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'My friends,' said the princess, 'are, I am sure, grateful for what you
have said, and they have heard.'

'Indeed we are,' said Fausta, 'and heartily do we thank you. One thing
more would I ask. What think you of the prospects of the Christian faith?
Are the common reports of its rapid ascendency to be heeded? Is it making
its way, as we are told, even into the palaces of kings? I know, indeed,
what happens in Palmyra; but elsewhere, holy father?'

As Fausta spoke these words, the aged man seemed wrapped in thought. His
venerable head sank upon his breast; his beard swept the ground. At
length, slowly raising his head, and with eyes lifted upward, he said, in
deep and solemn tones: 'It cannot, it cannot be difficult to read the
future. It must be so. I see it as if it were already come. The throne
which is red with blood, and he who sits thereon, wielding a sword
dropping blood, sinks--sinks--and disappears; and one all white, and he
who sits thereon, having upon his frontlet these words, "Peace on earth
and good will toward men," rises and fills its place. And I hear a
movement as of a multitude which no man number, coming and worshipping
around the throne. God of the whole earth, arise!--visit it with thy
salvation! Hasten the coming of the universal kingdom of thy Son, when
all shall know thee, and love to God and love to man possess and fill
every soul.'

As the venerable man uttered this prayer, Julia looked steadfastly upon
him, and a beauty more than of earth seemed to dwell upon her countenance.

'Father,' said Fausta, 'we are not now fair judges of truth. Your
discourse has wrought so upon us, that we need reflection before we can
tell what we ought to believe.'

'That is just,' said the saint; 'to determine right, we must think as well
as feel. And that your minds may the sooner return to the proper state,
let me set before you of such as my dwelling will afford.'

Saying this, he moved from the seat which till now he had retained, and
closing the volume he had been reading, laid it away with care, saying as
he did so, 'This, children, is the Christian's book; not containing all
those writings which we deem to be of authority in describing our faith,
but such as are most needful. It is from reading this, and noting as you
read the inward marks of honesty, and observing how easy it were, even
now, by visiting Judea, to convict its authors of error and falsehood, had
they been guilty of either, that your minds will be best able to judge of
the truth and worth of Christianity.'

'At another time, father,' said Fausta, 'it would give me great delight,
and equally too, I am sure, our friend from Rome, if you would read to us
portions of that volume, that we may know somewhat of its contents from
your lips, accompanied too by such comments as you might deem useful to
learners. It is thus we have often heard the Greek and Roman writers from
the mouth of Longinus.'

'Whenever,' he replied, 'you shall be willing to ascend these steep and
rugged paths, in pursuit of truth, I in my turn will stand prepared to
teach. To behold such listeners before me, brings back the life of
former days.'

He then, with short and interrupted steps, busied himself in bringing
forth his humble fare. Bread and fruits, and olives, formed our light
repast, together with ice-cold water, which Julia, seizing from his hand
the hermit's pitcher, brought from a spring that gushed from a
neighboring rock.

This being ended, and with it much various and agreeable conversation, in
the course of which the Christian patriarch gave many striking anecdotes
of his exposed and toilsome life, we rose, and bidding farewell, with
promises to return again, betook ourselves to our horses, and mounting
them, were soon at the gates of the palace.

I confess myself interested in the question of Christianity. The old
religions are time-worn, and in effect dead. To the common people, when
believed, they are as often injurious as useful--to others, they are the
objects of open, undisguised contempt. Yet religion, in some form, the
human mind must have. We feel the want of it as we do of food and drink.
But, as in the case of food and drink, it must be something that we shall
perceive to nourish and strengthen, not to debilitate and poison. In my
searches through antiquity, I have found no system which I could rest in
as complete and satisfying. They all fail in many vital points. They are
frequently childish in their requisitions and their principles; their
morality is faulty; their spirit narrow and exclusive; and more than all,
they are without authority. The principles which are to guide, control,
and exalt our nature, it seems to me, must proceed from the author of that
nature. The claim of Christianity to be a religion provided for man by the
Creator of man, is the feature in it which draws me toward it. This claim
I shall investigate and scan, with all the ability and learning I can
bring to the work. But whatever I or you may think of it, or ultimately
determine, every eye must see with what giant steps it is striding
onward--temples, religions, superstitions, and powers crumbling and
dissolving at its approach. Farewell.




