failed in doing the same work, and he said unto them\nthat it was because of their unbelief.  Now thou must perceive that it\nwas not because of their want of faith in him, for they were then\nfollowing him; so that it must have been because of their unbelief in\ntheir own power and authority to do the work in his name.  It seemeth,\ntherefore, that faith on the part of the thaumaturgist in his own power\nto accomplish the miracle in the Lord's name is one of the conditions of\nthaumaturgy.\"\n\n\"That also seemeth to be a reasonable and proper condition,\" answered\nAm-nem-hat.  \"But are there yet others?\"\n\n\"It is written that he did not many wonderful works at Capernaum because\nof their unbelief.  He often said to those who asked his aid, 'Be it\nunto thee according to thy faith.'  And from these facts it seems to\nfollow that faith on the part of him for, or upon, whom the work was to\nbe done, and on the part of those among whom it was to be done, was also\none of the conditions upon which the exercise of thaumaturgical power\ndepended.\"\n\n\"But,\" objected Am-nem-hat, \"if he was in truth divine, why should he\npay any attention to the unbelieving or to the unwilling?  Why did he\nnot do the miracles in defiance of them all, as well as if they had been\nfaithful and willing?\"\n\n\"Because,\" answered Ammonius, \"our Lord teacheth and requireth only a\nwilling obedience and faith. Not God himself will force the human will;\nfor that which is of compulsion hath no morality.  It is of necessity,\ntherefore, neither holy nor unholy.  A necessary holiness is a\ncontradiction in terms.  God's use of sovereignty hath been to make man\nfree.  Besides, faith itself is the law of miracles; to have wrought\nmiracles where no faith was, would have been to violate the very law by\nwhich he worked, and so to have degraded miracles to the plane of an\narbitrary and sporadic exhibition of divine power, instead of leaving\nthem as they are, the highest result of the very highest form of\nuniversal law.\"\n\n\"That seemeth reasonable enough,\" rejoined Am-nem-hat, \"and in\naccordance with my conception of the character of a holy and perfect\nGod.  But as I perceive thou clearly comprehendest the Christian system,\nupon which I have bestowed much thought almost in vain, suffer me to put\none other case to thee which seemeth to me to be inexplicable upon any\nprinciples which thou hast stated as constituent elements of the law of\nmiracles, if thou art not yet weary of my questions.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said Ammonius, \"I am not weary.  Thou mayst ask many things,\nindeed, which I know not, and can not answer; but, so far as I can give\nthee any aid, it affordeth me pleasure to answer thee as intelligently\nas I can.\"\n\n\"The matter is this,\" said Am-nem-hat.  \"It is recorded in thy sacred\nbooks that when the apostles were going about Jerusalem, imparting the\nParaclete by the laying on of their hands, and working divers miracles,\none Simon, a magician, came unto them and offered money unto them if\nthey would communicate unto him the same power, so that he also might\nbecome a thaumaturgist.  But one of them, named Peter, did bitterly\nrebuke him, saying, 'Thy money perish with thee!'  Now, the apostles had\nfaith; the people who saw them doing all these wonderful works had\nfaith, and were baptized by Philip.  Simon Magus himself had faith as\nmuch as any one of them, and, when Peter rebuked him, with fear and\ntrembling he besought Peter, saying, 'Pray ye to the Lord for me, that\nnone of these things which ye have spoken come upon me.'  Now, here seem\nto have been all of the conditions of faith and willingness in Simon of\nwhich thou hast spoken, and yet Peter manifestly regarded the desire of\nSimon as a sort of sacrilege. Why was this so?\"\n\n\"Why,\" said Ammonius, \"Peter declared that his thought that the gift of\nGod may be purchased with money was evil; and that his heart was not\nright in the sight of God, and that he should repent of his wickedness,\nand that his very thought showed that he was still in the gall of\nbitterness and in the bonds of iniquity.\"\n\n\"That is very true,\" answered Am-nem-hat, \"but his tender of money to\nthe apostles only proves his appreciation of the value of the power\nwhich he desired to purchase.  Peter saith not that Simon was a bad man,\nbut that this particular thing was wicked; why was it so in him, and not\nin them?\"\n\n\"Because,\" replied Ammonius, \"it is manifest from the whole record that\nSimon desired to purchase this power for himself, and to use it for his\nown purposes.\"\n\n\"Certainly so,\" persisted Am-nem-hat, \"but in what respect was it\nsacrilegious for him to desire to use the power for his own purposes,\nany more than it would have been to use his brain, or his hand, for his\nown advancement; or his learning, or skill, for the acquisition and\ncultivation of which he had, perhaps, expended money?\"\n\n\"The answer to thy question,\" replied Ammonius, \"involves some\nconsideration of the very genius of Christianity as a system of divine\ntruth.  If, as thou seemest to suppose, the religion of our Lord had\nbeen only a system of spiritual truth, it might be difficult to deny\nthat the apostles were selfish, and that Simon was very badly treated.\nBut this is not at all true.  Thou knowest that the legislation of Moses\nwas for the Israelites only; that of Egypt for the land and people of\nKem only; that of other lands and ages for certain peoples only.  But\nthou canst not have read the scriptures so carefully without learning\nthe fact that Jesus died for all men, and that his truth is designed for\nall mankind. Thou seest, therefore, that, if Simon Magus could have\nobtained this power to exercise it for his own purposes, he would have\nmade it the agency by which to gain limitless authority and wealth unto\nhimself, and oppress the poor.  Thou seest also that, if any nation or\ngovernment could exercise thaumaturgical powers, that nation or\ngovernment would soon become the ruler and the tyrant of the world.\nThou seest that, if any church that is in any way connected with, or\nbound unto, an earthly government, could exercise this power,\necclesiasticism would quickly make mankind its slaves: for manifestly no\npeople could long resist a government that had thaumaturgical power\nwherewith to enforce obedience to its laws.  Thou seest also that if the\nfaith that is effective for miracles could be exercised for any purposes\nexcept the edification of the Church and the good of all men, the faith\nitself might have become a nameless and unappealable tyranny.  Nay, if\nit were ever possible to exercise such power except under such\nconditions as necessarily and absolutely to preclude the use of it for\nany private purposes, thou seest that sooner or later, under the\ninfluence of inborn selfishness, the thaumaturgists would have made war\nupon each other, and, in place of seeing nations contending with sword,\nand bow, and spear, we would have seen them hurling against each other\nall of the destructive forces of nature, and only chaos and utter ruin\ncould have ended the superhuman strife.  It was therefore ordained that\nthe thaumaturgic faith can not be exercised except under conditions\nwhich necessarily exclude the use of it for private purposes, and insure\nits exercise for the good of the common Church only.\"\n\n\"Canst thou specify by what means this restricted use of the power hath\nbeen enforced?  For it seemeth to me that, if it exists, it must be\nbeyond control.\"\n\n\"In order to exclude all worldly ambitions and selfishness from the\nkingdom which he established in the world, our Lord ordained that his\nChurch should be a community in which all men are free and\nequal--brethren only.  Hence he ordained, as the fundamental law of the\nkingdom, that all private rights of property (including estates, rank,\noffices, prerogatives) should be forever abolished in his Church, and\nthat Christians should hold them all in common.  Hence, the kingdom of\nheaven is an absolute democracy, social and political, based upon faith\nin Christ, and community of rights and property among all who believe.\nOf this community the apostles themselves were the divinely appointed\ntype.  They used thaumaturgy for the common good only, and not for\npersonal aggrandizement. The common treasure was put into a bag, and, as\nif to show the divine scorn of wealth and of all human distinctions that\ngrow out of it, the bag was intrusted to Judas, the only base one of the\ntwelve.  It was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle\nthan for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, because the law of\nthat kingdom imperatively required the consecration of all that he had\nto the common good.  But, under the power of a living faith, many\ncomplied with this law, and the Church prospered.  Thus did the bishops\nthat were ordained by the apostles, as Linus at Rome, Polycarp at\nSmyrna, Evodius at Antioch, and others also. Thus did Paulinus, Cyprian,\nHilary, and others.  Such has been the law and practice of the common\nChurch even unto this day.  For the primary law of the kingdom of heaven\ndemandeth the consecration of all property, and the abdication of all\nworldly honors, offices, and authority.  And Simon Magus desired not\npart or lot in this kingdom, but his own advantage only.  And thou must\nperceive that thaumaturgical power exercised by such a church must\nnecessarily be for the common good of all, and not for any personal,\npolitical, or sectarian purposes; and the faith that worketh wonders\nmust therefore be impossible to any human association except to the\nchurch organized upon the foundation which Jesus himself laid, even the\ncommunion of the holy; for the liberty, fraternity, and equality, which\nconstitute the socialism and politics of the kingdom, can not exist upon\nany other foundation.  And, of course, thaumaturgic power will vanish\neven out of the Church if the day shall ever come in which those who\nbelieve shall abandon the communal organization of the kingdom of\nheaven, and establish human statutes as the law thereof.\"\n\n\"I think,\" said Am-nem-hat, \"that thy words remove many of the\ndifficulties which have beset my study of thy sacred books.  For I now\nperceive that the parables of Jesus--a species of literary composition\nunknown, perhaps impossible, to other men--which I supposed to refer to\nsome spiritual, mystical doctrines, were in fact spoken concerning his\nChurch, or kingdom, in this world.\"\n\n\"Assuredly so,\" replied Ammonius.  \"And thou hast done well to\ncharacterize the parable as 'a species of literary composition unknown\nand impossible to other men'; for no other man hath written a parable,\nnor do I suppose that any man ever will do so.  For he spake as never\nman spake: he spake in parables; without a parable he spake not.  The\nhistory, the poem, the fable, the allegory, may be used by other\nteachers also; but the parable is the language of Jesus alone; and no\nman can handle it but himself.\"\n\n\"I can now understand that strange parable of 'the unjust steward,'\"\nsaid Am-nem-hat, \"although, when I first read the words, 'I say unto\nyou, make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness, that\nwhen ye fail they may receive you into everlasting habitations,' I did\neven suppose that Jesus represented eternal life to be a vendible thing,\nand that his religion, like every other, assured the rich that they\ncould purchase salvation with money--although this seemed to be\nantagonistic to the general current of his teachings.\"\n\n\"Verily,\" replied Ammonius, \"the words of Jesus would convey no other\nmeaning, if, indeed, the fundamental law of the Church had not excluded\ntherefrom all the private wealth, honors, and authority after which the\nGentiles seek.  But, if thou wilt consider that the unjust steward is\nany believer that useth his means, pecuniary, intellectual, physical,\nfor his own aggrandizement, and not for the common good; that the Lord\nof that steward is Jesus; that unrighteous mammon is wealth held by\nprivate ownership, and that the true riches is wealth held by common\ntitle for the good of all--thou canst then understand how, even upon\nceasing to be steward (the end of life), one may make amends for past\nselfishness and mammon-worship, by giving up his property to the common\nChurch.  Thou canst understand how it is just that those who come in\neven at the eleventh hour to work in his vine-yard shall have an equal\nreward with those who entered early and bore the heat and burden of the\nday.  Thou wilt see that it is true that those who gave up houses and\nlands for his sake and the gospel's reaped manifold more 'now in this\npresent life' by gaining a communal title in the property of all other\nbelievers--an increase which our Lord expressly promises as to all the\ninterests and relationships of life, except as to the wife; for, while,\nif one leave houses, lands, father, mother, brother, sister, or\nchildren, for the gospel's sake, the severed interests and relationships\nare replaced a hundred-fold by his admission into the kingdom of heaven,\nmonogamic marriage was and is the law of the Church.  And thou canst\nthus give a practical and beautiful meaning to all that our Lord hath\nsaid and done; thou wilt see that the social and political system of the\ngospel is the only kingdom that can ever banish crime, hatred, and\nselfishness out of human life, and so regenerate the world; thou wilt\nsee that the Scribes and Pharisees persecuted our Lord because his\nkingdom excluded war, slavery, private-property rights, estates, rank,\noffices, prerogatives--of all which things they were 'covetous'--just as\nthe Romans and all other established governments persecute the\nChristians, even unto this day, for the same reasons.  For Christ\ndesireth the brotherhood of men; the liberty and equality of men; and\nthat the average talents, energy, and prosperity of all may insure the\ncommon weal; and not that some shall be emperors, lords, and masters,\nwhereby it cometh to pass that many must be slaves; not that some be\ninordinately rich, and others distressfully poor.\"\n\n\"I will read the gospels and the Acts again in the light of thine\ninstructions,\" said Am-nem-hat.  \"But, verily, many passages thereof\nalready come crowding into my mind that bear new and potent meanings;\nfor I perceive clearly enough that Christianity is not only a system of\nspiritual truth, but also of social and political truth, that is founded\nupon the faith, and from that basis assaulteth selfishness in its strong\ncitadel of private rights by elevating the common good into a higher\nthing than private aggrandizement, and separating the people of his\nkingdom from all personal honors, prerogatives, and wealth, after which\nthe Gentiles seek.\"\n\n\"Thou wilt perceive this all the more clearly,\" said Ammonius, \"if thou\nwilt reread the gospels with this thought in thy mind; for thou wilt at\nonce perceive that many passages, which in any other view would seem\nstrongly tainted with fanaticism, or rhapsody, or demagoguery, are\nprecisely the things which Jesus ought to have said if his kingdom was,\nindeed, a social and political democracy founded upon faith and\ncommunity of rights and property.  For the Jews, who supposed that our\nLord would overturn the Roman authority and establish a great\nIsraelitish nation instead thereof, were not any more in error than are\nthose who falsely suppose that he would establish no kingdom at all, and\nthat he taught only spiritual truth, as do the Therapeutae.\"\n\n\"I am familiar with the work of Philo 'On a Contemplative Life, or the\nDevout,'\" answered Am-nem-hat, \"in which he giveth a full and succinct\naccount of the Therapeutae; but, indeed, I had supposed that he therein\nintended to describe the first heralds of the gospel, and the practices\nhanded down from the apostles.\"\n\n\"Beyond doubt the Therapeutae were Christians,\" continued Ammonius, \"but\nthey separated themselves from the apostolical churches in order to lead\na more devout life, and they gradually exalted all their conceptions of\nspiritual truth until they began to despise all temporal surroundings;\nand in this they departed from the teaching of our Lord: for there is no\nteacher of men more free from asceticism or stoicism than is Jesus.  He\nwas ever busied about and interested in the common, every-day life of\ncommon men; he was touched with the feeling of our infirmity in all\nthings; sympathized in all the joys and sorrows of those about him,\ntheir trials and triumphs, seeking to lead them, not out of the world,\nbut into a way of life wherein every pure and wholesome feeling,\naffection, and faculty of the human heart might find full development,\nexercise, and satisfaction.  The vast difference, indeed, between Jesus\nand the philosophers subsists in the fact that, while they were ever\npainfully seeking for rules and actions by which the select and favored\nfew might attain a perfect human life, he ordained a simple, perfect\nsystem by which to bring the higher, purer life within the reach of all\nmen, especially the poor.\"\n\nIn such conversations the time passed quickly; and it was strange to\nnote with what deep interest the sorrowful Hatasa, and also Theckla and\nArius, listened to every word, and strove to catch the full\nsignification of every phrase; while Arete heard it patiently, as one\nmight listen to an oft-told but still pleasant story, and old Thopt, as\nif she knew little and cared less about the whole matter, being\nsatisfied that whatever Ammonius and his wife might do must be right and\ntrue.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XII.\n\n                         THE ONE THING NEEDFUL.\n\n\nOn the same day began Arius to teach Theckla letters; for, although the\ngirl had been remarkably well instructed for an Egyptian maiden, all of\nher tuition had been oral. But, in accordance with her strong wish to\nlearn how to read and write, the boy began at once with the three\nalphabets, Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and in a single day she learned all\nof the letters, and the relative power of each, and in a very short time\nshe could make all of the characters with a sharp point of _keil_ upon a\nleaf of papyrus.  Then, as leisure served, he would take a single word,\nas, for example, \"spirit,\" and would pronounce and spell it in the three\nlanguages (_nishema, pneuma, animus_), and she would repeat the three\nnames for the same thing after him, and spell them, and write them down,\nover and over again, until she had become thoroughly familiar with the\nletters, the sound, and the form of the written word. The acquisition of\na few words every day soon gave her command of a considerable vocabulary\nin each tongue, and she rapidly learned to associate the words with all\nfamiliar objects, and to call them by the right name in either tongue.\nThen he would select some short passage, generally from the sacred\nwritings, and during the day she would write it over and over again, in\neach of the languages, while he was absent upon the various duties which\npertained to his part of the farm-labor.  The girl was continually\nlearning; and it was pleasant to see how soon she began, of her own\naccord, to select and translate into the different tongues any passage\nwhich pleased her.  This process of education continued, as we shall\nhereafter see, during the years which she spent at Baucalis, and finally\nTheckla became very familiar with the three languages in which the\nscriptures were then written.\n\nOn the next evening after that described in the last chapter, all the\ndwellers at the cottage assembled again in Hatasa's room, by her\nrequest, to hold the usual evening service; for the lady had seldom\nquitted her bed, and she remained deplorably weak, suffering with\ncontinual pain in her lungs, the result, perhaps, of her great exposure\nduring the storm, and of the terrible depression of spirits that\nsucceeded it.  All through the pagan world, the only known refuge from\nhopeless sorrow was suicide, and the idea of self-destruction was ever\npresent to her.  Perhaps her maternal affection for Theckla alone\ndeterred her from putting an end to her life; for it was not regarded by\nthe heathen as cowardly, criminal, or even immoral, to seek that refuge\nfrom misfortune.  Cato did it; Seneca approved of it; Epictetus,\nAurelius, and all the great lights of pagan antiquity regarded\nself-immolation as a matter of choice, and often as an act of wisdom.\nBut, from the moment in which Hatasa had been informed that the kind\nfriends who surrounded her were Christians, she felt a desire to know\nmore of them, and of their peculiar religion, strong enough to give her\na new interest in life; and she had requested Ammonius to have the\nservice in her room, and told him that, although she was too weak to\ntake any part in their conversation about Christianity, she desired to\nhear himself and Am-nem-hat discuss any topic pertaining thereto in\nwhich they were interested.  So, after the usual exercises of reading\nand prayer, the whole family remained together.  The ancient remarked to\nAmmonius that during the day he had pondered much upon the things spoken\nof in their former conversation, and suggested, as a difficulty in the\nway of the acceptance of Christianity, something like the following: \"I\ncan understand how a kind and merciful God might lay down certain rules\nof action, and require obedience to his laws, under whatever penalties\nhe might choose to impose; but it seemeth to me that to require one _to\nbelieve_, as the sole condition of justification, is arbitrary and\nunjust.  Suppose that one hath some natural bent of mind, or hath been\nreared and educated in some such way that it is hard, perhaps\nimpossible, for him to believe; yet thy books say: 'Believe and live; he\nthat believeth not is condemned already.'  Is not this an arbitrary\ndemand for faith; and doth it not do violence to that very autonomy of\nthe will which thou sayest Jesus himself always respected and\nvenerated?\"\n\n\"Thou dost somewhat mistake the matter,\" said Ammonius.  \"The Lord does\nnot demand our faith; he simply stateth an actual fact, which is, that\nthe believer is justified by faith, and that he who does not believe is\ncondemned already.\"\n\n\"I hardly understand what thou sayest: 'he simply stateth an actual\nfact.'\"\n\n\"I think thou wilt find that there is no arbitrary demand in it.  Our\nLord gave no command only because he had power and authority to do so;\nbut he knew what was in man, and gave only such commands as his divine\nwisdom perceived to be necessary for the welfare of mankind.  As to the\nnecessity of faith upon which he insists, the case is thus: All men upon\nearth are under the conviction of sin, and all alike are forever seeking\nfor some escape from the bonds of this conviction.  Thou wilt perceive\nthat this conviction hath no reference to any specific, sinful act; for,\nperhaps, the best and purest men have always been those who felt it most\nkeenly.  It is a consciousness of alienation between the human and the\ndivine.  It is a natural, intuitive perception, in the heart of every\nman, that he is not as good as he ought to be, less perfect than he\nmight be. The universal desire to get rid of this conviction of sin hath\nfilled the world with false and ineffectual religions from the very dawn\nof time; for all men, in every age and clime, have sought for some form\nof penance or of sacrifice, some means in faith or work, by which to\nmake atonement and secure reconciliation, and thereby shake off this\nconviction of sin.  Hast thou ever heard of any kindred, tribe, or\ntongue (or even of any individual), that professed to be perfect,\nsinless, needing no sacrifice, no atonement for sin--that is, for a\nconsciously sinful condition independent of all specific acts of\ntransgression?\"\n\n\"Nay,\" answered Am-nem-hat; \"for thou art clearly right in that.  All\nmen do by nature bewail their sinful state.  Humanity standeth forever\nlike the lepers in Israel, with uplifted hand, crying aloud to heaven\nand earth, 'Unclean! unclean!'  It is a conviction upon which philosophy\nhath no power.  It cometh some time into every human heart, resistless\nas the precession of the equinoxes, spontaneous as the flowing of the\nNile--a natural thing, which a man can no more control than he can reach\nforth his puny hand and unloose the bands of Orion, or bind the sweet\ninfluence of Pleiades, or guide Arcturus and his suns.  All literature,\nall monuments, all ages, and all men, testify unto this terrible truth.\"\n\n\"Now the work of Jesus,\" said Ammonius, \"was not to burden this sick and\nsorrowful nature with any arbitrary law of faith, but was to provide a\nway by which this universal conviction of sin might be atoned for--a\nperfect righteousness and sacrifice available by faith for our\njustification; to wit, that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto\nhimself.  And faith is made the condition, because no other condition\ncould be available for all men alike, whether great or small, rich or\npoor, learned or ignorant; and Jesus died for all! Thou must see that\nthis faith, instead of being, as thou didst suppose, an arbitrary\ncondition or command, is simply the enabling act, instituted by divine\nwisdom and compassion, by means whereof we may be able to attain unto\nreconciliation with God.  And without this faith we could never be\njustified by holy life and works alone, because it is a law of our\nnature that, just as we become better and purer beings, our conception\nof the degree of fitness required of us necessarily becomes higher, so\nthat it is impossible for us to get any nearer to it; so that without\nfaith the best men are as much under conviction of sin as the worst; so\nthat without faith it is impossible for us to be consciously justified,\nbecause our nature requires a perfect righteousness; and this perfect\nrighteousness and sacrifice must be human, that we may be able to trust\nits love and willingness to aid us, and must be divine, that we may have\nfaith in its power to save. Hast thou ever heard of any name given under\nheaven, or among men, which supplies these natural and necessary\nconditions for our conscious justification and reconciliation with God,\nand with our own hearts also, except the name of Jesus Christ?  If thou\nhast, please utter it.\"\n\n\"Verily,\" answered Am-nem-hat, \"there is none. No religion of which I\nhave heard professeth to know any.\"\n\nThe old man seemed lost in profoundest meditation, and there was silence\nin the room, until Theckla said: \"Father Am-nem-hat, do thou bid Arius\nrepeat what things he said to me of this matter of faith when he was\nteaching the alphabets to me this morning.  I think it was much plainer\nthan thy learned discoursing with Ammonius.\"\n\n\"Yea,\" said Am-nem-hat, \"I beg that Arius will do so, for I much desire\nto hear thereof.\"\n\nThe boy blushed vividly at being so called upon in the presence of his\nelders, but, at a sign from his father, he stood up before them, saying:\n\"I did not suppose the talk of persons so young could interest those who\nare so much older and wiser, but, as ye desire to hear it, I can almost\nrepeat it.  As Theckla and I were running over the alphabets, in order\nto get the sound of the letters and the form of the characters, she came\nupon the letter 'A' a second time, and she cried out: 'Oh, I know that\none; it is Latin A, Greek Alpha, Hebrew Aleph.'  And I said unto her,\n'Theckla, how knowest thou that the characters stand for these sounds?'\nand she answered, 'Thou didst tell me so, and I did believe thee, boy,\nand that is how I know it.'  Then said I: 'Theckla, thou learnest the\nalphabet by faith only. If thou wert naturally constituted so that thou\ncouldst not believe, thou couldst never learn anything not tangible to\nthy senses.  If thou wert by nature even indifferent between faith and\nnon-faith, thy progress in the acquisition of knowledge would be slow\nand painful. Thou shouldst therefore learn, from the learning of these\nalphabets, that faith is the first, most inevitable act of intelligence.\nThou shouldst learn that belief precedes knowledge always, that Faith is\nthe elder sister and leadeth Knowledge by the hand, and that without\nantecedent faith it is impossible to learn and to know anything except\nwhat is palpable to the senses; just as it would be impossible for thee\nto learn these alphabets without faith.'  And thereupon Theckla did\npinch mine ear, and laugh at me, saying, 'That all seemeth to be true\nand plain enough, thou odd boy, but why art thou preaching at me now?'\nAnd I did answer: 'Because, thou dear sister, some time thy faith may be\ndemanded for another alphabet than this, even the alphabet of spiritual\nlife; and, when that day shall come, I would have thee remember that\njust as all human knowledge is builded upon the basis of faith only, so\nit should not seem a hard thing unto thee that God hath fashioned thy\nnature so that thou must be incapable of learning even the alphabet of\neverlasting life except upon the very same condition of faith only.\nFaith precedeth all knowledge; believe and obey, and finally thou shalt\nknow.'  I think this was about what was spoken between us concerning\nfaith.\"\n\n\"And it is most wise, beautiful, and instructive talk,\" said Am-nem-hat,\n\"and serveth to complete the powerful utterances of thy father upon the\nsame lofty and interesting subject.  I do thank thee for repeating it.\"\n\nThen spake Hatasa, saying to Ammonius, \"Suppose that one hath died\nwithout having known the truth concerning Jesus, and without having\nexercised this faith, is there no hope for such a one?\"\n\nThe trembling voice in which she spoke, and the look of timid, doubtful\nentreaty which accompanied these words, touched every heart, and made\nthem all feel that by \"such a one\" the poor lady meant her young and\ngallant husband Amosis, whose memory seemed ever in her heart.\n\nAmmonius answered: \"I do not know whether I could make thee understand\nfully the views which we Christians entertain about such a case as thou\nhast suggested, but we believe that there is hope for such a man.  The\ngreat apostle Paul was Saul of Tarsus, and for a long time he did\npersecute the Christians because they were Christians, yet he declareth\nhimself that he acted in all good conscience before God, believing that\nit was his duty to do so, and he afterward became the great apostle and\na glorious martyr.  I doubt not that there are among those who now\npersecute the Christians some good and just men, that would follow Jesus\nunto death if they could know him as he is.  The conviction of sin, we\nknow, hath no reference to any specific transgression, nor hath the\nforgiveness of sin.  Whether an act be a sin or not dependeth largely\nupon the intent with which it is done.  Now, when the heathen, who know\nnot Jesus nor his divine truth, do yet live just and righteous lives\naccording to the best light and knowledge they possess, and die without\nthe consolation of the faith, the benefit of the atonement accrueth to\nthem in some way, we know not precisely how far, nor to what effect; to\nall such, indeed, and especially to such as have some living Christian\nrelative or friend that taketh upon himself the rite of baptism for the\ndead; for, if they have not the law, they are not judged by the law, but\nby their works and righteousness under the law which they have.\"\n\n\"How is that?\" said Hatasa, with breathless interest. \"Thou sayest a\nliving Christian may be baptized for the dead?\"\n\n\"Assuredly,\" answered Ammonius.  \"The apostles so taught, and the Church\nhath always so practiced.  If any Christian hath a relative that died\nwithout knowledge of Jesus, and such Christian doth believe that the\ndeceased was a just and righteous person according to the measure of\nlight given unto him, and was such that he would have followed our Lord\nif he had known sufficiently of him, such Christian may receive baptism\nfor the deceased, and the dead shall reap benefit of this vicarious\nfaith and obedience, how and to what extent hath never been clearly\nrevealed unto us.\"\n\n\"There is hope in that!\" cried Hatasa.  \"There is consolation in that.\nThy Lord must have been full of human love and pity to make provision\nnot only for his friends, but for those good and just men, also, who\nhave ignorantly been his enemies.\"\n\n\"Yea, verily,\" answered Ammonius.  \"He loveth all men; his mercy\nendureth forever; his loving-kindness is stronger than height, or depth,\nor life, or death, or any other creature, as thou mayest assuredly know\nfor thyself if thou wilt believe on him.\"\n\nThen Am-nem-hat said: \"There is much in this religion that taketh fast\nhold upon both the heart and the mind; for it verily seemeth that Jesus\nseeketh not to impose a system upon man that is in any respect external\nto man, but rather that he seeketh to show unto man such spiritual food\nas is most divinely suitable to satisfy that hunger of the soul\nwherefrom the whole world suffereth already; and he seemeth to propose\nnothing as matter of faith which was not already a conscious want and\nneed of nature: so that his teachings ought to be accepted as at least\nthe highest utterance of philosophy if even not as divinely true.\"\n\n\"Thy profound criticism of the spirit of our religion striketh very\nnearly to the heart of the whole matter,\" said Ammonius.  \"For the world\nyearned after God whom it knew not, and Jesus plainly declareth that\nunknown God whom men ignorantly worship.  The world groaned and sorrowed\nunder the blind conviction of sin, and, wherever men acquired a local\nhabitation and a name on earth, there they had their holy places also;\nand in some way--often in a crude and ignorant way, often in a gross and\nsensual way, often in a heathenish and cruel way--they sought, by sacred\nrites of penitence and sacrifice, to atone for their wrong deeds done;\nbut the wrongs continually repeated themselves, and the unavailing\nreligions left the world's heart like a troubled sea that can not rest.\nBut Jesus saith the sin for which ye suffer is not a wrong thing done at\nall; these wicked deeds of yours are not sin, but are the outcroppings\nof the sin that lieth back of all your deeds.  Can a bitter fountain\nsend forth sweet waters?  Doth an evil tree bear good fruits?  Do ye\ngather figs from thistles?  Cease now your world-old and unavailing\nefforts to regenerate the heart by the vain expiation of your wicked\ndeeds. Purify the fountain, that the waters thereof may be sweet. Make\nthe tree good, and its fruits shall be good also. For sin is\nnon-conformity to the will of God, and your evil deeds are only the\nevidences of your enmity against him.  So, when the blind yearnings of\nthe world's heart after peace had made sacrifices, not only of every\nbeast and creeping thing upon the earth, but of men also, he saith: 'All\nthese things ye do in vain, for your righteousness must exceed that of\nthe Scribes and Pharisees, or ye shall likewise perish.  I am the Light,\nthe Truth, the Way--the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the\nworld--a perfect righteousness and sacrifice once for all offered for\nthe sin of men.  Believe in me, and ye shall be saved; all other\nsacrifices are in vain.'  So every yearning want of the heart is met and\nsatisfied in Christ. All other religions under heaven condemn actions\nwhich they suppose to be wicked, and prescribe certain forms of\nexpiation for such as they suppose to be expiable; but Jesus proposes to\npardon, not so much the sinful act as the sinner, the sinful nature out\nof which the act ariseth, and to regenerate this nature so that it will\nhate what it believes to be wicked, and love what it believes to be\nholy.  For Christ atoneth for all sin, and the act of faith is to\npersonally appropriate the benefit thereof to each one for himself.\"\n\n\"True,\" said Am-nem-hat, \"and I undertake to assert that no other\nreligion in the world hath so represented sin to be want of conformity\nto the will of God, rather than an evil deed; and in this whole matter\nof sin and the forgiveness thereof, thy religion differeth from paganism\nmore radically than even in the doctrine of one God it differeth from\npolytheism.\"\n\nAnd in this and such like conversation the evening wore away until\nbed-time came, and they separated for the night.  The family at Baucalis\ndid not speak or think of these matters as of mere abstract theories of\ntruth, or of philosophy, but as actual, living verities.  The Christians\nfelt their religion to be the only real life.  They regarded all earthly\npursuits, passions, and pleasures, as mere incidents of existence, and\nreligion as the one controlling and all-important thing.  Their pleasant\nhome was to them a merely temporary station on the highway whereby they\nwere journeying to a better land; the flesh was only a tabernacle which\nthe spirit must soon forsake; all that pertained to it was for a brief\nseason only; the real life was only begun during their occupancy of this\nearthly tenement; Christian faith was to them the one thing real and\npermanent, and earthly existence was of little consequence except as it\nmight stand related to eternal interests.  Hence there was a freshness,\na vigor, a sense of reality and earnestness, in their way of thinking\nand speaking of such things, that demonstrated their religion to be no\nbeautiful, speculative philosophy, but a hard, experimental, and\nall-controlling fact.  And so every night during that week the dwellers\nat Baucalis assembled in Hatasa's room, and passed long hours in the\ndiscussion of all the salient points of Christianity in a friendly,\ncareful way, as if, indeed, they had a mutual interest in ascertaining\nthe truth, especially concerning all those ideas upon which the\nantagonism between Christianity and paganism most plainly appeared.  To\nset down all the various conversations in which they engaged would\nindeed be to write a treatise upon primitive Christianity, a work in\nwhich, perhaps, no interest would be felt in an age in which that system\nno longer exists upon earth, and is utterly unknown to all except a few\nself-poised, fearless, unpopular antiquarians, who have been eccentric\nand independent enough to exhume that ancient religion from out the\naccumulated _debris_ of fifteen centuries of ecclesiastical \"progress\"\nwhich flourisheth over its ruins even as the vine ripens and the roses\nbloom over the wreck of buried Pompeii.  Yet we can not resist the\ninclination that moveth us to write out our notes of one other evening's\nconversation that happened between this Christian family and their pagan\nguests.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XIII.\n\n                         THE NET RESULT OF LAW.\n\n\nOn the next evening, after the conclusion of their usual daily services,\nthe ancient Am-nem-hat began the conversation which occupied their\nattention during that meeting by saying to Ammonius: \"Thou didst observe\nthat the future state of just and good men who died without any\nsufficient knowledge of Christianity to lead them to embrace that faith\n'hath never been clearly revealed unto us.'  Is it not true also that\nthe future state of all men hath been left almost entirely unrevealed?\nI ask thee this, because I have found myself altogether unable, from my\nreadings of the sacred books, to locate heaven, either anywhere in this\nworld or in any other sun or star.  And either I have utterly failed to\ncomprehend some of the things which I have carefully read, or else the\nscriptures leave this future state in a very misty, uncertain,\nindefinite condition.  Wilt thou inform me how this matter may really\nstand?\"\n\n\"Thy reading is in no respect at fault,\" replied Ammonius.  \"Our Lord\nhath left the future life altogether unrevealed, not only in respect to\nthe locality thereof, but also in every other respect.  Types and\nfigures are used in reference thereto, whereby we know that it shall be\neternal and blest; but, beyond this general assurance of exalted\nhappiness and unfailing duration, we are not informed. To each Christian\nsoul it will undoubtedly be the best that is possible for him: the\nplace, the development, the environments thereof, and all else that\nbelongeth thereto, are unrevealed.\"\n\n\"I know not whether it would have been more pleasing to have some\ndefinite knowledge of that future life; that is, I can not tell whether\nthe system of religion would or would not appear unto me to have been\nmore perfect if all had been revealed by it, or whether it is wiser and\nperhaps even more pleasing to have left it thus vague and undefined,\nwith a general assurance of its beatitude,\" said Am-nem-hat, \"yet I\ncould wish that something tangible and satisfying were revealed in\nreference thereto.  Why, thinkest thou, was it not more fully revealed?\"\n\n\"I know not,\" answered Ammonius, \"but I feel certain that it was\npurposely left as a thing to be held by faith, and not in knowledge.\nEither it may have been because it hath not yet entered into the heart\nof man to conceive what that life may be, so that human speech could not\nconvey any adequate knowledge thereof; or, if it were possible to do so,\nthe overpowering glory and splendor thereof, if definitely grasped and\nunderstood, and already realized, might render us impatient of this\nmundane existence, and too indifferent to all the duties and obligations\nthereof.  I think, indeed, that those very Therapeutae, of whom Philo\nspeaketh, were to be censured for an unwarranted attempt to realize, in\nthis present world, a spiritual life which our Lord expressly reserved\nfor the future; an effort, indeed, necessarily impossible to succeed,\nand perhaps injurious both to these anchorites and to other men also.\nFor the purpose of the gospel is not only to justify and save all who\nbelieve and obey it, but the declared purpose of our Lord is to\nregenerate mankind by the agency of his own kingdom; and surely it\ntendeth not to the accomplishment of this purpose to have Christians\nwithdraw themselves permanently beyond the reach of common life and\nexperience; so that it is manifestly an error to suppose that, because\nthey have the assurance of a superlatively better life beyond,\nChristians should for that reason despise the life that now is.  And, in\naccordance with this view, thou wilt find that the Church forbiddeth any\nman to go out of the world (by suicide) as the heathen commonly do;\nforbiddeth any man to seek for martyrdom, as many had done; and\nforbiddeth any man to flee from that place in which he was converted\ninto the mountains and the deserts: because the kingdom of our Lord must\nexist in the world--not out of it--for the regeneration thereof.\"\n\n\"But he saith himself,\" suggested Am-nem-hat, \"'My kingdom is not of\nthis world.'\"\n\n\"Verily,\" replied Ammonius.  \"And his kingdom is not 'of' the world, but\nis 'in' the world.  Not surely a kingdom founded upon the social,\nreligious, and political laws and customs of the world, like other\nkingdoms; but, not the less, a kingdom for men living in the world, and\nfounded on its own social, religious, and political economies.  And this\ntemporal, earthly kingdom, established by our Lord in the world, is the\nvery essence of the gospel, the most important part of the truth which\nhe revealed to men.\"\n\n\"That is new to me,\" answered Am-nem-hat, \"for I had supposed that the\nreligious idea chiefly handleth the affairs of man with reference to the\nfuture life, and that his temporal condition is the affair of\ngovernment, unto which he is kept in subjection by the sense of duty and\nobligation which religion supplieth.\"\n\n\"And thou art manifestly in the right as to all governments that exist\nor ever have existed among men, except only the kingdom of heaven.  How\nmany governments have existed in Egypt?\"\n\n\"I know not that,\" answered the ancient.  \"Our records cover thirty full\ndynasties before the second Persian invasion, which occurred seven\ncenturies ago, but each of these dynasties represents more than one\nPharaoh, and several of them a great many; for government is not a\npermanent thing, and some form of revolution ever lieth in wait for it,\nas a tiger in a jungle watcheth a man to spring upon and strangle him.\"\n\n\"And how many governments have existed among other peoples and nations\nduring the thousands of years covered by the records of thy land of\nKem?\"\n\n\"I know not that,\" said Am-nem-hat; \"they are unknown and innumerable.\"\n\n\"Therefore,\" answered Ammonius, \"each one of them must have contained,\nin its very constitution and nature, the seeds of its own dissolution;\nand, so far at least in human history, the science of government hath\nlearned no secret by which to secure permanency for itself.\"\n\n\"The inference thou hast drawn seemeth to follow necessarily and\nundeniably from the known facts.\"\n\n\"And what hath been the net result of the science of government among\nall the peoples and nations of whom thou hast ever heard?\"\n\n\"Misery!\"\n\n\"Yea!--But state the net result of government in political or in\nphilosophical terms!\"\n\n\"State it for thyself; I desire to learn of thee.\"\n\n\"Hath not the net result of human government everywhere, in all climes\nand ages and among all men, been only to produce, or develop, a ruling\nclass at the top of every social and political system, unto whom all the\nblessings of the government and civilization are given by law; an\noppressed or enslaved people at the bottom, upon whose weary shoulders\nrest all of the burdens and the waste of life; and between these two\nextremes, some religious system and some armed force, seeking to adjust\nthe correlative legal rights and duties of the high and the low, the\nrich and the poor, the class that ruleth and the class that is ruled\nover, by the agency of religion, so long as the religious sentiment\nserveth to keep the people in bondage, and by sword and spear when\nsuperstition faileth?  Add to this result the fact that women are\neverywhere slaves, or chattels, legally lower and more debased than\ntheir husbands and fathers, no matter what position the men may occupy;\nand have we not plainly stated, in this terrible formula, the net result\nof the science of human government to which it infallibly leadeth, and\nfrom which it hath never escaped?  If thy large learning hath ever\ntaught thee the name and location of any nation or people of whom this\nis not true, wilt thou now declare it?\"\n\n\"I can not name such a government or people,\" answered Am-nem-hat.  \"For\nhistory is but a dreary record of unceasing strife--among the fortunate\nfor precedence and power, and among the poor for existence; and during\nthe struggle it hath evermore happened that the women have been trampled\ninto the filth and mud. I know not the reason thereof, but the fact is\nfearfully true.\"\n\n\"Doth it then seem to thee that to have ordained some system by which\nthis net result of the science of government may be avoided; some truth\nby which war and slavery that have cursed the life and labor of every\npeople under heaven, may be abolished; some social and political\norganization by which the false and cruel distinctions maintained by\naccidents of fortune, birth, rank, or by even genius and extraordinary\nabilities, between the rich and the poor, the great and the small, the\nfeeble and the wise, may be utterly removed; and by which womanhood,\nwifehood, maternity, shall be redeemed from slavery and elevated to such\na place that men can no more degrade them without consciously degrading\nthemselves also; some divine and human law of brotherhood among men by\nwhich the race shall attain to liberty, equality, and fraternity--dost\nthou think that to devise and establish such a system is a work worthy\nof a God?\"\n\n\"Yea, verily! most worthy of a God; perhaps impossible even unto him.\"\n\n\"This very system hath our Lord ordained; it is the kingdom of heaven\nupon earth; it is the common Church of Jesus Christ whereby the\nregeneration of mankind must be secured.\"\n\nThere was a long silence after this, during which all seemed to be\npondering on what Ammonius had said, and it was finally broken by Arius,\nwho spoke as follows: \"I do not get all of thy meaning.  Why is it true\nthat all human governments of necessity result in the slavery of the\nmany to the few, and in their own ultimate destruction?  Why can not\nwise and good men organize some form of government that may secure both\npermanency for itself and the prosperity of the people also?\"\n\n\"Yea, tell us that,\" said Am-nem-hat, \"and also inform us by what means\nJesus designeth to avoid in his kingdom the net result which seemeth\nnecessarily to overtake all human governments sooner or later?\"\n\n\"The same considerations,\" said Ammonius, \"may furnish an answer to both\nquestions.  But first let me ask of thy great learning, Am-nem-hat,\nwhether any man hath proposed, or even conceived, of some form of human\ngovernment which hath never yet been tried among mankind?\"\n\n\"I think not,\" said the ancient.  \"Both Plato and Aristotle have\nindulged in the attempt to define all the possible forms that government\nmight assume; but, even in the political dream which Plato calleth 'The\nRepublic,' he faileth to specify any form or machinery of government\nwhich hath not been repeatedly tried and found to fail; only the results\nhe dreams of are imaginary; the government he devised hath been vainly\nexperimented upon by others.\"\n\n\"The Greek philosopher erred in his delineation of an ideal government\nboth by omitting therefrom the power of faith as the controlling\nprinciple thereof, and by denying the sanctity of monogamic marriage.\nHis 'Republic' is, therefore, nugatory, for liberty can not exist in any\ncommunity at all unless it exists for all alike; and polygamy denies the\nliberty of half the human race by enslaving women.  But thou truly\nsayest that every possible form of government hath been tried among men,\nand that all of them alike have failed to secure either permanency for\nthemselves or the welfare of the people.  Thou must see, therefore, that\nthe universal failure of government dependeth not upon the form of it,\nnor upon the age, or clime, or nation in which it existeth; nor upon the\nreligion, language, laws, nor customs of the people; for all forms of it\nhave failed alike, in all ages, among all peoples, under all imaginable\nreligions, languages, customs, and laws.  Seemeth this conclusion to be\njust and true?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" answered Am-nem-hat, \"I can see no escape therefrom whatever.