around me, my attention was suddenly fixed by the novelty of the conversation of two of them. They supposed me asleep, and freely spoke of the assemblies of those fanatics whom we call Christians, which, it seems, they had frequently found opportunities of attending. They were recapitulating the substance of what they had, the night before, heard from the lips of a teacher of the new sect. They spoke of the one God, the Creator of all things, a holy, just, all-wise, allpowerful Being, who had made man holy like himself; of the way in which man became unholy, disobedient; of the strange mode of rescue provided in order to restore him to his Creator's favour again,-nothing less than the sacrifice in his stead of one whom they called the Son of God. The earnestness with which they spoke touched me; for tears were on their cheeks as they pronounced the name Jesus. My curiosity was awakened; I told them that I had overheard their discourse, and constrained them to relate many more things to me in regard to this new doctrine. There was a strange fascination about it, which seemed irresistible. It appealed to my heart as well as to my head, and to my inward consciousness as no other philosophy had ever done. Again and again did they repeat to me, at my command, what they had learned, until, my interest becoming more aroused, I was induced to go disguised and sit as a listener at some of their assemblies."

"Thou!" exclaimed Antonius, starting up from the attitude of attention he had assumed: "thou, frequent with slaves and plebeians these treasonous meetings of the Nazarenes. My proud Julia thus lower her patrician blood! Away with it! Thou wert disgusted, I hope, and hast no inkling now after the levelling fanaticism."

"No, Antonius, I was not disgusted; never, never saw I anything so noble as the solemn, earnest, rapt manner of the gray-haired teacher, or heard I anything so imposing in its persuasive eloquence, as the words that fell from his lips. Our Seneca himself never gave utterance to a philosophy purer or more reasonable.".

"And how comes it," interrupted Antonius, *that this astonishing eloquence has lain hid in this obscurity? This is not wont to be the case with true merit; and it seems thy orator has lived to hoary hairs. But I forget; thou art no frequenter of the forum, and how shouldst thou know what eloquence is?"

"But thou hast taught me the art of reasoning, Antonius, and I could not detect any sophistry in the discourse of the old man."

magnificent city looked still more gorgeous in its holiday array. The porticoes were filled with groups of earnest talkers,-white-bearded senators and dignified patricians; the streets were lined with a noisy multitude,-young boys, who had not yet donned the toga virilis, priests in their robes of office, gambolling children, slaves hurry ing hither and thither laden with delicacies for the supper of many a disciple of Apicius. The public gardens were filled with revellers; the statues were hung with garlands of flowers; the air rang with the sound of musical instruments. Here a group was gathered round a gamingtable, there another was watching some diceplayers who sat upon the broad marble edge of a fountain; here a knot pressed round a band of Grecian dancing girls, there, some Roscius was calling forth peals of applause from his noisy auditors. The magnificent baths were emptying forth their voluptuous loungers, who, amid an atmosphere heavy with sweet perfumes, reclining upon silver seats inlaid with ivory and cushioned with the damask of Oriental looms, and beneath vaulted ceilings, rich in all the gorgeousness which Roman architects could devise, had been atoning for the exertion of the previous part of the day.

Rome was endeavouring to forget that its young Emperor, whose seeming humanity had, at his first accession to the throne, raised the hopes of the people so high, was likely to prove himself another Caligula. Great had been the rejoicing when to his stepfather, whose imbecility had rendered him successively the tool of his two most infamous wives, succeeded the apparently amiable and gentle youth, Nero. But his evil propensities were only lying dormant; and as soon as a theatre vast enough for their exercise presented itself, they were brought into full play. Accustomed as the Romans were to witness acts of barbarity in their Emperors, when the inhuman and unnatural son became the murderer of his mother, cruel and hated as she was, a thrill of horror ran through the public heart, and men trembled for the future which the parricidal deed presaged.

But the delight which Nero took in pleasures of a refining and softening nature, still held out a promise which the most desponding were fain to grasp. The apartments of the imperial palace echoed to the tones of his lyre; and when he showed himself in public, acting as his own charioteer,- -as was his constant custom,-his delicate and almost girlish appearance aroused the enthusiasm of the multitude, and made them forget what was past.

