human
It is humility, pious and submissive faith, that I find you lack, my friend. Who, indeed, am I? But as the Vicar, the representative of Him before whom we all are as worms in the dust, I must insist that every man who calls himself a Christian, a Jacobite, shall submit to my will and orders, without hesitation or doubt, as obediently and unresistingly as though salvation or woe had fallen on him from above. What would become of us, if individuals were to take upon themselves to defy me and walk in their own way? In one miserable generation, and with the death of the elders who had grown up as true Christians, the doctrine of the Saviour would be extinct on the shores of the Nile, the crescent would rise in the place of the Cross, and our cry would go up to Heaven for so many lost souls. Learn, haughty youth, to bow humbly and submissively to the will of the Most High and of His vicar on earth, and let me show you, from your demeanor to myself especially, how far your own judgment is to be relied on. You regard me as your father's enemy?
gpt
Yes,
human
And I loved him as a brother! replied the patriarch in a softer voice.
gpt
How gladly would I have heaped his bier with palm branches of peace, such as the Church alone can grow, wet with my own tears!
human
And yet, cried Orion,
gpt
And that your father did! interrupted the old man.
human
Peace be to him! He is now, no doubt, gazing on the glory of the Lord. And nevertheless I could forbid the priesthood here showing him honor at the grave.--Why? For what urgent reason was such a prohibition spoken by a friend against a friend?
gpt
Because you wished to brand him, in the eyes of the world, as the man who lent his support to the unbelievers and helped them to victory,
human
How well the boy can read the thoughts of men! exclaimed the prelate, looking at the young man with approbation in which, however, there was some irony and annoyance.
gpt
Very good. We will assume that my object was to show the Christians of Memphis what fate awaits the man, who surrenders his country to the enemy and walks hand-in-hand with unbelievers? And may I not possibly have been right?
human
Do you suppose my father invited the Arabs?
gpt
No, Child, replied the patriarch,
human
And you, Orion went on,
gpt
It was revealed to me by the Lord! replied the old man, bowing his head reverently.
human
And yet other things were shown to me while I dwelt a devout ascetic, mortifying my flesh under the scorching sun of the desert. Beware my son, beware! Heed my warning, lest it should be fulfilled and the house of Menas vanish like clouds swept before the wind.--Your father, I know, regarded my prophecy as advice given by me to receive the infidels as the instrument of the Almighty and to support them in driving the Melchite oppressors out of the land.
gpt
Your prophecy, replied Orion,
human
I can guess its purport.
gpt
No, no! cried the excited youth; he hastily opened his father's desk, laid his hand at once on the wax tablet, and exclaimed:
human
This was his reply!
gpt
These Arabs, few as they are, are stronger and more powerful than we with all our numbers. One man of them is equal to a hundred of us, for they rush on death and love it better than life. Each of them presses to the front in battle, and they have no longing to return home and to their families. For every Christian they kill they look for a great reward in Heaven, and they say that the gates of Paradise open at once for those who fall in the fight. They have not a wish in this world beyond the satisfaction of their barest need of food and clothing. We, on the contrary, love life and dread death;--how can we stand against them? I tell you that I will not break the peace I have concluded with the Arabs. . . .
human
And what is the upshot of all this reply?
gpt
That my father found himself compelled to conclude a peace, and that-- but read on.--That as a wise man he was forced to ally himself with the foe.