Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1897-03-18
LIES SECRET.
From the C0rnhill Magazine. An abridged
version by Ella VI. Tuck ny per
mission Of the ruthOrl

mission Of the ruthor9
Caius Stepinlus CHINA was Roman
patrician. He had passed his youth IN
the midst of the legions. sharing their
difficult life. Later he had returned
TO Rome to enjoy his fame, and taste
all the pleasures he could procure with
his still large. though already dlmln-
ished fortune.
Although not belonging 10 the school
of scenrics. his life was one long act
of scepticism- He did not understand
the true Epicurean doctrine but for
that very reason he liked TO proclaim
himself an Epicurean- As whole, he
considered philosophy only sort of in
tellectual exercise. Whenever discus
sion annoyed him he went to the circus
to see blood flow.
He denied all faith in the gods, virtue
truth. and happiness, but he believed
in omens; he had his superstitions, and
the mysterious religions of the far East
aroused his curiosity.
During the first years of his worldly
life it amused him 10 astonlsh Rome
bv his excesses. and sometimes he sue
ceeded; later on he tired of this kind OF
success
Finally he became ruined. His cred
itors divided the remains OF his fortune
and nothing was left TO him but an
overwhelming apathy, safety of every
thing. and curious feeling of perpet-
nal unrest. Nothing had remained I'M
known to him. He had exhausted the
| resources of wealth. of love (such "a the
world then understood it,, earthly joys
| military glory, the fascination OF dan
| ger: he had studied all within the pow
er Of man-sc scieuce, poetry, and art.
| He could there fore only conclude that
| he had drawn from life all its secrets,
and vet he had the feeling that there
| existed in reality something else, and
! that thing. the most important OF all,
had escaped him
| What was it, that which he did not
know. and tried 50 desperately, but in
vain. to discover? This besetting
thought pursued him. He drove 1t
away; it returned without fail, and his
inward trouble increased daily. he
envied sceptics their unbelief, and,
neverless, he considered them fools that
they did not dare to seek after truth.
In kin were two men-one who laugh
| ed at his hopes of future; the other
| who imperiously demanded to be salts
fed
Soon after the loss of his fortune he
was enabled. thanks to family influence
| To obtain, employment in Alexandra.
It was hoped in the centre of wealth,
| he would be able TO arrange his affairs.
His distressing thoughts embarked
with him at Brindisi and followed him
during all the voyage He told himself
once in Alexandria, amongst other sur
roundings, distracted by his business,
bv a. thousand new impressions, he
would be cured of his fixed idea, but IN
this he was mistaken
| At first he tried to distract himself by
adopting the kind of life he had led II
II
| pleasure At every step one met beau
tiful Grecian women with pale golden
hair. sand transparent skin that tht
Egyptian sun had darkened to an amber
shade Chinna took refuge ~ then
| society to find consolation.
| But this remedy also failed, and theI
he contemplated suicide. Several oi
his companions had rid themselves oi
the trouble of living by his means, anc
| for less serious motives than he could
plead. simply through disgust OF life
weariness Of its pleasures. And how
He had only to throw himself on hi;
sword, and if the hand that held it die
not tremble in moment he would b'
DO more. The thought of escaping st
easily from all his troubles seized hi!
imagination, but at tho critical mo
ment strange dream stopped him.
He dreamed he had crossed the bank'
-. -.-A----34-r-------A aA---~ ->r~r.~>-.--
| shore he saw his own evil spirit in th'
| shape of a slave in rags, who leaning
! toward him cried II have only pre-
| ceded thee that / may seize thee again
For the first time CHINA knew fear
He understood, by the terror that over
whelmed him, that all is not ended by
death, and he shrank hack Mortified be
/ lOIt llit SDlfliltl VI hOIIDs n
last he decided to meet the sages wht
were assembled in the Serapeum. They
perhaps, might solve the mystery fol
him.
The chief among the sages Of Alex
andria was Timon of Athens, a grea
man and Roman citizen. He had re
sided for many years in Alexandris
with the object of searching into the
mysteries of Egyptian science. 1t wa:
said of him that there was not docu
ment nor a papyrus in the library thai
he had not examined, and that he wa;
possessed Of all human knowledge. He
was besides this kind and amiablt
| disposition CHINA soon discovered
him among the crowd of dried-up ped
ants and commentators and made his
acquaintance, which sympathy soon
ripeped into friendship. What the
,young Roman admired in the old mar
was the force Of his words, the elo
quence with which he discussed the
highest subjects those which treated
Of the destiny Of man and Of the world
but what struck him the most was the
inexpressible sadness which pervaded
all his teachings The more they got
to now each other, the greater became
Cinna's wish to ask his new friend the
cause Of his sadness. He thirsted also
TO open his own heart TO him At last
he decided 10 speak
| One evening, at the end OF an ami.
mated discussion upon the transmigra-
ton Of souls, they were left alone upon
the terrace looking over the sea. CHINA
putting his hand in Timon's, revealed
to him all the trouble that overwhelm-
ed him, and the still unrealized hope
that had induced him to jo in the phi
lcsopher- Of the Serapeum.
/ have had, nevertheless, the price
less gain of knowing thee, Timon, and
am convinced now that if thou art
unable TO give me comfort in my
| trouble il is forever incurable.
is it not true that for some time
past thou hast not believed in the
| gods?' Ask Timon.
"At Rome" CHINA said, they are
honored publicly, and have even i'm
ported new ones from Asia and Egypt;
but the only people who believe in their
| hearts, are the vegetable sellers who
come at daybreak from the country to
| the town
| And do those, CHINA, possess peaceY'
/ Doubtless, but a peace resembling
| that of an animal, whose only desire is
| to sleep after eating
Truly, noble CHINA, and IS life worth
living for thatf'
II should say no if ] knew what
death would bring us. -
| We'll then, what is the difference
between thy doctrine and that Of the
scepticsr"
THE sceptics are satisfied in their
unbelicf anyhow pretend TO be satisf
Il n