The sun was still some hours high, as Antonius sauntered up and down a lofty and cool arcade, arm and arm with a friend with whom he was in earnest conversation. A sudden movement among the crowd that jostled through the thronged ways, and oft-repeated cries of "The Emperor!

the Emperor!" induced him to advance forward in order that he might see the cause of the excitement. At that moment, the imperial chariot,

There was horror depicted on the faces of the crowd, that closed together after the passing of the imperial chariot as the waves close behind the ploughing keel, but no execrations were uttered. Silence suddenly fell upon the hitherto noisy multitude; the spirit of festivity was interrupted, and men retired to their homes to brood unseen over the outrage that they had witnessed. A more than usual quiet succeeded the festive day; and as the twilight deepened into darkness, Julia summoned into her private apartment her two most confidential servants.

"Think you there will be no risk, Glaucus, in my going with you to-night?" said she, turning to the freedman who had first entered.

"My mistress need fear none," he replied. "The Via Servia is so retired, that it is almost empty at night."

The speaker had drunk largely of the spirit of Paul, the Apostle of the Gentiles, whose companion he had been in some of his sufferings and persecutions, and whose place he had assumed as teacher to the disciples in Rome, since the aged veteran himself was no longer able, by reason of the rigour of his imprisonment and chains, to teach "in his own hired house all that came unto him."

Glaucus withdrew, and the female slave began at once to loosen from the head of her mistress, the jewelled fillet that circled it, letting fall as she did so, a luxuriant mass of rich hair upon the fair shoulders from which the upper dress had been thrown aside.

The fire with which Julia's dark eyes had once gleamed was tempered now to an unwonted softness; the pride that had lurked formerly about the lines of her finely-cut lips seemed all gone; the consciousness of her beauty's power no longer betrayed itself. The maiden's spirit was undergoing a marvellous change;-it was no wonder that Antonius had of late remarked it.

Marcia proceeded to unclasp the sparkling armlets and necklace, and to unbind the rich zone about the slender waist of her young mistress. All marks of rank were carefully laid aside; and when Glaucus appeared, according to her command, she followed him beneath the carved archways and over the tessellated pavements of magnificent apartments, with as heavily a sandalled foot, and a dress in no respect different from that of the female slave beside her. They passed through a group of unquestioning servants in the inner court below, and threaded the mazes of the garden, until they reached a door in the high wall, through which they passed to a private street beyond. They hurried rapidly along, and were soon before a low-browed passage, which they entered. The ascent of several stairways brought them to a small apartment, partially filled by persons in the same plebeian | garb as themselves. It was an assembly of Christians, met in "an upper chamber" for prayer. Julia knelt with the lowliest; she had been there often before, and had not listened in vain to the instructions of the aged teacher-she had learned humility. She hung with an intensity of interest, such as she had never known before, upon the prayer that was poured forth

In a moment more the door was thrown open, and two men entered, bearing between them a dead body. The females present shrank back with terror as they carried it past them, and laid it down in an open space in the centre of the chamber, where, having laid aside the covering of the face, they revealed the well-known features of an aged disciple who had often sat in their midst; the old man who had, but a few hours before, perished under the wheels of the imperial chariot. The mangled corpse had been thrown aside hastily by the attendant guard, and it had not been known to the Christians that any of their number had been the victim, until accident discovered it to two of them, who had sought out the body, disrobed it of the bloody clothes, wrapped it for the grave, and now bore it to the place where they knew the brethren were assembled, that fitting obsequies might be performed before they should consign it to its humble tomb. Few present had heard anything of the transaction of the afternoon; no word of it had reached Julia's ear, and she listened with a thrill of horror to the recital. And when the narrator proceeded to say that the noble youth who had attempted to rescue the blind old man was Antonius Severus, Julia heard no more; the idea that he too had been crushed beneath the chariot-wheels drove the blood with one bound back to her heart, and she sank swooning to the floor.

Her attendants speedily bore her away; and when with returning consciousness she was assured of her groundless fears regarding Antonius, she was able, though still pale with agitation, to return to her home. The sudden apparition of the ghastly face of the dead man had startled her most painfully, for she had a womanly dread of such sights, unbefitting her Roman blood, which had often been the jest of her young companions when compelled by them to be present at the gladiatorial spectacles.

She ascended to her chamber-one of the lof

tiest apartments of the house and was surprised to find it flooded with a ruddy glare of light. She parted the heavy drapery that fell over the window, and the glow of flames in severel directions, met her eye. At first she thought them only the bonfires which were closing the day of festival; but as she gazed, tongues of flame mounted high into the air, and a confused and tumultuous swell of voices came borne by the night-wind to her ear. The conflagration was evidently spreading rapidly, and filled with alarm, Julia flew along the passages to the supper room, where she knew she would still find her father over his Falernian. Just as she reached the door, it was opened by Antonius, who came out, and hastily closing it behind him, advanced to meet her. As he did so, his eye fell upon her disturbed face and menial dress, which the bronze lamp suspended from the ceiling overhead, revealed. He gently put her from himn again, and holding her at arm'slength, keenly surveyed her.