\"\n\n\"Then it surely followeth,\" said Ammonius, \"that whatever may be the\ncause of this universal failure of government, it existeth in all of\nthem alike, and worketh the destruction and failure of them all,\nindependently of the form, religion, laws, customs, or other things in\nregard to which they differ one from another; for the cause of this\nfailure must be common to all of them. Seemeth this conclusion a valid\none to thee?\"\n\n\"Verily,\" said the ancient.  \"The cause must be one common to all\ngovernments, or else we might find somewhere a government in which this\ncause did not exist and operate; and so find a government that\npossesseth permanency and secureth the welfare of the people.  But there\nhath never been, and is not, such a government on earth.  The cause of\nfailure must be common unto all.\"\n\n\"Wilt thou draw from out the store-house of thine erudition, and show\nunto us one law or custom that is common to all human governments?  For\nin that one thing, whatever it may be, we shall assuredly find the sole\ncause of the failure of governments, and of all the tyranny, injustice,\noppression, and wretchedness, that maketh human life a burden to the\nmasses of mankind.\"\n\n\"Thou must state the law or custom that is common to all governments\nalike, for thyself,\" said Am-nem-hat, \"for they differ almost\ninconceivably in form, religion, language, laws, and customs; and I\nrecall none which is common to every human government.\"\n\n\"All human governments,\" said Ammonius, \"have one thing in common: they\nagree in one pernicious law and custom which is the cause of failure in\nthem all; for all human governments alike maintain the legal right of\nindividuals to acquire, hold, and transmit private property-rights in\nestates, offices, prerogatives; even in women and in slaves.  This is\nthe idolatry of mammon, of which all nations are guilty, the only\nidolatry which Jesus ever denounced by name, the only one that opposeth\nhis kingdom with a potent logic based upon selfishness.  Many are\nlearning to hate this idolatry in respect of the royal offices: even the\ndebased Romans scorn the name of 'king,' and call their master\n'imperator,' the commander of the army; some tribes hate it in its\napplication to men, and own no slaves; the Scythians and some other\nnations deny the right of property in women, and take but one wife.\nJesus Christ denies the right of private property, not only in women,\nslaves, offices, and prerogatives, but in houses, lands, and everything\nelse.  Hence the property-law of his kingdom imperatively demandeth the\ntransfer of all that the believer hath unto the common Church; this\nsacrifice is hard to make if one hath great possessions, and, therefore,\nit is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.  No rich man\ndoeth this except under the power of a dominant faith which teacheth him\nthat the thing which is best for all believers is best for him; and that\nthe common good is better than self-aggrandizement.  No sane man\ndoubteth that the political economy of Jesus would bless the world, if\nmen would adopt it; but not many great, not many wise, not many rich,\nnot many noble, come into the kingdom, because selfishness revolts at\nthe sacrifice of real or imaginary advantages, secured to them by\nmammon-worship.  It is emphatically the gospel, the glad tidings, for\nthe poor, and it is a regeneration that beginneth at the bottom, not at\nthe top, of every social system.  All human governments are founded upon\nthe idolatrous faith that private rights of property are the sacredest\nthing in human life, and that government over the people is necessary to\nprotect it.  Jesus denieth this faith: he saith that liberty is better\nthan wealth, equality better than rank, fraternity better than power.\nHe, therefore, in his kingdom, abolisheth private rights of property in\norder to reach something that is infinitely higher and better for all\nmen; and he summeth up human life, laws, governments, all that\npertaineth to man's social condition, in one short sentence which\ncontaineth in itself the ultimate truth of all social and political\neconomy and wisdom: 'Ye can not serve God and Mammon.'  And the\nPharisees hated Jesus only because they were 'covetous'; and the Romans\nand other nations persecute us even unto death because they know that\nthe triumph of the kingdom of heaven is the overthrow of all government\nover the people; and they love power, and wealth, and rank.\"\n\n\"How wouldst thou punish crime if all human governments were thus\nabolished?\" asked the ancient.\n\n\"There would then be no crime to punish,\" answered Ammonius.  \"For human\nstatutes, growing up out of the idolatry of private rights of property,\nboth create and punish crimes.  There could be neither treason nor war\nin the absence of government; and all other crimes, which in some shape\nare the out-put of the idolatry of mammon, would cease with the false\nsocial and political systems which generate and nourish them.  Crimes\nare, and for nearly three centuries have been, utterly unknown among the\nChristian communities.\"\n\n\"What, then, standeth in the way of the triumph of the kingdom of\nheaven?\"\n\n\"Naught except the selfishness of men intrenched behind the strong\nrampart of private property-rights--the one thing against which our Lord\nhath declared undying and uncompromising enmity.\"\n\nThe old man sat in silence for a long time, and his grave and noble face\nshowed the traces of many conflicting emotions.  Finally he said: \"Thy\nson did once ask me why I am not a Christian, and I could not answer\nhim, nor do I know.  But Arius thought that thou mightst understand\nbetter than either he, or I, the exact attitude in which my soul\nstandeth toward Christ and his religion.  Canst thou tell me what the\ntrouble is?\"\n\n\"Then,\" said Ammonius unto him, \"thou mayst believe that Jesus is the\nChrist; thou mayst believe that his religion is divinely true and\nperfect, best for thee and for mankind; thou mayst believe that he is\nready and willing to accept and save every one that cometh unto him by\nfaith; thou mayst believe that he will so accept and save thee whenever\nthou wilt come unto him thus; thou mayst believe and purpose that thou\nwilt come--but all this maketh no man a Christian! The thing which\nmaketh thee a Christian is the voluntary surrender of thine own will to\nthe will of Jesus; to abrogate all in his favor; to accept his will as\nthine only law.  And this he saith thou canst do if thou wilt; no man on\nearth, no angel in heaven, can do this thing for thee, nor force thee to\ndo it for thyself; nor can any enginery of earth or hell prevent thee\nfrom doing this thing if thou wilt.  It is a matter between thee and thy\nLord only; and thou and he must transact it. But if, freely and\nvoluntarily, with a full purpose of heart and mind to obey Christ only,\nthou makest this grand surrender of thyself to him, the light, and\npeace, and blessedness which he imparteth to those who truly love him\nshall be thine own forever.  Wilt thou have this man Christ Jesus to\nreign over thee?\"\n\nThen a glorious beauty shone from the old man's countenance, and his\neyes grew bright with happy tears, and he exclaimed joyously: \"I make\nthis surrender now; the light breaketh in even upon my soul; it is as\nplain as the noonday sun: 'Glory be to God in the highest, and on earth\npeace; good-will to men!'  The truth for which all my life long I have\nso vainly sought cometh unto me as to a little child.  And it is pure,\nsatisfying, beautiful!  'Praise the Lord, O my soul!'\"\n\n\"'Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye can in no\nwise enter into the kingdom!'\" said Ammonius.\n\n\"And all men, great and small, wise and ignorant, young and old, meet\nupon an exact equality before our Lord,\" said the boy Arius; \"for God is\nno respecter of persons.\"\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XIV.\n\n                     THE BLIND RECEIVE THEIR SIGHT.\n\n\nThe next day was the Sabbath again, and Christian families from the\nregion round about Baucalis, to the number of some four hundred,\nassembled at the cottage for religious services.  Some of them came on\nfoot, some on horseback, and some of them in boats along the coast.\nAm-nem-hat informed the presbyter, who came to preach for them, of his\ndesire, and that of Hatasa and her daughter, to be received into the\nkingdom of heaven.  He also informed him that, at his cottage in the\nneighborhood, he had a considerable sum in gold and silver, which he\ndesired to give to the Church, or in some other way consecrate to holy\nuses; and that the Egyptian ladies had property in Alexandria, all of\nwhich, or such portion as he might advise, they wished to use in the\nsame way. The presbyter informed them that such a desire was natural and\ncommendable in every one that sought to be a Christian; but that for the\ntime being they must remain as stewards of their own estates, because\nthe Christians of that region were all prosperous and needed nothing,\nand there was no application for aid from other communities.  He further\ntold them that, as soon as it might be considered safe for them to do\nso, the Christians of the vicinage purposed to erect a church for the\naccommodation of the numerous brethren around about, and that whenever\nthey might enter upon this work the opportunity would be given to them\nto aid therein; and that, if any calamity should overtake another\nChristian community, in any part of the world, whereby they might be\nbrought to need assistance, he would inform them of it as soon as the\nbishops communicated such facts to him; but that at that time there was\nno way in which the money could be used.\n\nEarly in the morning Arius and his father had set up some poles in holes\nin the ground already made to receive them, and had stretched strong\ncords from them unto the eaves of the cottage, and had unrolled and\nfastened thereon a canopy made of wide cotton cloth, which formed a\nshelter from the sunshine; and, while some of the congregation sat\nwithin the house, the greater part of them found places on the outside\nunder the awning.  Hatasa had her couch drawn up beside the open window,\nfrom which she could see and hear all that might be done.  Theckla was\nhere, there, and everywhere, making friends with nearly all the girls\nand boys that attended, and especially with one little fellow of twelve\nyears of age who was stone-blind.  In the course of her sympathetic talk\nwith this lad he informed her that his parents had brought him there to\nhave the Church pray that his sight might be restored to him.\n\n\"How long hast thou been thus blind?\" asked Theckla.\n\n\"I do not know,\" said the boy.  \"I remember that I could once see, and\nthe world was beautiful to me, and the people, and many things.  But it\nhas been so long since then!\"\n\n\"Dost thou believe that their prayers can cure thy blindness?\"\n\n\"Assuredly,\" said he, \"whenever the Lord will.\"\n\n\"Why, then, hast thou not sought the prayers of the Church before this\ntime, if so thou believest?\"\n\n\"My parents wished not to have the miracle wrought on me until they\nthought me to be old enough both to understand how great an affliction\nloss of sight is and to remember the means whereby I regained it--if,\nindeed, the Lord will at this time grant our request.\"\n\n\"And thou surely wilt love Jesus much if he shall hear thee, wilt thou\nnot?\"\n\n\"Yea, will I!  Indeed, I love him now with all my soul; but if he\nrestoreth my sight unto me I could work for him far more when I am\nolder; and chiefly for that reason do I pray for his mercy in this\nmatter.\"\n\n\"And I shall pray for thee, also,\" said Theckla.\n\nAnd she told Hatasa and Am-nem-hat about the boy, and they looked amazed\nthereat, but said nothing.\n\nBy nine o'clock in the morning all had assembled whom they expected;\nand, having set a watch on the only practicable road that led down from\nthe mountains to Baucalis, to give them timely notice of the approach of\nany whose coming might endanger them, the exercises of the day were\ninaugurated with singing and prayer and the reading of the gospel.\nThere were a wonderful simplicity and directness, both in songs and\nprayers.  If Jesus Christ, the Saviour, Friend, and King, through whom\ntheir worship was addressed to God, had been visibly present regarding\nthe manner of their devotions, the whole service could not have been\nmore earnest, simple, and direct.  If, indeed, he was not present, they\nthought and felt otherwise; and the sense of his presence was as real\nand actual unto them as if, on raising their eyes, they could have\nlooked him in the face; and this unquestioning faith gave a strange\nsense of life and vividness to all of the exercises, the progress of\nwhich Am-nem-hat, Hatasa, and Theckla watched with joy and eagerness.\n\nThe presbyter preached with great simplicity and earnestness, describing\nthe love of Jesus and the triumphs of the faith, and in the peroration\nhis address swelled into a glorious paean of victory as he declared the\nsteadfastness and faithfulness of certain Christians who had recently\nsuffered martyrdom in other places, telling them that no man could\nforesee how soon some of them also might be called upon to tread the\nglorious path by which their brethren had been perfected in the Lord,\nand transferred to eternal felicity.  But, looking into the flashing\neyes and rapt faces turned upon him from every side, he deemed it\nprudent to give them solemn warning that the crown of martyrdom was not\nto be officiously sought after, any more than it was to be avoided by\nunfaithfulness; but that they must be alike ready to live unto Christ,\nor to die for him, as the providence of God might determine to be best\nfor each of them.\n\nThen he said that if there were any present who had not before publicly\nprofessed their faith in Christ, and desired to do so, the Church would\nthen witness their good confession; and thereupon Am-nem-hat and Theckla\nboth stepped forward and gave their hands to the presbyter.  The\npresbyter then briefly stated to the people the facts which he had\nlearned in regard to the past life and experience of the ancient, and\nthe recital thereof at once rendered the old man an object of respect\nand affection to all of them.  Their interest was enlisted by the\nexceptional fact that an aged and learned pagan priest had found the\nSaviour precious to his soul.  Then Ammonius sent forward Arius and bade\nhim relate to the assembly the story of the shipwreck of Hatasa and\nTheckla, and of their desire to become Christians; and the boy narrated\nthe circumstances so vividly, and with such unconscious force and\neloquence, that they twain also were welcomed into the hearts of all\nthose Christians, and the sense of strangeness and restraint that\nnaturally affects the mind at our first meeting with those whom we have\nnot seen before was at once dissolved by the influence of fraternal\ninterest and affection.\n\nAm-nem-hat having signified his desire to be baptized by immersion, they\nall repaired to the shore of the little bay, where, with appropriate\nceremony, that sacred rite was administered.  But, owing to the\ndebilitated condition of Hatasa, she and Theckla received the same\nsacred rite, after suitable explanations, by having the water sprinkled\nupon them at the house.\n\nMany of those who were present, and especially those who had come in\nboats, brought prepared food with them, and soon this was distributed\nover clean cloths spread out under the trees, and all of them did eat\ntogether with gladness, as if it had been one large and loving\nfamily--Arete and old Thopt being diligent to supply from their own\nstores everything that was needed or had been forgotten.\n\nThen in the afternoon the congregation was again assembled, and they\nengaged in singing and prayer.  The presbyter informed the people that a\nblind boy had come, with his parents, to ask the prayers of the Church\nthat God would restore his sight, explaining the reason why they had not\nsooner done so, very much as the boy had stated to Theckla, and saying\nthat they should first partake of the holy communion, and afterward pray\nfor the lad's recovery.  Then this rite was administered; and all of\nthem engaged in prayer, the presbyter leading and the people making\noccasional responses.  And even while they were so engaged the lad\nsprang to his feet, and, throwing his arms about his mother's neck, he\ncried aloud: \"O mother, I see!  I see!--Brethren, thank God for me, for\nmy sight is perfectly restored!\"\n\nAnd the presbyter changed the form of his words from supplication into\npraise and thanksgiving; and, when he had finished, many pressed forward\nto congratulate the lad upon his miraculous cure; and afterward, when\nthey went away, he went also, seeing as well as other boys.\n\nThen later in the evening, having first agreed upon the place of their\nnext meeting, the congregation received a benediction at the mouth of\nthe presbyter and quietly dispersed.  But almost every head of a family\nfirst came unto Am-nem-hat and unto Hatasa and Theckla, and urged them\nwith great kindness to come unto their homes and abide with them as long\nas might be convenient.\n\nBut, before the presbyter departed, Hatasa requested that he come unto\nher, and of him she asked concerning the baptism for the dead; and\nhaving diligently inquired of her concerning the character and manner of\nlife of her husband, and having heard her firm declaration of her belief\nthat he was one who ever sought to do that which he thought to be just,\nright, and true, so that if he had sufficiently learned of Jesus he\nwould have been a Christian, the presbyter administered to her the\nbaptism for the dead, from which the poor lady derived a strange and\nunmeasurable satisfaction and peace.\n\nBut Hatasa did not recover any strength, and the next day she was weaker\nthan ever, and the next, and so on from day to day.  She requested them\nto hold services in her room every evening, and seemed gladly to engage\nwith them in prayer.  But she said that she had no power to will or to\nwish that she might continue to live.  She dreaded the pain and\nweariness of a lingering convalescence, and she said that the only\nearthly care that had troubled her was concern for her daughter's\nwelfare, and that she would never separate her from her newly discovered\nbut precious Christian friendships, and did not wish her to go among\ntheir pagan kindred.  She informed Ammonius that there was much property\nin Alexandria that now belonged to Theckla, and asked him what\ndisposition should be made of it.  Ammonius at first said: \"Let it go.\nTheckla shall lack for nothing; and riches are a snare to the young.\"\nBut, upon considering that the estate would go to the pagan kindred, and\nnever to the Church, unless the legal right of the girl thereto was\nasserted, he sent unto Cyrene for a proper officer, who came and took\nthe depositions of Hatasa, Arius, Thopt, and Theckla, as to the\nshipwreck of Amosis and his family, and as to the identity and parentage\nof the maiden, to be laid before the orphans' court at Alexandria.  She\nalso made a written request that Theckla's relative Am-nem-hat should be\nappointed guardian of the maiden's person and estate, with her friend\nAmmonius to succeed him if the aged man should die during Theckla's\nminority.  And, having accomplished these things in due and proper form,\nshe began to fail more rapidly, and about midnight sank peacefully into\nrest, almost her last request being that she might be buried in the\n\"sleeping-ground\" of the Christians of that vicinity.\n\nAnd, when Theckla saw that she was dead, the wild sorrow of her heart\nbroke out in almost the very same words that her mother had used upon\nthe death of Amosis, and she cried: \"No more! no more!  Ah, never more!\"\n\nBut Ammonius said unto her, \"Come hither, daughter!\"  And, when she had\ncome, he laid his hand upon her head and he asked, \"Art thou a\nChristian?\"\n\nAnd she answered, \"Yea, I love the Lord.\"\n\nThen he saith: \"That is well, my child.  But, if thou art a Christian,\nuse not the vain and despairing lamentation of the heathen.  Thou\nshouldst not think nor feel as they do when they cry out in their\nbitterness, 'No more.'  Thy mother leaveth thee not forever, child.  She\nhath only gone before thee by a little space at most, and thou shalt go\nunto her again.  So the Lord whom thou lovest doth solemnly promise\nthee, and thou must never distrust his promise or his love.\"\n\n\"But I loved my mother!  I must weep for her.\"\n\n\"Yea, daughter, weep as much as thou wilt.  That is but natural and\nproper.  So perhaps thou wouldst weep if she had gone to Alexandria,\nleaving thee behind; yet thou wouldst take comfort in the hope that she\nwould come to thee again.  So now she hath gone to Jesus, and is safe\nwith him, and thou must take comfort in the hope, nay, in the very\ncertainty, that, while she returneth not, perhaps, unto thee, thou shalt\nsoon go unto her.  And thou, being a Christian girl, shalt not vex thy\nheart with the hopeless sorrow that the heathen feel.\"\n\nAnd the girl was comforted indeed, and her pleasant faith aided the\nbuoyancy of health and youth in helping her to weary down the sorrow\nthat followed the loss of her young, beautiful, and beloved mother;\nbecause the power of that faith brought the world's Consoler very near,\nand Death to her was shorn of his greatest terrors.\n\nIt was agreed among them that Theckla and Am-nem-hat should reside\npermanently at the cottage.  The old man and Arius soon brought all of\nhis possessions from the hermitage, even to his favorite goats; and,\nsome of the neighbors assisting them, they built another room of stone,\ninto which the ancient's manuscripts, his furniture, and his\naccumulation of coin, were all safely stowed away.  And, all things\nhaving been thus satisfactorily arranged, the old man was conveyed in\nthe boat around to Apollonia, and thence he took shipping unto\nAlexandria, where he produced before the orphans' court the depositions\nand other papers committed unto him by Hatasa; and, as guardian of\nTheckla, leased the houses which she owned in the city, and received and\nbrought back to Baucalis with him some elegant personal effects that had\nbelonged to Hatasa; her relatives consenting thereto without much\nopposition, and stipulating only that, if the girl should die, they were\nto be immediately informed of the fact; and that, if she should live,\nshe was to come to the city as soon as she became of age.  They were all\npagans, and the old priest would have gone almost any length to avoid\nplacing his young and beautiful Christian ward within the range of their\ninfluence.  And, having transacted all things necessary, in a very few\ndays the old man returned gladly to Baucalis--a place to which his heart\nseemed bound by stronger and more beautiful associations than had ever\ncome into his long and lonely life elsewhere on earth, not even\nexcepting Thebes and Ombos, nor his own quiet hermitage upon the\nmountain-side.\n\nAnd the aged priest at once installed himself as the tutor of Theckla;\nand he taught to Arius, also, such science and literature as then were\nknown unto the wisest men of Egypt; but some things he continued to\nlearn from the boy himself.\n\nAnd so the next four years glided quietly away, during which the routine\nof their peaceful lives pursued its usual course; and in their flight\nArius became a tall and graceful youth of twenty; Theckla grew into a\nblooming and exquisitely beautiful woman of sixteen; for in the ardent\nLibyan latitudes the girls grow quickly into womanhood. These years made\nsmall changes in Ammonius and Arete; they told lightly upon the\nvenerable Am-nem-hat, whose pure and quiet life had been favorable to\nlongevity and to the preservation of his faculties unimpaired even unto\nan extreme old age; and Thopt herself bore the flight of time quite\nwell, becoming almost imperceptibly more fixed and rigid in all her\nactions and opinions, and more and more impressed with the idea that\nChristianity was an excellent and beautiful thing for wise and perfect\npeople like those among whom her lot was cast, and might even have\nsuited her if it had not sought to abolish the relation of mistress and\nslave between herself and Arete, \"contrary to nature and to common\nsense,\" she said; but that old grudge she could never entirely get over.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XV.\n\n                           LOVE AND PARTING.\n\n\nDuring these four years a great change had occurred in the heart and in\nthe person of beautiful young Theckla. There came a gradually developing\nfullness and roundness over her whole form; the sharp, angular lines of\nchildhood faded away in the softer curves of maturity; a deeper color\nbloomed upon her peachy cheeks; a sweeter, more unfathomable light\nburned in her dark, soft eyes; the delicate pink hue under the skin,\nwhich in all Egyptians of the higher classes, whose complexions are\nuntanned by a hard life and constant exposure, proves the ancient race\nof the land of Kem to be consanguineous with the Aryan rather than with\nthe Nigritian family of man, became more clearly and deliciously\ndefined; and a sort of intangible self-consciousness grew up within her\nheart which intuitively led her to keep her hands off the boy companion\nwhom she loved as a brother, and, without understanding why she did so,\nshe ceased to romp and tumble around with him as she had been accustomed\nto do during the first year of her residence at Baucalis.  In place of\ncasting aside her gown and plunging into the waters of the bay with him,\nwhen she went to bathe, she went alone, or with Arete.  Yet there was\nnot the slightest tendency to prudishness in this gradual withdrawal of\nthat tactual familiarity with Arius which had characterized her first\nintercourse with him; but, without ever having been talked to or\nlectured at on the subject, her chaste, pure soul instinctively drew\nfrom the very spirit of the gospel lessons fine boundaries of feeling\nthat made her unconsciously observe even the most delicate bounds of\nmaiden modesty. But this retiring somewhat within herself--this ceasing\nfrom the outward, demonstrative signs of trust and affection--was\nphysical only: for the boy and girl grew daily nearer and dearer to each\nother; grew daily more trustful and confidential with each other; and\ndaily became more and more identified in interest, thought, and feeling.\nThey talked not of love any more than an affectionate brother and sister\nwould have done, but the affection that united them to each other seeped\ndown dew-like to the very roots of life in both.  Ever his care and\nwatchfulness for her grew more tender and respectful, and ever the smile\nwith which she acknowledged his constant little attentions grew more\nbright and trustful; and, from this basis of evenly developing physical,\nintellectual, and spiritual progress and perfectness in both of them,\ntheir souls leaned unto each other, and mingled in an affection as\nchaste, strong, and intimate as human nature knows, growing together day\nby day, and attuning themselves to perfect concord in all the utterances\nand aspirations of their beautiful and happy lives--a human love that\nwas impossible to pagan civilization, and is almost impossible to ours,\nbut that flourished in its almost divine sweetness and beauty in the\nprimitive Christian communities, side by side with thaumaturgy and the\ngraces of that spiritual life which hath almost become a dream unto the\nworld rather than a blessed reality.\n\nSo those four years passed fleetly and pleasantly away, and Arius was\nnow a very tall but graceful youth of twenty, and Theckla was an\nexquisitely beautiful woman of sixteen, when Ammonius told his son that\nthe time had come at which he desired him to go to Antioch in Syria, and\npursue his studies with the Bishop Lucanius, for four or five years,\npreparatory to his ordination as a presbyter--if, indeed, his heart was\nstill set on preferring to be a teacher and a preacher of the gospel to\nall other vocations; whereupon the young man at once answered that no\nearthly inducement could lead him to abandon the ministry, for which he\nhad always considered himself set apart; and immediately the family\nbegan to make preparations for the young man's departure.\n\nOn the evening before Arius left Baucalis, he and Theckla wandered along\nthe shores of the little bay, until they happened to come unto the spot\nat which she had been rescued from the raft, and the girl said: \"Even\nthere thou didst bring me unto the shore, Arius.  It seemeth to me to\nhave been ages and ages ago; and yet the time hath passed so\npleasantly!\"\n\n\"Yea,\" said Arius, \"yet it is only four years since then, and, after\nto-morrow, it may be as long a time before I see the dear old farm\nagain, or thee.  Theckla, wilt thou forget thy friend and our happy life\nat Baucalis, and all the things which made us blessed here so long?\"\n\n\"Nay,\" she said.  \"Life opens wide before us both, Arius, as we stand\nhere upon its threshold--wide as the sea out yonder, and unknown.  But\nBaucalis will always be the dearest place on earth to me.\"\n\n\"Theckla,\" said the young man, taking one of the girl's hands in his, \"I\nlove thee truly and tenderly.  When I shall have finished the course of\nstudy at Antioch, I desire to come for thee and claim thee for my wife.\nDost thou love me, Theckla, so that thou couldst be happy as my wife?\"\n\nAnd the girl laid her head against his shoulder, and, raising her dewy\neyes to his, she said, \"If thou so lovest me, Arius, I would be the\nhappiest woman in the world to be thy wife.\"\n\nThen the young man kissed her tenderly, and said: \"Theckla, let this be\na covenant between thee and me before the Lord, that when I shall have\nfinished the studies required at Antioch, I will come for thee, and thou\nshalt be my wife.\"\n\nAnd she answered: \"Yea, Arius!  Let this be our covenant.\"\n\nThat was all of it--quiet, simple, truthful; based upon the very highest\nmutual love, respect, and trust; but no grand ceremonial that human\npride ever imagined, or human lips pronounced, could have any more\nthoroughly bound and consecrated them unto each other for life and death\nthan did that simple, heart-felt covenant.  For in those days, and in\nthe Christian communities, marriage was not of compulsion, or of trade,\nconvenience, ambition, but of free, intelligent choice; and among those\npeople the equally shameful blasphemies of adultery and divorce were\nutterly unknown.\n\nSo, upon the next morning, after a tender leave-taking all around, in\nwhich even old Thopt commended him to the guardianship of God, Arius,\naccompanied by his father, loaded his boxes into their little boat, and\nthey made their way unto Apollonia, at which port they took shipping for\nAlexandria, whence immediately they went in another ship unto the\nsea-port for Antioch, and thence to the ancient city wherein they \"were\nfirst called Christians.\"\n\nAmmonius recalled to the mind of the Bishop Lucanius the fearful storm\nin which they two had met more than twenty years before, which interview\nhad been the medium of the Lord's mercy unto him; and was most gladly\nand affectionately welcomed.  Ammonius informed the bishop that, having\nbeen precluded from the public ministrations of the word by his own\nphysical infirmities, he had made a vow to dedicate the first son that\nmight be born unto him to the service of God, and had, therefore,\nbrought unto him his only child, a lad not altogether ignorant of the\ngospel nor of letters, whose heart was set upon doing the Lord's work,\nto profit by his experience and instructions.  And the lad pleased the\nbishop greatly; and, after some conversation, Arius was admitted into\nthe school, or class of young men whom the bishop taught, as a deacon in\nthe church immediately under the charge of Lucanius; for the bishops of\nthose days were not lords or princes, but were presbyters, who had their\nown congregations, and who, from zeal and learning, age and experience,\nwere intrusted also with an advisory superintendence of some other\npresbyters and churches, and especially with the training of young\ndeacons for the ministry.\n\nAnd the next day Ammonius resumed his homeward journey, and in due time\nreached Baucalis without accident or delay.\n\nOn the very same evening that Arius and Theckla had plighted their troth\nunto each other, the young man took the girl by the hand, and, having\nled her unto his parents, told them of the new relationship established\nbetween them, and Ammonius and Arete gladly accepted the maiden Theckla\nas their daughter; and she abode with them for two years longer,\nconstantly aiding in all household duties, and likewise pursuing such\nstudies as Am-nem-hat advised; and especially practicing the art of\nwriting upon papyrus, and upon parchment, and upon vellum, until she had\nsatisfied herself that vellum was altogether the best material for a\ncertain purpose which she had in view, and that her own handwriting had\nacquired sufficient precision and neatness for her contemplated task;\nand then she announced her purpose of removing to the city of\nAlexandria, and occupying one of her own houses there, if only\nAm-nem-hat would go with her and make his home at her abode.  This\npurpose she mentioned to the whole family one evening after their usual\nreligious services, whereupon Arete said: \"Why wouldst thou leave us,\ndaughter?  Art thou not happy at Baucalis?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" replied Theckla.  \"Thy home hath been a haven of rest and\nhappiness to me, and I could be happier here than elsewhere in the\nworld; but in two years more our Arius, of whom the bishop writeth such\nloving things, will be a presbyter; and I go hence unto Alexandria\nbecause, before the time expires, I wish to make with mine own hand a\nperfect copy of the scriptures for our young presbyter, and also wish to\nbuild a church for him, that when he leaveth the bishop he may have a\nchurch and a congregation, and a perfect copy of the sacred word ready\nfor him; and thou knowest that at Alexandria I may even find original\nmanuscripts of both gospels and epistles from which to transcribe my\ncopy.  What less than this, indeed, wouldst thou have me do for our most\ndear young presbyter?\"\n\nAnd they all, seeing that she had made a matter of conscience of these\ntwo purposes, ceased to oppose her design; and not long afterward she\nand Am-nem-hat were taken in their little boat unto Apollonia, by\nAmmonius; and thence they went by ship to Alexandria; and, after a\nspeedy and pleasant voyage, they cast anchor in the little harbor of\nEunostos; and thence removed straightway unto one of the nine dwellings\nwhich she owned in Rhacotis, the Egyptian quarter of the city.  Here,\nwith the aid of six years' accumulated rents from her handsome estate,\nthe young girl quickly furnished her home in the most comfortable\nmanner, and had a room carefully furnished for Am-nem-hat, and another\nin which the manuscripts were to be kept, and in which they might\nprosecute their studies; for the aged grand-uncle and the young maiden\nhad almost come to sustain to each other the relation of dear companions\nand fellow-students rather than that of teacher and pupil.  Very soon,\nalso, with the aid of the old man, who possessed a critical knowledge of\nsuch matters, she procured a large quantity of the finest vellum, and\nbegan her self-appointed task of transcribing the scriptures for Arius.\nAnd afterward she sold (through her guardian) five of the nine houses\nwhich she owned, for a large sum, and having carefully selected a plot\nof ground suitable for the purpose, she bought it, taking the title\nthereto in the name of certain persons whom she knew to be Christians,\nupon a secret trust for the common Church, and after many consultations\nwith Am-nem-hat, and with the bishop and with other friends, she began\nthe work of building a beautiful and substantial church; and, with the\nmaking of her careful and accurate copies of the scriptures and the\nbuilding of the church, both she and Am-nem-hat found themselves\nconstantly employed.  For, although at that time there was no open and\npublic persecution of the Christians, it had not long ceased, and none\nknew at what moment the caprice of their pagan rulers, stimulated by the\nhatred of Jewish and pagan priests, might blaze out into a general and\nmerciless war against them; so that their meetings were quietly held,\nand the erection of churches was carried on without show or publicity;\nand generally, indeed, parts of the buildings were used as a school for\nthe children of Christians; and many a church was saved from destruction\nby the fitful and uncertain hate of the populace and priests, by being\ntaken for a school rather than a church.  And there were few who desired\nto be known as Christians, except to persons of like faith, though none\nhesitated to declare this faith at any peril, when called in question\nabout it.\n\nThe city of Alexandria, which was founded by Alexander the Great, about\n322 B.C., was, at the date of our story, one of the most populous,\nwealthy, and intellectual cities in the world.  Situated twelve miles\nwest of the Canopic mouth of the Nile, its walls were washed on the\nsouth by the placid waters of Lake Mareotis, and on the north by the\nMediterranean Sea; and it was the seat and center of a vast industry and\nan almost unequaled commerce.  The streets were straight and parallel,\nand the city was divided into four quarters by two magnificent highways,\neach two hundred feet wide, crossing each other at right angles, and\nbuilt up on each side with splendid houses, temples, and public\nbuildings of every kind.  A vast necropolis lay west of the city, on the\neast a mighty hippodrome.  In the northeastern part was the Regis\nJudaeorum, or Jewish quarter, wherein the Israelites abode, but their\nbusiness extended not only through the great city, but throughout the\nworld.  The western part was called Rhacotis, the Egyptian quarter, and\ncontained, besides its vast Libyan population and magnificent\nresidences, the great temple of Serapis, and the sacred statue of the\ngod that had been brought thither out of Pontus. But Bruchium, the royal\nor Greek quarter, was the most splendid portion of the city, containing\nthe palace of the Ptolemies, on Lochias, a peninsula stretching\neastwardly, the library and museum, the Caesarium, or temple of the\nCaesars, and the Dicasterium, or court of justice, and other buildings\nthat bore witness to the knowledge of Dinocrates the architect, who\nrebuilt the temple of Diana at Ephesus. About a mile from the mainland\nwas the little island of Pharos, on which was a light-house over four\nhundred feet in height, that was begun by Ptolemy Soter, 300 B.C., and\nfinished by Philadelphus, his successor.  An artificial mole called\nHepta Stadium, nearly a mile in length, connected the island with the\nmainland, and between this mole and Lochias was the great harbor, while\non the other side of it was a smaller harbor, called Eunostos (safe\nreturn), in which was an artificial basin known as Kibotos (the chest),\nwhich was filled from and connected with Lake Mareotis by a canal,\nanother arm of which stretched eastward to the mouth of the Nile.\nThroughout this vast metropolis, in every quarter thereof,\nundistinguished by dress, nationality, language, or manners, of almost\nevery race under heaven, engaged in every avocation except official\nbusiness or military services, unknown except to their co-religionists,\ndwelt the countless members of the Christian Church, forming numerous\ncommunities, or congregations, that, without any public visible\norganization, were yet bound together by bonds of faith and love\nstronger than any Roman statutes, or any ties of nature, or any\nligaments of interest or of ambition.  Of course, in so vast a\npopulation, an aged man and a young girl would be as indistinguishable\nto all, except their own small circle of friends and acquaintances, as\nany particular leaf in the forest, or as any wave at sea; and in such a\ncity, the selfishness of the crowd, the hurry and confusion of business\nor of pleasure, formed a sort of refuge for the Christians; so that,\nlong before the period of which we write, almost the first circumstance\nwhich called any public attention to their numbers was the fact that,\nunder their influence, the pagan temples were less crowded, and the\npagan offerings less rich and free, than had been usual in times past;\nand, when the fated Israelites had been accused of proselyting the\npeople from the worship of the gods, they defended themselves against\nthe angry priests by declaring that not they, but the Christians,\nconverted men of all nations from the old superstitions, and led them to\nabandon the temples and forsake the gods.\n\nSoon after their settlement in Alexandria, Am-nem-hat had informed the\nrelatives of Theckla of the young girl's arrival, and they had\ncourteously called to see her, and had invited her to their own homes,\nand had showed every disposition to receive the beautiful young heiress\nwith favor and affection.  But they were all heathens, and her\nassociation with them was necessarily limited to formal and distant\nintercourse; as every visit to the great temple of Serapis, every public\noccasion, or a birth, a marriage, or a funeral among them, might force\nher either to countenance their pagan rites and ceremonies, or to\nattract unto herself an unpleasant and perhaps dangerous attention by\nrefusing to do so.  Hence she preferred to maintain only a ceremonious\nacquaintance with her kindred, and to find her real friendships among\nthe Christians, with many of whom she soon came to be upon terms of\nsocial and personal intimacy and confidence.\n\nAmong the relatives whom she was almost compelled occasionally to meet,\nand to receive at her own house, was her cousin Harroun, the son of her\nmother's sister, who also was a pagan.  The young man was of perfect\nphysical organization, like so many of the Egyptian upper class, as\nbeautiful as an untamed leopard, of quick, bright, sparkling\nintelligence, instinct with passion and appetite, and a general favorite\namong the aristocratic youth of Egyptian society in the city.  One of\nTheckla's greatest misfortunes and annoyances she found in the fact that\nthis elegant youth conceived a violent passion for her at first sight,\nand seemed resolved to push his claims to the heart and hand of the\nyoung maiden without delay.  As soon, however, as Theckla perceived any\nintimation of his feelings in regard to herself, she quietly arranged to\nreceive him thereafter only in the library, and took care to see that\nGrand-uncle Am-nem-hat should be present, so that the young man never\ngot an opportunity to see her alone.  And to prevent the constant\nrepetition of his invitations to her to visit the theatre, the\nhippodrome, and other places of amusement, she told him kindly that it\nwas useless to offer such courtesies, for, that while it was unpleasant\nto refuse them, she could not and would not accept them from him nor\nfrom any one else, having no inclination to mingle in such throngs, and\nno need of any amusements except those which she was accustomed to find\nin literary pursuits.  Harroun, who had been raised under a system in\nwhich courtship and marriage were, to a large extent, matters of\nconvenience, and in which a chaste girl was not supposed to be possessed\nof any will, but was to be disposed of as her relations might deem to be\nproper and advantageous, thought that he had never seen so shy a maiden;\nbut, in spite of her seeming unconsciousness and manifest indifference,\nhe ceased not to visit her, claiming the privilege of a near relation in\nthat particular, and ceased not to show his admiration for her by looks\nwhich were almost loathsome to her pure young soul.  For the youth, like\nevery other pagan, was mostly a brute, a very beautiful and elegant\nanimal, truly, but not the less an animal; a very intellectual and\ngifted brute, but not the less brutal; and his sensuous admiration was\noffensive to the girl.  The lofty and pure affection to which she and\nArius gave the name of love would have been utterly incomprehensible to\nhim as to every heathen.  That to which they gave the name of love\nsprang as directly out of sensuous admiration and preference as does the\npassion of the lower animals; and while she did not comprehend why his\nadvances were so repulsive to herself, she began to feel his preference\nas a sort of persecution, and avoided him as much as possible.  Yet, as\nfar as a pagan is capable of love at all, he loved her, and the very\nfact that he found her favor hard to win rendered successful pursuit of\nher all the more desirable.  To him it seemed a strange and\nunprecedented thing that a girl so young, so beautiful, and so wealthy,\nshould voluntarily renounce all the social advantages of the\naristocratic circle in which her family moved, and spend her time in\nseemingly unending studies, with little or no companionship save that of\nthe grave and taciturn old man who was never absent from the room while\nhe was there; and Harroun gradually learned to regard his unfailing\npresence in the light of a personal injury to himself, so that he soon\nharbored a bitter prejudice against the ancient, that lacked very little\nof growing into actual hatred.  But there was nothing tangible about\nwhich to make a quarrel, except the fact that he could never see Theckla\nalone, and, as this seemed to be her own choice, exercised in her own\nhouse, there was nothing for him to do except to submit to it; but his\naversion to the quiet and dignified old man increased in intensity from\nmonth to month.  Finally, he told her in Am-nem-hat's presence that he\nhad been called away by the public service in which he was engaged,\nbeyond the cataracts of the Nile, and would be absent for several\nmonths; and that he desired to have some private conversation with her\nbefore he departed from Alexandria.  The young girl looked somewhat\ndisconcerted by this request, but she immediately arose, and said unto\nhim, \"Let us pass into the adjoining room, cousin, and I will hear\nthee.\"\n\nHe followed her gladly, and no sooner had the door closed behind them\nthan he came close up to her and began a most vehement protestation of\nhis love.  As soon as there was the slightest pause in the passionate\nand rapid torrent of his speech, she said, gravely and calmly: \"Cousin,\nhear me for a moment.  I have carefully avoided any such declaration as\nthou hast begun to make, and beseech thee to leave it unspoken.  It is\nuseless to say such things to me, and can only occasion mutual and\nunavailing regrets.  Thou art my cousin, and, I trust, my friend.  There\nnever can be anything else between us, and it is folly to think\notherwise.  Here let it rest, and let us return to the library, and\nforget this foolish episode.\"\n\n\"There is no folly about it!\" cried the young man, passionately.  \"We\nare both young and wealthy, and in every way suitable companions.  It is\nvery natural and right.  I am neither an idiot nor a child, and I love\nthee, Theckla, and will not be put aside in any such fashion. Why dost\nthou continually avoid me?  Why hast thou for months contrived so that I\ncan not speak to thee except in the presence of strangers, or of that\nold mummy whom thou keepest at thy side forever?  Why dost thou deny\nthyself all the pleasures and associations natural to thine age and\nsocial rank?  Why spendest thou all thy time in dreary readings,\nunsuited to thy youth and circumstances, for the amusement of that\nselfish old fossil there, who never leaveth thee for a day nor an hour?\nAll this must and shall be changed?\"\n\nThen the girl drew herself up straight, and, fixing her dark eyes full\nupon him, said in calm and measured tones, \"If I give thee a good reason\nfor having avoided thee, and for having endeavored to escape any such\nuseless and unpleasant conversation as this one, will that suffice\nthee?\"\n\n\"Yea! if, indeed, the reason be a good one.\"\n\n\"The reason, then, is this,\" she answered: \"I do not love thee; I do not\ndesire thy love; strange and incredible as it may seem to thee, I do not\neven admire thee in any way whatever, and thy profession of affection is\nirksome to me, and the more irksome the more thou dost insist upon my\nhearing thereof.\"\n\n\"But thou wilt learn to love me, Theckla,\" he cried out vehemently, \"and\nthou shalt give me some reasonable opportunity to win thy regard!  Ah, I\nunderstand it perfectly.  It is the fault of that old grand-uncle, who\nought to have been 'the Osiris Justified' half a century ago. He hath\nprejudiced thy heart against me, because he desireth thee to consume thy\nyouth and brightness in ministering unto his desolate and selfish old\nage.  But I swear by all the gods that, as soon as I return home, I will\nhave thy nearer kindred take thee away from him, so that thou shalt take\nthy proper place among the maidens of thine own age and rank, and learn\nsome more reasonable way of life, and some better views of duty and of\nhappiness than his selfish and exacting age can teach thee!  I see that\nthou art now blinded by this old man's influence, and resolved against\nthe course of reason and of nature; so for the present, fare thee well,\nTheckla, but remember that I love thee, and that thou shalt yet be mine\nown.\"\n\nThen the young man, trembling with rage and disappointment, fled from\nthe house, and for many months the young girl saw no more of him.\n\nMeanwhile, the building of the church was quietly but diligently\nprosecuted; and, with the most elaborate and conscientious patience,\nTheckla labored to make an accurate copy of the scriptures, and, through\nthe bishop and other Christian friends, she obtained the use of more\nthan one original epistle from which to transcribe the text. Some months\nbefore the date arrived at which Arius was to be ordained, the diligent\nyoung girl had the satisfaction of witnessing the completion of the\nedifice, a splendid and substantial structure, which the bishop\ndedicated to God by the name of \"Baucalis,\" given unto it at Theckla's\nrequest; and a number of Christians who had learned all about the young\ngirl's history, and why and for whom the church had been builded,\norganized themselves into a community, and customarily held service of\nsinging and prayer therein.  And they prepared also a letter, signed by\nall of them, in which they informed Arius that they had agreed in\nrequesting him to come and be their presbyter, as soon as he might be\nordained; and that, although they knew him not in the flesh, they were\nready to receive him with open hearts, first for Theckla's sake, and\nafterward, they hoped and believed, even for his own.  