CHAPTER II.

TO US A CHILD IS BORN: TO US A SON IS GIVEN.

The family resident at the Libyan farm-house consisted of only the swarthy Egyptian Ammonius; his young wife Arete, who, although an Egyptian, had somehow acquired a purely Greek name, a fact which indicated vast influence that the great Grecian city of Alexandria had long exerted over Egypt; and an old female domestic that had belonged to Arete's mother during even her girlhood, and was called Thopt, the abbreviation of some ancient Coptic name, the letters of which still served to point out the fact that in her infancy she had been dedicated to the service of some one of the gods of the Nile.

The tropical sun was just rising along the Libyan coasts, when old Thopt came into the apartment in which sat Ammonius awaiting news of his wife, bearing in her arms a creature that was swaddled up in such innumerable bandages that it looked like a new and diminutive mummy, and, presenting this pygmy to the father, the old woman said: "It is a man-child, and a fine one! But he hath a forehead like a ram."

And Ammonius carefully but awkwardly took the parcel into his own hands, and looked upon it with curious emotion, whereupon the manikin began to cry so suddenly and vigorously that Ammonius would have let it drop upon the floor if old Thopt had not seized it just as the lapse began.

"How fareth the little man's mother?" said he, "and may I not go in to see her immediately?"

"She rallieth from her trial wonderfully," answered old Thopt, "and even now inquireth after thee."

And the great, rough, swarthy man went into his wife's room, and, bending over her, he kissed her with exceeding tenderness: "May the Lord help thee, mother," he said, "for thou art mother now, and doubly dear to me!"

"Bless thee, husband!" said Arete; "and remember that thou hast promised me that, if the babe should prove to be a boy, thou wouldst have him educated for the ministry of Christ. May the Lord raise him up for his own glory!"

"Amen!" replied Ammonius, fervently. "I did so promise thee, Arete, and will so do if the Lord will. Already our pleasant farm is so famous for its excellent cattle, that whereas I did call the house Baucalis because, when the wind bloweth from the east, the water runneth through the narrow entrance into the little bay, with a murmur like the gurgling of wine from a bottle, the neighbors call the place Boucalis because they say that no land in all Cyrenaica produceth more or better cattle. So, little mother, thou need not fear but that with the cattle and with shipments of corn to Alexandria, whence the merchants transport it unto Puteoli and Rome far across the sea, we shall be able to give thy boy all proper training to become a presbyter, or even a bishop, if he liveth and showeth a godly disposition."

"And thou wilt never let the love of gain, nor of worldly honors, grow upon thee until thou shalt repent thee of this purpose, and so determine that it would be better for the boy to betake himself to business affairs and acquire wealth rather than to serve God wholly?"

"Nay, verily," cried Ammonius; "for the matter lieth nearer to my heart than even thou knowest, Arete."

"For what reason, then, good husband?"

"I have often told thee, little mother, that I was a boy in a temple on the Nile, dedicated to Amun, or Ammon, as mine idolatrous name doth signify, and that at an early age I fled therefrom and betook myself to the river and to the sea, and did prosper so that I got first an interest in a ship, and afterward the sole ownership thereof, and made many long and prosperous voyages. I have told thee, also, in all details, how, on a voyage from Alexandria unto Italy, the storm drove us upon a rocky island where our destruction seemed imminent, until, while we all were momently expecting death, a quiet and almost unnoticed passenger, who had come from Antioch unto Alexandria and was journeying with us to Puteoli, did pray for us to Jesus Christ, and stilled the storm, and so saved the ship and all our lives. I have often told thee how this good Bishop of Antioch did lead me into the knowledge and love of Christ, and how I sold my ship and cargo, and gave one half of my property to the Church, that other Egyptians might be converted, and with the other moiety bought this farm, having known the pleasant coasts of Cyrenaica for many years; and then returned to Alexandria to bring thee hither that we might as stewards of the Lord manage this estate together. But I did not tell thee that when the bishop asked me whether I experienced any vocation for the preaching of the word, and I did tell the holy man that neither natural gifts nor education fitted me for that sacred calling, I did then vow to the Lord that if any son were given unto me I would teach him as far as I might be able to do in the love and learning of the gospel, and would send him unto Antioch to be more thoroughly instructed. So thou seest, dear little mother, that not only thine and mine own inclinations, but also mine obligation given unto God, bindeth me to bestow upon the boy all the teaching I can give unto him, and to afford to him every reasonable opportunity for greater learning. And I pray that he may escape the physical infirmity which, even more than the lack of learning, hath kept me from the public ministry of the word!"

