nd shouted joyously. It fanned the cheek of the pale student,
as he paced the lonely grove in silent meditation, and lightly touched
the troubled brow of the orator as he took his way to the forum. It
wooed the captive, in his cell, to dream of freedom and
long-remembered home. In the streets were heard quick footsteps, and
loud, merry voices. Traffic went on in the crowded mart, and pleasure
was pursued in the luxurious halls of the noble. Here, flower-crowned
guests reclined at the banquet, listening to sweet music, while yonder
the squalid miser counted his gold, and there a fair young mother
smiled upon her children. Just the same passions crowded into human
hearts that day, just the same delusions were followed, the same
pleasures felt, arid the same griefs deplored on that bright day in
Imperial Rome, as now agitate, or delight, or torture us who have
beheld that great city a living tomb.

While all this went on in the fresh air and sunshine of a summer-day,
far down, beneath the earth which upheld the city, were other and
sadder sights. In those terrible caverns, which run in veins of
darkness under its foundations, which travelers now fearfully explore
by torch-light, human beings, guilty of no crime but that of bearing
the name of Christians, were shut up, expecting, hoping no release
until summoned to a frightful death. In a solitary cell, small, damp
and noisome, lighted by a dim lamp, an aged man sat alone. It is easy
to picture to ourselves the hideous gloom, the walls sweating
unwholesome vapors, the oppressive thickness of the air, never stirred
by a fresh breath from heaven, the jar of water and mouldy crust, the
miserable garments, the pallid face and emaciated form of a prisoner
in such a place. It is less easy to guess what might be the thoughts
of one sitting there in expectation of an instant summons to
execution. More than seventy years had laid their weight upon him. His
hair was quite white, but his eye was bright and beaming, his whole
countenance informed with a noble, thoughtful expression, and
beautified, despite of man's cruelty, with benevolence. It was plainly
to be seen that only the outer tabernacle of the spirit was suffering
and declining, while that within was burning brighter and higher as
the mortal part drew toward extinction. He knows that his days are
numbered, but he meditates peacefully on the change which awaits him.
He knows that his death will be painful and ignominious, but