Valerius. A Roman Story

by J. G. Lockhart

  _CHAPTER IX._

  I passed without disturbance through the gardens of the Esquiline, and thestreets of the city, in which no one was as yet moving, except a fewrustics driving asses laden with herbs to the market-place. When I reachedthe house of my kinsman, however, it was evident that sleep did notprevail within its gates; lights were visible in the vestibule, and thereI found several of the slaves sitting in conversation. My own could notconceal the extravagance of his satisfaction on seeing me enter among themin safety; so that I had no doubt his brother had informed him, in so farat least, of what had passed after our leaving him in the Mammertine.Dromo received me also with warm demonstrations of joy, and conducted meto the chamber of Licinius, in which, with the orator himself, wereSextus, pale with watching, Sabinus, still habited in military attire,with a goblet of wine before him on the table, and Lucius Sempronius, whowas reclining at some little distance from the rest. It was he thateagerly began to question me; and I perceived from the style in which hespoke, that all present had already been made aware of the manner in whichAthanasia had been withdrawn from the council-chamber. A few wordsinformed them of what had followed after we quitted the Temple of Apollo.

  "I thank the gods," said Sempronius,--"so far at least it goes well--but ifthis strictness, of which the Centurion speaks, shall be adhered to, therestill must be no small difficulty about conveying her beyond the city."

  "In truth," quoth Sabinus, after a little pause, "I am afraid this isscarcely a matter in regard to which I should be consulted. I know not butalready I have done several things that could not be quite reconciled withmy duty. I shall, in all probability, be set on the watch myself, and ifso--much as I must regret the necessity--it certainly will be most necessaryfor me to discharge what is committed to my trust. Is there nopossibility, think you, of inventing some impenetrable disguise? Depend onit, it is quite impossible the young lady should remain any where in Rome,without being ere long discovered. The first thing is to have her safebeyond the city-walls."

  "I myself," said I, "shall embark instantly for Britain. Sempronius,Athanasia must go with me--Surely it may be possible to have her carriedunobserved to the shore."

  "You!" said Licinius--"you embark instantly for Britain?--You know not whatyou speak; your law-suit has been determined this very afternoon. Everything that Cneius left is your own."

  "O Jove!" cried Sabinus, "did ever mortal receive such news with such aface! But come, here is health to the heir of the Valerii, and may thisMassic choke me, if I love him not the better for his gravity."

  "Would to heaven!" said Sempronius, "our young friend had loved underother auspices! No, Valerius must stay and take possession, destined, as Ihope he is, to equal, under the favour of the gods, the noblest name inhis lineage. My dear niece--let us trust she may be concealed somewhere insafety from the pursuit. Separated from this fanatic crew, she will, erelong, without question, abandon the dreams they have filled her mindwithal; and on some happier day, our friend may perhaps have no reasoneither to fear or to blush, for lifting her over the threshold of theValerii."

  I drew near to the old man, and, receiving his embrace, whispered into hisear, "Sempronius, you speak generously; but know that this very evening Ialso have become a Christian."

  "Heavens!" cried he, "what limits shall be affixed to this contagion! Rashboy! have you not seen already to what consequences this must lead?"

  "What?" says Licinius--"what new calamity is this? Have my ears deceivedme? Speak, dear Caius--for the sake of all the blood in your veins--you havenot embraced this frenzy?"

  "My friends," said I, "why should I speak to one, when all of you are, Iwell know, alike interested? In all things else I bow to age andunderstanding so much above my own; but here I have thought for myself,and my faith is fixed."

  Licinius heard me with a countenance of painful and anxious emotion. Inthe eye of young Sextus I saw a tear ready to start, and his whole aspectwas that of one sad and bewildered. Sempronius leaned his brow upon hishand, and turned himself away from me. But as for the Centurion, hepreserved his usual air; and after a moment, all the rest continuingsilent, said, "Valerius, I have been in love ere now, and perhaps am notout of the scrape at present; but you have thrown a new light upon thematter. What do you fancy to be the great merits of the present age, thatit should be treated with more favour than all that have gone before it?And, if you come to speak of the Jews, every body knows they are a mostpitiful, mean, knavish set of creatures. They were always by the earsamong themselves; but I think it is rather too much that they should havethe credit of bringing their betters (by which I mean all the worldbesides) into confusion. You are but green yet; all this will blow overanon, and you will laugh more heartily than any one else when you think ofyour weakness. But look up, good friend, I don't think you are listeningto me."

  "My dear Sabinus," said I, "I do listen, but I think it is rather to thegay Praetorian, than to the patient friend I had expected to find in you."

  "Come!" said he again, "you take every thing so seriously. If you areresolved to be a Christian, I am very sorry for it; but even that shallnot stand between me and a true friend. I hope you will soon see the thingas I do--I know you will; but, in the meantime, Valerius, you may countupon me."--And the kind man squeezed my hand with his customary fervour.

  He then turned round to the rest of our friends, and began to propose fortheir consideration a dozen different schemes of escape, that had alreadysuggested themselves to his imagination.

