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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Perpetua. A Tale of Nimes in A.D. 213 by
+Sabine Baring-Gould
+
+
+
+This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
+other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
+whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
+the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
+http://www.gutenberg.org/license. If you are not located in the United
+States, you'll have to check the laws of the country where you are located
+before using this ebook.
+
+
+
+Title: Perpetua. A Tale of Nimes in A.D. 213
+
+Author: Sabine Baring-Gould
+
+Release Date: December 31, 2014 [Ebook #47832]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO 8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERPETUA. A TALE OF NIMES IN A.D. 213***
+
+
+
+
+
+                                PERPETUA
+
+                      A TALE OF NIMES IN A.D. 213
+
+
+                                 BY THE
+                        REV. S. BARING-GOULD, M.A.
+
+
+
+
+NEW YORK
+E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
+31 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET
+1897
+
+
+
+
+
+                           COPYRIGHT, 1897, BY
+                          E. P. DUTTON & COMPANY
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 CONTENTS
+
+
+CHAPTER                                          PAGE
+     I.   EST                                       1
+    II.   ÆMILIUS                                  14
+   III.   BAUDILLAS, THE DEACON                    22
+    IV.   THE UTRICULARES                          33
+     V.   THE LAGOONS                              45
+    VI.   THE PASSAGE INTO LIFE                    57
+   VII.   OBLATIONS                                68
+  VIII.   THE VOICE AT MIDNIGHT                    81
+    IX.   STARS IN WATER                           93
+     X.   LOCUTUS EST!                            105
+    XI.   PALANQUINS                              117
+   XII.   REUS                                    128
+  XIII.   AD FINES                                140
+   XIV.   TO THE LOWEST DEPTH                     152
+    XV.   "REVEALED UNTO BABES"                   165
+   XVI.   DOUBTS AND DIFFICULTIES                 177
+  XVII.   PEDO                                    189
+ XVIII.   IN THE CITRON-HOUSE                     204
+   XIX.   MARCIANUS                               218
+    XX.   IN THE BASILICA                         230
+   XXI.   A MANUMISSION                           242
+  XXII.   THE ARENA                               256
+ XXIII.   THE CLOUD-BREAK                         270
+  XXIV.   CREDO                                   287
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                 PERPETUA
+
+                       A TALE OF NÎMES IN A.D. 213
+
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER I
+
+                                   EST
+
+
+The Kalends (first) of March.
+
+A brilliant day in the town of Nemausus--the modern Nîmes--in the Province
+of Gallia Narbonensis, that arrogated to itself the title of being _the_
+province, a title that has continued in use to the present day, as
+distinguishing the olive-growing, rose-producing, ruin-strewn portion of
+Southern France, whose fringe is kissed by the blue Mediterranean.
+
+Not a cloud in the nemophyla-blue sky. The sun streamed down, with a heat
+that was unabsorbed, and with rays unshorn by any intervenient vapor, as
+in our northern clime. Yet a cool air from the distant snowy Alps touched,
+as with the kiss of a vestal, every heated brow, and refreshed it.
+
+The Alps, though invisible from Nemausus, make themselves felt, now in
+refreshing breezes, then as raging icy blasts.
+
+The anemones were in bloom, and the roses were budding. Tulips spangled
+the vineyards, and under the olives and in the most arid soil, there
+appeared the grape hyacinth and the star of Bethlehem.
+
+At the back of the white city stands a rock, the extreme limit of a spur
+of the Cebennæ, forming an amphitheatre, the stones scrambled over by blue
+and white periwinkle, and the crags heavy with syringa and flowering
+thorns.
+
+In the midst of this circus of rock welled up a river of transparent
+bottle-green water, that filled a reservoir, in which circled white swans.
+
+On account of the incessant agitation of the water, that rose in bells,
+and broke in rhythmic waves against the containing breastwork, neither
+were the swans mirrored in the surface, nor did the white temple of
+Nemausus reflect its peristyle of channeled pillars in the green flood.
+
+This temple occupied one side of the basin; on the other, a little
+removed, were the baths, named after Augustus, to which some of the water
+was conducted, after it had passed beyond the precinct within which it was
+regarded as sacred.
+
+It would be hard to find a more beautiful scene, or see such a gay
+gathering as that assembled near the Holy Fountain on this first day of
+March.
+
+Hardly less white than the swans that dreamily swam in spirals, was the
+balustrade of limestone that surrounded the sheet of heaving water. At
+intervals on this breasting stood pedestals, each supporting a statue in
+Carrara marble. Here was Diana in buskins, holding a bow in her hand, in
+the attitude of running, her right hand turned to draw an arrow from the
+quiver at her back. There was the Gallic god Camulus, in harness, holding
+up a six-rayed wheel, all gilt, to signify the sun. There was a nymph
+pouring water from her urn; again appeared Diana contemplating her
+favorite flower, the white poppy.
+
+But in the place of honor, in the midst of the public walk before the
+fountain, surrounded by acacias and pink-blossomed Judas trees, stood the
+god Nemausus, who was at once the presiding deity over the fountain, and
+the reputed founder of the city. He was represented as a youth, of
+graceful form, almost feminine, and though he bore some military insignia,
+yet seemed too girl-like and timid to appear in war.
+
+The fountain had, in very truth, created the city. This marvelous upheaval
+of a limpid river out of the heart of the earth had early attracted
+settlers to it, who had built their rude cabins beside the stream and who
+paid to the fountain divine honors. Around it they set up a circle of rude
+stones, and called the place _Nemet_--that is to say, the Sacred Place.
+After a while came Greek settlers, and they introduced a new civilization
+and new ideas. They at once erected an image of the deity of the fountain,
+and called this deity Nemausios. The spring had been female to the Gaulish
+occupants of the settlement; it now became male, but in its aspect the
+deity still bore indications of feminine origin. Lastly the place became a
+Roman town. Now beautiful statuary had taken the place of the monoliths of
+unhewn stone that had at one time bounded the sacred spring.
+
+On this first day of March the inhabitants of Nemausus were congregated
+near the fountain, all in holiday costume.
+
+Among them ran and laughed numerous young girls, all with wreaths of white
+hyacinths or of narcissus on their heads, and their clear musical voices
+rang as bells in the fresh air.
+
+Yet, jocund as the scene was, to such as looked closer there was
+observable an under-current of alarm that found expression in the faces of
+the elder men and women of the throng, at least in those of such persons
+as had their daughters flower-crowned.
+
+Many a parent held the child with convulsive clasp, and the eyes of
+fathers and mothers alike followed their darlings with a greed, as though
+desirous of not losing one glimpse, not missing one word, of the little
+creature on whom so many kisses were bestowed, and in whom so much love
+was centered.
+
+For this day was specially dedicated to the founder and patron of the
+town, who supplied it with water from his unfailing urn, and once in every
+seven years on this day a human victim was offered in sacrifice to the god
+Nemausus, to ensure the continuance of his favor, by a constant efflux of
+water, pure, cool and salubrious.
+
+The victim was chosen from among the daughters of the old Gaulish families
+of the town, and the victim was selected from among girls between the ages
+of seven and seventeen. Seven times seven were bound to appear on this day
+before the sacred spring, clothed in white and crowned with spring
+flowers. None knew which would be chosen and which rejected. The selection
+was not made by either the priests or the priestesses attached to the
+temple. Nor was it made by the magistrates of Nemausus. No parent might
+redeem his child. Chance or destiny alone determined who was to be chosen
+out of the forty-nine who appeared before the god.
+
+Suddenly from the temple sounded a blast of horns, and immediately the
+peristyle (colonnade) filled with priests and priestesses in white, the
+former with wreaths of silvered olive leaves around their heads, the
+latter crowned with oak leaves of gold foil.
+
+The trumpeters descended the steps. The crowd fell back, and a procession
+advanced. First came players on the double flute, or syrinx, with red
+bands round their hair. Then followed dancing girls performing graceful
+movements about the silver image of the god that was borne on the
+shoulders of four maidens covered with spangled veils of the finest
+oriental texture. On both sides paced priests with brazen trumpets.
+
+Before and behind the image were boys bearing censers that diffused
+aromatic smoke, which rose and spread in all directions, wafted by the
+soft air that spun above the cold waters of the fountain.
+
+Behind the image and the dancing girls marched the priests and
+priestesses, singing alternately a hymn to the god.
+
+  "Hail, holy fountain, limpid and eternal,
+  Green as the sapphire, infinite, abundant,
+  Sweet, unpolluted, cold and clear as crystal,
+            Father Nemausus.
+
+  Hail, thou Archegos, founder of the city,
+  Crowned with oak leaves, cherishing the olive,
+  Grapes with thy water annually flushing,
+            Father Nemausus.
+
+  Thou to the thirsty givest cool refreshment,
+  Thou to the herdsman yieldeth yearly increase,
+  Thou from the harvest wardest off diseases,
+            Father Nemausus.
+
+  Seven are the hills on which old Rome is founded,
+  Seven are the hills engirdling thy fountain,
+  Seven are the planets set in heaven ruling,
+            Father Nemausus.
+
+  Thou, the perennial, lovest tender virgins,
+  Do thou accept the sacrifice we offer;
+  May thy selection be the best and fittest,
+            Father Nemausus."
+
+Then the priests and priestesses drew up in lines between the people and
+the fountain, and the ædile of the city, standing forth, read out from a
+roll the names of seven times seven maidens; and as each name was called,
+a white-robed, flower-crowned child fluttered from among the crowd and was
+received by the priestly band.
+
+When all forty-nine were gathered together, then they were formed into a
+ring, holding hands, and round this ring passed the bearers of the silver
+image.
+
+Now again rose the hymn:
+
+  "Hail, holy fountain, limpid and eternal,
+  Green as the sapphire, infinite, abundant,
+  Sweet, unpolluted, cold and clear as crystal,
+            Father Nemausus."
+
+And as the bearers carried the image round the circle, suddenly a golden
+apple held by the god, fell and touched a graceful girl who stood in the
+ring.
+
+"Come forth, Lucilla," said the chief priestess. "It is the will of the
+god that thou speak the words. Begin."
+
+Then the damsel loosed her hands from those she held, stepped into the
+midst of the circle and raised the golden pippin. At once the entire ring
+of children began to revolve, like a dance of white butterflies in early
+spring; and as they swung from right to left, the girl began to recite at
+a rapid pace a jingle of words in a Gallic dialect, that ran thus:
+
+      "One and two
+      Drops of dew,
+      Three and four
+      Shut the door."
+
+As she spoke she indicated a child at each numeral,
+
+      "Five and six
+      Pick up sticks,
+      Seven and eight
+      Thou must wait."
+
+Now there passed a thrill through the crowd, and the children whirled
+quicker.
+
+      "Nine and ten
+      Pass again.
+  Golden pippin, lo! I cast,
+  Thou, Alcmene, touched at last."
+
+At the word "last" she threw the apple and struck a girl, and at once left
+the ring, cast her coronet of narcissus into the fountain and ran into the
+crowd. With a gasp of relief she was caught in the arms of her mother, who
+held her to her heart, and sobbed with joy that her child was spared. For
+her, the risk was past, as she would be over age when the next septennial
+sacrifice came round.
+
+Now it was the turn of Alcmene.
+
+She held the ball, paused a moment, looking about her, and then, as the
+troop of children revolved, she rattled the rhyme, and threw the pippin at
+a damsel named Tertiola. Whereupon she in turn cast her garland, that was
+of white violets, into the fountain, and withdrew.
+
+Again the wreath of children circled and Tertiola repeated the jingle till
+she came to "Touched at last," when a girl named Ælia was selected, and
+came into the middle. This was a child of seven, who was shy and clung to
+her mother. The mother fondled her, and said, "My Ælia! Rejoice that thou
+art not the fated victim. The god has surrendered thee to me. Be speedy
+with the verse, and I will give thee _crustulæ_ that are in my basket."
+
+So encouraged, the frightened child rattled out some lines, then halted;
+her memory had failed, and she had to be reminded of the rest. At last she
+also was free, ran to her mother's bosom and was comforted with cakes.
+
+A young man with folded arms stood lounging near the great basin. He
+occasionally addressed a shorter man, a client apparently, from his
+cringing manner and the set smile he wore when addressing or addressed by
+the other.
+
+"By Hercules!" said the first. "Or let me rather swear by Venus and her
+wayward son, the Bow-bearer, that is a handsome girl yonder, she who is
+the tallest, and methinks the eldest of all. What is her name, my
+Callipodius?"
+
+"She that looks so scared, O supremity of excellent youths, Æmilius
+Lentulus Varo! I believe that she is the daughter and only child of the
+widow Quincta, who lost her husband two years ago, and has refused
+marriage since. They whisper strange things concerning her."
+
+"What things, thou tittle-tattle bearer?"
+
+"Nay, I bear but what is desired of me. Didst thou not inquire of me who
+the maiden was? I have a mind to make no answer. But who can deny anything
+to thee?"
+
+"By the genius of Augustus," exclaimed the patron, "thou makest me turn
+away my head at thy unctuous flattery. The peasants do all their cooking
+in oil, and when their meals be set on the table the appetite is taken
+away, there is too much oil. It is so with thy conversation. Come, thy
+news."
+
+"I speak but what I feel. But see how the circle is shrunk. As to the
+scandal thou wouldst hear, it is this. The report goes that the widow and
+her daughter are infected with a foreign superstition, and worship an
+ass's head."
+
+"An ass's head hast thou to hold and repeat such lies. Look at the virgin.
+Didst ever see one more modest, one who more bears the stamp of sound
+reason and of virtue on her brow. The next thou wilt say is----"
+
+"That these Christians devour young children."
+
+"This is slander, not scandal. By Jupiter Camulus! the circle is reduced
+to four, and she, that fair maid, is still in it. There is Quinctilla, the
+daughter of Largus; look at him, how he eyes her with agony in his face!
+There is Vestilia Patercola. I would to the gods that the fair--what is her
+name?"
+
+"Perpetua, daughter of Aulus Har----"
+
+"Ah!" interrupted the patron, uneasily. "Quinctilla is out."
+
+"Her father, Aulus Harpinius----"
+
+"See, see!" again burst in the youth Æmilius, "there are but two left;
+that little brown girl, and she whom thou namest----"
+
+"Perpetua."
+
+Now arrived the supreme moment--that of the final selection. The choosing
+girl, in whose hand was the apple, stood before those who alone remained.
+She began:
+
+      "One, two
+      Drops of dew."
+
+Although there was so vast a concourse present, not a sound could be
+heard, save the voice of the girl repeating the jingle, and the rush of
+the holy water over the weir. Every breath was held.
+
+      "Nine and ten,
+      Pass again.
+  Golden pippin, now I cast,
+  Thou, Portumna, touched at last."
+
+At once the brown girl skipped to the basin, cast in her garland, and the
+high priestess, raising her hand, stepped forward, pointed to Perpetua,
+and cried, "Est."
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER II
+
+                                 ÆMILIUS
+
+
+When the lot had fallen, then a cry rang from among the spectators, and a
+woman, wearing the white cloak of widowhood, would have fallen, had she
+not been caught and sustained by a man in a brown tunic and _lacerna_
+(short cloak).
+
+"Be not overcome, lady," said this man in a low tone. "What thou losest is
+lent to the Lord."
+
+"Baudillas," sobbed the woman, "she is my only child, and is to be
+sacrificed to devils."
+
+"The devil hath no part in her. She is the Lord's, and the Lord will
+preserve His own."
+
+"Will He give her back to me? Will He deliver her from the hands of His
+enemies?"
+
+"The Lord is mighty even to do this. But I say not that it will be done as
+thou desirest. Put thy trust in Him. Did Abraham withhold his son, his
+only son, when God demanded him?"
+
+"But this is not God, it is Nemausus."
+
+"Nemausus is naught but a creature, a fountain, fed by God's rains. It is
+the Lord's doing that the lot has fallen thus. It is done to try thy
+faith, as of old the faith of Abraham was tried."
+
+The poor mother clasped her arms, and buried her head in them.
+
+Then the girl thrust aside such as interposed and essayed to reach her
+mother. The priestesses laid hands on her, to stay her, but she said:
+
+"Suffer me to kiss my mother, and to comfort her. Do not doubt that I will
+preserve a smiling countenance."
+
+"I cannot permit it," said the high priestess. "There will be resistance
+and tears."
+
+"And therefore," said the girl, "you put drops of oil or water into the
+ears of oxen brought to the altars, that they may nod their heads, and so
+seem to express consent. Let me console my mother, so shall I be able to
+go gladly to death. Otherwise I may weep, and thereby mar thy sacrifice."
+
+Then, with firmness, she thrust through the belt of priestesses, and
+clasped the almost fainting and despairing mother to her heart.
+
+"Be of good courage," she said. "Be like unto Felicitas, who sent her
+sons, one by one, to receive the crown, and who--blessed mother that she
+was--encouraged them in their torments to play the man for Christ."
+
+"But thou art my only child."
+
+"And she offered them all to God."
+
+"I am a widow, and alone."
+
+"And such was she."
+
+Then said the brown-habited man whom the lady had called Baudillas:
+
+"Quincta, remember that she is taken from an evil world, in which are
+snares, and that God may have chosen to deliver her by this means from
+some great peril to her soul, against which thou wouldst have been
+powerless to protect her."
+
+"I cannot bear it," gasped the heart-broken woman. "I have lived only for
+her. She is my all."
+
+Then Perpetua gently unclasped the arms of her mother, who was lapsing
+into unconsciousness, kissed her, and said:
+
+"The God of all strength and comfort be to thee a strong tower of
+defence." And hastily returned to the basin.
+
+The young man who before had noticed Perpetua, turned with quivering lip
+to his companion, and said:
+
+"I would forswear Nemausus--that he should exact such a price. Look at her
+face, Callipodius. Is it the sun that lightens it? By Hercules, I could
+swear that it streamed with effulgence from within--as though she were one
+of the gods."
+
+"The more beautiful and innocent she be, the more grateful is she to the
+august Archegos!"
+
+"Pshaw!" scoffed the young man; his hand clutched the marble balustrade
+convulsively, and the blood suffused his brow and cheeks and throat. "I
+believe naught concerning these deities. My father was a shrewd man, and
+he ever said that the ignorant people created their own gods out of
+heroes, or the things of Nature, which they understood not, being beasts."
+
+"But tell me, Æmilius--and thou art a profundity of wisdom, unsounded as is
+this spring--what is this Nemausus?"
+
+"The fountain."
+
+"And how comes the fountain to ever heave with water, and never to fail.
+Verily it lives. See--it is as a thing that hath life and movement. If not
+a deity, then what is it?"
+
+"Nay--I cannot say. But it is subject to destiny."
+
+"In what way?"
+
+"Ruled to flow."
+
+"But who imposed the rule?"
+
+"Silence! I can think of naught save the innocent virgin thus sacrificed
+to besotted ignorance."
+
+"Thou canst not prevent it. Therefore look on, as at a show."
+
+"I cannot prevent it. I marvel at the magistrates--that they endure it.
+They would not do so were it to touch at all those of the upper town.
+Besides, did not the god Claudius----"
+
+"They are binding her."
+
+"She refuses to be bound."
+
+Shrieks now rang from the frantic mother, and she made desperate efforts
+to reach her daughter. She was deaf to the consolations of Baudillas, and
+to the remonstrances and entreaties of the people around her, who pitied
+and yet could not help her. Then said the ædile to his police, "Remove the
+woman!"
+
+The chief priest made a sign, and at once the trumpeters began to bray
+through their brazen tubes, making such a noise as to drown the cries of
+the mother.
+
+"I would to the gods I could save her," said Æmilius between his teeth. He
+clenched his hands, and his eyes flashed. Then, without well knowing what
+he did, he unloosed his toga, at the same time that the priestesses
+divested Perpetua of her girded stole, and revealed her graceful young
+form in the tunic bordered with purple indicative of the nobility of the
+house to which she belonged.
+
+The priest had bound her hands; but Perpetua smiled, and shook off the
+bonds at her feet. "Let be," she said, "I shall not resist."
+
+On her head she still wore a crown of white narcissus. Not more fresh and
+pure were these flowers than her delicate face, which the blood had left.
+Ever and anon she turned her eyes in the direction of her mother, but she
+could no longer see her, as the attendants formed a ring so compact that
+none could break through.
+
+"Elect of the god, bride of Nemausus!" said the chief priestess, "ascend
+the balustrade of the holy perennial fountain."
+
+Without shrinking, the girl obeyed.
+
+She fixed her eyes steadily on the sky, and then made the sacred sign on
+her brow.
+
+"What doest thou?" asked the priestess. "Some witchcraft I trow."
+
+"No witchcraft, indeed," answered the girl. "I do but invoke the Father of
+Lights with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning."
+
+"Ah, Apollo!--he is not so great a god as our Nemausus."
+
+Then at a sign, the trumpeters blew a furious bellow and as suddenly
+ceased. Whereupon to the strains of flutes and the tinkling of triangles,
+the choir broke forth into the last verse of the hymn:
+
+  "Thou, the perennial, loving tender virgins,
+  Do thou accept the sacrifice we offer;
+  May thy selection be the best and fittest,
+            Father Nemausus."
+
+As they chanted, and a cloud of incense mounted around her, Perpetua
+looked down into the water. It was green as glacier ice, and so full of
+bubbles in places as to be there semi-opaque. The depth seemed infinite.
+No bottom was visible. No fish darted through it. An immense volume boiled
+up unceasingly from unknown, unfathomed depths. The wavelets lapped the
+marble breasting as though licking it with greed expecting their victim.
+
+The water, after brimming the basin, flowed away over a sluice under a
+bridge as a considerable stream. Then it lost its sanctity and was
+employed for profane uses.
+
+Perpetua heard the song of the ministers of the god, but gave no heed to
+it, for her lips moved in prayer, and her soul was already unfurling its
+pure wings to soar into that Presence before which, as she surely
+expected, she was about to appear.
+
+When the chorus had reached the line:
+
+  "May thy selection be the best and fittest,
+            Father Nemausus!"
+
+then she was thrust by three priestesses from the balustrade and
+precipitated into the basin. She uttered no cry, but from all present a
+gasp of breath was audible.
+
+For a moment she disappeared in the vitreous waters, and her white garland
+alone remained floating on the surface.
+
+Then her dress glimmered, next her arm, as the surging spring threw her
+up.
+
+Suddenly from the entire concourse rose a cry of astonishment and dismay.
+
+The young man, Æmilius Lentulus Varo, had leaped into the holy basin.
+
+Why had he so leaped? Why?
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER III
+
+                          BAUDILLAS, THE DEACON
+
+
+The chain of priests and priestesses could not restrain the mob, that
+thrust forward to the great basin, to see the result.
+
+Exclamations of every description rose from the throng.
+
+"He fell in!"
+
+"Nay, he cast himself in. The god will withdraw the holy waters. It was
+impious. The fountain is polluted."
+
+"Was it not defiled when a dead tom-cat was found in it? Yet the fountain
+ceased not to flow."
+
+"The maiden floats!"
+
+"Why should the god pick out the handsomest girl? His blood is ice-cold.
+She is not a morsel for him," scoffed a red-faced senator.
+
+"He rises! He is swimming."
+
+"He has grappled the damsel."
+
+"He is striking out! Bene! Bene!"
+
+"Encourage not the sacrilegious one! Thou makest thyself partaker in his
+impiety!"
+
+"What will the magistrates do?"
+
+"Do! Coil up like wood-lice, and uncurl only when all is forgotten."
+
+"He is a Christian."
+
+"His father was a philosopher. He swears by the gods."
+
+"He is an atheist."
+
+"See! See! He is sustaining her head."
+
+"She is not dead; she gasps."
+
+"Body of Bacchus! how the water boils. The god is wroth."
+
+"Bah! It boils no more now than it did yesterday."
+
+In the ice-green water could be seen the young man with nervous arms
+striking out. He held up the girl with one arm. The swell of the rising
+volumes of water greatly facilitated his efforts. Indeed the upsurging
+flood had such force, that to die by drowning in it was a death by inches,
+for as often as a body went beneath the surface, it was again propelled
+upwards.
+
+In a minute he was at the breastwork, had one hand on it, then called:
+"Help, some one, to lift her out!"
+
+Thereupon the man clothed in brown wool put down his arms, clasped the
+half-conscious girl and raised her from the water. Callipodius assisted,
+and between them she was lifted out of the basin. The priests and
+priestesses remonstrated with loud cries. But some of the spectators
+cheered. A considerable portion of the men ranged themselves beside the
+two who had the girl in their arms, and prevented the ministers of
+Nemausus from recovering Perpetua from the hands of her rescuers.
+
+The men of the upper town--Greek colonists, or their descendants--looked
+superciliously and incredulously on the cult of the Gallic deity of the
+fountain. It was tolerated, but laughed at, as something that belonged to
+a class of citizens that was below them in standing.
+
+In another moment Æmilius Lentulus had thrown himself upon the balustrade,
+and stood facing the crowd, dripping from every limb, but with a laughing
+countenance.
+
+Seeing that the mob was swayed by differing currents of feeling and
+opinion, knowing the people with whom he had to do, he stooped, whispered
+something into the ear of Callipodius; then, folding his arms, he looked
+smilingly around at the tossing crowd, and no sooner did he see his
+opportunity than, unclasping his arms, he assumed the attitude of an
+orator, and cried:
+
+"Men and brethren of the good city of Nemausus! I marvel at ye, that ye
+dare to set at naught the laws of imperial and eternal Rome. Are ye not
+aware that the god Claudius issued an edict with special application to
+Gaul, that forever forbade human sacrifices? Has that edict been
+withdrawn? I have myself seen and read it graven in brass on the steps of
+the Capitoline Hill at Rome. So long as that law stands unrepealed ye are
+transgressors."
+
+"The edict has fallen into desuetude, and desuetude abrogates a law!"
+called one man.
+
+"Is it so? How many have suffered under Nero, under Caius, because they
+transgressed laws long forgotten? Let some one inform against the
+priesthood of Nemausus and carry the case to Rome."
+
+A stillness fell on the assembly. The priests looked at one another.
+
+"But see!" continued Æmilius, "I call you to witness this day. The god
+himself rejects such illegal offerings. Did you not perceive how he
+spurned the virgin from him when ye did impiously cast her into his holy
+urn? Does he not sustain life with his waters, and not destroy it? Had he
+desired the sacrifice then would he have gulped it down, and you would
+have seen the maiden no more. Not so! He rejected her; with his watery
+arms he repelled her. Every crystal wave he cast up was a rejection. I saw
+it, and I leaped in to deliver the god from the mortal flesh that he
+refused. I appeal to you all again. To whom did the silver image cast the
+apple? Was it to the maiden destined to die? Nay, verily, it was to her
+who was to live. The golden pippin was a fruit of life, whereby he
+designated such as he willed to live. Therefore, I say that the god loveth
+life and not death. Friends and citizens of Nemausus, ye have transgressed
+the law, and ye have violated the will of the divine Archegos who founded
+our city and by whose largess of water we live."
+
+Then one in the crowd shouted: "There is a virgin cast yearly from the
+bridge over the Rhodanus at Avenio."
+
+"Aye! and much doth that advantage the bridge and the city. Did not the
+floods last November carry away an arch and inundate an entire quarter of
+the town? Was the divine river forgetful that he had received his
+obligation, or was he ungrateful for the favor? Naught that is godlike can
+be either."
+
+"He demanded another life."
+
+"Nay! He was indignant that the fools of Avenio should continue to treat
+him as though he were a wild beast that had to be glutted, and not as a
+god. All you parents that fear for your children! Some of you have already
+lost your daughters, and have trembled for them; combine, and with one
+voice proclaim that you will no more suffer this. Look to the urn of the
+divine Nemausus. See how evenly the ripples run. Dip your fingers in the
+water and feel how passionless it is. Has he blown forth a blast of
+seething water and steam like the hot springs of Aquæ Sextiæ? Has his
+fountain clouded with anger? Was the god powerless to avenge the act when
+I plunged in? If he had desired the death of the maiden would he have
+suffered me, a mortal, to pluck her from his gelid lips? Make room on
+Olympus, O ye gods, and prepare a throne for Common Sense, and let her
+have domain over the minds of men."
+
+"There is no such god," called one in the crowd.
+
+"Ye know her not, so besotted are ye."
+
+"He blasphemes, he mocks the holy and immortal ones."
+
+"It is ye who mock them when ye make of them as great clowns as
+yourselves. The true eternal gods laugh to hear me speak the truth. Look
+at the sun. Look at the water, with its many twinkling smiles. The gods
+approve."
+
+Whilst the young man thus harangued and amused the populace, Baudillas and
+Quincta, assisted by two female slaves of the latter, removed the
+drenched, dripping, and half-drowned girl. They bore her with the utmost
+dispatch out of the crowd down a sidewalk of the city gardens to a bench,
+on which they laid her, till she had sufficiently recovered to open her
+eyes and recognize those who surrounded her.
+
+Then said the widow to one of the servants: "Run, Petronella, and bid the
+steward send porters with a litter. We must convey Perpetua as speedily as
+possible from hence, lest there be a riot, and the ministers of the devil
+stir up the people to insist upon again casting her into the water."
+
+"By your leave, lady," said Baudillas, "I would advise that, at first, she
+should not be conveyed to your house, but to mine. It is probable, should
+that happen which you fear, that the populace may make a rush to your
+dwelling, in their attempt to get hold of the lady, your daughter. It were
+well that she remained for a while concealed in my house. Send for the
+porters to bring the litter later, when falls the night."
+
+"You are right," said Quincta. "It shall be so."
+
+"As in the Acts of the Blessed Apostles it is related that the craftsmen
+who lived by making silver shrines for Diana stirred up the people of
+Ephesus, so may it be now. There are many who get their living by the old
+religion, many whose position and influence depend on its maintenance, and
+such will not lightly allow a slight to be cast on their superstitions
+like as has been offered this day. But by evenfall we shall know the humor
+of the people. Young lady, lean on my arm and let me conduct thee to my
+lodging. Thou canst there abide till it is safe for thee to depart."
+
+Then the brown-habited man took the maiden's arm.
+
+Baudillas was a deacon of the Church in Nemausus--a man somewhat advanced
+in life. His humility, and, perhaps, also his lack of scholarship,
+prevented his aspiring to a higher office; moreover, he was an admirable
+minister of the Church as deacon, at a period when the office was mainly
+one of keeping the registers of the sick and poor, and of distributing
+alms among such as were in need.
+
+The deacon was the treasurer of the Church, and he was a man selected for
+his business habits and practical turn of mind. By his office he was more
+concerned with the material than the spiritual distresses of men.
+Nevertheless, he was of the utmost value to the bishops and presbyters,
+for he was their feeler, groping among the poorest, entering into the
+worst haunts of misery and vice, quick to detect tokens of desire for
+better things, and ready to make use of every opening for giving
+rudimentary instruction.
+
+Those who occupied the higher grades in the Church, even at this early
+period, were, for the most part, selected from the cultured and noble
+classes; not that the Church had respect of persons, but because of the
+need there was of possessing men who could penetrate into the best houses,
+and who, being related to the governing classes, might influence the upper
+strata of society, as well as that which was below. The great houses with
+their families of slaves in the city, and of servile laborers on their
+estates, possessed vast influence for good or evil. A believing master
+could flood a whole population that depended on him with light, and was
+certain to treat his slaves with Christian humanity. On the other hand, it
+occasionally happened that it was through a poor slave that the truth
+reached the heart of a master or mistress.
+
+Baudillas led the girl, now shivering with cold, from the garden, and
+speedily reached a narrow street. Here the houses on each side were lofty,
+unadorned, and had windows only in the upper stories, arched with brick
+and unglazed. In cold weather they were closed with shutters.
+
+The pavement of the street was of cobble-stones and rough. No one was
+visible; no sound issued from the houses, save only from one whence came
+the rattle of a loom; and a dog chained at a door barked furiously as the
+little party went by.
+
+"This is the house," said Baudillas, and he struck against a door.
+
+After some waiting a bar was withdrawn within, and the door, that
+consisted of two valves, was opened by an old, slightly lame slave.
+
+"Pedo," said the deacon, "has all been well?"
+
+"All is well, master," answered the man.
+
+"Enter, ladies," said Baudillas. "My house is humble and out of repair,
+but it was once notable. Enter and rest you awhile. I will bid Pedo search
+for a change of garments for Perpetua."
+
+"Hark," exclaimed Quincta, "I hear a sound like the roar of the sea."
+
+"It is the voice of the people. It is a roar like that for blood, that
+goes up from the amphitheater."
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER IV
+
+                             THE UTRICULARES
+
+
+The singular transformation that had taken place in the presiding deity of
+the fountain, from being a nymph into a male god, had not been
+sufficiently complete to alter the worship of the deity. As in the days of
+Druidism, the sacred source was under the charge of priestesses, and
+although, with the change of sex of the deity, priests had been appointed
+to the temple, yet they were few, and occupied a position of subordination
+to the chief priestess. She was a woman of sagacity and knowledge of human
+nature. She perceived immediately how critical was the situation. If
+Æmilius Lentulus were allowed to proceed with his speech he would draw to
+him the excitable Southern minds, and it was quite possible might provoke
+a tumult in which the temple would be wrecked. At the least, his words
+would serve to chill popular devotion.
+
+The period when Christianity began to radiate through the Roman world was
+one when the traditional paganism with its associated rights, that had
+contented a simpler age, had lost its hold on the thoughtful and cultured.
+Those who were esteemed the leaders of society mocked at religion, and
+although they conformed to its ceremonial, did so with ill-disguised
+contempt. At their tables, before their slaves, they laughed at the sacred
+myths related of the gods, as absurd and indecent, and the slaves thought
+it became them to affect the same incredulity as their masters. Sober
+thinkers endeavored to save some form of religion by explaining away the
+monstrous legends, and attributing them to the wayward imagination of
+poets. The existence of the gods they admitted, but argued that the gods
+were the unintelligent and blind forces of nature; or that, if rational,
+they stood apart in cold exclusiveness and cared naught for mankind. Many
+threw themselves into a position of agnosticism. They professed to believe
+in nothing but what their senses assured them did exist, and asserted that
+as there was no evidence to warrant them in declaring that there were
+gods, they could not believe in them; that moreover, as there was no
+revelation of a moral law, there existed no distinction between right and
+wrong. Therefore, the only workable maxim on which to rule life was: "Let
+us eat and drink, for to-morrow we may die."
+
+Over all men hung the threatening cloud of death. All must undergo the
+waning of the vital powers, the failure of health, the withering of
+beauty, the loss of appetite for the pleasure of life, or if not the loss
+of appetite, at least the faculty for enjoyment.
+
+There was no shaking off the oppressive burden, no escape from the
+gathering shadow. Yet, just as those on the edge of a precipice throw
+themselves over, through giddiness, so did men rush on self-destruction in
+startling numbers and with levity, because weary of life, and these were
+precisely such as had enjoyed wealth to the full and had run through the
+whole gamut of pleasures.
+
+What happened after death? Was there any continuance of existence?