About the same\ntime, also, the young girl completed the copy of the sacred writings\nwhich she had made for Arius; and this labor of love, and of care and\npatience, included the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Pastor of\nHennas, and the Epistles of Clement to the Corinthians, together with\nsome letters written by Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, all copied in the\nuncial Greek text, with minutest care and accuracy.  And she had a box\nmade of cedar of Lebanon, with silver hinges and fastenings, to contain\nthe precious parchments, and a silver plate thereon, upon which was\nengraved the name \"Arius\"; and, having finished both the church and the\nwritings, she prepared a letter unto him, and put her letter, and that\nwhich the Church had written unto him, and the scriptures, into the\ncedar box, and laid them away safely, awaiting an opportunity to send\nthem to him against the time of his ordination, for the Christians of\nthose days sent no letters or parcels which might show that they were\nChristians, except by the hands of those whom they knew to be of the\nsame faith.\n\nAnd this was Theckla's letter to Arius:\n\n\n\"DEARLY BELOVED: Seeing that thou hast devoted thy life unto the service\nof our blessed Lord, I did meditate much how I also might be able to\naccomplish some good in his holy name, and likewise gratify thee.  I\nhave accordingly, during the past two years, caused to be builded here a\nbeautiful church, which hath recently been dedicated by the name of\n'Baucalis,' in memory of our dear old home; and thou wilt learn, from\nthe letter sent herewith, that our little community desireth thee to be\nour presbyter.  Also, as a token of the great love wherewith thy Theckla\nloveth thee, she hath written with her own hand a most careful copy of\nthe sacred scriptures, and of some other manuscripts which thou\nesteemest highly, and sendeth the same unto thee, with the love of thy\nTHECKLA.\"\n\n\nAnd a short time before the days set for the ordination of Arius, and of\nother young men who were deacons studying with the bishop at Antioch,\nthe Bishop of Alexandria went unto the ancient city to be present upon\nthat occasion, and by him Theckla sent unto Arius the box containing the\nscriptures and letters; and, having so done, the young girl waited the\ncoming of the youthful presbyter, with her heart full of love, and\npeace, and happiness.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XVI.\n\n                     BEFORE THE TEMPLE OF SERAPIS.\n\n\nAnd while Theckla thus awaited, with gladdest anticipations and almost\ntrembling joy, for the consummation of her own happiness, Harroun\nreturned to Alexandria, and immediately began manoeuvring to have the\nyoung girl taken to the house of his mother, or to some other relative,\nwhere she would be thrown into association with those of her own age and\nrank, and removed beyond the influence of old Am-nem-hat.  And\nimmediately thereafter his mother came unto Theckla, and urged her, by\nevery argument and inducement which she deemed most suitable to\ninfluence a young and beautiful girl, to abandon the strange seclusion\nin which she had lived so long, and come to her home, and take her\nproper place among the best and gayest young people of the city--a\nsociety to which she belonged by birth, and which she was so well fitted\nto adorn.  Theckla kindly but persistently refused every such\ninvitation, pleading her orphaned condition, her love of solitude and\nliterature, and her strong aversion to the gay and beautiful but\nvoluptuous life led by the golden youth of Alexandria.\n\n\"But Theckla, darling,\" said her aunt, \"if thou dost not at least\noccasionally repair to the great temple of Serapis, where all the youth\nand fashion of the city are often seen, the world will learn to regard\nthee as an atheist; and I assure thee, dear, that there is hardly\nanything more injurious to a young girl's prospects than a reputation\nfor singularity or eccentricity in any respect. The world takes it for\ngranted that there must be something radically wrong about every young\ngirl that is in any respect different from others of her own age and\nrank, or that affects to feel, and think, and act differently from them.\nThou must ever sacrifice thine own inclinations to conform thyself to\nthat which is considered the proper thing.\"\n\n\"Why, aunt,\" said Theckla, laughing, \"thy talk of what 'the world' will\nsay and do amuses and amazes me. Not one out of ten thousand of the\npeople of Alexandria knoweth or careth for me.  'The world,' it seems to\nme, is thyself, and Cousin Harroun, and, perhaps, not a half score\nbesides my relatives; and, while I meddle not with their pursuits, it\nseemeth to me that it would be easy enough for them to avoid distressing\nthemselves on my account.\"\n\n\"But thy manner of life exciteth unfavorable comment. Thou dost refuse\nto go into society, and scornest all the amusements, pleasures, and\npursuits proper to thine age, and family, and wealth.  Believe me, dear\nTheckla, that no young girl can affect such eccentricities without being\nvisited by the condemnation of society.  Thou must leave this ascetic\nand unnatural life, and live conformably to nature and to custom.\"\n\n\"I suppose,\" said Theckla, laughing again, \"that 'society,' like 'the\nworld,' signifieth that very small and exclusive circle of rich and\naristocratic people to which my noble kindred belong.  But surely I can\ndetermine what manner of life suiteth mine own feelings, inclinations,\nand desires as well as any of them might do.  And concerning these\nmatters, I will even judge for myself, not seeking in any way to\ninfluence their actions or opinions, but abiding steadfastly by mine\nown.\"\n\n\"Horrible!  O Hes!\" cried her aunt.  \"To think that mine own niece, my\nsister's child, at the age of eighteen, should be unmaidenly enough to\nhold any inclinations, desires, or opinions except those which are\nframed for her by the custom of the class to which she belongeth!  Why,\nTheckla, a young girl hath no more business to entertain or handle such\nthings as 'opinions' than she has to handle sword or spear.  It is bold,\nvicious, unmaidenly! Never--never--never utter such an atrocious and\nbarbarous sentiment again!  If I did not know thee to be chaste, and\npure, and maidenly, such abominable utterances would make me fear that\nthou art on the road to ruin!\"\n\n\"I am aware,\" said Theckla, \"that the Egyptians regard all females,\nyoung girls especially, as things; but I consider myself as a person,\nnot as a thing at all.  Nature hath granted unto me certain rights,\nprivileges, powers of mind and body, and hath devolved upon me certain\nduties and responsibilities.  Thou seest, therefore, that I am unfitted\nfor association with young ladies who are merely things, not persons.\nThou seest that such an association might be dangerous to them; and\nmight interfere with their 'prospects' by rendering them averse to being\nreared up, to be selected by some 'eligible' youth, or by some rich and\ninfluential old man, as a horse or a dog is selected, and then disposed\nof as any other domestic animal is provided for.  And thou must\nassuredly perceive that it would be most unwise of thee to expose these\npretty, proper, feminine 'things' to the dangerous influences of an\nassociation with a girl who hath the hardihood to believe that she is a\nperson, and the boldness to declare that she hath 'opinions,'\nconvictions of duty and of right which she will not sacrifice even to\nthe terrible fear of 'the world' nor of 'society.'  It is best,\ntherefore, even to suffer me to live as I desire to do, neither\ninterfering with my relatives in their way of life, nor suffering them\nto prescribe my own.\"\n\nThe good lady's fastidious notions of \"propriety\" were fearfully shocked\nby the young girl's independent character and utterances; and she\ndetermined in her own heart to do whatever she could to prevent her son\nfrom continuing his pursuit of a girl whose alliance with him would have\nbeen so advantageous in every way if she had not been spoiled by such\nabsurd and dangerous opinions.\n\nBut the young man Harroun had his opinions also, one of which was that\nhe was almost irresistible; and another, that the \"opinions\" of any\nyoung girl were merely moral or social megrims, which any man of common\nsense and passable appearance ought to know how to cure or alleviate;\nand he, therefore, did not admit the possibility of giving up Theckla\nvoluntarily, or of being ultimately rejected by her, although he dreaded\nAm-nem-hat's influence over her, and began to hate the old man with\ngreat intensity; for he supposed that the declaration of personal\nindependence on the part of Theckla, whereby his mother had been\nshocked, and even frightened, was simply the repetition of sentiments\ninculcated by the learned and ancient man, the force and effect of which\nTheckla did not even comprehend.  He dreamed not that these very\nprinciples of thought and of action might be the legitimate outgrowth of\na new religion which had, with undying energy and power, laid hold upon\nthe very roots of her whole nature, so that no change therein was\nhenceforth at all possible, except in the direction of larger life and\ndevelopment.  Accordingly, notwithstanding his mother's unfavorable\nreport, both upon his own prospects of successful courtship, and also\nupon the bold, self-centered, fearless character of the maiden herself,\nhe resolved to visit her as usual, and to prosecute his suit with\ndiligence.  He called immediately upon her, and finding that neither\nTheckla nor Am-nem-hat was at home, with the freedom allowed by his\nkinship to the maiden, he passed on into the library, intending to tarry\nthere until her return.  While he lingered there impatiently, his eye\ncaught sight of a roll of parchment which had been thoughtlessly left\nlying in the great armchair usually occupied by Am-nem-hat, and, to\namuse himself until Theckla's return, he picked up the book and glanced\nat the title thereof.  That title was, \"The Gospel of our Lord and\nSaviour Jesus Christ, written by His Servant John.\"\n\nHarroun started visibly as he read the words; and then a baleful light\ncame into his beautiful dark eyes, and a sinister smile, that made his\nhandsome face look malevolent and cruel, passed over his bright young\nface.  He knew that it was a very grave offense against the law to read\nor to possess such books, yet, impelled by curiosity, he read a page or\ntwo thereof, beginning with the words: \"In the beginning was the Logos,\nand the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God\"; and ending with the\nwords, \"And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God\"; but,\nremembering that he was violating the law by reading this writing, he\nturned it over in his hand, and upon the back thereof read this\ninscription: \"Am-nem-hat of Ombos.\"\n\n\"So! so!\" murmured the young man.  \"The old and meddlesome idiot hath\nfallen into the accursed and criminal superstition of the Christians!\nand from his manner of life is, perhaps, one of the Therapeutae, as they\nstyle their most crazy ascetics, who seldom appear in the cities, or\nleave the deserts and the mountains.  The book itself, as far as I have\nread, seemeth to have been borrowed from the Neo-Platonists, and is\nharmless enough, surely.  But it is a crime to own or read any magical\nbook of the Christians, and this book is Am-nem-hat's! I think I see a\nway to rid myself of the pestilent old dotard!  Ah! a Christian!  A\nrenegade high-priest of Ombos!  Manifestly a corrupter of youth!\nPerhaps sent hither by his accursed associates to seduce the wealthy\norphan into the same illegal and abominable association and plunder her\nof her property.  I think I see my way clear before me!\"\n\nThe young man carefully concealed the manuscript in his clothing, and,\nleaving word that he had called to see his cousin, but could not longer\nawait her coming, he went straightway from the house unto the temple of\nSerapis, and requested an interview with the high-priest.  And having\nbeen introduced into the audience-chamber of the high-priest, whom he\ngreeted with the profoundest obeisance, as if addressing some superior\nbeing, he saith unto him, \"I desire to know of thee whether the laws now\nallow the profession of the iniquitous and atheistic Christian faith in\nthis city, or in any part of Egypt?\"\n\nAnd the high-priest answered: \"No.  The law is still in force which\nrequires the destruction of their magical books, and of their churches,\nand the punishment of all who refuse to sacrifice unto the gods.  But\nour magistrates and people have become careless and indifferent to these\nwise and salutary laws which are for the good of religion, and for the\npreservation of the government, so that the law is not enforced, and\neven here in Alexandria this illegal and criminal association possess\nhouses in which they secretly celebrate their infamous rites and\nceremonies.\"\n\n\"Canst not thou cause the law to be enforced if an extreme case of such\ncrime should be brought to thy notice?\"\n\n\"Recently a better feeling hath been manifested in many localities,\"\nreplied the high-priest.  \"Tyrannis, bishop of a church in Tyre,\nZenobius, of Sidon, Silvanus, at Emisa, have but lately paid with their\nlives for the crime of Christianity, having been cast unto the wild\nbeasts, and so destroyed.  Another Silvanus, bishop of the churches\nabout Gaza, and thirty-nine others with him, have been beheaded.  Even\nhere in Egypt, Peleus and Nilus have been committed to the flames, and\nPamphilus at Caesarea.  Thou canst remember that even in Alexandria,\nPeter the bishop, and Faustus, Dius, and Ammonius, have been put to\ndeath, and in other parts of Egypt, Phileus, Pochumius, Hesychius, and\nTheodorus, have been in various ways destroyed.  But a false sentiment\nof humanity protects these criminals; for it hath become a common saying\nin the city that the superstition is a harmless one, and that the\nChristians are the most honest, faithful, and diligent servants,\ntradesmen, mechanics, and agents, that one can employ; and those who\ncherish this fatal leniency for the accursed sect, themselves neglect\nthe temple services, and gradually drift off into atheism.  So that\nthere is a great indifference on the subject of enforcing the law\nagainst these criminals; yet I doubt not that, if an extreme case should\noccur, the people might be easily roused up to seize the malefactors,\nand the magistrates would hardly dare to resist any forcible expression\nof the popular will.  Of what case dost thou speak as an 'extreme' one?\"\n\nThen said Harroun: \"There is a man in the city who hath embraced this\naccursed superstition, and who owneth and readeth the books of the sect\ncontrary to the law. He was for many years a priest of our religion, and\nwas even a high-priest at Ombos.  He hath by some sort of necromancy,\nperhaps by means of his magical books, infatuated and attached unto\nhimself a young Egyptian maiden, an orphan girl, belonging to our own\nancient and honorable family, mine own cousin, and he keepeth her shut\nup in her own house, separated from her kindred, and deprived of all the\npleasures and advantages that naturally belong to a noble and wealthy\nmaid of Alexandria. Some years ago he procured himself to be appointed\nher guardian, and he hath sold five houses that belonged to her, and\nhath given no account thereof, except to produce the young girl's\nreceipt therefor, in which she saith the sale was made at her request,\nthat she had received the price thereof from him, and had used the same\nfor pious purposes.\"\n\n\"Why did not her relatives interfere to prevent the alienation of her\nestate?\"\n\n\"Her father was shipwrecked and lost, and we supposed that the 'pious\npurposes' signified the use of the money to build his sarcophagus and\npropitiate the gods, with which, of course, no one would interfere; but\nthis, I lately discover, hath never been done, and we suppose that the\nman of whom I speak hath persuaded her to use the money for the purpose\nof building some temple or burial-place for the use of the abominable\nChristian association.\"\n\n\"Who is this man?\" said the high-priest.\n\n\"His name is Am-nem-hat.\"\n\n\"Am-nem-hat!\" said the high-priest, in amazement, \"I know of the man: he\nwas high-priest at Ombos, and, after a long life devoted to the service\nof the gods, he left his temple secretly to become an eremite--a great,\nand learned, and pious man!  Surely there must be some mistake!\"\n\n\"There is no mistake about what I have told you,\" said Harroun, \"for he\nleft the temple to become a Christian, and, from his manner of life, I\nthink is one of the fearful sect called Therapeutae.\"\n\n\"Hast thou any proof that he hath become a Christian?\"\n\nThe youth drew forth from his clothing the Gospel written by John,\nsaying: \"Here is one of the magical books of the Christians which no\nreasonable man understandeth.  I found this in Am-nem-hat's own chair,\nin his room, and on the back thereof is the indorsement, 'Am-nem-hat of\nOmbos.'  He will not deny that he is a Christian if charged with that\ncrime.  For they never deny it when they are guilty thereof.\"\n\n\"This is an extreme case,\" said the high-priest. \"Besides the corruption\nof youth and the plundering of this young girl of which thou speakest,\nit is an enormous sacrilege for a priest to abandon his religion, but\ninfinitely worse when he leaveth religion and adopteth the accursed and\ninhuman Christian superstition.  Leave that book with me and go thy way,\nbut fail not to point out the house when the proper time shall come.\"\n\nThe young man took out his purse, and placed a liberal sum upon the\ntable, saying: \"This is for proper prayers and offerings for thy\nsuccess; but remember that the deluded young girl, my cousin Theckla,\nmust not be in any way molested.\"\n\n\"Assuredly,\" answered the high-priest, \"her near kinship to thine own\nancient, honorable, and devout family will be her protection, and I\npromise thee to reclaim her from the delusion which the witchcraft of\nthis renegade priest hath brought upon her.  As for this man who hath so\ndishonored the ancient religion of the land of Kem, and who might by\nreason of his former lofty character seduce much people from allegiance\nto the gods, this man shall surely die.\"\n\nThen for a few days there was a great running to and fro among the pagan\npriests throughout the city, and especially among those who were\nconnected with the great temple of Serapis.  Great processions were had,\nat different places, in honor of various gods, the people were\nvehemently exhorted to greater diligence in their worship, and the\nChristians were vehemently denounced, so that there was an uproar\nthroughout Rhacotis, and crowds of people rioting through the streets,\naccompanied by squads of soldiers, and seeking for the dwellings of\nthose who were suspected of being Christians.  And, in the language of\nthe historian of those times: \"A certain prophet and poet, inauspicious\nto the city, whoever he was, excited the mass of the heathen against us,\nstirring them up to their native superstition.  Stimulated by him, and\ntaking full liberty of exercising any kind of wickedness, they\nconsidered this the only piety and the worship of their demons--viz., to\nslay us.  First, then, seizing a certain aged man named Mitra, they\ncalled upon him to utter impious expressions, and, as he did not obey,\nthey beat his body with clubs, and pricked his face and eyes; after\nwhich they led him away to the suburbs, where they stoned him.  Next\nthey led a woman called Quinta, who was a believer, to the temple of an\nidol, and attempted to force her to worship; but, when she turned away\nin disgust, they tied her by the feet and dragged her through the whole\ncity, and over the rough stones of the paved streets, dashing her\nagainst the millstones, and scourging her at the same time, until they\nbrought her to the same place, when they stoned her. Then, with one\naccord, they all rushed upon the houses of the pious, and whomsoever of\ntheir neighbors they knew, they drove thither in all haste, and\ndespoiled and plundered them, setting apart the more valuable articles\nfor themselves, but the more common and wooden furniture threw about and\nburned in the roads, presenting a sight like a city taken by the enemy.\nBut the brethren retired and gave way, and, like those to whom Paul\nbears witness, they also regarded the plunder of their goods with joy.\"\n\nAnd, on the third evening of this rioting against the Christians, a\ncrowd of people, with soldiers, assembled about the vast temple of\nSerapis, and the high-priest harangued them against the Christians, and\nespecially against Am-nem-hat, whom he called the renegade of Ombos, a\nseducer of youth, and a plunderer of orphans; and, the house having been\npointed out unto them, the mob surged thitherward, yelling and shouting,\nand calling upon their idols for vengeance against the Christians, and\nchiefly against Am-nem-hat, the renegade of Ombos.  And they struck with\nviolence upon the door, insomuch that the domestics were frightened, and\nthe old man himself opened the door and said unto them, \"What seek ye?\"\n\nAnd they yelled out: \"We seek Am-nem-hat, the traitor to the gods!\nAm-nem-hat, the renegade high-priest of Ombos!\"\n\nAnd, as soon as their clamor somewhat ceased, he said, \"I am Am-nem-hat\nof Ombos.\"\n\nAnd when they saw the man's great age, and his calm and dignified\ndeportment, they were somewhat abashed, and they cried out, \"It is\nreported that thou hast forsaken the ancient gods of the Nile, and that\nthou hast fallen away into the atheism of the Christians.\"\n\nThen the old man stood up straight and glorious before them, and he\nsaid: \"Children, for fifty years I was in the great temple of Thebes,\nand was long time a priest. Twenty-and-five years I was high-priest at\nOmbos, always seeking for the truth.  Then I discovered that the\nChristians alone know and worship the one true God, and I am with all my\nheart, soul, mind, and strength, a Christian! Children, seek ye the same\ndivine truth; the same glorious forgiveness, faith and light; the same\nredeeming love.\"\n\nAnd he would truly have borne further testimony for Jesus, but from the\noutskirts of the crowd the high-priest shouted: \"Away with this\nblasphemer!  To the stake with the old renegade!\"  And the mob echoed\nthe cry, shouting out vehemently: \"Away with the atheist!  To the stake\nwith the ancient traitor!\"  And one of them standing near knocked down\nthe old man with his pike; and, as many of them sprang forward to seize\nhim, Theckla darted out of the door to his side, and with blazing eyes\nand extended hands she cried: \"O cowards! brutes! The disgrace of Egypt,\nto strike down an old man like that!  Stand back!\"\n\nAnd the men seemed abashed at the words and manner of the beautiful\nyoung girl, and stood irresolute until the high-priest called out,\n\"Perhaps thou, also, art a Christian?\"\n\nAnd she said: \"Yea! thank God, I am!\"\n\nThen all the more they shouted: \"To the stake with the old atheist!  The\ncorrupter of our youth!\"\n\nAnd they forcibly pushed the maiden aside, and they lifted up\nAm-nem-hat, and set him upon his feet, and the soldiers haled him away\nto the vacant space in front of the great temple of Serapis, where were\nset up iron columns to which the wealthy visitors thereto were wont to\nhitch the horses that drew their chariots. And they chained the old man\nfast to one of these, and soon they built a great pyre round him out of\nthe furniture of which they plundered Theckla's house, and other houses\nof Christians on that street.  And they did set fire unto the pile, and\nby the first flames thereof Theckla beheld the calm and shining face of\nthe beloved ancient gazing peacefully upon the mob.  Then they lighted\nit in other places, and the girl went near to the edge of the fire, and\nshe cried aloud: \"Be thou of good cheer, O father Am-nem-hat!  Thy Lord\nand Saviour Jesus Christ be with thee now!\"\n\n\"Yea, daughter Theckla,\" answered the old man. \"But go thou hence!  The\nLord is all-sufficient unto me! Go thou in peace!\"\n\nThen Theckla fell upon her knees before them all and prayed aloud,\nsaying: \"O Jesus, Son of God, have mercy upon him!  Comfort, sustain,\nand strengthen him, and receive him into glory!\"\n\nAnd, while she prayed, the fire grew fiercer, and spread all over the\ndry, combustible furniture of which the pyre was build ed.  And, while\nshe was praying, a strong centurion came unto her, bearing some incense\nin his hand, and he said: \"Thou invokest the accursed Galilean for him,\nand seekest by thy strong magic to harden him against the flame!  Take\nthou of this incense, girl, and cast it into the fire to Jupiter,\ncursing the malefactor Christ, or thou shalt quickly follow the old\nrenegade!\"\n\nThen she only prayed the more; and the man called another to him, and\nthey seized the young girl, and, swinging her back and forth between\nthem, so cast her through the circle of fire unto Am-nem-hat.  And she\narose and stood up beside him, and threw her arms about the old man's\nneck, and did kiss him lovingly, and leaned her head upon the old man's\nbreast, and smiled upon him radiantly.  And the idolaters being the more\nenraged, because they twain seemed to scorn the flames, piled yet other\nfurniture and wood against them, until the greatness thereof hid them\nfrom view; and with a last farewell, commending themselves and Arius\nunto God, they breathed the cruel flames, and so died.  But the pagans\ncontinued to pile on fuel until they were utterly consumed; and the\nhigh-priest, coming near, cast into the flame the manuscript of the\nGospel of John, saying, \"The law requireth all books of the Christians\nto be burned\"; and the crowd pillaged the house, and found yet other\nsacred writings, which they brought and cast into the flames; and there\nwere destroyed the original Epistles of John, which Theckla had copied\nfor Arius.\n\nNow when the centurion and the soldier seized upon Theckla to cast her\ninto the fire, a young man ran forward from the outskirts of the crowd,\nshouting in terror and in agony, \"Not her! centurion, not her!\"\n\nBut the act was sudden, and before he could reach them, and before they\nheard his cries, it was done, and the girl was leaning on the breast of\nAm-nem-hat.  And the youth fainted, and, with a wail of anguish, fell\nheavily upon his face along the ground.  And the high-priest, seeing\nfrom his apparel that he was a man of rank, leaped forward, and raised\nup his head, and, looking upon his face, he saw that it was Harroun.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XVII.\n\n                       CRUCIFIED UNTO THE WORLD.\n\n\nArius having been joyfully ordained to be a presbyter, and being\nuninformed of the martyrdom of Am-nem-hat and of Theckla, with gladness\nof heart and bright anticipations of coming happiness reached the city\nof Alexandria, and went first of all, as his duty was, to Peter, the\nbishop, whose return from Antioch had briefly preceded his own arrival.\nAnd, after the usual salutations had passed between them, the bishop,\nlooking tenderly upon him, said: \"Son, thou hast been ordained a\npresbyter, and hast been consecrated to the Master's service, and the\nBishop Lucanius highly extolleth thy fitness for the holy office.  But\nthou art young, my son, and the Lord hath laid a heavy cross upon thee.\nHast thou received any recent news from our unfortunate city of\nAlexandria?\"\n\n\"The last news I received was borne by thee when thou didst come unto\nAntioch bringing a letter from my betrothed, and that from the\ncommunity, and the casket containing the perfect and beautiful copies of\nthe sacred writings which Theckla wrote with her own hand for me.  Why\ndost thou ask so seriously?\"\n\n\"I did only precede thee by three days, my son; but upon my arrival\nheard the news of a sudden outbreak of persecution in which many of the\npious were perfected, and their goods despoiled, the recital whereof\nwill pierce thy heart.  Thine old friend Am-nem-hat did bravely testify\nfor Jesus even in the midst of the flame by which he was made perfect.\"\n\n\"I loved him much,\" said Arius, \"and his long life hath ended\ngloriously!\"  Then a ghastly pallor came over the young man's cheek and\nlip, and he could only murmur, \"And Theckla, bishop?\"\n\n\"Son,\" said the bishop, tenderly, \"thy beautiful Theckla was also a\nperfect witness for our Lord at the same time and place with the ancient\nAm-nem-hat.\"  Then bowed the youth his head upon his hands, and\nwrithings as of some mortal agony swept over him.\n\n\"Son,\" said old Peter, tearfully, \"canst thou not say, 'He doeth all\nthings well, and blessed be his name'?\"\n\n\"Not yet! not yet!\" sobbed out the broken-hearted man; \"but give unto me\nthe key of the church Baucalis!\"\n\nAnd the bishop called a young deacon unto him, and bade him take the key\nand guide the youthful presbyter unto that church.  And in silence the\nsorely-smitten man followed his guide until they had reached the door of\nthe beautiful church; then said Arius unto him: \"Thou mayst return.\nFarewell!\"\n\nAnd Arius opened the door and passed within, and locked the door behind\nhim.  And it was twilight; and the full moon shed a soft and mellow\nlight through the vast area of the sacred room; and, not far off, the\ngentle waves of the sea gleamed in the golden sheen, and lapsed away\nalong the quiet coast.\n\nBack and forth, along the great aisle, with slow and heavy\nfootsteps--back and forth, until the long night waned away, and the\nmuffled tread of the sufferer seemed to become regular, unceasing,\ncontinuous, as part of the very course of nature itself--all night long,\nback and forth, wrestling sorely with his sudden, mighty grief, the\nyoung man trod the desolate aisle, and his bosom heaved with anguish,\nbut not a single word escaped his compressed, ashy lips.  The first\nfaint light of dawn mottled the eastern sky; then the glad sunlight\nstreamed far out along the peaceful sea, and the freshness of the\nmorning laughed from earth and heaven.  Then went he slowly unto a\nwindow opening unto the east, and the sun was rising gloriously, and\nthen the man raised up his right hand reverently, and, gazing away into\nthe glowing heavens, with trembling lips and broken heart, he murmured:\n\"Yea!  He doeth all things well; and blessed be his name!\"\n\nBut the first great sorrow of his life had fallen upon him; that which\nages a man in a single day; that which breaketh off and casteth far from\nhim all the brightness and freshness of his youth forever, and setteth\nhim henceforth face to face with the hard and bitter realities of life,\nmaking all of the beautiful past only a dim and blessed memory of\nhappiness, the light and sweetness whereof his lip shall taste no more\non earth.\n\nThe youth was a man now; tried in the furnace of affliction; exercised\nby grief; strengthened and hardened and chastened by the bitter cup of\nwoe.\n\nQuietly he departed from the church; with calm, unfaltering tread he\nwent back unto the bishop; and then unwaveringly he asked for, and\nunflinchingly heard, the pathetic details of the martyrdom.  And the\nkind-hearted old man said unto him: \"Son, thou triest thy heart too\nbitterly.  If thou desirest to be alone, I can give thee a room unto\nthyself, and thou canst abide quietly with me until thou shalt feel\nbetter able to assume thy pastoral charge.\"\n\n\"I thank thee much, bishop, for thou art very kind. But God forbid that\nprivate grief should ever keep me from a sacred task!  I will even\npreach to my people in the Baucalis church this morning.  For I\nknow\"--and then the right hand momently began its rhythmic movement, the\nmesmeric light gleamed in his somber eyes, the strong, bold head sprang\nforward upon the lithe, serpentine neck, and, with a light, plaintive\nhiss in every tone that cut through the hearer's heart, he\ncontinued--\"for I know that Theckla would even have it so if she could\ncounsel me.\"\n\nThe good old bishop sprang toward and embraced him, crying out: \"My son!\nmy son!  Thou art of the splendid stuff of which God maketh martyrs!\nMay he console and comfort thee, and feed thee with the bread of\neverlasting life!\"\n\nFor the bishop saw in his haggard countenance the ineffaceable traces of\nhis mighty struggle with that night-long agony; he saw the grandeur and\nbeauty of the imperious will that wearied down the complainings of an\naching heart; and the clear, resolute soul that fixed its eye upon the\npath of Christian duty, not to be swerved therefrom by any earthly\nagency, and ready to immolate even its sacred hours of grief for the\nsake of other souls.\n\nHenceforth the fair forms of youth, and love, and hope, would pass him\nby upon life's lonely pilgrimage almost unrecognized--strangers to him\nexcept for some far-off, heart-broken memories.  Henceforth upon his\nchastened hearing the voices of honor and ambition would fall unheeded\nas the sounding brass or the tinkling cymbal!  Only when the stern, cold\nface of Duty might meet his gaze, henceforth, his spirit would look up\nand say: \"I know thee.  Welcome here!\"  Only when the shrinking forms of\nhuman sorrow, and pain, and wretchedness, should henceforth claim his\nsympathy, his soul would reach forth ministering hands and say: \"Ye are\nold friends of mine!  I welcome you!\"\n\nAnd he did preach in the Baucalis church, that very morning, a sermon\nwhich was never forgotten by those who heard it.  \"The love of Christ\nconstraineth us,\" he exclaimed; then in words that leaped, and flashed,\nand glinted, ringing distinct as bell-notes, yet all flowing in a\nstrong, even, jubilant current unto a definite purpose, he set before\nthem the loftiest form and manner in which love hath ever showed its\npower and beauty, in the best stories of pagan mythology and history, in\nhigh and glorious examples from the Old and New Testament, and from\nchurch history, all brought out like pictures before the mind, and above\nthem all he glorified and magnified that love divine of Jesus; then how\nwe are bound, constrained thereby; unto what end; and, finally, that the\nnecessary result of this bondage to Christ is absolute freedom as to all\nother authority upon earth, higher than any natural courage or Stoic\nphilosophy could confer.  But there was not even the remotest reference\nto his private sorrow.  All of them had known Theckla, and the covenant\nbetween her and Arius, and the building of the church for him, and the\ntranscribing of the scriptures for him by her hand; and all of their\nhearts had yearned after him in sympathizing sorrow; but not one word of\nself even inadvertently found utterance in his clear, cold, steel-like\nexegesis of the truth, or in the copious, affluent stream of exhortation\nand comfort.  He had come to minister unto them, not to be ministered\nunto by them; he had come to help them bear all things, with clear eyes\nto see, with open heart to feel and share, with strong, resolute,\nuncomplaining spirit to bear all of their sorrows and trials; his own to\nbe sealed up in his own soul, buried out of human sight forever.  He\ntook all hearts by storm: instinctively they felt that this young man\nwas thoroughly furnished unto every good work; they could rely upon him,\nthey could trust him under all circumstances, in any emergency.  An old\nChristian in the congregation, who had been a Roman officer for many\nyears before his conversion, and had faced every form of death upon the\nbattlefield, whispered to the friend next to him: \"What a splendid\ncommander he would have made!  He is the bravest man I ever saw, for, if\nthere had been a streak of weakness, or cowardice, or selfishness in his\nnature, he could not have buried his own grief out of sight, and put his\nwhole heart into his work as he hath done.\"\n\nIt was so through all the services of that first day. Quiet, grave,\ncourteous, he discharged every duty of his position without the\nslightest reference to his own feelings or trials.  For, during that\nnight of awful sorrow, he had fully settled all his earthly life.\nHenceforth the church at Baucalis was to be his home; the community that\nmight worship there, his family; he was, henceforth, to have no griefs,\nambitions, trials of his own; no hopes, no fears; he was to bear the\nburdens of others; to love, guide, counsel, and strengthen the souls\nintrusted to his care; to do a minister's work, that is, a spiritual\nservant's work, so long as life might last, and to wait patiently,\nuncomplainingly, without disquietude or bitterness of spirit, if\npossible with gladness, until the end might come.  Such was the destiny\nhe had mapped out for himself during that night of bitter anguish in the\nbeautiful church; such was the destiny that upon the next morning, with\ngrand, simple, unselfish faith and courage, he arose to meet.\n\nThe thoroughness of this profound self-abnegation was exhibited on the\nnight succeeding that first day's labors, when, in the solitude of his\nown apartment, he took from out its cedar casket the beautiful\nmanuscript which Theckla's hand had lovingly prepared for him, and made\nan indorsement thereon, in the Arabic tongue, that it had been\ntranscribed by Theckla, a noble Egyptian lady, who also was a martyr in\nAlexandria.  But he did not write that it was transcribed for him; his\nname nowhere appears on any part of the manuscript; there is not a word\nor sign that can by any possibility connect his name or fate with hers.\nArius seemed to him to have been slain and buried long ago; only God's\npresbyter survived the ruin of his life, and stood up in the place of\nArius, calm, strong, fearless, unselfish, and devout.\n\nAnd this great manuscript, which was the offering of Theckla's love unto\nhim, hath survived the lapse of ages, bearing yet upon its priceless\npages the indorsement of Arius.  It is known throughout Christendom as\nthe \"CODEX ALEXANDRINUS\"--\"A\" of the British Museum, although some later\nwritings have been blended therewith, and some of the manuscripts\nprepared by Theckla have been lost.\n\n\n\n\n                                BOOK II.\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER I.\n\n                      \"HIS MOST CATHOLIC MAJESTY.\"\n\n\nThe historians, secular and ecclesiastic, have alike failed to do\njustice to the vast abilities of Constantine the Great.  Those who have\nquestioned his superiority to all other Roman emperors (if, indeed, not\nto all other men) have united in ascribing to accident, to the mere\ndrifting of events, facts which were really the forecastings of\nprofoundest statesmanship, guided by a political sagacity that pierced\nthrough to the very core of the whole social and religious life of the\nvast empire over which he ruled, almost untroubled by the influences of\nhuman passions, fears, and faith.  On the other hand, those who have\nfelt constrained to give even the slightest credence to his alleged\nprofession of faith in Christ have attributed to religious zeal,\nenthusiasm, or fears, the most salient actions of a life that was, from\nbeginning to end, dominated only by the lust for dominion, incapable of\nany creed but atheism, and absolutely content with the negation of the\nexistence of any Being greater than himself.  To those who take a more\nrational view of his magnificent but criminal career, and who, looking\nbehind the mask of reverence for paganism which he cast aside at\nprecisely the politic moment, in order to assume a false pretense of\nreverence for Christianity, discern the cool, deliberate atheist, who\nwas ready to profess any creed and foster any superstition that might\nbest serve to smooth the road to absolute power, and make mankind his\nslaves: to them the astute politician, the successful warrior, the\nconsummate ruler of men, assumes such colossal proportions that,\ncompared with him, Alexander, Caesar, and Napoleon, seem to sink into\nthe lower grade of butchers and stabbers, only half-taught in the\nscience of government, of which Constantine alone was master.  For it is\nno more certain that he despised and pitied paganism while he was\nsolemnly offering sacrifices to Jupiter, and winning the admiration and\nlove of the Roman world for his imperial piety, than it is certain that\nhe pitied and despised the Church of Christ, even while he was\nmanipulating the faith into a sure and reliable support of the empire;\nin both courses he only played with the world, giving men any religious\ntoy which the greater part might prefer to have, in exchange for the\nliberty of which he robbed them so plausibly and successfully that they\nscarcely perceived his theft, and enthusiastically caressed the royal\nthief.\n\nThe Christians of that age died at the stake, or by the sword, or by\nwild beasts, rather than to cast a pinch of incense into the sacred\nfires and say, \"Proh Jupiter!\"  The pagans would have plunged into civil\nwar, and would have endured or inflicted any pain, rather than\nacknowledge any feeling for Christ except hatred, loathing, and\ncontempt.  But Constantine both adopted the cross as a military\nstandard, and also observed the heathen rites with customary ostentation\nand solemnity; having absolutely no conscientious scruples for or\nagainst any religion; regarding both the old and the new faiths as\nthings proper enough for common men, but altogether indifferent to him;\nand using both alike as mere instruments convenient for the advancement\nof his own political purposes.\n\nAfter he had defeated Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, he caused his own\nstatue to be erected at Rome; and, while the general design and\nexecution of the work were unexceptionable to his pagan subjects, the\nimage bore in its hand the symbol of the cross, which, until that day,\nhad been esteemed to be a badge of crime and infamy, as disgraceful to\nany Roman as the lewd Priapi of the gardens could have been to the\nChristians; and the thanksgiving which he offered to commemorate his\nvictory was couched in such enigmatical terms that in applying it to\nMars or Jupiter, the pagan did no more violence to the text than the\nChristian would do in ascribing it to Christ and God.  So, when, to\nplease the Christians, he decreed the solemn observance of Sunday, he\ninspired the pagans with confidence and respect, by calling the sacred\nday _Dies Solis_ (the Day of the Sun), a formula of heathendom with\nwhich they had been familiar all their lives.\n\nUtterly devoid of faith in anything else except himself and his own\ndestiny, unyielding in that ambition to exercise dominion which nerved\nhim for the doubtful war against Maxentius, he regarded both mankind and\nreligion with pity and contempt, and sought to rule men for their good\nand his own glory, by means of any faith which they might prefer; and\nhence, as Christianity became more known and popular, he identified\nhimself with it more and more, only in order to foster an agency which\nseemed to be available in the work of consolidating the warring factions\nof the empire and securing the permanency of his throne. But the gospel\nof love and peace over which he extended the imperial protection did not\ndeter him from exterminating the whole race of Maxentius after he had\ndefeated him in battle; nor from the deliberate and politic murder of\nMaximin, who was the father of Fausta his wife, and who had been the\nbenefactor of his father Constantius; nor from the destruction of his\nwife herself, nor of his sons; nor from the assassination of the Emperor\nLicinius and his son, the offspring of his sister Constantia--crimes so\ninfamous and unnecessary that the first spark of real animosity against\nthe gods of Rome that ever flashed across the serene and boundless\ndepths of his almost superhuman intelligence gleamed for a moment past\nhis consummate and life-long duplicity when the pagan priests refused\nall expiation for such crimes; and be turned away more decidedly to a\nreligion which promises pardon for every sin: not that he cared anything\nfor the sacred rites of either church; but because he was the first\nRoman ruler to attach any definite meaning to the words \"public\nopinion,\" and he desired to maintain the confidence of his people, and\nalso to secure the full benefit of those crimes which he committed to\nplace his own authority beyond the reach of accident.\n\nSo thoroughly indifferent to all sense of religion was this greatest of\nthe rulers of mankind that dissimulation was an easy task which involved\nno conscientious scruples of any kind; and was so gracefully and\nperfectly enacted that even Eusebius, the father of ecclesiastical\nhistory, himself no ordinary man, was for a long time very thoroughly\ndeceived into believing that the atheistic emperor was God's vicegerent\nfor the establishment of the Christian Church on earth.  \"Constantine,\ntherefore, in the very commencement\" (says Eusebius), \"being proclaimed\nsupreme emperor and Augustus by the soldiers, and much longer before\nthis by the universal sovereign, God--Constantine, the protector of the\ngood, combining his hatred of wickedness with the love of goodness, went\nforth with his son Crispus, the most benevolent Caesar, to extend a\ncaring arm to all them that were perishing.  Both, therefore, the father\nand the son, having, as it were, God the Universal King and his Son, our\nSaviour, as their leader and aid, drawing up the army on all sides\nagainst the enemies of God, bore away an easy victory.\"  \"With choirs\nand hymns,\" says Eusebius, \"in the cities and villages, at the same time\nthey celebrated and extolled first of all God the Universal King,\nbecause they were thus taught; then they also celebrated the praises of\nthe pious emperor, and with him all his divinely-favored children,\"\nincluding Crispus Caesar whom he caused to be murdered afterward.\n\nOnly the lone and incorruptible seer of Patmos, John the Divine, foresaw\nthe mighty pagan in his real character, and depicted him in words of\nscathing denunciation and rebuke which the prostituted Church then\nfailed to understand when the things were transacted before her eyes--a\nprophetic and apocalyptic view of Constantine and Constantinople which\nbecomes of easier interpretation as the centuries glide away, revealing\nmore and more clearly what things John foretold, that were to follow\nupon the subversion of Christianity by the most potent human enemy that\nJesus ever had, and locating the seat of Antichrist upon seven hills\nabove the sea to which the commerce of the world resorted--a description\ninapplicable to any capital on earth except the city of Constantinople.\n\nThe tentative effort made by Constantine in 312 and 313, when he had\nused the influence of the Christians against Maxentius, had proved\nentirely successful, and the great ruler at once began to make inquiries\nto ascertain to what extent the same faith might prevail throughout the\nEmpire of the East, and how far he might depend upon its aid in\nsubverting the sovereign power of Licinius, who then reigned over the\nEastern Empire.  For, upon the death of Diocletian, Constantius and\nGalerius had parted the empire between themselves in accordance with the\nemperor's will, dividing both the provinces and the legions, which was\nthe first division of Roman sovereignty.  Constantine succeeded his\nfather Constantius, and, by the overthrow of Maxentius, had become\nmaster of all of the Western Empire, although north of the Mediterranean\nLicinius ruled Pannonia, Dalmatia, Dacia, Greece, and Thrace; and,\nhaving overthrown Maximian, ruled the East, including Asia Minor, Syria,\nand Egypt.\n\nBut it was always Constantine's set purpose to restore the unity of the\nempire, and to concentrate the whole imperial authority in his own\nhand--a purpose of which he never for one moment lost sight, and which\nis the explanation of his whole magnificent career.  The present\ndifficulty in the way was the fact that he had permitted, perhaps\nsolicited, Licinius to sign with him the Decree of Milan, which gave\npeace to the Church; and this celebrated document had been issued in\nboth their names, by their joint authority, and had been so published\nthroughout the empire.  In addition to this was the fact that the\nChristians universally regarded the defeat of Maximian and the triumph\nof Licinius as providential, for the former had persecuted the Church,\nand the latter had protected it in conjunction with Constantine.  The\npublic actions of Maximian gave countenance to this opinion: for, while\nhe had great faith in the heathen gods and priests, and had resorted to\nmagic in order to conduct the war with Licinius triumphantly, after he\nhad been defeated in battle \"he slew many of his priests as jugglers and\nimpostors, and as the destroyers of his own safety, since by their\noracles he had been induced to undertake the disastrous war.  Moreover,\nhaving heard that Constantine and Licinius were both Christians, he\nsupposed that their success was the result of their religion, and\nhimself immediately issued a decree providing safety for the Christians\nwhom less than a year before he had ordered to be persecuted, by decrees\nengraved on brazen tablets; he gave them liberty to rebuild their\nchurches, and commanded that all of their property which had been seized\nand sold under the former decrees should be restored to them.  Shortly\nafterward he miserably died, and Licinius ruled alone.\"\n\nLicinius was a firm believer in Christianity, and his faith and the\ndecrees of Maximian alike confirmed both himself and his subjects in the\nopinion that he was under the divine protection.\n\nConstantine was not long in perceiving the greatest political error,\nperhaps the only one, committed by him, the affixing of the signature of\nLicinius to the Decree of Milan; but, at the time it was done, human\nforesight could hardly have anticipated such a wholesale abandonment of\npaganism, and such an ardent and enthusiastic adoption of Constantine's\nnew ecclesiasticism, on the part of the people, as did actually occur.\nTo have left the name of Licinius out of the decree would have fostered\nany ambitious views which that emperor might have entertained, by\nenabling him to set up himself as the especial guardian of the heathen\nreligion, and so concentrating in his own hands all the resources of the\npagan world.  Constantine was compelled, therefore, either to divide the\ninfluence of the Christians with Licinius, or else to array himself and\nChristianity on the one side, against Licinius and paganism on the\nother; and he was too wise a ruler not to perceive that such a civil and\nreligious war would be disastrous to both rulers, if not the ultimate\nruin of the empire; and, not knowing the vast numerical strength of the\nChristians, he chose the former alternative.  