Chapter IV: Two Candidates (2)

"And of you, Chief Priest of Osiris, head of our order, I would respectfully ask:

"'Does the soul assume a body akin to its own nature?

"'Should I live to be very old, dwarfed in limb and blind, when my soul returns to its preserved mummy, which you maintain it does, will I rise again, old and blind and weak? If not why preserve the body?

"'Will I know the friends of my former life if they return to their bodies in the same period?

"'Your still-born brother, whose body I embalmed, had he yet a soul, and when his soul returns to his body, will it have life?

"'There is a mummy in one of the old tombs with two heads and on one body; has that body one or two souls? And if two souls, will they be purified and return together to the body, though one be good and the other bad?'

"I believe not in Osiris; nor that my soul after many transmigrations shall find and reanimate its rejected tenement. Yet I know no other god or even if I have a soul. Can I by searching find out truth or the true God? Will there be a time when the truth shall be made clear? I know that error is spread over all things; that the race is not to the swift, neither the battle to the strong. That he who disdains ease and comfort, though poverty is a disgrace and misfortune a crime, recognizes that wealth consists not in great possessions but in few wants; looking upon ownership as a trusteeship and therefore a responsibility; content with what life gives; thinking himself and conceding to others the right to think; living and letting others live; believing there is nothing after death and death is nothing; is as well off as he who struggles to be a blind leader of the blind. Would I could believe that we shall live many lives and each a preparation for a higher one. Our religion, like our government, as it grows old grows complex and rotten. What we need is a simple government, a simple faith and one God."

(Nefermat) "What you say is the vilest sacrilege. Your belief, if general, would lead to chaos; to the destruction of our holy order. You shall find there is a hell for the unbeliever; your mortal life shall end and your immortal begin as soon as our mother's body is prepared for Osiris. You shall know the difference between soul and body and have your doubts as to a future state tested and dissolved."

(Rahotep) "I would not be too hasty with the death sentence. What matters it what Tepti may think! He is a good embalmer, reticent of speech and his belief in death and nothingness if expressed would neither find believers nor corrupt our faith. The thought of non-existence is not acceptable to the Egyptians; it lacks enthusiasm, it lacks certainty, it lacks hope; there is no appeal to pride or power."

(Nefermat) "I cannot overlook such utterances from a priest of Osiris; he must die."

(Rahotep) "He is one of your priesthood; you are sole arbiter of his life or death, but were he one of Amun's and I demanding his opinion had been so answered, and it was delivered as to stone ears, as his was to us, I would pass it by. However, if you are bent on his death, which I regret, I would ask his body, hoping by my intercession, Amun may convince him he has a soul."

(Nefermat) "As you like. I am through with the sacrilegious beast as soon as he is dead. I would not give his body tomb room in the temple of the dead."

Whereupon the two high priests departed, leaving me with very sober thoughts.

Within an hour, three priests of our order, the death watch, took up their abode in my chambers, which I was not permitted to leave, and this watch was continued to the end.

On the next day the body of the queen arrived from Men-nefer and I was directed to complete the embalming already begun. This occupied a fortnight.

The day the embalming was completed Rahotep came to my chamber and, sending the guards from the room, said:

"On the morrow at sunrise you will be strangled to death, after which your body will be delivered to me for disposition. When it is carefully embalmed I shall place it in a new tomb in the temple of Amun and it shall become sacred to him. The tomb is so constructed that light and air penetrates through slits in the portal and it may be entered from the temple by members of our order. Amun will permit your soul to occupy and grow in your mummied body. You have said you are not afraid of death. Neither you nor any other man knows what lies beyond. It is not the end of things as you declare but the beginning of the thought life. Living through the ages in your old shell you shall learn that the infinite is the author of all things and from the order and harmony of nature you shall deduce the existence of God and the immortality of the soul. You shall learn that the soul is an immaterial being which can go where the body can not and can live where the body cannot live and is so sometimes punished. That its controlling force is not the body nor even the mind but a power which pervades all space, which has existed from the beginning, looking after the universe and each creature therein. This is the infinite, the beginning, the end of all things, which, lacking a better name and light to discern, I call Amun, The Great, The Only One. The wind has not a body, yet you know the wind blows; light has not substance, yet you feel and see it and know it comes from the worlds in the skies. Your soul has existed from the beginning as a part of the infinite. It came into existence as the angels of light and darkness. It is of the size of the faith that is in you and yours is quite small. Yours shall grow during the ages, as Amun is about to begin its experience, which each soul is to have, though the experience given each is different, being judged and punished or rewarded according to the light given, which in every case is dim. You are first to be turned over to Phtha, the great father of beginnings. Your little seed of a soul, assuming the form of a beetle, shall remain in your mummified body. Your embalming robes shall be decorated with his sign, the scarabeus. Your body will be carefully watched by our priesthood to observe the growth of your soul and know that you finally believe in its existence and the infinite power of God. You shall pass through the valley of humiliation, living as the Chelas live upon your own soul. Your suffering shall bring improvement and growth until your soul shall prove sufficient unto itself, since it shall know God and itself. Finally it shall part company with your mummied body and become a part of the light of the world."

