more fearful front. The enemies of the soul are those whom the Christian
most dreads. Death is but the foe of life. So the Christian may but live
to virtue and God, he can easily make his account with death. It is not
the pain of dying, nor the manner of it, nor any doubts or speculations
about the life to come, which, at an hour like this, intrude upon the
Christian's thoughts.'
'And what then,' asked Julia, as Probus paused and fell back into
himself, 'is it that fills and agitates the mind? for at such a moment
it can scarcely possess itself in perfect peace.'
'It is this,' replied Probus. 'Am I worthy? Have I wrought well my
appointed task? Have I kept the faith? And is God my friend and Jesus my
Saviour? These are the thoughts that engross and fill the mind. It is
busy with the past--and with itself. It has no thoughts to spare upon
suffering and death--it has no doubts or fears to remove concerning
immortality. The future life, to me, stands out in the same certainty as
the present. Death is but the moment which connects the two. You say
well, that at such an hour as this the mind can scarce possess itself
in perfect peace. Yet is it agitated by nothing that resembles fear. It
is the agitation that must necessarily have place in the mind of one to
whom a great trust has been committed for a long series of years, at
that moment when he comes to surrender it up to him from whom it was
received. I have lived many years. Ten thousand opportunities of doing
good to myself and others have been set before me. The world has been a
wide field of action and labor, where I have been required to sow and
till against the future harvest. Must I not experience solicitude about
the acts and the thoughts of so long a career? I may often have erred; I
must often have stood idly by the wayside; I must many times have been
neglectful, and forgetful, and wilful; I must often have sinned; and it
is not all the expected glory of another life, nor all the honor of
dying in the cause of Christ, nor all the triumph of a martyr's fate,
that can or ought to stifle and overlay such thoughts. Still I am happy.
Happy, not because I am in my own view worthy or complete, but because
through Jesus Christ I am taught, in God, to see a Father. I know that
in him I shall find both a just and a merciful judge; and in him who was
tempted even as we are, who was of our nature and exposed to our trials,
shall I find an advocate and intercessor such as the soul needs. So
that, if anxious as he who is human and fallible must ever be, I am
nevertheless happy and contented. My voyage is ended; the ocean of life
is crossed, and I stand by the shore with joyful expectations of the
word that shall bid me land and enter into the haven of my rest.'
As Probus ended these words, a low and deep murmur or distant rumbling
as of thunder caught our ears, which, as we listened, suddenly increased
to a terrific roar of lions, as it were directly under our feet. We
instinctively sprang from where we sat, but were quieted at once by
Probus:
'There is no danger,' said he; 'they are not within our apartment, nor
very near us. They are a company of Rome's executioners, kept in
subterranean dungeons, and fed with prisoners whom her mercy consigns to
them. Sounds more horrid yet have met my ears, and may yours. Yet I hope
not.'
But while he yet spoke, the distant shrieks of those who were thrust
toward the den, into which from a high ledge they were to be plunged
headlong, were borne to us, accompanied by the oaths and lashes of such
as drove them, but which were immediately drowned by the louder roaring
of the imprisoned beasts as they fell upon and fought for their prey. We
sat mute and trembling with horror, till those sounds at length ceased
to reverberate through the aisles and arches of the building.
'O Rome!' cried Probus, when they had died away, 'how art thou drunk
with blood! Crazed by ambition, drunk with blood, drowned in sin,
hardened as a millstone against all who come to thee for good, how shalt
thou be redeemed? where is the power to save thee?'
'It is in thee!' said Julia. 'It is thy blood, Probus, and that of these
multitudes who suffer with thee, that shall have power to redeem Rome
and the world. The blood of Jesus, first shed, startled the world in its
slumbers of sin and death. Thine is needed now to sound another alarm,
and rouse it yet once more. And even again and again may the same
sacrifice be to be offered up.'
'True, lady,' said Probus; 'it is so. And it is of that I should think.
Those for whom I die should fill my thoughts, rather than any concern
for my own happiness. If I might but be the instrument, by my death, of
opening the eyes of this great people to their errors and their guilt, I
should meet death with gratitude and joy.'
With this and such like conversation, Fausta, did we fill up a long
interview with Probus. As we rose from our seats to take leave of him,
not doubting that we then saw him and spoke to him for the last time, he
yielded to the force of nature and wept. But this was but for a moment.