Letter VIII.



The words of that Christian recluse, my Curtins, still ring in my ear. I
know not how it is, but there is a strange power in all that I have heard
from any of that sect. You remember how I was struck by the manner, the
countenance, and above all by the sentiments of Probus, the Christian whom
I encountered on his way to Carthage. A still stronger feeling possesses
me, when I hear the same things from the lips of Julia. It seems as if she
herself, and the religion she discourses of, must proceed from the same
author. She is certainly a divine work. And there is such an alliance
between her and those truths, that I am ready almost to believe that for
this reason alone they must have that very divine origin which is claimed
for them. Is there any thing in our Roman superstitions, or philosophy
even, that is at all kindred to the spirit of a perfect woman?--any thing
suited to her nature? Has it ever seemed as if woman were in any respect
the care of the gods? In this, Christianity differs from all former
religions and philosophies. It is feminine. I do not mean by that, weak or
effeminate. But in its gentleness, in the suavity of its tone, in the
humanity of its doctrines, in the deep love it breathes toward all of
human kind, in the high rank it assigns to the virtues which are
peculiarly those of woman, in these things and many others, it is
throughout for them as well as for us--almost more for them than for us.
In this feature of it, so strange and new, I see marks of a wisdom beyond
that of any human fabricator. A human inventor would scarcely have
conceived such a system; and could he have conceived it, would not have
dared to publish it. It would have been in his judgment to have wantonly
forfeited the favor of the world. The author of Christianity, with a
divine boldness, makes his perfect man, in the purity and beauty of his
character, the counterpart of a perfect woman. The virtues upon which
former teachers have chiefly dwelt, are by him almost unnoticed, and those
soft and feminine ones, which others seem to have utterly forgotten, he
has exalted to the highest place. So that, as I before said, Julia
discoursing to me of Christianity is in herself, in the exact accordance
between her mind and heart and that faith, the strongest argument I have
yet found of its truth. I do not say that I am a believer. I am not. But I
cannot say what the effect may be of a few more interviews with the hermit
of the mountain, in company with the princess. His arguments, illustrated
by her presence, will carry with them not a little force.

When, after our interview with the Christian, we had returned to the
Queen's villa, we easily persuaded ourselves that the heat of the day was
too great for us to set out, till toward the close of it, for the city. So
we agreed, in the absence of the Queen and other guests, to pass the day
after our own manner, and by ourselves. The princess proposed that we
should confine ourselves to the cool retreats near the fountain of the
Elephant, made also more agreeable to us than any other place by the
delightful hours we had sat there listening to the melodious accents of
the great Longinus. To this proposal we quickly and gladly assented. Our
garments being then made to correspond to the excessive heats of the
season, soothed by the noise of the falling waters, and fanned by slaves
who waved to and fro huge leaves of the palm tree, cut into graceful
forms, and set in gold or ivory, we resigned ourselves to that sleepy but
yet delicious state which we reach only a few times in all our lives, when
the senses are perfectly satisfied and filled, and merely to live is bliss
enough. But our luxurious ease was slightly diversified with additions and
changes no ways unwelcome. Ever and anon slaves entered, bearing trays
laden with every rare and curious confection which the art of the East
supplies, but especially with drinks cooled by snow brought from the
mountains of India. These, in the most agreeable manner, recruited our
strength when exhausted by fits of merriment, or when one had become weary
of reading or reciting a story for the amusement of the others, and the
others as weary, or more weary, by listening. It were in vain to attempt
to recall for your and Lucilia's entertainment the many pleasant things
which were both said and done on this day never to be forgotten. And
besides, perhaps, were they set down in order and sent to Rome, the spicy
flavor which gave life to them here might all exhale, and leave them flat
and dull. Suffice it therefore to say, that in our judgment many witty and
learned sayings were uttered--for the learning, that must rest upon our
declaration--for the wit, the slaves will bear witness to it, as they did
then, by their unrestrained bursts of laughter.

It was with no little reluctance that, as the last rays of the sun fell
upon the highest jet of the fountain, we heard the princess declare that
the latest hour had come, and we must fain prepare for the city. A little
time sufficed for this, and we were soon upon our horses threading the
defiles among the hills, or flying over the plains. A few hours brought
us within the gates of the city. Leaving Julia at the palace of the
Queen, we turned toward the house of Gracchus. Its lofty front soon rose
before us. As we passed into the court-yard, the first sound that greeted
me was Milo's blundering voice: 'Welcome, most noble Gallienus, welcome
again to Palmyra!'