I arose at daylight the next morning and, after carefully bathing, rubbed my whole body with a preparation for closing the pores; then, retiring to a couch, drank a vial of most precious and potent embalming fluid, which, knowing death to be near, I had secreted when preparing the mummy of the queen.

I felt a contraction of my stomach, an icy chill, a gradual though rapid cessation of consciousness and being. For what period I know not I slept the sleep of death.

Sluggishly in my dead frame fluttered a something. For days or years, I know not, there was a mere sense of spiritual life or being and a fluttering of body as of a small numbed insect; was it a scarabeus? This was succeeded in time by an acuter consciousness, when I saw my puny soul in its bare weakness.

Then began the journey through the valley of humiliation and suffering, when soul lived upon and thought only of self and its escape. Through ages of suffering and loneliness and blackness, my only thought was a constant prayer for absolute non-existence. Within the heart of my tiny soul there began to grow a germ-like conception and reverence for God. With this thought the soul seemed to take unto itself strength to make feeble efforts to tear a way through its coffin of flinty skin and in feeble flight bounded and pounded incessantly on its case of parchment, as a drummer on his drum, with a ceaseless, monotonous, drum, drum, drum.

Finally, through the mummy eyes, there seemed to come dim rays of light. Then the feeble soul stationed itself immediately behind them and prayed only for light. And, after a thousand years, enough light was given to see crevices in the tomb and shifting grains of sand drift through. Life before had been so bare that the mere seeing of the flight of a grain of sand into that place of utter calm and monotony was as an angel visit to the disconsolate of earth.

Now the all-absorbing desire was for more light; for freedom to break through the prison walls of flinty skin and have one peep at earth and sun. Then, remembering how I had stolen our most potent embalming fluid and used it on my own body, I attributed continued imprisonment to its preservative properties and looked upon myself as my own jailer.

As the soul grew, reason discarded this thought and fixed upon my imprisonment as punishment for disbelief. Seemingly, ages went by; the soul passed through a period of great remorse; remorse grew to repentance, and repentance to hope and faith.

Then my soul seemed to fill the whole mummied frame and gained strength until it acquired the power of motion. I could shift position and look out upon the valley of Aur-Aa, now called Nilus, where, as time passed, I saw the maturity and wane of Egyptian power and the iron hand of Rome reach out in conquest.

The vandal hand of a conquering Roman tore loose the stone portal of the tomb, and mummy and imprisoned soul were carried across the great sea and with other husks of former life exhibited in the triumph of Octavius; then placed in a museum to be gazed upon by the curious of Rome.

One night robbers broke into the room, thinking the dead carried their treasures with them, and unwound our grave cloths. My soul pounded and tore at its case, hoping pantingly that they might break the parchment shell; but all they did was to remove a string of turquoise and porphyry beetle-shaped beads. When morning came the mummies were rewrapped and returned to the exhibit slab.

As the crowds passed by, if one, perchance, looked into my sunken eyes, the soul, watching hungrily beneath, looked out with an intensity and read his very inmost mind and most secret thought; and some there were who seemed to know the meaning of my look.

When I read thoughts of doubt, such as I had known in life, I sought with utmost soul strength to convey to them some warning and some hope; and as I struggled thus, there came rifts of light into my prison as from a higher life.

One day a noble Roman youth came strolling by with a companion and, stooping, gazed upon my form.

"See, Marcus! How much better preserved this man of ancient Egypt is than the others. Look! In his sunken eyes you may discern a glimmer as of intense life; of consciousness; I feel his look, as though he read me through and through and would speak in advice or warning."

"Oh! Come on! You have eaten too heavily or else departed from your stoical way and conscience has made you uneasy; else you could not attribute life to this foul shell, dead these three thousand years."

"I shall return alone tomorrow when the light is better and have a good look."

At noon the next day, when the sunlight rested on my slab, the youth returned and, bending over my black parchment face, peered into the hollow eye holes; and in some weird way I held communion with him. When he left, my soul seemed to go along, a companion of his own.

Lost in thought, he walked a long way into the poorer quarter of the city, where there was much squalor and suffering. He was aroused by the cries of women and children driven from their squalid homes by a band of Nero's condottieri, who then set fire to their deserted hovels.

