GIFT OF 
 rJolvK HOY 
 
DORCAS 
 
DORCAS 
 
 The Daughter of Faustina 
 
 BY 
 
 NATHAN C. KOUNS 
 
 AUTHOR OF "ARIUS THE LIBYAN" 
 
 SAN FRANCISCO 
 
 JOHN HOWELL 
 
 1922 
 
COPYRIGHT, 1884 
 BY OUR CONTINENT PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1911 
 BY N. E. MORSE AND M. M. BUNTING 
 
 Entered at Stationers Hall, London 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 Third Edition, 1922 
 
 FEINTED IN THB UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 
PREFACE 
 
 TN the Catacombs of Rome Is an ancient tomb 
 * wherein repose the mortal remains of some 
 Christian martyr. A slab of white marble closes 
 the little crypt cut out of the rock to be her sar 
 cophagus, and upon this slab a careful, but un 
 skilled hand hath cut an inscription that readeth 
 after the fashion shown in this book; the Eng 
 lish of which is, " Here lies Faustina. In peace." 
 The name is Latin, the inscription is in the 
 Greek tongue, the word Shalom or " Peace " is 
 in Hebrew. The character in the lower middle 
 portion of the slab indicates that she died a martyr 
 to her faith, and the urn at the left is a symbol of 
 Christian burial. Who was she? How died 
 she? When? 
 
 Musing alone beside this last resting-place of 
 one who died for Jesus centuries ago, my lamp 
 flickered and expired; and then in the subterranean 
 
 5 
 
 540952 
 
6 PREFACE 
 
 darkness of the catacombs the dead forms around 
 me seemed to live again, re-peopling the past in 
 which they lived, and loved, and suffered, and 
 what I beheld, as in a vision, I seek now to repro 
 duce in this story of ANTI-CHRIST. Those of 
 whom I learned it knew whereof they spoke, and 
 the reader may rely upon the verity of all things 
 that are set forth as facts. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 PREFACE 
 
 I DORCAS THE DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA . . . . n 
 II TOGA VIRILIS 18 
 
 III IN WHICH DORCAS ASKETH QUESTIONS ... 28 
 
 IV IN WHICH DORCAS RUNNETH AWAY .... 47 
 V IN WHICH DORCAS HEARETH THE STORY OF FAUS 
 TINA 68 
 
 VI THE SWADDLING BANDS OF ANTI-CHRIST ... 78 
 VII WHICH SHOWETH How MARCELLUS CONDUCTED 
 
 HIMSELF 91 
 
 VIII JUSTICE TO A CHRISTIAN AFTER THE HIGH ROMAN 
 
 FASHION 99 
 
 IX A FAIR CONTRACT FOR A PAGAN 109 
 
 X " HE THAT SEEKETH FINDETH " 126 
 
 XI IN WHICH PHOEBE REDEEMETH HER PROMISE . 141 
 XII IN WHICH THE GOSPEL is STATED As IT WAS 
 
 IN A. D. 312 158 
 
 XIII BIRDS, BEASTS AND ORACLES, THAT TESTIFY . . 172 
 
 XIV IN WHICH MARCELLUS DISCOVERETH A BARBARIAN 188 
 XV IN WHICH THERE is SOME TALK OF MARRIAGE . 196 
 
 XVI IN WHICH EUSEBIUS OFFERETH THE SWADDLING- 
 BANDS UNTO THE CHURCH 207 
 
 XVII IN WHICH THE BARBARIAN is CIVILIZED . . .219 
 XVIII IN WHICH EUSEBIUS SHOWETH THE SWADDLING 
 
 BANDS OF CONSTANTINE 229 
 
 XIX IN WHICH THERE is A DEATH AND ALSO A MAR 
 RIAGE 244 
 
 XX FINIS 250 
 
 7 
 
DORCAS 
 
DORCAS 
 
 DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 DORCAS, THE DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 TN the year 310, a villa stood upon the Appian 
 ^ Way in the suburbs of the City of Rome, which 
 had been builded in the usual fashion of the better 
 class of Roman houses of that period, and was 
 owned and occupied by the Vice-Prefect Varus, 
 whose command constituted a portion of the city 
 guards, and was usually stationed near the 
 Campus Martius. This man, a relative of that 
 Varus who had been terribly defeated by the 
 German barbarians in the forest of Teutoberg, 
 in the days when Tiberius was emperor, and had 
 fallen upon his own sword and died because of 
 his mortification over that defeat, was a perfect 
 type of the Roman officer, devoted to military life r 
 thoroughly trained to his inhuman profession, and 
 incapable of judging of the right or wrong of 
 anything unless some military order or custom 
 had first decided it. In other words, he knew 
 
 ii 
 
12 DCJRCAS,- DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 no sense of duty except to conform to military 
 usages, and obey such orders as he might receive 
 from his superiors; yet he was not narrow- 
 minded, weak nor ignorant. He was, indeed, a 
 man of large intelligence and of considerable 
 literary attainments. He had served for many 
 years in Italy and in foreign lands, and being be 
 yond the meridian of life and somewhat disabled 
 by honorable wounds, he had obtained a lucrative 
 position in the legions stationed about the city, 
 the duties of which were so light that he passed 
 the greater portion of his time at the villa with 
 his wife Calpha, his son Marcellus and the throng 
 of domestic slaves usually found about an opulent 
 Roman s house. 
 
 The house of Varus stood back a short distance 
 from the splendid highway, and was surrounded 
 by extensive grounds laid off in circles, rectangles 
 and irregular forms, bordered with shrubs and 
 flowers and cultivated in vineyards, orchards and 
 gardens. Here and there amid the foliage of 
 the trees gleamed numerous marble statues, the 
 lovely Venus, the reeling Bacchus, the sovereign 
 Jupiter, Silence, with marble finger on his marble 
 lips, and numerous other deities. 
 
 The son of Varus was the model of a Roman 
 youth, tall, agile, athletic and almost singularly 
 handsome. In a short time he would be of age, 
 and through his father s influence he had already 
 
DORCAS 13 
 
 obtained an appointment as centurion to take ef 
 fect upon the day that he should " burn his 
 beard " and assume the virile toga. 
 
 The Vice-Prefect sat in the shade one day in 
 front of his open portico, tracing words and 
 figures with the point of his sword in the sand and 
 gravel of the broad walk leading from the house 
 to the highway, when up from the marble stile 
 upon the road a tall and swarthy man approached, 
 leading a young girl by the hand. So preoccupied 
 was Varus that he did not notice their coming 
 until the tall man s shadow fell upon the figure 
 he was making in the sand, and upon raising his 
 head to see whom his visitors might be, received 
 a respectful salute, and the man said in the Greek 
 language, then much used at Rome : 
 " Art thou the Vice-Prefect Varus? " 
 " Yea," answered Varus; " who art thou? " 
 " I am Epaphras, an Israelite, and the maiden 
 is Dorcas, the daughter of Faustina, whom I have 
 brought to thee because I heard in the city that 
 thou desirest to employ a damsel who can read 
 and speak the Greek and the Latin, and is not 
 wholly uninstructed in the Hebrew tongue." 
 
 " Yea, yea ! " cried the Vice-Prefect, his , 
 bronzed face lighting up with pleasure, " I greatly 
 desire to hire such a girl, and will pay liberally 
 for her services. We have four millions of peo 
 ple in holy Rome, and the greater part of them 
 
14 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 are slaves, yet is it difficult to obtain a slave fit 
 for the duties I wish done, the few of them who 
 are sufficiently educated being kept by the senators 
 and patricians in the city. But this girl is almost 
 a child; can she write as well as speak the Greek 
 and the Latin? " 
 
 "Yea, verily," Epaphras said; "for the 
 maiden is fifteen years of age, and hardly knoweth 
 which may be her native tongue, as she hath been 
 accustomed to use them both alike from her very 
 childhood." 
 
 " Then I shall mark this a lucky day," said 
 Varus, " for my sight faileth me so that I read 
 with difficulty, and it is a dreary thing to stay all 
 day at home listening to the silly chattering of 
 Calpha and her women. Name the price, Jew, 
 and believe thou that the girl hath found a 
 friend indeed if she can read and write as thou 
 sayest." 
 
 "The price of her services," said Epaphras, 
 " is a secondary consideration, and may safely be 
 left to thy liberality; but thou art an honorable 
 Roman, and before I commit the maiden to thy 
 care, there are certain conditions for the per 
 formance of which thou must pledge me thy 
 word." 
 
 Then the brows of Varus contracted impa 
 tiently, and he sharply answered: 
 
 " Surely no Roman hath ever bargained with a 
 
DORCAS 15 
 
 Jew but that he is bound by some unreasonable 
 conditions. But what are thine?" 
 
 " Naught unreasonable, I hope," replied 
 Epaphras. The maiden is not a slave, but is 
 free-born, and the conditions are only that she 
 shall not be questioned nor argued with concern 
 ing our religion; only that she shall have the 
 Seventh day for her own, without let or hin 
 drance; only that she shall not be required to 
 obey any orders save thine and those of thy wife." 
 
 * These are but just and reasonable conditions," 
 said Varus, " and I give thee my sacred word 
 that they shall be faithfully observed. Of course, 
 no sensible Roman ever expects a Jew to abandon 
 the severe and inhuman tenets of his religion, or 
 to permit his children to do so, in order to learn 
 the more reasonable and delightful worship of 
 the gods of Rome; but chiefly desire the girl to 
 read and write for me, and if she should some 
 times bring a small amphora from the cellar and 
 serve me with a little wine, that is the only other 
 duty I shall require of her." 
 
 * Then I do place her under thy protection, and 
 will take my leave." 
 
 " But where and when wilt thou collect her, 
 wages? " said Varus. 
 
 " Give unto her weekly whatever thou wilt," 
 said Epaphras. " A good home with reputable 
 people, and kind treatment, is more to the maiden 
 
1 6 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 and to me than wages, although we are but 
 poor." 
 
 " And wilt thou trust a child with money?" 
 asked Varus. 
 
 4 Yea," replied Epaphras, his dark face flush 
 ing vividly, " I would trust this child with un 
 counted money with my life, if need be. If 
 she do ever steal from thee, if she do ever lie to 
 thee, if thou findest her in anything lacking truth, 
 integrity and modesty, take out thine anger upon 
 me with sword or stave, or what thou wilt ! " 
 
 :< What is thy name, child? " asked Varus. 
 
 " Dorcas, the daughter of Faustina," answered 
 she. 
 
 " If thou dost merit the confidence and praise 
 this Israelite bestows upon thee, Dorcas, count it a 
 happy day which brought thee to my house." 
 
 Then, turning to Epaphras, he said, " Fare 
 well." 
 
 And Epaphras, with a low bow, said, " Fare 
 well, Vice-Prefect ! " But ere he turned away 
 Epaphras clasped the hand of Dorcas, kissed her 
 fair white brow, and, with a glance of unutter 
 able tenderness, whispered, " The Lord preserve 
 thee, child ! " to which, in a like subdued tone, 
 she answered, " And thee, also, father." 
 
 Then saying, " Follow me," Varus led Dorcas 
 into the atrium, or central hall, into which the 
 numerous rooms of the house all opened, and 
 
DORCAS 17 
 
 thence into a small room on the left, which he 
 called his library; and seating himself comfort 
 ably, he placed in her hands some leaves of the 
 Anabasis, saying, " Be thou seated, and read this 
 for me." 
 
 And thus was Dorcas installed in her humble 
 but pleasant position in the villa of the Vice-Pre 
 fect Varus. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 TOGA YIRILIS 
 
 I V HE months passed swiftly and quietly, and 
 * the day came upon which Marcellus was to 
 celebrate his coming of age, after the manner of 
 the golden youth of Rome; and, although he had 
 been sending messages to his mother and orders 
 to the slaves for days before, on the morning -of 
 the eventful day he came on horseback to the villa 
 to see for himself that the preparations for the 
 revel were properly made, and to report that the 
 soothsayers had announced that all omens and 
 auguries were auspicious for celebrating an event 
 so important in the life of a young gentleman 
 of the Imperial City. The young man leaped 
 from his horse at the stile in front of the house, 
 and left the beast as if he knew there must be 
 some one there to take charge of him, some one 
 of the slaves to whom the benevolent gods of 
 Rome had given life only that they might minister 
 to the conveniences, passions and pleasures of 
 those upper classes for whom the world was made. 
 The young man came swinging up the broad 
 gravel walk with that swift, martial tread which 
 
 18 
 
TOGA VIRILIS 19 
 
 the thorough military training that his father had 
 given to him seemed to have made his natural 
 gait; for, careless about many things, the Vice- 
 Prefect had insisted, with steady and inflexible de 
 termination, that the boy must be a thorough 
 soldier, and had never permitted any excuses to 
 avail for evading daily military exercises; and, 
 indeed, the youth s martial spirit had seconded his 
 father s settled purpose so well that the boy was 
 as proficient in the tactics, and even in the military 
 laws which prevailed in the armies of the empire, 
 as any veteran. He came rushing into the house 
 with a boisterous and half-boyish good humor and 
 impatience, nodded courteously to his mother, 
 Calpha, kissed some of the slave-girls in her pres 
 ence, and hugged and tousled others until they 
 ran off screaming and laughing to avoid the em 
 braces of the romping youth, and then began to 
 make minute and rapid inquiries after almost every 
 item of the preparations in progress for the com 
 ing feast, and especially as to the quality of snow 
 which had been brought from Mount Soracte, 
 and as to the particular amphoras of wine that 
 had been packed away in it. 
 
 During the few months she had been at the 
 villa Dorcas had so greatly pleased the Vice-Pre 
 fect by her reading and writing, and by her 
 pleasant but always cautious conversation, that he 
 felt the girl to be indispensable to his comfort, 
 
20 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 and never permitted anything to interfere with the 
 services she was accustomed to render him. But 
 whenever any duty of his official position required 
 his presence in the city she was left very much to 
 her own devices and inclinations; and generally 
 she went into the atrium and volunteered to aid 
 Calpha and the slaves in the preparation or spin 
 ning of wool and flax, in preserving various fruits, 
 and in other domestic operations; and she was 
 always so quiet, cheerful and neat that her aid 
 was exceedingly acceptable. But both Calpha 
 and the slaves observed that whenever their talk 
 drifted into the licentiousness and immodesty 
 which were common in the gossipings of all Ro 
 man women, high and low, the girl at once be 
 came silent, her sweet young face grew very grave, 
 and if it were at all convenient to leave the atrium 
 she would do so immediately; but her uniform 
 kindness to all of them prevented them from re 
 senting her manifest loathing of subjects which al 
 ways formed the staple of their talk, and the ten 
 derness and reverence which were constantly mani 
 fest in her deportment toward Calpha, the wife 
 of Varus, the mother of Marcellus, the mistress 
 of these slaves, was a thing so new and pleasant 
 to that most reputable matron that she wondered 
 how and where the girl had acquired manners 
 that seemed naturally to exhibit a degree of re 
 spect for herself which no Roman mother ever 
 
TOGA VIRILIS 21 
 
 expected or received from her own daughters 
 a reverence that was not based upon fear, like 
 that of her domestics, but that seemed to be spon 
 taneous, loving and sincere. 
 
 Indeed, while the Vice-Prefect Varus was a 
 better husband, a better father, a better master, 
 and, in almost every respect, a better man than 
 any other Roman of his rank and wealth, Dorcas 
 had dwelt at the villa but a short time before she 
 perceived, young as she was, that under the social 
 and political system of the empire the wives of 
 even the most reputable Romans were only a 
 better sort of slaves, in spite of the vain shadow 
 of respect which the law threw over them. Cal- 
 pha, in every respect a very worthy and sensible 
 woman, stood somewhat higher in the estimation 
 of her husband and son (themselves most excel 
 lent Romans) than would a mare that had been 
 dam to a very fine colt, or a slave that had chanced 
 to render some extraordinary service. The single 
 advantage that the wife had over the other do 
 mestics consisted in the fact that her legal rela 
 tion to the master of the house made her offspring 
 legitimate, and also gave her power to control her 
 husband s other slaves. 
 
 Not knowing that the young man had come 
 home, Dorcas went into the atrium, as usual, to 
 offer such aid as she might be able to render in the 
 doing of their domestic tasks; and Marcellus no 
 
22 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 sooner saw her than, gazing upon her with undis 
 guised admiration, he cried aloud: " Dioscuri ! 
 but the Vice-Prefect hath shown marvelous good 
 taste in the purchase of such a new slave as that! 
 And do thou remember, girl, that to prevent any 
 growth of jealousy upon the part of Calpha 
 against my most reputable father, from this day 
 I claim thee for mine own." Then, darting for 
 ward, he seized her hand in one of his own, and 
 catching her about the waist with the other, he 
 kissed her before she could break from his grasp, 
 while he rattled away in praise of her beauty: 
 " By Aphrodite ! thou art beautiful ! Thy brow 
 is fairer than a marble god s ! Thine eyes are 
 bluer and deeper than the summer sky ! Thy lips 
 are redder than the scarlet cherries ! Thy cheeks 
 are pinker than the sea shell s delicatest bloom ! " 
 But before the delighted and laughing youth had 
 finished his panegyric Dorcas had glided out of his 
 embrace, and sprang away behind his mother s 
 chair, and stood there gazing, flushed and in 
 dignant, upon the handsome youth, but silent still. 
 " Come thou hither," said Marcellus, " for thou 
 shalt be fast friend with me. By foam-born 
 Venus, no other Roman hath so beautiful a slave, 
 and thou shalt be my pet and favorite henceforth ! 
 Come hither, girl ! " 
 
 But Dorcas raised her queenly little head, and, 
 gazing with quiet self-possession into the young 
 
TOGA VIRILIS 23 
 
 man s eager face, in low and modulated tones as 
 sweet as flute-notes, answered thus : ;< Thou art 
 greatly mistaken, centurion, for I am not a slave, 
 but born as free as thou art; and I hope that thy 
 conduct, which seemeth to have grown out of this 
 mistake, will never be repeated." 
 
 "What, then, art thou doing here?" asked 
 Marcellus. 
 
 " I serve the Vice-Prefect Varus upon a con 
 tract, one condition of which is that I am subject 
 to the orders of no one in his house except his own 
 and those of thy mother, Calpha 1 " 
 
 " Then thou, Calpha, command this beautiful 
 hireling that she come hither and make friends 
 with me." 
 
 " Nay! " said Calpha. " I will in no wise in 
 terfere with thy father s wishes, by which the 
 maiden is to be free of all control ; for he is mar- 
 velously attached to Dorcas. And besides," she 
 continued with a sly smile, " to me it seemeth that 
 one of the handsomest youths in holy Rome should 
 scorn to implore his mother s help to win the dam 
 sel s favor!" 
 
 " I will not do so," said Marcellus; " but by the 
 gods of Rome, I will have her, and win her for 
 myself, too! For there is no girl of her class 
 in the Imperial City that would hesitate to put all 
 her wages into an offering to Venus to gain so 
 much of my praise and admiration as thou dost 
 
24 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 
 
 scornfully reject." But Dorcas had quietly left 
 the room, nor did Marcellus see her again that 
 day, although he was here, there and everywhere, 
 bustling around and meddling with the arrange 
 ments for the coming feast, now and then exhibit 
 ing toward the young female slaves a tactual fa 
 miliarity and kindness which showed that his boast 
 of being a favorite was no extravagance, and 
 which, alas! also showed that the sacred delicacy 
 which belongs to womanhood was unknown and 
 unrecognized even in a household so very respect 
 able as that of the Vice-Prefect. 
 
 About nightfall the young friends of the cen 
 turion began to arrive, and many of them were 
 accompanied by favorite slaves or other feminine 
 friends. Soon the customary rites began with the 
 burning of the beard of Marcellus, with libations 
 to the Lares and Penates, the household gods of 
 Rome, with other libations and offerings to Venus 
 and to Mars, and with strange ceremonies which 
 the later Romans had learned of Egypt in honor 
 of Anubis, Astarte, and Cybele! 
 
 Then the banquet began, in which the young 
 men reclined around the table spread in the great 
 hall, tasted delicacies which were of themselves 
 enough to prove that almost every clime and peo 
 ple under heaven paid tribute to the luxury as 
 well as the power of Rome. Each separate 
 course of the feast was followed or accompanied 
 
TOGA VIRILIS 25 
 
 by liberal draughts of different wines, and the 
 girls who reclined with the young gentlemen at 
 table (a privilege from which their own sisters, 
 and all matrons, were jealously excluded by Ro 
 man customs) were not behind their masculine 
 associates in eating or in drinking, or in wit and 
 ribaldry. Hour after hour the feast continued, 
 the wine circulated more and more freely, the 
 jest became broader, the conversation louder and 
 more unrestrained, and the song and glance more 
 reckless, until far into the night, both sexes seemed 
 to have reached the last stages of inebriety and in 
 decency; and some of them were still lying around 
 the tables in the hall, some had wandered out 
 into the surrounding grounds, and, here and there 
 upon the rustic benches or the pleasanter couch of 
 grass, slept off the wild debauch. It was a 
 drunken revelry that would have disgraced a Ro 
 man in the earlier and better days of Rome, but 
 which at that era was the universal custom among 
 the wealthy classes, not supposed to merit censure 
 at all, and which was regarded as the usual and 
 proper thing by the Vice-Prefect and his wife, 
 whose only concern was to see that the wants of 
 the guests were properly supplied, and that any 
 approach to quarreling was promptly checked be 
 fore it could assume the features of a brawl. It 
 was a fair index to the state of private morals 
 throughout the empire, and especially at Rome. 
 
26 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 These young men were not lost to the sense of 
 shame that in a better age would necessarily have 
 sprung from such luxurious and unmanly excesses 
 because they were bad men or worse than other 
 Romans of their class, but they were entirely de 
 void of any sense of shame because they did not 
 know that there was anything in these customs and 
 conduct of which to be ashamed. They were only 
 acting in accordance with the teachings of their age 
 and country, and saw nothing disreputable to their 
 own characters, or unacceptable to the gods, in 
 any feature of their revelry. 
 
 Dorcas had declined the request of Calpha that 
 she would remain in the atrium, but, seated at one 
 of the small windows characteristic of Roman 
 architecture at the far end of one of the little 
 rooms which opened into the hall, herself in dark 
 ness almost, she gazed with vivid interest into the 
 illuminated room, watching the rites and sub 
 sequent revelry, until, with burning cheek and 
 eye, she slipped out of the window quietly and 
 sought the solitude of her own chamber, adjoining 
 that which Varus called his library, and repeated, 
 half in reverie, in the splendid language of the 
 Greeks, words that seemed to be practically illus 
 trated by the scenes she had just witnessed: 
 
 " Now the works of the flesh are manifest, 
 idolatry, drunkenness, revelings and such like; of 
 which I tell you before, as I have also told you 
 
TOGA VIRILIS 27 
 
 in times past, that they which do such things shall 
 not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit 
 of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 
 gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; 
 against such there is no law. And they that are 
 Christ s have crucified the flesh with the affections 
 and lusts ! " 
 
 But continued she, musingly, " The centurion 
 is so young, so handsome, so full of life, and joy, 
 and kindness, and he knows no better than he 
 does!" 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 IN WHICH DORCAS ASKETH QUESTIONS 
 
 pHE next morning, at a late hour, the revelers 
 * whom choice had detained at the villa, and 
 those whom vinous excesses had rendered inca 
 pable of making their way back to the city, after 
 certain matutinal libations to the gods and a gen 
 erous breakfast, took their departure. And Mar- 
 cellus, also, went to take formal command of his 
 century which his father had obtained for him, 
 and had selected beforehand. For some days he 
 did not return to the villa, but Dorcas learned, 
 from daily conversations in the family, that the 
 young centurion was pursuing a round of dissipa 
 tions among his friends, some of whom were al 
 ready, and some of whom were expecting to be, 
 admitted into the military service of the empire 
 about the same period. She remarked with as 
 tonishment the fact that while Varus was him 
 self the bearer of nearly all the information the 
 family received concerning Marcellus, and was in 
 formed of all the incidents of the feasts and de 
 baucheries in which that gallant young gentleman 
 participated, neither he nor Calpha ever uttered a 
 
 28 
 
DORCAS ASKETH QUESTIONS 29 
 
 word of censure or of anxiety, but did use many 
 expressions which indicated their opinion to be 
 that the dissipations constantly referred to were all 
 right and proper enough in a young man, en 
 tirely consonant with the customs and usages of 
 Roman social life, and with the religious ideas 
 of paganism. 
 
 The Vice-Prefect was so much gratified with the 
 manner in which his young scribe and reader per 
 formed the tasks required of her, that he insensi 
 bly began to enlarge the sphere of her duties, so 
 that, in place of confining her to the reading of 
 such classics as belonged to him, and copying pas 
 sages which pleased him out of those borrowed 
 from acquaintances and friends, he began grad 
 ually to employ her quick intelligence and deft 
 fingers in making copies of such reports connected 
 with his official business as he deemed it to be 
 necessary to make in duplicate. One day Varus 
 laid before her the report of his criminal juris 
 diction for the preceding month, setting forth that 
 he had ordered the execution or other punishment 
 of certain malefactors who had been tried and 
 condemned by the magistrates and transferred to 
 him for punishment. In transcribing this report 
 she came upon the following sentence: 
 
 " Besides these cases of ordinary crime, I had before me 
 seven wretches accused of the crime of being Christians. 
 Two of them, who had remained silent when interrogated 
 
30 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 in sight of the implements of torture, confessed their 
 guilt, and sacrificed to Jupiter, and were thereupon dis 
 charged. Three of them, who remained obstinately 
 silent, I had flogged soundly and banished them out of thy 
 dominions. Two of them, who insolently boasted of their 
 devotion to that malignant superstition, and ridiculed the 
 gods of Rome, I ordered to be immediately beheaded." 
 
 When the young girl read this statement in 
 the official report, she turned pale and trembled so 
 that her fingers refused to perform their office, 
 and the cessation of her work caught the attention 
 of the Vice-Prefect, who was looking on admir 
 ing the ease and elegance with which she wrote. 
 
 "What aileth thee, Dorcas?" he said kindly. 
 "Art thou ill, child? If so, defer thy task un 
 til to-morrow, and a good night s rest will restore 
 thee." 
 
 But mastering her emotion by a resolute effort, 
 she replied: 
 
 "Nay, Vice- Prefect! It hath passed me by 
 already, and I will finish the work now." 
 
 After having done so, and finding that the Vice- 
 Prefect seemed to be more inclined to conversa 
 tion than to assigning her any other task, she said : 
 
 " In thy report I find that thou hast inflicted 
 punishment upon murderers, thieves and house 
 breakers. Also that thou hast punished others 
 who were not accused of such crimes, simply say 
 ing that they were charged with being Christians. 
 
DORCAS ASKETH QUESTIONS 31 
 
 Wilt thou tell me what crimes these persons had 
 committed? " 
 
 " Why," said Varus, " they were members of 
 that odious sect which follows Jesus Christ, whom 
 the Procurator, Pontius Pilate, crucified at Jerusa 
 lem, in the days when the Emperor Tiberius ruled 
 the world. A most pestilent superstition, which, 
 in spite of the efforts of many pious emperors to 
 suppress it, hath spread throughout the empire. 
 But the most holy Emperor Maxentius hath seen 
 the evil of any indulgence granted to this criminal 
 association, and hath ordered that its members 
 be punished wherever found, according to the 
 edicts made by the Emperor Diocletian. But 
 surely thou a Jewess, must have heard of this 
 Jesus ! " 
 
 "Yea," answered Dorcas; "but thy report 
 showeth that these whom thou didst punish were 
 called Christians, and I asked thee what crimes 
 they were said to have committed?" 
 
 " None," said Varus, " except that they were 
 Christians; that is the very worst of crimes." 
 
 " But if I do not weary thee," said Dorcas, 
 " tell me whether it is the custom of the Romans 
 to punish all who differ with them in religion?" 
 
 "Surely not," answered Varus; "Rome pro 
 tects and welcomes all religions under heaven, and 
 doth not even punish thine own stubborn and pre 
 sumptuous people, but permitteth the Jews to live 
 
32 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 in the city, although they refuse to sacrifice unto 
 the gods of Rome." 
 
 * Why, then, is it esteemed so great a crime 
 to profess the Christian faith ? " 
 
 " Because," rejoined Varus, " this most odious 
 superstition hath grown into a secret organiza 
 tion governed by extravagant laws contrary to the 
 customs of our ancestors and inconsistent with the 
 laws of the empire." 
 
 ;< Wilt thou inform me in what things they 
 differ from the Roman laws things of conse 
 quence enough to incur the displeasure of the Em 
 peror? " 
 
 " Certainly, child, if thou seekest knowledge. 
 In the first place, this most impious sect mock and 
 deride the gods of Rome and every other nation, 
 refusing to visit the temples or to sacrifice. This 
 mere atheism of the Christians would not be 
 esteemed a crime punishable by law; but this per 
 nicious sect hath held and taught for three cen 
 turies that no man ought to bear arms even in 
 defense of his country, and the acceptance of this 
 pusillanimous dogma would destroy the legions 
 and expose Rome and the empire to be plundered 
 by the Barbarians. Of course the law does not 
 and ought not to permit the existence of a sect 
 which makes it a matter of religion to discourage 
 enlistments and promote desertion." 
 
 " I can understand," replied Dorcas, " how it 
 
DORCAS ASKETH QUESTIONS 33 
 
 may be that a great and warlike people, as the 
 Romans have always been, should seek to destroy 
 a religion which opposes all wars, and forbids its 
 followers to bear arms. Yet, Vice-Prefect, to an 
 innocent and ignorant girl like me, it doth seem 
 that thine own experience upon this point would 
 lead thee to protect, rather than to punish, the 
 Christians." 
 
 " How can that be possible?" asked Varus 
 laughing. 
 
 " Thou art a soldier," said Dorcas, " and, I 
 have heard, an officer of approved courage and ex 
 perience, that hath borne the imperial standard at 
 the head of thy cohorts in Europe, Asia and 
 Africa. Dost thou not think, after all the wrong 
 and bloodshed and suffering which thou must have 
 seen, that it would be a blessing to mankind, and 
 especially to the common people of the world, 
 upon whom fall the burdens and ills of war, 
 if there should never be war again? " 
 
 Yea," answered Varus, " a measureless 
 blessing, truly! But that cannot be, child. 
 There must be wars; and the nation that would 
 preserve itself or govern others, must be first in 
 
 war." 
 
 Yet if thine account of the Christians be cor 
 rect, all wars must cease if all men were to be 
 come Christians: and thou sayest this would be 
 a universal blessing! " 
 
34 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 " But the only road to peace lies through the 
 fields of war: only conquest leads to peace," said 
 the Vice-Prefect. 
 
 " Hast thou ever been engaged in any war in 
 which the people on either side began the strug 
 gle ? Or is it true, Vice-Prefect, that all the wars 
 that afflict mankind grow out of the ambitions and 
 crimes of rulers, and generally about things con 
 cerning which the common people know very little 
 and care less? " 
 
 " That is true to a great extent; but it is true 
 also that soldiers must fight for their standards, 
 and the law cannot tolerate the doctrine of non- 
 resistance which these accursed Christians 
 teach. " 
 
 " Wilt thou inform me what else there may be 
 in the teachings of this hated sect that is contrary 
 to the laws and customs of Rome, besides their 
 opposition to bearing arms? " 
 
 " One other thing in regard to which they de 
 spise our laws and customs and the practice of 
 antiquity, is the fact that they make it religion to 
 abolish slavery. They teach that no Christian 
 can lawfully own a slave, and that if any slave be 
 comes a Christian he should be set free; so that 
 just as this abominable sect groweth, the number 
 of freedmen steadily increaseth. This is another 
 one of those * extravagant laws and opinions 
 which the most holy Emperor Galerius denounces 
 
DORCAS ASKETH QUESTIONS 3 5 
 
 in his Edict of Toleration issued to reclaim the 
 deluded Christians into the way of reason and of 
 nature. " 
 
 " I have had small opportunities to gain knowl 
 edge of all these matters," said Dorcas. 
 
 " And thou art the only maiden, or matron 
 either, I have known that desired to gain knowl 
 edge of any matters of importance. The Roman 
 women are satisfied with the shameful ignorance 
 which maketh them but dreary companions for 
 sensible men." 
 
 "May I then learn by asking thee?" said 
 Dorcas blandly. 
 
 " Yea, child, I admire thee both because thou 
 knowest much already, and because thou art eager 
 to learn more." 
 
 " I understand," she said, " that Roman law 
 and custom fosters slavery, and thou hast in 
 formed me that this hated Christian sect is, and 
 has always been, settled in its opposition to slavery 
 of any kind. I see clearly, therefore, why the 
 Roman slave-owners seek to destroy a people who 
 hold a religion that condemns the slave code in 
 every line and section of it. But, Vice-Prefect, 
 doth thy experience teach thee that slavery is a 
 good thing in itself?" 
 
 " It hath always existed," replied Varus. " It 
 is in accordance with the ancient laws and public 
 discipline of the Romans, and * the religion and 
 
36 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 ceremonies instituted by our fathers, and is the 
 practice of antiquity even as the most holy Em 
 peror Galerius saith in the edict to which I have 
 referred; and these Christians are impious in de 
 spising it and teaching that it is religion to abolish 
 
 it." 
 
 u 
 
 But is it a good thing, Vice-Prefect? 
 Wouldst thou prefer to be a slave thyself? Is it 
 good for any Sive the masters who are rich? Is 
 it, in the long iun, good even for them? " 
 
 :t These are strange and perplexing questions, 
 Dorcas, and I cannot rightly answer them at this 
 time. Let it satisfy thee to know that slavery is 
 the universal custom of all peoples in all ages, and 
 it is impious arid unholy in this Christian sect to 
 oppose it." 
 
 " Are there other matters besides war and 
 slavery in regard to which these Christians vio 
 late the laws and customs of the Romans? " 
 
 4 Yea, many others," answered Varus, " one of 
 the most important of which is that they teach 
 as religion that all the laws and customs of Rome 
 which legalize the superiority of one man, or 
 class, above another, and which legalize the right 
 to acquire, hold or transmit private property 
 rights, are contrary to the will of Christ, and 
 ought to be abolished. They teach community 
 of property, and claim to have practiced this worst 
 form of agrarianism for three hundred years an 
 
DORCAS ASKETH QUESTIONS 37 
 
 abominable system which would destroy all prop 
 erty and subvert the empire and all government 
 if it should be once adopted." 
 
 Thou didst inform me, Vice-Prefect, that 
 this sect, although punished and outlawed by 
 many of the emperors, tolerated by but few, and 
 protected by none, had spread throughout the em 
 pire. Canst thou tell me whether it hath prospered 
 in property as well as in numbers?" 
 
 * Yea," answered Varus; " they hold all prop 
 erty in common: the individual can own nothing 
 except his wearing apparel and daily supplies for 
 himself and family; yet the Church (which is the 
 name by which they designate their illegal and 
 pernicious communities, each of which appears 
 to be a distinct and independent democracy) is 
 growing more and more wealthy everywhere." 
 
 " Doth it not seem to thee, Vice-Prefect, that if 
 the Christian communities, by this democratic 
 policy, have so prospered even in the face of the 
 proscriptions written against them in the imperial 
 law, that the same system would secure the like 
 prosperity for other people also ? and that it would 
 be good news to the poor if it were universally 
 adopted? " 
 
 " Dorcas, thou art the strangest girl that I have 
 ever seen. Thy questions open up continually 
 new and marvelous views of things of which no 
 Roman woman ever thinks at all, and thou art 
 
38 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 sometimes hard to answer." But at this moment 
 Marcellus saluted his father from the open door, 
 in his usual musical, rollicking tone: 
 
 " May I come in, Vice-Prefect, and profit by 
 this grand discussion upon laws, religion and 
 statesmanship? " 
 
 " Come," said Varus; " and if thou wilt listen 
 to this young girl thou wilt have much to think 
 about. This is my son, the centurion, Marcellus, 
 and this is Dorcas, my scribe and reader." 
 
 "All hail!" said Marcellus, with mock 
 gravity. " Now let the fair Aspasia resume the 
 broken lessons." 
 
 " I think," said Dorcas, rising, " that the-re 
 would be more profit if I go to aid thy mother 
 with the work." 
 
 Thou shalt remain, Dorcas," said Varus; and 
 then turning to Marcellus he continued: "This 
 Dorcas hath found, in transcribing some minutes 
 of the criminal report, an entry of the punish 
 ment of certain malevolent and contumacious 
 Christians, and hath inquired why the Roman 
 laws afflict them; and upon being informed that 
 it is because they teach a religion in opposition 
 to war, slavery, social and political distinctions 
 between men and classes of men, and all laws of 
 private property, she hath suggested, even by her 
 inquiries, whether war is not an evil thing and a 
 curse to the world, and whether slavery is not an 
 
DORCAS ASKETH QUESTIONS 39 
 
 evil thing, and whether, if the Christians prosper 
 by communism, even under the malediction of 
 the laws, that system might not really be best for 
 all men. What thinkest thou, centurion, of all 
 these things? " 
 
 " I say that war is a glorious thing for all of 
 the better classes; that slavery is necessary for 
 their convenience, and that without offices, rank, 
 privileges and private property, we would be no 
 better than the plebeians; and that, as to the com 
 mon herd, it doth not matter a denarius to any 
 sensible man whether war or slavery bless or curse 
 them. That is the hard, common-sense, practical 
 creed of the respectable classes in Rome, and I in 
 dorse it with all my soul." 
 
 And Varus, desirous of keeping the splendid 
 youth near to himself, and willing to call out more 
 of the girl s strange fancies, which amused and in 
 terested him, turned to her, saying : 
 
 " What answer has thou, Dorcas, for this dec 
 lamation of the centurion? " 
 
 But Dorcas answered: " I have none, nor do I 
 presume to dispute such matters either with thee or 
 with him, although by thy permission I did ask 
 thee certain questions. " 
 
 " If thou art too modest to advance thine own 
 opinions," laughed out Varus, " ask whatever 
 thou desirest to know." 
 
 " Wilt thou inform me whether there are yet 
 
40 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 other laws and customs of the Romans to which 
 this Christian sect maintains its obstinate opposi 
 tion?" 
 
 " No others that now occur to me, * answered 
 Varus, " except such as thine own people refuse 
 to obey. They deny the divinity of the gods, they 
 scorn the idols, they refuse to adore the eikons, and 
 refuse to sacrifice, or even to visit the temples. 
 But the Jews are like them in all these respects." 
 
 "Art thou a Jewess, Dorcas?" inquired Mar- 
 cellus. 
 
 The young woman made no answer, but turned 
 with an appealing look to Varus, who thereupon 
 spoke as follows: 
 
 " Centurion, I agreed with the Israelite 
 Epaphras, who brought to me my incomparable 
 secretary, that she should not be questioned con 
 cerning her religion, and thou must respect the 
 terms of mine agreement, and allow thy question 
 to remain unanswered." 
 
 " But," said Marcellus apologetically, " I did 
 not intend to refer to her religion, but to nation 
 ality. Surely, with those wonderful blue eyes and 
 her complexion fairer than a lily, our Dorcas can 
 hardly be a Jewess by birth? " 
 
 " I think not," said Dorcas. " The excellent 
 Epaphras, who hath been my guardian from mine 
 infancy (for my parents died before I can remem 
 ber them), hath told me that my mother was the 
 
DORCAS ASKETH QUESTIONS 41 
 
 daughter of a chieftain of the Cimbri, whose wife 
 followed him to Rome when he was brought 
 hither as a captive from the regions that border 
 on the far North Sea." 
 