+
+Men craved to know. They felt that life was too brief altogether for the
+satisfaction of the aspirations of their souls. They ran from one pleasure
+to another without filling the void within.
+
+Consequently, having lost faith in the traditional religion--it was not a
+creed--itself a composite out of some Latin, some Etruscan, and some Greek
+myth and cult, they looked elsewhere for what they required. Consciences,
+agonized by remorse, sought expiation in secret mysteries, only to find
+that they afforded no relief at all. Minds craving after faith plunged
+into philosophic speculations that led to nothing but unsolved eternal
+query. Souls hungering, thirsting after God the Ideal of all that is Holy
+and pure and lovable, adopted the strange religions imported from the East
+and South; some became votaries of the Egyptian Isis and Serapis, others
+of the Persian Mithras--all to find that they had pursued bubbles.
+
+In the midst of this general disturbance of old ideas, in the midst of a
+widespread despair, Christianity flashed forth and offered what was
+desired by the earnest, the thoughtful, the down-trodden and the
+conscience-stricken--a revelation made by the Father of Spirits as to what
+is the destiny of man, what is the law of right and wrong, what is in
+store for those who obey the law; how also pardon might be obtained for
+transgression, and grace to restore fallen humanity.
+
+Christianity meeting a wide-felt want spread rapidly, not only among the
+poor and oppressed, but extensively among the cultured and the noble. All
+connected by interest, or prejudiced by association with the dominant and
+established paganism, were uneasy and alarmed. The traditional religion
+was honeycombed and tottering to its fall, and how it was to be revived
+they knew not. That it would be supplanted by the new faith in Christ was
+what they feared.
+
+The chief priestess of Nemausus knew that in the then condition of minds
+an act of overt defiance might lead to a very general apostasy. It was to
+her of sovereign importance to arrest the movement at once, to silence
+Æmilius, to have him punished for his act of sacrilege, and to recover
+possession of Perpetua.
+
+She snatched the golden apple from the hand of the image, and, giving it
+to an attendant, said: "Run everywhere; touch and summon the Cultores
+Nemausi."
+
+The girl did as commanded. She sped among the crowd, and, with the pippin,
+touched one, then another, calling: "Worshippers of Nemausus, to the aid
+of the god!"
+
+The result was manifest at once. It was as though an electrical shock had
+passed through the multitude. Those touched and those who had heard the
+summons at once disengaged themselves from the crush, drew together, and
+ceased to express their individual opinions. Indeed, such as had
+previously applauded the sentiments of Æmilius, now assumed an attitude of
+disapprobation.
+
+Rapidly men rallied about the white-robed priestesses, who surrounded the
+silver image.
+
+To understand what was taking place it is necessary that a few words
+should be given in explanation.
+
+The Roman population of the towns--not in Italy only, but in all the
+Romanized provinces, banded itself in colleges or societies very much like
+our benefit clubs. Those guilds were very generally under the invocation
+of some god or goddess, and those who belonged to them were entitled
+"Cultores" or worshippers of such or such a deity. These clubs had their
+secretaries and treasurers, their places of meeting, their common chests,
+their feasts, and their several constitutions. Each society made provision
+for its members in time of sickness, and furnished a dignified funeral in
+the club Columbarium, after which all sat down to a funeral banquet in the
+supper room attached to the cemetery. These colleges or guilds enjoyed
+great privileges, and were protected by the law.
+
+At a time when a political career was closed to all but such as belonged
+to the governing class, the affairs of these clubs engrossed the attention
+of the members and evoked great rivalry and controversies. One admirable
+effect of the clubs was the development of a spirit of fellowship among
+the members, and another was that it tended in a measure to break down
+class exclusiveness. Men of rank and wealth, aware of the power exercised
+by these guilds, eagerly accepted the offices of patron to them, though
+the clubs might be those of cord-wainers, armorers or sailmakers. And
+those who were ordinary members of a guild regarded their patrons with
+affection and loyalty. Now that the signal had been sent round to rally
+the Cultores Nemausi, every member forgot his private feeling, sank his
+individual opinion, and fell into rank with his fellows, united in one
+common object--the maintenance by every available man, and at every
+sacrifice, of the respect due to the god.
+
+These Cultores Nemausi at once formed into organized bodies under their
+several officers, in face of a confused crowd that drifted hither and
+thither without purpose and without cohesion.
+
+Æmilius found himself no longer hearkened to. To him this was a matter of
+no concern. He had sought to engage attention only so as to withdraw it
+from Perpetua and leave opportunity for her friends to remove her.
+
+Now that this object was attained, he laughingly leaped from the
+balustrade and made as though he was about to return home.
+
+But at once the chief priestess saw his object, and cried: "Seize him! He
+blasphemes the god, founder of the city. He would destroy the college. Let
+him be conveyed into the temple, that the Holy One may there deal with him
+as he wills."
+
+The Prefect of Police, whose duty it was to keep order, now advanced with
+the few men he had deemed necessary to bring with him, and he said in
+peremptory tone:
+
+"We can suffer no violence. If he has transgressed the law, let him be
+impeached."
+
+"Sir," answered the priestess, "we will use no violence. He has insulted
+the majesty of the god. He has snatched from him his destined and devoted
+victim. Yet we meditate no severe reprisals. All I seek is that he may be
+brought into the presence of the god in the adytum, where is a table
+spread with cakes. Let him there sprinkle incense on the fire and eat of
+the cakes. Then he shall go free. If the god be wroth, he will manifest
+his indignation. But if, as I doubt not, he be placable, then shall this
+man depart unmolested."
+
+"Against this I have naught to advance," said the prefect.
+
+But one standing by whispered him: "Those cakes are not to be trusted. I
+have heard of one who ate and fell down in convulsions after eating."
+
+"That is a matter between the god and Æmilius Varo. I have done my duty."
+
+Then the confraternity of the Cultores Nemausi spread itself so as to
+encircle the place and include Æmilius, barring every passage. He might,
+doubtless, have escaped had he taken to his heels at the first summons of
+the club to congregate, but he had desired to occupy the attention of the
+people as long as possible, and it did not comport with his self-respect
+to run from danger.
+
+Throwing over him the toga which he had cast aside when he leaped into the
+pond, he thrust one hand into his bosom and leisurely strode through the
+crowd, waving them aside with the other hand, till he stopped by the
+living barrier of the worshippers of Nemausus.
+
+"You cannot pass, sir," said the captain of that party which intercepted
+his exit. "The chief priestess hath ordered that thou appear before the
+god in his cella and then do worship and submit thyself to his will."
+
+"And how is that will to be declared?" asked the young man, jestingly.
+
+"Sir! thou must eat one of the dedicated placenta."
+
+"I have heard of these same cakes and have no stomach for them."
+
+"Nevertheless eat thou must."
+
+"What if I will not?"
+
+"Then constraint will be used. The prefect has given his consent. Who is
+to deliver thee?"
+
+"Who! Here come my deliverers!"
+
+A tramp of feet was audible.
+
+Instantly Æmilius ran back to the balustrade, leaped upon it, and, waving
+his arm, shouted:
+
+"To my aid, Utriculares! But use no violence."
+
+Instantly with a shout a dense body of men that had rolled into the
+gardens dashed itself against the ring of Cultores Nemausi. They
+brandished marlin spikes and oars to which were attached inflated goat-
+skins and bladders. These they whirled around their heads and with them
+they smote to the left and to the right. The distended skins clashed
+against such as stood in opposition, and sent them reeling backward;
+whereat the lusty men wielding the wind-bags thrust their way as a wedge
+through their ranks. The worshippers of Nemausus swore, screamed,
+remonstrated, but were unable to withstand the onslaught. They were beaten
+back and dispersed by the whirling bladders.
+
+The general mob roared with laughter and cheered the boatmen who formed
+the attacking party. Cries of "Well done, Utriculares! That is a fine
+delivery, Wind-bag-men! Ha, ha! A hundred to five on the Utriculares! You
+are come in the nick of time, afore your patron was made to nibble the
+poisoned cakes."
+
+The men armed with air-distended skins did harm to none. Their weapons
+were calculated to alarm and not to injure. To be banged in the face with
+a bladder was almost as disconcerting as to be smitten with a cudgel, but
+it left no bruise, it broke no bone, and the man sent staggering by a
+wind-bag was received in the arms of those in rear with jibe or laugh and
+elicited no compassion.
+
+The Utriculares speedily reached Æmilius, gave vent to a cheer; they
+lifted him on their shoulders, and, swinging the inflated skins and
+shouting, marched off, out of the gardens, through the Forum, down the
+main street of the lower town unmolested, under the conduct of
+Callipodius.
+
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER V
+
+                               THE LAGOONS
+
+
+The men who carried and surrounded Æmilius proceeded in rapid march,
+chanting a rhythmic song, through the town till they emerged on a sort of
+quay beside a wide-spreading shallow lagoon. Here were moored numerous
+rafts.
+
+"Now, sir," said one of the men, as Æmilius leaped to the ground, "if you
+will take my advice, you will allow us to convey you at once to Arelate.
+This is hardly a safe place for you at present."
+
+"I must thank you all, my gallant fellows, for your timely aid. But for
+you I should have been forced to eat of the dedicated cakes, and such as
+are out of favor with the god--or, rather, with the priesthood that lives
+by him, as cockroaches and black beetles by the baker--such are liable to
+get stomach aches, which same stomach aches convey into the land where are
+no aches and pains. I thank you all."
+
+"Nay, sir, we did our duty. Are not you patron of the Utriculares?"
+
+"I am your patron assuredly, as you did me the honor to elect me. If I
+have lacked zeal to do you service in time past, henceforward be well
+assured I will devote my best energies to your cause."
+
+"We are beholden to you, sir."
+
+"I to you--the rather."
+
+Perhaps the reader will desire to understand who the wind-bag men were who
+had hurried to the rescue of Æmilius. For the comprehension of this
+particular, something must be said relative to the physical character of
+the country.
+
+The mighty Rhône that receives the melted snows of the southern slope of
+the Bernese Oberland and the northern incline of the opposed Pennine Alps
+receives also the drain of the western side of the Jura, as well as that
+of the Graian and Cottian Alps. The Durance pours in its auxiliary flood
+below Avignon.
+
+After a rapid thaw of snow, or the breaking of charged rain clouds on the
+mountains, these rivers increase in volume, and as the banks of the Rhône
+below the junction of the Durance and St. Raphael are low, it overflows
+and spreads through the flat alluvial delta. It would be more exact to say
+that it was wont to overflow, rather than that it does so now. For at
+present, owing to the embankments thrown up and maintained at enormous
+cost, the Rhône can only occasionally submerge the low-lying land, whereas
+anciently such floods were periodical and as surely expected as those of
+the Nile.
+
+The overflowing Rhône formed a vast region of lagoons that extended from
+Tarascon and Beaucaire to the Gulf of Lyons, and spread laterally over the
+Crau on one side to Nîmes on the other. Nîmes itself stood on its own
+river, the Vistre, but this fed marshes and "broads" that were connected
+with the tangle of lagoons formed by the Rhône.
+
+Arelate, the great emporium of the trade between Gaul and Italy, occupied
+a rocky islet in the midst of water that extended as far as the eye could
+reach. This tract of submerged land was some sixty miles in breadth by
+forty in depth, was sown with islets of more or less elevation and extent.
+Some were bold, rocky eminences, others were mere rubble and sand-banks
+formed by the river. Arelate or Arles was accessible by vessels up and
+down the river or by rafts that plied the lagoons, and by the canal
+constructed by Marius, that traversed them from Fossoe Marino. As the
+canal was not deep, and as the current of the river was strong, ships were
+often unable to ascend to the city through these arteries, and had to
+discharge their merchandise on the coast upon rafts that conveyed it to
+the great town, and when the floods permitted, carried much to Nemausus.
+
+As the sheets of water were in places and at periods shallow, the rafts
+were made buoyant, though heavily laden, by means of inflated skins and
+bladders placed beneath them.
+
+As the conveyance of merchandise engaged a prodigious number of persons,
+the raftsmen had organized themselves into the guild of Utriculares, or
+Wind-bag men, and as they became not infrequently involved in contests
+with those whose interests they crossed, and on whose privileges they
+infringed, they enlisted the aid of lawyers to act as their patrons, to
+bully their enemies, and to fight their battles against assailants. Among
+the numerous classic monumental inscriptions that remain in Provence,
+there are many in which a man of position is proud to have it recorded
+that he was an honorary member of the club of the inflated-skin men.
+
+Nemausus owed much of its prosperity to the fact that it was the trade
+center for wool and for skins. The Cevennes and the great limestone
+plateaux that abut upon them nourished countless herds of goats and flocks
+of sheep, and the dress of everyone at the period being of wool the demand
+for fleeces was great; consequently vast quantities of wool were brought
+from the mountains of Nîmes, whence it was floated away on rafts sustained
+by the skins that came from the same quarter.
+
+The archipelago that studded the fresh-water sea was inhabited by
+fishermen, and these engaged in the raft-carriage. The district presented
+a singular contrast of high culture and barbarism. In Arles, Nîmes,
+Narbonne there was a Greek element. There was here and there an infusion
+of Phoenician blood. The main body of the people consisted of the dusky
+Ligurians, who had almost entirely lost their language, and had adopted
+that of their Gaulish conquerors, the Volex. These latter were
+distinguished by their fair hair, their clear complexions, their stalwart
+frames. Another element in the composite mass was that of the colonists.
+After the battle of Actium, Augustus had rewarded his Egypto-Greek
+auxiliaries by planting them at Nemausus, and giving them half the estates
+of the Gaulish nobility. To these Greeks were added Roman merchants,
+round-headed, matter-of-fact looking men, destitute of imagination, but
+full of practical sense.
+
+These incongruous elements that in the lapse of centuries have been fused,
+were, at the time of this tale, fairly distinct.
+
+"You are in the right, my friends," said Æmilius. "The kiln is heated too
+hot for comfort. It would roast me. I will go even to Arelate, if you will
+be good enough to convey me thither."
+
+"With the greatest of pleasure, sir."
+
+Æmilius had an office at Arles. He was a lawyer, but his headquarters were
+at Nemausus, to which town he belonged by birth. He represented a good
+family, and was descended from one of the colonists under Agrippa and
+Augustus. His father was dead, and though he was not wealthy, he was well
+off, and possessed a villa and estates on the mountain sides, at some
+distance from the town. In the heats of summer he retired to his villa.
+
+On this day of March there had been a considerable gathering of raftsmen
+at Nemausus, who had utilized the swollen waters in the lagoons for the
+conveyance of merchandise.
+
+Æmilius stepped upon a raft that seemed to be poised on bubbles, so light
+was it on the surface of the water, and the men at once thrust from land
+with their poles.
+
+The bottom was everywhere visible, owing to the whiteness of the limestone
+pebbles and the sand that composed it, and through the water darted
+innumerable fish. The liquid element was clear. Neither the Vistre nor the
+stream from the fountain brought down any mud, and the turbid Rhône had
+deposited all its sediment before its waters reached and mingled with
+those that flowed from the Cebennæ. There was no perceptible current. The
+weeds under water were still, and the only thing in motion were the
+darting fish.
+
+The raftmen were small, nimble fellows, with dark hair, dark eyes and
+pleasant faces. They laughed and chatted with each other over the incident
+of the rescue of their patron, but it was in their own dialect,
+unintelligible to Æmilius, to whom they spoke in broken Latin, in which
+were mingled Greek words.
+
+Now and then they burst simultaneously into a wailing chant, and then
+interrupted their song to laugh and gesticulate and mimic those who had
+been knocked over by their wind-bags.
+
+As Æmilius did not understand their conversation and their antics did not
+amuse him, he lay on the raft upon a wolfskin that had been spread over
+the timber, looking dreamily into the water and at the white golden
+flowers of the floating weeds through which the raft was impelled. The
+ripples caused by the displacement of the water caught and flashed the sun
+in his eyes like lightning.
+
+His mind reverted to what had taken place, but unlike the raftmen he did
+not consider it from its humorous side. He wondered at himself for the
+active part he had taken. He wondered at himself for having acted without
+premeditation. Why had he interfered to save the life of a girl whom he
+had not known even by name? Why had he been so indiscreet as to involve
+himself in a quarrel with his fellow-citizens in a matter in no way
+concerning him? What had impelled him so rashly to bring down on himself
+the resentment of an influential and powerful body?
+
+The youth of Rome and of the Romanized provinces was at the time of the
+empire very blasé. It enjoyed life early, and wearied rapidly of pleasure.
+It became skeptical as to virtue, and looked on the world of men with
+cynical contempt. It was selfish, sensual, cruel. But in Æmilius there was
+something nobler than what existed in most; the perception of what was
+good and true was not dead in him; it had slept. And now the face of
+Perpetua looked up at him out of the water. Was it her beauty that had so
+attracted him as to make him for a moment mad and cast his cynicism aside,
+as the butterfly throws away the chrysalis from which it breaks? No,
+beautiful indeed she was, but there was in her face something
+inexpressible, undefinable, even mentally; something conceivable in a
+goddess, an aura from another world, an emanation from Olympus. It was
+nothing that was subject to the rule. It was not due to proportion; it
+could be seized by neither painter nor sculptor. What was it? That puzzled
+him. He had been fascinated, lifted out of his base and selfish self to
+risk his life to do a generous, a noble act. He was incapable of
+explaining to himself what had wrought this sudden change in him.
+
+He thought over all that had taken place. How marvelous had been the
+serenity with which Perpetua had faced death! How ready she was to cast
+away life when life was in its prime and the world with all its pleasures
+was opening before her! He could not understand this. He had seen men die
+in the arena, but never thus. What had given the girl that look, as though
+a light within shone through her features? What was there in her that made
+him feel that to think of her, save with reverence, was to commit a
+sacrilege?
+
+In the heart of Æmilius there was, though he knew it not, something of
+that same spirit which pervaded the best of men and the deepest thinkers
+in that decaying, corrupt old world. All had acquired a disbelief in
+virtue because they nowhere encountered it, and yet all were animated with
+a passionate longing for it as the ideal, perhaps the unattainable, but
+that which alone could make life really happy.
+
+It was this which disturbed the dainty epicureanism of Horace, which gave
+verjuice to the cynicism of Juvenal, which roused the savage bitterness of
+Perseus. More markedly still, the craving after this better life, on what
+based, he could not conjecture, filled the pastoral mind of Virgil, and
+almost with a prophet's fire, certainly with an aching desire, he sang of
+the coming time when the vestiges of ancient fraud would be swept away and
+the light of a better day, a day of truth and goodness would break on the
+tear- and blood-stained world.
+
+And now this dim groping after what was better than he had seen; this
+inarticulate yearning after something higher than the sordid round of
+pleasure; this innate assurance that to man there is an ideal of spiritual
+loveliness and perfection to which he can attain if shown the way--all this
+now had found expression in the almost involuntary plunge into the
+Nemausean pool. He had seen the ideal, and he had broken with the regnant
+paganism to reach and rescue it.
+
+"What, my Æmilius! like Narcissus adoring thine incomparable self in the
+water!"
+
+The young lawyer started, and an expression of annoyance swept over his
+face. The voice was that of Callipodius.
+
+"Oh, my good friend," answered Æmilius, "I was otherwise engaged with my
+thoughts than in thinking of my poor self."
+
+"Poor! with so many hides of land, vineyards and sheep-walks and olive
+groves! Aye, and with a flourishing business, and the possession of a
+matchless country residence at Ad Fines."
+
+"Callipodius," said the patron, "thou art a worthy creature, and lackest
+but one thing to make thee excellent."
+
+"And what is that?"
+
+"Bread made without salt is insipid, and conversation seasoned with
+flattery nauseates. I have heard of a slave who was smeared with honey and
+exposed on a cross to wasps. When thou addressest me I seem to feel as
+though thou wast dabbing honey over me."
+
+"My Æmilius! But where would you find wasps to sting you?"
+
+"Oh! they are ready and eager--and I am flying them--all the votaries of
+Nemausus thou hast seen this day. As thou lovest me, leave me to myself,
+to rest. I am heavy with sleep, and the sun is hot."
+
+"Ah! dreamer that thou art. I know that thou art thinking of the fair
+Perpetua, that worshiper of an----"
+
+"Cease; I will not hear this." Æmilius made an angry gesture. Then he
+started up and struck at his brow. "By Hercules! I am a coward, flying,
+flying, when she is in extreme peril. Where is she now? Maybe those
+savages, those fools, are hunting after her to cast her again into the
+basin, or to thrust poisoned cakes into her mouth. By the Sacred Twins! I
+am doing that which is unworthy of me--that for which I could never
+condone. I am leaving the feeble and the helpless, unassisted, unprotected
+in extremity of danger. Thrust back, my good men! Thrust back! I cannot to
+Arelate. I must again to Nemausus!"
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER VI
+
+                          THE PASSAGE INTO LIFE
+
+
+Æmilius had sprung to his feet and called to the men to cease punting.
+They rested on their poles, awaiting further instructions, and the impetus
+given to the raft carried it among some yellow flags and rushes.
+
+Callipodius said: "I mostly admire the splendor of your intellect, that
+shines forth with solar effulgence. But there are seasons when the sun is
+eclipsed or obscured, and such is this with thee. Surely thou dost not
+contemplate a return to Nemausus to risk thy life without being in any way
+able to assist the damsel. Consider, moreover--is it worth it--for a girl?"
+
+"Callipodius," said the young lawyer in a tone of vehemence, "I cannot fly
+and place myself in security and leave her exposed to the most dreadful
+danger. I did my work by half only. What I did was unpremeditated, but
+that done must be made a complete whole. When I undertake anything it is
+my way to carry it out to a fair issue."
+
+"That is true enough and worthy of your excellent qualities of heart and
+mind. But you know nothing of this wench, and be she all that you imagine,
+what is a woman that for her you should jeopardize your little finger?
+Besides, her mother and kinsfolk will hardly desire your aid, will
+certainly not invoke it."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+Callipodius shrugged his shoulders. "You are a man of the world--a votary
+of pleasure, and these people are Christians. They will do their utmost
+for her. They hang together as a swarm of bees."
+
+"Who and what are these people--this mother and her kinsfolk?"
+
+"I know little about them. They occupy a house in the lower town, and that
+tells its own tale. They do not belong to the quality to which you belong.
+The girl has been reputed beautiful, and many light fellows have sought to
+see and have words with her. But she is so zealously guarded, and is
+herself so retiring and modest that they have encountered only rebuff and
+disappointment."
+
+"I must return. I will know for certain that she is in safety. Methinks no
+sooner were they balked of me than they would direct all their efforts to
+secure her."
+
+"You shall not go back to Nemausus. You would but jeopardize your own
+valuable life without the possibility of assisting her; nay, rather
+wouldst thou direct attention to her. Leave the matter with me and trust
+my devotion to thine interests."
+
+"I must learn tidings of her. I shall not rest till assured that she is
+out of danger. By the infernal gods, Callipodius, I know not what is come
+upon me, but I feel that if ill befall her, I could throw myself on a
+sword and welcome death, life having lost to me all value."
+
+"Then I tell thee this, most resolute of men," said Callipodius, "I will
+return to the town. My nothingness will pass unquestioned. Thou shalt
+tarry at the house of Flavillus yonder on the promontory. He is a timber
+merchant, and the place is clean. The woman bears a good name, and, what
+is better, can cook well. The house is poor and undeserving of the honor
+of receiving so distinguished a person as thyself; but if thou wilt
+condescend----"
+
+"Enough. I will do as thou advisest. And, oh, friend, be speedy, relieve
+my anxiety and be true as thou dost value my esteem."
+
+Then Æmilius signed to the raftmen to put him ashore at the landing place
+to the timber yard of Flavillus.
+
+Having landed he mounted a slight ascent to a cottage that was surrounded
+by piles of wood--of oak, chestnut, pine and olive. Flavillus was a
+merchant on a small scale, but a man of energy and industry. He dealt with
+the natives of the Cebennæ, and bought the timber they felled, conveyed it
+to his stores, whence it was distributed to the towns in the neighborhood;
+and supplies were furnished to the shipbuilders at Arelate.
+
+The merchant was now away, but his wife received Æmilius with deference.
+She had heard his name from the raftmen, and was acquainted with
+Callipodius, a word from whom sufficed as an introduction.
+
+She apologized because her house was small, as also because her mother,
+then with her, was at the point of death from old age, not from any fever
+or other disorder. If Æmilius Lentulus, under the circumstances, would
+pardon imperfection in attendance, she would gladly extend to him such
+hospitality as she could offer. Æmilius would have gone elsewhere, but
+that the only other house he could think of that was near was a tavern,
+then crowded by Utriculares, who occupied every corner. He was sorry to
+inconvenience the woman, yet accepted her offer. The period was not one in
+which much consideration was shown to those in a lower grade. The citizens
+and nobles held that their inferiors existed for their convenience only.
+Æmilius shared in the ideas of his time and class, but he had sufficient
+natural delicacy to make him reluctant to intrude where his presence was
+necessarily irksome. Nevertheless, as there was no other place to which he
+could go, he put aside this feeling of hesitation.
+
+The house was small, and was constructed of wood upon a stone basement.
+The partitions between the rooms were of split planks, and the joints were
+in places open, and knots had come out, so that what passed in one
+apartment was audible, and, to some extent, visible in another. A bedroom
+in a Roman house was a mere closet, furnished with a bed only. All washing
+was done at the baths, not in the house. The room had no window, only a
+door over which hung a curtain.
+
+Æmilius divested himself of his wet garment and gave it to his hostess to
+dry, then wrapped himself in his toga and awaited supper.
+
+The meal was prepared as speedily as might be. It consisted of eggs, eels,
+with melon, and apples of last year. Wine was abundant, and so was oil.
+
+When he had eaten and was refreshed, moved by a kindly thought Æmilius
+asked if he might see the sick mother. His hostess at once conducted him
+to her apartment, and he stood by the old woman's bed. The evening sun
+shone in at the door, where stood the daughter holding back the curtain,
+and lighted the face of the aged woman. It was thin, white and drawn. The
+eyes were large and lustrous.
+
+"I am an intruder," said the young man, "yet I would not sleep the night
+in this house without paying my respects to the mother of my kind hostess.
+Alas! thou art one I learn who is unable to escape that which befalls all
+mortals. It is a lot evaded only by the gods, if there be any truth in the
+tales told concerning them. It must be a satisfaction to you to
+contemplate the many pleasures enjoyed in a long life, just as after an
+excellent meal we can in mind revert to it and retaste in imagination
+every course--as indeed I do with the supper so daintily furnished by my
+hostess."
+
+"Ah, sir," said the old woman, "on the couch of death one looks not back
+but forward."
+
+"And that also is true," remarked Æmilius. "What is before you but
+everything that can console the mind and gratify the ambition. With your
+excellent daughter and the timber-yard hard by, you may calculate on a
+really handsome funeral pyre--plenty of olive wood and fragrant pine logs
+from the Cebennæ. I myself will be glad to contribute a handful of
+oriental spices to throw into the flames."
+
+"Sir, I think not of that."
+
+"And the numbers who will attend and the orations that will be made
+lauding your many virtues! It has struck me that one thing only is wanting
+in a funeral to make it perfectly satisfactory, and that is that the
+person consigned to the flames should be able to see the pomp and hear the
+good things said of him."
+
+"Oh, sir, I regard not that!"
+
+"No, like a wise woman, you look beyond."
+
+"Aye! aye!" she folded her hands and a light came into her eyes. "I look
+beyond."
+
+"To the mausoleum and the cenotaph. Unquestionably the worthy Flavillus
+will give you a monument as handsome as his means will permit, and for
+many centuries your name will be memorialized thereon."
+
+"Oh, sir! my poor name! what care I for that? I ask Flavillus to spend no
+money over my remains; and may my name be enshrined in the heart of my
+daughter. But--it is written elsewhere--even in Heaven."
+
+"I hardly comprehend."
+
+"As to what happens to the body--that is of little concern to me. I desire
+but one thing--to be dissolved, and to be with Christ."
+
+"Ah!--so--with Christ!"
+
+Æmilius rubbed his chin.
+
+"He is my Hope. He is my Salvation. In Him I shall live. Death is
+swallowed up in Victory."
+
+"She rambles in her talk," said he, turning to the daughter.
+
+"Nay, sir, she is clear in her mind and dwells on the thoughts that
+comfort her."
+
+"And that is not that she will have an expensive funeral?"
+
+"Oh, no, sir!"
+
+"Nor that she will have a commemorative cenotaph belauding her virtues?"
+
+Then the dying woman said: "I shall live--live forevermore. I have passed
+from death unto life."
+
+Æmilius shook his head. If this was not the raving of a disordered mind,
+what could it be?
+
+He retired to his apartment.
+
+He was tired. He had nothing to occupy him, so he cast himself on his bed.
+
+Shortly he heard the voice of a man. He started and listened in the hopes
+that Callipodius had returned, but as the tones were strange to him he lay
+down again.
+
+Presently a light struck through a knot in the boards that divided his
+room from that of the dying woman. Then he heard the strange voice say:
+"Peace be to this house and to all that dwell therein."
+
+"It is the physician," said Æmilius to himself. "Pshaw! what can he do?
+She is dying of old age."
+
+At first the newcomer did inquire concerning the health of the patient,
+but then rapidly passed to other matters, and these strange to the ear of
+the young lawyer. He had gathered that the old woman was a Christian; but
+of Christians he knew no more than that they were reported to worship the
+head of an ass, to devour little children, and to indulge in debauchery at
+their evening banquets.
+
+The strange man spoke to the dying woman--not of funeral and cenotaph as
+things to look forward to, but to life and immortality, to joy and rest
+from labor.
+
+"My daughter," said the stranger, "indicate by sign that thou hearest me.
+Fortified by the most precious gift thou wilt pass out of darkness into
+light, out of sorrow into joy, from tears to gladness of heart, from where
+thou seest through a glass darkly to where thou shalt look on the face of
+Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. Though thou steppest down into the
+river, yet His cross shall be thy stay and His staff shall comfort thee.
+He goeth before to be thy guide. He standeth to be thy defence. The
+spirits of evil cannot hurt thee. The Good Shepherd will gather thee into
+His fold. The True Physician will heal all thine infirmities. As the
+second Joshua, He will lead thee out of the wilderness into the land of
+Promise. The angels of God surround thee. The light of the heavenly city
+streams over thee. Rejoice, rejoice! The night is done and the day is at
+hand. For all thy labors thou shalt be recompensed double. For all thy
+sorrows He will comfort thee. He will wipe away thy tears. He will cleanse
+thee from thy stains. He will feed thee with all thy desire. Old things
+are passed away; all things are made new. Thy heart shall laugh and
+sing--Pax!"
+
+Æmilius, looking through a chink, saw the stranger lay his hand on the
+woman's brow. He saw how the next moment he withdrew it, and how, turning
+to her daughter, he said:
+
+"Do not lament for her. She has passed from death unto life. She sees Him,
+in whom she has believed, in whom she has hoped, whom she has loved."
+
+And the daughter wiped her eyes.
+
+"Well," said Æmilius to himself, "now I begin to see how these people are
+led to face death without fear. It is a pity that it should be delusion
+and mere talk. Where is the evidence that it is other? Where is the
+foundation for all this that is said?"
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER VII
+
+                                OBLATIONS
+
+
+The house into which the widow lady and her daughter entered was that used
+by the Christians of Nemausus as their church. A passage led into the
+_atrium_, a quadrangular court in the midst of the house into which most
+of the rooms opened, and in the center of which was a small basin of
+water. On the marble breasting of this tank stood, in a heathen household,
+the altar to the _lares et penates_, the tutelary gods of the dwelling.
+This court was open above for the admission of light and air, and to allow
+the smoke to escape. Originally this had been the central chamber of the
+Roman house, but eventually it became a court. It was the focus of family
+life, and the altar in it represented the primitive family hearth in times
+before civilization had developed the house out of the cabin.
+
+Whoever entered a pagan household was expected, as token of respect, to
+strew a few grains of incense on the ever-burning hearth, or to dip his
+fingers in the water basin and flip a few drops over the images. But in a
+Christian household no such altar and images of gods were to be found. A
+Christian gave great offense by refusing to comply with the generally
+received customs, and his disregard on this point of etiquette was held to
+be as indicative of boorishness and lack of graceful courtesy, as would be
+the conduct nowadays of a man who walked into a drawing-room wearing his
+hat.
+
+Immediately opposite the entrance into the _atrium_, on the further side
+of the tank, and beyond the altar to the _lares et penates_, elevated
+above the floor of the court by two or three white-marble steps, was a
+semicircular chamber, with elaborate mosaic floor, and the walls richly
+painted. This was the _tablinum_. The paintings represented scenes from
+heathen mythology in such houses as belonged to pagans, but in the
+dwelling of Baudillas, the deacon, the pictures that had originally
+decorated it had been plastered over, and upon this coating green vines
+had been somewhat rudely drawn, with birds of various descriptions playing
+among the foliage and pecking at the grapes.
+
+Around the wall were seats; and here, in a pagan house, the master
+received his guests. His seat was at the extremity of the apse, and was of
+white marble. When such a house was employed for Christian worship, the
+clergy occupied the seat against the wall and the bishop that of the
+master in the center. In the chord of the apse above the steps stood the
+altar, now no longer smoking nor dedicated to the _Lar pater_, but devoted
+to Him who is the Father of Spirits. But this altar was in itself
+different wholly from that which had stood by the water tank. Instead of
+being a block of marble, with a hearth on top, it consisted of a table on
+three, sometimes four, bronze legs, the slab sometimes of stone, more
+generally of wood.(1)
+
+The _tablinum_ was shut off from the hall or court, except when used for
+the reception of guests, by rich curtains running on rings upon a rod.
+These curtains were drawn back or forward during the celebration of the
+liturgy, and this has continued to form a portion of the furniture of an
+Oriental church, whether Greek, Armenian, or Syrian.
+
+In like manner the _tablinum_, with its conch-shape termination, gave the
+type to the absidal chancel, so general everywhere except in England.
+
+On the right side of the court was the _triclinium_ or dining-room, and
+this was employed by the early Christians for their love-feasts.
+
+Owing to the protection extended by law to the colleges or clubs, the
+Christians sought to screen themselves from persecution by representing
+themselves as forming one of these clubs, and affecting their usages. Even
+on their tombstones they so designated themselves, "Cultores Dei," and
+they were able to carry on their worship under the appearance of
+frequenting guild meetings. One of the notable features of such secular or
+semi-religious societies was the convivial supper for the members,
+attended by all. The Church adopted this supper, called it Agape, but of
+course gave to it a special signification. It was made to be a symbol of
+that unity among Christians which was supposed to exist between all
+members. The supper was also a convenient means whereby the rich could
+contribute to the necessities of the poor, and was regarded as a
+fulfilment of the Lord's command: "When thou makest a feast, call the
+poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind."
+
+Already, in the third century, the believers who belonged to the superior
+classes had withdrawn from them, and alleged as their excuse the command:
+"When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy
+brethren, neither thy kinsman, nor thy rich neighbors." Their actual
+reason was, however, distaste for associating with such as belonged to the
+lower orders, and from being present at scenes that were not always
+edifying.