He rushed to their rescue, remonstrating with the soldiers. They refused to desist, telling him that the people were of the new sect, the Christians; and their orders were to burn them out. He was assaulted by them, resisted, killed two and was himself slain.

His soul as a great white bird, with a brilliancy as of the sun, left his body and flew heavenward. My own returned to its mummied chamber. But the chamber had been reformed; it was of many hued crystal, of expansive wall and gave forth a light all its own. I settled upon a couch and drifted into a restful peace.

My own soul became as the tabernacle of God. All tears were wiped away by the conqueror of sorrow and pain and death. I had found the Father; the Father a son; and I entered into the place where God is the Light.

In the meantime Rome burned. The fire, started by Nero's soldiers near the Palatine Hill, spread from house to house and quarter to quarter until it reached my couch. The old shell parted and burned as tinder. Then the mortal put on immortality and the shackled darkness of the old soul gave place to light and liberty.

I awoke. It was near twilight; the world seemed new and fresh, but it was the old home place.

I bent over and examined my couch; it was the old slab shelf of the springhouse. Looking along its raised edge, which I had used as a pillow, I noticed for the first time crude strange characters or letters cut in the stone.

That night I asked my father the history of the slab. He said he had brought it from the Stoner Creek farm near Wade's Mill, where it had been plowed up in cultivating over a small Indian mound.

I came to the conclusion the slab possessed weird properties, making it a restless and unsatisfactory couch, and thereafter I called it the dream bench.

DOCTOR BROWN OF DANVILLE.

Incidentally I took up stenography, its usefulness having been impressed upon me by my inability to transcribe the narrative of the feeble-minded black boy.

The winter following his death, attending law school at the University of Virginia, I continued its study and practice and found it quite an aid in jotting down the lectures. By the following summer I had grown to be quite an efficient stenographer.

That summer, shortly after I had my disturbing dream as a priest of Osiris, the Kentucky synod of the Southern Presbyterian Church met at Winchester. My mother, a member of the First Presbyterian Church, entertained two of the visiting preachers, both of whom were personal friends of Doctor Chisholm. One was from the western portion of the State, I believe Owensboro, the other, Doctor Brown, of Danville.

Doctor Brown rarely smiled; his poise was indicative of the utmost self-control, his form lank, his hair heavy and graying at the temples, his general appearance giving evidence of a clean, active ascetic life and a strong moral and physical make-up. He was inclined to keep the light of his conversational powers under a bushel, and at times spoke only when aroused from apparent self-centered thought. His voice was deep and pleasant, his diction and expression perfect, his thoughts, clothed in finished sentences, were entertainingly expressed and at times exhibited a rich vein of the choicest humor. He was the leading member of the conference--certainly the brainiest--and it fell to his lot to deliver the most important address of the gathering.

He seemed to fancy the old springhouse, its quiet coolness and the spreading elms. Except at mealtime he did all his drinking from its cool fountain and out of the old gourd dipper, though mother insisted on sending a glass down for his service.

Several times I found him sitting in the rustic chair by the door jotting down notes for some address or sermon, but never seated on the old stone bench.

On Monday at breakfast, following a busy Sunday, on which he had preached two exceptionally good sermons, and, following the noonday service, greeted lengthily and cordially seemingly every member of the large congregation, I noticed his usually active manner had given place to a languorous calm.

So I went down to the springhouse, carried the rustic chair into the open beyond the shade and carefully loosened and removed one of the legs, placing the chair in such a position as to show it was unserviceable and undergoing repairs; then I returned to the house.

In about an hour Doctor Brown left the library for the springhouse, carrying a couple of books and a scratch pad under his arm.

When he saw the condition of the chair he walked within and found a seat on the old stone bench. After resting for some time he stretched his form on the cool smooth slab and was soon fast asleep.

Then I slipped in and preparing for business, sat down upon the floor with note book and pencils handy, heading the page with the name of our distinguished guest.

He began in a conversational tone what was apparently an introductory address to a gathering of primitive Christians. It was in Greek, which I was able to transcribe.

The translation undoubtedly is faulty, robbed of the thought and beauty of his smooth diction, and gives but imperfect meaning and interpretation to many idiomatic expressions.

* * * * *

"Paul, Apostle to the Gentiles, servant of Jesus Christ, on the road to Damascus ordained of God and called to the apostleship; having been taken a prisoner at Jerusalem, charged with sedition; appealed to Caesar and now traveling to Rome for trial, is in Syracuse and will preach to us tonight.

"He took ship at Adramyttium, touched at Sidon, Cyprus and Myra. There a ship of Alexandria was found sailing into Italy. This he boarded and, sailing many days, passed near Chidus, Crete, Salmone and Fair Havens, near the city of Lascea. From whence he sailed, when the south wind blew softly, close to Crete. There a tempest arose. The ship was forced from her course and driven by wind until, days after, she was wrecked on the island of Malta.

