The Libyan himself had long regarded his fate as decisively settled. He

had interpreted the Apocalypse as referring to Constantine, and did not

doubt either the temporary overthrow of Christianity by the emperor, or

the fact that he would be involved in its ruin. He looked without fear,

perhaps more with a feeling of curiosity than anything else, for signs

which might enable him to form a conjecture as to how long the kingdom

of heaven might be banished out of the world: its ultimate restoration

and final triumph over human governments he never doubted; but he would

hardly have turned his hand, or raised his head, to avoid the death

which he supposed Constantine had determined to bring upon him. "If,"

he said unto his intimate friends, "the emperor's council carry out his

wishes, I desire ye all to remember, in the future, that no Christian

council hath, or hath ever attempted, to exercise authority to put any

man to death for heresy. The only punishments the Church hath ever

imposed stop with the refusal to fellowship an unbeliever or a

wrong-doer. If Constantine condemn me, remember that he is not a

bishop, hath never even been baptized, and hath no authority to decide

upon what is or what is not heretical; and the Roman law hath never, so

far at least, attempted to define what a Christian may lawfully believe.

Ye see, therefore, that the fact of my destruction illustrateth well the

character of the council, and showeth that even the magnificent

spectacle of his resignation which he so well enacted can not convert

Constantine's meeting into a council of the Christian Church. And I

suppose that this will more plainly appear as the matter proceedeth

further."

Then answered the Bishop of Nicomedia, saying: "Brother, if thou must

perish for the cause of Christ, I perish also with thee. I am an Arian,

and shall claim the right to die with thee if any murder shall be done."

"And I also!" said Eusebius of Caesarea. "And I also!" said Maris of

Chalcedon; and Theognis of Nicea; and Menophantes of Ephesus; and a

score of other bishops, each in his turn pressing the old presbyter's

hand. Then said the presbyter: "If your resolution hold, either the

policy and craft of Constantine will deny us a death so glorious, or our

martyrdom will of itself reinstate the kingdom of heaven in spite of the

emperor. Let us rejoice, then, in hope of the triumph of the truth!"

And having thus quietly but unflinchingly made a covenant that, if the

matter should be prosecuted to extremities against Arius, they would

share his fate, and thereby furnish to the whole body of Christians

throughout the world a most terrible and unanswerable protest against

the council and the emperor, these devoted men calmly awaited the

beginning of the struggle which they knew to be steadily approaching,

although they were unable to determine from what quarter it would come.

CHAPTER IX.

"I HAVE NO SUPERIOR BUT CHRIST."

When the council met one morning, Athanasius produced and laughingly

read a song, or hymn, which had been written and set to music by the

Libyan, for the use of uneducated Christians at Alexandria, in order to

enable them to memorize and keep in mind the doctrines of Christianity

as he had understood them. This song was part of a little book entitled

"Thalia," or "Songs of Joy," which the presbyter had written for sailors

and others who had no certain means of attending regular religious

services, and in it occurred the following expressions: "God was not

always Father; once he was not Father; afterward he became Father; and

his only-begotten is Jesus Christ our Lord."

And thereupon Marcellus, Bishop of Ancyra, moved the council to declare

that this sentiment was heretical; and that the man who wrote it should

be expelled from the Church of Christ; and Arius and his friends

perceived that the struggle for the destruction of the presbyter had

begun. For a while the council-hall was filled with clamorous and

bitter denunciations of Arius: "The heretic!" "The atheist!" "The

defamer of Christ!" "The polytheist!" "The pagan!" "The Libyan

serpent!" "The ram of Baucalis!" and almost every other term of

reproach which the vocabulary of ecclesiasticism could furnish, were

shouted throughout the hall by the partisans of Constantine. Finally,

the clamor seemed to wear itself out, and, order having been partially

restored, Potammon of Hierapolis, a confessor whom the pagans had left

blind and lame, straightened up himself and with great awkwardness and

earnestness cried out: "Brethren, I was reared up in Central Africa, and

know nothing of philosophy, but do try to serve the Lord, and to avoid

all heresy and false doctrine. I have often sung this song, not knowing

it was heresy, with my people! What is there wrong about the song,

then? Do any of you deny that Jesus Christ is the only-begotten Son of

God? or that he is our Lord and Saviour? or will some of you now pretend

to believe that the Son is older than the Father? What is wrong about

the song?"

To the same effect spoke many of the friends of Arius; and Maris of

Chalcedon said: "The Gospels uniformly call Jesus Christ the

only-begotten Son of the Father, and I have never believed it necessary

or proper to go any further than the simple, direct scriptural

statement."

Finally, Eusebius of Nicomedia obtained a hearing, and, speaking calmly

and soothingly, he said: "Brethren, the song which ye have heard read

seems to be merely a metrical composition formed to aid the memory of

those who were unable to read and write, and those who had no copy of

the Scriptures, in keeping in mind certain scriptural phrases and

doctrines; and I could not be led to suspect a great and pious presbyter

of heresy upon such a cause as that. Let us proceed, then, decently and

in order; and if ye would know truly what Arius hath taught as religion,

call upon him to declare what he hath so taught. This seemeth to me to

be the only fair and honorable course, worthy of a Christian assembly,

if any one think there is cause to suppose that he hath taught anything

contrary to Scripture."

This reasonable counsel at once prevailed with the greater number, and

by a large vote they requested Arius to declare his teachings.

Thereupon the old heretic arose, and in his strange, peculiar,

fascinating tone and manner, spoke as follows: "Brethren, I have never

taught anything concerning our Lord as religion, except that which is

expressly laid down in the Scriptures; to wit, that Jesus is the

only-begotten Son of God, the Saviour of the world. I do not know

anything, and have never taught as articles of faith necessary to be

believed, anything except what is thus expressly and definitively stated

in the Gospels. Of course, like every man who thinks at all, I have

meditated often and earnestly about the philosophy of the facts stated,

and have formed in my own mind certain speculations in relation thereto

which are satisfactory to mine own understanding, and I have not

hesitated to declare these opinions in all proper times and places; but

I have never said, at any time or place, that these merely philosophical

speculations upon the nature of Deity were binding upon any man's

conscience, or that they should be taught and believed as the rule of

any man's faith and practice; because they have not been revealed or

declared as such by the word of God. If any man allege that I have done

otherwise, let him make the charge in writing and produce the proof, as

was the custom at every Christian council in such cases that hath ever

been held upon the motion of the bishops authorized to call a council,

as at Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, in Pontus, Gaul, Mesopotamia, and

Ephesus."

The presbyter said no more, but quietly resumed his seat, and the calm,

grave, and reasonable manner in which he had met and disposed of the

vociferations which had assailed him, in the opinion of nearly all, left

no course to be pursued with decency except to present written charges

against him, and offer proofs thereof. But such a course did not by any

means suit the purposes of those who were resolved upon his ruin; and

Athanasius, who at all times was able to command a respectful hearing at

the hands of the assembly, without seeming to notice the challenge

thrown down by the Libyan, said in his own winning and seemingly

respectful way: "Hast thou not publicly and customarily, in thy Baucalis

church, in Alexandria, preached things that were contrary to the views

of the Bishop Alexander--contrary to his interpretation of the

Scriptures, for which he did order that thou be suspended from thy

ministry; and didst not thou pertinaciously refuse to obey his episcopal

order, and obstinately persevere in proclaiming thine abominable

heresies? Wilt thou now deny this?"

Then with an effort to preserve his self-control that sent a strange

shiver creeping over his gaunt and mighty frame, the presbyter made

answer: "It appeareth, brethren, that this gifted youth hath been taught

to believe that it is heresy to differ in opinion with the learned and

pious brother, Alexander! It is very true that I and my brother

Alexander have somewhat differed in opinion, but I am not advised that

he hath any more authority to dictate my opinions than have I to dictate

his; and I am very certain that, wherein the bishop hath differed with

me, he is in error."

But Constantine cried out, "Answer thou whether thou hast preached in

spite of the order of suspension made against thee by thy superior!"

And the old heretic arose again, and answered: "I had supposed that the

answer already made would be sufficient for any bishop, but being

commanded by an unbaptized emperor to answer yet further, I have to say

that I have no 'superior' but Christ; as for the order of brother

Alexander 'suspending' me from the exercise of the functions of a

presbyter, all the clergy here assembled well know that it is void. The

day hath not yet come when any one brother in the Church can 'suspend'

another. I suppose that, under the legal religion which is to replace

the gospel of Christ, a bishop will have some such authority over a

presbyter as a legionary hath over a centurion, or a centurion over a

soldier; but we have not quite reached that condition! As to the

differences of opinion between myself and the brother Alexander and

others, I will simply state that our good city of Alexandria hath a

population marvelously intellectual, and greatly addicted to the study

of philosophy. Hence it hath happened that many of the brethren, and

some even of the bishops and presbyters, have added, unconsciously

perhaps, to their faith in the facts set forth in the Gospels certain

philosophical notions intended for the explanation of these facts, which

notions they have derived from many teachers--chiefly from the great

heathen Plato, and from his followers, the neo-Platonists, and from the

school of Philo the Egyptian. The learned and pious Bishop Alexander

derived from some such source (I know not what) certain philosophical

views which seemed to deny utterly the separate existence of the Son of

God; and which savored strongly of the heresy of Sabellius that had been

condemned by more than one Christian council, and which did tend

directly to the subversion of the primitive Christian communities, and

to the overthrow of 'the kingdom of heaven' which Jesus did ordain, and

to the substitution therefor of some such ecclesiastical system as I am

told the emperor hath established in the Western Empire, in which the

emperor, not Christ, is head of the Church, and in which the law

prescribes what a man may believe or not believe (just as the pagan laws

have always done), instead of the Scriptures. So long as brother

Alexander held these erroneous opinions privately, I meddled not with

them; but when he afterward saw proper to come and preach these heresies

to mine own congregation, I guarded my community against this pernicious

philosophy; for the Gospels and the Acts furnish the only authority

concerning Christ and faith in him; and not the opinions of Sabellius,

Alexander, Hosius, or Constantine. As for mine own philosophical

opinions concerning Deity, I never learned them of Plato, nor of Philo,

nor of Sabellius, but of the most wise and pious Am-nem-hat, who was for

many years high-priest of the pagan temple at Ombos, holding there the

same position which the Emperor Constantine as Pontifex Maximus hath so

long held at Rome; but Am-nem-hat was afterward a glorious Christian,

and a holy martyr, at our city of Alexandria, as many of you know. But

no man hath ever heard me claim that these philosophical opinions

constituted any rule of faith or practice, or were binding upon any

man's conscience; although I doubt not that the theological opinions of

a most ancient and learned Egyptian high-priest are entitled to as much

respect as those of the flamen of Jupiter, at Rome, who is now the

Emperor Constantine."