  Licinius took advantage of the first pause, to suggest that the Centurionseemed in a hurry to get rid of me. He then passed into an account of thespeech he had delivered on the preceding afternoon before the Court of theCentumvirs, and of the unhesitating manner, so gratifying to his feelings,in which its judgment had been pronounced. For some moments, in his detailof these proceedings, he seemed almost to have lost sight of the presentsituation and views of the person most interested in their termination.But when, in the progress of his story, he came to enlarge upon themagnificence of my new possessions--the domains in Africa--the rich farms inSicily--the numerous slaves engaged in their cultivation--the Spanish silvermine--and, last of all, the splendours of the great villa upon the banks ofthe Tiber--it was not difficult to perceive that he could scarcely restrainhis indignation at the purpose I had been expressing. "And such," said he,"are the realities which our young friend quits for the reasons he hasmentioned! Well, every man must judge for himself. If it must be so, letit be so."

  I heard him patiently to the end, and then said, "You have well summed upthe whole matter, my dear Licinius. It must indeed be so. I go immediatelyto Britain, and I trust she--for whom I would leave all these things, werethey greater than they are--shall, by the aid of your kindness, go with mein safety. There is one request only which I have, in addition to allthis, to lay before you; and that you may hear it the more patiently, itdoes not concern myself.

  "In a word, then," I continued, "should happier days arrive, I hope oncemore to be among you here in Rome. The wealth which, thanks to your zeal,Licinius, is this day mine, can be of little use to me in the Britishvalley, to which, for the present, I retire. Above all, this beautifulvilla of which you speak,--why, because for a time I am unable to occupyit, should the mansion of my fathers stand empty, when there are othersamong their descendants, who lie not under the same necessity of exile?Till I am enabled to breathe in freedom the air of Italy, I trust Liciniuswill consent to let Sextus represent me in my villa. There, too, I hopeSempronius will permit his daughter to be. It will give pleasure toAthanasia, to think that those halls contain the dearest of our friends.When we come back, if ever we do so, they will not grudge to make room forus beneath the same roof with themselves. Licinius--Sempronius--what sayyou?"

  They were both silent for a moment; but Sabinus was at hand to answer forthem:--"By all Olympus! I shall knock down any man henceforth, that in mypresence abuses Christianity as a destruction of men's hearts. Let
it be,good friends, as our Caius says. I know, Sextus, I have at least yourvoice upon my side. Let it be so; and, for heaven's sake, let it beimmediately. A wedding is the very thing to divert attention from thesetroubles in both kindreds."

  Our conversation was interrupted by Dromo, who told me that Silo thejailer had come to see me, and was below in the hall. There I found thehumane man, with his little daughter in his hand, and walked aside withhim into the inner portico of the house. I told him how the escape, forwhich his zeal alone was to be thanked, had been terminated--and to whatresolution I had now come;--and then inquired whether no suspicion had beenattached to himself, in consequence of his absence from the Capitoline.Having assured me that he had no reason to think so,--"The oath which I hadtaken to Trajan," said he, "prevented me from adopting the simpler courseof setting open for our dear friends the gates of the Mammertine; and Itrust that I did not offend against that oath by acting as I did, afterthey had been taken away for the time from my keeping. But both they andyou must be aware of the pain which I suffered during their confinement,and of the dangers which I have encountered by their escape. I am resolvedno more to be subject to such struggles. I cannot preserve my faith as aChristian, and my honour as a servant of Trajan. This very day I resign mycharge in the Mammertine; this very night, if it so please you, I am readyto accompany you and my dear young lady, in your flight to Britain."

  I need not say with what gladness I heard this proposal. Returning to myfriends, I informed them of what I had just heard, and perceiving now atlast that there was no chance of diverting me from my project, theyentered, like true friends, into serious consultation respecting the bestmethod of carrying my project into execution. The aid of Silo, who hadalready given such proofs both of presence of mind, and of prudence, andcourage, was regarded by them as of the highest importance. He was shortlysummoned to take part in our deliberation, and it was resolved, that afterresigning in a formal manner the office he held, and transferring hisproperty for the present into the custody of Licinius, he should forthwithrepair to Ostium, and there hire and put in readiness, for immediate use,a small vessel, the lightest he could find, in which the fugitive partymight transport themselves at least as far as Corsica. To this the zealousSilo without hesitation assented. It was agreed that he should have themariners on their benches by the coming on of night, and that he himselfshould be waiting for us by a certain ruined tower, which standsconspicuously by the river side, about a mile and a half above Ostium. Weleft it to Silo himself, to stock the bark with any merchandise which hemight deem best adapted to deceive the superintendents of the haven.

  Partly from the necessity of making provision of various kinds for thisvoyage, but still more in consequence of the law-suit, with thetermination of which you have just been made acquainted, I had no leisurethat day, from which to work out unnecessary pain either for myself or forothers. I had to assist Licinius in looking over an infinity of deeds, andto superintend the drawing out of others. In the next place, I had to goto the Forum for the purpose of manumitting some slaves, (such a largessbeing naturally expected); and while I was occupied with this, need I tellyou, that my own poor Briton was not forgotten? Licinius having, at thejoint request of Sextus and myself, accorded that morning to the Cretanalso the well-merited gift of his liberty, Boto and Dromo were seenstrutting about the Forum together for some moments, each arrayed in thatworshipful cap which had formed the most prominent object in theirday-dreams of felicity. I shall not trouble you with needless particulars.Let it suffice, that the greater part of the day was thus spent inunavoidable business.

