Fabiola : or, The church of the catacombs - Digital Repository Services

irith him. Of course the Christians had a still poorer opinion of
him, so that the unfortunate man was proscribed on all sides.
Lytli.-i felt li itionfor tin As she dis-
covered the cause of his melancholy, she addressed herself to
LTS1A
ippus, who usually sat on the stern of the vessel, writing
down the thoughts that occurred to him during the voyage. She
informed him of the sad state of Melissos, and begged his sympathy.
He sought to address him, spoke words of comfort to
him, and reminded him, thai even the prince of the Apostles
three times denied his Master. But also that this denial Peter
made good, by his redoubled zeal for Christ, and by his ac-
knowledgment to his Lord, after His resurrection, in the presence
of the Apostles three times, to love Him more than the
rest.*
Melissos replied in a hollow voice: 'I hope to be freed from
the wicked spirits, by a baptism in the sea," and in asullen man-
ner turned from the historian.
There was a Christian youth on board, who unmindful of the
heathens present, went through his religious duties without fear.
He was liked by all, not only on account of his wit but also for
his enchanting voice, with which he knew how to amuse every
one during the long voyage. He seemed to make a sad impression
on Melissos, and to awaken in him many remembrances of the
past. One morning the youth sat in the scuttle and began to
sing the following', whilst the sun was rising:
Night flees apace: lol now the ruddy dawn,
With rising sun, breaks sparkling Into morn.
O'er the blue sea shrill winds are whistling wild,
Whilst in the trim bark sails a lonely child.
Cheerful the boy plies well the ready oar;
*' I'll turn my helm for port on yonder shore,
Where golden spring glows warm, and gladsome May
Blooms without cease, and decks the glitt'ring bay."
"
But seel what nymph starts up, and from the rocke,
Trips on the wave, and shakes her fragrant locks?
Enchanting songs my soul with joy so move
That my young heart well nigh will break with love."
The heedless boy, though love and music mock,
Salutes the sprite, and scudding for the rock
Spreads all his sails, and steers with eager hand,
Then joyous sets his foot on Siren-land.
Whilst hnsh'd he bends to hear the warbling strain,
The deadly spell steals o'er his soul amain.
Holds him with charms bound fast to magic land,
And chains with joys unblest, his nerveless hand.
Rousing at last, and trembling with affright.
He sees his doom, and takes to rapid flight.
Seeks for his little bark, but seeks m vain:
The bark is gone, its planks bestrew the main!
The hapless boy sinks sobbing to a seat.
Beneath the rocks where foaming billows beat,
Casts o'er the sea his eyes, and wails unchecked,
And breaks his heart, as first his bark was wreck'd.
Watch then, O lonesome youth! and guard with care,
Lest to the Siren's Bong thou lend an ear,
And dire enchantments lure and love's pretence.
Thy fragile bark to wreck thine Innocence.!
The effect of this song on Melissos was remarkable and observed
by all. Night came on, and each one had retired to rest,
gave the helmsman and the Hortator, who stood on his elevation.
A dark figure crept along the deck till it reached the end of the
vessel, and began to talk aloud: "O Thou never-sleeping Protector
of the universe, lend me thine ear! Thou listenest to the
chirping cricket and providcst for it, and even the powerless
butterfly, that flutters from flower to flower, is an object of thy
tender care. Thou beholdest me also. lam the butterfly, that
should have ascended to yonder Paradise of delights, but whose
wings have been burnt off under dreadful torture, now I am but
a worm a miserable worm! I have lost faith and hope, the
wings of my soul! Bereft of these, I now crawl, a pitiful worm,
on the earth Man mocks me, and Thy Divinity will crush me.
*St John xxi 17.
Tlic transistor is indebted to the Itev. H. Palmer, O. 8. D. for putting the
above into proper metre.
Eternal God dost Thou still know me? I am an ohjcct of Thy
hatred and all Heaven must detest me! For whose love did I
oiler incense on the altar.- ( the gods, in whom I have D
On whom did 1 think, and who held me back in tin
I should have gained the crown? She who is now wandering
on the Asiatic shores, sleeplessly and anxiously watching for the.
sails that are to bring to her him she has so longed for! Site is
the Siren that took my heart and senses captive, and wrecked my
bark when steering foMhe land of the Saints! She is the slender
Roe that gnaws at the stem of my faith, and bites off the bark.
O! that death had pursued her, before she had annihilated my
virtue! And when I do arrive, she will no longer love, but curse
the cripple and the Atheist! "
"
O, seal O, sea! thy cool embrace, thy melodious song! Thy
liberating baptism! Dissolve this immortal being called soul,
and spread it over thy immeasurable waters. In foaming billows
will I then beat on the Asiatic shores, kiss her feet, and cool
her longing. Dissolve this immortal being, that it may rise on
high over thy surface as a mist, and as storm-whipped clouds in
myriads of drops, fall upon the locks and robes of my complaining
Syrinx!" And then he bent himself forward lower and
lower, and vanished in an instant.
The Hortator near the ship's lamp, was looking at tfie apostate
and said to the young Christian who had not yet retired:
" Listen to the Phrygian fool! He is declaiming a monologue."
" I did not observe him," replied the youth, and both looked
inquiringly towards the front rail, where he had been standing.
They lost sight of the stranger in the darkness of the night,
but on the waters they heard a gentle splashing, which ceased
by degrees.
"Help! help!" cried out a clear voice from the deck, " Melissos
has thrown himself into the sea, "and almost in the same mo
ment, the supple youth sprang into the rowboat, loosened it from
the ship, and made towards the drowning man. By ropes thrown
to the youth from above, Melissos was drawn up just as he was
He lay in the bottom of the boat, with-
on the point of sinking.
out showing the slightest sign of life. His pale features half
shrouded in his dripping hair, clearly portrayed the agony of
mind that drove him to the deed. The occurrence caused great
confusion. They looked upon the drowned man as a madman,
and complained of the imprudence of allowing him his liberty
among the passengers. Others expressed the suspicion that the
Christians, who did not seem to think much about htm, had
sacrificed him.
purposely
In the mean time, they left him lying there, and returned
again to rest. The deck cleared, and all restored to quiet, Lydia
came forward from the stern of the vessel, with uplifted luuuls;
she cast a sorrowful look around her, and wept and prayed.
' O if I had but followed the dictates of my heart! Had I but
sacrificed the least respect to the greater, you would not now lie
a victim here to our insensibility! Alas, why did we not save
thee! Almighty Father if still a spark of life be in him, fan it,
and give him back to Thy flock! It becomes Thee as the alt
Holy One to judge the sinner, but it becomes us to look upon
htm ai our brother, and to love him."
The moon rose clear, and the waves, as if naught had happened,
danced fondly in her beams. Flying fish rose from the
dark waters, saluted the splashing boat, and the sails of the ves-
sel, then fluttered a little higher, and sank again to
home.
their watery
An anxious feeling agitated the heart of Lydia. Nature
looked so peaceful, the body so pale, and the deed so dreadful.
Overwhelmed with anguish, she sank upon her cushion, and
throwing a veil over her face she began to reflect on the fate of
Melissos. Suddenly a ray of hope darted through her frame,
mild as the morning beam that kisses off the dew from the flower.
She rose and approached the body, which appeared to her as if
its posture had changed. "Good Father," she exclaims, "he
raises himself, he sinks his head upon his arm! Melissos, you re-
turn again to life!" "Yes," replied he, after a pause, and looking
round, "and again to hope." "No, all is not yet lost, I feel it