62 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 tenance of the emperor was overclouded for a moment. 
 But it partially cleared up again as he said, 
 
 " I lay not, Demetrius, the least constraint upon you. 
 The four years that I have held this power in Borne have 
 been years of freedom to my people in this respect. 
 Whether I have done well in that for our city and the 
 empire, many would doubt. I almost doubt myself. " 
 
 " That would they, by Hercules ! " said the soft voice of 
 Varus, just at my ear, and intended chiefly for me. 
 
 " My brother, " said Demetrius, " will be happy to exe 
 cute for the emperor the work which he has been pleased 
 to ask of me. He remains steadfast in the faith in which 
 he was reared, the popular faith of Athens. " 
 
 " Apollo, " said Demetrius of Palmyra, " is my especial 
 favourite among all the gods, and of him I have wrought 
 more statues in silver, gold, or ivory, or of these variously 
 and curiously combined, than of all the others. If I 
 should be honoured in this labour, I should request to 
 adopt the marble image now standing in the baths of 
 Caracalla, and once, it is said, the chief wonder of Otho s 
 palace of wonders, as a model after which, with some de 
 viations, to mould it. I think I could make that that 
 should satisfy Aurelian and Rome. " 
 
 " Do it, do it ! " said the emperor ; " and let it be seen 
 that the worshipper of his country s gods is not behind 
 him who denies them, in his power to do them honour. " 
 
 " I shall not sleep, " said the enthusiastic artist, " till I 
 have made a model in wax at least of what at this moment 
 presents itself to my imagination. " Saying which, with 
 little ceremony, as if the empire depended upon his reach 
 ing on the instant his chalk and wax, and to the infinite 
 amusement of the company, he rose and darted from the 
 apartment, the slaves making way as for a missile that it 
 might be dangerous to obstruct. 
 
 " But in what way, " said Aurelian, turning to the elder 
 Demetrius, " have you been wrought upon to abandon the 
 time-honoured religion of Rome ? Methinks the whole 
 world is becoming of this persuasion. " 
 
n i o i v n i i 
 
 1 [ J V 
 
 Hi?- 
 
AURELIAN 
 
 A TALE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 
 IN THE THIRD CENTURY 
 
AURE LIAN 
 
 iEmperor of 
 
 A TALE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN 
 THE THIRD CENTURY 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM WARE 
 
 AUTHOR OF "ZENOBIA," " JULIAN," ETC. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED 
 
 BOSTON 
 ESTES AND LAURIAT 
 
 PUBLISHERS 
 
2Ettitersits Press: 
 JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE, U.S.A. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTEK I. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 PAGE 
 Piso s PALACE AT ROME. THE TWO STATUES. PORTIA 
 
 AXD HER SON. LlVIA AS EMPRESS. ROMAN BlGOTRY. 
 
 CHRISTIANITY IN ROME 
 
 LETTEE IT. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 FRONTO, THE CHIEF-PRIEST OF APOLLO. His CONDUCT TO 
 HIS SISTERS. THE FEARS OF PROBUS. FELIX, BISHOP OF 
 ROME. MILO S WARNING. THE ROMAN BOOKSELLER. 
 VARUS. MACER AS A PREACHER. THE CHRISTIAN 
 BOOKS 25 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 CAUSES OF ROMAN CORRUPTION. THE SPORTS OF THE FLA 
 VIAN. AN IMPERIAL FEAST. THE DEMETRIL THE 
 HIGH-PRIEST OF APOLLO. LIVIA. THE FIRST CLOUD IN 
 THE HORIZON 47 
 
 314662 
 
vi CONTENTS. 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 THE HUMAN SACRIFICES. THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. 
 THE STORM. THE VOICE. THE EVIL AUGURIES 
 AURELIAN S ANGER. MACER. SENSATION IN ROME. 
 FRONTO S INFLUENCE 71 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 THE GLADIATORS. VISIT TO MARCUS AND LUCILIA. GAL- 
 LUS. A GREAT GRIEF. AuRELIA. NlCHOMACHUS RE 
 LATES A CONVERSATION 9-5 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 THE ROMAN PERFUMER. SPURIUS. MARCELLINUS. ART 
 IN ANCIENT ROME. AURELIA IMPRISONED. THE PIC 
 TURE. ISAAC S MISTAKE. MARTYRDOM OF THE PRIN 
 CESS AURELIA. THE JEW S FRIENDSHIP. His NEW 
 HOPES. JULIA S RESOLUTION . . . 137 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 MACER. THE UNJUST PREFECT. MACER S PREACHING. 
 LIVIA IN SORROW. THE WIFE OF MACER 183 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 THE HOME IN THE RUINS. MACER S CHILDREN. JELIA, 
 THE DANCING GIRL. PISO AND AURELIAN . . .207 
 
CONTENTS. vii 
 
 LETTEK IX. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 PKOBUS S OPINION OF THE NEED OF PERSECUTION. THE 
 EDICTS. HANNO S DOGS. ASSEMBLING OF CHRISTIANS 
 IN COUNCIL. FELIX AND PROBUS. PROBUS CHOSEN AS 
 SPOKESMAN FOR THE CHRISTIANS. INSTRUMENTS OF TOR 
 TURE. MACER PULLS DOWN THE EDICT. THE JUDGMENT 
 HALL. THE TEST. THE RACK. THE MARTYRDOM. 
 MACER S FAMILY. ILIA S FATE. THE BLOODHOUNDS . 239 
 
 LETTEE X. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 CURIO S NEWS. FRONTO SLANDERS THE CHRISTIANS. AURE- 
 LIAN GIVES AUDIENCE TO THE CHRISTIANS. PROBUS DE 
 FENDS THEM. PORPHYRUS. THE COUNSEL OF GOD. 
 STORY OF THE CROSS. AURELIAN CLOSES THE AUDIENCE. 
 EFFECT OF PROBUS S SPEECH ON THE PATRICIANS. 
 LIVIA S INTERCESSION. AURELIAN S EVIL GENIUS 311 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 PROBUS IMPRISONED. THE LIONS AND THE CAPTIVES. 
 VARUS TEMPTS PROBUS. CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. 
 ISAAC S SYMPATHY. THE CHRISTIAN TO THE LIONS. 
 THE VIVARIA OPENED. PISO AND JULIA IMPRISONED. 
 JULIA S DANGER FROM FRONTO. PISO REFUSES TO 
 ESCAPE. JULIA ON THE RACK. SAVED. TACITUS 
 EMPEROR. AURELIAN S SECRETARY. THE TRAITOR. 
 AURELIAN SLAIN. CONCLUSION 359 
 
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 PAGE 
 PORTRAIT OF AURELIAN FROM BUST OF THE VATICAN . Frontispiece 
 
 THE PANTHEON 5 
 
 THE MOSES OF MICHAEL ANGELO 9 
 
 THE ARCH OF TITUS 27 
 
 BATHS OF TITUS 47 
 
 INTERIOR OF THE BATHS OF CARACALLA 62 
 
 TEMPLE OF THE SUN 76 
 
 THE TIBER AND THE CASTLE OF ST. ANGELO 95 
 
 TEMPLE OF MARS 147 
 
 THE ROMAN FORUM 152 
 
 STATUE OF TRAJAN 168 
 
 THE FORUM, GENERAL VIEW 187 
 
 TEMPLE OF JUPITER 195 
 
 A DANCING GIRL 220 
 
 THE COLUMN OF TRAJAN 235 
 
 THE FORUM AND THE ARCH OF TITUS 284 
 
 PALACE OF THE C^SARS, PALATINE HILL 323 
 
 RUINS ON THE PALATINE HILL 330 
 
 THE AMPHITHEATRE 356 
 
 CHRISTIANS SACRIFICED IN THE AMPHITHEATRE. . , . 362 
 
AURELIAN 
 
 EMPEROR OF EOME. 
 
 THE record which follows is by the hand of me, 
 NICHOMACHUS, once the happy servant of the great 
 Queen of Palmyra, than whom the world never saw a queen 
 more illustrious, nor a woman adorned with brighter vir 
 tues. But my design is not to write her eulogy, nor recite 
 the wonderful story of her life. That task requires a 
 stronger and a more impartial hand than mine. The life 
 of Zenobia by Nichomachus would be the portrait of a 
 mother and a divinity, drawn by the pen of a child and 
 a worshipper. 
 
 My object is an humbler, but perhaps also a more useful 
 one. It is to collect and arrange, in their proper order, 
 such of the letters of the most noble Lucius MANLIUS Piso 
 as shall throw most light upon his character and times, 
 supplying all defects of incident, and filling up all chasms 
 that may occur, out of the knowledge which, more exactly 
 than any one else, I have been able to gather concerning all 
 that relates to the distinguished family of the Pisos, after 
 its connection with the more distinguished one still of the 
 Queen of Palmyra. 
 
 It is in this manner that I propose to amuse the few re 
 maining days of a green old age, not without hope both to 
 amuse and benefit others also. This is a labour, as those 
 will discover who read, not unsuitable to one who stands 
 
 1 
 
AUEELIAN 
 
 EMPEKOR OF ROME. 
 
 THE record which follows is by the hand of me, 
 NICHOMACHUS, once the happy servant of the great 
 Queen of Palmyra, than whom the world never saw a queen 
 more illustrious, nor a woman adorned with brighter vir 
 tues. But my design is not to write her eulogy, nor recite 
 the wonderful story of her life. That task requires a 
 stronger and a more impartial hand than mine. The life 
 of Zenobia by Nichomachus would be the portrait of a 
 mother and a divinity, drawn by the pen of a child and 
 a worshipper. 
 
 My object is an humbler, but perhaps also a more useful 
 one. It is to collect and arrange, in their proper order, 
 such of the letters of the most noble Lucius MANLIUS Piso 
 as shall throw most light upon his character and times, 
 supplying all defects of incident, and filling up all chasms 
 that may occur, out of the knowledge which, more exactly 
 than any one else, I have been able to gather concerning all 
 that relates to the distinguished family of the Pisos, after 
 its connection with the more distinguished one still of the 
 Queen of Palmyra. 
 
 It is in this manner that I propose to amuse the few re 
 maining days of a green old age, not without hope both to 
 amuse and benefit others also. This is a labour, as those 
 will discover who read, not unsuitable to one who stands 
 
 1 
 
2 t t , 4 ti t t LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 trembling on thV verge of life, and whom a single rude 
 blast may in a moment consign to the embraces of the uni 
 versal mother. I will not deny that my chief satisfaction 
 springs from the fact that in collecting these letters, and 
 binding them together by a connecting narrative, I am 
 engaged in the honourable task of tracing out some of the 
 steps by which the new religion has risen to its present 
 height of power. For whether true or false, neither friend 
 nor foe, neither philosopher nor fool, can refuse to admit 
 the regenerating and genial influences of its so wide recep 
 tion upon the Eoman character and manners. If not the 
 gift of the gods, it is every way worthy a divine origin ; 
 and I cannot but feel myself to be worthily occupied in 
 recording the deeds, the virtues, and the sufferings, of 
 those who put their faith in it, and in times of danger 
 and oppression stood forth to defend it. Age is slow of 
 belief. The thoughts then cling with a violent pertinacity 
 to the fictions of its youth, once held to be the most 
 sacred realities. But for this I should, I believe, myself 
 long ago have been a Christian. I daily pray to the Su 
 preme Power that my stubborn nature may yet so far yield 
 that I may be able, with a free and full assent, to call 
 myself a follower of Christ. A Greek by birth, a Palmy - 
 rene by choice and adoption, a Roman by necessity, arid 
 these are all honourable names, I would yet rather be a 
 Christian than either. Strange that, with so strong desires 
 after a greater good, I should remain fixed where I have ever 
 been ! Stranger still, seeing I have moved so long in the 
 same sphere with the excellent Piso, the divine Julia 
 that emanation of God and the godlike Probus ! But 
 there is no riddle so hard for man to read as himself. I 
 sometimes feel most inclined toward the dark fatalism of 
 the Stoics, since it places all things beyond the region of 
 conjecture or doubt. 
 
 Yet if I may not be a Christian myself I do not, how 
 ever, cease both to hope and pray I am happy in this, 
 that I am permitted by the Divine providence to behold, 
 in these the last days of life, the quiet supremacy of a 
 
INTRODUCTION. 3 
 
 faith which has already added so much to the common 
 happiness, and promises so much more. Having stood 
 in the midst, and looked upon the horrors of two persecu 
 tions of the Christians, the first by Aurelian and the last 
 by Diocletian, and which last seemed at one moment as 
 if it would accomplish its work, and blot out the very name 
 of Christian, I have no language in which to express the 
 satisfaction with which I sit down beneath the peaceful 
 shadows of a Christian throne, and behold the general 
 security and exulting freedom enjoyed by the many mil 
 lions throughout the vast empire of the great Constantine. 
 Now, everywhere around, the Christians are seen, un 
 deterred by any apprehension of violence, with busy hands 
 re-erecting the demolished temples of their pure and 
 spiritual faith; yet not unmindful, in the meantime, of 
 the labour yet to be done, to draw away the remaining 
 multitudes of idolaters from the superstitions which, while 
 they infatuate, degrade and brutalize them. With the zeal 
 of the early apostles of this religion, they are applying 
 themselves, with untiring diligence, to soften and subdue 
 the stony heart of hoary Paganism, receiving but too often, 
 as their only return, curses and threats, now happily vain, 
 but often again retiring from the assault, leading in 
 glad triumph captive multitudes. Often, as I sit at my 
 window overlooking from the southern slope of the 
 Quirinal the magnificent Temple of the Sun, the proudest 
 monument of Aurelian s reign, do I pause to observe the 
 labours of the artificers who, just, as it were, beneath the 
 shadow of its columns, are placing the last stones upon 
 the dome of a Christian church. Into that church the 
 worshippers shall enter unmolested; mingling peacefully, 
 as they go and return, with the crowds that throng the 
 more gorgeous temple of the idolaters. Side by side, un 
 disturbed and free, do the Pagans and Christians, Greeks, 
 Jews, and Egyptians, now observe the rites and offer the 
 worship of their varying faiths. This happiness we owe to 
 the wise and merciful laws of the great Constantine. So 
 was it, long since, in Palmyra, under the benevolent 
 
4 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 rule of Zenobia. May the time never come when Chris 
 tians shall do otherwise than now, when, remembering 
 the wrongs they have received, they shall retaliate tor 
 ture and death upon the blind adherents of the ancient 
 superstitions ! 
 
 These letters of Piso to Fausta, the daughter of Gracchus, 
 now follow. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 LETTEE I. 
 
 FEOM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 Piso s PALACE AT ROME. THE TWO STATUES. PORTIA AND 
 HER SON. LIVIA AS EMPRESS. ROMAN BIGOTRY. CHRIS 
 TIANITY IN ROME. 
 
 I AM not surprised, Fausta, that you complain of my 
 silence ; it were strange, indeed, if you did not. But 
 as for most of our misdeeds we have excuses ready at 
 hand, so have I for this. First of all, I was not ignorant 
 that, however I might fail you, from your other greater 
 friend you would experience no such neglect ; but on the 
 contrary would be supplied with sufficient fulness and 
 regularity, with all that could be worth knowing, concern 
 ing either our public or private affairs. For her sake, too, 
 I was not unwilling that at first the burden of this corre 
 spondence, if I may so term it, should rest where it has, 
 since it has afforded, I am persuaded, a pleasure and pro 
 vided an occupation that could have been found nowhere 
 else. Just as a flood of tears brings relief to a bosom labour 
 ing under a heavy sorrow, so has this pouring out of her 
 self to you, in frequent letters, served to withdraw her 
 mind from recollections which, dwelt upon as they were 
 at first, would soon have ended that life in which all ours 
 seem bound up. 
 
 Then, again, if you accept the validity of this excuse, I 
 have another, which, as a woman, you will at once allow 
 the force of. You will not deem it a better one than the 
 other, but doubtless as good. It is this : that for a long 
 time I have been engaged in taking possession of my new 
 dwelling upon the Coelian, not far from that of Portia. Of 
 this you may have heard, in the letters which have reached 
 
6 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 you ; but that will not prevent me from describing to you, 
 with more exactness than any other can have done it, the 
 home of your old and fast friend, Lucius Maiilius Piso ; for 
 I think it adds greatly to the pleasure with which we think 
 of an absent friend, to be able to see, as in a picture, the 
 form and material and position of the house he inhabits, 
 and even the very aspect and furniture of the room in which 
 he is accustomed to pass the most of his time. This to me 
 is a satisfaction greater than you can well conceive, when, 
 in my ruminating hours, which are many, I return to 
 Palmyra, and place myself in the circle with Gracchus, 
 Calpurnius, and yourself. Your palace having now been 
 restored to its former condition, I know where to find you 
 at the morning, noon, and evening hour ; the only change 
 you have made in the former arrangements being this, 
 that whereas when I was your guest, your private apart 
 ments occupied the eastern wing of the palace, they are 
 now in the western, once mine, and which I used then to 
 maintain were the most agreeable and noble of all. The 
 prospects which its windows afford of the temple, and the 
 distant palace of the queen, and of the evening glories of 
 the setting sun, are more than enough to establish its 
 claims to an undoubted superiority ; and if to these be 
 added the circumstance that for so long a time the Eoman 
 Piso was their occupant, the case is made out beyond all 
 peradventure. 
 
 But I am describing your palace rather than my own. 
 You must remember my paternal seat on the southern de 
 clivity of the hill, and overlooking the course of the Tiber, 
 as it winds away to the sea. Mine is not far from it, but 
 on the northern side of the hill, and thereby possessing a 
 situation more favourable to comfort during the heats of 
 summer ; I loving the city, as you well know, better if any 
 thing during the summer than the winter months. Stand 
 ing upon almost the highest point of the hill, it commands 
 a wide and beautiful prospect, especially towards the north 
 and east, the eye shooting over the whole expanse of city 
 and suburbs, and then resting upon the purple outline of 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 7 
 
 the distant mountains. Directly before me are the magni 
 ficent structures which crown the Esquiline, conspicuous 
 among which, and indeed eminent over all, are the Baths 
 of Titus. Then, as you will conjecture, the eye takes in 
 the Palatine and Capitol hills, catching, just beyond the 
 last, the swelling dome of the Pantheon, which seems rather 
 to rise out of and crown the Flavian Amphitheatre than its 
 own massy walls. Then, far in the horizon we just dis 
 cern the distant summits of the Apennines, broken by 
 Soracte and the nearer hills. 
 
 The principal apartments are on the northern side of 
 the palace, opening upon a portico of Corinthian columns 
 running its entire length, and which would not disgrace 
 Palmyra itself. At the eastern extremity are the rooms 
 common to the family ; in the centre a spacious hall, in 
 the adorning of which, by every form of art, I have ex 
 hausted my knowledge and taste in such things ; and at 
 the western extremity my library, where at this moment 
 I sit, and where I have gathered around me all in letters 
 and art that I most esteem. This room I have decorated 
 for myself and Julia, not for others. Whatever has most 
 endeared itself to our imaginations, our minds, or our 
 hearts, has here its home. The books that have most in 
 structed or amused ; the statuary that most raises and de 
 lights us ; the pictures on which we most love to dwell ; 
 the antiquities that possess most curiosity or value, are 
 here arranged ; and in an order that would satisfy, I be 
 lieve, even your fastidious taste. 
 
 I will not weary you with any more minute account of 
 my new dwelling, leaving that duty to the readier pen of 
 Julia. Yet I cannot relieve you till I have spoken of two 
 of the statues which occupy the most conspicuous niche in 
 the library. You will expect me to name Socrates and 
 Plato, or Numa and Seneca; these are all there, but it is 
 not of either of them that I would speak. They are the 
 founders of the Jewish and Christian religions, MOSES 
 and CHRIST. These statues, of the purest marble, stand 
 side by side, at one extremity of the apartment ; and im- 
 
8 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 mediately before them, and within the wondrous sphere of 
 their influences, stands the table at which I write, and 
 where I pursue my inquiries in philosophy and religion. 
 You smile at my enthusiasm, Fausta, and wonder when I 
 shall return to the calm sobriety of my ancient faith. In 
 this wonder there are a thousand errors but of these here 
 after. I was to tell you of these sculptures. Of the statue 
 of Moses I possess no historical account, and know not what 
 its claim may be to truth. I can only say it is a figure 
 truly grand, and almost terrific. It is of a size larger than 
 life, and expresses no sentiment so perfectly as authority, 
 the authority of a rigorous and austere ruler, both in the 
 attitude of the body and the features of the countenance. 
 The head is slightly raised and drawn back, as if listening, 
 awe-struck, to a communication from the God who com 
 missioned him, while his left hand supports a volume, and 
 his right grasps a stylus, with which, when the voice has 
 ceased, to record the communicated truth. Place in his 
 hands the thunderbolt, and at his feet the eagle, and the 
 same form would serve for Jupiter the Thunderer, except 
 only that to the countenance of the Jewish prophet there 
 has been imparted a rapt and inspired look, wholly beyond 
 any that even Phidias could have fixed upon the face of 
 Jove. He who wrought this head must have believed in 
 the sublimities of the religion whose chief minister he has 
 made so to speak them forth, in the countenance and in the 
 form ; and yet who has ever heard of a Jewish sculptor ? 
 
 The statue of Christ is of a very different character, as 
 different as the Christian faith is from that of the Jewish, 
 notwithstanding they are still by many confounded. I 
 cannot pretend to describe to you the holy beauty that, as 
 it were, constitutes this perfect work of art. If you ask 
 what authority tradition has invested it with, I can only 
 say that I do not know. All I can affirm with certainty 
 is this, that it once stood in the palace of Alexander Se- 
 verus, in company with the images of other deified men and 
 gods, whom he chiefly reverenced. When that excellent 
 prince had fallen under the blows of assassins, his succes- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 9 
 
 sor and murderer, Maximin,. having little knowledge or 
 taste for what was found in the palace of Alexander, those 
 treasures were sold and the statue of Christ came into the 
 hands of a distinguished and wealthy Christian of that day, 
 who perishing in the persecution of Decius, his descend 
 ants became impoverished, and were compelled to part with 
 even this sacred relic of their former greatness. From 
 them I purchased it; and often are they to be seen, when 
 ever for such an object they can steal away from necessary 
 cares, standing before it and renewing, as it would seem, 
 their vows of obedience, in the presence of the founder of 
 their faith. The room is free to their approach, whenever 
 they are thus impelled. 
 
 The expression of this statue, I have said, is wholly dif 
 ferent from that of the Hebrew. His is one of authority 
 and of sternness ; this, of gentleness and love. Christ is 
 represented, like the Moses, in a sitting posture, with a 
 countenance, not like his raised to heaven, but bent with 
 looks somewhat sad and yet full of benevolence, as if upon 
 persons standing before him. Fraternity, I think, is the 
 idea you associate with it most readily. I should never 
 suppose him to be a judge nor censor, nor arbitrary master, 
 but rather an elder brother, elder in the sense of wiser, 
 holier, purer ; whose look is not one of reproach that others 
 are not as himself, but of pity and desire ; and whose hand 
 would rather be stretched forth to lift up the fallen than to 
 smite the offender. To complete this expression, and in 
 spire the beholder with perfect confidence, the left hand 
 rests upon a little child, who stands with familiar rever 
 ence at his knee, and looking up into his face, seems to 
 say, " No evil can come to me here. " 
 
 Opposite this, and at the other extremity of the apart 
 ment, hangs a picture of Christ, representing him in very 
 exact accordance with the traditional accounts of his feat 
 ures and form, a description of which exists, and is held 
 by many to be authentic, in a letter of Publius Lentulus, a 
 Roman of the same period. Between this and the statue 
 there is a close resemblance, or as close as we usually see 
 
10 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 between two heads of Caesar or of Cicero. Marble, how 
 ever, is the only material that suits the character and 
 office of Jesus of Nazareth. Colour and its minute effects 
 seem in some sort to degrade the subject. I retained the 
 picture because of its supposed truth. 
 
 Portia, as you will believe, is full of wonder and sorrow 
 at these things. Soon after my library had received its 
 last additions, my mother came to see what she had already 
 heard of so much. As she entered the apartment I was 
 sitting in my accustomed seat, with Julia at my side, and 
 both of us gazing in admiration at the figures I have just 
 described. We were both too much engrossed to notice the 
 entrance of Portia ; our first warning of her presence being 
 her hand laid upon my head. We rose and placed her 
 between us. 
 
 " My son, " said she, looking intently as she spoke upon 
 the statues before us, " what strange-looking figures are 
 these ? That upon my left might serve for Jupiter but for 
 the roll and the stylus. And why place you beings of 
 character so opposite as these appear to have been side 
 by side ? This other upon my right ah, how beautiful 
 it is ! What mildness in those eyes, and what a divine 
 repose over the form, which no event, not the downfall of 
 a kingdom or its loss, would seem capable to disturb. Is 
 it the peace-loving Numa?" 
 
 " Not so, " said Julia ; " there stands Numa, leaning on 
 the sacred shield, from the centre of which beams the coun 
 tenance of the divine Egeria. " 
 
 " Yes, I see it, " replied Portia ; and rising from her seat 
 she stood gazing round the apartment, examining its vari 
 ous appointments. When her eye had sought out the sev 
 eral objects, and dwelt upon them a moment, she said, in 
 tones somewhat reproachful, as much so as it is in her 
 nature to assume : 
 
 " Where, Lucius, are the gods of Eome ? Do those who 
 have, through so many ages, watched over our country and 
 guarded our house deserve no honour at your hands ? Does 
 not gratitude require at least that their images should be 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 11 
 
 here, so that, whether you yourself worship them or not, 
 their presence may inspire others with reverence ? But 
 alas for the times ! Piety seems dead ; or, with the faith 
 that inspires it, it lives but in a few, who will soon dis 
 appear, and religion with them. Whose forms are these, 
 Lucius ? Concerning one, I can now easily surmise ; but 
 the other, this stern and terrific man, who is he?" 
 
 " That, " I replied, " is Moses, the founder of Judaism. " 
 
 " Immortal gods ! " exclaimed Portia, " the statue of a 
 Jew in the halls of the Pisos ! Well may it be that Eome 
 approaches her decline, when her elder sons turn against 
 her!" 
 
 " Nay, mother, I am not a Jew. * 
 
 " I would thou wert, rather than be what I suppose thou 
 art, a Christian. The Jew, Lucius, can boast of antiquity, 
 at least, in behalf of his religion. But the faith which 
 you would profess and extend is but of yesterday. Would 
 the gods ever leave mankind without religion ? Is it only 
 to-day that they reveal the truth ? Have they left us for 
 these many ages to grope along in error ? Never, Lucius, 
 can I believe it. It is enough for me that the religion of 
 Rome is old as Eome, to endear it to my heart, and com 
 mend it to my understanding. It is not for the first time, 
 to-day, that the gods have spoken. " 
 
 " But, my dear mother, " I rejoined, " if age makes truth, 
 there are older religions than this of Rome. Judaism itself 
 is older by many centuries. But it is not because a reli 
 gion is new or old, that I would receive or reject it. The 
 only question is, does it satisfy my heart and mind, and is 
 it true ? The faith which you, mother, engrafted upon my 
 infant mind fails to meet the wants of my nature, and upon 
 looking for its foundations, I find them not. " 
 
 " Is thy nature different from mine, Lucius ? Surely thou 
 art my own child ! It has satisfied me and my nature. I 
 ask for nothing else, or better. " 
 
 " There are some natures, mother, by the gods so fur 
 nished and filled with all good desires and affections, that 
 their religion is born with them and is in them. It mat- 
 
12 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 ters little under what outward form and administration of 
 truth they dwell ; no system could injure them, none would 
 greatly benefit. They are of the family of God by birth, 
 and are never disinherited. " 
 
 " Yes, Portia, " said Julia, " natural and divine instincts 
 make you what others can become only through the power 
 ful operation of some principle, out of and superior to any 
 thing they find within themselves. For me, I know not 
 what I should have been without the help which Chris 
 tianity has afforded. I might have been virtuous, but I 
 could not have been happy. You surely rejoice when the 
 weak find that in any religion or philosophy which gives 
 them strength. Look, Portia, at that serene and benignant 
 countenance, and can you believe that any truth ever came 
 from its lips but such as must be most comforting and ex 
 alting to those who receive it?" 
 
 " It would seem so, indeed, my child, " replied Portia, 
 musingly, " and I would not deprive any of the comforts 
 or strength which any principle may impart. But I can 
 not cease to think it dangerous to the state, when the faith 
 of the founders of Eome is abandoned by those who fill its 
 highest places. You who abound in leisure and learning 
 may satisfy yourselves with a new philosophy ; but what 
 shall these nice refinements profit the common herd ? How 
 shall they see them to be true, or comprehend them ? The 
 Eomans have ever been a religious people; and although 
 under the empire the purity of ancient manners is lost, let 
 it not be said that the Pisos were among those who struck 
 the last and hardest blows at the still stout root of the tree 
 that bore them. " 
 
 " Nothing can be more plain or intelligible, " I replied, 
 " than the principles of the Christian religion ; and wher 
 ever it has been preached with simplicity and power, even 
 the common people have readily and gratefully adopted it. 
 I certainly cannot but desire that it may prevail. If any 
 thing is to do it, I believe this is the power that is to re 
 store, and in a still nobler form, the ancient manners of 
 which you speak. It is from Christianity that in my heart 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 13 
 
 I believe the youthful blood is to come that, being poured 
 into the veins of this dying state, shall reproduce the very 
 vigour and freshness of its early age. Eome, mother, is now 
 but a lifeless trunk, a dead and loathsome corpse ; a new 
 and warmer current must be infused or it will soon crumble 
 into dust. " 
 
 " I grieve, Lucius, to see you lost to the good cause of 
 your country, and to the altars of her gods ; for who can 
 love his country and deny the gods who made and preserve 
 it ? But then whom am I to condemn ? When I see the 
 gods hurl thunderbolts upon those who flout them, it will 
 be time enough for us mortals to assume the robes of judg 
 ment, I will hope that further thought will reclaim you 
 from your truant wanderings. " 
 
 Do not imagine, Fausta, that conversations like this 
 have the least effect to chill the warm affections of Portia 
 towards us both. Nature has placed within her bosom a 
 central heat that not only preserves her own warmth, but 
 diffuses itself upon all who approach her, and changes their 
 affections into a likeness of her own. We speak of our 
 differing faiths, but love none the less. When she had 
 paused a moment, after uttering the last words, she again 
 turned her eye upon the statue of Christ, and captivated 
 by its wondrous power, she dwelt upon it in a manner that 
 showed her sensibilities to be greatly moved. At length 
 she suddenly started, saying 
 
 " If truth and beauty were the same thing, one need but 
 look upon this and be a believer. But as in the human 
 form and face beauty is often but a lie, covering over a 
 worse deformity than any that ever disfigures the body, so 
 it may be here. I cannot but admire and love the beauty ; 
 it will be wise, I suppose, not to look farther, lest the 
 dream be dissolved. " 
 
 " Be not afraid of that, dearest mother ; I can warrant 
 you against disappointment. If in that marble you have 
 the form of the outward beauty, here, in this roll, you 
 will find the inward moral beauty of which it was the 
 shrine. " 
 
14 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " Nay, nay, Lucius, T look no farther or deeper. I have 
 seen too much already. " 
 
 With these words she rose, and we accompanied her to 
 the portico, where we walked, and sat, and talked of you, 
 and Calpurnius, and Gracchus. 
 
 Thus you perceive I have told you first of what chiefly 
 interests myself ; now let me turn to what at this moment, 
 more than everything else, fills all heads in Eome and 
 that is Livia. She is the object of universal attention, the 
 centre of all honour. It is indescribable, the sensation 
 which her beauty, and now added to that, her magnifi 
 cence, have made and still make in Eome. Her imperial 
 bearing would satisfy even you ; and the splendour of her 
 state exceeds all that has been known before. This you 
 may be surprised to hear, knowing what the principles of 
 Aurelian have been in such things ; how strict he has been 
 himself in a more than republican simplicity, and how 
 severe upon the extravagances and luxuries of others in 
 the laws he has enacted. You must remember his prohi 
 bition of the use of cloth of gold, and of silk, among other 
 things, foolish laws to be suddenly promulged among so 
 vain and corrupt a population as this of Eome. They have 
 been the ridicule and scorn of rich and poor alike ; of the 
 rich, because they are so easily violated in private, or 
 evaded by the substitution of one article for another; of 
 the poor, because, being slaves in spirit, they take a slave s 
 pride in the trappings and state of their masters ; they love 
 not only to feel but to see their superiority. But since the 
 Eastern expedition, the reduction of Palmyra, and the in 
 troduction from abroad of the vast flood of foreign luxuries 
 which has inundated Eome and Italy itself, the principles 
 and the habits of the emperor have undergone a mighty 
 revolution. Now, the richness and costliness of his dress, 
 the splendour of his equipage, the gorgeousness of his fur 
 niture, cannot be made to come up to the height of his ex 
 travagant desires. The silk which he once denied to the 
 former empress for a dress, now, variously embroidered and 
 of every dye, either hangs in ample folds upon the walls, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 15 
 
 or canopies the royal bed, or lends its beauty to the cush 
 ioned seats which everywhere, in every form of luxurious 
 ease, invite to repose. Gold, too, once prohibited, but now 
 wrought into every kind of cloth, or solid in shape of dish, 
 or vase, or cup, or spread in sheets over the very walls and 
 ceilings of the palace, has rendered the traditions of Nero s 
 house of gold no longer fabulous. The customs of the East 
 ern monarchs have also elevated or perverted the ambition 
 of Aurelian, and one after another is taking place of former 
 usages. He is every day more difficult of access, and sur 
 rounds himself, his palaces, and apartments, by guards and 
 officers of state. In all this, as you will readily believe, 
 Livia is his willing companion, or rather, I should perhaps 
 say, his prompting and ruling genius. As without the 
 world at her feet it would be impossible for her insane 
 pride to be fully satisfied, so in all that is now done the 
 emperor still lags behind her will. But beautifully, it 
 can be denied by none, does she become her greatness, and 
 gives more lustre than she receives to all around her. 
 Gold is doubly gold in her presence; and even the dia 
 mond sparkles with a new brilliancy on her brow or 
 sandal. 
 
 Livia is, of all women I have ever seen or known, made 
 for a Eoman empress. I used to think so when in Palmyra, 
 and I saw her, so often as I did, assuming the port and air 
 of imaginary sovereignty. And now that I behold her fill 
 ing the very place for which by nature she is most perfectly 
 fitted, I cannot but confess that she surpasses all I had 
 imagined in the genius she displays for her great sphere, 
 both as wife of Aurelian and sovereign of Eome. Her in 
 tellect shows itself stronger than I had believed it to be, 
 and secures for her the homage of a class who could not be 
 subdued by the magnificence of her state, extraordinary as 
 it is. They are captivated by the brilliancy of her wit, 
 set off by her unequalled beauty, and, for a woman, her 
 rare attainments, and hover around her as some superior 
 being. Then, for the mass of our rich and noble, her 
 ostentatious state and imperial bearing are all that they 
 
16 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 can appreciate, all they ask for, and more than enough to 
 enslave them, not only to her reasonable will, but to all 
 her most tyrannical and whimsical caprices. She under 
 stands already perfectly the people she is among, and 
 through her quick sagacity has already risen to a power 
 greater than woman ever before held in Borne. 
 
 We see her often, often as ever ; and when we see her, 
 enjoy her as well. For with all her ambition of petty rule 
 and imposing state, she possesses and retains a goodness of 
 heart that endears her to all, in spite of her follies. Julia 
 is still her beloved Julia, and I her good friend Lucius; 
 but it is to Zenobia that she attaches herself most closely ; 
 and from her she draws most largely of the kind of inspira 
 tion which she covets. And it is to her, I believe, that 
 we may trace much of the admirable wisdom for such it 
 must be allowed to be with which Livia adorns the 
 throne of the world. 
 
 Her residence, when Aurelian is absent from the city, is 
 near us, in the palace upon the Palatine ; but when he is 
 here, it is more remote, in the enchanted gardens of Sal- 
 lust. This spot, first ennobled by the presence of the great 
 historian to whose hand and eye of taste the chief beauties 
 of the scene are to be traced, then afterwards selected by 
 Vespasian as an imperial villa, is now lately become the 
 chosen retreat of Aurelian. It has indeed lost a part of its 
 charms since it has been embraced by the extension of the 
 new walls within the limits of the city ; but enough remain 
 to justify abundantly the preference of a line of emperors. 
 It is there that we see Livia most as we have been used to 
 do, and where are forcibly brought to our minds the hours 
 passed by us so instructively in the ga,rdens of Zenobia. 
 Often Aurelian is of our company, and throws the light of 
 his strong intellect upon whatever subject it is we discuss. 
 He cannot, however, on such occasions, thoroughly tame to 
 the tone of gentle society his imperious and almost rude 
 nature. The peasant of Pannonia will sometimes break 
 through and usurp the place of emperor ; but it is only for 
 a moment : for it is amusing to note how the presence of 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 17 
 
 Livia quickly restores him to himself; when, with more 
 grace than one would look for, he acknowledges his fault, 
 ascribing it sportively to the fogs of the German marshes. 
 It amuses us to observe the power which the polished man 
 ners and courtly ways of Livia exercise over Aurelian, 
 whose ambition seems now as violently bent upon subdu 
 ing the world by the displays of taste, grace, and magnifi 
 cence, as it once was to do it and is still indeed by 
 force of arms. Having astonished mankind in one way, 
 he would astonish them again in quite another ; and to this 
 latter task his whole nature is consecrated with as entire 
 a devotion as ever it was to the other. Livia is in all these 
 things his model and guide ; and never did soldier learn to 
 catch, from the least motion or sign of the general, his will, 
 than does he, to the same end, study the countenance and 
 the voice of the empress. Yet is there, as you will be 
 lieve, knowing the character of Aurelian as well as you do, 
 nothing mean or servile in this. He is ever himself, and 
 beneath this transparent surface, artificially assumed, you 
 behold, feature for feature, the lineaments of the fierce sol 
 dier glaring forth in all their native wildness and ferocity. 
 Yet we are happy that there exists any charm potent enough 
 to calm, but for hours or days, a nature so stern and cruel 
 as to cause perpetual fears for the violences in which at any 
 moment it may break out. The late slaughter in the very 
 streets of Eome, when the Coelian ran with the blood of 
 fifteen thousand Eomans, butchered within sight of their 
 own homes, with the succeeding executions, naturally fill 
 us with apprehensions for the future. We call him gener 
 ous and magnanimous, and so he is, compared with former 
 tyrants who have polluted the throne, Tiberius, Commo- 
 dus, or Maximin; but what title has he to that praise, 
 when tried by the standard which our own reason supplies 
 of those great virtues ? I confess it was not always so. 
 His severity was formerly ever on the side of justice ; it 
 was indignation at crime or baseness which sometimes 
 brought upon him the charge of cruelty never the wan 
 ton infliction of suffering and death. But it certainly is 
 
 2 
 
18 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 not so now. A slight cause now rouses his sleeping pas 
 sions to a sudden fury, often fatal to the first object that 
 comes in his way. But enough of this. 
 
 Do not forget to tell me again of the old hermit of the 
 mountains, and that you have visited him, if indeed he 
 be yet among the living. 
 
 Even with your lively imagination, Fausta, you can 
 hardly form an idea of the sensation which my open as 
 sertion of Christian principles and assumption of the Chris 
 tian name has made in Kome. I intended, when I sat 
 down, to speak only of this ; but see how I have been led 
 away ! My letters will be for the most part confined, I 
 fear, to the subjects which engross both myself and Julia 
 most, such as relate to the condition and prospects of the 
 new religion, and to the part which we take in the revolu 
 tion which is going on. Not that I shall be speechless 
 upon other and inferior topics, but that upon this of 
 Christianity I shall be garrulous and overflowing. I be 
 lieve that in doing this I shall consult your preferences as 
 well as my own. I know you to be desirous of principles 
 better than any which as yet you have been able to dis 
 cover, and that you will gladly learn whatever I may have 
 it in my power to teach you from this quarter. But all 
 the teaching I shall attempt will be to narrate events as 
 they occur, and state facts as they arise, and leave them to 
 make what impression they may. 
 
 When I just spoke of the sensation which my adoption of 
 the Christian system had caused in Kome, I did not mean to 
 convey any idea like this, that it has been rare for the intel 
 ligent and cultivated to attach themselves to this despised 
 religion. On the contrary, it would be true were I to say 
 that they who accept Christianity are distinguished for their 
 intelligence ; that, estimated as a class, they rank far above 
 the lowest. It is not the dregs of a people who become 
 reformers of philosophy or religion, who grow dissatisfied 
 with ancient opinions upon exalted subjects, and search 
 about for better, and adopt them. The processes involved 
 in this change in their very nature require intelligence, and 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 19 
 
 imply a character of more than common elevation. It is 
 neither the lowest nor the highest who commence, and at 
 first carry on, a work like this ; but those who fill the inter 
 mediate spaces. The lowest are dead as brute matter to 
 such interests ; the highest the rich, the fashionable, the 
 no bl e from opposite causes just as dead ; or if they are 
 alive at all, it is with the rage of denunciation and opposi 
 tion. They are supporters of the decent usages sanctioned 
 by antiquity and consecrated by the veneration of a long 
 line of the great and noble. Whether they themselves 
 believe in the system which they uphold or not, they are 
 equally tenacious of it. They would preserve and perpet 
 uate it, because it has satisfied, at any rate bound and 
 over-awed, the multitude for ages ; and the experiment of 
 alteration or substitution is too dangerous to be tried. 
 Most indeed reason not, nor philosophize at all, in the mat 
 ter. The instinct that makes them Eomans in their wor 
 ship of the power and greatness of Eome, and attachment to 
 her civil forms, makes them Romans in their religion, and 
 will summon them, if need be, to die for the one and the 
 other. 
 
 Religion and philosophy have accordingly nothing to hope 
 from this quarter. It is those whom we may term the sub 
 stantial middle classes, who, being least hindered by preju 
 dices and pride of order, on the one hand, and incapacitated 
 by ignorance on the other, have ever been the earliest and 
 best friends of progress in any science. Here you find the 
 retired scholar, the thoughtful and independent farmer, the 
 skilful mechanic, the enlightened merchant, the curious 
 traveller, the inquisitive philosopher, all fitted, beyond those 
 of either extreme, for exercising a sound judgment upon 
 such questions, and all more interested in them. It is out 
 of these that Christianity has made its converts. They are 
 accordingly worthy of universal respect. I have examined 
 with diligence, and can say that there live not in Rome a 
 purer and more noble company than the Christians. When 
 I say, however, that it is out of these whom I have just 
 specified that Christianity has made its converts, I do not 
 
20 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 mean to say out of them exclusively. Some have joined 
 them in the present age, as well as in every age past, from 
 the most elevated in rank and power. If in Nero s palace, 
 and among his chief ministers, there were Christians, if 
 Domitilla, Domitian s niece, was a Christian, if Philip was a 
 Christian, so now a few of the same rank may be counted 
 who openly, and more who secretly, profess this religion. 
 But they are very few. So that you will not wonder that 
 when the head of the ancient and honourable house of the 
 Pis os, the friend of Aurelian, and allied to the royal family 
 of Palmyra, declared himself to be of this persuasion, no little 
 commotion was observable in Rome, not so much among 
 the Christians themselves as among the patricians, among 
 the nobility in the court and palace of Aurelian. The love 
 of many has grown cold, and the outward tokens of respect 
 are withheld. Brows darkened by the malignant passions 
 of the bigot are bent upon me as I pass along the streets, 
 and inquiries full of scornful irony are made after the wel 
 fare of my new friends. The emperor changes not his car 
 riage towards me, nor, I believe, his feelings. I think he is 
 too tolerant of opinion, too much a man of the world, to de 
 sire to curb and restrain the liberty of his friends in the 
 quarter of philosophy and religion. I know, indeed, on the 
 other hand, that he is religious in his way, to the extreme 
 of superstition ; but I have observed no tokens as yet of 
 any purpose or wish to interfere with the belief or worship 
 of others. He seems like one who, if he may indulge his 
 own feelings in his own way, is not unwilling to concede to 
 others the same freedom. 
 
 As I was writing these last sentences I became conscious 
 of a voice muttering in low tones, as if discoursing with 
 itself, and upon no very agreeable theme. I heeded it not 
 at first, but wrote on. At length it ran thus, and I was 
 compelled to give ear : 
 
 " Patience, patience, greatest of virtues, yet hardest of 
 practise ! To wait indeed for a kingdom were something, 
 though it were upon a bed of thorns ; to suffer for the hon 
 our of truth were more, more in itself and more in its 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 21 
 
 rewards. But patience when a fly stings, or a fool speaks, 
 or worse, when time is wasted and lost, is the virtue may 
 hap is greater, after all; but it is harder, I say, of practice, 
 that is what I say yet, for that very reason, greater ! By 
 Hercules ! I believe it is so. So that, while I wait here, 
 my virtue of patience is greater than that of these accursed 
 Jews. Patience, then, I say patience ! " 
 
 " What in the name of all antiquity," I exclaimed, turn 
 ing round as the voice ceased, " is this flood of philosophy 
 for ? Wherein have I offended ? " 
 
 " Offended ! " cried the other. " Nay, noble master, not 
 offended. According to my conclusion, I owe thee thanks ; 
 for while I have stood waiting to catch thy eye and ear my 
 virtue has shot up like a wild vine. The soul has grown. 
 I ought, therefore, rather to crave forgiveness of thee, for 
 breaking up a study which was so profound, and doubtless 
 so agreeable, too." 
 
 " Agreeable you will certainly grant it, when I tell you I 
 was writing to your ancient friend and pupil, the daughter 
 of Gracchus." 
 
 " Ah, the blessings of all the gods upon her ! My dreams 
 are still of her. I loved her, Piso, as I never loved besides, 
 either form, shadow, or substance. I used to think that I 
 loved her as a parent loves his child, a brother his sister ; 
 but it was more than that. Aristotle is not so dear to me 
 as she. Bear witness to these tears ! I would now, bent as 
 I am, travel the Syrian deserts to see her, especially if I 
 might hear from her mouth a chapter of the great philoso 
 pher. Never did Greek, always music, seem so like some 
 what more divinely harmonious than anything of earth, as 
 when it came through her lips. Yet, by Hercules ! she 
 played me many a mad prank ! T would have been better 
 for her, and for letters, had I chastised her more, and loved 
 her less. Condescend, noble Piso, to name me to her, and 
 entreat her not to fall away from her Greek. That will be 
 a consolation under all losses and all sorrows." 
 
 " I will not fail to do so. And now, in what is my opin 
 ion wanted ? " 
 
22 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " It is simply in the matter of these volumes, where 
 thou wilt have them bestowed. The cases here, by their 
 superior adorning, seem designed for the great master of all 
 and his disciples ; and it is here I would fain order them. 
 Would it so please thee ? " 
 
 " No, Solon, not there. That is designed for a very differ 
 ent Master and his disciples." 
 
 Solon looked at me as if unwilling to credit his ears, hop 
 ing that something would be added more honourable to the 
 affronted philosopher and myself. But nothing coming, he 
 said : 
 
 " I penetrate, I apprehend. This, the very centre and 
 post of honour, thou reservest for the atheistical Jews. 
 The gods help us ! I doubt I should straight resign my 
 office. Well, well ; let us hope that the increase of years 
 will bring an increase of wisdom. We cannot look for fruit 
 on a sapling. Youth seeks novelty. But, the gods be 
 thanked ! youth lasts not long, but is a fault daily cor 
 rected, else the world were at a bad pass. Eome is not 
 fallen, nor the fame of the Stagyrite hurt for this. But t is 
 grievous to behold ! " 
 
 So murmuring, as he retreated to the farther part of the 
 library, with his bundle of rolls under his arm, he again 
 busied himself in the labours of his office. 
 
 I see, Fausta, the delight that sparkles in your eye, and 
 breaks over your countenance, as you learn that Solon, the 
 incomparable Solon, is one of my household. No one whom 
 I could think of appeared so well suited to my wants as 
 librarian, as Solon ; and I can by no means convey to you 
 an idea of the satisfaction with which he hailed my offer, 
 and abandoning the rod and the brass tablets, betook him 
 self to a labour which would yield him so much more 
 leisure for the perusal of his favourite authors, and the 
 pursuit of his favourite studies. He is already deep in the 
 question whether the walls of Troy were accommodated 
 with thirty-three or thirty-nine gates; and also in this, 
 "What was the method of construction adopted in the 
 case of the wooden horse, and what was its capacity ? " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 23 
 
 Of his progress in these matters I will duly inform 
 you. 
 
 But I weary your patience. Farewell. 
 
 Piso alluding in this letter to the slaughter on the Coslian 
 Hill, and which happened not long before it was written, I 
 will add here that whatever colour it may have pleased 
 Aurelian to give to that affair, as if it were occasioned by 
 a dishonest debasement of the coin by the directors of the 
 mint, there is now no doubt, on the part of any who are 
 familiar with the history of that period, that the difficulty 
 originated in a much deeper and more formidable cause, 
 well known to Aurelian himself, but not spoken of by him 
 in alluding to the event. It is certain, then, that the civil 
 war which then befell, for such it was, was in truth the 
 breaking out of a conspiracy on the part of the nobles to 
 displace Aurelian "a German peasant," as they scornfully 
 designated him, and set one of their own order upon the 
 throne. They had already bought over the chief manager 
 of the public mint, a slave and favourite of Aurelian, and 
 had engaged him in creating, to serve the purposes which 
 they had in view, an immense issue of spurious coin. This 
 they had used too liberally, in effecting some of the prelimi 
 nary objects of their movement. It was suspected, tried, 
 proved to be false, and traced to its authors. Before they 
 were fully prepared, the conspirators were obliged to take to 
 their arms, as the only way in which to save themselves 
 from the executioner. The contest was one of the bloodiest 
 ever known within the walls of the city. It was Aurelian 
 with a few legions of his army, and the people, always of 
 his part, against the wealth and the power of the nobility, 
 and their paid adherents. In one day, and in one battle, as 
 it may be termed, fifteen thousand soldiers and citizens were 
 slain in the streets of the capital. Truly does Piso say the 
 streets of the Coelian ran blood. I happily was within the 
 walls of the queen s palace at Tibur ; but well do I remem 
 ber the horror of the time, especially the days succeeding 
 the battle, when the vengeance of the enraged conqueror fell 
 
24 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 upon the noblest families of Rome, and the axe of the exe 
 cutioner was blunted and broken with the savage work 
 which it did. 
 
 No one has written of Aurelian and his reign who has not 
 applauded him for the defence which he made of his throne 
 and crown, when traitorously assailed within the very walls 
 of the capital ; but all unite also in condemning that fierce 
 spirit of revenge which, after the contest was over and his 
 power secure, by confiscation, banishment, torture, and death, 
 involved in ruin so many whom a different treatment would 
 have converted into friends. But Aurelian was by nature a 
 tyrant; it was accident whenever he was otherwise. If 
 affairs moved on smoothly, he was the just and magnanimous 
 prince ; if disturbed and perplexed, and his will crossed, he 
 was the imperious and vindictive tyrant. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 25 
 
 LETTEK II. 
 
 FEOM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 FRONTO, THE CHIEF-PRIEST OF APOLLO. His CONDUCT TO HIS 
 SISTERS. THE FEARS OF PROBUS. FELIX, BISHOP OF HOME. 
 MILO S WARNING. THE ROMAN BOOKSELLER. VARUS. 
 MACER AS A PREACHER. THE CHRISTIAN BOOKS. 
 
 YOU need not, dear Fausta, concern yourself on our be 
 half. I cannot think that your apprehensions will 
 be realized. Rome never was more calm than now, nor 
 apparently has there ever a better temper possessed its peo 
 ple. The number of those who are sufficiently enlightened 
 to know that the mind ought not to be in bondage to man, 
 but be held answerable to God alone for its thoughts and 
 opinions, is becoming too great for the violences and cruel 
 ties of former ages to be again put in practice against us. 
 And Aurelian, although stern in his nature, and supersti 
 tious beyond others, will not, I am persuaded, lend him 
 self either to priests or people to annoy us. If no principle 
 of humanity prevented him, nor generosity of sentiment, he 
 would be restrained, I think, by his attachments to so many 
 who bear the hated name. 
 
 And this opinion I maintain, notwithstanding a recent 
 act on the part of the emperor which some construe into 
 the expression of unfavorable sentiments toward us. I 
 allude to the appointment of Fronto, Nigridius Fronto, to 
 be chief-priest of the Temple of the Sun, which has these 
 several years been building, and is now just completed. 
 This man signalized himself, both under Decius and Vale 
 rian, for his bitter hatred of the Christians, and his untir 
 ing zeal in the work of their destruction. The tales which 
 are told of his ferocious barbarity would be incredible, did 
 we not know so well what the hard Roman heart is capable 
 
26 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 of. It is reported of him that he informed against his own 
 sisters who had embraced the Christian faith, was with 
 those who hunted them with bloodhounds from their place 
 of concealment, and stood by, a witness and an executioner, 
 while they were torn limb from limb, and devoured. I 
 doubt not the truth of the story. And from that day to 
 this has he made it his sole office to see that all the laws 
 that bear hard upon the sect, and deprive them of privi 
 leges and immunities, are not permitted to become a dead 
 letter. It is this man, drunk with blood, whom Aurelian 
 has put in chief authority in his new temple and made 
 him, in effect, the head of religion in the city. He is, how 
 ever, not only this. He possesses other traits which with 
 reason might commend him to the regard of the emperor. 
 He is an accomplished man, of an ancient family, and 
 withal no mean scholar. He is a Roman, who for Rome s 
 honour or greatness, as he would on the one hand sacrifice 
 father, mother, daughter, so would he also himself. And 
 Rome, he believes, lives but in her religion ; it is the life- 
 blood of the state. It is these traits, I doubt not, that 
 have recommended him to Aurelian, rather than the others. 
 He is a person eminently fitted for the post to which he is 
 exalted ; and you well know that it is the circumstance of 
 fitness Aurelian alone considers in appointing his own or the 
 servants of the state. Probus thinks differently; and al 
 though he sees no cause to apprehend immediate violence, 
 confesses his fears for the future. He places less reliance 
 than I do upon the generosity or friendship of Aurelian. 
 It is his conviction that superstition is the reigning power 
 of his nature, and will sooner or later assert its supremacy. 
 It may be so. Probus is an acute observer, and occupies a 
 position more favourable to impartial estimates, and the for 
 mation of a dispassionate judgment than I. 
 
 This reminds me that you asked for news of Probus, my 
 " Christian pedagogue, " as you are wont to name him. He 
 is here, adorning by a life of severe simplicity and divine 
 benevolence, the doctrine he has espoused. He is a fre 
 quent inmate of our house, and Julia, not less than myself, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 27 
 
 ever greets him with affectionate reverence, as both friend 
 and instructor. He holds the chief place in the hearts of 
 the Eoman Christians ; for even those of the sect who differ 
 from him in doctrine and in life cannot but acknowledge 
 that never an apostle presented to the love and imitation 
 of his followers an example of rarer virtue. Yet he is not, 
 in the outward rank which he holds, at the head of the 
 Christian body. Their chiefs are, as you know, the 
 bishops; arid Felix is Bishop of Eome, a man everyway 
 inferior to Probus. But he has the good or ill fortune to 
 represent more popular opinions, in matter both of doctrine 
 and practice, than the other, and of course easily rides into 
 the posts of trust and honour. He represents those among 
 the Christians for, alas ! there are such among them 
 who, in seeking the elevation and extension of Christianity, 
 do not hesitate to accommodate both doctrine and manner 
 to the prejudices and tastes of both Pagan and Jew. They 
 seek converts, not by raising them to the height of Chris 
 tian principle and virtue, but by lowering these to the 
 level of their grosser conceptions. Thus it is easy to see 
 that in the hands of such professors the Christian doctrine 
 is undergoing a rapid process of deterioration. Probus, and 
 those who are on his part, see this, are alarmed, and oppose 
 it ; but numbers are against them, and consequently power 
 and authority. Already, strange as it may seem when you 
 compare such things with the institution of Christianity 
 as effected by its founder, do the bishops, both in Eome 
 and in the provinces, begin to assume the state and bearing 
 of nobility. Such is the number and wealth of the Chris 
 tian community that the treasuries of the churches are 
 full ; and from this source the pride and ambition of their 
 rulers are luxuriously fed. If, as you walk through the 
 street which crosses from the Quirinal to the Arch of Titus, 
 lined with private dwellings of unusual magnificence, you 
 ask whose is that with a portico that for beauty and cost 
 liness rather exceeds the rest, you are told, " That is the 
 dwelling of Felix, the Bishop of Eome;" and if it chance 
 to be a Christian who answers the question, it ,is done 
 
28 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 with ill-suppressed pride or shame, according to the party 
 to which he belongs. This Felix is the very man, through 
 the easiness of his dispositions, and his proneness to all 
 the arts of self-indulgence, and the imposing graciousness 
 of his carriage, to keep the favour of the people, and at the 
 same time sink them, without suspicion on their part, 
 lower and lower toward the sensual superstitions from 
 which, through so much suffering and by so many labours, 
 they have but just escaped, and accomplish an adulterous 
 and fatal union between Christianity and Paganism ; by 
 which indeed Paganism may be to some extent purified 
 and exalted, but Christianity annihilated. For Chris 
 tianity, in its essence, is that which beckons and urges on 
 ward, not to excellence only but to perfection. Of course 
 its mark is always in advance of the present. By such 
 union with Paganism, then, or Judaism, its essential char 
 acteristic will disappear; Christianity will, in effect, per 
 ish. You may suppose, accordingly, that Probus and 
 others who with him rate Christianity so differently, look 
 on with anxiety upon this downward progress, and with min 
 gled sorrow and indignation upon those who aid it, often 
 times actuated, as is notorious, by most corrupt motives. 
 
 I am just returned from the shop of the learned Publius, 
 where I met Probus and others of many ways of thinking. 
 You will gather from what occurred, better than from any 
 thing else I could say, what occupies the thoughts of our 
 citizens, and how they stand affected. 
 
 I called to Milo to accompany me, and to take with him 
 a basket in which to bring back books, which it was my 
 intention to purchase. 
 
 " I trust, noble master, " said he, " that I am to bear 
 back no more Christian books. " 
 
 "Why so, knave?" 
 
 " Because the priests say that they have magical powers 
 over all who read them, or so much as handle them ; that a 
 curse sticks wherever they are or have been. I have heard 
 of those who have withered away to a mere wisp ; of others 
 who have suddenly caught on fire and vanished in flame 
 
FROM riSO TO FAUSTA. 29 
 
 and smoke; and of others whose blood has stood still, 
 frozen, or run out from all parts of the body, changed to 
 the very colour of your shoe, at their bare touch. Who 
 should doubt that it is so when the very boys in the 
 street have it, and it is taught in the temples ? I would 
 rather Solon, noble master, went in my stead. Mayhap 
 his learning would protect him. " 
 
 I, laughing, bade him come on. " You are not withered 
 away yet, Milo, nor has your blood run out ; yet you have 
 borne many a package of these horrible books. Surely the 
 gods befriend you. " 
 
 " I were else long since with the Scipios. " After a 
 pause of some length he added, as he reluctantly and with 
 features of increased paleness followed in my steps : 
 
 " I would, my master, that you might be wrought with 
 to leave these ways. I sleep not for thinking of your dan 
 ger. Never, when it was my sad mischance to depart from 
 the deserted palace of the great Gallienus, did I look to 
 know one to esteem like him. But it is the truth wnen I 
 affirm that I place Piso before Gallienus, and the lady Julia 
 before the lady Selonina. Shall I tell you a secret ?" 
 
 " I will hear it if it is not to be kept. " 
 
 " It is for you to do with it as shall please you. I am 
 the bosom friend, you may know, of Curio, the favourite 
 slave of Fronto. " 
 
 " Must I not publish it?" 
 
 " Nay, that is not the matter, though it is somewhat to 
 boast of. There is not Curio s fellow in all Eome. But 
 that may pass. Curio then, as I was with him at the new 
 temple, while he was busied in some of the last offices 
 before the dedication, among other things said, Is not thy 
 master, Piso, of these Christians? Yes, said I, he is; 
 and were they all such as he, there could be no truth in 
 what is said of them. Ah, he replied, there are few 
 among the accursed tribe like him. He has but just joined 
 them ; that s the reason he is better than the rest. Wait 
 a while and see what he will become. They are all alike 
 in the end, cursers, and despisers, and disbelievers of the 
 
30 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 blessed gods. But lions have teeth, tigers have claws, 
 knives cut, fire burns, water drowns. There he stopped. 
 That s wise, I said ; who could have known it ? Think 
 you, he rejoined, Piso knows it? If not, let him ask 
 Fronto. Let me advise thee, he added, in a whisper, 
 though in all the temple there were none beside us, let 
 me advise thee, as thy friend, to avoid dangerous com 
 pany. Look to thyself ; the Christians are not safe. 
 How say you ? I replied ; not safe ? What and whom are 
 they to fear? Gallienus vexed them not. Is Aurelian 
 Say no more, he replied, interrupting me ; and name 
 not what I have dropped, for your life. Fronto s ears are 
 more than the eyes of Argus, and his wrath more deadly 
 than the grave. 
 
 " Just as he ended these words a strong beam of red light 
 shot up from the altar and threw a horrid glare over the 
 whole dark interior. I confess I cried out with affright. 
 Curio started at first, but quickly recovered, saying that it 
 was but the sudden flaming up of the fire that had been 
 burning on the altar, but which shortly before he had 
 quenched. It is, he said, an omen of the flames that are 
 to be kindled throughout Eome. This was Curio s com 
 munication. Is it not a secret worth knowing ?" 
 
 " It tells nothing, Milo, but of the boiling over of the 
 wrath of the malignant Fronto, which is always boiling 
 over. Doubtless I should fare ill were his power equal to 
 his will to harm us. But Aurelian is above him. " 
 
 " That is true ; and Aurelian, it is plain, is little like 
 Fronto. " 
 
 " Very little. " 
 
 " But still I would that, like Gallienus, thou couldst 
 only believe in the gods. The Christians, so it is re 
 ported, worship and believe but in a man, a Jew, who 
 was crucified as a criminal, with thieves and murderers. " 
 He turned upon me a countenance full of unaffected 
 horror. 
 
 " Well, Milo, at another time I will tell you what the 
 truth about it is. Here we are now at the shop of Publius. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 31 
 
 The shop of Publius is remarkable for its extent and 
 magnificence, if such a word may be applied to a place of 
 traffic. Here resort all the idlers of learning and of leisure, 
 to turn over the books, hear the news, discuss the times, 
 and trifle with the learned bibliopole. As 1 entered, he 
 saluted me in his customary manner and bade me " wel 
 come to his poor apartments, which for a long time I had 
 not honoured with my presence. " 
 
 I replied that two things had kept me away, the civil 
 broils in which the city had just been involved, and the 
 care of ordering the appointments of a new dwelling. I 
 had come now to commence some considerable purchases 
 for my vacant shelves, if it might so happen that the books 
 I wanted were to be found in his rooms. 
 
 " There is not, " he replied, " a literature, a science, a 
 philosophy, an art, or a religion, whose principal authors 
 are not to be found upon the walls of Publius. My agents 
 are in every corner of the empire, of the east and west, 
 searching out the curious and the rare, the useful and the 
 necessary, to swell the catalogue of my intellectual riches. 
 I believe it is established that in no time before me, as 
 nowhere now, has there been heard of a private collection 
 like this for value and for number. " 
 
 " I do not doubt what you say, Publius. This is a grand 
 display. Your ranges of rooms show like those of the 
 Ulpian. Yet, you do not quite equal, I suppose, Trajan s 
 for number?" 
 
 " Truly not ; but time may bring it to pass. What 
 shall I show you ? It pleases me to give my time to you. 
 I am not slow to guess what it is you now, noble Piso, 
 chiefly covet. And I think if you will follow me to the 
 proper apartment, I can set before you the very things you 
 are in search of. Here, upon these shelves, are the Chris 
 tian writers. Just let me offer you this copy of Hege- 
 sippus, one of your oldest historians, if I err not. And 
 here are some beautifully executed copies I have just 
 ordered to be made of the Apologies of Justin and Tertul- 
 lian. Here, again, are Marcion and Valentinus ; but per- 
 
32 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 haps they are not in esteem with you. If I have heard 
 aright, you will prefer these tracts of Paul or Artemon. 
 But hold, here is a catalogue ; be pleased to inspect it. " 
 
 As I looked over the catalogue I expressed my satis 
 faction that a person of his repute was willing to keep on 
 sale works so generally condemned, and excluded from the 
 shops of most of his craft. 
 
 " I aim, my dear friend, most worthy Piso, to steer a 
 midway course among contending factions. I am myself 
 a worshipper of the gods of my fathers. But I am content 
 that others should do as they please in the matter. I am 
 not, however, so much a worshipper in your ear as a 
 bookseller. That is my calling. The Christians are be 
 come a most respectable people. They are not to be over 
 looked. They are, in my judgment, the most intelligent 
 part of our community. Wasting none of their time at 
 the baths and theatres, they have more time for books. 
 And then their numbers, too ! They are not fewer than 
 seventy thousand ! known and counted. But the num 
 ber, between ourselves, Piso, of those who secretly favour or 
 receive this doctrine is equal to the other ! My books go 
 to houses, ay, and to palaces people dream not of. " 
 
 " I think your statements a little broad, " said a smooth, 
 silvery voice close at our ears. We started, and beheld 
 the prefect Varus standing at our side. Publius was for a 
 moment a little disconcerted; but quickly recovered, say 
 ing, in his easy way," A fair morning to you! I knew 
 not that it behooved me to be upon my oath, being in the 
 presence of the Governor of Eome. I repeat, noble Varus, 
 but what I hear. I give what I say as the current rumour 
 that is all, that is all. Things may not be so, or they 
 may ; it is not for me to say. I wish well to all ; that is 
 my creed. " 
 
 " In the public enumerations of the citizens, " replied the 
 prefect, inclining with civility to Publius, " the Christians 
 have reached at no time to fifty thousand. As for the con 
 jecture touching the numbers who secretly embrace this in 
 jurious superstition, I hold it utterly baseless. It may 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 33 
 
 serve a dying cause to repeat such statements, but they 
 accord not with obvious fact. " 
 
 " Suspect me not, Varus, " hastily rejoined the agitated 
 Publius, " of setting forth such statements with the pur 
 pose to advance the cause of the Christians. I take no 
 part in this matter. Thou knowest that I am a Roman of 
 the old stamp. Not a Roman in my street is more dili 
 gently attentive to the services of the temple than I. I 
 simply say again what I hear as news of my customers. 
 The story which one rehearses I retail to another. " 
 
 " I thank the gods it is so, " replied the man of power. 
 
 During these few words I had stood partly concealed by 
 a slender marble pillar. I now turned, and the usual 
 greetings passed with the prefect. 
 
 " Ah, Piso ! I knew not with certainty my hearer. Per 
 haps from you, " smiling as he spoke, " we may learn the 
 truth. Rome speaks loudly of your late desertion of the 
 religion and worship of your fathers, and union with the 
 Galileans. I should say I hoped the report ill founded, 
 had I not heard it from quarters too authentic to permit a 
 doubt. " 
 
 " You have heard rightly, Varus, " I rejoined. " After 
 searching through all antiquity after truth, I congratulate 
 myself upon having at last discovered it, and where I least 
 expected, in a Jew. And the good which I have found for 
 myself, I am glad to know is enjoyed by so many more of 
 my fellow-citizens. I should not hesitate to confirm the 
 statement made by Publius, from whatever authority he 
 may have derived it, rather than that which has been made 
 by yourself. I have bestowed attention not only upon the 
 arguments which support Christianity, but upon the actual 
 condition of the Christian community here and throughout 
 the empire. It is prosperous at this hour beyond all former 
 example. If Pliny could complain, even in his day, of the 
 desertion of the temples of the gods, what may we now 
 suppose to be the relative numbers of the two great par 
 ties ? Only, Varus, allow the rescript of Gallienus to con 
 tinue in force, which merely releases us from oppressions, 
 
 3 
 
34 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 and we shall S3e what a fair trial of strength between the 
 two religions will issue. " 
 
 " That dull profligate and parricide, " replied Varus, " not 
 content with killing himself with his vices, and his father 
 by connivance, must needs destroy his country by his fa 
 tuity. I confess that till that order be repealed the super 
 stition will spread. " 
 
 " But it only places us upon equal ground. " 
 
 " It is precisely there where we never should be placed. 
 Should the conspirator be put upon the ground of a citi 
 zen ? Were the late rebels of the mint to be relieved from 
 all oppression, that they might safely intrigue and conspire 
 for the throne ?" 
 
 " Christianity has nothing to do with the empire, as such. 
 It is a question of moral, philosophical, religious truth. Is 
 truth to be exalted or suppressed by edicts ?" 
 
 " The religion of the state, " replied Varus, " is a part of 
 the state ; and he who assails it strikes at the dearest life 
 of the state, and, forgive me, is to be dealt with, ought to 
 be dealt with, as a traitor. " 
 
 " I trust, " I replied, " that that time will never again 
 come, but that reason and justice will continue to bear 
 sway. And it is both reasonable and just that persons who 
 yield to none in love of country, and whose principles of 
 conduct are such as must make good subjects everywhere, 
 because they first make good men, should be protected in 
 the enjoyment of rights and privileges common to all 
 others. " 
 
 "If the Christians," he rejoined, "are virtuous men, it 
 is better for the state than if they were Christians and 
 corrupt men. But still that would make no change in my 
 judgment of their offence. They deny the gods who pre 
 side over this nation, and have brought it up to its present 
 height of power and fame. Their crime were less, I re 
 peat, to deny the authority of Aurelian. This religion of 
 the Galileans is a sore, eating into the vitals of an ancient 
 and vigorous constitution, and must be cut away. The 
 knife of the surgeon is what the evil cries out for, and 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 35 
 
 must have ; else universal anarchy is come. I mourn that 
 from the ranks of the very fathers of the state they have 
 received an accession like this of the house of Piso. " 
 
 " I shall think my time and talent well employed, " I 
 replied, " in doing what I may to set the question of Chris 
 tianity in its true light before the city. It is this very 
 institution, Varus, which it needs to preserve it. Chris 
 tianize Home, and you impart the very principle of endur 
 ance, of immortality. Under its present corruptions it 
 cannot but sink. Is it possible a community of men can 
 long hold together as vicious as this of Eome, whose 
 people are either disbelievers of all divine existences, or 
 else ground to the earth by degrading superstitions ? A 
 nation, either on the one hand governed by superstition, 
 or, on the other, atheistical, contains within itself trie 
 disease which sooner or later will destroy it. You your 
 self, it is notorious, have never been within the walls of 
 a temple, nor are Lares nor Penates to be found within 
 your doors. " 
 
 " I deny it not. Most who rise to any intelligence must 
 renounce, if they ever harboured it, all faith in the absurd 
 ities and nonsense of the Eoman religion. But what 
 then ? These very absurdities, as we deem them, are holy 
 truth to the multitude, and do more than all bolts, bars, 
 axes, and gibbets, to keep them in subjection. The intel 
 ligent are good citizens by reflection ; the multitude through 
 instincts of birth and the power of superstition. My idea 
 is, as you perceive, Piso, but one. Eeligion is the state, 
 and for reasons of state must be preserved in the very form 
 in which it has so long upheld the empire. 
 
 " An idea more degrading than yours to our species can 
 hardly be conceived. I cannot but look upon man as some 
 thing more than a part of the state. He is, first of all, a 
 man, and is to be cared for as such. To legislate for the 
 state to the ruin of the man, is to pamper the body and 
 kill the soul. It is to invert the true process. The indi 
 vidual is more than the abstraction which we term the 
 state. If governments cannot exist, nor empires hold 
 
36 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 their sway, but by the destruction of the human being, 
 why, let them fall. The lesser must yield to the greater. 
 As a Christian, my concern is for man as man. This is 
 the essence of the religion of Christ. It is philanthropy. 
 It sees in every human soul a being of more value than 
 empires, and its purpose is, by furnishing it with truths 
 and motives equal to its wants, to exalt it, purify it, and 
 perfect it. If, in achieving this work, existing religions 
 or governments are necessarily overturned or annihilated, 
 Christianity cares not, so long as man is the gainer. And 
 is it not certain that no government could really be in 
 jured although it might apparently, and for a season by 
 its subjects being raised in all intelligence and all virtue ? 
 My work, therefore, Yarus, will be to sow truth in the 
 heart of the people, which shall make that heart fertile 
 and productive. I do not believe that in doing this Rome 
 will suffer injury, but, on the contrary, receive benefit. 
 Its religion, or rather its degrading superstitions, may fall, 
 but a principle of almighty energy and divine purity will 
 insensibly be substituted in their room. I labour for man, 
 not for the state. " 
 
 " And never, accordingly, most noble Piso, did man, in 
 words so unequivocal, denounce himself traitor. " 
 
 " Patriot ! friend ! benefactor ! rather, " cried a voice at 
 my side, which I instantly recognized as that of Probus. 
 Several besides himself had drawn near, listening with in 
 terest to what was going on. 
 
 " That only shows, my good friend," said Varus, in his 
 smiling way, and which seems the very contradiction of all 
 that is harsh and cruel, " how differently we estimate 
 things. Your palate esteems that to be wholesome and 
 nutritious food which mine rejects as ashes to the taste 
 and poison to the blood. I behold Rome torn and bleed 
 ing, prostrate and dying, by reason of innovations upon 
 faith and manners which to you appear the very means of 
 growth, strength, and life. How shall we resolve the 
 doubt ? Who shall prescribe for the patient ? I am happy 
 in the belief that the Roman people have long since de- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 37 
 
 cided for themselves, and confirm their decision every day 
 as it passes by new acts and declarations. " 
 
 " If you mean, " said Probus, " to say that numbers and 
 the general voice are still against the Christians, I grant 
 it so. But I am happy, too, in my belief that the scale 
 is trembling on the beam. There are more and better than 
 you wot of who hail with eager minds and glad hearts the 
 truths which it is our glory, as servants of Christ, to pro 
 pound. Within many a palace upon the seven hills do 
 prayers go up in his name; and, what is more, thousands 
 upon thousands of the humbler ranks of those who but yes 
 terday were without honour in their own eyes or others , 
 without faith, at war with themselves and the world, 
 fit tools for any foe of the state to work with, are to-day 
 reverers of themselves, worshippers of God, lovers of man 
 kind, patriots who love their country better than ever 
 before, because they now behold in every citizen not only 
 a citizen but a brother and an immortal. The doctrine of 
 Christianity, as a lover of man, so commends itself, Varus, 
 to the hearts of the people that in a few more years of 
 prosperity, and the face of the Eoman world will glow 
 with a new beauty ; love and humanity will shine forth 
 in all its features. " 
 
 " That is very pretty, " said Yarus, his lip slightly curl 
 ing as he spoke, but retaining his courteous bearing ; " yet 
 methinks, seeing this doctrine is so bewitching, and is 
 withal a heaven-inspired wisdom, the God working behind 
 it and urging it on, it moves onward with a pace something 
 of the slowest. Within a few of three hundred years has 
 it appealed to the human race, and appealed in vain. The 
 feeblest and the worst of mankind have had power almost 
 to annihilate it, and more than once has it seemed scarce 
 to retain its life. Would it have been so had it been in 
 reality what you claim for it, of divine birth? Would 
 the gods suffer their schemes for man s good to be so 
 thwarted, and driven aside by man ? What was this 
 boasted faith doing during the long and peaceful reigns of 
 Hadrian and the first Antonine ? The sword of persecution 
 
38 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 was then sheathed, or, if it fell at all, it was but on a few. 
 So, too, under Vespasian, Titus, Nerva, Commodus, Severus, 
 Heliogabalus, the Philips, Gallienus, and Claudius. " 
 
 " That is well said, " a Eoman voice added, of one stand 
 ing by the side of Varus, " and is a general wonder. " 
 
 " I marvel it should be a wonder, " rejoined Probus. 
 " Can you pour into a full measure ? Must it not be first 
 emptied ? Who, Yarus, let him try as he may, could 
 plant the doctrine of Christ in thy heart ? Could I do it, 
 think you, or Piso ? " 
 
 " I trow not. " 
 
 " And why, I pray you ? " 
 
 " It is not hard to guess. " 
 
 " Is it not because you are already full of contrary 
 notions, to which you cling tenaciously, and from which, 
 perhaps, no human force could drag you ? But yours is a 
 type of every other Eoman mind to which Christianity has 
 been offered. If you receive it not at once, should others ? 
 Suppose the soul to be full of sincere convictions as to the 
 popular faith, can the Gospel easily enter there ? Suppose 
 it sceptical as to all spiritual truth, can it enter there ? 
 Suppose it polluted by vice, can it easily enter there ? 
 Suppose it like the soul of Fronto ?" 
 
 " Hush ! hush ! " said several voices. Probus heeded 
 them not. 
 
 " Suppose it like the soul of Fronto, could it enter there ? 
 See you not, then, by knowing your own hearts, what time 
 it must demand for a new and specially a strict doctrine, 
 to make its way into the minds of men ? T is not easier to 
 bore a rock with one s finger than to penetrate a heart 
 hardened by sin or swelled with prejudice and pride. 
 And if we say, Varus, this was a work for the God to do 
 that he who originated the faith should propagate it I 
 answer, that would not be like the other dealings of the 
 divine power. He furnishes you with earth and seed, but 
 he ploughs not for you, nor plants, nor reaps. He gives 
 you reason, but he pours not knowledge into your mind. 
 So he offers truth ; but that is all. He compels no assent ; 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 39 
 
 he forces no belief. All is voluntary and free. How, then, 
 can the march of truth be otherwise than slow ? Truth, 
 being the greatest thing below, resembles in its port the 
 motion of the stars, which are the greatest things above. 
 But like theirs, if slow, it is ever sure and onward. " 
 
 " The stars set in night. " 
 
 " But they rise again. Truth is eclipsed often, and it 
 sets for a night; but never is turned aside from its eternal 
 path. " 
 
 " Never, Publius, " said the prefect, adjusting his gown, 
 and with the act filling the air with perfume, " never did 
 I think to find myself within a Christian church. Your 
 shop possesses many virtues. It is a place to be instructed 
 in. " Then turning to Probus, he soothingly and in per 
 suasive tones added, " Be advised now, good friend, and 
 leave off thy office of teacher. Eome can well spare thee. 
 Take the judgment of others ; we need not thy doctrine. 
 Let that alone which is well established and secure. Spare 
 these institutions, venerable through a thousand years. 
 Leave changes to the gods. " 
 
 Probus was about to reply, when we were strangely in 
 terrupted. While we had been conversing, there stood 
 before me, in the midst of the floor of the apartment, a 
 man whose figure, face, and demeanour were such that 
 I hardly could withdraw my eyes from him. He was 
 tall and gaunt beyond all I ever saw, and erect as a praeto 
 rian in the ranks. His face was strongly Eoman, thin and 
 bony, with sunken cheeks, a brown and wrinkled skin, - 
 not through age, but exposure, and eyes more wild and 
 fiery than ever glared in the head of Hun or hyaena. He 
 seemed a living firebrand of death and ruin. As we talked 
 he stood there motionless, sometimes casting glances at 
 our group, but more frequently fixing them upon a roll 
 which he held in his hands. 
 
 As Varus uttered the last words this man suddenly left 
 his post, and reaching us with two or three strides, shook 
 his long finger at Varus, saying at the same time, 
 
 " Hold, blasphemer ! " 
 
40 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 The prefect started as if struck, and gazing a moment 
 with unfeigned amazement at the figure, then immediately 
 burst into a laugh, crying out, 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! Who in the name of Hecate have we here ? 
 Ha ! ha ! he seerns just escaped from the Vivaria. " 
 
 " Thy laugh, " said the figure, " is the music of a sick 
 and dying soul. It is a rebel s insult against the majesty 
 of Heaven. Ay, laugh on ! That is what the devils do ; 
 it is the merriment of hell. What time they burn not 
 they laugh. Bat enough. Hold now thy scoffing, Prefect 
 Varus, for high as thou art I fear thee not, no ! not wert 
 thou twice Aurelian, instead of Varus. I have somewhat 
 for thee. Wilt hear it ? " 
 
 " With delight, Bubo. Say on. " 
 
 " It was thy word just now, Eome needs not this doc 
 trine, was it not?" 
 
 " If I said it not, it is a good saying, and I will father it. " 
 
 " Kome needs not this doctrine; she is well enough; 
 let her alone. These were thy words. Need not, Varus, 
 the streets of Eome a cleansing river to purify them ? Dost 
 thou think them well enough till all the fountains have 
 been let loose to purge them? Is Tarquin s sewer a place 
 to dwell in ? Could all the waters of Eome sweeten it ? 
 The people of Eome are fouler than her highways. The 
 sewers are sweeter than the very worshippers of our tem 
 ples. Thou knowest somewhat of this. Wast ever present 
 at the rites of Bacchus ? or those of the Cyprian god 
 dess ? Nay, blush not yet. Didst ever hear of the gladiator 
 Pollex ? of the woman Csecina ? of the boy Lselius, and 
 the fair girl Fannia proffered and sold- by the parents, 
 Pollex and Csecina, to the loose pleasures of Gallienus ? 
 Now I give thee leave to blush ! Is it nought that the one 
 half of Eome is sunk in a sensuality, a beastly drunkenness 
 and lust, fouler than that of old which, in Judea, called 
 down the fiery vengeance of the insulted heavens ? Thou 
 knowest well, both from early experience and because of 
 thy office, what the purlieus of the theatres are, and places 
 worse than those, and which to name were an offence. But 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 4l 
 
 to you they need not be named. Is all this, Varus, well 
 enough ? Is this that venerable order thou wouldst not 
 have disturbed ? Is that to be charged as impiety and 
 atheism which aims to change and reform it? Are they 
 conspirators, and rebels, and traitors, whose sole office and 
 labour is to mend these degenerate morals, to heal these 
 corrupting sores, to pour a better life into the rotting car 
 cass of this guilty city ? Is it for our pastime or our profit 
 that we go about this always dangerous work ? Is it a 
 pleasure to hear the jibes, jests, and jeers of the streets and 
 the places of public resort ? Will you not believe that it 
 is for some great end that we do and bear as thou seest, 
 even the redemption, and purifying, and saving of Eome ? 
 I love Kome even as a mother, and for her am ready to die. 
 I have bled for her freely in battle, in Gaul, upon the Dan 
 ube, in Asia, and in Egypt. I am willing to bleed for her 
 at home, even unto death, if that blood might, through the 
 blessing of God, be a stream to cleanse her putrefying 
 members. But oh, holy Jesus ! why waste I words upon 
 one whose heart is harder than the nether millstone ? Thou 
 preachedst not to Pilate, nor didst thou work thy wonders 
 for Herod. Yarus, beware. " 
 
 And with these words, uttered with a wild and threat 
 ening air, he abruptly turned away, and was lost in the 
 crowds of the street. 
 
 While he raved, the prefect maintained the same un 
 ruffled demeanour as before. His customary smile played 
 around his mouth, a smile like no other I ever saw. To a 
 casual observer it would seem like every other smile, but 
 to one who watches him, it is evident that it denotes no 
 hilarity of heart, for the eyes accompany it not with a 
 corresponding expression, but, on the contrary, look forth 
 from their beautiful cavities with glances that speak of 
 anything rather than of peace and good-will. So soon as 
 the strange being who had been declaiming had disap 
 peared, the prefect, turning to me, as he drew up his gown 
 around him, said, 
 
 " I give you joy, Piso, of your coadjutor. A few more 
 
42 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 of the same fashion, and Rome is safe. " And saluting us 
 with urbanity, he sallied from the shop. 
 
 I had been too much amazed myself during this scene 
 to do anything else than stand still, and listen, and ob 
 serve. As for Probus, I saw him to be greatly moved, and 
 give signs of even deep distress. He evidently knew who 
 the person was, as I saw him make more than one ineffec 
 tual effort to arrest him in his harangue, and as evidently 
 held him in respect, seeing he abstained from all inter 
 ruption of a speech that he felt to be provoking wantonly 
 the passions of the prefect, and of many who stood around, 
 from whom, so soon as the man of authority had with 
 drawn, angry words broke forth abundantly. 
 
 " Well did the noble prefect say that that wild animal 
 had come forth like a half-famished tiger from the Vi 
 varia, " said one. 
 
 " It is singular, " observed another, " that a man who 
 pretends to reform the state, should think to do it by first 
 putting it into a rage with him and all he utters. " 
 
 " Especially singular, " added a third, " that the advo 
 cate of a religion that, as I hear, condemns violence, and 
 consists in the strictness with which the passions are gov 
 erned, should suppose that he was doing any other work 
 than entering a breach in his own citadel, by such ferocity. 
 But it is quite possible his wits are touched. " 
 
 " No, I presume not, " said the first ; " this is a kind of 
 zeal which, if I have observed aright, the Christians hold 
 in esteem. " 
 
 As these separated to distant parts of the shop, I said to 
 Probus, who seemed heavily oppressed by what had oc 
 curred, " What demon dwells in that body that has just 
 departed ? " 
 
 " Well do you say demon. The better mind of that 
 man seems ofttimes seized upon by some foul spirit, and 
 bound, and which then acts and speaks in its room. But 
 do you not know him ? " 
 
 " No, truly ; he is a stranger to me, as he appears to be 
 to all. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 43 
 
 " Nevertheless, you have been in his company. You for 
 get not the Mediterranean voyage ? " 
 
 " By no means. I enjoyed it highly, and recall it ever 
 with delight." 
 
 " Do you not remember, at the time I narrated to you 
 the brief story of my life, that, as I ended, a rough voice 
 from among the soldiers exclaimed, Where now are the 
 gods of Eome? This is that man, the soldier Macer; 
 then bound with fellow-soldiers to the service in Africa, 
 now a Christian preacher. " 
 
 " I see it now. That man impressed me then, with his 
 thin form and all-devouring eyes. But the African cli 
 mate, and the gash across his left cheek, and which seems 
 to have slightly disturbed the eye upon that side, have 
 made him a different being, and almost a terrific one. Is 
 he sound and sane?" 
 
 " Perfectly so, " replied Probus, " unless we may say that 
 souls earnestly devoted and zealous are mad. There is not 
 a more righteous soul in Eome. His conscience is bare 
 and shrinking like a fresh wound. His breast is warm 
 and fond as a woman s. His penitence for the wild errors 
 of his pagan youth a consuming fire, which while it re 
 doubles his ardour in doing what he may in the cause of 
 truth, rages in secret, and, if the sword or the cross claim 
 him not, will bring him to the grave. He is utterly in 
 capable of fear. All the racks and the dungeons of Eome, 
 with their tormentors, could not terrify him. " 
 
 " You now interest me in him. I must see and know 
 him. It might be of service to him and to all, Probus, 
 methinks, if he could be brought to associate with those 
 whose juster notions might influence his, and modify them 
 to the rule of truth. " 
 
 " I fear not. What he sees, he sees clearly and strongly, 
 and by itself. He understands nothing of one truth bear 
 ing upon another, and adding to it or taking from it. 
 Truth is truth with him, and as his own mind perceives 
 it, not another s. His conscience will allow him in no 
 accommodations to other men s opinions or wishes. He 
 
44 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 is impatient under an argument as a war-horse under the 
 rein after the trumpet sounds. It is unavoidable, there 
 fore, but he should possess great power among the Chris 
 tians of Rome. His are the bold and decisive qualities 
 that strike the common mind. There is glory and ap 
 plause in following and enduring under such a leader. 
 Many are fain to believe him divinely illuminated and 
 impelled, to unite the characters of teacher and prophet; 
 and from knowing that he is so regarded by others, Macer 
 has come almost to believe it himself. He is tending 
 more and more to construe every impulse of his own mind 
 into a divine suggestion, and, I believe, honestly experi 
 ences diificulty in discriminating between them. Still, I 
 do not deny that it would be of advantage for him more 
 and more to come in contact with sober and enlightened 
 minds. I shall take pleasure, at some fitting moment, to 
 accompany you to his humble dwelling ; the rather as I 
 would show you also his wife and children, all of whom 
 are, like himself, Christians. " 
 
 " I shall not forget the promise. " 
 
 Whereupon we separated. 
 
 I then searched for Publius, and making my purchases, 
 returned home, Milo following with the books. 
 
 As Milo relieved himself of his burden, discharging it 
 upon the floor of the library, I overheard him to say, 
 
 " Lie there, accursed rolls ! May the flames consume 
 you, ere you are again upon my shoulders ! For none but 
 Piso would I have done what I have. Let me to the tem 
 ple and expiate. " 
 
 " What words are these ? " cried Solon, emerging sud 
 denly at the sound from a recess. " Who dares to heap 
 curses upon books which are the soul embalmed and made 
 imperishable? What have we here ? Aha ! a new treasure 
 for these vacant shelves, and most trimly ordered. " 
 
 " These, venerable Greek, " exclaimed Milo, waving him 
 away, " are books of magic, oriental magic ! Have a care ! 
 A touch may be fatal ! Our noble master affects the 
 Egyptians. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 45 
 
 "Magic!" exclaimed Solon, with supreme contempt; 
 " art thou so idiotic as to put credence in such fancies ? 
 Away ! hinder me not ! " And saying so, he eagerly 
 grasped a volume, and unrolling it to the beginning of the 
 work, dropped it suddenly, as if bitten by a serpent. 
 
 " Ha ! " cried Milo, " said I not so ? Art thou so idiotic, 
 learned Solon, as to believe in such fancies ? How is it 
 with thee ? Is thy blood hot, or cold ? thy teeth loose, or 
 fast ? thy arm withered, or swollen ? " 
 
 Solon stood surveying the pile, with a look partly of 
 anger, partly of sorrow. 
 
 " Neither, fool ! " he replied. " These possess not the 
 power or worth fabled of magic. They are books of 
 dreams, visions, reveries, which are to the mind what 
 fogs would be for food, and air for drink, innutritive and 
 vain. Papias ! Irena3us ! Hegesippus ! Polycarp ! Origen ! 
 Whose names are these, and to whom familiar? Some 
 are Greek, some are Latin, but not a name famous in the 
 world meets my eye. But we will order them on their 
 shelves, and trust that time, which accomplishes all 
 things, will restore reason to Piso. Milo, essay thy 
 strength, my limbs are feeble, and lift these upon 
 yonder marble ; so may age deal gently with thee. " 
 
 " Not for their weight in wisdom, Solon, would I again 
 touch them. I have borne them hither, and if the priests 
 speak truly, my life is worth not an obolus. I were mad 
 to tempt my fate farther. " 
 
 " Avaunt thee, then, for a fool and a slave, as thou 
 art!" 
 
 " Nay now, master Solon, thy own wisdom forsakes 
 thee. Philosophers, they say, are ever possessors of them 
 selves, though for the rest they be beggars. " 
 
 " Beggar ! sayest thou ? Avaunt, I say, or Papias shall 
 teach thee ! " and he would have launched the roll at the 
 head of Milo, but that with quick instinct, he shot from 
 the apartment, and left the pedagogue to do his own 
 bidding. 
 
 So, Fausta, you see that Solon is still the irritable old 
 
46 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 man he was, and Milo the fool he was. Think not me 
 worse than either, for hoping so to entertain you. I know 
 that in your solitude and grief even such pictures may be 
 welcome. 
 
 When I related to Julia the scene and the conversation 
 at the shop of Publius, she listened not without agitation, 
 and expresses her fears lest such extravagances, repeated 
 and become common, should inflame the minds both of the 
 people and their rulers against the Christians. Though I 
 agree with her in lamenting the excess of zeal displayed by 
 many of the Christians, and their needless assaults upon 
 the characters and faith of their opposers, I cannot appre 
 hend serious consequences from them, because they are so 
 few and rare, and are palpable exceptions to the general 
 character which I believe the whole city would unite in 
 ascribing to the Christians. Their mildness and pacific 
 temper are perhaps the very traits by which they are most 
 distinguished, with which they are indeed continually re 
 proached. Yet individual acts are often the remote causes 
 of vast universal evil, of bloodshed, war, and revolution. 
 Macer alone is enough to set on fire a city, a continent, 
 a world. 
 
 I rejoice, I cannot tell you how sincerely, in all your 
 progress. I do not doubt in the ultimate return of the 
 city to its former populousness and wealth, at least. 
 Aurelian has done well for you at last. His disburse 
 ments for the Temple of the Sun alone are vast, and must 
 be more than equal to its perfect restoration. Yet his 
 overthrown column you will scarce be tempted to rebuild. 
 Forget not to assure Gracchus and Calpurnius of my affec 
 tion. Farewell. 
 
FROM FISO TO FAUSTA. 47 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 FKOM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 CAUSES OF ROMAN CORRUPTION. THE SPORTS OF THE FLAVIAN. 
 AN IMPERIAL FEAST. THE DEMETRII. THE HIGH-PRIEST OF 
 APOLLO. LIVIA. THE FIRST CLOUD IN THE HORIZON. 
 
 YOU are right, Fausta, in your unfavourable judgment of 
 the Roman populace. The Romans are not a people 
 one would select to whom to propose a religion like this of 
 Christianity. All causes seem to combine to injure and 
 corrupt them. They are too rich. The wealth of subject 
 kingdoms and provinces finds its way to Rome ; and not 
 only in the form of tribute to the treasury of the empire, 
 but in that of the private fortunes amassed by such as 
 have held offices in them for a few years, and who then 
 return to the capital to dissipate, in extravagances and 
 luxuries unknown to other parts of the world, the riches 
 wrung by violence, injustice, and avarice, from the 
 wretched inhabitants whom fortune had delivered into 
 their power. Yes, the wealth of Rome is accumulated in 
 such masses, not through the channels of industry or com 
 merce ; it arrives in bales and ship-loads, drained from 
 foreign lands by the hand of extortion. The palaces are 
 not to be numbered, built and adorned in a manner sur 
 passing those of the monarchs of other nations, which are 
 the private residences of those, or of the descendants of 
 those, who for a few years have presided over some distant 
 province, but in that brief time, Verres-like, have used 
 their opportunities so well as to return home oppressed 
 with a wealth which life proves not long enough to spend, 
 notwithstanding the aid of dissolute and spendthrift sons. 
 Here have we a single source of evil equal to the ruin of 
 
48 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 any people. The morals of no community could be pro 
 tected against such odds. It is a mountain torrent tearing 
 its way through the fields of the husbandman, whose trees 
 and plants possess no strength of branch or root to resist 
 the inundation. 
 
 Then, in addition to all this, there are the largesses of 
 the emperor, not only to his armies but to all the citizens 
 of Eome ; which are now so much a matter of expectation 
 that rebellions, I believe, would ensue were they not be 
 stowed. Aurelian, before his expedition to Asia, promised 
 to every citizen a couple of crowns ; he has redeemed the 
 promise by the distribution, not of money, but of bread, 
 two loaves to each, with the figure of a crown stamped 
 upon them. Besides this, there has been an allowance of 
 meat and pork, so much to all the lower orders. He 
 even contemplated the addition of wine to the list, but was 
 hindered by the judicious suggestion of his friend and gen 
 eral, Mucapor, that if he provided wine and pork, he 
 would next be obliged to furnish them fowls also, or 
 public tumults might break out. This recalled him to his 
 senses ; still however only in part, for the other grants 
 have not been withdrawn. In this manner is this whole 
 population supported in idleness. Labour is confined to the 
 slaves. The poor feed upon the bounties of the emperor 
 and the wealth so abundantly lavished by senators, no 
 bles, and the retired proconsuls. Their sole employment 
 is to wait upon the pleasure of their many masters, serve 
 them, as they are ready enough to do, in the toils and 
 preparations of luxury, and what time they are not thus 
 occupied, pass the remainder of their hours at the theatres, 
 at the circuses, at games of a thousand kinds, or in noisy 
 groups at the corners of the streets and in the market 
 places. 
 