"After an enforced stay of three months, he sailed away in the good ship Castor and Pollux and arrived in Syracusa this morning. He will remain with us for three days.

"The church knows his service. He has faced every crisis and danger with an iron will and with unfailing resolution has kept the faith. He is a most faithful worker in the cause of Christ and his field of service is, messenger unto the Gentiles.

"In his present troubles he has our prayers. We will now hear him."

* * * * *

"Brethren of the Church of Syracusa; grace be to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.

"First, I thank God that your faith is spoken of and an example to all the Christian churches.

"I came first after landing to Sergius Publius of your church, to whom I bore a letter from his cousin Publius, the Roman ruler at Malta.

"We were at Malta three months waiting for a ship. During that time by prayer and the laying on of hands, the father of Publius was healed. For this and other things, the people honored us with many honors and when we departed they laded us with such things as were necessary, we having lost all by shipwreck on our journey from Caesarea to Rome.

"Not unwillingly am I sent to Rome for trial as fitting one born free and a Roman citizen, since Rome is mistress of the world and to Rome the Christian faith must be carried to be spread over the Gentile world.

"Being ordained an apostle to the Gentiles, it is but meet that I should assume the risks of the journey and take as personal the command to preach the Gospel in Rome or elsewhere and to every Gentile nation. A gospel of universal faith granting to Jew and Gentile alike repentance unto life and grace through the redemption of the Lord Jesus Christ.

"This work has been most successful and many strong Gentile churches have been established; but God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

"After the establishment of a number of these churches, when I returned to Jerusalem I was falsely accused of teaching all the Jews which are among the Gentiles to forsake the law of Moses; and of having brought Greeks into the temple and polluted the holy place. And after this charge I was cast from the temple and the doors closed; then set upon and beaten with staves and stones until Roman soldiers came to quiet the disturbance; and by them bound with chains was led towards the castle. When asking and receiving permission to speak unto the people, I did so in the Hebrew tongue saying:

"'Men, brethren and fathers, hear ye my defense, now made unto you, I am verily a man, a Jew born in Tarsus, in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers and was zealous towards God, as ye all are this day.

"'And I persecuted this way unto the death, binding and delivering into prison both men and women. As also the high priest doth bear me witness, and all the estate of the elders; from whom also I received letters unto the brethren and went to Damascus, to bring them which were bound unto Jerusalem for to be punished.

"'And it came to pass that as I made my journey and was come nigh unto Damascus about noon, suddenly there shone from heaven a great light round about me. And I fell unto the ground, and hearing a voice saying unto me, "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?"

"'And I answered, "Who art thou Lord?" And he said unto me, "I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom thou persecuteth."

"'And they that were with me saw indeed the light and were afraid, but they heard not the voice of him that spake to me.

"'And I said, "What shall I do Lord?" And the Lord said unto me, "Arise and go unto Damascus; and there it shall be told thee of all things which are appointed for thee to do."

"'And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.

"'And one, Ananias, a devout man according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews which dwelt there, came unto me and stood and said unto me, "Brother Saul receive thy sight." And the same hour I looked up upon him.

"'And he said, "The God of our fathers hath chosen thee, that thou shouldst know his will and see that Just One, and should hear the voice of his mouth. For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard. And now why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins," calling on the name of the Lord.

"'And it came to pass that when I was come again to Jerusalem, even while I prayed in the temple, I was in a trance; and saw him saying unto me, "Make haste and get thee quickly out of Jerusalem; for they will not receive thy testimony concerning me."

"'And I said, "Lord they know that I imprisoned and beat in every synagogue them that believed in thee; and when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by and consented unto his death and kept the raiment of them that slew him."

"'And he said unto me, "Depart; for I will send thee far hence unto the Gentiles."'

"When I had spoken thus far, the multitude would not hear me further.

"At the castle, the chief captain ordered that I be scourged, when, hearing the order, I said to the centurion standing by, 'Is it lawful to scourge a man that is a Roman and uncondemned?' Thereafter no further indignity was offered me.

"Then the Lord appeared unto me saying. 'Be of good cheer, Paul, for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also in Rome.' Then I was sent to Caesarea, unto Felix.

"Before Felix, I was accused by Tertullus, speaking for the priesthood, as a pestilent fellow and a mover of sedition among all the Jews and a leader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

"To which I answered, 'They can charge me with nothing unlawful though I confess that after the way which they call heresy so worship I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the law and the prophets, and have hope towards God that there shall be a resurrection of the dead both of the just and the unjust. And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence towards God and men.'