'I am not,' said I, 'quite an emperor yet, but notwithstanding, I am glad
to be in Palmyra--more glad to be at the house of Gracchus--and glad most
of all to see Gracchus himself at home, and well'--the noble Roman--as I
shall call him--at that moment issuing from a door of the palace, and
descending at a quick pace the steps, to assist Fausta from her horse.

'We are not,' said he, 'long separated; but to those who really love, the
shortest separation is a long one, and the quickest return an occasion of
joy.' Saying so, he embraced and kissed his beautiful daughter, and
grasped cordially my hand.

'Come,' added he, 'enter and repose. Your ride has been a sharp one, as
your horses declare, and the heat is great. Let us to the banqueting-hall,
as the coolest, and there sit and rest.' So we were again soon within that
graceful apartment, where I had first sat and tasted the hospitalities of
Palmyra. The gods above were still at their feast, drinking or drunken.
Below, we sat at the open windows, and with more temperance regaled
ourselves with the cool air that came to us, richly laden with the
fragrance of surrounding flowers, and with that social converse that is
more inspiring than Falernian, or the soft Palmyrene. After talking of
other things, Gracchus addressed me saying:

'But is it not now time, Lucius, that a letter at least came from Isaac? I
have forborne to inquire, from time to time, as I would do nothing to add
to your necessary anxiety. It surely now however is right to consider the
steps next to be taken, if he shall have failed in his enterprise.'

'Isaac and Calpurnius,' I replied, 'are never absent from my thoughts, and
I have already resolved--the gods willing and favoring--that when a period
of sufficient length shall have elapsed, and the Jew does not appear,
having either perished on the way or else in the capital of the Great
King--myself to start, as I at first designed to do, upon this expedition,
and either return with my brother, or else die also in the endeavor. Seek
not, Fausta, as I perceive you are about to do, to turn me from my
purpose. It will be--it ought to be--in vain. I can consent no longer to
live thus in the very heart of life, while this cloud of uncertainty hangs
over the fate of one so near to me. Though I should depute the service of
his rescue to a thousand others, my own inactivity is insupportable, and
reproaches me like a crime.'

'I was not, as you supposed, Lucius,' replied Fausta, 'about to draw you
away from your purpose, but, on the contrary, to declare my approbation of
it. Were I Lucius, my thoughts would be, I am sure, what yours now are;
and to-morrow's sun would light me on the way to Ecbatana. Nay, father, I
would not wait a day longer. Woman though I am, I am almost ready to offer
myself a companion of our friend on this pious service.'

'I shall not,' said Gracchus, 'undertake to dissuade our friend from what
seems now to be his settled purpose. Yet still, for our sakes, for the
sake of the aged Portia, and all in Rome, I could wish--supposing Isaac
should fail--that one more attempt might be made in the same way, ere so
much is put at hazard. It needs no great penetration to see how highly
prized by Persia must be the possession of such a trophy of her prowess as
the head of the ancient house of Piso--with what jealousy his every
movement would be watched, and what danger must wait upon any attempt at
his deliverance. Moreover, while a mere hireling might, if detected, have
one chance among a thousand of pardon and escape, even that were wanting
to you. Another Piso would be either another footstool of the Persian
despot, while life should last, or else he would swing upon a Persian
gibbet, and so would perish the last of a noble name.'

'I cannot deny that reason is on your side,' I said, in reply to this
strong case of Gracchus, 'but feeling is on mine, and the contest is never
an equal one. Feeling is, perhaps, the essence of reason, of which no
account need or can be given, and ought to prevail. But however this may
be, I feel that I am right, and so I must act.'

'But let us now think of nothing else,' said Fausta, 'than that before
another day is ended, we shall get intelligence of Isaac. Have you,
Lucius, inquired, since your return, of Demetrius?'

'Milo is now absent on that very errand,' I replied, 'and here he is,
giving no signs of success.'

