l heathen, who
believed as we believe, and who at the same time worked out the evidence
of the foundations of his faith for you as well as himself. And we,
the later disciples of Plato--[Known as the school of the
Neo-Platonists]--have gone even further than our master, and in many
respects are much nearer to you Christians than you perhaps suspect.
You see at once, of course, that we are no more inclined than you
to conceive of the existence of the world and the destiny of man as
independent of a God? However, I dare say you still think that your
divinity and ours are as far asunder as the east from the west. But can
you tell me where any difference lies?"
"I do not know," said Ague uneasily. "I am only an ignorant girl; and
who can learn the names even of all your gods?"
"Very true," said Olympius. "There is great Serapis, whose temple
you saw yesterday; there is Apollo, to whom Karnis prefers to offer
sacrifice; there is Isis the bountiful, and her sister Nephthys, whose
lament you and my young friend sing together so thrillingly; and besides
these there are more immortals than I could name while Gorgo--who is
leading your little brother to the lake out there--walked ten times from
the shore to us and back; and yet--and yet my child, your God is ours
and ours is yours."
"No, no, He is not, indeed!" cried Agne with increasing alarm.
"But listen," Olympius went on, with the same kind urgency but with
extreme dignity, "and answer my questions simply and honestly. We are
agreed, are we not?--that we perceive the divinity in the works of his
creation, and even in his workings in our own souls. Then which are the
phenomena of nature in which you discern Him as especially near to you?
You are silent. I see, you have outlived your school-days and do not
choose to answer to an uninvited catechism. And yet the things I wish
you to name are lovely in themselves and dear to your heart; and if only
you did not keep your soft lips so firmly closed, but would give me the
answer I ask for, you would remember much that is grand and beautiful.
You would speak of the pale light of dawn, the tender flush that tinges
the clouds as the glowing day-star rises from the waves, of the splendor
of the sun-as glorious as truth and as warm as divine love. You would
say: In the myriad blossoms that open to the morning, in the dew that
bathes them and covers them with diamonds, in the ripening ears in the
field, in the swelling fruit on th
|