+
+The house of Baudillas had once been of consequence, and his family one of
+position; but that had been in the early days of the colony before the
+indigenous Gaulish nobility had been ousted from every place of authority,
+and the means for enriching themselves had been drawn away by the greed of
+the conquerors. The quarter of the town in which was his mansion had
+declined in respectability. Many of the houses of the old Volcian gentry
+had been sold and converted into lodgings for artisans. In this case the
+ancestral dwelling remained in the possession of the last representative
+of the family, but it was out of repair, and the owner was poor.
+
+"I hardly know what should be done," said Baudillas to himself, rather
+than to the ladies he was escorting. "The Church has been enjoined to
+assemble this afternoon for the Agape, and our bishop, Castor, is absent
+at this critical juncture. He has gone on a pastoral round, taking
+advantage of the floods to visit, in boat, some of the outlying hamlets
+and villages where there are believers. It seems to me hardly prudent for
+us to assemble when there is such agitation of spirits. Ladies, allow my
+house-keeper--she was my nurse--to conduct you where you can repose after
+the fatigue and distress you have undergone. She will provide dry garments
+for Perpetua, and hot water for her feet. The baths are the proper place,
+but it would be dangerous for her to adventure herself in public."
+
+Baudillas paced the court in anxiety of mind. He did not know what course
+to adopt. He was not a man of initiative. He was devoted to his duty and
+discharged whatever he was commanded to do with punctilious nicety; but he
+was thrown into helpless incapacity when undirected by a superior mind, or
+not controlled by a dominant will.
+
+It would be difficult to communicate with the brethren. He had but one
+male servant, Pedo, who had a stiff hip-joint. He could not send him round
+to give notice of a postponement, and Baudillas was not the man to take
+such a step without orders. Probably, said he to himself, the commotion
+would abate before evening. There would be much feasting in the town that
+afternoon. The Cultores Nemausi had their club dinner; and the families of
+Volcian descent made it a point of honor to entertain on that day,
+dedicated to their Gallic founder and hero-god. It was precisely for this
+reason that the Agape had been appointed to be celebrated on the first of
+March. When all the lower town was holding debauch, the harmless reunion
+of the Christians would pass unregarded.
+
+"What shall I do?" said the deacon. "Castor, our bishop, should not have
+absented himself at such a time, but then how could he have foreseen what
+has taken place? I will take care that the ladies be provided with
+whatever they may need, and then will sally forth and ascertain what
+temper our fellow-citizens are in. We southerners blaze up like a fire of
+straw, and as soon does our flame expire. If I meet some of the brethren,
+I will consult with them what is to be done. As it is we have postponed
+the Agape till set of sun, when we deemed that all the town would be
+indoors merry-making."
+
+An hour later, a slave of the lady Quincta arrived to say that her house
+was watched, and that the servants did not deem it advisable to leave with
+the litter, lest some attempt should be made to track them to the house
+where their mistress was concealed, in which case the rabble might even
+try to get possession of Perpetua.
+
+Quincta was greatly alarmed at the tidings, and bade that the litter
+should on no account be sent. When those watching her door had been
+withdrawn, then a faithful slave was to announce the fact, and she and her
+daughter would steal home afoot. Thus passed the time, with anxiety
+contracting the hearts of all. Quincta was a timid woman, Baudillas, as
+already said, irresolute. In the afternoon, gifts began to arrive for the
+love-feast. Slaves brought hampers of bread, quails, field-fare stuffed
+with truffles; brown pots containing honey were also deposited by them in
+the passage. Others brought branches of dried raisins, apples, eggs,
+flasks of oil, and bouquets of spring flowers.(2)
+
+Baudillas was relieved when the stream of oblations began to flow in, as
+it decided for him the matter of the Agape. It must take place--it could
+not be deferred, as some of the food sent was perishable.
+
+A slave arrived laden with an _amphora_--a red earthenware bottle, pointed
+below, so that to maintain it upright it had to be planted in sand or
+ashes. On the side was a seal with the sacred symbol, showing that it
+contained wine set apart for religious usage.(3)
+
+"Sir!" said the bearer, "happy is the man who tastes of this wine from
+Ambrussum (near Lunel).(4) It is of the color of amber, it is old, and
+runs like oil. The heat of the Provence sun is gathered and stored in it,
+to break forth and glow in the veins, to mount into and fire the brain,
+and to make and kindle a furnace in the heart."
+
+"It shall be used with discretion, Tarsius," said the deacon.
+
+"By Bacchus!--I ask your pardon, deacon! Old habits are not easily laid
+aside. What was I saying? Oh--you remarked something about discretion. For
+my part I consider that my master has exercised none in sending this to
+your love-feast. Bah! it is casting pearls before swine to pour out this
+precious essence into the cups of such a beggarly, vagabond set as
+assemble here. The quality folk are becoming weary of these banquets and
+hold aloof."
+
+"That is sadly true," observed Baudillas, "and the effect of this
+withdrawal is that it aggravates the difficulties of myself and my
+brethren."
+
+"The choice liquor is thrown away on such as you have as congregation. How
+can they relish the Ambrussian if they have not had their palates educated
+to know good liquor from bad? On my faith as a Christian! were I master
+instead of slave, I would send you the wine of the year when Sosius Falco
+and Julius Clarus were consuls--then the grapes mildewed in the bunch, and
+the wine is naught but vinegar, no color, no bouquet, no substance.
+Gentlemen and slaves can't drink it. But I reckon that my master thinks to
+condone his absence by sending one of his choicest flasks."
+
+"You are somewhat free of tongue, Tarsius."
+
+"I am a frank man though enslaved. Thoughts are free, and my tongue is not
+enchained. I shall attend the banquet this evening. The master and
+mistress remain at home that we, believing members of the family, may be
+present at the Agape. I will trouble you, when pouring out the Ambrussian
+wine, not to forget that I had to sweat under the flask, to your house."
+
+"I think, Tarsius, I cannot do better than place the bottle under your
+charge. You know its value, and the force of the wine. Distribute as you
+see fit."
+
+"Aye; I know who will appreciate it, and who are unworthy of a drop. I
+accept the responsibility. You do wisely, deacon, in trusting me--a knowing
+one," and he slapped his breast and pursed up his mouth.
+
+Then another servant appeared with a basket.
+
+"Here, sir!" said he to the deacon. "I bring you honey-cakes. The lady
+Lampridia sends them. She is infirm and unable to leave her house, but she
+would fain do something for the poor, the almoners of Christ. She sends
+you these and also garments that she has made for children. She desires
+that you will distribute them among such parents as have occasion for
+them."
+
+Next came a man of equestrian rank, and drew the deacon aside.
+
+"Where is Castor?" he inquired in an agitated voice. "I cannot appear this
+evening. The whole town is in effervescence. Inquisition may be made for
+us Christians. There will be a tumult. When they persecute you in one
+city--fly to another! That is the divine command, and I shall obey it to
+the letter. I have sent forward servants and mules--and shall escape with
+my wife and children to my villa."
+
+"The bishop is away. He will be back this evening. I have not known what
+to do, whether or not to postpone the Agape to another day."
+
+"No harm will come of it if you hold the feast. None will attend save the
+poor and such as are on the books of the Church, the widows and those to
+whom a good meal is a boon. The authorities will not trouble themselves
+about the like of them. I don't relish the aspect of affairs, and shall be
+off before the storm breaks." Then the knight added hastily, "Here is
+money, distribute it, and bid the recipients pray for me and mine, that no
+harm befall us."
+
+Baudillas saw that the man was quaking with apprehension. "Verily," said
+he to himself, "It is a true saying, 'How hardly shall they that have
+riches enter into the kingdom of Heaven.' I wonder now, whether I have
+acted judiciously in entrusting that old Ambrussian to Tarsius? If the
+bishop had been here, I could have consulted him."
+
+So a weak, but good man, may even do a thing fraught with greater mischief
+than can be done with evil intent by an adversary.
+
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER VIII
+
+                          THE VOICE AT MIDNIGHT
+
+
+As soon as dusk began to veil the sky, Christians in parties of three and
+four came to the house of Baudillas. They belonged for the most part to
+the lowest classes. None were admitted till they had given the pass-word.
+
+An _ostiarius_ or porter kept the door, and as each tapped, he said in
+Greek: "Beloved, let us love one another." Whereupon the applicant for
+admission replied in the same tongue, "For love is of God."
+
+Owing to the Greek element in the province, large at Massilia, Arelate and
+Narbo, but not less considerable at Nemausus, the Hellenic tongue, though
+not generally spoken, was more or less comprehended by all in the towns.
+The Scriptures were read in Greek; there was, as yet, no Italic version,
+and the prayers were recited, sometimes in Greek, sometimes in Latin. In
+preaching, the bishops and presbyters employed the vernacular--this was a
+conglomerate of many tongues and was in incessant decomposition, flux, and
+recomposition. It was different in every town, and varied from year to
+year.
+
+In the sub-apostolic church it was customary for a banquet to be held in
+commemoration of the Paschal Supper, early in the afternoon, lasting all
+night, previous to the celebration of the new Eucharistic rite, which took
+place at dawn. The night was spent in hymn singing, in discourses, and in
+prayer.
+
+But even in the Apostolic age, as we learn from St. Paul's first Epistle
+to the Corinthians, great abuses had manifested themselves, and very
+speedily a change was made. The Agape was dissociated from the Eucharist
+and was relegated to the evening after the celebration of the Sacrament.
+It was not abolished altogether, because it was a symbol of unity, and
+because, when under control, it was unobjectionable. Moreover, as already
+intimated, it served a convenient purpose to the Christians by making
+their meetings resemble those of the benefit clubs that were under legal
+protection.
+
+It may be conjectured that where the bulk of the members were newly
+converted, and were ignorant, there would speedily manifest itself among
+them a tendency to revert to their pagan customs, and a revolt against the
+restraints of Christian sobriety. And this actually took place, causing
+much embarrassment to the clergy, and giving some handle to the heathen to
+deride these meetings as scenes of gross disorder.
+
+No sooner did persecution cease, and the reason for holding love-feasts no
+longer held, than they were everywhere put down and by the end of the
+fourth century had absolutely ceased.
+
+In the third century Tertullian, in his "Apology" addressed to the
+heathen, gave a rose-colored description of the institution; but in his
+"Treatise on Fasting" addressed to the faithful, he was constrained to
+admit that it was a nursery of abuses. But this, indeed, common sense and
+a knowledge of human nature would lead us to suspect.
+
+We are prone to imagine that the first ages of the Church saw only saints
+within the fold, and sinners without. But we have only to read the
+writings of the early Fathers to see that this was not the case. If we
+consider our mission stations at the present day, and consult our
+evangelists among the heathen, we shall discover that the newly converted
+on entering the Church, bring with them much of their past: their
+prejudices, their superstitions, their ignorance, and their passions. The
+most vigilant care has to be exercised in watching against relapse in the
+individual, and deterioration of the general tone. The converts in the
+first ages were not made of other flesh and blood than those now
+introduced into the sheepfold, and the difficulties now encountered by
+missionaries beset the first pastors of Christ fifteen and sixteen hundred
+years ago.
+
+In an honest attempt to portray the condition of the Church at the opening
+of the third century, we must describe things as they were, and not as we
+should wish them to have been.
+
+The _atrium_ or courtyard was not lighted; there was sufficient
+illumination from above. The curtains of the _tablinum_ were close drawn,
+as the reception chamber was not to be put in requisition that night. The
+_triclinium_ or dining-room that received light through the doorway only
+would have been dark had not a lamp or two been kindled there.
+
+About thirty persons were present, male and female, but no children. Some
+were slaves from believing households; there were a few freedmen. Some
+were poor artisans, weavers, bakers, and men who sold charcoal, a porter,
+and a besom-maker.
+
+Quincta and Perpetua were the highest in social position of those present.
+A second deacon, named Marcianus, was there, a handsome man, peremptory in
+manner, quick in movement; in every point a contrast with his timid,
+hesitating brother in the ministry.
+
+The bishop had not arrived when the Agape began, and the blessing was
+spoken by an aged and feeble presbyter. The tables were spread with
+viands, and the deacons and deaconesses ministered to those who reclined
+at them. There was not room for all in the dining-chamber, and a table and
+couches had been spread in the court for such as could not be accommodated
+within.
+
+The proceedings were marked by the strictest propriety, the eating and
+drinking were in moderation, conversation was edifying, and general
+harmony prevailed. During the meal, a knocking was heard at the outer
+gate, and when the porter asked the name of the applicant for admission,
+the password was given, and he was admitted.
+
+All rose to receive Castor, the bishop.
+
+"Recline again, my friends," said he. "I have come from the house of
+Flavillus, the timber merchant on the _stagna_; his wife's mother has
+endured that which is human. She sleeps, and her spirit is with the Lord.
+I have been delayed. I was doing the work of my Master. One, a stranger to
+the faith, questioned me, and I tarried to converse with him, and disclose
+to his dark mind some ray of light. If the supper be ended, I will offer
+thanks."
+
+Then, standing at one of the tables, he made prayer to God, and thanked
+Him who had caused the corn to spring out of the earth, and had gathered
+the many grains into one bread; who had watered the vine from heaven, and
+had flushed the several grapes with generous juice, uniting the many into
+one bunch.
+
+The thanksgiving ended, lights were introduced in considerable numbers.
+There is no twilight in southern climes; when night falls, it falls
+darkly. Now all who had eaten went to the _impluvium_, dipped their hands,
+and washed their lips, then wiped them on towels held by the deaconesses.
+
+The tables were quickly removed, and the benches ranged in the
+_triclinium_, so as to accommodate all.
+
+No sooner was the whole congregation assembled, than the president,
+Castor, invited all such as had a psalm, an interpretation, a vision, or
+an edifying narrative, to relate or recite it.
+
+Then up started a little man, who held a lyre.
+
+"Sir," said he, "I have composed a poem in honor of Andeolus, the martyr
+of Gentibus."
+
+He struck a chord on his instrument, and sang. The composition was devoid
+of poetry, the meter halting, the Latin full of provincialisms, and the
+place of poetic imagery was filled with extravagances of expression. When
+he had concluded, he perhaps inadvertently wound up with the words,
+"Generous audience, grant me your applause!"--the usual method of
+conclusion on the stage.
+
+And the request met with favor--hands were clapped.
+
+Then Bishop Castor rose, and with a grave face, said:
+
+"We have listened to Lartius Garrulus with interest and with edification.
+It is well to glorify the memories of the holy ones who have witnessed a
+good confession, who have fought the fight, and have shed their blood as a
+testimony. But a poet in treating of such subjects, should restrain his
+too exuberant fancy, and not assert as facts matters of mere conjecture,
+nor should he use expressions that, though perhaps endurable in poetry,
+cannot be addressed to the martyrs in sober prose. The ignorant are too
+ready to employ words without considering their meaning with nicety, and
+to quote poets as licensing them to do that which their pastors would
+forbid."
+
+"But," said the deacon Marcianus, "what if this be uttered by
+inspiration?"
+
+"The Spirit of God," answered Castor, "never inspires the mind to import
+into religion anything that is not true." Turning round, he said: "I call
+on Turgellius to interpret a portion of the Epistle of the Blessed Paul,
+the Apostle to the Romans, translating it into the vulgar tongue, as there
+be those present who comprehend Greek with difficulty."
+
+This done, one rose, and said:
+
+"Sir, suffer me to disclose a revelation. I was asleep on my bed, three
+nights agone, and I had a dream, or vision, from on high. I beheld a snow-
+white flock pasturing on a mountain; there was abundance of herbage, and
+the sky was serene. The shepherd stood regarding them, leaning on his
+staff, and the watch-dog slept at his feet in the grass. Then, suddenly,
+the heavens became obscured, lightning flashed, thunder rolled: the flock
+was terrified and scattered. Thereupon came wolves, leaping among the
+sheep, and rending them; and I beheld now that some which I had taken to
+be sheep, cast their skins, and disclosed themselves to be ravening
+beasts. What may be signified by the vision, I know not, but I greatly
+fear that it portends an evil time to the Church."
+
+"That is like enough," said Baudillas, "after what has occurred this day.
+If the bishop has not heard, I will relate all to him in order."
+
+"I have been informed of everything," said Castor.
+
+"It is well that there should be a sifting of the wheat from the chaff,"
+said Marcianus. "Too long have we had wolves masquerading among us clothed
+in sheepskins. See!" He threw back his mantle, and extended his hand. "On
+my way hither, I passed by the fountain of Nemausus, and none were there.
+Then my soul was wrath within me at the idolatry and worship of devils
+that goes on in the temple and about the basin. So I took up a stone, and
+I climbed upon the pedestal, and I beat till I had broken this off." Then
+he rolled an alabaster sculptured head on the floor. With a contemptuous
+kick, he sent it spinning. "This is their god Nemausus. A deacon of
+Christ's Church, with a bit of stone, is able to break his neck, and carry
+off his head!" Then he laughed. But none laughed in response.
+
+A thrill of dismay ran through the assembly.
+
+A woman fell into hysterics and screamed. Some called out that she
+prophesied, others that she spake with tongues. Baudillas appeased the
+excitement. "The tongue she speaks," said he, "is the Ligurian of the
+Cebennæ, and all she says is that she wishes she were safe with her
+children in the mountains, and had never come into the town. Now, indeed,
+it seems that the evil days foreseen by Pantilius Narbo will come on the
+Church. The people might forget that the god was robbed of his victim, but
+not that his image has been defaced."
+
+"Well done, I say!" shouted a man, thrusting himself forward. His face was
+inflamed and his eyes dazed. "I--I, Tarsius the slave, and Marcianus, the
+deacon, are the only Christians with any pluck about us. Cowards that ye
+all are, quaking at the moment of danger--hares, ye are, hares afraid of
+the whistling of the wind in the grass. I--I----"
+
+"Remove that man," said the bishop. "He has been drinking."
+
+"I--I drinking. I have supped the precious Ambrussian wine, too good for
+the rag-tag. Dost think I would pour out to him who binds brooms? Or to
+her--a washerwoman from the mountains? Ambrussian wine for such as
+appreciate good things--gold as amber, thick as oil, sweet as honey."
+
+"Remove him," said the bishop firmly.
+
+Hands were laid on the fellow.
+
+Then turning to Marcianus, Castor said sternly, "You have acted
+inconsiderately and wrongly, against the decrees of the Fathers."
+
+"Aye!--of men who were timorous, and forbade others doing that from which
+they shrank themselves. I have not so learned Christ."
+
+"Thou thyself mayest be strong," said Castor, "but thine act will bring
+the tempest upon the Church, and it will fall upon the weak and young."
+
+"Such as cannot stand against the storm are good for naught," said
+Marcianus. "But the storm is none of my brewing. It had arisen before I
+intervened. The escape of the lady Perpetua from the fountain--that was the
+beginning, I have but added the final stroke."
+
+"Thou hast acted very wrongly," said the bishop. "May God, the God of all
+comfort, strengthen us to stand in the evil day. In very truth, the powers
+of darkness will combine against the Church. The lightnings will indeed
+flash, the sheep be scattered, and those revealed whom we have esteemed to
+be true disciples of Christ, but who are far from Him in heart. Many that
+are first shall be last, and the last first. It is ever so in the Kingdom
+of Christ--hark!"
+
+Suddenly a strange, a terrible sound was heard--a loud, hoarse note, like a
+blast blown through a triton's shell, but far louder; it seemed to pass in
+the air over the house, and set the tiles quivering. Every wall vibrated
+to it, and every heart thrilled as well. Men rushed into the _atrium_ and
+looked up at the night sky. Stars twinkled. Nothing extraordinary was
+visible. But those who looked expected to see some fire-breathing monster
+flying athwart the dark, heavenly vault, braying; and others again cried
+out that this was the trumpet of the archangel, and that the end of all
+things was come.
+
+Then said Marcianus, "It is the voice of the devil Nemausus! He has thus
+shouted before."
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER IX
+
+                              STARS IN WATER
+
+
+As an excuse for not appearing in time at the Agape, Castor had asserted
+that he had been engaged on his Master's work elsewhere. That was true. He
+had been at the house of the timber merchant as we have seen, and he had
+been detained by Æmilius as he left it. This latter had been lying on his
+bed resting, whilst his garments were being dried.
+
+He had overheard what had passed in the room of the dying woman.
+
+When the bishop went forth, then Æmilius rose from his bed, cast the ample
+toga about him, and walked forth. He caught Castor as he descended to the
+water's edge to be paddled away.
+
+After a short salutation, the young lawyer said: "A word with you, sir, if
+your time is as generously to be disposed of to a stranger as it is
+lavished on the poor and sick."
+
+"I am at your service," answered the bishop.
+
+"My name," said the young man, "is Æmilius Lentulus Varo. My profession is
+the law. I am not, I believe, unknown in Nemausus, or at Arelate, where
+also I have an office. But you, sir, may not have heard of me--we have
+assuredly never met. Your age and gravity of demeanor belong to a social
+group other than mine. You mix with the wise, the philosophers, and not
+with such butterflies as myself, who am a ridiculous pleasure
+seeker--seeking and never finding. If I am not in error, you are Castor
+Lepidus Villoneos, of an ancient magisterial family in Nemausus and the
+reputed head of the Christian sect."
+
+"I am he," answered the bishop.
+
+"It may appear to you a piece of idle curiosity," said the young man, "if
+I put to you certain questions, and esteem it an impertinence, and so send
+me away empty. But I pray you to afford me--if thy courtesy will suffer
+it--some information concerning a matter on which I am eager to obtain
+light. I have been in the apartment adjoining that in which the mother of
+the hostess lay, and I chanced--the partition being but of plank--to
+overhear what was said. I confess that I am inquisitive to know something
+more certain of this philosophy or superstition, than what is commonly
+reported among the people. On this account, I venture to detain you, as
+one qualified to satisfy my greed for knowledge."
+
+"My time is at your disposal."
+
+"You spoke to the dying woman as though she were about to pass into a new
+life. Was that a poetic fancy or a philosophic speculation?"
+
+"It was neither, it was a religious conviction. I spoke of what I knew to
+be true."
+
+"Knew to be true!" laughed Æmilius. "How so? Have you traveled into the
+world of spirits, visited the _manes_, and returned posted up in all
+particulars concerning them?"
+
+"No. I receive the testimony from One I can trust."
+
+"One! All men are liars. I knew a fellow who related that he had fallen
+into an epileptic fit, and that during the fit his spirit had crossed the
+Styx. But as he had no penny wherewith to pay the fare, I did not believe
+him. Moreover, he never told the story twice alike, and in other matters
+was an arrant liar."
+
+"Whom would you believe?"
+
+"None, nothing save my own experience."
+
+"Not Him who made and who sustains your existence, my good sir?"
+
+"Yes, if I knew Him and were assured He spoke."
+
+"That is the assurance I have."
+
+Æmilius shook his head. "When, how, where, and by whom did He declare to
+men that there is a life beyond the tomb?"
+
+"The _when_ was in the principate of Tiberius Cæsar, the _how_ was by the
+mouth of His only-begotten Son, the _where_ was in Palestine."
+
+The young lawyer laughed. "There is not a greater rogue and liar on the
+face of the earth than a Jew. I cannot believe in a revelation made
+elsewhere than at the center of the world, in the city of Rome."
+
+"Rome is the center of the world to you--but is it so to the infinite God?"
+
+Æmilius shrugged his shoulders contemptuously. "I am a lawyer. I ask for
+evidence. And I would not trust the word of a Jew against that of a common
+Gaulish peasant."
+
+"Nor need you. The witness is in yourself."
+
+"I do not understand you."
+
+"Have not all men, at all times and everywhere desired to know what is to
+be their condition after death? Does not every barbarous people harbor the
+conviction that there is a future life? Do not you civilized Romans,
+though you have no evidence, act as though there were such a life, and
+testify thereto on your monumental cenotaphs?"
+
+"I allow all that. But what of it?"
+
+"How comes it that there should be such a conviction based on no grounds
+whatever, but a vague longing, unless there were such a reality provided
+for those who have this desire in them? Would the Creator of man mock him?
+Would He put this hunger into him unless it were to be satisfied? You have
+eyes that crave for the light, and the light exists that satisfies this
+longing! You have ears that desire sounds, and the world is full of voices
+that meet this desire. Where there is a craving there is ever a reality
+that corresponds with and gives repose to that desire. Look," said the
+bishop, and pointed to the water in which were reflected the stars that
+now began to glitter in the sky. "Do you see all those twinkling points in
+the still water? They correspond to the living luminaries set above in the
+vault. You in your soul have these reflections--sometimes seen, sometimes
+obscured, but ever returning. They answer to realities in the celestial
+world overhead. The reflections could not be in your nature unless they
+existed in substance above."
+
+"There is a score of other things we long after in vain here."
+
+"What things? I believe I know. Purity, perfection, justice. Well, you do
+not find them here entire--only in broken glints. But these glints assure
+you that in their integrity they do exist."
+
+A boat was propelled through the water. It broke the reflections, that
+disappeared or were resolved into a very dust of sparkles. As the wavelets
+subsided, however, the reflections reformed.
+
+Castor walked up and down beside Æmilius in silence for a few turns, then
+said:--
+
+"The world is full of inequalities and injustices. One man suffers
+privation, another is gorged. One riots in luxury at the expense of the
+weak. Is there to be no righting of wrongs? no justice to be ever done? If
+there be a God over all, He must, if just--and who can conceive of God,
+save as perfectly just?--He must, I say, deal righteous judgment and smooth
+out all these creases; and how can he do so, unless there be a condition
+of existence after death in which the wrongs may be redressed, the evil-
+doers be punished, and tears be wiped away?"
+
+"There is philosophy in this."
+
+"Have you not in your conscience a sense of right as distinct from
+wrong--obscured often, but ever returning--like the reflection of the stars
+in the water? How comes it there unless there be the verities above?
+Unless your Maker so made you as to reflect them in your spirit?"
+
+Æmilius said nothing.
+
+"Have you not in you a sense of the sacredness of Truth, and a loathing
+for falsehood? How comes that, unless implanted in you by your Creator,
+who is Truth itself?"
+
+"But we know not--in what is of supreme interest to us--in matters connected
+with the gods, what our duties, what our destiny--what is the Truth."
+
+"Young man," said the bishop, "thou art a seeker after the kingdom of
+Heaven. One word further, and I must leave thee. Granted there are these
+scintillations within--"
+
+"Yes, I grant this."
+
+"And that they be reflections of verities above."
+
+"Possibly."
+
+"Whence else come they?"
+
+Æmilius did not, could not answer.
+
+"Then," said Castor, "is it not antecedently probable that the God who
+made man, and put into his nature this desire after truth, virtue,
+holiness, justice, aye, and this hunger after immortality, should reveal
+to man that without which man is unable to direct his life aright, attain
+to the perfection of his being, and look beyond death with confidence?"
+
+"If there were but such a revelation!"
+
+"I say--is it conceivable that the Creator should not make it?"
+
+"Thou givest me much food for thought," said the lawyer.
+
+"Digest it--looking at the reflection of the stars in the water--aye! and
+recall what is told by Aristotle of Xenophanes, how that casting his eyes
+upward at the immensity of heaven, he declared _The One_ is God. That
+conviction, at which the philosopher arrived at the summit of his
+research, is the starting point of the Christian child. Farewell. We shall
+meet again. I commend thee to Him who set the stars in heaven above, and
+the lights in thine own dim soul."
+
+Then the bishop sought a boat, and was rowed in the direction of the town.
+
+Æmilius remained by the lagoon.
+
+Words such as these he had heard were novel. The thoughts given him to
+meditate on were so deep and strange that he could not receive them at
+once.
+
+The night was now quite dark, and the stars shone with a brilliancy to
+which we are unaccustomed in the North, save on frosty winter nights.
+
+The Milky Way formed a sort of crescent to the north, and enveloped
+Cassiopeia's Chair in its nebulous light. To the west blazed Castor and
+Pollux, and the changing iridescent fire of Algol reflected its varying
+colors in the water.
+
+Æmilius looked up. What those points of light were, none could say. How
+was it that they maintained their order of rising and setting? None could
+answer. Who ruled the planets? That they obeyed a law, was obvious, but by
+whom was that law imposed?
+
+Æmilius paced quicker, with folded arms and bowed head, looking into the
+water. The heavens were an unsolved riddle. The earth also was a riddle,
+without interpretation. Man himself was an enigma, to which there was no
+solution. Was all in heaven, in earth, to remain thus locked up,
+unexplained?
+
+How was it that planets and constellations fulfilled the law imposed on
+them without deviation, and man knew not a law, lived in the midst of a
+cobweb of guesses, entangling himself in the meshes of vain speculations,
+and was not shown the commandment he must obey? Why had the Creator
+implanted in his soul such noble germs, if they were not to fructify--if
+only to languish for lack of light?
+
+Again he lifted his eyes to the starry vault, and repeated what had been
+said of Xenophanes, "Gazing on the immensity of heaven, he declared that
+the One was God." And then, immediately looking down into the depths of
+his own heart, he added: "And He is reflected here. Would that I knew
+Him."
+
+Yet how was he to attain the desired knowledge? On all sides were
+religious quacks offering their nostrums. What guarantee did Christianity
+offer, that it was other than the wild and empty speculations that
+swarmed, engaged and disappointed the minds of inquirers?
+
+Unconscious how time passed, Æmilius paced the bank. Then he stood still,
+looking dreamily over the calm water. A couple of months more and the air
+would be alive with fire-flies that would cluster on every reed, that
+would waver in dance above the surface of the lagoon, tens of thousands of
+drifting stars reflecting themselves in the water, and by their effulgence
+disturbing the light of the stars also there mirrored.
+
+Thinking of this, Æmilius laughed.
+
+"So is it," said he, "in the world of philosophic thought and religious
+aspiration. The air is full of fire-flies. They seem to be brilliant
+torch-bearers assuring us guidance, but they are only vile grubs, and they
+float above the festering pool that breeds malarial fevers. Where is the
+truth, where?"
+
+From the distant city sounded a hideous din, like the bellow of a gigantic
+bull.
+
+Æmilius laughed bitterly.
+
+"I know what that is, it is the voice of the god--so say the priestesses of
+Nemausus. It is heard at rare intervals. But the mason who made my baths
+at Ad Fines, explained it to me. He had been engaged on the temple and saw
+how a brazen instrument like a shell of many convolutions had been
+contrived in the walls and concealed, so that one woman's breath could
+sound it and produce such a bellow as would shake the city. Bah! one
+religion is like another, founded on impostures. What are the stars of
+heaven but fire-flies of a higher order, of superior flight? We follow
+them and stumble into the mire, and are engulfed in the slough."
+
+
+
+
+
+                                CHAPTER X
+
+                               LOCUTUS EST!
+
+
+Every house in Nemausus thrilled with life. Sleep was driven from the
+drowsiest heads. The tipsy were sobered at once. Those banqueting desisted
+from conversation. Music was hushed. Men rushed into the street. The
+beasts in the amphitheater, startled by the strange note, roared and
+howled. Slowly the chief magistrate rose, sent to summon an edile, and
+came forth. He was not quick of movement; it took him some time to resolve
+whether he or his brother magistrate was responsible for order; when he
+did issue forth, then he found the streets full, and that all men in them
+were talking excitedly.
+
+The god Nemausus, the _archegos_, the divine founder and ancestor had
+spoken. His voice was rarely heard. It was told that before the Cimbri and
+Teutones had swept over the province, he had shouted. That had been in
+ages past; of late he had been sparing in the exercise of his voice. He
+was said to have cried out at the great invasion of the Helvetii, that had
+been arrested by Julius Cæsar; again to have trumpeted at the outbreak of
+Civilis and Julius Sabinus, which, however, had never menaced Narbonese
+Gaul, though at the time the god had called the worst was anticipated. The
+last time he had been heard was at the revolt of Vindex that preceded the
+fall of Nero.
+
+Some young skeptics whispered: "By Hercules, the god has a brazen throat."
+
+"It is his hunting horn that peals to call attention. What he will say
+will be revealed to the priestess."
+
+"Or what the priestess wishes to have believed is his message."
+
+But this incredulous mood was exhibited by very few. None ventured openly
+to scoff.
+
+"The god hath spoken!" this was the cry through the streets and the forum.
+Every man asked his fellow what it signified. Some cried out that the
+prince--the divine Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla)--had been assassinated,
+just as he was about to start from Rome for Gaul. Others that the
+privileges of the city and colony were going to be abrogated. But one said
+to his fellow, "I augured ill when we heard that the god had been cheated
+of his due. No marvel he is out of humor, for Perpetua is esteemed the
+prettiest virgin in Nemausus."
+
+"I wonder that the rescue passed off without notice being taken of the
+affair by the magistrates."
+
+"Bah! it is the turn of the Petronius Alacinus now, and he will not bestir
+himself unnecessarily. So long as the public peace be not broken----"
+
+"But it was--there was a riot, a conflict."
+
+"A farcical fight with wind-bags. Not a man was hurt, not a drop of blood
+flowed. The god will not endure to be balked and his sacrifice made into a
+jest."
+
+"He is hoarse with rage."
+
+"What does it all mean?"
+
+Then said a stout man: "My good friend, it means that which always happens
+when the priesthood is alarmed and considers that its power is menaced--its
+credit is shaken. It will ask for blood."
+
+"There has been a great falling off of late in the worshipers of the gods
+and in attendance at the games."
+
+"This comes of the spread of the pestilent sect of the Christians. They
+are the enemies of the human race. They eat little children. The potter
+Fusius lost his son last week, aged six, and they say it was sacrificed by
+these sectaries, who stuck needles into it."
+
+"Bah! the body was found in the channel of the stream the child had fallen
+in."
+
+"I heard it was found half eaten," said a third.
+
+"Rats, rats," explained another standing by.
+
+"Well, these Christians refuse to venerate the images of the Augustus, and
+therefore are foes to the commonwealth. They should be rooted out."
+
+"You are right there. As to their religious notions--who cares about them?
+Let them adore what they will--onions like the Egyptians, stars like the
+Chaldeans, a sword like the Scythians--that is nothing to us; but when they
+refuse to swear by the Emperor and to offer sacrifice for the welfare of
+the empire then, I say, they are bad citizens, and should be sent to the
+lions."
+
+"The lions," laughed the stout man, "seem to respond to the voice, which
+sounded in their ears, 'Dinner for you, good beasts!' Well, may we have
+good sport at the games founded by Domitius Afer. I love to lie in bed
+when the _circius_ (mistral) howls and the snowflakes fly. Then one feels
+snug and enjoys the contrast. So in the amphitheater one realizes the
+blessedness of life when one looks on at wretches in the hug of the bear,
+or being mumbled by lions, or played with by panthers."
+
+Perhaps the only man whom the blast did not startle was Tarsius, the
+inebriated slave, who had been expelled the house of Baudillas, and who
+was engrossed only with his own wrongs, and who departed swearing that he
+excommunicated the Church, not the Church him. He muttered threats; he
+stood haranguing on his own virtues, his piety, his generosity of spirit;
+he recorded many acts of charity he had done. "And I--I to be turned out!
