  The day following, the shipwrecked company embark on a vessel that had wintered at Melita and sail for Puteoli. The islanders give Paul and his companions a grateful farewell of good wishes and of presents for their cheer. With Felix and Drusilla goes as a fresh addition to their train a Phrygian runaway slave whom Syrus, a young slave of Felix's, has befriended and has devised thus to get safely to Rome. Stephen is made confidant of this plan, and becoming interested in the runaway introduces him to Paul. The foot journey from Puteoli to Rome is accomplished, the approach to that city being made along the Appian Way. Various reflections are inspired in Paul by this experience and by the sight of the metropolis itself. At Rome, the Phrygian runaway slave goes to Paul's quarters, merged in the daily concourse that throngs thither to hear the gospel. Having been converted, he is encouraged by Paul to return to his master. This he finally does, carrying with him a letter from Paul. The result is, that the slave at the wish of the master comes joyfully back to Rome and devotes himself to the loving service of Paul. ARRIVAL. A trireme that had wintered in the isle— By stress of weather hindered in her way From Egypt to the shores of Italy— Refitted now was ready to pursue Her destined voyage to Puteoli. The master's thought had been to put to sea That selfsame day whose beamy morn beheld The meeting on the hill in Melita; But the centurion intervened to bid Delay the sailing yet another day: His mind was with his prisoners to embark Himself on that Egyptian ship for Rome; And, partly out of kindly complaisance Toward Paul, and partly from a sympathy Unconscious, or ashamed and unconfessed Of interest in the tale that Mary told, He would not let the purposes he knew Engaged the Christians for that morn be crossed. The morrow morn full early they put forth On a smooth sea beneath a smiling sky. Flowed to the quay with signals of farewell And blessing and with honors manifold Lavished on Paul and for Paul's sake on them That with him sailed; nor only eager words Brought they and tears of reverence and of love, But bounty in unbounded store of all Things needful to sustain those travellers' cheer. So, sail and oar, they steered for Syracuse; There for three days they tarried, and thence north Warping their way in variance with the wind Touched Rhegium where another day they bide. Then, the south blowing, they once more set sail And the next day attained Puteoli. Of those who sailed on that good ship for Rome Were Felix and Drusilla with their train; And their train was, by one addition, more Than when the shipwreck cast them on the isle. This was a slave, a Phrygian runaway, Out of ColossÆ strayed to Melita But in his wish and purpose aimed for Rome: He should be safely lost in multitude The shifty Syrus, fond of his device, And not without true kindness in his heart, Meeting the fugitive had befriended him. Onesimus—such name the bondman bore— He wisely warned that, wandering unattached And destitute (for spent long since was all He had in starting from his lord purloined), He advertised himself for what he was, A vagrant slave, and ran a needless risk. "Attach thyself," said Syrus, "to the train Of my lord Felix; I will manage it He shall receive thee; he delights in pomp And show as does Drusilla too his spouse, And they would gladly swell their retinue With one head more to make them great at Rome. This gets thee thither whither thou wouldst go; Once there, thou quittest at thine own good will Thy dear adoptive master's service—no Exchanges of farewells betwixt you twain— And hast thy freedom, safe of course from him, Lord Felix, who will have no claim on thee, And well removed from fear of thine own lord." He added in pathetic humor half: And hast perhaps some small peculium gained, And in turn help who freely now helps thee." Onesimus, so doing as Syrus planned His part, was reckoned of lord Felix slave, And on that vessel sailed with him to Rome. Now that which Syrus had, on Stephen's behalf And on EunicÉ's, done and dared, the day That Felix in his lust threatened to them In his own house in Melita such harm— This, Stephen in time had come to know; nor ceased Thenceforth to wish that he might recompense In some kind to the bondman his good will. His grateful wish Stephen had signified To Syrus, which emboldened him in turn To make the Hebrew youth a confidant Of his devices for Onesimus. Thus Stephen with Onesimus had talked; Not often, for need was that all should be Transacted as in secret to avoid Felix's, more, Drusilla's, jealous watch— Not often but so