But no sooner had he\nsucceeded in getting all power in the North and West concentrated firmly\nin his owe hands, than he began to seek for means whereby to undermine\nthe power of his rival, and so carry into effect his life-long\npurpose--the reuniting of the divided empire, and the concentration of\nall power in his own hands.\n\nThe Christians of the Eastern Empire maintained the primitive religion,\nand persevered in their original opposition to bearing arms in war, and\nto slavery, and to private-property rights, and so added nothing to the\nmilitary power of Licinius, except their constantly increasing communal\nwealth.  Licinius simply left the Church at peace, and was not\nconsummate politician enough to use its vast resources in aid of his\ngovernment, as Constantine had done, by inducing the Christians to\nabandon the primitive organization of the Church and become Roman\nsubjects in everything except the mere article of faith.  When Ulfilas,\nthe Goth, converted his barbarous countrymen, and transformed the fierce\nand warlike tribes into peaceful and settled peoples among whom war,\nslavery, polygamy, and private property, were unknown, and among whom no\nking was recognized but Christ, Constantine declared war against them,\nand pursued them with fire and sword until they were forced to adopt\nRoman laws and customs, and agreed by treaty to supply a permanent force\nof forty thousand young men to the imperial army; and, after that, he\ncaused Ulfilas himself to be ordained a bishop, and sent him back to his\nown people to teach the imperial religion instead of Christianity.  But\nthis profound and atheistic policy was too deep for the Emperor\nLicinius; and Constantine knew well that, according to the primitive\nChristianity, a whole Christian province would not furnish a single\nrecruit to his rival's legions, since no Christian would bear arms.\n\nEusebius of Caesarea, who had prepared the way for Constantine to become\nthe head of the Church in the Western Empire, was the emperor's chosen\nfriend and constant counselor, and the ruler of Rome never forgot that\nthe bishop had, first of all men, invited his attention to the fact that\nthe despised and persecuted Christians constituted already a body of men\nso numerous, so virtuous, and so prosperous, as to hold the balance of\npower between any factions which might divide the Roman people just as\nsoon as the legal disabilities which both concealed their numbers and\nfettered their influence might be removed by imperial favor.\n\nUnder the advice of Eusebius, the emperor, in his own name, sent to\nAnulinus, Proconsul of Africa, a decree most favorable to the Christians\nthroughout that region; he also made presents of large sums of money to\nthe bishops of Africa, Numidia, and Mauritania, who had been plundered\nin the persecutions of Maximian; he also sent a decree ordaining that\nall church prelates be freed from obligation to discharge any public,\nmilitary, or political duties and offices; also, he made a decree\ncommanding a certain council to be held concerning the affairs of\nCaecilianus, Bishop of Carthage, and sent to Miltiades, Bishop of Rome,\ncopies of the charges against Caecilianus; also, a decree addressed to\nChrestus, Bishop of Syracuse, commanding that a council of many bishops,\nboth of Africa and of Gaul, should assemble at the city of Arles, in\norder to consider and determine certain questions which were disputed\namong the faithful.\n\nIn short, counseled by Eusebius, who never doubted the ultimate\noverthrow of idolatry, and the ultimate triumph of whatever\necclesiastical system might be established in place of the Christian\ncommunities, Constantine zealously strove in every way to identify\nhimself and his government with the new religion, and to hold himself\nout as the head of the Church, as well as of the state.  At the same\ntime he steadily pursued a secret policy of winning to himself the\naffection and confidence of the Christian subjects of the Emperor\nLicinius, by the use of agents whom he kept in his own service, in the\nhousehold of every bishop of the Eastern Church.  This zeal in the\nservice of the established ecclesiasticism soon met with the great\nreward which Eusebius had promised to the emperor; for, throughout the\nlength and breadth of the churches it began to be commonly declared that\n\"Constantine was the divinely-appointed protector of the Christians\";\nthat \"God was the friend and vigilant protector of Constantine\"; and\nthat \"no man could be his equal, and no man could stand against him.\"\nLicinius soon perceived the influence of these machinations, and saw\nthat, even in his own dominions, the Christians, and especially the\nprelates, offered up more prayers for Constantine than for himself--\"so\nthat he did not suppose,\" saith Eusebius, \"that they offered prayers for\nhim at all, but persuaded himself that they did all things, and\npropitiated the Deity, only for the divinely-favored Emperor\nConstantine.\"\n\nThis treasonable sentiment, of course, aroused the resentment of the\njealous Licinius, and more and more developed that estrangement between\nhim and the Christians for which Constantine secretly but zealously\nlabored; and Licinius sought revenge by fomenting every disaffection\nwhich manifested itself against the rule of Constantine in Africa.  But\nthe bishops were as perfect a police force as modern times have ever\nsucceeded in organizing, and kept Rome fully advised of every movement\ninaugurated by the enemies of the \"most Christian emperor.\"  And\nEusebius saith, concerning Licinius, that \"when he saw that his secret\npreparations by no means succeeded according to his wish, _as God\ndetected every artifice and villainy to his favorite prince_, no longer\nable to conceal himself, Licinius commenced an open war.  And in thus\ndetermining war against Constantine, he now _proceeded to array himself\nagainst the Supreme God whom he knew Constantine to worship_.  Afterward\nhe began imperceptibly to assail those pious subjects under him who had\nnever at any time troubled his government.  This too, he did, violently\nurged on by the innate propensity of his malice, that overclouded and\ndarkened his understanding. He did not, therefore, bear in mind _those\nthat had persecuted the Christians before him_, nor those _whose\ndestroyer and punisher he himself had been appointed_, for their\nwickedness.  But, departing from sound reason, and, as one might say,\nseized with insanity, he had determined _to wage war against God\nhimself_, the protector and aid of Constantine, _in place of the one\nwhom He assisted_. And first, indeed, he _drove away all the Christians\nfrom his house_, the wretch thus divesting himself of those prayers to\nGod for his safety which they were taught to offer up for all men.\nAfter this he ordered the soldiers in the cities to be cashiered and\nstripped of military honors unless they chose to sacrifice to demons.\"\n\nConstantine having craftily succeeded in embroiling Licinius with the\nChurch, watched with secret joy, until the enemy whom he wished to\ndestroy followed up this lustration of his army and navy, which was\ndesigned to drive out the Christian spies of Constantine, with more\nstrenuous measures; and, in the language of Eusebius, \"at last proceeded\nto such an extent of madness _as to attack the bishops_, now indeed\nregarding them as the servants of the Supreme God, _but hostile to his\nmeasures_.\"  And as the angry tyrant adopted extreme remedies for this\necclesiastical treason, \"razing the churches to the ground\"; \"subjecting\nthe bishops to the same punishment as the worst criminals\"; \"cutting the\nbodies of some into small pieces and feeding them out to fishes in the\nsea\"; and \"destroying others by various modes of torture and\ndeath\"--\"the whole Christian world regarded him with horror and\ndetestation, and looked to Constantine for deliverance.\"\n\nSo that the error which the emperor had committed, in soliciting\nLicinius to affix his signature to the Decree of Milan, was not only\nfully compensated by his consummate skill and artifice, but the Church\nprayed earth and Heaven for the destruction of Licinius.  Licinius,\nirritated more and more by the wide-spread disaffection of his subjects,\nespoused the cause of Bassianus, who had married Anastasia, the sister\nof Constantine, and urged him into rebellion in order to gain larger\npower; and, Bassianus having been defeated and dethroned, Licinius\nrefused to deliver up the partisans of the fallen Caesar who had taken\nrefuge in his dominions; and upon this pretext Constantine declared war\nagainst him; and in two battles, one at Cibalis in Pannonia, and the\nother upon the plains of Mardia in Thrace, he defeated Licinius, and so\ncrippled him that he was compelled to make peace, with the loss of\nPannonia, Dalmatia, Dacia, Macedonia, and Greece, which provinces were\nadded to the dominions of Constantine, and extended his empire to the\nextremity of Peloponnesus, leaving Licinius Emperor of Thrace, Asia\nMinor, Syria, and Egypt.\n\nThis war happened in the year 315, and the ambition of Constantine was\ntemporarily sated, so that he then refrained from pushing to extremities\nthe defeated but still powerful Licinius until he might have time and\nopportunity to alienate the affection and confidence of his subjects in\nAsia as thoroughly as he had done in Europe. And, besides this, he\nwanted time in order to subjugate the Goths whom Ulfilas had converted,\nsubvert the Christian communities organized among them on the primitive\nfoundation, and force them to adopt the ecclesiastical system which he\nhad established at Rome, in order to make the Gothic nation an available\nfactor in any future war in which he might engage.  But in a few years\nafterward, having successfully waged war against the Goths, and having\nseen the influence of Licinius greatly impaired by the persecutions of\nthe Church in Syria and Egypt which he had encouraged and, perhaps,\ninstigated, as well as by that secret diplomacy of which Constantine was\nmaster, the Roman emperor deemed that the time had come to destroy\nLicinius, and restore the unity of the empire, and consolidate all power\nin his own hands, especially as the great age and unpopular vices of\nLicinius seemed to presage an easy victory.  He accordingly (and without\nany pretext whatever on this occasion) declared war against the Illyrian\nemperor; and in the great battle of Adrianople, and in the siege of\nByzantium, and in the decisive action of Chrysopolis, in all of which he\nengaged Licinius with inferior numbers, his vast military genius\nasserted itself, so that by continuous defeats he reduced the Emperor of\nthe East to the necessity of making an unconditional surrender.\nConstantia, the wife of Licinius, was the sister of Constantine, and, at\nher request and entreaties, the conqueror temporarily spared the life of\nhis fallen rival, and banished him to Thessalonica, where he was soon\nafterward assassinated in some mysterious manner, it being to this day\nuncertain whether he perished by the order of the senate, by a tumult of\nthe soldiers, or by the machinations of Constantine.  But it is certain\nthat the \"first Christian emperor\" regarded the fact that a man might\nstand in the way of his ambition, or possibly compromise his safety, as\na sufficient reason for putting him to death, even if the unlucky person\nhappened to be his own son.\n\n\"Thus the mighty and victorious Constantine,\" saith Eusebius, \"adorned\nwith every virtue of religion, with his most pious son, Crispus Caesar,\nresembling in all things his father, recovered the East as his own, and\nthus restored the Roman Empire to its ancient state of one united body;\nextending their peaceful sway around the world, from the rising sun to\nthe opposite regions, to the north and the south, even to the borders of\nthe declining day.\"\n\nBut this greatest statesman, politician, and ruler--this absolute,\nuntroubled, and self-confident atheist--had only \"the godliness that is\nprofitable for the life that now is\"; for this \"Christian\" had never\nbeen baptized (knowing that an emperor can not be a Christian); and he\nafterward murdered in cold blood, without provocation, \"his most pious\nson, Crispus Caesar, resembling in all things his father\"; his own wife\nFausta, and the youthful Licinius, son of his sister Constantia; just as\nhe systematically assassinated every one whom his calm, merciless, wise\npolicy thought to be possibly inimical to his own safety.  But he\nrealized the life-long ambition of his soul, the restoration of the\nunity of the Roman Empire under his own authority; and did it by the aid\nof the Christian Church, which he bribed, corrupted, and secularized,\nuntil it acknowledged him to be king instead of Jesus Christ.\n\nThese historical details, however, anticipate our narrative of Arius the\nLibyan, to which we must now return.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER II.\n\n                           A NAVAL QUESTION.\n\n\nAfter the overthrow of the Christian communities which Ulfilas had\nfounded among the Goths, Constantine called Eusebius, Bishop of\nCaesarea, unto himself, and began to make diligent inquiries concerning\nthe churches of Syria and of Egypt; and, having obtained all of the\ninformation current among the bishops, he entered into conversation with\nEusebius, apparently for the purpose of still further satisfying himself\nupon certain points involved in his investigations.\n\n\"Thou sayest,\" said Constantine, \"that, in spite of the persecution in\nwhich many bishops and private persons have suffered martyrdom, the\nChurch constantly increases in numbers and influence.\"\n\n\"Yea,\" replied Eusebius, \"but not so rapidly as in thine own dominions;\nfor in most places their services are secretly conducted because of the\nheathen; yet the truth triumphs everywhere, and the churches prosper\nwonderfully. The cruel wrongs done unto the faithful excite the interest\nand compassion of all fair-minded men, and there are always many who\nseek for fuller information concerning our holy religion, and there are\nalways some at hand ready to impart it.\"\n\n\"I would that it were possible for me at this time to occupy the same\nrelation to the Eastern Church that so happily obtains in the Empire of\nthe West.  But that seems to be impossible while the Emperor Licinius\nreigns over those realms.\"\n\n\"Thou art as much beloved by the Christians of the East as by those of\nEurope or of Africa; and they look unto thee for deliverance, and\nhopefully await thy coming.\"\n\n\"But Europe and Africa are under mine own hand, and Asia is not; the\nChurch of the East is beyond the reach of my protection.\"\n\n\"Stretch forth thine arm of power, thou favorite of the supreme God, and\ntake it unto thyself.  Thou alone art fitted to be emperor, and Asia, as\npart of the Roman Empire, is rightfully thine own.\"\n\nThen Constantine gave way to one of those fits of sudden, silent\nmeditation which were not unusual to him, and continued to gaze upon his\nbishop long and earnestly. At last he said: \"The Emperor Licinius is a\nbrave and skillful commander, trained all his life in the discipline of\nthe Roman army.  He not only hath yet a solid foothold upon European\nsoil, but he could call into action out of populous Asia double as many\nsoldiers as the Western Empire could put into the field, including the\nhardy Goths, whom I have added to the military force of Rome.  He is no\nmerely titular emperor, but is a consummate warrior, a wise ruler, an\nable and valiant man, as he hath already proved against both Maximian\nand myself.\"\n\n\"Thou and God art greater still!\" said the bishop, solemnly.\n\n\"That might be so upon the land,\" murmured Constantine, absently, \"for\nmany of my legions are veterans, who have followed me through seventeen\ncampaigns without defeat, and the Goths are brave and hardy.  But the\nold emperor's vast superiority is on the sea.  For, since Rome ceased to\nbe the seat of empire, the naval establishments of Misenum and Ravenna\nhave been greatly neglected, and the maritime cities of Greece no longer\nfurnish those formidable fleets which made the republic of Athens so\nfamous.  But the Emperor Licinius can draw from Egypt and the adjacent\ncoasts of Africa, from the ports of Phoenicia and the Isle of Cyprus,\nand from Bithynia, Ionia, and Caria, a fleet to which the rest of\nmankind could offer no effective opposition; so that, if I should be\nsuccessful on land, the emperor's naval superiority would enable him to\ncarry an offensive war into every sea-coast of Hispania, Gaul, and\nItaly, cut off all my supplies, and force me to retreat even in the face\nof victory.  It will not do!\" he cried, passionately and\ndespondingly--\"it will not do! and it requires years to prepare a navy!\nThere must be some other way--some other way!\"\n\nWhat dark and secret thought slumbered in the capacious deeps of that\ncalm, unwavering spirit to which expediency was ever a sufficient\njustification for any crime that might advance political designs, no man\ncan ever know; but Eusebius at once perceived that the thing which he\nsupposed to have been a suggestion of his own--a temptation held out by\nhim to the emperor and ventured upon because his zeal for the persecuted\nChristians of the Eastern Church made him earnestly desire that\nConstantine should conquer and protect those regions--had in truth long\nbeen a subject of profoundest meditation in the emperor's soul; a most\ndangerous ambition, which he had considered in every possible aspect of\nit.  Neither of these able men spoke for some time.  Then the emperor\nsaid, musingly: \"Would that it were possible for me at this time to\noccupy the same relation to the Eastern Churches that so happily obtains\nin the Empire of the West!  But there must be some other way--some other\nway!\"\n\nEusebius perceived from the repetition of these words that they in some\nway contained the particular matter concerning which Constantine desired\nhim to speak; and he shuddered at the unwelcome thought of what might\npossibly be required at the hand of some bishop of the Church by the\nimplacable and unscrupulous emperor; but, not fully comprehending the\ndrift of the royal mind, he answered: \"It would be easy to attach the\nbishops and their congregations unto thyself as thou didst those of\nAfrica, by secret aid to the churches, and by kind messages unto those\nwho have experienced the tyrant's cruelty; for already all Christians\nregard thee as divinely raised up for their succor, and they are\ncomforted by the hope that, when thou dost rule the world, the gospel\nshall be as free in the East as it is in the West.\"\n\n\"But that is a mere sentiment,\" answered Constantine. \"The Christians\nare not soldiers; in the East they refuse to bear arms, or to recognize\nan earthly ruler.  Surely thou dost remember how difficult it was to\nbring them over to any active support of mine empire even in the West.\"\n\n\"Yea, verily!  But thou mayst gradually assume direction of the Church\nthere as thou hast done here: by largesses to the bishops; by calling\ncouncils in thine own name to settle clerical differences; and by\ntraining them, as thou hast done here, to regard thee alone as the real\nsource of both ecclesiastical and political authority; and so by degrees\ncontrol them as thou wilt.\"\n\n\"I have meditated over all of that,\" said Constantine, \"and the great\ndifficulty in the way of its accomplishment grows out of the fact that\nany attempt to interfere in the trial of charges against bishops or\npresbyters, whether upon accusations of personal misconduct, or of\nerroneous doctrine, within the dominions of the Emperor Licinius, would\nbe regarded by him, and by his subjects, as an unwarrantable\ninterference in matters which do not concern the Empire of the West; and\nsuch a course would only inflame and consolidate those whom I prefer to\ndivide in sentiment.\"\n\n\"But,\" said Eusebius, \"if the question in dispute should be one, not\nbetween the members of some particular community, or locality, but\nbetween almost the whole body of the Christians in the Western Empire on\nthe one hand, and almost the whole body of the Eastern Church upon the\nother, could there be any impropriety in calling a council of the whole\nChurch, East and West, to consider and determine it?\"\n\n\"No,\" said Constantine.  \"If there were only such a question, the way\nwould be laid open at least for a beginning.  But how couldst thou ever\ncreate such a question?\"\n\n\"The question, or rather the questions (for there are two of them), are\nalready created--the East upon one side of both, and the West upon the\nother.\"\n\n\"What are these questions?\"\n\n\"One is a great dispute concerning the proper time for the celebration\nof Easter; and the other a most subtile controversy concerning the\nnature of Godhead and the relation of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; a\ndispute in which Hosius of Cordova leads many bishops and presbyters\nupon one side, and Arius the Libyan as many upon the other.\"\n\n\"Arius the Libyan!\" cried Constantine, with sudden wrath.  \"The Libyan\nserpent!  The ram of Baucalis! a presbyter of Alexandria!  By thundering\nJove, I will yet crush that hard, stubborn, fearless nature, for he hath\nbeen more in my way than even the Emperor Licinius himself!  Curse the\nman! curse him!\"\n\nEusebius gazed upon the emperor in mute astonishment. He knew that\nConstantine possessed an almost supernatural knowledge of all political\nmovements and persons, even in the remotest corner of the empire over\nwhich he reigned, but he had never even dreamed that the mighty emperor\nhad heard so much as the name of the gaunt, unsocial, self-denying, and\ninflexible presbyter of the Baucalis church at Alexandria, in the\ndominions of Licinius.\n\n\"Knowest thou the man?\" he asked with unconcealed astonishment.\n\nConstantine had already regained his usual calmness, and in placid tones\nreplied: \"I have never seen Arius, but have constantly and often heard\nof his dangerous and revolutionary teachings, and of his rugged,\nimplacable, unyielding character.  He hateth me without any cause,\nexcept that I am emperor, and scorneth every favor I was inclined to\nshow him.  I even tendered unto him the bishopric of Alexandria, which\nAlexander now holds, but he refused to accept it, for no other reason\nthan that he supposed his advancement to that high place to have been\nprocured by the influence of mine agents in that city.\"\n\n\"I regret that he is not thy friend,\" answered Eusebius; \"but wilt thou\ninstruct me how a presbyter could teach dangerous and revolutionary\ndoctrines?  Perhaps such teachings might furnish matter for which the\nChurch might suspend him from the office of presbyter, and silence his\nutterances.\"\n\n\"I do not think so,\" answered Constantine.  \"He teaches that a Christian\ncan not be an emperor, nor bear arms in war; and that to take sides in a\nstruggle between any earthly governments is to betray the Christ. He\nteaches that no Christian can hold slaves, own private property, or\nrecognize Roman and Egyptian laws and customs in reference to marriage\nand divorce.  In a word, he still rigidly adheres to that primitive\nChristianity, the prevalence of which would soon render all government\nover the people unnecessary if not impossible, and which, as thou\nknowest, it was so difficult for us to guide to right and reasonable\naction even in Rome and in other parts of the West.  But his primitive\nand fearless teachings have reduced to the ghostly form of a mere\nsentiment all the active aid I had expected to obtain from the\nChristians of Syria and of Egypt.  The fleet, the mighty fleet, which\nputteth all my coasts at the mercy of Licinius, ought to have been mine\nown, and would have been but for that Libyan serpent who paralyzed the\narms of willing Christians by his accursed teachings.\"\n\n\"But,\" said Eusebius, solemnly, \"these teachings were the very doctrines\nof our Lord, and Arius hath proclaimed nothing but the truths of the\ngospel, and for three hundred years no Christian man hath owned a slave\nor claimed private title to property, or lifted up a weapon even in\ndefense of the faith for which he does not hesitate to die.\"  And the\nbishop's fine face darkened, and his heart twitched as if some transient\ngleam of lightning had revealed before him a bottomless pit that opened\ndown to perdition; and for a moment he half-way felt that he had lost\nhis own soul by juggling with the empire in the name of Jesus and for\nthe glory of the Church.\n\nWhile he stood in painful meditation, the emperor continued: \"Yea!\ndoubtless this was the primitive system; and, thoroughly permeated with\nits new and radical principles, Arius seeketh to enforce them.  The\nAfrican ram, bold, self-confident, aggressive! the Libyan serpent,\nagile, beautiful, tameless, and dangerous! scorning all earthly\nambitions as trifles unworthy of the consideration of an immortal\nspirit; despising pain, and toil, and peril; almost courting martyrdom;\nimmovable by threats of vengeance, or by hope of reward; alike\ninaccessible to flattery and to fear--but for that one man I would hold\nthe East in my hand to-day!  For the fleet was largely manned and\nofficered by Christians, and all things were arranged to deliver up the\nships to me, when this fierce, invincible, immovable presbyter poured\nout the angry torrent of his eloquence and learning, urging the\nChristians to obey all laws of the government under which they lived\nthat were not contrary to conscience, and denouncing those who might\nengage on either side in favor of an earthly ruler as traitors to Christ\nand his kingdom.  Their courage shriveled up before his fierce\ndenunciation, as if it had been smitten by the wrath of God, and all the\ncarefully prepared plans for getting possession of more than half the\nfleet of Licinius, and especially of the great galleys with three banks\nof oars, faded away before the breath of this one irreconcilable and\nimmovable man.  Then the attention of the Emperor Licinius having been\ncalled to the matter, he made a lustration of his army and navy, and\ndishonorably dismissed therefrom every man who refused to offer\nsacrifice to the gods; and also from his civil service, and from his\npalaces.  And since that day there hath been no man in the service of\nLicinius that is a Christian.  But the emperor sent to Arius a parchment\ngiving to him legal authority to preach the gospel publicly in his city\nof Alexandria, because his gospel had saved the fleet; and the stern,\nuncompromising presbyter sent it back with a message that his authority\nto preach was from God, not from man.\"\n\n\"For what reason did Arius so bitterly take sides against thee, the\nfavorite of God, the protector of the Church?\"\n\n\"It would be unjust,\" said Constantine, \"to say that he ever did so.  He\ndid not; but his powerful influence in holding the Christians of Egypt\nand of Syria to strictest neutrality was the most injurious policy he\ncould have pursued against me; but he would have pursued the same course\nagainst any other ruler in the world.\"\n\nEusebius was the fast friend of Arius, whom he admired and loved beyond\nall living men (for Pamphilus had already suffered martyrdom); and the\ngreat ecclesiastic, rejoicing at the praises bestowed upon his friend by\nthe greatest ruler of men, strove to call out yet more of his opinion,\nand accordingly said unto him, \"Couldst thou not, then, attack the moral\ncharacter of Arius, and call a council to condemn him for some\nirregularity, and so get rid of him?\"\n\n\"Nay,\" answered the emperor, \"the man is proof against all earthly\ntemptations.  When all arrangements had been made to confer upon him the\nsee of Alexandria, he calmly but positively refused to accept the\noffice, saying he would live and die presbyter of the Baucalis church.\nGifts of money sent unto him anonymously he poured into the common\ntreasury of the Church uncounted, and, in the midst of opulence, lived\nthe life of an anchorite.  Seven hundred of the noblest women of\nAlexandria are his communicants, and constant watchfulness never\ndetected him in the slightest impropriety with any of them.  In the\npestilence which decimated and terrified the great city, by day and\nnight he ministered unto the afflicted, when even parents abandoned\ntheir children and children their parents, and the ties of blood were\ndisregarded, until the people believed him to be invested with a charmed\nlife that was invulnerable to poniard, poison, or pestilence.  He is the\npurest and the strongest soul on earth,\" said the emperor, with\nundisguised admiration, \"but he hath barred my way unto the conquest of\nthe East!\"\n\nEusebius glowed with pleasure as he listened to the language in which\nthe emperor depicted the character of Arius, and replied: \"Only the\ntruly great are able to do justice to those whom they have strong reason\nto dislike, but thou hast painted the grand and lonely soul of the\nLibyan even as it is.  He hath been purified by sorrow. He is all for\nChrist, and earthly hopes, fears and ambitions no more can move his\nchaste and lofty spirit.\"\n\n\"But,\" said Constantine, sternly, \"however admirable the presbyter may\nbe, I will not forget that he hath robbed me of the fleet!  He hath\nbarred my way unto the conquest of the East.\"\n\nThen said Eusebius: \"If the fleet of Licinius could be by some means\nneutralized; if that valiant tyrant could, perhaps, be induced to keep\nhis fleet out of the war altogether, and leave the fate of the empire to\nbe decided by the armies of the East and of the West--would that content\nthee?\"\n\nThe handsome face of Constantine glowed with a wonderful light of hope\nand pleasure as he answered, eagerly; \"Yea, thou most wise and\ninfallible bishop!  If thou canst accomplish this thing, soon shall the\nchurches of the East enjoy the imperial protection as fully as do those\nof the Western Empire; and, freed from the persecutions of Licinius and\nof the pagan priests, the Church shall triumph over all the world.  But\nI have told thee that no more able warrior lives than the emperor; he\nwill never forego the use of his right arm of power: thou canst not\nneutralize his navy.\"\n\nThe greatest of ecclesiastics gazed with affectionate admiration upon\nthe greatest of emperors, and calmly answered: \"I am a man of peace, and\nknow nothing of the conduct of a war.  But I do know something of the\nhuman heart, and of the secret springs that govern the actions of men.\nWhen I did visit thee in Gaul, before the war with Maxentius, thou didst\ntell me that I could not cast a javelin, nor smite with a sword, nor\ndraw out a legion in battle order, but that I knew all Italy, and showed\nthee how to conquer Rome.  Verily I know not how to sail a ship, yet I\nwill endeavor diligently to keep the tyrant's navy far off from thy\ncoasts.  If I should fail, thou wilt quickly know the unwelcome truth;\nand if I succeed thou shalt learn it immediately.\"\n\n\"Thou hast always succeeded,\" answered Constantine; \"no promise made by\nthee hath failed.  Thou hast never once disappointed thine emperor and\nfriend.\"\n\n\"For the present,\" said Eusebius, \"I do greatly desire of thee an\nindefinite leave of absence, but I trust not a protracted one, in order\nthat I may pay a visit to my beloved brother Eusebius, the Bishop of\nNicomedia.\"\n\nFor an instant the face of Constantine was clouded. \"Within the\ndominions of Licinius?\" he softly murmured, but in a moment he answered:\n\"Thou hast leave to go!  But tell me, bishop, why thou goest unto\nNicomedia.  What canst thou do there except to expose thy dear and\nvaluable head to the fury of the emperor?\"\n\n\"I go thither,\" said Eusebius, with a light and musical laugh, \"seeking\nto prepare a problem over which the historians and warriors of all\nfuture ages shall puzzle their weary brains in vain.  The question which\nwill be, I trust, a riddle unto them, is briefly this: Why was it that,\nin the second war with the most Christian Emperor Constantine, the brave\nand competent commander Licinius, possessing so vast a superiority at\nsea, utterly failed to carry an offensive war into the very center of\nhis rival's dominions, and, having moored his fleet safely in some\nsecure strait or bay, left the issue of the war to be decided by the\nland-forces alone, in the conduct of which the most glorious Emperor\nConstantine was known to be invincible?\"\n\nThen Constantine sprang from his seat, and with eager, glowing face he\nembraced the bishop and kissed him, saying: \"Canst thou, indeed, do this\nthing for me?  If thou canst, thou art stronger than ten legions, and\ndeservest a reward equal to their pay!\"\n\n\"Thou knowest well,\" said Eusebius, kindly but with inexpressible\ndignity, \"that I have served thee faithfully without reward, because I\nlove thee, Augustus, and love the Church of Christ, and know assuredly\nthat thine own triumph will secure the triumph of the faith!\"\n\n\"Thou speakest nothing but the truth, bishop,\" replied Constantine, his\nfine face lighting up with strong emotions, \"and I have loved and\nhonored thee in my heart accordingly.  Thou knowest that, whenever thou\nneedest me, I am all thine own.  But how can this miracle that shall\nneutralize the emperor's maritime ascendency be wrought?\"\n\n\"I think,\" answered Eusebius, gravely and sadly, \"that miracles have\nrecently ceased throughout the world, so that even the Church of Christ\nhath to depend upon only human agencies, which thou knowest was not\nformerly the case.  It is well known, however, that the old Emperor\nLicinius doth not doubt the truth and divinity of our holy religion,\nalthough he hateth the Christians because he hath been persuaded that\nthey offer up more prayers for thee than for himself.  Now, it hath\nseemed probable to me that if an authentic Christian prophecy could be\nprivately circulated through the imperial palace of Nicomedia to the\npurport that the Eastern Empire would be overthrown whenever it might\nsend a hostile fleet to ravage the coasts of Europe, his fear and hatred\nof the Christians would influence him to retain his fleet at home in\norder to forestall the prophecy.  Of course, the common sense of the\nmatter would be, as thou hast said, for him to use his vast naval\nstrength to desolate thy coasts in Greece, Italy, Africa, Hispania, and\nGaul; but, perhaps, he may not do so.  The matter is not very clearly\nwrought out in my mind, but gradually takes shape as I consider it, and\nI desire to see my brother, Eusebius of Nicomedia, a wise and prudent\nman, to converse with him concerning it.\"\n\n\"Thou art a great and wonderful bishop,\" said Constantine.  \"Go thou,\nand may God prosper thee!  Keep me well informed of thy movements, and\nof all events that happen.  Thou shalt have orders for all supplies,\nattendance, and money, which thou canst possibly need for thy purposes.\nIf thou fall into any trouble at Nicomedia, or elsewhere, have sure\nmeans of informing me, for I would risk the sovereignty of the world to\ndeliver thee, thou incomparable friend and bishop.  When wilt thou\ndepart?\"\n\n\"Within a few days, at most,\" said Eusebius.  \"And thou shalt do nothing\nexcept to grant me leave of absence.  We bishops can further each other\nupon our journeys quite well, and I wish to go secretly and without\nattracting notice.\"\n\n\"When thou hast leisure,\" said Constantine, \"come unto me again, and\ncome prepared to unravel these questions concerning the celebration of\nEaster, and concerning the Godhead, to the very last threads of them;\nfor I earnestly desire to be perfectly informed therein.\"\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER III.\n\n                       THE POLITICS OF RELIGION.\n\n\nA day or two afterward, Eusebius again sought audience of the emperor,\nand in a long interview, during which Constantine, with his own hand,\nkept copious and accurate memoranda of the conversation, the bishop\ncarefully explained the nature of the church controversy respecting the\nobservance of Easter, and also the nature of the abstract and peculiar\nideas involved in the dispute concerning the Deity; and in the whole\ninterview the emperor manifested the perfect thoroughness with which his\ncalm, grand intelligence was accustomed to go to the very bottom of\nevery matter which once secured his interest, grasping all possible\naspects and relationships of the subject--the evidence upon which\nalleged facts might be founded, the authority upon which each opinion\nmight rest--so that at the close of the long and studious interview he\nwas as well informed upon the subjects discussed as were the most\nlearned ecclesiastics of his generation.\n\n\"I perceive,\" he said to Eusebius, \"that thou art an advocate of the\nopinion of Arius the Libyan, concerning what Hosius calleth the Holy\nTrinity?\"\n\n\"Yea!\" answered the bishop; \"for neither do the Gospels teach me, nor\ncan the aid of reason enable me to understand that three are one any\nmore than that one is three; nor can I evade the fact that 'Father' and\n'Son' are terms which of necessity imply that the Father antedates the\nSon; nor can I believe that God the Father lived in our flesh and died\nupon the cross. So that, whenever the 'Arian heresy,' as they call it,\nshall be heard before a general council, I shall be numbered among the\nheterodox, if it is indeed possible that any council shall ever condemn\nthe grand Libyan's doctrines!\"\n\n\"I regret much,\" replied the emperor, \"that thy conscience leadeth thee\nin that direction, although the fact must never become a cause of\ndifference between thee and me.  For, while I would yield cheerful\nacquiescence to thy superior learning about all merely religious\nquestions, I perceive already that the political aspects of this\ncontroversy will make it politic for me to maintain the opinions of\nHosius and his party.\"\n\n\"What possible political significance can exist in such an abstract\ndispute about matters of theological faith and doctrine?\"\n\nConstantine laughed pleasantly, and answered: \"Of course, a pious and\nlearned bishop would sooner perceive the minutest ramifications of the\ntheological roots of any question than to grasp its most palpable\npolitical outgrowth.  I will tell thee, bishop, but the communication is\nfor thee alone.  As to the paschal controversy, it is a mere matter of\nsentiment or feeling between those who do not wish to follow the Jews in\nfixing the time of its observance, and desire to have some period\nassigned by the Christian authority, on the one hand; and, on the other,\nthose who are unwilling to depart from the practice of three centuries\nfor any reason--but these differences can be easily reconciled. But, as\nto this other controversy, it is of an essentially different kind.  Thy\nstatement of it revealed to me the salient fact that the doctrine of\nArius is that of the Eastern Church, the doctrine of Hosius that of the\nWestern; and a geographical line might almost be run through the faith\nupon this question--Arius and his party upon one side, Hosius and his\nupon the other--and along the line itself many who are not the partisans\nof either opinion. Thou seest, therefore, that it is really a question\nbetween two empires, and, whenever it shall be determined, a proper\nregard for the prestige of mine own empire requires me to see that the\ndecision shall be in favor of the Western Church.  Dost thou now\nperceive one plainest and least important point of its political\nbearings?\"\n\n\"Yea, verily,\" answered Eusebius.  \"But it had not occurred to me\nbefore!\"\n\n\"After the matter shall have been accomplished,\" said Constantine, \"many\nothers shall also see it, but not just yet; for it is the business of\nhim who is fit to rule not only to see, but to foresee, whatever may\nconcern his empire!\"\n\n\"Thou alone hast seen it yet,\" replied the bishop. \"But what other\npolitical significance can the controversy possibly possess?\"\n\n\"Ah! bishop,\" said the emperor, \"it is the great question of our age.\nIt involves in itself the whole field of controversy between the old\ncivilizations and the new; between paganism and Christianity; between\nJesus Christ and the rulers of mankind.  The doctrines of Arius are the\nutterances of that primitive Christianity which proclaimed the\nfraternity of all men, condemned war, slavery, and private-property\nrights.  It maintaineth Jesus as the king of a kingdom established in\nthe world; a real and actual government among the Christian communities,\nwhich may yield obedience to laws that do not fetter conscience, but\ndoes not acknowledge allegiance to any human emperor or king.  Its\nuniversal prevalence would speedily render all government over the\npeople ridiculous and unnecessary; for Christ would be the only king,\nand all men brethren, free and equal, as was the case in Moasia, under\nthe apostolical Ulfilas, until I was constrained to send an army thither\nand force the Goths to give up their communal organization, and adopt\nthe Roman laws and customs. The system of Arius, primitive Christianity,\ndear bishop, would leave no room for Constantine on earth.  But the\ndoctrine of Hosius, by elevating Jesus to actual Godhead, leaveth his\nearthly career a mere manifestation, or appearance, of the divine in\nhuman flesh; and, since the God hath returned to his former ineffable\ncondition, it leaveth his kingdom to be only a pure and lofty spiritual\nphantasm--and leaves mankind for Constantine to govern. Thou seest that\nthere can be no rivalry between the Christianity of Hosius and the\nsovereigns of this world, while the faith of Arius would soon subvert\nall human governments, and dethrone every prince on earth.  Beyond any\nquestion, the emperors, from Nero to my own times, sought only to\npreserve the empire by persecuting the Christians, and properly\ndescribed Christianity as 'a baleful and malignant superstition,' 'a\ncriminal association,' 'a new society that departed from the laws and\nceremonies of our fathers, inventing a new government for itself\ninconsistent with the imperial laws and rights.'  They understood that\nRoman sovereignty could not maintain itself against a rapidly increasing\nassociation that proposed to abolish war, slavery, private rights of\nproperty, offices, rank, and prerogative; and they tried to stamp it out\nof existence. These emperors strove to defend the empire by\nexterminating the Christians; if they had been greater men, they would\nhave adopted the new religion, pruned it of all doctrines that might\nmenace the imperial authority, translating Jesus to the highest heaven,\nand taking for themselves his place upon the earth--as I have done.  I\nam, therefore, the champion of the Holy Trinity, as Hosius hath defined\nit; and at the right time Arius must be condemned as a heretic.  For I\nwill no more suffer him to build up the churches of the East upon this\nbasis of primitive Christianity than I would suffer Ulfilas to\naccomplish a similar purpose among the Gothic tribes.  Dost thou now\nperceive the political significancy of this Arian heresy, my dear\nbishop?\"\n\nBut Eusebius stood before the emperor pale and trembling, the cold\nperspiration standing in great drops upon his pallid brow.  For a moment\nan awful mist of horror enveloped his struggling soul.  Had he, then,\nmade a terrible mistake in using his own large abilities and influence\nto place the persecuted saints under the protection of the grand and\nhumane emperor?  Had he betrayed the Church of Christ, and lost his own\nsoul, in bringing about that union of ecclesiastical and imperial\nauthority which made the kingdom of heaven an appanage of the Roman\nemperor, and had secured safety, peace, and glory, for the Christians by\ngiving to Constantine the place that should belong only to Jesus Christ?\nHad he indeed been overreached and manipulated by this most able of\nmankind for his own political purposes, even while he thought himself to\nbe using Constantine for the glory of God and for the edification of the\nChurch?  Sick, doubtful, terrified, he faintly answered: \"But the things\nwhich thou sayest the doctrines of Arius would accomplish are precisely\nthe triumph which our Lord did promise to the Church, and which he\npledged his divinity to achieve! Surely Arius must be right!  War,\nslavery, and mammon-worship, must be banished out of the world!  Mankind\nmust become brethren in the Lord!  The Church must triumph, and Christ\nmust be the only king!\"\n\n\"Not in my time!\" said Constantine, with the calmness and firmness of\nmature and deliberate conviction; \"not while I live!  The empire shall\nbe mine own.  I will yield my right to no man, human or divine!  Let the\nChurch grow and prepare for future triumph over earthly sovereignty when\nthe scepter shall be held by some more weak and nerveless hand than\nmine.  I will govern while I live, both church and state, in spite of\ngods or demons!\"\n\nThe bishop made no answer.  A terrible error into which he had gone with\nglad heart and exuberant hope seemed palpably revealed to him.  He was\nutterly cowed and humbled.  With a crushing sense of self-abasement,\nshame, mortification, repentance, almost crime, he realized the fact\nthat, compared with that colossal man, who amused himself by playing\nwith the loftiest emotions of the human soul as he did with his\never-victorious legions--a man who, under his calm, grand bearing,\nconcealed a devil of ambition that was ready to mock at all that men\nhold sacred, and even to hurl his phalanx against Christ himself--he\nfelt like a child, a pygmy.\n\nWith ashy lips he murmured: \"Almost thou hast defied the Son of God!\nBeware!\"\n\nThen, with a singular smile that had in its beauty and light something\nof lofty mournfulness, the emperor answered: \"And if I should do so,\ndear bishop, what then? Jesus hath no power against me except through\nthaumaturgy, and thou dost know that thaumaturgy faded out when the\nChurch abandoned that communal system upon which Arius insisteth yet so\nmanfully.  I have made my choice, and will abide the issue, bishop.\nThou knowest that I never was baptized.  I might have been a Christian,\nbut I preferred to reign over the Roman Empire; and I will reign until\nthe end.\"\n\nAh! for him, then, with all the glad assurance born of utter ignorance\nthat such a being could exist among mankind, the bishop had carefully\nfreighted \"the old ship Zion\" with the godless furniture of Roman law\nand custom, its statutes of slavery, its laws and usages of war and\nconquest, its idolatrous system of private-property rights, titles,\nprerogatives, political and social class distinctions between those whom\nGod made to be brethren, out of which idolatry the sorrow of the world\nhad grown, from all of which Jesus had died to ransom a fallen race.  He\nhad unwittingly launched the freighted ship upon the troubled sea of\nearthly politics.  Thinking that he would win the Roman Empire for the\nChurch, he had betrayed and sold the cause of Christ to Constantine.\nThinking that he guided and controlled the emperor, he had labored with\nall diligence to make himself the master's slave.  He knew it now only\ntoo well--he knew that Constantine had always known it; and, appalled by\nthe vast resources of that greatest of mankind, crushed by the sense of\nhis amazing genius, he seemed unto himself to grow small, contemptible,\nand weak.\n\nAnd the ship of the Church?  Would she go down forever in the troubled\nwaters, amid the stormy strife for worldly gains and power?  Or would\nshe yet, somehow, sometime, somewhere, outride the tempests, and in some\nunknown and distant clime reach into a safe haven? \"Not in my time,\"\nsaid Constantine; \"not while I live!\"  When, then?\n\nThese bitter meditations were broken by the calm, sweet voice of\nConstantine: \"Bishop, thou must perceive for thyself that the radical\npolity of the primitive Christianity to which Arius cleaves\nunswervingly, and which Ulfilas founded among the Goths so firmly that I\nhad to send the legions thither to uproot it, was somewhat fanatical, or\nat least premature, and not suited to the every-day life of selfish and\nwicked men.  Thou must perceive, also, with equal clearness, that the\nsplendid ecclesiasticism which I have established throughout the Western\nEmpire in place of the primitive religion is vastly better for mankind\nthan any system ever before attempted, and that it should be speedily\nextended over all the East.  What future, grander developments await the\nChurch, no mortal can foretell.  For the present, I desire of thee to\nseek means whereby to fan the flame of this Arian controversy: it must\nnot die out until it can be summoned before an imperial council, and\nreceive formal condemnation at the mouths of all the bishops called into\na synod by the Emperor of the west!\"\n\n\"And if, when the council shall have been convened, its members shall\nsustain Arius, what then?\"\n\n\"A religious war, perhaps,\" answered Constantine, \"or a return unto the\npagan gods; both dreadful alternatives, which the Church and the empire\nshould regard with equal horror.  But the council will never so decide.\nI answer for its action; only keep thou the flame of controversy burning\nuntil the proper hour arrives!\"\n\n\"I will contrive means that shall not fail to do so,\" answered Eusebius,\nand, bowing low, at a sign from the emperor he withdrew, overwhelmed\nwith the perception of that calm, relentless, almost superhuman sagacity\nwhich Constantine had permitted him to see.\n\n\"Yea!\" murmured Eusebius, \"I will fan this flame of controversy!  It\nshall blaze throughout the Church! And it may even happen that\nConstantine, although the greatest of the human race, is not a match for\nGod.  Who knows?  Thaumaturgy may be restored to the Church, or, even\nif, as Constantine asserteth, the kingdom of our Lord was prematurely\nestablished, the spiritual truth of the gospel will sometime educate\nmankind up to the ultimate reception of its socialism and politics.  And\nto this end it shall be my task before I die to organize within the\nbosom of the Church sacred brotherhoods, bound by holy ties of chastity,\nobedience, and poverty, to keep alive forever the memory of that\ncommunal system upon which Christ founded his kingdom.  At all events,\nthere is no possibility of going backward now; and more than ever do I\ndesire to see Constantine obtain the sovereignty of the East. And now\nfor Nicomedia!\"\n\nThat very day the bishop set out upon his dangerous mission, to concert\nmeasures by which to neutralize the naval power of the Emperor Licinius.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IV.