Milo at the same moment entered the hall, and stated that Demetrius was
himself absent from the city, but was every moment expected, and it was
known that he had been seeking anxiously--the preceding day--for me. While
Milo was yet speaking, a messenger was announced, inquiring for me, and
before I could reach the extremity of the apartment, Demetrius himself
entered the room in haste, brandishing in his hand a letter, which he knew
well to be from Isaac.

''Tis his own hand,' said he, 'The form of his letters is not to be
mistaken. Not even the hand of Demetrius can cut with more grace the Greek
character. Observe, Roman, the fashion of his touch. Isaac would have
guided a rare hand at the graving tool. But these Jews shun the nicer
arts. They are a strange people.'

'Quickly,' said I, interrupting the voluble Greek, 'as you love the gods,
deliver to me the letter! By and by we will discourse of these
things'--and seizing the epistle, I ran with it to another apartment,
first to devour it myself.

I cannot tell you, dear friends, with what eagerness I drank in the
contents of the letter, and with what ecstasy of joy I leaped and shouted
at the news it brought. In one word, my brother lives, and it is possible
that before this epistle to you shall be finished, he himself will sit at
my side. But to put you in possession of the whole case, I shall
transcribe for you the chief parts of Isaac's careful and minute account,
preserving for your amusement much of what in no way whatever relates to
the affair in hand, and is useful only as it will present a sort of
picture of one of this strange tribe. As soon as I had filled myself with
its transporting contents, I hastened to the hall where I had left Fausta
and Gracchus, to whom--Demetrius having in the mean time taken his
departure--I quickly communicated its intelligence, and received their
hearty congratulations, and then read it to them very much as I now
transcribe it for you. You will now acknowledge my obligations to this
kind-hearted Jew, and will devoutly bless the gods for my accidental
encounter with him on board the Mediterranean trader. Here now is the
letter itself.

ISAAC, _the Son of Isaac of Rome, to the most noble_ L. MANLIUS Piso,
_at Palmyra_:

That I am alive, Roman, after the perils of my journey, and the worse
perils of this Pagan city, can be ascribed to nothing else than the
protecting arm of the God of our nation. It is new evidence to me, that
somewhat is yet to be achieved by my ministry, for the good of my
country. That I am here in this remote and benighted region, that I
should have adventured hither in the service of a Roman to save one Roman
life, when, were the power mine, I would cut off every Roman life, from
the babe at the breast to the silver head, and lay waste the kingdom of
the great Mother of Iniquity with fire and sword, is to me a thing so
wonderful, that I refer it all to the pleasure of that Power, who orders
events according to a plan and wisdom impenetrable by us. Think not,
Roman, that I have journeyed so far for the sake of thy two talents of
gold--though that is considerable. And the mention of this draws my mind
to a matter, overlooked in the stipulations entered into between thee and
me, at my dwelling in Palmyra. Singular, that so weighty a part of that
transaction should have been taken no note of! Now I must trust it wholly
to thee, Piso, and feel that I may safely do so. In case of my death, the
double of the recompense agreed upon was to be paid, in accordance with
directions left. But what was to be done in case of thy death? Why, most
thoughtful Isaac--most prudent of men--for this thou didst make no
provision! And yet may not Piso die; as well as Isaac? Has a Roman more
lives than a Jew? Nay, how know I but thou art now dead, and no one
living to do me justice? See to this, excellent Roman. Thou wouldst not
have me go unrequited for all this hazard and toil. Let thy heirs be
bound, by sure and legal instruments, to make good to me all thou hast
bound thyself to pay. Do this, and thy gods and my God prosper thee!
Forget it not. Let it be done as soon as these words are read. Demetrius
will show thee one who will draw up a writing in agreement with both the
Palmyrene and Roman Law. Unheard of heedlessness! But this I thought not
about till I took my pen to write.

What was I saying?--that I came not for thy gold--that is, not for that
solely or chiefly. For what, and why, then? Because, as I have hinted, I
felt myself driven by an invisible power to this enterprise. I wait with,
patience to know what its issue is to be.