many times as served Of what the slave was in his manhood's worth, And to inflame a generous desire Of rescue for him to a nobler life. Stephen spoke of Onesimus to Paul, And Paul on shipboard came to speech with him. The runaway's heart was wholly won to Paul; And ere those parted at Puteoli Onesimus had gladly promised Stephen To seek his uncle out, arrived in Rome. A sequel thence redounded to the slave Of boundless blessing he had dreamed not of; Likewise of good to men in every age Wherever might be found fit soul to be Ennobled to the touch of noble thought, In answerable style with nobleness Conveyed, and purified fine feeling, borne To perfect heavenly-mindedness yet sweet And tender with a pulsing human love. For Felix and Drusilla, disembarked, No welcome waited and no warm godspeed; They went their Romeward way in lonely state, The showiest that in their impoverished plight But Paul with his companions, good heart's cheer Met at Puteoli; a brotherhood Of lovers greeted them and bade them bide Seven days for rest and for refreshment there: The kindly Julius suffered this to them For Paul's sake easily, seeing to Paul he owed His own life snatched from those shipwrecking waves. A week of opportunity it was To Paul for service of his fellow-men; For he most rested when he labored most, Unhindered, with the joy of harvest his, Winning men to the obedience of his Lord. Fed with a full refection of such toil And gladdened with the cordial dearest to him, Comfort of love from mutual human hearts, The prisoner apostle, those seven days Ended, was ready to move on toward Rome. Dusty and weary footing many a mile To him and to his fellow-prisoners, As to those willing sharers of his lot, Lay stretched before them on the Roman road. To Capua—city famous then as since For lulling in her too luxurious lap To loss of manhood in enervate sloth Those warriors who, with the great Hannibal For leader, late had spurned the barrier Alps, Thence, like a loosened avalanche, had fallen On Italy—and might have taken Rome! A different conqueror now in captive's chains Was marching on that world-metropolis: No battle of the warrior would he wage, With confused noise and garments rolled in blood; Yet wrested from the CÆsars Rome should be And from the empire of her gods no gods! From Capua northwestward breaking sharp, The Way, now Appian from Campanian, led Over the stream Vulturnus; then across Savo to Sinuessa by the sea; Onward thence, climbing the Falernian hills Vine-clad, until the Massic, last of these, Descended on their northward-sliding slope, Shut off behind the wayfarers their view Of the bright summit of Vesuvius And the blue circlet of the Lucrine Lake. Like a stream flooded level with its banks, The Appian Way was filled from side to side With travel flowing double to and fro. Now centuries of soldiers, foot or horse, Clanged iron hoof or heel with rhythmic beat Along the bedded rock that paved their way; Now pomps of embassy in various garb, Returning from their suits at CÆsar's feet Or thither tending vexed with hope or fear; Then some gay reveller to BaiÆ bound, Behind his foaming steeds urged ever on, Dashed in his biga down the crowded road And recked not what might meet his whirling wheels; Next, moving slowly in more solemn state— Outriders either hand and nigh before— The chariot of some rich patrician rolled Who sought the spring of southern Italy: Huge wains there were, that creaked along the way Laden with beasts from Afric or from Ind, Lions and tigers, and hyenas dire; Of human ravin, the arena sands Of mighty amphitheaters, a feast Of foul and fell delight to avid eyes Of Roman lords and ladies gathered there With scum and dross plebeian to behold— Now winked and glared behind their prison-bars Or frothed and fretted out their fierce disdain. Luxurious litters borne of sinewy slaves— Who softly eased them, bending as they went With well-timed flexure and compliant gait Their supple knees in perfect unison— Were thickly sown between, with ladies fair Reposing in them sunk in silk and down, Or senators of Rome effeminate; Besides, were foot-wayfarers, motley groups Or single, messengers that hasted post, Slaves trusted by their masters to convey Letters of import out of lands remote To Rome or out of Rome abroad; with those, Idlers and loiterers sauntering without aim, Vomit from Rome or current thither sucked, Freemen, but of the dregs of populace And shameless feeders at the public crib. Beholding all this various spectacle Of life lived wholly without God, and vain, Paul sighed in spirit and thought: 'The world, the world! How vast and