The more prominent leaders in the sedition had been gathered in, and were to await his persuasive tactics to force their sworn renunciation of the New Faith, and blasphemy of its prophet. Failing in this, adequate punishment would be meted out under his direction, and at his convenience. He felt a peculiar pride that he had the honor of being the chief instrument in the hands of the God of Israel to correct, not only religious, but political transgression. Among the circle at the inn, he was received as a hero and public benefactor. Cassia bestowed her congratulation, and was delighted with his campaign of persecution.
“O my devoted Saulus! thou art a brave leader, chosen of the Lord to defend our people and punish their enemies.”
“Thy words are sweet unto me,” replied Saulus, as they seated themselves in a secluded recess of the court, while the twilight fell upon them. He put his arm around her light form, and drew her close by his side. She was very happy. During a few moments of silence, her heart was so full of golden dreams of the future, that she wished she might look in and behold it, as in a mirror. The music of fancy, unheard without, filled her soul with melody; and amid stirring scenes, her lover was before her day and night. The embrace of his arm tightened, and she nestled her head upon his shoulder. Saulus was transported to a new world as he felt her silken locks and warm breath upon his cheek, and for a little time he forgot persecutions and prisons. Following the swift flight of his imagination, he saw before him, not only his complete triumph in the contest he was waging, but a heaven upon earth, soon to begin, with the full fruition of his love, and the possession of the idol which for years had ruled his heart.
That wonderful intensity of nature which made Saulus a fiery persecutor rendered him a most ardent lover. There was nothing commonplace or mediocre within him. The whole fabric of his character was woven of extremes, all of which were in unceasing vibration.
Would the love of Saulus, now so exclusively centred upon one personality with the intensity of a white heat, ever become broadened, purified, disciplined, and diffused? Could this stream of soul-force, now so narrow and vehement, ever spread out, and in gentle volume nourish barren brown fields, clothe them with living green, and make them bud and blossom? No! says the [pg 219]world. Impossible! replies sensuous logic and intellectual acumen. “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?”
The persecution, now so thoroughly inaugurated, raged with unabated ferocity. Dark and cruel weeks dragged their weary course into months, and the cry of martyrs was unceasing. But the heroism of the disciples of the New Faith was a marvel. Under the inquisition of Saulus, men and women were scourged, buffeted, put in confinement, and stoned; and though a few recanted, nearly all were faithful. The courage and spiritual inspiration which had possessed Stephanos continued, and in many cases even stoning to death produced only painless transition. The prisoners healed each other’s distresses, and often the persecutors themselves received from their victims some of the outward fruits of the power of the New Faith. But the bigoted inquisitors seemed possessed of a collective insanity or demoniacal obsession, outbreaking waves of which abound in history.
It would be discordant to the purpose and philosophy which these pages aim to express through depicted events to enlarge upon this period. A tragic story of terrible things that abounded during this spell of unloosed animal passion might be dramatized, which would be well within the limits of the admitted facts of history.[7] The theory that a realism which plunges into the [pg 220]depths of harrowing circumstance is either wholesome or artistic will not here be followed. It is true that every tale built upon the principles of idealism, and the portrayal of idealistic character, cannot do without a setting and background of contrasts which will bring truth into high relief, but the dark shades should be kept in subordination.
At length the time came when the New Faith, like a smothered and beaten conflagration, appeared to be thor[pg 221]oughly stamped out in Jerusalem. Every suspected house had been visited, and every implicated man or woman tortured or imprisoned, except such as had fled to remote provinces, which were not a few. But Saulus was not content with the complete conquest of the Jewish capital. Finding that some had slipped from his grasp, he began, like Alexander, to look about for other worlds to conquer. Being informed that a few had fled to Damascus, and were there promulgating the heresy, he made ready for an expedition to that city, and received from the Sanhedrin the necessary authority and equipment.
The terrible strain of conflicting emotion and surging passion which had rent the soul of Saulus, fearfully told upon him. His haggard face, nervous unrest, sleepless nights, and hellish visions, produced an epileptic condition which appeared in the form of occasional paroxysms, and its scars were never afterwards fully removed. They were ever a “stake in the flesh.”
At times, during these feverish months of delirium, the scourgings of conscience were terrible. But the more desperate his torment, the more he hardened himself. Nightly visions of strange horror disquieted him. Often during the darkness, the sighs and groans of his victims echoed and re-echoed in his ears. He refused to be alone at night, and under plea of illness arranged for one of his comrades of the Inner Circle to share his apartment. His brief periods of strange relenting were not mentioned to his friends, and on no account would he have had Cassia suspect them. Each short interval of moral upheaval was followed by a more desperate deter[pg 222]mination to push the persecution. To have every nerve tense with a hot pursuit for his prey had peculiar charm, and yielded a thrill of delight to that part of his nature which he thought to be himself.