BOOK THE FOURTH
Chapter I
REFLECTIONS ON THE ZEAL OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. TWO MEN COME TO A PERILOUS
RESOLVE. WALLS HAVE EARS, PARTICULARLY SACRED WALLS.
WHOEVER regards the early history of Christianity, will perceive how
necessary to its triumph was that fierce spirit of zeal, which, fearing no
danger, accepting no compromise, inspired its champions and sustained its
martyrs. In a dominant Church the genius of intolerance betrays its
cause--in a weak and persecuted Church, the same genius mainly supports. It
was necessary to scorn, to loathe, to abhor the creeds of other men, in
order to conquer the temptations which they presented--it was necessary
rigidly to believe not only that the Gospel was the true faith, but the sole
true faith that saved, in order to nerve the disciple to the austerity of
its doctrine, and to encourage him to the sacred and perilous chivalry of
converting the Polytheist and the Heathen. The sectarian sternness which
confined virtue and heaven to a chosen few, which saw demons in other gods,
and the penalties of hell in other religions--made the believer naturally
anxious to convert all to whom he felt the ties of human affection; and the
circle thus traced by benevolence to man was yet more widened by a desire
for the glory of God. It was for the honour of the Christian faith that the
Christian boldly forced its tenets upon the scepticism of some, the
repugnance of others, the sage contempt of the philosopher, the pious
shudder of the people--his very intolerance supplied him with his fittest
instruments of success; and the soft Heathen began at last to imagine there
must indeed be something holy in a zeal wholly foreign to his experience,
which stopped at no obstacle, dreaded no danger, and even at the torture, or
on the scaffold, referred a dispute far other than the calm differences of
speculative philosophy to the tribunal of an Eternal Judge. It was thus
that the same fervor which made the Churchman of the middle age a bigot
without mercy, made the Christian of the early days a hero without fear.
Of these more fiery, daring, and earnest natures, not the least ardent was
Olinthus. No sooner had Apaecides been received by the rites of baptism
into the bosom of the Church, than the Nazarene hastened to make him
conscious of the impossibility to retain the office and robes of priesthood.
He could not, it was evident, profess to worship God, and continue even
outwardly to honour the idolatrous altars of the Fiend.
Nor was this all, the sanguine and impetuous mind of Olinthus beheld in the
power of Apaecides the means of divulging to the deluded people the juggling
mysteries of the oracular Isis. He thought Heaven had sent this instrument
of his design in order to disabuse the eyes of the crowd, and prepare the
way, perchance, for the conversion of a whole city. He did not hesitate
then to appeal to all the new-kindled enthusiasm of Apaecides, to arouse his
courage, and to stimulate his zeal. They met, according to previous
agreement, the evening after the baptism of Apaecides, in the grove of
Cybele, which we have before described.
'At the next solemn consultation of the oracle,' said Olinthus, as he
proceeded in the warmth of his address, 'advance yourself to the railing,
proclaim aloud to the people the deception they endure, invite them to
enter, to be themselves the witness of the gross but artful mechanism of
imposture thou hast described to me. Fear not--the Lord, who protected
Daniel, shall protect thee; we, the community of Christians, will be amongst
the crowd; we will urge on the shrinking: and in the first flush of the
popular indignation and shame, I myself, upon those very altars, will plant
the palm-branch typical of the Gospel--and to my tongue shall descend the
rushing Spirit of the living God.'
Heated and excited as he was, this suggestion was not unpleasing to
Apaecides. He was rejoiced at so early an opportunity of distinguishing his
faith in his new sect, and to his holier feelings were added those of a
vindictive loathing at the imposition he had himself suffered, and a desire
to avenge it. In that sanguine and elastic overbound of obstacles (the
rashness necessary to all who undertake venturous and lofty actions),
neither Olinthus nor the proselyte perceived the impediments to the success
of their scheme, which might be found in the reverent superstition of the
people themselves, who would probably be loth, before the sacred altars of
the great Egyptian goddess, to believe even the testimony of her priest
against her power.
Apaecides then assented to this proposal with a readiness which delighted
Olinthus. They parted with the understanding that Olinthus should confer
with the more important of his Christian brethren on his great enterprise,
should receive their advice and the assurances of their support on the
eventful day. It so chanced that one of the festivals of Isis was to be
held on the second day after this conference. The festival proffered a
ready occasion for the design. They appointed to meet once more on the next
evening at the same spot; and in that meeting were finally to be settled the
order and details of the disclosure for the following day.
It happened that the latter part of this conference had been held near the
sacellum, or small chapel, which I have described in the early part of this
work; and so soon as the forms of the Christian and the priest had
disappeared from the grove, a dark and ungainly figure emerged from behind
the chapel.
'I have tracked you with some effect, my brother flamen,' soliloquised the
eavesdropper; 'you, the priest of Isis, have not for mere idle discussion
conferred with this gloomy Christian. Alas! that I could not hear all your
precious plot: enough! I find, at least, that you meditate revealing the
sacred mysteries, and that to-morrow you meet again at this place to plan
the how and the when. May Osiris sharpen my ears then, to detect the whole
of your unheard-of audacity! When I have learned more, I must confer at
once with Arbaces. We will frustrate you, my friends, deep as you think
yourselves. At present, my breast is a locked treasury of your secret.'
Thus muttering, Calenus, for it was he, wrapped his robe round him, and
strode thoughtfully homeward.
