CHAPTER SIX.
A DEBATE.
At length, one evening, the whole of the pontiffs of the sacred collegewere assembled, and it was evident from their manner that a matter ofmore than usual importance was to be brought forward. The gods beinginvoked, and the usual forms hurried over, Coecus, who acted aspresident, rose.
"Friends and brother pontiffs," he began, "disastrous news has reachedme. You well know that the emperor has long been favourable to theChristians. He has now openly declared himself a convert to theirfaith. His motive it is easy to perceive: he considers that theChristians throughout the empire already outnumber the followers of theancient faith; and perchance he hopes to obtain pardon from the God ofthe Christians for the murder of his son, the hapless Crispus, of hiswife, the traduced Fausta, of his nephew, and brother-in-law, Licinius,and the many others his jealousy has doomed to death. Be that as itmay, his acts show enmity to the ancient faith; he has already in theEast destroyed numerous temples of the gods, and prohibited thecelebration of many of those august mysteries which have existed fromtime immemorial. Holding, as he does, the office of Pontifex Maximus,putting us and our holy college on one side, he has taken upon himselfthe right to raise the ministers of the Christians to high ranks anddignities, and has issued edicts accordingly, so that from henceforththose men whom we have hitherto looked down upon will, claiming theauthority of the emperor, vaunt it over us; and, what is of moreconsequence, will obtain the revenues which have hitherto flowed intoour coffers; while we, neglected and degraded, must sink intoinsignificance. Are we, I ask, my friends, tamely to submit to suchtreatment? Are no means to be found to arrest the progress of thispestiferous religion, which so many of wealth and rank are eagerlyembracing, and which, now it has become fashionable at court, will stillfurther increase? Can no one suggest a scheme by which we may retainour office, and still, as of yore, govern the minds of the multitude?Unless some plan can be devised, I warn you all that our course is run,and penury and neglect must be our lot."
Silence followed the address of Coecus--a groan alone now and thenescaping from the bosoms of the pontiffs; for they had not watched therapid increase of the Christian faith among all ranks without beingconscious that the system which they supported was tottering to itsbase. At length, one by one, they broke silence; but their proposalswere treated as vain and useless by the sagacious Coecus.
"We have but one resource, my friends," he answered; "far from givingway to despair, I feel confident that it will succeed, if carried outwith due wisdom and secrecy. But we must be united, and by formingstrict rules for our guidance, we shall still retain our power andinfluence, and govern the minds, not only of the people of Rome, but ofthose of the nations subject to her. We ourselves must becomeChristians! Some few may doubt our conversion, but the great mass willgladly welcome us, and continue to pay us the honour we have hithertoreceived. I say not this till after profound reflection. Our sacredcollege will still exist, and by the exertion of our influence, we shallobtain the appointment of the bishops and presbyters of the Christians,chosen either from our own body or from among such men as we shall findready to support us. We shall have but to change the names of the gods.Already have many of the Christians begun to worship those whom theyesteem holy or who were put to death in the times of Nero, Diocletian,and other emperors. Their folly will greatly facilitate our object, andit will matter little to us under what names the immortal gods areworshipped. We may, by proper caution, induce them to adore our owngreat goddess, the Queen of Heaven,--she who has been, shall be, andwhose mysterious existence none among mortals can comprehend. Be itknown to you, my friends, that He whom these Nazarenes worship, theProphet of Nazareth, was, they say, born of a woman; and surely, as theyadore Him, so may they easily be induced to adore His mother; and itappears to me that they can be led away from the worship they pay toHim, to offer it to one whom we would present to them in the place ofthat human mother. Thus shall we by degrees wean them from the faiththey now hold,--if we cannot openly oppose the progress of this newreligion, we can corrupt it,--and if the gods and goddesses of ancientRome are overthrown, we can place other objects of worship in theirstead, or re-name them, rather, from the persons whom the Christians arewont to regard with respect. Those who have been taught to worship adead Caesar will as willingly fall down before the statue of a womanwhom they consider a saint; thus it will give us but little trouble tochange the religious observances and ceremonies to which the people havebeen accustomed to suit the new religion. Let us not, then, give way todespair: Rome will continue, as of yore, faithful to the worship of theancient gods, and we, their priests, shall retain our power andinfluence."