\n\n                         THE PROPHECY OF GAIUS.\n\n\nProceeding, therefore, with all diligence, not very many days afterward,\nthe Bishop of Caesarea arrived at Nicomedia, and straightway, by the use\nof certain secret means of communication which were well known to all\nChristians, he found, and took up his abode with Eusebius of that city;\nand they together discussed at great length what means might be used to\nneutralize the naval power of the tyrant Licinius.\n\nEusebius of Caesarea had been absent for many months, and Constantine\nhad begun to grow impatient at his long delay, during which he had\nreceived no tidings from the bishop personally, and had heard nothing\nconcerning him, except that he was quietly residing in the city with the\nother Eusebius.  And the emperor, who valued his bishop highly, and\nenjoyed his companionship more than that of any other man, began to fear\nthat the revelation of his own real character and purposes, which he had\nmade at their last memorable interview, had alienated his friend\nforever, and thereby deprived himself of the services which he deemed to\nbe almost invaluable.  It gave him unmingled pleasure, therefore, to\nreceive upon a certain day a written message that \"Eusebius, Bishop of\nNicomedia, sent by his brother Eusebius Pamphilus, craves audience of\nthe emperor.\"  Constantine eagerly ordered that he be admitted, and,\nhaving dismissed all others, he gave the bishop a very cordial greeting,\nand then said, with greatest interest and solicitude: \"Tell me first of\nall of thy brother, my friend the Bishop of Caesarea!  Where now is the\nholy and able man?  Is he well?  What doeth he?\"\n\nThe bishop was somewhat lacking in the courtly elegance that\ncharacterized his brother, but still had a certain ease born of good\nsense and honesty of purpose, and he answered in a straightforward and\nintelligent way that pleased Constantine, and enabled him instantly to\n\"take the measure of the man,\" and value him at once at his full worth,\na thing he was not always able to do with the other Eusebius.\n\n\"The bishop, my brother, fared well when I last saw him.  We parted at\nNicomedia--he to go unto Alexandria, 'upon the emperor's business,' he\nsaid; I to come hither by his desire.  He sendeth love and reverence\nunto thee, 'the greatest of mankind,' as he saith; and hath sent me\nhither because he thought that the things which I am requested to tell\nthee ought not to be committed to writing, nor intrusted to any ordinary\nmessenger.  Whenever thou desirest to hear it, I will briefly narrate\nwhat hath happened at Nicomedia.\"\n\n\"I am alone with thee, bishop, to hear thy report. Proceed with thy\nnarrative at once.  But first be thou seated, and partake of such\nrefreshments as thou wilt.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" answered the bishop, \"I need naught except thine own attention.\"\n\n\"Then sit thou there, and count upon an eager listener.\"\n\n\"The business upon which thy bishop came unto me having been carefully\nunfolded by him, the delay therein was caused by the necessity of\nsending far beyond Antioch for a fitting person to accomplish that upon\nwhich we had agreed as necessary for thy service; but it hath been done.\nThe great fleet of the Emperor Licinius hath been so far neutralized\nthat not a ship thereof will cross the sea to molest thy coasts if there\nshould be war.  On that thou mayst implicitly rely.\"\n\n\"Tell me the means by which this most important work hath been\naccomplished; and spare thou no details of the business: my only wish\nnow is to hear thee fully!\"\n\n\"It happened more than a year ago,\" said the bishop, \"that I received\nletters from a presbyter at Chalcis, far beyond Antioch in Syria,\nconcerning a most singular youth of that village, who was an\nepileptic--a devout Christian, but of strange fancies and of\nextraordinary appearance. This lad, the presbyter informed me, during\nthe paroxysms of his disease seemed to be possessed by some sort of a\nspirit of divination, and the Church there had vainly attempted to\nexorcise the spirit; for thaumaturgy hath recently been lost.  But the\npresbyter himself had little faith in his prophetic powers, because he\nhad discovered that it was possible, by strongly impressing the mind of\nthe youth, before the paroxysms came upon him, with some peculiar and\nstriking thought, to anticipate the subject, and often even the very\nwords, of his supposed prophetic ravings. Now, when the bishop unfolded\nto me what he desired to attempt for thy service, I at once thought of\nthis Syrian youth, and judged that he might be advantageously used\ntherein.  The sending of a messenger to Chalcis for him wrought some\ndelay, and, when the messenger reached that place, the youth had gone\nelsewhere; and it was a work of time to discover him, and might, indeed,\nhave been impossible, but for a certain notoriety bestowed upon him by\nthe strange misfortune under which he labored.  And, after we had\nreceived the youth at Nicomedia, it was a work of time, and care, and\npatience, to secure his entire confidence, and train him properly for\nthe business we had undertaken.  Do I state the matter too minutely for\nthy patience?\"\n\n\"Nay,\" said Constantine; \"it is wonderfully interesting. Thou need have\nno fear that thy narrative will weary me: I do desire to hear thee\nfully.\"\n\n\"We found by frequent experiments,\" continued Eusebius, \"that the\nparoxysms of the youth's disease were not strictly periodical, but that\nany sudden, strong emotion was liable to bring on an attack.  We found\nthat when we had made him memorize certain words beforehand, he was\nliable, on the increment of his disease, to repeat just those words in a\nsort of chanting tone, the melody and manner of which were very\nimpressive, even when the words themselves were unmeaning.  We found\nthat he was ready to do or suffer anything if persuaded that it would be\nfor the good of the Church.  We kept the youth in safe retreat,\ncarefully secluded, so that he might remain entirely unknown in\nNicomedia.  We then constantly assured him that God was able to\naccomplish his own designs by using even the most humble agencies, and\nthat no man had the right to look upon himself as a being too\ninsignificant to work for the glory of his Creator; and that even he,\nalthough sorely afflicted, by zeal and faithfulness might be able some\ntime to perform a great service to the persecuted Church.  He eagerly\ninquired how that might be, and was manifestly ready to seek for\nmartyrdom if that had been the duty enjoined upon him.  But we carefully\nimpressed upon him that all that was required of him was to memorize and\nconstantly repeat a certain form of words that we dictated to him; to\nmeditate upon them day and night; to suffer nothing else to occupy his\nthoughts; and to wait in faith and hope the result of this discipline.\nWe instructed him that, if any one should ask him about the words he\nmight utter when the fit was on him, to say nothing, except that he was\nmoved so to speak; if any should ask him whom he knew in Nicomedia, he\nwas to answer, 'Eusebius the bishop'; and that in answer to every\nquestion put to him he should tell the exact truth. We soon found that,\nwhenever he suffered under a paroxysm of his malady, he would fall to\nthe ground and presently repeat in that sad, wailing chant that seemed\nto be natural to him, the very words which we had dictated to him, and\nno others.\"\n\n\"What words were these?\" asked Constantine.\n\n\"The words,\" replied Eusebius, \"were as follows: 'Joy to the land of\nSyria!  Joy to the holy ones of Egypt! for their deliverer cometh!  When\nthe great ships shall cross the middle sea, the tyrant's power shall\nfail, and a holy emperor shall add the East unto his Western Empire! Joy\nto Syria and to Egypt, when the great ships shall cross the middle sea!'\n\n\"Having experimented with the lad until it seemed to be morally certain\nthat, under the influence of a paroxysm of his disease, he would chant\nthese words only, we directed him to go daily to the gate which opened\ninto the grounds surrounding the imperial palace at Nicomedia, until he\nmight see the Emperor Licinius about to come forth, and that then he\nshould boldly force his way through the gates, at any hazard, without\noffering salutations or explanation to any one.  This the youth promised\nfaithfully to do; and it happened that, the first time he went thither,\nhe saw one whom he supposed to be the emperor, coming forth accompanied\nby a throng of attendants, and he rushed forward so impetuously that the\nemperor was compelled to give place to him; and then a soldier knocked\ndown the poor lad with the pole of his pike.  Licinius stopped to\nascertain the meaning of an intrusion so bold and unusual, and the pain\nof the blow and the excitement of the situation brought upon the youth\none of his strange attacks, and while he lay writhing and twisting about\nupon the paving-stones, in a loud, weird voice, whose unearthly melody\nfilled all the place, he chanted the words that had been taught to him:\n'Joy to the land of Syria!  Joy to the holy ones of Egypt! for their\ndeliverer cometh!  When the great ships shall cross the middle sea, the\ntyrant's power shall fail, and a holy emperor shall add the East unto\nhis Western Empire!  Joy to Syria and to Egypt, when the great ships\nshall cross the middle sea!'  Then a centurion sprang forward, and would\nhave slain the youth with his sword, but Licinius waved him off, and\nstood looking upon the singular lad with interest and wonder.  And the\nyouth flopped up off of the ground like a fish, and fell back heavily,\nand almost immediately resumed his wild, sweet chanting of the self-same\nwords; and a profound silence obtained until his song was ended.  And\nvery soon that paroxysm passed off, and the lad arose, and looked about\nhim, as if he knew not where he was nor how he came to be there.\"\n\nConstantine laughed a low, joyous, almost boyish laugh, exclaiming: \"A\nsuperb performance, indeed!  A masterly thing!  But continue thy most\nwelcome narrative!\"\n\n\"Then the Emperor Licinius, whose features are bronzed, and hard, and\ncruel, looked steadily upon the abashed young man, saying in a stern,\nimperious voice, 'Who art thou?'\n\n\"And the lad answered, 'I am Gaius, a poor youth of Chalcis in Syria!'\n\n\"'Knowest thou to whom thou art speaking?'\n\n\"'Nay, verily,' answered Gaius, 'but I suppose thee to be the emperor!'\n\n\"'What is thy business in Nicomedia?'\n\n\"'I have no business anywhere,' said the lad.  'I am diseased, an\ninvalid, an epileptic, and am incapacitated for business.  Verily I came\nunto Nicomedia hoping to be cured of this fearful malady.'\n\n\"'What brought thee unto our palace-gates?'\n\n\"'I came hither to look upon the emperor, having never seen so great a\nman; but some cowardly brute did strike me down with a pike!'\n\n\"'Why didst thou chant such things as thou hast done even in mine own\npresence?'\n\n\"'What things did I chant?  I know not, for the hard blow brought upon\nme an attack of the epilepsy, and while it continueth I know not what I\nsay, but speak only as I am moved to speak!'\n\n\"'What, then, moveth thee to chant at all?'\n\n\"'I know not, nor do I even know that I have done so, unless some one\nwho hath heard me informeth me thereof!'\n\n\"'Whom knowest thou in my city of Nicomedia?'\n\n\"'None save the Bishop Eusebius!'\n\n\"'Art thou, then, a Christian?'\n\n\"'Yea!  Thanks to the boundless mercy of our Lord!'\n\n\"Then said the emperor: 'Let immediate search be made for this Eusebius,\nand let him be straightway brought before me.  Keep ye this boy in\nstrictest prison, but use him kindly; for it may be that he hath a\ndemon!'\n\n\"I did not choose to be found upon that day, although the city was\nsifted well for that purpose.  And upon the next day, Licinius caused\nthe lad Gaius to be brought before him, and he spoke kindly unto him,\nsaying: 'Thou art a strange and interesting youth, and I desire to take\nthee into my service, and to attach thee unto myself, and to care for\nthee well.  Hast thou memory good enough to keep in thy mind for me a\ncatalogue of more than three hundred ships?'\n\n\"'I know not,' said the lad.  'At school I learned rapidly and retained\nwell all that I acquired; but I fear that the malady wherewith I am\nafflicted hath injured both mind and body.'\n\n\"'Let me test thy memory somewhat to ascertain thy capacity for the\nservice I would have thee render.  Canst thou name the stations and\ndistances upon the road from Chalcis unto Antioch, and thence unto the\nsea?'\n\n\"And the boy gave the whole itinerary correctly. And the emperor asked\nof him a great many questions with exceeding affability, and finally\nsaid unto him: 'Thou hast a fine, retentive memory, and I will make a\nman of thee.  See, now, how much thou canst remember of the song which\nthou didst twice chant on yesterday!'\n\n\"But the lad said: 'I know not the words at all, and know not that I did\nchant at all.  All that occurreth when the fit is upon me is blankness\nand darkness, so that I know nothing, and suffer not, and if fire were\nput upon me, I would not feel any pain so long as the paroxysm\ncontinueth!'\n\n\"Then the emperor gave way to wrath, and shouted furiously: 'Thou liest,\nvillain!  Thou seekest to deceive me!  Repeat thy chant instantly, or I\nwill put thee to torture to extract the truth!'\n\n\"Then the boy grew very pale, and trembled, but he only answered: 'Thou\ndemandest of me that which is impossible!  I do not know the words, and\ncan not repeat them, though thou shouldst slay me!'\n\n\"Then cried out the emperor, 'Bring thumb-screws hither, and torment\nthis wretch!'\n\n\"Then one put upon his thumb that cruel screw, and twisted hard upon it,\nand the boy shrieked with pain. Then the fit came upon him, and he fell\nheadlong upon the floor, and the torturer removed the screw.  And\nimmediately the boy began, in a clear, sweet voice that filled the great\nhall with music, to chant the same words again: 'Joy to the land of\nSyria!  Joy to the holy ones of Egypt!'--and the emperor sprang forward,\nand with the point of a dagger he tore up a finger-nail of the boy,\nwatching his face intently; but the lad's countenance changed not, and\nhe continued his chant evenly and serenely.  And the emperor commanded\nthat fire be brought to him in a brazier, and he laid a coal thereof\nupon the boy's naked breast, and blew upon it until the burned flesh\nsmelled all about, but the boy showed no consciousness of pain, and\ncontinued to chant sweetly until his song was ended.  And for a short\nspace the lad lay as one dead, and then a strong convulsion contorted\nhis limbs, and lifted him from the floor, and violently cast him down\nagain; and then once more he chanted the same words, and the emperor\nlistened and watched him with fear and wonder. And when the attack had\npassed away, Licinius said: 'Let this boy be guarded carefully, but let\nhim be treated with the greatest kindness; for surely, beyond any doubt,\nhe hath a demon!'\n\n\"And the lictors with great astonishment and fear led the boy away.\n\n\"And having been fully informed of all these things on the same night,\nby a Christian whom we had allowed to sacrifice and so retain his place\nin the palace, for the good of the Church, upon the next morning went I\nup to the gates and boldly demanded admission, declaring to the\ncenturion on duty who I was, and that I had been informed that the\nemperor was seeking me throughout the city; and speedily they brought me\ninto the presence of Licinius, and he said, 'Art thou Eusebius, the\nBishop of Nicomedia?'\n\n\"'Yea, I am he!'\n\n\"'And like all of thy treasonable sect, that lurk within my city of\nNicomedia, thou art still offering up prayers for the Emperor\nConstantine?'\n\n\"'Yea, doubtless!'\n\n\"'And thou dost not pray for me, nor propitiate God for me, thine own\nlawful emperor, at all?'\n\n\"'Yea, daily I pray God for thee that he would soften thy flinty heart,\nand turn thee from the devices of wickedness unto the wisdom of the\njust!'\n\n\"'But thou prayest not for my prosperity, and for the glory and\nperpetuity of mine empire?'\n\n\"'Nay, verily.  I have no faith to pray for the triumph of the cruel and\nof the wicked!'\n\n\"Then said he, 'Dost thou know the boy Gaius of Chalcis?'\n\n\"'Yea!  He was with me at my house until the third day past, but he hath\ndisappeared, and I am anxious concerning him.'\n\n\"'Is there anything peculiar about the boy?'\n\n\"'He hath a peculiar and terrible malady called epilepsy!'\n\n\"And then attentively regarding me with his hard and searching eyes, he\nsaid, 'Doth the boy prophesy?'\n\n\"'When he hath a paroxysm of his disease he customarily chanteth strange\nthings which some esteem to be prophecies; but whether his sayings be\ntruly prophetic or not I can not inform thee.'\n\n\"'Perhaps thou dost remember the words of some of his pretended\nprophecies?'\n\n\"'Yea, verily!  For since he hath been with me he hath hardly ever\nchanted anything but a certain song which I have heard him repeat very\noften when the disease taketh him.'\n\n\"'Repeat thou those words!'\n\n\"Then with a certain show of exultation I chanted the same words that\nGaius had uttered, and, when I had finished, Licinius cried out\nfiercely, 'Thou dost believe, indeed, that the words of Gaius are a sure\nprophecy, and thou dost rejoice at my threatened overthrow!'\n\n\"I looked smilingly upon the emperor, but made no answer; and thereupon\nhe fell into a great rage and said unto me, grimly enough: 'Thou art a\ntall man, bishop! Verily, I think thou art fully a head too tall, and\nthis day I will reduce thee to a more proper stature by cutting off thy\nhead'; and when he saw that I was unterrified by this threat, he added,\n'And the boy's head also!'\n\n\"Then gazing fixedly upon him, I did say: 'Surely thou mayst do so, for\nthou art a blood-soaked, merciless tyrant enough for any crime.  But\nthis deed would make thee contemptible; for it would prove that thou art\nnot only a tyrant, but also a fool!'\n\n\"Then turning almost livid with suppressed wrath, he cried out, 'What\ndost thou mean, thou insolent?'\n\n\"'I mean that some years ago when the bold and eloquent preaching of the\nbrave and righteous presbyter, Arius the Libyan, did operate to save for\nthee a large part of thy fleet, thou didst order that he should never be\nmolested in the public discharge of the duties of his sacred office;\nwherefore, even the Christians, who knew thee to be a bloody tyrant, and\na desecrator of the sacrament of marriage by an infamous law, and a\nviolator of all the sanctities and decencies of life, still did give\nthee credit for intelligence.  But if now thou shalt murder those who,\neven unintentionally, have given thee warning in time to save thy whole\nnavy, all men will regard thee as an idiot.'\n\n\"'How save my whole navy?'\n\n\"'By keeping the ships thereof upon thine own side of the Mediterranean;\nfor the words are, \"_when_ the great ships shall cross the middle sea,\"\nand perhaps it may signify not until _then_?'\n\n\"'By Jupiter Stator,' he answered, vehemently, 'I think that thou art\nright!  And that accursed \"when\" shall never happen.  For this honest\nsaying of thine, thou mayst go hence free, and take the lad Gaius with\nthee!'\n\n\"And thereupon I withdrew; but I am certainly advised that his purpose\nholds good never to send his fleet across the Mediterranean.\"\n\n\"How dost thou know that?\" asked Constantine, eagerly.\n\n\"We waited many weeks,\" replied Eusebius, \"to obtain some reliable\nindications of his purposes; but the Emperor Licinius is a great\ncommander, and men drilled in military services talk cautiously even\nwhen drunk, as he frequently is, so that we got nothing.  Finally, a\ncenturion came one night to mine abode, which I had caused to be\npublicly known, and with great courtesy informed me that the emperor had\nsent him to bring me into his presence.  Having dismissed all others, as\nif the matter were most secret, he said: 'I know ye Christian bishops\nlove not me, and that ye offer prayers for Constantine; yet I do not\nthink that thou wouldst lie to me.  I therefore tell thee that, since\nthou wert last before me, I sent an embassy secretly unto the oracle at\nDelphi, with many costly gifts, asking of the oracle what success I\nwould have if I should send my navy against the Western Empire; and I\ndesire thee to read and to construe the answer of the god.'  Then he\ngave unto me a parchment on which was written, 'When the navy of the\nEmperor Licinius shall pass over the sea to war with the Emperor\nConstantine, his empire shall be overthrown.'  I read the oracle, and\nlaughed. Then said I unto him: 'Like all of the pretended oracles of the\nheathen, it is simply an evasion.  Of course, if two great emperors\nengage in war, one of them must be overthrown.  This oracle saith not\nwhich of them.  If the Western Empire be defeated, the priests will say,\n\"We foretold that.\"  But if the Eastern Empire shall be subverted, they\nwill just as truly say, \"We foretold that.\"'\n\n\"'Art thou certain that the language bears one construction as naturally\nand grammatically as it does the other?'\n\n\"'Assuredly so!  The Latin infinitive mood with the accusative case\npossesses a wonderful facility for such a construction as may signify\neither one thing or the other.'\n\n\"Then he gave way to sudden wrath, and cried aloud: 'Curses on the\nlying, cheating oracles by which so many mighty men have been lured into\ndestruction!'  And, fixing his eyes upon me, he continued, 'Was there\nany such ambiguity in what thy boy Gaius chanted?'\n\n\"'Nay, verily,' I answered.  'He said, \"A holy emperor shall add the\nEast unto his Western Empire.\"  Thou canst not add the East unto\nanything, although thou mightest add something to the East; but canst\nadd nothing to the Western Empire, which is not thine own, and thou art\nnot a \"holy emperor!\"'\n\n\"'It is only a cursed trick of the oracle to lure me on to ruin!' he\nexclaimed.  'The Emperor Constantine hath bribed the god to influence me\nso that he may invade and overthrow mine empire while my fleet is far\naway.  I will keep mine own coasts safe with wooden walls henceforth,\nand not a ship shall cross the middle sea.'\n\n\"Then he said unto me: 'Thou seem'st an honest and fair-minded man, and\nhenceforth thou may'st practice thy religion publicly in my city of\nNicomedia without fear or molestation.  So fare thee well.'\n\n\"I think that this completeth my account, except I should add that from\nthe very beginning of this matter the Emperor Licinius hath zealously\nendeavored to keep it all profoundly secret, so that it is known to very\nfew.\"\n\nThen said Constantine unto the bishop: \"What didst thou mean by saying\nto the emperor, 'The Christians who knew thee to be a bloody tyrant, and\nthe desecrator of the sacrament of marriage by an infamous law'? What\nlaw was that?\"\n\nAnd Eusebius answered: \"He hath revived the former law of Maximin, that\n'no woman of rank should marry without the emperor's consent,' and for\nthe same infamous purpose, _ut ipse in omnibus nuptiis proegustator\nesset_; and this licentiousness hath done more to set the Church against\nthe emperor than even the murder of the bishops.\"\n\n\"How strange,\" said Constantine, \"that men should think themselves fit\nto govern an empire who can not even govern their own brutal passions!\"\n\nThen the great emperor indulged in long-continued laughter, not loud nor\nvociferous, but quiet, hearty, joyous, and exultant.  But, soon resuming\nhis usual equanimity, he said unto the bishop: \"Thou art the most\nwelcome messenger that hath ever come unto me since thy brother of\nCaesarea did first visit me in Gaul before the overthrow of Maxentius.\nTell me what great favor worthy of Rome's emperor I can do for thee.\"\n\nThen Eusebius, with glowing countenance, bent low, and seizing the\nemperor's hand he kissed it fervently, exclaiming, \"Stretch forth thy\nmighty hand, Augustus, and free the persecuted churches of the East!\"\n\nConstantine was deeply moved, and answered: \"It shall be done, bishop!\nTrust me, it shall be done!  But I have given order for thy fitting\nentertainment, and while thou shalt rest and refresh thyself, think of\nsome personal favor I can do for thee.\"\n\nEusebius bowed gravely and withdrew.\n\nThe emperor was alone, seated, buried in profoundest meditation.  For a\nlong time he was silent, and then his deep thought found utterance in\nmurmured words: \"A wonderful faith, truly, that can bind the heart and\nintellect of even able men like the Eusebii in absolute slavery to an\nidea, so that Christ and the Church are first in all their thoughts and\npurposes; and ease, comfort, wealth, and power, and even life and death,\nare trifling things compared therewith!  If any God exists, these\nChristians surely have discovered him in Jesus. But I am sufficient for\nmyself, and need no Deity.\"\n\nThen he was silent again for some time longer.  But suddenly he gave way\nto jubilant merriment, murmuring amid his laughter: \"It was a superb\nfarce, that prophecy of Gaius!  Better than the _Legio Fulminea_. Better\neven than the Labarum!  Surely the fine, Grecian hand of my Eusebius\nhath only acquired a more delicate touch with his advancing years!\"  And\nthe great emperor continued to laugh merrily.\n\nBut neither pain nor pleasure ever interfered with the grand game of\nempire; and before midnight orders had been framed and issued by which\nthe veteran legions of Hispania, Gaul, and Germany were to be gradually\nreplaced by more recent levies; by which the brave and hardy Goths were\nput upon the most rigid military discipline; and by which all the chosen\ntroops, upon whose skill and valor the unconquerable leader would be\nwilling to stake the sovereignty of the world, were slowly concentrated\nto the eastward of Milan by a quiet, steady, unostentatious military\nmovement that consumed months in its accomplishment and scarcely excited\nthe suspicions of even the vigilant and intelligent agents of the\nEmperor Licinius.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER V.\n\n                          A BORN ECCLESIASTIC.\n\n\nIn the year A.D. 319, Alexander, the old and pious Bishop of Alexandria,\nhaving become imbued with that Trinitarianism which began to assume a\nsort of doctrinal prominence in the Western Church even from the time\nwhen Constantine had defeated Maxentius and had so become Emperor of\nRome, publicly proclaimed this dogma wherever he went.  During that\nyear, upon one of his episcopal visits, he preached in the Baucalis\nchurch a sermon which gave great offense to Arius the Libyan, who was\npresbyter thereof, and to many of the vast and opulent congregation.\nUpon the following Sabbath the presbyter had delivered an elaborate\ndiscourse, in the course of which he inveighed with great force and\nearnestness against some \"expounders of new doctrines who had grown too\nlearned in the philosophy of the world, and too much in love with the\npolitical and legal religion which had been established in place of\nChristianity in the Western Empire to remain satisfied with the simple,\nunquestionable statement of the Gospels that Jesus Christ was the Son of\nGod; and had gone about to trouble the faith and harass the consciences\nof believers by novel and dangerous speculations concerning the nature\nof Deity that were not taught in the Scriptures and were unknown to\nthree centuries of Christian faith and practice.\"  And, although Arius\nmentioned not the venerable bishop by name, no one doubted for whom his\nfierce rebuke was intended, and understood perfectly well what doctrinal\ndeliverances he condemned as \"the philosophy of the world,\" as \"the\npolitical and legal religion which had been established in the Western\nEmpire,\" and as \"not taught in the Scriptures,\" and as \"unknown to three\ncenturies of Christian faith and practice.\"  To this sermon the bishop\nsubsequently replied in language of even greater vehemence; and before\nvery long there was a continuous controversy going on between them, in\nwhich numerous Christians engaged on both sides, until it spread\nthroughout the churches and grew into heated and sometimes acrimonious\ndisputations.  Nearly all the Romans in Alexandria took part with the\nbishop, and urged him earnestly in the prosecution of the controversy,\nwhile the native Christians, for the most part, clave unto Arius; and\nthe word \"foreigner,\" which before that time was never applied by one\nChristian to another (for they were all brethren), quickly crept into\ncommon use.\n\nThe superior learning, zeal, and influence of the presbyter greatly\noutweighed the personal and episcopal power of the bishop, and a vast\nmajority of the Alexandrian clergy and laity sustained the views of\nArius as the only true doctrine of the Scriptures, as approved by the\nancient and constant teachings of the Church; and the controversy might\nhave sunk into oblivion but for the \"foreign\" element, many of whom\nreally seemed to make it their chief vocation to proclaim the great\ntruth of \"the Holy Trinity,\" and to utter eloquent panegyrics upon the\ncharacter of Constantine the Emperor of Rome.  Under these influences\neach party steadily maintained its own opinions, and the matter remained\nin this condition until Eusebius of Caesarea, having parted from the\nother Eusebius at Nicomedia, had journeyed unto Alexandria to redeem his\npromise made to the emperor that the flame of controversy should be kept\nburning until a general council could be convoked to determine it.\nEusebius very soon comprehended the situation, and speedily reached the\nconclusion that even his superior official station and the support of\nthe \"foreigners\" would not enable the bishop long to maintain himself\nagainst the vast power and influence of the presbyter without efficient\naid.  That, he thought, could not be effectively rendered except by some\nman of rare abilities, who might combine in himself all the\ncharacteristics of a courtier as well as of a priest, for the \"foreign\nelement\" was already largely secularized; and he very anxiously looked\nabout him for some man fit to be intrusted with the task of upholding\nthe hands of the venerable Alexander.\n\nOf course our Eusebius had duly renewed his ancient friendship for\nArius, whom he loved and honored above all living men, and they had many\ninteresting conversations upon the condition and prospects of the\nChurch, and upon the present duties of the faithful pastor. Eusebius\nskillfully argued in favor of accommodating priestly action to the\nexigencies of social and political surroundings.  Arius would hear of no\ncompromise upon any point of either faith or practice.  \"Pontius\nPilate,\" he vehemently exclaimed, \"was the prince of compromisers when\nhe washed his hands of 'the innocent blood,' and delivered up our Lord\nto be crucified!  His successors are in all things worthy of him,\nseeking both to win the world by their actions and to save their souls\nby the profession of a faith which they do not practice!  How fare ye\nbishops under the reign of Antichrist--ye that dwell where Satan's seat\nis?\"\n\n\"The Church hath prospered beyond all expectation. The bishops almost\nrank with princes; the presbyters are blessed with exceeding comfort and\nhonor, and throughout the Western Empire the people crowd into the\nchurches faster than they can be built.\"\n\nThen the grim old presbyter's hand waved to and fro, and his grand,\nshaggy head darted forward upon the long, lean neck, and the sad eyes\ngleamed with strange, mesmeric light, and his voice hissed with sibilant\nsharpness as he exclaimed: \"Yea, my brother!  And I have heard that your\nprince-bishops own slaves and nourish concubines; and that 'the\nbrethren' hold estates and offices, and fleece their brethren by the\ncrime of usury; and that the only difference between Romans who are\nChristians and those who are not subsists in the fact that one class of\nthem patronizes the imperial churches and professes faith in Christ, and\nthe other does not degrade itself and dishonor religion by any such\nshams and farces!  Are these things so?\"\n\nEusebius winced at this fierce and bitter thrust, but answered: \"Some\nabuses have crept in among us, in consequence of our wonderful\nprosperity, which were unknown to the severity and simplicity of an\nearlier age; but we have many saintly bishops, presbyters, and people;\nand the evils of which thou speakest belong not to the Church, but to\nthe frailty of individuals.\"\n\n\"Thou art verily mistaken, brother!  Or what dost thou expect from a\nstatutory religion, from an established church of which Constantine is\nking instead of Christ?  I tell thee plainly that a church which\nimperial authority hath legalized along with legalized war, slavery, and\nmammon-worship, is not only no church of Christ, but is that Antichrist\nof which John in the Apocalypse doth speak.  And it shall grow\ncontinually worse and worse.\"\n\n\"I doubt not,\" answered Eusebius, \"that it would have been better to\nhave preserved primitive Christianity; but the emperor is so powerful,\nand ecclesiasticism hath become insensibly so firmly established, that\nit is impossible now to turn back to the original system, perhaps\ndangerous to attempt it.\"\n\n\"Yea, dangerous,\" said Arius, bitterly.  \"For already he hath persecuted\nthe saints, having waged a cruel war against the Goths to overthrow the\nchurch which Ulfilas planted among them, and force them to adopt the\nRoman laws and legal religion.  I look forward every year to see this\nman of sin build a new capital, upon seven hills, above the sea, that\nJohn's description of him may be made complete.  Thou must follow thine\nown counsel, brother.  As for me, in life, in death, I am fixed in\nunflinching opposition to any name of blasphemy that may be used to\ndesignate a legal religion that sanctions war, slavery, and\nmammon-worship.\"\n\nMany such conversations occurred between the bishop and Arius; but\nEusebius found that the stern old man was incapable of compromise, and\ndespised all expediency.\n\n\"Yea,\" he would say, \"I have been told that ye Western Christians\nalready believe that charity consisteth of alms-giving, instead of love\nto the brethren! ...\n\n\"Ye foolishly dream of converting the world,\" he cried, \"by means of a\nchurch founded upon Roman laws, whose faith is a mere intellectual\nassent and conviction!  But ye will find that instead of securing\nliberty, fraternity, equality, ye have only added the bond of conscience\nto bind the burdens more tightly upon the shoulders of mankind, and\nfurnished the new Pharisees with new power to oppress the poor....\n\n\"Yea, verily,\" he said, \"ye know that faith in Christ and community of\nproperty constituted the liberty of the gospel wherewith Jesus sought to\nmake man free!  But ye have imported into the very bosom of the Church\nall of the tyrannies, injustices, class-distinctions, and wrongs which\nconstitute mammon-worship and the sorrow of the world; and there is no\ndifference between your system and the old religions except that ye have\nsubstituted the name of Christ for that of Jupiter and Mars in juggling\nwith the rights of man.\"\n\nAnd when Eusebius endeavored to arouse in the stern old man some\nconsiderations of personal prudence, by intimating the probability that\nConstantine might some day rule the East also, the lone and immovable\nman sternly answered:\n\n\"Yea, he will obtain the East!  For he alone of all men hath never\nfailed in diplomacy; hath never abandoned a purpose; hath never lost a\nbattle, and never will!  He hath sold his soul for earthly glory, and\nSatan will pay to him his price.\"\n\nBut although Eusebius loved to commune with the stern old man, whose\nstainless integrity of character he could love and honor, but scarcely\nimitate, he never forgot the object of his journey to Alexandria, and\nwas constantly on the lookout for some one to whom he could assign the\ntask of aiding the ancient Alexander in his controversy with the great\nand fearless presbyter.  At last he fell in with a youth who was an\narchdeacon in the bishop's church, and who, although very young, was\npossessed of such remarkable genius and learning, and of such\npre-eminent personal advantages, as at once to attract and astonish him,\nand seemed to render him the fittest person to engage.  He sedulously\ncultivated the young man's friendship, and admired him more and more as\nhe learned more of his character and abilities.  Finally, he cordially\ninvited the youth to make with him a visit to Constantine, and having\nwith much difficulty obtained the consent of the aged Alexander, who\nloved the bright and accomplished youth with exceeding tenderness, they\ntwain departed for Milan.  When the long and tedious journey had been\nsafely accomplished, Eusebius promptly waited upon the emperor, who\nreceived him with fraternal cordiality.\n\n\"Ah, thou vagabond friend,\" he cried, \"thou runaway bishop, whom I had\nalmost given up for lost, give some good account of thyself, or thou\nshalt never again have leave of absence, even for a day.\"\n\n\"I have indeed delayed my return beyond all expectation,\" said the\nbishop; \"but I suppose that my brother of Nicomedia hath imparted all\nneedful information of thy lost shepherd up to the time at which I set\nout for Alexandria.\"\n\n\"Yea, verily,\" answered Constantine.  \"And his narrative was most\nperspicuous and entertaining, and eloquent enough to draw my veteran\nlegions from the remotest quarters of the empire; and even now they are\nslowly but steadily concentrating eastwardly, and they have a certain\nOriental bearing in their movements which would please thee mightily if\nonly thou wert soldier enough to perceive it.\"\n\nBoth of the great men indulged in a laugh at this pleasant sally of the\nemperor, who continued: \"Ah! my beloved bishop, it was indeed most\ndelicate and superb work!  Thou must henceforth insert into all the\ncopies of the Apocrypha 'The Prophecy of Gaius of Chalcis,' but not\nduring the lifetime of the Emperor Licinius, else he would decapitate\nmankind to reach thy single head!\"\n\nAnd again the emperor laughed like a boy, and the bishop joined in his\nmerriment.\n\n\"How hast thou fared in Egypt, bishop?  And what good tidings hast thou\nbrought me thence?\"\n\n\"I have explored the position of the controversy between the Bishop\nAlexander and Arius as thoroughly as possible.  I find that Alexander,\nwho begins greatly to feel his advanced years, is no match for the\nlearned, eloquent, and powerful presbyter, and that unless he receive\nactive, intelligent support, the controversy in Egypt and Syria will\nultimately die out for want of opposition to Arius.  The aged bishop\nhath been raised too much under the influence of the mighty causes which\nmolded the character of Arius himself, to be a fit antagonist for him;\nand younger blood, warm with the new age of Constantine rather than with\nthat of primitive Christianity, is imperatively required.  Thine agents\nat Alexandria have been zealous and faithful, but a remarkable man is\nneeded at that place; less than genius will accomplish nothing.\"\n\n\"Such men are rare enough,\" responded the emperor; \"but surely thou must\nhave discovered at least one.\"\n\n\"I was much troubled to find a fit agent for such a work, and finally\nwould not decide to fix upon the man of mine own choice without first\nhaving given thee an opportunity to see and determine for thyself; and,\ntherefore, I brought him hither with me.\"\n\n\"Who is the man?\"\n\n\"He is a youth, but little more than twenty years of age, but, like many\nof the nameless orphans whom the Church hath raised, he is very\nthoroughly educated, especially in the Scriptures.  He hath natural\ngenius for the ministry and for politics.  When he was a child, the\nBishop Alexander saw him one day baptizing other children in the bay in\nsport; but the old bishop was so charmed with the solemn grace and\ndignity with which the child performed the sacred rite, that he declared\nthe ceremony valid and took the children into his own church, and hath\nraised and educated this boy with loving care and patience.  He is now\nan archdeacon of the bishop's congregation.  Thou must not despise his\nyouth, for in Alexandria, which is perhaps the most intellectual city of\nthe world, it is commonly believed that this youth is the most eloquent,\nthe most intelligent, and the most beautiful of the sons of men.  But I\nwould have thee judge for thyself.  If he please thee, I advise that\nthou keep with thee the most wise and learned Hosius, and through him\ninstruct the young archdeacon thoroughly. I decline to meddle any\nfurther in the business, for I am both the friend of Arius and a stout\nbeliever in his doctrine, and when the time comes will be upon his\nside.\"\n\n\"What is the name of this youthful paragon,\" said Constantine, \"who hath\nso mightily bewitched thee?\"\n\n\"At Alexandria they commonly call him the Christian Apollo; but his name\nis Athanasius.\"\n\n\"Wilt thou bring him unto me?\"\n\nThe bishop quietly withdrew, and soon returned and introduced to the\nemperor a youth as perfect as an artist's dream of beauty.  He was one\nof the most perfect specimens of Egyptian manhood.  Small of stature,\nseeming to one of the emperor's magnificent proportions to be almost a\ndwarf, the expression of his face was of angelic beauty.  There was a\nhardly perceptible stoop in his figure which gave him an appearance of\nnative humility; a hooked nose, clearly chiseled; a small, rosy mouth; a\nshort, silky beard spreading away into luxuriant whiskers; light, soft\nauburn hair; large, bright, serene eyes of womanly tenderness and\npurity; and limbs and features delicately but exquisitely fashioned--all\ncombined to confer an irresistible charm upon his person and manners.\nEusebius at once withdrew, leaving Constantine alone with the bright and\nbeautiful boy.  The splendid youth, with a movement free alike from\nshame and from audacity, but full of matchless ease and grace, darted\nforward, sank lightly down upon one knee, grasped one of the emperor's\nhands and kissed it--an act of homage never exacted, and seldom looked\nfor, from any Christian--and lifting his soft, luminous eyes toward the\nemperor's face, said in tones as liquid and mellow as perfect\nflute-notes: \"I thank thee, Augustus, that thy kindness satisfieth one\ngreat longing of my heart; for I have desired above all things to look\nupon thy face.\"\n\nThe emperor was charmed with the youth's exquisite manner and wonderful\nbeauty, and gently raising him replied: \"I give thee back thy thanks,\nlad, for surely thou art far better worth the seeing than am I.  But why\ndidst thou kneel to me?  Most Christians make it a matter of conscience\nto kneel to none but God only, and I have respected their scruples.\"\n\n\"I crave pardon if mine obeisance hath been offensive unto thee,\" the\nmellifluous voice replied; \"for I did but offer to thee the homage which\nmy heart hath taught me to be due from raw but hopeful youth to mature\nand glorious manhood; from one of the very humblest of the people unto\nthe wisest and greatest ruler of mankind; from a young but sincere and\nearnest Christian to the magnificent protector of the Church!\"\n\nConstantine laid his hand caressingly upon the young man's glorious\nhead, and, laughing lightly, answered: \"If thy tongue so drippeth honey,\nlad, the bees will settle in thy mouth and some time, may be, sting\nthee. Art thou so pleasant to all sorts of men?\"\n\n\"Why not?\" responded the melodious voice.  \"I could love all that are\ngood, pity all that are evil, forgive their injuries, despise their\nhate, and die, I think, to do them service if that could benefit\nmankind.\"\n\n\"Boy,\" said Constantine, gravely but pleasantly, \"thou hast uttered the\nprofoundest secret of all true statesmanship!  Who taught thee that?\"\n\n\"I think my teacher hath been Jesus Christ.  But I knew not that this\nsentiment was statesmanship, for I have learned it as religion.\"\n\n\"Only a few of the most gifted of mankind,\" replied Constantine, \"have\nbeen wise enough to perceive that true religion and true statesmanship\nare twins that can never be torn apart without fatal injuries to both of\nthem.\"\n\n\"And, therefore,\" said Athanasius, \"it follows that the wisest emperor\nmust also be the best; and hence the people of the Western Empire should\ncount themselves the most fortunate of mankind.\"\n\n\"If thou dost so believe concerning the Empire of the West,\" said\nConstantine, \"perhaps thou wouldst not decline to enter the service of\nits emperor in thine own country.  Art thou bound by ties of love or of\nallegiance to the great Emperor Licinius?\"\n\n\"Nay,\" replied Athanasius, \"I am bound by no human allegiance other than\nto obey all laws in force in the government under which I live that\nconflict not with conscience.  Nor have I been taught to regard one\nearthly sovereign as better than another, except as the policy of the\nhuman ruler may affect the Church favorably or unfavorably.  Nor could\nany temporal advantages induce me to abandon the ministry of the Church\nin which I hold the humble place of an archdeacon, for I would choose\neven a menial service in the temple of God rather than the most exalted\nposition outside of it.\"\n\n\"Then,\" said Constantine, briefly, \"thou dost decline to enter into my\nservice?\"\n\n\"Nay,\" answered Athanasius.  \"Thou hast thyself declared that true\nreligion and true statesmanship coincide throughout; and I have been\ntaught to regard thee as both the greatest ruler of mankind and as the\nstrong, unwavering defender of the faith; so that in place of declining\nany services thou mayst require at my hands, I am ready to give my life\nfor thee; only I can not abandon the ministry, to which conscience,\ninclination, and training have consecrated me; and verily a Christian\nemperor hath need of faithful ministers as much as of faithful\ngenerals.\"\n\nThe eyes of Constantine sparkled with pleasure as he answered: \"Thou\nmeanest, then, that thou wouldst labor as zealously for the glory of\nmine empire within the pale of the Church as my civil officers do in the\naffairs of government, or as my generals do in the military campaigns?\"\n\n\"Yea, verily!\" said Athanasius; \"and if it were not presumptuous in a\nboy to express an opinion in the presence of one so wise and great, I\nwould not hesitate to declare that the victories which thou shalt gain\nin aiding the Church shall be less costly, less bloody, and more\npermanent, than any which thine invincible arms can ever gain by the\nsword; for thou shalt win not only provinces, but hearts!\"\n\n\"Boy,\" cried Constantine, \"thy cunning speech unveileth the secret dream\nof every ruler that nature hath fitted for dominion.  For he that\nswayeth the scepter of empire only to acquire larger means for the\ngratification of his own lust for wealth, ostentation, luxury, and\npride, is but a tyrant, however wise and strong he may be. The born\nruler lives for his people, and, as thou hast said, can not satisfy his\ngrand ambition unless he shall conquer hearts as well as provinces.\"\n\n\"Thy thought is worthy of thy greatness,\" replied Athanasius, \"and\nshoweth me that the welfare of the Church and of the emperor must be\nidentical in every true and proper government, so that priest and\nsoldier both may labor for its glory.\"\n\n\"Wilt thou define, as thou dost understand it, a true and proper\ngovernment?\"\n\n\"A true and proper government, as I conceive it to be, is the just and\nwise administration of all civil, military, and ecclesiastical authority\nby one supreme ruler.\"\n\nThe splendid face of Constantine grew bright with pleasure as he heard\nthis concise and luminous reply; but desiring still further to draw out\nthe young man's views, to which his use of the word \"ecclesiastical\"\n(entirely new to the emperor) gave a particular value, he answered as\nfollows: \"And which dost thou think to be of supreme authority, the\ncivil, military, or ecclesiastical power?\"\n\n\"Neither of them separately,\" replied Athanasius. \"But only the ruler,\nthat standeth in the place of God, should be supreme.  It would be gross\ntyranny for the military authority to dominate the civil administration;\nit would be gross impertinence for the ecclesiastical authority to\ndirect the armies of the empire; it would be confusion for either of\nthem to interfere with the domain of another.  Each should operate in\nits appropriate sphere, and the ruler whom God hath given should direct\nthe movements of them all.  For he standeth in the place of God.\"\n\n\"Yet,\" muttered Constantine to himself, \"the heretic Arius saith that it\nis a blasphemy for any man to seek to stand in that high place, which\nbelongeth unto Christ alone!\"  But unto Athanasius he presently made\nanswer: \"Thou hast wisdom far beyond thine age; but in regard to these\nthings thou dost not agree well with the opinions of the most wise and\nlearned presbyter, Arius the Libyan!\"\n\nAthanasius remained silent for some moments, looking up into the face of\nthe tall emperor, who was watching his beautiful countenance with\ninterest and curiosity, and a strange, almost indefinable expression\nlighted his sparkling features.  The red lips parted and very slightly\ncurled, but not with scorn or dislike.  He had the very same expression,\nperhaps, that the face of some beautiful young girl might wear if a\ngrandmother, whom she loved and revered, should begin to lecture her\nupon the observance of some propriety which the world had outgrown since\nthe ancient dame had been a maiden of her own age. At last he said:\n\"Nay, verily.  The presbyter Arius surpasseth all living men in personal\nholiness; but his holiness is stern, ascetic, forbidding.  He surpasseth\nall men in learning; but his learning laboreth to blight and destroy all\nthe rare flowers of sentiment wherewith art, science, and philosophy\nseek to adorn and beautify the faith.  He is the most earnestly\nChristian of all men; but his religion is hard, exacting, exclusive, and\nrefuseth to blend with the performance of the duties of faith the light\nand human tenderness that endeareth piety unto the hearts of common men.\nHe saith that the kingdom of heaven is the only government that our Lord\nestablished upon earth; that the Christian hath need of no other; and\nthat to own allegiance to an earthly sovereign, or blend his laws with\nour religion, is to betray the Christ.  He belongeth to a past age and\nto a vanishing system, and while he is one of the ablest, purest, most\nadmirable Christians in the world, he is not, and never will be, an\necclesiastic.  He hath been reared up in an age of miracles and\nmartyrdoms, and can not comprehend the world as it is, nor the Church as\nit must be and is fast becoming.