 The young centurion had all this time regarded 
 Dorcas with looks of undisguised and ardent ad 
 miration, and when she ceased speaking he ex 
 claimed : " Dioscuri ! but I knew no Jewish blood 
 could flow through the blue veins that show so 
 beautifully beneath her snowy skin! Only the 
 frozen North can yield these golden-haired and 
 heaven-eyed maidens, fairer than marbles of 
 Pentelicus ! " Then, seeing that the girl was pain 
 fully embarrassed by his gaze and speech an 
 evidence of native modesty most new and invit 
 ing to him he continued: "The Vice- Prefect 
 hath most truly said that the Emperor punishes 
 this odious Christian sect because of their treason 
 able opposition to the military laws, whereby they 
 discourage enlistments in the army and promote 
 desertions therefrom, and because of their abhor 
 rence of slavery, and because of their visionary 
 and impious denial of private property rights, and 
 their vain dreams of a democracy in which social 
 and political distinctions between men and classes 
 shall be abolished; but we younger men, who love 
 life and appreciate all the advantages which the 
 benevolent gods of Rome have provided for the 
 patrician youth, hate these accursed Galileans be- 
 
42 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 cause their harsh, ascetic creed condemns as sin 
 all the pleasant indulgences which nature craves, 
 and denounce, as falsest idols, all the propitious 
 gods that sanction them 1 Ah, Dorcas, who that 
 hath a human heart would desire to live in a 
 world where the service of glorious Mars is de 
 nounced as crime? where the sacrifices to Venus 
 are outlawed and despised? where Bacchus, ever 
 beautiful and ever young, the solacer of all sor 
 rows, the inciter to all joys, is held up to detesta 
 tion as a brutal god? A malignant superstition, 
 indeed, must that be that in place of leaving re 
 morse and sorrow for the weary old age that 
 loathes life and all the good things of the world, 
 seeketh to crucify all human pleasing desires even 
 in the very hey-day of youth, and congeal every 
 fount of pleasure by the requirements of its in 
 human creed! If thou, sweet Dorcas, hast been 
 reared up in the scarcely less harsh and unsocial 
 religion of the stubborn and ascetic Jews, let no 
 false compassion for the sufferings of these malev 
 olent Christians pervert thy heart and lead thee 
 astray, but rather suffer me, thy friend and ad 
 mirer, to teach thee the tender, human, beautiful 
 religion of holy Rome, wherein some delightful 
 divinity shall accept as devotion every sacred 
 right that can minister to pleasure, and so recon 
 cile the heart to all the calamities of fate which 
 cannot be avoided, by calling into delicious exer- 
 
DORCAS ASKETH QUESTIONS 43 
 
 else every faculty of mind and body that can min 
 ister to joy! O beautiful Dorcas! learn thou the 
 true and beautiful religion of sacred, eternal 
 Rome ! " 
 
 " Of the natural results of which thy birth- 
 night s revelry was the only specimen which hath 
 come under my observation," said Dorcas, with 
 greater asperity than any one had ever heard be 
 fore in her melodious voice. 
 
 " And what, O severe Vestal, was there wrong 
 about the feast? The wine was good, the edibles 
 excellent, the gods propitious, and the girls sur 
 passingly pleasant and witty ! " 
 
 " And if thou didst have a sister, centurion, 
 couldst thou have desired to see her among those 
 pleasant, witty girls? If not, doth it appear right 
 to thee to place the sisters of some other youth 
 amid such surroundings ? " 
 
 " Dioscuri ! " he answered. " These girls are 
 only plebeians! Why dost thou ask me whether 
 I would have desired to see my sister among 
 these?" 
 
 " Because thou didst send thy mother, Calpha, 
 to invite me to join them; and if thou art without 
 a law to teach thee that this thing was wrong, thou 
 art then a law unto thyself, and thou oughtest not 
 to place a young girl who never injured thee, and 
 whom thou scarcely knowest where thou thinkest 
 it would have disgraced thy sister to be found." 
 
44 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 The young man, for the first time in his life, 
 was covered with confusion in the presence of a 
 pretty girl, and hardly knew what answer to make. 
 The idea of virtue in any sense except that of 
 personal courage (the Roman signification of the 
 word), the idea of chastity that loves only what 
 things are pure, and loves them for their own 
 sake only, was inexplicable to him; but finally, 
 with much embarrassment, but with perfect sin 
 cerity, he replied: 
 
 " Dorcas, in Rome a line of conduct that is 
 right and proper to the patrician class is impos 
 sible to the plebeians; and conduct that is right 
 and proper enough for the plebeians is utterly 
 impossible for the patrician. Only the odious 
 and democratic Christians assert the brotherhood 
 of man, and deny the privileges of rank and 
 fortune, seeking to reduce all classes to one com 
 mon level, which is the tendency of that cruel 
 asceticism for which we so bitterly hate them. 
 So that they would not only rob us of the pursuits 
 and pleasures natural to our age and rank, but 
 would deny the lower classes those pleasures and 
 advantages which they obtain by our favor, and 
 are cruel to both patrician and plebeian." 
 
 The young girl s pure and beautiful face grew 
 very pale, and a strange fire gleamed from her 
 soft, expressive eyes, as she replied in low, pene 
 trating tones : 
 
DORCAS ASKETH QUESTIONS 45 
 
 " I do not know, centurion, how it all may be ; 
 but, surely, if these despised and persecuted Chris 
 tians have hope in this life only, they must be of 
 all men most miserable. If they teach and prac 
 tice a self-denial so severe as thou sayest, do they 
 not propose some glorious compensation for its 
 sufferings? What sublime reward do they offer 
 to those whom they would induce to accept 
 their faith, and so crucify themselves unto the 
 world?" 
 
 " Nothing that is tangible or satisfactory 
 nothing definite or sure nothing except visionary 
 promises of everlasting happiness beyond this life 
 in exchange for earthly wretchedness." 
 
 " If such promises are built upon any sure and 
 trustworthy foundation," said Dorcas, " it seems 
 to me that it would be the part of wisdom to ac 
 cept them life is so uncertain, fortune so fickle, 
 pleasure so evanescent. And, indeed, the excel 
 lent Epaphras hath taught me that the great men 
 who built up the mighty kingdoms of Egypt, 
 Assyria, Greece and Persia (and even Rome, 
 also) practiced the very same temperance and self- 
 denial which thou dost so bitterly condemn; and 
 that the prevalence of voluptuousness, luxury and 
 pleasure among such as thou hast called the better 
 classes is ever the precursor of national disaster. 
 I know not whether this be true, but, if true, it 
 seems to me that even for this transient, earthly 
 
4 6 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 life sobriety is better than licentiousness for all 
 men of every class." 
 
 " True ! true ! " cried out the Vice-Prefect. 
 The men that made Rome great, and that acted 
 their own parts greatly, were never drunkards, 
 nor gluttons, nor great lovers of pleasure ! Re 
 member that, centurion, remember that ! " 
 
 Just then a slave announced the evening meal, 
 and the conversation was suspended by their ad 
 journment to the great hall, which, in Roman 
 dwelling-houses, was more used than any other 
 apartment. 
 
CHAPTER IV! 
 
 IN .WHICH DORCAS RUNNETH AWAY 
 
 CWIFTLY and pleasantly passed the time for 
 ^ Dorcas at the Roman s beautiful villa; and 
 day by day the brave old Varus became more and 
 more attached to his young secretary, and day by 
 day she became more necessary to his happiness, 
 not only as reader and copyist, but also as com 
 panion and friend. She was the first chaste, cul 
 tivated girl this patrician soldier had ever known. 
 The Roman wife was emphatically the mistress of 
 the house only; and the bright, educated women 
 upon whom, in earlier life, his wandering fancy 
 had been fixed in temporary devotion, were the 
 graceful and accomplished hetairae of Greece, the 
 coarser but still attractive women of Rome, the se 
 ductive beauties of Egypt, or female adventurers 
 from other provinces of the vast Empire, who 
 made their way to public favor and notoriety by 
 mere physical perfectness, or by graceful accom 
 plishments and mental brightness. The patrician 
 classes of the Roman women were uneducated, 
 ill-treated and despised. Marriage was a con 
 tract, a business transaction a very important 
 
 47 
 
48 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 business matter, too to the doing of which 
 the law compelled men under onerous penalties; 
 and Varus, having once transacted this unpleasant 
 business, had abided by the terms of the contract 
 (which had really been an advantageous one) 
 with an exemplary consistency unusual and honor 
 able at Rome. His own daughters had died be 
 fore reaching maturity, and, although he was a 
 good father, he had never realized the sentiment 
 of elevated and pleasant affection and companion 
 ship before Dorcas came to dwell in his house. 
 They had long and frequent conversations, not 
 only upon the subjects of which his manuscripts 
 treated, but upon general questions of ethics and 
 religion. Strangely enough, the girl had never 
 avowed openly any religious convictions, a fact 
 which he naturally accounted for by his belief that 
 she was a Jewess, between whom and a Pagan 
 there could be found no common grounds for com 
 patibility of sentiments. But the life they were 
 leading was very pleasant to both of them. The 
 aged warrior and the young girl conceived a 
 strong friendship for each other, founded upon 
 mutual respect and mutual tolerance. He vastly 
 admired the transparent delicacy, purity, and in 
 telligence of the chaste young spirit with which he 
 was brought into daily contact, and she gladly 
 honored a nature so true, manly and straightfor 
 ward as his ever appeared to be. 
 
DORCAS RUNNETH AWAY 49 
 
 Upon a single point they seemed to be utterly 
 unable to comprehend each other. The Vice- 
 Prefect s idea of right was that it consisted of 
 what the laws require one to do, or to omit, and 
 of whatever was considered to be usual and honor 
 able in a Roman of rank. He could not compre 
 hend her thought that right exists independently 
 of all Roman statutes and customs civil, mili 
 tary or religious; and that these were to be tried 
 by some standard above and beyond the reach of 
 all Roman jurisprudence, civil or military. She 
 was incapable of understanding how it was pos 
 sible that so good a man could be satisfied with 
 the doing of every duty imposed by law, custom 
 or religion, seeming to be profoundly ignorant 
 of any higher sense of obligation, or of any purer 
 standard of ethics. But there was no jarring or 
 discord between them, and their discussions com 
 monly terminated in an amicable recognition of 
 the fact that some things which seemed to be fa 
 miliar as household words to one were an unin 
 telligible jargon to the other. He naturally at 
 tributed it to the fact that she was a woman, and, 
 therefore, naturally subject to intellectual hys 
 terics, or mental obtuseness, as all other women 
 are. 
 
 The relations existing between herself and the 
 young centurion gradually assumed a strange and 
 almost indefinable shape. It would not be en- 
 
50 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 tirely incorrect to say that he failed to compre 
 hend the passion for her which was daily becom 
 ing more and more a part of his existence. Any 
 sentiment of pity for her personally, or any regard 
 for the chastity of which she was the living em 
 bodiment, was beyond the range of his experience. 
 The Roman youth of his age and rank was in 
 capable of either understanding or believing in 
 any such thing, even among the girls whom he 
 might regard as his equals, and among whom he 
 expected that he would some day be compelled to 
 select a wife. In fact, that genuine modesty 
 which loves and cherishes whatever is pure for 
 its own sake, was incomprehensible to both sexes 
 in the higher classes of that age. They knew that 
 marriage meant a contract into which no man but 
 an idiot would enter because of any merely senti 
 mental preference a contract that, however re 
 pulsive it might be and generally was, ought to 
 be justified by the social and political advantages 
 to be reaped from it. As for what they denomi 
 nated " love," it was the fashion to seek it else 
 where than in the marital relation; and a Roman 
 who was actually in love with his wife would gen 
 erally have been an object of ridicule and con 
 temptuous pity. And yet, after Marcellus had 
 first met Dorcas with such boisterous demonstra 
 tions of his preference for her, he had never 
 ventured upon any similar advances; why, he 
 
DORCAS RUNNETH AWAY 51 
 
 could not have told. He therefore found himself 
 daily becoming more and more hopelessly en 
 amored of a girl who quietly but continually be 
 came more and more unapproachable to him. It 
 was a monstrous paradox in his experience, and 
 he would have laughed loud and mockingly if he 
 had discovered any one of his associates in a posi 
 tion at once so inexplicable and so tantalizing. 
 
 Without seeming to do so, she had carefully 
 avoided giving him an opportunity to see her 
 alone, and yet, in the presence of his father or 
 mother, she had met him without a shadow of em 
 barrassment and with unvarying kindness. She 
 really enjoyed being with him. He was certainly 
 the handsomest young man she had ever seen, 
 and his rollicking and boisterous manners and self- 
 conceit did not seem to be much out of place in 
 one who was so young, an only son, and heir to 
 such splendid advantages. He was so quick, so 
 intelligent, so kind and generous, and of such 
 sterling integrity according to the light by which 
 he walked, that it was impossible to be near him 
 without feeling the almost irresistible magnetism 
 of his healthy, hearty, manly character and per 
 son. And yet to her this splendid youth seemed , 
 maimed and dwarfed in the immortal part of him, 
 and, knowing the moral deformity which pagan 
 ism had produced in him, in common with all the 
 youth of his rank in the great heathen empire, 
 
52 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 she felt a certain indefinable sense of pity and 
 compassion for the undeveloped spiritual nature 
 which she believed must be inherent in a physical 
 and intellectual organization so robust and beauti 
 ful. True, she herself was but fifteen years of 
 age, and the colder blood of the north which 
 temperately flowed through her brain and heart, 
 had permitted her swift and bright intellect to 
 grow and blossom wonderfully under the careful 
 and life-long tutelage by which she had profited, 
 while, in every physical sense, she was little more 
 than a child, at an age at which the warmer- 
 blooded daughters of Italy were passionate women 
 on all the sensuous sides of existence, and chil 
 dren in all other things. 
 
 The twain seemed in many particulars to be 
 typical of the antagonistic systems under which 
 they had been reared. He was a fit type of the 
 hard, practical, physical life of splendid Rome, 
 with its vast and truthful boastings of action and 
 achievement she of another and utterly differ 
 ent civilization a system that exalted spiritual 
 life and regarded with scorn, or, at least, with 
 indifference, all of the pomp and splendor of the 
 world in which Rome gloried a system which 
 boldly taught, in the very teeth of all of the wis 
 dom of the ancients, and all of the practice of the 
 centuries, the utter injustice of all class distinctions 
 and prerogatives, and the worth and dignity of 
 
DORCAS RUNNETH AWAY 53 
 
 man, not as kings, nobles, philosophers or mil 
 lionaires; not as Romans, Greeks, Jews or bar 
 barians, but simply as man a truth unknown 
 to human philosophy and statesmanship until 
 Jesus Christ proclaimed it. 
 
 Often and over again these salient and irre 
 concilable differences cropped up out of even the 
 simplest and most informal conversations, and 
 both the Vice-Prefect and the centurion would 
 listen with wonder, respect and interest to the 
 young girl, yet almost a child, who, quietly and 
 modestly, but persistently, dared to maintain that 
 war, in which Rome gloried, was only national 
 crime and legalized murder; that slavery, which 
 was sanctioned by the laws and religion of the 
 empire and the practice of all ages and of all 
 peoples, was contrary to the will of God and to 
 the honest, unbiased deliverance of every man s 
 consciousness; that all class distinctions founded 
 upon accidents of birth, rank or fortune were a 
 wrong to the people; and that the legal right to 
 hold, acquire and transmit private property-rights 
 served only to foster inhuman selfishness, and to 
 give immortality to fraud, pride, tyranny and in 
 justice. These radical opinions were never 
 uttered by the young girl as if she had learned 
 and repeated from memory lessons at variance 
 with the laws and usages of Rome, nor with the 
 dogmatic air which characterized the utterances 
 
54 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 of the philosophers; but as if they were the in 
 spiration of convictions too profound for argu 
 ment the outpourings of some hidden but liv 
 ing well-spring of feeling and of thought. This 
 intellectual and moral purity and strength in a 
 young and beautiful girl was something so new, 
 strange and attractive to both father and son, that 
 often after some sudden, almost sybilline utter 
 ance that seemed to flow spontaneously from the 
 very depths of her pellucid soul, Varus would 
 say: 
 
 " She hath a daimon, centurion ! " 
 
 And Marcellus would answer: "Yea, Vice- 
 Prefect a wise and beautiful daimon ! " 
 
 And this explanation of a womanly intelligence 
 and chastity of thought and feeling which was 
 phenomenal in the experience of these two excel 
 lent Romans, as it would have been in the experi 
 ence of almost all men of their rank in the Im 
 perial City, was confirmed to their minds by the 
 strange fact that Dorcas habitually stated things 
 in the form of questions or suggestions that cut 
 down to the very tap-roots of polytheism, and 
 of all the social and political life of Rome. 
 
 One evening, sitting in the shade of the trees 
 (more than half the life of the Romans was 
 passed out of doors), the Vice-Prefect was ex 
 plaining to Dorcas and Marcellus a plan of the 
 great city, and expatiating upon the glory and 
 
DORCAS RUNNETH AWAY 55 
 
 greatness of Rome, as he pointed out an arch here 
 which indicated a triumph of the Roman arms 
 in Britain, that showed the subjection of great 
 warlike tribes in Gaul, and the other similar suc 
 cesses in Germania. Here were mementos of 
 victories in Africa, in Asia almost throughout 
 the world. 
 
 " Thus you perceive," said Varus, " that holy 
 Rome, under the protection of the immortal and 
 favorable gods, hath triumphed over the nations 
 of mankind, and compelled them to contribute 
 to her grandeur and her glory. Centurion, never 
 forget how magnificent and glorious is thy native 
 Rome, nor how the benevolent gods have favored 
 thee by giving thee honorable birth and position 
 in the all-illustrious empire, nor that it must be 
 the labor of thy life to add to her renown." 
 
 Then said Dorcas quietly: " How many peo 
 ple are in Rome, Vice-Prefect?" 
 
 " More than four millions," answered Varus, 
 " a number unequaled by any city in the world." 
 
 " And how many of them are slaves, Vice-Pre 
 fect?" 
 
 " About two-thirds of them are slaves," said 
 he. 
 
 " Then," said Dorcas, " if the same ratio hold 
 good throughout Italy, dost thou not think that 
 the * liberty and glory of which thou dost so 
 fondly boast are words which have no meaning to 
 
56 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 by far the greater part of the Romans? or is it 
 true, Vice-Prefect, that just as the government 
 of Rome hath advanced in all physical power and 
 progress, the condition of the slaves, and of all 
 the poor, hath become continually harder and more 
 hopeless; so that the grandeur for which thou 
 dost magnify thy gods has been, in truth, the 
 pride and glory of the few only, and the ever-in 
 creasing curse and burden of the many? Dost 
 thou not think it had been better to have had less 
 glory for the few who have a living interest in 
 the affairs of government, and greater liberty and 
 comfort for the vast multitude upon whom the 
 waste and weight of all this glory rests, and none 
 of its advantages? " 
 
 1 Why, the slaves never think of these things," 
 said Marcellus, " and if they did there would be 
 endless servile war." 
 
 " Do the gods also control the destinies of the 
 slaves and of the poor?" asked Dorcas. 
 
 " Certainly ! All men are under the immortal 
 gods," said Varus, " in whom we move and have 
 our being." 
 
 " How many of thy gods are there?" asked 
 Dorcas. 
 
 " The Flamen of Jupiter cannot answer that to 
 thee." 
 
 " And which of them," asked Dorcas, " is the 
 especial protector of the slaves and the poor? 
 
DORCAS RUNNETH AWAY 57 
 
 Which of them giveth his divine compassion and 
 unfailing aid to these unfortunates who constitute 
 the great masses of the Roman people? What 
 are the names of the divinities that invite the 
 adoration and solicit the worship of the slaves and 
 of the plebeians? Who more need divine assist 
 ance in proportion as they are deprived of all 
 human respect, and of all the advantages of life? 
 What kind divinity stands pledged to give jus 
 tice, protection, blessings unto the plebeians and 
 slaves?" 
 
 " I never thought of that before," answered 
 Varus. " All other classes have their own pro 
 tecting gods even pirates, panderers and 
 thieves but there are no especial divinities for 
 the slaves and plebeians as such." 
 
 " Ah ! then," said Dorcas, " it doth seem to me 
 that if some splendid and compassionate god should 
 take his station in your Pantheon, and cry aloud 
 to these despised and afflicted people, * Come unto 
 Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and 
 I will give you rest! Take My yoke upon you 
 and learn of Me; for I, the Divinity, am meek 
 and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto 
 your lives; for My yoke is easy and My burden 
 light it seems to me that such a divinity would 
 be loved and worshiped by the common people 
 with such adoration as Jupiter hath never 
 known I " 
 
58 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 " Why," said Varus, " thou hast uttered, in thy 
 strange and beautiful fancy, almost such teachings 
 as the odious Christian sect ascribe to Jesus, ex 
 cept that while they proclaim a savior for the 
 slaves and plebeians, as thou hast fancied, they 
 deny the great gods who protect the mighty Ro 
 man state, and all that is respectable therein." 
 
 " Dost thou suppose, then," said Dorcas, " that 
 it was on this very account that the great Em 
 perors Tiberius, Domitian, Trajan, Antoninus, 
 Severus, Maximin, Decius, Callus, Valerian, 
 Diocletian, and now Maxentius, have always pur 
 sued and punished these Christians? Indeed, . I 
 have often heard the wise and learned Epaphras 
 declare that the Pharisees and Scribes, who were 
 the rich and respectable classes of his countrymen, 
 crucified the poor and friendless Jesus, because 
 * they were covetous,* and He taught the com 
 munion of saints, which is community of property 
 and rights, and that all men are born free and 
 equal, a gospel for the poor that would abolish 
 slavery and war, and would either level down the 
 patricians to an equality with the plebeians, or 
 level upwards and raise the plebeians to equality 
 with the patricians, as I have heard thee also say 
 these Christians do still teach." 
 
 * Verily," answered Varus, " the Christians do 
 so teach; and the strangest thing to me is that 
 thy questions do evermore bring up things in such 
 
DORCAS RUNNETH AWAY 59 
 
 a curious light that one is, for the moment, almost 
 compelled to believe that these abominable heresies 
 which would destroy the empire are right and 
 true and best for the multitude. But, much as 
 it pleaseth me to hear thy strange suggestions, 
 which do continually provoke the mind to follow 
 new and wonderful lines of thought that I have 
 not found in Greek or Roman philosophy, I must 
 leave thee now and go into the city, for there are 
 impending disturbances that will require my pres 
 ence there to-night. Dorcas, fare thee well. 
 Centurion, farewell." 
 
 Then, under the seductive power of that soft 
 Italian air, the west still rosy with the just sunken 
 sun, there was silence between the young and beau 
 tiful couple a dangerous silence, in which the 
 fond emotions of all tender hearts were quickly 
 brought to bloom even long before old Hesiod 
 sung: 
 
 " O Hesperus! thou bringest all good things!" 
 
 " See, Dorcas," said Marcellus, " how bril 
 liantly the star of evening gleameth even through 
 the half-light of day still lingering in the skyj 
 Canst thou sing, Dorcas, that divine hymn in 
 which Hesiod celebrates the kind god, Hesperus? " 
 
 " Nay," replied Dorcas, " for I was never 
 taught the classic melodies of Greece and Rome; 
 but I can sing a pretty little song which, Epa- 
 
60 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 phras saith, was a favorite with my mother, and 
 which, he saith also, is a translation, or rather 
 an imitation, of the Greek poet s sweetest hymn." 
 " D orcas, sing thou that song for me ! " 
 Then the girl sang, to a low, soothing melody, 
 the following words: 
 
 "O Hesperus, that burnest bright 
 As gems upon the brow of night! 
 Thou bringest weary toil, oppressed 
 By labor and by sorrows, rest, 
 And sleep, the comforter. 
 
 "Thou bringest cattle to the stall; 
 Sheep to the fold, men to the hall; 
 The wild bird to her leafy nest, 
 The babe unto the mother s breast, 
 The ship to havens safe! 
 
 "Thou bringest dew unto the flowers, 
 And coolness to the glowing hours; 
 To peaceful homes fond thoughts, that prove 
 How sweet is tender human love, 
 And confidence and trust! 
 
 " O Hesperus ! as thy mellow light 
 Soothes, blesses, glorifies the night, 
 So may our faith in Him, whose care 
 Preserves thy large and gleaming sphere. 
 Preserve our spirits pure! 
 
DORCAS RUNNETH AWAY 61 
 
 " Raise Thou our hopes and trust above ! 
 Shed on our hearts, like dew, Thy love! 
 From sin and selfishness set free, 
 Let us, O Lord, commune with Thee 
 In perfect faith and love ! " 
 
 " Dorcas, I thank thce. It is very beautiful," 
 said Marcellus, drawing closer to the young girl 
 upon the rustic bench upon which all three had 
 been sitting before the departure of Varus. The 
 centurion gazed into her beautiful face with eyes 
 of infinite tenderness and longing, as he said, in 
 the low tones of suppressed but passionate emo 
 tion: 
 
 "Why dost thou always shun me, Dorcas? 
 During all the time thou hast made thine abode 
 with us I have sought, but could never find, an 
 opportunity to speak with thee alone; and even 
 this evening I feared that thou wouldst leave me 
 when the Vice-Prefect departed, as thou hast ever 
 done. Why art thou so distant, cruel and hard 
 with me? For if I were too bold and presump 
 tuous with thee when we did first meet, thou 
 shouldst forgive me, for I did not then know thee, 
 and supposed that thou wert as other Roman, 
 maidens who would have been delighted to be so 
 caressed. But, Dorcas, I honor thee more than 
 any woman upon the earth, and thou must not be 
 so hard and unfriendly." 
 
 The young girl grew very pale beneath the sub- 
 
62 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 tie fire in his pleading eyes and the tender music 
 of his voice. She arose, however, and in the act 
 of going, said very kindly: 
 
 " Centurion, I have never been unfriendly to 
 thee. I have ever felt great kindness toward thee : 
 nevertheless it had been proper for me to have 
 left thee as soon as thy father departed, and I 
 must do so now. Fare thee well! " 
 
 But as Dorcas turned away the young man 
 seized her hands, and with very gentle but supe 
 rior force drew her back into the seat beside him, 
 saying : 
 
 " Nay, Dorcas, thou shalt not leave me so. I 
 love thee, girl, with all my soul. By Venus Vic- 
 trix and all other gods I swear that, of all women 
 in the world, I care for thee only; and thou shalt 
 have such honor and devotion of my heart as no 
 other maiden in all Rome enjoyeth if thou canst 
 love me, Dorcas. O dear one, love me ! love me I 
 love me! " 
 
 In an ecstasy of passion and longing he threw 
 his arms around the trembling girl, drew her to 
 his throbbing heart and pressed his burning lips 
 to hers. It was a sore trial for the youthful girl. 
 For one brief, exquisite moment she yielded to 
 the imperious power of love that submerged her 
 being like a bath of flame, while all her heart 
 yearned for the affection of the rare and glorious 
 youth who wooed her with such passionate devo- 
 
DORCAS RUNNETH AWAY 63 
 
 tion. But instantly the relentless sense of right 
 and of duty crushed down her yearning heart, 
 and, gently disengaging herself from his passion 
 ate embrace, she spake in tones from which even 
 her resolute and chastened will vainly strove to 
 shut out the vibrant trill of tenderness that would 
 make itself heard in every syllable: 
 
 "Nay, nay, centurion; this cannot be! Fare 
 well, Marcellus! This can never be! " 
 
 " But why not, Dorcas? Yea," he cried, with 
 all his soul shining in his burning eyes, " thou 
 dost love me, Dorcas; thou canst not lie to me, 
 thou dearest girl! Thou canst not gaze into 
 mine eyes and say, * I love thee not 1 Try it, 
 Dorcas. Look thou upon me, and answer truth 
 fully from thy heart, Dost not thou love me, 
 Dorcas?" 
 
 She had never learned to lie; she could not do 
 so; she felt that the young man s tender, pleading 
 voice and eyes extorted the confession from her 
 lips, and, gazing upon him with the seriousness 
 of an infinite affection, she replied: 
 
 " Yea, Marcellus, it is even true, I love thee 
 dearly; I love thee with my soul." Then, with 
 inexpressible sadness, she continued: " Now* 
 thou dear Marcellus, let me go hence. It is all 
 over; this is the end of all; I have told thee that 
 it cannot, cannot be. Farewell ! " 
 
 " Nay," he cried, exulting in the triumph that 
 
64 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 had wrung from her lips that full confession of 
 her love, and holding fast her little hands in both 
 of his, " thou shalt not go. If thou dost love 
 me, why say * It cannot be ? By all the gods of 
 Rome, thou shalt be mine ! Why talkest thou so 
 sadly and so foolishly? I am young and wealthy 
 and honorable, and I will devote my life to thy 
 happiness. Respect and love and every indul 
 gence and elegance that rank and wealth can yield 
 thee shall be thine. Think of thy hard and lonely 
 life, dear Dorcas, with its privations, its unending 
 toil, its social solitude and occlusion from all that 
 is bright and joyous and beautiful in life ! Think 
 of the half-servile station which degradeth thee, 
 and then think that with me there is naught the 
 gods can give which thou shalt lack. O beautiful 
 and beloved Dorcas, if thou lovest me even a lit 
 tle, it is mere madness and folly to say, * It cannot 
 be. Come thou to me, love ! Be mine ! " 
 
 " Nay," said the girl softly. " Permit me to 
 depart, centurion. I tell thee that it is impossi 
 ble. I do love thee dearly, and I hope thou wilt 
 not doubt that I have bestowed upon thee my 
 first and only love, which shall be thine forever. 
 But, much as I admire and love thee, I tell thee 
 truly that I would welcome any form of death 
 rather than remain with thee as thou wishest. It 
 is impossible, it cannot be. Farewell! " 
 
 But he held her hands fast, exclaiming: 
 
DORCAS RUNNETH AWAY 65 
 
 " There was never such a maiden in the world 
 as thou. Thou lovest me, and thou knowest that 
 my very heart is thine; and yet thou dost reject 
 all that my ardent affection is praying to bestow 
 upon thee; and thou preferrest poverty and toil 
 and self-denial, and even death itself, without me, 
 to pleasure, ease and elegance in my loving arms; 
 and thou dost starve both of our hearts I It is 
 most cruel, unnatural, inexplicable ! I desire to 
 know, and have the right to know, the reason, 
 if there can be any reason, for this course of thine, 
 which every girl in Rome would surely censure as 
 most unjust and cruel! Or dost thou wound me 
 so bitterly and thine own heart through mere 
 womanly vanity and perverseness without a 
 cause?" 
 
 Then stood she up most pale and resolute. 
 She knew well the feelings and opinions of that 
 great Roman world to which the youth belonged, 
 and understood perfectly that her refusal to ac 
 cept as her lover the only man she loved, who 
 was so passionately attached to her, must seem 
 to him to be, as he had said, cruel, unnatural and 
 inexplicable. And so, pressing her hands upon 
 her heart to still its mighty anguish, she gazed 
 into his eyes with a mournful tenderness, saying: 
 4 Thou dear and noble Marcellus, think not I 
 would refuse thee for any trivial cause, or for any 
 cause that is not stronger and more imperious to 
 
66 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 my soul than is the love of life or the fear of 
 death. Friend, that life which thou desirest me 
 to lead is to me unpardonable sin and shame. 
 Thou canst not understand it so, perhaps, but I 
 deny thee as I would do if the words should tear 
 my heart up by the roots, because I am a Chris 
 tian/ 
 
 Then strange, tumultuous changes swept like 
 storms across his soul and left their shadows on 
 his face. His first glance at her upon her making 
 this damning avowal of her faith in Christ was 
 one of utter loathing and contempt, as if she had 
 said, " I am a leper." But the girl stood there so 
 quiet, submissive, beautiful; so full of sorrow for 
 the pain she had given him, and he loved her so 
 much that this first impulse of horror quickly 
 faded out, and the old, passionate yearning for her 
 assumed a momentary sway, only to be succeeded 
 by a tempestuous rage. 
 
 " A Christian I " he said, almost gnashing his 
 teeth in his convulsive passion. " One of the ac 
 cursed sect that hates the world. And thinkest 
 thou, girl, that I am weak and purposeless enough 
 to suffer the hideous teachings of this outcast and 
 criminal association to doom thee and myself to 
 life-long sorrow? No, Dioscuri ! No ! by all the 
 shining gods of heaven ! by all the kind and pitiful 
 daimons that people earth and air ! by all the dark 
 divinities that reign in hell, thou shalt be mine ! I 
 
DORCAS RUNNETH AWAY 67 
 
 will reclaim thee from this baleful superstition, and 
 bring thee back into the way of reason and of 
 nature ! Even for thine own sweet sake, Dorcas, 
 even by force if thou refuse, within this hour thou 
 shalt offer sacrifice to Venus ; or I will summon the 
 lictors and have thee dragged before the magis 
 trates and punished, as thou hast no doubt heard 
 the Christian girls are punished by the Emperor. 
 Prepare thy mind, Dorcas. I love thee too ten 
 derly to leave thee in the power of this accursed 
 sect. I go now to make ready fit sacrifices to the 
 beautiful goddess, and straightway will return to 
 teach thee her amiable and delightful service ; and 
 so reclaim thee, at least, from this malignant super 
 stition of the Christians." 
 
 Then turned he, and in all the hurry of extreme 
 agitation, strode into the house. 
 
 With clasped hands and streaming eyes the 
 young girl for a moment stood looking up into 
 the wide and starry heaven, as if she hoped to 
 find somewhere in its depths sublime the God of 
 the fatherless; then she sped diagonally across the 
 inclosure in front of the villa to the corner of the 
 stone wall which fenced off the premises from 
 the highway; placed her hands upon the top of 
 the wall, and lightly swung her agile form first 
 to the top and thence down into the Appian Way, 
 upon which magnificent Roman road, the grounds 
 of Varus fronted. 
 
CHAPTER Vi 
 
 IN WHICH DORCAS HEARETH THE STORY 
 OF FAUSTINA 
 
 T IGHTLY and swiftly the maiden Dorcas sped 
 *~* along the splendid road, which was almost de 
 serted at that hour of the night, looking neither to 
 the right nor to the left, nor pausing even a mo 
 ment on her breathless journey, mile after mile, 
 until she reached a point at which her way left the 
 road and turned off abruptly into a tangled maze 
 of brambles, underbrush and trees that marked the 
 site of a former villa, long since destroyed, and 
 left to that luxuriant vegetation which hides the 
 rough face of desolation and decay. In the very 
 heart of this wild waste she came to a fragment 
 of ancient stucco work, that seemed once to have 
 constituted part of the wall of a cellar or cistern, 
 and passing by this she found an opening in the 
 side of the adjacent hill, into which she stepped 
 without *a moment s hesitation. Dorcas had trod 
 den the same road every Seventh day since she 
 first went to the villa of the Vice-Prefect Varus, 
 and the utter darkness into which she entered now 
 was pleasant as one s return to a beloved home. 
 
 68 
 
THE STORY OF FAUSTINA 69 
 
 Not far from the entrance she groped about 
 with her hands until she found a certain stone for 
 which she sought, and, lifting it, she saw the wel 
 come radiance of a diminutive lamp, whose deli 
 cate shaft of flame was always kept alive in that 
 hidden crypt; and by this lamp she lighted one of 
 many others that were carefully deposited in the 
 same secret receptacle, and then, having carefully 
 replaced the stone in its proper place, she took her 
 lamp in her hand, and resumed her lonely jour 
 ney. The place she was in was a gallery cut out 
 of the rock, about eight feet high by perhaps ten 
 feet in width, the length of which seemed to be 
 interminable. Furlong after furlong she con 
 tinued on her way, now turning into other galleries 
 that opened into that which she had first entered, 
 treading the labyrinth of the vast catacombs with 
 as little hesitation as if she had dwelt in their soli 
 tude and darkness all her life. She was alone, 
 except for the unknown and countless dead whose 
 mortal remains slept peacefully in narrow crypts 
 cut into the rocky sides of the galleries in irregular 
 rows, one over another, like the windows in a 
 dove-cote. Dorcas had walked a long distance, 
 but at last reached a point where the walls of sev 
 eral intersecting galleries had been cut away in 
 every direction, forming a room having capacity 
 to accommodate even several hundred people upon 
 the wooden benches that occupied the floor. 
 
70 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 There was also a low platform upon the eastern 
 side of this room, with a small wooden table upon 
 it and a larger table standing in front of it. Such 
 was the chapel in which the persecuted Christians 
 of that age celebrated the ceremonies of their 
 illegal and proscribed faith. 
 
 Having crossed this primitive chapel, the girl 
 went on a short distance into another gallery and 
 paused; and, having placed her lamp upon the 
 stony floor, she sank down upon her knees, and 
 burst into an agony of tears, while her slight form 
 shook with sobs of passionate sorrow, and her 
 heart all vainly sought for peace in prayer. The 
 crypt or sepulcher at which she kneeled was closed 
 up by a slab of white marble, upon which some 
 loving hand had cut an inscription like to that 
 shown in the opening chapter of this history. 
 
 How long the young girl had been kneeling here 
 in anguish and in prayer she did not know, but it 
 must have been morning in the upper world when, 
 with grave, sedate steps, a tall and handsome man, 
 somewhat past the meridian of life, passed quietly 
 along the gallery, and seeing first the lamp-light 
 and then the kneeling girl, he paused, and laying 
 his hand lightly upon her drooping head, spoke in 
 low and loving tones these words : 
 
 " Grief, the refiner, that cometh unto all, hath 
 come early unto thee, my daughter. Remember 
 thou that He chasteneth whom He loveth, and 
 
THE STORY OF FAUSTINA 71 
 
 scourgeth every one whom He instructeth ; and thou 
 shouldst lift up thy soul to Him, having known, 
 even from thine infancy, that He doeth all things 
 well." 
 
 " O Father Epaphras, it is a sorrow greater 
 than I can bear. Even my prayers rise not, but 
 fall back to the cruel earth like a poor bird with 
 broken wing. Would to God that I had never 
 left this quiet holy place." 
 
 " No chastening for the present seemeth good, 
 but grievous rather; yet afterwards it worketh out 
 the peaceable fruits of righteousness. But come 
 thou, Dorcas, into the chapel, and tell me all thy 
 
 sorrow." 
 
 Then she rose up and meekly followed him; 
 and, having set their lamps upon the table, they 
 twain seated themselves upon a bench, and, in a 
 voice broken repeatedly by sobs of grief, she told 
 the presbyter Epaphras of her recent trouble with 
 Marcellus without reserve, not omitting even to 
 state the passionate embrace and kisses he had 
 given her, and her own transient but boundless joy 
 at the discovery of her love for him. 
 
 Every Seventh day since she had been at the 
 villa Dorcas had passed in the catacombs with 
 certain holy women, who made their home some 
 where in its vast and gloomy recesses, among 
 whom, indeed, she had been reared and taught; 
 and she had always attended the services in the 
 
72 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 chapel, and, after services were over, she had al 
 ways waited to converse with him, and had kept 
 him informed of almost every incident of her life 
 while there. So that while Epaphras was fully 
 prepared for the story of the passionate love the 
 young centurion had declared for Dorcas, he was 
 not at all prepared for any such possibility as that 
 Dorcas might reciprocate his love ; for, indeed, the 
 maiden had not herself known it until that even 
 ing, and her confession thereof filled him with sor 
 row and surprise. 
 