dreadful, overshadowing all! How strong and dreadful, dominating all! Kingdom and usurpation in the earth! What power shall overthrow thee, so enthroned As thou art at the center of all things In Rome, and wielding, thou unshaken there, Thence wielding all the shaken universe Implement in thy hand to wreak thy will? Appalling! Yea, yet am I not appalled. "Be of good cheer," said Jesus, then when He Seemed to be sinking vanquished by the world, Even then, "Be of good cheer," said He, "lo, I Have overcome the world." O, hollow show And mockery of power browbeating me! Browbeaten am I not, though in myself Nothing, nay, less than nothing, vanity. There is One in me who is mightier far Than is that mighty who is in the world. Not carnal are the weapons of my war; But potent through my God they yet shall prove And false imaginations of the minds Of men, with every overweening high Thing that exalts itself against the Lord! 'But, O, the streams of men that blinded go, One secular procession perishing, Endlessly on and on, from age to age, In every race and clime—that blinded go In sadness or with madcap songs of mirth Frightfully toward the brink and precipice Beetling sheer over the abyss profound Of hopeless utter last despair and death— For whom Christ died! Shall He have died in vain? Forbid it God! Was it not promised Him That he should of the travail of His soul See and be satisfied? My soul with His Travails in infinite desire to save; Give Thou me children in my bonds at Rome! O God, my God, hear me herein I pray!' Enlarged in heart with such desire and prayer And lifted high in hope of what would be, Paul walked as one with feet above the ground But God had further cheer in store for him. At Appii Forum and the Taverns Three, Two several stations on the Appian Way, There met him out of Rome two companies Of brethren who, while he abode those days Guest at Puteoli, had heard of him As Romeward faring, and had come thus far To bring him greeting and good cheer. They vied With one another, those two companies, In joyful rivalry of love to see Which should speed faster farther forth, and come First with their plight of loyalty to Paul. Divided thus, their welcome doubled was In worth and in effect to him who now Thanked God and took fresh heart. So on to Rome. The city, from the summit of a hill Surmounted, of the Alban range, hill hung With villas and with villages, was seen, A huge agglomerate of building heaved Above the level campagna, circuit wide By the blue Sabine mountains bounded north Streets of bright suburbs, gardens, aqueducts Confused about the walls on every side. Between long rows of stately sepulchers Illustrious with memorial names inscribed, The Scipios, the Metelli, many more— Each name a magic spell to summon up The image of the greatness of the Rome That had been—ranged along the Appian Way, Slowly they passed, Paul with his train, unmarked. Through throngs of frequence serried ever dense And denser with the confluence of the tides Of travel and of traffic intermixed, Pedestrian, and equestrian, and what rolled In chariots, splendid equipage, or mean, Entering and issuing at the city gate— Slowly, thus hindered, on they urged their way. At last they—passing by the Capene port Under an arch of stone forever dewed And dripping through its grudging pores with ooze As of cold sweat wrung out by agony To bear the great weight of the aqueduct Above it—were within the Servian Wall. About the Coelian by its base; traversed A droop of hollow to the Palatine; Over the gentle undulation named Velia next passing (where, ere many years, The arch of Titus would erect its pride To glory over Jerusalem destroyed!); Hence down the Sacred Way into the famed Forum, where stood that milestone golden called Which rayed out roads to all the provinces, And was as if the navel of the world. All round them here great architecture rose, Temples, basilicas, long colonnades, Triumphal arches, amphitheaters, Aqueducts vaulting with colossal spring As if in huge Cyclopean sport across From pier to pier of massive masonry; Stupendous spectacle! but over all, To Paul's eye, one sole legend written large, Not Rome's majestic history and power, But her abjectness in idolatry; Rome's captive pitied her, and would have saved! Crowning the summit of the Capitoline, A wilderness of building, hung in view. To Burrus, the prÆtorian prefect, here In due course Julius gave his prisoners up; But ere he deemed himself acquitted quite Of his debt due to Paul he gained for him From Burrus, a just man, the privilege Of living as in free captivity In quarters of his own, at small remove From