"After a period of two years Porcius Festus succeeded Felix and willing to favor the Jews, asked, If I would go to Jerusalem to be judged, to which I answered; 'I stand at Caesar's judgment seat where I ought to be judged.'

"Then Festus after conference said, 'Hast thou appealed unto Caesar? Unto Caesar shalt thou go.'

"Shortly thereafter I was delivered to Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band, and we set sail at Adramyttium for Rome to be delivered for trial as a Roman citizen.

"What a privilege it is to be a Roman citizen; to have the protection of a strong and capable government; whose laws are stable and enforceable; a bulwark against petty strife and sect jealousies. Christ our Master declares the divine origin of government and the obligation of his followers to obey human law when not in conflict with the commandments of God.

"This, it seems, is the greatest obligation, next to our faith.

"What is faith? What are the teachings of our faith?

"Faith in God is more than the exercise of the understanding.

"Faith changed me from a persecutor, until now, I preach the faith I sought to destroy; hoping thereby you may rejoice the more in Christ because of my coming; while I rejoice at your patience and faith under all the tribulations which you now endure.

"Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. And Christ our Lord, is its author and finisher.

"For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake.

"For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness hath shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.

"We are troubled on every side yet not distressed; perplexed but not in despair; persecuted but not forsaken; cast down but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

"For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us but life in you.

"We have the same spirit of faith according as it is written, I believe and therefore have I spoken; we also believe and therefore speak; knowing that He which raised up the Lord Jesus shall raise us up also by Jesus and shall present us with you. For all things are for your sakes that the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of many rebound to the glory of God.

"For which cause we faint not, but though our outward man perish yet the inward is renewed day by day.

"For our light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved we have a building of God, an house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.

"I am told that some among you who live according to the law, say, 'There is no resurrection of the dead.'

"First of all--Christ died for our sins and was buried and rose again the third day.

"If the dead rise not then is Christ not raised; and if Christ be not raised your faith is in vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ and rest in these caverns are perished.

"But now is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive--But some men will say, 'How are the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?'

"Fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die; and that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be--but bare grain, it may chance of wheat or of some other grain. But God giveth it a body and to every seed his own body.

"The glory of the resurrection of man is, that his body sown in corruption is raised in incorruption; sown in dishonor is raised in glory; sown in weakness it is raised in strength; sown in the natural it is raised the spiritual body.

"So when this corruptible shall put on incorruption and this mortal shall put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory! The sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is the law. But thanks to God who giveth us the victory through Our Lord Jesus Christ.

"Do you seek strength in the Lord and the power of his might? Put on the whole armor of God that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

"Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loin girt about with truth and having on the breast plate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all power and supplication in the spirit.

"Let us not be dismayed or overwhelmed by persecution, nor weary in well doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. Learning wheresoever God places us therewith to be content; seeking by prayer and supplication to know his will.

"The Father hath said; 'My grace is sufficient for thee; my strength is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore may we glory in our infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon us. Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gifts.

"As we grow in strength, we may expect persecution to grow. Now Rome looks upon our faith as a Jewish sect. When it is understood that it is a religion distinct from Judaism, then persecution will begin in earnest. Then you will be blamed for pestilence, famine and other national calamities and be offered as martyrs for your faith. Then must we glory in tribulation, knowing that tribulation worketh patience and patience experience and experience hope and hope maketh not ashamed because the love of God is shed about in your hearts.

"I speak to you but as an ambassador in bonds.

"Brethren, pray constantly for one another and for me, remembering that the prayers of a righteous man availeth much. And the peace of God which passeth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ, Amen."

* * * * *

Doctor Brown, growing restless, and I conscience-stricken, I thought it best to make a hasty departure for the house.

That night at supper I managed to turn the conversation to dreams, hoping to hear from him.

He finally said; "It is remarkable the way we fit familiar scenes or even places we have visited but once into our dream thoughts. Thus dressed they become quite realistic until we almost persuade ourselves that we have lived the experience.

"Some years ago I visited the city of Syracuse and was deeply interested by the catacombs on the island of Ortzgia, just a short way from the modern city, particularly as they had been used as a place of worship, of refuge from persecution and of burial by the early Christians.

"Among other things of interest therein are the frescoes, in which drawings of fish as religious symbols predominate, the Greek word for which furnished the initial letters for the Saviour's name and office; the tombs and an altar from which Paul is said to have preached, when sent by Festus from Caesarea to Rome.

"I rarely sleep in the daytime; but today the cool subdued light and quiet of the springhouse was responsible for a lapse.

"Having in mind to prepare a sermon on faith and the resurrection, and thinking of certain of Paul's letters in connection therewith, my dream thoughts were so assembled that while I slept I seemed to hear Paul preaching from the altar in the catacombs on that identical subject."