Now let me inform thee of my journey and my doings. But first, in one
brief word, let me relieve thy impatience by saying, I think thy brother
is to be rescued! No more of this at present, but all in order. When I
parted from thee that night, I had hardly formed my plan, though my mind,
quick in all its workings, did suddenly conceive one way in which it
appeared possible to me to compass the desired object. Perhaps you will
deem it a piece of rashness rather than of courage so quickly to undertake
your affair, I should call it so too, did I not also catch dimly in the
depth of the Heavens the form of the finger of God. This thou wilt not and
canst not understand. It is beyond thee. Is it not so? But, Roman, I trust
the day is to come when by my mouth, if not by another's, thou shalt hear
enough to understand that truth is to be found no where but in Moses.
Avoid Probus. I fear me he is already in Palmyra. There is more cunning in
him than is good. With that deep face and serene air he deceives many. All
I say is, shun him. To be a Roman unbeliever is better than to be a
Christian heretic. But to my journey.

The morning after I parted from thee saw me issuing at an early hour from
the Persian Gate, and with my single Ethiopian slave bearing toward the
desert, I took with me but a light bale of merchandise, that I might not
burden my good dromedary. Than mine, there is not a fleeter in the whole
East. One nearly as good, and at a huge price, did I purchase for my
slave. 'T was too suddenly bought to be cheaply bought. But I was not
cozened. It proved a rare animal. I think there lives not the man in
Palmyra or Damascus who could blind Isaac. I determined to travel at the
greatest speed we and our beasts could bear, so we avoided as far as we
could the heats of day, and rode by night. The first day being through the
peopled regions of the Queen's dominions, and through a cultivated
country, we travelled at our ease; and not unfrequently at such places as
I saw promised well, did we stop, and while our good beasts regaled
themselves upon the rich herbage or richer grain, trafficked. In this
surely I erred not. For losing, as I have done by this distant and
unwonted route, the trade of Ctesiphon, 't was just, was it not, that to
the extent possible, without great obstruction thrown in the way of your
affairs, I should repair the evil of that loss? Truth to speak, it was
only because my eye foresaw some such profitings on the way, that I made
myself contented with but two gold talents of Jerusalem. Two days were
passed thus, and on the third we entered upon a barren region--barren as
where the prophet found no food but such as birds from Heaven brought him.
But why speak of this to thee? O, that thou wouldst but once only once,
sit at the feet of that man of God, Simon Ben Gorah! Solomon was not more
wise. His words are arrows with two heads from a golden bow. His reasons
weigh as the mountains of Lebanon. They break and crush all on whom they
fall. Would, Roman, they might sometime fall on thee! The third day we
were on this barren region, and the next fairly upon the desert. Now did
we reap the benefit of our good beasts. The heat was like that of the
furnace of Nebuchadnezzar, out of which the three children, Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego came, through the power of God, unscorched. And
moreover, they were soon put to an unwonted and unlooked for burden, and
in such a manner as, to thy wonder, I shall relate.

It was a day the air of which was like the air of that
furnace--burning--burning hot. Death was written upon the whole face of
the visible earth. Where leaves had been, there were none now, or they
crumbled into ashes as the hand touched them. The atmosphere, when moved
by the wind, brought not, as it is used to do, a greater coolness, but a
fiercer heat. It was full of flickering waves that danced up and down with
a quivering motion, and dazzled and blinded the eye that looked upon them.
And the sand was not like that which for the most part is met with on that
desert stretching from the Mediterranean to Palmyra, and of which thou
hast had some experience--heavy, and hard, and seamed with cracks--but
fine, and light, and raised into clouds by every breath of wind, and
driven into the skin like points of needles. When the wind, as frequently
it did, blew with violence, we could only stop and bury our faces in our
garments, our poor beasts crying out with pain. It was on such a day,
having, because there was no place of rest, been obliged to endure all the
noonday heat, that, when the sun was at the highest and we looked eagerly
every way for even a dry and leafless bush that we might crouch down
beneath its shade, we saw at a distance before us the tall trunk of a
cedar, bleached to ivory, and twinkling like a pharos under the hot rays.
We slowly approached it, Hadad, my Ethiopian, knowing it as one of the
pillars of the desert.

'There it has stood and shone a thousand years,' said he; 'and but for
such marks, who could cross these seas of sand, where your foot-mark is
lost, as soon as made?' After a few moments' pause, he again exclaimed:
'And by the beard of holy Abraham! a living human being sits at the
root--or else mayhap my eyes deceive me, and I see only the twisted roots
of the tree.'

''T is too far for my eyes to discern aught but the blasted trunk. No
living creature can dwell here. 'T is the region of death only.'

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