And again the old heretic resumed his seat, having created a strong

impression in his favor in the minds of all who were not committed to

the task of destroying him, although many of them trembled for his

safety on hearing his bold and ingenious assault upon the emperor. But

Marcellus, Bishop of Ancyra, sprang to his feet, and in loud and

threatening tones cried out: "O thou most insolent and abusive heretic,

darest thou to call the most Christian emperor a pagan?"

But Maris, Bishop of Chalcedon, stretched forth his hand and answered:

"The presbyter Arius hath said that the great emperor is yet unbaptized,

and that he is, by the law of the Roman Empire, Pontifex Maximus, and

flamen of Jupiter! I understand that all this is true; and, if it be

not true, no man will more rejoice than I would to hear the emperor now

declare that he hath been baptized into the faith of Christ, and that he

is no longer high-priest of pagan Rome."

The bishop sat down, and every eye was at once turned upon Constantine.

But the emperor neither spake nor moved; and almost immediately his

partisans began to cry out that Arius should declare to the council what

were those philosophical opinions to which he referred, which thing they

did to cover up the failure of the emperor to respond to Maris the

bishop; and the friends of the Libyan joined in the same cry, because

they did believe that the philosophy of Arius would be found to be

correct, and not heretical. And thereupon, being pressed upon all sides

at once, the presbyter again arose and spoke in the following manner: "I

suppose, brethren, that there hath never been any difficulty in the mind

of any Christian as to the simple declarations of the gospel concerning

our Lord; and that the faith of all Christians in the divinity of our

common Saviour is founded upon the gospel narrative. The difficulties

arise only when the mind passes on beyond the plain teachings of the

gospel, and attempts to comprehend how these things may be, and to

formulate for itself some creed upon the nature of the Deity. In this

regard there have been maintained three great philosophical opinions, as

ye do know, which may be very briefly stated as follows:

"1. That the Son of God must be a dependent and spontaneous being,

created from nothing by the will of the Father, by whom also all things

were made.

"2. That the Son possessed all of the inherent, incommunicable

perfections which religion and philosophy appropriate to the supreme

God. So that there are in the Godhead three distinct and infinite minds

or substances, three co-equal and co-eternal beings, composing the

divine essence, three independent Deities as to whom an effort is made

to preserve the unity of the first cause by assuming the perpetual

concord of their administration, the essential agreement of their will;

and this I understand to be the philosophy of Hosius, Alexander, the

emperor, and others for whom Athanasius is spokesman.

"3. Three beings who, by the self-derived necessity of their existence,

possess divine attributes in perfect degree, who are eternal in

duration, infinite in space, intimately present to each other and to the

universe; and are yet one and the same being, manifesting himself in

different forms, and considered in different aspects: so that the

Trinity becomes a trinity of names and abstract manifestations existing

only in the mind; they are not persons at all, but only attributes.

"This is the heresy of Sabellius, which Christian councils have

condemned. It differeth from Athanasius in degree, but not, I think, in

kind.

"Not one of these three opinions satisfieth my mind and heart. The

martyr Am-nem-hat taught me when I was a boy that the original faith,

which long ages ago preceded the polytheism of Egypt, Assyria, India,

China, Greece, Rome, and all other heathen nations, uniformly

represented the one God to be a dual, spiritual Being, and that the

Divine nature must be a Triad, or Trinity, completed by the birth of a

son of this double-natured spiritual God. In the gospels I read that

Christ is 'the only-begotten Son of God': a Father begets. He was

'conceived' of the Holy Ghost: a Mother conceives. He was 'born' of a

virgin, and for our salvation did live among men. The same holy martyr

called my attention to the fact, which I have since carefully verified,

that while the Scriptures in no place apply the word 'mother' to the

Holy Ghost, the words 'Holy Ghost' are used in them two hundred and

twelve times, and were uniformly in the Greek neuter gender, which

affirmeth nothing as to sex. He also showed me that Moses called the

one God by a name which is the plural number of a Hebrew noun. It hath,

therefore, appeared to me to be true that, as far as anything concerning

Deity can be expressed in human language, the sacred use of the words

'Father,' 'Son,' 'Holy Ghost,' 'begotten,' 'conceived,' were intended to

convey to our minds the idea that in some spiritual sense of sexhood the

nature of Deity is that in the likeness and image whereof man was

created; and signify a divine family, so far as earthly things can

typify spiritual truth. Hence, as I did set forth in my letter to

Eusebius of Nicomedia, and to Alexander of Alexandria, as the Church

knoweth, I have always taught that the Son is not unoriginate, nor part

of the unoriginate, nor made of things previously existing; but that by

the will and purpose of God he was in being before time, perfectly

divine, the only-begotten; that before his generation he was not; that

we believe in one God alone without birth, alone everlasting, alone

unoriginate. We believe that God gave birth to the only-begotten Son,

before eternal periods, making the divine family a Triad, through whom

he made these periods and all else that was made; that he gave birth to

the Son, not in semblance, not in idea, but in truth giving unto him a

real existence; and we have refused to profess faith in the teachings of

Bishop Alexander, that 'as God is eternal, so is his Son'; 'where the

Father, there the Son'; 'the Son is present in God without birth';

'ever-begotten'; 'an Eternal God, an Eternal Son'; 'the Son is your God

himself.'

"But I have never taught this philosophy as an article of faith, binding

upon the conscience of believers; and have required of them to profess

faith in nothing except what the gospels declare."

The philosophy of Arius struck many as a novel thing. To some of them it

seemed to be a rational and beautiful solution of problems which they

had pondered long and regarded as insoluble, and had abandoned in

despair. To none of them did it seem to be at all tainted with heresy.

But Athanasius had a definite end in view, which closed his ears to any

statement the presbyter might make, although he waited courteously until

Arius had concluded his remarks, and then exclaimed, "Hast thou not

taught that the Son of God was created out of things not existing?"

"Never," said Arius. "Thou knowest I have taught that he was not

'created' at all, but 'begotten'; 'conceived,' not made."

"Hast thou not taught that there was a time when the Son was not?"

"Nay, verily! The word 'time' is thine own, not mine. But I have said

'God was, when he was not.' I have said that 'before he was begotten he

was not.' Else how could God beget him? But this was in the beginning,

before 'time' was."

"Hast thou not taught that the Father was superior to the Son, and the

Son inferior to the Father?"

"Nay, verily! I can not conceive of the words 'superior' and 'inferior'

as applicable to the divine nature, or family, any more than I can

conceive of thy word 'time' as applied to the divine existence. If thou

canst do so, O Athanasius, thou or thy friends, and furnish a definition

of the Trinity that does not deny the separate existence of the Son; nor

imply identity of person in Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; or which does

not set up three distinct, co-equal Gods, or which does not degrade the

Son to the condition of a created Being, made, not begotten, except the

definition which I quoted from the philosophy of Am-nem-hat the martyr,

and have adopted as mine own, announce thou now, or when thou wilt, such

a definition of the Trinity, and, if I can at all comprehend it, I will

follow thee to death, if need be, in defense thereof: for lo! these many

years have I sought for such a definition and found it not, except in

Am-nem-hat's profound aphorism that the true and only idea of Trinity

subsisteth in family--Father, Mother, Son: the Father-Ghost, and

Christ!"

Then answered Athanasius: "Verily I would not dare to utter a formula of

faith upon so high a theme in any hasty or inconsiderate manner. So for

the present let that question rest, and I doubt not that the learned

bishops who defend the deity of Christ will soon frame out of the

Scriptures a definition of the Catholic faith which shall both satisfy

all orthodox souls and bring thine own God-dishonoring heresies to

light."

