Senate Christians? or any distinguished for their rank? No; with
exceptions, too few to be noticed, those who embrace it are among the
dregs of the people, men wholly incapable of separating true from false,
and laying properly the safe foundations of a new religion--a work too
great even for philosophers. And not only does this religion draw to
itself the poor and humble and ignorant, but the base and wicked also;
persons known, while of our way, to have been notorious for their vices,
have all of a sudden joined themselves to the Christians; and whatever
show of sanctity may then have been assumed, we may well suppose there
has not been much of the reality. Long may it boast of such members, and
while its brief life lasts make continually such converts from us. As to
the amazing pretences they make of their benevolence in the care of the
poor, and even of our poor, doing more offices of kindness toward
them--so it is affirmed--than we ourselves--who does not see the motive
that prompts so much charity, in the good opinion they build up for
themselves in those whom they have so much obliged, and who cannot in
decency do less afterward than oblige them in turn, by joining their
superstitions--superstitions of which they know nothing before they
adopt them, and as little afterward.
'But I will not, O Emperor, weary out your patience again--already so
long tried--and will only say, that the fate which has all along and
everywhere befallen these people, might well warn them that they are
objects of the anger rather than the favor and love of the Lord of
Heaven, of which they so confidently make their boast. For if he loved
them would he leave them everywhere so to the rage and destruction of
their enemies--to be reviled, trodden upon, and despised, all over the
earth? If these be the signs of love, what are those of hate? And can it
be that he, their Lord of Heaven, hath in store for them a world of
bliss beyond this life, who gives them here on earth scarce the sordid
shelter of a cabin? In truth, they seem to be a community living upon
their imaginations. They fancy themselves favorites of Heaven--though
all the world thinks otherwise. They fancy themselves the greatest
benefactors the world has ever seen, while they are the only ones who
think so. They have nothing here but persecution, contempt, and hatred,
and yet are anticipating a more glorious Elysium than the greatest and
best of earth have ever dared to hope for. We cannot but hope they may
be at sometime the riddle to themselves which they are to us. This is a
benevolent wish, for their entertainment would be great.'
When he had ended, and almost before, many voices were heard of those
who wished to speak, and Probus rose in his place to reply to what had
fallen from the philosopher, but all were alike silenced by the loud and
stern command of Aurelian, who, evidently weary and impatient of further
audience of what he was so little willing to hear at all, cried out,
saying,
'The Christians, Romans, have now been heard, as they desired, by one
whom they themselves appointed to set forth their doctrine. This is no
school for the disputations of sophists or philosophers or fanatics. Let
Romans and Christians alike withdraw.'
Whereupon, without further words or delay, the assembly broke up.
* * * * *
It was not difficult to see that the statements and reasonings of Probus
had fallen upon many who heard them with equal surprise and delight.
Every word that he uttered was heard with an eager attention I never
before saw equaled. I have omitted the greater part of what he said,
especially where he went with minuteness into an account of the history,
doctrine, and precept of our faith, knowing it to be too familiar to you
to make it desirable to have it repeated.
It was in part at least owing to an unwillingness to allow Probus again
to address that audience, representing all the rank and learning of
Rome, that the Emperor so hastily dissolved the assembly. Whatever
effect the hearing of Probus may have upon him or upon us, there is
reason to believe that its effects will be deep and abiding upon the
higher classes of our inhabitants. They then heard what they never heard
before--a full and an honest account of what Christianity is; and, from
what I have already been informed, and gathered indeed from my own
observation at the time, they now regard it with very different
sentiments.
When, late in the evening of this day, we conversed of its events,
Probus being seated with us, we indulged both in those cheering and
desponding thoughts which seem to be strangely mingled together in our
present calamities.
'No opinion,' said Julia, 'has been more strongly confirmed within me by
this audience before Aurelian, than this, that it has been of most
auspicious influence upon our faith. Not that some have not been filled
with a bitterer spirit than before; but that more have been favorably
inclined toward us by the disclosures, Probus, which you made; and
whether they become Christians or not eventually, they will be far more
ready to defend us in our claim for the common rights of citizens.