Quickly restored to himself--if indeed when shedding those tears he were
not more truly himself--he bade us farewell, saying with firmness and
cheerfulness as he did so,
'Notwithstanding, Piso, the darkness of this hour and of all the outward
prospect, it is bright within. Farewell!--to meet as I trust in Heaven!'
We returned to the Coelian.
* * * * *
When I parted from Probus, at the close of this interview, it was in the
belief that I should never see him more. But I was once again in his
dungeon, and then heard from him what I will now repeat to you. It was
thus.
Not long after we had withdrawn from his cell on our first visit,
Probus, as was his wont when alone, sat reading by that dim and
imperfect light which the jailer had provided him. He presently closed
the volume and laid it away. While he then sat musing, and thinking of
the morrow, and of the fate which then probably awaited him, the door of
his cell slowly opened. He looked, expecting to see his usual visitant
the jailer, but it was a form very different from his. The door closed,
and the figure advanced to where Probus sat. The gown in which it was
enveloped was then let fall, and the Prefect stood before the Christian.
'Varus!' said Probus. 'Do I see aright?'
'It is Varus,' replied the Prefect. 'And your friend.'
'I would, now at least, be at friendship with all the world,' responded
Probus.
'Yet,' said Varus, 'your friends must be few, that you should be left in
this place of horror, alone, to meet your fate.'
'I have no friend powerful enough, on earth at least, to cope with the
omnipotence of Aurelian,' replied Probus.
'Thy friends, Christian, are more, and more potent than thou dreamest
of. As I said to thee before, even Aurelian esteems thee.'
'Strange, that, if he esteems me, as thou sayest, he should thrust me
within the lions' den, with prospect of no escape but into their jaws.
And can I suppose that his esteem is worth much to me who crowds his
prisons with those who are nearest to me, reserving them there for a
death the most cruel and abhorred?'
'He may esteem thee, Probus, and not thy faith. 'Tis so with me. I like
not thy faith, but truly do I say it, I like thee, and would fain serve
and save thee. Nay, 'tis thy firmness and thy zeal in the cause thou
hast espoused that wins me. I honor those virtues. But, Probus, in thee
they are dangerous ones. The same qualities in a worthier cause would
make thee great. That which thou hast linked thyself to, Christian, is a
downward and a dying one. Its doom is sealed. The word of Aurelian is
gone forth, and, before the Ides, the blood of every Christian in Rome
shall flow--and not in Rome only, but throughout the empire. The forces
are now disposing over the whole of this vast realm, which, at a sign
from the great Head, shall fall upon this miserable people, and their
very name shall vanish from the earth. It is vain to contend. It is but
the struggling of a man with the will and the arm of Jove--'
'Varus!--' Probus began.
'Nay,' said the Prefect, 'listen first. This faith of thine, Christian,
which can thus easily be destroyed, cannot be that divine and holy thing
thou deemest it. So judges Porphyrius, and all of highest mark here in
Rome. It is not to be thought of one moment as possible, that what a God
made known to man for truth, he should afterward leave defenceless, to
be trodden to the dust, and its ministers and disciples persecuted,
tormented, and exterminated by human force. Christian, thou hast been
deceived--and all thy fellows are in the like delusion. Do thou then
save both thyself and them. It is in thy power to stop all this effusion
of blood, and restore unity and peace to an empire now torn and bleeding
in every part.'
'And how, Varus--seeing thou wouldst that I should hear all--how shall
it be done?'
'Embrace, Probus, the faith of Rome--the faith of thy father, venerable
for piety as for years--the faith of centuries, and of millions of our
great progenitors and thou art safe, and all thine are safe.'
Probus was silent.