 " And thou lovest this proud Roman, the enemy 
 of thy friends and of thy Lord? " 
 
 1 Yea, father, all my heart runs out to him, as 
 waters seek the sea! He is so good and noble, 
 that if he only knew the truth he would not hesi 
 tate to give up his life therefor! But alas! alas! 
 he does not know ! " 
 
 14 Thou must abide here in the catacombs for a 
 long time to come," said Epaphras. " The lib 
 eral donations Varus gave to thee were a most 
 welcome contribution to the treasury of the church, 
 that suffereth so grievously from the persecution 
 which Diocletian began, and which Maxentius con- 
 tinueth ; but if it were ten thousand times as much, 
 thou shouldst not place thyself for one hour in this 
 heathen s power to gain it. Thou shalt remain 
 here, and shalt not go forth again unless I may 
 even find some other home for thee. The Vice- 
 
THE STORY OF FAUSTINA 73 
 
 Prefect Varus is an honorable man, but there are 
 few like him in this heathen Rome ; and thou shalt 
 go to none whom I do not thoroughly know and 
 trust. But thou art now a woman, Dorcas, and 
 the first sorrow of thy life hath come upon thee. 
 It is fitting that I tell thee of thy mother, Faustina, 
 whose last resting-place thou knowest, and if thou 
 wilt take to heart her glorious example, thou shalt 
 be fortified to overcome the temptations of the 
 world, the devil and the flesh. 
 
 " Thy mother was the daughter of the Cim- 
 brian chieftain Segestus, whom thy grandmother, 
 his wife, did follow to Rome when Germanicus 
 brought him hither to grace his triumph after the 
 manner of the Romans. Thy mother was thus 
 born in Rome; and when she had grown up to 
 womanhood in the faith of Jesus, she was mar 
 ried to the youthful presbyter Eugenius. He was 
 martyred by the Jews of Celicia when on a jour 
 ney to Jerusalem, at the time that thou wast one 
 year old; yet, spite of earthly sorrows, she gloried 
 in his death. A year after that, when certain 
 Christians of our community were called to mar 
 tyrdom in the Circus Maximus, thy mother Faus 
 tina insisted upon going to witness the glorious 
 spectacle and see for herself how faith can tri 
 umph even over death. We did fear that the 
 scene might unduly agitate one who had been 
 physically delicate ever since the news of thy fa- 
 
74 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 ther s martyrdom had come to us; and when we 
 found that she would not be dissuaded, we sol 
 emnly warned her that the slightest expression of 
 sympathy for those who were called upon to suf 
 fer for their Lord, or the slightest condemnation 
 of those who persecuted them, might subject her 
 to the like trial at the hands of the jealous Ro 
 mans. Then she and other Christians mingled 
 with the crowd that had collected to witness the 
 departure of our brethren on their way sublime. 
 When the executioners approached their bound 
 victims they began to chant the glorious words of 
 Paul, O grave, where is thy victory ? O death, 
 where is thy sting? And almost at the moment 
 that the fatal blows descended upon them, the 
 young mother, standing beside me, on the edge of 
 the crowd, shouted in a clear, triumphant voice, 
 whose sweet and solemn cadence filled the vast 
 space around : * Thanks be to God, which giveth 
 them the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ ! 
 " Almost immediately a centurion cried out : 
 * This woman also calleth on the accursed Gali 
 lean ! and he rushed forward to seize her. Then 
 said I unto her : * Give me thy child, Faustina ! * 
 Then the centurion haled her before the magis 
 trates who had come to witness the enforcement of 
 their judgment, saying: This woman hath now 
 called upon God and Christ here in the presence of 
 the magistrates and of the soldiers; and when 
 
THE STORY OF FAUSTINA 75 
 
 they questioned her concerning the same, she 
 boldly avowed her faith in Jesus. Then said the 
 chief magistrate unto her : If thou wilt lodge 
 with this centurion to-night, and in the morning 
 make thy sacrifice to Venus, thou may st live; if 
 not, thou shalt die 1 
 
 ;t Then answered thy mother: *I prefer the 
 sword to the centurion, and death rather than 
 idolatry; nor need thou delay, for I do love and 
 worship Christ both now and to-morrow. 
 
 :< Then ordered they the centurion to lead 
 Faustina to the executioners, and as they were 
 crossing the open space between, I swiftly stepped 
 forward and said to the centurion : * This is the 
 woman s babe; may she not bid the child fare 
 well ? Then the Roman halted them that were 
 with him, and thy mother did kiss thee, and did 
 make the sign of the cross upon thee, and while 
 she was doing this she turned away from the cen 
 turion, and I said unto her : Faustina, dost thou 
 desire the Anastasis? J 
 
 " And with a smile she answered: * Nay, but 
 to depart, and to be with Christ, which is far 
 better ! Care thou and our community for the 
 babe! 
 
 " Then I perceived of a truth that she had 
 come thither in order to go hence by the sacred 
 way, as so many of our people also have done, 
 until the church forbade us to seek for martyrdom. 
 
76 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 " And so she went forward chanting the psalm 
 of victory, and with a sword those men struck off 
 her head. 
 
 " Thou wilt see upon her tomb the Hebrew 
 word Shalom/ which signifieth peace. Thou 
 wilt see the green branch, signifying everlasting 
 life. Thou will see the symbol of martyrdom, 
 and next to it the urn, signifying Christian burial. 
 For soon as the night had fallen certain of the 
 brethren with me bore the body of the martyr 
 hither. The slab which thou hast read I cut out 
 even with mine own hand, and the inscription 
 thereon. For, lo! I did love thy mother much 
 and tenderly." 
 
 And the great tears welling up from the pres 
 byter s soft eyes, and his broken, sobbing voice, 
 attested the depth and deathlessness of that great 
 love. 
 
 " I have told thee of these things at this time," 
 said the presbyter, " because I would have thee, 
 O daughter of marytrs, cast out of thy sinless heart 
 this love for the proud Roman ! Arise, my child, 
 and go in peace, and may the peace of God go 
 with thee! " 
 
 Then arose Dorcas meekly, and, bending over 
 the presbyter, kissed she his forehead with mighty 
 tenderness and reverence ; and, taking up her lamp, 
 she passed out of the chapel, seeking the more hid- 
 
THE STORY OF FAUSTINA 77 
 
 den recesses of the vast necropolis wherein abode 
 the holy women. 
 
 Then the presbyter kneeled down and struggled 
 woefully in prayer, and at last the sorrow of his 
 burdened heart broke forth into a wail of limit 
 less anguish: 
 
 " O Lion of the tribe of Judah," cried he, 
 " give me of thy strength and courage, for I am 
 desolate and sore afflicted. Thou didst call the 
 mother whom I loved unto thyself by the quick 
 way of martyrdom; and now the daughter, whom 
 I have carried a lamb in my bosom all these 
 lonely years, this cruel Roman hath stolen out of 
 my yearning heart, and human nature in me suffers 
 more than death! Impart to me thine aid 
 divine !" 
 
 Long wrestled he with that sore grief, but 
 peace at last fell on him peace that passeth all 
 understanding peace that floweth as a river 
 and rising to his feet once more, his grand and 
 holy face less lighted by the little lamp he bore 
 than by the radiance that beamed forth from his 
 pure, exalted soul, the presbyter went quietly and 
 gravely on his way. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE SWADDLING-BANDS OF ANTI-CHRIST 
 
 TN the spring of the year 312, Constantine, who, 
 -* after his father s death, had been proclaimed 
 Emperor by the Roman legions then in Britain, 
 and had, after coming into Gaul, received the 
 homage of the army in that country, made his 
 imperial residence and army headquarters . at 
 Lutetia. To him came deputies from Rome, rep 
 resenting that the people of Italy were secretly 
 opposed to the tyrant Maxentius, who then was 
 Emperor at Rome, and beseeching him to come 
 to Rome and free them from that despotism by as 
 suming his own rightful sovereignty over Italy. 
 
 " We represent, O mighty Constantine, almost 
 every class in Italy, and by far the greater part of 
 the people, and in their names we implore thee to 
 march to the Imperial City, both because the peo 
 ple hate Maxentius and because of their great 
 love and loyalty to thee." 
 
 Constantine the Great, then in the bloom and 
 freshness of his manhood, was perhaps the hand 
 somest Roman that ever wore the purple, and also 
 the most astute politician of his age; a man fitted 
 
 78 
 
THE BANDS OF ANTI-CHRIST 79 
 
 by nature for the greatest destiny; brave, hardy, 
 temperate, self-poised and ambitious, knowing the 
 very hearts of men. 
 
 To these delegates he replied in calm and 
 dignified terms, in which firmness and kindness 
 were equally blended: 
 
 " Patricians 1 Senators ! the message which ye 
 have brought, perhaps at great peril to your own 
 safety, is marvelously gratifying to me, that desire 
 only the glory and happiness of the Romans. Ye 
 are, therefore, welcome, both because of your own 
 love and loyalty, and also because of your assur 
 ances that ye utter the suppressed voice of Rome, 
 and of all Italy; but yet I will deal with you can 
 didly, even as your loyalty deserves. 
 
 * To march upon Rome under existing circum 
 stances would be only to bring upon beautiful Italy 
 the horrors of a civil war, and so harass mine own 
 people, and destroy mine own heritage. This I 
 desire to avoid; this I have no heart to do. 
 
 " The love and loyalty of the people (which you 
 so confidently promise), unorganized and undis 
 ciplined, is not a force that can avail, either to 
 avert the calamities of war, or to render the war 
 brief and decisive. The information I desire, ye 
 have not given; and that which ye have brought, 
 although agreeable news indeed, is only a pleasing 
 sentiment, and not a living and available force." 
 
 " Most royal Augustus," said the spokesman of 
 
8o DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 the delegates, " what information more than we 
 have given does thy superior wisdom desire?" 
 
 " I wish to be advised whether there is any one 
 class of the Roman people, having common hopes 
 and interests enough to give them unity and co 
 herence of purpose and of action, and organiza 
 tion enough to understand and to work in unison 
 for a common end, upon whom I can rely, with 
 good hope, that when the power of Maxentius is 
 once overthrown they can prevent it from rallying 
 again. I will have no protracted war in Italy to 
 waste the fairest portion of mine empire and dis 
 tress my loyal people. 1 * 
 
 " Alas ! " said the ambassador, " beautiful Italy 
 is rent by factions, and no such body of men as 
 thou desirest can anywhere be found. All those 
 who care more for their native land than for their 
 own private schemes for selfish advancement or re 
 venge, turn their eyes to thee, and will hail thy 
 coming with gladness, although they know that 
 the only road to peace lies through the bloody 
 fields of civil war." 
 
 " Then," said Constantine, calmly and deliber 
 ately, " ye must organize such a body. I will not 
 march on Rome until ye shall have done so. But ye 
 must accomplish this work speedily, or I will seize 
 upon the only alternative that remains to me a 
 measure so radical and heroic that the adoption 
 thereof will shake the whole fabric of the empire 
 
THE BANDS OF ANTI-CHRIST 81 
 
 to its lowest foundations. So that ye must return 
 and organize such a body of men as I have desig 
 nated, and give me sure means to gain their con 
 fidence and aid, or I will " 
 
 Constantine did not then complete the sentence, 
 but gazed around the whole circle of the delegates 
 with calm and searching eyes. Then, after a long 
 pause, he continued: " Or I will invite the slaves 
 to join my standard and supply mine army, and 
 will manumit every man who does so with alacrity 
 him, and his family, and their descendants for 
 
 ever. * 
 
 A thrill of absolute horror passed over the as 
 sembly at this proposal, that was as novel as it 
 was daring. 
 
 Thereupon the Emperor enjoined upon them to 
 set out for Rome on the next day, and proceed im 
 mediately to organize, in every city, town and 
 hamlet, a body of men such as he had desired; and 
 having given orders for their proper entertain 
 ment, he dismissed the delegates with royal grace 
 and dignity. 
 
 These delegates at once perceived that Constan 
 tine thoroughly comprehended the political status 
 of the empire, and had determined upon the course 
 he would pursue. The broken communications 
 which they were enabled to hold with each other 
 while upon the road did not enable them to arrive 
 at any satisfactory conclusion^ and they finally 
 
82 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 agreed that before passing the confines of Gaul, 
 beyond which it would be necessary for them to 
 separate and take different routes to Rome, in or 
 der to escape the notice of the officers of Maxen- 
 tius, they would meet in solemn conclave, and de 
 vote a day to the discussion of the momentous 
 duties devolved upon them by the orders of Con- 
 stantine; and to consider the fearful alternative 
 which he would accept if they should disregard 
 the imperial mandate. 
 
 The day came quickly, and, in a secluded valley 
 at the foot of the Alps, they met and called upon 
 the oldest and highest of their number to preside 
 over their deliberations; and upon taking his sta 
 tion, the president invited every one to speak who 
 had any counsel to offer upon the matter which so 
 deeply concerned them and the Roman State. 
 
 During several hours, one after another rose, 
 and, little by little, the business was considered in 
 every possible ramification; and the general opin 
 ion seemed to be settling down into the conclusion 
 that it was impossible for them, or any others, to 
 organize such a body as their chosen emperor de 
 sired, without their attempt to do so coming to 
 the knowledge of Maxentius; and that the coming 
 of such knowledge to the ear of that cruel tyrant 
 would be the signal for death and confiscation unto 
 all of them and all their friends. They further 
 thought that if Constantine should dare to issue a 
 
THE BANDS OF ANTI-CHRIST 83 
 
 proclamation of freedom to the slaves, that act 
 would consolidate all the freemen of Italy against 
 him, and render a hopeful cause absolutely hope 
 less; and that even a victory, gained by means so 
 desperate and so contrary to all the law and senti 
 ment of the empire, would be worse for them than 
 a defeat. That the demand of the Emperor was 
 unreasonable, his alternative too horrible to con 
 template, and that self-preservation would require 
 them to withdraw the invitation they had given 
 him to march upon Rome, and endeavor to make 
 their peace with Maxentius. 
 
 This, perhaps, would have been the resolution 
 reached, but before a vote could be taken upon it 
 a man who had hitherto kept silent, and who, in 
 deed, was unknown to all except one or two of 
 the delegates, rose and began to address them in 
 tones so singularly musical and persuasive that 
 from the very beginning of his remarks all eyes 
 were directed toward him, and all ears turned to 
 catch his words ; and thus he spake : 
 
 "Patricians! Senators! A poor scholar of 
 Caesarea, that hath never mingled in any public 
 affairs, nor hath held office under the empire 
 who, indeed, hath only joined himself to your 
 illustrious company by the partiality of personal 
 friendship in one of your number would not 
 be presumptuous enough to claim your attention 
 if it had not already become too plainly appar- 
 
84 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 ent that the wisdom of those who have given 
 counsel hath failed to point out any reasonable 
 solution of the difficulties that seem to hem us in 
 on every side. But, while inferior in rank, learn 
 ing, and intelligence, to even the least among you, 
 his studious life hath been devoted to learning the 
 history of nations and of men; and, for a long 
 time past, it hath been his purpose especially to 
 investigate and understand the present condition 
 of the Roman Empire. I am myself so poor as 
 not to despise the poverty of others ; so obscure as 
 to feel a deep and abiding interest in even the 
 humbler class of citizens; so ignorant as to be 
 willing to learn of all. And, therefore, it hap 
 pens that sources of information which ye could 
 not see by reason of your elevation, socially and 
 politically, above those regions of human life in 
 which they most abound, have long been familiar 
 to my sight and hearing. 
 
 "Patricians! Senators! I affirm, from long 
 and careful observation, that there exists to-day 
 in Rome, and throughout Italy, a body of men, 
 more numerous than any one faction in the land, 
 not inferior to any other in intelligence and virtue, 
 comprising some of every grade of social and po 
 litical life, but chiefly consisting of the lower and 
 middle classes, all bound together by ties com 
 pared with which the military oath is weaker than 
 a rope of sand; a body more compactly organized 
 
THE BANDS OF ANTI-CHRIST 85 
 
 than any legion, possessed of a common treasury, 
 possessed of means of inter-communication more 
 safe and speedy than the postal service of the em 
 pire; a body of men whom ye loathe and despise 
 only because ye do not truly know them I think, 
 only because ye do not know them in fact, a 
 secret and thoroughly-organized society within 
 the empire, that could, if it would, answer the 
 purposes of Constantine more perfectly than any 
 organization ye could devise by years of open, 
 uninterrupted toil. Think ye it would be a work 
 worth while to seek the aid of this wonderful com 
 munity in the sore straits to which ye are now re 
 duced?" 
 
 Having so spoken the orator sat down, and im 
 mediately there was a great clamor, some crying, 
 " Who is he? Who is the orator?" and others, 
 " Who are those men the strange community 
 of which he speaks? " 
 
 But the speaker sat silent and apparently un 
 conscious of the tumult which his words had 
 caused, until the clamor wore itself out, and the 
 president courteously arose, saying: 
 
 " The assembled delegates desire to know who 
 is this able and learned orator, and the name of 
 that mysterious community to which he hath re 
 ferred. Will the orator be kind enough to an 
 swer these requests? " 
 
86 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 Then rose up the same man again, and in a 
 quiet and dignified manner responded: 
 
 " I am the poor scholar Eusebius, of Caesarea, 
 and the community of which I spoke is the Church 
 of Jesus Christ a people known and detested 
 by the name of Christians." 
 
 A murmur of surprise, almost of indignation 
 and contempt, ran through the whole assembly, 
 and it seemed uncertain how this information 
 would be received. Then a sour-faced, tall pa 
 trician rose, and in cynical tones addressed the del 
 egates : 
 
 ;< This head is mine, but the most holy Em 
 peror Maxentius wants it. I have some houses 
 in Rome, some villas on the Arno, some estates in 
 Spain, and the emperor wanteth these also. If 
 he take off this head, the rest is his by law. Have 
 ye also some heads? some houses? some villas? 
 some estates? I am ready to take any road to 
 save my head and my estates, even to setting free 
 my thousand slaves; but slaves are property 
 Christians are not. I therefore say, better the 
 Christians than the slaves! All that I know of 
 this mysterious people leads me to give entire cre 
 dence to the statement ye have heard as to the 
 numbers and organization of their communities. 
 But the orator hath said that they could give the 
 Emperor all the aid he needs if they would. That 
 sounds strange, indeed! Surely if this supposed 
 
THE BANDS OF ANTI-CHRIST 87 
 
 criminal association, that hath been pursued and 
 punished for three centuries, were promised pro 
 tection for the future, they ought gladly to prom 
 ise, and to give their aid, their very lives, if need 
 be, to the Emperor! For mine own part, I am 
 ready to advocate a law allowing them to build 
 a temple on the Capitoline Hill, and raise Christ s 
 statue in the Pantheon, if they can give us such 
 indispensable assistance. Surely a god the more 
 or less in Rome is a matter of much smaller con 
 sequence to men of brains than are the lives and 
 property of all of us and thousands more, who 
 hope no good thing of Maxentius. I therefore 
 say again: Better the Christians than the 
 slaves!" 
 
 And this remark seemed to be caught as a key 
 note that gave direction to the sentiment of all, 
 and soon there was a unanimous cry of: " Better 
 the Christians than the slaves ! " 
 
 Thereupon many expressed a desire to hear 
 Eusebius declare his opinion as to how and upon 
 what terms the aid of the Christians might be 
 secured, and, at their solicitation, he rose once 
 more. 
 
 "Patricians! Senators! From long and care 
 ful study and observation of the Christian com 
 munity (or, rather communities, for each congre 
 gation seems to constitute an independent democ 
 racy) , I am of opinion that it would be a work of 
 
88 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 great difficulty and delicacy to induce them to take 
 sides with the emperor, or take sides at all, in 
 the impending war; but I have no hesitation in 
 saying that, if they can be led to do so, the over 
 whelming weight of their numbers and influence 
 would reduce the whole war to one single battle, 
 which would, of course, be necessary to destroy 
 the army of the Emperor Maxentius; for, if de 
 feated, it would be impossible for him to raise 
 another force. The difficulties in the way are 
 very great, and arise out of the fact that the re 
 ligion, to which they cling with a steadfast and 
 immovable tenacity that despises tortures and 
 death, is, in some remarkable particulars, directly 
 in conflict with the laws and customs of the em 
 pire. Christianity is a pure, unmixed democracy, 
 based upon faith. This religion absolutely for 
 bids them to bear arms, and their history shows 
 that during three hundred years no body of Chris 
 tians has undertaken to defend itself against 
 even the grossest injustice, and no individual Chris 
 tian hath ever raised a weapon, even in defense 
 of the religion for which he would not hesitate 
 to die. They are also forbidden by their religion 
 to own a slave; and from this fact it happens that 
 the number of the freemen is so rapidly increas 
 ing everywhere. The religion also forbids them 
 to acquire, hold, or transmit, any private property 
 
THE BANDS OF ANTI-CHRIST 89 
 
 beyond their daily bread, and they include in the 
 term * property not only estates real and per 
 sonal, but also offices, prerogatives and privileges 
 of birth or rank. They hold their property in 
 common, and regard all laws which recognize 
 private rights as Mammon- worship the most 
 wicked and abominable crime. They also regard 
 marriage as a sacrament of religion, and considei* 
 the Roman laws of divorce as sinful and invalid. 
 The whole purpose of their strange faith and prac 
 tice for three hundred years hath been to secure 
 the absolute fraternity of all who believe, to ab 
 rogate all social and political distinctions between 
 man and man, and between different classes of 
 men, making the family the sole basis, and the 
 church the sole superstructure, of society. To a 
 community organized upon such principles as 
 these, the observance of which is secured beyond 
 the reach of human statutes or customs by their 
 unwavering faith in future rewards and punish 
 ments, any alliance with a mighty empire, the 
 whole social and political life of which is founded 
 upon war, slavery, imperialism, aristocracy and 
 property rights, would, at first blush, seem to be 
 gross and unpardonable sacrilege. Yet, by cau 
 tious management, it might be arranged. I think 
 that it might be arranged; and I would pledge 
 my life that, if it can be done, the Emperor Con- 
 
90 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 stantine can secure all the aid, in men and in re 
 sources of every kind, that he can possibly re 
 quire." 
 
 After some further discussion and inquiry, it 
 was agreed upon that some of them should return 
 at once to Lutetia and communicate to the Em 
 peror the facts imparted by Eusebius, and that 
 the others should prosecute their journey to Rome, 
 and open up communication with the Christians 
 a task which Eusebius undertook to facilitate, 
 saying that he knew some among them even inti 
 mately well, and had such access to them as would 
 enable him to maintain constant intercourse be 
 tween them and the patricians and Senators who 
 desired to win them over to the Emperor. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 WHICH SHOWETH HOW MARCELLUS CON 
 DUCTED HIMSELF 
 
 TT7HEN the centurion turned away from Dor- 
 " cas and hurried into the house, he had no 
 misgiving as to the wisdom and propriety of the 
 course which he had sworn to pursue, and being 
 very thoroughly persuaded in his own mind that 
 not only his own wishes, but also every dictate 
 of reason, of humanity, and of affectionate re 
 gard for the beautiful maiden, required him to 
 snatch her away, by force if need be, out of the 
 hands of the odious and malignant Christians, 
 compel her to sacrifice to Venus, and so place her 
 beyond the reach of that atheistic and abominable 
 sect. He doubted not that this was the wisest 
 and best course for both of them; and his resolu 
 tion to rescue the dear and beautiful girl from the 
 pernicious influence of that blighting superstition 
 was sustained both by the zeal of a missionary 
 and by the passion of a lover. He, therefore, 
 quickly prepared the poppy, the doves, and the 
 myrtle and roses, which were customarily used in 
 
92 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 making sacrifices to the foam-born goddess, and, 
 having very quickly arranged all things to his own 
 satisfaction, he hastened back to the spot at which 
 he had left Dorcas but a few minutes before, and 
 was overwhelmed with astonishment when he 
 found that she had disappeared. Then he called 
 her: " Dorcas! Dorcas 1 " Called more loudly: 
 " Dorcas! Dorcas! Dorcas! " Called with might 
 and main: "Dorcas! Dorcas! Dorcas!" until 
 the clear, powerful, resonant cry rang out over the 
 whole villa, and summoned the domestics even 
 from the inmost recesses of the house; but still 
 no answer came. Then to the thronging slaves 
 whom his ringing voice had speedily collected, he 
 said: 
 
 ;< The maiden Dorcas, whom I left here but a 
 few minutes ago, hath strangely disappeared. 
 Either she hath fled, or hath been abducted. 
 Haste, all ye, in different directions, and seek and 
 find her!" 
 
 But their search was futile. One by one, until 
 far into the night, weary and disheartened, the 
 slaves returned, and as they severally came home, 
 the young centurion questioned each, and elicited 
 every fact and conjecture gathered in the progress 
 of the search, and then dismissed that one and 
 waited impatiently for another. From all of these 
 reports together the unhappy youth reached the 
 conclusion that Dorcas had fled along the Appian 
 
MARCELLUS CONDUCT 93 
 
 Way from the city and the villa, and that pursuit 
 for the present would be unavailing. He doubted 
 not that she had gone to place herself under the 
 protection of some secret congregation of the 
 hated Christians; and her declaration that she was 
 one of that strange and impious sect explained to 
 him her absence every Seventh day, a fact which 
 both he and Varus had accounted for by their be 
 lief that she was accustomed to visit some syna 
 gogue of the Jews. 
 
 Hour after hour the restless and unhappy 
 youth strode back and forth along the gravel walks 
 until the dawn came stealing up the east, but no 
 reflection served to quiet him, and no resolve 
 seemed stable and reasonable enough for his mind 
 to fix upon it, so that he could not determine what 
 to do. The sudden breaking off of his pleasant 
 association with Dorcas, that had been for months 
 the chief source of his happiness, was worse than 
 death. Only when he knew that she was gone 
 perhaps forever did he fully realize how tyran 
 nous a hold his love for her had taken on his 
 heart and brain. He felt that if she had died 
 beside him he could have endured the loss of her 
 better that way, than to think of her still living, 
 but not for him; still living, but beyond his reach; 
 still living, but taught and trained to hate him by 
 the secret and dreaded influence of the terrible 
 superstition of the Christians a demoniac creed 
 
94 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 that outlawed human love, and hated all man 
 kind! 
 
 " She would be mine own gladly and lovingly," 
 he said, " but for the influence of that fearful and 
 inhuman creed." 
 
 " There is none like her," he sobbed in his great 
 anguish. ;< There is none like her; no, not one I 
 I cannot live without thee, Dorcas; or, if I exist, 
 life will be so lonely, maimed, and wretched, that 
 death would be a welcome refuge. Come back 
 to me, Dorcas; oh, come back! " 
 
 Then fiercer thoughts would seize his heart, and 
 he would vent his bitter wrath against the 
 hated Christians, " the enemies of the human 
 race," " a cruel, malevolent and criminal associa 
 tion," " that had renounced the religion and cere 
 monies instituted by our fathers," that " had 
 abandoned the way of reason and of nature," out 
 lawing the divine love which the kind and gentle 
 gods of Rome had planted in the human heart to 
 compensate for the stings of adverse fate and beau 
 tify our earthly life. 
 
 A thousand impracticable schemes chased each 
 other through his perturbed spirit and yielded no 
 satisfying result, until, outworn with anxiety and 
 grief, he threw himself upon his couch and for sev 
 eral hours forgot his wretchedness in sleep. Re 
 freshed and calmed by his brief but dreamless slum 
 ber, he arose, and quietly started off on foot along 
 
MARCELLUS CONDUCT 95 
 
 the Appian Way. By minute and systematic, yet 
 seemingly careless, inquiries of those whom he met 
 or saw in the adjacent gardens, orchards and fields, 
 some of whom had often seen the beautiful young 
 girl tripping along the road, and by comparing 
 the information thus elicited with facts already 
 within his knowledge, Marcellus reached two very 
 definite conclusions first, that the Seventh-day 
 journeys habitually made by Dorcas did not ex 
 tend beyond a certain ruin, because beyond that 
 point no one remembered to have even seen the 
 girl; that at this point the young girl had been 
 accustomed to leave the highway in the direction 
 of a range of hills under which the abandoned 
 villa had been situated, because upon the other 
 side were cultivated lands, through which she could 
 not have gone every week for a year or more 
 without being seen or known. This was not much, 
 he thought, but it was something. He knew, that 
 after leaving the Appian Way, Dorcas must have 
 plunged at once into that tangled maze of un 
 derbrush, brambles, vines running wild upon the 
 untrimmed trees, and all the luxuriant vegetation 
 which in that semi-tropical climate soon conceals 
 the harsher features of ruin and decay. This 
 much his unflagging search had yielded him, and 
 at nightfall he turned his footsteps homeward, re 
 solved that upon the following morning he would 
 explore the waste, and that not even the slightest 
 
96 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 trace by which it might be possible to follow Dor 
 cas should escape his anxious eyes. 
 
 On the next day, and the next, and day after 
 day for more than a month, he spent in that soli 
 tude every hour that he could spare from necessary 
 duties, exploring the grounds foot by foot until he 
 could recognize, like the faces of familiar friends, 
 every tree and vine and shrub, and even the most 
 minute and indistinguishable features of the earth 
 and of its various growths; but nothing came of it. 
 He was discouraged, almost hopeless, but deter 
 mined never to relinquish the search until he had 
 discovered Dorcas, or had learned whither she 
 had gone. 
 
 The youth grew thin and haggard with this un 
 remitting anxiety and grief. His looks and move 
 ments became nervous almost jerky; he lost 
 the calm, self-poised grace and dignity which 
 characterizes the officers of a Roman Legion, and 
 the men of action of every race and clime, so that 
 no busy dreamer, whose mind wears out his body, 
 could have his physical beauty more greatly 
 marred. 
 
 The Vice-Prefect Varus had been troubled and 
 annoyed beyond measure by the abrupt disappear 
 ance of his beautiful and accomplished assistant, 
 and he had elicited from the young centurion, by 
 persistent questioning, nearly all that had occurred 
 between himself and Dorcas. Of course he con- 
 
MARCELLUS CONDUCT 97 
 
 demned the maiden as one deluded by the malevo 
 lent superstition of the Christians, blinded to her 
 own good and to all that pertained thereto, and 
 insensible to the right and duties which she owed 
 to himself and to his only son, and his bitter hatred 
 towards that odious sect grew stronger and more 
 unrelenting as he daily marked the havoc which 
 disappointment was making in the health and 
 spirits of his son. He would not have hesitated 
 to set the whole police force of the city upon her 
 track, nor, if she had been found, would he have 
 hesitated to deliver her up, bound hand and foot, 
 to the centurion; but he knew that it was almost 
 useless, in any case, to pursue a Christian who had 
 fled in order to escape the vengeance of the Roman 
 laws, it being well established by his own experi 
 ence and by the traditions and official records of 
 his office that any Christian who wanted to do 
 so could disappear as effectually as if the earth 
 had opened and had swallowed him up, never to 
 be recaptured, except by merest accident. Those 
 who believed everything attributed this well-known 
 fact to witch-craft and " the strong magic " of the 
 sect; those who believed nothing accounted for it 
 by the conjecture that the Christians had a per 
 fect, secret organization among themselves, and 
 hiding places unknown to, and undiscoverable by, 
 the Roman authorities. Varus, therefore, thought 
 that it would be not only a waste of time, but also 
 
98 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 a great annoyance, involving an injurious notoriety 
 for the young centurion, to institute an official 
 search for the missing maiden. In this opinion 
 Marcellus fully coincided; but he would not aban 
 don either the hope he cherished of some day 
 finding Dorcas nor the ceaseless effort he was mak 
 ing for that purpose. 
 
 In vain the Vice-Prefect brought to bear upon 
 him all the wise suggestions of his own philoso 
 phy; in vain he contrived to engage the young 
 man in extra military duties and ever-changing 
 amusements, seeking to rouse his interest in his 
 profession, or to get him committed to licentious 
 pleasures; nothing could wean him from his love 
 for Dorcas, nor from his determination to dis 
 cover her again; and the Vice- Prefect, finally re 
 alizing the fact that a great, strong, earnest na 
 ture absorbed by any master passion soon passes 
 beyond the reach of all philosophical treatises, 
 and calmly sacrifices even its own lusts, ambitions 
 and vanities, left the young man to his own re 
 sources, hoping that with the lapse of time, the 
 buoyancy of youth would cure him of a seemingly 
 fatal passion. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 JUSTICE TO A CHRISTIAN AFTER THE HIGH 
 ROMAN FASHION 
 
 TTEART-SORE, disconsolate, indifferent to all 
 his usual pleasures and pursuits, the young 
 centurion was one day wandering about the head 
 quarters of the Prefect of the city, which was the 
 usual place for the administration of justice. 
 While he was lounging listlessly about, seeking 
 some way " to kill time," his attention was en 
 listed by hearing the Vice-Prefect who that day 
 sat for the trial of criminals, order the lictors " to 
 bring forth the Christian." 
 
 He followed the lictors into the hall, and saw 
 them place in the prisoner s dock the Christian who 
 had just been brought up for examination; and 
 Marcellus listened to the proceedings, because he 
 had nothing else to do and was aweary of the 
 world. 
 
 "What is thy name?" asked the Vice-Prefect 
 of the prisoner. 
 
 " My name is Lucanius." 
 
 " Thine age." 
 
 " Forty years." 
 
 99 
 
ioo DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 4 Thy place of residence? " 
 
 " Near Rome, beyond the Tiber." 
 
 " Thine occupation? " 
 
 " I am a dresser of vines and a gardener." 
 
 " Thou art brought before me charged with the 
 crime of being a Christian. Dost thou compre 
 hend the nature of the accusation?" 
 
 " I believe I do so fully." 
 
 " Art thou guilty or not guilty? " 
 
 " I am a Christian, but am not guilty." 
 
 * Thou art accused of belonging to the infamous 
 and pestilent sect, the vile and criminal associa 
 tion, denominated Christians ; what plea dost thou 
 make for thyself?" 
 
 " Most honorable Roman, I do not know of 
 any vile or criminal association whatever. I am 
 verily a Christian, but I have done no crime. Is 
 there any such thing as murder, robbery, larceny, 
 lying, cheating or fraud, or any immoral or un 
 worthy conduct, charged against me by any one? 
 If so, I plead not guilty. I am a Christian, but 
 have violated no law of the city or of the em 
 pire!" 
 
 " Stretch forth thy right hand," said the Vice- 
 Prefect. 
 
 Lucanius did so, and it was manifest that the 
 thumb of his right hand had been amputated. 
 
 " So," cried the officer, " thou art one of the 
 Thumbless! Where is thy thumb? Didst 
 
AFTER THE HIGH ROMAN FASHION toi 
 
 thou not cut off thy thumb in order to avoid mili 
 tary service due to the most holy emperor (as so 
 many of the same pusillanimous and pernicious 
 sect have done) ? And yet thou sayest that thou 
 has violated no law of the empire ! 
 
 " Verily," answered Lucanius, " I did ampu 
 tate this thumb in order to avoid military service ; 
 for the law of Christ doth not suffer a Christian 
 to bear arms. But the Roman law does not require 
 a thumbless man to bear arms, so that this thing, 
 done for conscience sake long years ago, is not a 
 violation of the law." 
 
 " Art thou a Roman, and yet dost not know 
 that the first duty of a Roman is to bear arms in 
 behalf of his country? Or art thou a coward 
 and a slave thus ignominiously to maim thyself? " 
 
 4 There was no law forbidding any Roman to 
 cut off his thumb if he had cause to do so, and I 
 had good cause enough." 
 
 " I asked thee art thou a coward? Art thou 
 afraid?" said the Vice- Prefect angrily. 
 
 Then said the Christian mildly: " Most hon 
 orable Roman, I do not think that I would be 
 afraid to die, but I would be afraid to put an 
 other man to death. l Thou shalt not kill, is the 
 law of God; and the fact that an emperor, or some 
 other man, might order me to perpetrate the crime, 
 can furnish no excuse for my conscience. I might 
 face death, perhaps, as quietly as other men do 
 
102 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 for personal courage is the lowest and common 
 est virtue of mankind, if it be a virtue but I 
 would not inflict death or wounds on any man that 
 lives." 
 
 " So, so ! " murmured the Vice-Prefect. 
 4 These Christians will not fight, not even to de 
 fend themselves against injustice; not even in de 
 fense of the superstition for which they do not fear 
 to die ! " 
 
 Then in a louder tone he continued: " Dost 
 thou know the edict of the most holy Emperor 
 Maxentius concerning the odious Christians?" 
 
 " Yea," said Lucanius, " I have heard the 
 law!" 
 
 " And thou knowest that the law requires me 
 to put thee to torture until thou deny this Christ 
 and burn incense to some god of Rome; or until 
 thou confess the secret purposes and designs of 
 this accursed and criminal association, which have 
 hitherto baffled all inquiry of the government; 
 or until I am satisfied that thou art hopelessly ob 
 durate and blinded by this pernicious superstition." 
 Yea," answered the Christian calmly, " such, 
 indeed, do I suppose to be thy duty and thy pur 
 pose ; nor do I blame thee, noble Roman, although 
 I would that the law were not so cruel and unjust. 
 Let me solemnly declare unto thee (as I suppose 
 others have often done before) that the only rea 
 son the government hath always failed, and must 
 
AFTER THE HIGH ROMAN FASHION 103 
 
 always fail, to discover any secret, criminal pur 
 pose or design of the Christian communities, is 
 because they have no such design or purpose. 
 There is nothing secret in Christianity, except that 
 so long as we are persecuted by the law we hold 
 it as a matter of conscience and of brotherly love 
 not to betray the brethren." 
 
 " I have heard all that before," said the Vice- 
 Prefect harshly. ;< Thou knowest the law; wilt 
 thou now curse this Christ, and burn incense to 
 Jupiter, without the torture, and so save thyself 
 intolerable pain? " 
 
 "Nay!" said Lucanius quietly; "not for any 
 tortures that thou canst inflict, God helping me! " 
 
 " Take him, lictors ! With the thumb-screws 
 crush ye the remaining fingers of the hand which 
 he hath mutilated, one after the other, and report 
 thou to me his behavior! " 
 
 Then seized they him, and hurried him into an 
 adjoining chamber, whence soon came the moan- 
 ings of intolerable anguish shuddering through 
 the hall. Then the man s voice was heard, ex 
 claiming: 
 
 " O Jesus, Saviour, strengthen me! " 
 
 Then soon afterward came in the lictors, and 
 reported to the magistrate, saying: 
 
 " Vice-Prefect, we crushed two fingers, and then 
 ordered the Christian to recant, whereupon he be 
 gan to call upon Jesus; and then we crushed the 
 
io 4 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 two remaining fingers, and the man endured it not, 
 but fainted dead away." 
 
 " Bring him hither ! " said the Vice-Prefect. 
 
 Then they brought back Lucanius, and already 
 he looked weak and old and haggard. Then 
 the Vice-Prefect fixed his eyes upon the man, and 
 said: 
 
 " Thou hast tasted of the thumb-screws, Chris 
 tian, and thou remainest obstinate; but we have 
 yet the rack, that giveth torture compared with 
 which that which thou hath suffered is but child s 
 play. Wilt thou recant or not?" Then an 
 swered Lucanius : 
 
 " Most honorable Roman, I knew not whether 
 I could endure this agony, and did greatly fear 
 that the fierce pain might force me to dishonor 
 Christ; but now I know. I praise God that hath 
 strengthened me to suffer all things which thou 
 thinkest thy duty requireth thee to afflict me with. 
 Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the 
 Holy Ghost, Amen ! " 
 
 " It is enough," said the magistrate to the lie- 
 tors. " This kind never yield, and farther ques 
 tion would be useless cruelty. Keep ye him safely 
 until sunrise to-morrow; give him to eat and drink, 
 and in the morning ye shall release him from cus 
 tody without molestation." 
 