\"\n\nConstantine regarded the gifted youth with wonder and delight, and\nlistened with joy and amazement while the fresh and silvery tongue\nstruck out, in forms of speech as clear and beautiful as the last coins\nissued from the royal mint, thoughts which he had himself long cherished\nand acted upon, but had never been able to conceive so perspicuously as\nthe young archdeacon uttered them.  The emperor then said, \"Thou\nadoptest the opinions of the most learned and pious Bishop Alexander\nrather than those of the primitive, inflexible, and turbulent presbyter,\ndost thou not?\"\n\n\"Only to a limited extent,\" answered the musical voice of Athanasius.\n\"For our venerable bishop himself is ancient, and agreeth in many things\nwith the presbyter.  Truly, the great advantage that Arius hath over him\nconsisteth in the fact that they have attended the same councils and\nwitnessed the same events together, and the presbyter doth continually\naffirm this thing or that, and sayeth unto the bishop: 'Thou, also, wast\nthen present; is it true, or not, as I have stated it?'  And the bishop\nanswereth, 'That thing I deny not, for it is true.'  And then, as the\nreport of the thunder followeth the lightning's flash, the fierce\npresbyter's conclusion striketh and overwhelmeth him.  Thou canst\nscarcely understand how all this may be, unless thou hast seen men and\nwomen burned at the stake thyself, and hast heard their testimony,\nsifting through the flames, that they obeyed Jesus Christ, the only\nrightful King, whence they were called _martyrs_, that is, _witnesses_;\nbut both Alexander and Arius have beheld such things, and the influence\nthereof abideth with them forever.\"\n\nThen answered Constantine: \"I thank God this day that I have seen no\nsuch events, and that no man under mine own government, or under that of\nmy father, the most holy Emperor Constantius, hath ever seen them. But\nwhence, then, hast thou learned thy views of the relation that ought to\nsubsist between the Church and the emperor?\"\n\n\"Chiefly from mine own thoughts, which many circumstances have provoked\nto activity, especially the efforts I have made to aid our venerable\nbishop.  Long ago, in one of our social gatherings, when Arius did press\nthe bishop fiercely upon the point that Christians must have naught to\ndo with any government except the kingdom of heaven, which Jesus\nordained for them, I arose and asked permission to put a question, which\nbeing granted, I said, 'If Tiberius Caesar had been a Christian, would\nnot our Lord have rejoiced to see him rule the world?'  And for some\ntime the fierce man was silent.\"\n\n\"And what answer did he ever make?\" asked Constantine.\n\n\"He said at last: 'And if the little foxes that destroy the vines could\nhave asked foolish questions in Greek, would Moses have pronounced the\nanimals unclean?'  And I said: 'But the foxes never speak in Greek; it\nis contrary to the law of nature.'  And he said to me: 'Neither can an\nemperor be a Christian; it is contrary to the law of Christ, which\nordaineth equality, liberty, and fraternity for all believers.'  And\nthose of his party thought the answer to be sufficient. But,\nnotwithstanding, I did follow the leading of mine own thoughts, and many\nthings grew out of it.\"\n\n\"Let not thy thoughts change their course,\" replied Constantine; \"for\nthou art altogether right.  Thou shalt be my friend: remember that thou\nart young, and that the pious Alexander groweth very old; so that, in\nthe course of nature, thou mayst live to see the episcopal throne at\nAlexandria vacant; or if they have no throne there yet, one shall some\nday be established.  But thou hast charmed me into the neglect of other\nduties. Go, now, and come again on to-morrow at the same hour.\"\n\nThen the beautiful boy again glided forward, lightly kneeled and kissed\nthe emperor's hand, and smilingly withdrew.\n\nAnd for many months afterward Constantine kept the young man Athanasius\nwith him, and also Hosius, the venerable and learned Bishop of Cordova;\nand daily the youth passed some hours in conversation with the emperor\nor with the bishop, or with both of them together; so that when he\nreturned to Alexandria his bright and wonderful intelligence was\nenlarged and enlightened by the foremost thoughts concerning things both\nroyal and ecclesiastical that any men of that age could teach him.  And\nthe youth bore with him a most kind and affectionate letter written to\nthe ancient Bishop Alexander by Constantine's own hand, and also a\nbeautiful communion service of silver for his church.  And Athanasius\nsaid unto Constantine almost at the moment of his departure, \"Shall I\ndeliver unto Arius for thee any message?\"\n\nAnd Constantine laughingly answered: \"If the presbyter inquire of thee,\nthou mayst inform him that the emperor said of him, 'There are no birds\nin last year's nests.'\"\n\nBut Arius the presbyter never asked Athanasius anything about the\nemperor.  Even when the stern old man was told that Athanasius had been\nto Milan, and had for months abode in the emperor's palace, he only\nsaid: \"The stature and Roman strength which enableth Constantine to cope\nwith German, Briton, and Gaul, is fitly joined to the subtilty, beauty,\nand intelligence by which Athanasius typifieth the countless centuries\nof Egyptian civilization; and the two, like Herod and Caiaphas, combine\nagainst our Lord.\"\n\nFrom the date of the return of Athanasius, men perceived that the Bishop\nAlexander became more open and explicit in his definitions of the Holy\nTrinity, more pointed in his opposition to the teachings of Arius, more\neloquent in his praises of any pious emperor whom God might raise up to\nfree the Christians of the East and identify his government with the\nChurch.  And Arius, having publicly taught that the unity of the Godhead\nconsisted in the divine nature of Father, Spirit, and Son, and not in\nany blasphemous and impossible conception of the identity of them, or of\ntheir union in one person, just as the human family consisteth of\nfather, mother, and son; and having gone so far as to write in a little\nmetrical book of doctrine that \"God was, when Christ was not\"; that \"God\nwas not always Father\"; and that the words \"Father\" and \"Son,\"\n\"begotten\" and \"conceived,\" necessarily implied the \"priority\" of him\nthat begat, and of her that conceived--was by the Bishop Alexander\nordered to suspend the exercises of his functions as presbyter of the\nBaucalis church.  And, thereupon, the Libyan called his congregation\ntogether and said unto them: \"Brethren, Alexander the bishop hath issued\nan order to suspend me from the performance of my duties as presbyter\nbecause I do not believe, and have refused to teach, his impossible,\nnovel, Western, unscriptural philosophy concerning that which he calleth\n'the Holy Trinity,' a phrase not found in Scripture.  Ye know that the\ntitle to the Baucalis church was placed by the martyr Theckla, who\ncaused it to be erected, in certain trustees of the common Church, not\nin the bishop, for in those days the bishops owned nothing.  Ye know\nthat the original members of this community (many of whom still live)\ncalled me to be the presbyter, and that I have discharged the duties of\nthat place as faithfully as I was able to do by the space of nearly\nthirty years.  None but the trustees have authority or right to close\nthe church against me or my community; and I am well advised by diligent\nsearching of the Scriptures, and by the Christian practices of three\ncenturies, that no bishop hath any authority to suspend a presbyter, and\nthat the order made by Brother Alexander in that behalf is puerile and\nvoid.  I purpose, therefore, to continue the usual ministrations of\ndivine service, and all my pastoral work among you, until the Church\nshall bid me to abstain; and ye who may desire so to do, can continue to\nattend.\"\n\nThe trustees of the Baucalis church promptly refused to close its doors\nupon Arius, and his entire congregation remained steadfastly devoted to\nhim; and Bishop Alexander and those who followed him denounced the\nLibyan as a \"heretic,\" and began to pray for the coming of Constantine;\nand wherever the influence of the Roman Empire was dominant, the \"Arian\nheresy\" was condemned; and the flame of controversy grew fiercer and\nfiercer, and spread throughout Christendom.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VI.\n\n                  THE ONE GREAT BATTLE OF CHRISTENDOM!\n\n\nDuring the progress of these affairs, Constantine had thoroughly\nsatisfied himself, by the reports of his secret political agents in\nNicomedia and elsewhere, that the assurances which the Eusebii had given\nto him that Licinius would not in any event move his fleet away from the\ncoasts of Asia were entirely trustworthy.  The overthrow of the Gothic\nchurch, which had been founded and edified by Ulfilas, had been followed\nby a treaty of peace with that splendid people, whereby they had bound\nthemselves to furnish, whenever the service of the emperor required it,\nforty thousand young men for the imperial army; these legions had long\nago been supplied, armed, and thoroughly exercised, and constituted in\nthemselves a magnificent army.  The emperor had been triumphant\neverywhere. \"Confiding in the superiority of his genius and military\npower,\" saith the historian Gibbon, \"he determined, without any previous\ninjury, to exert them for the destruction of Licinius, whose advanced\nage and unpopular vices seemed to promise an easy conquest.  But the old\nemperor, awakened by the approaching danger, deceived the expectations\nof his friends as well as enemies.  Calling forth that spirit and those\nabilities by which he had deserved the friendship of Galerius and the\nimperial purple, he prepared himself for the contest, collected the\nforces of the East, and soon filled the plains of Hadrianople with his\ntroops, and the straits of the Hellespont with his fleet. The army\nconsisted of one hundred and fifty thousand foot and fifteen thousand\nhorse.  The fleet was composed of three hundred and fifty galleys of\nthree ranks of oars.... The troops of Constantine were ordered to\nrendezvous at Thessalonica.  They numbered above one hundred and twenty\nthousand horse and foot.  Their emperor was satisfied with their martial\nappearance, and his army contained more soldiers, though fewer men, than\nthat of his eastern competitor.  The legions of Constantine were levied\nin the warlike provinces of Europe; action had confirmed their\ndiscipline; victory had elevated their hopes, and there were among them\na great number of veterans, who, after seventeen glorious campaigns\nunder the same leader, prepared themselves to deserve honorable\ndismissal by a last effort of their valor.  But the naval preparations\nof Constantine were in every respect much inferior to those of Licinius.\nThe maritime cities of Greece sent their respective quotas of men and\nships to the celebrated harbor of Piraeus, and their united forces\nconsisted of no more than two hundred small vessels....  _It is only\nsurprising_ that the Eastern emperor, _who possessed so great a\nsuperiority at sea_, should have neglected this opportunity of carrying\nan offensive war into the center of his rival's dominions.  Instead of\nembracing such an active resolution, _which might have changed the whole\nface of the war_, the prudent Licinius expected the approach of his\nrival in a camp near Hadrianople, which he fortified with an anxious\ncare that betrayed his apprehensions of the event.  Constantine directed\nhis march from Thessalonica toward that part of Thrace, till he found\nhimself stopped by the broad and rapid stream of the Hebrus, and\ndiscovered the numerous army of Licinius, which filled the steep ascent\nof the hill, from the river to the city of Hadrianople.  Many days were\nspent in doubtful skirmishes; but at length the obstacles of the passage\nand of the attack were removed by the intrepid conduct of\nConstantine.... The valor and danger of Constantine are attested by a\nslight wound which he received in the thigh; but ... the victory was\nobtained no less by the conduct of the general than by the courage of\nthe hero; for a body of five thousand archers marched round to occupy a\nthick wood in the rear of the enemy, whose attention was distracted by\nthe building of the bridge; and Licinius, perplexed by so many artful\nevolutions, was reluctantly drawn from his advantageous post to combat\non equal terms in the plain. The contest was no longer equal.  His\nconfused multitude of new levies was easily vanquished by the veterans\nof the West.  Thirty-four thousand men are reported to have been slain.\nThe fortified camp of Licinius was taken by assault the evening of the\nbattle; the greater part of the fugitives, who had retired to the\nmountains, surrendered themselves the next day to the discretion of the\nconqueror; and his rival, who could no longer keep the field, confined\nhimself within the walls of Byzantium.  The siege of Byzantium, which\nwas immediately undertaken by Constantine, was attended with great labor\nand uncertainty.  In the late civil war, the fortifications of that\nplace, so justly considered as the key of Europe and Asia, had been\nrepaired and strengthened; and _as long as Licinius remained master of\nthe sea_, the garrison was much less exposed to the danger of famine\nthan the army of the besiegers.  The naval commanders of Constantine\nwere summoned to his camp, and received his positive orders to force the\npassage of the Hellespont, _as the fleet of Licinius, instead of seeking\nand destroying their feeble enemy, continued inactive in those narrow\nstraits, where its superiority of numbers was of little use or\nadvantage_.  Crispus, the emperor's eldest son, was intrusted with the\nexecution of this daring enterprise, which he performed with so much\ncourage and success that he deserved the esteem, and most probably\nexcited the jealousy, of his father.  The engagement lasted two days;\nand in the evening of the first, the contending fleets, after\nconsiderable mutual loss, retired to their respective harbors in Europe\nand Asia.  The second day, about noon, a strong south wind sprang up,\nwhich carried the vessels of Crispus against the enemy, and as this\ncasual opportunity was improved by his skillful intrepidity, he soon\nobtained a complete victory.  For the current always sets out of the\nHellespont, and, when it is assisted by a north wind, no vessel can\nattempt the passage, but a south wind renders the force thereof almost\nimperceptible.  One hundred and thirty vessels were destroyed, five\nthousand men were slain, and Amandus, the admiral of the fleet, escaped\nwith the utmost difficulty to the shores of Chalcedon.  As soon as the\nHellespont was open, a plentiful convoy of provisions flowed into the\ncamp of Constantine, who had already advanced the operations of the\nsiege.  He constructed artificial mounds of earth of equal height with\nthe ramparts of Byzantium. The lofty towers which were erected on that\nfoundation galled the besieged with large stones and darts from the\nmilitary engines, and the battering-rams had shaken the walls in several\nplaces.  If Licinius persisted much longer in the defense, he exposed\nhimself to be involved in the ruin of the place.  Before he was\nsurrounded, he prudently removed his person and his treasures to\nChalcedon, in Asia....  Such were the resources and such the abilities\nof Licinius, that, after so many successive defeats, he collected in\nBithynia a new army of fifty or sixty thousand men, while the activity\nof Constantine was employed in the siege of Byzantium.  The vigilant\nemperor did not, however, neglect the last struggles of his antagonist.\nA considerable part of his victorious army was transported over the\nBosporus in small vessels, and the decisive engagement was fought soon\nafter their landing on the heights of Chrysopolis, now called Scutari.\nThe troops of Licinius, though they were lately raised, ill armed, and\nworse disciplined, made head against the conquerors with fruitless but\ndesperate valor, till a total defeat, and a slaughter of five-and-twenty\nthousand men, irretrievably determined the fate of their leader.  He\nretired to Nicomedia, rather with the view of gaining some time for\nnegotiation, than with the hope of any effectual defense. Constantia,\nhis wife, the sister of Constantine, interceded with her brother in\nfavor of her husband, and obtained from his policy, rather than from his\ncompassion, a solemn promise, confirmed by an oath, that, after the\nresignation of the purple, Licinius should be permitted to pass the\nremainder of his life in peace and affluence....  By this victory of\nConstantine the Roman world was again united under one emperor,\nthirty-seven years after Diocletian had divided his power and provinces\nwith his associate Maximian....  The foundation of Constantinople, and\nthe _legal establishment_ of the Christian religion, were the immediate\nand memorable consequences of this revolution.\"\n\nIf the victory had been otherwise, the face of history might have been\nentirely changed: the Christian communities might have been permitted to\nmaintain their original communal organization, at least in the Eastern\nChurch, and Christ might still have had a kingdom upon earth.  If\nLicinius had employed his naval superiority in offensive war, instead of\nkeeping it cooped up under the shores of Asia, \"in those narrow straits\nwhere its superiority of numbers was of little use or advantage,\" the\nprobabilities are that he might have maintained his power at least in\nthe East; but the Eusebii had \"neutralized\" the mighty fleet by that\nwhich Constantine denominated \"the prophecy of Gaius of Chalcis,\" and\nChristianity was subverted everywhere, and the \"legal establishment\" of\nConstantine usurped its place.\n\nAlmost immediately Constantine proceeded to mark out the boundaries of\nthe city--Constantinople--which prescient John had seen from rocky\nPatmos; and he traced the boundaries thereof, going on foot with a spear\nin his hand, and declared that in so doing he was acting in obedience to\nthe directions of God; and when those who were with him remonstrated\nagainst his tracing so vast a space for a city, the emperor replied: \"I\nshall advance till He, the invisible guide who marches before me, thinks\nproper to stop.\"  And so he laid off the boundaries of the city upon\nseven great hills, which included the ancient site of Byzantium, and\nsoon began to lay the foundations, and to plan and to build the palaces,\ntheatres, circus, amphitheatre, and churches of Constantinople.\n\nAbout the same time the emperor became greatly interested in the\npreparation of new copies of the Scriptures, and especially of the\nepistles of John; and he had learned clerks and skillful writers\nconstantly employed in making copies in the new, running Greek text,\nwhich was lately come into use, and was more easy and beautiful than the\nuncial letters of an earlier age; and he distributed them to the bishops\nthroughout the Roman Empire.  And next he sent letters to all of the\nbishops, requesting them to meet in a solemn council of the whole\nChristian Church, at the city of Nicea, upon a designated day, in order\nto discuss and settle the disputed questions by which the world was\nagitated. And in conformity with this royal request, or order, in the\nyear 325 was assembled the most remarkable body of men that the\nexigencies of political or religious life hath ever convened together in\nthe history of the world; for it was the first oecumenical council ever\ncalled in Christendom, those which had preceded it having been assembled\nby the Christian bishops, of their own accord, and not by the authority\nof a prince or emperor, whose power was said to rule the habitable earth\n([Greek: _Oikoumene_]).\n\nThe letter which Constantine addressed to the bishops was as follows:\n\"That there is nothing more honorable in my sight than religion is, I\nbelieve, manifest to every man.  Now, because the Synod of Bishops at\nAncyra, of Galatia, consented formerly that it should be so, it hath now\nseemed unto us, on many accounts, that it would be well for it to be\nassembled at Nice, a city of Bithynia; because the bishops of Italy, and\nof the rest of the countries of Europe, are coming, and because of the\nexcellent temperature of the air, and because I shall be at hand as a\nspectator and participator of what is done.  Wherefore I signify to you,\nmy beloved brethren, that ye, all of you, promptly assemble at the city\nI spoke of, that is Nice.  Let every one of you, therefore, diligently\ninquire into that which is profitable, in order that, as I before said,\nwithout any delay, we may speedily come to be a present spectator of\nthose things which are done by the same.  God keep you, my beloved\nbrethren!\"\n\nThe reasons assigned by the emperor for calling the Council of Nicea\nwere first and chiefly that \"the Synod of Ancyra\" (which had been called\nby the bishops without the interference of any secular authority) \"had\nformerly consented\" to meet in a general council at Nice, and that \"the\nbishops of Italy and of Europe would be there,\" and that \"the air of the\nplace was of an excellent temperature,\" and that their coming into\nBithynia would afford the emperor an opportunity to be \"a spectator of\ntheir proceedings.\"  There was no intimation given that the emperor\ndesired to preside over their council, or to control its action, or to\nforce its deliberations to assume any political significance whatever,\nor to compel it to take such action as must inevitably result in the\nsubversion of the Christian polity and the establishment of an entirely\ndifferent church system.  The letter was based first upon the consent\ngiven by the Council of Ancyra and then upon matters of expediency, and\nin no respect did it question the absolute right of the bishops to meet\nwhere they might please, and to deliberate without the intermeddling of\nsecular authority.  So, at least, it seemed to all the bishops of the\nEastern Church, except a small number who had been, to a greater or less\ndegree, leavened by the leaven of ecclesiasticism.  On the face of it\nthe letter was as full a recognition of the freedom of the bishops, and\nas full a recognition of the Christian polity which had for three\ncenturies held all property in common, as was the celebrated Edict of\nMilan, in which Constantine and Licinius had united in commanding the\nofficers of the Roman world to restore the property of Christians as\n_communal_ property, the language of that edict being as follows: \"All\nof which will be necessary to be delivered up _to the body of the\nChristians_ without delay. And since the Christians themselves are known\nto have had not only those places where they were accustomed to meet,\nbut other places also, _belonging not to individuals among them_, but to\nthe _right of the whole body_ of Christians, you will also command all\nthese, by virtue of the law before mentioned, without any hesitation, to\nbe restored to the same Christians, _that is to their body_, and to\n_each conventicle separately_.\"\n\nBut already the bishops of the Western Empire, with Hosius and Eusebius\nat their head, had come to understand that while Constantine cared\nlittle about any matter of faith, he had determined to utterly destroy\nthe Christian polity, especially in regard to communism and the refusal\nof Christians to bear arms.  The regulations by which their journeys\nwere governed prescribed that they should come at the emperor's expense,\nand that \"each bishop should be accompanied by a retinue of two\npresbyters and three slaves.\"\n\nAt and near the appointed time there were bishops and presbyters\nassembled from the four quarters of the world--from Persia and from\nGaul, from Scythia and from Africa.  There were many who were the\nvictims of pagan persecutions, and still bore in their own persons the\nmarks of the tortures to which they had been subjected.  This one had\nlost an eye, gouged out by the torturer's sword or pincers; that one had\nthe sinews of his leg seared with hot iron to keep him from escaping\nfrom the mines, to which he had been condemned for the crime of being a\nChristian; and the other had had the flesh scraped off his ribs by the\ninstruments of torture.  Of the whole number present, it was believed\nthat only the eleven who came from the remotest East had escaped\nmutilation in some ghastly form.\n\nArius, although not a bishop, was there by the express order of\nConstantine, who could always sleep upon his vengeance, but never could\nforget nor forego it. The place of the assembly's sessions was a great\nhall in the imperial palace of Nicea.  The bishops and presbyters,\nassembled upon the emperor's order, traveling at his expense, to the\nimmediate vicinity of Nicomedia, then the imperial residence, into a\nroyal palace, and fed by his bounty, were from the very first the\ncreatures of Constantine, so far as complete control of the political\nsignificancy of religion could make them so.\n\nThe emperor had only two great purposes to accomplish in patronizing the\nChurch and engineering the council: one of which was to make the Eastern\nChurch as willingly and thoroughly dependent upon the imperial authority\nas he had already practically made that of the West, and to render it as\nmuch a bulwark of his government; the other was to render this condition\nof things, in appearance at least, the spontaneous and inspired action\nof a free conclave of bishops.\n\nAs for the theological verity of their doctrines or practice, the royal\natheist cared not a denarius.  His object was to make the Church as much\na part of the imperial power as a legion might be, its bishops as much\nhis agents and servants as the military officers; and to uproot and cast\nout the only essential features of Christianity which tended to\nsegregate the Christians into a separate and distinct body in the\nempire, by subverting \"the kingdom of heaven\" with its communistic\norganization, that excluded war, slavery, and mammon-worship from the\ncommunities of the faithful, so that no man should feel that because he\nwas a Christian he was therefore more free, or less a subject of the\nempire!  This he proposed to do by inducing the council to define the\nfaith and prescribe temporal penalties for heresy, which were to be\nenforced by the emperor's authority, just as were the judgments of the\nmagistrates against violators of the criminal laws: the action of the\ncouncil was to make an offense against the Church a crime against the\nimperial law.  Subject to the accomplishment of these purposes, he\nreally desired that they might reach conclusions as nearly unanimous as\npossible; for he was as anxious to avoid the creating of parties and\nclasses in the Church as he was to avoid sowing discord among his other\nsubjects.\n\nUpon the assembling of the council, Eusebius of Caesarea, \"in metrical\nprose, if not in actual verses, recited an address to the emperor, and\nthen a hymn of thanksgiving to the Almighty for the victory over\nLicinius.\"  Thereupon Constantine addressed the council in the Latin\nlanguage, which his dragoman immediately interpreted into Greek, as\nfollows: \"It has, my friends, been the object of my highest wishes to\nenjoy your sacred company, and, having obtained this, I confess my\nthankfulness to the King of all that, in addition to all my other\nblessings, he has granted to me this greatest of all--I mean, to receive\nyou all assembled together, and to see one, common, harmonious opinion\nof all.  Let, then, no envious enemy injure our happiness, and, after\nthe destruction of the impious power of the tyrants by the might of God\nour Saviour, let not the spirit of evil overwhelm the divine law with\nblasphemies: for to me far worse than any war or battle is the civil war\nof the Church of God--yea, far more fearful than the wars which have\nwaged without. As, then, by the assent and co-operation of a higher\npower, I have gained my victories over my enemies, I thought that\nnothing remained but to give God thanks, and to rejoice with those who\nhave been delivered by me. But since I learned of your divisions,\ncontrary to all expectation, I gave the report my first consideration;\nand, praying that this also might be healed through my assistance, I\ncalled you all together without delay.  I rejoice at the mere sight of\nyour assembly: but the moment that I shall consider the chief\nfulfillment of my prayers will be when I see you all joined together in\nheart and soul, and determining on one peaceful harmony for all, which\nit should well become you, who are consecrated to God, to preach to\nothers.  Do not, then, delay, my friends; do not delay, ministers of\nGod, and good servants of our common Lord and Saviour, to remove all\ngrounds of difference, and to wind up, by laws of peace, every link of\ncontroversy.  Thus will you have done what is most pleasing to the God\nwho is over all, and you will render the greatest boon to me your\nfellow-servant.\"\n\n\"The council was now formally opened, and the emperor gave permission to\nthe presidents of the assembly to commence their proceedings\"; and the\nBishops of Alexandria, Cordova, Antioch, and Caesarea, were chosen to\npreside over their deliberations: of whom Hosius, Alexander, and\nEusebius, were politicians thoroughly imbued with the ecclesiastical\nspirit and purposes of the emperor, although the last-named bishop was\nthe warm personal friend of Arius, and a follower of his theological\ntenets.  Constantine himself assumed the functions of a bishop, and\nparticipated in all their debates, \"directing all his energies to that\none point which he himself described as his aim--a unanimity of\ndecision\" as to all merely theological disputes.  For, even before the\ncouncil had met, innumerable complaints of one bishop against another\nhad been placed in his hands; so that he was satisfied that one great\ndesign he had in view was already accomplished: for this fact showed\nthat already they regarded him as the ultimate judge--the real source of\nall authority in the Church (instead of Christ), as truly as he was in\nthe state.  All of these complaints, therefore, he publicly burned in\ntheir presence, with a solemn oath that he had not read any of them, and\nhe said, \"It is the command of Christ that he who desires to be himself\nforgiven, must first forgive his brother.\"\n\nBut the very strongest proof that the emperor was lying, was the fact\nthat he made oath to his statement; and perhaps there was not a thing\nnamed in any of the complaints, that could give him a hold upon any\nbishop, that was not carefully preserved.\n\nThe first matter which came before this august assembly was the question\nwhether the Christian passover (\"Easter\") should be celebrated on the\nsame day with the Jewish (the fourteenth day of the month Nisan), or on\nthe following Sunday.  And the bitter feeling of many of the Christians\nthat \"the celebration of it on the same day that was kept by the wicked\nrace that put the Saviour to death was an impious absurdity,\" on one\nside, and the reverence on the other side for a custom which had come\ndown from the apostles, gave rise to a long controversy on the subject;\nbut it was finally \"determined by common consent\" that the ancient\ncustom should be set aside, and the more recent Christian practice\nestablished.\n\nDuring these proceedings, Arius the Libyan took no part whatever in the\ndiscussions or business of the council, but sat as a quiet and attentive\nspectator of their deliberations.  Many of them, knowing his great\nerudition and holy character, consulted him privately, and he fully gave\nthem the benefit of his learning and opinions.  Arius was now sixty\nyears of age, and was greatly changed from the bright and happy youth\nwhom we knew at Baucalis; greatly changed even from the broken-hearted\nbut ever-diligent, earnest, and eloquent presbyter of the earlier years\nof his ministry at Alexandria.  \"He is tall and thin, apparently unable\nto support his stature; he has an odd way of contorting and twisting\nhimself, which his enemies compare to the wrigglings of a snake.  He\nwould be handsome, but for the emaciation and deadly pallor of his face,\nand a downcast look imparted by a weakness of eye-sight.  At times his\nveins throb and swell, and his limbs tremble, as if suffering from some\nviolent internal complaint, the same, perhaps, that will terminate one\nday in his sudden and frightful death.  There is a wild look about him,\nthat is at first sight startling.  His dress and demeanor are those of a\nrigid ascetic.  He wears a long coat with short sleeves, such as the\nmonks wore to indicate that their hands were not made for injury, and a\nscarf of only half size, such as was the mark of an austere life; and\nhis hair hangs in tangled masses about his head.  He is usually silent,\nbut at times breaks out into fierce excitement, such as will give the\nimpression of madness. Yet with all this there is a sweetness in his\nvoice, and a winning, earnest manner, which fascinate those who come\nacross him.  Among the religious ladies of Alexandria he is said to have\nhad from the first a following of not less than seven hundred.  This\nstrange, captivating, moon-struck giant is the heretic Arius, or, as his\nadversaries call him, the madman of Ares, or Mars\": and the description\ngiven here of him is not that of a partisan of his own, but of a\nTrinitarian ecclesiastic.\n\nMany sittings of the council passed, day after day, in which the paschal\ncontroversy, the Melitian schism, and other matters of a theological\ncharacter, were discussed and determined, but the heretic remained\nutterly silent. He was ever ready to give aid, advice, counsel, and\nfurnish references to authorities, to those who applied to him, but not\nonce did he open his lips to speak to the assembly. But the purpose of\nConstantine to crush him wavered not, and the emperor had one rare\nquality--he knew how to wait.\n\nOne evening, after the close of the council's daily session, the ancient\nBishop Alexander, accompanied by his young Archdeacon Athanasius, was\nproceeding toward his lodgings, when Marcellus, the Bishop of Ancyra,\naccosted him: \"Hail, bishop!  From what thou didst tell me of his\nfierce, aggressive nature, I am astonished to find that the Libyan\nmadman continueth so quiet.  How is it that thou hast called him\nvehement, fierce, eloquent, and controversial?\"\n\n\"He hath some secret end in view,\" replied the bishop, \"and I can not\nfathom his purposes.  But on to-morrow, Athanasius, who speaketh for me\nin the council, shall provoke him to some reply, and thou mayst then\njudge of his quiet disposition for thyself.\"\n\n\"Good enough,\" said Marcellus.  \"No man can pick a quarrel with an\noyster that keepeth its shell closed.\"\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VII.\n\n                THE SUBVERSION OF THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.\n\n\nOn the next meeting of the council, Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, offered a\nresolution that the Church should make a decree requiring all the\nmarried clergy to separate from their wives and lead lives of celibacy.\nSome objected to this, on the ground that the practice of the Church had\nnever prohibited the marriage of clergymen of any rank; others insisted\non adopting the rule, because clerical marriages, besides other\ninconveniences, would tend to make the office of bishop an hereditary\none, and so elevate improper persons to that sacred place.  But the\nchief opposition \"came from a most unexpected quarter.  From among the\nEgyptian bishops stepped out into the midst, looking out of his one\nremaining eye, and halting on his paralyzed leg, the old\nhermit-confessor, Paphnutius. With a roar of indignation rather than a\nspeech, he broke into the debate: 'Lay not this heavy yoke on the\nclergy. Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled.  By\nexaggerated strictness you will do the Church more harm than good.  All\ncan not bear such an ascetic rule.  The wives themselves will suffer\nfrom it.  Marriage itself is continence.  It is enough for a man to keep\nfrom marriage after he has been ordained, according to the ancient\ncustom, but do not separate him from the wife whom once for all he\nmarried when he was a layman!'\n\n\"His speech produced a profound impression.  His own austere life and\nunblemished celibacy gave force to every word he uttered.\"\n\nThe resolution, or proposition, was voted down, but the discussion of it\ngave Athanasius the opportunity he wanted.  Having arisen with that\nalmost irresistible grace and suavity which distinguished him, the\nbeautiful young man, in a light, musical, mocking tone, that must have\nbeen terribly irritating to a grave and reverend presbyter like Arius,\nspoke as follows: \"I greatly marvel, brethren, that we have not enjoyed\nthe benefit of that princely readiness and strength in debate for which\nthe very learned presbyter Arius hath so great reputation, upon this\nimportant question.  Surely a minister who is reputed to have at his\nbeck and call, day or night, rain or shine, more than seven hundred\nvirgins and widows in our good city of Alexandria, ought to be able,\nfrom his own experience, to give us wise counsel concerning the celibacy\nof the clergy.  I hope that he will do so.\"\n\nThe brilliant, smiling youth resumed his seat, and every eye was turned\nupon the Libyan, but he neither rose nor answered.  The grand, shaggy\nhead bent slightly forward, and a momentary gleam shone in the somber\neyes; while a peculiar shiver passed over his whole frame, the python's\nidiopathic legacy, and a weary sigh exhaled through the ashy lips; but\nhe took not even the slightest notice of Athanasius, nor of his flippant\nspeech.  It was manifest that all of them expected him to say something,\nknowing the readiness and splendor of his oratory, but he was utterly\nsilent; and this silence, following the young archdeacon's sally against\nhim, seemed to indicate an unpleasant state of feeling--or what did it\nindicate?\n\n\"He could browbeat his bishop in Alexandria,\" whispered a bishop to\nEusebius of Nicomedia, \"but he quaileth in the presence of the emperor.\"\n\nBut Eusebius answered: \"He quaileth not for any man; but he answereth\nnot, because to do so might be to recognize this assembly _as a council\nof the Church_, and that he hath not yet done by speech or act.\"\n\nThen the headstrong and violent Marcellus, Bishop of Ancyra, cried out\nin fierce, defiant tones: \"Hearest thou not the friendly utterances of\nAthanasius, who speaketh for Alexander, thy bishop? or dost thou carry\nthyself so high as to treat with contempt thy learned and venerable\nbishop, thou iron-hearted heretic, that thou answerest nothing?\"\n\nThe Libyan turned his head slightly, and, fixing his sad eyes upon\nMarcellus, gazed upon him steadily, quietly, compassionately, but did\nnot utter a word; and immediately there was a clamor throughout the\nassembly, some condemning the intemperate words and manner of the Bishop\nof Ancyra, and some the seeming insolence of Arius.  Then the Emperor\nConstantine arose, and forthwith the clamor subsided, and the emperor\nsaid: \"I have often and earnestly desired that peace and Christian\ncharity might characterize our deliberations.  The remarks and the\nmanner of the Bishop of Ancyra are hasty and uncalled for; but the\nobstinate silence of the presbyter indicateth a proud and scornful\nmind--for it is known to all that the young archdeacon speaketh for the\nholy Bishop Alexander because of his age and feebleness; and if thou\ndost decline to notice the brilliant Athanasius because of his youth,\nthou must not despise thy venerable superior who speaketh through him.\nI command thee, therefore, to answer as if Alexander himself had\naddressed thee.\"\n\nThe emperor sat down, and a murmur of admiration and applause ran\nthrough the entire assembly.  Then the mighty heretic arose, and in his\nsweet, incisive, penetrating voice, answered: \"By command of Augustus,\nthe emperor, whose legal subject I have become by the defeat and death\nof the late Emperor Licinius, I arise to declare that if any one\nsupposeth I did fail to notice the remarks of the young, learned, and\neloquent archdeacon, because of any feeling of scorn for his youth, or\nfor his office, or because of any uncharity toward him, or any one else\nin this assembly, he doeth me much injustice.  This, it seemeth to me,\nis well proved by the fact, which ye all do know, that during the weeks\nthat ye have been assembled, I have taken no part in any discussion,\necclesiastical or political, in which ye have engaged.  Because I am not\nan officer of the Roman government, civil, military, or judicial, and\nhave not thought it to be consistent with the position and duties of a\npresbyter of the Church of Jesus Christ to assume the right to take part\nin the business of a royal council, seeing that my life hath been\ndevoted to religious affairs which belong to our Lord, and not to civil,\nmilitary, or judicial functions which pertain unto the emperor, I\nsupposed that it would be as indecent and presumptuous for me to meddle\nwith the business of the empire, by virtue of my office, as it would be\nfor a Roman judge, or centurion, to intrude into my church and preach\nthe gospel by virtue of his judicial or military rank.  If it had been\notherwise, I might have had something to say when I perceived that the\nroyal authority offered a gross insult to Christ and to his Church by\nmaking _Elia Capitolina_, the ancient Jerusalem, the oldest and most\nhonored see in Christendom, secondary to new Nicomedia, in order to\naccommodate ecclesiastical departments to the other political divisions\nof the empire; nor would I speak at all except at the command of the\nemperor.\"\n\nHaving thus spoken, Arius took his seat.  The words opened up plainly\nand unmistakably the vast difference that separated the Christianity of\nthe first three centuries from the imperial Church of Constantine: the\nallegiance that belonged to Jesus alone was in process of being\ntransferred to the emperor.  It was to extirpate this very freedom of\nconscience, this very liberty of the gospel that acknowledged no master\nbut Christ, that Constantine had convened the council; and although he\nhad known that the question must come up, and must be met, and although\nhe had been for years, and especially since the summoning of the\nbishops, using every artifice, argument, and influence, and urging his\nablest agents, to be prepared for it when it might come, he and his\npartisans had determined that it should be raised out of proceedings to\nbe instituted against Arius upon charges of heresy; but the wonderful\nadroitness with which the great presbyter had changed the face of the\nwhole matter, and had actually put both the emperor and his council on\nthe defensive, took Constantine utterly by surprise, and for a moment he\nlost even his marvelous self-control, and cried out in a voice of\nthunder, \"Then why art thou here?\"\n\nAnd Arius, with scintillant eyes, but in placid, melodious tones,\nresponded: \"I came hither upon the written order of the emperor, as I\nsupposed it to be the duty of a law-abiding subject to do; but certainly\nnot as an officer of the Roman government, entitled to participate in\nroyal businesses.\"\n\nThis calm and dignified reply still more clearly revealed to all the\nassembly the fact that their enthusiastic love for Constantine had too\nmuch blinded their eyes to the undeniable truth that the council was\noecumenical, not apostolical--the affair of the emperor, not of the\nChrist.  This reply was not ostensibly connected with any heretical\nteachings of Arius, or of any one else, and raised no question of\northodoxy at all; it struck at the very tap-roots of the whole movement.\n\"Whose council is this?\" was the question that each involuntarily asked\nhimself, and it was manifest that the simple, unobjectionable words of\nthe Libyan produced a profound impression upon many hearts that began to\nconsider whether the fact that the council was royal did not imply in\nitself the fact that it was not Christian, but was really treasonable\ntoward Christ; and in the midst of the solemn silence caused by such\nanxious meditation, the virulent and incautious Bishop of Ancyra cried\nout: \"Who art thou that censurest the victorious and holy emperor, and\ncondemnest the oecumenical council of the Church with thy sly,\nserpentine wriggle and speech?  Art thou not Arius the heretic?  Arius\nthe defamer of the Son of God? thou bold scorner of the Holy Trinity!\nthou cunning madman!\"\n\nBut Arius only looked upon the furious bishop with a sad and pitying\nsmile.\n\nThen Constantine cried out: \"Answer thou the bishop!\"\n\nThen, still quietly and pleasantly, with a peculiar, mesmeric light in\nhis somber eyes, and strange, thrilling sibilation in his penetrating\nvoice, Arius arose and said: \"By the command of Augustus I answer that I\nhave not censured the emperor, nor condemned the council.  As to my\nbeing a heretic, I only reply that, if this thing be true, it is no\nconcern of the emperor's, who hath never been ordained to be the keeper\nof my conscience.  It is an affair entirely between the\nMaster--Christ--and his servant Arius.  For ye all do know that there is\nno Roman law prescribing what we must believe or disbelieve, since the\npersecutors lost power to enforce obedience to their laws prescribing\nfaith in false gods, by the infliction of tortures and death, against\nthose who for conscience' sake refused to obey.  But ye know that\nneither Jesus nor his apostles ever denounced, nor authorized any human\nbeing to denounce, a temporal penalty for heresy; for the Church only\nprescribes that ye should refuse to fellowship the obdurate heretic, or\ndisobedient person; and I trust you far enough to believe that if any\npagan emperor, or any human authority, should enact laws requiring you\nto believe, or to do, anything contrary to good conscience, ye would be\nfaithful Christians enough to refuse obedience to such laws, as our\nfathers from the beginning have gloriously done.  For this is a matter\nbetween each man and his God only; not between him and the government\nwhich exercises dominion over him.  This the Church hath held from the\nbeginning; and when the heathen laws did prescribe that ye who are here\nassembled should do and believe things contrary to Christ and to\nconscience, ye did refuse, so that every bishop here, except those\neleven who come from the remotest East, hath endured tortures rather\nthan obey the human laws.  If, therefore, I be a heretic, as brother\nMarcellus of Ancyra ignorantly supposeth, what have the empire or its\nlaws to do with that?  Why speak ye of orthodoxy, or of heterodoxy, in a\ngreat royal, political assembly like this; unless, perhaps, some of ye\nare willing to believe that the great and powerful emperor is also a\ngod, having charge of your faith and conscience, as well as of your\npolitical condition; so that what the law of Constantine shall prescribe\nas right to be believed and done shall be your rule of faith and\npractice, and not what our Lord Christ hath prescribed?  For me, a poor\npresbyter of the Christian Church, to assume the right to deliberate\nupon and prescribe laws for the empire would be gross impudence and\narrogance; for any human authority to usurp the right to make laws\ncontrolling the faith of Christ's Church, would be as gross a sacrilege.\nWas Constantine crucified for you?  Or were ye baptized into his name?\nAnd do ye hope for salvation by faith in and obedience to him?  I was\nnot.  I have come, therefore, hither in obedience to the imperial\nmandate, and have spoken by the emperor's command.  As to the empire, I\nhave no authority and no desire to make laws for it; as to my Christian\nfaith, no man nor angel hath right or power to meddle therewith, or to\nprescribe laws for it.  It is a thing between my soul and its Saviour,\nwhom I have served all my life long in spite of imperial laws, and whom\nI will continue to serve, no matter what laws may be enacted. Brethren,\nwill ye do likewise? or will ye now deny the Christ?\"\n\nFor an instant the old man raised his tall form upright, the shaggy head\nsprang forward upon the long, peculiar neck, and the somber, sad eyes\nrested upon almost every face.  Then quietly he resumed his seat.\n\nAthanasius, Hosius, Constantine, and others, saw at the same instant\nthat against the impregnable position taken by Arius no assault could\nprosper.  They knew that constant and almost imperceptible steps had\nbeen necessary for years to seduce any large section of the Western\nChurch from that very position, and that the church which Ulfilas had\nplanted among the Goths had only been driven therefrom by the merciless\nuse of fire and sword.  They knew well that the line of demarkation\nbetween all earthly kingdoms and the kingdom of Christ in the world was\nclearly and unmistakably drawn, consisting not alone in faith and\nsentiment, but in a social and political policy which had been for three\ncenturies the glory of Christianity, and had been so fearfully\nillustrated by recent persecutions under Licinius in the East, that the\ncouncil could not be deluded in reference thereto; and they were seeking\nwith anxious solicitude to find some way to avoid further discussion\nupon the matter, which might arouse an interest in it that would\ndissolve the council upon the point which the Libyan urged, that the\nChurch could not meet in oecumenical council at the order of an emperor,\nand make decrees to be forced by imperial law, without forsaking Christ.\nLong before the bold presbyter had ceased to speak, the emperor had\ndetermined in his own mind that it was necessary to gain time for\nconsultation and for concerted action, and especially necessary to stop\nthe discussion of this dangerous question as to the right of a royal\ncouncil to legislate for the Church of Christ--the tendency of which was\nobviously to separate the Church from imperialism altogether, rather\nthan to accomplish his determined purpose of blending the Church with\nimperial law and make himself head of both.  As soon, therefore, as the\nheretic sat down, at a sign from the emperor, Alexander and Hosius\nadjourned the council until the following day.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER VIII.\n\n                     THE ABDICATION OF CONSTANTINE.