the prÆtorium yet in privacy. With Paul abode his sister and her son; Ruth nigh at hand with her EunicÉ lodged— Protected, for again from these not far The faithful Luke and Aristarchus dwelt. A season the disciples of the Lord In Rome supplied to all their frugal needs; But each one had some handicraft or skill Which soon found chance and scope to exercise Itself to purpose; and with cheerful toil In thankfulness they earned their daily bread. Two years long here, as late in CÆsarea, Paul waited on the wanton whim of power; A prisoner in chains, accused of crime, Yet, though both night and day, asleep, awake, Bound to a ruthless Roman soldier arm To arm, he, the great heart, the spacious mind, Was not uncomforted, not void of joy: He had at full his fellowship of love, And, better, he could freely preach his Lord. Besides, whatever soldier guarded him, That soldier, if his heart was capable At all of gentleness for any cause Toward any one, was softened toward this man Whom he felt ever strangely toward himself As toward one not so happy in his lot Considerate, regardful, pitiful; And whom not seldom, with a sweet constraint Persuaded or compelled, he listened to Telling him of a Savior that could save Even to the uttermost, therefore also him. As loyal lover of his nation, Paul Invited to give audience to his cause First his compatriots judged the chief in Rome. He told them that, albeit he had appealed To CÆsar from his fellow-countrymen, Paul's hearers on their part had had, they said, No word against him from Jerusalem. They added: "We would hear thee speak thy mind; As for this party of the Nazarene, That everywhere we know is spoken against." So they appointed Paul a day to speak, And in full frequence to his lodgings came. All the day long from morn to evenfall He held discourse to them, and testified The kingdom come on earth of God, and Him, The King, Christ Jesus; with persuasions drawn From Moses and from all the prophets old. Divided were his hearers; some elect Believed, but others disbelieved. To these Paul solemnly denounced the prophecy Of sad Isaiah to his countrymen That seeing they should see and not perceive; Then added: "Witness now, I make you know That the salvation sent by God in vain To you turns to the Gentiles; they will hear." Thenceforward daily, streams of concourse flowed Unhindered, bondmen, freemen, to Paul's doors, Besought them to be reconciled to God. The million slaves of the metropolis Were as a subterranean city Rome, Substruction to the mighty capital. Here undercurrent rumor to and fro From mouth to mouth or haply in dumb sign Transmitted—cipher unintelligible Save to the dwellers of that underworld— Ran swift and secret as by telegraph And everywhither messages conveyed. Onesimus thus learned where Paul abode, And what a tide set daily toward him there Of eager audience for the things he taught: The bondman threw himself upon the tide, And was borne by it whither he would go. Hearing good tidings meant for such as he, Decree of manumission for the slave, He joyful freeman of the Lord became. Freeman and bondman both at once was he— Free from the hateful service of himself, And bond of love to serve his Savior Lord. This his new loyalty Paul put to proof Return to his Colossian servitude; Paul would test also the obedient faith Of the wronged master of the fugitive. When Syrus learned this from Onesimus, He, wary, with a much-importing shrug Of shoulder, warned his friend betimes beware. The young disciple by such whispered fears Was somewhat shaken in his faithful mind; He failed a moment from his first good will To do as prompted his new heart and Paul. But at the last he was persuaded quite; Yet rather by the spectacle itself Of that apostle willingly in chains For Jesus than by any words he spoke: He fixed to go back to his master. Paul Gave him a letter for that master, sealed. Now Paul well knew the master, but of this He wisely to Onesimus said naught. Philemon was his name; he had by Paul Been won to be a brother in the Lord. "How knowest thou what is in that letter?" so Syrus, with honest scruple, asked his friend. Money in Rome to serve themselves withal. He makes a merit of returning thee Haply and in his letter claims reward Which thou thyself shalt pay with servitude Exacted henceforth heavier than before— Besides the stripes and brands for runaways. Thou hast thy freedom, keep it, and be wise." Onesimus was wise, but he w