 It is become a state necessity to provide amusements for 
 the populace, in order to be safe against their violence. 
 The theatres, the baths, with their ample provisions for 
 passing away time in some indolent amusement or active 
 game, are always open and always crowded. Public or 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 49 
 
 funeral games are also in progress without intermission in 
 different parts of the capital. Those instituted in honour of 
 the gods, and which make a part of the very religion of the 
 people, are seldom suspended for even a day. At one tem 
 ple or another, in this grove or that, within or without the 
 walls, are these lovers of pleasure entertained by shows, 
 processions, music, and sacrifices. And as if these were 
 not enough, or when they perchance fail for a moment, and 
 the sovereign people are listless and dull, the Flavian is 
 thrown open by the imperial command, the Vivaria vomit 
 forth their maddened and howling tenants either to destroy 
 each other, or dye the dust of the arena with the blood of 
 gladiators, criminals, or captives. These are the great days 
 of the Eoman people ; these their favourite pleasures. The 
 cry through the streets in the morning, of even women and 
 boys, " Fifty captives to-day for the lions in the Flavian!" 
 together with the more solemn announcement of the same 
 by the public heralds, and by painted bills at the corners 
 of the streets and on the public baths, is sure to throw 
 the city into a fever of excitement, and rivet by a new 
 bond the affections of this bloody people to their indulgent 
 emperor. 
 
 Hardly has the floor of the amphitheatre been renewed 
 since the cessation of the triumphal games of Aurelian, 
 before it is again to be soaked with blood in honour of 
 Apollo, whose magnificent temple is within a few days to 
 be dedicated. 
 
 Never before, I believe, was there a city whose inhabi 
 tants so many and so powerful causes conspired to corrupt 
 and morally destroy. Were I to give you a picture of the 
 vices of Konie, it would be too dark and foul a one for 
 your eye to read, but not darker or fouler than you will 
 suppose it must necessarily be to agree with what I have 
 already said. Where there is so little industry and so 
 much pleasure the vices will flourish and shoot up to their 
 most gigantic growth. Not in the days of Nero were they 
 more luxuriant than now. Aurelian, in the first year of 
 his reign, laid upon them a severe but useful restraint, and 
 
 4 
 
50 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 they were checked for a time. But since he has himself 
 departed from the simplicity and rigour of that early day, 
 and actually or virtually repealed the laws which then 
 were promulged for the reformation of the city in its man 
 ners, the people have also relapsed, and the ancient ex 
 cesses are renewed. 
 
 This certainly is not a people who, in its whole mass, 
 will be eager to receive the truths of a religion like this of 
 Christianity. It will be repulsive to them. You are right 
 in believing that among the greater part it will find no 
 favour. But all are not such as I have described. There 
 are others different in all respects, and who stand waiting 
 the appearance of some principles of philosophy or religion 
 which shall be powerful enough to redeem their country 
 from idolatry and moral death, as well as raise themselves 
 from darkness to light. Some of this sort are to be found 
 among the nobles and senators themselves, a few among 
 the very dregs of the people, but most among those who, 
 securing for themselves competence and independence by 
 their own labour in some of the useful arts, and growing 
 thoughtful and intelligent with their labour, understand in 
 some degree, which others do not, what life is for, and 
 what they are for, and hail with joy truths which com 
 mend themselves to both their reason and affections. It 
 is out of these, the very best blood of Rome, that our 
 Christians are made. They are, in intelligence and virtue, 
 the very bone and muscle of the capital, and of our two 
 millions constitute no mean proportion, large enough to 
 rule and control the whole, should they ever choose to put 
 forth their power. It is among these that the Christian 
 preachers aim to spread their doctrines ; and when they 
 shall all or in their greater part be converted as, judg 
 ing of the future by the past arid present, will happen in 
 no long time Rome will be safe and the empire safe. 
 For it needs, I am persuaded, for Rome to be as pure as 
 she is great, to be eternal in her dominion, and then the 
 civilizer and saviour of the whole world. Oh, glorious age ! 
 not remote when truth shall wield the sceptre in 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 51 
 
 Caesar s seat, and subject nations of the earth no longer 
 come up to Rome to behold and copy her vices, but to 
 hear the law and be imbued with the doctrine of Christ, 
 so bearing back to the remotest province precious seed, 
 there to be planted, and spring up and bear fruit, filling 
 the earth with beauty and fragrance ! 
 
 These things, Fausta, in answer to the questions at the 
 close of your letter, which betray just such an interest in 
 the subject which engrosses me as it gives me pleasure 
 to witness. 
 
 I have before mentioned the completion of Aurelian s 
 Temple of the Sun, and the proposed dedication. This 
 august ceremony is appointed for to-morrow, and this 
 evening we are bidden to the gardens of Sallust, where 
 is to be all the rank and beauty of Rome. Oh that thou, 
 Fausta, couldst be there ! 
 
 I have been, I have seen, I have supped, I have re 
 turned ; and again seated at my table beneath the protect 
 ing arm of my chosen divinity, I take my pen, and, by a 
 few magic flourishes and marks, cause you, a thousand 
 leagues away, to see and hear what I have seen and heard ; 
 alas that I cannot cause you to sup as I did also ! But this 
 is beyond the power of the pen. 
 
 Accompanied by Portia and Julia, I was within the 
 palace of the emperor early enough to enjoy the company 
 of Aurelian and Livia before the rest of the world was 
 there. We were carried to the more private apartments of 
 the empress, where it is her custom to receive those whose 
 friendship she values most highly. They are in that part 
 of the palace which has undergone no alterations since it 
 was the residence of the great historian, but shines in all 
 the lustre of a taste and an art that adorned a more accom 
 plished age than our own. Especially, it seems to me, in 
 the graceful disposition of the interiors of their palaces, 
 and the combined richness and appropriateness of the art 
 lavished upon them, did the genius of the days of Hadrian 
 and Vespasian surpass our own. Not that I defend all 
 
52 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 that that genius adopted and immortalized. It was not 
 seldom licentious and gross in its conceptions, however un 
 rivalled in the art and science by which they were made to 
 glow upon the walls, or actually speak and move in marble 
 or brass. In the favourite apartment of Livia, into which 
 we were now admitted, perfect in its forms and propor 
 tions, the walls and ceilings are covered with the story of 
 Leda, wrought with an effect of drawing and colour of 
 which the present times afford no example. The well- 
 known Greek, Polymnestes, was the artist. And this 
 room, in all its embellishments, is chaste and cold com 
 pared with others, whose subjects were furnished to the 
 painter by the profligate master himself. 
 
 The room of Leda, as it is termed, is but how beauti 
 ful it is, I cannot tell. Words paint poorly to the eye. 
 Believe it not less beautiful, nor less exquisitely adorned 
 with all that woman loves most hangings, carpets, and 
 couches than any in the palace of Gracchus or Zenobia. 
 It was here we found Aurelian and Livia, and his niece 
 Aurelia. The emperor, habited in silken robes, richly 
 wrought with gold, the inseparable sword at his side, from 
 which, at the expense of whatever incongruity, he never 
 parts, advanced to the door to receive us, saying, 
 
 " I am happy that the mildness of this autumn day 
 permits this pleasure, to see the mother of the Pisos 
 beneath my roof. It is rare nowadays that Borne sees her 
 abroad. " 
 
 " Save to the palace of Aurelian, " replied my mother, 
 " I now, as is well known, never move beyond the pre 
 cincts of my own dwelling. Since the captivity and death 
 of your former companion in arms, my great husband, 
 Cneius Piso, the widow s hearth has been my hall of state, 
 these widow s-weeds my only robes. But it must be more 
 than private grief, and more than the storms of autumn or 
 of winter, that would keep me back when it is Aurelian 
 who bids to the feast. " 
 
 " We owe you many thanks, " replied the emperor. 
 " Would that the loyalty of the parents were inherited by 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 53 
 
 the children, "-casting towards me, as he saluted me at 
 the same time, a look which seemed to say that he was 
 partly serious, if partly in jest. After mutual inquiries 
 and salutations, we were soon seated upon couches, be 
 neath a blaze of light, which from the centre of the apart 
 ment darted its brightness, as it had been the sun itself, 
 to every part of the room. 
 
 " It is no light sorrow to a mother s heart, " said Portia, 
 " to know that her two sons, and her only sons, are, one 
 the open enemy of his country, the other what shall I 
 term you, Lucius ? an innovator upon her ancient in 
 stitutions ; and while he believes and calls himself, sin 
 cerely, I doubt not, the friend of his country, is in truth, 
 as every good Roman would say not an enemy, my son, I 
 cannot use that word, but as it were an unconscious in- 
 jurer. Would that the conqueror of the world had power 
 to conquer this boy s will ! " 
 
 " Aurelian, mother, " I replied, " did he possess the 
 power, would hesitate to use it in such a cause. But 
 it is easy to see that it would demand infinitely more 
 power to change one honest mind than to subdue even tue 
 world by the sword. " 
 
 Aurelian for a brief moment looked as if he had received 
 a personal affront. 
 
 " How say you ? " said he ; " demands it more power to 
 change one mind than to conquer a world ? Methinks it 
 might be done with something less. My soldiers often 
 maintain with violence a certain opinion ; but I find it not 
 difficult to cause them to let it go, and take mine in its 
 place. The arguments I use never fail. " 
 
 " That may be, " I replied, " in matters of little moment. 
 Even in these, however, is it not plain, Aurelian, that you 
 cause them not to let go their opinion, but merely to sup 
 press it, or affect to change it ? Your power may compel 
 them either to silence, or to an assertion of the very con 
 trary of what they but just before had declared as their 
 belief; but it cannot alter their minds. That is to be 
 done by reason only, not by force. " 
 
54 LETTERS EROM ROME. 
 
 " By reason, first, " answered the emperor ; " but if that 
 fail, then by force. The ignorant, and the presumptuous, 
 and the mischievous, must be dealt with as we deal with 
 children. If we argue with them it is a favour. It is our 
 right, as it is better, to command and compel. " 
 
 " Only establish it that such and such are ignorant, and 
 erroneous, and presumptuous, and I allow that it would be 
 right to silence them. But that is the very difficulty in 
 the case. How are we to know that they who think dif 
 ferently from ourselves are ignorant or erroneous ? Surely 
 the fact of the difference is not satisfactory proof. " 
 
 " They," rejoined Aurelian, " who depart from a certain 
 standard in art are said to err. The thing in this case is 
 of no consequence to any, therefore no punishment ensues. 
 So there is a standard of religion in the state, and they 
 who depart from it may be said to err. But as religion is 
 essential to the state, they who err should be brought back, 
 by whatever application of force, and compelled to conform 
 to the standard. " 
 
 " In what sense, " said Portia, " can common and ignorant 
 people be regarded as fit judges of what constitutes or does 
 not constitute a true religion ? It is a subject level scarce 
 to philosophers. If indeed the gods should vouchsafe to 
 descend to earth and converse with men, and in that man 
 ner teach some new truth, then, any one possessed of eyes 
 and ears might receive it, and retain it without presump 
 tion. Nay, he could not but do so ; but not otherwise. " 
 
 " Now have you stated," said I, " that which constitutes 
 the precise case of Christianity. They who received Chris 
 tianity in the first instance, did it riot by balancing against 
 each other such refined arguments as philosophers use. 
 They were simply judges of matters of fact, of what their 
 eyes beheld and their ears heard. God did vouchsafe to 
 descend to earth, and by his messenger converse with men, 
 and teach new truth. All that men had then to do was 
 this, to see whether the evidence was sufficient that it 
 was a God speaking ; and that being made plain, to listen 
 and record. And at this day, all that is to be done is to 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 55 
 
 inquire whether the record be true. If the record be a well- 
 authenticated one of what the mouth of God spoke, it is 
 then adopted as the code of religious truth. As for what 
 the word contains, it requires no acute intellect to judge 
 concerning it; a child may understand it all." 
 
 " Truly, " replied Portia, " this agrees but ill with what 
 I have heard and believed concerning Christianity. It has 
 ever been set forth as a thing full of darkness and mystery, 
 which it requires the most vigorous powers to penetrate and 
 comprehend. " 
 
 " So has it been ever presented to me, " added the em 
 peror. " I have conceived it to be but some new form of 
 Plato s dreams, neither more clear in itself, nor promising 
 to be of more use to mankind. So, if I err not, the learned 
 Porphyrus has stated it. " 
 
 " A good fact, " here interposed Julia, " is worth more in 
 this argument than the learning of the most learned. Is 
 it not sufficient proof, Aurelian, that Christianity is some 
 what sufficiently plain and easy, that women are able to 
 receive it so readily ? Take me as an unanswerable argu 
 ment on the side of Piso. " 
 
 " The women of Palmyra, " replied the emperor, " as I 
 have good reason to know, are more than the men of other 
 climes. She who reads Plato and the last essays of Plo- 
 tinus, of a morning, seated idly beneath the shadow of 
 some spreading beech, just as a Roman girl would the last 
 child s story of Spurius about Father Tiber and the Milvian 
 Bridge, is not to be received in this question as but a 
 woman, with a woman s powers of judgment. When the 
 women of Home receive their faith as easily as you do, 
 then may it be held as an argument for its simplicity. 
 But let us now break off the thread of this discourse, too 
 severe for the occasion, and mingle with our other friends, 
 who by this must be arrived. " 
 
 So with these words we left the apartment where we had 
 been sitting, the emperor having upon one side Portia, and 
 on the other Livia, and moved towards the great central 
 rooms of the palace, where guests are entertained, and the 
 imperial banquets held. 
 
56 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 The company was not numerous ; it was rather remark 
 able for its selectness. Among others not less distin 
 guished there were the venerable Tacitus, the consul 
 Capitolinus, Marcellinus the senator, the prefect Varus, 
 the priest Fronto, the generals Probus and Mucapor, and 
 a few other of the military favourites of Aurelian. 
 
 Of the conversation at supper I remember little or 
 nothing, only that it was free and light, each seeming 
 to enjoy himself and the companion who reclined next to 
 him. Aurelian, with a condescending grace which no one 
 knows better how to assume than he, urged the wine upon 
 his friends, as they appeared occasionally to forget it, of 
 fering frequently some new and unheard-of kind, brought 
 from Asia, Greece, or Africa, and which he would exalt to 
 the skies for its flavour. More than once did he, as he is 
 wont to do in his sportive mood, deceive us ; for calling 
 upon us to fill our goblets with what he described as a 
 liquor surpassing all of Italy, and which might serve for 
 Hebe to pour out for the gods, and requiring us to drink it 
 off in honor of Bacchus, Pan, or Ceres, we found upon lift 
 ing our cups to drain them, that they had been charged 
 with some coloured and perfumed medicament more sour or 
 bitter than the worst compound of the apothecary, or than 
 massican overheated in the vats. These sallies, coming 
 from the master of the world, were sure to be well re 
 ceived, his satellites, of whom not a few were near him, 
 being ready to die with excess of laughter ; the attendant 
 slaves catching the jest, and enjoying it with noisy vo 
 ciferation. I laughed with the rest, for it seems wise to 
 propitiate, by an act not absolutely base, one whose ambi 
 tious and cruel nature, unless soothed and appeased by such 
 offerings, is so prone to reveal itself in deeds of darkness. 
 
 When the feast was nearly ended, and the attending 
 slaves were employed in loading it for the last time with 
 fruits, olives, and confections, a troop of eunuchs, richly 
 habited, entered the apartment to the sound of flutes and 
 horns, bearing upon a platter of gold an immense bowl or 
 vase of the same metal, filled to the brim with wine, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 57 
 
 which they placed in the centre of the table, and then, at 
 the command of the emperor, with a ladle of the same pre 
 cious material and ornamented with gems, served out the 
 wine to the company. At first, as the glittering pageant 
 advanced, astonishment kept us mute, and caused us invol 
 untarily to rise from our couches to watch the ceremony of 
 introducing it, and fixing it in its appointed place. For 
 never before in Eome had there been seen, I am sure, a 
 golden vessel of such size, or wrought with art so marvel 
 lous. The language of wonder and pleasure was heard on 
 every side, from every mouth. Even Livia and Julia, who 
 in Palmyra had been used to the goblets and wine-cups of 
 the Eastern Demetrius, showed amazement not less than 
 the others at a magnificence and a beauty that surpassed 
 all experience and all conception. Just above where the 
 bowl was placed hung the principal light, by which the 
 table and the apartment were illuminated, which falling in 
 floods upon the wrought or polished gold and the thickly 
 strewed diamonds, caused it to blaze with a splendour 
 which the eyes could hardly bear, and, till accustomed to it 
 by gazing, prevented us from minutely examining the 
 sculptures which, with lavish profusion and consummate 
 art, glowed and burned upon the pedestal, the swelling 
 sides, the rirn and handles of the vase, and covered the 
 broad and golden plain upon which it stood. I happily 
 was near it, being seated opposite Aurelian, and on the 
 inner side of the table, which, as the custom now is, was 
 of the form of a bent bow, so that I could study at my 
 leisure the histories and fables that were wrought over its 
 whole surface. Julia and Livia, being also near it on the 
 other side of the table, were in the same manner wholly 
 absorbed in the same agreeable task. 
 
 Livia, being quite carried out of herself by this sudden 
 and unexpected splendour, having evidently no knowledge 
 of its approach, - like a girl as she still is in her natural, 
 unpremeditated movements, rose from her couch and ea 
 gerly bent forward towards the vase, the better to scan its 
 beauties, saying, as she did so, 
 
58 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " The emperor must himself stand answerable for all 
 breaches of order under circumstances like these. Good 
 friends, let all who will, freely approach, and leaving for 
 a moment that of Bacchus, drink at the fountain of 
 Beauty. " Whereupon, all who were so disposed gath 
 ered round the centre of the table. 
 
 " This, " said Varus, " both for size and the perfect art 
 lavished upon it, surpasses the glories fabled of the buckler 
 of Minerva, whose fame has reached us. " 
 
 " You say right ; it does so, " said the emperor. " That 
 dish of Vitellius was inferior in workmanship, as it was 
 less in weight and size than this, which, before you all, I 
 here name The Cup of Livia. Let us fill again from it 
 and drink to the empress of all the world. " 
 
 All sprang in eager haste to comply with a command 
 that carried with it its own enforcement. 
 
 " Whatever, " continued the emperor, when our cups had 
 been drained, " may have been the condition of art in 
 other branches of it in the time of that emperor, there 
 was no one then whose power over the metals, or whose 
 knowledge of forms was comparable with that of our own 
 Demetrius ; for this, be it known, is the sole work of the 
 Roman and yet, to speak more truly, it must be said the 
 Greek Demetrius, aided by his brother from the East, 
 who is now with him. Let the music cease ; we need that 
 disturbance no more ; and call in the brothers Demetrius. 
 These are men who honour any age and any presence. " 
 
 The brothers soon entered ; and never were princes or 
 ambassadors greeted with higher honour. All seemed to 
 contend which should say the most flattering and agreeable 
 thing. " Slaves, " cried the emperor, " a couch and cups 
 for the Demetrii. " 
 
 The brothers received all this courtesy with the native 
 ease and dignity which ever accompany true genius. 
 There was no offensive boldness nor presuming vanity, 
 but neither was there any shrinking cowardice nor timid 
 ity. They felt that they were men not less distinguished 
 by the gods than many or most of those in whose presence 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 59 
 
 they were, and they were sufficient to themselves. The 
 Itoman Demetrius resembles much his brother of Palmyra, 
 but in both form and countenance possesses beauty of a 
 higher order. His look is contemplative and inward ; his 
 countenance pale and yet dark ; his features even and ex 
 actly-shaped, like a statue ; his hair short and black ; his 
 dress, as was that of him of Palmyra, of the richest stuffs, 
 and showing that wealth had become their reward as well 
 as fame. 
 
 " Let us, " cried the emperor, " in full cups drawn from 
 the Livian fount, do honour to ourselves and the arts, by 
 drinking to the health of Demetrius of Palmyra and Deme 
 trius of Kome. " Every cup was filled and drained. " We 
 owe you thanks, " then added Aureliau, " that you have 
 completed this great work at the time promised, though I 
 fear it has been to your own cost, for the paleness of your 
 cheeks speaks not of health. " 
 
 " The work, " replied the Pioman Demetrius, " could not 
 have been completed but for the timely and effectual aid of 
 my Eastern brother, to whose learned hand, quicker in its 
 execution than my own, you are indebted for the greater 
 part of the sculptures upon both the bowl and dish. " 
 
 " It is true, noble emperor, " said the impetuous brother, 
 " my hand is the quicker of the two, and in some parts of 
 this work, especially in whatever pertains to the East, and 
 to the forms of building, or of vegetation, or costume seen 
 chiefly or only there, my knowledge was perhaps more 
 exact and minute than his ; but let it be received that 
 the head that could design these forms and conceive and 
 arrange these histories, and these graceful ornaments, to my 
 mind more fruitful of genius than all else observe you 
 them ? have you scanned them all ? belongs to no other 
 tllan Demetrius of Borne. In my whole hand there resides 
 not the skill that is lodged in one of his fingers, nor in my 
 whole head the power that lies behind one of his eyes. " 
 
 The enthusiasm of the eastern brother called up a smile 
 upon the faces of all, and a blush upon the white cheek of 
 the Eoman. 
 
60 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " My brother is younger than I, " he said, " and his 
 blood runs quicker. All that he says, though it be a pic 
 ture of the truest heart ever lodged in man, is yet to be 
 taken with abatement. But for him this work would 
 have been far below its present merit. Let me ask you 
 especially to mark the broad border where is set forth the 
 late triumph, and ambassadors, captives, and animals of 
 all parts of the earth, especially of the East, are seen in 
 their appropriate forms and habits. That is all from the 
 chisel of my brother. Behold here," and rising he ap 
 proached the vase, and vast as it was, by a touch, so was 
 it constructed, turned it round, " behold here, where is 
 figured the Queen of " in the enthusiasm of art he had 
 forgotten for a moment to whom he was speaking ; for at 
 that instant his eye fell upon the countenance of Julia, 
 who stood near him, and which he saw cast down by an 
 uncontrollable grief. He paused, confused and grieved, 
 saying, as he turned back the vase, " Ah me ! cruel and 
 indiscreet ! Pardon me, noble ladies ; and yet I deserve 
 it not." 
 
 " Go on, go on, Demetrius, " said Julia, assuming a 
 cheerful air. " You offend me not. The course of empire 
 must have its way ; individuals are but emmets in the 
 path. I am now used to this, believe me. It is for you 
 rather, and the rest to forgive in me a sudden weakness. " 
 
 Demetrius, thus commanded, resumed, and then with 
 minuteness, with much learning and eloquence, discoursed 
 successively upon the histories or emblematic devices of 
 this the chief work of his hands. All were sorry when he 
 ceased. 
 
 " To what you have overlooked, " said Aurelian, as he 
 paused, " must I call you back, seeing it is that part of the 
 work which I most esteem, and in which at this moment I 
 and all, I trust, are most interested, the sculptures upon 
 the platter ; and which represent the new temple and cere 
 monies of the dedication which to-morrow we celebrate. " 
 
 " Of this, " replied Demetrius, " I said less, because per 
 haps the work is inferior, having been committed, our time 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 61 
 
 being short, to the hands of a pupil, a pupil, however, I 
 beg to say, who, if the Divine Providence spare him, will 
 one day, and that not a remote one, cast a shadow upon 
 his teachers. " 
 
 " That will he, " said the brother ; " Flaccus is full of 
 the truest inspiration. " 
 
 " But to the dedication, the dedication ! " interrupted the 
 hoarse voice of Fronto. 
 
 Demetrius started and shrank backward a step at that 
 sound; but instantly recovered himself and read into an 
 intelligible language many of the otherwise obscure and 
 learned details of the sculpture. As he ended, the em 
 peror said, 
 
 " We thank you, Demetrius, for your learned lecture, 
 which has given a new value to your work. And now, 
 while it is in my mind, let me bespeak, as soon as leisure 
 and inclination shall serve, a silver statue, gilded, of Apollo 
 for the great altar, which to-morrow will scarce be graced 
 with such a one as will agree with the temple and its other 
 ornaments. " 
 
 Demetrius, as this was uttered, again started, and his 
 countenance became of a deadly paleness. He hesitated a 
 moment, as if studying how to order his words so as to 
 express least offensively an offensive truth. On the in 
 stant I suspected what the truth was ; but I was wholly 
 unprepared for it. I had received no intimation of such 
 a thing. 
 
 " Great emperor, " he began, " I am sorry to say, and yet 
 not sorry, that I cannot now as once labour for the decora 
 tion of the temples and their worship. I am 
 
 " Ye gods of Rome ! " cried Fronto. 
 
 " Peace, " said the emperor, " let him be heard. How 
 say you ? " 
 
 " I am now a Christian, and I hold it not lawful to be 
 stow my power and skill in the workmanship of gods in 
 whom I believe not, and thus become the instrument of 
 an erroneous faith in others. " 
 
 This was uttered firmly, but with modesty. The coun- 
 
62 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 tenance of the emperor was overclouded for a moment, 
 But it partially cleared up again as he said, 
 
 " I lay not, Demetrius, the least constraint upon you. 
 The four years that I have held this power in Borne have 
 been years of freedom to my people in this respect. 
 Whether I have done well in that for our city and the 
 empire, many would doubt. I almost doubt myself. " 
 
 " That would they, by Hercules ! " said the soft voice of 
 Varus, just at my ear, and intended chiefly for me. 
 
 " My brother, " said Demetrius, " will be happy to exe 
 cute for the emperor the work which he has been pleased 
 to ask of me. He remains steadfast in the faith in which 
 he was reared, the popular faith of Athens. " 
 
 " Apollo, " said Demetrius of Palmyra, " is my especial 
 favourite among all the gods, and of him I have wrought 
 more statues in silver, gold, or ivory, or of these variously 
 and curiously combined, than of all the others. If I 
 should be honoured in this labour, I should request to 
 adopt the marble image now standing in the baths of 
 Caracalla, and once, it is said, the chief wonder of Otho s 
 palace of wonders, as a model after which, with some de 
 viations, to mould it. I think I could make that that 
 should satisfy Aurelian and Rome. " 
 
 " Do it, do it ! " said the emperor ; " and let it be seen 
 that the worshipper of his country s gods is not behind 
 him who denies them, in his power to do them honour. " 
 
 " I shall not sleep, " said the enthusiastic artist, " till I 
 have made a model in wax at least of what at this moment 
 presents itself to my imagination. " Saying which, with 
 little ceremony, as if the empire depended upon his reach 
 ing on the instant his chalk and wax, and to the infinite 
 amusement of the company, he rose and darted from the 
 apartment, the slaves making way as for a missile that it 
 might be dangerous to obstruct. 
 
 " But in what way, " said Aurelian, turning to the elder 
 Demetrius, " have you been wrought upon to abandon the 
 time-honoured religion of Eome ? Methinks the whole 
 world is becoming of this persuasion. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 63 
 
 " If I may speak freely 
 
 " With utmost freedom, " said Aurelian. 
 
 " I may then say that ever since the power to reflect 
 upon matters so deep and high had been mine, I had 
 doubted first the truth of the popular religion, and then 
 soon rejected it, as what brought to me neither comfort 
 nor hope, and was burdened with things essentially in 
 credible and monstrous. For many years, many weary 
 years for the mind demands something positive in this 
 quarter, it cannot remain in suspense and vacant I was 
 without belief. Why it was so long before I turned to the 
 Christians I know not, unless because of the reports which 
 were so common to their disadvantage, and the danger 
 which has so often attended a profession of their faith. 
 At length, in a fortunate hour, there fell into my hands 
 the sacred books of the Christians, and I needed little be 
 sides to show me that theirs is a true and almighty faith, 
 and that all that is current in the city to its dishonour 
 is false and caluminous. I am now happy, not only as an 
 artist and a Roman, but as a man and an immortal. " 
 
 " You speak earnestly, " said Aurelian. 
 
 " I feel so, " replied Demetrius, a generous glow lighting 
 up his pale countenance. 
 
 " Would, " rejoined the emperor, " that some of the zeal 
 of these Christians might be infused into the sluggish 
 spirits of our own people. The ancient faith suffers 
 through neglect, and the prevailing impiety of those who 
 are its disciples. " 
 
 " May it not rather be, " said Fronto, " that the ancient 
 religion of the state, having so long been neglected by 
 those who are its appointed guardians, to the extent that 
 even Judaism, and now Christianity, which are but dis 
 guised forms of atheism, have been allowed to insinuate 
 and intrench themselves in the empire, the gods now in 
 anger turn away from us, who have been so unfaithful to 
 ourselves, and thus this plausible impiety is permitted to 
 commit its havocs ? I believe the gods are ever faithful 
 to the faithful." 
 
64 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " What good citizen, too, " added Yarns, " but must 
 lament to witness the undermining and supplanting of 
 those venerable forms under which this universal empire 
 has grown to its present height of power ? He is scarcely 
 a Roman who denies the gods of Eome, however observant 
 he may be of her laws and other institutions. Eeligion is 
 her greatest law. " 
 
 " These are hard questions, " said the emperor. " For 
 know you not that some of her noblest, and fairest, and 
 most beloved, have written themselves followers of this 
 Galilean God ? How can we deal sharply with a people at 
 whose head stands the head of the noble house of the 
 Pisos, and a princess of the blood of Palmyra ? " 
 
 Although Aurelian uttered these words in a manner 
 almost sportive to the careless ear, yet I confess myself to 
 have discovered at the moment an inward expression of the 
 countenance, and a tone in the voice, which for the time 
 gave me uneasiness. I was about to speak, when the ven 
 erable Tacitus addressed the emperor, and said, 
 
 " I can never think it wise to interfere with violence in 
 the matter of men s worship. It is impossible, I believe, 
 to compel mankind to receive any one institution of re 
 ligion, because different tribes of men, different by nature 
 and by education, will and do demand, not the same, but 
 different forms of belief and worship. Why should they 
 be alike in this, while they separate so wide]y in other 
 matters ? and can it be a more hopful enterprise to oblige 
 them to submit to the same rules in their religion, than it 
 would be to compel them to feed on the same food, and use 
 the same forms of language or dress ? I know that former 
 emperors have thought and acted differently. They have 
 deemed it a possible thing to restore the ancient unity of 
 worship, by punishing with severity, by destroying the 
 lives even of such as should dare to think for themselves. 
 But their conduct is not to be defended, either as right in 
 itself or best for the state. It has not been true as policy. 
 For is it not evident how oppression of those who believe 
 themselves to be possessed of truth important to mankind 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 65 
 
 serves but to bind them the more closely to their opin 
 ions ? Are they, for a little suffering, to show themselves 
 such cowards as to desert their own convictions, and prove 
 false to the interests of multitudes ? Kather, say they, 
 let us rejoice in such a cause to bear reproach. This is 
 the language of our nature. Nay, such persons come to 
 prize suffering, to make it a matter of pride and boasting. 
 Their rank among themselves is by and by determined by 
 the readiness with which they offer themselves as sacrifices 
 for truth and God. Are such persons to be deterred by 
 threats, or the actual infliction of punishment ? " 
 
 " The error has been, " here said the evil-boding Fronto, 
 " that the infliction of punishment went not to the extent 
 that is indispensable to the success of such a work. The 
 noble Piso will excuse me ; we are but dealing with ab 
 stractions. Oppress those who are in error only to a cer 
 tain degree, not extreme, and it is most true they cling the 
 closer to their error. We see this in the punishment of 
 children. Their obstinacy and pride are increased by a 
 suffering which is slight and which seems to say, I am too 
 timid, weak, or loving, to inflict more. So, too, with 
 our slaves. Whose slaves ever rose a second time against 
 the master s authority, whose first offence, however slight, 
 was met, not by words or lashes, but by racks and the 
 cross ? " 
 
 " Nay, good Fronto, hold ; your zeal for the gods bears 
 you away beyond the bounds of courtesy. " 
 
 " Forgive me, then, great sovereign, and you who are 
 here if you may ; but neither time nor place shall deter 
 me, a minister of the great god of light, from asserting the 
 principles upon which his worship rests, and as I deem, the 
 empire itself. Under Decius, had true Eomans sat on 
 the tribunals ; had no hearts too soft for such offices turned 
 traitors to the head ; had no accursed spirit of avarice re 
 ceived the bribes which procured security to individuals, 
 families, and communities ; had there been no commuta 
 tions of punishment, then 
 
 " Peace, I say, Fronto ; thou marrest the spirit of the 
 
 5 
 
66 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 hour. How came we thus again to this point? Such 
 questions are for the council-room or the senate. Yet, 
 truth to say, so stirred seems the mind of this whole 
 people in the matter, that in battle one may as well escape 
 from the din of clashing arms or the groans of the dying, 
 as in Eome avoid this argument. Nay, by my sword, not 
 a voice can I hear, either applauding, disputing, or con 
 demning, since I have set on foot this new war in the East. 
 Once, the city would have rung with acclamations that an 
 army was gathering for such an enterprise. Now, it seems 
 quite forgotten that Valerian once fell, or that, late though 
 it be, he ought to be revenged. This Jewish and Chris 
 tian argument fills all heads and clamours on every tongue. 
 Come, let us shake off this demon in a new cup, and drink 
 deep to the revenge of Valerian. " 
 
 " And of the gods, " ejaculated Pronto, as he lifted the 
 goblet to his lips. 
 
 " There again ? " quickly and sharply demanded Aure- 
 lian, bending his dark brows upon the offender. 
 
 " Doubtless, " said Portia, " he means well, though over- 
 zealous and rash in speech. His heart, I am sure, seconds 
 not the cruel language of his tongue. So at least 1 will 
 believe ; and in the mean time hope that the zeal he has 
 displayed for the ancient religion of our country may not 
 be without its use upon some present, " glancing her eye 
 towards me and Julia, " who, with what I trust will prove 
 a brief truancy, have wandered from their household gods 
 and the temples of their fathers. " 
 
 " May the gods grant it, " added Livia, " and restore the 
 harmony which should reign in our families and in the 
 capital ! Life is over brief to be passed in quarrel. Now 
 let us abandon our cups. Sir Christian Piso ! lead me to 
 the gardens, and let the others follow, as they may, our 
 good example. " 
 
 The gardens, we found, as we passed from the palace, to 
 be most brilliantly illuminated with lamps of every form 
 and hue. We seemed suddenly to have passed to another 
 world, so dream-like was the effect of the multitudinous 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 67 
 
 lights as they fell with white, red, lurid, or golden glare 
 upon bush or tree, grotto, statue, or marble fountain. 
 
 " Forget here, Lucius Piso, " said the kind-hearted Livia, 
 " what you have just heard from the lips of that harsh 
 bigot, the savage Fronto. Who could have looked for 
 such madness ? Not again, if I possess the power men say 
 I do, shall he sit at the table of Aurelian. Poor Julia, 
 too ! But see ! she walks with Tacitus. Wisdom and 
 mercy are married in him, and both will shed comfort 
 on her. " 
 
 " I cannot but lament, " I replied, " that a creature like 
 Fronto should have won his way so far into the confidence 
 of Aurelian. But I fear him not, and do not believe that 
 he will have power to urge the emperor to the adoption of 
 measures to which his own wisdom and native feelings 
 must stand opposed. The rage of such men as Fronto, ana 
 the silent pity and scorn of men immeasurably his supe 
 riors, we have both now learned to bear without complaint, 
 though not without some inward suffering. To be shut out 
 from the hearts of so many who once ran to meet us on our 
 approach, nor only that, but to be held by them as im 
 pious and atheistical, monsters whom the earth is sick of, 
 and whom the gods are besought to destroy, this is a part 
 of our burden which we feel to be heaviest. Heaven pre 
 serve to us the smiles and the love of Livia. " 
 
 " Doubt not that they will ever be yours. But I trust 
 that sentiments like those of Tacitus will bear sway in the 
 councils of Aurelian, and that the present calm will not be 
 disturbed. " 
 
 Thus conversing, we wandered on, beguiled by such 
 talk, and the attractive splendours of the garden, till we 
 found ourselves separated, apparently by some distance 
 from our other friends ; none passed us, and none met us. 
 We had reached a remote and solitary spot where fewer lamps 
 had been hung, and the light was faint and unequal. Not 
 sorry to be thus alone, we seated ourselves on the low ped 
 estal of a group of statuary once the favourite resort of 
 the fair and false Terentia whose forms could scarcely be 
 
68 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 defined, and which was enveloped at a few paces distant 
 with shrubs and flowers, forming a thin wall of partition 
 between us and another walk, corresponding to the one we 
 were in, but winding away in a different direction. We 
 had sat not long, either silent or conversing, ere our at 
 tention was caught by the sound of approaching voices, 
 apparently in earnest discourse. A moment and we knew 
 them to be those of Fronto and Aurelian. 
 
 " By the gods 1 , his life shall answer it! " said Aurelian, 
 with vehemence, but with suppressed tones : " who but he 
 was to observe the omens ? Was I to know that to-day is 
 the ides, and to-morrow the day after ? The rites must be 
 postponed. " 
 
 " It were better not, in my judgment, " said Fronto ; " all 
 the other signs are favourable. Never, Papirius assured 
 me, did the sacred chickens seize so eagerly the crumbs. 
 Many times, as he closely watched, did he observe them, 
 which is rare, drop them from their mouths overfilled. 
 The times he has exactly recorded. A rite like this put 
 off, when all Rome is in expectation, would, in the opinion 
 of all the world, be of a more unfavourable interpretation 
 than if more than the day were against us. " 
 
 " You counsel well. Let it go on. " 
 
 " But to insure a fortunate event, and propitiate the 
 gods, I would early, and before the august ceremonies, 
 offer the most costly and acceptable sacrifice. " 
 
 " That were well also. In the prisons there are captives 
 of Germany, of Gaul, of Egypt, and Palmyra. Take what, 
 and as many as you will. If we ever make sure of the 
 favour of the gods, it is when we offer freely that which 
 we hold at the highest price. " 
 
 " I would rather they were Christians, " urged Fronto. 
 
 " That cannot be, " said Aurelian. " I question if there 
 be a Christian within the prison walls ; and, were there 
 hundreds, it is not a criminal I would bring to the altar. 
 I would as soon offer a diseased or ill-shaped bull. " 
 
 " But it were an easy matter to seize such as we might 
 want. Not, Aurelian, till this accursed race is exter- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 69 
 
 minated, will the heavens smile as formerly upon our coun 
 try. Why are the altars thus forsaken ? Why are the 
 temples no longer thronged as once ? Why do the great, 
 and the rich, and the learned, silently withhold their aid, 
 or openly scoff and jeer ? Why are our sanctuaries crowded 
 only by the scum and refuse of the city ? " 
 
 " I know not ; question me not thus. " 
 
 " Is not the reason palpable and gross to the dullest 
 mind ? Is it not because of the daily growth of this blas 
 pheming and atheistical crew, who, by horrid arts, seduce 
 the young, the timid, and, above all, the women, who ever 
 draw the world with them to join them in their unhal 
 lowed orgies, thus stripping the temples of their worship 
 pers, and dragging the gods themselves from their seats ? 
 Think you the gods look on with pleasure while their 
 altars and temples are profaned or abandoned, and a reli 
 gion that denies them rears itself upon their ruins ? " 
 
 " I know not ; say no more. " 
 
 " Is it possible religion or the state should prosper, while 
 he, who is not only vicegerent of the gods, universal mon 
 arch, but, what is more, their sworn pontifex maximus, 
 connives at their existence and dissemination, " 
 
 " Thou liest ! " 
 
 " harbouring even beneath the imperial roof, and feast 
 ing at the imperial table, the very heads and chief min 
 isters of this black mischief - 
 
 " Hold, I say. I swear, by all the gods known and un 
 known, that another word and thy head shall answer it. 
 Is my soul that of a lamb, that I need this stirring up to 
 deeds of blood? Am I so lame and backward, when the 
 gods are to be defended, that I am to be thus charged ? 
 Let the lion sleep when he will; chafed too much, and 
 he may spring and slay at random. I love not the Chris 
 tians, nor any who flout the gods and their worship; that 
 thou knowest well. But I love Piso, Aurelia, and the di 
 vine Julia ; that thou knowest as well. Now, no more. " 
 
 " For my life, " said Fronto, " I hold it cheap, if I may 
 but be faithful to my office and the gods. " 
 
70 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " I believe it, Fronto. The gods will reward thee. Let 
 us on. " 
 
 In the earnestness of their talk they had paused, and 
 stood just before us, being separated but by a thin screen 
 of shrubs. We continued rooted to our seats while this 
 conversation went on, held there both by the impossibility 
 of withdrawing without observation, and by a desire to 
 hear, I confess it, what was thus in a manner forced upon 
 me, and concerned so nearly, not only myself, but thou 
 sands of my fellow-Christians. 
 
 When they were hidden from us by the winding of the 
 path, we rose and turned towards the palace. 
 
 " That savage ! " said Livia. " How strange that Aure- 
 lian, who knows so well how to subdue the world, should 
 have so little power to shake off. this reptile ! " 
 
 " There is power enough, " I replied, " but alas ! I fear 
 the will is wanting. Superstition is as deep a principle 
 in the breast of Aurelian as ambition, and of that Fronto 
 is the most fitting high-priest. Aurelian places him at 
 the head of religion in the state, for those very qualities 
 whose fierce expression has now made us tremble. Let us 
 hope that the emperor will remain where he now is, in a 
 position from which it seems Fronto is unable to dislodge 
 him, and all will go well. " 
 
 We soon reached the palace, where, joining Julia and 
 Portia, our chariot soon bore us to the Coelian hill. 
 Farewell. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 71 
 
 LETTEK IV. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 THE HUMAN SACRIFICES. THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE. 
 THE STORM. THE VOICE. THE EVIL AUGURIES AURE- 
 LIAN S ANGER. MACER. SENSATION IN ROME. FRONTO S 
 INFLUENCE. 
 
 IPKOMISED you, Fausta, before the news should reach 
 you in any other way, to relate the occurrences arid 
 describe the ceremonies of the day appointed for the dedica 
 tion of the new temple of the Sun. The day has now 
 passed, not without incidents of even painful interest to 
 ourselves, and therefore to you, and I sit down to fulfil my 
 engagements. 
 
 Vast preparations had been making for the dedication for 
 many days or even months preceding, and the day arose 
 upon a city full of expectation of the shows, ceremonies, 
 and games, that were to reward their long and patient wait 
 ing. For the season of the year the day was hot, unnatu 
 rally so ; and the sky filled with those massive clouds, piled 
 like mountains of snow one upon another, which, while they 
 both please the eye by their forms and veil the fierce splen 
 dours of the sun, as they now and then sail across his face, 
 at the same time portend wind and storm. All Eome was 
 early astir. It was ushered in by the criers, traversing the 
 streets and proclaiming the rites and spectacles of the day, 
 what they were and where to be witnessed, followed 
 by troops* of boys, imitating in their grotesque way the 
 pompous declarations of the men of authority, not unfre- 
 quently drawing down upon their heads the curses and the 
 batons of the insulted dignitaries. A troop of this sort 
 passed the windows of the room in which Julia and I were 
 
72 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 sitting at our morning meal. As the crier ended his procla 
 mation, and the shouts of the applauding urchins died away, 
 Milo, who is our attendant in preference to any other and 
 all others, observed that " the fellow of a crier deserved to 
 have his head beat about with his own rod, for coming 
 round with his news not till after the greatest show of the 
 day was over." 
 
 " What mean you ? " I asked. " Explain." 
 
 " What should I mean," he replied, " but the morning sac 
 rifice at the temple ? " 
 
 "And what so wonderful," said Julia, "in a morning 
 sacrifice ? The temples are open every morning, are they 
 not?" 
 
 " Yes, truly are they," rejoined Milo; "but not for so great 
 a purpose. Curio wished me to have been there, and says 
 nothing could have been more propitious. They died as the 
 gods love to have them." 
 
 " Was there no bellowing nor struggling, then ? " said 
 Julia. 
 
 " Neither, Curio assures me ; but they met the knife of 
 the priest as they would the sword of an enemy on the field 
 of battle." 
 
 " How say you ? " said Julia quickly, turning pale ; " do I 
 hear aright, Milo, or are you mocking ? God forbid that you 
 should speak of a human sacrifice ! " 
 
 " It is even so, mistress. And why should it not be so ? 
 If the favour of the gods, upon whom we all depend, as the 
 priests tell us, is to be purchased so well in no other way, 
 what is the life of one man or of many in such a cause ? 
 The great Gallienus, when his life had been less ordered 
 than usual after the rules of temperance and religion, used 
 to make amends by a few captives slain to Jupiter; to 
 which, doubtless, may be ascribed his prosperous reign. 
 But, as I was saying, there was, as Curio informed me, at 
 the market not long afterwards, a sacrifice, on the private 
 altar of the temple, of ten captives. Their blood flowed just 
 as the great god of the temple showed himself in the horizon. 
 It would have done you good, Curio said, to see with what 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 73 
 
 a hearty and dexterous zeal Fronto struck the knife into 
 their hearts ; for to no inferior minister would he delegate 
 the sacred office." 
 
 " Lucius," cried Julia, " I thought that such offerings were 
 now no more. Is it so, that superstition yet delights itself 
 in the blood of murdered men ? " 
 
 "It is just so," I was obliged to reply. "With a people 
 naturally more gentle and humane than we of Eome, this 
 custom would long ago have fallen into disuse. They would 
 have easily found a way, as all people do, to conform their 
 religious doctrine and offerings to their feelings and in 
 stincts. But with the Eomans, by nature and long train 
 ing lovers of blood, their country built upon the ruins of 
 others, and cemented with blood, the taste for it is not 
 easily eradicated. There are temples where human sac 
 rifices have never ceased. Laws have restrained their 
 frequency, have forbidden them under heaviest penalties, 
 unless permitted by the state; but these laws ever have 
 been, and are now, evaded ; and it is the settled purpose of 
 Fronto and others of his stamp to restore to them their lost 
 honours, and make them again, as they used to be, the chief 
 rite in the worship of the gods. I am not sorry, Julia, that 
 your doubts, though so painfully, have yet been so effectually 
 removed." 
 
 Julia had for some time blamed as over-ardent the zeal of 
 the Christians. She had thought that the evil of the exist 
 ing superstitions was over-estimated, and that it were wiser 
 to pursue a course of more moderation ; that a system that 
 nourished such virtues as she found in Portia, in Tacitus, 
 and others like them, could not be so corrupting in its 
 power as the Christians were in the habit of representing 
 it ; that if we could succeed in substituting Christianity 
 quietly, without alienating the affections or shocking too 
 violently the prejudices of the believers in the prevailing 
 superstitions, our gain would be double. To this mode of 
 arguing I knew she was impelled by her love and almost 
 reverence of Portia ; and how could I blame it, springing 
 from such a cause ? I had, almost criminally, allowed her 
 
74 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 to blind herself in a way she never would have done had 
 her strong mind acted, as on other subjects, untrammelled 
 and free. I was not sorry that Milo had brought before her 
 mind a fact which, however revolting in its horror to such a 
 nature as hers, could not but heal while it wounded. 
 
 " Milo, " said Julia, as I ended, " say now that you have 
 been jesting ; that this is a piece of wit with which you 
 would begin in a suitable way an extraordinary day ; this 
 is one of your Gallienus fictions. " 
 
 " Before the gods, if never before, " replied Milo, " I have 
 told you the naked truth, but not the whole; for Curio 
 left me not till he had shown how each had died. Of the 
 ten, but three, he averred, resisted, or died unwillingly. 
 The three were Germans from beyond the Danube, -^- 
 brothers, he said, who had long lain in prison, till their 
 bones were ready to start through the skin. Yet were 
 they not ready to die. It seemed as if there were some 
 thing they longed more even than for life or freedom 
 to say ; but they might as well have been dumb and tongue- 
 less, for none understood their barbarous jargon. When 
 they found that their words were in vain, they wrung their 
 hands in their woe, and cried out aloud in their agony. 
 Then, however, at the stern voice of Fronto warning them 
 of the hour, they ceased, embraced each other, and received 
 the fatal blow ; the others signified their pleasure at dying 
 so, rather than be thrown to wild beasts or left to die by 
 slow degrees within their dungeon s walls. Two rejoiced 
 that it was their fate to pour out their blood upon the altar 
 of a god, and knelt devoutly before the uplifted knife of 
 Fronto. Never, said Curio, was there a more fortunate 
 offering. Aurelian heard the report of it with lively joy, 
 and said that now all would go well. Curio is a good 
 friend of mine ; will it please you to hear these things 
 from his own lips?" 
 
 " No, " said Julia ; " I would hear no more. I have heard 
 more than enough. How needful, Lucius, if these things 
 are so, that our Christian zeal abate not ! I see that this 
 stern and bloody superstition requires that they who would 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 75 
 
 deal with it must carry their lives in their hand, ready to 
 part with nothing so easily, if by so doing they can hew 
 away one of the branches, or tear up one of the roots of 
 this ancient and pernicious error. I blame not Probus 
 longer. no, nor the wild rage of Macer. " 
 
 " Two, lady, of the captives were of Palmyra ; the 
 queen s name and yours were last upon their lips." 
 
 " Great God ! how retribution like a dark pursuing 
 shadow hangs upon the steps of guilt. Even here it seeks 
 us. Alas, my mother ! Heaven grant that these things 
 fall not upon your ears ! " 
 
 Julia was greatly moved, and sat a long time silent, her 
 face buried in her hands, and weeping. I motioned to 
 Milo to withdraw and say no more. Upon Julia, although 
 so innocent of all wrong, guiltless as an infant of the 
 blame, whatever it may be, which the world fixes upon 
 Zenobia, yet upon her as heavily as upon her great 
 mother fall the sorrows which sooner or later overtake 
 those who, for any purpose, in whatever degree selfish, have 
 involved their fellow-creatures in useless suffering. Being 
 part of the royal house, Julia feels that she must bear her 
 portion of its burdens. Time alone can cure this grief. 
 
 But you are waiting, with a woman s impatient curi 
 osity, to hear of the dedication. 
 
 At the appointed hour we were at the palace of Aurelian 
 on the Palatine, where a procession, pompous as art, and 
 rank, and numbers could make it, was formed, to move 
 thence by a winding and distant route to the temple near 
 the foot of the Quirinal. Julia repaired with Portia to a 
 place of observation near the temple, I to the palace, to 
 join the company of the emperor. Of the gorgeous mag 
 nificence of the procession I shall tell you nothing. It 
 was, in extent arid variety of pomp and costliness of deco 
 ration, a copy of that of the late triumph, and went even 
 beyond the captivating splendour of the example. Eoman 
 music, which is not that of Palmyra, lent such charms as 
 it could to our passage through the streets to the temple, 
 from a thousand performers. 
 
76 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 As we drew near to the lofty fabric I thought that no 
 scene of such various beauty and magnificence had ever met 
 my eye. The temple itself is a work of unrivalled art. In 
 size it surpasses any other building of the same kind in 
 Rome, and for the excellence of workmanship and purity 
 of design, although it may fall below the standard of 
 Hadrian s age, yet for a certain air of grandeur and luxuri 
 ance of invention in its details, and lavish profusion of 
 embellishment in gold and silver, no temple or other 
 edifice of any preceding age ever perhaps resembled it. 
 Its order is the Corinthian, of the Bonian form, and the 
 entire building is surrounded by its slender columns, each 
 composed of a single piece of marble. Upon the front is 
 wrought Apollo surrounded by the Hours. The western 
 extremity is approached by a flight of steps, of the same 
 breadth as the temple itself. At the eastern there extends 
 beyond the walls, to a distance equal to the length of the 
 building, a marble platform, upon which stands the altar 
 of sacrifice, and which is ascended by various flights of 
 steps, some little more than a gently rising plain, up 
 which the beasts are led that are destined to the altar. 
 
 When this vast extent of wall and column, of the most 
 dazzling brightness, came into view, everywhere covered, 
 together with the surrounding temples, palaces, and thea 
 tres, with a dense mass of human beings of all climes and 
 regions, dressed out in their richest attire ; music from 
 innumerable instruments filling the heavens with harmony ; 
 shouts of the proud and excited populace every few mo 
 ments, and from different points, as Aurelian advanced, 
 shaking the air with its thrilling din ; the neighing of 
 horses, the frequent blasts of the trumpet, the whole 
 made more solemnly imposing by the vast masses of cloud 
 which swept over the sky, now suddenly unveiling and 
 again eclipsing the sun, the great god of this idolatry, and 
 from which few could withdraw their gaze, when at 
 once this all broke upon my eye and ear I was like a child 
 who before had never seen aught but his own village, and 
 his own rural temple, in the effect wrought upon me and 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 77 
 
 the passiveness with which I abandoned myself to the 
 sway of the senses. Not one there was more ravished by 
 the outward circumstance and show. I thought of Home s 
 thousand years, of her power, her greatness, and univer 
 sal empire, and for a moment my step was not less proud 
 than that of Aurelian. But after that moment, when 
 the senses had had their fill, when the eye had seen the 
 glory, and the ear had fed upon the harmony and the 
 praise, then I thought and felt very differently. Sorrow 
 and compassion for these gay multitudes were at my heart ; 
 prophetic forebodings of disaster, danger, and ruin to those 
 to whose sacred cause I had linked myself, made my tongue 
 to falter in its speech and my limbs to tremble. I thought 
 that the superstition that was upheld by the wealth and 
 the power whose manifestations were before me, had its 
 roots in the very centre of the earth, far too deep down 
 for a few like myself ever to reach them. I was like one 
 whose last hope of life and escape is suddenly struck 
 away. 
 
 I was roused from these meditations by our arrival at 
 the eastern front of the temple. Between the two central 
 columns, on a throne of gold and ivory, sat the emperor of 
 the world, surrounded by the senate, the colleges of augurs 
 and haruspices, and by the priests of the various temples 
 of the capital, all in their peculiar costume. Then Fronto, 
 the priest of the temple, when the crier had proclaimed 
 that the hour of worship and sacrifice had come, and had 
 commanded silence to be observed, standing at the altar, 
 glittering in his white and golden robes like a messenger 
 of light, bared his head, and lifting his face up toward 
 the sun, offered in clear and sounding tones the prayer of 
 dedication. As he came toward the close of his prayer, he, 
 as is so usual, with loud and almost frantic cries and im 
 portunate repetition, called upon the god to hear him, and 
 then, with appropriate names and praises, invoked the 
 Father of gods and men to be present and hear. Just as 
 he had thus solemnly invoked Jupiter by name, and was 
 about to call upon the other gods in the same manner, the 
 
78 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 clouds, which had been deepening and darkening, suddenly 
 obscured the sun ; a distant peal of thunder rolled along the 
 heavens, and at the same moment, from the dark recesses 
 of the temple, a voice of preternatural power came forth, 
 proclaiming, so that the whole multitude heard the words : 
 " God is but one ; the King eternal, immortal, invisible. " 
 It is impossible to describe the horror that seized those mul 
 titudes. Many cried out with fear, and each seemed to 
 shrink behind the other. Paleness sat upon every face. 
 The priest paused as if struck by a power from above. 
 Even the brazen Fronto was appalled. Aurelian leaped 
 from his seat, and by his countenance, white and awe 
 struck, showed that to him it came as a voice from the 
 gods. He spoke not, but stood gazing at the dark en 
 trance into the temple from which the sound had come. 
 Fronto hastily approached him, and whispering but one 
 word, as it were, into his ear, the emperor started; the 
 spell that bound him was dissolved, and recovering him 
 self, making indeed as though a very different feeling had 
 possessed him, cried out in fierce tones to his guards, 
 
 " Search the temple ; some miscreant hid away among 
 the columns profanes thus the worship and the place. 
 Seize him, and drag him forth to instant death ! " 
 
 The guards of the emperor and the servants of the tem 
 ple rushed in at that bidding and searched in every part 
 the interior of the building. They soon emerged, saying 
 that the search was fruitless. The temple in all its aisles 
 and apartments was empty. 
 
 The ceremonies, quiet being again restored, then went 
 on. Twelve bulls, of purest white and of perfect forms, 
 their horns bound about with fillets, were now led by the 
 servants of the temple up the marble steps to the front 
 of the altar, where stood the cultrarii and haruspices, 
 ready to slay them and examine their entrails. The 
 omens, as gathered by the eyes of all from the fierce strag 
 glings and bellowings of the animals as they were led 
 toward the place of sacrifice, some even escaping from 
 the hands of those who had the management of them, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 79 
 
 and from the violent and convulsive throes of others, as 
 the blow fell upon their heads, or the knife severed their 
 throats, were of the darkest character, and brought a deep 
 gloom upon the brow of the emperor. The report of the 
 haruspices upon examination of the entrails was little cal 
 culated to remove that gloom. It was for the most part 
 unfavourable. Especially appalling was the sight of a 
 heart so lean and withered that it scarce seemed possible 
 it should ever have formed a part of a living animal. But 
 more harrowing than all was the voice of Fronto, who, 
 prying with the haruspices into the smoking carcass of one 
 of the slaughtered bulls, suddenly cried out with horror 
 that " no heart was to be found ! " 
 
 The emperor, hardly to be restrained by those near him 
 from some expression of anger, ordered a more diligent 
 search to be made. 
 
 " It is not in nature that such a thing should be," he 
 said. " Men are. in truth, sometimes without hearts ; but 
 brutes, as I think, never. " 
 
 The report was, however, confidently confirmed. Fronto 
 himself approached and said that his eye had from the first 
 been upon the beast, and the exact truth had been stated. 
 
 The carcasses, such parts as were for the flames, were 
 then laid upon the vast altar, and the flames of the sacri 
 fice ascended. 
 
 The heavens were again obscured by thick clouds, which, 
 accumulating into dark masses, began now nearer and 
 nearer to shoot forth lightning and roll their thunders. 
 The priest commenced the last office, prayer to the god to 
 whom the new temple had been thus solemnly consecrated. 
 He again bowed his head, and again lifted up his voice. 
 But no sooner had he invoked the god of the temple, 
 and besought his ear, than again from its dark interior 
 the same awful sounds issued forth, this time saying, 
 " Thy gods, O Rome, are false and lying gods. God is 
 but one ! " 
 
 Aurelian, pale, as it seemed to me, with superstitious 
 fear, strove to shake it off, giving it artfully and with 
 
80 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 violence the appearance of offended dignity. His voice 
 was a shriek rather than a human utterance, as he cried 
 out, 
 
 " This is but a Christian device ; search the temple till 
 the accursed Nazarene be found, and hew him piece -meal. " 
 More he would have said, but at the instant a bolt of light 
 ning shot from the heavens, and lighting upon a large 
 sycamore which shaded a part of the temple court, clove it 
 in twain. The swollen cloud at the same moment burst, 
 and a deluge of rain poured upon the city, the temple, the 
 gazing multitudes, and the just kindled altars. The sacred 
 fires went out in hissing and darkness ; a tempest of wind 
 whirled the limbs of the slaughtered victims into the air, 
 and abroad over the neighbouring streets. All was con 
 fusion, uproar, terror, and dismay. The crowds sought 
 safety in the houses of the nearest inhabitants, and in the 
 porches of the palaces. Aurelian and the senators, and 
 those nearest him, fled to the interior of the temple. The 
 heavens blazed with the quick flashing of the lightning, 
 and the temple itself seemed to rock beneath the voice of 
 the thunder. I never knew in Eome so terrific a tempest. 
 The stoutest trembled, for life hung by a thread. Great 
 numbers, it has now been found, in every part of the capi 
 tal, fell a prey to the fiery bolts. The Capitol itself was 
 struck, and the brass statue of Vespasian in the Forum 
 thrown down and partly melted. The Tiber in a few 
 hours overran its banks and laid much of the city on its 
 borders under water. 
 
 But ere long the storm was over. The retreating clouds, 
 but still sullenly muttering in the distance as they rolled 
 away, were gayly lighted up by the sun, which again 
 shone forth in his splendour. The scattered limbs of the 
 victims were collected and again laid upon the altar. Dry 
 wood being brought, the flames quickly shot upward and 
 consumed to the last joint and bone the sacred offerings. 
 Fronto once more stood before the altar, and now uninter 
 rupted, performed the last office of the ceremony. Then 
 around the tables spread within the temple to the honour 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 81 
 
 of the gods, feasting upon the luxuries contributed by 
 every quarter of the earth, and filling high with wine, the 
 adverse omens of the day were by most forgotten. But 
 not by Aurelian ; no smile was seen to light up his dark 
 countenance. The jests of Varus and the wisdom of Por- 
 phyrus alike failed to reach him. Wrapped up in his own 
 thoughts, he brooded gloomily over what had happened, 
 and strove to read the interpretation of portents so unusual 
 and alarming. 
 
 I went not in to the feast, but returned home, reflecting 
 as I went upon the events I had witnessed. I knew not 
 what to think. That in times past, long after the depart 
 ure from the earth of Jesus and his immediate followers, 
 the Deity had interposed in seasons of peculiar perplexity 
 to the Church, and in a way to be observed had manifested 
 his power, I did not doubt. But for a long time such 
 revelations had wholly ceased. And I could not see any 
 such features in the present juncture as would, to speak as 
 a man, justify and vindicate a departure from the ordinary 
 methods of the Divine providence. But then, on the other 
 hand, I could not otherwise account for the voice nor dis 
 cover any way in which, had one been so disposed, he 
 could so successfully and securely have accomplished his 
 work. Revolving these things, and perplexed by doubts, 
 I reached the Ccelian, when as T entered my dwelling, I 
 found, to my great satisfaction, Probus seated with Julia, 
 who, at an early period, foreseeing the tempest, had with 
 Portia withdrawn to the security of her own roof. 
 
 " I am glad you are come at length, " said Julia, as I en 
 tered ; " our friend has scarce spoken. I should think, 
 did I not know the contrary, that he had suddenly aban 
 doned the service of truth and become a disciple of No- 
 vatus. He hath done little but groan and sigh. " 
 
 " Surely, " I replied, " the occasion warrants both sighs 
 and groans. But when came you from the temple ? " 
 
 " On the appearance of the storm, just as Fronto ap 
 proached the altar the first time. The signs were not to be 
 mistaken, by any who were not so much engrossed by the 
 
 6 
 
82 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 scene as to be insensible to all else, that a tempest was in 
 the sky and would soon break upon the crowds in a deluge 
 of rain and hail, as has happened. So that, warning 
 Portia of the danger, we early retreated, she with reluc 
 tance ; but for myself, I was glad to be driven away from 
 a scene that brought so vividly before me the events of the 
 early morning. " 
 
 " I am glad it was so, " I replied ; " you would have been 
 more severely tried had you remained. " And I then gave 
 an account of the occurrences of the day. 
 
 " I know not what to make of it, " she said, as I ended. 
 " Probus, teach us what to think. I am bewildered and 
 amazed. " 
 
 " Lady, " said Probus, " the Christian service is a hard 
 one. " 
 
 " I have not found it so, thus far ; but, on the other 
 hand, a light and easy one. " 
 
 " But the way is not ever so smooth ; and the path once 
 entered upon, there is no retreat. " 
 
 " No roughness or peril, Probus, be they what they may, 
 can ever shake me. It is for eternity I have embraced 
 this faith, not for time ; for my soul, not for my body. " 
 
 " God be thanked that it is so. But the evils and sor 
 rows that time has in store, and which afflict the body, are 
 not slight. And sometimes they burst forth from the over 
 burdened clouds in terrific violence, and poor human 
 strength sinks and trembles, as to-day before the conflict 
 of the elements. " 
 
 " They would find me strong in spirit and purpose, I am 
 sure, Probus, however my woman s frame of flesh might 
 yield. No fear can change my mind nor tear me from the 
 hopes which through Christ I cherish, more a thousand 
 fold than this life of an hour. " 
 
 " Why, why is it so ordained in the providence of God, " 
 said Probus, " that truth must needs be watered with tears 
 and blood, ere it will grow and bear fruit ? When, as now, 
 the sky is dark and threatening, and the mind is thronged 
 with fearful anticipations of the sorrows that await those 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 83 
 
 who hold this faith, how can I, with a human heart 
 within me, labour to convert the unbelieving ? The words 
 falter upon my tongue. I turn from the young inquirer, 
 and with some poor reason put him off to another season. 
 When I preach, it is with a coldness that must repel, and 
 it is that which I almost desire to be the effect. My 
 prayers never reach Heaven nor the consciences of those 
 who hear. Probus, they say, is growing worldly. His 
 heart burns no longer within him ; his zeal is cold. We 
 must look to Macer. I fear, lady, that the reproaches are 
 well deserved. Not that I am growing worldly or cold, 
 but that my human affections lead me away from duty, and 
 make me a traitor to truth and my Master. " 
 
 " Oh no, Probus, " said Julia ; " these are charges foolish 
 and false. There is not a Christian in Eome but would 
 say so. We all rest upon you. " 
 
 " Then upon what a broken reed ! I am glad it was not 
 I who made you a Christian. " 
 
 " Do you grieve to have been a benefactor, a redeemer, 
 a saviour ? " 
 
 " Almost, when I see the evils which are to overwhelm 
 the believer. I look round upon rny little flock of hearers 
 and I seem to see them led as lambs to the slaughter, poor 
 defenceless creatures, set upon by worse than lions and 
 wolves. And you, lady of Piso, how can I sincerely re 
 joice that you have added your great name to our humble 
 roll, when I think of what may await you ? Is that form 
 to be dragged with violence, amid the hootings of the 
 populace, to the tribunal of the beast Varus ? Are those 
 limbs for the rack or the fire ?" 
 
 " I trust in God they are not, Probus. But if they are 
 needed they are little to give for that which has made me 
 so rich and given wings to the soul. I can spare the body 
 now that the soul can live without it. " 
 
 " There spoke the universal Christian ! What but truth 
 could so change our poor human nature into somewhat 
 quite divine and godlike ? Think not I shrink myself at 
 the prospect of obstruction and assault I am a man loose 
 
84 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 upon the world, weaned by suffering and misfortune from 
 earth, and ready at any hour to depart from it. You know 
 my early story. But I in vain seek to steel myself to the 
 pains of others. I can bear, but I cannot behold. But 
 from what I have said, I fear lest you should think me 
 over apprehensive. I wish it were so. But all seems at 
 this moment to be against us. " 
 
 " More, then, " said Julia, " must have come to your ears 
 than to ours. When last we sat with the emperor at his 
 table, he seemed well inclined ; and when urged by Pronto, 
 rebuked him even with violence. " 
 
 " Yes, it was so. " 
 
 " Is it, then, from the scenes of to-day at the temple that 
 you draw fresh omens of misfortune ? I have asked you 
 what we should think of them. " 
 
 " I almost tremble to say. I stood, Piso, not far from 
 you, upon the lower flight of steps, where I think you ob 
 served me. " 
 
 " I did ; and at the sound of that voice from the temple, 
 methought your face was paler than Aurelian s. Why 
 was that ? " 
 
 " Because, Piso, I knew the voice. " 
 
 " Knew it ! What mean you ? " 
 
 " Eepeat it not ; let it sink into your ear and there abide. 
 It was Macer s. " 
 
 " Macer s ? Surely you jest. " 
 
 " Alas ! I wish it were a jest. But his tones were no 
 more to be mistaken than were the thunder s. " 
 
 " This, should it be known, would, it is plain to see, 
 greatly exasperate Aurelian. It would be more than 
 enough for Pronto to work his worst ends with. His 
 suspicions at once fell upon the Christians. " 
 
 " That, " said Probus, " was, I am confident, an artifice. 
 The countenance struck with superstitious horror is not 
 to be read amiss. Seen though but for a moment, and 
 the signature is upon it, one and unequivocal. But with 
 quick instinct the wily priest saw his advantage, seized it, 
 and, whether believing or not himself, succeeded in pois- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 85 
 
 oning the mind of Aurelian and that of the multitude. 
 So great was the commotion among the populace that, 
 but for the tempest, I believe scarce would the legions of 
 the emperor have saved us from slaughter upon the spot. 
 Honest, misguided Macer little dost thou know how 
 deep a wound thou hast struck into the very dearest life of 
 the truth, for which thou wouldst yet at any moment thy 
 self freely suffer and die ! " 
 
 "What," said Julia, "could have moved him to such 
 madness ? " 
 
 " With him, " replied Probus, " it was a deed of piety 
 and genuine zeal for God ; he saw it in the light of an act 
 godlike and God-directed. Could you read his heart, you 
 would find it calm and serene in the consciousness of a 
 great duty greatly performed. It is very possible he may 
 have felt himself to be but an instrument in the hand of a 
 higher power, to whom he gives all the glory and the 
 praise. There are many like him, lady, both among Chris 
 tians and Pagans. The sibyls impose not so much upon 
 others as upon themselves. They who give forth the re 
 sponses of the oracle, ofttimes believe that they are in 
 very truth full of the god, and speak not their own 
 thoughts but the inspirations of him whose priests they 
 are. To themselves more than to others are they impos 
 tors. The conceit of the peculiar favour of God, or of the 
 gods, in return for extraordinary devotion, is a weakness 
 that besets our nature wherever it is found. An apostle 
 perhaps never believed in his inspiration more firmly 
 than at times does Macer and others among us like him. 
 But this inward solitary persuasion we know is nothing, 
 however it may carry away captive the undiscriminating 
 multitude. " 
 
 " Hence, Probus, then, I suppose the need of some out 
 ward act of an extraordinary nature to show the inspira 
 tion real. " 
 
 " Yes, " he replied. " No assertion of divine impulses or 
 revelations can avail to persuade us of their reality, except 
 supported and confirmed by miracle. That, and that only, 
 
86 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 proves the present God. Christ would have died without 
 followers, had he exhibited to the world only his character 
 and his truth, even though he had claimed, and claimed 
 truly, a descent from and communion with the Deity. 
 Men would have said, This is an old and common story. 
 We see every day and everywhere those who affect divine 
 aid. Ko act is so easy as to deceive one s self. If you 
 propose a spiritual moral system, and claim for it a divine 
 authority, show your authority by a divine work a work 
 impossible to man and we will then admit your claims. 
 But your own inward convictions alone, sincere as they 
 may be, and possibly founded in truth, pass with us for 
 nothing. Eaise one that was dead to life, and we will be 
 lieve you when you reveal to us the spiritual world and 
 the life to come. * 
 
 " I think, " said Julia, " such would be the process in my 
 own mind. There seems the same natural and necessary 
 connection here between spiritual truths and outward acts, 
 as between the forms of letters or the sound of words and 
 ideas. We receive the most subtle of Plato s reasonings 
 through words those miracles of material help which 
 address themselves to the eye or ear. So we receive the 
 truths of Jesus through the eye witnessing his works, or 
 the ear hearing the voice from heaven. But we wander 
 from Macer, in whom, from what you have told us, and 
 Piso has known, we both feel deeply interested. Can he 
 not be drawn away from these fancies which possess him ? 
 T is a pity we should lose so strong an advocate, to some 
 minds so resistless ; nor only that, but suffer injury from 
 his extravagance. " 
 
 " It is our purpose, " I replied, " to visit him, to try 
 what effect earnest remonstrance and appeal may have. 
 Soon as I shall return from my promised and now neces 
 sary visit to Marcus and Lucilia, I shall not fail, Probus, 
 to request you to accompany me to his dwelling. " 
 
 " Does he dwell far from us ? " asked Julia. 
 
 " His house, if house it may be called, " replied Probus, 
 " is in a narrow street, which runs just behind the shop of 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 87 
 
 Demetrius, midway between the Capitol and the Quirinal. 
 It is easily found by first passing the shop and then de 
 scending quick to the left, the street Janus, our friend 
 Isaac s street, turning off at the same point to the right. 
 At Macer s, should your feet ever be drawn that way, you 
 would see how and in what crowded space the poor live in 
 Eome. " 
 
 " Has he then a family, as your words seem to imply ? " 
 
 " He has ; and one more lovely dwells not within the 
 walls of Eome. In his wife and elder children, as I have 
 informed Piso, we shall find warm and eloquent advocates 
 on our side. They tremble for their husband and father, 
 whom they reverence and love, knowing his impetuosity, 
 his fearlessness, and his zeal. Many an assault has he 
 already brought upon himself, and is destined I fear to 
 draw down many more and heavier. " 
 
 " Heaven shield them from all harm ! " said Julia. " Are 
 they known to Demetrius ? His is a benevolent heart, and 
 he would rejoice to do them a service. No one is better 
 known, too, or respected, than the Koman Demetrius ; his 
 name, merely, would be a protection. " 
 
 " It was from Macer, " replied Probus, " that Demetrius 
 first heard the truth which now holds him captive. Their 
 near neighbourhood brought them often together. Deme 
 trius was impressed by the ardour and evident sincerity so 
 visible in the conversation and manners of Macer; and 
 Macer was drawn towards Demetrius by the cast of mel 
 ancholy that sober thoughtful air that separates him 
 so from his mercurial brother, and indeed from all. He 
 wished he were a Christian ; and by happy accidents being 
 thrown together or rather drawn by some secret bond of 
 attraction he in no long time had the happiness to see 
 him one. From the hand of Felix he received the waters 
 of baptism. " 
 
 " What you have said, Probus, gives me great pleasure. 
 I am not only now sure that Macer and his little tribe have 
 a friend at hand, but the knowledge that such a mind as 
 that of Demetrius has been wrought upon by Macer has 
 
88 LETTERS EROM ROME. 
 
 served to raise him in my esteem and respect. He can be 
 no common man, and surely no madman. " 
 
 " The world ever loves to charge those as mad, " said 
 Probus, " who, in devotion to a great cause, exceed its cold 
 standard of moderation. Singular, that excess in virtue 
 should incur this reproach, while excess in vice is held 
 but as a weakness of our nature ! " 
 
 We were here interrupted by Milo, who came to conduct 
 us to the supper-room ; and there our friendly talk was pro 
 longed far into the evening. 
 
 When I next write I shall have somewhat to say of Mar 
 cus, Lucilia, and the little Gallus. How noble and generous 
 in the queen, her magnificent gift ! When summer comes 
 round again I shall not fail, together with Julia, to see 
 you there. How many recollections will come thronging 
 upon me when I shall again find myself in the court of the 
 Elephant, sitting where I once sat so often and listened to 
 the voice of Longinus. May you see there many happy 
 years. Farewell. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the sensation caused in Rome by 
 the voice heard at the dedication, and among the adherents 
 of the popular faith, by the unlucky omens of the day and 
 of the sacrifice. My office at that time called me often to 
 the capital and to the palace of Aurelian, and threw me fre 
 quently into his company and that of Livia. My presence 
 was little heeded by the emperor, who, of a bold and manly 
 temper, spoke out with little reserve and with no disguise 
 or fear, whatever sentiments possessed him. From such 
 opportunities, and from communications of Menestheus, 
 the secretary of Aurelian, little took place at the palace 
 which came not to my knowledge. The morning succeed 
 ing the dedication I had come to the city, bringing a packet 
 from the queen to the Empress Livia. While I waited in 
 the common reception-room of the palace I took, from a 
 case standing there, a roll, and read. As I read, I pres 
 ently was roused by the sound of Aurelian s voice. It was 
 as if engaged in earnest conversation. He soon entered 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 89 
 
 the apartment, accompanied by the priest of the new 
 temple. 
 
 " There is something, " he said, as he drew near, " in this 
 combination of unlucky signs that might appal a stouter 
 spirit than mine. This, too, after a munificence towards 
 not only one, but all the temples never, I am sure, sur 
 passed. Every god has been propitiated by gifts and ap 
 propriate rites. How can all this be interpreted other than 
 most darkly, other than as a general hostility, and a 
 discouragement from an enterprise upon which I would 
 found my glory ? This has come most unlooked for. I 
 confess myself perplexed. I have openly proclaimed my 
 purpose ; the word has gone abroad and travelled by this 
 to the court of Persia itself, that with all Rome at my back 
 I am once more to tempt the deserts of the East. " 
 
 He here suddenly paused, being reminded by Fronto of 
 my presence. 
 
 " Ah ! it matters not, " he said ; " this is but Nichoma- 
 chus, the good servant of the Queen^of Palmyra. I hope, " 
 he said, turning to me, " that the queen is well, and the 
 young Faustula ? " 
 
 " They are well, " I replied. 
 
 " How agree with her these cooler airs of the West ? 
 These are not the breezes of Arabia that come to-day from 
 the mountains. " 
 
 " She heeds them little, " I replied ; " her thoughts are 
 engrossed by heavier cares. " 
 
 " They must be fewer now than ever. " 
 
 " They are fewer, but they are heavier, and weigh upon 
 her life more than the whole East once did. The remem 
 brance of a single great disaster weighs as a heavier burden 
 than the successful management of an empire. " 
 
 " True, Nichomachus, that is over true. " Then, without 
 further regarding me, he went on with his conversation 
 with Fronto. 
 
 " I cannot, " he said, " now *go back ; and to go forward 
 may be presumptuous. " 
 
 " I cannot but believe, great emperor, " said Fronto, " that 
 
90 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 I have it in my power to resolve your doubts, and set your 
 mind at ease. " 
 
 " Best not, then, " said Aurelian, with impatience, " but 
 say on. " 
 
 " You sought the gods and read the omens with but one 
 prayer and thought. And you have construed them as all 
 bearing upon one point and having one significancy, be 
 cause you have looked in no other direction. I believe 
 they bear upon a different point, and that when you look 
 behind and before you will be of the same judgment. " 
 
 " Whither tends all this ? " 
 
 "To this, that the omens of the day bear not upon 
 your Eastern expedition, but upon the new religion ! You 
 are warned as the great high-priest, by these signs in 
 heaven and on earth, not against this projected expedition, 
 which is an act of piety, if a warlike expedition ever 
 may be termed so, but against this accursed superstition 
 which is working its way into the empire, and threatening 
 the extermination an<J overthrow of the very altars on 
 which you laid your costly offerings. What concern can 
 the divinities feel in the array of an army, compared with 
 that which must agitate their sacred breasts as they behold 
 their altars cast down or forsaken, their names profaned, 
 their very being denied, their worshippers drawn from 
 them to the secret midnight orgies of a tribe of atheists, 
 whose aim is anarchy in the state and in religion; owning 
 neither king on earth nor king in heaven, every man to 
 be his own priest, every man his own master? Is not 
 this the likeliest reading of the omens ? " 
 
 " I confess, Fronto, " the emperor replied, the cloud upon 
 his brow clearing away as he spoke, " that what you say 
 possesses likelihood. I believe I have interpreted accord 
 ing to my fears. It is as you say ; the East only has been 
 in my thoughts. It cannot in reason be thought to be this 
 enterprise, which, as you have said, is an act of piety 
 all Rome would judge it so against which the heavens 
 have thus arrayed themselves. Fronto ! Fronto ! I am 
 another man ! Slave, " cried he aloud to one of the menials 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 91 
 
 as he passed, " let Mucapor be instantly summoned. Let 
 there be no delay. Now can my affairs be set on with 
 something more of speed. When the gods srnile, moun 
 tains sink to molehills. A divine energy runs in the cur 
 rent of the blood and lends more than mortal force to the 
 arm and the will. " 
 
 As he spoke, never did so malignant a joy light up the 
 human countenance as was to be seen in the face of Fronto. 
 
 " And what, then, " he hastily put in, as the emperor 
 paused, :< what shall be done with these profane wretches ? " 
 
 " The Christians ? they must be seen to. I will con 
 sider. Now, Fronto, shall I fill to the brim the cup of 
 human glory. Now shall Eome by me vindicate her lost 
 honour and wipe off the foulest stain that since the time of 
 Romulus has darkened her annals. " 
 
 " You will do yourself and the empire immortal honour. 
 If danger ever threatened the very existence of the state, it 
 is now, from the secret machinations of this god-denying 
 tribe. " 
 
 " I spake of the East and of Valerian, Fronto. Syria is 
 now Rome s. Palmyra, that mushroom of a day, is level 
 with the ground. Her life is out. She will be hereafter 
 known but by the fame of her past greatness, of her match 
 less queen, and the glory of the victories that crowned the 
 arms of Aurelian. What now remains but Persia ? " 
 
 " The Christians, " said the priest, shortly and bitterly. 
 
 " You are right, Fronto ; the omens are not be read 
 otherwise. It is against them they point. It shall be ma 
 turely weighed what shall be done. When Persia is swept 
 from the field, and Ctesiphon lies as low as Palmyra, then 
 will I restore the honour of the gods, and let who will 
 dare to worship other than as I shall ordain ! Whoever 
 worships them not, or other than them, shall die. " 
 
 " In that spoke the chief minister of religion, the rep 
 resentative of the gods. The piety of Aurelian is in the 
 mouths of men not less than his glory. The city re 
 sounds with the praise of him who has enriched the 
 temples, erected new ones, made new provision for the 
 

 92 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 priesthood, and fed the poor. This is the best greatness. 
 Posterity will rather honour and remember him who saved 
 them their faith, than him who gained a Persian victory. 
 The victory for religion, too, is to be had without cost, 
 without a step taken from the palace gate, or from the side 
 of her who is alike Aurelian s and the empire s boast. " 
 
 " Nay, nay, Fronto, you are over zealous. This Eastern 
 purpose admits not of delay. Hormisdas is new in his 
 power. The people are restless and divided. The present 
 is the moment of success. It cannot bear delay To 
 morrow, could it be so, would I start for Thrace. The 
 heavens are propitious. They frown no longer. " 
 
 " The likeliest way, methinks, " replied the priest, " to 
 insure success, and the continued favour of the gods in 
 that which they do not forbid, were first to fulfil their 
 commands in what they have enjoined. " 
 
 " That, Fronto, cannot be denied. It is of weight. But 
 where of two commands both seem alike urgent, and both 
 cannot be done at once, whether we will or not, we must 
 choose, and in choosing we may err. " 
 
 " To an impartial, pious mind, O emperor, the god of 
 thy worship never shone more clear in the heavens than 
 shines his will in the terrific signs of yesterday. Forgive 
 thy servant ; but drawn as thou art by the image of fresh 
 laurels of victory to be bound about thy brow, of the rich 
 spoils of Persia, of its mighty monarch at thy chariot- 
 wheels, and the long line of a new triumph sweeping 
 through the gates, and the great heart of the capital, 
 thou art blind to the will of the gods, though written in 
 the dread convulsions of the elements, and the unerring 
 language of the slaughtered victims. " 
 
 " Both may be done, both, Fronto. I blame not your 
 zeal. Your freedom pleases me. Keligion is thus, I know, 
 in good hands. But both, I say, may be done. The care 
 of the empire in this its other part may be left to thee 
 and Varus, with full powers to see that the state in the 
 matter of its faith receives no harm. Your knowledge 
 in this, if not your zeal, is more than mine. While I 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 93 
 
 meet the enemies of Eome abroad, you shall be my other 
 self, and gain other victories at home. " 
 
 " Little, I fear, Aurelian, could be done even by me and 
 Varus leagued, with full delegated powers, opposed as we 
 should be by Tacitus and the senate, and the best half of 
 Eome. None but an arm omnipotent as thine can crush 
 this mischief. I see thou knowest not how deep it has 
 struck, nor how wide it has spread. The very foundations 
 of the throne and the empire are undermined. The poison 
 of Christian atheism has infected the whole mind of the 
 people, not only throughout Eome, but Italy, Gaul, Africa, 
 and Asia. And for this we have to thank whom ? Whom 
 but ourselves ? Ever since Hadrian otherwise a patriot 
 king built his imageless temples, in imitation of this 
 barren and lifeless worship ; ever since the weak Alexander 
 and his superstitious mother filled the imperial palace with 
 their statues of Christ, with preachers and teachers of his 
 religion ; ever since the Philips openly and without shame 
 professed his faith ; ever, I say, since these great examples 
 have been before the world, has the ancient religion de 
 clined its head, and the new stalked proudly by. Let not 
 Aurelian s name be added to this fatal list. Let him first 
 secure the honour of the gods; then, and not till then, 
 seek his own. " 
 
 " You urge with warmth, Fronto, and with reason, too. 
 Your words are not wasted : they have fallen where they 
 shall be deeply pondered. In the mean time I will wait 
 for the judgment of the augurs and haruspices ; and as the 
 colleges report will hold myself bound so to act. " 
 
 So they conversed, and then passed on. I was at that 
 time but little conversant with the religious condition of 
 the empire. I knew but little of the character of the pre 
 vailing faith, and the Pagan priesthood ; and I knew less 
 of the new religion, as it was termed. But the instincts 
 of my heart were from the gods, and they were all for 
 humanity. I loved man, whoever he was, and of what 
 ever name or faith ; and I sickened at cruelties perpetrated 
 against him, both in war and by the bloody spirit of super- 
 
94 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 stition. I burned with indignation, therefore, as I lis 
 tened to the cold-blooded arguings of the bigoted priest, 
 and wept to see how artfully he could warp aside the better 
 nature of Aurelian, and pour his own venom into veins 
 that had else run with human blood, at least not the pois 
 oned current of tigers, wolves, and serpents, of every name 
 and nature most vile. My hope was that, away from his 
 prompter, and the first purpose of Aurelian would return 
 and have its way. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 95 
 
 LETTEK V. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 THE GLADIATORS. VISIT TO MARCUS AND LUCILIA. GALLUS. 
 A GREAT GRIEF. AURELIA. NICHOMACHUS RELATES A 
 CONVERSATION. 
 
 I AM now returned from my long-intended visit to the 
 villa of Marcus, and have much to say concerning it. 
 
 But first of all rejoice with me in a fresh demonstration 
 of good-will on the part of Aurelian towards Zenobia. And 
 what think you it is ? Nothing less than this, that Vaba- 
 lathus has been made, by Aurelian and the senate, king of 
 Armenia ! The kingdom is not large, but large enough for 
 him at his present age ; if he shall show himself compe 
 tent, additions doubtless will be made. Our only regret 
 is, that the queen loses thus his presence with her at 
 Tibur. He had become to his mother all that a son should 
 be. Not that in respect to native force he could ever make 
 good the loss of Julia, or even of Livia, but that in all the 
 many offices which an affectionate child would render to a 
 parent in the changed circumstances of Zenobia, he has 
 proved a solace and a support. 
 
 The second day from the dedication, passing through the 
 Porta Asinaria, with Milo at my side, I took the road that 
 winds along the hither bank of the Tiber and leads most 
 pleasantly, if not most directly, to the seat of my friends ; 
 and you are well aware how willingly I sacrifice a little 
 time on the way, if by doing so I can more than make up 
 the loss by obtaining brighter glimpses of earth and sky. 
 Had I not found Christianity, Fausta, this would have 
 been my religion. I should have forsaken the philoso 
 phers and gone forth into the fields among the eternal 
 
96 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 hills, upon the banks of the river or the margin of the 
 ever-flowing ocean, and in the lessons there silently read 
 to me, I should, I think, have arrived at some very firm 
 and comfortable faith in God and immortality. And I am 
 especially happy in this, that nature in no way loses its 
 interest or value, because I now draw truth from a more 
 certain source. I take the same pleasure as before in ob 
 serving and contemplating her various forms, and the 
 clearer light of Christianity brings to view a thousand 
 beauties to which before I was insensible ; just as in read 
 ing a difficult author, although you may have reached his 
 sense in some good degree unaided, yet a judicious com 
 mentator points out excellences and unfolds truths which 
 you had either wholly overlooked or but imperfectly 
 comprehended. 
 
 All without the city walls, as within, bore witness to 
 the graciousness of the emperor in the prolonged holiday 
 he had granted the people. It was as if the Saturnalia had 
 arrived. Industry, such as there ever is, was suspended ; 
 all were sitting idle, or thronging some game, or gathering 
 in noisy groups about some mountebank. As we ad 
 vanced farther, and came just beyond the great road lead 
 ing to Tibur, we passed the school of the celebrated 
 gladiator Sosia, at the door of which there had just arrived 
 from the amphitheatre a cart bearing home the bodies of 
 such as had been slain the preceding day, presenting a dis 
 gusting spectacle of wounds, bruises, and flowing blood. 
 
 " There was brave fighting yesterday, " said Milo ; 
 " these are but a few out of all that fell. The first day s 
 sport was a hundred of the trained gladiators, most of 
 them from the school of Sosia, set against a hundred 
 picked captives of all nations. Not less than half of each 
 number got it. These fellows look as if they had done 
 their best. You ve fought your last battle, old boys, unless 
 you have a bout with Charon, who will be loath, I warrant 
 you beforehand, to ferry over such a slashed and swollen 
 company. Now ought you in charity," he continued, 
 addressing a half-naked savage who was helping to drag 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 97 
 
 the bodies from the cart, " to have these trunks well washed 
 ere you bury them, or pitch them into the Tiber, else they 
 will never get over the Styx ; not forgetting too the ferry- 
 age ," What more folly he would have uttered I know 
 not, for the wretch to whom he spoke suddenly seized the 
 lash of the driver of the cart and laid it ovar Milo s 
 shoulders, saying, as he did it, 
 
 " Off, fool, or my fist shall do for you what it did for one 
 of these. " 
 
 The bystanders at this set up a hoarse shouting, one of 
 them exclaiming so that I could hear him, 
 
 " There goes the Christian Piso we or the lions will 
 have a turn at him yet. These are the fellows that spoil 
 our trade. " 
 
 " Never mind, " replied another ; " if report goes true, 
 they won t spoil it long." 
 
 No rank and no power is secure against the affronts of 
 this lawless tribe ; they are a sort of licensed brawlers, 
 their brutal and inhuman trade rendering them insensible 
 to all fear from any quarter. Death is to them but as a 
 scratch on the finger; they care not for it when or how it 
 comes. The slightest cause, a passing word, a look, a mo 
 tion is enough to inflame their ferocious passions and bring 
 on quarrel and murder. Eiot and death are daily occur 
 rences in the neighbourhood of these schools of trained 
 assassins. Milo knew their character well enough, but he 
 deemed himself to be uttering somewhat that should amuse 
 rather than enrage, and was mortified rather than terrified, 
 I believe, at the sudden application of the lash. The un 
 feigned surprise he manifested, together with the quick 
 leap which his horse made, who partook of the blow, was 
 irresistibly ludicrous. He was nearly thrown off back 
 wards in the speed of his horse s flight along the road. It 
 was sometime before I overtook him. 
 
 " Intermeddling, " I said to Milo, as I came up with 
 him, " is a dangerous vice. How feel your shoulders ? " 
 
 " I shall remember that one-eyed butcher, and if there 
 be virtue in hisses or in thumbs, he shall rue the hour he 
 
 7 
 
98 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 laid a lash on Gallienus. Poor fellow ! Whose horseman 
 ship is equal to such an onset. I ll haunt the theatre till 
 rny chance come. " 
 
 " Well, well, let us forget this. How went the games 
 yesterday ? " 
 
 " Never, as I hear, " he said, " and as I remember, were 
 they more liberal or more magnificent. Larger, or more 
 beautiful, or finer beasts, neither Asia nor Africa ever sent 
 over. They fought as if they had been trained to it, like 
 these scholars of Sosia, and in most cases they bore away 
 the palm from them. How many of Sosia s men exactly 
 fell, it is not known, but not fewer than threescore men 
 were either torn in pieces or rescued too much lacerated to 
 fight more. " 
 
 " What captives were sacrificed ? " 
 
 " I did not learn of what nation they were, nor how 
 many. All I know is what I witnessed toward the end of 
 the sport. Never before did I behold such a form, nor 
 such feats of strength ! He was another Hercules. It was 
 rumoured he was from the forests of Germany. If you 
 will believe it, which I scarce can though I saw it, he 
 fought successively with six of Sosia s best men, and one 
 after another laid them all sprawling. A seventh was then 
 set upon him, he having no time to breathe or even drink. 
 Many, however, cried out against this. But Romans, you 
 know, like not to have their fun spoiled, so the seventh 
 was not taken off. As every one foresaw, this was too 
 much by just one for the hero ; but he fought desperately, 
 and it is believed Sosia s man got pushes he will never re 
 cover from. He was soon, however, on his knees, and then 
 on his back, the sword of his antagonist at his throat, he 
 lying like a gasping fish at his mercy, who awaited the 
 pleasure of the spectators a moment before he struck. 
 Then was there a great shouting all over the theatre in his 
 behalf, besides making the sign to spare him. But just at 
 the moment, as for him ill fortune would have it, some 
 poltroon cried out, with a voice that went all over the 
 theatre, The dog is a Christian ! Whereupon, like light- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 99 
 
 ning, every thumb went up, and down plunged the sword 
 into his neck. So, master, thou seest, what I tell thee every 
 day, there is small virtue in being a Christian. It is every 
 way dangerous. If a thief runs through the streets, the 
 cry is, A Christian ! a Christian ! If a man is murdered, 
 they who did it accuse some neighbouring Christian, and he 
 dies for it. If a Christian fall into the Tiber, men look on 
 as on a drowning dog. If he slip or fall in a crowd, they 
 will help to trample him to death. If he is sick or poor, 
 none but his own tribe will help him. Even the Jew de 
 spises him, and spits upon his gown as he passes. What 
 but the love of contempt and death can make one a Chris 
 tian, t is hard to see. Had that captive been other than a 
 Christian, he would not have fallen as he did. " 
 
 " Very likely. But the Christians, you know, frequent 
 not the amphitheatre. Had they been there in their just 
 proportion to the rest, the voice would at least have been a 
 divided one. " 
 
 " Nay, as for that, " he rejoined, " there were some stout 
 voices raised in his behalf to the last, and some thumbs 
 down, but too few to be regarded. But even in the streets, 
 where all sorts are found, there is none to take the Chris 
 tian s part unless it be that old gashed soldier of the 
 fifth legion, who stalks through the streets as though all 
 Eome were his. By the gods, I believe he would beard 
 Aurelian himself! He will stand at a corner in some 
 public place and preach to the crowds, and give never an 
 inch for all their curses and noise. They fear him too 
 much, I believe, to attack him with aught but words. 
 And I wonder not at it. A few days since a large dog 
 was, in wicked wantonness, as I must allow, set upon a poor 
 Christian boy. Macer so he is called about the city at 
 the moment came up. Never tiger seized his prey as he 
 seized that dog, and first dashing out his brains upon the 
 pavement, pursued then the persecutors of the boy and beat 
 them to jelly with the carcass of the beast, and then walked 
 away unmolested, leading the child to his home. " 
 
 " Men reverence courage, Milo, everywhere and in all. " 
 
100 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " That do they. It was so with me once when 
 Gallienus " 
 
 " Gallop, Milo, to that milestone, and report to me how 
 far we have come. " 
 
 I still as ever extract much, Fausta, from my faithful 
 if foolish slave. 
 
 In due time, and without hindrance or accident, I 
 reached the outer gate of my friend s villa. 
 
 The gate was opened by Coelia, whose husband is pro 
 moted to the place of porter. Her face shone as she saw 
 me, and she hastened to assure me that all were well at the 
 house, holding up, at the same moment, a curly-headed 
 boy for me to admire, whom, with a blush and a faltering 
 tongue, she called Lucius. I told her I was pleased with 
 the name, for it was a good one, and he should not suffer 
 for bearing it if I could help it. Milo thought it unlucky 
 enough that it should be named after a Christian, and I 
 am certain has taken occasion to remonstrate with its 
 mother on the subject; but as you may suppose, did not 
 succeed in infusing his own terrors. 
 