'Aurelian bids me say,' continued the Prefect, 'that doing this, there
is not a wish of thy heart, for thyself, or for those who are dear to
thee, but it shall be granted. Wealth, more than miser ever craved,
office and place lower but little than Aurelian's own, shall be thine--'
'Varus! if there is within thee the least touch of humanity, cease! Thy
words have sunk into these dead walls as far as into me; yet have they
entered far enough to have wounded the soul through and through. Not,
Varus, though to all thou hast said and promised thou shouldst add Rome
itself and the empire, and still to that the subject kingdoms of the
East and West, with their treasures, and the world itself, would I prove
false to myself, my faith, and my God. Nor canst thou think me base
enough for such a deed. This is no great virtue in me, Varus. I hold it
not such; nor may you. Go through the secret chambers of these prisons
with the same rich bribe upon thy tongue, and not one so fallen wouldst
thou find that he would hear thee through as I have done. Varus, thou
knowest not what a Christian is! Thou canst not conceive how little a
thing life is in his regard set by the side of truth. I grieve that ever
I should have been so esteemed by thee as to warrant the proffers thou
hast made. This injures more and deeper than these bonds, or than all
thine array of engines or of beasts.'
'Be not the fool and madman,' said the Prefect, 'to cast away from thee
the mercy I have brought. Except on the terms I have now named, I say
there is hope neither for thee, nor for one of this faith in Rome, how
ever high their name or rank.'
'That can make no change in my resolve, Varus.'
'Consider, Probus, well. As by thy renunciation thou couldst save
thyself, I now tell thee that the lives of those whom thou holdest
nearest, hang also upon thy word. Assent to what I have offered, and
Piso and Julia live! Reject it, and they die!'
Varus paused; but Probus spoke not. He went on.
'Christian, are not these dear to thee? Demetrius too, and Felix? Where
are the mercies of thy boasted faith, if thy heart is left thus hard?
Truly thou mightest as well have lived and died a Pagan.'
'Again I say, Varus, thou knowest not what a Christian is. We put truth
before life; and if by but a word that should deny the truth in Christ,
or any jot or tittle of it, I could save the life of Piso, Julia, Felix,
Demetrius, nay, and all in Rome who hold this faith, my tongue should be
torn from my mouth before that word should be spoken. And so wouldst
thou find every Christian here in Rome. Why then urge me more? Did Macer
hear thee?'
'I hold thee, Probus, a wiser man than he. All Rome knew him mad. Cast
not away thy life. Live, and tomorrow's sun shall see thee First in
Rome!'
'Varus! why is this urgency? Think me not a fool and blind. Thou
knowest, and Fronto and Aurelian know, that one apostate would weigh
more for your bad cause than a thousand headless trunks; and so with
cruel and insulting craft you weave your snares and pile to Heaven your
golden bribes. Begone, Varus, and say to Aurelian, if in truth he sent
thee on thy shameful errand, that, in the Fabrician prison, in the same
dungeon where he cast Probus the Christian, there still lives Probus the
Roman, who reveres what _he_ once revered and loved, truth, and whom his
bribes cannot turn from his integrity.'
'Die then, idiot, in thy integrity! Thou hast thrown scorn upon one, who
has power and the will to pay it back in a coin it may little please
thee to take it in. If there be one torment, Galilean, sharper than
another, it shall be thine tomorrow; and for one moment that Macer
passed upon my irons, there shall be hours for thee. Not till the flesh
be peeled inch by inch from thy bones, and thy vitals look through thy
ribs, and thy brain boil in its hot case, and each particular nerve be
stretched till it break, shall thy life be suffered to depart. Then,
what the tormentors shall have left, the dogs of the streets shall
devour. Now, Christian, let us see if thy God, beholding thy distress,
will pity and deliver thee.'
Saying these words, his countenance transformed by passion to that of a
demon, he turned and left the cell.
Never, Fausta, I feel assured, did Aurelian commission Varus with such
an errand. Fallen though he be, he has not yet fallen to that lowest
deep. Varus doubtless hoped to prevail over Probus by his base
proposals, and by such triumph raise his fortunes yet higher with
Aurelian. It was a game worth playing--so he judged, and perhaps
wisely--and worth a risk. For doubtless one apostate of the rank of
Probus would have been of more avail to them, as Probus said to him,
than a thousand slain. For nothing do the judges so weary themselves,
and exhaust their powers of persuasion, as to induce the Christians who
are brought before them to renounce their faith. So desirous are they
of this, that they have caused, in many instances, those who were no
Christians to be presented at their tribunals, who have then, after
being threatened with torture and death, renounced a faith which they
never professed. Once and again has this farce been acted before the
Roman people. Their real triumphs of this sort have as yet been very
few; and the sensation which they produced was swallowed up and lost in
the glory--in the eyes even of the strangers who are in Rome--which has
crowned us in the steadfast courage with which our people have remained
quietly in their homes, throughout all this dreadful preparation, and
then, when the hour of trial drew nigh, and they were placed at the bar
of the judge, and were accused of their religion, confessed the charge,
boasted of it, and then took their way to the prison, from which, they
well knew, death only would deliver them.
