The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1921-04-01

sfa.s4ss
e,ans and Greeks from all quarte,
- the eastern Mediterranean cou,u
~ nor forget that they had once Deen any ,ns
~ s"st 81 Of Egypt. Constant eonhics
mas. !. ., s.reats between the partlsans q
a = side laid a fitting scene lur
charles Klngsley's religious phiiosopn
IL historical melodraI1la.
y cyriI. bishop and later saint Is nom nom.
,nsI1v the leader Of the pattlns
cbnrchmen of the tale the great Aus
a u,, and the phllosophic Synesius.
ssatons both are minor personages OF
tbe drama, with many other pass,ns
aouyes of the church, but the ieau,ns
ahoracter from that side Is the numDie
ph,Iammon the young boy OF the mon
astery III the desert, who makes "
way in the simplicity OF ms zeai y
.hrave the world, the flesh, and the dev-
q where so many other monks OF nc
t,on nave found that interesting TRAD
reening headquarters at Aiexanulia.
the city was ruled by 0restes' so Tar
as any project could rule the unruis
cosmonolis. a worldly and elusive per-
SON who. not satisfled with the trou-
HES already at hand, would conspire
q erect an empire of Africa out OF
The difficulties of Rome and Constan-
tlnople, and to crown as his empress
Hypatia. idealist, mathematician neo-
plotonist. lender and teacher OF What
remained of Greek philosophy as a Nv.
mo force. Under Hypatia's sway fell
the young Philammon by reason Oh
her beauty. her power Of speech, ana
the inherited appeal Of philosophy =
ono whose ancestry was Athenlan. An
appeal Of another sort came TO MN
from Pelagia, dancer and beauty, OAR
ling of the city In general and 81 IN
diyiduals in particular. To the charm
Of Hypatia yielded not only the world
" prefect and the simple monk, put
the most interesting figure Of the
story, Raphael-Aben-Ezra, DESCENDED
from the blood Of Solomon, rich, lazy,
and selfish to all appearance, but the
| personage in whose soul and MIND
was surging most violently the strug-
gle and conflict which is the keynote
of the book. Should the traditions or
Jewry. the lure of Greek philosophy,
the charm Of pleasant II tumultuous
world, or the power Of Christianity
conquer in him? In his apparently
easy going way through existence, ne
I was measuring what every phase OF
that seething cauIdron had to offer as
solution for the problems which a
human soul has to ponder for its own
salvation. 1t took him long to decide,
/ and it was only by the ministrations
/ of Augustine and Synesius and the liv-
ing example of Victoria that he final
| ly found in Christianity the truly dem.
ocratic creed by which the world could
best live.
| Struggle and strife of soul or body
-Phllammon's yearning to see more
of the world than the monastery in
the desert; his enthrallment by the
charm Of Hypatia's beauty and hel
learning; Cyril's struggles by militant
means toward a spiritual end; Ores
tes' to win an empire; Pelagia's II
win love; Raphael to find the truth
|, the conflict between old thought ant
new; and as the climax, the confiic
and the end in Hypatia's case:
"Yes, on into the church itself Int
the cool, dim shadow, with its frettet
pillars, and towering domes, and can
dies, and incense and blazing altar
and great pictures, looking from tn
walls athwart the gorgeous gloom
And right in front, above the altar
the colossal Christ watching unmove,
from off the wall, his right hand raise,
. to give a blessing-or a curse?
ION, up the nave, fresh shreds O
her dress strewing the holy pavement
up the chancel steps themselves-u
to the altar-right underneath tn,
great, still Christ; and there eve
those hell hounds paused.
she shook herself free from he
tormentors, and springing back, ros
for one moment to her full heigh
naked, snow white against the dusk
mass around, shame and indignatio
In those wide, clear eyes, but not
stain of fear. With one hand sh
clasped her golden locks around her
the other long. white arm wa
stretched upward toward the gre,
still Christ, appealing-and who da,
! say in vainf-from man to God. II,
lips were opened to speak; but ii
words that should have come fro,
them reached Gods ears alone: for
E an instant they struck her down. Il
dark mass closed over her again-.ar
then wall on wall, ear-piercing, rar
along the vaulted roofs, and thrillt
: IKE the trumpet of avenging ange
through Philammon's ears"
i Copyright, 1918, by the POST p,,.n,h,,