 I was first met by Lucilia, who received me with her 
 usual heartiness. Marcus was out on some remote part of 
 the estate overseeing his slaves. In a few moments, by the 
 assiduous Lucilia and her slaves, I was brushed and washed, 
 and set down to a table though it was so few hours since 
 I had left Home covered with bread, honey, butter, and 
 olives, a cold capon with salads, and wine such as the 
 cellars of Marcus alone can furnish. As the only way in 
 which to keep the good opinon of Lucilia is to eat, I ate 
 of all that was on the table, she assuring me that every 
 thing was from their own grounds, the butter made by 
 her own hands ; and that I might search Rome in vain for 
 better. This I readily admitted. Indeed no butter is like 
 hers, so yellow and so hard, nor bread so light and so 
 white. Even her honey is more delicious than what I find 
 elsewhere, the bees knowing by instinct whom they are 
 working for; and the poultry is fatter and tenderer, the 
 hens being careful never to over-fatigue themselves, and 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 101 
 
 the peacocks and the geese not to exhaust themselves in 
 screaming and cackling. All nature, alive and dead, takes 
 upon itself a trimmer and more perfect seeming within her 
 influences. I had sat thus gossiping with Lucilia, enjoy 
 ing the balmy breezes of a warm autumn day, as they drew 
 through the great hall of the house, when, preceded by the 
 bounding Gallus, the master of the house entered in field- 
 dress of broad sun-hat, open neck, close coat depending to 
 the knees, and boots that brought home with them the 
 spoils of many a well-ploughed field. 
 
 "Well, Sir Christian," he cried, " I joy to see thee, 
 although thus recreant. But how is it that thou lookest as 
 ever before? Are not these vanities* of silk, and gold, and 
 fine clothes, renounced by those of the new religion. Your 
 appearance says nay, and by Jupiter ! wine has been drunk 
 already ! Nay nay, Lucilia, it was hardly a pagan act to 
 tempt our strict friend with that Falernian. " 
 
 " Falernian is it ? " 
 
 " Yes, of the vintage of the fourth of Gallienus. Deli 
 cious, was it not? But by and by thou shalt taste some 
 thing better than that, as much better as that is than 
 anything of the same name thou didst ever raise to thy lips 
 at the table of Aurelian. Piso, never was a face more wel 
 come ! Not a soul has looked in upon us for days and days 
 not, Lucilia, since the Kalends, when young Flaccus, 
 with a boat-load of roysterers, dropped down the river. 
 But why comes not Julia too ? She could not leave the 
 games and theatres, ha ? " 
 
 " Marcus, " said Lucilia, " you forget it was the princess 
 who first seduced Lucius. But for that eastern voyage for 
 the Persian Calpurnius, Piso would have been still, I dare 
 say, what his parents made him. Let us not yet, however, 
 stir this topic; but first of all, Lucius, give us the city 
 news. How went the dedication ? we have heard strange 
 tales. " 
 
 " How went it by report ? " I asked. 
 
 " Oh, it would be long telling, " said Lucilia. " Only, 
 for one thing, we heard that there was a massacre of the 
 
102 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 Christians, in which some said hundreds, and some, thou 
 sands, fell. For a moment, I assure you, we trembled for 
 you. The confirmation afforded by your actual presence, 
 of your welfare, is not unwelcome. You must lay a part 
 of the heartiness of our reception, especially the old Faler- 
 nian, to the account of our relieved fears. But let us 
 hear. " 
 
 I then went over the last days in Eome, adding what I 
 had been able to gather from Milo, when it was such that 
 I could trust to it. When I had satisfied their curiosity, 
 and had moreover described to Lucilia the dresses of Livia 
 on so great an occasion, and the fashions which were raging 
 Marcus proposed that I should accompany him over his 
 farm, and observe his additions and improvements, and 
 the condition of his slaves. I accepted the proposal with 
 pleasure, and we soon set forth on our ramble, accompanied 
 by Gallus, now riding his stick, and now gambolling about 
 the lawns and fields with his dog. 
 
 I like this retreat of Curtius better almost than any other 
 of the suburban villas of our citizens. There is an air of 
 calm senatorial dignity about it which modern edifices 
 want. It looks as if it had seen more than one generation 
 of patrician inhabitants. There is little unity or order as 
 those words are commonly understood observable in the 
 structure of the house ; but it presents to the eye an irregu 
 lar assemblage of forms, the work of different ages, and 
 built according to the taste and skill of distant times. 
 Some portions are new, some old and covered with lichens, 
 mosses, and creeping plants. Here is a portico of the time 
 of Trajan, and there a tower that seems as if it were of the 
 times of the republic. Yet is there a certain harmony and 
 congruity running through the whole, for the material used 
 is everywhere the same, a certain fawn-coloured stone, 
 drawn from quarries still existing in the neighbourhood ; 
 and each successive owner and architect has evidently 
 paid some regard to preceding erections in the design and 
 proportions of the part he has added. In this unity of 
 character, as well as in the separate beauty or greatness of 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 103 
 
 distinct parts, is it made evident that persons of accom 
 plishment and rank have alone possessed it. Of its earlier 
 history all that Curtius has with certainty ascertained is, 
 that it was once the seat of the great Hortensius, before he 
 had in the growth of his fame and his riches displayed his 
 luxurious tastes in the wonders of Tusculum, Bauli, or 
 Laurentum. It was the first indication given by him of 
 that love of elegant and lavish wastefulness that gave him 
 at last as wide a celebrity as his genius. The part which he 
 built is well known, and although of moderate dimensions, 
 yet displays the rudiments of that taste that afterwards 
 was satisfied only with more than imperial magnificence. 
 Marcus has satisfied himself as to the very room which he 
 occupied as his study and library, and where he prepared 
 himself for the morning courts; and in the same apartment 
 hoping, as he says, to catch something from the genius 
 of the place does he apply himself to the same profes 
 sional labours. His name and repute are now second to 
 none in Eome. Yet, young as he is, he begins to weary of 
 the bar, and woo the more quiet pursuits of letters and phi 
 losophy. Nay, at the present moment, agriculture claims 
 all his leisure, and steals time that can ill be spared from 
 his clients. Varro and Cato have more of his devotion 
 than statutes and precedents. 
 
 In the disposition of the grounds, Marcus has shown that 
 he inherits something of the tastefulness of his remote pre 
 decessor ; and in the harvest that covers his extensive acres 
 gives equal evidence that he has studied not without profit 
 the labours of those who have written upon husbandry and 
 its connected arts. Varro, especially, is at his tongue s 
 end. 
 
 We soon came to the quarter of the slaves, a village al 
 most of the humble tenements occupied by this miserable 
 class. None but the women, children, sick, and aged, 
 were now at home, the young and able-bodied being abroad 
 at work. No new disturbances have broken out, he tells 
 me ; the former severity, followed by a well-timed lenity, 
 having subdued or conciliated all. Curtius, although fond 
 
104 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 of power and of all its ensigns, yet conceals not his hatred 
 of this institution which has so long obtained in the 
 Eoman state as in all states. He can devise no way of es 
 cape from it ; but he sees in it the most active and general 
 cause of the corruption of morals which is everywhere 
 spread where it prevails. He cannot suppress his con 
 tempt of the delusion or hypocrisy of our ancestors in term 
 ing themselves republicans. 
 
 " What a monstrous solecism was it, " he broke out, with 
 energy, " in the times preceding the empire, to call that a 
 free country which was built upon the degradation and 
 slavery of half of its population. Rome never was a re 
 public. It was simply a faction of land and slave holders, 
 who blinded and befooled the ignorant populace by parad 
 ing before them some of the forms of liberty, but kept the 
 power in their own hands. They were a community of 
 petty kings, which was better in their minds than only 
 one king, as in the time of the Tarquins. It was a repub 
 lic of kingdoms and of kings, if you will. Now and then, 
 indeed, the people bustled about and shook their chains, 
 as in the times of the institution of the tribune s office and 
 those of the Gracchi. But they gained nothing. The patri 
 cians were still the kings who ruled them. And among no 
 people can there be liberty where slavery exists, liberty, 
 I mean, properly so called. He who holds slaves cannot, 
 in the nature of things, be a republican ; but in the nature 
 of things he is, on the other hand, a despot. I am one. 
 And a nation of such individuals is an association of des 
 pots for despotic purposes, and nothing else or better. 
 Liberty in their mouths is a profanation of the sacred name ; 
 it signifies nothing but their liberty to reign. I confess it 
 is to those who happen to be the kings a very agreeable 
 state of things. I enjoy my power and state mightily. 
 But I am not blind to the fact, my own experience 
 teaches it, that it is a state of things corrupt and rotten 
 to the heart, destructive everywhere of the highest form 
 of the human character. It nurses and brings out the ani 
 mal, represses and embrutes the god that is within us. It 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 105 
 
 makes of man a being of violence, force, passion, and the 
 narrowest selfishness; while reason and humanity, which 
 should distinguish him, are degraded or annihilated. Such 
 men are not the stuff that republics are made of. A re 
 public may endure for a time in spite of them, owing to 
 fortunate circumstances of another kind ; but wherever they 
 obtain a preponderance in the state, liberty will expire, or 
 exist only in the insulting forms in which she waved her 
 bloody sceptre during most of our early history. Slavery 
 and despotism are natural allies. " 
 
 * I rejoice," I said, " to find a change in you, at least in 
 the theory which you adopt. " 
 
 " I certainly am changed, " he replied ; " and such as the 
 change may be, it is owing, Sir Christian, to thy calm 
 and yet fiery epistles from Palmyra. Small thanks do I 
 owe thee for making me uncomfortable in a position from 
 which I cannot escape. Once proud of my slaves and my 
 power, I am already ashamed of both ; but while my prin 
 ciples have altered, my habits and character, which slavery 
 has created and nursed, remain beyond any power of man, 
 so far as I can see, to change them. What they are, you 
 well know. So that here, in my middle age, I suffer a 
 retribution that should have been reserved till I had been 
 dismissed from the dread tribunal of Ehadamanthus. " 
 
 " I see not, Curtius, why you should not escape from the 
 position you are in, if you sincerely desire it, which I sup 
 pose you do not. " 
 
 " That, to be honest, which at least I am, is, I be 
 lieve, the case. " 
 
 " I do not doubt it. as it is with all who are situated like 
 yourself. Most, however, defend the principle, as well as 
 cling to the form of slavery. " 
 
 " Nay, that I cannot do ; that I never did, since my beard 
 was grown. I fancy myself to have from the gods a good 
 heart. He is essentially of a corrupt heart who will stand 
 for slavery in its principle. He is without anything gen 
 erous in his nature. Cold selfishness marks and makes 
 him. But supposing I as sincerely desired to escape, as I 
 
106 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 sincerely do not, what, most wise mentor, should be the 
 manner ? " 
 
 " First, and at once, to treat them no longer as slaves, 
 but as men. " 
 
 " That I am just beginning to do. What else ? " 
 
 " If you are sincere, as I say, and, moreover, if you pos 
 sess the exalted and generous traits which we patricians 
 ever claim for ourselves, show it them by giving their free 
 dom one by one to those who are now slaves, even though 
 it result in the loss of one-half of your fortune. That will 
 be a patrician act. What was begun in crime by others 
 cannot be perpetuated without equal crime in us. The 
 enfranchised will soon mingle with the people ; and, as we 
 see every day, become one with it. This process is going 
 on at this moment in all my estates. Before my will is 
 executed, I shall hope to have disposed in this manner of 
 every slave in my possession. " 
 
 " One can hardly look to emulate such virtues as this 
 new-found Christian philosophy seems to have engendered 
 within thy noble bosom, Piso; but the subject must be 
 weighed. There is nothing so agreeable in prospect as to 
 do right ; but, like some distant stretches of land and hill, 
 water and wood, the beauty is all gone as it draws near. 
 It is then absolutely a source of pain and disgust. I will 
 write a treatise upon the great theme. " 
 
 " If you write, Curtius, I shall despair of any action ; 
 all your philanthropy will evaporate in a cloud of words. * 
 
 " But that will be the way, I think, to restore my 
 equanimity. I believe I shall feel quite easy after a little 
 declamation. Here, Lucius, regale thyself upon these 
 grapes. These are from the isles of the Grecian Archi 
 pelago, and for sweetness are not equalled by any of our 
 own. Gallus ! Gallus ! go not so near to the edge of the 
 pond ; it is deep, as I have warned you. I have lampreys 
 there, Piso, bigger than any that Hortensius ever wept for. 
 Gallus, you dog, away, I say. " 
 
 But Gallus heeded not the command of his father. He 
 already was beginning to have a little will of his own. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 107 
 
 He continued playing upon the margin of the water, throw 
 ing in sticks for his dog to bring to him again. Perceiving 
 his danger to be great, I went to him, and forcibly drew 
 him away, he and his dog setting up a frightful music of 
 screams and yelpings. Marcus was both entertained and 
 amazed at the feat. 
 
 " Piso, " he jocosely cried out, " there is a good deal of the 
 old republican in you. You even treat free men as slaves. 
 That boy a man in will never had before such restraint 
 laid upon his liberty. " 
 
 " Liberty with restraint, " I answered, " operating upon 
 all, and equally upon all, is the true account of the state 
 of freedom. Gallus unrestrained is a slave, a slave of 
 passion, and the sport of chance. He is not truly free 
 until he is bound. " 
 
 With such talk we amused ourselves as we wandered 
 over the estate, through its more wild and more cultivated 
 parts. Dinner was presently announced by a slave sound 
 ing at a distance a sort of sea-shell, and we hastened to the 
 house. 
 
 Lucilia awaited us in a small six-sided cabinet, fitted up 
 purposely as a dining-room for six or eight persons. It 
 was wholly cased with a rich marble of a pale-yellow hue, 
 beautifully panelled, having three windows opening upon 
 a long portico with a southern aspect, set out with exotics 
 in fancifully arranged groups. The marble panels of the 
 room were so contrived that at a touch they slipped aside 
 and disclosed, in rich array, here the choicest wines, there 
 sauces and spices of a thousand sorts, and there again, the 
 rarest confections brought from China and the East 
 Apicius himself could have fancied nothing more perfect ; 
 for the least dissatisfaction with the flavour of a dish, or 
 the kind of wine, could be removed by merely reaching 
 out the hand and drawing from an inexhaustible treasure- 
 house both wines and condiments such as scarce Eome it 
 self could equal. This was an apartment contrived and 
 built by Hortensius himself. 
 
 The dinner was worthy the room and its builder, the 
 
108 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 marbles, the prospect, the guest, the host, and the hostess. 
 The afore -mentioned Apicius would have never once thought 
 of the panelled cupboards. No dish would have admitted 
 of addition or alteration. 
 
 When the feasting was over, and with it the lighter and 
 more disjointed and various conversation which usually 
 accompanies it, Marcus rose, and withdrawing one of the 
 sliding panels, with much gravity and state, drew forth a 
 glass pitcher of exquisite form, filled with wine, saying, 
 as he did so, 
 
 " All, Piso, that you have as yet tasted is but as water 
 of the Tiber to this. This is more than nectar. The gods 
 have never been so happy as to have seen the like. I am 
 their envy. It is Falernian that once saw the wine-vaults 
 of Heliogabalus. Not a drop of Chian has ever touched it ; 
 it is pure, unadulterate. Taste and be translated ! " 
 
 I acknowledged, as I well might, its unequalled flavour. 
 
 " This nectarean draught, " he continued, " I even con 
 sider to possess purifying and exalting qualities. He who 
 drinks it is for the time of a higher nature. It is better 
 for the temper than a chapter of Seneca or Epictetus. It 
 brings upon the soul a certain divine calm, favourable be 
 yond any other state to the growth of the virtues. Could 
 it become of universal use, mankind were soon a race of 
 gods. Even Christianity were then made unnecessary, ad 
 mitting it to be that unrivalled moral engine which you 
 Christians affirm it to be. It is favourable also to dispas 
 sionate discussion, Piso, a little of which I would now 
 invite. Know you not, I have scarce seen you since your 
 assumption of your new name and faith ? What bad 
 demon possessed you, in an evil hour, to throw Eome and 
 your friends into such a ferment ? " 
 
 " Had you become, Lucius, " said Lucilia, " a declaiming 
 advocate of Epicurus, or a street lecturer upon Plato, or 
 turned priest of Apollo s new temple, it would have all 
 been quite tolerable, though amazing ; but Christian ! " 
 
 "Yes, Lucius, it is too bad," added Marcus. "If you 
 were in want of moral strength, you would have done better 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 109 
 
 to have begged some of my Falernian. You should not 
 have been denied. " 
 
 " Or," said Lucilia, " some of my Smyrna cordial. " 
 
 " At least, " continued Marcus, " you might have come to 
 me for some of my wisdom, which I keep ready at a mo 
 ment s warning, in quantities to suit all applicants. " 
 
 " Or to me, " said Lucilia, " for some of my every-day 
 good sense, which you know I possess in such abundance, 
 though I have not sat at the feet of philosophers. " 
 
 "But, seriously, Lucius," began Marcus, in altered 
 mood, " this is a most extraordinary movement of yours. 
 I should like to be able to interpret it. If you must needs 
 have what you call religion, of which I for my part can see 
 no earthly occasion, here were plenty of forms in which to 
 receive it, more ancient and more respectable than this of 
 the Christians. " 
 
 " I am almost unwilling to converse on this topic with 
 you, Marcus, " I rejoined, " for there is nothing in your 
 nature, or rather in your educated nature, to which to 
 appeal with the least hope of any profitable result either to 
 me or you. The gods have, as you say, given you a good 
 heart, I may add too, a most noble head ; but yourself 
 and education together have made you so thoroughly a man 
 of the world that the interests of any other part of your 
 nature, save those of the intellect and the senses, are to you 
 precisely as if they did not exist. " 
 
 " Eight, Lucius ; therein do I claim honour and distinc 
 tion. The intangible, the invisible, the vague, the shad 
 owy, I leave to women and priests, concerning myself 
 only with the substantial realities of life. Great Jupiter ! 
 what would become of mankind were we all women and 
 priests ? How could the courts go on senates sit and de 
 liberate armies conquer ? I think the world would stand 
 still. However, I object not to a popular faith, such as 
 that which now obtains throughout the Eoman world. If 
 mankind, as history seems to prove, must and will have 
 something of the kind, this perhaps is as good as anything 
 else ; and seeing it has once become established and fixed 
 
110 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 in the way it has, I think it ought no more to be disturbed 
 than men s faith in their political institutions. Our con 
 cern should be merely to regulate it, that it grow not too 
 large and so overlay and crush the state. Fanatics and 
 bigots must be hewn away. There must be an occasional 
 iriusion of doubt and indifference into the mass, to keep 
 it from fermenting. You cannot be offended, Lucius, at 
 the way in which I speak of your new -adopted faith. I 
 think no better of any other. Epicureans, Stoics, Plato- 
 nists, Jews, Christians, they are all alike to me. I hold 
 them all at arm s length. I have listened to them all ; and 
 more idle, indigested fancies never did I hear, no, not 
 from the newest-fledged advocate playing the rhetorician 
 at his first appearance. " 
 
 " I do not wonder, Curtius, that you have turned away 
 dissatisfied with the philosophers. I do not wonder that 
 you reject the popular superstitions. But I do wonder 
 that you will prejudge any question, or infer the intrinsic 
 incredibility of whatever may take the form of religion, 
 from the intrinsic incredibility of what the world has here 
 tofore possessed. It surely is not a philosophical method. " 
 
 " Not in other things, I grant, " replied Marcus ; " but 
 concerning this question of popular superstition, or re 
 ligion, the only philosophy is to discard the whole sub 
 ject as one undeserving severe investigation. The follies 
 which the populace have in all nations and in all time 
 adopted, let them be retained, and even defended and sup 
 ported by the state. They perform a not unimportant office 
 in regulating the conduct and manners of men, in preserv 
 ing a certain order in the world. But beyond this, it seems 
 to me the subject is unworthy the regard of a reflecting 
 person. One world and one life are enough to manage at a 
 time. If there be another, or if there be a God who gov 
 erns it, and this also, it will be time enough to know 
 these things when they are made plain to the senses, as 
 these trees and hills now are, and your well-shaped form. 
 This peering into futurity, in the expectation to arrive at 
 certainty, seems to me much as if one should hope to make 
 
FKOM PISO TO FAUSTA. Ill 
 
 out the forms of cities, palaces, and groves, by gazing into 
 the empty air, or on the clouds. Besides, of what use ? " 
 
 " Of what use, indeed ? " added Lucilia. " I want no 
 director or monitor concerning any duty or act which it 
 falls to me to perform, other than I find within me. I 
 have no need of a divine messenger to stand ever at my 
 side, to tell me what I must do and what I must forbear. 
 I have within me instincts and impulses which I find 
 amply sufficient. The care and duty of every day are very 
 much alike, and a little experience and observation, added 
 to the inward instinct, make me quite superior to most 
 difficulties and evils as they arise. The gods, or whatever 
 power gave us our nature, have not left us dependent either 
 on what is called religion or philosophy. " 
 
 " What you say, " I rejoined, " is partly true : the gods 
 have not left us dependent upon either religion or philoso 
 phy. There is a natural religion of the heart and the con 
 science, which is born with us, grows up with us, and 
 never forsakes us. But then, after all, how defective and 
 incomplete a principle it is. It has chiefly to do only with 
 our daily conduct ; it cannot answer our doubts or satisfy 
 our wants. It differs, too, with the constitution of the 
 individual. In some it is a principle of much greater 
 value and efficacy than in others. Your instincts are 
 clear and powerful, and direct you aright. But in another 
 they are obscure and weak, and leave the mind in the 
 greatest perplexity. It is by no means all that they want. 
 Then, are not the prevalent superstitions most injurious in 
 their influences upon the common mind ? Can you doubt 
 whether more of good or evil is derived to the soul from 
 the ideas it entertains of the character and providence of 
 the gods ? Can you be insensible to the horrible enormities 
 and nameless vices which make a part even of what is 
 called religion ? And is there no need if men will have 
 religion in some form that they should receive it in a 
 better one ? Can you not conceive of such views of God 
 and his worship, of duty, virtue, and immortality, being 
 presented, that they shall strike the mind as reasonable in 
 
112 LETTERS PROM ROME. 
 
 themselves, and of beneficial instead of hurtful power upon 
 being adopted ? Can you not imagine your own mind and 
 the ininds of people generally to be so devoted to a high 
 and sublime conception of the Divinity and of futurity, as 
 to be absolutely incapable of an act that should displease 
 him or forfeit the hope of immortality ? " 
 
 " Hardly, " said Marcus and Lucilia. 
 
 " Well, suppose it were so. Or rather if you. cannot 
 imagine such a state of things, multitudes can. You are 
 not a fair specimen of our kind, but only of a compara 
 tively small class. Generally so I have found it the 
 mind is seeking about for something better than what any 
 human system has as yet proposed, and is confident of 
 nothing more than of this, that men may be put in posses 
 sion of truths that shall carry them on as far beyond what 
 their natural instincts now can do, as these instincts carry 
 them on beyond any point to which the brutes ever arrive. 
 This certainly was my own conviction before I met with 
 Christianity. Now, Marcus and Lucilia, what is this Chris 
 tianity but a revelation from Heaven, whose aim is to give 
 to you, and to all, such conceptions of God and futurity as 
 I have just spoken of ? " 
 
 I then, finding that I had obtained a hearing, went into 
 a full account of the religion of Christ, as I had received it 
 from the books themselves, and which to you I need not 
 repeat. They listened with considerable patience, though 
 I was careful not to use many words, but without any 
 expression of countenance or manner that indicated any 
 very favourable change in their opinions or feelings. As 
 I ended, Marcus said, 
 
 " I shall always think better of this religion, Lucius, 
 that you have adopted it, though I cannot say that your 
 adopting it will raise my judgment of you. I do not at 
 present see upon what grounds it stands, so firm or divine 
 that a citizen is defensible in abandoning for it an ostensi 
 ble reception of and faith in the existing forms of the state. 
 However, I incline to allow freedom in these matters to 
 scholars and speculative minds. Let them work out and 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 113 
 
 enjoy their own fancies ; they are a restless, discontented, 
 ambitious herd, and should, for the sake of their genius, 
 be humoured in the particular pursuits where they have 
 placed their happiness. But when they turn propagators 
 and reformers, and aim at the subversion of things now 
 firmly established and prosperous, then although I my 
 self should never meddle in such matters it is scarcely a 
 question whether the power of the state should interpose 
 and lay upon them the necessary restraints. Upon the 
 whole, Lucius Piso, I think that I and Lucilia had better 
 turn preachers, and exhort you to return to the faith, or 
 no-faith, which you have abandoned. Leave such things to 
 take care of themselves. What have you gained but mak 
 ing yourself an object of popular aversion or distrust ? You 
 have abandoned the community of the polite, the refined, 
 the sober, to which by nature you belong, and have asso 
 ciated yourself with a vulgar crew of forgive my free 
 dom, I speak the common judgment, that you may know 
 what it is ignorant fanatics, or crafty knaves, who care 
 for you no further than as by your great name they may 
 stand a little higher in the world. I protest before Ju 
 piter, that to save others like you from such loss, I feel 
 tempted to hunt over the statute-books for some law now 
 obsolete and forgotten, but not legally dead, that may be 
 brought to bear upon this mischief, and give it another 
 Decian blight, which, if it do not kill, may yet check and 
 obstruct its growth. " 
 
 I replied that " from him I could apprehend, he well 
 knew, no such deed of folly or guilt, however likely it was 
 that others might do it and glory in their shame ; that his 
 nature would save him from such a deed, though his prin 
 ciples might not. " I told him, moreover, that " I did not 
 despair of his looking upon Christianity with a favourable 
 judgment in good time. He had been willing to hear, and 
 there was that secret charm in the truths and doctrines of 
 Christ s religion, and especially in his character, that how 
 ever rudely set forth, the mind could scarcely resist it; 
 against its will, it would oftentimes find itself subdued and 
 
 8 
 
114 ( LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 changed. The seeds I have now dropped upon your hearts, 
 I trust will some day spring up and bear such fruit as you 
 yourselves will rejoice in. " 
 
 " So, " said Marcus, " may the wheat spilled into the 
 Tiber, or sown among rocks, or eaten by the birds. " 
 
 " And that may be, though not to-day or to-morrow, " I 
 replied. " The seed of things essential to man s life, as 
 of wheat, is not easily killed. It may be buried for years 
 and years, yet turned up at length to the sun, and its life 
 sprouts upward, in leaf, and stem, and fruit. Borne down 
 by the waters of the Tiber, and apparently lost, it may be 
 cast up upon the shores of Eygpt or Britain, and fulfil its 
 destiny. The seed of truth is longer-lived still, by reason 
 that what it bears is more essential than wheat or other 
 grain to man s best life. " 
 
 " Well, well, " said Marcus, " let us charge our goblets 
 with the bottom of this Falernian, and forgetting whether 
 there be such an entity as truth or not, drink to the health 
 of the Princess Julia. " 
 
 " That comes nearer our hearts, " said Lucilia, " than 
 anything that has been spoken for the last hour. When 
 you return, Lucius, Laco must follow you with a mule- 
 load of some of my homely products " She was about to 
 add more, when we were all alike startled and alarmed by 
 cries, seemingly of deep distress, and rapidly approaching. 
 We sprung from our seats, when the door of the room was 
 violently flung open, and a slave rushed in, crying out : 
 
 " Oh, sir ! Gallus ! Gallus ! " 
 
 " What is it ? what is it ? " cried Marcus and Lucilia. 
 " Speak ! quick ! has he fallen ? " 
 
 " Oh, no ; the pond ! the fish-pond ! run ! fly ! " 
 
 Distractedly we hurried to the spot, already surrounded 
 by a crowd of slaves. Who had been with him ? where 
 had he fallen ? were questions hastily asked, but which 
 no one could answer. It was a miserable scene of agony, 
 confusion, and despair, Marcus ordering his slaves to 
 dive into the pond, then uttering curses upon them, and 
 commanding those to whom Gallus was usually intrusted 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 115 
 
 to the rack. No one could swim, no one could dive. It 
 was long since I had made use of an art which I once pos 
 sessed ; but instantly I cast off my upper garments, and 
 needing no other direction to the true spot than the barking 
 of the little dog, his jumping in and out of the water, first 
 learning that the water was deep and of an even bottom, 
 I threw myself in, and in a moment, guided by the white 
 dress of the little fellow, I grasped him and drew him to 
 the surface. 
 
 Life was apparently and probably to mind extinct, but 
 expressing a hope that means might yet be resorted to that 
 should restore him, I bore him in my arms to the house. 
 But it was all in vain. Gallus was dead. 
 
 I shall not inflict a new sadness upon you, Fausta, by 
 describing the grief of my friends, or any of the incidents of 
 the days I now passed with them. They were heavy, mel 
 ancholy days ; for the sorrows of both Lucilia and Marcus 
 were excessive and inconsolable. I could do nothing for 
 them, nor say anything to them ; yet while they were thus 
 incapacitated for all action, I could serve them essentially 
 by placing myself at the head of their affairs, and relieving 
 them of common cares and duties, that must otherwise have 
 been neglected or have proved irksome and oppressive. 
 
 The ashes of Gallus, committed to a small marble urn, 
 have been deposited in a tomb in the centre of Lucilia s 
 flower-garden, which will soon be embowered by flowers and 
 shrubs which her hand will delight to train around it. 
 
 On the eve of the day when I was to leave them and 
 return to Eome, we sat together in a portico which over 
 looks the Tiber. Marcus and Lucilia were sad, but at 
 length in some sort calm. The first violence of sorrow had 
 spent itself, and reflection was beginning to succeed. 
 
 " I suppose, " said Marcus, " your rigid faith greatly 
 condemns all this show of suffering which you have wit 
 nessed, Piso, in us, as, if not criminal, at least weak and 
 childish ? " 
 
 " Not so, by any means," I rejoined. K The religion of 
 the Christians is what may be termed a natural religion ; 
 
116 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 it does violence to not one of the good affections and pro 
 pensities. Coming, as we maintain, from the Creator of 
 our bodies and our minds, it does them no injury, it wars 
 not with any of their natural elements, but most strictly 
 harmonizes with them. It aims to direct, to modify, to 
 heal, to moderate, but never to alter or annihilate. Love 
 of our offspring is not more according to our nature than 
 grief for the loss of them. Grief therefore is innocent, 
 even as praiseworthy as love. What trace of human wis 
 dom, much less of divine, would there be in the arrange 
 ment that should first bind us by chains of affection strong 
 as adamant to a child, or a parent, or a friend, and then 
 treat the sorrow as criminal that wept, with whatever 
 violence, as it saw the links broken and scattered, never 
 again to be joined together ? " 
 
 " That certainly is a proof that some just ideas are to be 
 found in your religion, " replied my friend. " By nothing 
 was I ever more irreconcilably offended in the Stoical phi 
 losophy than by its harsh violence towards nature under 
 suffering. To be treated by your philosophy with rudeness 
 and contempt because you yield to emotions which are as 
 natural, and therefore in my judgment as innocent as any, 
 is as if one were struck by a friend or a parent to whom 
 you fled for protection or comfort. The doctrines of all the 
 others failed in the same way. Even the Epicureans hold 
 it a weakness and even a wrong to grieve, seeing the injury 
 that is thereby done to happiness. Grief must be sup 
 pressed and banished, because it is accompanied by pain. 
 That, too, seemed to me a false sentiment, because, al 
 though grief is indeed in some sort painful, yet is it not 
 wholly so, but is attended by a kind of pleasure. How 
 plain it is that I should suffer greatly more were I forcibly 
 restrained by a foreign power, or my own, from shedding 
 these tears and uttering these sighs for Gallus, than I do 
 now while I am free to indulge my natural feelings. In 
 truth, it is the only pleasure that grief brings v/ith it, 
 the freedom of indulging it. " 
 
 " He, " I said, as Marcus paused, giving way afresh to his 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 117 
 
 sorrow, " who embraces the Christian doctrine is never 
 blamed, condemned, or ridiculed by it for the indulgence 
 of the emotions to which the loss of those whom we love 
 gives birth. But then, at the same time, he will probably 
 grieve and suffer much less under such circumstances than 
 you, not, however, because he is forcibly restrained, but 
 because of the influence upon his mind and his heart of 
 truths and opinions which as a Christian he entertains, 
 and which, without any will or act of his own, work 
 within him and strengthen and console him. The Chris 
 tian, believing so firmly as he does, for example, in a God, 
 not only on grounds of reason, but of express revelation, 
 and that this God is a parent, exercising a providence over 
 his creatures, regardless of none, loving as a parent all ; 
 who has created mankind, not for his own amusement or 
 glory, but that life and happiness might be diffused, they 
 who believe thus must feel very differently under adver 
 sity from those who, like yourself, believe nothing of it 
 at all, and from those who, like the disciples of the Porch 
 and the Academy, believe but an inconsiderable part of it. 
 Suppose, Marcus and Lucilia, your whole population of 
 slaves were, instead of strangers and slaves, your children, 
 towards whom you experienced the same sentiments of deep 
 affection that you did toward Gallus, how would you not 
 consult for their happiness ; and how plain it is that what 
 ever laws you might set over them, they would be laws of 
 love, the end of which, however they might not always 
 recognize it, would be their happiness, happiness through 
 their virtue. This may represent with sufficient exactness 
 the light in which Christians regard the Divinity, and the 
 laws of life under which they find themselves. Admitting 
 therefore their faith to be well founded, and how manifest 
 is it that they will necessarily suffer less under adversity 
 than you, and not because any violence is done to their 
 nature, but because of the benignant influences of such 
 truths." 
 
 " What you say, " observed Lucilia, " affects the mind 
 very agreeably, and gives a pleasing idea both of the wis- 
 
118 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 dom and mercy of the Christian faith. It seems, at any 
 rate, to be suited to such creatures as we are. What a 
 pity that it is so difficult to discern truth ! " 
 
 " It is difficult, " I replied ; " the best things are always 
 so ; but it is not impossible ; what is necessary to our hap 
 piness is never so. A mind of common powers, well-dis 
 posed, seeking with a real desire to find, will rarely retire 
 from the search wholly unsuccessful. The great essentials 
 to our daily well-being and the right conduct of life, the 
 Creator has supplied through our instincts. Your natural 
 religion, of which you have spoken, you find sufficient for 
 most of the occurrences which arise both of doing and bear 
 ing. But there are other emergencies for which it is as 
 evidently insufficient. Now, as the Creator has supplied 
 so perfectly in all breasts the natural religion which is so 
 essential, it is fair to say and believe that He would not 
 make additional truths, almost equally essential to our hap 
 piness, either of impossible attainment, or encompassed by 
 difficulties which could not with a little diligence and per 
 severance be overcome. * 
 
 " It would seem so, certainly, " said Marcus ; " but it is 
 so long since I have bestowed any thought upon philo 
 sophical inquiries, that to me the labour would be very 
 great and the difficulties extreme ; for at present there is 
 scarcely so much as a mere shred or particle of faith to 
 which as a nucleus other truths may attach themselves. 
 In truth, I never look even to possess any clear faith in a 
 God ; it seems a subject wholly beyond the scope and 
 grasp of my mind. I cannot entertain the idea of self- 
 existence. I can conceive of him neither as one nor as 
 divided into parts. Is he infinite and everywhere, himself 
 constituting his universe ? then he is scarcely a God ; or 
 is he a being dwelling apart from his works, and watching 
 their obedience to their imposed laws ? In neither of these 
 conceptions can I rest. " 
 
 " It is not strange, * I replied ; " nor that refusing to be 
 lieve in the fact of a God until you should be able to com 
 prehend him perfectly, you should to this hour be without 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 119 
 
 faith. If I had waited, before believing, until I under 
 stood, I should at this moment be as faithless as you, or as 
 I was before I received Christianity. Do I comprehend 
 the Deity ? Can I describe the mode of his being ? Can 
 I tell you in what manner he sprang into existence ? and 
 whether he is necessarily everywhere in his works, and, 
 as it were, constituting them ? or whether he has power 
 to contract himself, and dwell apart from them, their om 
 niscient Observer and omnipotent Lord ? I know nothing 
 of all this ; the religion which I receive teaches nothing of 
 all this. Christianity does not demonstrate the being of a 
 God, it simply proclaims it ; hardly so much as that indeed. 
 It supposes it, as what was already well known and gener 
 ally believed. I cannot doubt that it is left thus standing 
 by itself, untaught and unexplained, only because the sub 
 ject is intrinsically incomprehensible by us. It is a great 
 fact or truth which all can receive, but which none can ex 
 plain or prove. If it is not believed either instinctively 
 or through the recognition of it and declaration of it in 
 somo revelation, it cannot be believed at all. The mind of 
 man is no more competent to reach and grasp it through 
 reason, than his hands are to mould a sun. All the rea 
 sonings, imaginations, guesses of self-styled philosophers 
 are here like the prattlings of children. They make you 
 smile, but they do not instruct. " 
 
 " I fear, " said Marcus, " I shall then never believe, 
 for I can believe nothing of which I cannot form a 
 conception. " 
 
 " Surely, " I answered, " our faith is not bounded by our 
 conceptions or our knowledge in other things. We build 
 the loftiest palaces and temples upon foundations of stone, 
 though we can form no conception whatever of the nature 
 of a stone. So, I think, we may found a true and sufficient 
 religion on our belief in the fact of a God, although we can 
 form no conception whatever of his nature and the mode 
 of his existence. " 
 
 But I should fatigue you, Fausta, were I to give you 
 more of our conversation. It ran on, equally pleasant I 
 
120 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 believe to all of us, to a quite late hour ; in which time 
 almost all that is peculiar to the faith of the Christians 
 came under our review. It was more than midnight when 
 we rose from our seats to retire to our chambers. But 
 before we did that, a common feeling directed our steps to 
 the tomb of Gallus, which was but a few paces from where 
 we had been sitting. There these childless parents again 
 gave way to their grief ; and was I stone that I should not 
 weep with them ? 
 
 When this act of duty and piety had been performed, we 
 sought our pillows. As for me, I could not sleep for 
 thinking of my friends and their now desolate house. For 
 even to me, who was to that child almost a stranger, and 
 had been so little used to his presence, this place is no 
 longer the same ; all its brightness, life, and spirit of glad 
 ness are gone. Everything seems changed. From every 
 place and scene something seems to have been subtracted to 
 which they were indebted for whatever it was that made 
 them attractive. If this is so to me, what must it be to 
 Marcus and Lucilia ? It is not difficult to see that a sorrow 
 has settled upon their hearts which no length of time can 
 heal. I suppose if all their estates had been swept away 
 from them in a night, and all their friends, they would not 
 have been so overwhelmed as by this calamity, in such a 
 wonderful manner were they each woven into the child, 
 and all into each other, as one being. They seem no longer 
 to me like the same persons. Not that they are not often 
 calm, and in a manner possessed of themselves, but that 
 even then, when they are most themselves, there has a 
 dulness, a dreamy absence of mind, a fixed sadness, come 
 over them, that wholly changes them. Though they sit 
 and converse with you, their true thoughts seem far away. 
 They are kind and courteous as ever to the common eye, 
 but I can see that all the relish of life and of intercourse is 
 now to them gone ; all is flat and insipid. The friend 
 is coldly saluted ; the meal left untasted, or partaken of in 
 silence and soon abandoned ; the affairs of the household 
 left to others, to any who will take charge of them. They 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 121 
 
 tell me that this will always be so ; that however they may 
 seem to others, they must ever experience a sense of loss, 
 not any less than they would if a limb had been shorn away. 
 A part of themselves, and of the life of every day and hour, 
 is taken from them. 
 
 How strange is all this, even in the light of Christian 
 faith ! How inexplicable, we are ready to say, by any 
 reason of ours, the providence of God in taking away the 
 human being in the first blossoming, before the fruit has 
 even shown itself, much less ripened 1 Yet is not immor 
 tality the hope, the assurance of immortality a suffi 
 cient solution ? To me it is. This will not indeed cure 
 our sorrows, they spring from somewhat wholly indepen 
 dent of futurity ; but it vindicates the ways of the Omnipo 
 tent, and justifies them to our reason and our affections. 
 Will Marcus and Lucilia ever rejoice in the consolations 
 which now from this hope ? Alas ! I fear not. They seem 
 in a manner to be incapable of belief. 
 
 In the morning I shall start for Borne. As soon as there, 
 you shall hear from me again. Farewell. 
 
 While Piso was absent from Eome on this visit to his 
 friend, it was my fortune to be several times in the city, 
 upon necessary affairs of the illustrious queen, when I was 
 both at the palace of Aurelian and that of Piso. It was at 
 one of these later visits that it became apparent to me that 
 the emperor seriously meditated the imposing of restric 
 tions of some kind upon the Christians ; yet no such pur 
 pose was generally apprehended by that sect itself, nor by 
 the people at large. The dark and disastrous occurrences 
 on the day of the dedication were variously interpreted by 
 the people ; some believing them to point at the Chris 
 tians, some at the meditated expedition of the emperor, 
 some at Aurelian himself. The popular mind was, how 
 ever, greatly inflamed against the Christians, and every art 
 was resorted to by the priests of the temples, and those who 
 were as bigoted and savage as themselves among the people, 
 to fan to a devouring flame the little fire that began to be 
 
122 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 kindled. The voice from the temple, however some might, 
 with Frorito himself, doubt whether it were not from 
 Heaven, was for the most part ascribed to the Christians, 
 although they could give no explanation of the manner in 
 which it has been produced. But as in the case of Aurelian 
 himself, this was forgotten in the horror occasioned by the 
 more dreadful language of the omens, which in such black 
 and threatening array no one remembered ever to have been 
 witnessed before. None thought or talked of anything else. 
 It was the universal theme. 
 
 This may be seen in a conversation which I had with a 
 rustic, whom I overtook as I rode toward Eome, seated on 
 his mule, burdened on either side and behind with the 
 multifarious produce of his farm. The fellow, as I drew 
 near to him, seeming of a less churlish disposition than 
 most of those whom one meets upon the road, who will 
 scarcely return a friendly salute, I feared not to accost him. 
 After giving him the customary good wishes, I remarked 
 upon the excellence of the vegetables which he had in 
 his panniers. 
 
 " Yes, " he said, " these lettuces are good, but not what 
 they would have been but for the winds we have had from 
 the mountains. It has sadly nipped them. I hear the 
 queen pines away just as my plants do. I live at Noren- 
 tum. I know you, sir, though you cannot know me. You 
 pass by my door on your way to the city. My children 
 often call me from my work to look up, for there goes the 
 secretary of the good queen on his great horse. There s no 
 such horse as that on the road. Ha 1 ha ! my baskets reach 
 but to your knee ! Well, there are differences in animals 
 and in men too. So the gods will it. One rides upon a 
 horse with golden bits, another upon a mule with none at 
 all. Still I say, let the gods be praised. " 
 
 " The gods themselves could hardly help that, " I said, 
 " if they made one man stronger or of more wit than 
 another. In that case one would get more than another. 
 And surely you would not have men all run in one mould 
 all five feet high, all weighing so much, all with one 
 
FROM riSO TO FAUSTA. 123 
 
 face, and one form, and one brain ? The world were then 
 dull enough. " 
 
 " You say true, " he replied ; " that is very good. If we 
 were all alike, there would be no such thing as being rich 
 or poor, no such thing as getting or losing. I fear it 
 would be dull enough, as you say. But I did not mean to 
 complain, sir. I believe I am contented with my lot. So 
 long as I can have my little farm, with my garden and 
 barns, my cattle and my poultry, a kind neighbour or so, 
 and my priest and temple, I care for nothing more. " 
 
 " You have a temple, then, at Norentum ?" 
 
 " Yes, to Jupiter Pluvius. And a better priest has not 
 Eome itself. It is his brother, some officer of the emperor, 
 I take these vegetables to. I hope to hear more this morn 
 ing of what I heard something when I was last at market. 
 And I think I shall, for, as I hear, the city is a good deal 
 stirred since the dedication the other day. " 
 
 " I believe it is, " I answered. " But of what do you look 
 to hear, if I may ask ? Is there news from the East ? " 
 
 " Oh no ! I think not of the East nor South. It was of 
 something to be done about these Christians. Our temple, 
 you must know, is half forsaken and more of late. I be 
 lieve half the people of Norentum, if the truth were known, 
 have turned Christians or Jews. Unless we wake up a 
 little our worship cannot be supported and our religion will 
 be gone. And glad am I to hear through our priest that 
 even the emperor is alarmed and believes something must 
 be done. You know than he there is not a more devout 
 man in Eome. So it is said. And one thing that makes 
 me think so is this ; the brother of our priest where I am 
 going with these vegetables ; here is poultry, too, look ! 
 you never saw fatter, I warrant you told him that he 
 knew it for certain that the emperor meant to make short 
 work with even his own niece you know whom I mean 
 Aurelia, who has long been suspected to be a Chris 
 tian. And that s right. If he punishes any, he ought 
 not to spare his own. " 
 
 " That I suppose would be right. But why should he 
 
124 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 punish any ? You need not be alarmed nor offended ; I am 
 no Christian. " 
 
 " The gods be praised therefor ! I do not pretend to know 
 the whole reason why. But that seems to be the only way 
 of saving the old religion ; and I don t know what way you 
 can possibly have of showing that a religion of yesterday 
 is true, if a religion a thousand years old is to be made out 
 false. If religion is good for anything and I for one 
 think it is I think men ought to be compelled to have it 
 and support it, just as they should be to eat wholesome 
 food rather than poisonous or hurtful. The laws won t 
 permit us to carry certain things to market, nor others in 
 a certain state. If we do, we are fined or imprisoned. 
 Treat a Christian in the same way, say I. Let them just 
 go thoroughly to work, and our temples will soon be filled 
 again. " 
 
 " But these Christians seem to be harmless people. " 
 " But they have no religion that anybody can call such. 
 They have no gods, nor altars, nor sacrifices ; such can 
 never be harmless. To be sure, as to sacrifices, I think 
 there is such a thing as doing too much there. I am not 
 for human sacrifices. Nor do I see the need either of 
 burning up a dozen fat oxen or heifers, as was done the 
 other day at the Temple of the Sun. We in Norentum 
 burn nothing but the hoofs and some of the entrails, and 
 the rest goes to the priest for his support. As I take it, a 
 sacrifice is just a sign of readiness to do everything and 
 lose everything for the gods. We are not expected to 
 throw either ourselves or our whole substance upon the 
 altar ; making the sign is sufficient. But, as I said, these 
 Christians have no altar and no sacrifice, nor image of god 
 or goddess. They have at Norentum an old ruinous build 
 ing, once a market, where they meet for worship ; but 
 those who have been present say that nothing is to be seen 
 and nothing heard but prayers to what god no one knows 
 and exhortations of the priests. Some say that else 
 where they have what they call an altar, and adorn their 
 walls with pictures and statues. However all this may be, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 125 
 
 there seems to be some charm about them or their worship, 
 for all the world is running after them. I long for the 
 news I shall get from Varenus Hirtius. If these omens 
 have not set the emperor at work for us, nothing will. 
 Here we are at the gates, and I turn toward the Claudian 
 market. May the day go happily with you. " 
 
 So we parted, and I bent my way toward the gardens of 
 Sallust. 
 
 As I moved slowly along through the streets, my heart 
 was filled with pity for this people, the Christians, - 
 threatened, as it seemed to me, with a renewal of the 
 calamities that had so many times swept over them before. 
 They had ever impressed me as a simple-minded, virtuous 
 community, of notions too subtle and spiritual for the 
 world ever to receive, but which upon themselves appeared 
 to exert a power altogether beneficial. Many of this faith 
 I had known well, and they were persons to excite my 
 highest admiration for the characters which they bore. 
 Need I name more than the princess Julia, and her husband 
 the excellent Piso ? Others like them what wonder if in 
 ferior ? had also, both in Palmyra and at Tibur and Eome, 
 for they were to be found everywhere, drawn largely both 
 on my respect and my affections. I beheld with sorrow 
 the signs which now seemed to portend suffering and dis 
 aster, and my sympathies were the more moved, seeing that 
 never before had there been upon the throne a man who, if 
 he were once entered into a war of opposition against them, 
 had power to do them greater harm, or could have proved 
 a more stern and cruel enemy. Not even Nero or Domitian 
 were in their time to be so much dreaded. For if Aurelian 
 should once league himself with the state against them, it 
 would not with him be matter of mere cruel sport, but of 
 conscience. It would be for the honour of the gods, the 
 protection of religion, the greatness and glory of the em 
 pire, that he would assail and punish them ; and the same 
 fierce and bloody spirit that made him of all modern con 
 querors the bloodiest and fiercest, it was plain would rule 
 him in any encounter with this humble and defenceless 
 
126 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 tribe. I could only hope that I was deceived as well as 
 others in my apprehensions ; or if that were not so, pray 
 that the gods would be pleased to take their great subject 
 to themselves. 
 
 Full of such reflections and emotions, I arrived at the 
 palace, and was ushered into the presence of Livia. There 
 was with her the melancholy Aurelia, for such she always 
 seems, and who appeared to have been engaged in earnest 
 talk with the empress, if one might judge by tears falling 
 from her eyes. The only words which I caught as I en 
 tered were these from Aurelia, " But, dear lady, if Mucapor 
 require it not, why should others think of it so much ? 
 Were he fixed, then should I indeed have to ask strength 
 of God for the trial ; " then seeing me, and only receiving 
 my salutations, she withdrew. 
 
 Livia, after first inquiring concerning Zenobia and Faus- 
 tula, returning to what had just engaged her, said, 
 
 " I wish, good Nichomachus, that I had your powers of 
 speech, of which, as you can remember, I have been wit 
 ness in former days, those happy days in Syria, when you 
 used so successfully to withstand and subdue my giddy or 
 headstrong mind. Here have I been for weary hours not 
 weary neither, for their aim has, I am sure, been a worthy 
 one but here have I been persuading with all the reason 
 and eloquence I could bring to bear, this self-willed girl 
 to renounce these fantastic notions she has imbibed from 
 the Christians and their books, were it only for the sake 
 of domestic peace. Aurelian is growing daily more and 
 more exasperated against this obscure tribe, and drops, 
 oftener than I love to hear them, dark hints of what awaits 
 them, not excepting, he says, any, of whatever rank or 
 name. Not that I suppose he or the senate would proceed 
 farther than imprisonments, banishment, suppression of 
 free speech, the destruction of books and churches; so 
 much indeed I understand from him. But even thus far, 
 and we might lose Aurelia, a thing not to be thought of 
 for a moment. He has talked with her himself ; reasoned 
 with her, threatened her; but in vain. Now he has im- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 127 
 
 posed the same task upon me ; it is equally in vain. I 
 know not what to do. " 
 
 " Because, " I replied, " nothing can be done. Where 
 it is possible to see, you have eyes within you that can 
 penetrate the thickest darkness as well as any. But here 
 you fail; but only where none could succeed. A sincere, 
 honest mind, princess, is not to be changed either by per 
 suasion or force. Its belief is not subject to the will. 
 Aurelia, if I have heard aright, is a Christian from convic 
 tion. Evidence made her a Christian ; stronger evidence 
 on the side of her former faith can alone unmake her. " 
 
 " I cannot reason with her to that extent, Nichomachus, " 
 replied the empress. " I know not the grounds of the com 
 mon faith, any more than those of Christianity ; I only know 
 that I wish Aurelia was not a Christian. Will you, Nicho- 
 machus, reason with her ? I remember your logic of old. " 
 
 " Alas, princess, I can engage in no such task ! Where 
 I have no faith myself, I should in vain attempt to plant it 
 in others. How either can I desire that any mind should 
 remain an hour longer oppressed by the childish and abomi 
 nable superstitions which prevail in Eome ? I cannot but 
 congratulate the excellent Aurelia, so far as the question of 
 truth is concerned, that in the place of the infinite stupidi 
 ties of the common religion, she has received the, at least, 
 pure and reasonable doctrines of the Christians. You can 
 not surely, princess, desire her re-conversion?" 
 
 " Only for her own sake, for the sake of her safety, 
 comfort, happiness. " 
 
 " But in her judgment these are best and only secured 
 where she now is. How thinks Mucapor?" 
 
 " As I believe, " answered Livia, " he cares not in the 
 matter, save for her happiness. He will not wish that she 
 should have any faith, except such as she herself wishes. 
 I have urged him to use his power to constrain her ; but he 
 loves liberty himself too dearly, he says, to put force upon 
 another. " 
 
 " He is a noble fellow, " I said ; " it is what I should 
 have looked for from Mucapor. " 
 
128 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " In good sooth, Nichomachus, I believe you still take 
 me but for what I was in. Palmyra. Who am I ?" 
 
 " From a princess you have become an empress ; that I 
 fully understand, and I trust never to be wanting in the 
 demeanour that best becomes a subject ; but you are still 
 Livia, the daughter of Zenobia, and to her I feel I can 
 never fear to speak with sincerity. " 
 
 " How omnipotent, Nichomachus, are simplicity and 
 truth. They subdue me when I most would not. They 
 have conquered me in Aurelia, and now in you. Well, 
 well, Aurelia then must take the full weight of her uncle s 
 wrath, which is not light. " 
 
 At this moment Aurelian himself entered, accompanied 
 by Fronto. Livia at the same time rose and withdrew, not 
 caring, I thought, to meet the eyes of that basilisk, who, 
 with the cunning of a priest, she saw to be usurping a 
 power over Aurelian which belonged of right to her. I was 
 also about to withdraw ; but the emperor constraining me, 
 as he often does, I remained, although holding the priest 
 in still greater abhorrence, I believe, than Livia herself. 
 
 " While you have been absent from the city, Fronto, " 
 said Aurelian, " I have revolved the subjects upon which 
 we last conversed, and no longer doubt where lie for me 
 both duty and the truest glory. The judgment of the col 
 leges, lately rendered, agrees both with yours and mine. 
 So that the very finger of the god we worship points the 
 way. " 
 
 " I am glad, " replied Fronto, " for myself, for you, for 
 Eome, and for the world, that truth possesses and is to 
 sway you. It will be a great day for Eome, greater than 
 when your triumphal array swept through the streets with 
 the world at your chariot-wheels, when the enemy that 
 has so long waged successful war within the very gates, 
 shall lie dead as the multitudes of Palmyra. " 
 
 " It will, Fronto. But first I have this to say, and by 
 the gods I believe it true, that it is the corruptions of our 
 own religion and its ministers that is the offence that 
 smells to heaven, quite as much as the presumptuous novel- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 129 
 
 ties of this of Judea. I perceive you neither assent to this 
 nor like it. But it is true, I am persuaded, as the gods 
 themelves. I have long thought so ; and while with one 
 hand I aim at the Galilean atheism, with the other I shall 
 aim at those who dishonour, by their vices and hypocrisies, 
 the religion they profess to serve. " 
 
 Fronto was evidently disturbed. His face grew pale as 
 the frown gathered and darkened on the brow of Aurelian. 
 He answered not, and Aurelian went on. 
 
 " Hellenism, Fronto, is disgraced, and its very life 
 threatened by the vices of her chief ministers. The gods 
 forgive me in that while I have purged my legions of 
 drunkards and adulterers, I have left them in the temples. 
 Truly did you say I have had but one thought in my 
 mind, I have looked but to one quarter of the heavens. 
 My eyes are now unsealed, and I see both ways, and every 
 way. How can we look for the favour of the gods, while 
 their houses of worship I speak it, Fronto, with sorrow, 
 but w T ith the knowledge too of the truth of what I say 
 are houses of appointment ; while the very inner sanctuaries 
 and the altars themselves are little better than the common 
 stews ; while the priests are the great fathers of iniquity, 
 corrupters of innocence, the seducers of youth, examples 
 themselves, beyond the fear of rivalry, of all the vice they 
 teach ? At their tables, too, who so swollen with meats 
 and drink as the priests ? Who but they are a by-word 
 throughout the city for all that is vilest ? What word but 
 priest stands with all as an abbreviation and epitome of 
 whatever pollutes and denies the name of man ? Porphyrus 
 says that since Jesus has been worshipped in Eome, no 
 one has found by experience the public assistance of the 
 gods. I believe it ; and Kome will never again experience 
 it till this black atheism is rooted out. But it is as true, 
 I doubt not, that since their ministers have become minis 
 ters of demons, and from teachers of morals have turned 
 instructors in vice, for this reason, too, as well as for the 
 other, the justly-offended deities of Eome have hid them 
 selves from their impious worshippers, Here, then, Froiito, 
 
 9 
 
130 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 is a double labour to be undergone, a double duty to be done, 
 not less than some or all of the labours of Hercules. We 
 are set for this work, and not till I have begun it if not 
 finished will I so much as dream of Persia. What say 
 you?" 
 
 Eronto looked like one who had kindled a larger flame 
 than he intended, or knew well how to manage. 
 
 " The faults of which you speak, great emperor, it can be 
 denied by none, are found in Eome, and can never be other 
 than displeasing to the gods. But then I would ask, when 
 was it ever otherwise ? In the earlier ages of the republic, 
 I grant, there was a virtue in the people which we see not 
 now. But that grew not out of the purer administration of 
 religion, but was the product of the times in part, times, 
 in comparison with these, of a primeval simplicity. To 
 live well was easier then. Where no temptation is, virtue 
 is necessary. But then it ceases to be virtue. It is a 
 quality, not an acquisition, a gift of the gods rather than 
 man s meritorious work. " 
 
 " That is very true. Well ? " 
 
 " There may be as much real virtue now as then. May 
 it not be so?" 
 
 " Perhaps it may. What then ?" 
 
 " Our complaints of the present should be softened. But 
 what chiefly I would urge is this, that since those ages of 
 early virtue after all, perhaps, like all else at the same 
 period, partly fabulous Eome has been but what it is, 
 adorned by virtues that have claimed the admiration of the 
 world, and polluted by vices that have drawn upon her the 
 reprobation of the good, yet which are but such as the world 
 shows its surface over, from the farthest India to the bleak 
 wastes of Britain. It is, Aurelian, a thing neither strange 
 nor new that vices thrive in Rome. And long since have 
 there been those like Nerva and the good Severus, and the 
 late censor, Valerian, who have aimed at their correction. 
 These, and others who before and since have wrought in the 
 same work, have done well for the empire. Their aim has 
 been a high one, and the favour of the gods has been theirs. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 131 
 
 Aurelian may do more and better in the same work, seeing 
 his power is greater and his piety more zealous. " 
 
 " These are admitted truths, Fronto, save the last ; but 
 whither do they tend?" 
 
 " To this : Because, Aurelian, vice has been in Eome, 
 because even the priesthood has been corrupt, and the tem 
 ples themselves the sties you say they now are, for this 
 have the gods ever withdrawn their protection ? Has Rome 
 ever been the less prosperous ? What is more, can we con 
 ceive that they who made us of their fiery mould, so prone 
 to violate the bounds of moderation, would for yielding to 
 such instincts interpose in wrath, as if that had happened 
 which was not foreseen, and against which they had made 
 sure provision ? Are the heavens to blaze with the fires of 
 the last day, thunders to roll as if earth were shaken to her 
 centre, the entrails of dumb beasts to utter forth terrific 
 prophecy of great and impending woe, because forsooth the 
 people of Eome are by no means patterns of purity; be 
 cause, perchance, within the temples themselves an im 
 morality may have been purposed or perpetrated ; because 
 even the priests themselves have not been or are not 
 white and spotless as their robes?" 
 
 " There seems some reason in what you say. " 
 
 " But, great emperor, take me not as if I would make 
 myself the shield of vice, to hide it from the blow that 
 would extirpate or cure it. I see and bewail the corrup 
 tions of the age ; but as they seem not fouler than those of 
 ages which are past, especially than those of Nero and of 
 Commodus, I cannot think that it is against these the gods 
 have armed themselves, but, Aurelian, against an evil 
 which has been long growing and often assailed and 
 checked, but which has now got to such a giant size and 
 strength that except it be absolutely hewn down, and the 
 least roots torn up and burned, both the altars of our gods, 
 and their capital called eternal, and the empire itself, now 
 holding the world in its wide-spread, peace-giving arms, 
 are vanished, and anarchy, impiety, atheism, and the rank 
 vices which in such times would be engendered, shall then 
 
132 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 reign omnipotent, and fill the very compass of the earth, 
 Christ being the universal king. It is against this the 
 heavens have arrayed their power, and to arouse an un 
 grateful, thoughtless, impious people, and their sleeping 
 king, that they have spoken in thunder. " 
 
 " Fronto, I almost believe you right. " 
 
 " Had we, Aurelian, but the eyes of moles when the pur 
 poses of the gods are to be deciphered in the character of 
 events, we should long since have seen that the long series 
 of disasters which have befallen the empire since the Gali 
 lean atheism has taken root here, have pointed but to that 
 that they have been a chastisement of our supineriess 
 and sloth. When did Eome, almighty Rome, ever before 
 tremble at the name of barbarian, or fly before their arms ? 
 While now is it not much that we are able to keep them 
 from the very walls of Eome ? They now swarm the Ger 
 man forests in multitudes which no man can count ; their 
 hoarse murmurs can be heard even here, ready soon as the 
 reins of empire shall fall into the hands of another Gallie- 
 nus, to pour themselves upon the plains of Italy, changing 
 our fertile lands and gorgeous cities into another Dacia. 
 These things were not so once ; and what cause there is in 
 Eome so deep and high and broad to resolve for us the 
 reason of this averted face of Heaven, save that of which 
 I speak, I cannot guess. " 
 
 " Nor I, " said Aurelian ; " I confess it. It must be so. 
 My work is not three, nor two, but one. I have brought 
 peace to the empire in all its borders. My legions all rest 
 upon their arms. Not a sword but is in its sheath ; there 
 for the present let it be glued fast. The season, so pro 
 pitious for the great work of bringing again the empire 
 into peace and harmony with the angry gods, seems to 
 have been provided by themselves. How think you, 
 Nichomachus?" turning suddenly to me, as if now for 
 the first time aware that I was standing at his side. 
 
 I answered that " I was slow to receive the judgment of 
 Fronto or of himself in that matter ; that I could not be 
 lieve that the gods, who should be examples of the virtues 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 133 
 
 to mankind, would ever ordain such sufferings for their 
 creatures as must ensue were the former violences to be 
 renewed against the Christians. So far from thinking 
 them a nuisance in the state, I considered them a benefit. " 
 
 " The Greek, too, " said Fronto, breaking in, " is then a 
 Christian ! " 
 
 " I am not a Christian, priest, nor as I think shall ever 
 be one ; but far sooner would I be one than take my faith 
 from thee, which, however it might guide me well through 
 the wine-vaults of the temple, or to the best stalls of the 
 market or to the selectest retreats of the suburra, would 
 scarce show the way to heaven. I affront but the corrup 
 tions of religion, Aurelian. Sincerity I honour everywhere ; 
 hypocrisy, nowhere. " I thought Fronto would have torn 
 ine with his teeth and nails. His white face grew whiter, 
 but he stood still. 
 
 " Say on, " said the emperor, " though your bluntness be 
 more even than Roman. " 
 
 " I think, " I continued, " the Christians a benefit to the 
 state, for this reason ; not that their religion is what they 
 pretend, a heaven-descended one, but that by its greater 
 strictness it serves to rebuke the common faith and those 
 who hold it, and infuse into it something of its own spirit. 
 All new systems, as I take it, in their first beginning are 
 strict and severe. It is thus by this quality they super 
 sede older and degenerate ones ; not because they are truer, 
 perhaps, but because they are purer. There is a prejudice 
 among men that the gods, whoever they may be, and 
 whatever they may be, love virtue in men, and for that 
 accept them. When, therefore, a religion fails to recom 
 mend and enforce virtue, it fails to meet the judgment of 
 men concerning the true character and office of a religion, 
 and so, with the exception of such beasts, and such there 
 always are, who esteem a faith in proportion to its corrup 
 tions, they look with favour upon any new one which 
 promises to be what they want. It is for this reason that 
 this religion from Judea has made its way so far and so 
 soon. But it will by and by degenerate from its high 
 
134 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 estate, just as others have done, and be succeeded by an 
 other that shall raise still higher expectations. In the 
 mean time, it serves the state well both by the virtue 
 which it enjoins upon its own subjects, and the influence 
 it exerts by indirection upon those of the prevalent faiths, 
 and upon the general manners and morals. " 
 
 " What you say, " observed Aurelian, musingly, " has 
 some show of sense. So much at least may be said for this 
 religion. " 
 
 " Yet a lie, " said Fronto, " can be none the less hateful 
 to the gods, because it sometimes plays the part of truth. 
 It is a lie still. " 
 
 " Hold, " said Aurelian. " Let us hear the Greek. What 
 else?" 
 
 " I little thought, " I replied, " as I rode toward the city 
 this morning, that I should at this hour be standing in the 
 presence of the emperor of Eome, a defender of the Chris 
 tians. I am in no manner whatever fitted for the task. 
 My knowledge is nothing; my opinions therefore worth 
 but little, grounded as they are upon the loose reports 
 which reach my ear concerning the character and doctrines 
 of this sect, or upon what little observation I have made 
 upon those whom I have known of that persuasion. Still 
 I honour and esteem them, and such aid as I can bring 
 them in their straits shall be very gladly theirs. I will, 
 however, add only one thing more to what I have said in 
 answer to Fronto, who represents the gods as more con 
 cerned to destroy the Christians than to reform the common 
 religion and the public morals. I cannot think that. Am 
 I to believe that the gods, the supreme directors of human 
 affairs, and whose aim must be man s highest well-being, 
 regard with more abhorrence an error than a vice, an 
 error, too, that acts more beneficently than most truth, and 
 is the very seed of the purest virtues ? I can by no means 
 believe it. So that if I were interpreter of the late omens, 
 I should rather see them pointed at the vices which pre 
 vail, at the corruptions of the public morals, which are 
 fouler than aught I had so much as dreamed of before I was 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 135 
 
 myself a witness of them, and may well be supposed to 
 startle the gods from their rest, and draw down their hot 
 test thunderbolts. But I will not say more, when there 
 must be so many able to do so much better in behalf of 
 what I must still believe to be a good cause. Let me en 
 treat the emperor, before he condemns, to hear. There are 
 those in Rome, of warm hearts, sound heads, and honest 
 souls, from whom, if from any on earth, truth may be 
 heard, and who will set in its just light a doctrine too 
 excellent to suffer as it must in my hands. n 
 
 " They shall be heard, Nichomachus. Not even a Jew 
 or a Christian shall suffer without that grace ; though I see 
 not how it can avail. " 
 
 " If it should not avail to plant in your mind so good 
 an opinion of their way as exists in mine," I resumed, 
 " it might yet to soften it and dispose it to a more lenient 
 conduct ; and so many are the miseries of life in the natural 
 order of events, that the humane heart must desire to 
 diminish, not increase them. Has Aurelian ever heard 
 the name of Probus the Christian?" 
 
 The emperor turned toward Fronto with a look of inquiry. 
 
 " Yes, " said the priest, " you have heard his name. But 
 that of Felix, the bishop of the Christians, as he is called, 
 is more familiar to you. " 
 
 " Felix, Felix, that is the name I have heard most ; but 
 Probus too, if I err not. " 
 
 " He has been named to you, I am certain, " added Fronto. 
 " He is the real head of the Nazarenes, the bishop but a 
 painted one. " 
 
 " Probus is he who turned young Piso s head. Is it 
 not so?" 
 
 " The very same; and beside his, the lady Julia s. " 
 
 " No, that was by another, one Paul of Antioch, also a 
 bishop, and a fast friend of the queen. The Christians 
 themselves have of late set upon him, as they were so many 
 bloodhounds, being bent upon expelling him from Antioch. 
 It is not long since, in accordance with the decree of some 
 assembled bishops there, I issued a rescript dislodging him 
 
136 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 from his post, and planting in his place one Domnus. If 
 our purposes prosper, the ejected and dishonoured priest 
 may find himself at least safer, if humbler. Probus I 
 shall remember him. The name leads my thoughts to 
 Thrace, where our greater Probus waits for me. " 
 
 " From Probus the Christian, " I said, " you will receive, 
 whenever you shall admit him to your presence, a true 
 account of the nature of the Christians faith and of the 
 actual condition of their community, all which can be 
 had only from a member of it. " 
 
 But little more was said, when I departed and took my 
 way again towards Tibur. 
 
 It seemed to me, from the manner of the emperor, more 
 than from what he said, that he was settled, bound up to 
 the bad work of an assault upon the Christians. To what 
 extent it was in his mind to go I could not judge ; for his 
 language was ambiguous, and sometimes contradictory. 
 But that the darkest designs were harboured by him, over 
 which he was brooding with a mind naturally superstitious, 
 but now almost in a state of exasperation from the late 
 events, was most evident. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 137 
 
 LETTEE VI. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 THE ROMAN PERFUMER. SPURIUS. MARCELLINUS. ART IN 
 ANCIENT ROME. AURELIA IMPRISONED. THE PICTURE. 
 ISAAC S MISTAKE. MARTYRDOM OF THE PRINCESS AURE 
 LIA. THE JEW S FRIENDSHIP. His NEW HOPES. JULIA S 
 RESOLUTION. 
 
 HAVING confined myself, in my last letter, to the 
 affairs of Marcus and Lucilia, I now, Fausta, turn 
 to those* which concern us and Eome. 
 
 I found on my return to the city that the general anxiety 
 concerning the designs of Aurelian had greatly increased. 
 Many rumours were current of dark sayings of his, which, 
 whether founded in truth or not, contributed to alarm even 
 the most hopeful, and raise serious apprehensions for the 
 fate of this much and long suffering religion. Julia herself 
 partakes, I cannot say of the alarm, but of the anxiety. 
 She has less confidence than I have in the humanity of the 
 emperor. In the honours heaped upon Zenobia, and the 
 favours shown herself and Vabalathus, she sees not so much 
 the outpouring of benevolent feelings, as a rather ostenta 
 tious display of imperial generosity, and what is called 
 Eoman magnanimity. For the true character of the man 
 she looks into the graves of Palmyra, upon her smoking 
 ruins, and upon the blood, yet hardly dry, that stains the 
 pavements of the Coelian. Julia may be right, though I 
 am unwilling to believe it. Her judgment is entitled to 
 the more weight in this severe decision, that it is ever in 
 clined to the side of a too favourable opinion of character 
 and motive. You know her nature too well to believe her 
 capable of exaggerating the faults of even the humblest. 
 
138 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 Yet, though such are her apprehensions, she manifests the 
 same calm and even carriage as on the approach of more 
 serious troubles in Palmyra. She is full of deepest interest 
 in the affairs of the Christians, and by many families of 
 the poorer sort is resorted to continually for aid, for counsel, 
 or sympathy. Not one in the whole community is a more 
 frequent and devout attendant upon the services of the 
 church ; and I need not add that I am her constant com 
 panion. The performance of this duty gives a value to 
 life in Eome such as it never had before. Every seventh 
 day, as with the Jews, only upon a different day, do the 
 Christians assemble for the purposes of religious worship. 
 And I can assure you it is with no trifling accessions of 
 strength for patient doing and patient bearing, that we 
 return to our every-day affairs, after having listened to the 
 prayers and the reasonings or exhortations of Probus. 
 
 So great is the difference in my feelings and. opinions 
 from what they were before I left Eome for Palmyra, that 
 it is with difficulty I persuade myself that I am the same 
 person. Between Piso the Pyrrhonist and Piso the Chris 
 tian the distance seems immeasurable ; yet in how short 
 a time it has been passed ! I cannot say that I did not 
 enjoy existence and value it in my former state, but I can 
 say that my enjoyment of it is infinitely heightened as a 
 Christian, and the rate at which I value it infinitely raised. 
 Born and nurtured as I was, with Portia for my mother, a 
 palace for my home, Eome for my country and capital, 
 offering all the luxuries of the earth, and affording all the 
 means I could desire for carrying on researches in study of 
 every kind, surrounded by friends of the noblest and best 
 families in the city, I could not but enjoy life in some 
 very important sense. While mere youth lasted, and my 
 thoughts never wandered beyond the glittering forms of 
 things, no one could be happier or more contented. All 
 was fair and beautiful around me ; what could I ask for 
 more? I was satisfied and filled. But by and by my 
 dream of life was disturbed, my sleep broken. Natural 
 questions began to propose themselves for my solution, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 139 
 
 such, I suppose, as sooner or later spring up in every 
 bosom. I began to speculate about myself, about the 
 very self that had been so long so busy about everything 
 else beside itself. I wished to know something of niy con 
 stitution, of my origin, my present condition, my ultimate 
 fate. It seemed to me I was too rare and curious a piece 
 of work to go to ruin, final and inevitable, perhaps to 
 morrow; at all events, in a very few years. Of futurity 
 I had heard, and of Elysiurn, just as I had heard of 
 Jupiter, greatest and best; but with my earliest youth 
 these things had faded from my mind, or had already taken 
 upon themselves the character of fable. My Virgil, in 
 which I early received my lessons of language, at once 
 divested them of all their air of reality, and left them 
 naked fiction. The other poets (Livy helping them) did 
 the same work, and completed it. But bent with most 
 serious and earnest desires toward truth, on what seemed to 
 me the greatest theme, I could not remain where I was, and 
 turned with highest expectations to the philosophers. I 
 not only read, but I studied and pondered them with dili 
 gence, and with as sincere a desire of arriving at truth as 
 ever scholar sat at the feet of his instructor. The result was 
 anything but satisfying. I left off a universal sceptic, so 
 far as human systems of philosophy are concerned, so far 
 as they pretended to solve the enigma of God and man, of 
 life and death ; but with a heart yearning after truth, and 
 even full of faith, if that may be called faith which would 
 instinctively lay hold upon a God and a hope of immor 
 tality, though beaten back once and again by every form 
 which the syllogism could assume. 
 
 This was my state, Fausta, when I was found by Chris 
 tianity ; without faith, and yet with it ; doubting and yet 
 believing ; rejecting philosophy, but leaning upon nature ; 
 dissatisfied, but hoping. I cannot easily find words to tell 
 you the change which Christian faith has wrought within 
 me. All I can say is this, that I am a new man ; I am 
 made over again ; I am born, as it were, into another world. 
 Where darkness once was, there is now light brighter than 
 
140 LETTERS JFROM ROME. 
 
 the sun ; where doubt was, there is now certainty. I have 
 knowledge arid truth for error and perplexity. The inner 
 world of my mind is resplendent with a day whose lumi 
 nary will never set. And even the outer world of appear 
 ances and forms shines more gloriously, and has an air of 
 reality which before it never had. It used to seem to me 
 like the gorgeous fabric of a dream, and as if at some un 
 expected moment it might melt into air and nothingness, 
 and I and all men and things with it ; for there appeared 
 to be no purpose in it ; it came from nothing, it achieved 
 nothing, and certainly seemed to conduct to nothing. 
 Men, like insects, came and weot ; were born and died ; 
 and that was all. Nothing was accomplished, nothing 
 perfected. But now, nature seems to me stable and eternal 
 as God himself. The world being the great birthplace and 
 nursery of these myriads of creatures, made, as I ever con 
 ceived, in a divine likeness, after some godlike model, 
 for what spirit of other spheres can be more beautiful than 
 a perfect man or a perfect woman, each animated with the 
 principle of immortality ? there is a reason for its exist 
 ence and its perpetuity from whose force the mind cannot 
 escape. It is, and it ever will be ; and mankind upon it, 
 a continually happier and more virtuous brotherhood. 
 
 Yes, Fausta, to me as a Christian everything is new, 
 everything better; the inward world, the outward world, 
 the present and the future. Life is a worthier gift, and a 
 richer possession. I am to myself an object of a thousand 
 fold greater interest, and every other human being, from a 
 poor animal that was scarce worthy its wretched existence, 
 starts up into a god, for whom the whole earth may one 
 day become too narrow a field either to till or rule. I arn 
 accordingly ready to labour both for myself and others. I 
 once held myself too cheap to do much even for myself; 
 for others I would do nothing, except to feed the hunger 
 that directly appealed to me, or relieve the wretchedness 
 that made me equally wretched. Not so now. I myself 
 am a different being, and others are different. I am ready 
 to toil for such beings, to suffer for them. They are too 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 141 
 
 valuable to be neglected, abused, insulted, trodden into the 
 dust. They must be defended and rescued whenever their 
 fellow-meri wholly ignorant of what they are and what 
 themselves are about would oppress them. More than 
 all do they need truth, effectually to enlighten and redeem 
 them, and truth they must have at whatever cost. Let 
 them only once know what they are, and the world is safe. 
 Christianity tells them this, and Christianity they must 
 have. The state must not stand between man and truth ; 
 or if it do, it must be rebuked by those who have the 
 knowledge and the courage, and made to resume its proper 
 place and office. Knowing what has been done for me by 
 Christian truth, I can never be content until to others the 
 same good is at least offered, and I shall devote what power 
 and means I possess to this task. The prospect now is of 
 opposition and conflict. But it dismays not me nor Julia, 
 nor any of this faith who have truly adopted its principles. 
 For if the mere love of fame, the excitement of a contest, 
 the prospect of pay or plunder, will carry innumerable 
 legions to the battle-field to leave there their bones, how 
 much more shall the belief of a Christian arm him for even 
 worse encounters ? It were pitiful, indeed, if a posses 
 sion as valuable as that of truth could not inspire a heroism 
 which the love of fame or of money can. 
 
 These things I have said to put you fully in possession 
 of our present position, plans, and purposes. The fate of 
 Christianity is to us now as absorbing an interest as once 
 was the fate of Palmyra. 
 
 I had been in the city only long enough to give Julia a 
 full account of my melancholy visit in the country, and 
 to write a part of it to you, when I walked forth to observe 
 for myself the signs which the city might offer, either to 
 confirm or allay the apprehensions which were begun to be 
 felt. 
 
 I took my way over the Palatine, desiring to see the ex 
 cellent Tacitus, whose house is there. He was absent, 
 being suddenly called to Baise. I turned toward the 
 Forum, wishing to perform a commission for Julia at the 
 
142 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 shop of Civilis, still alive, and still compounding his 
 sweets, which is now about midway between the slope 
 of the hill and the Forum, having been removed from its 
 former place where you knew it, under the eaves of the 
 Temple of Peace. The little man of " smells" was at his 
 post, more crooked than ever, but none the less exquisitely 
 arrayed, his wig befitting a young Bacchus rather than a 
 dried shred of a man beyond his seventieth year. All the 
 gems of the East glittered on his thin fingers, and diamonds 
 that might move the envy of Livia hung from his ears. 
 The gales of Arabia, burdened with the fragrance of every 
 flower of that sunny clime, seemed concentrated into an 
 atmosphere around him ; and in truth, I suppose a speci 
 men of every pot and phial of his vast shop might be found 
 upon his person, concealed in gold boxes, or hanging in the 
 merest fragments of bottles upon chains of silver or gold, 
 or deposited in folds of his ample robes. He was odour in 
 substantial form. He saluted me with the grace of which 
 he only in Rome is master, and with a deference that could 
 not have been exceeded had I been Aurelian. I told him 
 that I wished to procure a perfume of Eygptian origin and 
 name, called " Cleopatra s tears, " and which was reputed 
 to convey to the organs of smell an odour more exquisite 
 than that of the rarest Persian rose or choicest gums of 
 Arabia. The eyes of Civilis kindled with the fires of twenty, 
 when love s anxious brow is suddenly cleared by that lit 
 tle, but all-comprehensive word, yes, as he answered, 
 
 " Noble Piso, I honour you. I never doubted your taste. 
 It is seen in your palace, in your dress, nay, in the very 
 costume of your incomparable slave, who has done me the 
 honour to call here on your service. But now have you 
 given of it the last and highest proof. Never has the wit 
 of man before compounded an essence like that which lies 
 buried in this porphyry vase. * 
 
 " You do not mean that I am to take away a vase of that 
 size ? I do not purchase essences by the pound. " 
 
 Civilis seemed as if he would have fainted, so oppressed 
 was he by this display of ignorance. My character, I 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 143 
 
 found, was annihilated in a moment. When his presence 
 of mind was recovered, he said, 
 
 " This vase ! Great Jupiter ! The price of your palace 
 upon the Ccelian would scarce purchase it ! Were its con 
 tents suddenly let loose and spilled upon the air, not Rome 
 only, but Italy would be bathed in the transporting and 
 life-giving fragrance ! Now I shall remove the cover, first 
 giving you to know that within this largest vase there is 
 a number of smaller bottles, some of glass, others of gold, 
 in each of which are contained a few of the tears, and 
 which are warranted to retain their potency, and lend 
 their celestial peculiarity to your clothes or your apart 
 ments, without loss or diminution, in the least appreciable 
 degree, during the life of the purchaser. Now, if it please 
 you, bend this way and receive the air which I shall pres 
 ently set free. How think you, noble Piso? Art not a 
 new man ? " 
 
 " I am new in my knowledge, such as it is, Civilis. It 
 is certainly agreeable, most agreeable. " 
 
 "Agreeable! So is Mount Etna a pretty hill! so is 
 Aurelian a fair soldier ! so is the sun a good-sized brazier ! 
 I beseech thee find another word. Let it not go forth to 
 all Rome that the most noble Piso deems the tears of Cleo 
 patra agreeable ! " 
 
 " I can think no otherwise, " I replied. " It is really 
 agreeable, and reminds me more than anything else of the 
 oldest Falernian just rubbed between the palms of the hand, 
 which you will allow is to compliment it in no moderate 
 measure. But confess now, Civilis, that you have a hun 
 dred perfumes more delicious than this. " 
 
 " Piso, I may say this : they have been so. " 
 
 " Ah, I understand you ; you admit, then, it is the force 
 of fashion that lends this extraordinary odour to the por 
 phyry vase. " 
 
 " Truly, noble Piso, it has somewhat to do with it, it 
 must be acknowledged. " 
 
 " It would be curious, Civilis, to know what name this 
 bore, and in what case it was bestowed, and at what price 
 
144 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 sold, before the Empress Livia fancied it. I think it 
 should have been named Livia s smiles. It would at any 
 rate be a good name for it at thy shop in Alexandria. " 
 
 " You are facetious, noble Piso. But that last hint is too 
 good to be thrown away. Truly, you are a man of the 
 world, whose distinction I suppose is, that he has eyes in 
 the hind part of his head as well as before. But what 
 blame can be mine for such dealing ? I am driven ; I am 
 a slave. It is fashion that works these wonders, not I. 
 And there is no goddess, Piso, like her. She is the true 
 creator. Upon that which is worthless can she bestow in 
 a moment inestimable value. What is despised to-day she 
 can exalt to-morrow to the very pinnacle of honour. She 
 is my maker. One day I was poor ; the goddess took me 
 by the hand and smiled upon me, and the next day I was 
 rich. It was the favourite mistress of Maximin, who one 
 day, her chariot, Piso, so chance would have it, broke 
 down at my door, when she took refuge in my little shop, 
 then at the corner of the street Castor, as you turn towards 
 the Tiber, purchasing a particular perfume, of which I 
 had large store, and boasted much to her, gave me such 
 currency among the rich and noble that from that hour 
 my fortune was secure. No one bought a perfume after 
 wards but of Civilis. Civilis was soon the next person to 
 the emperor. And to this hour has this same goddess be 
 friended me. And many an old jar, packed away in the 
 midst of rubbish in dark recesses, now valueless, do I look 
 upon as nevertheless so much gold, its now despised con 
 tents one day to disperse themselves upon kings and nobles, 
 in the senate and the theatres. I need not tell you what 
 this diminutive bottle might have been had for before the 
 Kalends. Yet, by Hercules, should I have sold it even 
 then for less ? for should I not have divined its fortune ? 
 The wheel is ever turning, turning. But, most excellent 
 Piso, men of the world are ever generous " 
 
 " Fear nothing, Civilis, I will not betray you. I believe 
 you have spoken real truths. Besides, with Livia on your 
 side, what could all Home do to hurt you ? " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 145 
 
 " Most true, most true. But, may I ask, for one thing 
 has made me astonished, how is it that you, being now, 
 as report goes, a Christian, should come to me to purchase 
 essences ? When I heard you had so named yourself, I 
 looked to lose your custom forever after. " 
 
 " Why should not a Christian man smell of that which 
 is agreeable as well as another ? " 
 
 " Ah ! that I cannot say. I have heard, I know nothing, 
 Piso, beyond essences and perfumes, but I have heard the 
 Christians forbear such things, calling them vanities; just 
 as they withdraw, too, tis said, from the theatres and the 
 circuses. " 
 
 " They do indeed withdraw from the theatres and cir 
 cuses, Civilis, because the entertainments witnessed there 
 do, as they judge, serve but to make beasts of men ; they 
 minister to vice. But in a sweet smell they see no harm, 
 any more than in a silk dress, or well-proportioned build 
 ings, or magnificent porticos. Why should it be very 
 wrong or very foolish to catch the odours which the Divine 
 providence plants in the rose, and in a thousand flowers 
 and gums, as they wander forth upon the air for our de 
 light, and fasten them up in these little bottles ? by which 
 means we can breathe them at all times, in winter as 
 well as in summer. Thy shop, Civilis, is but a flower- 
 garden in another form and under another name. " 
 
 " I shall think better of the Christians for this. I hardly 
 believed the report indeed, for it were most unnatural and 
 strange to find fault with odours such as these. I shall 
 lament the more that they are to be so dealt with by the 
 emperor. Hast thou heard what is reported this morning ? " 
 
 " No ; I am but just from home. How does it go ? " 
 
 " Why, tis nothing other nor less than this, that Aure- 
 lian, being resolved to change the Christians all back again 
 into what they were, has begun with his niece the Prin 
 cess Aurelia, and with violence insists that she shall sacri 
 fice ; which she steadfastly refuses to do. Some say that 
 she has not been seen at the palace for several days, and 
 that she is fast locked up in the great prison on the Tiber. " 
 
 10 
 
146 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " I do not believe a word of it, Civilis. The emperor has 
 of late used harsh language of the Christians, I know. 
 But for one word he has spoken, the city has coined ten. 
 And, moreover, the words of the priest Fronto are quoted 
 for those of Aurelian. It is well known he is especially 
 fond of Aurelia ; and Mucapor, to whom she is betrothed, 
 is his favourite among all his generals, not excepting 
 Probus. " 
 
 " Well, well, may it be as you say ! I for my part should 
 be sorry that any mishap should befall those with whom 
 the most noble Piso is connected; especially seeing they 
 do not quarrel, as I was fain to believe, with my calling. 
 Yet never before, as I think, have I seen a Christian in my 
 shop. " 
 
 " They may have been here without your knowing it. " 
 
 " Yes, that is true. " 
 
 " Besides, the Christians being, in the greater propor 
 tion, of the middle or humbler classes, seek not their goods 
 at places where emperors resort. They go elsewhere. " 
 
 Civilis bowed to the floor as he replied, 
 
 " You do me too much honour. " 
 
 " The two cases of perfume which I buy, " I then said, 
 " are to travel into the far East. Please to secure them 
 accordingly. " 
 
 " Are they not then for the Princess Julia, as I supposed ? * 
 
 " They are for a friend in Syria. We wish her to know 
 what is going on here in the capital of all the world. " 
 
 " By the gods ! you have devised well. It is the talk all 
 over Eome. Cleopatra s tears have taken all hearts. Or 
 ders from the provinces will soon pour in. They shall fol 
 low you, well secured as you say. " 
 
 I enjoy a call upon this whole Roman, and yet half Jew, 
 as much as upon the first citizens of the capital. The cup 
 of Aurelian is no fuller than the cup of Civilis. The per 
 fect bliss that emanates from his countenance, and breathes 
 from his form and gait, is pleasing to behold, upon what 
 ever founded, seeing it is a state that is reached by so 
 few. No addition could be made to the felicity of this 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 147 
 
 fortunate man. He conceives his occupation to be more 
 honourable than the proconsulship of a province; and his 
 name, he pleases himself with believing, is familiar to 
 more ears than any man s save the emperor s, and has 
 been known in Eome for a longer period than any other 
 person s living, excepting only the head of the senate, the 
 venerable Tacitus. This is all legible in the lines about 
 his mouth and eyes. 
 
 Leaving the heaven of the happy man, I turned to the 
 Forum of Augustus, to look at a statue of brass of Aurelian, 
 just placed among the great men of Eome, in front of the 
 Temple of Mars the Avenger. This statue is the work of 
 Periander, who, with that universality of power which 
 marks the Greek, has made his genius as distinguished 
 here for sculpture as it was in Palmyra for military defence 
 and architecture. Who for perfection in this art of arts is 
 to be compared with the Greek ? or for any work of either 
 the head or the hands, that implies the possession of what 
 we mean by genius ? The Greeks have not only originated 
 all that we know of great and beautiful in letters, philoso 
 phy, and the arts, but what they have originated they have 
 also perfected. Whatever they have touched they have fin 
 ished, at least so far as art and the manner of working is 
 concerned. The depths of all wisdom and philosophy they 
 have not sounded indeed, though they have gone deeper 
 than any, only because they are in their own essence un 
 fathomable. Time as it flows on bears us to new regions 
 to be explored, whose riches constantly add new stores to 
 our wisdom, and open new views to philosophy. But in 
 all art they have reached a point beyond which none have 
 since advanced, and beyond which it hardly seems possible 
 to go. A Doric column, a Doric temple, a Corinthian 
 capital, a Corinthian temple, these perfectly satisfy and 
 fill the mind; and for seven hundred years no change or 
 addition has been made or attempted that has not been felt 
 to be an injury. And I doubt not that seven thousand 
 years hence, if time could but spare it so long, pilgrims 
 would still go in search of the beautiful from the remotest 
 
148 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 parts of the world, from parts now unknown, to worship 
 before the Parthenon, and, may I not add, the Temple of 
 the Sun in Palmyra ! 
 
 Periander has gained new honours by this admirable 
 piece of work. I had hardly commenced my examination 
 of it, when a grating voice at my elbow, and once heard 
 never to be mistaken for any other, croaked out what was 
 meant as a challenge, 
 
 " The greatest captain of this or any age ! " 
 
 It was Spurius, a man whom no slight can chill, nor 
 even an insult cause to abate the least of his intrusive 
 familiarity, a familiarity which he covets, too, only for 
 the sake of disputation and satire. To me, however, he is 
 never other than a source of amusement He is a variety 
 of the species I love occasionally to study. 
 
 I told him I was observing the workmanship, without 
 thinking of the man represented. 
 
 " If you will allow me to say it, " he rejoined, " a very 
 inferior subject of contemplation. A statue as I take it, 
 the thing for which it is made, is commemoration. If one 
 wants to see fine work in marble, there is the cornice for 
 him just overhead ; or in brass, let him look at the doors of 
 the new temple, or the last table or couch of Syphax. The 
 proper subject for man is man. " 
 
 "Well, Spurius, on your own ground, then, in this 
 brass I do not see brass, nor yet Aurelian. " 
 
 " What then, in the name of Hecate ? " 
 
 "Nothing but intellect, the mind, the soul of the 
 greater artist, Periander. That drapery never fell so upon 
 Aurelian ; nor was Aurelian s form or bearing ever like this. 
 It is all ennobled, and exalted above pure nature, by the 
 divine power of genius. The true artist, under every form 
 and every line of nature, sees another form and line of more 
 perfect grace and beauty, which he chooses instead, and 
 makes it visible and permanent in stone or brass. You 
 see nothing in me, but merely Piso as he walks the streets. 
 Periander sees another within, bearing no more resemblance 
 to me yet as much than does this to Aurelian. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 149 
 
 " That I simply conceive to be so much sophistry, " re 
 joined the poet; " which no man would be guilty of, except 
 he had been for the very purpose, as one must think, of 
 degrading his intellect to the Athenian schools. Still, 
 as I said and think, the statue is made to commemorate the 
 man represented, not the artist. " 
 
 " It is made for that. But oftentimes the very name of 
 the man commemorated is lost, while that of the artist 
 lives forever. In my judgment there is as much of Peri- 
 ander in this statue as there is of Aurelian. " 
 
 " I know not what the fame of this great Periander may 
 be ages hence. It has not till now reached my ear. " 
 
 " It is not easy to reach the ears of some who dwell in 
 the Via Cceli. " I could not help saying that. 
 
 " My rooms, sir, I would inform you, " he rejoined, 
 sharply, " are on the third floor. " 
 
 " Then I do wonder you should not have heard of 
 Periander. " 
 
 " Greater than Aurelian ! and I must wonder, too ! A 
 poet may be greater than a general or an emperor, I grant ; 
 he is one of the family of the gods ; but how a worker in 
 brass or marble can be, passes my poor understanding. It 
 is vain to attempt to raise the mere artist to the level of 
 the historian or poet. " 
 
 " I think that, too. I only said he was greater than 
 Aurelian. " 
 
 " Than Aurelian, " replied Spurius, " who has extended 
 the bounds of the empire ! " 
 
 " But narrowed those of human happiness, " I answered. 
 " Which is of more consequence, empire or man ? But 
 now, man was the great object ! I grant you he is, and for 
 that reason a man who, like an artist of genius, adds to 
 the innocent sources of human enjoyment, is greater than 
 the soldier and conqueror, whose business is the annoyance 
 and destruction of life. Aurelian has slain hundreds of 
 thousands. Periander never injured a worm. He dwells 
 in a calm and peaceful world of his own, and his works are 
 designed to infuse the same spirit that fills himself into all 
 
150 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 who behold them. You must confess the superior power 
 of art and the artist in this very figure. Who thinks of 
 conquest, blood, and death, as he looks upon these flowing 
 outlines, this calm, majestic form, upon that still face ? 
 The artist here is the conqueror of the conqueror, and 
 makes him subserve his own purposes, purposes of a 
 higher nature than the mere soldier ever dreamt of. No 
 one can stand and contemplate this form without being 
 made a lover of beauty, rather than of blood and death ; and 
 beauty is peace. " 
 
 " It must be impossible, " replied the sour spirit, " for 
 one who loves Palmyra better than his native Eome, to see 
 much merit in Aurelian. It is a common saying, Piso is 
 a Palmyrene. The report is current, too, that Piso is about 
 to turn author, and celebrate that great nation in history. " 
 
 " I wish I were worthy to do so, " I answered ; " I might 
 then refute certain statements in another quarter. Yet 
 events have already refuted them. " 
 
 " If my book, " replied Spurius, " be copied a thousand 
 times, the statements shall stand as they are. They are 
 founded upon indisputable evidence and philosophical 
 inferences. " 
 
 " But, Spurius, they are every one contradicted by the 
 late events. " 
 
 " No matter for that ; if they were ever true, they must 
 always be true. Eeasoning is as strong as fact. I found 
 Palmyra a vulgar, upstart provincial city, the most dis 
 tasteful of all spots on earth to a refined mind ; such I left 
 it, and such I have shown it to the world. " 
 
 " Yet, " I urged, " if the Palmyrenes in the defence of 
 their country showed themselves a brave, daring, and dan 
 gerous foe, as they certainly were magnanimous, if so 
 many facts and events prove this, and all Eome admits it, 
 it will seem like little else than malice for such pages 
 to circulate in your book. Besides, as to a thousand other 
 things, I can prove you wrong. " 
 
 " Because I have but one eye, am I incapable of vision ? 
 Am I to be reproached with my misfortunes ? One eye is 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 151 
 
 the same as two ; who sees two images except he squint ? 
 I can describe that wain, loaded down with wine-casks, 
 drawn by four horses with scarlet trappings, the driver 
 with a sweeping Juno s favour in his cap, as justly as you 
 can. Who can see more ? " 
 
 " I thought not, Spurius, of your misfortune, though I 
 must think two eyes better for seeing than one, but only of 
 favourable opportunities for observation. You were in 
 Palmyra from the ides of January to the nones of Feb 
 ruary, and lived in a tavern. I have been there for more 
 than half a year, and dwelt among the citizens themselves. 
 I knew them in public and in private, and saw them under 
 all circumstances most favourable to a just opinion, and I 
 can affirm that a more discoloured picture of a people was 
 never drawn than yours. " 
 
 " All the world, " said the creature, " knows that Spurius 
 is no flatterer. I have not only published travels among 
 the Palmyrenes, but I intend to publish a poem also, - 
 yes, a satire; and if it should be entitled Woman s Pride 
 humbled, or The Downfall of false Greatness, or The 
 Gourd withered in a Day, or Mushrooms not Oaks, or 
 Ants not Elephants, what would there be wonderful in 
 it ? or if Eornans should figure largely in it, eh ? " 
 
 " Nothing is less wonderful, Spurius, than the obstinacy 
 and tenaciousness of error. " 
 
 " Periander greater than Aurelian ! " rejoined he, moving 
 off; " that is a good thing for the town ! " 
 
 As I turned, intending to visit the shop of Demetrius to 
 see what progress he was making in his silver Apollo, I 
 was accosted by the consul Marcellinus. 
 