"Not cured yet of your liking for the fanatical Nazarenes!" he said reproachfully, as his hand still grasped her arm; "this will not do, Julia; you strangely forget your rank and dignity. If my expressed desire is not sufficient to deter you from exposing yourself in the public thoroughfares after night with no protection but that of slaves, for the sake, too, of attending unlawful assemblies, it would be well to ask yourself if it is no compromise of female propriety."

Julia shook off the hand that still held her arm, and drew her fine figure to its full height, until, even in her disguise, she looked queenly.

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furniture went groaning past, and many vehicles, filled with whatever could be snatched from the doomed dwellings, thronged the thoroughfares. Hourly the light grew more brilliant, until it rivalled that of noonday; and more distracting and frightfully distinct became the sight to the occupants of the balcony. The roofs of the houses all around them were covered with persons gazing like themselves with bewilderment and awe upon the increasing conflagration.

With but little intermission, the night was passed by Julia and her father on the balcony; and as it grew towards morning, it became apparent from the roaring and crackling of the flames, that they were making progress towards them. For hours Julia had watched for the return of Antonius, and her anxious eye had sought in vain for his wellknown figure among the living tide that swept through the street beneath.

"My child," said Fluvius, we have been long enough idle spectators; it remains for us now to look to our safety; for unless the gods interfere the fires will reach us. Would Antonius were here, that he might conduct thee to the villa!"

"Ha! thy wish has brought him. See! there he comes!" exclaimed Julia; and the two descended together to meet him. After replying to their eager inquiries, he added that he feared there was foul influence at work, for that he himself had seen soldiers resisting all attempts to extinguish the destroying element, saying that they had authority for so doing.

"The gods forbid!" ejaculated Fluvius; "nevertheless, Antonius, I would have you bring hither your sister-she is the only one you have imme

with her and Julia, proceed at once to the villa: their safety must be our first concern."

Antonius was possessed of a quick and somewhat dogmatical temperament, and he felt really angry to find that his wishes had been so little regarded; he was therefore about to pass on without a further word, had not Julia detained him.

She hurriedly communicated to him her alarm, and led him to an upper window that commanded a view of that part of the city where the flames were raging. The simultaneous fires at various points were as inexplicable to him as they had been to her, and it was evident to him, from the speed with which they spread, that great danger theatened the city. Leaving Julia to divest herself of the obnoxious garb she wore, he hastened back with the tidings to the supper-room, where the guests had risen from the couches, and were gathering their togas around them, preparatory to their departure. In a few moments they were all gone, and Antonius and Fluvius, the master of the house, were left alone amidst the luxurious tables and the trains of hurrying slaves. Fluvius sought with all haste an open balcony, where he found his daughter surrounded by a crowd of frightened attendants, while Antonius hastened away to ascertain the extent of the danger. A startling scene met the eyes of the gazers: lurid flames illuminated the whole sky, and clouds of murky smoke were gathering thickly above them. The street beneath was filled with flying crowds of women and children, and cries and exclamations of terror arose from them continually as they fled fearfully by. Slaves loaded with household utensils and

"We go not without you, father," interrupted Julia, throwing her arms at the same time round the neck of the old man.

66

Nay, my child, I must remain here while my presence can be of any avail: what could these terrified menials do towards the preservation of my property? I will follow when I can do no service here."

Julia acquiesced: Antonius brought thither his sister, and in a short time the chariot was awaiting them in the court below.

It was with great difficulty that the charioteer could make his way through the obstructed streets, and it required his utmost skill to keep in check the impatient horses, frightened as they were by the roaring and flashing of the fires. They met with many delays in their slow progress towards the city gates, and encountered many sights which made them turn away, sick at heart. Frantic horses plunged madly about-children were wildly screaming for the parents from whom they had been separated-and distracted mothers, as wildly searching for their children.

The sun was just beginning to touch the turrets of one of the imperial palaces, near which they passed, when a strange sight caught the eye of Antonius. He grasped the arm of Julia, and in speechless indignation pointed to the open tower where stood the Emperor, arrayed in the habit of an actor, apparently reciting something with a tragic air, and accompanying himself on the harp, which he held in his hand. To their eyes he seemed the demon of the scene, gloating over the destruction going on around him.

the burnt stake and chain and smouldering ashes. The spirit of stern indignation rose high within him, as he thought of those whom he firmly believed to be innocent, thus inhumanly murdered: and he ground his teeth, and clenched his hand, internally flinging defiance in the face of the persecutors. Not that he himself had any sympathy with the Christians, beyond that which a generous humanity felt for the innocent and suffering victims of tyrannical power. His God was the indefinite Providence or Fate of the Stoics; and his religion he found in the writings of the philosophers, over which he pored while most of the youth of Rome were revelling in vice and volup

tuousness.

