"When Consuelo had spoken, Spartacus paid his homage to Trismegistus, and besought him to grant him light, telling him all he had suffered, studied, and thought; and then knelt as if enchanted at the Zingara's feet. I hardly dare to tell what passed in my mind. The Zingara was certainly old enough to be my mother, yet I cannot describe the charm that radiated from her brow. In spite of my respect for her husband, and the horror with which the mere idea of forgetting it would have filled me, I felt my whole soul enthralled by an enthusiasm with which neither the splendor of youth nor the prestige of luxury have ever inspired me. May I meet with one like her, to whom I can devote my life! I can scarcely hope so, however; and now that I never shall have her, there is a despair in my heart, as if it had been announced that I could love no one else.
"La Zingara did not even notice me. She looked at Spartacus, and was struck with his ardent and sincere language. Trismegistus also was touched, and clasped the master's hand, making him sit on the rock behind him.
"'Young man,' said he, 'you have awakened all the ideas of my life. I fancied I heard myself speaking as I was wont when of your age, and asked men of your experience for the knowledge of virtue. I had resolved to tell you nothing. I distrusted not your mind and honesty, but the purity of the flame in your bosom. I did not feel able to describe in a tongue I once spoke, the ideas I have accustomed myself to express by poetry, art, and sentiment; but your faith has triumphed, has accomplished a miracle, and I feel that I must speak. Yes,' added he, after having gazed at Spartacus in silence for a moment, which to me seemed a century, 'yes, now I know you. I have seen you, and with you I have loved and toiled, in some phase of my anterior life. Your name among men was great, but I do not remember it. I only remember your look, your glance, your soul, from which mine has detached itself, not without a great effort. Now, I am better able to read the future than the past, and future centuries often appear to me as clear as the present time. Be assured you will be great, and accomplish great things. You will, however, be blamed, accused, censured, and calumniated. My idea, however, will sustain you, under a thousand forms, until it shall inflict the last blow on social and religious despotism. Yes, you are right in looking into society for your rule of life. You obey your destiny, or rather your inspiration. This cheers me. This I felt when I heard you, and this you contrived to communicate to me, which proves the reality of your mission. Toil, then, act and labor. Heaven has made you the organ of destruction. Destroy and discuss. Faith is as necessary for the destruction as for the erection of edifices. I left a path into which you have voluntarily entered, for I thought it bad. If it were, it was the result of accident. I have spoken to the poor, to the weak, to the oppressed, under the form of art and poetry, which they instinctively understand and love. It is possible that I have been too distrustful of the kindly feelings which yet animate men of power and learning. For a long time I have not known them, having been disgusted with their impious skepticism and yet more impious superstition. I left them with disgust, to look for the pure of heart. Obey—obey the breath of the spirit!—continue to aggrandize our work. Gather up the arms we have yet on the battle-field! Do not leave them perchance, to strengthen the force of the enemy, or thus we may be conquered.'
"Then Spartacus and the divine old man began a conversation which I will never forget. In the course of it, Rudolstadt, who had at first been unwilling to speak, except in music, as Orpheus did of yore—this artist, who had for a long time abandoned logic and reason for the sentiment of the soul—this man whom popular judges had stigmatised as mad—without effort, as if by inspiration, at once became the most reasonable of philosophers, and in his precepts he illuminated the part of true knowledge and wisdom. Spartacus exhibited all the ardor of his soul. One was a complete man, with every faculty in unison; the other a neophyte, abounding in enthusiasm. I remembered a gospel analogy of this scene—Jesus, with Moses and the prophets, on the mountain.
"'Yes,' said Spartacus, 'I feel that I have a mission. I have been in contact with those who rule the world, and have become aware of their ignorance and hard-heartedness. How beautiful is life! How beautiful are nature and humanity! I wept when I saw myself and my brethren, created by the divine hand for nobler uses, enslaved by such wretches. After having cried like a woman, I said to myself, "What prevents me from loosing their fetters and setting them free?" After a period of solitary reflection, however, I concluded that to live is not to be free. Man was not made to live alone. He cannot live without a purpose; and I said—I am yet a slave—let me deliver my brothers. I found noble hearts who associated with me, and they called me SPARTACUS.'"
"'I was right when I said you would destroy,' said the old man. 'Spartacus was a revolted slave. That matters not. Again, organise to destroy. Let a secret society be formed to crush the power of existing iniquity. If, however, you would have that body strong and efficacious, infuse in it as many living, eternal truths as possible, that it may first level the fabric of error, to raise on its ruins the structure of charity, love, and gospel faith. To destroy, it must exist; all life being positive.'
"'I understand your meaning. You would restrict my mission; but, be it little or great, I accept it.'
"'All in the counsels of God is great. Let this one idea be to you a rule of conduct—"Nothing is lost!" The divine equilibrium is mathematical; and in the crucible of the great chemist every atom is exactly computed.'
"'Since you approve of my designs, show me the way to put them into action. How must I influence men? Must their imagination be appealed to? Must I take advantage of their weakness and inclination for the wonderful? You have seen how much good can be done by holding forth the wonderful.'
"'Yes; but I have also seen the evil. If you be wise, you will adapt your action to the age in which we live.'