+They are a scurvy lot. Not worthy of me. I will start a sect of my own,
+see if I do not."
+
+Whilst reeling along, growling, boasting, confiding his wrongs to the
+walls on each side, he ran against Callipodius just as the words were in
+his mouth: "I am a better Christian than all of them. I don't affect
+sanctimoniousness in aspect, but I am sound, sound in my life--a plain,
+straight-walking man."
+
+"Are you so?" asked Callipodius. "Then I wish you would not festoon in
+such a manner as to lurch against me. You are a Christian. Hard times are
+coming for such as you."
+
+"Aye, aye! I am a Christian. I don't care who knows it. I'm not the man to
+lapse or buy a _libellus_,(5) though they have turned me out."
+
+Callipodius caught the fellow by the shoulder and shook him.
+
+"Man," said he. "Ah, a slave! I recognize you. You are of the family of
+Julius Largus Litomarus, the wool merchant. Come with me. The games are in
+a few days, and the director of the sports has been complaining that he
+wanted more prisoners to cast to the beasts. I have you in the nick of
+time. I heard you with these ears confess yourself to be a Christian, and
+the sole worthy one in the town. You are the man for us--plump and juicy,
+flushed with wine. By the heavenly twins, what a morsel you will make for
+the panthers! Come with me. If you resist I will summon the crowd, then
+perhaps they will elect to have you crucified. Come quietly, and it shall
+be panthers, not the cross. I will conduct you direct to the magistrate
+and denounce you."
+
+"I pray you! I beseech you! I was talking nonsense. I was enacting a part
+for the theater. I am no Christian; I was, but I have been turned out,
+excommunicated. My master and mistress believe, and just to please them
+and to escape stripes, and get a few favors such as are not granted to the
+others, I have--you understand." The slave winked.
+
+Beside Callipodius was a lad bearing a torch. He held it up and the flare
+fell over the face of the now sobered Tarsius.
+
+"Come with me, fellow," said Callipodius. "Nothing will save you but
+perfect obedience and compliance with what I direct. Hark! was not that
+the howl of the beasts. Mehercule! they snuff you already. My good friend
+Æmilius Lentulus Varo, the lawyer, will be your patron; a strong man. But
+you must answer my questions. Do you know the Lady Quincta and her
+daughter? Quincta is the widow of Harpinius Læto."
+
+"Aye, aye! the wench was fished out of the pond to-day."
+
+"That is right. Where are they, do you know their house?"
+
+"Yes, but they are not at home now."
+
+"Where are they then?"
+
+"Will you denounce them?" asked the slave nervously.
+
+"On the contrary. They are menaced. I seek to save them."
+
+"Oh! if that be all, I am your man. They are in the mansion of Baudillas,
+yonder--that is--but mum, I say! I must not speak. They kicked me out, but I
+am not ungenerous. I will denounce nobody. But if you want to save the
+ladies, I will help you with alacrity. They charged me with being
+drunk--not the ladies--the bishop did that--more shame to him. I but rinsed
+out my mouth with the Ambrussian. Every drop clear as amber. Ah, sir! in
+your cellar have you----"
+
+A rush of people up the street shouting, "The will of the god! the will of
+the god! It is being proclaimed in the forum."
+
+They swept round Callipodius and the slave, spinning them, as leaves are
+spun in a corner by an eddy of wind, then swept forward in the direction
+of the great square.
+
+"Come aside with me, fellow," said Callipodius, darting after the slave
+who was endeavoring to slink away. "What is your name? I know only your
+face marked by a scar."
+
+"Tarsius, at your service, sir!"
+
+"Good Tarsius, here is money, and I undertake to furnish you with a bottle
+of my best old Ambrussian for your private tipple, or to make merry
+therewith with your friends. Be assured, no harm is meant. The priests of
+Nemausus seek to recover possession of the lady Perpetua, and it is my aim
+to smuggle her away to a place of security. Do thou watch the door, and I
+will run and provide litters and porters. Do thou assure the ladies that
+the litters are sent to convey them in safety to where they will not be
+looked for; say thy master's house. I will answer for the rest. Hast thou
+access to them?"
+
+"Aye! I know the pass-word. And though I have been expelled, yet in the
+confusion and alarm I may be suffered again to enter."
+
+"Very excellent. Thou shalt have thy flask and an ample reward. Say that
+the litters are sent by thy master, Largus Litomarus."
+
+"Right, sir! I will do thy bidding."
+
+Then Callipodius hastened in the direction of the habitation of Æmilius.
+
+Meanwhile the forum filled with people, crowding on one another, all
+quivering with excitement. Above were the stars. Here and there below,
+torches. Presently the chief magistrate arrived with his lictors, and a
+maniple of soldiers to keep order and make a passage through the mob
+between the Temple of Nemausus and the forum.
+
+Few women were present. Such as were, belonged to the lowest of the
+people. But there were boys and men, old and young, slaves, artisans,
+freedmen, and citizens.
+
+Among the ignorant and the native population the old Paganism had a strong
+hold, and their interests attached a certain number of all classes to it.
+But the popular Paganism was not a religion affecting the lives by the
+exercise of moral control. It was devoid of any ethic code. It consisted
+in a system of sacrifice to obtain a good journey, to ward off fevers, to
+recover bad debts, to banish blight and mildew. The superstitious lived in
+terror lest by some ill-considered act, by some neglect, they should incur
+the wrath of the jealous gods and bring catastrophe on themselves or their
+town. They were easily excited by alarm, and were unreasonable in their
+selfish fervor.
+
+Ever in anticipation of some disaster, an earthquake, a murrain, fire or
+pestilence, they were ready to do whatever they were commanded, so as to
+avert danger from themselves. The words of the Apostle to the Hebrews
+describing the Gentiles as being through fear of death all their lifetime
+subject to bondage, were very true. The ignorant and superstitious may be
+said to have existed on the verge of a panic, always in terror lest their
+gods should hurt them, and cringing to them in abject deprecation of evil.
+It was this fear for themselves and their substance that rendered them
+cruel.
+
+The procession came from the temple. Torches were borne aloft, a long
+wavering line of lurid fire, and vessels were carried in which danced
+lambent flames that threw out odoriferous fumes.
+
+First came the priests; they walked with their heads bowed and their arms
+folded across their breasts, and with fillets of wool around their heads.
+Then followed the priestesses shrouded in sable mantles over their white
+tunics. All moved in silence. A hush fell on the multitude. Nothing was
+heard in the stillness save the tramp of feet in rhythm. When the
+procession had reached the forum, the chief priestess ascended the
+rostrum, and the flambeau-bearers ranged themselves in a half-circle
+below. She was a tall, splendidly formed woman, with profuse dark hair, an
+ivory complexion, flashing black eyes under heavy brows.
+
+Suddenly she raised her arms and extended them, letting the black pall
+drop from her shoulders, and reveal her in a woven silver robe, like a web
+of moonlight, and with white bare arms. In her right she bore an ivory
+silver-bound wand with mistletoe bound about it, every berry of
+translucent stone.
+
+Then amidst dead silence she cried: "The god hath spoken, he who founded
+this city, from whom are sprung its ancient patrician families, who
+supplieth you with crystal water from his urn. The holy one demands that
+she who hath been taken from him be surrendered to him again, and that
+punishment be inflicted on the Christians who have desecrated his statue.
+If this, his command, be not fulfilled, then will he withhold the waters,
+and deliver over the elect city to be a desolation, the haunt of the
+lizard and the owl and bat. To the lions with the Christians! _Locutus est
+Divus Archegos!_"
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XI
+
+                                PALANQUINS
+
+
+With the exception of the bishop, Marcianus, and a few others, all
+assembled at the Agape were struck with the liveliest terror. They
+entertained no doubt but that the sound that shook the walls was provoked
+by the outrage on the image of the tutelary god, following on the rescue
+of the victim allotted to him.
+
+The pagan inhabitants of Nemausus were roused to exasperation. The
+priesthood would employ every available means to work this resentment to a
+paroxysm, and the result would be riot and murder, perhaps an organized
+persecution.
+
+It must be understood that although the Roman State recognized other
+religions than the established paganism, as that of the Jews, and allowed
+the votaries freedom of worship, yet Christianity was not of this number.
+It was in itself illegal, and any magistrate, at his option, in any place
+and at any time, might put the laws in force against the members of the
+Church. Not only so, but any envious, bigoted, or resentful person might
+compel a magistrate to take cognizance of the presence of Christians in
+the district under his jurisdiction, and require him to capitally convict
+those brought before him.
+
+The system in the Roman Commonwealth for the maintenance of order was that
+every man was empowered to act as spy upon and delate another. Any man
+might accuse his neighbor, his brother, before the court; and if he could
+prove his charge, the magistrate had no option--he must sentence.
+Consequently the Christians depended for their safety on the favor of
+their fellow-citizens, on their own abstention from giving offence.
+
+The sole protection against false accusations in the Roman Commonwealth
+lay in the penalties to which an accuser was subject should he fail to
+establish his charge. But as on conviction a portion of the estate of the
+guilty person was handed over to the accuser, there was an inducement to
+delation.
+
+Under the Julian and Claudian Cæsars the system had worked terribly. An
+entire class of men made denunciation their trade. They grew rich on the
+spoils of their victims, they spared none, and the judges themselves lived
+in fear of them. The evil became so intolerable that measures were taken
+to accentuate the risk to the accusers. If the Christians were not oftener
+denounced, the reason was that in the event of one lapsing, and through
+terror or pain abjuring Christ, then immediately the tables were turned,
+and the accuser was placed in danger of his life.
+
+When an Emperor issued an edict against the Christians he enacted no new
+law; he merely required that the existing laws should be put in force
+against them, and all risk to delators was removed in that no delation was
+exacted. On such an occasion every citizen and householder was required to
+appear before the court and offer a few grains of incense on an altar to
+the genius of the empire or of the prince. Should any one refuse to do
+this, then he was convicted of high treason and delivered over to the
+executioner to be either tortured or put to death off-hand. When the
+magistrate deemed it important to obtain a recantation, then he had
+recourse to the rack, iron hooks, torches, thumbscrews as means of forcing
+the prisoner through pain to abjure Christ.
+
+The Christians in Nemausus had lived in complete tranquillity. There had
+been no persecution. They had multiplied.
+
+The peace enjoyed by the Church had been to it of a mixed advantage. Many
+had been included whose conversion was due to questionable motives. Some
+had joined through sincere conviction; more from conviction seasoned with
+expectation of advantage. The poor had soon learned that a very rich and
+abundant stream of charity flowed in the Church, that in it the sick and
+feeble were cared for and their necessities were supplied, whereas in the
+established paganism no regard was paid to the needy and suffering. Among
+the higher classes there were adherents who attached themselves to the
+Church rather because they disbelieved in heathenism than that they held
+to the Gospel. Some accepted the truth with the head, but their hearts
+remained untouched.
+
+None had given freer expression to his conviction that there were weak-
+kneed and unworthy members than Marcianus the deacon. He had remonstrated
+with the bishop, he had scolded, repelled, but without effect. And now he
+had taken a daring step, the consequence of which would be that the
+members of the community would indeed be put to the test whether they were
+for Christ or Mammon. The conviction that a time of trial was come broke
+on the community like a thundercloud, and produced a panic. Many doubted
+their constancy, all shrank from being brought to a trial of their faith.
+The congregation in the house of Baudillas, when it had recovered from the
+first shock, resolved itself into groups agitated by various passions.
+Some launched into recrimination against Marcianus, who had brought them
+into jeopardy; some consulted in whispers how to escape the danger; a few
+fell into complete stupefaction of mind, unable to decide on any course.
+Others, again, abandoned themselves to despair and shrieked forth
+hysterical lamentations. Some crowded around Castor, clung to his garments
+and entreated him to save them. Others endeavored to escape from a place
+and association that would compromise them, by the back entrance to the
+servants' portion of the house.
+
+A few, a very few maintained their composure, and extending their arms
+fell to prayer.
+
+Baudillas hurried from one party to another uttering words of reassurance,
+but his face was blanched, his voice quivered, and he was obviously
+employing formal expressions that conveyed no strength to his own heart.
+Marcianus, with folded arms, looked at him scornfully, and as he passed,
+said, "The bishop should not have ordained such an unstable and quaking
+being as thyself to serve in the sacred ministry."
+
+"Ah, brother," sighed Baudillas, "it is with me as with Peter. The spirit
+truly is willing, but the flesh is weak."
+
+"That was spoken of him," answered Marcianus, "before Pentecost and the
+outpouring of the spirit of strength. Such timidity, such feebleness are
+unworthy of a Christian."
+
+"Pray for me that my faith fail not," said Baudillas, and passed on. By
+action he deadened his fears. Now came in Pedo, the old servant of the
+house, who had been sent forth to reconnoiter. His report was not
+reassuring. The mob was sweeping through the streets, and insisting on
+every household producing an image at its doors and placing a light before
+it. There were fuglemen who directed the crowd, which had been divided
+into bands to perambulate every division of the town and make inquisition
+of every house. The mob had begun by breaking into such dwellings as were
+not protected by an image, and wrecking them. But after one or two of such
+acts of violence, the magistrates had interfered, and although they
+suffered the people to assemble before the houses and to clamor for the
+production of an image and a light, yet they sent _vigiles_ (_i.e._, the
+watch) to guard such dwellings as remained undecorated. When the master of
+the house refused obedience to the mandate of the mob, then an officer
+ordered him to open the door, and he summoned him to appear next day in
+court and there do sacrifice. By this means the mob was satisfied and
+passed on without violence.
+
+But as the crowd marched down the streets it arrested every man and woman
+that was encountered, and insisted on their swearing by the gods and
+blaspheming Christ.
+
+Castor ordered the congregation to depart by twos and by threes, to take
+side alleys, and to avoid the main thoroughfares. This was possible, as
+the _posticum_, a back door, communicated with a mean street that had the
+city wall for one side.
+
+"My sons and daughters in Christ," said the bishop with composure,
+"remember that greater is He that is with us than those that be against
+us. When the servant of Elisha feared, then the Lord opened his eyes that
+he might behold the angels with chariots and horses of fire prepared to
+defend His servant. Avoid danger, but if it cannot be avoided stand firm.
+Remember His words, 'He that confesseth me before men, him will I also
+confess before my Father which is in heaven.'"
+
+As soon as all had departed, but not till then, did Castor leave.
+Marcianus turned with a sneer to his fellow-deacon and said, "Fly! you
+have full license from the bishop; and he sets the example himself."
+
+"I must tarry in my own house," answered Baudillas. "I have the ladies
+Quincta and Perpetua under my protection. They cannot return to their home
+until they be fetched."
+
+"So! they lean on a broken reed such as thee!"
+
+"Alack! they have none other to trust to."
+
+"The mob is descending our street," cried the slave, Pedo, limping in.
+
+"What are we to do?" asked Quincta trembling. "If they discover me and my
+daughter here we are undone. They will tear her from my arms."
+
+The deacon Baudillas clasped his hands to his head. Then his slave said:
+"Master, Tarsius is at the door with litters and bearers. He saith he hath
+been sent for the lady Perpetua."
+
+"And for me?" asked Quincta eagerly.
+
+"And for thee also, lady. It is said that guards are observing thy house
+and that, therefore, thy slaves cannot venture hither. Therefore, so says
+Tarsius, his master, the wool-merchant, Julius Largus, hath sent his
+litters and porters."
+
+"But his house will be visited!"
+
+"The bearers have instructions as to what shall be done."
+
+"This is strange," said Quincta. "I did not suppose that Largus Litomarus
+would have shown such consideration. We are not acquainted--indeed we
+belong to different classes----"
+
+"Yet are ye one in Christ," said the deacon. "Call in Tarsius, he shall
+explain the matter. But let him be speedy or the rabble will be on us."
+
+"They are at the head of the street," said the slave, "and visit the door
+of Terentius Cominius."
+
+"He believes."
+
+"And he has set out a figure of the Good Shepherd before his door with a
+lamp. The crowd regards it as a Mercury and has cheered and gone on to the
+next door."
+
+Tarsius, thoroughly recovered from his intoxication, was now admitted. He
+looked none in the face, and stumbled through his tale. Julius Largus
+Litomarus had bidden him offer his litters; there were curtains closing
+them, and his servants would convey the ladies to a place of security.
+
+Quincta was too frightened, too impatient to be off, to question the man,
+nor was the deacon more nice in inquiry, for he also was in a condition of
+nervous unrest.
+
+The shouts of the mob could be heard.
+
+"I do not wholly trust this man," said Baudillas. "He was expelled for
+misconduct. Yet, what can we do? Time presses! Hark!--in a brief space the
+rabble will be here. Next house is a common lodging and will not detain
+them. Would that Marcianus had remained. He could have advised us. Madam,
+act as you think best."
+
+"The mob is on the move," said Pedo. "They have been satisfied at the
+house of Dulcius Liber, and now Septimus Philadelphus is bringing out
+half-a-dozen gods. Master--there is not a moment to be lost."
+
+"Let us fly--quick!" gasped Quincta.
+
+She plucked her daughter's arm, and fairly dragged her along the passage
+out of the house.
+
+In the street they saw a flare. The rabble, held in control by some
+directing spirit, was furnished with torches. It was roaring outside a
+house, impatient because no statue was produced, and proceeded to throw
+stones and batter the door.
+
+"That house is empty," whispered Pedo. "The master was bankrupt and
+everything sold. There is not a person in it."
+
+Quincta mounted the _lectica_ or palanquin that was offered, without
+looking whether her daughter were safe, and allowed the bearers, nay urged
+them, to start at a trot.
+
+Tarsius remained behind. He handed Perpetua into the second closed litter,
+then gave the word, and ran beside it, holding the curtains together with
+one hand.
+
+Baudillas trembling for himself was now left alone.
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XII
+
+                                   REUS
+
+
+"Master!" said the old slave, moving uneasily on his stiff joint, before
+the even more nervously agitated master, "Master, there is the freedwoman
+Glyceria below, who comes in charing. She has brought an idol of Tarranus
+under her cloak, and offers to set that with a lamp before the door. She
+is not a believer, she worships devils, but is a good soul and would save
+us. She awaits your permission."
+
+The deacon was profoundly moved.
+
+"It must not be! It may not be! I--I am a deacon of the Church. This is
+known to be a Christian household. The Church is in my house, and here the
+divine mysteries are celebrated. If she had not asked my leave, and
+had--if--but no, I cannot sanction this. God strengthen me, I am distracted
+and weak." The slave remained. He expected that his master in the end
+would yield.
+
+"And yet," stammered Baudillas, "He hath compassion on the infirm and
+feeble. He forgave Peter. May He not pardon me if--? Glyceria is a heathen
+woman. She does not belong to my family. I did not propose this. I am not
+responsible for her acts. But no--it would be a betrayal of the truth, a
+dishonor to the Church. He that confesseth me before men--no, no, Pedo, it
+may not be."
+
+"And now it is too late," said the slave. "They are at the door."
+
+Blows resounded through the house, and the roar of voices from the street
+surged up over the roof, and poured in through the opening over the
+_impluvium_. It was as though a mighty sea were thundering against the
+house and the waves curled over it and plunged in through the gap above
+the court.
+
+"You must open, Pedo. I will run upstairs for a moment and compose myself.
+Then--if it must be--but do not suffer the rabble to enter. If a prefect be
+there, or his underling and soldiers, let them keep the door. Say I shall
+be down directly. Yet stay--is the _posticum_ available for escape?"
+
+"Sir--the mob have detailed a party to go to the backs of the houses and
+watch every way of exit."
+
+"Then it is God's will that I be taken. I cannot help myself. I am glad I
+said No to the offer of Glyceria."
+
+The deacon ascended a flight of limestone steps to the upper story. The
+slabs were worn and cracked, and had not been repaired owing to his
+poverty. He entered a room that looked out on the street, and went to the
+window.
+
+The street above his doorway was dense with people, below it was
+completely empty. Torches threw up a glare illumining the white façades of
+the houses. He saw a sea of heads below. He heard the growl of voices
+breaking into a foam of coarse laughter. Curses uttered against the
+Christians, blasphemies against Christ, words of foulness, threats, brutal
+jests, formed the matter of the hubbub below. A man bearing a white wand
+with a sprig of artificial mistletoe at the end, gave directions to the
+people where to go, where to stop, what to do. He was the head of the
+branch of the guild of the Cultores Nemausi for that portion of the town.
+
+Someone in the mob lifting his face, looked up and saw the deacon at the
+window, and at once shouted, "There! there he is! Baudillas Macer, come
+down, sacrilegious one! That is he who carried the maiden away."
+
+Then rose hoots and yells, and a boy putting his hands together and
+blowing produced an unearthly scream.
+
+"He is one of them! He is a ringleader! He has an ass's head in the house
+to which he sacrifices our little ones. He it was who stuck needles into
+the child of the potter Fusius, and then gnawed off the cheeks and
+fingers. He can inform where is the daughter of Aulus Harpinius who was
+snatched from the basin of the god. Let us avenge on him the great
+sacrilege that has been committed. It was he who struck off the head of
+the god."
+
+Then one flung a stone that crashed into the room, and had not Baudillas
+drawn back, it would have struck and thrown him down stunned.
+
+"Let the house be ransacked!" yelled the mob. "We will seek in it for the
+bones of the murdered children. Break open the door if he will not
+unfasten. Bring a ladder, we will enter by the windows. Someone ascend to
+the roof and drop into the _atrium_."
+
+Then ensued a rush against the valves, but they were too solid to yield;
+and the bars held them firm, run as they were into their sockets in the
+solid wall.
+
+The slave Pedo now knocked on the inside. This was the signal that he was
+about to open.
+
+The soldiers drew up across the entrance, and when the door was opened,
+suffered none to enter the house save the deputy of the prefect with four
+of his police, and some of the leaders of the Cultores Nemausi. And now a
+strange calm fell on the hitherto troubled spirit of Baudillas. He was
+aware that no effort he could make would enable him to escape. His knees,
+indeed, shook under him as he went to the stairs to descend, and
+forgetting that the tenth step was broken, he stumbled at it and was
+nearly precipitated to the bottom. Yet all wavering, all hesitation in his
+mind was at an end.
+
+He saw the men in the court running about, calling to each other, peering
+into every room, cubicle, and closet; one called that the cellar was the
+place in which the infamous rites of the Christians were performed and
+that there would be found amphoræ filled with human blood. Then one
+shouted that in the _tablinum_ there was naught save a small table.
+Immediately after a howl rose from those who had penetrated to the
+_triclinium_, and next moment they came rushing forth in such excitement
+that they dragged down the curtain that hung before the door and entangled
+their feet in it. One, not staying to disengage himself, held up his hands
+and exhibited the broken head of the statue, that had been brought there
+by Marcianus, and by him left on the floor.
+
+"It is he who has done it! The sacrilegious one! The defacer of the holy
+image!" howled the men, and fell upon the deacon with their fists. Some
+plucked at his hair; one spat in his face. Others kicked him, and tripping
+him up, cast him his length on the ground, where they would have beaten
+and trampled the life out of him, had not the deputy of the ædile
+interfered, rescued him from the hands of his assailants and thrust him
+into a chamber at the side of the hall, saying: "He shall be brought
+before the magistrate. It is not for you to take into your hands the
+execution of criminals untried and uncondemned."
+
+Then one of the officers of the club ran to the doorway of the house, and
+cried: "Citizens of Nemausus, hearken. The author of the egregious impiety
+has been discovered. It is Cneius Baudillas Macer, who belongs to an
+ancient, though decayed, family of this town. He who should have been the
+last to dishonor the divine founder has raised his parricidal hand against
+him. He stands convicted. The head of the god has been found in the house;
+it is that recently broken off from the statue by the baths. Eheu! Eheu!
+Woe be to the city, unless this indignity be purged away."
+
+A yell of indignation rose as an answer.
+
+The slave Pedo was suffered to enter the bedroom, on the floor of which
+lay his master bruised and with his face bleeding; for some of his front
+teeth had been broken and his lips were cut.
+
+"Oh master! dear master! What is to be done?" asked the faithful creature,
+sobbing in his distress.
+
+"I wonder greatly, Pedo, how I have endured so much. My fear is lest in
+the end I fall away. I enjoin you--there is naught else you can do for
+me--seek the bishop, and ask that the prayers of the Church may go up to
+the Throne of Grace for me. I am feeble and frail. I was a frightened shy
+lad in old times. If I were to fall, it would be a shame to the Church of
+God in this town, this Church that has so many more worthy than myself in
+it."
+
+"Can I bring thee aught, master? Water and a towel?"
+
+"Nay, nothing, Pedo! Do as I bid. It is all that I now desire."
+
+The soldiers entered, raised the deacon, and made him walk between them. A
+man was placed in front, another behind to protect him against the people.
+As Baudillas was conveyed down the _ostium_, the passage to the door, he
+could see faces glowering in at him; he heard angry voices howling at him;
+an involuntary shrinking came over him, but he was irresistibly drawn
+forward by the soldiers. On being thrust through the doorway before all,
+then a great roar broke forth, fists and sticks were shaken at him, but
+none ventured to cast stones lest the soldiers should be struck.
+
+One portion of the mob now detached itself from the main body, so as to
+follow and surround the deacon and assure itself that he did not escape
+before he was consigned to the prison.
+
+The city of Nemausus, capital of the Volcæ Arecomici, though included
+geographically in the province of Narbonese Gaul, was in fact an
+independent republic, not subject to the proconsul, but under Roman
+suzerainty. With twenty-four _comæ_ or townships under it, it governed
+itself by popular election, and enjoyed the _lex Italica_. This little
+republic was free from land tax, and it was governed by four
+functionaries, the Quatuor-viri, two of whom looked after the finances,
+and two, like the _duum-viri_ elsewhere, were for the purpose of
+maintaining order, and the criminal jurisdiction was in their hands. Their
+title in full was _duum viri juri dicendo_, and they were annually elected
+by the senate. Their function was much that in small of the Roman consuls,
+and they were sometimes in joke entitled consuls. They presided over the
+senate and had the government of the town and state in their hands during
+their tenure of office. On leaving their office they petitioned for and
+received the right to ride horses, and were accounted knights. They wore
+the dignified _præ texta_, and were attended by two lictors.
+
+Baudillas walked between his escort. He was in a dazed condition. The
+noise, the execrations cast at him, the flashing of the torches on the
+helmets and breastplates of the guard, the glittering eyes and teeth of
+the faces peering at him, the pain from the contusions he had received
+combined to bewilder him. In the darkness and confusion of his brain, but
+one thought remained permanent and burnt like a brilliant light, his
+belief in Christ, and one desire occupied his soul, to be true to his
+faith. He was too distracted to pray. He could not rally his senses nor
+fix his ideas, but the yearning of his humble soul rose up, like the steam
+from a new turned glebe in the sun of a spring morning.
+
+In times of persecution certain strong spirits had rushed to confession
+and martyrdom in an intoxication of zeal, such as Baudillas could not
+understand. He did not think of winning the crown of martyrdom, but he
+trembled lest he should prove a castaway.
+
+Thrust forward, dragged along, now stumbling, then righted by the soldiers
+sustaining him, Baudillas was conveyed to the forum and to the basilica
+where the magistrate was seated.
+
+On account of the disturbance, the Duum-vir--we will so term him though he
+was actually one of the Quatuor-viri--he whose turn it was to maintain
+order and administer justice, had taken his place in the court, so as to
+be able to consign to custody such as were brought in by the guard on
+suspicion of being implicated in the outrage; he was there as well for the
+purpose of being ready to take measures promptly should the mob become
+unmanageable. So long as it was under control, he did not object to its
+action, but he had no thought of letting it get the upper hand. Rioters,
+like children, have a liking for fire, and if they were suffered to apply
+their torches to the houses of Christians might produce a general
+conflagration.
+
+Although the magistrates were chosen by popular election, it was not those
+who constituted the rabble who had votes, and had to be humored, but the
+citizen householders, who viewed the upheaval of the masses with jealous
+suspicion.
+
+That the proceedings should be conducted in an orderly manner,
+instructions had been issued that no arrest was to be made without there
+being someone forthcoming to act as accuser, and the soldiers were
+enjoined to protect whosoever was menaced against whom no one was prepared
+to formulate a charge which he would sustain in court.
+
+In the case of Baudillas there would be no difficulty. The man--he was the
+treasurer of the guild--who had found the mutilated head was ready to
+appear against him.
+
+The court into which the deacon was brought rapidly filled with a crowd,
+directly he had been placed in what we should now call the dock. Then the
+accuser stood up and gave his name. The magistrate accepted the
+accusation. Whereupon the accuser made oath that he acted from no private
+motive of hostility to the accused, and that he was not bribed by a third
+person to delate him. This done, he proceeded to narrate how he had
+entered the house of Baudillas, surnamed Macer, who was generally believed
+to be a minister of the sect of the Christians; how that in searching the
+house he had lighted on a mutilated head on the pavement of the
+_triclinium_. He further stated that he well knew the statue of the god
+Nemausus that stood by the fountain which supplied the lower town, and
+that he was firmly convinced that the head which he now produced had
+belonged to the statue, which statue had that very night been wantonly and
+impiously defaced. He therefore concluded that the owner of the house,
+Baudillas Macer, was either directly or indirectly guilty of the act of
+sacrilege, and he demanded his punishment in accordance with the law.
+
+This sufficed as preliminary.
+
+Baudillas was now _reus_, and as such was ordered to be conveyed to
+prison, there to be confined until the morning, when the interrogation
+would take place.
+
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XIII
+
+                                 AD FINES
+
+
+Perpetua was carried along at a swinging trot in the closed litter, till
+the end of the street had been reached, and then, after a corner had been
+turned, the bearers relaxed their pace. It was too dark for her to see
+what were the buildings past which she was taken, even had she withdrawn
+the curtains that shut in the litter; but to withdraw these curtains would
+have required her to exert some force, as they were held together in the
+grasp of Tarsius, running and striding at the side. But, indeed, she did
+not suppose it necessary to observe the direction in which she was being
+conveyed. She had accepted in good faith the assurance that the _lectica_
+had been sent by the rich Christian wool merchant, Largus Litomarus, and
+had acquiesced in her mother's readiness to accept the offer, without a
+shadow of suspicion.
+
+God had delivered her from a watery death, and she regarded the gift as
+one to be respected; her life thus granted her was not to be wilfully
+thrown away or unnecessarily jeopardized. Unless she escaped from the
+house of the deacon, she would fall into the hands of the rabble, and this
+was a prospect more terrifying than any other. If called upon again to
+witness a good confession, she would do so, God helping her, but she was
+glad to be spared the ordeal.
+
+It was not till the porters halted, and knocked at a door, and she had
+descended from the palanquin, that some suspicion crossed her mind that
+all was not right. She looked about her, and inquired for her mother. Then
+one whom she had not hitherto noticed drew nigh, bowing, and said: "Lady,
+your youthful and still beautiful mother will be here presently. The
+slaves who carry her have gone about another way so as to divert attention
+from your priceless self, should any of the mob have set off in pursuit."
+
+The tone of the address surprised the girl. Her mother was not young, and
+although in her eyes that mother was lovely, yet Quincta was not usually
+approached with expressions of admiration for her beauty.
+
+Again Perpetua accepted what was said, as the reason given was plausible,
+and entered the house. The first thing she observed, by the torch glare,
+was a statue of Apollo. She was surprised, and inquired, hesitatingly, "Is
+this the house of Julius Largus Litomarus?"
+
+"Admirable is your ladyship's perspicuity. Even in the dark those more-
+than-Argus eyes discern the truth. The worthy citizen Largus belongs to
+the sect. He is menaced as well as other excellent citizens by the
+unreasoning and irrational vulgar. He has therefore instructed that you
+should be conveyed to the dwelling of a friend, only deploring that it
+should be unworthy of your presence."
+
+"May I ask your name, sir?"
+
+"Septimus Callipodius, at your service."
+
+"I do not remember to have heard the name, but," she added with courtesy,
+"that is due to my ignorance as a young girl, or to my defective memory."
+
+"It is a name that has not deserved to be harbored in the treasury of such
+a mind."
+
+The girl was uneasy. The fulsome compliment and the obsequious bow of the
+speaker were not merely repugnant to her good taste, but filled her with
+vague misgivings. It was true that exaggeration and flattery in address
+were common enough at the period, but not among Christians, who abstained
+from such extravagance. The mode of speaking adopted by Callipodius
+stamped him as not being one of the faithful.
+
+"I will summon a female slave to attend on your ladyship," said he; "and
+she will conduct you to the women's apartments. Ask for whatever you
+desire. The entire contents of the house are at your disposal."
+
+"I prefer to remain here in the court till my mother shall arrive."
+
+"Alas! adorable lady! it is possible that you may have to endure her
+absence for some time. Owing to the disturbed condition of the streets, it
+is to be feared that her carriage has been stopped; it is not unlikely
+that she may have been compelled to take refuge elsewhere; but, under no
+circumstances short of being absolutely prevented from joining you, will
+she fail to meet you to-morrow in the villa Ad Fines."
+
+"Whose villa?"
+
+"The villa to which, for security, you and your mother the Lady Quincta
+are to be conveyed till the disturbances are over, and the excitement in
+men's minds has abated. By Hercules! one might say that the drama of the
+quest of Proserpine by Ceres were being rehearsed, were it not that the
+daughter is seeking the mother as well as the latter her incomparable
+child."
+
+"I cannot go to Ad Fines without her."
+
+"Lady, in all humility, as unworthy to advise you in anything, I would
+venture to suggest that your safety depends on accepting the means of
+escape that are offered. The high priestess has declared that nothing will
+satisfy the incensed god but that you should be surrendered to her, and
+what mercy you would be likely to encounter at her hands, after what has
+taken place, your penetrating mind will readily perceive. Such being the
+case, I dare recommend that you snatch at the opportunity offered, fly the
+city and hide in the villa of a friend who will die rather than surrender
+you. None will suspect that you are there."
+
+"What friend? Largus Litomarus is scarcely to be termed an acquaintance of
+my mother."
+
+"Danger draws close all generous ties," said Callipodius.
+
+"But my mother?"
+
+"Your mother, gifted with vast prudence, may have judged that her presence
+along with you would increase the danger to yourself. I do not say so. But
+it may so happen that her absence at this moment may be due to her good
+judgment. On the other hand, it may also have chanced, as I already
+intimated, that her litter has been stayed, and she has been constrained
+to sacrifice."
+
+"That she will never do."
+
+"In that case, I shudder at the consequences. But why suppose the worst?
+She has been delayed. And now, lady, suffer me to withdraw--it is an
+eclipse of my light to be beyond the radiance of your eyes. I depart,
+however, animated by the conviction, and winging my steps, that I go to
+perform your dearest wish--to obtain information relative to your lady
+mother, and to learn when and where she will rejoin you. Be ready to start
+at dawn--as soon as the city gates are opened, and that will be in another
+hour."
+
+Then Perpetua resigned herself to the female servants, who led her into
+the inner and more private portions of the house, reached by means of a
+passage called "the Jaws" (_fauces_).