Marcellinus, who sat near me, was of this number. He expressed
frequently, in most emphatic terms, his surprise at what he heard,
which, he said, he was constrained to admit as true and fair statements,
seeing they were supported and corroborated by my and your presence and
silence. At the close he declared his purpose to procure the gospels for
his perusal.'
'And yet,' said I, 'the late consul Capitolinus, who was at my side, and
whose clear and intelligent mind is hardly equaled here in Rome, was
confirmed--even as Porphyrius was, or pretended to be--in all his
previous unfavorable impressions. He did not disguise his opinion, but
freely said, that in his judgment the religion ought to be suppressed,
and that, though he should by no means defend any measures like those
which he understood Aurelian had resolved to put in force, he should
advocate such action in regard to it, as could not fail to expel it from
the empire in no very great number of years.'
'I could observe,' added Probus, 'the same differences of feeling and
judgment all over the surface of that sea of faces. But if I should
express my belief as to the proportion of friends and enemies there
present, I should not hesitate to say--and that I am sure without any
imposition upon my own credulity--that the greater part by far were upon
our side--not in faith as you may suppose--but in that good opinion of
us, and of the tendencies of our doctrine and the value of our services,
that is very near it, and is better than the public profession of Christ
of many others.'
'It will be a long time, I am persuaded,' said Julia, 'before the truths
received then into many minds will cease to operate in our behalf. But
what think you was the feeling of Aurelian? His countenance was hidden
from me--yet that would reveal not much. It is immovable at those times,
when he is deeply stirred, or has any motive to conceal his sentiments.'
'I cannot believe,' replied Probus, 'that any impression, such as we
could wish, was made upon that hard and cruel heart. Not the brazen
statue, against the base of which he leaned, stood in its place more
dead to whatever it was that came from my lips than he. He has not been
moved, we may well believe, to change any of his designs. Whatever
yesterday it was in his intent to do, he will accomplish tomorrow. I do
not believe we have anything to hope at his hands.'
'Alas, Lucius!' said Julia, 'that our faith in Christ, and our interest
and concern for its progress in Rome, should after all come to this. How
happy was I in Syria, with this belief as my bosom companion and friend;
and free, too, to speak of it, to any and to all. How needless is all
the misery which this rude, unlettered tyrant is about to inflict! How
happily for all, would things take their course even here, might they
but be left to run in those natural channels which would reveal
themselves, and which would then conduct to those ends which the Divine
Providence has proposed. But man wickedly interposes; and a misery is
inflicted, which otherwise would have never fallen upon us, and which in
the counsels of God was never designed. What now think you, Probus, will
be the event?'
'I cannot doubt,' he replied, 'that tomorrow will witness all that
report has already spread abroad as the purpose of Aurelian. Urged on by
both Fronto and Varus, he will not pause in his course. Rome, ere the
Ides, will swim in Christian blood. I see not whence deliverance is to
come. Miracle alone could save us; and miracle has long since ceased to
be the order of Providence. Having provided for us this immense
instrument of moral reform in the authority and doctrine of Christ, we
are now left, as doubtless it is on the whole best for our character and
our virtues we should be, to our own unassisted strength, to combat with
all the evils that may assail us, both from without and within. For
myself, I can meet this tempest without a thought of reluctance or
dread. I am a solitary man; having neither child nor relative to mourn
my loss; I have friends indeed, whom I love, and from whom I would not
willingly part; but, if any considerable purpose is to be gained by my
death to that cause for which I have lived, neither I nor they can
lament that it should occur. Under these convictions as to my own
fate--and that of all, must I say and believe? no; I cannot, will not,
believe that humanity has taken its final departure from the bosom of
Aurelian--I turn to one bright spot, and there my thoughts dwell, and
there my hopes gather strength, and that is here where you, Piso, and
you, lady, will still dwell, too high for the aim of the imperial
murderer to reach. Here I shall believe will there he an asylum for many
a wearied spirit, a safe refuge from the sharp pelting of the storm
without. And when a calm shall come again, from beneath this roof, as
once from the ark of God, shall there go forth those who shall again
people the waste-places of the church, and change the wilderness of
death into a fruitful garden full of the plants of Heaven.'