"If it come out of the Scriptures, friend Athanasius, they must omit

therefrom thy newly-coined word 'Catholic,' for that word is not

scriptural, nor is the idea which thou signifiest by it therein. The

Scriptures speak not of the 'Catholic' Church at all, but of 'the common

church,' 'the common faith,' 'the common salvation,' 'the common hope,'

'the common Saviour'; and thou well knowest that 'common' pertaineth

only to the common or communal organization of Christ's kingdom. Yet,

perhaps, it is natural that one so young, so beautiful, so gifted as

thou art, should prefer the imperial and aristocratic designation which

hath been recently adopted in the Western Empire, and despise the

plebeian, scriptural name 'common' or 'communal.' For two Christians

might both belong to thy 'Catholic' Church, while one of them might be a

prince and the other a pauper; but the two Christians who belong to the

primitive 'common' church must be brethren, equal, free, fraternal; and

the difference, friend Athanasius, between 'common' ([Greek: _koinos_])

and 'catholic' ([Greek: _kata holos_]) is just the difference between

the Christian Church and that of Constantine. I know not what the

martyrs would have said of it, nor what the steadfast confessors here

present may think of it; but I prefer the ancient, scriptural term

'common,' 'communal,' 'communistic' church of which Jesus Christ only is

King, and in which all men are brethren, to the new 'Catholic'

establishment which has come in with our unbaptized emperor."

There was not a confessor present but what would have applauded these

bold and truthful sentiments, the force of which we can at this day with

difficulty realize; but Constantine bit his lip to restrain a terrible

oath, and his face darkened ominously as he glared upon the audacious

presbyter. Hosius, Marcellus, Alexander, and others of the same party,

seemed to have been stricken dumb by the clear, incisive, fearless, and

uncompromising declarations of Arius. Only Athanasius seemed to

preserve his marvelous self-possession, and laughed musically, while, in

order to distract attention from the dangerous question which the old

heretic seemed determined to bring up at every possible turn of the

discussion, he cried aloud: "But hast thou not commonly taught that the

Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are three, and not one God, and thereby made

thy heresy assume the complexion of polytheism? Hast thou not done

that?"

"I have taught," answered Arius, "and I think that the Scriptures teach,

that the three are not one person, but three persons; and that the

Trinity is one family, in likeness whereof man was created. Eve, the

first mother, was not created out of things not existing, but she

proceeded out of the first man's side; not above him, not below

him--equal with him, bone of his bone, flesh of his flesh; and the first

human son was born of them. This to my mind in some way typifies the

divine family, except that the idea of creation applies not to it. This

I have stated as mine own conception of the matter, not as an article of

faith. If thou knowest any better idea, state it plainly, I pray thee:

I am not yet too old to learn."

Then said Athanasius, triumphantly, "I supposed, indeed, that God would

presently lay bare thy heresy; for thou dost deny the express words of

Scripture that these three are one; and thus thou art convicted!"

Once more the dangerous light gleamed in the old man's somber eyes, and

that nervous twitching, which his enemies likened to the wriggling of a

serpent, passed over him; but he controlled himself wonderfully, and

calmly enough inquired: "What scripture, then? Wilt thou read it; or

tell us in what place it may be found?"

Then said Athanasius: "I read from the first letter of John as follows:

'_For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word,

and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that

bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and

these three agree in one._' How, then, sayest thou that the Father, the

Word, and the Holy Ghost are not one, in the very teeth of the

Scriptures, O thou subtle heretic?"

The reading of this scripture produced a profound sensation in the

council. Many turned to their copy of John's letter to read the words

for themselves, the greater number using the new and beautiful

manuscripts which the munificent liberality of the emperor had caused to

be transcribed and distributed among the bishops some time before; but

many also had ancient copies written in the uncial text. But Arius said

unto Athanasius, "Wilt thou give to me thy book?"

And Athanasius sent it to him by one of the pages in attendance. The

grim old presbyter received the parchment, and looked at it, and handled

it, and turned it over and over in his hands with a strange, sarcastic

smile, and then said in that peculiar, sibilant tone which cut and

tingled like a serpent's hiss: "I perceive, brethren, that this

beautiful manuscript is one of those copies which hath been supplied to

many bishops and presbyters by the zeal and benevolence of our most

Christian, but unbaptized, emperor; and the book is beautifully written

in the new, running Greek text which hath lately come into use. I have

but one objection to it, brethren; and the objection is, that the words

'_in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three

are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth_'--these words

were never written by John, but by some one else; they have been added

to the text within the last ten years!" And then the tall form reared

itself to the full height of its gigantic stature; the long, thin right

hand swayed to and fro with a strange rhythmic motion, the huge, rough,

noble head seemed to start forward upon the long, bony neck, as a cobra

thrusts it forward; the strange, mesmeric light burned in the somber

eyes, and, fastening his gaze full upon the emperor, he cried out in

tones that rang through every corner and crevice of the vast hall,

shrill, incisive, penetrating: "These words are forgeries--every one of

them! What John wrote was this: '_For there are three that bear record,

the spirit, the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one._'"

The effect was electrical. Many trembled for the bold and eloquent man

whose words and manner seemed to charge upon the emperor himself the

guilt of sacrilege in forging the sacred writings; although, perhaps,

none doubted that the words were forged. But Athanasius gazed upon him

haughtily, and demanded: "Who art thou, madman, that dost so boldly

assail the genuineness of a scripture that suiteth not with thy

notorious heresy? How knowest thou that the words were never written by

John?"

The presbyter's fierce excitement had almost immediately faded away, and

he quietly answered: "Brethren, I know that the words are forgeries,

because the rank Sabellianism which they teach is contrary to John's

spirit, and would better suit the views of certain persons who desire to

confound the Son with the Father in order to abolish the sovereignty of

Christ over his earthly kingdom by placing some one else in his rightful

place. Secondly, because ye can not find the words in any copy written

in the uncial text, before the recent, running Greek text came into

common use. Ye have many uncial copies here: see whether any of them

contain the words. Thirdly, because, more than thirty years ago, the

learned martyr Am-nem-hat, in our city of Alexandria, had in his

possession the original letter of John"; and, with tremulous and

mournful cadence that brought tears into the eyes of all who knew his

history, he continued: "Am-nem-hat abode in the house of his

great-grand-niece, the holy, the beautiful, the martyred Theckla. This

blessed virgin did carefully copy the letter upon vellum, and sent it to

Antioch as a gift even unto me, by the hands of Bishop Peter." Taking

the book from a cedar box on the seat beside him, he continued: "Here is

the copy of John's letter, written by the hand of one martyr, under the

supervision of another, and delivered by a third martyr unto me, that am

ready to follow them upon the glorious way whenever God so will! Search

and see whether ye can find these forged words in this thrice-sacred

book!"

A moment of profound silence followed. Constantine, Athanasius, Hosius,

and all of their faction, perceived that this assault also had not only

failed, but had left the powerful heretic in full possession of the

field of battle; and, at a sign from the emperor, the bishops

immediately adjourned the council until the following day.

CHAPTER X.

THE COMMUNION OF THE SAINTS.

As soon as the great council assembled on the following day, Eusebius of

Caesarea addressed them, saying: "Brethren, the controversy concerning

the nature of Deity provoketh much uncharity, and leadeth to no result.

I have, therefore, drawn up, and now offer for your consideration, a

Confession of Faith, which is no new form of doctrine, but is the same

which I learned in my childhood, and during the time I was a catechumen,

and at the time I was baptized, from my predecessors in the bishopric of

Nicomedia; and the same which I have taught for many years while I was

presbyter and bishop, before this great dispute had arisen. This

confession hath been read and approved by the emperor, the beloved of

Heaven, and it seemeth to me to be the truth as nearly as divine things

can be expressed in human language. I have a hope, therefore, that it

may be accepted by all as a sufficient declaration of our Christian

faith.

"It is as follows: 'I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of

all things both visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the

Word of God, God of God, Light of Light, Life of Life, the only-begotten

Son, the first-born of every creature; begotten of the Father before all

worlds, by whom, also, all things were made; who for our salvation was

made flesh and lived among men, and suffered, and rose again on the

third day, and ascended to the Father, and shall come in glory to judge

the quick and the dead. And we believe in one Holy Ghost. As also our

Lord, sending forth his own disciples to preach, said: 'Go and teach all

nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and

of the Holy Ghost.' Concerning which things we affirm that this is so,

and that we think so, and that it hath long been so held; and that we

remain steadfast to death for this faith, anathematizing every godless

heresy; that we have taught these things from our heart and soul, from

the time that we have known ourselves; and that we now think and say

them in truth, we testify in the name of Almighty God, and of our Lord

Jesus Christ, being able to prove even by demonstration, and to persuade

you that in past times also this we believed and preached.'"

This creed seemed to be acceptable to nearly all the members of the

council, and Hosius said unto Arius, "Wilt thou subscribe this creed?"

And the heretic answered: "Certainly. I can cheerfully subscribe to all

that is contained in this confession of faith; for Eusebius hath only

made a formal statement of what I have taught and believed, and what the

ancient Church hath held from the beginning. Yet I like not the creed.

For the bishops all know that while never before did a council draw up

any written confession of faith, yet at every council the bishops did

repeat and affirm the creed received from the apostles; and the most

important item therein, next to the profession of faith in Christ, was

this: 'I believe in the communion of saints'; by which the Church

constantly affirmed its faith in the divine wisdom of the communal

organization of 'the kingdom of heaven.' Ye have mutilated the

confession by omitting this vital article in order to accommodate the

faith to the imperial laws regarding war, slavery, and mammon-worship.

Let the great article be restored to its proper place, and I will

subscribe the creed."

