ich
withdrew their votaries from the public ceremonial. The Catholic faith
seemed to the multitude to be one of these; it was only in critical times,
when some idolatrous act was insisted on by the magistrate, that the
specific nature of Christianity was tested and detected. Then at length it
was seen to differ from all other religious varieties by that irrational
and disgusting obstinacy, as it was felt to be, which had rather suffer
torments and lose life than submit to some graceful, or touching, or at
least trifling observance which the tradition of ages had sanctioned.

CHAPTER III.

AGELLIUS IN HIS COTTAGE.

The cottage for which Agellius was making, when last we had sight of him,
was a small brick house consisting of one room, with a loft over it, and a
kitchen on the side, not very unlike that holy habitation which once
contained the Eternal Word in human form with His Virgin Mother, and
Joseph, their guardian. It was situated on the declivity of the hill, and,
unlike the gardens of Italy, the space before it was ornamented with a
plot of turf. A noble palm on one side, in spite of its distance from the
water, and a group of orange-trees on the other, formed a foreground to
the rich landscape which was described in our opening chapter. The borders
and beds were gay with the lily, the bacchar, amber-coloured and purple,
the golden abrotomus, the red chelidonium, and the variegated iris.
Against the wall of the house were trained pomegranates, with their
crimson blossoms, the star-like pothos or jessamine, and the symbolical
passionflower, which well became a Christian dwelling.

And it was an intimation of what would be found within; for on one side of
the room was rudely painted a red cross, with doves about it, as is found
in early Christian shrines to this day. So long had been the peace of the
Church, that the tradition of persecution seemed to have been lost; and
Christians allowed themselves in the profession of their faith at home,
cautious as they might be in public places; as freely as now in England,
where we do not scruple to raise crucifixes within our churches and
houses, though we shrink from doing so within sight of the hundred cabs
and omnibuses which rattle past them. Under the cross were two or three
pictures, or rather sketches. In the centre stood the Blessed Virgin with
hands spread out in prayer, attended by the holy Apost