"It is a strange and perplexing thing," laughed Arete, "and yet amusing. For all the Christians of our region rely upon thy strong good sense and modest learning in every private matter, whether of business or of religion; yet it seemeth so pitiful that, if thou standest upon thy feet to speak to any assembly, thou dost straightway begin to jerk and wriggle like a serpent, and to hiss and stammer so that thou canst not talk intelligibly, although thou hast more brains and learning than many who are eloquent."

"I long thought it to be my duty to try to overcome these physical defects, but, if at any time my heart is deeply moved, I can not talk, and it is useless to try it any more. We shall strive both by teaching and by prayer to train the boy better."

"Dost thou not remember, Ammonius, that evening in our boat upon the dear old Nile, what a distressful time thou didst endure in thine attempt to ask me to become thy wife?" And the little woman laughed and laughed until her eyes were full of happy tears.

"Yea," answered Ammonius, "nor indeed do I think that I did ever ask thee at all. I did, after many efforts, get thee to say what words thou wouldst have a man use who loved thee and wanted thee to be his wife, and all I could do was to cry out, 'I say that to thee, Arete--I say all that and more!' and in mine embarrassment verily I could utter nothing else!"

"But," laughed the little woman, "afterward I did make thee say the words over and over again, albeit I might almost as soon have trained a parrot to repeat them."

"But I trust thou hast never regretted the trouble thou didst take in teaching me how to court thee," said Ammonius.

"Nay, verily," she answered, "but I think it was the most amusing courtship that hath ever happened."

And, while husband and wife pleasantly conversed, old Thopt brought the child back to his mother, and announced that Christian women from other farms along the coast had come to offer their congratulations and any assistance that might be needed. It was singular to observe that while the adjacent country, from Apollonia to Cyrene, and all around, was settled by Egyptians, Greeks, Jews, and Romans, and while some women and girls of all of these nationalities, during the next few days, made visits of sympathy to the family at Baucalis, none came except those who were known to each other to be Christians, no matter what their nationality might be. Practically the faith of Jesus had broken down all ethnic, social, and political barriers among those who professed it; and the only class distinction which was recognized at all was between those who were Christians and those who were not. The persecution, which had begun seven years before under the Emperor Valerian, had raged in Libya as fiercely as in any portion of the Roman Empire, and, although intermittent in its character, there had quite recently been cruelties enough, extending in some instances to martyrdom, chiefly at the instigation of Jewish and pagan priests, to render it necessary for the Christians to conduct their religious rites and social intercourse with a certain degree of secrecy, and to preserve their ancient means of instantaneous recognition in constant use, so that, when a Christian might meet any one who was not familiarly known to him, an almost imperceptible sign served as a challenge by which he was instantly enabled to tell, without an inquiry or a spoken word, whether the stranger might be a Christian or not. Of course, if any one came who failed to recognize the sign, another movement, almost as imperceptible, served to warn all Christians present that there was one near them who did not profess their faith; so that there was little danger in their usual intercourse with each other or with their pagan neighbors.

On the eighth day after the birth of the boy, a few Christians assembled at the farm, and the services of a presbyter of Cyrene were procured. They first engaged in singing and in prayer, and then a portion of the gospel was read and the communion administered, after which the child was baptized. Preparatory to this ceremony there was quite a discussion among them as to the name by which the boy should be baptized, the young mother being desirous to call him by the name of some of the holy men who had suffered martyrdom for Jesus, or had otherwise become especially dear and honored throughout the Christian communities. To this the fatal objection was urged that such a selection of a name might arouse evil-minded neighbors to the fact that there were Christians among them, and so render the family unnecessarily and perhaps dangerously obnoxious to the malice of any who might ever harbor ill-will against them. Ammonius insisted upon calling the boy after the name of a Roman who had been his partner in the old sea-faring days, and whom he had highly esteemed, although he might be still a pagan so far as Ammonius knew; and so the child was finally christened "Arius."

