gan to tear his hair. "O
Cornelius!" he continued, "if you can do anything for us! Oh! she shall
sing and dance to you; she shall come and kneel down to you, and embrace
your knees, and kiss your feet, as I do, Cornelius!" and he knelt down,
and would have taken hold of Cornelius's beard.

Cornelius had never been addressed with so poetical a ceremonial, which
nevertheless he received with awkwardness indeed, but with satisfaction.
"I hear from you," he said with pomposity, "that your sister is in prison
on suspicion of Christianity. The case is a simple one. Let her swear by
the genius of the Emperor, and she is free; let her refuse it, and the law
must take its course," and he made a slight bow.

"Well, but she is under a delusion," persisted Aristo, "which cannot last
long. She says distinctly that she is _not_ a Christian, is not that
decisive? but then she won't burn incense; she won't swear by Rome. She
tells me she does not _believe_ in Jupiter, nor I; can anything be more
senseless? It is the act of a mad woman. I say, 'My girl, the question is,
Are you to be brought to shame? are you to die by the public sword? die in
torments?' Oh, I shall go mad as well as she!" he screamed out. "She was
so clever, so witty, so sprightly, so imaginative, so versatile! why,
there's nothing she couldn't do. She could model, paint, play on the lyre,
sing, act. She could work with the needle, she could embroider. She made
this girdle for me. It's all that Agellius, it's Agellius. I beg your
pardon, Jucundus; but it is;" and he threw himself on the ground, and
rolled in the dust.

"I have been telling our young friend," said Jucundus to Cornelius, "to
exert self-control, and to recollect Menander, 'Ne quid nimis.' Grieving
does no good; but these young fellows, it's no use at all speaking to
them. Do you think you could do anything for us, Cornelius?"

"Why," answered Cornelius, "since I have been here, I have fallen in with
a very sensible man, and a man of remarkably sound political opinions. He
has a great reputation, he is called Polemo, and is one of the professors
at the Mercury. He seems to me to go to the root of these subjects, and
I'm surprised how well we agreed. He's a Greek, as well as this young
gentleman's sister. I should recommend him to go to Polemo; if any one
could disabuse her mind, it is he."

"True, true," cried Aristo, starting up, "but, no, _you_ can do it better;
you have power with the government. Th