ent back; Onesimus was wise; yea, and he kept His freedom also, double freedom kept, Of spirit as of flesh, though he went back. This was the letter which the bondman bore: Paul, prisoner of Christ Jesus, and with him Timotheus the brother, to our friend BelovÉd and our fellow-laborer, Philemon; and to Appia the sister; And to our fellow-soldier of the truth, Archippus; and to all the church with thee: Grace unto you and peace in plenteous store, From God our Father and His Son our Lord! 'I never cease pouring out thanks to God For thee, my brother, in my daily prayers; Toward our Lord Jesus and toward all God's own. I pray thy faith may multiply itself Richly in others, and of influence prove To spread the knowledge everywhere abroad Of all the good in us to work for Christ. Joy have I and sweet comfort in thy love, Because God's people oft have been in heart Cheered by thee, brother. So, albeit I might Boldly in the authority of Christ Enjoin upon thee what is seemly, yet For love's sake I beseech thee rather, I, Being such as Paul the aged, prisoner now Of Jesus Christ—beseech thee for my son Whom I have late begotten in my bonds, Onesimus; unprofitable once To thee but now to thee and me alike Found profitable. I have sent him back— Him have sent back, that is, mine own heart sent; I fain myself had kept him with me here To minister to me in thy stead, while I For preaching the glad tidings wear these bonds; In order that thy kindness may not be As of compulsion but of free good will. Who knows but in God's grace and wisdom he Was parted from thee for a little time That thou mightst have him for thine own forever, As slave no longer, but above a slave, Brother belovÉd now, greatly to me, But how much more to thee, both in the flesh And in the Lord! If then a partner's place I hold in thy regard, receive thou him Even as myself. If he have wronged thee aught, Or anywise have fallen in debt to thee, Put that to mine account.' Until these words, Paul had let Stephen catch with ear alert What issued hastening from his fervid lips, And fix it on the parchment with swift hand. But now himself he seized the pen and wrote As so to make his promise fast and good. 'Put that to mine account,' he wrote; 'I, Paul, Write this with mine own hand; I will repay Owest to me thy very self besides. Yea, brother'—now by Stephen's hand once more— Let me have joy of thee in Christ the Lord; Comfort thou me in Him. I write to thee In fullest faith of thine obedient heed; Thou wilt go even beyond my word I know. Moreover I have hope to be thy guest Erelong; make ready for me; through the prayers Of you belovÉd all, I trust to come. Epaphras, fellow-prisoner of mine In Jesus Christ, sends greeting to thee; Mark Likewise, and Aristarchus, Demas, Luke, My fellow-laborers, wish thee health and peace. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ abide A guestship with your spirit evermore!' The generous trust Paul staked upon him found Philemon worthy, or him worthy made. At first he frowned on his returning slave, Who shrank before him, conscious of his fault. But in the truth and secret of their hearts, Either remembered what before had been, The wont of mutual human-heartedness Which, between such as they, could not but spring To blossom in kind offices exchanged To make the bond of master and of slave Unnatural though it was yet tolerable. Philemon, less in anger and despite Than in love disappointed and aggrieved, Was ready to burst out upon the youth In loud upbraidings of his gracelessness To have made his master such return for all The kindness he had tasted in his house; Whereto Onesimus would have replied With protestations of his penitence And tears of promise never to offend Again a master so magnanimous; But when Philemon broke the letter's seal And read what Paul had written, his eyes swam And his heart melted and he flung his arms Wide to embrace his slave and welcome him With kisses of a brother to his breast; And they twain wept together happy tears Of equal love and heavenly gratitude, And poured out all their soul in fervent prayer For Paul through whom their blessing came to them. Soon after, from Philemon charged with gifts To Paul and many messages of love, Onesimus went joyful back to Rome To serve his master there by serving Paul. He faithfully rehearsed to Syrus all That at ColossÆ chanced to him, and said: "Paul never told me that he knew my lord, That therefore I might trust him all in all. He must have wished to put me so to proof What naked peril I would dare for Christ. I tremble when I think: 'If I had failed In faith and in obedience to Paul's word! Had I not made the venture to go back! What had I lost on earth, perhaps in heaven!' But I am glad the venture was so sheer, S |
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