than the belief in a future state, so nothing could be more vague
and confused than the notions of the heathen sages upon that mystic
subject. Apaecides had already learned that the faith of the
philosophers was not that of the herd; that if they secretly professed a
creed in some diviner power, it was not the creed which they thought it
wise to impart to the community. He had already learned, that even the
priest ridiculed what he preached to the people--that the notions of the
few and the many were never united. But, in this new faith, it seemed
to him that philosopher, priest, and people, the expounders of the
religion and its followers, were alike accordant: they did not speculate
and debate upon immortality, they spoke of as a thing certain and
assured; the magnificence of the promise dazzled him--its consolations
soothed. For the Christian faith made its early converts among sinners!
many of its fathers and its martyrs were those who had felt the
bitterness of vice, and who were therefore no longer tempted by its
false aspect from the paths of an austere and uncompromising virtue.
All the assurances of this healing faith invited to repentance--they
were peculiarly adapted to the bruised and sore of spirit! the very
remorse which Apaecides felt for his late excesses, made him incline to
one who found holiness in that remorse, and who whispered of the joy in
heaven over one sinner that repenteth.

'Come,' said the Nazarene, as he perceived the effect he had produced,
'come to the humble hall in which we meet--a select and a chosen few;
listen there to our prayers; note the sincerity of our repentant tears;
mingle in our simple sacrifice--not of victims, nor of garlands, but
offered by white-robed thoughts upon the altar of the heart. The
flowers that we lay there are imperishable--they bloom over us when we
are no more; nay, they accompany us beyond the grave, they spring up
beneath our feet in heaven, they delight us with an eternal odor, for
they are of the soul, they partake of its nature; these offerings are
temptations overcome, and sins repented. Come, oh come! lose not another
moment; prepare already for the great, the awful journey, from darkness
to light, from sorrow to bliss, from corruption to immortality! This is
the day of the Lord the Son, a day that we have set apart for our
devotions. Though we meet usually at night, yet some amongst us are
gathered together even now. What joy, what triumph, wi