 " A fair morning to you, Piso, " said he ; " and I see you 
 need the salutation and the wish, for a black cloud has just 
 drifted from you, and you must still feel as if under the 
 shadow. Half the length of the street, as I slowly ap 
 proached, have I witnessed your earnest discourse with one 
 whom I now see to have been Spurius. But I trust your* 
 Christian principles are not about to make an agrarian of 
 you. Whence this sudden intimacy with one like Spurius ?" 
 
152 LETTERS FROM HOME. 
 
 " One need not, I suppose, be set down as a lover of an 
 east wind because they both sometimes take the same road, 
 and can scarcely separate if they would ? But to speak the 
 truth, a man is to me a man, and I never yet have met one 
 of the race from whom I could not gain either amusement, 
 instruction, or warning. Spurius is better than a lecture 
 from a philosopher upon the odiousness of prejudice. To 
 any one inclined to harbour prejudices would I recommend 
 an hour s interview with Spurius, sooner far than I would 
 send him to Cleanthes the Stoic, or Silius the Platonist, or 
 I had almost said, Probus the Christian. " 
 
 " May I ask, " said he, " Piso, if you have in sober earnest 
 joined yourself to the community of the Christians, or are 
 you only dallying for a while with their doctrines, just as 
 our young men are this year affected by the opinions of 
 Cleanthes ; the next, followers of Silius ; the third, of the 
 nuisance Crito ; the fourth, adrift from all ; and the fifth, 
 good defenders, if not believers, of the popular supersti 
 tions ? I presume I may believe that such is the case with 
 you. I trust so, for the times are not favourable for the 
 Christians, and I would like to know that you were not 
 of them." 
 
 " I am, however, of them heart and soul. I have been 
 a Christian ever since I first thoroughly comprehended 
 what it meant. " 
 
 " But how can it be possible that, standing as you do at 
 the head, as it were, of the nobility and wealth of Eome, 
 you can confound yourself with this obscure and vulgar 
 tribe ? I know that some few of reputation are with them 
 beside yourself; but how few! Come, come, disabuse 
 yourself of this error, and return to the old, safe, and 
 reputable side. " 
 
 " If mere fancy, Marcellinus, had carried me over to the 
 Christians, fancy or whim might bring me away from them. 
 But if it be, on the other hand, a question of truth, then it 
 is clear, fashion and respectability, and even what is 
 safest or most expedient, are arguments not to be so much 
 as lisped. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 153 
 
 " No more, no more ! I see how it is. You are fairly 
 gone from us. Nevertheless, though it may be thought 
 needful to check the growth of this sect, I shall hope that 
 your bark may sail safely along. But this reported disap 
 pearance of Aurelia shows that danger is not far off. " 
 
 " Do you. then, credit the rumour ? " 
 
 " I can do no otherwise. It is in every part of the town. 
 I shall learn at the Capitol. I go to meet the senate. " 
 
 " One moment : is my judgment of the senate a right one 
 in this, that it would not second Aurelian in an attack 
 upon the privileges, property, or lives of the Christians ? " 
 
 " I think it is. Although I know there are but few 
 Christians in the body, how many, you know surely 
 better than I, yet I am persuaded it would be adverse to 
 acts of intolerance and persecution. Will you not accom 
 pany me to the sitting ? " 
 
 " Not so early. I am first bound elsewhere. " 
 
 You know, Fausta, that I avoid the senate. Being no 
 longer a senate, a Eoman senate, but a mere gathering of 
 the flatterers of the reigning emperor, whoever he may be, 
 neither pleasure nor honour can come of their company. 
 There is one aspect, however, at the present moment, in 
 which this body is to be contemplated with interest. It is 
 not, in matters of religion, a superstitious body. Here it 
 stands, between Aurelian with the populace on his side, 
 and the Christians, or whatever religious body or sect there 
 should be any design to oppress or exterminate. It consists 
 of the best, and noblest, and richest of Rome ; of those who 
 have either imbibed their opinions in philosophy and re 
 ligion from the ancient philosophers or their living repre 
 sentatives, or are indifferent and neglectful of the whole 
 subject, which is the more common case. In either case 
 they are as a body tolerant of the various forms which re 
 ligion or superstition may assume. The only points of 
 interest or inquiry with them would be, whether any speci 
 fied faith or ceremonies tended to the injury of the state; 
 whether they affected to its damage the existing order of 
 civil affairs. These questions being answered favourably, 
 
154 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 on the part of the greater number there would be no dispo 
 sition to interfere. Of Christianity, the common judgment 
 in that body, and among those in the capital who are of the 
 same general rank, is for the most part favourable. It is 
 commended for its modesty, for the quiet and unostenta 
 tious manner in which its religious affairs are managed, 
 and for the humble diligence with which it concerns itself 
 with the common people and the poor, teaching them its 
 truths, whatever they may be, and especially ministering 
 so largely to their outward necessities. L am persuaded 
 any decision of the senate concerning the Christians would 
 be indulgent and paternal, and that it would in opinion 
 and feeling be opposed to any violence whatever on the part 
 of Aurelian. But then, alas ! it is little that they can do, 
 with even the best purposes. The emperor is absolute, 
 the only power, in truth, in the state. The senate exists 
 but in name and form. It has even less independent power 
 than that of Palmyra had under Zenobia. Yours, indeed, 
 was dependent through affection and trust, reposing in a 
 higher wisdom than its own ; this through fear and the 
 spirit of flattery. So many members, too, were added after 
 the merciless thinning of its seats in the affair of the mint 
 that now scarce a voice would be raised in open opposition 
 to any course the emperor might adopt. The new members 
 being moreover of newer families, nearer the people, are 
 less inclined than the others to resist any of his measures. 
 Still, it is most evident that there is an under-current of 
 ill-will, opposition, jealousy, distrust running through the 
 body, which, if the opportunity should present itself, and 
 there were courage enough for the work, may show itself 
 and make itself felt and respected. The senate, in a word, 
 though slavish and subservient, is not friendly. 
 
 But I am detaining you from the company of Demetrius, 
 of which you were always fond. I soon reached his rich 
 establishment, and being assured that he of Palmyra was 
 within, I entered. I was carried through many apart 
 ments, filled with those who were engaged in some one of 
 the branches of this beautiful art, to that which was sacred 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 155 
 
 to the labours of the two brothers, who are employed solely 
 in the invention of the designs of their several works, in 
 drawing the plans, in preparing the models, and then in 
 overseeing the younger artists at their tasks, themselves 
 performing all the higher and more difficult parts and pro 
 cesses of their art. Demetrius was working alone at his 
 statue, the room in which he was being filled either with 
 antiquities in brass, ivory, silver, or gold, or with finished 
 specimens of their own skill, all disposed with the utmost 
 taste, and with all the advantages to be derived from the 
 architecture of the room, from a soft and mellowed light, 
 resembling moonlight, which came through alabaster win 
 dows, and from the rich cloths, silks, and other stuffs, and 
 the highly ornamented cases in which various articles of 
 greatest perfection and value were kept and exhibited. 
 Here stood the enthusiast, applying himself so intently to 
 his task that he neither heard the door of the apartment 
 as it opened, nor the voice of the slave who announced my 
 name. But in a moment, as he suddenly retreated to a 
 dark recess to observe from that point the effect of his 
 touches as he proceeded, he saw me, and cried out, 
 
 " Most glad to greet you here, Piso ; your judgment is 
 at this very point what I shall be thankful for. Here, if 
 it please you, move to the very spot in which I now am, 
 and tell me especially this, whether the finger of the right 
 hand should not be turned a line farther towards the left 
 of the figure. The metal is obstinate, but still it can be 
 bent if necessary. Now judge, and speak your judgment 
 frankly, for my sake. " 
 
 I sank back into the recess as desired, and considered at 
 tentively the whole form, rough now and from the moulds, 
 and receiving the first finishing touches from the rasp and 
 the chisel. I studied it long, and at my leisure, Deme 
 trius employing himself busily about some other matters. 
 It is a beautiful and noble figure, worthy any artist s repu 
 tation of any age, and of a place in the magnificent temple 
 for which it is designed. So I assured Demetrius, giving 
 him at length my opinion upon every part. I ended with 
 
156 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 telling him I did not believe that any effect would be 
 gained by altering the present direction of the finger. It 
 had come perfect from the moulds. 
 
 " Is that your honest judgment, Piso ? Christians, they 
 say, ever speak the exact truth. Fifty times have I gone 
 where you now are, to determine the point. My brother 
 says it is right ; but I cannot tell. I have attempted the 
 work in too much haste ; but Aurelian thinks, I believe, 
 that a silver man may be made as easily as a flesh one may 
 be unmade. Eome is no Palmyra, Piso. What a life there 
 for an artist! calm as a summer sea. Here! by all the 
 gods and goddesses ! if one hears of anything but of blood 
 and death ! Heads, all on where they should be to-day, to 
 morrow are off. To-day, captives cut up on the altars of 
 some accursed god, and to-morrow thrown to some savage 
 beast, no better and no worse, for the entertainment of 
 savages worse than either or all. The very boys in the 
 streets talk of little else than of murderous sports of glad 
 iators or wild animals. I swear to you a man can scarce 
 collect or keep his thoughts here. What s this about the 
 Christians too ? I marvel, Piso, to see you here with your 
 head on ! They say you are to be all cut up root and 
 branch. Take my advice, and fly with me back to Pal 
 myra! Not another half-year would I pass among these 
 barbarians for all the patronage of the emperor, his min 
 ions, and the senate at their back. What say you ? " 
 
 " No, Demetrius, I cannot go ; but I should not blame 
 you for going. Eome is no place, I agree with you, for the 
 life contemplative, or for the pure and innocent labours of 
 art. It is the spot for intense action; but " 
 
 " Suffering, you mean. " 
 
 " That too, most assuredly, but of action also. It is the 
 great heart of the world. " 
 
 " Black as Erebus and night. " 
 
 " Yes, but still a great one, and which, if it can be once 
 made to beat true, will send its blood, then a pure and 
 life-giving current, to the remotest extremities of the 
 world, which is its body. I hope for the time to come 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 157 
 
 when this will be true. There is more goodness in Eome, 
 Demetrius, than you have heard of, or know of. There is 
 a people here worth saving ; I, with the other Christians, 
 am set to this work. We must not abandon it. " 
 
 " T will be small comfort though, should you all perish 
 doing it. " 
 
 " Our perishing might be but the means of new and 
 greater multitudes springing up to finish what we had 
 begun, but left incomplete. There is great life in death. 
 Blood spilled upon the ground is a kind of seed that 
 comes up men. Truth is not extinguished by putting 
 out life. It then seems to shine the more brightly, as if 
 the more to cheer and comfort those who are suffering and 
 dying for it. " 
 
 " That may be or may not, " said the artist, " here and 
 there; but in my judgment, if this manslayer, this world- 
 butcher, once fastens his clutches upon your tribe, he will 
 leave none to write your story. How many were left in 
 Palmyra ? Just, Piso, resume your point of observation, 
 and judge whether this fold of the drapery were better as 
 it is, or joined to the one under it, an alteration easily 
 made. " 
 
 I gave him my opinion, and he went on filing and 
 talking. 
 
 " And now, Piso, if I must tell you, I have conceived a 
 liking for you Christians, and it is for this reason partly 
 I would have you set about to escape the evil that is 
 threatened, at least. Here is my brother, whose equal the 
 world does not hold, become a Christian. Then do you 
 know, here is a family, just in the rear of our shop, of one 
 Macer, a Christian and a preacher, that has won upon us 
 strangely. I see much of them. Some of his boys are in 
 a room below, helping on by their labour the support of 
 their mother and those who are younger ; for I trow Macer 
 himself does little for them, whatever he may be doing for 
 the world at large, or its great heart, as you call it. But 
 what is more still," cried he, with emphasis, and a jump 
 at the same moment, throwing down his tools, " do you 
 
158 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 know the Christians have some sense of what is good in 
 our way ? They aspire to the elegant, as well as others 
 who are in better esteem. " 
 
 And as he finished, he threw open the doors of a small 
 cabinet, and displayed a row of dishes, cups, and pitchers, 
 of elegant form and workmanship. 
 
 " These, " he went on, " are for the church of Felix, the 
 bishop of the Christians. What they do with them I know 
 not; but as I was told by the bishop, they have a table or 
 altar of marble, on which at certain times they are ar 
 ranged, for some religious rite or other. They are not of 
 gold, as they seern, but of silver gilded. My brother fur 
 nished the designs, and put them into the hands of Flaccus, 
 who wrought them. Neither I nor my brother could labour 
 at them, as you may believe ; but it shows a good ambition 
 in the Christians to try for the first skill in Rome or the 
 world, does it not ? They are a promising people. " 
 
 Saying which, he closed the doors and flew to his work 
 again. 
 
 At the same moment the door of the apartment opened, 
 and the brother Demetrius entered, accompanied by Probus. 
 When our greetings were over, Probus said, continuing, as 
 it seemed, a conversation just broken off, 
 
 " I did all I could to prevent it, but the voice of numbers 
 was against me, and of authority too, and both together 
 they prevailed. You, I believe, stood neuter, or indeed I 
 may suppose knew nothing about the difference. " 
 
 " As you suppose, " replied the elder Demetrius, " I knew 
 nothing of it, but designed the work, and have completed 
 it. Here it is. " And going to the same cabinet, he again 
 opened the doors and displayed the contents. Probus sur 
 veyed them with a melancholy air, saying, as he did so : 
 
 " I could bear that the vessels used for the purpose to 
 which these are destined should be made of gold, or even 
 of diamond itself, could mines be found to furnish it, and 
 skill to hollow it out. For the wine which these shall 
 hold is that which, in the way of symbol, shadows forth 
 the blood of Christ, which, by being shed on the cross, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 159 
 
 purchased for us this truth, this faith, and hope, from 
 which we derive so much happiness, and which are to be 
 an inheritance of happiness, infinitely better and more 
 complete than that which we enjoy in these days of fear, 
 to the world through all ages. What should be set out 
 with every form of human honour and decoration, if not 
 this ? " 
 
 " I think so, " replied Demetrius ; " to that which we 
 honour and reverence in our hearts we must add the out 
 ward sign and testimony, especially if we would affect the 
 minds of others in the same way that ours are. Paganism 
 understands this ; and it is the pomp and magnificence of 
 her ceremony, the richness of the temple service, the 
 grandeur of her architecture, and the imposing array of 
 her priests in their robes, ministering at the altars, or 
 passing through the streets in gorgeous procession, with 
 banners, victims, garlands, and music, by which the popu 
 lace are gained and kept. That must be excellent and 
 highly to be esteemed, they say, on which the great, the 
 learned, and the rich, above all, the state itself, are so 
 prompt to lavish so much splendour and wealth. " 
 
 " But here is a great danger, " Probus replied. " This, 
 carried too far, may convert religion into show and osten 
 tation. Form and ceremony, and all that is merely outward 
 and material, may take the place of the moral and spiritual. 
 Eeligion may come to be a thing apart by itself, a great act, 
 a tremendous and awful rite, a magnificent and imposing 
 ceremony, instead of what it is in itself, simply a principle 
 of right action toward man and toward God. This is at 
 present just the character and position of the Eoman re 
 ligion. It is a thing that is to be seen at the temples, 
 but nowhere else ; it is a worship through sacrifices and 
 prayers, and that is all. The worshipper at the temple may 
 be a tyrant at home, a profligate in the city, a bad man 
 everywhere, and yet none the less a true worshipper. May 
 God save the religion of Christ from such corruption ! Yet 
 is the beginning to be discerned. A decline has already 
 begun. Eank and power are already sought with an insane 
 
160 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 ambition ; and to perpetuate and render more imposing the 
 power, the same means are resorted to by Christian minis 
 ters that have been by Koman emperors. The people are 
 dazzled by state and show, and so blinded to the encroach 
 ments made upon their liberty. Some, too, with a less 
 criminal motive, but with an aim quite as mistaken, seek 
 to transfer to Christianity the same outward splendour, and 
 the same gilded trappings, which they see so to subdue the 
 imagination and by that lead them captive of the 
 common people. Hence, Piso and Demetrius, the golden 
 chair of Felix and his robes of audience on which there is 
 more gold, as I believe, than would gild all these cups and 
 pitchers ; hence, too, the finery of the table, the picture 
 behind it, and, in some churches, the statues of Christ, and 
 of Paul and Peter. These golden vessels for the supper of 
 Christ s love, I can forgive I can welcome them; but 
 in the rest that has come and is coming, I see signs of 
 danger. " 
 
 " But, most excellent Probus, " said the younger Deme 
 trius, " I like not to hear the arts assailed and represented 
 dangerous, and I like your way the less for what you have 
 now said. I have just been telling Piso that you are a 
 people to be respected, for you were beginning to honour 
 the arts. But here now have you just denounced them. 
 What harm could it do any good man among you to come 
 and look at this figure of Apollo, or a statue of your Paul 
 or Peter, as you name them, supposing they were just men 
 and benefactors of their race ? " 
 
 " There ought to be none, " Probus replied. " It ought 
 to be a source of innocent pleasure, if not of wholesome in 
 struction, to gaze upon the imitated form of a good man, 
 of a reformer, a benefactor, a prophet. But man is so 
 prone to religion that you can scarce place before him an 
 object of reverence but he will straightway worship it. 
 What were your gods but once men, first revered, then wor 
 shipped, and now their stone images deemed to be the very 
 gods themselves ? Thus the original and natural idea of a 
 Supreme Deity has been almost lost out of the world. I 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 161 
 
 can conceive that in the lapse of ages men shall be so re 
 deemed from the gross conceptions that now enthral them 
 concerning both God and his worship, and so nourished up 
 to a divine strength by the power of truth, that they shall 
 be in no danger from such sources of error. The religion 
 of Christ will itself, if aught can do it, bring about such a 
 period. " 
 
 " That, then, will be the time for artists to live, next after 
 now, " said Demetrius of Palmyra. " In the mean time, 
 Probus, if Hellenism should decline and die, and your 
 strict faith takes its place, art will decline and perish. 
 We live chiefly by the gods and their worship. " 
 
 " If our religion, " replied Probus, " should suffer injury 
 from its own professors in the way it has, for a century or 
 two more, it will give occupation enough to artists. Its 
 corruptions will do the same for you that the reign of 
 absolute and perfect truth would. " 
 
 " The gods then grant that the corruptions you speak of 
 may come in season, before I die ! I am tired of Jupiters, 
 Mercuries, and Apollos. I have a great fancy to make a 
 statue of Christ. Brother, what think you, should I reach 
 it ? Most excellent Probus, should I make you such an 
 one for your private apartments, I do not believe you would 
 worship it, and doubtless it would afford you pleasure. If 
 you will leave a commission for such a work, it shall be 
 set about as soon as this god of the emperor is safe on his 
 pedestal. What think you ? " 
 
 " I should judge you took me, Demetrius, for the priest 
 of a temple, or a noble of the land. The price of such a 
 piece of sculpture would swallow up more than all I am 
 worth. Bssides, though I might not worship myself, 
 though I say not but I might, I should give an ill ex 
 ample to others, who, if they furnished themselves or their 
 churches with similar forms, might not have power over 
 themselves, but relapse into the idolatry from which they 
 are but just escaped. " 
 
 " All religions, as to their doctrine and precept, are alike 
 to me," replied Demetrius; " only, as a general principle, 
 
 11 
 
162 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 I should ever prefer that which had the most gods. Eome 
 shows excellent judgment in adopting all the gods of the 
 earth, so that if the worship of one god will not bring 
 prosperity to the nation, there are others in plenty to try 
 their fortune with again. Never doubt, brother, that it 
 is because you Christians have no gods, that the populace 
 and others are so hostile to you. Only set up a few images 
 of Christ, and some of the other founders of the religion, 
 and your peace will be made. Otherwise, I fear this 
 man-killer will, like some vulture, pounce upon you and 
 tear you piecemeal. What, brother, have you learned of 
 Aurelia ? " 
 
 " Nothing with certainty. I could find only a confirma 
 tion from every mouth, but based on no certain knowledge, 
 of the rumour that reached us early in the morning. But 
 what is so universally reported generally turns out true. 
 I should, however, if I believed the fact of her imprison 
 ment, doubt the cause. " 
 
 I said that I could conceive of no other cause, and feared 
 that, if the fact were so, the religion of Aurelia was the 
 reason of her being so dealt with. It was like Aurelian, 
 if he had resolved upon oppressing the Christians to any 
 extent whatever, that he should begin with those who were 
 nearest to him, first with his own blood, and then with 
 those of his household. 
 
 With this and such-like conversation, I passed a pleasant 
 hour at the rooms of Demetrius. 
 
 My wish was, as I turned from the apartments of Deme 
 trius, to seek the emperor or Livia, and learn from them 
 the exact truth concerning the reports current through the 
 city. But giving way to that weakness which defers to 
 the latest possible moment the confirmation of painful 
 news and the resolution of doubts which one would rather 
 should remain as doubts than be determined in the wrong 
 way, in melancholy mood I turned and retraced my steps. 
 My melancholy was changed to serious apprehension by all 
 that I observed and heard on my way to the Coelian. As 
 the crowd in this great avenue, the Suburra, pressed by me, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 163 
 
 it was easy to gather that the Christians had become the 
 universal topic of conversation and dispute. The name of 
 the unhappy Aurelia frequently caught my ear. Threat- 
 ening and ferocious language dropped from many, who 
 seemed glad that at length an emperor had arisen who 
 would prove faithful to the institutions of the country. I 
 joined a little group of gazers before the window of the 
 rooms of Periander, at which something rare and beautiful 
 is always to be seen, and who I found were looking intently 
 at a picture, apparently just from the hands of the artist, 
 which represented Rome under the form of a beautiful 
 woman, Livia had served as the model, with a diadem 
 upon her head, and the badges of kingly authority in her 
 hands, and at her side a priest of the Temple of Jupiter, 
 " greatest and best, " in whose face and form might plainly 
 be traced the cruel features of Fronto. The world was 
 around them. On the lowest earth, with dark shadows set 
 tling over them, lay scattered and broken, in dishonour 
 and dust, the emblems of all the religions of the world, 
 their temples fallen and in ruins. Among them, in the 
 front ground of the picture was the prostrate cross, shat 
 tered as if dashed from the church, whose dilapidated walls 
 and wide-spread fragments bore testimony not so much to 
 the wasting power of time as to the rude hand of popular 
 violence ; while, rearing themselves up into a higher at 
 mosphere, the temples of the gods of Eome stood beautiful 
 and perfect, bathed in the glowing light of a morning sun. 
 The allegory was plain and obvious enough. There was 
 little attractive save the wonderful art with which it was 
 done. This riveted the eye; and that being gained, the 
 bitter and triumphant bigotry of the ideas set forth had 
 time to make its way into the heart of the beholder, and 
 help to change its warm blood to gall. Who but must be 
 won by the form and countenance of the beautiful Livia, 
 and confounding Eome with her, be inspired with a new 
 devotion to his country, and its religion, and its lovely 
 queen ? The work was inflaming and insidious, as it was 
 beautiful. 
 
164 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 This was seen in what it drew from those among whom 
 I stood. 
 
 " By Jupiter!" said one, " that is well done. They are 
 all down, who can deny it ? Those are ruins not to be 
 built up again. Who knows who the artist is ? He must 
 be a Eoman to the last drop of his blood and the least hair 
 of his beard. " 
 
 " His name is Sporus, " replied his companion, " as I 
 hear, a kinsman of Fronto, the priest of Apollo. " 
 
 " Ah, that s the reason the priest figures here, " cried the 
 first, " and the empress too ; for they say nobody is more at 
 the gardens than Fronto. Well, he s just the man for his 
 place. If any man can bring up the temples again, it s 
 he. Eeligion is no sham at the Temple of the San. The 
 priests are all what they pretend to be. Let others do so, 
 and we shall have as much reason to thank the emperor 
 for what he has done for the gods and so for us all 
 as for what he has done for the army, the empire, and the 
 city. " 
 
 " You say well. He is for once a man who, if he will, 
 may make Eome what she was before the empire, a people 
 that honoured the gods. And this picture seems as if it 
 spoke out his very plans, and I should not wonder if it 
 were so. " 
 
 " Never doubt it. See, here lies a temple of Isis flat 
 enough ; next to it one of the accursed tribe of Jews ; and 
 what ruder pile is that ? " 
 
 " That must be a temple of the British worship, as I 
 think. But the best of all is this Christian church ; see 
 how the wretches fly while the work goes on ! In my 
 notion, this paints what we may soon see. " 
 
 " I believe it. The gods grant it so ! Old men, in my 
 judgment, will live to see it all acted out. Do you hear 
 what is said, that Aurelian has put to death his own 
 niece, the princess Aurelia ? n 
 
 " That s likely enough, " said another, " no one can 
 doubt it. T is easy news to believe in Eome. But the 
 question is, what for ? " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 165 
 
 " No doubt for her impiety, and her aims to convert 
 Mucapor to her own ways. " 
 
 "Well, there is no telling, and it s no great matter; 
 time will show. Meanwhile, Aurelian forever! He s 
 the man for me ! " 
 
 " Truly is he, " said one at his side who had not spoken 
 before ; " for thy life is spent at the amphitheatres and he 
 is a good caterer for thee, sending in ample supplies of lions 
 and men. " 
 
 " Whew ! who is here ? Take care ! Your tongue, old 
 man, has short space to wag in. " 
 
 " I am no Christian, knave, but I trust I am a man ; and 
 that is more than any can say of you, that know you. Out 
 upon you for a savage ! " 
 
 The little crowd burst into loud laughter at this, and 
 with various abusive epithets moved away. The old man 
 addressed himself to me, who alone remained as they 
 withdrew. 
 
 " Aurelian, I believe, would do well enough were he let 
 alone. He is inclined to cruelty, I know ; but nobody can 
 deny that, cruel pr not, he has wrought most beneficial 
 changes both in the army and in the city. He has been in 
 some sort, up to within the last half-year, a censor greater 
 than Valerian, a reformer greater and better than even he. 
 Had he not been crazed by his successes in the East, and 
 were he not now led, and driven, and maddened by the 
 whole priesthood of Eome, with the hell-born Fronto at 
 their head, we might look for a new Rome. But as it is, 
 I fear these young savages who are just gone will see all 
 fulfilled they are praying for. A fair day to you. " 
 
 And he, too, turned away. Others were come into the 
 same spot, and for a long time did I listen to similar lan 
 guage. Many came, looked, said nothing, and took their 
 way, with paler face, and head depressed, silent under the 
 imprecations heaped upon the atheists, but manifestly 
 either of their side in sympathy, or else of the very atheists 
 themselves. I now sought my home, tired of the streets, 
 of all I had seen and heard. Many of my acquaintance 
 
166 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 and friends passed me on the way, in whose altered manner 
 I could behold the same signs which in ruder form I had 
 just seen at the window of Periander. Not, Fausta, that 
 all my friends of the Roman faith are summer ones, but 
 that perhaps most are. Many among them, though attached 
 firmly as my mother to the existing institutions, are yet 
 like her possessed of the common sentiments of humanity, 
 and would venture much or all to divert the merest shadow 
 of harm from my head. Among these I still pass some of 
 my pleasantest and most instructive hours ; for with them 
 the various questions involved in the whole subject of re 
 ligion are discussed with the most perfect freedom and mu 
 tual confidence. Varus the prefect, whom I met among 
 others, greeted me with unchanged courtesy. His sweetest 
 smile was on his countenance as he swept by me, wish 
 ing me a happy day. How much more tolerable is the 
 rude aversion or loud reproaches of those I have told you 
 of, than this honeyed suavity, that means nothing, and 
 would be still the same though I were on the way to the 
 block. 
 
 As I entered my library, Solon accosted me to say that 
 there had been one lately there most urgent to see me. 
 From his account, I could suppose it to be none other than 
 the Jew Isaac, who, Milo has informed me, is now re 
 turned to Eome, which he resorts to as his most permanent 
 home. Solon said that, though assured I was not at home, 
 he would not be kept back, but pressed on into the house, 
 saying that " these Eoman nobles often sat quietly in their 
 grand halls, while they were denied to their poor clients. 
 Piso was an old acquaintance of his when in Palmyra and 
 he had somewhat of moment to communicate to him, and 
 must see him. " 
 
 " No sooner, " said Solon, " had he got into the library, 
 the like of which I may safely affirm he had never seen 
 before, for his raiment betokened a poor and ragged life, 
 than he stood and gazed as much at his ease as if it had 
 been his own ; and then, by Hercules ! unbuttoning his 
 pack, for he was burdened with one both before and behind, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST^. 167 
 
 ho threw his old limbs upon a couch, and began to survey 
 the room ! I could not but ask him if he were the elder 
 Piso, old Cneius Piso, come back from Persia, in Persian 
 beard and gown. Old man, said he, your brain is 
 turned with many books and the narrow life you live here, 
 shut out from the living world of men. One man is worth 
 all the books ever written, save those of Moses. Go out 
 into the streets and read him, and your senses will come 
 again. Cneius Piso ! Take you me for a spirit ? I am 
 Isaac the Jew, citizen of the world, and dealer in more 
 rarities and valuables than you ever saw or dreamt of. 
 Shall I open my parcels for thee ? No, said I ; I would 
 not take thy poor gewgaws for a gift. One worm-eaten 
 book is worth them all. God restore thy reason, said 
 he, and give thee wisdom before thou diest ; and that, by 
 thy wrinkles and hairless pate, must be soon. What more 
 of false he would have added, I know not, for at that moment 
 he sprang from where he sat like one suddenly mad, ex 
 claiming, Holy Abraham! what do my eyes behold? or do 
 they lie ? Surely that is Moses ! Never was he on Sinai 
 if his image be not here ! Happy Piso ! and happy Isaac to 
 be the instrument of such grace ! Who could have thought 
 it ? And yet many a time in rny dreams have I beheld him 
 with a beard like mine, his hat on his head, his staff in his 
 hand, as if standing at the table of the Passover, the prin 
 cess with him, and dreams will do such things a brood 
 of little chickens at their side. And now, save the last, 
 it is all come to pass. And here, too, who may this be? 
 who but Aaron, the younger and milder? He was the 
 speaker; and lo ! his hand is stretched out! And this 
 young Joseph is at his knee, the better to interpret his 
 character to the beholder. Moses and Aaron in the chief 
 room of a Roman senator, and he a Piso ! Now, Isaac, 
 thou mayest tie on thy pack, and take thy leave with a 
 merry heart ; for God, if never before, now accepteth thy 
 works. And much more, noble sir, in the same raving 
 way, which was more dark to my understanding than the 
 darkest pages of Aristotle. " 
 
168 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 I gathered from Solon that he would return in the eve 
 ning, in the hope to see me, for he had that to impart 
 which nearly concerned my welfare. 
 
 I was watching with Julia, from the portico which fronts 
 the Esquiline and overlooks the city, the last rays of the 
 declining sun, as they gilded the roofs and domes of the 
 vast sea of buildings before us, lingering last upon, and 
 turning to gold, the brazen statues of Antonine and of 
 Trajan, when Milo approached us, saying that Isaac had 
 returned. He was in a moment more with us. 
 
 "Most noble Piso, " said he, "I joy to see thee again; 
 and this morning, I doubt not, I should have seen thee, 
 but for the obstinacy of an ancient man, whose wits seem 
 to have been left behind as he has gone onward. I seek 
 thee, Piso, for matters of moment. Great princess, " he 
 suddenly cried, turning to Julia with as profound a rever 
 ence as his double burden would allow, " glad am I to greet 
 thee in Eome, not glad that thou wert forced to flee here, 
 but glad that, if out of Palmyra, thou art here in the heart 
 of all that can best minister to thy wants. Not a wish can 
 arise in the heart but Rome can answer it. Nay, thou 
 canst have few for that which is rare arid costly but even 
 I can answer them. Hast thou ever seen, princess, those 
 diamonds brought from the caves of mountains a thousand 
 miles in the heart of India, in which there lurks a tint, if 
 I may so name it, like this last blush of the western sky ? 
 They are rarer than humanity in a Eoman, or apostasy in a 
 Jew, or truth in a Christian. I shall show thee one ; " and 
 he fell to unlacing his pack and drawing forth its treasures. 
 
 Julia assured him she should see with pleasure whatever 
 he could show her of rich or rare. 
 
 " There are, lady, jewellers, as they name themselves in 
 Kome, who dwell in magnificent houses, and whose shops 
 are half the length of a street, who cannot show you what 
 Isaac can out of an old goatskin pack. And how should 
 they ? Have they, as I have, travelled the earth s surface, 
 and trafficked between crown and crown? What king is 
 there whose necessities I have not relieved by purchasing 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 169 
 
 his useless gems, or whose vanity I have not pleased by 
 selling him the spoils of another ? Old Sapor, proud as he 
 was, was more than once in the grasp of Isaac. There ! it 
 is in this case, down, you see, in the most secret part of 
 my pack ; but who would look for wealth under this sordid 
 covering ? as who, lady, for a soul within this shrivelled 
 and shattered body ? yet is there one there. In such out 
 side, both of body and bag, is my safety. Who cares to 
 stop the poor man, or hold parley with him ? None so free 
 of the world and its highways as he; safe alike in the 
 streets of Rome and on the deserts of Arabia. His rags are 
 a shield stouter than one of sevenfold bull s hide. Never 
 but in such guise could I bear such jewels over the earth s 
 surface. Here, lady, is the gem ; never has it yet pressed 
 the finger of queen or subject. The stone I brought from 
 the East, and Demetrius here in Eome hath added the gold. 
 Give me so much pleasure 
 
 And he placed it upon Julia s finger. It flashed a light 
 such as we never before saw in stone. It was evidently a 
 most rare and costly gem. It was of great size, and of a 
 hue such as I had never before seen. 
 
 "This is a queen s ring, Isaac," said Julia; "and for 
 none else. " 
 
 " It well becomes the daughter of a queen, " replied the 
 Jew, "and the wife of Piso ; specially seeing that ah, 
 Piso! Piso! how was I overjoyed to-day to see in thy room 
 the evidence that my counsels had not been thrown away. 
 The Christian did not gain thee, with all his cunning. " 
 
 "Nay, Isaac," I here interrupted him; "you must not 
 let your benevolent wishes lead you into error. I am not 
 yet a Jew. Those images that caught your eye were not 
 wholly such as you took them for. " 
 
 " Well, well, " said the philosophic Jew, " rumour, then, 
 has for once spoken the truth. She has long, as I learn, 
 reported thee Christian ;. but I believed it not. And to 
 day, when I looked upon those statues, I pleased myself 
 with the thought that thou and the princess, like her 
 august mother, had joined yourselves to Israel. But if it 
 
170 LETTERS FROM 
 
 be not so, then have I an errand for thee, which but now I 
 hoped I might not be bound to deliver. Piso, there is 
 danger brewing for thee, and for all who hold with thee. " 
 
 " So I hear, Isaac, on all sides, and partly believe it. 
 But the rumour is far beyond the truth, I do not doubt. " 
 
 " I think not so, " said Isaac. " I believe the truth is 
 beyond the rumour. Aurelian intends more and worse 
 than he has spoken ; and already has he dipped his hand in 
 blood ! " 
 
 " What say you ? how is it you mean ? " said Julia. 
 
 " Whose name but Aurelia s has been in the city s ears 
 these many days ? I can tell you what is known as yet 
 not beyond the emperor s palace and the priest s, Aurelia 
 is dead ! " 
 
 " Sport not with us, Isaac. " 
 
 " I tell you, Piso, the simple truth. Aurelia has paid 
 with her life for her faith. I know it from more than one 
 whose knowledge in the matter is good at sight. It was 
 in the dungeons of the Fabrician bridge that she was dealt 
 with by Fronto, the priest of Apollo. " 
 
 " Aurelian, then, " said Julia, " has thrust his sickle into 
 another field of slaughter, and will not draw it out till he 
 swims in Christian blood, as once before in Syrian. God 
 help these poor souls ! What, Isaac, was the manner of her 
 death, if you have heard so much ? " 
 
 " I have heard only, " replied Isaac, " that after long en 
 deavour on the part of Aurelian and the priest to draw her 
 from her faith while yet at the palace, she was conveyed 
 to the prisons I have named, and there given over to Fronto 
 and the executioners, with this only restriction : that if 
 neither threats, nor persuasions, nor the horrid array of 
 engines, could bend her, then should she be beheaded 
 without either scourging or torture. And so it was done. 
 She wept, tis said, as it were without ceasing, from the 
 time she left the gardens ; but to. the priest would answer 
 never a word to all his threats, entreaties, or promises; 
 except once, when that wicked minister said to her that 
 except she in reality and truth would curse Christ, and 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 171 
 
 sacrifice, he would report that she had done so, and so 
 liberate her, and return her to the palace. At which, t is 
 said that on the instant her tears ceased, her eyes flashed 
 lightning, and with a voice which took the terrific tones of 
 Aurelian himself, she said, I dare thee to it, base priest ! 
 Aurelian is an honourable man, though cruel as the grave ; 
 and my simple word, which never yet he doubted, would 
 weigh more than oa.ths from thee, though piled to heaven. 
 Do thy worst, then, quick ! Whereupon the priest, white 
 with wrath, first sprang toward her as if he had been a 
 beast set to devour her, drawing at the same moment a 
 knife from his robes ; but others being there, he stopped, 
 and cried to the executioner to do his work, raving that 
 he had it not in his power first to torment her. Aurelia 
 was then instantly beheaded. " 
 
 We were silent as he ended, Julia dissolved in tears. 
 Isaac went on, 
 
 " This is great testimony, Piso, which is borne to thy 
 faith. A poor, weak girl, alone, with not one to look on 
 and encourage, in such a place, and in the clutches of such 
 a hard-hearted wretch, to die without once yielding to her 
 fears or the weakness of her tender nature, it is a thing 
 hardly to be believed, and full of pity. Piso, thou wilt 
 despise me when I say that my tribe rejoices at this and 
 laughs ; that the Jew is seen carrying the news from house 
 to house, and secretly feeding on it as a sweet morsel ! And 
 why should he not ? Answer me that, Eoman ! Answer 
 me that, Christian ! In thee, Piso, and in every Eoman 
 like thee, there is compacted into one the enmity that has 
 both desolated my country, and, far as mortal arm may do 
 so, dragged down to the earth her altars and her worship. 
 Judea was once happy in her ancient faith ; and happier 
 than all in that great hope, inspired by our prophets in 
 endless line, of the advent in the opening ages of one who 
 should redeem our land from the oppressor, and give to her 
 the empire of the world. Messiah, for whom we waited, 
 and while we waited were content to bear the insults and 
 aggressions of the whole earth, knowing the day of ven- 
 
172 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 geance was not far off, was to be to Judea more than Aure- 
 lian to Rome. He was to be our prophet, our priest, and 
 our king, all in one ; not man only, but the favoured and 
 beloved of God, his Son ; and his empire was not to be, 
 like this of Rome, hemmed in by this sea and that, hedged 
 about by barbarians on this side and another, bounded by 
 rivers and hills, but was to stretch over the habitable earth, 
 and Rome itself to be swallowed up in the great possession 
 as a little island in the sea. And then this great kingdom 
 was never to end. It could not be diminished by an enemy 
 taking from it this province and another, as with Rome, 
 nor could there be out of it any power whatever that could 
 assail it ; for by the interference of God, through the right 
 arm of our great prince, fear and the very spirit of submis 
 sion were to fall on every heart. All was to be Judea s, 
 and Judea s forever; the kingdom was to be over the whole 
 earth ; and the reign forever and ever. And in those ages 
 peace was to be on the earth, and universal love. God 
 was to be worshipped by all according to our law, and 
 idolatry and error cease and come to an end. In this hope, 
 I say, we were happy, in spite of all our vexations. In 
 every heart in our land, whatever sorrows or sufferings 
 might betide, there was a little corner where the spirit 
 could retire and comfort itself with this vision of futurity. 
 Among all the cities of our land, and far away among the 
 rocks and valleys by Jordan and the Salt Sea and the 
 mountains of Lebanon, there were no others to be found 
 than men, women, and children, happy in this belief, and 
 by it bound into one band of lovers and friends. And 
 what, think you, happened ? I need not tell you. There 
 came, as thou knowest, this false prophet of Galilee, and 
 beguiled the people with his smooth words, and perverted 
 the sense of the prophets, and sowed difference and discord 
 among the people ; and the cherished vision, upon which 
 the nation had lived and grown, fled like a dream. The 
 Galilean impostor planted himself upon the soil, and his 
 roots of poison struck down, and his broad limbs shot 
 abroad, and half the nation was lost. Its unity was gone, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 173 
 
 its peace was gone, its heart broken, its hope though 
 living still yet obscured and perplexed. Canst thou 
 wonder, then, Piso, or thou, thou weeping princess, that 
 the Jew stands by and laughs when the Christian s turn 
 comes and the oppressor is oppressed, the destroyer de 
 stroyed ? And when, Piso, the Christian had done his 
 worst, despoiling us of our faith, our hope, our prince, and 
 our God, not satisfied, he brought the Roman upon us, and 
 despoiled us of our country itself. Now, and for two cen 
 turies, all has been gone. Judea, the beautiful land, sits 
 solitary and sad, her sons and daughters wanderers over the 
 earth, and trodden into the dust. When shall the light 
 arise, and he whom we yet look for come and turn back 
 the flood that has swept over us, and reverse the fortunes 
 befallen to one and the other ? The chariot of God tarries, 
 but it does not halt. The wheels are turning, and when 
 it is not thought of, it will come rolling onward with the 
 voice of many thunders, and the great restoration shall be 
 made, and a just judgment be meted out to all. What 
 wonder, I say then, Piso, if my people look on and laugh 
 when this double enemy is in straits, when the Christian 
 and Roman in one is caught in the snare and cannot 
 escape ? That laugh will ring through the streets of Rome, 
 and will out-sound the roaring of the lions and the shouts 
 of the theatre. Nature is strong in man, Piso, and I do 
 not believe thou wilt think the worse of our people if, 
 bearing what they have, this nature should break forth. 
 Hate them not altogether, Roman, when thou shalt see 
 them busy at the engines, or the stake, or the theatres. 
 Remember the cause ! Remember the cause ! But we are 
 not all such. I wish, Piso, thou couldst abandon this 
 faith. There will else be no safety to thee, I fear, ere not 
 many days. What has overtaken the lady Aurelia, of the 
 very family of the emperor, will surely overtake others. 
 Piso, I would fain serve thee, if I may. Though I hate 
 the Roman, and the Christian, and thee, as a Jew, yet so 
 am I that I cannot hate them as a man, or not unto death ; 
 and thee do I love. Now, it is my counsel that thou do in 
 
174 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 season escape. Now thou canst do it ; wait but a few days, 
 and perhaps thou canst no longer. What I say is, fly ! and 
 it were best to the farthest East ; first to Palmyra, and then, 
 if need be, to Persia. This, Piso, is what I am come for. " 
 
 " Isaac, this all agrees with the same goodness " 
 
 " I am a poor, miserable wretch, whom God may forgive, 
 because his compassions never fail, but who has no claim 
 on his mercy, and will be content to sit hereafter where 
 he shall but just now and then catch a glimpse of the 
 righteous. " 
 
 " I must speak my thoughts, not yours, Isaac. This all 
 agrees with what we have known of you ; and with all our 
 hearts you have our thanks. But we are bound to this 
 place by ties stronger than any that bind us to life, and 
 must not depart. " 
 
 " Say not so. Lady, speak ! Why should ye remain to 
 add to the number that must fall ? Rank will not stand in 
 the way of Aurelian. " 
 
 " That we know well, Isaac, " said Julia. " We should 
 not look for any shield such as that to protect us, nor for 
 any other. Life is not the chief thing, Isaac. What is 
 life without liberty ? Would you live a slave ? and is not 
 he the meanest slave who bends his will to another, who 
 renounces the thoughts he dearly cherishes, for another s 
 humour ? Who will beggar the soul to save or serve the 
 body ? " 
 
 " Alas, princess, I fear there is more courage in thee, 
 woman as thou art, than in this old frame ! I love my 
 faith too, princess, and I labour for it in my way ; but may 
 the God of Abraham spare me from the last trial ! And 
 wouldst thou give up thy body to the tormentors and the 
 executioner, to keep the singleness of thy mind, so that 
 merely a few little thoughts, which no man can see, may 
 run in and out of it as they list? " 
 
 " Even so, Isaac. " 
 
 " It is wonderful, " exclaimed the Jew, " what a strength 
 there is in man ! how for an opinion, which can be neither 
 bought, nor sold, nor weighed, nor handled, nor seen, a 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 175 
 
 thing that, by the side of lands, and gold, and houses, 
 seems less than the dust of the balance, men and women, 
 yea, and little children, will suffer and die, when a word 
 too, which is but a little breath blown out of the mouth, 
 would save them ! " 
 
 " But it is no longer wonderful," said Julia, " when we 
 look at our whole selves, and not only at one part. We 
 are all double, one part of earth, another of heaven; one 
 part gross body, the other ethereal spirit ; one part life of 
 the body, the other life of the soul. Which of these parts 
 is the better, it is not hard to determine. Should I gain 
 much by defiling the heavenly for the sake of the earthly, 
 by injuring the mind for the preservation of the body, by 
 keeping longer the life I live now, and darkening over the 
 prospect of the life that is hereafter ? If I possess a single 
 truth, which I firmly believe to be a truth, I cannot say 
 that it is a lie, for the sake of some present benefit or de 
 liverance, without fixing a stain thereby, not on the body 
 which by and by perishes, but on the soul which is im 
 mortal, and which should forever bear about with it the 
 unsightly spot. " 
 
 " It is so it is as you say, lady ; and rarely has the 
 Jew been known to deny his name and his faith. Since 
 you have spoken, I find thoughts called up which have 
 long slept. Despise me not for my proposal, yet I would 
 there were a way of escape ! Flight now would not be 
 denial or apostasy. " 
 
 " It would not, " said Julia ; " and we may not judge with 
 harshness those whose human courage fails them under the 
 apprehension of the horrible sufferings which often await 
 the persecuted. But with my convictions, and Piso s, the 
 guilt and baseness of flight or concealment would be little 
 less than that of denial or apostasy. We have chosen this 
 religion for its divine truth and its immortal prospects ; we 
 believe it a good which God has sent to us ; we believe 
 it the most valuable possession we hold ; we believe it 
 essential to the world s improvement and happiness. Be 
 lieving it thus, we must stand by it; and if it come to this, 
 
17G LETTEKS FROM ROME. 
 
 as I trust in heaven it will not, notwithstanding the 
 darkness of the portents, that our regard for it will be 
 questioned except we die for it, then we will die. " 
 
 Isaac rose and began to fasten on his pack. As he did 
 so he said, 
 
 " Excellent lady, I grieve that thou shouldst be brought 
 from thy far home, and those warm and sunny skies, to 
 meet the rude shocks of this wintry land. It was enough 
 to see what thou didst there, and to know what befell thy 
 ancient friends. The ways of Providence to our eyes are 
 darker than the Egyptian night brought upon that land by 
 the hand of Moses. It is darkness solid and impenetrable. 
 The mole sees farther toward the earth s centre than does 
 my dim eye into the judgments of God. And what wonder, 
 when he is God looking down upon earth and man s ways 
 as I upon an ant-hill, and seeing all at once? To such an 
 eye, lady, that may be best which to mine is worst. " 
 
 " I believe it is often so, Isaac, " replied Julia. " Just 
 as in nauseous drugs or rankest poisons there is hidden 
 away medicinal virtue, so is there spiritual balm for the 
 soul, by which its worst diseases are healed and its highest 
 health promoted, in sufferings which, as they first fall upon 
 us, we lament as unmitigated evil. I know of no state 
 of mind so proper to beings like us as that indicated by 
 a saying of Christ, which I shall repeat to you, though you 
 honour not its source, and which seems to me to compre 
 hend all religion and philosophy : Not my will, but thine, 
 O God, be done ! We never take our true position, and so 
 never can be contented and happy, till we renounce our own 
 will, and believe all the whole providence of God to be 
 wisest and best, simply because it is his. Should I dare, 
 were the power this moment given me, to strike out for 
 myself my path in life, arrange its events, fix my lot? 
 Not the most trivial incident can be named that I should 
 not tremble to order otherwise than as it happens. " 
 
 " There is wisdom, princess, in the maxim of thy prophet, 
 and its spirit is found in many of the sayings of truer 
 prophets who went before him, and whose words are 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 177 
 
 familiar to thy royal mother, though I fear they are not to 
 thee ; a misfortune wholly to be traced to that misadventure 
 of thine, Piso, in being thrown into the company of the 
 Christian Probus on board the Mediterranean trader. Had 
 I been alone with thee on that voyage, who can say that 
 thou wouldst not now have been what but this morning I 
 took thee for, as I looked upon those marble figures ? " 
 
 " But, Isaac, forget not your own principles, " said Julia. 
 " May you, who cannot, as you have said, see the end from 
 the beginning, and whose sight is but a mole s, dare to 
 complain of the providence which threw Piso into the so 
 ciety of the Christian Probus ? I am sure you would not, 
 on reflection, re-arrange those events, were it now permitted 
 you. And seeing, Isaac, how much better things are or 
 dered by the Deity than we could do, and how we should 
 choose voluntarily to surrender all into his hands, whose 
 wisdom is so much more perfect, and whose power is so 
 much more vast than ours, ought we not, as a necessary con 
 sequence of this, to acquiesce in events without complaint 
 when they have once occurred ? If Providence has made 
 both Piso and Probus Christians, then ought you not to 
 complain, but acquiesce, and more than that, revere the 
 Providence that has done it, and love those none the less 
 whom it has directed into the path in which it would have 
 them go. True piety is the mother of charity. " 
 
 " Princess, " rejoined Isaac, " you are right. The true 
 love of God cannot exist without making us true lovers of 
 man ; and Piso I do love, and think none the worse of him 
 for his Christian name. But touching Probus and others, 
 I experience some difficulty. Yet may I perhaps escape 
 thus : I may love them as men, yet hate them as Chris 
 tians ; just as I would bind up the wounds of a thief or an 
 assassin whom I found by the wayside, and yet the next 
 hour bear witness against him, and without compunction 
 behold him swinging upon the gibbet ! It is hard, lady, 
 for the Jew to love a Christian and a Roman. But how 
 have I been led away from what I wished chiefly to say 
 before departing. When I spake just now of the darkness 
 
 12 
 
178 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 of Providence, I was thinking, Piso, of my journey across 
 the desert for thy Persian brother, Calpurnius. That, as 
 I then said to thee, was dark to me. I could not compre 
 hend how it should come to pass that I, a Jew, of no less 
 zeal than Simon Ben Gorah himself, should tempt such 
 dangers in the service of thee, a Eoman and half a 
 Christian. " 
 
 " And is the enigma solved at length? " asked Julia. " I 
 could have interpreted it by saying that the merit of doing 
 a benevolent action was its solution. " 
 
 " That was little or nothing, princess. But I confess to 
 thee that the two gold talents of Jerusalem were much. 
 Still, neither they, nor what profit I made in the streets of 
 Ecbatana, and even out of that new Solomon, the hospitable 
 Levi, clearly explained the riddle. I have been in darkness 
 till of late. And how, think you, the darkness has been 
 dispersed ? " 
 
 " We cannot tell. " 
 
 " I believe not. Piso ! princess ! I am the happiest man 
 in Eome. " 
 
 " Not happier, Isaac, than Civilis the perfumer. " 
 
 " Name him not, Piso. Of all the men, he is no man, 
 of all the living things in Eome, I hold him meanest. 
 Him, Piso, I hate. Why, I will not tell thee, but thou 
 mayest guess. Nay, not now. I would have thee first 
 know why I am the happiest man in Eome. Eemember 
 you the woman and the child whom in the midst of that 
 burning desert we found sitting more dead than alive at the 
 roots of a cedar, the wife, as we afterwards found, of 
 Hassan the camel-driver, and how that child, the living 
 resemblance of my dead Joseph, wound itself round my 
 heart, and how I implored the mother to trust it to me as 
 mine, and I would make it richer than the riches of 
 Ecbatana ? " 
 
 " We remember it all well. 
 
 " Well, rejoice with me ! Hassan is dead ! " 
 
 " Kejoice in her husband s death ? Nay, that we cannot 
 do. Milo will rejoice with thee. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 179 
 
 " Rejoice with me, then, that Hassan being dead by the 
 providence of God, Hagar and Ishmael are now mine ! " 
 and the Jew threw down his pack again in the excess of 
 his joy, and strode wildly about the portico. 
 
 " This is something indeed, " said Julia. " Now we can 
 rejoice sincerely with you. But how happened all this ? 
 When and how have you obtained the news ? " 
 
 " Hassan, " replied Isaac, " as Providence willed it, died 
 in Palmyra, His disconsolate widow, hearing of his death, 
 in her poverty and affliction bethought herself of me, and 
 applied for intelligence of me to Levi ; from whom a letter 
 came, saying that Hagar had made now on her part the 
 proposal that had once been made on mine, that Ishmael 
 should be mine, provided he was not to be separated from 
 his mother and a sister older than he by four years. I indeed 
 proposed not for the woman, but for the child only nor for 
 the sister. But they will all be welcome. They must by 
 this time be in Palmyra, on their way to Eome. Yes, they 
 will be all welcome ! for now once more shall the pleasant 
 bonds of a home hold me, and the sounds of children s 
 voices, sweeter to my ear than will ever be the harps of 
 angels, though Gabriel sweep the strings. Already, in the 
 street Janus, where our tribe most resort, have I purchased 
 me a house ; not, Roman, such a one as I dwelt in in Pal 
 myra, where thou and thy foolish slave searched me out, 
 but large and well ordered, abounding with all that 
 woman s heart could most desire. And now, what think 
 you of all this ? whither tends it ? to what leads all this 
 long and costly preparation ? what, think you, is to come 
 of it ? I have my own judgment. This I know, it cannot 
 be all for this, that a little child of a few years should 
 come and dwell with an old man little removed from the 
 very borders of the grave ! Had it been only for this, so 
 large and long a train of strange and wild events would not 
 have been laid. This child, Piso, is more than he seems! 
 take that and treasure it up. It is to this the finger of God 
 has all along pointed. He is more than he seems ! What 
 he will be I say not, but I can dimly, nay, clearly guess. 
 
180 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 And his mother, Piso, what will you think when I say that 
 she is a Jewess ? and his father, what will you think 
 when I tell you that he was born upon the banks of the 
 Galilean lake ? that misfortunes and the love of a wander 
 ing life drew him from Judea to the farther East, and to a 
 temporary and but apparent apostasy, I am persuaded, 
 from his proper faith? This to me is all wonderful. 
 Never have I doubted that by my hand, by me as a media 
 tor, some great good was to accrue to Jerusalem. And now 
 the clouds divide, and my eye sees what has been so long 
 concealed. It shall all come to pass before thy young 
 frame, princess, shall be touched by years. " 
 
 " We wish you all happiness and joy, Isaac, " replied 
 Julia ; " and as soon as this young family shall have reached 
 your dwelling, we shall trust to see them all, specially this 
 young object of thy great expectations. " 
 
 Isaac again fastened on his pack, and taking leave of us, 
 turned to depart; but ere he did so he paused, fixed his 
 dark eyes upon us, hesitated, and then said, 
 
 " Lady, if trouble flow in upon you here in Rome, and 
 thou wilt not fly as I have counselled to Palmyra; but 
 thou shouldst by and by change thy mind and desire safety, 
 or Piso should wish thee safe, perhaps that by thy life 
 thou mightest work more mightily for thy faith than thou 
 couldst do by thy death : for oftentimes it is not by dying 
 that we best serve God, but by living, then bethink thee 
 of my dwelling in the street Janus, where, if thou shouldst 
 once come, I would challenge all the bloodhounds in Eome, 
 and, what is more and worse, Fronto and Varus leagued, to 
 find thee. Peace be with you. " 
 
 And so saying, he quickly parted from us. 
 
 All Eome, Fausta, holds not a man of a larger heart than 
 Isaac the Jew. For us, Christians as we are, there is, I 
 believe, no evil to himself he would not hazard, if in no 
 other way he could shield us from the dangers that impend. 
 In his conscience he feels bound to hate us, and often, from 
 the language he uses, it might be inferred that he does so. 
 But in any serious expression of his feelings, his human 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 181 
 
 affections ever obtain the victory over the obligations of 
 hatred which his love of country, as he thinks, imposes 
 upon him, and it would be difficult for him to manifest a 
 warmer regard toward any of his own tribe than he does 
 toward Julia and myself. He is firmly persuaded that 
 Providence is using him as an instrument by which to 
 effect the redemption and deliverance of his country ; not 
 that he himself is to prove the Messiah of his nation, as 
 they term their great expected prince, but that through 
 him, in some manner, by some service rendered or office 
 filled, that great personage will manifest himself to Israel. 
 No disappointment damps his zeal, or convinces him of 
 the futility of expectations resting upon no other founda 
 tion that his own inferences, conjectures, or fanciful inter 
 pretation of the dark sayings of the prophets. When in 
 the East it was through Palmyra that his country was to 
 receive her king, through her victories that redemption 
 was to be wrought out for Israel. Being compelled to let 
 go that dear and cherished hope, he now fixes it upon this 
 little " Joseph, " and it will not be strange if this child of 
 poverty and want should in the end inherit all his vast 
 possessions, by which he will please himself with thinking 
 he can force his way to the throne of Judea. Portia derives 
 great pleasure from his conversation, and frequently detains 
 him long for that purpose ; and of her, Isaac is never weary 
 of uttering the loudest and most extravagant praise. I 
 sometimes wonder that I never knew him before the Medi 
 terranean voyage, seeing he was so well known to Portia ; 
 but then again I do not when I remember by what swarms 
 of mendicants, strangers, and impostors of every sort, 
 Portia was ever surrounded, from whom I turned instinct 
 ively away; especially did I ever avoid all intercourse 
 with Christians and Jews. I held them, of all, lowest 
 and basest. 
 
 We are just returned from Tibur, where we have enjoyed 
 many pleasant hours with Zenobia. Livia was there also. 
 The day was, in its warmth, absolutely Syrian ; and while 
 losing ourselves in the mazes of the queen s extensive gar- 
 
182 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 dens, we almost fancied ourselves in Palmyra. Nichoma- 
 chus being of the company, as he ever is, and Vabalathus, 
 we needed but you, Calpurnius, and Gracchus, to complete 
 the illusion. 
 
 The queen devotes herself to letters. She is rarely drawn 
 from her favourite studies but by the arrival of friends from 
 Borne. Happy for her is it that, carried back to other ages 
 by the truths of history, or transported to other worlds by 
 the fictions of poetry, the present and the recent can be in 
 a manner forgotten ; or at least that in these intervals of 
 repose the soul can gather strength for the thoughts and 
 recollections which will intrude, and which still sometimes 
 overmaster her. Her correspondence with you is another 
 chief solace. She will not doubt that by and by a greater 
 pleasure awaits, and that instead of your letters she shall 
 receive and enjoy yourself. Farewell. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 183 
 
 LETTER VII. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 MACER. THE UNJUST PREFECT. MACER S PREACHING. LIVIA 
 IN SORROW. THE WIFE OF MACER. 
 
 THE body of the Christians, as you may well suppose, 
 Fausta, are in a state of much agitation. Though 
 they cannot discern plainly the form of the danger that im 
 pends, yet they see it dimly ; and the very obscurity in 
 which it is involved perhaps adds to their fears. It is 
 several days since I last wrote, yet not a word has come 
 from the palace. Aurelian is seen as usual in all public 
 places; at the Capitol, taking charge of the erection and 
 completion of various public edifices ; or if at the palace, 
 he rides as hard as ever and as much upon his hippodrome ; 
 or if at the praetorian camp, he is exact and severe as ever 
 in maintaining the discipline of the legions. He has issued 
 no public order of any kind that bears upon us. Yet not 
 only the Christians, but the whole city stand as if in ex 
 pectation of measures of no little severity, going at least to 
 the abridgment of many of our liberties, and to the depri 
 vation of many privileges. This is grounded, chiefly, 
 doubtless, upon the reported imprisonment of Aurelia ; for 
 though some have little hesitation in declaring their belief 
 that she has been made away with, others believe it not at 
 all, and none can assign a reason for receiving one story 
 rather than another. How Isaac came to be possessed of 
 his information I do not know, but it bore all the marks of 
 truth. He would inform me neither how he came by it, 
 nor would he allow it to be communicated. But it would 
 never be surprising to discover that of my most private 
 affairs he has a better knowledge than myself. 
 
184 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 Do not, from what I have said, conceive of the Christians 
 as giving any signs of unmanly fear. They perceive that 
 danger threatens, but they change not their manner of life, 
 nor turn from the daily path of their pursuits. Believing 
 in a Providence, they put their trust in it. Their faith 
 stands them in stead, as a sufficient support and refuge. 
 They cannot pretend, any more than Isaac, to see through 
 the plans and purposes of Heaven. They pretend not to 
 know, nor to be able to explain to another, why, if what 
 they receive is the truth, and they are true believers in a 
 true religion, they should be exposed to such sufferings for 
 its sake ; and why that which is false, and injurious as 
 false, should triumph. It is enough for them, they say, to 
 be fully persuaded, to know arid possess the truth. They 
 can never relinquish it ; they will rather die. But whether 
 Christianity die with them or not, they cannot tell ; that 
 they leave to God. They do not believe that it will ; 
 prophecy, and the present condition of the world, notwith 
 standing a present overhanging cloud, give them confidence 
 in the ultimate extension and power of their faith. At any 
 rate, it shall receive no injury at their hands. They have 
 professed it during twenty years of prosperity, and have 
 boasted of it before the world ; they shall profess it with 
 the same boldness and the same grateful attachment now 
 that adversity approaches. They are fixed, calm, un 
 moved. Except for a deeper tone of earnestness and feeling 
 when you converse with them, and a cast of sadness upon 
 the countenance, you would discern no alteration in their 
 conduct or manner. 
 
 I might rather say that in a very large proportion there 
 are observable the signs of uncommon and almost unnatural 
 exhilaration. They even greet the coming of trouble as 
 that which shall put their faith to the test, shall give a 
 new testimony of the readiness of Christians to suffer, 
 and, like the former persecution, give it a new impulse 
 forwards. They seek occasions of controversy and conver 
 sation with the pagans, at public places, at their labour, 
 and in the streets. The preachers assume a bolder, louder 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 185 
 
 tone, and declaim with ten times more vehemence than 
 ever against the enormities and abominations of the popular 
 religion. Often at the market-places and at the corners of 
 the streets are those to be seen, not authorized preachers 
 perhaps, but believers, and overflowing with zeal, who, at 
 the risk of whatever popular fury and violence, hold forth 
 the truth in Christ, and denounce the reigning idolatries 
 and superstitions. At the head of these is Macer, at 
 their head both as respects the natural vigour of his under 
 standing, and the perfect honesty and integrity of his 
 mind, and his dauntless courage. Every day, and all the 
 day, is he to be found in the streets of Eome, sometimes in 
 one quarter, sometimes in another, gathering an audience 
 of the passengers or idlers, as it may be, and sounding in 
 their ears the truths of the new religion. That he, and 
 others of the same character, deserve, in all they do, the 
 approbation of the Christian body, or receive it, is more 
 than can be said. They are often, by their violences in 
 the midst of their harangues, by harsh and uncharitable 
 denunciations, by false and exaggerated statements, the 
 causes of tumult and disorder, and contribute greatly to 
 increase the general exasperation against us. With them 
 it seems to be a maxim that all means are lawful in a good 
 cause. Nay, they seem rather to prefer the ruder and 
 rougher forms of attack. They seem possessed of the idea 
 that the world is to be converted in a day, and that if men 
 will not at once relinquish the prejudices or the faith of 
 years, they are fit but for cursings and burnings. In set 
 ting forth the mildest doctrine the world ever knew, deliv 
 ered to mankind by the gentlest and most patient and 
 compassionate being it ever saw, they assume a manner, 
 and use a language, so entirely at variance with their 
 theme that it is no wonder if prejudices are strengthened 
 oftener than they are set loose, incredulity made more in 
 credulous, and the hardened heart yet harder. They who 
 hear notice the discrepancy, and fail not to make the use 
 of it they may. When will men learn that the mind is a 
 fortress that can never be taken by storm ? You may indeed 
 
186 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 enter it rudely, and by violence, and the signs of submis 
 sion shall be made ; but all the elements of opposition are 
 still there. Reason has not been convinced ; errors and 
 misconceptions have not been removed by a wise, and 
 logical, and humane dealing, and supplanted by truths well 
 proved, and shown to be truths ; and the victory is one in 
 appearance only. And the mere show of violence, on the 
 part of the reformer and assailant, begets violence on the 
 other side. The whole inward man, with all his feelings, 
 prejudices, reason, is instantly put into a posture of de 
 fence ; not only of defence, for that were right, but of angry 
 defence, which is wrong. Passion is up, which might 
 otherwise have slept; and it is passion, never reason, 
 which truth has to fear. The intellect, in its pure form, 
 the advocate of truth would always prefer to meet, for he 
 can never make sure of a step made till this has been 
 gained. But intellect inflamed by passion he may well 
 dread, as what there is but small hope even of approaching, 
 much less of convincing. 
 
 Often has Probus remonstrated with this order of men, 
 but in vain. They heed him not; but in return charge 
 him with coldness and indifference, worldliness and all other 
 associated faults. Especially has he laboured to preserve 
 Macer from the extremes to which he has run ; for he has 
 seen in him an able advocate of Christian truth, could he 
 but be moderated and restrained. But Macer, though he 
 has conceived the strongest affection for Probus, will not 
 allow himself in this matter to be influenced by him. He 
 holds himself answerable to conscience and God alone for 
 the course he pursues. As for the consequences that may 
 ensue, either to himself or his family, his mind cannot en 
 tertain them. It is for Christ he lives, and for Christ he 
 is ready to die. 
 
 I had long wished to meet him, and witness his manner 
 both of acting and of preaching, and yesterday I was fortu 
 nate enough to encounter him. I shall give you, as exactly 
 as I can, what took place ; it will show you better than 
 many letters could do what in one direction our position is, 
 and our prospects are. 
 

FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 187 
 
 I was in the act of crossing the great avenue which on 
 the south leads to the Forum, when I was arrested by a 
 disorderly crowd, such as we often see gathered suddenly 
 in the street of a city about a thief who has been caught, or 
 a person who has been trodden down on the pavement. It 
 moved quickly in the direction of the tribunal of Varus ; 
 and what was my surprise to behold Macer in the midst, 
 with head aloft, and inflamed countenance, holding in his 
 grasp and dragging onwards one who would willingly have 
 escaped. The crowd seemed disposed, as I judged by the 
 vituperations that were directed against Macer, to interfere, 
 but were apparently deterred both by the gigantic form of 
 Macer, and their vicinity to the tribunal, whither he was 
 going. Waiting till they were some distance in advance of 
 me, I then followed, determined to judge for myself of this 
 singular man. I was with them in the common hall, before 
 the prefect had taken his seat. When seated at his tribu 
 nal, he inquired the cause of the tumult, and who it was 
 that wished to appeal to him. 
 
 " I am the person, " said Macer ; " and I come to drag to 
 justice this miscreant " 
 
 " And who may you be ? " 
 
 " I should think Varus might recognize Macer. " 
 
 " It is so long since I met thee last at the emperor s table, 
 that thy features have escaped me. " 
 
 At which, as was their duty, the attendant rabble 
 laughed. 
 
 Is there any one present, continued the prefect, " who 
 knows this man ? " 
 
 " Varus need apply to no other than myself, " said Macer. 
 " I am Macer, the son of that Macer who was neighbour of 
 the gladiator Pollex " 
 
 " Hold, I say ! " interrupted the prefect ; " a man wit 
 nesses not here of himself. Can any one here say that this 
 man is not crazy or drunk ? " 
 
 " Varus ! Prefect Varus ! " cried Macer, his eyes flashing 
 lightning, and his voice not less than thunder; but he was 
 again interrupted. 
 
188 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " Peace, slave ! or rods shall teach thee where thou art. " 
 And at the same moment, at a sign from Varus, he was laid 
 hold of with violence by officials of the palace, armed with 
 spears and rods, and held. 
 
 " What I wish to know, then, " said Varus, turning to 
 the crowd, " is whether this is not the street brawler, one 
 of the impious Galileans, a man who should long ago 
 have been set in the stocks to find leisure for better 
 thoughts. " 
 
 Several testified, as was desired, that this was he. 
 
 " This is all I wish to know, " said the prefect. " The 
 man is either without wits or they are disordered, or else 
 the pestilent faith he teaches has made the nuisance of him 
 he is, as it does of all who meddle with it. It is scarcely 
 right that he should be abroad. Yet has he committed no 
 offence that condemns him either to scourging or the prison. 
 Hearken, therefore, fellow! I now dismiss thee without 
 the scourging thou well deservest; but if thou keep on thy 
 wild and lawless way, racks and dungeons shall teach thee 
 what there is in Eoman justice. Away with him ! " 
 
 " Eomans ! Eoman citizens ! " cried Macer ; " are these 
 your laws, and this your judge ? " 
 
 " Away with him, I say ! " cried the prefect ; and the 
 officers of the palace hurried him out of the hall. 
 
 As he went a voice from the crowd shouted, 
 
 " Eoman citizens, Macer. are long since dead. T is a 
 vain appeal. " 
 
 " I believe you, " replied Macer ; " tyrant and slave stand 
 now for all who once bore the proud name of Eoman. " 
 
 This violence and injustice on the part of Varus must be 
 traced for though capricious and imperious, this is not 
 his character to the language of Macer in the shop of 
 Publius, and to his apprehension lest the same references 
 to his origin, which he would willingly have forgotten, 
 should be made, and perhaps more offensively still, in the 
 presence of the people. Probus, on the former occasion, 
 lamented deeply that Macer should have been tempted to 
 rehearse in the way he did some of the circumstances of 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 189 
 
 the prefect s history, as its only end could be needlessly to 
 irritate the man of power, and raise up a bitterer enemy 
 than we might otherwise have found in him. 
 
 Upon leaving the tribunal, I was curious to watch still 
 farther the movements of the Christian. The crowd about 
 him increased rather than diminished as he left the build 
 ing and passed into the street. At but a little distance 
 from the hall of the prefect stands the Temple of Peace, 
 with its broad and lofty flights of steps. When Macer had 
 reached it, he paused and looked round upon the motley 
 crowd that had gathered about him. 
 
 " Go up ! go up ! " cried several voices ; "we will hear thee. " 
 
 " There is no prefect here, " cried another. 
 
 Macer needed no urging, but quickly strode up the steps, 
 till he stood between the central columns of the temple, and 
 his audience had disposed themselves below him in every 
 direction, when he turned and gazed upon the assembled 
 people, who had now, by the addition of such as passed 
 along, and who had no more urgent business than to attend 
 to that of any others whom they might chance to meet, 
 grown to a multitude. After looking upon them for the 
 space of a minute, as if studying their characters, and how 
 he could best adapt his discourse to their occasions, he sud 
 denly and abruptly broke out, 
 
 " You have asked me to come up here, and I am here, 
 glad for once to be in such a place by invitation. And 
 now I am here, and am about to speak to you, you will 
 expect me to say something of the Christians. " 
 
 " Yes, yes ! " 
 
 "But I shall not not yet. Perhaps by and by. In 
 the mean time my theme shall be the prefect, the prefect 
 Varus ! " 
 
 " A subject full of matter, " cried one near Macer. 
 
 " Better send for him," said another. " Twere a pity 
 he lost it." 
 
 " Yes, " continued Macer, " it is a subject full of matter, 
 and I wish myself he were here to see himself in the mirror 
 I would hold before him ; he could not but grow pale with 
 
190 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 affright. You have just had a sample of Roman justice. 
 How do you like it, Eomans ? I had gone there to seek 
 justice, not for a Christian, but against a Christian. A 
 Christian master had abused his slave with cruelty, I stand 
 ing by ; and when to my remonstrance myself feeling the 
 bitter stripes he laid on he did but ply his thongs the 
 more, I seized the hardened monster by the neck, and 
 wrenching from his grasp the lash, I first plied it upon his 
 own back, and then dragged him to the judgment-seat of 
 Varus " 
 
 " Oh, fool ! " 
 
 "You say well, fool that I was, crying for justice! 
 How I was dealt with, some of you have seen. There, I 
 say, was a sample of Roman justice for you ! So in these 
 times does power sport itself with poverty. It was not so 
 once in Rome. Were Cincinnatus or Regulus at the tribu 
 nal of Yarus, they would fare like the soldier Macer. And 
 who, Romans, is this Yarus ? and why is he here in the 
 seat of authority ? At the tribunal, Yarus did not know me. 
 But what if I were to tell you there was but a thin wall 
 between the rooms where we were born, and that when \ve 
 were boys we were ever at the same school ? not such 
 schools as you are thinking of, where the young go for 
 letters and for Greek, but the school where many of 
 you have been and are now, I dare say, the school of 
 Roman vice, which you may find always open all along the 
 streets, but especially where I and Yarus were, in one of 
 the sinks near the Flavian. Pollex the gladiator was father 
 of Yarus, not worse, but just as bad, as savage, as 
 beastly in his vices, as are all of that butcher tribe. My 
 father Macer, too I will not say more of him than that 
 he was keeper of the vivaria of the amphitheatre, and 
 passed his days in caging and uncaging the wild beasts of 
 Asia and Africa ; in feeding them when there were no games 
 on foot, and starving them when there were. Yarus the 
 prefect, Romans, and I were at this school till I joined the 
 legions under Yalerian, and he, by a luckier fortune, as 
 it would be deemed, found favour in the eyes of Gallienus, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 191 
 
 to whom, with his fair sister Fannia, he was sold by those 
 demons, Pollex and Csecina. I say nothing of how it fared 
 with him in that keeping. Fannia has long since found 
 the grave. Is Varus one who should sit at the head of 
 Kome ? He is a man of blood, of crime, of vice such as 
 you would not bear to be told of ! I say not this as if he 
 were answerable for his birth and early vice ; but that, 
 being such, this is not his place. He could not help it, 
 nor I, that we were born and nurtured where we were ; 
 that the sight of blood and the smell of it, either of men or 
 beasts, was never out of our eyes and nostrils, during all 
 our boyhood and youth ; that to him and me the sweetest 
 pleasure of our young life was when the games came on, 
 and the beasts were let loose upon one another; and, oh, 
 the hardening of that life ! when especially there were pris 
 oners or captives on which to glut their raging hunger ! 
 Those were the days and hours marked whitest in our cal 
 endar. And whitest of all were the days of the Decian 
 persecution, when the blood of thrice-cursed Christians, as 
 I was taught to name them, flowed like water. Every day 
 then Varus and I had our sport ; working up the beasts by 
 our torments to an unnatural height of madness ere they 
 were let loose, and then rushing to the grating as the doors 
 were thrown open, to see the fury with which they would 
 spring upon their defenceless victims and tear them piece 
 meal. The Eomans required such servants, and we were 
 they. They require them now, and you may find any 
 number of such about the theatres. But if there must be 
 such there, why should they be taken thence and put upon 
 the judgment-seat, save for the reason that they may have 
 been thoroughly purged, as it were, by fire ? which Varus 
 has not. What with him was necessary and forced when 
 young is now chosen and voluntary. Vice is now his by 
 election. Now, I ask, why has the life of Varus been such ? 
 and why, being such, is he here ? Because you are so ! Yes, 
 because you are all like him ! It is you, Eoman citizens, 
 who rear the theatres, the circuses, and the thousand tem 
 ples of vice which crowd the streets of Rome " 
 
192 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " No, no ! it is the emperors. " 
 
 " But who made the emperors ? You Eomans of these 
 times are a race of cowards and slaves, and it is therefore 
 that tyrants rule over you. Were you freemen, with the 
 souls of freemen in you, do you think you would bear as 
 you do and love and glory in the yoke this rule of such 
 creatures as Varus, and others whom it were not hard to 
 name ? I know what you are, for I have been one of you. 
 I have not been, nor am I now, a hermit, as you may think, 
 being a Christian. A Christian is a man of the world, 
 a man of action and of suffering, not of rest and sleep. I 
 have ever been abroad among men, both before I was a 
 Christian and since ; and I know what you are, you are 
 of the same stamp as Yarus ! Nay, start not, nor threaten 
 with your eyes ; I fear you not. If you were not so, why, I 
 say, is Varus there ? You know that I speak the truth. The 
 people of Rome are corrupt as their rulers. How should it 
 be much otherwise ? You are fed by the largesses of the 
 emperor ; you have your two loaves a day and your pork, 
 and you need not, and so do not, work. You have no em 
 ployment but idleness, and idleness is not so much a vice 
 itself as the prolific mother of all vices. When I was one 
 of you, it was so ; and so it is now. My father s labour 
 was nothing ; he was kept by the state. The emperor was 
 not more a man of pleasure than he, nor the princes than 
 I and Varus. Was that a school of virtue ? When I left 
 the service of the amphitheatre, I joined the legions. In 
 the army I had work and I had fighting ; but my passions, 
 in the early days of that service, raged like the sea ; and 
 during all the reign of Valerian s son there was no bridle 
 upon them, for I served under the general Carinus ; and 
 what Carinus was and is, most of you know. Oh, the 
 double horrors of those years ! I was older, and yet worse 
 and worse. God ! I marvel that thou didst not interpose 
 and strike me dead ! But thy mercy spared me ; and now 
 the lowest, lowest hell shall not be mine ! " Tears, forced 
 by these recollections, flowed down his cheeks, and for a 
 time he was speechless. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 193 
 
 " Such, Romans, was I once. What am I now ? I am a 
 changed man, through and through. There is not a thought 
 of my mind, nor a fibre of my body, what they were once. 
 You may possibly think the change has been for the worse, 
 seeing me thus thrust forth from the tribunal of the prefect 
 with dishonour, when I was once a soldier and an officer 
 under Aurelian. I would rather a thousand times be what 
 I am, a soldier of Jesus Christ. And I would that, by 
 anything I could do, you, any one of you, might be made 
 to think so too ; I would that Varus might, for I bear him 
 no ill-will. 
 
 " But what am I now ? I am so different a man from 
 what I once was, that I can hardly believe myself to be 
 the same. The life which I once led I would not lead again 
 
 no, not one day or hour of it though you would depose 
 Aurelian to-day and crown me Ca3sar to-morrow. I would 
 no more return to that life than I would consent to lose my 
 nature and take a swine s, and find elysium where, as a 
 man, I once did, in sinks and sties. I would not renounce, 
 for the wealth of all the world and its empire too, that 
 belief in the faith of Christ, the head of the Christians, 
 which has wrought so within me. 
 
 " And what has made me so would make you so, if you 
 would but hearken to it. And would it not be a good thing 
 if the flood of vice which pours all through the streets of 
 Eome were stayed ? Would it not be a happy thing if 
 the misery which dwells beneath these vaulted roofs, and 
 these humbler ones equally, the misery which drunken 
 ness and lust, the love of money, and the love of place, and 
 every evil passion generates, were all wiped away, and we 
 all lived together observant of the rights of one another, 
 helping one another, not oppressing; loving, not hating, 
 
 showing in our conduct as men the virtues of little chil 
 dren ? Would it not be happier if all this vast population 
 were bound together by some common ties of kindred ; if 
 all held all as brethren ; if the poor man felt himself to be 
 the same as Aurelian himself, because he is a man like him, 
 and weighs just as much as he in the scales of God, and 
 
 13 
 
194 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 that it is the vice in the one or the other, and that only, 
 that sinks him lower ? Would it not be better if you all 
 could see in the presiding Power of the universe one great 
 and good Being, who needs not to be propitiated by costly 
 sacrifices of oxen or bulls, nor by cruel ones of men, but is 
 always kindly disposed towards you, and desires nothing 
 so much as to see you living virtuously and happily, and is 
 never grieved but when he sees you ruining your own peace, 
 not harming him, by your vices ? for you will bear witness 
 with me that your vices are never a cause of happiness. 
 Would it not be better if you could behold such a God over 
 you, in the place of those who are called gods, and whom 
 you worship, as I did once, because I feared to do other 
 wise, and yet sin on nevertheless ; who are your patterns 
 not so much in virtue as in vice ? " 
 
 " Away with the wicked ! away with the fellow ! " cried 
 several voices ; but others predominated, saying, " Let 
 him alone ! " " He speaks well ! We will hear him ! " 
 "We will defend him! go on, go on!" 
 
 " I have little or nothing more to say, " continued Macer. 
 " I will only ask you whether you must not judge that to be 
 a very powerful principle of some kind that drew me up out 
 of that foul pit into which I was fallen, and made me what 
 I am now k ? Which of you now feels that he has motive 
 strong enough to work out such a deliverance for himself ? 
 What help in this way do you receive from your priests, if 
 perchance you ever apply to them ? What book of instruc 
 tions concerning the will of the gods have you to which 
 you can go at any time, and at all times ? Only believe as 
 I do, Eomans, and you will hate sin as I do. You cannot 
 help it. Believe in the God that I do, and in the Eevealer 
 of his will, the Teacher whom he sent into the world to 
 save us from our heathen errors and vices, and you will then 
 be more than the Romans you once were. You are now, 
 and you know it, infinitely less. Then you will be what 
 the old Romans were, and more. You will be as brave as 
 they, and more just. You will be as generous, and more 
 gentle. You will love your own country as well, but you 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 195 
 
 will love others too. You will be more ready to offer up 
 your lives for your country, for it will be better worth 
 dying for; every citizen will be a brother, every ruler a 
 brother ; it will be like dying for your own little house 
 hold. If you would see Eome flourish, she must become 
 more pure. She can stagger along not much longer under 
 this mountain-weight of iniquity that presses her into the 
 dust. She needs a new Hercules to cleanse her foul cham 
 bers. Christ is he; and if you will invite him, he will 
 come and sweep away these abominations, so that imperial 
 Eome shall smell fragrantly as a garden of spices. " 
 
 Loud exclamations of approval here interrupted Macer. 
 The great proportion of those who were present were now 
 evidently with him, and interested in his communications. 
 
 " Tell us, " cried one, as soon as the noise subsided, " how 
 you became what you are. What is to be done ? " 
 
 " Yes, " cried many voices, " tell us ! " 
 
 " I will tell you gladly, " answered Macer. " I first 
 heard the word of truth from the lips of Probus, a preacher 
 of the Christians, whom you, too, may hear whenever you 
 will, by seeking him out on the days when the Christians 
 worship. Probus was in early life a priest of the Temple 
 of Jupiter, and if any man in Eome can place the two re 
 ligions side by side, and make the differences plain, it is 
 he. Go to him, such of you as can, and you will never 
 repent it. But if you would all learn the first step toward 
 Christian truth, and all truth, it is this : lay aside your 
 prejudices, be willing to bear, see, hear, and judge for 
 yourselves. Take not rumour for truth. Do not believe 
 without evidence both for and against. You would not, 
 without evidence and reason, charge Aurelian with the 
 death of Aurelia, though ten thousand tongues report it. 
 Charge not the Christians with worse things, then, merely 
 because the wicked and ill-disposed maliciously invent 
 them and spread them. If you would know the whole 
 truth and doctrine of Christians, if you would ascend to 
 the fountain-head of all Christian wisdom, take to your 
 homes our sacred books, and read them. Some of you, at 
 
196 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 least, can obtain them. Let one purchase, and then twenty 
 or fifty read. One thing before I cease. Believe not the 
 wicked aspersions of the prefect. He charges me as a 
 brawler, a disturber of the peace and order of the city. 
 Eomans, believe me, I am a lover of peace, but I am a 
 lover of freedom too. Because I am a lover of peace, and 
 would promote it, do I labour to teach the doctrines of 
 Christ, which are doctrines of peace and love, both at home 
 and abroad, in the city and throughout the world ; and 
 because I am the friend of freedom, do I open my mouth at 
 all times and in every place, wherever I can find those who, 
 like you, are ready to hear the words of salvation. When 
 in Eome I can no longer speak, no longer speak for the cause 
 of what I deem truth, then will I no longer be a Eoman. 
 Then will I that day renounce my name and my country. 
 Thanks to Aurelian, he has never chained up the tongue. 
 I have fought and bled under him, and never was there a 
 braver man, or one who honoured courage more in others. 
 I do not believe he will ever do so cowardly a thing as to 
 restrain the freedom of men s speech. Aurelian is some 
 things, but he is not others. He is severe and cruel, but 
 not mean. Cut Aurelian in two, and throw the worse half 
 away, and the other is as royal a man as ever the world 
 saw. 
 
 " One thing more, good friends and citizens : If I am 
 sometimes carried away by my passions to do that which 
 seems a disturbance of the common order, say that it is 
 the soldier Macer that does it, not his Christian zeal, his 
 human passions, not his new-adopted faith. It is not at 
 once and perfectly that a man passes from one life to an 
 other ; puts off one nature and takes another. Much that 
 belonged to Macer of the amphitheatre and Macer the sol 
 dier cleaves to him now. But make not his religion 
 amenable for that. You who would see the law of Christ 
 written, not only on a book, but in the character and life 
 of a living man, go read the Christian Probus. " 
 
 As he said these words he began to descend the steps of 
 the temple ; but many crowded round him, assailing him 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 197 
 
 some with reproaches, and others with inquiries put by 
 those who seemed anxious to know the truth. The voices 
 of his opponents were most violent, and prevailed, and 
 made me apprehensive that they would proceed to greater 
 length than speech. But Macer stood firm, nothing daunted 
 by the uproar. One, who signalized himself by the loud- 
 ness and fierceness of his cries, exclaimed " that he was 
 nothing else than an atheist, like all the rest of the Chris 
 tians ; they have no gods ; they deny the gods of Kome, and 
 they give us nothing in their stead. " 
 
 " We deny the gods of Eome, I know, " replied Macer, 
 " and who would not who had come to years of discretion ? 
 who had so much as left his nurse s lap? A fouler 
 brotherhood than they, the lords of heaven, Eome does not 
 contain. Am I to be called upon to worship a set of 
 wretches chargeable with all the crimes and vices to be 
 found on earth. It is this accursed idolatry, Eomans, 
 that has sunk you so low in sin! They are your lewd, 
 and drunken, and savage deities who have taught you all 
 your refinement in wickedness ; and never till you renounce 
 them, never till you repent you of your iniquities, never 
 till you turn and worship the true God, will you rise out 
 of the black Tartarean slough in which you are lying. 
 These two hundred years and more has God called to you 
 by his Son, and you have turned away your ears ; you have 
 hardened your hearts ; the prophets who have come to you 
 in his name have you slain by the sword, or hung upon 
 the accursed tree. Awake out of your slumbers ! These 
 are the last days. God will not forbear forever. The 
 days of vengeance will come ; they are now at hand : I 
 can hear the rushing of that red right arm, hot with 
 wrath " 
 
 " Away with him ! away with him ! " broke from a hun 
 dred voices. " Down with the blasphemer ! * " Who is 
 he, to speak thus of the gods of Eome ? " " Seize the im 
 pious Galilean, and away with him to the prefect ! " 
 These, and a thousand exclamations of the same kind, and 
 more savage, were heard on every side ; and at the same 
 
198 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 moment their denial and counter-exclamations from as 
 many more. 
 
 " He has spoken the truth ! " " He is a brave fellow ! " 
 " He shall not be touched, except we fall first ! " came from 
 a resolute band, who encompassed the preacher and seemed 
 resolved to make good their words by defending him against 
 whatever assault might be made. Macer, himself a host 
 in such an affray, neither spoke nor moved, standing upright 
 and still as a statue ; but any one might see the soldier in 
 his kindling eye, and that a slight cause would bring him 
 upon the assailants with a fury that would deal out wounds 
 and death. He had told them that the old legionary was 
 not quite dead within him, and sometimes usurped the 
 place of the Christian ; this they seemed to remember, and 
 after showering upon him vituperation and abuse in every 
 form, one after another they withdrew, and left him with 
 those who had gathered immediately around him. These, 
 too, soon took their leave of him, and Macer, unimpeded 
 and alone, turned towards his home. 
 
 When I related to Probus afterwards what I had heard 
 and witnessed, he said that I was fortunate in hearing what 
 was so much more sober and calm than what usually fell 
 from him ; that generally he devoted himself to an exposi 
 tion of the absurdities of the heathen worship, and the 
 abominations of the mysteries, and the vices of the priest 
 hood ; and he rarely ended without filling with rage a 
 great proportion of those who heard him. Many a time had 
 he been assaulted, and hardly had escaped with his life. 
 You will easily perceive, Fausta, how serious an injury is 
 inflicted upon us by rash and violent declaimers like Macer. 
 There are others like him ; he is by no means alone, though 
 he is by far the most conspicuous. Together they help to 
 kindle the flame of active hostility, and infuse fresh bitter 
 ness into the pagan heart. Should the emperor carry into 
 effect the purposes now ascribed to him, these men will 
 be sure victims, and the first. 
 
 Upon my return, after hearing Macer, I found Livia 
 seated with Julia, to whom she often comes thus, and then 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 199 
 
 together, I often accompanying, they visit Tibur. She had 
 but just arrived. It was easy to see that the lighthearted- 
 ness which so manifested itself always in her beaming 
 countenance and the elastic step, was gone ; the usual signs 
 of it, at least, were not visible. Her whole expression was 
 serious and anxious ; and upon her face were the traces of 
 recent grief. For a long time, after the first salutations 
 and inquiries were through, neither spoke. At length 
 Livia said, 
 
 " I am come now, Julia, to escape from what has become 
 of late little other than a prison. The Fabrician dungeons 
 are not more gloomy than the gardens of Sallust are now. 
 No more gayety ; no feasting by day and carousal by night ; 
 the gardens never illuminated ; no dancing or music. It is 
 a new life for me ; and then the only creatures to be seen, 
 that hideous Fronto and the smiling Varus ; men very 
 well in their place, but no inmates of palaces. " 
 
 " Well, " said Julia, " there is the greater reason why we 
 should see more of each other and of Zenobia. Aurelian is 
 the same ? " 
 
 " The same ? There is the same form, and the same face, 
 and the same voice ; but the form is motionless, save when 
 at the hippodrome, the face black as Styx, and his voice 
 rougher than the raven s. That agreeable humour and 
 sportiveness which seem native to him, though by reason 
 of his thousand cares not often seen, is now wholly gone. 
 He is observant as ever of all the forms of courtesy, and I 
 am to him what I have ever been ; but a dark cloud has 
 settled over him and all the house, and I would willingly 
 escape if I could. And worse than all is this of Aurelia ! 
 Alas, poor girl ! " 
 
 " And what, Livia, is the truth ? " said Julia ; " the city 
 is filled with rumours, but they are so at variance no one 
 knows which to believe, or whether none. " 
 
 " I hardly know myself, " replied Livia. " All I know 
 with certainty is that I have lost my only companion, or 
 the only one I cared for, and that Aurelian merely says 
 she has been sent to the prisons at the Fabrician bridge. 
 
200 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 I cannot tell you of our parting. Aurelia was sure some 
 thing terrible was designed against her, from the sharpness 
 and violence of her uncle s language ; and she left me as 
 if she were never to see me again. But I would believe no 
 such thing ; and so I told her, and tried to give to her some 
 of the courage and cheerfulness which I pretended to have 
 myself ; but it was to no purpose. She departed weeping, 
 as if her heart were broken. I love her greatly, notwith 
 standing her usual air of melancholy, and her preference of 
 solitude ; and I have found in her, as you know, my best 
 friend and companion. Yet, I confess, there is that in her 
 which I never understood, and do not now understand. I 
 hope she will comply with the wishes of Aurelian, and that 
 I shall soon see her again. The difficulty is all owing to 
 this new religion. I wish, Julia, there were no such thing. 
 It seems to me to do nothing but sow discord and violence. " 
 
 " That, dear Li via, " said Julia, " is not a very wise wish ; 
 especially seeing you know, as you will yourself confess, so 
 little about it. " 
 
 " But, " quickly added Livia, " was it not better as it was 
 at Palmyra? who heard then of these bitter hostilities? 
 who were there troubled about their worship ? One hardly 
 knew there was such a thing as a Christian. When Paul 
 was at the palace it was still all the same ; only, if any 
 thing, a little more agreeable. But here, no one at the 
 gardens speaks of Christians but with an assassin air that 
 frightens one. There must surely be more evil in them 
 than I ever dreamt of. " 
 
 " The evil, Livia, " answered her sister, " comes not from 
 the Christians, nor Christianity, but from those who oppose 
 them. There were always Christians in Palmyra, and, as 
 you say, even in the palace, yet there was always peace and 
 good-will too. If Christianity were in itself an element of 
 discord and division, why were no such effects seen there ? 
 The truth is, Livia, the division and discord are created, 
 not by the new religion, but by those who resist it and 
 will not suffer people to act and think as they please about 
 it. Under Zenobia all had free liberty to believe as they 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 201 
 
 would. And there was under her the reign of universal 
 peace and good-will. Here, on the other hand, it has been 
 the practice of the state to interfere and say what the citi 
 zens shall believe, and whom they shall worship, and what 
 and whom they shall not. How should it be otherwise 
 than that troubles should spring up, under legislation so 
 absurd and so wicked ? Would it not be a certain way to 
 introduce confusion, if the state or Aurelian should pre 
 scribe our food and drink, or our dress ? And if confusion 
 did arise, and bitter opposition, you could not justly say it 
 was owing to the existence of certain kinds of food or of 
 clothes which people fancied, but to their being interfered 
 with. Let them alone, and they will please themselves 
 and be at peace. " 
 
 " Yes, " said Livia ; " that may be. But the common 
 people are in no way fit judges in such things ; and it seems 
 to me if either party must give way, it were better the 
 people did. The government has the power, and they will 
 use it. " 
 
 " In so indifferent a matter as food or dress, " rejioined the 
 sister, " if a government were so foolish as to make pro 
 hibitory and whimsical laws, it were better to yield than 
 contend. But in an affair so different from that as one s 
 religion, one could not act in the same way. I may dress 
 in one kind of stuff as well as another ; it is quite a possi 
 ble thing; but is it not plainly impossible, if I think one 
 kind of stuff is of an exquisitive fineness and colour, for 
 me to believe and say at the same time that its texture is 
 coarse and its hue dull ? The mind cannot believe accord 
 ing to any other laws than those of its own constitution. 
 Is it not, then, the height of wickedness to set out to make 
 people believe and act one way in religion ? The history of 
 the world has shown that, in spite of men s wickedness, 
 there is nothing on earth they value as they do their re 
 ligion. They will die rather than change or renounce it. 
 Men are the same now. To require that any portion of the 
 people shall renounce their religion is to require them to 
 part with that which they value most, more than life 
 
202 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 itself ; and is it not in effect pronouncing against them a 
 sentence of destruction ? Some, indeed, will relinquish it 
 rather than die; and some will play the hypocrite for a 
 season intending to return to the profession of it in more 
 peaceful times. But most, and the best, will die before 
 they will disown their faith. " 
 
 " Then, if that is so, " said Livia, " and I confess what 
 you say cannot be denied, I would that Aurelian could be 
 prevailed upon to recede from a position which he seems to 
 be taking. His whole nature now seems to have been set 
 on fire by this priest Fronto. Superstition has wholly 
 seized and possessed him. His belief is that Eome can 
 never be secure and great till the enemies of the gods, as 
 well as of the state, shall perish ; and pushed on by Fronto, 
 he appears, so far as can be gathered from their discourse, 
 to be bent on their destruction. I wish he could be 
 changed back again to what he was before this notion 
 seized him. Piso, have you seen him, have you of late 
 conversed with him ? " 
 
 " Only > Livia, briefly ; and on this topic only at intervals 
 of other talk ; for he avoids it, at least with me. But from 
 what we all know of Aurelian, it is not one s opinion nor 
 another s that can alter his will when once bent one way. " 
 
 " How little did I once deem, " said Livia, " when I used 
 to wish so for greatness and empire, that they could be so 
 darkened over. I thought that to be great was necessarily 
 to be happy. But I was but a child then ! " 
 
 " How long since was that ? " asked Julia, smiling. 
 