* * * * *
That, Fausta, which we have long feared and looked for, has come to
pass, and Probus, our more than friend, our benefactor, and almost our
parent, is, by the Emperor, condemned to death; not, as from the words
of Varus it might be supposed, to the same torments as those to which
Macer was made subject; but to be thrown to the beasts in the Flavian, a
death more merciful than that, but yet full of horror. How is it that,
in the Roman, mercy seems dead, and the human nature, which he received
from the gods, changed to that of the most savage beast!
Livia has been with us; and here, with us, would she now gladly remain.
It is impossible, she says, for us to conceive the height of the frenzy
to which Aurelian is now wrought up against the Christians. In his
impatience, he can scarce restrain himself from setting his Legions in
the neighboring camp at once to the work of slaughter. But he is,
strange as it may seem, in this held back and calmed by the more
bloody-minded, but yet more politic, Fronto. Fronto would have the work
thoroughly accomplished; and that it may be so, he adheres to a certain
system of order and apparent moderation, from which Aurelian would
willingly break away and at once flood the streets of Rome in a new
deluge of blood. Livia is now miserable and sad, as she was, but a few
months ago, gay and happy. At the palace, she tells us, she hears no
sounds but the harsh and grating voice of Fronto, or the smooth and
silvery tones of Varus. As soon, she says, as Aurelian shall have
departed for the East, shall she dwell either with us, or fly to the
quiet retreat of Zenobia, at Tibur.
* * * * *
The day appointed for the death of Probus has arrived, and never did the
sun shine upon a fairer one in Rome. It seems as if some high festival
were come, for all Rome is afoot. Heralds parade the streets,
proclaiming the death of Probus, Felix, and other Christians, in the
Flavian, at the hour of noon. At the corner of every street, and at all
the public places, the name of "Probus the Christian, condemned to the
beasts," meets the eye. Long before the time of the sacrifice had come,
the avenues leading to the theatre, and all the neighborhood of it, were
crowded with the excited thousands of those who desired to witness the
spectacle. There was little of beauty, wealth, fashion, or nobility in
Rome that was not represented in the dense multitude that filled the
seats of the boundless amphitheatre. Probus had said to me, at my last
interview with him, 'Piso, you may think it a weakness in me, but I
would that one at least, whose faith is mine, and whose heart beats as
mine, might be with me at the final hour. I would, at that hour, meet
one eye that can return the glance of friendship. It will be a source of
strength to me, and I know not how much I may need it.' I readily
promised what he asked, though, as you may believe, Fausta, I would
willingly have been spared the trial. So that making part of that tide
pouring toward the centre, I found myself borne along at the appointed
hour to the scene of suffering and death.
As I was about to pass beneath the arched-way which leads to the winding
passages within, I heard myself saluted by a well-known voice, and,
turning to the quarter whence it came, beheld Isaac, but without his
pack, and in a costume so different from that which he usually wears,
that at first I doubted the report of my eyes. But the sound of his
voice, as he again addressed me, assured me it could be no other than
he.
'Did I not tell thee, Piso,' said he, 'that, when the Christian was in
his straits, there thou wouldst see the Jew, looking on, and taking his
sport? This is for Probus the very end I looked for. And how should it
be otherwise? Is he to live and prosper, who aims at the life of that to
which God has given being and authority? Shall he flourish in pride and
glory who hath helped to pull down what God built up? Not so, Piso. 'Tis
no wonder that the Christians are now in this plight. It could be no
otherwise. And in every corner of this huge fabric wilt thou behold
some of my tribe looking on upon this sight, or helping at the
sacrifice. Yet, as thou knowest, I am not among them. There is no hope
for Probus, Piso?'
'None, Isaac. All Rome could not save him.'
'Truly,' rejoined the Jew, 'he is in the lion's den. Yet as the prophet
Daniel was delivered, so may it be to him. God is over all.'
'God is, indeed, over all,' I said; 'but he leaves us with our natural
passions, affections, and reason, to work out our own way through the
world. We are the better for it.'