The scheme proposed by Coecus met with general approbation. Jovinianhad retained his seat, his eyes fixed on his manuscript, but attentivelylistening to all that was uttered. The words he heard, "If we cannotovercome, we can corrupt," especially struck his ear; he was too wellacquainted with the errors which had crept in among the assemblies ofthe Christians not to be sensible that even those who held the faithmight be led astray: how much more easily might the ignorant idolatersbe led to worship any objects presented to them! As he sat motionlessin his place of concealment, yet more of the scheme was revealed; thecharacters of the very persons who were to be made its instruments werediscussed. A feeling of horror and dismay crept over him. Could he byany means be enabled to counteract it? He resolved to take counsel ofhis aged friend, Gentianus. So strictly had he hitherto been watchedthat he knew full well the difficulties to be encountered in making hisescape; should his uncle Gaius discover that he had been present hewould guard him still more closely. He dared not move lest he might beseen; at present he was concealed from the assembled pontiffs by apillar, but the slightest movement might betray him. At length theconclave broke up, and drawing their togas around them, the pontiffsretired. Jovinian, trembling at the thought of the dark scheme he haddiscovered, made his way back to his room. Helpless as he was, he feltunable to do anything to counteract the plans of the conspirators, yetit was at all events his duty to make them known to the leadingChristians of Rome; but whom among them could he trust besides Amulius,and Gentianus and his family? The first, though a presbyter, and afaithful and earnest man, might not have the courage to denounce aperson of power and influence like the pontiff Coecus, supported as hewas not only by the members of his college, but by all the wealthyphilosophers and idolaters in Rome. Amulius might even doubt theaccuracy of his statements; Gentianus was far more likely to believethem, could he manage to communicate with him. Should, however, Gaiussuspect that he had been present at the conference, he would be kept afar closer prisoner than before. Was Eros to be trusted? He could nothave failed to discover that Jovinian had been absent from his room,--hemight have informed Gaius of the fact. Though Eros had professed to bedeeply interested in what he had heard at the assembly of theChristians, it was doubtful whether he had been really converted; evenif he were so, the dread of the consequences to himself should hiscaptive regain his liberty, might prevent him from conniving at hisescape. Jovinian, therefore, felt it would be prudent not to trust him;and, eager as he was to get away, he endeavoured to appear reconciled tohis lot. From principle as well as from disposition, anything likeduplicity was especially hateful to him, but he was driven to practiseit, as affording him the only prospect of escaping from the thraldom inwhich he was held. Gaius appeared to be completely deceived; he spokemore openly to his nephew than he had hitherto done, though at the sametime he was too wary not to keep the same strict watch over him as atfirst. He now frequently took him out when he went abroad to visit thetemples to give directions to the flamens and to advise them how tocomport themselves in the perilous circumstances in which they wereplaced. One and all were alarmed at the information which constantlyreached them of the emperor's opposition to the ancient faith, and thesupport and patronage he afforded the Christians. Already numerousconversions had taken place among the patricians, as well as
amongpersons of inferior rank; whole families who had hitherto appeared to bestaunch idolaters now professed themselves Christians. They not onlymet together openly for worship in several parts of the city, but hadalready begun to erect several churches; while money contributed by thefaithful for the support of widows and orphans and others in distressflowed into the coffers of their bishop. Wherever Gaius went theflamens met him with sad countenances; though after he had heldconversation with them in private, they generally appeared to becomemore cheerful.
He was one day paying a domiciliary visit to the temple of Apollo,having entered by the door sacred to the flamens in the rear of theedifice. Gaius had a long conversation with the chief flamen whileJovinian was allowed to amuse himself with looking over some ancientmanuscripts kept in a chest in the room in which they were sitting. Theflamen listened attentively to the remarks of his superior.
"By the Immortals, we need not despair, Coecus guiding us!" heexclaimed; "whatever he proposes, he may depend on our carrying out tothe letter."
"Then listen, Flaccus," said Gaius; "we can no longer hide from thepeople the progress made by the new faith, or that it is patronised bythe emperor; but we may persuade them that the gods are grieved at theabandonment of their ancient worship; or should a pestilence occur, oran earthquake, or a storm of unusual violence, we may easily make thembelieve that the infliction has been sent as a punishment for theirinfidelity. Would that such would occur! it would help us greatly inour object. In the meantime, we can employ such means as are at ourdisposal. It would be well if we could make all the statues of the godsin Rome weep together, or roll their eyes, or groan in concert."
"The thought is a bright one," answered Flaccus; "by means ofarrangements in the interior of our statue we can reach the head, andthrough the two small holes in the corners of the eyes press forth froma sponge a rivulet of water, if we so wish. I will then, from beforethe altar, announce the cause of the great Apollo's grief, and urge hisvotaries to renewed devotion, and to withstand the pernicious teachingsof the Christians."
"The temple is already well filled, and the sooner we play the--I mean,the sooner the miracle is performed the better, for delays aredangerous," said Gaius.
"We might perform it at once," answered Flaccus; "but we require a boyof small size who can climb up into the head of the statue; and my ownson, whom I can trust, is sick at home. The youth yonder, however,though somewhat big, might manage to climb up without much difficulty."As he spoke he looked towards Jovinian. "You can confide in him that hewill not betray us?"
"I am not certain on that point," answered Gaius; and calling to hisnephew he desired him to swear that he would not reveal what he wasabout to communicate.
"If lawful, I am ready to do whatever you desire," answered Jovinian.
"Can it be otherwise, foolish boy, when I wish it?" exclaimed Gaius."Know you not that I have the power to force you to do whatever I mayrequire?"
"I will, at all events, promise not to repeat whatever you may think fitto say to me," said Jovinian.