\n\n\nThere is little doubt but upon that night so many of the council favored\nthe views of the Libyan, that if a vote had been taken upon the point\nurged by him, the council would have resolved that its own organization\nwas contrary to Christ; was an effort thoughtlessly made to put\nConstantine in place of Jesus at the head of the Church, and would have\ndissolved itself, until summoned to convene by the agreement of the\nbishops only. Almost the whole night was spent in anxious consultation\nbetween those bishops who were ready to maintain the freedom of the\nChurch at any hazard, and the great heresiarch, whom they instinctively\nrecognized as leader of the struggle in favor of religious liberty, as\nto the most available path of escape from the dangerous and unchristian\nposition into which they had been led by their zeal and love for the\nemperor who protected the Church from persecution.  Arius told them\nplainly that if the Church of Christ was to be governed by an\noecumenical or royal council, its independence was gone; and in place of\nbeing the \"kingdom of heaven\" upon earth, which our Lord had organized,\nthe Church must become a human institution--part of the empire of\nConstantine, or of any other prince or power to whom its members might\nbe subject; its faith and policy dictated by Roman law, not by the word\nof God; its doctrines dependent upon the mutations of government, not\nupon the teachings of Jesus: a thing by which the cause of Christ is\nverily betrayed.  There were none in the council who did not perceive\nthis truth, although there were some who were for Constantine, even\nagainst Jesus himself.\n\nDuring nearly the whole night, also, Hosius, Athanasius, Eustatius,\nMarcellus, Constantine, and others, were engaged in eager consultation,\nbut seemed unable to find any solution of the difficulty.  And the next\nmorning Athanasius reported to the emperor that the more they had\nconsidered the matter, the more difficult and dangerous it had appeared;\nand that the only way to avoid serious risk of dissolving the council\nwas to avoid all discussion upon its right to sit for the Church, and to\nlet Arius alone as long as he might appear disposed to remain quiet.\nMany hearts were burdened with anxiety, and Eusebius of Caesarea was\nespecially oppressed with deep concern.\n\n\"And if the council when assembled shall sustain the views of Arius,\" he\nhad once asked Constantine, \"what then?\" and the emperor had answered,\n\"A religious war, perhaps, or a return to paganism!\"\n\nBut to Athanasius and others who urged the necessity of temporizing with\nArius, and avoiding all discussion of the vital points which the heretic\nlost no opportunity of forcing upon them, Constantine finally said: \"I\nwill make no compromise with the Libyan; it is necessary to crush that\nserpent's head, and I will do it!  He hath certainly evinced marvelous\nskill, intelligence, and daring, in forcing an issue upon us which we do\nnot desire to determine; he would have made a magnificent general; but I\nwill ruin him to-day.  Rest ye all in peace.\"\n\nAnd when the council assembled, all of them filled with anxiety as to\nwhat might occur, and many of them determined, even at the risk of\nmartyrdom, not to take any further part in the deliberations of an\nimperial conclave such as they clearly perceived that one to be, the\nemperor arose first of all, and, with wonderful grace and ease,\naddressed them as follows: \"Ye know my love for all of you, my friends,\nand my zeal for the cause of Christ. But some among you have taken\noffense, and have even doubted the propriety or binding force of your\nown decrees upon the conscience of Christians, because it hath appeared\nto you that the emperor hath assumed authority over you in regard to\nmatters of faith.  This is surely a grave mistake.  To correct this\nfalse and injurious impression, I here commit to your presiding bishops\nmy ring, my sword, and my scepter; and unto you I give power this day\nover mine empire, to do in it whatever you think fit for the promotion\nof religion and for the advantage of the faithful.  Ye are the\nlaw-makers of the Church of Christ, and not him whom God hath made\nEmperor of Rome.  Proceed with your sacred business in your own time and\nway.  If ye shall deem it to be necessary to remove even the most\nintangible objection of the cavilers to do so, ye can dissolve the\ncouncil, return to your homes, and let the bishops reassemble when and\nwhere ye will.  But if, being already assembled at some expense of time\nand trouble, ye deem it more expedient now to constitute yourselves into\na church council, do so in your own time and manner.  Farewell!\"\n\nAnd, having so spoken, the emperor bowed gracefully to the admiring\nassembly and withdrew.  But almost immediately Hosius, Bishop of\nCordova, proposed, and without a dissenting voice the council voted,\nthat a deputation of bishops be appointed to inform the emperor that the\nChurch had met in council, and to request him to return and bestow upon\nthem the benefit of his great wisdom and Christian zeal, in aid of their\ndeliberations; and smilingly the emperor returned.\n\nThe action of the emperor was just that of the pre-eminently greatest\npolitician; and Arius, then first fully realizing the vast intellectual\nresources of the most consummate statesman whom the world has seen,\nmurmured unto himself, \"Again is Christ betrayed into the hands of\nwicked men!\"  And thenceforward calmly, almost indifferently, he looked\nforward to what he supposed to be his own impending doom; for he well\nknew that Constantine spared no human life that, even by chance, might\nseem to stand in the way of his self-aggrandizement: and if his\nmarvelous sagacity could conceive and execute such an act as he had just\naccomplished, what was there of which he could be incapable?\n\nThen the bishop Hosius of Cordova said: \"Brethren, it is manifest that\nthe technical objections which found place in the consciences of some\namong us, based upon the seeming authority of our most glorious and\nChristian emperor over us, have been thoroughly eradicated by his own\nmost wise, pious, and unsolicited condescension, and that we sit now as\nan absolutely independent body for the consideration of the business and\ndoctrines of the Church of Christ, as much as if we had come of our own\nmotion originally from the ends of the earth, without the generous and\nChristian liberality of our royal friend and protector. Let us,\ntherefore, proceed with our deliberations to secure the prosperity of\nthe Church of our blessed Lord!\"\n\nIn this sentiment all concurred; and even the dullest among them\nimmediately perceived that the crafty act of Constantine had cut out\nfrom under the great heretic the only sure foundation upon which he\nmight have builded, and had left him at the mercy of the emperor.\n\nFor many days the great council proceeded with its business, and\nsometimes their differences gave rise to excited and earnest debate, in\nwhich the easy, marvelous, persuasive eloquence and irresistible manners\nof Athanasius raised the brilliant youth to the highest place in the\nopinions of all; in which the magnificent Spaniard Hosius fully\nmaintained the almost apostolic reverence that had long been given to\nhis great age, vast erudition, and grand character; and in which both\nthe Eusebii added to their former wide-spread reputation for learning,\npiety, and influence.  Many other names, before that time almost unknown\nbeyond the local limits of their own churches and bishoprics, became\ncelebrated throughout Christendom for various excellences or for\nstriking characteristics. Only the sad-eyed and seemingly broken-hearted\npresbyter Arius appeared to be indifferent to the course of business,\nand silent during the discussion of questions upon which all knew he\nmight have brought to bear an unequaled mass of erudition, illumined by\nthe strong light of genius, if he had cared to do so.\n\nGradually, little by little, no one knew how, the conviction spread\nthroughout the great assembly that the man Arius was doomed, and that\nthere was no possibility of escape for him; and day by day they were\nawaiting the institution of proceedings against him which would be the\nbeginning of the end anticipated.  None knew whence this weird\nimpression arose, and few ever spoke of it: for no man that ever ruled\non earth knew better how to create or how to guide for his own purposes\nthat intangible, remorseless, and murderous influence to which in later\ntimes we have applied the expression \"public opinion\" than did the\nwonderful Emperor Constantine, ages before other statesmen recognized\neven the existence of such a force.  And through the more gifted agents,\nlay and clerical, who were devoted to him heart and soul, the impression\nthat the Libyan must be condemned grew imperceptibly but unceasingly\nstronger.  Without knowing why, the enemies of the great presbyter\nbecame daily more self-confident and aggressive; without knowing why,\nthe lukewarm and undecided souls that form a considerable segment of\nevery large assembly, insensibly withdrew themselves from his support,\nand drifted more and more into the sentiment of his foes; and, without\nknowing why, the few, strong, brave, earnest men, who decidedly clung to\nhis opinions and unswervingly loved the man, began to concentrate their\nforces and husband their resources for some desperate and decisive\nstruggle which they instinctively felt to be approaching.\n\nThe Libyan himself had long regarded his fate as decisively settled.  He\nhad interpreted the Apocalypse as referring to Constantine, and did not\ndoubt either the temporary overthrow of Christianity by the emperor, or\nthe fact that he would be involved in its ruin.  He looked without fear,\nperhaps more with a feeling of curiosity than anything else, for signs\nwhich might enable him to form a conjecture as to how long the kingdom\nof heaven might be banished out of the world: its ultimate restoration\nand final triumph over human governments he never doubted; but he would\nhardly have turned his hand, or raised his head, to avoid the death\nwhich he supposed Constantine had determined to bring upon him.  \"If,\"\nhe said unto his intimate friends, \"the emperor's council carry out his\nwishes, I desire ye all to remember, in the future, that no Christian\ncouncil hath, or hath ever attempted, to exercise authority to put any\nman to death for heresy.  The only punishments the Church hath ever\nimposed stop with the refusal to fellowship an unbeliever or a\nwrong-doer.  If Constantine condemn me, remember that he is not a\nbishop, hath never even been baptized, and hath no authority to decide\nupon what is or what is not heretical; and the Roman law hath never, so\nfar at least, attempted to define what a Christian may lawfully believe.\nYe see, therefore, that the fact of my destruction illustrateth well the\ncharacter of the council, and showeth that even the magnificent\nspectacle of his resignation which he so well enacted can not convert\nConstantine's meeting into a council of the Christian Church.  And I\nsuppose that this will more plainly appear as the matter proceedeth\nfurther.\"\n\nThen answered the Bishop of Nicomedia, saying: \"Brother, if thou must\nperish for the cause of Christ, I perish also with thee.  I am an Arian,\nand shall claim the right to die with thee if any murder shall be done.\"\n\n\"And I also!\" said Eusebius of Caesarea.  \"And I also!\" said Maris of\nChalcedon; and Theognis of Nicea; and Menophantes of Ephesus; and a\nscore of other bishops, each in his turn pressing the old presbyter's\nhand. Then said the presbyter: \"If your resolution hold, either the\npolicy and craft of Constantine will deny us a death so glorious, or our\nmartyrdom will of itself reinstate the kingdom of heaven in spite of the\nemperor.  Let us rejoice, then, in hope of the triumph of the truth!\"\n\nAnd having thus quietly but unflinchingly made a covenant that, if the\nmatter should be prosecuted to extremities against Arius, they would\nshare his fate, and thereby furnish to the whole body of Christians\nthroughout the world a most terrible and unanswerable protest against\nthe council and the emperor, these devoted men calmly awaited the\nbeginning of the struggle which they knew to be steadily approaching,\nalthough they were unable to determine from what quarter it would come.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER IX.\n\n                    \"I HAVE NO SUPERIOR BUT CHRIST.\"\n\n\nWhen the council met one morning, Athanasius produced and laughingly\nread a song, or hymn, which had been written and set to music by the\nLibyan, for the use of uneducated Christians at Alexandria, in order to\nenable them to memorize and keep in mind the doctrines of Christianity\nas he had understood them.  This song was part of a little book entitled\n\"Thalia,\" or \"Songs of Joy,\" which the presbyter had written for sailors\nand others who had no certain means of attending regular religious\nservices, and in it occurred the following expressions: \"God was not\nalways Father; once he was not Father; afterward he became Father; and\nhis only-begotten is Jesus Christ our Lord.\"\n\nAnd thereupon Marcellus, Bishop of Ancyra, moved the council to declare\nthat this sentiment was heretical; and that the man who wrote it should\nbe expelled from the Church of Christ; and Arius and his friends\nperceived that the struggle for the destruction of the presbyter had\nbegun.  For a while the council-hall was filled with clamorous and\nbitter denunciations of Arius: \"The heretic!\"  \"The atheist!\"  \"The\ndefamer of Christ!\"  \"The polytheist!\"  \"The pagan!\"  \"The Libyan\nserpent!\"  \"The ram of Baucalis!\" and almost every other term of\nreproach which the vocabulary of ecclesiasticism could furnish, were\nshouted throughout the hall by the partisans of Constantine.  Finally,\nthe clamor seemed to wear itself out, and, order having been partially\nrestored, Potammon of Hierapolis, a confessor whom the pagans had left\nblind and lame, straightened up himself and with great awkwardness and\nearnestness cried out: \"Brethren, I was reared up in Central Africa, and\nknow nothing of philosophy, but do try to serve the Lord, and to avoid\nall heresy and false doctrine.  I have often sung this song, not knowing\nit was heresy, with my people!  What is there wrong about the song,\nthen?  Do any of you deny that Jesus Christ is the only-begotten Son of\nGod? or that he is our Lord and Saviour? or will some of you now pretend\nto believe that the Son is older than the Father? What is wrong about\nthe song?\"\n\nTo the same effect spoke many of the friends of Arius; and Maris of\nChalcedon said: \"The Gospels uniformly call Jesus Christ the\nonly-begotten Son of the Father, and I have never believed it necessary\nor proper to go any further than the simple, direct scriptural\nstatement.\"\n\nFinally, Eusebius of Nicomedia obtained a hearing, and, speaking calmly\nand soothingly, he said: \"Brethren, the song which ye have heard read\nseems to be merely a metrical composition formed to aid the memory of\nthose who were unable to read and write, and those who had no copy of\nthe Scriptures, in keeping in mind certain scriptural phrases and\ndoctrines; and I could not be led to suspect a great and pious presbyter\nof heresy upon such a cause as that.  Let us proceed, then, decently and\nin order; and if ye would know truly what Arius hath taught as religion,\ncall upon him to declare what he hath so taught. This seemeth to me to\nbe the only fair and honorable course, worthy of a Christian assembly,\nif any one think there is cause to suppose that he hath taught anything\ncontrary to Scripture.\"\n\nThis reasonable counsel at once prevailed with the greater number, and\nby a large vote they requested Arius to declare his teachings.\nThereupon the old heretic arose, and in his strange, peculiar,\nfascinating tone and manner, spoke as follows: \"Brethren, I have never\ntaught anything concerning our Lord as religion, except that which is\nexpressly laid down in the Scriptures; to wit, that Jesus is the\nonly-begotten Son of God, the Saviour of the world. I do not know\nanything, and have never taught as articles of faith necessary to be\nbelieved, anything except what is thus expressly and definitively stated\nin the Gospels.  Of course, like every man who thinks at all, I have\nmeditated often and earnestly about the philosophy of the facts stated,\nand have formed in my own mind certain speculations in relation thereto\nwhich are satisfactory to mine own understanding, and I have not\nhesitated to declare these opinions in all proper times and places; but\nI have never said, at any time or place, that these merely philosophical\nspeculations upon the nature of Deity were binding upon any man's\nconscience, or that they should be taught and believed as the rule of\nany man's faith and practice; because they have not been revealed or\ndeclared as such by the word of God.  If any man allege that I have done\notherwise, let him make the charge in writing and produce the proof, as\nwas the custom at every Christian council in such cases that hath ever\nbeen held upon the motion of the bishops authorized to call a council,\nas at Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, in Pontus, Gaul, Mesopotamia, and\nEphesus.\"\n\nThe presbyter said no more, but quietly resumed his seat, and the calm,\ngrave, and reasonable manner in which he had met and disposed of the\nvociferations which had assailed him, in the opinion of nearly all, left\nno course to be pursued with decency except to present written charges\nagainst him, and offer proofs thereof.  But such a course did not by any\nmeans suit the purposes of those who were resolved upon his ruin; and\nAthanasius, who at all times was able to command a respectful hearing at\nthe hands of the assembly, without seeming to notice the challenge\nthrown down by the Libyan, said in his own winning and seemingly\nrespectful way: \"Hast thou not publicly and customarily, in thy Baucalis\nchurch, in Alexandria, preached things that were contrary to the views\nof the Bishop Alexander--contrary to his interpretation of the\nScriptures, for which he did order that thou be suspended from thy\nministry; and didst not thou pertinaciously refuse to obey his episcopal\norder, and obstinately persevere in proclaiming thine abominable\nheresies?  Wilt thou now deny this?\"\n\nThen with an effort to preserve his self-control that sent a strange\nshiver creeping over his gaunt and mighty frame, the presbyter made\nanswer: \"It appeareth, brethren, that this gifted youth hath been taught\nto believe that it is heresy to differ in opinion with the learned and\npious brother, Alexander!  It is very true that I and my brother\nAlexander have somewhat differed in opinion, but I am not advised that\nhe hath any more authority to dictate my opinions than have I to dictate\nhis; and I am very certain that, wherein the bishop hath differed with\nme, he is in error.\"\n\nBut Constantine cried out, \"Answer thou whether thou hast preached in\nspite of the order of suspension made against thee by thy superior!\"\n\nAnd the old heretic arose again, and answered: \"I had supposed that the\nanswer already made would be sufficient for any bishop, but being\ncommanded by an unbaptized emperor to answer yet further, I have to say\nthat I have no 'superior' but Christ; as for the order of brother\nAlexander 'suspending' me from the exercise of the functions of a\npresbyter, all the clergy here assembled well know that it is void.  The\nday hath not yet come when any one brother in the Church can 'suspend'\nanother. I suppose that, under the legal religion which is to replace\nthe gospel of Christ, a bishop will have some such authority over a\npresbyter as a legionary hath over a centurion, or a centurion over a\nsoldier; but we have not quite reached that condition!  As to the\ndifferences of opinion between myself and the brother Alexander and\nothers, I will simply state that our good city of Alexandria hath a\npopulation marvelously intellectual, and greatly addicted to the study\nof philosophy.  Hence it hath happened that many of the brethren, and\nsome even of the bishops and presbyters, have added, unconsciously\nperhaps, to their faith in the facts set forth in the Gospels certain\nphilosophical notions intended for the explanation of these facts, which\nnotions they have derived from many teachers--chiefly from the great\nheathen Plato, and from his followers, the neo-Platonists, and from the\nschool of Philo the Egyptian.  The learned and pious Bishop Alexander\nderived from some such source (I know not what) certain philosophical\nviews which seemed to deny utterly the separate existence of the Son of\nGod; and which savored strongly of the heresy of Sabellius that had been\ncondemned by more than one Christian council, and which did tend\ndirectly to the subversion of the primitive Christian communities, and\nto the overthrow of 'the kingdom of heaven' which Jesus did ordain, and\nto the substitution therefor of some such ecclesiastical system as I am\ntold the emperor hath established in the Western Empire, in which the\nemperor, not Christ, is head of the Church, and in which the law\nprescribes what a man may believe or not believe (just as the pagan laws\nhave always done), instead of the Scriptures.  So long as brother\nAlexander held these erroneous opinions privately, I meddled not with\nthem; but when he afterward saw proper to come and preach these heresies\nto mine own congregation, I guarded my community against this pernicious\nphilosophy; for the Gospels and the Acts furnish the only authority\nconcerning Christ and faith in him; and not the opinions of Sabellius,\nAlexander, Hosius, or Constantine.  As for mine own philosophical\nopinions concerning Deity, I never learned them of Plato, nor of Philo,\nnor of Sabellius, but of the most wise and pious Am-nem-hat, who was for\nmany years high-priest of the pagan temple at Ombos, holding there the\nsame position which the Emperor Constantine as Pontifex Maximus hath so\nlong held at Rome; but Am-nem-hat was afterward a glorious Christian,\nand a holy martyr, at our city of Alexandria, as many of you know.  But\nno man hath ever heard me claim that these philosophical opinions\nconstituted any rule of faith or practice, or were binding upon any\nman's conscience; although I doubt not that the theological opinions of\na most ancient and learned Egyptian high-priest are entitled to as much\nrespect as those of the flamen of Jupiter, at Rome, who is now the\nEmperor Constantine.\"\n\nAnd again the old heretic resumed his seat, having created a strong\nimpression in his favor in the minds of all who were not committed to\nthe task of destroying him, although many of them trembled for his\nsafety on hearing his bold and ingenious assault upon the emperor.  But\nMarcellus, Bishop of Ancyra, sprang to his feet, and in loud and\nthreatening tones cried out: \"O thou most insolent and abusive heretic,\ndarest thou to call the most Christian emperor a pagan?\"\n\nBut Maris, Bishop of Chalcedon, stretched forth his hand and answered:\n\"The presbyter Arius hath said that the great emperor is yet unbaptized,\nand that he is, by the law of the Roman Empire, Pontifex Maximus, and\nflamen of Jupiter!  I understand that all this is true; and, if it be\nnot true, no man will more rejoice than I would to hear the emperor now\ndeclare that he hath been baptized into the faith of Christ, and that he\nis no longer high-priest of pagan Rome.\"\n\nThe bishop sat down, and every eye was at once turned upon Constantine.\nBut the emperor neither spake nor moved; and almost immediately his\npartisans began to cry out that Arius should declare to the council what\nwere those philosophical opinions to which he referred, which thing they\ndid to cover up the failure of the emperor to respond to Maris the\nbishop; and the friends of the Libyan joined in the same cry, because\nthey did believe that the philosophy of Arius would be found to be\ncorrect, and not heretical.  And thereupon, being pressed upon all sides\nat once, the presbyter again arose and spoke in the following manner: \"I\nsuppose, brethren, that there hath never been any difficulty in the mind\nof any Christian as to the simple declarations of the gospel concerning\nour Lord; and that the faith of all Christians in the divinity of our\ncommon Saviour is founded upon the gospel narrative. The difficulties\narise only when the mind passes on beyond the plain teachings of the\ngospel, and attempts to comprehend how these things may be, and to\nformulate for itself some creed upon the nature of the Deity.  In this\nregard there have been maintained three great philosophical opinions, as\nye do know, which may be very briefly stated as follows:\n\n\"1. That the Son of God must be a dependent and spontaneous being,\ncreated from nothing by the will of the Father, by whom also all things\nwere made.\n\n\"2. That the Son possessed all of the inherent, incommunicable\nperfections which religion and philosophy appropriate to the supreme\nGod.  So that there are in the Godhead three distinct and infinite minds\nor substances, three co-equal and co-eternal beings, composing the\ndivine essence, three independent Deities as to whom an effort is made\nto preserve the unity of the first cause by assuming the perpetual\nconcord of their administration, the essential agreement of their will;\nand this I understand to be the philosophy of Hosius, Alexander, the\nemperor, and others for whom Athanasius is spokesman.\n\n\"3. Three beings who, by the self-derived necessity of their existence,\npossess divine attributes in perfect degree, who are eternal in\nduration, infinite in space, intimately present to each other and to the\nuniverse; and are yet one and the same being, manifesting himself in\ndifferent forms, and considered in different aspects: so that the\nTrinity becomes a trinity of names and abstract manifestations existing\nonly in the mind; they are not persons at all, but only attributes.\n\n\"This is the heresy of Sabellius, which Christian councils have\ncondemned.  It differeth from Athanasius in degree, but not, I think, in\nkind.\n\n\"Not one of these three opinions satisfieth my mind and heart.  The\nmartyr Am-nem-hat taught me when I was a boy that the original faith,\nwhich long ages ago preceded the polytheism of Egypt, Assyria, India,\nChina, Greece, Rome, and all other heathen nations, uniformly\nrepresented the one God to be a dual, spiritual Being, and that the\nDivine nature must be a Triad, or Trinity, completed by the birth of a\nson of this double-natured spiritual God. In the gospels I read that\nChrist is 'the only-begotten Son of God': a Father begets.  He was\n'conceived' of the Holy Ghost: a Mother conceives.  He was 'born' of a\nvirgin, and for our salvation did live among men.  The same holy martyr\ncalled my attention to the fact, which I have since carefully verified,\nthat while the Scriptures in no place apply the word 'mother' to the\nHoly Ghost, the words 'Holy Ghost' are used in them two hundred and\ntwelve times, and were uniformly in the Greek neuter gender, which\naffirmeth nothing as to sex.  He also showed me that Moses called the\none God by a name which is the plural number of a Hebrew noun.  It hath,\ntherefore, appeared to me to be true that, as far as anything concerning\nDeity can be expressed in human language, the sacred use of the words\n'Father,' 'Son,' 'Holy Ghost,' 'begotten,' 'conceived,' were intended to\nconvey to our minds the idea that in some spiritual sense of sexhood the\nnature of Deity is that in the likeness and image whereof man was\ncreated; and signify a divine family, so far as earthly things can\ntypify spiritual truth.  Hence, as I did set forth in my letter to\nEusebius of Nicomedia, and to Alexander of Alexandria, as the Church\nknoweth, I have always taught that the Son is not unoriginate, nor part\nof the unoriginate, nor made of things previously existing; but that by\nthe will and purpose of God he was in being before time, perfectly\ndivine, the only-begotten; that before his generation he was not; that\nwe believe in one God alone without birth, alone everlasting, alone\nunoriginate.  We believe that God gave birth to the only-begotten Son,\nbefore eternal periods, making the divine family a Triad, through whom\nhe made these periods and all else that was made; that he gave birth to\nthe Son, not in semblance, not in idea, but in truth giving unto him a\nreal existence; and we have refused to profess faith in the teachings of\nBishop Alexander, that 'as God is eternal, so is his Son'; 'where the\nFather, there the Son'; 'the Son is present in God without birth';\n'ever-begotten'; 'an Eternal God, an Eternal Son'; 'the Son is your God\nhimself.'\n\n\"But I have never taught this philosophy as an article of faith, binding\nupon the conscience of believers; and have required of them to profess\nfaith in nothing except what the gospels declare.\"\n\nThe philosophy of Arius struck many as a novel thing. To some of them it\nseemed to be a rational and beautiful solution of problems which they\nhad pondered long and regarded as insoluble, and had abandoned in\ndespair. To none of them did it seem to be at all tainted with heresy.\n\nBut Athanasius had a definite end in view, which closed his ears to any\nstatement the presbyter might make, although he waited courteously until\nArius had concluded his remarks, and then exclaimed, \"Hast thou not\ntaught that the Son of God was created out of things not existing?\"\n\n\"Never,\" said Arius.  \"Thou knowest I have taught that he was not\n'created' at all, but 'begotten'; 'conceived,' not made.\"\n\n\"Hast thou not taught that there was a time when the Son was not?\"\n\n\"Nay, verily!  The word 'time' is thine own, not mine.  But I have said\n'God was, when he was not.'  I have said that 'before he was begotten he\nwas not.'  Else how could God beget him?  But this was in the beginning,\nbefore 'time' was.\"\n\n\"Hast thou not taught that the Father was superior to the Son, and the\nSon inferior to the Father?\"\n\n\"Nay, verily!  I can not conceive of the words 'superior' and 'inferior'\nas applicable to the divine nature, or family, any more than I can\nconceive of thy word 'time' as applied to the divine existence.  If thou\ncanst do so, O Athanasius, thou or thy friends, and furnish a definition\nof the Trinity that does not deny the separate existence of the Son; nor\nimply identity of person in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; or which does\nnot set up three distinct, co-equal Gods, or which does not degrade the\nSon to the condition of a created Being, made, not begotten, except the\ndefinition which I quoted from the philosophy of Am-nem-hat the martyr,\nand have adopted as mine own, announce thou now, or when thou wilt, such\na definition of the Trinity, and, if I can at all comprehend it, I will\nfollow thee to death, if need be, in defense thereof: for lo! these many\nyears have I sought for such a definition and found it not, except in\nAm-nem-hat's profound aphorism that the true and only idea of Trinity\nsubsisteth in family--Father, Mother, Son: the Father-Ghost, and\nChrist!\"\n\nThen answered Athanasius: \"Verily I would not dare to utter a formula of\nfaith upon so high a theme in any hasty or inconsiderate manner.  So for\nthe present let that question rest, and I doubt not that the learned\nbishops who defend the deity of Christ will soon frame out of the\nScriptures a definition of the Catholic faith which shall both satisfy\nall orthodox souls and bring thine own God-dishonoring heresies to\nlight.\"\n\n\"If it come out of the Scriptures, friend Athanasius, they must omit\ntherefrom thy newly-coined word 'Catholic,' for that word is not\nscriptural, nor is the idea which thou signifiest by it therein.  The\nScriptures speak not of the 'Catholic' Church at all, but of 'the common\nchurch,' 'the common faith,' 'the common salvation,' 'the common hope,'\n'the common Saviour'; and thou well knowest that 'common' pertaineth\nonly to the common or communal organization of Christ's kingdom.  Yet,\nperhaps, it is natural that one so young, so beautiful, so gifted as\nthou art, should prefer the imperial and aristocratic designation which\nhath been recently adopted in the Western Empire, and despise the\nplebeian, scriptural name 'common' or 'communal.' For two Christians\nmight both belong to thy 'Catholic' Church, while one of them might be a\nprince and the other a pauper; but the two Christians who belong to the\nprimitive 'common' church must be brethren, equal, free, fraternal; and\nthe difference, friend Athanasius, between 'common' ([Greek: _koinos_])\nand 'catholic' ([Greek: _kata holos_]) is just the difference between\nthe Christian Church and that of Constantine. I know not what the\nmartyrs would have said of it, nor what the steadfast confessors here\npresent may think of it; but I prefer the ancient, scriptural term\n'common,' 'communal,' 'communistic' church of which Jesus Christ only is\nKing, and in which all men are brethren, to the new 'Catholic'\nestablishment which has come in with our unbaptized emperor.\"\n\nThere was not a confessor present but what would have applauded these\nbold and truthful sentiments, the force of which we can at this day with\ndifficulty realize; but Constantine bit his lip to restrain a terrible\noath, and his face darkened ominously as he glared upon the audacious\npresbyter.  Hosius, Marcellus, Alexander, and others of the same party,\nseemed to have been stricken dumb by the clear, incisive, fearless, and\nuncompromising declarations of Arius.  Only Athanasius seemed to\npreserve his marvelous self-possession, and laughed musically, while, in\norder to distract attention from the dangerous question which the old\nheretic seemed determined to bring up at every possible turn of the\ndiscussion, he cried aloud: \"But hast thou not commonly taught that the\nFather, Son, and Holy Ghost are three, and not one God, and thereby made\nthy heresy assume the complexion of polytheism?  Hast thou not done\nthat?\"\n\n\"I have taught,\" answered Arius, \"and I think that the Scriptures teach,\nthat the three are not one person, but three persons; and that the\nTrinity is one family, in likeness whereof man was created.  Eve, the\nfirst mother, was not created out of things not existing, but she\nproceeded out of the first man's side; not above him, not below\nhim--equal with him, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh; and the first\nhuman son was born of them.  This to my mind in some way typifies the\ndivine family, except that the idea of creation applies not to it.  This\nI have stated as mine own conception of the matter, not as an article of\nfaith.  If thou knowest any better idea, state it plainly, I pray thee:\nI am not yet too old to learn.\"\n\nThen said Athanasius, triumphantly, \"I supposed, indeed, that God would\npresently lay bare thy heresy; for thou dost deny the express words of\nScripture that these three are one; and thus thou art convicted!\"\n\nOnce more the dangerous light gleamed in the old man's somber eyes, and\nthat nervous twitching, which his enemies likened to the wriggling of a\nserpent, passed over him; but he controlled himself wonderfully, and\ncalmly enough inquired: \"What scripture, then?  Wilt thou read it; or\ntell us in what place it may be found?\"\n\nThen said Athanasius: \"I read from the first letter of John as follows:\n'_For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,\nand the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.  And there are three that\nbear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and\nthese three agree in one._'  How, then, sayest thou that the Father, the\nWord, and the Holy Ghost are not one, in the very teeth of the\nScriptures, O thou subtle heretic?\"\n\nThe reading of this scripture produced a profound sensation in the\ncouncil.  Many turned to their copy of John's letter to read the words\nfor themselves, the greater number using the new and beautiful\nmanuscripts which the munificent liberality of the emperor had caused to\nbe transcribed and distributed among the bishops some time before; but\nmany also had ancient copies written in the uncial text.  But Arius said\nunto Athanasius, \"Wilt thou give to me thy book?\"\n\nAnd Athanasius sent it to him by one of the pages in attendance.  The\ngrim old presbyter received the parchment, and looked at it, and handled\nit, and turned it over and over in his hands with a strange, sarcastic\nsmile, and then said in that peculiar, sibilant tone which cut and\ntingled like a serpent's hiss: \"I perceive, brethren, that this\nbeautiful manuscript is one of those copies which hath been supplied to\nmany bishops and presbyters by the zeal and benevolence of our most\nChristian, but unbaptized, emperor; and the book is beautifully written\nin the new, running Greek text which hath lately come into use.  I have\nbut one objection to it, brethren; and the objection is, that the words\n'_in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three\nare one.  And there are three that bear witness in earth_'--these words\nwere never written by John, but by some one else; they have been added\nto the text within the last ten years!\"  And then the tall form reared\nitself to the full height of its gigantic stature; the long, thin right\nhand swayed to and fro with a strange rhythmic motion, the huge, rough,\nnoble head seemed to start forward upon the long, bony neck, as a cobra\nthrusts it forward; the strange, mesmeric light burned in the somber\neyes, and, fastening his gaze full upon the emperor, he cried out in\ntones that rang through every corner and crevice of the vast hall,\nshrill, incisive, penetrating: \"These words are forgeries--every one of\nthem!  What John wrote was this: '_For there are three that bear record,\nthe spirit, the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one._'\"\n\nThe effect was electrical.  Many trembled for the bold and eloquent man\nwhose words and manner seemed to charge upon the emperor himself the\nguilt of sacrilege in forging the sacred writings; although, perhaps,\nnone doubted that the words were forged.  But Athanasius gazed upon him\nhaughtily, and demanded: \"Who art thou, madman, that dost so boldly\nassail the genuineness of a scripture that suiteth not with thy\nnotorious heresy? How knowest thou that the words were never written by\nJohn?\"\n\nThe presbyter's fierce excitement had almost immediately faded away, and\nhe quietly answered: \"Brethren, I know that the words are forgeries,\nbecause the rank Sabellianism which they teach is contrary to John's\nspirit, and would better suit the views of certain persons who desire to\nconfound the Son with the Father in order to abolish the sovereignty of\nChrist over his earthly kingdom by placing some one else in his rightful\nplace.  Secondly, because ye can not find the words in any copy written\nin the uncial text, before the recent, running Greek text came into\ncommon use.  Ye have many uncial copies here: see whether any of them\ncontain the words. Thirdly, because, more than thirty years ago, the\nlearned martyr Am-nem-hat, in our city of Alexandria, had in his\npossession the original letter of John\"; and, with tremulous and\nmournful cadence that brought tears into the eyes of all who knew his\nhistory, he continued: \"Am-nem-hat abode in the house of his\ngreat-grand-niece, the holy, the beautiful, the martyred Theckla. This\nblessed virgin did carefully copy the letter upon vellum, and sent it to\nAntioch as a gift even unto me, by the hands of Bishop Peter.\"  Taking\nthe book from a cedar box on the seat beside him, he continued: \"Here is\nthe copy of John's letter, written by the hand of one martyr, under the\nsupervision of another, and delivered by a third martyr unto me, that am\nready to follow them upon the glorious way whenever God so will! Search\nand see whether ye can find these forged words in this thrice-sacred\nbook!\"\n\nA moment of profound silence followed.  Constantine, Athanasius, Hosius,\nand all of their faction, perceived that this assault also had not only\nfailed, but had left the powerful heretic in full possession of the\nfield of battle; and, at a sign from the emperor, the bishops\nimmediately adjourned the council until the following day.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER X.\n\n                      THE COMMUNION OF THE SAINTS.\n\n\nAs soon as the great council assembled on the following day, Eusebius of\nCaesarea addressed them, saying: \"Brethren, the controversy concerning\nthe nature of Deity provoketh much uncharity, and leadeth to no result.\nI have, therefore, drawn up, and now offer for your consideration, a\nConfession of Faith, which is no new form of doctrine, but is the same\nwhich I learned in my childhood, and during the time I was a catechumen,\nand at the time I was baptized, from my predecessors in the bishopric of\nNicomedia; and the same which I have taught for many years while I was\npresbyter and bishop, before this great dispute had arisen. This\nconfession hath been read and approved by the emperor, the beloved of\nHeaven, and it seemeth to me to be the truth as nearly as divine things\ncan be expressed in human language.  I have a hope, therefore, that it\nmay be accepted by all as a sufficient declaration of our Christian\nfaith.\n\n\"It is as follows: 'I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of\nall things both visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the\nWord of God, God of God, Light of Light, Life of Life, the only-begotten\nSon, the first-born of every creature; begotten of the Father before all\nworlds, by whom, also, all things were made; who for our salvation was\nmade flesh and lived among men, and suffered, and rose again on the\nthird day, and ascended to the Father, and shall come in glory to judge\nthe quick and the dead.  And we believe in one Holy Ghost.  As also our\nLord, sending forth his own disciples to preach, said: 'Go and teach all\nnations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and\nof the Holy Ghost.'  Concerning which things we affirm that this is so,\nand that we think so, and that it hath long been so held; and that we\nremain steadfast to death for this faith, anathematizing every godless\nheresy; that we have taught these things from our heart and soul, from\nthe time that we have known ourselves; and that we now think and say\nthem in truth, we testify in the name of Almighty God, and of our Lord\nJesus Christ, being able to prove even by demonstration, and to persuade\nyou that in past times also this we believed and preached.'\"\n\nThis creed seemed to be acceptable to nearly all the members of the\ncouncil, and Hosius said unto Arius, \"Wilt thou subscribe this creed?\"\n\nAnd the heretic answered: \"Certainly.  I can cheerfully subscribe to all\nthat is contained in this confession of faith; for Eusebius hath only\nmade a formal statement of what I have taught and believed, and what the\nancient Church hath held from the beginning.  Yet I like not the creed.\nFor the bishops all know that while never before did a council draw up\nany written confession of faith, yet at every council the bishops did\nrepeat and affirm the creed received from the apostles; and the most\nimportant item therein, next to the profession of faith in Christ, was\nthis: 'I believe in the communion of saints'; by which the Church\nconstantly affirmed its faith in the divine wisdom of the communal\norganization of 'the kingdom of heaven.'  Ye have mutilated the\nconfession by omitting this vital article in order to accommodate the\nfaith to the imperial laws regarding war, slavery, and mammon-worship.\nLet the great article be restored to its proper place, and I will\nsubscribe the creed.\"\n\nThen there was a terrible clamor, greater than all that had preceded\nit--the partisans of Constantine boldly declaring that \"the day had gone\nby forever for maintaining the communal organization of the Church\";\nthat this \"primitive community of rights and property was only a\ntemporary arrangement, not designed to be permanent, and had faded\naway\"; and, finally, that \"the emperor would not permit the creed to\ncontain an article which cut off not only the emperor and all his\nofficers, but also every 'rich man,' from admission to the Church.\"  But\nthose who were determined to maintain the apostolic organization which\nJesus himself had ordained were equally clamorous in shouting that to\nomit the article of \"communion of the saints\" was to adopt the Roman\nlaw, and betray the Church into the hands of the enemies of Jesus.  Then\nConstantine ordered in the imperial guards and commanded them to clear\nthe hall, and the bishops adjourned the council in the midst of an\nuproar in which the struggle was not always confined to words, but some\nsevere blows were given and received upon both sides.  The voice of the\nbishops adjourning the council had failed to designate any day or hour\nat which it should reassemble, and for some days no session at all was\nheld; and during these days all the weight of the imperial authority was\nbrought to bear upon the unhappy bishops to force them to adopt a creed\nomitting the article concerning \"the communion of saints\" which from the\nvery days of Jesus had been the sacred symbol of the social and\npolitical organization of the Christian Church.  Constantine declared\nthat bishops who made it a matter of conscience to do so might continue\nto teach and to preach it, but that the article must be omitted from the\ncreed; and gradually all of them were brought over to the making of this\nkind of a compromise with their consciences.  When this result had been\nattained, the bishops gave out that the council would be reassembled\nupon the following day.\n\nOn that evening, Constantine called unto him Hosius, Alexander,\nAthanasius, and others of his adherents, and said unto them: \"It is not\nexpedient for me that Arius, or any other man, should be condemned for\nrefusing to subscribe a confession of faith that omits the article\nconcerning community of the saints.  I wish that thing to be forgotten\nas soon as possible, and that the condemnation of this man should be\nfounded upon some other accusation.  I desire ye, therefore, to seek for\nsome scriptural word or other which may not be repugnant to the majority\nof the council, but which Arius can not subscribe.  He is a man that\nwould manifestly die and count it great gain rather than make even the\nslightest concession in any matter of conscience.  Ye must, therefore,\ninsert in the creed some word or phrase that he will not subscribe, but\nto which the majority shall not make any strenuous objection.  It must\nnot appear to the Church that 'the communion of saints' hath caused\ntrouble.\"\n\n\"There is no such word or expression in any gospel,\" answered Hosius,\nsententiously.\n\n\"Then ye must seek for it elsewhere,\" said Constantine. \"The creed must\ncontain some word which he will refuse to subscribe, and it must appear\nthat the controversy with him is concerning that word, and not\nconcerning the abandonment of the primitive Church polity.\"\n\n\"There is a word that hath lately come into use at Alexandria,\" said\nAthanasius, \"which I feel certain would prevent the presbyter from\nsigning any creed that contains it, but I do not think that either the\nLatin language or the Latin brain is delicate enough to grasp that\npeculiar signification of the Greek expression which would make it\nrepugnant to Arius, so that the Western churchmen would not object to\nthe use of it, but it is not exactly a scriptural phrase.\"\n\n\"What is the word?\" asked the emperor.\n\n\"It is the new compound, 'consubstantial' ([Greek: _homoousios_]), which\nadmitteth of an interpretation that would shock the fine Egyptian\nthought of the presbyter, but many might not be subtile enough to\nperceive it.  It suiteth well the majority of the bishops in the sense\nin which they understand it.\"\n\n\"I do well remember the word,\" said Constantine. \"For, when I was upon\nthe study of this controversy, I first heard it; and it occurreth either\nin some memoranda which I made of a conversation with Eusebius, or in a\nletter written unto him by his brother of Nicomedia. Let me get those\npapers.\"\n\nSo saying, the emperor opened a drawer in his bureau and took therefrom\na bundle of manuscript, and after a short examination he said: \"Here is\nthe letter.  Eusebius of Nicomedia saith here that 'to assert the Son of\nGod to be of one substance with the Father is a proposition evidently\nabsurd.'\"\n\nThe beautiful eyes of Athanasius sparkled with delight, and he cried\nout: \"That is the very word and letter that we want!  It cometh, like\nall good things, from the emperor, and is like an inspiration to our\ncause!\"\n\n\"Yea,\" said Hosius.  \"The majority will receive the word well--holding\nthat it does not necessarily imply the identity of persons; but will\nArius certainly reject it?\"\n\n\"Yea,\" replied Athanasius; \"I have heard his comments on the word, and I\nam certain that his stubborn, inflexible spirit will not bend enough to\nmake him subscribe a creed containing it.\"\n\n\"Press thou not the matter too vehemently, arch-deacon,\" said\nConstantine, \"lest thou drive many to support him.  Be mild and\npersuasive, for there is time enough.\"\n\nSo, when the council had assembled on the following day, Athanasius\nsaid: \"The learned and venerable Bishops Alexander and Hosius, and many\nothers with them, have carefully examined the form of the Confession of\nFaith offered by the learned Bishop Eusebius, and they make no objection\nthereto: but fear that it may leave open some advantages for entrance of\nheresy, as is shown by this letter of Eusebius of Nicomedia, wherein he\ndeclareth that to say that the Son is consubstantial ([Greek:\n_homoousios_]) with the Father is absurd.  They therefore desire, in\norder to cut off all heretical interpretation of the creed, and\nvindicate the divinity of our Lord, to offer a creed containing the\ndeclaration that Son and Father are of one substance.\"\n\nImmediately there was a clamor of the Arians against the use of the\nword; but they, and many who were undecided, looked to Arius for advice\nand direction, and Athanasius said, \"The bishops desire to know whether\nthe learned presbyter Arius will subscribe the creed containing this\nword, the bulwark against all heresy?\"\n\nAnd Arius arose, and, looking upon Athanasius with a gentle smile, said\nunto him: \"I perceive that thy master Constantine hath at last reached\nthe fulfillment of his desires against the Church and kingdom of my\nmaster Christ.  Brethren, I have already declared to you that I would\nsubscribe no confession of faith which omitted to set forth the article\nof the communion of saints; and I perceive well that the insertion of\nthis new ecclesiastical term is resorted to only in order to avoid\nmaking notorious the fact that the emperor hath commanded that the\nprimitive organization of the Church shall be abandoned.  