 " Ah ! you would say I am little better than that now. " 
 
 " You are young yet, Livia, for much wisdom to have 
 come ; and you must not wonder if it come slowly, for you 
 are unfortunately placed to gain it. An idol on its pedestal 
 can rarely have but two thoughts, that it is an idol, and 
 that it is worshipped. The entrance of all other wisdom is 
 quite shut out. " 
 
 " How pleasant a thing it is, Piso, to have an elder sister 
 as wise as Julia ! But come, will you to Tibur ? I must 
 have Faustula, now that I have lost Aurelia. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 203 
 
 " Oh no, Livia, " said Julia ; " take her not away from 
 Zenobia. She can ill spare her. " 
 
 " But there is Vabalathus. " 
 
 " Yes, but he is now little there. He is, moreover, pre 
 paring for his voyage. Faustula is her all. " 
 
 " Ah, then, it cannot be ! It were very wrong, I see. 
 Then I see not but I must go to her, or come and live with 
 you. Only think of one s trying to escape from the crown 
 of Koine ! I can hardly believe I am Livia, once never to 
 be satisfied with power and greatness, now tired of them ! 
 No, not that exactly " 
 
 " You are tired only, Livia, of some little attendant 
 troubles; you like not that overhanging cloud you just 
 spoke of ; but for the empire itself, you love that none the 
 less. To believe that, it is enough to see you. " 
 
 " I suppose you are right. Julia is always right, Piso. " 
 
 So our talk ran on sometimes into graver, and then 
 into lighter themes ; often stopping and lingering long over 
 you, and Calpurnius, and Gracchus. You wished to know 
 more of Livia and her thoughts, and I have given her to 
 you in just the mood in which she happened to be. 
 
 The wife of Macer has just been here, seeking from Julia 
 both assistance and comfort. She implores us to do what 
 we may to calm and sober her husband. 
 
 " As the prospect of danger increases, " she said to Julia, 
 " he grows but the more impetuous and ungovernable. He 
 is abroad all the day, and every day, preaching all over 
 Eome, and brings home nothing for the support of the 
 family ; and if it were not for the emperor s bounty we 
 should starve. " 
 
 " And does that support you ? " 
 
 " Oh no, lady ! it hardly gives us food enough to subsist 
 upon. Then we have, besides, to pay for our lodging and 
 our clothes. But I should mind not at all our labour or 
 our poverty, did I not hear from so many that my husband 
 is so wild and violent in his preaching, and when he dis 
 putes with the gentiles, as he will call them. I am sure 
 it is a good cause to suffer in, if one must suffer ; but if our 
 
204 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 dear Macer would only work half the time, there would be 
 no occasion to suffer, which we should now were it not for 
 Demetrius the jeweller, who lives hard by, and who I am 
 sure has been very kind to us, and our good ^Elia. " 
 
 " You do not then, " I asked, " blame your religion, or 
 are weary of it ? " 
 
 " Oh, sir, surely not. It is our greatest comfort. We 
 all look out with expectation of our greatest pleasure when 
 Macer returns home after his day s labours; and labours 
 they surely are, and will destroy him, unless he is per 
 suaded to leave them off. For when he is at home the 
 children all come round him, and he teaches them, in his 
 way, what religion is. Sometimes it is a long story he 
 gives them of his life when he was a little boy and knew 
 nothing about Christ, and what wicked things he did ; and 
 sometimes about his serving as a soldier under the emperor. 
 But he never ends without showing them what Christ s 
 religion tells them to think of such ways of life. And 
 then, sir, before we go to bed he reads to us from the Gos 
 pels, which he bought when he was in the army, and was 
 richer than he is now, and prays for us all, for the city, 
 and the emperor, and the gentiles. So that we want almost 
 nothing, as I may say, to make us quite contented and 
 happy. " 
 
 " Have you ever been disturbed in your dwelling on 
 Macer s account ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes, sir, and we are always fearing it. This is our 
 great trouble. Once the house was attacked by the people 
 of the street, and almost torn down; and we escaped, I 
 and the children, through a back way, into the shop of the 
 good Demetrius. There we were safe, and while we were 
 gone our little cabin was entered, and everything in it 
 broken in pieces. Macer was not at home, or I think he 
 would have been killed. " 
 
 " Did you apply to the prefect ? " 
 
 " No, sir, I do not believe there would be much use in 
 that ; they say he hates the Christians so. " 
 
 " But he is bound to preserve order in the city. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 205 
 
 " Yes, sir; but for a great man like him it s easy to see 
 only one way, and to move so slowly that it does no good. 
 That is what our people say of him. When the Christians 
 are in trouble he never comes, if he comes at all, till it is 
 too late to do them any service. The best way for us is, 
 I think, to live quietly, and not needlessly provoke the 
 gentiles, nor believe that we can make Christians of them 
 all in a day. That is my husband s dream. He thinks 
 that he must deliver his message to people whether they 
 will or not, and it almost seems as if the more hostile they 
 were, the more he made it his duty to preach to them ; 
 which certainly was not the way in which Christ did, as 
 he reads his history to us. It was just the other way. It 
 almost makes me believe that some demon has entered into 
 him, he is so different from what he was, and abroad from 
 what he is at home. Do you think that likely, sir ? I 
 have been at times inclined to apply to Felix to see if he 
 could not exorcise him. " 
 
 " No, I do not think so, certainly ; but many may. I 
 believe he errs in his notion of the way in which to do 
 good ; but under some circumstances it is so hard to tell 
 which the best way is, that we must judge charitably of 
 one another. Some would say that Macer is right ; others 
 that the course of Probus is wisest; and others that of 
 Felix. We must do as we think right, and leave the issue 
 to God. " 
 
 " But you will come and see us ? We dwell near the 
 ruins and behind the shop of Demetrius. Everybody 
 knows Demetrius. " 
 
 I assured her I would go. 
 
 I almost wish, Fausta, that Julia was with you. All 
 classes seem alike exposed to danger. But I suppose it 
 would be in vain to propose such a step to her, especially 
 after what she said to Isaac. You now, after your storm, 
 live at length in calm ; not exactly in sunshine ; for you 
 would say the sun never can seem to shine that falls upon 
 the ruins of Palmyra. But calm and peace you certainly 
 have, and they are much. I wish Julia could enjoy them 
 
206 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 with you. For here, every hour, so it now seems to me, 
 the prospect darkens, and it will be enough for one of us to 
 remain to encounter the evil, whatever it may be, and 
 defend the faith we have espoused. This is an office more 
 appropriate to man than to woman ; though emergencies 
 may arise, as they have, when woman herself must forget 
 her tenderness and put on soldier s panoply; and when it 
 has come, never has she been found wanting. Her prompt 
 ness to believe that which is good and pure has been 
 equalled by her fortitude and patience in suffering for it. 
 You will soon see Vabalathus. He will visit you before 
 he enters upon his great office. By him I shall write to 
 you soon again. Farewell. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 207 
 
 LETTEK VIII. 
 
 FEOM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 THE HOME IN THE RUINS. MACER S CHILDREN. JELIA, THE 
 DANCING GIRL. PISO AND AURELIAN. 
 
 MAECUS and Lucilia are inconsolable. Their grief, I 
 fear, will be lasting as it is violent. They have no 
 resource but to plunge into affairs, and drive away memory 
 by some active and engrossing occupation. Yet they cannot 
 always live abroad ; they must at times return to themselves, 
 and join the company of their own thoughts. And then 
 memory is not to be put off; at such moments this faculty 
 seems to constitute the mind more than any other. It be 
 comes in a manner the mind itself. The past rises up in 
 spite of ourselves, and overshadows the present. Whether 
 its scenes have been prosperous or afflictive, but especially 
 if they have been shameful, do they present themselves with 
 all the vividness of the objects before us and the passing 
 hour, and minister to our joy or increase our pains. We in 
 vain attempt to escape. We are prisoners in the hands of 
 a giant. To forget is not in our power. The will is impo 
 tent. The effort to forget is often but an effort to remem 
 ber. Fast as we fly, so fast the enemy of our peace pursues. 
 Memory is a companion who never leaves us or never 
 leaves us long. It is the true Nemesis. Tartarean regions 
 have no worse woes, nor the hell of Christians, than memory 
 inflicts upon those who have done evil. My friends struggle 
 in vain. They have not done evil indeed, but they have 
 suffered it. The sorest calamity that afflicts mortals has 
 overtaken them ; their choicest jewel has been torn from 
 them ; and they can no more drown the memory of their 
 loss than they can take that faculty itself and tear it from 
 
208 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 their souls. Comfort cannot come from that quarter. It 
 can come only from being re-possessed of that which has 
 been lost hereafter, and from enjoying the hope of that 
 felicity now. See how Marcus writes. After much else, 
 he says, 
 
 " I miss you, Piso, and the conversations which we had 
 together. I know not how it is, but your presence acted 
 as a restraint upon my hot and impatient temper. Since 
 your departure I have been little less than mad, and so far 
 from being of service to Lucilia, she has been compelled 
 to moderate her own grief in the hope to assuage mine. 1 
 have done nothing but rave, and curse my evil fortune. 
 And can anything else be looked for ? How should a man 
 be otherwise than exasperated when the very thing he loves 
 best in the wide universe is, without a moment s warning, 
 snatched away from him ? A man falls into a passion if 
 his seal is stolen, or his rings, or his jewels ; if his dwel 
 ling burns down, or his slaves run away or die by some 
 pestilence. And why should he not much more when the 
 providence of the gods, or the same power, whatever it may 
 be, that gave us a child, tears it from us again, and just 
 then when we have so grown into it that it is like hewing 
 us in two ? I can believe in nothing but capricious chance. 
 We live by chance, and so we die. Such events are other 
 wise inexplicable. For what reason can by the most in 
 genious be assigned for giving life for a few years to a 
 being like Gallus, and who then, before he is more than 
 just past the threshold of life, before a single power of his 
 nature has put itself forth, but at the moment when he is 
 bound to his parents by ties of love which never afterwards 
 would be stronger, is struck dead ? We can give no account 
 of it. It is irreconcilable with the hypothesis of an in 
 telligent and good Providence. It has all the features of 
 chance upon it. A god could not have done it, unless he 
 had been the god of Tartarus. Dark Pluto might, or the 
 avenging Furies, were they supreme. But away with such 
 dreams. The slaves, who were his proper attendants, have 
 been scourged and crucified. That at first gave me some 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 209 
 
 relief; but already I repent of it. So it is with me; I 
 rush suddenly upon what at the moment I think right, and 
 then as suddenly think and feel that I have done wrong, and 
 so suffer. I see and experience nothing but suffering, which 
 ever way I turn. Truly we are riddles. Piso, you cannot 
 conceive of my loss. It was our only child, and the only 
 one we shall ever know. I wish that I believed in the 
 gods, that I might curse them. " 
 
 And much more in the same frantic way. Time will 
 blunt his grief ; but it will bring him, I fear, no other or 
 better comfort. He hopes for oblivion of his loss ; but 
 that can never be. He may cease to grieve as he grieves 
 now ; but he can never cease to remember. I trust to see 
 him again ere long, and turn his thoughts into a better 
 channel. 
 
 I did not forget to keep my promise to the wife of Macer. 
 In truth, I had long regarded it as essential to our safety 
 almost, certainly to our success, that this man, and others 
 of the same character, should be restrained in some way in 
 their course of mistaken zeal ; and had long intended to use 
 what influence to that end I might possess. Probus had 
 promised to accompany me, and to do what in him lay to 
 rescue religion from this peril at the hands of one of her 
 best friends. He joined me towards the evening of the 
 same day on which I had seen the wife of Macer, and we 
 took our way toward his dwelling. 
 
 It was already past the hour of twilight when we reached 
 the part of the city where Macer dwells, and entered the 
 ruins among which his cabin stands. These ruins are those 
 of extensive and magnificent baths, destroyed a long time 
 ago, and to this day remaining as the flames left them. At 
 the rear of them, far from the street, and concealed from it 
 by arches and columns and fragments of wall, we were 
 directed, by the rays of a single light streaming from a 
 window, to the place we sought. We wound our way 
 among these fallen or still standing masses of stone, and 
 which frequently hid from us the object of our search, till, 
 as we found ourselves near the spot, we were arrested by 
 
 14 
 
210 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 the sound of a single voice, uttering itself with vehemence, 
 and yet solemnity. We paused, but could not distinguish 
 the words used ; but the same conviction possessed us as to 
 its cause. It was Macer at prayer. We moved nearer, so 
 that without disturbing the family we might still make 
 ourselves of the number of hearers. His voice, loud and 
 shrill, echoed among the ruins, and conveyed to us, though 
 at some distance, every word that he uttered. But for the 
 noise of carriages and passengers it would have penetrated 
 even to the streets. The words we caught were such as 
 these : 
 
 " If they hear thee not, O Lord, nor reverence thy mes 
 sengers, but deny thee and turn upon those whom thou 
 sendest the lip of scorn and the eye of pride, and will none 
 of their teachings, and so do despite to the spirit of thy 
 grace, and crucify the Lord afresh, then do thou, Lord, 
 come upon them as once upon the cities of the plain in the 
 times of thine anger. Let fire from heaven consume them. 
 Let the earth yawn and swallow them up. Tear up the 
 foundations of this modern Babylon ; level to the earth her 
 proud walls ; and let her stand for a reproach; and a hissing, 
 and a scorn, through all generations ; so that men shall 
 say, as they pass by, Lo ! the fate of them that held to 
 their idols rather than serve the living God ; their proud 
 palaces are now dwellings of dragons, and over her ruins 
 the trees of the forest are now spreading their branches. 
 But yet, Lord, may this never be; but may a way of 
 escape be made for them through thy mercy. And to this 
 end may we, thy servants, to whom thou hast given the 
 sword of the Spirit, gird it upon our sides, lift up our voice 
 and spare not, day and night, morning and evening, in the 
 public place and at the corners of the streets ; in all places, 
 and in every presence, proclaiming the good news of salva 
 tion. Let not cowardice seal our lips. Whether before 
 gentile or Jew, emperor or slave, may we speak as becomes 
 the Lord s anointed. Warm the hearts of the cold and dead ; 
 put fire into them, fire from thine own altar. The world, 
 O Lord, and its honours and vanities, seduce thine own 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 211 
 
 servants from tliee. They are afraid, they are cold, they are 
 dead, and the enemy lifts himself up and triumphs. For 
 this we would mourn and lament. Give us, O Lord, the 
 courage and the zeal of thine early apostles and teachers, 
 so that no fear of tortures and death may make us traitors 
 to Christ and thee. " 
 
 It was a long time that he went on in this strain, in 
 veighing with heat and violence against all who withdrew 
 their hand from the work, or abated their zeal. When he 
 had ceased, and we stood waiting to judge whether the 
 service were wholly ended, the voices of the whole family 
 apparently were joined together in a hymn of praise, - 
 Macer s now more gentle and subdued, as if to hear himself 
 the tones of the children and of his wife, who accompanied 
 him. The burden of the hymn was also a prayer for a 
 spirit of fidelity and a temper of patience in the cause of 
 truth and Christ. It was worship in the highest sense, 
 and none within the dwelling could have joined more 
 heartily than we did who stood without. 
 
 When it was ended, and with it evidently the evening 
 service, we approached and knocked for admittance. Macer 
 appeared, holding a light above his head; and perceiving 
 who his guests were, gave us cordial welcome, at the same 
 time showing us into his small apartment, and placing 
 stools for our accommodation. The room in which we were 
 was small and vaulted, and built of stone in the most solid 
 manner. I saw at once that it was one of the smaller rooms 
 of the ancient bath, which had escaped entire destruction, 
 and now served as a comfortable habitation. A door on the 
 inner side appeared to connect it with a number of similar 
 apartments. A table in the centre and a few stools, a 
 shelf, on which were arranged the few articles which they 
 possessed, both for cooking and eating their food, consti 
 tuted the furniture of the room. In the room next beyond 
 I could see pallets of straw laid upon the floor, and which 
 served for beds. Macer, his wife, and six children, com 
 posed the family then present; the two elder sons being 
 yet absent at their work in the shop of Demetrius. The 
 
212 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 mother held at her breast an infant of a year or more ; one 
 of three years sprang again upon his father s lap, as he re 
 sumed his seat after our entrance, whence he had apparently 
 been just dislodged ; the rest, sitting in obscure parts of the 
 room, were at first scarcely visible. The wife of Macer ex 
 pressed heartily her pleasure at seeing us, and said even 
 more by her flushed and animated countenance than by 
 her words. The severe countenance of Macer himself re 
 laxed and gave signs of satisfaction. 
 
 " I owe you, Piso, " he said, " many thanks for mercies 
 shown to my wife and my little ones here, and I am glad to 
 see you among us. We are far apart enough as the world 
 measures such things ; but in Christ we are one. At such 
 times as these, when the prince of darkness rules, we 
 ought, if ever, to draw toward each other, that so we may 
 make better our common defence. I greet you as a brother ; 
 I trust to love you as one. " 
 
 I told him that nothing should be wanting on my part 
 toward a free and friendly intercourse; that from all I had 
 heard of him I had conceived a high regard for him, and 
 owed him more thanks for what he had done in behalf of 
 our religion than he could me for any services I had ren 
 dered him. 
 
 " Me ! " said he, and his head fell upon his bosom ; 
 " what have I done for Christ to deserve the thanks of any ? 
 I have preached and I have prayed ; I have opposed heresies 
 and errors ; I have wrestled with the enemies and corrupters 
 of our faith within our own body and without ; but the 
 fruit seems nothing. The gentile is still omnipotent; 
 heresy and error still abound. " 
 
 " Yes, Macer, " I replied, " that is certainly so, and may 
 be so for many years to come; but still we are gaining. 
 He who can remember twenty years, can count a great in 
 crease. After the testimony borne by the martyrs of the 
 Decian persecution to their faith, and all the proofs they 
 gave of sincere attachment to the doctrine of Christ, crowds 
 have entered the Church, a hundred for every one whose 
 blood then flowed. " 
 
FROM PISO TO F AUSTA. 213 
 
 " And now, " said Macer, his eye kindling with its wild 
 fires, " the Church is dead ! The truest prayer that the 
 Christian can now offer is that it would please God to try 
 us again as it were by fire ! We slumber, Piso ! The 
 Christians are not now the Nazarites they were in the first 
 age of the Church. Divisions have crept in; tares have 
 been sown with the wheat, and have come up, and are 
 choking the true plants of God. I know not but the signs 
 of terror which are scaring the heavens ought rather to be 
 hailed as tokens of love. Better a thousand perish on the 
 rack or by the axe than that the Church itself faint away 
 and die. " 
 
 " It will not do, " said Probus, " always to depend upon 
 such remedies of our sloth and heresies, Macer. Surely it 
 were better to prosper in some other and happier way. All 
 I think we can say of persecution, and of the oppositions 
 of our enemies, is this : that if it be in the providence of 
 God that they cannot be avoided, we have cause to bless 
 him that their issue is -good rather than evil; that they 
 serve as tests by which the genuine is tried and proved ; 
 that they give the best and highest testimony to the world 
 that man can give of his sincerity ; that they serve to bind 
 together into one compact and invincible phalanx the dis 
 ciples of our common Master, however in many things they 
 may divide and separate. But were it not better, if we 
 could attain an equal good without the suffering ? " 
 
 " I believe that to be impossible, " said Macer. " Since 
 Jesus began his ministry, persecution has been the rod that 
 has been laid upon the Church, without sparing, and the 
 fruit has been abundant. Without it, like these foolish 
 children, we might run riot in all iniquity. " 
 
 " I do not say that the rod has not been needed, " answered 
 Probus, " nor that good has not ensued ; but only that it 
 would be better, wiser, and happier, to reach the same good 
 without the rod ; just as it is better when your children, 
 without chastisement, fulfil your wishes and perform their 
 tasks. We hope and trust that our children will grow up 
 to such virtue that they will no longer need the discipline 
 
214 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 of suffering to make them better. Ought we not to look 
 and pray for a period to arrive in the history of the Church 
 when men shall no longer need to be lashed and driven, 
 but shall of themselves discern what is best, and cleave 
 to it?" 
 
 " That might, indeed, be better, " replied the other ; " but 
 the time is not come for it yet. The Church, I say, is cor 
 rupt, and it cries out for another purging. Christians are 
 already lording it over one another. The Bishop of Home 
 sets himself up as a lord over subjects. A Eoman Caesar 
 walks it not more proudly. What with his robes of state, 
 and his seat of gold, and his golden rod, and his altar set 
 out with vessels of gold and silver, and his long train of 
 menials and subordinates, poor simple Macer, who learned 
 of Christ, as he hopes, is at a loss to discern the follower 
 of the lowly Jesus, but takes Felix, the Christian servant, 
 for some Fronto of a heathen temple. Were the power 
 mine, as the will is, never would I stay for Aurelian, but 
 my own arm should sweep from the places they pollute the 
 worst enemies of the Saviour. Did Jesus die that Felix 
 might flaunt his peacock s feathers in the face of Rome ? " 
 
 " We cannot hope, Macer, " answered Probus, " to grow 
 up to perfection at once. I see and bewail the errors at 
 which you point as well as you. But if to remove them 
 we bring down the heavy arm of Rome upon our heads, the 
 remedy may prove worse than the disease. " 
 
 " No ; that could not be ! Let those who with open eyes 
 abuse the gifts of God perish ! If this faith cannot be 
 maintained undefiled by heathen additions, let it perish ! " 
 
 " But God dealeth not so with us, * continued Probus ; " he 
 beareth long and patiently. We are not destroyed because 
 in the first years of our life we do not rise to all virtue, but 
 are spared to fourscore. Ought we not to manifest a like 
 patience and forbearance ? By waiting patiently, we shall 
 see our faults, and one by one correct them. There is still 
 some reason and discernment left among us. We are not 
 all fools and blind. And the faults which we correct our 
 selves, by our own action, and the conviction of our own 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 215 
 
 minds acting freely and voluntarily, will be more truly 
 corrected than if we are but frightened away from them for 
 a time by the terrors of the Eoman sword. I think, Macer, 
 and so thinks Piso, that far from seeking to inflame the 
 common mind, and so drawing upon us the evils which are 
 now with reason apprehended, we should rather aim to ward 
 them off. " 
 
 " Never ! " cried Macer, with utmost indignation. " Shall 
 the soldier of the cross shrink 
 
 " No, Macer, he need not shrink ; let him stand armed 
 in panoply complete, prompt to serve, willing to die ; but 
 let him not wantonly provoke an enemy who may not only 
 destroy him, that were a little thing, but in the fury 
 of the onset, thousands with him, and perhaps with them 
 the very faith for which they die ! The Christian is not 
 guiltless who, though it be in the cause of Christ, rushes 
 upon unnecessary death. You, Macer, are not only a 
 Christian and soldier of Jesus Christ, but a man, who, 
 having received life from the Creator, have no right wan 
 tonly to throw it away. You are a husband, and you are 
 bound to live for your wife ; these are your children, and 
 you are bound to live for them. " 
 
 " He, " said Macer, solemnly, " who hateth not father, 
 and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and 
 sister, yea, and his own life also, cannot be my disciple. " 
 
 " Yes, " replied Probus, " that is true ; we are to be ready 
 and willing to suffer for Christ and truth ; but not to seek 
 it. He who seeks martyrdom is no martyr. Selfish pas 
 sions have then mingled their impure current with that of 
 love to God, and the sacrifice is not without spot and blem 
 ish. Jesus did not so, nor his first followers. When the 
 Lord was persecuted in one city, he stayed not there to in 
 flame it more and more ; he fled to another. Paul and Peter 
 and Barnabas stood ever for their rights ; they suffered not 
 wrong willingly. When the ark of truth is entrusted to 
 few hands, they must bear it forward boldly, but with care, 
 else are they at a blow cut off, and the ark with its precious 
 burden borne away and lost, or miracles alone can rescue 
 
216 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 it. But when the time comes that no prudence or care will 
 avail, then they may not refuse the issue, but must show 
 that life is nothing in comparison of truth and God. " 
 
 " Probus, " said Macer, " I like not your timid counsels. 
 T is not by such that Christ s cause shall ever advance, or 
 that period ever come when he, the long looked and waited 
 for, shall descend, and the millennial reign begin. Life 
 is nothing to me, and less than nothing. I hold it as 
 dirt and dross. And if by throwing it away I can add 
 such a commentary to my preaching as shall strike a single 
 pagan heart, I shall not have died in vain ; and if the blood 
 that shall flow from these veins may serve but as a purge 
 to carry off the foul humours that now fester and rage in the 
 body of the Church, thrice happy shall I be to see it flow. 
 And for these, let them be as the women and children of other 
 times, and hold not back when their Master calls. Arria ! 
 do thou set before thee Saint Blandina, and if the Lord 
 let thee be as her, thou wilt have cause to bless his name. " 
 
 " Never, Macer, would I shrink from any trial to which 
 the Lord in his wisdom might call me ; that you know. 
 But has not Probus uttered a truth when he says that we 
 are not innocent, and never glorious, when we seek death : 
 that he who seeks martyrdom is no martyr? Listen, 
 Macer, to the wisdom of Probus and the noble Piso. Did 
 you not promise that you would patiently hear them ? " 
 
 " Woman, I have heard them ; their words are naught, 
 stark naught, or worse. Where would have been the 
 blessed gospel at this hour had it been committed to such 
 counsels ? Even under Nero would it have died for want 
 of those who were willing to die for it. I am a soldier of 
 the cross, whose very vocation it is to fight and die. And 
 if I may but die, blessed Jesus ! for thee, then may I hope 
 that thou wilt deal mercifully with thy servant at thy 
 judgment-seat. I hear thy voice ever sounding in my ear, 
 reproving me for my cowardice. Have patience with me, 
 and I will give thee all. And if labour, and torture, and 
 death, would but cancel sin ! But alas ! even they may 
 not suffice. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 217 
 
 " Then, dear father, " said one of his daughters, who had 
 drawn near and seated herself at his knee, while the others 
 had gathered round, " then will we add ourselves to the 
 sacrifice. " 
 
 " Would you ? " said Macer, in an absent, musing way, 
 as if some other thought were occupying him. 
 
 Thinking that his love of his children, evidently a very 
 strong affection in him, might be made to act as a restraint, 
 I said that " I feared he greatly exposed his little family 
 to unnecessary danger. Already had his dwelling been 
 once assailed, and the people were now ripe for any vio 
 lence. This group of little ones can ill encounter a rude 
 and furious mob. " 
 
 " They can die, can they not ? " said Macer. " Is that 
 difficult, or impossible ? If the Lord need them, they are 
 his. I can ask no happier lot for them than that by death 
 they may glorify God. And what is it to die so, more 
 than in another way ? Let them die in their beds, and 
 whom do they benefit ? They die then to themselves, and 
 no one is the gainer; let them die by the sword of Yarus, 
 or by the stones of the populace, and then they become 
 themselves stones in the foundation of that temple of God 
 of which Jesus is the chief corner-stone, and they are glo 
 rious forever. What say you, Cicer, will you die for 
 Christ ? " 
 
 The little fellow hid his head in his father s bosom at 
 this sudden appeal, but soon drew it out, and said, 
 
 " I would rather die for you, father. " 
 
 " Ah ! " said Macer, " how I am punished in my children ! 
 Cicer, would you not die for Christ ? " 
 
 " I would die for him if you wish it. " 
 
 " Macer, " said Probus, " do you not see how God has 
 bound you and this family into one ? and he surely requires 
 you not to separate yourself, their natural protector, from 
 them forever ; still less, to involve them in all the suffer 
 ings which, taking the course you do, may come upon them 
 at any hour. " 
 
 " Probus ! their death would give me more pleasure than 
 
218 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 their life, dying for Christ. I love them now and here, 
 fondly as ever parent loved his children ; but what is now, 
 and here ? Nothing. The suffering of an hour or of a mo 
 ment joins us together again, where suffering shall be no 
 more and death no more. To-morrow, yes, to-morrow 
 would I that the wrath of these idol-worshippers might be 
 turned against us. Eome must be roused, she sleeps the 
 sleep of death ; and the Church sleeps it too ; both need 
 that they who are for the Lord should stand forth, and, not 
 waiting to be attacked, themselves assail the enemy, who 
 need but to be assailed with the zeal and courage of men 
 who were once to be found in the Church, to be driven at 
 all points. " 
 
 " But, father, " said the daughter who had spoken before, 
 " other Christans think not so. They believe for the most 
 part, as I hear, with Probus and Piso, that on no account 
 should we provoke the gentiles, or give them cause of com 
 plaint against us ; they think that to do so would greatly 
 harm us ; that our duty is to go on the even tenor of our 
 way, worshipping God after our own doctrine and in our 
 own manner, and claiming and exercising all our rights as 
 citizens, but abstaining from every act that might rouse 
 their anger, or needlessly irritate them, irritated neces 
 sarily almost beyond bearing by the wide and increasing 
 prosperity of our faith, and the daily falling away of the tem 
 ple worshippers. Would it be right, dearest father, to do 
 that which others approve not, and the effect of which might 
 be not only to draw down evil upon your and our heads, but 
 upon thousands of others ? We cannot separate ourselves 
 from our brethren ; if one suffers, all will suffer. " 
 
 K Mlia, my daughter, there is a judge within the breast 
 whom I am bound to obey rather than any other counsel, 
 of either man or woman. I cannot believe, because another 
 believes, a certain truth. Neither can I act in a certain 
 way because others hold it their duty to act so. I must 
 obey the inward voice, and no other. If I abandon this, 
 T am lost ; I am on the desert, without sun, moon, or stars 
 to guide me. All the powers of the earth could not bribe 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 219 
 
 nor drag me from that which I hold to be the true order 
 of conduct for me, shown by the finger of God to be 
 such. " 
 
 " But, father, " continued the daughter, pursuing her 
 object, " are we not too lately entered among the Christians 
 to take upon us a course which they condemn ? It is but 
 yesterday that we were among the enemies of this faith. 
 Are we to-day to assume the part of leaders ? Would not 
 modesty teach us a different lesson ? " 
 
 " Modesty has nothing to do with truth, " said Macer. 
 " He who is wholly a Christian to-day is all that he can 
 be to-morrow, or next year. I am as old in faith and zeal 
 as Piso, Probus, or Felix. No one can believe more, or 
 more heartily, by believing longer. Nay, it is they who 
 are newly saved who are most sensible to the blessing. 
 Custom in religion, as in other things, dulls the soul. 
 Were I a Christian much longer before God called me to 
 serve him by suffering or death, I fear I should be then 
 spiritually dead, and so worse than before I believed. Let 
 it be to-morrow, Lord, that I shall glorify thee ! " 
 
 It was plain that little impression was to be made upon 
 the mind of Macer. But we ceased not to urge him further, 
 his wife and elder children uniting with us in importunate 
 entreaty and expostulation. But all in vain. In his stern 
 and honest enthusiasm he believed all prudence cowardice ; 
 all calculation worldliness ; all moderation and temperance 
 treason to the Church and Christ. Yet none of the natural 
 current of the affections seemed to be dried up or poisoned. 
 No one could be more bound to his wife and children ; and 
 toward us, though in our talk we spared him not, he ever 
 maintained the same frank and open manner, yielding 
 never an inch of ground, and uttering himself with an ear 
 nestness and fury such as I never saw in another ; but soon 
 as he had ceased speaking, subsiding into a gentleness that 
 seemed almost that of a woman, and playfully sporting 
 with the little boy that he held on his knee. 
 
 Soon as our conversation was ended, Macer, turning to 
 his wife, exclaimed, 
 
220 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " But what hinders that we should set before our visitors 
 such hospitality as our poor house affords ? Arria, have we 
 not such as may well enough entertain Christians ? " 
 
 At a word from their mother, ^Elia and her sister imme 
 diately proceeded to employ themselves in the simple rites 
 of hospitality, and soon spread out the table, which stood 
 in the centre of the room, with bread, lettuces, figs, and a 
 flask of wine. While they were thus engaged, I could not 
 but observe the difference in appearance of the two elder 
 sisters, who with equal alacrity were setting out the 
 simple provisions for our repast. One was clad, like the 
 others of the family, in the garment common to the poor. 
 The other she who had spoken was arrayed, not richly, 
 but almost so, or, I should say, fancifully, and with studied 
 regard to effect. While I was wondering at this, and seek 
 ing in my own mind for its explanation, I was interrupted 
 in my thoughts by Macer. 
 
 " Thanks to Aurelian, Piso, we are able, though poor, as 
 you see, and dwelling in these almost subterranean vaults, 
 to live above the fear of absolute want. But especially are 
 we indebted for many of our comforts, and for such luxury 
 as this flask of Massican, to my partly gentile daughter, 
 ^Elia, whom you behold moving among us, as if by her 
 attire she were not of us, but Cicer s heart is not truer, 
 and who will, despite her faith and her father s bidding, 
 dance and sing for the merriment of these idolaters. Never 
 before, I believe, had Christian preacher a dancing-girl for 
 a daughter. " 
 
 A deep blush passed over the features of the daughter 
 as she answered, 
 
 "But, father, you know that in my judgment and 
 whose in this matter is so to be trusted ? I am in no way 
 injured by my art, and it adds somewhat to the common 
 stock. I see not why I need be any the less a Christian 
 because I dance ; especially as with me it is but one of the 
 forms of labour. Were it forbidden by our faith, or could 
 it be shown to be to me an evil, I would cease. But most 
 sure I am it is neither. Let me now appeal to Probus for 
 my justification, and to Piso. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 221 
 
 " Doubtless, " said Probus, " those Christians are right 
 who abstain from the theatres, the amphitheatres, the cir 
 cuses, and from the places of public amusement, where 
 sights and sounds meet ear and eye, such as the pure should 
 never hear or see, and such as none can hear or see and 
 maintain their purity. The soul is damaged in spite of 
 herself. But for these arts of music and dancing, practised 
 for the harmless entertainment of those who feast their 
 friends, where alone, I warrant, ^Elia is found, who 
 can doubt that she is right ? Were not the reception of the 
 religion of Christ compatible with the indulgence in inno 
 cent amusement, or the practice of harmless art such as 
 these, few, I fear, would receive it. Christianity condemns 
 many things which by Pagans are held to be allowable ; 
 but not everything. " 
 
 " Willingly would I abandon my art, " said ^Elia, * did I 
 perceive it to injure the soul ; or could I in other ways buy 
 bread for our household. So dearly do I prize this new 
 found faith that for its sake, were it to be retained in no 
 other way, would I relinquish it, and sink into the deeper 
 poverty that would then be ours, or drudge at some humbler 
 toil. " 
 
 " Do it ! do it, ^Elia ! " said Macer, " and the Lord will 
 love thee all the more. T is the only spot on thy white 
 and glistening robes. The Lord loves not, more than I, to 
 see thee wheeling and waving to and fro, to supply mirth 
 to those who mayhap would crucify thee the next hour, as 
 others crucified thy Master. " 
 
 Tears fell from the eyes of the fair girl as she answered : 
 
 " Father, it shall be as you wish. Not willingly, but 
 by constraint, have I laboured as I have. God will not 
 forsake us, and will, I doubt not, open some new path of 
 labour for me, if, indeed, the disorders of the times do not 
 first scatter or destroy us. " 
 
 I here said to Macer and his daughter that there need be 
 no hesitation about abandoning the employment in question 
 from any doubt concerning a future occupation ; if JElia 
 would but accompany her mother when next she went to 
 
222 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 visit Julia, I could assure her of obtaining there all she 
 could desire. 
 
 At this, the little boy whom Macer held, clapped his 
 hands, and cried out with joy, " Ah ! then will ^Elia be 
 always with us, and go away no more ; " and flying to his 
 sister, was caught by her in her arms. 
 
 The joy diffused throughout the little circle at this news 
 was great. All were glad that ^Elia was to dance and sing 
 no more, for all wished her at home, and her profession had 
 kept her absent almost every day. The table was now 
 spread and we sat down to the frugal repast, Macer first of 
 fering up a prayer to God. 
 
 " It is singular, " said he, when we were seated, " that in 
 my heathen estate I ever asked the blessing of the gods 
 before I ate, nay, and notwithstanding the abominations 
 of my life, was often a worshipper within the temples. I 
 verily believe there are many Christians who pray less than 
 the heathen, and less after they become Christian than 
 before. " 
 
 " I can readily believe it, " said Probus. " False religions 
 multiply outward acts ; and for the reason that they make 
 religion to consist in them. A true faith, which places 
 religion in the inward disposition, not in services, will 
 diminish them. More prayers were said, and more rites 
 performed, in the temple of Jupiter, where my father was 
 priest, than the Christian church where I serve ever wit 
 nesses. But what then ? With the pagan worshipper, 
 religion ended when the service closed, and he turned from 
 the temple to the world. With the Christian, the highest 
 service only commences when he leaves the church. Re 
 ligion with him is virtuous action more than it is medi 
 tation or prayer. He prays without ceasing, not by uttering 
 without cessation the language of prayer, but by living 
 holily. Every act of every hour which is done conscien 
 tiously is a prayer, as well as the words we speak, and is 
 more pleasing to God, for the reason that practice is better 
 than mere profession, doing better than saying. " 
 
 " That is true, Probus, " replied Macer. " When I prayed 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 223 
 
 as an idolater, it was because T believed that the gods re 
 quired such outward acknowledgment, and that some evil 
 or other might befall me through their vengeance if I 
 did not. But when I had ended that duty, I had ended 
 my religion ; and my vices went on none the less prosper 
 ously. Often, indeed, my prayers were for special favours, 
 wealth, or success in some affair; and when, after 
 wearying myself with repeating them a thousand times, 
 and the favours were not bestowed, how I left the temple 
 in a rage, cursing the gods I had just been worshipping, 
 and swearing never more to propitiate them by prayer or 
 sacrifice ! Sometimes I repented of such violence, but 
 oftener kept my word, and tried some other god. You, 
 Probus, were, I may believe, of a more even temper. " 
 
 " Yes, perhaps so. My father was one of the most patient 
 and gentle of men, and religious after the manner of our 
 remoter ancestors of the days of the republic. He was my 
 instructor, and from him I learned truths which were suffi 
 cient for my happiness under ordinary circumstances. I 
 was a devout and constant worshipper of the gods. My 
 every-day life may then have been as pure as it has been 
 since I have been a Christian ; and my prayers as many or 
 more. The instincts of my nature, which carried up the 
 soul towards some great and infinite being, and which I 
 could not resist, kept me within the bounds of that prudent 
 and virtuous life which I believed would be most accepta 
 ble to them. But when a day of heavy and insupportable 
 calamity came upon me, and I was made to look after the 
 foundations of what I had been believing, I found there 
 were none. I was like a ship tossed about by the storms, 
 without rudder or pilot. I then knew not whether there 
 were gods or not; or if there were any, who, among the 
 multiplicity worshipped in Rome, the true ones were. In 
 my grief, I railed at the heavens and their rulers if 
 there were any for not revealing themselves to us in our 
 darkness and weakness ; and cursed them for their cruelty. 
 Soon after, I became a Christian. The difference between 
 my state then and now is this : I believed then ; but it 
 
224 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 was merely instinctive. I could give no reason to myself 
 or others for my faith. It was something, and yet nothing. 
 Now I have somewhat to stand upon. I can prove to my 
 self and to others my religion as well as other things. I 
 have knowledge as well as blind belief. It is good to be 
 lieve in something, and in some sort, though one can give 
 no account of his faith ; but it is better to believe in that 
 which we know, as we know other things. I have now, as 
 a Christian, the same strength of belief in God, providence, 
 and futurity, that I have in any facts attested by history. 
 Jesus has announced them or confirmed them, and they are 
 susceptible of proof. I differed from you, Macer, in this 
 that I cursed not the gods in my passion or caprice ; I 
 was for years and years their humble, and contented, and 
 patient worshipper. I rebelled not till I suffered cruel dis 
 appointment, and in my faith could find no consolation or 
 light. One real sorrow, by which the foundations of my 
 earthly peace were all broken up, revealed to me the noth 
 ingness of my so-called religion. Into what a new world, 
 Macer, has our new faith introduced us ! I am now happier 
 than ever I was even with my wife and children around me. " 
 
 " Some of our neighbours, " said Arria, " wonder what it 
 is that makes us so light of heart notwithstanding our 
 poverty and the dangers to which we are so often exposed. 
 I tell them that they who, like us, believe in the provi 
 dence of a God, who is always near us and within us, and 
 in the long reign with Christ as soon as death is past, have 
 nothing to fear. That which they esteem the greatest evil 
 of all is to us an absolute gain. Upon this they either 
 silently wonder, or laugh and deride. However, many too 
 believe. " 
 
 " Probus, " said Macer, " we are all ready to be offered up. 
 God s mercy to me is beyond all power of mine to describe, 
 in that he has touched and converted the hearts of every 
 one under my roof. Now if to this mercy he will but add 
 one more, that we may glorify him by our death as well as 
 in our life, the cup of his servant will be full and running 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 225 
 
 Probus did not choose again to engage with his convert 
 upon that theme, knowing him to be beyond the reach 
 of influence and control. We could not but marvel to see 
 to what extent he had infused his own enthusiasm into his 
 family. His wife, indeed, and elder daughters, would 
 willingly see him calmer and less violent when abroad, 
 but like him, being by nature of warm temperament, they 
 are Christians warm and zealous beyond almost any whom 
 I have seen. They are, as yet, also, so recently transferred 
 from their heathen to their Christian state that their sight 
 is still dazzled, and they see not objects in their true shapes 
 and proportions. In their joy they seem to others, and 
 perhaps often are, greatly extravagant in the expression of 
 their feelings and opinions. 
 
 When our temperate repast was ended Macer again 
 prayed, and we then separated. Our visit proved wholly 
 ineffectual as to the purpose we had in view, but by no 
 means so when I consider the acquaintance which it thus 
 gave me with a family in the very humblest condition, who 
 yet were holding and equally prizing the same opinions at 
 which, after so much research and labour, I had myself 
 arrived. I perceived in this power of Christianity to adapt 
 itself to minds so different in their state of previous prepa 
 ration, and in their ability to examine and sift a question 
 which was offered to them ; in the facility and quickness 
 with which it seized both upon the understanding and the 
 affections ; in the deep convictions which it produced of its 
 own truth and excellence, and the scorn and horror with 
 which it filled the mind for its former superstitions, I 
 saw in this an element of strength and of dominion such as 
 even I had hardly conceived, and which assures me that this 
 religion is destined to a universal empire. Not more cer 
 tainly do all men need it than they will have it. When 
 in this manner, with everything against it in the habits, 
 lives, and prejudices of men, with itself almost against 
 itself in its strictness and uncompromising morality, it 
 nevertheless forces its way into minds of every variety of 
 character, and diffuses wherever it goes the same inward 
 
 15 
 
226 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 happiness, its success under such circumstances is at once 
 an argument for its truth, and an assurance that it will 
 pause in its progress not till it shall have subdued the 
 world to itself. 
 
 Julia was deeply interested in all that I told her of the 
 family of Macer, and will make them all her special charge. 
 ^Elia will, I hope, become in some capacity a member of our 
 household. 
 
 I ought to tell you that we have often of late been at the 
 Gardens, where we have seen both Livia and Aurelian. 
 Livia is the same, but the emperor is changed. A gloomy 
 horror seems to sit upon him, which both indisposes him 
 to converse as formerly, and others to converse with him. 
 Especially has he shown himself averse to discussion of 
 any point that concerns the Christians, at least with me. 
 When I would willingly have drawn him that way, he 
 has shrunk from it with an expression of distaste for it, or 
 with more expressive silence, or the dark language of his 
 terrific frown. For me, however, he has no terrors, and 
 I have resolved to break through the barriers he chooses to 
 set up around him, and learn if I can what his feelings and 
 purposes precisely are. One conversation may reveal them 
 in such a way as may make it sufficiently plain what part 
 he means to act, and what measure of truth there may be in 
 the current rumours ; in which, for my own part, I cannot 
 bring myself to place much reliance. I doubt even concern 
 ing the death of Aurelia, whether, if even it has taken place, 
 it is not to be traced to some cause other than religion. 
 
 A day has passed. I have seen the emperor, as I was 
 resolved to do, and now I no longer doubt what his designs 
 are, nor that they are dark as they have been represented, 
 yea, and darker, even as night is darker than day. 
 
 Upon reaching the palace I was told that the emperor 
 was exercising at the hippodrome, toward which I then 
 bent my steps. It lies at some distance from the palace, 
 concealed from it by intervening groves. Soon as I came 
 in sight of it, I beheld Aurelian upon his favourite horse, 
 running the course as if contending for a prize, plying the 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 227 
 
 while the fierce animal he bestrode with the lash, as if he 
 were some laggard who needed rousing to his work. Swifter 
 than the wind he flew by me, how many times I know not, 
 without noting, apparently, that any one was present besides 
 the attendant slaves ; nor did he cease till the horse, spent 
 and exhausted, no longer obeyed the will of even the em 
 peror of the world. Many a noble charger has he in this 
 manner rode till he has fallen dead. So long used as this 
 man has been to the terrific game of war, and the scenes and 
 sights which that reveals, stirring to their depths all the 
 direst passions of our nature, that now, at home and at 
 peace, life grows stale and flat, and needs the artificial 
 stimulants which violent and extreme modes of action can 
 alone supply. The death of a horse on the course answers 
 now for a legion slain in battle ; an unruly, or disobedient, 
 or idle slave hewn in two affords the relief which the exe 
 cution of prisoners has been accustomed to yield. He 
 pants for the day to arrive when, having completed the 
 designs he has set on foot in the city, he shall again join 
 the army, now accumulating in huge masses in Thrace, 
 and once more find himself in the East, on the way to new 
 conquests and fresh slaughter. 
 
 As he threw himself from his horse, now breathing hard 
 and scarcely supporting himself, the foam rolling from him 
 like snow, he saluted me in his usual manner. 
 
 " A fair and fortunate day to you, Piso ! And what may 
 be the news in the city[? I have rode fast and far, but have 
 heard nothing. I come back empty as I went out, save the 
 heat which I have put into my veins. This horse is he I 
 was seen upon, from the walls of Palmyra, by your and 
 other traitor eyes. But for first passing through the better 
 part of my leg and then the saddle, the arrow that hit me 
 then had been the death of him. But death is not for him, 
 nor he for death; he and his rider are something alike, and 
 will long be so, if auguries ever speak truth. And if there 
 be not truth in auguries, Piso, where is it to be found among 
 mortals ? These three mornings have I rode him, to see if 
 in this manner he could be destroyed ; but thou seest how 
 
228 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 it issues, I should destroy myself before him. But what, 
 I say, is the news? How does the lady Julia, and the 
 queen ! " 
 
 Eeplying first to these last inquiries, I then said that 
 there was little news, I believed, in the city. The only 
 thing, perhaps, that could be treated as news was the gen 
 eral uneasiness of the Christians. 
 
 " Ah ! they are uneasy ? By the gods, not wholly with 
 out reason. Were it not for them, I had now been, not 
 here chafing my horse and myself on a hippodrome, but 
 tearing up instead the hard sands of the Syrian deserts. 
 They weigh upon me like a nightmare ! They are a visible 
 curse of the gods upon the state , but being seen, it can be 
 removed. I reckon not you among this tribe, Piso, when 
 I speak of them. What purpose is imputed ? " 
 
 " Rumour varies. No distinct purpose is named, but 
 rather a general one of abridging some of their liberties, 
 suppressing their worship, and silencing their priests. " 
 
 " Goes it no farther ? " 
 
 " Not with many ; for the people are still willing to be 
 lieve that Aurelian will inflict no needless suffering. They 
 see you great in war, severe in the chastisement of the ene 
 mies of the state, and just in the punishment inflicted 
 upon domestic rebels ; and they conceive that, in regard to 
 this simple people, you will not go beyond the rigour I 
 have just named. " 
 
 " Truly they give me credit, " replied Aurelian, " for what 
 I scarcely deserve. But an emperor can never hear the 
 truth. Piso, they will find themselves deceived. One or 
 the other must fall, Hellenism or Christianity ! I knew 
 not till my late return from the East the ravages made by 
 this modern superstition, not only throughout Rome, but 
 the world. In this direction I have for many years been 
 blind. I have had eyes only for the enemies of my country, 
 and the glories of the battle-field. But now, upon resting 
 here a space in the heart of the empire, I find that heart 
 eaten out and gone ; the religion of ancient Rome, which 
 was its very life, decaying and almost dead, through the 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 229 
 
 rank growth of this overshadowing poison-tree that has 
 shot up at its side. It must be cut up by the roots, the 
 branches hewn away, the leaves stripped and scattered to 
 the winds ; nay, the very least fibre that lurks below the 
 surface with life in it must be wrenched out and consumed. 
 We must do thus by the Christians and their faith, or they 
 will do so by us. " 
 
 " I am hardly willing, " I replied, " to believe what I have 
 heard ; nor will I believe it. It were an act so mad and un 
 wise, as well as so cruel, that I will not believe it, though 
 coming from the lips of Aurelian ! " 
 
 " It is true, Piso, as the light of yonder sun ! But if thou 
 wilt not believe, wait a day or two, and proof enough shalt 
 thou have proof that shall cure thy infidelity in a river 
 of Christian blood. " 
 
 " Still, Aurelian, " I answered, " I believe not ; nor will, 
 till that river shall run down before my eyes red and thick 
 as the Orontes ! " 
 
 " How, Piso, is this ? I thought you knew me ! " 
 
 " In part I am sure I do. I know you neither to be a 
 madman nor a fool, both which in one would you be to at 
 tempt what you have now threatened. " 
 
 " Young Piso, you are bold ! " 
 
 " I make no boast of courage, " I replied ; " but I know 
 that in familiar speech with Aurelian, I need not fear 
 him. Surely you would not converse on such a subject 
 with a slave or a flatterer. A Piso can be neither. I can 
 speak, or I can be silent ; but if I speak " 
 
 " Say on, say on, in the name of the gods ! " 
 
 " What I would say to Aurelian, then, is this : that 
 slaughter as he may, the Christians cannot be extermi 
 nated ; that though he decimated, first Rome, and then the 
 empire, there would still be left a seed that would spring 
 up and bear its proper harvest. Nay, Aurelian, though 
 you halved the empire, you could not win your game. 
 The Christians are more than you deem them. " 
 
 " Be it so, " replied the emperor ; " nevertheless I will 
 try. But they are not so many as you rate them at, neither 
 by a direct nor an indirect enumeration. " 
 
230 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " Let that pass, then, " I answered. " Let them be a 
 half, a quarter, or a tenth part of what I believe them to 
 be ; it will be the same, they cannot be exterminated. 
 Soon as the work of death is done, that of life will begin 
 again, and the growth will be the more rank for the blood 
 spilled around. Outside of the tenth part, Aurelian, that 
 now openly professes this new religion, there lies another 
 equal number of those who do not openly profess it, but 
 do so either secretly, or else view it with favour and with 
 the desire to accept it. Your violence, inflicted upon the 
 open believers, reaches not them, for they are an invisible 
 multitude ; but no sooner has it fallen and done its work 
 of ruin than this other multitude slowly reveals itself, and 
 stands forth heirs and professors of the persecuted faith, 
 and ready, like those who went before them, to live for it 
 and die for it. " 
 
 " What you say may be so, " answered Aurelian ; " I had 
 thought not of it. Nevertheless I will try. " 
 
 " Moreover, " I continued, " in every time of persecution 
 there are those sincere believers, but timid who dare 
 not meet the threatened horrors. These deny not their 
 faith, but they shrink from sight; they for a season dis 
 appear ; their hearts worship as ever, but their tongues are 
 silent; and search as they may, your emissaries of blood 
 cannot find them. But soon as the storm is overpast, then 
 do they come forth again, as insects from the leaves that 
 sheltered them from the storm, and fill again the forsaken 
 churches. " 
 
 " Nevertheless I will try for them. " 
 
 " Then will you be, Aurelian, as one that sheds blood 
 because he will shed it, seeing that the end at which you 
 aim cannot in such way be reached. Confiscation, impris 
 onment, scourging, fires, torture, and death, will all be in 
 vain ; and with no more prospect that by such oppression 
 Christianity can be annihilated than there would be of 
 rooting out poppies from your fields, when, as you struck 
 off the heads or tore up the old roots, the ripe seeds were 
 scattered abroad over the soil, a thousand for every parent 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 231 
 
 stalk that fell. You will drench yourself in the blood of 
 the innocent, only that you may do it, while no effect shall 
 follow. " 
 
 " Let it be so, then, even so. Still I will not forbear. 
 But this I know, Piso, that when a disaffection has broken 
 out in a legion, and I have caused the half thereof, or its 
 tenth, to be drawn forth and slaughtered by the other part, 
 the danger has disappeared. The physic has been bitter, 
 but it has cured the patient. I am a good surgeon, and 
 well used to letting blood. I know the wonders it works, 
 and shall try it now, not doubting to see some good effects. 
 When poison is in the veins, let out the blood, and the 
 new that comes in is wholesome. Eome is poisoned ! " 
 
 " Great emperor, " I replied, " you know nothing, allow 
 me to say, whereof you affirm. You know not the Chris 
 tians, and how can you deem them poison to the state ? A 
 purer, holier brotherhood never has the world seen. I 
 am but of late one among them, and it is but a few 
 months since I thought of them as you now do. But I 
 knew nothing of them. Now I know them. And knowl 
 edge has placed them before me in another light. If 
 Aurelian " 
 
 " I know nothing of them, Piso, I know ; and I wish to 
 know nothing, nothing more than that they are Chris- 
 tains ; that they deny the good gods ; that they aim at 
 the overthrow of the religion of the state, that religion 
 under whose fostering care Eome has grown up to her giant 
 size ; that they are firebrands of discord and quarrel in 
 Rome, and throughout the world. Greater would my name 
 be could I extirpate this accursed tribe than it is for 
 triumphing both over the East and West, or would be 
 though I gained the whole world. " 
 
 " Aurelian, " I replied, " this is not such as I used to 
 hear from your lips. Another spirit possesses you, and it 
 is not hard to tell whence it comes. " 
 
 " You would say, from Fronto ? " 
 
 " I would. There is the rank poison that has turned the 
 blood in the veins of one whom justice and wisdom once 
 ruled, into its own accursed substance. " 
 
232 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " I and Rome, Piso, " said Aurelian, " owe much to 
 Fronto. I confess that his spirit now possesses me. He 
 has roused the latent piety into action and life which I 
 received with my mother s niilk, but which, the gods for 
 give me ! carried away by ambition, had well-nigh gone 
 quite out in my soul. My mother dost thou know it? 
 was a priestess of Apollo, and never did god or goddess 
 so work by unseen influence to gain a mortal s heart as 
 did she to fill mine with reverence of the deities of heaven, 
 especially of the great god of light. I was early a way 
 ward child. When a soldier in the legions I now com 
 mand, my life was what a soldier s is, a life of action, 
 hardship, peril, and blood. The gods soon became to me 
 as if they were not. And so it has been for well-nigh all 
 the years of my life. But the gods be thanked, Fronto 
 has redeemed me ! and since I have worn this diadem have 
 I toiled, Rome can testify with what zeal, to restore to her 
 gods their lost honours, to purge her worship of the foul 
 corruptions that were bringing it into contempt, and raise 
 it higher than ever in the honour of the people, by the 
 magnificence of the temples I have built, by the gifts I have 
 lavished upon them, by the ample riches wherewith I have 
 endowed the priesthood. And more than once, while this 
 work has been achieving, has the form of my revered parent, 
 beautiful in the dazzling robes of her office, stood by my 
 bedside whether in dream, or in vision, or in actual 
 presence, I cannot tell and blessed me for my pious en 
 terprise. The gods be thanked, the lips have said or 
 seemed to say, that thy youth lasts not always, but that 
 age has come, and with it second childhood in thy reverence 
 of the gods, whose worship it was mine to put into thy in 
 fant heart. Go on thy way, my son ! Build up the fallen 
 altars of the gods, and lay low the aspiring fanes of the 
 wicked. Finish what thou hast begun, and all time shall 
 pronounce thee greatest of the great. Should I disobey 
 the warning? The gods forbid, and save me from such 
 impiety ! I am now, Piso, doubly armed for the work I 
 have taken in hand, first by the zeal of the pious Fronto ; 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 233 
 
 and second, by the manifest finger of Heaven pointing the 
 way I should go. And, please the gods I will enter upon 
 it, and it shall not be for want of a determined will, and 
 of eyes too used to the shedding of blood to be frightened 
 now, though an ocean-full were spilled before them, if this 
 race be not utterly swept from the face of the earth, from 
 the suckling to the silver head, from the beggar to the 
 prince, and from Eome all around to the four winds, as far 
 as her almighty arms can reach. " 
 
 My heart sank within me as he spoke, and my knees 
 trembled under me. I knew the power and spirit of the 
 man, and I now saw that superstition had claimed him 
 for her own, that he would go about his work of death and 
 ruin armed with his own cruel and bloody mind, and urged 
 behind by the fiercer spirit still of pagan superstition. It 
 seemed to me, in spite of what I had just said myself, and 
 thought I believed, as if the death-note of Christianity had 
 now rung in my ear. The voice of Aurelian as he spoke 
 had lost its usual sharpness, and fallen into a lower tone, 
 full of meaning, and which said to me that his very inmost 
 soul was pouring out with the awful words he used. I felt 
 utterly helpless and undone, like an ant in the pathway 
 of a giant, incapable of escape, resistance, or remonstrance. 
 I suppose all this was visible in my countenance. I said 
 nothing ; and Aurelian, after pausing a moment, went on. 
 
 " Think me not, Piso, to be using the words of an idle 
 braggart in what I have said. Who has known Aurelian, 
 when once he has threatened death, to hold back his hand ? 
 But I will give thee earnest of my truth ! " 
 
 " I require it not, Aurelian. I question not thy truth. " 
 
 " I will give it notwithstanding, Piso. What will you 
 think you will think as you ever have of me if I should 
 say that already, and upon one of my own house infected 
 with this hell-begotten atheism, has the axe fallen ! " 
 
 Hearing the horrible truth from his own lips, it seemed as 
 if I had never heard it before. I hardly had believed it. 
 
 " Tyrant " I exclaimed, " it cannot be ! What, Aurelia ? " 
 
 " Yes, Aurelia ! Keep thy young blood cool, Piso. Yes, 
 
234 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 Amelia ! Ere I struck at others, it behooved me to reprove 
 my own. It was no easy service, as you may guess, but it 
 must be done. And not only was Aurelia herself perti 
 naciously wedded to this superstition, but she was subduing 
 the manly mind of Mucapor too, who, had he been success 
 fully wrought upon, were as good as dead to me and to 
 Rome ; and he is one whom our legions cannot spare. We 
 have Christians more than enough already in our ranks ; a 
 Christian general was not to be endured. This was addi 
 tional matter of accusation against Aurelia, and made it 
 right that she should die. But she had her free choice of 
 life, honour, rank, riches, and, added to all, Mucapor, 
 whose equal Rome does not hold, if she would but take 
 them. One word spoken, and they were all her own ; with 
 no small chance that she should one day be what Livia is. 
 But that one word her obstinate superstition would not let 
 her speak. " 
 
 " No, Aurelian ; there is that in the Christian supersti 
 tion that always forbids the uttering of that word. Death 
 to the Christian is but another word for life. Apostasy is 
 the true death. You have destroyed the body of Aurelia, 
 but her virtuous soul is already with God, and it is you 
 who have girded upon her brow a garland that shall never 
 fade away. Of that much may you make your boast. " 
 
 " Piso, I bear with you, and shall ; but there is no other 
 in Eome who might say so much. " 
 
 " Nay, nay, Aurelian, there I believe you better than you 
 make yourself. To him who is already the victim of the 
 axe or the beasts do you never deny the liberty of the 
 tongue, such as it then is. " 
 
 " Upon Piso, and he the husband of Julia, I can inflict 
 no evil, nor permit it to be done. " 
 
 " I would take shelter, Aurelian, neither behind my own 
 name, my father s, nor my wife s. I am a Christian, and 
 such fate as may befall the rest I would share, yet not 
 willingly, for life and happiness are dear to me as to you ; 
 and they are dear to all these multitudes whom you do now, 
 in the exercise of despotic power, doom to a sudden and 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 235 
 
 abhorred death. Bethink yourself, Aurelian, before it be 
 too late" 
 
 " I have bethought myself of it all, " he replied ; " and 
 were the suffering ten times more, and the blood to be 
 poured out a thousand times more, I would draw back not 
 one step. The die has been cast ; it has come up as it has, 
 and so must be the game. I listen to no appeal. " 
 
 " Not from me, " I replied, " but surely you will not deny 
 a hearing to what these innocent people may say in their 
 own defence. That were neither just nor merciful; nor 
 were it like Aurelian. There is much which, by their 
 proper organs, they might say to place before you their 
 faith in the light of truth. You have heard what you have 
 received concerning it chiefly from the lips of Fronto ; and 
 can he know what he has never learned, or tell it unper- 
 verted by prejudices black as night ? " 
 
 " I have already said, " rejoined the emperor, " that I 
 would hear them, and I will. But it can avail them no 
 more than words uttered in the breath of the tempest that 
 is raging up from the north. Hear them ! this day have 
 I already heard them, one of those madmen of theirs who 
 plague the streets of Eome. Passing early by the temple 
 of ^Esculapius, that one which stands not an arrow s flight 
 from the column of Trajan, I came upon a dense crowd of 
 all sorts of persons, listening to a gaunt figure of a man 
 who spoke to them. Soon as I came against him, and paused 
 on my horse for the crowd to make way, the wild beast who 
 was declaiming shouted to me at the top of his voice, cal 
 ling on me to hear the word of God which he would speak 
 to me. Knowing him by such jargon to be a Christian, I 
 did as he desired, and there stood, while he, for my special 
 instruction, laid bare the iniquities and follies of the Eoman 
 worship ; sent the priesthood, and all who entered their tem 
 ples, to the infernal regions ; and prophesied against Eome, 
 which he termed Babylon, that ere so many centuries were 
 gone her walls would lie even with the ground, her temples 
 moulder in ruins, her language become extinct, and her 
 people confounded with other nations and lost. And all 
 
236 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 this because I, whom he now called Ahaz and now Nebu 
 chadnezzar, oppressed the children of God and held them 
 in captivity ; while in the same breath he bid me come on 
 with my chains, gibbets, beasts, crosses, and fires, for they 
 were ready, and would rejoice to bear their testimony in 
 the cause of Christ. As I turned to resume my way, his 
 words were, Go on, thou man of pride and blood; go on 
 thy way ! The gates of hell swing open for thee ! Already 
 the arm of the Lord is bared against thee ! the winged 
 lightning struggles in his hand to smite thee ! I hear 
 thy cry for mercy which no one answers and more, 
 till I was beyond the reach of his owl s voice. There 
 was an appeal, Piso, from this people. What think you 
 of it ? " 
 
 " He whom you heard, " I replied, " I know, and know 
 him to be honest and true ; as loyal a subject, too, as Eome 
 holds. He is led away by his hot and hasty temper both 
 to do and say what injures not only him, but all who are 
 joined with him, and the cause he defends. He offends the 
 Christians not less than others. Judge not all by him. He 
 stands alone. If you would hear one whom all alike confide 
 in, and who may fitly represent the feelings and principles 
 of the whole body of Christians, send for Probus. From 
 him may you learn, without exaggeration or concealment, 
 without reproach of others or undue boasting of themselves, 
 what the Christians are, in their doctrines and their lives, 
 as citizens of Rome and loyal subjects of Aurelian, and 
 what as citizens of heaven and loyal followers of Jesus 
 Christ. " 
 
 The emperor promised to consider it. He had no other 
 reason to deny such favour but the tedium of listening to 
 what could profit neither him nor others. 
 
 We then turned towards the palace, where I saw Livia, 
 now as silent and sad as, when in Palmyra, she was lively 
 and gay. Not that Aurelian abates the least of his wor 
 ship, but that the gloom which overshadows him imparts it 
 self to her and that knowing what has befallen Aurelia, 
 she cannot but feel it to be a possible thing for the blow to 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 237 
 
 fall elsewhere and nearer. Yet is there the same outward 
 show as ever. The palace is still thronged, with not Eome 
 only, but by strangers from all quarters of the empire, 
 anxious to pay their homage at once to the Empress of 
 Eome, to the most beautiful woman in the world, such 
 is the language, and to a daughter of the far-famed 
 Zenobia. 
 
 The city is now crowded with travellers of all nations ; so 
 much so that the inns can scarce receive them, and hardly 
 ever before was private hospitality so put to all its resources. 
 With all, and everywhere, in the streets, at the public baths, 
 in the porticos, at the private or public banquet, the Chris 
 tians are the one absorbing topic. And at least this good 
 comes with the evil, that thus the character of this religion, 
 as compared with that of Rome and other faiths, is made 
 known to thousands who might otherwise never have heard 
 of it, or have felt interest enough in it to examine its 
 claims. It leads to a large demand for and sale of our 
 sacred books. The copyists can hardly supply them so fast 
 as they are wanted. For in the case of any dispute or con 
 versation, it is common to hear the books themselves referred 
 to, and then called in as witnesses for or against a state 
 ment made. And pleasant enough is it to see how clear 
 the general voice is on our side, especially with the 
 strangers; how indignant they are, for the most part, 
 that violence, to the extreme of another Decian persecu 
 tion, should be so much as dreamt of. Would that the 
 same could be said of our citizens and countrymen ! A 
 large proportion of them, indeed, embrace the same liberal 
 sentiments, but a greater part, if not for extreme violence, 
 are yet for oppression and suppression ; and I dare not say 
 how many for all that Aurelian himself designs. Among 
 the lower orders especially, a ferocious and bloodthirsty 
 spirit breaks out in a thousand ways, that fills the bosom 
 both with grief and terror. 
 
 The clouds are gathering over us, Fausta, heavy and 
 black, with the tempest pent up within. The thunders are 
 rolling in the distance, and each hour coming nearer and 
 
238 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 nearer. Whom the lightnings shall strike, how vain to 
 conjecture ! Would to God that Julia were anywhere but 
 here ! For, to you I may say it, I cannot trust Aurelian, 
 yes, Aurelian himself I may, but not Aurelian the tool 
 of Fronto. Farewell. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 239 
 
 LETTEE IX. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 PROBUS S OPINION OF THE NEED OF PERSECUTION. THE EDICTS. 
 HANNO S DOGS. ASSEMBLING OF CHRISTIANS IN COUNCIL. 
 FELIX AND PROBUS. PROBUS CHOSEN AS SPOKESMAN FOR THE 
 CHRISTIANS. INSTRUMENTS OF TORTURE. MACER PULLS 
 DOWN THE EDICT. THE JUDGMENT HALL. THE TEST. THE 
 RACK. THE MARTYRDOM. MACER S FAMILY. ILIA S FATE. 
 THE BLOODHOUNDS. 
 
 WHEN I turned from the palace of Aurelian, and again 
 took my way towards the Coelian, I did it in the 
 belief that before the day should end, edicts against the 
 Christians would be published. I found, as I conversed 
 with many whom I met in the way, that from other sources 
 the same opinion had become common. In one manner or 
 another it had come abroad that measures had been resolved 
 upon by the emperor, and would soon be put in force. 
 Many, indeed, do not give the least credit to the rumours, 
 and believe that they all spring from the violent language 
 of Fronto, which has been reported as that of Aurelian. 
 You may wonder that there should be such uncertainty re 
 specting a great design like this. But you must remember 
 that Aurelian has of late shrouded himself in a studied 
 obscurity. Not a despot in the despotic lands of Asia keeps 
 more secret counsel than he, or leans less upon the opinion 
 or advice of others. All that is done throughout the vast 
 compass of the empire springs from him alone; all the 
 affairs of foreign and dependent kingdoms are arranged and 
 determined by him. As for Italy and the capital, they are 
 mere playthings in his hand. You ask if the senate does 
 not still exist. I answer, it does, but as a man exists 
 
240 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 whom a palsy has made but half alive ; the body is there, 
 but the soul is gone, and even the body is asleep. The 
 senators, with all becoming gravity, assemble themselves 
 at the Capitol, and what time they sleep not away the 
 tedious hours in their ivory chairs, they debate such high 
 matters as, " Whether the tax, which this year falls heavy 
 upon Capua by reason of a blast upon the grapes, shall be 
 lightened or remitted ; " or, " Whether the petition of the 
 Milanese, for the construction, at the public expense, of a 
 granary shall be answered favourably ; " or, " Whether V. 
 P. Naso shall be granted a new trial after defeat at the 
 highest court. " Not that there is not virtue in the senate, 
 some dignity, some respect and love for the liberties of 
 Eome, witness myself ; but that the emperor has en 
 grossed the whole empire to himself, and nothing is left for 
 that body but to keep alive the few remaining forms of 
 ancient liberty, by assembling as formerly, and taking care 
 of whatever insignificant affairs are entrusted to them. In 
 a great movement like this against the Christians, Aurelian 
 does not so much as recognize their existence. No advice 
 is asked, no co-operation. And the less is he disposed to 
 communicate with them in the present instance, perhaps, 
 from knowing so well that the measure would find no favour 
 in their eyes, but would, on the contrary, be violently op 
 posed. Everything, accordingly, originates in the sovereign 
 will of Aurelian, and is carried into effect by his arm wield 
 ing the total power of this boundless empire, being now, 
 what it has been his boast to make it, co-extensive with 
 its extremest borders as they were in the time of the Anto- 
 nines. There is no power to resist him ; nor are there 
 many who dare to utter their real opinions, least of all a 
 senator or a noble. A beggar in the street may do it with 
 better chance of its being respected, if agreeable to him, 
 and of escaping rebuke, or worse, if it be unpalatable. To 
 the people he is still, as ever, courteous and indulgent. 
 
 There is throughout the city a strange silence and gloom, 
 as if in expectancy of some great calamity, or of some event 
 of dark and uncertain character. The Christians go about 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 241 
 
 their affairs as usual, not ceasing from any labours, nor 
 withdrawing from the scene of danger ; but with firm step 
 and serious air keep on their way, as if conscious of the 
 great part which it is theirs to act, and resolved that it 
 shall not suffer at their hands. tyEany with whom I spoke 
 put on even a cheerful air as they greeted me, and after the 
 usual morning s salutation went on as if things were in 
 their usual train. Others, with pale face and quivering 
 lip, confessed the inward tumult, and that if they feared 
 nought for themselves, there were those at home, helpless 
 and exposed, for whom the heart bled, and for whom it 
 could not but show signs of fear. 
 
 I met the elder Demetrius. His manly and thoughtful 
 countenance, though it betrayed nothing of weakness, was 
 agitated with suppressed emotion. He is a man full of 
 courage, but full of sensibility too. His affections are 
 warm and tender as those of a girl. He asked me " what I 
 could inform him of the truth of the rumours which were 
 now afloat of the most terrific character. " I saw where his 
 heart was as he spoke, and answered him, as you may be 
 lieve, with pain and reluctance. I knew, indeed, that the 
 whole truth would soon break upon him. It was a foolish 
 weakness; but I could hardly bring myself to tell him 
 what a few hours would probably reveal. I told him, 
 however, all that I had just learnt from Aurelian himself, 
 and which, as he made no reserve with regard to me, nor 
 enjoined concealment, I did not doubt was fully resolved 
 upon, and would be speedily put in force. As I spoke, the 
 countenance of the Greek grew pale beyond its usual hue 
 of paleness. He bent his head, as in perplexed and anxious 
 thought ; the tears were ready to overflow as he raised it 
 after a moment, and said, 
 
 " Piso, I am but recently a Christian. I know nothing 
 of this religion but its beauty and truth. It is what I have 
 ever longed for, and now that I possess it, I value it far 
 more than life. But" -he paused a moment "I have 
 mingled but little with the Christians ; I know scarcely 
 any ; I am ignorant of what they require of those who be- 
 
 16 
 
242 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 long to their number in such emergencies. I am ready to 
 die myself rather than shrink from a bold acknowledgment 
 of what in rny heart I believe to be the divinest truth ; 
 but my wife and my children ! must they, too, meet these 
 dangers ? My wife has become what I am ; my children 
 are but infants ; a Greek vessel sails to-morrow for Scio, 
 where dwells in peaceful security the father of my wife, 
 from whom I received her, almost to his distraction ; her 
 death would be his immolation. Should I offend " 
 
 " Surely not, " I replied. " If, as I believe will happen, 
 the edicts of the emperor should be published to-day, put 
 them on board to-night, and let to-morrow see them floating 
 on the Mediterranean. We are not all to stand still and 
 hold out throats to the knife of this imperial butcher. " 
 
 " God be thanked ! " said Demetrius, and grasping my 
 hand with fervour, turned quickly and moved in the direc 
 tion of his home. 
 
 Soon after, seated with Julia and Probus, he had joined 
 me as I parted from Demetrius, I communicated to her all 
 that I had heard at the palace. It neither surprised nor 
 alarmed her. But she could not repress her grief at the 
 prospect spread out before us of so much suffering to the 
 innocent. 
 
 " How hard is this, " said she, " to be called to bear such 
 testimony as must now be borne to truth These Chris 
 tian multitudes, so many of whom have but just adopted 
 their new faith and begun to taste of the pleasures it im 
 parts, all enjoying in such harmony and quietness their 
 rich blessings, with many their only blessings, how 
 hard for them, all at once, to see the foundations of their 
 peace broken up, and their very lives clamoured for ! rulers 
 and people setting upon them as troops of wild beasts ! It 
 demands almost more faith than I can boast, to sit here 
 without complaint a witness of such wrong. How strange, 
 Probus, that life should be made so difficult, that not a 
 single possession worth having can be secured without so 
 much either of labour or endurance ! I wonder if this is 
 ever to cease on earth. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 243 
 
 " I can hardly suppose that it will, " said Probus. " La 
 bour and suffering, in some of their forms, seem both 
 essential to the perfection of man. My arm would be 
 weak as a rush were it never moved; but exercised, and 
 you see it is nervous and strong; plied like a smith s, and 
 it grows to be hard as iron and capable of miracles. So it 
 is with any faculty of the mind you may select ; the harder 
 it is tasked the more worthy it becomes ; and without task 
 ing at all, it is worth nothing. So seems to me it is with 
 the whole character. In a smooth and even lot its worth 
 never would be known, and we should respect it neither in 
 ourselves nor in others. Greatness and worth come only of 
 collision and conflict. Let our path be strewed with roses, 
 and soft southern gales ever blow, and earth send up of her 
 own accord our ready-prepared nutriment, and mankind 
 would be but one huge multitude of Sybarites, dissolved in 
 sloth and effeminacy. If no difficulty opposed, no labour 
 were exacted, both body and mind were dead. Hence it is, 
 we may believe, that man must everywhere labour even for 
 the food which is necessary to mere existence. Life is made 
 dear to us by an instinct; we shrink from nothing as we 
 do from the mere thought of non-existence; but still it is 
 death or toil, that is the alternative. So that labour is 
 thus insured wherever man is found, and it is this that 
 makes him what he is. Then he is made, moreover, so as 
 to crave not only food, but knowledge as much, and also 
 virtue ; but between him and both these objects there are 
 interposed, for the same reason, doubtless, mountains of 
 difficulty, which he must clamber up and over, before he 
 can bask in the pleasant fields that lie beyond, and then 
 ascend the distant mountain-tops, from which but a single 
 step removes him from the abode of God. Doubt it not, 
 lady, that it is never in vain and for nought that man 
 labours and suffers ; but that the good which redounds is 
 in proportion to what is undergone, and more than a com 
 pensation. If in these times of darkness and fear, suffering 
 is more, goodness and faith are more also. There are Chris 
 tians and men made by such trials, that are never made 
 
244 LETTERS FKOM ROME. 
 
 elsewhere or otherwise, nor can be; just as the arm of Her 
 cules could not be but by the labours of Hercules. What 
 says Macer ? Why, even this, that God is to be thanked 
 for this danger, for that the Church needs it. The brief 
 prosperity it has enjoyed since the time of Valerian and 
 Macrianus has corrupted it, and it must be purged anew, 
 and tried by fire ! I think not that ; but I think this, that 
 if suffering ever so extreme is ordained, there will be a 
 virtue begotten in the souls of the sufferers, and abroad 
 through them, that shall prove it not to have been in 
 
 e> 
 
 vain. 
 
 M 
 
 I can believe what you say, " said Julia ; " at least I 
 can believe in the virtue ascribed to labour and the col 
 lision with difficulty. Suffering is passive , may it not be 
 that we may come to place too much merit in this ? " 
 
 " It is not to be doubted that we may, " replied Probus. 
 " The temptation to do so is great. It is easy to suffer. In 
 comparison with labour and duty life-long labour and duty 
 it is a light service. Yet it carries with it an imposing 
 air, and is too apt to take to itself all the glory of the 
 Christian s course. Many who have lived as Christians 
 but indifferently have, in the hour of persecution, and in 
 the heat of that hour, rushed upon death, and borne it well, 
 and before it extremest torture, and gained the crown of 
 martyrdom and the name of saint, a crown not always 
 without spot, a name not always holy. He who suffers 
 for Christ must suffer with simplicity, even as he has lived 
 with simplicity. And when he has lived so, and endured 
 the martyr s death at last, that is to be accounted but the 
 last of many acts of duty which are essentially alike , un 
 less it may be that in many a previous conflict over temp 
 tation, and the world, and sin, there was a harder victory 
 won, and a harder duty done, than when the flames con 
 sumed him, or the beasts tore him limb from limb. " 
 
 " Yet, Probus, " continued Julia, " among the humble 
 and the ignorant, where we cannot suppose that vanity 
 could operate, where men have received Christianity only 
 because it seemed to them just the faith they needed, and 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 245 
 
 then, when it has been required that they renounce it, 
 they will not do it, but hold steadfastly to what they re 
 gard the truth of God, and for it take with meekness and 
 patience all manner of torture, and death itself, there is 
 surely here great virtue. Suffering here has great worth, 
 and sets upon the soul the seal of God. Is it not so ? " 
 
 " Most assuredly it is, " answered Probus. " Oh, there 
 is no virtue on earth greater than theirs. When, dragged 
 from their quiet homes, unknown, obscure, despised, 
 solitary, with not one sympathizing eye to look on upon 
 their sufferings, with none to record their name, none 
 to know it, even, they do, nevertheless, without falter 
 ing, keep true to their faith, hugging it to them the closer 
 the more it is tried to tear them asunder, this, this is 
 virtue the greatest on earth. It is a testimony borne to 
 the truth of whatever cause is thus supported, that is daily 
 bringing forth its fruits in the conviction and conversion 
 of multitudes. It is said that in the Decian persecution 
 it was the fortitude and patience, under the most cruel suf 
 ferings, of those humble Christians whom no one knew, 
 who came none knew whence, and who were dying out of 
 a pure inward love of the faith they professed, that fell 
 upon the hearts of admiring thousands with more than the 
 force of miracle, and was the cause of the great and sudden 
 growth of our numbers which then took place. Still, suf 
 fering and dying for a faith is not unimpeachable evidence 
 of its truth. There have been those who have died and 
 suffered for idolatries the most abhorred. It is proof, in 
 deed, not at all of truth itself, but only of the deep sin 
 cerity of him who professes it. " 
 
 " Yes, " replied Julia, " I see that it is so. But then it 
 is a presumption in behalf of truth, strong almost as mira 
 cles done for it, when so many, multitudes, in different 
 ages, in the humblest condition of life, hesitate not to die 
 rather than renounce their faith in a religion like this of 
 Christianity, which panders to not one of man s passions, 
 appetites, or weaknesses, but is the severest censor of 
 morals the world has ever seen; which requires a virtue 
 
246 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 and a purity in its disciples such as no philosopher ever 
 dared to impose upon his scholars ; and whose only promise 
 is immortality, and even that an immortality never to be 
 separated from the idea of retribution, as making a part of 
 it. They who will suffer and die for such a religion, do 
 by that act work as effectively for it as their Master by the 
 signs and wonders which he did. If Christianity were like 
 many of the forms of Paganism : or if it ministered to the 
 cravings of our sensual nature, as we can conceive a religion 
 might ; if it made the work of life light, and the reward 
 certain and glorious ; if it relieved its followers of much of 
 the suffering, and fear, and doubt, that oppress others, 
 it would not be surprising that men should bear much for 
 its sake , and their doing so, for what appealed so to their 
 selfishness, would be no evidence, at all to be trusted, of 
 its truth. But as it is, they who die for it afford a pre 
 sumption in behalf of it that assails the reason almost, or 
 quite, with the force of demonstration. So, I remember 
 well, my reason was impressed by what I used to hear from 
 Paul of the sufferings of the early Christians. " 
 
 While Julia had been saying these things, it had seemed 
 to me as if there was an unusual commotion in the streets ; 
 and as she ended I was about to look for the cause of it, 
 when the hasty steps of several running through the hall 
 leading from the main entrance of the house prevented me, 
 and Milo, breathless, followed by others of the household, 
 rushed into the apartment where we sat, he exclaiming, 
 with every mark of fear and horror upon his countenance : 
 
 " Ah, sir ! it is all just as I was told by Curio it would 
 be ; the edicts are published on the Capitol. The people 
 are going about the streets now in crowds, talking loud and 
 furiously ; and before night they say the Christians will all 
 be delivered to their pleasure. " 
 
 Soon as Milo could pause, I asked him if he had read or 
 seen the edicts. 
 
 " No, I have not, " he answered ; " I heard from Curio 
 what they were to be. " 
 
 I told Julia and Probus that such I did not believe was 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 247 
 
 their tenor, it did not agree with usage, nor with what I had 
 gathered from Aurelian of his designs, but that their im 
 port was probably no more than deprivation of a portion of 
 their freedom and of some of their privileges. It was the 
 purpose of Aurelian first to convert back again the erring 
 multitudes to paganism, for which time must be granted. 
 
 But my words had no effect to calm the agitation of our 
 slaves, who, filled with terror at the reports of Milo and 
 at the confusion in the streets, had poured into the room, 
 and were showing in a thousand ways their affection for us, 
 and their concern. Some of this number are Christians, 
 having been made so by the daily conversations which 
 Julia has had with them, and the instruction she has given 
 them in the gospels. Most, however, are still of that re 
 ligion in which they were reared, as they are natives of the 
 East, of the North, or of Africa. But by all, with slight 
 differences, was the same interest manifested in our safety. 
 They were ready to do anything for our protection; and 
 chiefly urgent were they that we should that very night 
 escape from Rome, they could remain in security and de 
 fend the palace. When they had thus in their simple way 
 given free expression to their affections, I assured them 
 that no immediate danger impended, but even if it did, I 
 should not fly from it, but should remain where I was ; 
 that the religion for which I might suffer was worth to 
 those who held it a great deal more than mere life ; we 
 could easily sacrifice life for it if that should be required. 
 Some seemed to understand this, others not; but they then 
 retired, silent and calm, because they saw that we were so. 
 
 Soon as they were withdrawn, I proposed to Probus that 
 we should go forth and learn the exact truth. We accord 
 ingly passed to the street, which, as it is one that forms 
 the principal avenue from this part of the city to the Capi 
 tol, we found alive with numbers greater than usual, with 
 their faces turned toward that quarter. We joined them, 
 and moved with them in the same direction. It was a fear 
 ful thing, Fausta, even to me, who am rarely disturbed by 
 any event, to listen to the language which fell on my ear 
 
248 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 on all sides from the lips of beings who wore the same form 
 as myself, and with me have a right to the name of man. 
 It was chiefly that of exultation and joy, that at length the 
 power of the state was about to strike at the root of this 
 growing evil, that one had taken hold of the work who 
 would not leave it, as others had, half accomplished, but 
 would finish it as he had every other to which he had put 
 his hand. 
 
 " Now we shall see what one whose hand bears the sword 
 of a true soldier can do, and whether he who has slain more 
 foes of Eome abroad than emperor before ever did, cannot 
 do as well by enemies at home. " 
 
 " Never doubt it, " said another. " Before the ides of the 
 month now just come in, not a Christian will be seen in the 
 streets of Eome. They will be swept out as clean as by 
 Varus they now are of other filth. The prefect is just the 
 man for the times. Aurelian could not have been better 
 matched. " 
 
 " Lucky this, " said still another, as he hurried away, 
 " is it not ? Three vessels arrived yesterday, stowed thick 
 with wild beasts from Africa arid Asia. By the gods, 
 there will be no starving for them now ! The only fear 
 will be that, gorged so, they will lose their spirit. " 
 
 " I don t fear that," said his older companion. "Ire- 
 member well the same game twenty-five years ago. The 
 fact was then that the taste of human blood whetted it for 
 more and more, and, though glutted, their rage seemed but 
 to become more savage still ; so that, though hunger was 
 fed to the full, and more, they fell upon fresh victims with 
 increased fury, with a sort of madness, as it were. Such 
 food, t is said, crazes them. " 
 
 Others were soon next us, from whom I heard, 
 
 " Let every soul perish I care not for that. Or rather, 
 I do. Let all die, I say ; but not in this savage way. Let 
 it be done by a proper accusation, trial, and judgment. Let 
 profession of atheism be death by a law, and let the law be 
 executed, and the name will soon die. Inevitable death 
 under a law for any one who assumes the name would soon 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 249 
 
 do the work of extermination, better than this universal 
 slaughter which I hear is to be the way. Thousands are 
 then overlooked in the blind popular fury ; the work by 
 and by ceases through weariness ; it is thought to be com 
 pleted, when lo ! as the first fury of the storm is spent, 
 they come forth from their hiding-places, and things are 
 but little better than before. " 
 
 K I think with you, " said the younger companion of him 
 who had just spoken, " and besides, Komans need not the 
 further instruction in the art of assassination which such a 
 service would impart. Already nothing comes so like 
 nature to a Eoman as to kill, kill something; if not a 
 beast, a slave ; if there is no slave at hand, a Christian ; 
 if no Christian, a citizen. One would think we sucked in 
 from our mothers, not milk, but blood. If the state cannot 
 stand secure, as our great men say, but by the destruction 
 of this people, in the name of the gods let the executioners 
 do the work, not our sons, brothers, and fathers. So, 
 too, I say, touching the accursed games at the Flavian and 
 elsewhere. What is the effect but to make of us a nation 
 of man-butchers ? as, by the gods, we already are. If the 
 gods send not something or somebody to mend us, we shall 
 presently fall upon one another and exterminate ourselves. " 
 
 " Who knows but it is this very religion of the Chris 
 tians that has been sent for that work ? " said a third who 
 had joined the two. " The Christians are famed for nothing 
 more than for their gentleness and care of one another; so 
 at least I hear. " 
 
 " Who knows, indeed ? " said the other. " If it be so, 
 pity it were not found out soon. Aurelian will make short 
 work with them. " 
 
 In the midst of such conversation, which on every side 
 caught our ears as we walked silently along, we came at 
 length to the neighbourhood of the Capitol ; but so great 
 was the throng of the people, who in Some have nought 
 else to do but to rush together upon every piece of news, 
 that we could not even come within sight of the building, 
 much less of the parchment. 
 
250 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 We accordingly waited patiently to learn from some who 
 might emerge from the crowd what the precise amount of 
 the edicts might be. We stood not long before one, strug 
 gling and pushing about at all adventures, red and puffing 
 with his efforts, extricated himself from the mass, and ad 
 justing his dress, which was half torn from his back, be 
 gan swearing and cursing the emperor and his ministers 
 for a parcel of women and fools. 
 
 " What is it ? " we asked, gathering about him. " What 
 have you seen ? Did you reach the pillar ? " 
 
 " Eeach it ? I did ; but my cloak, that cost yesterday 
 ten good aurelians, did not, and here I stand cloakless " 
 
 " Well, but the edicts ? " 
 
 " Well, but the edicts ! Be not in a hurry, friend ; they 
 are worth not so much as my cloak. Blank parchment were 
 just as good. I wonder old Sword-in-hand didn t hang 
 up a strip ; t would have saved the expense of a scrivener. 
 If any of you hear of a cloak found hereabouts, blue with 
 out, and lined with yellow, and trimmed with gold, please 
 to note the name sewed on beneath the left shoulder, and 
 send it according to the direction, and your labour shall 
 not be lost. " 
 
 " But the edicts the edicts ? " 
 
 " Oh, the edicts ! why, they are just this : the Christians 
 are told that they must neither assemble together in their 
 houses of worship to hear their priests, nor turn the streets 
 into places of worship in their stead ; but leave off all their 
 old ways just as fast as they can, and worship the gods. 
 There s an edict for you ! " 
 
 " Who is this ? " said one to Probus. 
 
 " I do not know ; he seems sadly disappointed at the em 
 peror s clemency, as he deems it. " 
 
 But what Probus did not know, another who at the mo 
 ment came up did, exclaiming, as he slapped the disap 
 pointed man on the shoulder, 
 
 " What, old fellow, you here ? always where mischief 
 is brewing ! But who ever saw you without Nero and 
 Sylla ? What has happened ? and no cloak either ? " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 251 
 
 " Nero and Sylla are in their den ; for my cloak, I fear it 
 is in a worse place. But come, give me your arm, and let 
 us return. I thought a fine business was opening, and so 
 ran up to see. But it s all a sham. " 
 
 " It s only put off," said his companion, as they walked 
 away ; " your dogs will have enough to do before the month 
 is half out if Fronto knows anything. " 
 
 " That is one, I see, ;> said he who had spoken to Probus, 
 " who breeds hounds for the theatres ; I thought I had seen 
 him before. His ordinary stock is not less than five hun 
 dred bloodhounds. He married the sister of the gladiator 
 Sosia. His name is Hanno. " 
 
 Having heard enough, we turned away and sought again 
 the Coelian. You thus see, Fausta, what Eome is made of, 
 and into what hands we may all come. Do you wonder at 
 my love of Christianity, at my zeal for its progress ? 
 Unless it prosper, unless it take root and spread through 
 this people, their fate is sealed, to my mind with the 
 same certainty as if I saw their doom written upon the 
 midnight sky in letters of fire. 
 
 Their own wickedness will break them in pieces, and 
 destroy them. It is a weight beneath which no society can 
 stand. It must give way in general anarchy and ruin. But 
 my trust is that, in spite of Aurelian and of all other power, 
 this faith will go on its way, and so infuse itself into the 
 mass as never to be dislodged, and work out its perfect 
 regeneration. 
 
 By this decree of the emperor, then, which was soon 
 published in every part of the capital, the Christians are 
 prohibited from assembling together for purposes of wor 
 ship ; their churches are closed, and their preachers 
 silenced. 
 
 One day intervenes between this and the first day of the 
 week, the day on which the Christians, as you may per 
 haps know, assemble for their worship. In the mean 
 time, it will be determined what course shall be pursued. 
 
 Those days have passed, Fausta, and before I seal my 
 letter I will add to it an account of them. 
 
252 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 Immediately upon the publication of the emperor s de 
 crees, the Christians throughout the city communicated 
 with each other, and resolved, their places of worship being 
 all closed and guarded, to assemble secretly, in some spot 
 to be selected, both for worship and to determine what was 
 to be done, if anything, to shield themselves from the 
 greater evils which threatened. The place selected was 
 the old ruins where the house of Macer stands. " There 
 still remains, * so Macer urged, " a vast circular apartment, 
 partly below and partly above the surface of the ground, 
 of massy walls, without windows, remote from the streets, 
 and so surrounded by fallen walls, and columns, and rub 
 bish, as to be wholly buried from the sight. " The entrance 
 to it was through his dwelling, and the rooms beyond. 
 Kesorting thither when it should be dark, and seeking his 
 house singly and by different avenues among the ruins, 
 there would be little chance of observation and disturb 
 ance. Macer s counsel was accepted. 
 
 On the evening of the first day of the week a day 
 which, since I had returned from the East to Eome, had 
 ever come to me laden with both pleasure and profit I 
 took my way, under cover of a night without star or moon, 
 and doubly dark by reason of clouds that hung black and 
 low, to the appointed place of assembly. The cold winds 
 of autumn were driving in fitful blasts through the streets, 
 striking a chill into the soul as well as the body. They 
 seemed ominous of that black and bitter storm that was 
 even now beginning to break in sorrow and death upon the 
 followers of Christ. Before I reached the ruins, the rain 
 fell in heavy drops, and the wind was rising and swelling 
 into a tempest. It seemed to me, in the frame I was then 
 in, better than a calm. It was, moreover, a wall of de 
 fence against such as might be disposed to track and 
 betray us. 
 
 Entering by the door of Macer s cell, I passed through 
 many dark and narrow apartments, following the noise of 
 the steps of some who were going before me, till at length 
 I emerged into the vaulted hall spoken of by Macer. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 253 
 
 It was lofty and spacious, and already filled with figures 
 of men and women, whom the dim light of a few lamps, 
 placed upon the fragments of the fallen architecture, just 
 enabled me to discern, and distinguish from the masses of 
 marble and broken columns which strewed the interior, 
 and which, when they afforded a secure footing, were cov 
 ered with the assembled worshippers. The footsteps of 
 those who were the last to enter soon died away upon the 
 ear, and deep silence ensued, unbroken by any sound save 
 that of the sighs and weeping of such as could not restrain 
 their feelings. 
 
 It was interrupted by the voice of one who said that 
 the Christians of Eome were assembled here by agree 
 ment, to consult together concerning their affairs, which 
 now, by reason of the sudden hostility of Aurelian, 
 set on by the pagan priesthood, had assumed a dark and 
 threatening aspect. It was needful so to consult, that it 
 might be well ascertained whether no steps could be taken 
 to ward off the impending evil, and if not, in what manner 
 and to what extent we might be able to protect ourselves. 
 " But before this be done, " he continued, " let us all first, 
 with one heart, seek the blessing of God. To-day, Chris 
 tians, for the first time within the memory of the younger 
 portion of this assembly, have we by the wicked power of 
 the state been shut out of those temples where we have been 
 wont to offer up our seventh-day worship. Here there is 
 none to alarm or interrupt. Let us give our first hour to 
 God. So shall the day not be lost, nor the enemy wholly 
 prevail. " 
 
 " That is right, " said another. " It is what we all wish. 
 Let Probus speak to us and pray for us. " 
 
 " Felix ! Felix ! " cried other voices in different parts of 
 the room. 
 