+
+Perpetua was aware that she was in a difficult situation, one in which she
+was unable to know how she was placed, and from which she could not
+extricate herself. She was young and inexperienced, and, on the whole,
+inclined to trust what she was told.
+
+In pagan Rome, it was not customary for girls to be allowed the liberty
+that alone could give them self-confidence. Perhaps the condition of that
+evil world was such that this would not have been possible. When the
+foulest vice flaunted in public without a blush, when even religion
+demoralized, then a Roman parent held that the only security for the
+innocence of a daughter lay in keeping her closely guarded from every
+corrupting sight and sound. She was separated from her brothers and from
+all men; she associated with her mother and with female slaves only. She
+was hardly allowed in the street or road, except in a litter with curtains
+close drawn, unless it were at some religious festival or public ceremony,
+when she was attended by her relatives and not allowed out of their sight.
+
+This was due not merely to the fact that evil was rampant, but also to the
+conviction in the hearts of parents that innocence could be preserved only
+by ignorance. They were unable to supply a child with any moral principle,
+to give it any law for the government of life, which would plant the best
+guardian of virtue within, in the heart.
+
+Augustus, knowing of no divine law, elevated sentimental admiration for
+the simplicity of the ancients into a principle--only to discover that it
+was inadequate to bear the strain put on it; that the young failed to
+comprehend why they should control their passions and deny themselves
+pleasures out of antiquarian pedantry. Marcus Aurelius had sought in
+philosophy a law that would keep life pure and noble, but his son Commodus
+cast philosophy to the winds as a bubble blown by the breath of man, and
+became a monster of vice. Public opinion was an unstable guide. It did
+worse than fluctuate, it sank. Much was tolerated under the Empire that
+was abhorrent to the conscience under the Republic. It allowed to-day what
+it had condemned yesterday. It was a nose of wax molded by the vicious
+governing classes, accommodated to their license.
+
+Although a Christian maiden was supplied with that which the most exalted
+philosophy could not furnish--a revealed moral code, descending from the
+Creator of man for the governance of man, yet Christian parents could not
+expose their children to contamination of mind by allowing them the wide
+freedom given at this day to an English or American girl. Moreover, the
+customs of social life had to be complied with, and could not be broken
+through. Christian girls were accordingly still under some restraint, were
+kept dependent on their parents, and were not allowed those opportunities
+for free action which alone develop individuality and give independence of
+character. Nevertheless, in times of persecution, when many of these
+maidens thus closely watched were brought to the proof of their faith,
+they proved as strong as men--so mighty was the grace of God, so stubborn
+was faith.
+
+Although Perpetua was greatly exhausted by the strain to which she had
+been exposed during the day, she could not rest when left to herself in a
+quiet room, so alarmed was she at the absence of her mother.
+
+An hour passed, then a second. Finally, steps sounded in the corridor
+before her chamber, and she knew that she must rise from the couch on
+which she had cast herself and continue her flight.
+
+A slave presented herself to inform Perpetua that Callipodius had returned
+with the tidings that her mother was unable at once to rejoin her, that
+she was well and safe, and had preceded her to Ad Fines; that she desired
+her daughter to follow with the utmost expedition, and that she was
+impatient to embrace her. The slave woman added that the streets were now
+quiet, the city gates were open, and that the litter was at the door in
+readiness.
+
+"I will follow you with all speed. Leave me to myself."
+
+Then, when the slave had withdrawn, Perpetua hastily arranged her ruffled
+hair, extended her arms, and turning to the east, invoked the protection
+of the God who had promised, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
+
+On descending to the _atrium_, Perpetua knelt by the water-tank and bathed
+her face and neck. Then she mounted the litter that awaited her outside
+the house. The bearers at once started at a run, nor did they desist till
+they had passed through the city gate on the road that led to the mountain
+range of the Cebennæ. This was no military way, but it led into the
+pleasant country where the citizens of Nemausus and some of the rich
+merchants of Narbo had their summer quarters.
+
+The gray dawn had appeared. Market people from the country were coming
+into the town with their produce in baskets and carts.
+
+The bearers jogged along till the road ascended with sufficient rapidity
+to make them short of breath. The morning was cold. A streak of light lay
+in the east, and the wind blew fresh from the same quarter. The colorless
+white dawn overflowed the plain of the Rhodanus, thickly strewn with
+olives, whose gray foliage was much of the same tint as the sky overhead.
+To the south and southeast the olive plantations were broken by tracts of
+water, some permanent lagoons, others due to recent inundations. To the
+right, straight as an arrow, white as snow, ran the high road from Italy
+to Spain, that crossed the Rhodanus at Ugernum, the modern Beaucaire, and
+came from Italy by Tegulata, the scene of the victory of Marius over the
+Cimbri, and by Aquæ Sextiæ and its hot springs.
+
+The journey was long; the light grew. Presently the sun rose and flushed
+all with light and heat. The chill that had penetrated to the marrow of
+the drowsy girl gave way. She had refused food before starting; now, when
+the bearers halted at a little wayside tavern for refreshment and rest,
+she accepted some cakes and spiced wine from the fresh open-faced hostess
+with kindly eyes and a pleasant smile, and felt her spirits revive. Was
+she not to rejoin her dear mother? Had she not escaped with her life from
+extreme peril? Was she not going to a place where she would be free from
+pursuit?
+
+She continued her journey with a less anxious heart. The scenery improved,
+the heights were wooded, there were juniper bushes, here and there tufts
+of pale helebore.
+
+Then the litter was borne on to a terrace before a mass of limestone crag
+and forest that rose in the rear. A slave came to the side of the
+palanquin and drew back the curtain. Perpetua saw a bright pretty villa,
+with pillars before it forming a peristyle. On the terrace was a fountain
+plashing in a basin.
+
+"Lady," said the slave, "this is Ad Fines. The master salutes you humbly,
+and requests that you will enter."
+
+"The master? What master?"
+
+"Æmilius Lentulus Varo."
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XIV
+
+                           TO THE LOWEST DEPTH
+
+
+Baudillas found that there were already many in the prison, who had been
+swept together by the mob and the soldiers, either for having refused to
+produce an image, or for having declined to sacrifice. To his no small
+surprise he saw among them the wool-merchant Julius Largus Litomarus. The
+crowd had surrounded his house, and as he had not complied with their
+demands, they had sent him to the duumvir,(6) Petronius Atacinus, who had
+consigned him to prison till, at his leisure, he could investigate the
+charge against him.
+
+The two magistrates who sat in court and gave sentence were Petronius
+Atacinus and Vibius Fuscianus, and they took it in turns to sit, each
+being the acting magistrate for a month, when he was succeeded by the
+other. Atacinus was a humane man, easy-going, related to the best families
+in the place, and acquainted with such as he was not allied with by blood
+or marriage. His position, in face of the commotion relative to the
+mutilation of the image and the rescue of Perpetua, was not an easy one.
+
+In Rome and in every other important city, the _flamen_, or chief priest,
+occupied a post of considerable importance and influence. He sat in the
+seat at the games and in the theater next to the chief magistrates, and
+took precedence over every other officer in the town. Nemausus had such a
+_flamen_, and he was not only the official religious head in the place,
+but was also the _flamen Augustalis_, the pontiff connected with the
+worship of Augustus, which had become the predominant cult in Narbonese
+Gaul, and also head of the College of the Augustals, that comprised the
+very powerful body of freedmen. The priestess of the divine founder and
+giver of the fountain shared his dignity and authority. Between them they
+could exercise a preponderating power in the town, and it would be in vain
+for Petronius Atacinus, however easy-going he might be, and disinclined to
+shed blood, to pass over what had been done without affording satisfaction
+to the pagan party moved and held together by the priesthood.
+
+Yet the duumvir judged that it would be eminently unadvisable for him to
+proceed with too great severity, and to punish too many persons.
+Christianity had many adherents in the place, and some of these belonged
+to the noble, others to the mercantile, families. The general wish among
+the well-to-do was that there should be no systematic persecution. An
+inquisitorial search after Christians would break up families, rouse angry
+passions, and, above all, disturb business.
+
+Petronius had already resolved on his course. He had used every sort of
+evasion that could be practiced. He had knowingly abstained from enjoining
+on the keepers of the city gates the requisition of a passport from such
+as left the town. The more who fled and concealed themselves, the better
+pleased would he be.
+
+Nevertheless, he had no thought of allowing the mutilation of the statue
+to pass unpunished, and he was resolved on satisfying the priesthood by
+restoring Perpetua to them. If he were obliged to put any to death, he
+would shed the blood only of such as were inconsiderable and friendless.
+
+There was another element that entered into the matter, and which helped
+to render Atacinus inclined to leniency. The Cæsar at the time was M.
+Aurelius Antoninus, commonly known as Caracalla. He had been brought up
+from infancy by a Christian nurse, and was thought to harbor a lurking
+regard for the members of the religion of Christ. At any rate, he
+displayed no intolerance towards those who professed it. He was, himself,
+a ferocious tyrant, as capricious as he was cruel. He had murdered his
+brother Geta in a fit of jealousy, and his conscience, tortured by
+remorse, drove him to seek relief by prying into the mysteries of strange
+religions.
+
+The duumvir Atacinus was alive to the inclinations and the temper of the
+prince, and was the more afraid of offending him by persecution of the
+Christians, as the Emperor was about shortly to visit Gaul, and might even
+pass through Nemausus.
+
+If in such a condition of affairs the Christians were exposed to danger,
+it may well be inferred that, where it was less favorable, their situation
+was surrounded with danger. They were at all times liable to fall victims
+to popular tumults, occasioned sometimes by panic produced by an
+earthquake, by resentment at an accidental conflagration which the vulgar
+insisted on referring to the Christians, sometimes by distress at the
+breaking out of an epidemic. On such occasions the unreasoning rabble
+clamored that the gods were incensed at the spread of the new atheism, and
+that the Christians must be cast to the lions.
+
+When Baudillas saw the wool merchant in the prison, he went to him
+immediately. Litomarus was sitting disconsolately on a stone bench with
+his back against the prison wall.
+
+"I did not go to the Agape," said he; "I was afraid to do so. But I might
+as well. The people bellowed under my windows like bulls of Bashan."
+
+"And you did not exhibit an image?"
+
+"No, I could not do that. Then the _viatores_ of the ædiles took me in
+charge. I was hustled about, and was dragged off here. My wife fell down
+in a faint. I do not think she will recover the shock. She has been in a
+weak condition ever since the death of our little Cordula. We loved that
+child. We were wrapped up in her. Marcianus said that we made of the
+little creature an earthly idol, and that it was right she should be taken
+away. I do not know. She had such winning ways. One could not help loving
+her. She made such droll remarks, and screwed up her little eyes----"
+
+"But before you were arrested, you thought considerately of Perpetua and
+her mother Quincta."
+
+"I do not understand to what you refer."
+
+"To the sending of litters for them."
+
+"I sent no litters."
+
+"Your slave Tarsius came to my house to announce that you had been pleased
+to remember the ladies there taking refuge, and that you had placed your
+two palanquins at their disposal."
+
+"Tarsius said this?"
+
+"Even Tarsius."
+
+"Tarsius is a slippery rascal. He was very fond of our little Cordula, and
+was wont to carry her on his shoulder, so we have liked him because of
+that. Nevertheless, he is--well, not trustworthy."
+
+"May God avert that a trap has been laid to ensnare the virgin and her
+mother. Tarsius was expelled the Church for inebriety."
+
+"I know nothing about the palanquins. I have but one. After the death of
+little Cordula, I did not care to keep a second. I always carry about with
+me a lock cut from her head after death. It is like floss silk."
+
+The wool merchant was too greatly absorbed in his own troubles to give
+attention to the matter that had been broached by the deacon. Baudillas
+withdrew to another part of the prison in serious concern.
+
+When day broke, Litomarus was released. His brother was a pagan and had
+easily satisfied the magistrate. This brother was in the firm, and
+traveled for it, buying fleeces from the shepherds on the limestone
+plateaux of Niger and Larsacus. He had been away the day before, but on
+his return in the morning, on learning that Julius was arrested, he spoke
+with the duumvir, presented him with a ripe ewe's milk cheese just brought
+by him from Larsacus, and obtained the discharge of Julius without further
+difficulty.
+
+Baudillas remained in prison that morning, and it was not till the
+afternoon that he was conducted into court. By this time the duumvir was
+tired and irritable. The _flamen_ had arrived and had spoken with
+Atacinus, and complained that no example had been made, that the
+Christians were being released, and that, unless some sharp punishments
+were administered, the people, incensed at the leniency that had been
+exhibited, would break out in uproar again. Petronius Atacinus, angry,
+tired out, hungry and peevish, at once sent for the deacon.
+
+The head of the god had been found in his house, and he had been seen
+conveying the rescued virgin from the fountain, and must certainly know
+where she was concealed.
+
+It was noticeable that nothing had been said about the punishing of
+Æmilius. Even the god, as interpreted by the priestess, had made no demand
+that he should be dealt with; in fact, had not mentioned him. The duumvir
+perfectly understood this reticence. Æmilius Lentulus belonged to a good
+family in the upper town, and to that most powerful and dreaded of all
+professions--the law. Even the divine founder shrank from attacking a
+member of the long robe, and a citizen of the upper town.
+
+When Baudillas appeared in court, the magistrate demanded an explanation
+of the fact of the broken head being found in his house, and further asked
+of him where Perpetua was concealed.
+
+Baudillas would offer no explanation on the first head; he could not do so
+without incriminating his brother in the ministry. He denied that he had
+committed the act of violence, but not that he knew who had perpetrated
+the outrage. As to where Perpetua was, that he could not say, because he
+did not know. His profession of ignorance was not believed. He was
+threatened with torture, but in vain. Thereupon the duumvir sentenced him
+to be committed to the _robur_, and consigned to the lowest depth thereof,
+there to remain till such time as he chose to reveal the required
+information.
+
+Then Petronius Atacinus turned and looked at the _flamen_ with a smile,
+and the latter responded with a well-satisfied nod.
+
+A Roman prison consisted of several parts, and the degree of severity
+exercised was marked by the portion of the _carcer_ to which the prisoner
+was consigned. Roman law knew nothing of imprisonment for a term as a
+punishment. The _carcer_ was employed either as a place for temporary
+detention till trial, or else it was one for execution.
+
+The most tolerable portion of the jail consisted of the outer court, with
+its cells, and a hall for shelter in cold and wet weather. This was in
+fact the common _atrium_ on an enlarged scale and without its luxuries.
+But there was another part of the prison entitled the _robur_, after the
+Tullian prison at Rome. This consisted of one large vaulted chamber devoid
+of window, accessible only by the door, through the interstices of which
+alone light and air could enter. It derived its name from oak beams
+planted against the walls, to which were attached chains, by means of
+which prisoners were fastened to them. In the center of the floor was a
+round hole, with or without a low breastwork, and this hole communicated
+with an abyss sometimes given the Greek name of _barathrum_, with conical
+dome, the opening being in the center. This pit was deep in mire. Into it
+flowed the sewage of the prison, and the outfall was secured by a
+grating.(7) The title of _barathrum_ sometimes accorded to this lower
+portion of the dungeon was derived from a swamp near Athens, in which
+certain malefactors were smothered.
+
+When Jeremiah was accused before King Zedekiah of inciting the people to
+come to terms with the Chaldeans, he was put into such a place as this.
+
+"Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah, that
+was in the court of the prison, and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And
+in the dungeon there was no water, but mire; so Jeremiah sunk in the
+mire."
+
+When Paul and Silas were at Philippi, they were imprisoned in the superior
+portion of the _robur_, where were the stocks, whereas the other prisoners
+were in the outer portion, that was more comfortable, and where they had
+some freedom of movement.
+
+Baudillas turned gray with horror at the thought of being consigned to the
+awful abyss. His courage failed him and he lost power in his knees, so
+that he was unable to sustain himself, and the jailer's assistants were
+constrained to carry him.
+
+As he was conveyed through the outer court, those who were awaiting their
+trial crowded around him, to clasp and kiss his hand, to encourage him to
+play the man for Christ, and to salute him reverently as a martyr.
+
+"I am no martyr, good brethren," said the deacon in a feeble voice. "I am
+not called to suffer for the faith, I have not been asked to sacrifice; I
+am to be thrown down into the pit, because I cannot reveal what I do not
+know."
+
+One man, turning to his fellow, said, in a low tone: "If I were given my
+choice, I would die by fire rather than linger in the pit."
+
+"Will he die there of starvation?" asked another, "or will he smother in
+the mire?"
+
+"If he be sentenced to be retained there till he tells what he does not
+know, he must die there, it matters not how."
+
+"God deliver me from such a trial of my faith! I might win the crown
+through the sword, but a passage to everlasting life through that foul
+abyss--that would be past endurance."
+
+As Baudillas was supported through the doorway into the inner prison, he
+turned his head and looked at the brilliant sky above the yard wall. Then
+the door was shut and barred behind him. All, however, was not absolutely
+dark, for there was a gap, through which two fingers could be thrust,
+under the door, and the sun lay on the threshold and sent a faint
+reflection through the chamber.
+
+Nevertheless, on entering from the glare of the sun, it seemed to
+Baudillas at first as though he were plunged in darkness, and it was not
+for some moments that he could distinguish the ledge that surrounded the
+well-like opening. The jailer now proceeded to strike a light, and after
+some trouble and curses, as he grazed his knuckles, he succeeded in
+kindling a lamp. He now produced a rope, and made a loop at one end about
+a short crosspole.
+
+"Sit astride on that," said he curtly.
+
+Baudillas complied, and with his hands grasped the cord.
+
+Then slowly he was lowered into the pitch blackness below. Down--down--down
+he descended, till he plashed into the mire.
+
+The jailer holding the lamp, looked down and called to him to release the
+rope. The deacon obeyed. There he stood, looking up, watching the dancing
+pole as it mounted, then saw the spark of the lamp withdrawn; heard the
+retreating steps of the jailer, then a clash like thunder. The door of the
+_robur_ was shut. He was alone at the bottom of this fetid abyss.
+
+Then he said, and tears coursed down his cheeks as he said it: "Thou hast
+laid me in the lowest pit--in the place of darkness and in the grave."
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XV
+
+                          "REVEALED UNTO BABES"
+
+
+On account of the death in the family of the timber merchant, Æmilius left
+the house and took a room and engaged attendance in the cottage of a
+cordwainer a little way off. The house was clean, and the good woman was
+able to cook him a meal not drowned in oil nor rank with garlic.
+
+He was uneasy because Callipodius did not return, and he obtained no
+tidings concerning Perpetua. The image of this maiden, with a face of
+transparent purity, out of which shone the radiance of a beautiful soul,
+haunted his imagination and fluttered his heart. He walked by the side of
+the flooded tract of land, noticed that the water was falling, and looked,
+at every turn he took, in the direction of Nemausus, expecting the arrival
+of his client, but always in vain.
+
+He did at length see a boat approach, towards evening, and he paced the
+little landing-place with quick strides till it ran up against it; and
+then only, to his disappointment, did he see that Callipodius was not
+there. Castor disembarked.
+
+On the strength of his slight acquaintance Æmilius greeted the bishop. The
+suspense was become unendurable. He asked to be granted a few words in
+private. To this Castor gladly consented.
+
+He, the head of the Christian community, had remained unmolested. He
+belonged to a senatorial family in the town, and had relations among the
+most important officials. The duumvir would undoubtedly leave him alone
+unless absolutely obliged to lay hands on him. Nemausus was divided into
+two towns, the Upper and the Lower, each with its own water-supply, its
+own baths, and each distinct in social composition.
+
+The lower town, the old Gallic city, that venerated the hero-founder of
+the same name as the town, was occupied by the old Volcian population and
+by a vast number of emancipated slaves of every nationality, many engaged
+in trade and very rich. These freedmen were fused into one "order," as it
+was termed, that of the _Liberti_.
+
+The upper town contained the finest houses, and was inhabited by the Roman
+colonists, by some descendants of the first Phocean settlers, and by such
+of the old Gaulish nobility as had most completely identified themselves
+with their conquerors. These had retained their estates and had enriched
+themselves by taking Government contracts.
+
+Such scions of the old Gaulish houses had become fused by marriage and
+community of interest with the families of the first colonists, and they
+affected contempt for the pure-blooded old aristocracy who had sunk into
+poverty and insignificance in their decayed mansions in Lower Nemausus.
+
+Of late years, slowly yet surely, the freedmen who had amassed wealth had
+begun to invade superior Nemausus, had built themselves houses of greater
+magnificence and maintained an ostentatious splendor that excited the envy
+and provoked the resentment of the old senatorial and knightly citizens.
+
+The great natural fountain supplied the lower town with water, but was
+situated at too low a level for the convenience of the gentry of Upper
+Nemausus, who had therefore conveyed the spring water of Ura from a great
+distance by tunneling mountains and bridging valleys, and thus had
+furnished themselves with an unfailing supply of the liquid as necessary
+to a Roman as was the air he breathed. Thus rendered independent of the
+natural fountain at the foot of the rocks in Lower Nemausus, those living
+in the higher town affected the cult of the nymph Ura, and spoke
+disparagingly of the god of the old town; whereas the inferior part of the
+city clung tenaciously to the divine Nemausus, whose basin, full of
+unfailing water, was presented to their very lips and had not to be
+brought to them from a distance by the engineering skill of men and at a
+great cost.
+
+Devotion to the god of the fountain in Lower Nemausus was confined
+entirely to the inhabitants of the old town, and was actually a relic of
+the old Volcian religion before the advent of the colonists, Greek and
+Roman. It had maintained itself and its barbarous sacrifice intact,
+undisturbed.
+
+No victim was exacted from a family of superior Nemausus. The contribution
+was drawn from among the families of the native nobility, and it was on
+this account solely that the continuance of the septennial sacrifice had
+been tolerated.
+
+Already, however, the priesthood was becoming aware that a strong feeling
+was present that was averse to it. The bulk of the well-to-do population
+had no traditional reverence for the Gaulish founder-god, and many openly
+spoke of the devotion of a virgin to death as a rite that deserved to be
+abolished.
+
+From the cordwainer Æmilius had heard of the mutilation of the statue and
+of the commotion it had caused. This, he conjectured, accounted for the
+delay of Callipodius. It had interfered with his action; he had been
+unable to learn what had become of the damsel, and was waiting till he had
+definite tidings to bring before he returned. Æmilius was indignant at the
+wanton act of injury done to a beautiful work of art that decorated one of
+the loveliest natural scenes in the world. But this indignation was
+rendered acute by personal feeling. The disturbance caused by the rescue
+of the virgin might easily have been allayed; not so one provoked by such
+an act of sacrilege as the defacing of the image of the divine founder.
+This would exasperate passions and vastly enhance the danger to Perpetua
+and make her escape more difficult.
+
+As Æmilius walked up from the jetty with the bishop, he inquired of him
+how matters stood with the Christians in the town and received a general
+answer. This did not satisfy the young lawyer, and, as the color suffused
+his face, he asked particularly after Perpetua, daughter of the deceased
+Harpinius Læto.
+
+The bishop turned and fixed his searching eyes on the young man.
+
+"Why make you this inquiry?" he asked.
+
+"Surely," answered Æmilius, "I may be allowed to feel interest in one whom
+I was the means of rescuing from death. In sooth, I am vastly concerned to
+learn that she is safe. It were indeed untoward if she fell once more into
+the hands of the priesthood or into those of the populace. The ignorant
+would grip as hard as the interested."
+
+"She is not in the power of either," answered Castor. "But where she is,
+that God knows, not I. Her mother is distracted, but we trust the maiden
+has found a refuge among the brethren, and for her security is kept
+closely concealed. The fewer who know where she is the better will it be,
+lest torture be employed to extort the secret. The Lady Quincta believes
+what we have cause to hope and consider probable. This is certain: if she
+had been discovered and given up to the magistrate the fact would be known
+at once to all in the place."
+
+"To break the image of the god was a wicked and a wanton act," said
+Æmilius irritably. "Is such conduct part of your religion?"
+
+"The act was that of a rash and hot-headed member of our body. It was
+contrary to my will, done without my knowledge, and opposed to the
+teaching of our holy fathers, who have ever dissuaded from such acts. But
+in all bodies of men there are hot-heads and impulsive spirits that will
+not endure control."
+
+"Your own teaching is at fault," said Æmilius peevishly. "You denounce the
+gods, and yet express regret if one of you put your doctrine in practice."
+
+"If images were ornaments only," said the bishop, "then they would be
+endurable; but when they receive adoration, when libations are poured at
+their feet, then we forbid our brethren to take part in such homage, for
+it is idolatry, a giving to wood and stone the worship due to God alone.
+But we do not approve of insult offered to any man's religion. No," said
+Castor emphatically; "Christianity is not another name for brutality, and
+that is brutality which insults the religious sentiment of the people, who
+may be ignorant but are sincere."
+
+They had reached the rope-walk. The cordwainer was absent.
+
+"Let us take a turn," said the bishop; and then he halted and smiled and
+extended his palm to a little child that ran up to him and put its hand
+within his with innocent confidence.
+
+"This," said Castor, "is the son of the timber merchant." Then to the boy:
+"Little man, walk with us, but do not interrupt our talk. Speak only when
+spoken to." He again addressed the lawyer: "My friend, if I may so call
+thee, thou art vastly distressed at the mutilation of the image. Why so?"
+
+"Because it is a work of art, and that particular statue was the finest
+example of the sculpture of a native artist. It was a gift to his native
+town of the god Marcus Antoninus (the Emperor Antoninus Pius)."
+
+"Sir," said Castor, "you are in the right to be incensed. Now tell me
+this. If the thought of the destruction of a statue made by man and the
+gift of a Cæsar rouse indignation in your mind, should you not be more
+moved to see the destruction of living men, as in the shows of the
+arena--the slaughter of men, the work of God's hands?"
+
+"That is for our entertainment," said Æmilius, yet with hesitation in his
+voice.
+
+"Does that condone the act of the mutilator of the image, that he did it
+out of sport, to amuse a few atheists and the vulgar? See you how from his
+mother's womb the child has been nurtured, how his limbs have grown in
+suppleness and grace and strength; how his intelligence has developed, how
+his faculties have expanded. Who made the babe that has become a man? Who
+protected him from infancy? Who builds up this little tenement of an
+immortal and bright spirit?" He led forward and indicated the child of
+Flavillus. "Was it not God? And for a holiday pastime you send men into
+the arena to be lacerated by wild beasts or butchered by gladiators! Do
+you not suppose that God, the maker of man, must be incensed at this
+wanton destruction of His fairest creation?"
+
+"What you say applies to the tree we fell, to the ox and the sheep we
+slaughter."
+
+"Not so," answered the bishop. "The tree is essential to man. Without it
+he cannot build himself a house nor construct a ship. The use of the tree
+is essential to his progress from barbarism. Nay, even in barbarism he
+requires it to serve him as fuel, and to employ timber demands the fall of
+the tree. As to the beast, man is so constituted by his Creator that he
+needs animal food. Therefore is he justified in slaying beasts for his
+nourishment."
+
+"According to your teaching death sentences are condemned, as also are
+wars."
+
+"Not so. The criminal may forfeit his right to a life which he is given to
+enjoy upon condition that he conduce to the welfare of his fellows. If,
+instead thereof, he be a scourge to mankind, he loses his rights. As to
+the matter of war: we must guard the civilization we have built up by
+centuries of hard labor and study after improvement. We must protect our
+frontiers against the incursions of the barbarians. Unless they be rolled
+back, they will overwhelm us. Self-preservation is an instinct lodged in
+every breast, justifying man in defending his life and his acquisitions."
+
+"Your philosophy is humane."
+
+"It is not a philosophy. It is a revelation."
+
+"In what consists the difference?"
+
+"A philosophy is a groping upwards. A revelation is a light falling from
+above. A philosophy is reached only after the intellect is ripe and
+experienced, attained to when man's mind is fully developed. A revelation
+comes to the child as his mind and conscience are opening and shows him
+his way. Here, little one! stand on that _cippus_ and answer me."
+
+Castor took the child in his arms and lifted him to a marble pedestal.
+
+"Little child," said he, "answer me a few simple questions. Who made you?"
+
+"God," answered the boy readily.
+
+"And why did He make you?"
+
+"To love and serve Him."
+
+"And how can you serve Him?"
+
+"By loving all men."
+
+"What did the Great Master say was the law by which we are to direct our
+lives?"
+
+"'He that loveth God, let him love his brother also.'"
+
+"Little child, what is after death?"
+
+"Eternity."
+
+"And in eternity where will men be?"
+
+"Those that have done good shall be called to life everlasting, and those
+that have done evil will be cast forth into darkness, where is weeping and
+gnashing of teeth."
+
+The bishop took the child from the pedestal, and set him again on the
+ground.
+
+Then, with a smile on his face, he said to Æmilius, "Do we desire to know
+our way _after_ we have erred or _before_ we start? What was hidden from
+the wise and prudent is revealed unto babes. Where philosophy ends, there
+our religion begins."
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XVI
+
+                         DOUBTS AND DIFFICULTIES
+
+
+Æmilius paced the rope-walk in deep thought. He did not speak during
+several turns, and the bishop respected his meditation and kept silence as
+well.
+
+Presently the young man burst forth with: "This is fairly put, plausible
+and attractive doctrine. But what we lawyers demand is evidence. When was
+the revelation made? In the reign of the god Tiberius? That was two
+centuries ago. What proof is there that this be not a cleverly elaborated
+philosophy--as you say, a groping upwards--pretending to be, and showing off
+itself as, a lightening downwards?"
+
+"The evidence is manifold," answered Castor. "In the first place, the
+sayings and the acts of the Divine Revealer were recorded by evangelists
+who lived at the time, knew Him, heard Him, or were with those who had
+daily companied with Him."
+
+"Of what value is such evidence when we cannot put the men who gave it in
+the witness-box and cross-question them? I do not say that their evidence
+is naught, but that it is disputable."
+
+"There is other evidence, ever-living, ever-present."
+
+"What is that?"
+
+"Your own reason and conscience. You, Æmilius Lentulus, have these
+witnesses in yourself. He who made you seated a conscience in your soul to
+show you that there is such a thing as a law of right and wrong, though,
+as far as you know, unwritten. Directly I spoke to you of the _sin_ of
+murdering men to make pastime, your color changed; you _knew_ that I was
+right. Your conscience assented to my words."
+
+"I allow that."
+
+"My friend, let me go further. When your mind is not obscured by passion
+or warped by prejudice, then you perceive that there is a sphere of
+holiness, of virtue, of purity, to which men have not yet attained, and
+which, for all you see, is unattainable situated as you are, but one into
+which, if man could mount, then he would be something nobler than even the
+poets have conceived. You have flashes of summer lightning in your dark
+sky. You reject the monstrous fables of the gods as inconsistent with what
+your reason and conscience tell you comport with divinity. Has any of your
+gods manifested himself and left such a record of his appearance as is
+fairly certain? If he appeared, or was fabled to have appeared, did he
+tell men anything about the nature of God, His will, and the destiny of
+man? A revelation must be in agreement with the highest aspirations of
+man. It must be such as will regulate his life, and conduce to his
+perfection and the advantage of the community. It must be such as will
+supply him with a motive for rejecting what is base, but pleasing to his
+coarse nature, and striving after that which is according to the luminous
+ideal that floats before him. Now the Christian revelation answers these
+conditions, and is therefore probably true. It supplies man with a reason
+why he should contend against all that is gross in his nature; should be
+gentle, courteous, kindly, merciful, pure. It does more. It assures him
+that the Creator made man in order that he might strive after this ideal,
+and in so doing attain to serenity and happiness. No other religion that I
+know of makes such claims; no other professes to have been revealed to man
+as the law of his being by Him who made man. No other is so completely in
+accordance on the one hand with what we conceive is in agreement with the
+nature of God, and on the other so completely accords with our highest
+aspirations."
+
+"I can say nothing to that. I do not know it."
+
+"Yes, you do know it. The babe declared it; gave you the marrow and kernel
+of the gospel: Love God and man."
+
+"To fear God is what I can understand; but to love Him is more than I can
+compass."
+
+"Because you do not know God."
+
+"I do not, indeed."
+
+"God is love."
+
+"A charming sentiment; a rhetorical flourish. What evidence can you adduce
+that God is love?"
+
+"Creation."
+
+"The earth is full of suffering; violence prevails; wrong overmasters
+right. There is more of misery than of happiness, saving only to the rich
+and noble; they are at any rate supposed to be exempt, but, by Hercules,
+they seem to me to be sick of pleasure, and every delight gluts and leaves
+a bad taste in the mouth."
+
+"That is true; but why is there all this wretchedness? Because the world
+is trying to get along without God. Look!" The bishop stooped and took up
+a green-backed beetle. "If I cast this insect into the water it will
+suffer and die. If I fling it into the fire it will writhe and perish in
+agony. Neither water nor fire is the element for which it was created--in
+which to exist and be happy. The divine law is the atmosphere in which man
+is made to live. Because there is deflection from that, and man seeks
+other ends than that for which he was made, therefore comes wretchedness.
+The law of God is the law man must know, and knowing, pursue to be
+perfectly happy and to become a perfect being."
+
+"Now I have you!" exclaimed Æmilius, with a laugh. "There are no men more
+wretched than Christians who possess, and, I presume, keep this law. They
+abstain from our merry-makings, from the spectacles; they are liable to
+torture and to death."
+
+"We abstain from nothing that is wholesome and partaken in moderation; but
+from drunkenness, surfeiting, and what is repugnant to the clean mind. As
+to the persecution we suffer, the powers of evil rebel against God, and
+stir up bad men to resist the truth. But let me say something further--if I
+do not weary you."
+
+"Not at all; you astonish me too much to weary me."
+
+"You are dropped suddenly--cast up by the sea on a strange shore. You find
+yourself where you have never been before. You know not where to go--how to
+conduct yourself among the natives; what fruits you may eat as wholesome,
+and must reject as poisonous. You do not know what course to pursue to
+reach your home, and fear at every step to get further from it. You cry
+out for a chart to show you where you are, and in what direction you
+should direct your steps. Every child born into this world is in a like
+predicament. It wants a chart, and to know its bearings. This is not the
+case with any animal. Every bird, fish, beast, knows what to do to fulfill
+the objects of its existence. Man alone does not. He has aspirations,
+glimmerings, a law of nature traced, but not filled in. He has lived by
+that natural law--you live under it, and you experience its inadequacy.
+That is why your conscience, all mankind, with inarticulate longing
+desires something further. Now I ask you, as I did once before, is it
+conceivable that the Creator of man, who put in man's heart that
+aspiration, that longing to know the law of his being, without which his
+life is but a miserable shipwreck--is it conceivable that He should
+withhold from him the chart by which he can find his way?"
+
+"You have given me food for thought. Yet, my doubts still remain."
+
+"I cannot give you faith. That lightens down from above. It is the gift of
+God. Follow the law of your conscience and He may grant it you. I cannot
+say when or how, and what means he may employ--but if you are sincere and
+not a trifler with the truth--He will not deny it you. But see--here comes
+some one who desires to speak with you."