  Towards evening, I stole privately from my kinsman's house, being willingto avoid a formal farewell, and repaired to Sabinus, who received me withvery lively emotion. What he dwelt upon most fervently, however, was theprobability--the certainty he seemed to esteem it--that a persecution ofthis nature could not be long persisted in by such a prince as Trajan; andthe pleasure with which, that being all at an end, he should see me comeback to Rome, and take due possession of the inheritance of my fathers.After expatiating most fluently for some minutes on the expected delightsof that day, he paused suddenly, and then added, in a tone of some littlehesitation, "And as for me, I wonder in what state you shall find me. Richor poor--married or single--Centurion or Tribune--one thing is certain, thatI shall, in all circumstances, be not a little rejoiced to see you."

  "You had better marry, my good captain," said I.

  "Marry! me to marry? I have not the least thought of such a thing. You didnot put any faith, did you, in the raillery of those waggish fellows ofyesterday?"

  "A little--a very little, Sabinus."

  "Poh! poh! now you are jesting."

  "And much, very much, Sabinus, in the conscious looks of a certainblushing Centurion, yesterday."

  "Come," quoth he, "there is more cunning in these British eyes than I evershould have dreamt of. Fill your cup to the brim, boy, and since you areto leave us so speedily, I shall have no secrets for you. I have seenservice;--true, but what of that? I have kept a light heart in all mycampaigns. But my day, it must be confessed, begins to wear a little, avery little, towards the evening; and, Castor! if you allow supper-time toslip over, I don't know but you must go to bed with a light stomach. Nowor never was the word, my boy; and the widow is mine own."

  "And Xerophrastes?" said I.

  "And as for the most sagacious and venerable Xerophrastes, why, to tellyou the truth, I see nothing for him but that he should allow his beard tocurl as it pleases, drop his long cloak over his ambitious pair of shanks,forswear moonlight, purchase for himself a dark lantern instead, and seewhether he can't find, within the four walls of Rome, an honest Greek, anda constant widow, to make one blessed wedding withal. That is my advice tothe Stoic--Stoic no longer--but, if there be hoops upon a tub, the mostcynical of all Cynics."

  When it was at last necessary that I should move--"Dear Caius," said theCenturion, "you know the Prefect has set a price on their heads, and Ipromise you it is such a temptation as no virtue, that keeps watch beneathany common praetorian breast-plate, could well be trusted to wrestle with.But hope, and dare. And here, take once more this helmet, and cloak, andsword, and with them share the password of the night."

  Sabinus then gave private orders to one of his troop, and walked with metowards the Esquiline.--But why should I linger over what little remains ofthis story? Why pain you with the parting which I witnessed between myAthanasia and the holy Aurelius, afterwards numbered among the martyrs ofChrist?--Behold us at last issued from the Catacombs, and mounted on thetrusty horses which our friend had caused to be waiting at no greatdistance from the thicket that clothed their entrance. Behold us arrivedwithout interruption at the Ostian Gate of Rome.

  The soldiers on guard challenged us cheerily as we came up to them.

  "The word, comrades?"

  "_Titus!_" quoth the Centurion.

  "Pass on--whom bear you with you, comrades!"

  "A Christian--a Christian prisoner," said I.

  "By Jove, that's worth gold to you, brother," quoth the guard.--"Open thegate there;--pass on, friends. I hope I shall have luck one day myself."

  FINIS.

  PRINTED BY WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS, EDINBURGH.

  FOOTNOTES

  1 "Concerning the nature of the Bacchic Stimulus."

  2 These were the principal conspirators by whom Domitian was slain. They were afterwards butchered by the Praetorians, who regretted the tyrant; and it was supposed to be chiefly in consequence of that slaughter, and its shameful consequences to himself, (for he was compelled, among other insults, to return public thanks to the butchers,) that Nerva called to his aid the personal vigour and high military genius of Trajan.

  3 ----Catonem Novisti moriens vincere, mollis Otho.

  4 So Pope has rendered the beautiful lines:

  H
ujus Nympha Loci, sacri custodia fontis, Dormio, dum blandae sentio murmur aquae; Parce meum, quisquis tangis cava marmora, somnum Rumpere; sive bibas, sive lavere, tace.

  5 Asinius autem brevi illo tempore quasi in hortulos in _arenarias_ quasdam juxta portam Exquiliniam perductus, occiditur.--Cic. _Pro Cluent._

  TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE

  Variations in hyphenation (e.g. "eyebrows", "eye-brows"; "godlike","god-like") have not been changed.

  Other changes, which have been made to the text:

  page 72, question mark added after "him", quote mark added before "His" page 267, "Aybss" changed to "Abyss" page 307, "Capito" changed to "Capitol"