ristful and
forlorn into my presence. 'Tis a sad world, and even the Emperors can do
little to set it right."

"There is One who rules on high, dear lady, the God of our fathers, by
whom kings rule and princes decree judgment. He doeth all things well."

"Yes, child, I am not ignorant of the God of the Jews and Christians.
What a pity that there should be such bitter hate on the part of your
countrymen towards those who worship the same great God."

"Yes," said Callirho[e:], "blindness in part hath happened to Israel. If
they but knew how Jesus of Nazareth fulfils all the types and prophecies
of their own Scriptures, they would hail Him as the true Messiah of whom
Moses and the prophets did write."

"Well, child, I will help thee to find thy father, if possible, though I
fear it will be a difficult task. Ask me freely anything that I can do.
As my freedwoman, you will, of course, bear my name with your own. Now
send my slave Juba to accompany me to the banquet-hall."

Callirho[e:], or as we may now call her, after the Roman usage, Valeria
Callirho[e:], fervently kissed the outstretched hand of her august mistress
and gracefully retired.

It may excite some surprise to find such generous sentiments and such
gentle manners as we have described attributed to the daughter of a
persecuting Emperor and the wife of a stern Roman general. But reasons
are not wanting to justify this delineation. Both Valeria and her mother
Prisca, during their long residence at Nicomedia, where the Emperor
Diocletian had established his court, became instructed in the Christian
religion by the bishop of that important see. Indeed, Eusebius informs
us that among them there were many Christian converts, both Prisca and
Valeria, in the Imperial palace. Diocletian and his truculent
son-in-law, Galerius, were bigoted pagans, and the mother of the latter
was a fanatical worshipper of the goddess Cybele. The spread of
Christianity even within the precincts of the palace provoked her
implacable resentment, and she urged on her son to active persecution. A
council was therefore held in the palace at Nicomedia, a joint edict for
the extirpation of Christianity was decreed, and the magnificent
Christian basilica was razed to the ground. The very next day the edict
was torn from the public forum by an indignant Christian, and the
Imperial palace was almost entirely destroyed by fire. The origin of
this disaster is unknown, but it was ascribed to the C