+
+Æmilius looked in the direction indicated, and saw Callipodius coming up
+from the water-side, waving his hand to him. So engrossed had he been in
+conversation with Castor, that he had not observed the arrival of a boat
+at the landing-place.
+
+At once the young lawyer sped to meet his client, manifesting the utmost
+impatience.
+
+"What tidings--what news?" was his breathless question.
+
+"As good as may be," answered Callipodius. "The gods work to fulfill thy
+desire. It is as if thou wert a constraining destiny, or as though it were
+a pleasure to them to satisfy the wishes of their favorite."
+
+"I pray, lay aside this flattery, and speak plain words."
+
+"Resplendent genius that thou art! thou needest no flattery any more than
+the sun requires burnishing."
+
+"Let me entreat--the news!"
+
+"In two words----"
+
+"Confine thyself to two words."
+
+"She is safe."
+
+"Where? How?"
+
+"Now must I relax my tongue. In two words I cannot satisfy thy eagerness."
+
+"Then, Body of Bacchus! go on in thine own fashion."
+
+"The account may be crushed into narrow compass. When I left your radiant
+presence, then I betook myself to the town and found the place in
+turmoil--the statue of the god had been broken, and the deity was braying
+like a washerwoman's jackass. The populace was roused and incensed by the
+outrage, and frightened by the voice of the god. All had quieted down
+previously, but this worked up the people to a condition of frantic rage
+and panic. I hurried about in quest of the Lady Perpetua; and as I learned
+that she had been conveyed from the pool by Baudillas Macer, I went into
+the part of the town where he lives; noble once, now slums. Then, lo! thy
+genius attending and befriending me, whom should I stumble against but a
+fellow named Tarsius, a slave of a wool merchant to whom I owe moneys,
+which I haven't yet paid. I knew the fellow from a gash he had received at
+one time across nose and cheek. He was drunk and angry because he had been
+expelled the Christian society which was holding its orgies. I warrant
+thee I frightened the poor wretch with promises of the little horse, the
+panthers, and the cross, till he became pliant and obliging. Then I wormed
+out of him all I required, and made him my tool to obtain possession of
+the pretty maid. I learned from him that the Lady Quincta and her daughter
+were at the house of Baudillas, afraid to return home because their door
+was observed by some of the Cultores Nemausi. Then I suborned the rascal
+to act a part for me. From thy house I dispatched two litters and
+carriers, and sent that tippling rogue with them to the dwelling of Macer,
+to say that he was commissioned by his master, Litomarus, to conduct them
+to his country house for their security. They walked into the snare like
+fieldfare after juniper berries. Then the porters conveyed the girl to thy
+house."
+
+"To my house!" Æmilius started.
+
+"Next, she was hurried off as soon as ever the gates were opened, to your
+villa at Ad Fines."
+
+"And she is there now, with her mother?"
+
+"With her mother! I know better than to do that. I bade the porters convey
+the old lady in her palanquin to the goose and truffle market and deposit
+her there. No need to be encumbered with her."
+
+"The Lady Quincta not with her daughter?"
+
+"You were not desirous for further acquaintance with the venerable widow,
+I presume."
+
+"But," said Æmilius, "this is a grave matter. You have offered, as from
+me, an insult most wounding to a young lady, and to a respectable matron."
+
+"Generous man! how was it possible for me to understand the niceties that
+trouble your perspicuous mind? But be at ease. Serious sickness demands
+strong medicines. Great dangers excuse bold measures. The priestess has
+demanded the restoration of the virgin. The _flamen Augustalis_ is backing
+her up. So are all the _Seviri_. The religious corporation feel touched in
+their credit and insist on the restitution. They will heap on fuel, and
+keep Nemausus in a boil. By no possibility could the damsel have remained
+hidden in the town. I saw that it was imperiously necessary for me to
+remove her. I could think of no other place into which to put her than Ad
+Fines. I managed the matter in admirable fashion; though it is I who say
+it. But really, by Jupiter Capitolinus, I believe that your genius
+attended me, and assisted in the execution of the design, which was
+carried out without a hitch."
+
+Æmilius knitted his arms behind his back, and took short turns, in great
+perturbation of mind.
+
+"By Hercules!" said he, "you have committed an actionable offense."
+
+"Of course, you look on it from a legal point of view," said Callipodius,
+a little nettled. "I tell you it was a matter of life or death."
+
+"I do not complain of your having conveyed the young lady to Ad Fines, but
+of your not having taken her mother there along with her. You have put me
+in a very awkward predicament."
+
+"How was I to judge that the old woman was to be deported as well?"
+
+"You might have judged that I would cut off my right hand rather than do
+aught that might cause people to speak lightly of Perpetua."
+
+The client shrugged his shoulders. "You seem to breed new scruples."
+
+"I thank you," said Æmilius, "that you have shown so good a will, and have
+been so successful in your enterprise. I am, perhaps, over hasty and
+exacting. I desired you to do a thing more perfectly than perhaps you were
+able to perform it. Leave me now. I must clear my mind and discover what
+is now to be done."
+
+"There is no pleasing some folk," said Callipodius moodily.
+
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVII
+
+                                   PEDO
+
+
+Baudillas had been lowered into the pit of the _robur_, and he sank in the
+slime half-way up his calves. He waded with extended arms, groping for
+something to which to cling. He knew not whether the bottom were even, or
+fell into deep holes, into which he might stumble. He knew not whether he
+were in a narrow well or in a spacious chamber.
+
+Cautiously, in obscurity, he groped, uncertain even whether he went
+straight or was describing a curve. But presently he touched the wall and
+immediately discovered a bench, and seated himself thereon. Then he drew
+up his feet out of the mire, and cast himself in a reclining position on
+the stone seat.
+
+He looked up, but could not distinguish the opening by which he had been
+let down into the horrible cess-pit. He was unable to judge to what depth
+he had been lowered, nor could he estimate the extent of the dungeon in
+which he was confined.
+
+The bench on which he reposed was slimy, the walls trickled with moisture,
+were unctuous, and draped with a fungous growth in long folds. The whole
+place was foul and cold.
+
+How long would his confinement last? Would food, pure water be lowered to
+him? Or was he condemned to waste away in this pit, from starvation, or in
+the delirium of famine to roll off from his shelf and smother in the mire?
+
+After a while his eyes became accustomed to the dark and sensitive to the
+smallest gradations in it; and then he became aware of a feeble glowworm
+light over the surface of the ooze at one point. Was it that some fungoid
+growth there was phosphorescent? Or was it that a ray of daylight
+penetrated there by some tortuous course?
+
+After long consideration it seemed to him probable that the light he
+distinguished might enter by a series of reflections through the outfall.
+He thought of examining the opening, but to do so he would be constrained
+to wade. He postponed the exploration till later. Of one thing he was
+confident, that although a little sickly light might be able to struggle
+into this horrible dungeon, yet no means of egress for the person would be
+left. Precautions against escape by this means would certainly have been
+taken.
+
+The time passed heavily. At times Baudillas sank into a condition of
+stupor, then was roused to thought again, again to lapse into a comatose
+condition. His cut lip was sore, his bruises ached. He had passed his
+tongue over his broken teeth till they had fretted his tongue raw.
+
+The feeble light at the surface became fainter, and this was finally
+extinguished. The day was certainly at an end. The sun had set in the
+west, an auroral glow hung over the place of its decline. Stars were
+beginning to twinkle; the syringa was pouring forth its fragrance, the
+flowering thorns their too heavy odor. Dew was falling gently and cool.
+
+The deacon raised his heart to God, and from this terrible pit his prayer
+mounted to heaven; a prayer not for deliverance from death, but for grace
+to endure the last trial, and if again put to the test, to withstand
+temptation. Then he recited the evening prayer of the Church, in Greek: "O
+God, who art without beginning and without end, the Maker of the world by
+Thy Christ, and the sustainer thereof, God and Father, Lord of the spirit,
+King of all things that have reason and life! Thou who hast made the day
+for the works of light, and the night for the refreshment of our
+infirmity, for the day is Thine, the night is Thine: Thou hast prepared
+the light and the sun--do Thou now, O Lord, lover of mankind, fountain of
+all good, mercifully accept this our evening thanksgiving. Thou who hast
+brought us through the length of the day, and hast conducted us to the
+threshold of night, preserve us by Thy Christ, afford us a peaceful
+evening, and a sinless night, and in the end everlasting life by Thy
+Christ, through whom be glory, honor and worship in the Holy Spirit, for
+ever, amen."(8) After this prayer Baudillas had been wont in the church to
+say, "Depart in peace!" and to dismiss the faithful. Now he said, "Into
+Thy hands I commend my spirit."
+
+Out of that fetid abyss and its horrible darkness rose the prayer to God,
+winged with faith, inspired by fervor sweet with humility, higher than the
+soaring lark, higher than the faint cloud that caught the last rays of the
+set sun, higher than the remotest star.
+
+Presently a confused sound from above reached the prisoner, and a spot of
+orange light fell on the water below. Then came a voice ringing hollow
+down the depth, and echoed by the walls, "Thy food!" A slender rope was
+sent down, to which was attached a basket that contained bread and a
+pitcher of water. Baudillas stepped into the ooze and took the loaf and
+the water vessel.
+
+Then the jailer called again: "To-morrow morning--if more be needed--I will
+bring a second supply. Send up the empty jar when I lower that which is
+full, if thou art in a condition to require it." He laughed, and the laugh
+resounded as a bellow in the vaulted chamber.
+
+Few were the words spoken, and they ungracious. Yet was the deacon
+sensible of pleasure at hearing even a jailer's voice breaking the
+dreadful silence. He waded back to his ledge, ate the dry bread and drank
+some of the water. Then he laid himself down again. Again the door
+clashed, sending thunders below, and once more he was alone.
+
+As his hand traveled along the wall it encountered a hard round knot. He
+drew his hand away precipitately, but then, moved by curiosity, groped for
+it again. Then he discovered that this seeming excrescence was a huge
+snail, there hibernating. He dislodged it, threw it from him and it
+plashed into the mire.
+
+Time dragged. Not a sound could be heard save the monotonous drip of some
+leak above. Baudillas counted the falling drops, then wearied of counting,
+and abandoned the self-imposed task.
+
+Now he heard a far-away rushing sound, then came a blast of hot vapor
+blowing in his face. He started into a sitting posture, and clung to his
+bench. In another moment he heard the roar of water that plunged from
+above; and a hot steam enveloped him. What was the signification of this?
+Was the pit to be flooded with scalding water and he drowned in it? In a
+moment he had found the explanation. The water was being let off from the
+public baths. There would be no more bathers this night. The tide of tepid
+water rose nearly level with the ledge on which he was crouching, and then
+ebbed away and rolled forth at the vent through which by day a pale halo
+had entered.
+
+Half suffocated, part stupefied by the warm vapor, Baudillas sank into a
+condition without thought, his eyes looking into the blackness above, his
+ears hearing without noting the dribble from the drain through which the
+flood had spurted. Presently he was roused by a sense of irritation in
+every nerve, and putting his hand to his face plucked away some hundred-
+legged creature, clammy and yet hard, that was creeping over him. It was
+some time before his tingling nerves recovered. Then gradually torpor
+stole over him, and he was perhaps unconscious for a couple of hours, when
+again he was roused by a sharp pain in his finger, and starting, he heard
+a splash, a rush and squeals. At once he knew that a swarm of rats had
+invaded the place. He had been bitten by one; his start had disconcerted
+the creatures momentarily, and they had scampered away.
+
+Baudillas remained motionless, save that he trembled; he was sick at
+heart. In this awful prison he dared not sleep, lest he should be devoured
+alive.
+
+Was this to be his end--to be kept awake by horror of the small foes till
+he could endure the tension no longer, and then sink down in dead
+weariness and blank indifference on his bench, and at once be assailed
+from all sides, to feel the teeth, perhaps to attempt an ineffectual
+battle, then to be overcome and to be picked to his bones?
+
+As he sat still, hardly breathing, he felt the rats again. They were
+rallying, some swimming, some swarming up on to the shelf. They rushed at
+him with the audacity given by hunger, with the confidence of experience,
+and the knowledge of their power when attacking in numbers.
+
+He cried out, beat with his hands, kicked out with his feet, swept his
+assailants off him by the score; yet such as could clung to his garment by
+their teeth and, not discomfited, quickly returned. To escape them he
+leaped into the mire; he plunged this way, then that; he returned to the
+wall; he attempted to scramble up it beyond their reach, but in vain.
+
+Wherever he went, they swam after him. He was unarmed, he could kill none
+of his assailants; if he could but decimate the horde it would be
+something. Then he remembered the pitcher and felt for that. By this time
+he had lost his bearings wholly. He knew not where he had left the vessel.
+But by creeping round the circumference of his prison, he must eventually
+reach the spot where he had previously been seated, and with the
+earthenware vessel he would defend himself as long as he was able.
+
+Whilst thus wading, he was aware of a cold draught blowing in his face,
+and he knew that he had reached the opening of the sewer that served as
+outfall. He stooped and touched stout iron bars forming part of a grating.
+He tested them, and assured himself that they were so thick set that it
+was not possible for him to thrust even his head between them.
+
+All at once the rats ceased to molest him. They had retreated, whither he
+could not guess, and he knew as little why. Possibly, they were shrewd
+enough to know that they had but to exercise patience, and he must
+inevitably fall a prey to their teeth.
+
+Almost immediately, however, he was aware of a little glow, like that of a
+spark, and of a sound of splashing. He was too frightened, too giddy, to
+collect his thoughts, so as to discover whence the light proceeded, and
+what produced the noise.
+
+Clinging to the grating, Baudillas gazed stupidly at the light, that grew
+in brightness, and presently irradiated a face. This he saw, but he was
+uncertain whether he actually did see, or whether he were a prey to an
+illusion.
+
+Then the light flashed over him, and his eyes after a moment recognized
+the face of his old slave, Pedo. A hand on the further side grasped one of
+the stanchions, and the deacon heard the question, "Master, are you safe?"
+
+"Oh, Pedo, how have you come into this place?"
+
+"Hush, master. Speak only in a whisper. I have waded up the sewer
+(_cloaca_), and have brought with me two stout files. Take this one, and
+work at the bar on thy side. I will rasp on the other. In time we shall
+cut through the iron, and then thou wilt be able to escape. When I heard
+whither thou hadst been cast, then I saw my way to making an effort to
+save thee."
+
+"Pedo! I will give thee thy liberty!"
+
+"Master! it is I who must first manumit thee."
+
+Then the slave began to file, and as he filed he muttered, "What is
+liberty to me? At one time, indeed! Ah, at one time, when I was young, and
+so was Blanda! But now I am old and lame. I am well treated by a good
+master. Well, well! Sir! work at the bar where I indicate with my finger.
+That is a transversal stanchion and sustains the others."
+
+Hope of life returned. The heart of Baudillas was no longer chilled with
+fear and his brain stunned with despair. He worked hard, animated by
+eagerness to escape. There was a spring of energy in the little flame of
+the lamp, an inspiring force in the presence of his slave. The bar was
+thick, but happily the moisture of the place and the sour exhalations had
+corroded it, so that thick flakes of rust fell off under the tool.
+
+"Yesterday, nothing could have been done for you, sir," said Pedo, "for
+the inundation was so extensive that the sewer was closed with water that
+had risen a foot above the opening into the river. But, thanks be to God,
+the flood has fallen. Those who know the sky declare that we shall have a
+blast of the _circius_ (the mistral) on us suddenly, and bitter weather.
+The early heat has dissolved the snows over-rapidly and sent the water
+inundating all the low land. Now with cold, the snows will not melt."
+
+"Pedo," said the deacon, "hadst thou not come, the rats would have
+devoured me. They hunted me as a pack of wolves pursue a deer in the
+Cebennæ."
+
+"I heard them, master, as I came up the sewer. There are legions of them.
+But they fear the light, and as long as the lamp burns will keep their
+distance."
+
+"Pedo," whispered Baudillas again, after a pause, whilst both worked at
+the bar. "I know not how it was that when I stood before the duumvir, I
+did not betray my Heavenly Master. I was so frightened. I was as in a
+dream. They may have thought me firm, but I was in reality very weak.
+Another moment, or one more turn of the rack and I would have fallen."
+
+"Master! God's strength is made perfect in weakness."
+
+"Yes, it is so. I myself am a poor nothing. Oh, that I had the manhood of
+Marcianus!"
+
+"Press against the bar, master. With a little force it will yield."
+
+Pedo removed the lamp that he had suspended by a hook from the crossbar.
+Baudillas threw himself with his full weight against the grating, and the
+stanchion did actually snap under the impact, at the place where filed.
+
+"That is well," said the slave. "Thy side of the bar is also nearly rasped
+through. Then we must saw across this upright staff of iron. To my
+thinking it is not fastened below."
+
+"It is not. I have thrust my foot between it and the paving. Methinks it
+ends in a spike and barbs."
+
+"If it please God that we remove the grating, then thou must follow me,
+bending low."
+
+"Is the distance great?"
+
+"Sixty-four paces of thine; of mine, more, as I do but hobble."
+
+"Hah! this is ill-luck."
+
+With the energy of filing, and owing to the loosened condition of the bar,
+the lamp had been displaced, and it fell from where it had been suspended
+and was extinguished in the water.
+
+Both were now plunged in darkness as of Erebus, and were moreover exposed
+to danger from the rats. But perhaps the grating of the files, or the
+whispers of the one man to the other, alarmed the suspicious beasts, and
+they did not venture to approach.
+
+"Press, master! I will pull," said the slave. His voice quivered with
+excitement.
+
+Baudillas applied his shoulder to the grating, and Pedo jerked at it
+sharply.
+
+With a crack it yielded; with a plash it fell into the water.
+
+"Quick, my master--lay hold of my belt and follow. Bow your head low or you
+will strike the roof. We must get forth as speedily as may be."
+
+"Pedo! the jailer said that if alive I was to give a sign on the morrow.
+He believes that during the night I will be devoured by rats, as doubtless
+have been others."
+
+"Those executed in the prison are cast down there."
+
+"Perhaps," said Baudillas, "if he meet with no response in the morning he
+will conclude that I am dead, and I do not think he will care to descend
+and discover whether it be so."
+
+After a short course through the arched passage, both stood upright; they
+were to their breasts in water, but the water was fresh and pure. Above
+their heads was the vault of heaven, not now spangled with stars but
+crossed by scudding drifts of vapor.
+
+Both men scrambled out of the river to the bank, and then Baudillas
+extended his arms, and said, with face turned to the sky:
+
+"I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me, and heard my
+calling. He hath brought me also out of the horrible pit, out of the mire
+and clay, and hath set my feet upon the rock. And He hath put a new song
+in my mouth, even a thanksgiving unto our God."(9)
+
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XVIII
+
+                           IN THE CITRON-HOUSE
+
+
+Perpetua, at Ad Fines, was a prey to unrest. She was in alarm for the
+safety of her mother, and she was disconcerted at having been smuggled off
+to the house of a man who was a stranger, though to him she owed her life.
+
+The villa was in a lovely situation, with a wide outstretch of landscape
+before it to the Rhône, and beyond to the blue and cloudlike spurs of the
+Alps; and the garden was in the freshness of its first spring beauty. But
+she was in too great trouble to concern herself about scenery and flowers.
+Her thoughts turned incessantly to her mother. In the embarrassing
+situation in which she was--and one that was liable to become far more
+embarrassing--she needed the support and counsel of her mother.
+
+Far rather would she have been in prison at Nemausus, awaiting a hearing
+before the magistrate, and perhaps condemnation to death, than be as at
+present in a charming country house, attended by obsequious servants,
+provided with every comfort, yet ignorant why she had been brought there,
+and what the trials were to which she would be subjected.
+
+The weather had changed with a suddenness not infrequent in the province.
+The warm days were succeeded by some of raging wind and icy rains. In
+fact, the mistral had begun to blow. As the heated air rose from the stony
+plains, its place was supplied by that which was cold from the snowy
+surfaces of the Alps, and the downrush was like that to which we nowadays
+give the term of blizzard. So violent is the blast on these occasions that
+the tillers of the soil have to hedge round their fields with funereal
+cypresses, to form a living screen against a wind that was said, or
+fabled, to have blown the cow out of one pasture into that of another
+farmer, but which, without fable, was known to upset ricks and carry away
+the roofs of houses.
+
+To a cloudless sky, traversed by a sun of almost summer brilliancy,
+succeeded a heaven dark, iron-gray, with whirling vapors that had no
+contour, and which hung low, trailing their dripping skirts over the
+shivering landscape.
+
+Trees clashed their boughs. The wood behind the villa roared like a
+cataract. In the split ledges and prongs of limestone, among the box-
+bushes and junipers, the wind hissed and screamed. Birds fled for refuge
+to the eaves of houses or to holes in the cliffs. Cattle were brought
+under shelter. Sheep crouched dense packed on the lee side of a stone
+wall. The very ponds and lagoons were whipped and their surfaces flayed by
+the blast. Stones were dislodged on the mountain slopes, and flung down;
+pebbles rolled along the plains, as though lashed forward by whips. The
+penetrating cold necessitated the closing of every shutter, and the
+heating of the hypocaust under the house. In towns, in the houses of the
+better classes, the windows were glazed with thin flakes of mica (_lapis
+specularis_), a transparent stone brought from Spain and Cappadocia, but
+in the country this costly luxury was dispensed with, as the villas were
+occupied only in the heat of summer, when there was no need to exclude the
+air. The window openings were closed with shutters. Rooms were not warmed
+by fireplaces, with wood fires on hearths, but by an arrangement beneath
+the mosaic and cement floor, where a furnace was kindled, and the smoke
+and heated air were carried by numerous pipes up the walls on all sides,
+thus producing a summer heat within when all was winter without.
+
+In the fever of her mind, Perpetua neither felt the asperity of the
+weather nor noticed the comfort of the heated rooms. She was incessantly
+restless, was ever running to the window or the door, as often to be
+disappointed, in anticipation of meeting her mother. She was perplexed as
+to the purpose for which she had been conveyed to Ad Fines. The slave
+woman, Blanda, who attended her, was unable or unwilling to give her
+information. All she pretended to know was that orders had been issued by
+Callipodius, friend and client of Æmilius Lentulus, her master, that the
+young lady was to be made comfortable, was to be supplied with whatever
+she required, and was on no account to be suffered to leave the grounds.
+The family was strictly enjoined not to mention to any one her presence in
+the villa, under pain of severe chastisement.
+
+Blanda was kind and considerate, and had less of the fawning dog in her
+manner than was customary among slaves. It was never possible, even for
+masters, to trust the word of their servants; consequently Perpetua, who
+knew what slaves were, placed little reliance on the asseverations of
+ignorance that fell from the lips of Blanda. There was, in the
+conversation of Blanda, that which the woman intended to reassure, but
+which actually heightened the uneasiness of the girl--this was the way in
+which the woman harped continually on the good looks, amiability and
+wealth of her master, who, as she insisted, belonged to the Voltinian
+tribe, and was therefore one of the best connected and highest placed in
+the colony.
+
+The knowledge that she had been removed to Ad Fines to insure her safety
+did not satisfy Perpetua; and she was by no means assured that she had
+thus been carried off with the approbation and knowledge of her mother, or
+of the bishop and principal Christians of her acquaintance in Nemausus. Of
+Æmilius Varo she really knew nothing save that he was a man of pleasure
+and a lawyer.
+
+Adjoining the house was a conservatory. Citron trees and oleanders in
+large green-painted boxes were employed in summer to decorate the terrace
+and gardens. They were allowed to be out in mild winters, but directly the
+mistral began to howl, the men-servants of the house had hurriedly
+conveyed them within doors into the conservatory, as the gale would strip
+them of their fruit, bruise the leaves and injure the flowers.
+
+In her trouble of mind, unable to go abroad in the bitter weather,
+impatient of quiet, Perpetua entered the citron-house and walked among the
+trees in their green tubs, now praying for help, then wiping the drops
+from her eyes and brow.
+
+As she thus paced, she heard a stir in the house, the opening of doors,
+the rush of wind driving through it, the banging of valves and rattle of
+shutters. Then she heard voices, and among them one that was imperious. A
+moment later, Blanda ran to Perpetua, and after making a low obeisance
+said: "The master is come. He desires permission to speak with you, lady,
+when he hath had his bath and hath assumed a change of raiment. For by the
+mother goddesses, no one can be many moments without and not be drenched
+to the bone. And this exhibits the master's regard for thee, lady; his
+extreme devotion to your person and regard for your comfort, that he has
+exposed himself to cold and rain and wind so as to come hither to inquire
+if you are well, and if there be aught you desire that he can perform to
+content you."
+
+What was Perpetua to do? She plucked some citron blossoms in her nervous
+agitation, unknowing what she did, then answered timidly: "I am in the
+house of the noble Æmilius. Let him speak with me here when it suits his
+convenience. Yet stay, Blanda! Inquire at once, whether he brings me
+tidings of my dear mother."
+
+The slave hasted away, and returned directly to inform Perpetua that her
+master was grieved to relate that he was unable to give her the desired
+information, but that he only awaited instructions from Perpetua to take
+measures to satisfy her.
+
+Then the girl was left alone, and in greater agitation than before. She
+walked among the evergreens, putting the citron flowers to her nose,
+plucking off the leaves, pressing her hand to her brow, and wiping her
+distilling eyes.
+
+The conservatory was unglazed. It was furnished with shutters in which
+were small openings like those in fiddles. Consequently a twilight reigned
+in the place; what light entered was colorless, and without brilliancy.
+Through the openings could be seen the whirling vapors; through them also
+the rain spluttered in, and the wind sighed a plaintive strain, now and
+then rising to a scream.
+
+Perpetua still held the little bunch of citron in her hand; she was as
+unaware that she held it as that she had plucked it. Her mind was
+otherwise engaged, and her nervous fingers must needs clasp something.
+
+As she thus walked, fearing the appearance of Æmilius, and yet desirous of
+having a term put to her suspense, she heard steps, and in another moment
+the young lawyer stood before her. He bowed with hands extended, and with
+courtly consideration would not draw near. Aware that she was shy or
+frightened, he said: "I have to ask your pardon, young lady, for this
+intrusion on your privacy, above all for your abduction to this house of
+mine. It was done without my having been consulted, but was done with good
+intent, by a friend, to place you out of danger. I had no part in the
+matter; nevertheless I rejoice that my house has had the honor of serving
+you as a refuge from such as seek your destruction."
+
+"I thank you," answered the girl constrainedly. "I owe you a word of
+acknowledgment of my lively gratitude for having rescued me from the
+fountain, and another for affording me shelter here. But if I may be
+allowed to ask a favor, it is that my mother be restored to me, or me to
+my mother."
+
+"Alas, lady," said Æmilius, "I have no knowledge where she is. I myself
+have been in concealment--for the rabble has been incensed against me for
+what I was privileged to do, at the Nemausean basin, unworthy that I was.
+I have not since ventured into the town; not that I believe the rabble
+would dare attempt violence against me, but I do not think it wise to
+allow them the chance. I sent my good, blundering friend Callipodius to
+inquire what had become of you, as I was anxious lest you should again be
+in peril of your life; and he--Callipodius--seeing what a ferment there was
+in the town, and how determined the priesthood was to get you once more
+into its power, he consulted his mother wit, and had you conveyed to my
+country house. Believe me, lady, he was actuated by a sincere wish to do
+you service. If he had but taken the Lady Quincta away as well, and lodged
+her here along with you, I would not have a word of reproach for him, nor
+entertain a feeling of guilt in your eyes."
+
+"My mother was in the first litter."
+
+"That litter did not pass out of the gates of Nemausus. Callipodius was
+concerned for your safety, as he knew that it was you who were menaced and
+not your mother."
+
+"But it is painful for me to be away from my mother."
+
+"Lady! you are safer separated from her. If she be, as I presume, still in
+the town, then those who pursue you will prowl about where she is, little
+supposing that you are elsewhere, and the secret of your hiding-place
+cannot be wrung from her if she does not herself know it."
+
+"I concern myself little about my life," said Perpetua. "But, to be alone
+here, away from her, from every relation, in a strange house----"
+
+"I know what you would say, or rather what you feel and do not like to
+say. I have a proposal to make to you which will relieve your difficulty
+if it commends itself to you. It will secure your union with your mother,
+and prevent anything being spoken as to your having been concealed here
+that may offend your honorable feelings."
+
+Perpetua said nothing. She plucked at the petals of the citron flower and
+strewed them on the marble pavement.
+
+"You have been brought to this house, and happily none know that you are
+here, save my client, Callipodius, and myself. But what I desire to say is
+this. Give me a right to make this your refuge, and me a right to protect
+you. If I be not distasteful to you, permit this. I place myself
+unreservedly in your hands. I love you, but my respect for you equals my
+love. I am rich and enjoy a good position. I have nothing I can wish for
+but to be authorized by you to be your defender against every enemy. Be my
+wife, and not all the fools and _flamines_ of the province can touch a
+hair of your head."
+
+The tears welled into Perpetua's eyes. She looked at the young man, who
+stood before her with such dignity and gentleness of demeanor. He seemed
+to her to be as noble, as good as a heathen well could be. He felt for her
+delicate position; he had risked his life and fortunes to save her. He had
+roused the powerful religious faction of his native city against him, and
+he was now extending his protection over her against the priesthood and
+the mob of Nemausus.
+
+"I know," pursued Æmilius, "that I am not worthy of one such as yourself.
+I offer myself because I see no other certain means of making you secure,
+save by your suffering me to be your legitimate defender. If your mother
+will consent, and I am so happy as to have yours, then we will hurry on
+the rites which shall make us one, and not a tongue can stir against you
+and not a hand be lifted to pluck you from my side."
+
+Perpetua dropped the flower, now petalless. She could not speak. He
+respected her emotions, and continued to address her.
+
+"I am confident that I can appease the excitement among the people and the
+priests, and those attached to the worship of the divine ancestor. They
+will not dare to push matters to extremities. The sacrifice has been
+illegal all along, but winked at by the magistrates because a custom
+handed down with the sanction of antiquity. But a resolute protest made--if
+need be an appeal to Cæsar--and the priesthood are paralyzed. Consider also
+that as my wife they could no longer demand you. Their hold on you would
+be done for, as none but an unmarried maid may be sacrificed. The very
+utmost they can require in their anger and disappointment will be that you
+should publicly sprinkle a few grains of incense on the altar of
+Nemausus."
+
+"I cannot do that. I am a Christian."
+
+"Believe what you will. Laugh at the gods as do I and many another. A few
+crumbs of frankincense, a little puff of smoke that is soon sped."
+
+"It may not be."
+
+"Remain a Christian, adhere to its philosophy or revelation, as Castor
+calls it. Attend its orgies, and be the protectress of your fellow-
+believers."
+
+"None the less, I cannot do it."
+
+"But why not?"
+
+"I cannot be false to Christ."
+
+"What falsehood is there in this?"
+
+"It is a denial of Him."
+
+"Bah! He died two hundred years ago."
+
+"He lives, He is ever present, He sees and knows all."
+
+"Well, then He will not look harshly on a girl who acts thus to save her
+life."
+
+"I should be false to myself as well as to Him."
+
+"I cannot understand this----"
+
+"No, because you do not know and love Him."
+
+"Love Him!" echoed Æmilius, "He is dead. You never saw Him at any time. It
+is impossible for any one to love one invisible, unseen, a mere historical
+character. See, we have all over Gallia Narbonensis thousands of
+Augustals; they form a sect, if you will. All their worship is of Augustus
+Cæsar, who died before your Christ. Do you suppose that one among those
+thousands loves him whom they worship, and after whom they are named, and
+who is their bond of connection? No--it is impossible. It cannot be."
+
+"But with us, to know is to love. Christ is the power of God, and we love
+Him because He first loved us."
+
+"Riddles, riddles!" said Æmilius, shaking his head.
+
+"It is a riddle that may be solved to you some day. I would give my life
+that it were."
+
+"You would?"
+
+"Aye, and with joy. You risked your life for me. I would give mine to win
+for you----"
+
+"What?"
+
+"Faith. Having that you would know how to love."
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XIX
+
+                                MARCIANUS
+
+
+When the deacon Baudillas and his faithful Pedo emerged from the river,
+and stood on the bank, they were aware how icy was the blast that blew,
+for it pierced their sodden garments and froze the marrow in their bones.
+
+"Master," said Pedo, "this is the beginning of a storm that will last for
+a week; you must get under shelter, and I will give you certain garments I
+have provided and have concealed hard by in a kiln. The gates of the town
+are shut. I have no need to inform you that we are without the city
+walls."
+
+Pedo guided the deacon to the place where he had hidden a bundle of
+garments, and which was not a bowshot distant from the mouth of the sewer.
+The kiln was small; it had happily been in recent use, for it was still
+warm, and the radiation was grateful to Baudillas, whose teeth were
+chattering in his head.
+
+"I have put here bread and meat, and a small skin of wine," said the
+slave. "I advise you, master, to make a meal; you will relish your food
+better here than in the black-hole. Whilst we eat we consume time
+likewise; but the dawn is returning, and with it the gates will be opened
+and we shall slip in among the market people. But, tell me, whither will
+you go?"
+
+"I would desire, were it advisable, to revisit my own house," said the
+deacon doubtfully.
+
+"And I would advise you to keep clear of it," said the slave. "Should the
+jailer discover that you have escaped, then at once search will be made
+for you, and, to a certainty it will begin at your habitation." Then, with
+a dry laugh, he added, "And if it be found that I have assisted in your
+evasion, then there will be one more likely to give sport to the people at
+the forthcoming show. Grant me the wild beasts and not the cross."
+
+"I will not bring thee into danger, faithful friend."
+
+"I cannot run away on my lame legs," said Pedo. "Ah! as to those shows.
+They are to wind up with a water-fight--such is the announcement. There
+will be gladiators from Arelate sent over to contend in boats against a
+fleet of our Nemausean ruffians. On the previous day there will be sport
+with wild beasts. I am told that there have been wolves trapped during the
+winter in the Cebennæ, and sent down here, where they are retained
+fasting. I have heard their howls at night and they have disturbed my
+sleep--their howls and the aches in my thigh. I knew the weather would
+change by the pains in my joint. There is a man named Amphilochius, a
+manumitted slave, who broke into and robbed the villa of the master who
+had freed him. He is a Greek of Iconium, and the public are promised that
+he shall be cast to the beasts; but whether to the panthers, or the
+wolves, or bear, or given to be gored by a bull, that I know not. Then
+there is a taverner from somewhere on the way to Ugernum, who for years
+has murdered such of his guests as he esteemed well furnished with money,
+and has thrown their carcasses into the river. He will fight the beasts.
+There is a bear from Larsacus; but they tell me he is dull, has not yet
+shaken off his winter sleep, and the people fear they will get small
+entertainment out of him."
+
+"You speak of these scenes with relish."