Then there was a terrible clamor, greater than all that had preceded

it--the partisans of Constantine boldly declaring that "the day had gone

by forever for maintaining the communal organization of the Church";

that this "primitive community of rights and property was only a

temporary arrangement, not designed to be permanent, and had faded

away"; and, finally, that "the emperor would not permit the creed to

contain an article which cut off not only the emperor and all his

officers, but also every 'rich man,' from admission to the Church." But

those who were determined to maintain the apostolic organization which

Jesus himself had ordained were equally clamorous in shouting that to

omit the article of "communion of the saints" was to adopt the Roman

law, and betray the Church into the hands of the enemies of Jesus. Then

Constantine ordered in the imperial guards and commanded them to clear

the hall, and the bishops adjourned the council in the midst of an

uproar in which the struggle was not always confined to words, but some

severe blows were given and received upon both sides. The voice of the

bishops adjourning the council had failed to designate any day or hour

at which it should reassemble, and for some days no session at all was

held; and during these days all the weight of the imperial authority was

brought to bear upon the unhappy bishops to force them to adopt a creed

omitting the article concerning "the communion of saints" which from the

very days of Jesus had been the sacred symbol of the social and

political organization of the Christian Church. Constantine declared

that bishops who made it a matter of conscience to do so might continue

to teach and to preach it, but that the article must be omitted from the

creed; and gradually all of them were brought over to the making of this

kind of a compromise with their consciences. When this result had been

attained, the bishops gave out that the council would be reassembled

upon the following day.

On that evening, Constantine called unto him Hosius, Alexander,

Athanasius, and others of his adherents, and said unto them: "It is not

expedient for me that Arius, or any other man, should be condemned for

refusing to subscribe a confession of faith that omits the article

concerning community of the saints. I wish that thing to be forgotten

as soon as possible, and that the condemnation of this man should be

founded upon some other accusation. I desire ye, therefore, to seek for

some scriptural word or other which may not be repugnant to the majority

of the council, but which Arius can not subscribe. He is a man that

would manifestly die and count it great gain rather than make even the

slightest concession in any matter of conscience. Ye must, therefore,

insert in the creed some word or phrase that he will not subscribe, but

to which the majority shall not make any strenuous objection. It must

not appear to the Church that 'the communion of saints' hath caused

trouble."

"There is no such word or expression in any gospel," answered Hosius,

sententiously.

"Then ye must seek for it elsewhere," said Constantine. "The creed must

contain some word which he will refuse to subscribe, and it must appear

that the controversy with him is concerning that word, and not

concerning the abandonment of the primitive Church polity."

"There is a word that hath lately come into use at Alexandria," said

Athanasius, "which I feel certain would prevent the presbyter from

signing any creed that contains it, but I do not think that either the

Latin language or the Latin brain is delicate enough to grasp that

peculiar signification of the Greek expression which would make it

repugnant to Arius, so that the Western churchmen would not object to

the use of it, but it is not exactly a scriptural phrase."

"What is the word?" asked the emperor.

"It is the new compound, 'consubstantial' ([Greek: _homoousios_]), which

admitteth of an interpretation that would shock the fine Egyptian

thought of the presbyter, but many might not be subtile enough to

perceive it. It suiteth well the majority of the bishops in the sense

in which they understand it."

"I do well remember the word," said Constantine. "For, when I was upon

the study of this controversy, I first heard it; and it occurreth either

in some memoranda which I made of a conversation with Eusebius, or in a

letter written unto him by his brother of Nicomedia. Let me get those

papers."

So saying, the emperor opened a drawer in his bureau and took therefrom

a bundle of manuscript, and after a short examination he said: "Here is

the letter. Eusebius of Nicomedia saith here that 'to assert the Son of

God to be of one substance with the Father is a proposition evidently

absurd.'"

The beautiful eyes of Athanasius sparkled with delight, and he cried

out: "That is the very word and letter that we want! It cometh, like

all good things, from the emperor, and is like an inspiration to our

cause!"

"Yea," said Hosius. "The majority will receive the word well--holding

that it does not necessarily imply the identity of persons; but will

Arius certainly reject it?"

"Yea," replied Athanasius; "I have heard his comments on the word, and I

am certain that his stubborn, inflexible spirit will not bend enough to

make him subscribe a creed containing it."

"Press thou not the matter too vehemently, arch-deacon," said

Constantine, "lest thou drive many to support him. Be mild and

persuasive, for there is time enough."

So, when the council had assembled on the following day, Athanasius

said: "The learned and venerable Bishops Alexander and Hosius, and many

others with them, have carefully examined the form of the Confession of

Faith offered by the learned Bishop Eusebius, and they make no objection

thereto: but fear that it may leave open some advantages for entrance of

heresy, as is shown by this letter of Eusebius of Nicomedia, wherein he

declareth that to say that the Son is consubstantial ([Greek:

_homoousios_]) with the Father is absurd. They therefore desire, in

order to cut off all heretical interpretation of the creed, and

vindicate the divinity of our Lord, to offer a creed containing the

declaration that Son and Father are of one substance."

Immediately there was a clamor of the Arians against the use of the

word; but they, and many who were undecided, looked to Arius for advice

and direction, and Athanasius said, "The bishops desire to know whether

the learned presbyter Arius will subscribe the creed containing this

word, the bulwark against all heresy?"

And Arius arose, and, looking upon Athanasius with a gentle smile, said

unto him: "I perceive that thy master Constantine hath at last reached

the fulfillment of his desires against the Church and kingdom of my

master Christ. Brethren, I have already declared to you that I would

subscribe no confession of faith which omitted to set forth the article

of the communion of saints; and I perceive well that the insertion of

this new ecclesiastical term is resorted to only in order to avoid

making notorious the fact that the emperor hath commanded that the

primitive organization of the Church shall be abandoned. As to this

word 'consubstantial,' I have no objection to it in the only sense in

which I can conscientiously use it, as implying that the Father and Son

(like every other father and son) are beings of the same nature; yet I

would not subscribe a creed containing this word, because it is

unscriptural. In the sense in which it will come to be used hereafter

(if not, indeed, already), it denies the separate existence of the Son;

it will imply an almost physical adhesion of the persons of the Divine

Family, and the actual identity of Father and Son. It hath before this

time been used by incautious or heretical persons, and hath already been

condemned as heretical by councils which no prince or emperor

controlled, and whose voice was the free utterance of the unsecularized

but persecuted Church. I will never subscribe a creed containing such a

word; and have never found it necessary to go outside of the Scriptures

to find words wherewith to define the Christian faith."

And Athanasius answered: "What if the word, in the exact form of it, is

not in the Scriptures? Surely its derivatives and compounds are found

therein; nor is it any more unscriptural than the songs of Arius written

in his book 'Thalia.' What if it hath been used by heretics and

condemned as heretical? That was only because it hath been used in some

heretical sense, and not as we use it now. What if the use of the word

might be tortured into the support of Sabellianism by some who wrest

even the Scriptures to their own destruction? The rejection of it

argues far more strongly in favor of polytheism--the ancient paganism

from which the Church hath so long suffered; and the word must be used,

because it is the only safeguard against the very heresy of which Arius

hath been suspected or accused."

And the question was long debated by others, and the council adjourned;

but there were not many that stood out firmly against the use of this

celebrated word.

At the next meeting of the council, Hosius of Cordova announced that,

following the sentiments of the great majority, they had prepared

another declaration of the faith, upon which he hoped all might agree;

and thereupon the same was read: "We believe in one God, the Father

Almighty, Maker of all things, both visible and invisible. And in one

Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, only

begotten, that is to say, of the substance of the Father, God of God,

Light of Light, very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one

substance with the Father, by whom all things were made, both things in

heaven and things in earth; who for us men and for our salvation came

down and was made man, suffered, and rose again on the third day; went

up into the heavens, and is to come again to judge the quick and the

dead. And in the Holy Ghost.

"_But those who say, 'There was when he was not,' and 'Before he was

begotten he was not,' and that 'He came into existence from what was

not,' or who profess that the Son of God is a different 'person' or

'substance,' or that he is created, or changeable, or variable, are

anathematized by the Catholic Church._"

A great many members refused to sign the creed, and especially the

anathema with which it concluded; because they thought that the

presbyter Arius, at whom it was aimed, neither taught nor held the views

thereby imputed to him. Eusebius of Caesarea asked for time to consider

the matter, and "to consult with the emperor who had imposed it upon

them"--a course which others also followed.