As to this\nword 'consubstantial,' I have no objection to it in the only sense in\nwhich I can conscientiously use it, as implying that the Father and Son\n(like every other father and son) are beings of the same nature; yet I\nwould not subscribe a creed containing this word, because it is\nunscriptural.  In the sense in which it will come to be used hereafter\n(if not, indeed, already), it denies the separate existence of the Son;\nit will imply an almost physical adhesion of the persons of the Divine\nFamily, and the actual identity of Father and Son.  It hath before this\ntime been used by incautious or heretical persons, and hath already been\ncondemned as heretical by councils which no prince or emperor\ncontrolled, and whose voice was the free utterance of the unsecularized\nbut persecuted Church.  I will never subscribe a creed containing such a\nword; and have never found it necessary to go outside of the Scriptures\nto find words wherewith to define the Christian faith.\"\n\nAnd Athanasius answered: \"What if the word, in the exact form of it, is\nnot in the Scriptures?  Surely its derivatives and compounds are found\ntherein; nor is it any more unscriptural than the songs of Arius written\nin his book 'Thalia.'  What if it hath been used by heretics and\ncondemned as heretical?  That was only because it hath been used in some\nheretical sense, and not as we use it now.  What if the use of the word\nmight be tortured into the support of Sabellianism by some who wrest\neven the Scriptures to their own destruction?  The rejection of it\nargues far more strongly in favor of polytheism--the ancient paganism\nfrom which the Church hath so long suffered; and the word must be used,\nbecause it is the only safeguard against the very heresy of which Arius\nhath been suspected or accused.\"\n\nAnd the question was long debated by others, and the council adjourned;\nbut there were not many that stood out firmly against the use of this\ncelebrated word.\n\nAt the next meeting of the council, Hosius of Cordova announced that,\nfollowing the sentiments of the great majority, they had prepared\nanother declaration of the faith, upon which he hoped all might agree;\nand thereupon the same was read: \"We believe in one God, the Father\nAlmighty, Maker of all things, both visible and invisible. And in one\nLord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only\nbegotten, that is to say, of the substance of the Father, God of God,\nLight of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one\nsubstance with the Father, by whom all things were made, both things in\nheaven and things in earth; who for us men and for our salvation came\ndown and was made man, suffered, and rose again on the third day; went\nup into the heavens, and is to come again to judge the quick and the\ndead.  And in the Holy Ghost.\n\n\"_But those who say, 'There was when he was not,' and 'Before he was\nbegotten he was not,' and that 'He came into existence from what was\nnot,' or who profess that the Son of God is a different 'person' or\n'substance,' or that he is created, or changeable, or variable, are\nanathematized by the Catholic Church._\"\n\nA great many members refused to sign the creed, and especially the\nanathema with which it concluded; because they thought that the\npresbyter Arius, at whom it was aimed, neither taught nor held the views\nthereby imputed to him.  Eusebius of Caesarea asked for time to consider\nthe matter, and \"to consult with the emperor who had imposed it upon\nthem\"--a course which others also followed.\n\nConstantine professed to believe that this last creed was delivered by\nan inspiration of the bishops directly given from heaven; and he at once\nissued a decree of banishment against all who might refuse to subscribe\nto it. \"He denounced Arius and his disciples as impious, and ordered\nthat he and his books should follow the fate of the pagan Porphyry; and\nthat he and his school should be called Porphyrians, and his books\nburned under penalty of death to any one who perused them.\"  But he gave\nthem time to reflect upon the matter; and on the next day many stood\nresolved not to sign, notwithstanding the terrible threats of the\nemperor.  In this state of fear and perplexity, when no man knew to what\nextremities his brutal threats to extort their compliance might be\ncarried, and when a moody silence, born of their terror and distress,\nhad settled upon the council, to the surprise of all, Arius the Libyan\narose and addressed them as follows: \"Brethren, I am well persuaded that\nno other opportunity will ever be given unto me to address any assembly\nof Christians; being persuaded that the condemnation denounced against\nme ariseth not from any mistaken zeal on the part of the unbaptized\nemperor concerning religion, but only from a political necessity that\nspringeth from his godless and insatiable thirst for universal and\nunhindered power; for verily I think he knoweth little, and careth less,\nfor any confession of faith, except as it affecteth his imperial\nambition.  As a man, therefore, already doomed, and soon, perhaps, to\ndie, I desire to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance\nconcerning the primitive Church, which now fadeth out of the world, as\nit hath already faded out of the Western Empire. Brethren, centuries\nago, the great Greek philosopher, Plato, in his 'Republic,' did declare\nthat 'any ordinary city is in fact two cities, one the city of the rich,\nthe other that of the poor, at war with one another'; and this statement\nis verily true everywhere on earth.  For the religion of mankind hath\nbeen, in some shape, the worship of mammon, and the warfare, of which\nPlato speaketh, a warfare for property--for property in offices,\nprerogatives, lands, houses, wealth, slaves, and every shape that\nproperty can take.  Ye know that the law was a schoolmaster to lead us\nto Christ; and that, to prevent the universal and hopeless oppression of\nthe poor, God by Moses did ordain the statute of the year of jubilee,\nand the statute of the seventh year; and ye know that the prophet Isaiah\ndid make these statutes, which secured a certain blessing for the poor\nevery 'seventh year' and every 'fiftieth year,' typical of the\ncontinuous state of believers, in the kingdom of heaven, declaring it to\nbe the gospel preached to the poor; and ye know that our Lord did\nsolemnly declare that this prophecy was fulfilled in him, wherefore the\nwealthy and aristocratic Scribes and Pharisees, who were 'covetous,'\npersecuted him even unto death; even as the ruling classes at Rome, and\nthroughout the world, have done until the triumph of Constantine over\nMaxentius at the Milvian Bridge.  Ye know that our Lord set up a kingdom\nthat was good news, a gospel, to the poor of the earth, because its\npurpose and effect were to abolish war, slavery, polygamy, and all\nunjust distinctions between men and classes of men, based upon the\nidolatry of mammon.  Ye know that all of these parables were spoken with\nreference to this kingdom in which communion of saints, partnership of\nall believers, should secure liberty, equality, fraternity, for all\nChristians.  Ye know that, while the apostles remained on earth, the\nbelievers had all things common, except wives and children, disowned all\ngovernment except that of Jesus, obeyed all laws for the sake of peace\nexcept such as conflicted with conscience, and so builded up the\nChristian communes that governed themselves by the laws of Christ alone,\ninflicting no temporal punishment except that they refused to fellowship\nthe obdurately wicked.  Ye know that they commonly wrought miracles to\nprove the divinity of Jesus and the right of the Church to preach and to\nteach in his name.  We learn from Philo the Egyptian, and from many\nothers, that 'those who entered upon the Christian life divested\nthemselves of their property, and gave it to those legally entitled\nthereto or to the common Church,' and that 'the disciples of that time,\nanimated by more ardent love of the divine word, first fulfilled the\nSaviour's precept by distributing their substance to the needy; and that\nthe Holy Spirit wrought many wonders through them, so that, as soon as\nthe gospel was heard, men voluntarily and in crowds eagerly embraced the\ntrue faith.'  Ye know that three bishops were ordained by the apostles,\neven Lucius, Evodius, and Polycarp, all of whom consecrated their\nproperty to the common Church, as did the apostolical fathers Clemens,\nIgnatius, Barnabas, Hermas, as also did Paulinas, Cyprian, Hilary, and\ncountless other well-known and notable Christians; and ye know that such\nwere the law and the practice of the Church until very recent times!  Ye\nknow that thaumaturgy remained with the Church until this divine\nordinance was neglected. Ye know, brethren, that there were no slaves,\nno war, no rich, no poor, no kings, no rulers, in the kingdom of our\nLord, but liberty, fraternity, equality for all; and that war, slavery,\nmammon-worship, which had ever been the curse of human life, were\nabolished by the gospel of Christ.  Brethren, already in the Western\nEmpire (and from this day in the East) all this is changed. 'The kingdom\nof heaven' is utterly subverted.  Even the bishops came hither with\nslaves; many of you are 'rich men,' that could not enter into the\nkingdom of heaven.  The Church conformeth in all things to the imperial\nlaws: for that man Constantine hath such unbounded ambition and unbelief\nthat he suffereth not the Church of Christ to exist in the world, and\nhath so founded the Church of Constantine, subverting all of\nChristianity except its spiritual truth.  But ye can plainly see what\nthings shall come to pass.  That man whom ye love because it hath suited\nthe purposes of his atheistic ambition to protect the Church against\nother tyrants, hath established an imperial legal religion for the\nworld, and declares that he will persecute all who conform not thereto.\nSo did the Scribes and Pharisees; so did Tiberius Caesar, Nero,\nDiocletian, and the rest of his predecessors; but so Jesus and his\napostles never did.  I know not whether that man who doeth these things,\nand hath begun to found his capital, called by his own name of\nblasphemy, upon seven hills above the sea, be he of whom John in the\nApocalypse did speak, but he suiteth well in many respects with what\nJohn did prophesy.\n\n\"Hear me yet a little further.  Ye will all, or nearly all, subscribe\nthis creed!  Ye will be forced so to do! For the Holy Spirit cometh upon\nno council of an earthly emperor, but only of Christ's Church.\nHenceforth, therefore, thaumaturgy shall be lost unto the Church!\nHenceforth, therefore, Christianity shall be a human institution!  And\nthe faith of Christians will be first one thing, then another, as\nsuccessive emperors may determine to be best.  Those who now are\northodox will be proscribed as heretics, and those who now are heretics\nwill be called orthodox; and Christian emperors will seek to exterminate\nChristian heretics with fire and sword throughout the world.  For the\nmillions of Armenia, and many more throughout Egypt, Syria, and Africa,\nand the whole nation of the Goths, are as I am--what ye call Arian.  So\nis the brave, the successful, the popular Crispus Caesar.  So is\nUlfilas, whom Constantine calleth the Moses of the Goths, whom he now\nproposes to ordain a bishop over the people whom he converted, and upon\nwhom Constantine made war to force them to accommodate their religion to\nimperial law.  So is Constantia, the sister of the emperor, the widow of\nLicinius; and so is the young Licinius, her son, and others perhaps of\nthe same imperial family, concerning whom I do not know.  See ye not\nthat when Constantine shall die, and his sons shall succeed to empire,\nthe faith of Christ which is now condemned shall be established by the\nimperial law as true?--And even thou, Athanasius, next Bishop of\nAlexandria, mayst find thyself a fugitive from thine episcopal palace\n(which the emperor shall give unto thee), a vagabond upon the friendless\nearth, a martyr for, or a renegade from, what thou now maintainest to be\ntrue!\n\n\"Brethren, I go hence to death, or banishment, or both.  I care not for\nit.  For I live in the steadfast faith and hope that, although the\nkingdom of heaven be now subverted by the man of sin, yet again some\ntime, somehow, somewhere, it shall be re-established upon the foundation\nof faith and communism which our Lord did lay, and shall prevail; and\nwar, slavery, and mammon-worship, shall all cease to curse the world;\nfor all people that love liberty and hate tyrants shall be Arians, and\nmankind shall yet realize the promise of our Lord which he confirmed by\nhis life, by his miracles and parables, and by his death and\nresurrection, of universal liberty, equality, and fraternity.  Brethren,\nfarewell! and the peace of God be with you!\"\n\nThen the gaunt, sad, immovable, and irreconcilable heretic walked calmly\nout of the hall.  During the utterance of this terrible oration, many\nseemed awed by the solemn grandeur and prophetic earnestness of the\nspeaker; many were terrified at his fearless denunciation of the plans,\natheism, and hypocrisy of the emperor; and some secretly rejoiced\nbecause they supposed that his boldness irrevocably sealed his doom.\nConstantine himself, convulsed with suppressed wrath, grew pale with\npassion, and bit his lips to restrain some indiscreet expression of his\njealousy, doubt, and fear, as Arius declared the numbers and strength of\nthe Arian party in Armenia, Egypt, Syria, and among the Goths, and\neulogized the gallant Crispus Caesar, his popular and splendid son.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XI.\n\n                   ONE JOT THAT PASSED FROM THE LAW.\n\n\nOn that very night the grand, lonely, immovable presbyter disappeared,\nand in that council was seen no more. But the next day came the\nemperor's sister Constantia, the widow of Licinius, and Licinius, her\nson, and Crispus Caesar, the eldest son of Constantine, born of his\nfirst wife Minervina, and the emperor's mother, Helena, and all, casting\nthemselves at the feet of Constantine, with tears and supplications\nbesought him that the great, learned, and holy Arius might not be put to\ndeath.  And they so vehemently urged this petition that Constantine\nfinally seemed to give way thereto, and promised, confirming his promise\nwith an awful oath, that he would spare the life of the presbyter.  In\ntruth, he supposed that to execute Arius would be impolitic, because it\nwould forever alienate a very large number of his subjects, and he\nwished to avoid it, and also to win praises for his clemency.  He\ntherefore ordered that Arius be banished to, and closely guarded in, a\nstrong fortress in the wildest portion of Illyricum, until, \"in the\nopinion of the emperor, the Arians of Armenia, Egypt, and Syria, and the\nGoths, might have become reconciled unto the creed of Nicea.\"\n\nCrispus Caesar boldly declared that he indorsed the opinions of Arius,\nand regarded the great heretic with larger love and reverence than any\nother man had ever gained from him; and the emperor heard this\ndeclaration with gloom and hatred, but in ominous silence.\n\nAnd one by one, under the influence of the threats of Constantine, who\nstill held the bishops together, determined to extort the unanimous\nconsent of all to the acts of the council, under the specious and\ncontinuous arguments and forced interpretations of the creed, used by\nhis partisans both lay and clerical, and under the benumbing and\nstupefying effects of protracted weariness and hopelessness all of them\nfinally subscribed the creed, except Arius and six others--Eusebius of\nCaesarea, Eusebius of Nicomedia, Theonas, Bishop of Marmarica, Secundus,\nBishop of Theuchira, Euzoius the deacon, Achillas the reader, and Saras,\na presbyter--against all of whom the emperor made a decree of perpetual\nbanishment, but gave not orders for the enforcement thereof.  He was not\nsatisfied; especially he was dissatisfied because he was unable to\nextort the signatures of the Eusebii; and he still waited, determined in\nsome way to obtain these signatures.  Finally, he caused Eusebius of\nCaesarea to be brought before him, and, assuming an air of great\nfriendliness and concern toward him, he said: \"Dear bishop, I did tell\nthee long ago that our differences about the Arian heresy must never be\na cause of quarrel between thee and me.  I wish to know what difficulty\nthou hast (and thy brother) in subscribing the creed?\"\n\nAnd Eusebius answered: \"The difficulty truly is not a very large one; it\nis just the size and shape of an 'iota' of the Greek alphabet.\"\n\n\"If it is as insignificant as that,\" answered the emperor, \"let us\nquietly remove it and be friends again. Tell me, therefore, what thou\ndost mean.\"\n\n\"Hast thou here the creed?\" asked Eusebius.\n\nConstantine handed the parchment to him, and Eusebius said: \"This word\n[Greek: _homoousios_] is one which Arius condemneth as implying the\nidentity of Father and Son, and my conscience suffereth not me to sign\nit; but the word [Greek: _homoiousios_], which differeth therefrom only\nby the one small [Greek: _iota_] therein, expresses exactly what I\nbelieve, that Father and Son are of like divine nature.\"\n\n\"And wouldst thou sign it if this letter had been written therein? and\nthy brother? and the others who are sentenced to banishment?\"\n\n\"Assuredly!\"\n\n\"It shall never be said,\" laughed Constantine, \"that I have lost my\nfriend and bishop for such a trifle!\"\n\nThen he pointed out the fact that a small \"[Greek: _i_]\" had been\ndexterously inserted between \"[Greek: _homo_]\" and \"[Greek: _ousios_]\"\nin both the places where the word occurred in the creed, making it the\nArian [Greek: _homoiousios_], instead of the Trinitarian [Greek:\n_homoousios_].\n\n\"Now, bishop, give me thy signature, and communicate this arrangement\nconfidentially unto the others, and let them come and sign also, that\nthe creed may be unanimously signed, and all of these unseemly\ndissensions banished out of the established Church.\"\n\nThe bishop laughed lightly, but signed the confession of faith, and not\nlong afterward all the others did so, except Arius, who was already far\nupon the road to the heart of Illyricum.\n\nConstantine had now completed his long-cherished design of subverting\nthe social and political organization of the primitive Church, and\nestablishing a state religion, of which he might be the head in place of\nJesus Christ, in whose name he founded a system that was in open\nrebellion against the Saviour's whole life and teachings.\n\nIt remained only for him to have the action of the OEcumenical Council\nconfirmed by some miraculous circumstances, and the imperial ingenuity\nwas fully equal to the occasion; for two members of the council had died\nat Nicea during its protracted session, and were buried in the church:\nWith a grand and ostentatious procession by torch-light, the sacred roll\nof parchment was taken to their tomb and left there through the night,\nthe emperor himself having prayed publicly that, if the departed bishops\napproved the action of the council, they might in some way signify their\nassent to the decrees and creed thereof; and early the next morning the\nsignatures of the dead bishops were found upon the parchment!  Their\nendorsement was unequivocal: \"We, Chrysanthus and Mysonius, fully\nconcurring with the first Holy and OEcumenical Synod, although removed\nfrom earth, have signed the volume with our own hands.\"\n\nStill, the emperor did not dissolve the assembly, and, in order to gain\nover the personal affection even of those who had most stubbornly\nresisted his sacrilegious domination of the council, he provided a\nmagnificent banquet for the members thereof, and lavished upon them\nevery mark of love and honor.  He lodged the one-eyed, hamstrung old\nPaphnutius in his own palace, \"and often sent for him to hear the story\nof his persecutions; and now it was remarked how he would throw his arms\nround the old man, and put his lips to his eyeless socket as if to suck\nout with his reverential kiss the blessing which, as it were, lurked in\nthe sacred cavity, and stroked down with his imperial hand the frightful\nwound; how he pressed his legs and arms, and the royal purple, to the\nparalyzed limbs, and put his own eyeball into the socket.\"  And, because\nthose maimed and tortured members of the council who had been\n\"confessors\" enjoyed the reputation of especial sanctity and honor\nthroughout the Church, Constantine used the same disgusting demagogy in\nhis dealings with them all, and fawned upon and flattered them in the\nname of Jesus, until he believed he had stolen for himself their\ninfluence in aiding him to eradicate primitive Christianity out of the\nEast, as he had already done in the West, and so banishing the kingdom\nof heaven from the face of the earth; and so nourishing in the very\nbosom of the Church, maintained and governed by imperial authority, the\nancient crimes of war, slavery, and mammon-worship, perpetuating the\nbondage of the people unto the ruling classes, and giving the sanction\nof religion to class distinctions between men and families, based upon\nthis idolatry, which had been always the curse of human life.\n\nAnd for a whole year Constantine pursued his purpose quietly,\nunceasingly, intelligently, by the use of a thousand different means and\nagencies, to reduce the East to a condition of ecclesiastical serfdom to\nhis authority, and to confirm, popularize, and consolidate his power.\nBut the slow, doubtful, hesitating adoption of the imperial church by\nthe Christians of Armenia, and to a less degree by those of Syria,\nEgypt, and the Gothic provinces along the Danube, to whom he had sent\nback their teacher Ulfilas after ordaining him to be a royal bishop,\ninspired the emperor with misgivings of the future, and with an almost\nunreasoning jealousy and hatred of Crispus Caesar, his son, who was the\nfavorite of all those regions, and of Licinius, who represented the\nfamily of the legitimate sovereign thereof, whom Constantine had\ndethroned and destroyed.\n\nAnd the next year the emperor went to Rome to celebrate the Ides of\nQuintilis, the anniversary of the battle of Lake Regillus, in which,\naccording to the chronicles of pagan Rome, the twin-gods Castor and\nPollux had fought in defense of the Eternal City, and brought thereto\nthe welcome news of victory.  It was esteemed to be the most sacred\nceremony known to the Roman people.  During the grand festival,\nConstantine, believing that after the Council of Nicea his own\necclesiastical system was so powerful and so securely established that\nhe need not longer patronize the heathen, refused to take his proper\nplace in the ancient ritual appropriate to the occasion, and even\nexhibited his contempt for the empty pageantry of a legion of knights\npassing in solemn procession, by commenting upon their appearance with\nthat caustic, epigrammatic wit of which few men were more thoroughly\nmaster.  That large portion of the Romans who yet openly adhered to the\nancient religion were insulted and furious at the conduct of the\nemperor, and there was a fierce riot in the streets, during which stones\nwere hurled at the statues of the emperor, and attempts made to\noverthrow them.\n\nHis wife Fausta, the daughter of the fierce old emperor Maximian,\ninherited much of her father's cruel nature and imperious ambition.  She\nand Constantine had three sons--Constantine, Constantius, and Constans.\nShe had always envied Crispus Caesar the superiority which his\nprimogenial rights gave to him as the first-born of Constantine over her\nown sons, and especially had her jealousy been inflamed by the splendid\nreputation which young Caesar had gained by the skill and courage\nwherewith he had defeated the vastly superior navy of Licinius in the\nstraits of the Hellespont.  Next to the great emperor himself stood\nCrispus Caesar, not only in official station, but in the love and\nadmiration of the world; and her own sons occupied a far less\nconspicuous position, which was rendered more galling to her pride by\nthe very prominence derived from the fact that they also were the sons\nof the emperor.  Fausta had remarked with secret joy the open aid and\nfriendship showed by Crispus Caesar for Arius, which fact had aroused\nthe suspicions, as much as the victory of Crispus had excited the\njealousy, of the emperor.  She failed not, also, to perceive that the\ndevotion of Constantia, the widow of Licinius, and of the Empress\nHelena, Constantine's mother, to this same Arius, had created a common\ninterest and friendship between Caesar, Helena, and Constantia, while\nEusebius of Nicomedia was the trusted friend and adviser of all of them,\nand the tutor of young Licinius.  Fausta herself, the daughter of a\npagan and the wife of an atheist, was as nearly devoid of religious\nsentiment as it was ever possible for a woman to become; and, like her\nhusband, thought that all faith is only superstition, which may be\nadvantageously used by a wise ruler for the government of men; and\nunderstanding better than any one else that Constantine regarded the\nfree Arian spirit as the most dangerous element in the political future\nof the empire, she had cunningly employed every artifice and innuendo\nthat could tend to inflame his personal hatred of these religious\ndissenters.  She affected to regard the riot in the streets of Rome as\narising from the machinations of the Arian recusants.  Knowing that\nConstantine had only once visited Rome since the overthrow of Maxentius,\nand that he disliked the place, she pretended to desire that he should\nfix his imperial residence at Rome, on the ground that Milan was\ninconveniently situated, and that both Nicomedia and Constantinople,\nbeing in the midst of vast Arian communities, were unsafe for him.\n\nShe thought that the rioting in Rome gave her the opportunity to take\nsome decisive step in accomplishing her long-cherished designs, and\nbegan more vehemently to press her insidious suggestions upon the gloomy\nsoul of the atheist whom she knew to worship only himself.\n\n\"If the stone wherewith these Arian strangers who are in the city marred\nthe head of thy statue on the Via Sacra had smitten thee, thou wouldst\nhave been slain at once.\"\n\n\"But,\" said the emperor, dryly, passing his hand over his forehead, \"I\nfeel not the slightest pain from the blow.\"\n\n\"The undirected mob is powerless against thee,\" she said; \"but this\ninfamous act is but the unguarded expression of a sentiment common to\nthe millions of Armenia, and to large numbers of the Egyptians and\nSyrians, and to nearly all of the Goths.\"\n\n\"What hath caused thee so much uneasiness from such a trifle as the\nthrowing of a stone or two?  The royal blood should despise such\nvisionary fears.\"\n\n\"But the guardsman, Pilus, who hath lately come from Illyricum,\ninformeth me that in the garrison it is commonly reported that the\nheretic Arius saith that, if Christians could lawfully bear arms, the\nArians of Armenia and the Goths alone could seat Licinius upon the\nthrone of his father, and Crispus Caesar upon thine.\"\n\n\"But neither Licinius, nor Crispus, nor the Arians, cherish any such\ntreasonable designs,\" said Constantine.\n\n\"I fear lest thou art lulled into a false security. Ever anxious for thy\nsafety and for thy glory, I have consulted auguries and oracles, and,\nalthough these things have no great weight with thee or with me as\nmatters of religious faith, the oracles were always valuable portents to\nshow the drift of popular opinion and desire; and no great statesman can\nafford to despise them, for that which the multitude long after doth\nsooner or later come to pass; and all the divinations portend calamity\nto thee and thy house from the Arians.\"\n\n\"But Licinius is a boy, and Crispus Caesar is quiet, modest, temperate,\nand unostentatious.  He hath neither vices nor ambitions that require\nhim to aspire higher than he already standeth.\"\n\n\"Thou wouldst rather cease to be than cease to rule the empire.\nDominion is the dominant passion of thy lofty soul.  It is the marked\ncharacteristic of thy race. There are other men mastered by similar\nambition.  The quiet, orderly life of Caesar may blind the eyes of\nmankind to an ambition that would hesitate at nothing.  Thy father was\nsuch a temperate youth that he sacrificed all common lusts and appetites\nto win the sovereignty of Rome, and he would not have been contented\nlong with that if he had lived.  Thou didst inherit his nature with his\nmilitary genius, and thou hast lived moderately in order to gain the\nsovereignty of the world.  Crispus hath inherited from thee the great\nabilities which enabled him to triumph on the Hellespont and share thy\nglory, or rather take to himself the greater share.  He would not forego\nthe pleasures of youth and the advantages of his great position unless\nhe were constantly meditating upon some great design.  Look to thyself,\nAugustus.\"\n\nSuch insidious counsels she constantly offered to the jealous and cruel\nemperor, and they bore a deadly fruit. Suddenly the gallant young Caesar\nwas seized, transported to the gloomy fortress of Pola, imprisoned, and\nthen murdered, by order of \"the most Christian Emperor Constantine,\"\n\"the favorite of God,\" \"the defender of the faith,\" his father!  Almost\nimmediately the young Licinius was snatched from the arms of his mother,\nand put to death by the order of his uncle, Constantine, \"the first\nChristian Emperor of Rome.\"\n\n\"I have fortified my throne against all danger from Crispus Caesar and\nthe Arians,\" said Constantine unto himself.\n\n\"The road to royal favor and to future power is opened for my splendid\nbrood of Caesars,\" murmured Fausta under her breath.\n\n\"The Empress Fausta hath plotted against and murdered my gallant son\nCrispus, and my grandson Licinius, whom I loved.  I will be revenged\nupon the cruel murderess or die!\" was the unuttered comment of the\nEmpress-mother Helena; and from that hour, with the slow, settled, and\ndeliberate hatred of old age and hopeless sorrow, she sought for the\nlife of Fausta.\n\nThe world held its breath in horror at these fearful crimes, and hardly\ndid the historians of that age dare to commit any account thereof unto\nposterity.  But it was impossible for the officers of the Illyrian\nfortress, where Arius was imprisoned, to speak of such atrocities\nwithout some knowledge thereof coming to their quiet, intelligent\nprisoner.  When he heard of the assassination of Crispus Caesar and of\nLicinius, the only comment made by the stern, inflexible, incorruptible\nold heretic was this: \"A council of Christ's Church ought not to be\noecumenical and barren; and the first one already beareth terrible but\nlegitimate fruits.\"\n\nThe empress-mother, old Helena, continually and skillfully directed the\nsuspicions of her dark-souled, bloody son against the Empress Fausta\nherself; and, when she had prepared her vengeance so that she thought it\ncould not fail, she accused Fausta of infidelity to the emperor, with\nthat same Pilus, of the imperial guardsmen.  Many craftily prepared\ncircumstances corroborated the infamous and degrading accusation, and\nquickly and secretly the emperor put his wife to death.\n\n\"Small recompense for my great wrong,\" murmured Helena, \"but all that I\ncan take; for the woman's beautiful sons are also mine own\ngrandchildren.\"\n\n\"I have no friend on earth,\" mused Constantine, \"except my mother and\nEusebius of Caesarea.\"\n\nWhen the gloomy old prisoner of the Illyrian fortress heard of the\nmurder of Fausta, upon this disgraceful charge of adultery with a\nguardsman, he said: \"The grand name of Constantine is soaked with\ndomestic blood and draggled in domestic filth.  The royal oecumenical\ncouncil beareth such strange and deadly fruit.\"\n\nThe officers of the fortress were held to be accountable with their\nlives for the heretic's safe-keeping, and vigilant spies reported to\nConstantine almost every word he uttered, and stole and transmitted to\nthe emperor almost every line he wrote, and the old man's gloomy\ncomments upon the condition of the Church, and his strange and seemingly\ninspired interpretations of prophecy, which he supposed to relate to\nConstantine and his new city of Constantinople, built upon seven hills,\nabove the narrow straits whereto the commerce of the world resorted,\ndoubtless aided Fausta's and Helena's conspiracies to lead him into the\ncommission of those horrible crimes which shocked the moral sense of the\nworld, and justified the pagans in breathless wonder as to what new\natrocities would follow the legal establishment of the Christian\nfaith--atrocities that perhaps afterward drove Julian the Apostate to\nstruggle for the restoration of paganism.  And doubtless Arius himself\nwould long ago have perished, if the emperor had not hoped to obtain\nfrom his manuscripts and prophecies warning of every coming danger.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XII.\n\n                        AN IMPERIAL REPENTANCE.\n\n\nBut, although these secret horrors, which degraded the noblest family of\nthe empire, were kept as still as private crimes, and men dared scarcely\nspeak of them except in terrified whispers, the knowledge thereof spread\nabroad, until enough was known to fill the Christian world with\ndetestation of the emperor; and he whose governing passion had been to\nrule mankind, and to command their respect and reverence at any cost,\nfound himself to be held by the popular verdict as an outcast from\nvirtue and decency.  His iron soul was proof against every shaft except\nthis, but the wound it inflicted upon his boundless self-love was bitter\nand incurable. Realizing that he had outraged the moral sentiment of\nChristendom by these atrocious crimes, the emperor determined to\noverthrow what he called Christianity, and re-establish the pagan\nreligion, charging his crimes to the blinding influences of the\nsuperstition and strong magic of the Church, and thereby win for himself\nthe love and confidence of that large portion of his subjects who still\nadhered to the ancient idolatries.  In pursuance of this design,\nConstantine applied to the flamens at Rome for purification from his\ndomestic crimes, as the first step toward the rehabilitation of his\nmoral nakedness and deformity; but the priests, who knew his crafty,\nunscrupulous, cruel, and atheistic nature, and who already had in\ntraining the young and gifted Julian, seized this opportunity to gratify\ntheir theological hate, by boldly declaring that the ancient rituals of\npaganism did not know any form of expiation for such fearful and\nunnecessary crimes as his.\n\nThen Constantine turned away forever from heathenism, and sent for\nHosius, Bishop of Cordova, who assured him that \"in Christianity all\nsin, however great, may find forgiveness: for He saveth unto the\nuttermost all that come unto God by him.\"\n\n\"And what method must I use to secure this forgiveness?\" asked the\nemperor.\n\n\"Only true repentance toward God, and humble, sincere faith in Jesus\nChrist,\" said the bishop.\n\nThen, with a singular smile, Constantine looked at the bishop and\nanswered: \"Bishop, thou dost forget that thou art not now talking to a\nwoman taken in adultery, nor to a thief upon the cross.  Farewell!\"\n\nAnd with a wave of the hand the emperor contemptuously dismissed him.\n\nBut Constantine could not endure the popular detestation of which he\nknew himself to be justly the object, and as a last resort he sent for\nEusebius of Caesarea.  Eusebius knew the emperor fully as well as the\nemperor knew him, and, of course, knew that he might as well chant\npsalms to a deaf ass as to recommend faith and repentance to the\nimperial atheist, as Hosius of Cordova had innocently endeavored to do.\nWhen Eusebius came before the emperor, Constantine spoke to him in a\nlight, bantering tone, saying: \"Bishop, Crispus Caesar became infatuated\nwith the idea that he was great enough to wear my sandals and to wield\nmy spear even while I live; and the young man met with a fatal accident.\nThe youth Licinius, and the woman Fausta, exposed themselves to some\nunwholesome atmosphere, and the results of their indiscretion were\ndeleterious to their health.  These events have happened unfortunately\nfor me, and I require thine unfailing aid in avoiding further\ninconvenience from them.  What canst thou do for me?\"\n\n\"Could not the flamens of Jupiter give thy burdened conscience rest?\"\nsaid the bishop, quietly, but with malicious pleasure.\n\n\"No,\" answered Constantine, laughing.  \"The priests are good\nhaters--somewhat too demonstrative, perhaps, but steady and reliable in\ntheir antipathies; and so they took out their spite upon me the first\ntime Fate gave them an opportunity.\"\n\n\"Could not the most learned and holy Hosius point out to thee the road\nto peace?\"\n\n\"No, indeed.  That respectable idiot began some sort of mummery\nconcerning faith and repentance; but I cut him short.  Bishop, thou wert\nnot wont to be so difficult. I confess that, since the Council of Nicea,\nI have not done justice to thy superior merit, and have even felt\nsomewhat estranged from thee.  Forget all that, and let us once more be\nfriends.\"\n\n\"Augustus,\" said the bishop, \"I have keenly felt the withdrawal of thy\nfavor, although I have complained to no one.  I think that, if it had\nbeen otherwise, I could have showed thee sufficient reasons for avoiding\nsome terrible mistakes.  What is the exact difficulty which these\nmistakes have led thee upon?\"\n\n\"The Arians are rejoiced by any occurrence that gives them a pretext for\nrailing at me; the orthodox Christians have the unblushing impudence to\nattempt to sit in judgment upon the actions of the emperor that rescued\nthem from persecutions, and affect to be shocked thereby, just as if\nthey were fit to judge his deeds or comprehend his policy; the\nimplacable flamens hope to make such use of these accidents as to lead\nthe world back to paganism without my aid.  The Arians hate me because I\nwould not permit them to establish a kingdom in the empire of which I\nwas not to be the king.  Thou must find some way to conciliate the\nfools, for the hearts of all men are estranged from me; and, as thou\nhast always known, I would rather rule by love than by terror.  But rule\nI will, while I shall live.  Now, how can I regain my former hold upon\neither the pagan or the Christian world?\"\n\n\"Thou must first of all definitely abandon the idea that the empire can\never return to paganism,\" said Eusebius.  \"The amazing progress of\nChristianity among the people and the rapid decline of heathenism\ndemonstrate that the old religion hath almost ceased to be a political\nforce, and any emperor who would seek to re-establish it is foredoomed\nto certain failure.\"\n\n\"Let that pass.  Ye bishops always regard the Church as the first thing\nto be considered.  I concede that thou art right.  What then?\"\n\n\"Thou must also understand,\" said Eusebius, with malicious pleasure,\n\"that, while the will of the emperor is the law of the land, it is no\nlonger the standard of right and wrong for Christians.  Thy statutes may\ncontrol political life, and prescribe the external forms of worship for\nthe Church: its conscience hath passed even beyond thy control.\"\n\nConstantine turned white with wrath.\n\n\"The impudent beggars!\" he cried, \"whom I redeemed from tortures and\nfrom death!  Where, then, was their 'conscience' when the council\nsubverted the kingdom of heaven upon earth, and they all signed the\ndecree which abolished the earthly sovereignty of Christ?  But,\"\nchecking his furious anger with a mighty effort, \"what next?\"\n\n\"If a man hath done a crime,\" said Eusebius, \"no matter how cruel and\nunnatural, the Christians understand that he may obtain forgiveness for\nhis sin by repentance and faith, even as King David did in the matter of\nBath-sheba.\"\n\n\"Well!\" said Constantine, impatiently.\n\n\"The Christian world will never pardon thee without this repentance and\nfaith, or the appearance of it,\" said Eusebius, and he uttered the last\nfew words in a low, peculiar tone.\n\n\"And what shape might 'the appearance of it' assume?\" asked the emperor,\nwith a laugh.\n\n\"Thou mightst go in sackcloth and ashes unto the church and publicly\npray to God and man for pardon!\"\n\n\"And I might far sooner hang up a bishop and exterminate a sect that\nwould seriously insist upon any such degrading terms!\"\n\n\"So I supposed,\" said Eusebius, \"and even then such a course would only\nbe 'the appearance' of faith and repentance, not the things themselves.\nBut thou mightst build a church and dedicate it unto the memory of\nCaesar; or set up his statue, with an inscription intimating that he was\nthe victim of a mistake, and the object of affectionate and sorrowful\nremembrance.  Either of these 'appearances of it' might be sufficient.\"\n\n\"That will answer,\" cried Constantine.  \"Crispus Caesar was a handsome\nman, and an excellent subject for a statue.  The statue shall be of\ngold, and the inscription shall be, 'To Crispus, mine injured and\ninnocent son.'  Will that, think you, reconcile the orthodox?  Or what\nelse dost thou advise?\"\n\n\"The Empress-mother Helena should exhibit some similar token of\nrepentance for her hatred of the Empress Fausta.\"\n\n\"And what 'appearance of it' should her faith and repentance assume?\"\nsaid Constantine, laughing merrily.\n\n\"Recently,\" replied Eusebius, \"a lively interest hath sprung up\nthroughout the Church in the 'holy places' in Palestine.  If the empress\nshould make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and found there a handsome\nchurch and some sacred shrines, she would cease to annoy thee, amuse\nherself, and do a great work toward restoring the love and confidence of\nChristians to thyself and her.\"\n\n\"Thou art a true and glorious bishop,\" laughed the emperor, \"and thou\ndost never forget the welfare of the Church.  The empress-mother shall\ngo quickly on her sacred pilgrimage, and all the holy places shall\nrejoice.  Is not that enough?  Or is there yet something more?\"\n\n\"This would suffice for the orthodox,\" said Eusebius; \"but years have\npassed since the Council of Nicea.  Time hath assuaged the bitterness of\nformer days, which would, perhaps, have faded out altogether but that\nthe banishment of Arius keepeth it alive.  If thou wouldst reconcile the\nwhole Church unto thyself, recall and even show some special honor to\nthe Libyan.\"\n\n\"Thou hast reserved thy bitterest medicine for the last!\"\n\n\"But it is necessary, Augustus.  For days past thy sister Constantia,\nwho is even now upon the bed of death, hath entreated me that I would\ncome unto thee and ask thee to visit her, that she might make it her\ndying request that thou recall Arius and restore his church to him. Of\ncourse I could not come till thou didst order it.\"  And then the bishop,\nfixing his eyes firmly upon the face of Constantine, with his right hand\nextended, said with inexpressible dignity: \"Augustus, thy sister's\nhusband, Licinius, the Emperor of the East, and her only son, Licinius,\nboth perished by thine own order; yet her devotion unto thee hath never\nfaltered.  Surely thou canst not refuse her dying supplications!\"\n\nConstantine's face for once grew soft with a genuine emotion of\nhumanity, and he replied: \"Surely not, bishop!  I always loved\nConstantia.  I will visit her, and do whatever she desires.\"\n\n\"Go to-day, then,\" said Eusebius, \"for she hath but few hours more to\nlive.\"\n\nAnd Constantine went; and the long and sorely tried and deeply injured,\nbut still faithful and loving sister, with her dying breath besought him\nto recall the great and holy Arius, and restore the peace and unity of\nthe Church and of the empire; and with a mighty oath (as usual) he\npromised so to do.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XIII.\n\n                 WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.\n\n\nDuring the slow lapse of all the years which had passed away since the\ndate of the Nicene Council, Arius the Libyan was almost as much dead\nunto the world as if he had indeed departed from this life.  None,\nexcept the emperor and a few trusted officers, knew anything more of him\nthan that he was kept a close prisoner somewhere in Illyricum, none knew\nprecisely where; and so carefully was the secret guarded, that even unto\nthis day the precise place and manner of his imprisonment remain\nentirely unknown.  For a few years after he had disappeared so suddenly,\nthere were now and then vague rumors in circulation that some of his\ndevoted adherents had discovered the location of his prison, and were\nplotting to deliver him therefrom; and the same rumors indefinitely\nconnected the names of Crispus Caesar and of young Licinius with these\nrevolutionary designs; and cunning Fausta had used these rumors, with\nremorseless skill and intelligence, to the destruction of them both. But\nwhether these were merely vague and idle surmises, whether there was\nsome foundation in fact for them, or whether the crafty emperor himself\nhad invented and floated them, in order to justify the murders upon\nwhich he had already determined, will forever be unknown. For, upon the\nperpetration of these enormous crimes, a mist of horror overspread the\nempire that hid the name and memory of the Libyan from the popular gaze,\nand thenceforth absolutely nothing was known of him until he suddenly\nand unexpectedly appeared at Constantinople.\n\nA few days after the funeral of Constantia, Constantine summoned\nEusebius and said unto him: \"Bishop, I swore unto Constantia that I\nwould recall Arius speedily, and I will keep mine oath; for reflection\nconvinceth me that piety in this regard is true policy also.  In what\nmanner dost thou deem it most fitting to effectuate this purpose?\"\n\n\"Do it like a Christian, like a statesman, like an emperor,\" said\nEusebius, \"with a whole heart, generously! And let there be nothing\nsmall, or niggardly, or mean, in thine action.  A few narrow-minded ones\namong the orthodox may for a while murmur at it; but the Arians will\nrejoice, and all Christians and all men will say it was a noble thing to\ndo!  Therefore, let it be done in a grand and princely way!\"\n\n\"Particularize the programme which thou thinkest to be 'grand' and\n'princely.'\"\n\n\"Let free pardon be granted unto Arius, without conditions of any kind\nwhatever.  Let proclamation be made that the presbyter will be received\ninto communion again, in thine own city and in thine own church, and\nthen transferred to his old pastoral charge, the Baucalis church in\nAlexandria, and so recompense his sufferings with a triumphant return,\nand receive him at the church-door in thine own person!\"\n\n\"It shall so be done at once,\" answered Constantine. \"No apologies or\nexplanations to be demanded or received.  Do thou immediately set a day,\nand carefully arrange all the details of the ceremony as thou wilt. I\nwill have the old heretic here at the appointed time.\"\n\nAnd Eusebius with a glad heart set to work to carry the emperor's design\ninto effect.  Some among the orthodox murmured, and on the evening\nbefore the day appointed, Alexander, the Bishop of Constantinople, was\nheard to exclaim, \"Let me, or Arius, die before tomorrow!\"\n\nBut the emperor's will could not be resisted; and, although the orthodox\nshuddered to acknowledge as a brother beloved and equal one whom they\nhad always branded as a heretic, the secularized, imperial Church must\ncommit treason or obey; for the royal oecumenical council had borne,\nalong with other fruit, this, that a difference of religious faith and\naction might very easily constitute the crime of treason against the\nemperor.\n\nOn the day which had been set apart for the solemn pageantry, Arius was\nbrought by chosen officers to the lodgings where the Eusebii abode when\nin the city; but, designing to prepare for the long-imprisoned Libyan\nall the delightful surprise which a sudden realization of the great\nchange in his condition might afford, the Eusebii had not permitted any\none to inform him fully of the matters contemplated.  They even doubted,\nalso, whether the grand, ascetic, incorruptible old man would enter an\nimperial church to receive honor at the hands of an earthly sovereign\nunless he should be taken by surprise.  When, therefore, the next\nmorning, at the appointed hour, they took places upon each side of him,\nand invited him to walk with them and view the grand and beautiful\nmetropolitan church, the ancient man went forth not knowing what special\npurpose was contemplated.  And as they drew nearer unto the church, and\nbeheld a vast concourse of people in holiday attire, and ranks of\nsoldiers in magnificent array, with banners flying, and heard the mighty\nshouts that seemed to rend the heavens, \"Glory to Constantine, the\nfavorite of God!\"  \"Long live Arius, the great and faithful presbyter!\"\nthe Libyan paused, and, gazing upon the Eusebii, inquired, \"Bishops,\nbeloved, what mean these mighty clamors, and these salutations of\nConstantine and Arius?\"\n\nAnd they answered, \"Father, come on with us and thou shalt gladly see.\"\n\n\"Not a step more, until ye have told me all!\"\n\n\"It meaneth that thou art recalled, not only to Constantinople, but to\nthe very bosom of the Church, subject to no conditions whatever!  And\nthe emperor himself waits at the door yonder to welcome and to honor\nthee.\"\n\nThen brake the strong heart within him of a hopeless sorrow, and,\nfaintly murmuring these words, 'The Antichrist hath triumphed here where\nSatan hath his seat!' a convulsion seized upon him, and, as the two\nsteadfast friends strove to hold him up, the gigantic form of the grand\nold man glided slowly down between them, and lay prone upon the\npavement, as if the spirit had gone out of him forever.  And presently a\nslight contortion swept over the great, gaunt frame; the bony right hand\nextended itself upward, waving gently from side to side; the rough and\nnoble head darted forward upon the long, lithe neck; a tender smile,\nineffably soft and sweet, played around the weary, patient mouth, and\nlighted up the somber eyes and haggard countenance with joy and beauty;\nand gazing far away, as if his sight could pierce the bending heavens,\nhe sweetly murmured, 'Jesus, and Theckla also!'  Then darkness fell upon\nthe weary face and eyes; the mighty limbs relaxed once more; and he lay\nstill upon the rocky way.\n\nArius the Libyan was dead!\n\n\n\n\n                                THE END.","title":"Arius the Libyan: A Romance of the Primitive Church","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":103727}