 Then the Christian bowed low, saying: 
 
 " I thank thee much, for thou art merciful, and 
 
AFTER THE HIGH ROMAN FASHION 105 
 
 hast not pressed thy legal authority against me 
 farther than thy duty doth require." 
 
 " Certainly not," said the Vice-Prefect. " A 
 Roman officer must do his duty, without regard 
 to any personal feeling of favor or of hatred. 
 Thou hast borne thyself well, and thou wouldst be 
 a worthy man if once set free from thine abomina 
 ble superstition." 
 
 Then the lictors took him to his dungeon, to be 
 confined until sunrise, as had been ordered. 
 
 Then said the Vice-Prefect: 
 
 "Bring in the girl!" 
 
 And the lictors brought before him Phoebe, the 
 daughter of Lucanius, " charged with the crime 
 of being a Christian;" and the maiden being 
 placed in the prisoner s dock, her examination pro 
 ceeded as in the former case, eliciting the fact that 
 she was a Christian, of the age of twenty years, 
 the daughter of the former prisoner. 
 
 The girl was a thorough Roman in every fea 
 ture, and although her large and lustrous eyes be 
 trayed her secret terror, she was calm and self- 
 possessed, revealing in the patient quiet of her 
 bearing the self-control that comes of long training 
 in the direction of repressing all outward signs of 
 emotion. 
 
 * Thou art young and comely, girl," said the 
 Vice-Prefect, " and the fact that no indecorum is 
 laid to thy charge except that thou hast embraced 
 
io6 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 the pestilent and inhuman superstition of the Chris 
 tians, inclineth me to pity thee; but thou knowest 
 that I must and will enforce the law against thee, 
 unless thou come hither and upon the little altar 
 there burn incense to the goddess Venus, denying 
 this malignant Christ. Wilt thou not do so, 
 maiden? " 
 
 "Nay, verily!" 
 
 " Dost thou know the law concerning the Chris 
 tian maidens? " 
 
 "I do not!" 
 
 " From the days of the Emperor Nero until 
 recently," said the Vice-Prefect, " those women 
 who confessed their adherence to this pernicious 
 sect were thrown to the lions or decapitated, or 
 burned at the stake. But this ancient severity hath 
 been relaxed by the more recent emperors, and, 
 under the most holy Emperor Maxentius, they are, 
 of mercy, no longer put to death. The law sends 
 them not ad leonem, but ad lenonem." 
 
 " The emperor is mistaken in regard to clem 
 ency," said Phoebe, " for I, and every Christian 
 girl, would prefer to go to the lions, rather than 
 endure that of which thou speakest." 
 
 " But the law is more merciful unto thee than 
 is thy malevolent and accursed superstition. I 
 will give thee until sunset to consider of thy con 
 dition. If by that hour thou shalt consent to curse 
 this Christ and burn the incense, thou mayst go 
 
AFTER THE HIGH ROMAN FASHION 107 
 
 hence free; but if thou remainest obdurate, the law 
 shall be enforced, whether thon wilt or not. Think 
 thou well upon it. Lictors, take her to her dun 
 geon!" 
 
 Then they led the girl into one of the dungeons 
 of the place, and closed and shut the door upon 
 her. The *small, dark room contained only an 
 iron couch, a chair, a small wooden table, on 
 which there was a water jar and an earthen mug. 
 The girl sank down upon her knees in silent, ear 
 nest prayer. 
 
 The Vice-Prefect remained engaged in the ex 
 amination of other prisoners. He remarked that 
 there was never any necessity for witnesses on the 
 examination of those who were charged with the 
 crime of Christianity, if the charge were true, be 
 cause in all his experience he had never known one 
 of them to deny the fact. 
 
 Just at sunset the Vice-Prefect ordered a lictor 
 to inquire whether, after reflection upon the mat 
 ter, the girl Phoebe was willing to save herself by 
 denying Jesus and burning incense to the idol. 
 The lictor reported that she quietly but obstinately 
 refused to do either. 
 
 u Then the law must take its course," said the 
 Vice-Prefect, and the young girl was led back to 
 her dungeon and the door locked upon her. But 
 Marcellus, obeying a sudden impulse, pressed for 
 ward, and, saluting the Vice-Prefect, asked that 
 
io8 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 he might be permitted to visit the Christian 
 maiden s cell. The magistrate evinced some sur 
 prise that a young patrician should make such a 
 request, but wrote the necessary order on a papyrus 
 and directed a lictor to conduct the centurion to the 
 prison. 
 
 And Marcellus went out following the lictor, 
 and when they had reached the entrance to the 
 dungeon the lictor delivered the order to the sentry 
 on duty there, and thereupon the sentry opened 
 the door and the centurion passed into the dun 
 geon, and the door was closed. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 A FAIR CONTRACT FOR A PAGAN 
 
 HEN the young centurion entered the cell 
 of Phoebe, the girl instinctively drew away 
 to that side of the room into which the fast fading 
 light of day sifted through a small, narrow win 
 dow that was well secured by transverse iron bars 
 morticed deeply into the walls of solid stone. Ob 
 serving the growing darkness of the dungeon, 
 Marcellus rapped on the heavy door with his 
 sword-hilt, and when the sentry answered, he said : 
 " Bring thou a lamp hither; " and soon the sentry 
 opened the door and gave unto him a small lamp 
 lighted, which the centurion placed upon the table. 
 Then laying his sword across the table, he seated 
 himself upon the only chair, and turning to the 
 young girl, he said, in harsh and peremptory tones : 
 " Come thou hither, and be seated upon this couch 1 
 I would talk with thee, and see thy face when thou 
 dost answer 1 " 
 
 The frightened girl hesitated for a moment to 
 obey him, and gazed appealingly into the young 
 man s haggard but determined face. " Come 
 thou hither," he said again, with sterner accents. 
 
 109 
 
i io DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 Then, preserving her self-possession by a mighty 
 effort, she calmly came forward and took the seat 
 upon the couch indicated by the gesture of his 
 hand, near and immediately in front of him, with 
 the lamp-light shining full upon her. The cen 
 turion turned his haggard face and gazed into her 
 timid eyes long and earnestly, with a look as cruel 
 and hard as any murderer s visage ever wore, and 
 then, in tones husky with some strong but sup 
 pressed passion, he said: "Thou art a Chris 
 tian, and thou knowest the sentence passed upon 
 thee; but I would know more of the accursed and 
 criminal association to which thou dost belong 
 and I will question thee. If thou dost answer me 
 truthfully and promptly, without any equivocation 
 or evasion, I will show thee respect and kindness; 
 if thou dost lie to me, or if thou dost prevaricate, 
 or if thou refuse to answer, or if thou dost seek to 
 conceal anything of which I ask thee, I will in no 
 way stand between thee and the sentence of the 
 court. Wilt thou be truthful,, direct, and without 
 deceit, or not? " 
 
 His hard but feverish eyes were fixed unblench- 
 ingly upon those of the shrinking girl. But Phoebe 
 calmly answered: "I thank God, Roman, this 
 night, that there is no act of all my life that need- 
 eth to be concealed. There is nothing in the faith 
 of a Christian but what all men are invited and 
 earnestly exhorted to know and examine for them- 
 
A FAIR CONTRACT FOR A PAGAN in 
 
 selves. Thou canst put no question to me, cen 
 turion, which I need hesitate to answer truthfully 
 and unreservedly, either concerning my own poor 
 life, if thou dost wish to examine that, or concern 
 ing our pure, peaceful, harmless, and glorious re 
 ligion, except that I will not betray any who are 
 known to me to be Christians; nor will I reveal 
 unto thee any sign or word by which the perse 
 cuted recognize each other. Except these two 
 things, ask what thou wilt, and I will answer thee 
 truly, directly, and intelligently, as far as my little 
 knowledge may serve me." 
 
 " Dost thou belong to any organized body, or 
 society, among the Christians?" 
 
 " Yea," answered Phoebe, " and have done so 
 from infancy. I was raised up in the Church." 
 
 " Hast thou been accustomed to take part in the 
 secret rites and ceremonies of these societies?" 
 
 " Assuredly," answered Phoebe; " but thou must 
 know that there is nothing in the nature of secrecy 
 in our Christianity. On the contrary, the Church 
 would gladly hold all its services in the light of 
 day publicly if the Roman law allowed it; 
 only, while the persecution continues, we are com 
 pelled to worship in secret." 
 
 ; What are your rites and ceremonies? What 
 eidolons or images do ye use in them? What do 
 the Christians do in these assemblies?" 
 
 " It would take long to tell thee all intelligibly. 
 
ii2 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 The principal ceremonies are Baptism, admin 
 istered when one unites himself with one of our 
 communities; the Supper of our Lord, consisting 
 of a taste of consecrated bread and wine, used 
 commonly once a week; singing, prayer, and 
 preaching, in which the presbyters explain the 
 Sacred Book, or exhort men to the observance of 
 the precepts therein contained." 
 
 " I know something of all these things of which 
 thou hast spoken, from hearing or reading the ex 
 aminations of other Christians; but have they not 
 secret rites, which they refuse to reveal, even to 
 save themselves from tortures and from death? 
 Abominable practices, which shun the light of day, 
 and which they are attestated by mighty oaths 
 never to disclose? Speak thou the truth!" he 
 said, sternly and vehemently. 
 
 "Nay, verily," said Phoebe; "but whatsoever 
 things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, 
 whatsoever things are honorable, and whatsoever 
 things are of good report, we seek for those things 
 earnestly." 
 
 " What is the real object of these societies? " 
 
 " To preserve and disseminate the knowledge of 
 one true God, and of His Son, our Saviour; to 
 encourage each other in holy living, and to avoid 
 all sin." 
 
 " What form of oath or obligation is the bond 
 of union among them? " 
 
A FAIR CONTRACT FOR A PAGAN 113 
 
 " There is no oath taken, no obligation executed. 
 One who is admitted into a church giveth all that 
 he hath for the common good, promises to lead 
 a pure and blameless life, and to love the brethren 
 that is, all who are Christians." 
 
 " What dost thou suppose to be the chief or 
 vital point in the whole system? " 
 
 " Only faith in Christ as a Divine Saviour, and 
 the Agape; that love for all men, and especially 
 for the brethren, for which, I have been told, you 
 Romans have no word in your language." 
 
 "What is Agape?" 
 
 " I hardly know how to tell thee that. The 
 nearest word is charity, and that giveth but a por 
 tion of the meaning; for when Paul, who also was 
 a prisoner here at Rome for Christ s sake, seeketh 
 to define this charity he saith : * Though I have 
 all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and 
 have not charity, I am nothing. And though I 
 bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and have 
 not charity, it profited! me nothing. Charity suf- 
 fereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; 
 charity vaunteth not itself; is not puffed up; doth 
 not behave itself unseemly; seeketh not her own; 
 is not easily provoked; thinketh no evil; rejoiceth 
 not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; believeth 
 all things; hopeth all things; endureth all things; 
 charity never faileth. And now abideth faith, 
 hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these 
 
DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 is charity. Ah! Roman, if all men had this di 
 vine charity in the soul of them, no man, woman, 
 nor child need ever fear to be wronged or injured 
 by any one ; and this grace, the issue of which is a 
 life, pure, harmless, useful and Tbeautiful here and 
 eternal life in the world to come, is that for which 
 all Christians seek. 1 
 
 " Thou lookest as if thou didst believe in the 
 verity of that which thou hast spoken I " said the 
 centurion. 
 
 "Yea," answered Phoebe; "with all my soul 
 and strength do I believe, and would to God that 
 thou, and all men with thee, did so believe." 
 
 Then there fell a long silence between them. 
 The girl quietly watched him, hoping and praying 
 that some holy influence might soften his heart 
 toward herself, and save her from all harm, but 
 the young man sat with bowed head, and strong, 
 inscrutable countenance; submerged in troubled, 
 doubtful, bitter thoughts, until he seemed almost 
 to have forgotten the presence of his prisoner and 
 all their gloomy surroundings. Finally he roused 
 himself by a visible effort, and fixing his eyes once 
 more upon the young girl s face, he said, in sud 
 den, imperative tones: " Knowest thou the Jew, 
 Epaphras ? " 
 
 Instantly the girl s face, that had begun to glow 
 with enthusiasm while she recited the glorious 
 hymn of Paul in praise of charity, and that had 
 
A FAIR CONTRACT FOR A PAGAN 115 
 
 remained bright and hopeful ever since, was 
 clouded with a shadow of trouble, but almost as 
 quickly it resumed its usual expression of self-pos 
 session, and after a momentary hesitation she re 
 plied : " I do know an Epaphras, who is an 
 Israelite by birth, but whether he be the same of 
 whom thou speakest I know not." 
 
 " Yea," said Marcellus, with hard, bitter sar 
 casm; "an Israelite by birth; a Christian by re 
 ligion; a learned man, too; perhaps, a teacher 
 or a bishop of the sect dost thou not know 
 him?" 
 
 " First inform me why thou askest concerning 
 him?" 
 
 " I perceive that thou dost know the man," said 
 Marcellus. " I do not; but know that he is an 
 educated man, and, notwithstanding that, a Chris 
 tian. I seek not to injure him, but only to be cer 
 tain whether thou knowest the man." 
 
 " Yea," said Phoebe; " I do know him, Roman; 
 a great, good and useful man, and a Christian. 
 What wouldst thou have of him? " 
 
 " Nothing," replied Marcellus. " But dost 
 thou know that Dorcas, the daughter of Faustina, 
 of whom this same Epaphras hath been guardian, 
 teacher and friend? " 
 
 " I have never seen the maiden," answered 
 Phoebe, " but have often heard of her; for she is 
 an orphan, both of whose parents suffered martyr- 
 
ii6 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 dom for Jesus, and all the churches love and honor 
 her." 
 
 The angry light once more blazed in the young 
 man s feverish eyes, and he demanded harshly: 
 " How is it that thou knowest Epaphras and not 
 Dorcas? The guardian and not the ward? " 
 
 " Simply from the fact that Epaphras hath 
 sometimes held services for our community, but I 
 was never at his chapel, nor hath Dorcas, so far 
 as I am informed, ever attended ours; therefore, 
 I have never met with her." 
 
 " That, indeed, seemeth plausible enough," 
 Marcellus said; " but thou couldst find her for me, 
 couldst thou not? " 
 
 "Yea, verily," said Phoebe. "I could com 
 municate with Epaphras through our own pastor, 
 and so easily find the maiden Dorcas." 
 
 Then, if thou wilt swear in good faith that 
 thou wilt find and bring her unto me, thou shalt 
 go hence unharmed, and I will henceforth stand 
 for a friend whose protection thou and thy father 
 may safely claim. I will gratify any reasonable 
 wish of thine if thou shalt deliver unto me the 
 maiden Dorcas." 
 
 " Why dost thou so earnestly seek after Dor 
 cas?" 
 
 That is mine own affair," he answered, 
 angrily, " and cannot in anywise concern thee. 
 Thou shalt be safe, I tell thee, and thou and thy 
 
A FAIR CONTRACT FOR A PAGAN 117 
 
 father shall enjoy my protection, if thou wilt disr 
 cover the girl and give her up to me. If not, 
 remember to what thou art condemned; and the 
 hours are passing rapidly." 
 
 The girl blanched with fear and sorrow, but she 
 answered boldly: " Roman, thou canst not name 
 a reward for which I would betray my sister Dor 
 cas unto thee ! " 
 
 "Thy sister!" said Marcellus, furiously. 
 " Even now thou hast declared to me that thou 
 didst not even know the girl." 
 
 "Yea," answered Phoebe, quietly; " nor do I 
 know her, even by the sight; but she, also, is a 
 Christian, and all Christian girls are sisters to 
 each other. That is the Agape. I would not 
 betray her to secure my life, nor for any price 
 that thou couldst offer, if thou didst own the 
 empire." 
 
 " I do not ask thee to betray the girl. I would 
 not injure her; but I want herl Canst thou not 
 see that I am miserable because she hath forsaken 
 me? Canst thou not see that I suffer because I 
 see her face and hear her voice no more? Dios 
 curi! " he shouted, fiercely; " but thou shalt seek 
 and find her for me! Dost thou hear? I say 
 thou shalt ! " 
 
 " Never ! " she answered, quietly, " unless thou 
 first inform me why thou dost so passionately de 
 sire to find her, and I then, knowing all, shall be- 
 
iiB DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 lieve that it is right to aid thee; for if it seemeth 
 wrong to me, I will not aid thee, Roman." 
 
 The young man gazed upon her fiercely and 
 fixedly, and saw that it would be useless to attempt 
 to compel that seemingly calm and immovable be 
 ing to aid him, or even to promise to do so. 
 Thou art like unto all that cherish the accursed 
 superstition! " he cried, with fearful bitterness of 
 spirit. " Calm, immovable, implacable, indiffer 
 ent to the joys and sorrows of all men ! Enemies 
 of the human race ! Scorning reward or punish 
 ment alike! Alive only to the terrible bondage 
 which this fatal superstition fastens upon the heart 
 and brain. Thou darest even to scorn my very 
 sorrow, and it would be a crime to pity one so 
 pitiless as thou ! " 
 
 He sprang up and roughly seized the girl by 
 the arm; but, although terrified and almost de 
 spairing, she said, with seeming calmness: "If 
 thou dost suffer from any cause, believe me that I 
 would rejoice to find it possible for me to aid thee. 
 Wilt thou not tell me all, so that I may under 
 stand what may be the right, and do for thee all 
 that duty may permit?" 
 
 The girl s strange calmness, in such striking con 
 trast to his own tempestuous passion, seemed 
 greatly to soothe his violence, and he released her, 
 saying: " Perhaps thou art right. Sit thou 
 there, and I will tell thee all." 
 
A FAIR CONTRACT FOR A PAGAN 119 
 
 Then hurriedly, and with feverish voice and 
 eyes, he said: "Dorcas was at the villa of my 
 father, the Vice-Prefect Varus, for more than a 
 year. She is the loveliest and the most gifted 
 girl in all the world, and I love her more than I 
 love my life. Suddenly, about a month ago, she 
 disappeared went away of her own accord 
 and she must be concealed somewhere among the 
 Christians. I cannot live without her; thou must 
 find her for me; " and then, with almost intoler 
 able supplication in his voice, he added : Thou 
 wilt find her for me, wilt thou not? " 
 
 " Didst thou tell Dorcas of thy love for her? " 
 
 " Yea, and that made her fly from me," he an 
 swered, sadly. 
 
 " And wouldst thou seek to compel her to re 
 turn to thee, knowing that she loves thee not? " 
 
 "Dioscuri!" he half shouted; "but Dorcas 
 loveth only me. She did tell me that with all 
 solemnity, and from her face and manner I do 
 know she spoke the truth. And yet she hath for 
 saken me, nor have I seen nor heard of her since 
 then." 
 
 " Didst thou ask her to become thy wife? " 
 
 " Nay, I think not. A wife is but a higher sort 
 of slave. In Rome we do not marry for love, but 
 for interest or convenience. I do not. suppose it 
 occurred to me to talk of marriage; but if she 
 would only be my wife, I would be a happy man." 
 
120 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 " Perhaps thou hast made a large mistake, cen 
 turion. We Christian maidens marry only when 
 we love, and love only when we marry. Our 
 church saith : Be ye not unequally yoked to 
 gether with unbelievers; but if thou hadst desired 
 Dorcas in marriage, she might not have left thee. 
 Of course, I do not know." 
 
 " Only find her for me," said the young man; 
 " only find her!" 
 
 " I will do this much for thee," said Phoebe. 
 "If thou wilt suffer me to go hence unharmed, I 
 will obtain speech of Dorcas, as thou knowest I 
 can easily do, through Epaphras and our pres 
 byters, and will on the next Sabbath that is, the 
 fourth day from now meet thee wherever thou 
 mayest appoint a place, and will bring unto thee 
 any message or letter which Dorcas may desire 
 to send. If she refuse to write to thee, or to send 
 thee any word, I will nevertheless come unto thee 
 again and inform thee exactly how my undertak 
 ing in thy business hath resulted. More than this 
 I cannot promise thee to do." 
 
 " Dost thou say this in good faith, without 
 equivocation or lying?" 
 
 " Christians never lie," she answered proudly. 
 " Hast thou known of any Christian that did ever 
 lie even to escape the rigor of the Roman laws? " 
 
 " Nay," answered Marcellus, " and I will even 
 trust thy word. If thou shalt prove to be 
 
A FAIR CONTRACT FOR A PAGAN 121 
 
 true and faithful, I will, henceforth, protect thee 
 even if thou shouldst accomplish nothing. Only 
 do all that thou canst do to aid me and thou shalt 
 be safe." 
 
 Then the girl s dark, luminous eyes grew soft, 
 and she took the centurion s hand in hers, and 
 bending low, did kiss his hand, saying: "Thou 
 art a man just and merciful according to thy light 
 and knowledge. Surely, I think if the maiden 
 Dorcas would be wife to any Roman who is not 
 a Christian she would marry thee." 
 
 Then the young man spread his toga on the iron 
 couch, saying to her, kindly: " Thou must be 
 weary, Phoebe. Repose thou here and have no 
 fear. The couch is iron, it is true, but it is smooth 
 and thou wilt find it not uncomfortable. It is 
 necessary that I, too, remain until the sun shall 
 rise, and thou shalt then depart. On the even 
 ing of the fourth day hence come thou to the villa 
 of the Vice-Prefect Varus on the Appian Way, 
 according to thy promise, fearing nothing." 
 
 The girl stretched herself out upon the prison 
 couch, without any sense of doubt or fear, and 
 soon the sorrows of that long and weary day were 
 lost to her in calm and healthful slumber. But 
 the young man sat motionless, his elbow upon the 
 table, his head upon his hand, and his sore 
 heart overburdened with sleepless thoughts. He 
 thought of Dorcas, and all that he had ever heard, 
 
122 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 and all that he had personally observed concerning 
 the mysterious Christian Association to which she 
 belonged, passed with the tide of conflicting emo 
 tions through his restless heart. What was he to 
 think of this Christian community? There was a 
 hopeless and irreconcilable antagonism between 
 what he had heard of the Christians and what he 
 had seen for himself. It was necessary to reject 
 one or the other view of the hated sect ; the differ 
 ence between the two accounts of them could never 
 be harmonized; there was no possibility of holding 
 to the possible verity of both views. He knew that 
 for centuries the Imperial Edicts the very high 
 est and most authoritative form of Roman law 
 issued for the suppression of Christianity, assumed 
 the facts to be that it was a secret association of 
 the depraved, vile and criminal inhuman and 
 pestilent, atheistic, licentious and cruel. He knew 
 that even the grave, erudite, and laconic Tacitus, 
 Rome s greatest historian, had described the Chris 
 tians in terms of calmest unmitigated scorn and 
 loathing, and had not censured the terrible cruel 
 ties inflicted upon them, even by Nero, whom he 
 hated. He knew that the popular sentiment of 
 Rome, and, in fact, of the Empire, held the Chris 
 tians in utter abhorrence, and commonly attributed 
 to them as rites and ceremonies of their religion 
 crimes so utterly abominable, that pagan re 
 ligion refused the promise of pardon to the per- 
 
A FAIR CONTRACT FOR A PAGAN 123 
 
 petrators of such loathsome atrocities upon any 
 terms whatever, and pagan philosophy did not pre 
 tend to know or seek for any expiation for such 
 guilt. But, personally, he knew that many of 
 those who had been subjected to torture because 
 of this religion, were firm, unyielding, meek, quiet, 
 patient and forgiving; praying even for their 
 judges and executioners. He knew that only in 
 rare instances had any crime been charged against 
 them, except the crime of being Christians, and in 
 no instance had such crime been proved. The 
 only pure, chaste, educated girls he had ever met 
 with were both Christians, neither of them ascetics 
 both full of human kindliness and sympathy 
 but both as fixed and changeless as the everlasting 
 hills in their devotion to this terrible superstition, 
 and in their adherence to that manner of life which 
 seemed in some way to be the natural and logical 
 outcome of their faith. One view must be true 
 to the exclusion of the others; there was no neutral 
 ground between them upon which they could both 
 stand together. If judged by what Roman law, 
 and history, and opinions declared to be the truth 
 concerning them, no association on earth had ever 
 been so hopelessly, desperately and determinedly 
 wicked. Judged only by what he personally 
 knew, no society was ever so pure, exalted, self- 
 sacrificing and perfect. He could not decide for 
 himself how the truth was; and hour after hour 
 
i2 4 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 he pondered the subject without reaching any 
 satisfactory conclusion, fearing that even the 
 outward appearance of temperance, veracity, 
 meekness and constancy which had so powerfully 
 impressed him upon many occasions, might be 
 as it was commonly said to be only a mask be 
 hind which Christianity concealed from the out 
 raged and insulted world an atheistic, beastly and 
 abominable wickedness. And so, while the young 
 girl slept calmly and peacefully, the Roman s heart 
 was like the troubled sea that cannot rest; and so 
 the night passed slowly away, until the slant rays 
 of the rising sun struck on the narrow dungeon 
 window. Then Phoebe awoke, and her friendly 
 salutation being returned by the centurion, he 
 rapped upon the door with his sword-hilt, and the 
 sentry came and opened it. 
 
 " Say thou nothing to any one," Marcellus told 
 her, " but quietly follow me." 
 
 And quickly they passed through to the outer 
 door of the prison, and there met with Lucanius, 
 and father and daughter joyfully embraced each 
 other, and so they departed from that cruel place. 
 And the centurion passed them by, saying to the 
 girl, in low, emphatic tones : " Keep thou thy 
 promises faithfully." 
 
 To whom she answered, without pausing on her 
 way: " Yea, Roman! Doubt not thou at all! " 
 
 And as they went slowly on their way to their 
 
A FAIR CONTRACT FOR A PAGAN 125 
 
 pleasant home beyond the Tiber, the young girl 
 noticed that her father s hand was wrapped up in 
 linen cloths; and she said unto him: "Father, 
 what hath hurt thy hand?" and her heart grew 
 sick within her as she waited for his answer: 
 " The Lord hath tried me, daughter, but not be 
 yond what I was able, for His sake, to bear. In 
 fact, when they had crushed my ringers in the cruel 
 engines, it seemed to me that all at once I did 
 receive great strength from Him that helpeth ; and 
 I do believe that no tortures could ever have been 
 sufficient to force me to deny the faith. Not only 
 is one strengthened of the Lord, but I think also 
 that suffering, to some extent, defeats the purposes 
 for which it is inflicted, and that there is a point 
 beyond which it ceases to be torture." 
 
 " I glory at thy constancy ! " she answered. 
 " The Master hath dealt most kindly with me. 
 The young Roman whom thou didst hear warning 
 me to keep a promise which I made to him, seeketh 
 to find Dorcas, the Daughter of Faustina, and I 
 did promise to bring news of her to him. He 
 loved her with a strong, controlling passion; and, 
 I think, will see that no injury shall henceforth be-^ 
 fall us by the Roman law; and he hath been good 
 to me and kind." 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 " HE THAT SEEKETH FINDETH " 
 
 A LTHOUGH Marcellus derived some hope 
 *" * and consolation from the apparent sincerity 
 with which Phoebe had promised to aid him in 
 learning the whereabouts of Dorcas, and in com 
 municating with her, he did not relax his efforts 
 to discover some possible path by which she had 
 been accustomed to pass from the Appian Way, 
 in the vicinity of the ruined villa, unto that un 
 known place to which he was satisfied she had gone 
 on every Seventh day during the period in which 
 she had been resident at the villa of Varus. So 
 deeprooted and inveterate was the distrust and 
 hatred with which the Romans of his rank re 
 garded Christianity, and all those who professed 
 it, that while he had resolved to trust the promise 
 of Phoebe, he found it really impossible to give 
 more than a painful and unsatisfactory half-con 
 fidence to her, and in this uncertain state of mind, 
 being compelled to wait at least until the afternoon 
 of the next Seventh day before he would certainly 
 know whether she intended to deal sincerely with 
 him, he could not rest supinely in the interval, but 
 
 126 
 
" HE THAT SEEKETH FINDETH " 127 
 
 found it necessary to keep up his almost daily visits 
 to the ruined villa, and his unavailing search for 
 the path Dorcas had been accustomed to follow 
 in that vicinity. 
 
 Accordingly, on the following Sunday morning, 
 long before the sun had risen, Marcellus hastened 
 along the Appian Way toward the desolated villa 
 a vicinity that for more than a month he had 
 haunted like some restless ghost. While he was 
 wandering in that dreary waste, rendered almost 
 oblivious to his surroundings by the one consum 
 ing sorrow and yearning of his heart, his attention 
 was caught by the form of an old woman, tramp 
 ing slowly and painfully through the tangled 
 thicket, in which there was no visible path. He 
 vacantly wondered what she could be doing there 
 at such an early hour, and noticed that she did not 
 seem to wander aimlessly about in the vagabond 
 fashion that had become so familiar to his own 
 experience, but pursued her slow and difficult way, 
 as if she knew where she was going, and as if she 
 had some definite end in view. The young man 
 kept his eyes upon her, followed her cautiously, 
 and gradually drew nearer to her until she was 
 seventy-five yards distant from him, when suddenly 
 she disappeared, he could not imagine how or 
 whither. " Gone like a witch ! " he said to him 
 self; but he could clearly distinguish the very spot 
 on which she was standing when she had vanished; 
 
128 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 and, keeping his eye fixed upon that spot, and 
 moved by an almost powerless hope, he cautiously, 
 but swiftly stepped forward, and found only what 
 seemed to be a sheet of plaster on the hillside, that 
 looked as if it might once have formed part of a 
 cistern or cellar long since destroyed. That was 
 all. But when he came immediately to this frag 
 ment of a ruined wall he perceived that the next 
 step to the left would lead, not as he supposed, 
 into the thicket that spread around on every side, 
 but through a narrow opening, half-hidden by 
 brambles and underbrush, into the side of the hill. 
 It was dark as midnight, and he knew neither the 
 depth nor direction of the cavern, but with that 
 fine capacity for instantaneous decision and action, 
 which is one of the surest results of thorough mil 
 itary training, he stepped lightly and quickly into 
 that subterranean darkness. But, in a moment, he 
 stood still with surprise. A narrow line of artifi 
 cial light caught his eye, and, gazing intently, he 
 saw that, a few feet away from him, the old 
 woman whom he had seen outside, held in her 
 hand a diminutive lamp, and that by its feeble 
 flame she was endeavoring to light the wick of an 
 other lamp of ordinary size. And as soon as her 
 trembling hands enabled her to do so, she hid away 
 the smaller lamp, and bearing the other in her 
 hand proceeded on her way. The light gave suffi 
 cient illumination to reveal to Marcellus the fact 
 
" HE THAT SEEKETH FINDETH " 129 
 
 that she was going through a long gallery cut out 
 of the rock, of the length of which he could not 
 conjecture; but instantly he determined to follow 
 the woman cautiously wherever she might go, and 
 see what would come of it. 
 
 The old woman pursued her way along the 
 smooth floor of the gallery with greater alacrity, 
 and the young centurion followed her cautiously 
 through every bend and winding of the path. He 
 soon became satisfied that she was too deaf to 
 hear his footsteps, and that the only danger he 
 incurred of being discovered by her lay in the 
 probability that she might suddenly turn around 
 and see him; and there seemed no probability of 
 this occurrence, because, having the light in her 
 hand, she would be looking away from it and into 
 the darkness. He therefore followed close upon 
 her heels, determined not to lose sight of her 
 again. She went on a great distance, and sud 
 denly she paused a moment where another gallery 
 opened into that in which she walked. Then 
 came a voice that cried in loud, distinct tones: 
 ; Walk thou by faith? " and the woman answered 
 with the words: "In His name," and entered 
 into the new gallery. No one was anywhere 
 visible, nor could Marcellus determine whence 
 came this singular challenge; for he understood at 
 once that it was a challenge as much as the pass 
 word of a Roman encampment. But as he bore 
 
i 3 o DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 no lamp, and followed the old woman so closely, 
 he rightly supposed that the invisible sentry would 
 take it for granted that she was his guide through 
 the labyrinth, and so kept on his way without paus 
 ing, and was not challenged. Whenever she came 
 to a new gallery into which she desired to go, the 
 woman paused, and the same challenge was given : 
 " Walk thou by faith ?" and the same answer 
 given, " In His name;" and at last she entered 
 the same chapel in the rock into which we have 
 already followed Dorcas. 
 
 The room was filled with men, women and chil 
 dren, and was fairly lighted by a multitude of 
 lamps set in niches cut into the wall on every side. 
 Marcellus paused before he had reached the en 
 trance, and squeezed himself close against the 
 more shaded side of the gallery, and contemplated 
 the strange and quiet scene before him. 
 
 On the larger table lay a thing, covered over 
 with a long cloak, the outlines of which resembled 
 those of the human form. On the smaller table 
 was a snowy linen cloth that concealed something, 
 the shape of which the young centurion could not 
 divine; but his glance fell upon it almost suspi 
 ciously, because he understood at once that he had 
 come upon one of those secret chapels in which 
 the hated Christians were wont to meet in order 
 to celebrate the fearful rites of their abominable 
 
" HE THAT SEEKETH FINDETH " 131 
 
 and inhuman superstition. He knew well that it 
 had long been reported, and generally believed, at 
 Rome, " that the Christians, as the most wicked of 
 human kind, practiced, in their dark recesses, 
 every abomination that a depraved fancy could 
 suggest, and solicited the favor of their unknown 
 God by the sacrifice of every moral virtue." He 
 knew " that many who pretended to confess, or 
 to relate the ceremonies of this abhorred society, 
 had asserted that human sacrifices were among the 
 least of the horrible barbarities practiced among 
 the mystic symbols of initiation; that proselytes 
 were unknowingly led to inflict many a secret and 
 mortal wound on the innocent victim of their er 
 rors; that as soon as the cruel deeds were per 
 petrated, the sectaries drank the blood, and 
 pledged themselves to eternal secrecy by a mutual 
 consciousness of guilt." It was as confidently af 
 firmed that this inhuman sacrifice was succeeded by 
 a suitable entertainment, marked by orgies to 
 which those of profligate Rome were innocent in 
 comparison. 
 
 He had never really believed all of the atro 
 cious calumnies commonly circulated concerning 
 the Christians, and since he had known that a be 
 ing so chaste and refined as Dorcas belonged to 
 the sect, he had come to believe that nearly all of 
 these malicious reports were false; yet he felt a 
 
132 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 thrill of horrible curiosity in looking upon that 
 snowy cloth, so carefully disposed, which concealed 
 from view he knew not what. 
 
 The young man gazed eagerly over the assem 
 bly perhaps four hundred in number seeking 
 to discover whether Dorcas was present, but as 
 the gallery in which he stood was on the west side 
 of the chapel, while all the congregation faced the 
 east, he could not tell whether she was among 
 those over whom his range of vision extended or 
 not. He determined, at any hazard, to remain 
 quiet, and await such developments as might occur, 
 knowing, at any rate, that he would have the op 
 portunity to see and hear for himself just what the 
 Christians do and say in one of those secret assem 
 blies which inspired the ordinary Roman with 
 loathing and with horror; and what he saw and 
 heard was as follows: A man of about forty- 
 eight, possibly fifty, years of age, tall, erect, 
 swarthy, handsome, of a grave and dignified de 
 meanor, stepped upon the low platform at the east 
 side of the chapel, and, facing the audience, raised 
 his right hand up, and immediately every one of 
 the assembly quietly rose, and, with uplifted hand, 
 in solemn tones followed the presbyter, saying: 
 " I believe in God the Father Almighty, and in 
 Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord; who was 
 conceived of the Holy Ghost; born of the Virgin 
 Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate; crucified, 
 
" HE THAT SEEKETH FINDETH " 133 
 
 dead, and buried! On the third day He rose 
 from the dead, ascended into heaven; and sitteth 
 on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; 
 whence He shall come to judge the quick and the 
 dead. I believe in the Holy Ghost; in the com 
 mon Church; in the communion of Believers; the 
 forgiveness of Sins; the resurrection of the Dead; 
 and the life everlasting. Amen ! " 
 
 Marcellus heard this profession of faith with 
 profound interest and astonishment. Because the 
 Christians refused to worship any of the gods of 
 Rome, the general belief among the pagans was 
 that they were atheists, who had no God at all; but 
 having listened to their own solemn declaration 
 that they believed in God the Father, and in Christ 
 His Son, it occurred to him that if the Holy Ghost 
 were a Divine Being also, they could not be athe 
 ists, but had faith in these three Gods at least; 
 and he gazed carefully around to see whether the 
 chapel contained any idol, eikon, or image, to rep 
 resent these Deities; but there was none whatever. 
 
 Then the whole audience united in singing to a 
 sweet and solemn melody the following words : 
 
 " Lord, as the lamp-light guides our feet 
 Thro all this dark but dear retreat, 
 So let Thy true light mark the road 
 That leads our willing hearts to God, 
 And blessedness, and peace! 
 
134 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 " As here, so far beneath the ground, 
 But for our lamps a gloom profound, 
 Would darken all with fear and doubt ; 
 So would our hearts be dark without 
 The light of love and faith. 
 
 " But for our lamps fierce beasts would come 
 And make this safe retreat their home; 
 So would fierce lusts and passions rise 
 To vex our spirits with their lies 
 But for the light of faith and love. 
 
 " Lord, as Thy people here abide 
 Hidden from earthly hate and pride; 
 So may Thy Spirit teach each heart 
 To live a holy life apart, 
 
 Hidden with Christ in God ! " 
 
 Marcellus heard the sweet voice of Dorcas, 
 dwelling lovingly upon the words of that chaste 
 and simple song, and began to think that it was 
 only the ignorance of vindictive hatred that could 
 associate the idea of crime or impurity with a wor 
 ship so free from any exhibition of passion or 
 pride. But there were yet greater surprises await 
 ing him. 
 
 The presbyter kneeled down, saying: " Let us 
 pray," the whole assembly repeating the prayer 
 with him : 
 
 "Our Father, which art in Heaven; hallowed 
 be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy will be 
 
" HE THAT SEEKETH FINDETH " 135 
 
 done on earth as in Heaven; give us daily bread 
 sufficient for our daily use; and forgive us our 
 debts as we also forgive our debtors ; and may we 
 not be led into trial; but deliver us from trouble; 
 for Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the 
 doctrine, forever. Amen." 
 
 And then the presbyter alone said: "Al 
 mighty God, who hast given us grace at this time, 
 with one accord, to make our common supplica 
 tions unto Thee; and dost promise that when two 
 or three are gathered together in Thy name, Thou 
 wilt grant their requests ; fulfill now, O Lord, the 
 desire and petitions of Thy servants, as may be 
 most expedient for them; granting us in this world 
 knowledge of Thy truth, and in the world to come, 
 life everlasting." 
 
 And the people said: " Amen! " 
 
 Then the presbyter alone continued in prayer, 
 saying: " Most gracious God, in whose hands 
 are the destinies of all nations, and of every man, 
 we humbly beseech Thee to bless Thy servant, 
 Maxentius, the Emperor of Rome, and all others 
 in authority; open his eyes to Thy truth, that he 
 may escape Thy righteous judgment by due re 
 pentance; that he may cease to vex Thy people; 
 and so order his government that peace and happi 
 ness, truth and justice, religion and piety, may be 
 established among us for all generations; and that 
 we, Thy servants, being hurt by no persecutions, 
 
136 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 may evermore give thanks unto Thee in Thy holy 
 Church, through Jesus Christ, our Lord." 
 
