Charles Kingsley

“ There was no escape for Hypatia; pride forbade her to follow her own maidenly instinct, and to recoil among the crowd behind her; and in another moment the Amal had lifted Pelagia from her mule, and the rival beauties of Alexandria stood, for the first time in their lives, face to face. ”

“ Poor Hypatia! At first she determined not to lecture—then to send for Orestes—then to call on her students to defend the sanctity of the Museum; but pride, as well as prudence, advised her better; to retreat would be to confess herself conquered—to disgrace philosophy—to lose her hold on the minds of all waverers. No! she would go on and brave everything, insults, even violence ”

“ Monks have no more business with sons than with wives. Shall we hustle him for you, Philammon?'
'Take care how you show off, gentlemen: the Goths are not yet out of hearing!' answered Philammon, who was learning fast how to give a smart answer; and then, fearing the temper of the young dandies, and shrinking from the notion of any insult to one so reverend and so beloved as Arsenius, he drew the old man gently away, and walked up the street with him in silence, dreading what was coming. ”

“ As far as her own consciousness was concerned, she was as destitute of a soul as the mule on which she rode. Gifted by nature with boundless frolic and good-humour, wit and cunning, her Greek taste for the physically beautiful and graceful developed by long training, until she had become, without a rival, the most perfect pantomime, dancer, and musician who catered for the luxurious tastes of the Alexandrian theatres, she had lived since her childhood only for enjoyment and vanity, and wished for nothing more. ”

“ The crowd parted, and disclosed the apparitors of Orestes, who followed in his robes of office.
A sudden hope flashed before Philammon, and in an instant he had burst through the mob, and was clinging to the Prefect's chariot.
'I am a free-born Athenian, whom these monks wish to kidnap back into slavery! I claim your protection!'
'And you shall have it, right or wrong, my handsome fellow. By Heaven, you are much too good-looking to be made a monk of! What do you mean, you villains, by attempting to kidnap free men? ”

“ I will fly!' and off rushed the little porter.
'The little fellow forgets,' said Arsenius, with a smile, 'to how much he has confessed already, and how easy it were now to trace him to the old hag's lair . . . . Philammon, my son . . . . I have many tears to weep over thee—but they must wait a while, I have thee safe now,' and the old man clutched his arm. 'Thou wilt not leave thy poor old father? Thou wilt not desert me for the heathen woman?'
'I will stay with you, I promise you, indeed! if—if you will not say unjust things of her.'
'I will speak evil of no one, accuse no one, but myself. ”

“ And yet you seem thin and pale, my boy.'
'Study,' said Philammon, 'study. One cannot burn the midnight oil without paying some penalty for it . . . . However, I am richly repaid already; I shall be more so hereafter.'
'Let us hope so. But who are those Goths whom I passed in the streets just now?'
'Ah! my father,' said Philammon, glad in his heart of any excuse to turn the conversation, and yet half uneasy and suspicious at Arsenius's evident determination to avoid the very object of his visit. 'It must have been you, then, whom I saw stop and speak to Pelagia at the farther end of the street. ”

“ And you are certain that Miriam is not in Alexandria?'
The little porter turned very red, and Philammon did so likewise; but he remembered his promise, and kept it.
'You both know something of her, I can see. You cannot deceive an old statesman, sir!'—turning to the little porter with a look of authority—'poor monk though he be now. If you think fitting to tell me what you know, I promise you that neither she nor you shall be losers by your confidence in me. ”

“ You are a right noble maiden, and may Freya send you a husband worthy of you, and make you the mother of kings!'
And Wulf retired with his party.
Open homage to her rival, before her very face! Pelagia felt quite inclined to hate old Wulf.
But at least he was the only traitor. The rest of the Goths agreed unanimously that Hypatia was a very foolish person, who was wasting her youth and beauty in talking to donkey-riders; and Pelagia remounted her mule, and the Goths their horses, for a triumphal procession homeward. ”

“ Come in, and you shall be as welcome as ever. See what comes of running away from us at first.'
'You do not seem to have benefited much by leaving me for the monks,' said old Wulf. 'Come in by the inner door. Smid! go and turn those monks out of the gateway.'
But the mob, after battering the door for a few minutes, had yielded to the agonised entreaties of Peter, who assured them that if those incarnate fiends once broke out upon them, they would not leave a Christian alive in Alexandria. So it was agreed to leave a few to watch for Philammon's coming out ”

“ What could be more conclusive than his Holiness's argument this morning? "Christians are bound to obey the laws of this world for conscience' sake, even though, in the abstract, they may disapprove of them, and deny their authority. ”