 " Not so, but Probus ! Probus ! " shouted a far greater 
 number. 
 
 " Who does not know, " cried a shrill voice elevated to 
 its utmost pitch, " that Probus is a follower of Paul of 
 Samosata ? " 
 
254 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " And who does not know, " responded he who had first 
 spoken, " that Felix follows after Plato and Plotinus ? - 
 pagans both ! " 
 
 " And what, " said the sharp voice of Macer, " what if 
 both be true ? Who dare say that Felix is not a Christian ? 
 Who dare say that Probus is not a Christian ? And if they 
 are Christians, who shall dare to say they may not speak 
 to Christians? Probus was first asked, and let Probus 
 stand forth. " 
 
 The name of Probus was then uttered as it were by the 
 whole assembly. 
 
 As he moved toward a more central and elevated spot, 
 the same mean and shrill voice that had first charged him 
 again was heard, advising that no hymn nor chant be sung. 
 " The Eoman watch is now abroad, and despite the raging 
 of the storm, their ears may catch the sound, and the guard 
 be upon us. " 
 
 " Let them come, then ! " shouted Macer ; " let them 
 come ! Shall any fear of man or of death frighten us away 
 from the worship of God ? What death more glorious than 
 if this moment those doors gave way, and the legions of 
 Aurelian poured in ? Praise God and Christ, Christians, in 
 the highest note you can raise, and let no cowardice seal 
 your lips or abate your breath. " 
 
 The voice of Probus, now heard in prayer, brought a deep 
 silence upon the assembly, and I would fain believe, har 
 mony and peace also into the spirits of all who were there. 
 It was a service deeply moving and greatly comforting. 
 Whatever any who were present might have thought of the 
 principles of Probus, all must have been penetrated and 
 healed by that devout and benevolent temper that was so 
 manifest in the sentiments he uttered, and in the very 
 tones of his voice. 
 
 No sooner had he ended his prayer than the voice of 
 Macer broke forth commencing a chant commonly heard in 
 the churches, and with which all were familiar. His voice, 
 louder than that of the storm, and shriller than the blast 
 of a war-trumpet, rang through the vast apartment, and in- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 255 
 
 spiring all who were there with the same courage that pos 
 sessed himself, their voices were instinctively soon joined 
 with his, and the hymn swelled upward with a burst of 
 harmony that seemed as if it might reach heaven itself. 
 Eome and its legions were then as if they did not exist. 
 God only was present to the mind, and the thoughts with 
 which that hymn filled it. Its burden was like this : - 
 
 " God Almighty, God of Christ our Lord, arise and 
 defend thy people. The terrors of death are around us, 
 the enemies of truth and thy Son assail us, and we faint 
 and are afraid. Their hosts are encamped against us ; 
 they are ready to devour us. Our hope is in thee ; 
 strengthen and deliver us. Arise, O God, and visit us 
 with thy salvation. " 
 
 These and words like them, repeated with importunity 
 and dwelt upon, the whole soul pouring itself out with the 
 notes, while tears ran down the cheeks of those who sang, 
 the sign not of weakness, but of the strength of those 
 affections which bound their hearts to God, to Christ, and 
 to one another, it seemed as if such words, and so uttered, 
 could not but reach the throne of heaven, and draw a bless 
 ing down. As the hymn drew to a close, and the sounds 
 died away, deep silence again fell upon the assembly. The 
 heart had been relieved by the service ; the soul had been 
 rapt and borne quite away ; and by a common feeling an 
 interval of rest ensued, which by each seemed to be devoted 
 to meditation and prayer. This, when it had lasted till 
 the wants of each had been satisfied, was broken by the 
 voice of Probus. 
 
 What he said was wonderfully adapted to infuse fresh 
 courage into every heart, and especially to cheer and sup 
 port the desponding and the timid. He held up before 
 them the great examples of those who in the earlier ages of 
 the Church had offered themselves as sacrifices upon the 
 same altar upon which the great Head of the Christians had 
 laid down his life. He made it apparent how it had ever 
 been through suffering of some kind on the part of some 
 that great benefits had been conferred upon mankind ; that 
 

 256 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 they who would be benefactors of their race must be willing 
 cheerfully to bear the evil and suffering that in so great 
 part constitutes that office ; and was it not a small thing 
 to suffer, and that in the body only, and but for a moment, 
 if by such means great and permanent blessings to the souls 
 of men might be secured, and remotest ages of the world 
 made to rejoice and nourish through the effects of their 
 labours ? Every day of their worship they were accus 
 tomed to hear sung or recited the praises of those who 
 had died for Christ and truth ; men of whom the world was 
 not worthy, and who, beautiful with the crown of martyr 
 dom, were now of that glorious company who in the pres 
 ence of God were chanting the praises of God and the Lamb. 
 Who was not ready to die, if it was so ordained, if by such 
 death truth could be transmitted to other ages ? What 
 was it to die to-day rather than to-morrow, for that was 
 all, or this year rather than the next, if one s death could 
 be made subservient to the great cause of Christ and his 
 gospel ? What was it to die by the sword of a Eoman exe 
 cutioner, or even to be torn by wild beasts, if by suffering 
 so the soul became allied to reformers and benefactors of all 
 ages ? And, besides, what evil, after all, was it in the 4 
 power of their enemies to inflict ? They could do no more 
 than torment and destroy the body ; they could not touch 
 nor harm the soul. By the infliction of death itself, they 
 did but hasten the moment when they should stand clothed 
 in shining garments in the presence of the Father. " The 
 time has come, Christians, " he then said, " when in the 
 providence of God you are called upon to be witnesses of 
 the faith which you profess in Christ. After many years 
 of calm, a storm has arisen, which begins already to be felt 
 in the violence with which it beats upon our heads. Al 
 most ever since the reign of Decius have we possessed our 
 borders in quietness. Especially under Gallienus and 
 Claudius, and during nearly these four years of Aurelian, 
 have we enjoyed our faith and our worship, with none to 
 alarm or oppress us. The laws of the empire have been as 
 a wall of defence between us and the fierce and bloody 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 257 
 
 spirit of pagan superstition. They who would have wil 
 lingly assailed and destroyed us have been forcibly re 
 strained by wise and merciful enactments. During this 
 season of repose our numbers have increased ; we have 
 been prosperous and happy. Our churches have multiplied, 
 and all the signs of an outward prosperity have been visible 
 in all parts of this vast empire. Would to God I could say 
 that while numbers and wealth have been added to the 
 Church, it had grown in grace and in the practice of the 
 virtues of the gospel in the same proportion ! But I can 
 not. The simplicity and purity of the first ages are no 
 longer to be seen among us. We no longer emulate the 
 early apostles, and make them our patterns. We rather 
 turn to the pagan and Jewish priesthood, and in all that 
 pertains to the forms of our worship mould ourselves upon 
 them ; and in all that pertains to opinion and doctrine we 
 turn to the philosophers, and engraft whatever of their 
 mysteries and subtleties we can upon the plain and simple 
 truth as it is in Jesus. We have departed far, very far, 
 from the gospel standard both in practice and in faith. 
 We need, Christians, to be brought back. We have gone 
 astray, we have almost worshipped other gods ; it is needful 
 that we return in season, while the day lasts, to our true 
 allegiance. I dare not say, Christians, that the calamity 
 which now impends is a judgment of God upon our corrup 
 tions ! we know not what events are of a judicial character, 
 they have upon them no signature which marks them as 
 such; but this we may say, -that it will be no calamity, 
 but a benefit and a blessing rather, if it have the effect to 
 show us our errors and cause us to retrace our steps. Au- 
 relian, enemy though we call him, may prove our benefac 
 tor ; he may scourge us, but the sufferings he inflicts may 
 bring healing along with them, being that very medicine 
 which the sick soul needs. Let us meet, then, this new and 
 heavy trial as a part of the providence of God, as a part of 
 that mysterious plan, the lines of which are in so great part 
 hidden from our eyes, by which he educates his children 
 for eternity, and at the same time, and by the same means, 
 
 17 
 
258 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 prepares and transmits to future generations the richest 
 blessings. If we, Christians, suffer for the cause of truth 
 and God, let us be cheered by the thought that by our suf 
 ferings our children and children s children are made to 
 inherit that truth, and brought into the family of God. If 
 our blood is poured out like water, let us remember that 
 it serves to fertilize that soil out of which divine nutriment 
 shall grow for generations yet unborn, whom it shall nourish 
 up unto eternal life. Let your hearts then be strong within 
 you; faint not, nor fear; God will be with you, and his 
 spirit comfort you. 
 
 " But why do I say these things ? Why do I exhort you 
 to courage ? For when was it known that the followers of 
 Christ shrunk from the path of duty, though it were evi 
 dently the path of death ? When and in what age have 
 those been wanting who should bear witness to the truth, 
 and seal it with their blood ? There have been those who 
 in time of persecution have fallen away; but for one apos 
 tate there have been a thousand martyrs. We have been, 
 I may rather affirm, too prodigal of life, too lavish of our 
 blood. There has been, in former ages, not only a willing 
 ness, a readiness, to die for Christ, but an eagerness. 
 Christians have not waited to be searched for and found by 
 the ministers of Eoman power ; they have thrust themselves 
 forward ; they have gone up of their own accord to the tri 
 bunal, and proclaimed their faith, and invited the death at 
 which nature trembles and revolts. But shall we blame 
 this divine ardour, this more than human contempt of 
 suffering and death, this burning zeal for the great cause 
 of our Master? Let us rather honour and revere it as a 
 temper truly divine, and of more than mortal force. But 
 let us be just to all. While we honour the courage and 
 self-sacrificing love of so many, let us not require that all 
 should be such, nor cast suspicion upon those who, loving 
 Christ not less in their hearts, shrink from the sufferings 
 in which others glory. Ye need not, Christian men and 
 women, yourselves rush to the tribunal of Varus, ere you 
 can feel that you are Christ s indeed. It is not needful 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 259 
 
 that to be a Christian you must also be a martyr. Ye need 
 not, ye ought not, impatiently to seek for the rack and the 
 cross. It is enough if, when sought and found and ar 
 raigned, you be found faithful, if then you deny not nor 
 renounce your Lord, but glory in your name, and with your 
 dying breath shout it forth as that for which you gladly en 
 counter torture and death. Go not forth, then, seeking the 
 martyr s crown! Wait till you are called. God knoweth, 
 and he alone, whom he would have to glorify him by that 
 death which is so much more to be coveted than life. Leave 
 all in the hand of Providence. You that are not chosen, 
 fear not that, though later, the gates of heaven shall not be 
 thrown open for you. Many are the paths that lead to 
 those gates. Besides, shall all rush upon certain death ? 
 Were all martyrs, where then were the seed of the Church ? 
 They who live, and by their life consecrate to holiness and 
 God show that they are his, do no less for their Master 
 and his cause than do they who die for that cause. Nay, 
 t is easier to die well than to live well. The cross which 
 we bear through a long life of faithful service is a heavier 
 one than that which we bear as we go up our Calvary. 
 Leave all, then, Christian men and women, in the hands 
 of God. Seek not death nor life. Shun not life nor death. 
 Say each, Here, Lord, is thy servant ; do with him as 
 shall seem to thee good. 
 
 " And now, Christians, how shall we receive the edict of 
 Aurelian ? It silences our preachers, it closes our churches. 
 What now is the duty of the Christians of Eome ? " 
 
 Soon as this question was proposed by Probus, many 
 voices from various parts of the room gave in their judg 
 ments. At first the opinions expressed differed on many 
 points ; but as the discussion was prolonged, the difference 
 grew less and less, till unanimity seemed to be attained. 
 It was agreed, at length, that it was right to conform to 
 the edict so far as this : that they would not preach 
 openly in the streets, nor elsewhere. They would at first, 
 and scrupulously, conform to the edict in its letter and 
 spirit, until they had seen what could be done by appeals 
 
260 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 both to the emperor and the senate ; but maintaining at the 
 same time that if their appeals were vain, if their churches 
 were not restored to them, with liberty to assemble in 
 them as formerly and for the same purposes, then they 
 would take the freedom that was not granted, and use it as 
 before, and abide by the issue ; no power of man should 
 close their mouths as ambassadors of God, as followers of 
 Christ, and through him, reformers of the world. They 
 would speak, they would preach and pray, though death 
 were the immediate reward. 
 
 In this determination I heartily agreed, as both moderate 
 and yet firm ; as showing respect for the powers that are 
 over us, and at the same time asserting our own rights, 
 and declaring our purpose to stand by them. But so 
 thought not all. For no sooner was the opinion of the 
 assembly declared than Macer broke forth. 
 
 " I have heard, " said he, " the judgment which has been 
 pronounced. But I like it not ; I agree not to it. Shall 
 the minister of Christ, the ambassador of God, a messenger 
 from Heaven to earth, hold his peace at the behest of a 
 man, though he be an emperor, or of ten thousand men, 
 were all emperors ? Not though every Christian in Borne 
 subscribed to this judgment, not though every Christian 
 in the world assented to it, would I. Is Christ to receive 
 laws of Aurelian? Is the cause of God and truth to be 
 postponed to that of the empire, and posterity to die of 
 hunger because we refuse to till the earth ? We are God s 
 spiritual husbandmen ; the heart of Eome is our field of 
 labour ; it is already the eleventh hour ; the last days are 
 at hand ; and shall we forbear our toil ; shall we with 
 draw our hand from the plough ; shall we cease to pro 
 claim the glad tidings of salvation, because the doors of 
 our churches are closed ? Not so, Christians, by the blessing 
 of God, shall it be with me. While the streets of Rome 
 and her door-stones will serve me for church and pulpit, 
 and while my tongue is left unwrenched from my mouth, 
 will I not cease to declare Jesus Christ and him crucified ! 
 Think you Aurelian will abate his wrath, or change his 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 261 
 
 purposes of death, for all your humble suing ? that 
 cringing and fawning will turn aside the messengers of 
 death ? Believe it not. Ye know not Aurelian. More 
 would you gain with him, did the faith of the peace-loving 
 Jesus allow it, if ye went forth in battle array, and dis 
 puted this great question in the streets of Eome sword in 
 hand ! More would ye gain now if ye sent a word of 
 defiance, denying his right to interpose between God and 
 his people, between Christ and his Church, and daring him 
 to do his worst, than by this tame surrender of your rights, 
 this almost base denial of your Master. No sooner shall 
 to-morrow s sun have risen than on the very steps of the 
 Capitol will I preach Christ, and hurl the damnation of 
 God upon this bloody emperor and his bloody people. " 
 
 "Oh, Macer! Macer ! cease, cease!" cried a woman s 
 voice from the crowd. " You know not what you say ! 
 Already have your harsh words put new bitterness into 
 Aurelian s heart. Forbear, as you love Christ and us. " 
 
 " Woman, " replied Macer, " for such your voice declares 
 you to be, I do love both Christ and you ; and it is because 
 I love you that I aim to set aside this faithless judgment of 
 the Eoman Christians. But when I say I love you and 
 the believers in Eome, I mean your souls, not your bodies. 
 I love not your safety, nor your peace, nor your outward 
 comforts ; your houses, nor your wealth, nor your children, 
 nor your lives, nor anything that is yours which the eye 
 can see or the hands handle. I love your souls, and be 
 sides them nothing. And while I love them, and for 
 them am bound in the spirit as a minister of Christ, I may 
 not hold my peace, nor hide myself, for that there is a lion 
 in the path. As a soldier of the cross, I will never flee. 
 Though at the last day I hear no other word of praise from 
 Him the Judge, and no other shall I hear, for my pagan 
 sins weigh me down down help, Lord ! or I perish ! : 
 -Macer s voice here took the tone of deepest agony; he 
 seemed for a time wholly lost, standing still, with out 
 stretched arms and uplifted eye. After a long pause he 
 suddenly resumed : " What did I say ? It was this : though 
 
262 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 I hear no other word of praise from my Judge as I stand 
 at his judgment-seat, I trust I shall hear this, that I did 
 not flee rior hide myself, that I was no coward, but a bold 
 and fearless soldier of the cross, ready at any time and at 
 all times to suffer for the souls of my brethren. " 
 
 " Think not, Macer, " said Probus, " that we shrink at 
 the prospect of danger. But we would be not only bold 
 and unshrinking, but wise and prudent. There is more 
 than one virtue goes to make the Christian man. We think 
 it right and wise first to appeal to the emperor s love of 
 justice. We think it might redound greatly to our advan 
 tage if we could obtain a public hearing before Aurelian, so 
 that from one of our own side he might hear the truth in 
 Christ, and then judge whether to believe so was hurtful 
 to the state, or deserving of torture and death. " 
 
 " As well, Probus, " replied Macer, " might you preach 
 the faith of Christ in the ear of the adder to the very 
 stones of the highways ! Aurelian turned from a settled 
 purpose ! ha ! ha ! You have not served, Probus, under 
 him in Gaul and Asia, as others have. Never did the 
 arguments of his legions and his great officers on the other 
 side serve but to intrench him the more impregnably on his 
 own. He knows not what the word change means. But 
 were this possible and of good hope, it shows not that plain 
 and straight path to which my spirit points, and which, 
 therefore, I must travel. Is it right to hearken to man 
 rather than God ? That to me is the only question. Shall 
 Aurelian silence the ambassador of God and Christ ? Shall 
 man wrestle and dispute with the Almighty ? To me, 
 Christians, it would be a crime of deeper dye than the 
 errors of my pagan youth, did I chain my tongue, were it 
 but for an hour, at the command of Aurelian. I have a 
 light within, and it is that I must obey. I reason not ; 
 I weigh not probabilities ; I balance not argument against 
 argument, I feel ! and that I take to be the instinct of 
 God, the inspiration of his holy Spirit ; and as I feel, so 
 am I bound to act. " 
 
 It was felt to be useless to reason with this impetuous 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 263 
 
 and self-willed man. He must be left to work out his own 
 path through the surrounding perils, and bear whatever 
 evil his violent rashness might draw upon his head. Yet 
 his are those extreme and violent opinions and feelings 
 which are so apt to carry away the multitude, and it was 
 easy to see that a large proportion of the assembly went 
 with him. Another occasion was given for their expression. 
 
 When it had been determined that the edicts should be 
 observed so far as to refrain from all public preaching and 
 all assembling together, till the emperor had been first ap 
 pealed to, it then became a question in what manner the 
 emperor should be approached, and by whom, in behalf of 
 the whole body. And no sooner had Macer ceased than 
 the same voice which had first brought those charges against 
 Probus was again heard, the voice, as I have since learned, 
 of a friend of Felix, and an exorcist. 
 
 " If it be now determined, " said the voice, " that we 
 appeal to the clemency of the emperor in order to avert 
 from our heads the evil that seems to be more than threat 
 ened, let it be done by some one who in his faith may fitly 
 represent the great body of Christ s followers. Whether 
 the emperor shall feel well inclined towards us or not, will 
 it not greatly depend upon the manner in which the truth 
 in Christ shall be set forth, and whether, by means of the 
 principles and doctrines that shall be shown to belong to it 
 and constitute it, it shall be judged by him to be of hurtful 
 or beneficial tendency ? Now, it is well known to all how 
 variously Christ is received and interpreted in Rome. As 
 received by some, his gospel is one thing ; as received by 
 others, it is another and quite a different thing. Who can 
 doubt that our prospect of a favourable hearing with Aure- 
 lian will be an encouraging one in the proportion that he 
 shall perceive our opinions to agree with those which have 
 already been advanced in the schools of philosophy, espe 
 cially in that of the divine Plato ? This agreement and al 
 most identity has, ever since the time of Justin, been 
 pointed out and learnedly defended. They who perceive 
 this agreement, and rest in it as their faith, now constitute 
 
264 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 the greater part of the Christian world. Let him, then, 
 who is to bespeak for us the emperor s good-will be, as in 
 good sooth he ought to be, of these opinions. As to the 
 declaration that has been made that one is as much a Chris 
 tian as another whatever the difference of faith may be, I 
 cannot receive it ; and he who made the declaration I doubt 
 would scarce abide by it, since, as I learn, he is a wor 
 shipper and follower of that falsehearted interloper, Nova- 
 tian. The Puritans least of all are apt to regard with favour 
 those who hold not with them. Let Felix, then, who, if 
 any now living in Eorne, may stand forward as a specimen 
 of what Christ s religion is in both its doctrine and its life 
 let Felix plead our cause with Aurelian. " 
 
 The same difference of feeling and opinion manifested 
 itself as before. Many voices immediately cried out, " Yes, 
 yes, Felix ! let Felix speak for us ! " while others, from 
 every part of the room, were heard shouting out, " Probus, 
 Probus ! let Probus be our advocate ! " 
 
 At length the confusion subsided, as a single voice made 
 itself heard above the others, and caught their attention : 
 " If Felix, Christians, as has just been affirmed, represents 
 the opinions which are now most popular in the Christian 
 world, at least here in Borne, Probus represents those which 
 are more ancient " He was instantly interrupted. 
 
 " How long ago, " cried another, " lived Paul of Samosata ? " 
 
 " When died the heretic Sabellius ? " added still another. 
 
 " Or Praxeas ? " said a third ; " or Theodotus ? or Artemon ? " 
 
 " These, " replied the first, soon as he could find room for 
 utterance, " these are, indeed, not of the earliest age, but 
 they from whom they learned their faith are of that age, 
 namely the apostles and the great Master of all. " 
 
 " Heresy, " cried out one who had spoken before, " always 
 dates from the oldest ; it never has less age or authority 
 than that of Christ." 
 
 " Christians ! Christians ! " Macer s stentorian voice 
 was now heard towering above the tumult, " What is it 
 ye would have ? What are these distinctions about which 
 ye dispute ? What have they to do with the matter now 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 2G5 
 
 in hand ? How would one doctrine or the other, in such 
 matters, weigh with Aurelian more than straws or feathers ? 
 But if these are stark nought, and less than nought, there 
 are other questions pertinent to the time, nay, which the 
 time forces upon us, and about which we should be well 
 agreed. A new age of persecution has arisen, and the 
 church is about to be sifted, and the wheat separated from 
 the chaff, the first to be gathered into the garners of God, 
 the last to be burned up in fire unquenchable. Now is it 
 to be proved who are Christ s, and who are not, who will 
 follow him, bearing their cross, to some new Calvary, and 
 who, saving their lives, shall yet lose them. Who knows 
 not the evil that in the time of Decius, yes, and before and 
 since too, fell upon the Church from the so easy reception 
 and restoration of those who in an hour of weakness and 
 fear denied their Master and his faith, and bowed the knee 
 to the gods of Rome ? Here is the danger against which 
 we are to guard ; from this quarter not from any other 
 of vain jargon concerning natures, essences, and modes of 
 being are we to look for those fatal inroads to be made 
 upon the purity of the gospel, that cannot but draw along 
 with them corruption and ruin. Of what stuff will the 
 Church then be made, when they who are its ministers, 
 deacons, and bishops, shall be such as, when danger showed 
 itself, relapsed into idolatry, and soon as the clouds had 
 drifted by, and the winds blew soft, came forth again into the 
 calm sunshine, renounced their idolatry, and again profess 
 ing Christ, were received to the arms of the Church, and 
 even to the communion of the body and blood of our Lord ? 
 Christians, the great Novatian is he to whom we owe what 
 purity the Church yet retains, and it is an allegiance to 
 him" 
 
 " The great Novatian ! " exclaimed a priest of the Roman 
 Church, " great only in his infamy ! Himself an apostate 
 once, he sought afterwards, having been received himself 
 back again to the Church upon his repentance, to bury his 
 shame under a show of zeal against such as were guilty of 
 the same offence. His own weakness or sin, instead of 
 
266 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 teaching him compassion, served but to harden his heart. 
 Is this the man to whose principles we are to pledge our 
 selves ? Were his principles sound in themselves, we could 
 hardly take them from such a source. But they are false. 
 They are in the face of the spirit and letter of the gospel. 
 What is the character of the religion of Christ, if it be not 
 mercy ? Yet this great Novatian, to those who like Peter 
 have fallen, Peter, whom his Master received and forgave, 
 denies all mercy ; and for one offence, however penitence 
 may wring the soul, cuts them off forever, like a rotten 
 branch, from the body of Christ ! Is this the teacher whose 
 follower should appeal for us to the Eoman emperor ? " 
 
 " I seek not, " Macer began to say, " to defend the Bishop 
 of Rome " 
 
 " Bishop ! " cried the other, " bishop ! who ever heard 
 that Novatian was Bishop of Borne ? But who has not 
 heard that that wicked and ambitious man, through envy 
 of Cornelius, and resolved to supplant him, caused himself 
 to be ordained bishop by a few of that order, weak and 
 corrupt men, whom he bribed to the bad work, but who, 
 corrupt as they were, and bribed as they were, it was first 
 needful to make drunk, before conscience would allow them 
 by such act eternally to disgrace themselves and the 
 Church ? " 
 
 " Lies and slanders all ! " cried Macer, and others with 
 him, in the same breath, and with their utmost voice. At 
 the same time many were heard to name Macer as one who 
 would best assert and defend the Christian cause before 
 Aurelian. But these were soon overborne, and silenced by 
 the greater number of those who now again called upon 
 Probus to fill that office. 
 
 Probus seemed not sorry that, his name being thus tu- 
 multuously called out, he had it in his power to speak to 
 the assembly. Making a sign accordingly that he would 
 be heard, he said that he coveted not the honourable office 
 of appealing for them to the Emperor of Eome. 
 
 " It would confer more happiness a thousand-fold, 
 Christians, if I could by any words of mine put harmony 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 267 
 
 and peace into your hearts, than if I might even convert 
 a Eoman emperor. What a scene is this, at such an hour, 
 of confusion and discord when, if ever, our hearts should 
 be drawn closer together by this exposure to a common 
 calamity ! Why is it that, when at home, or moving 
 abroad in the business of life, your conversation so well 
 becomes your name and faith, drawing upon you even 
 the commendation of your pagan foes, but you no sooner 
 assemble together, as now, than division and quarrel 
 ensue, in such measure as among our heathen opponents 
 is never or rarely seen ? Why is it that, when you are 
 so ready, Christians, to die for Christ, you will not live 
 at peace for him ? Honour you not him more by showing 
 that you are of his spirit, that for his name s sake you 
 are willing to bear patiently whatever reproach may be 
 laid upon you, than you do even by suffering and 
 dying for him ? For which is the harder service, to lay 
 down a life, often so hard beset by sorrow and pain, and 
 thereupon enter through heaven s gates into the immediate 
 and eternal glory of God, or to live on many and weary 
 days of patient doing and bearing, toiling without ceasing, 
 oftentimes trampled upon, cast out as an offence, de 
 spised, scorned, and, with the first teachers, a spectacle 
 of misery and compassion to angels and to men ? Be not 
 so ready, then, to take upon you the lighter burden and 
 the easier yoke, while you shrink from the heavier one, but 
 for that reason the more honourable. Let all who are here 
 but show their love of Christ as perfectly in their tempers 
 as they would to-morrow, were they summoned to the trial, 
 by meeting without a murmur or a groan the rods and the 
 axe of the executioner, and a day of a new and better glory 
 will have risen upon the Church. The questions you have 
 agitated are not for this hour and place. What now does 
 it signify whether one be a follower of Paul, of Origen, of 
 Sabellius, or Novatian, when we are each and all so shortly 
 to be called upon to confess our allegiance to neither of 
 these, but to a greater, even Jesus, the Master and Head of 
 us all ? And what has our preference for some of the doc- 
 
268 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 trines of either of these to do with our higher love of Christ 
 and his truth ? By such preference is our superior and su 
 preme regard for Jesus and his word vitiated or invalidated ? 
 Nay, what is it we then do, when we embrace the peculiar 
 doctrine of some great or good man who has gone before, 
 but embrace that which, in a peculiar sense, we regard as 
 the doctrine of Christ ? We receive the peculiar doctrine 
 of Paul, or Justin, or Origen, not because it is theirs, but 
 because we think they have shown it to be eminently the 
 doctrine of Christ. In binding upon us, then, the dogmas 
 of any teacher, we ought not to be treated other than as those 
 who, in doing so, are seeking to do the highest honour, not 
 to such teacher, but to Christ. I am charged as a disciple 
 of the Bishop of Antioch, and the honoured Felix as a dis 
 ciple of Plato. If I honour Paul, Christians, for any of his 
 truth, it is because I deem him to have discerned clearly 
 the truth as it is in Jesus. My faith is not in him, but 
 in Jesus. And if Felix honour Plato or Plotinus, it is 
 but because in them he beholds some clearer unfolding 
 clearer than elsewhere of the truth in Christ. Are not 
 we, then, and all who do the same thing, to be esteemed as 
 those who honour Christ, not deny or forsake him ? And 
 as we all hold in especial reverence some one or another 
 of a former age, through whom, as a second master, we 
 receive the doctrines of the gospel, ought we not all to love 
 and honour one another, seeing that in the same way we 
 all love and honour Christ ? Let love, Christians, mutual 
 honour and love, be the badge of our discipleship, as it was 
 in the first age of the Church. Soon, very soon, will you 
 be called to bear testimony to the cause you have espoused, 
 and perhaps seal it with your blood. Be not less ready to 
 show your love to those around you by the promptness 
 with which you lend your sympathy, or counsel, or aid, as 
 this new flood of adversity flows in upon them. But why 
 do I exhort you ? The thousand acts of kindness, of charity, 
 of brotherly love, which flow outward from you in a per 
 petual stream toward heathen riot less than Christian, and 
 have drawn upon you the admiration even of the pagan 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 269 
 
 world, is sufficient assurance that your hearts will not be 
 cold when the necessities of this heavier time shall lay 
 upon you their claims. It is only in the public assembly, 
 and in the ardour of debate, that love seems cold and dead. 
 Forget, then, now and to-morrow, that you are followers 
 of any other than Christ. Forget that you call yourselves 
 after one teacher or another, and remember only that you 
 are brethren, members of one family, of the same household 
 of faith, owning one Master, worshipping one and the same 
 God and Father of us all. And now, Christians, if you 
 would rather that Felix should defend you before Aurelian, 
 I would also. There is none among us who loves Christ 
 more or better than he, or would more readily lay down his 
 life for his sake. " 
 
 Felix, however, joined with all the others, for all now 
 seemed of one opinion, in desiring that Probus should 
 appear for the Christians before the emperor; which he 
 then consented to do. Harmony was once more restored. 
 The differences of opinion which separated them seemed to 
 be forgotten, and they mingled as friends and fellow-labour 
 ers in the great cause of truth. They who had been harsh 
 est in the debate which was at much greater length, and 
 conducted with much more vehemence than as I have de 
 scribed it were among the most forward to meet with 
 urbanity those who were in faith the most distantly re 
 moved from them. A long and friendly interview then 
 took place, in which each communed with each, and by 
 words of faith or affection, helped to supply the strength 
 which all needed for the approaching conflict. One saw no 
 longer and heard no longer the enthusiastic disputant, more 
 bent upon victory than truth, and heedless of the wounds 
 he gave to the heart provided he convinced the head or 
 silenced the tongue, but instead, those who now appeared 
 no other than a company of neighbours and friends, engaged 
 in the promotion of some common object of overwhelming 
 interest. 
 
 When in this manner, and for a considerable space of 
 time, a fit offering had been laid upon the altar of love, 
 
270 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 the whole assembly again joined together in acts of prayer, 
 and again lifted up their voices in songs of praise. This 
 duty being performed, we separated and sought the streets. 
 The storm which had begun in violence had increased, and 
 it was with difficulty that, beset by darkness, wind, and 
 rain, I succeeded without injury in finding my way to the 
 Coslian. 
 
 Julia was waiting for me with anxious impatience. On 
 my relating to her the events of the evening, she said, 
 
 " How strange, Lucius, the conduct of such men at such 
 a time! How could Christians, with the Christian s faith 
 in their hearts, so lose the possession of themselves, and 
 so violate all that they profess as followers of Jesus ? I 
 confess, if this be the manner in which Christianity is in 
 tended to operate upon the character, I am as yet wholly 
 ignorant of it, and desire ever to remain so. But it is not 
 possible that they are right. Nay, they seem in some sort 
 to have acknowledged themselves to have been in the 
 wrong, by the last acts of the meeting. This brings to my 
 mind what Paul has often told me of the Christians, of the 
 same kind, at which I was then amazed, but had forgot 
 ten. I do not comprehend it. I have read and studied the 
 character and the teachings of Jesus, and it seems to me I 
 have arrived at some true understanding for surely there 
 is little difficulty in doing so of what he himself was, 
 and of what he wished his followers to be. Would he have 
 recognized his likeness in those of whom you have now 
 told me?" 
 
 " Yet, " I replied, " there was more of it there in those 
 very persons than at first we might be inclined to think ; 
 and in the great multitude of those who were present it 
 may have been all there, and was in most, I cannot doubt. 
 We ought not to judge of this community by the leaders of 
 the several divisions which compose it. They are by no 
 means just specimens, from which to infer the character of 
 all. They are but too often restless, ambitious, selfish 
 men, seeking their own aggrandizement and their party s, 
 rather than the glory of Christ and his truth. I can con- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 271 
 
 ceive of a reception of Christian precept and of the Chris 
 tian spirit being but little more perfect and complete than 
 I have found it among the humbler sort of the Christians 
 of Rome. Among them there is to be seen nothing of 
 the temper of violence and bigotry that was visible this 
 evening in the language of so many. They for the most 
 part place the religion of Jesus in holy living, in love of 
 one another, and patient waiting for the kingdom of God. 
 And their lives are seen to accord with these great princi 
 ples of action. Even for their leaders, who are in so many 
 points so different from them, this may be said in explana 
 tion and excuse, that from studying the record more than 
 the common people, they came to consider more narrowly 
 in what the religion of Jesus consists, and arriving, after 
 much labour, at what they believe in their hearts to be the 
 precise truth, truth the most vital of any to the power 
 and success of the gospel, this engrosses all their affec 
 tions, and prompts all their labour and zeal ; in the dis 
 semination of this do they alone behold the dissemination 
 of Christianity itself ; this being denied or rejected, the 
 gospel itself is. With such notions as fundamental princi 
 ples of action, it is easy to see with what sincere and vir 
 tuous indignation they would be filled towards such as 
 should set at nought and oppose that which they cherish 
 as the very central glory and peculiarity of Christianity. 
 These things being so, I can pity and forgive a great deal 
 of what appears and is so opposite to the true Christian 
 temper, on account of its origin and cause, especially as 
 these very persons, who are so impetuous, and truculent 
 almost, as partisans and advocates, are as private Christians 
 examples perhaps of extraordinary virtue. We certainly 
 know this to be the case with Macer. An apostle was never 
 more conscientious or more pure. Yet would he, had he 
 power equal to his will, drive from the Church all who 
 bowed not the knee to his idol, Novatian. " 
 
 " But how, " asked Julia, " would that agree with the 
 offence he justly took at those who quarrelled with Probus 
 and Felix on account of their doctrine ? " 
 
272 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " There certainly would be in such conduct no agreement 
 or consistency. It only shows how easy it is to see a fault 
 in another, to which we are stone-blind in ourselves. In 
 the faith or errors of Probus and Felix he thought there 
 was nothing that should injure their Christian name, or 
 unfit them for any office. Yet in the same breath he con 
 demned, as almost the worst enemies of Christ, such as re 
 fused honour and adherence to the severe and inhuman code 
 of his master, Novatian. " 
 
 " But how far removed, Lucius, is all this from the spirit 
 of the religion of Jesus ! Allowing all the force of the apolo 
 gies you may offer, is it not a singular state for the minds 
 and tempers of those to have arrived at who profess before 
 the world to have formed themselves after the doctrine, and 
 what is more, after the character of Christ ? I cannot un 
 derstand the process by which it has been done, nor how 
 it is that, without bringing upon themselves public shame 
 and reproach, such men can stand forth and proclaim them 
 selves not only Christians, but Christian leaders and 
 ministers. " 
 
 " I can understand it, I confess, quite as little. But I 
 cannot doubt that as Christianity outgrows its infancy, es 
 pecially when the great body of those who profess it shall 
 have been formed by it from their youth, and shall not be 
 composed as now of those who have been brought over from 
 the opposite and uncongenial regions of Paganism, with 
 much of their former character still adhering to them, 
 Christians will then be what they ought to be who make 
 the life and character of Jesus their standard. Nothing is 
 learned so slowly by mankind as those lessons which en 
 force mutual love and respect, in which the Gospels so 
 abound. We must allow not only years, but hundreds of 
 years, for these lessons to be imprinted upon the general 
 heart of men, and to be seen in all their character and in 
 tercourse. But when a few hundred years shall have 
 elapsed, and that is a long allowance for this education 
 to be perfected in, I can conceive that the times of the 
 primitive peace and love shall be more than restored, and 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 273 
 
 that such reproaches as to-night were heard lavished upon 
 one another will be deemed as little compatible with a 
 Christian profession as would be violence and war. All 
 violence and wrong must cease as this religion is received, 
 and the ancient superstitions and idolatries die out. " 
 
 " What a privilege to be born and live, " said Julia, " in 
 those fast approaching years when Christianity shall alone 
 be received as the religion of this large empire ; when pa 
 ganism shall have become extinct in Eome, and all our 
 people shall be actuated by the same great principles of 
 faith and virtue that governed both Christ and his apostles ! 
 A few centuries will witness more and better than we now 
 dream of. " 
 
 So we pleased ourselves with visions of future peace and 
 happiness which Christianity was to convert to reality. To 
 me they are no more mere visions, but as much realities to 
 be experienced, as the future towering oak is, when I look 
 upon an acorn planted, or as the future man is, when I 
 look upon a little child. If Christianity grows at all, it 
 must grow in such a direction. If it do not, it will not be 
 Christianity that grows, but something else that shall have 
 assumed its name and usurped its place. The extension of 
 Christianity is the extension and multiplication, as it were, 
 of that which constituted Christ himself, it is the con 
 version of men into his image, or else it is nothing. Then, 
 when this shall be done, what a paradise of peace, and 
 holiness, and love, will not the earth be ! Surely to be 
 used as an instrument in accomplishing such result, one 
 may well regard as an honour and privilege, and be ready 
 to bear and suffer much, if need be, in fulfilling the great 
 office. 
 
 I hope I shall not have wearied you by all this exactness, 
 I strictly conform to your injunctions, so that you can com 
 plain only of yourself. 
 
 We often wish that the time would allow us to escape 
 to you, that we might witness your labours, and share them 
 in the rebuilding and re-embellishing of the city. Eome 
 will never be a home to Julia. Her affections are all in 
 
 18 
 
274 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 Syria. I can even better conceive of Zenobia becoming a 
 Roman than Julia. Farewell. 
 
 Finding among the papers of Piso no letter giving any 
 account of what took place immediately after the meeting 
 of the Christians, which in his last letter he has so mi 
 nutely described, I shall here supply as I may the defi 
 ciency, and I can do it at least with fidelity, since I was 
 present at the scenes of which I shall speak. 
 
 No one took a more lively interest in the condition and 
 affairs of the Christians than Zenobia ; and it is with sorrow 
 that I find among the records of Piso no mention made of 
 conversations had at Tibur while these events were trans 
 piring, at which were present himself and the Princess 
 Julia, the queen, and more than once Aurelian and Livia. 
 While I cannot doubt that such record was made, I have in 
 vain searched for it among those documents which he has 
 intrusted to me. 
 
 It was by command of the queen that on the day follow 
 ing that on which the Christians held their assembly at the 
 baths, I went to Rome for the very purpose of learning 
 whatever I could, both at the Gardens and abroad in the 
 city, concerning the condition and probable fate of the 
 Christians, she desiring more precise information than 
 could be gathered from any of the usual sources of 
 intelligence. 
 
 It was apparent to me, as I entered the city and pene 
 trated to its more crowded parts, that somewhat unusual 
 had taken place, or was about to happen. There were more 
 than the common appearances of excitement among those 
 whom I saw conversing and gesticulating at the corners of 
 streets or the doors of the public baths. This idle and 
 corrupt population seemed to have less than on other occa 
 sions to employ their hands, and so gave their time and 
 their conversation to one another, laying no restraint upon 
 the quantity of either. It is an indisputable fact that 
 Eome exists to this day ; for any one who will come into 
 Italy may see it for himself, and he cannot reject the testi- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 275 
 
 mony of his eyes and ears. But how it exists from year to 
 year, or from day to day, under such institutions, it would 
 puzzle the wisest philosopher, I believe, to tell. Me, who 
 am no philosopher, it puzzles as often as I reflect upon it. 
 I cannot learn the causes that hold together, in such ap 
 parent order and contentment, so idle and so corrupt a 
 people. I have supposed it must be these, but they seem 
 not sufficient : the praetorian camp without the walls 
 and the guard in league with them within, and the lar 
 gesses and games proceeding from the bounty of the 
 emperor. 
 
 These last, though they are the real sources of their cor 
 ruption, and must end in the very destruction of the city 
 and people, yet at present operate to keep them quiet and 
 in order. So long as these bounties are dispensed, so long, 
 such is our innate love of idleness and pleasure, will the 
 mass think it foolish to agitate any questions of right or 
 religion, or any other, by which they might be forfeited. 
 Were these suddenly suspended, all the power of the prae 
 torian cohorts, I suppose, could not keep peace in Rome. 
 They were now, I found, occupied by the affairs of the 
 Christians, and waiting impatiently for the orders which 
 should next issue from the imperial will. The edicts pub 
 lished two days before gave them no employment, nor 
 promised much. They merely laid restraints upon the 
 Christians, but gave no liberty of assault and injury to the 
 Eoman. 
 
 " That does not satisfy the people, " said one to me, at the 
 door of a shop, of whom I had made some inquiry on the 
 subject. " More was looked for from the emperor; for it is 
 well known that he intends the extremest measures, and 
 most are of opinion that before the day is out new edicts 
 will be issued. Why he took the course he did of so un 
 common moderation, t is hard to say. All the effect of it 
 is to give the Christians opportunity to escape and hide 
 themselves, so that by the time the severer orders against 
 them are published, it will be. impossible to carry them 
 into execution. " 
 
276 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " Perhaps, " I said, " it was, after all, his intention to 
 give them a distant warning that some might, if they saw 
 fit to do so, escape. " 
 
 " I do not believe that, " he replied ; " it will rather, I 
 am of opinion, be found to have proceeded from the advice 
 of Fronto and Varus, to give to the proceedings a greater 
 appearance of moderation, which shows into the hands of 
 what owls the emperor has suffered himself to fall. No 
 body ever expected moderation in Aurelian, nor do any but 
 a few as bad as themselves think these wretches deserve it 
 The only effect of it will be to increase their swelling in 
 solence and pride, thinking that Aurelian threatens, but 
 dares not execute. Before another day, I trust, new edicts 
 will show that Aurelian is himself. The life of Eome 
 hangs upon the death of these. " 
 
 Saying which, with a savage scowl, which showed how 
 gladly he would turn executioner or tormentor in such 
 service, he turned and crossed the street. 
 
 I then sought the palace of Piso. I was received in the 
 library, where I found the lady Julia and Piso. 
 
 They greeted me, as they ever did, rather as if I were a 
 brother than but the servant of Zenobia. But whatever 
 belongs to her, were it but so much as a slave of the lowest 
 office, would they treat with affection at least, if not with 
 reverence. After answering their inquiries after the welfare 
 of the queen and Faustula, I made mine concerning the 
 condition of the city and the affairs of the Christians, say 
 ing that Zenobia was anxious to learn what ground there 
 was, or whether any, to feel apprehension for the safety 
 of that people. 
 
 Piso said that now he did not doubt there was great 
 ground for serious apprehension. It was believed by those 
 who possessed the best means of intelligence that new 
 edicts, of a much severer character, would be issued before 
 another day ; but that Zenobia need be under no concern 
 either as to himself or Julia, since the emperor in conver 
 sation with him as much as assured him that whatever 
 might befall others, no harm should come to them. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 277 
 
 He then gave me an account of what the Christians had 
 done in their assembly, agreeing with what is now to be 
 found in the preceding letter. 
 
 I then asked whether he thought that the Christian, 
 Macer, would keep to the declaration he had made that he 
 would to-day, the edicts notwithstanding, preach in the 
 streets of Rome. He replied that he did not doubt that he 
 would, and that if I wished to know what some of the 
 Christians were, and the present temper of the people 
 towards them, I should do well to seek him and hear him. 
 
 " Stand by him, good Nichomachus, " said Julia, " if at 
 any moment you find that you can be of service to him. I 
 have often heretofore blamed him ; but since this murder 
 of Aurelia, and the horrors of the Dedication, I hold him 
 warranted, and more, in any means he may use to rouse this 
 guilty people. Perhaps it is only by the laceration of such 
 remedies as he uses that the heart of Rome, hardened by 
 ages of sin, can be made to feel. To the milder treat 
 ment of Probus, and others like him, it seems sometimes 
 utterly insensible and dead. At least his sincerity, and 
 his zeal, and his courage, are worthy of all admiration. " 
 
 I assured her that I would befriend him if I could do so 
 with any prospect of advantage ; but it* was little that one 
 could do against the fury of a Roman mob. I then asked 
 Piso if he would not accompany me ; but he replied that he 
 had already heard Macer, and was besides necessarily de 
 tained at home by other cares. 
 
 As there was no conjecturing in what part of the city 
 this Christian preacher would harangue the people, and 
 neither the princess nor Piso could impart any certain in 
 formation, I gave little more thought to it ; but as I left 
 the palace on the Coelian determined to seek the gardens of 
 Sallust, where, if I should not see Aurelian, I might at least 
 pass the earlier hours of the day in an agreeable retreat, I 
 took the street which leads from the Coalian to the Capitol 
 hill, as affording a pleasanter walk, if longer. On the way 
 there, I observed well the signs which were given, in the man 
 ner and conversation of those whom I met or walked with, 
 
278 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 of the events which were near at hand. There is no better 
 index of what a despotic ruler, and yet at the same time a 
 people s despot will do, than the present will of the people. 
 It was most apparent to me that the people were impatient 
 for some quick and vigorous action, no matter how violent, 
 against the Christians. Language the most cruel and fero 
 cious met my ear. The moderation and tardiness of the 
 emperor of him who had in everything else been noted 
 for the rapidity of his movements were frequent subjects 
 of complaint. " It is most strange, " they said, " that Au- 
 relian should hesitate in this matter, in truth as if he were 
 afraid to move. Were it not for Fronto, it is thought that 
 nothing would be done after all. But this we may feel 
 sure of, that if the emperor once fairly begins the work of 
 extermination, he is not the man to stop half way. And 
 there is not a friend of the ancient institutions of religion 
 but who says that its very existence depends upon not 
 the partial obstruction of this sect but upon its actual 
 and total extermination. Who does not know that meas 
 ures of opposition and resistance which go but part way, 
 and then stop through a certain unwillingness, as it were, 
 to proceed to extremes, do but increase the evil they aim to 
 suppress ? Weeds that are but mown come up afterwards 
 but the more vigorously. Their very roots must be torn up 
 and then burned. " Such language was heard on all sides, 
 uttered with utmost violence of voice and gesture. 
 
 I paused, among other curious and busy idlers, at the 
 door of a smith s shop, which, as I passed slowly by, pre 
 sented a striking view of a vast and almost boundless 
 interior, blazing with innumerable fires, about which 
 labourers, half naked and seeming as if fire themselves, 
 from the reflection from their steaming bodies of the red 
 glare of the furnaces, stood in groups, some drawing forth 
 the bars of heated metal and holding them, while others, 
 wielding their cyclopean hammers, made the anvils and the 
 vast interior ring with the blows they gave. All around the 
 outside of the shop, and in separate places within, stood 
 the implements and machines of various kinds which were 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 279 
 
 either made or were in the process of being put together. 
 Those whom I joined were just within the principal en 
 trance, looking upon a fabric of iron consisting of a com 
 plicated array of wheels and pulleys, to which the workmen 
 were just in the act of adding the last pieces. The master 
 of the place now approaching and standing with us while 
 he gave divers orders to the men, I said to him, - 
 
 " What new device may this be ? The times labour with 
 new contrivances by which to assist the labourer in his art, 
 and cause iron to do what the arm has been accustomed to 
 perform. But after observing this with care, I can make 
 nothing of it. " 
 
 The master looked at me with a slighting expression of 
 countenance, as much as to say, " You are a wise one ! You 
 must just have emerged from the mountains of Helvetia, 
 or the forests of the Danube. " But he did not content 
 himself with looks. 
 
 " This, sir? " said he. " This, if you would know it, is 
 a rack, a common instrument of torture, used in all the 
 prisons of the empire, the use of which is to extract truth 
 from one who is unwilling to speak except compelled ; or, 
 sometimes, when death is thought too slight a punishment, 
 to give it an edge with, just as salt and pepper are thrown 
 into a fresh wound. Some crimes, you must know, were 
 too softly dealt with were a sharp axe the only instrument 
 employed. Csesar ! just bring some wires of a good thick 
 ness, and we will try this. Now shall you see precisely 
 how it would fare with your own body, were you on this 
 iron frame and Varus standing where I am. There, the 
 body, you perceive, is confined in this manner. You ob 
 serve there can be no escape and no motion. Now, at the 
 word of the judge, this crank is turned. Do you see the 
 effect upon the wire ? Imagine it your body, and you will 
 have a lively idea of the instrument. Then, at another 
 wink or word from Varus, these are turned, and you see 
 that another part of the body, the legs or arms as it may 
 be, is subjected to the same force as this wire, which, as 
 the fellow keeps turning, you see, strains, and straightens, 
 
280 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 and strains, till crack ! There, that is what we call a rack, 
 
 a most ingenious contrivance, and of great use. This 
 is going up within the hour to the hall of the prefect. " 
 
 " It seems, " I remarked, " well contrived indeed for its 
 object. And what, " I asked, " are these which stand here ? 
 Are they for the same or a similar purpose ? " 
 
 " Yes ; these, sir, are different and yet the same. They are 
 all for purposes of torture, but they vary infinitely in the 
 ingenuity with which they severally inflict pain and death. 
 That is esteemed in Kome the most perfect instrument 
 which, while it inflicts the most exquisite torments, shall 
 at the same time not assail that which is a vital part, but, 
 you observe, prolong life to the utmost. Some, of an old- 
 fashioned structure, with a clumsy and bungling machinery, 
 
 here are some sent to me as useless, long before the 
 truth could be extracted, or much more pain inflicted than 
 would accompany beheading, destroyed the life of the vic 
 tim. Those which I build and I build for the state 
 are not to be complained of in that way. Varus is curious 
 enough, I can assure you, in such things. All these that 
 you see here, of whatever form or make, are for him and 
 the hall of justice. They have been all refitted and repaired, 
 or else they are new. " 
 
 " How is it possible, " I asked, " so many could be re 
 quired in one place ? " 
 
 " Surely, " said the master, " you must just have dropped 
 down in Rome from Britain, or Scythia, or the moon ! 
 Didst ever hear of a people called Galilean or Christian ? 
 Perhaps the name is new to you? " 
 
 " No, I have heard it. " 
 
 " Well, these are for them. As you seem new in the 
 city and to our Roman ways, walk a little farther in, and 
 1 will show you others, which are for the men and the boys, 
 at such time as the slaughter of this people shall become 
 general. For you must know, although it is not got widely 
 abroad yet, that by and by the whole city is to be let 
 loose upon them. That is the private plan of the emperor. 
 Every good citizen, it will be expected, will do his share 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 281 
 
 in the work till Rome shall be purged. Aurelian does 
 nothing by halves. It is in view of such a state of things 
 that I have prepared an immense armoury, if I may call 
 it so, of every sort of cheap iron tool, I have the more 
 costly also, to meet the great demand that will be made. 
 Here they are ; commend now my diligence, my patriotism, 
 and my foresight ! Some of my craft will not engage in 
 this work ; but it exactly jumps with my humour. Any 
 that you shall choose of these, sir, you shall have cheap, 
 and they shall be sent to your lodgings. " 
 
 I expressed my gratitude, but declined the offer. 
 
 After wandering a little longer around the huge work 
 shop, I took my leave of its humane master, still entreating 
 me to purchase, and, as I entered again the street, turned 
 towards the Capitol. My limbs were sympathizing with 
 those wires throughout the rest of the day. 
 
 I had forgotten Macer, and almost my object in coming 
 abroad, and was revolving various subjects in my mind, my 
 body only being conscious of the shocks which now and 
 then I received from persons meeting me or passing me, 
 when I became conscious of a sudden rush along the street 
 in the direction of the Capitol, which was now but a fur 
 long from where I was. I was at once awake. The people 
 began to run, and I ran with them by instinct. At length 
 it came into my mind to ask why we were running. One 
 near me replied, 
 
 "Oh, it s only Macer the Christian, who, tis said, in 
 spite of the edict, has just made for the steps of the Capitol, 
 followed by a large crowd. " 
 
 On the instant I outstripped my companion, and turning 
 quickly the corner where the street in which I was crossed 
 the hill, I there beheld an immense multitude gathered 
 around the steps of the Capitol, and the tall form of Macer 
 just ascending them. Eesolved to be near him, I struggled 
 and forced my way into the mass, till I found myself so far 
 advanced that I could both hear and be heard by him, if I 
 should find occasion to speak, and see the expression of his 
 countenance. It was to me, as he turned round toward the 
 
282 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 people, the most extraordinary countenance T ever beheld. 
 It seemed as if once it had been fiercer than the fiercest 
 beast of the forest, while through that was now to be dis 
 cerned the deep traces of grief, and an expression which 
 seemed to say, " I and the world have parted company. I 
 dwell above. " His two lives and his two characters were 
 to be read at once in the strong and deep-sunk lines of a 
 face that struck the beholder at once with awe, with admi 
 ration, and compassion. 
 
 The crowd was restless and noisy ; heaving to and fro like 
 the fiery mass of a boiling crater. A thousand exclama 
 tions and imprecations filled the air. I thought it doubtful 
 whether the rage which seemed to fill a great proportion of 
 those around me would so much as permit him to open his 
 mouth. It seemed rather as if he would at once be dragged 
 from where he stood to the prefect s tribunal, or hurled 
 from the steps and sacrificed at once to the fury of the popu 
 lace. But, as the cries of his savage enemies multiplied, 
 the voices of another multitude were lifted up in his behalf, 
 which were so numerous and loud that they had the effect 
 of putting a restraint upon the others. It was evident that 
 Macer could not be assailed without leading to a general 
 combat. All this while Macer stood unmoved arid calm 
 as the columns of the Capitol itself, waiting till the debate 
 should be ended and the question decided, a question of 
 life or death to him. Upon the column immediately on 
 his right hand hung, emblazoned with gold, and beautiful 
 with all the art of the chirographer, the edict of Aurelian. 
 It was upon parchment, within a brazen frame. 
 
 Soon as quiet was restored, so that any single voice could 
 be heard, one who was at the foot of the steps and near the 
 preacher, cried out to him, 
 
 " Well, old fellow, begin ; thy time is short ! " 
 
 " Young man, " he replied, " I was once old in sin, for 
 which God forgive me ! now I am old in the love of 
 Christ, for which God be thanked ! but in years I am but 
 forty. As for time, I think only of eternity ! " 
 
 " Make haste, Macer, * cried another voice from the 
 crowd ; " Varus will soon be here. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 283 
 
 " I believe you, " replied the soldier ; " but I am ready for 
 him. I love life no longer than I can enjoy free speech. 
 If I may not now and here speak out every thought of my 
 heart and the whole truth in Christ, then would I rather 
 die ; and whether I die in my own bed or upon the iron 
 couch of Varus, matters little, Eomans ! " Turning now 
 and addressing the crowd : " The emperor in his edict tells 
 me not to preach to you, not to preach Christ in Rome, 
 neither within a church nor in the streets. Shall I obey 
 him? When Christ says, Go forth and preach the gospel 
 to every creature, shall I give ear to a Eoman emperor who 
 bids me hold my peace ? Not so, not so, Eomans. I love 
 God too well, and Christ too well, and you too well, to heed 
 such bidding. I love Aurelian too ; I have served long 
 under him, and he was ever good to me. He was a good as 
 well as a great general, and I loved him. I love him now, 
 but not so well as these, not so well as you. And if I 
 obeyed this edict it would show that I love him better 
 than you, and better than these, which would be false. If 
 I obeyed this edict, I should never speak to you again of 
 this new religion, as you call it. I should leave you all to 
 perish in your sins, without any of that knowledge, or faith, 
 or hope in Christ, which would save you from them, and 
 form you after the image of God, and after death carry you 
 up to dwell with him, and with just men forever and ever. 
 I should then, indeed, show that I hated you, which I can 
 never do. I love you and Eome, I cannot tell how much, 
 as much as a child ever loved a mother, or children one 
 another. And therefore it is that no power on earth, 
 nor above it, nor under it, save that of God, shall hinder 
 me from declaring to you the doctrine which I think you 
 need, nay, without which your souls will perish, and 
 dwell forever and ever, not with God, but in fires eternal 
 of the lowest hell. For what can your gods do for you ? 
 what are they doing ? They lift you not up to themselves ; 
 they push you down rather to those fires. Christ, O 
 Eomans, if you will receive him, will save you from them, 
 and from those raging fires of sorrow and remorse which 
 
284 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 here on earth do constitute a hell hot as any that burns 
 below. It is your sins which kindle those fires, and with 
 which Christ wages war, not with you. It is your sins 
 against which I wage war here in the streets of Rome. 
 Only repent of your sins, Romans, and believe in Christ 
 the Son of God, and oh, how glorious and happy were then 
 this great and glorious city ! I have told you before, and I 
 tell you now, your vices are undermining the foundations 
 of this great empire. There is no power to cure these but 
 in Jesus Christ. And when I know this, shall I cease to 
 preach Christ to you because a man, a man like myself, 
 forbids me ? Would you not still prepare for a friend or a 
 child the medicine that would save his life, though you 
 were charged by another never so imperiously to forbear ? 
 The gospel is the divine medicament that is to heal all 
 your sicknesses, cure all your diseases, remove all your mis 
 eries, cleanse all your pollutions, correct all your errors, 
 confirm within you all necessary truth. And when it is 
 this healing draught for which your souls cry aloud, for 
 which they thirst even unto death, shall I, the messenger 
 of God, sent in the name of his Son to bear to your lips the 
 cup of which if you once drink you shall live forever, 
 withhold from you that cup, or dash it to the ground ? 
 Shall I, a mediator between God and man, falter in my 
 speech, and my tongue hang palsied in my mouth, because 
 Aurelian speaks? What to me, Romans, is the edict of 
 a Roman emperor ? Down, down, accursed scrawl ! nor 
 insult longer both God and man. " 
 
 And saying that, he reached forth his hand, and seizing 
 the parchment, wrenched it from its brazen frame, and 
 rending it to shreds, strewed them abroad upon the air. 
 
 It was done in the twinkling of an eye. At first, horror- 
 struck at the audacity of the deed, and while it was in the 
 act of performing, the crowd stood still and mute, bereft, 
 as it were, of all power to move or speak. But soon as the 
 fragments of the parchment came floating along upon the 
 air, their senses returned, and the most violent outcries, 
 curses, and savage yells, rose from the assembled multi- 
 
FHOM PISO TO FAUSTA. 285 
 
 tude, and at the same moment a movement was made to 
 rush upon him, with the evident purpose to sacrifice him 
 on the spot to the offended majesty of the empire. I sup 
 posed that their purpose would easily be accomplished, and 
 that whatever I might attempt to do in his defence would 
 be no more than a straw thrown in the face of a whirlwind. 
 But here a new wonder revealed itself. For no sooner was 
 it evident, from the rage and tumultuous tossings of the 
 crowd, and their ferocious cries, that the last moments of 
 Macer had arrived, than it was apparent that all in the 
 immediate neighbourhood of the building on whose steps 
 he stood were either Christians, or Romans who like myself 
 were well disposed towards that people, and would promptly 
 join them in their defence of Macer. These, and they 
 amounted to a large and dense mass, at once, as those cries 
 arose, sent forth others as shouts of defiance, and facing 
 outwards, made it known that none could assail Macer but 
 by first assailing them. I could not doubt that it was a 
 preconcerted act by which the Christian was thus sur 
 rounded by his friends, not, as I afterwards found, with 
 his knowledge, but done at their own suggestion, so that, 
 if difficulty should arise, they, by a show of sufficient 
 power, might rescue Macer, whom all esteemed in spite of 
 his errors, and also serve by their presence to deter him 
 from any act or the use of any language that should give 
 needless offence to either the prefect or his friends. Their 
 benevolent design was in part frustrated by the sudden, and 
 as it seemed unpremeditated, movement of Macer in tearing 
 down the edict ; but they still served as a protection against 
 the immediate assaults of the excited and enraged mob. 
 
 But their services were soon ended by the interference of 
 a power with which it was vain to contend. For when the 
 populace had given over for a moment their design, awed 
 by the formidable array of numbers about the person of 
 Macer, he again, having never moved from the spot where 
 he had stood, stretched out his long arm, as if he would 
 continue what he had scarcely as yet begun ; and to my sur 
 prise the people, notwithstanding what had occurred, seemed 
 
286 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 not indisposed to hear him. But just at that moment 
 just as a deep silence had at length succeeded the late up 
 roar the distant sound, in the direction of the prefect s, 
 of a troop of horse in rapid movement over the pavements 
 caught the ears of the people. No one doubted for a mo 
 ment what it signified. 
 
 " Your hour is come, Macer ! " cried a voice from the 
 crowd. 
 
 " It can never come too soon, " answered the preacher, 
 " in the service of God. But remember, Eoman citizens, 
 what I have told you, that it is for you and for Eome that 
 I incur the wrath of the wicked Varus, and may so soon 
 at his hands meet the death of a Christian witness. " 
 
 As Macer spoke the Eoman guard swept rapidly round 
 a corner, and the multitude giving way in every direction, 
 left him alone upon the spot where he had been standing. 
 Eegardless of life and limb, the horse dashed through the 
 flying crowds, throwing down many and trampling them 
 under foot, till they reached the Christian, who, undis 
 mayed and fearless, maintained his post. There was little 
 ceremony in their treatment of him. He was seized by a 
 band of the soldiers, his hands strongly bound behind him, 
 and placed upon a horse, when, wheeling round again, the 
 troop at full speed vanished down the same avenue by 
 which they had come, bearing their victim, as we doubted 
 not, to the tribunal of Varus. 
 
 Determined to see all I could, and the last, if it must 
 be so, of this undaunted spirit, I hastened at my utmost 
 speed in the wake of the flying troop. Little as I had 
 heard or seen of this strange man, I had become as deeply 
 concerned in his fate as any could have been who had 
 known him more intimately, or believed both in him and 
 with him. I know not what it was, unless it were the 
 signatures of sincerity, of childlike sincerity and truth 
 stamped upon him, that so drew me toward him ; together 
 with that expression of profound sadness, or rather of in 
 ward grief, which, wherever we see it and in whomsoever, 
 excites our curiosity and engages our sympathy. He was 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 287 
 
 to me a man who deserved a better fate than I feared he 
 would meet. He seemed like one who, under fortunate 
 circumstances, might have been of the number of those 
 great spirits whose iron will and gigantic force of character 
 bear down before them all opposition and yoke nations to 
 their car. Of fear he evidently had no comprehension 
 whatever. The rustling of the autumn breeze in his gown 
 alarmed him as much as did the clang of those horses 
 hoofs upon the pavements, though he so well knew it was 
 the precursor of suffering and death. 
 
 With all the speed I could use, I hurried to the hall of 
 the prefect. The crowds were pouring in as I reached it, 
 among whom I also rushed along, and up the flight of 
 steps, anxious only to obtain an entrance and a post of ob 
 servation whence I could see and hear what should take 
 place. Varus was not yet in his seat; but before it at 
 some little distance stood Macer, his hands still bound, 
 and a soldier of the palace on either side. 
 
 I waited not long before Varus appeared at the tribunal, 
 and following him, and placed near him, Fronto, priest of 
 the Temple of the Sun. " Now, poor Christian, " I thought 
 within myself, " if it go not hard with thee, it will not be 
 for want of those who wish thee ill. The very Satan of 
 thy own faith was never worse than these. " Fronto s 
 cruel eyes were fixed upon him just as a hungry tiger s are 
 upon the unconscious victim upon whom he is about to 
 spring. Varus seemed as if he sat in his place to witness 
 some holiday sport, drawing his box of perfume between 
 his fingers, or daintily adjusting the folds of his gown. 
 When a few preliminary formalities were gone through, 
 Varus said, addressing one of the officials of the place, 
 
 " Whom have we here ? " 
 
 " Noble prefect, Macer, the Christian. " 
 
 " And why stands he at my tribunal ? " continued Varus. 
 
 " For a breach of the late edict of the emperor, by which 
 the Christians were forbidden to preach either within 
 their temples or abroad in the streets and squares. " 
 
 " Is that all ? " asked the prefect. 
 
288 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " Not only, " it was replied, " hath he preached abroad in 
 the streets, but he hath cast signal contempt upon both 
 the emperor and the empire, in that he hath but now torn 
 down from its brazen frame the edict which he had first 
 violated, and scattered it in fragments upon the streets. " 
 
 " If these are so, doubtless he hath well earned his death. 
 How is this, Galilean ? Dost thou confess these crimes, or 
 shall I call in other witnesses of thy guilt ? " 
 
 " First, " replied Macer, " will it please the prefect to have 
 these bonds removed ? For the sake of old fellowship, let 
 them be taken off, that while my tongue is free to speak, 
 my hands may be free also. Else am I not a whole man. " 
 
 " Unbind them, " said the prefect ; " let him have his 
 humour. Yet shall we fit on other bracelets anon that may 
 not sit so easy. " 
 
 " Be that as it may, " answered the Christian, " in the 
 meanwhile I would stand thus. I thank thee for the 
 grace. " 
 
 " Now, Christian, once more, if thou art ready, is it 
 the truth that hath been witnessed ? " 
 
 " It is the truth, " replied Macer ; " and I thank God 
 that it is so. " 
 
 " But knowest thou, Christian, that in saying that, thou 
 hast condemned thyself to instant death ? Was not death 
 the expressed penalty for violation of that law ? " 
 
 " Truly it was, " answered Macer ; " and what is death 
 to me?" 
 
 " I suppose death to be death, " replied Varus. 
 
 " Therein thou showest thyself to be in the same dark- 
 ness as all the rest of this idolatrous city. Death to the 
 Christian, prefect, is life ! Crush me by thy engines, and 
 in the twinkling of an eye is my soul dwelling with God, 
 and looking down with compassion upon thy stony heart. " 
 
 " Verily, Fronto, " said Varus, " these Christians are an 
 ingenious people. What a wonderful fancy is this ! But, 
 Christian," turning to Macer," it were a pity, surely, for 
 thee to die. Thou hast a family, as I learn. Would not 
 thy life be more to them than thy death ? " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 289 
 
 " Less, " said the Christian, " a thousand-fold ! Were it 
 not a better vision to them of me crowned with a victor s 
 wreath and sitting with Christ, than dwelling here in this 
 new Sodom, and drinking in its pestilential air? The 
 sight of me there would be to them a spring of comfort 
 and a source of strength, which here it can never be. " 
 
 " But, " added the prefect, " it is but right that thou 
 shouldst for the present, if it may be, live here, and take 
 care of thy family. They will want thee. " 
 
 " God, " replied Macer, " who feeds the birds of the air, 
 and through all their wanderings over the earth, from 
 clime to clime, still brings them back to the accustomed 
 home, will watch over those whom I love, and bring them 
 home. Such, prefect, are the mercies of Eome toward us 
 who belong to Christ, that they will not be left long to 
 bewail my loss. " 
 
 " Do thy family then hold with thee ? " said Varus. 
 
 " Blessed be God, they do. " 
 
 " That is a pity, " responded the prefect. 
 
 " Say not so, Varus ; t is a joy and a triumph to me in 
 this hour, and to them, that they are Christ s. " 
 
 "Still," rejoined the prefect, "I would willingly save 
 thee, and make thee live ; and there is one way in which 
 it may be done, and thou mayest return in joy to thy 
 family. " 
 
 " Let me then know it, " said Macer. 
 
 " Eenounce Christ, Macer, and sacrifice ; and thy life is 
 thine, and honour too. " 
 
 Macer s form seemed to dilate to more than its common 
 size, his countenance seemed bursting with expression, as 
 he said, 
 
 "Eenounce Christ! save my life by renouncing Christ! 
 How little, Varus, dost thou know what a Christian is ! 
 Not though I might sit in thy seat or Aurelian s, or on the 
 throne of a new universe, would I deny my Saviour. To 
 Christ, Varus, do I owe it that I am not now what I was 
 when I dwelt in the caves of the Flavian. To Christ do I 
 owe it that I am not now what I was when in the ranks of 
 
 19 
 
290 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 Aurelian. To Christ do I owe it that my soul, once steeped 
 in sin as thy robe in purple dye, is now by him cleansed, 
 and, as I trust, thoroughly purged. To Christ do I owe it 
 that once worshipping the dumb idols of Eoman superstition, 
 I now bow down to the only living and invisible God. " 
 
 " Away with him to the tormentors ! " came from a hun 
 dred voices. 
 
 " To Christ do I owe it, O prefect, that my heart is not 
 now as thine or his who sits beside thee, or as that of these, 
 hungering and thirsting, never after righteousness, but for 
 the blood of the innocent. Shall I then renounce Christ, and 
 worship that ancient adulterer, Jupiter, greatest and best ? " 
 
 The hall here rang with the ferocious cries of those who 
 shouted : " Give him over to us ! " " To the rack with him ! " 
 " Tear out the tongue of the blaspheming Galilean ! " 
 
 " Romans, " cried Varus, rising from his chair, " let not 
 your zeal for the gods cause you to violate the sanctity of 
 this room of justice. Fear not but Varus, who, as you 
 well know, is a lover of the gods, his country, and the 
 city, will well defend their rights and honours against who 
 ever shall assail them. " 
 
 He then turned to Macer, and said, 
 
 " I should ill perform my duty to thee, Christian, did I 
 spare any effort to bring thee to a better mind ; ill should 
 I perform it for Eome, did I not use all the means by the 
 state entrusted to me to save her citizens from errors that, 
 once taking root and growing up to their proper height, 
 would soon overshadow, and by their poisonous neighbour 
 hood kill that faith venerable through a thousand years, 
 and of all we now inherit from our ancestors of greatest 
 and best the fruitful and divine spring. " 
 
 " There, Romans, spoke a Roman ! " exclaimed Fronto. 
 
 As Yarns ended, at a sign and a word from him, what 
 seemed the solid wall of the room in which we were sud 
 denly flew up upon its screaming pulleys, and revealed 
 another apartment, black as night, save here and there 
 where a dull torch shed just light enough to show its great 
 extent, and set in horrid array before us engines of every 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 291 
 
 kind for tormenting criminals, each attended by its half- 
 naked minister, ready at a moment s warning to bind the 
 victim and put in motion the infernal machinery. At this 
 sight a sudden faintness overspread my limbs, and I would 
 willingly have rushed from the hall ; but it was then 
 made impossible. And immediately the voice of the pre 
 fect was again heard : 
 
 " Again, Christian, with Eome s usual mercy, I freely 
 offer to thee thy life, simply on the condition, easily fulfilled 
 by thee, for it asks but one little word from thy lips, that 
 thou do, for thy own sake and for the sake of Eome which 
 thou sayest thou lovest, renounce Christ and thy faith. " 
 
 " I have answered thee once, prefect. Dost thou think 
 so meanly of me as to suppose that what but now I affirmed 
 I will now deny, and only for this show of iron toys and 
 human demons set to play them ? It is not of such stuff 
 Aurelian s men are made, much less the soldiers of the 
 cross. For the love I bear to Eome and Christ, and even 
 thee, Varus, I choose to die. " 
 
 " Be assured, Christian, I will not spare thee. " 
 
 " I ask it not, prefect ; do thy worst ; and the worst is 
 but death, which is life. " 
 
 " Pangs that shall keep thee hours dying, * cried the pre 
 fect ; " thy body racked and rent, torn piecemeal one part 
 from another, this is worse than death. Bethink thee 
 well. Do not believe that Varus will relent. " 
 
 " That were the last thing to find faith with one who 
 knows him as well as Macer does, " replied the Christian. 
 
 A flush of passion passed over the face of Varus. But 
 he proceeded in the same even tone : 
 
 " Is thy election made, Macer ? " 
 
 " It is made. " 
 
 " Slaves, " cried the prefect, " away with him to the rack, 
 and ply it well. " 
 
 " Yes, " repeated Fronto, springing with eager haste from 
 his seat, that he might lose nothing of what was to be seen 
 or heard, " away with him to the rack, and ply it well. " 
 
 Unmoved and unresisting, his face neither pale nor his 
 
292 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 limbs trembling, did Macer surrender himself into the hands 
 of those horrid ministers of a cruel and bloody supersti 
 tion, who then hastily approached him, and seizing him, 
 dragged him toward their worse than hell. Accomplished 
 in their art, for every day is it put to use, Macer was in 
 a moment thrown down and lashed to the iron bars ; when 
 each demon, having completed the preparation, stood lean 
 ing upon his wheel for a last sign from the prefect. It 
 was instantly given, and while the breath even of every 
 being in the vast hall was suspended, through an intense 
 interest in the scene, the creaking of the engine as it began 
 to turn sounded upon the brain like thunder. Not a groan 
 nor a sigh was heard from the sufferer. The engine turned 
 till it seemed as if any body or substance laid upon it must 
 have been wrenched asunder. Then it stopped. And the 
 minutes counted to me like hours or ages ere the word was 
 given, and the wheels, unrestrained, flew back again to 
 their places. Macer was then unbound. He at first lay 
 where he was thrown upon the pavement. But his life 
 was yet strong within his iron frame. He rose upon his 
 feet, and was again led to the presence of his judges. His 
 eye had lost nothing of its wild fire, nor his air anything 
 of its lofty independence. 
 
 Varus again addressed him. 
 
 " Christian, you have felt what there is in Eoman jus 
 tice ; reject not again what Eoman mercy again offers thee, 
 life freely, and honour too, if thou wilt return once 
 more to the bosom of the fond mother who reared thee. " 
 
 " Yes, " said Fronto, " thy mother who reared thee ! Die 
 not with the double guilt of apostasy and ingratitude upon 
 thy soul. " 
 
 " Varus, " said Macer, " art thou a fool, a very fool, to 
 deem that thy word can weigh more with me than Christ ? 
 Make not thyself a laughing-stock to me and such Chris 
 tians as may be here. The torments of thy importunity 
 are worse to me than those of thy engines. " 
 
 " I wish thee well, Macer ; t is that which makes me 
 thus a fool. * 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 293 
 
 ** So, Varus, does Satan wish his victim well, to whom 
 he offers his luscious baits. But what is it when the bait 
 is swallowed, and hell is all that has been gained ? What 
 should I gain but to live with thee, fool ? " 
 
 " Think, Macer, of thy wife and children. " 
 
 At those names Macer bent his head and folded his 
 hands upon his breast, and tears rolled down his cheeks. 
 Till then there had, as it seemed, been a blessed forgetful- 
 ness of all but himself and the scene before him. Varus, 
 misinterpreting this his silence, and taking it for the first 
 sign of repentance, hastily cried out, 
 
 " There is the altar, Macer. Slave ! hold to him the 
 sacred libation ; he will now pour it out. " 
 
 Instantly a slave held out to him a silver ladle filled 
 with wine. 
 
 Macer at the same instant struck it with his long arm, 
 and sent it whirling to the ceiling. 
 
 " Bind him again to the rack, " cried the prefect, leaping 
 from his seat ; " and let him have it till the nerves break. : 
 
 Macer was again seized and stretched upon the iron 
 frame, this time upon another, of different construction 
 and greater power. Again the infernal machine was worked 
 by the ministering servants, and as it was wound up, in 
 flicting all that it was capable of doing without absolutely 
 destroying life, groans and screams of fierce agony broke 
 from the suffering Christian. How long our ears were as 
 sailed by those terrific cries, I cannot say. They presently 
 died away, as I doubted not, only because Macer himself 
 had expired under the torment. When they had wholly 
 ceased, the engine was reversed and Macer again unbound. 
 He fell lifeless upon the floor. Varus, who had sat the 
 while conversing with Fronto, now said, 
 
 " Revive him, and return him hither. " 
 
 Water was then thrown upon him, and powerful drinks 
 were forced down his throat. They produced in a little 
 while their intended effect, and Macer gave signs of re 
 turning life. He presently gazed wildly round him, and 
 came gradually to a consciousness of where and what he 
 
294 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 was. His limbs almost refused their office, and he was 
 supported and partly lifted to the presence of Varus. 
 
 " Now, Galilean, " cried Varus, " how is it with thee ? " 
 
 " Better than with thee, I trust in God. " 
 
 " Wilt thou now sacrifice ? " 
 
 " I am myself, O Varus, this moment a sacrifice, well 
 pleasing and acceptable to the God whom I worship and 
 the Master whom I serve. " 
 
 " Why, Varus, " said Fronto, " do we bear longer his in 
 sults and impieties ? Let me strike him dead. " And he 
 moved his hand as if to grasp a concealed weapon with 
 which to do it. 
 
 " Nay, nay ; hold, Fronto ! let naught be done in haste 
 or passion, but all calmly and in order. We act for those 
 who are present as well as for ourselves. " 
 
 A voice from a dark extremity of the room cried out, 
 
 " It is Macer, O prefect, who acts for us. " 
 
 The face of Macer brightened up as if he had suddenly 
 been encompassed by a legion of friends. It was the first 
 token he had received that so much as one heart in the 
 whole assembly was beating with his. He looked in 
 stantly to the quarter whence the voice came, and then, 
 turning to the prefect, said, 
 
 " Yes, Varus, I am now and here preaching to the people 
 of Eome, though I speak never a word. Tis a sermon 
 that will fall deeper into the heart than ten thousand 
 spoken ones. " 
 
 The prefect commanded that he who had spoken should 
 be brought before him. But upon the most diligent search, 
 he could not be found. 
 
 " Christian, " said Varus, " I have other pains in store, 
 to which what thou hast as yet suffered is but as the 
 scratching of the lion s paw. It were better not to suffer 
 them. They will leave no life in thee. Curse Christ 
 t is but a word and live. " 
 
 Macer bent his piercing eye upon the prefect, but an 
 swered not. 
 
 " Curse Christ, and live. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 295 
 
 Macer was still silent. 
 
 " Bring in, then, " cried the prefect, " your pincers, 
 rakes, and shells; and we will see what they may have 
 virtue to bring forth. " 
 
 The black messengers of death hastened at the word from 
 their dark recesses, loaded with those new instruments of 
 torture, and stood round the miserable man. 
 
 " Now, Macer, " said Varus once more, " acknowledge 
 Jupiter greatest and best, and thou shalt live. " 
 
 Macer turned round to the people, and with his utmost 
 voice cried out, 
 
 " There is, O Eomans, but one God ; and the God of 
 Christ is he ! " 
 
 No sooner had he uttered those words than Fronto 
 exclaimed, 
 
 " Ah, ha ! I have found thee, then ! This is the voice, 
 thrice, accursed ! that came from the sacred Temple of the 
 Sun ! This, Komans, is the god whose thunder turned you 
 pale ! " 
 
 " Had it been my voice alone, priest, that was heard that 
 day, I had been accursed indeed. I was but the humble 
 instrument of him I serve driven by his spirit. It was 
 the voice of God, not of me. " 
 
 " These, " said Fronto, " are the Christian devices, by 
 which they would lead blindfold into their snares you, 
 Eomans, and your children. May Christ ever employ in 
 Kome a messenger cunning and skilful as this prating god, 
 and Hellenism will have naught to fear. " 
 
 " And, " cried Macer, " let your priests be but like 
 Fronto, and the eyes of the blindest driveller of you all 
 will be unsealed. Ask Fronto into whose bag went the 
 bull s heart that on the day of dedication could not be 
 found ! " 
 
 " Thou liest, Nazarene ! " 
 
 " Ply him with your pincers, " cried Yarus ; and the 
 cruel irons were plunged into his flesh. Yet he shrunk 
 not, nor groaned ; but his voice was again heard in the 
 midst of the torture, 
 
296 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " Ask him from whose robe came the old and withered 
 heart, the sight of which so unmanned Aurelian. " 
 
 " Dash in his mouth, " shrieked Fronto, " and stop those 
 lies, blacker than hell ! " 
 
 But Macer went on, while the irons tore him in every 
 part. 
 
 " Ask him, too, for the instructions and the bribes given 
 to the haruspices, and to those who led the beasts up to the 
 altar. Though I die, Eomaus, I have left the proof of all 
 this in good hands. I stood the while where I saw it all. " 
 
 " Thou liest, slave ! " cried the furious priest ; and at the 
 same moment springing forward, and seizing an instrument 
 from the hands of one of the tormenters, he struck it into 
 the shoulder of Macer, and the lacerated arm fell from the 
 bleeding trunk. A piercing shriek confessed the inflicted 
 agony. 
 
 " Away with him ! " cried Yarus ; " away with him to 
 the rack, and tear him joint from joint. " 
 
 At the word he was borne bleeding away, but not insen 
 sible or speechless. All along as he went his voice was 
 heard calling upon God and Christ, and exhorting the 
 people to abjure their idolatries. 
 
 He was soon stretched again upon the rack, which now 
 quickly finished its work ; and the Christian Macer, after 
 sufferings which I knew not before that the human frame 
 could so long endure and live, died a martyr to the faith 
 he had espoused, the last words which were heard 
 throughout the hall being these : 
 
 " Jesus, I die for thee, and my death is sweet ! " 
 
 When it was announced to the prefect that Macer was 
 dead he exclaimed, 
 
 " Take the carcass of the Christian dog and throw it 
 upon the square of the Jews ; there let the dogs devour it. " 
 
 Saying which, he rose from his seat, and, accompanied 
 by Fronto, left by the same way he had before entered the 
 hall of judgment. 
 
 Soon as he had withdrawn from the apartment, the base 
 rabble that had filled it, and had glutted their savage souls 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 297 
 
 upon the horrors of that scene, cried out tumultuously for 
 the body of the Christian, which when it was gladly deliv 
 ered to them by those who had already had enough of it, 
 they thrust hooks into it, and rushed out, dragging it 
 toward the place ordained for it by the prefect. As they 
 came forth into the streets, the mob increased to an im 
 mense multitude of those who seemed possessed of the same 
 spirit. And they had not together proceeded far, filling 
 the air with their cries and uttering maledictions of every 
 form against the unhappy Christians, before a new horror 
 was proclaimed by that bloodthirsty crew. For one of 
 them suddenly springing up upon the base of one of the 
 public statues, whence he could be heard by the greater 
 part, cried out, 
 
 " To the house of Macer ! to the house of Macer ! " 
 
 " Ay, ay, " shouted another, " to the house of Macer, in 
 the ruins behind the shop of Demetrius ! " 
 
 " To the house of Macer ! " arose then in one deafening 
 shout from the whole throng ; and filled with this new 
 frenzy, maddened like wild beasts at the prospect of fresh 
 blood, they abandoned there where they had dragged it the 
 body of Macer, and put new speed into their feet in their 
 haste to arrive at the place of the expected sport. I knew 
 not then where the ruins were, or it was possible that I might 
 have got in advance of the mob, and given timely warning 
 to the devoted family. Neither did I know any to whom 
 to apply to discharge such a duty. My helplessness and 
 weakness sat upon me like a nightmare. And while I in 
 wardly mourned at this, I suffered myself to be borne 
 along with the rushing crowd. Their merciless threats, 
 their savage language, better becoming barbarians than a 
 people like this, living in the very centre of civilization, 
 filled me with an undefinable terror. It seemed to me that 
 within reach of such a populace, no people were secure of 
 property or life. 
 
 " The Christians, " said one, " have had their day, and it 
 has been a long one, too long for Eome. Let its night 
 now come. " 
 
298 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " Yes, " said another, " we will all have a hand in bring 
 ing it on. Let every Eoman do his share, and they may 
 be easily rooted out. " 
 
 " I understand, " said another, " that it is agreed upon 
 that whatever the people attempt after their own manner, 
 as in what we are now about, they are not to be interfered 
 with. We are to have free pasturage. " 
 
 " Who could suppose, " said the first, " it should be dif 
 ferent ? It is well known that formerly, though there has 
 been no edict to the purpose, the people have not only been 
 permitted, they have been expected to do their part of the 
 business without being asked or urged. I daresay if we 
 can do up this family of who is it ? " 
 
 " Macer, the Christian Macer. " 
 
 " we shall receive the thanks of Aurelian, though they 
 be not spoken, as heartily as Varus. That was a tough 
 old fellow, though. They say he has served many years 
 under the emperor, and when he left the army was in a 
 fair way to rise to the highest rank. Curses upon those 
 who made a Christian of him ! It is they, not Varus, who 
 have put him on the rack. But see ! are not those the 
 ruins we seek ? I hope so, for I have run far enough. " 
 
 " Yes, " replied his companion ; " those are the old baths. 
 Now for it ! " 
 
 The crowd thereupon abandoning the streets, poured it 
 self like an advancing flood among the ruins, filling all the 
 spaces, and mounting upon all the still standing fragments 
 of walls and columns. It was not at all evident where the 
 house of the Christian was. It all seemed a confusion of 
 ruins and of dead wall. 
 
 " Who can show us, " cried out one who took upon him 
 self the office of leader, " where the dwelling of Macer is ? " 
 
 " I can, " responded the slender voice of a little boy ; " for 
 I have often been there before they became Christians. " 
 
 " Show us, then, my young urchin ; come up hither. 
 Now, lead the way, and we will follow. " 
 
 " You need go no farther, " replied the boy ; " that is it. " 
 
 " That ? It is but a stone wall ! " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 299 
 
 " Still it is the house, " replied the child ; " but the door 
 is of stone as well as the walls. " 
 
 At that the crowd began to beat upon the walls, and 
 shout to those who were within to come forth. They had 
 almost wearied themselves out, and were inclined to be 
 lieve that the boy had given them a false direction, when, 
 upon a sort of level roof above the projecting mass which 
 served as the dwelling, a female form suddenly appeared, 
 and advancing to the edge not far above, yet beyond, the 
 reach of the mob below she beckoned to them with her 
 hand, as if she would speak to them. 
 
 The crowd, soon as their eyes caught this new object, 
 ceased from their tumultuous cries and prepared to hear 
 what she who approached them thus might have to say. 
 Some indeed immediately began to hurl missiles, but they 
 were at once checked by others, who insisted that she 
 should have liberty to speak. And these wretches would 
 have been more savage still than I believed them, if the 
 fair girl who stood there pleading to them had not found 
 some favour. Hers was a bright and sparkling counte 
 nance that at once interested the beholder. Deep blushes 
 spread over her face and bosom, while she stood waiting 
 the pleasure of the heaving multitude before her. 
 
 " Ah ! ha ! " cried one ; " who is she but the dancing 
 girl ^Elia ? she is a dainty bit for us ! Who would have 
 thought that she was the daughter of a Christian ? " 
 
 " I am sorry for her, " cried another ; " she is too pretty 
 to be torn in pieces. We must save her. " 
 
 " Say on ! say on ! " now cried one of the leaders of the 
 crowd, as silence succeeded ; " we will hear you. " 
 
 " Whom do you seek for ? " then asked .ZElia, addressing 
 him who had spoken. 
 
 " You know well enough, my pretty girl, " replied the 
 other. " We seek the house and family of Macer the Chris 
 tian. Is this it ? and are you of his household ? " 
 
 " This, " she replied, " is the house of Macer, and I am 
 his daughter. My mother with all her children are below. 
 And now, why do you seek us thus ? " 
 
300 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " We seek, " replied the savage, " not only you, but your 
 lives. All you have to do is to unbar this door and let us 
 in." 
 
 Though ^Elia could have supposed that they were come 
 for nothing else, yet the brutal announcement of the terrible 
 truth drove the colour from her cheeks, and caused her 
 limbs to tremble. Yet did it not abate her courage, nor 
 take its energy from her mind. 
 
 " Good citizens and friends, " said she, " for I am sure I 
 must have some friends among you, why should you do us 
 such wrong ? We are poor and humble people, and have 
 never had the power, if the will had been ours, to injure 
 you. Leave us in safety, and if you require it we will 
 abandon our dwelling, and even our native Eome for we 
 are all native Eomans. " 
 
 " That, my young mistress, will not serve our turn. Aie 
 you not, as you said, the family of the Christian Macer ? " 
 
 " Yes, we are. " 
 
 " Well, " answered the hard-hearted wretch, " that is the 
 reason we seek after you, and mean to have you. " 
 
 " But, " replied the girl, " there must be many among 
 you who would not willingly harm either Macer or any 
 thing that is his. Macer is not only a Christian, Eomans, 
 but he is a good, warm-hearted patriot as ever was born 
 within the compass of these walls. Brutus himself never 
 loved freedom nor hated tyrants more than he. " 
 
 " That s little to the purpose now-a-days, " cried one 
 from the crowd. 
 
 " There is not a single possession he has, " continued 
 ^Elia, " save only his faith as a Christian, which he would 
 not surrender for the love he bears to Eome and to every 
 thing that is Eoman. Ever since he was strong enough to 
 draw and wield a sword has he been fighting for you the 
 battles of our country. If you have seen him, you have 
 seen how cruelly the weapons of the enemy have hacked 
 him. On every limb are there scars of wounds received 
 in battle ; and twice, once in Gaul and once in Asia, has 
 he been left for dead upon the field. It was in Syria, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 301 
 
 when the battle raged at its highest, and Carinus was sud 
 denly beset by more than he could cope with, and had else 
 fallen into their hands a prisoner, or been quickly de 
 spatched, that Macer came up, and by his single arm saved 
 his general. " 
 
 " A great pity that ! " cried many from the crowd. 
 
 " Macer, " continued JElia, " only thought that Carinus 
 then represented Eome, and that his life, whatever it was, 
 and however worthless in itself, was needful for Eome, 
 and he threw himself into the breach even as he would 
 have done for Aurelian or Probus. Was not his virtue the 
 greater for that? Was he to feed his own humour and 
 leave Carinus to perish, when his country by that might 
 receive detriment ? Macer has never thought of himself. 
 Had he been ambitious as some, he had now been where 
 Mucapor is. But when in the army, he always put by his 
 own interests. The army, its generals, and Eome, were 
 all in all with him, himself nothing. How, citizens, 
 can you wish to do him harm, or anything that is his ? 
 And even as a Christian, for which you reproach him and 
 now seek him, it is still the same. Believe me when I 
 say that it is because of his love of you and Eome that he 
 would make you all as he is. He honestly thinks that it 
 is the doctrine of Christ which can alone save Eome from 
 the destruction which her sins are drawing down upon her. 
 He has toiled from morning to night, all day and all night, 
 harder than he ever did upon his marches either in Africa 
 or in Asia, that you might be made to know what this 
 religion of Christ is, what it means, what it will be 
 stow upon you if you will receive it, and what it will save 
 you from. And he would not scruple to lose his life, if by 
 so doing he could give any greater efficacy to the truth in 
 which he believes. I would he were here now, Eomans, 
 to plead his own cause with you. I know you would so 
 esteem his honesty, and his warm Eoman heart, that you 
 would be more ready to serve than to injure him. " 
 
 Pity stood in some eyes, but impatience and anger in 
 more. 
 
302 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " Be not so sure of that, " cried he who had spoken be 
 fore. " No true Roman can love a Christian. Christians 
 are the worst enemies of the state. As for Macer, say no 
 more of him ; he is already done for. All you have to do 
 is to set open the door. " 
 
 " What say you of Macer ? " cried the miserable girl, 
 wringing her hands. " Has any evil befallen him ? " 
 
 " What he will never recover from, " retorted the bar 
 barian. " Varus has just had him on one of his iron play 
 things, and his body we have but now left in the street 
 yonder. So hasten ! " 
 
 " Oh, worse than demons, to kill so good a man ! " cried 
 ^Elia, the tears rolling down her cheeks. " But if he is 
 dead, come and take us too. We wish not now to live ; 
 and ready as he was to die for Christ, so ready are we also. 
 Cease your blows, and I will open the door. " 
 
 But her agency in that office was no longer needed. A 
 huge timber had been brought in the mean time from the 
 ruins, and, plied by a hundred hands with noisy uproar, 
 the stone door soon gave way just as ^Elia descended, and 
 the murderous crew rushed in. 
 
 The work of death was in part quickly done. The sons 
 of Macer, who, on the uproar, had instantly joined their 
 mother, in spite of all the entreaties of Demetrius, were at 
 once despatched, and dragged forth by ropes attached to 
 their feet. The two youngest, transfixed by spears, were 
 seen borne aloft, as bloody standards of that murderous rout. 
 The mother and the other children, placed in a group in 
 the midst of the multitude, were made to march on, the 
 savages themselves being divided as to what should be 
 their fate. Some cried out, " To the Tiber ! " some, " Cru 
 cify them beyond the walls ! " others, " Give em the pave 
 ments! " But the voice of one more ingenious in cruelty 
 than the rest prevailed. 
 
 " To the square by Hanno s with them! " 
 
 This proposition filled them with delight. 
 
 "To Hanno s! to Hanno s !" resounded on all sides. 
 And away rushed the infuriated mass to their evil sport. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 303 
 
 " And who is Hanno ? " I asked of one near me. 
 
 " Hanno ! know you not Hanno ? He is brother of Sosia 
 the gladiator, and breeds dogs for the theatres. You shall 
 soon see what a brood he will turn out. There is no such 
 breeder in Rome as he. " 
 
 Sick at heart as I was, I still pressed on, resolved to 
 know all that Christian heroism could teach me. We were 
 soon at the square, capable of holding on its borders not 
 only thousands, but tens of thousands, to which number 
 it seemed as if the throng had now accumulated. Hanno s 
 extensive buildings and grounds were upon one side of the 
 square, to which the people now rushed, calling out for the 
 great breeder to come forth with his pack. 
 
 He was not slow in obeying the summons. He himself 
 appeared, accompanied by his two dogs, Nero and Sylla. 
 After first stipulating with the ringleaders for a sufficient 
 remuneration,* he proceeded to order the game. He was 
 at first for separating the victims, but they implored to be 
 permitted to suffer together, and so much mercy was shown 
 them. They were then set together in the centre of the 
 square, while the multitude disposed themselves in an 
 immense circle around, the windows of the buildings and 
 the roofs of all the neighbouring dwellings being also 
 thronged with those who both looked on and applauded. 
 Before the hounds were let loose, Hanno approached this 
 little band, standing there in the midst and clinging to 
 one another, and asked them if they had anything to say, 
 or any message to deliver, for he would faithfully perform 
 what they might enjoin. 
 
 The rest weeping, ^Elia answered that she wished to 
 say a few words to the people who stood around. 
 
 " Speak, then, " replied Hanno, " and you shall not be 
 disturbed. " 
 
 She then turned towards the people, and said, " I can 
 wish you, Romans, before I die, no greater good than that, 
 like me and those who are with me, you may one day be 
 come Christians. For you will then be incapable of in 
 flicting such sufferings and wrongs upon any human being. 
 
