and rural happiness, seems to promise a not far distant shore. Demodocus himself is encouraged by the project of Eudorus; without thinking of the painful separation, he beholds at the moment the only means of protecting his beloved daughter: he would himself accompany her to the extremities of the earth, did not his age and his pontifical duties attach him to the soil of Greece.

"Well," said Lasthenes, "let the will of God be accomplished! Demodocus will conduct Cymodocea to Athens; Eudorus will repair to the same place. They will embark at the same moment and from the same port, the one for Rome, the other for Syria. O my children, the period of trial is of short duration, and passes away as a rapid courier! Be faithful Christians, and you will never want the protection of your God."

Fearful of some new attempt on the part of the pro-consul, the next day was fixed for their departure. Previous to his leaving Lacedæmon, Eudorus wrote to Cyrillus, that he would not be able to visit him in his prison. The confessor, accustomed to chains, sent from his dungeon his blessing to the persecuted couple. "My beloved young friends, you may yet hope to enjoy happiness upon the earth; the chorus of virgins and of martyrs have already commenced for you in heaven the song of a more durable union-of a felicity without end!"

THE ARGUMENT.

Athens. Separation of Cymodocea, Eudorus and Demodocus. Cymodocea embarks with Dorotheus for Joppa. Eudorus at the same time sails for Ostia. The Mother of the Saviour despatches Gabriel to the Angel of the seas. Eudorus arrives at Rome. He finds the senate about to assemble for the purpose of determining the fate of the Christians. He is chosen to plead their cause. Hierocles arrives at Rome: the sophists commit to him the defence of their cause, and the accusation of the Christians. Symmachus, priest of Jupiter, is to address the senate in favour of the ancient gods of the country.

BOOK XV.

MOUNTED upon a Thessalian courser, and attended by a single servant, the son of Lasthenes left Lacedæmon; he directed his course towards Argos, by the way of the mountain. Religion and love filled his soul with generous resolutions. God, who was about to raise him to the highest degree of glory, conducted him to those sublime spectacles, which teach us to look with contempt upon the things of earth. Whilst wandering on the parched summits of the mountain, Eudorus trode on the patrimony of the King of Kings. During three days he pressed the sides of his steed, and then rested a moment at Argos. All those scenes which once resounded with the names of Hercules, of Pelops, of Clytemnestra, of Iphigenia, now exhibited but silent ruins. He saw the solitary gates of Mycena and the neglected tomb of Agamemnon: at Corinth he sought for those places only where the voice of the Apostle had been heard. Whilst traversing the depopulated Isthmus, he recalled to mind the games

sung by Pindar,* which partook in some degree, of the splendour and omnipotence of the gods; at Megæra he searched for the hearth of his ancestor who collected the ashes of Phocion.t Eleusis was a desert; and in the canal of Salamis, a single fishing smack was tied to the stones of a ruined pier. But when, pursuing his route along the Sacred-Way, the son of Lasthenes had reached the summit of mount Pæcile, and the plain of Attica presented itself to his view, he stopped, filled with admiration and surprise: the citadel of Athens, elegantly constructed in the form of a pedestal, seemed to bear up the temple of Minerva and the Propylæa to the skies: the city extended itself at its base, and exhibited the scattered columns of a thousand other monuments. Mount Hymettus formed the back ground of the

* Pindar flourished about the year 400 B. C. He was educated under the celebrated Corinna, in competition with whom he was five times defeated, and the prize of poesy adjudged to his fair rival and instructress. In the public assemblies, however, where females were not permitted to contend, he was always victorious. The subject of his songs were generally the victors at the Olympic, and other games : at least these are his only productions which have come down to us. They are written with wonderful strength, fire and sublimity, and have been happily translated into English by Mr. West. Pindar died at the advanced age of 86, about 435 B. C.

+ See note, vol. i, p. 97, supra.

picture, and a wood of olive-trees environed the city of Minerva.*

Eudorus crosses the Cephisus, which flows through this sacred wood; he inquires the road to the gardens of the Academy; tombs point the way to that retreat of philosophy. He recognizes the funeral stones of Thrasybulus, of Conon, of Timotheus; he salutes the sepulchres of

* Athens was first called Cecropia, in honour of its founder Cecrops, but its name was afterwards changed for that of Athenæ; the occasion of which change is stated as follows. Minerva and Neptune each contended for the right of giving name to the city of Cecrops, upon which the gods decided, that this privilege should be granted to the one who gave the most valuable present to the inhabitants. Neptune struck the ground with his trident, and immediately a horse issued from the earth; Minerva produced the olive, and obtained the victory by the unanimous decision of the gods, who observed that the olive, being the emblem of peace was far preferable to the horse, the symbol of war and bloodshed. Minerva called the city by her Grecian name, Adnın, and was ever after considered as its peculiar patroness. This event is said to have taken place about 1397 B. C.

†The Academy, or Academia, was a place about six stadia, or three-quarters of a mile from Athens, chosen by Plato as the scene of his instructions. It was so called from Academus, or Hecademus, who bequeathed it to the Athenians as a place of exercise and recreation. It was greatly adorned by Cimon, and became one of the most common places of resort for the philosophers of those days: and hence the name has been applied to all societies for the promotion of literature and science. See Anach. Trav. v. i, p. 103.