 And all the people answered " Amen." 
 
 And the presbyter, stretching forth his hands 
 over the people, said: "The grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellow 
 ship of the Holy Ghost, be with us all evermore. 
 Amen!" 
 
 Then said the centurion to himself: " They 
 even invoke the blessing of their God upon the 
 Emperor Maxentius, who persecuted them to the 
 death." 
 
 Then the presbyter said : " Ye that do truly 
 and earnestly repent of all sins, and are in love 
 and charity with all your neighbors, and are lead 
 ing holy lives, following the commandments of 
 God, and walking in His holy ways, draw near 
 with faith, and take this Holy Sacrament to your 
 comfort, giving most humble and hearty thanks to 
 God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for the re 
 demption of the world by the death and passion 
 of our Saviour Christ, who did humble Himself 
 even to the death upon the cross, that He might 
 make us the children of God, and exalt us unto 
 everlasting life, enabling us, even in this present 
 world, to put our whole trust and confidence in His 
 divine mercy, and to serve Him in holiness and 
 pureness of living, the fruits of which are love, 
 
" HE THAT SEEKETH FINDETH " 137 
 
 joy, and peace, and the end of which is life eter 
 nal." 
 
 Then, as many as could do so kneeled round the 
 table, and the presbyter, removing that linen cloth 
 which had excited the curiosity of Marcellus, un 
 covered a flagon of wine, a small cup, and a plate 
 full of unleavened bread. Thereof he gave each 
 one to eat, saying : * The body of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, which He gave for you, preserve your soul 
 and body unto everlasting life." 
 
 Likewise, taking the cup of wine, he gave unto 
 each of them, saying: " The blood of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ which He shed for you, preserve your 
 souls and bodies unto everlasting life." 
 
 And, when they had partaken, he said: 
 " Arise ye, and go in peace, and the peace of God 
 be with you." 
 
 Then the whole assembly rose and united in 
 chanting the following words : " Glory be to 
 God on high, and peace on earth amongst good 
 men. We praise Thee ! we bless Thee ! we wor 
 ship Thee ! we give thanks unto Thee, O Lord 
 God and everlasting King ! " 
 
 Then the presbyter stepped to the longer table 
 and removed the cloak, uncovering the corpse of 
 a man. Then the presbyter, resuming his place 
 upon the platform, spake as follows: " Beloved, 
 ye know that our Lord Jesus Christ unstopped the 
 
138 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 ears of the deaf, restored sight to the blind, raised 
 the dead, and did many other wonderful works, 
 in order than men might believe- Ye know that 
 Christ committed thaumaturgical power to His 
 Apostles, and, through them, unto the common 
 church, which power hath been continuously ex 
 ercised unto this day, whereof all ye are witnesses. 
 Ye know, also, that by far the greater part of 
 those Christians who, from the beginning, have 
 suffered martyrdom, did rejoice to be counted 
 worthy so to suffer for the faith of Christ, and 
 refused to accept deliverance, and did not desire 
 the Anastasis. But this man, whom ye all know, 
 having been condemned on yesterday to die be 
 cause he followed Jesus, did earnestly desire the 
 Anastasis for the sake of his motherless children 
 and for the sake of the work which he might yet 
 accomplish for the Lord, and sent, by certain of 
 the brethren, to beseech the church that ye would 
 pray God to raise him from the dead. Therefore, 
 I desire ye all once more to unite in prayer, in faith 
 doubting nothing, that, if it be the will of God, 
 our brother Charis may abide with us yet longer 
 for the accomplishment of the holy purposes which 
 he had in his heart when the pagans slew him." 
 
 And the presbyter kneeled down, and all the 
 people with him, and the presbyter said: "Al 
 mighty God, Father of all mercies, that by Thy 
 Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, didst create all 
 
" HE THAT SEEKETH FINDETH " 139 
 
 worlds, and all their natural laws, by which the 
 order and harmony of the universe subsisteth, to 
 whom all things are possible, we, Thy faithful 
 servants, beseech Thee, if it be in accordance with 
 Thy holy will, to recall this our brother back to 
 earthly life, for Thine own glory, and for the sake 
 of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." 
 
 And all the people said " Amen ! " and the pres 
 byter came up to the longer table, and to the corpse 
 thereon, and took it by the hands, saying: 
 " Brother, if it be the will of God concerning thee, 
 in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, arise and 
 live." 
 
 And the man got up, first into a sitting posture 
 upon the table, and thence upon his feet on the 
 floor, saying: " Praise the Lord, O my soul, that 
 hath granted our desire, and hath renewed my 
 life." 
 
 And the people praised God with him. And 
 then he inquired for his children, and, having found 
 them, he greeted them affectionately and went on 
 rejoicing. 
 
 The Roman rubbed his eyes, to assure himself 
 that he was not in a dream, but the Christians took 
 the fact as if it were to them a pleasant but not 
 uncommon event. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 IN WHICH PHCEBE REDEEMETH HER PROMISE 
 
 "\T7HEN Lucanius and Phoebe reached their 
 home beyond the Tiber, after the young 
 girl had been released from the prison, many of 
 the Christians who had heard the fact that they 
 had been seized and carried into the city assembled 
 to give expression to sympathy for their sufferings, 
 rejoicings for their happy escape, and reverence 
 for Lucanius, who was thenceforth numbered 
 among the " Confessors," as they were called, 
 who, because of their devotion to Christianity, had 
 endured torture, but had escaped martyrdom. 
 Among these friends was Doscius, presbyter of the 
 community of which both father and daughter 
 were members, who warmly commended the quiet 
 faithfulness evinced by Lucanius in the trial which 
 he had undergone. 
 
 Phoebe said unto Doscius: " Knowest thou 
 where the Presbyter Epaphras may be found? or 
 knowest thou the way unto his chapel? " 
 
 And Doscius answered: "Yea; his chapel is 
 in the catacombs, upon the other side of Rome, a 
 long distance out on the Appian Way." 
 
 " I desire much to obtain speech of Dorcas, the 
 140 
 
PHCEBE REDEEMETH HER PROMISE 141 
 
 daughter of Faustina, who is ward to Epaphras, 
 if thou canst direct me to his chapel." 
 
 " If thou wilt go beyond the Tomb of the 
 Scipios, along the Appian Way, not far beyond, 
 thou wilt find a vineyard and a cottage built of 
 sun-dried bricks, upon the left hand of the high 
 way. There dwelleth an ancient man whose name 
 is Gregorius, and if thou wilt tell him that thou art 
 a Christian, he will guide thee unto the chapel of 
 Epaphras." 
 
 On the afternoon of Saturday, Phoebe, accom 
 panied by her father, crossed the Tiber at the 
 Bridge of Fabricus, and passing by the Temples 
 of Fortune and Vesta, the Circus Maximus and 
 the Tarpeian Rock, entered upon the Appian Way, 
 which they followed through the valley that winds 
 along the base of Mount Aventine and Celinus, 
 to a point some distance beyond that indicated by 
 Doscius, and soon found the cottage he had de 
 scribed, and the aged Gregorius, to whom, by cer 
 tain signs usual among them, they made themselves 
 known as Christians; and Gregorius cheerfully un 
 dertook to guide them to the chapel of Epaphras. 
 Lucanius thereupon returned to his own home; 
 and Phoebe followed the ancient a long distance, 
 and, finally, by one of the many secret entrances 
 to the catacombs, descended into the mysterious 
 recesses, where Gregorius soon found and lighted 
 two small lamps, one of which he gave to Phoebe; 
 
142 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 and they thereupon took their way through the 
 long subterranean galleries. After several turns 
 and windings had been passed, they heard the voice 
 of an unseen sentinel crying out: Walk ye by 
 faith? " to which Gregorius at once replied: " In 
 His name!" Then pausing, the old man said: 
 " This maiden is a Christian who seeketh Dorcas, 
 the daughter of Faustina. Knowest thou where 
 she may be found? " 
 
 " I know not," said the sentinel, " but the women 
 who have charge of our chapel can tell you." 
 
 " How shall the maiden reach their abode?" 
 said Gregorius. 
 
 " Let her follow this gallery, and take every one 
 that openeth into it from the left. At the fourth 
 opening she will find guides." 
 
 " Art thou afraid to go alone? " asked Grego 
 rius. 
 
 " Nay; " replied Phoebe, " for there can be none 
 but Christians in the catacombs." 
 
 " Then fare thee well, daughter," said the an 
 cient. 
 
 " Many thanks for thy kindness," said Phoebe, 
 " and farewell." 
 
 And then, bearing her little lamp carefully, the 
 young girl proceeded upon her solitary way. It 
 was a strange sort of confidence, indeed. Far un 
 derground, in more than midnight darkness, fenced 
 in upon either side by long lines of the nameless 
 
PHCEBE REDEEMETH HER PROMISE 143 
 
 and countless dead who slept in that vast necrop 
 olis alone, bearing a flickering lamp that 
 lighted the gloomy path only a few feet in ad 
 vance, the young girl quietly went on without the 
 sense of fear, because she knew that there were 
 none but Christians in that dreary labyrinth a 
 glorious commentary upon the character of the 
 faith which she professed. 
 
 Phoebe went forward, taking every left hand 
 opening in the way, until she had entered three of 
 them, and as she drew nigh the fourth, a broad 
 glare of light shone across her path, and looking 
 before her she saw that in one direction the gal 
 lery seemed to expand to greater width, and along 
 one side thereof there ran a clear, small stream 
 of water, as if some affluent spring discharged 
 itself upon the rocky way; and not far ahead of 
 her a fire burned brightly, over which a huge cop 
 per kettle was boiling, and several women were 
 busy thereat, some of them washing clothes, and 
 some of them cooking in various vessels at the 
 fire. A young and beautiful girl was ironing out 
 the last of a little heap of linen napkins, and upon 
 the table at which she worked was a plate bearing 
 a cross made of thin layers of unleavened bread. 
 The stronger light all about them prevented them 
 from observing Phoebe and her little lamp until 
 she had come quite close unto them. The young 
 girl was the first to note her coming, and looking 
 
144 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 up she said quietly: "Walk thou by faith?" 
 
 " In His name," answered Phoebe, promptly. 
 Then all of the women saluted her, and the young 
 girl said: ;< Thou art welcome, sister." 
 
 Then Phoebe answered: "I am Phoebe, the 
 daughter of Lucanius, a deacon of the community 
 of Doscius, beyond the Tiber. I seek Dorcas, 
 the daughter of Faustina. Canst thou tell me 
 where she may be found? " 
 
 " I am that Dorcas," said the maiden. " I have 
 just finished the preparations for the service of to 
 morrow; come thou with me." 
 
 Then she laid the folded napkins upon her arm, 
 and taking the plate of bread in her hand, she 
 passed along through the gallery, and Phoebe, bear 
 ing her lamp, walked at her side. At a short dis 
 tance they came unto an opening of another gal 
 lery, over the entrance to which hung a curtain 
 of heavy cloth, and passing this they entered a 
 large hall, lighted by a huge lamp suspended from 
 the rocky roof, and on either side of this hall were 
 smaller chambers cut out of the rock, over the en 
 trance of each of which were similar curtains hang 
 ing. " Here we abide," said Dorcas. " Mine 
 apartment is at the end of this hall; let us go 
 thither." 
 
 And when they had gone thither, Dorcas care 
 fully laid away the napkins and the bread in a 
 wooden safe divided off by shelving, and placing a 
 
PHCEBE REDEEMETH HER PROMISE 145 
 
 chair for Phoebe, invited her to be seated, saying : 
 " Our evening s meal will soon be ready. Thou 
 canst rest thyself now, and ere long sup with us." 
 
 And Phoebe said: "I pray thee, sister, stand 
 thou there where the house-light will fall upon 
 thee. I desire to see thee clearly." 
 
 And gazing upon the maiden with a singular 
 expression of countenance, she continued: " Sis 
 ter, thou art wondrous fair; it is not strange he 
 loveth thee so much." 
 
 " Of whom speakest thou? " 
 
 " Surely thou canst guess." 
 
 " But I will not do so, sister. Of whom dost 
 thou speak? " 
 
 " Of the young centurion, Marcellus." 
 
 A pang of intense feeling nipped at the young 
 girl s heart, but the lifelong habit of self-control 
 hardly permitted a trace of it to appear in her face 
 or voice, as she quietly answered : " Knowest 
 thou the Roman, sister? Dost thou come from 
 him?" 
 
 " Yea, verily; and I come hither only to tell thee 
 truly all that I know of him, and the reason of my 
 seeking thee." 
 
 Then Dorcas seated herself beside Phoebe, and, 
 taking her hand, said: 
 
 " Sister, I am ready to listen to thee. But is 
 the young man well ? Doth he seem to be happy? 
 When didst thou see him last?" 
 
146 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 * Three days ago," answered Phoebe. " He is 
 not ill, but is apparently in sore trouble because 
 of thy disappearance from his father s house. But 
 I must tell thee all that hath happened." And 
 then, beginning with the arrest of her father and 
 herself, she rapidly, but clearly, narrated every 
 incident thereof, and of her brief acquaintance 
 with Marcellus. Her truth, directness, and sen 
 sibility would be, perhaps, impossible to a chaste 
 maiden of a later age in the world s history, for 
 good-breeding good form, as fashionable cant 
 calleth it hath been largely substituted for gen 
 uine modesty, and our linen-cambric phylacteries 
 of " refinement " have taken the place of that 
 plain, unpretentious holiness of heart and of life 
 which neither knew nor cherished any unchaste 
 purpose or desire. 
 
 Before Phoebe s narration was ended, the two 
 girls were friends, and more than once during her 
 recital they sat sobbing in each other s arms, and, 
 having given every incident, Phoebe continued: 
 " And so, sister, if thou desirest to see the cen 
 turion again, I am to arrange a time and place for 
 the interview. If thou desirest to write anything 
 unto him, I will bear thy letter. If thou wouldst 
 send any message unto him, I will deliver it for 
 thee. If thou dost refuse to hold any communi 
 cation with him, I will so inform him. What wilt 
 thou do, Dorcas?" 
 
PHOEBE REDEEMETH HER PROMISE 147 
 
 Dorcas did not immediately reply, but seemed 
 to be buried in very serious thought. At last she 
 said: " I will even consider the matter carefully, 
 for I know not what I ought to do. First thou 
 must sup with us, and afterward we can converse 
 yet more. Come thou with me, sister." 
 
 And passing out into an adjoining hall they 
 found the other women already assembled, and 
 having been affectionately welcomed by them 
 all of them they sat down to their simple but 
 healthful repast; one of the oldest of the women 
 having first given thanks to God for the peace and 
 comfort in which His providence permitted them 
 to live. 
 
 And afterward the two girls went together a 
 short distance through the catacombs into the 
 chapel of Epaphras, and sat there together dis 
 cussing their affairs; and a strong friendship grew 
 between them. For, both of them being Chris 
 tians, there was no possibility of the intervention 
 of those " roots of bitterness " that spring up to 
 trouble even the purest hearts, under systems which 
 create false social and class distinctions, based upon 
 those ideas of superiority that grow out of idola 
 tries of birth, rank, interest, property, and other 
 extraneous circumstances, that have as little to 
 do with the character of an individual as the metal 
 of which a dog s collar is made has to do with the 
 nature of the brute; and, because they both were 
 
148 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 Christians, each of them attributed to the other 
 the same simplicity, unselfishness and truth, the 
 same purity of life and of heart, the same desire 
 to understand and to do that which is right, which 
 she knew to be the guiding purpose of her own 
 heart and conduct. Hence, the confidence which 
 they mutually reposed in each other was of a 
 stronger, truer, purer growth than more recent 
 civilization can produce or comprehend; because 
 the difference between the girls of that period con 
 sisted in the fact that some of them were Chris 
 tians and some were not Those who were so, 
 met upon terms of equality; those who were not, 
 were separated from each other by the infinite 
 cobwebisms of false distinctions which prevailed 
 throughout all heathenism, and were, for the most 
 part, natural enemies, each envying, suspecting, 
 and hating the other; each striving to defeat and 
 mortify the other; each seeking some advantage 
 and precedence of the other all of them born to 
 an inheritance of social lies and shams, and false 
 pretenses, about which they quarreled and schemed, 
 only in a smaller more miserable way, than did 
 the men under the influence of the same wild-beast 
 civilization. But these two girls being both Chris 
 tians, and finding between themselves a similarity 
 in age and sentiments as to all that nature creates, 
 or grace contributes, to the adornment of char 
 acter, loved and trusted each other from the first; 
 
PHGEBE REDEEMETH HER PROMISE 149 
 
 although the hands and face of Phoebe showed 
 plainly the traces of her farm-life labor, while 
 those of Dorcas, who had been reared in the dark 
 ness of the catacombs, with lighter tasks to do, were 
 delicate as finest waxwork. 
 
 " It is best, I think," said Dorcas, continuing 
 their pleasant, confidential talk, " that I do not see 
 him again, nor write to him, nor send him any mes 
 sage, except a single line in order to verify the 
 statement that thou hast seen me as thou didst 
 promise him." 
 
 " I am not wise enough to advise thee," an 
 swered Phoebe. " But wouldst thou, in any case, 
 be the wife of a Roman? " 
 
 " I know not. But I would not marry any man 
 that is not a Christian, no matter what might be 
 his nativity or rank, nor how highly I might es 
 teem him." 
 
 " But dost thou remember that Paul saith the 
 unbelieving husband may be sanctified by a Chris 
 tian wife?" 
 
 " Yea," said Dorcas; "but it seemeth to me 
 that in that place he speaketh of two who are al 
 ready husband and wife, of whom one shall be 
 come a Christian, and not of those who are unmar 
 ried." 
 
 " But dost thou not believe that his great love 
 for thee would lead him to adopt thy faith? " 
 
 " That might even be," she said. " But I have 
 
150 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 been taught that it would be wrong to marry one 
 who is not a Christian; and that one may not 
 do evil that good may come of it." 
 
 " But thou lovest the Roman canst thou be 
 happy if thou shalt see his face no more? " 
 
 " Perhaps not happy," answered Dorcas, sadly; 
 " but to be free is better than to be happy, and I 
 shall be free; but they who sacrifice the truth are 
 never free; they are the slaves of that for which 
 they have given up the truth." 
 
 :t Thou speakest of the liberty of the gospel? " 
 
 " Surely," replied Dorcas, " for the slavery of 
 the body is an evil of smaller consequence. The 
 only real bondage is the slavery of the soul." 
 
 " He saith he cannot live without thee," said 
 Phoebe, " and his appearance indicates that he 
 speaketh truly. Thou knowest that the common 
 refuge of the heathen from any sorrow which 
 maketh them weary of the world is suicide." 
 
 The young girl shuddered as her companion 
 spoke these words, knowing the fearful readiness 
 with which the pagans sought for that refuge from 
 any disappointment, but she murmured : " It is 
 easy for any one to find excuses or justification 
 for that course which agreeth well with his own 
 wishes; but thou knowest that the question for us 
 is never what might please us best, but is the 
 straight and narrow way of present right and duty. 
 
PHCEBE REDEEMETH HER PROMISE 151 
 
 I think that any one who earnestly desireth to do 
 so, may find the way." 
 
 " Shall I tell Marcellus that if he were a Chris 
 tian thou wouldst be his wife? " 
 
 " Nay," answered Dorcas. " To be a Chris 
 tian would be for him to suffer worldly sacrifices 
 that none but Jesus hath the right to demand of 
 any human being sacrifices which I would not 
 dare to accept if he should offer to make them. 
 Even to profess the faith and adopt the forms 
 thereof would involve the loss of his social posi 
 tion and political importance, his property and in 
 fluence and, perhaps, his life also a sacrifice 
 too great to be made for anything less than the 
 love of Christ and the sure promise of eternal life, 
 which alone outweigh all earthly consideration. 
 It is better that we never meet again." 
 
 " But he would leave thee unobstructed in the 
 exercise of thy religion, and his influence might 
 serve to protect many Christians besides." 
 
 " But if he remain a heathen, scarce a day could 
 pass us by in which I must not yield to the idola 
 tries in which he hath been reared, or else find 
 myself separated in heart from him in all the cere 
 monies of religion and in all the incidents of home. 
 Such a union is no Christian marriage. It is but 
 the legal copartnership of paganism. The diffi 
 culties in the way of marriage between a Christian 
 
152 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 and an idolater seem to me to be irreconcilable 
 and insuperable." 
 
 " And canst thou not find any neutral ground 
 between them, on which both might stand secure? " 
 
 " Surely there can be none. Honor, wealth, 
 rank, power, war, slavery, marriages of conven 
 ience or of interest all the aims and purposes of 
 life which he hath been trained up to regard as 
 best and highest seem criminal and sinful things 
 to me. Useful labor, or employments which he 
 esteems to be fit only for slaves, I know to be a 
 holy duty from which there is no escaping without 
 sin. 
 
 The faith on which I rest my soul is unto 
 him an impracticable and insane delusion. Thou 
 knowest that in Rome not only all that labor with 
 their hands, but all that follow any useful pur 
 suit their barbers, tailors, bakers, mechanics, 
 teachers; all, except soldiers, priests and lawyers 
 are slaves or worse than slaves. A million of 
 people, who are even less esteemed than the other 
 million, who live upon the public granaries and do 
 nothing voluntary paupers who care for nothing 
 except daily bread and the games of the circus 
 panem et circenses, as their own poet saith. 
 Only those employments which are useless or per 
 nicious to mankind are deemed to be respectable, 
 and all other work is left to slaves or foreigners. 
 We, sister, have been taught to despise all men 
 
PHCEBE REDEEMETH HER PROMISE 153 
 
 that do not add something useful to the common 
 stock. The differences between Christianity and 
 heathenism go down to the very roots of life, and 
 there can be neither happiness nor peace in any 
 attempt at uniting them together. I must, there 
 fore, write unto Marcellus that thou hast come 
 to me according to thy promise, and that I can 
 give no answer except that which I have already 
 given; this shalt thou take to him and nothing 
 
 more." 
 
 "Art thou certain," said Phoebe, " that thou 
 dost really love this man? * 
 
 * Yea," answered Dorcas, " and with all my 
 heart. But I love not his idolatry, nor his mode 
 of life. Nor do I think that any heathen could 
 understand the only love which we could value, 
 or could dare to trust. For their love, even, it 
 seemeth to me, is like their religion ; like their po 
 litical and military glory; like their magnificent 
 highways and aqueducts; like their splendid cities 
 and costly tombs a physical thing only. They 
 know the worth of a sane mind in a sound body 
 - the intellectual and sensuous sides of existence 
 but they have no spiritual life, or, if any, it is mute 
 and ignorant, incapable of discerning and loving 
 other spirits, incapable of expressing itself. In 
 some respects, even this most excellent Marcellus 
 exciteth my pity. He seemeth to be, in some 
 things, lower than an infant almost on a level 
 
154 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 with the brutes as I think all men would be but 
 for the faith of Christ." 
 
 " How, then, is it that thou lovest him? " 
 
 " That, indeed, I cannot tell thee," said Dorcas, 
 " nor can I understand it. He is a very hand 
 some youth; but there must be some handsomer. 
 He is bright and strong; but there must be some 
 more excellent. He is brave, and true, and tender ; 
 yet there must be some that are at least his equal 
 in all this. In his spiritual life he is but a child; 
 and yet there must be, even of his age, some full- 
 grown, glorious Christian men. And yet, in my 
 heart, I love him far more than I could love any 
 man on earth. All my heart goes out to him 
 alone, and I could live or die alike to bring him 
 happiness, and for him would think naught too 
 great a sacrifice, except the faith of Jesus. Ah, 
 Phoebe, it is so strange, so sad, so sweet, so pitiful ! 
 I know not how it is that of all men on earth, I do 
 love only him." 
 
 " I have met no Roman of high rank but him," 
 said Phoebe; "those whom I have known among 
 the working people seem to belong unto a different 
 race of men." 
 
 " The higher classes of them," said Dorcas, 
 " are little better than intellectual brutes, and the 
 lower classes are brutes of lower intelligence. But 
 Christians, even those who cannot read nor write, 
 are gentle, refined, attractive." 
 
PHCEBE REDEEMETH HER PROMISE 155 
 
 "What causeth this vast difference?" 
 " I have heard the learned Epaphras declare 
 that this condition of things is the necessary result 
 of all human governments over a people. He 
 saith often that governments which recognize war, 
 slavery, private property rights, rank, title, pre 
 rogatives, never did, and never can, do anything 
 better for mankind than to produce a ruling class 
 at the top, to whom all the advantages of civiliza 
 tion accrue, and an oppressed or enslaved people 
 at the bottom, upon which fall all the burdens of 
 the world, and some form of ecclesiasticism be 
 tween these two extremes, seeking to adjust mutual 
 rights and duties by arms and religion. He saith 
 that the gospel of our Lord alone can ever give 
 liberty to the great multitudes of men, and that 
 even the persecuted Christians are the only people 
 that ever taste the sweetness of real personal free 
 dom; and that the Church will make all people 
 free, by abolishing the laws which enslave and de 
 grade them. He said that our Lord, although he 
 addressed the Scribes and Pharisees only, really 
 meant every ruling class on earth, when he de 
 nounced those who bind heavy burdens for other 
 men s shoulders which they themselves would not 
 touch with a little finger; and that the ruling 
 classes, no matter by what name designated, will 
 always so bind the poor, until the masses of man 
 kind shall become Christians, and by the power 
 
156 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 of faith abolish war, slavery, and Mammon wor 
 ship, which are instruments of tyranny." 
 
 " I know not how that may be," said Phoebe. 
 We came hither from the Bridge of Fabricus, 
 and along the Appian Way, through the most 
 densely populated portion of Rome, and there was 
 a mighty contrast, truly, between the palaces of 
 the great and wealthy and the vast multitude that 
 scarcely live by labor, and the yet greater multitude 
 of Romans that are too proud to work and afraid 
 to steal, and content to live in idleness, drawing 
 their support from the public granaries. I know 
 not the causes of it, but it seems to me to be a 
 fearful and a shameful thing." 
 
 " This cruel and infamous state of Rome, 
 Epaphras declareth to be the condition of all great 
 cities, and that it is everywhere the net result of 
 the science of government, and that there can 
 never be any permanent escape therefrom, except 
 on the basis of our common church. Thinkest 
 thou, Phoebe, that a woman that is a Christian 
 could conscientiously be the wife of any man whose 
 highest perception of life and duty is to preserve, 
 enforce, and work out unto its legitimate results, 
 such a system as this ? Surely it must be true that 
 the less a Roman noble and a Christian girl see of 
 each other the better for the peace of both. But 
 it groweth late. Thou must abide with me until 
 
PHGEBE REDEEMETH HER PROMISE 157 
 
 after services to-morrow, and as much longer as 
 thou canst. Come with me." 
 
 And, so they returned unto the great hall, and 
 rejoined the other women, and after simple but 
 earnest religious services, they sought their sleep 
 ing-rooms, which opened from the hall on every 
 side. For, although there was no difference be 
 tween day and night in their subterranean home, 
 they divided the hours between the duties incum 
 bent upon them, just as those did who lived above 
 ground so many to sleep, so many to toil, so 
 many to religion, so many to reading and conver 
 sation and their hidden life was peaceful and 
 pleasant enough, and on the next day, which was 
 Sunday, they went together to the services at which 
 Marcellus was to be so strangely present. 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 IN WHICH THE GOSPEL IS STATED AS IT WAS IN 
 A. D. 312 
 
 A FTER Epaphras had blessed them, as re- 
 ** lated at the close of the Christian services 
 in the subterranean chapel, the congregation began 
 to take up their lamps, and to depart by the various 
 galleries that led into the chapel, and the centurion 
 was resolved not to go thence until he had seen 
 and spoken to Dorcas ; but he did not desire to be 
 discovered in the act of listening to the strange 
 and awful scenes which he had just witnessed. 
 There was no time, however, for deliberation, and 
 with that celerity of action and decision which is 
 part of the military education and character, he 
 took the hilt of his sword in both hands, and draw 
 ing up his toga, so as to conceal both his face and 
 the weapon, he dropped upon his knees, with his 
 face to the wall, his head bowed upon his hands, 
 so that by glancing sideways he could still see Dor 
 cas sitting in the chapel, and the young girl, Phoebe, 
 sitting beside her; wherefore the centurion knew 
 that she had been faithful to her contract with 
 him. Although his own accidental discovery of 
 
 158 
 
THE GOSPEL IS STATED 159 
 
 the chapel forestalled the visit which she had prom 
 ised to make to him upon the evening of that same 
 day, he was not the less pleased by, and grateful 
 for, this proof of her fidelity. 
 
 Quietly the congregation dispersed, many of 
 them passing through the gallery in which he 
 kneeled; but to them the sight of a man upon his 
 knees anywhere near those sacred precincts was an 
 every-day occurrence, and no one accosted, or even 
 seemed to notice him. Soon he saw the presbyter 
 go over to where Dorcas sat, and take a seat be 
 side her, and he rightly judged that all the rest 
 had gone, and that the presbyter was that Epa- 
 phras of whom he had heard Dorcas speak. The 
 centurion gazed upon the young girl s perfect face 
 with profoundest love and admiration, and it 
 seemed to him that he lived again, after long weeks 
 of care and apathy like death. Then he arose, 
 and advancing quickly to the threshold of the 
 chapel, he saw that both Dorcas and the presbyter 
 observed his approach, and then he darted for 
 ward, and, raising the maiden s hand, he bowed, 
 and kissed it passionately, exclaiming: " O, dar 
 ling, I have found thee at last, thank all the gods 
 at once ! Why didst thou so cruelly leave me, 
 Dorcas? Every day have I sought thee sorrow 
 ing, and every hour I pined to see thy face, until 
 the great grief of thine absence is wearying out 
 my heart, and wasting all my strength 1 But I 
 
160 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 have found thee at last, and them shalt pass out 
 of my sight no more unless thou promise I shall 
 see thee again, or unless thou leave this dreary 
 place and go back to my father s house with me." 
 
 At the first pause in the impulsive torrent of his 
 speech, the girl arose, with quiet dignity, and said : 
 " Centurion, this is the presbyter, Epaphras, my 
 guardian and friend. And this, father, is that cen 
 turion, Marcellus, of whom I have told thee." 
 
 Recalled to himself by her grave and quiet de 
 meanor, the centurion saluted Epaphras respect 
 fully, and said: " Thou must pardon my want of 
 courtesy, for I have suffered so long, and was so 
 rejoiced to find Dorcas again that I could think of 
 naught else." 
 
 And turning unto Phoebe, the young man said 
 kindly: " I rejoice to see thee, Phoebe, knowing 
 well that thy presence here is a proof of thy truth 
 and faithfulness. And I beg of thee to believe 
 that I do entertain for thee all the respect and 
 friendship which is due to girls who can be kind 
 and faithful, and that cannot soil their lips with 
 any false promise." 
 
 And Phoebe took the hand which Marcellus ex 
 tended to her, and answered: Truly, I came to 
 Dorcas as I had promised thee, centurion; and she 
 did agree to write unto thee a letter, which I was 
 to have carried to thee, but thy coming unex 
 pectedly hath marred our little plans. So that 
 
THE GOSPEL IS STATED 161 
 
 thou and Dorcas must take the quarrel into your 
 own hands, and leave me out of it. I bid you 
 both good-by, and shall even pray often for the 
 happiness of both." And, nothwithstanding that 
 they pressed her to remain, Phoebe lighted her lit 
 tle lamp and quietly departed. Epaphras asked 
 him to be seated, and then said: " Where be thy 
 companions? or didst thou come alone?" 
 
 " I am entirely alone," replied Marcellus, " or 
 rather I followed close behind an aged woman, 
 who unknowingly showed me the way." 
 
 The presbyter seemed much relieved by this 
 information, and said: " Thou art very wel 
 come, and so are all that may come peaceably." 
 
 Then Dorcas, whose hand he held and would 
 not relinquish, gazed on his haggard face with 
 tender, gleaming eyes, and spoke to him, saying: 
 " Centurion, how didst thou find the way hither? " 
 
 Then he said: "Every moment since thou 
 didst forsake us I have thought of thee only, and 
 day by day I sought to find thee. From the in 
 formation I did gather from many different 
 sources, I thought the path which thou didst fol 
 low must be through that thicket in which, after 
 weary days of watching, I finally discovered the 
 entrance to this place by dogging the footsteps 
 of an aged woman who came that way this morn 
 ing. Dorcas, if I had found thee not I would 
 have died!" 
 
1 62 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 ;i Wert thou, then, in sight and hearing of the 
 religious services of this little band of Christians 
 from the time at which she whom thou didst fol 
 low entered here ? " inquired Epaphras. 
 
 1 Yea; I heard and saw all that occurred! " 
 
 " And didst thou behold any of those infamous 
 and unholy ceremonies which the Romans of thy 
 class attribute to the secret assemblies of the Chris 
 tians?" 
 
 " Nay," replied Marcellus; " I cannot imagine 
 a form of divine service more simple, sweet and 
 pure, or more acceptable to any holy God. But 
 the last, the Anastasis ! That was a thing so very 
 marvelous, so overwhelmingly grand and sublime 
 in its simplicity, that my mind is stupefied by the 
 event, and I can with difficulty credit my senses, 
 which do assure me that I saw it I Was the man 
 truly dead?" 
 
 " Ask thy father, the Vice-Prefect Varus, 
 whether on yesterday evening the head of the 
 Christian Charis was not given to his friends in 
 one basket and his body in another? " 
 
 " It is an astounding fact," said Marcellus. 
 " I cannot realize it. It transcends the power of 
 magic." 
 
 " Didst thou see any magic used, except the 
 name of Jesus Christ? " 
 
 " Nay, truly," said Marcellus, " I saw the 
 Anastasis; but its very simplicity seems to demon- 
 
THE GOSPEL IS STATED 163 
 
 strate its impossibility. Do, then, Christians, in 
 deed, by faith in His name, suspend or annul 
 natural laws at their own will? " 
 
 " Nay, verily," answered Epaphras, " but God 
 so made the world that faith in Christ is sufficient 
 for the justification of a sinner, and so that the 
 faith of the church, organized in accordance with 
 His will and obeying His commandments, hath 
 force to raise the dead, and to do many other 
 marvelous works, and we Christians believe that, 
 as the winds blow or the rain falleth by His will, 
 so do these works occur. But didst thou witness 
 aught in all our service that can justify the Roman 
 law which persecuteth us even unto death?" 
 
 " Nothing," cried Marcellus, " and henceforth 
 my efforts shall not be spared to put an end to 
 punishments so unprovoked and so unjust. In 
 deed, I cannot understand how conduct so injuri 
 ous to a harmless people ever came to have the 
 sanction of the Roman law? " 
 
 " That I will even now explain to thee," said 
 Epaphras. " Three hundred years ago, the Jews 
 who were expecting the coming of Messias, son of 
 the One True God, were so blinded by their own 
 pride, and ambition and selfishness, that they sup- 
 posed He would come in power and great glory 
 to overthrow their enemies and make Jerusalem 
 the chief city of the world; although their own 
 prophets had foretold that He would come as a 
 
1 64 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; poor, 
 despised and afflicted; and when He did so come, 
 teaching the brotherhood of man, teaching that 
 war was crime, and ought to cease, and that no 
 Christian should bear arms in any cause; teach 
 ing that slavery is sin against our fellow-men, who 
 are, indeed, our own brethren; teaching com 
 munism of property and rights, as the only safe 
 guard of the many against the superior intelli 
 gence, selfishness, and rapacity of the few, who 
 always plunder and oppress the multitudes; teach 
 ing that marriage is a holy sacrament, founded 
 upon mutual affection and consent, and that di 
 vorce is sinful, and destructive of society; teaching, 
 in a word, that His kingdom, instead of being 
 only a greater tyrant and warrior than any other 
 kingdom, as they desired, should, indeed, be a 
 democracy, pure and simple, social and political, 
 based upon faith and communism, in which the 
 family should be the foundation, and the Church 
 the superstructure, of society. The Scribes and 
 Pharisees, who were the rich, official, respectable 
 classes of the Jews, and covetous of property and 
 rank, accused Him of sedition, and instigated the 
 Romans to crucify Him; which they did, in the 
 days of Pontius Pilate, in accordance with the 
 declarations of the prophets. The Roman em 
 perors, from Tiberius until this very day, have 
 persecuted the Christians for teaching and practi- 
 
THE GOSPEL IS STATED 165 
 
 cing the gospel of Jesus. The brotherhood of all 
 men, the denial of the right of the Christians to 
 bear arms, the manumission of the slaves, the 
 holding of all property in common, the abroga 
 tion of all social and political distinctions between 
 men, and classes of men, that they may be one 
 in Christ. The elevating of monogamic marriage 
 into a sacrament, and the prohibition of divorce. 
 These principles, based upon and enforced by 
 faith, constitute the Christian democracy. These 
 are the laws and the customs which the Christians 
 keep as religion, and are those which the Romans 
 have always condemned and punished, as a dire 
 and malevolent superstition; as inspired by 
 hatred of the human race; as ( contrary to reason 
 and nature; as * extravagant laws and opinions; 
 as * a criminal association. But thou canst see, 
 centurion, that no man is compelled to enter into 
 the kingdom of Heaven? It is, and must be, his 
 own voluntary act. And thou seest that this faith 
 is peaceable and pure." 
 
 " Surely," said Marcellus. " But why do you 
 not go into the forum, and into the Senate, and 
 boldly proclaim this faith and demand recognition 
 therefor at the hands of the emperor and the 
 law?" 
 
 " Ah," said Epaphras, " dost thou believe that 
 they who constitute the ruling classes at Rome 
 would permit the public preaching of the gospel 
 
166 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 of Christ, that teaches the fundamental truth that 
 all men are, and of right ought to be, equal before 
 God, consciousness and law? Or dost thou think 
 that a rich man, except under the power of 
 dominant, all-controlling faith, can overcome his 
 selfishness, which is fortified behind the ramparts 
 of civil and municipal law, so far as to seek ad 
 mission into the Church of Christ, which holds all 
 property in common and requires as a condition of 
 admission the transfer of the believer s estate unto 
 the common church? Or dost thou suppose that 
 they who hold their fellow-men as slaves, and de 
 rive honor, consequence, convenience and wealth 
 from this unjust ownership, would permit men to 
 teach publicly as divine truth, and as the final ut 
 terance of law, philosophy and statesmanship, the 
 gospel of Christ, which denies the master s title, 
 manumits the slave, and raises the chattel to 
 equality with other men, making him no more as 
 a slave, but as a brother beloved ? Dost thou 
 not see that if all Romans could be led to adopt 
 this faith, the false and cruel social and political 
 distinctions which are based on rank and wealth 
 and power would fade out of the empire? Dost 
 thou not see that if any man does in his heart be 
 lieve that the safety of his soul and the welfare of 
 his fellow-men depend upon the acceptance of this 
 faith, he will then bestow his property upon the 
 common church and become the brother of all 
 
THE GOSPEL IS STATED 167 
 
 believers? And it is for that reason we Chris 
 tians pray, saying, Give us daily bread sufficient 
 for daily use. We have no authority to pray for 
 more, seeing that all that is over goeth into the 
 common stock. Dost thou not perceive that if 
 this gospel, which is 4 good news to the poor, 
 could be publicly proclaimed, all the poor and all 
 the slaves would take the kingdom of heaven by 
 storm? Dost thou not see that the triumph of 
 this gospel would abrogate the laws that maintain 
 the idolatries of wealth, and rank, and property, 
 and the power and influence of the robbers, usurers 
 and extortioners who oppress the multitudes? 
 Nay, verily, they crucified our Lord and have per 
 secuted the church from that day until now be 
 cause, and only because, they do not desire the 
 common good, the general welfare, the public 
 safety, prosperity and happiness of all, but prefer 
 their own covetous desires for selfish aggrandize 
 ment, ease and power, to the regeneration of man 
 kind^ 
 
 The presbyter s sweet voice swelled into grand, 
 sonorous utterances, and his face grew bright with 
 holy earnestness and zeal as he proceeded with 
 his exposition of the gospel. Dorcas sat quietly, 
 while Marcellus listened, strongly moved and in 
 terested. 
 