304 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 The religion of Jesus will not suffer you to do otherwise 
 than love each other as you do yourselves ; that is the great 
 Christian rule. Be assured that we now die as Christians, 
 in full faith in Christ, and in joyful hope of living with 
 him, so soon as these mortal bodies shall have perished, 
 and that though a single word of denial would save us, we 
 would not speak it. Ye have cruelly slaughtered the 
 good Macer ; do so now by us, if such is your will, and we 
 shall then be with him where he is. " 
 
 With these words she again turned, and throwing her 
 arms around her mother and younger sisters, awaited the 
 onset of the furious dogs, whose yellings and strugglings 
 could all the while bo heard. She and they waited but a 
 moment, when the bloodhounds, fiercer than the fiercest 
 beasts of the forest, flew from their leashes, and in less 
 time than would be believed, nought but a heap of bones 
 marked where the Christian family had stood. 
 
 The crowds, then fully sated as it seemed with the rare 
 sport of the morning, dispersed, each having something to 
 say to another of the firmness and patriotism of Varus and 
 Fronto, and of the training and behaviour of the dogs. 
 
 From the earliest period of reflection have I detested the 
 Eoman character; and all that I have witnessed with my 
 own eye has served but to confirm those early impressions. 
 They are a people wholly destitute of humanity. They are 
 the lineal descendants of robbers, murderers, and warriors, 
 who are but murderers under another name, and they 
 show their parentage in every line of their hard-featured 
 visages, and still more in all the qualities of the soul. 
 They are stern, unyielding, unforgiving, cruel. A Eoman 
 heart dissected would be found all stone. Any present 
 purpose of passion, or ambition, or party zeal, will extin 
 guish in the Eoman all that separates him from the brute. 
 Bear witness to the truth of this, ye massacres of Marius 
 and Sylla! and others, more than can be named, both be 
 fore and since, when the blood of neighbours, friends, 
 and fellow-citizens was poured out as freely as if it had 
 been the filthy stream that gurgles through the public 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 305 
 
 sewers. And, in good sooth, was it not as filthy ? For 
 those very ones so slain, had the turn of the wheel set 
 them uppermost, would have done the same deed upon the 
 others. Happy is it for the peace of the earth and the 
 great cause of humanity, that this faith of Christ, whether 
 it be true or false, is at length bearing sway, and doing 
 somewhat to soften what more than twelve centuries have 
 passed over and left in its original hardness. 
 
 When, like the rest of that Eoman mob, I had been 
 filled with the sights and sounds of the morning, I turned 
 and sought the palace of Piso. 
 
 Arriving there, I found Portia, Julia, and Piso, sitting 
 together at the hour of dinner. I sat with them. Piso 
 had not left the palace since I had parted from him. They 
 had remained at peace within, and as ignorant of what had 
 happened in Eome as we all were of what was doing in 
 another planet. When, as the meal drew to a close, I had 
 related to them the occurrences of which I had just been 
 the witness, they could scarce believe what they heard, 
 though it was but what they and all had every reason to 
 look for from the language which Aurelian had used, and 
 the known hostility of the prefect. Portia, the mother, 
 was moved more, if it could be so, than even Piso or Julia. 
 When I had ended, she said, 
 
 " Think not, Nichomachus, that although, as thou know- 
 est, I am of Aurelian s side in religion, I defend these in 
 human wrongs. To inflict them can make no part of the 
 duty of any worshipper of the gods, however zealous he 
 may be. I do not believe that the gods are propitiated 
 by any acts which occasion suffering to their creatures. I 
 have seen no justification, under any circumstances, of 
 human sacrifices; much less can I see any of sacrifices 
 like those you have this morning witnessed. Aurelian in 
 authorizing or conniving at such horrors has cut himself 
 loose from the honour and the affections of all those in 
 Eome whose esteem is worth possessing. He has given 
 himself up to the priesthood and to the vulgar rabble, over 
 whom it exercises a sway more strict than an Eastern 
 
 20 
 
306 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 despot. He has by these acts turned the current of the best 
 Eoman sympathy toward the Christians, and put off by a 
 long remove the hour when he might hope to see the an 
 cient religion of the state delivered from its formidable 
 rival. " 
 
 " It is the purpose of Aurelian, " I said, " not so much to 
 persecute and annoy the Christians as to exterminate them. 
 He is persuaded that by using the same extreme and sum 
 mary measures with the Christians which he has been ac 
 customed to employ in the army, he can root out this huge 
 evil from the state as easily as those lesser ones from the 
 camp, without reflecting that it must be impossible to dis 
 cover all, or any very large proportion of those who profess 
 Christianity, and that therefore his slaughter of a half or a 
 quarter of the whole number will be to no purpose. It 
 will have been but killing so many there will be no 
 other effect ; unless, indeed, it have the effect to convince 
 new thousands of the power, and worth, and divinity of 
 that faith for which men are so willing to die. " 
 
 " I mourn, " said Portia, " that the great head of the state 
 and the great high priest of our religion should have taken 
 the part he has. Measures of moderation arid true wisdom, 
 though they might not have obtained for him so great a 
 name for zeal and love of the gods, nor made so sudden 
 and deep an impression upon the common mind and heart, 
 would have secured with greater probability the end at 
 which he has aimed. " 
 
 " It is hard, " said I, " to resist nature, especially so when 
 superstition comes in to its aid. Aurelian, by nature a 
 savage, is doubly one through the influence of his religion 
 and the priesthood. Moderation and humanity are so con 
 trary to every principle of the man and his faith that they 
 are not with more reason to be looked for from him than 
 gentleness in a half -starved tiger. " 
 
 Portia looked as if I had assailed the walls and Capitol 
 of Rome. 
 
 " I know not, Greek, " she quickly said, " on what foun 
 dation it is you build so heavy a charge against the time- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 307 
 
 honoured faith of Eome. It has served Rome well these 
 thousand years, and reared men whose greatness will dwell 
 in the memory of the world while the world lasts. " 
 
 " Great men have "been reared in Rome, " I replied ; " it 
 can by none be denied. But it has been by resisting the 
 influences of their religion, not by courting them. They 
 have left themselves in this to the safer tutelage of nature, 
 as have you, lady ; and they have escaped the evils which 
 the common superstition would have entailed upon them 
 had they admitted it to their bosoms. Who can deny that 
 the religion of Rome, so far as it is a religion for the com 
 mon people, is based upon the characters of the gods, as 
 they through history and tradition are held up to them, - 
 especially as they are painted by the poets ? Say if there 
 be any other books of authority on this great theme than 
 the poets. What book of religious instruction and pre 
 cept have you, or have you ever had, corresponding to the 
 volume of the Christians, called their Gospels ? " 
 
 " We have none, " said Portia, as I paused, compelling a 
 rejoinder. " It is true, we have but our historians and our 
 poets, with what we find in the philosophers. " 
 
 " And the philosophers, " I replied, " it will be seen at 
 once, can never be in the hands of the common people. 
 Whence, then, do they receive their religious ideas but 
 from tradition, and the character of the deities of heaven, 
 as they are set forth in the poets ? And if this be so, I 
 need not ask whether it be possible that the religion of 
 Rome should be any other than a source of corruption to 
 the people. So far as the gods should be their models, 
 they can do no otherwise than help to sink their imitators 
 lower and lower in all filth and vice. Happily for Rome and 
 the world, lady, men instinctively revolt at such examples, 
 and copy instead the pattern which their own souls supply. 
 Had the Romans been all which the imitation of their gods 
 would have made them, this empire had long ago sunk un 
 der the deep pollution. Fronto and Aurelian, the last 
 at least sincere, aim at a restoration of religion. They 
 would lift it up to the highest place and make it the sov- 
 
308 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 ereign law of Rome. In this attempt they are uncon 
 sciously digging away her very foundations; they are 
 levelling her proud walls with the earth. Suppose Rome 
 were made what Fronto would have her; every Roman 
 were then another Fronto or another Aurelian. Were that 
 a world to live in or to endure ? These, lady, are the ene 
 mies of Rome, Aurelian and Fronto. The only hope for 
 Rome lies in the reception of some such principles as these 
 of the Christians. Whether true or false, they are in ac 
 cordance with the best part of our nature, and, once spread 
 abroad and received, they would tend by a mighty influence 
 to exalt it more and more. They would descend, as it is of 
 the nature of absolute truth to do, and lay hold of the 
 humblest and lowest and vilest, and in them erect their 
 authority, and bring them into the state in which every 
 man should be, for the reason that he is a man. Hellen 
 ism cannot do this. " 
 
 " Notwithstanding what I have heard, Nichomachus, I 
 think you must yourself be a Christian. But whether you 
 are or not, I grant you to understand well what religion 
 should be. And I must say that it has ever been such to 
 me. I, from what I have read of our moralists and phi 
 losophers, and from what I have reflected, have arrived at 
 principles not very different from such as you have now 
 hinted at. " 
 
 " And are those of Fronto or Varus like yours, lady? " 
 
 " I fear not, " said Portia. 
 
 " Yours, then, let me say, form the religion which you 
 have first found within your own breast, a gift from the 
 gods, and then by meditation have confirmed and exalted ; 
 theirs the common faith of Rome. Could your faith rejoice 
 in or permit the horrors I have this day witnessed, and but 
 now described ? Yet of theirs they are the legitimate fruit, 
 the necessary product. n 
 
 * Out of the best, " replied Portia, " I believe, Nichoma- 
 chus, may often come the worst. There is nought so per 
 fect and so wise but human passions will mar and pervert 
 it. I should not wonder if, in ages to come, this peace- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 309 
 
 loving faith of the Christians, should it survive so long, 
 should itself come to preside over scenes as full of misery 
 and guilt as those you have to-day seen in the streets of 
 Eome. " 
 
 "It may be," I rejoined. "But it is nevertheless our 
 duty, in the selection of our principles, to take those 
 which are the purest, the most humane, the most accordant 
 with what is best in us, and the least liable to perversion 
 and abuse. And whether, if this be just, it be better that 
 mankind should have presented for their imitation and 
 honour the character and actions of Jesus Christ, or those 
 of Jupiter greatest and best, may be left for the simplest to 
 determine. " 
 
 Portia is so stanch a Koinan that one cannot doubt that 
 as she was born and has lived, so she will die, a Eoman. 
 And truth to say, were all like her there were little room 
 for quarrel with the principles that could produce such re 
 sults. But for one such, there are a thousand like Varus, 
 Fronto, and Aurelian. 
 
 As after this interview, which was prolonged till the 
 shades of evening began to fall, I held communion with 
 myself on the way to the quiet retreats of Tibur, I could 
 not but entertain apprehensions for the safety of the friends 
 I had just left. I felt that where such men as Varus and 
 Fronto were at the head of affairs, wielding almost as they 
 pleased the omnipotence of Aurelian, no family or indi 
 vidual, of whatever name or rank, could feel secure of 
 either fortune or life. I had heard, indeed, such expres 
 sions of regard fall from the emperor for Piso and his beau 
 tiful wife that I was sure that if any in Ptome might feel 
 safe, it was they. Yet why should he, who had fallen 
 upon one of his own household, and such a one as Aurelia, 
 hesitate to strike the family of Piso, if thereby the religion 
 or the state were to be greatly benefited ? I could see a 
 better chance for them only in the emperor s early love of 
 Julia, which still seemed to exercise over him a singular 
 power. 
 
 The queen, I found, upon naming to her the subject of 
 
310 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 my thoughts, could entertain none of my apprehensions. 
 It is so difficult for her nature to admit the faintest pur 
 pose of the infliction of wanton suffering that she cannot 
 believe it of others. Notwithstanding her experience of 
 the harsh and cruel spirit of Aureliaii, notwithstanding 
 the unnecessary destruction, for any national or political 
 object, of the multitudes of Palmyra, still she inclines to 
 confide in him. He has given so many proofs of regret 
 for that wide ruin, he has suffered so much for it, es 
 pecially for his murder of Longinus, in the opinion of all 
 Eome and of the highest and best in all nations, that she 
 is persuaded he will be more cautious than ever whom he 
 assails, and where he scatters ruin and death. Still, such 
 is her devotion to Julia and her love of Piso, so entirely 
 is her very life lodged in that of her daughter, that she 
 resolved to seek the emperor without delay, and if possible 
 obtain an assurance of their safety, both from his own arm 
 and that of popular violence. This I urged upon her with 
 all the freedom I might use, and not in vain ; for the next 
 day, at the gardens of Sallust, she had repeated interviews 
 with Aurelian, and afterwards at her own palace, whither 
 Aurelian came with Livia, and where, while Livia ranged 
 among the flowers with Faustula, the emperor and the 
 queen held earnest discourse, not only on the subject which 
 chiefly agitated Zenobia, but on the general principles on 
 which he was proceeding in this attempted annihilation of 
 Christianity. Sure I am that never in the Christian body 
 itself was there one who pleaded their cause with a more 
 winning and persuasive eloquence. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 311 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 CURIO S NEWS. FRONTO SLANDERS THE CHRISTIANS. AURELIAN 
 GIVES AUDIENCE TO THE CHRISTIANS. PROBUS DEFENDS 
 THEM. PORPHYRUS. THE COUNSEL OF GOD. STORY OF 
 THE CROSS. AURELIAN CLOSES THE AUDIENCE. EFFECT 
 OF PROBUS S SPEECH ON THE PATRICIANS. LIVIA S INTERCES 
 SION. AURELIAN S EVIL GENIUS. 
 
 I WRITE to you, Fausta, by the hands of Vabalathus, 
 who visits Palmyra on his way to his new kingdom. 
 I trust you will see him. The adversities of his family 
 and the misfortunes of his country have had most useful 
 effects upon his character. He has, though the time has 
 been so short, done much to redeem himself. Always was 
 he, indeed, vastly superior to his brothers ; but now he is 
 not only that, but very much more. Qualities have un 
 folded themselves, and affections and tastes warmed into 
 life, which we none of us, I believe so much as sus 
 pected the existence of. Zenobia has grown to be devot 
 edly attached to him, and to repose the same sort of 
 confidence in him as formerly in Julia. All this makes 
 her the more reluctant to part with him ; but as it is for a 
 throne, she acquiesces. He carries away from Rome with 
 him one of its most beautiful and estimable women, the 
 youngest daughter of the venerable Tacitus, to whom he 
 has just been married. In her you will see an almost too 
 favourable specimen of Roman women. 
 
 Several days have elapsed since I wrote to you, giving 
 an account of the sufferings and death of the Christian 
 Macer, as I learned them from those who were present, for 
 a breach of the late edicts, and for sacrilegiously, as the 
 laws term it, tearing down the parchment containing them 
 
312 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 from one of the columns of the Capitol. During this period 
 other horrors of the same kind have been enacted in differ 
 ent parts of the city. Macer is not the only one who has 
 already paid for his faith with his life. All the restraints 
 of the law seem to be withdrawn, not confessedly but vir 
 tually, and the Christians in humble condition and such 
 for the most part we are are no longer safe from violence 
 in the streets of Eome. Although, Fausta, you believe not 
 with us, you must scarcely the less for that pity us in our 
 present straits. Can the mind picture to itself, in some 
 aspects of the case, a more miserable lot ? Were the times 
 even at the worst so full of horror in Palmyra as now here 
 in Eome ? There, if the city were given up to pillage, the 
 citizen had at least the satisfaction of dying in the excite 
 ment of a contest, and in the defence of himself and his 
 children. Here the prospect is the actual scene is al 
 most arrived and present that all the Christians of Eome 
 will be given over to the butchery, first of the prefect s 
 court and others of the same character established through 
 out the city for the express purpose of trying the Chris 
 tians, and next to that of the mob, commissioned with 
 full powers to search out, find, and slay all who bear the 
 hated name. The Christians, it is true, die for a great 
 cause. In that cause they would rather die than live. 
 But still death is not preferred; much less is death, in 
 the revolting and agonizing form which chiefly these vol 
 untary executioners choose, to be viewed in any other light 
 than an evil too great almost to be endured. 
 
 It would astonish you, I think, and give you conceptions 
 of the power of this religion such as you have never had as 
 yet, could you, with me, look into the bosom of these 
 thousand Christian families, and behold the calmness and 
 the fortitude with which they await the approaching ca 
 lamities. There is now, as they believe, little else before 
 them but death, and death such as a foretaste has been 
 given of in the sufferings of Macer. Yet are they, with 
 wonderfully few exceptions, here in their houses, prepared 
 for whatever may betide, and resolved that they will die 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 313 
 
 for Him unto whom they have lived. This unshrinking 
 courage, this spirit of self-sacrifice, is the more wonderful 
 as it is now the received belief that they would not forfeit 
 their Christian name or hope by withdrawing, before the 
 storm bursts, from the scene of danger. 
 
 There have been those in the Church, and some there are 
 now, who would have all who in time of persecution seek 
 safety in flight, or by any form of compromise, visited 
 with the severest censures the Church can inflict, and for 
 ever after refused re-admission to the privileges which they 
 once enjoyed. Paying no regard to the peculiar tempera 
 ment and character of the individual, they would compel 
 all to remain fixed at their post, inviting, by a needless 
 ostentation of their name and faith, the search and assault 
 of the enemy. Macer was of this number. Happily they 
 are now few ; and the Christians are left free, free from 
 the constraint of any tyrant opinion, to act according to 
 the real feeling of the heart. But does this freedom carry 
 them away from Rome ? Does it show them to the world 
 hurrying in crowds by day, or secretly flying by night, 
 from the threatened woes ? Not so. All who were here 
 when these troubles first began are here now, or with few 
 arid inconsiderable exceptions, fewer than I could wish. 
 All who have resorted to me under these circumstances for 
 counsel or aid have I advised, if flight be a possible thing 
 to them, that they should retreat with their children to 
 some remote and secluded spot, and wait till the tempest 
 shall have passed by. Especially have I so advised and 
 urged all whom I have known to be of a sensitive and 
 timid nature, or bound by ties of more than common in 
 terest and necessity to large circles of relatives and depen 
 dants. I have aimed to make them believe that little gain 
 would accrue to the cause of Christ from the addition of 
 them and theirs to the mass of sufferers, when that mass 
 is already so large; whereas great and irreparable loss 
 would follow to the community of their friends and of the 
 Christians who should survive. They would do an equal 
 service to Christ and his Church by living, and on the first 
 
314 LETTEES FROM ROME. 
 
 appearance of calmer times re -assuming their Christian 
 name and profession, and being a centre about which there 
 might gather together a new multitude of believers. If 
 still the enemies of Christ should prevail, and a day of rest 
 never dawn or arise, they might then, when hope was dead, 
 come forth and add themselves to the innumerable com 
 pany of those born of heaven, who hold life and all its joys 
 and comforts as dross in comparison with the perfect integ 
 rity of the mind. By such statements have I prevailed 
 with many. Probus, too, has exerted his pow T er in the 
 same direction, and has enjoyed the happiness of seeing 
 safely embarked for Greece or Syria many whose lives in the 
 coming years will be beyond price to the then just surviv 
 ing Church. 
 
 Yet do not imagine, Fausta. that we are an immaculate 
 people ; that the weaknesses and faults which seem universal 
 to mankind are not to be discovered in us ; that we are all 
 what by our acknowledged principles we ought to be. We 
 have our traitors and our renegades, our backsliders and 
 our well-dissembling hypocrites ; but so few are they that 
 they give us little disquiet, and bring no discredit upon us 
 with the enemy. And besides these, there w r ill now be 
 those, as in former persecutions, who, as the evil day ap 
 proaches, will, through the operation simply of their 
 fears, renounce their name and faith. Of the former, some 
 have already made themselves conspicuous, conspicuous 
 now by their cowardly and hasty apostasy, as they were 
 before by a narrow, contentious, and restless zeal. Among 
 others, the very one who, on the evening when the Chris 
 tians assembled in the baths by Macer s, was so forward to 
 assail the faith of Probus, and who ever before on other 
 occasions, when a display could by any possibility be made 
 of devotion to his party, or an ostentatious parade of his 
 love of Christ, was always thrusting himself upon the no 
 tice of our body, and clamouring for notoriety, has already 
 abandoned us, and sought safety in apostasy. Others of 
 the same stamp have in like manner deserted us. They 
 are neither lamented by us nor honoured by the other party. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 315 
 
 It is said of him whom I have just spoken of that soon as 
 he had publicly renounced Christ and sacrificed, hisses and 
 yells of contempt broke from the surrounding crowds. He, 
 it doubtless occurred to them, who had so proved himself 
 weak, cowardly, and faithless to one set of friends, could 
 scarcely be trusted as brave and sincere by those to whom 
 he then joined himself. There are no virtues esteemed by 
 the Eomans like courage and sincerity. This trait in their 
 character is greatly in our favour. For much as they de 
 test our superstitions, they so honour our fortitude under 
 suffering, that a deep sympathy springs up almost uncon 
 sciously in our behalf. Half of those who on the first out 
 break of these disorders would have been found bitterly 
 hostile, if their hearts could be scanned now or when this 
 storm shall have passed by, would be found most warmly 
 with us, not in belief, but in a fellow-feeling, which is 
 its best preparation and almost certain antecedent. Even 
 in such an inhuman rabble as perpetrated the savage mur 
 der of the family of Macer, there were thousands who, then 
 driven on by the fury of passion, will, as soon as reflection 
 returns, bear testimony, in a wholly altered feeling toward 
 us, to the power with which the miraculous serenity and 
 calm courage of those true martyrs have wrought within 
 them. No others are now spoken of in Rome but Macer 
 and his heroic wife and children. 
 
 Throughout the city it is this morning current that new 
 edicts are to be issued in the course of the day. Milo, 
 returning from some of his necessary excursions into the 
 more busy and crowded parts of the city, says that it is 
 confidently believed. I told him that I could scarcely 
 think it, as I had reason to believe that the emperor had 
 engaged that they should not be as yet. 
 
 " An emperor, surely, " said Milo, " may change his mind 
 if he lists. He is little better than the rest of us, if he 
 have not so much power as that. I think if I were em 
 peror, it would be my chief pleasure to do and say one 
 thing to-day and just the contrary thing to-morrow, with 
 out being obliged to give a reason for it. If there be any- 
 
316 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 thing that makes slavery, it is this rendering a reason. In 
 the service of the most noble Gallienus fifty slaves were 
 subject to me, and never was I known to render a reason 
 for a single office I put them to. That was being nearer 
 an emperor than I fear I shall ever be again. " 
 
 " I hope so, Milo, " I said. " But what reason have you 
 to think, if you will render a reason, that Aurelian has 
 changed his mind ? " 
 
 " I have given proof, " answered Milo, " have I not, that 
 if anything is known in Rome, it is known by Curio ? " 
 
 " I think you have shown that he knows some things. " 
 
 " He was clearly right about the sacrifices, " responded 
 Milo, " as events afterwards declared. Just as many suf 
 fered as he related to me. What now he told me this 
 morning was this : that certain persons would find them 
 selves mistaken ; that some knew more than others ; that 
 the ox led to the slaugher knew less than the butcher ; that 
 great persons trusted not their secrets to every one ; em 
 perors had their confidants, and Fronto had his. " 
 
 " Was that all ? " I patiently asked. 
 
 " I thought, noble sir, " he replied, " that it was ; for 
 upon that he only sagaciously shook his head, and was 
 silent. However, as I said nothing, knowing well that 
 some folks would die if they retained a secret, though they 
 never would part with it for the asking, Curio began again, 
 soon as he despaired of any question from me, and said he 
 could tell me what was known but to three persons in 
 Rome. His wish was that I should ask him who they 
 were, but I did not, but began a new bargain with a man 
 for his poultry, we were in the market. He then began 
 himself, and said, Who think you they were ? But I 
 answered not. Who, he then whispered in my ear, but 
 Aurelian, Fronto, and myself ! Then I gratified him by 
 asking what the secret was, for if it had anything to do 
 with the Christians I should like to know it. I will tell 
 it to thee, he said, but to no other in Rome, and to thee 
 only on the promise that it goes in at thy ear, but not out 
 at thy mouth. I said that I trusted that I, who had kept 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 317 
 
 I dared hardly say how many years, and kept them still, 
 the secrets of Gallienus, should know how to keep and how 
 to reveal anything he had to say. Whereupon, without 
 any more reserve, he assured me that Fronto had persuaded 
 the emperor to publish new and more severe edicts before 
 the sixth hour, telling him, as a reason for it, that the 
 Christians were flying from Eome in vast numbers; that 
 every night, they having first passed the gates in the day, 
 multitudes were hastening into the country, making for 
 Gaul and Spain, or else embarking in vessels long prepared 
 for such service on the Tiber; that unless instantly ar 
 rested, there would be none, or few, for the edicts to oper 
 ate upon, and then, when all had become calm again, and 
 he Aurelian were dead, and another less pious upon 
 the throne, they would all return, and Eome swarm with 
 them as before. Curio said that when the emperor heard 
 this he broke out into a wild and furious passion. He 
 swore by the great god of light which is an oath, Curio 
 says, he never uses but he keeps that you, sir, Piso, had 
 deceived him, had cajoled him ; that you had persuaded 
 him to wait and hear what the Christians had to say for 
 themselves before they were summarily dealt with, which 
 he had consented to do, but which he now saw was a device 
 to gain time by which all, or the greater part, might escape 
 secretly from the capital. He then, with Fronto and the 
 secretaries, prepared and drew up new edicts, declaring 
 every Christian an enemy of the state and of the gods, and 
 requiring them everywhere to be informed against, and, 
 upon conviction of being Christians, to be thrown into 
 prison, and await there the judgment of the emperor. 
 These things, sir, are what I learned from Curio, which I 
 make no secret of for many reasons. I trust you will be 
 lieve them, for I heard the same story all along the streets, 
 and mine is better worthy of belief only because of where 
 and whom it comes from. " 
 
 I told Milo that I could not but suppose there was some 
 thing in it, as I had heard the rumour from several other 
 sources ; that if Curio spoke the truth, it was worse than 
 I had apprehended. 
 
318 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 Putting together what was thus communicated by Milo 
 and what, as he said, was to be heard anywhere in the 
 streets, I feared that some dark game might indeed be 
 playing by the priest against us, by which our lives might 
 be sacrificed even before the day were out. 
 
 " Should you not, " said Julia, " instantly seek Aurelian ? 
 If what Milo has said possess any particle of truth, it is 
 most evident the emperor has been imposed upon by the 
 lies of Fronto. He has cunningly used his opportunities ; 
 and you, Lucius, except he be instantly undeceived, may be 
 the first to feel his power. " 
 
 While she was speaking, Probus, Felix, and others of 
 the principal Christians of Eome, entered the apartment. 
 Their faces, and their manner, and their first words, de 
 clared that the same conviction possessed them as us. 
 
 " We are constrained, " said Felix, " thus with little cer 
 emony, noble Piso, to intrude upon your privacy. But in 
 truth the affair we have come upon admits not of ceremony 
 or delay. " 
 
 " Let there be none, then, I pray, and let us hear at once 
 what concerns us all. " 
 
 " It is spread over the city, " replied the bishop, " that 
 before the sixth hour edicts are to be issued that will go 
 to the extreme we have feared, affecting the liberty and 
 life of every Christian in Eome. We find it hard to be 
 lieve this, however, as it is in the face of what Aurelian 
 has most expressly stipulated. It is therefore the wish 
 and prayer of the Christians that you, being nearer to him 
 than any, should seek an interview with him, and then 
 serve our cause in such manner and by such arguments as 
 you best can. " 
 
 ft This is what we desire, Piso, " said they all. 
 
 I replied that I would immediately perform that which 
 they desired, but that I would that some other of our num 
 ber should accompany me. Whereupon Felix was urged to 
 join me ; and consenting, we at the moment departed for 
 the palace of Aurelian. 
 
 On arriving at the gardens, it was only by urgency that 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 319 
 
 I obtained admission to the presence of the emperor. But 
 upon declaring that I came upon an errand that nearly con 
 cerned himself and Rome, I was ordered to be brought 
 into his private apartment. 
 
 As I entered, Aurelian quickly rose from the table at 
 which he had been sitting, on the other side of which sat 
 Fronto. None of the customary urbanity was visible in 
 his deportment ; his countenance was dark and severe, his 
 reception of me cold and stately, his voice more harsh and 
 bitter than ever. I could willingly have excused the pres 
 ence of the priest. 
 
 " Ambassadors, " said Aurelian, inclining toward us, " I 
 may suppose, from the community of Christians ? " 
 
 " We came at their request, " I replied. " Humours are 
 abroad through the city, too confidently reported and too 
 generally credited to be regarded as wholly groundless, yet 
 which it is impossible for those who know Aurelian to be 
 lieve, asserting that to-day edicts are to be issued affecting 
 both the liberty and the lives of the Christians. " 
 
 " I would, Piso, that rumour were never farther from the 
 truth than in this. " 
 
 " But, " I rejoined, " has not Aurelian said that he would 
 proceed against them no farther till he had first heard their 
 defence from their own organs ? " 
 
 " Is it one party only, in human affairs, young Piso, " he 
 sharply replied, " that must conform to truth and keep 
 inviolate a plighted word ? Is deception no vice when it is 
 a Christian who deceives ? I indeed said that I would hear 
 the Christians, though when I made that promise I also 
 said that twould profit them nothing; but I then little 
 knew why it was that Piso was so urgent. " 
 
 " Truth, " I replied, " cannot be received from some quar 
 ters, any more than sweet and wholesome water through 
 poisoned channels. Even, Aurelain, if Fronto designed 
 not to mislead, no statement passing through his lips, if 
 it concerned the Christians, could, do so without there 
 being added to it or lost from it much that properly be 
 longed to it. I have heard that, too, which I may suppose 
 
320 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 has been poured into the mind of Aurelian, to fill it with 
 a bitterer enmity still toward the Christians, that the 
 Christians have sought this delay only that they might use 
 the opportunities thus afforded to escape from his power ; 
 and that using them, they have already in the greater part 
 fled from the capital, leaving to the emperor of all the 
 world but a few old women and children upon whom to 
 wreak his vengeance. How does passion bring its film 
 over the clearest mind ! How does the eye that will not 
 see, shut out the light, though it be brighter than that of 
 day ! It had been wiser in Aurelian, as well as more mer 
 ciful, first to have tried the truth of what has thus been 
 thrust upon his credulity, ere he made it a ground of ac 
 tion. True himself, he suspects not others ; but suspicion 
 were sometimes a higher virtue than frank confidence. Had 
 Aurelian but looked into the streets of Eome, he could not 
 but have seen the grossness of the lie that has been palmed 
 upon his too willing ear. Of the seventy thousand Chris 
 tians who dwelt in Eome, the same seventy thousand, less 
 by scarce a seventieth part, are now here within their 
 dwellings, waiting the will of Aurelian. Take this on the 
 word of one whom, in former days at least, you have found 
 worthy of your trust. Take it on the word of the vener 
 able head of this community, who stands here to confirm 
 it either by word or oath ; and in Kome it needs but to 
 know that Felix the Christian has spoken, to know that 
 truth has spoken too. * 
 
 " The noble Piso, " added Felix, " has spoken what all 
 who know aught of the affairs and condition of the Chris 
 tians know to be true. There is among us, great emperor, 
 too much, rather than too little, of that courage that meets 
 suffering and death without shrinking. Let your procla 
 mations this moment be sounded abroad, calling upon the 
 Christians to appear for judgment upon their faith before 
 the tribunals of Eome, and they will come flocking up as 
 do your pagan multitudes to the games of the Flavian. " 
 
 While we had been speaking Fronto sat, inattentive, as 
 it seemed, to what was going on. But at these last words 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 321 
 
 be was compelled to give ear, and did it as a man does who 
 has heard unwelcome truths. As Felix ended, the emperor 
 turned toward him without speaking, and without any look 
 of doubt or passion, waiting for such explanation as he 
 might have to give. 
 
 Fronto rose from his seat with the air of a man who 
 doubts not the soundness of his cause, and who feels sure 
 of the ear of his judge. 
 
 " I will say not, great emperor, that I have not in my 
 ardour made broader the statements which I have received 
 from others. It is an error quite possible for me to have 
 been guilty of. My zeal for the gods is warm, and ofttimes 
 outruns the calm dictates of reason. But if what has now 
 been affirmed as true be true, it is more, I believe, than 
 they who so report can make good, or than others can, be 
 they friends or enemies of this tribe. Who shall now go 
 out into this wilderness of streets, into the midst of this 
 countless multitude of citizens and strangers, men of all 
 religions and all manners, and pick me out the seventy 
 thousand Christians, and show that all are snug at home ? 
 Out of the seventy thousand, is it not palpable that its 
 third or half may have fled, and yet it shall be in no man s 
 power to make it so appear, to point to the spot whence 
 they have departed, or to that whither they have gone ? 
 But besides this, I must here and now confess that it was 
 upon no knowledge of my own, gathered by my own eyes 
 and ears, that I based the truth now charged as error ; but 
 upon what came to me through those in whose word I have 
 ever placed the most sacred trust, the priests of the temple, 
 and more than than all my faithful servant, friend, I may 
 call him, Curio, into whom drops by some miracle all 
 that is strange or new in Rome. " 
 
 I said in reply that it were not so difficult, perhaps, as 
 the priest has made it seem, to learn what part of the 
 Christians were now in Rome, and what part were gone. 
 " There are among us, Aurelian, in every separate church, 
 men who discharge duties corresponding to those which 
 Fronto performs in the Temple of the Sun. We have our 
 
 21 
 
322 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 priests, and others subordinate to them, who fill offices of 
 dignity and trust. Besides these, there are others still, 
 who for their wealth or their worth are known well, not 
 among the Christians only, but the Komans also. Of these 
 it were an easy matter to learn whether or not they are 
 now in Eome. And if these are here, who from the posts 
 they fill would be the first victims, it may be fairly sup 
 posed that the humbler sort, and less able to depart, and 
 therefore safer, are also here. Here I stand, and here 
 stands Felix ; we are not among the missing ; and we boast 
 not of a courage greater than may be claimed for the 
 greater part of those to whom we belong. " 
 
 " Great emperor, " said Fronto, " I will say no more than 
 this, that this in its whole aspect bears the same front as 
 the black aspersions of the wretch Macer, whose lies, 
 grosser than Cretan ever forged, poured in a foul and rotten 
 current from his swollen lips ; yea, while the hot irons 
 were tearing out his very heart-strings did he still belch 
 forth fresh torrents, blacker and fouler as they flowed 
 longer, till death came and took him to other tortures, 
 worse a thousand-fold, the just doom of such as put false 
 for true. That those were the malignant lies I have said 
 they are, Aurelian can need no other proof, I hope, than 
 that which has been already given. " 
 
 " I am still, Fronto, as when your witnesses were here be 
 fore me, satisfied with your defence. When, indeed, I doubt 
 the truth of Aurelian, I may be found to question that of 
 Fronto. Piso, hold! We have heard and said too much 
 already. Take me not as if I doubted, more than Fronto, 
 the word which you have uttered, or that of the venerable 
 Felix. You have said that which you truly believe. The 
 honour of a Piso has never been impeached, nor, as I trust, 
 can be. Yet has there been error both here and there, and 
 I doubt not is. Let it be thus determined, then. If upon 
 any blame shall seem to rest, let it be me. If any shall 
 be charged with doing to-day what must be undone to 
 morrow, let the burden be upon my shoulders. I will 
 therefore recede ; the edicts, which as you have truly 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 323 
 
 heard were to-day to have been promulged, shall sleep at 
 least another day. To-morrow, Piso, at the sixth hour, in 
 the palace on the Palatine, shall Probus, if such be the 
 pleasure of the Christians, plead in their behalf. Then 
 and there will I hear what this faith is, from him, or from 
 whomsoever they shall appoint. And now no more. " 
 
 With these words on the part of Aurelian our audience 
 closed, and we turned away, grieving to see that a man 
 like him, of his Herculean strength otherwise, should have 
 so surrendered himself into the keeping of another ; yet re 
 joicing that some of that spirit of justice that once wholly 
 swayed him still remained, and that our appeal to it had 
 not been in vain. 
 
 To-morrow, then, at the sixth hour, will Probus appear 
 before Aurelian. It is not, Fausta, because I or any sup 
 pose that Aurelian himself can be so. wrought upon as to 
 change any of his purposes, that we desire this hearing. 
 He is too far entered into this business, too heartily, and 
 I may add too conscientiously, to be drawn away from 
 it, or diverted from the great object which he has set up 
 before him. I will not despair, however, that even he 
 may be softened, and abate somewhat of that raging thirst 
 for our blood, for the blood of us all, that now seems to 
 madden him. But however this may be, upon other minds 
 impressions may be made that may be of service to us 
 either directly or indirectly. We may suppose that the 
 hearing of the Christians will be public, that many of great 
 weight with Aurelian will be there who never before 
 heard a word from a Christian s lips, and who know only 
 that we are held as enemies of the state and its religion. 
 Especially, I doubt not, will many, most, or all, of the 
 senate be there ; and it is to that body I still look, as in 
 the last resort able, perhaps, to exert a power that may 
 save us at least from absolute annihilation. 
 
 To-day has Probus been heard ; and while others sleep 
 I resume my pen to describe to you the events of it as they 
 have occurred. 
 
324 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 It was in the banqueting-hall of the imperial palace on 
 the Palatine that Probus was directed to appear and defend 
 his cause before the emperor. It is a room of great size, 
 and beautiful in its proportions and decorations. A row of 
 marble pillars adorns each longer side of the apartment. 
 Its lofty ceiling presents allegorically to the eye, and in 
 colours that can never fade, Eome victorious over the 
 world. The great and good of Eome s earlier days stand 
 around, in marble or brass, upon pedestals, or in niches 
 sunk into the substance of the walls. And where the walls 
 are not thus broken, pictures wrought upon them set before 
 the beholder many of the scenes in which the patriots of 
 former days conquered or suffered for the cause of their 
 country. Into this apartment, soon as it was thrown open, 
 poured a crowd both of Christians and pagans, of Eomans 
 and of strangers from every quarter of the world. There 
 was scarcely a remote province of the empire that had not 
 there its representative ; and from the far East, discernible 
 at once by their costume, were many present, who seemed 
 interested not less than others in the great questions to be 
 agitated. Between the two central columns upon the 
 western side, just beneath the pedestal of a colossal statue 
 of Vespasian, the great military idol of Aurelian, upon a 
 seat slightly raised above the floor, having on his right 
 hand Livia and Julia, sat the emperor. He was sur 
 rounded by his favourite generals and the chief members 
 of the senate, seated, or else standing against the columns 
 or statues which were near him. There, too, at the side 
 of, or immediately before Aurelian, but placed lower, were 
 Porphyrus, Varus, Fronto, and half the priesthood of 
 Eome. A little way in front of the emperor, and nearly 
 in the centre of the room, stood Probus. 
 
 If Aurelian sat in his chair of gold, looking the omnipo 
 tent master of all the world, as if no mere mortal force could 
 drive him from the place he held and filled, Probus on his 
 part, though he wanted all that air of pride and self-con 
 fidence written upon every line of Aurelian s face and form, 
 yet seemed like one who, in the very calmness of an un- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 325 
 
 faltering trust in a goodness and power above that of earth, 
 was in perfect possession of himself, and fearless of all 
 that man might say or do. His face was pale, but his eye 
 was clear. His air was that of a man mild and gentle, 
 who would not injure willingly the meanest thing endowed 
 with life ; but of a man, too, of that energy and inward 
 strength of purpose that he would not, on the other hand, 
 suffer an injury to be done to another, if any power lodged 
 within him could prevent it. It was that of a man to be 
 loved, and yet to be feared ; whose compassion you might 
 rely upon, but whose indignation at wrong and injustice 
 might also be relied upon whenever the weak or the op 
 pressed should cry out for help against the strong and the 
 cruel. 
 
 No sooner had Aurelian seated himself, and the thronged 
 apartment become still, than he turned to those who were 
 present, and said that the Christians had desired this 
 audience before him and the sacred senate, and he had 
 therefore granted them their request. And he was now 
 here to listen to whatever they might urge in their be 
 half. " But, " said he, " I tell them now, as I have told 
 them before, that it can be of no avail. The acts of 
 former emperors, from Nero to the present hour, have 
 sufficiently declared what the light is in which a true 
 Eoman should view the superstition that would supplant 
 the ancient worship of the gods. It is enough for me 
 that such is the acknowledged aim and asserted tendency 
 and operation of this Jewish doctrine. No merits of any 
 kind can atone for the least injury it might inflict upon 
 that venerable order of religious worship which, from 
 the time of Eomulus, has exercised over us its benignant 
 influences, and doubtless by the blessings it has drawn 
 down upon us from the gods, crowned our arms with a 
 glory the world has never known before, putting under 
 our feet every civilized kingdom, from the remotest East 
 to the farthest West, and striking terror into the rude bar 
 barians of the German forests. Nevertheless, they shall 
 be heard ; and if it is from thee, Christian, that we are to 
 
326 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 know what thy faith is, let us now hear whatever it is in 
 thy heart to say. There shall no bridle be put upon thee ; 
 but thou hast freest leave to utter what thou wilt. There 
 is nothing of worst concerning either Kome or her worship, 
 her rulers or her altars, her priesthood or her gods, but 
 thou mayest pour it forth in such measure as shall please 
 thee, and no one shall say thee nay. Now say on; the 
 day and the night are before thee. " 
 
 " I shall require, great emperor, " replied Probus, " but 
 little of either ; yet I thank thee, and all of our name who 
 are here present thank thee, for the free range which thou 
 hast offered. I thank thee, too, and so do we all, for the 
 liberty of frank and undisturbed speech which thou hast 
 assured to me. Yet shall I not use it to malign either the 
 Eomans or their faith. It is not with anger and fierce de 
 nunciation, emperor, that it becomes the advocate of 
 what he believes to be a religion from Heaven, to assail 
 the adherents of a religion like this of Rome, descended to 
 the present generation through so many ages, and which 
 all who have believed it in times past, and all who believe 
 it now, do hold to be true and woven into the very life of 
 the state, the origin of its present greatness, and without 
 which it must fall asunder into final ruin, the bond that 
 held it together being gone. If the religion of Eome be 
 false, or really injurious, it is not the generations now 
 living who are answerable for its existence formerly or 
 now, nor for the principles, truths, or rites, which consti 
 tute it. They have received it, as they have received a 
 thousand customs which are now among them, by inheri 
 tance from the ancestors who bequeathed them, and which 
 they received at too early an age to judge concerning their 
 fitness or unfitness, but to which, for the reason of that 
 early reception, they have become fondly attached, even 
 as to parents, brothers, and sisters, from whom they have 
 never been divided. It becomes not the Christian, there 
 fore, to load with reproaches those who are placed where 
 they are, not by their own will, but by the providence of 
 the Great Ruler. Neither does it become you of the Ro- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 327 
 
 man faith to reproach us for the faith to which we adhere ; 
 because the greater proportion of us also have inherited 
 our religion, as you yours, from parents and a community 
 who professed it before us, and all regard it as heaven- 
 descended, and so proved to be divine that without in 
 expiable guilt we may not refuse to accept it. It must 
 be in the face of reason, then, and justice, in the face of 
 what is both wise and merciful, if either should judge 
 harshly of the other. 
 
 " Besides, what do I behold in this wide devotion of the 
 Roman people to the religion of their ancestors but a tes 
 timony beautiful for the witness it bears to the universality 
 of that principle or feeling which binds the human heart to 
 some god or gods, in love and worship ? The worship may 
 be wrong or greatly imperfect, and sometimes injurious ; 
 the god or gods may be so conceived of as to act with hurt 
 ful influences upon human character and life ; still it is 
 religion ; it is a sentiment that raises the thoughts of the 
 humble and toilworn from the gross, the dull, the material, 
 and the perishing, to the heavenly, the invisible, the fu 
 ture, the immortal. And this, though accompanied by 
 some or many rites shocking to humanity and revolting to 
 reason, is better than that men were in this regard no 
 higher or other than brutes, but received their being as 
 they do theirs, they know not whence, and when they lose 
 it, depart like them, they know not and care not whither. 
 In the religious character of the Eoman people for reli 
 gious in the earlier ages of this empire they eminently were, 
 and they are religious now, though in less degree I be 
 hold and acknowledge the providence of God, who has so 
 framed us that our minds tend by resistless force to himself ; 
 satisfied at first with low and crude conceptions, but ever 
 aspiring after those that shall be worthier and worthier. 
 
 " And now, O emperor, for the same reason that we be 
 lieve God the Creator did implant in us all, of all tribes 
 and tongues, this deep desire to know, worship, and enjoy 
 him, so that no people have ever been wholly ignorant of 
 him, do we believe that he has, in these latter years, de- 
 
328 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 clared himself to mankind more plainly than he did in the 
 origin of things, or than he does through our own reason, 
 so that men may, by such better knowledge of himself, and 
 of all necessary truth which he has imparted, be raised to 
 a higher virtue on earth, and made fit for a more exalted 
 life in heaven. We believe that he has thus declared himself 
 by him whom you have heard named as the Master and 
 Lord of the Christians, and after whom they are called, 
 Jesus Christ. Him, God the Creator, we believe, sent into 
 the world to teach a better religion than the world had, 
 and to break down and forever destroy, through the opera 
 tion of his truth, a thousand injurious forms of false re 
 ligion. It is this religion which we would extend and 
 impart to those who will open their minds to consider its 
 claims, and their hearts to embrace its truths, when they 
 have once been seen to be divine. This has been our task 
 and our duty in Eome, to beseech you, not blindly to re 
 ceive, but strictly to examine, and if found to be true, then 
 humbly and gratefully to adopt, this new message from 
 above " 
 
 " By the gods, Aurelian, " exclaimed Porphyrus, <f these 
 Christians are kindly disposed ! Their benevolence and 
 their philosophy are alike. We are obliged to them " 
 
 " Not now, Porphyrus, " said Aurelian. " Disturb not 
 the Christian. Say on, Probus. " 
 
 " We hope, " continued Probus, nothing daunted by the 
 scornful jeers of the philosopher, " that we are sincerely de 
 sirous of your welfare, and so pray that in the lapse of 
 years all may, as some have done, take at our hands the 
 good we proffer them ; for sure we are that would all so 
 receive it, Eome would tower upwards with a glory and 
 a beauty that should make her a thousand-fold more hon 
 oured and beloved than now, and her roots would strike 
 down, and so fasten themselves in the very centre of the 
 earth that well might she then be called the Eternal City. 
 Yet, emperor, though such is our aim and purpose, 
 though we would propagate a religion from God, and in 
 doing so are willing to labour our lives long, and, if need 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 329 
 
 be, die in the sacred cause, yet are we charged as atheists. 
 The name by which we are known, as much as by that of 
 Christian, is atheist * 
 
 " Such I have surely believed you, " said Porphyrus, 
 again breaking in, " and at this moment do. " 
 
 " But it is a name, Aurelian, fixed upon us ignorantly or 
 slanderously, ignorantly, I am willing to believe. We 
 believe in a God, emperor ; it is to him we live and to 
 him we die. The charge of atheism I thus publicly deny, 
 as do all Christians who are here, as would all throughout 
 the world with one acclaim, were they also here, and 
 would all seal their testimony, if need were, with their 
 blood. We believe in one God ; not in many, some greater 
 and some lesser, as with you, and whose forms are known 
 and can be set forth in images and statues, but in one spir 
 itual and invisible Being, the sole monarch of the universe, 
 whom no eye hath seen or can see ; whom no man, be he 
 ever so cunning, can represent in wood, or brass, or stone ; 
 whom so to represent in any imaginary shape, our faith de 
 nounces as unlawful and impious. Hence it is, emperor, 
 because the vulgar, when they enter our churches or our 
 houses, see there no image of god or goddess, that they 
 imagine we are without a God, and without his worship. 
 And such conclusion may in them be excused. For till 
 they are instructed, it may not be easy for them to con 
 ceive of one infinite and spiritual God, filling heaven and 
 earth with his presence. But in others, it is hard to see 
 how they think us atheists on the same ground, since 
 nothing can be plainer than that among you, the intelli 
 gent, and the philosophers especially, believe as we do, in 
 a great, pervading, invisible spirit of the universe. Plato 
 worshipped not, nor believed in, these stone or wooden 
 gods ; nor in any of the fables of the Greek religion ; yet 
 who ever has charged him with atheism ? So was it with 
 the great Longinus. I see before me those who are now 
 famed for their science in such things, and who are the 
 teachers of Eome in them ; yet not one, I may venture to 
 declare, believes other than as Plato and Longinus did in 
 
330 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 this regard. It is an error or a calumny that has ever pre 
 vailed concerning us; but in former times some have had 
 the candour, when the error has been removed, to confess 
 publicly that they had been subject to it. The emperor 
 Marcus Aurelius, to name no other, when, in the straits 
 into which he was fallen at Cotinus, he charged his dis 
 asters upon the Christian soldiers, and they praying pros 
 trate upon the earth for him and his army and empire, he 
 forthwith gained the victory, which before he had despaired 
 of, did then immediately acknowledge that they had a 
 God, and that they should no longer be reviled as atheists 
 since it was plain that men might believe in a God and 
 carry about the image of him in their own minds though 
 they had no visible one. It is thus we are all theists. 
 We carry about with us, in the sanctuary of our own 
 bosoms, our image of the great and almighty God whom 
 we serve ; and before that, and that only, do we bow down 
 and worship. Were we indeed atheists, it were not un 
 reasonable that you dealt with us as you now do, nay, 
 and much more severely ; for where belief in a God does 
 not exist, it is not easy to see how any state can long hold 
 together. The necessary bond is wanting, and as a sheaf of 
 wheat when the band is broken, it must fall asunder. 
 
 " The first principle of the religion of Christ is this be 
 lief in a God, in his righteous providence here on earth, 
 and in a righteous retribution hereafter. How, then, can 
 the religion of Christ, in this respect, be of dangerous in 
 fluence or tendency ? It is well known to all who are ac 
 quainted in the least with history or philosophy, that in 
 the religion of the Jews, the belief and worship of one God 
 almost constitutes the religion itself. Everything else is 
 inferior and subordinate. In this respect the religion of 
 Jesus is like that of the Jews. It is exceeding jealous of 
 the honour and worship of this one God, the God of the 
 Jews also ; for Jesus was himself a Jew, and has revealed 
 to us the same God whom we are required to worship, only 
 with none of the ceremonies, rites, and sacrifices, which 
 were peculiar to the Jews. It is this which has caused 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 331 
 
 us, equally to our and their displeasure, frequently to be 
 confounded together, and mistaken the one for the other. 
 But the differences between us are, excepting in the great 
 doctrine I have just named, essential and eternal. This 
 doctrine, therefore, which is the chief of all, being so fun 
 damental with us, it is not easy, I say, to see how we can, 
 on religious accounts, be dangerous to the state. For 
 many things are comprehended in and follow from this 
 faith. It is not a barren, unprofitable speculation, but a 
 practical and restraining doctrine of the greatest moral 
 efficacy. If it be not this to us, to all and every one of us, 
 it is not what it ought to be, and we wrongly understand, 
 or else wilfully pervert it. We believe that we are every 
 where surrounded by the presence of our God ; that he is 
 our witness every moment, and everywhere conscious, as we 
 are ourselves, of our words, acts, and thoughts, and will 
 bring us all to a strict account at last for whatever he has 
 thus witnessed that has been contrary to that rigid law of 
 holy living which he has established over us in Christ. 
 Must not this act upon us most beneficially ? We believe 
 that in himself he is perfect purity, and that he demands 
 of us that we be so in our degree also. We can impute to 
 him none of the acts, such as the believers in the Greek 
 and Eoman religions freely ascribe to their Jove, and so 
 have not, as others have, in such divine example, a war 
 rant and excuse for the like enormities. This one God, 
 too, we also regard as our Judge, who will in the end sit 
 upon our conduct throughout the whole of our lives, and 
 punish or reward according to what we shall have been, 
 just as the souls of men, according to your belief, receive 
 their sentence at the bar of Minos and Ehadamanthus. 
 And other similar truths are wrapt up with, and make a 
 part of this great primary one. Wherefore it is most evi 
 dent, tha.t nothing can be more false and absurd than to 
 think and speak of us as atheists, and for that reason a 
 nuisance in the state. 
 
 " But it is not only that we are atheists, but that through 
 our atheism we are to be looked upon as disorderly mem- 
 
332 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 bers of society, disturbers of the peace, disaffected and re 
 bellious citizens, that we hear on every side. I do not 
 believe that this charge has ever been true of any, much 
 less of all. Or, if any Christian has at any time, and for 
 any reason, disobeyed the laws, withheld his taxes when 
 they have been demanded, or neglected any duties which, 
 as a citizen of Eome, he has owed to the emperor or any 
 representative of him, then so far he has not been a Chris 
 tian. Christ s kingdom is not of this world, though, be 
 cause we so often and so much speak of a kingdom, we 
 have been thought to aim at one on earth, it is above ; 
 and he requires us, while here below, to be obedient to the 
 laws and the rulers that are set up over us ; to pay tribute 
 to whomsoever it is due, here in Eome to Caesar ; and 
 wherever we are, to be loyal and quiet citizens of the state. 
 And the reception of his religion tends to make such of 
 us all. Whoever adopts the faith of the gospel of Jesus 
 will be a virtuous, and holy, and devout man, and therefore 
 both in Eome, in Persia, and India, and everywhere, a good 
 subject. 
 
 " We defend not nor abet, great emperor, the act of that 
 holy but impetuous and passionate man, who so lately, in 
 defiance of the imperial edict, and before either remon 
 strance or appeal on our part, preached on the very steps 
 of the Capitol, and there committed that violence for which 
 he hath already answered with his life. We defend him 
 not in that, but neither do we defend the unrighteous 
 haste, and the more than demoniac barbarity of his death. 
 God, we rejoice in all our afflictions, is over all ; and the 
 wicked, the cruel, and the unjust, shall not escape. 
 
 " Yet it must be acknowledged that there are higher 
 duties than those which we owe to the state, even as there 
 is a higher sovereign to whom we owe allegiance than the 
 head of the state, whether that head be king, senate, or 
 emperor. Man is not only a subject and a citizen, he is 
 first of all the creature of God, and amenable to his laws. 
 When, therefore, there is a conflict between the laws of 
 God and the king, who can doubt which are to be obeyed ? " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 333 
 
 " Who does not see, " cried Porphyrus, vehemently, 
 " that in such principles there lurks the blackest treason ? 
 For who but themselves are to judge when the laws of 
 the two sovereigns do thus conflict ? and what law then may 
 be promulged but to them it may be an offence ? " 
 
 " Let not the learned Porphyrus, " resumed Probus, " rest 
 in but a part of what I say. Let him hear the whole, and 
 then deny the principle if he can. I say, when the law of 
 God and the law of man are opposite the one to the other, 
 we are not to hesitate which to obey and which to break ; 
 our first allegiance is due to Heaven. And it is true that 
 we ourselves are to be the judges in the case. But then, 
 we are judges under the same stern laws of conscience 
 toward God which compel us to violate the law of the em 
 pire, though death in its most terrific form be the penalty. 
 And is it likely, therefore, that we shall, for frivolous 
 causes, or imaginary ones, or none at all, hold it to be our 
 duty to rebel against the law of the land ? To think so 
 were to rate us low indeed. They may surely be trusted to 
 make this decision whose fidelity to conscience in other 
 emergencies brings down upon them so heavy a load of ca 
 lamity. I may appeal, moreover, to all, I think, who hear 
 me, of the common faith, whether they themselves would 
 not hold by the same principle. Suppose the case, that 
 your supreme god, Jupiter greatest and best, or the god 
 beyond and above him in whom your philosophers have 
 faith, revealed a law, requiring what the law of the empire 
 forbids ; must you not, would you not, if your religion were 
 anything more than a mere pretence, obey the god rather than 
 the man ? Although, therefore, great emperor, we blame the 
 honest Macer for his precipitancy, yet it ought to be, and 
 is, the determination of us all, to yield obedience to no law 
 which violates the law of Heaven. We having received 
 the faith of Christ in trust, to be by us dispensed to man 
 kind, and believing the welfare of mankind to depend upon 
 the wide extension of it, we will rather die than shut it up 
 in our own bosoms ; we will rather die than live with our 
 tongues torn from our mouths, our limbs fettered and 
 bound. We must speak, or we will die. " 
 
334 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 Porphyrus again sprang from his seat with intent to 
 speak, but the emperor restrained him. 
 
 "Contend not now, Porphyrus; let us hear the Chris 
 tian. I have given him his freedom. Infringe it not. " 
 
 " I will willingly, noble emperor, " said Probus, " re 
 spond to whatsoever the learned Tyrian may propose. All 
 I can desire is this only, that the religion of Christ may be 
 seen by those who are here to be what it truly is ; and it 
 may be that the questions or the objections of the philoso 
 phers shall show this more perfectly than a continued 
 discourse. " 
 
 The emperor, however, making a sign, he went on. 
 
 " "VVe have also been charged, emperor, with vices and 
 crimes, committed at both our social and our religious 
 meetings, at which nature revolts, which are even beyond 
 in grossness what have been ever ascribed to the most flagi 
 tious of mankind. " 
 
 Probus here enumerated the many rumours which had 
 long been and still were current in Rome, and, especially 
 by the lower orders, believed ; and drew then such a picture 
 of the character, lives, manners, and morals of the Chris 
 tians, for the truth of which he appealed openly to noble 
 and distinguished persons among the Eomans then present, 
 not of the Christian faith, but who were yet well ac 
 quainted with their character and condition, and who would 
 not refuse to testify to what he had said, that there could 
 none have been present in that vast assembly but who, if 
 there were any sense of justice within them, must have dis 
 missed forever from their minds, if they had ever entertained 
 them, the slanderous fictions that had filled them. 
 
 To report to you, Fausta, this part of his defence must 
 be needless, and could not prove otherwise than painful. 
 He then also refuted in the same manner other common 
 objections alleged against the Christians and their wor 
 ship, the lateness of its origin ; its beggarly simplicity ; 
 the low and ignorant people who alone, or chiefly, both in 
 Rome and throughout the world, have received it; the 
 fierce divisions and disputes among the Christians them- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 335 
 
 selves ; the uncertainty of its doctrines ; the rigour of its 
 morality, as unsuited to mankind, as also its spiritual 
 worship, the slowness of its progress, and the little like 
 lihood that, if God were its author, he would leave it to be 
 trodden under foot and so nearly annihilated by the very 
 people to whom he was sending it ; these and other similar 
 things usually urged against the Christians, and now, for 
 the first time, it is probable, by most of the Romans pres 
 ent heard refuted and explained, did Probus set forth, 
 both with brevity and force, making nothing tedious by 
 reason of a frivolous minuteness, nor yet omitting a single 
 topic or argument which it was due to the cause he de 
 fended to bring before the minds of that august assembly. 
 He then ended his appeal in the following manner : 
 
 " And now, great emperor, must you have seen, in what 
 I have already said, what the nature and character of this 
 religion is ; for in denying and disproving the charges that 
 have been brought against it, I have, in most particulars, 
 alleged and explained some opposite truth or doctrine by 
 which it is justly characterized. But that you may be in 
 formed the more exactly for what it is you are about to 
 persecute and destroy us, and for what it is that we cheer 
 fully undergo torture and death sooner than surrender or 
 deny it, listen yet a moment longer. You have heard that 
 we are named after Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth in Galilee, 
 who, in the reign of Augustus, was born in Judea, and 
 there lived and taught, a prophet and messenger of God, 
 till he was publicly crucified by his bitter enemies the 
 Jews. We do not doubt, nay, we all steadfastly believe, 
 that this Jesus was the Son of the Most High God, by rea 
 son of his wonderful endowments and his delegated office 
 as the long looked-for Messiah of the Jews. As the evi 
 dences of his great office and of his divine origin, he per 
 formed those miracles that filled with astonishment the 
 whole Jewish nation, and strangers from all parts of the 
 world ; and so wrought even upon the mind of your great 
 predecessor, the emperor Tiberius, that he would fain re 
 ceive him into the number of the gods of Eome. And why, 
 
336 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 O emperor, was this great personage sent forth into the 
 world, encircled by the rays of divine power and wisdom 
 and goodness, an emanation of the self -existent and infinite 
 and invisible God ? And why do we so honour him, and 
 cleave to him, that we are ready to offer our lives in sacri 
 fice, while we go forth as preachers of his faith, making 
 him known to all nations as the universal Saviour and 
 Eedeemer ? This Jesus came into the world, and lived and 
 taught, was preceded by so long a preparation of prophetic 
 annunciation, and accompanied by so sublime demonstra 
 tions of almighty power, to this end, and to this end only : 
 that he might save us from our sins, and from those penal 
 consequences, in this world and in worlds to come, which 
 are bound to them by the stern decrees of fate. Yes, 
 Aurelian, Jesus came only that he might deliver mankind 
 from the thraldom of sin, and raise them to a higher con 
 dition of virtue and happiness. He was a great moral and 
 religious reformer, endowed with the wisdom and power 
 of the Supreme God. He himself toiled only in Judea ; 
 but he came a benefactor of Eome too, of Eome as well as 
 of Judea. He came to purge it of its pollutions ; to check 
 in their growth those customs and vices which seemed 
 destined, reaching their natural height and size, to overlay 
 and bury in final ruin the city and the empire ; he came to 
 make us citizens of heaven through the virtues which his 
 doctrine should build up in the soul, and so citizens of 
 Eome more worthy of that name than any who ever went 
 before. He came to heal, to mend, to reform the state; 
 not to set up a kingdom in hostility to this, but in unison 
 with it, an inward, invisible kingdom in every man s 
 heart, and which should be as the soul of the other. 
 
 " It was to reform the morals of the state, to save it from 
 itself, that you, Aurelian, in the first years of your reign, 
 applied those energies that have raised the empire to more 
 than its ancient glory. You aimed to infuse a love of 
 justice and of peace, to abate the extravagances of the 
 times, to stem the tide of corruption that seemed about to 
 bear down upon its foul streams the empire itself, tossing 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 337 
 
 upon its surface a wide sea of ruins. It was a great work, 
 
 too great for man. It needed a divine strength and a 
 more than human wisdom. These were not yours ; and it 
 is no wonder that the work did not go on to its completion. 
 Jesus is a reformer, of Eome, and of the world also. The 
 world is his theatre of action ; but with him there is 
 leagued the arm and the power of the Supreme God ; and 
 the work which he attempts shall succeed. It cannot but 
 succeed. It is not so much he, Jesus of Nazareth, who has 
 come forth upon this great errand of mercy and love to 
 mankind, as God himself, in and through him. It is the 
 great God of the universe who by Jesus Christ as his agent 
 and messenger comes to you, and would reform and redeem 
 your empire, and out of that which is transitory, and by 
 its inherent vice threatened with decay and death, make a 
 city and an empire which, through the energy of its virtues 
 shall truly be eternal. Can you not, emperor, supposing 
 the claims of this religion to a divine origin to be just, 
 view it with respect? Nay, could you not greet its ap 
 proach to your capital with pleasure and gratitude, seeing 
 its aim is nothing else than this, to purify, purge, and 
 reform the state, to heal its wounds, cleanse its putrefying 
 members, and infuse the element of a new and healthier 
 life ? Methinks a true patriot and lover of Eome must re 
 joice when any power approaches and offers to apply those 
 remedies that may, with remotest probability only, bid 
 fair to cure the diseases of which her body is sick nigh 
 unto death. Such, Aurelian, was and is the aim of Jesus 
 in the religion which he brought, to reform the world, 
 and bring men everywhere into harmony with God their 
 Creator; to reconcile them to each other; to make them 
 as one. And of us who are his ministers, his messengers, 
 
 who go forth bearing these glad tidings of deliverance 
 from sin and corruption, and of union with God, our 
 work is the same with his. We but repeat the lessons 
 which he gave. We take his gospel, which is his written 
 instruction, in our hand, and reading as we go, we aim to 
 rescue the souls of men from the power of demons, of 
 
 22 
 
338 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 Satan, and of sin. We are humble teachers of good morals. 
 Our office, like that of our great Master, is persuading men to 
 abandon all that injures them, and unite themselves to God 
 in virtuous lives. Are we, in so doing, enemies of Kome ? 
 Are we not rather her truest friends ? By making men 
 good, pure, just, kind, honest, and conscientious, are we 
 not at the same time making them the best citizens ? Are 
 there in Eome better citizens than the Christians ? 
 
 " You will now, perhaps, Aurelian, desire to be told by 
 what instruments Christianity hopes to work such changes 
 by the use of what means. It is simply, emperor, by 
 the power of truth ! The religion which we preach uses 
 not force. Were the arm of Aurelian at this moment the 
 arm of Probus, he could do no more than he now does, 
 with one which, as the world deems, is in the comparison 
 powerless as an infant s. In all that pertains to the soul, 
 and its growth and purification, there must be utmost free 
 dom. The soul must suffer no constraint. There must be 
 no force laid upon it, but the force of reason and the appeal 
 of divine truth. All that we ask or want in Eome is the 
 liberty of speech, the free allowance to offer to men the 
 truth in Christ, and persuade them to consider it. With 
 that we will engage to reform and save the whole world. 
 We want not to meddle with affairs of state, nor with the 
 citizen s relations to the state; we have naught to do with 
 the city, or its laws, or government. We desire but the 
 privilege to worship God according to our consciences, and 
 labour for the moral and spiritual welfare of all who will 
 hear our words. 
 
 " And if you would know what the truth is we impart, 
 and by which we would save the souls of men, and reform 
 the empire and the world, be it known to you that we 
 preach Jesus Christ and him crucified, whom God raised up 
 and sent into the world to save it by his doctrine and life, 
 and whom being by the Jews hung upon a cross God 
 raised again from the dead. We preach him as the Son of 
 God with power, by whom God has been revealed to man 
 kind in his true nature and perfections, and through whom, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 339 
 
 he and he only is to be worshipped. It is this Being, the 
 God who sent Jesus into the world, whom we preach to you 
 and all in Eome as the only true God, for whom you are 
 bound, when the truth shall have been made plain to you, 
 to forsake your idols, and fall down and serve him alone. 
 In the place of Jupiter, we bring you a revelation of the 
 God and Father of Christ Jesus our Lord, a Being of per 
 fect purity, holiness, and truth, who is the Creator, Gov 
 ernor, and Judge of the universe, and who will call all men 
 unto judgment at last for all their acts and thoughts, re 
 warding or punishing according to what they have done. 
 Through Jesus, we preach also a resurrection from the 
 dead. We show by arguments which cannot be refuted 
 that this Jesus, when he had been crucified and slain, and 
 his body had lain three days in the tomb, rose again, and 
 was taken up to heaven as an example of what should 
 afterwards happen to all his followers. Through him has 
 immortality been plainly brought to light and proved ; 
 and this transporting truth we declare wherever we go. 
 Through Jesus, we preach also repentance ; we declare to 
 men their wickedness ; we show them what and how great 
 it is, and exhort them to repentance, as what can alone 
 save them from the wrath to come. 
 
 " This, O emperor, is the great work which we, as apos 
 tles of Jesus, have to do, to convince the world how vile 
 it is, how surely their wickedness unrepented of will 
 work their misery and their ruin, and so lead them away 
 from it, and up the safe and pleasant heights of Christian 
 virtue. We find Rome sunk in sensuality and sin ; nor 
 only that, but ignorant of its own guilt, dead to the wicked 
 ness into which it has fallen, and denying any obligations 
 to a different or better life. Such do we find the world 
 itself, dead, dead in trespasses and sin. We would 
 rouse it from this sleep of moral death. We desire, first 
 of all, to waken in the souls of men a perception of the 
 guilt of sin, a feeling of the wide departure of their lives 
 from the just demands of the Being who made them. The 
 prospect of immortality were nothing without this. Longer 
 
340 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 life were but a greater evil were we not made alive to sin 
 and righteousness. Life on earth, Aurelian, is not the best 
 thing, but life free from sin, virtuous life; so life with 
 out end is not the best thing, but that life glorious through 
 holiness. But to the necessity of such holiness to the life 
 of the soul, men are now insensible and dead. They love 
 the prospect of an immortal existence, but not of that 
 purity without which immortality were no blessing. This 
 moral regeneration, this waking up of men dead in sin to 
 the life of righteousness, this redemption of them from 
 their vices, and the abominable, cruel, and impious customs 
 which prevail and sink them to the level of the brutes, 
 this is the first aim of Christianity. Repentance was the 
 first word of its Founder when he began preaching in Ju- 
 dea ; it is the first word of his followers wherever they go, 
 and should be the last. This, O Aurelian, in few words, is 
 the gospel of Jesus : Eepent, and live forever ! 
 
 " In the service of this gospel, and therefore of you and 
 the world, we are content to labour while we live, to suffer 
 injury and reproach, and if need be, and they to whom we go 
 will not understand us, lay down our lives. Almost three 
 hundred years has it appealed to mankind ; and though not 
 with the success that should have followed upon the toil of 
 those who have toiled for the salvation of men, yet has it 
 not been rejected everywhere, nor has the labour been in 
 vain. The fruit that has come of the seed sown is great 
 and abundant. In every corner of the earth are there now 
 those who name the name of Christ. And in every place 
 are there many, more than meet the eye, who read our gos 
 pels, believe in them, and rejoice in the virtue and the 
 hope which have taken root in their souls. Here in Eome, 
 O Aurelian, are there multitudes of believers, whom the 
 ear hears not, nor the eye sees, hidden away in the security 
 of this sea of roofs, and whom the messengers of your 
 power never could discover. Destroy us you may ; sweep 
 from the face of Eome every individual whom the most 
 diligent search can find, from the gray-haired man of four 
 score to the infant that can just lisp the name of Jesus, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 341 
 
 and you have not destroyed the Christians. The Christian 
 Church still stands, not unharmed, but founded as before 
 upon a rock, against which the powers of earth and hell 
 can never prevail ; and soon as this storm shall have over 
 blown, those other and now secret multitudes of whom I 
 speak will come forth, and the wilderness of the Church 
 shall blossom again as a garden in the time of spring. God 
 is working with us, and who, therefore, can prevail against 
 us? 
 
 " Bring not, then, Aurelian, upon your own soul, bring 
 not upon Eome, the guilt that would attend this unnecessary 
 slaughter. It can but defer for an hour or a day the estab 
 lishment of that kingdom of righteousness, which must be 
 established, because it is God s, and he is laying its foun 
 dations and building its walls. Have pity, too, great em 
 peror, upon this large multitude of those who embrace this 
 faith, and who will not let it go for all the terrors of your 
 courts, and judges, and engines; they will all suffer the 
 death of Macer ere they will prove false to their Master. 
 Let not the horrors of that scene be renewed, nor the 
 greater ones of an indiscriminate massacre. I implore 
 your compassion, not for myself, but for these many thou 
 sands who by my ministry have been persuaded to receive 
 this faith. For them my heart bleeds ; them I would save 
 from the death which impends. Yet it is a glorious and a 
 happy death to die for truth arid Christ ! It is better to 
 die so, knowing that by such death the very Church itself 
 is profited, than to die in one s own bed, and only to one s 
 self. So do these thousands think; and whatever com 
 passion I may implore for them, they would each and all, 
 were that their fate, go with cheerful step, as those who 
 went to some marriage supper, to the axe, the stake, or the 
 cross. Christianity cannot die but with the race itself. 
 Its life is bound up in the life of man, and man must be 
 destroyed ere that can perish. Behold, then, Aurelian, 
 the labour that is thine ! " 
 
 Soon as he had ceased, Porphyrus started from his seat 
 and said, 
 
342 LETTERS EROM ROME. 
 
 " It is, then, Eomans, just as it has ever been affirmed. 
 The Galileans are atheists ! They believe not in the gods 
 of Eome, nor in any in whom mankind can ever have be 
 lief. I doubt not but they think themselves believers in a 
 God. They think themselves to have found one better 
 than others have; but upon any definition that I or you 
 could give or understand of atheism, they are atheists! 
 Their God is invisible ; he is a universal spirit, like this 
 circumambient air, of no form, dwelling in no place. But 
 how can that without effrontery be called a being, which is 
 without body and form ; which is everywhere and yet no 
 where ; which from the beginning of the world has never 
 been heard of till by these Nazarenes he is now first 
 brought to light, or, if older, exists in the dreams of the 
 dreaming Jews, whose religion, as they term it, is so 
 stuffed with fable that one might not expect, after the 
 most exact and laborious search, to meet with so much as 
 a grain of truth ? Yet whatever these Galileans may assert, 
 their speech is hardly to be received as wholly worthy of 
 belief, when in their very sacred records such things are 
 to be found as contradict themselves. For in one place 
 not to mention a thousand cases of the like kind it is 
 said that Jesus, the head of this religion, on a certain oc 
 casion walked upon the sea ; when, upon sifting the nar 
 rative, it is found that it was but upon a paltry lake, the 
 lake of Galilee, upon which he performed that great feat, 
 a thing to which the magic of which he is accused, and 
 doubtless with justice, was plainly equal; while to walk 
 upon the sea might well have been beyond that science. 
 How much of what we have heard is to be distrusted, also, 
 concerning the love which these Nazarenes bear to Eome. 
 We may well pray to be delivered from the affection of 
 those whose love manifests itself in the singular manner 
 of seeking our destruction. He who loves me so well as 
 to poison me, that I may have the higher enjoyment of 
 Elysium, I could hardly esteem as a well-wisher or friend. 
 These Jewish fanatics love us after somewhat the same 
 fashion. In the zeal of their affection, they would make 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 343 
 
 us heirs of what they call their heavenly kingdom, but in 
 the mean while destroy our religion, deprive us of our an 
 cient gods, and sap the foundations of the state. Romans, 
 in spite of all you have heard of another sort, I hope you 
 will still believe that experience is one of your most valu 
 able teachers, and that therefore you will be slow to for 
 sake opinions which have the sanction of venerable age, 
 under which you have flourished so happily, and your 
 country grown to so amazing a height of glory and renown. 
 I think you would deserve the fate which this new-made 
 religion would bring you to, if you abandoned the worship 
 of a thousand years for the presumptuous novelty of yes 
 terday. Not a name of greatness or honour can be quoted 
 of those who have adorned this foreign fiction ; while all 
 the great and good of Greece and Rome, philosophers, mor 
 alists, historians, and poets, are to be found on the side of 
 Hellenism. If we cast from us that which we have expe 
 rienced to be good, by what rule, and on what principle, 
 can we afterwards put our trust in anything else ? And it 
 is considerable, that which has ever been asserted of this 
 people, and which I doubt not is true, that they have ever 
 been prying about with their doctrines and their mysteries 
 among the poor and humbler sort, among women, slaves, 
 simple and unlearned folks, while they have never appealed 
 to, nor made any converts of the great, the learned, the 
 witty, who alone are capable of judging of the truth of 
 what they put forth. Who are the believers here in 
 Jtome ? Who knows them ? Are the sacred senate Chris 
 tians, or any distinguished for their rank ? No ; with the 
 exceptions too few to be noticed, those who embrace it are 
 among the dregs of the people, men wholly incapable of 
 separating true from false, and laying properly the safe 
 foundations of a new religion, a work too great even for 
 philosophers. And not only does this religion draw to 
 itself the poor, and humble, and ignorant, but the base and 
 wicked also; persons known while of our way to have 
 been notorious for their vices have all of a sudden joined 
 themselves to the Christians ; and whatever show of sane- 
 
344 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 tity may then have been assumed, we may well suppose 
 there has not been much of the reality. Long may it boast 
 of such members, and while its brief life lasts, make con 
 tinually such converts from us. As to the amazing show 
 they make of their benevolence in the care of the poor, and 
 even of our poor, doing more offices of kindness toward 
 them so it is affirmed than we ourselves, who does not 
 see the motive that prompts so much charity, in the good 
 opinion they build up for themselves in those whom they 
 have so much obliged, and who cannot in decency do less 
 afterwards than oblige them in turn, by joining their su 
 perstitions ? superstitions of which they know nothing 
 before they adopt them, and as little afterwards. But I 
 will not, emperor, weary out your patience again, al 
 ready so tried, and will only say that the fate which has 
 all along and everywhere befallen these people might well 
 warn them that they are objects of the anger rather than 
 the favour and love of the Lord of heaven, of which they 
 so confidently make their boast. For if he loved them 
 would he leave them everywhere to the rage and destruc 
 tion of their enemies, to be reviled, trodden upon, and de 
 spised all over the earth ? If these be the signs of love 
 what are those of hate ? And can it be that he, their Lord 
 of heaven, hath in store for them a world of bliss beyond 
 this life, who gives them here on earth scarce the sordid 
 shelter of a cabin ? In truth, they seem to be a commu 
 nity living upon their imaginations. They fancy them 
 selves favourites of heaven, though all the world thinks 
 otherwise. They fancy themselves the greatest benefactors 
 the world has ever seen, while they are the only ones who 
 think so. They have nothing here but persecution, con 
 tempt, and hatred, and yet are anticipating a more glorious 
 Elysium than the greatest and best of earth have ever dared 
 to hope for. We cannot but hope they may be at some 
 time the riddle to themselves which they are to us. This 
 is a benevolent wish, for their entertainment would be 
 great. " 
 
 When he had ended, and almost before, many voices 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 345 
 
 were heard of those who wished to speak, and Probus rose 
 in his place to reply to what had fallen from the philoso 
 pher; but all were alike silenced by the loud and stern 
 command of Aurelian, who, evidently weary and impatient 
 of further audience of what he was so little willing to hear 
 at all, cried out, saying, - 
 
 " The Christians, Eomans, have now been heard, as they 
 desired, by one whom they themselves appointed to set 
 forth their doctrine. This is no school for the disputations 
 of sophists, or philosophers, or fanatics. Let Eomans and 
 Christians alike withdraw. " 
 
 Whereupon, without further words or delay, the assem 
 bly broke up. 
 
 It was not difficult to see that the statements and rea 
 sonings of Probus had fallen upon many who heard them 
 with equal surprise and delight. Every word that he ut 
 tered was heard with an eager attention I never before saw 
 equalled. I have omitted the greater part of what he said, 
 especially where he went with minuteness into an account 
 of the history, doctrine, and precepts of our faith, knowing 
 it to be too familiar to you to make it desirable to have it 
 repeated. 
 
 It was in part, at least, owing to an unwillingness to 
 allow Probus again to address that audience representing 
 all the rank and learning of Eome, that the emperor so 
 hastily dissolved the assembly. Whatever effect the hear 
 ing of Probus may have upon him or upon us, there is 
 reason to believe that its effects will be deep and eternal 
 upon the higher classes of our inhabitants. They then 
 heard what they never heard before, a fair and honest 
 account of what Christianity is ; and from what I have 
 already been informed, and gathered indeed from my own 
 observation at the time, they now regard it with very dif 
 ferent sentiments. 
 
 When late in the evening of this day we conversed of its 
 events, Probus being seated with us, we indulged both in 
 those cheering and desponding thoughts which seem to be 
 strangely mingled together in our present calamities. 
 
846 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " No opinion, " said Julia, " lias been more strongly 
 confirmed within me by this audience before Aurelian 
 than this, that it has been of most auspicious influence 
 upon our faith. Not that some have not been filled with a 
 bitterer spirit than before ; but that more have been favour 
 ably inclined towards us by the disclosures, Probus, which 
 you made ; and whether they become Christians or not 
 eventually, they will be far more ready to defend us in 
 our claim for the common rights of citizens. Marcellinus, 
 who sat near me, was of this number. He expressed 
 frequently, in most emphatic terms, his surprise at what 
 he heard, which he said he was constrained to admit as 
 true and fair statements, seeing they were supported and 
 corroborated by my and your presence and silence. At 
 the close he declared his purpose to procure the Gospels 
 for his perusal. " 
 
 " And yet, " said I, " the late consul Capitalinus, who was 
 at my side, and whose clear and intelligent mind is hardly 
 equalled here in Rome, was confirmed even as Porphyrus 
 was, or pretended to be in all his previous unfavourable 
 impressions. He did not disguise his opinion, but freely 
 said that in his judgment the religion ought to be sup 
 pressed, and that, though he should by no means defend 
 any measures like those which he understood Aurelian had 
 resolved to put in force, he should advocate such action in 
 regard to it as could not fail to expel it from the empire in 
 no very great number of years. " 
 
 " I could observe, " added Probus, " the same differences 
 of feeling and judgment all over the surface of that sea of 
 faces. But if I should express my belief as to the propor 
 tion of friends and enemies there present, I should not 
 hesitate to say and that, I am sure, without any imposi 
 tion upon my own credulity that the greater part by far 
 were upon our side ; not in faith, as you may suppose, 
 but in that good opinion of us, and of the tendencies of our 
 doctrine and the value of our services, that is very near it, 
 and is better than the public profession of Christ of many 
 others. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 347 
 
 " It will be a long time, I am persuaded, " said Julia, 
 " before the truths received then into many minds will 
 cease to operate in our behalf. But what think you was 
 the feeling of Aurelian ? His countenance was hidden 
 from me ; yet that would reveal not much. It is immov 
 able at those times when he is deeply stirred, or has any 
 motive to conceal his sentiments. " 
 
 " I cannot believe, " replied Probus, " that any impres 
 sion such as we could wish was made upon that hard and 
 cruel heart. Not the column against which he leaned 
 stood in its place more dead to whatever it was that came 
 from my lips than he. He has not been moved, we may 
 well believe, to change any of his designs. Whatever 
 yesterday it was in his intent to do, he will accomplish to 
 morrow. I do not believe we have anything to hope at 
 his hands. " 
 
 " Alas ! Lucius, " said Julia, " that our faith in Christ, 
 and our interest and concern for its progress in Eome, 
 should come to this. How happy was I in Syria, with 
 this belief as my bosom companion and friend ; and free, 
 too, to speak of it to any and to all. How needless is all 
 the misery which this rude, unlettered tyrant is about to 
 inflict. How happily for all would things take their course 
 even here, might they but be left to run in those natural 
 channels which would reveal themselves, and which 
 would then conduct to those ends which the Divine provi 
 dence has proposed. But man wickedly interposes ; and a 
 misery is inflicted which otherwise would have never 
 fallen upon us, and which, in the counsels of God, was 
 never designed. What, now, think you, Probus, will be 
 the event ? " 
 
 " I cannot doubt, " he replied, " that to-morrow will wit 
 ness all that report has already spread abroad as the purpose 
 of Aurelian. Urged on by both Fronto and Varus, he will 
 not pause in his course. Eome, ere the ides, will swim in 
 Christian blood. I see not whence deliverance is to come. 
 Miracle alone could save us ; and miracle has long since 
 ceased to be the order of Providence. Having provided for 
 
348 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 us this immense instrument of moral reform in the author 
 ity and doctrine of Christ, we are now left, as doubtless it 
 is on the whole best for our character and our virtues we 
 should be, to our own unassisted strength, to combat with 
 all the evils that may assail us, both from without and 
 within. For myself, I can meet this tempest without a 
 thought of reluctance or dread. I am a solitary man, hav 
 ing neither child nor relative to mourn my loss. I have 
 friends, indeed, whom I love, and from whom I would 
 not willingly part; but, if any considerable purpose is to 
 be gained by my death to that cause for which I have 
 lived, neither I nor they can lament that it should occur. 
 Under these convictions as to my own fate and that of 
 all, must I say and believe ? no ; I cannot, will not, believe 
 that humanity has taken its final departure from the bosom 
 of Aurelian I turn to one bright spot, and there my 
 thoughts dwell, and there my hopes gather strength ; and 
 that is here, where you, Piso, and you, lady, will still 
 dwell, too high for the aim of the imperial murderer to 
 reach. Here, I shall believe, will there be an asylum for 
 many a wearied spirit, a safe refuge from the sharp pelting 
 of the storm without. And when a calm shall come again, 
 from beneath this roof, as once from the ark of God, shall 
 there go forth those who shall again people the waste 
 places of the Church, and change the wilderness of death 
 into a fruitful garden full of the plants of God. " 
 
 " That it is the present purpose of Aurelian to spare me, " 
 I answered, " whatever provocation I may give him, I fully 
 believe. He is true; and his word to that end, with no 
 wish expressed on my part, has been given. But do not 
 suppose that in that direction at least he may not change 
 his purpose. Superstitiously mad as he now is, a mere 
 plaything, too, in the bloody hands of Fronto, nothing 
 can well be esteemed as more insecure than even my life, 
 privileged and secure as I may seem. If it should occur to 
 him, in his day or his night visions and dreams, that I 
 more than others should be an acceptable offering to his 
 god, my life would be to him but as that of an insect buz- 
 
FROM PISO TO EAUSTA. 349 
 
 zing around his ear ; and being dead by a blow, he would 
 miss me no more. Still, let the mercy that is vouchsafed, 
 whether great or little, be gratefully confessed. " 
 
 You then see, Fausta, the position in which your old 
 friends now stand here in Kome. Who could have be 
 lieved, when we talked over our dangers in Palmyra, that 
 greater and more dreadful still awaited us in our own 
 home ? It has come upon us with such suddenness that we 
 can scarce believe it ourselves. Yet are we prepared, with 
 an even mind and a trusting faith, for whatever may 
 betide. 
 
 It is happy for me and for Julia that our religion has 
 fixed within us so firm a belief in a superintending Provi 
 dence, who orders not only the greatest but the least 
 events of life, who is as much concerned for the happiness 
 and the moral welfare of the humblest individual as he is 
 for the orderly movement of a world, that we sit down 
 under the shadows that overhang us, perfectly convinced 
 that some end of good to the Church or the world is to be 
 achieved through these convulsions, greater than could 
 have been achieved in any other way. The Supreme Euler, 
 we believe, is infinitely wise and infinitely good. But he 
 would be neither, if unnecessary suffering were meted 
 out to his creatures. This suffering, then, is not unneces 
 sary. But through it, in ways which our sight now is 
 not piercing enough to discern, but may hereafter, shall 
 a blessing redound both to the individuals concerned, to 
 the present generation, and a remote posterity, which 
 could not otherwise have been secured. This we must be 
 lieve, or we must renounce all belief. 
 
 Forget not to remember us with affection to Gracchus 
 and Calpurnius. 
 
 I also was present at the hearing of Probus. But of that 
 I need say nothing, Piso having so fully written concerning 
 it to the daughter of Gracchus. 
 
 Early on the following day I was at the gardens of Sal- 
 lust, where I was present both with the emperor and Livia, 
 
350 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 
 and with the emperor and Fronto, and heard conversations 
 which I here record. 
 
 When I entered the apartment in which it was customary 
 for the empress to sit at this time of the day, I found her 
 there engaged upon her embroidery, while the emperor paced 
 back and forth, his arms crossed behind him, and care and 
 anxiety marked upon his countenance. Livia, though she 
 sat quietly at her work, seemed ill at ease, and as if some 
 thought were busy within to which she would gladly give 
 utterance. She was evidently relieved by my entrance, 
 and immediately made her usual inquiries after the health 
 of the queen, in which Aurelian joined her. 
 
 Aurelian then turned to me and said, 
 
 " I saw you yesterday at the Palatine, Nichomachus ; 
 what thought you of the Christian s defence?" 
 
 " It did not convert me to his faith " 
 
 " Neither, by the gods ! did it me, " quickly interrupted 
 Aurelian. 
 
 " But, " I went on, " it seemed to show good cause why 
 they should not be harshly or cruelly dealt with. He 
 proved them to be a harmless people, if not positively 
 profitable to the state. " 
 
 " I do not see that, " replied the emperor. " It is impos 
 sible they should be harmless who sap the foundations of 
 religion ; it is impossible they should be profitable who 
 seduce from their allegiance the good subjects of the empire ; 
 and this religion of the Christians does both. " 
 
 "I agree that it is so," I rejoined, "if it is to be as 
 sumed in the controversy that the prevailing religion of 
 the Romans is a perfect one, and that any addition or al 
 teration is necessarily an evil. That seems to be the po 
 sition of Porphyrus and others. But to that I can by no 
 means assent. It seems to me that the religions of man 
 kind are susceptible of improvement, as governments are, 
 and other like institutions; that what may be perfectly 
 well suited to a nation in one stage of its growth may be 
 very ill adapted to another ; that the gods, in their provi 
 dence, accordingly design that one form of religious wor- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 351 
 
 ship and belief should in successive ages be superseded by 
 others, which shall be more exactly suited to their larger 
 growth and more urgent necessities. The religion of the 
 early days of Rome was perhaps all that so rude a people 
 were capable of comprehending, all that they wanted. It 
 worked well for them, and you have reason for gratitude 
 that it was bestowed upon them, and has conferred so great 
 benefits upon the preceding centuries. But the light of 
 the sun is not clearer than it is that, for this present, 
 passing age, that religion is stark naught. " The emperor 
 frowned, and stood still in his walk, looking sternly upon 
 me, but I heeded him not. " Most of any intelligence and 
 reflection, " I continued, " spurn it away from them as fit 
 but for children and slaves. Must they, then, be without 
 any principle of this kind ? Is it safe for a community to 
 grow up without faith in a superintending power, from 
 whom they come, to whom they are responsible ? I think 
 not. In any such community and Eome is becoming 
 such a one the elements of disruption, anarchy, and 
 ruin are there at work, and will overthrow it. A society 
 of atheists is a contradiction in terms. Atheists may live 
 alone, but not together. Will you compel your subjects to 
 become such ? If a part remain true to the ancient faith, 
 and find it to be sufficient, will you deny to the other part 
 the faith which they crave, and which would be sufficient 
 for them ? I doubt if that were according to the dictates 
 of wisdom and philosophy. And how know you, Aurelian, 
 that this religion of Christ may not be the very principle 
 which, and which alone, may save your people from athe 
 ism, and your empire from the ruin that it would bring 
 along in its train ? " 
 
 " I cannot deny, " said the emperor in reply, K that there 
 is some sense and apparent truth in what you have said. 
 But to me it is shadowy and intangible. It is the specula 
 tion of that curious class among men who, never satisfied 
 with what exists, are always desiring some new forms of 
 truth, in religion, in government, and all subjects of that 
 nature. I could feel no more certain of going or doing 
 
352 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 right by conforming to their theories, than I feel now in 
 adhering to what is already established. Nay, I can see 
 safety nowhere but in what already is. There is the only 
 certainty. Suppose some enthusiast in matters of govern 
 ment were to propose his system, by which the present 
 established institutions were all to be abandoned and new 
 ones set up ; should I permit him to go freely among the 
 people, puzzling their heads with what it is impossible 
 they should understand, and by his sophistries alienating 
 them from their venerable parent ? Not so, by Hercules ! 
 I should ill deserve my office of supreme guardian of the 
 honour and liberties of Rome, did I not mew him up in 
 the Fabrician dungeons, or send him lower still to the 
 Stygian shades. " 
 
 " But, " said Livia, who had seemed anxious to speak, 
 " though it may be right and best for the interests of Rome 
 to suppress this new worship, yet why, Aurelian, need it 
 be done at such expense of life ? Can no way be devised 
 by which the professors of this faith shall be banished the 
 realm, and no new teachers of it permitted to enter it af 
 terwards but at the risk of life, or some other appointed 
 penalty ? Sure I am, from what I heard from the Chris 
 tian Probus, and what I have heard so often from the lips 
 of Julia, this people cannot be the sore in the body of the 
 state which Fronto represents them. " 
 
 " I cannot, Livia, " replied the emperor, " refuse to obey 
 what to me have been warnings from the gods. " 
 
 " But may not the heavenly signs have been read 
 amiss ? " rejoined Livia. 
 
 " There is no truth in augury, if my duty be not where 
 I have placed it," answered Aurelian. 
 
 " And perhaps, Aurelian, there is none. I have heard 
 that the priests of the temples play many a trick upon 
 their devout worshippers. " 
 
 " Livia, it has doubtless been so ; but you would not 
 believe that Fronto has trifled with Aurelian ? " 
 
 " I believe Fronto capable of any crime by which the 
 gods may be served. Have you not heard, Aurelian, what 
 fell from the dying Christian s lips ? " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 353 
 
 " I have, Livia ; and have cast it from me as at best the 
 coinage of a moonstruck mountebank. Shall the word of 
 such a one as Macer the Christian unseat my trust in such 
 a one as Froiito ? That were not reasonable, Livia. " 
 
 " Then, Aurelian, if not for any reason that I can give, 
 for the love you bear me withhold your hand from this 
 innocent people. You have often asked me to crave 
 somewhat which it would be hard for you to grant, that 
 you might show how near you hold me. Grant me this 
 favour, and it shall be more to me than if you gave me 
 half the empire. " 
 
 The emperor s stern countenance relaxed, and wore for a 
 moment that softened expression, accompanied by a smile, 
 that on his face might be termed beautiful. He was moved 
 by the unaffected warmth and winning grace with which 
 those words ware spoken by Livia. But he only said, - 
 
 " I love thee, Livia, as thou knowest, but not so well as 
 Rome. * 
 
 "I would not, Aurelian," replied the empress, "that 
 love of me should draw you away from what you owe to 
 Rome, from what is the clear path of a monarch s duty; 
 but this seems confessedly a doubtful case. They who are 
 equally Roman in their blood differ here. It is not wrong 
 to ask you, for my sake, to lean to the side of mercy. " 
 
 " You are never wrong, Livia. And were it only right 
 to " 
 
 " But are not you, Aurelian, sure of being right in being 
 merciful ? Can it ever afterwards repent you that you drew 
 back from the shedding of blood ? " 
 
 "It is called mercy, Livia, when he who has the power 
 spares the culprit, forgives the offence, and sends him from 
 the gibbet or the cross back to his weeping friends. The 
 crowds throw up their caps, and shout as for some great 
 and good deliverance. But the mercy tha"t returns upon 
 the world a villain, whose crimes had richly earned for 
 him his death, is surely a doubtful virtue. Though, as is 
 well known, I am not famed for mercy, yet were it clear to 
 me what in this case were the truest mercy, for the 
 
 23 
 
354 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 pleasure, Livia, of pleasuring thee, I would be merciful. 
 But I should not agree with thee in what is mercy. It 
 were no mercy to Eome, as I judge, to spare these Chris 
 tians, whatever the grace might be to them. Punishment 
 is often mercy. In destroying these wretches, I am merci 
 ful both to Eome and to the world, and shall look to have 
 their thanks. " 
 
 " There comes, Aurelian, " said Livia, rising, " thy evil 
 genius, thy ill-possessing demon, who has so changed 
 the kindly current of thy blood. I would that he who so 
 loves the gods were with them. I cannot wait him. " 
 
 With these words Livia arose and left the apartment, 
 just as Fronto entered in another direction. 
 