RICHARD HAWKWOOD.

I am home from the University of Virginia, having completed the law course. The restful peace of the old farmhouse is most enjoyable; but there is another blemish upon the landscape; my father is building a second tobacco barn, and the foreman in charge, a union carpenter, or nine-hour man, as we then called him, is a disturbing element, spending his time, when not at work, chewing tobacco and aggressively talking about the rights of labor and the danger to the world of concentrated wealth.

When thus engaged he is a typical nail-keg philosopher; just emerging from ignorance and materialism into the realm of reflective experience.

He has at his tongue's end all the platitudes of the socialist and possesses the knack of picking platitude and imperfect statistic to fit his theories, whenever he finds a victim.

He does not look upon our government as a government of the people; but a government of the few, who fool all the people all the time.

He is a firm believer in organized labor and the disorganization of everything else, particularly capital. He believes in the equal distribution of property every few years and that the masses should throw off the yoke, but can neither identify nor define the yoke.

Until I heard him talk, in my inexperience, I thought that the world was a reasonably comfortable place in which to live, in fact, I knew no better. We were getting ten cents for tobacco, eighty cents for wheat, fifty cents for corn, five cents for hogs and ten cents a pound for turkeys. We heard no talk of hard times except just before a presidential election.

We paid fifteen dollars per month for farm hands, three dollars a week to the cook; we bought sugar for six cents and flour for five fifty a barrel. We were paying the boss carpenter and chief representative of organized labor three dollars a day, and fifteen dollars per thousand for clear heart yellow pine lumber.

Hawkwood, the carpenter, spoke of the ideals of labor and how he would fight for them through this and other lives until his words, to my conservative and immature mind, seemed threats against organized society.

My views, in the main, he called old-fashioned. I believed a laborer who was thrifty, efficient and industrious did not need a union to help him, arguing the union only helped the inefficient, lazy and profligate.

I tried several times to get him to rest on the springhouse slab or dream couch, but his mind and temperament were too nervously active.

On Sunday he expected to go to Lexington for the day, but at train time a heavy shower caused him to abandon the trip. I asked him to go to Pine Grove church, but he very emphatically declined.

At dinner, with malice aforethought, I kept his plate heaped up and repeatedly filled his goblet with ice-cooled buttermilk. After dinner as it was a very warm day, I suggested we go to the springhouse and read, and from the library got for him Fox's "Lives of The Martyrs."

I took the lead and appropriated the rustic chair under the elms, forcing him to occupy the stone bench in the springhouse.

He made several efforts to start an argument on the labor question, which I carefully avoided. After awhile a sonorous snore announced that he had fallen victim to my plot.

His snoring was broken by a jumble of words in English and Italian, though his English, being of a very old form, was harder than the Italian to understand and transcribe. The first words I caught were; "Very well, Sir John, avanti!"

I took down his statement and give to the reader a liberal transcription of my notes.

* * * * *

"I was born in Essex, near Hedingham, on October 20, 1332. My father was a younger brother of Sir John Hawkwood, who was knighted for bravery by the Black Prince two days after the battle of Poitiers, where an English army of eight thousand men defeated a French army of sixty thousand and took King John prisoner.

"My uncle, commanding several companies and rendering most efficient service, was rewarded by being knighted by the King. I was present at the service and officiated as his squire.

"When the successful army returned to England, several hundred of us from Essex and Suffolk remained in France and organized 'The White Company,' which, with Sir John as commander, became famous as condottieri, or soldiers of fortune, and from 1360 to 1390 sold our services to various Italian powers.

"We served under the standard of Gregory XI, the Marquis of Montferrat, certain legates, the republic of Pisa, and, finally, the signory and council of Florence, from 1378 until the death of Sir John on March 17, 1394. At his death he was entombed with great ceremony in the Duomo. For years prior he had held the office of Captain General with the Florentines.

"From 1374 till 1378 I was captain of one of his companies. In 1378 I was made his aid, in which capacity I served until 1389, when, having been seriously wounded and the possessor of considerable wealth, I retired from service.

"For more than a year Sir John had been in the service of the Marquis of Montferrat at Casale, and as the season was dull and the pay light for our business, it was with pleasure he received word from the Pope to come to Avignon.

"Gregory occupied the papal chair from 1370 to 1378 and, like his immediate predecessors, resided at Avignon until 1376, when he terminated the Babylonian captivity by returning to Rome.

"During this period of exile the church government of Italy was conducted by proud and avaricious legates, who lived as dukes or provincial kings, and in the name of the church assumed to dictate the policy of government to many small potentates, maintaining a standing array of condottieri made up of English, Dutch and Breton recruits.