Constantine professed to believe that this last creed was delivered by

an inspiration of the bishops directly given from heaven; and he at once

issued a decree of banishment against all who might refuse to subscribe

to it. "He denounced Arius and his disciples as impious, and ordered

that he and his books should follow the fate of the pagan Porphyry; and

that he and his school should be called Porphyrians, and his books

burned under penalty of death to any one who perused them." But he gave

them time to reflect upon the matter; and on the next day many stood

resolved not to sign, notwithstanding the terrible threats of the

emperor. In this state of fear and perplexity, when no man knew to what

extremities his brutal threats to extort their compliance might be

carried, and when a moody silence, born of their terror and distress,

had settled upon the council, to the surprise of all, Arius the Libyan

arose and addressed them as follows: "Brethren, I am well persuaded that

no other opportunity will ever be given unto me to address any assembly

of Christians; being persuaded that the condemnation denounced against

me ariseth not from any mistaken zeal on the part of the unbaptized

emperor concerning religion, but only from a political necessity that

springeth from his godless and insatiable thirst for universal and

unhindered power; for verily I think he knoweth little, and careth less,

for any confession of faith, except as it affecteth his imperial

ambition. As a man, therefore, already doomed, and soon, perhaps, to

die, I desire to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance

concerning the primitive Church, which now fadeth out of the world, as

it hath already faded out of the Western Empire. Brethren, centuries

ago, the great Greek philosopher, Plato, in his 'Republic,' did declare

that 'any ordinary city is in fact two cities, one the city of the rich,

the other that of the poor, at war with one another'; and this statement

is verily true everywhere on earth. For the religion of mankind hath

been, in some shape, the worship of mammon, and the warfare, of which

Plato speaketh, a warfare for property--for property in offices,

prerogatives, lands, houses, wealth, slaves, and every shape that

property can take. Ye know that the law was a schoolmaster to lead us

to Christ; and that, to prevent the universal and hopeless oppression of

the poor, God by Moses did ordain the statute of the year of jubilee,

and the statute of the seventh year; and ye know that the prophet Isaiah

did make these statutes, which secured a certain blessing for the poor

every 'seventh year' and every 'fiftieth year,' typical of the

continuous state of believers, in the kingdom of heaven, declaring it to

be the gospel preached to the poor; and ye know that our Lord did

solemnly declare that this prophecy was fulfilled in him, wherefore the

wealthy and aristocratic Scribes and Pharisees, who were 'covetous,'

persecuted him even unto death; even as the ruling classes at Rome, and

throughout the world, have done until the triumph of Constantine over

Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge. Ye know that our Lord set up a kingdom

that was good news, a gospel, to the poor of the earth, because its

purpose and effect were to abolish war, slavery, polygamy, and all

unjust distinctions between men and classes of men, based upon the

idolatry of mammon. Ye know that all of these parables were spoken with

reference to this kingdom in which communion of saints, partnership of

all believers, should secure liberty, equality, fraternity, for all

Christians. Ye know that, while the apostles remained on earth, the

believers had all things common, except wives and children, disowned all

government except that of Jesus, obeyed all laws for the sake of peace

except such as conflicted with conscience, and so builded up the

Christian communes that governed themselves by the laws of Christ alone,

inflicting no temporal punishment except that they refused to fellowship

the obdurately wicked. Ye know that they commonly wrought miracles to

prove the divinity of Jesus and the right of the Church to preach and to

teach in his name. We learn from Philo the Egyptian, and from many

others, that 'those who entered upon the Christian life divested

themselves of their property, and gave it to those legally entitled

thereto or to the common Church,' and that 'the disciples of that time,

animated by more ardent love of the divine word, first fulfilled the

Saviour's precept by distributing their substance to the needy; and that

the Holy Spirit wrought many wonders through them, so that, as soon as

the gospel was heard, men voluntarily and in crowds eagerly embraced the

true faith.' Ye know that three bishops were ordained by the apostles,

even Lucius, Evodius, and Polycarp, all of whom consecrated their

property to the common Church, as did the apostolical fathers Clemens,

Ignatius, Barnabas, Hermas, as also did Paulinas, Cyprian, Hilary, and

countless other well-known and notable Christians; and ye know that such

were the law and the practice of the Church until very recent times! Ye

know that thaumaturgy remained with the Church until this divine

ordinance was neglected. Ye know, brethren, that there were no slaves,

no war, no rich, no poor, no kings, no rulers, in the kingdom of our

Lord, but liberty, fraternity, equality for all; and that war, slavery,

mammon-worship, which had ever been the curse of human life, were

abolished by the gospel of Christ. Brethren, already in the Western

Empire (and from this day in the East) all this is changed. 'The kingdom

of heaven' is utterly subverted. Even the bishops came hither with

slaves; many of you are 'rich men,' that could not enter into the

kingdom of heaven. The Church conformeth in all things to the imperial

laws: for that man Constantine hath such unbounded ambition and unbelief

that he suffereth not the Church of Christ to exist in the world, and

hath so founded the Church of Constantine, subverting all of

Christianity except its spiritual truth. But ye can plainly see what

things shall come to pass. That man whom ye love because it hath suited

the purposes of his atheistic ambition to protect the Church against

other tyrants, hath established an imperial legal religion for the

world, and declares that he will persecute all who conform not thereto.

So did the Scribes and Pharisees; so did Tiberius Caesar, Nero,

Diocletian, and the rest of his predecessors; but so Jesus and his

apostles never did. I know not whether that man who doeth these things,

and hath begun to found his capital, called by his own name of

blasphemy, upon seven hills above the sea, be he of whom John in the

Apocalypse did speak, but he suiteth well in many respects with what

John did prophesy.

"Hear me yet a little further. Ye will all, or nearly all, subscribe

this creed! Ye will be forced so to do! For the Holy Spirit cometh upon

no council of an earthly emperor, but only of Christ's Church.

Henceforth, therefore, thaumaturgy shall be lost unto the Church!

Henceforth, therefore, Christianity shall be a human institution! And

the faith of Christians will be first one thing, then another, as

successive emperors may determine to be best. Those who now are

orthodox will be proscribed as heretics, and those who now are heretics

will be called orthodox; and Christian emperors will seek to exterminate

Christian heretics with fire and sword throughout the world. For the

millions of Armenia, and many more throughout Egypt, Syria, and Africa,

and the whole nation of the Goths, are as I am--what ye call Arian. So

is the brave, the successful, the popular Crispus Caesar. So is

Ulfilas, whom Constantine calleth the Moses of the Goths, whom he now

proposes to ordain a bishop over the people whom he converted, and upon

whom Constantine made war to force them to accommodate their religion to

imperial law. So is Constantia, the sister of the emperor, the widow of

Licinius; and so is the young Licinius, her son, and others perhaps of

the same imperial family, concerning whom I do not know. See ye not

that when Constantine shall die, and his sons shall succeed to empire,

the faith of Christ which is now condemned shall be established by the

imperial law as true?--And even thou, Athanasius, next Bishop of

Alexandria, mayst find thyself a fugitive from thine episcopal palace

(which the emperor shall give unto thee), a vagabond upon the friendless

earth, a martyr for, or a renegade from, what thou now maintainest to be

true!

"Brethren, I go hence to death, or banishment, or both. I care not for

it. For I live in the steadfast faith and hope that, although the

kingdom of heaven be now subverted by the man of sin, yet again some

time, somehow, somewhere, it shall be re-established upon the foundation

of faith and communism which our Lord did lay, and shall prevail; and

war, slavery, and mammon-worship, shall all cease to curse the world;

for all people that love liberty and hate tyrants shall be Arians, and

mankind shall yet realize the promise of our Lord which he confirmed by

his life, by his miracles and parables, and by his death and

resurrection, of universal liberty, equality, and fraternity. Brethren,

farewell! and the peace of God be with you!"

Then the gaunt, sad, immovable, and irreconcilable heretic walked calmly

out of the hall. During the utterance of this terrible oration, many

seemed awed by the solemn grandeur and prophetic earnestness of the

speaker; many were terrified at his fearless denunciation of the plans,

atheism, and hypocrisy of the emperor; and some secretly rejoiced

because they supposed that his boldness irrevocably sealed his doom.

Constantine himself, convulsed with suppressed wrath, grew pale with

passion, and bit his lips to restrain some indiscreet expression of his

jealousy, doubt, and fear, as Arius declared the numbers and strength of

the Arian party in Armenia, Egypt, Syria, and among the Goths, and

eulogized the gallant Crispus Caesar, his popular and splendid son.

CHAPTER XI.

ONE JOT THAT PASSED FROM THE LAW.

On that very night the grand, lonely, immovable presbyter disappeared,

and in that council was seen no more. But the next day came the

emperor's sister Constantia, the widow of Licinius, and Licinius, her

son, and Crispus Caesar, the eldest son of Constantine, born of his

first wife Minervina, and the emperor's mother, Helena, and all, casting

themselves at the feet of Constantine, with tears and supplications

besought him that the great, learned, and holy Arius might not be put to

death. And they so vehemently urged this petition that Constantine

finally seemed to give way thereto, and promised, confirming his promise

with an awful oath, that he would spare the life of the presbyter. In

truth, he supposed that to execute Arius would be impolitic, because it

would forever alienate a very large number of his subjects, and he

wished to avoid it, and also to win praises for his clemency. He

therefore ordered that Arius be banished to, and closely guarded in, a

strong fortress in the wildest portion of Illyricum, until, "in the

opinion of the emperor, the Arians of Armenia, Egypt, and Syria, and the

Goths, might have become reconciled unto the creed of Nicea."

Crispus Caesar boldly declared that he indorsed the opinions of Arius,

and regarded the great heretic with larger love and reverence than any

other man had ever gained from him; and the emperor heard this

declaration with gloom and hatred, but in ominous silence.

And one by one, under the influence of the threats of Constantine, who

still held the bishops together, determined to extort the unanimous

consent of all to the acts of the council, under the specious and

continuous arguments and forced interpretations of the creed, used by

his partisans both lay and clerical, and under the benumbing and

stupefying effects of protracted weariness and hopelessness all of them

finally subscribed the creed, except Arius and six others--Eusebius of

Caesarea, Eusebius of Nicomedia, Theonas, Bishop of Marmarica, Secundus,

Bishop of Theuchira, Euzoius the deacon, Achillas the reader, and Saras,

a presbyter--against all of whom the emperor made a decree of perpetual

banishment, but gave not orders for the enforcement thereof. He was not

satisfied; especially he was dissatisfied because he was unable to

extort the signatures of the Eusebii; and he still waited, determined in

some way to obtain these signatures. Finally, he caused Eusebius of

Caesarea to be brought before him, and, assuming an air of great

friendliness and concern toward him, he said: "Dear bishop, I did tell

thee long ago that our differences about the Arian heresy must never be

a cause of quarrel between thee and me. I wish to know what difficulty

thou hast (and thy brother) in subscribing the creed?"