'That it is the present purpose of Aurelian to spare me,' I answered,
'whatever provocation I may give him, I fully believe. He is true; and
his word to that end, with no wish expressed on my part, has been given.
But do not suppose that in that direction at least he may not change his
purpose. Superstitiously mad as he now is, a mere plaything too in the
bloody hands of Fronto--and nothing can well be esteemed as more
insecure than even my life, privileged and secure as it may seem. If it
should occur to him, in his day or his night visions and dreams, that I,
more than others, should be an acceptable offering to his god, my life
would be to him but that of an insect buzzing around his ear; and being
dead by a blow, he would miss me no more. Still, let the mercy that is
vouchsafed, whether great or little, be gratefully confessed.'
You then see, Fausta, the position in which your old friends now stand
here in Rome. Who could have believed, when we talked over our dangers
in Palmyra, that greater and more dreadful still awaited us in our own
home. It has come upon us with such suddenness that we can scarce
believe it ourselves. Yet are we prepared, with an even mind and a
trusting faith, for whatever may betide.
It is happy for me, and for Julia, that our religion has fixed within us
so firm a belief in a superintending Providence--who orders not only the
greatest but the least events of life, who is as much concerned for the
happiness and the moral welfare of the humblest individual, as he is for
the orderly movement of a world--that we sit down under the shadows that
overhang us, perfectly convinced that some end of good to the church or
the world is to be achieved through these convulsions, greater than
could have been achieved in any other way. The Supreme Ruler, we
believe, is infinitely wise and infinitely good. But he would be
neither, if unnecessary suffering were meted out to his creatures. This
suffering then is not unnecessary. But through it, in ways which our
sight now is not piercing enough to discern--but may hereafter be--shall
a blessing redound both to the individuals concerned, to the present
generation, and a remote posterity, which could not otherwise have been
secured. This we must believe; or we must renounce all belief.
Forget not to remember us with affection to Gracchus and Calpurnius.
* * * * *
I also was present at the hearing of Probus. But of that I need say
nothing; Piso having so fully written concerning it to the daughter of
Gracchus.
Early on the following day I was at the Gardens of Sallust, where I was
present both with the Emperor and Livia, and with the Emperor and
Fronto, and heard conversations which I here record.
When I entered the apartment, in which it was customary for the Empress
to sit at this time of the day, I found her there engaged upon her
embroidery, while the Emperor paced back and forth, his arms crossed
behind him, and care and anxiety marked upon his countenance. Livia,
though she sat quietly at her work, seemed ill at ease, and as if some
thought were busy within, to which she would gladly give utterance. She
was evidently relieved by my entrance, and immediately made her usual
inquiries after the health of the Queen, in which Aurelian joined her.
Aurelian then turned to me and said,
'I saw you yesterday at the Palatine, Nicomachus; what thought you of
the Christian's defence?'
'It did not convert me to his faith--'
'Neither, by the gods! did it me,' quickly interrupted Aurelian.
'But,' I went on, 'it seemed to show good cause why they should not be
harshly or cruelly dealt with. He proved them to be a harmless people,
if not positively profitable to the state.'
'I do not see that,' replied the Emperor. 'It is impossible they should
be harmless who sap the foundations of religion; it is impossible they
should be profitable who seduce from their allegiance the good subjects
of the empire; and this religion of the Christians does both.'
'I agree that it is so,' I rejoined, 'if it is to be assumed in the
controversy that the prevailing religion of the Romans is a perfect one,
and that any addition or alteration is necessarily an evil. That seems
to be the position of Porphyrius and others. But to that I can by no
means assent. It seems to me that the religions of mankind are
susceptible of improvement as governments are, and other like
institutions; that what may be perfectly well suited to a nation in one
stage of its growth, may be very ill adapted to another; that the gods
in their providence accordingly design that one form of religious
worship and belief should in successive ages be superseded by others,
which shall be more exactly suited to their larger growth, and more
urgent and very different necessities. The religion of the early days of
Rome was perhaps all that so rude a people were capable of
comprehending--all that they wanted. It worked well for them, and you
have reason for gratitude that it was bestowed upon them, and has
conferred so great benefits upon the preceding centuries. But the light
of the sun is not clearer than it is that, for this present passing age,
that religion is stark naught.'