"It is almost the Greek name of the god of war whom the heathen worship," said the presbyter.

"He shall be a warrior," answered Ammonius--"a soldier of Christ; and the military designation is not inappropriate."

"It is almost the name for a ram!" said another.

"I desire him to become the leader of a flock," said Ammonius, "and the name is well enough."

"It is almost the name of one of the signs of the zodiac," said another.

"I pray that the boy's thoughts and hopes may be fixed upon celestial things," said Ammonius, "and the name is well enough."

"It almost signifies that he shall be most lean and spare," said yet another.

"I would not desire him to look like a glutton or a drunkard," said Ammonius, "and surely the name is well enough."

"It may signify 'entreated' or 'supplicated,' or 'execrated,' or 'accursed,'" said the presbyter, "and is certainly a strange name."

"I would ever have him sought after by the good and hated by the evil," answered Ammonius, "and I will not change the name. Let him be called Arius. Besides," he added, "what is in a name? Mine own idolatrous name signifieth 'dedicated to Am-un,' yet I hope ye take me to be a Christian. I call the farm Baucalis, from the murmur of the waters on the garden shore, but ye call it Boucalis, because it breedeth good cattle. Arius!--what doth it matter whether it meaneth this or that? I know it for the name of an honorable man and faithful friend, and, if the boy become what I hope to see him, he shall make both the name Baucalis and Arius loved and honored by the faithful everywhere. If he turneth out ill, a prouder name might be disgraced by him; therefore let him be called Arius."

And so the babe was christened.

"I perceive," said the presbyter, after the religious services were ended and all of them partook of suitable refreshments and engaged in conversation, "that thou hast fixed thy heart upon having this child devoted unto the service of our Lord. It seemeth strange to me that, having such a pious desire for him, thou that art learned and intelligent hast never thyself sought to preach the gospel of our Lord!"

"I might truly have rejoiced so to do," answered Ammonius, "but that the python's influence prevented me."

"The python!" exclaimed the presbyter; "why, brother, what can the serpent have to do with thee?"

"This," replied Ammonius. "Some time before I came into the world, at Alexandria, to which great city strangers resort from the four quarters of the world even as unto imperial Rome, there came certain priests out of India to witness the ceremonies of a great festival in honor of a new Apis, and in their train certain jugglers who wrought various wonders, and carried with them immense pythons which they had charmed and rendered harmless. While my mother stood on the propylon of our house, watching the vast procession, one of the pythons, that had its tail entwined round the neck and body of an Indian passing below, suddenly sprang up out of its coil erect, and brandished its hideous head before my mother's face, so that she fainted thereat with terror. When I came into the world she was horrified at being able to trace out in the conformation of my head and face the similitude of the cobra; and with many prayers and offerings she had me early dedicated to Ammon, thinking that perchance the idol might remove the peculiarity of my features which made me loathsome in her sight by continually recalling the fearful image of the python. As I grew older, this conformation largely faded out, but all my life, whenever my feelings or passions are aroused, involuntary action of the muscles runneth from the feet upward, and maketh me to writhe like a serpent, and throweth a sibilant sharpness into my voice, so that anything like public speaking is well-nigh impossible to me; and I am compelled to master all emotions and to preserve a perfect serenity of mind, in order to avoid this serpentine appearance which is distressful to some and fearful unto others, and am compelled to speak in the slow, methodical manner thou hearest. But for this affliction, I would gladly have entered into the public service of the Master. God grant that my boy inherit not this strange malady! Pray thou for him."

"Yea, most gladly and earnestly will I," said the presbyter. "But repine thou not, my brother; for, although thou preachest not publicly, thy godly walk and conversation are a living sermon, which all who know thee must ponder with delight and edification."

And afterward the presbyter departed, and all who had attended the service went each one his own way, with sincerest benedictions upon the little family of Baucalis, and warmest sympathy with the earnest desire of the parents that their babe might live and grow up to be a minister of Christ.