And Eusebius answered: "The difficulty truly is not a very large one; it

is just the size and shape of an 'iota' of the Greek alphabet."

"If it is as insignificant as that," answered the emperor, "let us

quietly remove it and be friends again. Tell me, therefore, what thou

dost mean."

"Hast thou here the creed?" asked Eusebius.

Constantine handed the parchment to him, and Eusebius said: "This word

[Greek: _homoousios_] is one which Arius condemneth as implying the

identity of Father and Son, and my conscience suffereth not me to sign

it; but the word [Greek: _homoiousios_], which differeth therefrom only

by the one small [Greek: _iota_] therein, expresses exactly what I

believe, that Father and Son are of like divine nature."

"And wouldst thou sign it if this letter had been written therein? and

thy brother? and the others who are sentenced to banishment?"

"Assuredly!"

"It shall never be said," laughed Constantine, "that I have lost my

friend and bishop for such a trifle!"

Then he pointed out the fact that a small "[Greek: _i_]" had been

dexterously inserted between "[Greek: _homo_]" and "[Greek: _ousios_]"

in both the places where the word occurred in the creed, making it the

Arian [Greek: _homoiousios_], instead of the Trinitarian [Greek:

_homoousios_].

"Now, bishop, give me thy signature, and communicate this arrangement

confidentially unto the others, and let them come and sign also, that

the creed may be unanimously signed, and all of these unseemly

dissensions banished out of the established Church."

The bishop laughed lightly, but signed the confession of faith, and not

long afterward all the others did so, except Arius, who was already far

upon the road to the heart of Illyricum.

Constantine had now completed his long-cherished design of subverting

the social and political organization of the primitive Church, and

establishing a state religion, of which he might be the head in place of

Jesus Christ, in whose name he founded a system that was in open

rebellion against the Saviour's whole life and teachings.

It remained only for him to have the action of the OEcumenical Council

confirmed by some miraculous circumstances, and the imperial ingenuity

was fully equal to the occasion; for two members of the council had died

at Nicea during its protracted session, and were buried in the church:

With a grand and ostentatious procession by torch-light, the sacred roll

of parchment was taken to their tomb and left there through the night,

the emperor himself having prayed publicly that, if the departed bishops

approved the action of the council, they might in some way signify their

assent to the decrees and creed thereof; and early the next morning the

signatures of the dead bishops were found upon the parchment! Their

endorsement was unequivocal: "We, Chrysanthus and Mysonius, fully

concurring with the first Holy and OEcumenical Synod, although removed

from earth, have signed the volume with our own hands."

Still, the emperor did not dissolve the assembly, and, in order to gain

over the personal affection even of those who had most stubbornly

resisted his sacrilegious domination of the council, he provided a

magnificent banquet for the members thereof, and lavished upon them

every mark of love and honor. He lodged the one-eyed, hamstrung old

Paphnutius in his own palace, "and often sent for him to hear the story

of his persecutions; and now it was remarked how he would throw his arms

round the old man, and put his lips to his eyeless socket as if to suck

out with his reverential kiss the blessing which, as it were, lurked in

the sacred cavity, and stroked down with his imperial hand the frightful

wound; how he pressed his legs and arms, and the royal purple, to the

paralyzed limbs, and put his own eyeball into the socket." And, because

those maimed and tortured members of the council who had been

"confessors" enjoyed the reputation of especial sanctity and honor

throughout the Church, Constantine used the same disgusting demagogy in

his dealings with them all, and fawned upon and flattered them in the

name of Jesus, until he believed he had stolen for himself their

influence in aiding him to eradicate primitive Christianity out of the

East, as he had already done in the West, and so banishing the kingdom

of heaven from the face of the earth; and so nourishing in the very

bosom of the Church, maintained and governed by imperial authority, the

ancient crimes of war, slavery, and mammon-worship, perpetuating the

bondage of the people unto the ruling classes, and giving the sanction

of religion to class distinctions between men and families, based upon

this idolatry, which had been always the curse of human life.

And for a whole year Constantine pursued his purpose quietly,

unceasingly, intelligently, by the use of a thousand different means and

agencies, to reduce the East to a condition of ecclesiastical serfdom to

his authority, and to confirm, popularize, and consolidate his power.

But the slow, doubtful, hesitating adoption of the imperial church by

the Christians of Armenia, and to a less degree by those of Syria,

Egypt, and the Gothic provinces along the Danube, to whom he had sent

back their teacher Ulfilas after ordaining him to be a royal bishop,

inspired the emperor with misgivings of the future, and with an almost

unreasoning jealousy and hatred of Crispus Caesar, his son, who was the

favorite of all those regions, and of Licinius, who represented the

family of the legitimate sovereign thereof, whom Constantine had

dethroned and destroyed.

And the next year the emperor went to Rome to celebrate the Ides of

Quintilis, the anniversary of the battle of Lake Regillus, in which,

according to the chronicles of pagan Rome, the twin-gods Castor and

Pollux had fought in defense of the Eternal City, and brought thereto

the welcome news of victory. It was esteemed to be the most sacred

ceremony known to the Roman people. During the grand festival,

Constantine, believing that after the Council of Nicea his own

ecclesiastical system was so powerful and so securely established that

he need not longer patronize the heathen, refused to take his proper

place in the ancient ritual appropriate to the occasion, and even

exhibited his contempt for the empty pageantry of a legion of knights

passing in solemn procession, by commenting upon their appearance with

that caustic, epigrammatic wit of which few men were more thoroughly

master. That large portion of the Romans who yet openly adhered to the

ancient religion were insulted and furious at the conduct of the

emperor, and there was a fierce riot in the streets, during which stones

were hurled at the statues of the emperor, and attempts made to

overthrow them.

His wife Fausta, the daughter of the fierce old emperor Maximian,

inherited much of her father's cruel nature and imperious ambition. She

and Constantine had three sons--Constantine, Constantius, and Constans.

She had always envied Crispus Caesar the superiority which his

primogenial rights gave to him as the first-born of Constantine over her

own sons, and especially had her jealousy been inflamed by the splendid

reputation which young Caesar had gained by the skill and courage

wherewith he had defeated the vastly superior navy of Licinius in the

straits of the Hellespont. Next to the great emperor himself stood

Crispus Caesar, not only in official station, but in the love and

admiration of the world; and her own sons occupied a far less

conspicuous position, which was rendered more galling to her pride by

the very prominence derived from the fact that they also were the sons

of the emperor. Fausta had remarked with secret joy the open aid and

friendship showed by Crispus Caesar for Arius, which fact had aroused

the suspicions, as much as the victory of Crispus had excited the

jealousy, of the emperor. She failed not, also, to perceive that the

devotion of Constantia, the widow of Licinius, and of the Empress

Helena, Constantine's mother, to this same Arius, had created a common

interest and friendship between Caesar, Helena, and Constantia, while

Eusebius of Nicomedia was the trusted friend and adviser of all of them,

and the tutor of young Licinius. Fausta herself, the daughter of a

pagan and the wife of an atheist, was as nearly devoid of religious

sentiment as it was ever possible for a woman to become; and, like her

husband, thought that all faith is only superstition, which may be

advantageously used by a wise ruler for the government of men; and

understanding better than any one else that Constantine regarded the

free Arian spirit as the most dangerous element in the political future

of the empire, she had cunningly employed every artifice and innuendo

that could tend to inflame his personal hatred of these religious

dissenters. She affected to regard the riot in the streets of Rome as

arising from the machinations of the Arian recusants. Knowing that

Constantine had only once visited Rome since the overthrow of Maxentius,

and that he disliked the place, she pretended to desire that he should

fix his imperial residence at Rome, on the ground that Milan was

inconveniently situated, and that both Nicomedia and Constantinople,

being in the midst of vast Arian communities, were unsafe for him.

She thought that the rioting in Rome gave her the opportunity to take

some decisive step in accomplishing her long-cherished designs, and

began more vehemently to press her insidious suggestions upon the gloomy

soul of the atheist whom she knew to worship only himself.

"If the stone wherewith these Arian strangers who are in the city marred

the head of thy statue on the Via Sacra had smitten thee, thou wouldst

have been slain at once."

"But," said the emperor, dryly, passing his hand over his forehead, "I

feel not the slightest pain from the blow."

"The undirected mob is powerless against thee," she said; "but this

infamous act is but the unguarded expression of a sentiment common to

the millions of Armenia, and to large numbers of the Egyptians and

Syrians, and to nearly all of the Goths."

"What hath caused thee so much uneasiness from such a trifle as the

throwing of a stone or two? The royal blood should despise such

visionary fears."

"But the guardsman, Pilus, who hath lately come from Illyricum,

informeth me that in the garrison it is commonly reported that the

heretic Arius saith that, if Christians could lawfully bear arms, the

Arians of Armenia and the Goths alone could seat Licinius upon the

throne of his father, and Crispus Caesar upon thine."

"But neither Licinius, nor Crispus, nor the Arians, cherish any such

treasonable designs," said Constantine.

"I fear lest thou art lulled into a false security. Ever anxious for thy

safety and for thy glory, I have consulted auguries and oracles, and,

although these things have no great weight with thee or with me as

matters of religious faith, the oracles were always valuable portents to

show the drift of popular opinion and desire; and no great statesman can

afford to despise them, for that which the multitude long after doth

sooner or later come to pass; and all the divinations portend calamity

to thee and thy house from the Arians."