"I wish you, then, simply to play off a trick upon the ignorant peoplecollected in the temple," said Gaius. "See here: all you have to do isto climb into the head of the statue through the trap which the flamenLicinius Flaccus will show you, and to press a sponge into the hollowsof the eyes till you have emptied the amphora which you will take upwith you. Be not startled if you hear some deep groans close to yourears; they will be uttered by the flamens, and will serve to give moreeffect to the flowing of the tears."
"Pardon me, but I cannot take part in such a device," answered Jovinian."I have given my promise not to repeat what you have told me; but obeyyou in this matter I cannot."
Gaius, whose aim was to gain the affections of his nephew, restrainedhis rising anger, and turning to the flamen, observed, "You must findsome other boy of smaller size, for my nephew is, I suspect, too bigproperly to perform the task."
"I am unwilling to lose this opportunity of working on the minds of thepeople," answered Flaccus; "I will, therefore, send for my son, or someother boy who can be trusted."
He immediately went out. While he was absent, Gaius lectured hisnephew; but Jovinian was firm, and even ventured to expostulate on thesubject with Gaius, who, however, only laughed at him for his folly, ashe called it. In a short time the flamen returned, bringing a short andslight lad, who was directed what to do. Two of the flamens remainedbehind, while the rest entered the temple. The boy was led to atrap-door at the back of the altar, while two flamens mounted to agallery level with the head of the statue. Presently groans were heard,so deep and mournful that it seemed scarcely possible they could beuttered by a human being, while cries and shouts arose from the temple,and the words which reached Jovinian's ears were, "The great god isweeping! Apollo mourns! Woe, woe to Rome!"
He was thankful when at length Gaius, taking his hand, led him from thetemple. On their way through the streets they heard people talking ofthe wonderful miracle which had just been witnessed in the temple ofApollo.
"The god sheds tears at the thoughts of being driven ignominiously fromthe city where he has so long dwelt!" exclaimed some. "Did you hear howhe groaned? Fearful! What will next happen? It is a wonder the greatJove and all the gods did not descend from their pedestals and drivethese Nazarene infidels into the Tiber."
"It would be a worthy deed, and well-pleasing to the Immortals, if you,who carry weapons, were to attack the wretches, and treat them as theydeserve," whispered Gaius to the crowd of idolaters among whom he wasmaking his way. Just then a line of twelve lictors appeared carryingthe fasces, making way for one of the consuls, who walked along withdignified pace on some official business.
"Silly people!" he remarked, as he heard the exclamations of the crowd;"you will, ere long, see the statues of the Nazarene saints weeping ifyou obstinately refuse to follow the faith our august emperor hasadopted."
He smiled as he saluted Gaius, and their eyes met; but the presence ofthe lictors restrained them, and they separated, going towards theirrespective homes. Gaius did not speak a word to Jovinian till theyreached the college. "Go to your room: I will follow you there," saidthe pontiff to his nephew, in a sterner tone than he was wont to use.Jovinian was prepared for a severe lecture. He prayed that he mighthave grace to act consistently with his profession. In a short timeGaius appeared, and having ordered Eros, who was at his post, to retire,he threw himself on the couch by the table on which Jovinian's bookswere placed.
"Of what folly have you been guilty!" he exclaimed; "what induced you torefuse to take part in a harmless deceit, such as has been frequentlypractised on occasions of necessity, when it has been important toawaken the slumbering faith of the votaries of the gods? Know you notthat it is one of our chief maxims that deceit of any sort is lawfulwhen the result is likely to prove beneficial, and that evil may be doneprovided a good object is to be attained? You have been miserablytaught if you do not understand this."
"According to the precepts of the faith I hold, no deception can bepractised and no evil done without offending a pure and a holy God, wholooks upon all deceit as sinful, and cannot sanction the slightestapproach to sin," answered Jovinian, boldly. "I could not, withoutoffending Him whom I serve, have assisted in the imposture practised onthe ignorant multitude. I promised not to speak of what I heard, or Iwould tell the people of the trick played upon them, and thus win themto the worship of the one true God."
"What is this I hear?" exclaimed Gaius; "I had hopes that you had beenweaned from your folly, and would have been ready to follow the career Ihave marked out for you. Should I disown you and turn you out into theworld, by what means can you support your miserable existence?"
"The Lord I desire to serve cares for those who love Him," answeredJovinian, without hesitation. "I have no fear of what man can do to me.I speak with no disrespect to you, my uncle--I am ready to obey you inall things lawful."
"You are a foolish and obstinate boy," exclaimed Gaius. "
I will,however, give you a further trial. Only do as I desire, and you mayretain your Christian faith; but if you thwart my plans, I must usesterner measures than I have hitherto adopted. Perhaps ere long youwill discover that I am not so much opposed to the faith of theNazarenes as you now fancy."
Gains rose, and leaving Jovinian to reflect on what he had said,returned to the hall, where the other pontiffs were assembled to discussthe subject which now occupied all their thoughts.