acter not less worthy of imitation than that of the lord of the
Christians might be formed in the faith of the ancients, and nourished
by doctrines produced by the many-branched tree of Greek religion
and philosophy. Julia Domna, Caracalla's mother, had encouraged the
philosopher in this task, which was to show her passionate and criminal
son the dignity of moderation and virtue. The book was also to bring
home to Caesar the religion of his forefathers and his country in all
its beauty and elevating power; for hitherto he had vacillated from
one form to another, had not even rejected Christianity, with which his
nurse had tried to inoculate him as a child, and had devoted himself to
every superstition of his time in a way which had disgusted those about
him. It had been particularly interesting to the writer, with a view
to the purpose of this work, to meet with a girl who practiced all the
virtues the Christians most highly prized, without belonging to that
sect, who were always boasting of the constraining power of their
religion in conducing to pure morality.

In his work the day before he had taken occasion to regret the small
recognition his hero had met with among those nearest to him. In this,
as in other respects, he seemed to have shared the fate of Jesus Christ,
whose name, however, Philostratus purposely avoided mentioning. Now,
to-night, he reflected on the sacrifice offered by Melissa for Caesar
whom she knew not, and he wrote the following words as though proceeding
from the pen of Apollonius himself: "I know well how good a thing it is
to regard all the world as my home, and all mankind as my brethren
and friends; for we are all of the same divine race, and have all one
Father."

Then, looking up from the papyrus, he murmured to himself: "From such
a point of view as this Melissa might see in Caracalla a friend and a
brother. If only now it were possible to rouse the conscience of that
imperial criminal!"

He took up the written sheet on which he had begun a dissertation as to
what conscience is, as exerting a choice between good and evil. He had
written: "Understanding governs what we purpose; consciousness governs
what our understanding resolves upon. Hence, if our understanding choose
the good, consciousness is satisfied."

How flat it sounded! It could have no effect in that form.

Melissa had confessed with far greater warmth what her feelings had been
after she had sacrificed for the suffering