"But Licinius is a boy, and Crispus Caesar is quiet, modest, temperate,

and unostentatious. He hath neither vices nor ambitions that require

him to aspire higher than he already standeth."

"Thou wouldst rather cease to be than cease to rule the empire.

Dominion is the dominant passion of thy lofty soul. It is the marked

characteristic of thy race. There are other men mastered by similar

ambition. The quiet, orderly life of Caesar may blind the eyes of

mankind to an ambition that would hesitate at nothing. Thy father was

such a temperate youth that he sacrificed all common lusts and appetites

to win the sovereignty of Rome, and he would not have been contented

long with that if he had lived. Thou didst inherit his nature with his

military genius, and thou hast lived moderately in order to gain the

sovereignty of the world. Crispus hath inherited from thee the great

abilities which enabled him to triumph on the Hellespont and share thy

glory, or rather take to himself the greater share. He would not forego

the pleasures of youth and the advantages of his great position unless

he were constantly meditating upon some great design. Look to thyself,

Augustus."

Such insidious counsels she constantly offered to the jealous and cruel

emperor, and they bore a deadly fruit. Suddenly the gallant young Caesar

was seized, transported to the gloomy fortress of Pola, imprisoned, and

then murdered, by order of "the most Christian Emperor Constantine,"

"the favorite of God," "the defender of the faith," his father! Almost

immediately the young Licinius was snatched from the arms of his mother,

and put to death by the order of his uncle, Constantine, "the first

Christian Emperor of Rome."

"I have fortified my throne against all danger from Crispus Caesar and

the Arians," said Constantine unto himself.

"The road to royal favor and to future power is opened for my splendid

brood of Caesars," murmured Fausta under her breath.

"The Empress Fausta hath plotted against and murdered my gallant son

Crispus, and my grandson Licinius, whom I loved. I will be revenged

upon the cruel murderess or die!" was the unuttered comment of the

Empress-mother Helena; and from that hour, with the slow, settled, and

deliberate hatred of old age and hopeless sorrow, she sought for the

life of Fausta.

The world held its breath in horror at these fearful crimes, and hardly

did the historians of that age dare to commit any account thereof unto

posterity. But it was impossible for the officers of the Illyrian

fortress, where Arius was imprisoned, to speak of such atrocities

without some knowledge thereof coming to their quiet, intelligent

prisoner. When he heard of the assassination of Crispus Caesar and of

Licinius, the only comment made by the stern, inflexible, incorruptible

old heretic was this: "A council of Christ's Church ought not to be

oecumenical and barren; and the first one already beareth terrible but

legitimate fruits."

The empress-mother, old Helena, continually and skillfully directed the

suspicions of her dark-souled, bloody son against the Empress Fausta

herself; and, when she had prepared her vengeance so that she thought it

could not fail, she accused Fausta of infidelity to the emperor, with

that same Pilus, of the imperial guardsmen. Many craftily prepared

circumstances corroborated the infamous and degrading accusation, and

quickly and secretly the emperor put his wife to death.

"Small recompense for my great wrong," murmured Helena, "but all that I

can take; for the woman's beautiful sons are also mine own

grandchildren."

"I have no friend on earth," mused Constantine, "except my mother and

Eusebius of Caesarea."

When the gloomy old prisoner of the Illyrian fortress heard of the

murder of Fausta, upon this disgraceful charge of adultery with a

guardsman, he said: "The grand name of Constantine is soaked with

domestic blood and draggled in domestic filth. The royal oecumenical

council beareth such strange and deadly fruit."

The officers of the fortress were held to be accountable with their

lives for the heretic's safe-keeping, and vigilant spies reported to

Constantine almost every word he uttered, and stole and transmitted to

the emperor almost every line he wrote, and the old man's gloomy

comments upon the condition of the Church, and his strange and seemingly

inspired interpretations of prophecy, which he supposed to relate to

Constantine and his new city of Constantinople, built upon seven hills,

above the narrow straits whereto the commerce of the world resorted,

doubtless aided Fausta's and Helena's conspiracies to lead him into the

commission of those horrible crimes which shocked the moral sense of the

world, and justified the pagans in breathless wonder as to what new

atrocities would follow the legal establishment of the Christian

faith--atrocities that perhaps afterward drove Julian the Apostate to

struggle for the restoration of paganism. And doubtless Arius himself

would long ago have perished, if the emperor had not hoped to obtain

from his manuscripts and prophecies warning of every coming danger.

CHAPTER XII.

AN IMPERIAL REPENTANCE.

But, although these secret horrors, which degraded the noblest family of

the empire, were kept as still as private crimes, and men dared scarcely

speak of them except in terrified whispers, the knowledge thereof spread

abroad, until enough was known to fill the Christian world with

detestation of the emperor; and he whose governing passion had been to

rule mankind, and to command their respect and reverence at any cost,

found himself to be held by the popular verdict as an outcast from

virtue and decency. His iron soul was proof against every shaft except

this, but the wound it inflicted upon his boundless self-love was bitter

and incurable. Realizing that he had outraged the moral sentiment of

Christendom by these atrocious crimes, the emperor determined to

overthrow what he called Christianity, and re-establish the pagan

religion, charging his crimes to the blinding influences of the

superstition and strong magic of the Church, and thereby win for himself

the love and confidence of that large portion of his subjects who still

adhered to the ancient idolatries. In pursuance of this design,

Constantine applied to the flamens at Rome for purification from his

domestic crimes, as the first step toward the rehabilitation of his

moral nakedness and deformity; but the priests, who knew his crafty,

unscrupulous, cruel, and atheistic nature, and who already had in

training the young and gifted Julian, seized this opportunity to gratify

their theological hate, by boldly declaring that the ancient rituals of

paganism did not know any form of expiation for such fearful and

unnecessary crimes as his.

Then Constantine turned away forever from heathenism, and sent for

Hosius, Bishop of Cordova, who assured him that "in Christianity all

sin, however great, may find forgiveness: for He saveth unto the

uttermost all that come unto God by him."

"And what method must I use to secure this forgiveness?" asked the

emperor.

"Only true repentance toward God, and humble, sincere faith in Jesus

Christ," said the bishop.

Then, with a singular smile, Constantine looked at the bishop and

answered: "Bishop, thou dost forget that thou art not now talking to a

woman taken in adultery, nor to a thief upon the cross. Farewell!"

And with a wave of the hand the emperor contemptuously dismissed him.

But Constantine could not endure the popular detestation of which he

knew himself to be justly the object, and as a last resort he sent for

Eusebius of Caesarea. Eusebius knew the emperor fully as well as the

emperor knew him, and, of course, knew that he might as well chant

psalms to a deaf ass as to recommend faith and repentance to the

imperial atheist, as Hosius of Cordova had innocently endeavored to do.

When Eusebius came before the emperor, Constantine spoke to him in a

light, bantering tone, saying: "Bishop, Crispus Caesar became infatuated

with the idea that he was great enough to wear my sandals and to wield

my spear even while I live; and the young man met with a fatal accident.

The youth Licinius, and the woman Fausta, exposed themselves to some

unwholesome atmosphere, and the results of their indiscretion were

deleterious to their health. These events have happened unfortunately

for me, and I require thine unfailing aid in avoiding further

inconvenience from them. What canst thou do for me?"

"Could not the flamens of Jupiter give thy burdened conscience rest?"

said the bishop, quietly, but with malicious pleasure.

"No," answered Constantine, laughing. "The priests are good

haters--somewhat too demonstrative, perhaps, but steady and reliable in

their antipathies; and so they took out their spite upon me the first

time Fate gave them an opportunity."

"Could not the most learned and holy Hosius point out to thee the road

to peace?"

"No, indeed. That respectable idiot began some sort of mummery

concerning faith and repentance; but I cut him short. Bishop, thou wert

not wont to be so difficult. I confess that, since the Council of Nicea,

I have not done justice to thy superior merit, and have even felt

somewhat estranged from thee. Forget all that, and let us once more be

friends."

"Augustus," said the bishop, "I have keenly felt the withdrawal of thy

favor, although I have complained to no one. I think that, if it had

been otherwise, I could have showed thee sufficient reasons for avoiding

some terrible mistakes. What is the exact difficulty which these

mistakes have led thee upon?"

"The Arians are rejoiced by any occurrence that gives them a pretext for

railing at me; the orthodox Christians have the unblushing impudence to

attempt to sit in judgment upon the actions of the emperor that rescued

them from persecutions, and affect to be shocked thereby, just as if

they were fit to judge his deeds or comprehend his policy; the

implacable flamens hope to make such use of these accidents as to lead

the world back to paganism without my aid. The Arians hate me because I

would not permit them to establish a kingdom in the empire of which I

was not to be the king. Thou must find some way to conciliate the

fools, for the hearts of all men are estranged from me; and, as thou

hast always known, I would rather rule by love than by terror. But rule

I will, while I shall live. Now, how can I regain my former hold upon

either the pagan or the Christian world?"

"Thou must first of all definitely abandon the idea that the empire can

ever return to paganism," said Eusebius. "The amazing progress of

Christianity among the people and the rapid decline of heathenism

demonstrate that the old religion hath almost ceased to be a political

force, and any emperor who would seek to re-establish it is foredoomed

to certain failure."

"Let that pass. Ye bishops always regard the Church as the first thing

to be considered. I concede that thou art right. What then?"

"Thou must also understand," said Eusebius, with malicious pleasure,

"that, while the will of the emperor is the law of the land, it is no

longer the standard of right and wrong for Christians. Thy statutes may

control political life, and prescribe the external forms of worship for

the Church: its conscience hath passed even beyond thy control."