'Doubtless,' said Isaac. 'Yet at times, when we look not for it, and
from a quarter we dream not of, deliverance comes. So was it to Abraham,
when he thought that by his own hand Isaac his son must be slain. But
why to a Christian should I speak of these? Dost thou witness the
sacrifice, Piso?'
'Yes, at the earnest entreaty of Probus himself.'
'I, too, shall be there. We shall both then see what shall come to
pass.'
So saying, he moved away toward the lower vaults, where are the cages of
the beasts, and I passed on and ascended the flight of steps leading to
that part of the interior where it is the custom of Aurelian to sit. The
Emperor was not as yet arrived, but the amphitheatre, in every part of
it, was already filled with its countless thousands. All were seated
idly conversing, or gazing about as at the ordinary sports of the place.
The hum of so many voices struck the ear like the distant roar of the
ocean. How few of those thousands--not one perhaps--knew for what it was
that Probus and his companions were now about to suffer a most cruel
and abhorred death! They knew that their name was Christian, and that
Christian was of the same meaning as enemy of the gods and of the
empire; but what it was which made the Christian so willing to die, why
it was he was so ready to come to that place of horror and give up his
body to the beasts--this they knew not. It was to them a riddle they
could not read. And they sat and looked on with the same vacant
unconcern, or with the same expectation of pleasure, as if they were to
witness the destruction of murderers and assassins. This would not have
been so, had that class of the citizens of Rome, or any of them, been
present, who, regarding us with favor, and hoping that somewhat might
yet come of our religion advantageous to the world, maintain a neutral
position. These were not there; owing, both to their disinclination to
witness scenes so brutalizing, and to apprehensions lest they should be
betrayed into words or acts of sympathy, that might lead to their being
confounded with the obnoxious tribe, and exposed to the like dangers.
All, therefore, within the embrace of those wide-spreading walls were of
one heart and one mind.
While I sat waiting the coming of the Emperor, and surrounded by those
whom I knew not nor had ever seen, one who occupied a part of the same
seat, accompanied by his wife and daughters, said to me,
''Tis to be hoped, sir, that so terrible an example as this will have
its effect in deterring others from joining this dangerous superstition,
and not only that, but strike so wholesome a terror into those who
already profess it, that they shall at once abandon it, and so the
general massacre of them not be necessary; which, indeed, I should be
loth to witness in the streets of Rome.'
'If you knew,' I replied, 'for what it is these people are condemned to
such sufferings, you would not, I am sure, express yourself in that
manner. You know, I may presume, only what common report has brought to
your ears.'
'Nothing else, I admit,' he replied. 'My affairs confine me from morning
till night. I am a secretary, sir, in the office of the public mint. I
have no time to inform myself of the exact truth of any thing but
columns of figures. I am not afraid to say there is not a better
accountant within the walls of Rome. But as for other things, especially
as to the truth in matters of this sort, I know nothing, and can learn
nothing. I follow on as the world leads.'
'I dare say,' I replied, 'you have spoken the truth. And every one here
present, were he to speak, would make very much the same declaration. So
here are eighty thousand citizens of Rome assembled to witness the
destruction of men, of whose crime they know nothing, yet rejoicing in
their death as if they were murderers or robbers! Were you charged with
a false enumeration of your columns, would not you hold it basest
injustice to suffer punishment before pains were taken to learn the
exact truth in the case? But are you not acting the same unjust and
cruel part--with all who are here--in looking on and approving the
destruction of these men, about whose offence you know nothing, and have
taken no pains to inquire?'
'By the gods!' exclaimed his wife, who seemed the sharper spirit of the
two, 'I believe we have a Christian here! But however that may be, we
should be prettily set to work, whenever some entertainment is in
prospect, to puzzle ourselves about the right and the wrong in the
matter. If we are to believe you, sir, whenever a poor wretch is to be
thrown to the beasts, before we can be in at the sport we must settle
the question--under the law I suppose--whether the condemnation be just
or not! Ha! ha! Our life were in that case most light and agreeable! The
Prefect himself would not have before him a more engaging task. Gods!
Cornelia dear, see what a pair of eyes!'
'Where, mother?'
'There! in that old man's head. They burn and twinkle like coals of
fire. I should think he must be a Christian.'