"Sir John, reasonably satisfied that he would be employed in Italy at some point east of Casale, left his soldiers behind, except thirty troopers, and set out for Avignon. Ten days later he came down the Rhone valley, into the 'City of Bells,' just as the sixth hour, or vesper bells, were ringing.

"We fed our horses, washed away the stains of travel, and, supper ready, took our places at a long table, Sir John at the head, I at the foot and fifteen troopers on either side. We refreshed ourselves, a very hungry and thirsty company, with red Rhone wine, macaroni, cheese, fish, mutton, brown bread and a salad.

"Sir John and I were assigned quite sumptuous quarters in the palace, while our soldiers remained at the inn.

"That night Sir John saw the Pope and was recommissioned in his service. His orders were that half of his company should report to the legate at Pisa, while I in command of the other half, about three hundred horsemen, should report to the legate at Bologna. An invasion of Tuscany was contemplated under the direction of these two legates, having in view the humiliation of the Florentines.

"The reason assigned for the campaign was that the Ricci faction had entered into a league with Barnabo of Milan against the church and the Albizzi party.

"The Pope thus expressed himself to Sir John; 'These plebeians are too ambitious. Let the nobility, not the populace, form a federation, living like brothers with the church at its head, an all-wise and benign father. Thus, by a combination of miter and helmet the church, first in Italy and then throughout the world, shall become not alone the spiritual but the temporal head of government. Instituting this plan, we intend to subdue the plebeian faction now in power at Florence.'

"Sir John, at the close of the audience, said to me; 'If it were not for the interference of the church, the republic of Florence and certain other Italian states might hope for the accomplishment of great things. What the Pope wants is the peace of decay and temporal and spiritual supremacy for the church throughout the land. Experience has taught me that adversity is a great teacher. It tolerates no compromises and rewards only patience and strength. Therefore a state is most fortunate that occupies a position of bare supremacy in arms, where it is punished for mistakes and grows strong from reverses.

"'On the other hand, if a government is too strong, the peace of strength brings repose, repose decay, and decay dishonor.

"'Florence, more than any other Italian city, is embarrassed by the natural enmities between the populace and the nobility. The nobility wish to command. The populace, aware of their numerical supremacy, are disinclined to obey, and insist upon ruling the city. Clashes between the two keep the city in a constant uproar and will eventually extinguish its greatness. The populace when in power drive the nobility from the city. When they lose out the banished nobles return and the populace are oppressed. Associated with the people, who are the usual conquerors, are certain adaptable nobles, who, styling themselves reformers, assume to live and think as the common people until they have acquired a sufficient following to control the city, then they assume the government and the nobles are recalled.'

* * * * *

"A member of the Connechi family was legate at Bologna. In the fall of 1374 I reported to him with my three hundred horsemen.

"The preceding summer had been extremely dry, causing a failure of crops through all of central Italy. The people suffered and many died of privation. The legate, aware of this, looked upon the time as auspicious for his invasion and instituted his campaign by seizing provisions in transit, purchased by the Florentines from the northern countries. The following spring he invaded Tuscany.

"The hungry inhabitants, seeing no hope for even the future harvest, offered but feeble opposition. Quite a few castles and small towns were taken and pillaged.

"Our army moved slowly, and despite the legate's commands, never followed up a victory. It mattered little to us that his enemies lived to fight another day; our business was to line our pockets with plunder. It was no serious affair to defeat our opponents whenever we met. They were untrained in war and were usually officered by mercenaries, who cared little whether they won or lost.

"One night a messenger from Sir John Hawkwood brought word that I should confer with the captains of the Dutch and Breton troops, and if they agreed, we were to mutiny and desert the legate's standard, when I should proceed with my men to Florence, where he would await us.

"At the conference I learned from the other captains that their commanders had made peace with the Florentines, having been paid one hundred and thirty thousand florins; and that Sir John, having quarreled with the legate at Pisa about our pay had referred the matter to the Pope, who responded; 'The affair is wholly within the discretion of the legate.' Whereupon he sent back word; 'Henceforth I am an opponent of temporal church rule in Italy and quit your service.' He then made a contract with the Florentines to assist them in repelling the legate's armies.

"On the next day, when the condottieri were ordered to attack a small town southwest of our camp, the inhabitants of which had treated us decently, knowing that we bore them no ill-will, we disregarded the order. By prearrangement, each captain at the head of his men assembled in front of the legate's quarters, when as spokesman I asked an audience.

"In a short while he came forth in his regalia, surrounded by a group of carpet knights and peremptorily demanded:

"'What do you want and why have not you and your comrades begun the assault as ordered?'

"'As spokesman for the English, Dutch and Breton condottieri, I am directed to inform you that we have concluded to sever our connection with your army and seek more satisfactory employment. Our sympathies are with the Florentines rather than the church.'

