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<h2> BOOK THE FOURTH </h2>
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<h2> Chapter I </h2>
<p>REFLECTIONS ON THE ZEAL OF THE EARLY CHRISTIANS. TWO MEN COME TO A
PERILOUS RESOLVE. WALLS HAVE EARS, PARTICULARLY SACRED WALLS.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>'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.'</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>'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.'</p>
<p>Thus muttering, Calenus, for it was he, wrapped his robe round him, and
strode thoughtfully homeward.</p>
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