The Emperor frowned, and stood still in his walk, looking sternly upon
me; but I heeded him not.
'Most, of any intelligence and reflection,' I continued, 'spurn it away
from them as fit but for children and slaves. Must they then be without
any principle of this kind? Is it safe for a community to grow up
without faith in a superintending power, from whom they come, to whom
they are responsible? I think not. In any such community--and Rome is
becoming such a one--the elements of disruption, anarchy, and ruin, are
there at work, and will overthrow it. A society of atheists is a
contradiction in terms. Atheists may live alone, but not together. Will
you compel your subjects to become such? If a part remain true to the
ancient faith, and find it to be sufficient, will you deny to the other
part the faith which they crave, and which would be sufficient for them?
I doubt if that were according to the dictates of wisdom and philosophy.
And how know you, Aurelian, that this religion of Christ may not be the
very principle which, and which alone, may save your people from
atheism, and your empire from the ruin that would bring along in its
train?'
'I cannot deny,' said the Emperor in reply, 'that there is some sense
and apparent truth in what you have said. But to me it is shadowy and
intangible. It is the speculation of that curious class among men, who,
never satisfied with what exists, are always desiring some new forms of
truth, in religion, in government, and all subjects of that nature. I
could feel no more certain of going or doing right by conforming to
their theories, than I feel now in adhering to what is already
established. Nay, I can see safety nowhere but in what already is. There
is the only certainty. Suppose some enthusiast in matters of government
were to propose his system, by which the present established
institutions were all to be abandoned and new ones set up, should I
permit him to go freely among the people, puzzling their heads with what
it is impossible they should understand, and by his sophistries
alienating them from their venerable parent? Not so, by Hercules! I
should ill deserve my office of supreme guardian of the honor and
liberties of Rome, did I not mew him up in the Fabrician dungeons, or
send him lower still to the Stygian shades.'
'But,' said Livia, who had seemed anxious to speak, 'though it may be
right, and best for the interests of Rome, to suppress this new worship,
yet why, Aurelian, need it be done at such expense of life? Can no way
be devised by which the professors of this faith shall be banished, for
instance, the realm, and no new teachers of it permitted to enter it
afterward but at the risk of life, or some other appointed penalty? Sure
I am, from what I heard from the Christian Probus, and what I have heard
so often from the lips of Julia, this people cannot be the sore in the
body of the state which Fronto represents them.'
'I cannot, Livia,' replied the Emperor, 'refuse to obey what to me have
been warnings from the gods.'
'But may not the heavenly signs have been read amiss?' rejoined Livia.
'There is no truth in augury, if my duty be not where I have placed it,'
answered Aurelian.
'And perhaps, Aurelian,' said the Empress, 'there is none. I have heard
that the priests of the temples play many a trick upon their devout
worshippers.'
'Livia, it has doubtless been so; but you would not believe that Fronto
has trifled with Aurelian?'
'I believe Fronto capable of any crime by which the gods may be served.
Have you not heard, Aurelian what fell from the dying Christian's lips?'
'I have, Livia; and have cast it from me as at best the coinage of a
moonstruck mountebank. Shall the word of such a one as Macer the
Christian, unseat my trust in such a one as Fronto? That were not
reasonable, Livia.'
'Then, Aurelian, if not for any reason that I can give, for the love you
bear me, withhold your hand from this innocent people. You have often
asked me to crave somewhat which it would be hard for you to grant, that
you might show how near you hold me. Grant me this favor, and it shall
be more to me than if you gave me the one half the empire.'
The Emperor's stern countenance relaxed, and wore for a moment that
softened expression, accompanied by a smile, that on his face might be
termed beautiful. He was moved by the unaffected warmth and winning
grace with which those words were spoken by Livia. But he only said,
'I love thee, Livia, as thou knowest,--but not so well as Rome or the
gods.'