+
+"Ah! master, before I was regenerate I dearly loved the spectacles. But
+the contest with bulls! That discovers the agility of a man. Falerius
+Volupius Servilianus placed rosettes between their horns and gave a prize
+to any who would pluck them away. That was open to be contested for by all
+the youths of Nemausus. There was little danger to life or limb, and it
+taught them to be quick of eye and nimble in movement. But it was because
+none were gored that the spectators wearied of these innocent sports and
+clamored for the butchery of criminals and the contests of gladiators.
+There was a fine Numidian lion brought by a shipmaster to Agatha; a big
+price was asked, and the citizens of Narbo outbid us, so we lost that fine
+fellow."
+
+"Ah, Pedo! please God that none of the brethren be exposed to the beasts."
+
+"I think there will not be many. The Quatuor-viri are slow to condemn, and
+Petronius Atacinus most unwilling of all. There are real criminals in the
+prison sufficient to satisfy an ordinary appetite for blood. But, see! we
+are discussing the amphitheater and not considering whither thou wilt
+betake thyself."
+
+"I have been turning the matter over, and I think that I will go first to
+Marcianus, my brother-deacon, and report myself to be alive and free, that
+he may inform the bishop; and I will take his advice as to my future
+conduct, and where I shall bestow myself."
+
+"He has remained unmolested," said the slave, "and that is to me passing
+strange, for I have been told that certain of the brethren, when
+questioned relative to the mutilation of the statue, have accused him by
+name. Yet, so far, nothing has been done. Yet I think his house is
+watched; I have noticed one Burrhus hanging about it; and Tarsius, they
+say, has turned informer. See, master! the darkness is passing away;
+already there is a wan light in the east."
+
+"Had the mouth of the kiln been turned to the setting in place of the
+rising sun, we should not have felt the wind so greatly. Well, Pedo, we
+will be on the move. Market people from the country will be at the gates.
+I will consult with Marcianus before I do aught."
+
+An hour later, Baudillas and his attendant were at the gate of Augustus,
+and passed in unchallenged. Owing to the furious mistral, accompanied by
+driving rain, the guards muffled themselves in their cloaks and paid
+little attention to the peasants bringing in their poultry, fish and
+vegetables for sale. The deacon and his slave entered unnoticed along with
+a party of these. In the street leading to the forum was a knot of people
+about an angry potter whose stall had been blown over by the wind. He had
+set boards on trestles, and laid out basins, pitchers, lamps, urns on the
+planks; over all he had stretched sail-cloth. The wind had caught the
+awning and beaten it down, upsetting and crushing his ware. The potter was
+swearing that he was ruined, and that his disaster was due to the
+Christians, who had exasperated the gods by their crimes and impieties.
+
+Some looking on laughed and asked, shouting, whether the gods did not blow
+as strong blasts out of their lungs every year about the same time, and
+whether they did so because annually insulted.
+
+"But they don't break my crocks," stormed the potter.
+
+"Charge double for what remain unfractured," joked an onlooker.
+
+"Come, master," said Pedo, plucking Baudillas by the sleeve. "If that
+angry fellow recognize you, you are lost. Hold my cloak and turn down the
+lane, then we are at the _posticum_, at the back of the house. I know some
+of the family, and they will admit us."
+
+Near by was a shop for flowers. Over the shop front was the inscription,
+"Non vendo nisi amantibus coronas" ("I sell garlands to lovers only").(10)
+The woman in charge of the bunches and crowns of spring flowers looked
+questioningly at Baudillas. Her wares were such as invited only when the
+sun shone. The poor flowers had a draggled and desponding appearance. No
+lovers came to buy in the bitter mistral.
+
+"Come, master, we shall be recognized," said Pedo.
+
+In another moment they had passed out of the huffle of the wind and the
+drift of the rain into the shelter and warmth of a dwelling.
+
+Pedo bade a slave go to Marcianus and tell the deacon that someone below
+desired a word with him. Almost immediately the man returned with orders
+to conduct the visitor to the presence of the master.
+
+Baudillas was led along a narrow passage into a chamber in the inner part
+of the house, away from the apartments for the reception of guests.
+
+The room was warmed. It was small, and had a glazed window; that is to
+say, the opening was closed by a sheet of stalagmite from one of the caves
+of Larsacus, cut thin.
+
+In this chamber, seated on an easy couch, with a roll in his hand, which
+he was studying, was Marcianus. His countenance was hard and haughty.
+
+"You!" he exclaimed, starting with surprise. "What brings you here? I
+heard that you had been before the magistrate and had confessed. But, bah!
+of such as you martyrs are not made. You have betrayed us and got off
+clear yourself."
+
+"You mistake, brother," answered Baudillas, modestly. "In one thing are
+you right--I am not of the stuff out of which martyrs and confessors are
+fashioned. But I betrayed no one. Not that there is any merit due to me
+for that. I was in such a dire and paralyzing fright that I could not
+speak."
+
+"How then come you here?"
+
+"As we read that the Lord sent His angel to deliver Peter from prison, so
+has it been with me."
+
+"You lie!" said Marcianus angrily. "No miracle was wrought for you--for
+such as you who shiver and quake and lose power of speech! Bah! Come, give
+me a more rational explanation of your escape."
+
+"My slave was the angel who delivered me."
+
+"So you ran away! Could not endure martyrdom, saw the crown shining, and
+turned tail and used your legs. I can well believe it. Coward! Unworthy of
+the name of a Christian, undeserving of the cross marked on thy brow,
+unbecoming of the ministry."
+
+"I know that surely enough," said Baudillas; "I am of timorous stuff, and
+from childhood feared pain. But I have not denied Christ."
+
+"What has brought you here?" asked Marcianus curtly.
+
+"I have come to thee for counsel."
+
+"The counsel I give thou wilt not take. What saith the Scripture: 'He that
+putteth his hand to the plough and turneth back is not fit for the kingdom
+of God.' Thou wast called to a glorious confession, and looked back and
+ran away."
+
+"And thy counsel?"
+
+"Return and surrender, and win the crown and palm. But it is waste of
+breath to say such words to thee. I know thee. Wast thou subjected to
+torture?"
+
+"No, brother."
+
+"No; not the rack, nor the torches, nor the hooks, nor the thumbscrews.
+Oh, none of these!"
+
+"No, brother. It is true, I was scarce tried at all. Indeed, it was good
+luck--God forgive me!--it was through His mercy that I was saved from
+denying the faith. I was not even asked to sacrifice."
+
+"Well; go thy ways. I cannot advise thee."
+
+"Stay," said Baudillas. "I saw in the outer prison some of the faithful,
+but was in too great fear to recognize any. Who have been taken?"
+
+"The last secured has been the widow Quincta. The pontiff and the _flamen_
+Augustalis and the priestess of Nemausus swear that she shall be put on
+the rack and tortured till she reveals where her daughter is concealed,
+and that amiable drone, the acting magistrate, has given consent. Dost
+thou know where the damsel Perpetua is concealed?"
+
+"Indeed, Marcianus, I know not. But tell me: hast thou not been inquired
+for? I have been told how that some have accused thee."
+
+"Me! Who said that?"
+
+Marcianus started, and his face worked. "Bah! they dare not touch me. I
+belong to the Falerii; we have had magistrates in our family, and one
+clothed with the pro-consulship. They will not venture to lay hands on
+me."
+
+"But what if they know, and it is known through the town, that it was thou
+who didst mutilate the statue of the founder?"
+
+"They do not know it."
+
+"Nay, thou deceivest thyself. It is known. Some of those who were at the
+Agape have spoken."
+
+"It was thou--dog that thou art!"
+
+"Nay, it was not I."
+
+Marcianus rose and strode up and down the room, biting his nails. Then,
+contemptuously, he said: "My family will stand between me and mob or
+magistrate. I fear not. But get thee gone. Thou compromisest me by thy
+presence, thou runagate and jail-breaker."
+
+"I came here but to notify my escape and to ask counsel of thee."
+
+"Get thee gone. Fly out of Nemausus, or thy chattering tongue will be set
+going and reveal everything that ought to be kept secret." Then taking a
+turn he added to himself, "I belong to the Falerii."
+
+Baudillas left; and, as he went from the door, Pedo whispered in his ear:
+"Let us escape to Ad Fines. We can do so in this detestable weather. I
+have an old friend there, named Blanda. In my youth I loved--ah! welladay!
+that was long ago--and we were the chattels of different masters, so it
+came to naught. She is still a slave, but she may be able to assist us. I
+can be sure of that; for the remembrance of our old affection, she will do
+what lies in her power to secrete us."
+
+He suddenly checked himself, plucked the deacon back, and drew him against
+the wall.
+
+An ædile, attended by a body of the city police, armed like soldiers,
+advanced and silently surrounded the house of Marcianus.
+
+Then the officer struck the door thrice, and called: "By the authority of
+Petronius Atacinus and Vibius Fuscianus, Quatuor-viri juridicundo, and in
+the name of the Imperator Cæsar Augustus, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, I
+arrest Cneius Falerius Marcianus, on the atrocious charge of sacrilege."
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XX
+
+                             IN THE BASILICA
+
+
+The Quatuorvir Petronius Atacinus, who was on duty, occupied his chair in
+the stately Plotinian Basilica, or court of justice, that had been erected
+by Hadrian, in honor of the lady to whose ingenious and unscrupulous
+maneuvers he owed his elevation to the throne of the Cæsars. Of this
+magnificent structure nothing remains at present save some scraps of the
+frieze in the museum.
+
+When the weather permitted, Petronius or his colleagues liked to hear a
+case in the open air, from a tribune in the forum. But this was impossible
+to-day, in the howling wind and lashing rain. The court itself was
+comparatively deserted. A very few had assembled to hear the trials. None
+who had a warmed home that day left it uncalled for. Some market women set
+their baskets in the doorway and stepped inside, but it was rather because
+they were wet and out of breath than because they were interested in the
+proceedings. Beside the magistrate sat the chief _pontifex_ who was also
+Augustal _flamen_. Of _pontifices_ there were three in the city, but one
+of these was a woman, the priestess of Nemausus.
+
+Throughout the south of Gaul the worship of Augustus had become
+predominant, and had displaced most of the ancestral cults. The temples
+dedicated to Augustus exceeded in richness all others, and were crowded
+when the rest were deserted.
+
+Jupiter was only not forgotten because he had borrowed some of the
+attributes of the Gallic solar deity, and he flourished the golden wheel
+in one hand and brandished the lightnings in the other. Juno had lent her
+name to a whole series of familiar spirits of the mountains and of the
+household, closely allied to the _Proxumes_, a set of domestic Brownies or
+Kobolds, who were chiefly adored and propitiated by the women, and who had
+no other temple than the hearth. At Tarasconum, the Phoenician goddess
+Britomartis reigned supreme, and her worship was stimulated by a grand
+annual procession and dramatic representation of her conquest over a
+dragon. At Nemausus the corresponding god of war was called Mars
+Britovius. But the Volcæ Arecomici were a peaceably-disposed people, and
+paid little devotion to the god of battles. The cult of the founder
+Nemausus did not flag, but that of Augustus was in the ascendant. All the
+freedmen were united in one great sodality under his invocation, and this
+guild represented an important political factor in the land. It had its
+religious officers, its _flamines_ and _seviri_, attended by lictors, and
+the latter had charge of all the altars at the crossroads, and sat next to
+the civic functionaries in the courts, at banquets, in the theater. Rich
+citizens bequeathed large sums to the town and to the sodalities to be
+expended in public feasts, in largesses, and in gladiatorial shows. The
+charge of these bequests, as also their distribution, was in the hands of
+the _flamines_ and _seviri_. The priesthood was, therefore, provided with
+the most powerful of all means for gaining and moving the multitude, which
+desired nothing better than bread and games.
+
+"Have that door shut!" called the magistrate. "It bangs in this evil wind,
+and I cannot even hear what my excellent friend Lucius Smerius is saying
+in my ear; how then can I catch what is said in court?" Then, turning to
+the pontiff, he said: "I detest this weather. Last year, about this time,
+I was struck with an evil blast, and lost all sense of smell and taste for
+nine months. I had pains in my loins and an ache in all my bones. I doubt
+if even the jests of Baubo could have made me laugh; I was in lower dumps
+than even Ceres. Even now, when seated far too long in this marble chair,
+I get an ache across my back that assures me I am no longer young. But I
+could endure that if my sense of taste had been fully restored. I do not
+relish good wine as of old, and that is piteous, and I really at times
+think of suicide."
+
+"It was the work of enchantment," said the pontiff. "These Christians, in
+their orgies, stick pins into images to produce pains in those the figures
+represent."
+
+"How do you know this? Have you been initiated into their mysteries?"
+
+"I----! The Immortals preserve me therefrom."
+
+"Then, by Pluto, you speak what you have heard of the gossips--old wives'
+babble. I will tell you what my opinion is, Smerius. If you were to thrust
+your nose into the mysteries of the Bona Dea you would find--what? No more
+than did Clodius--nothing at all. My wife, she attends them, and comes home
+with her noddle full of all the tittle-tattle of Nemausus. It is so with
+the Christian orgies. I would not give a snap of the fingers for all the
+secrets confided to the initiated--neither in Eleusis nor in the Serapium,
+nor among the Christians."
+
+"These men are not like others; they are unsociable, brutish, arrogant."
+
+"Unsociable I allow. Brutish! The word is inapt; for, on the contrary, I
+find them very simple, soft-headed, pulp-hearted folk. They abstain from
+all that is boisterous and cruel. Arrogant they may be. There I am at one
+with you. 'Live and let live' is my maxim. We have a score of gods, home
+made and foreign, and they all rub and tumble together without squabbling.
+Of late we have had Madame Isis over from Egypt, and the White Ladies,(11)
+and the Proxumes, Victoria Augusta, Venus, and Minerva, make room for her
+without even a frown on their divine faces. And imperial Rome sanctions
+all these devotions. Why, did not the god Augustus build a temple here to
+Nemausus and pay him divine honors, though he had never heard him named
+before? Now this Christian sect is exclusive. It will suffer no gods to
+stand beside Him whom they adore. He must reign alone. That I call
+illiberal, narrow-minded, against the spirit of the age and the principle
+of Roman policy. That is the reason why I dislike these Christians."
+
+"Here come the prisoners. My good friend, do not be too easy with them. It
+will not do. The temper of the people is up. The sodality of Augustus
+swear that they will not decree you a statue, and will oppose your
+nomination to the knighthood. They have joined hands with the Cultores
+Nemausi, and insist that proper retribution be administered to the
+transgressors, and that the girl be surrendered."
+
+"It shall be done; it shall be so," said the Quatuorvir. Then, raising his
+hand to his mouth, and speaking behind it--not that in the roar of the wind
+such a precaution was necessary--he said to the pontiff: "My dear man, a
+magistrate has other matters to consider than pleasing the clubs. There is
+the prince over all, and he is on the way to Narbonese Gaul. It is
+whispered that he is favorably disposed towards this Nazarene sect."
+
+"The Augustus would not desire to have the laws set at naught, and the
+sodalities are rich enough to pay to get access to him and make their
+complaint."
+
+"Well, well, well! I cannot please all. I have to steer my course among
+shoals and rocks. Keep the question of Christianity in the background and
+charge on other grounds. That is my line. I will do my best to please all
+parties. We must have sport for the games. The rabble desire to have some
+one punished for spoiling their pet image. But, by the Twins, could not
+the poor god hold his own head on his shoulders? If he had been worth an
+as, he would have done so. But there, I nettle you. You shall be satisfied
+along with the rest. Bring up the prisoners: Quincta, widow of Aulus
+Harpinius Læto, first of all."
+
+The mother of Perpetua was led forward in a condition of terror that
+rendered her almost unconscious, and unable to sustain herself.
+
+"Quincta," said the magistrate, "have no fear for yourself. I have no
+desire to deal sharply with you; if you will inform us where is your
+daughter, you shall be dismissed forthwith."
+
+"I do not know----" The poor woman could say no more.
+
+"Give her a seat," ordered Petronius. Then to the prisoner: "Compose
+yourself. No doubt that, as a mother, you desire to screen your daughter,
+supposing that her life is menaced. No such thing, madame. I have spoken
+with the priestess, and with my good friend here, Lucius Smerius, chief
+pontiff, Augustal _flamen_, and public haruspex." He bowed to the priest
+at his side. "I am assured that the god, when he spoke, made no demand for
+a sacrifice. That is commuted. All he desires is that the young virgin
+should pass into his service, and be numbered among his priestesses."
+
+"She will not consent," gasped Quincta.
+
+"I hardly need to point out the honor and advantage offered her. The
+priestesses enjoy great favor with the people, have seats of honor at the
+theater, take a high position in all public ceremonies, and are maintained
+by rich endowments."
+
+"She will never consent," repeated the mother.
+
+"Of that we shall judge for ourselves. Where is the girl?"
+
+"I do not know."
+
+"How so?"
+
+"She has been carried away from me; I know not whither."
+
+"When the old ewe baas the lamb will bleat," said the Quatuorvir. "We
+shall find the means to make you produce her. Lady Quincta, my duty
+compels me to send you back to prison. You shall be allowed two days'
+respite. Unless, by the end of that time, you are able and willing to give
+us the requisite information, you will be put to the question, and I doubt
+not that a turn of the rack will refresh your memory and relax your
+tongue."
+
+"I cannot tell what I do not know."
+
+"Remove the woman."
+
+The magistrate leaned back, and turning his head to the pontiff, said:
+"Did not your worthy father, Spurius, die of a surfeit of octopus? I had a
+supper off the legs last night, and they made me sleep badly; they are no
+better than marine leather." Then to the _vigiles_: "Bring forward
+Falerius Marcianus."
+
+The deacon was conducted before the magistrate. He was pale, and his lips
+ashen and compressed. His dark eyes turned in every direction. He was
+looking for kinsmen and patron.
+
+"You are charged, Falerius, with having broken the image of the god whom
+Nemausus delights to honor, and who is the reputed founder of the city.
+You conveyed his head to the house of Baudillas, and several witnesses
+have deposed that you made boast that you had committed the sacrilegious
+act of defacing the statue. What answer make you to this?"
+
+Marcianus replied in a low voice.
+
+"Speak up," said the magistrate; "I cannot hear thee, the wind blusters
+and bellows so loud." Aside to the pontiff Smerius he added: "And ever
+since that evil blast you wot of, I have suffered from a singing in my
+ears."
+
+"I did it," said the deacon. Again he looked about him, but saw none to
+support him.
+
+"Then," said the magistrate, "we shall at once conclude this matter. The
+outrage is too gross to be condoned or lightly punished. Even thy friends
+and kinsfolk have not appeared to speak for thee. Thy family has been one
+of dignity and authority in Nemausus. There have been members who have
+been clothed with the Quatuorvirate _de aerario_ and have been accorded
+the use of a horse at public charge. Several have been decurions wearing
+the white toga and the purple stripe. This aggravates the impiety of your
+act. I sentence Cneius Falerius Marcianus, son of Marius Audolatius, of
+the Voltinian tribe, to be thrown to the beasts in the approaching show,
+and that his goods be confiscated, and that out of his property
+restitution be made, by which a new statue to the god Nemausus be
+provided, to be set up in the place of that injured by the same Cneius
+Falerius Marcianus."
+
+The deacon made an attempt to speak. He seemed overwhelmed with
+astonishment and dismay at the sentence, so utterly unexpected in its
+severity. He gesticulated and cried out, but the Quatuorvir was cold and
+weary. He had pronounced a sentence that would startle all the town, and
+he thought he had done enough.
+
+"Remove him at once," said he.
+
+Then Petronius turned to the pontiff and said: "Now, my Smerius, what say
+you to this? Will not this content you and all the noisy rag-tag at your
+back?"
+
+Next he commanded the rest of the prisoners to be brought forward
+together. This was a mixed number of poor persons, some women, some old
+men, boys, slaves and freedmen; none belonged to the upper class or even
+to that of the manufacturers and tradesmen.
+
+"You are all dismissed," said the magistrate. "The imprisonment you have
+undergone will serve as a warning to you not to associate with image-
+breakers, not to enter into sodalities which have not received the
+sanction of Cæsar, and which are not compatible with the well-being and
+quiet of the city and are an element of disturbance in the empire. Let us
+hear no more of this pestilent nonsense. Go--worship what god ye will--only
+not Christos."
+
+Then the lictors gathered around the Quatuorvir and the pontiff, who also
+rose, and extended his hand to assist the magistrate, who made wry faces
+as rheumatic twinges nipped his back.
+
+"Come with me, Smerius," said the Quatuorvir, "I have done the best for
+you that lay in my power. I hate unnecessary harshness. But this fellow,
+Falerius Marcianus, has deserved the worst. If the old woman be put on the
+rack and squeak out, and Marcianus be devoured by beasts, the people will
+have their amusement, and none can say that I have acted with excessive
+rigor--and, my dear man--not a word has been said about Christianity. The
+cases have been tried on other counts, do you see?" he winked. "Will you
+breakfast with me? There are mullets from the Satera, stewed in white
+wine--confound those octopi!--I feel them still."
+
+
+
+
+
+                               CHAPTER XXI
+
+                              A MANUMISSION
+
+
+"Blanda, what shall I do?"
+
+Æmilius had withdrawn immediately after the interview in the citron-house,
+and Perpetua was left a prey to even greater distress of mind than before.
+
+Accustomed to lean on her mother, she was now without support. She drew
+towards the female slave, who had a patient, gentle face, marked with
+suffering.
+
+"Blanda, what shall I do?"
+
+"Mistress, how can I advise? If you had been graciously pleased to take
+counsel of my master, he would have instructed you."
+
+"Alack! what I desire is to find my mother. If, as I suppose, she is in
+concealment in Nemausus, he will be unable to discover her. No clue will
+be put into his hand. He will be regarded with suspicion. He will search;
+I do not doubt his good will, but he will not find. Those who know where
+my mother is will look on him with suspicion. O Blanda, is there none in
+this house who believes, whom I could send to some of the Church?"
+
+"Lady," answered the slave, "there be no Christians here. There is a Jew,
+but he entertains a deadly hate of such as profess to belong to this sect.
+To the rest one religion is as indifferent as another. Some swear by the
+White Ladies, some by Serapis, and there is one who talks much of Mithras,
+but who this god is I know not."
+
+"If I am to obtain information it must be through some one who is to be
+trusted."
+
+"Lady," said the woman-slave, "the master has given strict orders that
+none shall speak of you as having found a shelter here. Yet when slaves
+get together, by the Juno of the oaks, I believe men chatter and are
+greater magpies than we women; their tongues run away with them,
+especially when they taste wine. If one of the family were sent on this
+commission into the town, ten _sesterces_ to an _as_, he would tell that
+you are here, and would return as owlish and ignorant as when he went
+forth. Men's minds are cudgels, not awls. If thou desirest to find out a
+thing, trust a woman, not a man."
+
+"I cannot rest till I have news."
+
+"There has been a great search made after Christians, and doubtless she
+is, as thou sayest, in concealment, surely among friends. Have patience."
+
+"But, Blanda, she is in an agony of mind as to what has become of me."
+
+The slave-woman considered for awhile, and then said:
+
+"There is a man who might help; he certainly can be relied on. He is of
+the strange sect I know, and he would do anything for me, and would betray
+no secrets."
+
+"Who is that?"
+
+"His name is Pedo, and he is the slave to Baudillas Macer, son of Carisius
+Adgonna, who has a house in the lower town."
+
+"O Blanda!" exclaimed Perpetua, "it was from the house of Baudillas that I
+was enticed away." Then, after some hesitation, she added: "That house, I
+believe, was invaded by the mob; but I think my mother had first escaped."
+
+"Lady, I have heard that Baudillas has been taken before the magistrate,
+and has been cast into the _robur_, because that in his house was found
+the head of the god; and it was supposed that he was guilty of the
+sacrilege, either directly or indirectly. He that harbors a thief is
+guilty as the thief. I heard that yesterday. No news has since been
+received. I mistrust my power of reaching the town, of standing against
+the gale. Moreover, as the master has been imprisoned, it is not likely
+that the slave will be in the empty house. Yet, if thou wilt tarry till
+the gale be somewhat abated and the rain cease to fall in such a rush, I
+will do my utmost to assist thee. I will go to the town myself, and
+communicate with Pedo, if I can find him. He will trust me, poor fellow!"
+
+"I cannot require thee to go forth in this furious wind," said Perpetua.
+
+"And, lady, thou must answer to my master for me. Say that I went at thine
+express commands; otherwise I shall be badly beaten."
+
+"Is thy master so harsh?"
+
+"Oh, I am a slave. Who thinks of a slave any more than of an ass or a
+lapdog? It was through a severe scourging with the cat that I was brought
+to know Pedo."
+
+"Tell me, how was that?"
+
+"Does my lady care for matters that affect her slave?"
+
+"Nay, good Blanda, we Christians know no difference between bond and free.
+All are the children of one God, who made man. Our master, though Lord of
+all, made Himself of no reputation, but took on Him the form of a servant;
+and was made subject for us."
+
+"That is just how Pedo talks. We slaves have our notions of freedom and
+equality, and there is much tall talk in the servants' hall on the rights
+of man. But I never heard of a master or mistress holding such opinions."
+
+"Nevertheless this doctrine is a principle of our religion. Listen to
+this; the words are those of one of our great teachers: 'There is neither
+Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor
+female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.'"
+
+"Was he a slave who said that?"
+
+"No; he was a Roman citizen."
+
+"That I cannot understand. Yet perhaps he spoke it at an election time, or
+when he was an advocate in the forum. It was a sentiment; very fine,
+smartly put, but not to be practiced."
+
+"There, Blanda, you are wrong. We Christians do act upon this principle,
+and it forms a bond of union between us."
+
+"Well, I understand it not. I have heard the slaves declaim among
+themselves, saying that they were as good as, nay, better than, their
+masters; but they never whispered such a thought where were their masters'
+ears, or they would have been soundly whipped. In the forum, when lawyers
+harangue, they say fine things of this sort; and when candidates are
+standing for election, either as a sevir or as a quatuorvir, all sorts of
+fine words fly about, and magnificent promises are made, but they are
+intended only to tickle ears and secure votes. None believe in them save
+the vastly ignorant and the very fools."
+
+"Come, tell me about thyself and Pedo."
+
+"Ah, lady, that was many years ago. I was then in the household of Helvia
+Secundilla, wife of Calvius Naso. On one occasion, because I had not
+brought her May-dew wherewith to bathe her face to remove sun-spots, she
+had me cruelly beaten. There were knucklebones knotted in the cat
+wherewith I was beaten. Thirty-nine lashes I received. I could not collect
+May-dew, for the sky was overcast and the herb was dry. But she regarded
+not my excuse. Tullia, my fellow-slave, was more sly. She filled a flask
+at a spring and pretended that she had gathered it off the grass, and that
+her fraud might not be detected, she egged her mistress on against me. I
+was chastised till my back was raw."
+
+"Poor Blanda!"
+
+"Aye, my back was one bleeding wound, and yet I was compelled to put on my
+garment and go forth again after May-dew. It was then that I encountered
+Pedo. I was in such pain that I walked sobbing, and my tears fell on the
+arid grass. He came to me, moved by compassion, and spoke kindly, and my
+heart opened, and I told him all. Then he gave me a flask filled with a
+water in which elder flowers had been steeped, and bade me wash my back
+therewith."
+
+"And it healed thee?"
+
+"It soothed the fever of my blood and the anguish of my wounds. They
+closed, and in a few days were cicatriced. But Pedo had been fellow-slave
+with a Jewish physician, and from him had learned the use of simples. My
+mistress found no advantage from the spring-water brought her as May-dew.
+Then I offered her some of the decoction given me by Pedo, and that had a
+marvelous effect on her freckles. Afterwards her treatment of me was
+kinder, and it was Tullia who received the whippings."
+
+"And did you see more of Pedo?"
+
+Blanda colored.
+
+"Mistress, that was the beginning of our acquaintance. He was with a good
+master, Baudillas Macer, who, he said, would manumit him at any time. But,
+alas! what would that avail me? I remained in bondage. Ah, lady, Pedo
+regarded me with tenderness, and, indeed, I could have been happy with
+none other but him."
+
+"He is old and lame."
+
+"Ah, lady, I think the way he moves on his lame hip quite beautiful. I do
+not admire legs when one is of the same length as another--it gives a stiff
+uniformity not to my taste."
+
+"And he is old?"
+
+"Ripe, lady--full ripe as a fig in August. Sour fruit are unpleasant to
+eat. Young men are prigs and think too much of themselves."
+
+"How long ago was it that this acquaintance began?"
+
+"Five and twenty years. I trusted, when my master, Calvius Naso--he was so
+called because he really had a long nose, and my mistress was wont to
+tweak it--but there! I wander. I did think that he would have given me my
+freedom. In his illness I attended to him daily, nightly. I did not sleep,
+I was ever on the watch for him. As to my mistress, she was at her
+looking-glass, and using depilatory fluid on some hairs upon her chin,
+expecting shortly to be a widow. She did not concern herself about the
+master. He died, but left money only for the erection of a statue in the
+forum. Me he utterly forgot. Then my mistress sold me to the father of my
+present master. When he died also he manumitted eight slaves, but they
+were all men. His monument stands beside the road to Tolosa, with eight
+Phrygian caps sculptured on it, to represent the manumissions; but me--he
+forgot."
+
+"Then, for all these five and twenty years you have cared for Pedo and
+desired to be united to him!"
+
+"Yes, I longed for it greatly for twenty years, and so did he, poor
+fellow; but, after that, hope died. I have now no hope, no joy in life, no
+expectation of aught. Presently will come death, and death ends all."
+
+"No, Blanda; that is not what we hold. We look for eternal life."
+
+"For masters, not for slaves."
+
+"For slaves as well as masters, and then God will wipe away all tears from
+our eyes."
+
+"Alack, mistress. The power to hope is gone from me. In a wet season, when
+there is little sun, then the fruit mildews on the tree and drops off.
+When we were young we put forth the young fruit of hopes; but there has
+been no sun. They fall off, and the tree can bear no more."
+
+"Blanda, if ever I have the power----"
+
+"Oh, mistress, with my master you can do anything."
+
+"Blanda, I do not know that I can ask him for this--thy freedom. But, if
+the opportunity offers, I certainly will not forget thee."
+
+A slave appeared at the door and signed to Blanda, who, with an obeisance,
+asked leave to depart. The leave was given, and she left the room.
+
+Presently she returned in great excitement, followed by Baudillas and
+Pedo, both drenched with rain and battered by the gale.
+
+Perpetua uttered an exclamation of delight, and rushed to the deacon with
+extended arms.
+
+"I pray, I pray, give me some news of my mother."
+
+But he drew back likewise surprised, and replied with another question:
+
+"The Lady Perpetua! And how come you to be here?"
+
+"That I will tell later," answered the girl. "Now inform me as to my
+mother."
+
+"Alas!" replied Baudillas, wiping the rain from his face, "the news is
+sad. She has been taken before Petronius, and has been consigned to
+prison."
+
+"My mother is in prison!"
+
+The deacon desired to say no more, but he was awkward at disguising his
+unwillingness to speak the whole truth. The eager eyes of the girl read
+the hesitation in his face.
+
+"I beseech you," she urged, "conceal nothing from me."
+
+"I have told you, she is in jail."
+
+"On what charge? Who has informed against her?"
+
+"I was not in the court when she was tried. I know very little. I was near
+the town, waiting about, and I got scraps of information from some of our
+people, and from Pedo, who went into the city."
+
+"Then you do know. Answer me truly. Tell me all."
+
+"I--I was in prison myself, but escaped through the aid of Pedo. I tarried
+in an old kiln. He advised that I should come on here, where he had
+friends. Dost thou know that Marcianus has been sentenced? He will win
+that glorious crown which I have lost. I--I, unworthy, I fled, when it
+might have been mine. Yet, God forgive me! I am not ungrateful to Pedo.
+Marcianus said I was a coward, and unfit for the Kingdom of God; that I
+should be excluded because I had turned back. God forgive me!"
+
+Suddenly Perpetua laid hold of Baudillas by both arms, and so gripped him
+that the water oozed between her fingers and dropped on the floor.
+
+"I adjure thee, by Him in whom we both believe, answer me truly, speak
+fully. Is my mother retained in prison till I am found?"
+
+The deacon looked down nervously, uncomfortably, and shuffled from foot to
+foot.
+
+"Understand," said he, after a long silence, "all I learned is by hearsay.
+I really know nothing for certain."
+
+"I suffer more by your silence than were I to be told the truth, be the
+truth never so painful."
+
+"Have I not said it? The Lady Quincta is in prison."
+
+"Is that all?"
+
+Again he maintained an embarrassed silence.
+
+"It matters not," said Perpetua firmly. "I will my own self find out what
+has taken place. I shall return to Nemausus on foot, and immediately. I
+will deliver myself up to the magistrate and demand my mother's release."
+
+"You must not go--the weather is terrible."
+
+"I shall--nothing can stay me. I shall go, and go alone, and go at once."
+
+"There is no need for such haste. It is not till to-morrow that Quincta
+will be put on the rack."
+
+"On the rack!"
+
+"Fool that I am! I have uttered what I should have kept secret."
+
+"It is said. My resolve is formed. I return to Nemausus."
+
+"Then," said the deacon, "I will go with thee."
+
+"There is no need. I will take Blanda."
+
+"I will go. A girl, a young girl shames me. I run away from death, and she
+offers herself to the sword. Marcianus said I was a renegade. I will not
+be thought to have denied my Master--to have fled from martyrdom."
+
+"Then," said Perpetua, "I pray thee this--first give freedom unto Pedo."
+
+Baudillas administered a slight stroke on the cheek to his slave, and
+said:
+
+"Go; thou art discharged from bondage."
+
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXII
+
+                                THE ARENA
+
+
+The games that were to be given in the amphitheater of Nemausus on the
+nones of March were due to a bequest of Domitius Afer, the celebrated, or
+rather infamous, informer and rhetorician, who had brought so many
+citizens of Rome to death during the principate of Tiberius. He had run
+great risk himself under Caligula, but had escaped by a piece of adroit
+flattery. In dying he bequeathed a large sum out of his ill-gotten
+gains--the plunder of those whom he had destroyed, and whose families he
+had ruined--to be expended in games in the amphitheater on the nones of
+March, for the delectation of the citizens, and to keep his memory green
+in his native city.
+
+The games were to last two days. On the first there would be contests with
+beasts, and on the second a water combat, when the arena would be flooded
+and converted into a lake.
+
+Great anxiety was entertained relative to the weather. Unless the mistral
+ceased and the rain passed away, it would be impossible for the sports to
+be held. It was true that the entire oval could be covered in by curtains
+and mats, stretched between poles, but this contrivance was intended as
+shelter against sun and not rain. Moreover, the violence of the wind had
+rendered it quite impossible to extend the curtains.
+
+The town was in the liveliest excitement. The man guilty of having
+mutilated the statue had been sentenced to be cast to the beasts, and this
+man was no vulgar criminal out of the slums, but belonged to one of the
+superior "orders."