 " Welcome, Fronto ! " said Aurelian. " How thrive our 
 affairs ? " 
 
 " As we could wish, great emperor. The city with us, 
 and the gods with us, we cannot but prosper. A few days 
 will see great changes. " 
 
 " How turns out the tale of Curio ? What find you to be 
 the truth ? Are the Christians here, or are they fled ? " 
 
 " His tale was partly false and partly true. More are 
 fled than Piso or the Christians will allow ; but, doubtless, 
 the greater part, by large odds, remain. " 
 
 " That is well. Then, for the other side of this great 
 duty. Is thine own house purged ? Is the temple, new 
 and of milk-white marble, now as clean and white in its 
 priesthood ? Have those young sots and pimps yet atoned 
 for their foul impieties ? " 
 
 " They have, " replied Fronto. " They have been dealt 
 with ; and their carcasses, swinging and bleaching in the 
 wind, will long serve, I trust, to keep us sweet. The 
 temple, I now may believe, is thoroughly swept. " 
 
 " And how is* it, Fronto, with the rest? " 
 
 " The work goes on. Your messengers are abroad ; and 
 it will be neither for want of power, will, nor zeal, if from 
 this time Hellenism stand not before the world as beautiful 
 in her purity as she is venerable in years and truth. " 
 
 " The gods be praised that I have been stirred up to this ! 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 355 
 
 When this double duty shall be done, Hellenism reformed, 
 and her enemy extinct, then may I say that life has not 
 been spent for naught. But meanwhile, Fronto, the army 
 needs me. All is prepared, and letters urge me on. To 
 morrow I would start for Thrace. Yet it cannot be so 
 soon. " 
 
 a No, " said the priest. " Kome will need you more 
 than Thrace till the edicts have been published, and the 
 work well begun. Then, Aurelian, may it be safely in 
 trusted, so far as zeal and industry shall serve, to those 
 behind. " 
 
 " I believe it, Fronto. I see myself doubly reflected 
 in thee ; and almost so in Varus. The Christians, were I 
 gone,^ would have four Aurelians for one. Well, let us re 
 joice that piety is not dead. The sacrifice this morning 
 was propitious. I feel its power in every thought and 
 movement. " 
 
 " But while all things else seem propitious, Aurelian, 
 one keeps yet a dark and threatening aspect. " 
 
 " What mean you ? " 
 
 "Piso! " 
 
 " Fronto, I have in that made known my will, and more 
 than once. Why again dispute it ? " 
 
 " I know no will, great Caesar, that may cross or sur 
 mount that of the gods. They to me are supreme, not 
 Aurelian. " 
 
 Aurelian moved from the priest and paced the room. 
 
 " I see not, Fronto, with such plainness, the will of 
 Heaven in this. " 
 
 T is hard to see the divine will when the human will 
 is so strong. " 
 
 " My aim is to please the gods in all things, " replied the 
 emperor. 
 
 " Love, too, Aurelian, blinds the eye, and softening the 
 heart toward our fellow-men, hardens it toward the gods. " 
 This he uttered with a strange significancy. 
 
 * I think, Fronto, mine has been all too hard toward 
 man, if it were truly charged. At least, of late, the gods 
 can have no ground of blame. " 
 
356 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " Kome, " replied the priest, " is not slow to see and praise 
 the zeal that is now crowning her seven hills with a greater 
 glory than ever yet has rested on them. Let her see that 
 her great son can finish what has been so well begun. " 
 
 " Fronto, I say it, but I say it with some inward pain, 
 that were it plain the will of the gods were so " 
 
 " Piso should die ! " eagerly interrupted the priest. 
 
 " I will not say it yet, Fronto. " 
 
 " I see not why Aurelian should stagger at it. If the 
 will of the gods is in this whole enterprise, if they will 
 that these hundreds and thousands, these crowds of young 
 and old, little children and tender youth, should all 
 perish, that posterity, by such sacrifice now in the begin 
 ning, may be delivered from the curse that were else en 
 tailed upon them, then who can doubt, to whom truth is 
 the chief thing, that they will, nay, and ordain in their 
 sacred breasts, that he who is their chief and head, about 
 whom they cluster, from whose station and power they 
 daily draw fresh supplies of courage, should perish too, 
 nay, that he should be the first great offering ; that so the 
 multitudes, who stay their weak faith on him, may, on 
 his loss, turn again unharmed to their ancient faith ? That, 
 too, were the truest mercy. " 
 
 " There may be something in that, Fronto. Neverthe 
 less, I do not yet see so much to rest upon one life. If all 
 the rest were dead and but one alive, and he Piso, I see 
 not but the work were done. " 
 
 "A thousand were better left, Aurelian, than Piso and 
 the lady Julia ! They are more in the ears and eyes of 
 Eome than all the preachers of this accursed tribe. They 
 are preaching, not on their holidays, to a mob of beggarly 
 knaves, men and women dragged up by their hot and zeal 
 ous caterers from the lanes and kennels of the city, within 
 the walls of their filthy synagogues, but they preach every 
 day to the very princes and nobles of the state, at the 
 Capitol to the senate, here in thy palaces to all the great 
 est and best of Eome ; and, by the gods L as I believe, make 
 more converts to their impieties than all the army of their 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 357 
 
 atheistical priesthood. Upon Probus, Piso, and Julia, 
 hang the Christians of Eome. Hew them away, and the 
 branches die. Probus, ere to-morrow s sun is set, feeds 
 the beasts of the Flavian ; then - 
 
 " Hold, Fronto ! I will no more of it now. I have, be 
 sides, assured Piso of his safety. " 
 
 " There is no virtue like that of those who, having erred, 
 repent. " 
 
 Aurelian looked for the moment as if he would willingly 
 have hurled Fronto, and his temple after him, to Tartarus. 
 But the bold man heeded him not. 
 
 " Shall I, " he continued, " say what it is that thus ties 
 the hands of the conqueror of the world ? " 
 
 " Say what thou wilt. " 
 
 " Eome says I say it not, but Eome says t is love. " 
 
 " What mean they ? I take you not. Love ? " 
 
 " Of the princess Julia, still so called. " 
 
 A deep blush burned upon the cheek of Aurelian. He 
 paused a moment, as if for some storm within to subside. 
 He then said, in his deep tone that indicates the presence 
 of the whole soul, but without passion, 
 
 " Fronto, t is partly true, truer than I wish it were. 
 When in Syria my eye first beheld her, I loved her, as I 
 never loved before, and never shall again. But not for 
 the emperor of the world would she part from young Piso. 
 I sued as man never sued before, but all in vain. Her 
 image still haunts the chambers of my brain ; yet with 
 truth do I say it, but as some pure vision, sent from the 
 gods. I confess, Fronto, it is she who stands between me 
 and the will of Heaven. I know not what force but that of 
 all the gods could make me harm her. To no other ear has 
 this ever been revealed. She is to me god and goddess. " 
 
 " Now, Aurelian, that thou hast spoken in the fulness of 
 thy heart, do I hold thee redeemed from the invisible ty 
 rant. In our own hearts we sin and err, as we dare not 
 when the covering is off and others can look in and see 
 how weak we are. Thou canst not, great Caesar, for this 
 fondness, forget and put far from thee the vision of thy 
 
358 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 mother, whom, in dreams or in substantial shape, the gods 
 sent down to revive thy fainting zeal ! Let it not be that 
 that call shall have been in vain. " 
 
 " Fronto, urge now no more. Hast thou seen Varus ? " 
 
 " I have. " 
 
 " Are the edicts ready ? " 
 
 " They are. " 
 
 " Again, then, at the hour of noon, let them glare forth 
 upon the enemies of Rome from the columns of the Capitol. 
 Let Varus be so instructed. Now I would be alone. " 
 
 Whereupon the priest withdrew, and I also rose from 
 where I had sat, to take my leave, when the emperor said : 
 
 " This seems harsh to thee, Nichomachus. " 
 
 " I cannot but pray the gods, " I said, " to change the 
 mind of Aurelian!" 
 
 " They have made his mind what it is, Nichomachus. " 
 
 " Not they, " I said, " but Fronto. " 
 
 " But, " he quickly added, " the gods made Fronto, and 
 have put their mind in him, or it has never been known 
 on earth. You know not the worth, Greek, of this man. 
 Had Rome possessed such a one two hundred years ago, 
 this work had not now to be done. " 
 
 Saying which, he withdrew into his inner apartment, 
 and I sought again the presence of Livia. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 359 
 
 LETTEE XL 
 
 FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 PROBUS IMPRISONED. THE LIONS AND THE CAPTIVES. VARUS 
 TEMPTS PROBUS. CHRISTIAN RESOLUTION. ISAAC S SYM 
 PATHY. THE CHRISTIAN TO THE LIONS. THE VIVARIA 
 OPENED. PISO AND JULIA IMPRISONED. JULIA S DANGER 
 FROM FRONTO. PISO REFUSES TO ESCAPE. JULIA ON THE 
 RACK. SAVED. TACITUS EMPEROR. AURELIAN S SECRE 
 TARY. THE TRAITOR. AURELIAN SLAIN. CONCLUSION. 
 
 A DAY has passed, Fausta, since the hearing of Probus, 
 and I hasten to inform you of its events. 
 
 But, first of all, before I enter upon the dark chapter of 
 our calamities, let me cheer you and myself by dwelling a 
 moment upon one bright and sunny spot. Early in the 
 day we were informed that Isaac was desirous to see us. 
 He was at once admitted. As he entered, it was easy to 
 see that some great good fortune had befallen him. His 
 face shone through the effect of some inward joy, and his 
 eyes sparkled in their deep sockets like burning tapers. 
 When our customary salutations and inquiries were over, 
 Julia said to him, 
 
 " I think, Isaac, you must have sold a jewel this morn 
 ing to no less a person than Aurelian, if the face may be 
 held as an index of our good fortune. " 
 
 " I have parted with no jewel, lady, " he replied, " but 
 there has fallen into my hands a diamond of inestimable 
 value, drawn from the mines of the Orient, which I may 
 say not all the wealth of Aurelian could purchase of me. 
 Whenever I shall receive such permission, it will give me 
 highest delight to show it to thee. " 
 
 " Only a single jewel, Isaac ? " said Julia. " Is it but 
 one stone that so transports thee and makes thy face that 
 of a young man ? " 
 
360 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 
 " Lady, to confess the truth, there are four, four living 
 stones and precious, more precious than any that of old 
 blazed upon the breastplate of our high-priest. Princess, 
 I have come to tell thee and Piso what none in Eome 
 besides, as I think, would care to know; and strange it is 
 that you Christians should be those whom I, a Jew, most 
 love, and that I, an old and worn-out man, should fill any 
 space, were it no bigger than a grain of wheat, in your 
 regards. I have come to tell you what you have already 
 discovered, that Hagar is arrived with the young Ishmael, 
 and with them two dark-eyed daughters of Israel, who are 
 as welcome as the others. There is not now, Piso, within 
 the walls of Eome a dwelling happier than mine. Soon 
 as leisure and inclination shall serve, come, if you will do 
 us such grace, to the street Janus, and behold our content 
 ment. Sorry am I that the times come laden to you with 
 so many terrors. Piso," continued he in a more earnest 
 tone, and bending toward me, " rely upon the word of one 
 who is rarely deceived, and who now tells thee there is 
 a sword hanging over thy head ! Fronto thirsts for thy 
 life, and thine, lady ! and Aurelian, much as he may love 
 you, is, as we have already seen, not proof against the 
 violent zeal of the priest. Come to the street Janus, and 
 I will warrant you safety and life. There is none for 
 you here, nor in Eome, if Aurelian s hounds can scent 
 you. " 
 
 We were again obliged to state, with all the force we 
 could give to them, the reasons which bound us to remain 
 not only in Eome, but in our own dwelling, and await 
 whatever the times might bring forth. He was again slow 
 to be convinced, so earnestly does he desire our safety. 
 But at length he was persuaded that he himself would take 
 the same course were he called upon to defend the religion 
 of his fathers. He then departed, having first exacted a 
 promise that we would soon see his new family. 
 
 Soon as Isaac was gone, I sought the streets. Eome, 
 Fausta, has put on the appearance of the Saturnalia. Al 
 though 110 license of destruction has yet been publicly 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 361 
 
 given, the whole city is in commotion, the lower orders 
 noisy and turbulent, as if they had already received their 
 commission of death. Efforts have been made, both on the 
 part of the senate and that of the nobles who are not of 
 that body, joined by many of all classes, to arrest the em 
 peror in his murderous career, but in vain. Not the seven 
 hills are more firmly rooted in the earth than he in his. pur 
 poses of blood. This is well known abroad ; and the people 
 are the more emboldened in the course they take. They 
 know well that Aurelian is supreme and omnipotent ; that 
 no power in Eome can come in between him and his object, 
 whatever it may be ; and that they, therefore, though they 
 should err through their haste, and in their zeal even go 
 before the edicts, would find in him a lenient judge. No 
 Christian was accordingly to be now seen in the streets ; 
 for nowhere were they safe from the ferocious language, or 
 even the violent assaults, of the mob. These cruel execu 
 tioners I found all along, wherever I moved, standing 
 about in groups, as if impatiently awaiting the hour of 
 noon, or else gathered about the dwellings of well-known 
 Christians, assailing the buildings with stones, and the 
 ears of their pent-up inhabitants with all that variety of 
 imprecation they so well know how to use. It was almost 
 with sensations of guilt that I walked the streets of Eome 
 in safety, bearing a sort of charmed life, while these thou 
 sands of my friends y/ere already suffering more through 
 their horrible anticipation than they would when they 
 should come to endure the reality. But although I passed 
 along uninjured by actual assault, the tongue was freely let 
 loose upon me, and promises were abundantly lavished 
 that, before many days were gone, not even the name of 
 Piso, nor the favour of Aurelian, should save me from the 
 common doom. 
 
 As the hour of noon drew nigh, it seemed as if the entire 
 population of Rome was pouring itself into the streets and 
 avenues leading to the Capitol. Not the triumph of Aure 
 lian itself filled this people with a more absorbing, and, as 
 it appeared, a more pleasing interest than did the ap- 
 
362 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 preaching calamities of the Christians. Expectation was 
 written on every face. Even the boys threw up their caps, 
 as in anticipation of somewhat that was to add greatly to 
 their happiness. 
 
 The sixth hour has come, and is gone. The edicts are 
 published, and the Christians are now declared enemies of 
 the state and of the gods, and are required to be informed 
 against by all good citizens, and arraigned before the pre 
 fect and the other magistrates especially appointed for the 
 purpose. All is now confusion, uproar, and cruel violence. 
 
 No sooner was the purport of the edicts ascertained by 
 the multitudes who, on this occasion as before, thronged 
 the Capitol, than they scattered in pursuit of their victims. 
 The priests of the temples heading the furious crowds, 
 they hastened from the hill in every direction, assailing as 
 they reached them the houses of the Christians, and 
 dragging the wretched inhabitants to the presence of their 
 barbarous judges. Although in the present edicts the 
 people are not let loose as authorized murderers upon the 
 Christians, they are nevertheless exhorted and required to 
 inform against them, and bring them before the proper tri 
 bunals on the charge of Christianity; so that there is 
 lodged in their hands a fearful power to harass and injure, 
 a power which is used as you may suppose Eomans 
 would use it. Every species of violence has this day been 
 put in practice upon this innocent people ; their perpe 
 trators feeling sure that, in the confusion, deeds at which 
 even Varus or Aurelian might take offence, will be over 
 looked. The tribunals have been thronged from noon till 
 night with Christians and their accusers. As the exami 
 nation of those who have been brought up has rarely occu 
 pied but a few moments, the evidence always being 
 sufficiently full to prove them Christians, and when that 
 has been wanting their own ready confession supplying the 
 defect, the prisons are already filling with their unhappy 
 tenants, and extensive provisions are making to receive 
 them in other buildings set apart for the time to this office. 
 A needless provision ; for it requires but little knowledge 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA, 363 
 
 of Aurelian to know that his impatient temper will not 
 long endure the tedious process of a regular accusation, 
 trial, condemnation, and punishment. A year, in that 
 case, would scarce suffice to make away with the Christians 
 of Eome. Long before the prisons can be emptied in a 
 legal way of the tenants already crowding them, will the 
 emperor resort to the speedier method of a general and in 
 discriminate massacre. No one can doubt this, who is fa 
 miliar as I am with Aurelian, and the spirits who now 
 rule him. 
 
 Let me tell you now of the fate of Probus. 
 
 He was seated within his own quiet home at the time 
 the edicts were proclaimed from the steps of the Capitol. 
 The moment the herald who proclaimed them had pro 
 nounced the last word, and was affixing them to the col 
 umn, the name of Probus was heard shouted from one side 
 of the hill to the other, and while the multitude scattered 
 in every direction in pursuit of those who were known to 
 them severally as Christians, a large division of it made on 
 the instant for the dwelling of Probus. On arriving there, 
 roused by the noise of the approaching throng, Probus came 
 forth. He was saluted by cries and yells, that seemed 
 rather to proceed from troops of wild beasts than men. He 
 would fain have spoken to them, but no word would they 
 hear. " Away with the Christian dog to the prefect ! " 
 arose in one deafening shout from the people ; and Probus, 
 being on the instant seized and bound, was led unresisting 
 away to the tribunal of Varus. 
 
 As he was dragged violently along, and was now passing 
 the door which leads to the room where Varus sits, Felix 
 the bishop, having already stood before the prefect, was 
 leaving the hall, urged along by soldiers who were bearing 
 him to prison. 
 
 " Be of good cheer, Probus, " exclaimed he ; "a crown 
 awaits thee within. Eome needs thy life, and Christ thy 
 soul. " 
 
 " Peace, dotard ! " cried one of those who guarded and 
 led him ; and at the same moment brought his spear with 
 
364 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 such force upon his head that he felled him to the 
 pavement. 
 
 " Thou hast slain thyself, soldier, by that blow, rather 
 than him, " said Probus. " Thine own faith has torments 
 in reserve for such as thou. " 
 
 " Thou too ! " cried the enraged soldier ; and he would 
 have repeated the blow upon the head of Probus, but that 
 the descending weapon was suddenly struck upwards and 
 out of the hand of him who wielded it, by another belong 
 ing to the same legion, who guarded Probus, saying as he 
 did so, 
 
 " Hold, Mutius ! it is not Eoman to strike the bound and 
 defenceless, Christians though they be. Raise that fallen 
 old man, and apply such restoratives as the place affords. " 
 And then with other directions to those who were subordi 
 nate to him, he moved on, bearing Probus with him. 
 
 Others, who had arrived before him, were standing in 
 the presence of Varus, who was qu stioning them as to 
 their faith in Christ. On the left hand of the prefect, and 
 on the right of those who were examined, stood a small 
 altar surmounted by a statue of Jupiter, to which the 
 Christians were required to sacrifice. But few words suf 
 ficed for the examination of such as were brought up. 
 Upon being inquired of touching their faith, there was no 
 waiting for witnesses, but, as soon as the question was put 
 the arraigned person acknowledged at once his name and 
 religion. He was then required to sacrifice and renounce 
 his faith, and forthwith he should be dismissed in safety 
 and with honour. This the Christian refusing steadfastly 
 to do, sentence of death was instantly pronounced against 
 him, and he was remanded to the prisons to await the time 
 of punishment. 
 
 Probus was now placed before the prefect. When it was 
 seen throughout the crowd which again filled the house, 
 who it was that was arraigned for examination, there were 
 visible signs of satisfaction all around, that he who was in 
 a manner the ringleader of the sect was about to meet with 
 his deserts. As the eye of Varus fell upon Probus, and he 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 365 
 
 too became aware who it was that stood at his tribunal, he 
 bent courteously toward him, and saluted him with respect. 
 
 " Christian, " said he, " I sincerely grieve to see thee in 
 such a pass. Ever since I met thee in the shop of the 
 learned Publius have I conceived an esteem for thee, and 
 would now gladly rescue thee from the danger that over 
 hangs. Bethink thee, now ; thou art of too much ac 
 count to die as these others. A better fate should be 
 thine ; and I will stand thy friend. " 
 
 " Were what thou sayest true, " replied Probus, " which 
 I am slow to admit, for nobler, purer souls never lived on 
 earth than have but now left this spot where I stand, it 
 would but be a reason of greater force to me, why I should 
 lose my life sooner than renounce my faith. What sacrifice 
 can be too holy for the altar of the God whom I serve ? 
 Would to God I were more worthy than I am to be 
 offered up ! " 
 
 " Verily, " said Varus, " you are a wonderful people. 
 The more fitted you are to live happily to yourselves and 
 honourably to others, the readier you are to die. I behold 
 in you, Probus, qualities that must make you useful here 
 in Home. Eome needs such as thyself. Say but the word, 
 and thou art safe. " 
 
 " Could I in truth, Varus, possess the qualities thou im- 
 putest to me, were I ready on the moment to abandon what 
 I have so long professed to honour and believe, abjuring, 
 for the sake of a few years more of life, a faith which I have 
 planted in so many other hearts, and which has already 
 brought them into near neighbourhood with a cruel death, 
 couldst thou thyself afterwards think of me but as of a 
 traitor and a coward ? " 
 
 " I never, " said Varus, " could do otherwise than esteem 
 one who, however late, at length declared himself the 
 friend of Eome ; and more than others should I esteem him 
 who, from being an enemy, became a friend. Even the 
 emperor, Probus, desires thy safety. It is at his instance 
 that I press thee. " 
 
 Probus bent his head and remained silent. The people, 
 
366 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 taking it as a sign of acquiescence, cried out, many of 
 them, " See ! he will sacrifice ! " 
 
 Varus, too, said. " It needs not that the outward sign 
 be made. We will dispense with it. The inward consent, 
 Probus, shall suffice. Soldiers " 
 
 "Hold, hold, Varus!" cried Probus, rousing himself 
 from his momentary forgetfulness. " Think not, O prefect, 
 so meanly of me ! What have I said or done to induce such 
 belief ? I was but oppressed for a moment with grief and 
 shame that I should be chosen out from among all the 
 Christians in Eome as one whom soft words and bribes, 
 and the hope of life, could seduce from Christ. Cease, 
 Varus, then ; these words are vain. Such as I have been, 
 I am, and shall be to the end, a Christian ! " 
 
 " To the rack with the Christian, then ! " shouted many 
 voices from the crowd. 
 
 Varus enforced silence. 
 
 " Probus, " said he, as order was restored, " I shall still 
 hope the best for thee. Thou art of different stuff from 
 him whom we first had before us, and leisure for reflec 
 tion may bring thee to another mind. I shall not, there 
 fore, condemn thee either to the rack or to death. Soldiers, 
 bear him to the prisons at the Fabrician bridge. " 
 
 Whereupon he was led from the tribunal, and conducted 
 by a guard to the place of his confinement. 
 
 The fate of Probus we now regard as sealed. In what 
 manner he will finally be disposed of, it is in vain to con 
 jecture, so various are the ways, each one more ingenious 
 in cruelty than another, in which Christians are made to 
 surfer and die. Standing, as he does, as virtually the head 
 of the Christian community, we can anticipate for him a 
 death only of more refined barbarity. 
 
 Felix, too, we learn, is confined in the same prison, and 
 with him all the other principal Christians of Rome. 
 
 We have visited Probus in his confinement. You do not 
 remember, Fausta, probably you never saw, the prison at 
 the Fabrician bridge. It seems a city itself, so vast is it, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 367 
 
 and of so many parts, running upwards in walls and towers 
 to a dizzy height, and downwards to unknown depths, 
 where it spreads out in dungeons never visited by the light 
 of day. In this prison, now crowded with the Christians, 
 did we seek our friend. We were at once, upon making 
 known our want, shown to the cell in which he was 
 confined. 
 
 We found him, as we entered, seated, and bending over 
 a volume which he was reading, aided by the faint light 
 afforded by a lamp which his jailer had furnished him 
 with. He received us with cheerfulness, and at his side, 
 on the single block of stone which the cell provided for its 
 inmates, we sat and long conversed. I expressed my aston 
 ishment that the favour of a lamp had been allowed him. 
 " It is not in accordance, " I said, " with the usages of this 
 place. " 
 
 " You will be still more amazed, " he replied, " when I 
 tell you through whose agency I enjoy it. " 
 
 " You must inform us, " we said, " for we cannot guess. " 
 
 "Isaac s," he replied. "At least, I can think of no 
 other to whom the description given me by the jailer cor 
 responds. He told me, upon bringing it to me, that a 
 kind-hearted old man, a Jew, as he believed him, had 
 made inquiry about me, and had entreated earnestly for 
 all such privileges and favours as the customs of the place 
 allow. He has even procured me the blessing of this 
 friendly light, and what is more yet, and which fills me 
 with astonishment, has sent me this volume, which is the 
 true light. Can it be that Isaac has done all this, who 
 surely never has seemed to regard me with much favour ? " 
 
 " Never doubt that it is he, " said Julia : " he has two 
 natures ; sometimes one is seen, sometimes the other, his 
 Jew nature, and his human nature. His human heart is 
 soft as a woman s or a child s. One so full of the spirit 
 of universal love I have never known. At times, in his 
 speech, you would think him a man bloody and severe as 
 Aurelian himself, but in his deeds he is almost more than 
 a Christian. " 
 
368 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " As the true circumcision, " said Probus, " is that of the 
 heart, and as he is a Jew who is one inwardly, so is he 
 only a Christian who does the deeds of one and has the 
 heart of one. And he who does those deeds, and has that 
 heart, what matters it by what name he is called ? Isaac 
 is a Christian, in the only important sense of the word, 
 and, alas ! that it should be so, more than many a one who 
 bears the name. But does this make Christ to be of none 
 effect ? Not so. The natural light, which lightens every 
 man who cometh into the world, will here and there, in 
 every place and in every age, bring forth those who shall 
 show themselves, in the perfection of their virtues, to be of 
 the very lineage of heaven, true heirs of its glory. Isaac 
 is such a one. But what then ? For one such made by 
 the light of nature, the gospel gives us thousands. But 
 how is it, Piso, in the city ? Are the wolves still abroad ? " 
 
 " They are. The people have themselves turned inform 
 ers, soldiers, and almost executioners. However large may 
 be the proportion of the friendly or the neutral in the city, 
 they dare not show themselves. The mob of those devoted 
 to Aurelian constitutes now the true sovereign of Eome ; 
 the streets are theirs, the courts are theirs, and anon 
 the games will be theirs. " 
 
 " I am given to understand, " said Probus, " that to 
 morrow I suffer ; yet have I received from the prefect no 
 warning to that effect. It is the judgment of my keeper. " 
 
 " I have heard the same, " I answered, * but I know not 
 with what truth. " 
 
 " It can matter little to me, " he replied, " when the 
 hour shall come, whether to-morrow or to-night. " 
 
 " It cannot, " said Julia. " Furnished with the whole 
 armour of the gospel, it will be an easy thing for you to 
 encounter death. " 
 
 " It will, lady, believe me. I have many times fought 
 with enemies of a more fearful front. The enemies of the 
 soul are those whom the Christian most dreads. Death 
 is but the foe of life. So the Christian may but live to 
 virtue and God, he can easily make his account with 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 369 
 
 death. It is not the pain of dying, nor the manner of it, 
 nor any doubts or speculations about the life to come, 
 which, at an hour like this, intrude upon the Christian s 
 thoughts. " 
 
 " And what, then, " asked Julia, as Probus paused and 
 fell back into himself, " is it that fills and agitates the 
 mind ? for at such a moment it can scarcely possess itself 
 in perfect peace. " 
 
 "It is this," replied Probus; "am I worthy? have I 
 wrought well my appointed task ? have I kept the faith ? 
 and is God my friend, and Jesus my Saviour ? These are 
 the thoughts that engross and fill the mind. It is busy 
 with the past, and with itself. It has no thoughts to spare 
 upon suffering and death ; it has no doubts or fears to re 
 move concerning immortality. The future life to me 
 stands out in the same certainty as the present. Death is 
 but the moment which connects the two. You say well 
 that at such an hour as this the mind can scarce possess 
 itself in perfect peace. Yet is it agitated by nothing that 
 resembles fear. It is the agitation that must necessarily 
 have place in the mind of one to whom a great trust has 
 been committed for a long series of years, at that moment 
 when he comes to surrender it up to him from whom it was 
 received. I have lived many years. Ten thousand oppor 
 tunities of doing good to myself and others have been set 
 before me. The world has been a wide field of action and 
 labour, where I have been required to sow and till against 
 the future harvest. Must I not experience solicitude about 
 the acts and the thoughts of so long a career ? I may often 
 have erred ; I must often have stood idly by the wayside ; 
 I must many times have been neglectful and forgetful, and 
 wilful ; I must often have sinned ; and it is not all the ex 
 pected glory of another life, nor all the honour of dying in 
 the cause of Christ, nor all the triumph of a martyr s fate, 
 that can or ought to stifle and overlay such thoughts. Still 
 I am happy, happy, not because I am in my own view 
 worthy or perfect, but because through Jesus Christ I am 
 taught, in God, to see a Father. I know that in him I 
 
 24 
 
370 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 shall find both a just and a merciful Judge ; and in him, 
 who was tempted even as we are, who was of our nature, 
 and exposed to our trials, shall I find an advocate and inter 
 cessor such as the soul needs. So that, if anxious as he 
 who is human and fallible must ever be, I am, nevertheless, 
 happy and contented. My voyage is ended ; the ocean of 
 life is passed ; and I stand by the shore, with joyful expec 
 tation of the word that shall bid me land, and enter into 
 the haven of my rest. " 
 
 As Probus ended these words a low and deep murmur, 
 or distant rumbling as of thunder, caught our ears, which, 
 as we listened, suddenly increased to a terrific roar of lions, 
 as it were directly under our feet. We instinctively sprang 
 from where we sat, but were quieted at once by Probus. 
 
 " There is no danger, " said he ; " they are not within our 
 apartment, nor very near us. They are a company of 
 Koine s executioners, kept in subterranean dungeons, and 
 fed with prisoners whom her mercy consigns to them. 
 Sounds more horrid yet have met my ears, and may yours. 
 Yet I hope not. " 
 
 But while he yet spoke, the distant shrieks of those who 
 were thrust toward the den, into which, from a high ledge, 
 they were to be flung headlong, were borne to us, accom 
 panied by the oaths and lashes of such as drove them, but 
 which were immediately drowned by the louder roaring of 
 the imprisoned beasts, as they fell upon and fought for 
 their prey. We sat mute, and trembling with horror, till 
 those sounds at length ceased to reverberate through the 
 aisles and arches of the building. 
 
 " Oh, Eome ! " cried Probus when they had died away, 
 " how art thou drunk with blood ! Crazed by ambition, 
 drunk with blood, drowned in sin, hardened as a millstone 
 against all who come to thee for good, how shalt thou be 
 redeemed ? where is the power to save thee ? " 
 
 " It is in thee ! " said Julia. " It is thy blood, Probus, 
 and that of these multitudes who suffer with thee, that 
 shall have power to redeem Rome and the world. The 
 blood of Jesus, first shed, startled the world in its slumbers 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 371 
 
 of sin and death. Thine is needed now to sound another 
 alarm, and rouse it yet once more. And even again and 
 again may the same sacrifice be to he offered up. " 
 
 " True, lady, " said Probus ; " it is so. And it is of that 
 I should think. Those for whom I die should fill my 
 thoughts, rather than any concern for my own happiness. 
 If I might but be the instrument, by my death, of opening 
 the eyes of this great people to their errors and their guilt, 
 I should meet death with gratitude and joy. " 
 
 With this, and such like conversation, Fausta, did we 
 fill up a long interview with Probus. As we rose from our 
 seats to take leave of him, not doubting that we then saw 
 him and spoke to him for the last time, he yielded to the 
 force of nature, and wept. But this was but for a moment. 
 Quickly restored to himself if, indeed, when shedding 
 those tears he were not more truly himself he bade 
 us farewell, saying, with firmness and cheerfulness, as he 
 did so, 
 
 " Notwithstanding, Piso, the darkness of this hour and 
 of all the outward prospect, it is bright within. Farewell ! 
 to meet, as I trust, in heaven. " 
 
 We returned to the Ccelian. 
 
 When I parted from Probus at the close of this inter 
 view it was in the belief that I should never see him more. 
 But I was once again in his dungeon, and then heard from 
 him what I ^will now repeat to you. It was thus : 
 
 Not long after we had withdrawn from his cell, on our 
 first visit, Probus, as was his wont when alone, sat reading 
 by that dim and imperfect light which the jailer had pro 
 vided him. He presently closed the volume, and laid it 
 away. While he then sat musing, and thinking of the 
 morrow, and of the fate which then probably awaited him, 
 the door of his cell slowly opened. He looked, expecting 
 to see his usual visitant the jailer, but it was a form very 
 different from his. The door closed, and the figure ad 
 vanced to where Probus sat. The gown in which it was 
 enveloped was then let fall, and the prefect stood before 
 the Christian. 
 
372 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " Varus ! " said Probus. " Do I see aright ? " 
 
 " It is Varus, " replied the prefect, " and your friend. " 
 
 " I would now, at least, be at friendship with all the 
 world," responded Probus. 
 
 " Yet, " said Varus, " your friends must be few, that you 
 should be left in this place of horror alone to meet your 
 fate. " 
 
 " I have no friend powerful enough, on earth at least, to 
 cope with the omnipotence of Aurelian, " replied Probus. 
 " I am an infant in the grasp of a giant. " 
 
 " Thy friends, Christian, are more, and more potent, than 
 thou dreamest of. As I said to thee before, even Aurelian 
 esteems thee. " 
 
 " Strange that if he esteems me, as thou sayest, he should 
 thrust me within the lions den, with prospect of no escape 
 but into their jaws. And can I suppose that his esteem is 
 worth much to me, who crowds his prisons with those who 
 are nearest to me, reserving them there for a death the most 
 cruel and abhorred ? " 
 
 " He may esteem thee, Probus, and not thy faith. T is 
 so with me. I like not thy faith, but truly do I say it, I 
 like thee, and would fain serve and save thee. Nay, t is 
 thy firmness and thy zeal in the cause thou hast espoused 
 that win me. I honour those virtues. But, Probus, in 
 thee they are dangerous ones. The same qualities in a 
 worthier cause would make thee great. That which thou 
 hast linked thyself to, Christian, is a downward" and a dying 
 one. Its doom is sealed. The word of Aurelian has gone 
 forth, and before the ides, the blood of every Christian in 
 Eome shall flow; and not in Eome only, but throughout 
 the empire. The forces are now disposing over the whole 
 of this vast realm, which, at a sign from the great head, 
 shall fall upon this miserable people, and their very name 
 shall vanish from the earth. It is vain to contend. It is 
 but the struggling of a man with the will and the arm of 
 Jove. " 
 
 " Varus ! " Probus began. 
 
 "Nay/ said the prefect, "listen first. This faith of 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 373 
 
 thine, Christian, which can thus easily be destroyed, can 
 not be that divine and holy thing thou deemest it. So 
 judges Porphyrus, and all of highest mark here in Eome. 
 It is not to be thought of one moment as possible that what 
 a God made known to man for truth, he should afterwards 
 leave defenceless, to be trodden to the dust, and its minis 
 ters and disciples persecuted, tormented, and exterminated 
 by human force. Christian, thou hast been deceived ; 
 and all thy fellows are in the like delusion. Do thou, 
 then, save both thyself and them. It is in thy power to 
 stop all this effusion of blood, and restore unity and peace 
 to an empire now torn and bleeding in every part. " 
 
 " And how, Varus, seeing thou wouldst that I should 
 hear all, how shall it be done ? " 
 
 " Embrace, Probus, the faith of Eome, the faith of thy 
 father, venerable for piety as for years, the faith of cen 
 turies, and of millions of our great progenitors, and thou 
 art safe, and all thine are safe. " 
 
 Probus was silent. 
 
 " Aurelian bids me say, " continued the prefect, " that, 
 doing this, there is not a wish of thy heart, for thyself, or 
 for those who are dear to thee, but it shall be granted. 
 Wealth more than miser ever craved, office and place lower 
 but little than Aurelian s own, shall be thine " 
 
 " Varus ! if there is within thee the least touch of hu 
 manity, cease ! Thy words have sunk into these dead walls 
 as far as into me ; yet have they entered far enough to have 
 wounded the soul through and through. Not, Varus, 
 though to all thou hast said and promised thou shouldst 
 add Eome itself and the empire, and still to that the sub 
 ject kingdoms of the East and West, with their treasures, 
 and the world itself, would I prove false to myself, my faith, 
 and my God. Nor canst thou think me base enough for 
 such a deed. This is no great virtue in me, Varus. I 
 hold it not such ; nor may you. Go through the secret 
 chambers of these prisons, with the same rich bribe upon 
 thy tongue, and not one so fallen wouldst thou find that 
 he would hear thee through as I have done. Varus, thou 
 
374 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 knowest not what a Christian is ! Thou canst not conceive 
 how little a thing life is in his regard, set by the side of 
 truth. I grieve that ever I should have been so esteemed 
 by thee as to warrant the proffers thou hast made. This 
 injures more and deeper than these bonds, or than all thine 
 array of engines or of beasts. " 
 
 " Be not the fool and madman, " said the prefect, " to cast 
 away from thee the mercy I have brought. Except on the 
 terms I have now named, I say there is hope neither for 
 thee nor for one of this faith in Home, however high his 
 name or rank. " 
 
 " That can make no change in my resolve, Varus. " 
 
 " Consider, Probus, well. As by thy renunciation thou 
 couldst save thyself, I now tell thee that the lives of those 
 whom thou boldest nearest hang also upon thy word. As 
 sent to what I have offered, and Piso and Julia live ! Re 
 ject it, and they die ! " 
 
 Varus paused ; but Probus spoke not. He went on. 
 
 " Christian, are not these dear to thee ? Demetrius, too, 
 and Felix ? Where are the mercies of thy boasted faith, if 
 thy heart is left thus hard ? Truly thou mightest as well 
 have lived and died a pagan. " 
 
 " Again I say, Varus, thou knowest not what a Christian 
 is. We put truth before life ; and if by but a word that 
 should deny the truth in Christ, or in any jot or tittle of it, 
 I could save the life of Piso, Julia, Felix, Demetrius, nay, 
 and all in Eome who hold this faith, my tongue should be 
 torn from my mouth before that word should be spoken. 
 And so wouldst thou find every Christian here in Eome. 
 Why, then, urge me more ? Did Macer hear thee ? " 
 
 " I hold thee, Probus, a wiser man than he. All Rome 
 knew him mad. Cast not away thy life. Live, and to 
 morrow s sun shall see thee first in Rome!" 
 
 " Varus ! why is this urgency ? Think me not a fool, 
 and blind. Thou knowest, and Fronto and Aurelian know, 
 that one apostate would weigh more for your bad cause 
 than a thousand headless trunks ; and so, with cruel and 
 insulting craft, you weave your snares and pile to heaven 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 375 
 
 your golden bribes. Begone, Varus, and say to Aurelian, 
 if in truth he sent thee on thy shameful errand, that in the 
 Fabrician prison, in the same dungeon where he cast Pro- 
 bus the Christian, there still lives Probus the Eoman, who 
 reveres what Tie once revered and loved, truth ; and whom 
 his bribes cannot turn from his integrity. " 
 
 " Die, then, idiot, in thy integrity ! Thou hast thrown 
 scorn upon one who has power and the will to pay it back 
 in a coin it may little please thee to take it in. If there 
 be one torment, Galilean, sharper than another, it shall be 
 thine to-morrow ; and for one moment that Macer passed 
 upon my irons, there shall be hours for thee. Not till the 
 Hesh be peeled inch by inch from thy bones, and thy vitals 
 look through thy ribs, and thy brain boil in its hot case, 
 and each particular nerve be stretched till it break, shall thy 
 life be suffered to depart. Then, what the tormentors shall 
 have left, the dogs of the streets shall devour. Now, 
 Christian, let us see if thy God, beholding thy distress, 
 will pity and deliver thee. " 
 
 Saying these words, his countenance transformed by pas 
 sion to that of a demon, he turned and left the cell. 
 
 Never, Fausta, I feel assured, did Aurelian commission 
 Varus with such an errand. Fallen though he be, he has 
 not yet fallen to that lowest deep. Varus doubtless hoped 
 to prevail over Probus by his base proposals, and by such 
 triumph raise his fortunes yet higher with Aurelian. It 
 was a game worth playing, so he judged, and perhaps 
 wisely, and worth a risk. For doubtless one apostate of 
 the rank of Probus would have been of more avail to them, 
 as Probus said to him, than a thousand slain. For nothing 
 do the judges so weary themselves, and exhaust their 
 powers of persuasion, as to induce the Christians who are 
 brought before them to renounce their faith. So desirous 
 are they of this that they have caused, in many instances, 
 those who were no Christians to be presented at their tribu 
 nals, who have then, after being threatened with torture 
 and death, renounced a faith which they never professed. 
 Once and again has this game been played before the Eoman 
 
376 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 people. Their real triumphs of this sort have as yet been 
 very few ; and the sensation which they produced was 
 swallowed up and lost in the glory in the eyes even of 
 the strangers who are in Borne which has crowned us in 
 the steadfast courage with which our people have remained 
 quietly in their homes, throughout all this dreadful prepa 
 ration ; and then, when the hour of trial drew nigh, and 
 they were placed at the bar of the judge, and were accused 
 of their religion, confessed the charge, boasted in it, and 
 then took their way to the prison, from which they well 
 knew death only would deliver them. 
 
 That, Fausta, which we have long feared and looked for, 
 has come to pass, and Probus, our more than friend, our 
 benefactor, and almost our parent, is by the emperor con 
 demned to death, not, as from the words of Varus it might 
 be supposed, to the same torments as those to which Macer 
 was made subject, but to be thrown to the beasts in the 
 Flavian, a death more merciful than that, but yet full of 
 horror. How is it that in the Roman mercy seems dead, 
 and the human nature which he received from the gods, 
 changed to that of the most savage beast? 
 
 Livia has been with us ; and here with us would she now 
 gladly remain. It is impossible, she says, for us to con 
 ceive the height of the frenzy to which Aurelian is now 
 wrought up against the Christians. In his impatience, he 
 can scarce restrain himself from setting his legions in the 
 neighbouring camp at once to the work of slaughter. But 
 he is, strange as it may seem, in this held back and calmed 
 by the more bloody-minded, but yet more politic, Fronto. 
 Fronto would have the work thoroughly accomplished ; and 
 that it may be so, he adheres to a certain system of order 
 and apparent moderation, from which Aurelian would 
 willingly break away, and at once flood the streets of Rome 
 in a new deluge of blood. Livia is now miserable and sad, 
 as she was but a few months ago gay and happy. At the 
 palace, she tells us, she hears no sounds but the harsh and 
 grating voice of Fronto, or the smooth and silvery tone.s 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 377 
 
 of Varus. As soon, she says, as Aurelian shall have de 
 parted for the East, shall she dwell either with us, or fly to 
 the quiet retreat of Zenobia at Tibur. 
 
 The day appointed for the death of Probus has arrived, 
 and never did the sun shine upon a fairer one in Rome. It 
 seems as if some high festival were come, for all Rome is 
 afoot. Heralds parade the streets, proclaiming the death of 
 Probus, Felix, and other Christians, in the Flavian at the 
 hour of noon. At the corner of every street, and at all the 
 public places, the words " Probus the Christian, condemned 
 to the beasts ! " meet the eye. Long before the time of the 
 sacrifice had come, the avenues leading to the theatre, and 
 all the neighbourhood of it, were crowded with the excited 
 thousands of those who desired to witness the spectacle. 
 There was little of beauty, wealth, fashion, or nobility in 
 Koine that was not represented in the dense multitude that 
 filled the seats of the boundless amphitheatre. Probus had 
 said to me, at my last interview with him, " Piso, you may 
 think it a weakness in me ; but I would that one at least 
 whose faith is mine, and whose heart beats as mine, might 
 be with me at the final hour. I would, at that hour, meet 
 one eye that can return the glance of friendship. It will 
 be a source of strength to me, and I know not how much I 
 may need. " I readily promised what he asked, though, as 
 you may believe, Fausta, I would willingly have been 
 spared the trial. So that, making part of that tide pouring 
 toward the centre, I found myself borne along at the ap 
 pointed hour to the scene of suffering and death. 
 
 As I was about to pass beneath the arched way which 
 leads to the winding passages within, I heard myself sa 
 luted by a well-known voice, and turning to the quarter 
 whence it came, beheld Isaac, but without his pack, and 
 in a costume so different from that which he usually wears 
 that at first I doubted the report of my eyes. But the 
 sound of his voice, as he again addressed me, assured me 
 it could be no other than he. 
 
 " Did I not tell thee, Piso, " said he, " that when the Chris 
 tian was in his straits, there thou wouldst see the Jew 
 
378 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 looking on, and taking his sport ? This is for Probus the 
 very end I looked for. And how should it be otherwise ? 
 Is he to live and prosper who aims at the life of that to 
 which God has given being and authority ? Shall he flour 
 ish in pride and glory who hath helped to pull down what 
 God built up ? Not so, Piso. T is no wonder that the 
 Christians are now in this plight. It could be no other 
 wise. And in every corner of this huge fabric wilt thou 
 behold some of my tribe looking on upon this sight, or 
 helping at the sacrifice. Yet as thou knowest, I am not 
 among them. Is there no hope for Probus, Piso ? " 
 
 " None, Isaac. All Rome could not save him. " 
 
 "Truly," rejoined the Jew, "he is in the lions den. 
 Yet as the prophet Daniel was delivered, so may it be to 
 him. God is over all. " 
 
 " God is indeed over all, " I said ; " but he leaves us with 
 our natural passions, affections, and reason, to work out 
 our own way through the world. We are the better for it. " 
 
 " Doubtless, " said Isaac. " Yet at times, when we look 
 not for it, and from a quarter we dream not of, deliverance 
 comes. So was it to Abraham, when he thought that by 
 his own hand Isaac, his son, must be slain. But why to 
 a Christian should I speak of these ? Dost thou witness 
 the sacrifice, Piso ? " 
 
 " Yes, at the earnest entreaty of Probus himself. " 
 
 " I, too, shall be there. We shall both then see what 
 shall come to pass. " 
 
 So saying, he moved away toward the lower vaults, and 
 I passed on and ascended the flight of steps leading to that 
 part of the interior where it is the custom of Aurelian to 
 sit. The emperor was not as yet arrived, but the amphi 
 theatre, in every part of it, was already filled with its 
 countless thousands. All were seated, idly conversing, 
 or gazing about as at the ordinary sports of the place. 
 The hum of so many voices struck the ear like the distant 
 roar of the ocean. How few of those thousands not one, 
 perhaps knew for what it was that Probus and his com 
 panions were now about to suffer a most cruel and abhorred 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 379 
 
 death ! They knew that their name was Christian, and 
 that " Christian " was of the same meaning as enemy of the 
 gods and of the empire ; but what it was which made the 
 Christian so willing to die, why it was he was so ready to 
 come to that place of horror and give up his body to the 
 beasts this they knew not. It was to them a riddle they 
 could not read. And they sat and looked on with the same 
 vacant unconcern, or with the same expectation of pleasure, 
 as if they were to witness the destruction of murderers and 
 assassins. This would not hava been so had that class of 
 the citizens of Rome, or any of them, been present, who, 
 regarding us with favour, and hoping that somewhat may 
 yet come of our religion advantageous to the world, main 
 tain a neutral position. These were not there, owing 
 both to their disinclination to witness scenes so brutal 
 izing, and to apprehensions lest they should be betrayed 
 into words or acts of sympathy that might lead to their 
 being confounded with the obnoxious tribe, and exposed 
 to the like dangers. All, therefore, within the embrace of 
 those wide-spreading walls, were of one heart and one 
 mind. 
 
 While I sat waiting the coming of the emperor, and sur 
 rounded by those whom I knew not nor had ever seen, one 
 who occupied a part of the same seat, accompanied by his 
 wife and daughters, said to me, 
 
 " Tis to be hoped, sir, that so terrible an example as 
 this will have its effect in deterring others from joining 
 this dangerous superstition ; and not only that, but strike 
 so wholesome a terror into those who already profess it 
 that they shall at once abandon it, and so the general mas 
 sacre of them not be necessary, which, indeed, I should be 
 loath to witness in the streets of Rome. " 
 
 " If you knew, " I replied, " for what it is these people 
 are condemned to such sufferings, you would not, I am 
 sure, express yourself in that manner. You know, I may 
 presume, only what common report has brought to your 
 ears. " 
 
 " Nothing else, I admit, " he replied. " My affairs con- 
 
380 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 fine me from morning till night. I am a secretary, sir, in 
 the office of the public mint. I have no time to inform 
 myself of the exact truth of anything but columns of fig 
 ures. I am not afraid to say there is not a better account 
 ant within the walls of Eome. But as for other things, 
 especially as to the truth in matters of this sort, I know 
 nothing, and can learn nothing. I follow on as the world 
 leads. " 
 
 " I dare say, " I replied, " you have spoken the truth ; and 
 every one here present, were he to speak, would make very 
 much the same declaration. So here are eighty thousand 
 citizens of Eome assembled to witness the destruction of 
 men of whose crime they know nothing, yet rejoicing in their 
 death as if they were murderers or robbers ! Were you 
 charged with a false enumeration of your columns, would 
 not you hold it basest injustice to suffer punishment before 
 pains were taken to learn the exact truth in the case ? But 
 are you not acting the same unjust and cruel part, with all 
 who are here, in looking on and approving the destruction 
 of these men, about whose offence you know nothing, and 
 have taken no pains to inquire ? " 
 
 " By the gods ! " exclaimed his wife, who seemed the 
 sharper spirit of the two, " I believe we have a Christian 
 here ! But however that may be, we should be prettily set 
 to work, whenever some entertainment is in prospect, to 
 puzzle ourselves about the right and the wrong in the mat 
 ter. If we are to believe you, sir, whenever a poor wretch 
 is to be thrown to the beasts, before we can be in at the 
 sport we must settle the question under the law, I sup 
 pose whether the condemnation be just or not ! Ha ! ha ! 
 Our life were in that case most light and agreeable ! The 
 prefect himself would not have before him a more engaging 
 task. Gods ! Cornelia, dear, see what a pair of eyes ! " 
 
 "Where, mother?" 
 
 "There, in that old man s head. They burn and 
 twinkle like coals of fire. I should think he must be 
 a Christian. " 
 
 I was not sorry that a new object had attracted the at- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUST A. 381 
 
 tention of this lady of the secretary, and looking where 
 she pointed, I saw Isaac planted below us and near the 
 arena. At the same moment the long peal of trumpets, 
 and the shouts of the people without, gave note of the ap 
 proach and entrance of the emperor. In a moment more, 
 with his swift step, he entered the amphitheatre, and strode 
 to the place set apart for him, the whole multitude rising 
 and saluting him with a burst of welcome that might have 
 been heard beyond the walls of Eome. The emperor ac 
 knowledged the salutation by rising from his seat, and lift 
 ing the crown from his head. He was instantly seated 
 again, and at a sign from him the herald made proclama 
 tion of the entertainments which were to follow. He who 
 was named as the first to suffer was Probus. 
 
 When I heard his name pronounced, with the punish 
 ment which awaited him, my resolution to remain forsook 
 me, and I turned to rush from the theatre. But my recol 
 lection of Probus s earnest entreaties that I would be there 
 restrained me, and I returned to my seat. I considered 
 that as I would attend the dying bed of a friend, so I was 
 clearly bound to remain where I was, and wait for the last 
 moments of Probus ; and the circumstance that his death 
 was to be shocking and harrowing to the friendly heart 
 was not enough to absolve me from the heavy obligation. 
 I therefore kept my place, and awaited with patience the 
 event. 
 
 I had waited not long when, from beneath that extremity 
 of the theatre where I was sitting, Probus was led forth 
 and conducted to the centre of the arena, where was a short 
 pillar to which it was customary to bind the sufferers. 
 Probus, as he entered, seemed rather like one who came to 
 witness what was there, than to be himself the victim, so 
 free was his step, so erect his form. In his face there 
 might, indeed, be seen an expression that could only dwell 
 on the countenance of one whose spirit was already gone 
 beyond the earth, and holding converse with things unseen. 
 There was always much of this in the serene, uplifted face 
 of this remarkable man, but it was now there written in 
 
382 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 lines so bold and deep, that there could have been few in 
 that vast assembly but must have been impressed by it, as 
 never before by aught human. It must have been this 
 which brought so deep a silence upon that great multitude, 
 not the mere fact that an individual was about to be torn 
 by lions ; that is an almost daily pastime. For it was so 
 that, when he first made his appearance, and, as he moved 
 toward the centre, turned and looked round upon the 
 crowded seats, rising to the heavens, the people neither 
 moved nor spoke, but kept their eyes fastened upon him, as 
 by some spell which they could not break. 
 
 When he reached the pillar, and he who had conducted 
 him was about to bind him to it, it was plain, by what at 
 that distance we could observe, that Probus was entreating 
 him to desist and leave him at liberty ; in which he at 
 length succeeded, for that person returned, leaving him 
 alone and unbound. Oh, sight of misery! he who for 
 the humblest there present would have performed any office 
 of love, by which the least good should redound to them, 
 left alone and defenceless, they looking on and scarcely 
 pitying his cruel fate ! When now he had stood there not 
 many minutes, one of the doors of the vivaria was sud 
 denly thrown back, and bounding forth with a roar that 
 seemed to shake the walls of the theatre, a lion of huge 
 dimensions leaped upon the arena. Majesty and power 
 were inscribed upon his lordly limbs ; and as he stood there 
 where he had first sprung, and looked round upon the mul 
 titude, how did his gentle eye and noble carriage, with 
 which no one for a moment could associate meanness, or 
 cruelty, or revenge, cast shame upon the human monsters 
 assembled to behold a solitary, unarmed man torn limb 
 from limb ! When he had in this way looked upon that 
 cloud of faces, he then turned and moved round the arena 
 through its whole circumference, still looking upwards 
 upon those who filled the seats, not till he had come 
 again to the point from which he started so much as notic 
 ing him who stood, his victim, in the midst. Then, as if 
 apparently for the first time becoming conscious of his pres- 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 
 
 ence, he caught the form of Probus ; and moving slowly 
 towards him, looked steadfastly upon him, receiving in 
 return the settled gaze of the Christian. Standing there 
 still a while, each looking upon the other, he then 
 walked round him, then approached nearer, making sud 
 denly and for a moment those motions which indicate the 
 roused appetite ; but, as it were in the spirit of self-rebuke, 
 he immediately retreated a few paces, and lay down in the 
 sand, stretching out his head towards Probus, and closing 
 his eyes as if for sleep. 
 
 The people, who had watched in silence, and with the 
 interest of those who wait for their entertainment, were 
 both amazed and vexed at what now appeared to be the 
 dulness and stupidity of the beast. When, however, he 
 moved not from his place, but seemed as if he were indeed 
 about to fall into a quiet sleep, those who occupied the 
 lower seats began both to cry out to him and shake at him 
 their caps, and toss about their arms, in the hope to rouse 
 him. But it was all in vain ; and at the command of the 
 emperor he was driven back to his den. 
 
 Again a door of the vivaria was thrown open, and an 
 other of equal size, but of a more alert and rapid step, 
 broke forth, and, as if delighted with his sudden liberty 
 and the ample range, coursed round and round the arena, 
 wholly regardless both of the people and of Probus, intent 
 only, as it seemed, upon his own amusement. And when 
 at length he discovered Probus standing in his place, it was 
 but to bound toward him as if in frolic, and then wheel 
 away in pursuit of a pleasure he esteemed more highly than 
 the satisfying of his hunger. At this the people were not 
 a little astonished, and many who were near me hesitated 
 not to say that there might be some design of the gods 
 in this. Others said plainly, but not with raised voices, 
 " An omen ! an omen ! " At the same time Isaac turned 
 and looked at me with an expression of countenance which 
 I could not interpret. Aurelian, meanwhile, exhibited 
 many signs of impatience; and when it was evident the 
 animal could not be wrought up, either by the cries of the 
 
384 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 people or of the keepers, to any act of violence, he too was 
 taken away. But when a third had been let loose, and 
 with no better effect, nay with less, for he, when he had 
 at length approached Probus, fawned upon him and laid 
 himself at his feet, the people, superstitious as you know 
 beyond any others, now cried out aloud, " An omen ! an 
 omen ! " and made the sign that Probus should be spared 
 and removed. Aurelian himself seemed almost of the 
 same mind, and I can hardly doubt would have ordered 
 him to be released, but that Fronto at that moment ap 
 proached him, and by a few of those words which, coming 
 from him, are received by Aurelian as messages from 
 Heaven, put within him a new and different mind; for 
 rising quickly from his seat, he ordered the keeper of the 
 vivaria to be brought before him. When he appeared be 
 low upon the sands, Aurelian cried out to him, 
 
 " Why, knave, dost thou weary out our patience thus, 
 letting forth beasts already over-fed ? Do thus again, 
 and thou thyself shalt be thrown to them. Art thou, too, 
 a Christian ? " 
 
 " Great emperor, " replied the keeper, " than those I have 
 now let loose there are not larger nor fiercer in the imperial 
 dens, and since the sixth hour of yesterday they have tasted 
 nor food nor drink. Why they have thus put off their nature 
 t is hard to guess, unless the general cry be taken for the 
 truth, that the gods have touched them. " 
 
 Aurelian was again seen to waver, when a voice from the 
 benches cried out, 
 
 " It is, emperor, but another Christian device ! Forget 
 not the voice from the temple ! The Christians, who claim 
 powers over demons, bidding them go and come at pleasure, 
 may well be thought capable to change, by the magic im 
 puted to them, the nature of a beast. " 
 
 " I doubt not, " said the emperor, " but it is so. Slave ! 
 throw up now the doors of all thy vaults, and let us see 
 whether both lions and tigers be not too much for this new 
 necromancy. If it be the gods who interpose, they can 
 shut the mouth of thousands as of one. " 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 385 
 
 At those cruel words the doors of the vivaria were at 
 once flung open, and a hundred of their fierce tenants, mad 
 dened both by hunger and the goads that had been applied, 
 rushed forth, and in the fury with which, in a single mass, 
 they fell upon Probus then kneeling upon the sands 
 and burying him beneath them, no one could behold his 
 fate, nor, when that dark troop separated, and ran howling 
 about the arena in search of other victims, could the eye 
 discover the least vestige of that holy man. I then fled 
 from the theatre as one who flies from that which is worse 
 than death. 
 
 Felix was next offered up, as I have learned, and after 
 him more than fourscore of the Christians of Eome. 
 
 Eome continues the same scene of violence, cruelty, and 
 blood. Each moment are the miserable Christians dragged 
 through the streets, either to the tribunals of the judges, 
 or thence, having received their doom, to the prisons. 
 
 Seeing, Fausta, that the emperor is resolved that we shall 
 not be among the sufferers, and that he is also resolved 
 upon the total destruction of all within the walls of Eome, 
 from which purpose no human power can now divert him, 
 we feel ourselves no longer bound to this spot, and are de 
 termined to withdraw from it, either to Tibur or else to 
 you. Were there any office of protection or humanity 
 which it were in our power to perform toward the accused 
 or the condemned, you may believe that we should remain 
 fixed to the post of duty. But the fearful sweep which is 
 making, and yet to be made, of every living soul in Eome 
 leaves nothing for us to do but to stand idle and horror- 
 struck witnesses of sufferings and wrongs which we can do 
 nothing to avert or relieve. Portia shares our sorrows, 
 and earnestly entreats us to depart, consenting herself to 
 accompany us. 
 
 After seeing Zenobia at Tibur, and conversing with her 
 and Livia, whom I found there, we have resolved upon 
 Palmyra; and already have I engaged a vessel bound to 
 Berytus. A brief interval will alone be needful for our 
 preparations. Portia goes with us. 
 
 25 
 
386 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 In the midst of these preparations, news is brought us 
 by Milo that Aurelian, hastened by accounts of disturb 
 ances in the army, has suddenly started for Thrace. But 
 I see not that this can interfere with our movements, un 
 less, indeed What can mean this sudden uproar in the 
 streets, and now within the house itself ? My fears are 
 come true ! 
 
 Fausta, I am a prisoner in the hands of Fronto. I now 
 write in chains, and Julia stands at my side bound also. 
 I have obtained with difficulty this grace, to seal my letter, 
 and bid you farewell. 
 
 Thus were Piso and Julia at length in the grasp of the 
 cruel and relentless Fronto. Aurelian s sudden departure 
 from Rome placed the whole conduct of the enterprise he 
 had undertaken in the hands of Varus and the priest, who 
 were left by the emperor with full powers to carry on and 
 complete the work which he had begun. It was his pur 
 pose, however, so soon as the difficulties in the army should 
 be composed, himself immediately to return, and remain 
 till the task were ended, the great duty done. But as 
 many causes might conspire to prevent this, they were 
 clothed with sovereign authority to do all that the welfare 
 of the city, and the defence and security of religion, 
 might require. I will not charge Aurelian with an unne 
 cessary absence at this juncture, that so he might turn over 
 to his tools a work at which his own humanity and con 
 science, hardened as they were, revolted, or rather that 
 they, voluntarily, and moved only by their own supersti 
 tious and malignant minds, might then be free to do what 
 they might feel safe in believing would be an acceptable 
 service to their great master. I will still believe that, 
 had he intended the destruction of Piso and Julia, he 
 would, with that courage which is natural to him, have 
 fearlessly and unshrinkingly done the deed himself. I 
 will rather suppose that his ministers, without warrant 
 from him, and prompted by their own hate alone, ventured 
 upon that dark attempt, trusting, when it should have once 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 387 
 
 been accomplished, easily to obtain the pardon of him who, 
 however he might affect or feel displeasure for a moment, 
 would secretly applaud and thank them for the deed. 
 
 However this may be, Aurelian suddenly departed from 
 Rome, and Fronto and Varus filled his place ; and their 
 first act of authority was the seizure of Piso and the prin 
 cess. At Tibur we knew nothing of these events till they 
 were past ; we caring not to hear of the daily horrors that 
 were acted in the city, and feeling as secure of the safety 
 of Piso and Julia as of our own. 
 
 It was on a gloomy winter evening when they were borne 
 away from their home upon the Coelian to the dark vaults 
 beneath the Temple of the Sun, Pronto s own province. 
 But here again let Piso speak for himself, as I find recorded 
 in the fragment of a letter. 
 
 . . . The darkness of the night scarce permitted me to 
 see (he says) whither we were borne ; but when the guard 
 stopped, and required us to alight from the carriage in 
 which we had been placed, I perceived that we were at the 
 steps of the temple, victims, therefore, in his own regions, 
 of a man as much more savage than Aurelian as he than 
 a beast of the forest. We were denied the happiness of 
 being confined in the same place, but were thrust into sepa 
 rate dungeons, divided by walls of solid rock. Here, when 
 wearied out by watching, I fell asleep. How long this 
 lasted I cannot tell ; I was awakened by the withdrawing 
 of the bolts of my door. One, bearing a dim light, slowly 
 opening the door entered. Forgetting my condition, I 
 essayed to rise, but my heavy chains bound me to the floor. 
 Soon as the noise of my motion caught the ear of the person 
 who had entered, he said, 
 
 " So, all is safe. I am not thy keeper, sir Piso, but 
 t is my province to keep the keeper, that is, visit thee 
 every hour to see that thou art here. Yet, by the gods ! if 
 you Christians have that power of magic which is com 
 monly reported of you, I see not of what use it were to 
 watch you thus. How is it with thee, most noble Piso ? " 
 
388 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " That is of little moment ; but tell me, if there is any 
 thing human in thee, where is my wife, and what is her 
 fate ? " 
 
 " Be not too much concerned, " he replied. " She is safe, 
 I warrant you. None but Fronto deals with her. " 
 
 " Fronto ! " I could only say. 
 
 " Yes, Fronto. Fear not, he is an honourable man and 
 a holy priest. " 
 
 " Fronto ! " I was about to add more, but held my 
 peace ; knowing well that what I might say could avail 
 nothing for us, and might be turned against us. I only 
 asked why there was such delay in examining and con 
 demning us. 
 
 " That is a question, truly, " he replied ; " but not so 
 easy to be answered. Few know the reason ; that I can say. 
 But what is there in the heart of Fronto that is kept from 
 Curio ? Are thy chains easy, Piso ? " 
 
 " I would that they might be lengthened. Here am I 
 bound to the floor without so much as the power to stand 
 upright. This is useless suffering. " 
 
 " T was so ordered by Fronto ; but then, if there is one 
 in Eome who can take a liberty with him, I know well 
 who he is. So hold thou the lamp, Piso, and I will ease 
 thee ; " and, like one accustomed to the art, he soon struck 
 apart the chain, and again uniting it, left me room both 
 to stand and move. 
 
 " There," said he, as he took again the lamp, " for one 
 who hates a Christian as he does death, that s a merciful 
 deed. But I can tell thee one thing, that it will not ease 
 thee long. " 
 
 " That I can believe. But why, once more, is there this 
 delay ? " 
 
 " I know not, Piso, whether I should tell thee ; but as I 
 doubt not Fronto would, were he here, I surely may do 
 the same ; for if there are two men in Eome, Piso, whose 
 humours are the same, and jump together, I and Fronto are 
 they. There is a dispute, then, noble Piso, between Varus 
 and Fronto about the lady Julia ; " and without heeding 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 389 
 
 my cries, the wretch turned and left the vault, closing after 
 him the heavy door. 
 
 How many days in the torture of a suspense and igno 
 rance worse than death I lay here, I cannot tell. Curio 
 came as often as he said, to see that all was safe ; but 
 there was little said by either; he would examine my 
 chain, and then depart. On the night the last night I 
 passed in that agony preceding my examination by Varus 
 and Fronto, I was disturbed from my slumbers by the en 
 trance of Curio. He advanced with, as it seemed to me, an 
 unusually cautious step, and I rose, expecting some com 
 munication of an uncommon nature. But what was my 
 amazement, as the light fell upon the face of him whq 
 bore it, to see not Curio, but Isaac. His finger was on his 
 lips, while in his hand he held the implements necessary 
 for sawing apart my chains. 
 
 " Piso, " said he, in a whispered tone, " thou art now free. 
 I could not save Probus, but I can save thee. Horses 
 fleet as the winds await thee and the princess beyond the 
 walls, and at the Tiber s mouth a vessel takes you to Bery- 
 tus. Curio lies drunk or dead, it matters little which, in 
 a neighbouring vault. " And he set down the lamp, and 
 seized my chain. The strange devotion of this man moved 
 me ; and were it but to reward his love I could almost have 
 slipped my bonds. But other thoughts prevailed. 
 
 " Isaac, you have risked your life and that of your house 
 hold in this attempt, and sorry am I that I can pay thee 
 only with my thanks. I cannot fly. " 
 
 " Piso ! thou surely art not mad ? Why shouldst thou 
 stay in the hands of these pagan butchers ? " 
 
 " Were this, Isaac, but the private rage of Fronto, gladly 
 would I go with thee ; more gladly would I give Julia to 
 thy care. But it is not so! It is, as thou knowest, for 
 our faith that we are here and thus ; and shall we shrink 
 from what Probus bore ? " 
 
 " Piso, believe me ; t is not for thy faith alone that 
 thou art here, but for thy riches, and thy wife. " 
 
 " Isaac ! thou hast been deceived. Sooner would they 
 
390 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 throw themselves into a lion s den for sport than brave 
 the wrath of Aurelian for such a crime. Thou hast been 
 deceived. " 
 
 " I have it, " replied the Jew, " from the mouth of the 
 knave Curio, who has told me of fierce disputes, overheard 
 by him, between Varus and Fronto concerning the lady 
 Julia. " 
 
 " Their dispute has been, doubtless, whether she too 
 should be destroyed ; for to Fronto is well known the con 
 stant love which Aurelian still bears her. Curio is not 
 always right. " 
 
 " And is this my answer, Piso ? " said Isaac. " And 
 shall I not still see thy wife ? " 
 
 " No, Isaac ; it would be of no avail. Her answer would 
 be the same as mine. " 
 
 " Nevertheless, Piso, I believe that what I have heard 
 and surmised is so. Fronto and Varus, who have played 
 with the great Aurelian as a toyman with his images, may 
 carry even this. " 
 
 " Were it so, I put my trust in God, and to him com 
 mend myself and Julia. For this our faith are we ready 
 to bear all that man can devise or do. " 
 
 Seeing that further argument was vain, Isaac,, with eyes 
 that overflowed as any woman s, embraced me, and left the 
 cell. 
 
 On the day which followed the visit of Isaac was I 
 placed before Fronto and Varus. 
 
 It was in the great room of the temple that the prefect 
 and the priest awaited their victims. It was dimly illumi 
 nated, so that the remoter parts were lost in thick dark 
 ness. So far as the eye could penetrate it, faces could be 
 discerned in the gloom, of those who were there to witness 
 the scene. All whom my sight could separate from the 
 darkness were of the Roman priesthood, or friends of 
 Fronto. Not that others were excluded, it was broad 
 day, and the act was a public one and authorized by the 
 imperial edict, but that no announcement of it had been 
 made ; and, by previous concert, the place had been filled 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 391 
 
 with the priests and subordinate ministers of the Roman 
 temples. I knew, therefore, that not a friendly eye or arm 
 was there. Whatever it might please those cruel judges to 
 inflict upon myself or Julia, there was none to remonstrate 
 or interpose. With what emotions, when I had first been 
 placed before those judges, did I await the coming of 
 Julia, from whom I had now been so long parted. Fer 
 vently did I pray that the mercy of Fronto would first 
 doom her, that she might be sure of at least one sympa 
 thizing and pitying heart. 
 
 On the right of the prefect, upon a raised platform, were 
 set the various instruments of torture and death, each at 
 tended by its half -naked minister. 
 
 I had not stood long when upon the other side of the 
 room the noise of the dividing crowd told me that Julia 
 was entering, and in a moment more she was standing at a 
 little distance from me, and opposite Fronto, I being op 
 posite the prefect. Our eyes met once, and no more. As 
 I could have desired, Fronto first addressed her. 
 
 " Woman ! thou standest here charged with impiety and 
 denial of the gods of Eome ; in other words, with being a 
 follower of Christ the Nazarene. That the charge is true, 
 
 o 
 
 witnesses stand here ready to affirm. Dost thou deny the 
 charge ? Then will we prove its truth. " 
 
 " I deny it not, " responded Julia, " but confess it. Wit 
 nesses are not needed ; the Christian witnesses for himself. " 
 
 " Dost thou know the penalty that waits on such 
 confession ? " 
 
 " I know it, but do not fear it. " 
 
 " But for thee to die so, woman, is of ill example to all 
 in Eome. We would rather change thee. We would not 
 have thee die the enemy of the gods, of Eome, and of thy 
 self. I ask thee, then, to renounce thy vain impiety. " 
 
 Julia answered not. 
 
 " I require thee, Christian, to renounce Christ ! * 
 
 Still Julia made no reply. 
 
 " Know you not, woman, I have power to force from thee 
 that which thou wilt not say willingly ? " : 
 
392 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " Thou hast no such power, priest. Thou wert else more 
 than God. " 
 
 " Thy tender frame cannot endure the torture of those 
 engines. It were better spared such suffering. " 
 
 " I would gladly be spared that suffering," said Julia; 
 " but not at the expense of truth. " 
 
 " Think not that I will relent. Those irons shall rack 
 and rend thee in every bone and joint, except thou dost 
 renounce that foul impostor whose curse now lies heavy 
 upon Eome and the world. " 
 
 " Weary me not, priest, with vain importunity. I am a 
 Christian, and a Christian will I die. " 
 
 " Prepare then the rack ! " cried Fronto, his passions ris 
 ing ; " that is the medicine for obstinacy such as this. 
 Now bind her to it. " 
 
 Hearing that, I wildly exclaimed, 
 
 " Priest ! thou darest not do it for thy life ! Touch but the 
 hair of her head, and thy life shall answer it. Aurelian s 
 word is pledged, and thou darest not break it. " 
 
 " Aurelian is far enough from here, " replied the priest. 
 " But were he where I am, thou wouldst see the same 
 game. I am Aurelian now. " 
 
 " Is this, then, thy commission had from Aurelian ? " 
 
 " That matters not, young Piso. T is enough for thee to 
 know that Fronto rules in Rome. No more, hold now 
 thy peace ! Where an empress has sued in vain, there is 
 no room for words from thee. Slaves ! bind her, I say ! 
 To the rack with her ! " 
 
 At that I sprang madly forward, thinking only of her 
 rescue from those murderous fangs, but was at the same in 
 stant drawn violently back, both by my chains and the 
 arms of those who guarded me. The tormentors descended 
 from their engines to fulfil the commands of Fronto ; and 
 laying hold of Julia, bore her, without an opposing word, 
 or look, or motion, toward their instruments of death. 
 And they were already binding her limbs to the accursed 
 wheels, while Fronto and Varus both drew nigh to gloat 
 over her agonies, when a distant sound, as of the ocean 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 393 
 
 lashed by winds, broke upon the ears of all within that 
 hell. Even the tormentors paused in their work, and 
 looked at each other, and at Fronto, as if asking what it 
 should mean. 
 
 The silence of death fell upon the crowd ; every ear 
 strained to catch the growing sound, and interpret it. 
 
 " T is but the winter wind ! " cried Fronto. " On, 
 cowards, with your work ! " 
 
 But ere the words had left his lips, or those demons 
 could wind the wheels of their engine, the appalling tu 
 mult of a multitude rushing toward the temple became too 
 fearfully distinct for even Fronto or Varus to pretend to 
 doubt its meaning. But why it was, or for what, none 
 could guess ; only upon the terror-struck forms of both the 
 prefect and the priest might be read apprehensions of hos 
 tility that from some quarter was aiming at themselves. 
 Fronto s voice was again heard: 
 
 " Bar the great doors of the temple ! let not the work of 
 the gods be profanely violated ! " 
 
 But the words were too late ; for while he was yet speak 
 ing oh, Fausta ! how shall I paint my agony of joy? 
 there was heard from the street, and from the porch of the 
 temple itself, the shouts of, as it were, ten thousand voices : 
 " Tacitus is emperor ! " " Long live the good Tacitus ! " 
 
 Freedom and life were in those cries. The crowds from 
 the streets swept in at the doors like an advancing torrent. 
 Varus and Fronto, followed by their myrmidons, vanished 
 through secret doors in the walls behind them ; and among 
 the first to greet me, and strike the chains from my limbs, 
 were Isaac and Demetrius. 
 
 " And where is the lady Julia ? " cried Isaac. 
 
 " There ! " 
 
 He flew to the platform, and turning back the wheels, 
 Julia was once more in my arms. 
 
 " And now, " I cried, " what means it all ? Am I awake, 
 or do I dream ? " 
 
 " You are awake, " replied Demetrius. " The tyrant is 
 dead, and the senate and people all cry out for Tacitus ! " 
 
394 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 I now looked about me. The mob of priests had fled, and 
 around me I beheld a thousand well-known faces of those 
 who already had been released from their dungeons. Chris 
 tians, and the friends of Christians, now filled the temple. 
 
 " We were led hither, " continued Demetrius, " by your 
 fast friend, and the friend, I believe, of all, Isaac. None 
 but he, and those to whom he gave the tidings, knew 
 where the place of your confinement was ; nor was the day 
 of your trial publicly proclaimed, although we found the 
 temple open. But for him, we should have been, I fear, 
 too late. But no sooner was the news of Aurelian s assas 
 sination spread through the city than Isaac roused your 
 friends and led the way. " 
 
 As Demetrius ceased, the cry of " Tacitus Emperor ! " 
 resounded again throughout the temple, and the crowds 
 then making for the streets, about which they careered mad 
 with joy, we were at liberty to depart ; and accompanied 
 by Isaac and Demetrius, were soon beneath our own roof 
 upon the Ccelian. 
 
 With what joy then, in our accustomed place of prayer, 
 did we pour forth our thanksgivings to the overruling 
 Providence, who had not only rescued ourselves from the 
 very jaws of death, but had wrought out this great deliver 
 ance of his whole people ! Never before, Fausta, was 
 Christianity in such peril; never was there a man, who, 
 like Aurelian, united to a native cruelty that could behold 
 the shedding of blood with the same indifference as the 
 flowing of water, a zeal for the gods and a love of country 
 that amounted quite to a superstitious madness. Had not 
 death interposed, judging as man, no power could have 
 stayed that arm that was sweeping us from the face of the 
 earth. Our certain doom was annihilation. 
 
 The prisons have all been thrown open, and their multi 
 tudes again returned to their homes. The streets and 
 squares of the capital resound with the joyful acclamations 
 of the people. Our churches are once more unbarred, and 
 with the voice of music and of prayer our people testify 
 before Heaven their gratitude for this infinite mercy. 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 395 
 
 The suddenness of this transition, from utter hopeless 
 ness and blank despair to this fulness of peace and these 
 transports of joy, is almost too much for the frame to bear. 
 Tears and smiles are upon every face. We know not 
 whether to weep or laugh ; and many, as if their reason 
 were gone, both laugh and cry, utter prayers and jests, in 
 the same breath. 
 
 Soon as we found ourselves quietly in possession again of 
 our own home, surrounded by our own household, Portia 
 sitting with us and sharing our felicity, the same feeling 
 impelled us at once to seek Livia and Zenobia. The em 
 press was, as we had already learned, at Tibur, whither she 
 had but this morning fled, upon finding all interference of 
 no avail, hoping, but how vainly, that possibly her 
 mother, than whose name in Rome none was greater save 
 Aurelian s, might prevail where her words had fallen but 
 upon deaf ears and stony hearts. Our chariot bore us 
 quickly beyond the walls, and toward the palace of the 
 queen. And as we reached the entrance, Zenobia at the 
 same moment, accompanied by Livia, Nichomachus, and 
 her usual train, was mounting her horse for Rome. Our 
 meeting I need not describe. That day and evening were 
 consecrated to love and friendship ; and many days did we 
 pass there in the midst of satisfactions of double worth, I 
 suppose, from the brief interval which separated them from 
 the agonies which but so lately we had endured. 
 
 All that we have as yet learned of Aurelian is this, that 
 he has met the fate that has waited upon so many of the 
 masters of the world. His own soldiers have revenged 
 themselves upon him. Going forth, as it is reported, to 
 quell a sudden disturbance in the camp, he was set upon 
 by a band of desperate men, made so by threats of pun 
 ishment, which he ever keeps, -and fell pierced by a hun 
 dred swords. When more exact accounts arrive, you shall 
 hear again. 
 
 Tacitus, who has long been the idol of the senate and 
 of the best part of the people of Rome, famed as you know 
 for his wisdom and his mild virtues, distinguished, too, 
 
396 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 for his immense wealth and the elegance of his tastes, was 
 at once, on the news of Aurelian s death, proclaimed em 
 peror, not so much, however, by any formal act of the 
 senate, as by the unanimous will of all, senators and 
 people. For in order that the chance of peace may be the 
 greater, the senate, before any formal and public decree 
 shall be passed, will wait the pleasure of the army. But 
 in the mean time, he is as truly emperor as was Aurelian, 
 and was at the first moment the news of the assassination 
 arrived. His opinions concerning the Christians, also, 
 being well known, the proclamation of his name as Augus 
 tus was at the same time a note of safety and deliverance 
 to our whole community. No name in Rome could have 
 struck such terror into the hearts of Varus arid Fronto, as 
 that of Tacitus, " Tacitus Emperor ! " 
 
 After our happy sojourn at Tibur, and we had once more 
 regained our home upon the Coelian, we were not long, as 
 you may believe, in seeking the street Janus, and the dwel 
 ling of Isaac. He was happily within, and greeted us with 
 heartiest welcome. 
 
 " Welcome, most noble Piso, " he cried, " to the street 
 Janus ! " 
 
 " And, " I added, " to the house of a poverty-pinched 
 Jew ! This resembles it indeed ! " 
 
 " Ah ! are you there, Piso ? Well, well, if I have seemed 
 poor, thou knowest why it has been, and for what. Wel 
 come, too, princess ! enter, I pray you, and when you shall 
 be seated, I shall at once show you what you have come to 
 see, I doubt not, my assortment of diamonds. Ah ! the 
 news of your arrival has spread, and they are before me ! 
 Here, Piso, is the woman of the desert and the young Ish- 
 mael; and here, lady, are two dark-eyed nymphs of Ecba- 
 tana. Children, this is the beautiful Princess of Palmyra, 
 whose name you have heard more than once. " 
 
 It was a pretty little circle, Fausta, as the eye need 
 behold, and gathered together here by how strange circum 
 stances ! The very sun of peace and joy seemed breaking 
 from the countenance of Isaac. He caressed first one and 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 397 
 
 then another, nor did he know how to leave off kissing and 
 praising them. 
 
 When we had thus sat and made ourselves known all 
 around to each other, Julia said to Isaac that she should 
 hope often to see him and them in the same way ; but how 
 ever often it might be, and at whatever other times, she 
 begged that annually, on the ides of January, she with Piso 
 might be admitted to his house and board, to keep with 
 them all a feast of grateful recollection. " Whatever it is 
 that makes the present hour so happy to us all, we owe, 
 Isaac, to you. " 
 
 " Lady ! to the providence of the God of Abraham ! " 
 
 " In you, Isaac, I behold his providence. " 
 
 " Lady, it shall be as you say ; on the ides of January 
 will we, as the years go round, call up to our minds these 
 dark and bloody times, and give thanks for the great re 
 demption. Were Probus but with you, and to be with 
 you, Piso, your cup were full. And he had been here but 
 for the voice of one who, just as the third lion had been 
 uncaged, fixed again the wavering mind of Aurelian, who 
 then, madman-like, set on him that forest full of beasts. 
 At that moment I found it, Piso, discreetest to depart. " 
 
 " And was your hand in that too, Isaac ? Were those 
 lions of your training, and that knave s lies of your 
 telling ? " 
 
 " Verily thou mayest say so. " 
 
 " But was that the part of a Jew ? " 
 
 " No, " said Julia, " it was only the part of the Jew. " 
 
 " Probus, " said Isaac, " was the friend of Piso and Julia, 
 and therefore he was mine. If now you ask how I love 
 you so, I can only say I do not know. We are riddles to 
 ourselves. When I first saw thee, Piso, I fancied thee, 
 and the fancy hath held till now. Now, where love is, 
 there is power, high as heaven, deep as hell. Where 
 there is the will, the arm is strong and the wits clear. 
 Mountains of difficulty and seas of danger sink into mole 
 hills and shallow pools. Besides, Piso, there is no virtue 
 in Rome but gold will buy it; and, as thou knowest, in 
 
398 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 that I am not wanting. Any slave like Curio, or him of 
 the Flavian, may be had for a basketful of oboli. With 
 these two clues, thou canst thread the labyrinth. " 
 
 Though our affairs, Fausta, now put on so smiling a face, 
 we do not relinquish the thought of visiting you; and with 
 the earliest relenting of the winter, so that a Mediter 
 ranean voyage will be both safe and pleasant, shall we turn 
 our steps toward Palmyra. 
 
 Demetrius greatly misses his brother. But what he has 
 lost, you have gained. 
 
 What at this moment is the great wonder in Home is 
 this : a letter has come from the legions in Thrace, in 
 terms most dutiful and respectful toward the senate, de 
 ploring the death of Aurelian, and desiring that they will 
 place him in the number of the gods, and appoint his suc 
 cessor. This is all that was wanted to confirm us in our 
 peace. Now we may indeed hail Tacitus as Augustus and 
 emperor. Farewell. 
 
 Piso has mentioned with brevity the death of Aurelian, 
 and the manner of it, as first received at Eome. I will 
 here add to it the account which soon became current 
 in the capital, and which to this time remains without 
 contradiction. 
 
 Already has the name of Menestheus occurred in these 
 memoirs. He was one of the secretaries of the emperor, 
 always near him, and much in his confidence. This seemed 
 strange to those who knew both ; for Menestheus did not 
 possess those qualities which Aurelian esteemed. He was 
 selfish, covetous, and fawning ; his spirit and manner those 
 of a slave to such as were above him, those of a tyrant to 
 such as were below him. His affection for the emperor, of 
 which he made great display, was only for what it would 
 bring him ; and his fidelity to his duties, which was ex 
 emplary, grew out of no principle of integrity, but was 
 merely a part of that self-seeking policy that was the rule 
 of his life. His office put him in the way to amass riches, 
 and for that reason there was not one, perhaps, of all the 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 399 
 
 servants of the emperor, who performed with more exact 
 ness the affairs entrusted to him. He had many times in 
 curred the displeasure of Aurelian, and his just rebuke, 
 for acts of rapacity and extortion, by which never the em 
 pire, but his own fortune was profited ; but so deep and 
 raging was his thirst of gold, that it had no other effect than 
 to restrain for a season a passion which was destined, in its 
 further indulgence, to destroy both master and servant. 
 
 Aurelian had scarcely arrived at the camp without the 
 walls of Byzantium, and was engaged in the final arrange 
 ments of the army previous to the departure for Syria, 
 oppressed and often irritated by the variety and weight of 
 the duties which claimed his care, when, about the hour 
 of noon, as he was sitting in his tent, he was informed that 
 one from Kome, with pressing business, craved to be heard 
 of the emperor. 
 
 He was ordered to approach. 
 
 " And why, " said Aurelian, as the stranger entered, " have 
 you sped in such haste from Eome to seek me ? " 
 
 " Great Caesar, I have come for justice ! " 
 
 " Is not justice well administered in the courts of Rome, 
 that thou must pursue me here, even to the gates of 
 Byzantium ? " 
 
 " None can complain, " replied the Roman, " that justice 
 hath been withheld from the humblest since the reign of 
 Aurelian. " 
 
 " How then, " interrupted Aurelian, " how is it that thou 
 comest hither ? Quick ! let us know thy matter. " 
 
 " To have held back, " the man replied, " till the return 
 of the army from its present expedition, and the law could 
 be enforced, were to me more than ruin. " 
 
 " What, knave, has the army to do with thee, or thou 
 with it ? Thy matter, quick, I say. " 
 
 " Great Caesar, " rejoined the other, " I am the builder of 
 this tent. And from my workshops came all these various 
 furnishings, of the true and full value of all of which I 
 have been defrauded. " 
 
 * By whom ? " 
 
400 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 " By one near the emperor, Menestheus the noble 
 secretary. " 
 
 " Menestheus ! Make out the case, and by the great god 
 of light, he shall answer it ! Be it but a farthing he hath 
 wronged thee of, and he shall answer it! Menestheus!" 
 
 " Yes, great emperor, Menestheus. It was thus : When 
 the work he spoke for was done and fairly delivered to his 
 hands, agreeing to the value of an obolus and the measure 
 of a hair with the strict commands he gave, what does he, 
 when he sees it, but fall into a rage and swear that t is 
 not so, that the stuff is poor, the fashion mean and beg 
 garly, the art slight and imperfect, and that the half of 
 what I charged, which was five hundred aurelians, was all 
 that I should have ; with which, if I were not content, and 
 lisped but a syllable of blame, a dungeon for my home were 
 the least I might expect ; and if my knavery reached the 
 ear of Aurelian, from which, if I hearkened to him, it 
 should be his care to keep it, my life were of less value 
 than a fly s. Knowing well the power of the man, I took 
 the sum he proffered, hoping to make such composition 
 with my creditors that I might still pursue my trade ; for, 
 emperor, this was my first work, and being young and 
 just venturing forth, I was dependent upon others. But 
 with half the price I charged and is my due, I cannot re 
 imburse them. My name is gone, and I am ruined. " 
 
 " The half of five hundred, say you ? was that the sum 
 and all the sum he paid you ? " 
 
 " It was. And there are here with me those that will 
 attest it." 
 
 " It needs not ; for I myself know that from the treasury 
 five hundred aurelians were drawn, and said by him to 
 have been duly paid for this work, which well suits me. 
 Let but this be proved, and his life is the least that it shall 
 cost him. But it must be well proved. Let us now have 
 thy witnesses. " 
 
 Menestheus at this point, ignorant of the charge then 
 making against him, entered the tent. Appalled by the 
 apparition of the injured man, and grasping at a glance the 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 401 
 
 truth, all power of concealment was gone ; conscious guilt 
 was written in the colour and in every line and feature of 
 the face. 
 
 " Menestheus, " said Aurelian, " knowest thou this man ? " 
 
 " He is Yirro, an artisan of Kome, " replied the trembling 
 slave. 
 
 " And what, think you, brings him here ? " 
 
 The secretary was silent. 
 
 " He has come, Menestheus, well stored with proofs, be 
 sides those which I can furnish, of thy guilt. Shall the 
 witnesses be heard ? Here they stand. " 
 
 Menestheus replied not. The very faculty of speech had 
 left the miserable man. 
 
 " How is it, " then said Aurelian, in his fiercest tones, 
 " how is it that again for these paltry gains already rol 
 ling in wealth thou wilt defile thy own soul, and bring 
 public shame upon me, too, and Borne ? Away to thy 
 tent ! and put in order thine own affairs and mine. Thou 
 hast lived too long. Soldiers, let him be strongly guarded. 
 Let Virro now receive his just dues. Men call me cruel, 
 and well, I fear, they may, but unjust, rapacious, 
 never, as I believe. Whom have I wronged, whom op 
 pressed ? The poor of Eome, at least, cannot complain of 
 Aurelian. Is it not so, sirrah ? " 
 
 " Eome, " he replied, " rejoices in the reign of Aurelian. 
 His love of justice and of the gods give him a place in 
 every heart. " 
 
 Whether Aurelian would have carried into execution the 
 threat which in a moment of passion he had passionately 
 uttered, none can tell. All that can be said is this, that he 
 rarely threatened but he kept his word. This the secretary 
 knew, and knew, therefore, that another day he might 
 never see. His cunning and his wit now stood him in 
 good stead. A doomed man, he was a desperate man ; and 
 no act then seemed to him a crime by which his doom 
 might be averted. Retiring to his tent, to fulfil the com 
 mands of the emperor, he was there left alone, the tent 
 being guarded without ; and then, as his brain laboured in 
 
 26 
 
402 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 the invention of some device by which he might yet es 
 cape the impending death, and save a life which, his good 
 name being utterly blasted and gone, could have been but 
 a prolonged shame, he conceived and hatched a plan, in 
 its ingenuity, its wickedness, and atrocious baseness, of a 
 piece with his whole character and life. In the hand 
 writing of the emperor, which he could perfectly imitate, 
 he drew up a list of some of the chief officers of the army, 
 by him condemned to death on the following day. This 
 paper, as he was, at about the eleventh hour, led guarded 
 to his place of imprisonment, he dropped at the tent door 
 of one whose name was on it. 
 
 It fell into the intended hands ; and soon as the friendly 
 night had come, the bloody scroll was borne from tent to 
 tent, stirring up to vengeance the designated victims. No 
 suspicion of fraud ever crossed their minds ; but amazed at 
 a thirst of blood so insatiable, and which, without cause 
 assigned, could deliver over to the axe his best and most 
 trusted friends, Carus, Probus, Mucapor, they doubted 
 whether in truth his reason were not gone, and deemed it 
 no crime, but their highest duty to save themselves by 
 the sacrifice of one who was no longer to be held a man. 
 
 After the noon of this day the army had made a short 
 but quick march to Heraclea. Aurelian the tents being 
 pitched, the watch set, the soldiers, weary with their 
 march, asleep, himself tired with the day s duty sat with 
 folded arms, having just ungirded and thrown from him 
 his sword. His last attendant was then dismissed, who, 
 passing from the tent door, encountered the conspirators as 
 they rushed in, and was by them hewn to the ground. Au 
 relian, at that sound, sprang to his feet. But alone, with 
 the swords of twenty of his bravest generals at his breast, 
 what could he do ? One fell at the first sweep of his 
 arm ; but ere he could recover himself the twenty seemed 
 to have sheathed their weapons in his body. Still he 
 fought, but not a word did he utter, till the dagger of Mu 
 capor, raised aloft, was plunged into his breast, with the 
 words, 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 403 
 
 " This Aurelia sends ! " 
 
 " Mucapor ! " he then exclaimed, as he sank to the 
 ground, " canst thou stab Aurelian ? " Then turning toward 
 the others, who stood looking upon their work, he said, 
 " Why, soldiers and friends, is this ? Hold, Mucapor, 
 leave in thy sword, lest life go too quick ; I would speak a 
 word ; " and he seized the wrist of Mucapor, and held it 
 even then with an iron grasp. He then added, " Eomans ! 
 you have heen deceived ! You are all my friends, and have 
 ever been, never more than now. " His voice fell. 
 
 Probus then, reaching forward, cried out, unfolding at 
 the same moment the bloody list, 
 
 " See here, tyrant, are these thy friends ? " 
 
 The eyes of Aurelian, waking up at those words with all 
 the intentness of life, sought the fatal scroll, and sharply 
 scanned it; then closing again, he at the same moment 
 drew out the sword of Mucapor, saying, as he did so, 
 
 " Tis the hand of Menestheus, not mine. You have 
 been deceived ! " With that he fell backwards and 
 expired. 
 
 Those miserable men then looking upon one another, 
 the truth flashed upon them ; and they knew that, to save 
 the life of that mean and abject spirit, they there stood 
 together murderers of the benefactor of many of them, the 
 friend of all, of a general and emperor whom, with all 
 his faults, Rome would mourn as one who had crowned 
 with a new glory her seven hills. How did they then 
 accuse themselves for their unreasonable haste, their 
 blind credulity ! How did they bewail the cruel blows 
 which had thus deprived them of one whom they greatly 
 feared indeed, but whom also they greatly loved, above 
 all, one whom, as their master in that art which in every 
 age has claimed the admiration of the world, they looked 
 up to as a very god ! Some reproached themselves ; some, 
 others ; some threw themselves upon the body of Aurelian, 
 in the wildness of their remorse and grief ; and all swore 
 vengeance upon the miscreant who had betrayed them. 
 
 Thus perished the great Aurelian; for great he truly 
 
404 LETTERS FROM ROME. 
 
 was, as the world has ever estimated greatness. When the 
 news of his assassination reached Borne, the first sensation 
 was that of escape, relief, deliverance; with the Chris 
 tians, and all who favoured them, though not of their faith, 
 it was uridissembled joy. The streets presented the ap 
 pearances which accompany an occasion of general rejoic 
 ing. Life seemed all at once more secure. Another bloody 
 tyrant was dead, by the violence which he had meted out to 
 so many others, and they were glad. But with another 
 part of the Eoman people it was far otherwise. They la 
 mented him as the greatest soldier Eome had known since 
 Caesar ; as the restorer of the empire ; as the stern but needful 
 reformer of a corrupt and degenerate age ; as one who to the 
 army had been more than another Vespasian ; who, as a 
 prince, if sometimes severe, was always just, generous, and 
 magnanimous. These were they who, caring more for the 
 dead than for the living, will remember concerning them 
 only that which is good. They recounted his virtues and 
 his claims to admiration, which were unquestionable and 
 great, and forgot, as if they had never been, his deeds of 
 cruelty, and the wide and wanton slaughter of thousands 
 and hundreds of thousands which will ever stamp him as 
 one destitute of humanity, and whose almost only title to 
 the name of man was that he was in the shape of one. 
 For how can the possession of a few of those captivating 
 qualities which so commonly accompany the possession of 
 great power atone for the rivers of blood which flowed 
 wherever he wound his way ? 
 
 I have now ended what I proposed to myself. I have 
 arranged and connected some of the letters of Lucius Man- 
 lius Piso, having selected chiefly those which related to 
 the affairs of the Christians and their sufferings during the 
 last days of Aurelian s reign. Those days were happily 
 few. And when they were past I deemed that never 
 again, so fast did the world appear to grow wiser and bet 
 ter, could the same horrors be repeated. But it was not 
 so ; and under Diocletian I beheld that work in a manner 
 perfected which Aurelian did but begin. I have outlived 
 
FROM PISO TO FAUSTA. 405 
 
 the horrors of those times, and at length, under the power 
 ful protection of the great Constantirie, behold this much- 
 persecuted faith secure. In this I sincerely rejoice ; for it 
 is to Christianity alone, of all the religions of the world, 
 may be safely entrusted the destinies of mankind. 
 
 THE END. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 ocr 
 
 brTD DEC 15 1981 
 
 otfUpiM 
 
 *~4 *i^*" | *p*fc 
 
 1 1994 
 
 d 08*94 
 
 JAN 3 2001 
 
 SENT ON ILL 
 
 MAY t 2 1995 
 
 U-C. BERKELEY 
 RECEIVED 
 
 JUN 1 5 1995 
 
 CIRCULATION DEPT. 
 
 SOm-1, 15 
 

 ^ 
 
 314662 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 U.C.BERKELEY LIBRARIES