The Nemesis: A Tale Of The Days Of Trajan.

THE NEMESIS : A TALE OF THE DAYS OF TRAJAN .

By BRO . A . ONEAL HAYE , KM ., K . Gal , Corresponding Member of the German Society , Leipzig ; Knight Templar , Scot ; Author of "The Eistor ' y of the Knights Templars " " Vara Queer ; " " Gatherings in Wanderings ; " "Songs and Ballads ; " " Poemata ,- ' " " Legends of ' Edinbiirgh . " Spe ., §~ c , < $ 'c ; Poet Laureate of the Ganonqate , Kikoinning ; P . M . St . Stephens ; P . P . Z . of St . Andrews , ll . A Chap . ; fyc . ; Src . ( Continued from page 310 . )

CHAPTER XXXI . THE CHRISTIAN PHILOSOPHER . " The earth is but a poor place , the infant school of another life ; so let us use it , that , in another world , our studies may raise us to a high position . " Adrian and Paulus had returned from the house

of Lucidora , to Caius' mansion . " Yes , " Adrian said , " it was a glorious sight . The chamber lit by the candles , and the sweetlisped hymns by your choir of voices rang holy on my hear . Not even Rome ' s proud Capitol , in all

the splendour of a triumph ' s pomp , could have impressed me half so much . " " You saw but the shell ; what think you of the spirit ?" " It is the knowledge which I have sought from

youth up through the years , till manhood came and proved how false and hollow were our Pagan rites , which chilled my heart when that I thought of death . ' '

" Has then thy dread of death now fled ?" " Far from it ; but I have now left me hope . I do not fear to die ; but what I fear is , when I die , I shall not live within the glory of God ' s house . " " Yet Christ has told us , if we have faith in

Him , we all shall be with Him in heaven- My days of doubt are over . I meekly await what life may bring . For death it will bring me rest ; and as the weary wanderer caught by night , scans the heavens for the pole star , so I , lost in this night of

earthly sin , watch for the coming of the Saviour . " "But can his coming cause thee to feel no emotion of fear ?"

" Why should I fear if I obey his commands ? Like as a master , on the close of day , vieweth the apprentice ' s work with praise or censure , and setteth him for the morrow a nobler task , or chideth him to complete the wasted one , so will

God view our apprentice work on earth , and set us in the after life upon a great , wise plan , or doom us to revise , with bitter agony , our temporal one , left incomplete among the groves of sin , and forsaken for the fleeting joys of luxury . Work

must all men , labour is the lot of all , woe to the idler and the indolent . But what can detain Caius ? The sun has long since set . " "I fear the terrible tidings will cause hisdeath . "

" Not so , " replied Paulus . " It will make him know the dark uncertainty of life and earthly joy-It will show him what the gilded tomb contains , and make him a mete inmate for the unsullied '

courts of heaven . What do the finest picturesshow ? Shadows deep , and lights of rarest lustre ,, so the life that is most earnest will point in death to sorrows wild and to joys ecstatic . " " Still , in this storm of woe , life may be hurled ' from its throne . "

" Believe it not . As pent-up storms have powerto clear the air , to bring over earth the deep and tranquil sky , to spring to light the bloom on every flower , to cast a sparkle on the broad and trackless sea , so sorrow lights the caverns of the heart ,

developing great principles and sleeping powers-Does not our own secret Stoic doctrine , hid by symbols , teach this truth ? How has that li ghtof one eternal immutable God come down to us , but by the overwhelming power of sorrow ,

thedeath of its noblest votaries , who have died willingly that their example might purify thehearts of men , and reconcile them unto God . " "It is a strange perplexing thought . In every country where I have travelled I have among

thelearned and the noble found this brotherhood ; sad , serious men , honest and upright to all men , and silent on the mysteries of our order . " " The philosophy of the Stoics , when rightly studied , cau clip the wings of the wildest gallant ,

and teach him a nobler pleasure than the chaseof woman's smiles , or that of the wine cup . " A pause followed , which Adrian broke by asigh , and the words " Alas ! poor Caius . "

" Say not that , " answered Paulus . The man whose heart has never known a grief absorb the long slow watches of the night , knows little of life ' s sternness . He , indeed , is poor , for he hasno common lot with humanity . Sorrow

belongsto earth . It is our birth-right , and our indisputable legacy . Joy is of heaven , and thus it is at times that the heart swells at some noble saying , some thought planted in it by God . Think you that joy is for man ? Not more deadly would

be an everlasting sun to the earth , without the coming in of the gentle' moon , than joy everlasting in the breast of man . It would be a fire in