'I would not, Aurelian,' replied the Empress, 'that love of me should
draw you away from what you owe to Rome--from what is the clear path of
a monarch's duty; but this seems at best a doubtful case. They who are
equally Roman in their blood differ here. It is not wrong to ask you,
for my sake, to lean to the side of mercy.'
'You are never wrong, Livia. And were it only right to--'
'But are you not, Aurelian, always sure of being right in being
merciful? Can it ever afterward repent you that you drew back from the
shedding of blood?'
'It is called mercy, Livia, when he who has the power spares the
culprit, forgives the offence, and sends him from the gibbet or the
cross back to his weeping friends. The crowds throw up their caps and
shout as for some great and good deliverance. But the mercy that returns
upon the world a villain, whose crimes had richly earned for him his
death, is hardly a doubtful virtue. Though, as is well known, I am not
famed for mercy, yet were it clear to me what in this case were the
truest mercy--for the pleasure, Livia, of pleasuring thee, I would be
merciful. But I should not agree with thee in what is mercy. It were no
mercy to Rome, as I judge, to spare these Christians, whatever the grace
might be to them. Punishment is often mercy. In destroying these
wretches I am merciful both to Rome and to the world, and shall look to
have their thanks.'
'There comes, Aurelian.' said Livia, rising, 'thy evil genius--thy
ill-possessing demon--who has so changed the kindly current of thy
blood. I would that he, who so loves the gods, were with them. I cannot
wait him.'
With these words Livia rose and left the apartment, just as Fronto
entered in another direction.
'Welcome, Fronto!' said Aurelian. 'How thrive our affairs?'
'As we could wish, great Emperor. The city with us, and the gods with
us,--we cannot but prosper. A few days will see great changes.'
'How turns out the tale of Curio? What find you to be the truth? Are the
Christians here, or are they fled?'
'His tale was partly false and partly true. More are fled than Piso or
the Christians will allow; but doubtless the greater part, by large
odds, remain.'
'That is well. Then for the other side of this great duty. Is thine own
house purged? Is the temple, new and of milk-white marble, now as clean
and white in its priesthood? Have those young sots and pimps yet atoned
for their foul impieties?'
'They have,' replied Fronto. 'They have been dealt with; and their
carcases swinging and bleaching in the wind will long serve I trust to
keep us sweet. The temple, I now may believe, is thoroughly swept.'
'And how is it, Fronto, with the rest?'
'The work goes on. Your messengers are abroad; and it will be neither
for want of power, will, nor zeal, if from this time Hellenism stands
not before the world as beautiful in her purity as she is venerable in
years and truth.'
'The gods be praised that I have been stirred up to this! When this
double duty shall be done, Hellenism reformed, and her enemy extinct,
then may I say that life has not been spent for naught. But meanwhile,
Fronto, the army needs me. All is prepared, and letters urge me on.
To-morrow I would start for Thrace. Yet it cannot be so soon.'
'No,' said the priest. 'Rome will need you more than Thrace, till the
edicts have been published, and the work well begun. Then, Aurelian, may
it be safely entrusted, so far as zeal and industry shall serve, to
those behind.'
'I believe it, Fronto. I see myself doubly reflected in thee: and almost
so in Varus. The Christians, were I gone, would have four Aurelians for
one. Well, let us rejoice that piety is not dead. The sacrifice this
morning was propitious. I feel its power in every thought and
movement.'
'But while all things else seem propitious, Aurelian, one keeps yet a
dark and threatening aspect.'
'What mean you?'
'Piso!--'
'Fronto, I have in that made known my will, and more than once. Why
again dispute it?'
'I know no will, great Cæsar, that may rightly cross or surmount that of
the gods. They, to me, are supreme, not Aurelian.'
Aurelian moved from the priest, and paced the room.
'I see not, Fronto, with such plainness the will of Heaven in this.'
''Tis hard to see the divine will, when the human will and human
affections are so strong.'
'My aim is to please the gods in all things,' replied the Emperor.
'Love too, Aurelian, blinds the eye, and softening the heart toward our
fellow, hardens it toward the gods.' This he uttered with a strange
significancy.
'I think, Fronto, mine has been all too hard toward man, if it were
truly charged. At least, of late, the gods can have no ground of blame.'