"'Those of you who refuse to execute my commands shall be put to death.'

"'Who will execute your order? Surely not your three thousand carpet knights, who can scarcely sit their horses and are coached by their squires. They know nothing of warfare; they but wear their swords as ornaments. Why, my three hundred horsemen alone are more than a match for your knights. They and you do your fighting by proxy. It takes something more than a jeweled sword, bright armor and a coat of arms to make a soldier, and something more than a miter, a string of beads and a colossal capacity for deception, torture and persecution, to make a commander whom men trust and obey.'

"'So it is your intention to quit my service?'

"'Yes, and immediately, we shall leave your camp today.'

"Whereupon I returned to my men. After a brief conference we raided the general stores and appropriated a week's supplies; then, loading our pack horses, mounted and by easy stages rode to Florence.

"The legate, finding himself deserted by his mercenaries, his forces reduced to less than three thousand undisciplined troops, with no one competent to command, hastily retreated to Bologna and sought to make peace with the Florentines.

"But they, justly resentful of his avaricious and unprovoked invasion, refused to make peace, and until his death, nearly three years thereafter, having entered into a league with Barnabo of Milan and certain cities hostile to the church, conducted a successful war against him.

"Three days thereafter we crossed through the pass and camped on the south mountain slope within sight of Florence. The city from the foothills as you look out upon it seems an island forest of tall towers, surrounded by a verdant plain.

"A wall 9350 meters in length, protected by a deep moat, surrounds the city. Every one hundred and sixty meters there is a tower forty meters high and fourteen meters broad. The twelve gates, six on the left bank of the river and six on the right, are strengthened by barbicans.

"No other city presents such striking contrasts or combinations of antitheses, adding much to its picturesque life and appearance. Within arms length of each other you see the noble in his brilliant attire and the laborer in rags; the prelate gorgeously arrayed and the monk in sober gown; almost next door to a cathedral or monastery and which has taken a century to build, and beneath its very shadow, is the hovel of some poor beggar. It is a city of violence, where dominion is maintained by force; yet the pilgrim, with thoughts on God and atonement, may pass in peace. Some are given over to lives of the vilest licentiousness, while their neighbors lead lives of frugality and sanctity.

"We came in by the gate north of the church of San Lorenzo and I found quarters at an inn on Via Por. S. Marcia, near the Ponte Vecchio. I spent several months at this inn, reporting each day to Sir John for orders.

"Sir John was the guest of Silvestro de Medici, the head of one of the noblest of the popular families. In this way I became acquainted with Marcella, the sister of Silvestro, and after a courtship of several months we were married.

"My savings amounted to more than eight thousand florins. The florin is a small gold coin with a lily on one side and the word 'Florentina' on the other.

"For sixty-five hundred florins I purchased a small but substantial house on Via Calimara, near the Arte della Lana, the guildhouse of the wool weavers. The armorial design of the art, embossed above the portal, is a lamb bearing a cross.

"Two of my friends, who lived on a side street in the neighborhood, were Michael di Lando, a wool-comber who had considerable influence with his guild, and Ser Nuto, a bailiff of the Signory.

"I had been in Florence six months and married more than a month when Sir John disposed of our services to the eight commissioners of war; when, with great unwillingness, I was forced to leave wife and home and resume command of my three hundred horsemen.

"After having been thus engaged for more than four months, I procured a furlough, expecting to have ten days of quiet at home. It was the month of May and the city at its loveliest. On the third night after my return, my wife and I were eating a late lunch, after a visit to her brother's palace, when the servant announced that a man was at the door with a message from Sir John, asking that I come at once to the inn of the Golden Hat on the Via de Bardi.

"Buckling on armor and sword, and telling the good wife not to wait up for me, I accompanied the messenger.

"When crossing the Ponte Vecchio in the darkness of its many butcher stalls, the messenger, walking behind, leaped upon my back, seeking to throw me to the floor. He was almost instantly aided by a half-dozen men wearing black robes and cowls covering the head, having eyeholes only; in other words, dressed as friars of the order of Misericordia. One of these struck me on the head with a heavy short sword, and when I regained consciousness I learned I was a prisoner in a dungeon under the cloisters of the monastery of Agnoli. My friend, Ser Nuto, had engineered the capture, which had been ordered by the Bologna legate for my gross insults to him and consequently to the church. My captors, who belonged to the Guelph faction, had cheerfully executed the commission because of my relationship by marriage with the Medici family.

"My dungeon was simply a cistern of huge stones beneath the floor of the cell of a friar of the order and the same size as his cell. The only aperture was in the floor of the cell above and closed by a heavy grating, the key to which, kept by the head of the order, was never entrusted to the friar, who was as powerless to open the grating as I.