 " But how knowest thou," he said, " that these 
 teachings of thy Christ, these laws of His King- 
 
168 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 dom, are divinely true and right, and obligatory 
 upon all men ? " 
 
 " I know this," answered Epaphras, " as thou 
 canst not yet know it. But thou mayest test their 
 verity by one safe rule: * Do unto others as thou 
 wouldst have them do unto you. 
 
 " Let me understand that," said Marcellus. 
 " If I would not wish to be degraded into slavery 
 myself I must not own a slave ! If that rule were 
 carried out in all things, truly it would cut very 
 deep ! and yet it seemeth right and just 
 enough." 
 
 " Yea," said Epaphras, " and if thou wilt seek 
 with honest manliness and courage to measure all 
 things social, political and religious, both gov 
 ernments and men by that one rule thou shalt 
 grow in knowledge of the truth. But it is time 
 that I, and Dorcas also, go hence to other duties 
 that claim our attention. Centurion, thou seemest 
 an honorable man, and I desire thee to be on thy 
 guard lest some carelessness on thy part may make 
 thy discovery of our place of meeting lead to vex 
 ation of my faithful church." 
 
 " Thy warning is hardly necessary," replied 
 Marcellus, " for I respect and esteem thee might 
 ily, and I would protect Dorcas to the death. In 
 fact, I came hither only to seek her, and to bear 
 her away or perish in attempting it; but I confess 
 to thee that my mind is much changed in many 
 
THE GOSPEL IS STATED 169 
 
 things, and even in this resolve also. But Dorcas, 
 my life, my darling," he cried, with that look of 
 tender, pleading love which she found it so hard 
 to resist, " I cannot leave thee, and I will not, un 
 less thou promise that I may see thee again and 
 speedily." 
 
 Dorcas turned unto the presbyter, saying: 
 " Father, may he not come hither on next Sabbath 
 morning? " 
 
 The presbyter sighed deeply enough, but an 
 swered: " Come thou hither on the Seventh 
 morning hence, centurion; but go thou now in 
 peace? " 
 
 " Verily," replied Marcellus, " it is not possible 
 for me to find my way back whence I came. Let 
 Dorcas guide me into that gallery which leadeth 
 unto the entrance by which I came." 
 
 Epaphras seemed annoyed and perplexed at his 
 request, but the girl turned to the centurion and 
 laid her little hand lightly upon his arm, and gaz 
 ing into his eyes with eyes in which beamed the 
 soft light of mighty love and trust, she said, most 
 sweetly: "Once thou didst make Dorcas flee 
 away from thee in mortal terror; but now, cen 
 turion, is she not safe with thee?" 
 
 And the young man s eyes grew bright with 
 tears of tenderness, as he replied: Yea, by my 
 soul, as safe as if thy mother held thee in her 
 arms!" 
 
1 70 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 Then the young girl took up her lamp, and 
 gave Marcellus another, and placing her hand in 
 his, she said: " Come on, centurion; I will be 
 your guide. * 
 
 The proud Roman youth respectfully saluted 
 Epaphras, then, hand in hand, the twain walked 
 on through the vast solitude and darkness of the 
 catacombs. 
 
 " Dear Dorcas," he said, " why dost thou leave 
 me so? If thou wilt come back to me, thou needst 
 not offer sacrifice to any god of Rome; but I will 
 build thee a beautiful chapel, and Epaphras and 
 thy friends shall worship in thine own way, under 
 the protection of my father. Darling, wilt thou 
 not come? I cannot live without thee!" 
 
 But Dorcas said, with profound tenderness: 
 " Let us not talk of that just now ! I do not think 
 thou yet understandest what we Christian maidens 
 mean by love ! " 
 
 And so they walked on, until they reached the 
 gallery that led to the entrance by which the cen 
 turion had come. 
 
 Pausing here, the young girl said: "I leave 
 thee now. Thy way is in this gallery, and thou 
 canst not stray from it. When thou comest where 
 the light of day showeth across thy path, extin 
 guish thy lamp, and set it upon any projection of 
 the rock which thou may st find. When thou 
 comest near the entrance, first look about thee care- 
 
THE GOSPEL IS STATED 171 
 
 fully, and go not forth if any one be in sight of 
 thee. Be careful not to let fall any word that 
 might lead us into trial. Come on the morning 
 of the Seventh day, and I will meet thee, and con 
 duct thee to the chapel. Now bend down thy 
 head to me," and as he complied with her request, 
 she laid her arm lightly round his neck and kissed 
 him tenderly, then turned away, and went swiftly 
 back. 
 
 The young man sought not to detain her did 
 not call her back but watched her lovingly as 
 she glided swiftly away into the darkness, and a 
 mighty joy came, wave-like, over his spirit, and 
 he said to himself that the kiss which she had left 
 upon his lips was the seal of a higher love and 
 confidence than he had ever before dreamed of, 
 and that he would prove worthy of the trust she 
 had reposed in him. 
 
 Then, resuming his journey, he went on to the 
 entrance, happy with the faint but exquisite dawn 
 of a happiness different from all that he had ever 
 known before. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 BIRDS, BEASTS AND ORACLES THAT PROPHESY 
 
 TN the meantime, Maxentius, the Emperor of 
 * Rome, having heard vague rumors of the pur 
 pose of Constantine, who was then in Gaul, to 
 reclaim the empire by force of arms, determined 
 to make every possible effort to wage a successful 
 war, and to add Gaul and Germany to his own 
 dominions rather than to surrender the sovereignty 
 of Italy, and limit his imperial claims to Spain 
 and western Africa. He was a thorough pagan 
 in every thought, purpose and desire of his soul, 
 and was consequently the dupe of the priests who 
 administered the religion of Rome. First of all, 
 being terribly afraid to engage in war with Con 
 stantine, and desiring to fortify his courage by 
 such confidence as superstition could generate in 
 the heart of a heathen emperor, he secretly con 
 sulted the haruspices, auguries and oracles, and 
 having construed all of their divinations to be 
 favorable to himself and his purpose, with good 
 hopes he entered upon the work of preparation 
 for the impending war with Constantine. But 
 not only did he desire to be assured in his own 
 
 172 
 
BIRDS, BEASTS AND ORACLES 173 
 
 mind that the gods were propitious unto him, he 
 desired, also, to impress upon the whole Roman 
 people the conviction that the immortals had 
 solemnly pledged all heaven to give him the 
 victory in the approaching contest. For this 
 purpose he caused proclamation to be made 
 throughout the city that upon a day appointed the 
 Emperor would go in solemn state to the Temple 
 of the Jupiter of the Capitol to consult the Pon- 
 tifex Maximus, and have him publicly announce 
 the divine will in regard to the issue of the war 
 which seemed to all of them to be inevitable. It 
 happened that the day named by Maxentius was 
 the Wednesday after that Sabbath upon which 
 Marcellus had discovered the retreat in which the 
 maiden, Dorcas, abode, and had conversed with 
 her and Epaphras, as hath been already narrated. 
 The young man was dimly self-conscious that the 
 idolatry of Rome was losing its life-long hold upon 
 his intellect and conscience, but the process of dis 
 enchantment was so gradual and indefinite that he 
 had no clear perception of it; and so when the 
 Emperor and the great men of Rome, proconsuls, 
 consuls, prefects, senators, aediles, all persons of 
 patrician rank, all officers of the legions stationed" 
 in and near the city, " and all Romans who were 
 well-disposed toward the most holy Emperor 
 Maxentius " were solemnly warned to observe the 
 day, and to participate in the sacred ceremonies 
 
174 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 by which the Emperor sought to learn the will of 
 the gods concerning him, the young centurion, like 
 the other young men of his own rank, joined the 
 solemn procession that wended its way up to the 
 Capitoline Hill, upon which stood the vast temple 
 dedicated to the Jupiter of the Capitol. 
 
 It was a grand, impressive, and beautiful 
 pageant. The Emperor went first on horseback, 
 accompanied by his favorites of the palace, all 
 clad in magnificent and variegated costumes ap 
 propriate to their different official stations about 
 the person of the Emperor. Then followed pro 
 consuls, consuls, aediles, and prefects on foot > a 
 throng of splendid men distinguished by mighty 
 deeds done for Imperial Rome in every quarter 
 of the then known world. Then came the august 
 senators in solemn black, the severe and classic 
 lines of the senatorial toga agreeing well with their 
 most grave and reverent demeanor. Then fol 
 lowed in dense array, and in all the panoply of 
 war, the officials and men of the legions, bearing 
 standards which in other days they had advanced 
 to victory in the fierce storm of battle in almost 
 every province of the empire. After these came a 
 mighty procession of wealthy and influential citi 
 zens, representing every grade and occupation 
 known in the most populous and busy city in the 
 world; and the long procession ended with a vast 
 and indistinguishable crowd of plebeians, all of 
 
BIRDS, BEASTS AND ORACLES 175 
 
 whom, high and low, bore gifts unto the temple, 
 each according to rank and station, to propitiate 
 the gods. 
 
 Long before the hour of noon the hill was 
 covered by the restless human sea that rolled away 
 on every side, and surged over into the adjacent 
 streets and vacant lots. All the vast area of the 
 temple at one end of which Maxentius and his 
 immediate attendants stood upon a slightly ele 
 vated platform, while at the other appeared the 
 altar and the statue of the god, far above which 
 was a covered balcony for the vestal virgins 
 was confusedly crowded by the highest dignitaries 
 of the Roman state, both civil and military, and 
 by as many of those whom their rank, or some 
 special permission allowed to intermingle with 
 them, as could find space on which to stand. 
 
 The splendid altar glowed with various flames, 
 and clouds of incense rose and filled the place 
 while slowly drifting upward to the roof. Then 
 from the lofty balcony on which they stood con 
 cealed by delicatest lattice work the vestal virgins 
 chanted that lofty hymn which Callimachus, of 
 Cyrene, composed in honor of the mighty Jove, 
 and the sweet cadence of the mellifluous Greek 
 verses wandered like angel voices all through the 
 mighty temple. Then swinging the sacred censers 
 with many graceful genuflections before the statue 
 of the god, the Pontifex Maximus, clad in gor- 
 
1 76 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 geous robes, embroidered with laces and woven 
 gold and precious stones, prayed unto Jove to be 
 most favorable to the Emperor, to accept the of 
 ferings made by him and by all pious citizens of 
 Rome, and to indicate by the flight of sacred birds 
 and by the entrails of the sacred beasts, and by 
 the oracles, that he would give victory to Maxen- 
 tius. 
 
 Afterward, the Pontifex Maximus took from 
 the sacred cage the birds that prophesied, and 
 placing them upon his wrists, released them at 
 the open window in the rear of the altar, and he 
 and the priests delegated for that office carefully 
 noted their prophetic flight. The birds that had 
 been well fed and long confined rose a short dis 
 tance in the air and then circled around the tem 
 ple on their unused and heavy pinions, and then, 
 not caring to pursue their flight over the city to 
 the distant fields and woods, soon sailed home and 
 alighted upon the open window sill. Then the 
 Pontifex Maximus took them and exhibited them 
 unto Maxentius. Then he advanced to the edge 
 of the raised platform on which the altar rested, 
 and in a loud voice cried out: " Behold, the 
 sacred birds have refused to leave the temple, and 
 the holy, safe and prosperous city, but have come 
 back. Thus the god promises to be propitious 
 unto Rome." 
 
 Then the priests restored the birds to their 
 
BIRDS, BEASTS AND ORACLES 177 
 
 cages, and the assembled multitude burst into a 
 shout of triumph: " Glory to the most holy Em 
 peror Maxentius, to whom the god Jupiter is most 
 favorable." 
 
 Close at hand, the priests, with their sharp, 
 sacrificial knives, cut the throats of the beasts of 
 sacrifice, and bore the reeking entrails, heart and 
 livers, to the Pontifex Maximus, who diligently 
 inspected them while the priests were burning at 
 the altar such portions as were required to be 
 burned in sacrifice. And again the Flamen of 
 Jupiter advanced to the edge of the platform, and 
 made proclamation that the augury was altogether 
 favorable unto Rome. And once more a mighty 
 shout of triumph pealed through the vast temple, 
 and was taken up by those without and rolled 
 down the slopes of the sacred hill, and spread 
 throughout the waiting city. 
 
 Then said the Emperor Maxentius in a loud 
 voice unto the Pontifex Maximus : " Thank thou 
 the mighty god for me, and promise what thou 
 wilt in my name unto the temple 1 But go now 
 and consult the oracle ! " 
 
 Then the Pontifex Maximus passed out of sight 
 unto another chamber to the right hand of the 
 altar, and after some small delay, during which 
 an indistinguishable murmur came out from that 
 place, the Pontifex returned, and, advancing once 
 more to the edge of the platform, in a loud voice 
 
178 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 answered: " The oracle sendeth to the most holy 
 Emperor Maxentius and to the people of Rome 
 this message: Certum est Imperatorem Maxen- 
 tlum super esse Constantinum. And again the vast 
 multitude gave forth a shout of triumph, saying: 
 " Glory to the most holy Emperor Maxentius, the 
 conqueror of Constantine, to whom the oracle 
 hath promised victory ! " 
 
 Then, while the vestal virgins chanted, the Em 
 peror left the temple, with his immediate attend 
 ants. 
 
 During the whole of these religious services, all 
 of them were constantly engaged in conversation 
 among themselves talking of politics, of mat 
 ters of private business or pleasure, or any other 
 subject of mutual interest and only when the 
 Pontifex Maximus might come to the edge of the 
 platform to announce the results of his divinations 
 did any one think it necessary to keep silence, or 
 to pay any attention to the sacred rites; and so, 
 when it happened that Marcellus perceived among 
 those who had obtained permission to enter into 
 the body of the temple the grave face of the 
 presbyter Epaphras, he stepped up to him, and 
 courteously saluted him, and entered into a con 
 versation with him a rather unusual thing for 
 any Roman of his rank to do with one of the 
 despised sons of Israel. 
 
 " It is a grand ceremony, surely," the centurion 
 
BIRDS, BEASTS AND ORACLES 179 
 
 said. " How does it affect thee, Epaphras? 
 How doth it seem compared with thine own sim 
 ple worship ? " 
 
 And Epaphras answered: "Yonder Is the 
 Flamen of Jupiter and his attendant priests, his 
 oblations and altars, his aediles and vestal virgins. 
 Yonder is the Emperor Maxentius and his cour 
 tiers. These two parties are evidently interested 
 in the sacred rites. Here, in the body of the tem 
 ple, are the senators and chiefest men of Rome, 
 who have, perhaps, a political interest in the result 
 of the divinations. Outside, and all around, are 
 thousands of citizens of the middle classes; and 
 beyond these the vast and unconsidered multitude 
 of plebeians. Wilt thou tell me, centurion, what 
 part or interest these innumerable crowds can have 
 in the grand service of this god? Except to bring 
 unto the temple offerings whereby this splendid 
 ritual may be maintained, and its costly observ 
 ance paid for, what have they to do with it? 
 What to them is this ornate temple service? 
 How doth this religion in any wise affect their 
 hearts and consciences, or how control and elevate 
 their lives? " 
 
 " Truly," answered Marcellus, " they have 
 nothing to do with it, except, as thou sayest, to 
 bring their offerings to the temple, and await the 
 proclamation of the Pontifex Maximus, or listen 
 to the divinations by bird, and beast, and oracle. 
 
i8o DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 But what wouldst thou have, then ? It is not pos 
 sible for every man to be a priest, and offer sacri 
 fice, and interrogate the gods?" 
 
 " Ah," said Epaphras, " I would have but one 
 Priest, that lives for ever, and that hath offered 
 up Himself to be the one true sacrifice for the sins 
 of all mankind; and I would have every man a 
 worshiper, having access by faith in this one 
 Priest and sacrifice, unto God, the Father of us 
 all. I would have each man make true religion 
 a matter personal to himself, so that, knowing 
 the Priest and Sacrifice to have been both perfect 
 man and true divinity sinless, loving, and di r 
 vine the heart and life of the sincere worshiper 
 might be transformed and renewed into the image 
 and similitude of that holy life which this Priest 
 and Sacrifice Himself did live ! Knowest thou of 
 whom I speak, centurion?" 
 
 " Yea; I do know! " said Marcellus; " but thou 
 seemest in one particular to err; for we Romans 
 do have private and personal worship, each man 
 for himself, at home, or at the temple, as each one 
 may choose, to any god whom he may trust the 
 most ! " 
 
 " Verily," said Epaphras, " he may sacrifice 
 unto the gods at home, and all of his worship is 
 the offering and the prayer that it may be ac 
 cepted. He may go into the temple alone, and 
 with his offering purchase the good-will of the 
 
BIRDS, BEASTS AND ORACLES 181 
 
 priest, but this worship, also, endeth with the gift, 
 and the petition that it may be accepted. Ye thus 
 seek to gain the divine aid for the accomplishment 
 of personal ends, whether the thing for which ye 
 pray be right or wrong; or else ye seek to ex 
 piate, pay for, some specific act of sin. Ye know 
 nothing of sin, but only of sinful deeds, and the 
 divine beauty and consolation of the idea of the 
 forgiveness of sin is unknown to your religion. 
 Hence thou knowest that in this personal religion 
 of the Romans thou canst not find any one that 
 prays for forgiveness of all sin and freedom from 
 the dominion of it; but only seeking to expiate 
 some vile, specific, sinful deed; thou wilt also find 
 them beseeching some god to aid them in accom 
 plishing a sinful purpose. Thou wilt find the 
 adulteress praying that her husband may remain 
 undeceived, and that her paramour may be pros 
 perous and generous. Thou wilt find the Hakirae 
 beseeching Venus for larger profits from their im 
 pure and loathsome trade. Thou wilt find the 
 thief praying unto the Hermes Dolios for skill 
 and gains in the commission of an intended 
 larceny, and promising a portion of his plunder 
 for the favor of the god; thou wilt find young 
 maidens dedicating their girdles and bracelets to 
 Athenis Aptera; thou wilt find youths praying to 
 Hercules or Jupiter to hasten the death of some 
 rich relative in order that they may acquire his 
 
1 82 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 estate; and thou wilt find baser criminals invok 
 ing the gods to aid them in greater crimes; but 
 not one anywhere that seeketh after personal holi 
 ness, or prays to be delivered from the desire to 
 sin. Centurion, knowest thou that all of this is 
 true?" 
 
 Thou speakest truly," replied Marcellus; 
 " but one thought which thou hast uttered seem- 
 eth intangible to me. We know that a sinful act 
 must be expiated; but thou seemest to draw a dis 
 tinction between sin and a sinful deed. How is 
 that?" 
 
 " A sinful act," said Epaphras, " is an inten 
 tional transgression; sin is nonconformity to the 
 will of God; ye Romans seek to expiate the act. 
 Ye know nothing of the forgiveness of sin; the 
 change of heart and mind by which the will is 
 conformed to the will divine. But an evil tree 
 yieldeth evil fruits ; a bitter fountain yieldeth bitter 
 waters. The religion of Rome, and all others 
 except His whose name we dare not mention in 
 this place, seek to deal with sins which are the 
 evil fruits, the bitter waters; but that one seeketh 
 to make the tree good that the fruits may be good 
 also; seeks to purify the fountain that its waters 
 may be pure. For thou knowest, centurion, as 
 every man must know, that if a man commit sin for 
 which no expiation can be made, and the sorrow 
 of the world taketh hold upon him, unless in his 
 
BIRDS, BEASTS AND ORACLES 183 
 
 time of trial he shall have strength and courage 
 to look away beyond all this ornate priest-craft 
 and pageantry, and in some form cast himself 
 upon the mercy of an unknown God, the religion 
 of thy country giveth him no hope nor help at 
 all. But this unknown God, whom all men igno- 
 rantly do sometimes worship, is known to us that 
 do believe, because He hath revealed Himself to 
 us through that one Priest and sacrifice of whom 
 we have been speaking. So that each individual 
 man may, if he will, without any other sacrifice 
 or priest whatever, by faith draw nigh unto God 
 to the joy and consolation of his soul, finding true 
 forgiveness even for sins that thy religion doth not 
 pretend to expiate. 
 
 " Thou seest, therefore, that this religion is for 
 every man; but the ornate and costly superstition 
 of thy country is, for the most part, a business for 
 the priests only, and for the Emperor; for the 
 most part as much a department of the govern 
 ment, as much a political power, as are its military, 
 police and mercantile laws and regulations. It is 
 a human institution, dependent for its very ex 
 istence and maintenance upon human laws and 
 governments, blended with them and their pur 
 poses and interests, participating in all their 
 wrongs; and is, therefore, of necessity in itself 
 thoroughly secular and dishonest, and incapable of 
 regenerating the life of any man or nation." 
 
1 84 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 " I think I comprehend thee mostly; but what 
 dost thou mean by saying it is thoroughly secular 
 and dishonest? " 
 
 " I mean that every such system is bound by 
 the very conditions of its existence to give its sanc 
 tion, in the name of God, to whatever the law of 
 its domicile may prescribe, or else to cheat and 
 juggle with false words and pretenses to hide its 
 own repugnance, as thou hast seen done this very 
 day." 
 
 " In what respect? " said Marcellus. 
 
 Thou hast heard the Flamen of Jupiter de 
 clare that all the divinations were favorable unto 
 Rome," replied Epaphras; " but that he was not 
 asked about at all. He was asked whether the 
 gods would give victory not to Rome but to 
 Maxentius, and that he does not answer, because 
 he does not know any more than thou dost. To 
 this trick he had resorted because, if he answereth 
 unfavorably to Maxentius, he dreads the imperial 
 wrath; but, if he answer favorably, then he may 
 soon have cause to tremble at the anger of Con- 
 stantine, for the issue of the war is doubtful; he, 
 therefore, saith favorable unto Rome, in order 
 not to be committed to either faction in the state, 
 and leave room to translate his augury in accord 
 ance with the issue, however the matter may come 
 to pass." 
 
 " That is, indeed, a sharp criticism upon the 
 
BIRDS, BEASTS AND ORACLES 185 
 
 Pontifex Maximus," answered Marcellus; "but 
 art thou not mistaken? Did he not announce that 
 the oracle had declared that Maxentius should 
 overcome Constantine? " 
 
 " Wilt thou repeat the message of the oracle? " 
 said the presbyter. 
 
 " Yea," replied the centurion; " the very words 
 were : Cerium est Imperatorem Maxentium 
 super esse Constantinum! " 
 
 11 And dost thou not perceive," answered Epa- 
 phras, smiling, " that these words may just as well 
 and as truly signify that * Constantine will over 
 come Maxentius as that * Maxentius will over 
 come Constantine ? The Flamen of Jupiter 
 hath used your Latin accusative with the infini 
 tive verb to construct a sentence for the oracle 
 having a perfect double meaning, so that no mat 
 ter how the event shall come to pass, he may 
 boldly tell the people that the oracle foretold it." 
 
 " The fraud is transparent; but how would the 
 other religion have answered in such a case?" 
 asked the centurion. " Not at all. They who 
 believe it teach that all war is illegal and criminal. 
 They dare not bear arms on either side, nor pray 
 for the success of either party to a crime. But 
 they continually pray for peace." 
 
 " I can hardly understand, even yet," replied 
 Marcellus, " how a religion can be maintained 
 without a government." 
 
186 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 " Yet, if thou wilt consider the matter well," 
 said Epaphras, " thou wilt surely find that wher 
 ever and whenever religion is blended with gov 
 ernment, it must necessarily be degraded into a 
 mere ecclesiasticism, and so hopelessly incapable 
 of taking one single step in advance of the laws 
 in the enlightenment and regeneration of mankind. 
 But the true religion, which hath for three cen 
 turies maintained itself, and hath spread abroad, 
 even beyond the boundaries of the empire in 
 every quarter of the world not only hath no 
 government to support it, but hath been persecuted 
 and outlawed by imperial Rome even from the 
 beginning, and yet in spite of all opposing 
 agencies, in secret, unheeded almost unknown 
 except to its own communities . it groweth con 
 tinually. Because it is not a kingdom of this 
 world; hath no partnership with any earthly king 
 dom; dependeth upon none of them, and is a 
 personal matter to each individual man and woman 
 unto whom its messages may come. So that if 
 thou cast a man alone on rocky Patmos, or if 
 thou drive him forth into the Libyan deserts, be 
 yond all human companionship and aid; or if 
 thou deprive him of hearing, sight, and speech, 
 and chain him in the dungeon s darkness and 
 solitude, yet everywhere, in all times and places, 
 he may, by faith in our one Priest and Sacrifice, 
 hold sweet communion with the God and Father 
 
BIRDS, BEASTS AND ORACLES 187 
 
 of all. And no mortal enginery on earth can 
 deprive even the poorest and meanest of the disci 
 ples of the consolations of his faith, or prevent 
 him from offering up acceptable worship to his 
 God. It would gratify me much, centurion, to 
 have thee examine, with equal care and candor, 
 those salient points of difference between the re 
 ligion of Rome and all others on the one side, 
 and that one of which we have been speaking; for 
 I desire thy welfare." 
 
 But the services were ended, the Emperor was 
 withdrawing from the temple, and Marcellus be 
 ing required to resume his station among his 
 brother-officers, they two parted courteously, and 
 each one went his way. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 IN WHICH MARCELLUS DISCOVERETH A BAR 
 BARIAN 
 
 TT\URING all the week the young man seemed 
 -*^ to himself to live upon the memory of his 
 visit to the Christian chapel in the catacombs, and 
 the new and wonderful experience which he had 
 encountered there. He thought that he was hap 1 - 
 pier than he had ever been before, and his step 
 once more grew elastic and his visage bright. 
 
 The Vice-Prefect saw this joyous change, and 
 imagined it to have resulted from the fact that the 
 youth had thus quickly mastered the passion 
 which seemed to have been consuming him, but 
 made no inquiries satisfied to see that the cen 
 turion had resumed the cheerful discharge of duty, 
 and had ceased to wander with aimless step and 
 hopeless countenance along the Appian Way. 
 
 This conversion to a physically normal and 
 healthful condition was accompanied also by 
 changes in his moral and mental constitution of 
 which the youth was almost unconscious. His 
 nature was softening under the influence of the 
 higher and purer culture with which he had come 
 
 188 
 
MARCELLUS MAKES DISCOVERY 189 
 
 into brief and pleasant contact. Even the fash 
 ionable brutalities and sensualisms of Rome were 
 growing distasteful to him. The lascivious ex 
 hibition of the theater seemed to him in some 
 undefined, intangible way to be degrading not 
 only to the shameless actresses who trod the stage, 
 but to all true womanhood; and the cruel and 
 murderous scenes of the Coliseum no longer 
 elicited his admiration nor extorted his applause. 
 The splendid barbarian was becoming refined by 
 association with loving charity, which even yet he 
 knew not how to appreciate at its true value, and 
 with living truth, that he had only seen in evanes 
 cent gleams and " as through a glass darkly." 
 
 He knew nothing of the division of time by 
 Sabbaths, a custom common to both Jews and 
 Christians, but he counted the days until the 
 seventh, and rejoiced like a child as the number 
 grew less and less between him and the day of his 
 promised meeting with Dorcas, and when the 
 seventh day had come, very early in the morning, 
 with quick, elastic steps and beaming eyes he 
 strode once more along the Appian Way. 
 
 The passionate, fierce desire to possess the ob 
 ject of his affections, which, indeed, was all that 
 the sensual Romans knew of love, had almost 
 faded out of his heart, and slowly but beautifully, 
 as a rose unfolds in dew and starlight, a dim con 
 sciousness was blooming in his spirit that the love 
 
190 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 which alone could be worthy of Dorcas was that 
 affection which seeketh, first of all, the happiness 
 of the one beloved. He could not have uttered 
 this dawning perception in any form of words, 
 but it elevated and refined him; and with a sense of 
 sweeter and higher happiness, he hastened to the 
 entrance of the catacombs. 
 
 Dorcas was there awaiting him. The morning 
 light toyed with her golden hair, the loving light 
 caressed her glorious face and lissome form, and 
 a light more pure and enchanting than the rising 
 dawn slept in her azure eyes. She sprang for 
 ward to meet him, and extended both her little 
 hands, which the centurion gently took in his own, 
 and then stood looking down upon her glowing 
 face with throbbing heart and beaming eyes, and 
 softly said: " Wilt thou not kiss me, Dorcas?" 
 
 1 Yea, gladly and lovingly," she answered, with 
 a happy smile. She was so happy. Only a 
 month ago he would have seized her in his arms, 
 even against her will, and would have crushed her 
 rosebud mouth with cruel, sensual lips she saw 
 the mighty difference and rejoiced. He felt the 
 mighty difference in his very soul, and the con 
 sciousness of it both humbled and exalted him. 
 
 Then said he mos t tenderly: " I have been a 
 brute unto thee, Dorcas; thou must forgive me, 
 darling, for I did not know! " and she answered 
 to him: " Surely thy fault is hardly personal to 
 
MARCELLUS MAKES DISCOVERY 191 
 
 thee, Marcellus, seeing that it was but that of 
 Roman civilization and of paganism ! " Then 
 with a sweet blush spreading over her exquisite 
 face, in low, delicious, happy tones, she said: :t I 
 love thee, Marcellus; I do love thee dearly! 
 Thou hast large capacities for good in thy strong, 
 pure heart and mind! " 
 
 Then it seemed to him as if scales had fallen 
 from his eyes that he might all at once perceive 
 how hard, selfish and sensuous was the life of the 
 practical Romans, and what wide possibilities of 
 purer, higher, nobler existence might be for him 
 and other men. Rome herself was beginning to 
 appear to him but as a barbarian compared with 
 what might be, even as the tribes of Gaul and of 
 Germania seemed barbarous when compared with 
 Rome; except that the comparison between the 
 barbarians and Rome referred to physical progress 
 and intellectual life alone, while that to which 
 Rome was like a barbarian was neither intellectual 
 nor physical, yet what it was he did not clearly 
 understand; but as to the crystalline chastity of 
 that world of thought, emotion, purposes in 
 which both Dorcas and Epaphras dwelt the 
 centurion discovered himself to be but a bar 
 barian. 
 
 Then once more, hand in hand, bearing their 
 lighted lamps, the twain trod through the long 
 galleries together, and once more, at every new 
 
192 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 passage which they reached and sought to enter, 
 a voice of one unseen cried out: "Walk thou 
 by faith!" and Dorcas sweetly answered: "In 
 His name! " and so they went on until the lighted 
 chapel opened in their path, wherein many had 
 already assembled. And Dorcas said: "Wilt 
 thou not enter in and sit with me? No one ob- 
 jecteth here to any peaceful visitor, and thou wilt 
 learn nothing that can injure thee." 
 
 Then passed he with her into the chapel and 
 they sat together, and in low tones, that seemed 
 most fitting to the place and the surroundings, 
 talked they of many things. 
 
 And while the congregation was assembling, 
 the centurion observed that when they came in, 
 one by one, or two by two, all adult persons, and 
 some even of the children, stepped quietly into 
 an alcove made in the side of one of the galleries, 
 where was a table having a box on the top thereof 
 and a lamp burning above it, and in a moment 
 more returned and took their seats. " Dorcas," 
 said he, " what ceremony taketh them into that 
 place?" 
 
 And she said: " We Christians make a weekly 
 offering of whatever each may have above that 
 which is necessary for himself and family, and 
 this goeth into the common treasury, for the com 
 mon good, to be applied as our deacons, or 
 stewards, may direct. They are making their of- 
 
MARCELLUS MAKES DISCOVERY 193 
 
 f erings now. Therefore we pray : Give us our 
 daily bread/ which prayer would be but mockery 
 of God if we should violate the law of Christ by 
 * laying up treasures in our private storehouses for 
 future use. 1 We Christians live, as men of Rome 
 would say, * from hand to mouth ; but the com 
 mon church accumulates for all." 
 
 " And if misfortune overtaketh any one," said 
 Marcellus, " how doth he live, having given all 
 that he had unto the church? " 
 
 " All the church hath is his," said Dorcas, " ac 
 cording to his necessities. So that among us those 
 who are given little lack nothing, and those to 
 whom much is given have nothing over; but there 
 is enough, and to spare, for all." 
 
 " I have a few pieces with me," said Marcellus; 
 " thinkest thou that they would take it kindly if 
 I put them in the box? " 
 
 4 They solicit no one," she answered, " nor 
 have they any right to reject the offering of any 
 that is made with hope that it may accomplish 
 good. But thou, centurion," she added with a 
 kindly smile, " must not forget that, when thou 
 casteth money into the treasury, thou art aiding 
 the despised and persecuted cause of Christ." 
 
 For an instant the young man s cheek burned 
 with an angry flush, but it passed off as quickly 
 as it came, and he quietly went forward and 
 emptied his purse into the treasury, and then re- 
 
194 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 sumed his seat beside her, saying: " I hope that 
 even the pitiful sum I had with me may do some 
 little good." 
 
 By this time all the congregation had assem 
 bled, and thereupon the presbyter Epaphras en 
 tered into the chapel, and seeing Marcellus there, 
 he advanced and kindly greeted him; and having 
 taken his station upon the platform, the congre 
 gation rose, and with right hand uplifted, re 
 peated in solemn tones the declaration of their 
 faith. And the ceremonies proceeded as upon the 
 preceding Sabbath, except that there was no An- 
 astasis of the dead, and Epaphras occupied the 
 time which had been consumed by that service 
 upon the former occasion by a short address or 
 " sermon," as Dorcas denominated it. 
 
 The centurion listened to the first Christian ser 
 mon he had ever heard with a strange, absorbing 
 interest. A world of light broke in upon his spirit 
 when the presbyter said : i Ye see, therefore, be 
 loved, that there never was, and never can be, a 
 false religion in the world, inasmuch as all religion 
 is in itself only the utterance of the heart s death 
 less yearnings for the one true God, after whom 
 the human race seeketh, and whom the heathen do 
 ignorantly conceive to dwell in the bright stars 
 above us, or in idols of wood and stone, which are 
 the workmanship of their own hands. And this 
 honest, universal, but mistaken effort of sin-blinded 
 
MARCELLUS MAKES DISCOVERY 195 
 
 men to bestow a physical, tangible shape and ex 
 istence upon the one true God hath filled the world 
 with idols the false conceptions and human rep 
 resentations of Him that is invisible except unto 
 the eye of faith; that is a spirit, and is only wor 
 shiped truly by those that worship Him in spirit 
 and in truth; whom our Lord Jesus Christ hath 
 revealed to them that love Him." Because from 
 the worship of the idolaters itself, and from the 
 lessons of the Platonic philosophy then current in 
 the city of Rome, it appeared to him with almost 
 startling vividness that if the one God of the 
 Christians be substituted for all others, and the 
 Christ taken as the fulfillment of Plato s splendid 
 vision of the Divine Man that was to instruct men 
 in the will of God and reconcile them to His ways, 
 all that he had been taught to regard as religion 
 would be wonderfully simplified, and this very 
 simplicity itself seemed to demonstrate its truth. 
 But the departing of the congregation broke the 
 thread of his meditations, and soon all others had 
 gone except Epaphras, Dorcas and himself. 
 
CHAPTER XVi 
 
 IN WHICH THERE IS SOME TALK OF MARRIAGE 
 
 A FTER the conclusion of the services in the 
 ** chapel in the rock, Epaphras said to Mar- 
 cellus: "I rejoice, centurion, to see thee among 
 us here again, and hope that thou mayest learn 
 to love our simple form of worship, and that thou 
 wilt never find aught therein which should right 
 fully subject us to the malediction of good men 
 or of righteous laws? " 
 
 " If all Christians be such as thou and Dorcas," 
 said the centurion, " I would gladly learn the faith 
 which worketh out characters so perfect." 
 
 " Thou lovest the maiden, then?" said Epa 
 phras, striving in vain to conceal his agitation. 
 
 " Yea," answered Marcellus, taking the girl s 
 hand in his, " I love her as I do mine own life, 
 and more ! " But Epaphras indicated to Dorcas 
 that he wished to converse with the centurion 
 alone, and so the maiden withdrew to the women s 
 apartments. 
 
 " And, notwithstanding," said Epaphras, in 
 slow, deliberate tones that seemed to place an 
 emphasis on every word, " thou didst offer unto 
 
 196 
 
SOME TALK OF MARRIAGE 197 
 
 her not long ago the grossest insult that a Chris 
 tian maiden can receive." The young centurion s 
 face became flushed and troubled. But at length 
 he said: 
 
 " I have even told Dorcas that I was as a brute, 
 or a barbarian, to her, and she knoweth well that 
 it was the barbarism or brutality of ignorance. 
 But to speak the very truth, even yet I do not un 
 derstand why my love for her was a thing so dif 
 ferent from what it ought to have been, and, if 
 thou canst credit me, so different from what now 
 it is!" 
 
 " Didst thou not know, then," said Epaphras, 
 " that^what thou calledst love without marriage is 
 unpardonable sin and hopeless degradation to 
 every Christian woman, and that marriage without 
 love is in no respect a better or more honorable 
 thing?" 
 
 The youth flushed vividly; but his brave, sin 
 cere nature asserted itself, and he answered by a 
 simple, straightforward statement of the truth, 
 saying: 
 
 " Verily, I did not. I call to witness all gods, 
 both thine and mine, that I believed and know that 
 nearly all the Roman youth, of both sexes, do be 
 lieve that such love as I did offer Dorcas is better 
 far for her, or any other girl, than to assume the 
 burdens and the bonds of matrimony, from which 
 both men and women in Rome recoil with such 
 
198 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 strong loathing that we have enacted the Julian 
 and Papinean laws, and other laws, to compel 
 the unwilling citizens to contract marriages. O 
 gladly would I take Dorcas to be my wife; but I 
 did think that the arrangement I proposed to 
 make was far better, both for her and me, than 
 matrimony. And, while now I love the maiden 
 otherwise, and feel, somehow, that the former 
 arrangement is not a fit nor proper one for her, 
 I tell thee, Epaphras, in perfect truth, that I can 
 not understand why this is so or how it happen- 
 eth ! " 
 
 That I will even tell thee," answered the 
 presbyter. " It is because thou hast begun to 
 realize the truth that ye Romans are not fit to be 
 true husbands or true wives." 
 
 " And why not? " said Marcellus. " There is 
 no finer race of beings on the earth." 
 