While thus indulging a train of most bitter thought, he was suddenly startled by the conversation of a group of idle soldiers, near whom he happened to be passing.

side, and regard her with silent compassion. He hesitated long before he could bring himself to add to her already accumulated sorrows, by telling her of the conversation he had overheard, and of his absorbing anxieties for her safety; but time was not to be wasted, and as gently as possible, he broke the startling intelligence.

one.

"But she is a patrician's daughter," said

"And what matters that," rejoined a fierce- | looking centurion, "if she be a Christian? The imperial edict is, to spare none.'

"Her female slave would not deny the charge, even when perishing by torture, and that is proof enough. Why look ye, fellows! They say no man in Rome had a rarer taste in wines than the old Fluvius; and I warrant ye, his villa is well stored with Massic and Lesbian fit for Bacchus himself. Let us to the work to-night, and, when we have done, we will drag out the dusty amphora which have not seen the light for many a year."

The coarse ribaldry which followed fell, too, on the ear of Antonius, and his first impulse was to draw his dagger, and plunge it into the heart of the wretch who spoke; but a second thought restrained him, and gathering his toga close about his stately figure, he strode away. A few moments later, he was pursuing his way to the villa, whither his fleet-footed steed soon brought him.

Julia's heart had been crushed by the blow which deprived her of her father; and but for the mysterious support-mysterious and inexplicable to Antonius-which she appeared to derive from the exercise of her new religion, it had seemed to him that she would altogether have sunk beneath it. He shrunk from being the bearer of such tidings as he had now to communicate, but there was no time allowed for delay. He sought the apartment occupied by Julia and his sister, where he found the latter doing all that kindness could prompt to soothe her companion's silent sorrow. Julia was lying with closed eyes upon one of the silken couches, pale, and touchingly lovely in her subduing grief. She was only made aware of the presence of Antonius, by his lifting her passive hand to his lips, when she started up with an expression of interest, which her face had not worn for many days, and asked for news of Marcia. Fain would Antonius have concealed the truth, but her inquiries were too searching for evasion. When she learned that her fears had been more than realized, that her devoted attendant who had been to her as a sister in the new faith, and an instructor, had fallen a victim to her steadfastness in that faith-she sank back again with a groan of anguish upon the cushions.

Antonius knew not how to comfort her, and did not attempt it he could only kneel at her 8

VOL. IX.

There was intense earnestness and energy in the tones and gestures of Antonius, as he still knelt at Julia's side, and clasped her delicate hands between his own. The fearful words seemed at first to have stunned her, and she lay as if deprived of life, pale and motionless as the Parian statues that stood in niches around the apartment. Her eyes were closed, and her lips compressed, and he could only see that a terrible struggle was going on in that young bosom. For some moments he gazed thus: at length she slowly raised herself, and with an air solemn and fervid as the inspiration of a Pythoness, exclaimed,

"Can I, dare I renounce the inmost convictions of my soul? Thou who art searching through all philosophies after truth, wilt thou counsel renunciation, when my heart tells me I have found it? What were my life worth, purchased at such a cost as this? No, no, I cannot perjure myself be fore my God, not for the sake of my own life, nor even, Antonius, for thee!"

A lofty heroism breathed through every line of her fine Roman face as she spoke; and Antonius, whose confidence in the strength of human principle had long been giving way, felt a sudden glow of admiration warm his bosom as he looked upon that noble brow, and read in the depths of those lustrous eyes a determination which danger or even death could not shake.

"Could my philosophy enable me to do this?" murmured he to himself; "would even Seneca be thus firm to principle?"

Julia continued, "I will fly to Etruria: on the banks of the Arnus there is a small estate cultivated by one of my father's freed-men. Thither will I flee with one or two faithful attendants, until this fearful persecution be stayed."

Antonius interrupted her: "Nay, thou shalt not brave the perils of such a flight alone. Besides, what would it avail for us to remain behind? The ruffian tools of the Emperor would wreak their vengeance for thy escape on this beautiful villa, encouraged to do so by thy flight, which they would regard as positive proof that thou art what they suspect thee to be a Christian. Wilt