Constantine turned white with wrath.

"The impudent beggars!" he cried, "whom I redeemed from tortures and

from death! Where, then, was their 'conscience' when the council

subverted the kingdom of heaven upon earth, and they all signed the

decree which abolished the earthly sovereignty of Christ? But,"

checking his furious anger with a mighty effort, "what next?"

"If a man hath done a crime," said Eusebius, "no matter how cruel and

unnatural, the Christians understand that he may obtain forgiveness for

his sin by repentance and faith, even as King David did in the matter of

Bath-sheba."

"Well!" said Constantine, impatiently.

"The Christian world will never pardon thee without this repentance and

faith, or the appearance of it," said Eusebius, and he uttered the last

few words in a low, peculiar tone.

"And what shape might 'the appearance of it' assume?" asked the emperor,

with a laugh.

"Thou mightst go in sackcloth and ashes unto the church and publicly

pray to God and man for pardon!"

"And I might far sooner hang up a bishop and exterminate a sect that

would seriously insist upon any such degrading terms!"

"So I supposed," said Eusebius, "and even then such a course would only

be 'the appearance' of faith and repentance, not the things themselves.

But thou mightst build a church and dedicate it unto the memory of

Caesar; or set up his statue, with an inscription intimating that he was

the victim of a mistake, and the object of affectionate and sorrowful

remembrance. Either of these 'appearances of it' might be sufficient."

"That will answer," cried Constantine. "Crispus Caesar was a handsome

man, and an excellent subject for a statue. The statue shall be of

gold, and the inscription shall be, 'To Crispus, mine injured and

innocent son.' Will that, think you, reconcile the orthodox? Or what

else dost thou advise?"

"The Empress-mother Helena should exhibit some similar token of

repentance for her hatred of the Empress Fausta."

"And what 'appearance of it' should her faith and repentance assume?"

said Constantine, laughing merrily.

"Recently," replied Eusebius, "a lively interest hath sprung up

throughout the Church in the 'holy places' in Palestine. If the empress

should make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and found there a handsome

church and some sacred shrines, she would cease to annoy thee, amuse

herself, and do a great work toward restoring the love and confidence of

Christians to thyself and her."

"Thou art a true and glorious bishop," laughed the emperor, "and thou

dost never forget the welfare of the Church. The empress-mother shall

go quickly on her sacred pilgrimage, and all the holy places shall

rejoice. Is not that enough? Or is there yet something more?"

"This would suffice for the orthodox," said Eusebius; "but years have

passed since the Council of Nicea. Time hath assuaged the bitterness of

former days, which would, perhaps, have faded out altogether but that

the banishment of Arius keepeth it alive. If thou wouldst reconcile the

whole Church unto thyself, recall and even show some special honor to

the Libyan."

"Thou hast reserved thy bitterest medicine for the last!"

"But it is necessary, Augustus. For days past thy sister Constantia,

who is even now upon the bed of death, hath entreated me that I would

come unto thee and ask thee to visit her, that she might make it her

dying request that thou recall Arius and restore his church to him. Of

course I could not come till thou didst order it." And then the bishop,

fixing his eyes firmly upon the face of Constantine, with his right hand

extended, said with inexpressible dignity: "Augustus, thy sister's

husband, Licinius, the Emperor of the East, and her only son, Licinius,

both perished by thine own order; yet her devotion unto thee hath never

faltered. Surely thou canst not refuse her dying supplications!"

Constantine's face for once grew soft with a genuine emotion of

humanity, and he replied: "Surely not, bishop! I always loved

Constantia. I will visit her, and do whatever she desires."

"Go to-day, then," said Eusebius, "for she hath but few hours more to

live."

And Constantine went; and the long and sorely tried and deeply injured,

but still faithful and loving sister, with her dying breath besought him

to recall the great and holy Arius, and restore the peace and unity of

the Church and of the empire; and with a mighty oath (as usual) he

promised so to do.

CHAPTER XIII.

WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT.

During the slow lapse of all the years which had passed away since the

date of the Nicene Council, Arius the Libyan was almost as much dead

unto the world as if he had indeed departed from this life. None,

except the emperor and a few trusted officers, knew anything more of him

than that he was kept a close prisoner somewhere in Illyricum, none knew

precisely where; and so carefully was the secret guarded, that even unto

this day the precise place and manner of his imprisonment remain

entirely unknown. For a few years after he had disappeared so suddenly,

there were now and then vague rumors in circulation that some of his

devoted adherents had discovered the location of his prison, and were

plotting to deliver him therefrom; and the same rumors indefinitely

connected the names of Crispus Caesar and of young Licinius with these

revolutionary designs; and cunning Fausta had used these rumors, with

remorseless skill and intelligence, to the destruction of them both. But

whether these were merely vague and idle surmises, whether there was

some foundation in fact for them, or whether the crafty emperor himself

had invented and floated them, in order to justify the murders upon

which he had already determined, will forever be unknown. For, upon the

perpetration of these enormous crimes, a mist of horror overspread the

empire that hid the name and memory of the Libyan from the popular gaze,

and thenceforth absolutely nothing was known of him until he suddenly

and unexpectedly appeared at Constantinople.

A few days after the funeral of Constantia, Constantine summoned

Eusebius and said unto him: "Bishop, I swore unto Constantia that I

would recall Arius speedily, and I will keep mine oath; for reflection

convinceth me that piety in this regard is true policy also. In what

manner dost thou deem it most fitting to effectuate this purpose?"

"Do it like a Christian, like a statesman, like an emperor," said

Eusebius, "with a whole heart, generously! And let there be nothing

small, or niggardly, or mean, in thine action. A few narrow-minded ones

among the orthodox may for a while murmur at it; but the Arians will

rejoice, and all Christians and all men will say it was a noble thing to

do! Therefore, let it be done in a grand and princely way!"

"Particularize the programme which thou thinkest to be 'grand' and

'princely.'"

"Let free pardon be granted unto Arius, without conditions of any kind

whatever. Let proclamation be made that the presbyter will be received

into communion again, in thine own city and in thine own church, and

then transferred to his old pastoral charge, the Baucalis church in

Alexandria, and so recompense his sufferings with a triumphant return,

and receive him at the church-door in thine own person!"

"It shall so be done at once," answered Constantine. "No apologies or

explanations to be demanded or received. Do thou immediately set a day,

and carefully arrange all the details of the ceremony as thou wilt. I

will have the old heretic here at the appointed time."

And Eusebius with a glad heart set to work to carry the emperor's design

into effect. Some among the orthodox murmured, and on the evening

before the day appointed, Alexander, the Bishop of Constantinople, was

heard to exclaim, "Let me, or Arius, die before tomorrow!"

But the emperor's will could not be resisted; and, although the orthodox

shuddered to acknowledge as a brother beloved and equal one whom they

had always branded as a heretic, the secularized, imperial Church must

commit treason or obey; for the royal oecumenical council had borne,

along with other fruit, this, that a difference of religious faith and

action might very easily constitute the crime of treason against the

emperor.

On the day which had been set apart for the solemn pageantry, Arius was

brought by chosen officers to the lodgings where the Eusebii abode when

in the city; but, designing to prepare for the long-imprisoned Libyan

all the delightful surprise which a sudden realization of the great

change in his condition might afford, the Eusebii had not permitted any

one to inform him fully of the matters contemplated. They even doubted,

also, whether the grand, ascetic, incorruptible old man would enter an

imperial church to receive honor at the hands of an earthly sovereign

unless he should be taken by surprise. When, therefore, the next

morning, at the appointed hour, they took places upon each side of him,

and invited him to walk with them and view the grand and beautiful

metropolitan church, the ancient man went forth not knowing what special

purpose was contemplated. And as they drew nearer unto the church, and

beheld a vast concourse of people in holiday attire, and ranks of

soldiers in magnificent array, with banners flying, and heard the mighty

shouts that seemed to rend the heavens, "Glory to Constantine, the

favorite of God!" "Long live Arius, the great and faithful presbyter!"

the Libyan paused, and, gazing upon the Eusebii, inquired, "Bishops,

beloved, what mean these mighty clamors, and these salutations of

Constantine and Arius?"

And they answered, "Father, come on with us and thou shalt gladly see."

"Not a step more, until ye have told me all!"

"It meaneth that thou art recalled, not only to Constantinople, but to

the very bosom of the Church, subject to no conditions whatever! And

the emperor himself waits at the door yonder to welcome and to honor

thee."

Then brake the strong heart within him of a hopeless sorrow, and,

faintly murmuring these words, 'The Antichrist hath triumphed here where

Satan hath his seat!' a convulsion seized upon him, and, as the two

steadfast friends strove to hold him up, the gigantic form of the grand

old man glided slowly down between them, and lay prone upon the

pavement, as if the spirit had gone out of him forever. And presently a

slight contortion swept over the great, gaunt frame; the bony right hand

extended itself upward, waving gently from side to side; the rough and

noble head darted forward upon the long, lithe neck; a tender smile,

ineffably soft and sweet, played around the weary, patient mouth, and

lighted up the somber eyes and haggard countenance with joy and beauty;

and gazing far away, as if his sight could pierce the bending heavens,

he sweetly murmured, 'Jesus, and Theckla also!' Then darkness fell upon

the weary face and eyes; the mighty limbs relaxed once more; and he lay

still upon the rocky way.

Arius the Libyan was dead!

THE END.