 " Because," said the presbyter, " the union of 
 men and women, even on the basis of physical 
 and intellectual excellencies alone, is but a com 
 merce of more gifted brutes, and Is no real mar 
 riage, which is a higher and purer relation for 
 which ye Romans are not fit, because * your 
 lasciviousness and unchastity have been so notori 
 ous for centuries that when the emperor sought 
 to reform manners by the Julian law your wives 
 and mothers did not hesitate to escape the legal 
 penalties of adultery by exchanging the decent 
 
SOME TALK OF MARRIAGE 199 
 
 stole of matronhood for the toga of the avowed 
 courtesan, to whom the law did not apply. Ye 
 never knew what a true marriage is. * Ye pub 
 licly boast that ye have renounced marriage, and 
 public confidence in marriage and the family tie 
 is shaken to its center; and, on the other hand, 
 the women themselves, insulted by the neglect of 
 the other sex, and exasperated at the inferiority 
 of their position, avenge themselves by holding 
 the institution of legitimate marriage with almost 
 equal aversion. They are indignant at the state 
 of servitude to which it binds them, the state of 
 legal dependence in which it keeps them; for it 
 leaves them without rights, even without the en 
 joyment of their own property; it reduces them 
 to the state of mere children, or rather transfers 
 them from the power of their parent to that of 
 their husbands. They continue through life, in 
 spite- of the mockery of respect with which your 
 laws surround them, things rather than persons; 
 things that can be sold, transferred backwards 
 and forwards from one master to another for the 
 sake of their dowry, or even for their powers of 
 child-bearing/ Ye degrade and despise your 
 women so much that, long ago, the Censor Metel- 
 lus, in your august senate, said: Could we exist 
 without wives at all, doubtless we should all rid 
 ourselves of the plague they are to us; since, how 
 ever, nature hath decreed that we cannot dispense 
 
200 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 with the affliction it is better to bear it manfully, 
 and rather look to the permanent conservation of 
 the state than to our own transient gratification ; 
 and Augustus, a hundred years afterwards, recited 
 this invective in your senate, and ye had to resort 
 to stringent laws to compel your citizens to marry. 
 And ye despised women so thoroughly that the 
 most of them were destroyed in infancy, and those 
 who survived were not esteemed worthy to have 
 a prenomen left even nameless. And it re 
 sulted from this degradation of the sex that your 
 women, uninstructed, ill-treated, half-employed, 
 threw themselves with all the passionate self- 
 abandonment of their weaker natures into the 
 worship of Anubis and Astarte, and all the libid 
 inous sensualism of Egypt and of the East; and 
 as ye became more and more degraded the men 
 followed them until your whole social life-path 
 became utterly infamous and unclean. So it hath 
 been throughout the world; women are thoroughly 
 despised, and the wife is everywhere a slave. But 
 our Saviour Christ, that hath addressed His 
 gospel to each individual and not to any sect or 
 nation, and hath devolved upon each one for him 
 self a personal responsibility that implies, in the 
 very definition of it, personal rights as well as 
 duties a responsibility which is necessarily and 
 eternally antagonistic to all slavery hath also 
 emancipated the wife from the condition of a 
 
SOME TALK OF MARRIAGE 201 
 
 slave, and hath elevated her to the equal station 
 of a companion, counselor and friend by ordain 
 ing monogamic marriage to be a sacrament of 
 religion, based upon mutual affection and consent, 
 and by prohibiting divorce. So thou must see, 
 centurion, that the love of a Christian for his wife 
 is quite another thing than the unlicensed passion 
 of a Roman, and than the contract, founded upon 
 interest and expediency, by which a wife is taken. 
 Thou seest clearly that a Christian marriage sanc 
 tifies sexhood, elevates women, and renders the 
 family tie a sacred and indissoluble one that forms 
 the basis of society. And if thou wilt seriously 
 consider all these things thou canst not fail to 
 understand what a pure and holy thing is that 
 which Dorcas calleth love, 1 nor of what manner 
 of love he should be capable that deserveth to 
 have her for his wife." 
 
 Then the centurion answered : " I am a very 
 young man, and have never had inclination or 
 occasion to examine many of the matters of which 
 thou speakest, and I feel rather than understand 
 the meaning of thy words. But I perceive 
 clearly that thou knowest how to lay thy heavy 
 hand upon every sore place that afflicteth the 
 Roman body politic. If any man doubt that the 
 Romans themselves comprehend the vast evil of 
 war, slavery, intemperance, usury, and luxury, a 
 knowledge of the laws continually enacted, and re- 
 
202 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 enacted so ineffectually, would certainly remove 
 his doubts. But while the Romans know and re 
 gret the terrible decadence of all public and social 
 integrity and virtue, they know not any statute 
 or custom that can arrest its downward progress; 
 and so we live as we can under the laws and cus 
 toms which have grown upon us. Dost thou 
 know any law, Epaphras, that might accomplish 
 the various reformations contemplated by such 
 enactments as the Julian law, the Oppian and 
 Vaconian laws, and the law of Augustus? " 
 
 "Nay, verily!" replied the presbyter; " no 
 human statute can remedy these evils, or even 
 reach the seat of the universal malady. The 
 larger wisdom of our Saviour Christ is manifested 
 by the fact that He did know it was a vainer thing 
 than beating of the wind to enact any such laws 
 the most perfect code of which the Jews had 
 tested for long centuries and hence, the divine 
 truth, by which He purposeth to accomplish the 
 regeneration of mankind, never assumed the shape 
 of a statute to govern Christians or Jews, Greeks 
 or barbarians; was never confirmed by the inflic 
 tion of any temporal penalties, but is addressed 
 to each individual man as man. He constantly 
 saith * every man, l any man, whosoever will; 
 and His gospel is not addressed to any sect, 
 corporation, government, or class social or 
 political but to the individual; and no mortal 
 
SOME TALK OF MARRIAGE 203 
 
 enginery on earth can either compel the individual 
 to do, or to leave undone, what is essential to his 
 becoming a Christian. So, centurion, thou seest 
 that while no man can reform and regenerate the 
 Roman world, and is, therefore not responsible 
 for that it is not done, any can, if he will, our 
 Lord helping him, reform, regenerate, and purify 
 his own heart and life, and he is held to be per 
 sonally accountable for his failure to do so. The 
 Kingdom of Heaven, the Church of Christ, to 
 day, unseen and unknown, extends throughout 
 the empire, and even further than the power of 
 Rome hath ever gone; but the faith which jus 
 tifies the individual is personal and peculiar to 
 each man, and is beyond the reach of any human 
 statute. But it is the Sabbath day, and I, and 
 also this young deaconess, Dorcas, have yet many 
 duties to discharge, so that thou mayest go in 
 peace, and come again upon the Seventh day 
 hence, if such be thy desire." 
 
 Then the centurion and Epaphras saluted each 
 other with great kindness, and Dorcas having been 
 recalled, she and Marcellus took up each a lamp, 
 and, hand in hand, they twain trod the long gal 
 leries once more until they reached that one which 
 led on to the entrance by which the young man 
 came. And as they walked on the centurion said : 
 "What is the Sabbath, Dorcas?" 
 
 And she answered: "It is the Seventh day 
 
204 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 upon which our Lord arose from the dead after 
 that He had been crucified under Pontius Pilate; 
 and every Sabbath we Christians celebrate His 
 resurrection in the communion, as he commanded." 
 
 " Arose from the dead after that he had been 
 crucified! " said Marcellus, amazedly. 
 
 Yea ! Surely thou canst not think it an in 
 credible thing that God should raise Him from 
 the dead, when thou hast seen with thine own eyes 
 the Anastasis of our brother Charis?" 
 
 " That is most true," said Marcellus. " But, 
 Dorcas, are there no books containing the history 
 of these things? Epaphras talks to me most 
 kindly and learnedly, but somewhat too much with 
 reference to large questions of social and political 
 truth. But I would fain -know more of this same 
 Jesus more that is personal to Him; more of 
 what He said, and did, and felt, and thought, and 
 suffered! Are there such books, Dorcas, any 
 where? " 
 
 And a glad light glorified her speaking counte 
 nance as she replied: 
 
 " Yea, thou most dear Marcellus. I will ob 
 tain for thee by next Sabbath the four Gospels 
 and the Acts of the Apostles, and thou mayest 
 read the holy Scriptures for thyself." 
 
 " And, Dorcas, what is it to be a deaconess, as 
 Epaphras said thou art? " 
 
 " It is to aid in caring for the chapel, and in the 
 
SOME TALK OF MARRIAGE 205 
 
 preparation of the bread and wine, and to dis 
 tribute to the women of our community out of the 
 treasury, according as each hath need, either per 
 manently or by reason of some temporary neces 
 sity." 
 
 "And thy parents, Dorcas, where are they?" 
 asked Marcellus. 
 
 " Both suffered martyrdom for the faith of 
 Jesus when I was yet in infancy." 
 
 " Ah ! I remember to have heard thee say they 
 died when thou wast very young, but thou didst 
 not say how. Both martyrs ! Dorcas, dost thou 
 not hate Rome and the Emperor, and every 
 Roman, for this cruel wrong? " 
 
 " Nay, nay, centurion ! Hast thou not heard 
 us pray for our enemies, and for the Emperor and 
 all others in authority I I pity and forgive them ! 
 I doubt not that just men even have persecuted us 
 in all good conscience, ignorantly, as did Saul of 
 Tarsus, of whom thou mayest read in the beauti 
 ful parchments I shall get for thee." 
 
 " It is most strange and moving," cried Marcel 
 lus. " Tacitus saith that the Christians are * full 
 of hatred for the human race. Yet I see that ye 
 Christians hate no one, and even pray for those" 
 who persecute you ! " 
 
 They walked on in silence, the centurion almost 
 oppressed with meditations upon the new and won 
 derful life that was slowly revealing itself to his 
 
206 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 astonished intellect, and upon the more wonderful 
 changes that seemed to be in progress in the depths 
 of his own nature; and the young girl watched 
 him with patient love and hope. And when they 
 had reached the gallery which she had already 
 named " Marcellus Way," she lifted her glad face 
 to his saying: " Kiss me, love, and go in peace." 
 The youth saluted her with a respect and loving 
 kindness that seemed to him new, strange and 
 exquisite, and as he wended his way on to the 
 upper world the fullness of his heart uttered its 
 joy in low and loving words : " There is none 
 like her! There is none! There is no love like 
 mine in all the world ! It is a new fire stolen from 
 heaven most blessed, warm and pure, such as no 
 Roman hath ever known before. It is not in the 
 sweet verse of Sappho, and Hesiod s perfect 
 melodies know naught of it ! Nor breathes it out 
 of any music of Anacreon s lyre! That which 
 Ovid and Tibullus sing of love is but licentiousness 
 compared with it, and compared with it the finest 
 odes of Horace are unclean, dead and cold ! For 
 there is none like her in all the world not one ! " 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 IN WHICH EUSEBIUS OFFERETH THE SWADDLING- 
 BANDS UNTO THE CHURCH 
 
 A FTER that embassy which went out of 
 Rome secretly to wait upon Constantine at 
 Lutetia, and to solicit him to march into Italy and 
 free them from the tyranny of Maxentius, had 
 separated at the foot of the Alps, as hath already 
 been narrated, those who were to return to the 
 city did successfully perform their journey; and 
 likewise those who were to return to Lutetia to 
 communicate to Constantine those things which 
 had been made known by Eusebius, arrived safely 
 and speedily. And Constantine gladly received 
 them, and having been fully advised of all that 
 Eusebius had declared, he dismissed those deputies 
 to Rome again with instructions to inform the 
 patricians, senators and Christians who were 
 moving in the matter, " That never, either in 
 Britain or in the West, under. the government of 
 his father nor under his own, had the Christians 
 been persecuted; that on the contrary, both from 
 the accounts of them which Pliny had given to 
 Trajan, and from all that he had learned concern- 
 
 207 
 
208 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 ing them from other sources, he had formed a 
 very favorable opinion of the Christians, and had 
 great regard for Jesus Christ, of whom, indeed, 
 he had long desired to know more, but had 
 hitherto been prevented by the constant pressure 
 of public affairs; that if the Christians should be 
 able and willing to give him any effectual aid in 
 consolidating the empire, and in preventing the 
 devastation of Italy by a protracted civil war, he 
 would guarantee to them entire freedom in the 
 public exercise of their religion; that an embassy 
 from their bishops, or from the churches, would 
 be granted safe conduct and kind usage if they 
 desired to confer with him in regard to these 
 things; and that he did not desire declamations, 
 which might mean much or little, but accurate in 
 formation, whereby he would be enabled to judge 
 for himself of their ability to render effective aid, 
 and proper assurances of their willingness to do 
 so." 
 
 And having dismissed them with this message, 
 Constantine so effectually furthered them upon 
 their journey that they, too, safely arrived at 
 Rome only a few days after the return of those 
 with whom Eusebius had come. And the mes 
 sage of the emperor having been communicated 
 by those who brought it to the patricians and 
 senators who were transacting the business, they 
 met together secretly, and had Eusebius come to 
 
EUSEBIUS OFFERETH THE BANDS 209 
 
 them, whom they informed fully, and commis 
 sioned to lay open the matter to the churches, and 
 ascertain both the opinion of the Christians con 
 cerning it, and, also, the facts about which Con- 
 stantine sought to be informed. And thereupon 
 Melchiades, the Bishop at Rome, invited the 
 presbyters in the city, and bishops and presbyters 
 throughout all Italy, to assemble upon a day 
 named at the chapel in the catacombs to consider 
 of the things proposed. 
 
 And at the appointed time they assembled se 
 cretly in the chapel of Epaphras to the number 
 of about three hundred; and the Roman bishop 
 having called the assembly to order, first of all 
 stated to them clearly and perspicuously the busi 
 ness upon which they had been summoned, and 
 afterward they united in prayer to God that His 
 Spirit might so guide their deliberations that their 
 action should be for the glory of God and for the 
 good of the common church. And, therefore, the 
 bishop said: 
 
 " If any one hath counsel to offer, let him 
 speak." 
 
 Then many gave their opinions ; many asked for 
 further information; many suggested difficulties 
 and objections; and little by little the business was 
 explored to the bottom, and gradually the assem 
 bly became divided in sentiment upon the very core 
 of the whole question into two parties, whereof 
 
210 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 Eusebius led one party, and Epaphras, the presby 
 ter, led the other. 
 
 " It is agreed upon common consent," said 
 Eusebius, " both from the character of the Em 
 peror Constantine and from the fact that no 
 persecution of Christians hath been permitted by 
 him, or by his father, that we may safely rely upon 
 his pledge to protect the church upon the condi 
 tions stated. Ye know, brethren, that from the 
 days in which our Lord tabernacled in flesh, even 
 until this hour, the church hath been bleeding at 
 every pore. Ten different times, under ten dif 
 ferent emperors, persecution hath taken the form 
 of laws for the destruction of Christianity, and 
 the followers of Jesus have been tried beyond all 
 human endurance. The question, therefore, in 
 brief, is simply whether the church shall give aid 
 to Constantine for the recovery of his rightful 
 heritage, in exchange for his imperial protection, 
 and so be enabled to come forth into the broad 
 light of day, and proclaim, without fear or mo 
 lestation, the gospel of our Lord! Or whether 
 she shall contumaciously reject proffered peace 
 and protection, and thereby justify the accusation 
 of the pagans that we Christians are inspired with 
 hatred of the human race, and, as a natural conse 
 quence, continue to suffer from the hatred and 
 persecutions of the world, which have been so 
 grievous ever since Diocletian issued the edicts for 
 
EUSEBIUS OFFERETH THE BANDS 211 
 
 our destruction in the years 303 and 304, which 
 hard laws the present Emperor Maxentius strictly 
 enforceth everywhere; so that neither at home, nor 
 on the way, nor even here beneath the surface of 
 the earth hath any Christian assurance of his life. 
 
 ; When I think of how the church must triumph 
 under the imperial protection how in place of 
 being outcast, persecuted and despised, she would 
 at once become honorable and respectable in the 
 eyes of the heathen; when I think of what vast 
 opportunities for greater good the emperor s favor 
 will afford, it seemeth to me that it would be 
 mere madness and fanaticism to reject these over 
 tures of peace and protection, and willfully cast 
 aside the honor, wealth, power and glory which 
 the long and sorely persecuted church must 
 begin to gather as the fruits of the proposed 
 alliance ! " 
 
 To him Epaphras thus replied: " Brethren, I 
 marvel greatly that any Christian bishop should 
 even speak to you of earthly honor, wealth, power 
 and glory ; and marvel more that he should advise 
 you to follow after all these things, for which, 
 indeed, the heathen seek. Will some one tell me 
 what business we Christians have with any 
 * honor except that of our Lord? With any 
 wealth except the unsearchable riches of Christ? 
 With any * power except the power of the Holy 
 Ghost ? With any glory except to glory in the 
 
212 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 cross of Jesus Christ our Lord, by which we are 
 crucified unto the world and the world unto us? 
 
 They propose an alliance between the 
 church, the bride of Jesus, and the Roman Empire. 
 Let us consider what is involved in this proposed 
 blending of light and darkness; this concord be 
 tween Belial and Christ. 
 
 " So far as spiritual truth is concerned, we must 
 blend the faith of Christ with that of pagan Rome 
 a thing impossible for Christian men to do 
 or Constantine must subvert the whole vast ma 
 chinery of heathen law and religion, and I ask you 
 to consider whether that is possible for him. 
 
 " So far as the sociology and politics of the 
 kingdom of Heaven is concerned, either the 
 church must abandon the gospel of Christ and be 
 conformed unto the world, or else the Romans 
 must subvert the empire before any such alliance 
 can be possible! Unjust wars, prosecuted for 
 gain and conquest through the four quarters of the 
 world, are the chief glory of Rome, imbedded in 
 her laws and customs, in her traditions and re 
 ligion. But ye all do know that our Lord Jesus 
 Christ hath forbidden Christians to bear arms at 
 all, and ye know that from the sorrowful night in 
 which Peter smote the high-priest s servant and 
 cut off an ear, for which our Lord rebuked him, 
 no Christian, and no body of Christians, hath ever 
 lifted up a carnal weapon, even in self-defense. 
 
EUSEBIUS OFFERETH THE BANDS 213 
 
 How can these antagonistic principles of action 
 unite? Will the empire abolish war? or can the 
 church consent to see her redeemed sons enrolled 
 among the butchers and stabbers, paid and trained, 
 to murder other men for whom also our Saviour 
 died? 
 
 " Ye know also that the greater part of the peo 
 ple of the empire and of Italy, and of Rome 
 especially, are slaves, and that the slave-code is 
 rooted in the laws, customs, traditions, and re 
 ligion of the empire. But ye also know that Jesus 
 teaches the inevitable personal responsibility of 
 every man a responsibility based as much upon 
 rights for man as upon duties a truth which is, 
 logically and spiritually, the antithesis of that 
 enslaved condition in which our Lord s advent 
 found the human race; ye know that under the 
 power of the Holy Ghost slavery hath faded just 
 in the ratio that the church hath triumphed, be 
 cause Jesus promised that the truth should make 
 us free, and the liberty of the gospel is a charter 
 of freedom to the slave. How can there be con 
 cord or alliance between this gospel and the 
 Roman slave-code? Dare ye to seal with the pre 
 cious blood of your crucified Redeemer a compact 
 giving the sanction of His church to human slav 
 ery? Or think ye that the ruling classes of the 
 empire will voluntarily abolish this inhuman 
 wrong, and of their own accord surrender the 
 
2i4 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 profit which they have by the ownership of men, 
 and the convenience and consideration they derive 
 therefrom ? 
 
 Ye know that the laws, customs and religion 
 of the empire are founded upon the false and 
 cruel, social and political distinctions which grow, 
 like poison-weeds, out of accidents of rank, pre 
 rogative, and wealth ! These are the real gods 
 of the idolators; these the rewards which Mam 
 mon offers to his votaries ! But ye also know that 
 our Lord Jesus required all such distinctions to 
 be abolished among all those who believe; that 
 they may be brethren, that they may call no man 
 master, since one is their master, even Christ, and, 
 therefore, to hold all property by a communal 
 title, and not by any individual right or claim. 
 Ye know that when some, through want of faith, 
 endeavored to gain admission into the church, and 
 at the same time to evade the binding obligation 
 of that fundamental law of the kingdom which 
 required them to put their private wealth into the 
 common fund, Peter declared that their crime was 
 an attempt to deceive the Holy Ghost and to de 
 fraud the church, and the wrath of God fell on 
 them so that they died; and ye know that of all 
 the countless idols of the heathen our Lord de 
 nounces one by name Mammon. To worship 
 whom is only to adopt social and political systems 
 which recognize and maintain individual right to 
 
EUSEBIUS OFFERETH THE BANDS 215 
 
 acquire, hold and transmit property, thereby mak 
 ing all pagan governments inure to the benefit of 
 the few and to the oppression of the many, and 
 rendering true liberty and religion impossible for 
 the masses of mankind. How can there be al 
 liance between Christ s common church and the 
 Roman Empire ? Think ye that unconverted men 
 will transfer their riches to the church, and con 
 secrate unrighteous mammon to the good of all, 
 in order to gain admittance thereto? Verily, a 
 camel shall sooner pass through a needle s eye! 
 Or, will ye dare with sacrilegious hands to seal a 
 compact binding the church to give her sanction 
 to property laws directly antagonistic to the 
 fundamental law of the church laws that prac 
 tically make riches God? 
 
 " If ye shall induce the church of Christ to 
 adopt and endorse the social, political and re 
 ligious system of Rome, that is simply to abandon 
 Jesus, and there are many who will refuse, at any 
 hazard, to follow you one step ! If ye shall in 
 duce the church to make a covenant with Con- 
 stantine that he will shove pagan gods aside, and 
 substitute for them a secularized church, bearing 
 the same relation to the empire that paganism now 
 sustains, that is only to set up the Anti-Christ; and 
 Constantine is he ! 
 
 " Moreover, brethren, ye all know that to 
 abandon communism of believers is to surrender, 
 
2i6 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 also, the thaumaturgical powers which are ap 
 purtenant to the common church only, and can 
 only be exercised for the common good of all 
 Christians; and the ecclesiasticism which ye shall 
 have substituted for the gospel will be a human 
 institution that must be perpetuated by only human 
 agencies or fail; because when ye accept this al 
 lowance ye abandon all of the gospel except the 
 single spiritual truth of justification by faith, 
 which truth alone may save some souls of man, 
 but never can convert mankind. 
 
 u I, therefore, counsel that we at once decree 
 that the church cannot make an alliance with any 
 temporal government without abandoning the 
 gospel of Christ, and that this we will not do, 
 preferring rather, if need be, the sword, the 
 fagots and the cross, as from the beginning our 
 fathers have always done." 
 
 Then a clamor arose, many crying out: ; It is 
 enough ! " " Take a vote ! " " We will die for 
 Christ, but will not betray him!" "It is too 
 much to pay for peace! " 
 
 And Eusebius, well seeing that if a vote were 
 taken then, the proposition of Epaphras would 
 prevail by the common consent, arose, and, with 
 his wonderfully persuasive voice and manner, 
 spoke as follows: " Brethren, if, indeed, the ac 
 ceptance of the emperor s proposal should involve 
 any such consequences as have been urged by the 
 
EUSEBIUS OFFERETH THE BANDS 217 
 
 most pious and learned Epaphras, I freely admit 
 that we ought at once to reject it. But if we be 
 agreed that we cannot accept this proposition, ye 
 all see that there certainly can be no need to 
 affront the haughty and powerful Constantine by 
 rough or precipitate action. On the contrary, as 
 far as in us lies we should endeavor to live peace 
 fully with all men. I, therefore, counsel that the 
 matter be not finally determined at this time, but 
 rather that we leave it undetermined (which, in 
 deed, seemeth sufficient to accomplish all that the 
 excellent Epaphras desireth), and that in the 
 meantime we take proper steps both to furnish 
 the emperor with the information which he has 
 very kindly and courteously desired, and also to 
 learn with preciseness just what he would require 
 of the church, and that we carefully consider how, 
 and to what extent, that which he may really de 
 sire can affect the spread of gospel truth. And 
 I counsel this all the more earnestly, brethren, 
 because I have both seen and conversed with the 
 man Constantine, and believe that he is intellectu 
 ally a greater man than any other Roman. He is 
 most temperate, studious and chaste. He is very 
 favorably inclined to our holy faith, and we 
 should not quench the smoking flax. Let us, 
 therefore, delay; and if we should find it proper 
 to reject all overtures that may be made, let us 
 so act as that the emperor may perceive our re- 
 
2i8 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 fusal to be of conscience only, and not of pride, 
 hatred or uncharitableness. For I yet hope to sec 
 this emperor a Christian." 
 
 Then, cried out Epaphras in a loud voice: 
 " Thou knowest that no emperor can be a Chris 
 tian; for a Christian must be the brother, not the 
 legal master, of other Christians. The church can 
 recognize no king but Christ ! " 
 
 But, nevertheless, the moderate counsel of 
 Eusebius prevailed, and Christ suffered again 
 from the unchristian spirit of compromise which 
 made the Procurator Pontius Pilate seek to wash 
 his own hands clean of the innocent blood! 
 
 And so the bishop was instructed to send an 
 embassy to Constantine, with accurate information 
 of the numerical strength and other resources of 
 the church ; and to learn with exactness what might 
 be those conditions on which a heathen emperor 
 would take under his protection the church of the 
 living God. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 IN WHICH THE BARBARIAN IS CIVILIZED 
 
 TV/TEANTIME the centurion had made his 
 -*-* weekly visit to the catacombs, and Dorcas 
 had given to him beautiful parchments contain 
 ing the Four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, 
 and the young man had read them over and over 
 again with a strange, absorbing interest, and espe 
 cially the very words of Jesus, until he could have 
 written out from memory almost every passage 
 contained therein. He desired to understand 
 precisely what Christianity, as Christ Himself 
 propounded it, really contained, and believed that 
 he had done so. 
 
 After the services were ended upon the follow 
 ing Sabbath, and he and Epaphras and Dorcas 
 had remained in the chapel after the withdrawal 
 of the congregation, as was their pleasant custom, 
 Marcellus handed back the parchments to Dorcas, 
 saying: " I thank thee much, dear Dorcas, for 
 the privilege of perusing these wonderful books, 
 which I have read a number of times over with 
 continual delight and interest. Somehow the 
 
 219 
 
220 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 heart ever groweth more warm unto this sinless, 
 loving Nazarene, and the mind seems to be ex 
 alted and chastened by reading what these Gospels 
 say of Him. I desire to have a copy thereof 
 made for mine own use, and if it is permitted to 
 do so, I will bring hither the parchments; and 
 wilt thou aid me? " 
 
 " Nay, friend," said Dorcas. " These are even 
 thine; for with mine own hand began I long ago 
 to transcribe them for thec. Nevertheless, thou 
 hadst best leave them here until this prosecuting 
 spirit of the Romans shall exhaust itself, as it 
 would be dangerous to have them found in thy 
 possession." 
 
 " And thou didst write these books," he said, 
 looking at the voluminous manuscript, " for me? 
 Ah, Dorcas, thou canst not know how sacred thy 
 hand hath rendered them in my eyes." 
 
 Then said Dorcas : " It was a labor of love, 
 Marcellus, because I love the word; and also be 
 cause it was for thee. I have made other copies 
 beside this, also, of these books, and of all the 
 Epistles, and of the Revelation; and when I did 
 copy the Medea for the Vice-Prefect Varus, one 
 day I brought hither the first skin of those parch 
 ments, and did write thereon an illuminated initial 
 letter, such as thou seest in thy Gospels here, and 
 Varus when he saw it was much gratified and said 
 to me : Child, it is beautiful ! Who taught 
 
THE BARBARIAN IS CIVILIZED 221 
 
 thee that? And I did laugh, but did not an 
 swer him." 
 
 Then said Marcellus: " Have ye other sacred 
 books? Do they contain more full accounts of 
 Jesus? Or is all that He taught and did, the 
 whole of His system, fully set forth in the simple 
 and beautiful parchment I have read? " 
 
 Then said Epaphras: "There is nothing in 
 Christianity that must be believed or done that is 
 not fully taught in the Four Gospels and the Acts. 
 True, we have the sacred writings of the Jews, 
 beginning with the Mosaic accounts of the crea 
 tion, which trace the descent of Abraham from 
 Adam, and which, also, contain the whole of the 
 national, social and religious history of the Jews 
 for centuries before the foundations of Rome were 
 begun. But the whole of this law and prophecy 
 was, as a school-master, to lead us unto Christ, 
 and was fulfilled in Him. We have, also, vari 
 ous letters of Paul, and others, written to the 
 churches since the death of Jesus; but these Epis 
 tles relate chiefly to controversies between the Jews 
 and the Christians, and between the Christians and 
 the heathen, and the philosophers; and are, also, 
 hortatory to the churches; and we have the Rev 
 elation of John, but the time is not yet come to 
 fully understand his sayings. All the other sacred 
 writings are useful only in proving, illustrating 
 and enforcing, what the Four Gospels and the 
 
222 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 Acts contain; and unless one should desire to edu 
 cate himself to teach or to preach, I do not think 
 it necessary or even profitable for him to read or 
 study them. But wilt thou tell me, centurion, 
 what thou thinkest of these books? What thine 
 estimate of Christianity may be? What is it that 
 the books teach thee? " 
 
 Then the centurion replied: " I fear thou wilt 
 be disappointed at the meagerness and simplicity 
 of the system, which is all that I am able to ad 
 duce from a short but earnest study of these five 
 parchments; for the first thing that impressed 
 itself upon my mind is the fact that the teaching 
 of Jesus, unlike that of Greek and Roman phi 
 losophers and priests, is absolutely barren of 
 dogmas and of doctrines. His appeals are made 
 to, his proofs are drawn from, the heart and con 
 sciousness of every man, and not to and from 
 dogmas and authority. And it seems to me that 
 no sane man can deny the truth of anything which 
 His teachings assume to be true; for He seems to 
 me to know just what is in the human heart." 
 
 That is the exact truth," said Epaphras. 
 " No bishop could state the case with greater ac 
 curacy. Jesus teaches no dogmas, despises all 
 philosophers, forms, customs and ceremonies, and 
 deals directly with the heart and consciousness of 
 each individual ! " 
 
 " The second thing which impressed me most 
 
THE BARBARIAN IS CIVILIZED 223 
 
 powerfully, and I confess filled me with astonish 
 ment, is the fact that Jesus does not announce any 
 new truth even of a spiritual character. The 
 Jews must have known all that He taught. The 
 rewards of faith, and the immortality of the soul, 
 are assumed by Him to be well-known and gen 
 erally accepted truths; only the Sadducees con 
 troverted this position. He offers Himself as the 
 proper object of human faith, the Messiah in 
 whom they believed, and whom they were expect 
 ing; and this claim that He was the Christ is all 
 that seems to be new in His teachings." 
 
 * Thou hast rightly read the word, 7 said 
 Epaphras, " and thine estimate is good. What 
 else hast thou learned? " 
 
 " I find," said Marcellus, " that this simple 
 creed of faith in Christ has far less to do with 
 Elysium or Hades the condition of the soul 
 after death than with the temporal life and 
 welfare of mankind. I have reckoned up some 
 seventy-two parables spoken by Jesus, of which 
 only two seem to refer to the future life, and all 
 the others to the kingdom of heaven upon earth, 
 which kingdom is plainly set forth as a democracy, 
 in which equality and fraternity of all believers is 
 secured by the denial of the right to bear arms, 
 or to engage in war, by abolishing all serfdom 
 and slavery, and by abolishing the right to ac 
 quire, hold or transmit private rights of property, 
 
224 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 including in the word * property/ not only estates, 
 real and personal, but all offices, prerogatives and 
 privileges, so that there may be equality, partner 
 ship, fellowship, among believers, and that the 
 man who is most esteemed and loved may be the 
 man who does the most good for others. And I 
 understand that Jesus ordained monogamic mar 
 riage, and prohibited divorce, so that the family 
 might be the basis for Christian civilization, which 
 is the common church. But Jesus says that in all 
 this He taught nothing new only fulfilled the 
 Jewish law and prophecies." 
 
 " Verily thou hast read the parchments with the 
 spirit and the understanding, centurion! Thou 
 hast grasped the very gospel of Christ in the full 
 ness of its divine simplicity and purity! But is 
 there aught else that thou hast learned?" 
 
 " Yea," answered Marcellus, " there is one 
 other thing that seemeth, indeed, to be the very 
 heart of the whole matter, of which I hesitate to 
 speak for it is somehow a most mysterious and 
 sacred thing it is that of which Christ talked 
 with Nicodemus." 
 
 1 Yea," cried the presbyter, " the Palingenesis 
 the new birth. Thou mayest believe, Marcel 
 lus perhaps thou dost already believe that 
 Jesus is the Christ; thou mayest believe that His 
 teachings in regard to war, in regard to personal 
 liberty for all men and personal accountability, in 
 
THE BARBARIAN IS CIVILIZED 225 
 
 regard to property and in regard to marriage, are 
 divinely true, surpassing all human laws, philan 
 thropy and statesmanship and yet not be a 
 Christian i Of all these things thou mayest com 
 mune with thy friends, as thou has been accus 
 tomed to do with us; but one step beyond this is 
 the Holy of Holies; one step beyond this bring- 
 eth thee, and every man, to the supreme question 
 of human life, which only thou and thy Lord can 
 settle. * Wilt thou have the man Christ Jesus to 
 reign over thee ? Here the mediation of an 
 angel would be an impertinence to thee and to thy 
 God; the intermeddling of presbyter, or of bishop, 
 would be a blasphemy. No man can aid thee 
 here. It is the voluntary and conscious rejection 
 of Jesus, or else it is the voluntary, conscious and 
 unreserved submission of thy will to the will of 
 Christ, and that thing thou and He must settle 
 as thou wilt. Thou hast no further need of me, 
 my son. Farewell. " 
 
 Then rose Epaphras up, and took his lamp, and 
 quietly departed out of the chapel. But the 
 maiden Dorcas slipped down upon her knees be 
 side the youth, and clasped her yearning arms 
 about him, and hid her sweet face in his breast, 
 and his open hand lay on her shining hair. 
 
 There was no metaphysical haze, nor dreami 
 ness, nor mystery, about it. Epaphras had set 
 him face to face with the great question, and then 
 
226 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 began in his own soul the terrible contest of which 
 the souls of all men have been somehow, some 
 time, in some form or other, the everlasting battle 
 field. 
 
 He understood perfectly well just what it 
 meant. There was no place for self-deception. 
 Christ, he knew, could never be deceived. Either 
 he could reject Jesus and go his own way, to 
 gather all the blessings of the world; or he could 
 submit himself to Jesus, go whithersoever he 
 might order, and forfeit all. What must he do? 
 He was young, intelligent, wealthy. He was a 
 centurion already and was thoroughly accom 
 plished in his profession of arms; he was of an old 
 and honorable family; the Roman world was al 
 most in his grasp; he could, by an act of the will 
 alone, stifle the intangible sense of duty, silence 
 the speechless voice of conscience and gratify all 
 human lusts and ambitions as few men have ever 
 had the opportunity to do; or he could turn his 
 back upon all those material advantages, renounce 
 his already important position in the empire, sub 
 ject himself to the pity and contempt of his asso 
 ciates, and to the measureless scorn of the proud 
 class to which he belonged, to enter upon a life 
 of poverty, self-denial, esteemed to be infamous, 
 full of toils and danger, leading, perhaps, to 
 martyrdom. What must he do ? 
 
 Epaphras was right. No mortal could give 
 
THE BARBARIAN IS CIVILIZED 227 
 
 him any aid; it was a business to be transacted 
 between his soul and Christ. 
 
 The struggle grew more and more desperate 
 every instant ; his brows knitted, and his lips grew 
 white, and his bosom heaved tempestuously with 
 fierce agony and strife. Hour after hour the 
 fearful contest shook him, soul and body. But 
 the young girl would not leave him. Kneeling 
 beside him, she suffered with him, and all her heart 
 yearned over him; but hardly did either of them 
 speak. Often prayed she for the Holy Spirit to 
 descend upon him. Again she sat near him, with 
 his hand in hers. 
 
 Finally the tempest passed away. In the 
 depths of his own heart, freely, voluntarily, with 
 a painfully distinct consciousness of all the con 
 sequences that might follow, he consecrated him 
 self, soul and body, once for all, for life and 
 death, for time and eternity, to Jesus Christ and 
 His service; and a great calm, full of peace 
 and joy, came over him. With a radiant smile 
 upon his worn and haggard face, he said most 
 simply: "It is all over, Dorcas; I will follow 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 Then the floodgates of long-restrained emotions 
 were opened in her heart, and the young maiden 
 laughed, and cried, and sang praises to her 
 God, all in a breath, and she did kiss Mar- 
 cellus over and over again, saying continually: 
 
228 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 ( Thank God for thee, Marcellus ! Praise the 
 Lord, oh, my soul ! for His loving kindness oh, 
 how great! And His mercy endureth forever. * 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 IN WHICH EUSEBIUS SHOWETH THE SWADDLING- 
 BANDS OF CONSTANTINE 
 
 T?USEBIUS, who was the principal one among 
 " those who were nominated to go upon the 
 embassage to Constantine, undertook the long 
 journey to Lutetia with good hope, and right 
 speedily accomplished it. The church statistics 
 which he laid before the emperor filled him with 
 astonishment, and at first with alarm, but his 
 anxiety speedily changed into pleasure when he 
 had been more fully informed of the doctrines 
 and practices of the Christians. For he was so 
 astute a politician " that the passive and unre 
 sisting obedience which bows under the yoke of 
 authority or even of oppression appeared in the 
 eyes of an absolute monarch the most conspicuous 
 and useful of the evangelic virtues." For as the 
 Christians were forbidden by their faith " to em 
 ploy force even in defense of their religion, they 
 would be still more criminal if they were tempted 
 to shed the blood of their fellow-creatures in dis 
 puting the vain privileges or the sordid possessions 
 of this transitory life." So that he had no fear 
 
 229 
 
230 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 of their great numbers and opulent resources when 
 he learned that the Christians, " Faithful to the 
 doctrine of the Apostle who, in the reign of Nero, 
 had preached the duty of unconditional submission 
 during the first three centuries, had preserved their 
 consciences pure and innocent of the guilt of secret 
 conspiracy or of open rebellion. While they ex 
 perienced the rigor of persecution they were never 
 provoked either to meet their tyrants in the field 
 or indignantly to withdraw themselves into some 
 remote and sequestered corner of the world." So 
 that Constantine s first emotion of alarm at the 
 discovery of a body of men so numerous, so zeal 
 ous and so thoroughly organized " that they 
 constituted a distinct democracy, which was al 
 ready governed by its own laws and officers, was 
 possessed of a common treasure and was intimately 
 connected through all its parts by the frequent as 
 semblies of its bishops, to whose decrees their 
 numerous and opulent congregations yielded im 
 plicit obedience," was entirely removed upon 
 learning the tenets of their faith, which rendered 
 them a valuable, but not a dangerous element, in 
 the population of the empire. For the far-seeing 
 Constantine at once perceived that there would 
 always be soldiers enough unless all people should 
 become Christians, and saw that if all became 
 Christians there would be no need of soldiers, but 
 that swords might be beaten into plowshares and 
 
THE SWADDLING-BANDS 231 
 
 spears into pruning-hooks; and that while this 
 change was in progress (if indeed it ever should 
 occur) the resources of the empire would be kept 
 increasing by the peaceful industry of the Chris 
 tian communities. 
 
 "I must have," he said unto Eusebuis "I 
 must have the friendship of this great and won 
 derful community. On what terms can I obtain 
 it?" 
 
 " I judge from the spirit of the council called 
 to consider the matter," said Eusebius, u that it 
 would be well-nigh impossible to induce them to 
 bear arms in any cause; because by the teachings 
 of Christ and by the practice of the church for 
 three centuries they are forbidden to do so." 
 
 " Then," said Constantine, " the same supersti 
 tion that forbids them to bear arms in my behalf 
 ought also to prevent them from affording any 
 assistance to Maxentius." 
 