+
+That a great social change had taken place in the province, and that the
+freedmen had stepped into power and influence, to the displacement of
+their former masters, was felt by the descendants of the first Ægypto-
+Greek colonists, and by the relics of the Gaulish nobility, but they
+hardly endured to admit the fact in words. The exercise of the rights of
+citizenship, the election of the officials, the qualification for filling
+the superior secular and religious offices, belonged to the decurion or
+noble families. Almost the sole office open to those below was that of the
+seviri; and yet even in elections the freedmen were beginning to exhibit a
+power of control.
+
+Now, one of the old municipal families was to be humbled by a member being
+subjected to the degradation of death in the arena, and none of the
+Falerii ventured to raise a voice in his defence, so critical did they
+perceive the situation to be. The sodality of the Augustals in conclave
+had determined that an example was to be made of Marcianus, and had made
+this plain to the magistrates. They had even insisted on the manner of his
+execution. His death would be a plain announcement to the decurion class
+that its domination was at an end. The ancient patrician and plebeian
+families of Rome had been extinguished in blood, and their places filled
+by a new nobility of army factors and money-lenders. A similar revolution
+had taken place in the provinces by less bloody means. There, the transfer
+of power was due largely to the favor of the prince accorded to the
+freedmen.
+
+In the Augustal colleges everywhere, the Cæsar had a body of devoted
+adherents, men without nationality, with no historic position, no
+traditions of past independence; men, moreover, who were shrewd enough to
+see that by combination they would eventually be able to wrest the control
+of the municipal government from those who had hitherto exercised it.
+
+The rumor spread rapidly that a fresh entertainment was to be provided.
+The damsel who had been rescued from the basin of Nemausus had surrendered
+herself in order to obtain the release of her mother; and the magistrate
+in office, Petronius Atacinus, out of consideration for the good people of
+the town, whom he loved, and out of reverence for the gods who had been
+slighted, had determined that she should be produced in the arena, and
+there obliged publicly to sacrifice, and then to be received into the
+priesthood. Should she, however, prove obdurate, then she would be
+tortured into compliance.
+
+Nor was this all. Baudillas Macer, the last scion of a decayed Volcian
+family, who had been cast into the pit of the _robur_, but had escaped,
+was also to be brought out and executed, as having assisted in the rescue
+of Perpetua from the fountain, but chiefly for having connived at the
+crime of Falerius Marcianus.
+
+To the general satisfaction, the wind fell as suddenly as it had risen,
+and that on the night preceding the sports. The weather remained bitterly
+cold, and the sky was dark with clouds that seemed ready to burst. Not a
+ray of sunlight traveled across the arena and climbed the stages of the
+amphitheater. The day might have been one in November, and the weather
+that encountered on the northern plains of Germania.
+
+The townsfolk, and the spectators from the country, came provided against
+the intemperance of the weather, wrapped in their warmest mantles, which
+they drew as hoods over their heads. Slaves arrived, carrying boxes with
+perforated tops, that contained glowing charcoal, so that their masters
+and mistresses might keep their feet warm whilst attending the games. Some
+carried cushions for the seats, others wolf-skin rugs to throw over the
+knees of the well-to-do spectators.
+
+The ranges of the great oval were for the most part packed with
+spectators. The topmost seats were full long before the rest. The stone
+benches were divided into tiers. At the bottom, near the _podium_ or
+breastwork confining the arena, were those for the municipal dignitaries,
+for the priests, and for certain strangers to whom seats had been granted
+by decree of the town council. Here might be read, "Forty seats decreed to
+the navigators of the Rhône and Saone;" at another part of the
+circumference, "Twenty-five places appointed to the navigators of the
+Ardèche and the Ouvèze."
+
+Above the ranges of seats set apart for the officials and guests were
+those belonging to the decurions and knights, the nobility and gentry of
+the town and little republic. The third range was that allotted to the
+freedmen and common townsfolk and peasants from the country, and the
+topmost stage was abandoned to be occupied by slaves alone. At one end of
+the ellipse sat the principal magistrates close to the _podium_ at one
+end, and at the other the master of the games and his attendants, the
+prefect of the watch and of the firemen.
+
+Two doors, one at each end, gave access to the arena, or means of exit.
+One was that of the _vivarium_, whence the gladiators and prisoners issued
+from a large chamber under the seats and feet of the spectators. The other
+door was that which conducted to the _libitinum_, into which were cast the
+corpses of men and the carcasses of beasts that had perished in the games.
+
+Immediately below the seat of the principal magistrates and of the
+pontiffs was a little altar, on the breastwork about the arena, with a
+statue of Nemausus above it; and a priest stood at the side to keep the
+charcoal alight, and to serve the incense to such as desired to do homage
+to the god.
+
+It was remarked that the attendance in the reserved seats of the decurions
+was meager. Such as were connected with the Falerian family by blood or
+marriage made it a point to absent themselves; others stayed away because
+huffed at the insolence of the freedmen, and considering that the sentence
+passed on Marcianus was a slight cast on their order.
+
+On the other hand, the freedmen crowded to the show in full force, and not
+having room to accommodate themselves and their families in the zone
+allotted to them, some audaciously threw themselves over the barriers of
+demarcation and were followed by others, and speedily flooded the benches
+of the decurions.
+
+When the magistrates arrived, preceded by their lictors, all in the
+amphitheater rose, and the Quatuor-viri bowed to the public. Each took a
+pinch from the priest, who extended a silver shell containing aromatic
+gums, and cast it on the fire, some gravely, Petronius with a flippant
+gesture. Then the latter turned to the Augustal _flamen_, saying: "To the
+god Augustus and the divine Julia (Livia)," and he threw some more grains
+on the charcoal.
+
+"Body of Bacchus!" said he, as he took his seat, "a little fizzling spark
+such as that may please the gods, but does not content me. I wish I had a
+roaring fire at which, like a babe out of its bath, I could spread my ten
+toes and as many fingers. Such a day as this is! With cold weather I
+cannot digest my food properly. I feel a lump in me as did Saturn when his
+good Rhea gave him a meal of stones. I am full of twinges. By Vulcan and
+his bellows! if it had not been for duty I would have been at home adoring
+the Lares and Penates. These shows are for the young and warm-blooded. The
+arms of my chair send a chill into my marrow-bones. What comes first? Oh!
+a contest with a bull. Well, I shall curl up and doze like a marmot. Wake
+me, good Smerius, when the next portion of the entertainment begins."
+
+A bull was introduced, and a gladiator was employed to exasperate and play
+with the beast. He waved a garment before its eyes, then drove a sharp
+instrument into its flank, and when the beast turned, he nimbly leaped out
+of the way. When pursued he ran, then turned sharply, put his hands on the
+back of the bull, and leaped over it.
+
+The people cheered, but they had seen the performance so often repeated
+that they speedily tired of such poor sport. The bull was accordingly
+dispatched. Horses were introduced and hooked to the carcass, which was
+rapidly drawn out. Then entered attendants of the amphitheater, who
+strewed sand where the blood had been spilt, bowed and retired.
+
+Thereupon the jailer threw open the gates of the _vivarium_ and brought
+forth the prisoners. These consisted of the taverner who had murdered his
+guests, the manumitted slave who had robbed his master, Baudillas,
+Marcianus and Perpetua.
+
+A thrill of cruel delight ran through the concourse of spectators. Now
+something was about to be shown them, harrowing to the feelings,
+gratifying to the ferocity that is natural to all men, and is expelled,
+not at all by civilization, but by divine grace only.
+
+It enhanced the pleasure of the spectators that criminals should witness
+the death of their fellows. Eyes scanned their features, observed whether
+they turned sick and faint, whether they winced, or whether they remained
+cool and callous. This gave a cruel zest to their enjoyment.
+
+A bear was produced. Dogs were set on him, and he was worried till he
+shook off his torpor and was worked into fury. Then, at a sign from the
+manager of the games, the dogs were called off, and the man who had
+murdered his guests was driven forward towards the incensed beast.
+
+The fellow was sullen, and gave no token of fear. He folded his arms,
+leaned against the marble _podium_, and looked contemptuously around him
+at the occupants of the tiers of seats.
+
+The bear, relieved from his aggressors, seemed indisposed to notice the
+man.
+
+Then the spectators roared to the criminal, bidding him invite the brute
+against himself. It was a strange fact that often in these horrible
+exhibitions a man condemned to fight with the beasts allowed himself a
+brief display of vanity, and sought to elicit the applause of the
+spectators by his daring conduct to the animal that was to mangle and kill
+him.
+
+But the ill-humored fellow would not give this pleasure to the onlookers.
+
+Then the master of the sports signed to the attendants to goad the bear.
+They obeyed, and he turned and growled and struck at them, but would not
+touch the man designed to be hugged by him.
+
+After many vain attempts, amidst the hooting and roar of the people, a
+sign was made. Some gladiators leaped in, and with their swords dispatched
+the taverner.
+
+The spectators were indignant. They had been shown no sport, only a common
+execution. They were shivering with cold; some grumbled, and said that
+this was childish stuff to witness which was not worth the discomfort of
+the exposure. Then, as with one voice, rose the yell: "The wolves! send in
+the wolves! Marcianus to the wolves!"
+
+The master of the games dispatched a messenger to the Quatuorvir who was
+then the acting magistrate. He nodded to what was said, waved his hand in
+the direction of the master's box, and the latter sent an attendant to the
+keeper of the beasts.
+
+The jailer-executioner at once grasped the deacon Falerius Marcianus by
+the shoulders, bade him descend some steps and enter the arena.
+
+Marcianus was deadly white. He shrank with disgust from the spot where the
+soil was drenched with the blood of the taverner, and which was not as yet
+strewn over with fresh sand. He cast a furtive look at the altar, then
+made an appealing gesture to the magistrate.
+
+"Come here, Cneius Marcianus," said Petronius. "You belong to a
+respectable and ancient family. You have been guilty of an infamous deed
+that has brought disgrace on your entire order. See how many absent
+themselves this day on that account! Your property is confiscated, you are
+sentenced to death. Yet I give you one chance. Sacrifice to the gods and
+blaspheme Christ. I do not promise you life if you do this. You must
+appeal to the people. If they see you offer incense, they will know that
+you have renounced the Crucified. Then I will put the question to their
+decision. If they hold up their thumbs you will live. Consider, it is a
+chance; it depends, not on me, but on their humor. Will you sacrifice?"
+
+Marcianus looked at the mighty hoop of faces. He saw that the vast
+concourse was thrilled with expectation; a notion crossed the mind of one
+of the freedmen that Marcianus was being given a means of escape, and he
+shouted words that, though audible and intelligible to those near, were
+not to be caught by such as were distant. But the purport of his address
+was understood, and produced a deafening, a furious roar of remonstrance.
+
+"I will not sacrifice," said the deacon; "I am a Christian."
+
+Then Petronius Atacinus raised his hand, partly to assure the spectators
+that he was not opposing their wishes, partly as a signal to the master of
+the games.
+
+Instantly a low door in the barrier was opened, and forth rushed a howling
+pack of wolves. When they had reached the center of the arena, they stood
+for a moment snuffing, and looked about them in questioning attitudes.
+Some, separating from the rest, ran with their snouts against the ground
+to where the recent blood had been spilt. But, all at once, a huge gray
+wolf, that led the pack, uttered a howl, and made a rush and a leap
+towards Marcianus; and the rest followed.
+
+The sight was too terrible for the deacon to contemplate it unmoved. He
+remained but for an instant as one frozen, and then with a cry he started
+and ran round the ellipse, and the whole gray pack tore after him. Now and
+then, finding that they gained on him, he turned with threatening gestures
+that cowed the brutes; but this was for a moment only. Their red eyes,
+their gleaming teeth filled the wretched man with fresh terror, and again
+he ran.
+
+The spectators clapped their hands--some stood up on their seats and
+laughed in ecstasy of enjoyment. Once, twice he made the circuit of the
+arena; and his pace, if possible, became quicker. The delight of the
+spectators became an intoxication. It was exquisite. Fear in the flying
+man became frantic. His breath, his strength were failing. Then suddenly
+he halted, half turned, and ran to the foot of the barrier before the seat
+of the Quatuor-viri, and extended his hand: "Give me the incense! I
+worship Nemausus! I adore Augustus! I renounce Christ!"
+
+At the same moment the old monster wolf had seized him from behind. The
+arms of the deacon were seen for an instant in the air. The spectators
+stamped and danced and cheered--the dense gray mass of writhing, snarling
+beasts closed over the spot where Marcianus had fallen!
+
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXIII
+
+                             THE CLOUD-BREAK
+
+
+The acting magistrate turned to his fellow-quatuorvir, charged with co-
+ordinate judicial authority, on the left, and said: "Your nose is leaden-
+purple in hue."
+
+"No marvel, in this cold. I ever suffer there with the least frost. My ear
+lobes likewise are seats of chilblain."
+
+"In this climate! Astonishing! If it had been in Britain, or in Germany,
+it might have been expected."
+
+"My brother-magistrate," said Vibius Fuscianus, "I believe that here in
+the south we are more sensible to frost than are those who live under
+hyperborean skies. There they expect cold, and take precautions
+accordingly. Here the blasts fall on us unawares. We groan and sigh till
+the sun shines out, and then forget our sufferings. Who but fools would be
+here to-day? Look above. The clouds hang low, and are so dark that we may
+expect to be pelted with hail."
+
+"Aye," laughed Petronius, "as big as the pebbles that strew the Crau
+wherewith Hercules routed the Ligurians. Well; it is black as an eclipse.
+I will give thee a hint, Vibius mine! I have made my slave line this
+marble seat with hot bricks. They are comforting to the spine, the very
+column of life. Presently he will be here with another supply. You see we
+are not all fools. Some do make provision against the cold."
+
+"I wish I had thought of this before."
+
+"That is precisely the wish that crossed the mind of the poor wretch whom
+the wolves have finished. He postponed his renunciation of Christ till
+just too late."
+
+Then Lucius Petronius yawned, stretched himself, and signed that the
+freedman who had robbed the master who had manumitted him, should be
+delivered to a panther.
+
+The wolves were with difficulty chased out of the arena, and then all was
+prepared for this next exhibition. It was brief. The beast was hungry, and
+the criminal exposed made little effort to resist. Next came the turn of
+Baudillas.
+
+Without raising himself in his seat, the Quatuorvir said languidly: "You
+broke out of prison, you were charged with aiding and abetting sacrilege.
+You refused to sacrifice to the genius of the Emperor. Well, if you will
+cast a few grains of incense in the fire, I will let you depart."
+
+"I cannot forswear Christ," said Baudillas with a firmness that surprised
+none so much as himself. But, indeed, the fall of Marcianus, so far from
+drawing him along into the same apostasy, had caused a recoil in his soul.
+To hear his fellow-ministrant deny Christ, to see him extend his hands for
+the incense--that inspired him with an indignation which gave immense force
+to his resolution. The Church had been dishonored, the ministry disgraced
+in Marcianus. Oh, that they might not be thus humbled in himself!
+
+"Baudillas Macer," said the magistrate, "take advice, and be speedy in
+making your election; your fellow, who has just furnished a breakfast to
+the wolves, hesitated a moment too long, and so lost his life. By the time
+he had resolved to act as a wise man and a good citizen, not the gods
+themselves could deliver him. _Flamen_, hand the shell with the grains to
+this sensible fellow."
+
+"I cannot offer sacrifice."
+
+"You are guilty of treason against Cæsar if you refuse to sacrifice to his
+genius. Never mind about Nemausus, whose image is there. Say--the genius of
+Cæsar, and you are quit."
+
+"I am his most obedient subject."
+
+"Then offer a libation or some frankincense."
+
+"I cannot. I pray daily to God for him."
+
+"A wilful man is like a stubborn ass. There is naught for him but the
+stick. I can do no more. I shall sentence you."
+
+"I am ready to die for Christ."
+
+"Then lead him away. The sword!"
+
+The deacon bowed. "I am unworthy of shedding my blood for Christ," he
+said, and his voice, though low, was firm.
+
+Then he looked around and saw the Bishop Castor in the zone allotted to
+the citizens and knights. Baudillas crossed his arms on his breast and
+knelt on the sand, and the bishop, rising from his seat, extended his hand
+in benediction.
+
+He, Castor, had not been called to sacrifice. He had not courted death,
+but he had not shrunk from it. He had not concealed himself, nevertheless
+he had been passed over.
+
+Then the deacon, with firm step, walked into the center of the arena and
+knelt down.
+
+In another moment his head was severed from the body.
+
+The attendants immediately removed every trace of the execution, and now
+arrived the moment for which all had looked with impatience.
+
+The magistrate said: "Bring forward Perpetua, daughter of Aulus Harpinius
+Læto, that has lived."
+
+At once Æmilius sprang into the arena and advanced before Petronius.
+
+"Suffer me to act as her advocate," said he in an agitated voice. "You
+know me, I am Lentulus Varo."
+
+"I know you very well by repute, Æmilius," answered the Quatuorvir; "but I
+think there is no occasion now for your services. This is not a court of
+justice in which your forensic eloquence can be heard, neither is this a
+case to be adjudicated upon, and calling for defence. The virgin was
+chosen by lot to be given to the god Nemausus, and was again demanded by
+him speaking at midnight, after she had been rescued from his fountain, if
+I mistake not, by you. Your power of interference ceased there. Now, she
+is accused of nothing. She is reconsigned to the god, whose she is."
+
+"I appeal to Cæsar."
+
+"If I were to allow the appeal, would that avail thy client? But it is no
+case in which an appeal is justifiable. The god is merciful. He does not
+exact the life of the damsel, he asks only that she enter into his service
+and be a priestess at his shrine, that she pour libations before his
+altar, and strew rose leaves on his fountain. Think you that the Cæsar
+will interfere in such a matter? Think you that, were it to come before
+him, he would forbid this? But ask thy client if the appeal be according
+to her desire."
+
+Perpetua shook her head.
+
+"No, she is aware that it would be profitless. If thou desirest to serve
+her, then use thy persuasion and induce her to do sacrifice."
+
+"Sir," said Æmilius in great agitation, "how can she become the votary of
+a god in whom she does not believe?"
+
+"Oh, as to that," answered the Quatuorvir, "it is a formality, nothing
+more; a matter of incense and rose leaves. As to _belief_," he turned to
+his fellow-magistrate, and said, laughing, "listen to this man. He talks
+of belief, as though that were a necessary ingredient in worship! Thou,
+with thy plum-colored nose, hast thou full faith in Æsculapius to cure
+thee even of a chilblain?"
+
+Fuscianus shrugged his shoulders. "I hate all meddlers with usages that
+are customary. I hate them as I do a bit of grit in my salad. I put them
+away."
+
+The populace became impatient, shouted and stamped. Some, provided with
+empty gourds, in which were pebbles, rattled them, and made a strange
+sound as of a hailstorm. Others clacked together pieces of pottery. The
+magistrate turned to the pontiff on his right and said: "We believe with
+all our hearts in the gods when we do sacrifice! Oh, mightily, I trow."
+Then he laughed again. The priest looked grave for a moment, and then he
+laughed also.
+
+"Come now," said Lucius Petronius to the young lawyer, "to this I limit
+thy interference. Stand by the girl and induce her to yield. By the Bow-
+bearer! young men do not often fail in winning the consent of girls when
+they use their best blandishments. It will be a scene for the stage. You
+have plenty of spectators."
+
+"Suffer me also to stand beside her," said the slave-woman Blanda, who had
+not left Perpetua.
+
+"By all means. And if you two succeed, none will be better content than
+myself. I am not one who would wish a fair virgin a worse fate than to
+live and be merry and grow old. Ah me! old age!"
+
+Again the multitude shouted and rattled pumpkins.
+
+"We are detaining the people in the cold," said the presiding magistrate;
+"the sports move sluggishly as does our blood." Then, aside to Fuscianus,
+"My bricks are becoming sensibly chilled. I require a fresh supply." Then
+to the maiden: "Hear me, Perpetua, daughter of Harpinius Læto that was--we
+and the gods, or the gods and we, are indisposed to deal harshly. Throw a
+few crumbs of incense on the altar, and you shall pass at once up those
+steps to the row of seats where sit the white-robed priestesses with their
+crowns. I shall be well content."
+
+"That is a thing I cannot do," said Perpetua firmly.
+
+"Then we shall have to make you," said the magistrate in hard tones. He
+was angry, vexed. "You will prove more compliant when you have been
+extended on the rack. Let her be disrobed and tortured."
+
+Then descended into the arena two young men, who bowed to the magistrate,
+solicited leave, and drew forth styles or iron pens and tablets covered
+with wax. These were the scribes of the Church employed everywhere to take
+down a record of the last interrogatory of a martyr. Such records were
+called the "Acts." Of them great numbers have been preserved, but
+unhappily rarely unfalsified. The simplicity of the acts, the stiffness of
+style, the absence of all miraculous incident, did not suit the taste of
+mediæval compilers, and they systematically interpolated the earlier acts
+with harrowing details and records of marvels. Nevertheless, a certain
+number of these acts remain uncorrupted, and with regard to the rest it is
+not difficult to separate in them that which is fictitious from that which
+is genuine. Such notaries were admitted to the trials and executions with
+as much indifference as would be newspaper reporters nowadays.
+
+Again, with the sweat of anguish breaking out on his brow, Æmilius
+interposed.
+
+"I pray your mercy," he said; "let the sentence be still further modified.
+Suffer the damsel to be relieved of becoming a priestess. Let her become
+my wife, and I swear that I will make over my estate of Ad Fines to the
+temple of the god Nemausus, with the villa upon it, and statues and works
+of art."
+
+"That is an offer to be entertained by the priesthood and not by me.
+Boy--hot bricks! and be quick about removing those which have become almost
+cold."
+
+A pause ensued whilst the proposal of Æmilius was discussed between the
+chief priestess of the fountain and the Augustal _flamen_ and the other
+pontiffs.
+
+The populace became restless, impatient, noisy. They shouted, hooted;
+called out that they were tired of seeing nothing.
+
+"Come," said Petronius, "I cannot further delay proceedings."
+
+"We consent," said the chief pontiff.
+
+"That is well."
+
+Then Æmilius approached Perpetua, and entreated her to give way. To cast a
+few grains on the charcoal meant nothing; it was a mere movement of the
+hand, a hardly conscious muscular act, altogether out of comparison with
+the results. Such compliance would give her life, happiness, and would
+place her in a position to do vast good, and he assured her that his whole
+life would be devoted to her service.
+
+"I cannot," she said, looking Æmilius full in the face. "Do not think me
+ungrateful; my heart overflows for what you have done for me, but I cannot
+deny my Christ."
+
+Again he urged her. Let her consent and he--even he would become a
+Christian.
+
+"No," said she, "not at that price. You would be in heart for ever
+estranged from the faith."
+
+"To the rack! Lift her on to the little horse. Domitius Afer left his
+bequest to the city in order that we should be amused, not befooled,"
+howled the spectators.
+
+"Executioners, do your duty," said the magistrate. "But if she cry out,
+let her off. She will sacrifice. Only to the first hole--mind you. If that
+does not succeed, well, then, we shall try sharper means."
+
+And now the little horse was set up in the midst of the arena, and
+braziers of glowing charcoal were planted beside it; in the fire rested
+crooks and pincers to get red hot.
+
+The "little horse" was a structure of timber. Two planks were set edgeways
+with a wheel between them at each end. The structure stood on four legs,
+two at each extremity, spreading at the base. Halfway down, between these
+legs, at the ends, was a roller, furnished with levers that passed through
+them. A rope was attached to the ankles, another to the wrists of the
+person extended on the back of the "horse," and this rope was strained
+over the pulleys by means of the windlasses. The levers could be turned to
+any extent, so as, if required, to wrench arms and legs from their
+sockets.
+
+And now ensued a scene that refuses description. "We are made a spectacle
+unto men and angels," said the apostle, and none could realize how true
+were the words better than those who lived in times of persecution. Before
+that vast concourse the modest Christian maiden was despoiled of her
+raiment and was stretched upon the rack--swung between the planks.
+
+Æmilius felt his head swim and his heart contract. What could he do? Again
+he entreated, but she shook her head, yet turned at his voice and smiled.
+
+Then the executioners threw themselves on the levers, and a hush as of
+death fell on the multitude. Twenty thousand spectators looked on, twice
+that number of eyes were riveted on the frail girl undergoing this agony.
+Bets had been made on her constancy, bandied about, taken, and booked.
+Castor stood up, with face turned to heaven, and extended arms, praying.
+
+The creaking of the windlass was audible; then rang out a sharp cry of
+pain.
+
+Immediately the cords were relaxed and the victim lowered to the ground.
+Blanda threw a mantle over her.
+
+"She will sacrifice," said Æmilius; "take off the cords."
+
+The executioners looked to the magistrate. He nodded, and they obeyed. The
+bonds were rapidly removed from her hands and feet.
+
+"Blanda, sustain her!" commanded Æmilius, and he on one side, with his arm
+round the sinking, quivering form, and the slave-woman on the other,
+supported Perpetua. Her feet dragged and traced a furrow in the sand; they
+were numbed and powerless through the tension of the cords that had been
+knotted about the ankles. Æmilius and Blanda drew her towards the altar.
+
+"I cannot! I will not sacrifice! I am a Christian. I believe in Christ! I
+love Christ!"
+
+"Perpetua," said Æmilius in agitated tones, "your happiness and mine
+depend on compliance. For all I have done for you, if you will not for
+your own sake--consent to this. Here! I will hold your hand. Nay, it is I
+who will strew the incense, and make it appear as though it were done by
+you. Priest! The shell with the grains."
+
+"Spare me! I cannot!" gasped the girl, struggling in his arms. "I cannot
+be false to my Christ--for all that He has done for me."
+
+"You shall. I must constrain you." He set his teeth, knitted his brow. All
+his muscles were set in desperation. He strove to force her hand to the
+altar.
+
+"Shame on thee!" sobbed she. "Thou art more cruel than the torturer, more
+unjust than the judge."
+
+It was so. Æmilius felt that she was right. They did but insult and rack a
+frail body, and he did violence to the soul within.
+
+The people hooted and roared, and brandished their arms threateningly. "We
+will not be balked! We are being treated to child's play."
+
+"Take her back to the rack. Apply the fire," ordered the Quatuorvir.
+
+The executioners reclaimed her. She offered no resistance. Æmilius
+staggered to the _podium_ and grasped the marble top with one hand.
+
+She was again suspended on the little horse. Again the windlass creaked.
+The crowd listened, held its breath, men looked in each other's eyes, then
+back to the scene of suffering. Not a sound; not a cry; no, not even a
+sigh. She bore all.
+
+"Try fire!" ordered the magistrate.
+
+Æmilius had covered his face. He trembled. He would have shut his ears as
+he did his eyes, could he have done so. Verily, the agony of his soul was
+as great as the torture of her body. But there was naught to be heard--an
+ominous stillness, only the groaning of the windlass, and now and then a
+word from one executioner to his fellow.
+
+At every creak of the wheel a quiver went through the frame of Æmilius. He
+listened with anguish of mind for a cry. The populace held its breath; it
+waited. There was none. Into her face he dared not look. But the twenty
+thousand spectators stared--and saw naught save lips moving in prayer.
+
+And now a mighty wonder occurred.
+
+The dense cloud that filled the heavens began softly, soundlessly, to
+discharge its burden. First came, scarce noticed, sailing down, a few
+large white flakes like fleeces of wool. Then they came fast, faster, ever
+faster. And now it was as though a white bridal veil had been let down out
+of heaven to hide from the eyes of the ravening multitude the spectacle of
+the agony of Christ's martyr. None could see across the arena; soon none
+could see obscurely into it. The snowflakes fell thick and dense, they
+massed as a white cornice on the parapet, they dropped on every head, they
+whitened the bloodstained, trampled sand. And all fled before the snow.
+First went a few in twos or threes; then whole rows stood up, and through
+the vomitories the multitude poured--freedmen, slaves, knights, ladies,
+_flamines_, magistrates; none could stand against the descending snow.
+
+"Cast her down!" This was the last command issued by Petronius as he rose
+from his seat. The executioners were glad to escape. They relaxed the
+ropes, and threw their victim on the already white ground.
+
+Still thick and fast fell the fleeces. Blanda had cast a mantle of wool
+over the prostrate girl, but out of heaven descended a pall, whiter than
+fuller on earth can bleach, and buried the woolen cloak and the extended
+quivering limbs. Beside her, in the snow, knelt Æmilius. He held her hand
+in one of his. She looked him in the face and smiled. Then she said: "Give
+to Blanda her liberty."
+
+He could not speak. He signed that it should be so.
+
+Then she said: "I have prayed for thee--on the rack, in the fire--that the
+light may shine into thy heart."
+
+She closed her eyes.
+
+Still he held her hand, and with the other gently brushed away the
+snowflakes as they fell on her pure face. Oh wondrous face! Face above the
+dream of the highest Greek artist!
+
+Thus passed an hour--thus a second.
+
+Then suddenly the clouds parted, and the sun poured down a flood of glory
+over the dazzling white oval field, in the midst of which lay a heap of
+whiteness, and on a face as of alabaster, inanimate, and on a kneeling,
+weeping man, still with reverent finger sweeping away the last snowflakes
+from eyelash, cheek and hair, and who felt as if he could thus look, and
+kneel, and weep for ever.(12)
+
+
+
+
+
+                              CHAPTER XXIV
+
+                                  CREDO
+
+
+Many days had passed. All was calm in Nemausus. The games were over.
+
+The day succeeding that we have described was warm and spring-like. The
+sun shone brilliantly. Every trace of the snow had disappeared, and the
+water-fight in the amphitheater had surpassed the expectations of the
+people. They had enjoyed themselves heartily.
+
+All had returned to its old order. The wool merchant took fresh commands,
+and sent his travelers into the Cebennæ to secure the winter fleeces. The
+woman who had the flower-shop sold garlands as fast as she could weave
+them. The potter spread out a fresh collection of his wares and did a good
+business with them.
+
+The disturbances that had taken place were no more spoken about. The
+deaths of Marcianus, Baudillas and Perpetua hardly occupied any thoughts,
+save only those of their relatives and the Christians.
+
+The general public had seen a show, and the show over, they had other
+concerns to occupy them.
+
+Now both Pedo and Blanda were free, and the long tarrying was over. They
+had loved when young, they came together in the autumn of their lives.
+
+In the heart of the Church of Nemausus there was not forgetfulness of its
+heroes.
+
+
+
+If the visitor at the present day to Nîmes will look about him, he will
+find two churches, both recently rebuilt, in place of, and on the site of,
+very ancient places of worship, and the one bears the name of St.
+Baudille. If he inquire of the sacristan, "Mais qui, donc, était-il, ce
+saint?" then the answer given him will be: "Baudillas was a native of
+Nîmes, a deacon, and a martyr."
+
+If he ask further, "But when?" Then the sacristan will probably reply with
+a shrug: "Mais, monsieur; qui sait?"
+
+In another part of the town is a second church, glowing internally with
+color from its richly painted windows, and this bears the name of Ste.
+Perpetue.
+
+Does the visitor desire to be told whether it has been erected in honor
+and in commemoration of the celebrated African martyrs Felicitas and
+Perpetua, or of some local virgin saint who shed her blood for Christ,
+then let him again inquire of the sacristan.
+
+What his answer will be I cannot say.
+
+
+
+The Bishop Castor remained much in his house. He grieved that he had not
+been called to witness to the faith that was in him. But he was a humble
+man, and he said to himself: "Such was the will of God, and that sufficeth
+me."
+
+One evening he was informed that a man, who would not give his name,
+desired to speak with him.
+
+He ordered that he should be introduced.
+
+When the visitor entered, Castor recognized Æmilius, but the man was
+changed. Lines of thought and of sorrow marked his face, that bore other
+impress as well of the travail of his soul within him. He seemed older,
+his face more refined than before, there was less of carnal beauty, and
+something spiritual that shone out of his eyes.
+
+The bishop warmly welcomed him.
+
+Then said Æmilius in a low tone, "I am come to thee for instruction. I
+know but little, yet what I know of Christ I believe. He is not dead, He
+liveth; He is a power; mighty is faith, and mighty is the love that He
+inspires. _Credo._"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                                FOOTNOTES
+
+
+    1 So represented in paintings in the Catacombs. There were two
+      distinct types: the table in the Church and the tomb at the
+      Sepulcher of the Martyr.
+
+    2 St. Clement of Alexandria complained of the dainties provided for
+      the Agape: "The sauces, cakes, sugar-plums, the drink, the
+      delicacies, the games, the sweetmeats, the honey." The hour of
+      supper with the Romans was about 2 P.M.; that, therefore, was the
+      time for the love-feast to begin.
+
+    3 In the recently-exhumed house of Saints John and Paul, in the Coelian
+      Hill at Rome, such bottles were discovered in the cellar.
+
+    4 Now Ambroix.
+
+    5 Certain Christians bought substitutes to sacrifice in their room and
+      receive a ticket (_libellus_) certifying that they had sacrificed.
+      The Church was a little perplexed how to deal with these timorous
+      members, who were termed _libellatics_.
+
+    6 I employ the term Duumvir for convenience. As already stated, there
+      were four chief magistrates, but two only had criminal jurisdiction.
+
+    7 "Erat et robur, locus in carcere, quo præcipitabatur maleficorum
+      genus, quod ante arcis robustis includebatur."--LIV. 38, 39.
+
+    8 The prayer is given in the "Apostolic Constitutions," viii. 37.
+
+    9 The casting into the lowest pit of the _robur_--sometimes termed the
+      _barathrum_--was not a rare act of barbarity. Jugurtha perished in
+      that of the Tullianum in Rome. "By Hercules!" said he as he was
+      being lowered into it, "your bath is cold!" S. Ferreolus, of Vienne,
+      was plunged into this horrible place in A.D. 304. He was young, and
+      by diving or by working at the grating he managed to escape much in
+      the manner described above. Thus through the sewer he reached the
+      Rhône, and swam across it. He was, however, recaptured and taken
+      back to Vienne, where he was decapitated. He is commemorated in the
+      diocese of Vienne on September 18th, and is mentioned by Sidonius
+      Apollinaris in the fifth century, and by Venantius Fortunatus in the
+      sixth. S. Gregory, the illuminator, was cast into the _barathrum_ by
+      Tiridates. Theodoret describes martyrs devoured by rats and mice in
+      Persia ("Hist. Eccl.," v. 39).
+
+   10 This sign is now in the museum.
+
+   11 Fairies, adored at Nemausus.
+
+   12 The incident of the fall of snow occurring at the martyrdom of a
+      virgin saint is no picture of the author's imagination. It occurred
+      at the passion of S. Eulalia of Merida, in A.D. 303, and is
+      commemorated in the hymn on her by Prudentius.
+
+
+
+
+
+                            TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
+
+
+Variations in hyphenation or spelling have not been changed.
+
+Changes, which have been made to the text:
+
+      page 55, "Nemauscan" changed to "Nemausean"
+      page 117, "alloted" changed to "allotted"
+      page 119, "exisiting" changed to "existing"
+      page 125, comma removed after "Baudillas"
+      page 278, "adsence" changed to "absence"
+      page 280, quote mark added before "Executioners"
+
+
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PERPETUA. A TALE OF NIMES IN A.D. 213***
+
+
+
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