ully, and had taught to get
some part of the Bible by heart every day. And Origen was very eager to
learn, and was so good and so clever that his father was afraid to show
how fond and how proud he was of him, lest the boy should become forward
and conceited. So when Origen asked questions of a kind which few boys
would have thought of asking, his father used to check him; but when he
was asleep Leonides would steal to his bedside and kiss him, thanking
God for having given him such a child, and praying that Origen might
always be kept in the right way.

When the persecution began, Origen, who was then about seventeen years
old, wished that he might be allowed to die for his faith; but his
mother hid his clothes, and so obliged him to stay at home; and all that
he could do was to write to his father in prison, and to beg that he
would not fear lest the widow and orphans should be left destitute, but
would be steadfast in his faith, and would trust in God to provide for
their relief.

The persecutors were not content with killing Leonides, but seized on
all his property, so that the widow was left in great distress, with
seven children, of whom Origen was the eldest. A Christian lady kindly
took Origen into her house; and after a time, young as he was, he was
made master of the _Catechetical School_, a sort of college, where the
young Christians of Alexandria were instructed in religion and learning.
The persecution had slackened for a while, but it began again, and some
of Origen's pupils were martyred. He went with them to their trial, and
stood by them in their sufferings; but although he was ill-used by the
mob of Alexandria, he was himself allowed to go free.

Origen had read in the Gospel, "Freely ye have received, freely give"
(_St. Matt._ x. 8), and he thought that therefore he ought to teach for
nothing. In order, therefore, that he might be able to do this, he sold
a quantity of books which he had written out, and lived for a long time
on the price of them, allowing himself only about fivepence a day. His
food was of the poorest kind; he had but one coat, through which he felt
the cold of winter severely; he sat up the greater part of the night,
and then lay down on the bare floor. When he grew older, he came to
understand that he had been mistaken in some of his notions as to these
things, and to regret that, by treating himself so hardly, he had hurt
his health beyond repair. But still, mistaken as he was,