 " Assuredly," answered Eusebius, " except that 
 they pay taxes to the powers that be; to thine if 
 they be under thy dominion; to Maxentius while 
 he bears rule. If they could be induced to go to 
 war at all they would recruit an army for thee. 
 But for three centuries they have steadily refused 
 to bear arms even in defense of the faith for 
 which they do not hesitate to die." 
 
 " I must have this people," said Constantine. 
 " I will have them. Thou mayest take back to 
 
232 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 them my pledge that I will exempt all Christians 
 from military service and leave them in full en 
 joyment of their own democratic institutions." 
 
 " Permit me to suggest," said Eusebius, " that 
 thine imperial mandate go not quite so far. Let 
 it be left as a matter of conscience to each indi 
 vidual; for there be many Christians who would 
 serve if the church did not forbid it, and the 
 clergy insist mightily upon liberty of conscience." 
 
 " So let it be," answered the emperor; " for in 
 many things I prefer the system of these Chris 
 tians to any that is known in history. Wouldst 
 thou advise me to profess this faith, and join the 
 church?" 
 
 " Nay," answered Eusebius. " They fully un 
 derstand that no emperor can be a Christian with 
 out ceasing to be an emperor. The church is 
 democracy, liberty, equality, fraternity. No 
 bishop would baptize thee unless thou first resign 
 thy scepter." 
 
 " Speak thou freely," said Constantine. " I 
 desire to know thy very thoughts, without re 
 
 serve." 
 
 " I think," answered the wise Eusebius, " that 
 thou hast discovered the deepest political truth of 
 this century, in holding that the best subjects for 
 an absolute monarch are those who, like the Chris 
 tians, will not bear arms at all for such I 
 perceive to be thy sentiment. But the Christians 
 
THE SWADDLING-BANDS 233 
 
 hold other doctrines with equal tenacity and un 
 swerving faith. They are opposed to slavery, 
 and no Christian will own a slave. They utterly 
 deny the right of the individual to acquire, hold, 
 or transmit private property, and the church holds 
 all in common for the good of all. They con 
 sider monogamic marriage a sacrament of 
 religion; deny the lawfulness of divorce, and con 
 stitute the family the basis of society, and the 
 church the only superstructure that Christians can 
 lawfully aid in erecting thereon. Any profession 
 of faith that is not followed by the practice of 
 these social and political principles they would 
 believe to be hypocritical, and would regard with 
 loathing and contempt. So that it is impossible 
 for Augustus to conform his life to these funda 
 mental laws of the Kingdom of Heaven." 
 
 " But," exclaimed Constantine, " I must have 
 this people! And, by Jupiter Ammon, I will 
 have them ! " 
 
 Then he sprang from his seat and paced the 
 room with rapid strides until he had regained his 
 equanimity. Then he sat down in front of Euse- 
 bius and fixed his splendid eyes upon him with 4 
 gaze as calm and searching as if he sought to read 
 his very soul, and presently he said: " Art thou 
 a Christian? " 
 
 And the mellifluous voice of Eusebius answered 
 in placid, liquid tones : 
 
234 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 " I am a bishop of the church of Christ." 
 
 " Is that the highest rank known to the Chris 
 tian democracy?" 
 
 " Yea. We have no apostles now, and all 
 bishops possess equal authority the power and 
 influence exercised by them depending only upon 
 the respective character of the individual and the 
 locality, numbers, and opulence of his church." 
 
 Then said Constantine, musingly : " The high- 
 priest of the Sanhedrim at Jerusalem; the chief of 
 the Order of the Druids in Britain; the Flamen of 
 Jupiter, Pontifex Maximus at Rome; the bishops 
 of the church of Christ they are all men, and 
 all alike." And then he continued in a lower 
 tone : " If thou canst bring the Christian com 
 munities over to me, what good thing dost thou 
 desire for thyself? Speak boldly, without lying 
 or equivocation! I will have no evasion, or 
 crookedness in any man with whom I talk." 
 
 " I should expect to receive," said Eusebius, 
 placidly, " and think that I would deserve, the 
 confidence and favor of the greatest emperor that 
 hath ever governed Rome." 
 
 Then the two most able men of that century 
 gazed for a moment into each other s eyes, and 
 understood each other perfectly. 
 
 " Now," said Constantine, " knowing the 
 Christians thoroughly, as thou dost, I desire thee 
 to advise me carefully how I may bind this people 
 
THE SWADDLING-BANDS 235 
 
 to my throne. What is thy counsel for thou 
 art not a fool, and thou hast already sifted this 
 whole matter clean? * 
 
 Eusebius made a very singular reply, only 
 saying : 
 
 "Hast thou ever read The Acts of the 
 Apostles ? 1 
 
 An angry frown contracted the brow of Con- 
 stantine for a moment, but it passed away, and 
 he replied: 
 
 41 No ! But why dost thou ask a question so 
 impertinent to the matter in hand? " 
 
 Then said Eusebius, still apparently thinking 
 of something foreign to the subject of their 
 thoughts : " It may be hard for thee to realize the 
 truth, but the truth is, that from the days of Pon 
 tius Pilate until now, the church of Christ, by the 
 power of faith, hath been accustomed to unstop 
 the ears of the deaf, cure the lame and the halt, 
 restore sight to the blind, and raise the dead, and 
 to do many other thaumaturgical works, as the 
 usual and proper evidence of the divinity of Jesus, 
 and the right of the church to teach and to preach 
 by His authority; and this thaumaturgical power 
 is the secret of that splendid vitality which has 
 enabled the church to live and to flourish, al 
 though all the resources of pagan power and 
 civilization have been deployed against her from 
 the very beginning. Thou wilt understand, there- 
 
236 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 fore, that a miracle to a Christian does not seem 
 to be any strange or incredible thing. In fact, I 
 have witnessed at least hundreds, and nearly all 
 Christians have seen them. If thou wilt carefully 
 read the Acts of the Apostles to-night, and espe 
 cially the dramatic and beautiful account of the 
 conversion of Saul of Tarsus, I will wait upon 
 thee in the morning to offer thee one single com 
 ment upon that scripture." 
 
 * Thou mayest go," said Constantine, " with 
 the assurance that I will read the book with care." 
 
 When, on the next morning, Eusebius came be 
 fore the Emperor, Constantine immediately spoke 
 as follows: The conversion of Saul of Tarsus 
 was a wonderful event. I have read the whole 
 parchment thrice, and that particular passage 
 oftener still. I tell thee, bishop, that the internal 
 evidences of its verity are so irresistible that I 
 believe the story to be true. In fact, I would do 
 anything to be a Christian, except to resign the 
 Roman Empire that I will not do. Now what 
 is the comment on this scripture? " 
 
 Eusebius gazed upon the emperor, and saw that 
 Constantine spoke in very sincerity and truth, and 
 murmured to himself: " Many men have lost 
 their souls for less ! " 
 
 But to the emperor he said: "I have been 
 praying that God might commission thee to pro 
 tect His church, and that He might confirm thy 
 
THE SWADDLING-BANDS 237 
 
 mission by some sign as significant and sublime as 
 that which Paul offered as evidence of his own 
 apostleship. I desire of thee permission to return 
 straightway to Rome. If any authentic informa 
 tion should shortly follow me that the event for 
 which I prayed had really come to pass, I would 
 thank God and take courage, and might persuade 
 the church to accept thee as their emperor, ap 
 pointed by Heaven to bring peace unto the long 
 persecuted saints, even although thou thyself 
 should not become a Christian but remain the em 
 peror. Have I thy permission to return at once 
 to Rome?" 
 
 * Yea; go thou quickly," said Constantine, with 
 eagerness. " The daimon tells me that the thing 
 thou hast desired of Heaven shall certainly occur! 
 I have, indeed, a strong assuring faith that it will 
 happen I Hasten thou to Rome." 
 
 And so, furthered by Constantine by every aid 
 that imperial power could command up to the 
 confines of Italy, Eusebius returned to Rome. 
 Upon the occasion of the former council this 
 adroit and unscrupulous man had carefully ascer 
 tained and preserved the name and address of 
 every bishop and presbyter who had favored his 
 own views, and being afraid to submit the 
 question of adopting the policy upon which his 
 own heart was set to a council in which the stern, 
 incorruptible Christian integrity of Epaphras and 
 
238 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 of many like him would confront, expose and over 
 whelm the plausible sophisms by which he had 
 deceived even himself, he chose rather to confer 
 privily with those who had been inclined to favor 
 his own views. Therefore, both at Rome and 
 elsewhere, he solicited an interview with such 
 as could conveniently assemble at each place, and 
 obtained their signatures, knowing that Constan- 
 tine would not understand the differences between 
 a document authenticated by their individual 
 names and a decree passed by the common consent 
 in regular council. 
 
 The points upon which Eusebius insisted, in 
 these small but numerous assemblies, with consum 
 mate address, were about as follows: That upon 
 further conference with Constantine he had found 
 him to be far more favorably inclined to Chris 
 tianity than he had aforetime believed or repre 
 sented; that the emperor would not require any 
 Christian to bear arms, but would leave it to the 
 conscience of each one to determine for himself 
 whether he might do so or not a "liberty of 
 conscience " upon which the church had always 
 insisted; that no alliance between the church and 
 the emperor was desired, or even proposed, but 
 that the emperor only desired the prayers of the 
 Christians, their loyalty and friendship, the pay 
 ment of customary taxes which as citizens they 
 had paid even to Nero and Diocletian and 
 
THE SWADDLING-BANDS 239 
 
 wished to give them legal protection, if the church 
 would accept it; that within the limits of their own 
 community the Christians might maintain their 
 laws and customs unimpaired; and that if the civil 
 war, in which he was about to engage, should be 
 protracted beyond one campaign, they must fur 
 nish money or supplies, or both. 
 
 Eusebius urged vehemently that these things 
 did not constitute any alliance with the emperor, 
 and were not inconsistent with Christianity, and 
 in this plausible statement of the case he soon 
 found able coadjutors to divide the work with 
 him, and prosecute the business in many quarters 
 simultaneously. To all of them he furnished an 
 answer to the one fatal objection " that any con 
 sensus between the church and the empire must 
 necessarily shear the Christians clear of all thau- 
 maturgical powers which were appurtenant only 
 to the pure democracy of Christ, wherein they 
 must of necessity be exercised only for the com 
 mon good, and could never be used to build up an 
 earthly kingdom, or a secularized church," as 
 follows : That it must be candidly admitted that 
 the loss of thaumaturgical power would in all 
 probability follow the acceptance of the imperial 
 protection; but that these powers were given only 
 to enable the church to maintain herself against a 
 world hostile to the claims of Christianity; that 
 spiritual truth would be preserved unimpaired, and 
 
240 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 that the miracles which had been continuously 
 wrought for three centuries would be sufficient 
 evermore to demonstrate the gospel truth; that 
 there could be no necessity for continuous miracu 
 lous aid to insure the triumph of the church, 
 backed by the Roman Empire, the mistress of the 
 world; and that, finally, if a time should ever ar 
 rive in the history of the church when it might 
 become necessary to resort to thaumaturgy to 
 secure her triumph, the church could do so by cut 
 ting loose from all secular governments and reor 
 ganizing her communities on the primitive 
 foundation of communism and faith. 
 
 By these and many more such specious argu 
 ments Eusebius secured a great number of signa 
 tures of bishops and presbyters to a parchment 
 promising what Constantine desired. And this 
 was made the more easy by an extraordinary 
 rumor that became current among the Christians 
 both at Rome and elsewhere. It was affirmed 
 that the Emperor Constantine, marching at the 
 head of his army at midday, had seen a miraculous 
 cross in the heavens shining above the brightness 
 of the sun and had seen an inscription thereon in 
 the Greek language: " In this sign conquer; " it 
 was furthermore given out that in a vision of the 
 night, Christ or an angel, had appeared unto the 
 emperor, and had directed him to take for a stand 
 ard a cross bearing his own effigy, and the words 
 
THE SWADDLING-BANDS 241 
 
 which he had beheld upon that cross seen by him 
 in heaven, and to march against Maxentius and 
 all his enemies with the assurance of success; and 
 that he must be the Protector of the Church of 
 Jesus Christ. It was further given out that the 
 vision had directed him to call his standard by a 
 miraculous name, Labarum, a word before un 
 known to the human race, and having no root or 
 origin in any earthly language. It was further 
 more given out that although the whole army had 
 seen the celestial sign, Constantine (because of the 
 heathen) desired the vision and the words to be 
 kept secret from all except the Christians. 
 
 To those who made careful inquiry, what seemed 
 to be the main fact, the luminous appearance 
 above the midday sun, was proved by incontestable 
 and overwhelming testimony; and Eusebius and 
 those who acted with him used this strange story 
 with wonderful success in bringing still others over 
 to their own views; and many urged that a council 
 be summoned to consider the whole matter again. 
 But this Eusebius vehemently opposed, saying that 
 it was not necessary, and that Constantine did not 
 require their action to be taken in council, being 
 satisfied with their signatures and the revelation 
 vouchsafed to him constituting him the Defender 
 of the Faith. But when these things came to the 
 knowledge of Epaphras and those who agreed 
 with him in sentiment, they vigorously endeavored 
 
242 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 to secure the calling of a council, but their action 
 had been forestalled by Eusebius; and when they 
 found that they could not obtain their desires in 
 this regard, they issued a pastoral letter to all of 
 the churches, warning them against the course 
 pursued by Eusebius. And this letter began with 
 the declaration that " Eusebius had forestalled the 
 summoning of a council, because he well knew 
 that whenever the common church might meet to 
 deliberate upon the matter the Holy Ghost would 
 come upon them, and would guide them into all 
 truth which fact Eusebius feared." 
 
 The letter also said, " the day that ye conclude 
 this sacrilegious bargain miracles will cease; or 
 will henceforth occur only sporadically, beyond 
 any control or influence of the church, and in such 
 seemingly accidental ways as to render them no 
 longer available as evidence of the divinity of 
 Jesus. Then ye will have nothing left of Christ s 
 gospel except its spiritual truth, and Christianity 
 will speedily become a mere ecclesiasticism as 
 much as Judaism or paganism a secularized 
 church using the religious sentiment of mankind 
 to maintain political despotisms, ready to give the 
 pretended sanction of our Lord to war, slavery, 
 Mammon-worship and every other crime, fraud 
 and injustice that the empire may establish by 
 some felon formula of law." 
 
 And the letter said, " and there will grow up an 
 
THE SWADDLING-BANDS 243 
 
 ccclesiasticism in which the so-called ministers of 
 Christ shall preach the gospel for money, and 
 there shall be among them envy, jealousy, hatred, 
 strife, ambition and selfishness, such as even the 
 heathen permit not in their temples; " and the let 
 ter also said: " The church so constituted shall 
 be the master of ceremonies for countless forms, 
 doctrines and secular authority, condemned by 
 Jesus, and shall lose the power of godliness and 
 the beauty of truth, even as the Eusebians them 
 selves admit that thaumaturgy shall fade away; " 
 and the letter concluded as follows: " Brethren, 
 this is to sell our Lord; it is to destroy His holy 
 common church; it is to establish mere Pharisaism 
 upon the ruins of forsaken and forgotten Chris 
 tianity; it is to set up the Anti-Christ" 
 
 And this letter having been read by many, some 
 of them who had signed went to Eusebius to erase 
 their signatures from the parchment; to whom he 
 answered: " The parchment hath already been 
 sent and is far upon the way to the emperor." 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 IN WHICH THERE IS A DEATH AND ALSO A 
 MARRIAGE 
 
 ITT HILE this business was transacting secretly, 
 and before Eusebius had procured the 
 signatures to the parchment which he sent to Con- 
 stantine, after the centurion Marcellus had been 
 baptized by Epaphras in the chapel in the cata 
 combs, and had partaken of the communion in one 
 of those pleasant Sabbath-day conferences which 
 had long been customary between himself, Dorcas 
 and Epaphras, the young man spake thus : " I am, 
 indeed, very happy, Father Epaphras, in the faith 
 of Christ; but I feel bound in my conscience to 
 abandon the military service of the empire, and to 
 publicly declare my faith in Jesus; nor can I have 
 perfect peace until this shall have been done." 
 
 " If thou do this thing publicly," said Epa 
 phras, " the Romans will put thee to death, both 
 because thou art a Christian, and also because thou 
 forsakest the military life without the consent of 
 the emperor. Nevertheless, Marcellus, consider 
 the matter well, and follow thou the teachings of 
 thine own conscience." 
 
 244 
 
A DEATH AND ALSO A MARRIAGE 245 
 
 And the centurion said: " I have considered it 
 very fully. I know that the duties of an officer in 
 the army of the empire and the duties of a Chris 
 tian are irreconcilable. I have resolved upon this 
 course, and will pursue it. I cannot do other 
 wise." 
 
 " A life bought by the sacrifice of one s con 
 science is purchased at too dear a price, 1 said 
 Epaphras. " The Libellatici and the Thurificati, 
 who have purchased of the heathen priests or 
 magistrates false certificates that they had sacri 
 ficed to the pagan gods, when it was not true that 
 they had done so, in order to escape the conse 
 quences of having been discovered to be Chris 
 tians, have no peace, although forgiven by the 
 church." 
 
 " I am resolved," said Marcellus, " and I have 
 mentioned the matter to thee chiefly because if I 
 be slain therefor, perhaps the Lord might grant 
 the Anastasis, which I do desire exceedingly, if it 
 be His will." 
 
 " The church shall pray for thee in that be 
 half," said Epaphras. " Thou understandest that 
 we do not know what may be the will of God 
 concerning thee ! " 
 
 " I go hence," said Marcellus, " to carry out my 
 purpose. If I perish, I perish. Fare thee 
 well!" 
 
 Then the presbyter embraced him and kissed 
 
246 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 him on his forehead, saying: " Farewell, my son ! 
 The peace of God be and abide with thee ! " 
 
 And after a tender leave-taking of Dorcas, the 
 centurion, who had learned the way to and from 
 the chapel by repeated visits, departed upon his 
 dangerous mission. 
 
 The next evening, when the legion to which he 
 belonged was mustered for customary exercise, 
 which had recently become frequent and onerous 
 because of the impending war with Constantine, 
 in the view of the legion and of a crowd that had 
 assembled to watch their evolutions, the centurion 
 deliberately left the head of his century and ad 
 vanced to the legionary, who turned fiercely upon 
 him and cried out: 
 
 "Why hast thou left thy post? What dost 
 thou here?" 
 
 Then Marcellus took off his belt, and his arms, 
 and the insignia of his office, and laid them down 
 at the feet of the legionary, and he said in a loud 
 voice : 
 
 " Know thou that I have become a Christian, 
 whom conscience permitteth not to bear arms, and 
 I do here resign my command, refuse to serve 
 longer, and will follow no king but Jesus Christ 
 henceforth." 
 
 But the legionary, drawing his sword, cried out: 
 
 " I care not for thy conscience, nor for thy 
 
A DEATH AND ALSO A MARRIAGE 247 
 
 Christ, but for military order and obedience; and 
 if thou dost not instantly resume thine arms, and 
 return straight to thy proper place, I will smite 
 thee dead with mine own hand." 
 
 Marcellus crossed his arms upon his breast, and, 
 gazing upon the legionary, said : 
 
 " For conscience sake I will not obey thee. 
 Strike thou home ! " 
 
 And thereupon the legionary thrust his sword 
 through Marcellus bosom so that the point there 
 of came out behind his back, and the young cen 
 turion sank down upon his knees, and then fell at 
 full length upon the ground. 
 
 And the legionary set his foot upon the breast 
 of Marcellus, and pulled and withdrew his two- 
 edged sword, and holding it aloft did cry aloud, 
 saying: 
 
 " So may all traitors and all Christians die ! " 
 
 At the order of the legionary, the soldiers 
 marched past the centurion s body as it lay prone 
 upon the ground. Then four men were told off 
 to bear it away from the Campus Martius and lay 
 it where it would not obstruct the maneuvers, 
 which were continued as though no such terrible 
 thing had happened, while a messenger was dis 
 patched to the Vice-Prefect Varus bearing the 
 news of his son s treason and summary execution 
 at the hands of the legionary. 
 
 But certain men among those who stood around, 
 
248 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 presently came forward, raised up his body, and, 
 having brought a litter, no one preventing them, 
 they placed the body thereon, and they carried it 
 to the chapel in the catacombs, wherein were many 
 awaiting the return of Epaphras and others who 
 had gone to mingle with the crowd about the 
 Campus Martius, and to observe the action of 
 Marcellus, and what might come of it. 
 
 And Dorcas also was with them there, and at 
 the selfsame instant the legionary smote the young 
 man she felt as if a sword had pierced her own 
 heart also, but she ceased not to pray, and to say: 
 " Surely the Lord will restore him to us! " 
 
 And when those that brought in the corpse had 
 laid it upon the long table in the sight of all, 
 Epaphras, the presbyter, prayed mightily to God 
 that He would grant the Anastasis for Marcellus, 
 and all the people answered, " Amen ! " 
 
 And Epaphras, coming round to the table, took 
 the hand of Marcellus in his own, saying in a loud 
 voice : " Brother, if it be the will of God concern 
 ing thee, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, 
 arise and live ! " 
 
 And the young man arose and stood upon his 
 feet, praising the Lord. And straightway he 
 clasped unto his bosom the maiden Dorcas, and 
 they did talk with each other briefly, and they did 
 call the presbyter Epaphras to come unto them, 
 and thereupon the presbyter did call the rejoicing 
 
A DEATH AND ALSO A MARRIAGE 249 
 
 congregation to order, and when they were seated 
 he said: 
 
 " Marcellus and Dorcas desire to be united in 
 matrimony according to God s holy ordinance. 
 Come ye forward ! " 
 
 And the twain came forward, hand in hand, 
 and Epaphras saith : " Do ye each take each other 
 for husband and wife, of your own free will and 
 choice, to dwell together in the holy estate of 
 Christian marriage, according to the commands of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, as in His Gospel is set 
 forth ? " And both of them answered, " We do." 
 Then saith Epaphras: " In the name of the 
 Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, I 
 declare ye twain to be one flesh. Whom, there 
 fore, God hath joined together let no man put 
 asunder." And they both answered, " Amen ! " 
 and all the people said, " Amen 1 " And Mar 
 cellus put his arms around Dorcas neck and did 
 kiss her, and did say with great content, " Thou 
 art my wife ! " and she did look upon him with 
 beaming countenance and did say, " Thou art my 
 husband!" 
 
 And the congregation were glad and did rejoice, 
 and when they all were gone Dorcas took up her 
 lamp and said: " Come, husband mine, and I will 
 show to thee the home in which I have dwelt so 
 long." And hand in hand the twain departed 
 out of the chapel. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 FINIS 
 
 , the Emperor Constantine in due time re- 
 ceived the parchment which Eusebius sent to 
 him, signed by many bishops and presbyters, and 
 he read the same with joy; and immediately he put 
 his legions upon the march to Rome, bearing the 
 cruciform standards which they called Labarums. 
 After twice defeating the armies which Maxen- 
 tius led forth to dispute the passage of the Alps, 
 on the 27th day of October, A.D. 312, his forces 
 were cantoned at Saxa Rubra, and upon the next 
 day he attacked the army of the Emperor Maxen- 
 tius, then drawn up in battle order at the Fabricus 
 Bridge, nine miles from Rome, and defeated that 
 army with great slaughter. And the Emperor 
 Maxentius did attempt to swim his horse across 
 the Tiber and so escape back into Rome, but he 
 was drowned there in the river; and there was no 
 more of that war, and Constantine was at once 
 recognized as Emperor of Italy, as well as of the 
 west, and as Augustus. 
 
 But after the compact which Eusebius had pre 
 pared to be signed by the presbyters and bishops 
 had received their signatures and had been de- 
 
 250 
 
FINIS 251 
 
 livered to faithful messengers to be conveyed to 
 the Emperor Constantine, one whom Maxentius, 
 by his magistrates, had ordered to be beheaded, 
 had sent earnest requests to the Presbyter Epa 
 phras and to the church that they would beseech 
 God in his behalf that the Anastasis might be 
 granted unto him; and they conveyed the body to 
 the chapel in the catacombs, and did pray mightily 
 as aforetime, but God would not raise him up. 
 And likewise some that were ill besought the 
 prayers of the church, by which aforetime many 
 were healed, and God answered not their prayers. 
 And the deaf came to be relieved, and the blind to 
 have their sight restored, but no miracle occurred 
 in that chapel after the resurrection of Marcellus. 
 And Epaphras was sorely grieved and his church. 
 And when they found that God no more regarded 
 them Epaphras preached unto them often that this 
 " came from the alliance made with Constantine; 
 and they all saw that thaumaturgy, which had for 
 three hundred years been the glory and defense 
 of Christianity, had indeed departed from the 
 church and from the world." 
 
 And often Epaphras considered with them 
 whether they should not, one and all, leave Rome 
 and the Roman Empire and even journey unto 
 the Isle of Man, and there found for themselves 
 and their children a community unsecularized by 
 an alliance with any human government. And 
 
252 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 they did agree to keep up their services in the 
 chapel every Seventh day, and to wait yet a little 
 longer, if by chance the Lord would put into the 
 hearts of those men to repent of their sin, and 
 come again unto the Kingdom of Heaven. But, 
 notwithstanding, they made all necessary prepa 
 rations to depart as soon as it should become 
 certain that the secularization of the church would 
 progress to a hopeless condition. 
 
 And Constantine left Rome and journeyed to 
 Milan and established his throne in that city; and 
 about April, of the year 313, did the Emperor 
 Constantine issue to the Roman people " The 
 Edict of Milan," which was as follows : 
 
 a " Wherefore, as I, Constantine Augustus, came under 
 favorable auspices to Milan, and took under consideration 
 all affairs that pertained to the public benefit and welfare, 
 these things among the rest appeared to us to be most 
 advantageous and profitable to all. We have resolved 
 among the first things to ordain those matters by which 
 the reverence and worship to the Deity might be ex 
 hibited. That is, how we may grant likewise to the 
 Christians, and to all, the free choice to follow that mode 
 of worship which they may wish: that whatsoever di 
 vinity and celestial power may exist may be propitious 
 to us and to all that live under our government. There 
 fore we have decreed the following ordinance as our will 
 with a salutory and most correct intention, that no free- 
 
 1 From Eusebius Eccles. Hist. : B. x. I. c. 5. 
 
FINIS 253 
 
 dom at all shall be refused to the Christians, to follow or 
 keep their observances or worship. . . . And this we 
 further decree with respect to the Christians, that the 
 places in which they were formerly accustomed to as 
 semble, concerning which also we formerly wrote to you 
 faithfully in a different form, that if any person have 
 purchased these, either from our treasury or from any 
 other one, these shall restore them to the Christians, 
 without money and without demanding any price, with 
 out any superadded value or augmentation, without de 
 lay or hesitancy, and if any have happened to receive 
 these places as presents that they shall restore them as 
 soon as possible to the Christians, so that if either those 
 that purchased or those that received them as presents 
 have anything to request of our munificence, they may go 
 to the provincial governor as the judge, that provision 
 may also be made for them by our clemency. All of which 
 it will be necessary to be delivered up to the body of Chris- 
 tians by your care without any delay. And since the 
 Christians themselves are known to have had not only 
 those places where they were accustomed to meet, but 
 other places also belonging not to individuals among them f 
 but to the right of the whole body of Christians, you will 
 also command all these, by virtue of the law before men 
 tioned, without any hesitancy, to be restored to these same 
 Christians, that is, to their body and to each conventicle 
 respectively. The aforesaid consideration, to wit, being 
 observed ; namely, that they who, as we have said, restore 
 them without valuation and price may expect their in 
 demnity from our munificence and liberality." 
 
254 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 And Constantine likewise issued another decree, 
 in which he said: 
 
 " Whence it is our will, that when them shalt receive 
 this epistle, if any of those things belonging to the com 
 mon church of the Christians in the several cities or 
 other places are now possessed either by the decurions or 
 any others, these thou shalt cause immediately to be 
 restored to their churches. . . . Make all haste to 
 restore as soon as possible all that belongs to the church, 
 whether gardens, houses, or anything else! 
 
 And Constantine also wrote to Caecilianus, 
 Bishop of Carthage: 
 
 " As we have determined that, in all the provinces of 
 Africa, Numidia, and Mauritania something should be 
 granted to certain ministers of the legitimate and most 
 holy common religion to defray their expenses, I have 
 given letters to Ursus, the most illustrious Lieutenant- 
 Governor of Africa, and have communicated to him that 
 he shall provide to pay to your authority three thousand 
 folles. After you shall have obtained this sum, you are 
 to order these moneys to be distributed among the afore 
 said ministers, according to the abstract addressed to thee 
 from Hosius. But if thou shalt learn, perhaps, that any 
 thing shall be wanting to complete this my purpose with 
 regard to all, thou art authorized, without delay, to make 
 demands for whatever thou mayest ascertain to be neces 
 sary from Heraclides, the procurator of our possessions, 
 and I have also commanded him when present, that if thy 
 authority should demand any moneys of him, he should 
 
FINIS 255 
 
 see that it should be paid without delay. And, as I ascer 
 tained that some men, who are of no settled mind, wished 
 to divert the people from the most holy Catholic Church 
 by a certain pernicious adulteration, I wish thee to under 
 stand that I have given, both to the Proconsul Anulinus, 
 and to Patricius, Vicar-general of the Prefect, that among 
 all the rest, they should particularly pay the necessary 
 attention to this, nor should by any means tolerate that 
 this should be overlooked. Wherefore, if thou seest any 
 of these men persevering in this madness, thou shalt, 
 without any hesitancy, proceed to the aforesaid fudges, 
 and report it to them, that they may animadvert upon 
 them f as I commanded them when present." 
 
 Wherefore, Epaphras plainly perceived that the 
 whole Christian constitution of the common 
 church was subverted, and a state religion or eccle- 
 siasticism substituted for it. 
 
 And when the Presbyter Epaphras had read 
 this Edict of Milan, and when he had learned that 
 the Emperor Constantine had caused to be raised, 
 in the midst of Rome, a statue of himself, bearing 
 a cross in its right hand, with an inscription which 
 referred the victory of its arms and the deliver 
 ance of Rome to the virtue of that salutary sign, 
 the true symbol of force and courage; and had 
 learned that " the same symbol sanctified the arms 
 of the soldiers of Constantine; that the cross glit 
 tered on their helmets, was engraved on their 
 shields, was interwoven in their banners; and that 
 
256 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 the consecrated emblems which adorned the person 
 of the emperor himself were distinguished only 
 by richer materials and more exquisite workman 
 ship;" when he learned that Constantine, at the 
 same time, issued two edicts, " one of which en 
 joined the solemn observance of Sunday " (which 
 he therein denominated the " Day of the Sun," in 
 order not to offend the pagans), and the other 
 of which " directed the regular consultation of the 
 Aruspices;" when he saw that Constantine en 
 riched the pagan temples; placed the figures and 
 attributes of Jupiter, Apollo, Mars, and Hercules, 
 upon the money issued from his mint; made a 
 solemn apotheosis of his father, Constantius; and 
 in all respects, attempted to hold fast to the hea 
 then with one hand, and to the church with the 
 other, manifestly designing, and, to a large extent 
 accomplishing, the union of these two systems; 
 and when he saw the church exalting the character, 
 and fawning and flattering the greatness and 
 goodness of this man, who still wore the imperial 
 purple and had never even been baptized, he in 
 formed his own faithful people thereof, who had 
 already agreed that, if that thorough seculariza 
 tion of the church which he had foreboded should 
 follow the union of church and state, they would 
 leave Italy with him, and remove into some distant 
 land beyond the confines of the Roman Empire, 
 and there seek to maintain a community for them- 
 
FINIS 257 
 
 selves and their children, in which the forms and 
 doctrine of the democracy of Christ should be 
 fully established; and in the month of June, in the 
 year 313, having completed all their preparations 
 for entering upon their long journey to the far 
 North, they met together to hold divine service, 
 for the last time, in their loved chapel in the cata 
 combs; and at the conclusion thereof, with stream 
 ing eyes and aching heart, the Presbyter Epaphras 
 said unto them : " Let us arise and go hence ! " 
 and he took his lamp in his hand and sadly moved 
 away; and Marcellus and Dorcas followed next 
 after him; and then, in slow and solemn proces 
 sion, bearing their lamps in their hands through 
 the long galleries, came the sorrowful but faithful 
 congregation. 
 
 And likewise other faithful presbyters and 
 bishops and their people, who, also, refused to be 
 tray their Lord by adopting the Roman laws 
 which sanctioned war, and slavery, and Mammon- 
 worship in the matter of private ownerships of 
 property, segregated themselves into little com 
 munities in Italy, Hispania, Gaul and Germany, 
 seeking to maintain for themselves and their chil 
 dren the democracy of Christ s common church; 
 and abbeys and monasteries sprang up out of these 
 communities. But in the lapse of time the secu 
 larized church became a human government, and 
 forced them also to come under their ecclesiastical 
 
258 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 laws; and the church departed more and more 
 from the fundamental laws of primitive Chris 
 tianity, conformed more and more unto the world, 
 and finally became that which we now see, an 
 ornate and costly ecclesiasticism that despises the 
 poor, perverts the Gospel, and worships Mammon 
 in the name of the Son of the carpenter an in 
 verted Christianity that would feel itself to be in 
 sulted if one should call it Anti-Christ. 
 
 But Epaphras, followed by his whole congre 
 gation- men, women, and children, from the 
 gray grandsire to the babe in arms passed 
 through Rome by the Appian Way, until they 
 reached the Temple of Vesta, and thence along 
 the banks of the Tiber, until they came to the 
 ^Elian Bridge, in solemn procession, with wagons 
 and chariots drawing their household goods, and 
 grain for seed, and calves, and lambs, goats, and 
 poultry, and all iron implements of agriculture 
 and of mechanics. And they ended the first day s 
 journey on that spot of ground which was after 
 ward covered by the great temple of St. Peter 
 (whom after ages confounded with a Galilean of 
 the same name, who was a Christian), and at 
 night, under the open heavens, Epaphras held the 
 last Christian church service that was ever wit 
 nessed in the City of the Caesars. 
 
FINIS 259 
 
 And day after day they pursued their journey, 
 and night after night their songs and prayers as 
 cended unto heaven. 
 
 And so they went through Italy, and crossed 
 the Alps, and journeyed into Gaul, until, about the 
 close of the first month, they reached Lutetia, and 
 here for a short space they tarried, building and 
 buying ships wherewith to continue their exodus 
 down the river and over the sea. 
 
 And night after night came the deacons, saying 
 unto Epaphras: 
 
 " Father, whither dost thou lead us?" 
 
 And night after night Epaphras answered, 
 saying : 
 
 " Beyond the limits of the Roman Empire unto 
 some land wherein we may serve the Lord." 
 
 And the boats were completed, the people em 
 barked, with their implements of agriculture, 
 their personal property, their mechanics tools, 
 their calves, and sheep, and goats, and their 
 poultry, and, with the flowing river, they wan 
 dered to the sea. 
 
 And at last the vast expanse of waters lay out 
 spread before them, and the deacons came to 
 Epaphras, saying: 
 
 " Father, whither dost thou lead us now? " for 
 the ships were small and the waters great. 
 
 And Epaphras said again: 
 
 " Beyond the limits of the Roman Empire unto 
 
260 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 some land wherein we may serve the Lord. Cast 
 off! Hoist sail! Trust God! " 
 
 And slowly the ships drove over against the 
 coast of Britain, and they coasted westerly until 
 they came upon a long peninsula trending south 
 wardly, and they doubled that point, and the sea 
 spread out before them. 
 
 And afterward they coasted northwardly, until 
 they passed the wall of Severus, that marked the 
 extreme limits of the Roman power, and the 
 people of that land refused to receive them or to 
 permit them to land upon their shores. 
 
 Then came the deacons, distressfully, and said 
 unto Epaphras: 
 
 " Father, whither dost thou lead us now?" 
 
 The presbyter stood up and prayed, and after 
 ward he answered them, saying : 
 
 " Whithersoever the Lord shall guide us. Cast 
 off! Hoist sail!" 
 
 A wind from the west drove off the ships from 
 that inhospitable coast. And days and nights they 
 were on the deep, when suddenly a land appeared 
 before them. There was a long, low line of fer 
 tile soil, and abrupt mountains, and numerous 
 sparkling rivers, and a mighty sweep of forests; 
 and the land was beautiful. Then cried Epaphras 
 from the foremost ship : " It is a virgin land, 
 where Rome s imperial eagles never flew! Be 
 hold our pleasant home ! " 
 
FINIS 261 
 
 And they made land safely; and they disem 
 barked, and found no man, but deer, and quail, 
 and partridges, and grouse, and abundant fish. 
 
 And first of all they unloaded the ships, and by 
 the request of Epaphras they brake every boat in 
 pieces; and their camp was pitched far inland; and 
 they began to build cottages and to prepare the 
 ground for seed. 
 
 Then went Epaphras, and with his own hand he 
 cut a stone from the mountain, and he fashioned it 
 with tools, and drew it unto a convenient place; 
 and he called them all to look upon it; and they 
 said unto him: "What is that, Epaphras?" 
 
 And he said: " I lay here the corner-stone of a 
 Christian church; who will build thereon?" 
 
 And straightway every able man quarried a 
 stone and brought it thither, and the church grew 
 from day to day. 
 
 And their lambs, and kids, and calves, and poul 
 try grew to flocks and herds. 
 
 And they set a watch upon the loftiest peak of 
 the mountain night and day, and as often as any 
 ship appeared in the offing the man Epaphras 
 prayed unto God, and a mist came up out of the 
 sea and covered all the island, so that no ship 
 could find haven or land thereon. 
 
 They had a church, and a school; and held all 
 things in common except wives, even as Jesus com 
 manded; and they prospered in all things, serving 
 
262 DORCAS, DAUGHTER OF FAUSTINA 
 
 God in the beauty of holiness ; until the man Epa- 
 phras grew old and died, having enjoined upon 
 them that they should build no ships, and should 
 pray for the mists to rise whenever ships might 
 come in sight, unless they should be wrecked or in 
 distress. 
 
 And the people elected Marcellus to be pres 
 byter; and he followed in the way of Epaphras; 
 and the people builded no ships; and the presbyter 
 raised the mists to hide the island when any ships 
 hove in sight ; and the people were happy, prosper 
 ous and free. 
 
 But the presbyter Marcellus grew old and died, 
 and Dorcas with him; and others succeeded him 
 in the sacred office, until, about the year 400 came 
 in new generations of men that forsook the tradi 
 tion of their fathers, and permitted ships to land 
 upon the island, and did not pray that God would 
 send the mist to hide it; and more and more they 
 held intercourse with ships of Britain and of 
 Rome; and in the year 412 they had their pres 
 byter converted into a bishop, and sent him unto 
 the Ecumenical Council at Aries; and he returned 
 with a new system that prevailed throughout the 
 Roman Empire; and they more and more aban 
 doned the customs of their fathers; and more and 
 more they conformed unto the imperial laws con 
 cerning war, slavery and private property-rights; 
 and thaumaturgy failed from among them; and 
 
FINIS 263 
 
 the church was received into Communion with the 
 ecclesiastical system established by Constantine, 
 and secularized through and through. 
 
 Then the Kingdom of Heaven ceased every 
 where on earth, and the last of the primitive 
 churches forsook Christ, and conformed unto the 
 world. 
 
 When shall His kingdom again come in very 
 truth upon the Earth ? 
 
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